ALTERNATE
TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS---ENDGAME
Being the ninth part of THE
NEW COMET--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz
Advisory: Contains Mature Content…you have
been warned, etc.
This Act is being completed with the Cooperation
and Assistance of Derek A.C. Wakefield (as usual)---Freddo
ACT SEVEN: SEVERAL
BLACK, TERRIBLE HOURS FOR EARTH….
I. THE RESOLVE OF EARTH…
Planet Earth
The
Earth Defense Headquarters
Saturday, August 29, 2207
1900 Hours (Local Time)
Commanding General Hiram Charles Singleton sat reflecting at his post in
Earth Defense Headquarters.
“Stone, the Earth Defense Council
voted down that motion to surrender; they voted that we were to continue
fighting. Even though the enemy’s assault upon Triton was something of a
deviation from their attack plan, we still have our defense lines set up. Fifth
Fleet is holding a line at Saturn-Titan; Third Fleet is holding a line at Mars,
and First and Second Fleets are deployed here, near the Earth itself,” said the
Commander as he pulled up a computer graphic at his desk.
“Where is Task Force 2.0?” snapped
Stone. “I’d love to know what that Wildstar is up to!”
“Here, at 6,000 lightyears’
distance, pursuing the
“Yessir, but, sir, I still think
we should pull the Star Force in now. Them and all of Task Force 2.0”
“And lose our knowledge of where
the Eritz Gatlantis Fortress is? You
remember what they did to
“Well, at least a million women
and children have been evacuated to the colonies,” sighed Stone. “Where would
they go if we lose Earth?”
“Iscandar,” sighed
Singleton. “But we cannot give up now, Stone. Our Fleets are stronger and more
powerful than they were in 2201. Our technology has gotten far stronger in six
years. Besides, Duchess Caella has reported to us that their leadership in the
City of
“That is the problem,” Stone said.
“Princess Invidia seems to be so unstable that we have no idea what she will
do. She is just as dangerous as Ekogaru the Great was five years ago. Maybe even worse. And what became of Ekogaru the Great,
anyhow?”
“Wildstar reported to us that he
seems to have vanished. He has not been heard from for days, since he was last
seen on the Argo.”
“I pray you are right, Singleton.
I pray he has gone to ground somewhere,” sighed Stone.
II.
DANA’S SUDDEN MEETING WITH DESTINY
Planet
Earth
Near
The Rio
Sunday,
August 30, 2207
1313
Hours (Local Time)
The biggest and saddest irony about this day, Dana Hall
would think when it was all over, was that she had decided to stop flirting
with Death and to live on.
Dana was barefoot, in her red and white bikini, working
quietly in her garden with a spade when the sirens blew in the distance.
Probably
just another drill, she thought with a small smile coming
to her face as she dug her toes in the warm dirt and knelt cheerfully in the
grass. Nothing’s going to happen.
“I think,” she said out loud. “I think I might start
She dug at a tomato plant, thinking the sounds of the jets
overhead were just EDF planes as she said, “Might as well make this place begin
to look nice for the new owners. I’ve put away the revolver for good. I…”
She heard something rushing overhead and heard a quick
ripping noise, and just barely comprehended something hitting the grass.
“What?” was her
very last conscious word on this Earth. She yelped as
something hot hit her bare stomach.
Blood?
Dana thought as she sat up, wiggled her toes, and felt her stomach. There was a
good-sized scratch on her abdomen, slightly hot, that was bleeding profusely.
She looked up, and saw a great deal of green light roaring
in.
Something punched her hard in the neck, and she vaguely felt
a lot of blood spraying down her side with a sharp burst of pain as a Cometine
laser beam from the Scorpion that was strafing her backyard ripped her carotid
artery wide open.
The world suddenly felt woozy and dreamily distant to Dana
as she felt herself falling into the grass. Her pathetically bared abdomen
presented a beautiful target for the Cometine gunner in the Scorpion as he
pumped laser energy right into Dana’s body.
Dana had already been mortally wounded, and she felt a dull,
quick, strange burst of pain before her consciousness flew down a long tunnel
and her torso above her hips hit the grass in a huge
gout of blood.
Her hips and legs, just barely clad in the remains of her
bikini bottom, hit the ground in a different direction just a short distance
away.
