The Neimun was successfully isolated. The Dorian’s steady retreat had moved the battle further from their position. With the help of Ace, the Imminent Destruction dispatched with the remaining escort. The situation had devolved into guard duty. Bert fiddled with his cigarette while Fade sat with his feet propped on the controls.

“Sergeant Payson is still with that reportress.”

Fade stretched his arms with a long yawn, “Reportress?”

“A lady reporter,” Bert explained. “If they have reporters I figure they gotta have reportresses too. Otherwise it wouldn’t be fair. I’ve been thinking it over.”

“You’re my best friend, but sometimes I do wander where you even came from.”

“From an old world, am I right!?” Bert slapped his lap and laughed.

The radar screen blipped wildly as red specks appeared on its edges.

“Five vessels,” Bert explained, “All over thirty thousand tons, approachin’ from the rear, the southern left quadrant, and the northern left quadrant. Seems they’ve finally come runnin’ to get us.”

One of the vessels was a black ship, long and thin; with mammoth hyper cannons extending from supports. Four Zepher class cruisers flanked the heavy cannon.

“Hostile missile lock detected on the front sector,” Horace warned.

Fade launched the Imminent Destruction into a quick dive before releasing counter measures.

“Horace, deploy secondary cannons. Ready the shield depletion missiles.”

The Imminent Destruction swerved. A volley of shield depletion missiles hit the main enemy cannon cruiser. The finisher immobilized the overgrown cannon, but the four Zepher class cruisers passed their crippled partner and advanced two by two. The front couple fired then alternated with the back. Fade sent the Imminent Destruction on a zigzag course that avoided enemy laser fire. The enemy dispersed in response. The Imminent Destruction passed the center of their positions. Suddenly Fade’s Cruiser had its cannons aimed behind one. A scrambling field has the four cruisers firing on each other.

The space dust of the Wom nebula reduced visibility and interfered with navigation. The Imminent Destruction maneuvered through the thicker dust fields and cloaked itself between releasing scrambling fields. The cruiser became a ghost maneuvering in and out of the enemy foundation faster than the Zepher’s could keep up. Soon, the enemy cruisers destroyed one of their own and damaged themselves in the process. The Imminent Destruction’s beam cannons tore into the remaining cruisers, destroying them with one shot kills that disabled their shields and detonated a known flaw in the power systems.

The Hyper cannon cruiser, though otherwise immobilized, turned to face the Imminent Destruction as it finished the last of the Zephyr class cruisers. It pulled space dust into its orbit. A bright blue glow signaled the overcharge of the cannon but Fade had finished with the other four too late. A hyper particle acceleration ray blew the shields away instantly before slicing through the Imminent Destruction’s rear thrusters. A bright, reddish green light expanded between the fusion engines, which snapped apart like glass hit by a tornado. Hydrogen and helium escaped into space.

The lighting in the bridge failed, everything went dark.

“Activate the emergency power.”

The Horace bubble reappeared, a soft red light glowed from the edges of the walls, and the communications screen indicated readiness.

“Horace, what’s our status?” Fade asked.

“Complete shield failure. Oxygen and life containment system failure. Partial engine failure. Power reserves critical.”

Bert shook his head, “Damn that must’ve been one powerful cannon!”

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“Get a location on Sergeant Payson and Miss Hughes,” Fade said, “Keep gun three active as long as you can.”

“Shutting down non-critical systems. The sensors and visual equipment are compromised. I’m unable to locate missing crew.”

“I need one last maneuver Horace. Can she handle it?”

“It’ll destroy all engine viability if you do so, but it can be done.”

Fade dove the Imminent Destruction into firing position. A beam aimed through the underside of the immobilized cannon cruiser. Once hit, the disabled Buldethian warship’s thrusters and gravity control systems floated away from the main cannon. Fade picked up a communications headset. The view screen remained blank.

“Ace, you’ll have to dock in the Neimun,” Fade said, hoping he could be heard. “I’m not able to open the fighter hatch.”

He dialed a new code and spoke once again.

