Hello readers!

As you can see, I am in the process of start writing my own story. I just came up with an idea, and I am in the process of making it work. In other words, I am doing a lot of brain storming. I feel that beginning of the story/novel is the hardest part because it is the beginning that either makes the novel or it doesn't, on most part.

This novel starts out as a sci-fi, but will eventually cross over to fantasy...hint...hint.

I have noticed that many of the writers on Royal Road are full of wonderful ideas (though there seems to be a lot of repeated theme of "revived" virtual reality thing going on), but they seem to focus on fast story line, and thus, sacrifice quality development of the story line. It is my hope that I can provide something different in a way of more quality development of the story without sacrificing the entertainment.

So with that said...

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POP! The sound of a champaign bottle echoes the hall.

“Happy birthday Commander Colbert!” “Yay!” The dinning hall fills with cheers and laughter.

Year 3014, it has been over 800 years since the humanity has outgrown Earth and expanded outward, encompassing all of Milky Way. Once the expansion started, it didn’t take long before humans realized that we weren’t the only intelligent life-forms in the Universe. Of course, with all the stories of UFO sightings that were circulated around the Earth back in the 20th century planted seed of belief about other intelligent beings, or aliens, in our minds, but funny thing about human beings is that even though we know in the back of our minds, we don’t really “know” until we really experience it for ourselves.

In truth, governments all around the world were hiding the existence of aliens for a very long time, but with the advancement of technology that allowed us to travel the stars, as well as increase in global population, forcing us to colonize other planets, they could no longer keep denying the existence of the aliens.

As much as people complain about the government, one good thing about having centralized government is that the government, as a whole, tends to be vigilant about its interest, self-protection. Continuation of the entity called government!

That means, with the advancement of the technology, military technology advanced as well. As the population on Earth increased, the need for military “guidance,” as they called it, became paramount, and soon, every expansion into Space called for the mandatory military supervision, though they called it “escort.”

To make long story short, it was fortunate that such was the case, because not long after we colonized the solar system closest to our own, we ran into our first enemy, followed by centuries of conflicts with various hostile alien species.

Right about the time we have colonized half of the whole Milky Way, the Earth Federation became to be known as the Galactic Federation. It was a premature coinage of the “Galactic” in the new Federation name considering we haven’t colonized the whole Milky Way Galaxy at that point, but how do you stop humans from having a big head? It is humanity’s habit to exaggerate about our “greatness” in everything that we do right. What if we do something wrong? Of course, we blame the “other” lesser human beings for that, do we not?

Well, approximately 80 years ago, as we were about to claim 90% of the Milky Way as our own, new players entered the game of space conquest. They were the Filtons.

Filtons originated three galaxies away from the Milky Way, but through their brutal betrayals of their alliances, they colonized multiple galaxies as they massacred hundreds of different alien species. They formed alliances after alliances with their neighbors, and whenever they uncover any weaknesses in their so called allies, they would strike at their weaknesses in blitz-like manner and wipe them out completely.

It wasn’t that the Filtons were technologically advanced, as Filtons depended on plant based spaceships to traverse through the space. The problem was that because their ships “were” plant based, mass production of the spaceships did not depend on raw materials or industrial technology. All it required was some solar power and the spaceship would self-replicate itself. In other words, their strength was in numbers. Even if they lacked great technology, they made up for it with numbers to overwhelm their enemies.

However, numbers weren’t always the answer. When going against highly technological civilizations, advantage gained from strength in numbers didn’t amount to much because the gap in technological advancement was sizeable enough to cause some problems for the Filtons.

Taking consideration of everything, Galactic Federation was preparing for the approaching Filtons, and was building up its military in time for the attack from the Filtons, but who would have known that they had a break-through in their military technology by assimilating technology from their last victim from the other end of their massive empire? In the past, they had trouble adapting the technologies from their victims because of the incompatibilities between organic based machines and non-organic based machines found in their victims’ civilizations. So, no matter how many civilizations they conquered, they didn’t gain much in terms of technologies, until that point.

Filtons plowed through the Zergs that happened to be in between Filton Empire and the Galactic Federation, and the Galactic Federation was caught unprepared! It was a galactic chaos. Due to their recent success in technological assimilation, they acquired dimensional travel where they were able to bend the space itself, thus shortening point A to point B. Wasn’t the saying, “shortest distance between two points is a straight line,” true? Well, no longer. What resulted was that, with their advantage in numbers, Filtons were able to attack multiple strongholds all across the whole Milky Way Galaxy at once!

