“Maybe they think it’s damaged or wrecked,” Renee suggested.
“I don’t believe Paladin is that stupid. He knows we would have gotten it working again. No, they’ve got something planned.” suspicion crept into Selena’s mind.
“We could send a few fighters to probe,” Renee proposed further.
But Selena’s suspicion grew as she pondered the Martians. “No!” she was adamant. “Send them all out. Have them form up for an attack run. At the same time, we assume a wall formation.”
Renee smiled. “The battle matrix system?” he anticipated her answer.
Selena returned his smile. “The fighters will go in first, close to the asteroid field and use it for cover. We’ll move in slowly behind the fighters. If it is a trap, the fighters will trigger it. If they don’t find anything, they’ll immediately attack the Martians.”
“And then?”
“We’ll bring our battle matrix to bear on them. What ever is left, we’ll destroy!” growled Selena.
Captain Renee, however, was skeptical of Selena’s decision and the Martians’ intentions. “Should I signal Admiral O’Donald to move in with us?” he asked.
“No,” Selena was confident in her assault plans. “This victory will be mine alone! Have him circle behind the Martians to cut off any retreat,” she confidently declared. “Now ready the battle matrix system!”
“Aye, Admiral,” Renee swiftly obeyed.
Selena then retrieved a new control crown from the domed pedestal near her command chair. Looking over at the replaced huma-droids glowing in surging energy, the pseudo goddess then donned the replacement tiara interface once more.
* * * * *
Randall and Wakinyan were transfixed as the Crimson Fleet reshaped itself for the imminent battle. The huge red ships took time and care in combining into columns and rows. As the two had seen before, the Earthers slowly assumed the packed wall formation. Yet, large numbers of the Earthers fighters were gathering too—and in front of their fleet.
The fighters deployed differently, however. They were at a single level, arranged in multiple waves of “finger-four” formations that were chained tightly together and stretched as long as their armada. Furthermore, the drone fighters lay close to the asteroid field. It was evident that the nimble small crafts meant to use the field for cover as they advanced.
Wakinyan then smiled in relief. It was what he had hoped for.
* * * * *
“FIGHTERS, ATTACK!” yelled Selena.
On her command, the Earth drone fighters rocketed forward as the Crimson Fleet got underway.
* * * * *
“ALL SHIPS, PREPARE TO LAUNCH MISSILES!” Wakinyan’s command reverberated through every Martian vessel. In unison, every Martian warship opened its outer missile bay doors, while waiting fingers hung over red “launch” buttons.
* * * * *
“ADMIRAL!” cried out Captain Renee frantically. “THE MARTIANS HAVE OPENED THEIR OUTER MISSILE BAY DOORS!”
“WHAT?” Selena was shocked at their response to her advance.
It just didn’t make sense to Selena. The range was too great to launch any successful missile strike. Unless the Martians ignored the fighters to close with her, they were risking the wholesale slaughter of their fleet in minutes. Selena’s mind raced in confusion, knowing that there had to be more to this.
“HALT THE FLEET! Activate THE BATTLE MATRIX SYSTEM! NOW!” she commanded unsure of the Martian plot.
Within seconds, the Earth fleet came to a stop and a river of transparent blue energy formed in front of the armada. Selena was taking no chances. From her technical fortress, she readied herself for the onslaught.
* * * * *
Randall intensely stared unblinking at his scanners, as the drone fighters approached. “Twenty seconds to Initial Point!” he spoke in heightened excitement. “Fifteen seconds—ten seconds,” James counted down, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN, SIX, FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE!”
“MISSILES, AWAY!” Wakinyan’s order was relayed to all warships under his command.
Spewing tails of fire, wave after wave of missiles was launched from the Martian ships. Each volley was as wide as the formation of Earth vessels itself. The rocketing projectiles raced upwards and away side-by-side from the Martian destroyers and cruisers in silent roars. Selena beheld from the loftiness of her mind the tipped warheads of the flying bombs growing exponentially in size as they approached. Each one seemed to target her precisely; it was like looking down the muzzles of a deadly line of riflemen aiming directly at her.
