The Honour of the Knights (First Edition) (28 page)

“
Sorry,” the first man cut in, sounded already bored with the
history lesson. “But what exactly does this have to do with this
Admiral Zackaria?”

“
Admiral Zackaria was the fleet admiral for the Imperial Naval
Forces; he worked for the Emperor. But he defected to side with the
Imperial Senate, and around five years ago they fought back harder
than ever before and started to win the war.”

“
How?” Estelle asked. “You said that only a
small fraction of the Imperium supported the Senate. How could they
be winning? They were outnumbered to begin with, and after what you
said about the Senate
’
s supporting systems being almost
destroyed, I don
’
t see how that
’
s possible?”

“
Well, I don
’
t know either,” the storyteller
said. “But that
’
s
why the Confederacy want him. Because whatever
he
’
s up to is
starting to affect the Confederation
’
s own interests.
He
’
s apparently
already orchestrated the theft of a Python-class battleship, and I
don
’
t think
anyone really wants to stand around and watch to see what he does
next.”

“
I don’t see the point,” the man whom Estelle had shouted at
said. “Why even bother bringing him in? What they should just do is
put a bullet in his head the minute they find him. That’s what I’d
do. Bang! Would solve the problem straight away.”

“
He’ll probably already be dead by the time
they get to him,” a woman chipped in, “since they’re planning on
flooding
Dragon
with nerve agent or whatever it is.”

“
The whole place’ll look like Hentose, back in 2612, after
they’re done with it,” another commented.

“
Hentose?”

“
Yeah, that underground station that had the accident with the
bio-engineered stuff. Everyone’s skin was practically melted off
when they found ‘em. I think one poor guy was still alive. He was a
right mess.”

“
Good luck identifying Zackaria if that happens.”

“
Whatever they want that guy for, I hope it’s worth
it.”

The quarter
’
s musings were put on hold as Parks
’
voice came over
Griffin
‘s
intercoms.

“
All crew, this is your captain speaking. Prepare for
jump.”

* * *

Parks strode down the long, central aisle of
Griffin
‘s
bridge, and up to the front to check on how the
departure preparations were progressing. Around him, crew busied
themselves, performing last minute checks to ensure that their
route was clear and all essential safety measures had been
followed.

Just ahead of him, seen out the frontal viewport, the last
few transport craft could be seen departing
Ifrit
and
Leviathan
,
and making their way either back to Spirit Orbital or
returning to the planet surface. Many other supply craft were
leaving the carriers with each passing second, their cargo of
essential equipment and armaments having been offloaded.
Ifrit
and
Leviathan
rested on
either side of the lead carrier,
Griffin
being granted flagship
status, if only due to its larger size, armaments, and crew
complement.

This is it,
Parks thought to
himself.
This is where I find out whether
I
’
m
ready
. He held back on thinking the next
few hours would be a case of easy in, easy out. He was sure that
such assumptions had been made before, and the consequences had
been disastrous.
You can do this,
Elliott
, he told himself.

“
All safety checks completed and route confirmed clear,
Captain,” his ensign said, yanking him from his thoughts and back
to the bridge of the carrier.

“
Thank you,” Parks said, and watched as the
final few preparation craft cleared the way, leaving the
Confederation
’
s three most well-known carriers alone. “Open communications
with
Ifrit
and
Leviathan
.”

Above him two two-dimensional holographic images sprang into
existence, each bearing the simple combination of black and white
shapes that were the CSN
’
s insignia, against a smooth black
and white gradient background. The symbols were soon replaced with
images projected from their respective sources: one displaying an
image of Hawke, standing on the bridge of
Ifrit
;
the
other, with Meyers and
Leviathan
.

“
Hello, gentlemen,” Parks said.
“Preparations aboard
Griffin
are complete.”

“
Ifrit
has
also completed preparations,” Hawke confirmed.

“
As has
Leviathan
, Commodore,” Meyers said.
“Ready to jump on your order.”

“
Very well,” Parks nodded and looked to the ship’s helmsman
and navigator. “Mr Liu, open a jump point to Aster.”

“
Yes, sir,” the man tapped away at the multicoloured display
of the console he sat at.

Parks
watched the space in front of the trio of huge carriers, as it
began to twist and distort. The distortions subsided quickly,
leaving behind a blue-tinged swirling mass, that turned like a lazy
whirlpool.

“
Jump point opened, sir,” Liu confirmed.

“
Ready, gentlemen?” Parks asked one last time.

“
With your lead, Commodore,” Meyers confirmed.

“
Ready,” Hawke nodded his agreement.

Are
you
ready, Commodore?
a voice within
Parks asked.

Yes
, he said.

“
Take us forward, Mr Liu.”

* * *

Those observing from Spirit Orbital watched as the carrier
started forward,
Ifrit
‘s
and
Leviathan
‘s
engines engaging and propelling them just behind
Griffin
. The three ships
slipped gracefully into the vicinity of the jump point and then,
one after the other, appeared to accelerate at terrific
speed.