A Massive Chaos….

Space stations after space stations were sending out distress signals. They were requesting assistance from nearby space stations, but who can lend a hand? If it wasn’t for the fact that the only major advancement in technology the Filtons made was in their space travel, Galactic Federation would have collapsed in that initial week! Even though they were caught unprepared, fortunately enough, what little preparation they have achieved helped out enough to repel their numerically superior enemy. Just barely.

Over the next decade, Galactic Federation lost many solar systems bordering the Filtons, and the other space stations were barely holding on, thanks to the restructuring of the defense stations. Also, on home planet Earth, massive campaign was in effect to recruit soldiers for the new upcoming training camps and academies. Among the new recruits, a 20 years old college graduate eagerly signed on for the military.

The war against Filtons went onto the second stage.

Dining hall is brimming with activity as gentle piano music plays in the background. All the prominent politicians, as well as delegates of allied alien nations, gathered from all sectors of the Galaxy Star Federation (GSF) to celebrate the 90th birthday and retirement of GSF’s greatest hero. Normally, commanders, when they rich age of 65, end up retiring from the service due to the weightlessness of space having a detrimental effect on bone density, as one can’t adequately serve the GSF when their bodies are breaking down. However, the same was not the case for Commander Colbert.

Commander Colbert’s fleet, Phoenix, was the most elite group of soldiers that GSF ever put together in the history of human space exploration. Phoenix was the heart of all the significant operations the GSF ever conducted in the last 60 years battling the Filtons. It went on numerous operations to take back the solar systems lost to the Filtons, and it infiltrated countless planets occupied by the Filtons in order to retrieve secrets that turned the tides of war when most needed. There were many occasions where GSF faced losing battles, just waiting to be decimated, to be saved by the Phoenix, as it ignited fires in hearts of all men, women, and other alien allies to drive the Filtons back, hence the name given to the fleet.

However, many of those glories came with a price. He had lost countless body parts and has had numerous enhancement operations on his body in order to sustain the injuries gained from his, too many, near death experiences. With mechanical body parts encompassing 75% of his whole body, can he still call himself human? Well on the bright side, if one can call it that, it allowed him to serve as the commander of the most prestigious fleet, The Phoenix, for 60 years!

“Commander Colbert! Commander Colbert! Over here…over here!” a chorus of shouts is heard across the hall.

A huge, bald white man in a black, decorative jump suit, with an assortment of military medals across his hulking chest, turns around to face the shout. A thick mustache that is covering a battle scar above the lip brightly smiles as eyes of a gentle old man twinkles with delight. The old, bald man, contrary to his bulking size, effortlessly walks over to the smiling group of people. This jolly group is also in the military attire, but unlike the old man, they are in decorative suits and dresses more appropriate for the occasion, as well as the rest of the guests in the hall. It is not that he doesn’t have decorative dress suits of his own, but Commander Colbert got in the habit of wearing jump suits to hide his machine side, as such makes him feel more human.

“I was wondering where you guys were,” smiled Colbert. “With all these VIPs surrounding me, I was getting a bit self-conscious.”

“You know how it is Commander,” smiles a brown haired man in 40s with rim-less glasses. He is the Sub-Commander of Phoenix, Neil. “Not only are you the man of the night, you are the pillar of the GSF.”

“What are you talking about Neil? I am nothing but a broken down old man that is on his last leg, about to crawl back in his little hole on home planet.”

“Ha..ha ha. I don’t think there are any holes back on Earth that is big enough to house a Galactic Legend!” counters Neil. “Yeah Commander…Yeah,” replies the whole group.

“I don’t know what all of you are talking about. No matter how famous one is, once the individual leaves one’s position of authority or fame, he is forgotten by everybody, like a leaf flowing down the river. Actually, I kinda like that. I have been in the spotlight for too long. They even made me into a robot just so they could keep me a bit longer, don’t you know that?” chuckles Colbert.

“Well, I don’t care what you say Commander,” says a thin brunette with ponytail coming down over her left shoulder. “I am glad that they kept you for so long. None of us would be alive today if it was anybody else that was commanding us.”

