Allison started pulling her uniform off as soon as she got to C&C.  She tossed it in a pile under the C&C table.  This left her with only her armor.  Her stripping got a bit of attention until the staff of command and control realized she had armor underneath.  She swore under her breath when she saw the Ark Royal break formation and vanish through a wormhole.  She calmed down when she saw Dagger and Broadsword had already launched.


    “What the hell is Captain Seng thinking?  That’s AWOL with a whole ship… that’s mutiny!  Is that mutiny?  Whatever, did she say anything?”


    Nutina nodded.


    “She said your message had been heard?  She said she needed to respond and that she would be back as soon as possible.”


    Allison closed her fists and leaned on the edge of the table looking at the latest Sal’nash fleet data, then she switched to the target system.


    “Where is the Harbinger?  Fuck.  It should have been here fifteen minutes ago and that was the high end.”


    She called out.


    “Someone get me Hathor on comms.”


    Thirty seconds later a hologram of Hathor appeared beside the main battle map.  Allison looked at the stellar cartographer.


    “Hathor, do you have tracking on the scout ships and Harbinger?”


    Hathor rubbed her nose with her hands.


    “Battlelord, I apologize, due to fleet coordination efforts there has been a substantial time delay on receiving our sensor net data.  I do not have any data to provide you we’re three hours behind.”


    Allison sighed.


    “Update us as soon as you have anything, please, no need to verify, they could have a whole fleet out there that might flank us as soon as we attack.”


    Allison looked at the countdown timer.  It was an arbitrary time she’d picked but it was time she’d picked to catch the Harbinger in system.  She got an alert as her last scout ship was exiting the dark sector around the black dwarf.


    “Ma’am, they’re waking up.”


    Allison looked at the countdown timer that was ticking down to zero.  She could still call it off, but would she ever be able to get an armada this strong together again and how long could she keep those nasty biological weapons secret.  She sighed when the timer hit zero, she pressed the button to address the Armada.


    “We are a go.  Dagger, Broadsword engage.  Fleet, FTL jump to pre-targeted coordinates in 3, 2, 1… go.”


    She closed her eyes and said a prayer to the Dark Mother, Seraph and whomever else was listening.  She’d done what she could to prepare.  This was basically in a higher power’s hands now.  The armada popped into existence one group after another.  Her command and control officers were verifying arrivals as they entered the system from their respective staging areas.  Allison looked at the largest armada of starships ever assembled by a human while it popped into existence and her heart swelled with pride in herself for making it happen.  She watched as her black ops squadrons disappeared into the void around the black dwarf.  One of the sensor coordination officers called out.


    “We are getting targeting data from Dagger 1 and Dagger 2, relaying it to the armada.”


    Allison closed her eyes this was the point of no return.  She pressed the armada wide comm again.


    “This is Battlelord Wanjala, launch all missiles, reload and prepare for a second volley.  You have your targets.”


    Suddenly two hundred friendlies turned into four thousand friendlies as the missiles appeared on tracking.  She swiped her hand through the battle map, changing it to a real time view provided by Dagger one.  Everything closer to the black dwarf was moving in slow motion but she could see the Sal’nash had launched all their fighters.  She pressed the armada comm again.


    “Launch defensive fighters.  Prepare anti-fighter defenses.”


    Her eyes were focused on the super hives looking for any sign of distress.  She stood up and opened up the private comm channel she’d set up through Dagger One.  She listened to the audio, which was in slow motion, so she was forced to speed it up.  So far, all torpedo’s had hit their mark.  She closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief when Broadsword one confirmed the last package away and target hit.  She relayed a message through the private comm.


    “Broadsword return to the armada.  Dagger One, Dagger Two maintain position.  Do not engage if you can help it.  Broadsword land on Agamemnon for repair and rearmament and prepare for incoming fighters.”


    Allison did not envy the position she had put Legend and Lithium in, she’d hate having to watch.  She kept watching the results of their first missile barrage.  Even in slow motion she could tell it had been wholly ineffective.  The Sal’nash were using their overwhelming amount of fighter drones to intercept them.  She hadn’t thought it would have any impact on the Sal’nash but it had effectively hidden her use of designer bio-weapons.  The Sal’nash apparently realized they were at a distinct disadvantage being thirty seconds behind their opponents and were moving out of the immediate vicinity of the black dwarf.


    “We cannot let them get out of that gravity well they’ll be able to escape.”


    She hit the armada comm again.


