“Jack, is that one of the crew?” Captain Rickman asked.
“It appears so, or at least a robotic drone of some kind. It appears to be unresponsive and may be deceased.” Jack slowly walked closer to the body, and noted it’s features, including its domed head, silver, metallic skin, it’s four-fingered hand, and it’s impressively strong-appearing structure. In its left hand, the alien held a rifle of some kind. The rifle was five feet long, somewhat resembling heavy-duty rifles that a hunter would use, but the gun had two-gun nozzles, one stacked on top of the other.
“What is that thing?” Commander Hayley spoke through the comm. “Do you think they all look like this?”
Jack continued down the hallway as he said, “It is impossible to tell, Commander. For all we know, only their warriors look that way, or he is simply one of a kind. There are just too many unknown variables.”
“Jack, I recommend that you to head to their center of engineering. You may need to get the power back online, so that would be the best place to do so. Once you re-active the systems, you can try to access their computer systems.”
Jack heard Chief Lexton speak to the captain, “Sir, I don’t know if that is the best course of action. If this ship has some sort of distress beacon, will reactivating the ship turn it on?”
“We can’t afford to miss this opportunity because we don’t know what will happen,” Captain Rickman responded. “We have to risk the aliens being alerted to our presence.” Rick paused briefly, and asked, “Chief, do you know why their power may be offline?”
Lexton considered the possible reasons, and replied, “Well… it’s possible that the Korean battleship fired their EMP warhead at the alien vessel. We know the Korean’s had it, since an EMP disabled our systems, causing are systems to get knocked out and trapped under their ship down here in the first place. I had just assumed that we had been the initial target, but it’s possible we simply got caught in the pulse’s blast. If that is true, the aliens must have been right on top of the Korean’s ship. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have risked being caught in their own weapon blast.”
Jack asked the Chief, “Then, is the power systems permanently damaged?”
“I wouldn’t even be able to give you an educated guess. We are dealing with alien technology here. But, if the crew is all machines, they could have been all killed, leaving the ship defenseless. If I had to place a bet, I would guess the ship’s power is only disabled. The EMP would definitely fry something like you or those aliens, given how close to the pulse they were, but on a system as big as the ships? I would say there could be at least a small chance the power can be restored.”
Jack considered this information, and replied, “Very well. I’ll begin looking for the engineering center immediately.” In order to search the ship at a much faster rate, he deployed Recon, a drone stored in his lower arm. The metal on the bottom of his arm opened, and a small, compact, football-shaped object lowered downward, held by small mechanical latches. The drone unfolded its wings, and the middle of the drone began to compress together with the wings no longer occupying the space. The front of the drone split open to reveal a camera-like lens, which served as the drone’s eye. After the drone finished compressing together with their wings deployed, it was now shaped like an oval with two, three-foot long wings, and began humming softly as it’s systems activated, and the engine on the back, similarly shaped to Jack’s thruster, lit up as well.
Recon dropped from Jack’s arm, and flew down the corridor, and began using its scanning equipment to map the ship’s corridors, in the hopes that they would eventually stumble upon the engineering center. The storage bay on his arm closed, and in an effort to search the ship more quickly, he began constructing another drone within the arm within small emitters that acted similar to how the Genetic Modulator created materials from energy. While the new drone was begin created, Jack jogged down the corridor in the opposite direction that Recon had traveled down, scanning the ship to find the engineering center.
Chapter 12
Date: July 9, 2132.
Location: Aboard the U.S.S. Ocean-Walker on the border of the Atlantic Ocean.
“Are you all ready?” Captain Whitefield whispered to the assembled officers. The crew had assembled at deck two, just below the main deck. After debating who should go first, it was decided that Alpha group, the team going for the shuttle craft, should go first. They were the largest group and would be able to draw the Ribiyar’s fire while the other group traveled up toward the bridge. Captain Whitefield would be leading Alpha team as they secured the alien shuttle craft, while Beta team, led by Lieutenant Commander Fitzburg, would secure the rear section of the main deck, including what was left of the bridge on the upper part of the deck.
