Disclaimer: ya know what? You know the drill at this point. I don't own these characters or worlds, I'm just playing around.
Chapter 12
Pain.
Soul-searing, nigh-elemental pain blazed through his mind at the mental touch of the massive Voidspawn. Chrono Haralowan knew he should be giving the order to fire; knew he should be doing something, anything... but it hurt too much to try and think. He heard people screaming, felt his throat burn in a way that suggested he was one of them. On the screen, he saw the Voidspawn lazily turn towards his ship, a baleful red eye looking at him with an expression of ageless malice and rage.
And then a wave of green blasts hammered into its flesh as the Klingons opened fire.
The act spurred the rest of the fleet into action. Mon Remonda and her cohorts responded fastest, red turbolaser blasts streaking towards the target, followed closely by missiles streaking in from Princess Cecile, Hoss' ships, the Yamato, and others. Fire began to avalanche down in the mighty creature, a non-trivial percentage of it absorbed by the various lesser Voidspawn surrounding it, their bodies acting as ablative armor.
The bulk of the Liberator closed from it's position spinward of the rift. Almost lost beneath the psionic screams, Roj Blake's voice crackled over the comm frequencies. "Anyone on the opposite side of the Rift from Liberator had best get their radiation shields up." He gave a few moments for the other ships to react, and then the neutron cannons on each of the ship's three nacelles began vomiting fire.
Lightning began to crackle along the mighty creature's tentacles, and they reached towards Liberator, throwing a wave of blasts at the big ship. The neutron fire chopped off as Liberator raised her Force Wall, catching most of the volley. The big ship shuddered under the touch of eldritch lightning. Even before the lightning subsided, the creature's scream began to fade as more and more fire poured into it. Hyperion loosed a massive crimson bolt, while Titans and Enchantress lashed out with particle beams and waves of cannon fire.
The faltering scream of the Voidspawn took on a mournful tone, and it began to lash out indiscriminately with its lightning bolts. Several of the lesser creatures attacked as well, drawing some ships from attacking the big one, but it was too little, too late. The mighty creature's struggles ceased, and it began to drop towards the gas giant below.
Xellos, I'd give up a Claire Bible to know what you're planning over there.
Lina stood beside Nanoha, and Fate on Seyruun's outer wall, looking over the gathered horde of Mazoku. They had formed up in reasonable order, and were chanting fell battle cries as they prepared to fight.
The defenders of Seyruun were arrayed atop the outer wall, facing them. Ranks of pikemen and archers stood atop the wall, interspersed with knots of offworlders who had come to lend them aid. TSAB Marines, Bradesons(some in powered armor, others in shipsuits) the fearsome looking Klingons, and some more or less normal humans with fancy firearms.
Above the Mazoku ranks floated Xellos, looking as smug as always. He was silent, apparently content to let his forces speak for him. At a grunt beside her, Lina turned. Prince Philionel was glaring across the plain of monsters, expression stoic. "Should you be out here, your Highness?"
"A Prince should not be seen to cower," he muttered. "More of them than I expected. Our city will be tested, today."
Lina was about to reply when a terrible laugh cut through the roars of the demonic horde, and she recoiled, recognizing it. It was a laugh she'd hoped and prayed she'd never hear again; a laugh from her past. Beside her, Amelia and Prince Philionel both stiffened, seeming to recognize it as well. Looking across the battlefield, she could see it's source, a tall, buxom woman standing atop a small rise.
Some small part of her mind recognized the spell she was using to make her voice carry. Most of her mind was gibbering. "How crass!" shouted the distant figure as her laugh came to its end. "As Princess of this fair city, I will not allow a single one of you fowl Mazoku to attack it's walls. For I am Gracia Ul Naga Seyruun, and I have come to save my city!" A moment's lull as Lina's brain tried to restart itself. Princess? Naga? What? Naga, or whoever she was, was gathering power for another spell.
"MEGA VU VRAIMER!"shouted Naga as she cast, and beneath her feet the ground surged upward, forming into a massive golem. It loosed a roar like granite shattering and charged towards the flank of the Mazoku army, Naga perched upon its shoulder.
The massive golem gathered speed, arms and legs pumping, and it crashed through the Mazoku lines by main force, the impact sending flying those creatures it did not crush beneath stone feet, fists sweeping before it like brooms as it charged straight for Xellos. From her perch atop it's shoulder, Naga began to fire volleys of Freeze Arrow spells into the serried ranks.
A desultory barrage of spells flew back at them, but the shock of the charge, and more than a little fire from the defenders on the walls capitalizing on it, kept it from being organized. For his part, Xellos simply hovered in midair, smirking and unconcerned.
The false priest almost within reach, the golem raised its arms, hands coming together into a doubled fist, which descended upon Xellos like an avalanche-
-And was stopped cleanly by the tip of his extended staff. The Golem suddenly jerked to a halt, as if it had struck an oricalcum wall.
Eyes closed and expression merry, Xellos said, "I had not expected the progidal princess to come to her city's aid, though perhaps I should have. An impressive golem." Violet eyes opened, bright with malice. "But it will not save you." A muttered word, and the spell that animated the golem disolved; another blasted the sorceress out of the air, tumbling uncontrolled towards the ground below.
Naga screamed. Her head felt like it would split from the stresses of having her golem spell disrupted right out from under her, as well as the impact that was sending her down. Below her, she saw the gaping, toothy maw of a hungry Mazoku preparing to catch her-
-and a white blur snatched her out of midair, two small arms clutching her tight. "Onee-chan! Onee-chan!"
She blinked, looked down at the dark-haired girl who'd grabbed her. "Amelia?"
Her little sister looked up, smiling. "I missed you, Gracia."
Feeling happy tears well up, she replied, "I missed you too."
The creatures left a vile stain upon the Force – so unpleasant, that Luke would cheerfully take the sheer, disorienting absence that surrounded the ysalamir instead. It would hurt his head less. Though it probably wouldn't help much with his flying.
At Wedge's request, he'd taken up his old callsign of Rogue Five, and command of Two Flight with it. He knew a few of them in a vague sort of way, but it had been a while since he'd been with the Rogues. The only ones he knew well were Wedge himself, Wes, and Corran. He'd met a few of the others, but only briefly. Add to that, he hadn't been a commander in a starfighter brawl in a while. The skills where there, but they were rusty. And what these voidspawn things were doing to his head did not help. So Two Flight, while definitely pulling its weight, was doing markedly poor compared to the rest of Rogue Squadron.
He snap-rolled around a lightning bolt, put a quartet of crimson blasts into its firer. He tried, once more, to reach out with the Force to find a weakness, a vector, the best place of attack, and once more, his head began to pound at the roars and growls of their minds. He gritted his teeth. I am a Jedi. I will not be beaten like this.
Xellos looked upon the human defenders with a smile. His army was trading fire with several defenders on the wall, advancing with the biggest and toughest Mazoku at the lead. They were shrugging off arrows and whatever else the defenders were shooting. Some of the magic being thrown around felt distinctly unusual – not, of course, that anything could be from out-of-this-world. He'd have to leave one of those strange mages alive, just to shove in Zelas' face. That, at least, he could do despite his restrictions.
On the wall, he could see the Royals clustered around their lost daughter. He'd tried to intercept Amelia when she charged, a Ray Wing spell lending her enviable speed, but she'd exuded an entirely toxic aura of almost pure love at the time. It had been enough to make him flinch. I suppose I can't begrudge them a few minutes of clemency. He thought. It's not like they'll be surviving the day.
