Gabatrix: The First Peace

"The most important one....." William said. He could see the third salvo of missiles. He set the turrets to begin targeting the enemy missiles.

He watched the overhead horseshoe display. There was nothing more that could be done as the torpedoes zeroed in on the UHN warship.

They hit hard and quick as one torpedo slammed into the starboard hatch and forward thruster assembly. The explosion rocked the ship as the armor buckled. The starboard forward thrusters were ripped to pieces from the violent explosion. The last torpedo slammed directly into the rotating centripetal ring. It exploded and tore into the ring hard as the atmosphere began to vent into space. Several crew quarters were now exposed to open space. Emergency bulkheads sealed the breach, but there was a small chunk blown out of the ring. Almost like a partially eaten donut, the ring was a broken halo.

"Dah!....." William said as he felt the shake inside the ship. His hand struggled to stay on the control panel. The rear thrusters were still pushing the battleship hard forward. The vectoring thrusters activated to stabilize the ship as much as it could keeping its current course.

He looked at his console. He registered three direct hits from enemy munitions, but he had seen worse. Some UHN ships looked as if a kid had jammed a pencil into tin foil several times after a battle. Cipra was, of course, a perfect example of the warships coming back to spend a month in the shipyards to repair the damage. The atmosphere had vented from the centripetal ring. Starboard armor was at 40%, and port armor was at 50%. The Atra had fired its missiles at the second salvo of Aksren missiles and successfully destroyed it. This left the final third salvo coming in.

The Gabatrix continued to fire its anti-missile turrets. The third salvo was flying by as the intercept missiles, and flak guns lit up space itself. Once again, the captain had to make a sacrifice. He saw the missiles he fired at the dreadnought were all destroyed by the fifth salvo of guided warheads. The fourth salvo of missiles was all heading towards him. It was time to choose the Atra or himself. The answer was an obvious one and one that had already been chosen.

The UHN warship continued to fire on the salvo. One missile shot down......another missile taken down by an intercept missile.....one more ripped apart by the flak guns......

"One and a half more minutes.....," he said to himself.

The third salvo of missiles completely flew by the Gabatrix. There was nothing more William could do on his end. It was up to the Atra to take care of itself. He switched over to the targeting of the Aksren fourth salvo. The missiles began to close in on the UHN warship. The anti-missile turrets were doing their job, but they had little time to react. They began to fill the forward area ahead of the warship with exploding shrapnel rounds.

One missile shot down......two shot down......the rest kept coming.

"Shit.....here comes the pain...," William said.

The Aksren missiles in the salvo split apart from each other to form two groups. One flew to the starboard direction as the port one flew to the other side. The missiles then all converged straight into the Gabatrix.

Impact.....two of the portside missiles tore into the portside hull. It hit the hatchway where Kane and Ifra met each other for the first time. The first missile struck the armor, and the next one bore through the hull entirely. It detonated into the hull, causing a massive explosion that tore into the central passageway. Fires quickly erupted while emergency bulkheads sealed closed. There was a gigantic hole on the port side section. A fire was venting into space but continuing to occur.

The starboard missiles had better luck against him, though. Four of the guided munitions went straight towards the starboard section of the warship. One of the missiles slammed into the starboard forward thrusters again. This time it broke through the hull and detonated inside the ship. The central passageway once again exploded. The atmosphere began to vent into space. The fires were more contained, though, as the bulkheads responded quickly, trying to seal the breach. Three of the missiles went straight to the closed up hangar. One of them tore into the armor. The second missile slammed behind it and broke through the armor. It exploded inside the large central hangar, causing one of the shuttles inside to be shattered into pieces. The last missile flew inside and exploded, ripping into the central passageway that led into the ring.

Once again, the Gabatrix adjusted course. The vectoring thrusters kept the ship stable as it kept coming in. William could see on his console the alarms going off as he stabilized himself on the chair. It felt like he was punched in the hip and the other side in quick succession. Multiple hull breaches were registered on the beleaguered warship. A fire was burning into space from the port side. Armor was almost gone on the port and starboard sides. Scorched marks littered the once beautiful warship.

