Rigel Rising

Stage 6- Panther's Gambit

"Heat source approaching! Direction 6,6,6! Impact in five seconds! Hella, firing all its main beam guns!"

I gasped when I heard Mariana reported it in panic, and I immediately get Drew to action, "Port maximum thrust! Evade!"

The navigation officer quickly followed my orders and tried to get our ship out of harm's way, but we dodged too late.

We are hit by a single salvo that made the ship rock dangerously.

"Modular armor hit! Overall hull integrity at less than ninety percent! Commencing automatic tungsten repair and replacement!" Trey reported as he began to fix our armor.

"Prepare the Oncilla Surface-to-Ship Missile Launcher! Swarm mode! Retract the Felis and bring out the Rufus one and two! Target: Hella!"

I looked down at Candice, who glanced at me quietly as if asking if I've got a better plan than returning fire, "Very well! I will leave the targeting to you and Cailee. If we are going with a physical barrage, activate the Anti-Beam Water Cannons! We may be outgunned, but their best and most dangerous weapons are their beam batteries!"

"Roger! Retracting the Felis, preparing Oncilla vertical launchers. Rufus one and two loaded and ready. Water cannons begin simultaneous burst!" Cailee ordered, and everything was done almost immediately, "Captain?"

I nodded and took a deep breath, "Oncilla and Rufus one and two, target Hella! Beware of the Baal! All guns, begin volley!"

"Begin volley!" Candice screamed, and the vertical missile launchers put up an impressive show as they launched swarms upon swarms of missiles at the enemy ship blocking our path while the Rufus that I have been maintaining for so long showed me how strong it is.

It fired a continuous salvo of electromagnetic ammunition, and together with the Oncilla, it overwhelmed the defensive systems and hull of the Hella in a few seconds of relentless barrage until...

"Hella down! I repeat! Imperial Destroyer Hela-Class down! We did it!"

We rejoiced when the destroyer exploded in front of us, but our celebration is cut short when Mariana detected something.

"Baal firing all its available weapon at us! Multiple heat sources detected at 3,4,2! Impact in six seconds! Missile launches confirmed! Incoming beam barrage in the same direction! Impact in ten seconds!"

"Forget the beam guns! It won't punch through our water defense! Activate Ocelot Surface-to-Air Missile Launchers and the Caracal Close-In Weapons Systems! Don't let a single missile hit us! Right roll, ten degrees, starboard thirty, get to it, Drew! Evasive maneuvers!"

"Right roll, ten degrees, starboard thirty, aye-aye!" he replied, and the Rigel quickly moved as he willed it.

As expected, the green beam guns of the Baal, even from a battleship class artillery platform, didn't manage to puncture through the moisturized air bubble we created around the ship.

Beam cannons are powerful, nigh-impossible to defend against cutting-edge weapons that can easily puncture through and hull armor.

But it has one glaring weakness.

Beam particles cannot puncture through liquid or moisture.

Now I am beginning to understand why the heck the original designer of Rigel peppered its hull with countless water cannons.

Even in space, once we discharged water, it will immediately vaporize since no air pressure will cool it down.

An effective defense against the empire's beam-focused weaponry with a disadvantage of us not being able to use our own beam guns.

Even their close-in weapons systems are made with beam weaponry. Talk about showing off how wealthy they are if they can manufacture beam weapons quickly like that by the bulk.

That's the reason why even their technology in ship construction is way behind the kingdom, they can just shove beam guns even at their most decrepit and old vessels, and it will automatically pose a threat as long as they can power it.

However, Reginald can't keep up with the manufacturing of beam weapons. Unlike the empire, it doesn't have enough resources to mass-produce them.

We only have a few limestone mines in the kingdom, unlike the countless ones that the empire has inside their massive terrestrial territories.

As it stands, the beam guns installed in the Royal Space Navy's ships are more expensive than the ship themselves.

"Baal closing in! It is planning to ram us!" Mariana screamed as we successfully evaded everything it threw against our ship, "If we don't do anything, it will hit our engines!"

I shook my head defiantly and looked at the aging but bristling with weapon battleship of the empire from the turn of the century, "Not if we destroy it first! All weapons, unload everything you've got at the Baal! Drew, perform combat evasive maneuvers and activate the Clowder boosters! Hurry!"

"You heard the boss! All available weapons target the suicidal ship! Fire at my mark!" Candice screamed as the enemy is slowly gaining at our starboard, "Mark!"