Putting actions to thoughts, he fixed his gaze on Seyruun's main gates. Why not make things easier on my army? A gesture, and the gates blew inward, torn off their hinges. The horde below him howled in its bloodlust, and charged.
The Enterprise shuddered as it took another crack from one of the big squids, and B'Elanna swore quietly at her station in Engineering. The shields were holding, for the moment anyway, but they were starting to buckle under the repeated strikes of Voidspawn lightning. We could be using our speed and range to hang back, but nooooo... we have to stay in tight at watch the rift, because we've actually got probes that more or less work in there. She'd told Picard what she thought of this plan in as many words. He'd seemed almost amused.
It probably helped that she'd conceded that she understood why they had to stick close in. After spending most of four days putting Galactica back together, despite the help of those racist pricks, she didn't much want to see it get blown to hell right away. Mounting and tuning shield generators would have taken far more time than they had, and more power to run than the ship's reactor could produce. They'd managed to tie some better sensors into the ship, at least, and fixed most of the more glaring issues with its power systems. More would have required a full drydock, and probably a month of work.
Enterprise's shields were weakening beneath the constant salvos. Teeth gritted, she worked her console, trying to stabilize them. The Sovereign class starship was built tough, and could take a hellacious pounding, but this was going to start straining it before long. The ship shuddered again, and she felt more than heard something let go with a heavy thump. She was about to shout for a damage control team when LaForge called for one. Fought down a smile. I need to remember, this isn't actually my engine room. Now I know how Joe Carey felt about me intruding.
"I hate fighting guys who can do stuff like that," muttered Jack O'neill as bits of Seyruun's main gate finished bouncing down the main boulevard.
"Down from the wall?" asked Jonesy of SG-2.
"Oh yeah," said O'Neill. "Don't want to stay in that guy's line of sight."
"Indeed," uttered T'ealc in his usual deadpan, as he casually gathered up some of their heavier kit. Hearing that they'd be fighting 'demons and monsters,' the two SG teams had loaded heavy, a mix of their usual Earth-derived gear and some galactic tidbits. It seemed like it had been a wise choice – the bigger suckers they'd been shooting at were shrugging off P-90 fire, and even the heavier rounds of the tripod-mounted M-60 SG-2 had stashed along, but Staff and Zat blasts seemed to work a little better. The littler ones, at least, responded well to bullets.
The architecture here had some distinctly middle-eastern flavours to it, adding to the general late-midevil look. Part of that was tightly-spaced buildings and curving streets. As long as they didn't get hit too hard, they'd be able to ambush, fall back, and repeat ad nauseum.
The two teams headed for the nearest stairway, T'ealc hefting the M-60 as if it weighed nothing more than his staff weapon. Jonesy was already pulling Claymores and detcord out of his pack, getting ready to set up.
They picked a spot just past a corner, where the street narrowed slightly and set up, tracking the invading monsters by noise. By now, even Daniel was an experienced architect of mayhem, even if he lacked some of the other's enthusiasm for it.
How we playin' this? Asked Ranma mentally to the other mages in the loop. Nanoha and Fate had taught the telepathy trick to Lina, Zel, and Amelia, as well as a couple of the priests, but not many beyond that. Not that it really mattered. Nobody else was in their weight class, though from her party trick, he figured Gracia/Naga/whatever her name was, was close.
Lina's reply was quick. Xellos needs to be stopped. He's the most powerful Mazoku I can think of, and definitely the strongest one here.
Nanoha and I will help you, replied Fate, sounding confident. Even right after watching him blow down warded and re-enforced gates from half a mile away.
Right, added the White Devil. The rest of you should help the army fight the Mazoku army. The 'you'll just be in the way against the big one' went unstated, but they could all hear it. And though it hurt, Ranma couldn't much argue it. Xellos had a terrifying amount of power; and more than that, he had control.
Understood, Enforcer, replied Aston. We'll make ourselves useful down here. A pause, and then Aston continued in some undefinable way that told Ranma that it was just for him to hear, and not the others, We've got room for one more with the squad, if you want company for this fracus.
Ranma smiled, rolled his shoulders. It was good to be in his silks again, after days in uniform. Technically, he should be in his fatigues for this, but they just didn't have the range-of-motion he needed to fight to his fullest. If you guys'll have me, I'd be happy ta join ya.
"We beat the Shadows," muttered Susan Ivonova under her breath, "We will not be beaten by overgrown seafood."
The voidspawn hit harder than Shadow Battlecrabs – and wasn't that a pleasant thought – but the Warlock class destroyer she commanded was a hell of a lot tougher than anything she'd commanded in the Shadow War. At least, it felt tougher than the White Stars, hard alloy giving it a solidity the little Minbari ships had lacked. And it most certainly brought firepower to spare. The midsized, hundred-meter Voidspawn especially responded hilariously well to heavy pulse cannon fire.
The big suckers, on the other hand... they could grind the bastards down, but it took a while. And a fair number of the other ships in thisbattleoutgunned them by a noticable margin, even though the Warlock class destroyer was significantly larger than a goodly chunk of them. It seemed unfair – humanity had clawed and scraped its way out of the bottom of the tech barrel and now she saw they didn't compare that well to so many others... but damned if they weren't going to do their best.
Titans shuddered as another of the seven-hundred meter bastards lashed out with its lightning arcs, and Ivonova gritted her teeth as she held the bridge guardrail. "Gunners, get that thing off of us, now!" The deck shuddered almost imperceptibly as her missile launchers began to salvo, the particle beam cannons firing moments later. The Voidspawn seemed almost contemptuous of their fire, turning its baleful gaze upon the bridge as it closed. Susan Ivonova met that gaze, will and a knowledge that she could win in a stand against the Darkness holding her steady.
It's roar redoubled, reaching at her mind like a goddam PsyCop and clawing at her will. She steeled herself, weathered it. Others did less well; and the big ship's guns began to falter. The mass of tentacles reared back, lightning arcing around them -
And the blasts splashed against some kind of energy shield as a red, crablike thing swept into sight to her port bow. "Oy vey?"
Whatever the shield did, it blunted the monster's roars, and the bridge crew recovered. At the scanner station, the rating said, "Captain, I'm not sure where that red ship came from, but it's throwing up one of those force walls the other ships seem to use."
From her station, the signals officer announced, "Sir, transmission from the crab ship."
"Put it up."
On the screen was the image of a man – more a boy, really, late in his teens and with a bandana trying futilely to tame unruly hair. "We'll hold the shield until it runs out of lightning, then-" He was interrupted – quite directly, as a top-heavy blonde swung into frame, knocking the youth aside with an elbow. "Get your guns ready; my mighty and beautiful Red Claw will be your shield!"
Ivonova tried not to laugh. "My pleasure. Give me the word on when to fire."
The view jerked, as if the camera was being manhandled, bringing the boy back in view. "Damn it, Jura- okay, the squid's running out of steam. Shield's dropping in five."
"Duly noted. And thanks again." She looked up. "Guns!"
"Ready, Captain." There was an evil glint in the young Luna-born gunnery officer's eyes as she keyed in a fire plan. For a long moment they watched the last of the Voidspawn's lightning volley splash against their benefactor's shield; then it dropped away, and the damned thing ate a full broadside, flesh tearing and blood fountaining. It's cries cut off as it died under their full fury.
A victory whoop filled the bridge for a moment, then chopped off into professionalism as they sought their next victim. Under her breath, the gunner whispered, "Ye, tho I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, for I am the meanest mother in the valley." Ivonova grinned savagely, agreeing.
