Dillon shifted uncomfortably as the ship continued to head towards them, refusing to respond to their challenge. His discomfort turned to straight-up alarm as the large cannons swiveled, aiming at their ship.
"Prepare for battle!" Ruthin screamed, smacking a red button beside his command post.
Immediately, alarms blared, and the ship roused to action. Soldiers ran about, and lights flashed sharply. Dillon clutched his military-issue semi-automatic rifle. Although it was nothing compared to psionic weapons, technology had advanced it far beyond the days when it had been invented on Earth.
Red lights appeared on the display at the foreign vessel and streaked towards the Invoker. "Prepare for impact!" Ruthin called.
Dillon grabbed hold of a nearby railing, which had been positioned around the entire ship for similar situations. The invoker began evasive maneuvers, but the incredibly large starship handled awkwardly against their smaller assailant. By the time they managed to turn and face the incoming ship, the first wave of the bombardment had arrived.
Red light lit up the viewport as the projectiles smashed into the psionic shield. Although the energy blasts and explosions seemed intimidating, not so much as a tremor reached the actual ship itself. Dillon whistled. That attack was enough to level a major city, yet they remained unharmed.
"Returning fire!" a soldier called.
Commander Ruthin nodded. "Engage with lethal force. Launch fighters when they reach the perimeter.
The bridge spun into action once more. Soon, their cannons returned fire, sending energy blasts toward the distant ship. Try as he might, Dillon found himself unable to see the attackers through the viewport. In space, battles occurred over tens, if not hundreds of miles.
For several minutes, the two ships traded fire, yet none gained the advantage. Long-range attacks did little against the cutting-edge force fields which protected them. Finally, the ship came into view.
"They've breached the perimeter!" A soldier cried.
"Launch attack. Send bomber teams 2 and 3, with escorts 7 and 8." Ruthis promptly ordered.
Less than a minute later, over 30 light spacecraft left the spaceports of the Invoker, striking at the incoming ship under the suppressive fire of their heavy artillery. Dillon watched enviously as the pilots maneuver their ships in their evasive maneuvers, skillfully dodging the psionic bombardment of both sides. He had always wanted to be a starship fighter pilot but hadn't managed to pass the physical test. A childhood injury prevented him from doing much but grunt work.
In the corner of the holographic display, a face appeared, relaying a message onto the bridge. "This is Lieutenant Smith, escort 7. Contact in one minute."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Beware of potential counterattacks and retaliation. We can't have the first battle of the Invoker end in defeat," the commander reminded, a faint smile flickering across his lips.
"Roger that, commander."
The next minute passed slowly, filled with the intense, ongoing onslaught of long-distance weaponry. Dillon waited anxiously, gripping his weapon with white knuckles. Most in the military, including himself, had never seen any form of combat before. The tension increased, especially as the two titanic space crafts continued to head towards each other.
"Who could they be?" Dillon muttered, unable to see any form of identification on the hull of the enemy ship. "Could it be Earth?"
Ruthin glanced at him sharply, and Dillon cringed. He hadn't meant to say that aloud. Yet, for some reason, the expected reprimand never came. Instead, the commander simply returned his attention to the battle.
Dillon shook his head. There was no way it was them. They hadn't had conflict in so long. The unity of the Alliance guaranteed that. But it's not like battleships grew on trees, especially one of that size, Doubt grew in his mind, and, judging from the faces of the others on the bridge, it was in theirs as well.
"Bombers engaging," Lieutenant Smith spoke, face appearing on the display once more. Meeting marginal resistance from ship to fighter defenses. No fighters deployed."
"Somethings wrong," Ruthin scowled. "They wouldn't attack without a plan, especially considering we far outmatch their power."
Suddenly, the holographic map changed, and three more cruisers appeared, dropping out of Hyperspace all around them. Immediately, they opened fire and poured energy blasts onto the Invoker's shields in a never-ending torrent.
"Ambush!" Ruthin shouted.
