The Destroyers Book 3 Civil WarChapter 5 Mars and Space
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Richard snarled in anger as he stood up, shaking his hand he looked at the woman. "I'm going to rip your head off," he said as he charged the woman.
Jerri dodged the man's clumsy attack and grasped his wounded hand. Turning she slammed him into the wall where he bounced off.
Moving quickly, Richard jumped on the woman and grasped her in a bear hug. "Got you now bitch," he growled out.
Laughing, Jerri replied, "You think so? Do your worst." Suddenly she screamed out in agony and blood started dripping to her feet.
With a grin, Richard threw the critically wounded woman from him and everyone stood there in shock as two more arms were revealed, their crystal skin dripped blood as he jumped on the next human and pierced his chest with the two spikes as he ripped the fletchen rifle from his weakened fingers with his other pair of hands. The weapon came up and he opened fired on the humans in the room.
Lieutenant Carvel dropped to the deck, his hand yanked his fletchen rifle around and he fired the first burst of return fire. Before he could fire a second burst, the Crytherian flew backwards and hit the wall as six more weapons fired on him. Taking aim, he put one round of fletchen right where the center eye would be and the creature's head exploded. Before Joshua could take a step, ten of the minors shifted, and attacked the group. The NAT team fell back in surprise as the enemy was reveled in their mists. Three of the teams went down in seconds while the rest whirled and attacked.
"What the fuck?" Joshua said as the Crytherians attacked them.
"Kill the humans. Take the ship back for the glory of the Empire," the Crytherians shouted as they attacked.
Corporal Isis Blackbird whirled, and let loose with her fletchen gun. The darts ripped three of the Crytherians apart before they could attack again. As she was turning the gun to target another hostile, she screamed in pain as a sharp object punctured through her armor just above the hip. She was lifted off her feet and hurled across the room and hit the wall where she dropped to the deck unconscious.
Joshua saw one of his team go down and he turned and snap kicked the Crytherian in the jaw. Yanking out his stun baton, he jammed it into the creature's stomach and making him scream in agony as he held the button down on the baton. He poured all the energy from the weapon into the Crytherian and he didn't let up until he saw smoke coming from the creatures body. Pulling back the weapon he looked at the eyes and saw it was dead. Turning he held the weapon up, but the remaining Crytherians were down.
"What the fuck is going on? How did we get so many of them aboard this ship?" he said as he knelt beside Captain Hope. Seeing she was still alive, he grabbed his medkit and pulled out the nano bandages. Ripping the woman's shirt open, he looked at the bloody wounds in concern. Yanking the first bandage open, he pressed it against the bloody wound and did the same for the second.
"Lieutenant Carvel, you take over. Find out how many more of these bastards are aboard," Jerri said weakly.
"Yes, Ma'am. I'll take over. Now you rest while we get a stretcher for you to take you to medical," he replied as he stood up and looked at the blood-splattered room.
Looking at the medics helping the wounded, he said, "Get a stretcher over here, and get the Captain to medical. I need to contact the Wolverine and talk to the AI." Turning he walked out of the room as the squads leaped to obey his orders. Five minutes later he walked up to the sealed bridge door and banged on it.
Sergeant Jimmy Norris sat at the communications station and watched the Captain fight and go down. He was so angry that he wanted to grab a weapon and rush down there. Then before his eyes a full scale battled erupted that lasted for less than a minute. When it was over, fourteen more people were down, including the Crytherians. Shaking his head, he missed the leader of the NAT teams leave the room. Turning to the com, he sent a message to the Wolverine reporting that the hostage situation was secure. He had just signed off when someone pounded on the blast door. Activating the security camera, he saw it was the NAT commander and he opened the door.
Turning in his chair, he said, "Yes, Lieutenant? What can I do for you?"
"Captain Hope put me in charge while she is in recovery. Please contact the Wolverine for me. I want to speak to Lieutenant Margret Wilson the ships AI/Interface, prepared to send the video of the battle in the galley to her for analysis," Joshua said as he sat down in the command chair.
"Yes, Sir," Jimmy said and contacted the Wolverine asking to speak to the interface.
Seconds after he made the connection, the main screen came on, and a young girl of around fourteen years stood there. Her long red hair flowed down her back and her gray eyes stared at them.
