Star Crusades by Michael Thomas (whitelam books txt) 📗

VALENTINE’S

VENGEANCE

By Michael G. Thomas

Part of the STARCRUSADES universe

Copyright © 2021 Michael G.Thomas

Published by SwordworksBooks

All rights reserved. Withoutlimiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of thispublication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into aretrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means(electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise)without the prior written permission of both the copyright ownerand the above publisher of this book.

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PROLOGUE

Dragoon Class Frigate‘ANS Coventry’, EpsilonEridani

20th May 2475,Nine months after the Siege of Mars

Captain Nektaria Zacharias ran his fingers through his beard as hewatched the distant stars. He was not there to enjoy the view, butto take part in a deadly game of cat and mouse. His eyes movedfurtively as he looked for anomalies around the abandoned frontierworld of Eridani Prime. The Alliance had never had much more than amodest colony out here, with small outposts on the other planets inthe system. But since the conflict with the Ski’ligs, the area hadbeen completely evacuated, save for several hunting packs like his.His orders were simple, to patrol and monitor the system, andengage any craft they encountered.

“Captain. I’ve got strangereadings directly ahead. Metal residueand…”

“No.” That’s just the dust clouds and debris from the destroyedtransport ship. Check again. The energy signature is from theirweapon.”

The officer moved his hands over thecomputer controls and then nodded.

“Affirmative, Sir.The computer matches the scans to our database.The outer plating is showing signs of disruption.”

Commander Campbell, a tall,clean-shaven man nodded to the Captain.

“That makes sense. The Ski’ligweapon.”

“That’s correct, Sir,” said ChiefEngineer Thompson, “Their weapon drainspower instantly. On the first encounter we believe it was able toneutralise a Morato Class heavy frigate in seconds. With main powergone, there would be no IS drive and no particleweapons.”

“But our upgraded countermeasures should prove effective,shouldn’t they?”

The Chief Engineer looked at theCommander for two full seconds beforeanswering. It was as though he’d transformed into a computer ratherthan a person as he ran the calculations in his head.

“Based on the data from our previous engagement, there is a strong chanceof success.”

“A chance?” askedthe surprised Commander.

“Yes. We have no idea what elsethese ships are capable of. If we come up against them, we’ll findout.”

Captain Zacharias had alreadyturned his attention away from the crewand was looking at the patterns in the blackness. There wassomething strange about this system, something he’d never reallybeen able to put a finger on before. As an Alliance captain, he’dworked his way up from small customs vessels and customs patrolcraft up to cutters and then to frigates. Over the years he’d seenthe fiery world of Prometheus, the gleaming jewel of Terra Nova,and even the mysterious planets of the Helions. But never had heseen such strange readings in the coldness of space.

They’re out there,I’m certain of it.

“Switch to activescanners. I need to know where they are.We cannot enter the fight blind.”

The tactical officer, a scarred veteranof the recent fighting gave him a curt nod.

“Yes,Captain. Scanners are active. Cycling out to five hundredkilometres.”

Captain Zacharias looked off to the right and noted the lightglinting off the armour plates of the nearby frigates. Theformation of ships moved silently through the blackness of space,with only a gentle puff from the main drives to even mark the factthat they were still accelerating. They were spaced at almosttwenty kilometres apart, with the Captain’s ship Coventry in thelead, and Chester, Cairo, and Calgary following behind. Thoughsmall compared to the main ships of the line used in the fleet, theDragoon Class was more than capable, especially when used as agroup to maximise their firepower. And the Dragoons were certainlywell armed. As well as their hulls fitted with guns and ordnancetubes they carried a substantial weapons bay that took up half ofthe lower hull. This bay carried multiple batteries of automaticcannons, each now tracking back and forth as they looked for theirprey.

“Where are you hiding?” CaptainZacharias said, “I know you’re outthere.”

The scanners sent out pulses fromtheir narrow band radar as they trackedand interrogated any physical objects around the ships. It tooktime, but the system was fast and efficient, mainly designed tospot and track incoming warheads so that the larger vessels couldmore easily defend themselves. These systems were equally effectivewhen used by a hunting pack like this one.

“We’ve made contact!”said the tactical officer, “long-range sensorshave picked up a low level electro-magnetic reading. We still can’tsee anything.”

He looked to theCaptain and nodded.

“It’s confirmed, we have a Ski’lig vessel approaching. It musthave been using some type of stealth system to get soclose.”

“On screen.”

The small triple bank of displaysformed an artificial forward view of theship, the central unit overlaying the imagery, so that it waspartially transparent and didn’t completely block theview.

“Yes,” said Captain Zacharias, “It’s one of their warships allright.”

The front of the ship was quitenarrow, with coloured ribs running down the sides of its hull. Longveins like masts reached out from thesides and pulled forward into fine tapered points like those of abat’s wings. Hanging from these sections were translucent sails ofblue and green matter that picked out light from the distant starand amplified it tenfold. An array of small spikes, antenna, and amyriad of other features covered the hull, giving it a completelydifferent looked to the rigged and utilitarian design of theAlliance.

“Frigate Class,” said thetactical officer, “It’s powering up itsweapons.”

Captain Zacharias looked back at the Chief Engineer.

“This had better work.”

He moved