The Fate of Terra Ch. 16

Michael played with his nails as he read his tablet. "I have given you ultimate authority to run my ship, love. You hold his fate in your hands. If you want to get rid of him, I will make it happen," he said absently. Then turning to look her in the eyes, he asked, "Is that what you're asking?"

Aurora stopped short at that. She huffed, "No... I suppose it isn't that serious. Damnit, Michael! When a girl tells you about her problems, all you need to do is nod your head and tell her that she's right." With that she stomped out of the room. Stacey chuckled and wrapped her arms around Michael's neck.

"Don't worry, honey," she murmured in his ear. "I'll step in if that man becomes a problem. Besides," she growled as she pressed her naked breasts against him, "it gets me so hot to see the big bad admiral getting all worked up." She gave a squeak of surprise when Dejah dragged her claws along the young girl's ass, having snuck up on her.

Michael laughed and rubbed a nipple that was peeked out over his shoulder and said, "Well, then why don't you put your eager mouth to use and help Aurora relieve some of that stress? I bet she's just as hot and bothered as you..."

Stacey perked up. "Ooh, maybe she'll even use her strap-on," she mused with a dreamy look in her eye. Turning and grabbing Dejah's hand, she led the girl off in the direction Aurora had left.

Aki giggled and flounced down atop Michael's lap. "You're so nice. Aurora would've sulked all night if you hadn't turned them down," she pointed out, grinding her perfect ass into his groin.

Michael chuckled and groaned as she effortlessly stoked the flames of his lust. Wrapping his arms around her, he breathed in the scent of her hair and asked, "You finally get tired of double-teaming Sun Mi with your sister?"

Aki laughed and leaned against him saying, "They're otherwise preoccupied." She nodded her head over to where Kat was sitting on Rin's back, straddling her petite waist while holding her ankles underneath her arms. Sun Mi was sitting in front of Rin's exposed bits, fingering her ass and pussy. She seemed to be getting instructions from Kat on how to make the young Asian girl squirm and scream even more.

He laughed at the display and felt himself grow even harder. Aki smiled and started bucking her hips against him, teasing his prick which was lodged between her thighs. Her hands went down to rub the tip of 'her' cock and Michael's hands moved to play with her tits. It wasn't long before they were both nearing their release, panting at the efforts of the other. Suddenly, Michael's cock was squeezed tightly between her powerful thighs and he twisted her nipples in response. They both blasted off, his cum shooting up and covering her stomach and chest.

Aki rested against him, a puddle of cum and sweat and satisfaction. Michael chuckled and scooped her up, walking towards the edge of the bath. He ran the last few feet and jumped high, turning to hit the water with the flat of his back, cradling his passenger against his chest. They hit the surface of the water in a spectacular splash and came up laughing. After they cleaned up and rubbed each other down, they snuck over to the trio and stole away a surprised Sun Mi for more fun.

* * * * *

During the next twelve days, life on the Intrepid continued without event. They continued to have daily lectures with different speakers and part of their 'homework' was to learn 'Galactic Standard,' the main language used by traders and merchants throughout the sector and what the aliens onboard used to communicate with each other. Richard West was allowed to continue in his role as a professor and led a number of talks having to do with technology. He seemed to have taken on the role of an advisor to Michael regarding engineering matters and became a mediator between the lizard race and their own experts.

Stacey had her plate full organizing the aliens onboard and slotting them into crew positions. The simulators were always filled and they had needed to construct new ones to accommodate some individuals of certain races. The rest of the passengers on the Intrepid were slowly realizing that life aboard was much easier to get used to than most had feared. They woke up and ate at one of the hundreds of eateries available to them and then went to work while the kids went to school.

The main difference that took some getting used to was the six-hour work shifts they rotated through. Once off, they could then make use of the wide array of entertainment districts, fitness and market areas, and lounges. The mood became relaxed and more people began starting to have relationships as the prospect of doom lessened.