“That isn’t true Locke. I am sure if I wasn’t around, with Neil commanding, and you supporting him as a sub-commander, Phoenix would be just fine.”

“Are you kidding me? Nothing against sub-commander Neil, but Filtons fear nobody more than they fear you, and that is a fact! How many of their fleets have you destroyed? How many times did you foil their traps, but bite them in the rear instead? Just you being there is enough for them to think twice about attacking the Phoenix.”

“Well, that is all well and good, but...”

“Umm-Umm,” a voice over the speaker. “Everyone, if I can have your attention. Admiral Kojak will like to say something on be half of the GSF to our departing hero, Commander Colbert….”

The night ends and all the VIPs has already left to go back to their respective sectors, and as for the stuffy politicians from Earth that grudgingly came to the retirement celebration of a “has been” commander that they could care less about, they went back to their quarters provided in the command cruiser, Phoenix One, as they “deserve” nothing less than the best of the fleet.

Currently, the third of the Phoenix is on its way back to Earth escorting their retired commander, while rest of the fleet is helping out with military transports to make better use of the military resources. After all, there is no sense in utilizing whole fleet just to escort a retired commander, regardless of the VIP status, back to the home planet.

In a dimly lit room, a large figure is seen hunched up on a chair, and a small static-like light flickers, accompanied by whinny mechanical noise that ends with a THUD of a heavy object landing on the floor.

“Well, it looks like this old leg piece is nearly at an end of its use...just like me. It has been a long time. It is a surprise that I have lasted this long…, and what have I got in return…?”

Commander Colbert pushed a little button on his left forearm, and a face of a young woman projected out. He looked at the picture intently. A hint of warmth and a little bit of sadness showed in his tired eyes. It was a picture of a woman that he left back on Earth to enlist into the GSF 70 years ago. “I have given up SO MUCH!” he thought. “Christina, I…I am sorry. I am finally returning. I am returning to die…if I die on Earth, I can, at least, be closer to you in death…. I….”

“BEEP..BEEP..BEEP…” A sound rang throughout the whole ship. It is a CODE RED! We are under an attack!

“I better get to the bri…. No, what am I saying, I am retired now. I better stay here and not be in everybody’s way. I am sure Neil and Locke will take care of things.” ‘Retired’ Commander Colbert reattached the leg piece and walked over to the bed to lie down.

“What’s the status? How many enemy ships are we looking at?” yelled Commander Neil.

“Total of 40 battle cruisers SIR!”

“That’s too many! Damn it! We weren’t supposed to be attacked this near the home planet. They should not have known anything. How did they find out? We only have 20 ships with us right now. It is 40 against 20! Even though our ships are superior to theirs, an enemy twice our number is disadvantageous for us. Damn them!” Commander Neil slammed his fist on the arm rest.

“Relay to the other ships. Formation Delta. I repeat. Formation Delta,” shouted Locke.

“Roger that. All ships, formation Delta. I repeat. Formation Delta.” The first officer Hansen relayed the other ships.

“What is their course?” shouted Neil.

“They are heading to sector 0043,0144…. They are trying to split us into two Commander!”

“Make an evasive movement Sequence Gamma, and open up com-link to the Filtons.”

Sequence Gamma, as might be deduced, is a continuous sequence of maneuvers adapted by Commander Colbert after years of observing Filton’s basic tactical maneuvers. As creatures of habit, Filtons always took a while for them to adjust to this maneuver. It was theorized that series of movements, as portrayed by the Sequence Gamma, triggers something primal in every Filton commanders…like how a string of yarn tend to occupy every kittens’ attention to no end. Though Sequence Gamma doesn’t provide anything in terms of attacking advantage, it did provide some breathing room to utilize communication with the Filton commanders from time to time.

“Roger that. All ships, Sequence Gamma. I repeat, Sequence Gamma. Com-link is open Commander!”

“This is Commander Neil of Phoenix, reply.”

“Who’s Commander Neil? I want Colbert!” A one-eyed Praying Mantis shot back. There was a red, semi-helmet looking metal thing covering the other eye of the Mantis.

“The Red-Tzar!” gasped Neil.

“Where is Colbert? I want to say my farewell….” The Red-Tzar fanned out his blades on his limbs as he released his killing intent. The antennas on his head stood straight up and started to vibrate intently with excitement.

