by Sid Kar
The data sent from Avenger had now been incorporated into their targeting system by the onboard computers.
“Strike Run,” Kartar said and all the Starfirian fighters shot their planes forward with rapid acceleration and they flew across the planet’s atmosphere firing lasers at any target the computer identified and locked on screen as plausible laser cannon installation and their rockets were launched by the battle AI on the ground rocket batteries, silos and potential submarines. It took them ten minutes to circle the planet and return to the spot they had descended upon from space. They had suffered few hits as the Mercurians were caught off guard and their ground defense efforts were concentrated on combating Avenger.
Kartar looked at his live spacefighter database; he had lost twelve planes to the anti-aircraft laser batteries whose operators had scrambled at the last minute.
“Repeat One,” Kartar said and once again the Starfirian squadron flew a circle across the planet firing lasers at targets they had missed the first time and with the battle AI launching another volley of rockets. This time the Mercurians were ready and they encountered heavy laser fire from multiple military installations and rockets were also launched their way. Kartar counted fifty seven spacefighters lost this time. He had a choice to make. The Mercurian targeting system’s computers must have their own battle AI which was learning more about Starfirian’s capabilities and tactics in real time and providing better target solutions to anti-aircraft laser cannons and rockets. They had cut down the laser and rocket strikes from the planet against Avenger significantly, but he had to give Gen. Bakus every chance possible to triumph in his dual. Conquistador was too far away and if Avenger was defeated, his spacefighters could not take on the Mercurian battleship by themselves.
“Repeat two, double speed, single rocket,” Kartar ordered and the Starfirians made a third strike run circumnavigating the planet but this time in only five minutes. They only used a single rocket to conserve their supply. The speed was too fast for the pilots to fire lasers at the targets and the battle computer took over both laser and rocket strikes. The ground batteries struck back thunderously with a massive barrage of anti-aircraft lasers and land-to-air rockets; the defenders had sufficient time by now to bring all their weapons systems online and in position. Kartar counted loss of eighty three more spacefighters. That was it, he told himself, and they had also done their jobs. Kartar ordered all his spacefighters to take off skyward and join the battle in space. There were only sporadic rocket launches towards Avenger and those were from submarines below the methane oceans; laser fire into space was negligible as they had knocked out most of the laser cannons.
“Gen. Bakus,” Col. Kartar opened direct communications to Nestorians, “I hope we have significantly cut down the ground strikes on your battleship.”
“Colonel you exceeded expectations,” Bakus said, “Care to provide us a hand up here?”
“Already on our way,” Kartar said as the Mercurian battleship loomed ever larger in his view. The remaining three hundred and forty eight Starfirian spacefighters gunned for the belly of the enemy’s battleship and simultaneously launched a single rocket each. The rockets drew laser fire from Mercurian laser cannons but this allowed the Starfirians to fly past the battleship with little fire directed their way and to join the grand dogfight underway in the space between the two battleships.
Capitan Agnosis whistled with joy when he saw the red colored spacefighters pour in from the other side of Mercurian ship in large numbers and enter the fray firing away their red lasers. The space turned into a spectacular yet deadly laser show of blue, green and red lasers shooting in every direction.
“The rocket strikes from the planet have dropped into negligible numbers,” Tagg said.
“Joules, I want to try a gamble here,” Bakus said, “The Starfirian fighters have drawn all Mercurian fighters away from runs on our ship. We can shut off the laser defense system for a while.”
“General Bakus, the enemy is still firing rockets at us,” Joules said.
“This spaceship just rolled out of the space yard, its shield and hull can handle more,” Bakus said, “I see a chance. I want all laser power switched to concentrated lasers.”
“Yes General, although I advise against it,” Joules said and the laser section went to work switching the energy into a few offensive laser cannons that solely targeted the Mercurian battleship.
“Advice taken under consideration, but overruled,” Bakus said, “Just one lucky shot is what we need, just one penetration. Capitan Xanus, keep a reserve supply of rockets on standby for instant targeted launch.”
