PROJECT BLUE 2: ELF
FOREWORD
On June 18, 2002, the B.A.S.S and Otakufridge.com launched an RPG project called Project Blue 2: Earth Liberation Force (ELF for short). The project lasted only three weeks (compared to eleven weeks for Project Blue One - originally on AXN FORUMS).
Recently, I have reacquainted myself with the old stories in this short lived series.
This is not a relaunch of the RPG project - nothing as noble as that. This is a rewriting, and retelling of the story, by me, elfboy. The original writers of the series: Bluemaxx, Accela, Orcalithe, Reyl and me, elfboy wrote these stories.
It is merely my wish now to rewrite them for better visual and creative clarity. It is in short, a republication of the stories - but rewritten by me.
But before I begin, I will first apologize to all the original writers. I will try to incorporate what you wrote, but it may not be in sequence and/or it may not include some of what you originally wrote at all. I will add my own take on the story, and will try to shape it all into one big cohesive universe. I may take liberties with your stories and take them into areas they were never originally meant to go.
I may spoil your story. And for this, I apologize.
This is not an RPG, meaning it is a solo effort. However, feedback, no matter how critical, is always welcome.
Thank you.
I also would like to thank in advance, the characters developed, the stories told and the efforts put in by the original writers. I wouldn't be doing this, if you hadn't been so damned talented. And I wouldn't be doing this, if your stories weren't so damned good.
Ever onward.
- elfboy (21st April 2005)
Full Version: Project Blue 2 - Earth Liberation Front
CHAPTER ONE
"History is the best, and harshest teacher. It is endlessly patient, but hardly forgiving. How many times has history shown us our mistakes - and how many times have we destroyed ourselves ignoring those lessons?"
- Captain Kevan Santiago in his book "The Peace Of A Lifetime"
CAPTAIN Sayaka Sanada was a beautiful woman, the kind of beauty that takes your breath away, not with simple beauty, but with elegance; the kind of beauty which evokes dreams of endless nights of passionate love-making, in a love that lasts forever.
The kind of beauty, where growing old together with her, was the closest thing to paradise.
Sayaka was a rare beauty, but even rarer were the moments where she allowed herself to be weak. She was not weak, she was the Captain of the greatest Super Carrier ever constructed by human hands. She was the salvation of mankind.
She was lonely.
As she was alone, sitting on the large cargo box in the brightly lit cargo hold, her raven black shoulder length hair perfectly complimenting her smooth cream-colored skin and clear crystal blue eyes.
Sayaka was dressed in the ELF Fleet's Commanding Officer dress uniform, with officers' hat, trenchcoat and boots - all in black. The only color she adorned her attire was the deep red liquid she kept inside a small flat square flask. It was her best friend, it was her confidante, it was brandy.
Sayaka was writing in her officer's journal the experiences she had encountered in the two weeks since the first ELF Fleet arrived in the Sol System. She captained the Nausicaa, the newest Super Carrier in the ELF Fleet, and its most advanced as part of a six hundred ship armada.
Six hundred ships. What good would that do against an unknown enemy? Against an enemy who forced humans to flee their home planet, abandoning the unlucky billions who were not chosen.
It had been over 300 years since humans fled the home planet they know as Erth. 'Erth.', Sayaka thought 'What a strange name.'.
Sayaka returned her thoughts to the present, to her journal as she wondered why the human resistance from Pluto colony hadn't responded to the encrypted signals the ELF Fleet were sending out every three hours.
She thought of Admiral Sean Masters, the commander of the ELF Fleet. She thought of him, not in the way one would normally think of a commanding officer. She thought of him in a far more personal way. He was more than her mentor. He was more like a father to her.
'He would have scolded me for thinking like this.' Sayaka thought again. After all, he was the old wardog of the New Erth Imperium Armed Forces, not exactly the kind hearted father figure type.
'But he was -' Sayaka smiled '- and still is.'
"Thinking of something good I see, Sayaka."
Sayaka quickly straightened herself when she heard his voice. The Admiral looked her up and down before he smiled kindly. He put a hand on her shoulder.
"At ease, Captain." Admiral Masters said, before sitting down on the cargo box she had been sitting on. Sayaka relaxed and sat down beside him.
"Any news?" Sayaka asked.
The Admiral shook his head in negation. "I'm worried the Phaerons may have found Pluto colony and -".
He didn't need to complete the sentence. Everyone knew what the Phaerons, the vile alien creatures who had invaded Erth 300 years ago, were capable of. The energy beings who fed on humans like batteries, consuming the electrical energy of synapses, the proteins, the fat, and finally the muscles.
Humans were nothing more than cattle to the Phaerons; raised, bred and consumed.
Sayaka suppressed a shiver. The Admiral noticed it.
"But Pluto has fought the Phaerons the longest, before the Gaians and Tiberians." The Admiral smiled proudly. "They've been fighting them for over a hundred years, they're bound to be more than a match for the Phaerons."
Sayaka looked at her mentor, and noticed despite his calm demeanor, the strain showed. His face was heavily lined, as years of sleepless nights and long hours drained life from every pore.
"Anyway, we must press on, Captain Sanada." the Admiral added as he got to his feet. That was his signal that this brief respite from responsibility was over. The two of them would have to be back in command of their ships - hers the Nausicaa, and his, the Cervantes.
She stood at attention to salute him. He smiled and saluted back.
"Ever onward, Sayaka."
He left as quietly as he came. Sayaka was alone again in the cargo hold. She sighed under her breath.
"Ever onward."
~~~~~~~~~
"Damage report!"
The technician nearest Eve Lockwind nervously delivered his report. "Eight ships missing, Miss Lockwind." he delivered, visibly quaking in his boots. "Four frigates, two destroyers, a battleship and a heavy transport fleet."
Eve frowned at the news. Losing ships was never good business, and war was the nastiest business of all. Still, the New Erth Chamber of Commerce knew the importance of supporting this cause, knew the budgets of five superpowers swell both the coffers and the reputation of New Erthling companies.
And most importantly, allowed the Chamber of Commerce to control how the funds were managed. One could hardly trust the Accelarians, or the Elverians to manage money. They were too busy fighting each other to care about anything else important.
Eve shook off the stray thoughts and looked at the technician. She saw his nervousness and knew just how damaging nerves were to morale. She decided to do something about it.
She smiled.
It was a smile anyone would fall in love with. And they did. They stared at her with blank lovelorn expressions.
"Eh? What are you doing to my crew, Eve?"
Eve turned around to see Sayaka standing there, arms folded, disapproving.
"All I did was smile at them - you know to relieve tensions." Eve replied.
Sayaka looked at Eve annoyed. "You know everyone falls in love with you just with one smile."
"It doesn't work on you." Eve replied grouchily.
"No, thank God."
"But you got to see me naked." Eve replied casually, which caused all the male officers on the bridge to nearly choke in surprise. They stared at her with new eyes - and dirtier imaginations.
"Return to duty! All of you!" Eve shouted at them. Sayaka returned her attention to duty.
"What's the status of the fleet?"
Eve showed Sayaka her notes as she read them. "We're past Neptune space now, and still no sight of the Phaerons."
"You mean other than the eleven battles we've already been in." Sayaka asked.
"Well, we've lost eight ships, but eight ships in eleven total victories is not bad."
Sayaka worried, 'Not bad - but not good enough. At this rate, what kind of a fleet would we have by the time we get to Erth?'
Sayaka reached for the brandy flask she usually kept on her belt. Her fingers closed around nothing.
"What the?" Sayaka exclaimed as she looked down. The flask is gone. THE FLASK IS GONE!
"Where's my bran- ADMIRAL!"
Sayaka punched the comm button on her console and brought Admiral Sean Masters up on the holo-vid. He was enjoying a flask of brandy.
"My Soshirine brandy! Admiral!" Sayaka cried out.
The Admiral noticed the holo-vid and stared down at it. He waved at Sayaka.
"Ah, Captain. Thank you for the brandy."
Sayaka points at the screen. "Give me back my brandy, you - sir!"
"Captain. At least let me keep this as a farewell present - just like I have left you a little something in your pocket."
"Wait!" Sayaka reached into her pockets and from one, pulled out a small memory disc.
"It's a just in case." the Admiral smiled. With that he cut off the transmission.
'Just in case.' Sayaka thought. 'Just in case I don't make it back.'
It was an archaic practice, to leave personal messages, or write letters to give to family, in case they never make it home from battle. And even though it was archaic, it was still widely practiced. After all, if nothing else, it gave you words from beyond the grave, and an immortality as long as you are remembered.
Sayaka hoped she would never have to view the message on the memory disc.
Sayaka hoped she would never have need to leave one herself.
"Give me back my brandy, you old fart!"
=========================================
"History is the best, and harshest teacher. It is endlessly patient, but hardly forgiving. How many times has history shown us our mistakes - and how many times have we destroyed ourselves ignoring those lessons?"
- Captain Kevan Santiago in his book "The Peace Of A Lifetime"
CAPTAIN Sayaka Sanada was a beautiful woman, the kind of beauty that takes your breath away, not with simple beauty, but with elegance; the kind of beauty which evokes dreams of endless nights of passionate love-making, in a love that lasts forever.
The kind of beauty, where growing old together with her, was the closest thing to paradise.
Sayaka was a rare beauty, but even rarer were the moments where she allowed herself to be weak. She was not weak, she was the Captain of the greatest Super Carrier ever constructed by human hands. She was the salvation of mankind.
She was lonely.
As she was alone, sitting on the large cargo box in the brightly lit cargo hold, her raven black shoulder length hair perfectly complimenting her smooth cream-colored skin and clear crystal blue eyes.
Sayaka was dressed in the ELF Fleet's Commanding Officer dress uniform, with officers' hat, trenchcoat and boots - all in black. The only color she adorned her attire was the deep red liquid she kept inside a small flat square flask. It was her best friend, it was her confidante, it was brandy.
Sayaka was writing in her officer's journal the experiences she had encountered in the two weeks since the first ELF Fleet arrived in the Sol System. She captained the Nausicaa, the newest Super Carrier in the ELF Fleet, and its most advanced as part of a six hundred ship armada.
Six hundred ships. What good would that do against an unknown enemy? Against an enemy who forced humans to flee their home planet, abandoning the unlucky billions who were not chosen.
It had been over 300 years since humans fled the home planet they know as Erth. 'Erth.', Sayaka thought 'What a strange name.'.
Sayaka returned her thoughts to the present, to her journal as she wondered why the human resistance from Pluto colony hadn't responded to the encrypted signals the ELF Fleet were sending out every three hours.
She thought of Admiral Sean Masters, the commander of the ELF Fleet. She thought of him, not in the way one would normally think of a commanding officer. She thought of him in a far more personal way. He was more than her mentor. He was more like a father to her.
'He would have scolded me for thinking like this.' Sayaka thought again. After all, he was the old wardog of the New Erth Imperium Armed Forces, not exactly the kind hearted father figure type.
'But he was -' Sayaka smiled '- and still is.'
"Thinking of something good I see, Sayaka."
Sayaka quickly straightened herself when she heard his voice. The Admiral looked her up and down before he smiled kindly. He put a hand on her shoulder.
"At ease, Captain." Admiral Masters said, before sitting down on the cargo box she had been sitting on. Sayaka relaxed and sat down beside him.
"Any news?" Sayaka asked.
The Admiral shook his head in negation. "I'm worried the Phaerons may have found Pluto colony and -".
He didn't need to complete the sentence. Everyone knew what the Phaerons, the vile alien creatures who had invaded Erth 300 years ago, were capable of. The energy beings who fed on humans like batteries, consuming the electrical energy of synapses, the proteins, the fat, and finally the muscles.
Humans were nothing more than cattle to the Phaerons; raised, bred and consumed.
Sayaka suppressed a shiver. The Admiral noticed it.
"But Pluto has fought the Phaerons the longest, before the Gaians and Tiberians." The Admiral smiled proudly. "They've been fighting them for over a hundred years, they're bound to be more than a match for the Phaerons."
Sayaka looked at her mentor, and noticed despite his calm demeanor, the strain showed. His face was heavily lined, as years of sleepless nights and long hours drained life from every pore.
"Anyway, we must press on, Captain Sanada." the Admiral added as he got to his feet. That was his signal that this brief respite from responsibility was over. The two of them would have to be back in command of their ships - hers the Nausicaa, and his, the Cervantes.
She stood at attention to salute him. He smiled and saluted back.
"Ever onward, Sayaka."
He left as quietly as he came. Sayaka was alone again in the cargo hold. She sighed under her breath.
"Ever onward."
~~~~~~~~~
"Damage report!"
The technician nearest Eve Lockwind nervously delivered his report. "Eight ships missing, Miss Lockwind." he delivered, visibly quaking in his boots. "Four frigates, two destroyers, a battleship and a heavy transport fleet."
Eve frowned at the news. Losing ships was never good business, and war was the nastiest business of all. Still, the New Erth Chamber of Commerce knew the importance of supporting this cause, knew the budgets of five superpowers swell both the coffers and the reputation of New Erthling companies.
And most importantly, allowed the Chamber of Commerce to control how the funds were managed. One could hardly trust the Accelarians, or the Elverians to manage money. They were too busy fighting each other to care about anything else important.
Eve shook off the stray thoughts and looked at the technician. She saw his nervousness and knew just how damaging nerves were to morale. She decided to do something about it.
She smiled.
It was a smile anyone would fall in love with. And they did. They stared at her with blank lovelorn expressions.
"Eh? What are you doing to my crew, Eve?"
Eve turned around to see Sayaka standing there, arms folded, disapproving.
"All I did was smile at them - you know to relieve tensions." Eve replied.
Sayaka looked at Eve annoyed. "You know everyone falls in love with you just with one smile."
"It doesn't work on you." Eve replied grouchily.
"No, thank God."
"But you got to see me naked." Eve replied casually, which caused all the male officers on the bridge to nearly choke in surprise. They stared at her with new eyes - and dirtier imaginations.
"Return to duty! All of you!" Eve shouted at them. Sayaka returned her attention to duty.
"What's the status of the fleet?"
Eve showed Sayaka her notes as she read them. "We're past Neptune space now, and still no sight of the Phaerons."
"You mean other than the eleven battles we've already been in." Sayaka asked.
"Well, we've lost eight ships, but eight ships in eleven total victories is not bad."
Sayaka worried, 'Not bad - but not good enough. At this rate, what kind of a fleet would we have by the time we get to Erth?'
Sayaka reached for the brandy flask she usually kept on her belt. Her fingers closed around nothing.
"What the?" Sayaka exclaimed as she looked down. The flask is gone. THE FLASK IS GONE!
"Where's my bran- ADMIRAL!"
Sayaka punched the comm button on her console and brought Admiral Sean Masters up on the holo-vid. He was enjoying a flask of brandy.
"My Soshirine brandy! Admiral!" Sayaka cried out.
The Admiral noticed the holo-vid and stared down at it. He waved at Sayaka.
"Ah, Captain. Thank you for the brandy."
Sayaka points at the screen. "Give me back my brandy, you - sir!"
"Captain. At least let me keep this as a farewell present - just like I have left you a little something in your pocket."
"Wait!" Sayaka reached into her pockets and from one, pulled out a small memory disc.
"It's a just in case." the Admiral smiled. With that he cut off the transmission.
'Just in case.' Sayaka thought. 'Just in case I don't make it back.'
It was an archaic practice, to leave personal messages, or write letters to give to family, in case they never make it home from battle. And even though it was archaic, it was still widely practiced. After all, if nothing else, it gave you words from beyond the grave, and an immortality as long as you are remembered.
Sayaka hoped she would never have to view the message on the memory disc.
Sayaka hoped she would never have need to leave one herself.
"Give me back my brandy, you old fart!"
=========================================
CHAPTER TWO
"This is a song for killers,
A song for sinners,
A song for lovers too,
A song for guerrillas,
A song for winners,
and a song for losers too."
- "A Song For Guerrillas" - 28th Century Rock Song from Elverez
"KZZZZZTTTT... Red 6, report in Red 6 to Red Leader over. Archer you there?"
The crackle of transmission came over Lt. Commander (jg) Sancho 'Archer' Arquero's comlink. He clicked on the comlink button and spoke through his helmet microphone.
"Reporting in Red Leader. What's up Porthos?"
"Kzzztttt... Anything else we can salvage from this icy sh*t hole or should we head back?"
Sancho took a moment to survey the area. They were protecting salvage crews working on the ELF Fleet wreckage here in Pluto Space. One of the handful of skirmishes they had encountered since jumping in to the Sol System.
The salvage teams had gotten everything salvagable, but the Daedelus squadron protecting them - they had another mission. A salvage of a different kind.
"Negative as yet, Porthos. Do you want to take back command?"
Commander James 'Porthos' Powell was leader of the 'Daedelus' squadron, the squadron Sancho was part of.
