Black Legion: 04 - Last Stand (13 page)

“Women!”

“The Sraosha is out there waiting for us.”

“The what?” asked a woman in the armour of Attica.

Xenophon smiled at Glaucon before answering the woman’s question.

“The Sraosha is an infamous Medes warship, the flagship of Tissaphernes, the Bastard!”

It was an old nickname used for the worst and least loved of all the Median commanders. Tissaphernes himself was itself a byword for cruelty and enslavement back on the Terran worlds. Artemas almost had to hide her face to avoid betraying the amusement she felt at this obvious ploy.

“The Sraosha is responsible for the destruction of a dozen Terran worlds, and commands this enemy fleet in their attempt to destroy our Legion once and for all!”

Roxana and Artemas looked in surprise at his words. Some still tried to shout down Xenophon but most were more interested in this enemy vessel. He had one final gambit to try and to the amazement of his friends, it worked.

“Sosis himself intends to capture this ship and use it for his sport. I say, we take the ship and make it our own, a ship for the free fighters of the Legion. Will you come with me?”

There was little more a mercenary loved than the chance for spoils and rewards in war. The cry of excitement, lust, and greed ripped through the hangars like a burning wildfire. He knew his words were simple and riddled with cliché, yet these warriors were no great intellectuals. Most were out of work soldiers and the rest freebooters, robbers, and scoundrels.

“My name is Xenophon, friend and ally of Clearchus. I fought alongside him when he died, and he charged me with the job of protecting the Legion,” he shouted as loudly as he could.

“Xenophon?” called out a man, “You fought on the mountains at Cilicia?”

“Yes,” answered Glaucon, “and he was at the side of Clearchus when our generals were betrayed.”

The excitement in the hangar bay was beginning to change, but there were still some that had no interest in becoming one of Xenophon’s personal soldiers.

“I promise you, if we take this ship it will be yours. You may choose your own officers and even a Komes for this new army.”

The word army raised the eyebrow of Roxana who was still too busy watching for signs of hostility in the crowd. A thousand men was hardly an army, but the words seem to resonate amongst them. Perhaps it was the cramped conditions, but the mood altered in seconds from one of a defeated, miserable, and angry rabble to one of Terran, lusty for loot and vengeance.

“To the ships, we will claim this warship in your name!”

Apart from a few stragglers, the horde of wild and excited warriors surged towards the lines of waiting dromons. The ubiquitous transports of the Terrans waited patiently, and their pilots and gunners watched in surprise as scores of warriors piled inside, stowing their gear ready for the fight. Archrivals sat alongside each other, all their previous disagreement forgotten with for now, until the end of the battle.

“Your people are incredible,” said Lady Artemas.

Tamara and Glaucon moved to their flanks, their body language now softening as the possibility of violence had vanished. Xenophon spotted one craft to the left that had just four warriors inside and made for it.

“Hey, what about us?” asked Roxana.

“Xenophon checked the straps of his helmet as he moved.

“I need all of you with me. This isn’t going to be easy, and these spatharii are not keen to work together. They are rash and dangerous.”

“Really?” asked Glaucon.

The look on his face suggested sarcasm, but Xenophon chose to ignore it and moved to the ramp. Tamara was already inside, her long, bright hair drawing the attention of the men inside.

“Hey, little girl, want to come and sit with me?” asked the first, a leering look on his face.

She walked up to him and slammed her knee into the man’s face before sitting down. The middle-aged warrior leaned forward, blood pouring from his broken nose.

“You little...!”

He cut short when the larger form of Glaucon entered and sat next to the young woman. Although Glaucon wore similar armour to them, he also carried the pulse cannon he’d collected some time ago. He was bigger and more heavily built than Xenophon, and his expression suggested they should let it lie. Roxana and Artemas moved in next and slid down next to the others who now decided to stay silent. More warriors ran inside carrying a mixture of equipment before Xenophon hit the seal button. The hatches closed up, and he dropped into his seat and activated the straps and clamping units.

“You all ready?”

All but Artemas nodded in agreement.

“What’s wrong?”

Artemas shook her head in irritation.

“Why are we here? We can’t do any more good commanding this fight without getting involved in the middle of it.”

Glaucon lowered his head a little and indicated towards the scores of other warriors in the craft before speaking in a low, hushed voice.

“These are not schoolboys, Lady Artemas.”

The Lady part sounded strained, but she said nothing.

“Xenophon has no command, but he is the only person in the Legion with the wit to get us out of here safely. His family used to trade a great deal with your people. He’s probably the most knowledgeable of this region.”

His face then softened.

“Apart from you of course, but you are...”

“A female?”

Glaucon looked almost hurt at the suggestion.

“What has that got to do with anything?” said Roxana.

Glaucon lifted his hands up defensively.

“Hey, where is all of this coming from? No, all I am saying is that you are of Medes stock, and you will never be completely trusted.”

“Even after all I have done for your people?”

Glaucon nodded.

“Of course. You’ve seen how well we trust each other, why would it be any different for the people we actually have a united cause against.”