Dana’s spirit vaguely heard screams and cries in the distance
as the Scorpion roared overhead, strafing the nearby playground before it
roared up over the ocean to a new heading on its journey of creating
destruction.
Dana stood up, slapping what felt like grass off her body as
she looked around and said, “Well, well, well.
I must have been knocked out for a moment. I…”
Then, she looked down at the new form she was in. “Okay…why
am I gleaming slightly? This is weird.”
Dana felt a tap on her shoulder a minute later. She turned
on her toes in the grass and was shocked to see her husband Alan standing there
in his EDF blues!
“Okay, what are you
doing here?” she said. “Aren’t you dead?”
“We’re finally together,” he said as his spirit hugged hers.
“Together?” said Dana.
“Look over there,” said Alan.
Dana looked down and suddenly realized why she was glowing.
She was still in her bikini, but was not in her corporeal body any longer.
Her body lay like a broken doll in two halves in the grass,
with her eyes still open and the spade still in her hand. She looked down and
said, “Alan, is…is that my liver
hanging out of me? Next to…uh…my intestines over there?”
“That’s not you anymore,” Alan said softly. “You’re dead.”
Dana’s spirit walked over and she vaguely kicked at the toes
of her corpse with her spirit toes. She felt her spirit sort of go through
them, but nothing happened.
“Okay, who’s going to bury
me?” Dana said with a grin. “Boy! I left an awful mess all over the place. Lying there with my eyes open and all that!”
“
“What got me?” said Dana. “Since I’m dead, it would be kind
of nice to know how I died!”
“A Scorpion boat on a strafing
run. The Comet Empire has begun attacking Earth in earnest. The
war’s going to end in the next few days,” Alan said. “Anyway, I was sent here
to come and get you. We have places to go; people to meet.”
Dana looked up and saw a great Light. “Is that…?”
“That’s where we’re going,” said Alan. He took her hand and
said, “We’ll always be together now. I’ve been waiting for you. They told me
you’d be coming to be with me soon when I died in my plane. Let’s go…”
Dana’s ghost hugged Alan’s and they ran for the Light,
followed by the laughing spirits of several children who had just died when the
Scorpion strafed the playground and killed about eight children. After a
moment, as they ran, Earth and the war faded away, becoming distant memories in
a hurry as they passed into eternal life and peace and a greater Destiny
awaited them as they left this life, not to return to Earth until a day in the
future when all would be made Well again.
In the meantime, as a small fire burned in the grass and
then guttered out, a few flies lighted on Dana’s bloody remains. A worm or two
came up from the garden where she had been working, and it joined with the
flies as they slowly began the job of returning Dana Hall’s dead physical body
to the Earth and to the cycle of life as a few birds began to sing again on
this lazy late summer’s day.
III.
THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM
Planet
Earth
The
September
3, 2207
0700
Hours: Earthtime
On Earth, three very tense days passed with nothing at all
heard from the enemy since the bombing raids of the thirtieth. Thus, the month
of August 2207 passed into September 2207 in a deceptive, false peace that
seemed like nothing more than the quiet one experiences in a hurricane when the
eye of the storm passes overhead.
No one had any idea what the Comet Empire was planning next.
Or even where they were.
The Argo had lost
them at about three thousand lightyears away from Earth, but the Commander was sure
that Wildstar would pick them up again as his orderly saluted him as he got out
of his aircar in a parking dock that a travel tubeway took one to inside Earth
Defense Headquarters.
Soon, Singleton got up into the Operations Room, where
General Stone was waiting.
“Sir,” Stone said. “Two more small
passenger vessels evacuating sick people to Alpha Centauri were attacked in the
night near Mars. They were the Rand
Ecleptic and the Donovan Runyan.
All hands lost along with their escorts. Maybe two thousand people dead from
both ships.”
“Who was behind the attacks?” said Singleton.
“The Cometines attacked the Rand Ecleptic with fighters, while the Donovan Runyan was brought down by R’Khell submarine torpedoes. We
have plotted maybe two hundred R’Khell ships in the Solar System. First Fleet
is tracking a large enemy fleet near Area One just past the Moon.”
“They’re…that close?” said Singleton. Even he was shocked by
this piece of intelligence.
