War Fleet: Resistance

cities were worse — industrial powerhouses where high-density metals were smelted and then sent up to the orbital shipyard, where they constructed the Arstan modules.
The observation deck was sparsely furnished. It existed solely for anyone who wanted to see outside for real, rather than through a computer screen. It connected to the ship through an airlock hatch on the floor that could close off the room from the rest of the vessel if the deck’s windows happened to break for whatever reason.
Down below the deck, several construction modules had gathered around a massive warhead — the largest ever known to any civilization in the galaxy. Drones flocked in and out of the flight bays, carrying curved parts and welding them into place around the spatial detonator. The warhead was constructed of an alloy of titanium, platinum, and metrinium. It was the latter metal that gave it enough thermal durability to break the surface of the sun. It had to be launched at high enough velocity that it could reach the core of the sun before the warhead melted away. Then the spatial detonator would ignite, and the star would go supernova.
A female Arstan scrambled out of the airlock hatch and stood beside Kraic.
“Any orders, Frande?” his XO, Commander Horst asked. Frande literally translated to liege, a remnant of the Arstan medieval age when they fought with pikes and rode great toads into battle. The salutation had survived through formal circles since, especially in the military. Anyone of officer rank would call their superior by this title. Subordinates should be referred to by name, and no one below officer rank had any titles. All non-commissioned crew simply knew who was in charge and got on with things.
Kraic turned to Horst. Arstan females displayed their beauty in shades of blue, and Horst was one of the bluest he’d ever known. She had a particularly refined snout, and sharp teeth underneath her jaws — both also considered attractive features. But she also seemed incredibly unsure of herself sometimes, and that was something that Kraic hoped to set right.
“Horst, once I have orders, I will relay them,” he snapped.
Horst dropped her hands and folded them in front of her scaly, bandy legs. “I’m sorry, Frande. It’s just that the crew are asking when we get to prepare the warhead. I fear if we don’t give them answers, there’ll be riots.”
“Then let them riot, and show your superiority by driving a stun-prod into them. Horst, you need to learn to take control like a true Arstan. Order needs to be forced in the military; that’s how our civilization works.”
“As you wish.” Horst turned back towards the hatch and sauntered towards it.
Kraic would find out exactly who had complained, and give some of them a few lashes from the prod himself soon. But for now, he wanted to savor this moment. Because soon, they were going to unleash the greatest catastrophe in history on this star and its surrounding system. An entire human base and its arsenal wiped out within minutes, due to an awesome weapon no one in the galaxy had seen before.
“Wait,” Kraic said.
Horst turned around. “Yes, Frande?”
“Is there any news from the ambassador?”
“Not yet…” She trailed off, gazing at something through the windows. “Although I believe it might be coming now.”
A speck of white light had appeared over to the left of the sun. The Tauian ship was uncloaking quite a distance away, but it was gaining on them fast, the curves in the strangely-built vehicle now becoming visible.
A beeping started coming from the ship’s speaker. “He’s hailing us, Frande,” Horst said.
“Good. Put him on-screen.”
Horst nodded and placed the thin, broad holo-disc that she carried on her hip on the floor. This had serrated edges, so it doubled as a throwing weapon so sharp it could slice right through an Arstan’s thick neck. Kraic had one too, but he felt more comfortable having that at his side, should anyone ever turn on him. Although Horst was probably the least likely of the crew on the Okranti to attack him, executive officers had attacked and killed their commanding officers even in recent history.
Horst stepped forward and pressed a button at the base of the disc, turning on a thick beam of white light that shone out of the center. This soon faded to reveal the multi-colored Tauian ambassador in his full, smooth-skinned splendor.
“Ambassador Oort,” Kraic said, and gave a deep bow.
“Captain Kraic,” he replied. “I suppose you are ready?”
“Yes, but first, I trust we have the right coordinates.” All suns looked the same, and the human shipyard was light-years away, so it was always better to double-check.
“This is the Ripley system, yes,” Oort replied. “And there are currently fifteen super-dreadnoughts and approximately thirty billion humans on surrounding planets that will be wiped out by the explosion.”
“Good,” Kraic replied. “And do you have word on what happened to Captain Olsen’s ship? He put on quite a show in the Hardy-Myers Belt.”
“He’s currently being taken care of on the planet of Kandora. He tried to extract Fleet Admiral Frega, but I alerted the Jinardu station of their location, and my sources say they’re currently in combat. I very much doubt they’ll escape.”
Kraic scratched under his chin with a claw. “What if they do? Couldn’t you have just killed them yourself?”
“Captain Kraic, I have explained already how this is a test that I cannot interfere in, other than giving basic advice. My superiors very much feel that your race should be supreme rulers of your galaxy, but that opinion might change if you prove yourself incapable. And if a rudimentary defense station can’t beat a tiny mining ship, what hope is there for you?”
Kraic swallowed. “We’ll annihilate them if they come running after us.”
“And it’s that fighting spirit that has put you in high favor with the leaders of our honorable meritocracy. That, and the fact that you don’t seem to be afraid to die.”
Kraic wiped away some mucus that had appeared underneath his ear glands. This