“Red alert!” he ordered. “Shields up!”
The shields came up just in time as several phaser blasts from the Eldar cruiser hit the shields.
“Shield strength down ten per cent.” reported Larin.
The Eldar fired another blast, this time followed by three photo torpedoes.
“Shield strength down to sixty-eight per cent.” said Larin. “I’m diverting power from other areas.”
The Eldar cruiser then stopped firing as one of the hatchways on the side of the ship began to open. Then three Eldar fighters began to emerge from the larger cruiser. Pendragon pressed a button on the communications console in front of him.
“Ops to fighter bay. Are your men ready yet Archer?”
“As ready as ever Captain. These fighters haven’t had a proper test yet.”
“Well you’ve got one now. Just bring them back in one piece. You are cleared for launch.”
Within a minute of Pendragon giving the order the three Federation fighters were launched into space, and the galactic dogfight began. Greenleaf soon found himself being chased by two of the fighters, and after several swoops and swings he evaded them, turning his disadvantage into an advantage as he soon destroyed one of the fighters. He then found himself being attacked from the front. However, the second Eldar fighter was soon attacked by one of the Federation fighters, with the Eldar losing out again. The third and last Eldar fighter was soon taken care of. It was then that the cruiser began to move close to the fighters. In ops Pendragon saw the reading on his scanner.
“Red Leader this is Pegasus. The cruiser is powering up it’s weapons again. Return to base.”
The call came too late as one of the fighters was destroyed by the cruiser. Then it turned it’s attack towards the Pegasus. One blast knocked out it’s shields and affected other systems also.”
“I can’t restore the shields.” said Larin. “The phaser banks are damaged, there’s nothing I can do.”
“We’re going in for an attack run.” said Greenleaf.
“Negative Red Leader. You’re no match for that thing.”
“Captain, they’re powering up again.” said Larin. “Targeting the station.”
“Brace for impact!”
The impact was not forthcoming as a ship emerged from the jump gate to attack the Eldar cruiser. Pendragon looked at his scanner. He saw that the ship that attacked the Eldar was the Federation war cruiser Hyperion. Phaser blast after phaser blast hit the Eldar ship until they started to move towards the jump gate. Seconds later they were gone. Then a signal was sent to the station. The image of the Hyperion’s captain. Ellis Pearce, appeared on the screen.
“This is Captain Pearce of the Hyperion. Are you okay Pegasus?”
“Damaged, but okay.” said Pendragon. “We lost one fighter in the attack. Did you manage to disable the Eldar?”
“We got a few good shots but they managed to get to the jump gate.”
“Thank you, Captain Pearce, for your assistance.”
It was early the next morning when Pendragon walked through the mighty halls of Castle Camelot on the surface. He had not been there before. He had only seen pictures of the castle’s interior, but those pictures did not do the castle justice. It was indeed a beautiful place.
Pendragon soon found himself in the main hall where a bearded man sat waiting for him. He recognised the man. It was King Arthur himself. He relatives greeted each other warmly.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner.” said Pendragon. “I had a spot of trouble.”
“Aragorn told me of the Eldar’s demands.” said Arthur. “But that is not what I wanted to speak to you about.”
“Merlin was very vague about that. What is this all about?”
“How is your brother, Morgan?”
“I haven’t heard from him in a while. Last time I spoke with him he was on the Theta colony. I tried to contact him to tell him about my promotion but he couldn’t be reached.”
“I thought you wouldn’t be able to get in touch with him.”
“Is this what you wanted to see me about, to ask about my brother?”
“I wanted to warn you.”
“About what?”
“Three days ago Merlin told me of a vision he had. The vision told him of a great tragedy that is about to befall the Pendragon name.”
“What sort of tragedy?”
“Merlin could not tell much, but he could tell it would affect you the most, and would be caused by someone very close to you.”
“I don’t know what to say. How can I prepare for a tragedy when I don’t know anything about it?”
“If we knew everything that was going to happen to us in our lives then our lives would be very boring. All I can tell you is this. Be careful, watch out. This thing could happen at any time.”
A short time later Pendragon left Camelot. As he walked away Arthur was joined by Merlin.
“Did you tell him?” the wizard asked.
“I did. I just hope he prepares for the situation.”
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