Battle For The Blue Planet Chapter 4: Dying of the Light

The Red Spark burned hard around the Zenti formation. Plasma fire erupted from the cruisers skirting the outside slamming into the shields of the Red Spark as she went for broke to reach the destroyers first. The ship rattled and shoot with each round as they slammed home. Every paw was white-knuckled waiting for either the shields to crack or for the fire to stop.

Up on the bridge, the officers were moving rapidly. Calling out cruiser shot trajectories in a vain effort to avoid them. There were just too many to completely dodge and still get to the destroyers in time. The Zenti knew this and were laying down the hate. Every gun in range was firing at maximum output to bring down the Red Spark.

“Captain, volleys from targets three, eight, and eleven are inbound!” Jess shouted from the sensor station.

“Prepare for evasive maneuvers! Engineering, how are the shields holding up?” Bonnie barked out.

“We’re running them past their limits cap! They won’t hold for long unless we can catch a break,” the engineering offer responded.

Bonnie pushed the Red Spark as hard as she could, making a mad dash for the minefield the destroyers had set up. The mines shone brightly on the scanners, multiplying as the distance shrank rapidly. Suddenly instead of plasma, the Red Spark was dodging friendly mines in her mad dash. Breaking through the minefield the Bonnie opened up the throttle in a drag race straight to the destroyers.

They reached the destroyers just in time to see the first line of Zenti ships hit the minefield. Explosions rippled through the void as hundreds of mines remotely activated, homing in on their targets. In seconds the Zenti lost their leading carrier and its accompanying six cruisers to the onslaught. The rest of the formation halted and began sending the carrier-borne escorts forward to scout for and remove any remaining mines.

While the Zenti systematically cleared the minefield Bonnie Red opened a hail to the captains of the destroyers to attempt to formulate some kind of plan. On the viewscreen of the Red Spark, two humans and one Dlamisan face popped up. The captains of the three destroyers, later to be nicknamed the Three Musketeers, looked at the Dlamisan pirate with no small amount of awe in their eyes.

The first to break the silence was the Dlamisan destroyer captain, his nameplate marking him as Porthos. “We must stop them from clearing the minefield. As it stands their larger vessels cannot get past the mines, but that will change rapidly if they can clear them unopposed,” he stated, cutting straight to the point.

“Aye. They need to be slowed. Do ye need our firepower to kill them or our shields to cover you? We’ve taken a beating and our reactor power output has dropped, so ye can’t have both sadly,” Bonnie replied.

“We’ll take your guns, I just hope that your armor is as good as you’ve claimed because none of us will be getting out of this unscathed,” Porthos decided after deliberating for a minute, the other two captains nodding with him.

“The Red Spark be the toughest ship in the galaxy lad. Together with me crew, we’ll do everything in our power to stop the bastard from hitting me home,” Bonnie replied reaching to shut off the view screen before Porthos interrupted her.

“*Our* home Captain Red,” Porthos corrected before continuing, “You lead and we’ll mop up whatever you leave behind.”

Howls echoed from the bridges of all four ships as all the Dlamisans aboard screamed to the heavens in agreement with their orders. The humans were not to be outdone and joined in the howl with imitations of their own, adding a horrifying dissonance to the battle cry and striking true horror into the hearts of anyone brave enough to watch the recordings. To this day hearing the battle cry of the Republic navy over the radio waves scatters any enemy vessels from even the strongest of defensive positions.

The engines of the Red Spark lit up as she took off, leading the destroyers toward the minefield and the carrier escorts within it. The plasma cannons shot bright rounds into the void at the escorts as the Red Spark dodged and weaved through the friendly mines. Explosions ripped through the void as the shots connected blowing the minesweepers to smithereens.

Unhappy with the battering of their support vessels, the cruisers began logging plasma back at the Red Spark. The shots were largely unsuccessful, either bouncing off the armor of the ship due to the range or missing entirely. That changed as the Red Spark got closer. The escorts began converging and the shots from the cruisers got more powerful and accurate.

Suddenly the ship began rattling as the blows from the cruisers started making their homes in the hull. The call came from on high and damage control teams were sent scrambling to patch the holes and fix the broken systems.

“**TEAMS TWO AND FIVE COVER DECK THREE! WE’VE GOT BREACHES ALL UP AND DOWN THE HULL!”** Cookie shouted, ordering the teams across the ship to their respective positions.

