Chapter 7 - Aftermath
Hizzan system - close to Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 02:13 Battleship Lightning
Collins was trying to decide whether the diminishing numbers of the Zerg fleet was because they were winning, or because the Zerg were in retreat. There was always the third possibility that the Zerg were using some sort of tactic to lure them into thinking they had won, then hit them hard, before they knew what was going on. Well right now it didn't matter Collins thought. I'm going to beat these bastards raw them, send them to whatever hell dimension they believed in. The forward cannons fired and tore apart three more of the flat creatures. The rear cannons took out a transport creature that had managed to creep past.
"Status Report." Collins bellowed out to the near by tactical officer. "We're down to three Battlecruiser's, and 100 wraiths, Sir." Collins thought about this for a moment. They'd taken a beating and so had the enemy. "How about those things out there?" The tactical officer turned to look at his screen. "They've taken heavy losses sir. Looks like were going to win this sir." Right to work. "Lets finish them off. Order the wraiths to cloak and swing around the back, and catch them off guard. We're going to distract the, with the help of the remaining Battlecruiser's.
The pilot in one of the wraiths received the orders Collins had just issued out. Hitting the cloak, he fell into formation with what was left of his squadron. They flew round the Zerg fleet and went into the attack, when two wraiths were destroyed either side of him. "How the fuck?" the pilot said to himself, as he pulled an evasive manoeuvre and was missed by inches. "Battleship Lightning, this is Wraith Omega 7. These bastards can detect us while we're cloak. We're goin....." That was all he was able to transmit before being blasted to millions of atoms by a lucky flat creature.
Collins watched in horror as his well-planned attack fell into shambles before him. Dam them, how did they detect the cloaked Wraiths? "Ok then, all combat units, attack at will! Take those bastards out NOW!!!" The forward cannons opened fire, and tore though four of the 'C' shaped creatures. The Zerg fleet was falling. We're going to win Collins thought. At that moment a scourge had managed to get past the ships defends and flew up the rear engine. Upon reaching the fuel tanks it exploded. The explosion sent Collins flying forward and he hit the main screen. Try as he may, he just couldn't stand up, and then a secondary explosion sent a large metal beam towards his head. For Collins everything just went black.
Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 04:00 Sector 7-3-1
The Zerg had been repelled. But at a great cost, hundreds of troops were dead. Jason wondered how many of his original men had survived, or if he only had his clone soldiers left. If they ever got out of this, Jason was going to have to write a lot of letters to the families of the now dead troops that were under his command. Captain Fawcett walked over to him, stepping over dead bodies as he went along. The Captain saluted Jason, and Jason returned it. "Captain," Jason said, "How many men have you lost?" The Captain looked at the sky. "Only six men. Five of the, were clones, so that puts me, seven soldiers up, from the start of this battle." Lucky devil, Jason thought to himself. "Can I ask how many you have lost, Sir?" The Captain asked glancing a look around him at the war torn bodies lying all around them.
"At least 500 odd, the bodies are still being counted. And don't even ask how many clones are in that list. I only started out with a squad of 200 men!" Jason's face was downcast. The wound in his shoulder, hurt like fuck, and he'd only just managed to survive. "Captain, I want you to oversee the cleaning up, and then get this base back to full military status. I want to hit those bastards hard, and where it hurts! Get your men onto finding a weak spot. ASAP Captain." With that Jason headed to the med bay, to have his shoulder healed.
Hizzan system - close to Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 04:01 Battleship Lightning
Collins woke up. It was pitch black, and he wondered how he had survived, and why there were no lights. He tried to sit up, but a hand placed itself on his shoulder and told him to lye down. Collins recognized the voice to be the ships doctor. "Hey Sam, why's it so dark?" Collins asked the doctor. "Because a large metal beam smashed into your face. You were lucky that some wiring stopped it from crushing your skull when it did. Both your eyes have been damaged beyond repair. I'm sorry sir." The full realisation of this hit him. "Oh dear god. At least tell me that the ships still in one piece, and we won." The sound of the doctor moving reached Collins ears. "Yes to both those questions sir. If we ever get back to Earth, you'll be called a hero, and allowed to retire a rich man."
Collins wasn't sure if this was a good thing. How many had died out there, while he'd been able to survive. And then he wasn't sure if he'd survive the trip back to Earth if the Zerg showed up again. "Can I have a status report on the ship please?" The sound of a door opened. "Yes, he's awake. He just requested a status report." That was the doctor's voice. "Ok, I'll have the tactical officer bring it down, ASAP." That voice he didn't recognize. "Sir, the sergeant on duty is sorting your request out now. You'll just have to be patient." Collins nodded his head, and tried to rest. After ten minutes the door opened again, and Collins heard steps as someone walked up to him.