A few
seconds later, the point closed behind them… and they were
gone.

XII

—
The Sleeping Dragon —

M
any hours passed as the three
Confederation carriers made the journey from Spirit to Aster, to
meet with their appointment. During that time, preparations were
made for their arrival and the start of the operation – Boarding
parties suited up, checked their equipment, and were once again
briefed as to how they were to invade
Dragon
and what their objectives
were once they were inside; teams across flight decks loaded
armaments onto fighters and bombers, and performed a variety of
safety checks to ensure the craft could be deployed in a timely
fashion; others tucked into a piping-hot cooked breakfast, as well
as a plentiful supply of caffeine.

After struggling to swallow a few mouthfuls, Dodds pushed
much of the rest around, his stomach warning him that he might come
to regret consuming any more of the fried food. In the end, he
scraped what remained onto the plate of a man sat opposite him, who
was more than grateful of the second helping. Much of the
conversation at the table was focused on the upcoming operation,
mixed in with varied opinions of the fate of
Dragon
and the political strife
within the Empire.

A mug of
tea and a visit to the ship’s doctor was enough to see Dodds
through the lengthy mission profile that proceeded breakfast. A
round of questions concluded the brief, and then it was back to the
quarters again.

A short
while later, the call came in – they were approaching Aster; all
participants of the Initial Run were to prep for deployment. The
flyers jumped up from seats and off bunks, filling corridors and
lifts as they made towards the flight decks, to answer the
request.

Dodds
watched them go, feeling Estelle’s anguish at having to stay put
until they were required; if at all. Though he regretted the
previous night’s activities, he hoped that his services would not
be called upon. In his groggy state, he was certain that to do so
would only invite yet more disaster, and he’d had enough of that
for one lifetime. He was determined to see the morning’s wakeup
call as the last he needed.

* * *

Parks watched from the bridge as the blue haze of jump space
peeled away and the nearby stars came rushing forward. The Aster
system lay in close proximity to a number of nebula: red, blue and
green hues hanging like fine silk curtains amongst the distant
stars. There were few who failed to be impressed by such a sight,
many of the inhabited star systems throughout the known galaxy
lacking any such splendour. The magnificence of the scene was not
wasted on Parks either, despite the reasons for their being in the
system. He remained motionless for a moment, to gaze upon it and
felt some of his stress slip away.
Griffin
decelerated quickly, the
stars around the carrier slowing.

“
Jump completed, sir,” he heard Liu say,
as
Ifrit
and
Leviathan
came alongside. Though it was rare for accidents to occur
during jumps, it was good to see the other carriers were still with
them. So far, so good.

“
Excellent. Open communications,” Parks said. The holographic
screens sprang up once again, and Hawke and Meyers appeared.
“Commodore, Captain. Any issues to report?”

“
None here,” said Meyers. “Fighters and transports are prepped
and ready to be deployed on your command.”

“
No reported issues,” Hawke added. “Also ready for
deployment.”

There was a flash by
Griffin
‘s
starboard side. A jump point was forming. From it emerged two
carriers of similar design to that of
Griffin
and her two
companions.

“
Sir,
Grendel
and
Grendel
’
s
Mother
have just arrived in the system,” a
man by the name of O
’
Donnell,
Griffin
‘s
head of communications,
said.

“
Perfect timing,” Parks said. He turned
back to Meyers and Hawke. “Commodore, Captain, deploy your teams. I
want to ensure that we are able to execute our strike not only the
very second enemy forces appear, but also if
Dragon
arrives earlier
than was originally anticipated. The element of surprise should
give them little chance to plot an escape and could well be key to
our success here today.”

“
Yes, sir. I will begin fighter defence deployment
immediately,” Meyers said, before closing the communication
link.

“
And I will begin preparation for rearguard, Commodore,” Hawke
said.

Parks opened his mouth to speak, then hesitated. Hawke had
volunteered to operate
Ifrit
and its full complement alone as rearguard to the
mission, defending
Griffin
,
Leviathan
,
Grendel
,
and
Grendel
’
s Mother
.
Should enemy forces manage to attack the main strike force from
behind, Hawke would move
Ifrit
in to offer support. Parks had raised doubts
about the validity about such a tactic, suggesting it would be
better for Hawke to concentrate
Ifrit
‘s
strength up front, rather than reduce their offensive power.
Even so, Hawke had argued that whilst this would indeed allow them
to take down the enemy faster, they should not assume that enemy
support would not be forthcoming. To do so could risk the allied
forces being flanked or otherwise surrounded by hostile forces,
meaning that retreating from the system could prove
difficult.

After much deliberation Parks had begrudgingly agreed to
Hawke
’
s tactical
proposals. But having now arrived at Aster, he was once again
considering ordering Hawke to remain up front. He pushed aside the
urge to enter into another debate with the man, not wanting to
stall the operation for even a second.