by Terry Frost
“Admiral, great to hear your voice, sir. I was starting to get concerned because all of our attempts to contact you were not successful.”
“Glad to hear your voice too, Colonel. Please, tell me you have brought good news from Planet Abor.”
“Excellent news, Admiral. The Aborians sent ten of their Warships they call Predators, and I have to admit they are bad ass ships, sir. We are waiting for you and the Zurguts in the Centa System. My plan is to wait here for your arrival. How soon do you estimate you will be fired up and ready to leave the Kaptin System, Admiral?”
“I’ll contact Caid Tikit and have him stand ready. The Caid has taken command of the Zurguts and Burseq Amiik is now his Second. As far as Colossus, we should be able to jump in the next thirty minutes. See you in the Centa System. I wish to tell you job well done, Colonel.”
“Thank you, sir. Before signing off I need to inform you of something about the Aborians. They are militarily strong and the entire planet of Abor is controlled by female warriors. I think you will find them to be extremely capable in matters of war, Admiral.”
“Females, you don’t say. Well, I’ll be damned. Can’t wait to meet them. Allen, out.”
Chapter 41
The Elimination Hive Armada had been waiting for Colossus and the Zurgurts for two full days when finally they arrived in the Centa System. Colonel Hammer, Commodore Jeeves, Burseq Maalik, High Mage Cina, and Tage Doni, met with Admiral Allen, Vice Admiral Petrov, King Gorvik and Caid Tikit in Room Forward on Colossus.
Colonel Hammer escorted Cina who was looking extremely beautiful in her battle armor into Room Forward and introduced her to Admiral Allen, then King Gorvik, and the rest of those in the room. Hammer understood why his commander’s face lit up in admiration as his eyes gazed upon the beautiful Aborian.
“Welcome to Colossus. Please take a seat and we will begin our briefing,” Allen said as he pulled out the chair for her next to him.
“Colonel Hammer, will you bring us up to speed on what you located in the Imus System before continuing on to Planet Abor?”
At the close of the meeting, it was agreed upon they would strike out for the Beggars System first before moving on to the Imus System. During the meeting, Burseq Amiik reminded them of the large red planet in the Beggars System, that the USC Perseus’ Dart piloted by Captain Cargon, had recorded a squadron of Hive fighters descending down into the planet’s atmosphere.
Suspicious that the planet was hiding a possible base on it, Admiral Allen agreed that they should stop there first and maybe they would find a Hive base and destroy it. It was also agreed that the Armada would begin Elimination Hive at 8:00 am the next morning.
Allen thought it a nice gesture to ask the High Mage if she would like a tour of the massive generations spaceship before retiring for the evening back on her Predator. She accepted his invitation and was thrilled at the prospect of touring the largest vessel she had ever seen while traveling to many systems in her part of the galaxy.
The following morning at 7:00 am King Gorvik was having a discussion with Queen Junal and it wasn’t going as well as he thought it would.
“My precious, Queen. What kind of king would I be if I stayed on the Colossus instead of commanding our Zurguts while representing the proud people of Daak?”
“Yes, I agree that you have to fight in the mission to kill those vicious insects, but why can you not stay here with me during the battle? The thought of raising our son without his father is unbearable.”
“Junal, you will not lose me in the battle. Daakie Zurguts is the best of all other alien warships of their size. I’m confident our Zurguts will provide the protection required to keep your king out of harm's way. Besides, I will be on the Zurgut commanded by the indestructible, Caid Tikit.
“Now you must obey your king and do not worry. I shall return after we have rid ourselves of that murderous Hive. Nothing in our kingdom or any other species in this galaxy will be able to exist without fear of being attacked by them. I must go now, my Queen, but I will see those beautiful golden eyes upon my return,” Gorvik said as he kissed his lady.
****
A few hours after their departure, the Armada popped out of hyperspace near the red planet. Unlike the first visit, this time there was a Hive nest in orbit of the red planet. Every commander knew it might be possible they could come out of their jump and find any number of nests in the area. Since there was only one present Caid Tikit asked if his Zurgut could use its gamma-ray weapon on the nest. They needed to eliminate it as quickly as they could while hoping the nest would be destroyed before sending for help.
