ALTERNATE TALES OF THE STAR FORCE

STAR BLAZERS---THINK FOR YOURSELF

Being the third part of THE RIKASHA INCIDENT--- BY: Frederick P. Kopetz

ACT TWO---A RUNNING BATTLE

NOTE: Derek Wakefield has graciously granted permission to use two of his characters--namely Dac and Anya Windfield--in this installment of this tale. Full credits are given at the end of this Installment.

I. FIGHTING THE GRIM REAPER

The wreck of the Westhampton Beach.

January 10, 2202--0340 Hours-Space Time.

"God almighty," whispered Sergeant Wallchinsky when Nova and Hemsford got to the observation deck. "Ma'am, any life signs in here? This place is a mess."

"You can say that again, Vic," said Hemsford as he walked over a child’s discarded doll. "What the hell did they do here? Rape and pillage?"

Nova picked up the doll and shook her head. "If, by any chance, those aliens hurt children in that way…well, they’d better not run into me, that’s for damn sure," she snapped, surprising the men with the burst of profanity. "God, what happened here?" she asked as she stepped over a body.

IQ-9 turned a light upon it and Nova almost retched for a moment.

The body was that of a woman in her early fifties in a tweed suit with a short skirt. Her throat had been cut from ear to ear. In one dead hand, she was holding a microphone.

The face was quite dead and pale, the eyes staring unseeing at the overhead. "Do you know who this is?" whispered Nova.

"What a horrible sight, My God," murmured Nova. "These raiders are horrible! Killing for no reason…"

Nova grabbed a loose curtain and covered up the corpse and then stood for a moment with a bowed head. Even though she knew that Rademacher had recently written a gossip column not complementary to herself and Derek after their wedding, Nova thought, For all she’s done…she didn’t deserve to die like that… "IQ-9?" asked Nova as she turned to the Argo's analysis robot. "Can you scan this compartment? Tell me if they left anyone alive in here, for God sakes?"

"I'm doing it Nova. Scanning," he said as the lights on his head bleeped. "I detect some life signs, but they're very, very faint."

"Is there a chance...?"

"I'm not reading much from these, Nova." he replied sadly. "These people over here are already dead," he said as he scanned the corpses of the bulk of the FCN holovid production crew. The signs I'm picking up are from inside that mass of debris over there to port."

"What a shame they're dead," said Shandai, another one of the medics who had accompanied the rescue party in.

"Yeah," said Wallchinsky sadly as the ship quivered again thanks to the impact of another explosion.

Nova stared at the corpses for a moment. Some of them looked male, while others were female. Only one was face-up; a young man, it seemed, with longish dark hair and extremely fine features. He was holding what was left of a video camera in his burned hands. Judging from the grimace on his face, though, his death hadn't been pleasant.

Nova quickly averted her glance to IQ-9's head as he continued to scan. It was a much more pleasant sight than the rest of this butcher shop.

After a moment, he said..."LOOK! I've localized the readings to that pile of chairs in front of us! There must have been an explosion from that bulkhead."

"Or the aliens shot at them," said Nova sadly. "I wouldn't put it past them to use grenades on unarmed civilians, especially after seeing what was done to Miss Rademacher, would you?"

"Judging from what we saw in the dining hall, NO, ma'am," said Wallchinsky.

"Damn…I wish I could just smash a bunch of those guys," said Hemsford. "Then they'd know how the hell it feels. A battle accomplishes something…but killing civilians for no reason? This place is making me feel sick."

"Hemsford!" yelled Shandai. "I just detected some movement!"

"Yeah?" asked Hemsford as he looked...and then saw a blood-smeared hand moving behind two twisted chairs. Judging from its delicacy, it was apparently female.

"Nova!" he yelled as the medics and Nova ran up to pull the chairs off the pinned victim.

It was Keri McCullough, the young and famous colleague of Constance Rademacher. Her long hair was soaked with blood, and she looked very dazed, but she was still alive and clinging like crazy to another portable tri-d camera; in this case, a small crystal camcorder unit with a built-in transmitter.

"Who are you p…p…people?" she asked in a very slurred voice.

"Marine Group Leader Paul Hemsford, Ensign, Earth Defense Forces," said Hemsford as he helped Nova and Shandai pick her up into a litter that IQ-9 brought. "This here is Nova Wildstar, Senior Lieutenant and the CO of this crazy rescue op, and the ugly guy there is Sergeant Victor Wallchinsky."

