Turning back to Jack as 24 inch beams pierced the cloud around the Decoy Comm. “I want to assure you that when we find your family they will grow to appreciate what correct thinking can do for society by the time they come out of one of the reeducation Camps we are going to set up on all the Republic’s Colony Planets Turner.” Smiling. “That is if they are not executed for wrong thinking as examples. We figure only a quarter of the population of each planet will have to be executed but it could go as high as half. Don’t worry everyone in the end will think as Enlightened Democratic Communist’s without expressing any improper thoughts.”
“Yes and the Democrat liberal Academia deciding what is properly enlightened thoughts are. Right? Though how you can call yourselves liberal when you will not tolerate dissent of any kind is beyond me but then that is just another Democrat Communist Liberal lie.” Jack took aim at what he could see through the quickly thinning cloud as he waited to break out into the open.
“Who else you moron. The stupid masses that vote for the prettiest political ads and eat made up stories by news anchors and talking heads mouthing the same old key words picked by our Elite Politically Enlightened Democrat officials specifically to influence how and what they think on the nightly news? Hell it only takes a few months of hearing only nice words about one candidate with only derogatory words against and snickers when short out of perspective touched up clown clips of the opponent is on the screen to influence the stupid masses. They couldn’t form a proper independent coherent thought if their lives depended on it unless we plant them there.”
“What can I say, we are just morons Captain? Oh by the way, surprise!” The Phoenix burst out into clear Space. “I see your ugly ass Captain. Weapons, all guns clear to fire Charley 1, fire torpedoes Beta 1.” The Phoenix flung itself out of the cloud and Jack pulled the trigger and the pair of monster guns hanging under its winged body fired at the same time jerking the ship back and sending Jack forward into his straps. The concentrated focused beams turning out to have a much harder kick than they had thought and programmed into the inertial dampeners. A half second later they fired again and again the crew hit the straps as torpedoes streaked out to the sides and ahead of the DD one at a time to run down the sides leaving plenty of room for the guns to shoot without taking out torpedoes.
A Dozen more times he fired sending the big powerful beams up through the ass of the Battleship destroying its engines and blasting deep holes up through the insides of the Battleship knocking out the battleships 4 engines. Then as the guns fell silent on cue, the torpedoes hit one at a time without even one point defense system gun even firing at them. The few point defense turrets on the stern having already been taken out by the Destroyers 8/5inch and 5/3inch mounts.
Explosions had already started wracking the Republic Battleship from the inside (before the first torpedo hit), continued as each consecutive torpedo tore itself deeper into the ship flying first through the damage from the 16inch guns and then from each previous torpedo. The Blackhole warheads (equivalent to small atomic bombs) that were reflected by the electromagnetic navigation screen on the spider Battleship Hulk only the weeks before, did not waver since the Navigation Screen on the Republic Battleship was not even on as the Battleship waited for targets to come to it as it sat at the entrance to the famous Maze all ships had to go through to get to The Rocks primary Staging Station.
Jack pulled up as he flew past the Battleship with fire coming out of every hatch and opening, only getting a fraction of a second to see with his own eyes penetrating the armored hull that most everything inside the hull aft of the armored decked bow was just one big mass of flames, plasma and fire. The only exceptions were a few sections of the core hull with lots of additional armor like the Bridge and the core rooms down the middle of the ship, but in that infernal, they could not last long.
Closing his eyes he turned the DD away from the dead ship and back up the freeway toward the New Home Corridor. Passing the Company Transport that was now a Hulk with hundreds of 24 inch penetrations clear through the ship and then the last Tramp ship with geysers and clouds coming from the hundreds of 5 inch holes in the side. Jack realizing that the Battleship must have finished destroying the Tramp while he was running around to attack from the stern without him seeing the gun flashes. The cloud of consumables and wreckage growing around both of the widely spaced Transports proving that no one could have survived the attacks.
“You attacked from my stern. How did you get there? We had you locked in front of us. You couldn’t have gotten around us that fast.”
