The Red Frontier: Wrath of the Vanquished

Chapter 17: Occupational Hazards

A few cheers crackled through the comms in James' helmet, but he paid them no heed. He was too focused on the remaining attackers, now only 6,000 kilometres from the Lusaka, arming their weapons.

"Don't get cocky, people" the captain said warningly, also still focused on the problem at hand. "Moore, bank to port. Gideon, have all spinal and starboard batteries ready to fire on my mark." He then twisted around and locked his eyes on another nearby human; Sandra Kuon, the ship's chief engineer. "Kuon, have all remote emergency systems on standby."

A chorus of 'Aye' filled the comms. Moore twisted the controls to the left, and James felt pressure yank against the right side of his torso, his seatbelts slicing into his neck. Everyone else did much the same as the ship turned sharply to port. Gritting his teeth through the pain, James armed every weapon the Lusaka had, the main screen revealing the fruits of his labour as the guns rotated into position.

4,000 klicks. The Lusaka continued to turn, and the closer corvette rotated to meet them while the other angled itself downwards. It was then that James glimpsed the captain's plan. At the current angle of attack, the corvettes were blocking each other from firing, forcing them to break formation to avoid a fight in which they stood no chance.

Soon, no more than 2,000 kilometres stood between the ships. Close-quarter combat range.

The closer corvette fired, one of its railguns hurling a tungsten slug at the Lusaka's midrim. Speeding forward, the projectile slammed against the frigate's hull, ripping through their armour. Gideon's legs snapped sideways under his desk as the impact shook the ship, his legs smacking against each other and send a raw jolt of pain through his bones.

But he held strong. He wasn't dead. At least not yet.

"We have a breach, Captain!" One of the bridge's ensigns called out. "Hull integrity compromised on port side, decks 10 and 11, but systems are still operational!"

"Kuon, get those sealed at once!" Captain Ward yelled, his shout crackling the comms. He then turned to Gideon and said "Fire everything!"

At the push of a button, a flurry of plasma and tungsten rocketed forth as the Lusaka went full attack. James' eyes flicked back and forth between the main screen and his tactical display, his mind absorbing information like a sponge as the battle raged on.

The Sentinel-class frigate traded fire with the rugged corvette, the two vessels pounding each other with everything they had. Multi-ton metal shells flew from heavy railguns, gauss cannons spewed gouts of white-hot plasma from their red-hot barrels, and point-defence lasers intercepted incoming projectiles by blasting them into pulp.

The bridge shuddered like it was in the midst of an earthquake, the instruments shaking and some lights flickering as power was siphoned to keep the systems running. Thankfully, the various screens and controls remained unhindered, and the ship responded perfectly to James' every command as he programmed and co-ordinated weapons and targets.

"Armour's holding, Captain." Miss Kuon raised her voice to give a status update. "Hull integrity undamaged."

"What's the enemy's hull like?" Captain Ward barked.

James scanned the corvette again, and half-smiled as his sensors showed their enemy's armour flanking off in chunks. "Breaking apart, sir." The Earther then looked at his display to see that the second corvette was increasing speed, slowly orienting itself underneath the Lusaka. "Captain, the second target is moving to flank us from below."

"All ventral PDL's, standby for incoming fire. Moore, bear right. Gideon, prepare to volley all railguns at the first corvette." He leant forward in his chair, watching the main screen with unblinking intent. "Target their fuel tanks, and have all plasma batteries ready to fire on my mark."