Read part two here: http://swanindustries.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/arcturian-pt-2.html
Read part three here: http://swanindustries.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/arcturian-pt-3.html
By Calum Morton
Blasts
of pure energy spewed forth from gun pits and cannons and spread out lazily
across the gulf of space. The ships that tumbled and twisted around the
space station at Tau Beta. Markus Sillassus swung about the controls and bore
down upon a pirate scout ship he waited a few seconds; sure enough, there
were the blue-purple blasts of the Arcturian's Pulse Laser Cannons. Some shots
were dispersed by the pirate vessels’ energy shields but more went through and
tore holes in her hull. Fire blossomed out of the ruptures as internal blasts
ripped the small ship apart. Danm good
shot, Seb thought Markus, as he heaved on the controls and fell into formation
behind the Taurus.
“Captain
Odan, what’s our next target?” Markus asked over the secure comm channel.
“The
rebel pirate fleet is being commanded from a Polaris class heavy cruiser
sitting just outside of the orbit of the station and well out of the way of the
battle. I want to punch a hole through the rebel squadrons and lead a force
against that cruiser. All available ships form up on me and follow my lead!”
The reply came over open channels to all confederacy ships in the battle. A
beam of purple light flicked across from a pirate vessel and struck a Confederacy
Vespa class destroyer. The beam raked across the hull of the ship and flame
billowed out of the rent in the ship’s flank. The destroyer returned a fire
with a volley of missiles and three large ion blasts. The pirate ship
disappeared in a cloud of fire and debris as she was instantaneously torn
apart. Markus flicked a switch on the control panel in front of him and locked
on to a rebel star fighter just ahead and port of him. He pressed a button and
watched a missile streak towards the small craft. One flash of light later and
the fighter was no more. Somehow this
just doesn’t feel right thought Markus as he adjusted his flight path to
follow the Taurus. A drifting hulk
briefly obscured his view of the rest of the battle as he arced over its’ port
bow. The floating wreck was so damaged he couldn’t even tell what side of the
battle it belonged to.
A
few minutes later they saw it, the rebel’s capital ship. The great Polaris
class sat fat and wide just outside of the main battle and occasionally fired
on a ship that dared to fly too close. That thing was built like a floating
fortress and armed to the teeth with a nasty array of weaponry, from miniature
tactical nuclear missiles, to plasma burst cannons, and even x-ray lasers:
invisible yet devastating new weapons which could pass straight through shields
and hull alike to cook a ships’ crew where they stood. Markus gunned the
engines and followed the rest of the motley squadron who were headed straight
for it.
Down
in weapons Seb held his fire until he saw an opportunity to exploit a weakness
in his enemy’s defence. As a bot he had a knack for calculating the best
possible moment to strike so he sat, finger on the trigger, waiting…
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