Sector 3 - Undar system - Space above Undar Prime

Five blue windows emerged above the stations on Undar Prime and from them, Mark's squadron arrived at their new destination.

"Good job everyone! Now pilo..." (Mark) "wait, what were your names again? Also does anyone got an extra pair of clothes?"

Mark only now realised that with what happened, he didn't even knew the names of his men nor he had any clothes.

"My name's Sebastian, a rank 3 Ace Pilot, regarding your clothes, they were in the Kalypso station but I think once we dock again, they will provide you with new ones." Said the corvette pilot.

"Sir! I am cadet David, Sir!" (Soldier)

"Charles..." "Bob..." The engineers slowly mumbled.

As the crew told their names, a sudden voice sounded from the comms. "This Vice Admiral Vulore calling the escort squadron, is the VIP with you?" Hearing his words, Mark pressed one of the buttons on the chair. "This is Mark, son of Maruk, I request permission to dock my squadron on Zeus."

"Sending you the coordinate to hangar 2, I ask you to meet me at the command center as soon as possible."(Vulore)

"Will be there once I get some clothes!"(Mark)

"Clothes? Copy, see you soon..." (Vulore)

With this, the squadron turned downwards and started their descend.

The view made Mark a bit worried as his ships passed the four perimeter defense stations and approached the large Zeus station orbiting Unda Prime, the tropical planet populated by several cities. The Zeus station, unlike the Kalypso, was a military station wich also served as a shipyard, it was in charge with building, refueling and repairing the larger vessels in the solar system. It was divided into two sections, the center body and the large ring surrounding the middle of the center body. The center body was divided into several floors, each being used for either storing resources or crew quarters and in the heart of it, was the command center. A third of the large ring was occupied by the shipyard construction facility, in the other two-thirds 4 hangar entrances could be seen while the rest of it's body was filled with armour, also above this part of the station was the place where larger ships would dock. Most of it's armaments were torpedo tubes, missile launchers, plasma and laser turrets that spread around the entire station. Below the station was the most important building in the solar system, the Unda Hypergate, wich allowed for ships to travel to other Hypergates on other systems.

In the outer perimeter 4000 meters above Zeus, were 4 defense stations forming the first main line of the defense, each station had a small hangar that could launch a squadron and are equipped with a small number of laser turrets and missile launchers.

While passing the stations, three squadrons of three scout ships passed by Mark's squadron heading outside the perimeter defense, additionally, several civilian ships could be seen forming a line near the Hypergate as it was being turned online. The squadron was halfway to Zeus station and the hypergate turned on, from it, two large vessels appeared, they were heavy cruisers which were escorting a carrier following behind them, once they cleared the way, the civilian ships started to travel into the gate.

Docked at the station, was what was left of the Unda defensive fleet, two cruisers and 7 frigates, all of these ships were damaged from their previous battle, in the shipyard, three frigates could be seen being rushed into final production. At this time, all repair corvettes and even the mining drones of the station were working at 100% at repairing the damaged fleet.

The squadron docked inside the hangar. "Sebatian, take care of the ships and crew ok?" (Mark)

"Are we to be on standby?" (Sebastian)

"Yes, we don't know when that dreadnought will arrive, so we must be prepared!" (Mark)

Sebastian nodded his head, but in his mind like the rest of the crew, were wondering what they could do, even with the newest reinforcements that came in from the hypergate, a dreadnought is a monster ship with 3,200 meters length, 800 meters high and it comes with a combined weaponry of massive turrets wich a single one of these could easily dwarf a corvette, just this capital ship would be a large challenge, but what about it's escort fleet?

"David, go get me some clothes, then we shall visit the command center of this station." (Mark)

"At once, Sir!" The cadent trooper ran outside and returned after 5 minutes with a blue shirt with golden stripes on the shoulders and black pants. This was a navy officer's uniform without the markings of rank. "Here ya go Sir. This is what I could find..."

"It's comfortable enough..." Mark said while dressing up. "C'mon, follow me!" He waved at David wich promptly followed him.

Mark and David went with no problems and with the help of the station's crew, the duo entered the elevator that lead to the Command Center.

