26 – Battle, Part 2
(Destiny – Maintenance Space – 01.22.2020, 0935)
Amanda Perry, Lisa Park and Matthew Scott were in spacesuits. The maintenance space they were in, could only be reached by walking along the outer hull. Park and Perry were working on the machinery inside, while Scott was closing the door. He finished and worked a small control panel next to the door. There was a hiss as the room was pressurized with standard issue atmosphere. ~Better.~ Perry was the first to finish taking off her spacesuit.
“Amazing,” She said.
“So, what exactly does all this do ?” Scott asked, having just taken off his helmet.
“We believe these are neutrino generators,” Park began. “It’s a sub-system of the FTL-drive. Destiny needs them to generate a stable field.”
“Aren’t there neutrinos in space ?” Scott paused when Perry gave him a surprised look. “What ? I pay attention when you discuss things.” This made Perry smile. “So, can’t Destiny use those particles ?”
“No, those particles are limited to the speed of light,” Perry said. “When the ship goes into Faster-then-light, the particles are left behind and the ship has no method of collecting them.”
“What about the neutrinos inside the ship when it goes to FTL ?”
“Those leak out,” Park said. “Think of Destiny as a positive pressure chamber. And the neutrinos are the air.”
“So, the neutrinos can flow out. But, because of the speed difference, they can’t flow in,” Scott said. “Which means that the ship needs a stable source of freshly made neutrinos, hence…” He gestured to the machinery and paused. “I can’t believe I just said that. I’ve been spending way too much time with Rush and Eli.”
Park and Perry burst into laughter as they began examining the equipment.
(Destiny – Corridor - 02.27.2020, 1031)
Destiny jumped into faster-then-light. As Colonel Vale had suspected, it was indeed a far from normal jump. Young’s question to Rush had been simple. ~Can we weaponize the FTL jump ?~ And that had given Rush and Eli an idea. It was common knowledge that Destiny’s FTL-drive had two general modes. Mode number one was the slow, in-galaxy mode. And mode number two was the faster galaxy hopping one. What they had learned from Park and Perry’s study of the neutrino generators, was that mode number two needed more neutrinos then mode one. So the generators had a low and a high setting to deal with that.
Rush idea had been simple, he had overridden the safeties and switched the neutrinos generators to high. Which – because the FTL-drive was set to Mode One – meant that their were a lot more particles then needed for the engines. This was not dangerous, because neutrinos were harmless unless you made the mistake of being near a supernova when it blew up. However, when the neutrinos left FTL-drive field, they created radiation that would be harmful. Would being the operative word, because the designers of the FTL-drive had done their homework and installed a network of convertors that turned this radiation into harmless particles.
But Rush had turned certain of those convertors off. And the result was both simple and deadly. ~Sons of Dis.~ Vale thought as he saw said effect. The section in front of him had just been flooded with radiation, killing the Hal’Iry troopers in less than fifteen seconds. ~Infernus.~ The radiation that the neutrinos created was the same stuff that Spera’s Mark-Two FTL-Drive gave off. Vale figured that this was, somehow, where the research and development on that engine had started. ~But that’s something for us to figure out later.~ He grabbed his radio.
“Rush, it worked,” He said. “Start turning the convertors back on.”
=/\=I’m working on it, Colonel.=/\= Rush said. =/\=But it will take time.=/\=
=/\=There are a lot of safeties.=/\=Eli added. =/\=We barely managed to turn the ones we needed off in time.=/\=
“Yeah, I can understand why. This radiation is nasty,” Which was probably why the Ancients had simply shielded the engines aboard Spera, instead of installing convertors to protect the crew. If the convertors had failed, the result would have been bad. “Take your time. Vale out.”
Of course, it was only a matter of time before the Hal’Iry send in the next wave. ~Time to make a move for the bridge ?~ He activated his radio and contacted Young to come up with a plan.
(Destiny – Cargo Bay Twenty-Two - 02.27.2020, 1035)
Things had gone to pieces. Not only had the ship gone to Faster-then-light speed, the Ka’Zinro had wiped out another wave of attackers. And now they were making a push towards the bridge, while cutting off all the approaches that the reinforcements could use. ~The corridors are blocked by these high radiation zones and the elevators are locked in position.~ He had ordered teams to find maintenance tubes to get his forces to the right decks. But the hatches were locked.
