by Sid Kar
“Alright,” Tollvyk said, “We shoved those rockets right up their…”
“Toll please,” Raptor said and Tollvyk quickly held his tongue.
“Three Mercurian battleships moving into position against us,” Horyett said reading off his scanner, “moving down into low orbit.”
“They are separated apart at least fifty miles from each other,” Barryett said looking at his screen, “No doubt they were spread apart to knock off the planetary defenses, but that means we can run past them and join General Bakus’ battle fleet in space.”
“That is a sound plan VC Barryett, but I want them into low orbit for our superweapons,” Raptor said, “Capitan Avyk, switch all power to shields.”
“Yes sir,” Avyk replied.
“But be ready to release excess power to concentrated SuperLaser upon my command,” Raptor said.
“Will program it in,” Avyk said.
“Capitan Alvina…” Raptor said but she had already guessed his order.
“Switching all energy available to lasers to the SuperLaser system,” Alvina said.
“Good,” Raptor smiled at her, “Seems you have anticipated the move I am trying to make here. Now Col. Tollvyk, coordinate the launch of Tsar Rocket with Alvina and her laser crew. I won’t be able to give energy to SuperLaser for more than five to seven seconds before our shields need it back to hold up against simultaneous attacks from three battleships.”
“Yes commodore, on it right away,” Tollvyk said. Tollvyk and his junior rocket officers opened a separate channel to Alvina and her laser officers to coordinate their firing.
“I have to remind you Commodore,” VC Barryett said, “Once we use up our superweapons, we won’t have any wild cards left to get out of a difficult fix. The Army recommends their use in emergencies except when they are part of a battle plan.”
“They are,” Raptor replied, “And I am only going to use three of the five.”
“Enemy has launched rockets,” Horyett said, “The close distance of spaceships and planetary gravity’s influence makes the exact number difficult to fathom but approximately three to four hundred.”
“Hold steady, I want them to come down more,” Raptor said, “Bigger the grip of Nestor’s gravity on the battleships, the less likely they are to escape our superweapons.”
“Rockets impact in T minus 10 seconds,” Horyett said.
Everyone in the room eagerly watched their displays. This was the first time a Starfirian spaceship was fighting Mercurian battleships and they did not know what to expect. Their anxiety sprouted beads of sweat on their foreheads in a cold, air conditioned environment.
“Zurryvk, load the Battle AI program known as Ravager,” Raptor said.
“Battle AI known as Ravager uploaded to Starship battle controls,” Zurryvk replied.
A voice spoke out in the room: ‘Ravager reporting for combat duty’.
Then the enemy rockets started impacting the Conquistador and megaton explosions rocked its outer hull.
“Shields holding steady,” Avyk said.
“Ravager, Commodore Raptor authorizing the use of superweapons,” Raptor said and entered his code on his station computer.
Ravager spoke: ‘Authorization accepted, awaiting Vice-Commodore’s concurrence.’
Starfire Army regulations required that the superweapons could only be used with dual authorization and concurrence of the two senior most officers abroad a Starship that carried such weapons.
“Vice-Commodore Barryett concurring in authorization,” VC Barryett spoke and entered his own code.
Ravager spoke: ‘Superweapons ready for use’.
Besides being the AI that checked and verified superweapons authorization, the Ravager program was also the one that had inbuilt strategies and technical specs of these weapons and it was the program of choice to calculate and plan their use during battles.
“Shields suffering degradation, down to 85% effectiveness,” Avyk said.
The room was pin drop silent in anticipation. This number was still pretty good but they were neither using any other defensive mechanism, nor maneuvering to avoid the incoming attacks and this was ratcheting up the tension in the command room at a rapid rate.
“Ravager identify the enemy battleship most vulnerable to Tsar Rocket and tag it as Mercurian One,” Raptor said.
Ravager: ‘Identified and tagged as Mercurian One’.