'I wonder how many know about the treatment?' Mark wondered about how much detail was shared outside the station he had been hibernating as it seemed that everyone here Zeus that he had seen knew him. 'Perhaps it's the hair?' One of the side effects of the treatment was his hair. Every Hima Feru Clan has red hair, while the other clans have other hair colors and the only Himanian to be known to have black hair was Sejaar, he to the Himanians was the father god who helped them reach their utopia, the planet Hima. He was known for two things, a great leader and a womanizer as it was believed the clans themselves each originated from one of his wives, Feru, Lunu, Deru, Kalu, Patu and Magu. The only Clan that did not follow the same pattern, was the Hima Sejaard Clan. This clan was the guardian of Himanian history, followed the teachings of Sejaar and was composed by the most religious Himanians from the other Clans.

These eight Clans formed the Himanian Council, one of the six most powerfull factions in the galaxy.

'Now I have black hair, but I guess it could be worst? I could be a Kaross, all baldy looking like a space mole rat!'

"Mark! Is that you?" A voice suddenly called him. "Uh? You are?" (Mark) Just as the duo reached the door to the command center, an old man in uniform spoke to him and to Mark, the man seemed familiar.

"You don't remember me? Well, it has been a decade, but I don't think I got too old?" (old man)

"Oh! Uncle Howard? Is that you? But what are you doing here? Were you not supposed at the Refuge borders?" (Mark)

"Let's just say that I took a short vacation, alright? I have been there for almost two decades dealing with pirate scum. A man needs some rest don't you think little one?" (Uncle Howard)

"I'm not little anymore!" (Mark)

"You might have grown, but inside you're still a child, so what do you think of my gift?" (Uncle Howard)

"Gift? What gift?" (Mark)

"Didn't you say you wanted a carrier when you were little?" (Uncle Howard) "That one is now yours!" The man said while pointing at the window on his left where it showed the heavy cruisers escorting the carrier.

"That, that's mine?" (Mark)

"Yes, crew included!" (Uncle Howard)

"Thank you! Thank you! But does it include the heavy cruisers?" Mark inquired with shiny eyes.

Admiral Howard rubbed the back of his head. "It is not that I would mind not giving them, but it is still too soon for you to have that kind of firepower, originally they came with me as my escort, but with the intel of the dreadnought... Look, just come inside with me, let me introduce to the rest of the folks." He waved at Mark while the door opened.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Inside the room at the center was a round table with several chairs around it, three men who sat there immediately rose up when they saw Howard.

"Welcome to the Unda system, Admiral Howard!" The three saluted him.

"At ease, gentlemen, this is my nephew Mark, as you may know he was hibernating on the Kalypso." (Admiral Howard)

The man on the right was the first to speak. "Greetings, I am Captain Andrew. I welcome you to my station." Then the one in the middle. "We have spoke earlier, but I would like to introduce again myself, I am Vice Admiral Vulore, the one in charge of the fleets of Unda, I am glad you managed to escape and promptly join us."

The third man almost busted laughing. "Ah! I wouldn't say escape, considering the footage, he blew the enemy away, not bad considering he's mentally 10! Oh, by the way, I am Captain Sewale, in charge of the stations in Unda 2, nice to meet you!"

"It's an honor! But I didn't do much, it was the crew of my ships and besides, the enemy was already weakened by the brave defenders." (Mark)

"The true lies in between, but I am grateful too as the captain of the Kalypso uploaded all the research that he could put into your corvette, I already copied it, it will be very useful." (Vice Admiral Vulore)

'Why do they all seem so calm?'

"May I ask what plans you have against the dreadnought and it's fleet?" (Mark)

"Let us all sit down first." His uncle suggested to the officers.

While they sat in the center of the room, many staff could be seen in working in their seats, shining consoles and panels would release tiny bip sounds from time to time.

"So who would like to start?" (Admiral Howard)

"I will if you don't mind?" (Vice Admiral Vulore)

Uncle Howard nodded at the man wich made him release a cough.

"First of all, at 04:00 Himanian, contact was lost with the second patrol fleet and at 06:00 two scout squadrons were dispatch to find them, only to discover debris, the patrol fleet was composed of two front frigates and one missile frigate, this was only our first loss, afterwards our perimeter defensive station Grizzly at Unda 5 and it's fighter squadron went dark, we assumed the worst, so I left with everything that we had available."

