Suddenly, three Vorgian Avenger-class Battleships warped onto the battlefield.
“Uh-Oh…” Nevin said. “This will be a battle to remember.”
“Yeah… If we survive!” Max pointed out.
At the head of the Elonian fleet we could see the Concordia, the massive flagship of Dixon’s fleet. It was a memorable sight as its main batteries hailed fire onto the enemy. As we neared the Concordia’s landing bay, Ryan tried to contact Dixon.
“Come in… This is Ryan Dunkelman of the Elonian Rangers, he announced.
“Please send identification codes,” Dixon’s voice boomed. “You’re showing up as a Vorgian ship.”
“Sending now…” Ryan told him.
“Codes approved,” the COM officer informed us. “Gates to the main hangar are open.”
Our transport flew through the open gates into the primary hangar bay. Then, the hangar shook, bouncing our transport as we landed.
“I’m alive!” Max exclaimed.
“For now,” Nevin responded, referencing Max’s earlier comment.
“Let’s get to the bridge,” Ryan suggested.
We ran out of the hangar bay, and then ran for the bridge. We made our way through the metallic halls of the ship, passing several crewmen along the way. It was not long before we were far enough inside the ship that it became easy to forget that there was a battle going on around us. We climbed several staircases as we made our way to the elevated bridge. When we arrived on the CIC floor, we moved quickly toward the large metal bulkhead that led to the bridge. It opened with a quick tap of the nearby panel.
“Are you Dunkelman?” Admiral Dixon asked, turning away from the view port.
“Yes sir!” Ryan said as we all saluted.
“Good to see you alive,” he told Ryan. “Fire a salvo of Pyro Rockets at Fargo.”
“Yes sir!” the weapons officer said.
A stream of twenty Pyro Incendiary Rockets shot from the front of the ship. They crashed into Fargo, erupting into flame after penetrating the station's hull. The flame ignited several nearby VDF-74 fighters. Fargo was running on reserve power now, which would quickly lead to its demise.
“Captain Chambers!” Dixon called.
“Ready a nuke.”
“Understood, sir,” Chambers said. He entered a code into the weapons system. “Sir? What’s our target?”
“The furthest Avenger… There,” he said, pointing at the holographic TRIAD display.
“Target locked.” Dixon gazed out the window toward the battleships.
“Chambers… Fire the nuke.”
“I love nukes!” Max exclaimed. “You know, the big plumes.”
“Get out of here!” Dixon yelled at Max, his face showing quite clearly that he wouldn’t put up with Max’s behavior.
“Yes… Sir…” Max said as he left the bridge.
The sight of him finally being punished for his immaturity brought a bit of satisfaction to me.
The nuke launched out of the bow of the dreadnaught. It hurtled toward the enemy battleship.
“Expected impact, five seconds,” the weapons officer announced. “Four…three…two…one…”
The missile exploded inside the Avenger, after just narrowly piercing its armored hull. The explosion blew off the first quarter of the ship, exposing it to the vacuum of space. The remainder of the ship began to break apart due to the extensive damage to the bow.
“Wow…” Nevin remarked. “I’ve never seen a ship blow up.”
“I’ve only seen it in simulations and recorded battles. Never right in front of me…” Philip said.
Then the COM link opened and we heard voices.
“Help!” All turrets are down. We’ve lost the warp drive. We’re gonna d—” the voice said as the transmission stopped.
“Sir,” one of the officers said. “We just lost the Voyager.
“Understood, Roberts” Dixon said, seemingly unfazed. “Another salvo of Pyros,” he ordered.
“Understood, sir,” the weapons officer said.
I watched out the window as laser shots and rockets flew about, amidst autocannons and missiles crossing paths.
“It’s really incredible, isn’t it?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Nevin agreed.
Then the COM link opened and an authoritative voice came over it.
“This is the Comanche. Neutron Bullet is fully charged and ready to fire.”
“Target the station,” Dixon ordered.
I watched in awe as a blue streak flew from the bow of a ship and slammed into the space station. It was much faster than the rockets that were still being exchanged.
