SSV Celestial Phoenix
Mog Daruhl System, Druthagar Kingdom
5 January 3297
Lieutenant Ethan Fischer, freshly shaved and in a pristine flight suit, sat in the cockpit of his Starhawk. The sensations around him gave back in an instant. Every curve of the cockpit, every knob of the redundant control panel, every hum of the engine was immediately recognizable. It was if he hadn’t spent even a second away from it, let alone a month.
On his right was Ava Bahr, still his wingman. She looked over at him just as he glanced to her. Though he couldn’t see her face under the reflective helmet, he could tell she was smiling.
<Glad to be back in the cockpit, Ethan?> she asked.
<More than you know.> He fidgeted slightly finding the familiar groove left in the seat after dozens of sorties. <Especially with what we’ve got in store for today.>
<Just remember to be careful, right? No unnecessary risks like last time. You gotta get back to your sister.>
Ethan’s gaze flicked to the right side of the cockpit where a section was empty of controls. Now, sitting there was a holographic photo of him and Emmie, taken just a couple weeks ago on Christmas. The tree behind them sparkled with strands of tinsel and dozens of glass bulbs in assorted colors. He reached out and gently touched it. A surge of pride and regret went through him.
<Yeah,> he replied. <No unnecessary risks.>
<CAG to all units, prepare for launch,> Major Landon Finley called out over the general channel for the fighters and bombers. Ethan was only slightly surprised to learn the man kept his position as the CAG aboard the Celestial Phoenix. <Be advised, there are approximately one hundred Druthagar fighters out there waiting for you.>
<Sounds like a target rich environment, CAG,> Ethan said, eliciting a chuckle from some of the other pilots.
<That it is, Fischer. Standby for launch.>
<Ready for this?> Ethan asked Ava over their private link, checking the seals of his flight suit one last time.
<Definitely.>
Ethan counted the time going by, his heart rate increasing with each passing second. Perhaps this was the day the families of the passengers on the Mad Banshee received some closure. Whatever good it would even do for them.
“This is for you, Elina.” He felt his chest where the golden engagement ring sat on a chain underneath the flight suit. Its familiar form between his gloved fingers sent a wave of calm through him.
Taking a deep breath, he felt the familiar and peaceful shifting of the fighter as it turned in place. When it stopped, it was facing one of many holes in the exterior bulkhead of the Celestial Phoenix. He jolted slightly as the Starhawk moved forward to enter the launch tunnel. A door closed behind him moments before the one twenty meters ahead opened. With a thought, his fighter hummed as the engines whirred to life.
<All units, launch, launch, launch.>
As soon as the order from the CAG came through, the hook holding Fischer’s Starhawk in place snapped down with an audible clang. His fighter rocketed forward, pressing him against the seat. The inertial dampeners took the brunt of the force of the acceleration. Lights streamed by on either side of him, blurred by the speed he was going. Before he knew it, he was out of the tunnel and in the void of space.
His fighter curved around with a thought to fly parallel to the Celestial Phoenix. Bahr, along with Lieutenants Kayden Vance and Shila Tajik, formed up in the typical finger four formation. Ava sat slightly behind him to his left while the other two formed a diagonal to his right.
After a few moments, the overlay provided by his CAM in the upper left corner of his vision slowly populated. First came the blue dots representing the Stariek vessels and the tiny green ones for the dozens of fighters pawing the void. Then, a mass of red appeared several tens of thousands of kilometers away from them. Four large red dots hung back for a moment before lumbering forward. A hundred smaller red ones steadily moved closer.
<Alright, Alpha Squadron,> Fischer said through the squadron link. <Split into pairs and pick your targets. No lone wolves out there. Watch your wingman’s back like your life depends on it.>
<Pretty sure it does, One,> Tajik said. The woman’s chuckle emanated through the link. <Since, you know, we could get blasted out of the void.>
<Cut the chatter, Three,> Fischer snapped. He knew his irritation went through the CAM, but he didn’t care. Too many of his friends had died from a lack of discipline. <Focus on the task at hand.>
No response came through, though he could feel the embarrassment mingling with frustration oozing through the link. What she felt didn’t matter to him. As long as they all came out alive of this, he would be happy.
