Rigel Rising

Stage 10- Kenji

"Engines at maximum, climb ninety degrees! Clowder boosters activate! Drew, evade!"

"On it, Captain!"

"Incoming twenty-four missiles at four o'clock!" Mariana screamed, and I heard Candice take over to give me some time to think about our next move.

"Do a barrel roll, port to starboard! Ocelot, begin interception! Caracals don't let a single missile hit Trey's armor!"

Our helmsman cursed as he spun the controls of the ships, and immediately, the Rigel began a three hundred degrees spin while firing all anti-air missiles and close-in weapon systems that gave it a look like a lithe black cat prancing in space, explosions at its back.

Cailee slammed her control panel in anger as she activated the Felis and Rufus as per her elder sister's orders, "Damn it! I hate it when I am right! This is the worst possible time to hit the jackpot!"

"Shut it, sister, and begin firing until we are satisfied!" Candice shouted as she testily flips her hair, "Hiding using the stars as its camouflage, now that's something I don't expect from the empire. Who the heck is leading them this time?"

"If I am to make a bet, it's that cosmo armor which is currently weaving through our anti-air and fighter defences!" Trey piped in as Mariana yelped loudly.

"Oh my! Incoming cosmo armor at three o'clock! Our defences can't keep a lock-on!"

I looked at the screen, and clearly, an ace level imperial cosmo armor was closing in on us, "You better get that modular armor of yours ready, Trey, because we are about to get hit in the nads! Helm, engage cruising speed. Felis, please target that enterprising fly! Cailee, activate the Ocelot!"

Sure enough, the Veralian cosmo armor launched three missiles, and all of them hit our portside armor critically sufficient to make our maintenance officer swear as loud as he could.

"Damn! Portside armor has been breached! Depressurization in two compartments is confirmed! Beginning automated repair sequence!" Trey reported as Mariana alerted us of the movement of our attacker.

"Imperial cosmo armor breaking away!"

But my executive officer is not having any of it, "Oh no, you don't! Cailee, fire the Felis cannon!"

"On it, sis! Here's a new butthole for you, you bastard!" the younger sister responded irritably, and sure enough, the main beam guns usually used for attacking ships open fired at the cosmo armor that managed to evade getting directly hit but not getting its rear armor punctured giving it a noticeable second hole next to its engines, "Hah! That's payback!"

"Baals open firing all their beam guns!" the communications reported quickly, and I don't have any time for that nonsense.

"Retract the Felis! Anti-beam water cannons create a defensive dome!" Candice and Cailee quickly followed my orders as I looked at the back of Drew, "Can you find any opening?!"

But he shook his head quickly, "Negative! Helas are cordoning us tighter and tighter on the noose! If we don't breakthrough, we will smash into them any moment!"

As if to add to our long lists of unsolvable problems, the ace cosmo armor of the empire didn't learn its lesson and began attacking us earnestly.

"Why is this thing so persistent! Does it want a third hole?!" Candice asked angrily as she unleashed a barrage of missiles at the Helas, blocking our only escape path, "I don't care if we ran out of our missiles, just clear us a path! Oncilla, open fire! Rufus, ward off that pesky fly!"

Mariana suddenly called my attention, "Captain, a friendly cosmo armor suddenly appeared on our radar! It is giving orders at us!"

"What?! What orders?!" I asked in surprise.

"It said, "Hit the maximum combat speed and head straight ahead. I'll take care of that buzzing fly!"

Candice looked at me as she failed to land a single hit with our railguns, "If that is from a friendly, then we better follow its directives. Mariana dear, please put the visuals for the royal cosmo armor on screen."

"On it, Candice. Here it is," she pressed a button in her panel, and true enough, we saw a distinctive cosmo armor bearing the emblem of the kingdom and following the imperial ace like a rabid hound, effectively chasing it away from us.

"Okay, that thing is an ally for sure, but I am still not quite convinced that we should just head straight to our enemies' blockade at maximum combat speed! That's suicidal!"

I would have to agree with Drew with this one as Trey glanced at my direction fearfully as if I was going to trust the newcomer's orders to the letter and endanger us all.

Well, he got it right.

"Maximum combat speed and don't slow down a bit. Rufus and Oncilla put up a barrage, and don't let up!"

"Captain!" our helmsman and maintenance officer shouted in shock, but I just stood my ground.

"That's an order, do it!"

He slammed his foot at the pedal, and we felt the ship groaned as we accelerated to such speed we didn't know was possible.

"Collision imminent!" Mariana screamed as she put her hands over her head, bracing for a supposed impact that I knew would never come.

Drew gritted his teeth as we hurtled towards the ships barring our way, who are now trying to scramble out of our way, and then something happened.