The plasma was coming in thick and fast, quickly beginning to overwhelm the damage control teams. The small holes in the armor were quickly starting to become large gashes leaking atmosphere into the void.

**“TEAM THREE TO ME! WE’LL COVER DECK ONE. PROTECT THE BRIDGE AT ALL COSTS!”** Cookie barked grabbing the team and dropping to all fours, sprinting to the deck to begin their work.

They began their work immediately upon arrival. Donning vac suits the damage control team began placing hull patches over the gashes in the exterior rooms before sealing off their inner doors hoping to keep the remaining atmosphere within the ship.

As Cookie was welding an interior door the ship shook hard from something large hitting it. Not wasting a second he opened his datapad, looking through the engineering logs to find the breach and order the remaining teams to it. To his shock the damage was on deck three, just where he’d sent two of his teams not but a few minutes ago. Reaching for his radio he called the teams asking for a damage report.

“Teams two and five, damage report. What’s going on down there?” Cookie asked.

All he got in response was static. Calling again, this time more frantically Cookie waited for a response. When none came he opened his radio to the ship's emergency channel and began broadcasting to all the Red Spark’s damage control and medical teams.

“We’ve lost all contact with deck three. Damage control teams two and five have gone dark. Team one, respond to deck three immediately and begin rescue operations if possible. Team four you are responsible for roving damage control. It looks like it's just us three teams left, don’t take any unnecessary risks. Isolate entire decks if need be. Prioritize keeping the guns, engines, and shields up and running. Sacrifice everything else,” Cookie ordered before taking a breath and continuing, “McCoy, if you can hear this, I need you to send medics to deck three. I don’t know if anyone’s left, but save who you can.”

The radio chirped with conformations from the damage control teams as they began to move towards their designated locations. Just as Cookie was going to key the radio again to call McCoy and his medics one word broke through the static, “Understood.” The voice was clearly McCoy’s so Cookie left it there, content with any answer, as the door he was welding began leaking atmosphere again. As he finished the last spots in the door reports from team one began to come in.

“Deck three is gone! Whatever the hell hit us wiped straight through stem to stern! I’m seeing void on my port and starboard. There’s nothing left!” Team one’s lead barked into the radio.

“Confirm complete loss of deck three. Check any sealed rooms left for survivors and make any necessary repairs to the keel. Once done, report to engineering and keep them alive. We need those shields!” Cookie responded.

“Captain, Cookie is reporting the complete loss of deck three! No sign of survivors,” Shouted Sunny from comms.

“We’re down to 40% efficiency on our remaining point defense cannons and ammo for those is running low,” Interjected Charlie from the weapons station.

“Shields are failing rapidly! Critical sections are going to be vulnerable Captain!” Called out the engineering officer.

Bonnie sat there taking in the bad news. Once sure that each was thoroughly done speaking she piped up and began to issue orders.

“Prioritize shields for the engines and reactor, everything else can burn, the bridge included,” Bonnie ordered pointing at her engineering officer before rotating to point at Charlie. “See what ammunition can be transferred from the damaged weapons. Keep the guns firing as long as possible,” Finally she turned to Sunny, “Tell Cookie to do what he can to keep the ship from falling apart and send a message to our counterparts. Tell them to follow us as we back off to regroup,” Bonnie finished.

As the messages went out Bonnie turned the Red Spark towards Earth. Gunning it to the relative safety of the planet’s upper orbit. The destroyers were not far behind, each of them trailing flames, atmosphere, and pieces of their hull. After escaping the firing arc of the cruisers, the ships circled the wagons and let the damage control teams go to work while the captains re-opened their comms and tried to make a new plan.

Porthos opened the meeting, getting straight to the point. “Their escort force has been decimated and their mine clearing has certainly slowed. We bought some time, but not enough. We need a new plan.”

“Matey I be nearly out of ammo and we were nearly torn asunder by those cruisers. On top of that, we don’t have a starboard plasma battery no more. Not to mention our shields are down to covering only the most vital areas. We won’t even be able to get close to the Exterminator before we’re shredded and we stand the best chance out of any of ye,” replied an obviously stressed Bonnie, dipping deep into pirate speak.

Porthos took a breath and looked at his fellow destroyer captains, seeming to ask an unspoken question to which they both nodded yes. Turning back to Bonnie he laid out the idea, “We’ll be your shields if you think your plasma battery can break them.”

