“Aye-aye, Sir.”
Leo listened to the klaxons blaring, Battle stations, all hands to battle stations.” He pressed a button silencing the klaxon and hit his com, “Weapons, I want a full penetrator targeted on the bottom of the lower ship. We will approach it from that direction. I want a second penetrator ready for launch on my order.”
“Standing by for launch order, Admiral.”
“Sen-Gen, I will fire first. As soon as your sensors detect the launch, launch your penetrator.”
“Standing by, Admiral.’
Melanie stood on the bridge of the Rising Sun and thought about why Admiral Kosiev had chosen it for his flag ship. She had looked up the ship’s history and learned that it was originally commanded by Admiral Mikado who was the original Admiral Kosievs’ best friend. This ship played a major role in the early wars of the Realm. She looked at the display showing the four ships and their positions. Leo planned to hit them as they came inside the jump limit. She took her chair behind him and gripped the rails.
Al thought, “Fly Girl.”
“Yes, Al.”
“You are watching out for Melanie?”
“I have her on my teleport board as we speak. If anything looks like it might endanger her I am pulling her out.”
“Does she know?”
“There are some things you just don’t ask permission; you ask for forgiveness afterward.”
“Atta boy, Girl.
The Ship’s Male looked at his board and saw the two transports on the second planet of the system. His communication board came on and the other Ship’s Male asked, “Should we launch ships?”
“Not this far out; we’re still seven hours from the planet. Keep you scanners active, I’m nervous about two ships that are not moving.”
“As you order.”
“Fleet Command.”
“Yes, Admiral.”
“I want the five thousand megaships armed for the small ships to be ready to teleport into this system. Notify Commodore Hasdf to go to battle stations and stand by for my order to port. Also notify Colonel Brez to notify his warriors to be prepared to repel boarders on those ships.”
“Orders are issued and receipt confirmed, Admiral.”
“Do you think they will launch before we hit them, Admiral,” Melanie asked?
“I don’t think they will but they probably have ships ready to launch and they might be blown out of the mother ships when the energy ball detonates. I don’t want to take any risks. I see some of their launch ports are open.”
Melanie looked closer at the display and saw that he was right. She had missed that; this was a good officer.
Matt appeared on Destiny’s bracelet, “Can you tell if they are in communication with their fleet?”
“They have been communicating but they just stopped a minute ago. I’m sure they were issued instructions to investigate the two ships. What are you planning to do?”
“We are going to hit them with one of those penetrators we told you about in two minutes. If this turns out well you can take the two transports and go pick up your children. The coordinates of where we sent them are on the bottom of your display.”
Destiny looked and saw the coordinates and felt relief at their being safe. “I want to see what happens here first.”
“I can’t say I blame you. It won’t be long.”
Leo watched the two huge ships move just inside the jump limit and just before they passed over head he pressed his com and said, “Fire penetrator.”
The penetrator shot out of its tube and looked like a light beam as it moved almost too fast to track and struck the mother ship.
The Sensor Male said, “Object fired at us,” was all he got out before the huge ship shook violently.
The penetrator penetrated the ten mile hull and went through fifty transports before it stopped and ejected the energy ball. The detonation was instant and the huge blast filled the interior of the mother ship.”
The second mother ship saw the first penetrator hit just as the second penetrator struck them from above.
Leo watched his screen and saw thousands of ships blown out of the mother ship by the blast. He hit his com, “Commodore Hasdf, launch your ships and begin action against the invader’s small ships.”
Five thousand megaships appeared in the system with their red screens glowing and began launching the smaller penetrators. Leo ignored them and continued to watch the mother ship with his finger on the com. The huge ship stopped accelerating as the blast erupted out of the open ports and began to fall off the trajectory it was taking to the planet. He then ordered, “Move us out; let’s give Commodore Hasdf room to operate.” The Rising Sun teleported away from the battle as thousands of penetrators flew into the invaders small ships.
The Ship’s Male was floating in the interior of his ship. Every wall and support had been disintegrated and there was a vast open chamber where ships and warriors were floating around. Then he saw a second small blast in the interior of the ship and small balls began bouncing around. “What are those?”
Destiny watched as the two main ships were hit and then started drifting. He looked at Eyes and said, “Scan the inside of one of the main ships and tell me show me what is happening.” A view appeared on his panel and he watched as thousands of small balls began bouncing around the interior of the ship. As he watched he saw those balls go from moderate speed to moving too fast to follow. Then ships floating in the interior started breaking apart as thousands of the small balls penetrated them and exploded out of them to continue bouncing. Everywhere inside the vast chamber was death. Those balls killed everything they hit and punched through to continue their mission of death. Eyes looked at Destiny and said, “That could have been us.”
“But it wasn’t. Those main ships were coming here to kill us and we should be thankful for our protectors.”
“I am, Destiny. I know at some level I should feel bad for them but I just can’t find it inside me.”
“I know, Eyes. I know.”
Colonel Brez hit his com, “Fire Teams, port to you positions.” On the five thousand megaships teams of three Red Warriors appeared on the surface and set up their guns. Any invader ship that came close was hit by the fire teams with a projectile that penetrated and burned out the interior before releasing fifty iron tree balls. The small ships couldn’t see the megaships but some of them were coming close simply by accident. Some of them actually split in half and the crew was floating in space. The Red Warriors hit them with their hand weapons whenever one was in range killing them with the penetrating iron ball. One megaship had an attack craft hit its surface but the Red Warriors immediately teleported and hit it before it could use its penetrator. For the invaders, there was only death. After ten hours the last invader was killed.
Leo watched the battle from his display and decided that there was nothing else to do. He then ordered, “Teleport teams, go to your assignments.”
Two teams of ten engineers teleported to the surface of the two mother ships and positioned a device over the hole made by the penetrator. Once it was in place, the chief engineer hit the engage button and a teleport screen appeared inside the dead ship and expanded to the far hull thirty thousand miles away. The screen then rotated a hundred and eighty degrees teleporting everything inside the ship not made of the green material into the star at the systems center. It was only then that the iron balls stopped bouncing.
Destiny commed Matt, “It appears that your weapons are very effective. What are you going to do with the ships?”
“I don’t know. We can’t teleport them out of here so it looks like they will have to remain where they are.”
“If it would help, I can push them into a trajectory that will take them to the star in this system.”
Matt smiled and said, “I think that would be a great idea. Will they be able to see them there?”