Communications officer Nakamura swiveled in her chair revealing a concerned expression as she reported, “Admiral, we are getting a distress call from the Grend colony of Grell Five. Six Vashali Stella Malum class capital ships have entered the system.”
The old soldier didn’t waste any time as he stowed the data pad he was reviewing and crisply ordered, “Garcia, begin FTL calculations for transit to extended orbit of the Grell Five colony. Nakamura, put me on with the fleet.”
The young officer’s fingers flew over the panel in front of her and within seconds she reported, “You are on, Admiral.”
Shoji’s voice was patched through to every room of every ship under his command. Thousands of people across dozens of vessels stopped what they were doing and intently listened to the words of their admiral.
“This is Admiral Shoji. It has begun. Enemy capital ships have entered the Grell system. All crew to battle stations.”
Red lights flared to life and loudspeakers began calling the crew to action throughout the ship. Within seconds they were donning vacuum suits and strapping into their stations. As each section reported ready status the atmosphere was pumped out. As the air was evacuated the sound of the alarms faded as it lost its medium of transport. In less than two minutes the ship was silently waiting in tense anticipation.
Shoji was looking at the fleet readouts and observed reactor energy levels on every ship surge in preparation of what was to come. He noted with a slight nod that Captain Connolly’s ship, Redeemer, was the first to report combat ready and awaiting orders to jump.
Shoji pulled up the tactical map of the Grell system and began looking for anything of note. It was a strangely barren system. Only two terrestrial planets and a distant gas giant circled a star that was very similar to Sol. Nothing was particularly noteworthy tactically speaking.
The colony itself was significant with a population of a little over three and a half billion. He was concerned to see that they had not yet completed their planetary defense network. They did have their orbital assets in place, however. That was something at least.
Commander Bernard’s voice sounded slightly canned in the helmet speakers, “Sir, all stations report combat ready and the fleet is standing by for jump.”
He looked at the timer and felt a small swell of pride in his chest. They had never been that fast in any of the drills.
“Thank you Commander. Synchronize the fleet and begin transit.”
The space around Grell Five erupted with scattered flashes of light as the First Fleet emerged from FTL. Within ten minutes they had all made the necessary micro-jumps to resume formation around their flag ship.
The Battleship Retribution was the largest ship humanity had yet produced. It led a fleet consisting of two heavy cruisers, two medium cruisers, four light cruisers, six destroyers, and thirteen Corvettes. It was an impressive amount of firepower by any standard.
Shoji looked at his readouts and then turned to his tactical officer and asked, “Status on the enemy vessels?”
“At last contact they were holding position away from any planets or other stellar objects, Sir. They were just out in the open.”
Shoji gave her a sidelong glance through his visor and clarified, “Were?”
Pushing against her harness she turned and made eye contact with him, “They neutralized the observation assets three minutes ago, Admiral. We haven’t picked them up on any of the others though, so unless they jumped out of the system they are still there.”
Shoji thought for a moment then asked, “Were they moving or remaining stationary?”
“Moving in small random patterns,” she responded.
He opened up the holographic display at his command station and spoke to the ship captains over Fleet Com, “Prepare torpedoes and splitters and charge your laser capacitors. We will be jumping in to 120 LS of the enemy and deploying luminal weaponry. As you all know we have little information on their combat capabilities so we will err on the side of caution. Deploy Nanite Shielding as soon as we transit.”
The pace of his words slowed slightly as he continued solemnly, “Behind us is a planet with billions of souls looking to us for protection. Let us not fail them.”
A handful of minutes passed as the fleet prepared for the coming conflict. When all that could be done was, a synchronized eruption of light took them into position.
“Admiral, readings still have them in vicinity of their previous position. Current sensor delay is 119.8 seconds,” Bernard reported.
The old soldier ordered, “Fire.”
Capacitors discharged enough energy to supply a small colony for a week. The power hungry heavy laser arrays consumed it all and converted it into searing lances of light. Heat sinks glowed red hot as Invisible motes of photons streamed into the void toward their target.
