The burden of command, p.6
The Burden of Command, page 6
part #14 of Empire Rising Series
“That must be berth four,” Lydia said as she pointed to a spot between two docked ships. Two red lights had just begun to flash, highlighting a free docking clamp.
“Take us in slowly,” Jake ordered. He wanted to give Major Onoda as much time as possible. As Container started to rotate to be able to approach the berth, he focused on the pirate ships. Quickly, he assessed each one’s capabilities and prioritized them. No one had expected to find so many ships. There was no way Container could engage them all.
“Major Onoda wants to speak to you Lieutenant,” Container’s COM officer said.
Jake nodded. “Go-ahead Captain,” he said when the COM channel was opened.
“Here’s our plan, Lieutenant, I will take most of my marines on our two shuttles and board the two ships furthest from Container’s docking berth. We will secure the ships, and then begin infiltrating the asteroid base itself. Sergeant Samuels will take her special forces marines and two more squads and push out from Container. Your people are to follow her. As she secures docking clamps, your people can hold them. If we control the manual override, none of the ships will be able to escape. Once we have the docking section under our control, we can assault the other parts of the asteroid at our leisure.”
“Understood Captain, we will hold position once Sergeant Samuels and our people are off the ship and blast anything that tries to escape,” Jake replied.
“We’ll launch now then, good luck Lieutenant.”
“And to you, Captain,” Jake said.
Seconds later, two shuttles emerged from Container’s hangar. At once, the COM console began to beep on Container’s bridge. “We’re being hailed again,” a crewman reported.
Jake activated the holographic unit on his command chair. “Put her through.” He ordered.
“Where are those two shuttles going?” The same red-haired woman demanded. “Your shuttles are to remain on your ship. That is standard procedure.”
Jake shrugged his shoulders. “We just thought we’d get a head start on unloading,” he said as innocently as possible.
“Balderdash,” the woman snapped. “What are you playing at Rodriguez?”
Jake held up his hands. “What more do you want me to say? This is my ship. I’ll run it as I please.” The woman stared at Jake for a couple of seconds, the suspicion on her face visibly grew. Without warning, she ended the COM channel. Jake swallowed hard. “Get ready,” he said to everyone. Moments later, a slight jolt ran through Container as she gently slotted into her docking berth. “Now!” Jake snapped.
Instantly, Container powered up her weapons and began to broadcast an unencrypted message demanding every ship and pirate surrender. At the same time, Onoda’s two shuttles blasted three pirate shuttles that had begun to close with them. Speeding up, they dived towards their targets. At Container’s docking berth, the hatch retracted, and marines came pouring out.
*
As soon as the hatch began to retract, Becca threw herself forward. She exited Container into a large corridor. Several pirates had already arrived, tools for unloading cargo in their hands. She barreled into three of them, knocking them to the ground. “Hands up,” she screamed over her combat armor’s speakers. Her plasma rifle was already aimed at the nearest pirate’s head. When he didn’t immediately react, she drove an armored fist into his stomach. He fell to his knees. Her aggression was enough to cower the rest. Their hands shot up in a flash. “Cuff and secure them,” she ordered as she gestured for the navy crew with her to take over.
Without waiting, she set off at a sprint along the corridor. As she moved, she used her combat armor’s HUD to release hundreds of miniature drones from her and her squad’s combat armor. They spread out and started to scan the entire asteroid mapping it out. The next berth was only one hundred and fifty meters further along the corridor. Scans of the asteroid showed the corridor formed a ring that went three quarters of the way around the asteroid, providing access to the docking berths. They needed to secure the ring as quickly as possible. Within seconds, she reached the next docking berth. Tapping on its access panel, she opened the hatch to the adjoining ship to Container. “Sergeant Magennis, she is yours.”
“Yes Ma’am,” Magennis replied as he charged in with his squad of marines. Eight armed navy crew followed him in.
