Chapter Twenty

Katanes System

Duke Respen’s warship, Right to Rule, dropped out of jump on the outskirts of Katanes’s gravity well, its escort ships emerging close behind. From space, the planet appeared peaceful and serene, an orb of pale blues and lavenders with two moons hovering protectively about it. This was not a world that was harsh like Aurann, nor gloomy like Tantos III, or even strategically significant, like Sakran.

It was a world that simply had the misfortune to have unwittingly raised a queen among its ruling family; for that crime, its peace would be shattered soon. Darius couldn’t help but think that it was such a waste.

He stood among Respen’s officers on the warship’s bridge, his siblings by his side. The duke himself was seated in the command chair at the bridge’s center, stiff in his uniform and with his hands folded before his thin face; his eyes were bright at hard as they stared ahead at his desired prey. There was no mercy in them, only anticipation. Darius was more troubled by that than he cared to admit.

Do what you have to… his father’s admonition echoed in Darius’s mind. He shied away from the implications of that, at least for now. They had other concerns first. A battle to fight.

“My lord!” one of the bridge officers called from where he sat at his control console. “We’re being hailed by the Katanes Defense Force.”

“Put them through,” Respen said calmly. “Should be amusing, anyway.” By Darius’s side, Tariti stiffened and regarded the duke with disgust; Darius managed, barely, to keep a similar expression from showing on his own face. No matter what Respen heard here, he’d come for blood; answering the hail at all was merely an excuse to play with his prey before moving in for the kill. It was behavior unworthy of a knight or a duke – and yet it seemed all to typical of this ambitious, cruel man their father had bound their house to, however temporarily.

“Attention, unknown vessels,” a voice echoed through the bridge, a woman – her accent reminded Darius of Artakane, and he felt a sudden pang of guilt at the thought. “This is Duty of Honor, flagship of the Katanes Defense Force. You are in violation of Katanes planetary space. Stand down and identify yourselves and your purpose here.”

“They’ve already scrambled their fleet,” Respen murmured. “They were expecting us. Mardoban must have contacted them and gotten a warning through. It won’t save them.” He nodded at one of the other officers. “What ships do they have?”

“Not much, my lord,” the officer replied. “A single Equestrian, a handful of smaller ships, some fighters. Less than a third of our strength.” Katanes had never expected to be attacked, Darius knew; the planet itself held little of value beyond pleasant scenery and farmland, and even in the event it was invaded, it had never had to do more in its history other than hold out long enough for Tantos III to send reinforcements. No such reinforcements were coming today. Katanes stood alone.

And Respen knew it. Smiling thinly, he stood and spoke in a loud, clear voice that the woman on the other end of the communications couldn’t possibly miss. “This is Duke Respen ast Aurann, rightful King of the Dozen Stars, commanding Right to Rule. We have come to take possession of your world in the name of the crown that is my birthright. You will surrender at once or be destroyed.”

“We were warned to expect you, Duke Respen,” the woman’s voice said. “We do not acknowledge your sovereignty of the Dozen Stars, nor your unlawful seizure of Tantos III. If you do not depart Katanes space at once, we will engage. This is not a bluff.”

Respen laughed coldly. “You’ll engage?” he asked, his tone incredulous. “With what? You’re outnumbered three to one, but if you wish to fight and die today, so be it. But be reasonable. Do you really think you serve your baron best by such a foolish act?”

“I do,” a new voice said – a man’s voice, this time, calm but firm. A hologram shimmered into being on the Right’s bridge – a tall, thin man with short hair and a neat beard, older than Respen but younger than Naudar or Mardoban. His height put Darius in mind of Karani; his calm, thoughtful gaze resembled Artakane. Darius had seen him before, from a distance, and the New Year tournament, but hadn’t spoken to him – this was the Baron Varas ast Katanes, the man who had raised a queen.

“You’re bold, Varas, I’ll give you that,” Respen said. “I admire that in my opponents. Therefore, I will give you an option – surrender yourself to me. Come to Right to Rule alone and unarmed and give yourself into my custody. Do this, and Katanes will be spared. This I swear by the Lord’s name and by my honor as a Duke of the Realm.”