"Sir, you mind?" asked Wallchinsky.

"Sorry, Vic," grinned Hemsford. "The last guy here is Lance Corporal Magred Shandai. He's gonna be the one giving you a tetanus shot in 'bout thirty seconds. Then we'll be getting you outta here. Hang loose, kid."

"The camera..." she groaned. "The camera."

"Which one?"

"Not mine. It's a portable unit. It's not connected to any uplink right now…but it’s running on its own crystals. I mean the one Rex was holding. It's still on. It’s taping us. Is Rex still alive?"

"Negative. No one here is alive except us," said IQ. "Which one is Rex?"

"Rex Argent, our cameraman. Over there."

"I see," said IQ-9 as he rolled over to Rex Argent's corpse. "Yes. He’s quite dead. But the jamming field is off. Camera's on standby. I can start the uplink again if you want Earth to see this. Putting it on...NOW."

"IQ," said Nova firmly. "Put the camera down."

"Nova?" he said questioningly.

"What we have here is a disaster," she said firmly. "You know the regulations, IQ-9! We can't show this unedited on the networks without clearance! If we did, we'd upset the families of those who might be watching, and we'd be breaking every regulation in reference to censorship you can think of. Unless I receive the proper orders, this goes off."

And, at that, Nova turned off the portable unit.

"There goes my chance for an Emmy Award," chirped IQ-9. "I would have been a great reporter."

"NO!" moaned Keri from the litter. "Put me ON! Earth has to know about this. I was…"

"They'll know in due time," said Nova softly. "I'm a military officer. I can't violate my standing orders on news coverage and censorship. Just rest."

"But my story," whispered Keri.

"Don't talk," whispered Shandai as he held her hand. "We're getting you out of here..."

"Please...let me talk to Earth. I’ve got family. They’ve got to know I’m still alive."

"I'm sorry," said Nova as she came over again. "I told you I can't allow it. For now, you're to rest."

"Please…ma'am. They killed J.W. Peters…the singer. He's over there, dead! They seem to hate music or some…"

"I can't permit it," said Nova. "At least not now. Later, when you're better, we can have you report; because I think this story needs to be told at some point. But not now: not while we're trying to save your life and the lives of others, and not while we're all in danger. Don't you know this is still a combat zone until we know for certain that all of the enemy troops are gone?"

"I'm sorry," whispered Keri. "Do your job, then."

But I'll be damned if I miss any more such opportunities to tell my story, she thought harshly before she closed her eyes and decided that she needed to rest.

"I found another one," said Hemsford as he ran up. "Second pile of junk to aft."

"Can you take care of it, sir?" said Shandai. "We're trying to get Miss TV outta here before this vessel blows."

Hemsford said, "Got it, Lance Corporal. Nova, let’s boogie."

At that, Nova and Hemsford hustled Keri out into the passage in her litter. Leaving IQ and another Marine to stand guard over her, they ran off to the second survivor that Hemsford had found, namely, Rex Argent.

He was a young man with a black beard, and, like Keri, he was now in shock. He seemed to be a passenger, but he was in bad shape. He was missing an arm, and the back of his head was a bloody mess, but he was alive. However, he was totally unconscious. Even after an injection of Atropine, he stayed far out there, though his vitals stabilized.

"Eyes fixed and pupils dilated," muttered Shandai as he worked with a penlight. "He has brain damage. DAMN."

"Not good," commented Nova. "Dr. Sane will need to work on him as soon as we get him off here."

"Maybe... if he lives."

"Nova? " called Sandor over her headset.

"Over."

"I just scanned your ship again. We're half a megameter away, and it doesn't look good. Sensors say it's getting hot belowdecks and I also read that your ship's reactor system is losing its magnetic bottle. It doesn't look good in there. You'd better get off ASAP with as many people as you can save."

"What about the enemy forces? I trust they’re all gone?" she asked.

"No they aren’t. We picked up more on radar a short time ago as we were trying to help another frigate that was caught in the battle. They were surface forces…cruisers, we think. We just took care of three of them with our main guns, but at least two or three more from their squadron got away. They could be back any second. For safety's sake, you'd better saddle up and get out of there. You did your best, but Wildstar wants you out of there as soon as possible. He's trying to signal Tyson to give her the same advice."

"IQ, did you account for everyone?" asked Nova.

"Scanning. I read ten more people in shock three decks below, judging from the life signs. I think the enemy troops gassed them."

"Sandor, you heard him?" demanded Nova.

