John himself was feeling he was sitting on pins and needles. He hadn’t felt right after defeating the Screen ship. His instincts were telling him that a more serious confrontation was awaiting them. He could not fathom that the Screen would allow the EXODUS to leave the system without engaging the ship with more serious firepower. He was determined not to have a repeat of what happened to the HORIZON nearly seventy years ago.
Tension on the ship was at an all time high. Although the EXODUS had defied all expectations just getting to the outer solar system John’s order to have the ship on high alert had placed the crew on edge. Many of them could not comprehend that there was a real possibility they could actually make a jump out into deep space.
“We’re approaching Pluto,” reported Lieutenant Jacobson. John brought the sensor images up on his command monitor to get a sense where EXODUS was in relation to the planet.
“Scan the planet for any unusual energy and metallic readings,” he ordered. Even with the sophisticated system sensor net accurate scans of Pluto had always been elusive. The theory was that the Screen had some sort of satellite out here that jammed scanning frequencies, but TERRA was never able to confirm it. John worried that the Screen had set up a small command post on the planet to monitor human activities.
“No unusual readings coming from the planet,” reported Alex’sis. She remained calm and stoic, showing no signs of any pressure. “I am picking up some metallic debris in high orbit around the planet. Readings are consistent with the hull composition of the HORIZON."
John accessed the EXODUS’ sensors and looked at the visual images of what was left of the HORIZON. He could see black scarring on some of the bigger pieces of the hull. He could only imagine the horror the HORIZON crew must have felt when the Screen attacked them. With no weapons or defenses of any kind the HORIZON was nothing more than a flying target. The Screen must have known the HORIZON was no threat to them, yet they chose to destroy the ship. It was a cowardly move. Well, they were going to learn the hard way that EXODUS could defend itself.
Julie stepped off the elevator onto the command deck. Since their blowout Julie chose to give John his space and visited many of the departments on the ship, going over battle preparations. During her time off the command deck she mulled over the idea of replacing John as ship commander. Julie had always known John to be a stubborn individual and she felt he would not be able to handle the flexibility required of a ship commander. She tried to justify that replacing him was in the best interest of the ship, that lives could be spared. But it didn't make her feel better. Regardless of what John was to her, she was contemplating stabbing him in the back. Julie was not the type of woman who could do such a thing.
Julie quickly walked around the upper perimeter to John in his command chair. “All departments report ready for jump. Engine controls have been transferred to the command deck. We can move into the prearrange coordinates Lieutenant Jacobson has set up for us whenever you’re ready.”
John merely nodded. He was still fuming over their argument, but he realized everything Julie had said about him was correct. Whatever problems between them had to be left behind on Earth. This mission was far more important than their years of bickering. If they were to succeed they would need to work as one. But John was upset he couldn't see the changes he needed to make himself. He prided on being so insightful about other people. So why couldn't he be insightful about himself?
The EXODUS slowly turned away from the planet and began to head out of the system. The crew continued to work making sure the ship was prepared for its first interstellar jump. On the command deck Kevin checked the navigation calculations he made so many years before one last time. The ship’s computer had all navigational information preprogrammed and the jump itself would yield new real world data on how it would affect the EXODUS and the crew.
“Navigation is ready to go,” reported Kevin anxiously. “We can jump once we’ve reached position in five minutes.”
“Bring the engine to full power,” ordered John. Julie inputted the command code and transferred power to the engine, bringing it to full strength. Powering it took only a moment, and although engineers worked hard to reduce its power demands, it still took a significant amount of energy to charge it.
John, satisfied that ship’s jump preparations were going smoothly, got on the ship’s internal communications.
“All hands, this is the commander. Prepare for jump in four minutes, twelve seconds.” John couldn’t help but feel this moment was more critical than the ship’s encounter with the Screen fighter back near Mars. It would be the first time since the ISA HORIZON that a ship attempted to jump out of the solar system.
The proximity alert blared without warning. Julie and Alex’sis, both at the tactical table, checked what triggered it. John gripped his command chair tightly. He knew leaving the system would not go unchallenged.
“Commander,” said Alex’sis, who was more familiar with the ship’s controls than Julie and accessed the information first. “I’m reading multiple energy signatures four hundred thousand kilometers from the ship. The signatures conform to the Screen.”
Multiple energy signatures, not just one. Damn it! John knew in his gut this was going to happen. Somehow the Screen must have been monitoring their movements. Either that or the ship they destroyed managed to send off a distress signal. It was convenient for them to show up here just as the EXODUS was preparing to leave the system. He knew this would be their one last attempt at stopping them.
“How many ships?” asked John.
“Twenty-three,” reported Alex’sis. “Twenty-one conform to the same Screen type fighter that we’ve seen before. But two signatures are displaying a significant higher energy output.”
“Larger ships we’ve never seen before,” remarked Julie in a worried tone. Only a bigger ship would produce a higher reading.
Twenty one fighters didn’t bother John. But two large ships never seen before? It was not a good situation for EXODUS to be in. What if the larger ships had more advanced Screen technology?