"Forty-five seconds.....," he said. "Almost there.....almost there....."

He saw on the console that the Atra was trying to take down the third salvo. At least four missiles were fired from the T'rintar warship. They were closing in on the third incoming salvo.

William could see it without the camera zoom. There was a speck of light that was growing brighter. The dreadnought was starting to be seen from the naked eye. Both ships were flying at blazing speeds. The warship seemed focused on heading towards the Atra. If the Aksren warship veered from its course, then it would mean that William had won. If the dreadnought did not deviate from its path, then he would have also won.

"You fools....," he said. "Veer off now, and you might have a chance to survive....."

Thirty-five seconds remained as alarms were going off on the console. It warned of a possible collision. The ships were now close enough that the next weapon could be used against each other.

The dorsal railgun of the Aksren dreadnought was in perfect position. Its turret took aim and positioned itself entirely at the UHN warship bearing in on her. The ventral turret also spun towards the Gabatrix's direction. William activated the railgun controls for his ship as he took direct aim at the dreadnought.

It was the Aksren dreadnought that fired first. The massive railgun erupted, throwing off a particle field of purple and blue lights into space that quickly dissipated. The massive tungsten slug or whatever material that the Itreans used, came hurling towards the Gabatrix. William picked up the weapon's fire. He had thirty seconds to comply, but he had no choice where he was heading. His railguns then both were perfectly aimed as his opened fire. The two small-medium hypervelocity cannons fired with the same effect. A small trail was left behind as the shells flew at blazing speeds. Propelled by the ships' velocity and its own ejection, the rounds were beyond lethal to be struck. The Aksren dreadnought then fired its ventral railgun next at the Gabatrix.

Both sides had a chance to react. William continued to hang on as the alarms were all going off. His ship was going to be struck by the Itrean hypervelocity rounds, but so were they, unless they moved.

"Who is going to be the first to flinch?" William asked. "I certainly am not."

He saw it. There it was. The Aksren dreadnought activated its starboard vectoring thrusters. It began to push to the port side or risk getting hit by the Gabatrix's railgun fire. Slowly but surely, it was getting out of the way. The captain already anticipated it. The given word of their direction already had him well aware of where they were going to go. He had full control of the battlefield.

The Aksren rounds closed in, and finally, they hit the UHN warship hard. One of the shells slammed into the ventral bridge of the battleship. The round hit so hard and so fast that it tore through the thick armor to the bridge. If there were crew inside, they would have felt the blast and been killed instantly. The round would have gone from one section and possible to the other. Instead, the round shattered and ricochet in the room itself. The other shell struck right beneath the dorsal bridge where the captain was at. His wardroom below him was hit by the round. The slug instead blew entirely from one side and out the other side of the ship. There was a small debris trail as the fired bullet kept going entering from one side of the vessel and leaving the exit point on the opposite side.

"I see you.....I made you flinch.....," he said.

The Gabatrix was closing in on the Aksren dreadnought as it was using its starboard thrusters to turn more and more. The UHN warship was a speeding bullet. Its rear thrusters never ceased. It was now using its vectoring thrusters to turn the ship towards the direction away from the Gabatrix and away from the incoming warship.

"Too little.....too late," the captain said. "You are determined to go into that direction. You....hope to avoid me but you can't. I know your moves."

Twelve......eleven.......ten......nine seconds..... The dreadnought was getting closer and closer. The CIWS guns on the Aksren warship opened fire on the incoming battleship. All along the sides of the Aksren warship, large numerous dual barreled CIWS gun batteries were all trained on the Gabatrix. Thousands of rounds were all being expelled onto the ship. The forward bow twin particle cannons erupted next. The captain could hear the sound of heavy metal rain smacking the hull of the ship. His screens began to flicker a little bit from the high-intensity beams disrupting equipment inside the battleship as it was getting radiated from the enemy warship.

The captain could see the ship grow bigger. Alarms were telling him to veer off from course. Instead, he had the computer help adjust his flight. The gs were overwhelming on him. He was being pulled to the port side and back hard. He could feel himself nearly blacking out while keeping the course to the best he could.

