>> Chapter 10 >>

Chapter Eleven
HNS Liberator
Hiigaran System
14:58 New Daiamid AHL 06.17.21

“Sir, we’re receiving word from High Command that the Kadesh force has managed to punch a hole through the Imps’ rear guard. They report six dead carriers, five destroyers, and twelve miscellaneous frigates,” said the communications officer

“Good. That will take some heat off of us,” replied Commodore Edson.

“Wait, there’s more. It looks like the Kadesh are engaged with a reinforcement group that arrived too late to save the carriers.”

“Do they want us to assist?”

“Uh, I that’s a negative. We’re getting orders from the High Marshal himself to intercept the Republican Ninth Task Force. They seem to be attacking our units. We’re the closest force not engaged.”

“What? Admiral Selquet wouldn’t become a traitor. He was in the First Battle of Hiigara.”

“Well, sir, they won’t respond to the New Daiamid’s hails, and we’ve lost contact with Fifth Home Guard Fleet, which was right next to them. Preybird Fleet reports that it’s under attack by ships with Republican markings, as well as Imperialist strike craft, and they are outnumbered. They say that the Republicans they’re fighting destroyed other Republican vessels, and that two Imp carriers full of strike craft joined the fight. High Command is telling us to get them to surrender, or destroy them.”

“I don’t believe this. Lightning Fleet, come to heading two-thirty. Assemble at grid niner-six point one two five by three-one point four-six, relative to us. All ships, flank speed.”

“Yes sir.”

A minute later, the last of Lightning Fleet had assembled at the assigned coordinates. The fighters were sent to sweep ahead while the capital ships lumbered towards the site of the battle. The fighters encountered little enemy resistance, and when they did, the Imperialists were promptly destroyed.

When the fighters reached Preybird Fleet, the Blades, Crusaders, and Acolytes attacked the enemy strike craft assaulting the capital ships of Preybird Fleet. Missiles flashed out from the Hiigaran fighters, exploding among the ranks of the former Republicans and Imperialists. The remains of fighters spiraled through space, on a ballistic path that would end in the atmosphere of Hiigara. The Thunderbolts and Super Acolytes attacked the Imperialist frigates, ripping the bellies out of several in their first pass. The gutted hulks of the frigates vented air, and the vacuum of space sucked crewmen out.

Two former Republican Missile Destroyers lumbered into range, and unleashed a missile volley that decimated the Thunderbolt wings. In the first salvo, seventeen bombers were destroyed. The Crusaders, Interceptors, and Acolytes launched their remaining missiles at the launch tubes of the Missile Destroyers. Holes were blown through the armor, and several missiles hit missile bays, causing massive secondary explosions that gutted even more of the ships.

The capital ships in Lightning Fleet arrived just as the Missile Destroyers were rendered useless. Upgraded Firelances and Vengeances blazed at the remaining Imperialist frigates, while the destroyers, Justice, and Liberator fired at Imperialist Destroyers. The first salvo from the Liberator tore away a Destroyer’s turret, while the Justice’s shots fell upon the ion cannon systems, causing heavy damage. Both ships advanced on the Destroyer. The Destroyer’s return fire destroyed a missile launcher on the Justice, and burned a hole in the hull of the ship. Then the remains of two squadrons of Thunderbolts launched a volley of plasma bombs that destroyed the remaining turret, as both the Liberator and justice shot out the lower front half of the ship with a salvo from all guns. The captain of the Imperialist Destroyer throttled up his ship to full speed, and accelerated towards the Justice. The Justice failed to notice the maneuver in time, and the Destroyer impacted the port bow. The entire port bow was crumpled, and the hulk of the Destroyer drove deep into the Justice. Several escape pods shot away from the ship as the Destroyer’s captain activated the self-destruct. The Destroyer exploded inside of the Justice, destroying both ships.

