It was Saturday 21st March 2623, the crews of the fleet was on watch for the 'Large Dreadnought'; after eight days of looking for the vessel some of the crew were starting to think that it was a waste of time, Admiral Smith was on the bridge and ordered his guns to scan the horizon; they saw nothing. It was 1017 hours in the morning, the fleet was in line a stern formation with HMS Lake Superior at the rear and HMS Liberator at the front leading with USS Wichita behind and the QBS Claidheamh Brus third in the formation; with no other reports of any merchant ships being attacked or sunk Admiral Smith was starting to suspect that the ship was here "It's here I can feel it, it's somewhere on this ocean" he thought to himself, he sat in his chair to catch up on some sleep.
A couple of hours went by until a voice yelled "SMOKE, SMOKE RED 106, SMOKE RED 106" Admiral Smith leaped out from his seat and quickly looked through his telescope towards the direction of the smoke; "could it be the enemy, I'm not sure" Admiral Smith thought to himself "make to Lake Superior and Claidheamh Brus, investigate smoke red 106" he ordered, both ships detached from the formation and headed of to investigate, meanwhile on board the Wichita, they too were looking in the direction of the spotted smoke "so what do you think guys?" asked Commodore William, no one on the bridge answered "Well we'll have to wait and see" he replied.
Meanwhile on the Lake Superior, Captain Watson was looking through her binoculars as her ship and the Claidheamh Brus continued on their present course, she began to see the shape of a ship become more clear, she then adjusted the magnifier of her binoculars and she started to see a turret and the superstructure of the ship and then the ship came into full view; "BUGLAR, SOUND OFF ACTION STATIONS FOLLOWED BY THE DOUBLE, HOIST BATTLE ENSIGNS, MAKE TO THE ADMIRAL; FLAG FLY, ENEMY INSIGHT".
Meanwhile on board the Liberator, Admiral Smith was looking through his telescope as the enemy vessel was becoming more clear; "three triple barrel gun turrets, tall superstructure, about 12 dual-purpose secondary guns and 57 AA guns" he thought to himself as he quickly grabbed his guide book called 'Battleships of The Universe' this included some of the Zetan ships, he got to a certain page and swiftly examined the image of the vessel, he then looked through his telescope again in the direction of the enemy ship at that moment Millie started speaking "LAKE SUPERIOR AND CLAIDHEAMH BRUS ARE SIGNALLING SIR", a quiet and anxious silent pause filled the room in seconds, then Millie shouted out "FLAG FLYING, ENEMY INSIGHT, ENEMY INSIGHT"; Admiral Smith quickly reacted "HOIST BATTLE ENGINS, SOUND OFF ACTION STATIONS ON THE DOUDLE, MAKE TO THE WICHITA, SPEED 27 KNOTS, PLOT INTERCEPT COURSE OF THE ENEMY"; Admiral Smith knew what his fleet was up against... the Super Dreadnought, 'Emperor Barbarossa the Great' 874 ft long with a width of 252 ft it was the largest ship that Admiral Smith had ever seen, armed with three 20inch triple barrel turrets, 12 7inch double barrel dual-purpose guns and 57 AA guns including flak guns; this made her a formidable opponent, but Admiral Smith wasn't fazed by this, he had a plan to split the enemy gunfire.
Meanwhile on board HMS Lake Superior, Captain Watson was keeping the enemy ship within her sights, "once we're in range we'll open fire with all we have", but the enemy had other ideas as a few seconds later the Emperor Barbarossa the Great opened fire with her forward turret; Captain Watson was looking through her binoculars "Brace yourselves everyone, she's just fired her first move", she said as the enemy ships' shells fly overhead and plunged into the sea 400 yards away from the Lake Superior, a few moments later HMS Lake Superior and the Claidheamh Brus opened fire against the enemy vessel, their shells fall short of the target.
Meanwhile on board HMS Liberator, Admiral Smith kept his stare on the enemy ship with his telescope; "we've got to split her fire, turn 40 degrees to starboard, once we're in range we'll open up with a full broadside" he said as the enemy vessel fired her rear guns; "looks like she's made her first move" replied Admiral Smith. Just then Commander Safire began to speak "range is 19000 yards sir!"; Admiral Smith nodded in acknowledgement, as the enemy shells fly over HMS Liberator; a few seconds later and the ringing of a bell sounded throughout the ship, then the guns of HMS Liberator fired her first salvo against the enemy ship, 10 seconds later, USS Wichita opened fire in which her shells fall 200 yards short of the enemy ship.
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The Space Liberators
Science FictionWith a new threat on the horizon, leaders of earth send out the Battleship HMS Liberator to look for allies to join them on the quest to defeat the Great Dictator of Zeta Pictoris, Dolan Litmah; and the Grand Imperial Inter-Galactic Empire.