“Except for a few carriers, none of them have passed the
Moon Orbit yet. They seem to be waiting for some signal, sir. Admiral Yamanami
is hoping for an opening so he can attack them by surprise, sir.”
“I see,” said Singleton. “If they’re being tracked, we’ll
tell Admiral Yamanami that he has to prepare to launch planes. We should take
the initiative and attack them first.”
“Yessir,” said Stone.
IV.
THE STORM BREAKS
Space:
Near the Moon
The
Bridge of the EDF Combined Fleet Flagship
September
3, 2207
0812
Hours: Earthtime
“Attack
the enemy fleet now?” said Yamanami
aboard the
“Yes, Admiral,” said Singleton. “You have four spacecraft carriers there, as
well as the planes deployed aboard your space battleships. Take the initiative
and attack their spacecraft carriers at once. We have to stop these bombing
raids upon Earth and you have to eliminate the threat to your fleet from their
deck planes.”
“Of course, sir,” said Yamanami. “We’ll take action to begin
an attack at once.”
Then, Yamanami turned to his Executive Officer, the
“Of course, sir,” replied Captain Kidd. “I will give the
order to open all guns…ready to go into combat! I will then relay your orders
to the entire Fleet.”
“Good work,” said Yamanami with a rough nod.
Kidd turned and snapped, “All ships! Ready to attack! Use
Attack Plan Delta-six! Target! Cometine carrier fleet!”
Not
far away, on the bridge of the Cometine Magna-Flame Gun equipped space
battleship Krineda, Admiral Shandara of
the Comet Empire laughed under his red combat lights and said, “So? Yamanami is
going after our carriers, first?”
“It would appear so, sir,” said one of Shandara’s officers.
“Should we warn Admiral Veda that enemy forces are about to jump him?”
“Leave him,” laughed Shandara. “He knows what to do. He can
sink or swim by himself.“
“Yessir,” replied one of Shandara’s officers.
A short while later, after Yamanami gave his order to
attack, fighter and torpedo planes were roaring off the decks of the EDF
spacecraft carriers
Their targets were the Cometine and R’Khell spacecraft
carriers that seemed to be forming the vanguard of the enemy fleet that was
advancing quickly upon Earth.
Within ten minutes of the launch order, the first contact
was made when torpedo planes from the
At
the same time, a Cometine space battleship squadron came within gunnery range
of the space battleship Vanguard,
which promptly fought back with all of her guns blazing. Several of the Vanguard’s escorts were destroyed, but
the Vanguard herself fought on hard,
destroying two Cometine space battleships in a few minutes.
Four other Cometine spacecraft carriers, including the heavy
carrier Jincrada, were soon launching
planes. They were concentrating viciously upon the Aquarius, which fought back hard under the command of her CO,
Commodore Robert Weyland.
Weyland, a middle-aged man with white hair, eagerly gave the
order to fire upon the approaching Cometine planes. His officers responded in
deadly fashion a moment later.
The Aquarius,
accompanied by the Vanguard, Kongo, Hyuga, and
Many Cometine pilots died right there,
caught in the 16 inch main guns of the smaller space battleships and the new
18” main guns of the Aquarius.
Earth’s three surviving Andromeda-class
space battleships, the Aquarius, the
new Andromeda herself, and the Sagittarius, had recently been refitted
with the same type of main guns carried on the Argo,
Some
of the Scorpion pilots avoided the onslaught and managed to get past them to
the Aquarius’ destroyer screen, where
they successfully launched missiles at several of the EDF space destroyers and
space frigates accompanying Second Fleet.
Many of those destroyers fell right there.
But, others fought on, fighting hard, and not giving in to
the onslaught of the enemy space boats.
Earth was not about to give up yet.
The EDF troops had plenty of fighting spirit, and the recent
bombing attacks on Earth had increased their morale as they wanted to pay back
the enemy forces for their attacks upon their homes and families.
A typical scene in the battle was taking place not far from
the Moon, within sight of the EDF Moon Base, which had also sent ground-based planes
in to help the First and Second Fleets fight the enemy off.
This scene involved a battle between some EDF escorts and
some Cometine planes and destroyers.
