Galactic Assimilation 2:: Empire Rising

by J. K. Mabrey

  "Varin," Dani said. Her voice trembled and the Rinada drifted uncontrolled for a moment. They almost ran into an RA, but Alpha four hit it hard and it swirled below them before exploding.

  Varin smiled on the screen, his full set of white fangs on display for all to see. He spoke with a deep and raspy voice. It was older sounding than Zavik remembered, but eerily familiar and chilling all the same. "Is that who I think it is in that ship? Why yes, I'm almost certain it is. No one tries to help their fellow human out in battles like Zavik Khan and his precious Rinada." He sat there, waiting. "Come on, come on, let me hear your voice, it's been far too long."

  Zavik scowled at the screen. He wanted to punch it, to punch through it and hit Varin. Dani regained her composure and half focused on the battle while keeping a glancing eye on the screen. Charra looked up from his viewer and said. "That's him, huh? I could rip his arms apart."

  "I would certainly like that," Zavik said. Zavik pushed the audio button and said, "It hasn't been nearly long enough."

  Varin laughed and said, "Ah, it is you. I would never forget a voice like that, so stern, so insubordinate...so angry." He smiled again. "And your counterpart?"

  "None of your damn business," Zavik said.

  "Oh, come on. Dani was her name, right? I don't remember. I just remember the screams, the begging. I wonder if she remembers them?"

  "Go to hell!" she said.

  "Now that I remember," Varin said. "Still together are we? How lovely. And this time, you will die together. I figured attacking your precious colony would bring you out. You're quite an easy man to predict, Zavik."

  "Zavik, I need more speed," Dani said.

  He snapped his eyes away from the screen and saw an RA flying in on them from the left. He drew some power from the weapons and gave them to the engines, and then returned to watch Varin.

  "Having problems out there?" Varin asked. "Do you like my new ships? I call them Etashi starfighters. They're much better than the RAs I have, but I have so many RAs it just makes sense to use them where I can. And have I introduced you to my new Etanu Dreadnought? I can assure you it is the largest ship in the Galaxy, well suited for my plans."

  "You're not going to win," Zavik said. "We're not going to let you destroy this colony."

  "While I must admit your defenses here are better than expected, I will still prevail, and the rest of the Galaxy will soon fall to my rule."

  "That will never happen," Zavik said.

  "It is already in motion," Varin said. "It is inevitable. But you needn't worry, Zavik. I will destroy this colony and then I will destroy Earth. You humans are not fit to live in my Galaxy, and I will cleanse you from it."

  Zavik shut the radio off and turned off the screen. "Zavik?" Dani asked, her voice trembling but soft.

  "We have to stop him," he said. "He will try and take over the Galaxy, and he might just have the power to do it."

  "Not while we're around," Charra said.

  "The capital ships!" Dani shouted.

  Suddenly the Etanu Dreadnought and the three Red Moon ships began to move towards the Earth ships. Heavy streams of fire came from the ships, impacting the bow of the Earth ships. Blue flashes of light sparked where the red lasers hit. The Earth ships returned fire and drew in closer.

  "Dani, set a course to fly by the capital ships," Zavik said.

  "You can't be serious," she said.

  "That's crazy, Zavik," Charra said. "If we get too close, we'll be toast."

  "We have to drive him away," Zavik said. "If we can destroy some of the Red Moon ships, I think he'll run away."

  "What about his Etanu ship?" Charra asked.

  "That's his flagship," Zavik said, "he won't want it to get destroyed, but I don't know what it'll take to destroy it." He switched on his radio. "Admiral Nathan, are reinforcements coming?"

  "Zavik, yes, Earth is scrambling to send more ships," he said. "ETA ten minutes."

  "We just have to survive until then," Zavik said.

  "Easier said than done," he said. "Our shields are taking a beating. We're going to concentrate as much fire as possible on the left most capital ship, see if we can't destroy or disable one of those."

  "That's a good plan, Admiral. If we do enough damage and reinforcements arrive, I know he'll flee."

  "Just to come back with a bigger fleet," Admiral Nathan said.

  "We'll have to worry about that then, let's just make sure we're around for that to be a problem."

