Theogony 3: Terra Stands Alone (40 page)

Calvin looked
over at Supidi’s system. “
Big one,
” he grunted. They were a long way off, but he could still see it in the long range viewer.

“
Yeah,
” said Supidi, “
they want us to shoot the engines out of it.
”

“
Wonderful,
” said Calvin. “
This is going to suck.
” He switched to the squadron frequency. “
All Asps, join on me.
We’ve got a high priority target. They need us to take out the motors of the super dreadnought in front of us.
”

“
Do you suppose they’ll even notice we’re here?
” asked Lieutenant Martyn ‘Tinman’ Sinclair from
Asp 08
. “
Their missiles are bigger than our fighters.
”

“
They’ll notice when we shove a few megatons of explosives up their ass,
” replied Calvin. “
Follow me!
”

“
New contacts!
” the OSO called as the ship shuddered from another missile strike. The
Gulf’s
shields were down, and they had already been hit several times. One of their engines was out, and Captain Sheppard could see flashes from the ongoing battle through the window-sized hole in the bridge. “Sir, I’ve got ships coming from around the other side of Drakon. They must have been hiding there with their power turned down. There are five more dreadnoughts and eight more battleships accelerating toward us!”

“Damn,” said Captain Sheppard. “We were close to pulling this off,
but there’s no way we can beat all of them.”

“Sir, I have an incoming transmission from the
Holy Word
,” said the communications officer.

“On screen,” replied Captain Sheppard.
The ship shook as another missile hit it.

“Missile hit in officer berthing,” said the duty engineer. “Damage repair crews responding.”

“
Ye must all retreat,
” Grand Admiral Michael ordered from the front screen. “
We do not gain anything further from thy destruction. We will stay as a rearguard and hold them off as long as we can. Get back to Alliance space and mine the stargate. Perhaps ye will have time to rebuild the fleet before they attack again.
”

“Helmsman, proceed to the stargate,” Captain Sheppard said.

“Head to the stargate, aye,” confirmed the helmsman.

“We’re not going to run, are we?” asked Steropes.

“We’re not running,” replied Captain Sheppard. “We are retreating, as ordered by Grand Admiral Michael.”

“
They just called in the Mrowry fighters,” the OSO noted. As he watched, all six squadrons launched simultaneously, and over 350 missiles streaked inbound toward the super dreadnought approaching the
Holy Word
. “That’s going to leave a mark.”

* * * * *

The Overlord
hated the stupid Archons. If their wings didn’t taste so good, there wouldn’t be any reason for keeping a single one of them alive. As it was, he was going to have to teach them a lesson. After he destroyed this pitiful fleet, he would send out the Home Fleet and wipe them out, all the way up the star chain to their home world.

With the
Home Fleet committed to the battle, it wouldn’t be long. He could sense that they were about to break. No...it wouldn’t be long at all.

“Sir, Captain Smetlurge is hailing the fleet,” said the communications officer.

“On screen,” replied Captain Sheppard.

The front view screen changed to a live feed of Smetlurge from his bridge.

“Everyone else may do as they desire,” he said. “As for us, we have a different mission. We have experienced the rape of our system by the Drakuls, and we will not suffer it again. Hopefully our versions of the afterlife will line up, Grand Admiral Michael. I would very much like to talk strategy and leadership with you some time. Captain Smetlurge, out.” The front screen returned to the tactical plot.

“Sir, he just cut off the transmission,” the communications officer said.

“The Hooolong ship is moving out of formation,” Steropes noted. “It has begun accelerating toward the new Drakul fleet.”

Captain Sheppard looked stunned. “He can’t hope to take on that big of a force.”

“I do not believe that is his intention,” Steropes said. “The Drakuls ended his civilization. I know what that’s like, and how the need for revenge burns within you. I don’t think he intends to do battle with the Drakuls. I have analyzed his vector, and I believe he intends to destroy the planet.”

“Asp 01
copies,
” Supidi commed. He looked at Calvin. “
The
Gulf
says that the super dreadnought’s shields are down, courtesy of the Mrowry. Something’s going on, and we need to give the
Holy Word
time to get back into the battle.

“
Attack Plan Red,
” Calvin said without hesitation.

“
Really?
” asked Supidi. Attack Plan Red involved splitting into the squadron into two-fighter sections to attack a target from a multitude of angles. It kept the target from turning to protect a vulnerable spot, but left the attackers extremely vulnerable to defensive fire, as they were no longer massing their attack along a single axis. It would be a death sentence for many of the squadron’s crews.

“
Do it,
” ordered Calvin.

Supidi
switched to the squadron frequency. “
All Asps, Attack Plan Red. I say again, Attack Plan Red.
” When all the rest of the squadron indicated that they heard, Supidi transmitted, “
Execute!
” and the squadron, which had been flying in a 12-fighter formation, flew apart into six sections of two. Staying outside of the range of the dreadnought’s defensive weapons, the squadron maneuvered into position.

“
They’re ready,
” said Supidi, looking at his plot.

Calvin switched to the squadron frequency. “
This is where we earn our pay,
” he transmitted. “
We’ve got to keep the super dreadnought off of the
Holy Word.
If the
Word
goes, we’re done for. The Drakul ship’s shields are down, and we need to take out its engines. Commencing attack run...now!
”

As one,
the 12 fighters turned inbound toward their target. The crew of the super dreadnought had obviously been watching the fighters set up, because the ship began turning, trying to keep its vulnerable engines away from the threat. There was nowhere to hide, though, as the fighters attacked from all sides.

