ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS---FROM BOREDOM TO UTTER DISBELIEF
Being the first part of THE
NEW COMET--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz
(Thanks to Derek A.C.
ACT FIVE: TURPITZ'S
ATTACK
I. TURPITZ REPORTS
Main Operations Room
The Eritz Gatlantis
Saturday, June 8, 2205
0610 Hours: Earth Time
"Well, what do you
have to report?" asked Princess Invidia in a haughty tone as she looked
down at the deck screen on the new Gatlantis that currently held an
image of General Turpitz, commander of her carrier forces near Earth.
"Success, Princess," said
Turpitz. "Our attack upon Earth's energy transmission system worked well.
I've created planet-wide panic. Would you like to see these images?"
Invidia nodded. "Show
me!"
Across the screen,
transmitted from several reconnaissance Scorpion boats, there came images of a
dim, cloudy and blacked-out morning that hauntingly resembled those seen in one
evening of September of 2201 when Zordar had begun his attack upon Earth. A splendid beginning, thought Invidia as
she watched the images of chaos, fear, and car crashes that the Scorpions were
transmitting. Just like when Father began
his attack. This time, it should go well...
"How are the
other preparations going?" asked Invidia. "What about the Argo...that old wreck...why did they
have to rename her?"
"I'm unsure,
Princess," said Turpitz. "At any rate, we have discovered she is in
dock at Pluto, repairing her damage from the previous battle. Colonel Schaza is
currently readying a second attack."
"Excellent," said
Invidia. "Report back to me when Schaza has the victory."
"I'm sure she will be
pleased to report a victory," said Turpitz with a smile. "And I'm
sure Earth will remain dark and gloomy for a while, as well."
"Yes! A perfect day to
mark the funeral rites of the Star Force!" laughed Invidia. "I hope
to hear from you soon."
"You shall." At
that, Turpitz faded from the screen.
"Well, Dyre,"
said Invidia. "The first stage of my plan is almost completed. When the
Earth is rid of Star Force and my father is avenged, we shall go on to defeat
Desslok. Do you know where he is?"
"Our intelligence
forces state that he is on a mission in the Small Magellenic Cloud at the
moment, eighty lightyears from a new Gamilon base in a system known as Vactura
Major. We briefly held a base there after the demise of the Gamilon Empire in
the fourth year of Zordar's reign, right before we captured Rotella. I have dispatched General
Skaran to the area. I'm sure he will be delighted to lead the attack on
Desslok's fleet."
"Yes. He never liked
that Gamilon when Desslok stayed with us on Father's first fortress. "
"I believe they wished
to duel at one point, Princess?"
"They did.
Unfortunately, Father put a stop to it. It would have been an interesting
duel."
"Yes, it would?"
"I wonder how the
Earthlings are faring now," purred Invidia, "in the near-dark of
their gloomy sunrise?"
"They're probably
petrified," laughed Dyre.
At the Space Fighters' Training
School, Brew was sneaking out a fire exit with
"You're sure this
isn't gonna get our butts punished?" asked Brewski.
"If it does, it
does," said
"You'll be
sorry," said Brew.
"Shut up,"
whispered
"This thing better not
go off," muttered Brew as he slipped into the dim morning light with
"Shhhh," said
"What?"
"I hear something.
Hush."
Soon, Brew also heard the
same sound that
"What?" said Brew
as he looked up....and then, and only then, did he see the alien ship that was
making the noise.
"I'll be damned,"
said
"Yeah. But the plane...Comet
Empire...again?" muttered Brew.
"That makes sense. In
2201, they had a blackout. Now, in 2205, we have..."
"A blackout they probably caused," said Brew. "Shooot!"
"We've gotta report
this."
"But they'll know we
snuck out," said Brew. "We'll get area punishment hours for sure...I
don't feel like marching around with a rifle all day..."
"Yeah...we'll get
that...but we'll be doing the right thing," said
"Okay...we'll do
it," said Brew. "One thing."
"Yeah?"
"You made me do
it..."
"Hell, you came out
here of your own free will. Brew, you do the crime..."
"You gotta pay the
time," said Brew with a sigh. "Got you."
II. PLUTO...AGAIN
Captain's Cabin
Space Battleship Argo
Saturday, June 8, 2205
0630 Hours: Earth Time
"It feels good,"
said Nova Wildstar as she stretched up onto her toes near the large console in
the cabin she and Derek again shared after she zipped up her yellow Star Force
uniform in the back. "Even with that burn on my thigh..."
"What feels
good?" asked Derek as he sat with his nose in his computerized logbook.
"Getting into my old
uniform again!" said Nova with a laugh. "How do I look?"
Commodore Wildstar grinned
a little. "Looks like you've been eating too good
on the
"What?"