A Missile Destroyer with all four missile bays disabled attempted to ram the Liberator. However, had its drives shot off by volleys of plasma bombs and ion cannon fire from two Firelances. The reactor core was breached, and vessel’s rear end erupted in a brilliant fireball. The front began to spin through space, but failed to hit any active vessels.

The remaining Ex-Republican and Imperialist frigates were all either destroyed or disabled. Shuttles full of marines and salvage corvettes moved in to capture the ships that remained. The Destroyers retreated towards the carriers, while a Heavy Cruiser advanced to reinforce them. A few Imperialist strike craft remained, and they docked with the carrier.

LS (formerly RNS) Dragon
Hiigaran System
15:16 New Daiamid AHL 06.17.21

“Damn! All frigates lost, all Missile Destroyers lost, all but three Destroyers lost, one carrier left! Only seventeen Interceptors and nine Bombers,” raged Admiral Selquet.

“Sir, we’re being hailed by the Liberator!” exclaimed a communications officer.

“Bring it up. I’ll show that arrogant bastard!”

“Huljard, what are you doing? Why have you betrayed us?” asked Commodore Edson

“Don’t you realize, wait, you’re only a mere Kushan. You won’t know why.”

“Look, you can either surrender, or be destroyed, your choice. I really don’t want to have to kill you, Huljard.”

“Too bad for you. I’m not going to betray my Emperor!”

“So is that what this is about? Your holy Emperor? You helped kill the last one during the Homeworld War. Why are you supporting this new one?”

“The last Emperor was insane, he wanted to destroy you all. The new Emperor is true to the Taiidani people. Why destroy a race and planet when you can use them?”

HNS Liberator
Hiigaran System
15:17 New Daiamid AHL 06.17.21

“It is our right as the Taiidani race to-"

“I guess you’ve decided, then. I’m sorry to have to do this,” said Commodore Edson. He drew a finger over his throat, and the communications officer cut the signal.

“Are you really going to do it?” asked Captain Saborn.

“I don’t have a choice. We have our orders. As much as I hate to, its my duty,” replied Commodore Edson.

“Sorry, Wes.”

“Don’t dwell on it,” Commodore Edson considered his options for a few moments, and then started talking again. “All right, engines to flank speed. Have our other capital ships target the enemy destroyers. Tell the strike craft to kill the enemy fighters, and then perform strafing runs on the carriers. We’re going to face off with Selquet.”

Responses and confirmations rang out from across the crew pit. The Liberator shuddered as her drives accelerated her towards the remaining carrier. Off to the Liberator’s port bow, ion cannons, energy cannons, missiles, and plasma bombs flashed between the opposing ships. Six ion beams hit the Peregrine, and burned jagged holes into the ship. Venting atmosphere pushed the ship towards the Undertaker, which barely maneuvered out of the way, but a large piece of debris impacted the bottom hull, destroying the bottom port energy cannon turret. A return salvo from the Destroyers and frigates severed one of the Imperialist Destroyers, and tore off the section above the drives. A volley from a Vengeance that had maneuvered behind the Destroyer smashed into the drives and core, turning that Destroyer into a rapidly dissipating cloud of gas and debris. The third Destroyer simply disintegrated with all of the frigates and destroyers in Lighting Fleet firing upon it.

The Liberator passed the carrier, which had under attack from Lightning Fleet’s strike wing. It was advancing towards the former position of the three Destroyers. The Liberator fired a broadside into the bridge as it passed by. The bridge was badly damaged, and eight missiles from a flight of Acolytes finished it. Then a wing of Thunderbolts and Super Acolytes fired into the drives, destroying them, disabling the carrier.

Finally, the Liberator reached within firing range of the Dragon, which had been fleeing towards Hiigara’s surface. An opening volley from the Liberator slammed into the Dragon’s rear end, destroying the top nozzle and severing the top engine cowling. The Dragon’s rear gun turrets swiveled around, and fired at the Liberator. The rounds hit the missile ventral missile launcher, coring it. The next salvo from the Liberator impacted both rear turrets on the Dragon, turning them into useless burned out hulks. Return fire from the remaining turrets hit the Liberator’s starboard wing, tearing at the armor. Commodore Edson suddenly had an idea.

