ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE
STAR BLAZERS---RAGNAROK
Being the eleventh and final part of
THE RIKASHA INCIDENT--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz
Thanks to Gail Kopetz for a bizarre
occurrence near the end of this installment--Freddo
ACT FOUR: THIRD MOVEMENT--- ALLEGRO
I. HOLLANDER'S PLANS
The Grand Technomugar Fortress
4,900 Lightyears Away from Earth's
Solar System
Wednesday April 28, 2202
0900 Hours: Earth Time
"We are now almost
near Earth," said Hollander a day later as the Technomugar Fortress sat in
another nebula; one filled with electrical energy. Not even Aliscea can
easily track us here, he thought with a smile.
"Yes, and we confused
the Garuman fleet by making several false start warps on imaginary course
headings, thus leaving them erroneous gravitational trails to follow!"
said Migdal. "Now, at less than 5,000 lightyears
away from the Terrans' star system, we are slowly heading above the galactic
ecliptic out of this galactic system."
"Our next planned warp
of 4,000 lightyears early tomorrow will take us away from the galactic disk
entirely," said Bralak.
"It will," said
Hollander. "But, in the meantime, you two have work
to do. Migdal, you will take command of the Third
Carrier Fleet and meet
"Yessir," said Migdal.
"Bralak,
you, Panchen and Grodez will wait near the Cape Horn
Nebula. There, you will play a recording that will supposedly be a surrender
message from your forces to the Star Force. When the Argo traces it
here, they will run into your carriers, to be lured into a trap set by Grodez'
Gorba task force. Are we clear on this?"
"Yes," smiled Bralak.
"Good," said
Hollander. "Take your places; today we begin this operation. We may be on
our way out, but we shall strike a great final blow and leave Earth
defenseless, the Argo destroyed and Aliscea dead."
Two Hours Later….(1100 Hours, Earth-Time)
Near
"Any sign of the enemy
yet?" he asked. "I know that the patrol ships said they're on the
way…it's supposed to be a secondary assault fleet, but it's supposed to be huge."
"No, sir, no response
yet," said his radar officer, a young man from
"Damn. I'm just
waiting for those guys to show up."
"Sir, we're probably
fortunate," said his Deputy Captain, the Combat Group Leader of the Aphrodite,
a man known as Commander Robert Eisenbaum. "This
way, we had more time to gather the fleets. Is the Fifth Fleet here yet?"
"Rear Admiral Perulov
should be here shortly with the Scorpio," said Spears. "She's
just as big as this ship, and she's dragging a good-sized fleet behind
her."
"How big is
good-sized?" asked Eisenbaum.
"Good-sized is
good-sized," said Lt. Commander Perivale Eliot," the Aphrodite's
Navigation Group Leader and helmsman, who hailed from
"What's he do?"
said Lt. Julia Ugarte, the ship's new Tactical Radar
officer, who had just transferred aboard.
"He's a doctor at
Central Hospital He's got the kids…but he wishes he could've been here. Last I
heard from him was four days ago, and he said they might have to move underground.
I'm kind of scared."
"They did have to go
underground, ma'am," said Ugarte.
"Oh, God no,"
said Eliot, hiding her face in her hands for a moment. Eisenbaum
got up to comfort her with a pat on the back. "Thanks," she said.
"Don't mention
it," said her shipmate. "You've gotta get home safe for Rick, Peri."
"Yeah…thanks."
"How many ships are behind us, sir?" asked Ugarte
as she turned to Admiral Spears. "I didn't get to hear all of the briefing
before I piped aboard."
"Well," said
Spears, "The Third Earth Defense Fleet, which this is the flagship of,
consists of the Aphrodite, six Jamaica-class space battleships, a
Yorktown-class spacecraft carrier, eight New York-class space
Fleet Cruisers, and forty-nine Warsaw-class space destroyers, for a
total of sixty-five space warships. We're backed up by the Sixth Interplanetary
Defense Squadron, which consists of a single Jamaica-class space
battleship, two Fleet Cruisers, two Patrol Cruisers, and twelve destroyers.
With the Fifth Fleet and Seventh Squadron following us, we have a total of one
hundred and sixty-four ships out here."
"I think we can beat
them with that much, sir. And isn't the Argo gonna be showing up
soon?"
"Not here."
"Why?"
"She's on her way out
to Arcturus with the rest of her Task Force followed by Admiral Yamanami and
his Fourth Fleet. They're taking a base out there and waiting for the main
enemy thrust there around the Cape Horn Nebula." Then, Spears dropped his
voice to a near-whisper. "Rumor has it they expect the Fortress to come
through around there, and the Argo's been waiting to get it."
"How is one ship going
to stop a whole Fortress?" asked Eisenbaum.
"How did one ship stop
Zordar?" asked Spears rhetorically.
Eisenbaum nodded.
Finally, Lt. Pashnir spoke up. "Enemy Fleet
approaching, sir. Distance, forty-five megameters, speed, thirty space
knots. It's a carrier fleet, and they just came out of warp and they're
launching. Looks like over two hundred ships. Putting an
image up on video."
