by Lee Guo
On the bridge, cheers roared, however minute, before calm replaced the blue display-filled room.
The newly arrived human juggernaut Pusan hovered to Asterix's right, as if to examine the gigantic chasm, then accelerated at full gravitics deeper into it.
Then, another human vessel replaced Pusan on Asterix's right. The newly arrived human heavy-cruiser Argonan, too, examined the battlefield before heading deeper into the chasm to support Dajex and Zero.
What a sore sight to see! Never before did Donovan expect to see so many reinforcements appear so fast!
Then, before his eyes could blink, two new snake heavy-cruisers also entered the chasm from the other side. They fired onto the friendly forces already inside.
Everywhere, the battlefield wrought with laser beams crisscrossing and slamming into starships in armor melting explosions. Already, Donovan could see this becoming a massive battle, because when he watched the outskirts of his holomap, he saw three additional human heavy-cruisers and four snake light-cruisers, heading inward from their respective sides. It was a gathering like no other. The chasm was huge, spreading across by as much as eight hundred kilometers in diameter, and five times as long. Asteroids dotted the walls with occasional holes where units could seep through to enter the chasm. The occasional asteroid hovered inside the chasm, like obstacles.
In the next eight minutes, ten new starships, both enemy and friendly, entered the chasm, and when fifteen minutes passed, twenty new vessels jammed the chasm's walls, while firing on the ones from the other side—A total of forty-six vessels occupied the gigantic cylinder shaped battlefield.
Donovan's Asterix now became but a speck of dust among the giants. Laser beams slammed across the void in a kaleidoscope of movement. Starships tried to weave in and out through the chasm's walls in an attempt to get flanking shots while using asteroids as cover.
Somewhere, off in the distance, a gigantic flash occurred, and everyone inside Asterix's bridge watched as an antimatter roach…a snake K-ship, detonated beside two human starships. The blast skewered the big and powerful Argonan's shields and wrecked into its inner hull. Donovan didn't need sensors to tell that the Argonan was neutralized. Its tag team buddy, a human heavy-cruiser named Presario, also limped like a dead animal. Within seconds, the snakes inside the chasm preyed on the two limpers until they literally broke apart.
A message flashed on Donovan's armrest, from Admiral Prancort, it read, "Watch out for K-ships!" If this fact wasn't already deadly apparent, the message solidified it.
CHAPTER FOUR
Flag Bridge, Mobile Battle Fortress VSF Epsilon Decimus
Prancort needed to win. He had to. He must beat this monster, this opponent from the other side. Prancort rarely lost in any fleet simulation. Back at the Academy...
Concentrate! Concentrate, Prancort de Gaulle!
Victory is always possible! You just have to find the solution!
The solution was Block D-9-D. A big organic chasm, where it was much easier to control his units in there because there were so few asteroids, and he could essentially think of the entire battle there as one.
Block D-9-D...
Besides, it existed a vital transport route. Control of ‘the chasm’ would allow anyone to attack the nearby Blocks with ease. But by holy science, the K-ships were wrecking his strategy! He needed to concentrate on the K-ships and simultaneously focus on his original game plan, but he couldn't.
Concentrate harder!
Worse, his forces were weak—already sixty percent of his pre-battle forces were dead, compared to only fifty percent of the snake's. Did he have enough firepower to hold D-9-D? It would be the only way he could still win, even after all those K-ship attacks.
It suddenly dawned to him—he’d already lost sixty percent of his fleet. It was nowhere near his previous optimistic estimates by any margin. The original game plan was kaput! He realized that even if he were to win the battle now, it would be at most a pyrrhic victory where the costs were so high, it wouldn't have been worth it.
Prancort gripped the damn railing and closed his eyes. He could only work with what he’d been left with now. Even if he’d already lost so much, he still had to perform his best.
D-9-D... the chasm...
He must take D-9-D, but he didn't have enough ships.
But wait! Prancort slapped his head. He did have the battle station! "Captain!"
"Yes, admiral!"a bearded man below answered.
"Move us to Block D-9-D."
"We gonna find ourselves some meat, admiral?"
"You bet, captain."
