Annals of the Keepers - Deception

by Christiaan Hile

  “What’s the drop rate?”

  “It looks like three percent every ten seconds. We are at thirty percent and falling.”

  Takkar now looked worried, “Can we pulse the shields?”

  The ensign did some calculation with the systems before replying, “It may bring whatever is on the shields to the hull. We still don’t know what it is.”

  Another warning light sounded. The weapons officer behind the commander spoke over the conversation, “Enemy ship within firing range, Commander.”

  Takkar knew he was caught in a tough spot; pulse the shields and clear the anomaly or set in motion a worst-case scenario. He didn’t want to go into combat with no shields, especially against an adversary with unknown capabilities.

  “Pulse the shields, Ensign.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Pulsing the shields brought them down to near zero and then flashed them back out to full strength of where they were before the process.

  The shields collapsed, then expanded as the process started.

  “It looks to have worked!” the ensign exclaimed.

  “Engage all weapons platforms,” Takkar ordered as the Flashpoint secured her last target.

  The torrent of weapons from both ships blazed off, striking each other in their waves of attacks. Each vied for position, continuing to launch all they had.

  The Flashpoint banked, getting hit broadside with the energy blasts from the enemy, while launching an immense bombardment from the pulse batteries along her starboard side.

  “Shields collapsing, sir.”

  Takkar already new the odds, “Status.”

  “Shields down to twenty-two percent. Enemy ship is near fifty percent on theirs.”

  It’s all in the numbers. Their unknown technology is the hidden factor in the outcome of this battle. Takkar was well aware of what it meant, but he wasn’t interested in the inevitable, he was interested in the now. Right now.

  “Set torcons to nuclear, close range.”

  The ensign looked back, incredulous, at the commander at the severity of the order.

  “Do as I say, Ensign.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  The Flashpoint rolled around for another pass. This time, the threat would also be by her own weapons, if not timed right.

  “To make sure they get through, set ion control and fire a wave before the torpedoes are launched.”

  He knew this may be the last pass he had. He had to make sure the weapons struck the enemy with maximum force. He couldn’t have any of the lighter weapons be destroyed before. He would give his ship and crew the best chance at victory. The inevitable was not on his mind. Takkar never assumed anything, only until the enemy was lifeless would he then concur success.

  Just before the Human ship was to launch its final assault on the enemy, a warning flashed.

  “Commander, the reactive-hull is showing signs of degradation. The same anomaly from the shields is now on the hull-plate.”

  The gamble didn’t work on pulsing the shields, Takkar thought, “Continue course. Prepare to launch attack wave.”

  The Flashpoint headed straight for her adversary. The blue ion barrels glowed bright before they fired.

  The wave struck the enemy vessel with maximum power, sending cascading energy around the shields and fuselage. Coming close and behind the wave were four torcon torpedoes. All impacted the ship, which glowed an intense white light.

  The sphere of destructive power expanded outward as the Flashpoint moved past. The force hit the Human ship, since it fired its salvo at such close proximity. Both ships took a part of the brunt force issues by the torpedoes, but the enemy vessel fared much worse.

  Warnings waned and lights flashed on the bridge of the Flashpoint. Commander Takkar was on the edge of his seat, awaiting the status of his enemy. The ensign sounded off, “Our shields are down. Generators are damaged, and our hull integrity is at sixty percent, Commander.”

  Takkar knew the odds, but awaited the news if his attack was successful. It came.

  “The enemy ship is still in pursuit. Their shields seem to be down to ten percent.”

  Closer odds, but will it be enough? This could be his final pass. He would have to stretch the imagination on tactics if he was going to pull this one off.

  This was the moment most captains awaited, a chance to escape the inevitability of death, even if they shied away from such talk. It’s the essence of battle that draws the scenarios that play out in the minds of legends.

  ∞∞∞

  The Reavers were upon the unknown, golden warriors. Each was readying their personal close quarter’s combat technique. Some would use a variety of blades while others used the micro-wire whip or their fists.

  The Reavers dashed towards the enemy, but were halted from their momentum by a radial energy burst from the gold figures. The shockwave blasted outwards, sending the Reavers back through the air. Ramek and Kason landed and slid into the wall near the door. Keelen and Maddox were blown into a control console of some sorts. Kercy again got the worst of it as she was thrown through the door, landing in the fiery pit they had blasted with their rockets.

  Kason was first to his feet.

  He fired a micro-flash rocket in the middle of the two soldiers. It exploded, flashing the room with a blinding white intensity. He struck at one of the beings with his gauntleted fist.

  The creature caught his hand, stopping it before it reached the helmeted head. The golden soldier then grabbed Kason with its other hand around his neck, lifting him and tossing him off to the side with a crash.

  Ramek was up off the floor. He picked up his gyro-cannon next to him and activated the plasma chamber. A barrage of plasma bolts lashed out at both the gold-suited aliens. The rounds impacted a shield around them, exploding in rapid succession one after the other, with no results.

  One of the beings raised its weapon arm. The end of the barrel rotated to another setting. Boom! A red round of mass energy issued out and struck Ramek, propelling him against the wall behind him and to the floor.

