Captain Lukic of the United Intergalactic Front orders his lieutenant to initiate the ship’s cloaking and stealth device. He successfully brings his ship, the UIFS Veton through a galactic worm hole to the Vindar Galaxy in an effort to escape the wrath of the pursuing Hexan forces. It has been seven years since his last battle against the Hexans yet nervous sweat still flows down his scarred cheeks whenever he thinks of them. Captain Lukic recalls his first encounter with the Hexans when he was only a starboard gunner for the UIF’s flagship, the UIFS Exona.
The year was 3089 A.D. and the UIF was victorious over the Selduvians. There was no opportunity to celebrate UIF’s final victory then nor was there a chance to plunder for war booty in the Selduvian sector of space. The Hexans observed the war against the Selduvians for decades; analyzing weaknesses and strengths of both sides, waiting for the optimal opportunity to strike. When the Hexans finally did strike against the UIF after the final battle in the central universal zone, it was devastating. UIF forces were caught by surprise and stood no chance in such a weakened state after a major battle. The flagship, UIFS Exona was destroyed and her surviving crew was picked up by sister ships. The remaining central universal fleet of the UIF was forced to escape to different parts of the known universes while those who retreated early managed to plot a course to Earth where the UIF’s defenses were the strongest.
After a successful first strike, the Hexans were regrouping for their assault on Earth’s defenses. This is by no means an easy feat, even for the far advanced Hexans and might take them a decade or two to muster an overwhelming invasion force. Meanwhile, fleets of deep space Hexan destroyers were sent out to seek and destroy escaping UIF ships that chartered their course to destinations besides Earth, in case the UIF decide to attack the Hexan’s from behind. Captain Lukic’s ship, now in Vindar Galaxy is a target.
Captain Lukic knows the Hexans are not from any of the known universes and they were ceremoniously mentioned in Selduvian legends as far more advanced beings than any other that will come to challenge any race for supremacy of the cosmos. Apart from their translucent disposition, they were essentially humans, much like Captain Lukic and his crew, and the Selduvians as well. This fact makes Captain Lukic ponder on how humans since recorded history has never ceased to fight one another as great civilizations collide. Now deep in outer space, the situation is much the same as it was thousands of years ago on earth but just played out in the vast depth of space today.
All of a sudden, an illuminant wide blue layer of intense light passed above the control bridge of the UIFS Veton, making Captain Lukic step out from his deep contemplation. The powerful shot originated form a distance far behind the ship. The Hexans are on their trail!
“Battle stations, everybody! Initiate the Force Shield!” said Captain Lukic to his crew. As the UIFS Veton is readied for battle, Captain Lukic sees two enemy ships bleeping on the radar screen, closing in on his location and shouts “Turn starboard to face the enemy!” His ship continues to turn sharply and now he can visually see the profile of the two Hexan ships. They look like two translucent cuttlefish with long tentacles floating majestically in contrast to the darkness of the space, consistent with the form of Hexan deep space destroyers.
More blue fire shots from the long tentacles of the Hexans passes by the UIFS Veton. The enemy has the technology to detect over the UIFS Veton’s stealth system albeit crudely but they still can’t see the target because of the ship’s cloaking device, the most advanced in the known universes to date. Realizing his advantage and the fact that the two Hexan captains arrogantly are not bothering to stealth and cloak their own ships, Captain Lukic sees an opportunity and orders his gunners to target the closest Hexan destroyer. The Hexans must think that the UIFS Veton is one of UIF’s lesser ships, a false assumption that might cost them dearly.
Rays of red hot plasma stream from the UIFS Veton’s deck guns towards the control bridges of both the Hexan destroyers. Captain Lukic knows that only the primary weapon; the Photon Vaporizer of his ship can harm a Hexan destroyer but he is trying to temporarily blind them before his ship is maneuvered into an optimal firing alignment. The Hexans now know UIFS Veton’s location prior to firing its plasma cannons and releases a barrage of pulse energy torpedoes. All of them miss their target but one of the blue star-like energy torpedo hits the back end of UIFS Veton and the ship shakes violently.
The force shield absorbs the grunt of the explosion otherwise Captain Lukic’s ship would have been decimated. “Give me a damage report!” he shouts to his engineers over the intercom. However, Captain Lukic has a more crucial task at hand now rather than to worry too much about his ship’s damaged condition. All he wants to know is whether his ship can still shoot with the Photon Vaporizer. “Damages are marginal and confined to the ship’s rear left-side armor, Captain,” replied the head engineer. That was all Captain Lukic needed to hear. The UIFS Veton is now aligned optimally to fire its primary weapon at the closest Hexan destroyer. Captain Lukic immediately shouts, “Fire!”
The control bridge of the Hexan destroyer is pulsating in deep red hue, warning the enemy captain that a very large amount of energy; too large for his ship’s force shield to withstand is being built up nearby, targeted at his ship. That can only mean one thing; the UIFS Veton is going to fire its primary weapon.
In the tense moment, the enemy captain orders his crew to prepare to teleport to the nearby Hexan destroyer. Consequently, he orders full cloaking of the ship to be initiated but it is too late. A bright white tunnel of destruction from the UIFS Veton’s Photon Vaporizer engulfs the entire Hexan destroyer.
From the control bridge of the UIFS Veton, Captain Lukic sees the elegant display of bright blue colored strands of teleportation capsules leaving the crumbling Hexan destroyer and into the second Hexan ship, like the dance of a thousand tadpoles entering a permeable womb.
Soon enough, the second Hexan destroyer has become invisible, fully cloaking itself while the UIFS Veton was busy destroying the first. Now functioning as an overloaded makeshift hospital vessel, the second Hexon destroyer can no longer play the role of the aggressor in the battle. Both the enemy captains realize that they had dangerously underestimated their opponent and reluctantly decide to retreat from the battle, leaving the Vindar Galaxy. They take one last condescending look at the UIFS Veton before leaving the battle field; now visible and temporarily unable to cloak itself after the mass dissipation of energy used by its Photon Vaporizer.
UIFS Veton continues to blindly probe its nearby coordinates with systematic shots from its plasma cannons for the second Hexan destroyer. In his vain efforts, although to his utmost relief, Captain Lukic realizes that the threat has disappeared, at least for now. He knows he is fortunate to have won the battle, capitalizing on the arrogance of the Hexan captains. UIFS Veton has now fully recharged the Photon Vaporizer and regained stealth and cloaking ability. Captain Lukic takes a deep breath of relief and confirms to his crew, “The Hexans are gone for now.” His entire crew shouts in joy and cheer him. Captain Lukic is emotionally unmoved. He stares into the deep space, teary eyed, contemplating whether he and his crew will be so fortunate again.
