For Death or Freedom (Starship Freedom Book 4) by Daniel Arenson

Author:Daniel Arenson [Arenson, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Moonclipse
Published: 2021-12-14T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

As King ran down the hall, he saw everything on MindWeb.

The portal opening just off their starboard bow, eclipsing the nearby brown dwarf.

The Tyranny emerging, all guns blazing.

King burst onto the bridge.

"How the hell did she find us?" he growled.

"We don't know," Jordan said. "Full power to shields!"

"Belay that order!" King said. He already saw the silver spears flying their way. "Mimori—power to the Angels of Liberty. Fire everything at the Tyranny!"

"Without shields, we'll—" Jordan began.

"The Caracal will defend us. Angels—fire!"

Everything began happening at once. Power thrummed from the shield generators to the cannons on the dorsal hull. Without a graviton field, nothing would slow down those silver spears. If one hit the Freedom again, it would cause devastating damage. Maybe even destroy the entire dreadnought. But King wanted all available power flowing to his cannons.

The Angels of Liberty boomed, firing Maccabees at the charging Tyranny.

The silver spears streaked closer. They would hit Freedom in seconds.

The Caracal zipped below Freedom's underbelly and soared, spinning and whizzing and firing a storm of interceptors. The little missiles zipped, coiled, and drew helices of light, following their targets. One by one, the silver spears exploded.

The Maccabees kept racing toward the Tyranny. They were seconds from impacting.

The Tyranny rose higher. The brown dwarf blazed behind her, etching a corona of fire. The arachnid dreadnought opened a hatch, revealing her spinneret. Webs shot out, catching the Maccabees and detonating them in space. The hatch slammed shut, shielding the spinneret.

"Sir, we must send out the Eagles," Spitfire said. "Next time the Tyranny reveals her spinneret, the Eagles will destroy it."

King considered for a second. Eagles were powerful weapons, but he mostly used them against small enemies like clawfighters. Out in space, facing a dreadnought, Eagles were vulnerable. The Tyranny could swat them away like flies.

"Sir, the Eagles will handle it," Spitfire said.

King considered for a moment longer, staring into Spitfire's eyes. She had commanded the Eagles for years. She knew them. Trusted them. King had begun his own career flying an Eagle. He had to admit—perhaps he had a bias toward launching them too.

Finally King nodded. "All right."

"And I'm flying with them," Spitfire said.

"Spitfire, you're a bridge officer now—"

"You said I can fly twice a week. I'm going."

King didn't have time for this. He nodded. "Go. Godspeed, Spitfire."

She ran off the bridge, already shouting over MindWeb. "Pickles, get three wings out there! I'll join you soon! Fly, Eagles!"

The Tyranny was still bearing down on them. She fired another volley of silver spears. The Caracal was zipping back and forth, taking them out with her Shield of David interceptors. Thankfully, the Caracal's courage gave King a few seconds to recalibrate. But the Caracal would run out of ammo sooner or later. Perhaps that was the Tyranny's intent—first to overwhelm and exhaust the Caracal, then focus on the Freedom. Meanwhile, the Kuroko and Mahatma were sheltering behind the Freedom. They were civilian ships without any armaments. If the dreadnought fell, they would be next.

King smiled grimly at the arachnid ship.

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