Tacitus stood at the bridge of the U.S.S. Amber Clad, overlooking his bridge crew. All was well as preparations were made for launch. The Amber Clad had been his for four years now, and he knew her well. He put his hands behind his back, a peaceful calm filling the bridge. Then it was shattered as one of the RADAR operators, Lieutenant Keyes, called out to him.
"Sir! We have a massive asteroid orbiting the moon!"
"Captain, command reports that Listening Installation 04 just went dark." Ensign Hood reported.
"Understood. Navigation, once we take off proceede with caution." The Captain ordered.
Then he moved to the Captain's chair, scratching at the black and gray beard stubble on his chin. U.N.I.C. Fleet Command would tell them when to launch. Tacitus knew that they would wait until all ships were fully supplied and fuelled. Ensign Hood would tell him when command contacted them.
Minutes later, the order was given. The crew buckled their safety belts, each one sitting down. Tacitus pressed the intercom button.
"All hands, report to the nearest seating immediately. We take off in T-minus five."
Then he strapped himself into his chair, bracing himself for the GeForce he was about to experience. The ship's shutters closed and a HUD appeared for navigation. Then Tacitus was pressed into his chair as the engines lifted the ship off of the ground. In minutes they were miles off of the ground. Their suits and uniforms kept them from being crushed by the force, thankfully.
The shutters opened as the fleet reached orbit. In the distance, next to the moon, the Captain saw something moving.
"Sanchez, enhance on that moving object and analyze."
As a part of the HUD activated and zoomed in, the form of a ship appeared. It was an unknown classification, and it was then thousand kilometers long, dwarfing the battleships that Taffy-3 fielded. Then the ship disappeared from the screen. Tacitus stood up, looking around the bridge. Everyone was just as concerned as he was.
"Set the ship to yellow alert. Get all hands to their stations and tell the marines to arm themselves." He ordered.
The ship's lights turned yellow, with a slow alarm blaring. Then Lieutenant Commander Evans spoke.
"Captain, look! Three unknown ships approaching at twelve o'clock!'
"Ten kilometers and advancing!" Another Ensign called.
"Sir, something's coming through coms... It's not in any known language."
"Play it." Tacitus ordered.
A display appeared above the bridge's holotable. A strange bipedal reptilian creature was staring menacingly into the screen. It spoke in a gutteral, warbled voice.
"Üerğ ṅürwařyu eru xylo ëmœrpuřër."
Then it disappeared. Before anyone could react, the largest alien ship fired a dark beam at the HMS Hood. The Hood, even with its shielding and thick armor, was split in half. Tacitus watched in horror as one of Taffy-3's most powerful ship was destroyed by a single attack. The Hood's bow was propelled forward as the stern began to sink back to Earth.
"Put the ship at red alert! Tactical, aim your guns at the nearest hostile ship! Helm, move to defend the transports!" He ordered.
"Sir, hostile fighters inbound!"
"Deploy our fighter wing! We can't let the transports be destroyed." Tacitus said.
Through the window he saw the remaining battleship, the Montgomery, move to shield the transports. The Montgomery fired a full broadside at one of the smaller alien ships. It didn't even scratch the ship's shields.
"They either have better shields than we do or better weapons." Tacitus said.
Then a figure appeared above the holotable. It was the shipboard A.I., Roland. He stood over an overhead view of the battle, walking around it.
"Sir, the fleet will not survive this battle if we attempt to slug it out. Our best course of action would be to warp a small distance away. Perhaps above Mars." The A.I. advised.
"Thank you, Roland. But our warp drives aren't ready yet. They're still gathering energy."
The A.I. nodded, continuing to observe the battle. From the window, Captain Killgore saw several ships arrive from below. From what he could tell, there were three Japanese destroyers, two British destroyers, and four American destroyers.
"USS Johnston reporting in."
"USS Samuel B. Roberts, reporting in."
"USS Earnest E. Evans, reporting in."
"USS Copeland, reporting in."
"JDFN Yukikaze, reporting in."
"JDFN Kamikaze, reporting in."
"JDFN Fubuki, reporting in."
"HMS Glowworm, reporting in."
"HMS Li Wo, reporting in."
The small vessels weaved in-between larger ships, offering anti-air support and dodging fire from the alien ships. Tacitus would have normally been relieved to see the reinforcements, but he knew that they would not survive this battle. And he was already right. Fubuki and Kamikaze were already floating wrecks, hit by several energy beams from the enemy.
Tacitus set his jaw. They had to hold out until the warp drive charged. He was about to ask what the situation on the transports was like when an Ensign spoke up.
"Sir, we've been boarded!"
"Alert the Marines. Security teams will be inbound to the bridge soon enough." Tacitus replied, making his way to his suite. The Captain's cabin was positioned right next to the bridge. He entered the room, then went to his nightstand and grabbed his non-standard issue gunbelt and pistol.
He put the gunbelt on, then placed the pistol inside of it. Finally, he returned to his post, watching as the main battery fired at a nearby ship. Then there was the sound of gunfire outside of the bridge. They're here already? He thought. After a few moments, the gunfire stopped.
Roland displayed the security camera footage from outside of the door to the bridge. It was being forced open by one of the lizard aliens, and there were several smaller, feline aliens. Tacitus drew his pistol and chambered around as the two security personnel on permanent guard duty raised their rifles.
The door was opened, and Tacitus was immediately lifted off of the floor by the lizard alien. It deployed some kind of sword, preparing to stab him. At the last second, he fired at the alien's shoulder, causing it to miss ever so slightly and slice his arm. Then it dropped him. Confused, the Captain got up from the ground.
A Drengr in Leonidas Mark IV armor had grabbed the alien from behind, lifting it into the air. Then the Drengr threw it into the hallway before charging it as the door closed behind the pair. Captain Killgore let out a sigh of relief.