"Sir, I have the report you requested." A voice said. "Well read it out then man. As you can see I'm not able to!" Collins spat at the person. The voice replied, a little shaken. "The Lightning has taken heavy damage to the engines, so we'll not be able to go anywhere soon. The main weapons are offline and 20 of the 45 decks are sealed off due to hull breaches. Sir." That wasn't good. Jason wasn't going to be happy, but at least his ship was still in one piece. "Can we land on the planet man?" Collins asked. The only way they we're going to survive, was by repairing the ship on land. "We should be able to sir, though it will be rough due to the holes in the hull sir, and with the engines down, we're going to have to make a crash landing." Collins thought about this. "Inform the Commander what we're going to do, and to meet us. Then commence with the landing."
Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 04:42 Sector 7-3-1
"Commander," the adjutant opened a comm link with Jason. Jason sat up on his bunk. "What is it adjutant?" "Sir the Lightning reports success in defeating the Zerg fleet in space, but they've taken heavy damage and are forced to make a crash landing near by." "What the Fuck do you mean a crash landing? What is Collins thinking?" Jason shouted at the adjutant. "I'm coming down to the briefing room." Jason, jumped off his bunk, and legged it down to the briefing room, knocking over two people on his way. Jason burst into the briefing room. "Good morning Commander. The acting sergeant on board the Lightning is waiting on line 2. Patching him though now." Jason took a seat as the picture of a young man appeared on the screen. The image saluted, "Where is Collins man?" Jason asked.
"Sir, Collins has received heavy injuries after a scourge flew up the rear engine tube. He has lost both his eyes sir, and is in sickbay at the moment." Looks like he's lost more than his eyes if he's going to crash land my ship! "Ok now fill me in on the situation and I'll see if I can understand the reasoning behind crash landing 'my' ship." The sergeant explained everything that had happened and why they were going to crash- land the ship. After a couple of silent minutes Jason said. "Ok, crash land my ship, but be careful. If you destroy it upon contact with the ground, you better hope that you die there and then. Commander out." The figure saluted, with a worried look in his eyes, then the image disappeared.
Hizzan system - close to Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 02:13 Battleship Lightning
Collins was trying to decide whether the diminishing numbers of the Zerg fleet was because they were winning, or because the Zerg were in retreat. There was always the third possibility that the Zerg were using some sort of tactic to lure them into thinking they had won, then hit them hard, before they knew what was going on. Well right now it didn't matter Collins thought. I'm going to beat these bastards raw them, send them to whatever hell dimension they believed in. The forward cannons fired and tore apart three more of the flat creatures. The rear cannons took out a transport creature that had managed to creep past.
"Status Report." Collins bellowed out to the near by tactical officer. "We're down to three Battlecruiser's, and 100 wraiths, Sir." Collins thought about this for a moment. They'd taken a beating and so had the enemy. "How about those things out there?" The tactical officer turned to look at his screen. "They've taken heavy losses sir. Looks like were going to win this sir." Right to work. "Lets finish them off. Order the wraiths to cloak and swing around the back, and catch them off guard. We're going to distract the, with the help of the remaining Battlecruiser's.
The pilot in one of the wraiths received the orders Collins had just issued out. Hitting the cloak, he fell into formation with what was left of his squadron. They flew round the Zerg fleet and went into the attack, when two wraiths were destroyed either side of him. "How the fuck?" the pilot said to himself, as he pulled an evasive manoeuvre and was missed by inches. "Battleship Lightning, this is Wraith Omega 7. These bastards can detect us while we're cloak. We're goin....." That was all he was able to transmit before being blasted to millions of atoms by a lucky flat creature.
Collins watched in horror as his well-planned attack fell into shambles before him. Dam them, how did they detect the cloaked Wraiths? "Ok then, all combat units, attack at will! Take those bastards out NOW!!!" The forward cannons opened fire, and tore though four of the 'C' shaped creatures. The Zerg fleet was falling. We're going to win Collins thought. At that moment a scourge had managed to get past the ships defends and flew up the rear engine. Upon reaching the fuel tanks it exploded. The explosion sent Collins flying forward and he hit the main screen. Try as he may, he just couldn't stand up, and then a secondary explosion sent a large metal beam towards his head. For Collins everything just went black.
Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 04:00 Sector 7-3-1
The Zerg had been repelled. But at a great cost, hundreds of troops were dead. Jason wondered how many of his original men had survived, or if he only had his clone soldiers left. If they ever got out of this, Jason was going to have to write a lot of letters to the families of the now dead troops that were under his command. Captain Fawcett walked over to him, stepping over dead bodies as he went along. The Captain saluted Jason, and Jason returned it. "Captain," Jason said, "How many men have you lost?" The Captain looked at the sky. "Only six men. Five of the, were clones, so that puts me, seven soldiers up, from the start of this battle." Lucky devil, Jason thought to himself. "Can I ask how many you have lost, Sir?" The Captain asked glancing a look around him at the war torn bodies lying all around them.
"At least 500 odd, the bodies are still being counted. And don't even ask how many clones are in that list. I only started out with a squad of 200 men!" Jason's face was downcast. The wound in his shoulder, hurt like fuck, and he'd only just managed to survive. "Captain, I want you to oversee the cleaning up, and then get this base back to full military status. I want to hit those bastards hard, and where it hurts! Get your men onto finding a weak spot. ASAP Captain." With that Jason headed to the med bay, to have his shoulder healed.
Hizzan system - close to Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 04:01 Battleship Lightning
Collins woke up. It was pitch black, and he wondered how he had survived, and why there were no lights. He tried to sit up, but a hand placed itself on his shoulder and told him to lye down. Collins recognized the voice to be the ships doctor. "Hey Sam, why's it so dark?" Collins asked the doctor. "Because a large metal beam smashed into your face. You were lucky that some wiring stopped it from crushing your skull when it did. Both your eyes have been damaged beyond repair. I'm sorry sir." The full realisation of this hit him. "Oh dear god. At least tell me that the ships still in one piece, and we won." The sound of the doctor moving reached Collins ears. "Yes to both those questions sir. If we ever get back to Earth, you'll be called a hero, and allowed to retire a rich man."
Collins wasn't sure if this was a good thing. How many had died out there, while he'd been able to survive. And then he wasn't sure if he'd survive the trip back to Earth if the Zerg showed up again. "Can I have a status report on the ship please?" The sound of a door opened. "Yes, he's awake. He just requested a status report." That was the doctor's voice. "Ok, I'll have the tactical officer bring it down, ASAP." That voice he didn't recognize. "Sir, the sergeant on duty is sorting your request out now. You'll just have to be patient." Collins nodded his head, and tried to rest. After ten minutes the door opened again, and Collins heard steps as someone walked up to him.
"Sir, I have the report you requested." A voice said. "Well read it out then man. As you can see I'm not able to!" Collins spat at the person. The voice replied, a little shaken. "The Lightning has taken heavy damage to the engines, so we'll not be able to go anywhere soon. The main weapons are offline and 20 of the 45 decks are sealed off due to hull breaches. Sir." That wasn't good. Jason wasn't going to be happy, but at least his ship was still in one piece. "Can we land on the planet man?" Collins asked. The only way they we're going to survive, was by repairing the ship on land. "We should be able to sir, though it will be rough due to the holes in the hull sir, and with the engines down, we're going to have to make a crash landing." Collins thought about this. "Inform the Commander what we're going to do, and to meet us. Then commence with the landing."
Hizzan 6 2503-05-27, 04:42 Sector 7-3-1
"Commander," the adjutant opened a comm link with Jason. Jason sat up on his bunk. "What is it adjutant?" "Sir the Lightning reports success in defeating the Zerg fleet in space, but they've taken heavy damage and are forced to make a crash landing near by." "What the Fuck do you mean a crash landing? What is Collins thinking?" Jason shouted at the adjutant. "I'm coming down to the briefing room." Jason, jumped off his bunk, and legged it down to the briefing room, knocking over two people on his way. Jason burst into the briefing room. "Good morning Commander. The acting sergeant on board the Lightning is waiting on line 2. Patching him though now." Jason took a seat as the picture of a young man appeared on the screen. The image saluted, "Where is Collins man?" Jason asked.
"Sir, Collins has received heavy injuries after a scourge flew up the rear engine tube. He has lost both his eyes sir, and is in sickbay at the moment." Looks like he's lost more than his eyes if he's going to crash land my ship! "Ok now fill me in on the situation and I'll see if I can understand the reasoning behind crash landing 'my' ship." The sergeant explained everything that had happened and why they were going to crash- land the ship. After a couple of silent minutes Jason said. "Ok, crash land my ship, but be careful. If you destroy it upon contact with the ground, you better hope that you die there and then. Commander out." The figure saluted, with a worried look in his eyes, then the image disappeared.