Gratuitous Space Battle

In orbit of the planet Sneed, spaceships were firing weapons at each other. From a safe distance, to the unattached observer, it was a strange and wonderful sight. There were clouds of sparkling missiles and drones; some dancing around as they attempted to intercept each other, some forming starburst formations in order to strike their target from as many different directions as possible. There were strobing lights; massive impact-flashes and brilliant jets of molten material were evidence of powerful energy weapons being brought to bear. A sparse nebula of swirling, superheated particles now filled a large volume of space. Somewhere in the middle of it all where the space vessels themselves. And onboard these were fragile organic lifeforms, using the most convoluted means imaginable to maim and kill each other.

After a narrow escape at Navigation Point H/C:D, Exploration Fleet #1 had naturally returned to Sneed. It was not their intention to endanger their new trade partners but, somehow, they had been followed though the void. The jamming signals from Sneed had only disrupted the attackers for a little while. The fleet was newly armed with a mix of Snuddian and Satellian weapons, and it had taken the opportunity to disable as many enemy ships as it could. Directing deadly fire on other intelligent beings, watching their ships burn up and explode, was an uncomfortable experience. There was no warrior-spirit among the Satellians. They had a healthy instinct for self-preservation, but the situation was almost too surreal to engage it. This was a grim game of logic, probability and physics, and it soon turned against them.

Engineer Ship #1/4 had been the first victim of the remaining Geskani vessels. Evidently the aliens had suspected that jamming equipment was hidden amongst its forest of mechanical arms. The great ship was actually packed with reaction fuel and nuclear explosive charges - not to mention anti-matter containment pods. It quickly vaporized under their concentrated fire. That blazing nebula and the constellation of secondary explosions had burned out most of the fleet's sensors. There was only a brief pause to the battle, however; the Geskani were determined warriors, and contrary to the first assessment, it seemed their smaller craft were the most lethal. The ships of Fleet #1 began to meet their fate one way or another. Many chose a suicidal dive towards Sneed, hoping that Geskani would not pursue, thus giving plenty of time for the crews to escape. This was not quite the case.

Exploration Ship #6/4 was now burning up in planet Sneed's atmosphere, coming in sideways for the moment. It looked like a fiery flying creature from ancient legend, with outstretched wings and a long a tail of red and orange sparklers. Geskani weapons continued to chase after it. The Fleet Captain watched as it seemed to morph shape, becoming more like a hot red sphere, before finally breaking up into pieces. Evidently the crew had been thoughtful enough to eject any remaining anti-matter pods into high orbit, else they would have detonated by now. The central disk and attached stumps of engines were still doing a good job of resisting the immense friction as they tumbled towards Sneed. Smaller sparkles of light hinted at some rescue-capsules making a late exit. The scene was then obscured from sight by a passing cloud of red-hot metallic debris.

'They were good ships...'

Fleet Captain Murnnai Huillun was alone, strapped in tight to the bridge of Exploration Ship #2/4, surrounded by flashing computer consoles. The rest of the crew had elected to abandon ship by any means. Most likely, some had died in the process. Large parts of the ship were already missing. The ship's automated weapon turrets continued to fire defiantly at the nearest Geskani vessels, as indicated by a regular flickering of the computer consoles. There really wasn't much for him to at this point, except to reflect. He alone had met the aliens up close; he felt responsible for the whole scenario - something he could have said or done to avert this? One cannot control the minds of others was the old saying that entered his head. It didn't help all that much.

A friendly buzz interrupted the gloomy background orchestra of warning-sounds. It was a message from Exploration Ship #3/4 - the only other ship still firing; these two ships had drawn up close to each other, communicating via a secure laser link. He was somewhat surprised that a visual was still working. It revealed two occupants of the other bridge. One of these had somehow been impaled on a piece of spiky debris and was leaking viscous body fluids; he or she was understandably unenergetic. The other was the ship's Captain, a feisty female, good friend and potential mating partner by the name of Junnjinn - one of those names that was deliberately hard to pronounce. She was lively as ever. At times like these she always filtered out everything but the excitement, so it seemed to Murnnai. Borderline insanity had its advantages.

'Fleet Captain!'

'Friend... I think our options are limited... We're not causing enough damage anymore...'

'I concur, but #5/4 and #11/4 are making their dive now... Crippled... Dozens of people still onboard... They could use a diversion...'

'Ah... We make a most ridiculous and reckless attack manoeuvre?'

'Well... Anything about being here that is not reckless?

'Ahah... Right then... Full thrust towards the hostile centre.'

'Concur!'

Full thrust was a little too optimistic, nonetheless the engines found a little extra motivation from somewhere. Some of the computer consoles had been loosened by all the vibration; the increased acceleration sent them crashing to the 'floor' of the bridge. One of the remaining screens showed that the Geskani were still chasing after #5/4 and #11/4, either that or the scan was no longer updating.

'Friend... Concentrate weapons to the rear, I fear we're not making enough nuisance of ourselves.'