Tamara watched the other warriors climbing aboard the other dromons. She had spotted a single group of Arcadians who refused to board one of them. One was shouting, and a blow was struck before they were finally left alone. She looked back at her comrades. Glaucon placed a hand on her arm.

“I know. This Legion isn’t as strong as you would think. Look at them all. They fight for no honourable reason, and only loot can make them do anything other than their basest desires. If we want to stay alive, we need leadership.”

Tamara looked to Xenophon. He was busy examining the schematic of the vast enemy warship. The shape was shown on the primary screen in the crew area, along with overlays from their previous actions aboard Elamites.

“And for leadership we need something to unite them together.”

Artemas instantly grasped what he was saying. She leaned in to his face and breathed gently in his left ear. It sent a shiver down his body.

“This is to create a powerbase for him, why? To command the Legion?”

Glaucon raised his eyebrows as though he wasn’t sure, and then spotted Xenophon tapping the communication node that had now interfaced directly to his helmet system.

“This is acting Komes Xenophon of Attica.”

Glaucon was very surprised to hear his friend self-promoting himself and wanted to say something. He even got as far as opening his mouth when Artemas placed a hand on his leg. Again he felt a chill through his body that he found both pleasurable and disconcerting.

She’s not mine. Keep your eyes on the mission, you old fool!

The doors to the hangars were now open, and one by one the dromons powered out of the armoured hull of the Titan. As each craft approached the shields, they flickered off for just long enough to allow each of them to leave. Multiple layers on the shields ensured at least one was active at any one time as they moved into space. Xenophon looked to his friends who were still watching at the massive vessel. Glaucon spotted him and twisted about to speak to him.

“You realise we have no more than a thousand warriors to take that thing? We’ll be lucky if we get a single warrior inside her hull. What about the shielding?”

Artemas pointed at the ship.

“There are entry points at the stern just behind the secondary gundecks. It is a standard design for heavy battleships. Move there, and you’ll get inside and avoid their main defences. The shields are of use only against high impact and energy weapons.”

She then lifted the side of her lip up in a grin.

“Surely you know this, Glaucon?”

He sighed in annoyance.

“Getting through the shielding once we’re there doesn’t concern me. It’s the bit about making it to their ship in one piece that does.”

Xenophon considered what both of them were saying and then looked back at the screen towards the front of the craft. It showed the battle but also the cloud of dromons heading for the enemy ships. More than forty fighters had formed up alongside them, and the Titan itself had now concentrated its firepower on the battleship. Lines of plasma bolts leapt about them as they approached, and he felt a deep-rooted fear that they might not even reach the ship.

She’s right. We need to get there in one piece.

The communications node allowed him to speak directly to the Auletes aboard Poseidon. The response was almost instant, something that surprised even him in the middle of a battle.

“Komes Xenophon,” came back the voice.

Xenophon allowed himself a momentary chuckle at the use of his temporary name. He was far from being a Komes, yet word must have reached the Titan of his self-appointment.

“I need all available fire put on the shields of the Sraosha. Keep the guns off us.”

A hundred shots hammered the dromons, and it was a testament to their construction and light shields that any made it through at all. A single powerful battery unleashed a devastating volley of plasma before cutting out. Shot after shot hammered into hull of Sraosha, and with each impact, a shield flickered and then cut out. Xenophon twisted his neck to see the massed gunports of the Titan bearing down on the enemy flagship.

Yes! That’s more like it.

He looked to the others on the dromon and did his best to encourage them.

“It’s temporary, but the gunfire will keep them busy. If they want to stop the Titan destroying them, they will need to use all their power for the shields, and I mean all their power. That means just the kinetic turrets to deal with, and that should be enough to get us to her hull.”

Glaucon exhaled slowly, hoping against hope that his friend was correct.

“Okay, let’s hope both of you are right.”

Xenophon nodded a thank you and then contacted the commanders of the other dromons as they swarmed in around the ship. While they spoke, Roxana moved back from the small windows to speak with Artemas. The voices faded, and soon all but Xenophon were speechless as they covered the distance between the two massive ships. Fighters moved about like flies, but the big ships were doing the most damage in this battle. The beams of light made it almost impossible to determine exactly what was happening until the dromon banked to avoid pulse cannon fire. The manoeuvre gave them a perfect view of the brightly coloured flagship of the enemy fleet. One of the officers on board the other dromons must have said something to annoy Xenophon because he quickly erupted into an angry outburst over the communication node.

“In less than a minute, we will reach the Sraosha. I want her taken in one piece. Do not destroy her engines, you fools. Kill the crew, command the bridge, and then take the prize!”

Tamara raised one eyebrow at his conversation and looked back to the narrow face of Artemas.

“You said it was a heavy battleship. What else do you know?”

Roxana heard the question and leaned over to watch while Artemas ran a finger down her cheek, considering the question.

“These are standard warships used to command squadrons of Elamites in battles. It is larger and more powerful but not of the same calibre as your Titans. I suspect this one is the command ship for one of Tissaphernes’ admirals.”

It was Xenophon’s turn to look confused, especially at the suggestion it was not the ship he thought it was. He stopped talking to the officers and looked accusingly at Artemas.