The Star Cross: The Dark Invaders (31 page)

“We have hull
breaches in sections seven and twelve, and we’re bleeding atmosphere,” Captain
Scott reported as she scanned the console. “We’ve lost two energy projectors,
and one of our missile tubes is disabled. There’s also a fire in cargo bay
three. The fire suppression system has activated and the fire should be under control
shortly.”

“Continue to
fire our hypermissiles,” Colmes ordered. They didn’t have many of them, only
what Fleet Admiral Vickers had furnished them immediately after their refit.

On one of the
viewscreens, he saw a Profiteer escort cruiser’s screen suddenly flare up as a
number of hypermissiles struck it. With a furious explosion, the ship blew
apart as its screen was overloaded as a single hypermissile breached its hull.

Colmes took a
deep breath. One down and one hundred more to go.

-

On Earth, High
Profiteer Creed entered a shuttle so he could return to the
Ascendant
Destruction
. He had just been informed the small fleet of Human warships
had left the eighth planet and were now attacking the Profiteer warships in
orbit. Clan Leader Jarls was in the process of moving his battleships to engage
the enemy and remove this last aggravating obstacle. Creed had already decided,
when they finished looting the planet, he would give the order to nuke it,
sterilizing its surface. The destruction of an inhabited world was strictly
prohibited by the Controllers, but, in this instance, it would allow him to get
his revenge on Fleet Admiral Vickers. Even if the other clans and Jarls refused
to participate, his own ships were quite capable of carrying out the attack. He
would deal with the consequences of his actions later.

With relief he
learned most of the other raids at the targets the Human leader had suggested
had contained large quantities of gold. Not as large as Fort Knox supposedly had but enough to make this raid a success. If he could just have another forty
hours, the Profiteer fleet could strip Earth of most of its wealth. This time,
thanks to the traitorous Human leader, they knew where most of it was. It would
also give Creed the credits needed to pay the hefty fine for destroying the
planet.

-

Fleet Admiral
Colmes sucked in a deep breath as a massive explosion occurred in his fleet
formation. The battlecruiser
Knolls
had suffered a catastrophic failure
of its energy screen when multiple hypermissiles struck it, releasing torrents
of energy. With growing despair, Colmes saw a number of Dacroni battleships
moving in to engage what was left of his fleet. The
Knolls
was the first
to die, but it wouldn’t be the last.

“Take us in,”
he ordered, looking at Captain Scott. “Maybe we can take a few of them with
us.” Even as he spoke, the sensor alarms sounded.

“Sir, we have
numerous ships exiting hyperspace just behind us,” reported the sensor
operator. “They’re already in attack range.”

“More
Profiteers,” muttered Colmes, feeling helpless. “They must really be afraid of
us to commit so many ships to our destruction.”

“They’re not
Profiteer ships,” added the sensor operator excitedly, his face glowing with
renewed hope. “They’re from Newton. I have confirmed IDs on the
Star Cross
and the
Retribution
. Fleet Admirals Vickers and Tomalson are both here!”

“They’re
moving up to support us,” said Tamara as she stared wide-eyed at the bright
green icons now showing on the tactical display. “There’s also a massive ship
with them which we can’t identify.”

“Put it up on
a viewscreen,” ordered Colmes. Instantly on the primary viewscreen appeared a
ship larger than Colmes had ever seen before. It was obviously a warship and a
very powerful one. “I don’t know where Fleet Admiral Vickers got that ship, but
I don’t think the Profiteers will like it.”

“Admiral, I
have fleet Admiral Tomalson on the comm. He asks that you fall back into their
formation.”

Colmes nodded.
Perhaps he wouldn’t die today after all.

-

Dacroni Clan
Leader Jarls took one look at the main viewscreen in his Command Center and felt an icy chill run down his back. “I want a confirmation on the identity of that
large ship.” He thought he recognized who had built it; he just wanted to verify
the bad news.

Salas took a
moment as he checked the ship’s database. Then he turned toward Jarls with a
strained and confused look on his face. “It’s the
Aurelia
, a flagship in
the Lakiam fleet.”

Jarls’s face
turned pale as he gazed at the viewscreen. “Pull our ships back toward Earth and
recall all our raiding missions on the planet.”

