Duty, Honour, Love

Five days of having to endure hit and run tactics from the raiders. Five days of fighting and trying to contain the raiders. Karasena watched smoke billow from burning buildings, thank the Ancients they were empty. It appeared that the raiders had decided to burn what they couldn’t steal. She was anxious Admiral Katares ships should have been here by now. But she couldn’t contact them while they were in hyperspace. Thankfully the raiders had pulled back to the spaceport allowing them some freedom of the city. It felt strange for her to call it that. She like everyone else had referred to it as Hawthorn before that. She was painfully aware they were that they were low on ammo, low of food but the only thing they were plentiful of was water. Some on the railguns were down to less than a hundred rounds. The city was vulnerable if the raiders launched an air assault or even a bombardment she wasn’t sure they would be able to stop them. Her comms bleeped.

“Karasena,” she said being as professional as she could. Even if in really she wanted to curl up into a ball and weep.

“We have shuttle launch.” It was an observer from a forward position overlooking the spaceport.

“In bound?”

“Negative, heading out,” the observer replied. “Heading away from Hawthorn.”

That meant they were going to attack one of the smaller settlements. “I’ll alert the base.” Karasena linked directly to the base. She should have been there but with Dareia and Jane out of commission she was the only commanding officer left Mark was in charge of the Militia. “Ino alert all settlements they have raiders in bound.”

“On it ma’am.”

Karasena returned to her musing. She wished Dareia was better but something had happened when she was reunited with Jane they’d both collapsed. Kathleen had both women under sedation and she wasn’t telling Karasena anything.

“Don’t worry about it they’ll be fine.” Kathleen told her as if it was nothing for her to worry about.

“I’ll damn well worry about it,” she muttered under her breath. She was tired they all were. She hadn’t showered for two days worried about an attack while she was washing herself, She reckoned she must be ripe with sweat and grime.

Jaye suddenly came alert raider shuttles were heading toward the ‘Ori’.

“Shit we’ve got raider shuttles on an attack vector,” she commed the two other people on the ship.

Loader Cain was in the torpedo bay while Danielle was in engineering. Jaye pressed the alert button but there was really nothing to alert the crew about. The Orinoco was defenceless stripped of its point defence railguns. The main gun was useless. They had one anti-ship nuke left and a few of the Ezaran high explosive torpedoes. It was too late to launch them now. Jaye gave a sigh she’d signed up for this.

“Shield to max,” she muttered to herself there was no one else in here with her. It would buy then time but not much time. She had only one option left one she didn’t want to use.

“Danielle get to the bridge the raiders are attacking. I need the access codes for the self-destruct.”

There was no answer. Jaye watched the screen horrified and frustrated raiders had pushed through the shields there was nothing to stop them entering. Already a set of shuttles had landed precariously on the hull.

Danielle entered looking furious. “You’re going to kill the Ori!” Danielle yelled at her.

Before Jaye had a chance to react Danielle had hauled her out of her seat and stood her on the captain’s chair. She tried to get down but Danielle held her there as she climbed in the First Officer’s.

“Stay there idiot!” Danielle growled at her. “Unless you want to fry?”

“Fry?” the words stumbled from Jaye’s lips.

“I’ve electrified the hull. Fourteen, thirteen…”

Jaye’s next thought was for Cain. “Cain?”

“Will be safe the torpedo bay is insulated. I told him to stay there while I was on the way here.”

Danielle fiddled with her comms bracelet and images flashed up on the main viewer. Jaye was surprised she hadn’t known it could be done. She could see several raiders approaching a top hatch armed with hammers and crowbars. Jaye couldn’t hear anything but it was obvious from the way the riders jerked and twitched about they were being electrocuted. Flashes of lightening ran over the hall. She had to look away her stomach churning as smoking corpses slid off the hull. Danielle watched the viewer without any guilt these raiders would happy to violate her ‘Ori’ so she was happy to see them die. Some had tried to escape the impending doom by jumping in to the sea. Their bodies floated along aside corpses of dead sea creatures. Those few survivors pulled out.

“Is it over?” Jaye asked her eyes still closed. She slowly opened them not looking at the screen.

