by Saxon Andrew
The Tronan Fleets finally arrived at the filament and entered it at high speed. Embree saw the lead ships in his formations arriving at the intersection and looked at Shelly, “We’ll clear in twenty minutes.”
“How far will the Tronan Formations move during that time?”
Shelly looked at her panel and smiled, “Not far enough.”
Angel smiled, “I’m shutting down the filament starting at Heaven’s Star. Their Fleets will not make it out of the outer system before they’re stranded.” Angel shut her eyes and Embree looked up at the long-range monitor. The filament began disappearing at the star and quickly passed the Tronan Fleets a minute later, leaving them stranded in other space. Embree looked at Angel and she smiled, “It will take another thirty minutes before it disappears here. We’ll make it to the intersection.”
Embree smiled and looked at Shelly, “How far?”
“They are three-hundred light years from the intersection we’re approaching. There are no stars close to Heaven they can move toward.”
Embree closed his eyes and shook his head as he heard Angel say, “I’ve replaced the filament from Heaven’s intersection.”
He opened his eyes, “Why did you do that?”
“It has to be done to maintain the balance of the filament network. But don’t worry. The short time they were in the new filament they moved a long way from Heaven’s star. At their maximum speed, it will take them a hundred and nine years to make it back to the filament.”
Embree sighed. He didn’t know the life expectancy of Tronans but he did know they did not have the stores to feed them that long. They were stranded and would ultimately get to know starvation intimately.
• • •
The Second looked at his Scanning Director, “How far is the next filament?”
“Before the filament disappeared I determined that the filament it connected with is more than three-hundred light years from our current position?”
“And how far is the intersection we left to come into this system?”
“Six light years.”
“How long will it take to get back to it at our maximum speed?”
The Scanning Director hesitated before saying, “Close to two hundred years.”
The Second sat in his chair and the silence on the bridge was deafening. Finally, the Fleet Director asked, “What are we going to do?”
The Second looked at him and said, “I want you to send shuttles out and collect a portion of the stores from all of our surviving ships.”
“Why are you going to do that?”
“Because the Prime Director will know that something has gone wrong and will be sending a massive invasion force to defeat the enemy we’ve encountered here. We are going to go to maximum speed and attempt to get to within communication range of that intersection. I’ll push the boosters to maximum and try to get help sent to help us survive.”
The Fleet Director stared at the Second and sighed. “Do you honestly think we can do it?”
“Do you have another suggestion?” The Fleet Director shook his head. “Open a channel to all of our vessels. I’m going to tell them what I’m going to do and tell them I’m going to need a small portion of their fuel and rations to make this happen. I’m going to tell them I’m going to do all I can to save them. I’m going to need all the non-essential crew members to leave the ship to lower our mass along with all the blasters being removed from our hull.” The Bridge Crew stared at the Second and he said, “You’ll be notified on who will remain on board.”
The thousands of Tronan Warships turned and started back towards the distant star. Three weeks later, the stores were on board and the giant blasters removed from the hull. The giant Tronan Flagship went to full boost and disappeared from the thousands of warships in the doomed Tronan Fleets. The Second watched the giant formation disappear and forced himself to relax. No one had thought of the flaw in his plan. He told the fleets that he was going to communicate with the forces being sent by the Prime Director. What they didn’t realize was that those forces would arrive within the next three years and his vessel would still be far outside their communication range. But every available space inside his ship was filled with food along with enough fuel to keep the ship flying. At least he and the crew with him would not die of starvation. He looked at the monitor and wondered if boredom would kill him. Starvation was just too much to endure; it was a terrible way to die. The ships he left behind would be embraced by it eventually. At least he wouldn’t have to witness their deaths.
Chapter Eighteen
Tommy watched his assigned Tronan Warship go up in a massive explosion and said, “I’m headed up the line, Roger. Take out any Tronan probes we run across.”
“I’ve got the targeting system activated. Just don’t run past them too fast to hit them.”
Tommy nodded, “I’ll slow as we approach. You have to know that company is coming.”
“They aren’t as fast as we are, Sir. Stay cool and let’s complete our mission.” Tommy took a long slow breath and blew it out slowly. The probes contained the most recent information sent out by the Tronan Fleet Leader and they had to be removed. He saw a Tronan probe on the edge of his scanning range and slowed as the scout passed it. Roger took it out with one blaster bolt. Tommy increased speed and headed toward the next one.
He finally arrived at the center of the former Tronan communication line and found the other scouts gathered. He punched his communicator and said, “It appears we were all successful.”
Gloria said, “One of my scouts was forced to ram one of the Tronan Warships when his blasters failed to operate. We lost Eloise and Terry.”
Tommy’s expression fell and he said, “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Gloria thought to them, “I was the closest to the Tronan Fleets and I received a squeal burst sent out to the fleets about to attack the surviving Tronan Warships that they’ve launched a half-million message probes. The Fleet Admiral sees no way to prevent their getting back to Tronan Space.”
Tommy stared at Gloria on his monitor and said, “Those probes have a very long voyage to make it back to their territory.”
“Tommy, the Death Filament is four-hundred miles wide! We only have twenty scouts!”
