Three Square Meals Ch. 028

The mysterious black cruiser was bearing down inexorably on Zarog's vessel. His rival's ship seemed to have survived relatively unscathed by the exploding asteroid, merely having been knocked sideways by the blast. Vermogrok's eyes filled with hate as he stared at the two ships. "Zarog always was a lucky bastard." he snarled resentfully.

Suddenly the black cruiser fired again, as Zarog began to turn his ship around to face them. Four shells blasted out of the huge cannons on the Terran ship and pounded into the flank of the turning Drakkar cruiser, sending splintering fractures through the armour plating as the shots drove in deep. A second later, rippling explosions rocked Zarog's ship and it quaked as if in terror. A flickering corona of electricity arced out around the cruiser as the power core went critical and then a few moments later a tremendous blast tore the ship in half.

"Maybe he wasn't that lucky after all." Vermogrok cackled as his hated rival was vaporised in an instant.

The Drakkar Warboss' glee was cut short as the lethal enemy cruiser swung smoothly about to face them.

"Fire! Kill them now!!" Vermogrok roared in fury.

The Drakkar gunner pulled the trigger, but the Terran ship had already changed course and most of the shots missed, purple pulsating beams of energy firing wildly off into space. A couple of the beams hit, but they just gouged the glistening black surface of the enemy armour and didn't penetrate into the hull.

"You fool!!" Vermogrok bellowed at his gunner. "You've doomed us all!"

The black ship bore down on them like death itself and fired back with its beam lasers, rocking his ship with the impact, as the shots punched their way into his cruiser.

"They destroyed our fire control systems and took out our drive couplings!" Drikog gasped, staring in disbelief at the damage control display which was a riot of crimson. "We're adrift and toothless!"

"Order the transports to prepare for boarding!" Vermogrok snarled at his lieutenant.

The enemy cruiser pulled up to a halt next to them and began pumping an endless volley of laser blasts into the shattered side of his ship.

"No!" Vermogrok gasped, tasting fear for the first time. "No!!"

He turned and sprinted full tilt for the exit, the deck wobbling unsteadily under his feet, as his supposedly invulnerable ship failed him spectacularly. Vermogrok approached a bewildered crewman, his lower body lying crushed by a collapsed section of steel wall panelling. The crewman reached out to paw at him for assistance and the Warboss ran straight over him, as he raced towards the ramps that led to the hangar bay. This enemy ship might have crippled his cruiser, but no-one could defeat the Drakkar in a boarding action. Vermogrok would just seize their ship as his own!

He lurched into the hangar bay and sprinted for his personal dropship, seeing the crews for two other ships milling around by their craft, waiting for orders that had not yet arrived.

"Get moving you fools!" he roared at them and the Drakkar pilots lumbered into the waiting dropships to prepare for launch.

Vermogrok charged up the loading ramp for his dropship, seeing his fearsome handpicked retinue waiting on board. "Launch!" he bellowed at the pilot, as he closed the ramp behind him.

The three Drakkar dropships rose ponderously off the floor of the hangar and headed towards the shielded entrance in the centre of the bay. His cruiser was being ripped apart by the pitiless black cruiser. Sirens howled continuous warnings as explosions kept tearing through his once mighty vessel, causing debris to fall from the walls and ceiling of the hangar bay. Finally the dropships plunged out of the hole in the hull of the cruiser, eager to escape their certain doom should they have stayed inside.

The black cruiser was waiting for them remorselessly as the dropships raced out into the void of space. Bright orange beams enveloped the first two Drakkar ships, searing through their shields in an instant and melting glowing holes as they bored straight through, spitting the dropships like a kebab. The beams winked out as fast as they had suddenly appeared, leaving the Drakkar raiders and their dropships a charred ruin.

Vermogrok clung desperately to the cockpit doorframe as his terrified pilot brought the ship around in a turn that made his stomach sink to the floor. They were still being peppered by uncannily accurate point defence weapons, but at least they were out of the fire arcs of their dreaded mass drivers. The pilot performed a skilful docking manoeuvre and the dropship nestled alongside the glistening hull of the enemy cruiser. His fanged mouth was opening and snapping shut with relief as he fired off the docking clamps.

"Right, time to get us a new ship!" Vermogrok roared, stirring the Drakkar raiders who shouted and bellowed their own warcries.