'Already doing that... Keep up, will you?'

The Geskani vessels finally broke off from following the other Satellian ships, which were now fiery lumps of metal falling towards Sneed. The Geskani had a final pair of Satellian ships to deal with. They were in a position to encircle their prey; Fleet Captain Murnnai imagined how a predatory brain might be enthused by all this.

'Hmm... What will happen to the Snud, do you think?'

'Maybe nothing... Maybe bad things... Blockade, bombardment...'

One of the small Geskani ships chasing them from behind suddenly began streaking hot vapour. Within moments, it seemed to explode into a brilliant white sphere, ringed by an expanding halo of small stars. A 'lucky' hit? Murnnai felt a strange sense of... satisfaction. But it only lasted a moment. There was a sudden cluster of impacts on #2/4, shockwaves ringing the hull like a bell. Some of the warning-sounds suddenly fell silent, which was even more alarming. Murnnai noted that his remaining weapon modules had either been disabled or had ceased to exist. He reached for the comm system again.

'You still there? Weapon-disabled here...'

One screen still showed the bridge of #3/4. A splash of blood obscured part of the image - Junnjinn's wounded comrade was now unconscious one way or another. Her own limbs were just about visible, working furiously on one of the consoles.

'Here... Options limited... Suggest synchronous anti-matter detonation at closest approach...'

'Ahh... Not like you to think along those lines, friend... For the distinction?'

'For the Kudos!'

Another alarm sounded. The link went fuzzy. He watched through a separate viewscreen as #3/4 took another salvo of hits. Exotic alien devices were vaporising large sections of the hull, leaving glowing craters behind. The ships were built to withstand fast collisions with space junk and other ships - in fact #3/4 had been considered rather over-engineered, with extra-thick layers of heavy metal alloys. It was not enough. Within seconds only the most heavily armoured modules were left, attached to the glowing bare bones of the ship's structural spines. It was a sickening sight for Murnnai.

But a suicide attack... It made sense. By chance, #2/4 and #3/4 both had extra reserves of anti-matter onboard. It might be enough to do some damage. And with their vector taking them away from Sneed and into the path of concentrated alien firepower, options for escape were already slim-to-none. Survival would have been nice, but he would settle for the next best option, and a chance to reduce the danger they had brought upon the Snuddians.

'Friend... If you can hear me... Configuring detonation as soon as all four remaining targets are in range...'

It was all set. There was some doubt about the actual blast effects, but he didn't have time to revise calculations. He was focused on getting as much out of the engines as possible, checking that the ship's computer had the right solution. Speed was critical now, reducing the time available for the Geskani to destroy them prematurely.

Another wave of impact struck #2/4. Apparently one of the engines had now been torn off, while another had been torn open. Within moments an uncomfortable rotation began to set in. Murnnai had to reduce main thrust to prevent the ship spinning itself into pieces. The accumulated velocity would have to suffice. He sprung forward violently in his seat; various bits of electronic gear were sent flying around the bridge, narrowly missing him. He was left nauseous and dazed; his mind working too fast. It was actually a relief to find that the main computer consoles had gone dead. One small auxiliary screen was stuck in loop, displaying the last accessed function - the detonation trigger, a countdown to oblivion. By this time the background warning-sounds had given up any pretence of urgency, reduced to a kind of strange electronic whimpering.

He tried to conjure up some kind of heroic imagery. It didn't work. He felt like a mad-person being dragged to his place of execution; his world consumed with violence and turmoil, his depraved consciousness committed to cruel deeds of destruction, waiting for the merciful enlightenment of death, and so on.

Belatedly, he found himself thinking about his crewmembers. How many life-years had this battle claimed? Thousands, to be sure. The fleet had set off with many multi-centenarians onboard; several were older than his mere 361 years.

The bridge was dark now, he had no visuals. If he could have seen outside, he would have seen two Satellian ships ploughing through space like comets, venting atmosphere and drive-coolant, trailing huge clouds of gas and debris, their partially-obscured hulls strobing, pulsing and buckling with unending hits from alien weapons, charged particles spiralling and dancing in powerful EM turbulence.

Two seconds before detonation, the bridge of #2/4 took a direct hit. Fleet Captain Murnnai had a final moment of burning, numbness, cold, and darkness, before ascending into white light.

Captain Junnjinn was barely conscious. Time seemed to be slowing to a crawl. Her engines had been blasted off. Her bridge was partly filled with thick globules of coolant fluid mixed with blood, pulsating and hanging in mid-air, sparkling with reflections of warning lights. It was pretty. Some electronics were still functioning - the ship wished to notify her of a sudden but slight deceleration, which was in fact due to the radiation-pressure from a massive explosion ahead. She didn't care. She had suddenly lost enthusiasm for all this space-adventuring business. She suddenly remembered all the things she still wanted to do before she left this life. She used her last few nanoseconds to formulate a final thought:

'What a f**king mess.'

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