Spears looked up at the huge, ugly
red Technomugar carrier leading the enemy fleet…it was right in front of
The Fleet's fighters
engaged the Technomugar planes first. The fighter battle was fast-paced,
consisting of a hundred different dogfights, little gallantry on the part of
the enemy, and a great deal of viciousness.
The enemy seemed to care
little about his own well-being. It was common for enemy planes to kamikaze
directly into Earth planes, or, for that matter, into Earth warships. In the
first five minutes, Earth lost six destroyers and a cruiser to this sort of
tactic, and the Third Fleet space battleship
But, soon, Earth planes
were striking back at Migdal's main fleet. Technomugar space battleships and
carriers were soon burning thanks to the Earth planes taking care of them with
missile and torpedo attacks.
However, for every loss
that the enemy took, the Technomugar pilots were giving a terrible payback of
their own. The news that Spears was receiving was not good.
"This is the destroyer
Valiant! We've taken heavy fire…our main engine is burning…we're…"
Spears looked up as yet
another destroyer exploded.
"Sir!" said Pashnir. "Part of the enemy fleet has just warped!
They're emerging from warp all around us!"
"Range?"
"Four
megameters! And
they're opening fire!"
Spears looked at another
view as at least fifteen Earth vessels were blown apart by the guns of the
enemy battleships and destroyers.
"So that's the way they wanna play this?"
said Spears. "All ships, track the enemy, and return fire!"
A moment later, the Earth
fleet was firing back as battleship after battleship, cruiser after cruiser,
and destroyer after destroyer lit up the blackness of space near
Finally, at long last, the
Earth fleet was giving its own payback as Technomugar ships blasted apart
around them like clay pigeons on a shooting range. The battle was chaotic and
somewhat frightening, but, at that moment, Earth was beginning to reclaim her
honor.
"Not bad," said Migdal back on his flagship, the large carrier that Spears
had first seen. She was called the Nadaniya.
"Of course, you realize that I haven't brought in the spoiler, yet. Crew, order more launches, and prepare our own guns and missiles!
Keep up our fire from this direction until I order
"Yessir," said one of the Nadaniya's crewmen. "Carrying
out your orders right away, sir." The Technomugar officers smiled
wickedly, ignoring the flare that came over his panel as an Earth Cosmo Tiger
scored a small hit on the Nadaniya. "How
long do you think it'll take?"
"Not long. Within a
few hours, we should be advancing upon Earth herself."
"Excellent,"
laughed the enemy officer. "I love a battle where we're winning, don't
you?"
"Yes," said the
other officer. "The spirit of our fallen Lord Ekogaru is still with
us!"
"Yes," laughed Migdal, fully aware that he had helped kill the Dark Lord.
"He is smiling upon us from Heaven. And we will win in his name."
Hollander called in during
the battle. "How goes it, Migdal?"
"Wonderful," said
Migdal with an evil smile. "We shall soon break
them! Should I order
Hollander nodded.
"Turn that enemy fleet into space trash."
Both Hollander and Migdal laughed.
II. THE
Space Battleship Argo
Wednesday April 28, 2202
1200 Hours: Earth Time
Commodore Derek Wildstar
shut his eyes as the Argo passed into warp.
As usual, there was the
sense of disorientation, angst, and fear that accompanied the passage into
hyperspace. The Argo and her crew seemed to drift in a void, everywhere
and nowhere all at once.
Finally, the disorientation
passed, and the mighty space battleship faded back into normal space with a
wild flash of light.
"Warp complete,"
said Mark Venture as his post.
"Conditions on second
bridge normal," said Holly Venture below.
"Material condition of
the ship is normal," said Sandor.
"The rest of the Task
Force is behind us, Derek," said Nova from her radar.
"Good," said
Derek. "Aliscea, come here."
The young Pellian, summoned
from her temporary post at Analysis, walked forward and bowed to Derek. She
shut her eyes and then smiled. "I feel the Fortress and the Technomugar
life-force about 4800 lightyears away. I think we can soon ambush them after we
deal with the enemy forces that Fourth Fleet reported around here. I also think
I feel something else," she said with a pregnant pause.
"What?"
"I don’t feel Ekogaru
any more," she said slowly. "I think he's dead at last."
Dash jumped up from his
post and cheered. "Yeah! We won the big one! He
looked at Nova and Aliscea. You girls did it!"
Homer got up and laughed.
"We can go home soon!"
"We won!" laughed
Paul, who got up and hugged his wife.
"Hold it!"
snapped Commodore Wildstar. "Back to your posts,
everybody! We need confirmation of this!"
Homer ran to his post after
he heard a message coming in. "We're getting a message from the
Technomugar!" he said.
"Put it on
video," said Commodore Wildstar.
A moment later, a white-haired Technomugar commander
with light skin and an eyepatch appeared on the main screen.
"Gentlemen and
ladies," he said in a deep voice, "I am General Panchen
of the Grand Technomugar. It appears you have won. Lord Hollander, our
new leader, has officiated at the death of Ekogaru. Behold, here lies our hero
in state."