“Your honor?” Varas asked, and he smiled thinly. “Am I to trust in that, then? If I believed that by such an act my people could be saved, I would do it in a heartbeat. But speaking honestly, Your Grace – I don’t trust you. I know you only by reputation, but that reputation sickens me. You are the man who has brought war to our nation, but your sins began long before that. You are a warmonger and a tyrant who has enslaved your own people to build your vaunted armada. Should the people of Katanes expect any better, left to your mercy? No, I don’t think you would leave my planet alone – it’s not in your nature. Your nature is to grasp and seize and then react with cruelty and spite when you’re denied. You may have royal blood in your veins, but you weren’t fit to be a king when the council passed you over after Aestera died, and you aren’t fit to be one now. I will fight to my last breath to prevent you from ever setting foot on Katanes, and my people will do no less, for they know what will await them if they fail. You will never have this world, tyrant.” Varas’s eyes went hard. “And I am a father as well as a baron, and I know this – even if you triumphed, you would never sit secure on your throne while my daughter lives. So long as she is a threat to you, her life would be in danger, and so for Arta’s sake alone, I would oppose you to my dying breath.”

The bridge was silent for a long moment after the Baron of Katanes finished speaking, and Darius felt a surge of admiration for the man’s courage, doomed as it might be, rise within him. Respen didn’t move; he stood still, face impassive with his hands folded behind his back as he regarded Varas’s hologram. Then he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. “So be it,” he said. “But your people will know you had the chance to save them and squandered it.” He waved a hand, and the hologram vanished.

Returning to his chair, Respen raised a hand and gestured towards his officers. “Begin the advance,” he ordered. “Blast that pitiful Defense Force out of the sky and then target Tannen City. The city shall burn, and I want Varas brought to me, alive. I want him to know the depth of his mistake before I take his head from his shoulders.”

The bridge officers saluted as one, and the Right shuddered slightly as its engines hummed to life and propelled it forward, the other ships in their squadron keeping pace behind. Before long, Darius could make out the Defense Force fleet through the viewport, hovering in front of the planet’s larger moon. From this distance, they looked pitiably small and fragile. Darius shook his head.

“I don’t believe it,” Galen whispered. “They must know they can’t win. Why do they fight?”

“Apparently it’s not in the Katannen spirit to give up easy,” Tariti said. “You should know, Galen. You’re the one Artakane took down. Did you really think she came from a planet of cowards?”

No, Darius thought, the Katannens weren’t cowards. They were still doomed, though. Their little fleet was no match for Respen’s top-of-the-line Aurannian warships. This wasn’t going to be a battle, but a slaughter. There was no honor in this. Self-loathing, sharp and sudden, twisted in Darius’s gut. The Defense Force would die, and Tannen City would burn, and so far as he could tell he was just going to stand here and let it happen like a coward.

“Their flagship is in range of our main cannon, my lord,” an officer said. “They appear to be powering up their own weapons, though it doesn’t appear they have the power to penetrate our shields.”

“Let’s not give them the chance to try,” Respen ordered. “Fire at will.”

For a brief moment Darius had a mad vision of running across the bridge, knocking Respen from his chair, and ordering the crew to stand down – but no, it couldn’t happen that way. He had no authority over the Aurannian officers, and Respen’s guards, lined up across the bridge, would shoot all three ast Sakran siblings before he even made it to the duke. Even if he was willing to sacrifice his own life, Galen and Tariti’s lives weren’t his to spend.

Before his internal conflict could resolve itself, a cry echoed across the bridge. “My lord!” another officer called. “We have new readings from behind us. A squadron of ships is dropping out of jump, almost on top of us!”

“What?” Respen demanded furiously, but Darius couldn’t quite hold back a smile. The eldest son of Duke Naudar looked over at his sister and nodded in acknowledgment of her shocked expression.

“Guess you were right, Tariti,” he said. “I don’t know who’s on those ships, but I’d wager Artakane wasn’t one to stand down after all.”

///

Varas ast Katanes smiled grimly as the small squadron emerged from jump right on top of Duke Respen’s invading fleet. He’d gotten an all-too-brief message from Duke Mardoban warning him to expect an attack, and that Arta was coming with reinforcements; he’d been trying to stall, playing a dangerous game by provoking Respen and keeping his attention focused on Katanes, and he’d known full well that if he’d gambled wrong, his little fleet would be swept away and there would be nothing standing between his little planet and destruction. Fortunately, it looked like he’d guessed right – the Duke of Orlanes had come through. Varas’s daughter had come through.

“Are you picking this up, Danash?” the Baron said quietly, speaking into his wrist comm. Static crackled before an answer came through.

“It looks like you’ll be having some help after all,” his aide – and oldest friend – said. “The playing field has been levelled, somewhat, but be careful – with the firepower he has, Respen can still win this.”