Taking note of the implied message, Neil replied, “What are you talking about? Commander Colbert is already retired. He chose to retire on Orion sector.”

“Don’t lie little human. A little birdy told me that he is on that ship right now!”

Neil was shocked. “How could he know?” thought Neil. “Though Commander’s retirement was not a secret, him being on this ship and his destination should have been kept a secret. We have a rat!” A flood of images of the crew flashed in the back of Neil’s mind, trying to guess who could have leaked the information.

“You must be mistaken Red-Tzar. Commander is millions of light-year away from us right now. However, if you have something against me, that is another matter.” Neil has been serving under Commander Colbert for years, and he had witnessed the commander on numerous occasions talking his way out of a bad situation such as this. It is, now, his turn!

“HA..HA..HA…HAAA. Little human, you are light-years too early to be acting like a big bad COMMANDER! You see my antenna? You see this drooping antenna of mine? You are not even under my radar little human. Just because you sit on that Commander’s chair, you think you are a Commander? I won’t even waste my breath on you little human. All ships, FIRE!!”

Truly out of character, all of the Filton ships fired their space cannons. The effects of Sequence Gamma should still last another 4 minutes, and yet they fired! First the information leak, now this unusual occurrence. The GSF must be informed of this. Other wise, tides of war may turn against us! We must warn them! But we must first survive through this.

“Initiate Omega 1.”

Omega 1, it is a tactical maneuver in which the ships utilize the algorithm that the whole fleet has been computing during the Sequence Gamma. The design of the setup depends on the ever-going calculations that takes considerations of the positions of every ships at any moment, and upon initiation of Omega 1, instantaneous coordinates would then be installed on each and every ships, and the ships would automatically initiate a micro-warp jump that would take the ships to respective coordinates, behind the enemy line, while firing rear particle beams toward the enemy that would, then, be in the back of the fleet. Such maneuver would, then, give the crew some time to coordinate the next maneuver without being in danger, as the enemy would still be facing in the opposite direction while trying to manage the damage done to them from the rear particle beams.

As a person that has been the right hand man of a legend, ordering Omega 1 was the correct decision. However, that would be the right decision to make under the NORMAL circumstances. What didn’t register to Neil was that the enemy had ALREADY fired upon them. In other words, Omega 1 would, in a sense, move the ships in the paths of enemy’s space cannons, and thus, increasing the damage done upon their own ships when hit! What happened next was a disaster. Only half of the fleet made it past the enemy lines, and although the rear particle beams of the remaining ships did connect with the enemy ships, the count, now, is 30 ships to 10!

Colbert, being the originator of the Sequence Gamma and Omega 1, knew something went wrong. He raced to the ship’s deck to see what was going on, and when the door to the command center opened, he was welcomed with the casualty reports. He immediately took over command, as that is what a leader does; take charge of the situation when one is most needed.

“Status report!” demands Colbert, as he takes the command seat relinquished by Neil.

“It is the Red-Tzar!” relayed Neil. “They fired even before Sequence Gamma ended. They outnumber us 3-1, and we are down to 10 ships commander! We are currently putting some distance between us and the Filtons, and our present course is heading 0045,0214.”

“Hmm. So we are down to two choices. Stay and fight or flee to live another day.” Colbert looks around, and he immediately sees that the crew is shaken pretty bad. “Flee it is. Relay. New heading, coordinates 0115,0224, at warp 2. Engage!”

All the personnel turned in unison. “What is going on? Why are we not engaging warp?” cried Colbert.

Within the command center, noise signature has been incorporated to the bridge that notifies the operators whenever the specified velocity settings engage. Intuitively, it should be obvious to the operators that change in speed should be expected, and thus, prepare accordingly. However, it was found that during times of crisis, the operators got accustomed to hearing commands that were only relevant to their station and tune out everything else. That means when the command for change in velocity is given, only the Ensign responsible for the ship’s thrust would adjust his/her body mechanics for upcoming change in velocity, but for others, change comes as a surprise, and they end up falling over or lose balance. In times of crisis, the time wasted in reorienting one’s self could make the difference between winning or losing the battle. Luckily, it was found that even though the operators would filter out every other command (vocal) irrelevant to them, a background noise signature (melody) somehow bypassed their filter. So when the velocity didn’t change with the noise signature indicating velocity change, it was no surprise that everyone turned in unison.