With Admiral Allen giving the Caid permission to fire the gamma-ray weapon, Caid didn’t hesitate. The Zurgut bucked, then a bright, dark blue beam left the Zurgut and impacted the Hive nest. Five seconds later there was nothing of it left except for space debris.
High Mage Cina hadn’t seen the powerful weapon before and was impressed with its power. But she became concerned when she noticed the Zurgut was motionless and called Colonel Hammer to ask if she could be of assistance to Caid Tikit and his crew.
Hammer looked at Burseq Maalik, then asked for permission to explain why the Zurgut was temporarily disabled. He knew the after effects of using the weapon was a closely held secret with the Daakie military.
Burseq Maalik consented and Colonel Hammer asked Cina to go to his private channel so he could explain without the information being broadcasted over an open channel. Before too long the Zurgut had powered back up and was awaiting further orders from Admiral Allen.
Allen ordered Captain Sokolov with co-pilot Major Hoser to take the Perseus, and Captain Slain with co-pilot Commodore Jeeves to take the Striker, down through the planet’s atmosphere to determine if there was indeed a Hive base on the planet. Once in the atmosphere, the two Battlecruisers unleashed two squads of hornets and one recon dart to scan for Hive activity.
Immediately upon releasing the hornets both Sokolov and Slain were receiving calls for assistance. They had found a very large base located down into a deep canyon and were being attacked by at least one-hundred Hive fighters.
The two Battlecruisers quickly came to the aid of their fighters. Major Hoser and Commodore Jeeves were manning the eight large ion cannons and were making short work of dozens of Hive fighters.
Captain Slain had the Striker directly over the center of the base and dropped a disruptor bomb. Soon after the bomb exploded, nothing on the base was operating. Within the hour, the partial Armada’s task force destroyed all fighters and the Hive base.
Shouts and cheers were heard from the Striker, Perseus, and their pilots, coming over the com channels. It was obvious the Elimination Hive mission had begun as a total success, and without a single loss of spacecraft or Armada member’s lives. Next up was the main battle that would take place in the Imus System.
The Armada had left the Beggars System and was on their way to the Imus System. But before departing Beggars, the commanders of the Armada were asked to open channels to the Aborian Predator commanded by High Mage Cina.
Admiral Allen’s biggest concern was about the Hive in the Imus being warned about the Armada actively attacking their bases and Hive nests. Surprising the enemy, as in any arena of war, always favors those that are able to strike undetected. He was secretly praying the latter was true.
High Mage Cina requested to allow her Predators to be the vanguard when they come out of their last jump sequence, which would bring them just outside of the Imus System.
No one objected, but none had seen the power of the Predators that was still alive, other than Science Officer Faadin, and he wasn’t along at the beginning of Elimination Hive. When asked why she would put her ships at risk as the point of the spear, she said, “Stealth. Our ability to cloak our ships, simple as that. Caid Tikit, your Zurgut gamma ray weapon is indeed a powerful weapon.
“But the delay caused by the use of the weapon is a detriment to the ships that fire them. If what Colonel Hamm
er says was true at the time of his discovery of the dark planets in the Imus System, you will not have time to be powerless for any amount of time.
“I believe I’m correct in the assumption that none of you have witnessed the power of the Aborian Predator. Our Predators are loaded with powerful weapons but our most impressive is our Photon Torpedo.”
“Our engineers on Mars had been working tirelessly on projects that were showing promise in the Photon Sciences. But we left our Solar System before I was able to find out if they had succeeded. I look forward to seeing them in action,” Commodore Jeeves said.
“In any case, I think it advisable that my Predators be the vanguard for the rest of this mission.” After deliberation about the Aborian’s request, everyone was in favor. Before making their final jump to Imus, Admiral Allen communicated ship-wide to all souls on board Colossus and told them to be ready to go to Red Alert the moment they come out of hyperspace.