"You called Lieutenant Carvel?" she asked.
"Yes, Ma'am, I'm sending you a video of the events we just took on over here. I'm wondering as to your opinion on how we should proceed," Joshua said as he nodded his head to the sergeant who immediately sent the file.
"File received, viewing ... interesting. I will contact all ships to start scans for Crytherian life signs in the refugees. Please try and get some information from the survivors before you transport them to the flagship for holding ... Lieutenant Carvel, please notify your people that Captain Theodore White of the Oregon has been killed in combat. The flagship has been heavily damaged but the Crytherian Basilisk class battleship has been destroyed. The fleet will close up and proceed to Terra at best speed," Margret reported.
Around the fleet, the orders went out and scanner crews started walking among the survivors looking for Crytherians hiding among them. When finished, over a thousand of them had been rounded up and dumped into the prison cells of the warships. With the internal problem solved, the fleet settled down to travel home.
Aboard the Oregon
Augusta lay on her bed, her daughter curled up tightly against her. She felt healthier then she had ever been in her young life. Kissing her daughter on her forehead, she slipped out of the bed and walked to the window and looked out over the bow of the ship. Standing there with tears running down her face she watched the ship heading for a home she has never known. "Why? Why did he do it?" she asked.
"Because it was his job. It was what he was trained to do. He did it to save you, your daughter and the thousands of others on board this ship," Lisa said as she walked over and put her arms around her sister-in-law.
Turning in Lisa's arms she buried her face into her shoulder and cried. "I never felt this way about anyone in my life. Why did I have to fall for him like this?" she said as she wept.
"I don't know Lisa, but I know we will be here for you and your children. You're part of my family, and my family looks after those in our family. So don't worry we will be here for you from this day forward," Lisa said as tears ran down her face for her brother.
"Can I see him, when I'm ready?" she asked as she pulled back and picked up a box of tissues and wiped her eyes.
"Yes you can. His body is in medical one. When you're ready I will take you down to see him," Lisa replied as she cupped Augusta's cheeks in her small hands.
"I want to go now!"
New information came to her though the link and she replied, "No, you can see him tonight. We are having a memorial for him in the atrium."
"Thank you, Lisa. You've all been so kind to us. I don't know how we can ever repay you, but I still don't understand why he did it," Augusta said.
"There is nothing to repay. You're all going home to your loved ones. That is why we did this. We couldn't allow you all to be left in slavery. It wasn't right, my brother and brother-in-law were horrified that the United Nations sold you all into slavery. True they couldn't fight the Crytherians then, but we can now. Once you're all back on Terra, we will get all the people home to their countries of origins, or they can join up to help us defeat the Crytherians and the T'Lari..."
"What are these T'Lari they you'll keep talking about?" Augusta asked as she walked over to the replicator and said, "Two cokes please."
The soda's appeared and she picked them up and walked back to Lisa and handed her one. Going to the two captain chairs, she sat in one as she waited for Lisa to explain.
"It's better to show you what they look like," Lisa said and activated the holoemitter and showed Augusta what the enemy looked like.
"Oh my God! I have seen those. The Crytherians were showing them around the city one day. We weren't supposed to look out the windows, but I did," Augusta blurted out.
"When was this?" Lisa asked.
Augusta took a sip of her coke and thought back, and then she started talking.
Two months before the rescue
The rain was coming down in a light drizzle on the capital of Karsakini. The smog from the foundries was filling the sky to the east of the city. While to the west, the spaceports were bustling with arriving and leaving ships. The construction yards were busy as usual as the Crytherians worked on building new ships.
"Attention, all humans in the city. In one hour, you're to lock all windows, and close all curtains in the slave quarters. Anyone caught looking out, will be executed on the spot along with any human in the building," blared from the speakers scattered around the city. Crytherian warriors made sure all the doors were locked and guards stationed along the sidewalks watching the windows.
Augusta stood at the high-rise window and looked down on the main road coming from the spaceport. Her master was away at the port meeting some important visitor and she was left alone, in the apartment. Her duties were finished, the house cleaned for him. She was supposed to head back to the brothel to work a few hours and then have time to play with her daughter before putting her down for the night. But then the order came in that they had to stay inside. Going to the telescope that her master looked through at times, she looked at where it was supposed to be pointing and then lowered it to see what was going on.
