by Seth Libby
Liam took a moment to check the status of the rest of the squadron. Of the original squadron, only Steve and Tim joined him for the coming battle, leaving Evan and Crystal to a much needed and long put off honeymoon. Dimitri was the only other pilot who had failed to stay with Necro squadron, instead choosing to serve as bodyguard to the Russsian president. He thought of all the friends he had lost during the first encounters with the Shenkar and wondered how many more friends he would lose today. Trying to put the thoughts out of his mind he keyed his communications network and contacted flight control.
“Flight control, this is Necro squadron, requesting clearance for liftoff.”
He received a response almost immediately, almost as if the flight controller had been awaiting his contact.
“Necro squadron you have clearance for liftoff, good luck and give them hell!” said a male voice.
Liam ignited is thrusters and his fighter immediately began to lift off. Once maneuvered into the correct trajectory he held it for a moment before he engaged his afterburners and his fighter rocketed up and away from Olympus base. He quickly noted that both Steve and Tim had followed almost immediately. His radar screen lit up with over a hundred other fighters that also lifted off and began to move towards space and the awaiting fleet.
He was pressed hard against his seat as he experienced the gravity forces of Earth working against him but soon he broke free into space and it lessened severely. He always wondered why the inertia dampers which worked perfectly in space always seemed to less effective when in the atmosphere of a planet.
All thoughts of this were put out of his mind when his radar lit up with enemy contacts, quickly closing the distance to Earth. Something about the fleet disturbed Liam but he could not put his finger on it. Before he could think on this more his commset beeped and he heard Tim’s voice.
“Something isn’t right, they only have a fleet half the size of the fleet that last attacked Earth. Surely they are not that arrogant that they think they can accomplish our defeat with less forces?”
Liam now saw what had been bothering him, the fleet size was much too small and there were no command bases….what were the Shenkar up to?
“I don’t know what they are up too but keep your eyes open for anything unusual, I am sure they will show their hand soon enough.”
Quickly his fighter closed the distance and joined the rest of the fleet. As he moved his fighter into a stationary position his radar board indicated new contacts. Four new Shenkar ships that Liam did not recognize were moving away from the Shenkar fleet, quickly closing the distance to the defense platforms.
“What are you up too?” Liam said to himself, knowing he would have his answer soon enough.
December 26th, 2013 2:25am
EDF Ronald Reagan, Terran system
The minutes ticked by as the Shenkar fleet closed the space to the Earth fleet. The fleet was only minutes away when his operations officer spoke up.
“Admiral, I have four new Shenkar ships on radar. They appear to have been hiding in the shadow of the battlecruisers. Primary scan shows no weapon systems onboard. Ship is of unknown configuration.”
“What are they doing?”
“They seem to be moving up and away from the Shenkar fleet. Their trajectory takes them closer to our defense platforms but they are still out of weapons range,” the officer zoomed in on the four ships on the overhead display. As the ships neared closer to the defense platforms, and them, they spread out.
“Are you sure they have no weapons onboard? No explosives?”
“No sir, scans show them to be completely defenseless.”
“I don’t like it! Send four squadrons to destroy them.”
Four squadrons peeled away from the battle formation and sped off towards the mysterious Shenkar ships.
“Sir, something is happening….I am getting some strange readings. Whatever those ships are they are somehow nullifying the nearby gravity wells.”
Fleet Admiral Saunders couldn’t help but wonder why they would need to nullify the gravity wells. The fleet was already close by so there was no need to shift their fleet as they wouldn’t gain anything. Could the Shenkar have discovered how to fold into an area they haven’t been before? If so they could fold more forces into the battle…namely a command base.
“TELL THOSE SQUADRONS TO DESTROY THOSE SHIPS, NOW!” yelled the Fleet Admiral.
The blaring of alarms flooded the command bridge indicating a new threat.
“Admiral, a command base…..no make that two command bases have just folded one thousand kilometers off our starboard bow. We have torpedo launches!”
“Activate Foxfire missile defense system, prepare for evasive maneuvers.”
The battle group was thrown into pandemonium as the Earth warships began evasive maneuvers. Consecutive thumps of missiles launching sounded throughout the hull, speeding off to intercept incoming torpedoes. There wasn’t any time to think before explosions registered throughout the fleet. A titanic explosion shook the Reagan.
“Sir, the Foxfire system has succeeded in destroying ninety percent of the incoming torpedoes but we were lucky. The Yamamoto, Chimera and Zeus were heavily damaged.”
Saunders scrambled to think, if they remained where they were they would get slaughtered. Coming to a decision he turned to his communications officer.
“Put me on with the fleet.”
After a short pause his communications officer indicated to go ahead.
“This is Fleet Admiral Saunders, if we stay here the fleet will get pounded. I am ordering all ships forward, flank speed. Move in close to the Shenkar fleet.”
With the order given the fleet surged forward.
“Sir, the command bases are launching another volley.”
“Launch countermeasures and take evasive maneuvers.”
Once again the massive battlecruiser shifted as she began evasive maneuvers. Admiral Saunders shifted his weight as the ship rolled; explosions began to register across the threat board from the intercepted torpedoes. Just as the Reagan finished her roll the operations officer shouted.