“Sir!” the weapons officer called.
“We’ve exhausted over half of our Pyro Rockets.”
“All right… Give ‘em a round of Seismic Rockets,” Dixon told him.
“Right away sir.”
“Commander McNary…” Dixon said as he turned to the commander. “Give me a status report.”
“Understood,” Commander McNary said while she put the data on-screen.
“Thirteen percent shields, sir. We still have an amazing ninety-six percent hull integrity. Warp and Ultra drives are up, and sub-light engines are fully operational. As for fleet-wise, we’ve lost several ships,” she explained.
“Which ones?” Dixon requested.
“We’ve lost Voyager, Theta, Intrepid, and the Blackened Bruise.”
“Did Captain Braizer survive? Anyone brave enough to name their ship the Blackened Bruise is respected in my fleet,” Dixon said.
“So far we can't be sure, sir,” Commander McNary informed him.
“Understood Commander,” he uttered quietly.
“Hey!” Philip said, pointing at a small Vorgian frigate. “It’s headed right for us!”
“Oh no… I think you’re right!” Ryan announced. “Admiral! We need to target that frigate over there. I believe it is trying to ram us.”
Dixon glanced down at the TRIAD display.
“That does appear to be its intention,” Dixon said in an alarmed tone.
His usually expressionless face showed faint signs of worry. I was terrified.
“If it hits our ship, will we take enough damage to blow up?” I asked.
“Not even close…” Phil said knowingly. “However it could easily destroy a portion around where it hits. And possibly additional damage if the bulkheads aren’t sealed off around the impact area.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t hit here…” Robert told us quietly.
“Agreed,” Nevin, Philip, and I said in unison. Then, Ryan walked back over to us.
“He’s aiming all of our turrets on it. We have to destroy it before it impacts us,” he informed us.
“Sir! It’s closing on us. Impact to engines in ten seconds,” McNary announced.
“Redirect all power to the engines! NOW!” Admiral Dixon commanded.
“Powering engines, sir,” the nav officer said.
“Hurry,” Dixon ordered as he looked toward his navigation officer.
The Concordia began to crawl forward.
“Engines at maximum,” McNary announced. “Not fast enough, sir. Two seconds before—”
The ship shook and sparks shot out of some of the equipment. There was a crunching sound, and then a massive explosion. It caused the ship to shake again. Nevin and I both fell to the floor.
“Sir…” Commander McNary began. “Sub-light engines and warp drive are down.”
As I stared out at the battle, the mushroom-bulb at the top of Fargo showed clear signs of extensive damage. Large breaches in its hull began to appear as the surface fractured.
“This is our chance,” Dixon boomed, seemingly recovered from the impact already. “Ready a Mark II Seismic Rocket.”
“Yes sir!” the weapons officer announced.
The COM opened again with another transmission.
“Sir… this is the Appomattox. We have lost all shields and hull integrity is low. Permission to jump?” the captain e
xplained.
“Permission granted Captain Rebik,” Dixon accepted.
I knew a ship was about to jump, so I looked around the fleet. Then the familiar blue light surrounded one of the destroyers and then it was gone.
“Firing Mark II Seismic Rocket sir,” the weapons officer announced.
A long blue and white rocket pushed out of the bow of the Concordia. The rocket launched forward, slower than most rockets, and far slower than the Neutron Bullet had been. Point defense beams flashed around the rocket to no avail. As it impacted, a massive blue wave blasted out of the bulb, breaking it open. Without sides, the peak of the bulb lifted away from the rest of the broken station.
“How exactly do those rockets work?” I asked Philip.
“They are composed of extremely dense Hentronium with a seismic charge inside. Upon impact, inertia causes the unstable charge to hit the Hentronium with enough force to set it off.”
“Right… That’s great,” Nevin said, obviously confused.
“Okay,” I respond, “How about Ultradrive?” I asked curiously, trying to distract myself from the gnawing fear of the Concordia exploding like the great station Fargo.