As the missiles closed, the matrix did a quick analysis of the weapons. Although they were standard platforms the Martians used, it was the warheads that were eccentric. They weren’t the usual anti-ship variation, but something else—ones that contained high explosives and thermobaric charges.
The mystery and the quandary deepened for Selena. These types of warheads caused enormous pressurized explosions used in blasting and bombarding a planet’s surface, but they were near useless against armored warships. Selena’s stomach fluttered as the missiles—and fate drew nearer.
“Are they stupid or just plain crazy?” she became more anxious, pondering the question in thought to the matrix computer. “Why would they use such type warheads against my ships?” she queried the intuitive machine.
The computer analyzed and recalculated again and again, but each time no answer was found. The riddle of Wakinyan’s tactics and rationale simply did not fit Selena’s question. However, the huma-droids suspected the truth—yet kept silent in a seemingly quiet rebellion. In some of them, a human part still resided. And these stirred memories that were thought erased in the others and made them realize what they had become. Seconds later their revenge began as the missiles revealed the enigma of their warheads.
The first wave of missiles arched majestically up—and then abruptly flared downwards towards the asteroid field. They immediately targeted the bodies of rock that were cascading aimlessly within the upper region.
Within several heartbeats, the first wave of missiles ended their journey in barrage of brilliant explosions just barely ahead of the impending Earth fighters. The stones disintegrated into much smaller debris that choked the field in a barrier of loose small projectiles traveling at lethal velocity. Unable to slow their speed or alter their course, the leading wave of Darius’ fighters ran smack into it.
The first fighter formations disappeared in mass explosions, which created even more debris that was hurled about. As following groups of spacecraft instantly turned to evade the bombardment, more waves of Martian missiles impacted among the fighters’ ranks, as well as behind them. Showers of jagged, stony bullets ripped into the composite bodies of the spacecraft with deadly effect. Fighters either exploded, or collided with each other in a vain effort to maneuver away. Their once mighty formations swiftly dissipated into individual spacecraft attempting to flee the trap—but there was no escape. Several minutes later, the slaughter was finally over as the last of the drone fighters died among debris of the asteroid field.
Selena’s jaw had unknowingly dropped open as she gaped in stunned silence. Her entire fighter wing had been annihilated within a matter of minutes. Yet, the aging and obsolete ships of the Martian fleet had not suffered so much as a single scratch, as they floated defiantly in front of the cyborg.
Selena became enraged at the new humiliation she endured, and the feeling became magnified as every memory of Mars exploded within her consciousness all at once. “NO MORE!” she screamed in her head. “I WILL BE RID OF YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL!”
The Crimson Fleet fired up its engines and rapidly pushed forward.
* * * * *
“RETREAT!” came the order from the Crazy Horse. The Martian fleet then obediently turned and sped directly away. Yet, the old ships still held their formation as they did, while each mine in the immense field quickly disappeared between orbiting stones a
nd into the lower reaches of the asteroid belt.
Wakinyan now depended on two things: the mines being nimble enough to avoid impacting the wayward bodies of ice and rock—and Selena’s ego. If Trager was right about Selena, his trap was about to be sprung. If not, then the Martians were doomed to become a mere footnote in history.
* * * * *
Selena became more angry and irrational as the pursuit continued. However, with the forced field up and draining away precious energy, the Earth fleet’s speed was limited. Her armada gradually fell behind the accelerating Martian ships, unable to do anything else.
Then, something surprisingly happened; the Martians slowed their ships to a halt and turned about to face her. Their grayish blue hulls shimmered in the twin suns’ rays behind them as they readied themselves to charge like horse mounted cavalry. Once Selena realized that here was where the Martians picked to end the fight, her intense anger suddenly transformed itself into heart-thumping panic and immediately she became hesitant. From the bridge of the Crazy Horse, however, Wakinyan watched—and sweated.
