The Alienbutt Saga, Book 1. War of the Coffee Bean. Part 31.

Snoodgrass watched in horror as the images from central command were beamed onto the viewing screen of the Fo’c’sle command ship’s bridge. Beside him was Grommit and Killashandra. All stood in silence as the images began to break up, the transmission disrupted as the shields of the Ick command centre began to buckle and the final destruction began. As the image finally stopped, Snoodgrass walked over to the communication array. The officer there stepped aside as Snoodgrass began to read reports coming in from elsewhere in the Empire.
“There are reports coming in from over a dozen planets of attacks and invasion troops landing. We need to send out a message to what’s left of the navy with a rendezvous point. The Empire is being overrun, this day is lost. Now we need to regroup.” He sighed and stepped back from the array. “Where the hell is Alienbutt?” he said, almost to himself.
“He’ll turn up Snoodgrass,” said Killashandra softly. “But he’s still got too much taxi driver in him, so he’s always late for everything. Let’s hope he makes a difference when he arrives.”

Grommit stood reading reports and messages as they came in. The news wasn’t getting any better. The Fo’c’sle was still under strength from the battle at Big Rocks, numbering only twenty four dreadnoughts, while other squadrons that they had heard from on secure Ick channels had been decimated. Soon they would be setting off for the rendezvous with what was left of the Ick Navy, and so far, less than a thousand ships would be turning up, many of those damaged. Many of the Fo’c’sle had gone ahead to the rendezvous point to ensure it was secure. They had chosen a top secret shipyard as the meeting point. The system was at the far edge of Ick space and Snoodgrass had ordered the assembling of a new fleet of the mini dreadnought frigates and new weapons for the ships there. After the destruction of the mark two team of developers, no one apart from Wickede, Snoodgrass and those working on the project knew of it. Hopefully they would have time to refit part of the fleet that assembled and transfer crew to the new ships. The Ick fleet had taken a serious battering, but they were not beaten yet.

Alienbutt had raced to the planet Chateraque as news of the invasion reached them. Behind him, a large building still smouldered from the fire that had destroyed it, filling the air with smoke. Alienbutt knelt before two freshly dug graves. He had arrived too late and the fight had finished. The robot infantry had moved on. His ship was hidden on the far side of the moon, with just himself beaming down so he could get Claire and Poodles. From the number of destroyed Federation robots littering the area, Claire had put up quite a fight with Poodles, but a mutthound was no match for robot infantry. He had done his best to defend Claire. Now both lay in the graves before him. The war had only just started and already his friends were dying.
They had intercepted reports of the invasion and he didn’t know how many others had fallen, but it was clear the Ick had been soundly beaten by the surprise attack. Without the charismatic Wickede, he doubted that anyone could rally the routed Ick forces, but he knew that Snoodgrass would be somewhere making plans, if he still lived. Raising his arm he spoke into his wrist-com.
“One to beam up.” With a last look at the graves he shimmered and disappeared. Claire had been the last of the girls he had checked on, he hoped the fact that she was on a country estate with Poodles to protect her meant she would be safe. Now only Killashandra remained of the Ladies’ Darts Team and knowing the Fo’c’sle, she wouldn’t be anywhere near safe during the next few weeks.

Alienbutt's ship sat in a deep crater on the planet Chaterque’s moon. Two large warships were still in orbit, left to protect a dozen large troop carriers. Alienbutt had sat for a whole day watching as the bulk of the invasion force had moved on. Now was their chance to slip away, Thrumbar had informed him, but Alienbutt was not in a slipping away mood. He had sat and watched the footage of the battle at central command, examining the attacks of the Ick against the battle cruisers that now sat protecting the invasion fleet. The battle cruisers were massive. At well over two thousand feet long and over three hundred feet in depth they were almost twice the size of the Ick dreadnought. They were large and bulky and capable of carrying about fifty of the robot fighter ships the Federation was using. The use of the robot forces showed the Federation had a lack of pilots and he doubted the quality of the crews flying the battle cruisers too, depending more on brute force and numbers than any real skill.
“They are strong on fire power but not very agile, and their defence is terrible. A couple of torpedoes into their main engine ports and they’re in trouble,” he insisted to a dubious Thrumbar.
“With three or four ships I would agree,” Thrumbar countered. “But we only have us so an attack would be madness.”
“They’re scanning the planet and space for a possible attack. There hasn’t been a scan directed towards the moon since we got here. We could have the first torpedoes launched and on target before we were even noticed and by the time they even started to react, I would have us in position for the second volley. Your people are being wiped out; it’s time for the empire to strike back.”
This got murmurs of support from the other crew members present. Thrumbar looked around the bridge and then back to Alienbutt sat in the pilot’s chair. Finally he shrugged his shoulders and smiled as he walked over to the weapons array. “You’ve all gone mad and that’s down to you Alienbutt. You're a bad influence.” He pointed at the seated Alienbutt. “But let’s get started before I see sense.”
Using direction thrusters, Alienbutt set off, guiding the ship with minimum power out of the moon’s orbit and on a trajectory that would bring them up behind the first of the warships. As they came within range for the torpedoes, Thrumbar fired. As soon as the torpedoes were fired Alienbutt hit the power and shot off towards the second ship. As explosions ripped apart the rear of the first ship, Thrumbar fired the next spread of torpedoes. The enemy warship began to react but it was too slow and the second wave of torpedoes hit home. The second warship suffered the same fate as the first. As the engines began to detonate, the ships disappeared in a chain reaction of explosions.
The troop ships started to move, but Alienbutt was already pouncing on the first, with forward lasers firing. The light defences of the troop ships stood no chance against Alienbutt’s frigate at such close quarters. Within minutes of the first torpedoes being fired, Alienbutt was heading his ship away from the planet and preparing to jump to light speed, leaving the two war ships as burning hulks, and five of the troop ships afire with fresh explosions ripping through them as more fuel and ammunition exploded.

To be continued.
Thanks for reading, all images are mine.