“Yes general, I have shifted 20 rockets to reserve and readied them for instant launch,” Xanus replied, “What is their target coordinates?”
“That will be the place our laser penetrates,” Bakus laughed feeling confident for the first time since the start of the battle, “Be ready for rapid coordinates acquisition.”
“I have the target selection screen on standby,” Xanus replied.
Meanwhile Capitan Agnosis opened a direct channel of communication with Col. Kartar to coordinate their fight.
“Colonel, this is Capitan Agnosis,” he said, “Would you care to hear an idea?”
“Go ahead,” Kartar replied while he pulled his spacefighter a bit away from the battle zone to mull over whatever the Nestorian might say.
“Let us both pick a select team of fighters and try to knock off the Mercurian’s laser cannons,” Agnosis said, “then Avenger’s rockets can pound it into submission.”
“That is risky, the laser cannons will let rip at us at close distance,” Kartar replied.
“We are wasting a great many planes on overkill here,” Agnosis said, “I will take my own if you don’t want to come.”
“Oh what the hell,” Kartar said, “I will get fifty of mine too.”
Agnosis and Kartar gave orders to their respective squadron, broke off fifty spacefighters each from the battle and streaked towards the Mercurian battleship. Both the leaders’ spacefighters were in the lead while the remaining hundred tried to catch up with them.
“Mark a laser cannon amongst five of you,” Kartar said to his pilots on private channel, “If you miss, don’t try maneuvering close to the battleship, make a clean gateway and then swing back in formation.”
The Mercurian battleship’s defense officers must have seen a breakaway squadron dashing at them and they switched many of their laser cannons from targeting rockets to try to target the incoming fighters. The Starfirians and Nestorians also opened up with their lasers in retaliation.
But Agnosis and Kartar held their fire; both knew well they were still too far to hit the enemy’s laser cannons on target short of a rare lucky shot.
Suddenly, a large concentrated laser beam from Avenger pierced the shield of Mercurian battleship and penetrated its hull at the point of impact and opened up a circular hole over twenty-five or thirty feet in diameter.
“Look at that,” Agnosis saw it and shouted with joy. He wasn’t the only one to notice it.
“Get the coordinates! Get the coordinates for that hole!” Bakus yelled and started rocking back and forth in his chair while squeezing his palms alternatively.
“Location identified and converted to targeting system coordinates,” Tagg said.
“Fire the reserve rockets, fire, fire!” Bakus jumped up from his chair.
“Coordinates programmed into the rockets,” Xanus said, “rockets off and away. Jetting to the target on path.”
Bakus, Joules and everyone in the command room intently watched the rockets on their scanner screen make their journey and held their breath without blinking.
“Damn,” Agnosis shouted in his spacefighter when he saw the emergency shield reconstruction system on Mercurian battleship hastily go to work cementing the hole. Robots started pouring a thick liquid around the edge that cooled rapidly and started clotting into solid matter.
“What are you doing, Capitan?” Kart
ar asked when he saw Agnosis change his spacefighter’s direction and throw it towards the hole and accelerate away.
“We have to stop them from closing the hole,” Agnosis said and the next moment opened fire with his lasers and started chipping away at the clot material.
“Your general has sent rockets,” Kartar said but reflexively turned his spacefighter towards him and fired away his rockets and lasers at the repair robots blasting them to pieces. But more robots rushed to the spot and started dumping massive quantities of rapidly solidifying liquid.
“If rockets don’t penetrate, it won’t be a knockout blow,” Agnosis said. The rockets launched from Avenger were still a distance away.
Kartar and Agnosis’ firing had opened the hole back wide but now Mercurians concentrated their laser cannon fire on these two spaceships. Kartar kicked himself for following the Nestorian. He knew they would have to do a reverse roll soon to avoid collision and when that happened and their speed dropped the laser cannons would have time to target them.