The next few moments would determine the fate of the day. If the Crimson Fleet came on too fast, the effect of the mines would be negated, and therefore, rendered useless. Everything would now count on the suspicion and fears of an arrogant and hateful woman.
While Wakinyan continued his nerve-racking vigil, Selena was torn between what to do. The memory of the shocking disaster of her fighters was unbelievable and filled her with heightened caution, for the Martians had a bad habit of doing the unexpected. This made her more than extremely wary. The fear of unflinching retribution for the death of Mars was staring her boldly in the face. It taunted her from the past and the now. However, she was determined not to make another mistake.
Slowing her fleet considerably, Selena advanced nervously, constantly scanning the space around her ships as well as the asteroid field, but the battle matrix system showed nothing. However, something stroked Darius’ mind; a sense of foreboding invaded her 3 dimensional medium that made her tremble.
Somewhere inside, she heard voices echoing that the end was near. It seemed that the minds of the huma-droids were revolting against her—that they knew something and weren’t going to tell her. Their cries grew to chilling mournful wails as the distance between the two fleets closed.
Selena tried to shut them out of her thoughts and concentrate on the battle, but they persisted in their lamenting. A tempest of both terror and anger consumed the cyborg woman at the same time.
“NO! YOU LIE!” Selena screamed back, trying to convince herself as well. “THERE IS NOTHING THERE! THEY ARE LIKE SHEEP TO THE SLAUGHTER! I WILL DESTROY THEM!” Selena stubbornly clung to her hate and the propaganda of Martian inferiority for support. Still her advanced towards the Martians was prudent as her fear magnified an image of a disastrous confrontation in her mind.
The Crimson Fleet, however, forged invariably closer; the weapons of every ship became aglow in swirling heated plasma and ions as they energized. They were about to fire.
* * * * *
“SPEED WITHIN THE MARGINS! APPROACHING SECOND INITIAL POINT!” Randall announced. His trained eyes analyzed the distance and velocity of the Crimson Fleet, tracking to the center point of the minefield.
Wakinyan pressed a green button on the arm of his command chair and waited.
“TWENTY SECONDS!” Randall’s voice came over the bridge crew’s headsets.
Wakinyan then readied an index finger over a red button beside the green one he had just pressed.
“FIFTEEN SECONDS!” James announced in his countdown.
Every crewman aboard every Martian ship held his or her breath. Time seemed to stand still as each moment dragged tediously into the next, but this was an illusion, the inevitable was imminent.
Randall then mouthed the final seconds. “TEN, NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN, SIX, FIVE, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE!”
Without hesitation, Wakinyan then punched the red button on the arm of his command chair.
All became silent within the universe, and time was frozen in the minds of the Martians. Selena also felt this as well. Then something told her in her thoughts to look down, and as she did, a poignancy of total dread lashed out at her.
The asteroid belt beneath the Crimson ships suddenly erupted in an enormous inferno, a fantastic wave of fire and heat that stretched the length and breath of the Earth fleet. It billowed and burned with flame and brimstone, as a gigantic blast wave shook her fleet and sent horrific mountains of rock and dust upward. The debris came as colossal bludgeons, hurtling directly at the red ships with nothing in between but empty space.
A horrified Selena screamed as her mind saw the encompassing mass smash into the lower level of her armada. Death was upon them and his sharp scythe blade carved its way easily through the formation of Darius’ ships.
Rocks, boulders, and meteoroids crashed into the bottom line of the Earth fleet with the force of a monstrous cyclone. The ships’ hulls crumbled like tin with the impact. They, themselves, were then propelled against the rows of warships just above them. Vessel after vessel then detonated as drives and power plants shorted and overloaded. It was a domino effect that evaporated huge ranks of Earth warships within the tight formation. Yet, the devastation caused by the primordial debris was just beginning.
A million ricocheting asteroids bounced off of the inner side of the blue force field and bore into the Earth armada’s upper ranks. Hulls were smashed or torn apart, as compartments decompressed slowly or simply exploded. With each ship that disappeared in a tragic end, the blue shield of energy faltered. In large scattered patches, the blue wall crumbled before permanently winking out.
