Purge of Prometheus

the other ships maneuvered. The Terrans didn’t fare much better. As Yen watched, a seventh Destroyer erupted into flames as one of the plasma rockets slipped through the onslaught of protective fire and found its mark.

“This is insane,” Yen commented over the radio. “We need to regroup with some of the other fighter Teams and start a more organized offensive action.”

“Roger that, sir,” Gregario replied. “The problem is that the Teams from the Revolution are scattered. In the short time you were in the gas giant, the clear lines of battle got a little blurred. It was a free for all that is just now being sorted out.”

“Then let’s get to the Revolution and use that as our launching point,” Yen countered. “Start sending a Squadron-wide call informing all ships to regroup around…”

Before Yen could finish, the Fleet-wide communications channel opened on his console and began relaying an emergency message.

“This is Captain Hodge of the Revolution,” the message began. “We are swarmed with enemy fighters and have lost the majority of our defensive capabilities. I am requesting immediate support from anyone receiving this message. I say again, I am requesting immediate support for the Revolution.”

“It looks like our mind is made up for us, sir,” Wallace said as the message began playing again.

“Team Six, move out and rendezvous with the Revolution,” Yen ordered. “Let’s go save our ship.”

Dodging a barrage of oncoming fire, Yen’s team worked in concert with one another, driving forward as a deadly team one moment only to split and chase down enemy fighters individually the next. The team fought with deadly efficiency, clearing away the immediate Terran fighters and opening a path between them and the embattled Revolution.

As they approached, Yen saw Terran fighters crawling across the hull of the Alliance flagship like swarming ants. Their weapons fire ignited small fires along the length of the ship, drawing the attention of the defensive weapons while the boarding parties cut holes in the thick protective steel of the Revolution. Closing the distance, Yen’s radio crackled to life once again on the Fleet-wide channel.

“The Revolution is being boarded as we speak,” Captain Hodge said. “We are requesting immediate support.”

Yen activated his own radio in response. “Revolution, this is Team Six. We are closing in on your location and will be assisting shortly.”

As Yen ended his transmission, numerous others began calling in, lending their support to the swarmed flagship. Most of the Teams from the Revolution were arriving and engaging the Terran fighters.

“Team Six,” Yen said, changing his channel to the internal net. “Our focus is on the boarding parties. Destroy those and let the other Teams take care of the fighters.”

They all called back, letting Yen know that they had received the orders. Yen, however, didn’t wait for their reply, instead putting the Duun Riddell into a dive that brought it rapidly toward the flagship. Barely slowing, Yen eased up on the controls until his fighter was skimming the hull of the ship. This close, he was able to examine the damage already done to the ship he called home. Numerous blast marks scorched the hull, exposing the chambers and hallways underneath. Breaches in the hull were automatically sealed off from the rest of the ship to ensure the entire Cruiser wasn’t lost during a depressurization, but it left dozens of Crewmen trapped in a slow, suffocating death.

Ahead, Yen could see the first of several Terran personnel ships attached to the Revolution. From the bottom of the ships, long, flexible tubes extended until they were firmly affixed around the breaching holes cut by the boarding parties. Yen angled his fighter toward the first of these tubes and opened fire. The machine gun roared to life, spitting tracer rounds through the flimsy fabric. The ship above jerked as its anchor broke free. Byron, flying up behind Yen, destroyed the personnel ship with a well-placed plasma rocket. The bigger effect, however, happened to the members of the boarding party itself. Though they were protected in suits from the sudden lack of oxygen, they could do nothing against the sudden depressurization. Jerked backwards as breathable air vented into space, the boarding party shot out of the breaching hole and drifted helplessly into the void. Yen barely noticed as he turned and engaged the next ship, but he felt his adrenaline surge at the sight of such wanton destruction. He yearned for more. Firing his rocket at the next personnel carrier, he watched as it exploded, destroying the ship and tearing loose the fabric tube. He watched as the venting gases mixed with the clinging, burning plasma. The fire cooked the boarding party alive as they were jettisoned out of the Revolution.

“We got enemy fighters closing in from behind us,” Iana warned as new red ships’ blips appeared on Yen’s radar. He tried to turn to look over his shoulder, but the Terrans were grazing the hull of the flagship, making it impossible to see them amidst all the chaos.

“Pull up and loop around to engage,” Yen ordered, bringing up the nose of his fighter in a tight circle that would turn him to face the incoming Terrans.

“They’re firing!” Wallace yelled into the radio.

“I’m hit!” Byron screamed. “Oh Gods, I’m…”

The transmission went dead as Byron’s ship was consumed by enemy machine gun fire. The vessel broke apart, crashing and exploding into the hull of the Revolution.

Yen finished his turn and charged toward the oncoming Terran fighters. As he wove through the hail of gunfire, Yen returned fire on the closest ship. His rounds tore through the armored cabin of the fighter and slammed into the pilot. As the Terran slumped over the controls, the ship spun out of control until it, too, crashed into the hull beneath. Yen’s powers responded to the excitement with rabid enthusiasm. His psyche reached out and grabbed onto the front of an approaching Terran fighter. Jerking it to the side, Yen slammed the ship into its wingman. Both ships exploded in bright orange flame. With the rest of Team Six joining him, they finished off the Terran fighters, removing most of the remaining threat to the Revolution.

With his adrenaline now waning, Yen felt a moment of reprieve and switched his communications array to the Fleet channel. The sudden eruption of sound surprised him as a multitude of distress calls rang out over the radio. Fidgeting with the controls, Yen was able to identify a number of the requests.

“…under heavy fire. Requesting assistance…”

“…engaged with a Terran Destroyer. Taking heavy damage…”

One call, however, caught his attention more than the others.

“This is the Zenith. We are being engaged by the Terran flagship.” The voice paused as explosions and screams were heard in the background. “We are taking severe damage. I’ve sent most of my crew to the escape ships already, but the Zenith is a loss. I say again, we have lost the Zenith!”

Yen turned in the direction of the hailing ship, making out the bulky shape of the Cruiser amidst the smaller fighter engagements in between. The Zenith was limping through space, its hull battered and engines firing weakly. As it tried to flee, a second ship flew forward until the two ships flew side by side. The Terran ship dwarfed the Alliance Cruiser; its bulbous body resembled a swollen balloon, bristling with heavy weapons. Its gleaming white hull, painted with the blue and gold lines of the Terran Empire, glistened even in the dim light of space.

The Terran flagship slowed until it had matched speed with the Zenith. The side exposed to the Terrans had been decimated by plasma rockets, leaving the metallic hull sweltering and molten. Weapons platforms that had once been housed on that side of the Cruiser had been destroyed, leaving the Zenith incapable of firing on the deadly enemy. As Yen watched, hundreds of smoke trails leapt from the Terran ship as they fired volley after volley from their twenty launchers on that side of their vessel. The rockets struck the disabled Cruiser in overlapping, blossoming flowers of plasma. The blue and purple plasma engulfed the entire port side of the Zenith, leaving Yen very little view of the explosions. From where Team Six watched, however, they could see the hull of the Zenith buckling from the assault, the starboard side of the Cruiser collapsing inward as the ship quickly imploded from the rapid depressurization. Though the Fleet channel was open, Yen didn’t even hear a scream of protest as the Zenith was obliterated.

“Did you see that?” Gregario asked, the awe evident in his voice.