She auto focused the scope and watched the hover cars coming down the road. She watched the armored hover cars go first then the first of several open ones came into view and she pissed herself when she saw the creature. It was black, had six arms and was armored with some type of plates. It had giant teeth that looked like it could rip someone to pieces in a few bites. It was talking to her master that was sitting next to the creature. She knew it was a 'him', because of the clothes he was wearing. It looked up and at her building, and she could swear it was looking at her and she peed herself again.
The Battle for the Space Docks Federation Fleet Captain John Wilkes walked onto the bridge of the USS America and looked at the main screen. The news he had just received about the takeover had him nervous about possible saboteurs or traitors on board his command. Pressing the intercom, he started to address the crew, "This is the Captain speaking. All hands man your battlestations. This is not a drill. Units of the United States Military have engaged our bases on the moon and the Arizona...
05:30 Pluto, Base Station Elysian, 1-14-05 Ken watched the fleet approach the huge dry dock. The ships were spreading out for the docking arms as he turned and looked at his wife Tammy who was giving her fleet orders. "Helm. All ahead, slow. Starboard thrusters, minimum fire, in three ... two ... one ... engage," Tammy said as she sat in the command chair. "Firing thrusters, Ma'am," replied Commander Stella Salaneo. The huge ship slowly slid down the length of the gantry until it was...
Captured Space Docks Admiral Farragut froze when the round blew the com unit apart, which was built into his desk. He looked at his assailant. Before he could say anything or move, a dart slammed into his chest, and he flew out of his chair and crashed to the floor. Walking over to the man, the figure knelt beside him, and bound his hands and feet. Pulling out a scanner, the person scanned the man and found his locator beacon. With a quick tapping of keys, the scanner shut the beacon down....
American Fleet The Abraham Lincoln turned and started firing into the weakened shields of the Washington. Suddenly the shields failed and explosions detonated from the side of the massive ship. Admiral Callaghan grinned as he watched the ship heave as a dozen antimatter rounds slammed into the side of the battleship and half her weapons went down. "Keep hitting them. Blow those bastards away!" Mathew said with glee in his voice. "I am sir, do you want me to pull their teeth so we can...
Federation Fleet The Washington led her fleet towards the captured Space Docks where they circled the Earth, at five hundred thousand miles. Ken stood on the flag bridge with his wives and watched the American ships maneuvering in front of them. "Admiral, the American fleet is joining up. They have fifteen destroyers and four light cruisers," Lieutenant Jinnah Chin reported. "Thank you lieutenant, we will stick with the plan," Admiral Tammy Thompson said. "Yes, Ma'am. I am sending...
Captured Crytherian Space Dock Captain Sammy O'Rourke-Anderson watched as the twenty spider bots continued to build the small ship. It was now over eighty percent completed. Walking to the door, she looked out into the hall and saw it was still clear. "Come on Kevin, get your ass back here," Sammy snarled as she heard a clang behind her. Shutting the hatch, she walked back to the dock and watched the spiders lift a section of the black hull up to the side of the ship and fasten it to the...
American Space Navy Near Space Dock One: 1-17-05, 11:29 A.M. American battle cruiser America Captain Richard Potter watched the Federation cruiser he was firing on, her shields had collapsed and now internal explosions were ripping through her hull. He knew that inside it was becoming a death trap and with the ship crippled he made his decision. "Ensign Wilcox, break lock, and target the next ship," he said as he watched two heavy cruisers coming to the Federation ship's rescue. Ensign...
The Federation battleship USS Washington: 1:50 P.M. Jessica handled the ship as though she was born to do it. The ship was shrugging off the enemy fire and her weapons were firing at the Washington D.C. shield trying to take it down. Turning her head she smiled at her husband and wife as the status reports came in from the fleet. "Enemy shield down to 36% power," reported Lieutenant Akiko Fujimoto. "Thanks, Akiko. Keep up the pressure," Tammy said just as Jessica screamed and the ship...
