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.Based on what had happened to the last force that had gone up against them, he figured it would be something nasty.He sent his forces through the gate accordingly.He wouldn’t be on the first ship if he didn’t have to be.“Commence the assault!” he transmitted.The first battleship began its attack run, followed by the rest of the fleet.As the Destruction of Olympos started to pick up speed, he grinned from ear to ear.He had waited a long time to lead a conquering force.The first battleship made the jump.Bridge, TSS Terra, Ross 154 System, February 5, 2021“Stargate emergence!” called the DSO.“Drakul Battleship! Mines are being activated.Launchers are coming online.”“Cleared to fire,” said Captain Griffin.“All weapons.Let’s show them what we’ve got.”The crew of the Terra had been waiting for this moment.Not anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Drakuls, but not quite dreading it, either.As each load of mines was placed and each layer of box launchers was added to the stargate’s defenses, the Terrans had become more and more confident they could hold the gate.Waiting within laser and graser range, the Terra began firing as its mounts came online.Hatches opened down the length of its starboard side as the Terra’s missiles indicated their readiness and then roared off in search of their targets.Within a minute of the battleship’s entrance into the system, the first of the Terran mines detonated, far closer to the stargate than they were normally placed.The Terrans had hoped to hit the ship before its shields stabilized, but they didn’t succeed.The battleship’s shields were in place and absorbed the blast, as they did the explosions of the second and third mines, as well.Counter-missile missiles and lasers began firing from both sides of the battleship in an effort to keep any more mines from reaching it, but a fourth mine activated.Although it didn’t breach the shield, it was all the battleship’s forward shields could take, and they collapsed.A second battleship entered the system in time to see the first round of missiles impact its comrade, and nuclear fire enveloped the ship from both sides as it was hit by 17 missiles from the first box launcher salvo and another 25 missiles from the Terra that made it through its defenses.Its aft shields failed as well, and the battleship was defenseless against the Terra’s energy weapons.The 16 grasers in the starboard broadside drilled four meter holes into the Drakul invader, while the Terra’s 12 lasers added their own 3.5 meter holes.After firing twice at the first battleship, the OSO could see that there was little to be gained by hitting it again.Its bridge was open to space in at least two places and all four of its engines were out.It floated powerless in space.Seeing this, the OSO shifted targets as the Terra’s shields absorbed the first volley of laser fire from the second battleship.Before he could fire, a third battleship entered the system.“Damn,” muttered the OSO, “I’m falling behind.Maybe this will help.” He triggered three waves of box launchers as the first mines came into proximity with the second battleship and detonated along its sides.Missiles hit the ship from both sides, and two more mines detonated alongside it.The battleship’s shields collapsed.No longer able to stop the Terrans’ energy weapons, the lasers and grasers of the Terra struck home on the second battleship, augmented by the weapons of the battlecruisers Septar, Atlantic and Pacific, and the Drakul battleship began venting atmosphere in a number of places.The death throes of the second battleship gave the third battleship’s crew the time it needed to stabilize their systems, and the Terran ships were forced to defend themselves from the incoming missiles it launched.Making matters worse for the Terrans, the first Drakul battlecruiser entered the system, followed closely by a second and a third.The Terran battlecruisers ignored their counterparts and continued firing at the second battleship.With a wave of missiles from the Terra and two more waves of box launcher missiles, the battleship was finished, its magazines detonating in a cataclysmic explosion that would have been spectacular in atmosphere.The Terra shifted fire to the third Drakul battleship.A fourth battlecruiser entered the Ross 154 system, followed by a fifth and a sixth
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