Three Square Meals Ch. 068

The astonished purple sprite gaped at him, but managed to gasp, "I'll do my best!"

Calara smiled at the anxious-looking AI, and said, "You'll be fine. Just aim for centre mass on the big Kintark ships, and don't worry about finesse. You'll be mainly helping the Terran forces to strip away shields, so they can bring their heavy munitions to bear." She continued on her way then, sprinting towards the Tactical Simulator Room on Deck Three.

Turning to Dana now, John said, "Shut down the Nova Lances, Dana. Activate all our other weapon systems."

Grinning at Faye, the redhead said, "You got it!"

Nodding with satisfaction, John glanced at Rachel and said, "Set up a Command Network with all the Terran forces in that battlegroup, and patch it through to Calara on Deck Three. Inform them we'll be assuming direct control, and that they'll be receiving new orders momentarily." He hesitated for a second, then added, "Do you know how to do that?"

Rachel smiled at him as she replied, "Don't worry, I spent hours studying the Communication Suite built into the Invictus. I can set that up for you."

He smiled at her in gratitude, then stared at the Tactical Map, and muttered, "Time to finish this."

***

Jade lined up her shot on the Kintark destroyer, then gently squeezed the thumb button on her flightstick. Azure lances of coruscating energy smashed into its protective shield, and for a couple of seconds, blue circles pulsed out from the point of impact until the field abruptly gave way, wilting before the strength of those beams. Her beams went on to scorch a huge furrow through the ship's armour, before punching straight out the other side of the ship. The destroyer shuddered as its power distributors were destroyed, and the lights guttered out and died, reducing it to a shadowy wreck.

"Shit!" she cursed, as a stream of Heavy Plasma bolts stitched across her gunship, knocking the Raptor's shield down from fifty-four to twenty-seven percent strength.

The incoming fire had come from a second destroyer, which she'd been relentlessly strafing with her Pulse Cannons turrets. Momentarily distracted by her desire to finish off the first destroyer, she'd let the Kintark gunners draw a bead on her with their anti-strike craft weaponry. Shoving the flightstick forward while yanking back on the throttle, she dipped the Raptor's nose, then jammed the stick to the left and pulled it right back.

The wildly unpredictable manoeuvres threw off the Kintark destroyer, and the streams of plasma fire sailed harmlessly wide. Unfortunately the third destroyer in the picket screen was closing to assist, and she saw several bright green lines of Heavy Plasma bolts arcing towards her.

"If it gets too hot, I want you to retreat..." John's words of caution flashed through her mind, and as she flipped and rolled the gunship, she felt a pang of guilt. She still had her shields, so it wasn't -that- dangerous... at least not yet.

Her Pulse Cannon turrets were blazing away without pause, firing a burst of blue laser bolts every five seconds. The targeting computer was doing a splendid job against the destroyers, the lumbering vessels far too slow to cause it any kind of aiming problems. True, its shots weren't aimed with the kind of precision she'd be able to achieve, but when all she was focused on was stripping the destroyer's shields, it didn't much matter where the laser bolts landed, as long as they were roughly on target.

The Terran bomber wings were plodding towards the Kintark heavy ships at what seemed like a torturously slow speed. She smiled with satisfaction when she realised just how devastating the destroyers would have been against those cumbersome strike craft, and that keeping them completely occupied with her elusive gunship was saving a lot of Terran lives.

With a soft chime, the overheating icon disappeared from her Beam Lasers, informing Jade that they were ready to fire once more. She laughed with delight, and shoved the throttle forward, racing away to give herself a little room to manoeuvre. Yanking back on the flightstick while slowing her speed once again, the Trankaran retro-thrusters were put through their paces as she executed an incredibly sharp Immelmann. Jade wasn't aware of it, but Dana's Inertial Negation device was the only thing saving her from being smeared all over the cockpit floor by the incredible forces at work. A couple of seconds later she was charging back towards the newest destroyer to enter the fray, and she stabbed her finger down on the flightstick's thumb button.

Her thirty-metre-long gunship traded fire with the hundred-metre-long Kintark destroyer, and her shield status hologram flashed red in warning as she lost her shields. Jade didn't have time to check her damage status however, as she was too busy rolling and jinking, while keeping her sapphire laser beams on target. The destroyer's shield died under that unrelenting onslaught, and the beams slammed into the blunt nose of the green-armoured vessel.

