by Saxon Andrew
The other Leaders were punching their panels at their highest speed but they could not regain control of their fleets. It was a mass killing field and making sense of what was happening was impossible. It was at that moment that the giant battleships ripped into their fleets from the rear.
• • •
Gelza came over the top of a battleship and opened fire, it blew up in an instant and she immediately saw that ten disruptor operators on the battleship next to the one she killed had her in their sights. She screamed her rage, turned her pod and flew directly at them as her ship was vaporized. The ship that killed her was blasted into rubble by a DM cannon round that hit the ship’s reactors dead center. The rubble then blew up as the reactors reached critical mass and went up in a nuclear blast taking out four more orange ships around it.
• • •
The massive formation of Alliance Battleships flashed in on the rear of the Progen formations and turned in unison and unloaded a broadside of more than ten million disruptors. They then turned in unison and blew into the Progen ranks. It took some maneuvering to get around the massive debris field but their powerful force fields shrugged off most of the small debris and flew around the largest pieces. They split into two groups and went over the top and bottom of the disorganized Progen Battleships.
• • •
Kyel watched his ships and ordered them out to reform twice. It was sheer suicide to try to move in that maelstrom of wildly careening warships. The battleships moved together and created a devastating crossfire. Kyel wondered how the Goran could possibly survive in that impossible madness but they did.
• • •
Scraer dove under a Progen Battleship and blasted every disruptor above him. He stayed there firing at other Progen Battleships as they passed. The commander of the ship he was under was furious. He ordered the ship to roll to bring disruptors to bear on the small ship and his fury grew into rage as the small ship rolled with him keeping the destroyed section above it. There were too many Orange Ships around him to fire missiles at the ship. They would have blown out the missile launch tubes too fast to make a turn around his hull. He pounded the arm of his tub and his rage ended. The small ship blew away a section on another ship close by and moved toward it. It fired all of its disruptors at the ship that had been its shield and it blew up in a huge blast.
• • •
Vanger looked at his monitor and shook his head. He tried to think of a way to describe what his ships were doing and he had to use a metaphor from the humans. The battle looked like giant sharks with Remora following them. What a novel way to attack. The giant Orange Ships did all they could to shake the Pods but they were too nimble and heard the thoughts of the pilots and reacted as soon as they decided to make a move. Finally, the Orange Ships had more than they could stand and opened fire on the pods clinging to other ships. The Goran heard the thoughts of the blaster operators and moved before they could be hit. They moved to another ship and repeated the process.
• • •
The Progen Leaders watched the battle in silence. There was nothing they could do. All of their Senior Fleet Leaders were the first ones killed and anyone that tried to assume command died immediately. The Greatest tried unsuccessfully to contact the Legends. He knew something dramatic was happening. They never failed to respond in the past. The Greatest was numb from pounding his tub and all he could do was watch and see his beautiful fleets being destroyed on a scale that was impossible. He finally had enough, “Order the survivors to flee!” He knew that order was his death warrant. The Legends would kill him for it but he no longer cared.
• • •
Vanger watched the thousands of Orange Ships leave normal space and go into the void attempting to escape. He thought, “Pick a ship and destroy it. Kyel, move your ships into the void and join my pods.”
The battleships went into the void and the Progen ships were amazed at the speed of the ships pursuing them. There were millions of Progen Ships in formation when the attack started. Only slightly more than two hundred thousand managed to escape. Vanger looked at the space outside the edge of the giant galaxy and knew that the debris field would be a navigation hazard for centuries to come. He looked at his panel and said, “Admiral Jekins, we have completed our mission. I will be recalling my ships and sending them to join your forces.”
“Have them form up over the top of my formation. Notify Kyel to move his ships in the formations of battleships.”
“Yes Admiral. We will be there momentarily.”
Vanger looked at his command circuit and saw that a hundred thousand pods had perished in the fight along with fifty thousand battleships but it was a victory. Costly, but worth it. He sighed and entered the void. The day wasn’t over. There would be more fighting ahead.
Chapter Twenty-One
Chris watched the fighting above the Audon’s planet and determined they could take care of themselves in the short term. “Medley, have you notified Piper about the power of the black ships?”
“I have.”
“And?”
“I told him that the older ships they sent here were able to penetrate our force fields and we were fortunate we outnumbered them. He’s changing the attack plan as we speak.”
“How long before he’s ready?”
“About another five minutes.”
Chris nodded and pressed his panel, “Eve, are your warriors in place?”
“Their Barrier Pods have dropped them off and they’re standing by in the barrier. The pods have skipped out and are standing by to pick us up if everything goes to hell in a hand basket.”
Piper is starting his attack in less than five minutes.”
“Thanks for the heads up; I’ll pass it on to my unit Commanders.”
“Eve, what the group said to me about not participating in combat operations also applies to you.”
Eve sighed, “There’s a big difference between what we do, Chris.”
“Oh? How is that?”
“I’m going to be right in the middle of Legend Land and the quickest way to get killed is to just stand around watching things happen. I have no choice but to do what everyone else is doing, stick and move.”
