'In the Krycenaean history, the Gezgen K'til has been unstoppable. It is one of the things maintaining Demiran's power, for many of the other Lords fear its wrath, should he turn on them and try to expand his influence. Even the great Erdogan is wary of crossing Demiran for the power it holds.'
'They really have pulled out the big guns,' Taylor added.
'Yes, and played all their cards. If we can defeat this thing they all fear so much, we may well yet prove they can never win.'
That was a positivity Taylor rarely heard. He liked this Admiral more every minute he served alongside her. Her confidence and composure reminded him a little of Chandra and that brought a smile to his face.
A single pulse flew past their display monitor and burrowed into the hull of the Neptune, but the dreadnought of a ship almost brushed it off entirely.
'In range in five, four, three, two.'
'Fire,' Bailey replied quickly.
The bridge lit up as the railguns and missile bays fired as one. The escort ships around the K'til took a battering from the human fleet, and as they closed the Earth planetary defence grid joining the fight. Taylor watched in awe as the battle unfolded before his eyes. From what they could see, it was just hulking ships slugging it out, but he also knew how many hundreds or thousands of lives were ended as each ship was blasted into space debris.
'Itching to get into combat, Colonel?' Bailey asked. Taylor stood mesmerised.
'It's strange to sit back and watch a battle be fought before your eyes. Never have I felt so redundant. Never have I seen death on the battlefield in such vast numbers. Some of those ships being vaporised have more men and women than my entire Battalion.'
'Not a pretty sight, is it?'
'How much longer until we send the Purge fleet in?' he asked.
'Not long now, but we need to get as many of those escort ships out of the way as possible to give us the best chance of getting the nukes in. I just hope it's enough. Just look at the size of thing.'
'Can't we just hit it with nukes from here?'
'We tried that last time around. Their weapon intercept defences took out everything we threw at them. Only way to get close is with something severely armoured.'
'Then pray this works.'
Taylor stepped forward and opened a channel to Huber.
'This is about the best opportunity I think we're gonna get, Sir.'
'Agreed. Have your man activate the signal.'
Taylor turned and nodded to Jafar who knew exactly what to do. He lifted a device he had kept close since they left the enemy vessels and punched in a few buttons.
'That it?'
He nodded in acknowledgement. Bailey placed her hand on the ops table and panned over to where the Purge ships had laid in wait beyond the human fleet.
'They're powering up. This is it.'
The battle continued to rage all around them, but Bailey and Taylor were fixated on the Purge ships on their viewing screens. They knew it was their best and probably only chance of stopping the Planet Killer.
'Has anyone ever tried to destroy this thing before?'
'Yes, Admiral.They failed,' he replied sternly.
'I guess they didn't have inside knowledge like we do.'
Jafar remained silent.
'How long until they reach their target?'
'Approximately two minutes, Ma'am.'
'The game must be up by now that we have control over them. Direct all fire to supporting their approach, and notify the rest of our battle group to do the same.'
'Looks like Huber has already had the main fleet doing that,' said Taylor.
They looked out to see a brutal bombardment hitting everything between them and the massive Planet Killer. The seven Purge cruisers soared in between Bailey's battle group and the main fleet with their engines at full. There was no hiding it anymore. Within seconds of them passing, a volley of pulses smashed into the first vessel, ripping it apart. Several of the bridge crew gasped at the brutal salvo that continued onto the second ship but didn't manage to slow it any.
'Come on, come,' whispered Taylor.
He could see Bailey wanted to give them more, but the Neptune was already firing with everything she had. Now they could only watch and pray. The distance was closing rapidly between the Purge ships and the K'til. The second ship began to spit sparks until a final burst blew it apart.
'Shit,' Taylor murmured.
He doubted for a minute that any would get through,slumping his head down as he leaned against the table.
'It's not over yet,' replied Bailey.
He hadn't realised he had spoken so loudly for others to hear. He knew he had a responsibility to maintain confidence in their endeavour. As he lifted his head, a great light grew in size and brightness on the edge of the K'til hull. They all stared in surprise and amazement until they realised what it was. A weapon Taylor had witnessed during their Tau Ceti expedition. It was a devastating ship killer. The light suddenly rushed from the ship towards the Purge fleet and struck one across its prow. The ship shattered into thousands of parts in seconds, and what was left was unidentifiable as anything but space debris.
The weapon powered up once again and obliterated another of the cruisers.
'Come on,' said Bailey.
Taylor looked up at the last minute when he knew the monstrous weapon could not fire again before the distance was closed. The entire bridge crew watching silently as the last three Purge cruisers still moving plunged into the K'til. They smashed through the outer hull with little resistance at all. They punctured deep within and continued until they were no longer visible.
Sighs of reliefs came from all the crew, but all was not over. Bailey spun around to look directly into Jafar's eyes.
'Do it!'
He did not hesitate, and Taylor was frozen solid watching the display screen. Ripples ran through the front of the K'til until cracks appeared and the blast burst out of the structure, tearing frigate size pieces from the outer skin. Explosions erupted through the ship, and the massive pulse cannon was ripped apart.
'Yes!' yelled Bailey.
Cheers echoed around the bridge as the crew leapt up from their seats in celebration. She turned to Jafar.
'Thank you, you've done us a damn good turn.'
He nodded in agreement in his typically calm character. Bailey turned back to the ops table where Taylor had not moved, and her smile was quickly erased.
'They're still coming at us,' he whispered.
'Their defence grid must be down with all that damage. Launch nukes into that breach, now!'
The gunnery officer stood speechless with his mouth open.
'Fire the damn nukes now!'
'Admiral!' Taylor shouted.
She spun around to see a large metallic glowing object soar towards the fleet, but it did not appear to be targeting any ship in particular. Jafar recognised it immediately, but he did not have any time to warn them, not that it would have helped. They all stared as boosters came on to draw it to a standstill, and then it erupted with a shockwave. Just three seconds later the bridge went dark. All lights, power, and displays shut off.
'What the hell just happened?' Bailey cried out.
Taylor felt the weight of his Reitech suit almost drag him to the ground as its power source had also cut out,
