The trip to the Tuleeririan colony went much smoother than our trip to Tuleeriri. I shuddered involuntarily as I thought about that horrific experience. We were near one of the populated planets that orbited the star. In their haste to defend this system, the Tuleeriri had neglected to provide names for the star and planets involved. Shahae was currently meeting with leaders on one of the planet's surface, and they were trying to organize local defense forces as well as evacuate civilians. With the clock ticking down, we headed out. The Tuleeriri were able to determine the general area where the Zrynt ships would emerge from subspace, how they knew, they had not told us yet. We stopped a safe distance away. With a little over an hour until the first ships arrived, I had my fleet running drills. I wanted them focused when the enemy arrived.
Our experience in fighting the Zrynt was very limited, so we had to rely on the Tuleeriri for information. I had originally proposed an ambush as soon as they emerged, but that was quickly dismissed. Apparently the first item to emerge from subspace would be a powerful bomb. This would ensure the Zrynt could emerge after the explosion without anything in the near vicinity, showing that they had faced an enemy who had attempted that tactic before. The Tuleeriri insisted that we meet them head on after they emerged, that was how noble races fought. When the countdown hit twenty minutes, I ordered all ships to return. I wanted to make sure that the Zrynt didn't see our forces and run away, the less they could report back, the better.
Lt. Smith, the Communications Officer on duty, spoke up and said, "Sir, we're seeing energy spikes. It looks like the enemy is arriving." True to the Tuleeriri's word, the first object that came through detonated in a massive explosion. Once the worst was over, several ships came into view with practiced precision. The ships looked much like the Zrynt ship we encountered, with each ship looking like it was made of several ships mushed together. The ships varied in size and shape. "Remind me to ask about their ship building techniques," I thought aloud. The Zrynt ships headed our direction, and as they moved, small fighters like the ones we previously encountered deployed from the main ships. It reminded me of a video I had seen of flies vacating a carcass. There were hundreds of the fighters, with more emerging. I could see why the Tuleeriri had such a hard time against the Zrynt.
"Launch half of the fighters," I commanded. "Don't activate the AAFG until I give the word. They won't know what hit them," I said with a smile. I felt a host of conflicting emotions as the enemy drew near. I was excited, scared, nervous, but most importantly, I was determined. If we failed, billions would lose their lives. "Weapons, fire at will once a targeting solution has been acquired. Be sure to conserve some of the munitions just in case reinforcements are on the way."
I watched as several missiles streaked towards the enemy. The fighters froze as they tried to understand this new threat. It became clear when the first missiles detonated. Swaths of the enemy fighters were destroyed, as well as one of the Zrynt destroyers. The enemy fighters managed to disable or destroy the rest of the incoming missiles. They had the ability to adapt fast, and I looked forward to the challenge. The enemy continued to approach, albeit at a much slower and cautious pace. I was losing my patience. "Pilots, take us forward. Let's get this over with."
We took off towards the Zrynt, leaving the Tuleeririan ships behind, as the gunners began firing dozens of rounds from the forward rail guns. Our last encounter proved how effective the weapon was, so I was determined to press the advantage. Dozens of fighters fell to the rail gun rounds, but more importantly so did three of the destroyers. I noticed that each time a destroyer was destroyed its fighters would momentarily shut down. The fighters must be some sort of AI, I realized. "Gunners, focus on the destroyers. The enemy fighters are AIs that rely on the bigger ships for command and control. Lt. Smith, pass the word to the other ships." Within minutes we had subdued the other destroyers. Inactive fighters littered the wreckage around the destroyed enemy ships.
"Sir," said Lt. Haas, the Navigations Officer. "It looks like we have more incoming enemy ships."
"I knew that was too easy," I replied. "Return to formation with the Tuleeririan ships.
A message came in from Shahae. "I'm glad to see you had fun destroying their scouts. Brace yourself for their warships."
"Lt. Hass, what are the odds that the new ships will arrive in the same location?" I asked.
"From what we can tell, they should end up exactly where the other ships arrived," she answered.
"Can you predict how long we have until they appear?" I asked.
"Based on what we observed from the first wave, I believe I can," she answered.
"Good. Once you have it figured out, send the info to the gunners. I want to prepare a little welcome package." Everyone seemed to catch on to what I was getting at. Soon, we had a timed cluster missile on the way. Just before the missile reached its destination, three massive ships appeared. They were made in the same fashion as the other Zrynt ships, but on a larger scale. It looked like hundreds of ships had gone into making the three ships that were before us. Seconds after they appeared, the missile detonated. One of the ships was heavily damaged, while the other two were destroyed. As everyone started to celebrate, five more ships emerged.
Thousands of fighters emerged from the massive ships. "It's early to start celebrating. It looks like we might finally have a challenge." I watched in horror as the inactive enemy fighters powered up joined the growing hoard. As we moved forward to engage, the Tuleeriri moved with us. Just as they came into weapons range, I had the fleet engage the AAFG. Once the field was engaged, effectively hiding us from the enemy, I gave the order for the rest of the fleet to launch. Much to their credit, the Zrynt continued to press onward despite the curveball we had just thrown. I gave the order to engage and launched the first salvo. The Zrynt were able to backtrace our location based on our weapons fire. They fired massive lasers at us, but our new hull was able to absorb the worst of the damage. One of the Tuleeririan ships was engulfed in a blinding explosion. The destruction of one of their own seemed to put the Tuleeriri in a fury, and they retaliated with a vengeance. They soon claimed two of the enemy destroyers. As the two fleets drew nearer, we began to be overwhelmed by the fighters. It was like entering a dark cloud. Luckily, their weapons weren't strong enough to do any damage, but they stopped our weapons from reaching the destroyers. What we needed was a new strategy.