A brief notification from his CAM alerted him to the present of closing Druthagar ships. Five of their fighters, each about twice the size of his own, slowly lumbered closer. They were shaped like arrowheads, bulging at the top and bottom. The distance in the corner of his vision ticked down faster and faster as he pushed his throttle to the max.
<Two, you’re with me,> he said over the link, veering to one side. Bahr followed close behind, sailing to float off his right wing. <Three and four, take the left two. Launch missiles at maximum range before closing with neutron cannons.>
A chorus of affirmatives came as his tactical overlay showed the changing positions of both his squad and the other Stariek fighters. The mass of green slowly inching forward to meet the wall of red brought a surge of confidence. They had the Druthagar outnumbered nearly two to one. Part of him almost felt bad for the dwarves. Almost.
The targeting system in his fighter slowly ticked closer and closer to being in range. When it finally turned green, he wasted no time.
<Alpha One, fox two,> Fischer called out to his squadron as he let loose two of his Hunter infrared-tracking missiles.
Similar calls came from the others as the small icons populated on his overlay. They pierced through the void towards the Druthagar fighters. Only the small glow of their engines was visible after less than a second. Each of the enemy craft performed evasive maneuvers, but it was too little too late. The missiles slammed into all but one of the fighters. Explosions blossomed briefly, like shooting stars he used to watch with Elina, before nothing but wreckage was revealed to be left in their wake.
Before Fischer had the chance, Tajik swooped in to fire her neutron cannons at the final fighter. It turned to fly perpendicular to the Stariek craft as the blue lances chased its tail. Within a few seconds, the beams tore through its midsection. It slowed for a moment before it exploded much like the others.
<Good work, Alpha Squadron,> Fischer said as the four of them met back up and flew past the wreckage of the Druthagar. He checked his overlay to see most of the enemy craft had been eliminated with minor losses to the Stariek fighters. However, the large red dots, representing the Druthagar battleships, were slowly but steadily moving towards the Celestial Phoenix and her battlegroup. <Now, let’s see if we can keep up the momentum.>
<Ethan, are you seeing what I’m seeing?> Ava asked in a private link between the two of them. <Coming from the outpost.>
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Confused, he adjusted his scans and looked over the tactical grid. Sure enough, another ship was joining the four Druthagar warships already in play. Its identifier looked familiar, but it wasn’t until he adjusted one of the exterior cameras mounted to his fighter that he knew why. At its front were a series of teeth, almost like a shark. In the hull near the engines were scratches like tally marks identical to the image stored in his CAM.
Except, there was an additional tally.
“This is for you, Elina.”
He gripped the ring at his neck one more time before rocketing towards the Druthagar ship.
#
SSV Celestial Phoenix
Mog-Daruhl System
Admiral Hayes stood in front of the tactical board at the center of the bridge. The four red dots representing the Druthagar battleships formed a wall in front of a fifth: the outpost they needed to eliminate. By all intents and purposes, the battle was so far an overwhelming success. Their fighter squadrons had eliminated nearly the entire initial wave of Druthagar small craft while suffering only a couple casualties, all of which were able to eject and await SAR birds to retrieve them. However, experience told him to never underestimate a cornered opponent.
This caution was rewarded as he watched the four battleships, each of their bows resembling axe heads, turned. They lumbered forward, their engines blazing as they slowly built up speed.
“TAO, firing point procedures, Master Two,” Hayes called out to Captain Gibson, quickly noting which battleship would arrive first. “Neutron beams and magnetic cannons.”
While barely perceptible, he could feel and hear the rotation of the weapon emplacements as they locked onto their target. It was a perk—if it could be called such—of serving on the same vessel long enough.
