Three Square Meals Ch. 050

A few kilometres ahead, the first wing banked sharply, looping around to get their vengeance on this impudent gunship pilot that had just killed six of their colleagues with a cowardly ambush. Jade grinned eagerly, and the Raptor surged forward to meet them.

***

The terrified mercenary prisoner stumbled ahead of John on shaky legs, and led them around the corner towards the main entrance to the Command Centre. John was surprised that they hadn't seen any reaction to the alarm from the perimeter guards, or the rest of the forces in the barracks, so he kept his eyes peeled as they strode up to the broad double doors.

John waved him onwards with the barrel of his Punisher railgun, and the man stumbled up the steps to the DNA reader by the side of the door. The merc put his trembling hand on the device, and the double reinforced door unlocked with a solid thunk, then swung open smoothly.

"After you," John said quietly.

The merc nodded, then walked into the room beyond. It was a long corridor that had several nondescript doors leading off it. The frightened man walked over to the second door on the left, then opened it hesitantly, before walking inside after some prompting.

"Hey, Dan! what's going on?" a worried voice asked from inside the room.

A second voice joined in saying, "We heard the alarm go off a couple of minutes ago. Where's the Captain?"

John strode in after the mercenary, and the three men in light armour looked at him in shock. John raised his railgun, and mowed two of them down with three round bursts before they could react, but the third opened up with an assault rifle. The bullets would have hit John in the head, but they all ricocheted with an odd whumping noise, striking the ceiling instead. John turned to face the third merc who stared at him dumbly in shock, but Rachel had darted through the door by his side with her railgun at the ready, and she pulled her trigger first. The unfortunate soldier was hit twice in the chest from the three round burst, and the hyper-accelerated slugs blasted fist sized holes through his torso, sending him crashing to the floor.

Their guide had curled in a ball, whimpering with fear, so John crouched down and said grimly, "Keep going, or you're next."

The merc nodded frantically, and staggered to his feet, leading them to a set of steps on the other side of the room. The steps led downwards, to an underground room, which was dominated by a circular, solid titanium door set into the far wall. John followed the merc down the steps with the two girls in their wake.

"Alright, open it up," John said to the merc.

The man walked up to the DNA reader set in the wall, and when he pressed his hand against the panel it glowed blue and said, "Welcome, Lieutenant Daniel Clark."

There was an ominous grinding noise, and the titanium door rumbled slowly towards them for half a foot. It then stopped and rolled ponderously to one side, revealing a dimly lit bunker behind it. John walked up behind Lieutenant Clark and nudged him with the barrel of his railgun, pushing him forward. There were half a dozen rooms along the left hand side with what looked like glass panels and doors sealing in the inhabitants. Several dejected looking women sat in the small cells, staring listlessly into the distance. Two small children were in the last room, a little boy of about five, and a girl of about eight, who were pushing a small toy spaceship between them half-heartedly.

Rachel looked ashen when she saw these women, and John turned to look at her. "Are you doing okay?" he asked her with concern, and she looked up at him, then nodded bravely.

Dana had a puzzled expression on her face as she asked, "With these glass walls, won't the women you ransom off be able to identify you when they get back home?"

"One-way glass," Lieutenant Clark said shiftily.

"How do we open them?" John asked him curtly.

The mercenary lieutenant walked over to a desk on the other side of the room, and pulled open a drawer. He retrieved a keyring with half a dozen electronic keyfobs attached, and handed it over with a shaking hand. John grabbed it, then passed it to Rachel, who dashed over to the cells and began unlocking them. The first woman scrabbled backwards, and looked wary as Rachel swiped the keyfob through the lock and unsealed the door. The kidnap victim looked greatly relieved when she saw it was a woman opening up her cell.

"My name's Rachel. I'm here to rescue you," the tawny haired girl said soothingly.

The prisoner sobbed with relief, and then ran over to hug the startled teenager. Rachel smiled at her reassuringly, held her tight for a moment, and then ushered her out of the room. Dana walked over to the woman with a warm smile on her face, and greeted her in a friendly voice, letting Rachel move on to the next cell.

John turned his attention back to the trembling mercenary prisoner and said, "How many Cobras are here on the base?"

Lieutenant Clark looked up at him, and said tremulously, "I'm not sure."

