by Libby, Seth
Liam watched as the Admiral’s shuttle slowly landed. He stood next to Commander Eric Dunklin, who had asked for him to be present. Liam’s opinion of the Commander had changed since their first meeting. He found that while Dunklin lacked confidence, he was quite intelligent. Over the past few hours, Liam, Dunklin, Evan, and Tim had been going over Tim’s plan. It had become quite apparent the young Commander was just as knowledgeable of military tactics and strategy as Liam and Evan.
The hatch to the shuttle lowered and down walked Admiral Kelvin. Everyone immediately snapped to attention as he strode from the shuttle. Coming to stand before them, the Admiral returned a quick and crisp salute before he spoke.
“Excellent work here, Commander. Everything looks in perfect order.”
“Well, sir, I can’t take all the credit. Lieutenant Commander Brennan and Lieutenant Maxis have been most valuable,” said Dunklin.
The Admiral looked from Commander Dunklin to Liam and Evan, but before he could say anything, Liam spoke up.
“Sir, the Commander is just being kind. We have done nothing more than give some idle thoughts.”
“Well, I seriously doubt they were just some idle thoughts; you are always the modest young one, Mr. Brennan,” said the Admiral, smiling.
“Yes, he is, Admiral. That’s why I am recommending him for a promotion to the rank of Commander and Mr. Maxis to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. While I know my words don’t necessarily hold much weight in that area, I can assure you, they deserve the rank,” said Dunklin.
Liam was astonished by this news. He turned to look at Evan, and he could see his own astonishment reflected back. The looks on their faces apparently must have been comical, because at this point the Admiral laughed.
“Congratulations, Commander. I do believe you are the first person to stun Lieutenant Maxis into silence . . . I didn’t think it could be done. As for your recommendations, I will review them, but I see no reason why they shouldn’t go through. I have found these two to be quite the officers. Now, you said something earlier of a plan to eliminate several battlecruisers?”
October 3, 2012, 11:00 a.m. ESTShenkar Command Base, above N-3
Krailsha studied the technical readout of the battle that had taken place. He wished they had been able to take this mysterious battlecruiser that had eluded them. It was definitely of Meshtrell technology, but from what he knew, that shouldn’t be. Perhaps the Meshtrell had escaped after all, or maybe this had been part of some lost expedition that these humans found. Still, according to Shizta, the Krazzeen had destroyed almost the entire enemy expedition, yet no wreckage could be found. With the enemy’s fleet so depleted, how could they have removed so much of the wreckage in so little time?
Something in Shizta’s story didn’t add up, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Krailsha knew one thing, though--these humans would pay for what they had done. He would see that every human was killed, and whatever limbs they had would be torn from their bodies. Krailsha was beginnings to suspect that these humans were in fact from the very same planet the transmissions they had recently discovered originated from. If this came to be true, then the question was, how did a race of such ancient technology come by Meshtrell technology? And the next question, just as pressing, was, how much of this technology did they possess? It was entirely plausible that they did discover some lost expeditionary fleet and they just happened to run come across the Shenkar’s advanced elements of the fleet, but this was stretching things at best.
Growling in frustration, Krailsha set aside the reports. He had a mission to complete, and his duty had always been first for him. He would assemble the fleet and proceed to the planet from which the recent transmissions had originated. Then once the planet was subjugated, he would return to this area of space and find these humans.
October 6, 2012, 10:06 a.m. ESTEDF Sacrifice, Command Bridge
“Sir, all groups have signaled in. We are ready to go,” said Lieutenant Sukita
“Okay, all ahead one-third. Bring us slowly out, and let’s see if they still want us. Don’t bring fold drives online yet . . . we don’t want to give away anything. Load all forward torpedo tubes and notify me when we have a firing solution,” commanded Admiral Kelvin.
October 6, 2012, 10:07 a.m. ESTNecro Squadron, Asteroid Field
Liam’s fighter hovered in space, looking out into the far distance. The Shenkar base of operations floated in space above N-3 surrounded by a fleet of Shenkar warships. Warships had been arriving regularly over the past few days, and the Shenkar fleet was growing quickly. Five battlecruisers were now part of a group of thirty capital ships, along with another twenty support craft. If they didn’t do something soon, the Shenkar’s fleet would be assembled in no time and Earth would be lost.