Becca waited just long enough to be sure Magennis’ force made it into the pirate ship before turning away from the hatch. With a hand gesture, she sent Higgins and O’Malley racing ahead of her to the next berth. Staying right on their heels, she saw the pirates emerge from the next ship at the same time as O’Malley and Higgins did. All three of them threw themselves to the ground as the pirates raised their weapons. Firing as she dived, Becca saw two of her bolts hit a pirate even as his shots zipped over her head. As she, O’Malley, and Higgins continued to fire, Malhorta raced past them at a lightning speed and reached the hatch. Without hesitating, he flung stun grenades through the opening. Before they exploded, Becca was already on her feet sprinting to join him. With a nod to Malhorta, they both peered around the hatch. Three pirates were on the ground trying to cover their eyes and ears. Plasma bolts dispatched them. “Sergeant Shaw, you’re up,” Becca snapped as she looked back down the corridor. Shaw and her three marines were just catching up with them.
Again, Becca waited for Shaw to board the pirate ship and for the navy crew to follow her in. Then she moved to join her squad. Together, they moved further along the corridor and took up a defensive position. “No movement up ahead?” She asked.
“None,” Malhorta answered.
“Well, they know we are here now, let’s not give them any more time to prepare.” Moving past her squad, Becca broke into a fast jog as she led them along the curving corridor. She had her rifle ready as they approached the next berth. Yet, it’s hatch was closed. “Cover me,” she ordered as she moved up to it. Malhorta and Higgins moved further down the corridor to keep watch. Tapping on the access panel, Becca cursed when it didn’t respond. The pirates had locked her out. Some of the navy crew had charges and plasma cutters, yet it would take too long. She needed to secure the other ships and the pirate base. Turning round, she moved back down the corridor until she bumped into the rest of the Navy personnel moving to keep up with her. “Petty Officer Fernandes,” she called out.
“Yes Sergeant?” Fernandes said as he stepped forward.
“Leave four of your people at the next berth hatch. The pirates have sealed it. They are to guard the hatch. I don’t want any of its crew coming out to flank us. And inform Lieutenant Jackson that pirate ship may try to escape.”
“Understood Sergeant,” the Petty Officer replied.
Becca nodded to him. “Have the rest of your people follow me.” She spun on her heels and moved to continue her attack. “Let’s go,” she said over the COM channel to her squad as she re-joined them. Moving more slowly and cautiously, they continued along the corridor. The next berth was the same, its hatch was sealed tight. When they continued on around the corridor, they came to a large foyer opposite the next berth. It had a wide hatch that seemed to lead deeper into the asteroid base. Movement further along the corridor they were in caused Becca’s rifle to snap towards it. She stopped herself pulling the trigger just in time. It was Major Onoda and his marines.
“We have secured two ships,” she reported as she moved to join him. “The rest have locked themselves in.”
“We have boarded two as well,” Onoda replied. He gestured towards the foyer. “Let’s finish this. Take point.”
“With pleasure,” Becca said with a grin she knew no one could see.
Moving down the foyer, Becca saw hatches that led to four sets of stairs. They went both up and down relative to the level she was on. The majority of the asteroid base was above the level of the ship berths, so she chose one of the stairs leading up and gestured for O’Malley to take point. Moving up one level, her squad cautiously peered out into a large hangar. It was filled with stolen cargo. Even a cursory glance told Becca most of the materials were weaponry. It was like looking at a marine supply depot. There was no sign of any pirates however. “Keep going up,” she ordered. Onoda’s marines could secure the hangar, her priority was finding the asteroid base’s main control room and the rest of the pirates.
As they continued up three more levels, they didn’t encounter any pirates. Scans from her combat armor’s sensors and the drones they had released to map out the asteroid suggested the first two levels were also storage areas, but the third looked like the pirates’ living quarters. “The command room should be on the next level,” she informed her squad. It was the only area her drones hadn’t been able to access. The pirates had it locked up tight.
