Three Square Meals Ch. 090

John met the Chancellor's stunned gaze. "Like I said, we'll have a long talk later. For now, we need to focus on the evacuation. Did the diplomats from the minor empires survive?"

Niskera blinked at him for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Yes... we brought them with us when we fled the city." Her face shadowed with regret as she continued, "A council meeting was in session when the Kirrix attacked, so we were all cut off from our staff; only the diplomats themselves made it to Hol Darim Fortress. They're here in this keep, I can take you to them."

"Thank you," John replied, before looking over his shoulder at the perturbed Sub-Warden. "Dhormun, once Rachel's healed all your men, gather everyone in that big central room. We'll be leaving immediately."

The big Trankaran turned to look at him and nodded mutely, still stunned at being snatched from the jaws of death.

***

Calara watched the battle playing out, feeling a ringing sense of déjà vu that made her head throb. She blasted the first drone carrier just as she'd planned, the Nova Lances coring through the capital ship and leaving it little more than an empty, lifeless shell. Then they closed to long range with the second carrier and the Photon Lasers strafed the front of the huge Kirrix ship, the deadly hail enough to knock out their shields and leaving them vulnerable to her Singularity Drivers.

She aimed for the upper decks of the Kirrix ship, lining up the crosshairs with a point between a series of prominent bulges half-way down its spine. The first of the slugs whipped past the controlled singularity contained within the Invictus, accelerating to hyper-warp before pounding into the vessel and leaving a gigantic crater in the segmented hull. The second shot destroyed the last of the armour and left their hull exposed. Her third shot landed a second later, hitting the exact same spot and plunging deeper, the explosion blasting superstructure out into space. With the path cleared, the fourth and final round smashed through deck after deck, triggering a detonation far within the carrier. The blast tore a huge rent in their bridge and the insectoid command crew were sucked out into space in an explosive decompression.

Calara wasn't paying that carrier any more attention though, all her focus was now on the series of events that were still to play out...

Faye used the Invictus' rear-starboard Photon Lasers to pre-emptively strip the third drone carrier of shields, leaving them vulnerable to their Heavy Cannons. Alyssa pulled the battlecruiser around in a tight turn to starboard, with Faye and Calara using the Pulse Cannons and Gauss Cannons on their underbelly to cause mayhem amongst the Kirrix picket ships. Destroyers lost their shields in the blink of an eye, only to be hammered by hyper-accelerated railgun rounds, which ripped apart their light armour. Faye didn't cease her stream of Pulse Cannon shots, so the moment the vessels were stripped of armour, the laser bolts eviscerated the smaller Kirrix ships.

As soon as the fire-arcs of the forward Photon Laser batteries crossed over the fourth carrier, Faye opened fire and began to pound its shields. The pulsed beams lashed over the bulky vessel, making its shields undulate like a wave as they struggled to maintain their integrity. All of a sudden, the shields winked out, leaving the ship stripped bare and critically vulnerable.

The Latina pressed the thumb button on her weapon controls, watching anxiously as Singularity Driver slugs began to pound the third drone carrier directly ahead of them. Her heart was pounding in her chest as the fateful moment drew closer, with events unfolding exactly as she'd predicted. Calara lined up the six sets of heavy guns off the topdeck on the fourth capital ship, then clamped down with her index fingers to start shelling the Kirrix vessel. Explosions rippled across the carrier's flank as it was pounded by massive shells, enormous sections of armour plating blown apart in that colossal barrage. The cratered hull was left almost completely denuded of armour, leaving the ship vulnerable to Pulse Cannon fire.

Alyssa was dodging and jinking the Invictus, managing to avoid roughly two-thirds of the green beams slashing through space towards them. However, with the volume of fire coming their way from the remaining capital ships, the Invictus' shields were taking a battering. The shield-status display dropped from green to yellow, then darkened to orange with distressing speed.

"Now, Faye!" Calara cried out, holding her breath as the chain of images in her mind wavered for a second.

In Calara's vision, Faye had started to spray the armourless carrier with Pulse Cannon bolts, the wave of shots slicing into the hull and starting numerous fires. This time she focused everything she had half-way down its hull, aiming for a specific bank of missile tubes underneath the Drone launching bays. The Kirrix fired off a salvo of short range, dumb-fire missiles as the Invictus raced past and the warheads that should have struck the Invictus, exploded harmlessly as soon as they left the tubes. Harmlessly to the Invictus that is... but not for the Kirrix. A brilliant surge of blue lightning arced over the fourth drone carrier as the EMP torpedoes exploded, the ship listing to one side as it lost all power.