“Your warriors will lose their spirit if you’re killed.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. It will piss them off so much they’ll really take it out on the Legends. Don’t worry, all my units have trained to work individually and together. They’ll do the job whether I’m leading them or not. I’ve also made the chain-of-command clear to everyone.”
“Will you just be careful!?”
“Hey, careful is my first name.”
“No it isn’t.”
“It is now.”
Chris looked at his panel, “Piper has started his attack. That’s your cue to go on stage.”
“If you say break a leg, I’m going to slap you the next time I see you.”
The display went dark and Chris shook his head. It was obvious that she was her parents’ daughter. Chris turned his attention to the gigantic space battle with the Progen Fleets and saw it was too early to make any changes. He then turned his monitor to the Legends Planet and shook his head.
• • •
The Legend Leader was screaming, “Get the outer fleet ready to go to the Audon Central Planet and I want it blasted to rubble!!”
“Greatest, we’ve sent three hundred ships!”
“SEND A HUNDRED THOUSAND. I WANT THAT INSOLENT BUG KILLED!!”
“GREATEST, THE PROGEN FLEETS ARE BEING ATTACKED!”
The Legend Leader looked across the galaxy and saw a space battle that rivaled anything he had ever witnessed. In all the former encounters, the enemy would attack and flee. They were not fleeing this time and the Progen were being blasted. “CANCEL SENDING THE SHIPS TO THE AUDONS. ORDER THEM TO GO AND ASSIST THE ORANGE TOOL!”
His Second looked at him and the Leader lashed him with a violent electrical current that shot out of his outer aura, “DO IT
NOW!!”
The older model of Black Ships above the Legends’ Planet began moving out of formation to skip away and just as they activated their stardrives, the Silver Ships blew into their ranks and opened fire. They began going up a giant string of firecrackers and the Second yelled, “DO NOT LEAVE!!! RESIST THIS ATTACK!!”
The Leader looked at the giant battle taking place over the planet and ordered the inner layer of new ships to meet the attackers. A few moments later, the first two thousand ground disruptors went up in massive explosions. “HOW DID THOSE FORCES LAND?!”
“I DON’T KNOW! THEY JUST SUDDENLY APPEARED!”
“FREE THE DISRUPTORS TO HIT THEM ON THE GROUND! DO IT NOW!!”
“IF WE DO, THEY WON’T BE ABLE TO FIRE ON THE SHIPS ATTACKING OUR FLEETS!”
“THEY WON’T ANYWAY! THOSE ATTACKERS ARE MOVING TOO FAST TO TARGET. FREE THE DISRUPTORS!!”
• • •
The Heavy Armored Assault Warriors took out their initial targets unopposed. Eve sprinted to the giant tower next to her first target and blew a hole through its force field and fired her heavy DE Blaster at the reactors located in the base. She gripped her thumb with the four fingers on her right hand and disappeared into the barrier as a massive blast blew out from the giant structure. She used the heavy blaster to cut the first tower at an angle and it slid down the cut and crashed to the ground. She saw the second disruptor was spinning its turret around and the giant barrel was moving toward the ground. It was too late to cut it. She waited in the barrier until the massive blast blew by and was thankful for Nudge again.
There was a huge disagreement on where to place the button that would activate the barrier. She was in favor or having it on the back of one armored glove and her Senior Unit Commanders all wanted to put it somewhere else. They insisted it would interfere with activating their missile systems. After three days of argument, she saw an outsider would have to make the decision. She called Nudge in to the meeting and he politely listened to every proposal. At the end he slowly shook his head, “All of you are wrong.”
Everyone looked at him and Gen. Gene Armstrong looked at him and said with dripping sarcasm, “So you’re going to tell us how to fight our armor? How many drops have you made, Scientist?”
Nudge looked at him and ignored his comment with a cool detachment, “How fast will one of those towers go up if you hit the reactors?” Gene stared at him and Nudge said, “Pretty much instantly, won’t it?” Gene nodded. “So all of you are proposing to place a button on your armor that will have to be pressed by one of your fingers, right?”
Eve said, “That’s how we see it being done.”
“And if you’re having to fire your hand blaster to hold off enemy forces attacking you, you put the blaster away and then press the button? How long will that take?” Everyone stared at him in silence. Nudge pulled out a stop chronometer and said, “Each one of you show me how you would press the button with the hand extended that you would use to press it.”
All of the officers showed him and he timed them. When the last one demonstrated his move, Nudge looked at the chronometer and said, “The fastest time is three tenths of a second.” He looked at Eve, “You did agree that the reactors would go up almost immediately?” Eve nodded. “You’ll be dead if you do it any of these ways you’ve shown me. I also assume you’re going to have to use your heavy blasters to take them out.” He looked at Gene who reluctantly nodded. “Am I mistaken, or does it take two arms to hold and fire it?”
Eve sighed, “You’ve made your point. What would you suggest?”
He handed Eve the chronometer, “Time me.” She held up the chronometer and he immediately gripped his thumb with four fingers.
“Wait, I wasn’t ready.” Nudge held up his arms like he was holding a heavy blaster. He looked at her and she nodded. Nudge dropped his thumb into his four fingers, without releasing the trigger finger. Eve shook her head. “It’s faster than I can press the timer.”