  Dani flew the Rinada and its Alpha squad along the side of the left Red Moon dreadnought. Alpha two fired a few laser blasts at the hull. Small blue circles rippled out from the hit like a disturbed pond after a stone dropped in, but there was no other effect. They flew down the length of the ship. The large Etanu dreadnought was on the other side of the Red Moon ship so they were shielded from its wrath. Laser fire trailed behind them from the ship as well as a few Etashi starfighters and RAs that had taken notice of them. The weapons on the capital ships were designed for tracking other large crafts and capital ships. They were not well calibrated for locking onto fighters. Zavik thought his shields could take a hit or two from the dreadnought, but he did not want to find out. The energy each of their blasts put out was ten times that of the Rinada's even when full power was routed to its weapons. The fighters trailing them were more accurate and a few hits landed on their rear. Zavik was thrown forward slightly as the Rinada tilted down from a hit on the upper side of the rear. Brax continued to fire away, but the fighters kept their distance. He did catch one RA on its side and it went careening into the side of the Red Moon ship. A yellow fireball erupted feet from the hull and was enveloped in a blue haze.

  Brax turned the gun to the dreadnought but his fire seemed to have no effect on the shields. "These shields don't look to be weakened by our attack at all," he said.

  "It will take a lot more firepower than we can muster to penetrate their shields," Zavik said. "The StarCruisers will have to take it down."

  The Rinada reached the end of the Red Moon ship and pulled around for another run along its side to get back to the front. The RAs and Etashi flew over and between the Rinada and Alpha squad, another RA caught a blast in the center of its hull and erupted as it flew over the ships. Alpha one broke formation and pulled further away from the other ships. An Etashi starfighter had gotten in front of him and he meant to destroy it. He fired several shots and two found their target. The shields flickered slightly.

  "Alpha one," Zavik said, "get back in formation."

  "I've got this one," he replied.

  An RA pulled up on his tail and began firing on the Katana. He swerved back and forth to shake his tail.

  "Dani, we have to help him," Zavik said.

  "If we pull up too far, we'll be in the line of fire of the Etanu," she said.

  "Just do it."

  The Rinada and the rest of Alpha squad gave chase on the RA. They were now just out of targeting range for the Rinada and the laser blasts from Charra missed by mere feet. Alpha one took a shot from the RA and jerked to the right. Smoke trailed from his right engine. Alpha three fired on the RA and his aim was true. The fighter exploded in a yellow fireball that quickly went dim. Spinning pieces of burning debris littered the area in front of the Rinada. Alpha one continued to fire on the Etashi fighter and another two laser shots hit its rear. It spun wildly and dove to the left, crashing into the side of the Red Moon ship.

  Alpha one slowed down and regained formation with the Rinada. The smoke from its rear was thinning and he looked to be in good control of his ship.

  "Are you hit bad?" Zavik asked.

  "Doesn't seem to be too bad," Alpha one responded. "I've lost full thruster power on the starboard engine, but it's still operating at sixty percent capacity."

  The formation crested over the top of the Red Moon capital ship. Zavik saw the large dreadnought peering over the back of the ship. It was immense. The wide trench running down the length of its hull was large enough to engulf the StarCr
uisers. It was easily the largest ship Zavik had ever seen. He had never even heard of anything so large. It made the Red Moon ships look like transport vessels, not capital ships capable of wiping out squadrons of fighters and going toe-to-toe with space stations and StarCruisers. He wondered what Varin intended that ship to do. It could probably control an entire system singlehandedly. It would certainly strike fear into any system it entered. It commanded respect or it would take your life, but not just your life, the lives of everyone you cared about, everyone you loved. It would take not just your house, but your village, your city, your culture. It would wipe you from the face of the Galaxy without thought or remorse, without preservation or honor. That ship was his show of ultimate power, that whatever Varin wanted, he could have, he could take, he could destroy. Any who opposed, he would make an example out of. And now he wanted to make an example out of Garos. He hated humans, and he was going to show what happens to things he hates in his Galaxy. Humans weren't even fit to be slaves to him, they were only meant to burn.

