Oblivion Is Coming

Chapter 1

The mining ship Calcore, a seventeen thousand feet long ore and mineral ship containing thirty two bays for storing minerals and ore, and fifteen bays for storing water and ice. The Calcore is on her way back from one of the moons of Bexlor, and all is quiet on the bridge. Captain Slate, a long time ore runner now has a command of his own and he has kept the Calcore on a specific schedule. The crew sit at their posts and they watch Bexlor, a high mining and ore distribution moon, fading into the distance and then the Calcore is rocked by a tremendous weapons hit.

The ship rocks violently and seconds later she is hit again. The captain and the bridge crew are thrown to one side of the bridge and most of the control panel’s blow and begin to spark and systems shut down and the crew on the bridge run around putting out the fires caused by the tremendous weapon hits, but when the ship steadies its self they stand and go back to their stations. Just then the communications officer comes onto the bridge panting as he has had to run all the way from the ships scanner deck. He stands at the raised section of the bridge and looks at the captain.

What the hell was that? asks captain Slate. He looks over to Crawford, who is still getting his breath back. Crawford looks at him and the rest of the bridge crew and walks down to captain Slate.

Sir, it’s the Oblivion. He walks over to one of the ships monitors and the captain follows him.

What? Captain Slate looks at the monitor and there he sees the distinct outline of the Oblivion. Slate knows what the Oblivion looks like because he has seen this ship before, and he knows what the crew are like. Slate was on the star freighter Black Dawn, a mineral carrier, when the ship was attacked by the Oblivion so he has had first hand battle experience with the Oblivion. He knows they are ruthless and stop at nothing to get what they want. He has never seen the crew but the stories that have gone round from starport to starport have made him very cautious about this ship and its crew. He looks at Crawford and he can see the fear in his eyes.

It can’t be, last report we had she was a million light years away, in the Quellen system. He looks at Crawford. Where did she come from? We had no readings of her on our scopes or trackers. That ship should have been visible on our trackers if she was within at least a light year of our position.

Then the ship is hit again and one of the engines gets blown off and they lose one of their cargo bays. The captain dashes over to the console with the outside monitors on and looks on in horror as he sees the precious cargo floating away.

My god they got the minerals cargo. He goes over to Price, the cargo monitor officer, and he checks the readings on her monitor. Oh hell they got the Pyrite cargo. Hell it took months to gather that. Then they see a huge blue flash come from the Oblivion and the ship is hit again. We can’t take much more of this. We must try and escape… quickly.

Sir we can’t outrun the Oblivion, she is too fast for us. He looks at the captain, who is now pacing the bridge, trying to figure out what to do next. As they wait the weapons officer comes over the intercom. Captain, we have a problem. We have incoming fighters from the ship.

Oh hell, that’s all we need. Alert our fighters and get them out there… now. He walks back to his chair and Crawford follows him. So Crawford what do we do now? Our ships are no match for these fighters, and believe me I know. Maybe we should just hand over the cargo we have left and hope they leave us alone.

Crawford looks at the Captain in disbelief, Sir they won’t leave us alone till they have all our cargo, and then I recon they will destroy our freighter, that is their way, Sir. Crawford looks at him and there is no response from the Captain.

He sits in his chair holding his head in his hands then he looks up at Crawford. We must do something Crawford, our cargo is too precious to lose, and we need to get it to the scappers on Righnex.

I know that sir but the Oblivion won’t let us leave the area. He looks at the captain who is still holding his head in his hands, and he knows what he has said will make no difference. Crawford leaves the bridge and he knows the Captain will still go with his own plan anyway, so he leaves it to him.

The Oblivion’s fighters swarm out from the hangars on the Oblivion, and they head for the mining ship and they swoop outwards as the Calcore’s small fighters engage. The captain of the Calcore watches as the ships start blasting away. The Calcore only has twenty fighters and they only have laser guns to fight the enemy and the two man crew of each fighter is made up of the pilot and the weapons controller.