Turning in his cockpit, Liam looked up and behind him. Four Omega shuttles sat evenly spaced out. Turning back, he checked his flight board again for the third time. If this plan was to succeed, then nothing could go wrong in the slightest. According to his readouts, the Sacrifice had just now breached the lower part of the asteroid belt.
“Now let’s see if we can get their attention,” he muttered to himself.
October 6, 2012, 10:08 a.m. ESTShenkar Command Base, above N-3
Krailsha raised his plasma sword above his head as his three opponents began to circle him. They always tried the same maneuver and yet they never learned. Well, today it would cost them. Before they could successfully encircle him, he lunged forward, bringing his blade crashing down against his opponent’s own hastily raised sword. The sheer strength of his attack knocked the warrior off balance. As the warrior stepped back to regain his balance, Krailsha reached forward and grabbed his wrist, pulling him forward. He then drove the tip of his blade through the warrior’s eye socket. Without thinking, he released the captured warrior’s wrist and the body slumped to the floor.
Sensing the two other opponents closing quickly from behind, Krailsha ducked and spun to his right. A plasma sword missed his head by a few inches as he spun away. Completing his spin, he lashed out with his sword in the direction he expected the sword wielder to have been. Krailsha wasn’t disappointed as he felt he sword connect and heard the sound of sizzling flesh. His sword had sliced cleanly through the legs of his second opponent. A resounding thud echoed through the room as gravity took over and the rest of the warrior’s body hit the floor.
With Krailsha slightly off balance, his third opponent wasted no time in his assault. Swinging ferocious blows against Krailsha’s blade, the warrior attempted to knock the blade free. As his opponent swung his blade with all his strength, Krailsha sidestepped, knocked his opponent’s blade aside, and grabbed the warrior by the throat. Lifting him effortlessly off the ground, he crushed his throat. Holding the body off the ground, Krailsha studied the warrior. Dark green blood steadily dripped from the nose and mouth to hit the floor. A chime from behind Krailsha broke his examination of the body. Tossing the body casually away, he turned and retrieved his personal comm unit.
“What is it?” he commanded.
“Supreme Overlord, we spotted the enemy battlecruiser.”
“Where are they hiding?!” demanded Krailsha.
“They are not hiding, Supreme Overlord; they are attacking.”
It took several seconds before Krailsha could process exactly what the warrior had just told him.
“Attacking?” he asked incredulously.
“Yes, Supreme Overlord. The enemy battlecruiser emerged from below the asteroid belt and is headed this way. Overlord Trikreca has dispatched two battlecruisers and four light cruisers to the vicinity.”
“Very well. If anything changes, inform me immediately. I am on my way,” snarled Krailsha.
Grabbing the jacket to his uniform, he stalked from the room, knocking aside the warrior who had been stationed outside as he passed for not moving aside quick enough. In truth, the warrior had done nothing wrong, but Krailsha was irritated at the news. Why would these humans attack? They we
re horribly outnumbered. Something was definitely not right here, and he needed to get to the command bridge immediately.
October 6, 2012, 10:11 a.m. ESTEDF Sacrifice, Command Bridge
“Sir, we have movement. Two battlecruisers are moving toward us along with four light cruisers. It appears they have seen us,” said Lieutenant Sukita
“Give me a firing solution on their closest battlecruiser!” commanded Admiral Kelvin.
Seconds later, the tactical officer signaled a target lock.
“FIRE!” commanded the Admiral.
October 6, 2012, 10:12 a.m. ESTNecro Squadron
Liam watched as four heavy torpedoes streaked toward their intended target. These torpedoes were different from the ones Liam and his fellow pilots carried. These were a heavier version--just one would shatter the shields of a battlecruiser. Another thing about these particular torpedoes was that they had been modified with new image-recognition software.
