POLITICS AND SOLDIERS BATTLE OF PHOLARAN IV

By Griffin Vengance

19th Aug 2006

The veteran blade-master in command of the Battle Station Unyielding Shield cursed at his luck. When reports had come of a fleet-call in Skylords space, they had expected an attack, but had fully believed it to be a minor raid, a pinprick.
Not a full blown invasion force.
And just to rub it in, Intrusion Detection identified the attacks as the Skylords Angels, minus the infamous Saviour. If the guns had been operating, and the defence station had full power then they would've had a chance; but with shields at 50% on emergency power, only one Planetary Defence Platform operating and an army of 3000 marching on the ground fortress down below, the odds were tilted very much in the Skylords' favour.
Usually, in such situations, despite the warriors fierce sense of honour, they would retreat in a strategic move, but with the Imperial Base for the entire Beta Quadrant on the planet below they had no choice but to hold out as long as possible, and pray for a miracle.

"High Commander! Increased activity in one of the asteroids, on the other side of the planet!"
The High Commander frowned...then cursed the most vile oath in the Imperial tongue.
"Get a frigate to destroy the spy ship, then return at best speed. Invisible ships have no defence, but they should be ready for surprises."

Meanwhile, inside the asteroid in question, a countdown timer ran down the seconds until a very, very spectacular moment.
"I-Flight drive...initiated!"

And so the Imperial Forces gaped...as the mighty Saviour, feared across the Galaxy burst out of the asteroid, demolished the frigate ad headed straight for Pholaran VI.
The Commander cursed, then keyed in a communications link to every Imperial in the system.
"Ok everyone. I know that you all must be terrified of what is coming. I will admit, so am I. Odds are we're going to go down in a small footnote in history, as a victory for the Skylords...but I tell you sincerely, WE WILL NOT GO DOWN LIGHTLY. We will RATTLE them with the fury of the Empire, and make them REGRET this foolhardy plan! All forces...be ready, be strong. Launch the fighters...and LET'S GIVE THEM HELL!”

With a flurry of beautiful bursts, 20 ships emerged from the seemingly mystical realm of I-Flight and converged together on the planet. Five hundred fighters and a lone plasma bolt raced to meet them; the Messiah batted the shots away as she launched a volley of her own, instantly incinerating the enemy fighters while the rest of the Angels proceeded to surround and bombard the defence station.

Sarah sighed; although she knew that this was a pivotal battle, it was pretty anticlimactic; the battle was simply too easy. The Saviour was joined by the Sentinel as the two ships poured fire on the fortress beneath them, which was locked in a fierce siege with the Resistance, as the defence platform became an explosion of sparks and debris under the Angels’ assault.
Too easy.
Too…easy?
Sarah’s eyes widened.
“Hawkins, sensor sweep! Fast!”
Her sensor officer complied unquestionably, and Sarah anxiously stared at the sensor readouts…please…
Twenty two red blips appeared.
“Saviour, this is the Messiah! The Hell’s Angels squadron is inbound!”

From the distant Saviour, the Captain heard and cursed.
“Full battle alert! Look up boys and girls we got Hell’s Angels coming to tango; get to your stations and stay alert! Sarah can you get behind the planet and give them an ass job?”
“No can do. We’re locked in the lunar orbit; has to be you. After all, you have that wonderful little invisibility trick…”
The Captain sighed, then nodded understanding.
“Get your ass to the Angels pronto, or else you’re doing the washing up next week. Saviour out.”

Sarah smiled, and the Messiah raced towards the Angels as the Saviour slipped in behind the planet; she noted that it soon became nothing as they became invisible.
“Captain!” her intelligence officer, a Laura Bond shouted. “Intel says these fellas have the Emperor on their flagship!”
“WHAT!”
“That’s what I’m getting captain.”
Sarah grinned fiercely, and keyed the Angels-comn.
“Ok boys, Intel says the Emperor is one their flagship; if we win this, they say we’ve more or less won the war; these sons of b****s will run around like headless chickens if we kick these dickheads’ asses! Lock and load, get into formation, prep for heavy duty combat and cruiser targeting. Falcon and IAS Squadrons, get your asses out there and into the pot. Let’s kick some ass!”
The Angel’s roared in support, and raced to meet their adversaries; they knew, in each and every one of their hearts, that this was going to do it. This was going to win them the war.
Best not slack about.