Galactic Alliance 3: Honor Thy Enemy by Doug Farren

closer they got, the more energy those weapons could deliver. They were also lucky in that the Chroniech had chosen not to employ their heaviest weapon against them. Had they done so, the interceptor would be an expanding cloud of debris.
    “The Chroniech have lost weapons lock,” the relieved weapons station reported. “Sporadic impacts are all they are capable of.”
    The Chroniech Captain was becoming angry at the impudent little ship that refused to leave him alone. It was clear that it was trying to delay him long enough for the incoming battle group to arrive. He ordered all weapon systems to engage. He also gave orders as to how to deal with the second such ship the moment it was within range.
    As the Captain finished giving his orders, the face of the tactical officer appeared on his command screen. “What is it?” the Captain demanded, his anger spilling over toward the crew.
    “We have detected fifteen small objects surrounding our ship,” the tactical officer replied ignoring the Captain’s anger. “The objects are heavily shielded against detection and are difficult to target. They appear to be gravity generators similar to the one that forced us out of stardrive.”
    “Do your job and destroy them,” the Captain lashed out. “Do not bother me with such trivial matters.”
    The tactical officer tipped his head down a fraction of an inch and replied, “I am merely keeping you informed of the ship’s tactical situation Captain. There is one more matter you should be made aware of.”
    The Captain visibly brought his anger under control. He had no reason to be angry at his crew. “Continue,” he said in a much calmer tone.
    “We have detected several small drive wakes indicating the presence of more of these devices. They have taken up station outside our weapons range in a pattern that will allow them to possibly interfere with our stardrive as soon as it is able to be reengaged.”
    “We will deal with those devices later,” the Captain replied. His focus now was on the annoying little ship that refused to be destroyed. “These pitiful creatures think they can stop a Chroniech battleship. Our weapons will crush them. Destroy that ship then we will worry about the other issues.”
    The battleship powered up its close-in weapons. Seconds later the Vaen Runach was in serious trouble. “Shield at max!” the tactical station announced. “We are losing armor.”
    Captain Msul’s mind was racing. If he stayed this close to the battleship his ship would soon be destroyed. But, if he attempted to disengage, the much larger weapons would be able to target him as he tried to run away. Either way their ship was doomed. As he tried to consider his options he glanced at the tactical display and everything seemed to switch to slow motion.
    The Shqall va dropped out of stardrive 53 kilometers from the battleship – the closest it could get with the Vaen Runach’s gravity generator in operation. Captain Msul knew the instant the numbers appeared on the tactical display what the Shqall va’s Captain had done.
    The moment the interceptor reappeared in normal space the intrinsic velocity it had possessed prior to entering stardrive asserted itself. In this instance, that velocity caused the Shqall va to madly dash directly toward the Chroniech warship at a relative speed of over 8,500 meters per second. This already enormous speed climbed even higher as the Shqall va applied a thrust of 326 gravities – the limit of their sublight propulsion system.
    The Chroniech, however, had been tracking the Shqall va and less than a second after it dropped into normal space three beams from the battleship’s main guns blasted into action. The interceptor’s shield flared in polytechnic color as it tried, and failed, to deflect the terrific forces arrayed against it. Ultra-resilient armor boiled away exposing the ship’s softer frame members to the ravening energy beams. Structural supports, walls, floors, equipment,