Prince Philionel had moved back from the outer wall, but not too far. He was on one of the city's raised boulevards, surrounded by a knot of turbaned Royal Guard and his two daughters. And with three Royals around, the Guard were praying to Ceifeed or any other friendly Shinzoku who might be listening to get their headstrong Prince to listen to reason and withdraw to somewhere secure, lest some lucky Mazoku shred the competent branch of the Royal family.
It seemed like They weren't listening to the guard's pleas any more than their charges were. At least the princesses – and how bizarre was it that Gracia finally returned to them? - were contributing to their defenses. The younger sister held a powerful spell in hand, one word of power short of flaying some impertinent monster; the elder had called up a pair of lesser golems; shimmering white giants formed from the marble of the Wall itself. Shinzoku willing, they might hold some of the White Magic blessings that imbued the city still.
Give him credit for nerve, Prince Phil's stoic expression was not dashed when a trio of small, shrieking Mazoku vaulted from the ground onto the wall ahead of them. Give him credit for some sense as well – when his Royal Guard surged around him, weapons at the ready, he didn't try to force his way past them. As the foul monsters charged, so too did Gracia's golems, white fists rendering one of the creatures an amber smear on the marble. A second was impaled upon spearpoints, and brought down by Royal Guard hacking wildly with enchanted swords.
The third eluded both, landing with four clawed limbs upon the head and shoulders of one of the guards, decapitating him in passing as it launched into the air once more, wicked claws and razorlike teeth seeking his throat-
"Friend To All Creatures KICK!"
-only to meet a sabaton-clad boot in midair. The blow did not, strictly speaking, harm the mazoku, but the force behind it knocked the creature from its deadly path, and it skidded along the pavement, claws leaving sparks. Single minded, the creature scrambled to its feet, and gathered itself for another deadly leap-
"Rah Tilt!"
-to be cut down by Amelia's loosed spell, blue flames consuming like a spider in a candle.
Voidspawn continued to pour from the rift en masse; and the formation of defenders began to loosen as the ships moved to engage. Fighters swirled near the rift, pursuing the smallest of the creatures and ignoring their brethren, leaving the bigger game for the capital ships. They were tough bastards, and they were not fucking around – raw numbers and a terrible oppressing presencethat reminded Raynor of the Zerg.
Not a happy thought, that, since it inevitably lead to thoughts of Kerrigan. He'd loved her, and lost her, and then she'd returned to betray them all. Queen bitch of the universe indeed.
Hyperion shuddered at the touch of one of the midsized Voidspawn's lightning bolts. They weren't built for this kind of pounding; he'd have to end this fight fast. "Guns! Give that bastard a Yamato blast!"
There was a crackle of building energy as the big cannon charged, and then the crimson bolt lept from their bow, tearing into the creature. A few more volleys from their guns finished it off.
"Keep us at the edge of this brawl, boys. Guns, keep picking on the little ones."
Not for the first time, he wished he'd managed to con Fenix out of some Protos shields for his ship. This was big and serious, and he hated the fact that he'd have to withdraw for repairs. He always hated doing that; it felt like cowardice even though he damn well knew better.
This was going to be a fight of attrition. And nobody knew how many living ships the other side had.
Way too much like fighting the Zerg.
Huss, Daughter of A'trom, laughed as she disemboweled a Mazoku with her Bat'leth. That spilling its guts onto the cobbles didn't seem to kill the creature didn't curb her enjoyment in the slightest; it just meant she could carve on it some more. These creatures were interesting, tougher and harder to kill than Jem'hadar, as well as far more creative. Some of them used fang and claw, others threw blasts of energy, and some wielded wicked-looking swords. Though they were no match for a warrior of the Order of the Bat'leth.
Her troop had picked what looked like a small market square to set up their lines. Half a dozen of the city's small, tight ground-level streets met there, and it was close to the breached gate. These Mazoku were flocking here in numbers as they fought their way into the city, and they were dying in numbers, too.
The troop's two heavy repeating disruptors were set up to cover three of those streets in, and one of the uncovered streets was behind the line the invaders had reached. The Klingons were personally seeing to anything that came down the other two streets, with help from a growing number of Seyruunian soldiers who'd found them while falling back. To their credit, many of the humans seemed quite skilled. And though they seemed to find the Klingon's appearance strange and perhaps a little monstrous, they still took courage and rallied when they approached this position.
Perhaps it was simply seeing, very directly, that they were not alone in their fight that gave them strength and courage. A universal translator helped; a few of the Seyruunian soldiers were rough, bloody-minded sorts, and were swapping jibes and jokes with her people. Including one of the priests, who was being looked on by his fellows quite disapprovingly.
She didn't quite know what that dour quartet was doing, but it seemed to be helping. There was a definite, noticeable line being painted by the disruptor fire. On the far side of it, Mazoku were shrugging off everything that hit them. On this side of it, suddenly they could be harmed by blast or blade. As long as they could keep it up, the mixed soldiers would be able to hold this place.
Wedge Antillies kicked his X-wing into a corkcrew a touch too violent for his inertial compensator to keep him from feeling, felt the painfully familiar sensation of his stomach flip-flopping. Long experience kept lunch where he'd put it, but with more difficulty than normal. There was something wrong with these damned things, something that twisted his head around. Comments from both Corran and Tyria suggested that it was even worse for Force-Sensitives. So far, comm chatter suggested that they, and Luke, were keeping it together, but he'd told all three, each separately and privately, that if they had to get clear, to do so.
Then Admiral Haralowan, the more or less agreed upon fleet commander, had made it an order to everyone to do just that. It was, he said, why they had reserves.
Though that hadn't lasted – the ships being held in reserve had chipped in almost from the moment the fight started, even if most of them were keeping back and sniping away from range.
And thank the Force that their enemies were so... distinctly different. "Shoot at anything that's not a ship" was remarkably easy to keep straight. And after his time with the Wraiths, it wasn't even that hard to remember that the TIEs in this brawl were on their side. During one of their brief skull sessions on Concordia he'd gotten a closer look at the things and seen the new insignia added to them. He'd also, and he smirked at this memory, been pidgeonholed by a pack of techs to explain some of the quirks of Imperial fuel systems. He hadn't minded. It was nice to occasionally use some of his non-killing knowledge of starfighters.
Still. He pitied the poor bastards they were throwing into TIE cockpits for this fight. Attrition was always high with the things.
Gate blatted a warning as his X-Wing's shields took a glancing crack of lighting, and he shook his head, trying to clear it. Sithspawn! Keep your head in the fight, Antillies! A snap roll, and the squid's reaching tentacles sent lightning flashing along what his course would have been, missing him cleanly. The creature was a hunter, spinning in closer, trying to get him again, mental shriek prying at his mind. A sustained burst of quad laser fire put it out of his misery, and Wedge smiled.
A glance around. A formation of Cosmo Tigers launched missiles into what could only be described as a school of Voidspawn. As the little squids turned to chase them, a pair of F-302s flashed by, spearing several with missiles of their own. A squadron of B-Wings off of Mon Karen making a run on one of the hundred-meter squids, while Starfuries covered them. A big, elegant, brilliant white fighter he was certain he hadn't seen in the briefings roaring through a large pack of creatures, immolating several with a trail of fire. Just behind it, a squadron of Vanguards lashed the survivors with blaster fire.
Okay, we're going to need to get the timing on this perfect, thought Nanoha to the others.
