Shadows of the Light?
The Earth Incident?
“FIRE EVERYTHING WE HAVE!” screamed the Captian of the U.F.F. ship. The main guns erupted with a glare that lit up the cold darkness of space. The bright white anti-shield lasers streaked across space hitting the enemy’s ship. Its shields sputtered in bright blue sparks but held. The Captian on that ship was quite pleased with himself. He was, after all, destroying a Capitol ship ten times larger than his ship. From his chair he calmly gave orders. His ship came around for another attack.
Back on the other ship the hull lit up with laser fire from the I.N. ship’s laser turrets. The beams slid through space, slamming into the battered hull of the U.F.F. Cheratoga. The Captain on this ship was not happy at all. She had lost almost fifty percent of her crew, and as for the ship, it would it would never get back to port. The fusion drive had been decimated - it would take up to three months to fix - and the nearest port was Plutos’ Shipyards. That was two days at maximum speed. Her crew was screaming and most vital systems had failed. The enemy ship was coming around for another run.
“Only a miracle can save us now.” She didn’t notice she said that aloud. Her crew had stopped screaming. Their mouths screamed silently, their eyes wide with horror. Then a voice came over the intercom. “Here is your miracle, captain.” A solid red beam sliced through the enemy’s mid-section, leaving a trail of fire.
“Thanks, Cornelius! This time aim for the bridge.” said Captain Aven Brendel. Over on the enemy’s ship the mood had drastically changed. The ship was running on emergency power. People were running around frantically.
“Weapons, weapons!” repeated the Captain. There would be no response - the bridge’s structural I- beam had skewered the weapons officer and destroyed the control panel. On the view screen the Captian saw a red build-up on the lower half of the white Capitol ship. The Captain knew that this was the last thing he would see.
He stared at the red beam until it reached the bridge of his ship. Back on the Cheratoga everyone watched as the red neutron beam cut through the bridge and then, as the emergency shields failed, all the air rushed out. The hull buckled and imploded, crushing anybody still alive. The enemy’s crew was not much more than crystallized clouds of blood floating around in the zero gravity environment. Cornelius knew he would get his own ship after saving one, especially one as important as the Cheratoga.
“Cornelius, we need communications, when can we have them?” inquired the Captian over the intercom.
"We should have them in about two hours,” replied Cornelius. “Good work, Cornelius, for that miracle. I am really thankful you saved us all.” said the captain.
“Well then, if that is all? I need to go fix the communications array, Captian.” he responded.
“I’m going to hold a ceremony for your bravery. It will be held in two hours, as soon as I contact H.Q. I am going to recommend that you get a ship.”
“Thank you captian. Oh, do you think you can get me a battleship?”
“I will see what I can do. Contact me when the communications array is back online.”
“OK, Captain.”