“Sir, we’re losing speed!” the navigator shouted. “The left engine is completely unresponsive.”
His voice faded into muted oblivion, as Captain Hallith watched weapon ports on all six Terran ships open simultaneously. Dozens of rockets launched from each, their smoking trails filling the screen with crisscrossing pathways. In their own hidden language, the smoky trails spelled death for the Liberator.
“Gods save us,” the captain muttered, as the first rocket slammed into the limping Alliance cruiser.
Metal plates buckled, as plasma explosions blossomed across the ship’s length. Burning oxygen vented into space through hull breaches. Fire roared through the corridors, burning crewmen alive, as they fled one explosion only to be caught in another.
The captain watched in dismay, as missile after missile struck the Liberator, until, gratefully, one ended his consternation by splitting the hull above the bridge. He and his bridge crew were obliterated by the subsequent plasma explosion, which saved them a more-arduous death, as their bodies were sucked through the gaping hull into the void of space.
As the plasma blossoms cooled, debris from the former Alliance cruiser drifted aimlessly in space. The Terran destroyers flew past, seeking their next target.