I'll get charged up, thought Lina eagerly, and she began to gather power.
Fate neither said nor sent anything, but she flashed towards Xellos, Bardiche in Zanber form. The mighty golden blade flashed, crashed against the false priest's staff, and he laughed as she flew onward. Nanoha unleashed another volley of purple bolts that crashed home against his shield with no effect.
"Really, girls, I give you full points for persistence, but you must realize by now, you are hopelessly outmatched against me."
Lina barely heard Nanoha's reply as she began to cast her spell. "Lord of the Dreams that Terrify..."
"Perhaps we do not agree," said Nanoha. "Divine~
"Sword of Cold and Darkness, Free yourself from Heaven's Bonds..."
"BUSTER!" The blazing purple beam lanced through the sky, barely missing the dodging Mazoku.
"Become one with my power..."
Xellos sent a retaliatory blast at Nanoha, who caught it, barely, with a Protection spell. "Really, Lina Inverse, do you truly expect to catch me with that spell? It's so slow, and limited!"
"One with my body..."
Bardiche shifted back into its normal poleaxe form, Fate slewed across the sky, raining fire. "Photon Lancer- Phalanx Shift!"
"And let us walk the path of destruction together..."
"Pointless, little girl. You know this won't do anything." Xellos stood in midair, just before Lina as she incanted her spell, looking nonchalant. Nanoha and Fate gathered power, preparing for their next strikes. "You know I can dodge this with ease."
"Power that can smash even the souls of the Gods..."
The Mazoku General was about to shift away when three things happened in rapid succession.
"Lightning Bind!" magical golden chains suddenly wrapped themselves around Xellos's ankles and wrists.
"Restrict Lock!" Purple ones did the same, enwraping his limbs and torso.
For a creature with the raw mystic might possessed by Xellos, snapping clear of binding spells, even those applied with the skill and power employed by casters like Nanoha Takamachi and Fate Testarossa-Haralown, would be little more than child's play. The work of seconds.
Unfortunately for Xellos...
"RAGNA BLADE!"
...He did not have seconds. Even so, he managed to pull himself away from the direct path of Lina's attack, as the black lightning cleaved towards his skull. He managed just enough, before it made contact, that it merely took off his right arm at the shoulder. Power gushed from the wound for a moment, extracting a cry of pain, then he vanished into the Astral Plane.
The three mages felt a surge of elation – that blow had hurt him, perhaps a great deal. Quickly they looked around, trying to spot him when, or if, he returned.
They did indeed spot him as he phased back from the Astral Plane, but they could do nothing. Eyes burning with violet fire, roaring in pain and rage, Xellos unleashed a wave of dark magic upon the three. The instincts born of years of experience allowed them to throw up shields, but all three collapsed beneath the unleashed might of the Mazoku general.
For a moment, Xellos simply surveyed the three defeated mages, his cloak slung around to cover the stump that had been his arm. Then he lifted into the sky, and raced towards the main battle, fury pouring from him like elemental fire.
Captain Juzo Okita smiled grimly as he watched the Yamato's guns extract their heavy toll on the Voidspawn.
The big battleship was circling the edge of the battle, taking advantage of her range to compensate for her lack of the amazing energy shields that so very many other ships involved in this action had. Oh, Yamato was a tough old ship, but they still had a goodly distance to travel. It would not do to let themselves be crippled, no more than it would do to save earth, only to watch the universe fall for lack of their aid. And even at this remove from the thick of the fighting, they'd attracted the attention of many of the creatures. A glance at the status board showed that the damage to the hanger was in the process of being repaired already.
Not too far to their stern, he could see the great ship Arcadia, a midsized Voidspawn impaled upon her ramming prow. Her own guns were thundering, sending red bolts streaking into the foe where they gathered. He had to fight down a smirk, looking over Arcadia once more. His response to a Voidspawn slipping too close for Yamato's Shock Cannons to engage effectively was to fire up the Pulse Lasers. Harlock's response to Voidspawn closing on Arcadia had been Ramming Speed! An audacious man. And one who was a grand master at fighting his ship.
He would have to find a way to at least try to recruit Harlock. The Gamilons wouldn't have the first clue how to deal with him.
Yamato shuddered beneath him. Of course, that can only happen if we win. And they had to win here. Because if these creatures could not be stopped by a prepared force firing into them as they passed closest thing you could get to a choke point in space in dribs and drabs... no-one would be able to stop them fighting en masse.
Ranma didn't much like throwing fire around inside somebody's neighborhood, but it seemed to be working on these Mazoku better than pure ki blasts did. They were easier to generate, too, which was a plus since he had no idea how long this fighting would last.
But even though this city was heavy on stonework for its buildings, there was still wood, the occasional thatch roof, and any number of things that could burn if he got careless. Or if the Mazoku decided to start playing with their food; some of them could throw fire, too. And weirdly enough, it seemed like he could draw on some of the fires the various fighters were starting, and add them to his own.
Not for the first time, he wished he'd managed to get in a good, solid, solo training trip in the last year or so; find somewhere remote, and just dump a month into figuring out as much of Firebending as he possibly could. Or calling in a favour with the Bureau for a trip back to Lee and Mushi's world, to study with a master.
But even making it up as he went; even fighting things that had way more in common with the Youma he'd fought alongside the Senshi than the Oni he'd first figured Mazoku for; he was holding his own. It was in some ways the greatest fight he'd been in since defeating Happosai, even if it's scope was closer to the Battle of Tokyo.
Oh, sure, these were 'lesser' Mazoku, but they were impressive opponents. The help from Aston's squad, and a few other TSAB Marines, was invaluable; their magics were more effective than his blows. The help from Cagiva's Bradies was... less welcome, but they were still proving useful.
They'd set up shop at a crossroads perhaps two blocks from the breached gate. The Mazoku had stormed at them with wild abandon for a few minutes, then tried to break off down another street – apparently running into a pack of local mages as well as several squads of TSAB marines. After getting suitably mauled there, they'd tried a third route, only to hit a pocket of resistance anchored by some guys called Klingons.
The defenders were giving ground in some spots – he could see fighting atop the outer wall, pushing towards one of the raised boulevards – but the biggest and most dangerous breach was holding.
Ranma spun inside one Mazoku's reach, grabbed an outflung limb, and body-flipped it into two of its buddies; Dia, Kia, and Aston then let rip with their spells, shredding them. If the big guy Nanoha, Fate, and Lina went after was as important as they seemed to think, this fight would be effectively over once he went-
-A span of the outer wall, almost a hundred feet on either side of the gate, erupted into stone splinters and fire. The blast's concussion half-crushed almost ever structure within a block of the wall, smashed windows throughout the near half of the city. Stone, mages, and soldiers rained down as the blast began to settle, dust choking the area.
Then a blast of wind blew the dust away, revealing a sinister figure floating in midair. Eyes ablaze with violet fire, he stood, one arm clutching his staff and the other sheathed beneath his cloak.
He spoke, and his voice chilled all who heard it. "I am Xellos, High Priest and General of Greater Beast Zelas Metallium. I am the mightiest of all Mazoku generals. I have slain dragons by the hundreds, and humans in numbers beyond count. And today, I am done playing with you pathetic apes. This city will fall to my might, and the world shall fall soon after. Your mightiest have already fallen before me. All you can do now... is die."
