Well, here I'm again. Another chapter. This time, however, I'm gonna do something different. Well, I don't want the story to focus only on Falmart and the planet itself. Remember, that there still is war going on in the Milky Way. So, I decided to give it some time too. And it will be this chapter.
Okay, without further ado, let's get to it.
Chapter 20
,,Hegemony"
September 6, 2150
12:33
Angier System, asteroid belt
Asteroid belt of Angier System was the same as other asteroid belts. It was place, where number of private and corporate mining operations were taking place. It was also border between inner, rocky planets of the system and gas giants. Number of transfer stations were placed there and even some private shipyards could be found there.
But today, it was place of a training.
"Delilah to all units. Prepare for the mission to start."Delilah said.
After Tyuule revealed the truth of her capturing by Zorzal and opening of the recruitment center in Alnustown, Delilah was one of the first people to sign up for service in Resistance military. She didn't had to worry about her tavern back in the town, as Karilia said, that she will take care of it, while Warrior Bunny was gone.
After signing up, Delilah was implemented to the unit called '1st Warrior Bunny Fighter Infantry Platoon', consisting of her and some other Warrior Bunnies. From what she knew about Fighter Infantry, it was a formation in the military, which connected abilities of ground combat, with fighter piloting skills. Next, they were put through harsh training, which almost brought them at their limits. During the training, under the eyes of White Squadron, they learned how to pilot and fly the Eurofighter Cyclones.
But after opening of the Second Gate and Resistance vessels crossing it, admiral Chesterfield decided, that it would be good to assign them on one of the ships. And with Tyuule commanding Selene, it wasn't a hard choice. Soon, 1st Warrior Bunnies, as unit was shortly called, became part of Guided Missile Cruiser's on-board contingent.
And now, they were here, during their first true combat training. Last week was spent in training in Selene's weightlessness chamber, where Warrior Bunnies learned how to fight in zero-G. In this training, they had to put these abilities to use.
Scenario was simple. Based on one of battles of UNSA-SDF War, enemy Destroyer, here played by RNS Tunguska and it's crew, carrying experimental fighter was hiding in asteroid belt. Warrior Bunnies had to get aboard, capture the experimental fighter and escape.
Delilah looked over the small rock she was hiding behind and eyed the area. Target Destroyer was right in front of her. As her helmet visor informed her, two enemies were guarding the engineer, which was doing some repairs on the outside.
"Three enemies at the left engine."she reported to the rest of her team."Heley, Kenya. Take them out."
"On it."two Warrior Bunnies replied.
On Delilah's HUD, she could see two blue dots moving out of their cover and floating in the direction of the Destroyer. Not long after, Delilah saw three muffled flashes of light, as her team's snipers eliminated the enemy.
Of course, these bullets were not lethal. After impact, they were sending an impulse, which was making the uniform's intelligent material stiffen.
"Rest of the team, move."Delilah ordered.
All Warrior Bunnies in the area quickly joined the two snipers and slowly approached the vessel. They checked around to see, if no more enemies are approaching their position.
"Clear."Delilah said, turning to another Warrior Bunny."Macy, your turn."
Macy saluted and reached her backpack. From there, she took an EMP bomb, which she put on the inner side of the engine, as she was taught. She showed thumbs up.
"Let's send signal to Selene."Delilah said.
Next, Macy pressed the detonator and EMP wave spread across the ship's engines, turning them off. On the bridge, crew tried to activate the engines, but all systems were fried. In the same moment, a distortion of space appeared. Not long after, distortion changed into a Guided Missile Cruiser.
Immediately, missiles and bullets started flying between two ships, turning attention from small infiltration team, which was now entering the ship through the maintenance shaft.
Few minutes later…
After few minutes, Warrior Bunnies squeezed through the shaft and started securing the perimeter. They finally could deactivate their visors and started looking around. Delilah entered the last.
"Clear!"Warrior Bunny on the left said.
"Clear!"Warrior Bunny on the right said.
"Good, keep an eye on the enemy."Delilah ordered.
She then activated her hand terminal and holographic map of the ship appeared in the air.
"Our target is in the hangar. The shortest way there, will be through here."Delilah said.
Red line then showed the way from the machine room they were in. It led through the corridor and then to the elevator on it's end.
"Easiest way, huh?"Emmy, heavy weapons specialist of the team, asked.
"Easiest, but remember, that they could be there in big numbers."Delilah pointed out.
Emmy just checked ammo status in her RPD-6 machine gun and smiled. Delilah just sighed. She and Emmy knew each other since the Imperial Conquest of the Northern Territories. She always liked to charge into the battle recklessly, several times almost being killed. After the war, she became wandering mercenary and after hearing about new force challenging the Empire, she came to Alnus. Even now, she was wearing heavy armor and used the heaviest weapons in the squad.