  The ship fired at their formation. Large laser blasts streaked between the ships. Dani dived for cover back behind the Red Moon ship. Alpha squadron followed her lead, but Alpha four lingered a second too long. A deep red laser hit the side of his ship, engulfing the entire ship in a red haze. The ship disintegrated on impact, the laser blast was so powerful that it continued on its trajectory unfazed by the insignificant ship. As the blast moved on all that was left was a slowly expanding cloud of ash and twisted metal. Dani lowered her head at the sight and closed her eyes. Zavik gritted his teeth.

  Alpha two yelled, "Cory!" Then added a barely audible, "No."

  "That ship's targeting computers are well equipped for fighters," Zavik said. "We won't stand a chance if we attack it directly."

  "The fleet is moving in on this Red Moon dreadnought," Dani said.

  "Charra, give me a sit rep," Zavik said.

  "Three of the StarCruisers have moved into position around the Red Moon ship, the others appear to be drawing fire away from them. Two destroyers are coming in, ahead of us, firing heavy on the Red Moon ship. Two of the battleships have moved in between the Red Moon ship and that Etanu monstrosity."

  "How are they doing?" Zavik asked.

  "As good as can be expected," Charra said. "The battleships look like they can take a beating, but I don't know how long they can last against that firepower."

  "I still think if we can take out one or two of these Red Moon ships, Varin will give up this fight."

  "He didn't bring a lot of ships to this invasion," Dani said.

  "I don't think he expected to find any resistance," Zavik said. "He was making his moves in secrecy. He wanted to just silently wipe out Garos while his forces took other planets, more valuable planets. This is just a personal matter for him."

  "We've got eight fighters on our tail!" Brax said.

  "I thought you were watching our tail?" Zavik asked.

  "I am," he replied, "that's how you know we have eight on it and didn't find out when a blast ripped through your hull. Now get us out of here."

  "Alpha group, split up," Zavik said. The fighters crisscrossed in front of the Rinada. Two RAs, tracking opposite ships slammed into one another and spun out of control. One exploded a second later while the other crashed into the hull of the Red Moon ship. Dani sent the Rinada into a dive and three ships followed. An RA and two Etashi fighters. Brax fired on them, but they were just out of his effective range. His shots missed by feet. An Etashi caught the Rinada with a trail of fire and the ship listed to the right, throwing the passengers off balance. The alert for the shields flickered briefly before returning to normal. Zavik glanced over at Dani, but her eyes were still focused on the space ahead of them.

  The Etashi fighter fired a missile at them. "Missile, incoming," Brax said.

  "I'm trying to shake it," Dani said and she cocked the controls to the left. The Rinada spun on its center axis and while inverted, dived lower still. The missile followed her path precisely and more laser blasts caught the rear. One laser blast hit near the front and the window flashed briefly as it was lit by the blue shield that absorbed the blast. Brax turned his focus from the Etashi fighters and aimed for the missile. It sped closer, its speed unmatchable by the Rinada even at full power. A laser blast from the ship caught the missile's tail and it spun wildly in the vacuum of space. Its explosion was small and Brax thought underwhelming. He knew if it had hit them, it would have caused serious damage, if not destroyed the Rinada completely.

  The Rinada continued ahead, flying underneath a destroyer ship that had pulled up alongside the Red Moon ship. The destroyer's turbolasers were pummeling the Red Moon ship's side. Its shields were a constant flickering of blue shades as every second brought more and more fire on its hull. Zavik fired a concussion missile at the ship for good measure, but it just exploded on the surface without damage.

  A StarCruiser sat above the destroyer, all of its weapons trained on the Red Moon ship. Suddenly the Red Moon ship glowed a dull blue all over before it faded away in a flash. The laser fire now impacted the unprotected hull, finally finding metal to tear through. Fires erupted from the side of the ship where lasers hit. In a matter of seconds, the side of the Red Moon ship was eaten away and burned by hundreds of laser impacts. The ship began to turn, but it was too late. Lights began to fail on the ship as systems started to shut down. The return fire from the ship ceased and it slowly drifted up without any power to hold its position. The Destroyer and StarCruiser kept firing on it. They wanted to rip it in two, and Zavik understood why. It's what Varin would do to their ships.