Opining his eyes to see the Battleship’s bridge on the screen slowly filling with smoke. “Sorry moron. Trying to explain simple battles tactics to such a politically correct and enlightened Captain with so much political muscle is a waste of time. You should have gone to a few tactical classes. It is a shame you are still alive and not most of your crew. Sickening. But you will die with them in a few minutes Captain. I just hope you go to hell and not with your crew.”
“Captain, escape pods leaving the battleship. Looks like we have survivors.” The Phoenix’s sensor officer said.
“Comm, call in the closest transport to pick up survivors and a DD for escort before they leave the freeway.”
A marine Captain stepped onto the bridge coming to attention. “Admiral, I request permission to board and take the battleship sir.” On several of the large side screens from different perspectives from probes that had been launched before and after the attack. Slagged equipment, flaming bodies and sections of inner decks were spewing out the stern pushing the big ship toward the Comm signal where the Captain had thought the Phoenix was hiding.
Jack turned and shook his head. “Captain, that hulk is going to be one solid inferno in another few minutes with nothing but incinerated bodies left in its thick armored hull. You don’t want to go over there. The fools who redesigned the damn thing were so busy adding armor upfront they couldn’t be bothered to even add the minimum in the ships ass. Though that may not have made a difference. The ship was dead when we fired. Though if I had known they didn’t add armor to the stern I would not have stuck 6 torpedoes up its ass and most of the crew probably would have survived long enough for you to take them and the ship. Sorry Lieutenant. I had to make sure I knocked out its power rooms. At least it looks like they had enough armor around the Fusion core so maybe it won’t… well anyway, looks like the Engineering Chief got the core scrammed in time before he died.”
Jack couldn’t even finish the sentence as he closed his eyes again so he did not have to watch the ship or the Captain die. Though he was finding it very interesting listening to the Captain and his Bridge Crew. Jack tried to concentrate on taking the DD back to the New Home corridor. Trying to stop thinking about killing the bitch Captain Leslie that had caused so much pain and death and would probably continue to for years even if he killed her now.
Shaking his head trying to get his mind off of Captain Leslie, Jack realized that he had one more job to do and turned the Phoenix around. He had to find out just how big the fleet was getting ready to wipe out TF-58 and that was on the other side of The Maze. At least they could just slide through the cloud bypassing any checkpoints and then stay far enough inside the cloud on the other end and let the Recon drones do the dangerous part.
The Marine Captain looked at the screen showing the smoke starting to bellow out of consoles and hatches around the bridge and the screaming Captain trying to get his bridge crew to do something. Though there was nothing they could do. “Yes sir. I really feel sorry for the crew that had that for a Captain.”
“Admiral, should we cut the signal from the Battleship sir?”
Jack took a deep breath. “No, he and his officers are saying a lot of incriminating things that will stand up in court since they know they are going to die. Not to mention all the intelligence they are providing.” Opening his eyes and looking around at the Comm Officer. “You are recording this right?” Then to her affirmative. �
��Make sure you have at least 3 separately recorded copies of it in storage. No one is going to believe what these sorry ass holes are saying without multiple time stamped recordings.” The Captain and his bridge Officers were doing their best to transmit messages to every congressman on earth and officer back at The Rock that had helped them or were in their chain of command in an effort to get help to save themselves. Though Jack failed to see how their benefactors or the Cabal could help them now. At least they were so busy trying to save themselves they weren’t transmitting anything about the battle or the ships they had destroyed or the message the Company Captain had tried to give them. Even if their long range Transmitters were working which they weren’t.
Jack felt a little guilty not reminding them about the armored trunk that lead to an armored lifeboat just for Bridge personnel that still had to be open and safe since the bridge was still transmitting. But after killing 4 Transports in cold blood and getting most of what were probably innocent crewmen killed he had no sympathy for the Captain or his bridge Officers. Besides, if they had even bothered to do the basic minimum training, they would already have known about the escape trunk.
