Chapter 38: The Last Stand
“Stabilize the forward shields!” Julius said.
The bridge was filled with smoke and he could hear coughing from some of the officers even as he ignored the burning in his own lungs.
“Trying sir!” Ramey said.
“Garval, what’s wrong with the ventilation?”
Garval coughed and tried to clear his throat. “It’s down, sir,” he managed.
“Obviously it’s down! Get it running before we all suffocate!”
“Aye.” More coughing.
“Captain, we’ve lost armor integrity on starboard side!” Jessen said. “All the way to frame 20. Fires reported in multiple adjacent compartments.”
“Dispatch fire teams and damage control.”
On the main screen, the enemy battlecruiser loomed large. Its gun ports had been firing nonstop since entering weapons range. The Sea Wolf returned fire, but it was outgunned by the more heavily armed vessel. Despite the battering it was taken, the old ship charged forward like a stubborn bull facing a matador.
He glanced at the onscreen damage and shield indicators. Shields were down to 45 percent and armor plating was taking the rest of it. Soon the enemy fire would penetrate beyond the armor and into the splinter plating and then finally the bulkheads. At that point the hull integrity would collapse and they would lose the ship.
Hold together, lucky lady, Julius thought. Just one more time. I promise I’ll fix you up later.
“Captain,” Jessen said. “Once we clear the cruiser, we’re going to be smashing right into the debris field behind it if we don’t slow down.”
“Understood. Steady as she goes, Jessen.”
“Aye, sir.”
Julius heard a hiss from the ventilation system starting up, but just as the smoke began to clear, another explosion rocked them—and it shut off again.
Garval cursed and slammed a fist on his armrest.
“Sir, I lost contact with DC,” Jessen said.
“Is there something wrong with com?”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so, sir. No problems with com on this end. Their last update said they left the battle dressing station and were en route to the forward compartments.”
Julius felt uneasy—could they have abandoned ship?
“Garval, are the escape pods still locked down?”
Garval checked his station then nodded. “Aye, sir, they are. Until you give the order.”
Julius glanced at the damage control screen. They were almost on top of the battlecruiser now, and enemy fire was now penetrating their shields and damaging the ventral hull armor. The diagram of the ship showed yellow dots for light damage, orange for moderate, and red for critical—the red dots were winning. The fire in the forward compartments was spreading.
He followed the diagram farther in and noticed the untouched compartments on the starboard side of Frame 73. He remembered these recently being used to store the overflow from the cargo hold.
“Jessen, what’s in the forward storage compartments? I know they recently moved some cargo in there.”
Without saying a word, Jessen brought up a holographic manifest that floated above his station.
Julius tried to read the list, but the smoke interfered with the hologram. Jessen noticed his plight and used his hands to clear the smoke.
He scanned the list and found what he hoped not to find, a cache of combustible material. If the fire reached it, the ship would be sunk.
“Do you still have emergency venting control in those compartments?” Julius asked.
“Yes, sir,” Jessen responded. “But I don’t know who’s in there. I’ll try to check—”
“Whoever is in there is a corpse anyway,” Julius said. “Vent it now.”
“Aye, Captain.”
Julius glanced at the damage screen and noted with relief that the fires went out.
“Done, sir,” Jessen reported.
A series of explosions rocked them and the damage control screen lit up with more dots. These were on their aft. On the tactical, he could see the enemy Z-44Cs had commenced bombing runs, apparently targeting their engines.
“Ramey, those fighters …”
“Aye, sir,” Ramey said. “But I’m going to have to redirect fire away from the cruiser to target them.”
“Do it.”
Julius studied the situation. Wolf Squadron was able to divert some of the fighters away, but beyond that they were of no help now. He noted that the battlecruiser had sustained damage to its aft when it jumped in—and that is where they were headed. But even with concentrated fire at its weakest point, it would not be enough.
He had been reacting too much. They needed to turn the tables on this quickly.
“Ramey, drop the shields. They’re not doing much good anyway.”
Ramey turned around. “But, sir?”
“We’re draining the capacitor for nothing. We need that power to jump out of here.”
“Aye, aye, sir.”
Julius opened a conference channel to Engineering. “Murdock, how is she holding up down there?”
There was static on the line and some yelling in the background.
“Captain, wait one sec. Watch that fucking rupture or you’ll find out what a chemical burn feels like, you idiot!
“Sorry, sir, it’s hectic here. She’s got some fight left in her, but I don’t know how much more. Have you heard from the DC teams?”
“No, we lost contact. Listen, is the port reactor still off its strut?”
There was more yelling on the other end before Murdock answered.
“Well… yeah. Left it like that since it’s still out of commission. It’s worthless scrap right now. Without the graviton coil I can’t direct the output through the waveguide—”
Murdock stopped and sighed.
“What are you going to ask me to do, Julius?”
“I want you to rig it with a timer to spin up to full power, line it up on the landing bay, and eject it with the launch catapults so it strikes the enemy cruiser.”
Murdock snorted. “Oh, is that all ya want? Why don’t you ask for something easier, like pulling a treasure chest out of my ass?”
“Murdock.”