"Yes, I did…unfortunately," replied Sandor as he clenched his bionic fists on the panel, wishing he could give them more time.

"Can't we do more, Sandor?" asked Nova. "There's so many wounded people here that need our help or need to be rescued! This ship still has the remnants of an enemy boarding party on board! We just can’t leave these people to the enemy!"

"Those are your orders, but Derek knows...you and the others did your best. But I can't bend the laws of physics for you and those people, Nova. That reactor is going to blow in just a few minutes, and if you want to live, you'd better get out of there!"

"Okay," she said mournfully. You damn cold technician, she thought angrily.

"What's the word?" asked Hemsford.

"We'll have to hurry!" yelled Nova, who ran up out of breath inside her helmet. "Sandor says that his sensors indicate the reactor's about to blow! If we don't get out of here, we'll all be as dead as these others!"

"What about those people below? Don't you read any more life signs?" barked Shandai. "We can't leave the others here, ma'am."

"I'll scan again. Now, my readings are negative, unfortunately," said IQ-9. "Those injured passengers have just died. The only injured people nearby are this young man and Miss McCullough. I'm sorry, Nova. I wish I could do more for you."

There was a long moment of silence, and then, after sitting with her head bowed for a moment, Nova angrily sat up. "Okay, then! That tells us there aren't any others…now." said Nova. "Sandor could've picked that bad reactor up, sooner, I think! Anyway, IQ's sensors say that Rex here is the last one alive in here, save for Keri and us. The other parties must have gotten the rest of the ones who survived."

Hemsford listened to the incoming reports from his troops. He wiped some blood off his green Star Force Marine Group uniform, which looked like a regular Combat Group uniform, except that it was olive drab with subdued black Star Force markings on it and a black collar, indicating his rank as Group Leader. His helmet was also olive drab. "You're correct, Nova. The only parties left on board this liner are Starkey's and ours. You'd be well advised to leave now."

"Right, IQ. Let's get out of here fast! We've got to hurry!" cried Nova.

"Roger that," said Wallchinsky as he helped Shandai open the litter/capsule and lower the other survivor inside. He was treated just the same as the litter was sealed up and was hustled out into the passage.

As soon as they had the last survivors out, everyone took off outside the passage.

They went through the burning ship on a run.

"Nova!" yelled Hemsford. "What do you think happened to that kid?"

"The little boy the enemy trooper stole from under our noses?"

"Yeah, him."

"I hope he's still alive, even if he's in enemy hands now," said Nova as they rode one of the last functioning lifts to the Westhampton Beach's shuttle bay.

Their pilot was waiting with the Medevac boat. He shouted for everyone to secure him or herself, and then readied the boat for takeoff as Nova, Starkey, and IQ-9 got the survivors in, both the two they had found and two more that Starkey's men had pulled off the ship.

As Nova and Starkey were taking the man in, they were transfixed for a second by a bitter spectacle; three of the alien troopers suddenly appeared.

One of them had Jonathan in his armored hands.

Nova and Starkey opened fire again, trying to force the troopers down and away from their boarding pod without hurting the boy.

They tried, but their efforts were unsuccessful. One of the troopers, who just happened to be the infamous Kranel, managed to throw a gas grenade at the attackers as Jonathan cried, "HELP me! Please! Get me away from these ugly guys!"

The gas blinded Nova and Starkey for a moment, just long enough for their attackers to drag Jonathan to their boarding pod, which was rammed into the side of the shuttle bay. They jumped in and whizzed away, evacuating the air with a loud hiss.

Nova and Starkey just managed to grab hold of the Medevac boat to keep from being sucked out the jagged hole. They forced themselves through the hatch into the ship, barely able to see through their watering eyes. The hatch dogged shut just in time. A second later, the medical boat began to take off as the derelict space liner began to tremble like a dying man. They noticed other alien pods rushing from the ship at the same time. A flaming support beam crashed down onto the deck, missing the advancing boat by just a few meters. The boat whizzed out through the hatchway into open space, flying through a cloud of smoke issuing from belowdecks.

Now, the battered liner was blowing even more smoke than ever. By all appearances, the vessel's life was about to come to an abrupt and fiery end. As Hartmann's Cosmo Tigers grouped around the medical boat to offer cover from the R'Khell planes, an explosion blasted out through the launch port they had just flown out of moments ago.

More blossoms of fire blasted out of rifts in the hull of the liner as the space frigate Erwin Rommel, which had taken off from the base, sped about just behind the other ships and boats.