One
of the Earth destroyers, a destroyer from Second Fleet known as the
On the
“A missile hit from a Scorpion, sir! We keep on firing and
they keep on coming!” said Williams’ Combat Group Leader and XO, a young man
known as Lieutenant Commander Kyle Barkman.
“So?” said Williams. “We’ll keep on firing, too! Get those
guns aimed or I’ll dock you two days’ pay, Barkman!”
“That’s assuming we survive this, sir,” said Barkman.
“Stop talking like that,” laughed Williams. “I’ve got a wife
and two kids to get home to in the Megalopolis! Of course we’ll get through
this!”
“Yessir,” said Barkman as he prepared to aim the
I’ve got a lot to live for,
thought Williams as he smiled grimly while his vessel manuevered and fired her
main guns.
When he saw a Cometine destroyer nearby blowing apart from
his attack, he smiled grimly and said, “Good. We’re earning our pay for the
day. I wish I could tell some of my old friends from
“Which friends are you talking about?” asked Barkman.
“Two kids I know from my old Parochial and High School
classes. We used to call them “Toad” and “Twinkle”.
“Those were funny names,” said Barkman. “Who was Toad?”
“This kid we knew…his name was Marrable. Last I heard, he was serving with the Star Force, would you believe it? I wonder what he’s up to now?”
“Maybe he’s in combat like us, sir,” said Barkman.
“You could be right,” said Williams.
V.
ACTION CONTINUES…
Deep
Space: Near Arcturus
43.9
Lightyears Away from Earth
Near
Task Force 2.0 Flagship Space Battleship Argo
September
3, 2207
0852
Hours: Earthtime
What
a friggin’ spot! Brew thought as he was in combat with
a Scorpion boat that had been launched from a Cometine spacecraft carrier that
was part of a small squadron that had been launched from the Eritz Gatlantis right as they had been
about to engage her near Arcturus at the very edge of the star system.
To everyone’s shock and surprise on the Argo and the
Nova had confirmed the spot with the Argo’s Time Radar, and Aliscea had called in from the
The Argo and her
Task Force leaped into action at once, finding Invidia’s city-fortress, and
getting within sight of it and actually firing some missiles at her. However,
she had warped, but Nova and Eager had traced her right to Arcturus.
At Arcturus, Task Force 2.0 had begun firing at once, but
Gorse had launched a smallish carrier squadron, which pinned down the Task
Force just long enough to allow the Eritz
Gatlantis to make yet another maddening escape.
On the Argo’s
bridge, Commodore Wildstar was getting more frustrated by the hour as he
thought, We were in range…we were
beginning to attack that thing…yes…to actually attack that thing, when
they got away from us again! Where the hell are they now? Earth?
I suggested trying to get that Fortress before it ever got into the Solar
System, but all we’re doing is chasing them and not catching them! Does Ekogaru
know what we’re doing in advance?
“Derek!” cried Nova from her post. “I’ve
just spotted a squadron of four heavy Cometine battleships coming up our stern!
Range, nine megameters, speed, twenty space knots! I think they are getting
into position to use their shock cannon against…”
Then, a moment later, the enemy ships fired at the Task
Force.
The
enemy fire roared right in towards the Wasp.
To everyone’s shock, the EDF spacecraft carrier was caught right in one of the
deadly vortex beams with her forward parts badly crippled.
Then, several Scorpions blasted in and fired missiles right
into her aft flight deck above the engines.
She blew apart a moment later; never having had a chance.
Another barrage roared in, destroying the EDF destroyers
One
of the deadly beams just missed the Argo
as she turned about, got into position, and fired a broadside right at the
enemy space battleships.
Four Cometine space battleships were blown to bits as the Argo,
Fifteen more minutes passed as the Task Force exchanged fire
with the shrinking enemy force, which finally turned tail and ran, warping away
in a very disorganized fashion.
At his post, Wildstar took a deep breath as he snapped,
“Domon, call the Tigers and the Trojans back in. We’re done here for now…”
“Yessir,” said Domon.
From his post, Homer called out, “Captain, we’re getting a
communication from Desslok.”
“Put
him up on the main screen,” said Wildstar with a disgusted sigh.
“We have to tell him more bad news?” Nova said.
“Yeah,” said Derek as he walked past her post. Nova gave her
husband a symapthetic pat on his hand while he looked at her sitting there,
very uncomfortable-looking in her space boots and slacks.