    “Vanguard advance.  Do not let the Sal’nash Hives escape that gravity well.  Reserve do not engage until you’re ordered too.  The Queens still seem active.”


    The massive Agamemnon shuddered as it went from full stop to intercept speed.


    “Super Hives are the priority.  Focus all main batteries on them until the signals are no longer active.  We cannot pull in our reserves otherwise.”


    Allison stood up and put both hands inside the battle map displayed on the command and control table and swept them outwards.  The massive command and control room of the Agamemnon became a full three-sixty degree view of the battle.


    The mighty super dreadnought shuddered as the biggest particle cannon in recorded history fired.  The pure white beam of particles showed on the battle display and cored a super hive with ease.  The super hive jolted to the side and started spinning out of control from the blast. Suddenly it was caught in a death spiral toward the black dwarf and its inevitable doom.


    The death of the super hive seemed to urge the armada onward.  Space was lit up by a thousand pin pricks of light.  The Sal’nash would not go quietly to the slaughter and massive blasts of blue plasma hurtled towards Allison’s armada.  Then space lit up once again as starfighters engaged the Sal’nash drones between the clashing titans.


    The Agamemnon was a big target and shook with repeated direct hits.  Allison was pretty confident in its Mark X shield and Mark X armor.  She was very worried about the rest of the fleet, especially the older ships she had held in reserve.  All she could do now was depend on the people who were under her command to do their duty.


    The hum of the Agamemnon’s main gun charging sent vibrations through the ship.  Allison imagined little white particles flashing into existence in the massive barrel as it gathered the energy to dish out another blast of pure destruction.  The flash was blinding on the battle map when the weapon fired again.  A super hive had been targeted, this time the beam was straight through the core of the hive, bow to stern.  The massive hive disintegrated under the withering beam.  Allison would have been gleeful at the success of the Agamemnon’s main gun but her joy was countered by the incoming reports of ship losses.


    Allison, Nutina, the Grand Eminence and Fleet Admiral were all occupied directing ships to fill the void left by disabled or destroyed armada ships.  Allison looked up at the battle and noticed a Super Hive angling for a collision course with her flagship as the Agamemnon obliterated yet another Super Hive.  She did a fleet wide.


    “All ships target the super hive in sector 4-5-2!  Fire Everything!  It is trying to ram the Agamemnon!”


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    She reached out to the captain of the Agamemnon.


    “Admiral Chiang a super hive is trying to ram us.  Please don’t let it.”


    The Agamemnon’s massive size gave it a huge firepower advantage, unfortunately it also gave it a tremendous amount of inertia.  The super hive had already been shedding parts of itself before it had started its approach.  The nanites were killing it, apparently the Queen had decided if she was going down, she was taking someone with her.  Missiles, railgun rounds, and energy blasts tore through the already dead super hive.  Chunks of super dense chitin were being blasted off it.  Plasma fires were burning all over its hull.


    It was not enough.  Even dead the super hive had enough momentum from its remaining mass to smash through the Agamemnon’s shields which buckled and then into her bow.  It looked like it was happening in slow motion but with something as massive as a super hive it didn’t have to be going fast to have a lot of force behind it.  The four leaders were tossed to the ground.  The Fleet Admiral hit her head on the C&C table and was knocked unconscious.  Allison groaned and picked herself up.  Her armor had spared her the brunt of the hit.  She offered the Grand Eminence her hand.  He was not a young dragon.  He took it and she pulled him up.  Nutina was checking the fleet admiral and waved Allison away when she looked like she might join her.  Power had been disrupted by the massive hit.  Emergency lights were flickering on casting everything in a dim red glow.


    “I’ll get her help.  The fleet needs you.”


    Allison looked at all the black consoles.


    “With what? We’re dead in space.”


    Allison’s AR HUD was disrupted.  She swore under her breath as she realized what was happening.


    “Shields are down, the disruption field is affecting us.”


    She looked around.  Allison’s time with Queen Aryna had helped her develop her mental barriers enough that she could protect herself, but none of the other humans were showing any of the signs.


    “Something’s off.”


    Nutina was kneeling beside the fleet admiral so had to look up to see Allison.


    “What do you mean?”


    Allison motioned to the various officers who were picking themselves up and helping to check each other for injuries.


    “They should be unconscious.  The signal is literally tailor made to disable humans and our technology, but no one is holding their head… It is disrupting the technology though.”