“Why are we not increasing our speed? In fact, are we not slowing down instead?” puzzled Colbert. “Engineer, what is going on? Why are we losing speed?”

“No idea Commander, all of the sudden, warp algorithm got changed. As if it was rewritten. We are still decreasing in velocity, but it seems like we will hit a plateau pretty soon and hold at impulse speed.”

“Commander, all the other ships are relaying the same problem with their engines!”

“What is going ON!” Colbert shouts to the ceiling, as if looking toward God…something only Earth-born humans do.

“The rat!” cried Neil. “Commander, it’s a sabotage! Red-Tzar mentioned someone leaking the information about you staying on this ship. It may be that the same person that leaked the information also sabotaged our engines. Perhaps it may also have something to do with the failure in Sequence Gamma.”

“First Officer Hansen, I need you to trace our recent Sequence Gamma with the original, and let me know what you find. Locke, I need you to look at all the records of the ins and outs of our communications within the last few days. Neil, I need you to take charge of the investigation regarding the engine and keep me updated. Be sure to coordinate with the other ships.”

“Yes SIR!” all three replied in unison.

“In the mean time, Ensign Roe, let’s do something about our guest. Open a com-link to all of our ships. All right folks! I am sure you all know the situation by now. We are heavily outnumbered and we, somehow, lost our warp capability. We have managed to buy some time in fleeing, but they are gaining on us. We don’t have many options at this point. At this time, we can only depend on the crudest option we have available to us. Let’s commence Operation Kilo while we still have time. Over and Out!”

“Ensign Roe, let’s go with Kilo 5. Go ahead and let the other commanders know. We start in 5 minutes.”

“Yes Sir!”

Operation Kilo is a desperation attack that involves emitting light, spray of neurotoxins out into the space, where the hope is that the Filton ships would pick up the neurotoxins as they pass through the mist. The result would be temporary paralyses. Their ships would lose maneuvering capability while they are paralyzed, and thus, be like that of a sitting duck waiting to be pulverized.

The problem lies in the difficulty of execution. The fact is, space occupied by 10 ships is a lot smaller than what 30 ships would occupy, and out in the space where there is no wind, gravitational pull, or anything else to help spread the neurotoxin, it would be very difficult to cover all 30 of Filton’s ships with neurotoxin. That’s where the Kilo 5 comes in. This is really an all out desperation attack where all available vehicles, regardless of whether they are fighter planes, transport planes, or survey drones, are sent out with barrels of neurotoxins in order to cover the whole 30 ship area occupied by the Filtons. This method of attack really is crude in this space age, but desperate times call for desperate measures!

“All ships are ready commander,” notifies Ensign Roe.

“Alright, all ships execute Kilo 5!”

At this time, all 10 cruise ships spread outward while all available planes filled in the gap created by the cruise ships, and soon, a large area of space was filled with neurotoxins, but of course, there is no way for Filtons to know that.

“Hmmph, what are those ridiculous humans doing,” cried Red-Tzar. “Do they think just because they have out all those puny planes, that they can beat us?”

“Red-Tzar, they are firing on us and sending out their fighter planes.”

“Let them come, we will decimate them. All ships continue on this course and commence firing!”

“Commander Colbert, they are still advancing on us.”

“Good, good. Continue firing and wait for them to enter the kill zone. Have all our planes turn around after firing off quarter of their weapons, and have them join us. They will think that we are retreating. Neil!”

“Yes Commander!” replied Neil.

“I am sure you are aware, but we have to time it just right so that as soon as they get in the kill zone we are in position to surround them. We can’t show them any of our intentions. I would have liked usage of our micro-warp, but since our warp capability is down, we will have to do best with what we’ve got. I need you to give engineering a hand. Come up with any methods to give us a burst of speed. We just need enough for the final maneuver to surround them.”

“Yes SIR!”

“Alright, a contingency plan. Locke, bring us about and hold our position, and have all other ships continue on their course.”

“Bring us about!” shouted Locke.

Colbert, looking at Ensign Roe, “Ensign Roe, open up a com-link with the Filtons.”

“Open sir.”

“Red-Tzar, this is Colbert speaking!”