John frowned, and said testily, "What do you mean you aren't sure? You're a Lieutenant here, you must know how many base personnel there are!"

"Well you people butchered all the men in the barracks," the frightened man said in a quavering voice. "And none of the guard posts have checked-in over the last ten minutes. That only leaves ten men in the Command Centre, and you just shot three of them."

John's eyes narrowed, and he asked, "Where are the rest?"

"Command and Control," the merc replied hesitantly. "Door opposite us on the central corridor then it's a big room upstairs. You can't miss it."

"Alright, get in that first cell," John growled, and the man made stumbling steps towards the small room.

Growing impatient, John shoved him in, and the merc staggered inside as John sealed the door behind him. He turned to Dana and said, "Guard the door behind me. I'm going to clear out the rest of the mercs in the Command Centre."

The redhead smiled at him bravely, then walked up to the doorframe when he strode outside. "Don't take so long this time!" she called after him, "And don't shield your mind from Alyssa again, she'd kill me!"

John nodded, then jogged up the steps.

***

The three Armoured Cobras Cruisers bore down on the Invictus eagerly, confident of a quick and easy victory. They were flanked on the starboard side by the group of six Red Hornets destroyers, and the scarlet coloured carrier heading towards the planet launched two wings of bombers, that had then flown in to support the cruiser group.

Calara cracked her knuckles, and took one last glance at Alyssa before turning to focus completely on the incoming targets.

Alyssa looked over at Irillith, who had been gazing intently at the overhead tactical map. The blue-skinned woman seemed to sense the blonde girl's attention on her, and looked up at the podium, nodding confidently.

***

Meanwhile, in the Armoured Cobras cruiser at the rear of their formation, Captain Abraham Pickering sat in his Command Chair, watching the engagement on the Tactical Map. He had been shocked to the core earlier, watching impotently as the white hulled ship cut his destroyer groups to pieces. Now he'd had a chance to think it over, he realised the white cruiser amassed just enough firepower to overwhelm each group piecemeal. He was feeling jubilant now, as his three state-of-the-art cruisers bore down relentlessly on the solitary assault cruiser. Up against three incredibly resilient cruisers, which each individually boasted greater firepower than the glorified troop transport facing them, he knew the other ship stood no chance at all.

"Fire as soon as we're in range, Lieutenant," he ordered his tactical officer, and the man nodded in reply, a broad grin on his face.

Suddenly there was a shower of sparks from the left side of the Command Deck, and the power on the Bridge guttered and died. The emergency lighting cut in a few seconds later, casting the room in a dim red glow, and the holographic maps reappeared after a brief pause, flickering intermittently.

"What the fuck was that?!" Captain Pickering said in shock. He glanced at his Chief Engineer who sat below him and to the left of the Command Podium, and shouted, "Lieutenant Maverley, what's happened to the power?"

The seasoned veteran Engineer looked just as shocked as Pickering felt, and rubbed his beard as he shook his head. "I've no idea Captain! We just lost main power to the Bridge," he said in disbelief.

The holographic viewscreen suddenly crackled to life and a horrifying purple face stared out at them, It had several wicked horns on its head, and had a mad gleam in its eyes as it chortled, "Evil Terrans! I won't let you hurt my creator!" This was followed by a horrendous digitised screech, which sounded like a mixture of cruel laughter and a baby crying.

The Bridge stank of fear as Captain Pickering stared up at the purple apparition with dread. "W-w-what the fuck is that?!" he stammered to his Executive officer.

Pickering glanced at his XO, but the man was staring at the purple electronic demon with bug eyes, his face contorted with fear. The Chief Engineer suddenly gasped in alarm and cried out, "Our shields are down, and weapons are powering up, we're targeting the Naga!"

Pickering stared up at the viewscreen in horror, as the six beam lasers on the prow of his cruiser opened fire on the rear of the friendly cruiser. The tan and brown cruiser was hit by all six beams, causing violent splashes of cracking energy to arc over the protective dome from the searing impacts.

Lieutenant Commander Barnes from the Naga suddenly appeared on the viewscreen, and screamed, "Pickering! Cease fire goddamn it!"

Captain Pickering could only stammer helplessly as the white assault cruiser opened fire on the Naga as well. Blindingly bright orange beams scythed into the front of the Armoured Cobras cruiser, and the shields crackled and sparked as they were overloaded.

