Gabatrix: The First Peace

"What does he hope to achieve?"

Ramírez shook his head. "The only thing that he can do.....buy us the crucial time to escape. It will take time for the Aksren missiles and warheads to reach us. If he can shoot some of them down, then we might make it. I don't know how durable these Itrean warships are, but they seem difficult to take down."

"How many did they take down at Cipra?"

"The Aksren? Let's see.....we lost over twenty battleships, but they lost a scout ship and a battleship in return."

Kane's eyes went wide. He knew the Siege of Cipra was a horrific loss for the UHN, but he didn't realize it was that bad.

"Don't feel bad ambassador," Ramírez said. "I feel the same trepidation that you do. It will be fair to say that the Aksren did outnumber us badly at Cipra. Maybe if the Atra was at full operational status and we had a full armament on the Gabatrix, we might have been able to take on that dreadnought......maybe. Unfortunately, we are as what is given to us......nothing but shit."

Kane sighed. He could feel his heart pound a little bit. Literally, the Gabatrix was the only actual shield that the Atra had. His adrenaline began to pump as fear was starting to hit him.

"Kane....." Ramírez tried to say to him. "I wanted to say I am sorry."

"For what?"

"How I treated you earlier these couple of days. I just hated Aniruddha and his administration. The captain believes in you......both of you. Well.....I don't need to say anything more about it. I am just going to do my job."

Kane looked at the center of the bridge. There was nothing else that he could do but watch.

*******

The Gabatrix was doing a full accelerated control burn of the forward thrusters. Captain William had the cigar firmly in his teeth. Embers were being blown forward as the smoke blew away. The captain didn't care. His attention was keeping his body focused despite the forward gs being pressed against his back.

"Come on,......come on," he said to himself with a mouth full of a cigar. "They do this on the Neptune's Trial for all new ships and crews. Full accelerated burns to push the body to the limit. It is a requirement we all have to face and pass. Going to hope that stimulant will keep me going. Setting the ship on automatic course to them, if the computer sees me pass out....."

He watched on the console as it happened. The battle drum music was continuing to play in the background. The console lit up with alerts. He could see it on the horseshoe display screen as the Aksren dreadnought opened its four forward launch doors. It was now in weapons range as all four torpedoes were shot out like a spread. He could see the Aksren were targeting the Gabatrix first. The warheads flew out and went to the ventral side of the warship as their engines went to full burn.

"Ah......typical," William replied, sighing. "Aksren battering ram salvo. The most important torpedo to shoot down is the last one. Three normal anti-armor missiles followed with a nuke. A little early to give me the welcome sign, aren't we?"

William already knew the tactics. Fire a spread of missiles and then have the last one with a nuclear warhead on it. Once the armor was ripped open, the nuke would fly in and detonate inside the warship. It was quite an effective tactic, at least for the beginning of the conflict.

The captain could see another series of actions being made from the dreadnought. Eight missiles were launched from the vertical missile array battery of the Aksren warship. One by one, the missiles flew straight up. They then turned in flight and began to head straight towards his direction. He looked at his display console and could see that the missiles were not targeting his ship. The missiles were targeting the Atra.

"Only eight?" William asked out loud. "Come on,....you have more than that. You are second-guessing, aren't we, captain? Don't know what your priority is?"

He looked at his display console and saw two things popped up. The estimated time of torpedoes impact is in three minutes. Time for the missiles to impact the Atra is about four minutes.

Captain William immediately activated the defenses of the Gabatrix. The two rear Genisen Mk 11 Anti-Missile Batteries turned. The twin-barreled 150mm Flak cannons, single short-range missile battery, and laser emitter all in one, quickly tracked the incoming torpedoes. The laser emitters were the first to fire. Hoping to burn the torpedoes, the laser emitter activated. A high-intensity laser was focused on the lead torpedo. While the turret was hitting the torpedo, the laser wasn't doing enough. Even though it was burning the enemy torpedo under a hot white light, the weapon seemed to be rated to handle high temperatures. It was also possible that the alloy of the torpedo was rated against lasers, much like UHN warships.

"Of course, it is useless....." William said. "Come on....."