“Ha Ha, you finally crawled out of your hole, Colbert? Congratulations on your ‘retirement.’ I couldn’t think of a suitable present to give you so I have decided to give you a nice send-off. Get it? A nice ‘send-off?’ Wha ha ha ha!” Red-Tzar’s antennas were vibrating unceasingly while both of his limbs were flashing sharp, mechanized blades.

“Like my new set of limbs Colbert? I’ve lost my original pair during our last battle. It would have been nice if I was able to personally send you off with these new babies, but unfortunately, we meet in space.”

“It wouldn’t make any difference Red-Tzar, whether we are in space or on a planet surface. You would never beat me,” taunted Colbert, making sure to smile as big as possible. Yes, this is exactly what Colbert wanted when he initiated conversation with Red-Tzar. He wanted to provide as much distraction as possible just in case of no improvement from the engineering.

“Let me ask you Red-Tzar. How many times have we battled these last 40 years? Huh? And how many times have I sent you on your way with your antennas between your legs? I can’t even count how many times. Do you realize how many times I’ve wondered about your ‘Daddio’ the Emperor? I’ve wondered when he will learn his lesson and disown you as the heir.” Colbert shakes his head in pity.

“Shut up Colbert! Today is different. I’ve already cut your fleet’s size in half, and we outnumber you by twenty battle ships. There is no way you are getting away this time!”

While all the banter between the two was going on, Neil and Locke, quietly, coordinated with the other 9 ships and were ready to commence with the last part of the maneuver. Though he was not able to get the warp back in order, he was confident that Colbert rousing Red-Tzar’s anger would provide enough distraction for a successful attack.

On the side, Locke was silently giving the orders to initiate the final maneuver, while making sure Red-Tzar does not see her finger movements. In silence, “Three…Two…One…NOW!” All of a sudden, the 9 ships that were pulling away started to fan outward, making a wide arc back toward the Filtons.

“Red-Tzar! Something is wrong…”

“Quiet down! Don’t you see me mocking Colbert!?”

“But Sire…”

“I said QUIET!” The poor Filton soldier, dejected, turned his worried head down to his feet.

“SKEEE…SKEEE…” The ship’s sensor issued out warning.

“What’s going on? Answer me!” shouted Red-Tzar.

“Our ships have started to malfunction. The ship’s plant core has been poisoned. There seems to be some chemical outside that has infiltrated our ships. There will be about 10 minutes of down-time on our engines and about a minute down-time on weapons!”

Red-Tzar immediately knew what happened, “Colbert!!!!”

“All ships, we should have about one minute before they can utilize their weapons, fire your cannons only when they are fully powered up, and make it count! Go! Go! GO!”

The 9 ships caught up with the Command Cruiser and all 10 ships made a semi-circular arc, covering the 30 Filton battle cruisers. While the cruisers were charging up, all the other fighter planes and drones split into two groups and made U-Turns to attack the Filtons from their respective flanks. Though fire-power of the fighter planes and drones weren’t much, but, at this point, nothing is neglected in an effort to fend off the Filtons. Thankfully, the enemy fighter planes can’t come out due to the residual neurotoxins still present on the battle space.

All 10 cruisers fired off their cannons at once. Because the cannons were fully charged, some of them went straight through one enemy cruiser and hit another, and with added support from the flanks by the fighter planes, 15 battle cruisers were blown away, and as they were getting ready to fire off another round, Filtons fired back.

Though Filtons were effectively surrounded on three sides, they still outnumbered Phoenix by 5 cruisers, and that difference was enough to even up the battle strength. The remaining factor that would determine the result of the battle would be time. Once Filtons are able to move again, the advantage would be on their side!

“Commander, we’ve lost 3 ships and 2 ships are badly damaged!”

“How many do they have?”

“They have 9 sir, but three are heavily damaged!”

“They will be able to move again in few minutes, have all remaining ships reroute all unnecessary power supply to their engines and have them prepare to break off formation. Once they are able to move again, our tactical advantage will be gone.”

BOOM! The command cruiser shakes.

“Sir, we’ve been hit! The left phaser cannon have been destroyed!”

“Reroute the power to the remaining cannons!” shouted Locke.

“Neil,” called Colbert.

“Yes, Commander.”

