Chapter 6 Metal Rain
Metal Rain
The Hive shot out a dozen Thylacine-class fighters. They were U-shaped with lasers all along the front edge and two massive canons at the tips. Blue force-fields lit up the moment that they exited the Hive.
“Exarch! It appears that the Khul saw you coming and decided to send a welcoming party,” came a female Thaf’ell voice over his comms. “And here I thought I would be all alone in this fight.”
Her name, rank and accomplishments scrolled by in the corner of his eye.
Her name was Flight-Commander Thammah Pyrrhus.
Her ship was called the Kryptoria. And she was stationed on Earth not because she was a bad pilot, a coward or a fool, but because she was reckless, defied authority and followed her Xi.
Just like the humans do. She must like it here.
“Where are the other ships?” Khoth asked as he dove below the Khul’s fighters as electric green lasers cut through the space he had just been moments before.
“This is Earth, Commander Voor. We have one ship--well, now two--as you’ve been sent here to rot just like me,” Thammah responded dryly before coming up behind two of the Khul ships.
“But there is a Hive,” he was about to say, but then he remembered the reports and closed his mouth.
No Khul had been seen in this area in more than a century of human time.
No Hive had ever come even close to here.
And humans had not been granted Altaeth ships or designs yet to join the fight.
So, of course, there had only been the one ship assigned to this quadrant.
There was no reason to waste the firepower.
Until now.
“Most of the forces have been sent to the surface. This is likely all the fighters the Khul have,” Thammah told him.
“Even if it is, the Hive itself has defenses,” he reminded her.
“Oh, yes, we likely won’t be able to take the Hive out. But without its fighters it can’t send anymore fighters down to Earth so… I say we go out in a blaze of glory,” Thammah said.
Thammah’s Paladin-class ship then pivoted on its side as she sent four expertly aimed blasts at the Khul ships.
Most of the force-field’s power was on the front of the Thylacine-class fighters, not the back.
The first blast she sent was an overdrive blast. It took time to charge, which left the fighter vulnerable to attack, but Thammah made sure she was in none of the Khul’s sights.
That weakened the already weak back force-field while the second blast hit the engines, which were directly behind the piloting pod.
Normally it took two Paladin-class fighters to pull off this maneuver, but not only did Thammah do it herself.
She took down two of the Khul fighters in quick succession. He was impressed despite himself.
She is clearly unorthodox, but her skills cannot be denied. Sending such a talented pilot here was a waste.
But as he stared at the Hive and the remaining Khul fighters, he had to admit that he was glad she was here.
“Are you going to join this fight, Commander Voor, or are you leaving all the fun for me?” Thammah chuckled.
He narrowed his eyes. “Fighting is about intellect, not fun.”
“You tell yourself that,” she laughed again. “But I know better! For I’ve heard about you Commander Khoth Voor and you’re much too good a pilot not to love it.”
“And I see why you were sent to Earth,” he responded dryly.
“Indeed. And I cannot wait to find out why you were,” she answered.
He felt his Xi begin to zing as he curled his fingers around the fire controls, belying his earlier words and making him a liar. He drew in a deep breath as he banked the Exarch to the right. The Khul followed after him.
“Have you not read the report on it?” he asked.
“I don’t read reports. Dry. Boring. Full of facts, but no truth,” she told him.
“That is illogical. Facts are truth,” he said with a frown.
“On the contrary, facts are often lies,” she retorted.
Green laser blasts streaked overhead and ended their conversation for the moment.
The Exarch shuddered as two of the blasts struck the rear shields.
He spun the craft to the left and the other blasts glided just over the shields, leaving glittering trails in their wake, but not much damage.
He increased speed. The Khul did as well.
More blasts, more spins, but he kept the fighter going as fast as he could until he abruptly pulled back on the throttle.
The Khul ships blew past him. He turned off all shields and put all the extra energy into the front lasers.
It reduced the time for an overdrive shot.
He sent three. Thammah fired the secondary shots without being asked, reading his intentions perfectly.
Three more Khul ships were destroyed, but that still left seven.
Those seven flew back towards them. Laser blasts cutting through the void of space. Khoth barely had time to reignite his shields even as he dove again. The shields on his left wing gave way as a dozen shots hit him. The Exarch veered wildly and alarms sounded like panicked children in his ears.
“We need to drop down into the atmosphere,” she said calmly.