“Firing solution set, sir,” she said, the smile on her face evident from her tone. Hayes was glad someone was having fun. It certainly wasn’t going to be the Druthagar in a few minutes.
“Match bearings, shoot, neutron beams and magnetic cannons.”
The blue beams lanced out at the ship, slamming into the thick hull of the Druthagar ship. He was slightly surprising to see an absence of shielding, but this quickly dissipated as the hull didn’t melt the way his own vessel’s would have under the assault. It glowed red and white, however, and pieces of debris floated free from the point of impact.
A rumble ran through the ship as the magnetic cannons fired. The three hundred millimeter rounds moving at a third of the speed of light slammed into the weakened hull. They tore a larger hole in the bow of battleship. Chunks of molten metal rapidly cooled as they separated into space. The vessel, though, showed no signs of slowing. Rather, it continued increasing speed.
The smaller frigates accompanying the Celestial Phoenix and Oberlander threw their own firepower at the ship. Negligible impacts were seen. None of them—excepting the Oberlander—had the power to punch through the powerful Druthagar hull by themselves.
“Enough toying with them, Captain.” Hayes took up a position behind her to look out the viewport over her console. While his voice sounded as if admonishing her, he knew she could tell his tone was a playful one. “Target their engines and other critical spaces and blast them out of space.”
“Aye, sir.” Her hands flew over her console to put together the firing solution. “Firing solutions set and ready for, quote, ‘blasting out of space,’ sir.”
“Match bearings, shoot, neutron beams and magnetic cannons.”
Once more, the beams cut a swath through space. This time, they went in different directions. One group struck the midsection of the ship, where their intelligence said their munitions storage was. The other slammed into the rear. More hull radiated outwards from the points of impact, much more than the first strike at the front. Hayes made a mental note of the hull being weaker in those spots.
Another rumble ran through the deck under his feet. The magnetic cannon rounds widened the gaps left by the neutron beams, ripping chunks out of the battleship. Explosions blossomed at the points amidships, furthering increasing the size of the holes. Two of the four powerful engines at the back of the vessel detached entirely. They floated away from the rest of the ship, no longer receiving power and generating thrust. The rest of the ship began turning to the side briefly before the lights went dark and it began to drift uselessly.
“Master Two disabled, sir,” Gibson called out, loud enough for him to have heard from across the bridge despite him being less than a meter away.
“Nice shooting, TAO.” Hayes walked back to the tactical board. The Oberlander was tussling with two of the other Druthagar warships while one was still heading in his direction. It was getting dangerously close quicker than he anticipated. “Firing point procedure, Master Four, neutron beams and magnetic cannons. Disable their engines. Navigation, adjust course to heading two-three-five negative inclination three degrees.”
“Second verse, same as the first,” Gibson replied with definitive ease. “Firing solutions set.”
“Course adjusted as requested,” the Hyperion navigation officer—whose name Hayes hadn’t bothered learning—said.
“Admiral, if I may have a quick word?” Mustafa Najjar appeared behind Hayes’ right shoulder with not even a whisper of cloth moving. “You seem to be quite… familiar with your subordinates.”
“We’re a little busy right now, Commissar,” Hayes said, unable to keep the discontent out of his voice. If he was going to be on the bridge during a live engagement, the least he could do was keep his petty thoughts to himself. “Match bearings, shoot, neutron beams and magnetic cannons.”
Before the blue beams had a chance to lash out, a vicious shaking ran through the ship. Najjar stumbled before catching himself on a nearby chair while Hayes gripped the side of the tactical board and barely held himself upright. Others around the bridge were thrown to the ground while more stayed in their seat only because of their safety restraints.
“TAO, status report!” Hayes yelled out.
“They’ve harpooned us, sir,” Gibson answered matter-of-factly. Her hands flew across her console’s keyboard as she brought up an exterior camera and pushed the image to the viewport screen as an overlay on the glass. Three thick metal chains ran from the hull of the Celestial Phoenix to Master Four. “Hull breaches on decks seven, nine, and fifteen have been sealed. Our engines can’t produce enough thrust to pull us free of the harpoons. Not that I’d recommend it, of course. It’d just cause more damage.”
