“The external elevator.” Nate nodded towards the large loading blast door. The others followed him to the side of the ship. It was much easier to walk now that the ship’s engines were burning away. They reached the platform, and once each of them was in position, Nate hit the control. The inner door closed, and then alarms sounded.

  “Check your seals. It’s cold out there.”

  The pressure alerts continued as the elevator platform began to move. It then stopped, and the wall to their right opened to reveal the blackness of space. Nate waited there for some time as the others began to move out. The angles were odd, and they had to climb a small ladder to reach the side of the ship. A series of recessed bays along the hull marked points where railgun batteries had been fitted. Now they were empty, and used to hold a single fighter hidden in the gap. Billy stopped and looked back at him.

  “You okay?”

  Nate smiled. “It never gets old, does it?”

  Billy looked off into space and then back at him.

  “What, space?”

  Nate tried not to laugh, but he couldn’t help himself. Billy knew it was him and shook his head.

  “Come on, let’s go.”

  Nate took a few steps and then reached the outside of the ship. The force from the engines had already eased off, and a quick check of the indicators in his visor confirmed they were pushing around twenty percent normal gravity. It was strange, because as he waited there on the hull, he could make out the distant glinting ring of the station. It looked like a ring doughnut in space, and even further away beyond was the gleaming jewel of Terra Nova, the capital of the Union, and home to the Naval Academy.

  “This is just wrong,” said Billy.

  Nate looked to his friend, who now blocked off his view of the station far away in the distance. He was backlit by the shooting flames from the main thrusters firing.

  “We’re flying backwards towards Yorkdale!”

  “It’s the old way,” said Nate while shaking his head, “You know that, right?”

  Billy hesitated and then moved closer to the fighter. Nate shook his head in amusement and followed after him. As he climbed up to the small hatch leading into the cockpit, he wondered what it must have been like all those years ago. He’d been in the simulator of course, but trying to visualise a fleet battle where the ships would approach the battlefield backwards just seemed wrong.

  “Look!” Billy said.

  Nate was already half inside the fighter when he looked off to his right. There was a single light transport ship, though it was still almost two-thirds the size of the cruiser. It was covered in heavily worn company markings, and as he looked carefully, he could see patches where it had been hastily repaired.

  “Is this going to work?”

  Billy looked back at him and shrugged.

  “We’ve gamed it, Nate. It has a good chance of working. There’s only one thing we could never confirm. How many of us can get away before they come down hard on us.”

  “Yeah, that’s the bit that worries me, too. Come on, let’s get ready.”

  They both clambered inside the fighter and moved to their usual seats. They began a series of checks, while activating the passive systems one by one. Computer displays and lights flickered to life, but the main drive remained offline.

  “I thought we’d never come back to Yorkdale. And not like this.”

  “Tell me about it,” laughed Nate.

  His eyes ran over the panels, and then to the main core.

  “Okay, everything looks good. You ready?”

  Billy shifted in his seat and then nodded.

  “Knighthawks, deploy into escort formation. B Flight first,” said the Wing Commander.

  Nate licked his lips and then spoke to Billy.

  “Fire her up.”

  A barely noticeable shudder marked the activation of the main powerplant, and then the engines powered up just after. Something flashed to the right, and then the four fighters of B Flight moved off and behind the ship, though bizarrely that meant they were heading for the front of the ship.

  “So we’re taking point?”

  “Yeah,” said Nate, “We’ve got more experience of this area of space.”

  “A Flight, you’re up,” said Holder, “Wait for Glorious to finish her rotation.”

  The massive heavy cruiser’s engines cut, and the numerous small thrusters activated to turn the ship slowly around. It was a long, slow, and drawn out process, made that much slower by the need to not appear to be in a rush. Combat conditions dictated the ship would move more rapidly, but at this moment it would only trigger alarms in the station. Nate held his breath as he reached for the engine controls, while Billy prepared to deactivate the harness locking them to the ship.

  “They must see us by now,” said Billy.

  “You’re kidding, right? They will have been tracking us the moment we entered the control space of Terra Nova. Right now, they see the return of their cruiser and a convoy of transports guarded by Union fighters.”

  His throat seemed to dry up, so he took a quick sip of water.

  “Or that’s what we hope anyway. They might already have the station’s arsenal pointing at us.”

  Both of them knew what that would mean for their small force. The station was home to half the Union fleet at present, and they could easily vaporise the cruiser in a matter of minutes, perhaps less. But there were also the defences built into the station, large guns designed to repel an assault by a war fleet, even if the station was lightly defended by its own ships. Nate found his attention drawn to a number of partially hidden weapon emplacements. He knew from the simulation there would be almost no time for evasive manoeuvres once the shooting started.

  “Now,” Holder ordered.

  “A Flight,” said Nate, “You know the drill. Keep the cruiser between you and the station until we’re in formation. Form up on me, and keep your hands off the triggers. Nobody speaks on the local channel but me.”

