“Fire everything you’ve got at the two disabled ships, take them out so we can get to the center ship in their configuration.”
“Aye, Admiral.”
“Major Phillips, report!”
“Alpha Leader here, Admiral. Sir, we’ve already eliminated most of the fighters. We’re lining up and going in for our main run now!”
“Good hunting, Alpha Leader!” Admiral Fitz ordered.
Major Phillips flew his fighter away from the battle, “Alpha Leader to all fighters. Line up on me, Captain Jones, and Captain Simon. You two are on my wing.”
“Roger, Alpha Leader,” Rene reported, followed by Eric, who was a little slow on his mic button.
Eighty fighters fell in flight formation and headed down to the enemy ship that was still in the fight. They flew up and then swung down, aiming straight at the top of the enemy ship’s hull.
“Open fire! Make your shot and then break right! Circle around and make another pass until they’re destroyed!” Major Phillips ordered.
The enemy opened fire on the approaching fighters. Major Phillips managed to fire a rocket as he depressed his rapid fire shot, and then broke to the right. Rene was next, and fired her rockets along with their repeating .50 caliber guns. Eric was across from Rene’s fighter and broke at the same time as Rene.
The enemy fired countermeasures as well as its rapid fire anti-fighter guns, hitting Eric’s ship in the wing and striking his main engine.
“I’m hit, I’m hit, I’m hit!” Captain Jones reported, panic being detected in his voice.
“Eric!” Rene shouted.
“Captain Jones!” Major Phillips said, “Stay out of our firing solution! Captain Jones, come in!”
“My stabilizer’s gone...I’ve got no control...Ahhhhhh!” then his radio went silent as he sunk into the Rock’s point defense detonations, disintegrating his ship in an instant.
“JONES!” Rene cried.
“Alpha Leader to all fighters! Stay focused, now...keep to the plan!”
Several more fighters were destroyed as the alien ship continued to pick them off, one by one.
“I did it, Major!” Rene shouted over her comm link, “My rocket punched a hole in her armor! Make your run now!”
“Roger, that, Captain Simon! Good work!”
Major Phillips broke from formation and flew down away from the enemy ship, “Keep them busy, everyone!”
The Alpha Leader swung his ship around hundred and eighty degrees and fired full thrusters. His fighter was aimed at the enemy ship. The rest of his team flew perpendicular to the Major’s run, continuing to widen the gaping hole in the Antarian ship.
“Arming radiological device,” Major Phillips reported, his fighter flew along the surface of the enemy ship’s hull, approaching the hull breach. “Target locked...firing Nuke! Everyone break off! Break, break, break!”
The fighter pilots instinctively broke off their attack and flew away from the battle. The Rock and Jannali turned away from the battle as the Nuke detonated inside the enemy ship. The dark space lit up with a brilliant flash, followed by the three enemy ships ripping into hundreds of sections. Antarian’s flew out into the vacuum of space and then were vaporized by the blast.
Admiral Fitz shouted with victory as he watched the remains of the Antarian fleet be destroyed.
“Incoming message from Captain Martin, Sir!” Henderson reported, “he’s on the main speakers, Sir.”
“Captain Martin, what’s your status?”
“Admiral, the enemy fleet has been destroyed, but we took major damage to our aft engine section. We lost our jump drive, and several crewmen have been overcome by radiation sickness. We’ve got dozens of casualties on board. Our shields must not have held the blast out completely.”
“What about your CSC crew? Can she still fly, Captain?”
“We’ll be fine, Admiral. But you’ll have to jump to Earth base and bring us some new engine parts.”
“Get your ship away from the fallout area as quickly as you can and have your doctor administer double the radiation protocol drugs.”
“Aye, Aye, Admiral.”
“Henderson,” Jed ordered, “recall all fighters. Chief Kelly, do you read me?”
“Yes, Sir,” the Chief answered, “Sir, We’ve got room onboard for twenty additional fighters if the Jannali needs us to take some of her load off.”