But Sancho was the Field Advisor, the specialist tactician role that could dictate attack formations and strategies during missions. The field advisor was fully held responsible for any success or failure of missions. The advisor answered to no one during battle, his word was the overriding authority. However, the Battle Field Advisor had to answer for all his actions if things went wrong or badly. And Battle Field Advisors who made the wrong call in the heat of battle rarely stayed in the Military long after, that is if they themselves didn't perish in battle. At 24 years of age, Sancho was the youngest Battle Field Advisor ever appointed.
"Kzzzzzttt... Well, everyone's getting kinda jumpy - this ain't exactly a clean sector yet. Those Phaerons could still be lurking."
Sancho understood what his squadron leader was saying. The faster they get out of here, the less likely they'd be detected. But that would mean abandoning their mission. Sancho looked at his naviscopes, a three-dimensional radar scope that showed everything within a 1000 mile radius of his ship along X, Y and Z axises. Cross referencing the scope with his charts, he found no trace of Pluto Colony.
"Negative on - anything else we can save, Porthos. Maybe... YEAAGGGH!"
"Archer! What happened?!" Commander Powell screamed into his comm, quickly veering back towards his Battle Field Advisor.
Sancho wiped his face before looking out his forward view once more. He had been so intent in looking at his scopes and charts that when he heard the bump forward, he had instinctively looked out.
And screamed in shock as he laid eyes on the floating human body that had plastered itself onto his cockpit.
Sancho regained his composure and looked at the body of the young man, or the upper half that remained of him. The man was a Battle Field Advisor, that much was evident in the special insignia on the upper sleeve, the same insignia Sancho wore.
Commander Powell's voice still came on loudly over Sancho's comm and Sancho pressed on the reply button. "I'm alright, sir. I'm just... a bit shaken up." Sancho killed the radio and looked at the Advisor's eyes. Those very dead eyes.
Those very dead eyes that showed the terrifying fear of those final moments. The realization that his strategy had gone seriously wrong.
Sancho hadn't been the Battle Field Advisor in charge of the initial onslaught by the Phaerons. But casualties meant he was soon thrust into the thick of action. He acquited himself well, Daedelus squadron coming away from the battle with 17 kills and no casualties in return, just one slightly singed Mech. But he also knew that the success wasn't his alone, that the skill of the squadron he flew in made him look good. He was lucky that the pilots in Daedelus squadron were among the best in the armada.
Those eyes. Those very dead eyes.
Sancho sighed. Taking hold of the throttle, Sancho pulled it backwards, cutting off engine thrust and letting the body float free from his cockpit screen. Maneuvering around the body carefully, Sancho pushed forward on the throttle, pushing power back into his thrusters to fly back into a loose formation with his other squadron mates.
"You okay, Archer?" Commander Powell asked Sancho anxiously as he returned to the formation, heading back towards the Nausicaa.
"Yes sir. Sorry for my over-reaction, sir." Sancho replied.
"How many times must I tell you to call me Porthos, Archer?"
The Commander sighed. He took one look around Pluto space. The salvagers were waiting for them, and further dallying may see more Phaerons in the sector.
But still no word from Pluto. Commander Powell got on the comlink.
"Okay, guys I guess we're heading back and grabbing some chow."
Various shouts of joy could be heard over the open comm. Everyone was tired from salvaging, salvaging food rations, weapon caches, salvagable metals, alloys and materials. Everyone was tired and all too glad to be back on board the Nausicaa.
But they hadn't found Pluto Colony.
Sancho tried not to think about it, tried not to think about what most probably silenced the resistance. And he tried most of all not to think about those eyes.
Those very dead eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~
[White Wins]
The voice, cold, mechanical, rang out into the darkness. The reply was simple, spoken softly, calmly.
"Explain."
[Susceptibility to left side shift of rook; Mendelhousen Maneuver]
The reply was a soft moan of understanding.
Light illuminated the darkened room instantly, turning the faint aura of blue light above the small chessboard off.
[Visitor]
The elderly man who sat in front of the chessboard ignored the hailing. He merely replied, in his gravely voice,
"Do not admit. Resume program."
[Administrative Pass Presented]
Achilles' old eyes blinked once.
[Senior Rank]
As the door opened, Achilles turned his aged body towards it, sighing deeply as if age had finally caught up with him.
"Hello, Viare." he greeted the man who strode in to the cabin, as if he owned it.
Viare wasn't a physically impressive man, but he had the stance and stride of a leader, the confident measured steps that announced he belonged to an elite. The numerous medals, his achievements in battle, that lay affixed to his belt, made it known that his elite status was rightfully earned.
"You may address me as Commodore Commander, Leftenant." Viare said, his voice devoid of emotion. It was a voice that stated fact, uncolored by subjectivity.
Achilles stretched his weary muscles. He felt no mood to play along. "I'm sorry -"
Achilles looked Viare in the eye. "- Viare. I'm done in Ordnance Tactical."
With that simple acknowledgement of his resignation, Achilles turned back to his chessboard, and the program launched once more. His fingers flew over the chessboard, moving rapidly in a chess game that soon saw both sides down to a few pieces.
Viare began speaking.
Achilles completed the game.
"Listen, Leftenant."
[White Wins]
Achilles tapped his chin. "Hmmm... why?"
[Full field rush, Briage Pattern]
"Leftenant!" Viare's cold voice revealed its edge.
Achilles caught the Commander off guard when he spun around suddenly to face him. Achilles stared at Viare, letting him know in no uncertain terms, that he was serious, despite his phrasing.
"I'm done in Ordnance. Telling the big guns where to shoot gets pretty dull after 7 years. I'm done."
Viare looked at the old man seated in front of him. Viare never liked him, Achilles was more trouble than he was worth in his opinion, but neither could Viare deny the man's undoubtable and unerring talent.
A frown began to develop at the corners of Viare's mouth. "You're needed in Ordnance, Leftenant Collier. You can not be reassigned without my authorization - and I do not authorize it."
Achilles stood up, bringing him to his full six foot height, letting him look down at his former commanding officer.
"You may address me as Senior Astrogator, Commander. Of the Nausicaa. And I am Lieutenant, not Leftenant."
Viare stood his ground, and raised his eyes to glare at Achilles. "New Gaia -"
"I do not serve New Gaia, Commander."
Viare backed away a single step. That in itself was an admission of shock from the normally unflappable commander.
"Who do you serve?"
"I have been reassigned to The Earth Liberation Front."
"By whom?"
"Games and Theory." Achilles handed over a holo-datacard to Viare. Viare took it reluctantly. The holovid played automatically.
Viare and Achilles stood silent after the video played, confirming Achilles transfer.
The computer broke the silence. [White Wins]
Viare glared at Achilles. "Games and Theory. And you were here to check on me."
Achilles smiled as he took back the datacard from Viare's limp grip. "Do not flatter yourself, Commander. I joined your division because it was interesting - though not any longer. The Nausicaa on the other hand - is unique."
Achilles sat himself back down in front of the chessboard. After a few moments, he reminded the Commander of his place.
"You are dismissed, Commodore Commander."
The Commodore regained his composure. Almost as if a wall slid back into place, Viare's expression returned to its normal state.
"Yes." Viare said - not daring to say more.
Viare left, the door slid close behind him.
[Observation Program Run Course]
Achilles returned his attention to the chessboard. The computer was done watching him play both sides, and the compilation program he had designed thought it had found a weak point.
[Computer Chooses To Play Black]
The game lasted mere seconds.
[White Wins]
Achilles sighed.
[Starting Compilation Program Again]
Achilles thought of his transfer to the Nausicaa. The ELF fleet had left Elverez space little over two weeks ago and communicae had now fallen into a pattern. Initial strong resistance from the Phaerons before - nothing. Not a trace of any alien activity.
Games and Theory had other operatives on the mission, how many and who they were, he admit he was clueless. Then again, his mission was something else completely.
Pluto has been silenced, Games and Theory was now convinced that the Phaerons had wiped out the colony, and the initial strong resistance met by the ELF fleet was in actual fact the invasion fleet used to eliminate Pluto colony.
But that, to put it succinctly, was merely a theory - not fact. And they only dealt in facts.
Achilles sighed deeply. He now had to be on the Nausicaa, to find what happened on Pluto Colony.
And more importantly, find out how they did it.
======================================================
"This is a song for killers,
A song for sinners,
A song for lovers too,
A song for guerrillas,
A song for winners,
and a song for losers too."
- "A Song For Guerrillas" - 28th Century Rock Song from Elverez
"KZZZZZTTTT... Red 6, report in Red 6 to Red Leader over. Archer you there?"
The crackle of transmission came over Lt. Commander (jg) Sancho 'Archer' Arquero's comlink. He clicked on the comlink button and spoke through his helmet microphone.
"Reporting in Red Leader. What's up Porthos?"
"Kzzztttt... Anything else we can salvage from this icy sh*t hole or should we head back?"
Sancho took a moment to survey the area. They were protecting salvage crews working on the ELF Fleet wreckage here in Pluto Space. One of the handful of skirmishes they had encountered since jumping in to the Sol System.
The salvage teams had gotten everything salvagable, but the Daedelus squadron protecting them - they had another mission. A salvage of a different kind.
"Negative as yet, Porthos. Do you want to take back command?"
Commander James 'Porthos' Powell was leader of the 'Daedelus' squadron, the squadron Sancho was part of.
But Sancho was the Field Advisor, the specialist tactician role that could dictate attack formations and strategies during missions. The field advisor was fully held responsible for any success or failure of missions. The advisor answered to no one during battle, his word was the overriding authority. However, the Battle Field Advisor had to answer for all his actions if things went wrong or badly. And Battle Field Advisors who made the wrong call in the heat of battle rarely stayed in the Military long after, that is if they themselves didn't perish in battle. At 24 years of age, Sancho was the youngest Battle Field Advisor ever appointed.
"Kzzzzzttt... Well, everyone's getting kinda jumpy - this ain't exactly a clean sector yet. Those Phaerons could still be lurking."
Sancho understood what his squadron leader was saying. The faster they get out of here, the less likely they'd be detected. But that would mean abandoning their mission. Sancho looked at his naviscopes, a three-dimensional radar scope that showed everything within a 1000 mile radius of his ship along X, Y and Z axises. Cross referencing the scope with his charts, he found no trace of Pluto Colony.
"Negative on - anything else we can save, Porthos. Maybe... YEAAGGGH!"
"Archer! What happened?!" Commander Powell screamed into his comm, quickly veering back towards his Battle Field Advisor.
Sancho wiped his face before looking out his forward view once more. He had been so intent in looking at his scopes and charts that when he heard the bump forward, he had instinctively looked out.
And screamed in shock as he laid eyes on the floating human body that had plastered itself onto his cockpit.
Sancho regained his composure and looked at the body of the young man, or the upper half that remained of him. The man was a Battle Field Advisor, that much was evident in the special insignia on the upper sleeve, the same insignia Sancho wore.
Commander Powell's voice still came on loudly over Sancho's comm and Sancho pressed on the reply button. "I'm alright, sir. I'm just... a bit shaken up." Sancho killed the radio and looked at the Advisor's eyes. Those very dead eyes.
Those very dead eyes that showed the terrifying fear of those final moments. The realization that his strategy had gone seriously wrong.
Sancho hadn't been the Battle Field Advisor in charge of the initial onslaught by the Phaerons. But casualties meant he was soon thrust into the thick of action. He acquited himself well, Daedelus squadron coming away from the battle with 17 kills and no casualties in return, just one slightly singed Mech. But he also knew that the success wasn't his alone, that the skill of the squadron he flew in made him look good. He was lucky that the pilots in Daedelus squadron were among the best in the armada.
Those eyes. Those very dead eyes.
Sancho sighed. Taking hold of the throttle, Sancho pulled it backwards, cutting off engine thrust and letting the body float free from his cockpit screen. Maneuvering around the body carefully, Sancho pushed forward on the throttle, pushing power back into his thrusters to fly back into a loose formation with his other squadron mates.
"You okay, Archer?" Commander Powell asked Sancho anxiously as he returned to the formation, heading back towards the Nausicaa.
"Yes sir. Sorry for my over-reaction, sir." Sancho replied.
"How many times must I tell you to call me Porthos, Archer?"
The Commander sighed. He took one look around Pluto space. The salvagers were waiting for them, and further dallying may see more Phaerons in the sector.
But still no word from Pluto. Commander Powell got on the comlink.
"Okay, guys I guess we're heading back and grabbing some chow."
Various shouts of joy could be heard over the open comm. Everyone was tired from salvaging, salvaging food rations, weapon caches, salvagable metals, alloys and materials. Everyone was tired and all too glad to be back on board the Nausicaa.
But they hadn't found Pluto Colony.
Sancho tried not to think about it, tried not to think about what most probably silenced the resistance. And he tried most of all not to think about those eyes.
Those very dead eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~
[White Wins]
The voice, cold, mechanical, rang out into the darkness. The reply was simple, spoken softly, calmly.
"Explain."
[Susceptibility to left side shift of rook; Mendelhousen Maneuver]
The reply was a soft moan of understanding.
Light illuminated the darkened room instantly, turning the faint aura of blue light above the small chessboard off.
[Visitor]
The elderly man who sat in front of the chessboard ignored the hailing. He merely replied, in his gravely voice,
"Do not admit. Resume program."
[Administrative Pass Presented]
Achilles' old eyes blinked once.
[Senior Rank]
As the door opened, Achilles turned his aged body towards it, sighing deeply as if age had finally caught up with him.
"Hello, Viare." he greeted the man who strode in to the cabin, as if he owned it.
Viare wasn't a physically impressive man, but he had the stance and stride of a leader, the confident measured steps that announced he belonged to an elite. The numerous medals, his achievements in battle, that lay affixed to his belt, made it known that his elite status was rightfully earned.
"You may address me as Commodore Commander, Leftenant." Viare said, his voice devoid of emotion. It was a voice that stated fact, uncolored by subjectivity.
Achilles stretched his weary muscles. He felt no mood to play along. "I'm sorry -"
Achilles looked Viare in the eye. "- Viare. I'm done in Ordnance Tactical."
With that simple acknowledgement of his resignation, Achilles turned back to his chessboard, and the program launched once more. His fingers flew over the chessboard, moving rapidly in a chess game that soon saw both sides down to a few pieces.
Viare began speaking.
Achilles completed the game.
"Listen, Leftenant."
[White Wins]
Achilles tapped his chin. "Hmmm... why?"
[Full field rush, Briage Pattern]
"Leftenant!" Viare's cold voice revealed its edge.
Achilles caught the Commander off guard when he spun around suddenly to face him. Achilles stared at Viare, letting him know in no uncertain terms, that he was serious, despite his phrasing.
"I'm done in Ordnance. Telling the big guns where to shoot gets pretty dull after 7 years. I'm done."
Viare looked at the old man seated in front of him. Viare never liked him, Achilles was more trouble than he was worth in his opinion, but neither could Viare deny the man's undoubtable and unerring talent.
A frown began to develop at the corners of Viare's mouth. "You're needed in Ordnance, Leftenant Collier. You can not be reassigned without my authorization - and I do not authorize it."
Achilles stood up, bringing him to his full six foot height, letting him look down at his former commanding officer.
"You may address me as Senior Astrogator, Commander. Of the Nausicaa. And I am Lieutenant, not Leftenant."
Viare stood his ground, and raised his eyes to glare at Achilles. "New Gaia -"
"I do not serve New Gaia, Commander."
Viare backed away a single step. That in itself was an admission of shock from the normally unflappable commander.
"Who do you serve?"
"I have been reassigned to The Earth Liberation Front."
"By whom?"
"Games and Theory." Achilles handed over a holo-datacard to Viare. Viare took it reluctantly. The holovid played automatically.
Viare and Achilles stood silent after the video played, confirming Achilles transfer.
The computer broke the silence. [White Wins]
Viare glared at Achilles. "Games and Theory. And you were here to check on me."
Achilles smiled as he took back the datacard from Viare's limp grip. "Do not flatter yourself, Commander. I joined your division because it was interesting - though not any longer. The Nausicaa on the other hand - is unique."
Achilles sat himself back down in front of the chessboard. After a few moments, he reminded the Commander of his place.
"You are dismissed, Commodore Commander."
The Commodore regained his composure. Almost as if a wall slid back into place, Viare's expression returned to its normal state.
"Yes." Viare said - not daring to say more.
Viare left, the door slid close behind him.
[Observation Program Run Course]
Achilles returned his attention to the chessboard. The computer was done watching him play both sides, and the compilation program he had designed thought it had found a weak point.
[Computer Chooses To Play Black]
The game lasted mere seconds.
[White Wins]
Achilles sighed.