Galactica's CIC was a flurry of activity, despite the fact that they weren't currently engaged. Before they'd left, an hour before the battle, LaForge's last team of engineers left behind a generous load of assorted spare parts. Tyrol's people were making last minute repairs and maintenance, getting ready for the coming action. Baltar and Gaeta were mostly certain they'd be able to jump into, and out of, the rift, but in the event that they had to fight their way out, well, they'd need every advantage they could lay hands on.
Admiral Adama stared into the DRADIS display, watching the brownian motion of the battle. The fleet's formations were loosening, leaving little gaps in their coverage here and there. It seemed that the general discomfort and head-twisting that the Voidspawn did wasn't just limited to the little guys. He had a tech following the fleet chatter. The things were shredding the resolve and morale of crews simply by existing.
He focused on one ship in particular. "Any word from Enterprise?"Picard's ship was staying close to the rift, periodically launching probes into it, looking for an opening that Galactica could use to jump in and take out the target.
"Nothing yet, sir," said Duella. "Should I request an update?"
It might come off as ingratitude. Or rudeness. Picard's busy, but I doubt he's forgotten us. "No. But start spinning up the jump drive. We should be getting the word soon."
The Admiral frowned at the DRADIS display. Speaking of the little guys...
The young officer at the gunnery station noticed, too. "Admiral, it looks like some of the Voidspawn are wandering into range. Shall I engage them?"
"Is anyone else moving to intercept?" He could see for himself that a few ships were already on that – that Cinnabar corvette, and somebody's fighters.
"Ah, yessir."
"Then save your ammo, Guns. We're probably going to need it."
Dee interjected; "Sir, signal from Enterprise. The Voidspawn are all in the vicinity of the rift's mouth; we're clear to jump as deep as we can."
"Do it."
The familiar surge and momentary discomfort of a jump – long since keyed in – and they were off the field of battle. The DRADIS cleared, then began to show new contacts, none of them close. From his station, Gaeta announced, "Jump successful. We appear to be at the programmed co-ordinates."
"Good." Faintly, he could hear the thump-whoosh of the ship's Vipers launching, even as the flight pods deployed. On the small visual display that Starfleet had added, he saw them streak into space, launching into golden light tainted by a faint mist of black and purple. A mist that would get thicker the closer they got to their target, if Baltar was right. "Helmsman, set course for our target, best possible speed."
If Staff Sergeant Aston was at all intimidated by the Mazoku's boast, it didn't show. Witchfires licking along his sword, he gestured towards the floating figure of Xellos. "Right lads! One armed man! Five rounds rapid!"
The TSAB marines turned towards the Mazoku, and a wave of rapid-fired blasts lashed out. The gem on Xellos' staff glowed for a moment, and the wave broke against a violet wall.
Before the light show could fade, the Bradeson troopers formed up, plasma carbines belching rapid fire that washed against the creature's shield. Some of the other mages sent their own fire up into the crescendo, and Ranma loosed a ki blast. None of it touched the monster. Whatever sort of shield spell Xellos was using, it was potent.
Ranma swallowed hard. This ain't good. For Xellos to be doing this, he must have dropped Nanoha and company. He didn't like that thought at all. Those three were their powerhouses. Taking this guy down without them would be... tricky.
But it'd have to be done. Xel was floating over the city proper, inside the walls, and it looked like he was frying targets more or less at random, and at will. Ranma took a deep breath. I ain't a match fer Nanoha in t' raw power department, but I'm probably onea the strongest guys left here. An' definitely t' most skilled. Time to dance.
Sparing a moment's thought for Prince Phil, and hoping the monarch was safely back in the high city, he lept skyward, ki flaring around him.
Maniac had always been a little dubious about the 'benefits' of a wingman.
You only needed somebody covering your back if you weren't good enough to watch it yourself, after all. And it wasn't like there were many pilots in the Confederation who could keep up with him. The few with the skill were dull sticks-in-the-mud who let tradition hamper them. So while he was supposed to be flying with somebody right now, his Morningstar making up for the deficiencies of Flight Officer Dane's TIE Fighter, he was flying solo. If Dane wanted to fly one of those suicide sleds, far be it from him to protect her.
Of course, if he were totally honest, he'd admit that he wouldn't mind someone's help at the moment. Because the Voidspawn on his tail right now was damnably agile and stubborn. His fighter danced and juked as he tried to throw the thing off, while simultaneously frying one of its buddies. He wasn't getting that many hits, since his attention was split, but he'd get a missile lock eventually.
He spared a thought for Angel and her decision that they'd be limited to dumbfires and Image Recognition missiles; and not Friend or Foes or Heatseakers. Though he'd grant the heat seakers would be of limited utility, FoFs would be perfect for a twisting fight like this. But nooo... not with so many different allies around. Lunacy.
Finally, the thing gave him a perfect deflection shot, and he sent a dumbfire up it's tucus, turning the unnerving thing into a satisfying shower of gore. Smiling dangerously, Maniac hit the Afterburners, snap-rolled the fighter around, and made a head-to-head run on the fucker pursuing him. It's squiddy expression seemed distinctly supprised, just before he blew it in half with his guns.
Unfortunately for him, it managed a lightning bolt before dying, and his fighter took that on the proverbial chin. Alarms began to scream as he felt his controls go distinctly mushy. But that was okay, even with a damaged plane, he could make it back to Concordia for repairs. He was good enough to cross this battlefield.
Then he heard another one of those awful mental screams directed at him. And the after half of his fighter blew apart under the touch of another lightning bolt. Tumbling in space, he saw the thing as it streaked in, beak opening wider than, at first glance, he'd figured possible, looking for all the galaxy like he was a snack-
-then melting as bolts of plasma washed across it.
Maniac's relief was palatable. Looking, he saw a ship with honest-to-god sails rigged on it moving towards him, correcting as if he was changing his course, which was redic- wait, not ridiculous. He was slowing down. Inertial dampeners must still be working. Guess the reserve power's still going. Which was a mixed blessing. The dampeners would keep him from actively flying into something, but they'd drain the reserves quickly. And, he noted with some irritation, it looked like his damned radio was out. Well, these guys might be going for a pickup anyway. He hit the manual release on his cockpit canopy and stood.
There were people in the ships' rigging, and he exchanged waves with one of them as they closed on him. Whoever was at that thing's helm had a delicate touch that his inner pilot would definitely respect. When he got closer, one of the guys on the rig threw him a length of steel cable, and he found something to jam the hook into, then waved back again. They pulled him in against the slight resistance of the dampeners. With a relatively light thump, he hit the hull, and pulled himself from the cockpit. One of the riggers leaned in, touching faceplates, and said, "Welcome to the Princess Cecile, lad. Looks like you had a bit of a time out there."
"Had worse. And I appreciate the pickup. There an airlock I can use to get in?"
He was waved in the right direction, and went.
Xellos seethed. He'd been careless, and made to pay for it. And he dearly hated being made to pay for his mistakes.
Lina Inverse was one of the few humans capable of harming him, theoretically even capable of killing him, and he'd forgotten that. She and her companions had played him expertly, and he'd very nearly paid everything for it. He'd been treating it like a game, planning to leave the blonde and brunette outsiders alive to shove in Zelas' face with a snide comment about 'nothing beyond this world' after the battle was won.
To their credit, the human mages were extremely capable. And the two women he hadn't recognized had employed powerful artifacts and impressive skill. Too arrogant for my own good, he thought glumly. And then blasted some buildings below. Inside the perimeter of the White Magic Ward, already hurting from the cleaving touch of the Ragna Blade, he was not at his fullest power, but it would be enough. Because if nothing else, the simple fact that he was still alive after suffering that blow told him that none of the Shinzoku's champions were in town. The elder sister Inverse would not have let him strike down her sister that way.
