Read Online Resurgence of Ancient Darkness by Vincent Trigili - Free Book Online
Authors: Vincent Trigili
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jumped in and cloaked right away. Based on their last known location, and assuming they head straight to their base, they should be here in a few hours,” said Stalker.
“Okay. I do not plan to wait here for them. Slowly move along their predicted flight path. I want to be as far from their base as we can be,” I said.
“Yes, Master,” he said.
“ Phoenix, they are coming. Hold your current position in case they get by us. We will shortly be out of telepathic range, but do not break comm silence until you have to,” I sent to Phoenix.
“ Understood, Master, ” was his reply.
We slowly drifted towards where we expected the pirates to be flying under cloak. Sitting in my command chair allowed me to focus more on the search, and I slowly expanded my awareness outward along the path between us and the jump exit point of the pirates until I found them.
“Stalker, I have them. Flame, adjust heading to 15 mark -3 degrees,” I said as Flame entered the bridge and took over at the helm.
“On it, Shadow,” said Flame.
“Tactical, we appear to be heading straight for them, and they will be in range of our torpedoes in about thirty minutes,” I said.
Stalker moved to take over tactical and said, “That would mean they are moving a lot faster than they should be able to under cloak, Master.”
“Aye, and by all reports that ship is too small to have such a powerful cloak,” I said.
“Just like the Dust Dragon,” said Flame knowingly.
“Then we need to assume they have at least one magus aboard,” said Stalker.
“That will significantly complicate things,” I said. Then I noticed something troubling. “They are accelerating. Why would they do that?”
“They must know we are here and are preparing for an attack run,” said Karlith as he came on to the bridge and took over at tactical. Stalker moved to the science station. Excellent, now I had my full crew in place.
“I don’t think so,” said Stalker. “We are far bigger a target than they would normally stick around to fight. If they saw us, they would run.”
“True, so perhaps it is the Dust Dragon they noticed?” I asked. “Flame, reduce forward velocity by 50% and prepare to turn back and head towards the Dust Dragon. Let’s see if we can trap them between us.”
The next hour passed very tensely as we flew closely by the cloaked vessel and moved into a position directly behind them. I could not risk contacting the Dust Dragon and warning them that the pirates were bearing down on them, as that could give away our own position.
“Master, at our current velocity we will be in range of the Dust Dragon’s last known position in a few minutes. That makes it reasonable to assume that the pirates will also be in range soon.”
“Okay … ” I had started when the ship’s tactical alarms went off.
“They are firing!” called out Stalker.
On the screens, I saw that they had dropped their cloak and opened fire with their energy weapons at the hiding place of the Dust Dragon.
“Direct hit!” called out Karlith.
“Report!” I said.
“Dust Dragon has dropped its cloak and raised its shields, but its jump engines have taken a direct hit,” said Stalker.
“Quick, return the favor, and take out their drives!” It was likely that their jump drives would be too depleted to jump in the near future, but I was not going to risk that. I though it possible that their plan was to cripple the Dust Dragon and then run for their base or a jump exit.
I felt the ship’s weapons systems power up as our cloak fell and the exhilarating burst of power as they fired.
“Direct hit! Their armor absorbed most of the blow, but it still looks like we crippled their ability to run,” called out Karlith.
“They are coming about and locking weapons on us,” said Stalker.
“Shields up, and fire torpedoes,” I said. “I only want to cripple them, so be careful where you hit.”
I was not concerned about their weapons, as they were no match
“Okay. I do not plan to wait here for them. Slowly move along their predicted flight path. I want to be as far from their base as we can be,” I said.
“Yes, Master,” he said.
“ Phoenix, they are coming. Hold your current position in case they get by us. We will shortly be out of telepathic range, but do not break comm silence until you have to,” I sent to Phoenix.
“ Understood, Master, ” was his reply.
We slowly drifted towards where we expected the pirates to be flying under cloak. Sitting in my command chair allowed me to focus more on the search, and I slowly expanded my awareness outward along the path between us and the jump exit point of the pirates until I found them.
“Stalker, I have them. Flame, adjust heading to 15 mark -3 degrees,” I said as Flame entered the bridge and took over at the helm.
“On it, Shadow,” said Flame.
“Tactical, we appear to be heading straight for them, and they will be in range of our torpedoes in about thirty minutes,” I said.
Stalker moved to take over tactical and said, “That would mean they are moving a lot faster than they should be able to under cloak, Master.”
“Aye, and by all reports that ship is too small to have such a powerful cloak,” I said.
“Just like the Dust Dragon,” said Flame knowingly.
“Then we need to assume they have at least one magus aboard,” said Stalker.
“That will significantly complicate things,” I said. Then I noticed something troubling. “They are accelerating. Why would they do that?”
“They must know we are here and are preparing for an attack run,” said Karlith as he came on to the bridge and took over at tactical. Stalker moved to the science station. Excellent, now I had my full crew in place.
“I don’t think so,” said Stalker. “We are far bigger a target than they would normally stick around to fight. If they saw us, they would run.”
“True, so perhaps it is the Dust Dragon they noticed?” I asked. “Flame, reduce forward velocity by 50% and prepare to turn back and head towards the Dust Dragon. Let’s see if we can trap them between us.”
The next hour passed very tensely as we flew closely by the cloaked vessel and moved into a position directly behind them. I could not risk contacting the Dust Dragon and warning them that the pirates were bearing down on them, as that could give away our own position.
“Master, at our current velocity we will be in range of the Dust Dragon’s last known position in a few minutes. That makes it reasonable to assume that the pirates will also be in range soon.”
“Okay … ” I had started when the ship’s tactical alarms went off.
“They are firing!” called out Stalker.
On the screens, I saw that they had dropped their cloak and opened fire with their energy weapons at the hiding place of the Dust Dragon.
“Direct hit!” called out Karlith.
“Report!” I said.
“Dust Dragon has dropped its cloak and raised its shields, but its jump engines have taken a direct hit,” said Stalker.
“Quick, return the favor, and take out their drives!” It was likely that their jump drives would be too depleted to jump in the near future, but I was not going to risk that. I though it possible that their plan was to cripple the Dust Dragon and then run for their base or a jump exit.
I felt the ship’s weapons systems power up as our cloak fell and the exhilarating burst of power as they fired.
“Direct hit! Their armor absorbed most of the blow, but it still looks like we crippled their ability to run,” called out Karlith.
“They are coming about and locking weapons on us,” said Stalker.
“Shields up, and fire torpedoes,” I said. “I only want to cripple them, so be careful where you hit.”
I was not concerned about their weapons, as they were no match
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