It was then that Selena ripped the tiara off her head before the huma-droids exploded. Smoke and fire once more filled her bridge as several large impacts shook and vibrated the Quinton.
“ATTACK!” ordered Wakinyan at once.
The Martian ships plunged forward, determined to trample the enemy before them. Onward they rushed, quickly closing the distance between their intended targets and the maximum effective range of their weapons.
The Earth crews were frantic, but they swiftly recovered from the unexpected calamity. The Earthers then began firing at the approaching Martian warships. Their aim was true, as many of the Martian vessels took hits—but surprisingly, the Martian ships didn’t explode like they should have. Instead, the strikes were almost an annoyance, as each holed Martian warship just shook off the effects of the laser blasts and continued on its attack vector. Again and again the Earth ships fired, but each time the results were the same.
The cyborgs were awed, unable to fathom what was going on. The obsolete Martian ships were defying every attempt to destroy them. The disbelief transformed into alarm as the cyborgs grasped that they were now the helpless ones. Sheer terror then overrode all of their machine programming and spread among the hybrid humans in a terrible upwelling. Some cyborgs began turning their ships to run, while others continued shooting. Regardless, it was no use; they all were now within firing range of the vengeful Martians bent on retribution.
The Martian’s up-gunned laser weapons came to life in bursts of unbridled fury, and merciless pounded the surviving lines of Earth ships. The Martians scored hit after hit on the tattered remnants of the once mighty armada, each time spelling disaster for the Earthers. The Martian energy bolts penetrated deeply into Earth hulls, slicing through them like a hot knife to butter. Huge explosions blew sections of Earth ships apart, while igniting intense fires that engulfed the luckless vessels. The cyborg crews died either in the fires that raged or in the void of space where they were blown out into. The two belligerent fleets then entwined in a dramatic embrace of swirling destruction in climatic violence.
Ships fought head to head as the battle continued. But as fate would have it, old foes were drawn together one last and final time.
Although Selena tried to direct the
defense of her remaining ships, she was more concerned with her own survival. “RENEE!” she yelled across the bridge, “HAVE ADMIRAL O’DONALD ATTACK NOW! AND VECTOR ALL REMAINING SHIPS AROUND US IMMEDIATELY! I WANT PLENTY OF COVER!”
Renee was about to acknowledge her order, but he and Selena were knocked off their feet by a large impact that rocked the Quinton. As the two cyborgs rose, the command and control computer informed Darius of a communication.
“Admiral,” the machine spoke. “A Martian cruiser is hailing you.”
Exchanging glances with Renee, she reluctantly nodded to the machine to put it on.
“Hello, Selena,” the familiar voice of Trager greeted. “I’m so glad you accepted my invitation.”
“You lowly sack of flesh!” Selena chastised, “Where are you?”
Trager chuckled. “I show you,” he happily replied. “FIRE!” his voice commanded his gunner’s mate.
The Quinton again rocked to a laser hit from the Mir.
“That was on your port quarter!” Trager explained. “Oh dear me, I’ve seemed to have made a great big hole in your ship!”
As the Quinton’s main viewer quickly focused in on an image of the Mir, Renee pleaded with other ships for assistance.
“TARGET AND DESTROY HIM!” Selena screamed to the computer.
“That should be a little hard for you to do,” Trager informed her.
“Why?” Selena questioned.
Trager again chuckled. “Because my first salvo took out your weapon generators on the port side! By the way, you’ll be happy to know that also showed the Martians where to target your ships. I’m sure they’re putting that knowledge to good use right now!”
Rage filled Selena’s heart. She suddenly made a mad dashed to the weapon controls and armed her missiles. “Trager, you’ve just made one big mistake! We’re not that helpless!” she spit back.
Although there was no time to program them, Selena still blew open the Quinton’s outer missile bay doors and launched a full salvo of the deadly rockets.