    Allison gave up trying to figure it out.


    “It doesn’t matter, with the shields down, we’re dead in space until those super hives die.”


    The Grand Eminence stood tall even though one of his wings hung limply.


    “Our fleet will triumph.  We can trust our captains.”


    Allison shook her head.


    “No, we’re not out of this.”


    She separated her armors seem and pulled a flat device from her boob pocket she pressed a button on the device and grabbed the two Silwrath by the arm.  They appeared in the transporter room of the Phoenix.  Callum rushed around and kneeled down beside the Fleet Admiral.


    “Go on Lassie, I’ll get that blue dragon lady down here.”


    Allison looked up at the Grand Eminence.


    “You should stay and get yourself looked at you took a big hit and you’re not a young Silwrath anymore.”


    The Grand Eminence looked almost insulted.  Nutina laughed.


    “She just called you an old man.  You are getting a bit dull in the scales.  Eminence.”


    Allison looked at Nutina.


    “Go to C&C and coordinate the armada I need to go to the bridge.”


    Nutina and the Grand Eminence looked at Allison, the Grand Eminence spoke first.


    “Let your crew do their duty, you should be in command of the armada.”


    Allison shook her head.


    “The Phoenix only had a skeleton crew assigned.  The rest are on the Agammemnon to fill in the stations.  It wasn’t supposed to be in the battle.  It was my failsafe.  If we lost the armada the six of them were supposed to drop a Cataclysm bomb and supernova the main sequence star.  With the Agammemnon incapacitated, we need to transfer the flag here.  They’ll need me on the bridge to pilot.  Grand Eminence once you get patched up, I need you on the bridge too, you do remember how to man a duty station right?”


    He laughed and then winced.  He held his side.  Futara came rushing in with a medical kit.  Allison pointed at the Fleet Admiral.


    “Her last, I need the Grand Eminence patched up first.  We need the Fleet Admiral awake ASAP.  I’ll be on the bridge.  The armada needs to know I’m alive.”


    Allison rushed towards the bridge.  No one was sitting in the captain’s chair.  R’sslv was at the helm.  Wesva was at the science station.  The pair jumped when Allison spoke.


    “R’sslv man comms.  I need you to link to the armada wide command net.”


    Allison slid into the helm seat.  R’sslv spoke a few moments later.


    “We’re on the command net, ma’am.  I’ve patched the comm to your holo-phone.”


    Allison tapped the new button that had appeared on her AR HUD.


    “This is Battlelord Wanjala.  We have transferred the flag to the Phoenix.  We can still win this keep fighting.”


    She tapped the armada comm net button again and spoke to R’sslv.


    “Please man the weapons station please.  We need to help with those super hives.”


    The Sauroid moved to the weapons station.


    “Wesva, raise shields please.”


    Allison slid her hands up on the control that said Go.  The Phoenix pulled away from the star’s sensor shadow in which it had been hiding under cloak.  Allison lined up for a firing solution on the closest super hive.  There were only two left.  The rest had either been destroyed by the Agamemnon’s main gun or had started to disintegrate from a combination of concentrated fire and the nanites doing their job.


    “Six down, two to go.  R’sslv target the closest super hive with the main gun.”


    She focused on the section of the ship she wanted targeted with her AR HUD then swept it to the view screen.


    “There I’ll hold it steady; Just press down the biggest button in the center, keep it held down you’ll eventually drain the capacitors don’t worry about breaking something.”


    The Phoenix was unnoticed by the Sal’nash, the star was still blinding optical sensors and most scanners.  As soon as they fired, they would make themselves a target .


    “Just press the button.”


    The light was blinding from the helm station as the main cannon fired.  When they weren’t channeling all the required power into the main gun the only way to do serious damage was to hold it on the target then it was like a laser drill.  Allison kept the ship steady as they flew closer.  If they were being targeted this would be categorically stupid.


    “Punch through damn it!  There can’t be that much hull left.”


    The beam was starting to flicker as the capacitors ran out of stored energy.  Finally, there was a flash and the beam slammed into the interior.  Allison cheered.  The main gun went dark.  R’sslv spoke.


    “It is power cycling… do I do anything?”


    Allison shook her head.


    “No.”


    The super hive started to list to the side.  She looked at the last one on the field.  It still seemed to have most of its weapons and was using them to devastating effect.


    “Brace for impact we’re the only ship on this side of the battle.  Wesva kill life support to all non-essential areas use the power to reinforce our shields.  Open bulkheads and activate life support areas as it is required by people.”