Washington DC Twenty-four hours before the attack on the docks, several congressional representatives and senators were having a small poker party at one of the member's houses. Tony Garcia, a Representative from the State of New Mexico was just reaching for the next card when the front door was kicked in. Standing in the doorway was a man in a camouflage uniform that seemed to shimmer as he stood there. "What..." is all he got out when he was flipped out of the chair by the needler...
Ted sat there looking at the woman who had just given him a blowjob. His eyes kept wandering to her scantly clad body as she crawled up his body kissing his bare flesh as she went which caused him to moan. "You are so handsome looking! I just had to come and thank you personally for saving me and my Angel," Augusta said as she licked his nipples. She straddled his waist, and raised her green eyes to look into Ted's brown ones that were wide, as if he was a deer caught in the lights of a...
Sammy heard the girl cry out, and her eyes locked on the falling container. Her eyes followed the rope up over the beam, and down to the floor. She saw the man being jerked up. Whipping her battle-axe up and over her shoulder, she hurled the flaming blade, and watched it spin as the man began to fly up into the air. The blade spun through the air, twirling over and over. It hit the rope, and the titanium blade sliced through its weaves like butter. The battle-axe then slammed into the wall,...
USS Oregon Ted ran onto the bridge and dropped into his command chair as he was shouting his orders, "Full power to weapons. Cut speed by twenty percent. Bring shields to full power, double the energy to the stern shields." "Yes, Sir, cutting speed and raising shields to full power," Lieutenant Joan Greenville at the helm station said as her fingers flew over the console in front of her. Lieutenant Betty Jenson over at the port weapons station shouted, "Portside weapons online and...
DMZ, Korean Peninsula: 1-17-05, 05:19 A.M. Sojang (Major-General) Hyun Li raised his binoculars and looked across the DMZ at the American and South Korean forces, as the sun slowly rose over the landscape. Picking up the phone, he gave the order he had been waiting for thirty years, to give. "Fire." Up and down the DMZ, eight thousand artillery pieces and twenty-four hundred multiple missile launchers raised their barrels from hidden weapon emplacements while three thousand aircraft...
Mars Base: Federation Side Thirteen-year-old Mitchell Young sat back from his computer screen, looked at the final design of the APES, and watched the simulation run. Within seconds, they had devastated a unit of T'Lari warriors. Reaching over to the keypad, he typed in a few commands and watched the T'Lari change to battle Mechs and it took a little bit longer but they were able to wipe out the twenty Mechs for the loss of only five of the APES. With a grin, he said, "It's going to...
Taiwan Straits 1-16-05 21:30 PM Admiral Fu Kwan raised his glasses, looked out into the darkness, and waited. Zhoushan was several hours behind them. He took a quick look around his ship; the invasion fleet of over one hundred warships of the Peoples Liberation Navy was heading for the main Port of Taichung. They were carrying over thirty thousand troops to invade the island of Taiwan and settle this foolishness of joining this so called Federation. The missile destroyer Guangzhou turned a...
Federation side Lisa started hurling Crytherian warriors around the ship as she directed the Marines to their positions. Several had broken into one of the dormitories she had set up for the evacuees from Tau Ceti and were now holding ninety hostages. Ted's body still lay under the huge Crytherian warrior as the ships Marines having seen Ted go down, had gone ballistic, sacrificing their own lives to stem the flow of the invaders as more tried to get in. At last count, three hundred of them...
Mars Base: Brigadier General Mark Anthon was a beaten man. He stood with his men in the giant hanger. Guards stood around the nine hundred officers and men. As force fields kept them in the enclosure, he looked over at his second in command who was glaring daggers at him. "Colonel Wright, I had no choice but to surrender. They were wiping us out," Mark said as he sipped his coffee. "Sir, with all due respect, my infantry could have taken this base. You have failed..." "Colonel James...
Captain John Stratton was fuming; ever since they had been brought onboard, they have been ignored. Walking back and forth in front of his men, he went over to the door and pounded on it some more. "Hey out there, I want to talk to whoever is in charge." Lieutenant Michael McCall sat in one of the chairs, watching his commanding officer pace. He called to him, "John!" Getting no response, he tried again, "Hey Iceman, calm down, they will get to us when they can. You heard the intercom....