  Keelen and Maddox fired a salvo of smoke and shock rounds from their gyro-rockets, engulfing the enemy in concealing clouds and electrical pulses.

  The four Reavers recovered and ran past their golden, bipedal barriers. They headed straight for the power source.

  The room filled with a reddish beam that covered the whole area. The enemy was locating the Reaver intruders through the screening fog.

  The aliens turned towards their direction and raised their weapons. The arms of the beings glowed red; but, before they could fire, a micro-wire wrapped around their legs, pulling them down to the floor.

  Kercy had come from behind, which was choreographed by the team. Each Reaver attack that was thwarted by the enemy was learned by the others. It was just a matter of time before they would bypass their obstacle and continue on with their objective.

  While the creatures were busy locating the four intruders which had already past them, the fifth Reaver flanked them.

  Kercy finished them off by driving her bladed knee into the spine of one while stabbing her katana blade through the neck of the other. She moved to join her teammates up ahead.

  The Reavers had made it to the energy source of the ship.

  A large, black-and-gold ball of energy, like a small star, was suspended in the center of the room. The ball reacted like the walls and the armor of the golden beings, like liquid mercury undulating around.

  “I’m picking up a barrier field, boss,” Keelen said.

  “Copy. Kercy, Maddox, set explosives around the base. Ramek, Keelen, and I will hold the perimeter,” Kason ordered.

  Before the men could respond, another light field appeared behind them. When they turned around to see the force field, there were ten alien beings.

  Each of the beings had different colored armor. Some wore the gold they had encountered already. The others were silver, red, and black. They each had different shaped armor, varying the colors like a rank,
position, or status amongst them.

  The Reavers were outnumbered and, this time, the odds were not in their favor. Then again, when were they ever.

  Data Cell 43

  The only weapons’ fire that came from the enemy ship was a solid-beamed energy weapon. The others fell silent.

  Takkar knew they had done substantial damage on that last attack, since the unknown vessel seemed limited in their weapon options.

  The Flashpoint continued to barrage their enemy with the vapor rail guns and the rapid-fire plasma coils. Each ship continued to take the pummeling of the other until they passed close-by.

  The Flashpoint turned, giving a massive broadside assault from her pulse batteries along her lateral line.

  The enemy’s beamed weapon didn’t slice through the reactive armor or destroy any of the defensive armaments the Flashpoint had. It didn’t seem to do anything. At first glance, at least.

  “Sir, the anomaly on the hull has increased. The weapon they fired seems to have reenergized it. Our hull integrity is dropping fast.”

  Smart move, Takkar thought. They must have used their energy resources to conserve their shields, “Ensign, enemy shield status?”

  “Still ten percent, sir.”

  That’s exactly what they did, Takkar thought. If he was going down in battle today, he would take them with him.

  “Make the pass high, Ensign. I want all weapons available aimed at their primary weapon points.”

  Takkar knew he didn’t have many options left. If he couldn’t get their shields down, the matter would be settled here.

  The two ships headed towards one another. The Flashpoint heading high, the enemy coming low and underneath. Weapons blazed off each ship, but it was the enemy who had the last surprise.

  The unknown ship opened with not two, but four energy weapons. Although each ship exchanged barrages, it was the Flashpoint this time who took the brunt of it.

  The Flashpoint’s bridge flashed with sparks. The bridge’s glass cracked all along its surface.

  On her outside, explosions erupted from destroyed gun platforms as energy crackled and cascaded over the length of her hull.

  “Status?!” Takkar yelled out over the sounding alarms.

  “Hull integrity down to forty percent. We have breaches on six decks. Main weapons offline. Shield generator damaged, but recycling to secondary power source. I don’t think we will have them up in time, sir.”

  “Status on enemy ship?”

  “Their shields are down to five percent. Should we raise the blast plates on the bridge, sir?”

  Takkar looked up at the turning adversary on the projector. This pass would be the last, he thought.

  The commander stood from his chair. He pulled at his officer’s uniform at the cuff. He placed his arms behind his back, “No, Ensign. Let’s face our fate as warriors.”

  Jesan Takkar was at peace with the inevitable outcome. If you’re going to go down in battle, you always hoped it was to a superior foe, he thought. This enemy was just that, an adversary to be respected. He had taken two of the three ships out, betting on his wild card, the Reavers, to take out the third. He didn’t know their status, but it didn’t matter, it would be resolved soon.

  The two ships positioned once again. This would be the last time he had the honor of commanding one of the finest battleships mankind had ever built. For this is how legends are born and stories are passed down.

  ∞∞∞

  The Reavers were trapped. The barrier before them was not like the one before, weapons could not breach it.

  The aliens did not move, but stared at their captives.

  “Time to take this ship out,” Kason said, “Set R.A.S. to detonation. We will fight as long as we can, but we must take out the core. Understood?”

  The whole team acknowledged.

  The situation was dire and Kason and his team had no other choice. The unknown enemies could subdue them at any moment, rendering any chance of success useless. It had to be done now.