"Okay. Let's get this thing going."Delilah said.
Warrior Bunnies nodded and checked their ammo status. Should be enough.
On the outside, two UNSA Marines serving in the training as Holy Order Marines were standing on both sides of the door and waited.
"You think we can take care of them?'one of them asked.
"Who knows."second replied.
Right then, the door opened. The two aimed their weapons, but no one came out. Instead, a small object rolled out of there.
"Flash…!"Marine tried to shout, but flashbang exploded first.
Seconds later, Emmy and Delilah grabbed the two, suffocated them, until they lost senses and put on the floor. If the two truly were Holy Order Marines, they would probably be dead.
"Okay, let's move."Delilah ordered.
Squad then started moving down the corridor, preparing for any confrontation with the enemy. On the outside, fire exchange between Destroyer and Selene continued. Fortunately, both ships were using blank missiles and shells, which instead of doing damage, they just fell into little pieces.
"Seems like they're having fun."Macy said.
"Indeed."Delilah said."But we have our own task now. Let's move."
However, behind the turn, they were met by UNSA Marines.
"Take cover!"Delilah ordered.
Immediately, Warrior Bunnies hid behind the boxes and UNSA Marines started opening fire. From time to time, Warrior Bunnies looked over the boxes and returned fire. But Human Marines were making sure they won't move.
"Macy, grenade launcher!"Delilah ordered.
Macy nodded and loaded grenade to her riffle's grenade launcher. She aimed up and soon, grenade flew through the air. It hit the ground and exploded, knocking out some of the enemies. Little confusion made among them, let Warrior Bunnies to easily mp up the remaining ones and soon, they were on the move again. They reached the elevator, which led to the hangar and took it.
Few minutes later, they were in hangar, where they saw number of soldiers and ship crew running around between loading mechs and vehicles. Warrior Bunnies didn't waited long and started eliminating all enemy troops, which stood in their way towards the experimental fighter.
"There it is!"Emmy said.
Delilah looked in the direction pointed by her and saw the 'experimental fighter'. More precisely, it was played by older HAL Jackal, a fighter used back in UNSA-SDF War. Warrior Bunnies quickly started making it's way towards it.
"Ves, how are you doing?"Delilah asked another teammate.
This time, it was Ves. A Warrior Bunny, which during training showed pretty good computer and hacker abilities, much to everyone's surprise. Since they entered the ship, she was trying to break into it's systems.
"Got it."she said.
"Okay."Delilah said."Wait for my signal."
Some remaining enemies tried to resist, but Warrior Bunnies made quick work of them. Only thing that was left, was the fighter.
"Secure the perimeter. I will take care of this."Delilah said.
Warrior Bunnies went to do their task, while Delilah went to the fighter. She opened the canopy and got inside, trying to remind everything she remembered from the training.
"Okay, press this, pull this…"she said, checking the dashboard.
After few seconds, the fighter VTOL engines turned on and fighter started slowly lifting up.
"Yup, there it is."Delilah said and activated her communicator."Ves, do your job."
Team's hacker nodded and pressed something on her terminal. Everyone activated their magnetic boots, right when the hangar's door opened into the open space. Everything that wasn't attached to the floor was sucked out. Soon, it stopped.
"Okay, let's move out."Delilah ordered.
She slowly directed the fighter out of the hangar and her teammates followed, when their fighters on autopilot appeared and they jumped inside.
"Let's get back to Selene."Delilah said.
Fighters flew in the direction of Guided Missile Cruiser and soon, they were inside. There, they were met by their training instructor.
"I have to say, that was quick."he said.
"Thank you, Sir."Emmy said.
"But still. I saw everything from your cameras."instructor said."It seems like you really like to go happy-go-lucky."
"This is how we are, Sir."Delilah said.
"Now, after the mission, got take some free time."
Warrior Bunnies saluted and walked out of the hangar.
Meanwhile…
Selene's bridge
On the ship's bridge, Tyuule sat in her captain's chair and looked at the hologram of a young man, dressed in Navy uniform.
"Hope we didn't damaged your ship or any of your men, captain."Tyuule said.
Captain of Tunguska shook his head.
"No, I must say, that I'm impressed by your soldiers. Tunguska didn't got any damage, so I don't feel any anger."he said."I hope we will fight side by side one day again."
"Me too."former Battle Queen said and captain disconnected.
Tyuule, in the meantime, looked around the bridge of her vessel. Since she assumed command over it, she managed to know the names of all the crewmen. Crew was mostly Human, as none other Falien decided to join the Navy as a crewmate. But still, these men and women she now served with, were probably some of the best soldiers he ever knew.
Right then, Tunguska activated the hyperspace drive and jumped out of the area.