POW CAMP 2 1-14-05 Thirty-nine year old Sergeant Sandra MacEwen looked out at the barbed wire as the five men digging the grave for Captain Vickie Tamping, the young Canadian woman who was taken on Space Dock Two leading a small unit of guerrillas against the American forces. She had been wounded when she was brought in and they never gave her any of the advanced medical they had captured. Sandra's eyes floated over the three thousand wooden crosses and cringed as she remembered the first...
10:20 Central LA, California, 1-14-05 Mark 'Hoover' Mathews looked up from his bunker behind two wrecked tractor-trailers. In the distance, the AH-1 Cobra still burned from where his stinger had taken the Marine helicopter down. Around him were the rest of his brothers from the local Blood gang. "Hey Hoover, did you hear what the man in power did to those cities up the state?" asked Vince 'Snakeman' Anderson. "Ya, I heard Snakeman, but we shall kick whities ass out of LA and then we...
"Fuck! The Admiral is going to be pissed," Captain Mike Bonnet of the USS Badger said. "I know, and I am going to have to tell him. It's my responsibility. As to your Mechs and Marines, the ship has been cleared of all Crytherians. Anyone left alive is outside and fair game. If you can get your Mechs to create a safe zone for us, I will get all my spiders initiating emergency repairs to get us back into space," turning he looked at Lisa and asked, "Lisa, how long until we get repairs...
Molly dropped to her knees beside Ken as the rest of her medical staff arrived, checking the wound she saw the blade had cut deeply in to the stomach between the esophagus and the duodenum. "Crap, this wound is bad, Nancy how about the side." Nancy Ortiz was examining the stab wound in Ken's side; it was a clean in and out. Grabbing her medical pad, she started scanning him. "I think his lung has been nicked, but I am not sure. Yet!" Nancy waited for the scanner to finish the scan,...
Court "Commander Amy Thompson, by a count of 7 to 0 we, the court, find you guilty of all charges. You are sentenced to death and the destruction of your capsule and your ship," Sandi said as she looked at the woman. Amy's knees buckled and she collapsed to the floor, and muttered quietly, "my baby. Don't kill my baby, oh God please don't let them kill my baby." "This court will reform inside the capsule room of the USS Washington's primary interface and initiate the destruction...
Fold Space, the USS HOPE Sammy grunted as she landed on her back. Rolling over, she scrambled to her feet as Kevin came in low, the knife blade held along his right forearm. His arm came in, and her arm came up with her blade. They clanged together as the palm of her hand slammed into his chest, and Kevin flew back from her. "Got yeah!" Sammy said as she turned and kicked with her left foot. She felt her foot being grabbed, and she went flying as Kevin spun her around, and she hit the mat...
President Thomas Kincaide was sitting down to his breakfast with his wife, when his chief of staff came into the dining room. "Mr. President, we have a situation out in Las Vegas, it seems a large ship was sighted taking off from somewhere in Northern Arizona. Nellis AFB dispatched five F-16s to investigate it. The tower was in contact with the planes when suddenly all communications was cut off. Nellis dispatched an additional ten more planes to the area, but nothing has been found of the...
Ken sat and listened to Amy, and then turned to the others. "First, I think we need to catch this psychopath before he kills his next victim. We have to do it. Then, we should get the Washington back up into space. After that, we need to recruit a crew," turning back to Amy he added, "I just thought of something. Do you have to be at the asteroid belt for your spider bots to build? And if not, is there a way we can get the spider bots there, quickly?" "Yes, we could use a shuttle and...
Presidential One 2:20 pm Tina looked at the scanners of the ship as American fighters came in from all angles and opened fired on her. With her com open she screamed, "FUCK! I'M UNDER ATTACK!" as she started banking the craft trying to avoid the enemy fighters. The shields sensors screamed out their warnings as they were plastered from thirty different points of attack. Tina reacted quickly and fired her main weapons and blew two Lightning class fighters to shreds. Doing a quick loop,...
"I was critically injured when I came to Ashley's rescue. A squad of American's was in the process of raping her. I killed them all, but they injured me badly. I woke up in a capsule. It seems Commander Sandi O'Donald heard Ashley crying and arrived in time. Her husband, Doctor Marcus Wild, was summoned. She had the replicators form a capsule for me. Doctor Marcus arrived just as the bed was finished, and got me up inside it. I have spent the last three weeks healing, inside, while my...