A moment later, the larger ships in the fleet looked as if they were starting to boil. Swirls of metallic mist began forming clouds around them as they released their nanites. One after another the plumes of microscopic machines were energized. Plasma channels of energy shot through and shaped them. Soon the warships were encased in translucent cocoons of blue energy. Streaks of directed lightning from their hulls reached out to disperse across the barrier.
“Prepare splitters and torpedoes for deployment.”
Confirmations of ready status were reported in a few seconds. Looking at the timer Shoji saw that their first barrage would reach the enemy in 98 seconds.
“Set Splitter deployment to 5 seconds. Torpedoes fire at will when you have solutions.”
More confirmations from the fleet came in.
He looked at the timer again and saw 80 seconds. Now all that was left to do was wait. The tension on the bridge was palpable. All they could do for the next minute was wait.
Keying the com to bridge only he queried, “Nakamura, how is your puppy doing? Did they ever find out what was wrong with her?”
“Um,” she stammered as she turned toward him, “Yes. It turns out she ate some plastic toys the kids left out. They were causing a blockage in her intestines. She had surgery yesterday remove them and is recovering well. Yuri had a conversation with them and they promised to be more careful about cleaning up after their playtime from now on.”
“That is good,” Shoji responded nodding his head.
Turning to his first officer he asked, “Bernard, you said your daughter was having some trouble in her sword training. Did you ever get her in touch with the tutor I recommended?”
The dark haired Frenchman twisted in his harness revealing a smile, “Yes sir, she takes a shuttle to Japan once a week to study with him. She is ranked third in her class now and getting better every day.”
Nodding his head in approval again Shoji quietly repeated, “That is good.”
He keyed the holographic display and it showed the positions of the two fleets and an extending line reaching toward the enemy ships. It represented the light traversing the 22.3 million miles to the target area.
The human fleet was represented by numerous smaller indicators showing the real-time positions of its forces. The enemy position showed a large red orb where the Vashali ships were last reported.
The line continued to get closer and at 30 seconds a countdown indicator appeared over the leading edge.
He keyed to Fleet Com again and waited as the time slowly crept down.
When the timer reached five seconds Bernard reported, “Splitters away.”
The holo indicator showed pulses of pale blue light from the ships in the fleet and moments later the large red orb where the enemy fleet was disappeared and was replaced by real-time representations of the enemy ships. The splitters were functioning and relaying their positions back with their onboard QE-COM’s.
Shoji keyed the relay and the image of the Vashali ships came up on the main screen.
“Fire torpedoes as soon as you have a solution,” he ordered.
Just then the barrage reached them. The splitters were deployed in the path of the incoming fire and faithfully redirected the two minute old light directly into the nightmare ships. Glowing red spots appeared across the black forms of the crystalline craft and then faded away.
“Report?” Shoji snapped.
Bernard was intensely examining the readouts at his console and he responded, “No effect Admiral. It appears they dispersed the heat away from the impact areas too quickly!”
“What is the status on the Torpedoes,” he demanded.
Tactical officer Higgins quickly responded, “Firing solution in four, three, two…”
There was a flash on the screen and the Vashali ships were gone.
One second later, the light from their destination point reached the fleet.
“Evasive maneuvers!” Shoji shouted over Fleet Com.
It was too late.
Purple streams of energy tore into the fleet. The bolts passed through the Nanite Shields of the cruisers with barely any reduction in their destructive force. Furrows were carved into the heavy armor of the largest ships. One corvette, the Jackal, took a direct hit. The beam seemed to stop for a breath before it penetrated though the superstructure and burst out the opposite side. For a moment it lingered crippled before its power core lost containment and exploded in a silent pyrotechnic display.
The fleet broke formation as every ship began attempting to increase the chances the next volley from the black ships would miss. Some were successful, others were not.