“It works by putting us out of phase in a dimension where everything is exponentially smaller. Ships that were around us would not be in the alternate dimension, unless they too enter Ultraspace. As we travel at normal speed, the distance that must be traveled is vastly decreased. As soon as we drop out of Ultraspace we will remain at our relative location in our dimension. Essentially, this reduces the total distance a ship must travel, as opposed to attempting to boost the speed with which it does so,” Philip explained.
“I see…” I said, somewhat confused by the technical jargon.
Suddenly we heard a tremendous explosion. I hurried closer to the window. Where I once saw Fargo, I now saw nothing but rubble left of the station.
“Sir, Fargo has been destroyed. Mission complete,” Commander McNary announced. “Remaining Vorgians are jumping.”
“Good work crew,” Dixon congratulated. “That’s it for us, we just have to sit back and let the Marines do their job.”
“Sir! Final damage report is eighteen percent shields and gaining. Hull integrity remains about eighty-seven percent. That frigate took its toll on the engines. Ultradrive is still online, though,” Commander McNary informed the crew.
“That’s good,” Dixon approved. “Set us into standard orbit.”
“Yes, sir” McNary said.
She moved over to the COM console and opened a link with the ships in the fleet.
“We have won. For now just set into standard orbit and await further instructions,” she announced.
With the battle over, we were asked to leave the bridge, and were escorted by a guard to a relatively small room with a few naval cots. It wasn’t the most comfortable place, but it felt secure compared to the hustle and bustle of the bridge. We waited on board the Concordia, mostly in that room, for at least a day. Then Admiral Dixon walked in with news.
“Hello, Dunkelman,” he said as he stepped into our room.
“Welcome, sir!” Ryan responded as we all saluted.
“At ease,” Dixon ordered calmly. “We have our jump drive back online.”
“Se-weet!” Max exclaimed.
“Careful soldier,” Dixon warned.
“Ok…” Max whined.
“Do you need anything else, sir?” Nevin asked.
“Actually, I do.” Dixon answered. “Two things to be precise.”
“Cool!” Max said. “There are two!”
“Soldier!” Dixon growled.
Max simply shrugged.
“Anyway…” Dixon continued. “Our shipyards above Euphola have just launched our new super-weapon. It is called the Enforcer. It is so large, it doesn’t fit into any of our current ship classes.”
“Wow,” I murmured in amazement.
“Yes, ‘wow’ is right. It is nearly two and a half times longer than my dreadnaught. Plus, since dreadnaught is our highest class, many people think we should make one more class. But more importantly, the Enforcer is going to Hothonos. Spies report that two avengers and about eight frigates jumped in after Enphuerzo. We will be testing the Enforcer there. It will have two back up ships to accompany it. The Lone Wolf, which is a destroyer, and the frigate, Sandy Shore. I personally don’t like the idea. However, the Senate has voted forty-eight to twelve that we test it there,” Dixon lectured. “And if you are any indication… the Senate doesn’t always make decisions I like,” he continued, revealing his distaste for the Ranger program.
“Understood, sir,” Ryan said strongly.
“What else is there?” Philip asked curiously, obviously having enjoyed the last speech, despite the Admiral's underlying resentment.
“The other news is that the Rangers, Beta Squad, and the Lambda Raiders are going on a joint mission to Sontonos. You will be meeting them in four hours.”
“Aren’t the Lambda Raiders the squad with the Laser rifles?” Philip asked.
“Oh, and isn’t their a pair of twins in that group?” Nevin asked.
“Yes to both of those,” Dixon answered. “The Lambda Raiders are led by Master Sergeant Deborah Pinkip. Master Sergeant Dylan Johnston commands the Beta Squad. He is the son of the Elonian delegate Gareth Johnston. The same one who was killed on Delacrose several days ago.”
“All right,” I said happily. “I’m ready to work with someone with a motive like that.”
“Yeah,” Max said. “A tough dude, with a ‘tude.”
“I'm just gong to ignore you this time,” Dixon grunted. “Meet Airman Wanda Xavier in the primary hangar bay in three and a half hours. She’ll pilot you over to the Liberator. From there you will jump to Sontonos. Yes, you will have a small fleet with you. A total of three ships. Once cruiser, one destroyer, and a frigate. You will be on the cruiser. The rest will be explained there. Good luck,” Dixon finished.