The Star Force looked
shocked as they saw an image of the Dark Lord's broken cyborg form lying dead
on an altar covered with a black cloth, surrounded by torches, and guarded by
thirteen black-clad Technomugar men and women. "He just died recently. He
said that you were to be treated with honor for at last killing him. Hollander
is ordering a withdrawal from your star system now. I ask you to come to TX-113
in your coordinate grid, just beyond the edge of the Cape Horn Nebula near what
you call Granton's Area. There, we shall meet with
you and Aliscea to negotiate a cease-fire before we leave your galaxy. Do you
agree?"
"I need to confirm
that your forces are pulling back first before we warp to your location,"
said Commodore Wildstar.
"Do you not accept my
word?" asked Panchen. "We are honest.
Inform me in one hour if you accept my offer or not. Peace depends upon
it."
At that, the message faded
out.
"Well?" said
Derek to Aliscea.
"I think he is
dead," she said. "But I detect deceit in his words. I am unsure what
he is lying about, though. The Dark Lord certainly looks dead…"
"Homer, connect me
with the Commander, if possible. I need to know what's going on back at
Earth."
"Yessir," said
Homer.
Some distance away, on the
Earth space battleship Cepheus, Rear Admiral Yamanami sat in command of
Fourth Fleet.
"Sir, we've lost
contact with Third Fleet," said his comm officer.
"We were successful here at
Arcturus; we have Marines on the planet," said Yamanami. "But this
doesn't sound good. Try to raise Admiral Spears again!"
"No response,
sir," said Yamanami's comm officer a moment later. "I'm picking up
jamming, though. Lots of it."
"Enemy fleet at port,
140 degrees off the bow!" said the Cepheus' radar officer, a young
woman with red hair. "Range, nine megameters! Looks like twenty-five space
battleships and fifty cruisers. We're outnumbered! I'm not sure where they're
from, though. I'm trying to get a match!"
"Communication from
the enemy fleet!" said the comm officer. "Should I put it up on
video, sir?"
"Do it," said
Yamanami.
A moment later, a pitiless,
blue-skinned face appeared on the lower right quadrant of the Andromeda-class
Cepheus' main screen.
"I would like you to
withdraw at once; otherwise, you will be guilty of violating a cease-fire that
is now being negotiated," said the enemy commander.
"Who are you and what
the hell are you talking about?" demanded Yamanami.
"I am General Meldazz of the Black Nebula Empire. Many of my people have
allied themselves with the forces of the Lord Ekogaru's forces, even though His
approach devastated our home galaxy. We were promised property and eternal life
in compensation for what we lost. If you would have peace, withdraw now! This
is our territory by the promise of Lord Hollander!"
"Let me contact Earth
first," said Yamanami.
"Go ahead and
try," said Meldazz. "I am surprised that
you don't accept my word."
Yamanami cut off.
"Call Earth," he said.
"Trying, sir…"
said the comm officer a moment later…he was named Lt. Emil Patrovksy,
and was from
"What a damn dirty
trick," said Yamanami.
"Sir," said Patrovsky. "I’m getting a signal from the Argo."
"Put them on!"
A moment later, Derek
Wildstar's face appeared on Yamanami's screen. "Admiral," he said.
"Can you reach Earth from where you are? We need to get through to the
Commander."
"We've just tried to call
Earth ourselves," said Yamanami. "I think the hyperspatial
transmission lane is being jammed by the enemy."
"Jammed," said
Derek. "We're getting the same thing, sir. We were just offered a
cease-fire by the Technomugar if we went to a certain void in the Nebula to
meet with them. I asked for permission to contact Earth, but they're jamming
that transmission path for us, too."
"They're trying to
trick us, I think," said Yamanami.
Wildstar nodded. "I
think so, too."
"So what are you
doing?" said Yamanami.
"I'm going into the
Nebula…but at a different location than they want us to go. It's risky, but I
hope I can get that fleet from behind."
"You want to ambush
them?"
Derek nodded. "I don't
think they want a true cease-fire…do you?"
Yamanami shook his head.
"I'm going to hold our position here; we'll back you up if you need it.
Good luck in that nebula, Commodore."
"Thank you, sir,"
said Wildstar. The transmission ended.
A moment later, Meldazz called again.
"So, you've been
talking behind our backs?" said Meldazz.
"And you're jamming
our transmission path to Earth?"
"You are to take us at
our word, Admiral. You and Wildstar both. You are to
withdraw, and he is to meet with Panchen. We offer
you Terrans no other options. If you want peace, do it our way!"
"And what if we don't
withdraw?" asked Yamanami. "We need this territory to protect our
planet Earth."
"If you will not
withdraw, well, then, you shall be destroyed," said Meldazz.
"Then let it be on your own foolish head! We shall attack!"
Then, the Cepheus'
screen went dark. A moment later, the enemy fleet began to attack.
"Spread out!"
ordered Yamanami. "All ships, ready main guns! Target, enemy fleet!
Prepare to fire on my mark!"
And, on that note, another
battle began, about thirty lightyears away from Earth.
Near Neptune, another Black
Nebulan Fleet under
Earth ship after Earth ship was
meeting its doom under the enemy's guns, yet the Third and Fifth Fleets
gallantly fought hard and fought on.
"Sir," said Eisenbaum. "When can we get in formation for firing
wave motion guns?"