Dillon shook as the Commander began to shout orders. Immediately, the ship began to move once more, this time in a much more defensive maneuver. The shields still held, but small tremors began to strike at the Invoker. Dillon gulped. This wasn't the job he had signed up for. Wasn't the military more of a deterrent than an actual fighting force?
Two of the starships were of similar size and class as the Invoker, but the third was on an entirely different level. Its total length likely spanned an entire mile, meaning it had reached the threshold of the destroyer class, the epitome of military-class warships. Two massive cannons, each a hundred feet long, rested atop the destroyer, aimed ominously at the Invoker.
"The Eagle!" Commander Ruthin said bitterly.
The bridge fell silent. There was no more recognizable ship than the Eagle, after all. A symbol of peace, or so Terra called it. It had protected humanity from pirates and served as a deterrent against all manner of foes for almost ten years. It had even visited Titan once, the crown jewel of a military parade. Now, however, it had turned those famous guns on them.
Before they had time to react, a massive shockwave blasted out through space as the twin cannons fired. Two lines of crimson light pierced towards them, drawing ribbons of light behind them. They seemed to split space apart, bringing the fury of a sun with them. The Invoker shuddered as the psionic projectiles struck the shields. Immeasurable cracks webbed around the force field, growing by the second. If that shield broke… not even the bridge, reinforced more than any part of the ship, would survive in one piece.
"May God help us all," an officer prayed as the light show came to an end.
Silence reigned on the bridge and even the frantic resistance the crew had shown before was gone. Fighters swarmed out of the Eagle, as well as its sister ships, and descended upon the Invoker in droves.
Although the Invoker's defenses were formidable, the sheer number of assailants broke through the efforts of the soldiers' last stand and struck at the weakened shield. Dillon shivered in fear as the force field shattered, buried under the countless blasts and missiles which exploded upon it.
He closed his eyes, ready for the strafing fire to blow through the reinforced viewports in a sea of flame, but it never came.
"They've withdrawn," Ruthin said in disbelief. "Was it only a show of force?"
"Commander, we've been flanked! Ships appeared behind us. What's going on out there? We can't hold long without supp…. Bzzzt" Lieutenant Smith signed out with a scream, and the transmission cut off abruptly.
"Smith!" Ruthin slammed his hand against his armrest. He turned to the officer in charge of the strike force. "Order a retreat immediately. Lay down a cover fire!'
As things spun into motion once more, a new transmission appeared. It was from the Eagle. Commander Ruthin took a deep breath, then signaled for the call to be displayed. A new window appeared, overlaying the place Smith's face had just disappeared from.
"Greetings, Commander," a stranger appeared, smiling.
"Admiral Norice. What is the meaning of this? Withdraw at once!" Ruthin forced out through clenched teeth.
Admiral Norice's smile widened, and a strange spark of glee leaped about in dark eyes. "Whatever do you mean? We received word some space pirates had been unusually active around these parts, so we've come to drive the pests out. At least, that's how the good people of Earth understand it."
"I couldn't care less about your poorly spun. What are the conditions for our surrender?" Ruthin asked helplessly.
"Ah, a straightforward man. Probably no head for politics, either. No wonder you were assigned the job of patrolling this far in the middle of the boondocks. As for conditions? We're not interested in prisoners. I have enough mouths to feed, as is," Norice said lazily, commenting on the weather.
"How dare you! This will mean war! There are hundreds of innocent men and women aboard this ship. Will you condemn them all?" Ruthin asked furiously.
"This is goodbye, commander. Prepare to be boarded."
Before Ruthin could respond, the transmission was cut short. The room was filled with the stench of fear, undercut with tension. Dillon stared blankly at the display as Earth's ships closed in on them. Their fighter squadrons had already been eliminated, leaving them defenseless against incoming boarding ships.
Over thirty ships appeared around the Invoker, flying out from the various warships surrounding them. Although their cannons blasted many of them before they reached the ship, impacts sounded from all over the exterior armor, echoing through their ship and filling the soldiers within with a cruel sense of dread. The armor-penetrating devices on the front of each of the ships began to drill through the steel armor, which averaged several feet in thickness.