Vulore sighed. "Five cruisers and twenty-five frigates warped into Unda 4, aiming to intercept the enemy, at 07:26, a massive object warped near my fleet, it was a Kaross Dreadnought, not only that, it was accompanied by two carriers, four cruisers and a large number of frigates, we tried to at least damage the large beast, but it's shield was too hard, our cruisers would eventually destroy the shield but with just one salvo, our frontline of seven frigates and a cruiser were lost to the dread... We confirmed that the enemy capital ship had two large ion cannons on the frontsides of the ship, these are enough to kill cruisers in one shot!"

"So it isn't a broadside battleship?" (Admiral Howard)

There were two classifications for battleships. Some would focus on the frontside, so they would fight with their front to the enemy as they have cannons and armor at the front, while broadside ships fight by turning one of the sides to the enemy so they can use a large line of multiple turrets.

"That was my first assumption as there were many large turrets on the sides..." (Vice Admiral Vulore)

"That firepower... I do wonder how the hell did it get into sector 3?" (Captain Andrew)

"Let us leave that question for the future, so what happened next?" (Admiral Howard)

"In the end, we tried to face it from it's back, only to be intercepted by it's escorts." (Vice Admiral Vulore) "So in the last second I changed priorities and all ships focused on the carriers, taking them out at the cost of one more of my cruisers and two frigates, afterwards I ordered an emergency jump to Hima Prime, most ships managed to succeed with the exception of another cruiser and five frigates that were KIA before being able to complete the jump."

"At least with those carriers out, there will be less light ships, so who's next?" (Admiral Howard)

"Ah, I guess it's my turn, once I got word about what happened, I have ordered for several probes to be dispatched to Unda 3 and 4" (Captain Sewale) "As suggested by Admiral Howard, we evacuated Unda 2, it went without no issues, it's just a mining planet after all. Also before the last ships left, my corvette minelayers had mined the entire area around the stations and extra probes have been positioned in hidden places around the planet space. The intel that I got from the probes that I sent to Unda 3 were very useful, while they were destroyed in just a few minutes after arrival, the scan of the area inquicates that the Kalypso station did indeed clean a large number of enemy ships. The Dreadnought was spotted in Unda 3 with the current escorts, 1 cruiser and 15 frigates. Unfortunately, the probes did not have enough time to scan for the light class ships. Regarding Unda 4, I found nothing, only a little debris."

"With luck, the Kaross will move into Unda 2 before Unda Prime." (Vice Admiral Vulore)

"Yes, we might get a few extra kills if they do so, but it wont be enough for the dreadnought, for that we will need every ship available, not only that, we need to focus on it's rear." (Admiral Howard)

"That is the problem, most of my fleet is either gone or heavily damaged, any ETA on the repairs, Andrew?" (Vice Admiral Vulore)

"Regarding your ships, The Exalted and The Ruthless Cruisers will be fully operational very soon, but the frigates will take longer, I might stop the work in half of them and focus on the other half if you wish?" (Captain Andrew)

"Admiral, what do you think?" (Vice Admiral Vulore)

"Don't, keep working on all ships, at least make sure they can all properly fly, at this point, because of the dread, two ships with half the weapons operational is better than one with all weapons." (Admiral Howard)

"What about me?" Mark suddenly broke his silence towards the four officers.

"To be honest, I was thinking of evacuating you?" (Admiral Howard)

"No!" (Mark)

"Sigh, You can stay, just make sure you don't get near the dreadnought." (Admiral Howard)

"Okay, oh! What about the three frigates I saw being built at the shipyard? What are they? I never saw their configuration!" (Mark)

"They are the first Ion Frigates in the Unda system. Ion technology was recently found, there arent many of them in our clan." (Captain Andrew)

"Are they more powerfull than plasma?" (Mark)

"Not exactly, I would say that plasma and Ion do the same damage to armour, but Ion, unlike plasma can drown an enemies shield really fast, the downsize is it's energy consumption wich forces a large charging time." (Captain Andrew)

"So why don't we use them against the dreadnought?" (Mark)

"Because it will be hard to point the Ion cannon while trying to dodge it's escorts." (Vice Admiral Vulore)

"Even so, they might be useful, just let's get what we can until the enemies arrival." (Admiral Howard)

The discussion went on, civilian evacuation was still underway and a request for reinforcements was sent to every solar system in sector 3.