“BRACE FOR IMPACTS!”
Massive explosions violently shook the Reagan, causing everyone to grab onto whatever was close by to prevent from falling. Even so, several people who had been standing were sent crashing to the floors or into nearby consoles. Sparks sprayed from an instrument panel, burning Ensign Dows face. Clutching at his face, he screamed in pain as he fell to the floor. Admiral Saunders had taken three steps towards the fallen ensign when three more massive explosions shook the Reagan. Caught off guard Admiral Saunders lost his footing and crashed headlong into a nearby console. Excruciating pain seared across his head as he slipped to the floor. The last thing he remembered before the darkness took him was chaos throughout the command bridge as fires erupted throughout the bridge.
December 26th, 2013 2:36am
EDF Okinawa, Terran system
“Captain, the Reagan has been severely damaged, she is dead in space.”
Captain Dvares studied the overhead tactical display. The flagship of the fleet, the Ronald Reagan was floating dead in space, her engines severely damaged. Several sections of the ship showed large hull breaches, venting atmosphere and crew members into open space. A Shenkar battlecruiser and Shirec light cruiser continued to fire salvos of energy into her side. Under the current punishment she was sustaining she would be finished soon. The symbol the Reagan provided was enormous; it would be demoralizing if she were lost. Not to mention his friend, Fleet Admiral Saunders, was aboard. They could not afford to lose the fleet admiral as he was a brilliant tactician and a veteran of the first Shenkar assault. If they didn’t act now then the flagship of the fleet would be destroyed.
“Helmsmen, set course two three six, all ahead full. Fire control, load all forward torpedo tubes and get me a targeting solution on that cruiser that is targeting the Reagan.”
Within seconds the Okinawa had changed direction and was speed
ing towards the two warships targeting the Reagan. Seconds ticked by as they closed the distance.
“We have weapons lock upon the Shenkar cruiser,” announced fire control.
“FIRE!” commanded Captain Dvares, not wasting any of the precious time they had.
Four torpedoes surged forward, quickly closing the distance. The Shenkar cruiser had no time to act as all four torpedoes slammed into her side. The Shenkar cruiser cracked in half and exploded in a brilliant flash.
Captain Dvares gave a silent cheer to himself but he knew the Reagan wasn’t safe yet. The Shenkar battlecruiser was continuing her assault upon the damaged flagship. There was also another problem; they wouldn’t be able launch two salvos in the time it would take to destroy the Shenkar battlecruiser before the Reagan was destroyed. Captain Dvares made his decision, he knew it was a risk but he couldn’t let the Reagan be lost.
“Load the torpedo tubes again and immediately fire then initiate Prometheus shell,” Captain Dvares said in a level voice.
At the captain’s orders, several of the bridge crew turned to look at their captain.
“You heard the captain, now MOVE IT!” commanded Commander Sukita.
Captain Dvares understood his crew’s reluctance at the orders, if only there another option.
Human scientists had been working to improve on Meshtrell technology. Much to the Meshtrell’s chagrin, they were being very successful. The Prometheus shell was one of those successes, but more to the exact point it was created by Steve Barrows, a Templar knight and husband to his commander. Taking a page from the times of great sea battles, Steve had designed a shell of interlocking heavy armored plates to cover the entire bow of a heavy cruiser. Normally these plates would be spread along the hull of the ship until activated. Once initiated, the heavy armored plates moved forward and interlocked with each other. Interlocking several times over would create a hardened battering ram that, in theory, could be used to ram enemy ships….in theory. However, it was primarily designed to ram the wreckage of foes, not one with most of their shields and armor in place. A major drawback of the Prometheus shell was all forward energy cannons and torpedo launchers were disabled, which made it impossible to soften up the area they planned to ram while at the same time would be taking fire of their own. Technically the armored plates should deflect any incoming weapons fire but all of this was untested as of yet. The Okinawa was the first heavy cruiser to have this new technology but they had been unable to test it before the second assault by the Shenkar forces.
“Torpedos away, Prometheus shell locked in place.”
“Very good, auxiliary power too forward shields and engines. Heading two four three, flank speed. All stations, brace for impact!” Captain Dvares commanded before saying softly to Kimino
“Let’s hope your husband’s invention holds up.”
Silence filled the bridge as the Okinawa surged forward, heading on its deadly run against the Shenkar battlecruiser. Captain Dvares didn’t know what kind of impact they would do. The Okinawa was roughly half the size of the battlecruiser so he would need to pick just the right spot to maximize their damage.
Closer and closer the Okinawa got as she closed the distance. The Shenkar battlecruiser seemingly hadn’t noticed the threat until it was almost too late. The four torpedos slammed into the side of the battlecruiser, explosions all alone her side against the ships shields. Energy cannons which had recently been targeting the Reagan suddenly swiveled, targeted the cruiser and began firing. Luckily, as predicted, the shields and armor absorbed most of the energy directed towards them. As if realizing they would be unable to destroy the new addition, the engines of the Shenkar battlecruiser flared to life. Captain Dvares had hoped they would try that, it worked perfectly into his plan.