[Starting Compilation Program Again]
Achilles thought of his transfer to the Nausicaa. The ELF fleet had left Elverez space little over two weeks ago and communicae had now fallen into a pattern. Initial strong resistance from the Phaerons before - nothing. Not a trace of any alien activity.
Games and Theory had other operatives on the mission, how many and who they were, he admit he was clueless. Then again, his mission was something else completely.
Pluto has been silenced, Games and Theory was now convinced that the Phaerons had wiped out the colony, and the initial strong resistance met by the ELF fleet was in actual fact the invasion fleet used to eliminate Pluto colony.
But that, to put it succinctly, was merely a theory - not fact. And they only dealt in facts.
Achilles sighed deeply. He now had to be on the Nausicaa, to find what happened on Pluto Colony.
And more importantly, find out how they did it.
======================================================
I'm suprised you manage to save the stories dude. :smile: I thought all the ideas and work contributed were gone when the Project Blue 2-E.L.F. website went down years ago.
Anyhoo....its great work as usual,elfie.I love the way you write and tell stories and am eager to see and read more.I wished I could contribte to PB2 but seriously...I have no idea at all right now*lolz* so this being a solo work is a good move.Maybe I'd join you in a solo project of my own when I have some good ideas after getting intoxicated with some form of medication or something.^^ *lolz*
Anyhoo....its great work as usual,elfie.I love the way you write and tell stories and am eager to see and read more.I wished I could contribte to PB2 but seriously...I have no idea at all right now*lolz* so this being a solo work is a good move.Maybe I'd join you in a solo project of my own when I have some good ideas after getting intoxicated with some form of medication or something.^^ *lolz*
CHAPTER THREE
"There is nothing purer than the sound of battle in space."
- An embarrassing quote from New Erth General Arik Patteo (2888-2970 A.D)
Space travel evoked one of two emotions from first time flyers. One was total exhilaration. The other was utter fear.
So when Nakashima Nakago, in his first time off Accelaria, reacted with total ambivalence, Eve Lockwind was caught entirely off-guard.
She cleared her throat, "2nd Captain of the Shadow Knights, Nakashima Nakago -" Eve looked at his seven other similarly dressed companions, "- and the Shadow Knights?"
Nakago didn't answer at first, prompting Eve to repeat the question. He interrupted her.
"I am no longer the 2nd Captain."
"But you are still Nakashima Nakago, right?" Eve asked, a touch of lightness in her voice. It was lost on the intense young man she was talking to.
"Yes. I am." Nakago turned to look at the woman trying to confirm his identity. She was a beautiful woman, a blonde, just like him. Underneath her business suit, was a trim and firm body, and from the way she held herself, he could gauge that she was experienced in unarmed combat.
Of course, in the short time he had observed the woman called Eve Lockwind, he had also determined she was right-handed, had a distinct disadvantage if he attacked her ankles, and packed a personal firearm in the left inseam of her suit.
"You are not what I expected." Eve said as she led Nakago towards his temporarily assigned quarters. The Shadow Knights fell in behind their leader.
"Then you've expected erroneously." Nakago replied, devoid of emotion.
Eve observed Nakago with the corner of her eye. She took note of his black body armor that was contoured to fit him personally, and the matching helmet that bore his family crest.
"Right. And based on the reports we were given by the Baron of the Shadow Knights, so did your best friend."
Eve knew she had touched a nerve by the sudden sharp intake in breath by one of the other Shadow Knights. She knew very well that the former 2nd Captain could easily snap her neck if he was so inclined.
But Eve also had a responsibility to the ship, and she wasn't about to let just anyone walk right into it. She would push their buttons, and if they reacted, she would punch their clock.
Nakago looked down at her, a slight smile now gracing his face. It was a far from reassuring smile, and Eve had only seen a smile like that twice before in her life.
Once, when she was eight, at the New Erth Galactic Zoo, and she had seen a tiger smile.
The tiger smiled seconds before it pounced and killed its prey where it stood.
The second time was her father's own smile.
It was a smile to fear.
"I would be more careful in the topics you chose, Miss Lockwind." Nakago said in a measured voice, the smile still gracing his lips.
Nakago and Eve locked gazes, each one letting the other know silently, they were in positions to inflict great harm upon the other. Nakago knew he could kill Eve, Eve knew that too. But equally important was the fact that Lockwind Industries could finance a war against Accelaria if Nakago laid a hand on her.
Accelaria was strong and adept in the art of war, but to face New Erth's resources, who would be aided by Elverez and Soshirine - those were not acceptable odds.
Yet neither backed down.
Sayaka entered the corridor and saw them standing there, glaring at each other. She coughed to announce her presence.
Eve and Nakago turned towards Sayaka. Nakago straightened up slightly as he assessed Sayaka. Eve crossed over to her best friend's side.
"2nd Captain Nakashima Nakago. Welcome to the Nausicaa." Sayaka greeted him graciously. Nakago responded with a nod of his head, prompting his fellow Shadow Knights to do the same. Nakago delivered his designation speech to the Captain of the Nausicaa.
"Nakashima Nakago, Special Agent of ELF Internal Affairs Council, by the orders of the Ruling Terran Governments of Accelaria, New Erth, New Gaia, Soshirine - and Elverez, I am hereby reporting for duty."
Sayaka looked at Nakago with a slightly impressed expression, though she was also quick to point out that the formalities may be dispensed with.
"I prefer to run a relaxed ship, 2nd Captain."
"I am no longer 2nd Captain. I am a ELF Internal Affairs Special Agent. I oversee the ship, in terms of security. I am also in charge of getting this ship and all its personnel to battle readiness, in accordance with Accelarian codes of conduct." Nakago replied coldly.
Sayaka sighed and looked at Eve. "I understand that, Agent Nakashima. But I must also make you realize, that most of the personnel onboard the Nausicaa are not Accelarian. And, I, the Captain of this vessel, am the overriding authority."
Sayaka glared at Nakago to make sure he understood completely who was in charge. "As long as you are onboard the Nausicaa, you and all decisions regarding this ship are under me. I am the captain."
"I understand." Nakago replied curtly.
Sayaka smiled. "Good. Now if you'll excuse me."
As Sayaka turned to leave, she spoke quietly to Eve.
"Eve, teach these guys to lighten up. I will not have a bunch of scary looking Knights onboard getting everyone jumpy. I'll be at the lounge. See you later.
With that Sayaka was gone. Eve stared after her for a moment, before she realized what had happened.
"Sayaka! Who are you to command me?! I'm not under your command!"
Nakago looked at Eve in consternation before turning back to his Shadow Knights. He nodded once, before he removed his helmet. The others did the same.
Eve looked at Nakago's attractive face. There was no mistaking the resemblance. Nakago looked like his father.
The Accelarian King.
~~~~~
Sayaka found herself in the lounge, and from the empty bottles surrounding her, she realized she had been there a long time.
She sighed as she emptied out the decanter into her glass. She raised it to her lips.
Captain?
Sayaka stopped. She looked around to see who had called out to her.
Over here Captain.
Sayaka turned to her right, and saw a young girl, 15 years old at the most, standing by herself in the corner. She was dressed in a light blue space jumpsuit, uncommon since the atmosphere inside the Nausicaa was regulated.
But what was even more uncommon was the girl. She had blue hair, which wasn't something you usually got from New Erth, Elverez or Accelaria. Sayaka guessed she was a New Gaian - that made her uncommon.
Yes, Captain. I am a telepath.
Sayaka almost dropped her glass. She hadn't realized that the girl had picked up on that stray thought.
"Uh, what is your name?"
The girl approached Sayaka, and stood beside her. Sayaka noted that the girl, if she was 15, she looked more like she was 12, was tall for her age. Already 5'2".
I am Reina Fumikawa, of New Gaia. I am the Nausicaa's emulator.
This time Sayaka did drop her glass. It clattered off the table and fell to the carpeted floor. The glass didn't break, but its contents spilt out.
"I'm uh - you're too young to be in the military."
"Maybe I can shed light on that, Sayaka."
Sayaka turned to see Eve walking up to them. Eve placed a hand on Reina's shoulder.
"I sponsored her, personally." Eve turned to look at Reina. "After all, the best ship in the universe deserves an emulator of equal capabilities."
Eve and Reina shared a smile before Eve looked back at Sayaka. Sayaka looked suspiciously at them.
"You sponsored her. Hmm... you do know that she's probably not legal -"
"What are you talking about?!" Eve exploded, causing some of the other lounge patrons to look over. When they realized who was doing the shouting, they quickly evacuated to the seats furthest from her.
"As I was saying, Reina is our emulator, but with the Nausicaa's system far from operational, I thought it best to hide her from the rest of the crew."
"As your cabin girl?" Sayaka asked.
"ARE YOU IMPLYING I'M A PERVERTED LESBIAN?"
The evacuation of seats was now total. No one was left in the lounge.
"Aren't you?"
"Hey, I can appreciate a good looking woman if I want to."
"You have a strange way of showing your appreciation." Sayaka replied.
Reina looked on at the squabbling women, and only wondered, if she had indeed joined the right ship.
The klaxon alarms went off, leaving Eve and Sayaka, who had each other by the throat to look up.
"Captain Sanada. The Phaerons - we are under attack."
Sayaka and Eve spoke as one.
"Oh crap."
======================================================
"There is nothing purer than the sound of battle in space."
- An embarrassing quote from New Erth General Arik Patteo (2888-2970 A.D)
Space travel evoked one of two emotions from first time flyers. One was total exhilaration. The other was utter fear.
So when Nakashima Nakago, in his first time off Accelaria, reacted with total ambivalence, Eve Lockwind was caught entirely off-guard.
She cleared her throat, "2nd Captain of the Shadow Knights, Nakashima Nakago -" Eve looked at his seven other similarly dressed companions, "- and the Shadow Knights?"
Nakago didn't answer at first, prompting Eve to repeat the question. He interrupted her.
"I am no longer the 2nd Captain."
"But you are still Nakashima Nakago, right?" Eve asked, a touch of lightness in her voice. It was lost on the intense young man she was talking to.
"Yes. I am." Nakago turned to look at the woman trying to confirm his identity. She was a beautiful woman, a blonde, just like him. Underneath her business suit, was a trim and firm body, and from the way she held herself, he could gauge that she was experienced in unarmed combat.
Of course, in the short time he had observed the woman called Eve Lockwind, he had also determined she was right-handed, had a distinct disadvantage if he attacked her ankles, and packed a personal firearm in the left inseam of her suit.
"You are not what I expected." Eve said as she led Nakago towards his temporarily assigned quarters. The Shadow Knights fell in behind their leader.
"Then you've expected erroneously." Nakago replied, devoid of emotion.
Eve observed Nakago with the corner of her eye. She took note of his black body armor that was contoured to fit him personally, and the matching helmet that bore his family crest.
"Right. And based on the reports we were given by the Baron of the Shadow Knights, so did your best friend."
Eve knew she had touched a nerve by the sudden sharp intake in breath by one of the other Shadow Knights. She knew very well that the former 2nd Captain could easily snap her neck if he was so inclined.
But Eve also had a responsibility to the ship, and she wasn't about to let just anyone walk right into it. She would push their buttons, and if they reacted, she would punch their clock.
Nakago looked down at her, a slight smile now gracing his face. It was a far from reassuring smile, and Eve had only seen a smile like that twice before in her life.
Once, when she was eight, at the New Erth Galactic Zoo, and she had seen a tiger smile.
The tiger smiled seconds before it pounced and killed its prey where it stood.
The second time was her father's own smile.
It was a smile to fear.
"I would be more careful in the topics you chose, Miss Lockwind." Nakago said in a measured voice, the smile still gracing his lips.
Nakago and Eve locked gazes, each one letting the other know silently, they were in positions to inflict great harm upon the other. Nakago knew he could kill Eve, Eve knew that too. But equally important was the fact that Lockwind Industries could finance a war against Accelaria if Nakago laid a hand on her.
Accelaria was strong and adept in the art of war, but to face New Erth's resources, who would be aided by Elverez and Soshirine - those were not acceptable odds.
Yet neither backed down.
Sayaka entered the corridor and saw them standing there, glaring at each other. She coughed to announce her presence.
Eve and Nakago turned towards Sayaka. Nakago straightened up slightly as he assessed Sayaka. Eve crossed over to her best friend's side.
"2nd Captain Nakashima Nakago. Welcome to the Nausicaa." Sayaka greeted him graciously. Nakago responded with a nod of his head, prompting his fellow Shadow Knights to do the same. Nakago delivered his designation speech to the Captain of the Nausicaa.
"Nakashima Nakago, Special Agent of ELF Internal Affairs Council, by the orders of the Ruling Terran Governments of Accelaria, New Erth, New Gaia, Soshirine - and Elverez, I am hereby reporting for duty."
Sayaka looked at Nakago with a slightly impressed expression, though she was also quick to point out that the formalities may be dispensed with.
"I prefer to run a relaxed ship, 2nd Captain."
"I am no longer 2nd Captain. I am a ELF Internal Affairs Special Agent. I oversee the ship, in terms of security. I am also in charge of getting this ship and all its personnel to battle readiness, in accordance with Accelarian codes of conduct." Nakago replied coldly.
Sayaka sighed and looked at Eve. "I understand that, Agent Nakashima. But I must also make you realize, that most of the personnel onboard the Nausicaa are not Accelarian. And, I, the Captain of this vessel, am the overriding authority."
Sayaka glared at Nakago to make sure he understood completely who was in charge. "As long as you are onboard the Nausicaa, you and all decisions regarding this ship are under me. I am the captain."
"I understand." Nakago replied curtly.
Sayaka smiled. "Good. Now if you'll excuse me."
As Sayaka turned to leave, she spoke quietly to Eve.
"Eve, teach these guys to lighten up. I will not have a bunch of scary looking Knights onboard getting everyone jumpy. I'll be at the lounge. See you later.
With that Sayaka was gone. Eve stared after her for a moment, before she realized what had happened.
"Sayaka! Who are you to command me?! I'm not under your command!"
Nakago looked at Eve in consternation before turning back to his Shadow Knights. He nodded once, before he removed his helmet. The others did the same.
Eve looked at Nakago's attractive face. There was no mistaking the resemblance. Nakago looked like his father.
The Accelarian King.
~~~~~
Sayaka found herself in the lounge, and from the empty bottles surrounding her, she realized she had been there a long time.
She sighed as she emptied out the decanter into her glass. She raised it to her lips.
Captain?
Sayaka stopped. She looked around to see who had called out to her.
Over here Captain.
Sayaka turned to her right, and saw a young girl, 15 years old at the most, standing by herself in the corner. She was dressed in a light blue space jumpsuit, uncommon since the atmosphere inside the Nausicaa was regulated.
But what was even more uncommon was the girl. She had blue hair, which wasn't something you usually got from New Erth, Elverez or Accelaria. Sayaka guessed she was a New Gaian - that made her uncommon.
Yes, Captain. I am a telepath.
Sayaka almost dropped her glass. She hadn't realized that the girl had picked up on that stray thought.
"Uh, what is your name?"
The girl approached Sayaka, and stood beside her. Sayaka noted that the girl, if she was 15, she looked more like she was 12, was tall for her age. Already 5'2".
I am Reina Fumikawa, of New Gaia. I am the Nausicaa's emulator.
This time Sayaka did drop her glass. It clattered off the table and fell to the carpeted floor. The glass didn't break, but its contents spilt out.
"I'm uh - you're too young to be in the military."
"Maybe I can shed light on that, Sayaka."
Sayaka turned to see Eve walking up to them. Eve placed a hand on Reina's shoulder.
"I sponsored her, personally." Eve turned to look at Reina. "After all, the best ship in the universe deserves an emulator of equal capabilities."
Eve and Reina shared a smile before Eve looked back at Sayaka. Sayaka looked suspiciously at them.
"You sponsored her. Hmm... you do know that she's probably not legal -"
"What are you talking about?!" Eve exploded, causing some of the other lounge patrons to look over. When they realized who was doing the shouting, they quickly evacuated to the seats furthest from her.
"As I was saying, Reina is our emulator, but with the Nausicaa's system far from operational, I thought it best to hide her from the rest of the crew."
"As your cabin girl?" Sayaka asked.
"ARE YOU IMPLYING I'M A PERVERTED LESBIAN?"
The evacuation of seats was now total. No one was left in the lounge.
"Aren't you?"
"Hey, I can appreciate a good looking woman if I want to."
"You have a strange way of showing your appreciation." Sayaka replied.
Reina looked on at the squabbling women, and only wondered, if she had indeed joined the right ship.
The klaxon alarms went off, leaving Eve and Sayaka, who had each other by the throat to look up.
"Captain Sanada. The Phaerons - we are under attack."
Sayaka and Eve spoke as one.
"Oh crap."
