He indicated across to Dryden, the subordinate public relations officer grinning widely, ‘My Welsh Rarebit with house fried mushrooms and onions was absolutely gorgeous, I enjoyed every mouthful…’
The waiter grinned in satisfaction, nodding in appreciation, ‘I will tell our cook…I am sure he will be very proud. We would be very happy to accommodate your chef…especially if we could offer a shared Trevakian dish on our menu?’
The admiral chuckled, Dryden also laughing as the waiter suddenly looked away, the blue flashing lights of a police car lurching to a halt outside, a fleet uniformed ensign struggling from the back seat before lunging towards the entrance. The young man was clearly excited as he burst through the door breathlessly, the startled seated customers turning to stare as the ensign stiffened to attention, his fist slamming against his chest before the admiral’s table, the waiter stepping back in shock as the Trevakian swallowed, ‘Admiral…sir. We have just received a signal…’
Admiral Karladen’s eyes widened in stunned silence, his body rising as he indicated for the subordinate to continue, Dryden drawing a deep breath as the ensign’s eyes sparkled with emotion, ‘Admiral…there are numerous ships from fleet above us…they have just arrived!’ He glanced round at the rising patrons, spittle falling from his mouth as he shouted, ‘Hundreds of drop ships are descending…Trevakian marines are coming! We are apparently now engaging one of the enemy’s warships.’
A brief incomprehensive silence ensued before loud cheers and energised shouts erupted, people punching the air in glee as the admiral nodded to Dryden, striding to the door as a fleeting excited grin swept across his face, his voice strained at the smiling marines outside, ‘Back to the ship…I have a feeling we may soon have visitors!’
Freedom Abound
Explosions ripped across the shields of the warship, the protective energy wall shimmering as it weakened…torpedoes, high powered laser fire and missiles erupting above target coordinates as the warship turrets traversed, sparks flying across interior corridors and outer hull rooms as the numerous detonations increased in ferocity, the outer shield beginning to glow across areas of damage or loss of integrity. Shrieks of anger filled the barrack rooms and stores as the Morgon crew members stumbled and ran from mess halls, the maintenance crews staring out in disbelief at the flashing lights far across dark space, the Trevakian ships pounding the warship as it slowly turned back to face the new aggressive threat.
The fighters of the newly formed Viper squadron spun in space as they banked hard, beginning a rapid assault run on the warship flank as Anjara broke radio silence briefly, ‘Configure shields as we were instructed…run final torpedo checks, we must ensure direct hits on the outer motors…disable their efforts, then strafe the gunnery positions…’ The pilots gloved hands flicked across their controls, the Fahimian covert transponders immediately transforming to match the outer shield, timers before the electronic ruse was disabled suddenly appearing on the displays below. Tracers and laser flak swept outwards towards the oncoming fighters and bombers, the stunned turret gunners responding to frantic screams in their helmet radios from the bridge.
Fahimian fighters rapidly uncloaked behind the Trevakian vessels, screams of excitement coming from the small pilots and rear gunners as the craft tore towards the vast vessel, their petit hands reconfiguring transponders as bright lights flashed across their cockpits, the proximity warning alarms beeping continuously as the crimson fighters shimmered in the sun’s reflective rays, the velocity increasing dramatically as space dust and swirling cloud streamed behind.
Surging through the outer shield, Anjara’s tensed eyes opened wider in relief at the effectiveness of the Fahimian technology, his vision moving to the targeting scope, wild firing tracers and flak buffeting the craft violently as startled gunners reacted to enemy fighters within their shield, frantically reconfiguring their weapons for close combat.
Several black fighters emerged from the glimmering upper forward dispersal bay, Anjara’s eyes narrowing as his hands clenched around the advanced stick before him, adrenalin consuming his flame as he shouted, ‘Take them out…then launch torpedoes!’
The silver gleaming fighter bounced at a large explosion before him, the craft rising and jolting slightly as it shuddered, steam pouring from the wings as he briefly lost sight of the Morgon vessels, sparks flying across the cockpit as he winced, a thumb thrusting hard onto the firing mechanism. The smoke and burning debris bounced across the lead fighter, the blast shield scorched with reinforced metal shrieking as it expanded rapidly, the wing guns crackling as static surged along the barrels.
Streams of laser fire swept out from the fighter, further blasts of intense light from the accompanying Vipers, flight officer Anjara flicking his other hand across the torpedo safety shield. Two fingers stabbed down as flame surged from the high powered rockets on the vessel underbelly, the targeting crosshairs flashing on the projected display, his hand rapidly moving back to the other side of the stick, cannon shells sweeping out from the tarnished silver nose cone.
Blinding light belched out from the warship hull, potent guns firing out towards the Trevakian battle cruisers, Anjara straining his eyes in the glare that instantly lit up his cockpit, his breath held as he stared towards the distant Morgon fighters. The laser blasts swept into the enemy formation, two craft bucking and rising as flames belched from their perforated hulls, the crippled vessels twisting in space before flames engulfed
