Chapter 10: The Auditorium Part 2

The small Itrean warship’s triple-barreled railgun unleashed its first round at the Jian Seng. Blue and purple particles shimmered in the void of space before they quickly dissipated. A hypervelocity tungsten shell was expelled in the direction of the military transport.

Inside near the port bow of the passageway of the Jian Seng, Shira stood looking at the engineers as they were trying their hardest in repairing the sensor array. The chief engineer was looking into the alcove, pointing at one of the circuit boards. A fair amount of electrical smoke was coming from the boards as it had shorted out. This was the area where the primary sensor array had apparently gone offline prior before.

With Shira, she barely had much to say, and her attention was away from the engineers. She stood carefully from the small area where Tunkay and Anderson were both diligently working with their tools. She hadn’t even bothered to pull out her tilon and kept her hands neatly tucked behind her back. There was no emotion on her face as she waited for the coming storm.

Suddenly, without warning, the midsection of the Jian Seng took a direct hit as a powerful light railgun round punched through the hull and pierced into the armor. With a monumental impact, the shell almost shredded itself as pieces ricocheted throughout the passageway. Small burning shrapnel and other tiny pieces of metal were flung about at dangerous speeds. One of these pieces struck Shira in the left arm.

The sound was a very short but loud horrific bang. Metal tore through metal almost instantly. Surprisingly, despite a small amount of blood that came pouring from the wound, she remained at perfect ease and simply grabbed the hand railing expecting the next series of events.

“What was that!?” Anderson yelled out.

“Sounded like a...” Tunkay tried to say before he was interrupted.

Another round slammed through the midsection, but this time, the shell was a little bit closer to Shira’s direction. This time, the round punched clean through. It went from the port side and went directly into the enclosed room where some of the crew members had gone into. Screaming erupted for each second that had gone by as the shell ripped itself up in the interior framework.

“We are being shot at!” Whittaker yelled. “Everyone brace!”

Another round flew, but this time it was right near Shira. A splintering shell consisting of four smaller tungsten tips slammed through the alcove where the engineers were located. It hit so hard and so fast that the engineers barely felt it. Blood splattered as the tungsten pieces ripped through armor, metal, circuitry, and bone. Small chunks of pieces echoed throughout the area and bounced in the interior.

The railgun round was designed like a shotgun shell, and it hit Whittaker, Tunkay, and Anderson clean through in various sections of the body. Shira said nothing and simply stared at the mess that had happened. Amazingly, despite the splintering debris, none of it hit her as they slowed down in ricocheting in the passageway. Regardless, the sound was intense, and blood was beginning to pool and flow harmlessly around her. Her shark-like eye could see it all. Anderson and Tunkay were killed instantly. Whittaker had taken a round straight through his gut, leaving a clean hole as the shell continued to fly into the cargo container vicinity. With the chief engineer, he tried to scream in pain, but little came out.

“He ... h...” were his words as he stopped breathing and fell still. His magnetic boots held him to the deck like the rest of the dead engineers.

In reality, the attack only happened in less than ten seconds, and it was far from over. A small amount of air rushed into the small holes into space where the railgun round struck, but emergency bulkheads and internal armor layers reacted immediately. The venting atmosphere was halted as the floating blood and interior shrapnel pieces floated endlessly. Shira decided to turn around and look in the direction of the bridge while keeping her hand on the rail. Her other arm was behind her as she held still.

“Shame ... such a waste,” she coldly said. She remained as she reached over to the small wound on her arm. The embedded shrapnel stuck out a little bit from her uniform and gray skin. She went and used her two fingers to remove it and discard it to the side like it was nothing. Seemingly she displayed no form of pain or surprise to the engineering crew that was dead all around her. Only the floating blood seemed to be a hindrance to what she could see ahead of her.

Javier felt nothing but shock as he witnessed and heard the powerful railguns striking the Jian Seng. Nothing was more awe-inspiring and fear-driven as watching a triple-barreled cannon aimed directly at you on the viewscreen. On the ground, you could dive out of the way, and it felt natural to do so. Little could be done on a ship but to control and move it out of the way.

