The elevator swished open quietly and John, Alyssa, and Calara darted into their respective positions on the bridge. Sparks turned to face them as they arrived on the Command deck.
"We're getting an incoming distress call from a freighter. They've been disabled by pirates and are being boarded!" Sparks said with alarm.
"Alyssa, plot a course to their location. Calara, shields up and weapons armed, we're going to need to strike quickly," John ordered decisively.
The girls sprung into action as they responded to his commands. Holographic images sprang into existence in the middle of the room, as Alyssa rapidly charted a new course in the system map to the scene of the battle, and Calara activated the Invictus' weaponry. The rotating image of the assault cruiser showed the armoured hull sliding back, revealing the formidable arsenal at their disposal.
"Weapons hot Commander!" Calara reported, as the Mass drivers, laser cannons, beam lasers and point defence all glowed menacingly on the weapon loadout display for the Invictus.
"Two minutes until we're in range," Alyssa stated calmly, as the assault cruiser swung in a smooth arc to adjust to the course change.
Sparks turned her attention back to the long range scanners as it began to display the information it had gathered from the initial sensor sweep.
"I'm picking up five ships John," the redhead called out. "Only one has an active transponder. That's the freighter Calypso. The rest have their transponders switched off."
"See if you can hail the freighter, Sparks," John asked.
Calara activated a couple of controls on her console, and the weapon loadout of the Invictus disappeared, replaced by a glowing hologram showing the local system map instead. John leaned forward to study the image as more details were revealed, the ship scans becoming more revealing the closer they got. The Calypso had suffered damage to its engines, and a sleek looking corvette had sidled alongside it, now attached by the docking collar to the freighter's starboard flank.
A shocked gasp interrupted the quiet focus of the bridge. "That's the Griffon!" Calara exclaimed.
"Are you sure?" John asked. There were hundreds of Corvettes in the Terran Federation Navy and they looked largely the same to him.
"Yes, there's no question. It's a Marlin class Corvette, and look at the rear stabilisers! They were upgraded just before the ship left Port Heracles!" the Latina insisted.
Before they could react to this startling bit of news, the vid-feed crackled, and an image of a panicked woman filled the screen.
"We're being boarded!" the brown haired, middle-aged woman shouted as gunfire echoed in the background, followed by shrill screams. "Please help us!"
John leaned forward and replied in a steely voice, "This is Commander Blake of the Assault Cruiser Invictus. We'll be with you in just over a minute, so try and hold out as long as you can!" More gunfire drowned out the Calypso Captain's response and the line went dead.
The three remaining ships, two battered looking Lexon class frigates and a blunt nosed corvette, were providing cover for their pirate colleagues who were performing the boarding action. The pirate vessels had picked up the incoming Assault cruiser on their scanners, and the worn looking ships were turning to engage.
Sparks watched the unfolding engagement with awe, the pivoting pirate craft looking menacing as they turned in their direction, with many weapon barrels being brought to bear. On the other side of the holographic map, the Invictus surged forward with deadly purpose, looking like a sinister predator as it descended on the smaller vessels.
"Thirty seconds until we're in range!" Alyssa announced.
"Lieutenant take them out fast, so we can save the freighter!" John urged.
Calara's eyes narrowed in concentration, as she focused on the holographic targeting matrix floating in front of her face. "Yes, Sir!" she responded grimly.
Sparks watched the tactical map with bated breath, as their assault cruiser bore down on the weaker enemy vessels. The long cones displaying the fire arcs of their weapons brushed over the approaching Pirate ships, and Calara sprung into action. The map illuminated brightly as the ship's vibrant coruscating beams blasted out, caressing the frigates lovingly. Three beams hit each craft squarely, overloading their shields in a crackling instant, and followed through to gouge glowing trenches in the thick armour on the front of the pirate ships.
"Firing main guns!" Calara called out a second later and the ship trembled with the recoil, as the 200 metre long magnetic rails of the Mass drivers launched their shells at Hyper warp into the burning frigates.
The first frigate shuddered as both shells slammed into its port side, knocking it sideways. The shells detonated a second later, and the entire left side exploded outwards, showering the area with debris. The second frigate was hit head on, the Impact from the shells devastating the bridge and instantly killing their command crew, even before the enormous explosive force obliterated the front half of the frigate.
