Loyalties

Chapter 20

"Coming out in five," Denis notifies the bridge. All around, the stars slow, and we're greeted by Earth and the numerous space stations surrounding. We've come out a couple thousand kilometers away from the battle.

"Captain, take us in, maximum thrusters," I order as the ship rumbles forward. "Shields up! Port cannons at the ready! All hands, battle stations!"

Like clockwork, all the bridge staff immediately goes about their tasks, the senior officers taking charge and getting everything prepared for the oncoming onslaught.

"Approaching the battle," Denis notifies me, and I nod as a confirmation. I immediately look at Cindy.

"What's the status of the battle? Who outnumbers who?" I ask, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.

Cindy brings up a display of the battle, and I'm filled with awe. "They greatly outnumber us, sir," she says as the display shows one of our ships being destroyed. I sigh.

"Colonel, fire frontal cannons," I order. "Target the ship directly ahead." A pit grows inside my stomach, and my hands start shaking. "Lieutenant, keep the shields up as long as possible."

"Aye sir," Joseph and Lauren say, almost in sync. Lasers fly from my ship towards the onslaught. The ship lurches as the enemy returns fire.

"Shields at 18%," Lauren notifies. "Drawing energy from the engines to stabilize levels."

Now, we're fully into the fray. Fighters fly past the bridge, caught in dogfights, cannon fire lighting up the darkness of space. The debris of fallen ships litters where no one dares to go.

All those lost souls, I think as the ship lurches hard. "What the fuck was that!" I demand, trying to keep my cool.

"Our shields are down!" Lauren yells. "I can't get them back!"

"Rear cannons are offline," Joseph informs me, a worried look on his face. I haven't seen him this worried since our final test.

"Admiral," Cindy beckons me over to her station. "They're sending out a whole lot of dropships." Cindy looks up at me. "It looks like an invasion."

My eyes widen, and my throat goes dry. "Recall the second half of the fleet we left behind, get them back here as soon as damn possible," I order Cindy, who nods in acknowledgement. "Colonel, take out as many dropships as you can."

"My pleasure," Joseph says, and almost immediately takes out a couple dropships.

"Sir," Cindy calls. "Communications from Earth. It's encrypted."

"Put it through," I reply, walking over to Cindy's station. The holographic pixels form the image of the Emperor.

"All ships," he says, worry and fear embedded in his voice. "We need reinforcements on the ground..." Static cuts through the transmission. "I repeat, we are being overrun. We need your-" The transmission abruptly ends.

"Cindy, what happened?" I ask frantically.

"I don't know, sir," she replies, scrambling to get the signal back. I turn my head to look back at the ensuing battle. The Black Sun is pushing our ships back. But, in the midst of the crowd, I notice something odd. A small group of ships, moving faster than the others, advancing towards the frontline.

"Captain, bring us towards those ships," I yell over the alarms. "Colonel, fire any and all weapons systems that are available."

I feel the ship start to gain speed. The number of shells being launched from my ship have greatly increased.

"Sir, power reserves weakening," Lauren calls, a little panicked. "Our hull's holding for now, but I don't know how much longer we'll hold!"

"We'll be fine," I snap, perhaps a bit too harshly.

We approach the speeding ships. I scan their designs. One Command Cruiser taking hold in the middle, with five DSTR cruisers lining the mid layer, and the outside lined with RMMRs.

"Sir, they've formed a smaller blockade runner," Denis says, spinning around in his seat. "I suggest we target the CC first, then worry about the rest."

"Acknowledged," is the response I give. "Colonel, target the DSTRs, then focus on the Command Cruiser." Joseph nods, and starts relaying orders to the weapons systems.

A couple minutes later, Cindy shrieks, "Adrian!" I thought I'd go deaf. I look at her, and all she can do is gape her mouth open and point. Confused, I look where she's pointing. Then I go into shock.

Through the middle of our fleet, after the bright ball of orange and white subsides, there's a hole.

They've broken through.