“For now,” Danielle replied jumping of the First Officer’s chair.

Jaye regarded Danielle in horror. “Is it safe to do that?”

“Safe now,” Danielle said stamping hard on the deck. “I’ve cut the power to the hull.”

Jaye carefully eased herself down from the Captain’s chair gingerly testing the deck with her foot.

“Jaye, don’t be a ninny. It is safe. You’ll be fine.”

“Fine?” Jaye glared at Danielle. “How can I be fine that was horrible!”

“It would have been more horrible for you if you had you throat slit and your ear cut off as some raider’s trophy?” They had all seen Eloise’s news reports.

“I just don’t like it ok?” Jaye conceded the point. Unfortunately Danielle was right and she still had a duty to protect the civilians.

“Fine I’ll be in engineering.”

Jaye watched her go she could never figure Danielle out.

Karasena paced the perimeter of the hospital Mark at her side. He’d just returned from leading a patrol through the streets trying to get in touch with survivors and doing something she hadn’t wanted to contemplate counting dead civilians. The raiders had seen to their own dead except where there were Militia strong points. In part she hated this and in part she was relieved the attack on both the base and Mark’s ship had been repulsed. There was no news as of yet from the other settlements and that had her worried. Her comms pinged halting her in mid stride.

“Karasena what is it?” she snapped regretting her harsh words a moment later.

“Ma’am relay nine reports hyperspace opening in that sector.” Ino paused. “Wait I count a hundred no make that more than a hundred and forty ships.”

Karasena’s blood ran cold for a moment before she recovered herself. “ID?”

“Confederacy?” Ino responded sounding as relieved as Karasena felt.

Something bothered Karasena. “Admiral Katares said he was only sending three heavy cruisers?”

She heard Mark laugh behind her she turned to regard him seeing an amused expression on his face.

“No it will be three heavy cruisers and their escorts. Medium cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers, frigates add to that the possibility of ground force transports. I doubt he’d send the cruisers without troops to land on the planet?”

Karasena felt relief tingle through her. Her comms pinged again. “Ino?”

“Ma’am the raiders are pulling out en masse.”

“Thank you Ino continue monitoring.” Karasena’s next call was to the Chief. “Chief, Admiral Katares ships have arrived and the raiders are leaving.”

“Good I’ll get my teams to do a sweep. About time the cavalry arrived.”

The last part of the Chief’s statement puzzled her she had no idea what the ‘cavalry’ meant. She guessed that Mark would know but she could ask him later she had other things to do. She commed Eloise. “Admiral Katares ships have arrived please remind people to stay inside until we sound the all clear.”

“On it,” Eloise replied. “Come on Daisy,” Karasena heard her say and her comms went off.

They had been saved now it was time to clean up and count the cost. It was a bill she wasn’t looking forward to.

The sudden appearance of the Confederacy Navy put the raiders into a panic. The sensor pings of so many ships had those that could jump to hyperspace did so. Leaving those ships that normally piggybacked on the wake of those ships that were able to jump on their own. The only big ship left was the Raider Commander who was determined to complete the mission giving by its pod.

On board the Confederacy Squadron Commander surveyed his fleet and opened his comms link to the other ships. “Akatia escort General Osward’s ground forces to Erikino. Thesipoli guard the hyperspace gate we don’t want the scum using it. All others with me we’ll make them sorry they were ever born!”

In his ship the alien posing as the Raider Commander was incandescent with rage all ‘Its’ plans were falling apart. “Ram the ship into the planet!” ‘It’ screamed.

No one responded to his orders ‘It’ realised ‘It’ had pushed them too far. Their fear of ‘It’ was rapidly turning to anger. The slaves were going to mutiny It had lost all control over them and It could read they were planning Its demise.

“Right die here!” Knowing death was near It disconnected itself from the rest of its pod. When he died they would die as well, disconnection no matter how painful it was would save them from Its fate. Before he could initiate the self-destruct the ship exploded hit by a volley of railgun shells and missiles. The Confederacy Navy hadn’t bothered to demand surrender. It was enough to make remainder of the raiders capitulate.