Contingency
Page 35
The Defender IV and its allies disengaged from hyperspace annoyed that the chase had dragged on for so long. They fired their engines in reverse, space slowed down, and they were once again in normal space. Immediately the scanners on all the four ships began beeping wildly. The Vigilante’s bridge was ablaze with confusion. Before anyone could even comprehend the reason for the commotion, all the ships were bombarded, shuddering under the impact.
The double line of the Ameerian defenders trained their weapons on the invaders and fired. Their weapons emanated from their arc formation and closed in on the focal point. In reality, the ships were hundreds of kilometers apart—fighting from across a large distance that was astronomically, however, next to nothing.
The Imperium’s ships began to return fire to the flagship while preparing their engines to escape. Commotion echoed across the four ships, as everyone scrambled to their posts. Captain Trein furiously tried to put together a target for the fleet. They were all firing wildly into their enemies without result. Aboard the Vigilante, Darius Targen trained the ship’s fire on the engine room of the Ameerian flagship.
Suddenly, an entire fleet of Skyrrnian warships stood in their midst. They were large and featured ugly, angular protrusions. The two groups immediately ceased firing upon each other. The fleet lingered in space momentarily, as if unsure of their next move, but on the contrary, Khrrn had been sure for two years about what he was going to do.
With mind filled with glee, he prepared his transmission device to communicate with all the ships in the vicinity. A devilish joy burned through his eyes as he opened his mouth to speak. He relaxed in his immense chair upon the bridge of the Avenger.
-Speaking to all ships, if anyone tries to leave this system, they will be destroyed. Don’t fire, and don’t run away, we’re waiting for company.-
With that, he leaned back and closed his eyes, knowing he had several more minutes to wait before he would have to do anything again. His officers blocked myriads of communications from all the ships. They were all in disbelief, and wanted to find out if real Skyrrnians were in those ships and what those ships were doing in this abandoned area of space. They received no response.
Three Rekked ships attempted to bolt and simply exploded as soon as they moved the first bit of power to their engines. Projectiles the size of single cells had destroyed them on contact.
The air was tense with anticipation for the next minutes before they all got wind of an incoming fleet. Khrrn smiled as he saw it, while the others became only more engrossed.
As soon as the defenders arrived, Khrrn contacted them.
-Welcome, Terrans. I am sorry to inform you, but your mission will not be carried out. You will disembark from those ships and all make your way to one of those beat-down frigates you have there. Run to your home and tell your people the Skyrrnians are coming. It is irrelevant why or how we are here; all that matters is that your time has come to an end. Some of you will be allowed to work the better of your planets for the profit of our people, but we must also repay your previous unkindness. Now run Terrans.-
The destroyers were awed by the immense fleet but turned to fight while they coordinated a retreat. Yellow beams from the front line of Skyrrnian ships all concentrated on one of the destroyers, and its hull’s energy drained quickly. Cries of astonishment and despair were heard before it buckled and the ship broke in four. The destroyers deactivated their engines, and all made their way to the Vigilante. The many shuttles flew like a cloud to what was their promised safety.
Shots flew out every now and then from the Skyrrnian fleet, taking out some of the shuttles. The people onboard the attacking fleet were having some fun at the expense of the blood of the Imperium.
In the end, only about half of the shuttles had arrived. The broken Vigilante immediately set its course and blasted off. The rest of the Imperium ships were destroyed, and the independent ships set free. Khrrn knew their freedom would be shallow and short.