Onboard the Ex-Crytherian mining freighter Hathor, William Odessa led his party of former escapees down the narrow hallway he had found. The air smelled of stale sweat and death, water dripped from one of the overhead pipes in at least a dozen places. One of the electrical panels buzzed as if it had a short and they stayed away from it. Looking at the map he had made, he knew they were getting close as they turned the corner. Up ahead, he could see the bulkhead door. Going up to it, he...
Flag Bridge, USS Washington 15:10 hours, 2-05-05 Ken felt the grief building up in his body when a hand gently gripped his shoulder. Looking up into the eyes of Kalaria he smiled sadly as he thought of his best friend. They had grown up together, did everything together; they even dated and married each other's sister. "Commander Chu, please send us your mission logs for review, and welcome home. At this time, I want you to assume command of the Oregon as her captain," Tammy said as she...
Sol System USS Washington Ken stood there looking at the young woman who bowed her head to him. Walking towards her, his mind raced with what she had done to Amy and the other interfaces. But, after reading their mandate that was initiated when they were created, he now knew more of what she was talking about. Once they became an interface they were under the jurisdiction of the Interface council. Sandy, being the oldest, became the highest judge of the council. Stopping in front of the...
Ken stood on the flag bridge of the Washington, and looked at the holomap. The Oregon was five hundred miles to his portside. The destroyers Bulldog, Boxer and Doberman were in an arrow formation directly ahead of the two battleships. Behind the flagship, the remaining ships of the fleet stretched out to their individual time drops. The last ones were the hospital ships, while directly behind him were the assault cruisers. Worried about what was going to happen, Ken chewed on his cigar. So...
Amy appeared on the bridge deck, and quickly reacted to the damage. Activating the tractor beams, she reached out and latched onto the crew. Only two were sucked out, as internal forcefields she had installed snapped on and covered the openings. Activating her communications system, she issued her orders. "This is Amy, I need medical teams to the main bridge we have casualties." Walking around the room, she checked each crewmember and finally knelt by her sister-wife. "Tammy, please...
Six weeks later, Ken sat at his desk going through Captain Windsor's logs. He was looking for the clues he suspected were there. "Tammy, it says here, that the Washington was split in half at the battle of Tallis. When she was rebuilt, she was two hundred feet longer than before. I think that is where Jessica is; I think she is in that area. We have been over everything else. Amy, please bring up a pair of holograms of the ship as she used to look and as how she looks now." The image...
The sounds of Sonny Rollins drifted though the room as Lisa sat at the table, reading her medical books. Sitting beside her was a half-eaten grilled cheese sandwich and a glass of milk. Cheri was playing with her squeaky toy. Lisa rubbed her head trying to get rid of her headache that has been bothering her for three days. Suddenly she snapped at the dachshund, "Cheri! Stop squeaking that damned thing." Under the coffee table, Cheri dropped her toy and whimpered. Turning around, her...
The shuttle gently set down next to the airlock. A small gantry extended from the ship to the airlock, and gently locked onto the side of the huge station. Down on the assault deck, Chief Engineer Cory Hill got up, and went to the airlock. He checked the hatch, and seeing the seal showed a tight fit he waited for the air to build up and the lights to come on. Activating his com unit, he called the captain. "Captain, I have a green light on the hatch, and airlock is pressurizing...
She stood there and watched the four friends hug each other, and talk. She moved around the room and sat in one of the chairs. She studied each one, and listened as they talked about the fall. The one she had saved, Ken, was tall and handsome. He projected an aura of possible command material. The other male, jumped right in, and took over. He showed confidence and determination, a possible recruit as a Marine. The one, who carried her sensor crystal, had a quick mind, and a sharp eye. She...
Amy paced through the medical ward aboard the ship, while the spiders continued their maintenance. Down in the main cavern, the spiders scurried about the cavern, and over two gantries as they worked. Amy did a quick check and saw all systems were a go. She walked over to Ken and looked down at his peaceful face. She leaned down through the force field and kissed him, and tapped into Ken's nanobots. She was regretting what she had to do, but knew that she must. For they all needed to learn...