She had taken damage and was valiantly firing its remaining weapons at three flights of R'Khell attack planes that suddenly appeared.

Nova smiled when she saw some more Cosmo Tigers rushing in. Some were blue and gold, and the Lieutenant could see that two of them had the Texas flag on their flanks as part of their squadron logo.

Then, Lieutenant Wildstar gasped a little as she noticed two torpedoes streaking in from out of nowhere.

The blue and gold planes were on the torpedoes' path a moment later.

Wildstar thought, Blue and gold markings, Texas flags…those must be from the Akagi! I wonder what she's doing in this area? Maybe Earth Defense called a general alert?

It turned out that was exactly what had happened to divert the spacecraft carrier into this region. Most of her planes were pursuing the enemy battlecruisers, which had been spotted out beyond the orbit of Neptune, assisted by Hardy's squadron, which Captain Wildstar had just dispatched from the Argo not four minutes beforehand.

Senior Lieutenant Dac Windfield, who was accompanied by his wingmen Landford and Horiyama were flying one of the planes from the Akagi.

Windfield and Landford streaked after the torpedoes, but only two of the spread five were intercepted with nose cannon shots. Horiyama took out two of the missiles as he spun about.

The last one sped past as Dac narrowed his eyes, staring hard through his HUD as he came around for another pass. When he fired, he hit one of the two torpedoes he was aiming at. The other one, along with one his other wingman missed, blasted into the hull of the damaged ship along with one other torpedo.

That explosion was joined by a mightier explosion as the last remaining R'Khell sub fired two more torpedoes and the Westhampton Beach finally blew apart.

The sight was by no means a pretty one. It was rather upsetting for the would-be saviors of the ship and her passengers as the rescue ships sped away to safety with their survivors.

We almost got fried back there, thought Felton with sweat running down his face inside his helmet.

"How many did we get out on this boat, ma'am? Just these four?"

"Right, Ensign. They rescued others on the other boats, at least." said Nova as she wiped tears of pain and frustration out of her eyes. "I wish we could've rescued that little boy and those ten others who died."

"Think Hartmann can catch that pod?" asked Hemsford as he also wiped his face.

"What can she do?" said Nova as she tossed him a few tissues. "If Laurel tries to shoot at them now, she'll just kill all of them. Let's call…Oh no!" she said as she stared at the ship's radar while wiping her eyes. "NO!" she cried.

"What?" asked Felton, as he looked up...and noticed the Black Tigers dispersing slightly just ahead...and accelerating like maniacs.

"Yessir...Yessir," he said rapidly as a transmission crackled over his helmet headset. "Increasing speed...going up to max..."

Nova and Starkey were about to ask what was going on...but the answer came to them a moment later as flashes of laser light lit up the darkness of space before them, returned by bursts of missile fire from the Tigers ahead of the boat.

"We're under attack!" yelled Starkey. "Enemy planes…all over us!"

"CRAP," muttered Felton as he continued to accelerate the medical boat.

"Oh, no!" cried Nova...who shut up as soon as she recognized an ugly red fighter ship advancing right at the medical boat. If this were a recon plane, they'd soon find out there's another Wildstar around, Nova added to herself.

Their accompanying Cosmo Tiger II fired two missiles at the ship, but it dodged them and shot at the medical boat.

At his position inside his Cosmo Tiger, Dac Windfield snapped, "Sheeeeitt, man!" banging his fists against the dashboard of his plane. He snarled, "Whoever you are, buddy, you're fast, but you're pissing me off! When I catch up with you, you aren't gonna be worth half a credit!" he snapped as he wheeled around for another pass at the attacker.

In the meantime, near the Argo, Conroy was having problems of his own.

Conroy blasted around, trying to gain missile lock on one of the new scimitar-like enemy planes in tan. All that he knew was that as soon as he gained a lock on this guy, whoever he was, he was history.

"You scumbag," he muttered as he tried to line up on the enemy. "What sort of engines do you have in there that allow you to fly so damned fast?" he snarled as he sped on in his own Cosmo Tiger. Again, the enemy ship evaded him. Gritting his teeth, Conroy blasted forward, thinking grimly that if he had to engage this pilot in a close dogfight to blow him away, he'd do it.

He began to close as his gold-finned squadron leader's Tiger rushed in at full throttle. Before long, he was at the point where the plane was beginning to appear in his HUD at long range. He guessed that if he had missile lock for a moment, got one off, and then cleaned up with his nose guns, he'd toast the pilot for sure.