  “Lay them down, everyone,” Kason ordered.

  All the Reavers laid down their assault weapons on the floor in front of the force field.

  Kason stepped forward to the barrier, “On my command.”

  They all acknowledged, readying their suits’ explosives on his order.

  One of the red-armored beings approached the shield. The two combatants looked at one another.

  Other gold-armored aliens appeared from white tubes near the far wall. They continued to exit these tubes to reinforce their numbers behind the first set of aliens.

  Kason activated his helmet release. Air issued out with a hiss as the front plate rose up. He wanted to look at the enemy that had bested his team.

  The red visor of the enemy parted like a sheet of water folding back around its head.

  Kason now looked upon his enemy for the first time.

  Eye-to-eye would be the way they were going to go.

  Data Cell 44

  The energy blasts issued from the enemy vessel from a great distance towards the Human warship.

  The Flashpoint did not change her course.

  The energy projectiles slammed her upper hull, shredding chunks of armor into space.

  Takkar watched the bridge’s glass spider web cracks expand to a point of caving in. The next barrage will seal our fate to space, he thought.

  The enemy ship was at full effective range now. Takkar could see her forward banks charge up. The volley left the front of the enemy ship and headed for a rendezvous in someone else’s history.

  Time had stopped for the Flashpoint’s crew.

  Commander Jesan Takkar stood regal as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He could feel a strange energy course over his entire body. He could even see the blue nimbus of light flash through the Flashpoint’s bridge, traversing the forward window and over the bow of the ship.

  This energy field did not come from the enemy ship. It had come from behind them.

  ∞∞∞

  The flash of light enveloped the entirety of the battleship as the Orion’s Rage jumped out of hyperspace.

  Commander Parejas had the Rage extend her own shields over Takkar’s ship as the energy weapons of the enemy struck.

  The unknown vessel radically altered their course, vying away from the massive Human ship only to brush the shields of the Rage, as it was being targeted by an immense one hundred meter wide beam.

  The enormous beam from the Orion’s Rage sliced through the enemy ship with ease, as if it were just test firing into empty space itself.

  The enemy vessel broke into two pieces, being sliced in half at the midsection. Like the other two enemy ships before, there were no explosions or energy releases, only drifting fragments.

  ∞∞∞

  Commander Takkar fell back into his seat. A look of pure exhaustion washed over him.

  The ensign up front on the console turned around, “Blast plates up now, sir.”

  “You bet,” Takkar muttered. A smile creased his face. “Crazy kizard bastard.”

  A console light flashed.

  “Sir, the crazy kizard; I mean, Commander Parejas is over comms.”

  “Put him through.”

  “Commander Takkar, my apologies for the close shave. We are pulling the Flashpoint alongside the starboard dock now,” Parejas spoke over the bridge speakers.

  “The close shave was welcome, Commander, but I need a search team for Kason’s Reavers. They were on that ship when it was destroyed,” Takkar replied.

  “Understood, Commander. We will search the wreckage; and, once you are onboard the Rage, we will need to discuss the wormhole and our new guests. We received a similar transmission as you did when we entered the sector,” there was a pause in the commander’s statement before he continued, “and it looks to be from the First Fleet. I don’t know how this is possible, but we are going to investigate by sending a probe into the wormhole.”

  It was at that moment, klaxons sounded on
both ships.

  Takkar was first to speak, “We have more company incoming from the wormhole. It doesn’t look like it’s over yet.”

  “Get your crew onboard as soon as possible, Commander,” Parejas ordered.

  “Aye, sir.”

  Data Cell 45

  Hundreds of black points streamed from the large, green turbulence of the wormhole. The shimmering dots lined in pairs as they came forth, rushing out without end.

  The objects swarmed and headed towards the Rage. Each craft was smaller than the previous ships the Flashpoint had encountered.

  ∞∞∞

  “They look to be small fighter craft, sir,” Droe observed.

  Commander Parejas walked up the steps to his command chair, “Launch Storm-Tacs. Tell Major Chion she has the fighter lead.”

  “Launching fighters,” Droe repeated.

  Keeper Laurenell approached, “Are we going back into combat?”

  Droe swiveled in her chair to face her, “We never left combat status, Keeper. I would direct you back to your seat. It would be safer there.”

  “I hope Kason is okay,” the Keeper said.

  Droe looked at her, “I hope he is, too.”

  Their stare was evident. Laurenell nodded with a warm smile and returned to her seat behind Kansec.

  ∞∞∞

  The Orion’s Rage had four major hangars to launch spacecraft from. Two were up front, on either side of the hull, with the other two near the stern of the great ship.

  The command cruiser was able to launch twenty fighters at a time.

  Propelling forward out of their launch positions, the Human Storm-Tacs banked around to the aft, passing the great ship to engage the incoming fighters.

  Soon, the space around the Rage was filled with fast, tactical, single-manned fighters in her defense.

  The mass of small ships engaged one another between the wormhole and the Human command ship.

  Space filled with energy and plasma weapons alike from the small ships.