Bonnie looked at the destroyer captains, doing a quick count in her head, adding up the total crew count on each and coming to a number that hurt her hearts. After thinking for a moment she looked at her own crew and the determination on their faces, and Bonnie Red came to her conclusion. “If there were ever a ship that could do it, it’s the Red Spark.” And with those fateful words, the die was cast.

As the last of the mines were being cleared the three musketeers and the Red Spark came charging in. The destroyers made a bubble around the flanks of the Red Spark. Each destroyer focused their shields on sections of the Red Spark not covered by their own hulls. The plasma started sporadically. The cruiser escorts were apparently surprised that the posse was back for more. The surprise did not last long and the plasma started flying thick and fast. The destroyers were being battered but sent out as much return fire as they could manage. It wasn’t a lot, but it took the focus off of the Red Spark at the center of the group.

It didn’t take long for the first of the musketeers to fall. A broadside from several cruisers at near point-blank range tore the ship in two. Leaving her tumbling through the void, her point-defense weapons on backup power spit hateful trails of light at the Zenti around her in a last act of spite. As payment for that, she was blasted to stardust by the surrounding cruisers.

The posse was deeper into the formation when the next destroyer fell. The fire from the cruisers had become less in volume as they broke through the center of the formation, but it was no less accurate. The destroyer to the starboard side of the Red Spark died a death of a thousand cuts as the point defense weapons of the nearby cruisers peppered her hull. To her credit, she held out until her engines died and fell away from the pack. To be torn further apart by the Zenti following behind.

The last destroyer and the Red Spark were bearing down on the Exterminator when all of the sudden their Zenti pursuers broke contact and began to run. Bonnie didn’t immediately notice why and for a brief moment thought to celebrate. That was until she saw the main guns of the exterminator turning to the Red Spark. They had been corralled straight into the firing line of the main guns of the behemoth!

The captain of the last destroyer, Porthos himself, opened up every comms channel and belted out a battle cry as he threw his destroyer into the side of the evading Red Spark pushing her further into her turn away from the cannons of the Exterminator. In doing so he saved the Red Spark but doomed himself. The guns flashed and titanic plasma rounds sailed straight down the bow of the destroyer and several Zenti cruisers behind it who didn’t get away fast enough, instantly atomizing them all.

The Red Spark had her promised opportunity. In front of her was the Exterminator with its main guns out of position and recharging. Not planning to waste the sacrifice of the brave sailors who got them to this point Bonnie immediately began belting out orders.

“**CUT THE ENGINES, SHUT DOWN THE SHIELDS, AND SCRAP THE LIFE SUPPORT! PUT IT ALL IN THE CANNONS! THIS IS OUR ONLY SHOT WE GOT TO MAKE IT COUNT!”** Bonnie barked out, sending her bridge officers to work.

The lights on the ship dimmed and the gravity cut out as everything poured into the plasma cannons for one last barrage. The Red Spark shook with the first shot, then the second, and the third. With each following shot, the ship shook less and less as her power drained. It was at the 18th shot when the cannons finally fell silent. Their barrels were warped and their housings cracked, but they served their purpose.

The Exterminator took the first half dozen shots straight to the shield with next to no reaction, until suddenly by the eighth shot the shields shattered. Sensing blood in the water the bridge crew howled in the dark as they watches the remaining ten shots land on the bow of the Exterminator. The rounds penetrated deep into the bowls of the exterminator, blowing apart the port main cannon and appearing to cripple the rest of the port point defense weapons. Suddenly lights all over the Exterminator went out and its engines lost their dark glow as the ship appeared to lose power.

The bridge crew of the Red Spark was ecstatic. They had done it, they had brought down the mighty beast. Their white whale was slain. Howls of victory echo through the Red Spark from every breathing mouth as word passed. After a minute of howls in the dark, the engineers were able to restore emergency backup power allowing the lights, life support, comms, and gravity to be turned back on.

As suddenly as the celebrations began, they ended. There were lights coming back on from the Exterminator. Abruptly, the engines flickered back to life and the Exterminator began moving again. The worst part of it all came when the remaining secondary batteries came online and began firing at the Red Spark. Scarily they didn’t shoot to kill. No, they shredded the Red Spark’s engines and then fell silent, seeming to dare the little ship to retaliate. Having spent all their fight, the bridge crew of the Red Spark just sat in silence as they watched the Exterminator bear down on their stricken ship.

Sunny looked at Bonnie, dread apparent in her eyes before speaking, “Captain, we have a hail from the Exterminator.”