Paragon of Battle
A huge ship floated in the void like some great predator from the depths of the ocean, its dark gothic looking hull painted a deep blue that was nearly as black as the space surrounding it. The lines of small weapons adorned its sides and its great armoured plates reflected the harsh light of the system’s blue giant star. Twin great spires struck outwards and forwards like the barrels of a titanic gun, the architecture that adorned them just as dark and ornate.
In the far distance a conflict raged, small explosions and the bright beams of light that stabbed out spoke to the ferocity of the conflict. Debris and outgassing wrecks were strewn about as each side of the battle tried furiously to slaughter the other. It was a dirty slugfest and neither side looked to be gaining the upper hand. The large ship sat back, far from the fighting. It did nothing aggressive, made no moves towards the battle that raged nearly one hundred kilometers distant from its safe vantage point.
Inside the ship was another matter entirely. On the bridge of the ship a furious dance of minor officers and enlisted rushed in a flurry of activity that looked like chaos. This chaos was cleverly orchestrated; however, each individual member of the titanic ship’s crew had their own individual goals and mission, the culmination of all these disparate parts coming together to form a whole that was much greater than the sum of its parts. At the head of the bridge a single figure stood and watched the battle unfold through dispassionate eyes, their calm calculating demeanour a constant source of strength for the beleaguered crew.
Suddenly the figure’s horned head turned, the battle had changed. Several new bursts of flickering light announced the arrival of reinforcements to the enemy, including a huge behemoth of a ship. The new ship was dark and brooding, covered in sharp angles and bristling with guns, it swatted several frigates from the space around it as a child might swat a fly. The figure on the bridge of the dark ship saw this new threat and nodded their head to a subordinate. Suddenly the enemy behemoth was surrounded by a dark red indicator on the main viewscreen.
The deadly hum of the ship's extraordinary power plants built like some great storm approaching on the horizon. The hum and tang of ozone filled the air as the wail of the capacitors charging rose to a fever pitch. With ears ringing and eyes watering, the many technicians and engineers scrambled too and fro to prepare the mighty Paragon beamer for discharge. A single mistake could spell death to them all and so there could be no mistakes. Everything was checked and triple checked as the great gigawatt power stations of the ship fed the hungry capacitors more and more energy. Soon the capacitors were satiated, the incredible power contained within mind numbing to imagine.
The enemy ship was a hundred kilometers away. Safe as it could be from the large predator that observed it hungrily, or so it must have thought. As the hum of the generators ceased all fell silent aboard the large ship, the many crew understanding the significance of the moment. Many could be seen to pull dark goggles over their eyes as many more simply put their heads down on desks with arms and eyes covered. The figure atop the command platform smiled, their perfectly straight teeth flashed in the light of a nearby console as they uttered a single word.
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“Initiate.”
A simple phrase, but that was all that was needed. All at once the gigawatt capacitors fired in unison, the energy releasing with a powerful sound that was so all encompassing it was more akin to a solid wall of force that reverberated through the ship. The twin long spires at the front of the ship suddenly glowed brightly, the discharge of energy funneled through a complex series of mirrors, focusers and concentrators till twin beams of brilliance stabbed forth. The beams traveled the space between the two ships so fast as to be instantaneous, the eye searing brilliance of the beams causing immediate and permanent damage any dumb enough to have looked at them directly.
A hundred kilometers away the beams impacted the giant enemy ship. Its dark armour plates were vaporized in an instant. Tons of molten slag, bits of machinery and the charred bodies of her crew spewed out into the unforgiving black of space. The beams didn't stop there however, they burned through the entirety of the great battleship in seconds and then one impacted one of the remaining enemy heavy cruiser’s amidships. This touched off its munitions stockpile and the resulting explosion tore many smaller supporting craft around it to splinters and razor shards from the glancing hit.
The confusion amongst the enemy lines was immediate and ultimately the thing that would bring about their downfall. The enemy flagship had been drawn out of hiding, the promise of an easy battle having gotten the better of its impetuous captain. As the twin glaring lasers ceased all that could be seen through the molten slag was ruin. The once great battleship had been reduced to so many hunks of ruptured metal and debris. The main bulk of the tattered hulk now spiraled lazily out of control, the bright white plumes of outgassing bulkheads were in stark contrast to the deep dark of the void.
The battle continued for another few minutes as word of the devastation must surely have spread through the enemy lines. But the imposing dark ship and her silent captain hung back. They had revealed their presence and in doing so had shown their hand. There was to be no glorious charge into the throngs of enemy ships, there would be no need.
And indeed as the shock spread through the opposing forces ships stopped fighting. First one by one and then in a flood surrender codes were transmitted from the once hostile vessels. All at once the battle was over, the enemy was rounded up and their escape pods reclaimed. Twenty thousand prisoners were captured along with a dozen capital class ships, all at the cost of a few of their own. Only the slowly tumbling forms of burnt out wrecks showed that hostilities had ever taken place. And in a few weeks the salvage rigs would have cleaned up even that leaving no trace that anything had ever even occurred.
The figure aboard the long dark ship smiled, their long pink sinuous tail lashing in their pleasure at the desired outcome of the conflict. They had decisively won the battle, and it had only taken but a single shot. Once more the monstrosity of a ship they commanded showed its value in both tactical and literal engagements. Three hundred more hulls of similar design had been laid down and were in various states of construction, when they were complete this war would come to an end. One way or another, the fighting would cease and the galaxy would be returned to peace.
End of Story