There was a heavy clang as their ship made contact with the outer airlock and the two ships were secured in place. Vermogrok grinned evilly, surging with confidence once again. He moved over to his personal armoury and picked up the custom shieldblades that had seen him to 37 bloody victories in the fighting pits. His men began to move into position, opening the airlock on their ship and then getting ready to tear open the airlocks on the enemy ship.

They were surprised to see that both the enemy airlocks had been opened as well, but their passage was still blocked by a sturdy looking reinforced door that completely sealed the corridor ahead of them.

"Bust that down!" Vermogrok yelled eagerly, beginning to drool at the thought of what tasty morsels might wait inside for him.

The Drakkar raiders moved up, waiting in position as one of them brought forward a siege hammer to buckle the door enough to either smash it out of the way, or get a jack under it. The burly four armed Drakkar lifted the huge hammer over his head, in a four handed grip and brought it down in a booming crash against the reinforced door. The echo of the impact rang around the corridor, bringing big toothy grins to the raiders waiting around Vermogrok. The hammer wielder raised the hammer back for another overhead smash when suddenly the security door slid smoothly up into the ceiling.

"Uh?" The hammer wielder grunted in surprise, before his shocked face exploded, showering the nearby Drakkar in thick blue blood.

Then everything descended into a terrifying nightmare.

The corridor lit up as two turreted lasers began hosing down the invaders with an unending stream of viciously accurate laser fire. The Drakkar desperately pulled their reflective shields into place to protect their bodies, only to have their feet shot out from under them by high powered rounds. The airlock entrance began to stink of roasted flesh as the toppling raiders were peppered by searing energy bolts.

Vermogrok dived to the side, covering himself with both his shields. He heard the reassuring whumping sound as the magnetic fields deflected enemy shots away from him and the reflective surface of the mirrored shieldblades were doing a good job of keeping him safe from the turreted lasers too. He peeked through a small gap around his shields and saw there were only two defenders, clad entirely in shiny black armour, who hid cravenly behind two bulkheads and shot unopposed at his men.

"Fire back or we're done for!" he screamed in rage at the Drakkar around him.

The Drakkar raiders further back from the slaughterhouse where the reinforced door had been, began to shoot back, bullets from rotary cannons zipping down the corridor to pepper the bulkheads. Vermogrok looked on hopefully, but then shook his head in disbelief as the bullets were harmlessly deflected away from the black armoured enemies, to the same whumping sounds he had previously been so relieved to hear.

"We need heavy weapons you idiots!" he roared, as his own shields came under fire once again.

Vermogrok ducked back and hugged the wall as one of his men brought a heavy laser to bear, aiming down the corridor. The laser bolt from the heavy weapon blasted out, leaving a white flash across his vision as his bulging black eyes began to rapidly blink to regain his sight. He looked back at the barricade hopefully and saw that one of the laser turrets had been hit by the blast and now hung forlornly, the barrel partially melted. The Heavy laser operator roared out a victorious shout, before a shot from the smaller of the two armoured enemies hit the Drakkar in the mouth, blowing his head apart with a sickening wet squelch.

"Charge!" he boomed at his remaining men and the handful of surviving Drakkar leapt over their fallen podmates and raced down the corridor.

Using his men as a distraction, Vermogrok sprinted after them, as raider after raider were shot to pieces by a combination of high powered rounds and laser fire from the remaining turret. One of his men managed to leap up onto the barricade and lifted his shield up to batter the black armoured defender in the head. The enemy soldier dived backwards, simultaneously opening fire on full auto, blowing huge fist sized holes through the raiders torso and cutting the Drakkar raider in half. The barricade was showered in blue ichor as the eviscerated Drakkar fell to the ground in two pieces.

Fortunately that distraction was the opportunity that Vermogrok needed. He dived over the barricade and crashed into the second armoured figure, who was looking back to check on his prone comrade, before he was knocked to the floor. The two of them sprawled up the corridor, but the Drakkar Warboss was quicker to react, his fighting instincts honed to perfection after years spent duelling in the blood pits. As they both regained their feet, Vermogrok moved faster, unleashing a backhanded slap with his left shieldblade at the man's rifle, aiming to knock it out of his hand.

