War Angel: part sixty-eight

2142 – Halfway Between the Earth and the Moon

F’ath M’isti strode confidently to the large window that spanned the length of his quarters. From there he could look over much of the fleet he commanded, as well as cast his gaze upon the small blue planet that had caused his people so much grief and loss. He shook his head, appalled that he was still dealing with these Earthmen, when in a just universe the mission would have been completed a long time ago and he would have conquered many other worlds by now. But no, this was not the existence he had dreamed of as a young warrior.

It was, however, the existence he had been granted, and in his heart, he knew that complete and utter glory was to be his if he were to finally solve the problem of the mudball below.

A comm. signal chirped, and M’isti sighed gently before acknowledging it. “Speak,” he said in unusually quiet fashion.

“They are within visual range, Supreme Commander. Your orders?”

He rubbed his chin and closed his eyes, taking a moment to think about what he truly wanted. After a long pause, he responded “Give them a guidance signal to land in the internal bay. I don’t want them in the external bay where they might try and run.”

“Yes, Supreme Commander!”

“Oh! And redirect the Rea’Cerb to a scouting expedition around this system’s innermost planet. Make sure they are there for a long period of time.” He paused. “A very long period.”

The voice on the other end of the comm. gave a slight snort of derisive glee upon hearing the punishment the wayward commander had been given. “It will be done.”

M’isti crossed the room to his desk and activated his main set of controls for the Kan’Tar. As the machinery came to life, he placed the incoming feed of the War Angel’s arrival on his viewscreen. “Unbelievable,” he muttered. “Remarkable.” He magnified the image and looked at the damage that had occurred as the trip began and he shook his head. The commander of the Rea’Cerb did not understand. But F’ath M’isti understood all too well.

“The enemy ship is on fire!” the tactical officer yelled out. M’isti wiped blood from his brow and charged toward the front of the bridge. He let out a primal scream of rage aimed at the viewscreen and spun around to face his gunner.

“Target the fire with everything we-“

The screen behind him flared red as all four cannons on the Earth vessel fired at once, striking the B-class cruiser in its engines, weapons systems, and, to M’isti’s immediate dismay, bridge. The bulkhead behind the gunner gave way to the cold, stark depths of space, sucking the warrior out to his death. The crew did their best to hang on, but two more met the vacuum before the emergency bulkhead dropped into place and saved the rest of them.

M’isti started righting himself, but as he did he saw the enemy ship – still burning and beginning to list – fire again, this time on the Omegans’ companion vessel. This time the results were far more spectacular. The ship, named the T’Brion, exploded into millions of pieces. F’ath stood transfixed for a moment, stunned at what he had just seen. He felt a swell of rage boil up within him, a strong desire to avenge those he had just seen begin their journey to Erestia.

It allowed him to forget himself for a moment, as he screamed “Gunner! Fire everything we have left! I want that ship destroyed!”

A beat passed, and only when F’ath M’isti realized he had no acknowledgment of his order did he turn around and remember that his gunner, as well as all targeting controls, was gone. And regardless of the enemy ship being on fire, it was still armed and capable of blasting the Omegans to atoms. The crew left on the bridge eyed him carefully, some with an honest bit of fear in their eyes. The Earthmen were supposed to be sniveling cowards, creatures unable to match the savage ferocity of even the lowliest Omegan warrior. This was a lie that they had been fed. They all knew this now. What would their fate be?

“That ship,” M’isti said slowly, “is classed by the enemy as a ‘Revenge-class’ vessel. While we have not won this battle today, I assure you of this: we will have revenge of our own upon them.” The rest nodded in agreement, and he saluted them. Then he activated the ship-wide comm. “All warriors, this is your commander: abandon ship. Repeat: abandon ship.”

Five minutes later, the last escape pod, containing only F’ath M’isti, separated from the ship. As it drifted away, he watched as the Earth ship fired again and finished destroying his vessel. Suddenly, all of his rage and anger drained away.

He couldn’t explain it, but a peaceful sense of calm came over him. He watched as pieces of his command flew past him, and he listed as they bounced off the hull of his pod. But he knew in that moment that he would have another chance, and it buoyed him. But even better, he watched the enemy ship. It was still on fire, and as he studied it, the fire grew. Suddenly, it lurched and tumbled on its axis. Clearly, it was far more damaged than they had been able to determine during the battle. M’isti watched intently as it faded closer and closer to the surface of the Earth’s moon, and he felt a smile cross his face. After a couple of minutes he could no longer see it with his eyes and had to switch to using the systems aboard the pod. As he did, he watched as the ship leveled out above the surface but continued downward, finally crashing to the surface, sending an enormous dust cloud into the sky.

It wasn’t, M’isti remembered, a complete loss that day. They had removed an enemy piece from the board.

But he also remembered that no matter how wounded that ship was, it had managed to destroy both Omegan vessels first. He had no intent at all of letting that happen again. The impetuous young commander of the Rea’Cerb lacked the proper understanding of just what the enemy could do, even when outmatched and outgunned. But as soon as that ship was inside the Kan’Tar? It was never going to be a threat again.