Har-Ky-Lon ordered his helmsman to bring the Tiger Shark to a stop. It took about an hour to get his crew transferred to his new ship and for the past hour he had been putting the Tiger Shark through a series of tests. In the mean time, the rescued crew of the Tyronar 23 had taken command of his old frigate. The Tiger Shark was faster, carried more armor, and packed a deadlier arsenal then the Hammerhead frigate he was used to. So far, Har-Ky-Lon was impressed.

Captain Tur-Si-Lok interrupted his train of thought, “So Captain, do you have a name for your new ship yet?”

“A Name? That seems a little against Heragul protocol.”

“Not Really,” Tur-Si-Lok continued, “ In ancient times before the bureaucracy of the Empire, captains were free to name their ships. Even fighter pilots gave their craft unique names. Also, for all we know at this point, we could be the Heragul Empire.”

“Fair enough. How about something that implies a new start? “ Har-Ky-Lon thought for a few minutes, “How about ‘Wings of the Dawn’.”

“Sounds Good,” Captain Tur-Si-Lok switched to a fleet wide signal, “In just a moment I will broadcast a fleet wide signal to all surviving Heragul ships in the Tyronna system to meet us in orbit and prepare to jump to the Silex system. It will take around thirty minutes to reach the far corners of the system and I’m sure we can expect a Surakari response as well.”

Captain Tur-Si-Lok sent the broadcast and his fleet began the journey through the debris field and towards the jump point. Twenty minutes passed before anyone responded. When a warship jumps into a system it emits a series of gravitational waves. Measuring these waves allows anyone to know how many ships have arrived and a pretty good estimate to their mass.

Har-Ky-Lon’s sensor officer reported, “One ship has arrived in orbit. Its around three times the mass of the Tyronar One and its not broadcasting a Heragul signal.

“Captain Tur-Si-Lok, are you reading this as well?” Har-Ky-Lon questioned.

“We sure are,” Tur-Si-Lok responded, “I’m sending you a navigation route. Following it should give you a clear view of the intruder but minimize your chances of being detected.”

“Understood.”

A few moments passed and the Wings of the Dawn broke off from the group and followed the indicated path. After a few minutes, the invader came into clear view of Har-Ky-Lon’s sensors. It was a massive ship and it was definitely Surakari. The dead give away was the dozens of interceptors it was launching.

“We’ve seen enough. Take us back to the fleet,” Har-Ky-Lon ordered.

As the Wings of the Dawn closed in with the fleet, Har-Ky-Lon sent the following message, “The Surakari vessel is a fighter carrier. We’ve got well over a hundred Interceptors Inbound!”

The Tyronar One kept leading the fleet to the jump point as the fringes of sensor range began to fill with Surakari interceptors. Her battery of arc cannons locked onto the nearest set of targets and sprung to life. The rotating barrels spat burning hot shells at terrifying velocity and range. Any Interceptors caught in the firing line simply disintegrated. As soon as the enemy fighters got close up, the frigates joined in the defense with their fire spreads. Interceptor after interceptor fell to the torrents of fire, but enough got through to launch strikes on the fleet’s critical systems.

An explosion blossomed from Tyronar 22’s engines. The resulting fire consumed precious fuel and atmosphere. Surakari Interceptors continued to pick at the wound, threatening to do even more damage.

“Alright fleet, we need five more minutes. Hold together!” Tur-Si-Lok ordered.

The Tyronar One’s sensor officer looked back at her Captain, “Another contact jumping in straight ahead. It’s a destroyer class.”

To be Continued…..