“
It looks like they just launched a missile from every launcher they have,
” said Supidi as the fighters entered the dreadnought’s missile range. “
This is going to be ugly.
” The warship fought with a ferocity born of desperation. Relatively new to the fight, the dreadnought’s missile racks were nearly full, and its crew flushed them all to try and stop the fighters.

“
Evasive measures!
” Supidi commed to the squadron. “
All countermeasures on!
”

Calvin began to maneuver the
fighter randomly and violently as they closed with their target, and the fighter’s anti-missile laser fired at the missiles targeting them.

“
Launching countermeasures,
” Supidi announced, toggling the switch that released a pattern of decoys. “
Full spread.
”

Calvin continued to
maneuver the fighter as the decoys launched. Some ran off in front of the fighter to draw off the incoming missiles, while others dropped behind it. Some reflected radar, creating a larger image; others burned fiercely to decoy missiles that used infrared seekers.

Calvin could feel a slight vibration in the fighter’s controls as the defensive laser fired, and then a shudder as a missile blew up close to them. A high pitched whistle could be heard in the cockpit as the air left through the hole that
had materialized next to Calvin’s head.

“
Damn,
” Calvin said. “
That was too close.
”

“
30 seconds to launch,
” noted Supidi, turning on the missile launch panel. “
Master Armament panel is ‘on,’
” he advised. “
Damn!
” he added, “
the dreadnought is turning toward us. Our missiles won’t get the engines.
07
and
08
are behind it; looks like it’s going to be up to them. Here goes...roll out.
”

Calvin stopped maneuvering and gave the system two seconds to align and download the final targeting information. A green light illuminated on his heads-up display
, and he pulled the trigger. Missiles detached and roared off toward the super dreadnought. “Asp 01
, Fox One!
” he called, indicating missile launch.

The last missile launched, and Calvin put the controls hard over as he began maneuvering again. “
Let’s get the hell out of here,
” he said.

“
How are we looking?
” asked
Asp 03’s
pilot, Lieutenant Rob ‘Thing 1’ Mees.

“
Shitty,
” swore
Asp 03’s
WSO, Lieutenant Paul ‘Thing 2’ Mees. “
It just turned. We’re in its broadside. We’re—
” He was interrupted as a 5.25 meter laser from the dreadnought speared through the cockpit, killing both officers and destroying the fighter.

“
Looks like it’s going to be up to us,
” said
Asp 07’s
WSO, Lieutenant Brett Dylan ‘Foxy’ Fox.

“
Oh, yeah?
” asked his pilot, Lieutenant Matthew ‘Exit’ Kamins, pulling the fighter around hard.

“
Yeah,
” replied Foxy. “
The dreadnought just turned away from us. We’re the ones with a shot at its motors.
”

“
Good,
” replied Exit, “
Let’s nail it, and then get the hell out of here. It’s getting awfully—
”

Designed to attack dreadnoughts, the anti-ship missile was so large that Exit actually saw it a fraction of a second before it hit. Many times the size of
Asp 07
, there was nothing left of the fighter afterward.

“
That was a big one!
” noted Lieutenant Terry ‘Guppy’ Gupton, the pilot of
Asp 08
, as a flash lit up space to his left. He continued maneuvering for all he was worth.

“
Yeah, that’s what it looks like when an anti-ship missile hits a fighter,
” replied his WSO, Lieutenant Martyn ‘Tinman’ Sinclair. “
We just lost
07
.
”

“
So it’s just us?
” asked Guppy.

“
Yeah,
” agreed Tinman. “
We’re the only fighter left with a shot from behind the ship, and they’re launching everything they’ve got at us. Even the big shit, the anti-ship lasers and missiles.
”

“
The anti-ship missiles?
” asked Guppy. “
Didn’t you say that those things were bigger than our fighter?
”

“
Yeah, they’re a lot bigger,
” confirmed Tinman. “
Trust me; you’re a lot happier that you can’t see what they’re shooting at us.
” The ship rocked as another missile exploded close to them. “
Last countermeasures pattern being used.
” Normally he’d want to save some for the egress, but he’d had to use up all of them on the way in. There was just too much shit trying to kill them.

“
10 seconds to launch,
” said Tinman, turning on the missile launch panel. “
Master Armament panel is ‘on.’
” He turned off the notifications he was receiving about missiles and lasers targeting his fighter. At this point, he was happier not knowing.

Guppy continued to yank the fighter back and forth randomly, pulling even harder when he felt the anti-missile laser firing from underneath the craft. He didn’t know if it affected the targeting system of the laser, but if there were missiles close enough for it to fire, he wanted to be somewhere
else
.

“
Stand by for launch,
” said Tinman as Guppy completed an especially violent maneuver. “
Roll out!
”

Guppy obediently rolled the wings of the craft level
, and the missiles received their targeting information. He saw the green light and pulled the trigger. The missiles launched, seemingly in slow motion.

“Asp 08,
Fox One!
” Tinman called.

The last missile came off, and Guppy began a pull to the left to get clear of the target area. It was too late; an anti-ship missile as big as a small frigate impacted the
fighter, obliterating the smaller ship.

* * * * *