Chapter 24
TRISTEN
She had lost countless friends in the recent fight with the Kushan, but the captain refused surrender. Now, their fleet was reduced to the carrier, two destroyer escorts, and a handful of fighters.
Defenders were more useful against the enemy fighters than interceptors, and all surviving pilots were to switch ships to those. Jake and two other members of her squad were all that she knew to have survived. Wave after wave of their frigates were eliminated by the Kushan fleet by means of merciless destruction or capture protocols likely ending in torturous interrogations. They had small corvette craft that would swoop in and drag a ship off. The defenders began targeting these vessels as a priority, but their repair corvettes could mitigate any damage dealt it would seem.
“This is insane,” she said to herself upon hearing the order. All ships were to converge on the enemy flagship. From strike command, she made her way to the main bridge. She had to figure out what the plan was, if there was one.
“Tristen Alaiikir on deck,” she announced.’’
The captain did not move from his seat. His fingers twitched on the button, one that would fire a volley of missiles, same as those used on the home planet of those they fought.
“Report status,” he said to her.
“All fighter pilots transferred to defenders, sir.”
“And what is the purpose of your visit?”
“To request additional details on the plan, sir. What am I to order our pilots?”
“To defend the fleet!”
“Sir, with all due respect, what fleet? We have two destroyers and a carrier. The enemy has us overwhelmed. I would highly suggest surrender considering the circumstances.”
“Surrender is not an option.” His words stung. This was a suicide mission, and she knew it.
“Are there any reinforcements?”
“Not this time,” he said. “Bring him to me,” he said.
“Pardon?”
“The Kushan you have been keeping in the maintenance network. Bring him before me.” Her expression of shock betrayed her. “What, do you really think no one would notice? Your abrupt disappearances have been logged. Your betrayal will be forgiven, child. I only want to talk.”
“Right now? Of all times...”
“This instant.”
“Why?”
“To understand. By all accounts this fleet should not be able to match our firepower yet we lose the fight. I wish to know why.”
She was marched by armed guard to the maintenance hall. She had been found out. How long ago, she wondered? And why did they allow it to continue? Did the captain know of her brief call to her father? Worry ran through her.
The old man complied with her request.
“So he wants to talk, then.” He said. “And what’s all this, then?” The guards gave him handcuffs to put on. “Hardly necessary, but I will comply.” She took a final look at the small area that had been this man’s home for weeks. Filthy, but the best she could do. Now, all that was at an end. Their fates were tied.
The captain stood from his chair upon seeing the aged face of his foe. “Pilot, you have shown compassion to the enemy and have kept him alive this long. Have you anything to say for yourself?”
She was silent.
“I have my thanks to give,” the old man said.
“And as for you, I want you to explain how this small colony ship was able to amass such a force.”
“Wasn’t there, couldn’t tell you.”
“Be more specific, your life may depend on it.”
“If I were to hazard a guess, your objective has failed. We are a proud people. We have fought not only the deserts of Kharak for millennia but foes among our own kind. All Kushan know what it is like to fight for survival.”
“What was the initial purpose of your hyperspace jump?”
“To meet up with a support ship in the outer rim of our star system. Upon jumping away, we received word that your fleet had arrived and so the planetary defences were mobilized.”
“Our servants, the Turanic Raiders, encountered this support ship and destroyed it. How is it then possible that these stragglers achieved such a high degree of performance?”
“Like I already said, the Kushan people are strong. I cannot imagine what is going through their minds. You destroyed their home, their families, their entire reason for being. All that they have left is the Taiidan threat and the promise of our homeworld.”
“Do you know why it is your people were exiled to begin with?”
“I do not.”
