Homecoming by Miiabe Inceru

Published on Kiith Iopia on date Unknown

The luxury cruiser Uuhal moved slowly towards the docking bay of The Elite Guards Flagship, EGS Harbinger. Its retrorockets cast a warm blue glow over the hull of the massive command vessel. With a firm reassuring “thump" the two spacecraft connected. Immediately fuel hoses snaked their way towards Uuhal, the silver steel of the jointed tentacles glinting in the glow of a nearby sun. A docking collar and crew passageway began its extension towards the main hatch of Uuhal. With a violent hiss of pressurization the collar latched onto the hatch, it's metal securing claws clanking into place. Beads of condensation almost immediately formed on the inside of the viewing windows as warm breathable air filled the passageway and met the icy cold of the plexiplas windows. At the inner hatches of both Uuhal and Harbinger green lights simultaneously winked on to signal stable pressurization in the passageway.
A tall, tribally tattooed Kushan command officer of The Elite Guards stood in front of the main hatch onboard the Uuhal. His hard, orange eyes squinted in anticipation of the rush of pressurized air signaled by the loud, rhythmic howling of the warning alarm. The twin circular locks of the hatch turned in synchronized motion and the pent up air of the docking airlock erupted into the Uuhal. The officer's sharply pressed Alpha dress uniform rustled in the oncoming air.
Steely eyes now wide open, Guardianus Poderosus Miiabe Inceru of The Elite Guards, stepped confidently into the docking passageway. At the end of the short passage he quickly entered the command security code he'd received from the Harbinger only minutes before. Security was never lax in The Elite Guards. When prompted he had to bend down for the retinal scan.

"These damn things were never designed for Kushans as tall as I," he mused a bit sardonically.
When the computer burbled pleasantly that he was indeed verified as Miiabe Inceru, the hatch of the Harbinger opened with another rush of air and another loud warning alarm. Standing at attention to greet him were Guardianus Matrias Apocalypse and Guardianus Navos Spawn. Returning their smart salute, Miiabe asked:
"Permission to come aboard?"

"Permission granted," answered Spawn.
"And welcome aboard, sir," added Apocalypse.
"Thank you, gentlemen. It's good to be home."
With both junior officers following behind him and slightly to the right, Miiabe strode quickly towards the bridge. He knew that CO Dread Lord would want to see him immediately. After a number of security checkpoints, with their back aching retinal scans, Miiabe arrived at the bridge hatch. Pausing briefly to make sure his uniform was still spotless, Miiabe followed through with the last security check. Miiabe stepped confidently onto the bridge of the most powerful vessel in The Elite Guards fleet.
"Officer on deck!" shouted the ensign on watch.
"Miiabe!" called Dread Lord across the immense bridge as he got up from the command seat.
Even though Miiabe was a full head taller than Dread Lord, Miiabe was always struck by the sheer power and command presence generated by his commanding officer. It was one of the reasons Miiabe would be eternally loyal to Dread Lord. Plus the fact that Miiabe knew he wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of any animosity of Dread Lord's. Although Miiabe could defeat Dread Lord five of our ten times in hand to hand combat training, the commanding officer's tactical knowledge and space combat techniques were unbeatable.
"Commander!" answered Miiabe as he moved to meet Dread Lord.
He stopped a full five paces from Dread Lord and snapped a salute that was quickly returned by the CO. After the formalities were out of the way, the two hugged firmly in a way that was only possible by soldiers who had faced death together.
"Glad to have you back aboard, my friend," said Dread Lord, "Things have been very hectic around here."
"I know. I've been following the communications channels," replied Miiabe, his brow furrowed with concern.
"We have much to go over in a staff meeting at 1800 with D. Stroyer and Death Fang," said Dread Lord.
"Where are they now?"
"D. Stroyer is leading a search and destroy mission on a Taiidan resource center we located hiding rather close by, and Death Fang is scouting our right flank for possible Taiidan incursions," answered Dread Lord.
"Excellent," added Miiabe, the thought of Taiidan resource collectors and command centers exploding into millions of pieces at the business end of D. Stroyer's ion cannons brought a smile to his face.
"Things are fairly quiet right now, Miiabe, so go get settled back into your quarters and join me here in one hour. You can regale me with the sordid tales of your R&R then," instructed Dread Lord with a smirk.
"Aye, aye, sir," replied Miiabe, executing a salute.
Miiabe did an about face and walked to the ensign on watch.
"Have my gear brought from the cruiser to my quarters, ensign."
"Yes, sir!" the ensign replied with a salute and left to execute his orders.
Miiabe went down the passageway towards the lift that would take him one deck down to his living quarters. His mind raced with anticipation of hearing D. Stroyer talk of his kills that day. Miiabe was already planning the strategies of the inevitable search and destroy mission of his own that would be coming soon. Another smile crossed his face.