The fighters engage the Oblivions bigger and faster fighters and soon they are battling the large enemy fighters. The Oblivions fighters are a quarter of a mile long and are very sleek and their main weapon is an Ion beam which is almost as powerful as the Oblivions Ion cannons, and the fighters have four cannons, just like the Oblivion. The Oblivions fighters also have Ion bolt purger’s which concentrate the beam into a single burst, thus doing more damage. They are also armed with rear ion cannons so they can attack from either direction.

The Calcore’s fighter’s turn towards the Oblivion’s fighters and soon they are flying in every direction, and trying to avoid the Ion beams as they soon come to see what power these beams have. The Calcore’s fighters swoop around the Oblivion’s fighters, trying to get the upper hand, but the Oblivion’s fighter pilots are well trained at evading them and before long the Calcore’s fighters are out matched. The Calcore fighters decide to team up in pairs to see if they can get one in the front and one at the rear of each Oblivion fighter but the enemy fighters are far too fast for them, and soon the Calcore fighters are in trouble. The Calcore’s fighters take hit after hit and soon they are in bad shape.

As Crawford and Slate watch they suddenly see a blue beam come from one of the Oblivions fighters and instantaneously it takes out four Calcore fighters. The squadron leader swerves to one side and just misses getting hit.

This is adder one to the rest of the squadron, close the gaps and aim for their main weapon. He takes evasive manoeuvres and narrowly avoids a collision with one of his own ships. Good god these fighters are good. They know how to fly those ships.

You’re telling me Adder one. This is his wing man and he has had a lot of problems trying to stay out of the line of fire. They are good, so good that we can’t get behind them. Just as he finishes talking there is another blast of the blue beam and five more ship are destroyed. We’re getting slaughtered out here Adder one. The Calcore fighters swoop and swerve out of the way to avoid the enemy’s fire power, but they soon come to realise that they need a new strategy.

Keep firing. We have to try and destroy their sh… . his link goes dead as Adder one is closing in on one of the Oblivions fighters as the ship speeds head on to the sleek huge fighter and the blue Ion beam streams out of the Oblivion fighter and Adder one is hit, shattering the small fighter into pieces, scattering them in a trail of debris. His wing man looks on in horror as do the rest of the squadron as they see Adder one get blown apart in a blinding flash of blue light. Then over the link comes his friend’s voice.

Well Jim it looks like your… . his link goes dead too. Jim looks all around and he sees his friend blown apart by the Ion beam, and now all he can see are seven ships left. He also notices that none of the enemy’s fighters have been destroyed. He sets off back towards the Calcore perused by two fighters from the Oblivion.

On the bridge of the Calcore ship everyone looks on as they watch the battle outside the main window. The Calcore ships are trying their best but the enemy ships are too powerful for their meagre weapons. They are trying to get behind the enemy fighters, but they are too fast and soon out manoeuvre them.

In the distance they see the Oblivion moving towards their fighters. Slate and Crawford look on in surprise as the monstrous ship turns towards their mining ship and their fighters. Cobra one flies past the bridge window at close range and heads out towards his squadron.

This is Cobra one, all ships head back to base. The enemy ships are heading for our ship and with their superior weapons they could do a lot of damage.

This is Cobra five sir, the enemy fighters are hard on our tail and we just can’t shake them his wingman replies.

Do your best to divert the enemy from the ship so a few of us can get back to ward off the stray enemy fighters Cobra one answers.

We will do our best sir, replies Cobra five. Cobra six, seven and nine follow me, the rest of you engage the enemy head on so we can get behind them.

The three Cobra ships turn off to the left in formation and head away from their ship. All the other fighters turn to face their formidable enemy, and begin their attack on these huge fighters.

Cobra one leads the attack as they gain on the Oblivion fighters. The four fighters fly striaght at the enemy ships, their laser guns blasting away. Cobra four and twelve, you two circle round this bunch of fighters and we’ll go the other way and use the old pincer movement.

Will do commander replies Cobra four. The two fighters head off to get behind the bunch of six Oblivion fighters, whilst Cobra one and twelve go the other way, but the enemy is too quick and soon they are in trouble, and then there is a blinding blue flash and Cobra one looks round to see Cobra twelve blown apart and fighter parts scattered in a cloud of ship and dust.

