Goliath
Blake’s palms sweat against the arms of her command chair, her muscles frozen solid in anticipation. A thousand battle scenarios shot through her mind.
They had to join Ceres’ defence as soon as they were within range. She had no doubt that the dwarf planet, teeming with water, was the Jovians’ primary target. But there was no way to check and no way to communicate.
“Anything yet?” she asked Yeoh for what must have been the hundredth time.
“No, cap. Quantum is just static.”
Blake shook her head. How had the Jovians intercepted and blocked quantum? She was no engineer, but she knew that should be impossible. They were going in blind to whatever they faced.
“Kelley, ETA?”
“We’re still ten minutes out, Captain.”
“Garba?” Blake turned to her security and weapons officer. He knew what she was asking.
“Nothing yet, captain. But if they’ve blocked or scrambled long-range, we’ll still see them the moment we move into short-range.”
Then it was to be a battle.
She’d go for the largest ship, try to disable its weapons, then its engines, and take the damn thing down if they had to. Blake shook at the sheer audacity of it. How dare they cross the borders like it was just a walk in the park for them? The Jovians didn’t care. They were just too damned strong to care.
Blake had witnessed that attitude in the Trojans. She’d seen their relentless hunger for resources and infrastructure; the people wanted living space. They wanted every grav-plate and Eden sphere they could get their mech-suited hands on, and they wanted it yesterday. They were spreading themselves across the solar system and if you weren’t with them; you were scum. Annihilated beneath the black boots of their soldiers.
Damn them.
“We are closing in on Ceres, Captain.” Garba’s voice snapped Blake to attention. She didn’t know how long she had been stewing in her command chair. “Do you want it on screen?” he asked. His voice trembled.
“Absolutely.”
The screen changed from black space to a full-scale image of Ceres. It took her a moment to pick out the enemy ships, red dots with trailing transponder signals. It was only then that she realised the sheer scale of the Jovian’s audacity.
Blake muttered an obscenity under her breath as she stood and took a step closer to the helm. They weren’t here to prod their defences; they were here with the full force of a fleet to crush any and all resistance.
Blake pulled her eyes away and glanced around at her officers. They could see the same thing. They had come to the same conclusion she had. Some of them had friends or family on Ceres. She had to stay calm here. Blake had to be the one to make them believe they could do something about this.
“What are we looking at, Garba?” Blake licked her lips, her mouth felt too dry.
“The head of their fleet is the Bellerophon, a Goliath-class battlecruiser, six pulse cannons, a hundred laser cannons, and a radiating shield network. The last count says it carries two thousand drone fighters and five hundred crewed fighter jets. They also have four Titan cruisers and twelve Typhon-class battleships. Do you want me to list their capabilities?”
“No,” Blake swallowed. “What about Union presence?”
Garba threw up his hands before returning to his monitor and tapping furiously. “There are a few mobile units stationed at various outposts on the planet, with fighter jets and drones ready to scramble, but I’m not reading anything on scans, and there is still no noise on quantum…” he rubbed his temples, staring at his monitor.
“What about the Tenacity? Is she still stationed here?”
Garba nodded, his fingers once again fluttering across the keys of his console. “Yes, but there is nothing in range.”
‘Shit.’ A hundred other expletives raced through her mind, but Blake forced down the panic and the outrage. She gripped the back of the pilot’s chair and turned to face the helm. “Right Kelley, make for the Bellerophon. Garba, target those pulse cannons. Target them with everything we have.”
“Aye, sir.” To their credit, they took to their screens, immediately tapping away.
“Yeoh, I need you to open a comms channel, good old-fashioned radio. Let me know the moment you hear noise from the Tenacity or anyone else in the Union.”
“Aye, captain.”
Blake looked at Mendez. Her Executive Officer had remained dutifully silent, seated at the console next to the command chair. She was monitoring everything. There was not a hair out of place, nor a bead of sweat on her forehead. Blake wished they had time to talk, to plan their next moves. But the battle was upon them, and they couldn’t afford to run.
Blake took her place in her command chair as the Valkyrie crossed the last few thousand klicks to war.
