When the shuttles came within a thousand meters of the Tempestas, Slone ordered over the combat channel, “Activate. Set cadence to attack speed.”
Suddenly the Tempestas and the Avenging Talon sprung to life and all system came back on, including the point defenses designed to fire on missiles, meteoroids and, unfortunately for the Saltic, boarding shuttles. Suddenly the hull mounted Gatling guns facing the shuttles opened fire and sent a hail of lead into the approaching shuttles. It was over quickly as most of them decompressed then turned to dust, killing 2500 Saltic. The cadence began beating rapidly and the Romani ships moved to full speed.
On the bridge of the Saltic cruiser there was shocked disbelief. The humans had not been incapacitated by the EMP weapon and that had never happened before. The captain knew the humans were not immune to it, since he had used it several times before on human ships. But this time it was different and he had no idea why. He also had no time to think, since the humans could now send over boarding parties and his ship was still almost two human hours away from having engines charged enough to move. He could see the human ship starting to fire on his ship again. Though the Saltic cruiser was incapacitated as far as the engine was concerned, its weapons ran off special batteries that would allow return fire. Only the human ships were staying out of range. It appeared to the Saltic captain that the humans knew much more about Saltic equipment then they should, and that suggested some type of previous encounter. Perhaps the lost vessels were not lost, but captured. He had to find out if he could.
Aboard the Tempestas, Slone began issuing orders. “Captain Artok, take the Avenging Talon and help take out the remaining escorts.” He then turned to his weapons tech, “Load the can opener and the follow shot.”
“Yes, captain.”
Slone was the one who came up with the names of the next two missiles. The Saltic vessels had a very hard outer hull, but it could be breached. Cannon shots did the job but it took time. Slone’s engineer, Diana Gardner, helped devise a diabolical missile that penetrated the hull much faster. It had not yet been tested on a Saltic vessel, but the preliminary tests on human ships were very promising. It consisted of a fast missile with a double warhead. The first part of the warhead consisted of thermite packed in an oxygen shell to allow it to burn. When the missile hit, this was the first part of the warhead to impact the hull and begin to burn through. It only needed a fraction of a second to weaken a small patch of the outer hull, enough to allow the rest of the warhead to wedge into the opening as the thermite continued to burn. The second part of the warhead was encased in a ceramic shell, allowing it to withstand the thermite heat. There was a fuse that penetrated the ceramic capsule and when this was melted through by the thermite, it carried the heat down into a small chamber containing conventional explosives that then detonated. When these detonated the energy was carried to a low yield, nuclear capsule that then exploded and pealed the outer hull away like the lid of a can, hence the name of the missile.
“Fire the can opener,” Slone ordered and the missile streaked from the side of the battleship. It closed the gap between vessels quickly and was too fast for the Saltic gunners to get a bead on it. The missile hit the cruiser and worked flawlessly to peel back an area of hull. “Fire the follow shot,” Slone now ordered.
A second missile streaked from the ship and headed to the breach made by the first one. It was guided there by targeting lasers transmitted from the side of the Romani ship. The missile passed unscathed through the space between ships and entered the hole. Slone then nodded in the direction of the weapon’s tech, who pressed a button on the console. Again a nuclear warhead detonated, but this time much larger than the one in the can opener. The intense heat and radiation from the blast first caused the Saltic ship to bulge and then fly apart into many small sections spreading out from the source. When the dust cleared, the Saltic cruiser was gone and the wormhole closed automatically. Slone now turned his attention to the escort vessels of which two remained partially active with no wormhole to retreat through. He wondered why they had not yet opened one for themselves, but as he got closer he could see that they were too hard pressed to be able to charge the wormhole drive. Boarding shuttles were leaving the Avenging Talon to attack the escort vessels. The serpents knew the escorts did not carry a large crew and sent one shuttle per escort. Slone could also see the Highline dreadnought launching boarding shuttles.
“Captain, there is a transmission coming in from the Highline admiral,” Tom Garner reported.
“Put it on speaker.”
“Captain Slone, this is Admiral Holt. I see your dreadnought has launched only two boarding shuttles, one for each remaining enemy ship. With your permission, I would like to lend a hand with some of our marines. After all, this is our home system to defend, though we certainly appreciated your help. I am not sure we could have done it without you.”
“Thank you for the confidence and we would be happy to have your marines join us. The enemy fights hard and they have hand-held energy weapons that can punch through armor. Tell your marines to stay behind cover and to let our troops protect them. Also, I must warn you that the dreadnought launching the boarding shuttles is not crewed by humans. The troops are called serpents and they speak human language, so prepare your marines that they will be fighting one species and fighting with another.”
There was a long period of silence. Aboard the Bentley, Admiral Holt looked at Captain Deeney, “Did he say they have aliens fighting with them?”
“That is what I heard.”