======================================================
This is very entertaining to read. Of course I don't know what you wrote all by yourself and what come from collaborating with others, but if this is your writing style you are very talented. I hope you are published or planning to get published someday...
QUOTE (Bishoujo Ichi @ Apr 30 2005, 08:46 AM)
This is very entertaining to read. Of course I don't know what you wrote all by yourself and what come from collaborating with others, but if this is your writing style you are very talented. I hope you are published or planning to get published someday...
yes this is my writing style (at the moment - for this project) because I am rewriting the story that some of the others wrote in my style.
Of course, maybe I should add a little note to let people know who originally wrote which story. :)
Thanks for the compliment. I don't know if I planned on getting published. I don't think I'm much of an author.
CHAPTER FOUR
"Duty before honor. Honor before glory."
- 21st century family motto of the Pillai clan.
"Sir!"
Admiral Sean Masters turned around at the sound to face his yeoman as another barrage of laser fire rocked the Cervantes. The Phaerons, just as the fleet entered Saturn space had appeared out of nowhere, ambushing the ELF fleet.
And the Phaerons had come ready to fight.
The admiral's orders were nearly drowned out by the endless klaxon alarms blaring throughout the ship, but the yeoman understood what the admiral asked of him. He saluted quickly as he spun on his heel and left the bridge.
Admiral Masters returned his attention to the massive windowed view of the battle raging in front of the Cervantes. It spanned the entire bridge, a silent, deadly, beautiful 180-degree view of ELF fleet fighters engaging the enemy, as Super Carriers quickly moved into defensive cover around them, playing against the backdrop of Saturn's rings.
Suddenly, the Cervantes was rocked hard, throwing some of the crew to the ground. The Admiral held on to a rail to keep himself upright.
"Where did that come from?!" Admiral Masters shouted at the astronavigator on the bridge.
"Sir, Dreadnoughts!"
The Admiral didn't need the astronavigator to point out what was suddenly very obvious. Phaeron Dreadnoughts, massive battle cities, a mobile launching pad for more Phaeron fighters, and even more powerful weapons.
One of the crew members whispered breathlessly, "Dear God."
One Dreadnought brought its weapons to bear on the Cervantes. The bridge shook off their shock and moved into immediate action. Admiral Masters barked out orders.
"Evasive action! The Dreadnought is moving into firing range."
"Maximum shields to fore hull."
"Brace for impact!"
~~~~~
"Brace for the second wave!"
Lt. Cmdr. Sancho 'Archer' Arquero was lying deep in the middle of a defensive tactical formation, his eyes pouring over all the data being sent back to Tactical Networks. Without taking his eyes off the numbers and equations, Archer replied.
"Hold your positions, I'm sending more data to TAC-NET about the SCAMs."
The Daedalus squadron had engaged the first wave of the Strike-Claw Assault Mechs that attacked the Cervantes, the ELF fleet flagship. Dispatching them quickly back to the fiery depths they were spawned from, Sancho and the fourteen other fighters in the squadron fell into a crab like formation, looking out at all directions.
Daedalus squadron leader, Captain James "Porthos" Powell looked out his front view, at the clear serene and empty blackness of space. Only the occasional flash of lasers or explosion of missiles broke the calm. Porthos sighed. He really wondered just how loud those explosions would be if it weren't for the vacuum of space. The voice of a young woman broke his reverie.
"Kzzzzt... Heads up Porthos. Bogeys coming in at 7 o'clock."
"Archer?"
Sancho responded calmly, without even looking up from his screen. "Keep your eyes open for any SCAM's sneaking up on us. Weapons free on my mark."
Weapons free meant that the squadron could fire at will. It also gave automation to the pilots to actively hunt, seek and destroy any hostile ship.
As if on cue, the SCAM's appeared right on top of the squadron, jumping out of hyperspace a mere kilometer above them.
"Mark!"
Sancho launched a torpedo from the top of his Blackwing fighter, catching the SCAM's by surprise. The torpedo exploded in a bright flash, and for a moment, everything within its vicinity was colored pure white.
Most of the SCAM's curved their trajectories to avoid the torpedo's flash, buying the squadron a couple of precious extra seconds.
One of the Blackwing pilots came on the comlink. "They're speeding up sir. Approaching attack speed and vector."
"Keep it close people." Porthos ordered, before Archer took over command.
"Doggie, Ax, ZZ. Take the five Grays and fall back. You're back up. And don't look at the fighters until they veer off." Archer said as he quickly piloted his Blackwing closer to Porthos' and Carrion's.
"What are you planning, Archer?" Porthos asked, as three of the Blackwings fell in beside their predecessor Gray counterparts, withdrawing from the formation.
"It's not what I'm planning Porthos. It's what they're planning. Those SCAMs have high beam lights. Looks like they're gonna flash us then let the second wave come in and mop us while we're blind. Close off all external sensor arrays and no radio. They'd most probably want those to be damaged as well." Archer replied.
"So we sit here like ducks?" Carrion asked.
"I'm planning a little surprise of my own." Archer replied, before ordering another Blackwing pilot. "Ryo. Launch one ECM pod."
Ryo quickly obeyed.
"Launching. Pod away and operational."
The Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) pod floated in front of the four Blackwings. The ECM jammed all radio transmission from the first wave as they enter the area - hopefully it would prevent them from warning the second wave that they didn't succeed.
"Stealth on." Archer said.
The entire squadron switched to stealth mode, the heat from the engines being masked, the shape and color of the fighters slowly bending in with the darkness of space. Stealth on also meant no radio contact, but the texting options were still available. Archer sent further instructions by text to all the other ships.
Just as Archer predicted the first wave flashed lights in their direction, and it would have damaged their sensors if they had been left on.
"Stealth off. Sensors on. Weapons free!" Archer quickly relayed as the first wave passed over. "
The 5 Graywings in the second group tore off and blasted away at the first wave SCAM's as they flew past. Meanwhile Porthos, Carrion, Ryo and Archer spread themselves out and trained their weapons sights on the unsuspecting approaching SCAM's approaching.
When the Phaerons entered the range of the ECM and were instantly jammed, they knew something was wrong. Torn between continuing the attack and calling it off, the four Blackwings of Porthos, Carrion, Ryo and Archer fired with unerring accuracy, hitting and eliminating the entire second wave.
As the Daedelus squadron regrouped and offered Archer their congratulations at out-thinking the damned Phaerons, news filtered through to them from the battle field. The humans were winning!
A blast of immense magnitude suddenly left space brighter than day and when the blast was done, a frightening sight lay in store for all the ELF Fleet.
A fresh battle group had emerged in Saturn space, and it's first move was concentrate its fire on one of the human carriers - disintergrating it within seconds in a massive nuclear explosion.
In those seconds after, someone over TAC-NET had uttered, "Oh my god."
No one could find anything more appropriate to say.
--------------------------------------------------------------
"Duty before honor. Honor before glory."
- 21st century family motto of the Pillai clan.
"Sir!"
Admiral Sean Masters turned around at the sound to face his yeoman as another barrage of laser fire rocked the Cervantes. The Phaerons, just as the fleet entered Saturn space had appeared out of nowhere, ambushing the ELF fleet.
And the Phaerons had come ready to fight.
The admiral's orders were nearly drowned out by the endless klaxon alarms blaring throughout the ship, but the yeoman understood what the admiral asked of him. He saluted quickly as he spun on his heel and left the bridge.
Admiral Masters returned his attention to the massive windowed view of the battle raging in front of the Cervantes. It spanned the entire bridge, a silent, deadly, beautiful 180-degree view of ELF fleet fighters engaging the enemy, as Super Carriers quickly moved into defensive cover around them, playing against the backdrop of Saturn's rings.
Suddenly, the Cervantes was rocked hard, throwing some of the crew to the ground. The Admiral held on to a rail to keep himself upright.
"Where did that come from?!" Admiral Masters shouted at the astronavigator on the bridge.
"Sir, Dreadnoughts!"
The Admiral didn't need the astronavigator to point out what was suddenly very obvious. Phaeron Dreadnoughts, massive battle cities, a mobile launching pad for more Phaeron fighters, and even more powerful weapons.
One of the crew members whispered breathlessly, "Dear God."
One Dreadnought brought its weapons to bear on the Cervantes. The bridge shook off their shock and moved into immediate action. Admiral Masters barked out orders.
"Evasive action! The Dreadnought is moving into firing range."
"Maximum shields to fore hull."
"Brace for impact!"
~~~~~
"Brace for the second wave!"
Lt. Cmdr. Sancho 'Archer' Arquero was lying deep in the middle of a defensive tactical formation, his eyes pouring over all the data being sent back to Tactical Networks. Without taking his eyes off the numbers and equations, Archer replied.
"Hold your positions, I'm sending more data to TAC-NET about the SCAMs."
The Daedalus squadron had engaged the first wave of the Strike-Claw Assault Mechs that attacked the Cervantes, the ELF fleet flagship. Dispatching them quickly back to the fiery depths they were spawned from, Sancho and the fourteen other fighters in the squadron fell into a crab like formation, looking out at all directions.
Daedalus squadron leader, Captain James "Porthos" Powell looked out his front view, at the clear serene and empty blackness of space. Only the occasional flash of lasers or explosion of missiles broke the calm. Porthos sighed. He really wondered just how loud those explosions would be if it weren't for the vacuum of space. The voice of a young woman broke his reverie.
"Kzzzzt... Heads up Porthos. Bogeys coming in at 7 o'clock."
"Archer?"
Sancho responded calmly, without even looking up from his screen. "Keep your eyes open for any SCAM's sneaking up on us. Weapons free on my mark."
Weapons free meant that the squadron could fire at will. It also gave automation to the pilots to actively hunt, seek and destroy any hostile ship.
As if on cue, the SCAM's appeared right on top of the squadron, jumping out of hyperspace a mere kilometer above them.
"Mark!"
Sancho launched a torpedo from the top of his Blackwing fighter, catching the SCAM's by surprise. The torpedo exploded in a bright flash, and for a moment, everything within its vicinity was colored pure white.
Most of the SCAM's curved their trajectories to avoid the torpedo's flash, buying the squadron a couple of precious extra seconds.
One of the Blackwing pilots came on the comlink. "They're speeding up sir. Approaching attack speed and vector."
"Keep it close people." Porthos ordered, before Archer took over command.
"Doggie, Ax, ZZ. Take the five Grays and fall back. You're back up. And don't look at the fighters until they veer off." Archer said as he quickly piloted his Blackwing closer to Porthos' and Carrion's.
"What are you planning, Archer?" Porthos asked, as three of the Blackwings fell in beside their predecessor Gray counterparts, withdrawing from the formation.
"It's not what I'm planning Porthos. It's what they're planning. Those SCAMs have high beam lights. Looks like they're gonna flash us then let the second wave come in and mop us while we're blind. Close off all external sensor arrays and no radio. They'd most probably want those to be damaged as well." Archer replied.
"So we sit here like ducks?" Carrion asked.
"I'm planning a little surprise of my own." Archer replied, before ordering another Blackwing pilot. "Ryo. Launch one ECM pod."
Ryo quickly obeyed.
"Launching. Pod away and operational."
The Electronic Counter Measures (ECM) pod floated in front of the four Blackwings. The ECM jammed all radio transmission from the first wave as they enter the area - hopefully it would prevent them from warning the second wave that they didn't succeed.
"Stealth on." Archer said.
The entire squadron switched to stealth mode, the heat from the engines being masked, the shape and color of the fighters slowly bending in with the darkness of space. Stealth on also meant no radio contact, but the texting options were still available. Archer sent further instructions by text to all the other ships.
Just as Archer predicted the first wave flashed lights in their direction, and it would have damaged their sensors if they had been left on.
"Stealth off. Sensors on. Weapons free!" Archer quickly relayed as the first wave passed over. "
The 5 Graywings in the second group tore off and blasted away at the first wave SCAM's as they flew past. Meanwhile Porthos, Carrion, Ryo and Archer spread themselves out and trained their weapons sights on the unsuspecting approaching SCAM's approaching.
When the Phaerons entered the range of the ECM and were instantly jammed, they knew something was wrong. Torn between continuing the attack and calling it off, the four Blackwings of Porthos, Carrion, Ryo and Archer fired with unerring accuracy, hitting and eliminating the entire second wave.
As the Daedelus squadron regrouped and offered Archer their congratulations at out-thinking the damned Phaerons, news filtered through to them from the battle field. The humans were winning!
A blast of immense magnitude suddenly left space brighter than day and when the blast was done, a frightening sight lay in store for all the ELF Fleet.
A fresh battle group had emerged in Saturn space, and it's first move was concentrate its fire on one of the human carriers - disintergrating it within seconds in a massive nuclear explosion.
In those seconds after, someone over TAC-NET had uttered, "Oh my god."
No one could find anything more appropriate to say.
--------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER FIVE
"No one really wants the secret to life. What they really want is the secret on how to enjoy life. The secret on how to enjoy life, is to live it to the fullest and to forget your fears of death.
And most importantly, love with all your being; mind, heart and soul."
- Dr. Laura Paumonte (2514-2586) in her book "The Human Way".
Admiral Sean Masters lay rooted to the spot. He found himself standing in complete darkness, and wondered for a brief second if this was what hell was like. An eternity of darkness, devoid of life, devoid of time.
Light began to filter through to his eyes soon enough. Soon, enough light for him to see where he was. He wished he hadn't looked.
Twenty seconds ago, aimed directly at the Cervantes was the Phaeron Dreadnought, its weapons charged. There would be no escape. The Admiral remembered his last few orders.
"Evasive action! The Dreadnought is moving into firing range."
But there was no escape.
"Maximum shields to fore hull."
Nothing would have survived the terrible power unleashed by the Phaeron weapon.
"Brace for impact!"
In the face of death, it was a human condition to struggle against it, even over insurmountable odds. It was what made humans truly strong. Humans were survivors, the cockroaches of the universe. And while each and every human was different, they all shared the same basic genetic trait.
They would fight to the very end to preserve the fragile lives they led.
A huge shadow covered the entire forecastle of the Cervantes, casting it suddenly into an inky blackness. It took a moment before the Admiral recognized the battle group insignia on the side of the shadow.
It was the battleship Dominar.
A voice came over the speakers.
"Ever Onward, Admiral!"
"Captain! No!"
But Sean's warning to the Captain of the Dominar came too late. The Phaeron Dreadnought's Photon ray hit it dead center, and for the briefest moment, a solar eclipse blessed the bridge of the Cervantes. The screens polarized automatically to prevent the crew from being blinded. It cast the entire bridge into utter darkness.
In the quiet vacuum of space, the explosion went unheard. From a distance came a light so bright, it may seem like the birth of a star, instead of the death of thousands. And in the quiet vacuum of space, the dying screams of the thousands went unheard as well. As the screens depolarized, the sight that greeted the crew of the Cervantes was straight out hell. And the Admiral wished he hadn't looked.
The Dominar was nearly severed in half, a gaping wound where its main quarters and hangars once were. The ship was dead. The ships innards, exposed to space, were being sucked out like blood flowing from a fresh kill. And hundreds of little organisms floated around the exposed wound, like flies over a rotting carcass. But these were not flies.
They were the human dead.
The Admiral looked away from the grizzly sight as the computer automatically corrected its course to avoid collision with the remains of the Dominar. The Admiral's yeoman returned to his side.
"Particle Cannons are online and fully operational, sir."
Admiral Masters issued the order tersely. "Fire at that Dreadnought."
"Yes sir."
The Cervantes Particle Cannon tracked its newly acquired enemy silently gloating over the remains of the Battleship Dominar. As if sensing its impending doom, the Dreadnought turned slowly towards the Cervantes.
"Fire!"
A violent surge shook the entire ship, as power was drained from all quarters to unleash the deadliest weapon the Cervantes possessed at the enemy Dreadnought.
The beam sliced right through the Dreadnought, and kept on going, slicing through a couple more enemy battleships. It seemed almost anti-climatic, for the power of the beam didn't lay in it's wide distribution of power. It was a narrow focused beam, which only made it more devastating.
The beam completely disintegrated everything in its path, and the Dreadnought finding itself completely without a core, fell apart. There was no spectacular explosion. There was no breathtaking supernova. The enemy ships hit by the Particle Cannon fell apart, as if the molecules holding them together like glue, was removed.
There were a few whoops of joy, and even more sighs of relief. But the congratulations that spread across the bridge of the Cervantes were cut short by the Astronavigator's next words.
"Sir, there's a huge energy anomaly!"
"Where?"
"Right above us."
-------------------------------------------------------------
The command bridge on board the Nausicaa was abuzz as crew members shouted orders and responses all around the room. The arrival of the Phaeron's coordinated surprise attack fleet had caught the entire ELF Fleet offguard.
"Captain! The Battleship Dominar has been destroyed! Destroyers that were guarding the Dominar have fallen back behind the engagement line and are awaiting fresh orders!"