The next round of enemy fire flashed through the fleet, this time focusing more specifically on one of the larger ships. The Light Cruiser, Raptor, took several direct hits. Two of its primary thrusters were knocked out and the third was still firing at full power. It began an uncontrolled spin off into the black with increasing rotational speed. It looked like it had been caught in a huge invisible whirlpool. As it spun into the void it hemorrhaged escape pods in waves as the crew tried desperately to get away from the doomed vessel. After a handful of seconds the pods stopped as the centrifugal forces on the ship rendered everyone on board helpless. Not long after that, the ship began breaking apart. It flung segments of hull and surface equipment off into space until the core destabilized and enveloped the ship in its own tiny star. When the energy dissipated, nothing was left of the once proud ship and the crew that were unable to escape.
Shoji was taking this in and issuing commands to the fleet when one of the Vashali ships erupted into a brilliant white flash of light. Looking through his readouts he saw it was a torpedo from the heavy cruiser Redeemer that struck the enemy.
The five remaining Vashali ships disappeared into flashed of FTL. The Redeemer had given the enemy pause and the fleet a moment to breathe.
The Admiral turned his head to face his first officer and asked, “Fleet status?”
Bernard tapped his console a few times and reported, “We have lost the corvette Jackal, the destroyer Puma took a direct hit and is reporting critical damage. Captain Uzun is requesting permission to quit the field.”
Shoji quickly replied, “Granted. Have him report to the construction yards on earth at best speed. Military intelligence needs to see what these weapons can do.”
The first officer continued, “The light cruiser Eagle is reporting moderate damage along with the cruiser Tiger Shark. It was the light cruiser Raptor we lost in the second barrage. Heavy cruiser Salvation was hit but they are reporting only minor damage. We took fire also but it did not penetrate our armor.”
Shoji saw the pattern immediately and declared, “They were testing the effectiveness of their weapons on our different classes of ships. Neither side knew coming in to this what the other was capable of. Now they know what they can destroy easily and what they cannot. What about our weaponry?”
Bernard shook his head and said, “It’s not good Sir. The only thing we can determine the lasers did was heat their ships up some. Multiple destroyers and cruisers reported torpedoes away but only the Redeemer found its mark. We just don’t have time to get firing solutions.”
The Admiral frowned solemnly and lamented, “Not every ship can have an officer Kerner.”
Shoji paused for a moment and after weighing his options ordered, “All destroyers and corvettes are to pull back and position themselves in a random orientation .5 AU from the planet and prepare torpedoes for close planetary defense. Spread the ships out. I don’t want to give the enemy any kill zones.
All other ships are to continue evasive maneuvers and deploy splitters in a 1 LS sphere formation. When the first shell of splitters has been deployed start working on an additional shell another LS out.”
Bernard forwarded the orders to the fleet and then remarked, “Sir, what good will the splitters do if our lasers are so ineffective?”
Shoji was slightly distracted reviewing information on his console and replied absently, “At the very least they will give us eyes and extend our perimeter. If we are fortunate we may still find a use for the laser cannons as well. It is best to be prepared Commander.”
As the corvettes and Destroyers jumped away the space around the remaining fleet began flaring to life with small FTL bursts.
Before the deployment was complete the telltale flashes of light heralded the return of the nightmare ships. They were 4 LS out. With the sphere being deployed on that side the human fleet had their first tactical break.
Orders began flowing from the flag ship Retribution as the Admiral directed the fleet, “Continue evasive maneuvers and splitter deployment. Focus laser fire on the closest enemy ship. Torpedoes fire at will.”
Two seconds after the light from the Vashali jumps reached the fleet they were followed by five streams of purple fury. Two missed completely as their intended targets rolled and turned in successful efforts to evade. A third beam only grazed the cruiser Mako. Two shots directly hit the heavy cruiser Salvation broadside carving deep lacerations that penetrated through her armor plating. Coolant erupted from one of the wounds but it was soon locked down.
“The lasers are still negative on damage, Sir,” Bernard reported.
Shoji began, “What is the status of…”
He didn’t get a chance to finish his question before the QE-COM relays on the most distant splitters indicated the next volley was aimed exclusively at the Retribution. The old soldier knew there was no way to dodge them in the time. A Battleship was just not maneuverable enough.