The armour on the destroyer was much thicker than the protective plating had been on the bombers. Kintark armour was mildly reflective as well, the glimmering scale-like surface able to dissipate a portion of the strength of laser-based weaponry. Unfortunately for the fifty Kintark manning that vessel, Jade's Raptor was carrying Beam Lasers - weapons that would normally be found on cruiser class vessels or above; and these were no ordinary beams.

Pulsating with huge amounts of power, the columns of energy bored right through the ship, melting through the superstructure before eviscerating the Bridge in a blistering instant. The shots ploughed on, coring the vessel out completely, and punching through the engines at the rear, before the beam finally flickered out. As if still not quite believing its abrupt death, the hollowed out hulk drifted onwards, appearing to want to stay in the fight.

She stole a quick glance at the last remaining destroyer, and was pleased to see that its shields had been knocked out by the sustained Pulse Cannon fire. The targeting computer was peppering the Kintark ship with laser bolts, and the vessel looked like it was coming down with some nasty spacecraft infection, covered as it was by glowing pockmarks.

Forced to stand by helplessly as their comrades were obliterated, while watching this deadly phantom-like gunship effortlessly evade any attempts to damage it, was too much for the Kintark crew. When they lost their shields, and the Raptor started hosing them down with an unbroken stream of blue laser bolts, the Prelate in command cracked under the stress, and ordered a full retreat.

Jade was therefore surprised when the Heavy Plasma Guns stopped shooting at her, while she'd been ducking and dodging, trying to put more distance between them. She was tempted to finish them off with Pulse Cannons, but decided to play it safe, now that her shields were out. The last thing she wanted was for the Raptor to receive some unmistakable plasma damage, which would end up with her receiving one of John's disapproving frowns. She shivered at the thought, then looped around at long range, and blasted the retreating destroyer with her twin Beam Lasers, finishing it off in seconds.

Her shields had started to slowly regenerating again, but she realised her part in this battle had been played out. Banking the Raptor she raced back to the relative safety of the Terran lines, while watching the Bombers as they closed to firing range on the cruisers harassing the beleaguered battleship, the Astraeus. Torpedoes streaked away from the slow-moving strike craft, the deadly missiles seeming eager to plunge into the Kintark vessels.

The first of the cruisers, the Dranak'tor, was hit by two torpedoes; one near the prow, and the second striking amidships. The Kintark vessel was rocked by the massive explosions, leaving huge burning craters in the stricken ship. Secondary explosions then rippled through the vessel, taking out starboard fire control and the primary power distributors, which caused the shields to flicker out and die. The cruiser listed to port, now an easy target for the Astraeus' Heavy Cannons, and the battleship unloaded a ferocious barrage. Huge holes were blasted out of the hull, and the explosive decompression shrieked out atmosphere, debris, and pieces of the crew.

Pleased with her handiwork, the Nymph nodded in satisfaction as the other two cruisers met a similar fate, the bombers tearing the Kintark ships apart with repeated torpedo impacts. Half-a-dozen Terran bombers returned to their carriers to re-arm, but many more still carried a full load of torpedoes, and there were plenty of bigger Kintark vessels remaining to launch them at.

***

Filled with despair, High Prelate Zorlin could only watch helplessly as the battle came to its catastrophic conclusion. Terran bombers were sweeping practically unopposed through the remnants of Grakira's battlegroup that she'd left behind to face Buckingham's fleet. The strike craft were causing utter devastation with their high-yield torpedoes, ripping apart scores of Kintark cruisers.

Terran battleships and cruisers were moving in to support them, and any capital ships not crippled by torpedoes, were being slashed with dozens of amber beams. As soon as the Kintark shields were knocked out, the two supporting dreadnoughts brought their Singularity Drivers to bear, blowing huge chunks of armour and superstructure apart in an orgy of explosive destruction.

Glancing over to the far side of the battle, he watched the combined fleet of Terran traitors and loyalists crushing Grakira's battlegroup. Allies once again, the Terran forces were only slightly outnumbered by Grakira's ships, but they were exacting a hugely disproportionate toll on the Kintark forces.

"Incoming call, High Prelate," his communications Sub-Prelate informed him, his voice trembling with the shock of imminent defeat. "It'sss the Leenar'tohok."