  Billy gave him a thumbs up and hit the release controls. It took a moment, but then they pulled away and drifted away in front of the ship as its engines continued to burn ever more slowly. They rolled away and boosted their engines. The other three Firehawks moved closely, and Nate shook his head as he looked at the light projectors fitted to the hull. They showed bright lights onto the armour creating a faux lightshow that matched the highlights and colours used by the Union. From a distance it might work, but eventually they would see through the ruse.

  “Everybody into position,” said Holder.

  Billy pointed forward at something glinting in space.

  “There she is, out in front of the convoy.”

  “Let’s follow her in.”

  The four fighters accelerated slowly away from the ship, and Nate almost gasped as he spotted how close they were to the station. He could make out the vast ring, as well as tendrils that reached out into space. Scores of ships were moored there, the largest shape clearly behind the terrifying Dreadnought. As he looked at the distant shape, he remembered being inside the vessel and his encounter with Captain Gaunt.

  “That ship,” he said ominously.

  “I know,” said Billy, “Not a good place.”

  They continued to move closer, and as Nate’s eyes scanned the various civilian ships in the area, he noticed something moving.

  “What’s that?”

  Billy checked the passive scanners and locked onto the vessel.

  “Crap. They’ve got two Star Class cutters out on patrol. And that one is heading towards us.”

  Nate gulped uncomfortably. Their ruse would only be possible if they could get close enough to avoid the station’s guns.

  “What do we do?”

  “I don’t know.” He opened the closed channel, “Sir, we’ve got a problem.”

  “I see it,” said Holder, “Stay in formation. Glorious will deal with them.”

  Billy looked to his friend, and then back to the view directly ahead as the cutter continued forward.

  “Put her on,” said Nate, “I want to hear.”

  “…negative. We have returned from combat with the traitors and require repair. We’ve sustained heavy combat damage and numerous casualties.”

  It took a second for Nate to work out who was speaking.

  “That’s not Galanos, is it?”

  “No,” said Billy, “It must be somebody else on the bridge.”

  “Of course. Anybody could answer as long as they sound the part.”

  “Where is Captain Tyrol?”

  “The Captain is dead,” came back the curt reply, “Now, where can I moor? I’ve seventy-four wounded crew, and more importantly. I have critical intelligence on the location of the General Rivers, commander of the rebel forces.”

  This time there was a much longer pause.

  “Quay 24 has been allocated for you. Your escort can return to Yorkdale for debriefing.”

  Nate shook his head in astonishment.

  “I can’t believe it.”

  “Why would they expect anything else? We’re all flying Union colours, and we’ve not sneaked up towards them.”

  The column of spacecraft continued forwards, with a gap from the fighters to the cruiser of almost thirty kilometres. Nate kept checking all around them, half expecting fighters to come right at them. He was completely focussed on the mission, but the last thing he wanted to do was to fire at his own people. An alarm sounded, and for a split second he thought it meant missiles were incoming.

  “They’re scanning us.”

  “Okay,” said Nate, “We should check out for now. Just take it nice and easy.”

  The alert continued for longer than expected, and then it was gone as quickly as it had begun.

  “We will be within their defence cordon in thirty seconds,” said the Wing Commander, “Keep moving.”

  Nate nodded slowly and glanced to Billy as they made subtle changes to their course. He could now make out more details on the station than before. There was a single fighter squadron, but it was too far away to be concerned with and seemed to be heading towards the Rift leading to Hyperion, probably to run patrols around the critical link to other parts of the Union.

  “Look.” Billy pointed ahead. A large vessel was moving from its mooring at the station. It was a big ship and little different in size to a cruiser. It could have been mistaken for a conventional transport ship if it were not for the bow section that was a heavily modified Liberty Class destroyer, and several point defence turrets scattered about its hull.

  “That’s a troop transport.”

  “I know. But look past it, to the three quays alongside Dreadnought.”

  Nate looked carefully and then gasped. He could see the ship moving from its mooring, but behind it were five more ships docked.

  “Troop transports. They must be for the invasion of Hyperion.”

  “You know how many soldiers they can fit on those. That’s an army being prepped to go to war.”

  “Well…we’re here to stop that,” said Nate, “Maybe…”

  The voice of Wing Commander Holder cut him off, and both listened carefully as she gave her final orders before the battle would begin.

  “All units, this is the moment. Glorious will lead. Once the firing starts, you will be allocated targets as they are identified. Remember, we have to protect her and the transports, no matter the cost. Ignore the Union ships for now. Wait for the targets.”

  Nate nodded as he listened.

  “Okay, A Flight, you heard the Wing Commander. Be ready on my mark.”

  The fighter fell silent, and they continued forward in silence. Right behind them was the cruiser, as well as the convoy of civilian transports. They were so close now Nate could almost see the gunners watching him. And then it happened in an instant. The onboard warning alarms sounded, followed by tones as missiles tracking and gun systems tried to lock on. It was an incredible moment, and for a second or two, Nate found his body to be completely paralysed. All sense of peace had gone, and in its place a scene of utter madness and confusion.