The door slid silently open on it's air-cushioned hydraulics and Miiabe Inceru stepped inside the briefing room at precisely 1800 hours.

"Officer on deck!" announced the ensign by the door, snapping a salute.

Miiabe quickly returned the salute as his eyes scanned the room. There was Dread Lord at his customary position at the head of the table with D. Stroyer to his right. The fresh bandage on D.Stroyer’s head was no surprise to Miiabe. D. was never an "arm chair" commander and was always right in the thick of the battle. Miiabe made a mental note to buy D. Stroyer a drink later on and get the full story.

Next to D. Stroyer was Death Fang. Death was still wearing his flight suit and must have come straight from the hanger bay.

"I guess that scouting mission turned into something more," mused Miiabe.

On down around the table were Vandyne, Hells~Elf, Spawn and Nemesis bringing up the end of the right side.

Next to Miiabe's empty chair at Dread Lord's left were SinJin, Shadow, Apocolyps, Kuji Kiri and last, but most certainly not least, Cathedalu. Cathedalu had recently been awarded The Elite Guards Medal of Ruthlessness for a brutal and tactically amazing attack on a Taiidani fleet. The strategists were still trying to figure out how he managed to defeat the Taiidan when he was out numbered three to one. Miiabe knew why and it had nothing to do with strategy. Cathedalu's hatred of Taiidan ran deeper and harder than perhaps many realized. He gave no mercy and no risk was too great to defeat that vile race.

"Miiabe! Glad to see you're here," said Dread Lord, bringing the room to order. "Take your seat."

"Yes sir."

As Miiabe sat down the non-essential personnel in the room slipped out through the side doors and the room was automatically locked down. The faint whir of anti-listening devices kicked in behind the ventilation system's hum.

"Well, gentlemen, let me start off this briefing by officially welcoming back Miiabe Inceru. May he long fight beside us!" announced Dread Lord.

"Here, here!" chorused the rest of command staff.

"Thank you all," replied Miiabe, "although I must say it appears the EG have not been 'lax in my absence."

"Are we ever?" quipped Kuji Kiri, drawing a smile from all.

"You are quite right, Kuji," added Dread Lord. "Now, down to the affairs of the EG."

Dread Lord paused a moment before settling his steely gaze upon Death Fang and his grimy flight uniform.

"Well, Death Fang, since you didn't have time to change out of your flight gear perhaps you will let the rest of the EG know why."

"Of course," replied Death. "Gentlemen, as you know, I was scouting our right flank on a routine patrol. Turns out, it wasn't so routine."

Death Fang touched the tablescreen in front of him and a 3D holographic image appeared floating above the middle of the table.

"This is what broke the routine."

The image was somewhat hazy and broken up but it was clearly a Taiidan fighter class vehicle although it wasn't one Miiabe or anyone else had seen before.

"We discovered five of these fighters trying to sneak in past our patrol. They appear to be a Taiidan Scout fuselage that has been greatly modified. The underbelly is bigger and the stabilizing fins have been cut down quite a bit. As you can see the twin cannons up front have been removed and a very small pulsed ion cannon has been put to the left of the cockpit."

"Death," interrupted Spawn, "how do you know it's an ion cannon? It could simply be the standard, although reduced in size, pulse cannon?"

"Initially that's what I thought but one of my best Scout pilots found out the hard way that it's ion. That damn Taiidan cut through my man's cockpit in less than two seconds with that weapon."

Muttered curses were heard around the table.

"However there are some drawbacks to this vehicle from what we saw during the brief skirmish. They apparently cannot sustain ion bursts of more than one or two seconds as this holo shows."

Another 3D image appeared above the table. This one was taken on a very close fly by. The camera had captured the bright blue ion explosion almost at its start. It appeared the ion weapon had suffered a massive meltdown and exploded. Miiabe was sure he could see the flesh of the Taiidani pilot starting to crisp in the still-framed explosion.

"Also, these ships turn like a Surlak mud beast in a fresh summer mud hole. Extremely slow and cumbersome. Not only is their mobility very poor, their acceleration is almost as bad. When we stumbled across them they were hiding in an asteroid belt. Two of my interceptors flushed them out and it took them almost 15 seconds to reach 700 m/s. We need to issue a fleet wide communiqué to watch for these fighters and, if engaged, our pilots will do fine as long as they stay behind that ion weapon."