Aha! And now, here came a challenger! A young male in red and black; a touch of magic about him but mostly just life energy. Xellos turned towards the youth. "Do you mean to kill me, boy?"
"Somethin' like that," he said, and loosed a blast of fire. "My name is Ranma Saotome, an I'm a frienda' the ladies you just took out."
Xellos dodged the blast easily. "So sorry for damaging your harem."
Ranma snorted, and suddenly streaked in, much faster than a human should be capable of, and landed a series of blows that would have crippled the human he appeared to be. "Respect 'em too much fer somethin' like that, pal."
"Not bad. You're quick for a human." Xellos smiled, eyes alight with mirth and malice. "But that won't stop me." He loosed a blast of his own, and the dark-haired youth dodged it. Very impressive.
"Waste all th' energy ya want, old man. I cn' keep this up all day. Moko Takibasha!" A beam of blue energy streaked in, washed against his shields.
"Such confidence! Using your own life energy as a weapon." Xellos laughed. "I might have to keep you alive, you know, to show my patron." The boy paused in midair, as if considering him, one hand moving in a circular motion, a small green gemstone held in it. "Of course, without magic, you have no chance at all of actually hurting me. You do know that, don't you? That you have no magic?"
"Ya know," said Ranma as he hovered just out of easy lunging range, still moving his hand in a spiral. "I've hadda bunch of magic experts tell me that. Funny thing. It's wrong." Suddenly, the fist clutching the green gem shot forward. "Maryū Shōten Ha!" A bolt of blue-green energy shot from his fist, flashing towards him in a tight spiral, glowing more intensely as it flew. It was, beyond a doubt a magic blast. How in the world? Was all he had time to think before it struck him, detonated.
By instinct he slipped into the Astral for a moment. That hadn't hurt, per se, but it was most definitely a surprise. The youth shouldn't have been able to call upon magic, his energy was all wrong for it... Bah. Such mysteries could be revealed in the study of the dead. He shifted back into the sidereal universe, hand moving like lightning to clamp around the boy's throat. "That," he said to the surprised boy, "Was impressive. And I'm sorry, but I think I'm just going to kill you now." He lifted the youth higher, then hurled him at the city streets below, a thought disrupting any spells that might be helping him fly. From this height, that should be sufficient.
"Admiral Haralowan, we've got a partial message from Galactica. It seems that they're under attack by a small group of Voidspawn in the rift. From what did get through, they think they can handle it."
Chrono nodded. "Transmit back with 'best of luck.'" Damnation. They'd hoped to hold the thing's attention at the rift, and that Galactica could slip unseen to take out its target. Like so much else today, it seemed that wouldn't go to plan.
When a red-and-black blur literally went screaming over his head, a downthrust like that of a Harrier beneath it, Jack O'Neill couldn't help but duck. Glancing back, he saw said blur crash through a rain barrel, then bounce off the cobbles and roll into the side of a building, a small green object bouncing from its hand and off the wall.
The figure – a redheaded girl – stirred. "Kuso," she muttered.
He blinked. If that's not Ranma Saotome I'll eat my hat. He glanced over the barricade – nothing in sight right this moment, then quickly moved to the martial artist's position, offered a hand up. The clearly woozy fighter took it, stood unsteadily. "Arigato." Glancing around, she spotted the runaway gem, which had rolled to a stop between cobbles about five feet away. Snatching it up, she said, "Sorry fer droppin' in like that. Xellos hits hard."
Simons goggled from his position, just behind the M-60. "You were fighting Xellos?"
"Somebody hadda do it," she said with a shrug. "Pretty sure he could melt this city t' moment he decides he's bored of waiting for his army ta do it. Gotta keep him distracted." She was looking up, now seeing another mage – Jack's vague memories of Slayers said Zelgaddis – picking a fight with the false priest and getting slapped around.
"He's way out of your weight class," said Simons. "How?"
Ranma shrugged. "Hey, I'm good at punchin' above my weight. I'll thinka somethin." A cocky grin. "I know how fast he is now. I can beat him, at least for long enough."
The martial artist launched skyward, surrounded by a battle aura. It'd been a while, but Jack couldn't remember the kid being able to fly. Interesting. "Simons, you think he can do it?"
Watching the redhead's flight, the lieutenant smiled. "Ranma Saotome don't lose."
Lina Inverse ached. By sheer good fortune, she'd been behind both Nanoha and Fate when Xellos' blast hit, and their own potent shields had protected her far more than the wind barrier she'd been able to snap up. She struggled for a moment, trying to stand, but managed it. The other two mages were nearby, and she raced to their sides. Fate's pulse was strong, Nanoha's a bit fluttery, but both lived. She smiled. Underestimated us again, Xel.
Suddenly, a mental voice intruded. Nanoha, Fate, Lina? Please tell me you ain't dead.
Ranma. They're out cold, but I think they'll be fine. Where's Xel?
Over th' city, meltin' bits of it. I can distract him, but he shrugged off the best stuff I can do here.
She felt herself smile If you can distract him, I can take him out. I have a spell that can do the job, but it's not quick to cast.
Deal, he replied without hesitation. I'll go distract him.
She felt steadier on her feet now. Good. Lina took quick inventory of her gear, and frowned. One of the Demon's Blood Talismans was gone, as if torn clear of her wrist by Xel's blast. She'd need it to cast something that could hurt the false priest. Glancing around, her eyes moved past, then back to, Nanoha's staff. I've wanted that thing for two years. It's an emergency. And it's not like I won't give it back... She picked it up.
Raising Heart's response was immediate. YOU ARE NOT MY MASTER.
"No, I'm not," muttered Lina, somehow not surprised that the thing could talk. "She's out cold, and the monster who did it might come back to finish her off. I can kill it, but I'll need your help.
For a moment, she would have sworn the red gem at the staff's crook was giving her a measuring look. YOU WILL RETURN ME ONCE THE THREAT IS DEFEATED?
"Yes."
ACCEPTABLE. I WILL AID YOU, MISS. She felt the staff's magic touch her own, merge with it, and inhaled sharply at the sudden rush of power. Yes, she could use this.
"You can maintain a spell I cast, right? So I can cast another?"
YES MISS.
"Good. Ray Wing!"
Ralgha nar Hhallas snarled in fury as he pulled his Sabre through a tight turn, guns thundering at the nearest squids. His blood sang as it hadn't in so long. Something about these things broke down the barriers of civilized behavior that restrained his actions most of the time. The Confederation officer was retreating before the fury of the Kilrathi warrior.
It was hard to tell just how the fight was going. There were too many ships, too many monsters, and all were surging around in a confused mass. He himself had taken hits, his gunner was dead and one of his mass drivers destroyed. He hadn't returned to Concordia because he didn't want to risk his behavior around his human friends when his blood was up like this. Didn't want to hurt them.
Blair was at his wing, covering and shielding him like the true friend he was. A Voidspawn flashed between them, and the two fighters turned as one, each wingman knowing the other's mind and tactics. His own shots were intended to herd the creature, to give Blair a good deflection angle to put it out of their misery.
He did not see the Voidspawn that blasted him from behind.
Behind him, Blair could see Hobbes' Sabre explode; a sudden sharp thing that left no time for an ejection seat to fire. He snarled, finished the one before him as his tail gunner opened up on another. Then he whipped the heavy attack fighter around and bore down on the bastard who'd killed his friend.
