Trojian Horse

47

The sky suddenly became a dazzling display of bright lights as dracien and Vulpeculae fighter ships exchanged fire. It looked for a while like there would be a contest but that feeling did not prevail for long. Reeger’s armada was decimating the Vulpeculae fighter ships just as Hethios suspected would happen. They expected this but they would continue to fight until there wasn’t a drop of their blood left to shed in the cause. Dracien fighter ships were whizzing around everywhere destroying everything in their path then flying back to unload yet more firepower on the damaged Vulpeculae ships to ensure there were no survivors. It was fortunate for them that the galactic cruisers were still grounded otherwise this would have been over long before they could land a strong enough punch.

The worry was evident on Hethios face and when he looked back, he could see the same worry etched on the Queen’s face as well. They had inflicted some damage to Reeger’s fleet but they still needed to do much more to improve their chances. It looked to him that they had arrived just in time just as Reeger’s ship, the command ship, was beginning to take off. They landed some heavy blows on the Dracien command ship and though they weren’t enough to ground the ship, it seemed Reeger’s ship aborted the take-off. From the edge of the forest poured Vulpeculae fighters that began an attack on Reeger’s ship as well as the other dracien galactic cruisers to lure the soldiers out. Moments later Dracien soldiers poured out of the galactic cruisers’ hangars onto the bank to meet the Vulpeculae ground troops. They had been successful in at least ensuring the galactic cruisers remained grounded. To even the odds they would have to at least destroy four of the galactic cruisers before they could begin to press their advantage.

“Roue, are you in position?” Hethios asked over the intercom.

“Almost, need to clear a path through these fighters.”

“You know what to do right?”

“Yes, we’ve been through this already. This isn’t my first time blowing up a galactic cruiser. Now that they’re grounded its easy, just watch. Have to go. Taking fire.”

“Roue? Roue?”

The line went dead for a few moments.

“That’s been dealt with. Going in for the attack,” Roue announced.

Moments later there was an enormous explosion as one of the galactic cruisers burst into a colourful blaze.

“Going in for the next round,” Roue said.

They waited anxiously in the command centre. So far the plan was working and as long as they could keep Reeger distracted the chances of victory were growing more favourable with each passing moment. Just as he had hoped another galactic cruiser went up in a blaze. Many of the dracien were unsure what was happening which resulted in a lot of confusion. They soon realised that they had to protect the remaining galactic cruisers then Roue found it more difficult to have free shots at their ships. More Dracien poured out of the ships onto the bank in anticipation of another blaze. Soon there were only four ships left but just as they seemed ready to race into a quick victory the tide turned. They were soon being forced to retreat slowly but surely.

“I can’t get anywhere near the ships now,” Roue said over the intercom.

“You need to get in there,” Hethios said. “The Rogue is the only ship with the weaponry capable of destroying their grounded fighters.”

“I know! But I can’t get anywhere near them. We need to pull back a little otherwise we’ll be overrun and you’ll be exposed.”

“Do what you must Roue,” Hethios said. There were explosions everywhere now, many being their own fighter ships. “Unit 6, flank them on the right. Concentrate fire on the command ship. Be careful of their cover fire, bank to the --”

The unit was gone. Static remained over the intercom. He looked outside the window to see the burning ships of the unit hurtling toward the ground.

“Ground teams report,” Hethios asked. He was hoping that somewhere something was going right.

“Their infantry is heavily armed. Estimate three maybe four thousand. They’re heavily outnumbered. I think I see...it’s Reeger, he’s down there!” Commander Garey shouted through the intercom.

“Take down as many as you can,” Hethios said. Turning to one of the operators he asked for the remaining ground troops to be sent onto the bank. He looked down to see the ground troops pouring out of the forest onto the bank which was now covered with a swelling mass of bodies. “Roue, try what you can to even the odds on the ground.”

“I’ll do what I can. I got’a tell you though that I’m out of the plasma missiles so if we’re taking down any ships it’s gonna be the hard way,” Roue replied.

Hethios saw the Rogue flipping several times through the melee of fighters as the ship flew down toward the bank then pulled up at the last minute when they began blasting through the Dracien bodies that seemed to endlessly pour out of the galactic cruisers.

“There’s too many on my tail, I have to get out of here,” Roue said after some silence.

“Okay, come and get me,” Hethios said. “Meet me on the upper deck launch pad. Signal when you arrive. I’ll lay some cover fire.”

“What? Are you serious?” the Queen asked. She was unable to hide her disapproval. “Why are you leaving me?”

“My Queen, I have to get down there. There is still time for --”

“I’m not going anywhere!” she said. “Go if you must.”

Hethios nodded.

“Got it. I’m on my way,” Roue said after precisely the right amount of silence as if he had been privy to their conversation.

Hethios went over to the Queen and held her hands in his for a second before dashing out of the room. He ran up the winding corridors until he made it onto the upper deck. The Rogue was making an approach and he knew he would have only moments in which to board the ship. A gust of wind followed the Rogue as it slowed and hovered above Hethios who leapt through an open hatch into the ship.

“Get me down there Roue. Quickly. Give me a laser gun. Your most powerful one.”

Hethios pointed toward the bank indicating to Roue where he wanted to go.

“I’m not giving you my paccer but you can have one of these,” Roue said handing him a weapon. “Are you sure about this?”

“I am. Now get me down there Roue.”

The ship zipped towards the bank.

“I’ll put you in the forest right next to the bank. We won’t have much time.”

“I understand. I only need a moment,” Hethios replied. He went to position himself at the hatch he had leapt through only moments earlier.

Roue found an open patch to hover over as Hethios disembarked from the ship. Hethios jumped down onto the soft, moist ground and ran towards the sound of fighting in the distance his laser gun at the ready. There were screams, moans, the clashing of swords and the sounds of laser guns going off. This was what war sounded like. He gave the gun in his hand a quick inspection before flicking the safety switch off and running into the melee of bodies firing at any Dracien bodies in his way.