"Seems like they're coming back."Tyuule said."Emily."she turned to navigator."Set up course for…"
"Captain!"comms officer turned to her.
"What is it, Miles?"Warrior Bunny asked.
"There is a message from admiral Chesterfield."
"Play it."
Miles nodded and pressed the button. Soon, message played on the speakers:
"All vessels within Angier System! Return to your ports immediately! Repeat, return to…"
Miles stopped the message and everyone on the bridge looked at each other.
"What can this mean?"weapons officer asked.
"I don't know, Gerry, and I don't like it."Tyuule said."But let's listen to this and let's go."
Emily nodded and set the course. Soon, Selene entered hyperspace and left the place.
14:32
Fort Terhis
After admiral Chesterfield gave her order to the vessels, and other fleet commanders did the same all across Galaxy, situation in Fort Terhis and Alnustown became tense, as soldiers seemed to be pretty nervous. No one knew, what was happening.
No one, except TF03 commanders, White Squadron and Pina. Currently, they all were in base's command room.
"So, please, major Barkhorn, show this to us."Eriksson said."The new weapon you told us about."
Ester walked up to the holo-table and activated her hand terminal. She moved her hand over it and the photo from there, showed over the table in holographic window. And what they all saw, made them pale, seeing it.
"Holy shit…"Amanda said.
On the photo, they could see enormous vessel hovering in space over planet, which was burning under it. Surely, this ship wasn't the size of Super Battleship or Super Carrier. Just much, much, much bigger. In it's middle part, it had giant, ball-shaped module.
"What the hell…?"Pina asked.
"During our mission to Ga'Raf II, we found this ship hovering over planet."Dora said."Planet was changed into simple burning wasteland. And we think, that this thing did it."
Everyone once more looked at the photo.
"How do you think?"Amanda asked."How big it is?"
"In my opinion?"Ester said."I think it's somewhere between twenty to thirty kilometers."
Everyone widened their eyes.
"Thirty…"Jessica asked in disbelief.
"You don't know exactly?"Pina asked.
Ester threw up her arms.
"We had to quickly run away, if we wanted to live. Ike also didn't wanted to be destroyed."she replied.
One more time, everyone looked at the enormous ship in front of them.
"You think this is something Enean?"Jessica asked.
"I don't know. But if it is, then we're in big trouble."Chesterfield said.
"Yet, we still need to destroy it."Eriksson said.
Pina, however, was thinking about what Jessica said.
"Wait, what is 'Enean'?"she asked.
Everyone looked at each other.
"Right, you don't know."Dora said.
"Allow us to explain."Eriksson said."Eneans were the ancient civilization, which once ruled entire Galaxy. They were believed to be the race, that created first hyperspace drive and thanks to this, they easily overtaken the Galaxy."
"However, fifty million years ago, their entire civilization simply disappeared."Ester said.
Pina looked at her.
"How is it 'disappeared'?"she asked.
"Nobody knows. This is their biggest secret."Ester replied."If you want know more about them, talk to Liz. She's historian in our team."
"Coming back to the topic."Chesterfield said."What's left after Eneans, are the ruins of their cities and wrecks of their ships. As well as system of hyperspace lanes."
"The biggest Enean wreck ever found, was around thirty kilometer long. Until now, two more, but shorter, vessels were found, measuring up to twenty kilometers."Dora said.
"And you think, that this can be something made by them?"former princess asked, pointing at the hologram.
Everyone just threw up their arms.
"We don't know."Ester said."We first need to send this to the Command. Then, they need to make a plan."
"And after that, we need to simply blast this thing to hell."Dora said.
There was a moment of silence. Admiral decided to change the topic for now.
"Any news from our agents in Sadera?"she asked.
"They're doing their best to disrupt all chains of Imperial command and government."Eriksson replied."All reports were good so far."
"What are they doing now?"
Eriksson just threw up his arms.
Meanwhile…
Sadera
A single carriage was driving down the streets of the city. Inside of it, was one of the Senators. More precisely, it was Senator Helus Do Langrus, one of the biggest Saderan supporters and one of Senators, which voted for the invasion through the Gate. For him, last few days were pretty hard.
And everything started, when giant flying beast destroyed the Senate building. All of the city again fell into panic and guards tried their hardest to stop it all, before it could turn into another march for Imperial Palace.
Next, there were meetings with other Senators and Emperor Molt himself, regarding the situation of the Other Worlders. Although latest defeats, Emperor still believed, that victory will be achieved. It had to. There was no other option.
But there also were these 'peace lovers', as Peace Faction led by Marquis Garcel was called. These traitors were talking only about surrendering to these savages from other world and nothing else. Honestly, if Helus could, he would personally execute them all with his own, bare hands. But he couldn't.