Immediately, the port dorsal rear autocannon of the Jian Seng had turned and open fired at the Itrean vessel. Swarms of tracer fire erupted in space as the cannon must have fired a hundred rounds in one second. Unlike the railguns, these shots took just a little bit longer to hit since the amount of distance between both vessels was minor but enough. The rear-mounted engine autocannons were next as more tracer fire could be seen traveling in space.

“Get us out of here!” Javier screamed into the microphone of his headset.

“Eeeek!” Marcelle replied as she heard the echoing sounds of railgun rounds hitting the ship.

For Javier, he listened to the words of the captain and crew on the bridge. He couldn’t see their faces, but he could only imagine what they were going through.

“Captain!” Lynch yelled out. “It’s a Shal’rein warship. They have opened fire on us. They are loading up to fire again!”

“Evasive maneuvers!” Lifen told the pilot.

Javier watched as the autocannon tracer fire was hitting the Itrean ship. All of the rounds quickly bounced off the hull, doing no damage to it. It was almost expected. The Shal’rein clan ships were far more armored than mere pirate shuttles and gunships. The vectoring thrusters and rear engines were beginning to activate as the g-forces suddenly picked up.

Suddenly, the Shal’rein vessel opened fire again. One of the railgun rounds flew and hit the centripetal ring. The round slammed and shattered a part of it as debris showered into space. Another shell was expelled from the triple-barreled turret as it hit another compartment on the same portion of the ring. This time rooms were blown out into space. Like a shattered halo, the ring was venting large amounts of air into space as the emergency bulkheads had activated.

The third and final round flew. Much as the third shot from the previous salvo, this shell consisted of four separate smaller ones. Like a magnetic shotgun launcher, the rounds were expelled in a spread-like pattern. This one, however, hit true to the rear power module. Each of the four shells easily penetrated the hull as the super direct fusion drive took a direct hit. Ripped and torn asunder, explosions riddled the other side of the module. All the power on the ship was fluctuating as the centripetal ring’s lights went out. Emergency lights were activated.

“Ahhh!” Marcelle screamed as she felt the ship getting rocked. Power fluctuated in the interior of the room. The console momentarily flickered as power was still reaching it.

The g-forces were picking up as the Jian Seng was gaining speed and doing a hard turn to port. It was still clearly in the line of fire. People were strapped to their seats and still feeling the inertia being pressed against their bodies.

Javier could only watch. This was what Shira had mentioned to him. The realization was that he was once again in a battle, and he was fully aware of it. The only difference this time was that he was inside a ship. The memories of being in the Garja returned to their full fruition. The Shal’rein clan were the masters of the railgun. The shark-like race could barely miss, and it was only the hope and luck that the ship could gain enough distance to escape, but that was seemingly unlikely. The only advantage that the Jian Seng had was momentum. It was moving faster than the Itrean warship that was sitting idle. Its docking tube was still connected to the Chacal Naranja. Even when it fired its railgun, the vectoring thrusters were working overtime to ensure that it kept both vessels locked still to keep the proper aim of its turret.

“Captain,” Manthan called out. “Lost main power ... secondary direct fusion core still intact. We lost primary and secondary sensors ... communications failing.”

“Keep going!” Lifen exclaimed.

“The Shal’rein are preparing to fire another salvo,” Lynch said. “Our guns have no effect against them!”

It was a war against time itself. Each second that went by was like a minute in real life. In reality, the battle was only thirty seconds in. The Jian Seng was doing a rapid turn as it began to lift up to a forty-five-degree angle. The rear thrusters were trying to work but the loss of power wasn’t helping any. Its ventral side and rear were being exposed to the attacking Itreans. There was partial distance, and the military transport was gaining some distance. It was only a hope that a new portion of the hull and armor would help mitigate the damage ... at least, that was what Javier had hoped.

“I am getting no response from Chief Whittaker,” Manthan called out. Multiple breaches reported in his section.”

“Radiation alert!” Lynch yelled. “One of the railguns is preparing to fire a nuclear round.”

Javier felt genuine fear again. He knew that Shira was in the section the last time he saw her. His heart had sunk as he imagined the worse. He could see that Marcelle was shaking in her seat even with the forces pressed against them. Even if she wasn’t the one controlling the ship, her hands were on the flight control yoke, just in case the other one was hurt or incapacitated.

