The Cagliostro Chronicles II: Conflagration by Ralph L. Angelo Jr. Page A

blazing near where Eddie and the ship had been hovering. The sleek Stargrazer with its pointed nose and rearward swept wings lifted upward above the attack.
    “Holy mother of God! Those are some kind of machine gun blasters,” Eddie exclaimed.
    Rapid fire bursts of plasma tore the trees below the Stargrazer up, turning the ground to jelly with their power.
    Eddie slid the ‘Grazer around to the side invisibly and opened fire on the predatory ship, tearing the solar cannons across its hull in explosive blasts, scoring the Agalum ship’s hull repeatedly.
    “Whoa, that thing’s heavily armored , it’s some new kind of ‘Predator’. At least that’s what I’m going to call it.”
    The enemy ship spun on its axis surprisingly and fired its weapons at the spot the Stargrazer was hovering managing several direct hits across the ‘Grazer’s shields, immediately weakening them.
    “What the hell? My shields are down to seventy percent from one attack. This thing is brutal!”
    Eddie spun the Stargrazer around counter clockwise, then shot the ship toward the stars.
    As the ‘Grazer gained altitude, Eddie fired off two star core missiles, which arced away from the Stargrazer and impacted against the enemy ship’s shields and hull.
    The Agalum craft immediately rose up and began racing upward .
    “ As of now I’m recording all of this, includin’ my commentary, for tactical purposes. Camo is still holding; let’s see how fast this thing is.”
    Eddie throttled the Stargrazer up as it shed the planet’s atmosphere, its enemy pursuing it closely and strafing space with its rapid fire energy weapon. The Agalum ship scored hits on the rear shields of the Stargrazer . Each time it lit up like a flashbulb, telling the Agalum gunner exactly where its quarry was.
    “ Oboy, I may be in trouble here,” Eddie grumbled.
    He spun the Stargrazer around, flipping it and rolling it side over side, repeatedly avoiding the powerful blasts from the Agalum vessel. Eddie turned the Stargrazer on its own axis and rolled the ship clockwise, firing a steady stream of death at the Agalum ship, pounding its central hull repeatedly.
    T he predator ship returned fire and its blasts roared into and finally through the Stargrazer ’s shields, then slamming into its armored hull.
    “Shields are down!” Eddie shouted. No one was there to hear him, but the ship’s recording system took in his every word.
    Again he rolled the Stargrazer first clockwise, then corkscrewed her down and under the Agalum predator.
    “It ain’t gonna be that easy ,” Eddie shouted as the Stargrazer slipped under the enemy ship upside down and blasted its lower hull with twin streams of destruction.
    Again the Agalum predator returned fire f rom those deadly rapid fire blasters, pounding on the ‘ Grazer’ s hull.
    An emergency klaxon began to chime loudly. An automated voice warned, “Hull breach. Decompression imminent.”
    “Oh that’s just wonderful ,” Eddie barked.
    He dropped the Stargrazer into full reverse and fired four star core missiles, two at each engine/weapons pod on the Agalum predator. The stanchions that held them rocked explosively with each impact.
    Now crippled , the Agalum ship turned slowly, streaming energy from its damaged engines.
    “Enemy shield status?”
    “Enemy shields at twenty five percent ,” the automated voice replied.
    “Great that’s twenty five percent more than I’ve got .”
    Aga in the predator fired where its crew thought the Stargrazer would be hiding, but this time missed entirely. Eddie let loose with both solar cannons, aiming directly at the right side stanchion.
    The engine and weapons pod exploded spectacularly, disintegrating under the Stargrazer ’s attack.
    Eddie fired again, both cannons focused on the remaining stanchion. The ship exploded in a ball of pyrotechnics, turning space as bright as a star for an instant.
    Eddie wasted no time, aiming the Stargrazer back toward the planet’s surface and