Liam almost hoped the Shenkar were arrogant enough to believe they could just evade them. Four were a bit of an overkill, but then again, there was always the chance the Shenkar had interceptor technology. Information on the Shenkar said they didn’t, but Liam had learned that the Meshtrell’s information was severely lacking.
October 6, 2012, 10:12 a.m. ESTShenkar Command Base, N-3
Shouts greeted Krailsha’s ears as he stepped into the command center.
“We have enemy fire . . . four torpedoes incoming.”
“How far out are they?” asked Krailsha in a low yet carrying voice.
Startled looks greeted his question. It appeared his entrance had gone unnoticed.
“Do I have to tear someone’s throat out to get an answer?!?”
“The enemy battlecruiser emerged from below the asteroid field. Immediately, upon exiting the asteroid field, they fired upon us. The torpedoes are at an extreme range, and Overlord Trikreca will have no problems evading,” said the tactical officer.
Krailsha stepped forward to examine the holographic image of the battle unfolding. Overlord Trikreca was already shifting his ships out of the path of the incoming torpedoes. Something continued to bother Krailsha about this whole scene. Why fire at such an extreme range when these humans had to know the Shenkar warships would just evade? Continuing his examination of the scene, he watched as Trikreca’s ships finished their movement.
Suddenly, the images of the torpedoes shifted as well. All four torpedoes swerved toward the closest battlecruiser. Slamming his fist down against the console, he swore. The battlecruiser began evasion maneuvers once again, energy cannons firing in attempt to intercept the incoming fire, but the effort was pointless. The enemy battlecruiser just didn’t have enough time to get a proper targeting solution. The torpedoes began maneuvers of their own, evading easily. Krailsha could only watch in anger as the torpedoes slammed into the side of the battlecruiser one after another. The warship exploded in a great ball of fire, engulfing three of the nearby cruisers, overloading their shields and causing them to explode as well.
The resulting explosions of the cruisers in turn slammed against the shields of the next closest battlecruiser. The battlecruiser’s shields failed, and shrapnel tore through the side of the warship. Power throughout the battlecruiser failed, and the ship drifted dead in space. Seething with anger, Krailsha tore a panel from the front of the console and slammed it into the skull of the closest Shenkar warrior. The warrior was dead before his body hit the deck.
“GET ME THAT BATTECRUISER! ALL BATTLECRUISERS FORWARD! HAVE OVERLORD TRIKRECA LEAD THEM PERSONALLY!” he screamed.
October 6, 2012, 10:17 p.m. ESTNecro Squadron
Evan gave a yell of triumph as he watched the Shenkar warships explode, one after another. Clicking his comm unit, he spoke. “Ghost, this is Zombie. You reading me?”
“We are supposed to be under radio silence, Zombie--what is it?” asked Liam.
“Sorry. It’s just that we have been sitting here in silence for so long, and I am getting edgy. Do you think this is going to work?”
“I sure hope so, because we need to find a way to slow them down if Earth is going to stand a chance. By my estimates, we still have another two months before the Earth will be ready. Those estimates, however, were under the assumption we wouldn’t be able to destroy any of their battlecruisers, and here we have destroyed two so far, along with a Dreadnought, not to mention the cruisers we have also destroyed. If we can pull this off, the Shenkar will be down five battlecruisers.”
“Hey, Liam, can I ask you a personal question?” Evan asked quietly.
“Sure.”
“Do you think you will still be able to go through with it?”
“Go through what?” asked Liam
“Well, you know, in the beginning when we all signed up for this, we were all in a different frame of mind. We all had lost people we cared about and had pretty much given up on life. Consequently, we all volunteered for this suicide mission . . . only some things have changed for me now.” The last part he said in a quiet voice.
“When you say some things have changed, you mean Crystal, right?” asked Liam.
“Yeah . . . I just didn’t expect to find someone like her. I think I love her, and I believe she feels the same. Now with her in my life, I question whether I would still be able to just sacrifice my life. Whatshould I do?”
“Well, as your commanding officer, I have to remind you that you gave an oath to do your duty. But as your friend, I have to say, I know your pain. Granted, my situation is different--”
“You mean your love for Leah, don’t you?” Evan interrupted.