He then decided to end the reverse course. The forward thrusters shut off as the Gabatrix's acceleration began to drop. The UHN warship was moving at blazing speeds in reverse, but it wouldn't be for long.

"Alright.....time for a jolt....."

Captain William activated the port vectoring thrusters. The front section of the ship began to push the stern nose of the Gabatrix hard to starboard. Slowly while maintaining at that reverse momentum, the warship started to turn. The inside of the ship veered hard to port. Gs were being pushed to William's right side. The straps were doing its job as he struggled to keep his hand to the control panel. His augmented arm was working overtime. Computer alarms were warning about the unsafe velocities and gs being pressed to his body.

"Come on.....simple 180-degree turn.....you can do this."

Embers from his cigar blew to his cheek, burning his skin a little bit. The captain didn't care. The Gabatrix almost completed its full 180-degree turn. The nose of the ship was virtually pointing straight at the Aksren dreadnought. The captain activated the stabilizing thrusters as the starboard thrusters activated. The vessel slowed down as the gs relaxed on his body.

It would take a short bit as the thrusters leveled the ship straight at the dreadnought's direction. It was now safe for the captain to activate the reverse thrusters.

"Time for the main event.....," he said.

*******

On the Atra, the alarms were going off. Kane already knew that the Aksren ship had fired on them. The dreadnought was diverting its shots to both vessels. Ifra grabbed Kane's arm hard. The Atra was still creating its gate ring. He looked down at her and held her hand to comfort her.

"Another five minutes....." Ramírez said. "Looking at the gate ring being made.....I would say that it looks like it is about 70% completion."

The gate probes were extending a series of extendable wires. It began to form a ring that connected to the other probes one by one. Little vectoring thrusters on the probes were keeping them together and floating away.

"I am beginning to see the advantages and disadvantages of wormhole travel," Kane said.

"Yep....it sucks. We can go anywhere around the universe, but it still takes us about thirty to forty minutes to set up. Ships are always a sitting duck in battle. I thought the Itreans were used to this sort of thing, but I see they are more like us than I thought."

"I heard we can shoot down the wormholes from even forming," Ifra commented.

"They can do that?" Kane asked.

"Yes....it prevents us from using it offensively too much. New Atrea sometimes takes.....what is the word.....bullets.....shells.....yes. You can use guns to shoot through the wormhole. We use it all the time in the ongoing war against one another."

"Shit...," Ramírez commented. "We have been experimenting on a warship that can shoot that way. We have a battleship specifically capable of solar system to solar system planetary bombardment. It seems that you Itreans have already mastered this form of combat."

"I guess you can't use it to shoot down warships then?" Kane asked.

"It's like trying to thread a needle that is light years apart from each other. It is.....quite difficult."

They watched the display screen as the Gabatrix's rear thrusters began to turn red hot. At least five flames began to emit from the five thrusters, including the large central one. They could see the missile salvo of the Aksren ship heading towards the Atra and the torpedoes heading toward the Gabatrix.

"It's up to the Gabatrix to shoot down those missiles before they hit us," Ramírez commented to the both of them. "The Aksren is using a battering ram salvo. They used it at Cipra. The first torpedo slams into the armor. The next torpedo slams the same spot. The third torpedo typically penetrates the armor and detonates into the hull. The last one is a high explosive warhead, such as a nuclear warhead."

"Can he stop it?"

"It depends. He can target the nuke first and foremost. Even if the torpedoes penetrate the hull, there is no one but him on the ship. No worry about causalities unless it hits the bridge. Thankfully the armor is thickest there, so he will most likely survive it."

Kane turned to see that the Atra was launching more probes. The ring continued to grow larger and larger. Little by little, the gate array was being created.

"Another thing we have to worry about is the Aksren destroying the probes. If the gate probe array starts getting damaged, it will prevent us from escaping. We can even risk the wormhole shattering with us in it and ripping our vessel apart."

"Ugh....." Kane said. "I wish you had something to make us feel better."

Ramírez shrugged his shoulders as he looked at the ambassador. He said nothing else.

