Victory's Bright Dawn by Eric Thomson

Author:Eric Thomson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: strong female character, space battle, space fleet, space pirates, space marine, starfleet, colonization, conspiracy, space privateer
Publisher: Sanddiver Books
Published: 2017-05-01T00:00:00+00:00

— Twenty-Three —

The rumbling of hull plates moving aside and gun turrets rising from their recesses had barely faded by the time Sirico sent the first brace of missiles streaming at the four outlying Pradyni pirate ships. Seconds later, the two shuttles, now mid-way between their motherships and Iolanthe, came under sustained fire from the calliopes while the main guns began hammering the ships themselves. History would never record the reactions of the Pradyni captains when an easy prey turned into a thing from the deepest, darkest recesses of their terror-filled nightmares. Nevertheless, Dunmoore fancied she could sense their confusion, and the primal surge of fear when they finally understood they had been hoodwinked.

Iolanthe’s calliopes shredded the shuttles in less than a minute, leaving little more than debris clouds composed of metal, plastics, and plenty of organic matter. Though Tango One and Two had their shields up, at close range, they proved to be no match for the Q-ship’s main guns. The onslaught of plasma on a single spot quickly created an energy feedback loop powerful enough to stress and finally burn out shield generators, opening gaps in the protective bubble. Subsequent salvos, now unimpeded, splashed on gray hulls, eating through metal, until a few rounds punched through releasing columns of rapidly freezing gasses. One of the captains seemed to have regained his senses faster than the other. Tango Two turned on its axis so that an intact shield now faced Iolanthe. The other reacted too slowly. Iolanthe's salvo likely struck a power conduit or weapon capacitor on Tango One because secondary explosions erupted. With five of its six shield generators still working, the force of the onboard explosions was turned back against the ship, adding to the mayhem.

While the starboard guns kept hammering Tango Two, hoping to burn out the generator of the shield now facing Iolanthe, Sirico ordered the port guns to swivel and join the belly guns in targeting their pursuers. He recognized a ship in its death throes when he saw it, and the crew of Tango One had minutes left to live. The secondary explosions dotting its hull put it beyond any attempt at damage control. A brief flare of light obscured its stern as the crew vented antimatter fuel before the magnetic containment units failed, but it proved to be in vain. Tango One began to break apart.

A second shield generator failed on Tango Two, and Iolanthe’s gunners resumed punishing its hull. Moments later, the crew of doomed Pradyni sloop joined its Tango One comrades in whatever heaven or hell their belief system prescribed.

Major Salminen stared at the video displays with awe, stunned by the violence and by the speed at which Dunmoore’s gunners had dispatched two starships. When she glanced at Siobhan, she saw her watching the tactical schematic, lips slightly parted, exuding an intensity the soldier found fascinating.

“Our missiles are coming under defensive fire, Captain,” Sirico said over his shoulder. “So far ineffective.”

“Not anymore,” Yens chimed in. “One down.”

A blue icon vanished from the schematic as if swallowed by the holographic projection.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.