However, it didn't work out that way. As he approached, the enemy ship blew hard to port, accelerating off at a pace that made Conroy whistle.

"Well, you're playing a damn lousy game. Draw me in and run, huh?" said Conroy as he lost missile lock again just as he had been ready to fire. "Well, you'll find that..."

At that, the enemy ship suddenly flipped around with an unexpected agility...and a burst of loud static blasted over Conroy's headset.

"SON-of-a...." roared Conroy in rage as he shook his head in sheer agony.

It was at that moment that the enemy ship blasted a fusillade of laser beams at Conroy's plane before speeding off. The Cosmo Tiger shook like a hut in a storm as klaxons went off inside the cockpit, barely audible over the ringing in Conroy's ears. Glass flew everywhere, and Conroy's right arm was slit open. Inside his cockpit, he howled in pain for a moment as his helmeted head slammed hard back against the back of his seat.

In pain, and stunned, Conroy flew on drunkenly for just a moment. Sneak, he thought. What a low tactic!

The enemy plane came back around for another pass, its R'Khell pilot laughing insanely in his dark blue mask-like helmet as he locked every one of his guns on the smoking Cosmo Tiger in rapid succession and prepared to finish him off.

"Now, Terranisch pig," hissed the pilot as he smacked his lips. "Be prepared to face a nasty, ugly end to your miserable existence! I wish I could kill you in person, you infidel, but...this will have to do!"

At that, the pilot snapped on his radio again and snarled at Conroy. "Hello, there, pig. I have discovered your frequency! Tell, me, are you ready to die at the hands of the holy and superior R'Khell?"

Even though he was in agony and stunned, Conroy just barked, "Eat it, buddy!" Then he developed a halfway good idea of how to counter this hissing maniac. He disconnected his headset so he couldn't play with his radio again, and lined the advancing enemy pilot up in his HUD display as they closed on each other. The battered Cosmo Tiger trailed smoke as its adversary approached, and Conroy was in agony, but he knew what he had to do, even though he was flying with damaged attitude thrusters on one wing.

With a grim smile, Conroy thumbed his firing button just as his tormentor was about to finish him off. Blue laser light blasted across the void from his battered black and gold plane, and slammed into the ugly enemy ship.

Of course, the R'Khell pilot was promptly shut up for good as he died.

Soon, Conroy's banged-up Tiger was flying through an expanding cloud of gas as what was left of his tormentor was scattered to the void.

Conroy smiled again and hissed, "That's right, buddy. You never twist a Tiger's tail and expect to live long. Even with your fast plane and your dirty tactics, you couldn't finish me off!" hissed the Group Leader as he began to open his first aid kit to get a bandage.

Needless to say, Conroy was not happy. He could barely use his right arm, now. And, his head felt like it had spent a week in a clothes dryer. Nonetheless, Conroy flew on and continued to lead his squadron, even with two wounds and a damaged ship. Such was his skill as a fighter pilot.

Not far away, the battle still raged around the medical boat.

Just before the lights flashed off on the medical boat, Nova screamed as the enemy plane roared straight at them. She shut her eyes to blot out what would probably be the horror of her own death as the R'Khell plane took the unarmed Medevac boat apart with its main guns....

II. AS THE CLOCK TICKED…

Space Battleship Argo

January 10, 2202

0353 Hours-Space Time.

"Chafer, you say new bogies are approaching us from aft?" Dash asked from his station on the Argo.

"Roger!" said Carl Chafer, who had sweat staining his face. He adjusted his glasses and ran a hand through his curly hair as he said, "Identification: two more enemy combat carriers, three more battlecruisers, and what looks like eight destroyers. They..."

The Argo trembled again as a small explosion rumbled through its hull.

"God! One enemy battlecruiser has broken formation and is coming up on our stern, sir! Make that two! They just fired torpedoes. Coming in fast! The range is three…no…two kilometers," said Parsons nervously from her station.

"All hands, brace for evasive!" snapped Venture. "Tilt, forty degrees port!"

Venture worked the helm, and the Argo tilted hard to starboard, evading the missiles. At the same time, the aft turrets fired, taking out the enemy ship a moment later.

As soon as the nearby carrier Akagi had somehow managed to establish communications with the Argo and reported a group of enemy planes approaching from port, Captain Wildstar had had the foresight to have Lubyanska send two elements out after the rest of those bogies. This was a safety measure, in case any planes got through the screens that Conroy, Hardy, and Windfield had established around the area.

