A small craft exited the Golden Eagle and headed for Sykar. "Tell her she
can't leave!" exclaimed Crichton to Zhaan over the comm. "I'm sorry John,
she has already left", she replied. "D'argo offered to give me Chiana, he
said that he would fly his own ship". "Good, do that, we don't have much
time", replied Crichton cutting off. D'argo then hailed. "Someone
downloaded the entire tactical data base and tried to cover their tracks",
he said. "Renaise!" said Crichton. "She used a data crystal", added D'argo
cutting off. "Tanga, Renaise will be coming down with a data crystal, do
what ever you have to get the crystal back and destroy it", he said over
the comm. "Kill her if you have to".
Tralk's ship, D'argo's Cruiser, and the Defiance took the point of the
defensive fleet. 5 rust red ships a little larger than marauders filled the
gap between the 4 Urvidian ships. The Skara fighters had raised rears and
large twin blasters under their bridge. 5 flanked the left Urvidian ships,
5 the right. 2 frigates took up the rear between the fleet and the
platforms. The Golden Eagle flanked the lead ships. A Leviathan starbursted
away while pods continued to race up to Moya from Sykar. "Moya needs 20
minutes to finish the evacuation", said Tak. "Hurry Rygel", said Crichton
under his breath.
"Sir, Peace Keeper Task Force within scanning range", reported Tak. "Sir,
call ships receiving a message from the command carrier".
The one eyed Ryken appeared on screen. "I am Commodore Ryken, your
situation is hopeless", said Ryken. "Lower your shields and surrender your
ships, all that comply will be spared death," he said cutting off. "Open a
channel to the fleet," said Crichton. "Any ship that wishes to flee or
surrender, break formation now". There was a long silence. "Thought so",
said Crichton opening a channel to Ryken. He appeared on Ryken's screen. "I
believe that I speak for everyone in the fleet when I say, frell you!" He
made a slashing motion across his throat at Ryken cutting off. "Launch
Prowler squadrons", said Ryken angrily.
16 nimble fighters flew out from the carrier's maw. Several other squadrons
of 8 launched and held back around the fleet. A wedge formation of 1
cruiser at point and 7 frigates followed the Prowlers closely, while Sun's
squadron of 1 Battle fighter, 3 cruisers and 2 frigates moved slowly. "Sir,
16 Prowlers on a direct course for us", said Tak. "Zhaan, plan C", said
Chrichton. The Golden Eagle sped up and cloaked.
"Nerri and Knight, fall back to mobile position 3", said Chrichton. The two
captured Peace Keeper frigates maneuvered to reinforce the left flank.
Suddenly, the long-range blue compressor beams of the Urvidians began to
fire at the Prowlers. The inaccurate weapons had little chance of hitting
the small ships. "Urvidians, concentrate all your fire on the capitals",
said Crichton. "Attack wing 2, Golden Eagle, Nerri, set up kill zone at
grid 3, 15", he ordered. The blue beams of the Urvidians lashed out at
Sun's squadron. Several concentrated blasts at the right frequency
penetrated the DS and cut a Cruiser to pieces.
The Prowlers entered the appropriate grid. The Golden Eagle decloaked and
started firing disrupters at the small ships. 2 fighters were slip in to. A
hatch opened on the Defiance's left wing, and a missile launched. The lead
Prowler went up in a wave of energy. The explosion caught a second Prowler
and crippled it. One of the Skara raiders opened fire on the Prowlers and
it was destroyed in a cloud of red energy and metal. Several Prowlers then
opened fire on the Raider, its DS absorbed a few hits, but it quickly
collapsed and blasters cut the raider to shreds of metal. Several frag
cannon blasts from the Nerri, and disrupters from the Golden Eagle flew at
the Prowlers, while another missile claimed a Prowler. A frag cannon
destroyed 1 Prowler. The Prowlers began to attack an Urvidian cruiser like
mocking birds on a raven. The red blasters of the fighters hit the cruisers
invisible shields while the twin anti-fighter gun of the cruiser responded
to the attacks without success.
Another missile of the Defiance tracked a Prowler. The pilot looked at the
missile lock. He knew he was doomed, even if we did eject. He flew towards
the Urvidian cruiser under attack and aimed for the rear of the ship. Just
as the missile was about to hit, he smashed into the cruisers core shield
and the missile exploded, bringing the shield down. The others began to
assault the core instead of the weapons. Red blasts began to penetrate the
armor. A Prowler leaking burning plasma flew strait into the damage armor.