Without looking to see, she hurled stun grenades through the hatch when she came to the top of the stairs. As soon as they exploded, she rushed through into the corridor. Malhorta, O’Malley and Higgins were right behind her. She grunted when she found no pirates. The corridor was empty. Scans told her it led in one direction. There were no other hatches leading off it, only one large hatch at its end. Cautiously moving down to it, she tapped on the hatch’s access panel. It didn’t respond. “We’re going to have to cut through it,” she said to her squad. Switching COM channels, she connected with Major Onoda. “I believe we have reached the control room; it is sealed tight. We’ll need plasma cutters.”
“Sending them to you now,” Onoda replied. “We have found lots of stolen cargo, but no pirates yet. They must have sealed themselves in the control room.”
Becca waited as patiently as she could as a squad of marines joined her squad on the upper level. They immediately moved over to the hatch and two of them ignited their plasma cutters. She couldn’t help but tap her foot as it took nearly two minutes to cut through the center of the hatch. “We are ready,” one of the marines finally said as he switched off his plasma cutter. He pulled a small explosive charge and placed it on the hatch. “We better stand back,” he suggested.
“Back to the stairwell,” Becca said as she gestured for her squad to move back with the other marines.
“Detonating,” the marine shouted. A small pop followed.
Becca raced back out of the stairwell. The hatch had been blown into the control room. Her squad hurled stun grenades through the opening. Then, they charged in. She ground to a halt seconds later. She was definitely in the control room. A number of command consoles were arranged in concentric semicircles. Yet, there were no pirates. Quickly ,she scanned the outer walls of the control room. Her eyes narrowed when she saw it. There was another hatch. Get in here,” she ordered the second squad of marines. “Get this hatch cut open at once.”
A repetitive flashing from one of the consoles drew her attention. Moving over to it, Becca examined the console. Her eyes widened when she saw it. It was a timer that was counting down. Her mind went to the pirate vessel that had self-destructed at Magellan Three. At once, she switched COM channels to the command channel. “Onoda, Jackson, there are no pirates in the command center. There’s another hatch they have escaped from. There’s also a timer counting down. I think the base is set to self-destruct. The pirates are trying to escape. We only have seven minutes!”
Chapter 6
What we can say for sure about the Karacknid Civil War is that it was one of the bloodiest conflicts in our galaxy’s history. Hundreds of worlds were laid waste by the fighting. Tens of thousands of ships must have been destroyed. The casualties must have reached into the hundreds of billions.
-Excerpt from Empire Ascendant 3015 AD.
Alarm filled Jake as he heard Becca’s warning. He opened his mouth to reply. Nothing came out. He was silenced by thousands of small explosions filling Container’s main holo display. They rippled across the bottom third of the asteroid. In an instant, he was looking out at the darkness of space. Before he could really grasp what had happened, larger explosions erupted from four of the docked ships. They had blown the docking clamps holding them in place. Several shuttles also appeared from some hidden hangar. They rushed towards the ships. Even as Jake watched, the pirate ships began to back away from their berths, their weapons turning towards Container. At once, he took control of Container’s weapons. “De-couple us from the clamps!” he ordered. Slamming his fingers down onto his control panel, he sent two plasma bolts hurtling towards the nearest pirate ship. Both struck its only plasma cannon, melting it to slag. Jake’s eyes flashed around the inside of the asteroid, looking for the next threat. He saw it too late. Another pirate ship fired three laser beams into Container’s nose. Hull fragments and internal bulkheads were blown apart. Jake felt the force reverberate up through the spine of the freighter and under his command chair.
Even as it fired, the pirate ship began to turn towards the large opening in the bottom of the asteroid. Losing track on the laser cannons, Jake blasted its engines instead. The vessel immediately lost thrust. Its maneuvering thrusters began to fire widely trying to correct its spin. Jake moved on from it. Three pirate ships were still making for the massive hole the small detonations had blown into the asteroid. It was clear now the pirates had an escape plan all along. They are trying to get out of here before the whole place self-destructs, Jake was sure. He cursed as he tried to bring Container’s plasma cannons to bear on the next pirate ship. “Turn us to follow them!” he ordered.