“I got it, asshole. You owe me a generator. I’ll let you know when it’s ready.”
Julius sighed. Now that everyone had gotten their share of the plunder, discipline had gone out the porthole.
At that moment, he heard the bridge doors open and someone walked in. The sound of the footsteps was enough to reveal who.
“I thought I told you that I did not want you here,” he said, without turning around.
Laina walked up to his side, holding a datapad in her hand.
“You said to stay away from you, but you did not tell me to stay off the bridge.”
“Well, I’m on the bridge, aren’t I?”
An explosion sounded and the ship rocked. Laina fell over and landed on top of him. Her face was right next to his and their eyes locked. Her scent caught him off guard. The long hair, no longer in a clip, draped on him.
For a moment, his anger subsided and was replaced by a different emotion. She quickly pushed herself away and regained her composure. Julius stiffened in his chair and looked away.
Laina tried to hand him the datapad, but he ignored her.
“Get off my bridge,” he growled.
“Take it!” she yelled. “It’s Chorus’ location!”
Julius turned halfway to her and slowly took the pad.
“How did you get this?” he questioned.
“Don’t ask me to explain how. The hackers obtained it.”
Julius handed it back to her with obvious disinterest.
“Well, are you going to jump to it?” she persisted.
Julius sighed.
“Even if I wanted to jump there, even if I had the means at my disposal to do battle with the most powerful
force in the galaxy—the A.I. holding her …”
He pointed at the battlecruiser on the main screen.
“That must be dealt with before we can do anything!”
At that moment, Murdock’s voice came on his conference.
“Julius, your catapult is armed and ready.”
“Will you be able to get the reactor spun up quickly enough for this?”
“It’s already at Stage 11. Doesn’t take me that long. I’m not an amateur engineer like certain navigation officers.”
Julius could see Jessen squirm in his chair.
“How long before it reaches critical mass?”
“I’m having it run a diagnostics routine to delay the progression to Stage 12. You’ve probably got a couple of minutes before there. Now, when will it actually blow up? No clue, but judging by the sound and heat coming off it, we don’t have much time.”
“Acknowledged. Stay by the catapult controls, Murdock.”
Julius looked at the main screen. They were now directly above their adversary. He glanced at the onscreen damage and shield indicators. With shields down, the enemy fire was freely eating into the armor plating, which was also quickly giving way to the splinter plating. The ship would not last much longer.
“Jessen, on my mark, I want you turn to port approximately 90 degrees and pitch up to show this cruiser our bare ass. Murdock, get ready.”
They both acknowledged his command.
“Are you jamming their communications?” Laina asked.
Julius was taken aback by the unusual question.
“What?” he responded, then raised his hand. “I don’t have time for you. You better brace yourself.”
Laina sighed then walked over to Jared’s old station. She looked at the station for a moment, perhaps remembering the incident with Eddie. Fortunately for her sake, the blood had already been cleaned earlier by the crew. She reluctantly sat in the module.
Julius returned his gaze to the screen—a sight filled with flashes from cannon fire and explosions from flak guns. An enemy fighter would occasionally fly across, attempting to strafe the Sea Wolf with precision bombs, Ramey’s return fire kept them from getting their bombs off for now, but long-term it was ineffective against such small and agile targets.
The enemy battlecruiser was so close now that he could read the lettering on its hull: UES Mystic. Another explosion rocked the Sea Wolf and additional red dots appeared on the damage screen. It was now or never.
“Jessen, execute!”
The Sea Wolf made the maneuver, turning to its left and pitching upward. Ahead, the bow of the ship pointed to the debris field and was on a collision course with it, but he had to ignore the threat it posed.
Julius turned his module around to get a view of their aft. The launch bay was now aligned with the enemy.
“Now, Murdock!”
It took a few seconds before he could see the generator eject toward the enemy, but once in space, it traveled quickly out of visual range. He was surprised at the speed it was catapulted and suspected Murdock must have rigged something to increase its velocity with the catapult beams.
“Ramey, concentrate all fire on the enemy cruiser’s damage point. Whatever you do though, don’t hit the generator! Jessen, full reverse, try to stop our inertia.”
They acknowledged him. He knew their acceleration was probably too great at this point to avoid a collision with the debris wall, but he had to try.
At that moment, a brilliant explosion lit up the screen. When the flash cleared, he could see a hole in the cruiser and an ejection of debris from it. It was a significant blow to them.
Julius whirled his station back around. “Jessen, can you jump?”
His lieutenant shook his head. “I’m sorry, sir. The well is still projecting.”
It was not enough. Ahead, they were still approaching the debris wall. Although their speed was slowing, they would probably still collide.
Julius looked up at the damage control. New fires were erupting across the Sea Wolf; compartments were being flooded with radiation, the splinter plating was being eaten away, Even if they stopped short of colliding with the debris wall, there was no fight left in them. It was over.
“Julius, are you still jamming them!?” Laina asked.
He did not answer her. His only option now was to signal their surrender—but he knew the fate of being captured was worse than death. It was time to give another order that he never thought he would never give.
“Garval, unlock the escape pods and shuttles.”
“Can someone tell me if we are jamming them!?” Laina yelled.
