AN: Welcome. I own Blaster, Nox, Xarch, Seekers, and the ship. Everything else is under the Disney Name, or from Square Enix.
Chapter Nineteen: Another Space Battle
Blaster raced through the halls with Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy right behind him. Nox and Xarch ran off to kill the Heartless that got on board as soon as they raced out the dining room. The elevator at the end of the hall opened as if it knew the urgency of the situation, then closed as soon as Goofy skidded in. Once the bridge was reached, Blaster jumped over the back of his chair and landed in the seat, quickly arming the missiles and charging the laser cannons.
"Pegasus," Blaster said. "I sure hope the shields are working!"
"Shields are operating at 99.99% efficiency," Pegasus replied. "There are three new Partial ships approaching. Scanning them now."
The first of the three appeared as a wire-frame model, until the propulsion and weapons placements were revealed. It looked like a Klingon Bird-of-Prey, but had a more circular shaped wing and a more dome shaped nose. It was also blue with golden wings, much like the Dart, but without the yellow nose. The weapons were on the nose, and on the ends of the wings, where the two tips would be.
The second wire-frame was in the shape of an arrow head. The overall ship looked like one of the Imperial Star Destroyers out of Star Wars, but without the tower at the end. The weapons were on the nose, and on each wing. The whole ship was blue with a large Partial Insignia on the top. Blaster studied it carefully before the third ship was revealed.
The third ship was the standard shape for UFO's. It had a saucer-like shape, but it didn't spin as it moved. Along the entire circumference were weapons barrels, except for the back, where the engines were. The dome in the center did rotate. The entire ship was gold, with the dome being blue with four Partial Insignias.
"Tell me those ships are vulnerable in some way," Blaster said.
"They are equipped with low-power shields," Pegasus replied. "It shouldn't take long to disable them."
"Just to make sure," Blaster said, "increase power of the laser cannons to maximum power. Also, increase rail-guns and missiles to maximum yield."
"I will need the overriding code," Pegasus said. "I don't store that code into my memory."
"Authorization code: Sigma, 5, 7, 8, Delta, 5, 5, 6, Theta, 9," Blaster said.
"Authorization code confirmed," Pegasus replied. "All laser cannons are at max power, and the missiles and rail-guns are at max yield."
"Sora, how long until they are within weapons range?" Blaster asked, aiming the missiles.
"ETA: 5 minutes!" Sora replied, climbing into one of the weapons consoles.
"Kairi, how many are there?" Blaster asked as Kairi got to her console.
"Picking up over 30 targets," Kairi replied. "By the looks of it, 5 of each of those Partials, 10 Reaper's Wheels, and 7 Dragonflies."
"Riku, you and Donald get to the cargo bay," Blaster said. "Bottom floor, go all the way to the back, there should be two entrances. Inside are a number of smaller fighter ships. They will not need any authentication, so you can just hop in, and go. They come equipped with shielding, and a number of energy weapons."
"So, they are, in an essence, Teeny Ships," Sora said.
"In an essence, yes," Blaster replied. "You will need to put the headset on so that we can communicate. While you're at it, tell Nox and Xarch to go to the power control room. GO!" Riku and Donald raced off the bridge to the cargo bay. Goofy manned the console that Riku was headed to.
Riku ran with such speed that Donald was having trouble trying to keep up. As they ran down to the elevator, they met with Nox and Xarch, both racing to the bridge.
"Blaster wants you in the power control room now," Riku breathed as he raced by and into the awaiting elevator. Donald got in quickly, followed by Nox and Xarch.
"Where are you headed?" Nox asked as the elevator doors closed.
"Cargo bay," Riku breathed simply.
"Taking the fighters out to battle," Xarch said. "Good idea with a fleet this big." The elevator came to a stop on the third floor. "This is our stop. Good luck."
The doors slid open, and the two nobodies rushed out them before they slid closed again. About 10 seconds later, the doors slid open again on the "ground" level. Riku sprinted down the hallway, dragging Donald with him the whole way. Once he got to the end of the hall way, he saw a set of doors in the wall to his right as he faced the back of the ship. Once inside, the bay doors at the back opened, revealing space. The entire cargo bay was empty except for 6 fighter-jet looking crafts, each with the cockpit open. The ones nearest Riku and Donald were colored Silver and Yellow respectively.
Riku climbed into his little ship and noticed that the controls inside morphed to what he was used to when he drove a gummi ship. The same thing happened to Donald when he got into his. The two watched the domes close over their heads as they put on the headsets. The engines whirred to life, and the weapons on the wings and in the belly of the ships armed themselves. The final step was to watch the shield activate itself, and for the seatbelts to be fastened.
"This is Riku," Riku said into his headset. "Do you read me Donald?"
"Read you loud and clear," Donald replied.
"Blaster?" Riku asked, making sure that they could hear Blaster's orders.
"I got you," Blaster replied over the speaker in the headset. "Launch when you are ready. You have 2 minutes until the enemy ships come within range."
"All systems are online," Riku said. "I am go for launch."
The second Riku said launch, the clamps released on his craft, and he shot out of the cargo bay with Donald right behind him. After doing a few aerial stunts, he positioned his craft over the left wing of the Pegasus, while Donald piloted his craft on the right.
