Shooting Captain Emf'phet a look of resolve, my voice turns icy. “I would fly this ship into the sun rather than capitulate to a filthy slave trader like you.”
Lehar cuts the communi-channel with my nemesis screaming like a madman. He states almost cheerfully, “That went well. Do we have something approaching a plan yet?”
“There is nothing unique or special about the Pax or their fighting techniques.”
Nodding, Lehar perks up. “Alright, we’ll go with the throw everything we’ve got at them plan. That usually works.”
That’s an oversimplification of a complex plan of attack that normally works to our advantage. Why Lehar is always so happy in the face of a virtually no-win scenario, I’ll never know. He’s been like that since we were younglings, fighting with our classmates on the grassy hills of our home world.
Closing the distance between my beautiful new brooder, I stoop to buckle her securely into the seat. Her eyes are large, inquisitive and slightly apprehensive. Cupping her cheek, I kiss her chastely and give her a few words of sage advice. “Hold on tight, my sweet. This is the part where things get a bit bumpy.”
Her face isn’t as nearly worried as I feel. “I’m ready to fight. Just let me know what you need.” Her sweet words fill me with pride.
Without looking away from her, I speak to the crew, “Launch all first wave fighter drones and fire laser cannons at will. I need the flagship shields down within five microns.”
Instead of withdrawing into herself, like females are wont to do, she perks up. “That sounds just like action and adventure.”
Smothering back a smile, I try not to sound flippant or overly proud. “We’ve got less than a forty percent chance of survival, but I wouldn’t miss this battle for all the world.”
Lehar rolls his eyes. “Since we’d lose more running than fighting, we’ll have to hit them hard and fast.”
I stand as my crew flies into action. “If we win, drinks are on me. If not, it’s been a privilege serving with you.”
Along the sides of the main view screen, the secondary screens show my bay doors opening and thousands of fighter drones flying out. When they near the enemy fleet, we watch the battle playing out on the big screen. My huge hoard of drone fighters swarms the five Pax ships. They are light, maneuverable and keep chipping away at enemy shields.
“Move half of the fighters to the flagship. I need those shields to come down right fucking now.”
“I’m on it, sir.”
As my crew continues concentrating most of their laser fire on the first ship, we get a lucky strike in on one of the others. Our laser cannon makes a direct hit, knocking out one of their phase cannons and causing a huge explosion that takes them entirely out of the fight.
Lehar thumps his chest and shouts gleefully, “They’re on the drift. That’s one down and four more to go, sir.”
I’m pleased, but unlike my first officer, I’ve got no time to enjoy it. “I don’t think we’ll be quite that lucky again.”
Though our odds of survival are grim, I find myself eyeing the largest Pax vessel. It would be a wonderful addition to my armada if we won this battle. In fact, all five of the flashy battle ships would be nice trophies, proof of the strength of Tarion of the Hielsrane. Glancing at Lehar, I ask anxiously, “Are all our extended crew on board yet?”
“Just about, sir.”
“I want them all safely aboard and in their seats at the control panels below before this battle heats up.”
“The last two are docking now, sir.”
“Shields?”
“Holding at 97%.”
Within moments, the doors to the bridge open and several crew members slide into control chairs. I jerk my chin at them, and they get down to business. Dropping down into the captain’s seat, I give the go ahead. “Coordinate for a full frontal assault on my mark. Three, two, one… execute.”
Suddenly, all the drone fighters converge on the flagship and all seven ships in my armada turn their fire on the huge state-of-the-art vessel. The remaining three ships attempt to protect Emf'phet’s flagship by picking off the drones one by one. Since they haven’t been successful penetrating our shields, it is a logical course of action for them to take at this point in the battle. Cautious pride blooms in my chest. Our most trustworthy plan is working against this nearly invincible enemy.
Carissa makes a strangled noise when one of the fighter drones explodes. When one of the smaller ships in my armada falls prey to enemy fire, she quietly breaks down into tears. That’s when I realize she doesn’t know how we operate.
“There is no need to worry. There are no crew members on the other ships in my armada. We always pull the skeleton crews behind our main shield at the first sign of battle. The remaining vessels in my fleet are operated remotely.”
Sniffling and rubbing her eyes, she tries to pull herself together. “I hate our fighters being out there in harm’s way.”
Grinning, I shake my head.
Her face scrunches up into a delightfully confused expression. “They’re remote controlled too?”
“That wouldn’t be possible, since there are almost a thousand of them. You probably can’t tell because they’re far away and it’s difficult to see when there’s nothing to compare them to except the enemy ships, but they’re drones designed to look like fighters. Each one has a life-sign artificially worked into the system. It usually takes our adversary a while to figure out they’re drones, but it doesn’t matter. As long as the drones pose a threat, they must waste firepower shooting at them. It is why we swarm them in great numbers.”
“So nobody’s going to die in this battle?”
“I wish that were the case. When the time is right, we’ll release our real fighters. Our goal is to draw down their power reserves. Each ship only has so many energy packs to power their weapons. Our
