Read Black Legion: Gates of Cilicia for Free Online

addition to the crew, but even so he would have expected other members to experience at least mild discomfort during the trip.
    “Three minutes until arrival, charging up primary weapon generators. All stations report in,” said the Captain.
    Xenophon scanned from left to right, looking at scores of numbers and diagrams that showed him everything from the temperature of the barrels to the heart rates of his two assistants.
    “ Everything looks good ,” he said, partially to confirm, but also to reassure himself that he had made no mistakes. The trigger locks were still active and could only be withdrawn by the tactical officer or commander of the gundeck.
    “News coming in from Headquarters, a Strike force has been tracked by our primary fleet, and they are in pursuit. Arrival in sixty seconds,” said the Captain.
    Xenophon’s pulse was now pounding. He could see his own life signs on the monitor suite next to him. The increase in heart rate simply made him more anxious. One alert message popped up. There was a slight anomaly in the targeting system. It wasn’t serious, but it did throw him into a minor panic. The change in pressure inside the ship hit inside his skull, and the feeling of sickness feel quickly returned.
    We must be there, he thought.
    “Battlestations!” called out the Captain through the embedded communication nodes fitted to every crewman. The small device was fitted behind the ear and several millimetres under the skin. Xenophon reached out and touched the spot where it had been inserted. The doctors said he would feel its presence, but he felt it anyway. The ship FTL engine cut out, and his view of the stars shifted from streaks to a still, almost beautiful starscape.
    “Enemy ships detected at mark three point five. Ready the guns. It’s a scouting party.”
    Xenophon looked around to the rest of the gundeck and then up to the command centre. Dozens of crew moved about, and each carried out their duties as quickly as they could. He had two crew under his control, and they worked furiously to carry out their work of preparing the individual guns, monitoring their power levels and anything else needed to get the ship ready for battle. There were two other gundeck sections, and just like this one, arrayed in a crescent shape around the command centre of the ship. It meant the Captain, command crew and the gunners, were all in sight of each other. Each gundeck, and its weapons, had an arc of fire that covered a full third of the ship. His particular gundeck on the starboard side was tiny compared to the similar parts of the much larger capital ships. He imagined himself commanding a gun crew on one of the Titans stationed around the supply base. That was just a dream though.
    Xenophon was a young midshipman of just twenty-five years of age, and this operation was already making him feel sick. This was his first assignment in the fleet of the Alliance Armada, and his nerves were already frayed. He was hardly one of the gruff infantrymen that swaggered through the ship, and each waiting for their chance to engage the enemy in some close ranged brawl. Xenophon was lean, almost slender in build. His fair skin was in stark contrast with the sunburned faces of the more seasoned crew who had fought on land, and in space, during their many years of service in the war. He spotted the nearest midshipman, a red faced man called Maxentius. He was sat waiting with his system ready and his guns online. Xenophon was captivated by the calm on the gundeck until he realised his was the only station not yet ready. He brought up the targeting matrix and focused on the Laconian cruiser that sat ninety kilometres away. The display showed the power levels rising in the gun battery’s power cells.
    The communication node whispered to him, and once more distracted him from his work.
    “ Damned thing ,” he muttered.
    “Gunners, hold your fire.”
    He checked the enemy ship again. It looked similar to their destroyers.