"You've put on about a
kilo," teased Wildstar.
"No I haven't!" said Nova. "And you
didn't say anything even with what I had on last night..."
"Didn't notice
then," said Derek.
"And you're noticing a
so-called gain of weight now," huffed Nova. "I mean...look at this
tight thing. It shows everything...it shows me about as well as what I had on
under my negligee last night."
Derek grinned at her.
"If you say one more
word," said Nova. "I'll dump this tomato juice in your hair..."
"Can I say
something?"
Nova walked over with the
juice; then she held it over her husband's head. "Make one more
crack..."
"You looked good in
what you had on last night," said Derek.
"Thanks," said
Nova with a blush. "Even...uh...?"
"Even in
nothing," said Derek with a sweet smile.
"Thank you," said
Nova. "Now, you'll get this juice, and...then..."
"Then
what?"
"Then, Derek, maybe
I'll give you a nice, good-morning kiss with your tomato juice..."
"Thanks...I think I'm
gonna need it with all the repair work we've got to do today..."
Nova bent down towards her husband.
But then, both of them were
startled a moment later when someone began to bang on the hatch outside.
"What?" said Nova
as she set down the juice on a counter band then stepped back and abruptly
stood up straight.
"Don't they know
enough to use the intercom?" said Wildstar as he thumbed a switch. The
mike came up, but nothing came out of the speaker. "Dead?
Nova, answer that?"
Nova nodded and she opened
the hatch. "Domon?" she
said.
Domon saluted and said,
"Ma'am, tell the Captain that the Commander wants to talk to him below on
the first bridge. He doesn't know why he can't reach him here."
"Shipboard comm
system's out," said Wildstar. "Tell the Commander I'll be below in a
moment. Nova, you go ahead and I'll join you on the bridge."
"Yessir," said
Nova with a salute, all business now.
On the bridge, Commodore Wildstar
looked up at the main screen at the Commander of the Earth Defense Forces with
disbelief.
"Another
blackout?" said Wildstar.
"Right. And we've received confirmation that
it was caused by the Comet Empire. How soon can the Argo leave dock to assist in the investigation?"
"Sir, we were hoping
to be done with the repairs in six hours; but if I assign more hands to the
work, I can have the ship repaired in two hours and off-planet a half-hour
after that."
"That means that the Argo can take off at 0900?"
"Yessir."
"Good. At 0900, you'll
leave Pluto and then assist us in searching the solar system near the Jupiter
region. That's where we think the enemy might be. I have First Fleet on its way
there now, and I have the
"We'll be ready for
them, sir," said Wildstar. He and General Singleton exchanged salutes, and
then the screen went dark.
Wildstar shrugged off his
coat. "Everyone; we've got work to do. Sandor, how are the repairs going
up here?"
"We need to check and recheck
the network connections to the rest of the ship," he replied. "Nova?"
She nodded and got a
clipboard.
A moment later, Domon
noticed that Wildstar was on his knees on the deck opening up access panels by
Domon's station.
"Sir, what are you
doing?" asked Domon.
"Checking
those connections.
Nova, could you help me get to those network cards? Some of them are a little
hard to pull out..."
"No problem,
Derek...."
At that, Derek and Nova,
assisted by Domon, got to work on checking out the weapons systems....
III. ...ELSEWHERE
Earth
Space Fighters' Training
School
Commandant's Office
Saturday, June 8, 2205
0743 Hours: Earth Time
"Deke, I told you we'd
get into trouble," said Brew as he and
"I told them what we
saw," said
"Maybe we're gonna get
expelled, Sticks."
"Gentlemen," said the
Commandant as he opened the door and came in. Both midshipmen snapped to
attention and then saluted. Rear Admiral DeLong, the Commandant of the Academy,
returned the salute and then began to read a report that a lower-ranking
officer had left on his secretary's desk when he had ushered Cadets Wakefield
and Marrable into the room.
"It looks like you
spotted something important out there," said the Commandant.
"Sir," said
"How do you know it
was photographing the grounds?"
"It had its belly
scanner on; the one in the lower nose portion."
"How fast was it
going?"
"A bit over a hundred
and twenty knots, I estimate," said Marrable. "She was about 400
meters off the deck. Pretty low."
"I see. Good
observation. Could you sketch the boat for us, men?"
"I could, sir,"
said
"So could I,
sir," said Marrable.
The Commandant handed them
pads and pens. "Do a rough sketch now. This may be important for Command. As for...your actions during the incident. They can't be
wholly excused, of course. You do know that you two were ordered to remain
indoors beforehand?"
"Yessir," said
Deke and Brew together.
"All
right. We can
handle this easily. For the infraction; fifteen hours' worth of punishment
tours for you two. As for your observations, it might lead to a commendation.
