Pt. 04

The Adventures of Tim Bodge

This story has been amended with Adult content.

By T Hodge

Chapter 27

Part 4 of 4

Tabitha hurried off to speak with her father about the invasion fleet.

***

Shanae approached Tim as he sat with a worried face. "Tim, what are you so concerned about?"

Tim turned. "Something seems off, only two hundred ships are not an invasion force."

Shanae drew nearer to Tim and softly asked, "Tim, could we go to the debriefing room?"

Tim saw she had a serious look so he stood to follow her to the debriefing room. After entering, Tim asked, sounding more uncertain, "OK, what am I missing?"

"You are aware of the knowledge with which I have been programmed. What if it's not a full-fledged invasion force?"

"I'm not sure what you are asking."

"What if it is an exploratory force?"

"And why would they send an exploratory force here?" Tim answered, giving her an exasperated look.

"You did say Mankind was at war with Targkeleax. They could be from that species."

"No, they are on the further side. In order to get here, they'd have to go through the Sol system."

"What if. ... those are the ships left from the invasion fleet and ended up here?"

"That seems a little more believable."

"Therefore, if they are the only ones to survive, they will need somewhere to take refuge." Shanae was now making a good point.

"To find a planet, they would send just one or two small vessels. So as not to draw attention to them."

"Right, if those vessels didn't return or call back, they would assume they had met a more significant force. But, that would give you more time to assemble your forces."

"Thank you. I now feel better about the whole situation. I'll call DarkIce and have him watch for any ships leaving."

Tim and Shanae walked back onto the bridge. While Tim took his place, he asked for a channel, "I need a channel opened to DarkIce."

"Channel's open, sir."

"DarkIce, we believe we know what's happening. See if a couple of ships leave the formation. Note the directions that they take and let me know right away."

"Tim, two of them have already left. The first to leave proceeded on a course of 039, mark ten, and the second to depart traveled on a heading of 0219, mark twenty.

"They are looking for a system to hide in. This means the remainder will stay there until something's found."

"Sarha, can you give me any idea what these ships might encounter?"

"Tim, according to the location of the primary body, and I use it as a point of departure. The first ship will arrive at Tabitha's home planet in one month, and the second will find a system without any habitable planets."

"Suppose the main body stays where it is for the time being, which will give the King time to assemble his forces. It also gives us time to test the wormhole generator."

"Tim, what if the primary group starts to move?" Shanae asked suddenly,

"What are you suggesting?"

"Would it be possible for DarkIce's ships to set up a minefield? It might hold them in place."

"Yes, since DarkIce's ships are cloaked. They could lay out cloaked mines, and once in place, activate them. That's a great idea."

"I need a channel opened to Tabitha." Tim turned toward the communications officer.

"Tim, Tabitha is on com 2."

"Tabitha, one of their ships is headed toward your home planet, and it will be there in thirty days."

"Tim, my father, thanks you for this news. This will give him time to get his ships back in position."

"We'll be leaving here and back in your system in about five hours."

"See you in a little while," replied Tabitha coolly.

"Open a channel to DarkIce."

"Channel open." The Communications officer replied.

"DarkIce, I need you to establish a minefield between you and the other vessels. We'll send you as many mines as you need. Use your thrusters only, this way, you won't appear on their scanners."

"Tim, I shall begin immediately. I'll put down three rows of mines at various locations as necessary."

Tim turned to Sarha, "Sarha, could you start assembling the mines? I need them cloaked, and I also need them with a thirty seconds life span after the contact."

"Tim, do you have any idea what number you might need?"

"No, ask DarkIce how many he needs. Once they are ready, send them to DarkIce's vessel. Use your bots to transport them."

"Tim, the Undain's soldiers have arrived. We have them with the other soldiers on deck four." Reported Tammy.

"Engineering," Tim spoke.

"Gento, here."

"Gento, are we all set for the wormhole?" Tim sounded nervous when he said that.

"Yes, Sir. Everything is in place."

Tim looked at the navigator and asked, "is our destination programmed in?'"

"Yes, sir. We will appear, just inside of Tabitha's home system."

Again, with a nervous voice, Tim ordered, "Mayio, take us there." He held onto the chair arms with a firm grip. Hoping this worked.

He watched the front view screen. The only thing he saw was that the screen turned dark, and then another set of stars appeared. Tim heard a large number of sighs, including his own.

"Navigator, location please?"

"Tim, we are at the edge of Tabitha's system. In this position, we programmed into the wormhole system." You could hear the relief in her voice.

There were loud shouts from the rest of the bridge crew. There were a lot of high fives going around.

"Ladies, I want to thank each and every one of you. Thanks to you, our first jump was a sucess." He was smiling now. The worries, for now, were over.

"Mayio, take us to Tabitha's home planet."

***

DarkIce stood by the MTS machine and watched the bots carry the mines from Tim's ship to his cargo bay and then return.

The bots would place the mines on a ramp, leading to an airlock hatch. The thrusters would move the ship the same distance every time and set the mine.