Everyone looked at each other and Nudge said, “This barrier button is the one thing that will save your lives and you have to do it without thinking. It must almost be trained into a reflex.” Nudge held out his hand and gripped his thumb. “All of you give it a try.” All of the warriors in the room did it and Gene said, “I apologize. But can this motion be made to activate the barrier?”
“We use similar motions to launch your missiles. This one can also be programmed into your software.”
It was at that precise moment that Eve fell in love. She was very attracted to Nudge before but she saw his brilliance in that moment and knew there wouldn’t be anyone else for her. She looked at her Officers as they continued to grip their thumbs. She looked at him and smiled, “How long will it take to change the software?”
“I’ll write the program and transmit it over your general frequency to all of your command. You need to tell everyone about the change before I send it so they’ll know to be careful.” Eve nodded. “I’ll have it ready for transmission within an hour. Just let me know when to send it.”
“Thank you Mr. Bennett.”
“Sure, I’m glad I could help. Is there anything else?”
“No, I think that about does it.” Nudge nodded and left the meeting.
General Thompson shook his head, “I’ve heard about the things he and his brother have done developing our ships. I have to say I am impressed.” Robby looked at Gene, “What do you say, Gene?”
Gene shook his head, “Next time, someone slap me before I put both feet in my mouth!” Everyone laughed as Eve watched Nudge walk out of the room. His ego wasn’t so large that he had to rub it in to the one that insulted him. After the coming fight, she was going to talk to him about his future plans. She was going to inform him that she wanted to be a part of them.
Eve saw the shock wave roll away and released her thumb. She left the barrier and saw green ground to her left. She sprinted right and then zigged left as the ground turned green in front of her. The ground under her turned green and she instantly gripped her thumb again as four disruptor beams blasted the ground she was standing on. She waited and saw the ground change to normal color and she came out of the barrier, leaped the large holes in the ground made by the disruptors, and finished her run to the next tower. These disruptors were nothing like what she faced on the Goran Planet. They were a hundred feet taller and the blasts from the destroyed disruptor towers did not penetrate the force fields of the towers around them. Each one of them had to be taken out individually. She looked at her visor quickly. Eight hundred casualties so far. It would have been a disaster without the tools Nudge had developed.
• • •
Robby Thompson rushed toward his next target and saw the ground turn green under him. He gripped his thumb and the disruptor beam exploded the ground he had been standing on. He waited for the color to change and it didn’t. He looked at his target and the beam continued to point at the place he entered the barrier. As long as it had its giant barrel pointed at him, he was trapped. Suddenly, the tower went up in a giant blast and he was out of the barrier in an instant and sprinting toward another tower.
• • •
Eve was trapped in the barrier by a disruptor that refused to turn away from where she entered. She looked at her tactical and saw all of her warriors were in the same predicament. The Legends must have changed the targeting commands. She sighed and started to call in the pods to pull them out and then had a thought. If all the towers were locked on one of her warriors…She activated her communicator, “Attention all pods. You will move in to the area my forces have cleared and enter normal space and sweep the area around you with your DE Beams. Make the sweep quick and get back into the barrier. Spread out and prepare to fire on my command.”
• • •
Leader, the attacks on our disruptors have stopped.”
“Where do those attackers go?”
“They must go into the void. They’ve managed to put a small stardrive in their armor.”
“But a stardrive will not activate inside a planet’s gravity well!”
“There is no other explanation. They must be…” Suddenly, thousands of disruptor towers started collapsing to the ground. All of them had been cut through their bases and they collapsed like a row of cut trees.
• • •
“FIRE!” The pods entered normal space above the ground and opened fire with all four disruptors. The beams swept around them and then the pods disappeared and Eve’s command reappeared. Eve sprinted toward a disruptor tower half a mile away and marveled at how much ground the pods had cleared. Her tactical began beeping and she looked up in the corner of her visor. A long column of heavily armored vehicles were moving into the field of disruptors. Eve continued to run watching the ground around her. She raised her right arm and extended four fingers, she heard the instant ping and made a fist. The missile shot out of her back magazine and flew at blinding speed toward the armor convoy. It arrived over them and exploded in a blast that rolled forty of the armored vehicles and set the rest on fire. Eve never looked toward the convoy, she continued her sprint toward the next tower.
The Legends looked out of their gigantic armored residence and saw all the disruptors around the residence were dropping in a huge circle. All of them within twenty miles were burning or toppled to the ground and still the towers continued to fall. They would pause, then hundreds of them would collapse and then the steady destruction continued as the giant circle grew larger. “They are removing our ground defenses.”
“Why?”
The Leader looked at the others, “Once they’re clear, I believe they will be coming here.”
The Second’s thought was filled with rage, “Let them. They’ve not see what we can do.”
The Leader looked at him, “Would you like to go show them now?”
The Second’s rage evaporated in an instant, “We should do it together.”
The Leader showed his disgust for the Second and looked out at the towers as they continued to fall. “Set the disruptors to fire continuously around them.”