Page 48 of Reformation
“What does that mean?”
“It means that as soon as we stop to take a look at Pandora, the shit tank is going to overflow. Like, massively. There are spilloff pipes, but half of those have been very slightly compromised, just enough to spring a leak or two or, perhaps, two hundred and eighteen. It will force an emergency shutdown of the engines due to environmental hazards and take at least a week to repair. And by that time, if we’re close enough?” Ze glanced over at Cody’s shrouded bike. “Well, I guess we’ll be hoping the modifications to that hold up, won’t we?”
“But … no one’s being put in danger, right?”
“I’m a genius, not anevilgenius; of course, no one’s in danger.” Notmortaldanger, anyway.
Cody hesitated for a moment before a huge smile split his face, and Ten sighed with relief. Internally, of course, it didn’t do to share that ze had been nervous.
“You think of everything, don’t you?”
“I try.” Ten shut hir eyes and pressed a kiss to Cody’s shoulder. “I really try.”
Chapter twenty-seven
Darrel
They weren’t caught off guard. That was the best that could be said of the Alliance fleet’s initial foray into battle. They knew what they were flying into, and that was the only reason that their descent from liminal space didn’t result in a bloodbath. That and their modified shields that gave the Alliance ships a better chance against energy weapons that would have torn through their outer resonances like they were cobwebs.
Darrel sat frozen in his seat behind Cadet Reyes, watching the numbers fade in and out on her tactical screen and listening to General Caractacus respond to his crew’s information with calm, detached orders. “ThePiscesis heeling, sir, portside shields look to be completely down!”
“The rest ofPisces’detachment will bring up cover for her. Keep our firepower on the ship in front of us.” He sounded so certain, but Darrel knew there was no certainty in the heart of battle.
It was clear now which commanders had been slow to respond to the general’s staffing and defensive orders—they were taking heavier damage and were slower to respond to threats. Their fleet was outnumbered initially, twenty-nine ships to eighteen, but they weren’t entirely outgunned. The pirates in front of them—and Darrel had never evenheardof pirates who had access to a military-level destroyer, it was a fucking farce—were being surprisingly chary with their ammunition, and their delays gave the biggest Alliance ships time to maneuver themselves into the line of fire.
One of the ship designations on Reyes’ screen suddenly went dark. “Enemy ship destroyed, sir!”
“Target the next closest of a similar size within the same zone. On my mark, turn broadside guns on it and focus our forward firepower on the ship harassing theCleaver.”
“Sir,” one of the tac officers called out worriedly, “if we change our heading like that, we open ourselves up to enemy fire against the dorsal shields. They’re down to fifty-one percent.”
“If we lose theCleaver,we open up the smaller ships she’s protecting to firepower they can’t expect to handle. We’ll manage, Cadet. In three, two … mark.”
TheTriumphwas an annihilator, a new class of ship that was bigger and more powerful than anything the Alliance had put out in decades. There hadn’t been much of a need, without open warfare dogging them, but the admiralty had wanted a new toy. TheTriumphwas half again larger than a regular destroyer, had more flexible defensive capabilities, and a weapons system that was more than a match for anything they were facing. That was good since it was theonlyship in the fleet that was doing consistent damage to the enemy ships. TheTriumph’s starboard battery opened fire on the harrier-class that was firing on them, hitting it with a flurry of destructive power so vast it had nochoice but to run. It tried, but it didn’t make it far. “Enemy ship destroyed, sir!”
“Two on our tail, sinking under to fire on our belly!”
“Fire ventral thrusters fifty percent, take us down. Maintain forward firepower on theCleaver’s enemy.”
“Aye, sir.” The ship began a vertical roll, its stern dropping as the bow remained fixed on the ship it was engaging there. The forward guns weren’t as powerful as the side batteries, but between their firepower and theCleaver’s defensive shots, the enemy ship had to turn tail and run.
“They’re following and firing, sir, impact in six seconds.”
“Ventral thrusters to full power, end forward engagement. Brace for impact.”
Three, two, one …Darrel counted down in his head, gritting his teeth, but when the shots hit, it wasn’t nearly as stunning as some of the earlier hits had been.
“Deflection to ventral shields was seventy-five percent. We’re holding steady, sir.”
“Good. Give me a count.”
“Twenty-four enemy ships remain. We have all eighteen, although—” The tac officer cut off for a moment. When he spoke up again, he sounded worried. “Piscesis in bad shape, sir. Captain Himmel has ordered an evacuation. Their shields are next to nothing, and there are two ships converging on it.”
“Where’s Himmel’s detachment leader?”
“Captain Uris isn’t responding to the comm, sir.”
“Force a connection and get us toPisces,now. Inform Captain Gorion that theCleaverwill have to stand in front for the moment.”