“Who are these people? I didn’t even know we were fighting aliens in the other ships, now I am to believe we will also be fighting with them? This is madness.”
Finally, a message came through to Slone. “Captain Slone, this is Admiral Holt again. How do we tell the difference between the aliens you say are fighting on your side and those we are to fight?”
That was an interesting question. Slone gave it a moment’s thought and decided it would be best to keep the responses brief since it was clear from the combat feed that both sets of shuttles were nearing their targets. The serpent shuttles would arrive first. “Admiral, tell your marine commanders the enemy aliens look like big worms and those with us look like dinosaurs.”
Captain Deeney looked at the admiral, as did the rest of the bridge crew of the Bentley and said, “Admiral, could this get any stranger?”
“I have no idea. Inform the marines what to expect.”
“Yes sir.”
As this interchange played out, the serpent shuttles reached the hangar bays of the enemy ships and their centuries began to move out. They were immediately met with resistance. The first century of the cohort carried on the serpent dreadnought formed the Romani double high shield wall until they were formed up, twenty-five serpents wide and four deep. The third row, as always, was made up of serpent males with portable Gatling guns. There were about twenty five Saltic in the hangar bay firing on the serpents. Whereas in previous encounters the Saltic energy weapons wreaked havoc on the Romani shields, the new version of the shield was modified to deal with the Saltic. The entire surface was now covered with small, pyramidal structures, giving it a surface that looked like a meat tenderizing mallet. The pyramid sides were covered in mirrors. When the energy bolts hit these structures they were scattered and bounced around, eventually being thrown back in the direction of origin. This had two effects, it blocked the bolt from doing major damage and it confused the enemy. In time the bolts did cause the mirrors to deteriorate and bolts could then get through, but it took several hits in the same spot to do this.
It was time to soften the enemy up. The primary centurion in command of the first century whistled and the front two rows suddenly dropped to one knee with shields forward and the third row of armored males stood up and opened fire with the Gatling guns. In front of them ships and Saltic began to come apart. The few Saltic shots that got through were met with armor designed the same as the shields and did little damage. As
the remaining Saltic retreated, the first Highline shuttle carrying 50 marines entered the hangar. As the Highline marines left their shuttle, they first caught a glimpse of the Saltic retreating. They fired a few shots in the direction of the Saltic and these were returned with energy blasts. One marine was hit and the blast went through his armor and killed him. Two more marine shuttles came in, bringing the Highline total to 150. They now formed up and for the first time moved forward to where the serpent century stood. Centurion Ash, of the first century came over to the marines and the look of shock on their faces was priceless. When these marines got up this morning, humans were the masters of the universe. Now they were confronted with the truth, humans were not alone.
The serpent commander went over to the marines and said, “Sss. Welcome friends, the enemy have moved deeper into the ship. Our shields will stop their energy weapons, so let us protect you.”
The commander of the Highline marines was not sure how to deal with aliens, especially not ones that looked like they came out of a nightmare. Since they were on an enemy vessel and had to fight together, he thought it best to pretend he was dealing with humans. “I’m Major Owen, commander of the Highline marine unit assigned to the HC Bentley. How do I address you?”
“Sss. I am Centurion Ash, commander of the cohort assigned to the Romani dreadnought NR Avenging Talon. We will send half forward and half aft. The enemy is very powerful and their energy weapons will pass through your armor. Tell your men to be careful.”
“Yes I noticed. How do you plan to counteract that?”
“We fight with shields they cannot penetrate. Come it is time.”
Without further conversation, the serpent century split in two and one half moved forward and one aft. Centurion Ash went with the aft group and her optio commanded the forward group. It was obvious to Major Owen that the major part of the ship was aft of the hangar bay, which was near the bow of the ship. Therefore, he decided to take one hundred of his troops along with Centurion Ash’s group and send the remaining fifty under his second in command with the forward group. As they moved into the ship, the humans found it difficult to keep up with the serpents, and the major had a chance to evaluate his new allies. He was told there were humans aboard the massive vessel that took out the enemy capital ship, but so far he had only seen the aliens he was following into the ship. As they moved along, Major Owen examined the serpents. There were two sizes; the smaller ones seemed to be in charge, since all orders and sounds came from them. The large ones were massive and twice the size with three times the bulk of the smaller ones. The smaller ones carried a shield and what looked like a spear, but no gun of any kind. The large ones carried enormous portable Gatling guns with two boxes of ammo attached. It would take three humans to carry one of these weapons but they handled them as if they were feather light. They had been progressing through a passageway on the port side of the ship, when the serpents suddenly stopped. One of the serpents came back to the human forces.
“Sss. Centurion Ash sent me to you because my human speak is good. The enemy is making a stand in a large area that may be a mess hall. Centurion Ash asks if you would take the right flank when we enter the room, but be careful, the enemy is very cunning.”
