Chapter 8

Private Communication [Kim] “Julian, have you considered an alliance? What about an organization? You need to pick a side.”

I was just exploring the confines of my brand-new ship when I received this message.

“I’ll take a look at my options here, Kim. I’m not in a rush.”

Private Communication [Kim] “Okay, I just have to make sure you know. The option exists. Feel free to do what you want, honestly.”

I didn’t respond. I’ve heard that Kim was some activist for the Galactic Council Union, but politics and lies weren’t my specialty. I like being in the thick of the action, combat. My views also align with those of the Stellar League Expansionists, who are advocates for researching the technology of the future. Organizations that are affiliates of an alliance can invite me, and I can join as many as I see fit.

Thinking over my options, I choose the Stellar League Expansionists. The Argon war will never end. I wanted to join an alliance that had more of an intellectual cause. I submitted my application to it, thanks to my terminal mounted on the front wall that was my captain quarters and my bedroom. There were other matters to attend to. I put a call out for recruits to help with my first combat mission. This was an eight-person ship, and I wanted to see what it was capable of.

“Calling six gunners and one engineer. Meet me at Golgard for an Argie beat down or two.” mission [Kim] “I’ll be there in two seconds.”

Mission [Cory] “Defeating a common enemy for money and points is always fun to kill a bit of time on. I’ll be there before you can blink!”

I saw Kim and Cory board The Regulator and I sent out another recruit call. Nobody responded to the mission channel, so I switched over to general, sending the same message out.

General Communication [Shane] I’ll pass. You need more experience.”

“Duh? I’m gaining experience with this one mission, you know.”

General Communication [Shane] “Sure you are, but not with me on board.”

General Communication [Shane] “You’d better watch what you say around elders, noob. I’ll just leave it at that.”

I tuned out the general channel, as no interest was evident.

‘It looks as though this is an undermanned mission,” I say into the PA. “Keep your eyes sharp and one of you run to the engineering room if things get sticky.”

PA [Kim] I’m a fast gunner. Cory, you are closer to Engineering.”

PA [Cory] “That I am. I’ll keep a lookout.”

With that in order, I launched from Golgard. I took the liberty of stocking the ammunition chamber full of all types of ammo so that we were fully prepared.

“Cory, I never asked you about your gunning skills. I’m kind of new to it myself, but the bigger the armor, a bigger quantity of energy has to go into the weapons discharge before firing. Were you aware of this?” I ask.

PA [Cory] “Kind of. I’ll try my best in that regard.”

I nodded to myself; thinking a response wasn’t necessary. The Regulators jump drive came to life, zooming through the Golgard mission jump-gate as if it would be its last. On the other side, I could already see that this was going to be a tough fight. Right away, I saw that if I just headed north while our enemy Argons turn to us, I would be boxed in again. The mission was six versus one this time, and I knew this ship was good, but probably not good enough to take six ships head on, as undermanned of crew as we were.

I headed east and north. This means that when we get in range of the Argon ships, Kim will most likely blast it to kingdom come. All I had to do was play navigator. Sure enough, the Argons couldn’t get a lock on us from their position west south of us, though more directly west. To my astonishment, Cory was the one who landed the first hit. This Argon battleship had armor and shields that could block torpedoes, stop lasers, and intercept most missiles.

PA [Kim] “I’m going to try this Plasma Cannon. Too many of these and we’ll be bounced around as cannonball fragments hit the ship and damages it a bit, but that’s all we have against this Armored beast.”

“Nice Try, Cory,” I said into the PA. “How much damage did that hit deal?”

PA [Cory] “None. Its armor absorbed all of it.”

“That’s what I thought, unfortunately. Kim, let the cannon rip!”

Suddenly, we heard a loud sounding boom from the bowels of the ship, and I saw the enemy ship rock as the cannon penetrated it. I kept moving the Regulator in a circle navigating around the cruiser. Kim and Cory kept taking pot-shots at it with their missiles. Missiles did more damage internally than the cannon, but now I locked on to fire my own Plasma Cannon from the control room. With just two Plasma hits, our little target practice battle cruiser was starting to show the missing paint. The Plasma Cannon had a 2-minute cool-down. This put us at a particular disadvantage, considering the fact that there were other armored cruisers, two of them, just like this one. If I didn’t stock enough Plasma ammo into those damn ammo boxes before we left Golgard ... we may as well send a Death Note surrendering to the enemy.

Between me and Kim, we used our cannon shots wisely. Poor Cory didn’t get any hits in, but I did notice that he was trying with what he had available, missiles and torpedoes only. Until we could cannon blast the armor, Cory was our stealth. After what I’d amount to about five minutes, I was ultimately the one with the lucky cannon shot to completely destroy the armor. The question is, do we have enough ammo to best two more of these cruisers?

We let Cory do the rest of the work on that ship, blasting it with missiles until it was destroyed. There was no work needed to be done from the navigator chair either because its engines were inoperable.

Meanwhile, the two other cruisers were side by side, heading straight for us. All five remaining ships were headed straight for us, but the cruisers, weaknesses and all, were the most threatening.

“I have an idea,” I said to my loyal crew into the PA. “Cory, if you see a ship lock onto us that is not a cruiser, blast it with all you got. Let Kim and I handle these big boys.”

“I’m on it, Julian,” he says.

Kim knew she didn’t have to say anything. She’ll do what I say, whether she agrees with me or not. Although now there are no arguments; we have no choice but to follow this slow, effective strategy.