Dread Lord turned to Apocolyps, "As soon as we're finished here I want you to send that message."

"Yes, sir," answered Apocolyps.

"Gentlemen, your thoughts on this new Taiidan fighter," ordered Dread Lord.

"It's obviously not a frontal assault vehicle," said Miiabe.

"Aye, I agree," Shadow said, "much to vulnerable for that. I suspect they may be designed to destroy lightly escorted Resource units. You did find them hiding in a Resource belt, correct?"

"Yes, we did," answered Death Fang.

"Death Fang, did they appear to have any hyperspace capabilities?" asked Nemesis.

"Not from what we saw. After destroying my Scout they turned and fled but were easily hunted down by three of my light corvettes. I should add that their armor is strong as it took several minutes for my corvettes to destroy them. Once again, due to their poor maneuverability, they were easily dispatched from behind."

"Until we've completely analyzed this new threat to our fleet I want all Resource Units accompanied by light assault squads of four light corvettes, ten interceptors and two cloaks," ordered Dread Lord.

"Sir," SinJin spoke up, "that will severely tax our frontal assault capabilities to divert that many attack craft."

"Noted, SinJin, but if our Resource units are being destroyed by these damn Taiidan's, we won't have any resources left to maintain even our defensive forces."

"Yes, sir," replied SinJin.

"Send the order now," commanded Dread Lord.

"Done, sir," said Cathedalu as he went over to the secure comm console and issued the fleet wide directive.

"Good. I want all of you to review the holo-battle disk of Death Fang's skirmish and bring any thoughts on it to me," ordered Dread Lord.

All the officers around the table nodded in agreement.

"Now onto other matters. It seems the day for unexpected surprises. D. Stroyer, would you elaborate on that?"

"Yes, sir. I…."

An ear piercing proximity breach alert cut off D. Stroyer. Dread Lord's command view screen immediately jumped to life and the Officer of the Bridge was there.

"Sir! Our point forces have just encountered a hyperspace incursion by a large Taiidan attack fleet. Point is engaging them as we speak."

"How far to our front are they?" asked Dread Lord

"4000 meters and closing, sir!"

"Damn!" Dread Lord slammed his fist onto the table. "Engage all defensive forces and send two heavy assault squadrons to meet these bastards head on!"

He cut off the bridge view screen and quickly stood.

"I want all of you on your command ships immediately. D. Stroyer take your Battle Group out to 3000 meters and take up a reserve position. If the heavy assault squadrons need help it's your discretion when to jump in the fray."

"Yes sir!" D. Stroyer, and his Battle Group officers, immediately turned and stepped into fastpods in the wall behind the table. The fastpod was a one-man transport vehicle that would get each officer to the docking collar of their own ship in less than ten seconds.

"Death Fang, take your Battle Group and flank them on the port side. Miiabe, flank on the starboard with your Battle Group. I expect the two of you to meet in the middle and have a drink over those bastard's floating corpses!"

Both men, and their BG officers, immediately turned to their own fastpods and were gone.

Dread Lord quickly left the briefing room, went down the short hallway and emerged onto the bridge EGS Harbinger. For a brief half second he savored the sights, sounds and smells of a bridge turning to combat. Gods, how he loved it!

As the bright thruster tails of D. Stroyer's Battle Group filled the space in front of the Harbinger on their way to meet the enemy, Dread Lord stood in front of his command chair.

"Bring all weapons on line! Helmsman, take us up 2500 meters towards the enemy. Issue all hands red alert!"

Part III

The EGS Kurosawa, Miiabe Inceru’s command ship, rocked to port as four bright red ion blasts exploded the light corvette EGS Delphi in a showering plume of orange and yellow.

“Gods damn those Taiidani! How the hell did they get so many heavy ships past our perimeter?” shouted Miiabe.

“Unknown, sir, but they’re coming in fast!” replied his tactical officer, Apocolyps. “Another Heavy Cruiser just jumped in 800 meters starboard.”

Miiabe quickly scanned the tactical screen on the enveloping arm of his command chair.

“Tell Death Fang’s group to handle the fighters, we’re going after the big boys!” he ordered the communications officer.

“Yes sir,” replied the lieutenant.

“Order all our forces to concentrate their fire on the heavy class ships! I want them gone before they get any closer to the Mothership! Tell the Multi-Guns to engage the fighters and provide minimal cover!” shouted Miiabe over the combat noise.

