NOVEL NEXT Chapter 109: Chapter 109
---3rd Person POV, Three Hours Later---
Regrouping in the lounge, after a few hours of training, the five women sat down at a table and stared at their smoothies. Having gone into this hoping they would rank at least middle of the road, when they started the beginner courses, they quickly realized how out of touch they were with reality. Having assumed that their experience piloting airships would help, Angelica, Clarice, and Deirdre very quickly realized that the two types of vessels were vastly different from one another.
"So uh…how did everyone do?", Angelica inquired, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"Well…I had the system mirror Victor's settings because he makes it look so easy. Let me just say, I had no idea Victor was constantly monitoring all that information at once. There are no dials on the captain's console so I never realized it, he must have all the information streaming to his helmet.", Deirdre remarked, with a pale expression, "There is just so much data to process, and you must do it in real time or risk blowing up the ship. It took me two hours just to begin piloting the ship without it blowing up mid-flight!"
"I know what you mean, I just got my ship out of dock in the last thirty minutes of training…", Clarice groaned, "Ugh, it is so frustrating!! All of us want to be of use to Victor, but all we are doing is dragging him down. I do not want to be just a housewife; I want to be an equal partner with Victor!"
"At least you guys got your ships out of port…", Aela and Olivia muttered, looking utterly devastated, "We gave up after two hours of being unable to turn on the engines properly."
Realizing how badly the two of them did, the group became silent once again. Unsure how to proceed from here, everyone began to wonder what they should do now. Wondering if they should leave operations to the crew and focus on ship to ship combat, they immediately push that thought aside as it was effectively giving up and that was unacceptable to them.
"By all means, please do.", Clarice acknowledged.
"Work as a team?", Olivia repeated, taking a moment to think things over, "You mean like the bridge crew?"
Taking a moment to consider her suggestion, the five women lifted their heads and looked at one another. Seeing where Cleare was coming from, a wave of embarrassment washed over them for not seeing that answer sooner. Having been so focused on mimicking him, they failed to acknowledge that they could never hope to achieve it on their own. To be his equal, they had to each pull their weight and rise to the occasion together. Quickly finishing their smoothies, the five of them returned to the training room with a new goal in mind, specialize in one specific aspect of managing the ship.
---Neighboring Sector, Next Day---
Having spent the rest of the day gleaning as much information as they could from the simulations, the five women were eager to put what they learned to the test. Dividing up the various tasks between themselves, Aela manned Yamato's weapon systems, Angelica took control of communications, Clarice oversaw the sensor-arrays, Deirdre was at the helm of the ship, and Olivia monitored defenses and shielding. Asking Cleare and Yamato to support them individually, as they were still learning the ropes, the two AI were more than happy to assist them.
Getting into position near a popular trading route, Deirdre put them in orbit over a barren moon and waited for Angelica or Clarice to pick up signs of enemy ships. Not having to wait very long, Angelica began receiving a distress signal from a nearby merchant vessel. Calling for immediate assistance, as they were under attack from twelve pirate ships, the captain stated the enemy had disabled their engines and were bombarding their shielding.
"If anyone is hearing this, our shields are nearly depleted! Please respond immediately!", the captain announced.
"This is the Star Battleship Yamato, we have received your distress signal and are moving in to render assistance.", Angelica replied, as she sent the coordinates they were broadcasting to Deirdre, "Please standby."
"Thank the gods someone received our…wait, the Star Battleship Yamato?!", the captain shouted, relief dripping from his voice, "Did you hear that boys, the infamous pirate hunters are coming to help us!!"
Hearing the cheers of his crew in the background, the five of them could not help but smile under their helmets. Asking Yamato to enter the coordinates into the Folding Drive and engage the engine immediately, Deirdre watched how the AI did it so she could do it in the future. Making the jump to their location immediately, the moment Yamato's bow began poking out of the wormhole, Aela locked onto the pirate vessels. Aiming for their engines immediately, she succeeded in disabling nine of them before the rest of the fleet began to flee.
"You are not getting away from me!", Deirdre shouted, engaging the Impulse Engines the moment they were clear of the wormhole.
Chasing after the fleeing ships, Deirdre did her best to keep the ship stable while Aela bombarded the pirates. Returning fire in a vain attempt to shake them off, Olivia confirmed that the shielding was barely registering the impacts.
"Clarice are there any worlds or ships in the direction of our current heading?", Aela inquired.
"Checking now…", Clarice answered, looking at the star charts and sensor array, "No, we are clear for at least ten thousand light years!"
"Perfect!", Aela cackled, pressing a button on her screen, "Charging the Charged Particle Cannon!!"
"Opps…", Aela replied, with an embarrassed look, "Now then…charging the Charged Particle Cannon! Line us up, Deirdre!"
Getting Yamato lined up for the shot, as soon as all three ships were in her crosshairs, Aela pulled the trigger and fired the deadly weapon. Cutting through the armor, hull, and shielding like they were not even there, the three pirate ships violently exploded killing all those onboard instantly. Raising her fist victoriously in the air, Aela let out a cheer of success and victory. Quickly retrieving the cargo and holotapes from the wreckage, Deirdre turned them around to finish their job.
"Attention combat units, we need nine boarding parties ready to seize control of the remaining pirate ships. Do not take any prisoners, kill all enemies you see on sight!", Angelica ordered, using the intercom to alert their troops.
"The ships are locking onto us!", Clarice announced, as the warning popped up on her screen.
"Taking out their shielding now.", Aela stated, firing Shield Saturation Torpedoes on the vessels.
Waiting for their shielding to drop, Olivia used Yamato's heavy laser cannons and railguns to decimate the enemy's defensive and offensive weapons. Leaving the pirates at their mercy, Olivia looked over at the others with a smile.
"We are all clear now.", Olivia announced, with a thumbs up, "Time to send our guys in!"
Teleporting the boarding parties aboard the pirate ships, once they were ready, they effortlessly slaughtered most of the pirates in a matter of minutes. Attacking their troops with the equivalent of sticks and stones, the women watched their soldiers crush the pirates without a shred of mercy. As they began systematically clearing the ship, one of the parties found several hostages in holding cells.
"Who…who are you people?", one of the female prisoners inquired, hiding their naked body to the best of their abilities.
"We are soldiers in the service of Supreme Commander Victor von Stark.", the party leader answered, radioing back to the ship for guidance, "We have located several prisoners aboard this ship. Please advise how you would like us to proceed."
"Free them and send Yamato your exact coordinates. We will have medical teams ready to receive them.", Angelica answered, "They can stay with us till we return to the Artemis Space Station."
"Understood, freeing the hostages and sending over coordinates now.", the leader acknowledged.
Punching a hole through the electronic control panel and ripping out the wiring, the barrier keeping them locked up vanished. Sending the coordinates over as they were told, the hostages began to cry with joy and relief. Thanking the soldiers several times, before Yamato teleported them away, the soldiers resumed quickly resumed their duties.