On the viewscreen showing the Bridge of the Naga, a terrified mercenary engineer shouted out, "They blew out our shields, Sir!" Lieutenant Commander Barnes replied in shock, "That's not possible! No beams hit that har-"

The viewscreen crackled and went to static, as the white assault cruiser opened fire with its Mass Drivers. The four shells pounded into the Naga as the merc pilot desperately tried to pull away, and the hyper warp shells smashed into the underbelly of the stricken cruiser, creating huge impact craters before the shells detonated, sending armoured plating and bits of torn superstructure spiralling out into space.

The violet demon returned to the viewscreen, its eyes glinting with a feral madness as it said, "Let's give them a hand, shall we? Hahahahaha!"

"Shut that fucking thing down!" Pickering screamed, but his engineer shook his head frantically, pointing helplessly to the unlit lifeless console in front of him.

The eight heavy cannons on Captain Pickering's cruiser pivoted slowly, locking on to the devastated Naga. They opened fire with a thunderous salvo, and huge shells pounded into the rear of the Cobras cruiser. The four massive engines were hit by one enormous detonation after another, and the relentless destructive force of the explosions blew apart three of the engines, and ripped the fourth completely clear of the shattered hull.

Pickering's pilot cried out in panic, "Engines have been shunted to maximum power, Captain! Safety overrides are off!" He stabbed buttons on his console in vain, as their ship surged forward, while banking slightly to starboard on a direct collision course with the immobilised Naga.

"RaMmING SpEEeD!" The purple electronic demon cried out, chortling insanely.

***

Aboard the Invictus, Alyssa and Calara had watched in astonishment as the rearmost mercenary cruiser had suddenly opened fire on one of the lead cruisers. The Latina had reacted instantly, and unloaded their beams as well, knocking out the enemy ship's shields and making them vulnerable to their Mass Drivers. The Naga's pilot had rolled their ship and pulled up frantically, in a normally insane manoeuvre that exposed their belly to the enemy.

It turned out that this panicked action saved their bridge from instant annihilation at Calara's waiting hands, and instead she had to content herself with knocking out the port and starboard power converters. The rearmost cruiser continued to open fire on its mortally wounded compatriot, but this time with a massive barrage from its heavy cannons. It then charged forward, ramming into the crippled cruiser with a colossal impact. Armoured plating on both ships buckled and twisted under the calamitous impact, and a long rippling series of internal explosions seemed to shudder through the Naga. Suddenly the power core ruptured, and engulfed both ships in a tremendous blast, which incinerated both vessels in a blindingly bright explosion that sent debris cartwheeling away in all directions.

All the other vessels in the system had ceased firing, as they watched in stunned disbelief at the treacherous actions of the rearmost Cobras cruiser. The destroyers were the first to snap out of their trance, and they abruptly turned tail, yawing swiftly to port while they were still out of range of the Invictus. The Red Hornets bombers and Carrier also seemed to have a change of heart, and they also fled towards the Nav Beacon. They wanted no further part of this fight, or any further association with the Armoured Cobras, who were clearly insane.

Calara reacted next, and opened up with a salvo of their six beam lasers on the previously untouched remaining cruiser. Its shields sent bright ribbons of light cascading outwards in pulsing circles as the powerful lances of laser energy slashed across the front of the cruiser. The Cobras Tactical Officer was an expert gunner, and hit with five of his six beam lasers, but the shields on the Invictus were strong, heavily boosted by the shield modulator.

"Our shields are down to seventy four percent," Alyssa said after a quick glance at damage control, this being the second beam laser volley they had taken from the last cruiser.

The Latina nodded eagerly, allowing herself a confident grin as they closed to laser cannon range. By the estimates from the tactical computer, the shields on the enemy cruiser were down to less than fifty percent. Alyssa turned to port, then rolled the Invictus to the right, so that they would pass the Cobras cruiser facing them with their topdeck. That meant Calara could open fire with the sixteen upper mounted laser cannons, and a punishing cascade of laser bolts began to slam into the other ship's shields.

The Cobras pilot copied their manoeuvre, and soon both ships were circling each other, while exchanging vast broadsides of laser energy. The Invictus had more powerful laser cannons, and stronger shields, so the result of this fight was a foregone conclusion.