“Impact in 10...9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1.”
The entire heavy cruiser shook violently under the bone crushing impact as all crew members were thrown forward in their restraints. The Okinawa’s bow had slammed just above and before the engines of the Shenkar battlecruiser. A loud screeching sounded throughout the ship as great chunks of metal first bent in then were torn free as the Okinawa continued her deadly run into the battlecruiser. Men and woman continued to hold onto anything nearby as the ship continued to violently shake.
“We have hull breach on decks three and six,” Kimino yelled over the screeching of metal.
Soon explosions began to sound through the hull and Captain Dvares prayed none of those explosions would be big enough to finish the Okinawa.
“Come on, hold together,” Dvares whispered to his ship.
It seemed to go on forever but the Okinawa continued her deadly run as she broke through the other side of the battlecruiser into the open space beyond.The sounds of explosions and screeching metal that had been so loud before now ceased. It was as if suddenly turning off the sound, as the sounds dropped away.
“Captain, we have broken through the battlecruiser.”
A new explosion of sound arose from the bridge crew as they cheered their captains reckless maneuver.
“Give me a status report,” asked Captain Dvares.
“Shenkar battlecruiser seems to be dead in space, it seems we hit them where it counts”
“What is our status?”
“We have hull breaches on several decks, emergency bulkheads are
in place. The Prometheus shell had also suffered significant damage, we will be unable to retract the armor plating. Port side energy cannons are down and our fold engines are offline,” Kimino explained.
“What is the status of the Reagan?” Dvares asked.
“She seems to be okay at the moment, the Remington and Alexander are taking up defensive positions.”
“Okay, move us into position so our port side faces the Reagan, we can use each other as protection. How is the rest of the fleet holding up?”
Kimino scanned the holo display for a few moments before responding.
“We are taking a pounding sir, if we don’t get some help soon we are going to lose this fight.”
“Captain, we have incoming Shenkar fighters, off our stern!” his operations officer warned.
Captain Dvares sighed; if he survived this battle maybe he would retire like his wife kept asking him to do.
December 26th, 2013 2:41am
Terran System
“Watch it Arch-Angel you have four on your tail!”
Liam pulled hard against the stick causing his fighter to roll hard to the left. Hot energy shot past, impacting upon the energy shields of a nearby EDF heavy cruiser, Liam was unsure of which cruiser it was in the pandemonium that was this battle. Depressing his right foot pedal he sent his fighter into a tight corkscrew dive. His pursuers doggedly stayed on his tail as they continued to pour energy after him. Glancing at his radar he examined a nearby Shenkar Shirec cruiser that was venting atmosphere as she burned heavily. Quickly he turned his fighter towards the burning cruiser and ignited his afterburners. As expected his four shadows continued their pursuit, he had to admit, they were persistent. Quickly the cruiser loomed in front of him as he accessed his torpedoes impact ignition parameters through his computer. Once finished he quickly depressed his trigger and his torpedo spend off. The torpedo passed through a tear in the hull and impacted inside the burning cruiser. Adjusting his path his fighter shot over the top of the cruiser just as his torpedoes delay fuse ignited and exploded. The result was secondary explosions created a chain reaction igniting a reactor overload. Just as Liam’s four pursuers passed over the cruiser, it exploded, engulfing the four Shenkar fighters.
With a moment of peace he quickly took an assessment of the situation. It didn’t look good for the small Earth fleet. Two defense platforms burned under the barrage of fire they were receiving from the Shenkar command bases. Over half the capital ships had either been destroyed or disabled and the fighter cover had been severely diminished. Of the one thousand unenhanced pilots, roughly half of their number were disabled or destroyed
. If they didn’t turn this around soon they were going to lose this battle.
A chime alerted him to inbound fighters to the battle, many more fighters. Keying his computer he pulled up the identification of new additions. Within the blink of the eye, he received his answer and trepidation filled him as a communiqué came over his headset on a secure channel.
“Hi honey, want some help?” asked Leah.
“What do you think you are doing?” demanded Liam.
Jerking his flight stick over Liam narrowly avoided two oncoming Shenkar fighters.
“Me and the rest of the cadets are going to help. I will be damned if I lose you before I get to marry you,” Leah said, not bothering to hide the irritation in her voice.
“How did you unlock your fighters? That requires a command code.”
“Well that I had to help with,” said a familiar voice.
The new voice broke into the conversation at this point, a voice Liam hadn’t expected to hear as the individual was supposed to be on his honeymoon. Liam had explicitly ordered for him not to be informed of the impending attack.
“Hey old man, thought you could use some help. Hope you left enough for me,” Evan said, his voice full of mirth.
“You are supposed to be on your honeymoon, your new wife will kill me if anything happens to you….providing I survive this.”
“Actually I think I would be first in line to be executed as I didn’t tell her where I was going. I couldn’t have her up here….did I mention she is pregnant?”
Liam groaned aloud at hearing this. Crystal would flay him alive if anything happened to Evan.
“So help me god if you die I swear I am just going to ram my fighter into the sun. It will be less painful than what Crystal would do to me.”