The dreadnought could only watch the human warship. The Gabatrix was on fire, filled with holes, breaches littering its sides, and partly wrecked. The ancient warship had one last goal of her life.

Six.....five.....four seconds.....the dreadnought was getting extremely close.

"Well....I said goodbye to my wife.....for humanity," he said with his mouthful of the cigar. "My last act, I take this ship and shove up it up their asses!"

It happened so quick and so fast. The Aksren dreadnought was for one brief second seeing the human warship closing in on her. The next second was a warship that slammed into it. The combined speeds of both vessels almost heading towards each other, were incredible. Metric tons of metal, steel, titanium, and hardened alloys met one another. Like an asteroid slamming into a planet, the Gabatrix rammed into the Aksren dreadnought. There was a violent explosion. The Gabatrix crumbled up and exploded horrifically into the hull of the dreadnought. The UHN warship was almost completely vaporized from the blast and collision. There was a bright light as the debris reigned out from all directions, mostly heading towards the other side of the dreadnought out to the other.

There was a second explosion followed after the collision almost immediately after the first. The dreadnought folded into two pieces. Its red painted hull was turned almost into hot metal instantly. The explosion caused more explosions to follow up. No armor could withstand such a violent collision like this. The dreadnought never stood a chance against it. The Gabatrix and the Aksren dreadnought had been reduced to shattered wreckage in space being projected far into the reaches of space. It all happened in less than a second.....

Chapter 12: Itrea

Kane, Ifra, and Ramírez stood in shock at what they had seen. The captain had sacrificed his life to save the Atra in the most brilliant fashion ever. They watched all of it on display. The explosion was intense even if it was thousands upon thousands of kilometers away.

"I can't believe it," Kane said. "He is gone....."

"The Gabatrix.....the captain.....and the Aksren," Ramírez said. He looked down. "It should have been me on that ship. He didn't deserve to do that."

Kane felt remorse as Ifra kept a good grip on his arm. He barely knew the captain, but he felt like a friend someway or somehow. Now he was dead.

"Never have I seen an act of courage of a UHN sailor," Ramírez said. "I should have been the one to do that. I feel.....shame for him throwing his life away. I had nothing to lose."

Kane sighed. "I remember what the captain told me awhile back. He told me about the incident where we met the Itreans the first time. He was stuck on the Drake as his crew sacrificed their lives to save the ship he was on. The captain on the Cabot told him that 'it wasn't his time yet.'"

"Yeah.....now I have to bear witness to it too. That was courage that Gabatrix would have applauded above all. Don't worry, Captain....this might have been a suicide mission, but we live to tell your tale. Your actions will be remembered by the UHN for as long as we live."

Kane was still shocked. The Gabatrix was a solid ship in one second, and then it was no more the next second later. The place he was talking and everything. It was a shining example of the unpredictability of the universe.

Ramírez watched the screen to see the Aksren third salvo coming in. The Aksren missiles were still coming in hot. The battle was still not over yet until the last salvo was destroyed. Missiles were again coming, but it was the last salvo they had to worry about. The Atra's missiles were homing in on the salvo.

Impact.......one missile struck an enemy missile.......two more went down.......one of the missiles missed but turned and continued to home in. Four more went down in all. There were two missiles still closing in on the Atra.

The beep sound began to activate. Kane was well aware of the sound. The beeping started to intensify in rhythm as the Aksren missiles were still coming in.

"Brace for impact!" Ramírez called out.

Two missiles flew straight at the Atra's forward section. The CIWS guns refused to operate as one of the warheads hit the ring, blowing two of the probes up. The last missile flew between the developing ring and impacted the port bow. The missile hit the armor and exploded not far from the bridge section they were located. It blew the forward torpedo tube open, but the armor held. The explosion caused everyone to stagger. The vectoring thrusters began to push the ship back to its location and keep it stable. The blast faded as a large scorch mark was left near the ship's nose. The port bow torpedo tube was offline, but the T'rintar warship had survived the attack and only had a short delay in getting home.

"That was close....." Ramírez said as he recomposed himself. "If that missile hit any higher, we might not be talking right now. Are you alright?"