Kartar was about to pull on his stick when his jaw dropped stunned.
Capitan Agnosis flew his spacefighter right through the hole.
Words of Commodore Raptor flashed in his mind, his warning that Agnosis was a real yahoo.
“Oh what the hell!” Kartar muttered and he too dived his spacefighter into the Mercurian battleship through the hole and yanked his stick hard to bank to the right and bring it on the longest axis of the battleship and hit the brakes, regular, emergency and all while trying to avoid collision with internal structures.
The battleship was more than ten miles long on this axis and he had entered about two miles from the rear. Kartar’s speed dropped rapidly as he swerved every which way. But no matter how fast he decelerated, he would cover the eight miles in less than a minute.
Agnosis was flying ahead of him, yelling, cursing, screaming. Kartar could not tell whether those were pangs of panic or hoots of joy, and coming to know Agnosis he would not have been surprised by the later. And he was firing away with his lasers and shooting off his rockets wreaking havoc and sowing chaos inside the Mercurian ship.
They had to be the first two sons of guns in space history to deliberately fly a spacefighter through an enemy battleship, Kartar laughed madly.
He too started firing his lasers and rockets at whatever structure he sighted. He didn’t care where he hit, the target was all around him, he could not miss even firing blind.
Half a minute later Kartar calmed his mind and from his knowledge of spaceship structures realized they were heading towards the command room. Agnosis was firing away crazy everywhere but Kartar aimed his lasers straight ahead, concentrated all energy into them and waited and then he fired and held the trigger. All the energy available to lasers was concentrated into a single forward beam and it tore through the Mercurian command room and then pierced a hole in front for them to escape out. Agnosis and Kartar flew out of the battleship into space but they received no fire from laser cannons.
The command room and multiple systems had been destroyed and the Mercurian spaceship was dead in the water, its shields discharged, its weapons idle and its power reactors initiating automatic emergency shutdown to prevent meltdown. And the robots working to close the hole had been rendered inactive on the spot.
Thirty seconds later the rockets from Avenger zoomed in through the hole, exploded simultaneously and tore the battleship apart from inside out.
Chapter 17: Epilogue
“Admiral, the planet Whitefog has surrendered to the Nestorians,” an officer informed the tall and broad shouldered Mercurian who was watching the star field from the transparent shield of the command room deck. The admiral did not turn around.
“The inept commander of that battleship had the support of an entire planetary defense system yet he lost in single combat,” the Admiral scoffed in contempt, “What to say of the cowards running that defense system.”
“Shall we prepare to come to their aid?” the officer asked.
“I would like to let them rot under occupation for a while, enjoy their groveling in front of their alien masters and their pleas to us,” the Admiral said, “But I will not trade the honor of Mercurian Empire, even for the just pleasure of watching the incompetent cravens heaved into deserved ignominy. Prepare to enter the star system.”
“Yes admiral,” the officer saluted him and left him alone to gaze at and contemplate in the company of stars and space.
This Mercurian Battleship was just nearing the edge of the star system from deeper into the Mercurian space when it caught the last glimpses of the raging battle. Maverick’s flight crew set its target vector to planet Whitefog and powered up its engines to provide acceleration to its gargantuan, thirty miles long hull.