Zorlin glanced at the Kintark officer and gave him a slight nod, and after a moment's pause, the holographic image of High Prelate Grakira appearing before him.

"Help me, Zorlin!" she pleaded, and he could see she was desperately clinging to a console, with the Command Platform skewed at an unnatural angle into the Bridge Pit.

He fixed her with a pitiless glare, but asked politely, "How goesss the hunt for the Lion'sss head? Have you acquired the sssecretsss from hisss ssship yet?"

She gaped at him incredulously, and wailed, "We're being torn apart! Any ssstrategy I try is countered immediately! There mussst be traitorsss amongst my forcesss! Treacherousss sssnakesss conssspiring with the Terransss againssst me!"

High Prelate Zorlin shook his head, and replied, "I'm afraid I won't be able to help, Grakira. I mussst return to the Emperor and inform him how our effortsss here were betrayed by your incompetence. You will be dead by then, but I'm fairly certain he won't punisssh all of your family in retribution."

She gaped at him in horror, black, lidless eyes fixed on his face. "No... pleassse!" she begged, and started to say something else, but a massive explosion knocked her flying from the Command Platform.

Grabbing the rails surrounding his own platform, Zorlin's voice was loud and determined as he stared into the Bridge Pit, and ordered, "Call a full retreat! Pull back and prepare for a jump to hyper-warp. Plot a courssse for Kintark Ssspace!"

His terrified Navigator shook his head, and replied, "We can't High Prelate! The Interdiction Beaconsss in the asssteroidsss... they're ssstill active! They're controlled by that Terran dreadnought!"

High Prelate Zorlin followed the Kintark officer's trembling finger, which pointed directly at the Thor's Hammer. It was the very dreadnought now commanded by the Lion, which he was using to mercilessly pound the Battlecarrier Leenar'tohok into oblivion.

It was Zorlin's turn to wear a look of abject horror, realisation sinking in that they were trapped there, subject to the vengeful wrath of the Lion and the Terran forces.

***

Flight Lieutenant Ryan Murphy guided his Rapier back to the Zeus in a state of numbed shock. He'd been so certain he was going to die, and yet here he was, still alive and touching down in his Rapier as though he'd just been out on a routine patrol. His hands moved mechanically now, running through the shutdown routine that had been drilled into his very bones. He powered down the fighter's engines, then hit the button to pop the Rapier's canopy.

Maintenance teams were cheering the returning pilots, and two crewmen with wild grins on their faces helped him down the steps from his fighter. He was glad they did, as his shaking legs seemed to have a mind of their own at the moment. Giving them a grateful smile that didn't reach his eyes, he staggered through the crowd of celebrating Federation personnel, suddenly desperate to be away from there.

He glanced back at the practically empty hangar, gazing blankly at the nineteen fighters that had made it home to the Zeus. Nineteen, out of one-hundred-and-forty. He was suddenly flooded with memories of his lost comrades: Snakebite taking him drinking on Gravitus on his first shore leave, Romeo carefully explaining the pickup techniques that had made him a famed lothario amongst the Zeus' ten-thousand strong crew. Finally he thought about Angel; the kind, protective commander who'd selected him for her squadron, then shown him the ropes.

They were all gone, slain before his very eyes.

"It's alright Murphy, I've got you," Binary murmured to him, his voice vibrant and full of emotion.

Binary was holding him in a tight hug, and somehow, Ryan found himself kneeling on the deck, tears pouring down his face as he sobbed wretchedly. He clung to his friend, and wept for his lost comrades.

***

Admiral Edwin Caldwell slumped back in his chair, astonished by the dramatic turn of events. He'd been an officer in the Terran Federation Military for over thirty years, but never in all that time had he witnessed a battle even remotely as surprising as this. He'd ridden a rollercoaster of emotions that day, and he couldn't help smile as his elated crew leapt around, celebrating as they cheered their astounding victory.

High Prelate Zorlin, the leader of the Kintark forces had just contacted Fleet Admiral Buckingham and begged for a chance to surrender. Vincent had contacted the Zeus moments later, calling for Edwin's battlegroup to cease fire, and now that hostilities had ended, Edwin was able to take stock of the situation.

