by Saxon Andrew
Roy activated the tactical display on his visor and said, “Alright, I’ve got the front and rear of the ship; Joe you have the portside; and Jill, you have the starboard side. Let’s move in and kick up a little dust.”
Roy glanced out of the forward viewport and the view was incredibly beautiful from his current position. The hundreds of thousands of Black Ships’ thrusters made them look like sparks blowing out of the Georgia’s giant blaster beams as they attempted to evade them. He could see the Black Ships launching massive waves of missiles that were leaving their formations like tracers fired out of a rifle. The Georgia’s blasters would move slightly and blast them before they could move into range and the explosions from the missiles that were hit were massive. In the vacuum of space there wasn’t any sound of the giant explosions to disrupt the beauty of the view and the shockwaves running away from the blasted Black Ships only added to the brilliant colors of the mosaic.
He glanced at the tactical and saw his nine Attack Fighters were moving in with him in a staggered formation giving them open fire zones. He knew his ships weren’t visible to the Black Ships that were moving out of the Georgia’s fire zone but they would soon see his thrusters as he moved in among them.
As he moved into the giant swarm of hundreds of Black Ships he opened fire. He shook his head and wondered why Command called these small ships; they were one third larger than his own. He used the targeting dots and hit three of them as his formation blew past them into a larger swarm of them and then he had no time to think. He flew the Attack Fighter through the gaps and fired the front blaster at anything in his path. He saw on the tactical that his tight formation had broken up and now there were only three Fighters flying together instead of the original ten. A few moments later, he was alone and he learned that flying the ship, firing at targets in front and behind it was more than he could handle, “Jill, take control of the rear blaster!”
“Got it, Sir.”
Roy shook his head to clear his mind and fired on a Black Ship that suddenly appeared out of nowhere as it ran across his bow. He banked the ship vertical as three blaster beams hit him on the port side, “JOE!”
“THERE’S TOO MANY, SIR. MY TARGETING COMPUTER IS GETTING OVERLOADED.”
Roy gritted his teeth and hit the stardrive. His ship disappeared from the battle and reappeared just beyond the outer edge of the giant dogfight. “Back into the fray, I fear.”
“Thanks, Skipper. I even like Shakespeare now; you saved us.”
“That’s not Shakespeare, that’s original stuff. Here we go.” Roy hit full thrusters and accelerated back into the giant battle. No matter how many Black Ships he destroyed, more kept appearing. He had to jump out four more times before he discovered why the Commanders called them small ships; the giant mothership appeared on his primary monitor.
• • •
Lyla watched her Attack Fighters take on the waves of incoming Black Fighters and saw they were getting better as time passed. The Attack Fighter’s force fields were as powerful as the old battleship’s field and they could take multiple hits before it started to fail. The Fighters learned to jump away using their stardrives to allow them to recharge but more than a thousand Fighters had been destroyed by being overwhelmed by hundreds of blaster beams. The survivors were learning how to use their tactical program to avoid being caught in a position where they could be overwhelmed. She watched the battle and made a decision, “Commodore Haley.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“I want the two wings assigned to ship defense to form up and on my command, run an attack line through the middle of those enemy ships. Once you’re through, come back to your defensive positions.”
“We won’t be as mobile as the other wings with the major missile attached to our hull.”
“Don’t attempt to maneuver. Fire directly ahead of your ships and fly around the explosions in front of you. You will launch on my command.”
“What about our ships inside the enemy formations?”
“I’m ordering all of them to jump out on your arrival and return once you clear.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Lyla looked at her Communication’s Officer, “Send the order to Wings one and two to jump out on my command.”
“Yes, Sir.
Lyla looked at Kosmarov, “Have your finger on the stardrive.”
“Da.”
Lyla looked back at the tactical monitor and saw Wings Three and Four were in formation. “Launch in three, two one, NOW! WINGS ONE AND TWO, JUMP OUT, JUMP OUT!!”
• • •
The Drone Commander was screaming for support when suddenly, every enemy ship attacking his formation disappeared. He stopped talking and saw a brilliant circle of exploding light appear miles in front of his ship. He looked at his scanner and his eyes went wide, “EVADE!!” A giant hole was being blown through the middle of his formations and it was moving toward his ship at incredible speed. His pilot activated the stardrive…too late.
• • •
Roy watched the two wings fly through the massed waves of Black Fighters and looked at his visor. Seven of his fighters were back in formation around him and he said, “See if you can overlap your fire this time. Rodriguez, you will focus solely on the rear of our formation, got that!”
“Yes, Sir.” “We’re going to fly a rather straight course through their formations and see if we can arrive outside them with our formation intact. Failing that, it’s back to every ship for itself. Follow me in!” Roy had his ship at the front of his unit and he focused solely on finding a path through the enemy ships and firing on anything that entered his sensors. The enemy was disorganized but still numbered in the tens of thousands and more were moving in. He glanced at the giant blip on the long-range scanner display and could only imagine just how big that thing must be. It would arrive in three more minutes.
Lyla saw the Mothership moving through subspace toward her ship and she looked at Commander Toyami, “Have you figured it out!?”