It penetrated the hull and exploded in the core. Violent explosions
engulfed the Urvidian cruiser. The Prowlers tried to escape the shock wave
but 2 didn't. The rest flew away to regroup.
The Defiance maneuvered to replace the ship. The Urvidians had been so
distracted with Sun, that they let the second group of 1 cruiser and 7
frigates close in on them. D'argo's cruiser fired 4 ion torpedoes at 4
frigates. 3 penetrated their shields and destroyed them, but 1 exploded on
the shields of the 4th. D'argo stared in disbelief. Their shields could now
block attacks? The damaged frigate made a kamikaze dive directly into an
Urvidian ship, destroying both.
The frigates were concentrating their fire on the other frigates and Skara
raiders. Their powerful frag cannons did significant damage to the small
raiders. 3 raiders concentrate on 1 frigate, whose shield didn't block
shots. The frigate exploded but not before getting off 1 last frag blast
that destroyed a raider. The Nerri was under attack by 2 frigates, 1
blocked shots. The unshielded frigate was destroyed by 2 consecutive
blasts. However, the shielded frigate was able to destroy the Nerri.
By now, the Prowlers had regrouped, and began attacking the right flank. 2
Urvidian cruisers were next to defenseless against the Prowlers at close
range. 2 more squadrons and 2 frigates were also attacking. A compressor
beam hit an unshielded frigate and detonated the core.
The defense platforms were now firing compressor beams and ion torpedoes at
the jumble of ships. The green, undisciplined crews of the raiders were
beginning to panic against the ridged, Peace Keeper formations. They
stopped obeying orders and were looking out for number 1. A cruiser fell to
the disrupters of the Defiance. All that time, Sun's ship, 2 battle
cruisers, and 3 frigates had been stealth fully been flanking the defense
platforms.
Crichton fired disrupters, destroying a frigate. He saw another Urvidian
ship destroyed in the monitor. The Golden Eagle was not fairing well. It
was designed to be a scout and raider, not for prolonged fleet engagements.
It was locked in a duel with a shielded frigate. Suddenly a particle beam
destroyed the frigate. D'argo's ship loomed over the small ship. "Zhaan,
cloak and retreat to Servec", Crichton ordered. She complied.
The battle fighter was similar to a battle cruiser but about a half bigger.
Each side of the bridge had 1 large 2-barreled frag cannon. The left
defensive platform launched its torpedoes at Sun's ship and a cruiser. The
cruisers main weapons array was destroyed but the torp impacted on the
battle fighters shield. A periscope like viewer came down to Sun's eye
level. He locked a crosshair onto a platform. "3 siege frag cannons on
painted target", said Sun. 3 bridge cannons fired intense blasts at the
platform. The first took down the shield; the other 2 crushed the platform
like a vase. He moved to the next platform. "Is that Hynerian Hellbore*
ready yet?" asked Sun. "Yes sir", responded the weapons officer. "Lead with
a siege blast then used the hellbore", ordered sun.
A blast hit the second platform, crushing its shield. Suddenly, a yellow
glowing projectile flew from the underbelly of the ship. It impacted on the
platform. A massive fusions explosion hit the station, and then a magnetic
field drew the explosion into an implosion. The station became a small
cloud of dust.
"What the hell was that?" exclaimed Crichton. "Hynerian hellbore", said
Aeryn. Crichton watched as a frigate closed on Moya, while Prowlers were
closing on Sykar. The ground-based cannon destroyed a cruiser. "Take out
that cannon and begin landing", ordered Sun readying his pistol as he left.
A siege blast fell from the sky and hit the center of Sykar city,
destroying the cannon and much of the upper deck. Metal flew everywhere and
a fireball consumed the center of the city for a second and then died down.
Several anti-fighter guns fell off the tower as well as many soldiers.
Tanga ducked under a table to avoid a falling pipe.
8 Prowlers flew at lightning speed at the damaged city. A soldier with a
missile launcher fired from the mid-deck. The rocket destroyed a Prowler,
but a hail of red blasts hit the area, killing the soldier. Most guns lost
power and only 1 anti-fighter gun was still active. The Prowlers quickly
surrounded the gun and easily destroyed it. Marauders began to descend
firing their cannons. Some landed on the top of the city, others on the
field below. Tanga and 2 Urvidian soldiers retreated to an earth embankment
with a metal railing in front of it near the top of town.