“Can we jump before they reach us?” asked John.
“It’s possible,” replied Kevin. “I could shave a minute or two off the jump cycle.” But Julie wasn't keen on trying to escape.
“If we jump out now they may continue towards Mars, or even Earth.” The thought sent a chill up the spines to everyone on the command deck. No one considered the Screen could just continue to the inner solar system and maybe attack Earth, Mars, or Luna.
The admiral had made it clear that getting EXODUS out of the solar system was of the highest priority, whatever the cost. Deep space exploration was within John's grasp, but he couldn’t abandon his home to the wrath of the Screen. It was something a captain, a good captain, wouldn’t do.
“Power down the jump drive,” he ordered. “Divert power to shields and weapons. Lieutenant Brandus, tell our fighters to deploy and establish a perimeter around the front of EXODUS. By the time we’re done here there won’t be a Screen ship remaining to threaten our planets.”
“Alright people, let’s move it,” yelled Alex’sis to the command deck staff. Everyone snapped into action. Julie looked up at John and smiled. John, looking briefly at her, nodded to and gave her a quick thumbs up. She nodded back and got to work. Now that was what a ship commander was all about.
The fighter bays opened outside of EXODUS. Fighters immediately shot out like bullets and quickly formed up into multiple fighter groups in front of the ship. Each fighter immediately had its weapons armed and ready, making no illusions to the incoming Screen fleet that they were ready for battle.
In the medical bay the recovering fighter pilot noticed the doctors and nurses running around grabbing supplies and equipment. Seeing their frantic pace got the pilot nervous and he tried to call attention to someone to find out what was going on, but no one listened to him. They were too caught up trying to get ready for the expected casualties that would result from this battle. The
pilot got a glimpse of Dr. Meyers out of the corner of his eye and yelled for him.
“Hey, doc! What’s going on?”
“We’re about to go into battle,” the doctor replied as he continued to check some of his field medical equipment.
“The Mars defense fleet?” The pilot had a thought of TERRA rescuing him flashing in his mind.
“No, the Screen. The commander is going to engage them.”
The pilot was dumbfounded. Humans engaging a Screen fleet? Was this John Roberts really serious about what he said to the pilot earlier? He dismissed John's story as some sort of trickery, but maybe he was telling the truth. He never thought anyone would be crazy enough to try and make a run out of the system, but it was looking like this crew was bound and determined.
Back on the command deck officers were at their stations ready to execute their duties.
“Do we have visual of the fleet?” asked John as he continued to monitor the EXODUS' systems from his command chair.
“Standby,” said Julie as she reworked the sensors to compensate for the distortion the energy readings were creating. She worked through the problem successfully and punched up the images of the Screen fleet as a hologram above the tactical table. As the images came up the familiar piercing sound preceding a Screen appearance could be heard throughout the ship. Although John could see the images on his command screen he jumped down from his seat and joined Julie and Alex’sis at the table. All they could do was stare at the three dimensional images of the ships. It was actually a beautiful sight as the triangular ships’ familiar bright green hulls shimmered in the blackness of space.
“My god,” muttered Julie under her breath. She was hardly able to comprehend the sheer number of ships she was seeing. No one had ever seen a group of Screen ships together. It was always one ship that could terrorize them. Regardless of EXODUS’ advanced technology how could this single human ship survive an attack from an alien fleet?
John tried hard to swallow the lump in his throat. His attention was on the two larger ships accompanying the fighters. They looked exactly the same as their diminutive counterparts: green and triangular. But their sheer size was so intimidating. EXODUS was far larger than the two craft, but they were nonetheless menacing in their appearance.
“Analysis of the larger ships,” he managed to say without sounding too nervous.
Alex’sis already had the information ready at hand. “The ships are equipped with one primary particle beam weapon, supported by four secondary beam weapons, two fore and two aft.”
“That’s it?”
“With the exception of the four secondary weapons, they’re dependant on a single primary weapon, just like the fighters.”
Julie was astonished. In comparison a TERRA fighter and capital ship were equipped with far more weaponry. Yet the Screen had remained the dominant force all these years using far less variety of arsenal.
“Screen fighters are accelerating towards us,” reported Alex’sis. “Their weapons are fully charged.”
“Notify our fighters not to engage until the Screen have approached within 5,000 kilometers,” ordered John. “Activate our pulse guns and target the fighters.” He assumed the two large ships, who were holding back, would not engage to see what effect multiple fighters had against EXODUS. They were going to test them first rather than engage with a full frontal assault.
“Screen fighters on approach,” reported Alex’sis. “Here they come.” John made no effort to return to his command chair. He was going to handle the fight alongside Julie and Alex’sis at the tactical table.
The Screen fighters screamed towards EXODUS and her supporting Interceptors. As soon as they hit 5,000 kilometers the Interceptors broke formation and attacked, opening fire first. Two Screen fighters were instantly destroyed before they could respond. However, none of the Interceptors were hit. Some of the Screen fighters were firing at them, but the bulk of the attack force concentrated their fire on EXODUS, hitting the ship repeatedly with their particle beams. The inside of the ship shuddered a little bit from the various strikes.