“Sir, there are thousands of critical places that would cause extensive damage to that ship but we’ll have to hit more than half of them to fully disable it.”
Lyla stared at him and then looked up and said to the ship’s computer, “Brett.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Pull up that image of the Mothership that the Builders destroyed outside their galaxy.” An image of a blasted Mothership appeared on the main monitor and Lyla stared at it. Toyami’s eyes narrowed and he said, “The place where the most damage occurred is not one of the sites we’ve targeted.”
Lyla looked at him and turned back to the image, “Rotate it ninety degrees, Brett.” The image turned and Toyami walked forward and stared at the image on the monitor. He looked at Lyla and said, “That area on the bottom of that ship is where the landing bay is located. They don’t store any weapon supplies there.”
Lyla looked at the image and said, “That is a monstrous landing bay.”
Toyami nodded. “Brett, run a red marker directly from that landing bay through the ship and show me where it comes out on the other side.” The ship rotated and there was a giant red circle coming out of the top of the Mothership that contained thousands of blaster and missile ports. Toyami looked at Lyla, “Sir, it appears that anything that goes through the landing bay will impact a large number of nuclear storage facilities on the top of that vessel.” Lyla looked at the monster and shook her head, “Is it armored where we can’t penetrate it.”
“That entire ship is armored but the landing bay entrance doesn’t have blasters or missile ports on it. It is defended but that bay is four times as long as our ship. It offers forty miles of the hull with a giant space behind it. Those landing bay doors can’t be as hardened as the normal hull.”
“Why is that bay so large?”
“Sir, the landing bay is where all the transports come inside the ship to deliver the food and materials they take from the planets they strip. It has to be large enough for that magnitude of d
elivery.”
• • •
“Admiral O’Hara, the Azura Mothership will arrive in a few more minutes. Do you require assistance?”
Lyla saw Cam on her panel’s display and she wanted to say yes with all her being but said instead, “No, Sir. I’ll be jumping the ship if it comes inside its effective blaster range.”
“Lyla, do you have any idea how you are going to knock it out?”
“Commander Toyami will be transmitting the discussion we just had in the event we aren’t able to later.” Lyla looked at Cam, “Sir, it’s like you said, when the main event kicks off, I’ll have to do it alone.”
Cam looked to the right and then turned back to her, “Admiral, we have three more Motherships moving through subspace to join the one moving on your vessel. You have forty minutes before they arrive.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Lyla activated the Space Forces frequency and said, “Attention all Attack Fighters. The planned attack on the Mothership is being changed. Wing One’s ten thousand Attack Fighters will attack the ship from the top. Your force fields can handle a hit or two by their beams so get in, fire, and get out fast. Ten minutes after their attack commences, Wing Two will move in at full speed under the Mothership and try to take out all the heavy blasters and missile launchers surrounding the landing bay door. Wings Three and Four will fly in at full speed and fire their heavy missiles into that landing bay’s doors. Make it happen!”
Lyla looked at Kosmarov, “We will open fire on that ship with all of our defenses when it comes inside a hundred and twenty miles.”
“Dah, Admiral.” Kosmarov turned and lifted his communicator, “Charge all blasters and lock them on a specific spot on that incoming vessel’s hull. Missile launchers will launch their missiles between the beams. Firing will commence in one minute.”
Lyla listened to Kosmarov and wondered why his Russian accent disappeared when he was issuing orders but returned in his conversations with her. She’d have to ask him if she survived the battle.
• • •
Lanny Bishop stared at his monitor and plotted the incoming Mothership and looked at Leila sitting next to him, “I had no idea planets could move.” Leila nodded. Lanny locked his scanner on the incoming vessel and waited for the blaster crews to start firing. He needed a lane to fire his missiles through. He looked at Leila again, “Leila.” She turned to him. “Will you marry me?”
Leila’s face showed her shock and she punched him on the arm, “Are you crazy!? I just met you yesterday!”
Lanny smiled and shrugged, “Just checking.”
Leila burst out laughing and turned back to her panel as the blasters opened fire. “Check with me in a few months.”
Lanny found a lane and launched a missile at the giant vessel, “I’ll do that.”
• • •
Cam watched the giant Azura Warship moving in on Lyla’s Carrier and it took every bit of his will power to resist sending his wings in to support her. Tim Hart appeared on his panel and Cam said before he could ask, “She requested us to stay out.”
Tim shook his head, “I’m really glad you’re in command; I don’t know if I could stay out of it.”
“I want you and Admiral Bell to move between the Georgia and the three Motherships moving in on her. Admiral Johanson will be joining you momentarily.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“I’ll remain here and support Admiral O’Hara if necessary. I’m sending you a discussion Admiral O’Hara had with her tactics officer. You might want to discuss it with the other Admirals.”
“Yes, Sir. We’re on the way.”
Cam turned back to his monitor and saw the Georgia open fire on the incoming Mothership.
