military and resource rich Regent Galactic solar systems they would fully be connecting Triton to the rest of the Galaxy in a real, meaningful way. They could have real time conversations with anyone in the sector and send messages to Freeground in a matter of minutes using the highest wormhole compression capabilities of that hypertransmitter if it were integrated properly.
As Laura looked over the bridge, watched Alice and Price going about their final preparations as they neared their target and everyone else handling their near frayed nerves in their own ways she started to believe that they might just pull it off. As the arrival counter hit five seconds Panloo jerked at the helm.
“Our exit point is blocked!” Announced one of her navigators.
“Adjusting!” announced the other.
Panloo manoeuvred the ship the very second before they emerged from hyperspace to avoid a nine kilometre wide asteroid that had been placed exactly where the Triton was to arrive. As the Triton finished decelerating and emerged from hyperspace the tactical display flickered for a moment as it adjusted the entire field of view to account for the unexpected change in course. They were coming around the outer edge, one navigator keeping the silent nafalli helmswoman aware of objects in her path and the best routes through the space ahead.
Laura's terminal noted that they had collided with three small satellites as Panloo accelerated through an unplanned route well beneath the hypertransmitter. The collisions didn't affect the shields noticeably even though they practically ran through them at over one hundred twelve thousand kilometres per second.
The ship rotated and they were moving backwards, ingeniously manoeuvring to decelerate enough to compensate for their chaotic arrival and to close the distance between the ship and the hypertransmitter. The transmitter satellite looked like a silver spike on the tactical display, drifting above the dark side of the moon and the vast metropolis below.
“They knew we were coming,” Alice said under her breath as she highlighted several destroyers and small carrier fleet led by a long command carrier in the distance. There were already over a hundred starfighters moving in for the attack. “Set to contingency one, start moving us out of position,” Alice said calmly.
“Aye!” Panloo chirped from the controls, increasing the throttle and turning the ship towards the asteroid belly first.
The shields started taking hits from the planetary defence cannons and the incoming fighters but thanks to new power feeds and the fusion reactors running hotter than ever they started recharging as quickly as they took damage, not dipping below ninety seven percent. Laura hoped that they could maintain that charge but she knew better. Things were about to get interesting. “Tactical, is there a read on what those destroyers are doing?”
“Opening fire now! They're not using beam weaponry but going straight to high charge gauss shells.” Price told Laura and Alice.
“What? Did someone tell them we use refractive shielding too?” Laura said as she diverted power from the refractive shielding and shored up the other systems. “Is anything using beam weaponry?”
“Nothing, not even the Gemeelan, that command carrier, and they have the long range capability,” Agameg replied.
“How do they know how to exclude weaponry that's easiest for us to overcome? They haven't even seen us use our shielding effectively yet,” Laura said as the first volley of explosive shells came into contact with the gravitational shield. The shells were slowed down suddenly enough to set them off, causing strain on the outer gravity shielding but not touching the hardened energy barrier underneath or the ship. “Outer grav shield strength is down to eighty one percent and decreasing. Those explosions are taxing them just enough so they can't regenerate.”
“Can you divert more power?” Alice asked.
“No, the lines can't take it.”
“Captain, we have to make a decision now; send them out or escape,” Agameg reminded her calmly.
Captain Valent was difficult to read as she glanced up from her ring of command holograms up the main display on the bridge where the tactical screen showed nine more destroyers trying to manoeuvre into place to begin firing at the Triton.
“Launch our remaining nuclear torpedoes on the highest yield setting towards the primary population centers on the moon. Gunnery deck, open fire on targets of opportunity with seeker rounds on the fighters, I'm giving officer level quarters to the gunner with the most confirmed kills. Cynthia, open up with our scrambler, let's see how well they coordinate when their wading through forty terawatts of static. Ashley, your team has a go.”
“There are a billion people down there, I don't think-” one of the Navigators started.
“There's a planetary defence shield in place and anti-bombardment measures that can easily deflect our nukes. The cities are safe, all we're doing is distracting their planetary cannons for a few seconds!” Alice called back. “Do your job or get the hell off my bridge, Hanson!”
The navigator turned back to his station, red faced. “Aye ma'am.”
For the first time Ashley could remember the Samson felt small. It was the only ship on the launch deck of the Triton and as Ashley throttled up and propelled the vessel out into space she watched torpedoes and heavy weapon points on the Triton fire all around her. She knew none of the ordinances would strike the Samson as long as she didn't do anything unpredictable for the next few seconds, but watching heavy, four and a half meter long fusion torpedoes slide by then on towards the heavily populated moon below was almost as frightening as the points of light swarming towards them. She knew each point of light represented a fighter and soon many of those fighters would be after her.
“Engine pods extended to full, we have as much manoeuvrability as we'll ever get,” Larry told her before scanning for the best routes to their goal, the hypertransmitter several thousand kilometres away. The Triton would only follow them half way.
“Gunners, target the fighters. Finn, how are my shields?” Ashley asked.
The sound of thousands of bursts per minute firing off from the gun right behind the small darkened bridge forced everyone to yell. Even with the hatches closed you could hear the turrets, feel the deck vibrating with every shot. “They're charged and giving us an energy halo about four times the size of the ship,” he chuckled. “Looks like the work we put on the new emitter grid is paying off.”
Fighter rounds started striking the Samson as Ashley flipped the vessel and accelerated as hard as safety limits would allow right towards the asteroid. The navigational advisory hologram in front of her showed that she had chosen perhaps the most dangerous course, but as she operated the hastily bolted in countermeasures control box with her off hand anyone watching could see what she was doing. “Frost, can you get a solid bead on the hypertransmitter with the ion cannon?”
“Not happenin' until you get us outta the shadow of this bloody rock.”
“We'll be leaving it behind sooner than you like.”
“This is Hardcase, my group is engaging the enemy.” the lead allied Uriel fighter pilot announced over the laser link he had with the Samson. With all the scrambling interfering with communications it was the only way to get a message through. The small holographic display on the left side of the pilot's station showed that he and six other fighters were closely following her course, the Samson's shields were reaching out and fortifying theirs, and while the group accelerated towards the asteroid at great speed they turned and fired at all the approaching fighters and gunships in the area.
“Shields are holding up, we're recharging at seventy three percent. If we can avoid any serious hits we'll be back up to ninety in four seconds.”
“Who'da thought this old bucket would end up as a shield ship?” Frost commented.
“Larry, tell our friends what I'll be doing,” Ashley told her copilot as she prepared a firing sequence for the engine pods, working the switches and computer interface with a practiced hand.
“All right, we're going to close to within one hundred fifty meters of the asteroid surface and drop a batch of thermal shells. They'll superheat a part of the asteroid, creating a thermal flare behind us so no one will be able to get a good read on us for at least a few seconds.” he said as he sent the escape trajectory to the fighter pilots.
“Straight out of the Desperate Times in Valera sim, loving it,” Hardcase replied.
“Breaking in three, two, one, mark!” Ashley called out before initiating the thrust sequence and pressing the launch button on the improvised countermeasures control panel.
The hull of the Samson and the inertial dampeners strained as the vessel changed direction, narrowly missing