Immediately after my second unleashed a withering barrage that completely engulfed the Baal with countless missiles and projectiles from the Rufus filled it until it exploded in a ball of fire.

Thanks to Drew's masterful evasion and the boosters, we managed to evade the ramming maneuvers, "The empire has so many ships, it can afford to just smack them at the enemy with plenty to spare. No surprise here. Expect such maneuvers in the future and react accordingly!"

"Captain!"

I nodded when they all saluted at my command as I asked Trey to confirm something for me, "You do have the manual control for the gravitational perpetual motion reactor, right?"

"Yes, captain."

"Transfer it to me. I want to see if I can activate it," I ordered, and he quickly followed my commands, and I saw the reactor control panel on my screen, "This is like the Rufus systems. Quite confusing and no direct instructions on how to fix or activate it, eh, Trey?"

He sighed as he finished repairing our modular armor successfully, "Indeed, captain. The engineers below are scratching their heads. Every part of the main reactor is in top condition, yet they still can't activate it. The previous captain wanted to exchange it for a rocket reactor instead once we arrived at the base. More stable and dependable."

"Yes, but the strongest weapons of the Rigel are tied with the existing reactor we have right now. If we can just bring it up online, we will have a better chance of survival."

Candice stretched her arms lazily and looked at the map of Regina Space Colony, "Well, there are no enemy ships within radar range, but I am also sure that we didn't shoot down any cosmo armors. I bet they reported us to their main fleet. So we have two options here. One, to wait for them to come at us or two, we introduced ourselves personally."

"Well, both options lead to certain demise. Maybe we can find a way to sneak past the main fleet quietly," I pondered before looking at Mariana, "Can you do a manual radar scan? I want to know the entirety of their fleet composition before I make my decision."

"Yes, captain! Performing a manual radar scan now! Wait, is this right?"

"What? What did you see, Mariana? Put it on the screen," I ordered, and she complied.

Everyone on the bridge gasped when we saw hundreds upon hundreds of destroyers, frigates, battleships, and carrier-class vessels red radar blips outside the Regina Space Colony.

Even Candice laughed nervously and shook her head as she looked at her sister in disbelief, "That can't be right, right, Cailee?"

"Well, sis, we are talking about the Imperial Space Armada here. That is definitely possible. They are well known for throwing their numbers at any engagements no matter how small it is just to make sure they will succeed," the fire control officer answered grimly as she leaned on her seat weakly, "What do we do now? With that numbers, it doesn't matter if we sneak or run. They will catch us, no questions asked."

I took a deep breath before looking at Mariana seriously, "Connect me to all crew and stations!"

"Accessing communications sequence, connected now!"

"This is Caerus Finis, the random guy you asked to captain this ship. Though we have successfully defeated Baal and Hela imperial ships, it is not enough to ensure our survival. There are hundreds upon hundreds of Imperial Space Armada vessels waiting for us outside this burning colony. Running is futile, and thus, I have decided to fight until the very end. All crew members are thus authorized to use escape pods and look any remaining civilian lifeboats available in Regina. You have ten minutes to do so. Godspeed!"

Drew just look at me in awe, "Captain..."

"That goes the same for all of you. You can leave now if you wish. I am not forcing you to stay just because you volunteered to be bridge crew members. Hurry, if you escape now, you might have a chance to save your lives!"

But Trey laughed out loud and buckled up instead, "I'd rather take my chances aboard a heavily armed ship rather than trust those flimsy lifeboats of theirs. Besides, the empire has a penchant for violating human rights treaties wartime or not, it is not sure if they will not shoot at lifeboats."

"What he said. I'll stay here. How about you, Candice and Cailee?"

"Well, Mariana, my dear, you know the two of us. We'd rather go down screaming and dragging some of those bastards with us to the graves, right sister?"

Cailee nodded in agreement as she secured herself on her seat and began typing quickly again, "True that! Drew?"

"I am the one who forced Caerus on the captain's seat. It would be idiotic if I left him behind. If he plans to die fighting, then so do I. After all, it's my brilliant plan in the first place. I'd rather join him to the very end."

Mariana smiled at him before suddenly looking at her screen, "What the?! Captain, all crew members reported that they will be staying in their positions to the last! Glory to the King!"

"Well, I made my choice, and they decided to place their bet on me. Might as well lose spectacularly," I announced before issuing my orders, "Maximum combat speed! We will be using the opening the imperial ships have used to enter the colony! Activate all available weapon systems! Brace for sudden impact and collisions! Rigel flank speed ahead!"

