Battleship Avenger (Conquest of Stars Book 2) (20 page)

“General Bakus,
the enemy is still firing rockets at us,” Joules said.

“This spaceship
just rolled out of the space yard, its shield and hull can handle more,” Bakus
said, “I see a chance. I want all laser power switched to concentrated lasers.”

“Yes General,
although I advise against it,” Joules said and the laser section went to work
switching the energy into a few offensive laser cannons that solely targeted
the Mercurian battleship.

“Advice taken
under consideration, but overruled,” Bakus said, “Just one lucky shot is what
we need, just one penetration. Capitan Xanus, keep a reserve supply of rockets
on standby for instant targeted launch.”

“Yes general, I
have shifted 20 rockets to reserve and readied them for instant launch,” Xanus
replied, “What is their target coordinates?”

“That will be the
place our laser penetrates,” Bakus laughed feeling confident for the first time
since the start of the battle, “Be ready for rapid coordinates acquisition.”

“I have the target
selection screen on standby,” Xanus replied.

Meanwhile Capitan
Agnosis opened a direct channel of communication with Col. Kartar to coordinate
their fight.

“Colonel, this is
Capitan Agnosis,” he said, “Would you care to hear an idea?”

“Go ahead,” Kartar
replied while he pulled his spacefighter a bit away from the battle zone to
mull over whatever the Nestorian might say.

“Let us both pick
a select team of fighters and try to knock off the Mercurian’s laser cannons,”
Agnosis said, “then
Avenger’s
rockets can pound it into submission.”

“That is risky,
the laser cannons will let rip at us at close distance,” Kartar replied.

“We are wasting a
great many planes on overkill here,” Agnosis said, “I will take my own if you
don’t want to come.”

“Oh what the
hell,” Kartar said, “I will get fifty of mine too.”

Agnosis and Kartar
gave orders to their respective squadron, broke off fifty spacefighters each
from the battle and streaked towards the Mercurian battleship. Both the
leaders’ spacefighters were in the lead while the remaining hundred tried to
catch up with them.

“Mark a laser
cannon amongst five of you,” Kartar said to his pilots on private channel, “If
you miss, don’t try maneuvering close to the battleship, make a clean gateway
and then swing back in formation.”

The Mercurian
battleship’s defense officers must have seen a breakaway squadron dashing at
them and they switched many of their laser cannons from targeting rockets to
try to target the incoming fighters. The Starfirians and Nestorians also opened
up with their lasers in retaliation.

But Agnosis and
Kartar held their fire; both knew well they were still too far to hit the
enemy’s laser cannons on target short of a rare lucky shot.

Suddenly, a large
concentrated laser beam from
Avenger
pierced the shield of Mercurian
battleship and penetrated its hull at the point of impact and opened up a
circular hole over twenty-five or thirty feet in diameter.

“Look at that,”
Agnosis saw it and shouted with joy. He wasn’t the only one to notice it.

“Get the coordinates!
Get the coordinates for that hole!” Bakus yelled and started rocking back and
forth in his chair while squeezing his palms alternatively.

“Location
identified and converted to targeting system coordinates,” Tagg said.

“Fire the reserve
rockets, fire, fire!” Bakus jumped up from his chair.

“Coordinates
programmed into the rockets,” Xanus said, “rockets off and away. Jetting to the
target on path.”

Bakus, Joules and
everyone in the command room intently watched the rockets on their scanner
screen make their journey and held their breath without blinking.

“Damn,” Agnosis
shouted in his spacefighter when he saw the emergency shield reconstruction
system on Mercurian battleship hastily go to work cementing the hole. Robots
started pouring a thick liquid around the edge that cooled rapidly and started
clotting into solid matter.

“What are you
doing, Capitan?” Kartar asked when he saw Agnosis change his spacefighter’s
direction and throw it towards the hole and accelerate away.

“We have to stop
them from closing the hole,” Agnosis said and the next moment opened fire with
his lasers and started chipping away at the clot material.