As the 2 Urvidians took refuge behind the railing, Tanga got behind the
sand bag wall on top of the embankment. She had a single shot grenade
launcher with the 3 experimental grenade types and a black bow gun that
fired 3 shots at once. She was armed with these to counter the armor that
the Peace Keeper shock troops were sure to have.
Crichton looked at what was left of the fleet. 2 Urvidian cruisers, both
heavily damaged, D'argo's ship, the Knight, and 6 raiders. He had to buy
the retreating fleet some time. He thought for a second, the command
carrier had sent all its fighters and escorts to attack the fleet. If we
could attack the carrier, he might draw some of the fleet. The Urvidian
ships, including Tralk's, were too badly damaged to run. They had to get
close to Moya to ride her starburst. But she could not support 2 cruisers
in her starburst, 1 had to stay behind. The other Urvidian ship had only 2
crewmen left, and they wanted the full complemented crew of Tralk's vessel
to escape. The Knight's crew also wanted to stay and fight. As Moya began
to starburst with 3 raiders and Tralk's ship, a frigate hit her. She moaned
in pain, and then starbursted away with the fleet.
Blasts bounced harmlessly off the chests of the shock troopers. A small
group of Sykarians fought bravely against the heavily armored, S.W.A.T.
like shock troops. The troops got within 5 feet of the defenders and
unloaded their big pulse guns and rifles into the Sykarains. It was a
slaughter. The troops scanned the pile of former farmers for signs of life,
and fired at anyone living.
3 marauder teams, including Sun's searched around the roof of the city. A
group of 4 shock troops ran to a far corner, gunning down 2 pistol-armed
rebels and an Urvidian technician. Suddenly a sledgehammer hit the lead
trooper in the knee, and then hit his helmet. A huge Sykarian with a beard,
about 6'9, stood over the body behind a pillar. He struck the second
trooper in the rip cage with the hammer and then uppercutted him with it.
The 3rd tried to shoot him with his rifle, but the Sykarain knocked the
firing gun from his hand and picked up the trooper. He kicked the 4th in
the head and then stepped on his neck while he was on the ground, killing
him. He threw the trooper he was holding over the railing and he fell 60
stories onto the pile of rebel bodies. The Sykarian raised his hands and
yelled.
He pulled out his grenade launcher and prepared to fire over the railing
when Sun came from behind. He threw a butterfly knife into the Sykarains
elbow just as the pulled the trigger. The launcher was pointed at his feet
when it went off. Sun Stood back and laughed readying his pistol.
Tanga loaded a flame round into the grenade launcher. A group of 4 troopers
were approaching, firing their rifles in rapid-fire mode. The 2 Urvidians
fired their rifles, which hit the troopers harmlessly. The Urvidians were
quickly mowed down with rapid fire. Tanga took aim at the middle trooper
and fired. The think sound was followed by a fireball. The fireball
engulfed all of troopers and they ran around screaming on fire, until they
fell dead in a few seconds. Another group closed on her. "Sun wants her
alive!" said the Lieutenant. Tanga fired the acid round and it exploded
hitting two troopers, they ran away dropping their weapons screaming. She
loaded the gas grenade and pulled out the bow gun. She also put a
respirator on.
As they closed, she let the arrows fly. 2 hit 2 troopers in the chest, the
other in the leg. She ran up and kicked the leg wounded one. 1 stabbed at
her with a combat knife while another came from behind. She grabbed the arm
of the knife wielder, and punched him in the head, then kneed him in the
chest. She took the knife and quickly stabbed the other trooper in the
stomach. She turned and the 3 troopers and the LT. all had rifles pointed
at her. She threw down the knife, and walked towards them, as she took off
the launcher, she fire the round into the ground. A green gas flowed all
over the group. The Peace Keepers fell dead. She looked up and saw Renaise
running up some stairs.
She reloaded the bow gun and followed.
"Talyn, listen damn it, were are we going?" asked Anjon to Talyn. "To the
battle to save your mother, are you crazy?" he asked. He fell to the floor
as Talyn startbursted away.
Renaise opened a door to one of the upper catwalks. She was met by Tanga's
bow gun in her face. "Give me the crystal!" she exclaimed, slightly
squeezing the trigger. "I don't have time to frell around, so I will just
kill you traitor!" A Prowler flew over shooting at an entrenched soldier.
It knocked a pipe loose and it fell down, crushing Tanga. Renaise jumped
back. She grabbed the bow gun from Tanga's limp hand. "Too bad", said
Renaise quickly running off.