Chapter Twelve
The Controller stared at the five hundred foot-long monitor on the front wall of the giant bridge and watched the drones being wiped out by the fleets of ships attacking them. He almost issued an order for them to ram the large warship but knew it was foolish to waste those ships. There was very little chance they would get anywhere near that ship before they were disintegrated. He looked to his left, “Data?”
“The ship is approximately ten miles long,” The lead scan controller replied.
“That’s smaller than the vessels used by the Small Beings.”
“It is, Controller. It is clearly not one of their vessels.”
“How do you know it’s not a vessel they left behind to attack us?”
“Because we can see the Builder Vessels. The only way we know that vessel is there is due to its blaster fire and force field.”
“Are you saying it’s invisible?”
“It would be if not for their defenses.”
The Controller looked at the monitor and turned back to his Scan Operator, “Power of its force field?”
“It’s more powerful than the one around our ship.”
“WHAT?!”
The Scan Operator lifted his left shoulder high above his head, “It will require a blaster barrage beyond any we’ve ever fired to damage it.”
“Do we have enough blasters to break through it?”
“We do if we can get within range.” The Controller turned away and the Scan Operator asked, “Are we going to wait for the other Controllers to arrive with their ships.”
The Controller thought about it and shook his head, “When they arrive I’m reasonably certain that vessel will jump away. We’re going to open the hostilities and attempt to damage it so it can’t flee.”
“We’ll sustain damage to the forward sections.”
“Seal them off and continue in on that vessel. We need to examine its technology. We need to determine how they create such a strong force field; we could use it against the small beings.”
• • •
Commodore Mitchell watched the giant Mothership moving toward the Georgia and shook his head. The blaster beams hitting its hull caused massive explosions but from the distance his Attack Ship was located, they looked like tiny firecrackers going off. How do you stop a vessel as large as some moons? Hell, it was larger than most moons. It’s like hitting an elephant with a BB gun. It’s just too large to stop with blaster beams. “Commence attack, now.”
• • •
Roy stared at the approaching Mothership and sighed. “What’s bothering you, Skipper?”
“So much to hit, so little time.”
Jill burst out laughing, “You can humor yourself with dodging their blasters. Have you seen the size of those things?”
“They’re bigger than the cannons on the old World War Two battleships. Roy looked up, “Pat, I want you to keep your active scanner operating and if you detect more than one of those blasters lining up to take a shot at us, please jump out of the way.”
“You big baby. We can handle four or five hits. I’ll jump us out if I detect six or more lining up.”
Roy turned and looked at Joe and Jill, “That’s what I get for being a poetic soul, a smart-alecky ship computer.”
Joe’s left eye-brow went up, “He gets it from you.”
Roy waved his hand and heard the Wing Commander order them in, “You know the drill. Here we go.”
• • •
Lyla stared at the giant black ship moving toward her and shook her head, “It’s just too big to stop.”
Kosmarov pressed a button on his panel, “Attention all blasters crews. You will stop firing on my command.” Lyla’s eyes narrowed instantly and she started to override his order. Kosmarov ordered, “All missile crews, I want you to target one of the nuclear storage areas on that giant’s hull and fire a hardened missile at it as soon as the blasters stop firing. Blaster crews will continue firing once the missiles are launched. Get ready…on my mark…MARK!!!”
The blasters stopped firing and thousands of missiles lept out of the Georgia’s missile tubes. Many of them were burned away by the Motherships blaster beams but hundreds of them made it through. The massive explosions on the incoming Azura Vessel rocked it.” L
yla smiled from ear to ear and fell back in her chair emotionally exhausted from the intensity of the battle.
• • •
The Controller almost fell out of his chair, “WHAT THE…”
“Controller, the enemy has hit numerous nuclear weapon armories.”
The Controller looked at the monitor showing the fires raging on the front of his ship and yelled, “Concentrate all the blasters in front of us and burn any missiles fired at us!” The controller was past rage and he ordered the Drones to ram the ship that harmed his Family’s Home. The damage from those nuclear blasts would prevent him from joining the Families that were pursuing the Small Beings. He saw the fires burning out of control on the front of the ship and he looked across the bridge, “TURN AWAY AND AWAIT THE ARRIVAL OF THE OTHER CONTROLLERS.”
• • •
Kosmarov looked at Lyla, “Sir, the remaining enemy fighters have all turned toward us and it appears they are determined to ram the Georgia. We have to direct the ship’s blasters away from the Mothership to keep them off us.”
Lyla shook her head and almost ordered the ship to jump away when she heard, “The Mothership is changing course. It’s moving away, Sir!!”
Lyla sighed, “Redirect the blasters and be prepared to jump out.”
• • •
Roy flew toward the hull of the giant Black Battleship and saw the nuclear explosions erupt from the forward edge of the behemoth, “Oh! That had to leave a bruise!” He turned away from the nuclear blasts and roared in on the giant blaster directly in front of his Fighter. He opened fire as he heard Joe and Jill firing their weapons. The blaster exploded and he flew low over the hull at high speed. He was traveling too fast for the giant blasters to target him and they blew up as he passed.”
“Sir, we’re taking out the blasters but firing on them this low prevents us from hitting the reactors feeding them from below.”