They still didn't know who had sabotaged the mushroom cultivation, though there was a small number of anti-alien meetings conducted by the civilians onboard which Pandora was able to observe. The general populace seemed to be taking their safety seriously however, and reported any clandestine activity to security without being asked. It seemed that the majority of the people had decided to put their trust in Michael rather than those promoting fear. They would share what had become their home with the aliens that had shown themselves to be courteous and hardworking until given a concrete reason to do otherwise.

At last, the day came when they would be making their second detour. A series of gravity wells blocked their path and they would need to travel 'under' the obstacles for nearly half a day before making course corrections. The atmosphere on the bridge was much more relaxed than it had been for the prior maneuver, but no less alert.

The screens came down and the techs began scanning for potential enemies. "No foreign ships sighted," a blonde ensign declared.

Just as Aurora was about to give the order to begin transit, Pandora's voice rang out, "Incoming!" All throughout the fleet, reports started coming in of boarding shuttles latching onto their hulls. As confusion spread through the bridge, Pandora made changes to the display and said, "Look for empty pockets on the screen. Their ships don't show up on our energy readings."

Mara came on the screen, transmitting from her flagship, and yelled in a distressed voice, "Rhemish pirates!"

The cameras outside the Intrepid built an image on the holodisplay of the hundreds of small ships descending upon them. Many had tried to latch onto the AI ships in the outer formation and had gotten a rude awakening when they found the hulls were other too thick or they couldn't build a seal because there was no breathable atmosphere on the other side.

"Blow those marauders to dust," Aurora ordered. "All guns, fire!" Pulses of light blue energy from thousands of ion cannons coming from thousands of ships rained down on the oncoming vessels and were... ignored. The stunned onlookers watched as the massive attack was shrugged off, the enemy ships barely being buffeted by the incoming fire. Their hulls seemed to disperse and nullify the energy completely. Then a railgun round streaked through the length of one raider, disintegrating the craft.

Their formation seemed to dissolve at that, but each of the scattered vessels locked onto the Intrepid and made for the colossal ship. "Energy weapons have no effect," Mara informed them belatedly. "You must use projectile weapons or missiles." The railguns were firing full-bore, but there were only four of them.

Michael turned to her image. "Get your ships on the other side of the formation" At the look of surprise and anger she shot him, he said, "Don't give me that. Those ships controlled remotely can't be harmed by boarders, yours can. Move." He cut the communication as the first of the pirates reached them.

Aurora shouted, "Launch the fighters, move the minelayers up and begin deploying, start ramming their vessels with the AI ships."

"They're attempting to make a seal," a lieutenant announced. At first, it looked like the attackers weren't going to be able to penetrate the hull of the Intrepid.

Then a few managed to stick and Pandora said, "They're using some kind of drill."

Michael ordered, "Use the ion cannons to hit the hull where they're attached. It will probably melt the metal enough to screw up their process."

Aurora looked at him aghast. "You want to fire on our own ship?" she stated, incredulous.

He grimaced. "Look," he said, pointing at the screen. "The railguns can't reach those already attached and the metal will regenerate once the ships break off anyway. It's the best we can do."

Merrick came on the screen and told them, "We've found a weakness in their shuttles. Their exhaust jets in the back aren't made of whatever is coating their hulls. Our fighters have been ganging up on them and attacking them from behind."

Stacey turned to Michael and contributed, "They seem to be concentrating on the area outside our central hangar bay. Because of the way the Intrepid curves there it probably looks to them as if that's the area with the least armor." She frowned. "And because of that curve, the ion cannons are having trouble hitting there. We're moving destroyers up, but it'll take them awhile to get close and into the right position."

Kat cooed in delight and got up, flexing her wrists. "Attacking our underbelly, eh? Time to show them just who they decided to fuck with," she announced with a vicious grin. Michael looked up at his lover as she almost vibrated in need, yearning to match her strength against the best the universe had to offer. He smiled and accepted her outstretched hand, taking it to his mouth and brushing her knuckles with his lips.

He rose and adjusted his sword. The two walked off the bridge and headed for the lift. Talking into his comm, he told Marcus and Pandora, "Alert the flight deck that we're about to get visitors. Freeze the lifts if they try to get further into the ship. Release the Shredders."

