Spawn of the Void by K.J. Coble

Author:K.J. Coble
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Space Fleet, Galactic Empires, space opera, Space Colonization, military science fiction
Publisher: K.J. Coble
Published: 2024-09-30T06:00:00+00:00

“THAT’S DAMNED GOOD news, Bartosz,” Dath told the grainy globular of the Security team leader.

The small woman’s face was a pale rectangle, outlined by her helmet, and marred by a smear of what might have been blood across a cheek. “We’ve got numerous casualties down here, sir.”

“Understood.” Dath gestured to Regal, who nodded and started typing into her console. “We’re coordinating emergency teams now.” He offered the hologram his best grin. “Again, good work.”

“Thank you, sir,” Bartosz sounded more exhausted than grateful as the hologram vanished.

“How bad are we hurt?” Dath called over to Ylura.

“Surprisingly little critical damage from the boarding,” she replied, reading from schemata on her holoscreen. “Mostly structural. Would have been a lot worse had they succeeded in Main Engineering.”

“Obviously,” Dath snorted.

Tenacity shuddered as its plasma blasters ripped another Spawn sortie from the stars and spiraling shrapnel rained off the port shields. Dath tensed reflexively, expecting more alarms, more deflector failures or another boarding attempt. But nothing followed and the tactical display showed the few remaining contacts scattering away from them now, chased by blaster bolts.

“Where’s Hidalgo?” he asked.

“Here, Captain.” Ylura circled the heavy cruiser on the tactical display, squirming with red contacts and flashing with energy blasts. “They’re in a bad way.”

“Zovga,” Dath called, “give it everything you’ve got!”

“We’re already at extreme weapons range,” Ylura noted.

“Watch your targets, Sergio,” Dath ordered the Tactical Officer. “But do what you’ve got to do!”

“Wasn’t planning on anything else, sir.”

Tenacity’s bow lit up with a particle cannon volley. Azure shafts leapt for the scrum around Hidalgo, smote it in a rash of orange-yellow fire globes. The bunching about the heavy cruiser burst apart like rotten fruit struck by a baseball bat. Spawn sprayed away from the explosion, some in pieces, others straining to get back up to Void Speed to counter-attack. The latter never had a chance, accelerating straight into a storm of hell. The butchery was sudden and thorough.

“Missiles,” Dath commanded. “Getting tight in there! Missiles set to guide on Spawn signatures!”

The sudden quiver of the ship with the launching of the missile salvo, before Dath had even finished speaking, suggested Alvarez had already made that decision. The spray of white tails lunged forth from Tenacity on the tactical and rushed ahead into the midst of Spawn picking at wounded Hidalgo. Another ripple of fire spheres limned the space around the cruiser. A few of her attackers looped away, chased by warheads already at Void Speed and struck so violently they didn’t even need their explosive charges to finish them off.

Dath counted the icons still besieging Hidalgo, and those that had fled out of weapons range. “Long-range scanning,” he ordered. “Ylura, do we have any more of them in the vicinity?”

“Hints of tachyon trail beyond the system,” she replied, “but nothing close enough to reach us any time soon.”

“Good enough. Zovga, reduce speed to sub-light and bring us alongside the Hidalgo to starboard.” He pivoted to Alvarez. “Keep any of those stragglers off us!”

“Aye sir!”

Hidalgo was swelling in the forward view hologram now as Tenacity decelerated.

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