The ship lurched closer to the Druthagar ship, the bow of which was rapidly approaching. Its axehead for a front loomed ominously before them.
“They’re not going to ram us, are they?” Hayes asked of no one in particular. His brain suddenly went blank. The battle over Stariek came back to mind as he considered the Druthagar’s choices. He had heard of their methods, but he expected them to have been exaggerated. After several seconds, he shook his head to clear it. “TAO, target those chains with whatever we got. Navigation, have engines primed to get us out of here.”
They both answered affirmatively. Neutron beams lashed out at the thick chains. Sporadic bursts from multiple directions focused one of them, slowly melting it before it finally released them with a resounding thunk throughout the Celestial Phoenix. The ship listed and groaned for a moment, but the other two held steadfast and kept them in place. All the while, the sharp bow of the Druthagar warship grew larger.
“Navigation, put some distance between us, now.” Hayes gripped the side of the holoprojector as he watched the axeheaded bow approaching.
“The stress could tear the ship apart, Admiral,” the Hyperion officer replied. “If we ripped ourselves free, the hooks from those chains would leave large swaths of the ship exposed to the void. I know how much you people care about expendables.”
Hayes took a deep breath to resist the urge to slap the man, instead turning to Captain Gibson.
“TAO, get those chains broken so we can get ourselves out of this mess.”
“Trying, sir. They’re made out of some sort of metal that is resisting our neutron beams. Scans indicate it to be some sort of mithril alloy.”
“I don’t care what the metal is made of, Captain.” He slammed his fist against the holoprojector, causing the image to shake with the force. “I want it gone.”
An explosion lit up the viewport, drawing Hayes’ attention back to it. Briefly, a fireball consumed the side of the Druthagar ship. When it cleared, one of the harpoon launchers was gone, causing the chain to float freely in the void. The warship shuddered under the force, slowly significantly and turning slightly to one side.
Soaring past at a speed much faster than would be prudent at such close quarters was one of the Hyperion battleships. Its magnetic cannons blazed brightly as round after round erupted from the massive barrels, tearing into the Druthagar warship. Chunks of hull exploded outwards. Fires from explosive decompression dotted the surface. It slowed dramatically, listing to one side as one of the engines blew apart at the rear.
“Conn, Comms,” called out Lieutenant Price. “Incoming message from the Oberlander.”
“On screen, Lieutenant,” Hayes said, glancing sideways at Najjar.
Immediately, the viewport filled with the face of General Kindler on the bridge of her battleship. Her lips were twisted in a vicious grin.
“Admiral, it looked like you were in need of assistance. I hope you don’t mind my providing it. After all, I couldn’t lose your ship to battle in its first outing. That would just make me look bad.”
“Of course not, General.” Hayes took a step closer to the viewport. Part of him was upset at her helping him. Not at the fact she did, but the fact he needed it. The warship should not have been able to get that close to besting him. “I’m glad you were able to arrive in time.”
“As am I, especially considering the fact your communications officer did not even issue a request for aid.” General Kindler’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know how you did things when you were ‘independent,’ but in our navy, we are not afraid to ask for help when we need it. It would be best for you to remember that.”
The image disappeared before he could reply. He was left standing there, feeling like the rest of the bridge was staring at him. With another pass, the Oberlander tore one last hole through the center of the Druthagar warship and it ceased all movement. A clang resounded through the Celestial Phoenix as the last chain was broken.
Hayes took a deep breath through his nose before turning back to the tactical board. Only two major red dots remained. One was for the outpost they came to destroy. The other was for a final warship. Rapidly approaching the latter was a green one designated as Alpha One. Irritation swelled inside of him as he turned to Lieutenant Price.
“Communications, issue a general order for all small craft to land on the Celestial Phoenix. Now.”
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