* * * * *

Zoe and Eliza were in the pilot's lounge outside the hangar bay playing strip poker with a couple of fish. The two male lieutenants on the other side of the table were down to their boxers and Eliza had a gleam in her eye that said they weren't going to keep those for much longer either. Through a side door, fighter pilots could be seen milling about in the ready room waiting to be called out by flights.

Zoe licked her lips, not really caring if they took these two back to their quarters or simply took their clothes and credits. She and Eliza shared a room and she'd discovered over the past couple of weeks just how kinky the young navigator was. Eliza reached under the table and rubbed Zoe's smooth chocolate thigh, letting the ebony goddess know just what her intentions for the night were.

Zoe smiled and folded, letting Eliza draw the two in for a final bet. Just then, a terrible screeching of metal on metal rang out and alarms sounded. There were yells coming from the hangar and the pilots in the next room all crowded around the entrance to see what all the commotion was about. Deck chiefs muscled them back in and began sealing hatches. Zoe got up and ran to check it out. What she saw chilled her blood.

Holes opened up all along the deck and far bulkhead. As drills retracted, hundreds of figures clad in black mismatched armor poured out. As they appeared, their own armored troopers who had been waiting unleashed hell. The plasma guns seemed to have no affect however. The armor the enemy boarders wore caught Zoe's eye as it appeared to be sleek and coated with some kind of dark oily, multicolored substance.

The Rhemish pirates had no doubt won countless battles against foes due to this advantage. Unfortunately for them, this might have been the worst space-faring race to have ambushed. Because Earth was so new to the stars, they still had a preference for the older, more 'primitive' projectile weapons.

A majority of those recruited into the infantry had been former soldiers or, at the very least had owned guns of some kind before signing up. They had been allowed to take their weapons along when they'd come aboard and though they were required to be proficient with plasma rifles, many still kept their traditional arms.

That and some weapons like sniper rifles just made more sense. Who wants a long ass beam that extends from their target to their position letting everyone in the vicinity know exactly where the shooter is? With an ease born of endless training, the ranks of armored men and women switched weapons and fired into the onrushing mass of alien warriors wielding all manner of blades and blunt objects.

A few took the time to fire beam weapons similar to what they'd come to expect from alien races, but for the most part they just charged in a fearsome, unorganized horde. As one, the troopers began taking measured steps backwards as the pirates closed the distance. Just as they were about to make contact, Zoe was startled to see robot Shredders jump clear over the line of troopers into the face of the oncoming host.

She realized that the troopers hadn't been retreating so much as organizing their defense and her respect for them rose at how precise their timing was. The Shredders landed on their foes, literally crushing the bipedal beings with their feet. Their cybernetic arms retracted and cycled through guns, hands, and finally cutlasses. Their torsos spun in complete circles as their lower body advanced, threshing their adversaries with cold, mechanical efficiency.

Away from the bloodbath, another mass of pirates spotted the hatchway Zoe stood at and rushed towards it. She was startled and looked around to see a handful of engineers trying to shut the jammed sliding door. Looks of grizzled determination mixed with unfettered desperation as they tried and failed to close the hatch. Zoe knew they had less than a minute before the enemy crossed the open space. A crazy idea formed in her head and she took off running towards the storage room she thought held what she needed, knowing that if she guessed wrong it would be too late.

* * * * *

Michael and Kat exited the lift to the sound of concussion grenades going off. Interspersed between the low 'whumps' and clashing of metal on metal, Marcus's amplified voice could be heard shouting for the infantry to get into position. Through a series of troop movements, every time the pirates got close the soldiers would execute a maneuver that would shift their lines so that another rank of troopers from a different angle would come in and present a new front.

The pirates that outnumbered the defenders and greatly outnumbered those with projectile weapons were caught entirely off-guard and their numbers were thinned as they tried to attack different directions at once. Still, one line of troopers couldn't back out quickly enough and the pirates, scenting blood, stuck to their targets and pressured them.