Taking a deep breath Jack rubbed his face as he gave into his better side and hit his Comm. “Captain, you and the Bridge crew can still get to your…”
“Shut up you moronic Navy militant. If I wanted to hear you squeak I would have ordered you to speak. You got lucky and scored a few lucky hits and as soon as my damage control crews make repairs I will finish you off.”
“Captain your ship is dead and you will be dead to in a few minutes if you do not leave.”
One of the bridge Officers yelled. “Just how the hell are we supposed to leave? We are trapped you stupid monkey!”
“Shut up!” The Captain yelled. “There is only minor damage to the ship and as soon as reinforcements arrive and we make a few repairs, we will kill you Turner. You improperly educated unenlightened monkey!”
“Are you crazy Captain? Look at our own instruments.” One of the officers said to the Captain. “Our ship is a fucking Roman Candle spewing its guts out its ass. At least forty life pods have already left the ship and you haven’t even ordered abandon ship. They had to eject or they would have died. We have to get out…”
The Captain grabbed a pistol from under his chair and shot the Officer through the head at point blank range. “Enough of this defeatist talk. I will not have a mutineer on my bridge. Now get me The Rock so I can report to the Congressional Admiralty and order a repair ship sent out with replacements for the crewmen I am going to execute for abandoning their posts. Gunners, open fire on the life pods.”
“But sir all long range communications are out. We have been trying. We can’t….”
The Captain pointed the pistol at the Comm Officer. “You will open a channel now. You hear me. Use the codes and names I am about to give you. They would not dare ignore me.”
The smoke had not gotten any thicker on the screen in the last few minutes with the bridge consoles fires now out and isolated from the rest of the ship but he knew it was only a matter of time.
“Yes Captain I will follow your directions to open a channel to The Rock.” The Officer properly opened a channel following the Captain’s instructions but the screen remained blank. In desperation the Comm Officer said. “Open Chanel to the Rock Captain.”
“About time.” The Captain started addressing the blank screen as if someone was on it. Calling them by name and talking for several minutes that included threats when he evidentially did not get the answers he was wanting. Then continued to call and talk to many others, even repeating himself. Jack could not believe who and what he was saying as the Captain kept babbling on.
Jack was starting to feel sad for the delusional Captain as the DD made its way through the Maze. Stopping to check corridors crisscrossing that area of the cloud when they came to them before going around them. The signal from the dying battleship bouncing from repeater to repeater down the narrow strait the DD was making in the cloud.
Then a crack opened up in the side of the Battleship’s Bridge. It was only a hair line crack but it was enough for the bright hot plasma that filled the hull of the big ship to start coming through into the bridge. A hair thin sheet of plasma started spewing into the compartment incineration crewmen it touched before they could get out of its way. The hair thin sheet rapidly grew as crewmen tried to get away from it only to have the plasma flood the compartment in only a few minutes with the screams of dying Officers. The Captain still sitting on the Command Chair screaming threats at someone on his screen was the last one to die. The plasma now turning their bodies into blackened charred flaming lumps as the chairs and consoles started to burn and melt. The Battle camera behind armored crystal showing every detail as the bridge became a crematorium.
“Admiral, permission to cut the transmission?” The Lieutenant asked trying to keep from puking.
“No.” Jack tapped a side screen and the image on the main screen changed to the engineering compartment and a crew desperately trying to escape. Cutting their way into an escape trunk that had been blocked by a warped armored hatch. “Comms, you doing this? Keeping us connected to the Battleships inner systems?”
“Yes sir, I infiltrated their systems when we first piggy backed onto the original signal between them and the transport. As long as they have working hull antennas. I count over 500 crewmen have escaped in pods so far. Possible another hundred if these crewmen can reach their escape pods. It is hard to count very accurately. Most of them in the engineering control room you are watching. Crewmen that managed to escape the main engine rooms before the first torpedoes hit. There are more in the forward side torpedo rooms just below the first or lower armored deck. They are trying to get out through the torpedo tubes themselves but they are having a hard time getting the outer doors open. They are working the manual hatch cranks in each of the torpedo rooms now but they are running out of time with the plasma eating its way through the compartments toward them and the magazines.”