“That’s excellent, Chief. I’ll have Henderson coordinate with you and the Jannali on that, but ensure they have enough fighters to cover them. Good work down there, Chief.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
The Earth fleet slowly made their way from the burning hulls of what was left of the Antarian fleet. The fighters landed and Chief Kelly secured the flight deck, “Admiral, we’re all set down here; ready to jump back home, Sir!”
“Captain Martin, we’re jumping home now. We’ll send relief and parts back to you shortly.”
“Thank you, Admiral. We did it, Sir!”
Jed turned to his commander, “Care to do the honors?”
“Thank you, Sir,” Jameson nodded, returning a wide smile, “Begin jump prep...start the clock. Lieutenant Foster, jump us home!”
“Aye, Sir! Spooling jump drive, the clock is running, two minutes to jump.”
“Captain Martin, we did it alight, but just barely. Thanks to the intel from Thelix, we may not have found their weakness. That was a little too close, and you can bet they’ll be coming to Earth soon, so we had better get you fixed up and regroup. We need to have a plan for when the Warlords of Antares do reach Earth.”
“Understood, Admiral, see you soon, Sir. Captain Martin out.”
The channel returned static before Henderson cut the speakers off.
Jameson called out his check list, “Sub light!”
“Go!”
“NAV!”
“Go!”
“Tactical!”
“Go!”
“Jump resolution check!”
“We’re a go, Commander! Jumping to Earth.”
“Generate negative energy densities!”
“Generating negative densities.”
“FTL!”
“Jump drive is a GO!”
“The board is green, Admiral!” Commander Jameson reported.
“Well, give the order, Commander,” Jed smiled to his first officer.
“Initiate jump!”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
________________________
Earth
Jedidiah’s Apartment
________________________
Jed was awakened by a loud rap on his door. He jumped upright, rubbed his eyes and then remembered the bottle of whisky sitting on his bedside table. He grabbed the bottle and poured a shot. Then he got out of bed and walked to the door in his boxer shorts and opened it to a smiling face.
“Race? What are you doing here?”
“Sir, we’re going to be late.”
“Huh?”
He grabbed the shot glass from his hand, “Don’t you think it’s a little early for that?”
“Well, maybe,” Jed grabbed the shot glass back, spilling some of the liquor down the sides of the glass. He lifted it to his lips and downed it in one gulp, “Then again, maybe not...I just had the strangest dream.”
“Sir?”
“I dreamt that we were in a space battle with an alien race. Kind of funny, huh?”
“But, Sir...”
Jed leaned on the half-opened door, “And why are you calling me ‘Sir’ all the time...It’s Jed...remember? Jedidiah Fitz, your old buddy? I retired my commission...”
“You must have had a little too much of that whisky that I bought for you, Sir.”
“Well, it was time to forget the past and move on.”
Race looked past Jed at a woman scantily dressed, standing behind him, “I see...you’re moving on quit fast...you ol’ dog, you!”
Jed turned around and fixed his eyes on the white-haired woman, “Ahh!” he
jumped, “You!”
“Nice night, Admiral Fitz,” Skati smiled. “We must do this again. I think I have become fond of your friend’s gift.” She slinked over to Jed’s side, lifting the bottle to the glass, she poured him another shot, and then rose the bottle to her own lips for a large gulp.
Race reached out and grabbed the bottle of booze from the alien woman, “Whoa there, Skatie. That’s some potent stuff...and we have places to go...remember now? The memorial service?”
“It wasn’t a dream,” Jed said with a blank stare, “was it?”
“’Fraid not, Admiral, now come on and get dressed, we’re going to be late!”
~
Major Phillips and Captain Rene Simon sat at a dark and lonely bar on the outskirts of town. The bar stayed open for the crew of the Rock, in part of celebration for their mission success, and part in morning for their fallen pilots.
Rene poured each of them a final shot of whiskey, emptying their second bottle.
She held her glass the best she could in the air, “To Captain Eric Jones, one hell of a pilot.”
“We can’t drink to that one again, Captain.”