After the officers replied that they were ready, Captain Whitefield whispered to Olo, “Lieutenant, do you know if the E.V.A.N. unit is in position yet?”
“I don’t know, Captain. Blitz is fast, but it is possible he hasn’t gotten up here yet.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t have time to wait for him. We can’t risk the Ribiyar completing whatever they’re working on up there, or give them any time to start boarding their fighters to use against us.” Captain Whitefield turned to the crew and in a loud whisper he said, “All right, men. On my signal, Group Alpha is to start the raid. Fitzburg, you will decide when you will start, but be quick about it. Everyone understand?”
They all nodded and then the captain gave the signal to advance. Group Alpha quickly climbed up the two ladders to the top deck. A minute later, Olo heard the captain yell “Open Fire!!”, and gun shots immediately followed, both from the crew’s weapons and the Ribiyar’s, as they fought back against the Ocean-Walker’s crew. Olo waited anxiously for Lieutenant Commander Fitzburg to give the order to advance, desperately wanting to help Captain Whitefield and the others fight for possession of the Ocean-Walker. Finally, Lieutenant Commander Fitzburg gave the order to advance, and Olo was one of the first officers to begin climbing the ladders to the main deck.
When Olo reached the deck, he was stunned by how damaged the main deck was. Several craters populated the deck from the Ribiyar’s initial attack on the Ocean-Walker. Several large hulks of twisted metal were also spread along the deck’s surface, presumably remains from cannons that had been in place along the ship. But the most gruesome sight was that several bodies, both human and Ribiyar, were also scattered along the decks surface.
As the remaining members of Beta team finished climbing the ladders to the main deck, the officers began attacking the Ribiyar positioned around the deck, and especially the aliens that had been pursuing Alpha team as they made their way through the large number of Ribiyar that guarded their oval-shaped fighters.
As the surrounded Ribiyar were shot down, Beta team slowly began making their way up one of the two stairways that led to where the bridge was, or rather, what was left of it. The roof of the bridge had been completely torn off, along with the equipment tower that had been stationed above the bridge, a drastic change from what he had seen the last time he had been above deck.
Beta team had made if halfway up the stairwell when Ribiyar on the main deck began firing at them from behind. Immediately, two officers were shot down as the rest of the team crouched down and returned fire at the Ribiyar. As the group began to take out the Ribiyar that were targeting them, Olo turned around and saw three Ribiyar appear at the top of the stairs, all three of them aiming their guns at the group. Before Olo could take them out or alert the other members of the group of the danger, an explosion flashed and thundered around the Ribiyar, and the remains of the aliens flew off the deck and into the ocean. Olo looked to the right and was surprised to see Blitz standing on the railing of the stairs on the other side of the deck, with a small cannon-like weapon, a box-shaped object with a long gun barrel on the front of it, protruding out of the left side of his back, apparently yet another weapon stored within
the cat. Grateful for Blitz’s timely rescue, Olo turned his attention to the Ribiyar attacking his fellow crew members. Moments later, they were successful in neutralizing the Ribiyar, and they continued their advance up the stairs.
They had nearly reached the top when more Ribiyar appeared, and additional Ribiyar also appeared above the other stairwell. Noticing the Ribiyar above him, Blitz turned and rapid-fired his cannons, deploying an additional out of the right side of his back, at the aliens. Acting quickly Olo forced himself to focus and he began attacking the Ribiyar at the top of his stairs as bright orange energy blasts struck his team members down, narrowing escaping injury himself multiple times. As Olo shot at the Ribiyar with his laser rifle, out of the corner of his eye he saw Blitz continue to hold back the Ribiyar with his relentless attacks as he jumped back and forth on the stairs in an effort to dodge the Ribiyar’s attacks. Though a good deal of the Ribiyar were destroyed, along with a good portion of the deck plating with it, more Ribiyar continued to march forward toward Blitz from behind the bridge.
Beta team began making progress in fighting back the Ribiyar. The aliens at the top of the stairs were shot to pieces, and some of the officers leapt to the top of the stairs and fired at the Ribiyar that had been approaching the team, and the attack forced the Ribiyar to fall back and take cover in the bridge.