Now, however, was not time for this. Now, was time for relax in his private villa in the upper levels of Sadera. Helus could already feel the hands of his masseur. Which he also like to use in other things, without his wife knowing.
Carriage stopped in front of the villa and Helus already wanted to got out, when something caught his eye. From the bushes nearby, a white smoke was coming. It couldn't be fire, cause then, it would be a black smoke. Something wasn't okay here and he knew it. He decided to check this personally.
Before he could, however, anti-tank missile flew out of the bushes and collided with the carriage, shaking the area with unexpected explosion and sending parts of the carriage and bodies in all directions.
Back in Fort Terhis…
"They have free hand and can perform operations independently."Eriksson said.
"Understandable."Chesterfield said."Now, everyone can go and do what they want. I will inform you, when I get response from Command."
Everyone saluted and walked out of the room.
September 24, 2150
For Terhis, Briefing room
It's been almost two weeks, since the first sighting of the Holy Order super vessel, codenamed 'Brawler' by the Resistance Headquarters. Since then, almost all of Resistance fleets were not allowed to leave the ports, fearing the meeting with Brawler. And this actually came in handy, as two more fleets were reported to be destroyed by the vessel.
Because of these events, Resistance Command was on high alert by this whole time, analyzing the photo sent by admiral Chesterfield and information given by the Resistance spies operating behind the frontlines. As it turned out, allied agents turned out to be as good at their job, as Holy Order. Thanks to this, new things were learned about the vessel.
First of, it's name was now known. HOS Hegemon. The biggest warship ever constructed by any of races in the modern Galaxy. It was equipped with new type of weapon of mass destruction, a laser able to turn entire planet into standard vision of hell. As it turned out, such laser was also found by Resistance on Catharsis V after capturing the planet, but until now, it was researched. What was also interesting, that this ship could act as a Carrier. But not for fighters. In special hangars, Hegemon could hold up to twenty more ships, from simple Cruisers, up to Holy Order Battleships.
In short, it had to be destroyed as fast as possible. And according to Resistance HQ, after the time of preparations, it was time to take care of this.
Currently, in the briefing room of Fort Terhis, pilots of Resistance stationing in the base were sitting in front of the screen with TF03 logo on it. Except of them, there also were the Warrior Bunnies of 1st Warrior Bunnies Fighter Infantry Platoon and some soldiers from Space Rescue, a formation responsible for rescuing soldiers lost in space.
"What are we even waiting for?"Delilah asked Yuko sitting next to her.
"For the guy responsible for the briefing."Yuko replied.
Warrior Bunny nodded and waited.
Few minutes later, a man in Navy uniform entered the briefing room and stood at the podium, looking at the pilots and other soldiers in front of him. He eyed all of them and sighed, preparing for the briefing.
"Okay, people."he started."The time has come. Two weeks of preparations and intel gathering, it's time to do it."
As he said that, the image of Hegemon appeared on the screen.
"After these two weeks, we managed to work out a plan to eliminate the danger from it's side."the man said."For this operation, command is gathering any available pilot and flier. Now, allow me to introduce the plan."
Next, model of the vessel appeared on the screen, replacing the photo. It was colored in red. Soon, on the side of the screen, a group of blue points appeared. It was just hilarious, how little they looked next to the giant vessel.
"Plan is as follows. Several Cruisers, Destroyers and Carriers exits hyperspace out of Hegemon's range. Fighters will be delivered there, using hyperspace assist. We assume, that vessel's defense fleet will try and face us. This will allow fighters to break through the defenses and hit it."
In that moment, one of pilots lifted his had.
"What do we hit this thing with?"he asked.
"Command will equip you with EMP bombs."the man said.
After hearing this, some pilots started a commotion.
"EMP? Why?"someone asked.
"We should blast this thing to oblivion!"another exclaimed.
"Frying it's systems won't change anything!"someone else shouted.
"Calm down and let him talk!"Dora shouted.
This actually worked and pilots stopped shouting.
"Thank you, captain Hiedel."the man said and Dora nodded."Allow me to continue. Yes, EMP bombs. According to our intel, armor of this thing is too thick to be destroyed by conventional weaponry. Only way to destroy it is from inside."
A bright, red point appeared inside of Hegemon's model.
"To do it, we will hit the vessel with hundred of EMP bombs, what we hope render it inactive for some time. Using the time given to us by it, you will fly inside through the engines. Following them, you will get to the main reactor. After that, you will fire a nuclear missile into the reactor, what should cause a chain reaction, that destroys it. Any questions?"
For few seconds, pilots sat quietly and looked at the man responsible for the briefings. Nobody knew, what to say.
"Will this be costly mission?"
Everyone looked in the direction of the voice's owner. It was Ester.
"Unfortunately."the man replied."Knowing the strengths of this thing, we expect a number of losses on our side while fighting it. Everyone would like it to be different, but unfortunately, we can't do anything in this regard."