His left arms swung round and the shield smacked squarely into the rifle. He winced as it felt like he had just punched a wall, but he managed to knock the rifle out of the man's grasp. Expecting the armoured figure to try and flee in terror, the Drakkar Warboss was astonished when the unarmed man charged forward instead, and barrelled into his chest with a shoulder slam. Vermogrok went sailing backwards to crash into the barricade he had just leapt over, slumping down to his knees as he reeled from the impact.

Shaking his head to clear the daze, Vermogrok dismissed the knockback as a lucky hit, assuming his opponent had just caught him off balance. He brought his shield blades around protectively as he stood once again. The armoured man strode towards him, stopping only briefly to pick up a long black sword that was leaning against the wall. The Drakkar watched his opponent cautiously, but was relieved to see no kind of martial technique to the man's stance, even holding the glimmering black blade as an amateur would. He grinned evilly, thinking how easy this fight would be. A quick parry and counterattack would end this in a single killer blow, he thought to himself. This novice would never see it coming!

The man grabbed his long sword in a two handed grip and raised his arms, telegraphing his upcoming attack to the Drakkar, who grinned slyly in anticipation of the quick kill. The two handed blow came sailing downwards, just as Vermogrok knew it would. He stepped forward to block the attack with his left shieldblade, whilst drawing back his right arms and prepared himself to drive his right shieldblade into the man's unguarded torso with a powerful counterpunch.

The plan was good, but he was never able to make that counter attack. The black blade came crashing down on his parrying shield with a force Vermogrok didn't think was possible. He was driven down to one knee with the colossal impact, his left arms practically wrenched out of their socket as they tried to absorb the blow. No longer being in a position to attack, Vermogrok had to bring his right arms up to protect his head as the black blade came arcing down in another identical chop. He howled in pain as the wild smash cleaved a huge chunk out of his right shieldblade, leaving his arms ringing with the impact.

Vermogrok's bulging black eyes looked up in fear, as the armoured man drew the sword back for another overhead swing, seemingly intent on battering him into the floor. "This isn't right!" he jibbered to himself. There was no finesse, no style to the man's attacks, but his sheer brute power was quite unstoppable.

The Drakkar tried to scramble backwards as the blade came sailing down, hacking into the right shieldblade again and splitting it in half. The razor sharp edge then continued through to neatly sever his right hands, leaving Vermogrok to stare at the stumps in shock, as dark blue blood fountained outwards, spraying the nearby wall. Cowering behind the left shieldblade, the Drakkar tried to ward away the incoming attacks, but the swordsman was merciless. He hammered away at the huddled Drakkar, eventually smashing the shield to pieces and dismembering his left arms. The last thing Vermogrok saw with his terror stricken eyes was the black blade whistling down at his head, as the man performed one final crude overhead chop.

***

"Hey, nice work!" Alyssa said happily, as she walked over to stand next to John, removing the helmet from her Phalanx armour and freeing her long blonde hair.

John had his boot on the armoured torso of the enormous Drakkar leader and was heaving the black sword out of the alien creature's breastplate. His final sword blow had split the Drakkar leader's head in half and then scythed through to eventually get stuck in its chest armour. With one last tug, the black blade jerked free, dripping dark blue blood over the floor.

"Thanks honey!" John said cheerfully. "You were great too! That backwards dive you did when you took out that charging Drakkar was nicely done. You had me worried there for a moment!"

Alyssa stepped up to him with a big smile on her face and lifted off his helmet so she could plant a loving kiss on his lips.

"Mmm! That was lovely!" John grinned at her happily.

The exquisite young woman rubbed noses with him affectionately before stepping back and handing him the black armoured helmet.

"What did you think of the sword?" she asked him curiously. "It seemed to be very effective." she added, proud of her first attempt at psychic-weaponsmithing.

"It felt amazing!" John replied enthusiastically. "With the amount of enemies we end up fighting in close combat, this blade is going to be invaluable!"

"Hopefully Dana will come up with something innovative so you can bring it with you," Alyssa smiled. "Besides, we can't just leave it propped up against walls like that!"

"We better check to see if there's any stragglers on the dropship, then we'll regroup with the girls on the bridge," John said sensibly.

