The Last Praetorian (52 page)

“Deployment of this Weapon System requires joint Fleet
Admiral or Higher Authorisation.”

Which ordinarily would be quite a problem, as there was only
one Admiral currently in the vicinity and Jon was absolutely certain that he
would not authorise this.  However, Jon was no lowly foot soldier, in his past
he had ordered Fleet Admirals with the ease that another would order drinks. 
Jon had spent over five years at the right hand of the Emperor, first as a soldier,
then as a trusted confidant, and finally?  As a friend or something more? 
Jon’s feelings towards the Emperor were confused; the man had given him a
purpose in life at a time he had none.  However, Marcus had also taken the most
precious thing in his life from him and Jon had no idea how to forgive him for
that.

As if it had only been yesterday, Jon could recall with
crystal clarity kneeling in front of his Emperor, late one night, his words
still ringing through his head. 

“My Praetorian, sometimes you have to sacrifice a few, to
save the many.  You know this painful fact, better than most.  You are my right
hand, the sword of the Empire!  But sometimes even your sword will not be
sufficient.  Hence I bequeath to you a gift, something that few know exist - A
sword unlike any other.  A sword that will set the heavens alight, a sword made
from the very essence of the creator himself.  Take note my Praetorian, and
remember…”

How could Jon ever have forgotten? For that secret, shared
in confidence, so long ago, was seared across his consciousness, like words of
fire.  Unseeing, lost in the past, Jon entered the code bestowed upon him by
the Emperor, a code that he promised himself that he would most certainly
never, ever use.  Upon entering the code, the computer wavered for an agonising
long moment, as if the computer itself was contemplating the destruction about
to be unleashed.  However, eventually the warning message vanished from the
console and the symbol representing the sole weapon remaining on the ship
blinked from a safe green, to an angry blinking red.  The red box now encasing
the symbol with the word ‘ARMED’ seemed superfluous.  Jon took a moment to gaze
at the symbol, surprised.  If he had been ever been completely honest with
himself, he doubted that it would ever actually work.

The alarms that suddenly commenced to sound across the ship
dispelled that thought quickly enough.

*****

Harkov could only stare at the tactical display in complete,
utter, disbelief. 

What does it take to kill this man?

Harkov remembered back in the days of the Imperial Fleet,
that this man’s name was only spoken in hushed whispers.  Even back then,
people spoke of the Praetorian Commander as being… different, somebody that the
Creator had plucked out of obscurity and personally blessed.  At the time
Harkov had dismissed the rumours as childish superstition, but how many times
could one man cheat death?

“I’m not impressed Captain,” Harkov uttered in a chilling
voice.  “One man, a single ship, which the combined might of this entire fleet
seems incapable of crushing.”  Harkov was already drawing up a mental list of
replacement captains, how was it possible that he was continually surrounded by
incompetents?

“It’s a minor setback, nothing more Admiral,” the Captain
said stiffly.  “There was a second ship in close proximity to Radec’s ship,
their combined point defence weapons simply over-whelmed our missiles.  The
second ship has now retreated and our computers estimate that his ship’s
ammunition magazines are now empty.”  The captain shrugged unconcerned, “a
second salvo will finish the job.”

“And what of the threat that Radec poses to this ship?” the
Admiral demanded, furious by his captain’s flippant tone.  Wondering if cutting
out his tongue would improve the situation.

“What threat?  It’s a single shuttle.  This is the
Imperial
Star
- your flagship is invulnerable.  Our own point defence guns would
annihilate any missile or torpedo that it could launch, long before it could
risk the ship.  It’s just a question of what will take out the shuttle first,
our guns or the next missile salvo; Radec is already as good as dead, he has
only bought himself a few more minutes of life…”

“Sir!” the tactical officer called across the bridge.  “I am
picking up some strange energy signatures from the shuttle.”

“Define
strange
?” Harkov demanded crossly, seriously
it was long past time for another reshuffle of his command staff...