Calara heaved a shuddering sigh of relief as the chain of events was broken, her alternate scenario changing the Invictus' fate. Their battlecruiser should have been the one struck by those deadly missiles, leaving them adrift without power for a fateful ten seconds - little more than a sitting duck in front of the Kirrix big guns. The remaining four Kirrix ships would have ruthlessly exploited that moment of weakness, their combined mass of firepower enough to tear the Invictus apart.

Now however, the Invictus was just as dangerous as ever. Calara continued to hammer the third carrier ahead of them with Singularity Driver slugs, rocking the cratered vessel back with the force of the impacts. Shuddering under that remorseless barrage, it was finally blown to pieces in a titanic explosion, the blast wave hurling debris far out into space. The Invictus tore past the disabled fourth carrier seconds later, Faye opening up with the rear-facing Photon Laser batteries. Taking advantage of shooting at a stationary target, she exploited its weakened armour to neatly slice the vessel in half.

With that disaster averted, Calara finally allowed herself a smile of satisfaction, marvelling at just how close to destruction they'd come. Although four carriers had been successfully destroyed, they still needed to eliminate the fifth and sixth Kirrix capital ships to complete the destruction of this side of the formation.

She focused on the Invictus again, embracing her connection to the ship and watching the next sequence of events play out in her mind. Once the next two Kirrix vessels were taken care of, they still had to face the other half of the formation, another six more capital ships...

***

Jodrun groaned with the pain as he was roused from unconsciousness, the sled jolting him awake as it travelled over uneven ground. He was flat on his back and staring up at the night's sky, but when he tried to move, he found himself restrained by bindings across his body. A creepy skittering sound filled his ears, making his flesh crawl and prompting him to struggle all the harder, but he was too tightly locked down. His arm burned with pain from the gunshot wound he'd received while defending Hol Darim Fortress' third wall, but his head was pounding as well and he grimaced at the throbbing ache.

The last thing he remembered was frantically trying to kill one of those unstoppable Kirrix Juggernauts as it smashed its way through the gates. He'd shot it at least a dozen times with his fusion rifle, but the normally lethal weapon had almost no effect on the rampaging monster. The gates had finally caved in under the beast's frenzied assault and Jodrun had joined his fellow Trankaran legionnaires in retreating to the final wall. At least, he'd tried to... He remembered now; the stabbing pain as he'd been shot in the back of the head, then stumbling forward and crashing to the ground before being overcome by darkness.

He was suddenly gripped by terror as he realised what must have happened. Turning his head, he saw the mottled yellow carapace of a Kirrix soldier only metres away, the drone calmly walking beside the bumping transport. The sight confirmed Jodrun's worst fears... he'd been captured by the Kirrix! It was like his most terrifying nightmare come to pass; lying bound and helpless as he was carried into one of their hive ships!

Jodrun heard the sound of weeping and he twisted his head further to the side, seeing lines of despairing civilians being herded in the same direction. There was light up ahead of them, but restrained as he was, the angle was too awkward for him to see. He slumped back on the sled, heart thumping in his chest as he desperately tried to come up with some kind of escape plan.

His view of the twinkling stars overhead was obscured from sight as the sled passed through a broad archway. Jodrun winced against the glare from the brightly-lit hexagonal ceiling, the tiles pulsating with an eerie luminescence. His terror ratcheted up to new levels as he realised he was now being carried into the belly of the Kirrix beast...

***

Kirrix drone fighters streaked through the clouds, darting and weaving as the Valkyrie's automated Pulse Cannon turrets opened fire. One stream of bolts clipped a fighter in the wing, shearing it off and tipping the strike craft into an uncontrollable spin. It fell out of the sky like a stone, slamming into a tall grey Trankaran administration block and exploding in a flash of crimson.