"Not yet," said
Spears.
"Communication
from Admiral Perulov."
"Put it on
screen."
Admiral Perulov spoke to
Spears. "Great God, when are you going to let loose all we have?'
"Not yet," said
Spears.
"Why
not, Terrell?"
"Because
I've just called up First Fleet. Admiral Falworth is on his way to assume command. You
fall back and meet him. I'll lead my fleet in there to draw their fire and take
as many of them with us as we can."
"But, Terrell…"
"We've taken heavy
losses," said Spears as another explosion shook the Aphrodite.
"Half our fleet's gone, so we may as well kick some ass and go for it.
I'll see you later, Nikolai. Take the Scorpio and get out of there…got
it?"
"Yessir," said Perulov. He sat in silence
as Spears went off his screen. "Goodbye, my friend," he muttered as
he wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye.
At that, the Third Fleet
cruised onwards.
"Look at them,"
sneered
"Yes?"
"You can fall back
now. We'll take care of this! And we'll take care of them!"
"Understood,"
said Migdal with a cold smile.
The Third Fleet cruised in, with its
guns going off as it met the Black Nebulan and Technomugar fleets. The Aphrodite,
the other space battleships, and the carrier and cruisers targeted the enemy
ships, destroying the Technomugar ships with blow upon blow, but they were only
able to take out the Black Nebulan cruisers…the Black Nebulan battleships, with
their heavy armor, were able to endure the Earth barrage.
"Return fire!"
snapped
The surviving Technomugar
and Black Nebulan ships fought back as one. Soon, a tragedy was beginning to
unfold for the Third Fleet as the Earth fleet began to take major losses.
"Sir," said Pashnir. "We've just lost the Braunschweig,
the
"Well, there goes our
cruiser screen," said Spears.
A moment later, as she
returned fire, the Aphrodite herself began to take hit after hit.
"Both port side
auxiliary engines are out," said her engineer.
"Gun turret number two
is out," said Eisenbaum.
"I'm having trouble
keeping her on course," said Peri Eliot.
"The enemy flagship's
right in front of us," said Eisenbaum as
something exploded on the
"We can't take this,
sir," coughed Eliot.
"We're not going
to," hacked Spears. "Ram that ship!"
Goodbye, my love…my children, thought Peri
as images of her husband and family went through her mind. "Of course,
sir," she said. "Full…speed!"
A moment later,
"They're trying to ram
us!" he yelled. "Evade!"
"Too late, sir,"
said his helmsman.
"Warp us!"
"We…can't…we…"
There was a huge explosion.
A moment later, both ships were nothing but gas and debris.
"Damn him," said Migdal. "Fleet, regroup around me!
We've got to destroy those bastards!"
The rest of
The battle went on.
An Hour Later…In the
The Argo was still
unable to get through to the Commander because of interference in the area.
So, suspecting a trap, Commodore Wildstar ordered a
warp directly into the
The space battleship
emerged not far from TX-113 at TX-110. The ship, it turned out, had warped
right into the middle of the nebula.
"Where's the void?'
asked Derek.
"There is a
void here, but it's very small," said Nova. "I think this is a
trick."
"Can you keep
scanning?"
"It'll be
difficult," she said as the Argo cruised out of the nebula into a
small area of open space, and cruised right into…madness.
"There's a huge fleet
in front of us, " said Eager. "Range, eight
megameters…"
"We've got them,"
said Dash. "What do they have, Nova?"
Nova then spoke.
"Identification: Technomugar. There's ten space battleships, twenty
cruisers, thirty destroyers, and they're opening fire."
"Prepare for incoming
fire," said Commodore Wildstar as a huge spread of energy beams flashed
towards the Argo. "Dash! Return
fire!"
"Got it," said
Dash. "Opening main guns."
"Preparing evasive
maneuvers," said Venture. "Ninety degrees
port!"
The Argo turned, just
avoiding most of the Technomugar fire as it roared in. She took a few small
hits, but just evaded destruction by a few hundred meters.
"Main guns locked
on," said Dash.
"Turrets one, two and
three ready," said Rosstowski from his post.
"Open fire!"
snapped Commodore Wildstar.
At that, the Argo
spoke back, beginning to give back the same treatment she was taking.
All of her guns spoke at
once, blasting destruction right into the enemy fleet.
"I don't believe
this!" said Panchen aboard his flagship as he
spoke to Hollander. "They were ready for us!"
"You idiot!" said
Hollander. "You weren't convincing enough!"
"Permission
to fall back?"
"Denied," said
Hollander. "Herd them to Grodez' position and then seal them off. You are
to fight to the last man, you moron!"
"Yessir," said Panchen.
Near Arcturus, Yamanami and
the rest of the Task Force had finally defeated Meldazz,
but at quite a cost. Yamanami had ordered the firing of the Fleet's wave motion
guns, but the Cepheus was badly damaged by an enemy barrage as she was
charging up her wave guns, forcing her to retire from the battle right before
the fleet fired.
The Cepheus, now
damaged, sat on Arcturus near the Marines' positions. Yamanami, in the
meantime, had transferred his flag to the
"So where are we
going?" asked Captain Peronada as Yamanami assumed command of the Fleet.