Another thing that he was well aware of by now was that inside the internal mechanisms of the Shal’rein warship’s turret was a nuclear shell being loaded. The barrel would slowly accelerate the round as it launched it slower than hypervelocity speeds. While this meant that the shell would move slower, the blast could be enough to cause even more critical damage to the Jian Seng.

“Spencer, have all guns try and target and destroy the shell before it impacts us,” Lifen said.

“It is already...” Were the man’s last words as the Shal’rein warship fired another salvo. This time, the turret was doing a slight sweep as the first hypervelocity round expelled went straight into the starboard bridge.

The results were devastating. The tungsten round shattered the bottom floor and blew into the compartment with a horrific slam. Shattering on impact, the shell splintered and ricocheted in the interior in all directions. Like tiny flechettes, the pieces tore into the crew. Zhao suddenly went limp as his head was hit. Blood pooled into the air and side from the expelling g-forces. Lifen had taken almost the direct hit from the impact. There was so little time to react. Lynch and Spencer suddenly felt as if something hot and sharp had hit them. Even Manthan could only stare in absolute shock.

“Bridge hit!” Manthan yelled out frantically. “Captain has been hit ... lost our pilot! Getting no response from anything.”

The second round from the Itrean ship hit the Jian Seng. In the sweeping motion of the turret’s fire, the second shot pierced the midsection of the transport’s ventral side. It bashed right into the secondary power grid before blasting out on the other side. Debris showed the ventral side as a small amount of atmosphere vented into space. Power once again fluctuated in the vessel. Lights were going in and out, and the thrusters were barely operational.

The third and final shot echoed as the nuclear-tipped shell was fired from the railgun turret. Traveling at slower speeds allowed just enough time for the rear autocannons to aim at it.

Javier watched as the computers were struggling to target it. A little flashing light could be seen in the camera footage from Javier’s position. Tracer fire could be seen as it was narrowly missing it.

“Marcelle, you are the pilot,” Javier told her. “Get us out of here.”

“I ... I don’t know where to go,” she said as her hands shook on the controls.

“Use the asteroids. Fly around that one,” he pointed. “It will take us out of their sightline!”

It was all that she needed as she tried to nod her head. With the other pilot incapacitated, it was now up to Marcelle to man the controls. Despite being shaken, she was doing it. The ship was moving slowly away.

Javier continued to watch the camera feed as the tracer fire was narrowing down on the shell. The dorsal mounted one was clearly missing, but the other one was getting closer and closer. The shell was getting closer and closer till finally, it exploded harmlessly. The autocannons successfully destroyed it.

“Getting partial power...” Marcelle nervously said.

“I got nothing on my console...” Manthan said on the other end.

“Attention everyone on the comms,” Javier said. “Until further notice, I am assuming command.

There was no reply, but there were no objections either. Javier could imagine the worse of what was going on in the bridge. The g-forces were minor, and the Jian Seng was almost a sitting duck. There was a fire that broke out from the power module as it was venting into space. Emergency lights were active and only remained partially functional.

The good news was that the military transport had successfully turned and was slowly moving away from the Itrean ship. The turn had once again exposed a new section of the hull toward the enemy. The giant asteroid, however, was becoming a hazard as Marcelle was trying to maneuver around it. Power was continuing to fluctuate throughout the ship. The camera feed was still holding on the target.

Pieces of small rocks were starting to hit the sides of the Jian Seng. The proximity to the overbearing asteroid was apparent. While it was still far away, the small chunks of debris were a sign that it was pulling things toward it.

“They’re all dead...” Manthan said as he was trying to get a grip on himself. “I can’t tell anything from my end. I do have partial emergency power.”

“I need more engine power,” Marcelle said.

“Do it,” Javier ordered him.

“I am diverting emergency battery power to the thrusters.” He paused as Javier heard a click. “Done, I don’t know if it worked.”

“I am getting it,” she said. The g-forces started to pick up more and more on the ship. The three rear engines on the engine module started to pick up.

