“Our numbers are low, and our forces are spread thin. Resource shortages, mutinies, desertion, and planetwide revolts. The new nobility will bring local order in all worlds of the Sector. For the Sector to remain stable, the choice is open. Either allow a strong local rule through a new local aristocracy…or anarchy.”
- 4th FEG High Administrator, 5th Cycle.
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+++ Jonathan Jones +++
Jahellios System
New Krakow
FS Zoeker
“Fire!” I shouted at the screens, as the 76 mm autocannon opened up, unloading shell after shell almost every split second. Three Harpoon-28 Anti-Ship Missiles rose up from the decks, from the Zoeker’s bow VLS, creating a towering plume of smoke and fire above us. We were now engaged and locked in combat with the enemy ships, and it quickly became a one vs six.
“That’s three missiles away,” I said to Juliett, who gave me a nod. I could feel the ship turn violently to its port side, as Louise handled the wheel roughly.
“We’re going to have to try to avoid them!!” Harold shouted at us, alerting everyone. “People! They’re turning toward our direction! Forty knots! It seems like they want to get closer.”
“Boarding perhaps?” I asked before we ducked down after a shell rocked on the decks of the Zoeker. Multiple plumes of water could be seen on both sides of our ship, as the splashes of it washed over the bridge’s windows. It was already dark, yet I could see in the distance the constant yellow splashes of the enemy firing their main guns.
Worse of all, they seemed to have shot down my missiles.
All as the storm turned stronger above us. The Zoeker was already going up and down through the crashing waves violently, and I could imagine that the speed of the wind around us was now reaching the violent hundreds of kilometers. It was almost as if we were battling in the eye of a storm.
“They’re going to be quite insane if they try that,” Juliett said. “Boarding us is difficult…but it’s possible. Still, the storm should slow them down if they try it. Most of their ships are patrol boats, but if they ram us, they can easily cross and board us.”
“The same is true for us, no? If we ram them, we can also board them,” I asked, and she nodded. “Well, if they ever have André as a hostage, then that certainly helps.”
“They’re six kilometers away and closing! They’re significantly faster than us!” Harold warned as we continued firing our 76 mm autocannon at them. I could see that the gun in our front deck had been unceasing, the same as theirs. I looked at the various targeting feeds. One of their ships was already smoking and listing, but they all still charged forward.
Angrily.
Then, their corvette began firing its main gun, presenting its broadside at us. I watched as three missile pods appeared from a covered part of its broadside, and locked to the sky before smoke and fire rose from it.
I was already on it. “Seems like they bought their own anti-ship capability. Enemy missiles incoming!” With the assistance of Foxtrot, our PDS gun turned and elevated its barrel at the enemy missiles. I prepared three RIM-8 Air-to-Air Defense Missiles from the stern VLS, acquired three of the incoming missiles as targets, and when the words [LOCKED!] appeared, I pressed the fire button without hesitation.
The skies turned yellow from a barrage of explosions, as the RIM-8 Air-to-Air Defense Missiles intercepted the first three enemy missiles, before the PDS gun opened fire, swatting the skies full of glistening yellow tracers that created an almost fireworks-like barrage of explosions when their entire salvo of missiles was wiped out in the air.
The PDS gun lowered its barrel and returned back to its original position afterward, and I could see that it was already half-overheated. Still, it did its job well. Good job, boy. I looked back at the control screens of the 76 mm autocannon, which already showed a warning icon about overheating. Already, it was down to ten percent of its ammo stores, yet it continued firing at their lead vessel.
Due to their speed, they were already closing in at one kilometer. Our bow was pointed straight into the middle of their two lead ships, both of them charging on our two sides, firing their cannons into the Zoeker’s hull without reprieve. There was no more point in running back (we wouldn’t be able to fire the main gun) or presenting our broadside (that would just be giving them a bigger target), and thus, only a head-on approach was left. Splashes of water and the occasional piercing shots rocked the Zoeker, and I couldn’t help but ask about the status of the ship.
“Juliett! How are we holding up?”
“I’m rerouting the drones to repair the damage. Hull Compromised in Bulkheads A, B D, and G. Minor flooding recorded. We’re going to patch it up.”
“Good,” I looked at Louise, who continued to maneuver the ship through the maelstrom like a pro. I didn’t expect her to be so damn good, that we were practically dodging their shots one after another. As if we were dancing through the stormy waves of this ocean. More importantly, she was moving the Zoeker in a way that kept the front-facing 76 mm firing at the enemy.
Damn, if this is how good she is at using a surface operating warship…I can only imagine how good she would be at using a space-operating warship. After all, as she said, her father already trained her for it for years as a last resort. Selfishly, I almost wanted her to be in our group—she would be a damn fine addition. A young ship captain driven by her noble background, ready to dance with us on the next field of battle we would find ourselves in.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
It was a salivating prospect. Still, I knocked down those selfish thoughts. If she didn’t want to come with us after all of this and preferred to continue her and her brother’s life in space on their own, then that would be her right. I was just here to help and get paid.
Nothing less.
I refocused the Zoeker’s main gun on the ship rushing through our port side. It was a patrol boat, with a small autocannon on its bow. It was firing at us every three seconds, sending hot shells on the waters around us or the Zoeker’s hull. It was also sending us a barrage of heavy flak rounds, most likely from its AA mounts, lighting up the Zoeker’s hull further with lead.