Inside the Pegasus, Blaster saw the two signatures of the fighter ships.
"Riku, your call sign will be Keyblade Leader," Blaster said. "Donald, you're Mage 2."
"Enemy ships within firing range in 30 seconds," Pegasus said.
"Any other known defenses?" Blaster asked.
"None that we're detecting," Sora replied.
"Keyblade Leader," Blaster called. "Scramble!"
"OK," Riku replied.
The two ships shot forward, due to their being lighter and, therefore, faster. About 10 seconds later, the Dragonflies opened fire. Lasers, missiles and rail-gun turrets were the retaliation, cutting through the Heartless like they were nothing. The Partials, on the other hand, absorbed every missile and rail-gun bullet. The lasers were also absorbed, but not to the same effect as the other weapons.
"Keyblade Leader!" Blaster shouted.
"On it!" Riku replied.
Back in his little ship, he found the buttons to control the energy weapons easily. While they weren't as powerful as the weapons on the main ship, what they lacked in firepower they made up for in agility and maneuverability. Every time Riku or Donald fired on the Partial "Birds of Prey" look-alikes, the Partials returned fire, but were too slow to follow the smaller ships.
"Keyblade Leader," Blaster said to Riku. "Go behind the enemy ships and see if you can take out their engines. That looks like their weak spot."
"What good will that do?" Donald asked as Riku raced behind the ships.
"No engines means they cannot move," Blaster said. "Since every one of these Partial ships have their weapons tied into their engines, they will be sitting ducks."
Riku launched ahead, with Donald on his tail, zipping past all the ships and targeting their only vulnerable spot. With each engine that exploded, the ship the engines belonged to stopped firing, but the shields still prevented the Partial ships from being destroyed.
"Alright," Blaster announced as Riku disabled the third "Star Destroyer" Partial's engines. "When I give the signal, everyone fire on the same ship at the same time."
Inside the Pegasus, Blaster was watching his giant laser cannon breach 80% charge. The shots stopped, but his shielding was already down to 75%, and his Teleportation Array took a hit when a shot somehow managed to get through the shield. Kairi and Sora were still firing on the Partial Ships, while Goofy's run of dumb luck had run out at the moment, firing rail-gun shells into open space.
"Alright," Blaster said. "Nox, Xarch, see how much power you can divert from all non-essential systems to weapons. We're gonna need all the power we can get."
"I'm guessing the cloak is currently one of those non-essentials," Nox replied.
In the power control room, Nox and Xarch were running around, turning various switches and inputting various commands into the consoles that lined each wall. The room was about the size of the average living room, with two generators cranking out the power necessary to keep everything going. As soon as one of the conduits sprayed a shower of sparks, one of the Nobodies quickly replaced the surge suppressors.
"We are diverting all power from the cloak to the weapons and shields," Xarch said over the com. "That should give you a little boost. We are also diverting whatever unnecessary Life Support to weapons and shields. Will that be sufficient power?"
"See what you can sacrifice from the communications, hyperdrive, and long-range sensors," Blaster replied.
Just then, one of the two generators stopped. Nox ran over to the side and swiftly kicked the generator, which roared back to life, but at the cost of a painful foot.
"Might want to think about repairing your port side Sudorian Generator," Nox said as he began to help Xarch divert power from the systems Blaster suggested to the shields and weapons. "The Percussive Maintenance is getting very annoying."
"Well, this should help," Xarch said, diverting all the power from the Hyperdrive generators to the weapons. "Try your lasers now. Maximum power has been increased by 50%."
"Alright everyone," Blaster said.
Back on the bridge, Blaster had just received the remaining power he needed for his two super cannons.
"We are all ready," Sora said.
"Fire all lasers and rail-guns at the ships from left to right, and do it SLOWLY," Blaster said. "On my mark."
"Keyblade Leader and Mage 2 are in position," Riku said.
"FIRE!" Blaster shouted.
Every single laser, from the Pegasus and the two pod ships, fired on each of the disabled Partial ships. In a matter of seconds, the first ship blew up, followed by the second, then the third, and it continued until every Partial ship was destroyed.
"Damage Report," Blaster ordered.
"Minimal damage," Sora said, powering down his weapons while he looked at the internal sensor screen. "Looks like Floor 6, sections M-K have been sealed off due to the loss of atmospheric pressure."
"Alright, let's get back on course," Blaster said, powering down his weapons. "Pegasus, how long until the Hyperdrive is operational again."
"Approximately 24 hours," Pegasus replied.
"Thanks," Blaster said. "Riku, come back inside." Blaster watched the two fighter ships return to the ship. "What about this world we are headed to, Pegasus? What is its name?"
"It is a new world," Pegasus replied. "A world that does not exist in the previous Journals."
"What is its name?" Blaster asked, almost impatiently.
"The Wizarding World," Pegasus replied.
(Scenes from the next chapter.)
ON THE NEXT "INTO THE FIRE": In a new world, the first rule is to blend in ("But, we look strange," Xarch said.). The Second rule…making sure that you have a lot of fire power just in case things turn south ("And, next time," Blaster said, "make sure your enemy is dead before you ignore them."). Tune in next week for an all new chapter of "Into the Fire." Fridays at 9/8c.