“It will take
a while to get them all to their ships.”

“I don’t care
how long it takes. Get them started back now. Tell the leaders of the different
raiding groups they have twenty minutes to return. If they’re not on their
respective ships by that time, they’ll be left behind.”

Salas looked
confused. “It’s only one ship. Surely we can handle one Lakiam vessel.”

Jarls shook
his head. “You’ve never seen a Lakiam vessel in battle. I have. I once watched
as two Lakiam ships destroyed an entire Profiteer fleet that was encroaching in
the outer regions of an Enlightened World system they were responsible for
protecting. They have a single missile that’s capable of taking down an energy
shield and destroying the ship as well. We can’t fight something like that and
still hope to have a fleet left when it’s over. All we can hope for is to move
closer to Earth and let the other Profiteer clans fall victims to the
Aurelia’s
weapons while our raiding groups return.”

“Ships are
pulling back,” Salas replied after sending the order.

-

Kurt watched
the tactical display, seeing with surprise that the Dacroni battleships were
pulling back.

“Dacroni
battleships are retreating toward Earth,” Lieutenant Brooks reported. “The other
Profiteer ships are maintaining their positions.”

Lieutenant
Mays looked toward the admiral. “I suspect the Dacroni recognized the
Aurelia
and want no part of it.”

Kurt nodded
his agreement as he activated his ship-to-ship comm. This made things a lot more
even if the Dacroni battleships stayed out of the fighting. “All ships are free
to engage the Profiteers. All carriers, launch your fighters and bombers. Let’s
make these barbarians realize they should never have returned to Earth.”

“Admiral, I’ve
located the
Ascendant Destruction
!” reported Lieutenant Brooks
excitedly. “It’s in low orbit directly over the North American Union.”

Kurt felt his
pulse race. With any luck at all High Profiteer Creed was on Earth. If they
could destroy the
Ascendant Destruction
, perhaps they could capture the
High Profiteer and bring him to trial for the crimes he had committed.

“The
battlecarriers and light carriers are launching their space wings,” Brooks
added as numerous small green icons appeared on her sensors. “The squadrons of
fighters and bombers are forming up and advancing toward the Profiteers.”

“
Aurelia
is firing,” called out Lieutenant Mays.

On one of the
primary viewscreens, several bright energy beams leaped from the Lakiam vessel
to strike a nearby Profiteer escort cruiser. The beams tore right through the
ship’s defensive screen and slammed into the hull. Moments later the ship blew
apart as too many essential systems were compromised.

“Profiteer
escort cruiser is down,” reported Lieutenant Brooks. “We’re entering weapons
range.”

This was what
Kurt had been waiting for. “All ships, open fire! Show no mercy to the enemy,
for they will show you none.”

With a
devilish grin, Lieutenant Mays fired a full salvo of hypermissiles at a nearby
Profiteer battlecruiser. As soon as the missiles struck, lighting up the enemy
ship’s screen, she fired the ship’s powerful particle beam cannon. The beam hit
the already-stressed energy screen and then penetrated. It struck the heavy
armor of the ship’s hull, tearing all the way through the warship. Secondary
explosions shook the battlecruiser, blasting open huge rents in the hull.

Without
hesitation, Lieutenant Mays fired both of the large kinetic energy cannons on
the bow. The ship shook slightly from the recoil as a pair of two-thousand-pound
projectiles hurled toward the damaged Profiteer battlecruiser at 10 percent the
speed of light. The two rounds hit the enemy ship with the force of a large
nuclear explosion. Moments later two glowing fireballs were all that remained
of the enemy warship.

“Profiteer
battlecruiser is down,” reported Lieutenant Brooks.

-

On Earth,
Major Nathan Aldrich looked up into the night sky, seeing the sudden appearance
of countless fireballs in orbit. He had a full platoon of Marines, stealthily following
a group of Profiteers taking a large group of captive young women toward their
shuttle.

“What are
those explosions?” asked Marine Corporal Lasher, looking up at the bright
flashes.

Major Aldrich
grinned as he heard a message over his comm. “Fleet Admiral Vickers and Fleet
Admiral Tomalson have returned. They’re engaging the Profiteer fleet in orbit.”

