Black Sun (Phantom Server: Book #3) Read Online Free
Author: Andrei Livadny
Relic!
“Just one more moment!” interference drowned out Jurgen’s voice. “I’m busy with the asteroid!”
The vicinity of the shipyard was lit up with yet more arrivals. A volley from a giant laser system missed the Relic by a hair’s breadth, hitting the chaotically rotating asteroid instead.
The enormous rock, already deorbited by the frigate’s tractor beams, spewed flaming slag into space.
186,000 miles was a perfect effective fire range for a weapon firing at the speed of light!
“Jurgen, try to maneuver out of their arc of fire! Take cover behind the asteroids!”
Too late.
A fresh volley hit the frigate. In order to activate the tractor beams, Jurgen had to transfer part of the energy from the shields. The frigate’s power fields surged, then extinguished, unable to absorb all the damage. The laser beam sliced through the frigate’s hull. Luckily, it wasn’t fatal: the impact zone was one of the ship’s already-damaged depressurized areas which luckily prevented an explosion. The ship’s hull was peppered with about a dozen fire-polished breach holes, not large caliber even, but at least it stayed in one piece.
The two Wearongs headed forward, blocking the danger zone and taking the next volley onto themselves.
“Jurgen, get the ship out, now!”
The Relic’s bow glowed with the activated plasma engines. The ship accelerated smoothly, heading toward Argus. This must have been the best decision. For a while at least, they could use the destroyed space station as cover.
The Wearongs (who now resembled two gigantic medusas, their translucent bodies permeated by red-hot veins throbbing with electricity) blocked another volley, then began to fade away. Their glow was rapidly losing its intensity.
The Relic spat back from her main calibers, obliterating the nearest asteroids in a cloud of rock debris which shielded her from the enemy, forcing the Raiders to abort the firefight in order to close in.
Unexpectedly, the Raiders split. Five of them continued their assault while the rest turned back toward the shipyard. Why would they do that?
Their signatures gave the answer. They looked pale and distorted. Did that mean that the shipyard’s AI had failed to build fully-fledged combat ships with whatever Molecular Mist it had available for armor plate replication?
“The Raiders’ antimatter engines are at 30%!” Liori confirmed my suspicions. “They don’t have enough antiprotons!”
“Attack!”
* * *
We’d been just one step away from a new life, and what now?
Five Phantom Raiders were coming for us head-on. The rest had been swallowed up by the clouds of Molecular Mist swirling around the shipyard. They’d left in search of more nanites but they were bound to be back!
Even despite their replication faults, the enemy’s combat characteristics were way out of our league. Both Liori and myself had already encountered them in battle and knew well what they were capable of. Still, we’d come on a lot since then. We’d done some decent leveling and acquired new abilities. If only we could prevent the Phantom Raiders from getting to the Relic!
Slowly the frigate accelerated, heading for Argus. Tethered by tractor beams, the asteroid obediently followed in her wake.
I squeezed every ounce of power out of the engines. We needed to smoke the Raiders ASAP! Liori by my side held a confident course while the Haash yrobs intentionally lagged behind, maneuvering non-stop. Our Haash friends hadn’t wavered under fire: they were diverting the enemy’s attention to themselves, allowing us to regroup for a surprise attack.
The Raiders continued to close in. Still, their scanners couldn’t see us yet, their sensors powerless against the Steel Mist.
Ten thousand miles. Seven... six.
I nudged my thrusters into a strafe. My Condor was still closing with the enemy while shifting to one side. I kept a bead on the Raiders, waiting for the right firing angle that could allow me to attack
“Just one more moment!” interference drowned out Jurgen’s voice. “I’m busy with the asteroid!”
The vicinity of the shipyard was lit up with yet more arrivals. A volley from a giant laser system missed the Relic by a hair’s breadth, hitting the chaotically rotating asteroid instead.
The enormous rock, already deorbited by the frigate’s tractor beams, spewed flaming slag into space.
186,000 miles was a perfect effective fire range for a weapon firing at the speed of light!
“Jurgen, try to maneuver out of their arc of fire! Take cover behind the asteroids!”
Too late.
A fresh volley hit the frigate. In order to activate the tractor beams, Jurgen had to transfer part of the energy from the shields. The frigate’s power fields surged, then extinguished, unable to absorb all the damage. The laser beam sliced through the frigate’s hull. Luckily, it wasn’t fatal: the impact zone was one of the ship’s already-damaged depressurized areas which luckily prevented an explosion. The ship’s hull was peppered with about a dozen fire-polished breach holes, not large caliber even, but at least it stayed in one piece.
The two Wearongs headed forward, blocking the danger zone and taking the next volley onto themselves.
“Jurgen, get the ship out, now!”
The Relic’s bow glowed with the activated plasma engines. The ship accelerated smoothly, heading toward Argus. This must have been the best decision. For a while at least, they could use the destroyed space station as cover.
The Wearongs (who now resembled two gigantic medusas, their translucent bodies permeated by red-hot veins throbbing with electricity) blocked another volley, then began to fade away. Their glow was rapidly losing its intensity.
The Relic spat back from her main calibers, obliterating the nearest asteroids in a cloud of rock debris which shielded her from the enemy, forcing the Raiders to abort the firefight in order to close in.
Unexpectedly, the Raiders split. Five of them continued their assault while the rest turned back toward the shipyard. Why would they do that?
Their signatures gave the answer. They looked pale and distorted. Did that mean that the shipyard’s AI had failed to build fully-fledged combat ships with whatever Molecular Mist it had available for armor plate replication?
“The Raiders’ antimatter engines are at 30%!” Liori confirmed my suspicions. “They don’t have enough antiprotons!”
“Attack!”
* * *
We’d been just one step away from a new life, and what now?
Five Phantom Raiders were coming for us head-on. The rest had been swallowed up by the clouds of Molecular Mist swirling around the shipyard. They’d left in search of more nanites but they were bound to be back!
Even despite their replication faults, the enemy’s combat characteristics were way out of our league. Both Liori and myself had already encountered them in battle and knew well what they were capable of. Still, we’d come on a lot since then. We’d done some decent leveling and acquired new abilities. If only we could prevent the Phantom Raiders from getting to the Relic!
Slowly the frigate accelerated, heading for Argus. Tethered by tractor beams, the asteroid obediently followed in her wake.
I squeezed every ounce of power out of the engines. We needed to smoke the Raiders ASAP! Liori by my side held a confident course while the Haash yrobs intentionally lagged behind, maneuvering non-stop. Our Haash friends hadn’t wavered under fire: they were diverting the enemy’s attention to themselves, allowing us to regroup for a surprise attack.
The Raiders continued to close in. Still, their scanners couldn’t see us yet, their sensors powerless against the Steel Mist.
Ten thousand miles. Seven... six.
I nudged my thrusters into a strafe. My Condor was still closing with the enemy while shifting to one side. I kept a bead on the Raiders, waiting for the right firing angle that could allow me to attack
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