“Your general has
sent rockets,” Kartar said but reflexively turned his spacefighter towards him
and fired away his rockets and lasers at the repair robots blasting them to
pieces. But more robots rushed to the spot and started dumping massive
quantities of rapidly solidifying liquid.

“If rockets don’t
penetrate, it won’t be a knockout blow,” Agnosis said. The rockets launched
from Avenger were still a distance away.

Kartar and
Agnosis’ firing had opened the hole back wide but now Mercurians concentrated
their laser cannon fire on these two spaceships. Kartar kicked himself for
following the Nestorian. He knew they would have to do a reverse roll soon to
avoid collision and when that happened and their speed dropped the laser
cannons would have time to target them.

Kartar was about
to pull on his stick when his jaw dropped stunned.

Capitan Agnosis
flew his spacefighter right through the hole.

Words of Commodore
Raptor flashed in his mind, his warning that Agnosis was a real yahoo.

“Oh what the
hell!” Kartar muttered and he too dived his spacefighter into the Mercurian
battleship through the hole and yanked his stick hard to bank to the right and
bring it on the longest axis of the battleship and hit the brakes, regular,
emergency and all while trying to avoid collision with internal structures.

The battleship was
more than ten miles long on this axis and he had entered about two miles from
the rear. Kartar’s speed dropped rapidly as he swerved every which way. But no
matter how fast he decelerated, he would cover the eight miles in less than a
minute.

Agnosis was flying
ahead of him, yelling, cursing, screaming. Kartar could not tell whether those
were pangs of panic or hoots of joy, and coming to know Agnosis he would not
have been surprised by the later. And he was firing away with his lasers and
shooting off his rockets wreaking havoc and sowing chaos inside the Mercurian
ship.

They had to be
the first two sons of guns in space history to deliberately fly a spacefighter
through an enemy battleship,
Kartar laughed madly.

He too started
firing his lasers and rockets at whatever structure he sighted. He didn’t care
where he hit, the target was all around him, he could not miss even firing
blind.

Half a minute
later Kartar calmed his mind and from his knowledge of spaceship structures
realized they were heading towards the command room. Agnosis was firing away
crazy everywhere but Kartar aimed his lasers straight ahead, concentrated all
energy into them and waited and then he fired and held the trigger. All the
energy available to lasers was concentrated into a single forward beam and it
tore through the Mercurian command room and then pierced a hole in front for
them to escape out. Agnosis and Kartar flew out of the battleship into space
but they received no fire from laser cannons.

The command room
and multiple systems had been destroyed and the Mercurian spaceship was dead in
the water, its shields discharged, its weapons idle and its power reactors
initiating automatic emergency shutdown to prevent meltdown. And the robots
working to close the hole had been rendered inactive on the spot.

Thirty seconds
later the rockets from
Avenger
zoomed in through the hole, exploded
simultaneously and tore the battleship apart from inside out.

“Admiral, the
planet
Whitefog
has surrendered to the Nestorians,” an officer informed
the tall and broad shouldered Mercurian who was watching the star field from
the transparent shield of the command room deck. The admiral did not turn
around.

“The inept
commander of that battleship had the support of an entire planetary defense
system yet he lost in single combat,” the Admiral scoffed in contempt, “What to
say of the cowards running that defense system.”

“Shall we prepare
to come to their aid?” the officer asked.

“I would like to
let them rot under occupation for a while, enjoy their groveling in front of
their alien masters and their pleas to us,” the Admiral said, “But I will not
trade the honor of Mercurian Empire, even for the just pleasure of watching the
incompetent cravens heaved into deserved ignominy. Prepare to enter the star
system.”

  “Yes admiral,”
the officer saluted him and left him alone to gaze at and contemplate in the
company of stars and space.

