Chapter 5

Only fifteen eager Palemalites on board the Nemesis volunteered for the mission. Navoir and Gasgango were two of them. Lieutenant Tyrell sent out a distress call to the rest of the Vatican fleet which was currently stationed in the Espian Drive Yards and requested them to congregate with the Nemesis as soon as possible. Navoir was the only one who knew how to tune the communications outpost and was therefore needed with the strike team. Tyrell was temporarily promoted to Admiral by Navoir and assigned to lead the Vatican fleet into battle against the human armada. This attack was to act as a decoy for the formulated strike team so that they could safely descend into City Center Two unnoticed.

The Vatican fleet had responded to the call and estimated their arrival in half an hour — just enough time for the strike team to fully prepare themselves. The volunteers were ordered to rendezvous at the armory to get all geared up for whatever danger awaited them. The weapon lockers were unlocked and a complete arsenal of every gun built on Palemalon was open for distribution. Various plasma weapons were handed around along with a few state-of-the-art solar pistols. Navoir took a massive disc-thrower for himself which was one of the more heavy weapons suited to only the strongest of soldiers. Gasgango chuckled slightly as he pulled four plasma rifles off the rack, one in each hand. After everyone had fully loaded themselves with their armaments and ammunition, protective solar visors were handed out for shielding against the use of the solar pistols. Now they were ready. The strike team organized inside one of the drop pods and waved their farewells to their old buddies as the hatch hissed shut.

Navoir positioned himself comfortably in his seat and secured his harness. Tapping on the COM link that was attached to his visor, he switched to Admiral Tyrell's frequency. 'Central Command, this is strike team Bullseye, requesting com check.'

'Reading you loud and clear Sir, ' was Tyrell's reply.

'We're good to go. Launch us when ready.'

'Will do Commander, the fleet will be here in moments and then we can get this thing started. The best of luck to you Sir.'

'You too Admiral.'

Tyrell smiled. Admiral - it was a rank that he could only dream of. He guessed that all those years of training had finally paid off. Now he was suddenly commanding the entire Vatican fleet, but sadly it wasn't for long. He was only seated in this position because if there was no Admiral onboard the flagship at the time of war, it was customary for the highest ranking officer to take up the role and lead the fleet into battle. He decided that he'd make the most of it while it lasted. A good demonstration of leadership in this oncoming battle would look very good on his records.

'Everyone to battle stations!' roared Tyrell. 'Espian Cruisers, Nullify Dreadnaughts and Scepters are on approach. The fleet is here!' He punched in a couple of coordinates on his console and targeted the enclave on the map. 'Launch the drop pod on my command.'

Tyrell uploaded his battle tactics to the fleet which was appearing all around him like horizontal falling raindrops. The docking bays of the Espian Cruisers started spitting out Scepters by the dozens and they soared gleefully around the rest of the fleet before stationing themselves in their proper squadron formations. All pilots within the vicinity gave Tyrell the "all set" gesture by applying pressure to their engines and forcing them to glow brightly. The fleet was in place and all they were waiting for was a single command.

'Vatican-F this is EC-1, all units are to engage!'

Ninety-four ship engines roared as the fleet accelerated forward to the Human armada that was waiting idly on the opposite side of the planet. As they neared closer their prey, scores of dots started appearing on everyone's radars like tiny ants.

'Oh my god!' cried a dreadnaught Captain over the intercom. 'There's hundreds of them!'

Tyrell's heart lurched. He had certainly underestimated their numbers. The human crafts were absolutely everywhere and they were all forming into attack positions. It was possible that the humans had primitive radar technology and had only detected the Vatican fleet at this precise moment. It seemed that they were unsure of what to do. He had the slight advantage of surprise!

'Pilot! Launch the drop pod!' ordered Tyrell.

The claws holding the pod released their grip and the small transport fired away.

'Drop pod away!' reported back another pilot. 'Pod will enter Palemalon airspace in five!'

Tyrell took control of the situation. Now was the time to provide the decoy. 'All cruiser's discharge primary cannons! Scepter squadrons move in - I want Nullify Dreadnaughts as their tactical support.'

The Scepters screamed into the fray as the cruiser cannons fired their loads directly past them into the massing Human vessels. The battlefield lit up with brilliant hues as Human vessels were forced to take the lethal punishment. The Scepters dodged in-between the human cruisers, letting loose multiple torpedoes while trying desperately to fend off the incoming fighters. They were outnumbered four to one. The endeavor was suicidal!

'There's too many of them!' screeched a Scepter pilot as he was trying to shake several human assailants. He dodged too aggressively to one side causing the tip of his wing to clip a cruiser's shielding and was sent spiraling out of control as a flaming ball of fire. The other pilots in his squadron could only listen in horror to the ghastly screams that echoed painfully through their minds. The horrific resonance ended abruptly when the burning meteorite of twisted metal cascaded into the side of an enemy cruiser. Fear was now evident in every pilot's eyes. Things were starting to get heavy.

"There's two of them coming in coming in at thirty degrees!"

"My scope isn't reading anything..."

"Scep-Six, take evasive maneuvers, you're hot!"

"Godamnit! I've been hit!"

"Get the hell away from that cruiser, it's locked right onto you..."

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

Scep-Six was hurled away spinning from the battlefield, sparking furiously.

"That cruiser's taking heavy damage! Somebody launch a torpedo at it, I'm out!"