He keyed the ship wide and shouted, “Incoming!”
Two seconds later the ship heaved to the side and damage indicators started flashing to life.
“Report!”
The first officer began listing off damage as it came in, “Heavy damage to forward armor….Primary forward sensor array damaged and inoperable…Torpedo launchers 1 and 2 are down…Forward laser cannons 4 through 8 destroyed…Port maneuvering thrusters down to 40% capacity…No other significant hull breaches…We have minor casualties reported due to secondary explosions in the forward torpedo bays….and…that looks like it Admiral.”
When Bernard was finished with his report, the screen flashed white as a second Vashali ship exploded.
Looking over his readouts, Bernard shouted in surprise, “The Redeemer got another one, Sir!”
“Captain Connolly is making them pay for the second shot,” Shoji said with a hint of admiration and pride in his voice.
The Vashali ships disappeared in a flash as before.
Shoji keyed a channel to the Salvation and asked, “What is your status Captain Wu?”
The view screen brought up the image of the bridge of the Salvation. A faint haze of dispersed smoke gave a slightly surreal look to the scene. The bridge officers were standing at their stations busy with damage control. The straps and support lines of their combat harnesses made them almost look like they were each caught in some kind of web.
Captain Wu looked up from the console he was working at and said, “We took some major hits Admiral, but we are still able and eager to carry out our duty.”
“Excellent,” Shoji responded.
With that the two men saluted one another and the screen flicked back to a tactical readout.
Communications Officer Nakamura turned her head instinctively toward the Admiral and said, “Sir, I have a priority transmission from an Agent James Smith on QE-COM.”
“On screen,” he instructed.
Shoji was surprised when Smith’s image resolved on the screen. The man was usually very professional and well quaffed, but now he looked haggard and under a great deal of strain. Behind him was a large room with groups of people huddled around displays taking notes, arguing, and hurriedly prodding data pads.
He said, “Admiral, I‘ll make this quick. We have had all our assets here pouring over your current situation and we think we have something. A certain outspoken analyst we both know has discovered a correlation between the response times of the enemy and their heat levels. They one that has taken the most laser fire has also been the last to fire and jump. Also, they aren’t bleeding off heat efficiently. With every jump they make, hit they receive, and volley they fire they are getting hotter.”
He ran his fingers through his hair and looked around saying, “Also, we believe they have enough data to pinpoint it is the Redeemer that has been knocking them out.”
Agent Smith reached toward the side of the camera and before cutting the connection said, “I will let you know if we find out anything more. Good Luck Admiral.”
The screen cut out and was replaced again by the tactical display.
“Communicate these findings to the fleet immediately,” he instructed.
Bernard responded, “Yes, Sir. Relaying now.”
A jump was detected by one of the splitters that had been placed 2 LS away. The information was three seconds old and by the time the light reached the splitter and by then the Vashali had made another jump.
The void ruptured in a flash of pale blue FTL light and the jagged black nightmare ships were a mere kilometer away.
In each of the ships purple energy pulsed out from their central core and flowed along one of the crystalline protrusions before leaping away toward its target.
They were all targeting the Redeemer.
The heavy cruiser shuddered as deep gashes were rent into and then through the armor plating. Debris careened off the ship as the Vashali began dissecting it.
No orders from the Admiral were necessary. Every ship present flooded the attackers with laser fire. The black ships lit up with dozens of glowing red blemishes
Shoji had concern in his voice when as he asked, “Tactical, do you have a firing solution?”
Higgins’ fingers were speeding over his console and without looking up he replied, “Soon, Sir! I have to reset the ranges on our remaining torpedoes or they will drop out of FTL on the far side of the target. All the munitions we had set for close range were destroyed when we took those hits to bays 1 and 2.”
“Also,” he continued, “All of the ships are having trouble with how often they are jumping. We just don’t have enough time to make the necessary calculations!”