Alyssa guessed that the Armoured Cobras mercs must have realised the same thing, as their cruiser's shields looked more and more feeble, while Calara raked them mercilessly with laser blasts. She opened a comm channel to the mercenary ship, and after a brief crackle, the face of a middle aged, dark haired man appeared in the view-screen.

She smiled at him, and said cheerily, "Hi! This is Alyssa Marant in command of the Invictus. We're about to kill you, and all your men. Please let me know if you'd like to surrender, or I'll just let my Tactical Officer finish you off."

The man looked stunned that this young girl was in command of this lethal ship that had ripped apart his fleet, and he faltered a moment.

Alyssa frowned and said, "I'd make my mind up quickly! It doesn't look like your shields can take another volley."

"Nice bluff little girl," the mercenary commander said derisively, "but we can take a few hits, and your shields won't last much longer, then our heavy cannons will rip you apart!"

Calara's next salvo of laser cannon fire rippled over the mercenary cruiser's shields, causing orange pulsing circles in the shimmering sphere, before they finally faltered and collapsed. She had been aiming at the big guns on the top deck of their cruiser, and the mercenary ship shuddered violently as one of the heavy cannons was hit by several laser bolts, causing it to explode. The mercenary Bridge crew were shaken by the impact as the heavy cannon detonated, and it wiped the sneer off the mercenary commander's face.

Alyssa looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face, as she asked, "The heavy cannons she's shooting off your hull?" She glanced at her console, and frowned as she added, "I'm afraid our shields are still over half strength. They'll last quite long enough for her to get bored of tearing your ship to pieces..."

Two more trembling impacts occurred in rapid succession as a pair of heavy cannons were blown apart in the next devastating cascade of laser bolts.

"She's right!" a desperate looking merc shouted behind the commander. "They completely outclass us, we're totally fucked!"

Reacting quickly the mercenary commander said, "Alright! Alright! Hold fire, we surrender!"

Calara immediately stopped shooting, while Alyssa smiled at the man graciously. "Great! Now power down your weapons and engines, then wait here for further instructions. If you move, and force us to hunt you down, I won't give you a second chance to surrender. Clear?"

Nodding dejectedly, the man asked, "Who are you people?"

Alyssa grinned at him, and said enthusiastically, "We're the Lions of the Federation!"

She closed the comm channel, then brought the Invictus out of the death roll with the other cruiser. After powering up their engines to full, she pointed the Invictus straight for the planet, SerpentHold. They still had one last ship to stop.

***

John darted across the corridor in the Command Centre, and swung open the door opposite. There was a broad stairwell leading up to the level above, so he jogged over to the stairs, then ran up them two at a time. He didn't want to leave the girls on their own for any longer than he had to, so he was determined to get this over with as quickly as possible. There were a couple of double doors ahead of him, and he ran towards them, barrelling through, and slamming the heavy doors open into the Command and Control room.

The doors smashed back against the walls, making a wet, sickening crunch, as gouts of blood splattered out from the impact. The red smears were all that remained of the two mercs who had been waiting patiently to ambush him from behind the door frame. The mercenaries in here had heard the brief sound of gunfire coming from downstairs, and were all on alert, hiding behind sturdy computer consoles or desks. They stood up and opened fire with their assault rifles as John stormed into the room, and with five men firing on full auto, vast swarms of bullets tore towards him.

There was a deafening chorus of whumping sounds, as most of the bullets were harmlessly deflected by his magnetic field. Only a few managed to get through to strike his armour, and left small impact craters on the tough Alyssium plating. John stood there calmly, as he flipped the switch on his Punisher rifle to high power mode. Turning to aim at the first merc who was blazing away at him, John pulled the trigger on his rifle.

"VrmPkaow!" the rifle barked, and the mercenary's chest exploded as his corpse was thrown backwards.

He cut another two in half before the rest ducked down out of sight, so John just activated thermal imaging, and shot the next man through the cover instead. The metal console provided no protection from the massively powerful armour piercing rounds, and he shot a dinner plate sized hole through the console, and then the man cowering behind it. The last man bolted from cover, so John shot him in the back, blasting a big hole through the man, and the Ferrocrete wall behind him. The remains of the mercenary crumpled to the floor, and an eerie silence descended on the room.