"Squadrons twelve and fourteen have just been annihilated! Squadron forty-four is requesting back-up in sector 22-21!"
"Captain!"
Sayaka turned to her astronavigator.
"Enemy battleships have appeared from hyperspace in Sector 32-38."
"What?" Sayaka pressed the control and brought up the astronavigator's charts to the main screen.
"Confirmed 5 Phaeron carriers, 15 Battlecruisers and at least 90 Phaeron Battleships."
Sayaka let fly an expletive under her breath. She looked down at her data screens to access the situation.
"Set course for the sector!"
Sayaka sat down in the captain's chair. "Who else is close to the sector?" She asked no one in particular.
"The Battleships Capricorn, Vertigo and Zephyr are in the sector!" One of the junior officers announced.
"Sir, the Cervantes has entered sector 32-38!"
Sayaka bolted straight back up. "What?"
"Sir, the enemy is engaging!"
Captain Sayaka Sanada looked out the main screen on the command bridge. Phaeron ships were appearing everywhere around the ELF fleet, outnumbering each fighter a few hundred times over.
Eve broke into Sayaka's thoughts. "Saya, the Phaerons are boxing us in."
Sayaka turned to her best friend and closest confidante. Eve continued, "I think they are preparing for something big. We need to signal the Cervantes and pull back! The fleet will be destroyed if we don't."
Sayaka snapped back. "I know!" At Eve's flinch, Sayaka controlled her temper. It wasn't Eve's fault things were going to hell in a cargo shipment marked express right now. She softened her tone. "I know... We need to act fast."
Sayaka turned to her communications officer. "Get me the Cervantes!"
"Yes sir."
Sayaka gently pressed down on the neurotransmitter plugged into her earpiece. It was the only means of communication with the Nausicaa's telepathic emulator, Reina Fumikawa.
"Fumikawa! Status report on the Nausicaa!"
Reina scanned all the ship systems, waving her hands as windows opened and closed in the air around her. The expression on her face remained unchanged as she explored the entire ship's structure in seconds.
"Nausicaa has suffered no significant damage. Multiphased and damper shields are still at maximum. Power to weapons is down to forty-five percent."
The communications officer reported back. "Captain, Cervantes communications is down."
Sayaka's eyes and lips narrowed. She turned her attention back to Reina. "We're going to need some serious firepower to break through enemy lines. Is the Piledriver ready?"
Reina thought up the status display. As if moving through the other windows, the energy status window floated up to the surface.
"The Piledriver requires fifteen minutes to store the energy needed, Captain."
"We don't have fifteen minutes!" Sayaka shouted, before realizing she didn't need to verbalize her thoughts. The other bridge crew looked at her for a startled instance before returning back to their duties. Sayaka closed her eyes. She tried to think.
"What else do we have that can deliver some major damage fast?"
Reina replied, oblivious that the thought wasn't meant for her. The sudden voice in her head startled Sayaka.
"The Gravitational Cannons require only three minutes to full power, but it is not as effective as the Particle Cannon, Captain."
"And the Particle -"
"About nine minutes, seven if we divert power from the shields."
A sudden cry broke into Sayaka's thoughts. "Captain! Enemy ships approaching! Three battleships!"
Sayaka realized the situation forced her decision. "Go with the Grav-Cannons, but divert energy from elsewhere. We're going to need the shields."
"Yes Captain. Transferring power from propulsion and non-essential systems."
"Enemy is 1000 pax and heading for us, sir." The Astrogation officer announced.
"Are there any squadrons near us?" Eve asked as Sayaka reassumed command of the bridge.
The communications officer checked his IFF readings. "Affirmative, the Daedelus squadron, but they are making their way towards the Cervantes. Shall I-"
Sayaka waved him off. "Let them go. We need to protect the Cervantes at all cost."
"650 pax and closing."
"Sir, the battleship Zephyr has been critically damaged."
"Captain, our squadrons are requesting rearmament."
Sayaka tried not to be overwhelmed by the sudden stream of decisions that required her decisive handling. "Full power to front shields, lasers at full and lock all salvos to the enemy ships."
"Yes sir!" the gunnery sergeant got on the comlink to relay the captains orders.
"500 Pax!"
"Get our fastest rearmament crew out to our aft hanger, and tell the boys to get ready for a splash and dash."
"Yes captain."
The gunnery sergeant shouted over the noise. "Captain. Guns are ready."
"Enemy has opened fire!"
"Steady." Sayaka's focus remained firmly fixed on the approaching enemy ships.
"Saya?" Eve looked worriedly as the enemy's laser fire bounced off the front shields. The Nausicaa barely rocked under the intense barrage.
"Incoming! Three torpedoes from heading one-five."
"ECM up." Sayaka remained calm, despite the tenseness on the bridge.
"Captain, torpedoes are homing in towards the bridge."
"Grav-Cannons One and Three are online."
Sayaka finally gave the order. "Fire all guns!"
As one, the Nausicaa's numerous guns, cannons and turrets belched raw power, exploding the approaching torpedoes in the process. From the blaze of fire, the Nausicaa's beams sliced through, catching the Phaeron ships off guard.
"Concentrate power on the middle ship's starboard flank."
"All Grav-Cannons ready."
"Fire Grav-Cannon One, Two, Three sequentially at the left ship."
Just as the Nausicaa's normal guns damaged the side of the middle Phaeron battleship, the three Grav-Cannons fired a single shot each, in rapid succession. The first salvo caused a temporary rift in the Phaeron battleship's force shield. The second salvo dived through the gap in the shield to open up a gaping wound in the fore hull.
The third salvo dived through both gaps on its way to the energy reactor core.
The ensuing explosion set off a massive chain reaction, incinerating the battleship on the left, causing the crippled middle ship to careen into the battleship on its right. The Nausicaa calmly avoided the massive energy explosion as the three Phaeron battleships met their doom.
"Enemy target has been destroyed!"
The crew whooped in joy. Their relief was palpable. Sayaka took a deep breath. "Excellent! Is there-"
"Huge energy build up in Sector 55-22! Something's exiting hyperspace!"
Eve barked at the astrogation officer. "Can you detect where it came from?"
The officer checked his scopes. "That's... it's from Mars!"
"It's a Dreadnought."
Sayaka shook off the answer Reina sent to her. She hadn't realized she was still broadcasting her thoughts to the Emulator. Sayaka looked out at the forward screen. With the screen's four times magnification, she saw the Phaeron Dreadnought's space reentry was instantly followed by hundreds of battleships that acted as its escort. On reentry, thousands of fighters launched from the Phaeron battleships.
"What is its ETA?" Sayaka asked.
"Entering the engagement zone in two minute..."
An emergency transmission blared through the ship's speakers.
"Kzzzzztttt... All ships fall back! The dreadnought is preparing to fire!
"What?!" Eve shouted in disbelief.
On the screen, the red and blue aura that enveloped the Dreadnought's hull was instantly visible across the inky blackness of space.
"Captain. Massive energy build up on the Dreadnought confirmed! The readings are off the scale!"
It's an Anti-matter ray!
Sayaka let fly an expletive. "It's an anti-matter ray!"
Eve looked questioningly at her friend. "Anti-matter ray? What the hell is-"
But Sayaka was too busy thinking out her next instructions. "Fumikawa!Maximum power to shields, divert energy from anything that isn't tied down but get the shields maximized now!"
Instantly, power was drained throughout the ship to power the shields. Sayaka felt the ship divert energy from its gravity core. Everyone who wasn't strapped in started floating in the zero-g. Blast doors slammed shut instantly to prevent things floating into other sections.
Sayaka strapped herself into the Captain's chair, just moments before the universe changed forever.
The Dreadnought fired a continuous stream of blue and red energy toward the ELF Fleet, missing the Nausicaa by mere inches in an astronomical sense. The Nausicaa was violently thrown, klaxon alarms ringing deafeningly as the entire bridge was bathed in a blood red light.
But everyone was still transfixed on the sight that greeted them outside.
The ships that were hit by the Dreadnought's Anti-Matter Ray; be it ELF or Phaeron, exploded in sequence, as if set ablaze on a river of oil.
The beam had been fired for a mere second, but the trail of destruction seemed to stretch on forever.
"Dear God!" one of the crew members exclaimed.
Reina's voice came over Sayaka's mind, filling her in on the ship's status. "Dreadnought's Anti-Matter Ray missed the Nausicaa by 0.18 Pax. Shields are down to twenty-three percent and exterior structure has suffered multiple fractures."
"What is the status of the ELF Fleet?" Sayaka asked, knowing Reina would be the one to supply the answer first.
"Half the ELF Fleet is destroyed or crippled. And the Cervantes-"
Eve turned to Sayaka and whispered to her. "There is no way we can win now. We've got to cut our losses."
"The Cervantes is badly hit."
Eve stopped. She knew the importance of the Cervantes, but she also knew the risk Sayaka was thinking of taking.
"Saya. Take the Nausicaa to the nearest Phaeron line and prepare to fire all the Grav Cannons at maximum rate! At least let's get out of here."
Sayaka turned to the daughter of the owner of the Nausicaa. "Is that an order?"
Eve looked at Sayaka and noticed the dangerous glint in the captain's eyes. "No."
"Good, I'll take it as advisement." Sayaka turned to her crew. "Set course for the Cervantes. I will not abandon them."
The crew responded as one. "Yes sir!"
"All impulse engines, full speed ahead!"
===========================================
"No one really wants the secret to life. What they really want is the secret on how to enjoy life. The secret on how to enjoy life, is to live it to the fullest and to forget your fears of death.
And most importantly, love with all your being; mind, heart and soul."
- Dr. Laura Paumonte (2514-2586) in her book "The Human Way".
Admiral Sean Masters lay rooted to the spot. He found himself standing in complete darkness, and wondered for a brief second if this was what hell was like. An eternity of darkness, devoid of life, devoid of time.
Light began to filter through to his eyes soon enough. Soon, enough light for him to see where he was. He wished he hadn't looked.
Twenty seconds ago, aimed directly at the Cervantes was the Phaeron Dreadnought, its weapons charged. There would be no escape. The Admiral remembered his last few orders.
"Evasive action! The Dreadnought is moving into firing range."
But there was no escape.
"Maximum shields to fore hull."
Nothing would have survived the terrible power unleashed by the Phaeron weapon.
"Brace for impact!"
In the face of death, it was a human condition to struggle against it, even over insurmountable odds. It was what made humans truly strong. Humans were survivors, the cockroaches of the universe. And while each and every human was different, they all shared the same basic genetic trait.
They would fight to the very end to preserve the fragile lives they led.
A huge shadow covered the entire forecastle of the Cervantes, casting it suddenly into an inky blackness. It took a moment before the Admiral recognized the battle group insignia on the side of the shadow.
It was the battleship Dominar.
A voice came over the speakers.
"Ever Onward, Admiral!"
"Captain! No!"
But Sean's warning to the Captain of the Dominar came too late. The Phaeron Dreadnought's Photon ray hit it dead center, and for the briefest moment, a solar eclipse blessed the bridge of the Cervantes. The screens polarized automatically to prevent the crew from being blinded. It cast the entire bridge into utter darkness.
In the quiet vacuum of space, the explosion went unheard. From a distance came a light so bright, it may seem like the birth of a star, instead of the death of thousands. And in the quiet vacuum of space, the dying screams of the thousands went unheard as well. As the screens depolarized, the sight that greeted the crew of the Cervantes was straight out hell. And the Admiral wished he hadn't looked.
The Dominar was nearly severed in half, a gaping wound where its main quarters and hangars once were. The ship was dead. The ships innards, exposed to space, were being sucked out like blood flowing from a fresh kill. And hundreds of little organisms floated around the exposed wound, like flies over a rotting carcass. But these were not flies.
They were the human dead.
The Admiral looked away from the grizzly sight as the computer automatically corrected its course to avoid collision with the remains of the Dominar. The Admiral's yeoman returned to his side.
"Particle Cannons are online and fully operational, sir."
Admiral Masters issued the order tersely. "Fire at that Dreadnought."
"Yes sir."
The Cervantes Particle Cannon tracked its newly acquired enemy silently gloating over the remains of the Battleship Dominar. As if sensing its impending doom, the Dreadnought turned slowly towards the Cervantes.
"Fire!"
A violent surge shook the entire ship, as power was drained from all quarters to unleash the deadliest weapon the Cervantes possessed at the enemy Dreadnought.
The beam sliced right through the Dreadnought, and kept on going, slicing through a couple more enemy battleships. It seemed almost anti-climatic, for the power of the beam didn't lay in it's wide distribution of power. It was a narrow focused beam, which only made it more devastating.
The beam completely disintegrated everything in its path, and the Dreadnought finding itself completely without a core, fell apart. There was no spectacular explosion. There was no breathtaking supernova. The enemy ships hit by the Particle Cannon fell apart, as if the molecules holding them together like glue, was removed.
There were a few whoops of joy, and even more sighs of relief. But the congratulations that spread across the bridge of the Cervantes were cut short by the Astronavigator's next words.
"Sir, there's a huge energy anomaly!"
"Where?"
"Right above us."
-------------------------------------------------------------
The command bridge on board the Nausicaa was abuzz as crew members shouted orders and responses all around the room. The arrival of the Phaeron's coordinated surprise attack fleet had caught the entire ELF Fleet offguard.
"Captain! The Battleship Dominar has been destroyed! Destroyers that were guarding the Dominar have fallen back behind the engagement line and are awaiting fresh orders!"
"Squadrons twelve and fourteen have just been annihilated! Squadron forty-four is requesting back-up in sector 22-21!"
"Captain!"
Sayaka turned to her astronavigator.
"Enemy battleships have appeared from hyperspace in Sector 32-38."
"What?" Sayaka pressed the control and brought up the astronavigator's charts to the main screen.
"Confirmed 5 Phaeron carriers, 15 Battlecruisers and at least 90 Phaeron Battleships."
Sayaka let fly an expletive under her breath. She looked down at her data screens to access the situation.
"Set course for the sector!"
Sayaka sat down in the captain's chair. "Who else is close to the sector?" She asked no one in particular.
"The Battleships Capricorn, Vertigo and Zephyr are in the sector!" One of the junior officers announced.
"Sir, the Cervantes has entered sector 32-38!"
Sayaka bolted straight back up. "What?"
"Sir, the enemy is engaging!"
Captain Sayaka Sanada looked out the main screen on the command bridge. Phaeron ships were appearing everywhere around the ELF fleet, outnumbering each fighter a few hundred times over.
Eve broke into Sayaka's thoughts. "Saya, the Phaerons are boxing us in."
Sayaka turned to her best friend and closest confidante. Eve continued, "I think they are preparing for something big. We need to signal the Cervantes and pull back! The fleet will be destroyed if we don't."
Sayaka snapped back. "I know!" At Eve's flinch, Sayaka controlled her temper. It wasn't Eve's fault things were going to hell in a cargo shipment marked express right now. She softened her tone. "I know... We need to act fast."
Sayaka turned to her communications officer. "Get me the Cervantes!"
"Yes sir."
Sayaka gently pressed down on the neurotransmitter plugged into her earpiece. It was the only means of communication with the Nausicaa's telepathic emulator, Reina Fumikawa.
"Fumikawa! Status report on the Nausicaa!"
Reina scanned all the ship systems, waving her hands as windows opened and closed in the air around her. The expression on her face remained unchanged as she explored the entire ship's structure in seconds.
"Nausicaa has suffered no significant damage. Multiphased and damper shields are still at maximum. Power to weapons is down to forty-five percent."
The communications officer reported back. "Captain, Cervantes communications is down."
Sayaka's eyes and lips narrowed. She turned her attention back to Reina. "We're going to need some serious firepower to break through enemy lines. Is the Piledriver ready?"
Reina thought up the status display. As if moving through the other windows, the energy status window floated up to the surface.
"The Piledriver requires fifteen minutes to store the energy needed, Captain."
"We don't have fifteen minutes!" Sayaka shouted, before realizing she didn't need to verbalize her thoughts. The other bridge crew looked at her for a startled instance before returning back to their duties. Sayaka closed her eyes. She tried to think.
"What else do we have that can deliver some major damage fast?"
Reina replied, oblivious that the thought wasn't meant for her. The sudden voice in her head startled Sayaka.
"The Gravitational Cannons require only three minutes to full power, but it is not as effective as the Particle Cannon, Captain."
"And the Particle -"
"About nine minutes, seven if we divert power from the shields."
A sudden cry broke into Sayaka's thoughts. "Captain! Enemy ships approaching! Three battleships!"
Sayaka realized the situation forced her decision. "Go with the Grav-Cannons, but divert energy from elsewhere. We're going to need the shields."
"Yes Captain. Transferring power from propulsion and non-essential systems."