A few got through and these kept the Argo's pulse lasers quite busy, until a second squadron of R'Khell planes whizzed in from starboard, having gotten under the screen that the Black Tigers and Texans had managed to throw up.

Calls from the wounded Conroy confirmed that the R'Khell planes and the new arrivals were going hard after both the Erwin Rommel and the rescue ships. The battle had grown hotter now that they had a new R'Khell fleet boiling up their stern.

How nice! Wildstar snarled to himself as the Argo's aft turrets began to speak, finishing off one R'Khell destroyer in short order. A moment later, another destroyer roared up above the plane of battle and then plunged down towards the Argo's aft turrets, obviously trying to kamikaze right into the ship.

"Ha, ha!" roared the destroyer captain as the ship roared in on its death-dive. "We will soon be in the Warbringer Ekogaru's Paradise thanks to this deed, and they shall be in hell! Victory for R'Khelleva and the Rikashan/R'Khell Imperial Union!"

"Smokestack missiles, FIRE!" snapped Wildstar.

"Fire missiles!" repeated a sweating Rosstowski.

A spread of missiles roared out of the Argo's smokestack silo just in time to finish the enemy destroyer.

This is getting too close for comfort, thought Wildstar. If we don't get RID of those attackers, and soon… our rescue boats are toast and Nova and her party will be killed along with them! Oh, damn! he thought as he hammered a fist against his console.

"CRAP!" barked Wildstar out loud, making Venture jump.

"Wildstar?" asked Venture and Dash in unison.

"Damnit, you know the spot our party is in! We could lose all our Marines and most of our medical personnel out there. Furthermore, we can't let those survivors die now that they're almost to safety! Helm, forty-five starboard, PDQ!" barked Derek. "Then, Dash, Rosstowski, wake up over there! You guys get all of those guns on target and take out that fleet!"

"Right," said Venture. "Forty-five, STARBOARD!"

"Preparing main guns," snapped Dash.

The Argo began to majestically turn about even as more bursts of fire blossomed from space, out where Wildstar knew the boats were.

God, I hope that wasn't Nova's boat! thought Wildstar. If it was…we had a damn short marriage! he thought while closing his eyes. "Dash, get those guns firing on those large ships! You know what to do!" snapped Wildstar.

"Rosstowski, have the aft turrets change bearing and range as the vessel turns. Order all guns to train on the enemy and open fire when ready!" ordered Dash.

"Yessir!" grinned Paul. Again, Wildstar's crossing the "T" in a hurry with these SOB's. Good!

Good orders, Dash, thought Wildstar from his post. Now carry them out!

"Captain!" said Parsons, "Two ships approaching fast from our stern!"

"HUH?" said Wildstar. "Put it up on video...Holly…fast!"

"Yessir," said Parsons.

The Argo shivered again from another hit.

"Turn completed!" said Venture.

"Dash, fire all guns!" said Wildstar.

"On target," replied Dash. "Open FIRE!"

At that, the Argo blasted at the two closest enemy ships. One blew apart, while the other broke out and sped off to port, firing as it went.

The crew braced for more impacts.

When that barrage missed the ship, Chafer called out, "Four more ships, coming in on our stern. Range, forty megameters, and closing fast! Switching to video panel!"

At that, Carl flicked a switch as the images of the new arrivals came up on the screen.

When Wildstar saw what they were, he breathed a deep sigh of relief. They were EARTH vessels; the carrier Akagi, the new space battleship New Zealand, and two fleet cruisers, which were named the Ise and the Delaware. They had just been firing at the R'Khell ships when they came into visual range.

"Wildstar, the skipper of the carrier Akagi is calling up again on video," said Homer.

"Put it on the screen, Ensign!" said Wildstar while glancing over at Homer.

"Roger!" replied Homer.

Wildstar breathed a nice sigh of relief as a familiar face came up on the video panel.

"Captain Siegel, how nice it is to see you again!" said Wildstar. "What are you and your squadron doing here?"

"We're at your service, sir. Diverted from the edge of Area Four by the orders of Commodore Pavlovich. What are our orders?"

"Turn about and come up in attack formation "Baker Five" above and below our ecliptic. You guys start hitting them with your guns as soon as they turn about...that'll give them something to think about! " said Wildstar, who was just a little surprised at having a squadron of capital ships at his beck and call. However, since he had commanded such squadrons in combat before, especially in 2201, he adjusted quickly to this unexpected bit of help.

