Three Square Meals Ch. 027

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Tefler
Tefler
6,774 Followers

"Pkow." the railgun murmured, the shockwave from the weapon muffled by the sound dampener built into the barrel.

The target dummy tottered as a big hole was punched in its chest.

"It seems the same as before." John said, looking confused. "It's a little lighter, but other than that, I can't tell any difference."

Dana moved to stand beside him and pressed another button on the wall. The regular target dummy disappeared and a 9' tall hulking mock-up of a Drakkar Warboss appeared in its place, its four arms raised angrily.

"I only made one of these for demonstration purposes." she grinned.

The perky redhead moved over to stand by John. "Mind if I put my hands on your weapon?" she asked him suggestively in a seductive purr, her eyebrow raised.

"Be my guest." John laughed.

She stood on tiptoe and then flicked the fire-rate selector switch to full auto.

"Give that a try." she said with a wink and skipped out of the way.

John took a deep breath, calming himself and getting ready to control the barrel in case of muzzle climb. He sighted down the range , aiming low on the Drakkar just in case.

"PrrrrrrrrrKow!" the railgun purred as 49 hyper accelerated rounds raced down the range, slamming over and over into the quaking target dummy.

John walked the rounds over the target, finding the barrel surprisingly easy to control, as each bullet blasted huge holes in the inanimate Drakkar Warboss and sent chunks flying around the range. He shot off the four arms, decapitated the dummy, cut the chest in half and then blew out the legs before he ran out of ammo. When the railgun finally clicked, the magazine empty, all that was left of the target Drakkar was a pair of smoking boots.

"The smoother power curve and improved power couplings radically reduce heat build up in the magnetic rails." Dana said proudly.

"You like?" She said, breathless with anticipation.

John looked down at the railgun and nodded. "Yeah, it's not bad." he said with a shrug, placing the weapon on the table dismissively.

"What?" Dana said crestfallen.

"Haha!" he grinned, scooping her up in his arms. "If I didn't love you already, I'd fall in love with you all over again!" he whooped. "That gun is the coolest thing I've ever fired!" he said delightedly.

The redhead laughed with relief. "Oh you!" she said, with a grin. "You had me going for a minute there!"

"Sorry honey." he said leaning in to rub noses with her affectionately.

Dana sighed happily and hugged him tightly.

"Well we better go and have a chat with the Ashanath and start our little Drakkar hunt!" John said, excitedly. "Unless you've got some more crazy new upgrades to show us?" he asked Dana hopefully.

"I'm spent." she said with a smile.

"Ok then let's move out ladies." John said in a decisive tone.

"Yes sir!" they chorused in amusement and they left the firing range.

John picked up the XR75 railgun to return to the weapon locker on the bridge and he followed them out the door. They strolled down the corridor and entered the grav-tubes, stepping confidently into the blue light and then smoothly rising up through the levels. Everyone stepped out on to the bridge and moved to take their usual places.

"Could you secure this please honey?" John asked Jade, smiling at her affectionately and handing her the railgun.

"Sure John!" she agreed happily and darted off to the briefing room to put away the weapon.

He shared a meaningful look with Alyssa as they watched the Nymph stride away quite untroubled. They climbed the illuminated steps up to the command podium together and John sat in the Commander's chair, while Alyssa sat gracefully at the executive officer's station to his right.

He turned towards the Latina sitting at her tactical station, watching her as she settled into her familiar seat.

"Calara, could you bring up the sector map for the systems around Kappa-Indarran please." he requested.

The brunette moved quickly to follow his request and the glowing sector map appeared a moment later, hovering above the bridge.

"Ok lets think about this for a second." John said, looking thoughtful. "They have numerical superiority over us, but we should be able to take their raiding ships one on one. We need to thin them out before we tackle the base."

"Why not set a trap?" Calara suggested. "If we ask the Ashanath to greatly reduce any civilian traffic around that area and then get them to send a patrol through as bait, I bet the Drakkar will fall for it." she said confidently.

"Then when they appear, we pounce!" Jade said enthusiastically from where she stood at the doorway to the briefing room, looking up at the softly glowing map.

"Exactly!" Calara said with a grin.

"If we can disable them rather than destroy them, I can perform active scans on their ship. That should provide you some useful data on the structure and layout of their vessel." Dana suggested.