*******

Captain William could feel the g forces being pressed forward onto him. The ship's engines were red hot. Slowly every second that was going by, the recent reverse momentum of the Gabatrix had now become its forward momentum. Like an oversized bullet that was gaining speed, William had to face the continuous heavy constant acceleration on his body. The g forces were displayed on the screen for him to see. At least three Earth gs were being applied to him nonstop. For a Martian-like himself, it was incredibly intense.

The cigar's embers were being thrown to his cheek. He didn't have to worry much about the smoke. The cigar had burned out, but he lost track of it. Instead, he was focused on the battle more than anything else.

Another missile launch detected. The dreadnought had fired more missiles from its vertical launch tubes as ten guided munitions flew out. They spun once it entirely left the ship, and the engine thrusters ignited as they flew forward.

"More being launched at the Atra....." he struggled to say.

William looked at the display screen. One minute before the torpedoes hit him. He activated the anti-missile defense turrets of the Gabatrix as four turrets began to fire small short-range intercept missiles. They flew at the volley of the torpedoes. Dorsal, port, starboard, and ventral, the missiles flew as if the UHN warship was firing a net at the barrage of enemy torpedoes.

Countermeasures detected. The captain looked at his display. He could see the enemy torpedoes begin deploying small objects. The devices were emitting a series of pulses. Of the volley of missiles he fired, only one of the missiles he launched began to continue heading towards the salvo of torpedoes. One by one, almost all the missiles he fired hit the countermeasures deployed by the torpedoes. One, however, managed to make a lucky hit. The missile slammed into the lead torpedo. It exploded as the three torpedoes continued to close in.

"Nice try,....., but the last one is the most important," he said to himself. He switched the targeting of the flak guns. It was their turn to shoot at the torpedoes. He launched his own decoy countermeasures from the Gabatrix if they would be effective at all.

Two decoys were fired from the sides of the UHN warship. They began to emit a series of pulses, hoping to encourage the torpedoes to go after them. It didn't seem to be effective, though. The torpedoes were still closing in.

The flak guns lit up. Four turrets began firing a rapid-fire barrage of explosive bullets. The bullets would fly a distance before they would explode near the incoming torpedoes. Shrapnel flew in all directions as the six-inch shells would explode near the torpedoes. The flak seemed to be the most effective so far. The turrets and the shells were tearing into the guided warheads.

Ten seconds to impact......one of the torpedoes explodes........seven seconds.........the rear torpedo explodes........four seconds..........two seconds.....

One of the enemy torpedoes slams into the port bow of the Gabatrix with an oppressive force. The armor holds but barely. It rips into the port side Genisen turret tearing it off the warship entirely. The explosion knocks the Gabatrix off course a little bit as the ship shakes inside. The vectoring thrusters correct the course of the ship.

"Not bad.....those Mk 11s work really well," the captain said. "If all the UHN warships get them, then we have a higher chance of survival. My turn now...."

The captain could see that the Gabatrix still had a ways to go. It was still six minutes from the dreadnought. The warship had not changed course. It was still veering straight at him and the Atra. He activated the missile launch doors. Four of the six forward launch tubes opened up. He activated the switch as the tubes fired.

Four missiles flew out. The anti-ship missiles were launched. The flames showed that they were heading straight at the dreadnought. Missile launch detected. His console showed that four torpedoes flew out of the forward launch tubes of the dreadnought. The torpedo salvo was heading straight at the Gabatrix.

He was checking his sensors. Another missile launch was detected as the Atra had fired a salvo of missiles. At least six missiles flew from the vertical launch array of the T'rintar warship. The warheads began to head straight at the first incoming salvo of Aksren missiles.

He knew where his priorities were. The Aksren missiles had to be stopped. He used the Genisen turrets to target the salvo of enemy warheads. The bottom forward missile tubes on the Gabatrix opened up. He activated the launch as the standard missiles flew out and altered course at the enemy salvo.

Another missile launch was detected. The Aksren dreadnought fired another wave of missiles, and the target was the Atra. This was the third salvo launch. At least eight missiles were launched.

"Looks like the monster is waking up," he struggled to say as the gs continued to press against him. "Got to help the Atra....."

