Ares Chronicles: The Best of Both Worlds part IV

Amidst the asteroid belt in the Sol System, the birthplace of the human race, a large fleet sat. Flights of fighters hid inside each asteroid, ready for launch at a moment's notice. The larger ships of the fleet were disguised as abandoned astro-miners set adrift, thinly scattered at positioned at random points. The trap was set.

The command ship was at the center of the fleet, disguised as a battle-scarred derelict. On the dimly lit bridge stood Admiral Svanson. He had a grim expression on his face, his eyes darting from the display in front of him and the viewport at the front of the bridge.

' Admiral, the fleet's in position and awaiting your orders ' the second in command prompted. Several seconds passed and the Admiral did not respond. ' Sir? '

' Tell them to hold position ' The Admiral commanded. The Commander winced. ' If they see a group of asteroids formation-drifting, those damn slugs are going to become suspici- '

' Admiral! We were just scanned!' ' An officer in the bridge crew pit yelped, leaping up from his display. 'They see us!' The Admiral Spun around, a look of horror on his face.

' Order all squadrons to launch, gather formation and send out a distress beac- ' The ship lurched as a volley of laserfire struck it. A wing of the sleek, black fighters flew past the screen view-display, their cross-sections displayed.

Around the Human fleet, all the stars in the sky disappeared momentarily, confusing their sensors. Before them, the sky shimmered and a massive armada decloaked. ' HOLY CRAP! ' Screamed the cheif engineer. Flights of Human fighters exploded out of the asteroids, screaming into space where they converged, gathered into formations and retreated to the front lines. With a large blast, one of the asteroids fell apart, revealing the pair of carriers that had been hiding within. In a matter of minutes, the entire human fleet had gathered and formed an attack perimeter.

Immediately, a trio of Salrilian Frigates pushed attack on the command ship, volleys of laserfire exchanged owners in seconds, disabling one of the frigates. ' Gaitori commander gao'Tchu is sending his fleet from the other side of the belt. Estimated Time of Arrival, uh... ' A fleet of Gaitori warships, led by a single Light Carrier, immediately jumped in behing the Human fleet.

' All wings follow me ' The wing commander barked into his intercom. Obediantly, the wing of Human and Gaitori fighters followed the gunship. He glanced at the black carrier in front of him and activated the autopilot. Red wing, gold wing: distract the fighters and the T-rod, all the rest: move in and engage that carrier at point-blank range. Forward Magneto Nacelles: fire full spread at that frontal bay. ' The carrier turned, firing in all directions like a man swatting at a swarm of mosquitos. The fighters skimmed the surface of the hull, blowing up everything below them.

Blasts of electromagnetic energy from the carrier reached for the fighters, threatening to annihilate them, but each time it grabbed empty space. Amidst the firefight, a lone gunship maneuvered into position. ' Fire! ' ordered the wing commander.

' Watch out for that wreckage, Chip ' The second fighter warned the wing leader. The remnants of a Gaitori ship sped by, trailing sparks. ' wouldn't want that paint to get chipped ' The two fighters skipped the trail of wreckage like a stone, as they pursued the Salrilian ships. Ocasionally, a stray laser blast would bolt past them into deep space. The Salrilian ship ducked under the derelict wreckage of a gunship and swerved left, heading back to rejoin the Salrilian fleet. The fighters swerved, narrowly missing an asteroid and losing their lock on the fighter.

I'll pursue them manually, Chip said calmly, You go help out the Gaitori Right flanks. The second fighter broke away from the formation and disappeared amidst a cloud of debris. By himself now, Chip flipped the auto-lock switch and turned sharply around in an inverted U turn. He was now on the outskirts of the battle. He tightened his grip on the flight control rods and flipped the afterburner on; the small fighter screamed back towards the undefended Salrilian Rear Flank, the enemy fighter clearly in his sights. He disengaged the afterburner, flipped the auto-lock back on. Immediately, the profile of the Salrilian fighter reappeared on his screen, it's vital systems targeted.

With a large grin and a BOMBS AWAY!! warcry, Chip launched a pair of missiles. The first one struck the Salrilian Fighter dead on; it exploded, reminding Chip of the Fireworks he saw after the liberation of Earth. The second missile sailed clear through the explosion, acquired it's new target, and flew up the backside of a local Salrilian Carrier. It's entire drive section exploded, rendering it completely immobile.