Suddenly, it happened again. With the sensors offline, Javier could only watch as the Shal’rein vessel fired another salvo at the Jian Seng. This time, however, the rear section was the prime target that was in the way. Each of the rounds struck each of the thruster nodules knocking all of them out.

“Noooo ... I lost the engines,” Marcelle said.

“We still have the Jian Seng’s two thrusters on the transport section,” Manthan said. “Switching over to them.”

In the midsection of the transport, the two thrusters tucked between the blasted centripetal ring and the composited vessel glowed as they turned on. The entire rear section had been riddled with holes and blast marks. The flames were still burning from the power module. Unlike the other sections, the rear thrusters on the main engine module had taken critical damage. Air and gas were leaking from the areas and into space. Javier knew that the transport couldn’t take another salvo. Even most UHN warships couldn’t last this long from a beating.

By now, the Jian Seng had gained enough distance as Marcelle was starting to make a turn around the adjacent asteroid. The camera showed the Chacal Naranja and the Itrean ship neatly docked together like nothing had happened. The piece of rock was starting to turn into a curtain that slowly overtook the field of view.

One final shot was given from the Itrean vessel. With the asteroid partly in the way, the hypervelocity round slammed into a piece of it before being diverted away. More rocks and pieces of debris were jettisoned into space.

All remained quiet on the communication channel. Marcelle was starting to see the empty fabric of space as they just cleared the asteroid belt. Emergency lights and alarms were echoing throughout the ship’s exterior and interior. Even with the adrenaline rush in full swing, it felt to Javier as if it was the first time he heard it.

He was in a partial daze as he realized that he was in command. Everyone was counting their blessings. They had escaped from a horrific beating, but it was far from over as Manthan finally came through.

“I can’t maintain emergency power,” he told them. “I have to shut off the thrusters, or we lose all systems.”

“Go ahead and cut main thrusters but keep vectoring thrusters online,” Javier ordered. “Marcelle,” he reached over and patted her shoulder. “Good job. Maintain our inertia away from the Chacal Naranja’s last location.”

“I ... I...” Marcelle finally answered. “I don’t have anything but sight to go off of.”

The rear engines had completely cut out, and the Jian Seng was only moving by sheer inertia. It was moving slowly and partly toward the shattered sphere of Picaro. The interior of the passageway was still with no gravity or g-forces.

Javier seeing that things were finally calm enough, tapped his chair console. He activated the channel to address the whole ship.

“Attention everyone,” he called out. “This is acting, Captain Javier. Our ship has just escaped an attack by a Shal’rein clan warship. We are heading away under emergency power. Any available medical teams, please report to the bridge...”

There was nothing else that he could say. It felt like he ran a triathlon and never stopped. Even Marcelle almost looked at him. Her face was starting to relax slightly, but she had to state the obvious to him as he went and closed the communications channel.

“Captain...” Marcelle said. “We only have one medic on the ship. He ... I don’t know.”

“Alright...” He replied. His thoughts went to another. He couldn’t see the victims and could only imagine the worse. His thoughts finally went to one that he wondered the most. He was preparing to get out of his seat.

“Sir, something is clawing at the doors of the bridge,” Manthan said. “Somebody is trying to get inside.”

The bridge doors were being manually opened up. Inside, Manthan had a concerned look on his face. He had forgotten about the carnage in the room. He didn’t want to think about it, but he thought he heard gasping still coming from around him. His console was no longer functioning as he started to undo the straps on his seat.

He stood up as he looked at the door. He put his hand to his beard as he was breathing hard. He checked his body and couldn’t see any injuries. A drop of floating blood hit his face and splashed off of him.

As the door cracked open, there was a pair of large four-digit gray hands that gripped the edges. With a powerful shove, they were pried open, producing a satisfying bang sound. A prominent figure emerged into the room along with Ramirez. The shark-like woman was perfectly composed as she put her hands behind her back. She was carefully noting everything in the interior.

“Holy shit...” Ramirez said as he saw the damage. “Anybody respond.”

“Alive,” Manthan responded, in which Ramirez gave a very brief nod to him.

“Help me check the bodies,” Ramirez asked.

“No,” Shira calmly said. “You and I are here to do that. Manthan, go and evaluate the damage and report to the secondary power generator room. Establish comms with the secondary bridge and do what you can to get the power operational again.”