Ester sighed and stood up.
"Understood."she said."If we don't do it now, who knows, how the war might go. Let's just destroy this thing."
"Exactly."Yuko said.
Other members of the squadron also agreed with her. Soon, this spread around other pilots. Everyone was agreeing with Ester.
"Wow, that was unexpected."Emmy said.
"Yup."Delilah agreed.
The man looked at all of this and nodded.
"Great. Now, when you're motivated, dismissed. Let's kill the Hegemony of Holy Order over the Galaxy."he said.
With these words, pilots stood up and started leaving the room.
Delilah and her team were walking at the very end of the Resistance pilots. They were still thinking about the mission.
"You think we make it?"Kenya asked.
"I don't know."Delilah replied.
"So what you know?"Macy asked.
Delilah just threw up her arms.
"We don't know, if we don't see."she said."Besides, it will be a good time to put all our abilities to test. Right?"
"True."Emmy said."Let's see, if all of this training gave us something."
Others nodded and followed the pilots.
September 25
14:22
Hyperspace lane between Hives and Lookout Systems
"ETA to target-5 minutes."voice in the PA said.
Sitting in hangar of Selene, 1st Warrior Bunnies listened to the words of the ship's PA system announcer and continued to work on their fighters. They helped in attaching the missiles under the wings and arming them. According to the orders, all fighters should be armed with two to three EMP bombs and one nuclear missile, so there would be multiple chances for destroying the reactor. Additionally, two conventional missiles.
Except of their ship, entire Task Force 03 was appointed for the operation, accompanied by Task Forces 11, 93 and 46. Together, fleet send to destroy Hegemon consisted of over seventy vessels and around five hundred fighters, from which most traveled, using hyperspace assist of bigger vessels. Only handful of pilots decided to fly inside their ships.
"Oh, by everything that's holy."Emmy said."I don't know why, but I just can't wait for the battle."
"Well, this means, that you haven't lost the spirit."Delilah stated."Anyway, just keep ready for this. Plan is good, but we don't know, if it will actually work out."
All Warrior Bunnies nodded in agreement.
"So…What are we gonna do, after this fight is over?"Macy asked."We go get something to drink or eat…?"
"Macy, battle didn't even started and you're already thinking about lazing?"Kenya asked.
Macy just threw up her arms.
"Man your battlestations!"the PA system said."We're exiting hyperspace in three…two…one…"
With his words, ships exited the hyperspace, few million kilometers away from a desert planet, over which Hegemon was hovering.
"Wow."one of Resistance pilots said."It actually is a big fish."
Meanwhile…
HOS Hegemon, bridge
Aboard the Holy Order vessel, crew was surprised by the sudden appearance of Resistance fleet so close to their position. This caused a commotion throughout the ships and all available pilots and ship crews quickly started making their way towards spacecraft and vessels docked aboard the Hegemon. Additionally, the enemy fleets jumped out of the range of ship's weapons, so now, they could only rely on their escort and ships docked aboard Hegemon.
Captain of the ship, Selvaria Site, watched the radar in front of her and smiled. This stupid Resistance really thought, that they could defeat the greatest weapon created by the Order. She just couldn't wait to show them how wrong they all were.
"Captain, what are the orders?"flight controller asked.
Site took a sip of her tea and threw up her arms.
"Just send everything we have. I don't think they are really prepared to fight us."she said.
Flight controller nodded and sent the message to the ships and fighters, which started to undock from the ship.
Soon, all Resistance radars were filled with hundreds of fighters and large number of ships coming their way.
"Oh, shit…"Emmy stated, seeing the sheer number of the enemies.
"That's a lot."Macy said.
"All fighters, engage."leading squadron leader said.
And soon, the battle was on, as Resistance and Holy Order spacecraft started engaging each other. Missiles, bullets and lasers started flying everywhere, with fighters and bombers trying to evade them, with some being more or less lucky.
"I got him, I got him!"Resistance pilot said, firing gun at Holy Order fighter.
"I can't shake him off! Someone…Ahhhh!"another allied pilot exclaimed, as his fighter exploded.
Delilah looked at all of this from her cockpit and quickly tried to find herself a good target. Soon, she was following Holy Order fighter, firing her gun at him. Enemy pilot tried to evade it, but Warrior Bunny turned out to be better and soon, the fighter exploded. Other fighters from her squadron were doing as good as she was, shooting down their targets and not scoring any friendly losses. What couldn't be said about number of other Resistance squadrons, which started loosing members, mainly the inexperienced ones.
Meanwhile, the larger vessels sent by Holy Order to destroy Resistance ships already started the engagement.
