Chapter 35

We didn’t have to wait awfully long before Alta notified us that our company was about to arrive in the system, and I could feel that anticipation growing. I had Vish set a course back to the station from where I had met with the White Claw. The course entered was a bit longer but would allow us to drop two more platforms. I sent orders to prepare for the assault and had Alta keep the Bloodlust powered down, but the drones working on the refit would be able to tap in and activate the necessary systems when we needed them. Both fighters were on standby, ready to reinforce the defense perimeter of the station if they were needed, but hopefully the turrets and defense installations would be more than enough. As long as the fighters were docked, they could be tapped for additional power to the station’s defense systems. Their shields were up, and all the drones not left on the Bloodlust were in position to strengthen the station’s offenses and defenses as needed.

I could feel the tension slowly building as we neared the station, wondering when the ships would be arriving, knowing that we wouldn’t have to wait too much longer. When Alta warned us of the hyperspace vortex was beginning to open, I activated my holo display. It showed me the position of all of our cloaked platforms currently in the system as well as the power and weapon armaments. The Assent was moving into position off our starboard side, already in alert status and ready for battle. We placed ourselves with enough distance to allow the main weapon of the Bloodlust to be fired without worry of our ships being hit with prominent levels of radiation.

I activated our inter-ship communications and said, “We have been preparing for this since I first found this station in what already feels like a lifetime ago. It has been a long road to get to this point, but we have so much farther to go. I am confident in each and every one of you, of what you are capable of, and I know you all have got this. I am proud of what we have been able to accomplish, and I will fight tooth and nail to defend it. May we all live to see tomorrow and good luck to you all.”

I muted the communications for now, our AIs would handle the relaying of maneuvers and tactics, but there were going to be instances where we will need to speak. I looked around the bridge to see faces with looks of pride and fierce determination. They were a bit anxious, since this would be the first dangerous threat this crew had been a part of. I could only hope that I was able to keep them safe and ensure they all make it home safe.

“The vortex has reached its full size, Captain,” announced Hobbs. “Enemy ship emergence is imminent!”

I took a deep, calming breath and then yelled, “All hands to battle stations! Prepare to defend against incoming targets. Turret teams prepare for point defense and full attack modes. Damage repair crews, be ready and medical teams on standby for injuries and casualties.”

Quickly the battle klaxon began to sound as the ship readied for the coming battle. I watched as the first vessel emerged from the vortex, worried and curious of what was about to appear. It was a Mac’skarian light cruiser, which was a step between the scout ship and a medium cruiser like the Assent. Two more light Cruisers emerged, and I was shocked when Two fighter transports emerged next. This was expected but I had hoped not to have to deal with smaller ships. We only had two ourselves and depending on the amount of vessels those ships had, it could be too much even for AI piloted ships. I was still calm and felt things were still in our favor, until two large ships emerged from the swirling vortex and made my blood run cold.

I could tell right away that these were not Mac’skarian. Based on the design it matched the fighter we had found when we first arrived. These two Neornith vessels looked to be much larger than the White Claw, and I hoped they weren’t as heavily armed as the Bloodlust.

I turned to Hobbs and said, “Have Alta please transmit the images of the fleet that arrived at all holding areas for our Mac’skarian captives. Ensure they watch the internship communications so that they know that it is live and the truth.”

He nodded and his eyes flashed for a moment before he looked back at me and gave me a nod.

“Incoming transmission from the enemy ships sir,” announced the communications officer.

I nodded and in a few seconds the view screen went from a close-up view of the enemy fleet to the face of one of the ugliest creatures I have ever seen. It was one thing to see a Neornith corpse but seeing them in the flesh was unsettling. This one had to be ugly by even their standards. It made the Skeksis look attractive by comparison. Its body was bulbous, with no feathers to be seen. The skin on its skin was saggy and heavy, with a short and crooked beak. It had some rings adorned on it, which looked like it would interfere with its speech.

It wore exceptionally large, layered robes, adorned with gold and silver chains. The robe itself was a deep crimson with an okra-colored accent. The hands that came out of the sleeves had long claws with rings adorning them. It was an example of extreme excess, and I wondered if they were all like this. Getting fat as they gorged themselves on the spoils of their victory. This leads to complacency and that could be beneficial to us.

“So, you meager little kittens have decided to act out against your betters?” Croaked the Neornith with what I could assume was a scowl. “We thought we had destroyed everything this far out to ensure no threats could rise against us, but it looks that we were mistaken in that assumption. I guess we will have to just correct our mistakes and annihilate this eyesore of the station. I am quite surprised to see someone of another species commanding these flea bags.”

I fought my anger, stood, and replied, “I am Captain Hugh Stargazer. I am responsible for the changes that have occurred here, and I look forward to making even more as time goes on. I am in command due to something the Liger council put in place before you, and those you turned into traitors, destroyed the empire three centuries ago.”

The Neornith let out a sound that may have been their form of a growl.

It leaned forward and said, “Mind your tone you pathetic fucking insect! You are addressing a superior species and you will be mindful of that, or I will teach you that lesson personally.”