  Zavik saw a corvette ahead of them explode. It was deep in the thicket of fighters, providing support to the Katanas, but the Etashi fighters were too much for it to handle. The engines erupted and sent flames shooting out the front of the ship, through the cockpit. A battleship sat next to the Etanu dreadnought. It was focused on taking down the now destroyed Red Moon ship, but the firing from the Etanu proved too much for even its exceptional shields to handle. The ship flashed briefly, Zavik just caught a glimpse of it, before a laser blast ripped through its steel hull. Five, six, seven more laser blasts shot through the ship and it fell into four burning black pieces. Battleships were the third largest spacecrafts in the fleet behind the specialty carriers and the well armed StarCruiser dreadnoughts, and the Etanu ship destroyed it with ease, he thought.

  Alpha Squad regrouped with the Rinada and Dani turned their attention to another Red Moon dreadnought. She took the Rinada under the Etanu ship trying to stay out of its range. When they emerged on the other side, the Red Moon ship was already locked in a heated battle with the U.E.F. ships. Two StarCruisers were ahead of it, a battleship had moved above it, and two destroyers were moving along its outer side, opposite the Etanu ship. A corvette streaked through the space between the Etanu and Red Moon ships, peppering a number of Etashi fighters with laser fire. Several of the fighters were destroyed before a direct hit from the Etanu obliterated the small corvette. Shards of twisted metal, glowing white, continued on a straight path before finally dimming to nothingness.

  "That thing's got to have a weakness," Zavik said.

  "We don't have enough time to analyze it," Dani said.

  "It's going to take more firepower than we've got here to bring it down," Charra said. "I don't register any change in its shields since the battle started."

  "Focus on the Red Moon ships," Brax said. "They can be taken down with enough concentrated fire. At the end of the day, Varin is still a coward. If we can take out most of his fleet, he will run away. He's already proven that."

  Dani slipped the Rinada under the Red Moon dreadnought. A turbolaser affixed to the underside targeted them. The blasts missed high before sweeping low and catching the front of the Rinada. The window flashed and the shield alarm buzzed in his ear. If any of the Katanas had taken that hit they would have been destroyed instantly. Dani pulled the Rinada up, skimming the smooth surface of the Red Mo
on ship. Brax fired ahead of them, his shots mostly glancing off the shields, the others being absorbed in a bubble that formed from their hit. Zavik launched a missile that just impacted on the surface. Fire and sparks ballooned from the impact and ran over the Rinada as it passed through the superficial explosion.

  "We're not doing much good out here," Zavik said.

  "Only the capital ships can penetrate these shields," Dani said.

  She turned the ship towards the front and flew into a squadron of RAs followed by Etashi fighters. The Rinada's front was hit several times by their lasers, but the shields had recovered and handled the attacks well. A laser blast from Alpha One hit an RA straight on and it erupted in a blaze as it passed in front of the Rinada. Charra hit another RA with the underside cannon and it disintegrated in seconds. Brax focused on the Etashi with the heavy cannon. He locked onto one circling lazily behind them and fired multiple leading shots. The Etashi flew into four consecutive shots. The fourth ripped through his shields and severed the fin from the cockpit, taking half of the cockpit with the blast. The ship began to spin and then exploded.

  Dani took the squad near a StarCruiser and used the help of the capital ship to mop up the rest of the RAs and Etashi that followed. As she turned back to the Red Moon ship, the battleship that was positioned atop it split in two. Fire crept from the center of the ship and bowled its way to the front and rear, sending plumes of fire and ash out along the hull of the ship. Flames ran along the outside of the ship, consuming the entire structure. The rear jetted forward as the front tilted down. The rear section began to push the bow down as the engines lost all control. The burning nose of the battleship rammed into the Red Moon dreadnought. The shields strained at the pressure sending out streaks of blue lightning. The lightning stopped and fire consumed the rear of the Red Moon ship. The other U.E.F. ships fired every weapon they had and the front and port side of the Red Moon dreadnought was quickly covered with burning holes. The nose of the Red Moon dreadnought lifted up as the battleship continued to pressure the rear. The underside took a beating from the StarCruiser ahead of it. The reactor on the dreadnought ruptured and a central explosion spread throughout the structure. The U.E.F. ships kept firing on the doomed ship as a great fireball consumed it and the battleship above. The fireball slowly grew larger and larger. The U.E.F. ships pulled back as did Varin's forces.