Shoji looked at the 3D battle zone representation thought for a moment. He then reached into the projection and selected a region of space and highlighted it.
He swiped his hand across the image and sent it to Higgins and Bernard saying, “Tactical, prepare a solution to fire into these coordinates. Commander, have the fleet do the same.”
“Yes, Sir,” the men responded in unison.
With another micro-jump the enemy took a position behind the fleet and continued punishing the offending human vessel that had destroyed two of their own.
The Redeemer rolled and turned in evasive maneuvers as bolt after bolt plunged into her. As her line of fire swept over the enemy ships she released another torpedo. A brilliant flash of white light indicated Captain Connolly and his crew had now been responsible for destroying half of the enemy force.
A series of flashes placed the three remaining Vashali monstrosities to the starboard side of the object of their fury. They were firing less frequently, but it made little difference now. The Redeemer was almost completely crippled.
The other ships in the fleet continued to unleash infernos of light on the Vashali. Heat sinks shone bright red and emergency coolant plumes erupted into space as they carried heat out and away. They all pushed their systems to the limit in an attempt to save their harrowed comrades.
The nightmares didn’t stop firing.
Rivers of purple energy poured into the struggling ship as it turned and rolled to face the attackers with undamaged sections of armor in a desperate attempt to survive. The black ships were starting to faintly glow red. They looked like they were channeling all the hatred of Hell itself into their foe.
The last of the Redeemer’s armor was getting sliced off and her inner hull was being ripped open. It seemed all was lost for the brave crew and their ship.
Admiral Shoji would never leave his warriors to such a fate, however.
The whole while the Redeemer was being assaulted he had been observing the conflict. He had a real time representation in three dimensions of everything that was going on in the space around him. Evasive maneuvers had left his fleet scattered and out of formation. Indicators lit up with information on the ships as his eyes took in the field. As soon as he looked at a ship the system would detect his gaze and a panel would appear representing energy levels of systems, armor and weapon status, and crew casualty reports.
The old soldier had seen enough. He had what he needed.
He reached into the holo-image and with almost meditative movements began issuing orders to the local fleet.
He reached out and selected the Salvation and gave the order to jump. In response the flash of an FTL micro-jump washed over the conflict zone as the Salvation interposed herself between the Vashali and the Redeemer. The hateful blasts intended for the Redeemer tore into Captain Wu’s ship.
With a flash the Vashali jumped to gain a clear line of fire. As the purple energy gathered and began flowing to the end of the shards on the black craft, a gesture from Shoji instructed the light cruisers Peregrine and Goshawk to maneuver and interpose themselves between the wrathful Vashali and their prey. The Peregrine took the majority of the initial blasts, but the Goshawk soon moved in to take its share of the punishment.
The crystalline shadows jumped again to get an unobstructed path to disgorge their malice on the Redeemer. Spreading his hands and sweeping them through the display Shoji saw to it they were blocked. The cruiser Tiger Shark pivoted and rolled to block the path of the beams. Simultaneously, the cruiser Mako took up a position on another flank of the Redeemer. The Admiral had formed a fortress of ships to surround their wounded sister.
But the fortress had a flaw. Shoji had failed to cover every angle. There was an opening.
A large fragment of crystal broke off one of the glowing red ships as the heat began playing havoc on their structural integrity. It went spinning away like a spark from a campfire.
The brightly glowing red trio of ships recognized their opportunity and made another jump. They were now perfectly positioned and charged weapons to take advantage of the weakness in the Admiral’s defensive line. There were no large ships left in the fleet to stop what would undoubtedly be the final blow.
As soon as they jumped the old soldier calmly said, “Fire.”
The fleet launched their torpedoes into the previously targeted coordinates Shoji had provided. The same coordinates he had just made the only possible place to strike at the Redeemer.
Nobody knew which ships fired the killing blows. It didn’t matter. All three of the ships erupted into white infernos of energy and then faded into nothingness.
As the light of the impacts waned a few long moments passed as post-battle numbness settled in across every ship in the fleet.