This Mercurian
Battleship was just nearing the edge of the star system from deeper into the
Mercurian space when it caught the last glimpses of the raging battle.
Maverick’s
flight crew set its target vector to planet
Whitefog
and powered up its
engines to provide acceleration to its gargantuan, thirty miles long hull.

The End

To Be Continued…

COMING
SOON…

MEGASHIP MAVERICK

Book Three:
Conquest of Stars
Saga

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Major
Characters

I.
STARFIRE EMPIRE

Crew
of Starship
Conquistador

Alvina
Lytar: Capitan & Laser Officer

Antrar
Wyft: Ex-Commodore: Starship Thunder & Guest

Avyk:
Shields Officer

Barryett
Wuft: Vice-Commodore: Starship Conquistador

Dorrvyk:
Capitan & Communications Officer

Flyptar:
Capitan & Flight Officer

Hedgewyk:
Signals & Electronics Officer

Horyett:
Gravitron Scanner Officer

Jarvyk
Wilwyk: Colonel: Strike Soldiers

Legtar
Pytar: Law Officer

Overyk:
Capitan & Navigation Officer

Pulf:
Assistant Laser Officer

Raptor
Warwyk: Commodore: Starship Conquistador

Styx:
Capitan of Starship Guards

Tollvyk:
Colonel & Rocket Officer

Zurryvk:
Artificial Intelligence Officer

Garyett
Tyf: Colonel: Secret Superweapons

Aurvyk
Tokar: Colonel: Chemical Weapons & Chief Chemist

Hartar
Pytar: Army Chief Detective: Starship Conquistador

Kartar
Ryft: Colonel: Spacefighters / Top Rank

Other
Starfirians

Carvyk
Botlar: Regional Star Commander: Zarrvyk Province & Sixth Frontier Fleet

Jiggermaster: Space
Pirate

Jontvyk
Tubyt: Capitan: Palace Guards

Magyar
Harwyk: An Assassin (AKA The Silencer)

Rockvyk
Torryen: Chief Detective SPASI: Zarrvyk Province

Dartar
Myft: Commodore: Starship Victory

Segwyk
Raftar: Commodore: Starship Masterpiece

Yarwyk
Gyte: Ex-Commander & Founder/First Leader of Lambda Man

Evyk
Kyr: Army Detective & Antrar's Starship Detective

Flyptar
Lartar: Constellar - Warrior Class

Portvyk
Haryett: Constellar - Aristocrats

II.
NESTORIAN REPUBLIC

Augus
Grave: Chancellor of Nestorian Republic

Aurus
Janus: Employee of Boutrous Golus

Cloaked
Man: Identity Unknown

Hickus
Tofus : Foreign Minister

Horus
Bors: War Minister

Jag
Manus: Capitan of VC Remus' personal guards

Krotus
Torus: Capitan of Senate Guards

Lemon
Bree: Interior Minister

Nolfus
Berrum: Commander of Republican Guards

Remus
Torus: Vice-Chancellor of Nestorian Republic

Roofus
Bolfus: Pilot: Spy Ship

Solus
Varus: Senator & Opposition Leader

Tory
Golus: Chief Executive of Boutrous Golus

Oilus
Barrlus:  Capitan: Republican Guards

Bakus
Ferran: General: Battleship Fleet & Battleship Republic

Porkus
Bellus: Signals Officer

Vegus
Sukus: General: Battleship Fleet orbiting Nestor & Battleship Defender

Tolus: Shuttle
& Bay Staff Officer

Joules:
Second in Command: Battleship Defender

Porus: Officer:
Fighter Combat

Tagg: Capitan:
Scanner Officer

Jovus: Communications
Officer

Agnosis
Wornus: Capitan: Fighter Squadron 101 - 200

Gorky
Manus: Capitan: Fighter Squadron 01 - 100

Xanus
Torks: Capitan: Rocket Officer

III.
MERCURIAN EMPIRE

Tabulan
Molan: Chief Scientist of Experiments abroad First Mercurian Fleet