The End
To Be Continued…
COMING SOON…
MEGASHIP MAVERICK
Book Three: Conquest of Stars Saga
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Appendix
Major Characters
I. STARFIRE EMPIRE
Crew of Starship Conquistador
Alvina Lytar: Capitan & Laser Officer
Antrar Wyft: Ex-Commodore: Starship Thunder & Guest
Avyk: Shields Officer
Barryett Wuft: Vice-Commodore: Starship Conquistador
Dorrvyk: Capitan & Communications Officer
Flyptar: Capitan & Flight Officer
Hedgewyk: Signals & Electronics Officer
Horyett: Gravitron Scanner Officer
Jarvyk Wilwyk: Colonel: Strike Soldiers
Legtar Pytar: Law Officer
Overyk: Capitan & Navigation Officer
Pulf: Assistant Laser Officer
Raptor Warwyk: Commodore: Starship Conquistador
Styx: Capitan of Starship Guards
Tollvyk: Colonel & Rocket Officer
Zurryvk: Artificial Intelligence Officer
Garyett Tyf: Colonel: Secret Superweapons
Aurvyk Tokar: Colonel: Chemical Weapons & Chief Chemist
Hartar Pytar: Army Chief Detective: Starship Conquistador
Kartar Ryft: Colonel: Spacefighters / Top Rank
Other Starfirians
Carvyk Botlar: Regional Star Commander: Zarrvyk Province & Sixth Frontier Fleet
Jiggermaster: Space Pirate
Jontvyk Tubyt: Capitan: Palace Guards
Magyar Harwyk: An Assassin (AKA The Silencer)
Rockvyk Torryen: Chief Detective SPASI: Zarrvyk Province
Dartar Myft: Commodore: Starship Victory
Segwyk Raftar: Commodore: Starship Masterpiece
Yarwyk Gyte: Ex-Commander & Founder/First Leader of Lambda Man
Evyk Kyr: Army Detective & Antrar's Starship Detective
Flyptar Lartar: Constellar - Warrior Class
Portvyk Haryett: Constellar - Aristocrats
II. NESTORIAN REPUBLIC
Augus Grave: Chancellor of Nestorian Republic
Aurus Janus: Employee of Boutrous Golus
Cloaked Man: Identity Unknown
Hickus Tofus : Foreign Minister
Horus Bors: War Minister
Jag Manus: Capitan of VC Remus' personal guards
Krotus Torus: Capitan of Senate Guards
Lemon Bree: Interior Minister
Nolfus Berrum: Commander of Republican Guards
Remus Torus: Vice-Chancellor of Nestorian Republic
Roofus Bolfus: Pilot: Spy Ship
Solus Varus: Senator & Opposition Leader
Tory Golus: Chief Executive of Boutrous Golus
Oilus Barrlus: Capitan: Republican Guards
Bakus Ferran: General: Battleship Fleet & Battleship Republic
Porkus Bellus: Signals Officer
Vegus Sukus: General: Battleship Fleet orbiting Nestor & Battleship Defender
Tolus: Shuttle & Bay Staff Officer
Joules: Second in Com
mand: Battleship Defender
Porus: Officer: Fighter Combat
Tagg: Capitan: Scanner Officer
Jovus: Communications Officer
Agnosis Wornus: Capitan: Fighter Squadron 101 - 200
Gorky Manus: Capitan: Fighter Squadron 01 - 100
Xanus Torks: Capitan: Rocket Officer
III. MERCURIAN EMPIRE
Tabulan Molan: Chief Scientist of Experiments abroad First Mercurian Fleet
Star Map
* Map Not to Scale or Accuracy
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sid Kar is the author of this novel and of four other novels.
Visit his website: http://actionadventurebooks.net/
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Author’s Other Books:
1. Starship Conquistador (Conquest of Stars Book 1)
https://www.amazon.com/Starship-Conquistador-Conquest-Stars-Book-ebook/dp/B01EMJKRJ8
When powerful and mysterious alien spaceships start attacking the exploration and mining vessels and abducting their crew, the Nestorian Republic realizes that it faces an enemy whose weapons and technology it cannot equal.
But there may be hope. The faraway Starfire Empire has guaranteed protection but the journey is treacherous and there are forces both within the republic and the empire who don’t want to help the beleaguered Nestorians.
But one Commodore Raptor is on his way with his Starship Conquistador. Armed to the teeth, built to conquer and carrying secret weapons even its crew doesn’t know about, it will have to dare the aliens all alone. But only if it can cross the vast swaths of deep space, for there are great powers waiting in ambush and the clock is ticking as a massive invasion fleet from the uncharted space prepares to descend upon the capital planet Nestor.