“Blast !”
It was at this moment that Filler First Grade Zo-12-N came in. He was looking considerably worse for wear, having been shot by Ka’Zinro projectile weapons and missing a chunk of his tail. Based on the wound, it had been blown of by some kind of explosive.
“Supreme Commander, the Ka’Zinro are assaulting our frontline,” He paused to collect his breath. “And they are not just using their own weapons. They’ve stripped the dead and are using our own technology against us.”
“What about the residue and the radiation ?”
“They’re igniting the residue, but they’re not using the radiation, sir,” Zo-12-N paused. “Still, they really want this ship back, Commander. We outnumber them, but they don’t seem to care, sir.”
“If they want this ship back so bad, lets give it to them.” La-27-A said as an idea formed in his head. “Spread the word to break out the HYE-12 units, Filler. We’re implementing Plan Delta Omega Seven. Now, go.”
“Yes, Supreme Commander.”
The Filler left to execute his orders. La-27-A knew the details for Plan Delta Omega Seven from memory. And he knew that there was a fair chance that this would be his final move. ~It will either work or it will blow up in our faces.~ But he had no intention of going down without a fight.
(Destiny – Corridor - 02.27.2020, 1041)
NR-1 was headed for the bridge, with NR-3 as back-up. The other three NR-Teams were holding the line, with Jennifer Hailey in command. ~They’ll be fine.~ Vale thought as he led the team down the corridor. He and Cadman were in the lead, while G’Yal and T’Zalo covered the rear. The rest of the two teams where in the middle.
“So, how are we going to get up there ?” Cadman asked.
“The maintenance tubes,” Vale began. “If we try the elevator, we’ll be sitting ducks.”
So far, they had shot their way through one Hal’Iry position. And there were four more between them and their target. But because they had superior knowledge of Destiny and her layout, Vale and his people had an edge. They reached the second position, where a high ranking officer was leading the defenders. ~At least if the markings on his uniform are a fair indication.~ The first position had been manned by regular troopers. Vale gave hand-signals and the two teams took up strategic positions.
“Fire !”
The team cut loose, taking down half the Hal’Iry force before they began returning fire. Cadman threw two grenades, which took out two more Hal’Iry troopers. The blast also gave Porter a shot at a third soldier, so she fired her weapon and he went down. While she reloaded, G’Yal and T’Zalo cut loose. Their targets ducked for cover, but this put them in White’s crosshairs. The South-African soldier made quick work of them. The only survivor – the officer – bolted. Vale signal and the team moved forward. ~Two down, three to go.~ And with the element of surprise gone, it was a safe bet that the next one was going to be harder.
(Destiny – Corridor - 02.27.2020, 1041)
While Vale was leading the push towards the bridge, Young was leading another assault. They had just cleared the route to the Infirmary, so TJ was overseeing the transfer of the wounded there. That done, Young was now going on the offensive against the main Hal’Iry force. He was in the lead, with Lieutenant James and Scott.
Greer had been really unhappy that the Colonel was doing this without him, but TJ had sedated him so that he couldn’t do anything stupid. ~One of the perks on being Chief Medical Officer.~ She had said to Young as the Master Sergeant had passed out. But none of that did Young any good as he gave hand signals to his team. They were in a running firefight with the Hal’Iry, who appeared to be retreating towards the lower decks of the ship.
“What are they up to ?” James asked.
“I don’t know,” Scott said. “But they are definitely up to something.”
As he shot another Hal’Iry soldier, Young agreed with Scott’s assessment of the situation. These people had come too far and fought too hard to just turn tail – he moaned inwardly at the pun – and run away. He grabbed his radio and activated it.
“Rush, anything on the internal sensors ?”
=/\=No, Colonel.=/\= Rush said. =/\=No radiation, no pressure difference and no toxins.=/\=
“Keep scanning. Young out.”
He put his radio back on his belt and turned the next corner. That was when he spotted it. An metal ball about the size of a soccer ball. It was attached to the bulkhead by means of a magnet. Young slowly approach the device, but it did not explode. He studied it and realized that it was a thermobaric bomb. ~Bloody hell.~ He grabbed his radio again. They needed a plan to deal with these things and they needed it now. Or this was not going to end well.