I smirked knowing I got to it and said, “I am not afraid of a coward such as you and your arrogant kind. You slink in the shadows, make puppets of the weak willed and greedy and then claim you are superior. You have gotten fat and lazy, but perhaps you always were. Are you denying that you don’t have the current leaders of what remains of the Mac’skarian home worlds in your pocket?”

It slammed its hand down on a nearby surface and yelled, “We deny nothing you insignificant worm! The fact that we convinced some of their weak and greedy leaders to betray their race shows how superior we are to them. They had it coming after what they did to us, and we will make sure it never happens again! We will be starting with you and your pitiful station!”

“They are arming weapons and moving towards us and the stations,” announced our sensor officer.

I opened the secure inter ship channel, “Alta, use the platforms to transmit the Omega protocol and maybe we can gain control of the Mac’skarian ships. Even one would be helpful.”

I watched a blanket of green covered the holo display, showing the signal blanketing the area. I waited, hoping against hope that something would happen in our favor.

“There is no effect from the sir,” Alta said over the comms. “There seems to be an interference signal coming from the Neornith ships that is preventing our signal from getting through. I can also not detect any active AI units on the Mac’skarian vessels.”

I sighed and after scanning the display replied, “How much time will it take for the main cannon of the Bloodlust to fire, if we bypass safety measures.?”

“If we want to do it safely, then two to four minutes,” Alta replied. “However, we can fire it right away as you request, but it will severely damage the gun and put back the refit by two months.”

“Prepare to fire the gun at the fleet on my command,” I said before opening an outgoing channel to the incoming vessels.

I scanned around the bridge to see the looks on my crew members. “I am about to make a very difficult decision. I don’t want to lose the respect I have earned, but I cannot allow our people to be harmed.”

Vish stood and said, “I think I speak for everyone here when I say, we are behind you and whatever decision you make!”

I smiled and gave a glance to the crew before activating the outgoing comms and saying, “Mac’skarian vessels. We don’t want to have to fight you, but we will protect our home with deadly force. You have ten seconds to power down, or we will consider you traitors and our enemy.”

I begin to count down over the transmission, waiting and hoping to hear that they are veering off. By the time I reached two I saw no difference in their approach and they began to fire their long-range weapons. When I yelled zero, we all watched as a beam of energy launched from the station towards the fleet faster than they could react. One of the carriers and the two light Cruisers were disintegrated by the beam, with there being some damage taken by the other Mac’skarian vessels. What shocked and worried me was the fact that there seemed to have been minimal damage to the Neornith ships. There was a power drain to their shield strength, but there wasn’t even any radiation damage.

A comm opened between us and we heard, “So the cats have found some claws, but they are still too dull to be a threat to us!”

“Assent, focus on defending the station, dealing with the fighters and the remaining light cruiser,” I commanded over the comms. “We will handle the two Neornith ships. Alta station, concentrate all fire on incoming ships. When those threats are dealt with, please focus on the two command ships. Launch fighters only as necessary and keep everyone safe.”

With their acknowledgement, we closed the comms, and began moving towards the remaining threats.

“Hobbs, please prepare battle formation Bravo for this encounter,” I said as I got up and moved towards my holo display. “Take command of the platforms that are active and if you can fire while cloaked, do so.”

Hobbs gave a slight bow, “Bravo formation understood. Drones will reinforce shields and weapons, while dealing with power fluctuations to prevent overload of key systems. I can have them fire while cloaked, which will make it harder to lock on to where they are, but the damage output will be lessened to maintain the cloak as well as shielding them to prevent them from being immediately destroyed.”

I nodded and we began to pick up speed towards our adversary. Incoming fire was light from the Mac’skarian vessels, barely causing much damage to our shield strength. The incoming fire from the Neornith vessels were far more potent and had I not reinforced the shields with drones, they would have begun to quickly chip away at its strength. The Assent was following beside us, beginning to fire at the carrier, as it began to launch their fighter squadrons. I commanded our turrets to come online and prepare to fire at any fighters that came within range. At this point we didn’t have time to play games and hold back.

The Assent began pulling away to follow the evasive maneuvers of their targets while we barreled forward. I wasn’t surprised to see that none of the fighters moved towards us, instead opting to try and get past the Assent and approach the station. I gave the order to fire our weapons, trying to weaken their shields as we closed the distance. I hoped that the added energy from the drones would keep our power steady. I watched as the two Neornith ships began to move away from each other with surprising agility and we turned to follow the left ship. They began bombarding us with blasts from cannons mounted on the sides of their ships. While they looked to be crude versions of our turrets, the damage output of their weapons far exceeded ours.

“Threat analysis,” I yelled as the ship shook from the impact of their weapons. “I want to have some kind of plan to take these fuckers down! Hobbs, use the thrusters on the platforms to move their positions and to lessen the chance they could hit them with return fire. Also record power and damage output of their weapons and anything else you can for Er’tanik to use for upgrades. Open up our weapons on the Neornith ships. Push them as hard as they can and get the Obsidian ready to launch.”