“Do they stand
a chance?” asked Private Malone. “Supposedly over one hundred Profiteer
warships are up there.”

“Command seems
to think they do,” Aldrich answered. “I’m also receiving reports General Braid
has taken over the military command because General Fuller has disappeared.”

“Fuller was a
patsy for President Stroud,” commented Lasher disgustedly. “It doesn’t surprise
me that he ran.”

“There’s also
a rumor that President Stroud has been taken prisoner by the Profiteers and
that former President Mayfield has taken command at the emergency headquarters
in Canada.”

“Wow, things
are really moving!” commented Lasher as they went around a street corner.

The Profiteer
shuttle was just ahead, sitting in the playground of an elementary school.

At a quick
signal from Aldrich, the Marines took cover behind some abandoned vehicles. On
the rooftops near the school, half a dozen Marine snipers waited. Nathan had
been hoping for an opportunity to separate the captives from the Profiteers,
but time had run out. “All units, standby,” he said as he took careful aim with
his assault rifle. The Marines were using armor-piercing rounds, which should
go through the light armor the Profiteers wore. “Fire!”

Aldrich
squeezed off a shot as he peered through the scope on his rifle. The Profiteer
he targeted grabbed his chest with a shocked look on his face and fell to the
ground. All around Nathan other Marines fired, including the snipers on the
roofs. More Profiteers fell, then they began returning fire with their energy
weapons. The young women screamed and took off running. Several of the
Profiteers turned their weapons on the women, killing some of them. The snipers
must have seen this because their next rounds put the offending Profiteers to
the ground.

Nathan ducked
as an energy beam struck near him. He heard several of his Marines scream out
in pain, then the firing died down, and then it stopped completely. Looking
over the vehicle he hunched behind, he saw all the Profiteers were down. Most
of the young women were still running.

“Move in and
check for survivors,” he ordered. Aldrich could see half a dozen young women on
the ground, not moving, but over thirty others had been freed. Shaking his head
at the lives lost, he walked toward the schoolyard just as the shuttle took
off, streaking upward. In moments it was gone. Several of his Marines took out
their pistols and walked from one prostrate Profiteer to the next, putting
several rounds in their heads. Nathan said nothing. The Profiteers deserved
whatever they got. The taking of prisoners was not a priority.

-

Captain Andrew
Randson watched in awe as the
Aurelia
blew up its third Profiteer
battlecruiser. Tarnth was leaving the smaller escort cruisers to the Newton ships. “The Dacroni mercenaries run from us,” he commented as he watched the
Dacroni stay just outside the range of his weapons.

“I would
suggest we forge ahead of the fleet,” said Mara. “Our shields can handle
anything the Profiteer ships can attack us with.”

Andrew thought
for a moment. No doubt Dacroni Clan Leader Jarls had recognized the
Aurelia
and retreated rather than engage it. Already countless Profiteer shuttles rose from
Earth to rendezvous with the orbiting ships. “Do it,” he ordered. “We need to
ensure the Dacroni never return to Earth again.”

-

Tarnth allowed
himself to grin. While he didn’t approve of the situation he and Mara were in,
it was satisfying to watch the Profiteer ships die from the
Aurelia
’s
weapons. The ship had been dishonored by the black ships; now that honor had
been redeemed.

-

On Earth,
President Mayfield stepped into the operations room at the secret command
bunker in Canada. With a smile he spotted General Braid issuing orders to the
military forces of the North American Union.

“I see your
esteemed replacement is missing,” Mayfield said as he stepped near Braid.

“Yeah. He
disappeared as soon as the Profiteers fired their first weapon.”

“I’m glad to
see you, Mr. President,” Colonel Stidham said, striding over to Mayfield and
saluting.

“Where are the
other Cabinet members?”

“In the Cabinet
meeting room,” Stidham replied. “They’re waiting for you.”

Mayfield
looked at several viewscreens, showing cities on fire. “What’s our current
situation?”

“There’s
fighting all across the planet. Nearly every nation is resisting the
Profiteers. So far no nukes have been used,” reported General Braid. “You
should know both Fleet Admiral Vickers and Tomalson have jumped into the system
and are currently engaged against the Profiteer fleet.”