“Communications, tell the Halo to send salvage corvettes to latch onto the cruiser and drag it away from Hiigara. Dock a marine shuttle onto the Liberator,” said Commodore Edson.

“Uh, yes sir,” said the communications officer.

“What are you doing?” asked Captain Saborn.

“I’m going to try to reason with him one last time. You’re now in temporary command of this ship,” replied Commodore Edson. Before Captain Saborn could reply, Commodore Edson ran out of the bridge.

“Good luck,” said Captain Saborn to the closed doors.

LS (formerly RNS) Dragon
Hiigaran System
15:25 New Daiamid AHL 06.17.21

Commodore Edson stepped out of the shuttle into a hail of bullets from one lone trooper that walked out at the far end of the hallway. Commodore Edson pressed himself against the corridor wall. A group of marines guarding him gunned down the offending trooper.

“You sure about this, sir?” asked Private Taaran.

“Yes, I am, marine. Now, follow me,” replied Commodore Edson. He walked at a brisk pace towards the bridge doors, an armor-clad marine on all sides of him, with the rest of the marines in a line in front of and behind him. Soon, they reached the bridge door, which was sealed and locked.

“Just as I expected. Step back, sir, I’m going to blow the door,” said one of the marines around Commodore Edson. Commodore Edson nodded and stepped back. He watched the marine work with interest, observing every movement he made to the explosives. Finally, the marine gave Commodore Edson a thumbs up sign.

“On three, I blow the door. Go in, and secure the area. Anything you want to add, sir?” said the marine.

“Yes. Only shoot back at people that shoot at you. Don’t even stun anybody that’s not fighting. I seriously doubt that the entire crew decided to go traitor,” replied Commodore Edson.

“Yes sir. All right. Get ready, people. One. Two. Three!”

The door exploded inward with a flash of light. The marines stormed in, searching for targets, and only saw one officer with a pistol. Commodore Edson walked in, and saw the officer as well. The officer pointed the pistol at Commodore Edson. The marines raised their rifles, but Commodore Edson held up a hand.

“Hold your fire. I’ll take care of this. Secure the doors, marines,” said Commodore Edson. He brought out his own sidearm and raised it as well, holding it in a two handed grip.

“So, you decided to waste your time, Edson?” asked the officer.

“I’m giving you this last opportunity to surrender, Huljard,” said Commodore Edson.

Admiral Selquet laughed. “You really are naïve. Why would I surrender now when I’ve come so far?”

“Your ship is in ruins and my marines have taken control over it. You’ve lost.”

“Oh, really? Even if every last man aboard this ship is killed, I’ve still won. Just take a look outside.”

Commodore Edson looked, and gaped in horror. Hiigara’s beautiful, shining surface was drawing every closer to the window. When he returned his attention to Admiral Selquet, Admiral Selquet was wearing a demonic grin.

“You see, Edson, this ship is aimed directly at the New Daiamid. When it hits, everything within a three-kilometer radius will be destroyed. I’ve locked down every single control, and they can only be opened with my pass codes. So there’s nothing you can do to stop me. My advice to you would be to get off this ship.”

“There’s just one flaw with your plan,” said Commodore Edson. He brought out his comm unit. “Captain Niesun, send more salvage corvettes to the Dragon. Drag her out into orbit.”

Admiral Selquet’s grin dissolved into an expression of pure rage. “You Exile scum. Well, I’ll just have to take you down with me then.” He took out a small cylindrical device, and pressed a button at the top. Klaxon alarms began to blare throughout the vessel.