But before Chip could find his next victim, his helm exploded, the lighting in his cockpit failed, and his head spun. Warning! Decompression in five minutes! Warning! The computer chimed in unhelpfully. The crippled fighter shuddered slightly as a Salrilian vesselsped by overhead and cloaked a few seconds later. Core hit: powersurge immenent! The computer warned Auto-ejection activated it warned, but before he could react, his helm opened (revealing a small tunnel behind it) and Chip found himself being crammed through the tube and into an escape capsule by the robotic arm behind his seat.

With a loud hiss, the escape door locked shut and it was ejected into open space. Through the small window, Chip could see the fighter implode violently. 'Wonder how much air's in this thing. Chip thought...

Forward Chronon batteries FIRE FULL SPREAD! The captain yelled as the ship rumbled around him. A stream of yellow pulses darted out on the viewscreen towards the incoming swarm of ships. Several of the fighters slammed straight strait into the Chronon Crystals, engulfing them in electric current and shorting out their systems. The Destroyer spat bursts of laserfire towards the rest of the fighters, forcing them to continually change formation.

A crewmember with a burned face looked up from his partially demolished weapons helm If they get past our defence perimeter, we're done for! he screamed. Several more rounds of random laser fire lanced out from the remaining turrets on the scarred destroyer, throwing a group of fighters off course. Yet the swarm kept coming. Three-hundred meters! HERE THEY COME!! The cloud of ships dialated into a wall-like formation and a barrage of neutron fire engulfed the destroyer, collapsing the few whisps of shielding immediately. By the time the formation flew past, most of the hull had been eaten away. Plates of hole-ridden hull metal drifted past.

I'm like a sitting duck now. The captain groaned as he watched the formation turn about and prepare another approach. He glanced at the ensign, the only other crewmember still alive on the ship It's been nice knowing you, Jack. he said, sensing the look of hopelessness in his eyes.

Yes Captain. It's been nice knowing you. The ensign glanced at his sensor display. We have about 30 seconds left, unless... An orange ship appeared on the viewscreen, facing the destroyer.

And with a bright flash, it was all over.

Break formation. See if you can get some of those Audemedons to follow you. The wing commander ordered while glancing nervously at his screen. Where did they come from??!! He questioned himself. There is no gateship here, in fact there is a rather large gravity well in -- wait a second! A gravity well in the asteroid belt? He touched a pad on his sensor display, a series of red and green blips appeared in the holograph, and a large black blob appeared right in the middle of the Salrilian Fleet!

THAT'S THE GATESHIP!! His copilot realized aloud. I'll transmit this to the Admiral. This may be our savior... He glanced out of the window at a destroyer engulfed in explosions, then it's hull collapsed collapsed. A few seconds later, the combeep buzzed.

It was the Admiral's voice : All units regroup around the U.N.S. Wolverine, then attack that Gateship. The Wing Commander grinned as he finished off the enemy courier and then turned about to towards the human carrier. The pitiful and dispersed remnants of the Human and Gaitori fleets gathered around the carrier, swarming any enemy vessels in their way. Soon the small groups of ships combined into a formidable fleet. Hyperjump NOW! ordered the Admiral.

With a flash and a blur, the ships warped towards the Gateship, screaming for blood. The Massive Gateship was caught off guard when a massive white wall of ships blasted in. Immediately a blue halo popped up, reflecting all attacks. Isn't there a way to get through this th-- BOOM! A fighter exploded as a tachyon blast ripped into it. The Gaitori Commodore chimed in We've got more Audemedons coming this way. Estimated time of arri -- BOOM!! The Gaitori Heavy Carrier was ripped in two as another blast of Tachyons ripped into it! That Gateship sur is well armed : we've lost another wing of fighters! The Wing Commander yelped.

The Admiral's voice crackled through the combeep : All ships move in and engage those Dreadnoughts at point-blank distance! There was a loud burst of static We're not ready to engage the Gateship yet.

Oxygen levels at eighty percent. Stated the computer voice. Chip stared out of the view-window, and became suddenly aware--
Oxygen levels at fifty percent. --became suddenly aware that there was an Audemedon ship heading towards him, weapons charged. Chip began hyperventalating, maybe because of the dropping air levels. The Audemedon ship was in firing range now and was about to fire when a fullerrene blast sizzled past the escape pod and slammed into the fighter, annihilating it instantly.

Chip breathed a sigh of releif. Wait a second-- FULLERENE? he realised. Only the Ishimans hav that kind of tecchnol --
Thirrrrrrty perrrcent atmospherrre Droned the computer voice quietly.

Discontinuity<

Pretty damn cool.

Pretty, uh, awsome.

Is that the end?

wow . a great story u should think about writing more on it , if thats the end