Old Guard, version 2 Written by David M. "DaMiT" Turover The assualt on the star system Jornak has lasted for two months. The last six weeks of this has mostly been a standoff, the invaders having taken heavy losses destroying two defense posts, and the defenders too ragged and worn to mount a counteroffensive. Events have now occured that will bring closure to this battle. The tides of the war are turning, and the invaders of Jornak have become defenders of their own star systems. One of the colonies on Jornak's third world contains an industrial center that, before the siege, had been no small help for the war effort, but has run out of production materiels. Pressure is on the invading admiral to retreat and regroup with the other fleets, to defend the homeworlds. On the one hand, additional ships are needed badly. On the other, leaving means that Jornak will be resupplied and again become a strong production center for the enemy. Desperate times take to desperate measures, and it is certainly a desperate time for the invaders. As their fleet moves to assualt the final space station defending Jornak 3, the defenders are shocked to see that much of the attack force consists of unarmed craft! Indeed, they are attacking with /everything/; Even expensive carriers are lined up in the attack formation. The noncom ships are being used as a shield to distract the defenders from the craft which can deal damage, and even the few PDPBs on a racker are a little extra power that can make the difference between victory and total defeat. The meaning of victory for the invaders is not lost on the citizens of the Jornak colonies. Even if the planet is lost, the attackers will not have enough power to hold it long, what power they will have left is direly needed elsewhere, and they cannot allow the production facilities to fall back safely into enemy hands. Several of the colonists on the planet are ex-pilots, veterans of the last war fifteen years ago. Several of these became wealthy from building the planet's industrial infrastructure. Many have purchased their old surplus Starfighters from the war as personal transport craft, or simply keepsakes to have around. The care and maintenance of these old tugs has sprang up a small industry of mechanics that have years of experience working with and tweaking the fighters, designing and building building better engines, stronger maneuvering jets, and more powerful power systems. One of these ex-pilots was a man by the name of Mazon, who owned a corporation that originally built mining and construction materiels, but since the latest war started the factories retooled to produce Shrikes and the weapons they were built around. Shortly before the planet was invaded, an intelligence operative appeared on planet to personally hand-deliver documents directly to him. These turned out to be plans for a new main cannon for the Shrike, the Bolt Cannon - An energy weapon that drains power from the ship's internal systems for an energy source, and without needing ammunition could fire near infinite times compared to standard guns. Mazon ordered his factories re-retooled, to produce these new Bolt Cannons in plenty. However, disaster struck when the system was invaded, and an incoming shipment of refined ore was annihilated. With the ore that was in his warehouses, he could produce at most three Shrikes. As the days wore on, it became apparent that the invading force was not leaving any time soon, and there would be no incoming shipments for the forseeable future. The activation of a particle stream cannon ground battery was a cause for celebration throughout the inhabited regions of the world. Mazon's company being behind the contruction and installation, he was there to witness the test first hand. The foreman had fallen ill during construction, and it was his last request that the test be carried out against the foreman's own personal Starfighter. The old fighter soared across the sky miles above the post, ground cameras zooming in on its shape for the viewscreens of those watching around the world. A hum filled the air as the cannon charged, then a deafening roar as the beam of energy burst forth from the weapon. Shockwaves felled trees and rattled the windows of the observation post, while the flash itself was near-blinding to look into. On the viewscreen, the tongue of destruction lurched towards the gliding Starfighter, catching it full on the stomach. The old war craft's hull glowed red-orange for two seconds, then the beam burst through and continued on into space, fragments of debris all that was left of the once-proud defender of known space. Cheers arose from the observation booth, and champagne was uncorked. The same day, the second space station fell. Things were looking bleaker. The planet was looking at a downfall within days. The Shrikes would not be ready for weeks; Construction had not even begun on the craft themselves. The factories had almost finished retooling for producing Bolt Cannons en masse, but there would be no Shrikes ready until at least a week after the first Bolter rolled off the assembly line. By then, it might be too late. What was needed was something that could help the defence forces *now*. Mazon looked to the night sky. Somewhere out there, two navies were facing off. One fighting to protect him, one fighting to conquer him and in doing so, protect their Mazons on their worlds. He had fought like that once before, many years ago, flying a Starfighter in defence of what were now called the Old Worlds. His thoughts suddenly shifted back to the previous day's test, which had been forgotten with the news of the defeat. Under a destructive power of the kind used to down capships, that old starfighter had lasted two seconds. The next morning, Mazon called his best researchers in for a private meeting with three of the regional capitol's best-known mechanics. By that night, they had drawn up plans for an improvised Bolt Cannon that could fit where the Starfighters mass drivers had been ripped out, and draw power from the engineers' modern power supplies. Mazon sent an offer over the commnets to purchase fighters with the newer power source installed. Three weeks later, the project was considered a failure. The Bolt Cannon production was far behind scedule, without a single usable unit having been produced. All production was halted to refine the process. Three weeks after that, the twelvth Starfighter was successfuly refitted. This was Mazon's personal craft, the one he had flown in the military, and had kept with him during his retirement. Now it will fly in battle again. Even though there were more Starfighters undergoing the refit process, Mazon decided that these twelve existing craft would leave now, to reinforce the near-empty fighter garrison at the space station. He climbed into the cockpit and said a short prayer before launching skyward. The small battalion approached the space station. Both defending and attacking fleets were unaware of their existence. The pilots were unaware that both defending and attacking fleets were currently engaged in the final battle.