"Roger. What about those little ships at RX-4510?"

"Miss Parsons!" said Wildstar. "Scan that image and magnify it!"

"Yessir," she said, revealing the battered Erwin Rommel, which was smoking from hull breach after hull hatch, but was still in the battle, even though she was retreating. Several Medevac boats, including two with distinctive markings, namely, red crosses a bit larger than usual, accompanied her.

"Thank God," muttered Wildstar.

"Wildstar?" asked Siegel.

"Nothing. I just spotted both of the Medevac boats we sent. They're all right. I thought we had lost one of them out there. And that frigate is the Erwin Rommel. Sir, please signal to her that I want her out of here now before they finish off their ship by fighting on too long for their own good!"

"Yessir," said Siegel as a burst of light outside suddenly darkened the Argo's main video panel for a moment.

All hands on the ship braced for impact as they expected more hits where those had just come from. The Argo trembled again, twice, as two more hits from a R'Khell battlecruiser slammed into her hull.

"Skipper, the starboard observation deck and the living bloc have both taken hits!" said Sandor.

"Heavy battlecruiser: range, fourteen megameters at forty-five degrees off the port bow," said Holly. "Speed twenty-five space knots! Damn, those things are fast!"

"Sandor, send damage control teams and medics!" barked Wildstar. "Venture! Change course, twenty degrees!"

"Right," said Mark as he worked the helm handles.

Again, the Argo changed course as more green bursts of plasma whizzed past her charred flanks.

"Wildstar, turn completed!" said Venture.

"All turrets are ready...elevation +20 degrees," said Dash from his combat group leader's post.

Wildstar just nodded.

"All guns, OPEN FIRE!" barked Dash as plasma fire from the Argo's main turrets whizzed out into the R'Khell fleet and caused one of the R'Khell warships to reel back with blossoms of light surrounding it. One destroyer went up in a ball of gas and was a total loss.

The Argo's forward main guns continued to blast a second broadside into the enemy fleet.

This barrage was followed a moment later by equally awesome bursts of fire from the Akagi and the New Zealand. Their escort cruisers, the Delaware and the Ise, followed up as their guns joined in once again with the symphony of destruction that the R'Khells had forced themselves to hear by coming after Earth's interests.

A second group of plasma surges whizzed from the Argo's shock cannons into the R'Khell fleet, blasting straight through a R'Khell combat carrier's port side. As damage reports came in over the intercom to the ship's captain, a second salvo from the Argo and the Delaware blasted right across his flight deck.

"Launch all planes!" the carrier's commander screamed over the klaxons and dull explosions, as two Earth destroyers, the Montevideo and the Beijing, which had taken off from the base, began to close in.

"Sir, we can't! " said his Air Group officer.

"Why not?"

"It, well, it is difficult to launch planes because the last salvo ripped a three-geret wide gap in the flight deck! If we could withdraw and send damage control parties out there, we could repair it!"

"Make the attempt," snapped the ship's captain.

"Yessir," snapped the damage control officer. "All hands..."

However, he never got to finish, because another salvo of plasma surges from the guns of the Argo and the Montevideo blasted up through the keel of his carrier as the helmsman attempted to perform evasive maneuvers. That burst of fire was followed up by two closer-range bursts of energy from the two Earth destroyers. The carrier went up in flames from the keel up and blew itself apart like a child's water balloon pierced by a knife. There were no survivors.

The last surviving R'Khell battlecruiser roared up with its engine and starboard thrusters blasting it towards the Earth task group as it opened up with its guns to avenge its fallen comrades.

Several hits bounced off the Argo and the Ise, and the Ise had her keel radar array blown off as a result.

The Argo's three forward turrets swung around a few degrees as the ship approached, roaring up to about eight megameters' range of the task group as it approached with its guns firing wildly, with several Astrofighters from Hardy's squadron in hot pursuit.

The R'Khell salvoes missed the Earth task group, and, as the planes roared off, the Argo's aft main gun turret locked on target. The Argo then opened up with all of her main guns and secondary batteries, and the New Zealand also blasted her guns at the ugly red battlecruiser.

The result was quick and deadly. The R'Khell ship was hit four times, and it rapidly exploded as the task group roared about and away from the dying warship.

A single R'Khell destroyer fired a wave of missiles at the task group, but they missed. Once again, the main guns of the carrier Akagi spoke, followed by three waves of torpedoes from the Earth destroyers, and once again, a R'Khell warship met its end.