2 ion torpedoes smashed into the black hull of the Command Carrier. The
massive explosions did little damage to the huge ship. The Defiance
maneuvered quickly, firing several bursts of disrupter fire at the hull of
the ship. Several chunks of armor shattered. 3 compression blasts and 2
frag cannon blasts also impacted on the lower hull. The Defiance had
suffered a hull breach in its left wing and the particle cannon was gone.
Several volleys of frag cannon shot returned to its attackers. Several
blasts hit the Urvidian ship, slicing it to pieces. Another blast hit the
Knight, sending it spinning, then it exploded. 4 blasts hit the Defiance
from all sides, severally damaging it.
"Our shields are down and our torpedo launcher is gone!" said Crichton
shaking from an impact. The bridge was dark and a beam had fallen in the
middle of the room. Someone was putting out\ flames, but Crichton couldn't
see whom. "Get that cloak online Stark!" screamed Crichton over the comm.
"I need a few more microts to repair the plasma coils", he replied. He
looked up and saw the main frag cannon battery locking on to them. He
wasn't ready to die. Suddenly Tak broke in. "Sir, I have a ship coming in,
its Talyn!"
The main cannon fired 1 shot before an ion torpedo destroyed it. Talyn flew
over, taking a blast for the Defiance. His shields easily absorbed the
auxiliary cannon fire. He returned fire with his main cannon at the carrier
engines. An engine blew apart, slowing the war ship. The Defiance suddenly
cloaked. "Good work fellas, now retreat as fast as you can", said Crichton.
"Thanks boss", said Anjon. D'argo had a head start on the other ships and
was outrunning them. Crichton turned to Aeryn. "Set a course for Sykar and
prepare for a landing, we leave no one behind", he said.
Crichton and Aeryn quickly descended from the cloaked ship in the field
outside Sykar city. He drew a MAC-11 while she fielded an advanced rifle.
"Split up, and look for survivors, meet on that ledge in 5 minutes", he
said running off. "John, be careful", she said.
Aeryn snuck behind pillars as 2 shock troopers patrolled the parking garage
like level. She came to a long earth embankment. It had steep sides and
fell 30 feet. She saw a shock trooper with his back turned. As she tried to
sneak by, she stepped on a twig. The trooper turned around ready to fire.
She fired first, hitting him in the shoulder. He dropped his gun and
charged her. He took several shots to his chest, and punched her in the
face. She fell over, dropping her weapon. He drew a combat knife. As he was
about to stab her, she noticed a loose cable spewing electricity behind
her. As he neared she grabbed it and jammed it to his chest. He fell to the
ground, smoking and dead. Suddenly she heard a click behind her.
She turned ad saw Renaise with a bow gun pointing at her back. "Don't move
commander!" she said. Aeryn put her hands up. "Why are you helping the
Peace Keepers?" asked Aeryn. "You and Crichton killed Gileena, I can have
my revenge by killing you, and I get to live as well", said Renaise. She
raised the gun ready to fire.
Suddenly, a shadow appeared behind her. Crichton appeared, drawing out his
twin MAC 11's from his coat. Without saying a word, he squeezed the
triggers. 5 blasts from each gun hit her in a fraction of a second. She
dropped the bow gun, and fell backwards down the hill with 10 smoldering
holes in her heaving chest. She tumbled until the last 10 feet, and then
free fell. She landed with a thud. Crichton stood for a minute with his
twin MAC-11's still pointing to where she stood. Aeryn kissed his cheek to
bring him back. "Thanks John", she said. "Your welcome baby", he said
lowering his guns. "What did you call me?" she asked. "Umm.. nothing, I
guess we better get that crystal from her", he said. He lowered her down
with a rope. He grabbed the crystal, which was smashed fairly well. She
climbed back up and pocketed it; She then picked up the bow gun.
They reached one of the top floors to the sounds of a battle. 2 Shock
Troopers were shooting at a rebel armed with a pistol. He was standing on a
long, narrow bridge that connected the sides of the Sykar. They both stood
on opposite sides of the bridge entryway. Crichton silently counted to 3.
They booth sprang up from behind 2 pillars. Crichton fired both MAC-11s
simultaneously into the right trooper. The blasts didn't go through the
armor, but the rapid firing blasts shoved him off the ledge and he fell to
the next level, landing back first with a crunch on a guardrail 10 feet
down. Aeryn fired her bow gun, sticking all 3 arrows into the trooper's
chest.
They crossed the long bridge and looked at the other side, no survivors.