“Ugh, I’m not sure Admiral, there was a sudden energy spike from
the shuttle, as if some system suddenly went active.  The energy spike has
disappeared now, but the shuttle is now emitting some strange high-energy
particles….
Oh great Maker
….” The officer shouted, stumbling away from
his console as if it suddenly had become red hot.  “It’s a
nuke
!  He’s
got a
god damn nuke
on that shuttle and Radec somehow JUST ARMED IT!”

Every head turned to face the tactical officer, every eye
focused on the screaming officer, a deathly silence fell across the bridge, as
nobody knew what to do or say.  However, the silence only lasted for a moment
before complete pandemonium erupted on the bridge.  Everybody was shouting at
once, some demanding confirmation, others shouting for orders.  Furthermore
some of the officers just closed their eyes and started praying to their own
personal deity.

“SILENCE!!!” screamed Harkov across the large bridge.  “The
next person to say a word I will have shot on the spot!”  The room went deathly
silent again as everybody turned to face Harkov, his threat momentarily more
terrifying than the approaching ship.

The only sound that could be heard above the slim whisper of
the ship’s environmental system was the mumbling from the Captain. 
“No…No…No…it’s just not possible…  Even if Radec obtained such a weapon,
nuclear release requires joint authorisation from at least two fleet Admirals,
Radec couldn’t have… it’s just not possible...”

Harkov wheeled on the Captain furiously, the man had gone as
white as a sheet and looked like a strong breeze would blow him over.  “I hold
you personally responsible for this situation Captain!  It is due to your
constant underestimation of this man that you have led this fleet to the brink
of destruction.  How many times do I need to remind everybody?  This was a man
chosen by the Emperor to personally lead his own elite squadron.  Marcus and
Radec were always as thick as thieves, always plotting against the fleet,
against the entire Empire!  What secrets do you think Marcus gave to this man
before his death?  The ship’s rumour mill even suggested that Radec was
involved with his own daughter, with Marcus’s approval!  I tell you all, if not
for my heroic action in the defence of the fleet, the very Empire, we would all
be bowing and scraping to Radec by now.” 

Turning back to the Captain, Harkov continued.  “I warned
you that you would share the same fate as your predecessor if you failed me.” 
In the blink of an eye Harkov had a pulse pistol in his hand, firmly aimed at
the Captain’s chest.  “I do not tolerate failure,” Harkov insisted, depressing
the firing stud on the pistol.  With a high-pitched whine and a scream, the
Captain fell to the floor, a smoking ruin, all that remained of his chest.

Once again turning his attention back to his command staff
he threatened.  “Everybody resume your positions, it is time for us to stop
Radec, once and for all.  Unless of course you wish to join your former
commanding officer?”  Harkov eyed his officers one-by-one as they shrank away,
back into their chairs.  “I didn’t think so,” Harkov replied with a
self-satisfied smile slipping his pulse pistol back in the folds of his
uniform.  “At least that fool had one thing right,” Harkov stated, casting a
glance at the body now lying prostrate on the floor.  “The point defence guns
on the
Imperial Star
will take out any missile or torpedo within range. 
We will take out Radec’s forlorn hope the second he launches it, and then? 
Well unlike Radec, we have many, many more missiles.”

“Tactical!”  Harkov shouted.  “Target the ship and open fire
with all guns as soon as it is within range.  Let me know when the missiles are
reloaded.”

*****

Jon muted the radiation alarm that sounded its warning
throughout the ship the minute that he had activated the warhead.  He had to
remind himself that the
Eternal Light
was not a warship, she was never
designed to carry such payloads, hence the alarm.  The nuclear warhead that he
had procured from
Erebus
depot should have been loaded in a heavily
shielded launch system, which would have absorbed the radiation from the now
active weapon.  Not actually having the launch system resulted in the warhead
being secured firmly within the belly of the shuttle in one of the interior
cargo holds.  This had the resultant affect that lethal radiation was now
leaking into the cargo hold, and eventually throughout the ship.  Fortunately
the dose of radiation at the moment was very small and would take at least
twenty minutes to spread through the ship, before inflicting a lethal dose to
Jon.  On the bright side Jon had little expectation that he was going to live
that long, as the shuttle’s navigation computer was reporting that only a few
more minutes remained until the shuttle intercepted the
Imperial Star
.

