The Phoenix Rising

by Gary Caplan

  “It feels good to be in a starfighter again,” remarked Sheppard to Darani over his commlink as their ships left the hanger bay. He heard over the comms that other engineering teams in transports were being dispatched by Fleet Captain Sherman to the remaining four viable orbital stations to reestablish control there.

  After piloting for a few minutes one of the co-opted bases fired missiles and a few enemy starfighters attacked. After repelling them Sheppard and his squadron prepared their starfighters to enter into QB7’s atmosphere. “This is Sheppard to Orange Squadron,” he said. “Our expanded wing has twenty-five mixed-type starfighters remaining in it. A few have taken light to moderate damage from the co-opted orbital bases missiles and one hostile starfighter.”

  Sheppard and Orange Squadrons’ other pilots were now headed into the atmosphere and had just shifted to atmospheric drives.

  Sheppard continued. “We will set course toward the Varlon encampment that has been designated a target. We will make a few strike runs together, then I will leave the remainder for the rest of you. Commander Andor in the T-100 Guardian-class and Lieutenant Oriel in the T-50 Sentinel-class multi-person transports will follow me to General Stewart’s base. He is currently attempting to get to General Idar and join forces. Sheppard out.”

  As the starfighters moved across the atmosphere, at one point a group of two Varlon Scorpions and one Crab-type starfighter attacked. Fortunately, only three of the Alliance of Worlds starfighters were shot down, and four others took light to moderate structural or systems damage, which the damage-control system attempted to repair on the fly. The starfighter wing, under command of Commodore Sheppard, had been prepped for atmospheric attack, and launched missiles at one of the Varlon encampments. His squadron was joined by another fighter wing from the Lompoc.

  “Launch missiles, and fire pulse cannons,” ordered Sheppard. “We will remove these Varlon.”

  The Varlon forces on the ground used plasma weaponry, destroying or damaging a few starfighters. There were not many Varlon in this area, which allowed Generals Idar and Stewart to establish a few regimental bases in a defensive ring and begin expanding out to recapture the capitol city. One Varlon Spider-type heavy assault craft gave the defenders a problem and took out two grav-tanks, seriously damaged two others, and destroyed a T-30 starfighter before going down. When a landing area was established, Sheppard and some of the starfighters set down to re-arm expendable weapons.

  An hour later, the area was secure, and Commodore Sheppard began to arrange the setup of a transmat station to translocate supplies to the bases from the starships in orbit. The Nile, one of the Waterway- class ships, was using contra gravity generators to hold itself aloft. At a length of eight hundred meters, it was the Alliance of Worlds’ smallest cruiser class. The Nile and its single starfighter squadron wing were patrolling the area to help defend the section of the capitol city where they had established troop camps.

  Many more civilians were now being brought into the medical facility, which was had recently been established by the marines and by the naval personnel from the Nile, the Platus, and the Phoenix. A defense headquarters began to take shape away from the front line where the marines were fighting. Troops from the Phoenix’s own space marine contingent formed a regiment that moved in to secure the immediate area.

  “Commodore Sheppard, it’s good to finally meet you,” said General Idar. The two grasped each other’s upper arms in a friendly manner.

  “It’s a pleasure, General. I hope I’m not too late. We had some trouble in orbit,” replied Sheppard.

  “Not at all,” Idar said. “I just wanted to inform you that we have been able to retake some ground positions back from the Varlon. Those space marines of yours are somewhat self-sacrificing—at least more than the Varlon want to be—so the Varlon have pulled back. The Varlon may be waiting for orders, since their fleet went out to meet part of yours.”

  “You may be right. Let’s make the most of the lull and get some supplies down from the Platus, Lompoc, Victory, and the Phoenix. We should also start to evacuate civilians in Sentinel-class transport and Guardian-class heavy transport starfighters. They have the range to meet with other vessels in nearby systems or the smaller colony on the sixth planet.”