“Order away, sir!”

Miiabe took quick pleasure in the immediate reaction he saw on the tactical, and visual, screens. His nine remaining destroyers (had they actually lost five already?), four heavy cruisers and fifteen heavy corvettes almost simultaneously broke their current engagements and began targeting the Taiidan’s heavy weapons platforms.

“Have the cruisers target all fire on that new Taiidan HC. Four against one oughta be even odds!”

Seconds after the order was given the EGS Priori, Riobli, Sumak, and Kunark Heavy Cruisers were moving towards their target, an ungainly looking red and green Taiidani HC. In a move that Miiabe loved to watch they fought their way to positions above, below, in front of and behind the enemy ship. With their corvettes and fighters providing cover for them, the HC’s immediately started pounding away at the Taiidan’s armor with their powerful ion cannons. In this position the Taiidan ship could only engage one Kushan HC at a time with it’s main guns. Although the front ship took the worst beating, it’s crew had to trust that the other three would finish off the enemy before they were destroyed.

In a brilliantly dazzling display of pyrotechnics and ion shrapnel, the Elite Guard ships poured ion beam after ion beam into the Taiidani cruiser's hull. Huge chunks of armor began to shatter from it’s skin and hurtle out into the fray. Every so often one of these flaming, white-hot pieces of metal would slam into an unsuspecting fighter screaming by at top speed and obliterate it in a fiery collision.

A sharp explosion buffeted the Kurosawa, bringing Miiabe out of his reverie.

“Sir, those two destroyers that just took out the Delphi have chosen us as their next prize!” said SinJin, Miiabe’s First Officer.

“Right. Let’s show them how we do things on the Kushan side of the universe! Have Shadow bring his group up here and engage the Taii’ fighters covering these destroyers. Notify me the second he’s started the engagement!”

“Yes, sir!” answered Apocolyps as he began the transmission to Shadow, who was aboard his Missile Destroyer, EGS Darkmoon.

Within seconds the forward wave of interceptors and cloaked fighters of Shadow’s force were streaking into view, pouncing upon anything smaller than a heavy corvette. Right behind them were the light and medium corvettes, their twin thruster tails blazing at full power. Even before Darkmoon came into visual range, Miiabe knew it was not far behind. Green streaks of explosive light were raining down on the combat arena banking and dodging after their targets. Brilliantly incandescence explosions began filling the area as missile after missile found its target.

At almost the same time the entire combat area went luminescent with a blinding bluish- white light. Explosive shockwaves sent fighters, on both sides, careening out of control. Some of them slammed into the larger ships, exploding instantly. The larger ships rocked, sending ion salvos wildly off target.

“Excellent!” cried Miiabe. “Target all ions on the lead destroyer now!”

Being a heavier ship, the Kurosawa was less affected by the violent shockwaves and her weapons tracking devices could easily handle the target correction. Four immensely powerful blasts of brilliant ember red shot out from the quadruple forward cannons of the Kurosawa. They blew apart several Taiidan fighters unfortunate enough to be in their path and struck the enemy destroyer amidships. Finding the destroyer to be a weak target, the ion beams burst through the ship and mushroomed out the other side. The destroyer burst apart in a shower of sparks and flame, it’s two halves spinning wildly out of control. An unexpected bonus came when the aft section, exhaling flame and smoke, smashed into the forward section of its sister destroyer, seriously crippling her. The ion generators of the second destroyer exploded with the impact and left her a crippled, easy target for the Elite Guard salvage crews.

The crew of the Kurosawa had only a short time to celebrate.

“Sir, another Taiidan HC is bearing down on…..” the lieutenant never finished his sentence as a mind jarring explosion rocked the Kurosawa.

The bridge crew were thrown about their stationary combat seats, the securing arms of the chairs holding them in place. If they survived they would suffer for weeks afterward with immense bruises on their thighs. Smoke and sparks filled the bridge as several consoles shorted and a fire broke out on the forward tactical display. Immediately several firebots rushed from hidden orifices under the consoles and started showering the blaze with smother-foam.

“Damage report!” shouted Miiabe over the alarms.

“We were hit aft by a large ion burst, sir!” reported SinJin. “Main thrusters are out, only secondaries are left. Sixteen engineering decks are either destroyed or burning. That new aft armor isn’t as strong as the researchers claimed it to be!”

“What about the aft defensive cannons? Are they operational?”

“Yes sir but...”

“Shut down all fuel pumps and seal off all rear decks. Fire the cannons directly behind us in the area of the explosion! Now!”