“Have Phoenix 2 come behind us, and you and Locke, along with everybody, start boarding Phoenix 2. I will remain here and hold them off until you lead the remaining fleet to safety.”

“That’s not possible Commander!” shouted Neil.

“No Commander!” joined Locke.

“Don’t be no-ing me. I am an old man. Plus, I have already retired. I should have died a long time ago. You two, as well as everyone on this ship, still have so much more to do. Don’t be stubborn and leave while you still have chance!”

“You are right sir. You DID retire. Therefore, we have no obligation to listen to you, and even though you are in command right now, that is only because I’ve allowed it. As a rightful commander of this fleet, I choose to remain on this ship. As for Locke, she can choose to take charge of Phoenix 2 if she chooses.”

“No sir! I too will remain on this ship!”

“Me too sir!” “Me too,” the rest of the crew replied.

“Well, I guess we are staying,” sighed Colbert. “We might as well make the best of it then. Shall we?” Colbert looked at the rest of the crew.

“Sir, we still do have the option of letting non-essential personnel to board the Phoenix 2,” suggested Neil.

“You are right, let’s do that.”

But before they can implement the plan, Phoenix 2 and three other cruisers were hit and destroyed, leaving one other heavily damaged cruiser behind. The other side didn’t look all that well either. In an effort to move their battle ships prematurely, one of the battle ships ended up ramming into two other ships in a fit of shakes. The result was chain reaction of explosions and all that remained was Red-Tzar’s battle cruiser which was staying near the rear, safe and sound.

2 versus 1. It seemed as if Colbert had the advantage, but it was not so. Both sides were pretty much even. Seeing the one remaining enemy battle ship, the heavily damaged cruiser fired its remaining one phase cannon. Not missing a beat, Colbert also ordered fire on the Red-Tzar’s ship. Unfortunately, in an effort to make the last attack on Red-Tzar, the heavily damaged ship had rerouted all available power supply to the cannon, neglecting everything else. Needless to say, after it fired off its last attack, it too exploded.

Even though Red-Tzar’s battle cruiser no longer remained without damage, Red-Tzar was confident it can, at least, hold off Colbert. Receiving the report that they can move again, Red-Tzar ordered the ship to head straight toward Colbert’s command cruiser. Not missing the last chance to taunt Colbert, he opened up the com-link, “You ready to die yet Colbert?”

“I was ready a long time ago Red-Tzar. I am just glad that I can take you with me. This Universe would be a much better place with you gone,” chuckled Colbert.

“Still cheeky huh? I’ll be sure to completely pulverize you. Die!!!”

Both cruisers headed straight for each other while blasting all of their remaining cannons. But before they were close enough to ram each other, a bright ball of light shined upon the two ships from the side. At the same time, it seemed like time was standing still, as they were not making any progress in nearing each other. However, for some reason, the ball of light was gaining on them fast!

It was a colossal meteor the size of Earth’s moon, and it was coming toward them! Of course neither ships would be safe if such meteor smashed on them, but luckily, if you can call it that, it was only the bottom most tip of the meteor that sliced between the two enemies. Then, all of a sudden, the time stopped standing still, and instantly, both cruisers where swept up by the meteor’s gravitation field as if the two cruisers were couple of dust particles sticking to the highly charged balloon.

“Where did this meteor come from? What is this strange glow of light? What is this meteor made out of?” They all wondered that. Even though both cruisers were being pulled by the meteor, nothing was registering on their sensors! They could plainly see the meteor with their own eyes, but nothing was picking it up.

Then, slowly, it seemed as if the meteor was pulling away. It got smaller and smaller, and the gravitational pull seemed to be lessening. Then, all of a sudden, the meteor did a quick right turn and disappeared with a spark of light. However, something was amiss. In front of them, there appeared what seemed to be a dimensional window of sort. A transparent energy field was heading straight toward them, or was it the other way around?

Colbert watched as he saw Red-Tzar’s battle cruiser hit the energy field. He had thought that it would explode, but instead, it seemed to have just dissolved through! It was as if the whole ship was melting away by the energy field without losing any speed. Everyone on the Phoenix just gawked, and when it was time for their turn, they couldn’t help but bring up their arms to brace for impact….

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There you have it folks!

Hope you liked it so far. This story will take a while for it to really develop and give readers some idea as to what is really going on so hang on..... :)

-----MooShoo-----