On Selene's bridge, Tyuule was silently mumbling an old prayer to Emloy. It was her first real space battle and she didn't wanted to screw anything up. She wanted the ship, as well as the crew, to get out of tall of this alive. And looking at number of missiles and cannon shells around, it didn't seemed to be that easy.
"Captain!"radar controller exclaimed."Incoming missiles!"
"Gerry, activate PDCs! I wan these missiles shot down!"Tyuule ordered.
Gerry nodded and turned to his console. Soon, Guided Missile Cruiser's point defense cannons started spitting fire in the direction of incoming missiles. Immediately, a number of them exploded in mid-space, not colliding with any part of the ship. But not all of them were dispatched.
"Brace for impact!"radar controller exclaimed.
Soon, the vessel was shaken by an explosion.
"Derek, damage report!"Tyuule ordered to the main engineer.
Derek looked at his console.
"Hull breach at Deck 4, 5 and 6. Nothing important was his."he replied.
"Victims?"
"None."
Former Battle Queen sighed with relief. Ship could be repaired, but it wouldn't be easy finding a new crew.
"Clara, are there more missiles incoming?"Tyuule asked the radar operator.
"Nope."Clara replied."But we have enemy Heavy Cruiser incoming!"
As she said that, enemy Heavy Cruiser started firing broadside salvos at the Guided Missile Cruiser. Laser shells were, however, spreading around the hull. All of this because Heavy Cruiser's captain didn't think, that Selene also was of Holy Order's design. This is why it was equipped with special armor, which maybe didn't completely deflected lasers, like Hadadrian Super Battleships, but could withstand laser fire better, that armors designed to mainly withstand physical shells, like the ones used by Earth and Nashini.
"If he wants, the we respond with fire."Tyuule said."Gerry, open fire."
"Aye, aye, sir!"Gerry replied.
He turned to his console and soon, number of missile tubes opened on the vessel's hull and soon, projectiles flew out of them. They changed their course at enemy Heavy Cruiser, which, like Selene before, started spitting PDC fire at them. Some missiles were shot down, while others managed to score hits and now, some parts of the Heavy Cruiser were burning, including it's hyperspace generators, preventing him from escaping the battlefield.
"Ha, straight in hyperspace generators!"Gerry exclaimed."I also detect number of it's guns being hit."
"Good."Tyuule said."Another salvo, fire!"
Another salvo was fired by the Guided Missile Cruiser and more missiles fell on enemy Heavy Cruiser. This second salvo was enough and enemy cruiser was changed into piece of scrap metal, as it was engulfed by an explosion and cracked in three parts.
"That's what I'm talking about!"Gerry shouted.
Other Resistance vessels which already engaged the enemy vessels also started scoring victories. More and more Holy Order vessels were exploding, hit by Resistance missiles and shells, as well as PDC fire.
Back with fighters, the battle slowly started to turn to Resistance side too. More and more HO fighters were being changed into fireballs and soon, allied fighters could break through the defenses.
"Now's our chance!"Ester said in every radio.
"You heard her!"Delilah said to her team, as she shot down another enemy fighter.
"Sure!"other Warrior Bunnies replied.
Soon, a large number of Resistance fighters disengaged and turned in the direction of the Hegemon. Radars on the giant vessel immediately detected this.
"Captain, large number of enemy fighters is coming our direction."radar operator said.
Site looked over his arm on the radar, wondering, what Resistance might be planning. She got her answers seconds later, when hundreds of small dots broke away from the fighters.
"Missiles! Incoming missiles!"radar operator exclaimed.
But Site just waved her hand.
"You don't have to worry. Our armor will withstand this."she said.
History later said, that it was her arrogance and too big believe in her ship, that doomed them all.
Surprisingly unopposed, EMP missiles managed to reach the Hegemon and before anyone said anything, hundreds of EMP blasts spread around the enormous vessels, deactivating majority of it's systems. Crew on the bridge just looked at the their consoles turning off and all lights around the ship going dark.
"What the hell happened?"Site asked.
"Sir, it appears, that these missiles were not conventional, but EMP."main engineer said."All our systems were just fried to hell."
Site looked around at her crew and realized, how big mistake she made, underestimating Resistance.
"What have I done…?"she asked herself.
"Okay, it's off!"Ester said in radios."Everyone, fly towards the engines and then, towards the main reactors!"
With mass agreement, all fighters which fired EMP missiles turned in the direction of vessel's engines. They were unopposed, as majority of the fighters were tied up with rest of the Resistance forces.
However, some HO pilots noticed them and quickly disengaged to follow them and take them all down. More precisely, a group of fighters with hulls colored in gold-purple stripes and dragon heads on their hulls.
Soon, Resistance fighters reached their targets and were now starting to fly inside. For many pilots, it was amazing, as they never flew inside a ship engines before. And for 1st Warrior Bunnies, seeing so much metal and electronics so close, was even more stunning.