“What good will that do?” he asked as his hands danced over the controls, which steadied the injured wing and put out the fires inside of it.
“The humans have managed to attach Alteath weapon technology to certain military planes,” she answered simply. “They haven’t been able to bring them up into orbit yet--”
“What?!” he barked, shocked, even as he was already heading towards Earth as Thammah sent returning fire to the Khul. “They are not to have weapons technology--”
Thammah’s laughter silenced him. “Have you ever tried to stop a human, Commander? Specifically, have you ever tried to stop Major General Diane Parker?”
“I do not know who that is,” he admitted. He had not yet familiarized himself with the human personnel he would be working with.
Another wild laugh. “Oh, you’ll get to know who she is very well unless you die here. You’ll also learn that she is not to be stopped.”
“Why did you not report this to High Command?” he demanded to know even as he entered the top of Earth’s atmosphere.
“Who says I didn’t?” Thammah asked back.
He opened his mouth and shut it. His sister couldn’t have been coming here for the human’s stolen weapons technology, would she?
No. Even though it was a violation of Alliance law, she would have sent a lower officer to deal with it.
But still, it was unnerving that the humans were already adapting weaponry for their own uses.
“Besides, they have the right to defend themselves as any other race,” Thammah told him. “Now move. I can’t keep them at bay for long. Follow the signal. The humans there.”
He did as she requested even as the Khul fighters were hot on their tails. Even with the injured wing, the Exarch responded to his commands to avoid the blasts that came his way, if a little sluggishly.
He heard Thammah on the comms as she spoke to what must have been a human, “Jack, we’ve brought some company for dinner. Would you mind giving us a hand?”
“You need a hand, Thammah?” This human’s voice was threaded through with conflicting emotions: warmth and worry. “I was hoping you could help us. We’re overrun here with dinner guests. There might be enough food to go around.”
“Stop using euphemisms,” Khoth barked. “We will assist you in clearing the ground troops after these fighters are handled.”
“Who is that?” Jack asked.
“Oh, he’s the newest alien pain in your ass, Jack,” Thammah was still all smiles.
He heard an explosion and saw in the corner of his screen that Thammah had taken out two more of the Khul. No wonder she was in a good mood. Another Khul fighter was seemingly suction-cupped to the Exarch. He abruptly pulled the controls up and the Exarch flew over the top of the pursuing fighter.
It tried to follow but he cranked the controls to the left and pulled back on the throttle. The Khul fighter was in his sights. Five regular blasts took out its forcefield in the back. But it was now facing him again. Thammah, however, was behind it now. It exploded in short order.
“We’ve narrowed it down to four, Jack. You don’t want to miss out using those illegal weapons you’ve got strapped to your underside, now do you?” Thammah asked as the two of them once more headed towards the signal.
Jack let out a hiss. “I am not confirming or denying--”
“Jack,” Thammah sounded amused. “We’re all friends here and we’ll be better friends if you kill some Khul for us.”
“Bring them to us, Thammah,” Jack said and there was a smile in his voice. “We better be best friends after this.”
“It’s not my friendship you want, Jack, but good old Commander Voor’s here. He is the son of the High Councillor,” Thammah said.
Khoth did not hear if Jack answered as a stab of pain went through him at the mention of his mother.
“Seeking my favor will not gain you hers,” Khoth said coldly to Jack.
“And why is that?” Jack asked.
“She sent me here,” Khoth stated.
“Maybe this used to be the ass end of nowhere, Commander, but not anymore,” Thammah said as more incoming blasts rattled her ship.
She swore and Khoth saw that there was smoke coming from her right engine. They were four Earth minutes out from Jack and his weapons. Thammah’s craft was already starting to slow as her right engine sputtered and died. The four remaining Khul fighters were on her. She was wounded and they knew it.
“Eject, Thammah,” Khoth ordered.
“Are you insane? I won’t lose the Kryptoria! It’s all we have!” she hissed.
He heard underneath that, It’s all I have.
“If you don’t, both of you will be lost and you will go out in that blaze of glory,” he told her.
“You can’t take them on your own!” Thammah cried.
“I won’t be. The humans are less than two of their minutes away,” he told her. Another blast had their connection fuzzing. His Xi had his throat closing as he knew the next hit would cause the Kryptoria to explode. “I’m ordering you, Flight-Commander Pyrrhus!”