Battleship Destroyer (117 page)

"Captain, tactical, the enemy fleet is in one of our tunnels approaching fast."

"What?" Jack zoomed the main screen out to show the Spider fleet. Or what the system thought the Spider fleet was from long range scanners since Jack had not deployed any recon missiles into any of the tunnels including the one the Spider fleet seemed to be in. "Damn, recon, get me something into that tunnel now. Got to have something close to it to send in."

Jack studied the tunnel and the area
around it. They were only some 15 minutes away once they came out of that tunnel depending on which way they went in the clear passageways and by the looks of it the lead ship was only some 5 minutes from exiting the tunnel with traces of ships spread out as far as 10 minutes behind that.

"Battle stations." Jack said. "Comm
, tell the boats we will come back for them if we survive. If not they are to grab the spider hulk crew and make a run for home through the heart of the cloud. Number One, get us here as fast as you can." Jack tapped a point on the tactical screens down the passageway from the exit point of the tunnel. The First Office slammed the throttles to the stops and the ship raced down the passageways spending most of its time at 1200 gees. "Weapons, prepare to fire everything on my command at your best targets of opportunity. Your gunners should know by now what to shoot at without being told."

Tapping the ship wide comm. "Your attention please. This is the
Captain. The Spiders have discovered one of the tunnels we used to take a short cut past the maze and are only minutes from here. We are now going to intercept them. Hopefully we can use the fact that they are now stretched out along the tunnel instead of bunched up into a defensive group. Do your jobs well and with Godstar's help we will put an end to this fleet blockading The Rock once and for all. Captain out."

The ship screamed around turns in the passageway while punching
through some corners and clouds instead of doing S turns or going around switch backs. The ship flew around the final turn as the Spider popped out into the passageway, side on toward them. Its shield still white hot around the edges from hitting the sides of the tunnel.

"Shoot!" Jack said trying to keep his voice calm.
 

Every gun fired into the side of the Spider behind the shield decks raking the weapons and engineering hull from one end to the other. The 16(8
)s crossing the beams from each of the twin gunned turrets deep inside the ship along with pairs of Godguns. The explosions blowing huge chunks out of the ship or making the outer hull bulge depending on how deep the crossed beams met. Some turrets having to walk their crossed beams into the ship when they met too soon. It did not take long for the 5(3)s twin gunned turrets to start using the targeting app to do the same on the Spiders guns and engines, blowing holes into the thick armored sides with their machinegun beams digging through with strings of salvo's into the guts of the engines and Godguns or raking the main hull blowing self-defense turrets clear off or adding to the carnage inside the hull.

The Spider ship had slowed down exiting the tunnel but its momentum carried it across the passageway and into the cloud bank
on the other side after a good 15 seconds. The hull wracked with explosion from stem to stern even after the guns could no longer target the hulk. Ships sensors registering the explosions and fires as the hulk drifted deeper into the cloud apparently dead.

"Very well. Number One, you can stop this crate now. Gunner
s on your toes, auto target and auto fire. We do not have the half second it will take for you to pull your triggers to waste." Jack watched a Spider Icon appear just down the tunnel rapidly approaching the passageway. The Battlecruisers engines slowing it down tail first by the looks of the vague image he was seeing. "Now." He said without getting time to take a breath.

The Spider ship backed out with its engi
nes blazing. Its lines of black holes reaching back hundreds of feet from its engines before they winked out releasing what energy they had absorbed in an explosion of light.

The Red Peppers guns started firing on auto before the Spider was even in sight. The guns carving a trench into the clouds wall into the tunnel before it emerged into sight. The engines on the targeted side suddenly stopped working as
they were knocked out by direct hits and with the engines on the other side still running the ship tumbled presenting the shield decks for the guns to rake taking huge chunks out until the weapons and engineering section again presented itself to the massive firepower pouring into it. Knocking out the last running engine as soon as it peeked around the shield decks before the gun shots again concentrated on the main engineering hull and worked up to the weapons section. Only again to concentrate on the engineering section as it tumbled shielding the front until the weapons section again presented itself for the massive volume of destruction as the Godguns crossed beams entered the forward command and weapons section to detonate blowing large chunks out the hull's sides.

The Spider tumble out of the passageway following it
s brother Spider. Chunks of hull, engines and guns parting company as explosions continued blowing holes out the side of the hull long after it diapered from sight.

"Number One, take us up o
ver the tunnel to that crevasse in the overhead now."

The R
ed Pepper accelerated up toward the tall vaulted overhead of the passageway where the two clouds paralleled each other for a ways as they formed the long section of passageway. Jack could see indication from the long range scanners of something that seemed to be accelerating toward the passageway down the tunnel instead of slowing down. Intermittent heat sources and engine energy readings masked by the clouds. "Present guns." Is all Jack had time to say before the Spider Command ship stormed out of the tunnel. The First Officer managing to get the Red Pepper turned to aim its main Godguns after the enemy was already half way across the passageway, accelerating and headed for the safety of the cloud bank at speed with its 10 decks serving to protect it from hitting the cloud at such a high velocity.

T
he Red Pepper's 16(8) turrets on that side managed to target the Command ship as it came out of the tunnel. Their auto targeting systems doing what no man could do in the fraction of a second they had to target the Spider Command Battleship before it even emerged from the tunnel. Their fire raking the shield decks before the Weapons and Engineering section was detectable behind the much larger armored decks. Still, each of them were only able to put a dozen rounds into the Spiders hull before it disappeared into the cloud on the other side of the passageway while the Godguns  had only time for one shot each as the rest of the 16(8)s joined in for a few extra hits each.