  “I initially had more troops than you brought, but they were scattered planet wide,” stated Idar. “My second-in-command, General Borel and Brigadier General Elg, were killed early in the attack. They whittled us down, but the majority of your forces are concentrated in a few-mile radius and are rapidly moving outward in an offensive posture that will eventually give us a stronger protective position when those troop units arrive at their designated holding areas,” responded General Idar.

  “I’m sure you and General Stewart can handle planetary defense,” Sheppard said. “I will have to leave soon to get back to the Phoenix after we establish a command center. That will, of course, include a force shield dome, some portable deflectors, and lastly a starfighter repair and launch facility, which any good command base camp should have.”

  “Most of this is already in the process of being established as we speak,” stated Idar. The general nodded as an officer brought him an urgent report on infopad, and then the general went back to his duties.

  Sheppard took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air, as he read a progress report using a portable CDL interface to quickly link with the bases secured information. As he glanced occasionally about, observing the developing base camp, he noticed in the distance a female human Alliance of Worlds commander with an insignia indicating she was a member of the fourth fleet. She seemed to be bringing someone into the makeshift sickbay. When he looked up later, she was talking to Andor, both officers were in Sheppard’s hearing distance.

  “Hello, I’m Commander Sharon Taylor,” she said to Andor. “I was one of the senior science officers at the QB7 Alliance of Worlds research facility—that is, before the Varlon occupied it.”

  Sheppard usually did not take notice of female officers under his command; however, she was in another fleet, and she was very attractive. She also resembled … He paused. He knew an Admiral Taylor, who had a daughter in the service. With the resemblance, this woman must be the admiral’s daughter.

  Sheppard walked over, and Commander Taylor immediately saluted. “Sir, may I be of assistance?”

  “Of course, commander.” He saluted her and held out his hand for a handshake, which she warmly returned. “I see you’re in science division and could probably help us finish setting up the transmat facility, or help set up the shield dome.”

  “Yes, I will help where I can,” replied Taylor.

  “I was wondering, is your father Admiral Taylor?” asked Sheppard. “You resemble him some.”

  “Yes, sir, Fleet Admiral Taylor is my father, and I am attached to his fleet. I was finishing a data research mission when the Varlon arrived.”

  “Well, now I will have to make sure you get off QB7 or he will have my hide,” said Sheppard jokingly.

  Sharon laughed in response.

  Commander Andor moved closer and stood near Sharon, as if waiting. Sheppard smiled and nodded that she should join the Android officer. From time to time, Sheppard found himself checking on her over the next few hours.

  As the two science officers approached the Transmat grid to inspect the energy flow modulators, Sharon said, “Well, Mister Andor, I guess its time to get working. You’re a 3000 series, aren’t you? Then this must be a simple series of equations for you to figure out, whether the relays are ready to set up the wormhole.”

  The only systems that could power the transmat were either a matter/antimatter power integrator or zero-point energy generator. The science officers looked around and eventually noticed that the necessary power generation equipment was being offloaded from a T100 Guardian-class transport. Even as the Alliance of Worlds forces continued to establish a command center on QB7, the Varlon dug in and prepared to renew their attack.

  ********** On board
the Varlon heavy dreadnaught, Strike Marshal Vodun was watching as his starship passed the plasma-damaged Alliance battlecruiser. It could not stand against Vodun’s ship.

  Captain Commander Zelcalar and his crew had just engaged one of the Galaxy-class dreadnaughts, and its entire length of five thousand meters was pockmarked with cracked, misshapen or melted areas that occasionally spewed gasses into space. By now, much of the small Varlon fleet was now essentially defeated and drifting in space. Only Vodun’s ship and a heavy cruiser remained functional.

  “Marshal Vodun, sir, the remaining Alliance of Worlds ships are concentrating their weapons fire on our ship and our remaining operating cruiser. Sensors indicate they are charging their remaining ships’ heavy particle cannons. Most of those Alliance heavy particle weapons have strike ranges that are closer to our ranges. Using those weapons they have been able to cause minor to moderate damage to our ships.”

  “Unfortunately for them, Zelcalar, they only have two damaged ships with such capacity left and only five other star ships with the ability to attack with any significance,” stated Vodun.