The Terran Federation had taken dreadful losses in this battle, and he'd just glanced through the butcher's bill to see exactly how bad it was. From a starting strength of nearly one-hundred-and-eighty cruiser class warships or larger, he'd counted thirty-seven cruisers destroyed, and the total loss of eight battleships. Similar numbers had taken significant damage, which would require an extended refit before they could be considered fully operational again. However, as severe as the Terran casualties in this titanic battle had been, the Kintark had suffered far worse.

Fully half of the Kintark forces were now shattered ruins on the battlefield. Over a hundred cruisers, carriers, and battleships, were nothing more than forlorn wrecks; tombs for the tens of thousands of Kintark corpses lying cold within. Nearly as many Kintark ships had survived to surrender, but the effective elimination of over two-hundred warships, was a body blow to the Kintark Empire from which he was sure they'd never be able to recover.

The arrival of Rear Admiral John Blake in the Invictus had been the catalyst for this magnificent victory, and it only took a glance around the Bridge of the Zeus to see that all the Terran forces were well aware of that fact. He'd managed to single handedly crush the Kintark strike craft threat, thus turning the tide of the battle, and allowing the Terrans to bring their own bombers to bear.

Edwin had then watched in utter disbelief as the Lion had obliterated one of Lynton's traitor battleships in a single devastating blast, using some kind of weapon, the likes of which he had no idea even existed. The cowed traitor forces had then been coerced back into the fold, where the Lion had demonstrated strategic insight that Edwin would never have thought possible in the man.

Using those combined Terran forces, he'd watched as they had lured in the pursuing Kintark battlegroup, by appearing to rout as a disorganised rabble. The Kintark Vanguard chased after them in a reckless pursuit, and the Terran forces had distracted the Lizardman reserves with a feint from the left. Another group had split and seemed to be running to the right, which the Kintark had ignored as they chased after the seemingly disorganised forces in the centre. With the Kintark forces strung out and separated, all the Terran forces suddenly rallied at the precise opportune moment, falling upon their pursuers from multiple directions, and taking them apart in an unmatched display of tactical genius.

As much as Edwin personally liked John Blake, he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of foreboding about what he'd witnessed that day. Amongst nearly two-hundred-thousand jubilant Terran Federation personnel, Admiral Edwin Caldwell was alone in feeling a shiver of fear run down his spine.

***

John sat in the comfy leather chair in his Ready Room, his hand hovering over the name on the holographic comm interface. He felt nervous now, filled with apprehension about the call he was about to make.

"Come on John, get a grip," he thought to himself. "You've fought a dragon in melee combat, for God's sake. How hard can this be?"

*It'll be alright, he likes you,* Alyssa thought to him, her warm voice flooding his mind.

Edraele chimed in a moment later, and her words throbbed with sincerity as she said, *If you were to have a similar conversation with me, I'd agree without a second thought. You'll be fine.*

*Thanks girls, I appreciate it,* he told them, sending them a grateful telepathic smile in return.

He swiped his hand across the name, "Captain Jack Fernandez" and the call went through to the cruiser Damocles. John wasn't left waiting long, and Jack's weary looking face appeared before him.

Jack's expression brightened immediately, and he smiled as he said, "Ah, the hero of the hour! I'm glad you called, John."

"I'm sorry we couldn't speak earlier," John apologised. He smiled wryly as he added, "It was a rather delicate situation."

Jack glanced down at the golden lion across John's white dress uniform jacket, and seemed to do a double take, as if seeing him for the first time. He stiffened and snapped a sharp salute, as he said, "No need to apologise, Rear Admiral. I'd like to thank you on behalf of myself, and my crew, for what you did today."

John frowned and waved a hand at him, and said, "Come on Jack, it's me. I thought you 'weren't going to salute a man who's dating your daughter'."

Calara's father blinked in surprise, then relaxed with a nervous laugh. It made John sad for some reason, to see Jack react that way to his growing fame, and it was something he was determined to nip in the bud at the first opportunity.

"What can I do for you then?" Jack asked him curiously. His expression turned to one of alarm as he added, "Calara's alright isn't she?"

John raised both hands in a calming gesture, and replied, "She's fine, wonderful in fact. There's nothing to be worried about." He hesitated for a moment, then continued, "I was wondering if I could head over to the Damocles? Maybe have a beer and a chat? There's something I wanted to talk to you about in person."

Looking surprised, Jack nodded, and a broad smile crossed his face as he said, "That would be great! Come over as soon as you get the chance."