The Pirate Finale (Written by Thunder, edited and approved by Captain Carnotaur - hope you enjoy it ;))
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The battle lines had been drawn, the pieces placed. This, Zak knew, would be the battle that would decide the fate of the Pirates, and of so many other races. From on board his dreadnaught, he surveyed the battlefield, watching as his loyal fleet exchanged fire with the Prylak and the Alliance. In the distance the Terran Equinox loomed menacingly, perhaps the biggest threat the Pirates faced. Zak was outnumbered, but he was confident that his military strategy was sound - the pirates would come out victorious or die trying.
The battle began slowly, each side exchanging long range volleys with the other. Great masses of energy and explosives would fly out from both sides, lighting up the opposing battle lines with flashes explosions as the ordinance met its mark. This went on for several minutes before the battle commenced in full.
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A wave of warships swept forward from the Alliance lines, pummeling the Pirate flank. Zak's fleet responded with a flurry of cannon fire, forcing the warships to retreat, but not before sevreal of his destroyers had been heavily damaged. Zak decided to press the advantage, sending a wave of fighters to hound the retreating warships. They too were forced to withdraw as even more Alliance ships surged forward.
The battle raged on in this manner for nearly half an hour, in perpetual neutrality. One side would probe forward with an offensive, only to be stopped and forced back by their opponent's defensive lines. Then the Prylak and their allies made their move. As a wave of Alliance fighters strafed the Pirate lines, drawing their attention, the Prylak Battlecruiser moved into cannon range of the Pirate lines. The Equinox opened fire with its stasis weapon, immobilizing several dozen Pirate vessels.
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Zak watched gleefully as two Alliance fighters exploded on his viewscreen. The Alliance had made a tactical mistake; their fighters could never survive such close range strafing runs. His glee quickly faded, though, as he was knocked to the floor by a large explosion. "What was that?"
"Putting the source on the viewscreen now," his tactical officer responded. On the screen, the Battlecruiser loomed. "Open fire," Zak ordered.
None of the combatants in the DSN-6008 system had ever witnessed a supernova, but if they had, they thought, it would look much like the battle between Zak's dreadnaught and the Prylak Battlecruiser. The release of energy was massive, and the blinding light display something never before witnessed in this galaxy. The massive armaments of both ships were trained each on the other, as explosions engulfed both ships, energy bolts and missiles releasing their full fury against the shields of the two warring behemoths. Their battle frenzy fueled by this awesome display of military might, the two sides only fought harder and faster. Battle lines were abandoned, and chaos ensued.
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Flashes of light and debris were everywhere. DSN-6008 had once been the site of two warring fleets, now the fleets were indisnguishable; one chaotic, warring mass of vessels. Losses mounted for both sides as the chaos of the battle bagan to take its toll. More and more of the great warships on both sides were being reduced to smoldering hulks and floating debris.
"Status!" Zak yelled, as his weapons officer struggled to stave off an approaching wolfpack of Prylak and Alliance warships.
"Shields are down to 20%," his tactical officer replied, "but we're looking pretty good otherwise." Zak didn't respond, though, he was too busy watching the view on screen. Nearly a dozen of his vessels were converging on one of the Prylak carriers; it was nearly disabled and soon would be destroyed.
Onboard the Prylak Battlecruiser, Grand Admiral Lythrawn's face showed a slight smile. "Zak is a good strategist, but he his forces have made a grave mistake. They've taken the bait. Now close the door."
"Yes, sir!"
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Zak watched as his forces continued to assult the stricken carrier, now disabled. His attention was quickly focused elsewhere as warning sirens sounded from the sensor station. Zak ran over, looking over his tactical officer's shoulder.
"It's a pincer move!" Zak was right - the carrier had been the bait to move the pirate vessels into position. The majority of the Pirate fleet, including Zak's own vessel, were now caught between a wall of Alliance ships, and an advancing Prylak battle line. Refusing to give up, Zak ordered his warships to charge the oncoming Prylak line, while he turned his ship upward - the one direction the pincer move could not contain. Little did he know his enemies had one last surprise up their sleeves.
As Zak's pirate fleet caused heavy casualties to the Prylak line, Zak struggled to pull his vessel clear of the crossfire. As he came out above the formation, a single shadow loomed on the viewscreen. His ship was now face to face with the Equinox. "Now," said Terran commander Casene said, "Finish him."
Another lightshow ensued, as the two most powerful vessels on the battlefield went at it with all they had. Every bomb, every missile, every cannon... all were pointed at the enemy and blazing. Zak fought with all his strength, cunning, and strategy, but he was simply overpowered. The Equinox was at almost full shield strength, and Zak's dreadnaught was down to only 15%. The explosions rocking Zak's bridge grew stronger and stronger, his shields no longer offering full protection against the barrage the Equinox was dishing out.
Sparks flew from Zak's weapons console, knocking several of his bridge crew unconsious. "Shields are down!" someone screamed, "Armor is taking heavy damage!" Zak looked at the viewscreen, realizing there was little hope of victory. "Take us away," he ordered, "we need to recharge our armor and shields."