The Baals and Helas' engines cordoning us started to explode one after the other, and they lost control of their ships which in turn lead them to ram at each other, which is almost too painful to watch.

"Hah, shove your own medicine down your imperial throats!"

We all looked at the pilot who appeared on our screens, looking rather pleased with himself.

"The pesky fly is disengaging right now, so you think you can take me in, captain? My ride is damaged in case you haven't noticed yet," he said, and I blinked as Mariana showed the royal cosmo armor, smoking dangerously, "I earned my keep, am I right?"

I nodded in agreement and looked at Trey, who is now busy repairing the damages to our ship, "Tell the maintenance team to clear the launch bay. We have a cosmo armor preparing for an emergency landing."

"On it, captain!"

"So, how do you like my little gift?"

Candice chuckled as Cailee heaved a sigh of relief while Drew slowed our ship because there were no more enemies within our radar range.

"Let me guess, Regeinland Sleeper Explosives?" I asked quietly, and he gave me a double thumbs-up as his cosmo armor slowly neared Rigel's opening launch bay.

"Bingo, captain! I was hanging around this sector for almost a week now after the fall of the Regina Space Colony, and I took the liberty to plant some of those babies in their butts when they suddenly appeared as if waiting for someone out of nowhere," he then furrowed his brow in confusion, "But to be honest, how do they know you will be going in this area anyway?"

My executive officer answered for me, "Because this is where the Argonaut Base is located. By the status on our radar, unscathed surprisingly. If there's anything that survived that c*****e back at the colony, the only place to go is this way."

"Oh, about that, sister, do you smell what I smell?"

Candice nodded at the pilot, who got cleared for an emergency landing.

"If it's the smell of rotting fish, then yes. I do..."

-0-

"To be honest, I never thought there would be another military spacecraft who survived what happened back in the colony," the pilot said matter-of-factly when I finally met him at the empty hangar of Rigel save for the cosmo fighter he brought, "Though I can guess how you all did it. I mean, for more than a week of sitting and doing nothing but intercepting communications, the imperials really are noisy about how they lost their whole First Fleet out there."

I raised an eyebrow at him as we stopped in front of his fighter, "And what did you hear?"

"Well, with the interference, bits, and pieces of information. Some are even too fantastical to believe. I once intercepted a missive saying that it was a tide of destruction; the other was it was all over in seconds. I can just put together bits and pieces, but I can assure you of one clear thing. They are very, very afraid, and to be honest, I am quite uplifted that something in our crumbling, good for nothing royal arsenal is capable of doing some damage enough to make those idiots quake in their boots."

"Well, I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you. There will be no encore. We have fried the circuitries and melted the heatsinks, if I am not mistaken, even the gun barrels."

He winced as he looked around and sighed, "Ouch. You did mention earlier that this is a prototype ship. With the scientists who made this nowhere to be found, there is a slim chance we can fire again. That is why I am really, really, careful with my Ballsgrasper here."

"Excuse me, what?" I asked incredulously, and he chuckled a little and grinned.

"It's my nickname for this baby. Its official name is Royal Transatmospheric Fighter Prototype 001- RTFP-001 Kirov Class. A next-generation experimental craft capable of long-range solo missions and surgical strikes."

I looked at the sleek ship, utterly different from the crude and bulky cosmo fighters of the imperials, before remembering what it did to the battleships attempting to either ram or board us and smiled gratefully.

"Well, I guess the nickname is rather fitting considering I personally saw what it did when you literally grabbed them by the balls and squeezed them until exploding," I said pointedly that made him nod proudly.

"True. Anyways, are you sure you want to head towards the Argonaut Base? I know I am the one who told you all that it is left untouched by the empire, but something is bothering me..."

I looked at the pilot curiously, for he echoes the concern of my second-in-command, "Actually, Candice said something like that to me when you informed us about that. How come it is left unscathed? From a military, no, a basic logical and reasonable standpoint, it doesn't make any sense at all, she says."

"I know, right?" he quickly agreed as he gives a thumbs-up at the maintenance crew asking for his permission to service his cosmo fighter, "That is why I took my chances and camp out at the asteroid field to wait for any fleeing royal ship on the way to Gearth rather than go there. That place is being ignored even by the detachment that tried to trap you just now."

I silently nodded and pondered over what he said as he left me to talk with the maintenance crew on how to properly refuel his ride.

-0-

"Captain, we received clearance to dock from the Argonaut Base!"

I looked at Mariana, who reported it, and nodded, "Very well, follow their guidance drones and proceed accordingly."