“Old Taiidan was a lush world full of life. A paradise, if you will. Then, the Hiigaran Empire, using their newfound power, sentenced billions to their deaths. They attacked the heart and soul of our people. As punishment, the Taiidan gained your ancestral homeworld as well as the banishment of all those who supported the attack. An entire planet sent into space to venture forever with no destination. That was the intent, anyway. After generations, we lost interest in keeping watch and so the exiles were on their own. They found your world, Kharak, and descended upon it to claim it as their own. After a time, the Taiidan Empire rediscovered your kind. The hyperspace core your people carry in that flagship is the same one that was used to destroy Old Taiidan.”
“Ascribing the sins of our forefathers to us, I see now. Planet for a planet.”
“It was only fair. I had my orders just the same. Eliminate the threat early so none would know.”
“None but your own fleet, that is,” he said looking to Tristen. “I wonder, though, how many of your men have been lost as a result.”
“Too many.”
“And what’s your plan now? You’ve failed.”
“See this button right here?” He said pointing to his chair’s armrest. “I have the remainder of our atmospheric deprivation missiles set to explode at the simple touch of a button. I have noticed they were capturing our ships, so once they move to capture this carrier...”
“You’re insane!” Tristen shrieked. “Your plan is a suicide mission? And what of our pilots? What of all those we’ve lost today?”
“Their sacrifices as well as my own serve the immortal Emperor.”
“Now!” The old man shouted, before jumping the nearest guard. He took his weapon with ease, and fired first before the others could gather themselves. Tristen moved to grab one of her own.
“Traitor!” The captain shouted, her weapon aimed at his head. The other guards on the bridge took aim.
“We’re leaving! Don’t try stopping us,” she said.
“Let them go,” he said to the guards. “There’s nowhere left to run.”
They slowly backed towards the door. Once they were outside, the captain sealed off the bridge.
“What do we do now?” She said tears streaming down her face. There would be no turning back.
“Get to a ship. I will remain onboard and will try to diffuse the weapons.”
“No way, it’s too risky. I’m not leaving you here. We’ll both go.”
“Your fighters are one-seaters. I have spent time aboard this ship enough to know where I’m going. If the captain was smart, the missiles should be near the main reactor.”
“Then at least let me come with you, what if you can’t disarm them alone?”
“No!” He spoke with a tone of authority, one she hadn’t heard since she was a child. “Your own mission awaits,” he said. “If I cannot disarm the missiles, you must tell them to destroy this ship.”
“Tell who?”
“The Kushan, of course! Where is it you think I want you to go?”
“And what if they don’t believe me?”
“They will have to. Now go,” he said. She turned to leave, but spun around to give him a final embrace.
“I don’t even know your name,” she said.
“Markus,” he said.
She nodded, and made a run for the hangar bay.
Her usual fighter sat in the racks, unused since Kharak. “This better work,” she said before she heard the shot fire passed her head.
“How dare you!” She heard him say. It was Jake. “After all I’ve done for you? I stuck my neck out for you with my uncle while you played hide the enemy, and now you’re a deserter? How out of character. Then again, maybe it isn’t.”
“Jake, you don’t understand.”
“No, I understand well enough. You’d rather abandon your comrades than face death.”
“Are you stupid? This is all the captain’s doing. It’s a suicide mission, and the ship is set to explode once they capture it.”
“And? That just means we win in the end.”
“No, don’t you see? We’re the bad guys here, Jake. We destroyed an entire planet. How can you sleep at night knowing that?”
“Just following orders well above me. Same as always.”
“Well I can’t follow those kind of orders and if that makes me a traitor then so be it. Shoot me or let me go. This is all I ask.”
He stopped for a moment to consider. “Fine, it’s not like they’ll let you live anyway. But consider this my last act of kindness to you. If I ever see you again, you’re dead.”
She climbed into the cockpit without her flight suit and powered up. If the canopy was breached, she’d die of suffocation in a matter of seconds. But there wasn’t time to consider all the risks, and throttled forward and out of the hangar.
