took one of the destroyers from its unshielded side amidships. Secondary explosions rent the ship apart in a series of blinding explosions.
“What happened?” the squadron commander demanded.
“A new ship was shielded in the vast amounts of debris,” a technician called as a second destroyer was hit, that ship just managing to bring shields to bear. “It’s a battlecruiser, Fiisk class!”
“That is not possible!” the commander hissed in outrage.
“Incoming missiles!”
The Fiisk cast loose the dozens of pieces of debris it had held in place with forcefield generators as it released wave after wave of missiles. Point defense batteries on the T’Chillen cruiser spun to align with the missiles just as the incoming weapons split, and split again, each piece then accelerating in an instant to almost a quarter the speed of light.
“What—” was all the squadron commander managed before the missiles hit.
Point defense hit dozens of them and still more than a dozen of the newly found Sub-C Kinetic missiles splashed across the already lightly shielded flank of the cruiser. Extra shields were brought around to help hold the damage, too late.
The shields gone, the second wave of missiles accelerated at tens of thousands of gravities, reaching almost half the speed of light before impact. The actual projectiles only weighed 100kg each. The kinetic impact was more than ten kilotons of force for each. Armor plating and structure, only finished weeks ago, was torn apart as compartments exploded, explosively venting atmosphere and hundreds of wildly spinning snakes.
The Kaatan opened up with pinpoint accuracy from the opposite side against now-weakened shields, anti-particle accelerator beams, A-paws, easily overwhelming the defenses and ripping into the hull. Inside the much weaker interior structure entire sections were torn apart and one missile magazine unleashed its destruction on its own ship. The cruiser’s hull contained the missiles explosion, channeling it inward. In the CIC, the newly minted squadron commander never knew what hit him as the command center was vaporized less than a second after the missile magazine exploded. Secondary explosions rippled through her hull. The cruiser swelled and ruptured like a balloon.
The two surviving destroyers both tried to turn on the heavy cruiser, sensing that its shielding was not working ideally, only to themselves be set upon by the Kaatan. Caught between the massive firepower of the Fiisk, and the slashing attacks of the Kaatan, they were quite literally sliced to pieces while their commanders screamed for help that would never arrive in time.
Unnoticed, the small group of Ibeen slipped away on the far side of the solar system, accelerating quietly past the speed of light and away.
In the CIC of the Kaatan Minu floated next to her daughter. The two women looked at each other and both nodded. The fire that burned in Minu’s eyes was one of both victory and anticipation. Her daughter had defeated more than a few T’Chillen, Mok-Tok and Tanam ships. Those fights were often desperate things with their outcomes in question to the end. Except for that first fight against the T’Chillen in the Rasa’s old homeworld, none had been so one sided as this one.
Lilith reset the shield controls to normal. There had never been any danger of a breach. Her ship could have stood that level of onslaught almost indefinitely without being in danger. The ruse worked perfectly.
“Things are going to start to change now,” Minu said, her mind awhirl with plans now begun to be realized, “and for the likes of them,” she indicated the field of debris that had only recently been five T’Chillen warships, “not for the better.”
“I look forward to it,” Lilith told her mother.
Minu could see that in the young girl. She never seemed more alive than when she was in combat with her ship. She’s my daughter, of that there was little doubt.
“Let’s go,” Minu said.
“What happened?” the squadron commander demanded.
“A new ship was shielded in the vast amounts of debris,” a technician called as a second destroyer was hit, that ship just managing to bring shields to bear. “It’s a battlecruiser, Fiisk class!”
“That is not possible!” the commander hissed in outrage.
“Incoming missiles!”
The Fiisk cast loose the dozens of pieces of debris it had held in place with forcefield generators as it released wave after wave of missiles. Point defense batteries on the T’Chillen cruiser spun to align with the missiles just as the incoming weapons split, and split again, each piece then accelerating in an instant to almost a quarter the speed of light.
“What—” was all the squadron commander managed before the missiles hit.
Point defense hit dozens of them and still more than a dozen of the newly found Sub-C Kinetic missiles splashed across the already lightly shielded flank of the cruiser. Extra shields were brought around to help hold the damage, too late.
The shields gone, the second wave of missiles accelerated at tens of thousands of gravities, reaching almost half the speed of light before impact. The actual projectiles only weighed 100kg each. The kinetic impact was more than ten kilotons of force for each. Armor plating and structure, only finished weeks ago, was torn apart as compartments exploded, explosively venting atmosphere and hundreds of wildly spinning snakes.
The Kaatan opened up with pinpoint accuracy from the opposite side against now-weakened shields, anti-particle accelerator beams, A-paws, easily overwhelming the defenses and ripping into the hull. Inside the much weaker interior structure entire sections were torn apart and one missile magazine unleashed its destruction on its own ship. The cruiser’s hull contained the missiles explosion, channeling it inward. In the CIC, the newly minted squadron commander never knew what hit him as the command center was vaporized less than a second after the missile magazine exploded. Secondary explosions rippled through her hull. The cruiser swelled and ruptured like a balloon.
The two surviving destroyers both tried to turn on the heavy cruiser, sensing that its shielding was not working ideally, only to themselves be set upon by the Kaatan. Caught between the massive firepower of the Fiisk, and the slashing attacks of the Kaatan, they were quite literally sliced to pieces while their commanders screamed for help that would never arrive in time.
Unnoticed, the small group of Ibeen slipped away on the far side of the solar system, accelerating quietly past the speed of light and away.
In the CIC of the Kaatan Minu floated next to her daughter. The two women looked at each other and both nodded. The fire that burned in Minu’s eyes was one of both victory and anticipation. Her daughter had defeated more than a few T’Chillen, Mok-Tok and Tanam ships. Those fights were often desperate things with their outcomes in question to the end. Except for that first fight against the T’Chillen in the Rasa’s old homeworld, none had been so one sided as this one.
Lilith reset the shield controls to normal. There had never been any danger of a breach. Her ship could have stood that level of onslaught almost indefinitely without being in danger. The ruse worked perfectly.
“Things are going to start to change now,” Minu said, her mind awhirl with plans now begun to be realized, “and for the likes of them,” she indicated the field of debris that had only recently been five T’Chillen warships, “not for the better.”
“I look forward to it,” Lilith told her mother.
Minu could see that in the young girl. She never seemed more alive than when she was in combat with her ship. She’s my daughter, of that there was little doubt.
“Let’s go,” Minu said.
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