"Why just now, though?" Cailee blurted out as she powered down the weapons system of the Rigel, "I mean, Mariana dear here has been flooding them with hails since goodness knows when, if Justice, heck, if the imperials managed to get a hold of one of them and act on it, why didn't they respond earlier. They could've assisted us from our pursuers!"

Candice quickly nodded fervently in agreement, "Too true, sis! Something stinks, and it's not the foul, expired fish in the pantry! As far as I know, any base is honor-bound to assist any ship, be they commercial, civilian, or military, sending a distress signal right away. Not hours later."

"Maybe they have a problem picking up our hails?" Trey offered but Drew quickly responded.

"If a tiny cosmo fighter like Justice's can get a hold of Mariana's hails, how come a major military installation, clearly not damaged, cannot?" 

I turned to Mariana for assurance, "Are you sure that all personnel inside are Regeinlanders, Mariana?"

"Yes, captain. All of them are accounted for. I also made a complete scan of the base for any trace of imperial ships or biometrics but haven't found any. They are all from our side, sir."

But my executive officer is still wary of it, "Good girl, dear. But this base feels a lot more dangerous than being at the dead center of the imperial trap earlier. Connect me to Justice, please."

"On it, connecting to the hangar. Ensign Justice, communications from the executive officer, please respond immediately."

The screen in front of us went online, and we saw our new pilot surprisingly in his flight suit as if preparing for an engagement, "If you called to tell me that this is a bad idea, then yes, I think it is. But this is the only place we can get full supply, so we have to play nice. I received an anonymous missive, and it's not good. Here, read it."

He sent something on the bridge's console, and then we saw the message he is talking about.

Prime the Kirov for launch at any moment. Warn the Rigel to ensure they get complete supplies and activate the automatic biological lock system to the bridge controls. That base will offer nothing but deceit. Leave fast.

You all have been warned.

-0-

"Nothing to worry about the Rigel, erm, captain," Rear Admiral Stewart assured me as we walked towards the internal port of the Argonaut Base where nearly a thousand Regeinlandic space soldiers are stationed relatively comfortably, "We have already resupplied it with essential stockpiles of plant cells good for more than a decade of consumption, not to mention the greenhouse has been filled to the brim with plants and seeds for all its needs. Coupled with its state of the art food and necessities fabrication together with the automated modular armor repair, it really is the progenitor of the Nebula Class carriers."

I was about to ask why he is so calm while there is practically a horde of imperial ships within the combat vicinity of the base, but I remembered Trey, Justice, and Drew's advice before I disembark our ship.

"Remember, you have to play it cool and keep the rear admiral busy for as long as you can while we and the rest of the staff and crew lock all the necessary compartments and data."

"We also need enough time to cajole the base's engineer into giving us parts and stuff we think is needed to repair the Panthera."

"What they said, and finally, try to know the status of the kingdom and the other bases after the initial onset of the war. If he cannot answer that, then don't bother. Act dumb and accept his excuses. I know we should leave as fast as possible, but this base is more heavily armed and operated than I am aware of. We will send you a signal once everything has been taken care of."

"Until then, stay put and keep your mouth flapping."

"Yes, I heard that it is the testbed for all the next generation carriers of the kingdom before being mothballed," I then pretend to be amazed by the base, "Though I must say, as someone who was never outside of the Regina Space Colony, this base is rather well-equipped to wage war all on its own, rear admiral."

The old fool quickly fell for it and nodded proudly as he puffed his medalled chest, "Yes, it is! Too bad the king has relegated it to a defensive role. My men here and I are deeply slighted by that fact when you can clearly see that it is for the exact opposite."

"It is what you said, rear admiral," I agreed entirely and ticked a box in the mental note that Mariana, Candice, and Cailee gave to me a while ago.

A list of what this base and its leadership make it so fishy and stinky in the first place.

There is something completely off here. I can give my comrades that much.

While the rest of us and our crew members barely got off the burning colony by the skin of our teeth, the people in this place seem awfully calm, given our current situation.

Our country has just been attacked unprovoked by the empire, and our only space colony was destroyed with impunity, yet still, they all looked unaffected by that very fact alone.

If my time at the academy taught me something, there should be a state of high alert, at least across all the military bases and installations of the kingdom, no matter how near or far you are in the frontlines.

But here in the Argonaut base, they haven't raised the battle station level while the Rigel never goes lower than battle station level two for complete combat readiness.

It's like, they knew something like this would happen and was not even bothered by it when Mariana reported to me that the moment we docked at this base, she intercepted hundreds of thousands of military communications across all the kingdom's channel as they scramble to create defensive lines against the encroaching invaders.

Looking at the man beside me who keeps on complaining and close to blatantly badmouthing our king, I get goosebumps thinking that we might have fallen into a trap knowingly and even more dangerous than the one the imperial ships outside have laid.