The screen shifted to a view of the Redeemer. It drifted in a cloud of its own wreckage. It wasn’t even a shadow of the proud bastion of strength it had been only minutes ago. It was nearly unrecognizable even as a starship.
Shoji let out a long sigh and opened a channel.
The bridge of the battered heavy cruiser was awash with red warning indicators and the haze of smoke hung heavily in the air.
Connolly came on the com and gave him a grim smile saying, “Admiral, nice little move you pulled there. You took out the remaining enemy and saved our bacon in the process. Thanks.”
Shoji did not return the smile and responded quietly, “How are you doing over there Captain?”
The smile on Connolly’s face melted into an empty look of weariness as he replied, “We…uh…” he coughed to hide an obvious knot in his throat before regaining some semblance of composure, “We lost a lot of good people over here, Sir.”
“And they saved a lot of good people up here and on the planet,” the Admiral replied.
Connolly nodded silently and reported, “We have lost almost all our weapons. The FTL drive is still functional, so that’s something. Damage and casualty reports are still coming in but I think all we would be able to do at this point is limp back to Earth for repairs.”
Shoji shook his head and responded, “Negative Captain. I am ordering you to the Say-Ved colony in the Markon system. It will take you much less time to get there. Their planetary defense net is fully operational and the medical facilities are state of the art. First take care of your crew. When that is squared away see to your ship.”
Connolly closed his eyes and nodded slowly, “Understood. Thank you Admiral. Redeemer out.”
The fleet watched as the battered ship turned sluggishly toward a distant star and disappeared in a flash of light.
“Admiral,” Nakamura interjected, “Agent Smith is on QE-COM for you again Sir.”
“On screen.”
The image of James Smith appeared, this time with less activity in the background. His expression was one of relief and his voice had tones of admiration and respect in greater amounts than usual.
“Congratulations on a brilliant victory Admiral. I don’t want to take much of your time, but we have an opportunity here. During the battle a larger piece of one of the enemy ships broke off. We have been tracking it and request you retrieve it before withdrawing from the area.”
Shoji nodded and said, “Send the information to the Goshawk.”
Smith nodded and the connection closed.
The Goshawk moved toward the black crystal as it spun through the void. When the Light Cruiser got close, the shard stopped spinning and righted itself. Before anyone in the fleet could register what was happening it disappeared in a pale blue flash of light.
Shoji’s eyebrows furrowed in concern as he considered the potential ramifications.
He keyed the Fleet Com and with a raised voice ordered, “This may not be over! Evasive maneuvers.”
Reaching into the Holo-display and indicating a general area nearby he said, “Proceed to these coordinates at best speed and don’t stop moving.”
The fleet began a hard burn toward the indicated region with each ship rolling, bucking, surging, and slowing in random patterns.
About 30 seconds after that a group of FTL flashes registered on the sensors. 22 Vashali capital ships jumped in only 31.2 LS away. It took about a second and a half to see the barrage of purple streamers of energy lash through the space they had been in moments before.
Shoji examined the capacitor reserves in the fleet and directed all ships to make an emergency micro-jump two light minutes away to buy some time.
When they emerged Shoji began racking his brain for options. He had a battered fleet and was facing insurmountable odds. Even though the colony had some defenses in place, they didn’t have their torpedo facilities completed. The report said that the orbital assets were functional but the corresponding ground emitters were unpowered. The orbital assets had a QE-COM network for real time battle information. That would give them some advantage tactically, but the disparity of firepower was the primary issue. The Vashali had enough weaponry to finish off the fleet in a matter of seconds.
The Planetary Defense Cannons on the surface of Grel Five would have balanced the scales, possibly even tipped them in their favor, but they hadn’t completed the massive power generators necessary for their operation yet. The lighter components of the fleet were there and waiting to strike with their torpedoes, but again that would require the enemy be close enough to where they could open fire on the planet. He didn’t want to place the lives of billions at risk by engaging the Vashali a mere hundred miles above cities of millions.