“We will be glad to take the right flank.”
“Sss. We will use the armored males to soften the enemy,” the serpent trooper said and left to join the serpent line.
“I wonder what he meant by armored males?” Major Owen said to no one in particular. As the humans waited to enter after the serpents, a drone suddenly rose from the serpent ranks, a fast drumbeat began and the serpents surged forwards. This caught the humans by surprise but the Highline troops were better trained than most of the corporations and they were fighting in their home system with their families watching. Major Owen brought his troop in on the right flank of the serpent forces and the enemy immediately opened fire. They had trouble penetrating the shields the serpents used, but not the armor of the humans. There were items in the room that must have been furniture, but none the humans could recognize. The major and his troops felt like they were in an alien universe. Five humans went down, two dead and three wounded. The Highline troops did not bring any medics with them, since they only sent a limited number of troops, so the wounded were expected to hold out until the battle was over. To the major’s surprise, the serpents had support personnel with them and serpent medics immediately sprang to the wounded and pulled them to safety. They then began to treat them. Things were getting hot in the room now and the major had no more time to watch the serpent medics work. His troops had piled a large amount of furniture while keeping up a withering fire. Two more Highline troops were wounded and it looked like several serpents were hit but they did not leave the line. The serpents had their shield double high and were relatively safe behind them. Some of the Highline troops were overlapping the serpent line and taking cover behind their shields. The drumbeat suddenly stopped and the serpent line stood stock still. The enemy continued to fire from cover at the other end of the room. For the first time Major Owen had a chance to examine the enemy forces and he had no idea what he was looking at. They looked like very large worms wearing armor and holding energy weapons. As the major was trying to make sense out of this situation, there was a sharp whistle and several barks from the serpent and the front two lines dropped to one knee behind their shields and the large ones carrying the Gatling guns rose to their full height with their guns ready. As they stood up, one was hit and went down with the serpent medics springing to his aid. The rest pointed their guns and fired. It was all the humans could to clap their hands over their ears and open their mouths against the pressure of the guns. The major looked at where the enemy was and their cover along with their bodies was shredded as the high speed shots found their marks. He had no idea how long the firing continued, but he was glad when it was over. Until it was followed by a blood curdling shriek from the serpents and the drumbeat returned at a breakneck speed. As the humans watched the serpents surged forward and the remaining Saltic began firing on them with little effect, though two more did drop. When the serpents reached the Saltic, there was no escape for them. No quarter was given and none was asked. The major realized this was a fight to the death. It was all over in a few minutes and the remaining Saltic were all dead. Just then, the major received a message from his troops in the forward part of the ship that all was secured and the bridge was taken. The same lack of quarter was reported to have occurred in that battle. There were also a few casualties among the serpents and the humans, but again serpent medics were reported to have taken care of serpent and human casualties. The major was starting to realize this was a force to be reckoned with.
Centurion Ash came over to the major as he was examining some of the Saltic bodies. “Sss. Major Owen, serpent medics say your wounded will all survive.”
The Major looked up at the reptilian face of the centurion and had to control the natural fear humans had of large reptiles. There was also the matter that they hissed each time they spoke, but the speech felt very soothing with the prolongation of all ‘S’ sounds. “Thank your medics, my men tell me they treated your casualties and ours equally.”
“Sss. Serpents like humans and are part of Romani. We will secure the ship and await more orders. Captain Slone reports other enemy ship is also taken and thanks Highline soldiers for their help.”
The major looked at all the carnage and said, “I’m not sure you needed us, since we did very little of this damage.”
“Sss. Let us make sure the ship is secure.”
Serpents and humans spread out through the vessel and the major reported back to the Bentley that all was secure and they were helping to scour the ship for holdouts. The wounded were sent back to the dreadnought.
On the bridge of the Tempestas, Slone received reports of the end of all hostilities and ordered all serpent ships to become visible and return to the Tempestas. This order was given on the open combat channel so the Highline
ships would know what to expect. Suddenly, twenty-five of the distinctive serpent ships appeared, as if out of nowhere. Whereas human ships looked like old earth torpedoes, minus the stabilizing fins, with four engines mounted at the beginning of the hull tapering, three quarters of the way aft. The serpent ships looked like flying animals with wings and a tail.
On the Highline Corporation space port, Alaya, Tavia and the Highline leaders were watching the combat feeds, though close to an hour after the events due to the lag time. When they officially asked the Romani for help, they watched as the battleship and the dreadnought suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Andrea DiSanto and her VPs turned towards Alaya, “Care to tell me where those ships came from and why they are transmitting Highline transponder codes?” CEO DiSanto asked.
Alaya looked at the Highline CEO, who she liked. Consul Lorenzo had told the Slones to be honest with the corporations. If they did not cooperate with each other, then they would fall individually to the Saltic. “Our vessels can be rendered invisible.”
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