    Wesva’s supple fingers danced across her console.


    “Aye, ma’am.”


    The bridge hatch opened, and the Grand Eminence entered.


    “R’sslv man the comm station.”


    The ancient red Silwrath looked down at the weapons console and he smiled, showing his still very sharp teeth.


    “It’s been a minute but…”


    He pressed a button and the phalanx defense cannons started to autotarget the incoming plasma blasts from the various hive ships that had decided the Phoenix needed to die.  Allison smiled and maneuvered the Phoenix for another attack run.  This time she was lining up for the last remaining super hive.  It was heavily damaged, but the Queen was obviously still alive because the plasma blasts were organized and focusing on one ship at a time.


    “I’ll make it easy for you once the main gun capacitor is fully charged, press the big button and hold it.”


    Allison weaved the nimble Phoenix through plasma blasts expertly.  Any that got close were destabilized by their phalanx system, so they caused very low energy impacts, if they reached the ship at all.  The problem was they were barely holding the blasts off.  Once she had to keep the main gun focused on a target, she would no longer be able to dodge incoming projectiles.  The Grand Eminence spoke.


    “You’re intending to fly in a straight line, and just let them hit us with their weapons fire?”


    Allison shrugged.


    “Yeah.”


    The Grand Eminence adjusted something on the weapons station.


    “Remind me to assign you some remedial helm simulation hours, Battlelord.  We have full charge.”


    Allison snickered and lined their ship up with where the Queen should be in the super hive’s core.


    “Now really brace for impact, fire.”


    Allison kept the Phoenix steady as it was pelted with the massive blasts of plasma being hurled at it by the hive ships.  Wesva spoke.


    “Port shield facing is down.  Compensating.”


    Thankfully this super hive’s hull was much weaker than the last’s and the red beam punched through it quickly.  The plasma launchers went silent.  Allison quickly shifted the Phoenix’s trajectory to avoid a collision with the now dead super hive.  She grazed it with the Phoenix’s port side there was a terrible grinding sound.  It sounded worse than it was, damage was minimal.  She shook her head.


    “I don’t understand.  None of these Queens should have survived Broadsword’s attack, they all seemed too.”


    She continued bringing the Phoenix around to bring her forward batteries to bear on the remaining hive ships.  She reached up and touched the armada comm link on her AR HUD.


    “The Queens are all dead.  All reserve ships engage, fire at will.  Let’s finish this.”


    With those words the battle turned in favor of the allied forces.  With their Queens dead the Sal’nash Hives were islands divided.  Allison’s armada on the other hand was coordinated and focusing their fire.  Allison sensed the Fleet Admiral’s hand in the armada’s well organized response.  Futara walked onto the bridge.


    “Where do you need me, Battlelord?”


    Allison pointed at the ops station.


    “Do what you can to help Wesva with keeping our shields powered.”


    The blue Silwrath sat down at the indicated station and started familiarizing herself with the control layout.  Allison saw the Agammemnon trying to free itself from the decaying super hive.  She moved to assist.


    “Grand Eminence, lets see if we can cut the super hive away from the Agammemnon.  Her main gun is probably a lost cause but at least we can use her turrets for fire support.  R’sslv, get me on with Admiral Chiang.”


    The admiral appeared on the screen, his arm was in a sling and his bridge was damaged but he looked like he was still in the fight.


    “Battlelord, when we didn’t hear from C&C we thought you were out of commission.  I’m glad to see we were wrong.  We’re awaiting your orders if we can dislodge this blasted kamikaze super hive.”


    Allison smiled.


    “We’re going to try and help you with that.  We’re going to use the Phoenix’s secondary weapons to cut you free.  So, sit still this will only hurt a bit.”


    Allison evaded a few plasma blasts as they approached the tangled ships.  The Grand Eminence skillfully used the secondary beam projectors to slice the already weakened hull of the super hive.  The Agamemnon shifted away from the remnants of the super hive.  Its shield flickered into existence and its secondary batteries started unleashing death on the remaining hive ships.  Allison did something she probably shouldn’t have.  She breathed a sigh of relief.  Wesva spoke.


    “Ma’am, I am detecting compressed gravity waves in the star system.”


    Allison’s eyes went wide she’d read enough of Hathor’s report to know exactly what that meant.  She hit her armada comm link.


    “All ships not shielded from the Sal’nash signal retreat!”