Free Sword of Axia (The Arcadian Jihad) by Eric Schneider

it could hardly be worse. They’d smashed their way through four of the outer defensive screens, but the losses were staggering. Out of a total of twenty cruisers in the Fleet, he’d lost seventeen, now he had three left with which to fight through to the ground troops. The huge loss of life and ships was staggering and yet he still had to get through the last ring, the main planetary defenses before he could give support to the men on the surface. If they still lived.
    “What’s the latest word from Rafe Glen? Has the second wave gone in yet?”
    “That’s an affirmative, Sir. The freighter just left the surface to go back out to ferry the third wave down to the surface.”
    “How is the attack proceeding, do we have any information?”
    There was silence on the bridge, he noticed they seemed to be avoiding his eyes.
    “Well, does anyone have an answer? Dirk, what was the last signal we received?”
    “They’re under attack from an Axian heavy division, Sir. It was down there to refit with new weapons and armor, it took them by surprise.”
    “A division? How many troops?”
    “Five thousand.”
    The attack alarms sounded, the synthetic voice loud on the bridge.
    “Warning, incoming interceptors, ten have lifted off from the surface, estimated contact in one minute and twenty seconds!”
    Blas was out of time, they were waiting for him to give the Fleet their orders, yet he was outgunned, outnumbered, almost out of ships and men. Could they take on the interceptors? Yes, probably, but they’d take even more losses, afterwards they’d have precious little to fight with, they’d be finished off by the remaining defensive ring. He made his decision, right or wrong, it was the best he could do.
    “Mr. Gehlen, recall that last freighter and send it back down to collect Rafe Glen’s survivors, we’re pulling out. Helmsman, reverse course and take us out of the area. Navigator, plot hyperspatial coordinates to take us to the fallback rendezvous in the Rigel System, we’ll meet up there with Rafe’s ship and give them what assistance we can.”
    No one moved, they were shocked at the sudden reversal.
    “Move, all of you, I’ve given the orders! Do you want to die here, before we’ve even begun? If the Axians don’t kill you I’ll shoot you myself. The attack has failed, we’ve got to live with it and learn from it.”
    They jumped to obey, shocked by the violence in his voice. Crewmen held on as the ship began a sharp turn through one hundred and eighty degrees to leave the Dafne orbit. A rustle of fabric announced Sister Serena who’d just arrived on the bridge. Blas had ordered that she should remain somewhere safe, preferably close to the lifeboats in case they were hit.
    “Don’t worry, you had no choice, Captain.”
    “I wasn’t worrying, it had to be done,” he said irritably.
    “Of course, you’re quite correct,” she said smoothly. “Captain, there is something important I need to discuss with you, when we’re clear of the danger zone. I’ll be in my cabin.” She turned away from him and walked regally off the bridge. Only the lingering fragrance of her perfume was left to remind him of the dramatic effect she had on him. He shook his head to clear it.
    “They’re still following, Captain. The lead ship has started firing.”
    “Are the aft shields still functional?”
    “Forty percent, Sir, we’ve taken a lot of hits. The forward shields are still undamaged.”
    “Very well, as soon as we’re out of range of their platforms, make another one hundred and eighty degree turn and engage them head on, if we don’t wipe them out before we enter hyperspace we’ll never get away.”
    He felt lighter on his feet. “Dirk, the gravity compensators, we’re losing them.”
    The first officer ran his fingers over the keyboard of his terminal. “Hull damage has been pretty bad, one of the hits damaged the inner hull. It’s not running smoothly, I guess the gravity compensator has been