"Enemy is 1000 pax and heading for us, sir." The Astrogation officer announced.
"Are there any squadrons near us?" Eve asked as Sayaka reassumed command of the bridge.
The communications officer checked his IFF readings. "Affirmative, the Daedelus squadron, but they are making their way towards the Cervantes. Shall I-"
Sayaka waved him off. "Let them go. We need to protect the Cervantes at all cost."
"650 pax and closing."
"Sir, the battleship Zephyr has been critically damaged."
"Captain, our squadrons are requesting rearmament."
Sayaka tried not to be overwhelmed by the sudden stream of decisions that required her decisive handling. "Full power to front shields, lasers at full and lock all salvos to the enemy ships."
"Yes sir!" the gunnery sergeant got on the comlink to relay the captains orders.
"500 Pax!"
"Get our fastest rearmament crew out to our aft hanger, and tell the boys to get ready for a splash and dash."
"Yes captain."
The gunnery sergeant shouted over the noise. "Captain. Guns are ready."
"Enemy has opened fire!"
"Steady." Sayaka's focus remained firmly fixed on the approaching enemy ships.
"Saya?" Eve looked worriedly as the enemy's laser fire bounced off the front shields. The Nausicaa barely rocked under the intense barrage.
"Incoming! Three torpedoes from heading one-five."
"ECM up." Sayaka remained calm, despite the tenseness on the bridge.
"Captain, torpedoes are homing in towards the bridge."
"Grav-Cannons One and Three are online."
Sayaka finally gave the order. "Fire all guns!"
As one, the Nausicaa's numerous guns, cannons and turrets belched raw power, exploding the approaching torpedoes in the process. From the blaze of fire, the Nausicaa's beams sliced through, catching the Phaeron ships off guard.
"Concentrate power on the middle ship's starboard flank."
"All Grav-Cannons ready."
"Fire Grav-Cannon One, Two, Three sequentially at the left ship."
Just as the Nausicaa's normal guns damaged the side of the middle Phaeron battleship, the three Grav-Cannons fired a single shot each, in rapid succession. The first salvo caused a temporary rift in the Phaeron battleship's force shield. The second salvo dived through the gap in the shield to open up a gaping wound in the fore hull.
The third salvo dived through both gaps on its way to the energy reactor core.
The ensuing explosion set off a massive chain reaction, incinerating the battleship on the left, causing the crippled middle ship to careen into the battleship on its right. The Nausicaa calmly avoided the massive energy explosion as the three Phaeron battleships met their doom.
"Enemy target has been destroyed!"
The crew whooped in joy. Their relief was palpable. Sayaka took a deep breath. "Excellent! Is there-"
"Huge energy build up in Sector 55-22! Something's exiting hyperspace!"
Eve barked at the astrogation officer. "Can you detect where it came from?"
The officer checked his scopes. "That's... it's from Mars!"
"It's a Dreadnought."
Sayaka shook off the answer Reina sent to her. She hadn't realized she was still broadcasting her thoughts to the Emulator. Sayaka looked out at the forward screen. With the screen's four times magnification, she saw the Phaeron Dreadnought's space reentry was instantly followed by hundreds of battleships that acted as its escort. On reentry, thousands of fighters launched from the Phaeron battleships.
"What is its ETA?" Sayaka asked.
"Entering the engagement zone in two minute..."
An emergency transmission blared through the ship's speakers.
"Kzzzzztttt... All ships fall back! The dreadnought is preparing to fire!
"What?!" Eve shouted in disbelief.
On the screen, the red and blue aura that enveloped the Dreadnought's hull was instantly visible across the inky blackness of space.
"Captain. Massive energy build up on the Dreadnought confirmed! The readings are off the scale!"
It's an Anti-matter ray!
Sayaka let fly an expletive. "It's an anti-matter ray!"
Eve looked questioningly at her friend. "Anti-matter ray? What the hell is-"
But Sayaka was too busy thinking out her next instructions. "Fumikawa!Maximum power to shields, divert energy from anything that isn't tied down but get the shields maximized now!"
Instantly, power was drained throughout the ship to power the shields. Sayaka felt the ship divert energy from its gravity core. Everyone who wasn't strapped in started floating in the zero-g. Blast doors slammed shut instantly to prevent things floating into other sections.
Sayaka strapped herself into the Captain's chair, just moments before the universe changed forever.
The Dreadnought fired a continuous stream of blue and red energy toward the ELF Fleet, missing the Nausicaa by mere inches in an astronomical sense. The Nausicaa was violently thrown, klaxon alarms ringing deafeningly as the entire bridge was bathed in a blood red light.
But everyone was still transfixed on the sight that greeted them outside.
The ships that were hit by the Dreadnought's Anti-Matter Ray; be it ELF or Phaeron, exploded in sequence, as if set ablaze on a river of oil.
The beam had been fired for a mere second, but the trail of destruction seemed to stretch on forever.
"Dear God!" one of the crew members exclaimed.
Reina's voice came over Sayaka's mind, filling her in on the ship's status. "Dreadnought's Anti-Matter Ray missed the Nausicaa by 0.18 Pax. Shields are down to twenty-three percent and exterior structure has suffered multiple fractures."
"What is the status of the ELF Fleet?" Sayaka asked, knowing Reina would be the one to supply the answer first.
"Half the ELF Fleet is destroyed or crippled. And the Cervantes-"
Eve turned to Sayaka and whispered to her. "There is no way we can win now. We've got to cut our losses."
"The Cervantes is badly hit."
Eve stopped. She knew the importance of the Cervantes, but she also knew the risk Sayaka was thinking of taking.
"Saya. Take the Nausicaa to the nearest Phaeron line and prepare to fire all the Grav Cannons at maximum rate! At least let's get out of here."
Sayaka turned to the daughter of the owner of the Nausicaa. "Is that an order?"
Eve looked at Sayaka and noticed the dangerous glint in the captain's eyes. "No."
"Good, I'll take it as advisement." Sayaka turned to her crew. "Set course for the Cervantes. I will not abandon them."
The crew responded as one. "Yes sir!"
"All impulse engines, full speed ahead!"
===========================================
*smiles* Good to see you're still working on this, Elfboy. You were quiet for a while there. There is great action in these last couple of chapters! Thanks for keeping the entertainment going!
I kinda wish I had some pictures to go with this story sometimes, because geeky-me keeps having this visual image of the Enterprise and all of your characters in Star Trek uniforms! :sweatface:
I kinda wish I had some pictures to go with this story sometimes, because geeky-me keeps having this visual image of the Enterprise and all of your characters in Star Trek uniforms! :sweatface:
QUOTE (Bishoujo Ichi @ Jun 18 2005, 11:12 AM)
*smiles* Good to see you're still working on this, Elfboy. You were quiet for a while there. There is great action in these last couple of chapters! Thanks for keeping the entertainment going!
I kinda wish I had some pictures to go with this story sometimes, because geeky-me keeps having this visual image of the Enterprise and all of your characters in Star Trek uniforms! :sweatface:
I kinda wish I had some pictures to go with this story sometimes, because geeky-me keeps having this visual image of the Enterprise and all of your characters in Star Trek uniforms! :sweatface:
*grins* I'm glad you're entertained. After all, this is first draft novel writing right here. No editors, just me to the reader direct. I wish I could supply you with pictures, but I haven't had time to draw anything in a very long time. If I do, I'll try and draw a cover art for the "book" :D
Thanks for the feedback. I know the only people probably reading this are you, Bluemaxx and me. I hope if there is anyone else out there reading this, you'll post what you think as well. Granted it's still very rough, and it's not exactly Booker or Hugo prize winning, but I hope you still will give this a chance and hopefully enjoy what is going on. (as confusing as it may seem).
Thank you and please continue reading. (Chapter Six is coming up).
CHAPTER SIX
"We are all aliens. We are all mutants. We are all different. But we all want the same things. Security, comfort and happiness. All living things desire these things. So with that in mind, are we all that different?"
- Civil integration leader Dr. Elf B. Phillips (2762-2805)
On a small blue planet, the third planet from the sun, there stood a mountain, taller and wider than any other mountain Planet Earth had ever borne out of her womb. It stretched seven miles straight up, and countless miles at its base, overlooking the entire continent that was once known as Asia.
It was a mountain for it was made of rock, but it was not of the Earth.
To the Phaeron rulers of Planet Earth, it was sacred ground. However, it was no place of worship. The Phaerons feared the mountain, because they were taught to fear it. And such fear was deeply ingrained in the memory of all Phaerons. Those who forgot this fear, were reintroduced to it, first hand.
The Phaerons didn't dare utter the name of the mountain. They merely addressed it as the Chamber.
The Chamber was the place where all Phaeron law was made, every judgment was passed, every crime punished and every criminal destroyed. There was no redemption in the Chamber, and only two types of Phaerons entered it.
The guilty, and the Praetors.
In the Chamber, stood a small conclave of pure energy beings, each stading in a small semi-circle. They were all of equal size, neither shining brighter than the other. One of the number spoke.
"We have stopped the invaders progress, Lord Praetor."
A larger entity, brighter and more intense in its energy markings entered the Chamber and stood before the other nine.
"But the number of our own dying... I have felt it."
"Regrettably, my Lord, the new anti-matter ray..."
The Lord Praetor turned to the smaller energy being at the end of the semi-circle. "And had I not forbade such a weapon?!"
"Forgive me, my Lord." The energy being glowed dimmer, fearing the repercussions.
The Lord Praetor turned itself to face the others. "These - humans - are stronger than expected."
The conclave glowed dimmer as one, showing their agreement. "We do not understand it, my Lord. We thought we had learnt all the weaknesses of these humans. But it may have something to do with what our Assimilants on Pluto reported to us. Something the humans call "Project Blue".
"Project Blue? We still do not know what it is?"
Another one of the lesser Praetors spoke. "No, my Lord Praetor. I'm afraid that our earlier dismissal of it may have be costing us now."
The Lord Praetor tried to hold itself together as far away, the battle still raged, and the Phaerons were falling in huge numbers. Every death resonated deep inside the Lord Praetor, who held each Phaeron in an iron grip, but also felt each one that slipped away into nothingness.
"Lord Praetor? Are you-?"
"I am fine! These humans. Are they not the same as the one on - Pluto?
The other Praetors looked at their leader. There was a large amount of surge flowing through the Lord Praetor - a sign that the Phaerons usually attributed to illness, but none dare mention such insult to the Lord over all Phaerons.
Instead one of the Praetors standing in the middle of the semi-circle gave its assessment of the new human invaders. "They have the power to harm us. We have seen the energy readings the human invaders give off."
The Lord Praetor glowed brightly for a moment before subsiding into a cooler glow. "But they are humans nonetheless? The - flesh - things?
"Yes."
"Then assimilation is possible."
"Yes."
The Lord Praetor turned away from the others. It was a long moment before it came to a decision.
"Assimilate them."
-----------------------------------
"They're setting up a blockade, sir!"
Admiral Sean Masters looked out the forward screen. The Phaerons were trying to box them in, trying to block off the escape routes. With Saturn's gravity field covering another half of the quadrant, the Phaerons have definitely pulled off this ambush in the worst possible strategic location for the humans.
"Sir, blockade is giving off a gravity field."
"What?" The Admiral pulled up the astronavigator's scopes and found the confirmation of what he had just heard. "They're trying to stop everyone from jumping to Hyperspace. We're going to have to break that blockade!"
The Admiral turned to his Gunnery Sergeant. "Gunny, target the blockade with the particle cannon. Fire when ready."
"Yes, sir."
The Particle Cannon powered up. The targeting computer aligned the gun as the Gunnery Sergeant confirmed the target. "Firing first salvo, sir."
Just as the Particle Cannon unleashed its destructive power, one of the technicians shouted out. "Sir! The enemy is powering up!"
The Admiral saw the ships in the blockade start to project a faint blue bubble, each one adding to the size as their shields came online. He realized what it was. "It's an energy shield! Evasive action."
The Particle Cannon scored against the Phaeron blockade's energy shield, and for a second, the weapon of the Cervantes was winning. But it was only a second, as the intense beam rebounded off the shield and returned straight to its source.
The Cervantes never knew what hit them.
----------------------------
Sancho "Archer" Arquero eased into the middle of the Daedelus squadron, deferring command of the Squadron back to Squadron leader, Commander James "Porthos" Powell as they sped back to aid their mothership, the Cervantes.
"Lock and load, ladies. Fleet Command asked us to hold the fort for ten minutes so the others can escape." Porthos relayed to his squadron as he opened up the throttle to full thrust.
"But what about that blockade?" Carrion asked.
"We'll leave it to the capital ships! We just got to give them ten minutes to charge up their weapons."
"Ten minutes? Right." Gain 'Ax' Axelrod replied sarcastically at his squadron leader's missive. "Why don't we just buy these aliens a beer and show them naked pictures of my girlfriend? That should distract them long enough."
There was an instant response from Jill "Scotty" Scott. "Ax, I've seen the naked pics of your girlfriend. They aren't THAT captivating!"
The squadron started to laugh when Porthos cut them off. "Cut the chatter. Our first objective is the Cervantes. Get them out, understand?"
The squadron responded as one. "Yes sir."
Enemy Phaeron fighters soon converged but with unerring economy, the squadron picked off the scattered attacks with ease. Meanwhile, Sancho was busy planning an attack strategy as well as flying the Blackwing.
"Archer, watch out! Enemy on your 7 o'clock!" Ryo shouted over the comm, warning the partially distracted Battle Field Advisor.
"Got it Ryo. Thanks." Sancho put his hand on the throttle, and executing a tight roll, pushed reverse thrust into his engines, slowing it down as the enemy fighter shot by over head. Computer aiming and firing dealt with the fighter before Sancho could blink.
Sancho spotted a stricken Phaeron battleship and an idea formulated instantly. "Porthos, I'm taking over. Everyone follow me to heading 225!"
"Archer! What are you doing?!" Porthos shouted over the comm, but Sancho ignored him. Porthos shook his head in disapproval, but he was bound by the laws of engagement to follow his Battle Field Advisor despite his reservations.
"Switch to Mech!" Archer ordered.
As one the eight Blackwings transformed into the robot versions of themselves, leg thrusters glowing bright white as they slowed their descent.
"Leg thrusters on maximum. We're going to push this battleship to heading 204. On my mark. Push!"
Using the intense thrust generated by the leg thrusters, as well as aided by the zero-g environment of space, shifting the course of the Phaeron battleship a couple of degrees from it's current heading was no challenge. Coupled with the fact that the Phaerons had no starboard engine, they had no way of correcting themselves.
Sancho gauged the new trajectory of the battleship, "Okay, enough. Switch back to fighters!"
A laser bolt scored against Sancho's shielded cockpit, causing Sancho shout in surprise. Making the transformation back to fighter, Archer and the other Blackwings engaged in close combat with the Phaeron Strike-Claw Assault Mechs, SCAMs.
"What did we just do to the Battleship, Archer?" Porthos asked over the comm.
"We just pushed the battleship towards the cluster of other battleships, Porthos. They were setting up a blockade, so this ship is going to ram that blockade for us." Archer replied.
"Don't forget to thank us for helping out!" Scotty replied, as she blasted two SCAMs into oblivion.
Sancho grinned before another laser bolt rocked his Blackwing. It was nothing strong enough to worry his shields, but the sudden swarm of Phaeron fighters that appeared out of nowhere worried him.
Power was down from normal, the pushing of the battleship had drained considerable power from the Blackwing, and they needed time to recharge.
"Archer, I'm gonna have to cut down on weapons. My shields are taking a beating over here and my power's low." Carrion reported in her situation.
Sancho looked at his own power displays. Not critical, but it was only a matter of time before they would be. Porthos came on. "Well guys, sorry to do this to you - but the Cervantes still needs us."
"Roger that." Sancho replied. "We're gonna have to run and gun, set course for the Cervantes, full shields aft."
Sancho hung back, providing cover for his teammates. Why would the Phaeron SCAMs be so poorly armed if they were to attack them? What were they really after? Archer scanned the scopes for possible signs of this being a decoy, but no other attacking vessels were close enough to even attempt a strike against them.
Ax was running an open commentary on the comm. "Take that you Phaeron mutha..." A loud thump came across the comm, like the sound of a muted explosion.
Sancho looked up from his scopes and stared out the front. Muted explosion? There was no sound in space so how could anyone hear an explosion over the comm unless...
Sancho looked for Ax and saw bright blue tendrils crawling all over his Blackwing. "Ax!" Archer shouted into the comm, prompting the other Blackwings in the squadron to look at their teammate.
Ax was struggling inside his seat, the tendrils snaking through the cockpit's protected shell and penetrating through his flight suit. Ax struggled against the phantom like tendrils, horrified as his hand passed through them without any physical resistance. The tendrils reached for his thinking cap, the helmet that controlled the Blackwing. The tendrils penetrated...