Raptor looked at his screen and it was the Mercurian battleship that was on their right that the AI Ravager had tagged. Raptor understood what Mercurians were trying to do, they were moving in from three directions: one from the top and two from the sides planning to force Conquistador down and down towards the surface to escape the barrage of rockets. With maneuverability and speed degrading with increasing gravitational pull, the spaceship would be unable to either fend of the attacks or escape out to space.
Except, this was a Starfirian spaceship, Raptor chuckled to himself and this raised a few brows amongst the nearby officers. These aliens had no idea that Commodore Raptor and the starship crew had gone through innumerous training scenarios such as these. They had no idea what was coming for them, Raptor fortified his determination and rallied his concentration.
“Alright,” Raptor said, “Switch excess power from the shields to SuperLaser system, target Mercurian One and hold steady.”
“Power transferred,” Avyk said, “Shields operating at normal capacity.”
“Capitan Alvina and Col. Tollvyk,” Raptor said, “Fire away, it is your show.”
“SuperLaser system activated,” Alvina said, “Firing now.”
A massive red beam of laser approximately two meters in diameter shot out from one of the laser cannons on the outside surface of Conquistador and rushed towards Mercurian One. It penetrated the defensive shield and cut a hole in the exterior of the Mercurian battleship and the heat from the laser widened the hole to a rough diameter of five meters.
“Shields degrading to 50% effectiveness, “Avyk said.
“I can feel that,” VC Barryett said, “Vibrations.”
“Tsar Rocket launched,” Tollvyk said, “Away and onwards to the enemy.”
SuperLaser system was not an actual superweapon; it was just a more intense form of concentrated laser blast. All the energy available to every single laser cannon was channeled to a single laser beam that could cut through a shield in a single strike. The big danger was that this left the starship firing the super laser significantly vulnerable as it had less energy for its own shields and it could not use its lasers to destroy incoming rockets.
Tsar Rocket was the superweapon and it launched from the tube nearest to the laser beam and as the beam was automatically shut down to prevent damage to the rocket, it traced the exact path of the laser towards the hole it had created. Tsar Rocket packed a punch of a hundred megatons and theoretically could disable a spaceship even with an external strike on full shields. But Raptor wanted to take no chances. He had no idea how strong Mercurian Empire’s shields were.
Mercurian battleship’s repair robots rushed to the hole when the laser was shut off and sprayed a thick liquid that started cooling rapidly to create a solid layer but Tsar Rocket’s nose cone was hardened with the strongest metal alloy Starfirian army workshops could produce and it crashed through the solid patch and exploded once inside.
“Alright!” Tollvyk cheered abroad Conquistador, “A perfect hit. An internal strike.”
The Mercurian battleship was eviscerated by the hundred megatons of energy that the Tsar Rocket’s explosion unleashed in all directions. Even Starfirians with their starship more than thirty miles away felt the shock wave in the form of shaking under their feet.
“Shield down to zero in two spots,” Avyk said, “We have taken damage.”
“Shut off SuperLaser,” Raptor said to Alvina, “Switch all excess power to the shields. Bring on line LaserStorm system and fire at will at enemy rockets.”
“Excess power back to shields,” Av
yk said, “Shields back to 65% and slowly climbing.”
“SuperLaser system shut off and LaserStorm defenses activated,” Alvina said, “All intact laser cannons firing away.”
“That is good,” Barryett said looking at his screen, “Finally we are destroying most of the incoming rockets and they have been cut by one third.”
“Time to cut one more Mercurian’s cards,” Raptor said, “Ravager, tag the enemy spaceship above us near the low orbit as Mercurian Two. Prepare to strike it with Plasma Arc.”
Ravager replied: ‘Preparing Plasma Arc and calculating optimum strike solution.
“Toll, give me a hundred Ober rockets on standby,” Raptor said, “They will need to cover the Plasma Arc’s journey.”
“No problem Commodore,” Tollvyk replied, “Hundred Ober rockets ready to launch.”
“We are fast depleting our arsenal,” Barryett said.
