"Marking targets Alpha to Echo," Sun Park reported as the captain entered the bridge.
"Deploy defense drones," Jacks ordered as he strapped himself in.
"Drones deployed."
"Target all weapons on designation Echo."
"Target acquired."
"Fire missiles one through ten."
"Missiles away."
"Rail guns on target. Fire."
Ten smoke trails shot away from the Wandering Star, spiraling towards the enemy ship. Silvery shards of metal followed in their path, destined to meet the enemy head on. Missiles from the enemy ship roared towards them, but the defensive drones intercepted them before they could reach the ship.
"Echo appears to have taken heavy damage."
"Fire again."
"Firing.
As Delta and Echo ships peeled off towards the Wandering Star, Alpha, Bravo and Charlie moved towards the Broognan, missiles and guns firing.
Alpha exploded in a massive fireball as explosions peppered the hull of the Amook ship. Pieces of hull and small, blobby bodies spewed into space where the hull was breached. The ship turned to protect it's damaged flank, firing once again at the merciless enemy.
Echo was consumed by a fireball as Bravo suffered the same fate, twin explosions throwing debris and bodies throughout the area that they were traveling.
Fire and shrapnel flew from the Broognan's engines, sending it into an uncontrollable roll. That didn't stop them from firing, scoring a direct hit to Bravo's bridge. The ship continued it's trajectory, unpiloted and out of control, directly into the path of the Amook ship. Unable to steer, the two ships collided in a bone-jarring teeth-rattling conflagration that shook everyone who saw it.
"My ship!" Captain Broognan cried from his harness on the bridge.
"That leaves two to one," Jacks said, "I don't like those odds."
"Orders Captain?"
"Deploy the Emperor."
"Aye Captain. EMPeror deployed."
"Now let's get the hell out of here."
"Main drives are offline."
"Use the grav drive. Bring up the EM drive too.
"Course?"
"Take us behind the Planet."
"Aye, sir."
As the Wandering Star maneuvered with surprising agility, heading around Old Dusty, pieces of the Amook ship, along with some from the Bravo ship, were caught in the magnetic waves generated by the electromagnets studding the ship's hull. They swirled along the hull without touching it, pulled back and away from her.
The EMPeror torpedo darted towards the two remaining enemy ships, Charlie and Delta. Countermeasures poured from both ships, but they were too late. Directly between the two ships the Emperor detonated, causing a powerful electromagnetic pulse.
The fires in Charlie and Delta's engines died, as did the lights. Their computers shut down and life support failed. They were out of control, slowly spinning as they continued on their course until they were caught by Old Dusty's gravitational field.
Captain Jacks watched with grim satisfaction as the two ships glowed yellow, then red as they burned into the atmosphere. They broke apart, and flaming pieces of what used to be attack ships plunged into the surface of the barren world.
"Who were those people?" Jacks asked the Amook captain
"They were ships of the Glorious Imperial Ascendency. They must have followed my ship here."
"Who are they?"
"That is a story that can wait until we get home."
"All decks report damage."
"Engineering. We took some damage to the reactor, Captain. It'll take a few hours to fix, so it will be out of service for awhile. We also lost a bunch of grav coils. Replacing those will be a bit more of a challenge, but nothing we can't handle."
"Agrodome here. A couple of panels took some damage. It's not serious, but we should replace them when we get a chance."
"Supply reporting. We lost a storage locker. They got the steaks, dammit!"
"I am sorry for the loss of your ship," Jacks said to Captain Broognan.
"They died honorably in defense of themselves and our allies. May they add to the artwork of the Universe and make it a more beautiful place."
"May they add to the artwork of the Universe," his two guards echoed.
"Mister King," the captain called over the radio, "Get your teams moving. I want us ship shape and ready to go in twenty-four hours."
"You got it boss," came the reply.
"It may not be beautiful, but it is still magnificent," Broognan said as they approached the Kree base from the shuttle.
"I've been meaning to ask you," Jacks said, "why was your ship named after you?"
"I was the one who designed it," Broognan said as if it were obvious, "and I helped to build it. That is the way it has always been among the Amook."
"That's very impressive. Are you an engineer too?"
"I was an engineer," the alien scoffed, "but now I am a Captain." He sounded very proud.
"You are obviously an Amook of great skill and talent. It is an honor to know you."
"Yes. Well let's get back into the base. I am eager to see it for myself."
"Lead the way."
As they walked, Broognan pointed out some ports in the surface of he landing pad, and theorized that they were for refueling and resupplying ships that landed there. Jacks agreed with him, then told him about the retracting landing pad on the other side of the base.
"The Kree were impressively efficient."
"Definitely. You should see the inside."
While the captains were touring the tower, Griff, an engineering technician, and Billy-Bob, a pilot, were down in the Kree maintenance bay looking at the teardrop shuttle. Captain Jacks had told them to get it flying if they could, and get it up to the Wandering Star.
"Do ya think you kin do it?" Billy-Bob asked, admiring the ship and the bay equally.
"I won't know 'til I get into it."
"Then go, son. Go."
Griffin headed for the open panel on what he assumed was the rear of the shuttle, while Billy-Bob tried to find a way to get inside to the cockpit. An hour later he found a cleverly hidden activation panel that caused a large rectangle to appear. That rectangle swung downwards to provide a ramp into the shuttlecraft.
"Yee-haw!" he yelled, throwing his cap into the air.
Griff's muffled voice came from the back, "I take it you found the door?"
"Hells yeah. I'm da man."
"Yes you are. Can you get in there and see if there's some sort of diagnostic console?"
"Sure thing," the pilot said as he climbed in through the portal that was twice as tall and wide as he was. And Billy-Bob wasn't a small man.
Lights came on as he stepped inside. It was more spacious than he would have guessed. But then again, is was designed by king-sized aliens.
Consoles came to life, some with holographic displays showing the shuttle or just a bunch of incomprehensible symbols and gibberish. It was as if the ship was reading his mind. He was used to having to turn everything on manually.
"I got a display of the ship here," he shouted, The engines are red, and so is something else that I can't tell what it is."
"I'm just reconnecting things back here," Griff called back, "then we'll see how it looks."
"Perhaps I may be of assistance," Groon said as he approached Griffin, half in and half out of the access port.