Chapter 42
After twelve hours of hyperspace, the battle-ready Armada Alliance had finally reached the outskirts of the Imus System. After a short deliberation, the High Mage informed the Armada she was sending one Predator, commanded by Tage Doni into the system to observe, as the Predator would remain cloaked. As soon as she has located Hive activity she will come back to the coordinates of the Armada with the information.
High Mage Cina knew she wouldn’t hear back from her trusted Tage because there are no communications while the Predator is cloaked. But if she did hear from her then that only meant one thing. Tage Doni had to uncloak to fire her ship’s weapons and neither Cina or Doni wanted that to happen.
Every commander in the Armada also knew about the communication problem while being cloaked but that didn’t keep them from nervous anticipation while waiting for Tage Doni’s return close to three hours later.
Tage Doni reported to her commander first with a short briefing then High Mage Cina informed Admiral Allen and Colonel Hammer she would teleport them to the bridge of her Predator for a briefing of Tage Doni’s scouting. Daakie, Caid Tikit, Burseq’s Maalik, Amiik, and, Baanin, were instructed to teleport to her ship as well.
When all commanders were standing on the Predator’s bridge they got their first look at the impressive Adorian Warship. It was obvious to Admiral Allen that these aliens were much more technologically advanced than Humans or the Daakie.
“Commanders, welcome to the Falcon. Tage Doni is waiting in the Room Liberation to discuss her mission’s findings. If you would, follow me please.”
Another advancement in technology was waiting for the Alliance commanders. An Aborian Predator is equipped with camera’s that can record during cloaking and does not send any kind of traceable signal while recording.
Once something is recorded it can be shown in hologram form. That would be something Commodore Jeeves will become very interested in analyzing how a camera can perform such a task. Hopefully, if he is really nice High Mage Cina will allow the technology to be shared. Of course, the sharing would have to be confirmed by Empress Katin.
Room Liberation was an Aborian idea of a conference room and was round and sat low, similar to a small coliseum, with areas for people to stand above and look down on the proceedings. Hammer thought now why can’t Room Forward look like this?I do my best work while being observed by a crowd.
The commanders were admiring the cool-looking conference room as they took the eight steps down to the bottom of the room. Once all were seated, Tage Doni walked up to the table with a small remote in her hand then pushed a button on it.
The recording popped up out of thin air and was centered over the large table. The clarity of the recording was astounding and well defined. The hologram displayed the two dark planets and just as when Colonel Hammer and the Striker crew saw during their short visit, the space around the planet was filled with Hive nests, alien fighters, and cargo transports disappearing down into the two planets.
Burseq Maalik was the first to speak: “It seems we have found a major base of the Hive or maybe even their homeworld. How many nests do you think there is, Tage Doni?”
“Our sensors indicated approximately one-hundred, but the number does not include what might be hidden from our sensors on the other side of the two planets, but from learning about the Hive’s attack on your homeworld Burseq Maalik, this could be their homeworld, but I don’t agree that it is.”
“I’m thinking this could present a problem of being outnumbered, Admiral,” Colonel Hammer said.
Looking at High Mage Cina, Admiral Allen asked, “How many of your proton torpedoes does it take to disable one Hive nest?”
“Only one to disable, two to destroy. One Predator carries eight proton torpedos, Admiral.”
As he looked around at the other Commanders, Allen said, “that’s eighty proton torpedos. We all know the Zurguts have the gamma-ray weapon and many ion cannon banks and four disruptors each.
“Colossus has two Battlecruisers fitted with an Annihilator Beam, two disruptors, two nuclear long-range missiles, and two ion cannon banks with four cylinders each. Plus in their bays are two quick response hornets equipped with eight small ion cannons and a front-mounted Particle beam machine gun.”
“It would please me for you to inform this committee of Colossus’s capabilities, militarily speaking, Admiral,” said High Mage Cina.