DarkIce went back to the pilot's area and checked to see if anything had changed. The one hundred and ninety-eight ships were still sitting there.

They had modified their formation, and it was now a circle with a large Superdreadnought in the middle.

DarkIce was trying to ID the ships with a passive scan without being discovered. He identified these ships. One Superdreadnoughts, Two Dreadnoughts, Twenty Defense missile ships, Three Carriers Attack Crafts, fifty Heavy Battle Cruisers, seventy-five light Battle Cruisers, twenty-five Destroyers, and twenty-two corvettes.

He passed that information along to Tim.

***

With all the information DarkIce had provided. Tim thought, '

He and Shanae should be able to sit down and do a little planning

.'

Tim needed to talk to the King and find out which ships he had nearby and how many ships had the upgraded shields. He headed to the MTS and the King's castle.

Tabatha, Tammy, and the King met him at the MTS. From there, they went to the library. Once there, the King sent for his Commander.

After everyone was ready, the King said, "We have an enemy scout ship heading this way."

The Commander seemed astonished. There were all kinds of questions that needed to be asked.

"Calm down. We will have everything under control soon."

"Sire, how much time do we have, and are there others?" The Commander asked.

"Tim tells me that we have thirty days before the first ship gets here. And for the other part of the question. I don't know!"

The Commander looked to Tim. She has a worried look. "Tim, what kind of ship is it?"

"I don't know yet! We'll be able to get a more detailed look at it in a few days." As Tim turned to look at the Commander. "Commander, how many ships are available?"

"I can have one hundred back here within one week."

***

DarkIce monitored the space surrounding the ships. Suddenly, three hundred more ships appeared, and they seemed quite distant from the other warships.

DarkIce set out to scan them. He needed to get that information for Tim.

The initial scan showed that this second group came from the United Federation. These are all human beings. So, the other ships must be Targkeleax.

DarkIce called Tim and advised him of the new vessels.

"DarkIce, are the mines you laid between the two groups?" Asked Tim.

"No, they're between those two groups and us."

"Has either group moved?"

"No."

"All right, let's find out what's going on? Just sit back and check it out."

Tim turned to the Commander, "How many ships will we have here in 12 hours?"

The Commander thought and said, "We will have fifty ships, and that will include the twenty ships with the upgraded shields."

Tim contacted Sarha, "How many ships can we take through the wormhole with us?"

"If we added two more generators online and went through last, one hundred."

"OK, have Gento add the two generators and start them up. I need everything set up within twelve hours."

Tim turned to the King and his Commander. "Your fifty ships, plus my ship, will go through the wormhole and come out next to Tabitha's ship. How soon will some of the other's ships be here?"

"I will have five ships here within two days." The Commander replied.

"Good, that will give the planet some guards."

"Tim, what if we don't come out where you want us?" Asked the Commander.

"We just jumped here and came out exactly where we were to be."

"Tabitha, I need you to contact King Elbert; I need all the soldiers he can spare transferred to our ship ASAP. Also, ask the Mayor for his soldiers."

"Tammy, I need you to go back to our ship. I need uniforms and shields for all soldiers coming from all three worlds. Get everyone started right away."

Tim looked at the King, "If we need more help on the assembly line, could some of your people be sent to the ship to help?"

"I will start gathering the people immediately." The King turned to a runner and told him who he wanted and to get them here fast."

"Shanae, I want you to go to the corvette in our bay once we make the leap, rendezvous with the other two, and take charge.

***

"DarkIce, how are things over there?" Asked Tim.

"Right now, just like the last ten hours. Everything is quiet, and no one has moved. I don't know what they are waiting for."

"Well, we will be there in an hour. Then we will see what's going to happen."

Tim had the soldiers in the bays with the shuttlecraft; he didn't want the soldiers in the craft, just ready to board as needed.

***

Pauline sat at the table with Tim in the TOC room, and she observed all the individuals in the room. She noticed how nervous everyone was. The ships all came out of the wormhole, just where they were supposed to be, and they were lined up as Tim wanted.

You could feel the relief in the air again. Now everyone knew this was for real.

No sooner had they emerged from the wormhole, Shanae had the corvette out and rendezvoused with DarkIce and the other. They all three checked their equipment and were ready when Tim called.

"Areyaka, could you come to the bridge?" Tim asked over the intercom.

Areyaka entered and walked over to Tim, "Tim, what do you need?"

"I need your hacking skills. We have close to four hundred ships in front of us. I need to know if you could hack into their systems and get information, without them knowing it?"

"That's not a problem, what information do you want?"

"Well, from the two command ships, all the information you can get. Then from the other, if possible, where they have been."

"I shall get on it right away. Let you know if I find anything important." Areyaka moved away.

"Sarha, give me an open channel to all ships. I need my voice scrambled."

"Tim, all channels are open to you now. They will be able to understand you but will not be able to tell what species you are."