The split second Apocolyps got the green light that all fuel pumps were off and the rear quarter of the ship was sealed, he fired the aft cannons towards the space behind the damaged section of the heavy cruiser.

As the yellow, heavy-metal pulse beams lanced through open space they ignited the massive cloud of thruster fuel, which had gathered like a dewdrop behind them. Due to their forward momentum when the Kurosawa was hit the fuel had trailed behind them, a deadly cloud waiting to be ignited. Only too late did the Taiidan heavy cruiser, which had dealt the crippling blow, see what was in store for it. Much too heavy to avoid stopping or turning in time, the Taiidan HC flew straight into the ignited inferno erupting in front of it. With immensely high temperatures the massive burning cloud, fueled on by flammable debris from the battle, engulfed the forward sections of the cruiser. Thick armor plating of the forward section seemed to hold but was blackening and starting to crack. The bridge, however, was not so lucky. While thick and able to withstand direct pulse cannon fire, the plasarmor of the bridge view window was no match for the searing heat. It melted to a point where the force of the high heat shattered it in a massive implosion. The fire gulped hungrily at the fresh supply of oxygen and roiled into the bridge. The crew were roasted instantly, their bodies crisping and turning to charcoal before they even realized what had happened. Feeding on the seemingly endless supply of oxygen the fire began to race its way through the ship igniting everything in it’s path.

Aboard the Kurosawa, Miiabe knew he had seconds to react and deal the final blow to the Taiidani bastard who had crippled his ship. Since the fuel pumps had been shut off, the trail of fuel ended some 100 meters aft of his vessel. Due to forward drift Miiabe knew they would still catch some of the explosion but he was betting the remaining external fire control systems would be able to handle it. He was also counting on the force of the fuel explosion to give him what he needed: a push in the right direction.

With her incredible weight, over eight hundred thousand tons, the Kurosawa would not be rolled over in the ensuing explosion but, as Miiabe hoped, would be spun around…directly into firing position on the enemy cruiser.

As Miiabe barked commands to his crew the shipped was hammered hard by the tremendous explosion of fuel. An ensign, dazed by the earlier explosion, had ignorantly gotten up from the secure envelopment of his combat chair. When the shockwave hit, he was thrown like a ragdoll against the bulkhead across the bridge. His head exploded like a melon dropped from a building and he fell lifeless to the deck.

When Miiabe judged the Kurosawa to be about a quarter of the way through the relatively fast spin created by the concussion, he acted.

“FIRE!!” Miiabe shouted above the thunderous explosion. His voice barely a whisper in all the noise but enough to be heard by SinJin who fired all four ion cannons simultaneously.

The brilliant streams of deadly energy cut a destructive swath through space, annihilating everything in their path. After eliminating a few stray fighters who wandered where they shouldn’t have, the scarlet beams found their true mark. They struck the flaming section of the Taiidan cruiser just to the rear of the bridge. With the hull already weakened by the intense blaze and beginning to collapse, the armor plating was no match for the raw ion power. The beams punched through the hull like hot lead through glass. They ignited the remaining ammunition stores of the forward rail guns in a dazzling display of fireworks. A series of concussive blasts rocked through the enemy vessel. Gases and flames licked out in cracks where the armor had weakened. She was coming apart at the seams and not liking it very much. The screams of metal tearing metal and Taiidanis dying mingled together in one great cacophony of death. With a final, terrible groan her hull gave and the Taiidani heavy cruiser burst apart in a blinding explosion of heat, molten metal and fury.

Listing almost sixty-five degrees to starboard she lay gasping smoke and flame aft. The EGS Kurosawa’s broken hull stretched out twisted steel fingers to the icy cold of space but she was alive.

The medical report of the Kurosawa’s Chief Medical Officer would later report the seventy-nine broken limbs of crewmen who had been thrown against bulkheads during the massive shockwaves. The report would also list the death of forty-four crewmen, fifteen whom had been sucked into space when their engineering decks had been opened to space in the crippling ion blast.

Hanging awkwardly in their combat chairs the bridge crew began the process of damage assessment. Miiabe’s first thoughts were to the fact that the Kurosawa was a big, fat, and helpless target to any remaining Taiidan ships in the area. An immediate glance at what remained of his tactical display, many systems had shorted out, showed that he needn’t worry of that. Over forty EG ships had enveloped his wounded vessel in a protective Sphere formation and were easily defending her against the Taiidan vultures trying to pick at her damaged steel flesh. He could also see that Death Fang had followed Dread Lord’s orders to the letter and was coming up fast to meet him, Miiabe Inceru, in the middle.