Sancho raced towards the struggling form of Ax's Blackwing. He had no idea what the tendrils were doing to Ax, but he wasn't about to let them continue. Arming the Electro-Magnetic Pulse cannon, he fired it at the besieged Blackwing.
Ax felt a shock go through his system, he could hear the alien mind communicating with the thinking cap. He was too stunned to talk, and even if he could he couldn't think of a thing to say. He felt his body convulse, yet his head remained locked in that position, as the tendrils held it in place. He felt the alien voice speak into his mind.
"Nyalah d'ti Project B'ru. Nyalah d'ti Project B'ru."
Sancho's EMP scored dead centre on the Mech, rendering it inert. More importantly, it caused the tendrils to dissipate and die.
Ax screamed when he felt the EMP pulse hit his Blackwing, the alien's unearthly death scream ripping through his brain and down his nervous system. Ax's body convulsed violently before it tightened and slumped.
The life-support unit on the Blackwing kicked in and scanned for Ax's life readings. The heartbeat monitor wailed at the flatline. The flight suit detected the flatline and sent a shock over Ax's heart, attempting to restart it.
The heart rate remained a constant zero. The flatline's lonely wail was loud in the cockpit.
A second stronger voltage charged into Ax's heart. The heartrate monitor suddenly jumped into life, showing a faint beat. The suit stabilized Ax's condition before sending an adrenalin injection, reviving the pilot.
"Ax! Can you hear me?!" Sancho's voice came over the comm.
Ax took a deep breath before switching the comm reply button on. "R... Roger that, Archer."
Sancho felt his body flood with relief at the sound of Ax's voice. "Don't worry, Ax. We're gonna tow you to safety. Hang in there. Graywings?"
The magnetic clamps on the exterior of two Graywings clamped down on the top of Ax's Blackwing. Covered by the other Graywings, they cautiously made their way out of the battle zone and back towards the nearest capital ship to their location - the Nausicaa. The other Blackwings continued their flight to the Cervantes.
In his cockpit, Lt. Commander Gain 'Ax' Axelrod breathed slowly and deeply. He had died, and been revived thanks to his suit and ship. If they weren't fighting in space, the Mech would have crashed long before it could bring him back to life.
But he felt different, like a different person almost.
Nyalah d'ti Project B'ru?
What is Project Blue?
Ax wanted to know too.
-----------------------------------
"Do you believe in God, sir?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Admiral Sean Masters shouted over the wailing klaxons on the bridge of the Cervantes.
"Do you believe in God, sir? Do you?"
"Of course not!" Admiral Masters shouted at the delirious Lieutenant he was carrying, or trying to carry if it weren't for the two foot long shrapnel skewering his calf muscle.
"MEDIC!!!" the Admiral shouted over the deafening noise as he leaned against what remained of his chair before the blast from the alien ships.
"Sir, promise me one thing sir."
The Admiral looked at the dying man in his arms. "What is it, Lieutenant?"
But the Admiral never knew what the Lieutenant's last wish was, for he fell silent, his eyes still opened, but now at peace. Admiral Masters felt his body tense up. This wasn't the way things were supposed to be.
The bridge of the Cervantes was nearly completed destroyed, the rebounded beam of the Particle Cannon had bypassed the Cervantes' safety frequency and sliced through their shields like a hot blade through butter. The Cervantes was incredibly agile, and managed to skew itself out of the Particle beam's path.
However the beam still brushed the Cervantes to devastating effect, peeling the supposedly indestructible Transluslide™ windows on the bridge, sucking half the crew out, chairs and all before the emergency shielding sealed off the windows.
The Admiral managed to cling on for dear life, but a splintered instrumentation panel, drawn by the vacuum of space had become deadly projectiles. One such projectile was now embedded in the Admiral's calf. Another had impaled the recently deceased Lieutenant.
In the distance he could hear explosions going off and blast doors slamming shut. Admiral Sean Masters knew that this was the end.
Suddenly he heard a loud metallic clang on the blast door outside, moments before a concentrated stream of bolt lasers melted through. A giant mechanized hand reached under the door and lifted it up, effortlessly.
Sean looked as the robot came into view. It was a Blackwing!
"Sir. Can you get up sir?" The voice of the Blackwing pilot came over the external speaker.
"Yes." the Admiral said, "Yes, I can."
"Good sir. I'll get you to safety in just a moment." The Blackwing's head suddenly snapped back and the entire front section lowered to reveal a woman sitting inside the cockpit, waiting for the Admiral to climb onboard. "Step inside sir and we'll blast out of here."
"But the blockade?"
"Don't worry sir. We've handled it."
The Admiral had no clue as to what was truly going on, but the Cervantes' computer confirmed the Blackwing pilot's words. The blockade's energy shields were powerless against the hulking crippled mass of the Phaeron battleship the Daedelus squadron had veered off course. The Phaeron ships forming the blockade quickly dispersed as their counterparts were crushed by the battleship, dispersing the gravity field with it.
They were no longer boxed in.
"Admiral. Large energy anomaly detected."
Through the remains of the blockade, a large mass appeared. A Phaeron dreadnought. The Phaeron dreadnought. The one that fired the anti-matter ray. The one that destroyed half the ELF fleet.
And its hull glowed blue and red.
"Sir, we don't have much time." The Blackwing pilot said.
"Go, get somebody else. I can't leave." The Admiral stepped away from his rescuer.
"But sir!"
"No buts! I'm still Admiral of this fleet, and I will make those bastards out there pay for what they've done!" The Admiral shouted at the pilot.
The Blackwing was silent for a moment before the front end lifted again and locked back into place, followed by the hiss as the robot's head locked in position. "Yes sir. Ever Onwards sir." The Blackwing Mech saluted and turned around to look for other survivors.
Sean limped to his chair and tilted it slightly to access the control panel. Clicking on the set of numbers he had memorized, though had prayed he would never have to use, he waited for confirmation from the Cervantes' computer.
"Kamikaze program executed. Are you sure, Admiral?" the ship's computer chimed.
"Yes I'm sure. Channel all power into the main guns!"
"Voice confirmed, Admiral Sean Masters. Channeling all power into main guns." the computer said. "You have enough power for three shots, Admiral."
"Full speed towards that big alien warship." Sean said.
"Yes Admiral." The computer replied.
"And raise me on the comm."
"Yes Admiral. Comm is ready."
The image of Admiral Sean Masters' heavily cut and bruised face appeared on the comm screens of all the surviving ships of the ELF fleet. In the various bridges and war rooms, amidst chaotic activity that suddenly stopped and watched. Even a few pilots tuning in to the frequency saw him on their comms.
Admiral Masters on the other hand couldn't see those faces staring at him, instead he relayed his orders. His last orders.
"Pull back to the safety zone, outrun them. I'll hold them here while you make your escape. If you're able, make the jump to hyperspace. Find someplace to make repairs. Tell ELF Council that the enemy is stronger than we imagined. Tell them what happened here."
Sean Masters aimed the main gun at the enemy warship, which was closing at a phenomenal rate. Sean spoke calmly.
"It has been my pleasure to have served with all of you. Ever Onward." Sean cut off the comm.
Unheard by him on all the ships of the ELF Fleet, everyone responded with pride. "Ever Onward."
--------------------------
"No! Damnit!" Captain Sayaka Sanada shouted at the comm screen, her hand banging down hard on the console, drawing looks from her crew.
"You can't do that!" Sayaka hurled the bottle of brandy she carried around her hip from her Captain's chair, across the bridge where it smashed against the holo screen.
Eve Lockwind moved to restrain Sayaka, but one look from Sayaka warned her to back off. Eve sat back down at her place.
Sayaka could only see the old grizzled face that was her mentor, see it for the last time before he cut the transmission. His final transmission.
Sayaka looked at her hand. She had banged it against the console so hard that it was now bruised. But that wasn't what hurt her most. The hurt inside brought tears to her eyes. But she didn't let them fall.
Her mentor wouldn't have wanted her to shed any tears for him. Sayaka saluted the static screen. "Ever onwards, sir." Sayaka said through choked back tears. "Ever onwards."
----------------------------
Sean Masters thought of Sayaka and hoped she would understand why he was doing what he was doing. The proximity alarm bleeped loudly and Sean put all other thoughts away.
Sean felt the trigger under his finger and as the large Phaeron warship loomed larger than life, he unleashed the three final shots the Cervantes would ever make, ripping into the shield barrier of the Phaeron warship, creating a breach big enough to fit an entire Super Carrier.
Sean screamed a final battle cry.
-----------------------------
The explosion was pure white, and for the second time that day, an explosion brighter than any supernova, and for that one brief moment, the brightest thing in the entire universe. It was almost an anti-climax that such a light wasn't followed by the shattering sound of destruction, that only in the vacuum of space could such an event happen without a sound.
And in the aftermath, all that remained of the Cervantes, the enemy warship and the alien carriers in the immediate vicinity of the blast as the Cervantes rammed right into the Phaeron warship, was debris.
The Phaeron fighters became uncoordinated in the direct aftermath. As the other ELF carriers and battle cruisers jumped to safety, the Daedelus squadron and its complement of eleven Blackwings took advantage of the chaos and reined chaos on the remaining Phaeron fighters.
Sancho quickly dispatched of one Phaeron Strike-Claw Assault Mech before looking over his shoulder to the cramped space behind his seat. There was a woman, a Lieutenant and her five-year old daughter huddled in the close confines. He had flown into the dying damaged mass that was the Cervantes and had pulled her out of the daycare, just moments before the hull above had crashed inwards.
The eleven Blackwings were all carrying survivors, but there were only twelve survivors they managed to rescue. How many more thousands had met their doom?
"Kzzzttt... Archer. We should Bzzzttt... back to the Kraaakk... safety zone." Porthos radioed in his instructions.
"Roger that, Porthos." Sancho replied. Plotting a safe vector out of the hot zone, he initiated the hyperspace sequence. "Okay guys, whenever you're ready."
The stars that stared down on Saturn space blurred into thin white streaks. Barely a breath later, and they reappeared in Pluto space, to be greeted by the sight of the Nausicaa.
A radio transmission came on over the radio but Archer wasn't listening. He was distracted by the sound of crying in the back. It was the little girl, her mother trying to make her stop.
"Kzzzt... Archer, do you read? Repeat, you have two survivors. Go on down first and dock with the Nausicaa, hangar one." Porthos' voice came over the comm, repeating his order.
"Roger, Porthos."
Sancho brought the Blackwing in quickly and smoothly, landing inside the main hangar. Popping open his canopy he offered his hand to the Lieutenant inside. The little girl didn't want to let go of her mother, but after some reassuring, the girl settled down enough to be left alone in the cockpit while Sancho helped the mom down. After she reached the hangar floor, Sancho reached back into the cockpit and lifted the little girl into her mother's arms.
When Sancho had the family secure, he noted the other ten Blackwings of Daedelus squadron were in. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around. The Lieutenant he had rescued hugged him.
"Thank you." She whispered in his ear before she let him go and walked off, being led by a medical drone. Sancho stood there dazed for a moment before his Squadron leader came to stand beside him.
"Looks like this is our new home for now." Commander James 'Porthos' Powell said non-chalantly.
Sancho looked at the Commander. He hid it well, but there was no denying the existence of tears in his eyes. After all, his own daughter had been on the Cervantes.
And she hadn't been rescued.
------------------------
Sayaka looked at the broken bottle of Brandy on the floor, as maintenance droids quickly cleaned it up. The bottle she had thrown. She closed her eyes.
Eve Lockwind put a hand on Sayaka's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. She said quietly to Sayaka, "Go, get some medical attention for the hand, and get some rest. I'll handle everything from here."
Sayaka nodded mutely, turning away and walking out of the bridge. Everyone moved out of her path, not wanting to incur her fury. But fury wasn't the overwhelming emotion Sayaka felt right now.
It was that of loss.
=====================
"We are all aliens. We are all mutants. We are all different. But we all want the same things. Security, comfort and happiness. All living things desire these things. So with that in mind, are we all that different?"
- Civil integration leader Dr. Elf B. Phillips (2762-2805)
On a small blue planet, the third planet from the sun, there stood a mountain, taller and wider than any other mountain Planet Earth had ever borne out of her womb. It stretched seven miles straight up, and countless miles at its base, overlooking the entire continent that was once known as Asia.
It was a mountain for it was made of rock, but it was not of the Earth.
To the Phaeron rulers of Planet Earth, it was sacred ground. However, it was no place of worship. The Phaerons feared the mountain, because they were taught to fear it. And such fear was deeply ingrained in the memory of all Phaerons. Those who forgot this fear, were reintroduced to it, first hand.
The Phaerons didn't dare utter the name of the mountain. They merely addressed it as the Chamber.
The Chamber was the place where all Phaeron law was made, every judgment was passed, every crime punished and every criminal destroyed. There was no redemption in the Chamber, and only two types of Phaerons entered it.
The guilty, and the Praetors.
In the Chamber, stood a small conclave of pure energy beings, each stading in a small semi-circle. They were all of equal size, neither shining brighter than the other. One of the number spoke.
"We have stopped the invaders progress, Lord Praetor."
A larger entity, brighter and more intense in its energy markings entered the Chamber and stood before the other nine.
"But the number of our own dying... I have felt it."
"Regrettably, my Lord, the new anti-matter ray..."
The Lord Praetor turned to the smaller energy being at the end of the semi-circle. "And had I not forbade such a weapon?!"
"Forgive me, my Lord." The energy being glowed dimmer, fearing the repercussions.
The Lord Praetor turned itself to face the others. "These - humans - are stronger than expected."
The conclave glowed dimmer as one, showing their agreement. "We do not understand it, my Lord. We thought we had learnt all the weaknesses of these humans. But it may have something to do with what our Assimilants on Pluto reported to us. Something the humans call "Project Blue".
"Project Blue? We still do not know what it is?"
Another one of the lesser Praetors spoke. "No, my Lord Praetor. I'm afraid that our earlier dismissal of it may have be costing us now."
The Lord Praetor tried to hold itself together as far away, the battle still raged, and the Phaerons were falling in huge numbers. Every death resonated deep inside the Lord Praetor, who held each Phaeron in an iron grip, but also felt each one that slipped away into nothingness.
"Lord Praetor? Are you-?"
"I am fine! These humans. Are they not the same as the one on - Pluto?
The other Praetors looked at their leader. There was a large amount of surge flowing through the Lord Praetor - a sign that the Phaerons usually attributed to illness, but none dare mention such insult to the Lord over all Phaerons.
Instead one of the Praetors standing in the middle of the semi-circle gave its assessment of the new human invaders. "They have the power to harm us. We have seen the energy readings the human invaders give off."
The Lord Praetor glowed brightly for a moment before subsiding into a cooler glow. "But they are humans nonetheless? The - flesh - things?
"Yes."
"Then assimilation is possible."
"Yes."
The Lord Praetor turned away from the others. It was a long moment before it came to a decision.
"Assimilate them."
-----------------------------------
"They're setting up a blockade, sir!"
Admiral Sean Masters looked out the forward screen. The Phaerons were trying to box them in, trying to block off the escape routes. With Saturn's gravity field covering another half of the quadrant, the Phaerons have definitely pulled off this ambush in the worst possible strategic location for the humans.
"Sir, blockade is giving off a gravity field."
"What?" The Admiral pulled up the astronavigator's scopes and found the confirmation of what he had just heard. "They're trying to stop everyone from jumping to Hyperspace. We're going to have to break that blockade!"
The Admiral turned to his Gunnery Sergeant. "Gunny, target the blockade with the particle cannon. Fire when ready."
"Yes, sir."
The Particle Cannon powered up. The targeting computer aligned the gun as the Gunnery Sergeant confirmed the target. "Firing first salvo, sir."
Just as the Particle Cannon unleashed its destructive power, one of the technicians shouted out. "Sir! The enemy is powering up!"
The Admiral saw the ships in the blockade start to project a faint blue bubble, each one adding to the size as their shields came online. He realized what it was. "It's an energy shield! Evasive action."
The Particle Cannon scored against the Phaeron blockade's energy shield, and for a second, the weapon of the Cervantes was winning. But it was only a second, as the intense beam rebounded off the shield and returned straight to its source.
The Cervantes never knew what hit them.
----------------------------
Sancho "Archer" Arquero eased into the middle of the Daedelus squadron, deferring command of the Squadron back to Squadron leader, Commander James "Porthos" Powell as they sped back to aid their mothership, the Cervantes.
"Lock and load, ladies. Fleet Command asked us to hold the fort for ten minutes so the others can escape." Porthos relayed to his squadron as he opened up the throttle to full thrust.
"But what about that blockade?" Carrion asked.
"We'll leave it to the capital ships! We just got to give them ten minutes to charge up their weapons."