With the Ribiyar more or less dealt with for the moment, Olo turned his attention back to Blitz, when he saw the one of the Ribiyar manage to barely glace Blitz’s leg while he was in midair during one of his jumps, not enough to damage him much, but the impact caused him to lose momentum and smack the side of the rail and fall to the ground. Blitz quickly scrambled to his feet and deployed his machine guns, but the Ribiyar laid down a massive barrage of energy blasts pummeled Blitz, burning a great number of holes in his fur. The final few shots knocked Blitz off his feet, and he tumbled down the stairs to the floor of the deck, where he landed in a heap of burnt fur and smoking machinery.
“Blitz!” Olo shouted as he and the other members of his team fired at the Ribiyar, neutralizing the aliens within moments. With the Ribiyar neutralized, Olo started to run down the stairs, but Lieutenant Commander Fitzburg stopped him by grabbing his arm.
“Lieutenant, we can’t worry about him now. We need to eliminate the Ribiyar in the bridge, and help Alpha team secure the fighters. You can try to help him after the Ocean-Walker is ours again. Understood?”
Olo took a deep breath, still wanting deeply to help his odd companion, but knew the importance of the current situation and nodded. Olo gave one final look at Blitz, who still hadn’t moved, then continued up the stairs. With nearly half of their team remaining alive, the group managed to reach the top of the stairs and enter the bridge to engage the Ribiyar in the room. When the group had gathered at the stairs, they checked the door, and discovered that it was unlocked. After the count of three, they threw the door open and charged into the room, guns blazing. Only a handful of Ribiyar were hunkered in the bridge, and though they fought relentlessly, managing to take down two more of the remaining team members, the determined crew of the Ocean-Walker overwhelmed the alien soldiers. Once the bridge was secure, Lieutenant Commander Fitzburg assigned a small number of officers to deactivate the Ribiyar device and took the remaining nine officers with him to help Alpha team secure the alien fighters.
As Olo exited the bridge, he quickly searched the area to determine what he and the other officers were charging into. In total, there were eleven fighters clustered together in the front of the ship. The remaining twenty or so Ribiyar had retreated near the shuttle craft, somehow managing to block Alpha team from approaching by moving several hunks of metal, possibly the remains of the Ocean-Walker’s weapons, in front of the fighters, and from what Olo saw, it appeared the Ribiyar were going to board the fighters and take off, probably to attack the Ocean-Walker’s crew with the advantage of aerial supremacy.
Lieutenant Commander Fitzburg acted quickly and began giving his officers orders, “Men, fan out along the upper level and target the Ribiyar. The only chance of intercepting the Ribiyar in time is to shoot at them from here, were we have a better angle to attack them. Alpha team can’t target the Ribiyar with them hiding behind the barricade, and they can’t throw grenades without damaging the fighters. Use you aiming visors to improve your accuracy and fire when ready!” Olo quickly moved to the middle of the upper level, crouched down while aiming his rifle, and fired. The shot blew off the head of one of the Ribiyar that was boarding a fighter. The other officers in Beta team quickly fired several shots to keep the Ribiyar from boarding their ships, which gave Alpha team time to climb over the barricade and ambush the remaining aliens. In minutes, the Ribiyar were neutralized, returning control of the Ocean-Walker back to its crew.
With the Ocean-Walker under their control again, Lieutenant Commander Fitzburg left the group and met with Captain Whitefield, who had climbed back over the barricade, along with most of the members of the Alpha team. While the commanding officers conferred with each other, Olo left the few remaining officers of Beta team and traveled down the stairs and onto the deck to examine Blitz. When Olo reached him, he saw exposed wires and circuitry showing through burnt fur where the Ribiyar had hit him with their energy rifles. Several parts of him had crumpled inwards from the force of the blasts or torn open. Olo saw Blitz’s eyes were still open, now devoid of their menacing glow, and staring listlessly back at him.
“Take it easy buddy,” Olo said, stroking his head softly. “I’ll get you back on your feet in now time.”