"Easy; we're going to
see what's going on with the Argo. She might need a hand. Keep a few
ships back here; we're warping towards the Cape Horn Nebula."
"Roger."
The Argo advanced
forward, towards an escape route. She had destroyed most of Panchen's fleet.
"I'm picking up some
weird signals," said Homer.
"What?" said
Commodore Wildstar. He sat at his post, with his teeth
clenching as Nova said, "Six large ships, right
around us."
"What kind of
ships?" asked Venture.
"Large ships, over a
kilometer long…each," said Nova. "It's six space fortresses!"
"Open fire!"
snapped Derek.
Dash fired the ship's main
guns at the nearest fortress. To his shock, the plasma bolts just bounced off.
"Super-dense
armor," said Sandor. "Just like that Goraizu Fortress we fought a few
months ago."
"So what do we
do?" asked Eager.
"If there's an
opening…we can take advantage of it with…our new wave cartridge system,"
said Sandor.
"But we haven't tested
it yet!" protested Derek.
"Enemy
fire…incoming!" cried Nova. "They're all firing at once."
Aboard the lead Gorba
Fortress, Grodez smiled as his fleet opened fire on the Argo.
Beam after beam of enemy fire blasted against the Argo
as the enemy ships began their dirty work.
"Gun turret number two
is hit!" said Dash.
"The engine room's
been hit," said Yamazaki. "Speed's down ten percent!"
"Mechanical
Engineering bloc is hit," said Sandor into his mike as he watched his
master damage control readouts. "Port side auxiliary engine is hit! Upper
flight bays hit! We can only launch from the lower flight bay now."
"Sandor, analyze those
ships to see if we can find an opening to fire the wave cartridges into!"
said Wildstar.
"I'm trying…when I
find an opening, we'll be able to fire into it."
"And
until then?"
"We're just going to
have to take it," said Sandor as sweat ran down his face.
"Do you think we'll
make it out of this, Derek?" asked Nova.
"I hope we do,"
said Wildstar. "I hope we do…"
III. EARTH STRIKES BACK
The Vicinity of
Wednesday April 28, 2202
1345 Hours: Earth Time
First Fleet had just
received the summons to go into action.
On the bridge of the new Andromeda,
Admiral Falworth sat speaking with Rear Admiral Perulov.
"We've lost the entire
Third Fleet, sir," said Perulov. "Spears led them to the end, up
until the point where he rammed the enemy flagship with the Aphrodite.
And we've taken heavy damage ourselves."
"You're still
fighting?"
Perulov nodded.
"I see," said Falworth. "Spears was a brave man, like Gideon. He'll be remembered well, if
Earth survives this. How are you doing?"
"We're falling back to
Triton, sir, but the Technomugar fleet is still advancing, along with just a
few of those other black ships they've brought in."
"I see. Hold the line
until we get there. We'll be warping away from the Moon Area soon. Send us
their coordinates."
"Yessir," said
Perulov. A moment later, a map appeared on the Andromeda.
"Good," muttered
Falworth. "Expect us around XT-225. We'll get them at their blindside from
the rear, right around the radar blind spots that Wildstar reported to us after
analyzing the results of the battle at Centaurus. Be sure you warp out to
starboard as soon as you spot us coming."
"Yessir," said
Perulov.
"All ships, stand ready to warp," said Falworth. "When we emerge from warp at XT-225…ready wave motion
guns!"
At that, First Fleet warped
out.
"Not bad," said Migdal as he watched his fleet slowly battering the Fifth
Fleet. "This'll take some more time, but at least we'll get all of those
scum-masters."
"Yes," said
Hollander. "Let me know when you begin the final charge upon Earth. I'm
going to be warping the Fortress out of the area soon. Let me know if
reinforcements are needed."
"Yessir," said Migdal as he faded off the Fortress' main screen.
"Begin warp
procedures!" said Hollander aboard the Fortress.
Hollander's crew began to
work. One of them panicked a moment later.
"Sir," he said.
"The Fortress is refusing to recognize our commands!"
"What?" said Hollander. He ran over to a console and began to tap on some
keys himself. "Why is the computer rejecting these commands?" he
muttered. "I'll try another node on the network…"
"Same thing?"
said Tra'Chariv as he stood there watching.
Then, the main control
bridge went dark. Technomugar officers gasped with fear.
Then, all of the control
screens went red, and a low, evil laughter was heard over the speakers.
"What?" said Hollander. "The Fortress…is…laughing at us?"
"No, Hollander,"
said a deep voice from out of the speakers. "I am the one who is
laughing at you! And I shall have the last laugh as I am ready to deal with you
as you and the other traitors dealt with me!"
Then, an image came up on
the main screen. It was a face.
The face of Ekogaru, as he
had appeared before his cyborg body had been scarred. It was a handsome face,
but one filled with evil.
"As you see,"
said Ekogaru. "I have just surpassed the need for a regular cyborg
form. My essence is now inside the systems of the Fortress! I still live, even
though you have my body lying in state!"