“Multiple impacts from Screen weapons to our lower hull,” reported Alex’sis. “The shields are absorbing the blasts, however we’re already at 80% absorption.” The EXODUS’ shields could only take in so much energy in a given time. Once the shields hit 100% absorption, the energy could only be deflected which increased the odds of causing a breach to the shield system.
“The Screen fighters are ignoring our Interceptors and concentrating their attack on us,” reported Julie. “They’re moving faster than before. Our targeting scanners can’t get a positive lock to fire.”
“Adjust the targeting scanners to compensate. Try to project their flight paths," said John. "Have our fighters close in. Make them a more serious target to the Screen.”
The Interceptors moved quickly to try and disperse the Screen fighters and their attention on EXODUS. Although a couple of ships did counterattack, most were still concentrating their fire on EXODUS. The Screen’s tactics provided an advantage to the Interceptors, who were having an easier time targeting the Screen fighters and picking them off in quick succession.
“Fifteen enemy fighters destroyed,” reported Alex’sis, rather pleased at the outcome so far, but John was more concerned. The Screen had a plan, he just knew it. They wouldn't just send their fighters in to be picked off. And he was about to find out what that plan was. As the EXODUS was busy battling the fighters, the two larger Screen vessels had crept in closer.
“Commander, the larger Screen ships are powering their primary weapons,” reported Julie. She looked up at John in a panic. “They’re targeting our lower hull.”
In that instance, John knew exactly what they had planned. The fighters were sent in to attack one area of the EXODUS, to weaken her shields in one spot. With the crew concentrating their efforts on destroying the fighters no one thought to pay attention to the larger ships as they snuck in. Now that they were in proximity they were in a perfect position to attack. How could John have been so stupid?
“Helm, turn us about,” yelled John to Kevin. “Don’t let them see our lower front hull!”
Kevin hit the thrusters to try and turn the ship around. But EXODUS was too slow to turn away before the attack. A single particle beam streamed from both ships and hit the EXODUS obliterating the remaining Screen fighters and taking out a few Interceptors who weren’t quick enough to fly out of the beams' paths in time. The impact was too much for the shield grid to absorb at once. The shield in the lower hull area breached and the remnants of the particle beams not absorbed impacted the hull.
The ship rocked violently from the strike. Everyone on the command deck held onto the nearest thing that was bolted down to prevent themselves from being thrown across the deck. John, Julie, and Alex’sis all managed to stay upright by holding onto the tactical table. Alarms blared throughout the ship, indicating that damage had been done. John looked down on the table and saw the ships still closing in and ready to finish off the EXODUS.
John’s mind went blank as fear finally got the better of him. They couldn’t fail, not when they had made it this far. He couldn’t falter now....no, he couldn’t die. He had too much at stake to let the Screen win. Too many people here and at home were depending on him.
John checked the weapons systems and they were still operational. While Julie and Alex’sis were assessing the damage to the ship John punched in his command codes. He wasn’t taking any chances. It was now or never. He had every weapon: primaries, even the auxiliaries, open fire on the Screen ships at once. Despite their impressive size the Screen never had a chance against the full force of EXODUS. The two larger ships managed to hold together about six seconds before breaking apart under the enormous firepower. And then, as quickly as it started, it was over. John, suddenly weak at the knees seeing the enemy obliterated, barely managed to shut down the weapons. He looked at the sensor readings and saw that the entire Screen fleet had been destroyed.
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“We’ve got a significant drain to primary power,” reported Alex’sis. Firing all the weapons simultaneously caused a significant power loss to the ship. It was certainly going to hamper repair efforts.
“I’m routing power from the engine core to compensate,” said Julie. She looked up at John, who was leaning heavily on the table. His heart was beating so fast he thought he would pass out right there.
“Damage report,” he said as he pulled himself up to a standing position.
“Hull breaches on levels 43 through 47, sections 3 through 7C,” reported Julie. “Multiple plasma leaks and fires are being reported and the fire extinguishing system is offline in those areas. The force field on level 47 has failed, but emergency bulkheads have sealed that area.” John almost didn't hear her. His mind was swirling with so many thoughts that he didn't processed what Julie said to him for a few moments.
“Get medical and repair crews down there ASAP,” said an exhausted John as he gathered his thoughts. “What’s the status of our shields?”
“The grid is at 85%,” reported Alex’sis. "The shield breach has already been sealed."
John simply nodded. He looked over at Julie. “Commander Olson, you have the command deck. Recall all remaining fighters back to the hangar deck and continue to facilitate repair crews to needed areas. I’ll be down helping out with the repairs.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Julie. It was strange. John was showing no elation of their victory. Julie had pictured him gloating over their survival against the Screen, all thanks to his great leadership. Instead she was watching a man grounded and surreal in his emotions about their situation. She almost got the sense that John felt defeated.
“Commander, what about jumping out of the system?” asked Kevin as John headed to the upper walkway.
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