However, you do know that discipline is to be maintained at all times?"
"We do, sir,"
said
"I may need to see you
two again," said the Commandant. "That would be, of course, in a
meeting with other officers. Are you done with the sketches?"
"Sir," said
Marrable as he handed over his sketch.
"Sufficient,"
nodded DeLong. "You two are dismissed. Be sure to see Lieutenant Collins
to set up your punishment tours."
"Yessir," said
the cadets. They stood, saluted, and left. After they left the office, Admiral
DeLong looked at the sketches. Then, nodding to himself, he began to make a
phone call...
IV. ANOTHER ATTACK
Pluto
Space Battleship Argo
Saturday, June 8, 2205
0833 Hours: Earth Time
"How are the engine
repairs going?" asked Sandor on the
"We're reconnecting
the main power links now," said Yamazaki from below. "We think we can
take the ship off dockyard power and start the auxiliary engines in five
minutes. We can give Kitano power for takeoff soon after that."
"Great," said
Wildstar. "I'm getting a weird feeling about this, though."
"Why, sir?" said
Domon from the Combat station.
"If I were you, I'd
trust his hunches," said Kitano. "They usually come true."
"How's the radar
goin', Nova?" asked Eager.
"I'm rebooting it
now," said Nova from her post.
"How's the main guns?"
asked Wildstar as he walked over to Ensign Nishina's post. Nishina was the new
gunnery officer, who had replaced Paul Rosstowski, who was now on the
"Ready to go,"
said Nishina as he smiled and gave a thumbs-up. "All I need is
power."
"Great," said
Wildstar. "Now, let's..."
Nova had just finished
turning on the radar. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when the screen
came on and she noticed that it was suddenly covered with blips.
"WHAT?" she said. "We're surrounded!"
"What was that?"
asked Commodore Wildstar.
They got their answer a
moment later when missiles began to hit outside.
"There's...thirty...forty...no...fifty planes
around us!" said Nova. "And they just appeared from out of nowhere! I
don't understand this!"
"Main screen on!"
snapped Wildstar.
"Switch on!"
replied Nova. The screen came up; it showed an image of about fifty Cometine
Scorpions approaching the dockyard. Then, it abruptly went dark.
"What's wrong with
it?" yelled Domon.
"The power just went
out!" cried Nova. "Sandor, we're blind!"
"Deaf, too," said
Homer as his panel went dark. "Comm systems are out!"
Then, outside, there came
hit after hit around the Argo and her
dock as many, many enemy missiles hit home. In the base, many officers, men,
and women died at their posts as the surprise attack decimated building after
building on the base.
Not far away, the
It was virtually a second Pearl
Harbor Day here on Pluto, but it wasn't 1941, it was 2205. And, the effects of
this attack were even worse as heavy fire from two Cometine battleships blasted
in and blew the base Headquarters building apart.
In her dock, the Argo was now smoking, and if the fire
one of those enemy battleships hit home, she would be finished before she could
even take off to sortie. That wasn't the sort of fate Wildstar wanted for his
command. "Hardy!" snapped Wildstar. "Launch from the upper
fighter bays!"
"Can't," he
replied as the ghastly light of the
"Why
not?"
"Wildstah, we got no
power! I can't fly a Tiger through a closed blast hatch!"
"Yamazaki, we need
power!" said Wildstar. "Engine room! Respond!"
"We've got some major
short circuits down here. They knew right where to hit us!" said Yamazaki.
"I'm going down to
help," said Sandor. Wildstar nodded his assent.
"How'd they get those
planes on top of us like that?" asked Wildstar.
"I dunno," said
Eager. "And there's five more, look!"
"They're using SMITE
technology," said Nova in a very grim voice a moment later.
"What?" asked Domon.
"They're using the
Gamilon Instant Matter Transmitter technology," said Nova. "I'd
recognize it anywhere. The Comet Empire must have retrofitted their ships with
it! Brace for second wave of missiles!"
Another wave hit all around the Argo's dock, causing quite a few fires
and quite a bit of damage in the space battleship. Damage control would be very
difficult without full power to power the foam pumping systems.
If we don't move, thought Wildstar to himself as he sat back down at the
Captain's post after taking off his peacoat, we're a sitting duck!
As he sat in thought, with
a short-circuiting light illuminating him from above, he sat as if in prayer,
and thought, God, if I ever needed
Captain Avatar's wisdom, now's the time. Captain, are you there? Send me some
inspiration, please. What would you do at a time like this?
Captain, he thought again. What would you do?
Then, a sudden inspiration
came to Wildstar's mind. He sat up, and prepared to snap out an order....
TO BE
CONTINUED....
To
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