ROC
STARDATE 05.11.26
FIMBULVETR
“THE HELLHOUND IS NOT SOME PUPPY FOR YOU TO PROTECT!!”
Captain Ferrock was not happy. The Captain resembled a mass of flowing concrete which vaguely held a humanoid form. He sat upon a circular Captain’s Chair, one designed to contain his liquid-like mass in the most comfortable manner. On the View Screen was Captain Hervor.
Captain Hervor was a thin tall being with four arms. She was calm and composed, despite the battle condition, a trait she developed slowly over the length of her extremely long life. She stared at Captain Ferrock with her beautiful four eyes, hoping she could instill some sense in him before all was lost. The survival of the Shield Maiden, the Hellhound, and the Roc depended on it.
“Captain Ferrock, calm yourself. You know as well as I than neither of us can stand against the Neo-Invader Hauntling by ourselves. That is why both of us were dispatched by Unity Command to save the Roc. We must act together, as a team. I understand your bloodlust for battle. You will have your opportunity, I assure you. But at the right moment, not before. We must follow the plan.”
Captain Ferrock folded both of his concrete arms over his liquid chest. “Very well, Captain Hervor. You have the larger ship. We will follow your pl…”
A starship about the size of the Hellhound rapidly melted into normal space off the Hellhound’s port side. A mass of drones launched from the vessel right before it disappeared again into the blackness of space. The drones closed in on the Hellhound. Just before impact, each of them disappeared and reappeared in a completely different location, still homing in on their target.
It was at this moment that the Shield Maiden, who was purposely trailing right behind the Hellhound, unleashed a barrage of Phaser Fire, each shot pinpointed at one of the drones about to strike the Hellhound. In simultaneous bursts of fire and debris, all of the drones were destroyed. The Shield Maiden had successfully protected the smaller Hellhound from certain doom.
“You have my…thanks,” Captain Ferrock said to Captain Hervor begrudgingly. She nodded on the view screen, knowing it was difficult for Captain Ferrock to say such a thing. “Now, Captain Ferrock, we must execute our plan. There can be no further delays. The longer this battle drags on, the more of an advantage the Neo-Invader Hauntling has. Stray forward out of the protective reach of the Shield Maiden. Arm only your direct-fire weapons; your Implosion Torpedo will be unable to maintain a lock on the Hauntling. We will draw this fox out of hiding so it will never threaten the coop again.”
The Hellhound slowly drifted forward, moving away from the Shield Maiden. As if in angry response, the Neo-Invader Hauntling appeared behind the Shield Maiden, launched a mass of drones, and then quickly faded away. The drones disappeared and relocated as they always did, but the Shield Maiden was no easy target. Three Rotary Shields quickly maneuvered around the Shield Maiden and took up positions to block the incoming drones. The drones impacted on the Rotary Shields. The Shield Maiden was safe. Two drones remained, but they were summarily shot down by the Shield Maiden’s Defensive Phasers.
Aboard the Roc, Captain Bellafina Rainbow Freefeather could do nothing but watch the battle from afar. Her ship was a wreck. It had been ravaged by the Neo-Invader Hauntling’s drones, Tractor-Repulsor Beams, Dissection Beams, and Phasers. Still, she refused to play the victim. “Arm whatever <SQUAWK> Phasers we have left, even if it’s just <SQUAWK> a couple of shots. They may make a <SQUAWK> difference at a critical moment.”
Captain Hervor spoke in a calm soothing voice to her Bridge Crew. “Science Officer, Navigator, Tactical Officer…coordinate all of your data in real time and triangulate the best approximate position the Neo-Invader Hauntling will reappear to attack the Hellhound. Overload our Particle Shotguns and ready all of our Offensive Phasers to fire.”
Within moments, the Neo-Invader Hauntling appeared off the Hellhound’s starboard side. A mass of drones flew toward the Hellhound. In a split second, the Neo-Invader Hauntling would be gone again.
“NOW!! FIRE ALL PARTICLE SHOTGUNS AND OFFENSIVE PHASERS!!! KILL THAT SLY FOX SO THAT IT CAN NEVER HUNT AGAIN!!”
A shower of glowing red orbs fired from the Shield Maiden’s bow, as if fired from a 20th century shotgun. Phasers blasted out of the Shield Maiden at the same time. The furious assault was targeted on the Neo-Invader Hauntling.
At the same moment, the Hellhound performed a High Energy Turn to bring its weapons to bear on the Neo-Invader Hauntling. “UNLEASH HELL!!!” Captain Ferrock exclaimed as loud as a concrete being could. Implosion Bolts sprang from the Hellhound, coupled with Radiation Phasers and Offensive Phasers.
The combined onslaught struck the Neo-Invader Hauntling, overloading its protective Panels. Sections of the small craft exploded and went dark. To the amazement of all the opposing Unity Captains, the Neo-Invader Hauntling still managed to fade out of normal space to escape the conflict.
The drones homing in on the Hellhound disappeared and reappeared at different approach vectors. The Hellhound lacked the firepower to stop them, having expended everything on the Neo-Invader Hauntling. Over half of its shield’s collapsed as the Hellhound suffered major damage. Like the Roc, it was now a wreck.
The Shield Maiden prepared to tractor both the Hellhound and the Roc back to Planetbase. There, Unity Engineers would be able to repair both starships. But it would take time. They had also suffered major crew casualties.
AND ALL DUE TO A SINGLE NEO-INVADER HAUNTLING. WHAT IF THERE HAD BEEN MORE HAUNTLINGS OR A FLEET OF NEO-INVADER SERVITORS TO ASSIST THEM? OR WORSE, A NEO-INVADER MOTHERSHIP FULL OF NEO-INVADER SATELLITE SHIPS?