  “The Alliance of Worlds forces are essentially finished, sir,” Zelcalar said. “We can refuel at the gas giant, and once we levy the last of our plasma weapons fire at them, they will falter. Further discharges of our nanotech field weapon, and we could use the field’s scattered nanobots to co-opt a few of their remaining starships,” replied Zelcalar. “I will order that we accelerate to attack velocity at 0.6 light speed, and we will strike at twenty light-seconds. By then we will be in the middle of most of their remaining ships and they will not be able to retaliate accurately.”

  “Very well, Captain Commander Zelcalar, you may precede,” stated Vodun. Marshal Vodun looked over at the detailed life-like images of the Alliance of Worlds ships and starfighters being displayed moving through space by the imaging devices surrounding most of the bridge each image replicated in real time and having symbols representing tactical data flowing near the starship images.

  ********** Commodore Sela Helmslar’s dreadnaught, the Attrigan, was named after a nearby galaxy, by Azurian reckoning. Crew had brought most of the damage under control, as the Attrigan had only taken moderate hits. The Nova weapon was charging up. Helmslar had gotten an idea from Sheppard earlier when she gave a routine status report to the acting admiral. The idea was to try an approximately simultaneous strike with two Nova Guns directed to the same area of the H-class. Up to this point, only separate strikes had been made. While Commodore Sheppard was aboard the Phoenix only a few hours ago, he and Helmslar had briefly discussed the effects of the Nova weapon on the J-class. Knowing the basics of size and improved screening defenses of the H-class over the J-class, Sheppard had suggested the simultaneous nova strike on the H-class.

  The Galaxy-class dreadnaught Pisces was the only other remaining ship with the nova cannon, so both ships were now in the process of building up energy prior to discharge. Previously, when the Nova weapon had hit this H-class, the Varlon super dreadnaught had used its deflecting capacity to spread the impact over the multiple shield generators. The energy that did penetrate struck across a large area of the Spunril hull armor.

  From the earlier attack, the Spunril hull was able to absorb much of the remainder that the shields and deflectors could not hold. Looking at the sensor data Commodore Helmslar saw that the spreading of the energy made the organo-crystalline hull able to absorb some additional energy, resulting only in moderate local damage on such a huge dreadnaught. By the time another ship the Pisces went to engage the H-class with the Nova weapon, a few minutes had passed. The result was the same: the ship’s redundant systems took over, and the Spunril hull redistributed the energy.

  “Open a coded channel to the captain of the Pisces,” said Commodore Helmslar. She waited a moment as a secure channel opened. She looked at the captain of the Pisces.

  Captain Lachis was originally a human from Mars. Her dreadnaught the Pisces had been diverted to QB7, and she was the only representative of task force seven.

  Helmslar nodded and smiled at Captain Lachis’s image in the viewscreen then said. “We both know that we probably get only one chance to hit due to the time for recharging, but the science team assures me that a dual strike will provide enough energy to start that ship hull’s meltdown. The sheer size of the H-class allows its Spunril hull to absorb, convert, and discharge most of a single blast as heat and other energy.”

  “How very organic of it,” Lachis replied dryly. “However, if this works, the Alliance engineers need to do more than add dual prototype spinal mounts as just another available weapon system option for Alliance starcraft fighting the Varlon.” Helmslar nodded and closed the channel as the ships entered final targeting positions.

  “Ma’am, we are about ready to fire, and the Pisces reports ready as well,” stated an Erandi chief weapons officer.

  “Wait until we get to firing positions, then coordinate our Nova weapon’s discharge with the Pisces Nova weapon’s discharge,” replied Commodore Helmslar.

  ********** On board the Varlon super dreadnaught, Strike Marshal Vodun was examining active sensor data on the few remaining ships. The Alliance of Worlds ships seemed to be waiting, not coming into optimal firing range. They had released a minefield, which had slowed the Varlon’s progress.

  “Continue to use our matter disruptors and point defense particle cannons to destroy the mines,” Zelcalar instructed his weapons officer. “We could send an antimatter torpedo volley, but there is only a small complement of heavy torpedoes left.”