There was no time to celebrate though, as dozens of drone ships were strafing the Valkyrie with heavy neutron guns. Moving in a blur and too fast for them to accurately track, Sakura weaved along the avenue, the torrent of green bolts blasting chunks of ferrocrete out of the road and sending chunks of debris flying into the air. She dived behind a building and heard the deadly rain of energy blasts hitting the blocky mall she was using as cover. She glanced at the shield display, wincing at the dark crimson depiction of her shield status. The Kirrix had given up trying to aim at her and had taken to just spraying fire randomly in her direction. With the volume of incoming shots, the tactic was starting to take its toll...

There were still another fifteen hive ships to go, but this drone swarm had been harrying her every step since it descended from the heavens. She watched the front formations swoop around the building in a long arc, the Kirrix pilots fanning out to hit her from multiple directions. Sakura still had her speed advantage though, and she took off at a full sprint, charging straight for the location of the next hive ship. Her sudden burst of speed caught the fighters by surprise and they rolled around, altering course to pursue her.

She could feel herself growing tired, but her lithe body was perfectly honed for extended activity and was not stressed by this protracted combat. Sakura knew the real reason for her fatigue; her psychic energy reserves were running low, after fighting at accelerated speed for so long. She wouldn't be able to maintain this pace for much longer...

*Alyssa! I'm getting low on energy! Can you help?* she called out to her friend up in the Invictus.

The blonde sent her a wry telepathic smile. *Something's not quite right with this scenario. I thought Thralls were supposed to supply their Matriarch with power, not the other way around?*

*Please!* Sakura requested, pivoting and pulling both trigger fingers, lighting up the sky with brilliant azure energy bolts. The Photon Laser burst cut down over a dozen drone ships, but there were still so many more.

*Here you go,* Alyssa said indulgently, opening their connection wide and pouring a refreshing wave of eldritch power into the Asian girl.

Sakura grinned, her skin tingling as she was flooded with energy. Unfortunately, that grin was wiped off her face a moment later as the Valkyrie was showered by a fresh burst of neutron bolts, another wing of fighters attacking from her left and catching her by surprise. Warning lights flashed as the mech lost its shields, a couple of green bolts hitting it in the left leg and leaving ugly welts on the armour.

Individually the mech vastly outclassed the Kirrix drone ships, but that was the real problem; Sakura wasn't fighting them one on one, she was facing hundreds...

Leaping over buildings and ducking behind others, she led the strike craft on a merry dance through Mulbharum, relying on her speed and agility to stay one step ahead of the buzzing horde. Her turreted Pulse Cannons had been firing non-stop for what felt like hours, even though it had been no more than a few minutes.

The Kirrix started splitting up, the drone fighters fanning out to cover as much airspace over the city as possible, rather than pursuing her directly. This new tactic made dodging their strafing runs all the more difficult, because she was now getting attacked from all directions. Alternating between firing the Photon Lasers and her Punisher Gatling to help keep them off her, Sakura raised the rotary cannon and hosed down a trio of incoming fighters. She managed to clip all of them with her accurate shooting, but before she knocked them out of the sky, their answering fire took a deadly toll.

Several blasts hit her right arm, strafing down the limb and hitting the Punisher Gatling itself, the heavy neutron bolts hitting the ammunition belt feed with a lucky shot. With the mechanism ruined, the cannon whirred to a stop, rendered useless without a steady supply of ammo. Sakura snarled with anger, then hit the button to stow away the Gatling. She felt several more impacts from neutron bolts striking the mech's right leg and she dove forward to avoid the latest Kirrix attack from a new wave of drones.

Their hail of fire abruptly cut out as the Raptor roared across the sky and scythed into the Valkyrie's tormentors. Faye opened fire with her Photon Lasers, annihilating them in a shocking flash of blue energy beams. She hit another wing of strike craft with a deadly flurry of Pulse Cannon bolts, ripping them apart as they were setting up a strafing run.

"I really think I should stay here and cover you..." Faye declared, appearing beside Sakura in all her purple glory. She gave the Asian girl a playful smile. "John will be really cross with me if you get hurt!"

Sakura laughed with relief as the Raptor mercilessly hammered the Kirrix drones, cutting more down with her Pulse Cannons as she swooped across the sky. The intensity of the strafing runs lessened dramatically, now that the Kirrix had the gunship to worry about too.

"I've never been more glad to see you, Faye!" Sakura gasped, grinning at the purple sprite. "Here's a new plan... I'll hit the hive ships, you focus on the drones!"