“You don’t look good,” said Derek. “Want to be relieved
after Sasha gets back on board?”
“No, I can do it,” Nova sighed. “Looks like I’ll have to go
down to the
Derek nodded. “We need to know where they went.”
“I know,” said Nova in the most tired-sounding tone Derek
had ever heard her speaking in on the Bridge.
A moment later, Homer said, “Desslok is up on the main
screen.”
Derek looked up and saluted as Desslok appeared. “They got
away again?” Desslok sighed.
Wildstar just nodded once in defeat. “Does Astrena know
where they went?”
Desslok
shook his own head. “No. She was defending my flagship from Ekogaru. She says
he was trying to come aboard to destroy her and kill me. We are not in a good
situation, my friend.”
“Don’t you think I know
that?” Derek responded. “So what do we do?”
“Continue our plan,” said Desslok with a confident wave as
he smiled grimly. “They have to stop to do battle sometime. Invidia cannot be that much of a coward. I’m sending part
of my Fleet about twenty lightyears ahead to start scouting for them. When I
find them, I will let you know where they are.”
“Likewise,” said Derek as he nodded. “Good hunting,
Desslok.”
“The same to you, Wildstar,” said Desslok as he faded out.
In the meantime, near the Moon, the Earth Fleet finally had
Admiral Veda’s carrier fleet caught in a trap.
Many carriers were burning thanks to the attacks from many,
many EDF planes.
Yamanami and Weyland had recalled all of the planes. For a
moment, on his flagship, even Admiral Shandara sat in shock, wondering what the
Earth forces would do next.
Then,
Yanamami ordered, “All ships, form battle line and stop all engines! Prepare to
fire wave motion guns! Our target will be the enemy Cometine and R’Khell
spacecraft carrier and advance battle fleets near the Moon!”
“Aye,” said Weyland from the bridge of the Aquarius a moment later. “All Second
Fleet Forces, stop all engines and prepare to fire
Wave Motion Guns!”
The EDF space battleships, carriers, and cruisers were soon
taking formation as their Wave Motion Guns began to charge.
“Energy level, all ships, at ninety-five percent!” said
Captain Kidd on the bridge of the
“Hold formation, all ships!” barked Yamanami.
“Ready to fire on my mark!”
“Ships responding with status,” said Kidd a moment later.
“First Squadron of First Fleet, Ready! Second Squadron, Ready! First Squadron
of Second Fleet, Ready! Second Squadron Fleet Two, Ready! Space Battleship Aquarius signals Ready, sir!”
“Thirty seconds to firing!” said Yamanami. “Ready anti-shock and anti-flash defenses!”
Admiral Yamanami pulled down his goggles on the
We have to win this,
he thought. All of Earth is depending upon
us to win! We have to win! We have no choice!
“Energy level at one hundred percent, sir!” barked Kidd from
his post, looking very military in his blue and gold peacoat. “The Fleet stands
ready, sir!”
“FIRE!” barked Yamanami.
The
Fifty-two wave motion gun beams boiled and combined into one
as it roared into the midst of Admiral Veda’s carrier and battleship fleet.
Cometine and R’Khell warshps boiled and bubbled like melting
plastic models in some destructive little boy’s backyard as the tacyhonic
energy holocaust boiled up over them and blew them apart, ship by ship by ship.
Admiral Veda screamed as his flagship dissolved around him,
cursing Admiral Shandara, not realizing that he was merely bait as Admiral
Shandara’s fleet warped out one by one by one as the main fleet vanished before
the tachyon holocaust from Yamanami’s fleet swallowed him up.
He had his own plan in mind. It was sick, warped, and
deadly.
And he planned to strike right while the Earth First and
Second Fleets were without power for about a minute after firing their wave
motion guns.
On the Krineda,
Admiral Shandara smiled as he heard one of his officers saying, “Warp
completed! Location, three megameters behind the Earth
Fleet!”
“Ready
Magna-Flame Gun,” laughed Shandara. “Target, Earth Fleet!”
“Making all preparations at emergency speed,” said one of
Shandara’s officers.
“All systems checked, ready for firing!” barked another
officer on the Krineda.
