Chapter 21

While the Assault Carrier Captain passed on instructions from Fleet Command the 467^th were waiting for their orders. The battle was ongoing, but it was felt that boarding actions could begin on several of the drifting alien capital ships, one of which had potentially been designated the enemy flag ship. In this instance our medical team was being split up with one Healer being assigned to each group along with two Meditechs. As was Imperial GF practice, all Officers in a boarding mission were assigned to head a squad, and Healers were no exception.

“Launch!” Eventually the order came as, crammed into a boarding pod with eleven other Troopers, we set off towards the flagship, all of us still toting our polearms.

“We are experiencing intermittent defensive fire,” the pilot informed us. “Nothing serious as yet.”

“According to the briefing a Heavy Fighter hit it with a missile strike and blew out its grav-systems. I suspect they’re still a little shaken up in there,” Monitor Creas opined.

“Probably,” I replied. “But it’s been over a hundred and fifty rotations since the hit, so expect some resistance.”

“Yes, sir. You heard the Officer. Don’t take chances!”

“Yes, Monitor!” they all replied.

“Further instructions, sir?”

“We make for the Bridge. The AI thinks it has its position located. Take prisoners if possible, but no undue risks. These people have not been assessed and their attack began without communication,” I replied.

“Yes, sir!”

“Beginning approach run, brace yourself!” the pilot warned.

There was a distinct lurch despite the grav-compensators as the pod attached itself to the side of the enemy vessel. Unlike the alien vessels where explosives were used to open an entrance, a rotating hyperbeam cut through the ship’s hull and we launched ourselves through into the zero gravity of the ship’s interior.

Immediately we came under fire and began defending ourselves. Though in my case it was in grabbing a Trooper wounded by a hyperbeam pistol and healing him with my wand as the rest of the team used their grav-packs to dodge about, targetting the enemy.

“Way’s clear,” Creas announced as the injured Trooper was now back on his feet, the wound healed and good as new.

“Any enemy wounded?” I asked.

“No, all clean head shots from our people,” Creas replied.

“Take it they wouldn’t surrender?”

“No sign of it, even their wounded kept firing. We might be dealing with fanatics.”

“Okay, we’ll carry on. Bridge is supposed to be that way,” I pointed. “Do not take chances, assume they are hostile unless they clearly surrender.”

“Yes, sir!”

We glided swiftly in the direction I’d pointed out, meeting sporadic resistance. Our comm net kept us updated on the other squads seizing control of the ship. Of the battle itself, the information we were getting from the AI was showing an almost total rout of the enemy fleet with their formations scattering and individual ships attempting to gain their XD entry points.

We passed several unconscious enemies on our way and I used my wand to cure their wounds even as the Troopers I was with disabled their powered suit armour and ‘glued’ their arms to the ship’s bulkheads.

“Think we’ve found the bridge, or something important,” Creas informed me.

Using the scan from a floating nanite probe I checked the feed showing a well armoured and defended door.

“Looks that way. You know your stuff, take it down,” I ordered.

Creas and his squad threw several beamcasters down the corridor. The small devices then sent several powerful hyperbeam pulses from their focusing lenses when they detected the proximity of a life form. They weren’t terribly accurate and good armour was resistant to them, but in this case the enemy did not have good armour and the resulting confusion enabled the squad to rush and get in amongst the defenders with their swords and polearms.

It was a short and vicious fight, with the defenders going down to the last man, silently and stubbornly, as far as we could tell.

“Are we missing some sort of communication output from them?” I asked the AI as I repaired a couple of wounded Troopers.

“Nothing I can detect,” the AI replied. “They are, however, human and do have vocal cords, hence we suspect fanaticism of some kind.

“Prepare to force that door,” I ordered Creas.

“Yes, sir!”

The Troopers dipped into their packs to produce a framework on which they attached a mobile hyperbeam mechanism. This was then powered and moved round the frame, easily cutting through the hardened armour the door was made of. The door then fell inwards as several beams came out of the area it had been protecting.

“At them!” Creas yelled out after the initial salvo as the squad threw smoke emitters then rushed the hole and were in amongst the defenders.

I followed up, simply holding my sword and wand, noting the Troopers efficiently taking out the defenders whose armour simply wasn’t up to Imperial standards.

Finally though, one of the defenders placed his hands on his head just before he was cut down and this caused the rest to do the same. Words were then gabbled out in a language I didn’t understand until finally the AI started to make sense of it and I realised we had an officer of some type on our hands.

“Name and rank please,” I demanded.

“I am Blenjon, the First of this ship,” he replied.

“First?”

“The one in charge of the ship, though not the fleet commander.”

“Ah, right,” I nodded. “Do you surrender?”

“Yes, we surrender. The Prince is down and unable to communicate.”

“Inform the rest of the ship to lay down their arms,” I ordered. “Which one is the Prince?”