"Huge…"Kenya said.
"And we're gonna blow all of this up…"Emmy said with smile on her face.
"Focus on the task."Delilah ordered.
"Sure, sure."Heley replied.
Resistance fighters slowly made their way down the giant engine nozzle, until they reached their target. Enormous chamber in the middle of the vessel, with one thing in the middle. A reactor, giant ball of light, held between two pillars from top and bottom sides.
"So this is it, huh?"Suvi asked.
"Yes, it is."Ester said."Alright, people, let's get this thing going. Lock and…"
But before she could end, two allied fighters were hit by missiles, which came from behind them. Next, several laser shot destroyed another pair of fighters and continued to fire into the group.
"Whoa, what the hell?!"Emmy exclaimed, barely evading the laser fire.
Not long after, the ones responsible for this appeared. They were Holy Order fighters, but not some normal ones. These were painted in some fancy colors and were shooting down Resistance fighters one by one.
"Shit!"Ester exclaimed."Spread out, spread out!"
All fighters quickly obeyed this order, but not before some more were shot down.
"Who are these guys?!"Delilah asked.
"Dragon Slayers."Ester replied.
"Who?"Ves asked.
"Dragon Slayers."Dora said."The elite of the elite in Holy Order. They have more kills and successful missions than any other Resistance and Holy Order squadron or pilot."
Warrior Bunny then looked at enemy fighters and gulped. It was their first true battle and already, they met an enemy more powerful than them.
"We didn't even knew they were in battle."Ester said.
"But we still have a task to do."Dora said.
In that moment, one of Resistance pilots decided, that it was time to do the task. He turned in the direction of the main reactor and locked his missiles onto it. But before he could press the button, he was mowed down by laser fire of Holy Order fighters.
"Shit, they won't let us get close to it."Emmy said.
"So we need to somehow get rid of them."Delilah said.
As she said that, five more Resistance fighters were shot down.
"Wow, they are fast."Macy stated.
"Stop talking and do something about them!"one of Resistance pilots exclaimed in the radio.
He was soon after shot down by the Dragon Slayers.
Delilah's radio then started making noises. She reached it and accepted the call.
"You better move faster out there."Tyuule's voice said."We detect growing electrical signals in the ship. EMP won't work for much longer."
"Shit."Warrior Bunny said and turned to open channel."Hegemon is coming back to life. We need to hurry."
"Well, great then."Arlette said.
Ester looked at the Dragon Slayers chasing after Resistance fighters like birds after flies. As she looked at the radar, she could see less and less blue dots symbolizing allies disappear.
"Okay, screw it."she said."White Squadron, pull Dragon Slayers away from the rest. Remaining allies, take out that reactor."
White Squadron members and other pilots quickly agreed. And with these words, White Squadron started engaging it's nemesis, while all remaining fighters turned towards reactor. Unfortunately, as the power started to come back to the ship, Resistance fighters were welcomed by unpleasant surprise.
Several anti-air guns came to life and laser AA fire started filling the reactor chamber. Several pilots, caught off guard, couldn't react fast enough and were cut down by the defenses.
"Shit, where did these come from?!"Emmy shouted.
"Power is slowly coming back, I guess."Ves said.
"What do we do then?"Resistance pilot asked.
Delilah looked around, at White Squadron engaging Dragon Slayers and AA guns covering the reactor.
"Okay, I think it's simple."she said and turned on her radio."All allied fighters still in the air, focus on the defenses!"
"You sure, Del?"Macy asked.
"Yes, I'm sure!"Delilah replied.
Now, Resistance fighters started destroying the AA guns. What was not so safe as you might think, as only true weapons against them were their guns, as missiles were used earlier in battle. But still, in less then five minutes, they destroyed half of the AA guns. In the meantime, White Squadron occupied Dragon Slayers, with nor side able to get any advantage over the other.
"Wow, they are actually on equal terms."Emmy noticed.
"It should be expected after them."Delilah said.
She then fired another lead wave from her gun and finished with 50mm cannon. Another AA was gone.
"Should be enough."Delilah said, as she turned her fighter.
She took the direction of the reactor and slowly started approaching it. Her moves were not unnoticed, though.
"Sir, one fucker is going for it."Dragon Slayer 4 said.
"Take him out."Dragon Slayer 1 replied.
DS 4 acknowledged the order and broke away from the fight.
"Delilah, one of them is coming at you!"Ves said in radio.
Delilah looked at her radar and saw enemy fighter following her. But she couldn't back off now. She already was locking the nuclear missile on the reactor. Behind her, Dragon Slayer already started firing his lasers at her. She felt as some hit her fighter, but right then, her missile was locked.
"Fox 3!"she said, using one of taught signals.