At this time, she saw salvage ships carrying off one of their destroyers, the other one suffering major damage from the red beams of the Kushan ion frigates. A wave of bombers finished it off. In a silent but bright explosion, the destroyer was lost. She sped her way around the mess of ships to catch up with the first destroyer. However, Kushan interceptors caught sight of her, and a squad of five was on her tail. She set her engines to full power and avoided taking fire.
Once the destroyer was near the flagship, a large door opened and the salvagers released it to the tractor beam. The Kushan were now focused on attacking fighter craft, leaving the carrier alone. As though predicted by the captain, six salvagers moved in to capture the carrier. She had to think fast.
She opened a communication channel to the Kushan, hoping for a response that did not come. She pinged them again once she saw the carrier start moving, but no response again.
“Dammit, do I have to do it all myself?” She asked speeding towards the two-click-tall flagship. Her puny fighter wouldn’t appear as much of a threat, at least she hoped.
“Coming in to dock whether you like it or not,” she said on the open channel as she approached the far side of the colony vessel. Once she was close enough, her fighter shuddered. She was caught in the tractor beam.
She was guided into the light blue glow of the hangar and brought to a stop. Guards were outside, confused by her forced landing. Once the canopy lifted, she shouted them down, ignoring them. “Stop the salvage, stop! The carrier is set to explode!” But they did not listen. Instead, she got the but of a gun to the head, knocking her back into her seat, then a needle was injected into her arm. “Stop... the ship. Missiles, they’re going to explode...” but her words fell on def ears, and she passed out.
Upon waking, she was chained to a desk. A young man sat opposite her with another couple arguing in the background. She was struggling to focus on their words. “The drugs will pass,” the young man said. “We heard what you said from the bridge and decided to halt our salvage operation. Moments later, the engine section of the carrier erupted in an explosion.” Her thoughts drifted to Markus. He had failed. “You might have single-handedly saved us all.”
“What of the carrier?”
“It survived. We lost a salvager in the blast, but another came over soon after to drag what was left over to the hangar. It’s sitting there now undergoing boarding procedures. The strange thing is, only one missile is responsible for the explosion. We found and disarmed the rest of them.”
“Then he succeeded after all,” she said.
“Who?”
“Some old man I helped escape from detainment.”
“The captain refused to surrender and put a gun to himself. We weren’t able to stop him.”
“Figures,” she said
“I have a few questions for you then we’re done here. Cooperate and I can almost guarantee you special treatment for your, err, heroics I guess I can call them. First one, what was the next destination of your carrier?”
“An outpost station for repairs. We were critically damaged by your planet’s defences and were just stopping to harvest up resources for the repairs.”
“And these Turanic Raiders that have been pursuing us, are there more of them?”
“Plenty more, but without the Empire giving them orders they shouldn’t engage you from here on.”
“And where do you stand?”
“Hard to say. I’ve betrayed the Empire. Punishment for my offences is death, presumably. As for Kharak, I’m sorry for your grave losses. I couldn’t go through with my orders.”
“So what you are saying is you were not part of the initial assault?”
“Well, I was deployed but I couldn’t bring myself to fire.”
“So I repeat myself, and mind you, anything you say will be used for or against you when charges come up. You did not attack Kharak?”
“I did not.”
“And you defected to tell us of a plot to destroy the Mothership from within?”
“Correct.”
“Good enough for me,” he said. “And lastly, your name?”
“Tristen Alaiikir”
The man stood up to leave. “Best I can do is have you transferred to the captured carrier instead of being held here. I’ll ask for them to be lenient, but I have very little say when it comes to security. I’m a pilot, actually.”
“Then why are you interrogating me?”
“I’m off-duty until my wound heals. I was on the bridge when you pinged us. Call this a personal curiosity.”
“Do I get to ask your name?”
“Mark Soban. I’ll be seeing you around I imagine. For now, just sit tight. It’s time to celebrate our victory. After all, this day sees the end of the fleet that destroyed our planet.”
“But not the end of those who gave the order,” she added.
“In due time.”
“Let’s hope, for both our sakes.”
TO BE CONTINUED