“Ready to fire on your mark, sir!” said another officer.
Shandara grinned and said, “FIRE…”
The
Krineda fired a moment later.
As it was suppposed to, the Magna-Flame cannon fired, and the
warp field warped it out….
Warping it, right on target….
…right into the EDF space battleship Hiei as the Earth fleet was attacked treacherously from behind
while the ships were recharging their engines from their latest firing of their
wave motion guns!
The
EDF space battleship Hiei promptly
exploded, almost taking the Aquarius
right with it as Commodore Weyland’s mouth fell open in shock aboard the Aquarius, his Second Fleet flagship…a
twin of the fabled Andromeda that
looked as if she would soon be sharing the original space battleship’s horrible
fate.
“They’re attacking from behind! Bastards!” he yelled as his ship just barely dodged another energy
burst that blew apart the
As a beam just barely missed the Pennsylvania herself, the Earth Fleet turned about, only to be
greeted by shot after shot from a battle line of Cometine space battleships
that fired their shock cannons right into the middle of the Earth Fleet as the
space battleship Jean Bart was caught
in the vortex of a shock cannon beam and crushed, followed by the Fleet
Cruisers Braunschweig and Alaska.
The Fleet Cruiser Hawaii
just avoided sharing her sister ship’s fate as she turned about hard under the
guidance of her Captain, a young woman known as Commander Linda Manella, as she
reported back to the Pennsylvania. “Admiral! The enemy fleet is eleven megameters aft of us at RPX-212!
She’s coming up fast! I’m forming up the destroyers
The
But, as another space battleship blew apart, Admiral
Yamanami knew that this battle might be very difficult to win….
VI.
CAUGHT IN A TRAP
The
Vicinity of Planet Earth
Space
Battleship
September
3, 2207
1005
Hours: Earthtime
“How many of them are there?”
demanded Admiral Yamanami on the
Not far away,
a Magna-Flame gun hit took out another two cruisers. The
“It’s not good, sir,” said Captain Kidd from his post as he looked back
at Yamanami on the
“Radar count:
Three hundred enemy space warships of all classes and types!” cried the
“I was not
expecting them so close to Earth, and so soon,” grunted Yamanami. “I thought
Third Fleet would hold them off at Mars!”
Captain Kidd
looked back again and said, “Sir, do you order a retreat?”
“Retreat?”
grunted Yamanami. “I’ve just started fighting. Get that Goddamned word out of
your vocabulary, Captain!”
“Yessir,”
said Kidd.
“A group of
antimatter missile cruisers have just warped away,” said Yockey. “They’re
heading for Earth!”
“Damn
them…and we’re tied down,” said Yamanami. “Miss Parkersburg,” he said to his
comm officer. “Order Commodore Weyland to break away with the
“Yessir,”
said Lieutenant Judy Parkersburg, the
“Put him up
on the main screen,” grunted Yamanami.
In the
meantime, on the antimatter missile ships, Admiral Shakra laughed as he
received his orders from the Eritz
Gatlantis. “Begin to destroy Earth?”
“Yes,” said
Gorse. “Shandara has the bulk of their Fleet in a slaughterhouse near their
Moon. Fire two missiles at the Earth. One of them is to hit their Capitol.
Then, we will hit a population center with the other one. We anticipate that
Shandara will have their flagship blown apart. He will then deliver our
ultimatum; surrender or die. If they refuse to surrender, then either you will
wipe them out, or we will with our Magna-Flame siege cannons after we finish
Desslok and the Star Force off near Pluto. We anticipate arriving at Pluto at
around 0200 Hours the next day, their Standard Spacetime, after completing our
final space warp from a random location. Then, we will begin our final attack.”
“Yessir,” said Shakra as he laughed.
“Antimatter missile ships, form up on my flagship!
Your target is Earth!”
The enemy
ships began to head towards Earth.
In the
meantime, on the
“Yes,
Handley?”
“I just
picked up some kind of transmission in code! I think I know where part of the
enemy fleet is!”
“Where?”
demanded Williams.
“Fifty
megameters ahead of us, at…it looks like…HW-052.”
“I think they
are forming up in an arc, sir,” said Ensign Stacey Gervais, the ship’s radar
officer.
“Handley,
keep that recording, and call the flagship!” said Williams.