“Lieutenant!” Olo jumped up and stood at attention. Captain Whitefield and Lieutenant Commander Fitzburg walked over to him, and Olo noticed that the captain was bleeding from several cuts along his right arm, though he didn’t seem too concerned with his injuries. The captain’s machine gun was clipped to his back, freeing him from having to carry it.
“At ease, Lieutenant Oakland,” Captain Whitefield said as he approached, allowing Olo to adopt a more relaxed posture in front of the captain. “How badly is the E.V.A.N. unit damaged? Do you know if he can be repaired?”
Olo glanced at Blitz as he replied, “I haven’t been able to examine him closely, but he looks pretty beaten up. It may take a while to repair him, but, with your permission, I want to try to fix him up. He proved himself invaluable during this incident, and we could definitely use his help.”
Captain Whitefield nodded and replied, “Permission granted, Lieutenant. I’ll try to arrange for you to get the parts to fix him, but don’t count on the engineering teams to help you. With much of the crew dead or injured, we’re going to be sorely shorthanded around here. But it’s going to be a while before you get a chance to work on him, as I want you to help with the recovery efforts for the moment. Store him in your quarters and get back up here on the double.”
Captain Whitefield turned to leave, when one of the officers in the bridge yelled, “Ribiyar fighters at nine O’clock!” Olo turned to see roughly twenty oval shaped ships rapidly approaching the Ocean-Walker.
“Lieutenant Commander Fitzburg, do we have control of the Ocean-Walker’s weapons yet?”
“I’m afraid not, sir. The Ribiyar have scrambled the ship’s computers. We can’t get anything online.”
“We just can’t get a break, can we? Men, stand ready for combat! If we’re going down, we are going down fighting!” Captain Whitefield retrieved his machine gun from his back and opened fire at the approaching fighters, though it was difficult to hit them with how fast they were maneuvering around in the sky. As Olo heard the other officers start to fire, Olo grabbed his laser rifle, set it to its max setting, and fired several shots as the fighters continued to draw nearer to the Ocean-Walker. Olo managed to hit one of the fighter’s engines, causing red smoke to leak out from it, but the damage was insufficient to cause the ship to fall out of the sky. As the Ocean-Walker’s crew continued firing at the alien fighters, managing to d
estroy a small number of the ships, the Ribiyar vessels finally got close enough to the ship and opened fire on the Ocean-Walker. Officers all over the deck were incinerated by the fighter’s orange weapon blasts, dissolving into a gust of black dust-like material, including Lieutenant Commander Fitzburg, who pushed Captain Whitefield out of the way to save him from being incinerated as well. The fighters flew past the ship, and then flew up and did a half-loop, turning around to launch another barrage on the Ocean-Walker. The fighters fired down another salvo of energy blasts, leaving only a handful of officers left on the deck. The fighters again flew away from the ship, and then half-looped in the air, returning to deliver the final strike.
Olo felt someone grab his left arm, and he turned his head to see Captain Whitefield, still on the ground from when Lieutenant Commander Fitzburg had shoved him out of the way.
“Lieutenant, it has been an honor to fight by your side for this short time.”
Olo smiled and said, “It has been an honor to serve under you, Captain Whitefield.” Prepared to endure his eminent destruction, Olo turned his head forwards to look at the fighters, who were moments away from entering firing range once again. When the ships entered firing range, a blinding bright red flash completely filled his vision.
Incredible…
Date: July 9, 2132.
Location: Aboard the crashed alien ship, at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
“Room scan is negative. Moving on to next corridor.” Jack had been scanning the ship for over two hours now, and he still hadn’t found anything that remotely resembled an engineering center. Over the course of his search of the alien vessel, Jack had fabricated (the term he had created for items made using the Genetic Modulator) a few dozen Recon Drones, all of them searching different parts of the ship. Though the increased number of drones to control did give him a measure of mental fatigue, Jack had lessened the strain by instructed the drones to act on their own and contact him only when they had news to report and when they had more scans to add to the growing map of the alien vessel. Though he now possessed a fairly detailed map of a portion of the ship, and had come across many more robotic alien’s, all nonfunctional, he was apparently no closer to finding his goal.
Galactic Defenders- Endurance Page 9