Evan’s question was met by a short silence for a few moments before Liam spoke. “Yeah, I tried to deny it to myself, but I finally had to admit my love for her. Let me ask you something now. When you and Crystal hooked up, did you feel as if you were betraying your wife?”
Now it was Evan’s turn to be silent for several moments, but finally he sighed and spoke. “At first I did, as did Crystal, but we realized that the people we lost would have wanted us to be happy. It has been a year since I lost her, and that is enough time to mourn, in my opinion. I will always love her and she will always have a special place in my heart. But as Crystal and I discovered, you can find love again and life can go on--which brings us to my situation now.”
“Evan, I think that in the end, you will do your duty. You have always had a tremendous sense of honor, and you never break your word. Also, you need to remember that we are not just fighting for ourselves but for the entire human race. I guess we can just wait and see what life brings us. Hell, so far we should have died several times over with what we have gone through. The Meshtrell sure dropped the ball on accurate intel on this mission. All we can do is . . . hold that thought, it looks like we are almost up.”
An indicator light lit up on Liam’s flight board that signaled for the squadrons to be ready. Studying the situation, he saw that the Sacrifice had turned and was making its way out of system, seemingly retreating from battle, with the Shenkar warships closing at full speed. The Shenkar warships consisted of three battlecruisers and eight various types of cruisers. At the rate they were closing, they would be within firing range in five minutes, just as they passed below the asteroid field. Liam knew they would never get that close, but the Shenkar didn’t. Switching to an open frequency, he spoke.
“This is Necro leader to all Omega shuttles. Go to full power; it is time to go.”
A couple dozen affirmatives signaled back their readiness, and Liam’s scanner showed the shuttles going to full power.
“Okay, let’s move out. Arm all torpedoes.”
At those words, Liam armed his own torpedo and then eased his throttle forward. Slowly, his fighter moved down toward the Shenkar warships. With a sudden jerk, his fighter stopped. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that his tow cable had gone taut. Slowly, he increased his throttle until his engines thrummed under the strain. Then as all the fighters and shuttles around him reached
full power, his fighter started to move slowly forward. Every centimeter forward increased the speed. An asteroid slowly moved behind them, long cables reaching out to the fighters and shuttles in front of it. Momentum built faster now, and soon they were moving at a deadly speed. Within moments, they broke the edge of the asteroid field, hauling their large payload behind them.
October 6, 2012, 10:27 a.m. ESTShenkar Command Base, above N-3
Krailsha watched the pursuit with anger seething through him. These humans had already cost him more than any previous battle in his career. Overlord Trikreca was under orders to disable the battlecruiser if possible. Krailsha wanted to capture some of these humans so he could take pleasure in tearing appendages from their bodies. The Shenkar warships were now passing below the asteroid field, closing within firing range.
As they passed below, small blips emerged from the asteroid field. Energy lanced out from the Shenkar warships toward the small blips. Indicators showed them to be the light fighters of the enemy and shuttles. Why would they have shuttles? Surely they didn’t believe they could board and kill the crews? But Krailsha’s answer to these questions came soon enough. Several massive objects followed the small ships out of the field. The enemy ships were towing asteroids--directly at the Shenkar warships. Whirling, he knocked the comm officer aside and grabbed the comm unit.
“Overlord Trikreca, halt pursuit. Ignore those ships and get your ships out of there! They plan to ram those asteroids into your ships!”
Krailsha turned toward the holographic table to see Overlord Trikreca’s warships all breaking in evasive maneuvers in attempts to flee from the oncoming asteroids. However, it was already too late for some. The closest asteroid slammed into the side of a turning battlecruiser, cracking the ship in half. The resulting explosion cracked the asteroid in half, hurling the two pieces in different directions. The first half collided with the bridge of the nearest cruiser, forcing the cruiser to enter a wild spin-off into the depths of space. The second half slammed into the engines of the second battlecruiser. That battlecruiser immediately died in space, floating before one of the reactors overloaded and it exploded.