Alyssa nodded at him eagerly, checking the ammo counter on the freshly loaded magazine and flicking off the safety on her railgun.

***

Calara, Dana and Jade waited on the bridge, the excitement in the air palpable. John and Alyssa had strolled through the command deck a minute beforehand on their way to the debriefing room, so that they could remove their body armour and stow away their gear. They emerged a moment later with triumphant grins on their faces.

"Group hug!" John called out exuberantly and the three waiting girls rushed over to him.

He gathered all three of them up in his arms and lifted them effortlessly in the air, accompanied by their delighted squeals of laughter. Alyssa jumped on his back, not wanting to be left out and the girls descended into fits of giggles as John faked a groan under their supposed weight. He carefully put them back down on the ground again with a happy grin on his face, but he hung on to the feisty redhead, not letting her go.

"The new defences worked perfectly!" he said eagerly to Dana, who looked up at him with sparkling eyes, revelling in his excitement. "Those automated laser turrets are incredibly accurate!"

"That was actually Jade doing the shooting," Dana admitted as she snuggled into his arms. "She didn't want to be left out."

"Really?" John said, astonished, with a quick glance towards Alyssa. "It looks like I'm hugging the wrong girl!" he continued playfully.

Dana laughed and made way for Jade who eagerly moved to take her place. "When did you become such a crack shot?" John grinned at the Nymph who hugged him tightly.

"I've been practicing a lot with the Gatling lasers on the Raptor. I hope that's ok?" the green skinned girl said, looking up at him for approval.

John dipped her backwards, holding her in his arms and kissed her passionately. "You were wonderful!" he said happily when he came up for air. "Thanks for saving our bacon!"

Jade sighed ecstatically and looked up at him with big doe eyes. John stood up straight again, holding the Nymph in his arms and smiling at her affectionately.

"Not that I mind being kissed like that..." Jade said, her face alight with a beaming smile. "But I think someone else deserves most of the credit for that battle," her eyes darted to the Latina who was standing nearby.

John turned to Calara and opened his arms for her again. Smiling shyly the brunette snuggled into his chest as Jade made way for her.

"I don't know what I'd do without you Lieutenant," John said sincerely to the gorgeous girl he held in his arms. "I thought we were in big trouble when that second Drakkar cruiser turned up, but your plan to load that asteroid with explosives was pure genius!" he said, stroking her hair as she leaned into him.

"I'm just glad to be able to do my part," Calara said, looking up at him with her big brown eyes.

"Well thanks to you, the Drakkar have no Cruisers left!" John said, his mouth turned up in a feral grin. "Just their base to go and we're done!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"So what shall we do now?" Alyssa asked him curiously. "Plan the attack on the base, call the Ashanath High council to tell them the good news, or go to bed for some victory sex?" her eyes sparkling wickedly.

"Yes to all three and regretfully in that order," John said with chagrin. "Come on, let's go use the briefing room for its intended purpose for once, rather than a walk-in-armoury!"

The girls led the way and he followed in after them as they filed into the briefing room. He took the head seat and the rest of his crew fanned out, taking the seats along the long table. Alyssa then Dana were seated on his right, with Calara then Jade seated on the left. John was surprised at how comfortably familiar the seating plan felt, but then chuckled when he realised why.

"What's so funny?" Dana asked him, curious as to the cause of the playful smile on his lips.

"I just noticed you girls are sitting on either side of me the same way we cuddle up in bed together," he laughed.

"Maybe we all have the same thing on our mind?" Alyssa said with a arched eyebrow.

The accompanying nods had everyone laughing together and then they settled back in their chairs comfortably.

"Well first things first, let's sort out our plans for the attack on the Kappa-Indarran system," John said, restoring some semblance of order to the meeting. "I think the main thing we need at the moment is more intel," he said thoughtfully. "We don't have any idea what we could be facing at the moment and I don't want to just charge into any surprises like we did with the Kirrix!" he smiled ruefully.

"I was going to suggest the exact same thing," Calara stated soberly. "I think we need to carry out a scouting mission there and then make our plans accordingly. We just don't know enough yet to be able to make any sensible attack strategy."

"Now we've killed off their raiding ships, do you think they might get twitchy and desert their base?" Dana asked curiously. "If I'd just lost four ships in the space of a few days, I wouldn't want to hang around!"