“Yes, sir,” Ryan said as he saluted.
The admiral walked out of the room and went down the hall to the right. We waited in our room for about three hours. Then after grabbing our belongings, we headed toward the main hangar bay. We arrived several minutes early, so we just sat around.
“This’ll be great,” Max said.
“Yeah,” Nevin said.
“All of those ship names confused me though,” Max mumbled.
“I’ll explain,” Ryan offered. “The smallest ship is a corvette, however that excludes fighters, transports, scouts, and other small ships. Then, from smallest to largest the ships are: frigate, destroyer, cruiser, battleship, and our biggest is the dreadnaught.”
“Nice,” Nevin sighed. “Any particular reason you decided to memorize all that?”
“I was in the Navy for five revolutions as a pilot. I was stationed on the Hope. Then I was shot down on a ground run. I managed to capture a Vorgian sniper rifle and made it home. I practiced in my spare time for a while. Then, they thought I was so good with it that they decided to put me in the new Special Forces team. And now look, I am in charge of a crucial group of snipers,” Ryan concluded.
Chapter 4
Assault on Sontonos
By this time, we were soaring through space towards the Liberator. Much to my dismay, it was the same style of transport as the one we used on Enphuerzo. The transports were small, so each team used a separate vessel. I greatly preferred the Corsair dropships that we had used prior to these new transports.
“I wonder what this Dylan fella’s like,” Max stated.
“But more importantly...” Robert stated, “I wonder what the mission is.”
“One minute before arrival on the Liberator,” our pilot, Wanda, informed us.
I saw a large ship with five laser turrets and two railguns. As we neared it, the ship appeared to grow larger. The transport turned and we cruised into the hangar bay. I climbed up the ladder and looked back through the window. I saw two more transports coming behind us.
&n
bsp; “I’m ready to meet the teams we’re gonna work with,” Nevin said thoughtfully. “I mean, these are big names we’re talkin’ about.”
Next, we touched down on the floor of the hangar bay. As we plainly walked out to the transport, we saw the landed Beta Squad marching out of their transport.
“Wow...they march...” Max said semi-thoughtfully.
“Ryan Dunkelman,” Master Sergeant Dylan Johnston called. “Nice to meet you.”
“Same here Master Sergeant.”
“Do you have any important intel for us?” Francis Gonyon, one of the Beta Squad, asked.
“I’d assume nothing you don’t already know,” Phillip said to Francis.
“Aah, Phil, it’s good to see you again, man. I didn’t figure you’d have anything.”
I smiled slightly, impressed that Phil personally knew one of the Beta Squad. The six-man team was one of the most renowned special ops teams in the Elonian Empire.
“Let’s go find what this raid is all about,” Sergeant Deborah Pinkip said as she and the Lambda Raiders approached us.
“I concur with Sergeant Pinkip,” Johnston agreed as we gathered together and began walking to the bridge, where we began introducing the teams.
“Hello, I’m Corporal Carl Hays,” a tall soldier greeted.
“I’m Joseph Hays,” said a slightly taller soldier who looked like Carl. Their only difference appeared to be a few centimeters in height, Joseph’s hair was darker, and Carl wore glasses.
“Mikel Eric,” an average sized soldier stated plainly, clearly not big on introductions.
“Hi, I’m Maria Clause,” the shortest member of the Lambda Raiders introduced herself.
“That’s my team,” Sergeant Pinkip announced.
“Alright, team, now it’s your turn,” Ryan told us.
After our introductions, Sergeant Johnston said, “OK, then, Gonyon! You can start.”
“Yes sir,” Gonyon said back, “I am Francis Gonyon. I’m the tech expert. Give me a technical snafu and I’ll fix it or reprogram it to do whatever we want,” he explained.
“I’m Steven Roland,” a man with very short black hair said.
“Scott Keys,” a particularly strong-looking man announced with a scowl on his face.
The War Across the Stars Page 3