Michael dodged between the backs of the troopers and was abruptly in the fray slashing with a speed and efficiency that made the blades wielded by the Shredders look like they were moving in slow motion. With enhanced strength using ionized metal, he cleaved through the armor of the enemy raiders with ease. It was thick enough to stop a good portion of the rounds being fired into the boarders, but there were a number of weak spots and the transparent portion around their eyestalks tended to be where most of his men concentrated their fire.

It wasn't long before the pirates stopped reaching the soldiers' lines altogether as more and more troopers poured into the hangar. The raiders had been surprised when they'd realized they could actually be harmed by this mysterious race and they'd never managed to recover. Soon, it was them who were outnumbered as the troopers created a half moon around the entrance points in the deck.

There were so many fallen Rhemish that their compatriots pulled them atop each other and ducked behind the mounds of dead, firing from the improvised cover at the advancing army. Some of the pirates tried to dive back into the shuttles they came in to escape. Then without warning there was a terrible grinding noise and explosions rang out, shaking the deck. Beings on both sides screamed.

* * * * *

Kat had noticed the swarm of raiders charging the pilots' entrance and when Michael had bolted off to support the crumbling line of infantry, she had sprinted towards the calamity that was playing out. As she ran, she observed that Pandora had managed to send a few Shredders to slow down the oncoming horde. The three of them standing there in the hatchway holding back the tide of countless attackers looked like they were acting out their own little Battle of Thermopylae.

However, even as she watched, an alien wielding a maul -the head of which was at least two feet in diameter- swung and batted away a Shredder. The enemy numbers behind had no sense for the preservation of those in front and the throng forced their way through. Kat fired her gun, not even bothering to slow, each of her bullets entering the unaware pirates from behind, hitting at the weak joints between their heads and shoulders.

As her clip emptied, she put her gun away and grimly drew her twin knives knowing she was too late. She hit the backs of the line of pirates like a thunderbolt and a wave of fear cascaded outwards from her position through the boarding party. Unfortunately, instead of drawing them back towards her as she'd planned, it only served to push them forward into the opening in pure terror as the fiery demon with wild, dark red hair flashed back and forth, cutting them down like stalks of wheat.

Just then, the flood of pirates seemed to freeze in mid-step as an electric whine rose above the din. In the next second, whole lines of attackers were blown backwards. A mist of greenish blood, tattered pieces of armor, and bits of bone permeated the now vacant space as a high-pitched buzzing filled the air. Shocked, Kat watched as Zoe walked out wearing a mechanic's powered exosuit toting what looked to be one of the miniguns that used to be mounted on the Rocs before they'd switched them out for ion cannons.

The pure devastation she was able to unleash in an enclosed space was staggering and she'd pushed them all the way back to the open area of the hangar. Zoe began mowing down the now hysterical foes, beams of energy flying by her unnoticed. Kat had her mouth open in stunned amazement and was almost beheaded by a nearby pirate before she was able to recover. A squad of troopers reached them and, looking around the hangar, she could tell that they were gaining control of the situation.

Then all hell broke loose as the seals between the boarding shuttles and the Intrepid cracked. As the vessels lifted off or were blown away, the reinforcements they'd established when they drilled into the ship stopped the metal hull from regenerating and closing the openings. The result was a series of gaping holes in the deck that exposed the hangar to open space. The pressure alone crushed some of the disconnecting vessels and everything inside the hangar was being sucked out.

While the pirates were lifted off their feet and dragged towards the openings, the troopers were able to magnetize any part of their armor to stick to the deck. Those men and women at the pilot's hatchway were able to grip the sides and find handholds to retreat deeper into the ship as the available oxygen was rapidly depleted. Kat watched as bodies and debris seemed to disappear due to the force acting on them. Her eyes widened in horror as she made out Michael's form streaking towards one of the openings.

"No!" she cried and lunged forwards. Zoe's mechanical arm whipped out and caught her around the midsection, dragging her back. Kat's arm stretched out in desperation as she witnessed her lover's airborne body. 'Michael!' she shouted in her mind and all of the girls around the ship felt the pain she was exuding and froze in whatever they were doing to watch the scene play out through her eyes.