"Sure!" Faye replied, beaming at her happily.

The Valkyrie raced away from cover, eating up the distance to the next bulbous Kirrix cruiser, but this time a sparkling-white guardian angel was watching over her shoulder.

***

"Honoured dignitaries, may I have your attention please!" Niskera called out loudly over the hissing, squelching, and barking conversations in the room.

The dozen different alien creatures all turned to stare at Niskera and John, a deathly silence descending on the group. John might not have been able to understand the various languages they'd all been speaking when he walked in, but he recognised the stench of fear that pervaded the place. His eyes darted over the startling variety of creatures assembled here, recognising most of the species. The common theme that linked them all, was that their homeworlds and minor empires were within, or adjacent to the Trankaran Republic.

The majority of the group hailed from minor empires that had claimed numerous star systems and were a familiar sight at various trading posts throughout the known galaxy. They consisted of the beetle-like Bract, a curving Slarmian eel, a gelatinous Bolon, a fungus-like Yelneg, a brightly plumed Skerawk, a rotund Ornalith, and one of the undulating molluscs known as the Elmurgh.

John couldn't remember the names of the remaining five species, as each came from inconsequential empires that only held a single star system. There were two more fungoid species; one of which looked a little bit like a Fulmanax drone, although its spongy flesh was jet-black. The second hovered in the air, a bulging gas-filled sack keeping it afloat, while a cluster of tendrils dangled below its body. A broad-shouldered, fur covered mammal sat back on its haunches, with its deep-set eyes watching every movement like a predator watching its prey. It raised a forepaw and tapped a padded digit on its fanged muzzle in a very thoughtful, Terran-like gesture. The last two were a short-plumed, hook-billed avian, and a small yellow-skinned reptile that only stood about five-feet-tall, its body covered in a glittering array of cybernetic implants.

Now that Niskera had their attention, she darted a look at John and announced, "Commodore Blake has arrived with a complement of troops to safely evacuate us from the planet. We will be leaving immediately, so only bring the most essential possessions with you. We can't afford to be slowed down during the evacuation."

The Slarmian slithered forward, his unblinking yellow eyes fixed on John. "Crinx does not wish to correct you, Chancellor. However, the Lion of the Federation has recently been honoured with a new rank amongst his people. Is Crinx not correct, Vice Admiral Blake?"

Before he could reply, the Yelneg diplomat stomped around the table it was leaning against, its six stubby legs making a soft drumming noise. In a shrill high-pitched warble, it squeaked, "If you're here, does that mean the Terran Federation changed its mind? You haven't abandoned us to the Kirrix after all?!"

"Did we cause some offense to the Terrans?" the Bract chittered, antenna waving nervously. "To my knowledge, my kin have adhered to all known Federation trading strictures!"

John raised his hands to stave off any more questions. "We don't have time for this right now. Yes, I'm now a Vice Admiral, but you're all welcome to address me as John. I'm not here as a representative of the Terran Federation, but I am here to rescue you. So grab your gear! As Niskera said, we need to leave right now!"

There were no more queries raised by the diplomats, all of them realising the urgency of the situation. John turned to leave, with Niskera following at his side.

"Please forgive me for the error with your rank," Niskera murmured, looking embarrassed. "Normally, I'm kept well abreast of these kinds of developments."

John shrugged. "Don't worry about it, I'm not precious about titles. I didn't bother correcting you before because you had far more pressing things on your mind. Besides, I only got promoted a week ago."

They strode into the central chamber just as Sub-Warden Dhormun entered the large room from the eastern passageway. The bulky Trankaran officer was accompanied by Dana, Rachel, and six Trankaran soldiers who were all staring at the brunette in astonishment.

"Good to see you on your feet, Dhormun," John said, nodding to the Sub-Warden.

"I haven't felt this good in years!" the Trankaran boomed, now over his initial shock. "I feel like I could take on the Kirrix single-handed!"

John gave him an apologetic look. "Not today I'm afraid. I need you and your men to guard Niskera and the diplomats. Let us take care of the Kirrix, okay?"

"How many men did you bring with you, Vice Admiral?" Dhormun asked, an eager grin on his flat slab-like features. "Did you bring any of the Federation's fabled power-armoured troops with you?"