“I just activated the self destruct. If you want to try to get off the Dragon, go ahead. You won’t make it.” Admiral Selquet began to laugh. Commodore Edson pulled the trigger on his pistol, and the laughing stopped.

Commodore Edson yelled. “Marines, move out! Get every man off this ship at once. Go, go, go!”

HNS Liberator
Hiigaran System
15:31 New Daiamid AHL 06.17.21

“Ma’am, we’ve just received communication from Commodore Edson that the Dragon’s commander just activated the ship’s self destruct,” said the communications officer.

“Damn! Helm, bring us into an upward loop. All engines full reverse. When we are horizontal with Hiigara, engines to full forward.”

Captain Saborn looked out of the Liberator’s bridge window at the Dragon. Salvage corvettes were moving to dock with it, but suddenly they turned around and blasted away at full speed. One of the marine shuttles undocked, and retreated as well. The last marine shuttle, near the bridge area, was still docked.

“Come on, Wes, get out of there!” whispered Captain Saborn.

The shuttle finally detached itself, and rocketed away from the Dragon. Then, the Dragon exploded into a brilliant fireball. The shockwave hit the shuttle, and then the explosion consumed it. Captain Saborn held a hand over her mouth. The bridge went silent. Then, the shuttle shot out of the blast, its burnt away, the armor melted red-hot, which cooled near-instantly in the cold of space. The shuttle proceeded to dock with the Liberator. Commodore Edson walked into the bridge, his cloths drenched in sweat.

Minutes later, the Liberator rejoined Lightning Fleet. Support vessels repaired ships damaged during the skirmish, and fighters docked with the carriers. The remnants of Preybird Fleet were placed under Commodore Edson’s command.

Outskirts of Asaam Kiith'sid
Hiigara
15:32 New Daiamid AHL 06.17.21

Sergeant Raal Lan, of the Naabal kiith, ducked back behind his corner as fire from Imperialist troopers blasted away at the wall in front of his face. The Hiigaran marines were fighting the Imperialist troopers in the suburbs surrounding Asaam Kiith’sid, home of the New Daiamid. Orders were given that the New Daiamid was to be held at all costs.

Sergeant Lan looked behind him, and saw another member of his squad, Private First Class Derek Raxx, reloading his automatic rifle. Sergeant Lan checked his own, and saw that it had overheated during his recent spree of automatic fire, but was still within acceptable limits. He checked his rifle, and saw that he had thirty-five more bullets in his magazine. Using the camera mounted on his rifle, he peeked around the corner, and saw an advancing Imperialist trooper. He spoke into his helmet-mounted comlink, and the men in his squad responded with confirmations. Sergeant Lan tossed a flash grenade out, and it exploded, releasing an incredible amount of light. With the rifle set to single shot, he turned around the corner, aimed, and fired a round that slammed into the trooper’s face. Fragments from the head flew in all directions in a cloud of red mist, and the headless corpse fell to its knees, then a prone position. Fire from other Hiigaran marines pushed back other Imperialist troopers, which had just emerged from behind a dumpster and a house. Three fell, with multiple wounds to their torsos, limbs, and head.

Sergeant Lan’s squad advanced, with two heavy weapons specialists laying down covering fire with their rotary cannons. Four marines ran forward, threw themselves onto the ground, and started laying down covering fire for others to advance. On several occasions, snipers hiding in two-story buildings opened fire, but they were eliminated with a burst from an automatic rifle. Soon, the squad had reclaimed the entire block, with only a country road ahead of them. The squad called for reinforcements, and started to dig in at the end of the block.

In minutes, the squad had made a makeshift trench for their twelve members, which were divided into three groups of four. Two ‘assault groups’ consisted of three riflemen each and one heavy weapons specialist. The third group included the squad leader, another heavy weapons specialist, and two more riflemen. Each man was trained in combat medical procedures.