Nuke flew off of her wing and made it's way towards the reactor.
"Shit!"Dragon Slayer 1 exclaimed."Everyone, run!"
"All allies, evacuate the area!"Ester ordered.
What remained of Resistance fighters and Dragon Slayers, as fast as they could, left the reactor chamber and soon, behind them, enormous flash could bee felt.
HOS Hegemon, bridge
On the bridge, the main engineer observed how main reactor was destroyed with widened eyes. He turned to the captain.
"Sir! We need to get off this ship!"he said.
But Site just stood there, with head down.
"Sir?"radar officer asked.
"It's over."Site said.
Shortly after, the freed energy of the reactor consumed the bridge.
Back with Resistance…
Fighters made it in the last moment, right when the reactor's power got fully out of control. They then could observe, as the giant sphere of energy consumes half of the ship. It then disappeared, leaving only back and front parts of the ship, with it's middle section completely evaporated from existence.
Pilots looked at it for few seconds.
"We did it…"someone said."I can't believe, we did it! We destroyed the damn thing!"
Immediately, his cheers were spread around and soon, everyone else were celebrating. Except of Dragon Slayers, which flew in the direction of remains of HO fleet.
"What about them?"Macy asked in the radio.
"Let them be."Ester replied."They are demoralized already."
"And it would be good, if it stayed like that."Dora said.
"Agreed."Ester stated."Now, let's go, people. We have a celebration to do."
Everyone immediately agreed. Fighters turned and started flying in the direction of their fleet.
Ester paired with Delilah.
"Good job with that reactor."she said."I must say, it's your first true combat mission and I'm impressed."
"Thank you."Delilah replied.
"Now, let's get back to our ships. We are getting out of here."White Squadron leader said.
All remaining Resistance fighters returned to their ships. Unfortunately, from all allied spacecraft, only 47% of them returned safely. Yet considering the numerical losses, it was Holy Order who lost, as entire Hegemon crew died with their vessel.
Resistance vessels turned around, to face their destination and soon, fleet jumped back to the safe territory.
September 26
09:33
Alnustown, Delilah's tavern
Saying that Delilah felt like at home was clear understatement. Once she and her team returned back to Angier System, they were allowed to take a break from military actions and come back to their jobs, until they are called again. This is why Delilah decided to come back to her tavern in Special System.
Right as she entered, she was greeted by the customers and worker.
"Delilah, so good to see you!"someone said.
"Why are you wearing this?"wolf-man asked, seeing her uniform.
"Where have you been?"one of Human waitresses asked.
"What were you doing?"another waitress asked.
"With who?"another asked.
Delilah lifted her hands to stop the flow of questions.
"Easy, easy. I will explain. But first…"
She turned to the counter, at which familiar crystal creature was standing.
"Kari, give me some beer."she said.
"On it."the Maraq woman replied.
She walked to the back of the tavern, while Delilah sat down at the chair.
"Had any adventures?"a dwarf, everyday customer, asked.
"You could say it like that."Warrior Bunny replied.
Karilia then came back with the beer and gave it to Delilah. Warrior Bunny then noticed, that something changed.
"What is it?"she asked, pointing at the screen hanging in the corner.
"Oh, sorry. While you was gone for your training, I allowed myself to mount a TV to watch news and play music."Karilia replied."That reminds me."
She then took the TV control and pressed a button. TV turned on and the intro of Human News Network appeared on it. Soon, reporter appeared in it's place.
"Good day to all of you."she said."Let us get straight to the point."
Then, footage of battle appeared on the screen, with breaking news saying: "RESISTANCE GREAT VICTORY, HOLY ORDER SUPERWEAPON DESTROYED". Delilah immediately recognized the enormous shape of Hegemon.
"Yesterday, fleet of Resistance vessels engaged in battle with HOS Hegemon, Holy Order new superweapon, which had to throw Resistance to it's knees. Battle seemed one sided, until the ship was deactivated, using EMP bombs. This allowed Resistance fighters to fly inside, where after intense battle, main reactor of the vessel was destroyed."
"Wow, I wonder, who got the lucky shot."Karilia said.
Reporter continued:
"According to our news, the reactor was destroyed by one person."as she said that, Delilah's photo from Resistance files showed on the screen."Our informant told us, that the said person is a Warrior Bunny from Special System, Delilah."
Hearing this, all eyes turned towards Delilah, which just sat there, sipping her beer.
"What?"she asked.
"You really did it?"Karilia asked.
"Sure."she replied casually.
Next, she continued drinking, with all eyes still looking at her.
XXX
Well, there it is. Another chapter out of the way. Hope this little Great Galactic War incursion of the story was good enough for you. I plan to put some more parts of it into the story. But now, let's leave it at that. From the next chapter, we're going back to the main story.
Until then, see ya!