When they were half way across, Sun's voice came from behind. "Daughter,
Crichton, drop your weapons", he ordered. He stood behind them, pistol
drawn. Crichton reluctantly dropped his twin MAC 11's. Aeryn however,
didn't comply. She threw her spent bow gun over the railing and it fell 40
stories. She turned around with her rifle ready. "I said drop it!"
exclaimed Sun. "Drop your weapon and give me the crystal!" "Don't make me
shoot you", he said. "You won't do that", said Aeryn.
Sun's face weakened as he looked at Aeryn. "You look so much like your
mother", he said. Aeryn looked puzzled. He threw down a small duffle bag.
"You're right, I loved your mother too much to kill our daughter", he said.
"What?" said Aeryn. He lowered his pistol. "We loved each other, that's why
he killed her", he said. "Who?" asked Aeryn. "Read the memo in there bag,
there is also a letter that will tell you more about your mother, and a
keycard that you can used to hack into Peace Keeper databases", he said.
"Now, get your weapons, and go before I kill you both", said Sun.
Suddenly, a red blast hit him in the back, he rived in pain and fell from
the bridge, Aeryn caught his hand. Crichton rolled over and recovered a
MAC-11, he looked at his attacker. Tanga slid slowly to her knees holding a
Peace Keeper pistol. She had blood on her moth from the internal injuries.
She began to slide towards the ground. Crichton ran to her. "Sy....Sykar",
she said slowly slumping over dead.
Aeryn held on to her father's hand. "Father!", she yelled. He weakly looked
up at her. "It's over daughter, let me go", he said. "No!", she replied. "I
really wanted to be with you", he said weaker. He looked up at Crichton,
who has holding onto Aeryn to help pull him up. "If you love this man, then
be with him, and never be apart from him", he almost whispered. "I deem you
worthy of my daughter Captain", he said. "Father, help me save you!" she
exclaimed. "You must do something for me", he said weakly. "What father?"
she asked. "Commodore...Ryken, had your mother killed", he said. "Crichton,
Aeryn, get that dren!" "Make him pay!". He said with a lot of power in his
voice. "And Aeryn, Tavek is here in the Uncharted Territories", he said
with some sympathy. Aeryn swallowed with a mix of fear and hatred. "I love
you Aeryn, and I am honored to be your father, just forgive me for being a
poor one", he said. "Good bye", he said barley. He died hanging onto
Aeryn's hand. His hand opened and he slipped from her hand into oblivion.
"Father!" she screamed over the railing. She picked up his captain's badge,
his gun, and the package he brought. "Aeryn, we have to go", he said
holding her while she wept. She
turned to Tanga's body. "Bring her, she deserves a hero's funeral", she
said.
A small group of people stood in the darkness of a Servec field at night.
Only a few torches gave illumination. Tanga's body lay under a shroud on a
woodpile. All that knew her gave speeches. The most eloquent was
Crichton's. He called her one of the true heroes of the war. He said she
died saying Sykar. Anjon also gave a stirring speech as well as her father,
the leader of Sykar. Volme, the former leader also made a speech. However,
the most talked about speech was Aeryn's. It was short, in Peace Keeper
style. She complemented her on her fighting abilities and her spirit. At
the end she said. "I forgive you", this puzzled everyone but Crichton.
Zhaan was leading the ceremony. Finally 4 important people were called out.
"Father", said Zhaan. He steeped out at Tanga's head. "Leader", Crichton
stepped out. "Friend", Aeryn busted in first. "Lover", Anjon suddenly
walked up. He looked at the strange glares from Crichton and Aeryn. Each
were handed a torch. "We send sister Tanga home this night", said Zhaan.
With that the four walked towards the pile and set it ablaze. Aeryn watched
Crichton. He was singing the same sound he sang when he buried Gileena.
"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, who saved a wretch like me, I once was
lost, but now I'm found, was blind, now I see."
She watched him sing. Next, he presented her father with the flag of the
Coalition. "Your daughter's country thanks you for her sacrifice and
service", he said. He walked with Aeryn after the ceremony. They had their
arms around each other, he kissed her head. "John, will you sing that song
with me for my father?" she asked. "Of course", he said. She dug a small
hole and but his captain's badge into it.
He began by himself. "Amazing grace", she came in, with a beautiful singing
voice, he never heard her sing. They finished in perfect unison. "How sweet
the sound, that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now I'm found,
was blind, but now I see".
Insurrection Part 16: The Battle of Sykar