"That's a great idea!" Calara said enthusiastically. "Once I know where their weak points are, I can take them out a lot faster." she said with a wicked grin.

"Ok sounds like we have a plan." John grinned. "Alyssa, can you contact the Ashana shipyard and see if they can put us through to the Ashanath High council."

"There's no need." Dana interrupted quickly.

"High Councillor Rathus gave me a secure transmission code so that we can reach Senior Councillor Ularean directly." she said with a smile.

"A direct line to their boss! They must really want to keep us happy!" Alyssa grinned.

The beautiful blonde girl sitting in the executive officer's chair entered the secure transmission code that Dana transferred to her console. The viewscreen in front of them flashed and then a moment later, Senior Councillor Ularean's grey bulbous head appeared on the screen in front of them.

"Ah JohnBlake, it is a pleasure to see you." the leader of the Ashanath Collective said in his unemotional whispery voice.

"Likewise Ularean." John said with a smile. "Please thank your engineers for the incredible job they did on the Invictus. Dana showed us all the upgrades this morning and they have excelled themselves!" he said appreciatively.

"I am very pleased that you are satisfied with our efforts." he murmured. "I will pass on your kind words to High Councillor Rathus." Ularean said with a slight bow of his head.

"But in truth it is the one called 'Dana' that you should be thanking. High Councillor Rathus has repeatedly begged me to ask if you would permit her to stay on Ashana and teach at our Engineering Seminary." the Senior Councillor said in his eerie voice.

John looked at Dana with a raised eyebrow, but she shook her head with a smile.

"I'm sorry Ularean, she's an indispensible member of my crew." John said with a grin.

"I'll need her more than ever right now, as I intend to keep my side of our bargain." he said, looking determined.

Ularean's unblinking black eyes seemed to sharpen their focus as they stared at him. "What do you intend to do?" the robed Grey asked, the light from the room glinting off the silvery chain around his neck.

"I'd like you to restrict all traffic around the Kappa-Indarran system." John requested. "We plan to spring a trap on the Drakkar."

"We already have JohnBlake." Ularean whispered. "We did not wish to lose any more civilian vessels to the raiders."

"We have to move fast John!" Calara said in alarm. "If there's suddenly no ships around, the Drakkar will be alerted to the fact that the Ashanath have identified the location of their base."

"Ok then. We're going to need you to send some patrol ships on a route we'll supply for you." John said to Ularean, looking to Calara who nodded and began plotting a flightpath for the Ashanath vessels.

"We'll follow close by and then intercept as soon as the Drakkar attack." John said decisively.

"I have reservations about using my people as bait." Ularean said, his normally unemotional whispery voice edged with concern.

"They will only have to hold on for a few moments, we will strike the moment they send the distress call." John said reassuringly.

"We will do as you request JohnBlake." The Ashanath Senior Councillor agreed after a moment's hesitation.

"Ularean, I've got an idea on how to keep your people out of any danger for the next ambush!" Dana interjected eagerly. "Please tell High Councillor Rathus to look out for the schematics I'll send him."

"I will inform him Dana." Ularean said and then ended the call.

"Right, let's get moving!" John said, eager to begin.

Alyssa contacted the Ashana shipyard and requested leave to exit the drydock. The robotic arms holding the Invictus securely in place rotated smoothly and the magnetic clamps released with a loud clang, freeing the assault cruiser.

The beautiful blonde girl grinned and dipped the nose of the ship, the Invictus dropping smoothly out of the drydock as she powered up the engines. Alyssa winked at John mischievously and then boosted the power, causing the 500 metre long assault cruiser to surge forward, flagrantly violating port speed.

The sinister looking jet black ship rolled and turned as she brought them through the rocky canyon, skilfully avoiding other ships and looming sheer walls alike. The Ashanath saucers gave her a sensibly wide berth as the Invictus raced out of the crevasse and soared away into the upper atmosphere of Ashana.

"Woohoo!" Alyssa exclaimed, exhilarated by the daredevil flying through the ravine and out of the shipyard.

"I don't think the High Council would approve." John said with a smirk.

Alyssa laughed rebelliously and then turned to look at Dana. "The handling on the Invictus has improved." she said with delight. "I thought we were just going to be able to go faster?" she asked in surprise.

"Well I boosted power to the retro thrusters and got the Ashanath to fit a few more." Dana said with a smile. "We have insane amounts of spare power, so I figured... why not?" she grinned.