The missiles he fired went straight to the first volley of warheads. They were close enough as the two UHN missiles began to close in on one missile each. One of the Askren missiles was hit and exploded. Another warhead found its way and hit the other as six missiles remained from the salvo. He then launched the anti-missiles from the Genisen turrets. They were close enough that he hoped that they would hit.

"Six missiles remain from the first salvo. Hopefully, the Atra can take down that salvo.....I need to focus on the next salvo....."

He could see that the Gabatrix was near the second incoming salvo of missiles heading towards the Atra. He had a choice to make. The torpedoes were heading his way. He diverted the anti-missile turrets towards the second salvo of missiles. Immediately, a wave of short-range intercept missiles was flung towards the direction of the second salvo. He waited till the salvo got closer and closer. Finally, the flak guns opened fire on the Aksren missiles. Two of the intercept missiles struck the Aksren missiles destroying two of them. The flak guns were chewing up the salvo. One.....two......five of the warheads were ripped up by the exploding shrapnel before they flew by. The aft turrets tried to take down the missiles, but they missed as they flew by and towards the Atra.

"That should help them.....," he said.

Captain William realized that his action to defend the Atra cost him dearly. There was a salvo of torpedoes heading his way. He aimed the anti-missile turrets towards the torpedo salvo, but they had less time to react as a result.

Fourth missile launch detected. William saw at least ten missiles be launched from the vertical launch array of the dreadnought. The target was the Gabatrix. All ten missiles flew away from the dreadnought and headed straight towards the UHN warship. Fifth launch detected. Four missiles flew from the ventral section of the dreadnought. The missiles were flying towards the incoming anti-ship missiles launched from the Gabatrix.

William could see the salvo of missiles that he fired fly by the Aksren torpedoes. The enemy torpedoes were closing in.

*******

The alarms were continuously going off in the Atra. Kane was watching as the gate array was getting closer to completion. Ramírez noted that it was nearly finished. He also watched as the Atra's missiles were nearing the first salvo of incoming missiles.

"Come on, take them down," Kane said as he watched the display.

One missile struck an enemy missile......another missed and tried to head towards it......two more missiles found their mark.......three more missiles were still coming......another missile struck and exploded......two more left.....

The T'rintar missiles were closing in on the first salvo. The Aksren missiles then began deploying some sort of countermeasure system as chaff were being dropped into space. It caused one of the T'rintar missiles to detonate when it hit the chaff prematurely. Another guided warhead had found its mark. This left one missile coming towards the Atra.

"Shit....." Ramírez said. "I hope this ship has other defenses....."

"I don't know if they work or not," Ifra said.

There was a rapid beeping noise that was repeating. It began to increase in its rhythm more and more as the Aksren missile was closing in on the Atra. The Atra had a series of small CIWS cannons dotted on its tubular frame. The turrets aimed at the missile, but a click sound gave off from them. The sabotage had taken its toll. The guns refused to fire as the first salvo was coming in.

"Brace for impact!" Ramírez told Kane. The beeping sound increased to its max rhythm.

The Aksren missile flew hard and fast as it slammed into the Atra's starboard forward thruster. The explosion rocked the ship. The armor seemed to hold, but after the blast settled down, you could see a scorched mark on the starboard stern's armor. The explosion jostled the ship from its position as the vectoring thrusters began to push the ship back into the position of the gate ring.

Kane was shaken from his standing. Ifra stumbled forward as the crew on the ship responded in kind. The explosion rocked the warship, but it wasn't too hard. Ramírez amazingly, barely moved.

"That was the first salvo.....two more that I can see," Ramírez said. "It looks like the dreadnought has fired another salvo of missiles, but it is heading towards the Gabatrix....at least what I can see on display."

The Atra fired another series of missiles of its own. Three were launched as they began to turn in space and head towards the second Aksren salvo.

*******

"Three more minutes....." William said to himself, still feeling the constant acceleration. "Just three more minutes, that is all I need. Come on girl.....you still got it in you."

The Gabatrix targeted the incoming torpedo salvo. The flak guns opened fire on the torpedoes. Unfortunately, the warship's depleting state and three of the four operational forward turrets were working overtime. Exploding rounds filled the scene.

One torpedo ripped apart and exploded from the shrapnel......two torpedoes flew past it.......another one, the last torpedo exploded.