Knowing that he was safe from destruction he turned his mind to damage control.

“ArtGrav off!” he ordered, knowing his crew could work better in zero gravity than hanging onto chairs in this awful list.

Within a few seconds he felt his stomach knot up tightly as gravity’s fingers slipped from his body and the gentle caress of zero gee encompassed him. Free from the bonds of falling he released the stiffly padded arms of his combat chair and floated.

“I want damage assessments from all sections in two minutes!” he shouted.

“And someone turn off that damn alarm!” he added with a grimace.

Even with the alarm off he found himself giving orders loudly, his ears still ringing and partially deaf from the incredible explosions.

He looked over at the now weightless body of the foolish ensign who had been smashed against the bulkhead. The blood and fluids, which had been splattered against the bulkhead, were now floating in round clumps about the bridge. Autonomous drones, who’s only job was to prevent liquids of any kind from spreading around the bridge and shorting out consoles (especially in zero gee) were busy vacuuming up. It was a rather disturbing site to watch. Especially the drone hovering near the ensign’s shattered skull catching what was still leaking.

“Get some goddamn medics up here to remove that body!” he barked.

“Damage reports coming in, sir,” reported Apocolyps.

“Give them to me,” commanded Miiabe.

“Engineering reports twenty seven men lost, nine engineering decks gone or critically damaged. Only nominal ship power is available and CPO Subal suggests shutting down all non-essential systems to preserve life support until we can dock for repair.”

“Can we correct the listing before we shut down?” asked Miiabe.

“No, sir, I suggest we don’t,” came the voice of Chief Petty Officer Subal, Miiabe’s Engineering Chief who’d been listening on the open channel, “we’ve barely enough power as it is to run life support for another seven hours.”

“Damn. All right then, shut down to only essential core power.”

The main lighting of the bridge dimmed and the red glow of the emergency lights came on. All bridge systems but weapons, comm and tactical shut down. An eerie silence engulfed the bridge.

“Medical report,” ordered Miiabe next.

Chief Medical Officer Bondar’s voice came over the bridge comm speakers,

“Sir, we have many broken bones, contusions, bruises and cuts. So far I have thirty reported dead and I fear that will rise. We are down to about thirty-seven percent crew capacity.”

“Do what needs to be done and get as many of the crew back to their stations a.s.a.p.”

“Yes sir,” answered CMO Bondar and cut the transmission.

“Weapons reports all six rail guns are down due to severed power lines aft. We have most of our defensive guns available but they won’t do much good in a serious fight,” said Apocolyps.

“Tell me something I don’t know, Lieutenant Commander,” Miiabe said gruffly.

“Yes sir. If necessary we can fire one ion cannon but that last burst melted the ion fuel pathways of the three other cannons. We’re pretty much a rock in space with some pellet guns to defend herself,” concluded Lt. Commander Apocolyps.

“We certainly are,” agreed Miiabe, “we certainly are.”

“Incoming transmission from EGS Darkmoon, sir,” informed the comm officer.

“Put it through, lieutenant.”

Shadow’s deep voice boomed through the speakers.

“Glad to see you’re still with us, sir!”

“Thanks, Shadow. So are we. How’s the situation look from your point of view?” Miiabe was referring to the battle as well as his own ship.

“We have the attack contained, sir. Death Fang is mopping up the remaining enemy forces and we are keeping a defensive perimeter around you. We’re catching a stray fighter or light corvette every now and then but nothing too big. The Kurosawa’s seen much better days, sir, much better days. That was a damn fine maneuver you pulled, if I may say so, sir”

“Thank you, Shadow. We do what we have to to defend the Mothership.” Miiabe signaled the end of the transmission to Shadow. “Send our sitrep to Dread Lord aboard the Harbinger and notify me immediately of his reply.”

“Yes sir,” answered SinJin as he moved to carry out the order.

Miiabe looked around his damaged bridge and felt a surge of pride at what they had done. It was coupled with a deep sense of loss for the crewmembers who died today. “Battle has its price,” he thought.

“Bridge crew, I will be putting all of you up for commendations. You have behaved above and beyond the call of duty. The Mothership, I know, would thank you,” he announced.

The crew, knowing the price they had just paid for that commendation, took the news honorably.

“Incoming transmission for EGS Harbinger, sir,” said SinJin.

“Put it through,” answered Miiabe Inceru, commander of the EGS Kurosawa, with a heavy heart.