"Captain," Lt. Haas announced. "We have incoming. Several ships just launched from the remnants of the destroyed destroyers. They are headed right for us, and fast."
"They're either bombs or a boarding party" I said. "Focus all fire on the new ships. How long until they impact?"
Lt. Haas looked at me with a grim look on her face and said, "About thirty seconds."
I had to think quickly. "See if you can evade any of them. Make the ones we can't dodge hit in non-essential areas and alert the crew of the possibility that we'll be boarded."
The ship was already moving by the time I had finished talking. We were able to dodge and destroy five of the seven inbound ships. The two that impacted, hit areas of the ship that were completely unused. I let out a sigh of relief when the ships didn't explode. My relief was short lived as I realized that we had enemies on board. I pulled up surveillance footage of the two infested areas. There was too much commotion for me to make out much detail, but from what I could glean the Zrynt were large and terrifying. I estimated each ship contained about four dozen soldiers. I sent out an alert ship wide warning of the hostiles on board. The marines were transmitted the location of the two enemy ships. Standard procedure was for personnel who weren't on duty to report to the nearest armory, arm themselves, and relocate to a public space if possible.
The marines seemed eager to take part in the fight, and they quickly rallied and engaged the enemy troops. I felt a desperate need to be down there fighting alongside them, but I knew such an act would be reckless. Placing my trust in the marines that were defending us, I turned my attention back to the bigger threat. We needed to end this battle, and quickly. We had lost ten fighters, a cruiser, and the battleships were starting to take damage. Luckily, the crews for the lost ships had ejected and were towed back to the Unity. Ships were easy to replace, but pilots were not. I suddenly had an idea.
I turned to Lt. Haas and asked, "How long do we have to wait in between jumps?"
She said, "That depends on how far the jump is."
"What if we were to jump right above the enemy ships, fire and then jump back?" I asked, getting right to the point.
"I should be able to make it happen within a few seconds" she said with a smile. "I can't say everyone down in the engine room will be happy, but desperate times call for desperate measures."
"Weapons," I called out. "We're going to take a little field trip behind enemy lines. I'm sending you the coordinates. Once we jump, fire. Don't worry about identifying targets, just fire." I called up the commanders of the battleships and explained the plan. "Try to cover the fleet while we're gone. Also, don't let them sink you," I said with a smile. I found myself resorting to humor in stressful situations. I gave the command to jump and our ship disappeared. We reappeared almost instantly above the enemy destroyers. Much to the credit of our gunners, they fired blindly at the enemy. A few seconds later we were gone. The enemy didn't have time to react to this new threat. Shortly after we jumped back to the fleet, the area we had just left filled with laser fire. A second later, the last three ships started to explode.
The two unexpected jumps didn't seem to sit well with our uninvited guests. Our marines had been able to push them back to their ships. There had been several casualties, but the marines' armor seemed to take the worst of the impact. I watched as reinforcements arrived and boxed in the enemy. The enemy troops, seeing that they were outnumbered, tried to retreat to their ships, but the second they turned their backs to run, my marines were on them like dogs on a meaty bone. After confirming that we had neutralized the threat, I turned my attention to damage reports. The Unity had been hit countless times. The AAFG was severely damaged or destroyed in areas. The hull underneath hadn't been spared either. Overall, I felt that we had been lucky. Without our new armor, we would have been torn to shreds.
"Any surprise boarding parties?" I asked out loud.
"Negative sir," said Lt. Hass. "I would keep on alert though. They may be waiting to catch us unaware."
I then got an incoming message from Dr. Thompson. "I would like a specimen. If you wouldn't mind collecting one of their fighters, I would love to see the AI technology behind them." There was a fighter drifting towards the Unity, so I sent a fighter to retrieve it. Once it was securely stored, I ordered the fighters to destroy all inactive enemy fighters. I wanted nothing left if another ship decided to show up. The fighter pilots seemed to enjoy letting off steam. I let them cleanup the immediate vicinity. Once I was sure everything was going smoothly, I called up Shahae's ship. "Are you alright?" I asked.
Her face appeared on a screen. She looked at me and smiled before replying. "I am well. It appears our ships did not fare as well as yours. We have you to thank for saving our people. Losing would have put serious strain on our ability to hold off the Zrynt."
I smiled and said, "Glad we could be of assistance. Now, I want to make sure these ships don't fall back into enemy hands. Do you have any objections to fertilizing the galaxy with their remains?"
"Our scientists have been requesting that we retrieve one of their energy cannons," she answered. "If we can find one intact, we may be able to use it against the Zrynt. It's proven to be an effective weapon."
"Do you have the necessary equipment to retrieve the weapon?" I asked.
"Not at the moment," she replied. "It would take a couple of hours to get the necessary ships and crew from one of the planets."
"Let me see what I can do to help," I replied. "The sooner we get rid of these ships, the better I'll feel."
I called up Dr. Thompson, "Dr. I'm putting you in charge of a team to extract the enemy ship's main weapon. The Tuleeriri wish to study it, and I don't want to wait for them to extract it. Report to the Stargazer's docking bay immediately."
Dr. Thompson looked disappointed. "I guess, if that is a priority. I was looking forward to investigating this fighter, but duty calls. I'll be there shortly."
I ordered the Stargazer and the Draco to dock. Once they docked, they were filled with personnel and equipment. I was packing as many marines as I could on board, in the event there were survivors on the enemy vessel. Our luck seemed endless, as the two battleships were able to extract the weapon without incident. I launched a pair of cruisers and ordered them to leave no trace of the enemy fleet behind. Three hours later, we were back at Narrisal.