The other three fighters are round the back of the bunch of Oblivions fighters and they begin their attack. As they close in on the enemy ships, two Oblivion fighters swoop sideways and turn back.

Oh hell screams Cobra five as they see the two Oblivion fighters coming striaght at them. Break formation you… he is too late, Cobra’s six and seven see the blinding blue Ion beam tear through their comrades fighter, shearing off one engine, and sending it spinning out of control. As they close in on their comrade the other Oblivion fighter lets loose a devastating blue bolt of Ion power, and Cobra five is blown apart.

Oh my god Cobra six screams down the com, and all the other fighters hear him. Cobra seven follow me, we need to get the hell out of here.

Right behind you sir he replies, and the two fighters turn back and head back to their comrades. The Oblivion fighters haven’t finished with these humans yet and all six ships turn to attack the four remaining ships. Cobra one comes on the com link to all ships.

All ships head back to the Calcore, we need to protect… . The link goes dead and on the bridge of the Calcore, Slate and the others see a blinding blue beam, but it’s not from the fighters, this is from the Oblivion.

That come from the Oblivion! says captain Slate. He walks to the view screen and as he looks out he sees the last remains of his squadrons fighters shattered into a million pieces, and the fuzzy dust left over. He looks at Crawford. What the hell is that blue beam? he points to it.

Not sure sir but it looks like Ion power to me. There were rumours in the Trax system, from a star cruiser at starport delta four, that the Oblivion was armed with Super Ion cannons. I never believed it till now. They also heard that she has been fitted with other devastating weapons too, Sir. As they debate the weapons on the Oblivion, Jennison, the weapons officer, turn to them both.

Captain, the ship is moving towards us. All reports indicate she is on a collision course. The officer turns back to his console. Jennison tries not to show it, but Slate can see in his eye’s that he is scared. Captain Slate sits in his chair and looks at the view screen.

Slate looks at the monitor and sees the monstrous ship heading right at them. Right, turn the ship around and make a run for it, see if we can get behind the seventh moon of Bexlor. Craven looks at the captain in astonishment. He has never run from the enemy before and this is unusual for him to do.

Sir we won’t be able to outrun the Oblivion, and hiding behind the seventh moon of Bexlor won’t stop them, hell they would destroy the moon to get to us sir. Craven tries to get the captain to see sense, and eventually the captain has to admit he is wrong and he walks back to his console and he sit in his chair.

Well I guess it’s our turn now. Arm the forward lasers.

What good is that going to do, captain? Crawford asks him, knowing the answer already. He has heard the rumours about the Oblivion and he knows all too well that they won’t survive this battle.

We have to try and save our… . His sentence is cut short as the Calcore is hit. This time it’s different though. The ship is motionless as a tractor beam surrounds the ship.

Jennison turns to the captain, Sir we are not moving. I think they have us in their tractor beam and it’s too powerful for us to break free. They all know that a ship caught in a tractor beam only means two things and he suspects it not going to be that they will be boarded. The captain and his crew look on as the Oblivion gets closer and closer.

This is it. They have us in there tractor beam. Engineering, this Slate.

Aye sir, this is Crane, a cheerful voice comes over the com.

Stop all engines, shut them all down. We ain’t going down without a fight. Our cargo is to precious and valuable to let these pirates take it. The engines are shut down and now Slate, Crawford and the rest wait to see what will happen next. As they sit on the quiet bridge they hear lots of noises and Slate soon realises that the rest of the cargo bays are being removed.

The Oblivion fighter crews are using their fighters with a concentrated Ion beam to cut through the locking clamps that hold the cargo bays. When the bays are clear, they are pulled into the tractor beam and head off back to the ship.

Well sir, there goes all the rest of our cargo. Crawford says. Nothing we can do now but hope they leave us behind. Crawford sits on the deck and shakes his head. The captain stands up.

Are the lasers still armed, Jennison?

Yes sir. He goes over and manually unlocks firing control. Right lock onto the Oblivion and fire.

What the hell for captain? We have no chance of doing any damage to this ship and we are only using our precious power on a pointless battle… sir Jennison looks at the captain but he won’t give in on this. The command is carried out and a laser blast is fired.