The Bellerophon was a monster of a ship with at least a hundred decks of black metal. Red and green flashes pulsed along the hull as it fired its pulse canons and laser turrets, methodically taking out the satellite defence network. As the Valkyrie drew closer, Blake could see the swarm of fighters around it, protecting it like bees around their queen.
“Kelley, take us in,” she breathed, sitting forward in her command chair. “Get us as close as you can.”
“Aye, sir,” Kelley said, her voice tight with strain, “we’re going in.”
The Valkyrie soared toward the battle, laser fire-streaked actors in the sky and explosions dotted here and there. Blake didn’t know how many Union satellites and drones they were losing, but she was relieved to see a few enemy fighters blink away from the viewscreen as their signals went down.
They were drawing frighteningly close, and just as Blake was beginning to wonder why the Valkyrie hadn’t been spotted, a sleek, Typhon-class battleship broke formation and turned toward them.
Blake held her breath. “Prep the shield, Garba. But keep weapons on the Goliath; she’s the daddy.”
“Understood, cap.”
“Hold course, Kelley, slow to thrusters.”
“Captain?”
“Let them get a touch closer…” Kelley did so, and Blake could feel the thrum of the engines kick in as they moved over to thrusters. “Hold it,” Blake hissed, her eyes fixed on the viewscreen as she edged further to the edge of her seat.
There was a surge of yellow as the Typhon’s single pulse cannon charged. Blake knew they had seconds. “Evasive manoeuvres, Kelley. Now! Now, take us in, full speed.”
The ship jolted to the main engines. Blake felt the pull of acceleration as the energy pulse surged past. The planet below spun on the viewscreen as Kelley took them, belly first, hurtling toward the Bellerophon.
“Shield!” Blake ordered as the viewscreen lit up with laser fire. It looked like the Valkyrie was now the fleet’s primary target.
The hull rumbled as laser fire broke through the shield. They were taking laser fire from all sides now, but so far Kelley was avoiding energy pulses. Blake stood, gripping the back of the pilot’s chair, trying to make out the image on the viewscreen beyond the shimmering protective shield.
“Shield at 50%.” Garba’s voice was firm, as if entering the battle had steadied his nerves.
They were getting close. As the Valkyrie flew along the hull of the Bellerophon, the laser fire died. Not even the Jovians were stupid enough to fire at their own ship.
One of their cannons loomed ahead, a dark shadow against the black sky. “Now!” Blake shouted, “Garba! Hit them now!”
The Valkyrie’s weapons fired as one, and she saw the enemy shields flare but not fail. They were tough.
“Keep us low, Kelly,” Blake said, trying not to let her frustration enter her voice. “I want another pass.”
Kelley didn’t hesitate. “Aye, sir,” she heard the crack in the young woman’s throat.
The drone fleet was getting picked off all over the viewscreen. Tiny little green dots flashed here and there, then disappeared. The Union forces were losing defences, yet the damned Jovians seemed to have taken no damage at all.
“Ready for another run, sir,” Kelly announced.
“Do it.” Blake gripped the arms of her chair as she felt the hum of the Valkyrie beneath her feet. “Garba, when you’re ready.” The ship sped up as the energy weapons locked and fired, giving everything they had to the shields of the Bellerophon.
They shimmered and disappeared. Blake held her breath, praying to the universe that the backup wouldn’t kick in as a bolt of energy from the Valkyrie’s laser cannon lit up the sky and ploughed into the cannon. For a full half a second, the cannon held. But then, just as the shield shimmered back into view, the cannon blew, spewing rads and debris in all directions.
“Yes!”
Blake heard whoops and cheers from her crew, but now wasn’t the time to lose focus.
“Garba, target the next cannon.”
“Sir, we have to make another pass. We’re running out of road—”
“No time for that, Kelley. Get in there now!”
The view screen spun as the Valkyrie flipped head to tail. Blake felt the somersault in her gut, but the grav-plates ensured her feet never left the floor.
Then, suddenly, the bridge reverberated, and a boom sounded from somewhere along the hull. Sirens sounded, and the ship went into an automatic red alert.
“We’re hit!” Yeoh screamed.