Inside the Cylinder
Bridge, Juggernaut VSF Asterix
Fear crept through Donovan's veins like black lava. The idea that a suicidal bomb-filled roach could come from anywhere and do devastation on any flotilla of starships felt—unsettling. His eyes cautiously scanned everywhere among the vast numbers of dots and projections.
Then, his armrest beeped. Message from Admiral Prancort. "Juggernauts Pusan, Asterix, and Javelin…combine with heavy cruisers Beaumont and Oxion, then move on the surface of the cylinder. Light cruisers Halek, Ferriera, and Proclyon will screen for K-ships during the flanking maneuver. With exception to Asterix, all starships will be moving at flank speed. Asterix will guard the rear. Proceed to coordinates 442,756,212 of Block D-9-D."
Wow, that was a lot of ships! Literally, a fifth of all ships in the Block—a major maneuver and if it didn't work, a great deal would be lost. Hmm... Donovan thought. The purpose was to get flanking position on the Snake units scattered across the cylinder, particularly the big glob of ten enemy warships on the other side's wall. Boy! What Donovan would do to sneak up a human-owned K-ship on that blob!
Unfortunately, humans didn't have any K-ships. So, he would be forced to settle with a flanking position. This must be the purpose, right? But why did Prancort assign Asterix the rear? The admiral must be aware of Asterix's reactor problem and that Asterix could only move at half speed!
Donovan suddenly felt awe at how much information the admiral was observant of to even be aware of Asterix's reactors. "Helm…Move us to coordinates 442,756,212 on the distant side of the chasm."
"But that'll put us in direct enemy fire!"
"No, not through a direct line. Maneuver us on the outside of the chasm's walls."
"Outside of the cylinder? Aye, sir."
First officer Rajek stood beside him. "Aren't there a lot of enemy ships outside the cylinder, sir?"
"We'll be moving along with a flotilla of eight ships, including ours. We'll be well guarded."
"But why assign us to be part of this flanking maneuver? We've got reactor problems," Rajek interjected.
"It must be because we're closest despite our reactor mess. Take a look at the orders."
Commander Rajek glanced at them. "Hmm…I see."
"Helm, go!"
Flag Bridge, Mobile Battle Fortress
VSF Epsilon Decimus
Prancort didn't like the fact that the only way he could win would be by out flanking his opponent, but his race had shorter, nimbler ships and he needed to press his advantage over the opponent's larger, more muscular ships.
The good news was now, he only had to monitor a much fewer number of ‘battle spaces’ simultaneously. It would allow him to concentrate better on the ones he did monitor, which mostly, involved the ‘chasm’ battle of D-9-D. All his remaining starships were coalescing at or around this point, such as the neighboring Blocks. This would be the most crucial moment of the battle, and he needed his attention to be undivided in order to win.
He could win, right?
The persistent threat of those K-ships occupied the back of his mind, but now he commanded his lighter units to guard against it, and as much as he wanted to worry, it would be up to them to keep his bigger assets safe. Prancort could not occupy his time scanning for small asteroids that looked like a K-ship in hiding.
This would be the best strategy…The most optimal stra
tegy. But would it be enough to win?
Prancort glanced to his right at Prion.
The woman stood, staring right back at him. The battle fortress's massive gravitic engines droned in the background, blending with the constant voices of the bridge crew below. "I don't know," she mused. "I don't know if it will work. But it's our best shot."
"Me, neither," Prancort, glanced back to his displays. When he looked over at Prion again, the woman was tapping into her controls. "Hopefully, we'll get there in time…Hopefully."
On the outer asteroid wall of the Cylinder
Bridge, Juggernaut VSF AsterixSenior Captain Donovan saw his Asterix on the holomap trailing behind the other seven starships of his convoy…in a daring flanking maneuver. The problem with such a maneuver would be that even if they succeeded in getting to flanking position, it would mean these same ships wouldn't be firing on the enemies inside the cylinder, as they needed to move on the outside of the chasm. So, if it did work, it’d better pay off extremely well. They needed maneuver all their ships in a flanking position quickly, and then do devastating damage once there.
