Eric Olafson, Fleet Cadet 25

Chapter 25: Fornax Cluster Interlude

In all these years it was the first Stahl ran to reach the bridge of the Devi, he had barely made it back aboard and was still wearing his battered combat suit as he stomped with augmented muscles and eight tons of Terran battle gear on the bridge. Harris just informed him that another wave of Y’All ships was approaching. His mighty ship shuddered and he heard the Harris ordering all attack wings to be deployed. He reached the bridge. Harris had disappeared inside his command chair now in full battle mode. Stahl anchored his suit boots to the deck plates and switched to prime command channel. The Scanner Operator said with a calm voice.” Two hundred six units, Captain.”

Stahl was confident the Devi could deal with even this number, but the Translocator bomb magazines would be depleted and the possibility of damage and casualties among the attack wings was almost certain. This was what the Devi was made for and her crew knew how do dish out death and destruction. He had send and let countless loyal beings into battle before, but every life lost was a painful scar on his old soul.

“Primary shields at 40 percent, the Y’All concentrating fire on the weak aft shields. Delta Wing has lost four Wolfcraft.” The XO reported.

Stahl noticed dozens of Y’All ships suddenly bursting into millions of pieces. As if disassembled part by part, in a fraction of a second, yet there were no explosions.

A new ship had appeared, perfectly spherical without any markings or anything that would disturb the perfect surface.

He stared at the screen and the dark gray spherical ship of a thousand meters diameter.

This was a Narth sphere. He had seen one only once before and that too was 1500 years ago. Y’All weapon fire poured into that sphere and there were no visible shields. The Y’All ships carried weapons very similar to the Unions’ second most potent weapon, faster than light Directed energy projectors and each shot poured the raw energy equivalent of a solar eruption into the shields of the Devastator. Yet the Y’All fire splashed of the Narth sphere as if someone was using a water-squirter against a granite boulder.”