Sparks could see icons showing that the Mass drivers were reloading and that the beams were cooling, as the Invictus finally closed to laser cannon range. Now in range to fire back, the blunt nosed frigate opened up with its two pairs of three laser cannons as it charged in bravely. Half the incoming laser fire sailed past harmlessly as Alyssa half rolled the Invictus but the other three blasts of energy all hit squarely, and were harmlessly absorbed by their shields.
"Shields at 97%, John!" Sparks said excitedly, and John glanced at her, smiling at her enthusiasm.
With Alyssa's skilful roll, the Invictus now faced the passing corvette with its bristling top deck, sixteen turreted laser cannons now able to track the target as it appeared in their firing arcs. Calara opened fire with a ferocious broadside, and the corvette's weaker shields shorted out after the first few impacts, leaving the lightly armoured hull exposed to a blistering barrage. The hull lit up as laser cannon fire tore it to pieces, ripping the ship in half with explosions.
"Nice work ladies," John congratulated them both, as they neutralised all active pirate ships in just under ten seconds.
Alyssa brought the Invictus around to flank the Griffon, and she smoothly docked the two craft, their assault cruiser dwarfing the corvette.
"Do you want me to disable their engines?" Calara asked John cautiously.
"There's no need, I can keep them immobilised with the tractor beam!" Sparks interjected.
Her fingers pressed a number of controls on the console, and the corvette was enveloped in a shimmering purple field, locking it in place.
"They aren't going anywhere!" Sparks grinned happily.
"Nice work" John grinned back at her, before turning towards Alyssa, and rising from his chair. "XO you're with me, let's get suited up fast!"
The young woman nodded, and darted down the illuminated steps of the command podium to call the elevator.
"Calara, keep an eye out for other pirates. Separate the ships if you have to fight, but we need to protect the Calypso from any further attacks," he ordered, as he jogged down the steps to the waiting elevator.
The Latina nodded, but looked over at Sparks as they shared a worried expression. The last thing they wanted to do was to abandon their friends with a horde of angry pirates.
John and Alyssa raced down the corridor on Deck Two, and darted into their walk-in-wardrobe to hurriedly suit up in their combat armour. John finished gearing up first, and after picking up an assault rifle from the weapon rack, he slammed a magazine home in the bullpup slot, and sighted through the scope. Alyssa had finished getting ready, so he handed her the rifle and a couple of spare mags, before picking up the second matching assault rifle and loading it. Grabbing a few spare mgazines for himself, he turned and followed his lover out of the room as they made their way back to the elevator.
He could feel the pre-combat tension building and he glanced over to Alyssa to check she was ok. The teenager looked back at him confidently with a sparkling smile, and he felt reassured that she would be able to handle herself. The door swished open, and they both got in, taking the lift down to the lowest deck, where they jogged up to the airlock, and John placed his hand on the DNA reader. A flickering green light travelled across the panel, and scanned the DNA in his hand, beeping quietly in recognition, followed by the airlock door spiralling open in front of them.
They stepped inside the airlock, with John closing the inner door to the Invictus behind him. He produced the small chrome decryption device from a container on his belt, and feeling a strong sense of déjà vu, he hooked up the device. It hummed happily to itself when he placed it on the airlock door to the corvette Griffon, and they hugged either side of the doorway while they waited for it to do its work. After a few moments there was a dull thunk from the door in front of them, and the sturdy airlock door rotated upwards, granting access to the ship. John cautiously peered out but could see no welcoming reception from the pirates, so he retrieved the device and stashed it back on his belt.
The two of them stepped out into the corridor and followed it around the corner as it led deeper into the ship. John could see that the ship was already looking like it had seen better days, after nearly a month in the pirates less than tender care. He listened carefully for the sound of any nearby marauders, but the only noise he could hear was the muted sound of distant gunfire, coming from what he could only assume was the freighter. They performed a quick sweep of the ship, and John confirmed his suspicions; that the undisciplined pirates had all joined the boarding action, and were probably not even aware that their colleagues had already fallen prey to the Invictus.
They found the airlock on the other side of the Griffon already open, as was the interconnecting airlock on the freighter Calypso. John took point, and moved quickly and steadily down the first corridor, listening out for the marauding pirates, and following the sounds of combat. To an unknowing observer, John and Alyssa moved fluidly as a single unit; he moved up to the corridor and covered the right, the blonde moving simultaneously to cover the left. What that observer would be oblivious to, was the silent stream of thought commands John was giving to Alyssa as he led her into the ship.
