Thu Jul 22, 2004 8:01 pm
Well folks, here it is. The final two chapters. Don't worry, though. I'm currently working on a sequel.
Enjoy and thanks to all who have read the story!
Chapter 15
NOMAD JUMP GATE, OMICRON ZETA SYSTEM
King watched with horror as one battleship after another came through the jump gate. They seemed to ingore the human ships completely as they entered formation nearby. The human ships, meanwhile, had their hands full dealing with the numerous Nomad fighters that seemed to keep coming out of nowhere.
Now what? King thought to himself.
At that moment, Trent, Von Claussen and what remained of Beta Wing emerged through the jump hole near the Nomad jump gate.
"Trent! What happened? What's your status?" King said.
"All of our torpedoes are gone. We have a few missiles left, but I doubt they'd even dent the Nomad fleet. How about you?"
"The damn Nomads had the gate heavily shielded. There was no way we could penetrate it before it went active. We've got to get out of here and regroup on the Osiris."
"We're not going to get another shot at this, King. You said yourself that this was Armageddon."
"So what do we do now?"
"I sure as hell am not going down quietly. Anyone who wants to join me feel free." With that, Trent turned his Anubis toward the nearest battleship and fired his guns.
King smiled to himself. "You know, that's a piss poor way of getting out of buying me a drink. Tally-ho!" King punched his thrusters and joined the fray.
Fortunately for the Order ships, the remaining cardamine missiles did have an effect on the Nomad battleships. While they did not destroy them completely, six of the massive ships were disabled.
"Damn," said Trent, "we just don't have the firepower. We need a miracle."
"Somebody call for a miracle?" said a familiar voice.
"Juni??!! What the hell?"
Several spacecraft emerged from the nearby dust cloud. Trent watched in awe as ships from Bretonia, Kusari and even Rheinland flew in formation, heading toward the battle.
"Did you really think I would let them ground me?" Juni asked.
Another familiar voice came over the comm system. "All Blood Dragon fighters, this is Lord Hakkera. Target the battleships. These are your primary targets."
"Bretoina Wing, this is Colonel Tobias. Break formation and provide cover to the Dragons."
"Tobias??"
"Hello, laddy. Quite an occupation you have here."
The Blood Dragon fighters flew in and launched their salvo of torpedoes. Several more Nomad battleships were destroyed. The Bretonian and Rheinland ships engaged the Nomad fighters, keeping them away from the Blood Dragons.
"It's a good thing not all the Blood Dragons are Nomads," Trent said.
"Lord Hakkera gathered the remaining ones to assist us," replied Juni. "Just in time, too, from the looks of things. Watch your six!" Juni launched a missile that hit a Nomad fighter dead-on and destroyed it.
At that moment the Nomad jump gate went active again. More battleships began to come through.
"Oh my God..." breathed Juni. "What now?"
From out of the dust cloud a large transport appeared and flew toward the gathering Nomad battleships.
"Everyone clear away from the battleships!" said a voice.
"Chavez? is that you? What the hell are you doing?"
"Shut up and do as I say! I've got a hold full of cardamine and you don't want to be caught in this blast!"
"What is that crazy bastard trying to do?" yelled King.
"I am atoning for all that I have done in the past. Now get out of here! Now!"
"Chavez, wait!"
"MOVE IT!!!!"
The ships began to move away as the transport rocketed at maximum velocity toward the battleship formation.
"Vaya con Dios, my friends..." were the last words from Chavez as the transport's engines detonated in the center of the Nomad formation, turning the ship into a giant cardamine bomb. The shock wave from the explosion slammed into the Nomad battleships. The Order pilots watched in awe as battleship after battleship disintegrated from the force of the blast and the effects of the vaporized cardamine.
"That son of a ***** did it!!" King yelled. "Take out the gate before any more come through!!"
The ships focused all of their fire on the Nomad gate. Within moments the gate went up in flames, taking two more Nomad battleships with it that were trying to come through.
"Mission accomplished," said King. "Let's go home."
