The combination should’ve put them at a disadvantage.
“Okay,” Jane said, “here we go. I’m dumping power in three… two… one… now!” The ship lurched forward, thrusting Titus back into his seat. He strained against the suddenness of it as the artificial gravity caught up. The pressure eased as the HUD showed their distance increasing though only slightly.
I can’t have us spin around or they might ram us. “Rhys, word from the surface yet?”
“They’re engaged with the enemy,” Rhys said, “but making their way to an LZ extraction. The pilot’s involved in an altercation as well so things might be delayed somewhat. I’m pressuring them… however, they’re doing their best.”
“Did they get the packages?”
“Yes, the archaeologists are secure,” Rhys said. “They’re in one piece and moving of their own accord.”
“Great news.” Titus checked their distance. “Jane, maneuvering thrusters. Spin us around. Allow momentum to carry us while we return fire.”
“That’s… going to be pretty intense,” Jane warned. “Firing maneuvering thrusters now.”
“Hold on,” Titus muttered.
The ship complained, engines whining as the ship spun around entirely too fast. Titus’s head spun, his vision went dark for a moment before the maneuvering thrusters slowed them down. Suddenly, they were facing the enemy ship. Jane fired, discharging the main cannons into the enemy bow.
A direct hit made them veer up and away, causing them to take another two volleys to the belly.
“Enemy defenses down to forty percent after that,” Violet announced. “Even with our decreased weapon power. But they are really moving away!”
“Get after them,” Titus ordered. “Are they on an exit course?”
“They’re veering,” Violet said, “seemingly toward the planet, but… I don’t have a course heading quite yet.”
The Triton turned, taking on a pursuit course. As they gave chase, bright lights appeared on the surface of their target, racing toward them. “Evasive!” He called. “Quick!” Two of the lights passed them by as two more slammed into their side. The resulting crash made the lights go down for a moment though the consoles all remained solid.
“Report,” Rhys called, “what were those?”
“Some kind of projectile,” Violet said. “Best description, an energy torpedo of some kind. Forward shields took the brunt. We’re down to forty percent there. Side and rear are at sixty percent. Recharge is not kicking on. I’ll find out why.”
“Why’d they only pull those out now?” Rhys asked.
Titus explained, “The first time a Kahl engages a new enemy, they use the bare minimum in an effort to show they dominated their opponent with ease. That’s what the database said.”
“I guess we’ve got them worried,” Rhys muttered. “How do we fend those off?”
“Maneuvers and shields,” Titus said. “They can’t rocket those things off too fast so we have a moment.”
“What’s next?”
Titus hummed. “Give us a quick hit on the rear maneuvering thrusters. When we line up, take a stab with main cannons then follow up with the mass drivers.” He turned to Rhys as he prepped for the maneuver. “I’m trying to reserve the ammunition for reducing their shields lower but I feel like it would be a wise decision to see how they react.”
“Seems sound,” Rhys replied. “What’s the theory?”
“That our secondary weapons are useless until we can get to the hull.” Titus tensed up as the ship’s rear moved, making it feel like they’d hit a patch of ice.
Jane tapped the weapons, blasting the target. One of the main cannons hit followed but a steady burst of bullets. Sparks danced across the rear section of Renz’s ship, tiny dots along the shields. The HUD told them what they needed to know: those weapons had no effect, but that cannon hit… that gave them a good nudge.
“They’re still ahead on defenses,” Violet said. “We’re having a hard time dishing out enough damage to close the deal.”
Titus sighed. “Where the hell is the Brekka?” He waved his hand. “Don’t worry about that. Keep scanning the target. Jane, keep us on this course. We can…”
“Sir!” Jane interrupted. “Look!”
Renz’s vessel pulled a tight corner, swooping downward. Their weapons lit up as they came close. The Triton veered hard away in an effort to evade. A series of blasts hit them on the bottom, impacts big enough to make the vibrating deck painful on his feet. He gritted his teeth as they finished the pass.
“What the hell…”
“Damage to the lower section,” Violet said, “shields dropped to fifteen percent, meaning some of that impact went through. We’ve got a small breach. Force fields are in place. Engineering said they will have that sealed in five minutes or so. To be fair, we avoided a lot of their frontal assault. That was primarily turret fighter.”
“That’s not good news.” Titus rubbed his eyes. “Okay. We need time for the people on the surface to get up here.” This is deja vu. “They won’t answer, but hail them, Violet.” He tapped his chin. This next bit will be tricky. I’ll have to phrase this very carefully. “Tell them we wish to discuss terms of surrender.”
“You’re hoping they think we want to surrender?” Rhys asked. “That they’ll accept it?”
“Actually, I’m going to give them a chance to do that,” Titus said, “but as long as they pick up the comm, I don’t care what they think. Distance to target?”
“They’ve pulled just out of range,” Jane said. “I can close quickly enough.”
“No,” Titus replied. “Give us a chance to do some recharging. I think we know what to do to finish this off. Be ready to ignite engines on my mark.” He leaned forward, waiting for Violet. Conversation won’t happen but at least we’ll try. Then we pop back in there for another round. Where are you, Griel? I swore you’d be here by now.
***
Tiller took up the rear with Vesper and Alon. Their archaeologist VIPs made