“We will be returning home after the battle,” Raptor said and he could hear sighs of relief from the crew even amongst the noise of the battle and the tension of the combat. “I don’t suppose the House of War wants us to single handedly fight the Mercurians first to last. They will have to send a fleet, perhaps even our own Sixth Frontier Fleet.”
“Let’s hope so,” Barryett said.
Ravager chimed in: ‘Sirs, the solution is ready. I have identified the ideal strike area on Mercurian Two for our Plasma Arc.’
“Send to our terminals,” Raptor said, “What is it?”
‘Based on the analysis of the heat signature of Mercurian Two it is my estimate that it is a conduit for fuel to feed their reactors. Blueprints for spaceships like that are not in my database but the highest statistical probability is for a fuel conduit’: Ravager spoke.
“Wait a minute,” Raptor said, “Cutting the main fuel conduit will power down their ship and all its systems including counter rockets and shields and defensive lasers. It will only disable the spaceship but not destroy it.”
Ravager: ‘That is correct. I do not possess any data on that type of spaceship to identify a better target location; however I can try to estimate but with a lower probability of success.’
“NO…no,” Raptor said quickly, “crippling it would be even better than killing it. We can compress its operating components and weapons systems and take them back to Starfire Empire for analysis. And we can take prisoners.”
“I agree, that is a better outcome,” Barryett said, “A war is coming between our two empires. To know of our enemy while he knows not of us will be of a great advantage.”
“Alright then,” Raptor said, “Tollvyk, I want your Ober Rockets to escort the Plasma Arc Weapon to the enemy.”
“Done,” Tollvyk said, “Such a tactic is already programmed into our battle computers and I have just activated it for the hundred rockets on standby.”
“Colonel Garyett, prepare to fire our second superweapon the Plasma Arc at Mercurian Two,” Raptor said.
“Ready sir,” Col. Garyett replied. He was a quiet officer whose station was just below Commodore’s station and to his left and he had three junior officers to aid him. The superweapons officers were rarely involved in most tasks of the starship’s command room. They were exempt from even the most combat duties. The superweapons were complex and very dangerous and it was deemed proper to have a separate section that fully specialized in handling and using them. The Tsar Rocket was controlled by the rocket officers section under Col. Tollvyk but the remaining four superweapons were under Col. Garyett. He and his junior officers were pleased that finally they were able to contribute to their spaceship’s battle.
“Launch Ober Rockets,” Raptor said.
“Ober Rockets out and away,” Tollvyk replied.
“Release the Plasma Arc,” Raptor ordered.
“Plasma Arc released,” Garyett confirmed, “On the tail of our rockets.”
The Plasma Arc was a long, elongated arc of superheated plasma that could cut through just about any shields or metals. It was a gigantic version of plasma arcs used in industries for cutting away metal but this was huge, stretching almost two hundred and fifty meters from end to end and it was heated to temperatures far higher than industrial arcs, indeed it approached temperatures close to the interior of stars.
Suffice it to say, such temperature could not be safely generated inside the spaceship and thus when this weapon was launched from Conquistador, it was at first two machines carrying mini fusion reactors that were connected by a rod two meters in diameters and two hundred fifty meters in length, that shot out of the compartment and rushed towards the enemy spaceship with the rockets in the lead. When it was safely out of the spaceship, the reactors kicked in and rapidly turned up the heat, igniting the fuel that filled the connector rod. The heat melted away the metal revealing a bright, red plasma arc that the two machines on either end carried forward through space.
The Mercurian spaceship was either unaware of such a weapon or did not realize that it had been fired at them. The two spacecrafts on either end of the Plasma Arc registered as two rockets on their gravitron scanner. The heat from the arc did give out an unusually bright signature on their thermal scanner but it just confused its command staff. The Starfirian rockets rushed forward and the Mercurian lasers attempted to engage these rockets. Eighty-Six rockets were destroyed by the lasers, the remaining fourteen impacted on the Mercurian ship but its shields were close to 90% effectiveness and the metal that made up its exterior was of excellent durability and all fourteen rockets were absorbed with only minor damage.