"Lord…I…we…I did not
know," gasped Hollander. "I thought we…we
can repair your form…restore you to it…I…"
"You thought you
had killed me? I am not so easy to be rid of! I am now truly immortal! As for
my body, let it rot! I have no need for it now! And you shall soon have no need
for your bodies!"
"What do you
mean?" asked Hollander.
"You still need air
to support your organic components? I am the Fortress now! It is my new form! I
need no air! So, I shall rid myself of this excess mass so I can warp more
quickly…and I shall rid myself of you, as well!"
"No, no!" said
Hollander. "Have mercy, Lord! Mercy!"
Ekogaru laughed at his
Technomugar crew as they fell to their knees and groveled. "It is too
late. I am taking my vengeance today. First, upon you…and then, upon Earth and
that damned Aliscea!! I shall soon torment the crew of the Argo with their
impotence before my power! Too bad you won't be there to see it!"
Ekogaru began to laugh like
mad.
And then, a moment later,
the airlock doors in the Fortress irised open.
Every one of them opened at
once. And none of the Technomugar could stop them.
Hollander gasped and
struggled to get a spacesuit. But, soon, he and the others were caught in a
mighty wind inside the Fortress as the air began to explosively decompress out
into space.
Hollander gasped, struggled,
and then he fell screaming in the cyclone to his death in open space…as did
everyone else aboard the Fortress.
Ten minutes later, the
Fortress sat triumphantly in a debris field of the dead, as the unprotected
Technomugar and their unprotected slaves lay frozen and dead together in space.
A few hundred thousand Technomugar, mostly pilots and technicians, had
spacesuits and space armor on, but it was useless to them as the huge volume of
air blasted them many megameters out beyond their ships and weapons. Within an
hour, they were all dead due to a lack of air. Over six billion Technomugar
were now dead…at the hands of their own Leader.
And, in the computers of
his Fortress, Ekogaru was now the only survivor. He laughed, and laughed, and
laughed.
"NOW, ONWARDS!"
he raged. "I shall warp a thousand lightyears as a test…and
then…onwards…to the
The First Fleet had just
warped in.
"So far, sir, they
don't seem to be aware of our presence," said the radar officer aboard the
Andromeda. She scratched her nose and said, "They're not even
painting us with any sensors."
"Good," said
Falworth. "All capital ships, transfer energy to wave motion guns!"
The energy transfer, and
then the lethal energy buildup, began. Fifth Fleet was slowly falling back,
reduced now to four space battleships (including the Scorpio), five
cruisers, and ten destroyers. The rest of Fifth Fleet had been destroyed in the
battle with the Technomugar.
"Inform Hollander that
we have them and can soon begin landing operations here at the Earth Defense
Base," said Migdal.
"Yessir!"
Migdal smiled confidently, but that smile
dropped as soon as Ekogaru's face appeared on the screen.
"My Lord," he
said. "You…you're…dead!"
"No, you are
dead," said Ekogaru with a laugh. "I still live. Your assassination
plot didn't work, as I am now inside the Fortress' systems. I transferred my
essence into the computers before my body died, you see. But, now, well…you can
die, you traitor! And then I shall come to this solar system and laugh over
your remains!" Migdal fell to his knees on the
deck of his flagship clutching his throat.
"Lord…I…" he
gasped.
"As for the rest of
you…you are dead, too," said Ekogaru as the crew of the carrier gasped
with fear. "Earth has you worsted. And I won't lift a finger to help. Even
though that's sort of funny…you see, I have no fingers anymore! Interesting?
You can just die there. I won't help you!"
"Why not?" gasped
Migdal.
"You are a treasonous
bastard, that's why. Now, die!"
An invisible, titanic force
snapped Migdal's neck. He fell dead.
"Now, as for the rest
of you…"
"Warp!" yelled an
officer. "Get us out of here!"
"Too late,"
mocked Ekogaru.
"FIRE!" snapped
Admiral Falworth.
The First Fleet let loose every one
of its wave motion guns. Space was illuminated with a terrible glare not seen
in Earth's solar system since the Earth Defense Fleet had attacked the White
Comet at Saturn months before.
The tachyon energy flares
were bright, terrible, and effective. They blasted towards the combined
Technomugar and Black Nebulan fleets like an express train, destroying
everything in their path. By design, Falworth's mighty attack missed the
remnants of the Fifth Fleet. But, Perulov had ordered every bridge crewman in
what remained of his Fleet to put on his or her protective goggles.
It was a good thing he had
ordered that, since the space around
Earth, it appeared had won
this battle. No more Technomugar or Black Nebulan ships were left alive in the
Sol System to report the sudden turn in battle to their scattered peoples. And,
Earth's solar system is finally safe now, Falworth thought. We’ve won
this battle! Now, can the Argo defeat that Fortress?
"Send this message to the Commander," said
Falworth. "At 1410 hours, the enemy fleet has been defeated. No enemy
survivors left. No need for further action at this time. Seek further orders. Falworth out."
"Yessir," said
the comm officer as the bridge crew on the Andromeda began to applaud.
At that, the Andromeda
turned, leading her fleet onwards past Triton in a new formation to await whatever Singleton would order…
The feeling throughout
First Fleet was good. They had just defeated a major enemy force, without losing
a single ship. They were aware that Third Fleet was wiped out, and that Fifth
Fleet was badly damaged, but, all in all, they felt as if they had won a great
victory.
