Engaging the Enemy

"Cannons fired," Zen reported.

In the near vacuum of space, the beams of energy leaving the Maelstrom at light-speed were all but invisible, but a fraction of a second later the Coverity glowed white as they all hit it simultaneously. When the glow faded, though, the watchers were able to see that the cruiser appeared to be still in one piece. "Damn!" Kester said. "Their shielding is good." Meanwhile Ogilvy could be heard whimpering.

"Fire photon torpedoes," Astra said.

"Torpedoes fired... Detecting..." What Zen said next was drowned out by the noise of a large explosion, but everyone could guess that he had used words equivalent to "enemy fire incoming". When it was quiet again he added: "Defence field was successfully deployed. Energy reserves are down to 45%. The enemy vessel has been destroyed."

That startled everyone, as when the enemy weapon(s) hit they had all been distracted from watching the viewscreen. Returning their attention to it, they saw that there was no longer any sign of the Coverity, not even debris. At this range the size of the pieces must have been too small to be visible. Their torpedoes had evidently hit home.

1. "Damage report," Astra commanded.

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