Two more R'Khell destroyers attempted to shield the combat carrier Shalinskar, which was the fleet flagship, but they soon went the way of their sister ships as the Ise and the two EDF destroyers blew both of them to bits.

"We're getting out of here. I'll apologize to Cha'rif for listening to that Gralnacz. I'll apologize to the Admiral, too, when we meet up with the flagship," said the commander of the R'Khell combat carrier, who was known as Commodore Varnava.

"Yessir...calculating warp coordinates."

"What about the planes?" asked the combat officer, known as Mervyns.

"If any of them are left, let the Terrans pick them apart. Perhaps it'll keep them busy enough to keep them from coming after us for the moment!"

"Coordinates laid in!" snapped the helmsman. "Awaiting your orders, Commodore!"

"Preparing to relay your order to the task force, sir," yelled the comm officer.

"WARP!" screamed Varnava...just as a bolt of energy from the Argo began to whiz towards his bow.

His ship vanished into subspace just in time, along with what was left of their fleet, leaving a nice pile of debris behind him.

Except for some damage to the Earth ships, the R'Khells had failed to finish them off, so they had been, in effect, defeated. As was often the case, the whole thing was over with in an extremely short time.

III. AFTERMATH

Space Battleship Argo

January 10, 2202

0412 Hours Space Time.

"Sir!" said Chafer. "The enemy ships just warped out...what's left of 'em, that is."

"Forty to one they'll be back...and in greater numbers," mused Derek. "Scan for our boats and planes. How many of them are left with those planes and subs still out there?"

Damn, I hope Nova is all right, thought Derek. I know her boat's okay…but what about her?

On the Akagi, Anya Windfield thought, I hope Dac is okay out there. Damn, my heart is pounding like crazy! You'd better not have gotten yourself killed out there, flyboy! Ghod, you have a dangerous line of work!

"What's on your mind?" asked the Akagi's Mechanical Group Leader.

"Nothing, sir. Nothing except getting this computer to work right," lied Windfield.

"I thought so. Carry on, Mrs. Windfield."

"Yessir," said Anya.

Aboard her boat, Nova saw a clot of green light coming through her eyelids, and realized she was still alive. Outside, the R'Khell ship had blown apart, and now, all three of the Cosmo Tigers that made up their screen were wheeling around their boat, watching for others.

Out in the distance, Felton noticed a blaze of lights glittering around the area where he knew the Argo and the remnants of the frigate screen were. He said, "Nova, have a look at that! They're after the ships, too!"

"I hope they're still there when we get back," she said.

"This is 'Tiger' Windfield from the Akagi," said Dac over Felton's headset, startling him a little as he switched to the main speakers. "I've received orders from the Akagi to get my squadron back to the ship in tight formation, and fast. My CAG sounds worried. Can you get any more speed out of the ship?"

"Negative. I'm at full speed now, Dac," he said. He knew Windfield because he had been a year behind him at the Space Fighters' Training School.

"Well, keep up what you can," said Windfield.

"Did you get them all?"

"Yeah, we did. For now."

"What if they come back?"

"Then we'll fight them again. Even though we might just end up screwed."

"I heard a lot of guys got lost in the other squadrons," said Felton. "Who'd you lose?"

"A young lady named Wagnall in Charlie Element. They had her cut up like a damned badger in a trap. Roger just barely got the rest of his Charlies to finish those jokers off. If we don't watch our tails, we'll be next. Over and out!"

And, at that, Windfield cut off. For the next ten minutes, Hemsford, Nova, Felton and the others had a very tense ride as the ships drew closer and closer to the Argo and the backup cruisers they noticed.

As they looked around, they noticed the Argo's other boat was still with them but the third medical boat from the base was gone. Later, they would discover that it been shot up before they had reached the Argo: a R'Khell plane had caught it and had wiped out it, its entire crew, and five survivors they had picked up. Its escorts bore the brunt of the R'Khell squadron's wrath, stopping many of the enemy fighters at the cost of their own lives.

Needless to say, they were very relieved when they got back to the Argo with their survivors.

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SPECIAL FAN CREDIT----

The characters of "Dac Windfield" and "Anya Windfield" are copyright © 2001 by Derek A. C. Wakefield.
All rights reserved. All references to and usage of these characters here was done with the express permission of Mr. Wakefield.

TO BE CONTINUED WITH ACT THREE--"THE WRATH OF RIKASHA"

To return to the Introduction to the Rikasha Incident please click here