------
Chapter 16: Epilogue
BATTLESHIP OSIRIS, SIGMA-13 SYSTEM
The celebration on board the Osiris was, to say the least, spirited. Even Orillion, as cautious as he was, enjoyed the celebration. King had drunk more than his share, and looked to be passed out in a corner booth. Lord Hakkera had broken out a bottle of three-hundred-year-old saki and was sharing it liberally with the Blood Dragons he had led.
Trent sat at another end of the bar with Tobias.
"So tell me, old man, how did you find out about our little adventure here?"
"You can thank your friend Juni. She contacted me and told me what was happening. I summoned some of my old flying buddies and we came to do what we could."
"Excuse me, gentlemen," said Juni behind them, "I need to borrow Trent for a moment."
Tobias looked at Trent and winked. Trent got up and followed Juni.
"Orillion wants to speak with us," Juni explained as she led Trent to Orillion.
"Ah, there you are," said Orillion. "We have achieved a great victory today, but I still fear that we have not seen the last of them. In the meantime, however, you two have earned a nice long vacation. I have managed to secure two tourist permits to planet Gaia over in Edinburgh."
Juni smiled and slid her hand into Trent's.
"Now get out of here before I find something else for you to do." Orillion smiled and turned back to his drink.
"Guess we better do as he says," Trent said as he and Juni walked away.
"You know, I've been wondering," Juni said. "Do you think we'll ever know how and why Chavez did what he did?"
"Probably not. All that matters is he died a hero's death and saved humanity. I think that makes up for a lot."
Juni thought for a moment. "You know, it might take a little while to mop up the remaining Nomads in the colonies."
"Well then, we'd better get out of here before they assign us to find them."
Juni smiled. "You're right. Now let's go get lost."
--------------------------------
The ship had been monitoring the events happening in the sector for many cycles now. The Commander had watched the battles between their former enemies and the new inhabitants with a sense of amusement. These new inhabitants had shown themselves to be quite resourceful in handling the traitors, and he respected that. But it was now time to return to their long-abandoned home and claim what was rightfully theirs.
THE END...?
---------------------------
Charter member of the Foundation for the Legalization of Medicinal Cardamine
Enjoy and thanks to all who have read the story!
Chapter 15
NOMAD JUMP GATE, OMICRON ZETA SYSTEM
King watched with horror as one battleship after another came through the jump gate. They seemed to ingore the human ships completely as they entered formation nearby. The human ships, meanwhile, had their hands full dealing with the numerous Nomad fighters that seemed to keep coming out of nowhere.
Now what? King thought to himself.
At that moment, Trent, Von Claussen and what remained of Beta Wing emerged through the jump hole near the Nomad jump gate.
"Trent! What happened? What's your status?" King said.
"All of our torpedoes are gone. We have a few missiles left, but I doubt they'd even dent the Nomad fleet. How about you?"
"The damn Nomads had the gate heavily shielded. There was no way we could penetrate it before it went active. We've got to get out of here and regroup on the Osiris."
"We're not going to get another shot at this, King. You said yourself that this was Armageddon."
"So what do we do now?"
"I sure as hell am not going down quietly. Anyone who wants to join me feel free." With that, Trent turned his Anubis toward the nearest battleship and fired his guns.
King smiled to himself. "You know, that's a piss poor way of getting out of buying me a drink. Tally-ho!" King punched his thrusters and joined the fray.
Fortunately for the Order ships, the remaining cardamine missiles did have an effect on the Nomad battleships. While they did not destroy them completely, six of the massive ships were disabled.
"Damn," said Trent, "we just don't have the firepower. We need a miracle."
"Somebody call for a miracle?" said a familiar voice.
"Juni??!! What the hell?"
Several spacecraft emerged from the nearby dust cloud. Trent watched in awe as ships from Bretonia, Kusari and even Rheinland flew in formation, heading toward the battle.
"Did you really think I would let them ground me?" Juni asked.
Another familiar voice came over the comm system. "All Blood Dragon fighters, this is Lord Hakkera. Target the battleships. These are your primary targets."
"Bretoina Wing, this is Colonel Tobias. Break formation and provide cover to the Dragons."