  “Now!” Holder said.

  Nate reached for the engine controls while calling out to the others. At the same time, more than a hundred targets appeared, with almost all of them scattered over the Naval Station. The larger turrets struggled to make contact with their limited firing arcs, leaving just two or three of the heaviest mounts able to engage the approaching taskforce.

  “This is it,” said Billy, “It’s time.”

  Nate reached out with his arm, bumped his fist with Billy, and then nodded.

  “A Flight. Follow me in. We’ve got targets! Let’s clear a path.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Naval Base ‘Yorkdale’, Terra Nova

  Matilda watched the screens as digital traffic travelled throughout the station. She wanted to get up and march right out through the door. But as always, the commissar was there, keeping a stern eye over those around him. There was so much information it was impossible to monitor even a fraction of it. What intrigued her most was the imagery being broadcast from the approaching cruiser. It was of an old Alliance officer with the markings of a captain, but she knew who he was.

  “…call on all Alliance personnel to throw off the shackles of Union tyranny and join us and put an end to the genocide of the Jötnar.”

  Matilda’s eyebrows rose in interest. She’d expected an appeal to morality or tradition, but instead he’d gone right to the troll-like warriors. It seemed a dangerous move to make until she realised this wasn’t an appeal to the regular citizens of the Union, but to the men and women of the military, many of whom had served alongside the tough and brutal Jötnar.

  Smart. And now Commander Harper has his own ship? Since when?

  She leaned forward and looked at his face. He’d been the second-in-command of Relentless ever since she’d first arrived on the ship. Her eyes moved to one of the many external feeds showing the approaching cruiser. It was coming in fast and had already made it through the outer defence perimeter when the scanners picked up anomalous readings.

  “What is going on?”

  For a fraction of a second Matilda thought she’d been found out. But before the commissar could say another word, she brought up the imagery of the ship. Sensors were already identifying specific components as coming from a different ship to is registry.

  “The ship.”

  “Yes?”

  “There’s something wrong with it.”

  The commissar looked at it for a few seconds and shrugged.

  “It’s a damaged Union cruiser. I don’t see an…”

  “There!” She pointed at the flank. Her screen mode altered, and the ship changed colour as it showed the thickness of the metal from the scanners. The commissar audibly gasped and then shook his head.

  “They’re using projectors?”

  “Yes. That’s no damaged Union cruiser. It’s a much older hull. I’d say a first tranche with hull modifications.”

  “Outstanding work,” said the commissar as he lifted his datapad.

  Matilda felt terrible about revealing the ship’s secrets, even though she knew that the station’s scanners were already capable of detecting the changes. The whole thing was a show to demonstrate both her skill and also her loyalty to the Union. No matter what she did, every single member of the Navy was under scrutiny. This wasn’t helped by her connection with the men and women now serving in the rebel fleet. Her life in the Union was a bizarre mixture of awe and congratulations for her skills, mixed with suspicion of anybody with high level access. Thankfully, just seconds later the station’s guns began firing and blasting away at the approaching Alliance cruiser.

  “You were correct, Captain. You should be serving with our remote monitoring craft. They have utterly failed us today.”

  “Thank you, Commissar. I will continue analysing the enemy craft. We need to understand their capabilities and intentions as quickly as possible.”

  Unbeknownst to her superiors, she’d managed to install various subroutines to look for specific signatures of interest to her. One in particular caught her eye just as alarms sounded throughout the control centre. For a moment she thought it might be her, but then she saw several of the station’s defence systems coming online, and she knew what was about to happen.

  They’re here.

  Matilda watched those around her scrambling to understand what was happening. The commissar was on his primitive datapad, a relic from forty years ago. He spoke at it for several seconds and then looked to the handful of officers on duty.

  “Yorkdale Station is under attack by unknown forces.”

  “You heard the commissar.” Matilda rose from her seat, “V Section defends the Union from all virtual threats. Close the network, and monitor all channels for attempts to breach our systems.”

  The commissar looked to her, and then gave her a slow nod. He seemed to be happy with her response, and she was simply thankful she wasn’t wearing any kind of biometrics, else he’d know she was so tense she’d almost passed out.

  “What can I do to help?”

  Matilda looked to him, and for a split second it appeared he was being sarcastic. But as she looked into his eyes, she could tell he was one of those men who knew a little about most things but was far from an expert. All she needed to do was to continue massaging his ego. Matilda cried out in surprise, and then brought up a completely unrelated screen of historic data, hoping the colours and barrage of numbers would do its job.

  “They’re hitting our firewalls. Same signature as those that tried to get in through the backdoor before.”

  He moved closer and looked at the numbers.

  “I’ve locked them down and am tracking the source.” She turned and looked to him, “It’s coming from Terra Nova itself. They’re activating hidden breach programs to shut down our defences.”

  “Can you stop it?”

  “Already done, Commissar.” She smiled, “Our work inside the system paid off. They thought they’d escaped safely after deleting your avatar and trying to take me hostage, but we’ve been tracking them ever since.”

 

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