The problem was… enemy ships were outside the cylinder, and the admiral knew they were out there, so it would be a very risky maneuver with much randomized rewards. But maybe the admiral knew more than Donovan did. He had to trust the admiral, even if he, a starship captain, didn't have faith in the tactic.
The bridge seemed quiet and calm, despite the turmoil of the previous battles they already suffered. Everyone on the bridge would get a reward for this, Donovan knew, because they’d already lasted so long, against so many. But what were rewards in comparison to the knowledge of their actions impacting the fleet's well-being, as well as humanity's?
All the more reason for Donovan to focus. He and his crew already went through so much, it would be—anti-climatic to fail the grand fleet at its crucial moment. "Shield status?" he called.
"We've recovered 20% during the battle while no one was shooting at us," said DC.
"Weapon's status?"
"187 forward laser mounts still functional," Carly at weapons answered, "I've got twenty functional mounts in the rear, and about sixty on our sides."
"Reactors and gravitic engines?"
"Half power on both, sir," helm responded.
"Thank you." Donovan stared on ahead at the map. The enemy hadn't moved any starships to intercept yet, but—Wait! His eyes opened wide. He saw what was happening. The enemy was opening a gigantic hole for his flotilla of eight ships to walk into. Purposely, and then, when his flotilla of flankers walked too deep into the trap, the enemy would close the hole.
Immediately, Donovan typed a letter to Admiral Prancort on his armpad. "Admiral, this is a trap."
He got no reply. Seconds passed.
Then, finally, a message came back: "I know. Continue on course."
Donovan felt perplexed. He wrote another letter. "With all due respects, why are we walking into it?"
The admiral wrote back, "In order for us to win, you must succeed."
Donovan sat back into his chair—and blinked.
Succeed.
Against that?
I must prepare for an attack from all sides. The enemy is waiting for us, yet the Admiral knows this and wants us to beat them. Donovan laughed.
The bridge crew around him turned to stare at him.
"Nothing," Donovan retorted, "I'm sorry. Return to your posts."
"Something funny, captain?" commander Rajek asked.
"Just what the admiral wants us to do. He wants us to walk into the devil's maw. And he needs us to break through it."
Around the bridge, many officers gasped.
"What do we do?" helm asked.
"Be vigilant, of course," said Donovan. "Helm, continue...on course."
Six minutes later...
"Captain!" weapons called out, "Four snake heavy-cruisers are coming in from the front of our flotilla!"
"I see them. Shoot them down!"
"Captain, two snake lighties are coming from above!"
"Shoot them with our side laser mounts. We can't turn towards them or we'll lose forward acceleration! Comm, alert the other ships!"
"They see them," said Comm. "They're shooting."
"Comm, tell them to concentrate fire! Tell them to concentrate fire on snake D19!"
"Aye, sir!"
All around Asterix, a gigantic laser war crisscrossed in between the snake ‘trappers’ converging on the flotilla and the eight human ships themselves. Asterix stayed in the rear. X-ray and gamma ray beams were not seeable, but the dust that turned into plasma was. Rather than shoot randomly, all human starships of the flotilla agreed to synchronize their fire on a single enemy at a time.
Donovan's judgment made him de facto squadron leader, as they blasted away a snake heavy three hundred kilometers in front.
A massive battle ensued, much like all the battles in the past, except this was only one part of a larger battle, involving many starships, both inside and outside the cylinder.
Fire! Fire! Fire!
Explosions. Hull fragments. Death.
Within minutes, it became obvious. Despite the enemy fire, the flotilla continued zooming past fiery wrecks of snake starships and asteroids of the cylinder below.
The eight human ships, including Asterix, kept shooting at the snake interceptors—the humans were winning. Minute by minute, human laser fire mowed down snake starships crossing their path.
The bridge crew cheered each time.
Donovan blinked and held his breath. This can't be it—I can see a snake juggernaut eight hundred kilometers away, hiding behind that asteroid. Then, I can see three other snake heavies behind that asteroid cluster above, sitting idle. They have more to attack us with. Why are they holding back? Why not use them, too? Attack all at once! First military maxim is concentration of strength!
Yet, the enemy wasn't attacking with all its strength.