"Tobias??"
"Hello, laddy. Quite an occupation you have here."
The Blood Dragon fighters flew in and launched their salvo of torpedoes. Several more Nomad battleships were destroyed. The Bretonian and Rheinland ships engaged the Nomad fighters, keeping them away from the Blood Dragons.
"It's a good thing not all the Blood Dragons are Nomads," Trent said.
"Lord Hakkera gathered the remaining ones to assist us," replied Juni. "Just in time, too, from the looks of things. Watch your six!" Juni launched a missile that hit a Nomad fighter dead-on and destroyed it.
At that moment the Nomad jump gate went active again. More battleships began to come through.
"Oh my God..." breathed Juni. "What now?"
From out of the dust cloud a large transport appeared and flew toward the gathering Nomad battleships.
"Everyone clear away from the battleships!" said a voice.
"Chavez? is that you? What the hell are you doing?"
"Shut up and do as I say! I've got a hold full of cardamine and you don't want to be caught in this blast!"
"What is that crazy bastard trying to do?" yelled King.
"I am atoning for all that I have done in the past. Now get out of here! Now!"
"Chavez, wait!"
"MOVE IT!!!!"
The ships began to move away as the transport rocketed at maximum velocity toward the battleship formation.
"Vaya con Dios, my friends..." were the last words from Chavez as the transport's engines detonated in the center of the Nomad formation, turning the ship into a giant cardamine bomb. The shock wave from the explosion slammed into the Nomad battleships. The Order pilots watched in awe as battleship after battleship disintegrated from the force of the blast and the effects of the vaporized cardamine.
"That son of a ***** did it!!" King yelled. "Take out the gate before any more come through!!"
The ships focused all of their fire on the Nomad gate. Within moments the gate went up in flames, taking two more Nomad battleships with it that were trying to come through.
"Mission accomplished," said King. "Let's go home."
------
Chapter 16: Epilogue
BATTLESHIP OSIRIS, SIGMA-13 SYSTEM
The celebration on board the Osiris was, to say the least, spirited. Even Orillion, as cautious as he was, enjoyed the celebration. King had drunk more than his share, and looked to be passed out in a corner booth. Lord Hakkera had broken out a bottle of three-hundred-year-old saki and was sharing it liberally with the Blood Dragons he had led.
Trent sat at another end of the bar with Tobias.
"So tell me, old man, how did you find out about our little adventure here?"
"You can thank your friend Juni. She contacted me and told me what was happening. I summoned some of my old flying buddies and we came to do what we could."
"Excuse me, gentlemen," said Juni behind them, "I need to borrow Trent for a moment."
Tobias looked at Trent and winked. Trent got up and followed Juni.
"Orillion wants to speak with us," Juni explained as she led Trent to Orillion.
"Ah, there you are," said Orillion. "We have achieved a great victory today, but I still fear that we have not seen the last of them. In the meantime, however, you two have earned a nice long vacation. I have managed to secure two tourist permits to planet Gaia over in Edinburgh."
Juni smiled and slid her hand into Trent's.
"Now get out of here before I find something else for you to do." Orillion smiled and turned back to his drink.
"Guess we better do as he says," Trent said as he and Juni walked away.
"You know, I've been wondering," Juni said. "Do you think we'll ever know how and why Chavez did what he did?"
"Probably not. All that matters is he died a hero's death and saved humanity. I think that makes up for a lot."
Juni thought for a moment. "You know, it might take a little while to mop up the remaining Nomads in the colonies."
"Well then, we'd better get out of here before they assign us to find them."
Juni smiled. "You're right. Now let's go get lost."
--------------------------------
The ship had been monitoring the events happening in the sector for many cycles now. The Commander had watched the battles between their former enemies and the new inhabitants with a sense of amusement. These new inhabitants had shown themselves to be quite resourceful in handling the traitors, and he respected that. But it was now time to return to their long-abandoned home and claim what was rightfully theirs.
THE END...?
---------------------------
Charter member of the Foundation for the Legalization of Medicinal Cardamine