It was odd but something that Manthan acknowledged. The towering presence and demeanor of Shira made her seem like no disaster had occurred. She projected the aura that put her in charge, and without further thinking, he simply complied with her order.

“Aye...” Manthan said as he got up and left the room. He saw the corpses in the passageway and turned to look at Shira. “Chief Engineer! No...”

“There is nothing you can do about it,” she said. “The ship is in an emergency, and we need every able-bodied crew available.”

“Lifen ... hijo de puta,” Ramirez choked as he stood looking over her. Her eyes were partly still. A slight gurgling sound could be heard from her mouth and throat. Her bottom foot and left leg were mainly gone. She was bleeding to death and in extreme pain.

“Do you have any medical skills?” Shira asked Ramirez.

“None. Basic first-aid but nothing like this,” he said.

Shira walked over to Ensign Lynch. She could see the part of the underside blast had hit him in the lower extremities and heart. She extended her hand and tried to feel for a pulse on his neck. There was none.

“Officer Lynch is dead,” Shira told Ramirez. “Check on Spencer and Zhao.”

She went and took the headset that was tucked on Lynch’s ear. Nothing could be done about his demise, but she knew that it had to be quick. She kept the item in her hand as she began to walk around to reach Lifen.

“Zhao is dead,” Ramirez confirmed. “I can’t understand this. Shrapnel ... it hit him square in the head. I never seen railguns do that.”

“We have devised the most perfect killing weapons that railguns can ever achieve,” Shira explained to him. “Our tungsten shells are better designed to fracture once it pierces into the hull. It provides greater effect in killing the crew and damaging the equipment than typical UHN railguns.”

“I swear I saw one of those rounds split into four.”

“That is the scattershot round. It actually consists of four tungsten rounds in one cartridge. They operate similar to shotgun shells, but mostly used at closer ranges like we were before.”

Ramirez was shaken but stable as he put his hand to Spencer’s neck. He had a terrible bruise on the back of his head.

“Spencer is alive ... I think,” he told her. “It looks like he has a concussion.”

Petty Officer Amelia stepped into the bridge. She had a look of profound anguish and disgust at the scenery. She was shaking her head as she stopped and looked at everything.

“Fuck...” Amelia simply said as she looked at everything.

“Petty Officer Amelia,” Shira addressed her. She snapped out of it as she beheld the Shal’rein standing before her. She was almost at a loss for words.

“You ... you’re the Shal’rein woman ... Shira,” she replied.

“Amelia, what is the status of the ship?”

“I ... I don’t know ... your people attacked us. How can?”

“I suggest you trust her,” Ramirez interrupted her. “I think she knows what she is doing, and her clan doesn’t like her either.”

“Captain?” she replied in surprise. She looked at her. “Is? ... Is she?”

“It is too late for her, and time is of the essence,” Shira answered. “What do you know?”

“God ... Whittaker, Lynch, Zhao, ... I see,” Amelia was convinced as she tried to remain focused. “We were fucking lucky. The Itreans have completely gutted the primary power core, secondary is offline. Batteries even took a hit. Betty is looking at it, and I saw Manthan heading to it. We are running on emergency batteries.”

“And what other damages?”

“I saw at least a few dead along the way, not including here. Judging from the damages, communications is most likely offline. We have an emergency beacon transponder we can ping, but that is it. Armor bulkheads are holding and preventing atmosphere from escaping, or we would be breathing nothing right now. The damage in here ... the engineering console is shot. I heard the chatter from the comms ... the rear module is something I wouldn’t want to be at right now.”

“Any fires?” Ramirez asked.

“I don’t know yet. I came here to investigate the damages in the bridge and to see if anybody was alive.”

“Take Spencer with you and out of the bridge,” Shira told her. “He most likely has taken a blow to the head. The zero gravity should allow you to easily move him to the crew lounge. Any other crew members you meet need to be brought there to be medically treated and help the others. Once you have completed that, go and provide assistance to the other engineers in getting the secondary power back online. You will take charge of the engineering teams.”

It was a serious undertaking that Shira conveyed to her well. Amelia almost didn’t know what to say at first, but she quickly gave a stern nod to her.