He pointed, then went over to a panel and spoke into it.

“All enemy forces are laying down their arms,” the AI informed me as I took my wand out and examined the unconscious body of the Prince.

“Good,” I nodded.

“Are you a medic?” Blenjon asked.

“Yes. Your Prince is badly injured, beam wounds, broken ribs and severe concussion. I’m fixing them now; he’ll be up and about in a few rotations.”

“Really?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t he be?” I replied, confused.

“He would be confined to a healing bed for several weeks if we were to heal him.”

“What’s a week?”

“Eight of our planetary days.”

“Oh, right. Our healing technology seems to be a lot more advanced than yours,” I chuckled, seeing more Troopers and an Officer enter the bridge.

“Well done, Healer Kiria. Seems my decision to permit you to lead the bridge seizing squad payed off,” the woman my open com channel described as Commander Jirrit congratulated me.

“The squad knew what they were doing, I just kept them in one piece,” I replied with a nod.

“That’s what I was hoping for. Your reputation precedes you,” she smiled.

“Well, if it helps motivate the Troopers,” I chuckled.

“It did. There were any number of Monitors wanting you on their team. You seem to have the knack of bringing out the best in those under your command.”

“Thank you, sir,” I replied, somewhat at a loss for anything else to say. “This is a Prince of whoever these people are. I suspect he was in charge of this fleet. He’s coming around ... now.”

“He is Crown Prince Vislan of the Ilmainian Kingdom,” Blenjon informed us.

“And he ordered you to attack us without attempting to communicate?” Jirrit asked in cool tones.

“Er...”

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.”

“Take your hand off me, you cowardly scum!” we were interrupted by the Prince who was clearly objecting to being pulled to his feet.

“Be quiet! You are a prisoner and have limited rights here,” Jirrit informed him.

“Low born scum. I am a Crown Prince of Ilmaine! You will treat me according to my rank!”

“AI, discipline him,” Jirrit ordered.

With a scream of agony Vislan collapsed as our suit AIs combined to give him a neural pulse, also causing him to void his bowels as well.

“Your rank is prisoner. Do not forget it,” Jirrit informed him. “You will be informed of your basic rights when you are processed. Until then be silent unless questioned.”

As it appeared Vislan had bitten through his lower lip he just nodded as I stepped up and repaired it with my wand.

“What are you...” he began.

“Silence unless you want another zap,” I replied in cold tones, which shut him up immediately.

Jirrit then issued her orders. “Troopers, the Halcyon Bounty is moving to dock. Take the prisoners here to the main airlock for processing.”

“May I know if we’ll be permitted to communicate with our government?” Blenjon asked.

“A message will be despatched with the name, rank and ship of all prisoners to your Kingdom. Parole will be offered for a price and your Realm’s word that you will not be permitted to face off to us in hostilities again,” I replied, quoting the Imperial Ground Force regulation on prisoners. “Bear in mind, our AIs will know if you come into our custody again and the Empire is within its rights to have you executed out of hand for taking up arms against it after giving your word.”

“In short, you get one chance,” Jirrit added. “This will also be made plain to your Realm.”

“Thank you,” Blenjon replied, looking surprised.

The prisoners were then escorted by the Troopers who had been with Jirrit whilst she remained behind to study our prize.

“You’ll receive a bounty on the capture of this vessel,” Jirrit informed us. “Should be enough to have a hell of a party or a nice bonus for anyone to whom you’re sending your credits.”

There was a loud cheer as most of the Troopers received about fifty credits a day as a wage, many having this docked to pay off their debts of bondage to cover a failed Imperial education.

“Your bounty will be commensurate with your rank, Kiria,” Jirrit added.

“Divide it amongst the squad,” I told her. “I don’t really need the money.”

“You sure?”

“I am. Please note my request, AI.”

“Noted.”

“Here that, Troopers?” Creas roared out. “Your bonus just got tripled!”

“Yeah!” came the cries of joy.

“Sure know how to treat your people right,” Jirrit noted.

“They kept me alive, that’s all I expect,” I shrugged.

“Well, they certainly did, but I expect fighting to break out amongst the squads next time you’re rotated to a frontline position.”

“I’m not that special,” I chuckled.

“To them you are and that’s what counts.”

“That’s the last of them gone,” the Detection Officer reported to Hratt and Narro.

“Not many got away, plus we have over a hundred prizes in custody,” Narro noted.

“Yes, they’d be fools to try it on with us again, but then again they just might need a second pasting to reinforce that wisdom,” Hratt replied.

“True,” he nodded. “AI, what do we know of the Kingdom of Ilmaine?”

“According to the Trenoc AIs it is a highly expansionist regime of eighty-seven worlds, ruled by a single family headed by King Rentap with his sons acting as his proxies over various sectors known as principalities,” the AI replied.

“We captured a Crown Prince when we took their flagship,” Narro informed Hratt.