"I love you!" Alyssa said happily.

"When you've finished having fun, could you plot a course to the nearest uninhabited asteroid belt please?" John asked the exuberant blonde fondly.

"Will do!" Alyssa nodded and her hands darted over the console as the sector map around Ashana sprang into life on the bridge.

She found a swathe of asteroids in a nearby system that had already been fully mined. According to the system map, all that was left of the exploited asteroid belt were floating hunks of worthless rock.

"Looks like we have a winner!" she grinned and laid in the course.

"This can't be right." she muttered under her breath a moment later, as the course she had plotted was displayed on the map.

"The Navigation computer is reporting that we'll get there in a third of the time it should normally take!" Alyssa said with surprise. "Nothing's that fast!"

"Nothing except us and a handful of special ops Ashanath ships." Dana said smugly.

"The Ashanath High council weren't kidding. They've given us the best equipment they know how to make!" she said, her delight at acquiring such exotic and incredibly advanced technology quite apparent in her voice.

Alyssa pressed the button that would start to warm up the FTL Drive and they noticed that their ship on the sector map was surrounded in a light blue glow. The ship leapt effortlessly into hyper warp and the Invictus began to race across the system map.

"Holy shit!" Alyssa exclaimed. "Look at us go!" she gasped, staring in disbelief as their ship tore through system after system.

John shook his head in amazement. His old freighter seemed like some kind of decrepit turtle in comparison to the incredibly quick ship he now commanded.

After only a few minutes, they had zoomed through several systems and arrived at the asteroid belt Alyssa had chosen for their fire test. The blonde girl brought the Invictus gliding into position, pointing towards a stupendously huge hunk of rock on the edge of the asteroid field, that could well be classified as a small moon.

"Powering up main batteries." Calara said, feeling her heart pounding in her chest.

She took a firm hold of the arm rest controls and the holographic targeting array hovering in front of her, cast a soft blue glow over her beautiful features. The brunette flipped off the safety switch and pressed the red button on the top of her right controller. The armoured panels covering the Mass drivers slid to the side, revealing the barrels of the 200m long rail guns.

"Weapons armed Commander." Calara stated, falling back into familiar Terran Federation protocol as she looked at the gigantic asteroid through the holographic targeting grid.

"Fire whenever you're ready honey." John said with a grin, excited to see the new upgrades in action.

Holding her breath, Calara pulled the trigger and the Invictus trembled with the recoil, as the 200 metre long magnetic coils accelerated the shells to Tachyon induced Hyper warp velocity. The colossal asteroid shook violently with the impact, as four enormous craters were punched into its surface and the shells continued to bore in deeply, debris blasting out from the shattering strikes. A moment later, the small moon quaked as the four shells detonated deep within its surface. Four faint blue trail linked the Invictus to the enormous hunk of rock as it continued to shake with aftershocks.

"The rails are recharging so fast!" Calara exclaimed, watching the progress bar next to the Mass drivers on her weapon loadout hologram for the Invictus.

"You should only have to wait 10 seconds before you can fire again, instead of 30." Dana confirmed for her.

"They're powered up already!" Calara said in amazement.

"Let's teach this evil asteroid the error of its ways!" John said in a stern voice.

"Fire at will Lieutenant!" he barked in an imperious tone.

Calara laughed before pulling the trigger, sending another four shells blasting out at incredible speed. The asteroid shuddered with the next four impacts, beginning to break apart with the massive momentum of the strikes as they ploughed into its core. The shells detonated a second later and the titanic asteroid slowly split into three chunks, ripped apart by the devastation to its structure.

"One last volley on that smaller piece." John requested, remembering their first fire test, and noting that the smallest chunk was about the same size.

Calara nodded obediently and as soon as the icon flashed, confirming that the magnetic rails had recharged, she pulled the trigger. The four shells blasted out, pounding into the asteroid section and sending it rocking backwards with the impact, its surface fracturing with rapidly expanding fissures. A moment later, the explosives in the shells detonated and the shockwaves blew the asteroid apart, sending thousands of rock fragments scattering through the belt.

"Triple the fire rate, massively increased penetration..." Calara said appreciatively, her eyes gleaming. "You did an outstanding job Dana!"

The redhead smiled at her friend, overjoyed at the results of the successful fire test.

