The farther ship seemed to falter, then it began to roll. With it’s yaw rotating to the left, the roll began a relative down-turn, clearing the the first ship, where it’s weaponry could return fire. The battleship had built up a fair amount of delta-vee, or forward acceleration. “Range to second ship,” Alex requested. “One point seven five em-kay-es,” reported Alex’ tactical officer. “Main cannon is ready to fire, Captain,” SARA chimed in. The ship ahead was already seeming to gain more confidence in it’s movement. “Energy spikes detected. They’re charging weaponry,” came the report from one of the sensor officers. “Helm, on my mark, I want you to swing to port, just enough to avoid any shots they get off.” 

Alex looked at the rest of her command staff, namely her first officer, Commander Lawrence. He was only a little older and wasn’t quite as ambitious, other than wanting to be in the fight and on a battleship. “We’re not going to have too many more freebies. The reports from the outer defense grid were pretty grim. They haven’t seen all the things we can throw, but we don’t know a whole lot about them either…. It’s going to be a brawl.” The Commander nodded, then pointed to the Fenris nearby. “The ANS Fenris is calling for support,” he said, “Or at least they were before our last shot we made.” 

The captain cracked a faint, very brief smile. “If the Wolf cant bring down badly wounded prey, then maybe it should starve.” She took a deep breath, “Comms, reach out to the Fenris. Let them know we’re chasing their.--” “Captain!” The sound of momentary panic was unmistakable as two ships stabbed into the black just off to starboard, close enough to be visible. “Two heavy cruisers dropping out of micro-jumps,” the young female officer reported as she got her voice under control. Green flickers appeared on the surface of the Thresh warships. “Incoming fire detected,” Tactical reported. “Return fire with the particle batteries. Make sure the gun crews are ready for contact. Main cannon you’re cleared hot.” 

“Attackers have been launched from the second cruiser. I am detecting a picket line of their version of fighters screening their ships. Not tightly, but still there,” Sensor Officer Nelprin reported. “Launch the alert fighters. Bolt squadron takes the lead. Angel squadron screens us,” Alex responded. 

As orders were issued many things started happening at once. The golden glow at the mouth of the great cannong began to glow as though the great Tiamat began to take a breath, about to breathe incandescent death once more. The beam stabbed outward, lancing across the distance in the blink of an eye, boiling off part of the ship’s dorsal hull before stabbing through the starboard quarter. A moment later the power plant of the ship went critical, as all materials and forces keeping it stable were no longer there. It blossomed into a fireball, slinging metal and chunks of material in it’s death throes. Part of the engine housing caromed off the first, nearly derelict light cruiser that had been victimized. 

Small craft, Hammerhead exo-atmospheric jets… fighters, interceptors, whatever one wanted to call them, began pouring out like bees from a hive, burning hard on accelerator cones. 

Flickers of blue-white energy traced along several dark strips that went along the long axis of the ship. Several beams of charged particles stabbed out at the closer of the two heavy cruisers. At the same time green bolts and globules of plasma began hitting the navigational shields, scattering or sticking, shimmering before their energy was dispersed into space. “Tickles,” Captain LeFores muttered. “Coms, check on the status of the Fenris.” A brief acknowledgement greeted her. “It’s too bad most of our support craft and tenders were taken out before they could make it back from the re-supply.” 

“I know what you mean,” Commander Benjamin Lawrence said on the ither side of the tactical display table. Long range sensors were showing some returns from ships nearby. “Tie in to the FTL coms, make sure the quantum entanglement arrays are functioning. Tie in the IFF and transponder signals we can pick up, while we wait on the sensor data,” Lawrence requested to SARA. More green and blue blips began to appear on the long-range map. “We’re not alone in the fight, just not too many people in the neighborhood,” Captain LeFores said. 

“Main cannon ready to fire,” SARA reported dutifully. Alex glanced toward the two cruisers spitting bio-plasma at them. “Magnetic shields are still up but they’re about to wear a hole in them. By now the particle batteries had been cutting into hull on the enemy cruisers, stabbing and probing, looking for weaknesses in all the places that seemed somewhat logical. Secondaries and short gouts of fire were erupting here and there, but they didn’t seem to be doing a great deal. One of the larger blisters on the closer cruiser seemed to swivel, and them belched out a massive ball of plasma the size of a house or bigger, sending boiling matter and energy like a comet toward the battleship. 

The plasma slammed through the magnetic shields, only managing to peel a thin layer off the strike. It took them on the right side of the forward shields and seemed to roll down the length of the ship like someone pouring fire over glass. The decking lurched from the feedback of physical force from the gravimetric shielding. It handled the burning substance better as the rotation of the field flung and dispersed the substance away. Two more big fists of energy were headed for the Tiamat. “Helm, thirty degrees positive yaw, negative pitch, then one hundred-eight degrees positive roll if you please,” Alex ordered. The ship began to swing to the right, bringing it’s main cannon into firing position while the change in course slipped past the slower bio-plasma. The roll put fresher shields, both magnetic and gravimetric in line. Out the bridge view screens, which were just giant displays (windows on a battleship were a bad idea, on the bridge) the stars pinwheeled and the two enemy cruisers swapped sides, though it was the Tiamat that had changed orientation. That was the beauty of zero-gravity. Orientation was relative, subjective, most of the time. “Helm give me ten degrees positive yaw, ten degrees negative pitch. SARA, give me the shooting plot for the main cannon,” Alex requested. 

A moment later three lines appeared, which collapsed to a point, giving the exact path of their main weapon’s muzzle travel, essentially. “Long burst fire,” she said just before the lines would have touched either ship. Again the glow built and then erupted, only taking a second or so, but this time it wasn’t just a second or two when the beam burned through space, but much longer. The beam swept across the two ships, shredding into their hulls, removing chunks from them both as charged particles skittered over the surface, destroying tissues and knocking out circuits. Secondaries rippled here and there. A few of the plasma emplacements erupted as well, but others were still firing. 

And then green, as well as blue-white blasts of plasma began heading their way, not just one or two, but several, a half dozen… a dozen… “Oh, now they’re mad,” Lawrence said. The metal behemoth rocked from the volley of shots, half of it covered in a roiling sheet of plasma. “Helm, rotate us so fresher shields come into line,” Alex snarled. 

“I knew we should have let them load the torpedo tube module on the ventral side,” The Captain griped. Overhead the glow panels flickered some, and a few sparks erupted from some of the control relays, but the tough bird seemed to handle the pounding decently. The particle beams continued to hit back, targeting the heavy plasma ...cannons? … that seemed to fire on the ship, and had downed several. The heavy firepower was beginning to dwindle. “Communications, update on the Fenris,” Commander Lawrence requested tightly.