(Destiny – Corridor - 02.27.2020, 1052)
Fc-83-H had barely survived his encounter with the Ka’Zinro at the fourth fortification. Since then, the enemy had made their way through two more fortifications. Which meant that Fc-83-H and his troops were the last barrier between the enemy and the bridge. He gave the orders to prepare for the attack they all knew was coming. That done, he took his position and readied his weapon.
On the other end of this confrontation, Varro and Ginn had joined Colonel Vale’s force. And they were not alone, having led a team of twelve people to this position. That was the good news. The bad news was that Varro’s group had encountered a sizable Hal’Iry force in one of the cargo bays. They had won the fight, but were now low on ammo. As was Vale’s group. Which was a problem because they were facing forty Hal’Iry troopers.
“What about the residue ?” Varro asked.
“They already burned it away,” Vale said. “And the convertor trick would take too long.”
“Sound like we’re doing this the old fashioned way.”
“Yes,” Vale said with nod.
He removed the clip from the MP-5 he had been using and dropped the weapon. Then he handed the clip to Varro, so that he would have extra bullets for this fight. That done, he gave his Beretta 92F to Ginn. ~The real old-fashioned way.~ Having dropped his projectile weapons, he unsheathed his Gladius. ~One last fight, old girl.~ He gave a hand-signal and the Battle of the Bridge began with a salvo of gunfire.
(Destiny – Cargo Bay on Lowest Deck - 02.27.2020, 1115)
All sixteen High Yield Explosives – the model they had was the Mark-12 – had been placed. The units were fitting with chameleon circuits that would keep them hidden. Once the enemy was in place, they would detonate the bombs and wipe them all out. Of course, they didn’t need to draw all of them in. ~Just enough to tip the balance.~
La-27-A grabbed his radio and ask the lookouts for reports. They told him that the plan was working. It was costing him dozens of people, but the Ka’Zinro soldiers were walking into their trap. ~Speaking of sacrifices…~ He changed the settings and tried to contact Fc-83-H, who was leading the defense of the bridge. All he got was static. That was when Zo-12-N approached him.
“The transmitter is set up, Supreme Commander,” He said. “All we need is your order, sir.”
“Very well, Filler.”
La-27-A made his way to the transmitter that controlled the bombs. He entered his clearance code and smiled as the device accepted it. He ordered his lookouts to retreat. Then he pressed the big red button and ended The Battle For Prime.
(USS Prometheus – Bridge - 02.27.2020, 1118)
Robert Mackenzie watched in horror as the Hal’Iry thermobaric bombs exploded. Then he watched as the dots that represented life-signs aboard Destiny began to blink out. They vanished in lumps as the bombs did their horrible work. It took a couple of deep breaths, before he remember that these were Hal’Iry soldiers, not their own people being vaporized. ~Thank heaven for complaining New Asurans.~
Because when the New Asurans had been given two weeks to upgrade Destiny, their first complaint had been that the ship lacked teleporters. ~How can you have a starship without teleporters !?~ Claus had complained. ~Even Enterprise NX-01 had a teleporter ! True, it was cruel and everybody was terrified of it. But still.~ So the first thing they had installed was Asgard Beaming Technology.
And it was this technology that had carried the day. The reason the bombs had been visible, was because Leptons were rare. So the Hal’Iry had not made their technology Lepton proof. And when the Hal’Iry had activated the devices, their chameleon circuits had short circuited after a couple of seconds. That was why Colonel Young had found the first bomb. Rush had then used the internal sensors to locate them all. Then – at the last second – they had been beamed into the Hal’Iry’s location.
Which had been the end of the main Hal’Iry force. But there was the issue of retaking the bridge. ~Over to you, Marc.~ Now, they had to wait for the outcome to come through.
(Destiny – Bridge - 02.27.2020, 1120)
The Hal’Iry officer was dead. Really, really dead. They had managed to take out a considerable chunk of the Hal’Iry forces before they had run out of ammo and grenades. At the same time, Vale had cut through several enemy troopers with his sword. Which Varro had thought was really impressive. The officer had been the last to go down. He had fought Vale with a pipe, but the former centurion had ended up on top. Then a massive explosion had ripped through the ship as the thermobaric bombs had exploded.
Vale’s team had just finished restoring the bridge to normal. The explosion had done major damage to underside of Destiny. ~This is going to take forever to repair.~ Vale thought. Then he grabbed his radio to tell Colonel Young that the Battle for Destiny was over.
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