The other effect resulting from having the warhead firmly embedded
into the shuttle was that Jon actually had no way to release the warhead.  He
had known from the moment that he stepped aboard the ‘
Light
that this
would be a one-way trip.  Even if Vanguard had the time and specifications to
manufacture such a launch system it would not have changed anything.  The
Imperial
Star
was too heavily protected with point defence guns and close-in weapons
systems to launch the warhead.  It would have been destroyed almost
immediately, hence the plan that Jon had devised – the ‘
Light
was the
delivery system, the heavily armoured shuttle would hopefully survive long
enough to deliver the warhead protected deep in its belly to the target.

A beeping from the ship’s tactical computer warned Jon that
the
‘Light
was getting within weapons range of the
Imperial Star
. 
As Jon started jinking, making minor flight alterations to the shuttle, he
realised that it was mostly a futile gesture.  The last time that these two
ships faced off, the
‘Light
took a hit to one of its engines.  That was
while flying in the midst of the other Praetorian fighters, along with many
dozens of missiles to distract the guns.  This time there would be no such
protection, a quick blink of light from ahead indicated that the
Imperial
Star’s
guns had commenced firing…     

*****

“Ten kilometres and still closing…” the Imperial Star’s
tactical officer stated aloud while wiping away a bead of sweat that was
running down his forehead.  “All guns are tracking and weapons free,” he added
fairly superfluously as they could feel the vibration of the firing guns
through the deck plates.  “Time to impact…thirty seconds.”

“Keep firing!”  Harkov insisted.  “What is the status of the
missile batteries?”

“Still not finished loading yet, Admiral.”

“Do I have to assume from that response that
some
missiles have finished loading then?”

The tactical officer blinked.  “Yes Admiral, some of the
missiles have finished loading.”

“Then by the maker, FIRE THEM!”  Harkov bellowed.

*****

By now, the area of space surrounding the
Eternal Light
was a maelstrom of shells, high-energy bolts and exploding shrapnel.  While Jon
was flying the
Eternal Light
at the absolute edge of his piloting skills
there was just too much incoming fire and the ship’s armour was already taking
damage from glancing impacts and shrapnel.  It would only be a matter of time
until one of the rounds hit the intended target.  Over the various chimes,
bells and alarms that were now ringing out across the bridge a new alarm joined
the fray – missile launch!

“Fantastic,” Jon stated gritting his teeth furiously;
corkscrewing the shuttle around a particularly dense stream of incoming pulse
cannon fire. 

Twenty seconds remaining until impact… 

*****

“Missiles away and tracking…” the Imperial Star’s Tactical
shouted across the bridge, for the first time a real sense of fear in his
voice.  “All guns are now firing on full automatic!  Time to impact…Ten
seconds.”

“Keeping firing!”  Harkov urged.

*****

The dense rail gun round impacting the ship was enough to
throw Jon painfully against the seat restraints.  Were it not for the
restraints Jon would have been thrown violently across the cockpit and badly
injured; as it was, Jon’s vision went black for an instant from the impact.  A
quick glance at the damage control computer was enough to confirm that the
‘Light
had been badly damaged.  The entire portside engine and a good majority of the
wing were…gone, vaporised by the kinetic energy of the impacting projectile. 
Jon immediately conducted an emergency shutdown of the remaining starboard
engine, to enable him to remain in control of the shuttle.  Otherwise the ship
would have gone into an unrecoverable spin. It was a testament to his
outstanding piloting skills that he was able to quickly regain control, if not
somewhat sluggishly from the now damaged flight control surfaces.  Jon could
immediately feel the loss of acceleration, but, without gravity to slow the
ship, it continued on at its previous velocity. 

Travelling at approximately 300 meters per second, now
barely three kilometres away from the Imperial flagship it was going to make
little difference to the end result.