Chapter 2:Futility

Wing commander Sjet cursed as she and her squadron battled the incomming taiidan interceptors.Overhead a firelance ion frigate exploded under the taiidan onslaught The 13 interceptors under her command had been launched by the carrier just before the grav well went up.Others were not so lucky.Some of the strike craft that had been launched had been stuck in the field,making them easy targets for the taiidan capital ships.She and her squadron had been making attack runs at the taiidan ships while staying out of the field.

That still didn't make them invincible from the taiidan fighters.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH"the suddenly comm projected a scream

Sjet glanced out at her left as a blade exploded,turned into a small fireball by a hail of bullets from a flight of Trikor interceptors.She ordered the squadron to slow down as the marauding trikors passed by the squadron.Than she struck,she and her squadron managing to down 3 of the 5 fighters.Than however the trikors began to "roll the gun"

"Watch your six!"

The comm crackled to life as the remaining Trikors managed to down 2 more blades,reducing her entire squadron to just 5 craft.Sjet cursed again,and managed to destroy the last of the Trikors as they flew past.Than and there she became an ace with 10 kills.

Just as a Skaal-Fa noticed them.

The missles came hard and fast,destroying 2 of her squadmates.The whole Squadron now reduced to just 3 members tried to evade the missles but to no avail.

Than she was alone.

Sjet sighed and turned her Blade around,targeting a Sajuuk Cor.She stopped her fighter and turned all power not going to life support to weapons.Her Blade stood still while firing her weapons nonstop,her computer warning her that she was overheating her mass drivers but she didn't care.A tear escaped her eye as the first missle hit,severly damaging the fighter but not destroying it,just kept standing still and firing.Suddenly the second missle impacted.

And than Commander Gelasi Sjet,the newest ace of the Hiigaran fleet,perished along with her fighter.

The Khar-Karnik shook violently as a dozen ion beams impacted against the ship's bow,severly damaging the bow but miraculously not penetrating.A few moments later a Vegeance class assualt frigate imploded,the ship becoming but a memory.The half-dozen frigates and 2 destroyers of the 39th patrol fleet retaliated against a Sajuuk-Cor,managing to heavily damage it but outnumbered over 60 to 1 they could do little against the gargantuan armada now bearing down on the hapless Hiigaran ships.

"Has the message been sent yet!?"Krinak yelled.

There was no response.

Krinak looked back and saw his comm officer,dead from having his head impacted against a wall,blood streaming from his left temple,the liquid flowing towards the floor.Krinak than ordered to abandon ship.

But it was too little,too late.

Another dozen ion cannons struck the Khar-Carnik,this time managing to destroy the starboard ion cannon,rendering it useless.The Khar-Carnik replied with a comparitivly pathetic response with its remaining ion cannon and its energy cannon.

The ship would not fire again.

The attacking imperialist ships shifted firing positions,preferring to fire at the bridge rather than bow.The last officer other than the Krinak than left the doomed ship but Krinak himself was not so lucky.He was the captain of this vessel,he thought,and he would go down 1ith his ship.

Krinak closed his eyes,his ship collasping around him.He took his mind away from the chaos of battle,preferring the go back to old memories on Kharak just before the burning.The Imperialist ships paused for one second,than fired.

Than Krinak felt nothing at all.

Simultaniously a half dozen Kushani fleets hyperspaced in,having recieved the message that had been sent by the Khar-Carnik.

The last legacy of the 39th patrol fleet and Captain Krinak Nabaal.