“Alright,” Amelia responded as Shira went and tossed the headset to her. It floated in zero gravity as she fitted it over her right ear. Ramirez began to undo the harnesses and straps wrapped around Spencer.

Carefully, the boots were disengaged as Spencer floated freely in space. His arms began to move without hindrance as Ramirez moved him out of the seat. Amelia walked up to Spencer as she carefully scooped him up. Ramirez quickly grabbed the headset from the man but didn’t put it on. The advantages of zero gravity were obvious. Spencer was a somewhat heavyset individual, but it didn’t matter as he was weightless. Amelia simply took him and proceeded to leave the bridge.

“Check the console where Spencer was sitting,” Shira told him. “Make sure that it is still functioning.”

“Why would?” he was about to ask her, but he stopped as he quickly answered it for himself. He tapped a couple of buttons as the console gave a brief flash of light from it. “Yeah, it still works.”

“There is a possibility that you will be operating it.”

“Ugh...” he remarked as he looked around. He could see the blood that was floating around in conjunction with the dead or dying. The idea of sitting next to Zhao that had a piece of shrapnel embedded into his skull, was not exactly the most ideal of environments. He tried not to think about it. He gave the nod as a response to Shira instead.

“Hehh ... Sh...” a woman’s voice erupted in the room. It was a horrifying breathing sound coming from Lifen. It picked up loudly as if the captain was struggling to continue on. For a brief moment, Shira stood closer to her. She considered trying to move her, but she could also see that her initial assessment was correct. Lifen would have been dead before she would have made it to the other rooms.

“I am here,” Shira told her.

“Shi ... ra ... saaavvve ... ship,” Lifen struggled to say with her last ounce of strength. “Taaake ... commann ... c...”

Her body fell still as her breathing stopped. Her eyes forever remained staring into the void of space between her and Shira. Captain Lifen was dead.

“Oh man...” Ramirez remarked as he put his hand over his eyes to block out the images. Shira then reached into her back pocket and pulled out her digital stopwatch. She clicked on it and could see the timer was down to a mere few seconds in the countdown. Two seconds ... one second ... then zero. The digital stopwatch flashed as all six zero numbers were displayed. Time was up.

Shira reached forward and used her fingers to close Lifen’s eyes. She then took the headset that was on her ear as she turned around and looked at the viewscreen. She was very briefly preoccupied as the outside ship’s camera looked upon the asteroids in space. Her one eye was transfixed on them as she was preparing to put the headset on.

The doors to the secondary bridge were open as Javier was struggling to establish communication with other stations throughout the ship. The alarms were silenced, but the damage remained throughout the vessel. Occasional hollering and sounds of various crew could be heard as everyone was moving injured personnel and establish checkpoints.

“Ramirez,” Javier called out on his microphone. He stood up from his chair as he was looking at the viewscreen. “So you are telling me that the Captain is dead?”

“Yes,” Ramirez replied on the other end of the microphone.

“Oh god...” Marcelle gasped as she put her hand to her mouth.

“Spencer is in critical care. Ensign Lynch and Zhao are dead. I don’t know the full status of who is alive or dead.”

“What about?...” Javier tried to ask, but his voice was interrupted. He heard a male voice come from behind him. He turned around and looked at the man that stood before him. He was wearing a headset. The tall height and dyed gray hair was a dead giveaway of whom he was.

“Junior Lieutenant Patterson,” Javier replied.

“The ship was under attack,” Patterson said, giving him a reserved, angry look. “I’ve received word that the Captain is dead. Chief Engineer Whittaker, Ensign Lynch, and Ensign Wu are also dead.”

“So that just leaves you and me as officers,” he noted.

“Yes, and under these circumstances, I will assume command as Captain.”

Patterson was aggressive in how he voiced it that he practically demanded it. For a moment, Javier felt like he was being attacked. If it weren’t for the tone, he might have actually considered giving the command to him, but the adversarial personality hurt otherwise. There was something else that he noted as well. When Patterson took a step forward, his right leg limped. Even with the magnetic boots and zero gravity, it was like the Junior Lieutenant was in pain and holding it back.