"I am.....Ifra?" Kane asked, looking at her.

"I am good."

"It is over....." Ramírez said. "Space is clear of all hostile activity. The gate probe array took some damage, but it will only delay our departure to New Olympia for a couple more minutes. I admit if the captain didn't stop the missiles, the Aksren would have dominated the battle."

"It is because it is a dreadnought......" Tara'Talar said.

They turned to see that Tara'Talar had left her alcove. She instead walked up to all three that were in the corner. She overheard the conversation and interjected.

"Adjunct....." Ifra said. "Are we safe?"

"We are safe...." She struggled to say in English. "The Aksren clanship is destroyed. The Gabatrix saved us. Captain saved us. Your human is brave. He will not be forgotten."

"I guess you have heroes in your society...." Kane remarked.

She gave a slight nod. Her reptilian eyes looked at Kane and then Ramírez closely.

"What happened to the spy on this ship?" Ramírez asked.

"She was killed," Tara'Talar said.

"I think the word is ex.....exe......execat...." Ifra struggled to say.

"Executed....." Kane corrected.

"How much longer before the jump?" Ramírez asked.

"Four of your minutes. No other ship can hurt us," the adjunct replied.

"There are some things we still need to discuss as well," Ifra said. "The meeting for our peace treaty has been moved. Things have changed rapidly. We need to find a place to discuss the final treaty signing."

Kane put his hand to his chin. "We can't discuss and sign it here?"

"We can.....but we have a mission to bring your people home."

"What do you have in mind?"

Ifra seemed to look away for a short bit. Kane could tell she had an answer but didn't want to say.

"I have the ability to ask and change the location....but I must also your permission as well to make it happen. I wanted a place of fam.....famil.....a place of knowing."

"Ah.....well....." Kane thought. "We can have it on Mars."

"What?" Ramírez questioned. "I don't think...." he stopped as he saw Ifra and Tara'Talar both looking at him. He saw their faces. Ramírez seemed to bite his tongue. Even he had a chance to see the T'rintar long enough to feel that it would be alright.

"Would your people accept the peace treaty signing there?" Ifra asked.

"I honestly don't know. So much has happened today. We both fought against a common foe. If my people saw it, they would allow you to visit Mars but......they haven't. You need to return our people. Not just the people of the Gabatrix, but the Euterans. I think they might."

"I am not so sure," Ramírez said. "We still have to convince the New Olympians to let us in their space. The colony might not have an issue with us being there, but we would have to deal with getting transportation back to Mars. New Olympia seems afraid of having us on their warships for some reason. If the UHN or UWA refuse to send a ship to pick us up, we would have a new problem on our hands."

"Somebody would have to give in though. I think the peace treaty should be ratified on Mars. Everything we have discovered these last few days. The Itreans come from Earth. You might as well be our sisters. The signing would usher a new era for everyone."

"Ugh.....I don't know, Kane," Ramírez replied. "We just dealt with a situation where the UWA let an AI live after she tried to take over the planet. While they let her live and continue, they would be a little rattled to see a former enemy ship come into orbit."

"I must agree with Kane," Ifra said. "I would not have an issue having the talks there. Besides....I want to see Itrea."

"I agree as well," Tara'Talar said. "I want to see the world too."

"I thought you needed to examine the proof more before claiming it is Itrea," Kane replied.

"Our people......we have faith. Itrea is faith.....home is faith. Even if it isn't...."

"It is still hope....."

"Yes," she answered.

"Then, it is settled. We agree to have the meeting on Mars. The first thing we do once the New Olympians recognize us as not a threat is to make a jump to Luna. We get a nice view of Earth.....err Itrea, and then talk with the UWA officials to let us to Mars."

Tara'Talar looked at the display on the corner of the bridge. She could see the gate probe array was complete. She gestured for Ramírez to follow her.

He nodded his head as he walked with her to the alcove. Kane could see that the Atra was starting the first process of opening a gate. It would take a little bit. The array ring began to glow a bright blue. A small vortex of energy began to form. It was slow but growing in size. Both Kane and Ifra stood and looked at each other. They finally had some time to talk to each other.

"How are you?" he asked her.