Varas nodded. “Understood,” he said. “But we still have a few cards left to play.” He nodded at Captain Atama, the Honor’s commander and the one who had first spoken to Respen when he’d hailed the ship. “Now that he’s distracted, let’s show the good duke what our weapons are really capable of.”

“Understood,” Atam said, saluting sharply and giving the order. Varas turned his attention back to the viewport, staring out at the battle, fear for Arta rising in his chest. But stronger than fear was his pride in her, and the woman – and queen – she had become.

///

Artax’s Glory and its squadron were Starflare cruisers, far smaller than the mighty Equestrians but designed to bring down ships much larger than they were. Their engines were nimble as well as fast, their weapons disproportionately heavy for their small frames. Still, a half-dozen of them seemed a feeble defense against the two great ships Respen had brought, to say nothing of the escorting fighters and frigates. Lieutenant Rehan, however, had experience in this sort of combat, and if she was afraid, she didn’t let it show. Commanding the squadron in Arta’s name, she directed the Glory’s officers with swift, precise movements and gestures, and their ships fell into formation around the Aurannian forces.

Arta, sitting in her chair behind the officers, didn’t think she’d ever felt more terrified in her life. A queen shouldn’t show fear, not even when she was on the front lines and it was her planet being attacked; maintaining that poise was taking all her concentration now.

Her determination to come in person to Katanes’s defense had seemed a noble thing when she’d declared it back at Tantos, but now she was realizing that here, in this battle, she was useless. She had no orders to give, no enemies to fight or speak to – instead of a major player in the battle, she found herself a spectator, one whose life could end at any moment if a stray blast from one of the Equestrians cut the Glory in two. This kind of battle, she realized, would take an entirely different kind of courage compared to walking into a room on Tantos to face her enemies head-on.

The Aurannian ships opened fire, the Equestrians launching massive beams that could shred a Starflare with a single hit, or so it looked to Arta. The smaller craft dodged nimbly, the force such that Arta would have been pinned to her seat by it even if she hadn’t already been strapped in, and then they returned fire with narrow, precise beams that could slice clean through a shield and begin cutting directly into the larger ships’ hulls. That’s how the Starflares killed big ships like Equestrians – a nimble dance, a death by countless cuts rather than sustained blasts. It had sounded like a good idea when Mardoban had explained it; up close at personal, it seemed fraught with peril.

Someone touched her hand, and Arta looked over to see Latharna; the Realtran girl smiled and nodded at her, and her pale fingers wrapped reassuringly around Arta’s brown ones. “The crew know what they’re doing,” she said. “Don’t worry. We’ll get through this.”

Arta smiled back and straightened up in her seat, trying to project the confidence she didn’t quite feel. Outside the front viewport the battle continued, a subtle dance of changing positions as the Starflares weaved their way around the Equestrians, cutting through their armor and tearing deeply into their insides.

The destruction, when it came, was sudden and shocking; one of the other Starflares didn’t dodge fast enough, and a bolt from the Equestrian it was engaging – Arta thought it was Right to Rule, if she remembered Duke Respen’s ships right – tore clear through it. The Starfrlare vanished in a sudden burst of brilliant light, and Arta’s hand shot to her mouth in horror; to her other side, she could hear Karani shouting a curse. Lieutenant Rehan merely hissed grimly and gestured to her officers to keep up their attack on the other enemy warship. A moment later, the Glory was rocked by a sudden hit that knocked Arta forward in her chair before just as suddenly pulling her back.

The Lieutenant swore. “We’ve got company,” she said. “Most of their smaller ships seem to be heading for the defense force, but some of the fighters stayed behind. One of their fighters is behind us, trying to take out our engines, leave us helpless. Using our own tactics against it; they’re moving too quick for us to hit them with our rear guns.”

“Well, shoot them!” Karani shouted; Rehan shot her a flat look, as if deciding whether or not pointing out that that’s exactly what she was trying to do to the queen’s sister would be permissible or not. She was saved by a sudden shout of excitement from one of the other officers.

“Someone else is shooting at them!” he said. “And… it looks like they got them! The fighter is destroyed. The blast came all the way from the defense force, but I don’t see how…”

“It’s Father,” Karani said happily. “He told me he was looking at upgrading the Honor with some very high-end guns, weapons people wouldn’t expect on an older-model warship. He must have done it – incredible range, accuracy, and power for their size.”

“He must have been holding back when he was shooting at Respen when we arrived,” Arta mused. “Tricking him into thinking he was weaker than he was…”

“Well, now he’s picking the fighters off our tail,” Rehan said, nodding. “Let’s keep tearing at our target, people. We’re almost through.”