“Lieutenant Soel, I’m afraid the Buldethians got a lucky shot. The Imminent Destruction is severely disabled. What’s your progress?”

Soel was able to hear him and return an answer at the very least.

“We’ve secured the Neimun, but we need time to learn its operations. We’re questioning the prisoners now. What’s your damage?”

-----

Lieutenant Soel wore a communications headset as he listened to Fade while overseeing work on a radar unit. Sergeant Norwaki sighed as he finished his work, pulled out from underneath the radar compartment, and turned it on. The Neimun’s radar showed the Imminent Destruction as a large green blip, appropriately labeled. The Lieutenant flipped a switch that changed the green dot into an infrared image. The hull of the cruiser was blue and purple, green flumes trailed from compromised thrusters.

“Look like particle acceleration beam damage. It ate through shields at near full power though, unbelievable. I’ve never seen such a deadly technology. Yet it could have been avoided if you hadn’t exposed your weak point. You thought you had dispatched with the heavy gun ship; that proved to be a fatal mistake. Now we have nothing to protect us if the Buldethians continue to send forces our way.”

“I failed. No excuses. Are you going to help me, or do you intend to let everyone here die?”

“I’ll help you. It wouldn’t be honorable to abandon one who fought so well, even if you are a mercenary scumbag.”

Second Lieutenant Forgisom entered the cockpit, “Sir, we’ve reestablished communications and are now operating under Imperial code. It’s safe to try and contact Admiral Norima of the main fleet. The Advanced radar is also on line, Sir.”

“Good work lieutenant. Secure the fighter bay. See if you can find anything useful.”

Lieutenant Soel enhanced the radar holograph. The top left hand corner indicated a viewing field of over one hundred thousand cubed kilometers.

“Something’s not right, here,” Lieutenant Soel muttered.

“What’s the problem?” Fade asked

“The radar screen indicates that your fellow mercenaries are intentionally allowing enemy cruisers to pass directly underneath them! An explanation, Captain Defacto?!”

“I don’t represent them, Lieutenant Soel, I could care less what they do.”

“Care less! They’re throwing the battle. The Dorian is being decimated!”

There was a moment of awkward silence.

“Was I involved? Would that have even happened if I wasn't out here protecting a glorified survey ship? Seeing as you're not generating a shield for the Dorian right now, that's what it really is, isn't it. A glorified fracking survey ship.”

“One can never know the result of a hypothetical. Give me thirty minutes to link with your ship Captain. For your crew if nothing else.”

“I appreciate what you’re doing, sir.”

As the communication closed Fade banged his fist on the console. He touched the bridge of his nose for a moment before looking back toward Bert with a scowl.

“Why didn’t you warn me that the cannon was still active!?”

Bert pulled out his cigarette, “Honestly didn’t see it coming. I was focusin in on them Zephyrs as the main threat. I could have sworn it was completely immobilized.”

He twisted the filter and took a deep drag, “Not like it matters now. We gotta do what we gotta do.”

“I agree with the lieutenant’s perspective Captain, recriminations benefit nobody. We should concentrate on evacuation protocol to the best of our abilities considering all the evacuation gear is expired by over five Harnicor rotations.”

"Why didn't you warn me Horace!"

"I'm sorry Captain. All my combat resources were focused on the Zephyrs. I considered the cannon to have been completely immobilized. It used a cloaking to disguise that it could still rotate. This is completely my failure and I take full responsibility."

"Aww, Horace, don't be so hard on yourself," Bert said, "You did your best. You've never done anything less."

Horace remained silent.

"Bert, I need you to gather evacuation gear. Karen and Destiny were last observed in the observation deck. Status?”

“They are safe, vitals monitored. Oxygen levels are approaching critical in their sector. Gravity generation estimated to fail in five minutes. Atmospheric pressure in the observation deck decreasing.”

“Good thing we weren’t transportin’ landing infantry, am I right? Anyway, you keep things operational here. I’ll take care of the rest. You can always count on good ole Bert Slemgut if a job needs doin’.”

Fade banged his head against the console.

“Captain, I do not recommend self-injury as a valid course of action in this or any case.”

“Shut up Horace.”