Skyfire Avenue

Admiral Brown had sworn off all alcohol until the alien threat was dealt with. He needed a sober mind, it was the only way to fight an overwhelming foe.

He was also responsible for the ship until its commander arrived. He’d received news a few days ago that the His Majesty the Terminator was locked away in seclusion. Once he exited his hermitage stronger, he would come to take personal command of the Bastion.

He’d careful gone over all the data recovered from the battle of the Starfields, where Tyrannosaurus, Heron and Arachnid were defeated at the hands of the alien worlds. He understood his foe well. Not only were they strong, they were legion, and some were frighteningly powerful by their own right. Tyrannosaurus’ Admiral had almost been cut down by just one of them.

Luckily Paragons from Skyfire Avenue had been on board. If they hadn’t, Tyrannosaurus likely would have fallen.

War was on the horizon, it could break out at any moment. The Northern economy was struggling under the weight of that promise. Society was in turmoil. If this problem wasn’t solved soon citizens would start to react negatively.

Admiral Brown sighed and shook his head. He was stuck out here patrolling the borders of the North, looking after two important planets. Luo was under guard by Tyrannosaurus and two other Bastions.

Terminator was a powerful weapon of war. Eventually the threat of its presence would be brought to bear against the alien planets. Whether or not they could handle its strength remained to be seen.

The screech of an alarm suddenly filled the air. An urgent blinking light called the captain’s eyes to the emergency communications line.

“Admiral, we’re getting strange fluctuations of universal energy.”

He felt his heart tense up. Returning to his desk with long strides, he answered back. “Give your report. Where are the fluctuations localized?”

“Around us, sir. We’re surrounded. The fluctuations are strong and are already interfering with our instruments. Requesting permission to engage shields.”

“Get them up,” he replied quickly. “Fifty percent. Prepare to increase speed.”

Terminator-Class Bastion was the largest ship in all of human space. Shielding something that massive required tremendous energy, but these were special circumstances. It was no time to be stingy.

He fired off a series of orders. Terminator’s various ports and landing zones were closed while a white shell sprang up around the ship. Brown’s eyes were fixed on the port window as he gave his commands. His pupils contracted when he saw the enormous purple vortex.

It reminded him of something – an image the Skyfire scout team had recovered months ago. It was when…

“Shields at one hundred percent. Charge the main cannon – all hands to battlestations. Full speed straight up, spare nothing!” The orders came spilling from his mouth in a rapid stream.

He knew the danger they were faced with.

The white shell thickened until Terminator looked like a towering egg. Like Tyrannosaurus, this Bastion was large and circular, constructed to look like a small planet. Its main gun was situation on the bottom, hence why he ordered them to bring the ship over the vortices.

Terminator’s cannon needed time to charge. Even disregarding energy saving procedures it needed at least fifteen minutes. There was always a drawback to power.

As the Bastion rumbled, its pale surface was lit by three orbs of light that appeared around it. Three bloated, purple planets appeared in collapsed pockets of space-time. In the center of each world was a whirlpool that pulled at its surroundings.

Lauded as humanity’s greatest technological accomplishment, Terminator still had its limits. It didn’t have the energy or thrust necessary to free itself from the tug of three planets larger than itself.

“The alien planets!” Admiral Brown felt an icy hand grip his heart. He hadn’t expected the war to start like this, with the enemy appearing en mass before his very eyes.

“All guns, open fire!” He roared.

Terminator struggled mightily against the pull of the planets, but couldn’t get high enough to position its cannon. But that didn’t leave the mighty ship helpless. Countless beams of light erupted from the Bastion’s surface as its rail guns let loose. Its smooth surface became a spiked world of flaring weaponry.

The planets responded, reaching out for Terminator with tentacles the size of mountains. Several were shot away by the railgun, but still others landed staggering blows on Terminator’s shields. It blazed with rebounding white light.

It seems, in contrast to their trickery and planning ith Tyrannosaurus, the planets were opting for a full assault against Terminator.

“Admiral, shields at sixty percent.”

“… forty-five percent…”

“… thirty-five percent… “

The tentacles were mighty, and each suction disk stripped a portion of the Bastion’s shields. Terminator was caught in a terrible web and the more it struggled the more tangled it became.

It’s over…

Admiral Brown delivered his orders mechanically, but he knew Terminator had already fallen. They had no reinforcements, and no way to flee. They couldn’t use their main cannon to blast a path. Stern resignation hardened the Admiral’s eyes.