  “To fire those torpedoes now would risk them being intercepted by the enemies starfighters,” stated Vodun. “Wait until the primary weapons are at optimal range, then strike multiple targets. You have done that before. Do not lose your composure, Zelcalar. After we finish these last seven small ships, we can take several hours to refuel and regenerate our hull at the gas giant and also produce more antimatter.”

  “Sir, there were a few additional Alliance of Worlds ships on long range—what the Alliance of Worlds designates their battle and heavy cruiser ships—and the closest was several hours away,” said Zelcalar.

  They were about to enter optimal firing range when Vodun and then Zelcalar noticed something new about the enemy ships while looking at their tactical imaging displays. They noticed that both ships were finished charging their Nova weapons, and it appeared they were waiting to fire together. Vodun looking at the details of his tactical display imager noticed first the buildup of energy, then linking the probable angle of firing, and the ranges all fit for a coordinated firing of both enemy vessels Nova weapons.

  As Vodun cyber-linked to his tactical battle interface, weapons fire flashes began from the Alliance of Worlds ships.

  “Allocate additional energy to the defense screens,” stated Vodun. “Then fire our weapons.”

  Zelcalar realized it would be too late. The dual Nova weapons strike would hit before the energy could be redistributed, but he and his crew tried to notify the ship’s organic computers anyway.

  ********** On board the Attrigan, Commodore Helmslar and her bridge crew watched as the Nova Cannons virtually simultaneously struck the starboard shields of the H-class. As the calculation predicted, the shields could not deflect so much energy; the armored organo-crystalline hull absorbed a portion, and then the overload melted the hull and pushed through. There was swelling within the structure of H-class heavy dreadnaught along the path of the nova blast as the ship’s organometallic hull tried to redistribute the energy. A few seconds later, a portion of the Varlon ship’s hull on the opposite side of the starboard branch section of the H-shaped starship spewed forth gasses. This was followed immediately by a cylindrically shaped fireball erupting outward almost half the width of the starship.

  “Ma’am, the H-class seems to have taken at least one critical systems hit. I cannot be sure,” the sensor operator told Commodore Helmslar. “Their chameleon field is still preventing a thorough scan; ho
wever, our sensors indicate some of their power couplings are now down, and the H’s maneuverability is beginning to be affected.”

  Commodore Helmslar briefly smiled, then looked at the tactical readout and the visual displays. Just then, she saw the multiple torpedoes headed toward her ship and the Pisces.

  “Astrogation officer, initiate evasive maneuvers now! Weapons officer, fire our remaining anti-torpedo missiles and target our remaining antimatter torpedoes before they maneuver into the area between the Attrigan and the Pisces!” yelled Helmslar.

  Three Varlon plasma torpedoes and five heavy antimatter torpedoes, followed by heavy particle cannon fire, struck the Attrigan. Its shields buckled under the assault, and there were multiple structural sectional explosions. The Pisces was even more effectively devastated by the Varlon weapons, taking several critical systems hits. With this in addition to its previous damage, the Pisces began to list to port.

  ********** The H-class had successfully maneuvered so it was partially surrounded by Alliance of Worlds ships. This allowed the Varlon ships multiple weapons pods to target all of the surrounding ships. This maneuvering had occurred about the same time the Nova weapons struck. Zelcalar ordered the closer ships bombarded first and fired the remaining weapons as the nova was striking; it took a few seconds longer for the torpedoes to get to intended targets.

  A Legendary-class battlecruiser had engaged the Varlon L-class. The Alliance of Worlds battlecruiser was successful in damaging the Varlon cruiser, but was disabled when it was struck by a nano-cloud field consisting of nanobots from the L-class. The L-class fired a few torpedoes as the Alliance of Worlds battlecruiser’s shields failed.

  The Varlon L-class was now engaging the other remaining cruiser, and both were taking damage. Due to the previous damage to the L-class, the Alliance of Worlds battlecruiser began to prevail.

  Captain Commander Zelcalar sent further tactical data over to Marshal Vodun.