Commodore Thompson stood there issuing orders to the crew of the Oregon. "Lieutenant I want to know what is going on. Who authorized the launching of those mech lifters?" On the screen, lifter after lifter was dropping out of the bay and heading north. "How many mechs?" Lieutenant Commander Shawn Edwards looked at the Commodore and replied, "Sir, I don't know. All I know is that the red alert went off in the mech bay, and then three wings of mechs or thirty mechs loaded up and left...
Ted staggered to his feet, smoke pouring from several consoles around the bridge, sitting down into his chair he snapped out orders, "Damage report!" "Sir, we have a fire in landing bay delta, damage to port side weaponry, shields down to forty percent. I'm estimating ten minutes to full recharge, minor damage to secondary engine four. Hull is intact, no breaches. Casualty report coming in now, thirty-nine dead, sixteen wounded." "Status report on the Crytherian battleship?" Ensign...
After talking for an hour, everyone turned in and got some sleep. While they slept, Amy watched over them, by making an image of herself appear in each room. Sitting in a chair, she watched them sleep, and sighed with contentment. A crew, at last! It had been so long since she'd had anyone on board that she could talk with. She then went back to examining their plans about using the mech warriors as ground assault vehicles. She took what information she could find on the computer game (and...
Ken jerked his head around to the main tactical screen. "To all ships! Red alert! All hands man your battlestations!" Ken ordered. He turned and walked quickly to the main CIC panel. He looked at the hyper wake coming in. "Estimated time of arrival?" "Six minutes, Sir," replied the sensor officer. "Stack us up. I want a full broadside of weapons to bear on the targets. Launch all fighters." "Yes, Sir! Launching all fighters, stacking the ships." "Dispatch the rest of...
Ken stood in his office. With the forward wall pulled back, he could look out over the bow of the great ship. In the distance, the Oregon, along with three destroyers, blasted chunks out of Io - one of Jupiter's larger moons - scaring the landscape as he watched the target practice taking place. Walking over to his desk, he sat down, and went over the last report from the Dachshund. They had found a strange signal emanating from the planet Pluto, and how they were trying to track it down...
Luis Fajardo looked out the picture window of downtown Bogotá Columbia. Picking up the paper, he read the article again. Slamming the paper down, he turned and looked at his companions. "Damn it! We have to stop these people from distributing these serums. They are going to give this miracle drug away free, and our product won't affect the people who use it. That will prevent them from buying from us. We need to stop them, but how? Already sales are down fifteen percent, because the...
Ken sat up on the medical bed and swung his legs over the side as Tina hugged him around the waist. Looking down at the young girl, he kissed her forehead, and said, "Thank you for saving me." Seeing the blush on her face he chuckled, and said, "And that goes for you too, Amy, wherever you are." "Right here, Sir. I was going over the logs to see what I had missed," she said as she appeared. Ken let Tina go, looking over his shoulder at Amy, and said, "Anything important, that I...
Around the system, ships started hypering out. The ships destined to stay, started recovering the injured and helpless from the explosions on Terra; while Commodore White, along with his wife Maria, begin dealing with the UN. Two weeks later, the ships dropped out of fold and reformed into their attack wings. Ken stood on the Flag Bridge, facing the main viewer. On the screen were Captain Nickolas Johansson of the Hope, and Captain Jenny Mai-ling of the Freedom Train. "Captains, good...
Molly watched her new friends drive away. When they were out of sight, she turned back to her mother. She stepped back in to her mother's arms and gave her a hug. Stopping the hug, she looked her mom in the face. "Mom, how about pizza tonight?" Kathleen looked at her baby, and she felt complete again as she realized the hole in her heart was once again filled. "What ever you want sweetie, the number for Pizza Hut is on the fridge like always." Shaking her head, she replied, "No mom,...
Night Skies Hotel VI: Destroyers of Worlds By Solari Author's note: "Destroyers of Worlds" is the third story in the three-part "Foundations" trilogy that shines a light on the wider Night Skies Hotel universe. The other stories in the "Foundations" trilogy are "Night Skies Hotel IV: The Lost Worlds," and "Night Skies Hotel V: Shadows on the Sun." It is recommended that the stories be read in order, or the reader risks not understanding the events that unfold. "What you consider...