He looked up the information on the gas giant to see if he had missed anything the first time around when Nakamura’s voice came over his helmet speakers.
“Admiral, the Grend planetary government is requesting we fall back to the colony to consolidate our forces.”
Lacking any other viable options he gritted his teeth and conceded, “Agreed.”
He issued the order and after the fleet had a chance to charge their capacitors enough they made the jump to Grell Five.
They arrived on the night side of the planet and were met with an uneasy sight. Where there should have been the lights of cities there was nothing but darkness. It reminded him of the stories he would hear from his grandfather about the Second World War. Cities would black out their lights to make it harder for enemy bombers to target them.
He didn’t have time to think more on it before the Vashali fleet jumped in practically on top of them. Any advantage the orbital assets provided were insignificant at this range. They were on their own.
His eyes raced over his displays and he began issuing commands to the fleet, but he knew deep down it was a futile attempt. At least he would be remembered as going down fighting.
The image of the black crystalline ship closest to him was on the view screen. He waited for the now familiar purple energy surge from the core to be born and then travel up the jagged protrusion before springing free to lance his ship.
A moment later the central mass of the ship started glowing.
It was not purple. It was red, and spreading quickly up the crystal protrusions.
It was happening to all of the Vashali ships.
Keying the viewer to the planet he saw scores, maybe even hundreds, of planetary defense cannon beams reaching up through the atmosphere before disappearing as they reached vacuum. The splitters in orbit redirected the light from cannons anywhere on the globe to their targets.
Then he understood. The planet was dark because they diverted their entire energy grid to the cannons. Billions of Grend homes went dark to defend their planet and their allies.
Shoji realized the enemy would not stay in this precarious position long.
Opening the Fleet Com he said, “All corvettes and destroyers fire at will.”
With the amount of data available through the defense grid and their pre-targeted projectiles, the waiting ships took only moments to generate firing solutions. Within seconds the first Vashali nightmare ship disappeared in a flash of brilliant white light as a torpedo from the destroyer Lynx slammed into it. Soon others followed from the destroyers Jaguar, Leopard, Cheetah, and Serval. Each found their mark and yielded similarly devastating results.
Energy spikes in the central cores of the Vashali ships indicated they were powering up to jump, but they were too slow. The sheer amount of heat being poured into them from the PDC’s was immense. Their systems were simply not able to work fast enough. The remainder of the waiting fleet cleansed them from the sky in brilliant flashes of violent energy.
As the last of the energy plumes faded to nothingness the expanse of the planet loomed below them. The streams of light were gone now and a peaceful darkness rested over the world. Almost imperceptibly, pinpoints of light began appearing. Soon city centers, coastlines, and continents became discernible as the planet returned power to the civilian grid.
Nakamura’s voice betrayed signs of emotional exhaustion as she reported, “Sir, we have an incoming transmission from the Grend planetary government.”
Shoji triggered the release mechanism for the straps on his combat harness. They retracted into their holders.
Adjusting to holding his full weight he said, “On screen.”
A collection of Grend replaced the view of the awakening planet. One in the center stepped forward and offered, “Mighty Admiral of the Apex, the people of Grell Five will forever be in your debt for the actions you have taken here today. Please accept our deepest thanks, and our most heartfelt condolences on the loss of your warriors.”
Shoji bowed formally from the waist and replied, “We are most grateful for your invitation to withdraw and join you. I fear our fleet would have been lost if not for your decisive actions on our behalf.”
A moment passed before Shoji straightened to stand upright again.
The Grend statesman shifted his weight from side to side a little before admitting, “My profession involves words, and now I find I have none to adequately express the heart of my people. I wish I knew what to say to express our thanks.”
The old soldier stayed at attention as he assured, “I will convey your sentiments to the fleet. I know I speak for all the men and women under my command when I express our great relief that there were no civilian casualties.”
One of the other Grend stepped forward and promised, “Admiral, we will remember those lost in our defense today and write their names into stone. We will speak of this day for a thousand years and more. Our children will be told of the day we called, and you answered.”