So far as they knew, they had
won a victory.
Falworth would not be able
to predict what would happen next…not even in his worst nightmares….
IV. HOPE…AND DESOLATION
Space Battleship Argo
The
Wednesday April 28, 2202
1412 Hours: Earth Time
"All right, we've got them!" said
Grodez aboard the lead Gorba as the Argo lay smoking in the circle of
death with which he had surrounded her. "Prepare to fire heavy missiles! I
want this game over with! Finish off that ancient ship!"
"Yessir," said
one of his officers.
Grodez sat back and smirked
to himself, composing his face as he thought, I wish Skaldart were alive now
to see this. I am about to destroy the legend that defeated Gamilon and that
defeated our one-time allies from Gatlantis! This will be a victory that will
live forever in the annals of our people and our Technomugar allies! Yes! Come
on, little ship. Come on and wait for your doom!
"Opening ports,"
said Grodez' exec. "Missiles will be ready to fire in one minute…"
On the Argo, Dash
was looking up at the nearest Gorba, completely puzzled as where to fire at it.
"Venture,
where the heck is there an opening in that thing? Any luck, Nova?"
"I haven't found a
thing!" she said at her radar.
"Aliscea?"
"Wait," she said
in her typical opaque manner.
"I knew you'd say that," muttered Dash as
he looked up. Then, he saw a port opening on the Gorba. Then, one port was
followed by two…three…four…
"Wildstar!" he
yelled back towards the Captain's station. "Something's opening up!"
"Give your gunners the
range and fire the cartridges!" barked Derek.
"Aye, aye, sir,"
said Dash. "Range, two megameters. Rosstowski, adjust all guns to thirty
degrees elevation, correct two degrees to starboard…"
"Got that," said
Rosstowski. He worked controls as he said. "Main Turret One! All guns,
plus thirty! I'm correcting tracking of the turret two degrees to starboard.
Load cartridges!"
"Roger," said a
gunner below in gun turret number one. "Locking and loading
cartridges…"
The wave motion shells came
up from the magazine for the first time and locked into the Argo's
forward guns. "All guns ready!"
"FIRE!" said
Commodore Wildstar.
"Fire!" repeated
Dash.
Turret Number One went off
a moment later.
The cartridges blew out of
the guns with colorful, fiery orange trails like missiles. A second salvo
followed a moment later.
The shells blew right into
the open missile ports on the Gorba Fortress.
The result was spectacular.
Grodez never got to fire. Instead, his entire ship blew apart in a blue-white
explosion as the shells exploded and ripped wave energy through the whole ship.
The Argo fired again at a second Gorba. The
result was similar. Soon, energy from the two destroyed Gorba fortresses was
blasting apart the other four.
Five minutes later, the Argo
was sailing out of a boiling mass of fire and burning gas. She had won the
battle that she was not supposed to win.
"What happened?"
said Commodore Wildstar. "We did that with nine shells?"
"There was some
unexpected effect," said Sandor. "Our energy must react strangely
with the energy used by those alien ships. I'm not even sure what powered those
monstrosities…yet."
"I'm not sure I want
to find out!" said Nova as she wiped her forehead with the back of her
hand. "What a battle!"
"Yeah," sighed Venture. "That was a tight spot, all right. But
we won…"
"Homer, call up
Admiral Yamanami," said Commodore Wildstar. "Let him know that we
won…"
"No…not yet,"
said Aliscea.
"What?" asked a
mystified Derek. "Aliscea, what the hell is going
on?"
"Ekogaru," she
said. "I've just sensed that he's alive. He is three thousand nine hundred
lightyears away from here in the Orion area. I know the coordinates. It appears
that he has reassumed control of the Fortress."
"Get up and give
Venture the coordinates," said Derek. "Homer, beam a quick message to
the Admiral…let him know we're in pursuit of Ekogaru."
"And then?" said
Homer.
"Then buckle your seat
belt and hope for the best!" said Derek.
The klaxons went off as
Wildstar said, "All hands, we are about to fight our last battle! The
enemy fleet has been destroyed, and Aliscea has spotted the Fortress. I know
that we've taken heavy damage…but we can still fight! I want all of you to be
ready to do your best in the upcoming battle with the Dark Lord!"
Four minutes passed.
"Main engine at 120 percent!" said Yamazaki.
"Course laid in," said Venture.
"I sent that message
to Yamanami…he wishes us luck," said Homer.
"All hands are in
their warp positions," said Nova from her post.
"We're ready to
go," said Sandor.
"Warp!"
said Derek.
Venture nodded, working the
warp lever in silence.
The Argo melted into
hyperspace just a moment later.
There was the usual
disorientation, the strange feeling of drifting through nothingness and
everything all at once…
And then, a moment later,
the Argo appeared 3900 lightyears away in the Orion Void, just on the
edge of the Orion Galactic Arm, which held Earth.
Sitting there before it was
its worst nightmare.
Ekogaru's
Grand Fortress…just as strong, huge, and terrible as ever.
