Altiris Knights:The Fall

Chapter 9:Critical Defense

A month had passed since Irma, Reaza, Rokal, Akron, Erean, Lintra and Qirzan departed for Laakeir. Uriak fleets and battle groups had been deployed, constantly attacking different locations, keeping the allies spread thin. With heavy casualties, all attacks had been repelled.

Three fleets gathered over the Helkaites industrial world of Sarzan.

And then, the uriaks came. Around 200 cruisers and 2,200 star fighters engaged with the 94 battleships, cruisers, destroyers and dreadnoughts, along with 45 frigates and corvettes, and around 1300 star fighters.

The 29 Republic, Helkaites, Kryva and Alliance dreadnoughts took the forward positions, while the cruisers and destroyers protected the flanks, and the frigates and corvettes, along with a portion of their star fighters, took care of any enemy fighters that broke through the front defense. The heavy capital ships unloaded volleys of concentrated fire on the uriak cruisers, decimating a few of them with their opening salvos. The uriaks responded in kind, dealing heavy damage to the allies. The remains of several corvettes, frigates and a battleship floated through space, along with those of several dozen star fighters.

Uriak boarding crafts streamed toward the flagship, escorted by swarms of fighters and smaller capital ships. Helkaites, Kryva and Alliance vessels swarmed them, destroying swaths of their inferior counterparts, but the enemy's sheer numbers allowed them to stave off the attacks, and keep many of their boarding crafts safe.

The first boarding crafts connected. A few more were destroyed, but the rest made it, and unloaded the troops, commanded by the same Uriak Reapers that had attacked Vanraael earlier.

Arlen, Allura, Loeras, Elana, Kirtan, Kaira and Olsur met them in the hangar, and the allied soldiers and vehicles unleashed volleys of fire on the uriaks. The Reapers blocked their attacks with their strange power, and killed many soldiers. They engaged the allied Knights, eager to end them all.

Arlen cut down several uriaks, and blocked a burst of green energy with a shield of light. He retaliated with lightning, which his foe blocked with its scythe. The Helkaites Knight attacked with his energy sword, unleashing flurries of strikes on the Reaper. His foe held its ground, however, leaving the two at an impasse.

Elana ducked under the green wave and cut her foe in half. As the Reaper started reforming, she enveloped it with fire, burning it into nothing. A scythe impaled her through the back, and a blast of green energy floored her. As she desperately clung on to life, a sudden relief came. The uriak's electrified corpse collapsed beside her, and light streamed into her wounds, numbing the burning pain to a dull ache.

Kaira and Olsur pummeled their foe with dark energy and lightning, suppressing its powers. Kaira burned through its arm with a dark energy wave, and Olsur's lightning electrified its sword arm, leaving it open to Kaira's energy sword. The purple blade severed the creature's neck, and a combination of dark energy and lightning fully disabled it.

Kirtan, Allura and Loeras cut down a few more Reapers, landing strikes precisely to their hearts, removing the need to burn their bodies. By then, Arlen had finished off his Reaper, though he himself sustained several wounds, which he managed to heal with light wielding.

Meanwhile, the allies fleet had taken severe casualties, but so had the uriaks. Only 110 of their cruisers survived, along with just over 1500 fighters now faced 68 large allied capital ships, 30 combined frigates and corvettes, and 870 star fighters. Soon, the aliens broke formations, and retreated, through not before taking another two warships with them.

...

A Kryva dreadnought moved some distance away from the rest of the allied fleet, watched closely by several hundred fighters and smaller capital ships, to investigate a strange signal.

"There is nothing. But keep them in space just in case-

A massive uriak armada emerged from lightspeed, surrounding the dreadnought. The 300 fighters and 5 other capital ships moved in to reinforce the vessel, blowing several uriak cruisers into nothing. With the exception of a small group staying to guard Sarzan, the rest of the allied fleet joined them shortly.

Once more, the uriak Reapers attacked the allied Knights. This time, the Knights were severely outnumbered. And it showed.

6 of the Reapers and a squad of regular soldiers surrounded Allura. The Altiris Knight blocked their attacks with ice shields, and sent the shards back at them, taking down one of the Reapers, and 7 soldiers. She intercepted several strikes with her staff, and released water creatures, which finished off the remaining soldiers, and took down another Reaper, before they were all destroyed by the other four.

Allura made no more attempts to summon water creatures, saving her energy. The four Reapers converged on her, showering her with volleys of green energy projectiles, and flurries of sword attacks. Allura blocked most attacks with her staff, and evaded the rest. She unleashed a water wave, staggering two of the Reapers, and froze the floor under the other two. She separated the most injured, and unleashed her own offensive, frequently turning her attention to the others, keeping them occupied.

Despite its grievous injuries, the Reaper held its ground. Its body regenerated, forcing her to aim for one target exclusively. Allura pummeled it with ice spikes, distracting it, and swept it from its feet. She pinned it to the floor, and brought her staff down on its chest, enhancing her blow with water energy. The first strikes bounced off the natural armor, but the next one broke through, and slammed into the heart, completely flattening it. The Reaper let out a gasp, and then was still.

The other three Reapers swarmed her, their swords barely missing her as she leapt into the air at the last second. The Altiris Knight pelted them with ice shards, though their natural armor preventing any from getting to the heart. They struck back, penetrating her defenses, sending her to her back. Before they could pin her, Allura sprang back up to her feet, and hurled her staff at them, knocking all three back. She lashed out with water whips, throwing two of them back, and trapped the other. She went around its back and impaled it with an ice spear. The Reaper convulsed once, and collapsed, never to rise again.

Allura retrieved her staff, and faced the remaining two. In her exhausted state, however, she was no longer able to maintain her offensive, and, slowly but surely, her injuries and the consistent pressure from the two Reapers took their toll. Her broken body fell to the floor, and remained still.

Kirtan and Loeras struck the Reapers with their powers, swiftly pushing them back. Loeras's mind wielding suppressed their powers, and Kirtan exploited their vulnerability. The Knights separated them, and pummeled them into submission. The natural armor deflected a glancing blow of Kirtan's energy sword, but the next strike sliced the creature in two. Loeras dealt with the other in a similar manner.

The battle in space was going poorly. Only 45 combined capital ships and some 520 fighters were left. The ring of uriak ships closed around the allies, and the defenses swiftly crumbled. The battle was lost.

Then, something distracted the uriaks. Volleys of golden plasma bolts coming from a single point destroyed numerous ships. The uriak vessels were no match for the heavy weapons of the Jorna Octagon. The battle station decimated over a half of the remaining armada within a few minutes. The remainder of the allied fleet struck the enemy from the back, leaving just over several dozen capital ships, and around 600 fighters. The uriaks immediately retreated, though not before a few more of them were destroyed. Relief dissipated the tension, as the threat had been thwarted. This defense had been a crucial success.