The Royal Marine Space Commandos Vol 2 (RMSC Omnibus) by Jon Evans & James Evans

The Royal Marine Space Commandos Vol 2 (RMSC Omnibus) by Jon Evans & James Evans

Author:Jon Evans & James Evans [Evans, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Imaginary Brother Publishing
Published: 2019-04-01T06:00:00+00:00


4

The alarms sounded continuously now, too frequent and too close to separate, as more enemy vessels appeared.

Morgan watched as the crew of HMS Duke of Norfolk struggled to cope with the rate of enemy fire and the overwhelming numbers of craft that were appearing on all sides. Then he began tapping out new orders.

The engines kicked in and Norfolk shot forward, pressing the crew back into their seats. Then there was a series of bangs and the engines failed.

“Impacts detected,” said Barnes, voice rising as she watched the reports. “Multiple impacts across the starboard flank. Hull breaches,” she paused, searching for a way to explain the magnitude of the damage, “everywhere.”

“Engines offline,” said Todd unnecessarily, “some sort of leak in the fuel system.”

“Engineering,” yelled Stevens over the impact and hull breach alarms, “what’s going on?”

A bright flash of light from the main displays rolled quickly across the bridge and was gone.

“What was that?” shouted Lieutenant Sturgis, scrabbling around for news.

“HMS Virtue,” muttered Morgan, his frown deepening as his fleet disintegrated around him. A quarter of his ships now showed amber or grey on the status monitor and all were engaged. He flicked at his slate, ordering the fleet to press forward and shoot their way free from the trap.

“Stingray and Colossus are gone,” said Church numbly. There was another flash of light, smaller this time but still bright.

“What was that?”

“Where is Molesworth?”

“Wormhole comms system inactive.”

“Are we still firing?”

“Fire suppression systems activated.”

“Atmosphere venting on lower decks, casualties unknown.”

“Starboard sensor arrays damaged. Multiple incoming contacts. Brace for impact.”

“Engines damaged, unrecoverable.”

“Aft weapons bank offline. Forward weapons bank inoperable. Starboard railguns overheating.”

“Hyperspace engine shielding punctured, status critical.”

The ship creaked as another wave of projectiles washed over the hull.

“Multiple hull breaches, internal doors closed and sealed.”

“Hyperspace engine offline,” murmured a horrified Church. He looked round at Morgan, fear obvious on his face. Without the hyperspace engine, there was no way to escape the ambush.

Then there was a rumbling explosion from somewhere beneath the bridge. The floor bucked as shockwaves blasted through the ship.

“Artificial gravity failing,” said Sturgis redundantly as the bridge crew felt themselves suddenly become weightless.

Morgan still sat serenely in his chair as the disaster unfolded. Ship after ship reported incoming fire, then hull breaches and failures. Status indicators went orange, then red or grey as ships were crippled, abandoned or destroyed. Morgan sent orders to each of his captains, designating targets amongst the swarm of enemy vessels that flashed across his view.

“Hawk has been abandoned.”

The display shifted to show a view of the support ship, HMS Hawk. Along its length, escape pod doors had opened, and Norfolk’s bridge crew watched helplessly as launch rockets flared. Only a handful of pods left their tubes.

“Get the engines back online,” shouted Morgan over the din, abruptly engaged in the drama, “and get those bloody alarms switched off.”

The alarms suddenly stopped as Todd punched at the controls. The silence was unsettling.

“Negative on the engines,” came a voice across the comms. “Engineering is down, the whole area is offline.



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