"Message from
Ekogaru!" said Homer.
A moment later, the hated
Dark Lord's face appeared on the Argo's main screen.
"Welcome, Wildstar. I
am sure you know me," hissed Ekogaru.
"I do," said
Derek. "Are you prepared to turn back from Earth, or are you ready to do
battle now?"
"I shall do neither,"
said Ekogaru. "I was about to head to Earth to test my systems on one of
the planets of your solar system before destroying your planet. It's too bad
that you can't stop me now. Your planet's fate is now sealed. You are about to
die!"
"Not if we can do
anything about it!" said Wildstar. "Venture, maneuver us towards the
Phased Density Cannon. We're going to…"
"Look!" cried
Nova.
Before their eyes, the
Fortress began to fade away in a terrible orange flare of light,
"He's warped!"
said Venture.
"What a spot!"
snapped Derek.
In the meantime, at Brumus
base, all was quiet….
"This is Brumus
base," said a bored Marine officer as he reported in. "It is now
fourteen-thirty. All is quiet. No enemy contacts. No signals intercepted. Nothing further to report."
"Good," said
General Stone on a speaker. "It looks as if you missed all of the action
that just took place at
"Yessir," said
the Marine officer. When the signal clicked off, he said, "Damned old
walrus."
"Sir, what's that
light in the sky?"
"What light,
Sergeant?" yawned the bored Marine Lieutenant. "Nothing's
gonna happen here!"
At that, there was a
massive groundquake that began to shake down the computer monitors in the newly
rebuilt Marine base on Brumus.
"What the…?" said
the Lieutenant. "Sparky, call up Earth! Let them
know…"
The radio operator opened
the switch.
Back on the Argo,
Derek looked at Aliscea in a startled fashion as she grabbed his hand.
"Luckily, I know where
he's going," said Aliscea.
"Where?" demanded
Derek.
"Your
eleventh planet.
Brumus."
"Warp us right to
Brumus!" said Derek. "Yamazaki, take off all overrides."
"It'll be
dangerous," said the engineer.
"Do it! Earth's fate
may depend upon it!"
"Aye, aye,
Captain," said Yamazaki.
"All hands, prepare
for a second space warp!" said Venture.
"Sir!" said an
officer in Earth Defense Headquarters as he grabbed Singleton by his sleeve.
The Commander had ordered the headquarters staff back to the regular
above-ground headquarters complex in the Megalopolis just a short while ago.
Singleton and Stone had just arrived back
"What is it?"
asked the Commander.
"Something
coming in from Brumus. They're pretty spooked, sir."
A moment later, sirens
began to go off. "Sir! First fleet has just
reported a wave of gravitational force that has scattered them across the solar
system!"
"Fifth Fleet is
reporting that the space battleship
"Second Fleet is
reporting the loss of the cruiser
"The Astrophysics Unit
has just reported that an object with the mass of the Earth has just warped
into the Brumus orbit!"
"Here on Earth,
It survived the Gamilon
War, but Earth has just lost it now? thought Stone. This is insane!
He's come, thought Singleton. My God,
Aliscea was right. It's the Dark Lord!
"Sir! Brumus is calling in again!"
yelled an officer. "They have a visual on…whatever it is…"
"Put them on
visual," said the Commander.
"Let them know
what?" he asked just as the cloudy sky on Brumus suddenly glowed livid green.
"Earth Defense
Command…something weird is going on here at Brumus," said the Lieutenant.
"Radar's just picked up something…the size of a planet….and…"
The signal from Brumus went out in Defense
Headquarters, with the image replaced with one of the small planet, taken from
outside.
Fire blasted over the whole
planet a moment later, and, as the Marines began to die, the last thing they
saw was a black moon festooned with lights appearing in the sky.
Brumus then glowed green as
the planet began to break up. Then it glowed red, and
then livid yellow as the small, rocky planet was abruptly destroyed, with most
of its substance sucked into a hole in space a moment later. Only some
asteroids were left, blasting away from the site of the planet in a new swarm
of asteroids.
Then, a
second later, the image of empty space blinked out, replaced by an image of a
sneering, evil face with a mustache.
"I assume you are
Commanding General Charles Singleton?" said the deep voice.
"I am. Who are
you?"
"I am Ekogaru the
Great. Bow down and worship me, and I might let planet Earth live. My
Fortress is now in your solar system. And where is your great space
battleship Argo, Singleton? Is that hunk of scrap still looking
for us? A hunk of scrap, filled with the ghosts of defeated warriors! I spit on
your stupid race, Singleton! May it soon die a well-deserved death!"
"She is searching for you, no
doubt," said Singleton in a remarkable display of courage in spite of his
fear as everyone else in Defense Headquarters went pale.
"I hope you are ready
to die," hissed Ekogaru.
"I hope you are,"
said Singleton. "Stone, cut him off! And get me Wildstar! Now!"
"Yessir," said
Stone in a very subdued voice.
To Be Continued with
Act Five: "The Final Crescendo"
EKOGARU HAS ARRIVED
IN EARTH'S SOLAR SYSTEM…IS THIS THE END?
To return to the Introduction to the Rikasha
Incident please click here