They all followed my orders as I quietly try to see what the heck is the problem with our reactor.

According to the system, everything is well maintained and in top condition. But we are missing something to activate it.

Think, Caerus.

The solution must be simple enough, like the Rufus'. I wasted six months fiddling around when the reason for its offline status is that the power connectors are flowing in reverse for some odd reasons.

Wait, reverse?

What if instead of trying to drain power from it, why not divert energy instead?

There are power reactors that needed an external source to jumpstart their own systems.

Maybe if I divert some gravitational reserve energy from the boosters, it will work?

A risky gambit.

If it didn't work, I would be wasting precious reserves. If it did, however, we will hit the jackpot.

"By the name of the king..."

I quickly looked up when I heard Drew's weak voice, and I slowly stood up when I saw what is right in front of our ship after we reached the exterior of the Regina Space Colony.

Even in the vastness of the empty space, the sheer numbers of the Imperial Space Armada is a fearsome sight to behold.

Blocking our way is a vast mixed fleet with over a thousand cosmo armors covering it.

Between us is a belt of space debris which I noticed that some are from the destroyed Nebula-Class Assault Carriers of my teammates.

My heart ached in sadness and anger, but before I can even mourn, Mariana spoke in panic, "We are receiving a hail from the universal rescue channel! It's from the enemy flagship!"

"What?! Patch it through!"

"Yes, captain! Patching it through now!"

A man in his early thirties appeared on our screen. He is wearing a high-ranking imperial uniform, and judging by his confident looks, he is the one in charge of this whole operation.

"This is Rau Valker, Rear Admiral of the Emperor's First Fleet of the Imperial Space Armada aboard His Imperial Majesty's Ship, the Gargantua-Class Battlecruiser of the glorious Empire of Nero! To the Royal Space Navy vessel, stand down! You are no match against our might! If you surrender, I can assure your crew's safety as prisoners of war! Refusal to comply with my generous offer will result in you meeting the same fate as your king's precious Nebula-Class ships and their stubborn captains! This is your only warning! Heed it!"

The communications are cut off, and we are left speechless as I cried out loud when I finally knew who the murderer of my friends was.

"Captain..."

"I'm fine, Mariana. Open the same channel they used!"

"Roger that, opening in three, two, one..."

I wiped away my tears and stood up from my seat as I looked at the screen in front of me, "This is Caerus Finis, Captain of His Royal Majesty's Ship, the Rigel-Class Prototype Carrier. We will never bow down to your empire's oppression! Rather, we will fight to the very end and avenge our fallen comrades right here and now! You have three minutes to take your fleet and escape here or face the wrath of the king himself!"

I disconnected the communications angrily and retake a seat as I connect all the Clowders to the gravitational perpetual motion reactor.

"Wow, you just shoved his idiotic offer up his ass, captain," Drew said in amazement as the three girls looked at each other in surprise while I quickly called Trey.

"We all know it's a death sentence anyways to surrender to the empire. Anyways, Trey, I want you to divert all powers of the ship aside from the life support systems to the reactor. If my guess is correct, we just need to jumpstart it with the same gravity energy it is supposed to produce."

But he shook his head quickly, "Wait! If we do that, there's a huge chance we will be sitting ducks here!"

"We are already dead anyway. Might as well try everything rather than regret it. You have your orders, do it!"

He gritted his teeth and nodded, "Yes, captain! Diverting Clowder Gravity Boosters' energy to the gravitational perpetual motion reactor except for the life support systems! Connecting auxiliary chambers and gravity transformers. Connection is successful! Beginning diversion! Estimated time of completion, forty seconds!"

The lights suddenly went off, and the only thing illuminating our bridge is the emergency lights and the lights from our monitors.

"That's too long! Bypass safety features and automated regulators! Just pump it all!"

"Bypassing safety features and automated regulators! Estimated time of completion, ten seconds!" Trey answered as we heard our ship groan dangerously because we are doing something that shouldn't have been done in the first place.

"The imperial fleet is moving all its ships towards us! Cosmo armors preparing for bombing runs! Estimated time of arrival, three, no, two minutes!" Mariana reported as more than a thousand red bleeps on the radar began moving slowly in our direction.

"I wonder if our bluff will work, eh, Cailee?"

"Well, at least we managed to tell them to f**k off. That's a win already in my book, Candice."