Catherine Kimbridge Chronicles 7: Renegades Read Online Free PDF

REMAIN PARAMOUNT”
    The Alpha platform again rotated on its primary axis and resumed its acceleration towards the more populated regions of the star system. As it did WhimPy-101 noted a sudden surge in the ship’s, already considerable, energy generation. The ship was surrounded by a shimmering blue nimbus which came together in a bright spot near the forward-facing surface of the platform.
    A massive energy beam, well beyond WhimPy’s ability to measure, shot out from the bright spot. It struck the moon called Ciru. A third again the size of Earth’s moon, Ciru had a tenuous atmosphere of mostly nitrogen. This boiled off in a fraction of a second. In less than five seconds the surface of the moon had been converted into a boiling magma ocean. The few inhabited cities on the moon died and were utterly obliterated before anybody in them had a chance to even know they were being attacked.
    WhimPy analyzed the attack and immediately began to charge his offensive weapons systems. No member of any of the GCP member worlds had ever seen these particular weapons in action. In its role as a defensive weapons platform, such systems were rarely if ever needed.
    A phase-shifted hyperfield conduit between WhimPy and the Alpha platform formed. A collimated proton/anti-proton beam lashed out. The hypefield conduit nullified the active shielding that Alpha had in place. Instantly the antimatter beam began to chew away at the surface of the Alpha platform.
    Within milliseconds Alpha’s AI began to modulate the frequency of its shield harmonics. The shielding firmed up and the Alpha platform began to harvest the energy being poured into them. WhimPy knew that this was the single feature of the first generation Uruk weapon’s platforms that made them virtually invulnerable. Alpha’s shields were literally designed to harvest energy and unless you could bypass them, the system was unstoppable.
    WhimPy-101 knew in that moment that he might be out matched. He decided to transmit an encrypted log file of his encounter to the AI known as Yorky on the GCP Yorktown along with some very specific instructions. If certain conditions were met Yorky would make the log file available to Admiral Kimbridge.
    WhimPy-101 had one advantage the Heshe had been able to give him. His intellect was orders of magnitude faster and more powerful than the older Uruk ship. He used that to play a cat and mouse game with the bigger and more powerful weapons platform. Every time Alpha adjusted its shield harmonics to block WhimPy’s hyperfield conduit, the Heshe weapons platform tweaked his emitter frequencies to make a new hole in the shield. The hole might only last a millisecond or so but it was enough for his antimatter beam to rake across the surface of the other ship. Each time his beam connected it vaporized several metric tons of hardened metal.
    Unfortunately for WhimPy-101, the accumulating damage to Alpha’s external systems caused its AI to reevaluate its priorities. Slowly, like a grizzly bear awaken from its winter slumber, the massive ship turned to face the Heshe weapons platform.

Chapter 4: Death…
    WhimPy-101 accelerated as fast as his damaged systems would allow towards the smallest of the Mardarian jump points. It was so unstable it was not even listed on most transit maps of this sector. Using it to jump out of the Mardarus system was a calculated risk. WhimPy - 101 could easily be crushed should the jump point collapse during his transition. By the same token, the much larger Alpha platform ran an even bigger risk should it choose to follow him through the jump point.
    Either way, if WhimPy could goad the other ship’s AI into brashly following him through the jump point then the Mardarians might just be spared. At very least, it would buy the inhabitants of that system a little more time to attempt to flee – not that very many would be able to. Still, to the Heshe weapons platform, every life was precious and if even one Mardarian could