“That’s true but it’s my understanding that their probes are not armored. If they’re hit, they’ll explode, right?”
“Well, I guess so.”
“And I’ve also seen that the probes they launched during the last attack all stayed in the center of the filament until they detected something ahead of them. They would then move out to the edges of the filament and scatter.”
“What are you saying?”
“Well, the probes aren’t intelligent. They’ll follow their programming and stay in the center of the filament if they don’t detect anything in their path. Our scouts are much faster and we can spread out on a twenty-mile front in the center of the oncoming wave and fire on them. The resulting explosions should take out even more.”
Jessie interrupted the conversation, “Sir, are you suggesting we fire at the leading edge and fly far enough ahead for them to reform in the center of the filament and repeat the process.”
Gloria smiled, “Captain Owens, are you agreeing with this harebrained idea?”
“It’s worth the effort, Sir. We have enough stores to last us a year and if we expand our blaster beams and hit them from long distance, it might just work.”
Gloria shrugged, “We are going to have to send one of us back to get additional stores sent to us.”
Lt. Daniels said, “Sir, I’ll make the trip. One of my blasters has malfunctioned and I’ll not be able to hold up my end of making this happen.”
Tommy thought about it and smiled, “I have a better idea.”
Gloria looked at Tommy on her monitor, “What is that?”
“There’s no reason to maintain communication silence now that the crap has hit the proverbial fan.
Send a squeal burst to Admiral Hummel and have him bring the fleets to join us in the effort.”
“They are not provisioned for this long of a trip, Tommy. By the time they did, they could not catch the probes.”
“Let the Admiral handle that issue, Gloria. He may not be able to come due to other responsibilities but he can send out supplies if he can’t send the fleets. He can also send his fleets to the short-cut filament to meet us as we pass it.”
Gloria smiled, “Tommy, I’m impressed.”
“We all have to grow up one day.”
“I’ll put the message together and get it out,” Pat announced.
Tommy nodded and said, “Go to full speed and head back toward the probes. We need to meet them as far away from Tronan space as possible. The twenty-scouts turned and accelerated away at maximum speed.
• • •
Gregor looked at his communicator and pulled up the feed from the passive scanners inside the city. He immediately saw the Tronan Landers touching down and gritted his teeth. Tens of thousands of Tronan Warriors were spilling out along with numerous heavy-weapon platforms. Suddenly, Kel shouted, “I’VE RECEIVED THE SQUEAL BURST. WEAPONS FREE FOR SELF-DEFENSE IN THIRTY SECONDS.”
Gregor lifted his communicator, “Jek, did you hear that?”
“I did.”
“Send the message out to our forces that weapons are free in twenty-four seconds.”
“I’ve already contacted everyone.”
Gregor pressed his communicator again, “Thirty seconds to free weapons; Kaylee, stay safe!”
“You do the same, my love. See you when it’s over.”
Gregor closed his communicator and looked at Kel, “Party time.” He ran and jumped on Kel’s harness and went up to the saddle on his back. The huge dragon ran and lept from the tall tree he was in into the branches of another tree next to it. All the trees around them were shaking from the weight of the huge Dragons moving through the canopy. Gregor heard the first Tronan blasters open fire into the city. Kel picked up speed and moved toward the huge city in front of them. Gregor announced, “Do not open fire until Fleet attacks the Tronan Warships in orbit. Only fire in self-defense!” Gregor continued to hear Tronan Blasters as the huge city grew larger.
• • •
Senior Captain Kosev received the squeal burst and started the countdown. He depended on the other scouts in his wing to follow orders and attack at the designated time. One minute after the squeal burst was received, his two-hundred scouts would move in position below the Tronan Warships in orbit and open fire on the bottom hulls. They were forced to remain away from the giant warships while the transports were launching their landing craft. Once the transports launched their forces, the Tronan Warships would move into high orbit to support the landing forces with their nuclear missiles and heavy blasters. Attacking them in low orbit would lead to massive nuclear detonations inside the atmosphere along with huge debris raining down on the planet. The transports had completed their launches and moved into higher orbit. The warships joined them thirty-minutes later. The scouts had begun moving in when the squeal burst arrived.
Kosev turned his scout and moved in under his assigned warship. He saw the countdown move to ten seconds and he pushed the booster control forward. He rushed in on the hull of the giant warship as two huge Tronan Blasters swiveled and fired on his scout. Their scanners detected his boosters and opened fire immediately. His ship was disintegrated into a cloud of gas.
However, the second scout assigned to the warship came in from an oblique angle and fired both blasters at the hull of the giant warship. The scout turned and went to full boosters but was blasted by a Tronan blaster just as the nuclear missiles went off. The giant Tronan Warship went up in an explosion that strobed the surface of the planet far below.
Sixty-five scouts were lost but all the Tronan Warships were an expanding cloud of debris and vapor. Since the nuclear missiles were in the bottom of the giant ships, most of the major debris was blown away from the planet. But some debris did rain down on the planet causing huge craters where they hit the planet’s surface. One large piece of debris hit a medium sized city and set it on fire as the shockwave roared through the buildings knocking them flat.