Go eat this! I pressed on fire after the firing solutions were readied. One, two, three, four, five, I counted as the 76 mm autocannon unleashed hell on that ship, one shell after another. Some of it missed as they tried to dodge it, but most slammed into it, blasting holes, fires, and causing secondary explosions on its decks at point-blank range.
I kept the gun firing at it for eight more seconds, as it finally reached our ship’s port side, merely three hundred meters away. The last shot blasted straight to the waterline underneath its main gun, creating a sudden explosion as it stopped, before a final explosion turned it into something akin to a firecracker, completely lighting up the skies briefly like a candle.
“Scratch one hostile,” I said, as I turned the 76 mm on the ship that was testing our starboard side. It seemed that the enemy ships weren’t going to let us off lightly. They were all rushing at us…from all sides.
I smirked, almost demonically.
Bring it on then.
+++
+++ [REDACTED] +++
Whoever these bastards were, they were turning this affair into a massive pain.
They had just sunk one of the patrol boats I acquired. My men were falling like flies. And so were my ships. And I still haven’t found the other brat. The six ships we had acquired had been something difficult to get. There wasn’t much time left, as the brat had already left port.
Worst of all, my “handlers” were already enraged at the length of this operation. We were supposed to wipe out that family for weeks ago. We had killed the head of House Fleur, and much of their smaller relatives, but the two remaining members of House Fleur, Louise Florentine de la Fleur, the Heiress in line to the title of Ducal New Krakow, and her little brother, André de la Fleur, had stubbornly refused to simply die.
Now, they even managed to enlist the help of unknown mercenaries. I wondered who they were, that they would support the same family that almost bought New Krakow to ruins three decades ago. The same fat noble family that should have been long lined up on the wall and shot for their crimes against the people.
Must be foreigners. There could be no other explanation. Only an ignorant foreigner would dare help these fat stooges. Anyone in New Krakow should feel nothing but hate for these aristocrats, these pretenders, these mere clowns who dared to act as if they were above us all. The same ones who dared to even pin the failures of that war on me, my family, the same ones who loyally supported them throughout that farce of an independence war.
Regular civilians, politicians, soldiers, police, and even us, now reduced to mere criminals, should hold nothing but hate for these two-faced demons. Hell, if it would be the last act we would be able to do, then so be it. Place us on trial, imprison us, torture us, shoot us, and paint us as monsters for our crimes. We wouldn’t care. We’ll fight. And we’ll keep fighting. Back then for our selfish oppressors, then for our selfish survival…now, to end the oppressors of this world for centuries since the collapse.
We’ll fight on till she’s dead.
When the Heiress is dead…there won’t be any new hereditary despot left. No more nobility. No more aristocracy. No more House Fleur. They would all learn the message from here on out. That they would have no place in this day and age. And that they never even deserved it in the first place. Just as House Filken burned down in the aftermath of that war three decades ago when that Duke pinned all of the blame on us…on me—they would all soon receive the same judgment they inflicted on us.
“Boss…” One of my men said, his grip on his gun tense. He gulped a bit. “I’m afraid to say that our autocannons are running out of ammunition.”
“Is that so?”
“Y-yes, Boss. All of these ships were mothballed or in the process of being mothballed after all. And we didn’t have the time to stock up for it,” that made sense. In fact, we even exhausted all of our missiles. “I’m sure the enemy doesn’t know it, but we won’t be able to press on this attack. We can’t…”
“No…” I looked at the map of the battle. All of my ships were now surrounding the enemy corvette, all while we traded broadsides using our main guns. I could hear the crew of this ship’s bridge shouting reports after one another. Hull breaches, flooding, fires, each report filled the lull, the orchestra, the music of the battle.
“You see…we have something they don’t,” I looked at my Fed-System’s interface. I had a full AP (Activation Points) pool. And I didn’t need a wand to cast those APs into a spell anymore, which meant that I could use my gun as well while fighting. “I can use System Arts. And most importantly, all of you men have a lot of bullets in your own guns, no?”
His eyes widened, as I smirked. “Order a boarding action. We’ll wipe out that brat. I’m sure that the reason it’s attacking us this stubbornly…is because the Heiress herself is in that ship. And I’d like to kill her myself.”
If this is the last thing we’d have to do to restore our honor…then we’ll restore it by killing that monster.
Only a monster can kill a monster.
I’ll see the end of your family, Duke Henry. After what you did to my own family…you’ll see how it feels like to turn it all around.
Watch well from hell, I’ll follow you there soon…and I’ll tell you everything about how it feels to kill her with my own hands.
And if these fools think that they could fight against me, the Bloody Count, as if they were my equal, then I shall show them how a former Admiral of a rotten Dukedom would fight without ammo.
I almost feel as if I’m back there. Funny how I fought them once over the heavens of this world for the Duke. Now…I was killing the Duke’s family for them. Betrayal will be paid with blood. That was all there was to it.
“Move all of our ships to them, now. Full speed.” He nodded, and I turned to the rest of the men on the bridge. “Everyone, prepare for ramming speed!”
I looked up at the strengthening winds of the storm, as the waves became higher. Two zaps of thunder slammed on the waters near us. How fitting. I suppose this was how it would end.
The tale of New Krakow’s two greatest noble houses. And both our well-deserved downfall.