Subject: Rear Admiral Fredrick Kennedy

Species: Knuknu

Species Description: Avian humanoid, non-prehensile tail. 5'10" (1.7 m) avg height. 84 lbs (38 kg) avg weight. 342 year life expectancy.

Ship: USSS Gaping Maw

Location: Unknown

"Start spinning this over-sized tug and fire when ready," I ordered.

"Aye aye, sir!"

The tac-map began to rotate, and I pressed the option for it to remain static. A good portion of our fleets were still landing their marines, and the rest were covering them. I tried not to think about how many enemy ships there actually were and opted to simply conceptualize it as 'a lot'.

Thankfully, there were only so many ships that could attack us at once. Still a massive number, but manageable in a sense. The OU also had old warp technology, which forced them to warp further away from the Grand Vessel than we could. This distance was also inhibiting how many ships they could field at once.

Our first volley traveled through the void and struck one of the many, many Mobile Prime Platforms. There were far fewer of them than the rest of the ship-types in the OU armada, but still too many for us to be able to kill them all in a timely manner. Even assuming that we took no losses amongst our dreadnoughts, which would be a foolish assumption, it would take days of continuous fire to destroy them all. Maybe even weeks. With MACs that could destroy most of our ships with a single shot, they posed the most significant risk to our defense.

I watched our forces exchange fire, nervously glancing at our shields. Then I noticed a pattern emerge. The MPPs were only targeting ships that were participating in the defense. And they were only targeting the ones that were a certain distance from the...

"Get us closer to the Grand Vessel," I said to Blavro.

"Aye, sir," the captain gave me a confused expression.

"As close as we can get without having to do a full burn to maintain our distance."

The MPP that was responsible for our diminishing shield strength stopped firing. I happily clacked my beak. The enemy doesn't want to inadvertently damage the Grand Vessel. We can use that against them.

"Commander Stevens, let the rest of the armada know that the enemy doesn't seem willing to accidentally shoot the GV."

"Aye, sir."

We fired again and hit another MPP, our smaller guns picking off the smaller targets. It was a drop in the bucket, but our invasion force would need all the help it could get. I sighed at the swarm of red on the tac-map, then noticed something alarming.

"Sir, I think those Mobile Prime Platforms are trying to get a goo-"

Small shudders rocked the ship, interrupting Commander Horvu. Three MPPs had flanked us and opened fire. I looked at the commander, smiling with my eyes.

"You were saying?" I asked with tense amusement.

"That'll teach me for thinking, sir. The enemy has repositioned so that they can fire at us without hitting the GV. Twenty-two seconds until we can return fire."

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"Evasive maneuvers. As best you can, Blavro."

"Aye aye, sir. Let's see what this tug can do."

"Do we have support?"

"Uh, no sir, looks like we're all in the same boat," Stevens said.

"Damn, didn't take them long to adjust, did it? Thought it would buy us a bit more time than that."

"Well, whilst the most of the OU fleet are comprised of Virtual Intelligences, the Mobile Prime Platforms are actually organic based Artificial Intelligences," Stevens lectured while typing frantically. "As such, their processi-"

The USSS Gaping Maw rocked as we took a palpable hit, interrupting the commander. I gripped my armrest and watched our shield indicator drop further and further. Our cannon fired, and the tac-map tracked our projectile as it found its mark in one of the three MPPs. The large red dot that denoted the enemy vessel disappeared from the map a moment later.

"Good hit, sir," Horvu reported.

"Excellent work, commander. Keep it up," I replied.

"Sir, I can get us some ships that have already made their drops," Stevens said. "A handful of destroyers."

"Again?" I laughed, then sighed. "I don't think it will make much of a difference this time. Have them hold their line, and we'll just have to do the same."

We'd found ourselves stuck in quite the predicament. If we pull back to let our shields recharge, the Mobile Prime Platforms will chase us down. Then they'll either kill us anyway, or they'll take advantage of the hole we would be leaving and target the ships that haven't made their drops yet. I leaned back in my seat as another hit rocked the ship.

If we can take them out, we'll be fine. A lot of their ships are at a risky angle, and it will take some time for them to get into a position that will allow them to fire. These MPPs got lucky with their positioning. Lucky for them, unfortunate for us.

Our shield dropped to less than a quarter as we fired our second shot. I tried to do the math to determine if we would survive to get a third shot off. It would be close. Very close.

"Another good hit, sir," Horvu said.

"One more," I replied.

The only sound aboard the bridge for the next few moments were terminals being utilized. It was obvious that everyone was trying to make peace with what might happen next, while actively doing their best to prevent it. I examined my crew, noting the stone-cold expressions present on each of their faces.

I wondered how many of my crew had families that will miss them. Blavro and Stevens do, but they'd volunteered that information. I wasn't the type to pry into my junior's personal affairs, so I had never asked.

Maybe that's because I don't have a family of my own. No wife, no kids, no parents, and no other family that I'm on speaking terms with. One's own situation tends to impact how one views the universe around them. If we survive this, I'll have to make sure to get some more one on one time with my crew and get to know them better.

Some of their expressions started to shift from stoicism to concern. The threat of imminent death is corrosive to morale, and even the strongest people can crack under this kind of pressure. I've always hated giving speeches, but there's something I've been meaning to say anyway.

"Whatever happens next, I want you all to know that I'm proud of you," I said, breaking the silence. "You're a damn fine crew, and if it's possible to make it through this I know we'll find a way. Even if the wor-"

"Firing!" Horvu interrupted.

"Thank fuck!" I exclaimed.

I watched the round travel across the tac-map. Without even thinking about it I silenced the alarm warning me that our shield had run out. We collectively held our breath as our round met the big red dot on the map.

A moment passed, but the dot remained.

"Shit, glancing blow," Horvu slammed a fist on his station. "I-I'm sorry, sir."

I pulled up the external view and zoomed in on the MPP. A large chunk of the planet-sized ship had been torn off, but it still remained functional. I sighed softly and switched back to the tac-map.

That's it, we're finished. Even with all the guns that we'd just destroyed on the MPP, it still had more than enough to gut us. Only a matter of time, now.

I pondered what comes after death. Is it nothingness? Or will I be taken to some sort of paradise? I wonder if I will go to a human paradise or a knuknu paradise.

My adoptive parents were catholic, but I'd always felt like an outsider in church. I only prayed when I was guilted into it, and I stopped going the moment I had the option. I guess that means eternal damnation is also a possibility. I wouldn't mind seeing my mom and dad again in the afterlife.

No, that's defeatist thinking. We're not dead yet, and we still have a chance to take this fucker down. A very, very slim chance, but it's better than nothing.

"Let's try to finish it off before it finishes us off," I said. "Target... Wait, what?"

A very small friendly dot appeared directly next to the red one. Before I could bring up any information, the MPP disappeared from the tac-map. I sat there, mouth agape, trying to figure out what happened. The bridge remained silent for a time before Stevens expressed what we were all thinking.

"Uh... What the hell just happened?"