Black Legion: 04 - Last Stand Read Free

Maxentius twisted his head around to look at the Kentarchos, but the man was already speaking.
    “Full power to engines, bow shields at one-hundred and fifty percent. Ready our weapons.”
    It was standard procedure in battle to boost the shields, but the extra power going to the bow implied he expected an attack from their target. The excitement turned quickly back to routine as they covered the distance using their conventional engines. The jump-drive would use up far too much fuel and also move them right past their target. There was also the problem of the lack of shielding if they dropped out right next to an enemy vessel. Ezekiel Manus felt confident, but only for moment. Then came the news he’d been dreading.
    “Sir, she’s ghosting!”
    He paused and considered the information. It wasn’t completely unexpected, but at least he now knew.
    “Prep the fighters and stay on our present course.”
    The tactical officer seemed surprised and had to be nudged along by the Kybernetes.
    “Keep on the job. The Kentarchos knows what he’s doing.”
    The tactical officer had to double as the fighter controller, due to the reduced crew and facilities aboard the light cruiser. Normally, a vessel such as this one would carry a single fighter for reconnaissance work, but its design had been much improved. It was capable of carrying four craft, as well as four dromons in armoured pods on each side of the ship. The pods had been installed for later models so they could carry additional craft and troops, but right now they all wished they had access to greater firepower.
    “Seafires are loaded and waiting for the signal, Kentarchos.”
    The Seafires were single-engine fighters that had been modified from their normal use as space station defence craft to work on board small ships and carriers. They were fast, agile, and heavily armed for their size. With two sets of quadruple pulse cannons, they were powerful enough to deal with any fighter, Terran, or Medes. Unlike the heavy fighters used in the rest of the fleet, however, they were poorly equipped to deal with capital ships, and their range was poor. They would be critical in a battle if it was against other fighters or a missile armed opponent and perfect for attacking decoys, missiles, and drones.
    “Good, keep them ready. They may well be needed.”
    The Kentarchos looked back at the largest display that mimicked a front view of the ship. The electronic interference and jamming made it impossible to identify anything about it, but the long-range cameras had finally found something and locked on it.
    “Focus in, now,” he said.
    The excitement in his voice was clear, and all the officers remained silent as they waited for the cameras to lock down on the target. The image moved into focus and then out again before finally fixing on the shape. It filled the screen and showed considerable detail even though it was poorly lit.
    “I know it, a Medes light cruiser.”
    “I concur,” said the tactical officer.
    A couple of seconds was all it took to cross-reference the information with what they already had on file. The computer compared the key features and came up with an almost perfect match. Even so, the officer checked the specification manually before passing on the analysis. It wouldn’t be the first time the computer had got it wrong.
    “My files show it is a Khanda class light cruiser, a standard class of warship in the Imperial Navy. We have records of over three hundred variations of the design. This one is the smallest.”
    The Kentarchos examined the imagery carefully.
    “Specification?”
    “Estimated crew of seventy automatons, and a handful of Median officers if it is the scout model. Some assault models are equipped for station attack with internal bays for Taochi boarding parties.”
    Ezekiel Manus didn’t like the sound of the latter design at all. He was sparsely crewed himself, and he’d heard accounts of the Taochi in battle on Cunaxa. Apart from