Ted walked down the hallway, passing people who were being guided out of the medical bays, and were being lead back down to the shuttles. Passing a side passageway, he started to head into medical when he heard the crying. Turning around, he saw a brown haired girl sitting against the wall. Her dress was slightly dirty, and her knees were pressed tightly to her chest as she rocked. Walking over, he saw she was about eight years old. Kneeling beside her, he said, "Hi, I'm Ted. Are you...
"Show me this ship," snarled Captain Tal. The screen changed and a ship that was five times larger than their own appeared on the screen. Her white hull was gleaming and her navigational lights were lit up. She was less then five miles away from his command. Tal stood there, and looked at the huge ship; he then turned to his weapons officer, and said, "Fire on that ship! Turn us hard starboard, full speed ahead. Launch countermeasures." The Dancer opened fire with her pitiful weapons...
Deep in the hull of the T'Lari battleship, Ka'Nisk walked into the secondary bridge. He looked around as his crew gathered at their stations. "Are we ready?" he asked. Tb'Nar turned from his command turrets. "Sir, power is coming online. I have weapons status on three hundred of the missile bays, and thirty of the laser cannons. Engines are at forty percent power. Anti-gravity generators are online and ready to go. Shield generators are reading thirty percent. We can lift off...
Ted sat in the vehicle holding the cake, as the car shot through the hallways. It came to a dead stop in front of a familiar conference room. Ted led everyone into the room, and they saw Amy standing there. Setting the cake on the table, he turned to the others. "Go ahead and pick a spot. James break out the food, I will get dishes." Going over to the replicator, Ted issued some commands. "Computer fifteen plates, fifteen coffee cups, and flatware settings for fifteen, please." The...
Va'Talki walked into the probe room. In his arms he held a struggling child that he tossed in the corner. "Don't you move," he said as he shut the door. Going over to a console built into the wall, he powered it up. The holographic board came up on the panel, and he started programming the automatic probe launcher. Pressing another control, he looked to his right, and watched as the probe launcher moved and a heavy laser battery moved into the tubes position as the iris...
She was running! From what, she didn't know. All she knew, was it was behind her, always behind her. When she looked, she could not find it. Its heavy breathing was heard, and its breath was on the back of her neck. Pain flared through her body, as she was missing something that was important to her. She was running through a ship, being pursued by the darkness, running through the sterile walls of force screens, it was so close she could feel it. It was behind her, and it reached out and...
Ken drove the big vehicle and continued to think about finding people to get to join them. One group he was going to ask was his Dungeons and Dragons group, and the ROTC class. They were going to need military people, so he added his dad's Vietnam buddies to the list, or at least some of them. As the miles went by, everyone else fell asleep to the drone of the tires on the road. Every few minutes they passed a car going the opposite way. A few hours later, they pulled into Tonopah, Nevada...
Down in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, at a small lake, some friends were spending a week camping and fishing. As the sun was setting, David Granger walked back to his tent, his pole over his shoulder when he looked up and saw his roommate Brad Wilson walking towards him. Holding up the string of trout, he grinned. "Brad, it looks like we have trout for dinner..." seeing the look on the face of his friend he stopped speaking for a second, and asked, "What's wrong?" Walking up to his...
Up north, in Reno, Tina and her two friends were in the garage. They were loading the luggage into her mother's van. Closing the back door, they stood there chatting as they waited for Tina's mom. Tina looked around the garage, and saw a towel on the dryer. Walking over, she grabbed her beach towel with Jonny Depp on it as Captain Jack. "Damn, I almost forgot this." Walking back to the van she opened the door and stuffed the towel into her bag. Kathleen said, "Yeah, you would have...
Jenny paced back in forth in her room. Her nerves were on edge as she walked in her cabin. All around her room hung the items for her upcoming wedding to Ted. She knew it was supposed to be a day of celebration, but with the casualty count still coming in from Reno, she was terrified that something would go wrong. Jenny stopped as her eyes fell on her long white wedding gown. Even with Jessica and Amy acting as their wedding coordinator, the date had been pushed back a few days due to the...