“Why not?” Rene slurred.
“Because,” Phillips said, taking her hand and resting it back to the table, “we’ve been toasting Eric all night.”
“But it’s not night anymore...so we need to toast his sorry ass again,” she answered, again lifting the glass in the air, “Come on, Major...one more time...for me?”
Major Phillips clinked his shot glass with hers, “To Captain Jones...one hell of a pilot.”
The two downed the whiskey and slammed their glasses hard on the table. Then Rene snickered and began laughing.
“What’s so funny,” Phillips managed to ask.
Rene held the empty bottle and then dropped it from her hand, “It’s all gone...just like Captain Jones...” then she lowered her head to the table and cried, “He was one hell of a pilot.”
Phillips began chuckling at Rene, and then with her forehead still planted on the table top, “Now what’s so funny?”
“You...”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you...you always thought you were the better pilot.”
Rene laughed again, “Guess I was right, huh?”
Another man walked up to their table, holding a new bottle in his hand.
Phillips looked up, “Chief?”
“Hey guys...mind if I join you?”
Rene lifted her head off the table, “If you got booze, then you can join us.”
Chief Kelly twisted the cap off the bottle and tossed it to the floor. He proceeded to pour each of them a shot and then grabbed a chair behind him and sat in it with the chair back facing the table. Raising his shot in the air, “To Captain Jones...”
“Chief,” Phillips began, “We’ve been toasting Eric all night long.”
“Well...”
“Well what, Chief?” Phillips asked.
“It’s a new day...how about to the future?”
“Here, here!” Rene agreed, clinked her glass and downed the new shot.
Phillips and Kelly drew down their elixir, coughing as it burned their throats.
“Jeez, Chief...where’d you get that stuff,” the Major asked.
“Yeah, Chief. You been holding out on us or somthin’?”
Chief Kelly chuckled, “Yeah, I sort of got this great connection...”
“You gonna share?” Rene snickered.
“Not my source...”
“Hey,” Rene protested.
“...but my bottle, that’s a different story,” he finished by pouring them each another round.
“To the future,” Rene smiled.
“We just toasted that,” the Chief laughed.
“We’ll, we might as well toast that one again.”
The three clinked glasses and proceeded to polish off the Chiefs bottle.
~
Admiral Fitz stood before the assembly in full Navy military dress, “Welcome distinguished guests, Officers, enlisted and their families and friends. We also welcome our new friends from Epsilon Eridani, the Eridonians who provided the needed technology to combat these Warlords of Antares. Lest we not forget our new allies from Sigma Draconis, the Draconians who have agreed to join forces with us. Together we will reach out to others that have been oppressed by the Antarians in the galaxy of stars. As we grow our forces, so does our push back at our enemy to keep them contained at all costs.”
The men and women listening to Jed’s speech applauded at every turn, and then the room turned solemn.
“Today, we are gathered here to pay tribute to our fallen men and women who gave the greatest sacrifice in order to protect the safety and security of Earth. Today we mourn the loss of the Agamemnon and her crew. She was captained by Admiral Gilmore. A distinguished military man of great accomplishments in his tenure...a little trite at times...”
The crowd chuckled at Jed’s quip, “All kidding aside, Admiral Gilmore gave his life so that we could defeat this eminent threat. Among his CSC senior staff, we remember First Officer; Commander Nick Bridges, Communications Officer; Lieutenant Edwin Casey, Navigation Officer; Lieutenant Daniel Fleming, Tactical Officer, Lieutenant Marco Hudson, and the ship’s crew chief; Chief Petty Officer Chuck Shumote.”
The assembly stood as Jed read the rest of the names of the officers and crew that were killed in battle, “We also remember the two Sergeants that accompanied our rescue mission, Staff Sergeant Gilbert Morich, and First Sergeant Jason Killmocher. Without their sacrifices, Captain Hodges would not have been successful in rescuing Major Race Jennings, and for bringing back to Earth, the Empress Skati of Sigma Draconis. Sadly, we were not successful in bringing back Danielle Cooper. Her whereabouts are unclear at the moment, but we are certain she remains a prisoner on Serintin, the third moon of the gas giant Lebencha. Let us give a moment of silence, and then we will hear the Navy play the national anthem to honor our fallen comrades. The US Marine Corp Color Guard will present arms.”