"There's one downside." John said reluctantly. "If we're firing three times as quickly, we'll go through our stockpile of shells pretty quickly."

"Yeah I thought about that." Dana said glumly. "Unfortunately there isn't much I can do unless we can find a better source of explosives. If we can make the detonations more powerful, then I could reduce the size of the shells and we could carry a lot more."

"Not to worry, it isn't a problem for the moment." John shrugged nonchalantly.

"Any news on the Ashanath patrol?" He asked Alyssa.

The beautiful blonde checked on the current status of the Grey ships and saw they were moving steadily into position, to follow the flightpath she had set for them.

"They should be ready to start in a few minutes." Alyssa confirmed for him.

"When do you think the Drakkar will attack?" he asked Calara.

"Well their normal attack patterns have been disrupted, but I'd expect them to launch an attack as soon as they pick up the Ashanath patrol in their long range scans." she said, cautiously.

"I think they might have set up sensors farther out from their base though." she theorised. "They seem to be too well informed about sector traffic to just be relying on long range sensors on their ships."

"Based on what we estimate for their FTL drive capabilities, I'd predict a strike on the patrol in roughly 20 minutes." Calara said, turning over the calculations in her mind.

"We better get into position then." John said. "Alyssa can you trail the Ashanath patrol, so we can respond as quickly as possible without making it obvious we're tailing them."

"Yep, no problem." she said confidently, as she powered up the tachyon drive.

"Ok then, let's start repaying the Ashanath for these new toys." John said with a grin.

The Invictus soared into hyper warp again and raced through system after system as they caught up with the Ashanath patrol. Alyssa swung the assault cruiser into a tailing position via a long arcing curve.

"Hail them please." John ordered.

Alyssa hit a button on the console and a few moments later the Ashanath patrol leader's face appeared on the viewscreen.

"We are following your patrol route as requested JohnBlake." the Grey stated in an echoing murmur.

"Call for backup the moment you're attacked." John said brusquely. "We'll be there within..." he glanced at Alyssa.

*15 seconds* her voice rang crystal clear in his head.

"...15 seconds, so just perform evasive manoeuvres with full power to shields until we arrive." he ordered.

"We will do as you command JohnBlake." the Grey leader whispered quietly and then ended the communication.

"4 minutes until Calara says they will strike!" Jade said excitedly, looking at the ship's chronometer on the wall.

"It's just an estimate!" Calara said defensively.

"We'll see!" Jade said.

Dana helpfully displayed a ticking clock in the centre of the bridge, counting down the seconds.

"Aw come on!" Calara groaned. "Pile the pressure on why don't you?"

They laughed good naturedly at her protestations, but watched the countdown on the clock nonetheless as it ticked down inexorably.

...

0:04

0:03

0:02

0:01

0:00

There was a pregnant pause as they waited with baited breath, but nothing happened.

"See I told y..." Calara started, but was interrupted by the flash of an incoming hail.

"We are under attack!" the Ashanath's patrol leader said, the speech transmitted by their communication device picking up his panic.

"We'll be there in a few seconds." John said reassuringly. "Hang on!"

They ended the communication and he glanced at Alyssa. "Already on it John." she smiled at him confidently.

The system map showed the location of the Ashanath patrol and the Invictus charged towards them, the hopes of the entire Ashanath Collective riding with them.

"Weapons ready, shields up." John ordered. "Hit them with everything we've got as soon as we're in range."

Calara and Dana moved to follow his orders and seconds later they dropped out of hyper warp. The sensors pulsed out and the tactical map quickly redrew itself, showing the vessels in their vicinity.

The three Ashanath patrol craft were scrambling away from the huge ship that was bearing down on them. The black and purple Drakkar cruiser roared in, multiple violet hued beams pulsating angrily as it fired on the fleeing Ashanath saucers. The evasive manoeuvres helped the disc shaped vessels dodge some of the beams and the saucer's shields proved strong enough to save the Greys from any hull damage.

Calara opened fire without having to be asked and the six beam lasers scythed out and slashed across the rear of the Drakkar's shields, causing bright pulses of light to crackle over the surface. Alyssa dipped the nose of the Invictus and Calara cycled to laser cannons, pouring a relentless cascade of laser bolts into the enemy shields.

Tefler
Tefler
6,774 Followers