• Commander Taryn, captain of the Leviathan-Class warship, the D.E.S. Victory, walked out from the turbo lift and out onto the spacious 40 foot command bridge and strolled to the captains chair. His shimmering green battle armor reflected the artificial light illuminating the bridge from hidden sockets in the walls. "Lieutenant," he said as he sat in the chair, "report."

    "All systems in the green, sir." the young officer answered with a glance over his right shoulder, "The sensors aren't picking up anything unusual yet. It's as dark as midnight under a rock.”

    Taryn nodded, a little humor was a good thing to have, especially during this long and boring routine patrol mission that neither he, nor his crew was accustomed to having. Ever since the surprise invasion by the F.G.E. on the border world of Onyx Prime, the Domoran Army stepped up its patrols along the borders to prevent something like that from ever happening again. Taryn had lost a lot of good friends during that nightmare, slaughtered in cold blood even as they laid down their weapons in surrender.

    A small bleeping noise brought Taryn back to the present. "Sir," the lieutenant reported, "sensors are detecting several incoming vessels."

    "On screen." Taryn ordered.

    The endless stars that had filled the view screen vanished and were replaced by a tactical map displaying his ship's current position. Taryn watched as one red blip morphed into five more blips, then another, and another, until a good portion of the screen was covered with red.

    Taryn eyed the readout and frowned, "How many?"

    The Lieutenant’s face drained of color, "Uh...the sensors are showing about fifty ships on an intercept course.”

    "Any detectable identification?”

    "No, sir" the officer replied, "They're Lippeans!"

    Taryn couldn't believe what he was hearing, the Lippeans, an organic race of aliens that resembled overgrown insects, were and enemy and a nuisance, but they had never been in full force since mankind had first started to colonize the stars. Why would they all of a sudden be doing this now? Whatever the reason, he couldn't just sit back and let the Lippeans waltz right into Domoran space. Not when he could do something about it.

    "Shields up!" he barked, "Bring all cannons and missiles online right now! We can't beat them all, but we can at least give them something to think about. Also, send a subspace message to Central Command requesting additional reinforcements."

    "Yes, sir!" Cried the crew on the bridge in unison. Taryn knew that they would follow him wherever he lead them, right to the very clutches of a black hole if he ordered it. Unfortunately, he had a feeling it would eventually come to that.


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    "They're almost within weapons range, sir." the weapons officer informed. Taryn's entire crew seemed to come alive under the red battle lights on the bridge.

    "Have the 301st Legion prepare for incoming boarding parties. Fire the Archer missiles on my mark."

    "Yes, sir"

    Taryn's main concern right now was the risk of the Lippeans sending in boarding parties to try to take over the ship (Lippeans were notorious for doing that). Thankfully, he had his private legion on board with him to help with that problem.

    Taryn watched and waited until the Lippean fleet was almost within one hundred meters before he cried, "Fire!"

    A flock of Archer missiles streaked from the Victory, leaving plasma particles pluming in their wake. A few moments later, the missiles impacted, detonating harmlessly on the Lippeans's shields.

    "No damage to enemy fleet." an officer reported, "They're returning fire, sir!"

    "All hands, brace for impact. Charge the laser cannons and give them a volley."

    "Aye, Aye, sir"

    The Victoryshuddered as the laser blasts fired from the ship. Laser rounds tore through the enemy lines moments later, causing some ships to vanish into a cloud of plasma and organic matter.

    A dozen plasma cannons charged up from within the Lippean fleet and fired a dozen solid purple beams strait towards the Victory. Taryn nearly fell out of his command chair from the bone-jarring impact. "Damage report!" he yelled.

    "Shields and fifty percent." one officer replied. "Our engines are at thirty percent and hyperdrive in inoperable. We can't take another hit like that, sir!"

    Taryn knew that running was their best option, but he would not let the Lipeans get away with this. “Arm the Dirmite warheads and prepare to fire.” He ordered.

    “But sir,” the weapons officer said, “we’re too close to the target. The shockwave will end up destroying both of us."

    “Just do it!”

    The soldier hesitated for a moment then nodded and began to arm the Victory’s twelve experimental Dirmite-enhanced missiles. “Wait!” the lieutenant cried, “Sensors are picking up more incoming vessels.”

    Taryn groaned, “Lippean reinforcements?”

    “No, sir.” The officer replied uncertainly and rechecked his screens before him, “Unknown.”

    An unknown fleet of three ships had appeared so suddenly, Taryn thought that they had been cloaked at first. Their sudden appearance had apparently taken the Lippean ships off guard, distracting them long enough so that the Victory was able to move out of weapon’s range. The fleet charged up their weapons and fired solid beams of energy into the enemy formation. Their firepower proved too much for the Lippeans’s shields and one by one they vanished into a cloud of molten plasma. The survivors came about and disappeared into hyperspace as quickly as they had come. Whoever these newcomers were, Taryn was thankful that those weapons hadn’t been pointed at him.

    “That…was…awesome.” The lieutenant whispered in awe.

    Taryn rolled his dark brown eyes and sighed, “Luitennant, close your mouth before a bug flies in, and open a channel.”

    The soldier recovered himself, “Uh, yes, sir.” He tapped a few keys, “Go ahead.”

    Taryn nodded, “Thank you.” Then he turned towards the view screen, “This is Commander Taryn of the Domoran Empire, captain of the Domoran warship, Victory. I thank you for saving my ship and my crew, but I must ask for you to identify yourselves.” He listened for a reply…nothing.

    “Hold on, sir. We’re receiving a response.” The comm officer said, “Audio only.”