He made it quick. The things were too dangerous to leave alive and wounded.
Checking his status board, he frowned. The fight was starting to turn against their side. There were just too many of the things, coming too quickly, and their damnable mental screams could wear at the sanity and patience of a saint.
Most of his squadron was scattered to hell and gone, some back on Concordia to rearm, some EVA. He keyed the 'all squadrons' frequency that the various flight groups in this mess had agreed to. "This is Maverick to any nearby fighter. I could use a wingman."
After a moment, a response crackled. "Maverick, this is Rogue Five. I could use a wing too. Be right there."
The X-wing formed up on the Sabre, and Blair and Skywalker began to hunt.
Clutching her pendant tight, Ranma flew towards Xellos, shrouded in the Umi Sen Ken. She'd run low on ki quickly doing this, but she figured she didn't need to distract laughing boy all that long for Lina to do her thing. She pushed more ki into the pendant.
Curious, she'd asked Sailor Mercury if she knew how the thing worked over a year ago, and the answer had been interesting. The pendant, being a small magical device, gathered any energy near it and converted that into the mana it needed to run. It could only hold so much mana, and if it overcharged it would release that energy. By happy co-incidence, Ranma had discovered that he could push ki into it, and the resultant spillover mana still held a hint of that ki. And while she couldn't do much with magic alone... magic laced with ki? That, she could manipulate.
From there, a variant on the Hiru Shoten Ha hadn't been too hard. Where the primary move drew in free-floating ki, the variant drew in magic. It didn't hold together long, but it was a nice little close-range move, if one she needed to improve on some.
It wasn't efficient, but it worked, and she bet it had hurt Xellos. Pain was distracting as all hell, and ought to work.
The range closed, she let the Umi Sen Ken drop, and slammed into Xel' back, free arm wrapping around his throat while a magic-shrouded fist hammered into his kidneys with Chestnut Fist speeds. The yelp of surprise and pain made it worth it, even as energy whipped around the Mazoku and lashed at him.
This was a very good idea, thought Lina as she settled on a rooftop, Raising Heart thrumming with power in her hands. I want one of these. Sooooo baaad.
In the near distance, Ranma and Xellos dueled, both too fast for her eye to properly track. Ranma, I'm going to need him to hold still a moment to shoot him. You do know that, yes?
Gotcha. Lemme know when.
She took a breath, loaded a clip of cartridges into Raising Heart the way she'd seen Nanoha do it. Time to get started. She forced herself to be calm, gathered her thoughts. Now, Ranma.
And she began to cast.
"Darkness beyond blackest pitch,
Deeper than the deepest night.
King of Darkness, who shines like gold upon the Sea of Chaos.
I call upon thee, and swear myself to thee.
Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess.
GIGA SLAVE!"
OH, said Raising Heart. OH, MY
What a clever little artifact, said a strange voice, beautiful and terrible.
Ranma'd let Xellos lay a hand on her, and the one-armed priest currently had her by a handful of shirt. She'd sort of expected the pain, as magics lashed at her. When Lina'd started her spell, the Mazoku had looked, for a moment, like he suspected something. Ranma spitting in his face got him good and distracted again.
He was ranting, now. "...Only once before have I met a human so utterly maddening! And I already killed her today! You even sound like that bitch! You will not stop me. You cannot stop me. I give you points for persistence, but you will die regardless."
Over his shoulder, she could see Lina. It looked like she was just about done her windup... "Something you ain't thinkin' through, laughing boy. You don't know what we can take." Energy flared around Lina, and Ranma planted a kick to Xellos' jaw, the force tearing her shirt out of his hand. Dropping away, she saw a beam of lightning-shot blackness slam into Xel's back, and punch through, close enough that her hair stood on end.
Hello, Xellos. I think it's well past time that I had a chat with you and your patron.
The deck rumbled with the sound of her guns firing, and Commander Adama tried to project an aura of calm as he stared into the DRADIS display. Vipers and Raptors swarmed around the ship, their own guns tearing into the smaller, remora-like creatures and staying clear of Galactica's main batteries as they tore into some of the larger things trying to reach them. They were doing well so far, and if their data was at all accurate, they'd be in missile range of the target in another ten minutes.
As if to punctuate his statement, and remind him that luck had seldom been with them these last months, the ship shuddered, lights flickering, as one of the bigger creatures blasted her with lightning.
"Damage report!" barked Tigh, the one-eyed man turning towards the status boards.
"Five point defense clusters in the portside batteries destroyed, one of the ammo feeds, and it looks like we have some electrical fires down there." Gaeta was bent over his station, hands flying. "Chief Tyrol reports that he has them under control. Gunners are shifting fire to the creature that did it."
Adama nodded, kept his own council. They might just make it through this. He returned his attention to the DRADIS and smiled with satisfaction as one of the creatures abruptly vanished. Let the other shipdrivers sneer at Galactica's 'primitive' armaments, they were getting the job done.
Then a new contact appeared ahead and slightly to port, at the edge of range, and for a moment, the DRADIS tried to tag it as a BaseStar, then as a transport, and finally settled on 'unknown.' "Mister Gaeta," began the Commander, "What's this new contact?"
"I'm... not sure, Commander, but it's big. At least..." he broke off, swearing quietly. "It's a 700-meter Spawn, sir."
There was a long moment of silence on the bridge. The little bastards, barely a hundred feet long, could hit as hard as Cylon nukes. They knew these things scaled up... Adama and Tigh's gazes met, and the two exchanged brief nods. "Well then," said Adama. "I think it's time to see if our new missiles are as good as our allies promised."
He punched in the arming codes as the targeting computer began its computations. Beside him, Tigh muttered, "Having missiles at all is a nice treat. Here's hoping."
A flight of six antimatter-tipped missiles roared from Galactica's launchers as her comms blared nuke warnings. On the DRADIS, as well as the external visuals, they tracked the missiles as they streaked for their massive target. The leviathan seemed contemptuous of them, pressing onward towards Galactica, massive tentacles drawing forward along its body as if poising to strike.
Then the six missiles hit its body, and the murky black-and-purple morass was erased in light as the God's Own flashbulb lit up to the tune of six hundred and twenty megatons.
The comm lines exploded. "Felgercarb!"; "WHAT THE FRAK WAS THAT?"; "Holy-"
"Lords of Kobol have mercy..." breathed Tigh.
After a long moment, the DRADIS cleared of interference and they could see that their target... was no longer there.
Apollo's voice crackled over the comms, sounding impressively calm. "CAG to Galactica Actual... what was that?"
Before Adama could answer, he heard Felix Gaeta mutter, "Truth in advertising." The older man smiled.
Lina Inverse smiled as she saw, and felt, Xellos be devoured by the Giga Slave blast. She lowered Raising Heart as it loosed a wave of steam. "That felt good," she said. Oh, she'd wanted to blast that smug bastard for years...
Somehow sounding croggled, Raising Heart replied, W-WELL DONE, MILADY. She felt her clothes change as a barrier jacket – styled like Nanoha's, but in her colours instead of white and blue, took form.
A shakey looking Ranma landed next to her, one arm hanging awkwardly at her side. "A little close, there, wasn't it?"
"You wanted me to blast him. So I blasted him." A shrug. "Besides, you're fine, aren't you?" She smiled. "Let's kick the rest of these Mazoku out of the city."