A couple minutes later. “Captain, the plasma seems to have stopped at the last main bulkhead before the Torpedo magazines and launch rooms. It seems to be holding for the moment. Hopefully it is well armored.” One of the side screens lit up showing a crew frantically cranking on the emergency torpedo hull door manual crank. Crewmen were changing positions taking turns cranking every minute. Smoothly keeping the crank turning as fast as it was possible to turn. “I just heard that it takes 10,000 turns for the manual crank to open the outer hull’s armored doors completely Admiral. They have a long way to go and little time.”
“Lead Recon Drone is now in range of The Rock’s main Staging Station Admiral.” The Sensor Officer said. “Getting readings on the fleet now and you are not going to believe them sir.”
Chapter 24; Not that dangerous of an Occupation
Jack slid the Phoenix into the New Home cloud following approach control’s instructions. Keeping the speed of the ship down. He was in no mood to celibate while still trying to talk himself out of killing Captain Leslie. And then he saw what he could not believe was even possible. “Approach control. What the hell am I looking at and how the hell did it get here?”
“Sorry Phoenix, we do not know what you are talking about. How what got here?” The voice seemed to be chuckling.
“The damn Spider Battleship Hulk that was attached to the Gama 13 station the last time I looked.”
“Oh that. Sorry Phoenix. They slapped some DD’s with Battleship engines on them and flew it over here in a couple of days. Welded down nicely in the central flat platform of the docking arms and construction locks. And by the way half of the original Spider ship that was the Gama 13 Station was brought along as well. Only about 50 decks were left behind attached to the bubble. The rebuilt Hibernation decks with some mining equipment and agriculture processing decks with the Admiral Flag quarters and some new docks was the only thing left behind from what I heard.”
In sho
ck Jack watched a carbon copy of the Phoenix pass him going in the opposite direction.
“Docking authority has granted your request and you will touch down on the pad in front of the Red Pepper docked in cradle 4 around the cargo handling deck. Pan and your staff will be waiting for you in front of the Red Pepper. Welcome back Admiral.”
“Thank you. Please contact the Red Pepper and request Captain Leslie be dockside when we land. Admiral Turner Out.”
“I will notify the Red Pepper immediately Admiral. Contact Docking Authority on 787 GHz. Approach control out.”
Jack approached the station with most of the new construction docks along the arms sticking out from the base of the Battleship hulk station filled with transports being worked on. Most having the new long poles that stuck out forward of each ship, along with other upgrades around their engines and bigger cooling fins. The ring of docks around the ex-Battleship’s upper armored decks were full of ships unloading equipment and supplies.
Jack sat the Phoenix down on the wide cargo handling deck in front of and facing the Red Pepper. He could see Pan and a group of people waiting for him in front of the Red Pepper. More importantly he could see Captain Leslie standing there with what looked like a smug grin on her face that suddenly baffled Jack. The Captain had the same exact grin his brother always had the many times he had gotten away with blaming Jack for something bad he had done.
Shaking his head as he climbed out of the pilot’s seat and headed for the hatch. The Lieutenant tried to calm him as she grabbed onto his arm. “You can’t kill her Jack. You have to find out what happened. It was just probably a stupid mistake and if not, you have to turn her over to Admiral Spencer. You can’t just kill her even if she did it intentionally. Though I can’t imagine why anyone would do that.”
“Damn it Lieutenant. You heard the Captains of the Company ships.”
“Yes but it could have been someone just taking advantage of the Captain’s mistake. You have no evidence that she did it. Hell the videos or what we could see on them, looked like the spy was male and not a female.”
Battleship Destroyer 2 (Battleship Destoryer) Page 93