The laser’s hit several points on the Oblivions Tachyon shielding and just bounces back into space. Of course it does no damage. Slate sits back down, he knows he’s beat. As they watch the Oblivion moves away slowly, and the bridge crew watch as they see all their cargo floating along the tractor beam back to the Oblivion and they now have all the minerals and ore they came for.

Captain Slate watches as the ship backs off but it doesn’t turn away. This begins to worry Slate and he watches the main weapons array for signs of anything happening, and he spots the Ion beam arrays begin to glow and the mighty blue Ion beam is fired at the Calcore and the ships systems begin to burn out or catch fire and the crew do all they can to put them out, but the beam is too strong and the mining ship begins to break up and fall apart, and Slate looks at them all and he smiles.

They don’t understand why he is smiling, but it is a comfort to them and then in a blinding flash of blue the mining ship destroyed in a cloud of metal and dust.

Chapter 2

The oblivion, a huge thirteen hundred mile long ship, crewed by several thousand alien races heads off towards a place they heard about where there is a huge supply of minerals, ore, iron and water. The captain of this mighty ship is Aquilla. He is a huge seven foot tall alien, but human looking. He has the features of a human male, but with small differences. His ears are set lower down and are the shape of a crescent moon then there are his eyes. He has full black pupils and his eyes are set just a bit wider than a human’s eyes and they are cold looking. Aquilla also has a special talent no one, but a few, know about and it is the way he finds out if anyone is lying to him or hiding something they may have done wrong. He can see into their souls and this gets the crew very nervous, so they all make sure they don’t give him any excuse to throw them out the airlock.

Aquilla has spent years building this ship and he has put a lot of time and money into its construction, and most of all he has worked hard to get where he is now, and on his way he has wiped out civilisations and planetary systems to get the reputation he has. No one in the known galaxies dare go against him, and his crew have been handpicked by him so he has the best for his ship. They destroy planets for all they have and they use all materials to sustain their lives and fuel the ship. The list of things the Oblivion has is immense.

The ship is equipped with an Anti Matter ray which gives off a deep yellow beam, Super Ion cannons which give off a glowing blue beam, Surface Disrupters which give off a glowing red beam, Water Vaporisers which give off a green beam and its crowning weapon… . a Black Hole Condenser and these give off a glowing purple beam. This creates Black Holes and is very deadly when activated. The ship also has a Magnetic Disrupter, which opens any planets magnetic field and gives off a white beam when fired. The ship also has Star Collectors, a million of them, each a quarter of a mile long and they have four small star chambers at the front with absorbers surrounding them, and all four chambers are connected to a larger collection chamber. The collection chamber has the main beam assembly at the rear and this is where all the collected minerals, ore or star material is beamed back to the Oblivion. The Oblivion also has its own fighters, and each of them is a quarter of a mile long too, they are very sleek and they manoeuvre so quickly that any fighters following them are soon lost as they get behind them, and they have one hundred thousand of them and the Oblivion also has a Tachyon cloaking shield, which when used with the Tachyon star drive engines, makes the ship as near to mass less and so enables the ship to travel faster than light.

The Hull of the ship is very impressive because it has a special material which can withstand tremendous heat, and there are rumours that she is capable of entering suns, but this has never been seen or proved. The other engines are also impressive too. She has Nuclear Star Fusion engines which are powered by the destroyed suns and Trans Dimension Warp engines and these alone can move the ship close to the speed of light as they fold space infont and behind the ship.

The ship has six huge Star chambers that store the remnants of destroyed or collapsed stars for fuel. These massive star chambers are the heart of the ships fuel and water supplies, and each one can hold the remnants of four stars and these chambers are filled by the star collectors. The Star Collectors are machines which surround an object and then beam the energy from the object to the main collector which in turn beams it to the Oblivion. They are similar versions of the star chambers, but on a much smaller scale, and they absorb the material from destroyed stars or planets then store it in the chamber ready to beam back to the main collector.

The captain and most of the crew are Xeons, a savage and uncaring race, and Aquilla is the most feared from his home world of Xeon. The other alien races aboard are Trexlors, they have a snake head and three legs.