"No can do," his tactical officer replied. "Engines have been damaged. We won't be able to outrun the Equinox." Another explosion rocked the bridge, followed by another and yet another. Grim status reports began to pile up one upon the next. "Engines have been destroyed... Weapons at 30% efficiency... life support failing... main power offline... reserves down to 5%..." System after system failed. Soon Zak's once powerful dreadnaught was dead in the water, disabled. The constant hail of weapon fire began to subside, followed by a series of loud clanks coming from the lower decks. "Sir," one of Zak's bridge officers warned him, "we're being boarded."
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Zak brandished a phase rifle, waiting behind a bulkhead on his bridge. He could hear the weapons fire getting closer. His marines were battling with Alliance and Prylak troopers, and the troopers were gaining ground. Even as the battle raged on in space, beams and bolts of energy filled the darkened corridors of the dreadnaught. Two screams and an explosion against the bridge doors announced the arrival of the troopers to the bridge. Zak fingered a concussion grenade, ready for the oncoming forces.
Several tense minutes followed, as the Prylak and Alliance fighters cut through the bridge doors with plasma torches, filling the bridge and the corridor outside with smoke. Finally they made it through, and the heavy bridge doors came falling down with an impressive clanging noise. Immediately the invaders were met with a hail of phase rifle fire and consussion grenades. Five Prylak troopers and three Alliance marines died almost instantly. They had the advantage in numbers, though, and came storming onto the bridge, taking up defensive positions behind consoles and bulkheads across from the pirates.
The battle of the bridge was nearly as chaotic as the battle in space - smoke filled the bridge, making it impossible to see more than a meter. Energy flashes from weapons fire filled the room, illuminating the dimly lit bridge with a constant glow. Zak fought bravely, sniping off four marines single-handedly. Unfortunately the pirate numbers were dwindiling. More and more were stunned or killed, leaving Zak with less and less support to fall back on.
After the firefight continued for several more minutes, the weapons fire suddenly halted. Zak, crouching behind a bulkhead, waited tensely for the invaders to make their move. No move came. Instead, the smoke began to clear. A hull breach had opened up somewhere on the deck, and was slowly beginning to depressurize the entire level.
As the smoke cleared, Zak could see his situation. All of his resistance fighters had been killed. He was alone, facing a dozen Alliance and Prylak marines. He crawled over to a console, one of the last ones working, and entered several commands. As he did, he heard a familiar voice. It was Alliance Commander Specter.
"You are outnumbered and your ship is in our hands. Cooperate and you may still survive." Two guards converged on Zak's position, hoisting him to his feet and holding him at gunpoint.
"To the day I die," Zak spat back defiantly, "I will never cooperate with the likes of you."
"As you wish," Commander Specter replied. He leveled his anti-proton rifle at Zak's chest and fired. The pirate was blown back against a bulkhead by the impact, then slumped over.
Zak Vilda, brilliant strategist, warrior, and proud leader of the Pirates, was dead.
As two Alliance marines carried his lifeless body from the bridge, a Prylak trooper made a startling discovery. Zak had left them one last present before he had died. "Zak started some kind of self-destruct before he died. The hyperspace core is at critical pressure... this ship will explode in about... forty seconds!"
"Quick!" Commander Specter shouted, "everyone into the escape pods!" several dozen escape pods detached from the hull of the bridge and moved quickly toward the Alliance and Prylak fleet, which was desparately attempting to vacate the blast radius. From the viewport of his escape pod, Commander Specter watched the Pirate dreadnaught enter its death throes.
Ripples of energy and sparks of electricty coarsed across the hull of the dreadnaught. As the protectives walls around hyperspace core began to fail, explosions could be seen rocking the lower decks of the vessel. Whole chunks - entire rooms, cargo bays, engines, were being detached from the dreadnaught by the force of the internal explosions. Eventually the ship could contain the force of the hyperspace core explosion no longer. A wave of pure white energy swept out in all directions from the center of the vessel, disintegrating the hull of the dreadnaught, vaporizing it altogether. The shockwave illuminated the entire system, speeding outward with crushing force. Nearly two dozen Alliance vessels too slow to outrun it were caught... they too were vaporized. Commander Specter was spared, knocked unconsious as the shockwave overtook his escape pod, leaving it damaged but intact, awaiting recovery by some Alliance vessel. Slowly the shockwave subsided, and the chaos that filled DSN-8006 subsided with it.
The casualties of the chaos that had reigned in DSN-6008 were staggering. Nearly half of the Alliance vessels involved had been destroyed, and several Prylak vessels had either been destroyed or damaged. Even Lythrawns battlecruiser had been heavily damaged, and almost every pirate vessel had been destroyed. DSN-6008 had become a graveyard, scrap metal and burning hulks littering every corner of the system. Thousands had died, and hundreds of powerful ships were no more. Brave fighters from both sides had been lost. Even Zak Vilda himself.
And nobody present would forget the things they had seen that day. The Battle of DSN-6008 would be emblazoned in their memories forever.
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Ad Astra Per Aspera - "A rough road leads to the stars"
(This message has been edited by Thunder (edited 12-01-2001).)
I'll fix it up a bit later.