Still the God Command Battle
ship suffered damage as the now perfectly tuned 16(8) turrets crossed beams deep inside the ship with each turret's twin guns firing salvoes 4 times a second, the pairs of God guns hitting their prime targets blowing out the Apes hibernation decks and a large section of the ship's God Officer and Command Decks above them.  Several of the Spider Godguns were knocked out with two of its six engines put out of commission by the 5(3)s at point blank range hosing them down with the crews cranking the power up deep into overdrive red on them. Luckily for the Spider Command ship. The knocked out engines forced the ship to veer off course missing the 2 hulks drifting unseen in the cloud directly in line with the tunnel and the Spider Command Battleship's original course. The asymmetrical thrust sending the Spider Command ship curving deeper into the clouds as it tried to escape the death of the other ships in its fleet, finally giving up at the last second on any attempts to attack after watching the two Battlecruisers ahead of it destroyed. But now command less, the ship simply continued to push on into the cloud with the controls frozen and the engines locked in position.

Taking a breath Jack watched the Spider
Command Battleship arc away as the asymmetrical drive started rolling the ship as well, making it cork screw around as it meandered deeper into the nebula cloud. Its shields heating up as it pushed its way through the cloud in its rush to escape. Remembering the stories he had heard of ships lost for decades, even hundreds of years or never found at all, he shook his head. "I hope their inertial navigation systems are out." And chuckled as he started looking for the last two Spider Ships that must be bringing up the rear of the column.  He finally found them as torpedoes and recon missiles he had re-tasked earlier started getting close enough to show good detail of the tunnel and got a shock.

The two remaining Spider ships were accelerating
back down the tunnel away from that end.

"Damn; they are getting away. Number One get us into the tunnel just long enough to fire our Godguns and then back out to the side. Weapons, don’t try crossing beams
, just fire down the tunnel with everything we have for half a second."

The ship dropped down into the tunnel.  The weapons fired and the ship slid sideways back out just as fast. A half second later 3 Godgun beams streaked out of the tunnel.

"Damn we are good. After them Number One. Weapons fire at will."

The ship dropped back into the tunnel and accelerated up it as the ships guns started sending an avalanche of shots down the tunnel
even before the Godguns could be rotated around to fire forward.

"Sensors keep a close eye on the targets. I don't want to literally, run into one of them."

"Captain the trailing ship has stopped accelerating and seems to be tumbling. We will catch up to it in 3 minutes sir. Second target is still accelerating down the tunnel sir."

"Number One, slow and pass to the side of the hulk. Weapons continue to fire when the
shield decks are not in the way. I don't want it coming back alive as we pass."

Pan turned around looking at Jack and coughed.

Jack suddenly realized that his armored battle helmet was still hung on the back of his chair and that the bridge was still pressurized. The Cough sounded again as Jack turned around to see Pans stone faced disapproval. "Oh Christ. Stop firing, weapons. Pan, are you sure their weapons are dead. We are going to be damn close and impossible to miss if they fire on us as we go around them."

"I am talking to the few survivors now that we are close enough Captain. They say the ship is dead including the weapons.
Will you pick up the survivors?"

Jack watched the last remaining Spider ship making its way down the tunnel as he took a breath resignedly. "If they can get off the damn ship we will pick them up. I am not going to risk lives battling 10,000 Apes to rescue a few
survivors. We will pick them up after we take care of this last ship."

The Red Pepper slowed and side slipped around
the tumbling hulk as fires raged up and down its length spilling out hatches and holes blasted into its hull. "Number One, we will repeat a quick round of fire down the tunnel at the enemy ship and then side slip." Jack turned and glanced at Pan and then looked back starring at her for several second. "Belay that order Number One. Pan, are you in contact with the other Spider ship Target Mama?"

Pan looked down at her pad and then back up at Jack. "Yes Captain Turner. I can talk to the slave crew.
I have my counterpart on my pad now. Another cousin 5th removed."

"Ah
... How sympathetic are they to helping us now or does that only come after we defeat the God Officers and they face death."

"I do not like what you are insinuating Captain
Turner. We are helping you because we want to be free and you have demonstrated that you are an honorable human.  The fact that we only found this out after you defeated the God Officers has nothing to do with our loyalty. Likewise, as our story and the truth of freedom has spread through the fleet slaves on more ships are willing to risk all to join you. Do you wish the slaves on the remaining Godship to help you in return for freedom?"

"Well Pan. That is the general idea. If we go in guns blazing most if not all of them are going to die.  If they can sabotage the ships guns and engines and leave the ship. We can destroy it and its thousands of Apes easil
y while we pick them up without killing most of them."

Pan
's face contorted in what Jack had learned to take as her races smile. "Thank you Captain Turner." She started scribbling and whispering into her pad. Her mouth moving so fast her lips seemed to blur.

The ship continued to drift
alongside the tunnel toward the enemy still accelerating away in its rush to flee."

"Captain, we do not need to drop down into the tunnel
, we can hit the target from here just as well." The weapons officer was getting impatient to fire. He wanted that ship before it got away.

"Thank
you Lieutenant. Hold your fire for now."

Pan turned to Jack. "They are cutting power to the
engines and guns. They have to replace a few items on the boats they have half overhauled and they will be off ship. It will take a half hour. They ask that you stay back so not to alarm the God Officers for them to activate the Apes. They are telling the God officers that the engines and weapons have overheated in the tunnel and need time to cool."

"Number One, turn around and go back behind the hulk.  Weapons, you can use the shield decks for target practice with the point defense weapons. It should make the second ship think we are too busy to worry about them."