Gregor received the all clear from the scout’s surviving commander and he pressed his communicator authorizing his forces to attack the Tronan landing forces.
• • •
The Tronan moving into the three giant cities suddenly saw brilliant blaster beams shoot out of tall buildings and hit their landers. There were more than a thousand landers around each of the three cities but less than a hundred of them at each city managed to get off the ground before being hit. They moved high into the atmosphere but began exploding as the surviving scouts moved into the planet’s atmosphere and began attacking them.
• • •
The Senior Warrior commanding the forces at one of the cities saw the brilliant explosions high above the planet and then saw his landers being demolished. His unit had fallen into a trap. He had to survive until the Fleet Director could send more warships to support his landing. He saw the giant blaster beams reaching out from the buildings ahead of his ground forces and said over his communicator, “All forces, move away from the city and into the surrounding forests. Hold your ground until support arrives.”
The thousands of Tronan Warriors, along with their heavy blasters turned and rushed into the forest just outside the city.
• • •
At one of the other cities, there were no forests around the city and the Senior Warrior ordered his forces to rush into the city and take on the defenders. Staying out in the open was certain death. He saw his mobile blasters start firing at the tall buildings where the beams were being fired at his forces and saw huge pieces of the building being blasted away. Some of the buildings collapsed under the bombardment. He wondered how the blasters in those buildings were missed by the warships in orbit when they scanned the planet. It was a moot point now. He had to survive until more warships arrived to support his forces.”
• • •
Elena heard her Platoon Commander order over her ear-piece, “Move forward and open fire the moment the Tronan come around the corner.” Elena stared at the end of the street and waited. She saw the Tronan come into the street spreading out and advancing up the block. They were incredibly well trained. One unit would advance while another covered it with combined blaster fire. It would then cover the unit behind it as they advanced. She glanced over her shoulder and saw a building. She immediately recognized it as the place of worship she saw in her vision. Her eyes went wide and she jerked an explosive arrow out of her quiver in an instant and went to her feet. She saw the huge Tronan Mobile Blaster come around the corner with its barrel glowing. She quick fired the arrow and yelled, “EVERYONE GET DOWN NOW!!”
She went to the street behind a parked vehicle and saw her arrow hit the center of the mobile blaster’s barrel just as it opened fire. The giant vehicle went up in a huge explosion and the shock wave blew up the street toward her platoon. It rolled over them and she jumped up and rushed forward. The Tronan Ground forces in front of the shockwave were vaporized and the ones moving in behind the destroyed blaster from around the corner were stunned by the explosion. She was in their ranks in an instant. Her enhanced body moved too fast for the Tronan Warriors to target. She had her sword out and was killing them at an impossible rate. Her platoon shook off the effects of the explosion and saw what was happening; the forty-five Bellingham Warriors jumped up and rushed in to join her. Another Tronan Blaster turned the corner but a Bellingham Warrior hit it with a silver metal tipped arrow. It blew into the armored turret of the blaster and ignited the small trillium charge. The turret blew off the top of the blaster more than a hundred-feet in the air as more Bellingham warriors came rushing in to join the fighting.
Elena spun and slashed off the arms of two enemy warriors as she jumped up and avoided a bla
ster beam fired at her legs. She fired an arrow while she was in the air killing the Tronan that fired the blaster. She heard her Commander yell, “GET OUT NOW! REFORM ON THE NEXT BLOCK.”
The street was filled with dead and Elena saw that some of them were from Bellingham. She looked at the end of the block and saw a huge Tronan Unit with ten mobile blasters and hundreds of warriors moving toward them. She grabbed a quiver of arrows from one of the fallen warriors and fired all of them at the forces moving toward her. She then ran next to the buildings on the left side of the street and then disappeared around the corner as she heard Tronan Mobile Blasters exploding behind her. She barely made it around the corner as a brilliant blaster beam ripped the air behind her. The wall of the building next to her sagged and melted into a super-heated pool of bubbling liquid. She turned and ran to the end of the block and saw another Tronan Unit moving into the street. She was separated from her unit and she saw a constant stream of blaster fire in the street behind her. She looked up and slammed her armored hand into the wall. She pulled herself up and climbed to the top of the building in a few seconds. She looked down on the advancing Tronan Unit and knew that the main danger to her unit and the other warriors was the huge Tronan Blasters. She pulled an arrow and sighted on the lead Tronan Blaster. She released the arrow and ran to the other side of the building. She fired another explosive arrow at the lead Tronan Mobile Blaster and then ran and lept to the top of another building. The building she had just left blew apart in a massive explosion and collapsed to the street below. She was fine with that. Now the street was blocked and the Tronan would have to take another route into the center of the city.
She ran further into the city and saw large numbers of Bellingham’s Mobile Blasters originally located in the tall buildings were backing out and setting up ambushes on the streets. She continued to fire at Tronan Blasters rushing into the city as she moved from building to building. She was forced to go to the streets six times to take quivers from warriors that had died fighting the Tronan forces. But she was moving at a speed that was incredible and she was taking a huge toll against the invaders.