Battle Earth X by Nick S. Thomas Page B

a suicidal attempt to ram them. The ship ignited on impact and seemingly caused one of the engines to falter for just a moment, but it was soon firing bright once more.
    A moment later their weapon systems turned on the fleet, and the crew of the Washington watched helplessly as one of the barges was bombarded with shot after shot.
    "How long until we have a firing solution?" Huber asked.
    "Two minutes, Sir."
    "Is there no one closer?"
    "Sir, the Lo Yang is closing on the Goeben and going weapons hot."
    "Huang, you son of a bitch, you got there," said Huber.
    The Chinese warship’s bombardment was fierce, and they watched as the hull of the Goeben was smashed with everything they had.
    "They're not responding to the fire. They just keep hitting the barge," Capwell said in disbelief.
    "They're hitting where they know they can do the most damage," said Taylor.
    Huber nodded in agreement.
    Thirty seconds of continuous barrage finally brought an end to the Goeben's weapon systems, but the Lo Yang didn't let up.
    Huber took a deep breath and sighed in relief as he thought they were over the worst of it. He looked to the barge and could see holes over several levels of the hull and debris where people and equipment had been sucked out.
    "They're still heading for the barge, Sir."
    Huber looked back to his operations table and could see the Goeben approaching the barge at great speed. The Lo Yang's weapons continued to pour fire into the vessel, but its thick hull seemed to hold, despite chunks of metal being ripped off and leaving a trail of debris.
    "It's too late," said Jafar.
    Huber turned around, surprised that the alien had finally offered some information without prompting.
    "What do you mean?"
    "They are doing the only thing they can do. They will destroy the barge and all inside in any way they can."
    "They're going to ram the barge," Taylor added.
    Huber snapped back around.
    "Tell them to put all power to engines, and get the hell out of there now!"
    "They're already at full power, Sir."
    "Shit, get me Admiral Huang, now!"
    "He was projected before them within seconds.
    "Admiral, the Goeben intends to ram the barge."
    "The Goeben has now passed beyond the safe distance we can fire at, but I am already deploying marine forces to board the vessel and protect the civilians."
    "But, Admiral..."
    "Huang out," he cut in.
    They all watched in horror as the Goeben crashed into the hull of the barge, but to their amazement it did not penetrate fully. A hole was torn several metres wide before the nose of the Goeben began to slide down the length of the massive vessel and crash in beside it, so that the two vessels now lay in parallel and were wedged together.
    The Goeben was a quarter the size of the barge, but they all knew too well that only civilian authorities and police protected the space within the barges.
    "Get me the Captain of that vessel!"
    "Captain Dokgo, most of the people aboard are Korean," said Vega.
    A moment later a frantic Korean man, who appeared to be in his fifties, appeared before him.
    “Admiral, I have reports that alien robots have boarded this ship. What is going on?”
    “Captain, you are under attack by hidden enemy elements within this fleet that have captured one of our vessels and boarded yours. We are doing everything in our power to protect you.”
    Screams could be heard over the comms channel.
    “They’re here. They’re killing everyone. There are dozens of them, maybe hundreds… Admiral, please don’t leave us!”
    “I won’t leave you, Captain. We already have marines en route to help. Are you in a safe area?”
    “The bridge is safe, yes.”
    “If you have blast doors, seal them.”
    “But all those people?”
    “Captain, just listen to me. Close your blast doors. Lock down the bridge.”
    “Yes, yes, okay.”
    Now, do you still have power to your engines?”
    “Yes…yes we do.”
    “We are sending you coordinates now, reposition and await assistance.”
    “But, Admiral, I