But then came the Plasma Arc while the Mercurian lasers were occupied with targeting the rockets. The Plasma Arc slashed into the exact location that battle AI Ravager had pinpointed and it cut through the electromagnetic shield and the metallic hull like hot knife through butter and while the two spacecrafts on either end were destroyed on impact with the hull, the plasma arc kept flying forward on its momentum, cutting everything in its path with precision and finally it slashed the entire fifty meters wide fuel conduit to the main reactors and went out through the other side of the spaceship fizzling out far away in cold space but not before leaving a huge gash behind on either sides of the spaceship like a man slashed through and through with a sharp hunting knife.
Mercurian Two shut down, its lasers stopped firing, its shield collapsed to 0% effectiveness, a shower of sparks all across the length and breadth of the spaceship gave notice of uncountable short circuits, all its systems stopped operating, all except a few emergency lights went out leaving most of the spaceship in the darkness of space and the power reactors imploded on themselves due to a sudden and instantaneous withdrawal of their fuel.
“Mercurian Two has disappeared from all electronic and thermal scanners,” the signals and electronics officer Hedgewyk said.
“It is still on the gravitron scanner,” Capitan Horyett said, “But no more rockets are being launched from it.”
“Alright,” Raptor said, “The Plasma Arc must have been successful. Knocked out dead in space.”
“There is a remote chance that they caught on to the Plasma Arc in time, destroyed it and instantly shut down all of their systems to deceive us,” Barryett said.
“Vice-Commodore, I respectfully disagree, the heat signature of Plasma Arc is unmistakable on our thermal scanners and it went all the way,” Hedgewyk said.
“I concur that the possibility is very remote, but it is there,” Barryett said, “They are in orbit and can float on their own and not crash to the ground due to a lack of power. They could take such a chance.”
“Shutting down all systems near instantaneously could wreck a starship,” Hedgewyk protested.
“We don’t know the capabilities of Mercurian space technology,” Barryett said, “I don’t believe it but as a vice-commodore I have to point out every possibility that a commodore might have overlooked.”
Raptor was slightly annoyed at this insinuation but he had to agree that he had not considered this tactic as a potential
response from the enemy. Still, if Mercurian Two was just playing dead, he would deal with them later. There was still one more enemy left firing away rockets at them.
“Forget them fellas for a moment,” Raptor waved his hand, “Ravager, tag the remaining enemy spaceship as Mercurian Three. Col. Garyett prepare to fire our gravity weapon: the Micro Black Hole.”
“Bringing MBH weapon on line now,” Garyett replied.
“Alvina, how are our lasers doing against the last remaining enemy’s rocket attacks?” Raptor asked.
“Commodore, the LaserStorm system is destroying more than 95% of them,” Alvina replied, “handling one spaceship’s attack is not too difficult.”
“We can give it right back to them two for one,” Tollvyk said, “Just give the word Commodore, just give the word.”
Raptor laughed and the room followed him. With the fight now down to a one on one dual against a much smaller spaceship, the crew was surging in confidence.
“Commodore, Col. Toll is right, we can finish them off in a punch for punch fight with lasers and rockets,” VC Barryett said.
“I know, but as you said our regular arsenal is depleting and I don’t know how much more of these Nestorian’s battle we will have to win for them,” Raptor said.
“Very well,” Barryett said.
The space battle between Nestorian and Mercurian battleship was raging furiously elsewhere but they were triumphing in their little corner of the space.
“I am going to need your rockets anyhow, Toll,” Raptor said, “Col. bring 50 Ober Rockets on standby and program them to maneuver to the rear of Mercurian Three and then shoot up vertically.”
“Any reason to believe their bottom is weaker?” Barryett asked.
“No, I have another plan,” Raptor replied.
“Rockets programmed to your specifications, ready to fire,” Tollvyk said.
“Commodore, a Nestorian spacefighter is coming up from our right and flying straight towards Mercurian Two,” Horyett said.
“What the hell for?” Raptor expressed irritation, “does he really want to take on an entire battleship by himself?”