Donovan suddenly wondered if the enemy commander might be suffering from some type of insectoid aneurysm or perhaps, overwhelmed with tasks...from elsewhere. Prancort is a genius!
"Captain, look!" helm pointed out, "One K-ship—coming in from the left, 45 degrees from our forward axis!"
Donovan veered his gaze to the side of the holomap. He could see it now! The dreaded roach-like K-ship—there! Holy science, those damn things look just like asteroids, until their gravity emitting legs sprout, and then they look like disfigured roaches. I could have sworn it was an asteroid. "All side laser mounts, shoot it down! Helm, turn our ship towards it and fire with our forward laser mounts!"
"Yes, sir! Firing!"
"Turning!"
"Comm," said Donovan, "tell the flotilla!"
"Yes, sir!"
Suddenly, six human starships in the flotilla fired at the roach, only four hundred kilometers away. The combined power of six starships' 1600 laser mounts overwhelmed the little creature at point-blank range. It exploded prematurely. The antimatter shockwave spasmed and collided with additional rocks and dust, creating a blast wave that smashed into the flotilla's shields now—as harmless as it could be.
Asterix's shields barely dwindled because of the range. Nor, did it affect the other ships in the flotilla.
"We got 'em!" weapons shouted.
"Keep on the look out!" Donovan warned.
"Sir, three snake heavies above and behind, they're moving behind us!"
Outside the Cylinder
Command Nexus, Heavy Cruiser CE Gro-Banok
Squadron commander Gro-Banok eyed his prey below. Cell protocol designated the ships by the name of the commander. Thus, squadron leader Gro-Banok's ship was called Gro-Banok. Additionally, when the commander changed, the ship's designation changed as well.
To outsiders, it seemed to be a difficult naming system that constantly shifted, but to Cells, who lived their entire life in a class hierarchy, attaching commander's names to starships was not difficult. It was made even easier, since some classes w
ere born to become mated with their ships.
Banok could now see on the Cell holographic display, which stood in a crevice at the very center of the command nexus. Railings kept all the fellow insectoids from sliding into the blue-green display.
This is very good, very good, indeed. Master Commander Roro Cro-Drignon purposely kept him and his two heavy-cruisers in reserve, high above the flanker fleet of eight human ships, in hopes of ambushing them when they passed and their backs were exposed. Better yet, they could not turn to face him, or they wouldn’t reach their destination, and if they did turn, other Cell ships from their front would then have firing arcs on the humans' rears.
It was a perfect plan. The human ‘flankers’ become flanked themselves. "All units, Gro-Zelsor, Gro-Camod, head downward. We will shoot the humans in the backs!"
"Yesss, squadron leader," came two replies in Gro-Banok's anterior lobe.
"Companion Insectoids, fire on their rears at the earliest opportunity!"
The prey was there with their backs turned. Yes, master commander is a truly gifted warrior, indeed!
Normally, the Cell instinct would be to attack with everything as fast as possible, to overwhelm the opponent. Such was the strategy often used during mating competitions and ancient clan warfare. But Master Commander Cro-Drignon taught an entirely different strategy. He taught patience and cunning, trickery and counter planning. The very reason why Master Commander was chosen to the task by all eight ‘warlords’ of the Cell Empire.
Squadron leader Gro-Banok felt glad. Glad, such a distinguished member of his race existed. How could the Cell Empire lose against these human worms with such talent as Cro-Drignon in our leadership? The Master Commander would take us to victory! Their land is ours! Territory goes to the strongest clan, such as it was, such as it will be!
"We are in position, squadron leader. Shall I fire?" said a minion.
"Fire! Are you a predator or a rat?" he hissed back.
The heavy-cruiser Gro-Banok and his two companion cruisers opened fire on the human flotilla below. Eight hundred gamma ray lasers jammed intense energy into the rear of a human light-cruiser. The cruiser's shields spasmed the majority of the initial blast, but within seconds, it splattered away. The next wave of grazers slammed into the weakly armored rear of the human vessel. The energy ricocheted inside the light-cruiser, blowing entire fragments like razor sharp glass inside a mammal's body. The human light-cruiser stopped accelerating and exploded.