This time she stood in the center of the bridge.
Finally, Jessen answered her.
“Yes, of course. We don’t want them getting reinforcements—”
“Stop jamming them!” she barked. “There is a message they must receive.”
Julius finally looked over at her. “What are you talking about?” he asked her.
“Sir! Collision alert!” Jessen yelled.
Just as Julius tried to focus on what the collision was, an explosion rocked them. Debris began to rain from the ceiling and the lighting of the bridge became further clouded with smoke.
Julius instinctively banked his command module to the far side of the bridge to avoid the fallout. He rubbed his face to clear the dust, and he had to cough the particles out of his lungs. Ironically, he heard the ventilation system finally kick in, clearing the smoke out of the bridge. The lighting finally pierced through and he looked around the bridge.
A pile of rubble, comprising beams and metal shrapnel, sat in the center where he had been. It was fortunate he had reacted in time to move away from there.
“Everyone okay?”
The officers managed to acknowledge him in between the coughing. He took a glance at the ship indicators. They had come to a stop finally. Apparently, they collided with the debris wall. The damage was bad, but they were alive.
He looked over to where Laina was standing, but she was not there. Alarmed, he got out of his module and searched the bridge. It took him a moment to realize that the rubble had claimed her.
“Get Lankey here!” he yelled to no one in particular. “Help me move this.”
Frantically, he and some of the officers began removing the debris. He picked up and threw a heavy beam out of the way to reveal Laina’s back.
Panic set in and he felt himself tremble. Julius quickened the pace, frantically tossing away beams and metal plates double his own weight. The adrenaline was coursing through his veins and he felt his muscles spasm uncontrollably. Finally, he cleared most of it off her.
Dread set in at the sight if her. Her dress was torn and the skin underneath cut and bruised, her hair was matted with blood, and her body was still as a corpse. Was she dead?
At that moment, the bridge doors opened and a couple of Lankey’s medics arrived. They quickly moved in on Laina and began working on her.
Julius stood up slowly and gazed at the battlecruiser. The attack had stopped. He glanced at the tactical. The fighter squadron had disengaged and was headed back to the cruiser. Wolf Squadron was nowhere on the map.
“Ramey, cease fire,” he ordered.
The smoke had cleared and the bridge was finally quiet. Julius looked around, taking inventory of the condition of his officers—bruises, scratches; no fatalities. He looked at the medics treating Laina, working up the courage to ask about her condition.
“How is she?”
The lead medic shrugged. “She’s alive. Looks like some broken bones and a concussion. Won’t know more till we get her to the infirmary.”
Julius let out a sigh of relief. She was alive.
“Tell Lankey that the captain said it’s in his best interest to save this patient. Is that understood?”
The medic nodded. The two setup a stretcher and began the process of moving her out.
Julius turned bac
k to his officers, who looked equally dumbfounded by the sudden retreat by the enemy.
“What happened, gentlemen?”
Ramey shook his head. “Sir, they had us. We did not score significant enough damage to push them back. I don’t know what happened.”
“Wolf Squadron’s gone, sir,” Garval said. “No telemetry on any of them.”
Julius suspected as much, but he could not grieve for them now.
“Any sign of wreckage to confirm?”
Garval shrugged. “There’s a lot of debris out there, sir. I can’t really say.”
They all stayed quiet a moment.
“Captain,” Jessen broke the silence. “Laina said something about jamming their communications. It appears that she got her request. That last hit completely knocked out our com, and our ability to jam.”
Julius turned to Laina, who was now on the stretcher with the medics leaving the bridge. She had done something. Whatever it was, it had saved them.
I’m sorry, Laina, he thought to himself. I should have listened.
“Sir!” Ramey pointed to the screen.
The battlecruiser was gone. They had jumped out.
Julius looked down at the bridge floor. By his boot lay Laina’s datapad. He knelt down and picked it up. The screen was full of dust particles. He wiped it and was able to activate it. The coordinates were intact. He handed it over to Jessen, then sat back in his command module.
“Plot a course to that location,” he said quietly.
“Aye, Captain.”
Julius looked up at the damage control displays. Fires raged in multiple compartments, and even the emergency venting to suppress the fires was down. The casualty report nauseated him: forty-six dead or seriously wounded, so far. The Sea Wolf itself had taken a massive beating, one she might never completely recover from—but she was not sunk yet.
“Course plotted. The capacitor is filled and gravity generators ready. On your order, sir.”
He had no idea where these coordinates lead—and even if it did lead directly to Daniel Chin and Chorus, he did not know what he was going to do when he got there. Chin was like a demon from hell, and the things his nanobots could do were nothing short of the blackest of magic.
But this was not the first time he had faced a demon. He had faced the mother of all demons once before and he had defeated her.
Now fate pushed him again—pushed him back on course to the currents of his destiny.
But this time he learned the lesson that was always in front of him, a lesson that spoke to him each time he fought against it, each time he tried to change the future. A painful lesson that cost him, and would probably continue to cost him. But now Julius understood that lesson: you can’t fight fate, it will always kick your ass.
Resigning himself to whatever the future held, he gave the order.
“Execute.”