"Fire main cannons on my mark."Captain Ziegler paused for three seconds then shouted:"Fire!"
Almost instantly,nine white-hot projectiles burst forth from the huge barrels of the Hydra's three sets of Supersonic Shock Cannons in nine simultaneous explosions. of flame and noise,and sped toward their intended target:a monolithtic Rencond flagship.
The conflict started two hours ago,with the Rencond initiating it.One of the Terran's scout vessels,a Sparrow-class interceptor by the name of the Raven,had collided accidentally into one of the multiple Rencond space probes,and wrecked it.Although the Raven was also severely damaged,it managed to return to Zion Prime,the massive,rotating complex in Zeanur 4's orbit that the Terrans call home.It did not return alone however,an armada of twelve alien vessels materialised out of nowhere,and started shooting at the sight of the Raven.Thus began the conflict.
Initially,the battle was going well for the humans,with their Orbital Defense Platforms keeping the Rencond ships at bay.One white-hot depleted uranium projectile was enough to punch through the silver,shimmering energy shields of a Rencond Stratoforce-class destroyer,and gut the hapless vessel from stem to stern.Out of the twelve vessels that had come after the Raven, only five remained after half an hour,a testament to the superiority of the Terran defenses.
However,all that changed an hour into the conflict,when the Rencond forces moved out of the Platforms' range,and started to bombard the Terran ships with long-ranged weaponry:energy beams and torpedoes.Six Tempest-class Terran destroyers went up in flame in the six minutes that the Rencond had renewed their assault,and Zion Prime wanted those robots terminated.
Thus,Captain Ziegler was ordered to mobilise,and quell the onslaught.
Captain Ziegler was a man of outstanding capabilities.His Career Service Vitae was a full seven pages long.He had survived eleven battles with the Xeno,six with the Zelarians and two with the Rencond.His charisma,as well as bravery,has gotten his crew out of dangerous situations time and time again.He was truly a war hero.His customised Dreadnought-class heavy crusier,the Hydra,is a ship worthy of the man's name.Along with the standard issue triple batteries of three Supersonic Shock Cannons each, four pods of Arbalest Atmospheric and Space-use Missiles and twenty-four 40mm autocannons,the Hydra had a secret weapon that gave it an edge over any ship in the fleet:a Neutron Cannon.
An advanced prototype,the neutron cannon is capable of delivering a compacted uranium bolt encased in a class-five electromagnetic field to targets almost sixty kilometres away,and place that bolt with pinpoint accuracy.Upon impact,the field collapses,and the compacted atoms disperse,their neutrons separate from the other members of the atomic system,and thus creating the deadly "splitting the atom" effect that ended the second World War in the 1940s. This effect is sufficient enough in force to decimate half of Earth's moon.However,once the cannon is used,the ship carrying it will lose all power,and be dead in space until another ship comes along to pick it up.The complicated array of equipment needed to fire the ray would also have to be remade,making the neutron cannon very not cost-effective.Captain Ziegler had pressured the dockmaster to install it on his ship,sacrificing a few cigars for it.Under Ziegler's relentless assault,the dockmaster finally gave in,and agreed to "accidentally" install the cannon on the Hydra's bow.Finally,the weapon could be of some use.
"Track those Apex fighters,Lieutanent Jones,"Captain Ziegler ordered,"and give them a warm reception."
"Aye sir,already engaged,"the cute-faced lieutanent replied.
On the sides of the Hydra,twenty-four rectangular hatches slid open,and an equal number of twin-barrelled 40 millimeter automatic cannons emerged from the openings.Almost immediately,spouts of flame spewed forth from the barrels,chipping away at the Rencond single-ship fighters' shields.The small,highly manuverable Apex-class interceptors were just another item in theRencond's bottomless arsenal.The small things proved to be both a nuisance, and a lethal threat,their energy cannons draining the shields of the Hydra precipitiously. Nevertheless,once the autocannons were deployed,nine puffs of fire emerged on the view screen and vanished from the radar.
"Stand by for course correction,declination zero zero three six by zero zero eight two."Ziegler told the navigation officer,Timmons.
"Course set.Awaiting your order sir,"Timmons replied,hand hovering over his console.
Ziegler,however,said nothing.He just stared at the massive metallic vessel in front of him. The Rencond ship was shaped like an arrow,with its bow sharpened to a point.The brigde stood on the stern,above the powerful engines.Cubes flashed beams of energy,cutting any unlucky ship nearby.The ship had a sort of odd,predatory beauty,blemished however,by a gaping hole in its starboard prow.The metal was jagged and serated,and curled away from the wound.One of the Hydra's cannon shells must have impacted into it just now.Yet,the vessel was still fully functional.If only we knew what goes on inside those ships,then we would have a better chance against these metallic monsters,Ziegler thought angrily. If only-
Ziegler halted in mid thought.He had a brainwave.
Quickly,he hit the button for the intercom.It buzzed to life,with a man's coarse voice enamanting from it,laced with static.
"Bunker to bridge,Smith here.What's up Cap?"Smith asked.
"Smith,I want you to ready your squad and get to launch bay Seven ASAP.I got a little mission for you."Ziegler smiled.
"You serious?"Smith quizzed dubiously,"I mean we ARE in space,aren't we?"
"You are correct Smith.But we require you to-",Ziegler paused to search for the correct word,"- take over an enemy ship for us.I'm sure you can handle it."
Smith processed the information for a whole three seconds,then said,"We're on it sir.Bunker out."He then proceeded to issue his own orders to his team.
Finally,there were aliens to kill.
And none of them wanted to miss out on the fun.
To Be Continued...