“Yessir,”
said Handley, not knowing how important that intercept would prove to be for
Earth.
In the meantime, the
“Admiral, we
have ships heading towards Earth,” said Singleton.
“I’ve already
thought of that,” said Yamanami. “I have Commodore Weyland in pursuit. I’m
holding the line here. I don’t expect to come back. Send orders to Rear Admiral
Gilliam Lee with Third Fleet on the Sagittarius.
Have him ready to guard our rear and keep these people from escaping.”
“Pull out,
Admiral,” said Singleton.
“Negative,
sir,” said Yamanami. “We must refuse your order!”
“Ready to
fire!” said Kidd. “All remaining ships report ready!”
“FIRE IT!” yelled Yamanami.
First Fleet
fired their wave motion guns for the last time, blowing apart the vast bulk of
Admiral Shandara’s fleet in a final burst.
Shandara lost
three quarters of his fleet in a moment in the dying gasp of First Fleet. The
Cometine commander warped away, shocked that his ship
had taken damage.
However, he
kept a few ships there to cover his retreat.
Those vessels
made sure that Yamanami paid for his final, defiant act of bravery.
The Krineda got away with forty ships,
leaving thirty ships behind.
Eight of
those enemy vessels were Cometine space battleships that fired at the remains
of First Fleet with a suicidal resolve.
The EDF spacecraft carrier Reprisal died first, followed by the Kongo.
They fell at
the hands of the Cometine fleet’s shock cannons.
Finally, more
destroyers, cruisers, and even frigates blew apart.
Finally, only
the
When the
energy charge reached sixty percent, a missile slammed into the upper part of
the
“Sir!” cried
Lieutenant Parkersburg as another explosion hit the ship.
Everything
went dark, and then the emergency lighting came back up.
The upper part of the bridge tower
partially collapsed onto Yamanami and tons of debris crushed him to the deck.
“Who is left alive on the bridge?” gasped
Yamanami with his dying breaths.
“Push Mister
Seenjak away from the helm and get us out of here. You’ve been trained to do
it.”
“What about
you, sir?” said
“I’m dying,
everyone else is dead, you take command of this ship.
Get her to Moonbase…I…”
“Yessir,”
said
She pushed
Lieutenant Vaja Seenjak’s body away from the
Her command
lasted maybe forty-five seconds.
More heavy
fire roared in from another Cometine space battleship, catching the
The ship trembled to a stop, just
drifting, and then, her main energy generator finally went up as the conduction
pipe parted.
The
Soon, the
A moment
later, nothing was left of the
Like the Andromeda, she had fought bravely to the
end.
Earth would
always remember her, and, in Earth Defense Headquarters, General Singleton
stood in silence holding a salute as the data and telemetry from the ship went
dark for the final time.
Then, the Vanguard called in and General Stone
said, “Sir, Captain Burris called in from the Vanguard. He says he is assuming command of what is left of First
Fleet. He reports the
“I see…inform
Rear Admiral Lee on the Sagittarius,”
said Singleton. “His ship is now the Combined Fleet Flagship. Send him our new
orders…”
“Yessir,”
said Stone.
ONE HOUR LATER…
“Sir,” said General Stone to
Singleton in Earth Defense Headquarters as the enemy anti-matter missile ships
were approaching Earth with Commodore Weyland in pursuit. “We’re getting a
message from the enemy, from around the vicinity of the inner asteroid belt.”
The time was
exactly noon, Standard Earthtime, on September 3, 2207.
The Commander
did not know it yet, but the War was now only fifty hours or so away from its
final end this day.
But, he would
go through some of the worst fifty hours of his life before it all ended.
“Put them
on,” said the Commander as he stood there with most of his officers around him.
“Coming up on
the main screen, sir,” said General Stone.
Singleton cleared
his throat as what looked like a familiar image came up on the screen in Earth
Defense Headquarters. Is it Gorse?
Singleton thought as he looked up at the main screen. No, he looks different. Sort of like that Baron who fought us once,
but…different.