"Attention, all ships. Our King wishes you to leave our space immediately; you were not invited, and you have no reason to be here with such a large number of ships."

"This is Commander Jackson of the United Federation. We are not here to trespass; we are here to capture the Targkeleax forces that escaped from our people. They tried to invade our lands and make slaves of us."

"They lie; we were innocently crossing their system and they attacked us. We came here to escape from them, and they followed us," replied the Commander of the Targkeleax forces.

"We do not want your troubles, again, please leave. Now!"

"We will not leave; we are asking for your protection."

"We do not offer protection to anyone. Now please leave!"

"You only have a small force. How will you make us leave? We will destroy your ships and do as we please!!"

"Our forces are small, but we will be able to handle anything you have. Please do not make us show you. Commander Jackson, if you genuinely are peaceful. Would you mind moving your ships back?"

"Are you sure? That may not be the best idea."

"If you would please."

Commander Jackson replied, "We will do as you asked, but will stay close, just in case you need assistance." The United Federation forces started moving away from the Targkeleax ships.

The Targkeleax force, Super Dreadnought, launched one hundred missiles toward Tim's ship.

Tim had the other ships hold their fire. "Pauline, start your actiondefense, knock out those incoming missiles. Fire on the Super Dreadnought, take it out. Maybe the others will surrender or leave."

Pauline had the TOC crew launch all of the ready anti-missile mines, and the defensive gunners were ready if any got through. She already had the rail gun loaded with three nano-bot shells. "Tim, firing the rail gun now."

"Attention all ships,ships; we will attack only on ships that fire upon us. Watch your Super Dreadnought since it fired on us."

"Tim, of the one hundred fired. Ninety-eight were destroyed by anti-missile mines and the other two by defense weapons. We have fired three shells from the railgun, and they should impact in five seconds."

Tim watched closely. He had Sarha send a cloaked probe with a camera close to the super Dreadnought. He saw that the gunners on the Dreadnought were firing in the direction of the shells. The first round of the rail gun struck the shields and cut the strength in half. The second round eliminated the shield. The third round struck the starboard side and made a small hole.

In the time it took the railgun charges to reach the Dreadnought, it had fired an additional two hundred missiles and fifteen pulse weapon blasts. It completed a turn to face Tim's ship, and began to regenerate its shields.

The commander of the Dreadnought ordered every vessel to fire. The ship's commanding officers issued the order. The battle had begun.

Tim ordered all ships to engage with the enemy ships. Since only Tabitha's ship and the other corvettes had nano-bot shells and the newer shields, he instructed them to fire on the lead ship.

As Tim was giving out these orders, he watched the small hole in the Dreadnought get larger as the second set of rail gun rounds began to hit their target. Again, the first removed the shield. The second and third shells hit closer to the front of the Dreadnought as it turned to face Tim. The holes were larger and started eating away at the ship from the inside.

The feline's ships started their attack behind the new shields, doing more damage than receiving.

***

"I need each ship to fire everything at the lead ship. Sarha will be supplying us with all the nano-bot shells." DarkIce said.

The three corvettes focused on the lead ship with all the weapons firing. It didn't take long for the Targkeleax's shields to break down. Once that was done, the next round of nano-bots ammunition hit the front of the lead ship. Within five minutes, DarkIce saw the escape pods evacuating the dying ship.

DarkIce looked for the next target. The firepower that one of the other Dreadnought had drawn his attention. The three corvettes now turned toward that Dreadnought and started firing.

***

Tim watched as the escape pods left the super Dreadnought. There were large holes throughout the ship, and a few weapons still firing. But Tim knew that wouldn't last much longer.

He saw DarkIce's team had taken care of the lead ship, and they were headed toward a Dreadnought. "Pauline, I want to target the Dreadnought that's DarkIce ships are headed to. I'd like the shields taken out, and a few holes punched into it before you start on the second Dreadnought.

"Tim, I had five of the felines' ships return to the rear so they could regenerate their shields." Said Pauline.

"Have we lost anyone?"

"No, with the rotation of the entire frontline. We are doing good. The Targkeleax forces vessels that tried to move closer to us ran into the minefields DarkIce had laid, and now none of them are moving."

"Pauline, how are the shields holding?"

"They are at 50% but regenerating fast."

"And the United Federation task force, what are they doing?"

"They're just sitting there watching, that's all."

"Pauline, I am going to offer the Federation an opportunity to fight. We're going to focus all of our group effort on this side and to the middle."

"Commander Jackson, would you care to join us? I think they're enemies of yours."

"Well, I think your small yet compelling group is doing simply fine. But if you want, we will welcome your offer. Is there an area that we should concentrate on?"

"Well, if you would like. Your side of the line would be helpful. But please do not move your ships into the area, which is mined with unique cloaked mines."

"I was wondering why they hadn't moved. What's more, some of their ships seem to be disappearing."

"We'll leave it there; that's the way our weapons work."

"You have a unique fighting style."

"Thank you, now. If you don't mind, don't allow any of them to leave the area.