The national anthem played and the color guard carried the American flag followed by the flags of Great Brittan, Japan, and Australia.
Seven Marines marched to the side of the outdoor assembly, took position after the anthem had completed, and fired three rounds each. The shots made Jed jump as the noise of the gun fire bounced around in his head. Then the color guard retreated, along with the marksmen.
Jed walked up to the podium once more, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am here today to tell you that I will do everything in my power to protect Earth from the Antarian threat. In my briefing before this assembly, I met with our distinguished friend from Epsilon, Malcom. He has made contact with the crews of the HMS Bristol and Yamato, through their Eridonian representative on board, Bertram and Hiram, we know they are alright, and are making their way to Sigma Draconis to provide aid to the people of their home world, left in ruins from the Antarian attack. Their instructions are to continue making new contacts and building alliances. We will form together a massive force to repeal this threat.”
The assembly cheered at the good news Jed shared. He raised his hands to quiet the room, “Please...please...thank you...Make no mistake, we will overcome this threat. Together with our new friends and alliances, we will ensure that the galaxy is safe for everyone...thank you all for coming today.”
Commander Jameson stood forward, “Aaaattennntion!”
The Officers and NCO’s, along with their families, stood to their feet at Jameson’s command.
He held the boatswains pipe to his lips and blew the familiar call to dismiss the men and women of the assembly.
Then he saluted Admiral Fitz, who quickly snapped his return and then returned his hand to his side with a nod.
“Diiismiiisted!” Jameson ordered.
# # #
PART II
Empress of Antares
CHAPTER ONE
________________________
Antares Star System
Le
bencha’s Third Moon Serintin
________________________
The deafening echo of clanging swords paused within Serintin hall. The two opponents held their positions across from one another, swords carried in an offensive stance.
Danielle, the Empress of Antares, clenched her teeth. Her growl grew to a scream as she charged at Laboolaron. The two ran toward each other swinging their swords. The four pound great swords struck their chorus once again, each blade sliding to the other’s hilt. The Empress’ hands gripped the hilt tightly beneath the ornately engraved cross guard, her white knuckles hidden by the chain mail of her gloves.
Laboolaron was smaller than an average Antarian, but at seven foot tall he had to bend quite a bit to growl in Danielle’s ear, “My Lady, you grow stronger each day.”
Danielle held her offensive posture, pressing her sword into Laboolaron’s, “My blood boils hot!” she seethed, “This new blood...it gives me power...power to overcome you, Laboolaron!”
The Empress slid her sword out across Laboolaron’s and swung three more times at the Antarian. Laboolaron parried every strike until they panted at opposite ends of the room once more.
Danielle grew tired, her posture faltered just enough for Laboolaron to take advantage. He charged the smaller human, his massive hands swinging his blade high over his head and down hard.
Danielle blocked his blow and darted down through his legs. She let go a back kick that sent the towering Antarian stumbling forward. Danielle followed her momentum into a graceful turn, rising to attack Laboolaron.
Instinctively his blade rose just in time to thwart her blow. She swung her blade over and over, swing followed by swing, driving Laboolaron backward.
The Empress snarled as she planted her blade on the wooden floor and leaped over her handle, trying to get to his backside. Laboolaron swung his sword at Danielle’s, breaking the connection of the sword imbedded into the floor. She gracefully landed on her feet, still gripping her sword tight in her hands.
Sensing that she was wearing down her opponent, she charged the Antarian with a new strength. Laboolaron had all he could handle to fight off her attack. She continued slashing until he fell back against the wall. With one last blow, she knocked his sword from his hand, sending the weapon clanging across the stone floor. She pressed the tip of her sharp blade against the Antarian’s side, over the larger of his two hearts.
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