“People of Earth,” said the
evil-looking Cometine on the main screen. “I am Admiral Shandara, Commander of
Princess Invidia’s Starfleet of the House of Gatlantis. As I am sure you can
see, I have many ships advancing upon your world at the
moment. You continue to fight us and defy us even though you have technically
surrendered to us years ago. I am here to take Zordar’s revenge upon you in the
name of our Princess Invidia and her wise Advisor, Ekogaru the Great. Invidia
did not wish to do so, but the Lord Ekogaru pleaded with us to give you a final chance to surrender your planet to
us without further bloodshed. You have half an hour in your time scale to
surrender to us. This is our final
offer to surrender, so take us seriously. You have a final chance to live. Our
patience with your scummy, defiant race has just run out! ”
“Do you know
how overconfident you people are?”
said Singleton. “You attacked and destroyed only three of our Defense Fleets.
We have two fleets left, a major task force, and two allied starfleets on their
way from Gamilon and Rikasha. You have had most of your fleets wiped out and
your City-Ship, I am told, is on its way here to face the same fate. I demand
that you surrender and leave this
territorial space at once,” snapped the Commander after Stone handed him a
note.
The Commander
read the note and nodded.
“Arrogant fool!” roared Shandara in a terrible
voice. “Are you aware of what a spread of antimatter missiles can do to a planet? My forces are ready to
attack on my signal. This is your
last offer. Surrender and come to my ship and kiss my feet, General Singleton, you defiant slave. Do that and I will let you live. Fail to do so and I’ll make
sure you all…”
“Turn him off!” yelled Singleton.
A moment
later, the screen went dark.
President Mendellsohn ran in and
loooked right at the Commander. “Sir,” he said. “Have you just signed our death
warrant?”
“Fifteen
Cometine antimatter missile ships are surrounding Earth,” said another officer.
“Intelligence
reports they can fire at any time,” said yet another EDF officer.
“Surrender,
Singleton,” said the President as he began to sweat. “Tell them we accept their
offer. Ask them to show us mercy.”
“No, I
refuse,” said Singleton.
“You…refuse?”
said the President. “I’ll fire you for this, General.”
“You can do
that later, sir….we’re not through yet. Look…our salvation awaits us,” said
Singleton as he looked at the President and handed him Stone’s note.
“You had
better be right,” said President Mendellsohn.
HALF AN HOUR LATER….
On the Eritz Gatlantis, which was now just nine
lightyears away from Earth, an officer handed General Gorse a note. “They’re
ready, sir,” he said. “Shandara is ready. Admiral Shakra has his antimatter
missile ships at the ready.”
“They have
failed to surrender?” said Gorse.
“Yessir,”
said the officer as Invidia watched. “Shakra says he has a few Earth ships
pursuing him. They will never catch up in time.”
“Execute,”
said Ekogaru as he appeared.
“NOOOO!”
screamed Invidia as she hit the Dark Lord’s chest with her fists as guards held
her back. “NOOOO!”
Gorse drew a
finger across his throat. “Goodbye, Terran race. It was nice knowing you,” he
said. “Tell Shakra to proceed with the destruction of Planet Earth!”
The officer
nodded.
On the bridge of the Cometine
antimatter missile ship Jajanda, a
message came in to Admiral Shakra. “Yes?” he hissed in a lisping voice.
“Word from Invidia and Gorse,”
said the minor officer. “Wipe them out!”
“Excellent,”
laughed Shakra under his blond eyebrows. He nodded and said, “Captain Krinda,
start firing!”
“Yessir!”
said Krinda. “With pleasure!”
A moment
later, klaxons went off on the Cometine ships as they began to fire. First, the
missiles on the Jajanda went off, followed
by the missiles on the nearby Krameka.
The first
wave of four missiles roared towards Earth as the other ships prepared to fire.
Soon, the
first set of missiles impacted in the
Soon, two more missiles roared
down towards Earth.
They were
roaring down towards
And more were
coming.
Invidia could
have cared less, but she was about to win the war now.
The reason
she was about to win was because Planet Earth was under a death sentence that
was now being executed.
In about four
more minutes, all of the missiles would hit Earth.
Earth would
cease to exist.
IS THIS THE FINALLY THE END FOR PLANET
EARTH ITSELF?
WILL
THE WAR END WITH THE DESTRUCTION OF MOST OF THE HUMAN RACE?
TO BE CONTINUED….
To Return to the Introduction to The New Comet, click here