More jolts ran through the bridge as laser beams and then plasma bolts struck the freighter. Bridge officers began to call out damage reports. Jake was only half listening; his focus was on the pirate ships. He didn’t want any of them to get away. As soon as his plasma cannons recharged, he smashed the fire button again. Two bolts struck the third pirate ship. They didn’t hit anything vital, however. Jake swore again. “Come on, come on!” He demanded as he watched his cannon’s capacitors begin to charge up again. He grimaced as more enemy fire struck his ship. “No!” he cried as first one, then a second pirate ship pulled out of the hole in the asteroid. A third quickly followed them. The only one left was the first ship whose engines he had damaged. As Jake swung his weapons around to face it, it hurled three more laser beams into Container’s hull. More alarms went off around Jake. Jake didn’t care. He fired back plasma bolts of his own. Over the space of forty seconds, the ships fired three more salvos at each other. For a moment, Jake thought the pirate ship was going to escape too. But then as it tried to push its way out of the opening, a maneuvering thruster failed, causing it to clip the asteroid on the way past. The shunt sent the ship spiraling away towards the nearby asteroid field. With its main engines down and the additional damage Jake had done, Jake knew it was done for.
Instantly, Jake checked the chronometer on his command chair. For the briefest of seconds, he hesitated. He hadn’t fired Container’s two missiles. In the confined space of the asteroid, they could have killed as many of his own people as the pirates. Yet if he left the asteroid, he could lock onto the three fleeing pirate ships and take out two of them. Desperately, he wanted to take them out. Yet the engagement had already lasted four minutes. There was hardly any time left. He needed to get his people off the stricken pirate base before it blew.
“Bring us back to the docking berth,” he ordered. “And give me a damage report.”
“It’s not good, Jake,” Lydia shouted. “Our engines have taken damage, so have our power relays. Maneuvering thrusters will get us back to the berth, but we may not be able to get out of the asteroid in time. If it explodes and sends a shockwave of rock chunks…”
Jake nodded. He understood. The rock chunks could catch up to Container and tear her apart. He quickly pulled up the damage report on his command chair. Lydia was right. Container had taken a serious beating. Her large size had allowed her to absorb most of the pirate shots, yet they had been doing damage nonetheless. Closing his eyes, he tried to think. In the back of his mind, he could picture the timer counting down. He dismissed it as best he could. They needed a way out. They had Onoda’s shuttles. They should have the speed to escape the asteroid’s detonation. Jake dismissed them though. If they did escape, they’d be sitting ducks for the pirates. They needed a ship. His eyes snapped open. Quickly, he assessed the four pirate ships the marines had secured. His eyes were drawn to one immediately. It was the smallest, yet it looked most like a proper warship. Roughly the size of a destroyer, its engines looked impressive. At once, he activated the command COM channel. “Onoda, Jamieson, Samuels, we need to evacuate immediately. Container is too damaged to get us out of here. Make for Python. We’re going to take her.”
“Understood Lieutenant, we’re already on our way,” Onoda replied.
Jake locked eyes with Lydia. “Send the general order to evacuate ship. Get everyone off Container and onto Python. Make sure all our people on the asteroid know as well. And tell our crew already on Python to fire up her reactors and engines.”
“Yes Sir,” Lydia replied.
Jake spun towards the rest of the crew manning Container’s bridge. “Go on, get going this instant,” he ordered. Without hesitating, they began to move out of Container’s bridge. Jake waited just long enough for Lydia to transmit his orders before he grabbed her from her command chair and made sure she went ahead of him. Almost, he turned back to look at the bridge. Though Container was a poorly-built underpowered freighter, for three short weeks, she had been his. Reluctantly, Jake dismissed his sentimentality. Now was not the time for such juvenile thoughts. His crews’ lives were still at risk.