A moment later, the truth of her words was proven as the Glory’s thin, powerful beam tore through the enemy ship’s engines. There was a burst of light that erupted from the warship, and then the Starflares were hurrying backwards, their speed enabling them to escape the blast as the entire vessel was consumed. Arta could only stare in awe.

Lieutenant Rehan smiled coldly. “Well, then,” she said. “Let’s see how Aurann takes that.”

///

Respen’s fists clenched tightly as he watched his second Equestrian, Star Champion, disintegrate before his eyes. This battle situation was not developing as the duke had intended; not remotely. Besides the intervention of a squadron of Starflares, the Katanes flagship had proven far more heavily armed than it had first appeared and, shielded by its escorts, had been able to take potshots across the battlefield, destroying a number of Aurannian fighters and small craft in the process. Right to Rule had so far escaped major damage, but the way the situation was developing, that state of affairs seemed unlikely to continue for long.

Darius was torn between relief that an attack on the civilians of Katanes today was seeming increasingly unlikely, respect for Artakane and her father, and fear that this battle’s developments would please neither his father nor Respen. Still the Duke of Aurann stood staring ahead, his expression murderous.

“This isn’t working,” Tariti whispered in Darius’s ear. “Are we just going to batter ourselves senseless against them in head-to-head battle? We need a change of plans!”

“I agree,” Galen muttered. “As much as I’d like to see Artakane humbled, that doesn’t seem likely to happen here any time soon.”

Darius steeled himself. “Father had an… alternative plan,” he murmured to his siblings. “Now we’ll see if Respen is amenable to it.” Stepping forward, he walked up to the duke and put a hand on his shoulder. “Your Grace,” he said. “If I may be so bold, I recommend a change in tactics.”

Respen whirled on him, his expression dark. Around the bridge, his guards tensed, but seemed to be waiting for their liege’s signal to act. “What of it?” he demanded. “You’re not in charge here; I am. And I think, boy, that I know how to handle a space battle better than you.”

Darius breathed deeply. “Your grace,” he said. “Your determination is admirable, but this battle is turning against us. The enemy outnumbers us now, and though you’ve managed to keep the Starflares from doing significant damage to your own ship, you’ve also only managed to destroy one of them. Attrition doesn’t seem to be working in our favor. All it takes is one lucky hit – and a crown is of no use to a dead man.”

“Are you suggesting we retreat?” Respen demanded, face incredulous. “From Artakane the pretender and her Katannen scum? Clearly your reputation is over-inflated, knight. If you were my vassal, I would kill you now for speaking such treason.”

If Respen’s expression was any indication, he wasn’t far off from killing Darius anyway; the younger man drew up his courage and looked the duke square in the eye. “Not a retreat,” he said. “Consider it a tactical withdrawal. We’re not fleeing in fear, merely removing ourselves to plan our next move. And my father anticipated that Varas and Artakane might prove more dangerous than we thought. We don’t have enough firepower still to burn Katanes, but Your Grace, there are other ways to fight – and other wounds that Artakane will feel very keenly.”

He briefly told Respen the plan Naudar had suggested to him and was rewarded by the cold gleam that appeared in the Duke of Aurann’s eyes.

///

Right to Rule’s engines fired, slowly turning its bulk away from the battle, and then with a sudden flash of light it was gone, its escort ships vanishing a moment later. “Our sensors indicate that the Right has entered jump,” one of the Glory’s officers reported in a stunned voice. “They seem to have fled to the edge of the system, and we’re not picking up any further jump engine activity, so they appear to be remaining there.”

“This battle isn’t over,” Rehan said, staring out at the wreckage that filled the space before them, “but your majesty, it appears we’ve won the first round.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Arta said, sinking wearily back into her chair. “You’re to be commended.” Before she could say anything more, Karani had leaned over and wrapped her in a tight embrace.

“We won!” she shouted, beaming. Arta managed to extract herself, praying none of the Glory’s officers had been paying attention.

“We won for now,” she told her sister. “Respen and his ships are still out there, and I doubt he’s just going to slink away back to Aurann. This isn’t over yet.”

“Your majesty!” one of the officers called. “We’re being hailed. It looks like a message from the Baron ast Katanes. He says,” the officer paused, “he says well done, and he invites her majesty to join him for dinner on Katanes, at her convenience.”

Arta smiled. “Tell the baron,” she said, “that his daughter gladly accepts his invitation.”