Allen’s eyes couldn’t break eye contact with the High Mage for a few long seconds. It was as if he was in a trance. “Of course,” Allen said, while trying to shake the trance off, thought this Aborian female’s powers of seduction could rule a galaxy.
Referring to Colossus as a female, which all USC Navy Commanders do, Admiral Allen started with, “She has an Annihilator Beam, a Subtle Knife, two Rail Guns, one on each side, forty-eight large ion cannon banks, sixty smaller ion cannon banks, a large inventory of disruptors, and nuclear missiles.
“In her bay are a dozen hornets and three squadrons of combat wasps and that does not include a variety of transport vehicles. Last, but not least, is a regiment of battle-tested Marines. I hope you are pleased with the information, High Mage. If there is nothing else, this is the plan for attack.
“The Aborians will take up a position as the vanguard, followed by the Daakie Zurguts, then by Colossus. Once in the target area, the Battlecruisers Striker and Perseus will depart from Colossus and begin to engage the Hive as well.”
Every commander motioned their readiness and agreement and was waiting for Admiral Allen to order them to their ships.
“Alright then. May good fortune be on our side today. Prepare to get to it,” Allen said.
The last two to walk up the steps to the exit of the auditorium was Admiral Allen and High Mage Cina. When Cina reached the top level just before Allen, she waited until he was standing next to her at the exit.
“May I have a private moment, Admiral?” Cina asked.
Without waiting for his answer, she took hold of his arm and pulled him away from the exit and forcefully pushed him against the wall. Looking into his eyes she said, “I liked it that you were willing to please me,” she said as she smelled his neck while making a purring sound. It also pleased me that you refer to your ship as a female. Hopefully, you and I can have some time to explore other things that would please me, Arvin Allen.”
She turned from him and walked out the exit. Allen stood perplexed and realized he had been holding his breath and thought what the hell was that and how did she know my first name?
Chapter 43
The entire Armada sped directly at the first dark planet and the second they were picked up on the Hive’s sensors, a dozen nests turned from the planet on a heading straight at the Armada. The Zurguts vectored to the left and Colossus to the right. The Striker and Perseus flew out of Colossus and took up positions on both sides of the big ship. The cloaked Predators were flying in a V formation, and the second the nests came within firing range, the Predators uncloaked and started firing proton torpedoes.
Tage
Doni was the first commander to fire at the lead Hive nest. “Fire,” she said and one proton torpedo hit the nest dead center and it blew into a thousand pieces. Realizing it only took one torpedo, she thought only one. It only took one to take it out.
High Mage wished she could see the faces of the Hive commanders when her fleet of Predators suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Caid Tikit was the next commander to dispense of a Hive nest though he had taken several projectile hits before laying waste to the nest. The hits weren't disabling but his Zurgut was bleeding a small trail of smoke coming from the aft part of his ship.
“Caid, you’ve been hit. Bring your Zurgut to a position behind me,” Maalik pleaded. Tikit did as requested and positioned his ship behind Maalik.
The Armada knew to wait for the nests to stop spinning so they could lower their shields to fire and to send out their fighters which made timing difficult for the Armada’s weapons to do the most damage without blowing their charges on shields.
The Aborians had done a fantastic job eliminating eight of the remaining eleven nests. Tage Doni noticed on her screen that her ships had cleared and opening straight to the first planet. She called Admiral Allen and asked if he would send two of his nuclear missiles through the opening and down to the planet’s surface.
“Acquiring a firing solution, and three, two, one. Missiles away,” Allen transmitted. In less than twenty seconds the missiles had hit the surface of the planet. From their positions, they could see two very large explosions climb to the beginning of the planet’s stratosphere and begin to spread out.
In addition to the main explosions, High Mage Cina, and Admiral Allen and his crew in Command Central saw thousands of secondary explosions on the ground and higher up. Whatever the explosions came from, had created large fireballs in the atmosphere of the planet.
“Multiple targets coming from the other planet orbiting this one and coming into our view screen, Admiral,” Commodore Jeeves said. Jeeves had been assigned to help General Dubois quickly come up with firing solutions for Allen and the Colossus.