Two more squads soon arrived, and they extended the earthworks thrown up by the first squad. One of the new squads was a rifle squad, the same as the first one, while the other squad was a heavy weapons squad, with four heavy weapons specialists, three riflemen, a squad leader, and two anti-armor missile teams. The teams consisted of two marines each, with one man handling the launcher and the other carrying spare ammunition. Each missile contained a miniature plasma warhead. Both marines were able to carry a combined total of five missiles, with one in the launcher, another one carried on the marine that handled the launcher’s back, and three more under the second marine’s custody. With a total of thirty-six marines, the makeshift platoon awaited the imminent Imperialist counter-attack. They did not have to wait long.

A rumbling alerted the marines to the presence of a vehicle, and soon two Hover Assault Vehicles rounded a turn in the road, firing their twin thirty-eight millimeter cannons at the marine’s positions. A missile from each missile team slammed into both vehicles, detonating on contact. Both vehicles tumbled out of control, slewing to the side. Flames roared out of the holes blown into the vehicles. Fire from the other marines destroyed them. A third HAV appeared, and a volley of fire from the marines destroyed the turret. A missile that hit the port engine caused the vehicle to explode. Two squads of Imperialist troopers followed in the wake of the HAVs, and they ducked behind trees and rocks while returning fire. But the marines were behind heavy cover, and the marines stationed on the top of buildings managed to fire over the troopers’ cover. Troopers screamed as they were hit, clutching their wounds and screaming in pain as their last acts. Soon, the air was thick with the smell of burned flesh. One marine was hit in the chest as he fired, and he fell back into the trench, twitching. He stopped twitching moments after being hit, lying still in a pool of his blood. Soon, all of the Imperialist troopers were killed, with bodies, body parts, blood, and debris littering the battlefield. Three marines were killed, and two more wounded.

HNS Liberator
Low Hiigara Orbit
16:04 New Daiamid AHL 06.17.21

Commodore Edson sat in silence in his command chair, reading a text file that had been transmitted from Admiral Selquet during Commodore Edson’s last trip to the Dragon.

Edson, if you are reading this, I am dead. I know you’re wondering why I am doing this. Well, since I am going to die now, I might as well tell you. Keep in mind that I am doing this out of respect towards you, since you have proved yourself to be above the idiots and imbeciles that comprise the rest of your species

I never liked your race, Edson. But I hated the Emperor even more. So I joined the Rebellion, but as an agent for the Emperor’s aides. When the Emperor was killed, they forgot about me. In time, I forgot about them. When the new Emperor was activated, he contacted me. You should be able to guess the rest, even with your tiny brain.

When my fleet was ‘ambushed’, the Imperials unleashed a subdued Beast virus that could control ships but not take over new ones. They forged the recording you downloaded off of the Reprisal, and executed my rebel crew, replacing them with the best that the Taiidan have to offer. Now, when the Taiidan are about to achieve total victory, we were forced to sacrifice our lives for our Emperor. Edson, you will become slaves like the rest of your race. See you in hell.

P.S. Too bad I can’t see the look on your face right now.

Edson looked up from the message with his face ashen. Selquet had known exactly where and how to get into his brain, and had done so. Commodore Edson rose from his seat, and paced around. The rest of the bridge crew was silently observing, their faces solemn. Finally, Edson spoke up.

“Captain Saborn, you have the bridge. Call me if needed. I’m going to my quarters.”

“Yes sir,” replied Captain Saborn. She had a worried look on her face, but said nothing further.

Captain Saborn sat in Commodore Edson’s command chair, and silently watched the crew perform its duties. Slowly, the noise on the bridge returned to its normal din of crewmen exchanging information and small talk with each other. Twenty minutes went by, and Commodore Edson still did not return from his quarters. The repairs had been completed throughout Lightning Fleet, and the fleet was awaiting orders. Then, the Sensor’s Manager rang out a cry of surprise, and the look on Captain Saborn’s face turned from one of boredom to one of dread.

>> Chapter 12>>