Captain Picard held tight to his command chair as Enterprise shook around him. They were taking a not inconsiderable amount of abuse from the Voidspawn; but they could not withdraw. Their probes were keeping track of Galactica for the rest of the fleet.
Chancellor Martok had been kind enough to assign them a trio of Vor'cha class cruisers as escorts, which was highly helpful both in combat and in morale. But while they helped fight Voidspawn and protected the Federation ship, they could not do anything for the monstrous screams that lashed at their minds. He felt a moment's regret that Counselor Troi was on leave now. Young Ezri would be hard pressed to deal with the nightmares this would spawn in his crew.
The Galactica's missile launchers were it's only major weapon system that had been working at full efficiency before the battle started; if only because they'd done frak-all but preventative maintenance with the things for months. The first volley had launched clean and smooth, as if the Battlestar wasn't decades old and badly in need of the inside of a spacedock.
Then in the middle of reloading for number two, the fracking loading mechanisms jammed to a fare-thee-well. By dint of much profanity and raw grunt labor, they managed to manually load the tubes, but it had been back-torturing work. They were part way through volley number three, and between mashed hands and general strain, they were all but spent.
Suddenly, a sound of grinding gears and wheezing machinery filled the compartment, and a tall blue rectangular thing faded into existence in the middle of the main walkway.
The TARDIS' door opened smoothly, depositing The Doctor about where he'd expected to be; a gringy grimy chunk of spaceship. Several blokes in grease-stained coveralls were staring at him as if he'd just appeared out of thin air; which, to be fair, he more or less had. "Afternoon, gents," he said brightly. Nodding to the pair of women trying to unstick something with hammers, he added, "And ladies."
"Who the frak are you?" asked one of the men, shifting his grip on a hefty wrench.
A valid question. Well, when in doubt, try honesty. "I'm the tenth incarnation of a serial do-gooder, who's here to help you lot close a wibbly wobbly swirly thing in space. Sorry I took so long getting here," he gestured back at the TARDIS. The door was still open, giving anyone who cared to look a view of its interior, which was rather larger than the exterior. "The old gel gave me a bit of trouble. This is the missile deck, yes?"
A few glances bounced around the compartment as the techs tried to decide what to do with him. Finally, the one who'd spoken up first said, "Frak it. After the last two weeks, I'll buy any fraking thing. You want to help?"
"Absolutely. I've got a little something your missiles might just need." He pulled a small device from an inside pocket. "Got a missile I can add this too?"
"Right here," said one of the techs, rapping a knuckle on a missile's casing.
Producing his sonic screwdriver, The Doctor crossed the compartment and popped open a side panel with a deft twist of the device. "Good old Federation equipment. Always nice to work with..." he muttered, and added his bit of kit. "Right then, that's sorted. Anyone for a jelly baby before I go?"
Finally, Galactica was in missile range of the structure at the heart of the rift. The dark mists that permeated the place were thicker than ever here, but their scanners could map it. It was a sinister and unsettling thing to look upon, a ring of some dark substance, covered with spikes and protrusions at strange angles. At the ring's center was a rough sphere of roiling golden light. They'd seen, moments ago, what looked almost like a solar flare from that sphere, but it was contained once more. But the Voidspawn had backed off at that flare, and they were still keeping their distance.
Adama looked like he had a headache. So did most of the bridge crew. Saul Tigh didn't, and something about that fact... unnerved him. "I want a proper missile lock on that thing, and I want it now. Helm, alter our heading to bring the heavy guns to bear on that structure as well."
"Missiles locked, Admiral."
"Guns are laid in, sir."
"Good. Open fire."
Both port and starboard missile batteries spewed warheads that started to accelerate towards the still-distant target as the big guns began to thunder. Looking into the DRADIS display, Tigh frowned. One of the missiles was breaking its formation, accelerating ahead of its fellows. What was it-
Baltar interrupted from his 'science station.' "Admiral, the structure has put up some kind of shield. It looks like the cannon rounds are detonating against that, and not the structure itself."
Adama swore, grabbed at one of the little video screens that Starfleet had added. They didn't convey as much data as, say, the DRADIS, but sometimes a visual was damned useful.
Tigh looked over his Admiral's shoulder. A translucent black sphere had taken the place of the vile-looking ring, and he could see cannon fire hit it, exploding harmlessly. "Oh, that can't be good."
Adama growled, "Lords of Kobol willing, our souped-up new missiles will take it down. Missiles! Get a follow-up volley loaded."
"Aye, sir."
The two old friends watched their missiles close on the black sphere with baited breath. The lead missile hit the shield, and they braced for a blast of light-
-and it passed straight through, sending red ripples around the point of impact. The rest of the missiles followed. A split second's delay, and then the sphere tore open as a torrent of blazing light bloomed like a baby star. Back-lit by the explosion, they could see the ring come apart, its substance broken by Antimatter fury. A cheer rang through CIC, echoed on the Wireless by the cheers of the pilots.
Over the shouting, Baltar said, "Admiral, it appears that the mists are beginning to dissipate."
Adama was about to reply when he saw the DRADIS. The Voidspawn were charging for them now, full belt. He grabbed the wireless pickup. "All fighters, this is Galactica Actual. Return to base immediately. Engine room, spin up the jump drive." He keyed off the pickup. "Gaeta, we need a jump calculation, and we need it now."
"On it, sir."
On Claudia's bridge, one of the sensor operators loosed a distinctly unprofessional whoop. "Admiral Haralowan! The rift just stopped widening! In fact, it's starting to close on its own! Galactia did it! Those primitive bastards did it!"
Chrono felt himself grin as the cheers began to sound across the bridge, even as the other techs confirmed it.
Lee Adama pulled his Viper into a tight turn, racing for the Hanger. He'd noticed the squids moving in, had brought several of his people out to intercept, before getting the recall order. The little squids were coming up quick, as if bent on vengeance, and they wouldn't have much time. "All right people, keep it tight and watch yourselves landing. We've won. Dying in a pileup on the flight deck would be painfully ironic."
The Vipers streaked home, death stalking behind them. Lightning blasts began to pursue, and the fleeing fighters started juking, dodging the pursuing fire as best they could. The point defense guns on Galactica began to thunder, spraying long-ranged flak rounds past them. Still, a Viper exploded. Another.
Then someone swore on the wireless – Kara – and drop-kick turned their plane, charging back at the Squids, cannons blazing. "Starbuck, get your ass back to the carrier!"
"Frak that! Somebody's got to keep these frakers off the rest of you!"
He recognized that tone. It was the tone Kara Thrace used when she'd decided it didn't matter what anyone told her, she was about to do something stupid. Nothing he could say would stop her. And frak it all, she was right.
The squid's formation, what there was of it, collapsed around her wildly dancing fighter as his Viper rounded the curve of Galactica's hull. Lightning bolts flew in that cluster; flew at Kara, and not at the dozens more fleeing fighters. Just as he passed out of line-of-sight to her, he saw a dull red flash as something exploded in the cloud.
A flare of light, and Galactica appeared in the midst of the TSAB formation. Even at a quick glance, she looked like she'd gotten hammered in there, but she was more or less intact. Voidspawn all over the fight began to break off their attacks on whatever their current targets were, and turn upon the big Battlestar. They paid for that with their lives, and quickly, but the big ship took a heavy beating in the intervening moments as capital ships, fighters, and one giant robot with shoulder cannons tore the squids still outside the rift appart.
Then the omnipresent, horrid mental screams of the Voidspawn were gone, leaving only the defenders, living and dead.