"Ten minutes? Right." Gain 'Ax' Axelrod replied sarcastically at his squadron leader's missive. "Why don't we just buy these aliens a beer and show them naked pictures of my girlfriend? That should distract them long enough."
There was an instant response from Jill "Scotty" Scott. "Ax, I've seen the naked pics of your girlfriend. They aren't THAT captivating!"
The squadron started to laugh when Porthos cut them off. "Cut the chatter. Our first objective is the Cervantes. Get them out, understand?"
The squadron responded as one. "Yes sir."
Enemy Phaeron fighters soon converged but with unerring economy, the squadron picked off the scattered attacks with ease. Meanwhile, Sancho was busy planning an attack strategy as well as flying the Blackwing.
"Archer, watch out! Enemy on your 7 o'clock!" Ryo shouted over the comm, warning the partially distracted Battle Field Advisor.
"Got it Ryo. Thanks." Sancho put his hand on the throttle, and executing a tight roll, pushed reverse thrust into his engines, slowing it down as the enemy fighter shot by over head. Computer aiming and firing dealt with the fighter before Sancho could blink.
Sancho spotted a stricken Phaeron battleship and an idea formulated instantly. "Porthos, I'm taking over. Everyone follow me to heading 225!"
"Archer! What are you doing?!" Porthos shouted over the comm, but Sancho ignored him. Porthos shook his head in disapproval, but he was bound by the laws of engagement to follow his Battle Field Advisor despite his reservations.
"Switch to Mech!" Archer ordered.
As one the eight Blackwings transformed into the robot versions of themselves, leg thrusters glowing bright white as they slowed their descent.
"Leg thrusters on maximum. We're going to push this battleship to heading 204. On my mark. Push!"
Using the intense thrust generated by the leg thrusters, as well as aided by the zero-g environment of space, shifting the course of the Phaeron battleship a couple of degrees from it's current heading was no challenge. Coupled with the fact that the Phaerons had no starboard engine, they had no way of correcting themselves.
Sancho gauged the new trajectory of the battleship, "Okay, enough. Switch back to fighters!"
A laser bolt scored against Sancho's shielded cockpit, causing Sancho shout in surprise. Making the transformation back to fighter, Archer and the other Blackwings engaged in close combat with the Phaeron Strike-Claw Assault Mechs, SCAMs.
"What did we just do to the Battleship, Archer?" Porthos asked over the comm.
"We just pushed the battleship towards the cluster of other battleships, Porthos. They were setting up a blockade, so this ship is going to ram that blockade for us." Archer replied.
"Don't forget to thank us for helping out!" Scotty replied, as she blasted two SCAMs into oblivion.
Sancho grinned before another laser bolt rocked his Blackwing. It was nothing strong enough to worry his shields, but the sudden swarm of Phaeron fighters that appeared out of nowhere worried him.
Power was down from normal, the pushing of the battleship had drained considerable power from the Blackwing, and they needed time to recharge.
"Archer, I'm gonna have to cut down on weapons. My shields are taking a beating over here and my power's low." Carrion reported in her situation.
Sancho looked at his own power displays. Not critical, but it was only a matter of time before they would be. Porthos came on. "Well guys, sorry to do this to you - but the Cervantes still needs us."
"Roger that." Sancho replied. "We're gonna have to run and gun, set course for the Cervantes, full shields aft."
Sancho hung back, providing cover for his teammates. Why would the Phaeron SCAMs be so poorly armed if they were to attack them? What were they really after? Archer scanned the scopes for possible signs of this being a decoy, but no other attacking vessels were close enough to even attempt a strike against them.
Ax was running an open commentary on the comm. "Take that you Phaeron mutha..." A loud thump came across the comm, like the sound of a muted explosion.
Sancho looked up from his scopes and stared out the front. Muted explosion? There was no sound in space so how could anyone hear an explosion over the comm unless...
Sancho looked for Ax and saw bright blue tendrils crawling all over his Blackwing. "Ax!" Archer shouted into the comm, prompting the other Blackwings in the squadron to look at their teammate.
Ax was struggling inside his seat, the tendrils snaking through the cockpit's protected shell and penetrating through his flight suit. Ax struggled against the phantom like tendrils, horrified as his hand passed through them without any physical resistance. The tendrils reached for his thinking cap, the helmet that controlled the Blackwing. The tendrils penetrated...
Sancho raced towards the struggling form of Ax's Blackwing. He had no idea what the tendrils were doing to Ax, but he wasn't about to let them continue. Arming the Electro-Magnetic Pulse cannon, he fired it at the besieged Blackwing.
Ax felt a shock go through his system, he could hear the alien mind communicating with the thinking cap. He was too stunned to talk, and even if he could he couldn't think of a thing to say. He felt his body convulse, yet his head remained locked in that position, as the tendrils held it in place. He felt the alien voice speak into his mind.
"Nyalah d'ti Project B'ru. Nyalah d'ti Project B'ru."
Sancho's EMP scored dead centre on the Mech, rendering it inert. More importantly, it caused the tendrils to dissipate and die.
Ax screamed when he felt the EMP pulse hit his Blackwing, the alien's unearthly death scream ripping through his brain and down his nervous system. Ax's body convulsed violently before it tightened and slumped.
The life-support unit on the Blackwing kicked in and scanned for Ax's life readings. The heartbeat monitor wailed at the flatline. The flight suit detected the flatline and sent a shock over Ax's heart, attempting to restart it.
The heart rate remained a constant zero. The flatline's lonely wail was loud in the cockpit.
A second stronger voltage charged into Ax's heart. The heartrate monitor suddenly jumped into life, showing a faint beat. The suit stabilized Ax's condition before sending an adrenalin injection, reviving the pilot.
"Ax! Can you hear me?!" Sancho's voice came over the comm.
Ax took a deep breath before switching the comm reply button on. "R... Roger that, Archer."
Sancho felt his body flood with relief at the sound of Ax's voice. "Don't worry, Ax. We're gonna tow you to safety. Hang in there. Graywings?"
The magnetic clamps on the exterior of two Graywings clamped down on the top of Ax's Blackwing. Covered by the other Graywings, they cautiously made their way out of the battle zone and back towards the nearest capital ship to their location - the Nausicaa. The other Blackwings continued their flight to the Cervantes.
In his cockpit, Lt. Commander Gain 'Ax' Axelrod breathed slowly and deeply. He had died, and been revived thanks to his suit and ship. If they weren't fighting in space, the Mech would have crashed long before it could bring him back to life.
But he felt different, like a different person almost.
Nyalah d'ti Project B'ru?
What is Project Blue?
Ax wanted to know too.
-----------------------------------
"Do you believe in God, sir?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Admiral Sean Masters shouted over the wailing klaxons on the bridge of the Cervantes.
"Do you believe in God, sir? Do you?"
"Of course not!" Admiral Masters shouted at the delirious Lieutenant he was carrying, or trying to carry if it weren't for the two foot long shrapnel skewering his calf muscle.
"MEDIC!!!" the Admiral shouted over the deafening noise as he leaned against what remained of his chair before the blast from the alien ships.
"Sir, promise me one thing sir."
The Admiral looked at the dying man in his arms. "What is it, Lieutenant?"
But the Admiral never knew what the Lieutenant's last wish was, for he fell silent, his eyes still opened, but now at peace. Admiral Masters felt his body tense up. This wasn't the way things were supposed to be.
The bridge of the Cervantes was nearly completed destroyed, the rebounded beam of the Particle Cannon had bypassed the Cervantes' safety frequency and sliced through their shields like a hot blade through butter. The Cervantes was incredibly agile, and managed to skew itself out of the Particle beam's path.
However the beam still brushed the Cervantes to devastating effect, peeling the supposedly indestructible Transluslide™ windows on the bridge, sucking half the crew out, chairs and all before the emergency shielding sealed off the windows.
The Admiral managed to cling on for dear life, but a splintered instrumentation panel, drawn by the vacuum of space had become deadly projectiles. One such projectile was now embedded in the Admiral's calf. Another had impaled the recently deceased Lieutenant.
In the distance he could hear explosions going off and blast doors slamming shut. Admiral Sean Masters knew that this was the end.
Suddenly he heard a loud metallic clang on the blast door outside, moments before a concentrated stream of bolt lasers melted through. A giant mechanized hand reached under the door and lifted it up, effortlessly.
Sean looked as the robot came into view. It was a Blackwing!
"Sir. Can you get up sir?" The voice of the Blackwing pilot came over the external speaker.
"Yes." the Admiral said, "Yes, I can."
"Good sir. I'll get you to safety in just a moment." The Blackwing's head suddenly snapped back and the entire front section lowered to reveal a woman sitting inside the cockpit, waiting for the Admiral to climb onboard. "Step inside sir and we'll blast out of here."
"But the blockade?"
"Don't worry sir. We've handled it."
The Admiral had no clue as to what was truly going on, but the Cervantes' computer confirmed the Blackwing pilot's words. The blockade's energy shields were powerless against the hulking crippled mass of the Phaeron battleship the Daedelus squadron had veered off course. The Phaeron ships forming the blockade quickly dispersed as their counterparts were crushed by the battleship, dispersing the gravity field with it.
They were no longer boxed in.
"Admiral. Large energy anomaly detected."
Through the remains of the blockade, a large mass appeared. A Phaeron dreadnought. The Phaeron dreadnought. The one that fired the anti-matter ray. The one that destroyed half the ELF fleet.
And its hull glowed blue and red.
"Sir, we don't have much time." The Blackwing pilot said.
"Go, get somebody else. I can't leave." The Admiral stepped away from his rescuer.
"But sir!"
"No buts! I'm still Admiral of this fleet, and I will make those bastards out there pay for what they've done!" The Admiral shouted at the pilot.
The Blackwing was silent for a moment before the front end lifted again and locked back into place, followed by the hiss as the robot's head locked in position. "Yes sir. Ever Onwards sir." The Blackwing Mech saluted and turned around to look for other survivors.
Sean limped to his chair and tilted it slightly to access the control panel. Clicking on the set of numbers he had memorized, though had prayed he would never have to use, he waited for confirmation from the Cervantes' computer.
"Kamikaze program executed. Are you sure, Admiral?" the ship's computer chimed.
"Yes I'm sure. Channel all power into the main guns!"
"Voice confirmed, Admiral Sean Masters. Channeling all power into main guns." the computer said. "You have enough power for three shots, Admiral."
"Full speed towards that big alien warship." Sean said.
"Yes Admiral." The computer replied.
"And raise me on the comm."
"Yes Admiral. Comm is ready."
The image of Admiral Sean Masters' heavily cut and bruised face appeared on the comm screens of all the surviving ships of the ELF fleet. In the various bridges and war rooms, amidst chaotic activity that suddenly stopped and watched. Even a few pilots tuning in to the frequency saw him on their comms.
Admiral Masters on the other hand couldn't see those faces staring at him, instead he relayed his orders. His last orders.
"Pull back to the safety zone, outrun them. I'll hold them here while you make your escape. If you're able, make the jump to hyperspace. Find someplace to make repairs. Tell ELF Council that the enemy is stronger than we imagined. Tell them what happened here."
Sean Masters aimed the main gun at the enemy warship, which was closing at a phenomenal rate. Sean spoke calmly.
"It has been my pleasure to have served with all of you. Ever Onward." Sean cut off the comm.
Unheard by him on all the ships of the ELF Fleet, everyone responded with pride. "Ever Onward."
--------------------------
"No! Damnit!" Captain Sayaka Sanada shouted at the comm screen, her hand banging down hard on the console, drawing looks from her crew.
"You can't do that!" Sayaka hurled the bottle of brandy she carried around her hip from her Captain's chair, across the bridge where it smashed against the holo screen.
Eve Lockwind moved to restrain Sayaka, but one look from Sayaka warned her to back off. Eve sat back down at her place.
Sayaka could only see the old grizzled face that was her mentor, see it for the last time before he cut the transmission. His final transmission.
Sayaka looked at her hand. She had banged it against the console so hard that it was now bruised. But that wasn't what hurt her most. The hurt inside brought tears to her eyes. But she didn't let them fall.
Her mentor wouldn't have wanted her to shed any tears for him. Sayaka saluted the static screen. "Ever onwards, sir." Sayaka said through choked back tears. "Ever onwards."
----------------------------
Sean Masters thought of Sayaka and hoped she would understand why he was doing what he was doing. The proximity alarm bleeped loudly and Sean put all other thoughts away.
Sean felt the trigger under his finger and as the large Phaeron warship loomed larger than life, he unleashed the three final shots the Cervantes would ever make, ripping into the shield barrier of the Phaeron warship, creating a breach big enough to fit an entire Super Carrier.
Sean screamed a final battle cry.
-----------------------------
The explosion was pure white, and for the second time that day, an explosion brighter than any supernova, and for that one brief moment, the brightest thing in the entire universe. It was almost an anti-climax that such a light wasn't followed by the shattering sound of destruction, that only in the vacuum of space could such an event happen without a sound.
And in the aftermath, all that remained of the Cervantes, the enemy warship and the alien carriers in the immediate vicinity of the blast as the Cervantes rammed right into the Phaeron warship, was debris.
The Phaeron fighters became uncoordinated in the direct aftermath. As the other ELF carriers and battle cruisers jumped to safety, the Daedelus squadron and its complement of eleven Blackwings took advantage of the chaos and reined chaos on the remaining Phaeron fighters.
Sancho quickly dispatched of one Phaeron Strike-Claw Assault Mech before looking over his shoulder to the cramped space behind his seat. There was a woman, a Lieutenant and her five-year old daughter huddled in the close confines. He had flown into the dying damaged mass that was the Cervantes and had pulled her out of the daycare, just moments before the hull above had crashed inwards.
The eleven Blackwings were all carrying survivors, but there were only twelve survivors they managed to rescue. How many more thousands had met their doom?
"Kzzzttt... Archer. We should Bzzzttt... back to the Kraaakk... safety zone." Porthos radioed in his instructions.
"Roger that, Porthos." Sancho replied. Plotting a safe vector out of the hot zone, he initiated the hyperspace sequence. "Okay guys, whenever you're ready."
The stars that stared down on Saturn space blurred into thin white streaks. Barely a breath later, and they reappeared in Pluto space, to be greeted by the sight of the Nausicaa.
A radio transmission came on over the radio but Archer wasn't listening. He was distracted by the sound of crying in the back. It was the little girl, her mother trying to make her stop.
"Kzzzt... Archer, do you read? Repeat, you have two survivors. Go on down first and dock with the Nausicaa, hangar one." Porthos' voice came over the comm, repeating his order.
"Roger, Porthos."
Sancho brought the Blackwing in quickly and smoothly, landing inside the main hangar. Popping open his canopy he offered his hand to the Lieutenant inside. The little girl didn't want to let go of her mother, but after some reassuring, the girl settled down enough to be left alone in the cockpit while Sancho helped the mom down. After she reached the hangar floor, Sancho reached back into the cockpit and lifted the little girl into her mother's arms.
When Sancho had the family secure, he noted the other ten Blackwings of Daedelus squadron were in. He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around. The Lieutenant he had rescued hugged him.
"Thank you." She whispered in his ear before she let him go and walked off, being led by a medical drone. Sancho stood there dazed for a moment before his Squadron leader came to stand beside him.
"Looks like this is our new home for now." Commander James 'Porthos' Powell said non-chalantly.
Sancho looked at the Commander. He hid it well, but there was no denying the existence of tears in his eyes. After all, his own daughter had been on the Cervantes.
And she hadn't been rescued.
------------------------
Sayaka looked at the broken bottle of Brandy on the floor, as maintenance droids quickly cleaned it up. The bottle she had thrown. She closed her eyes.
Eve Lockwind put a hand on Sayaka's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. She said quietly to Sayaka, "Go, get some medical attention for the hand, and get some rest. I'll handle everything from here."
Sayaka nodded mutely, turning away and walking out of the bridge. Everyone moved out of her path, not wanting to incur her fury. But fury wasn't the overwhelming emotion Sayaka felt right now.
It was that of loss.
=====================
CHAPTER SEVEN
"There is law, there is justice and there is politics. Law protects everyone, justice punishes the guilty and politics confuses the two."
- Anonymous
New Gaia was a beautiful planet, in many ways uncannily similar to what Erth once was in its youth. The lessons learned harshly on humankind's original planet were taken to heart here. New Gaia's surface is untouched by humans and it remains untouched for the strict laws regarding the contamination of New Gaia.
Bar one.
On the surface of the planet, a massive farm-network which provides most of the food needed by New Gaia snakes out and covers one especially fertile ground, but even then, it remains untouched by human hands. For New Gaians aren't considered humans, not since the days of the Radiation Wars.
New Gaians are mutants, the progeny of what once upon a time, were early human space explorers. Radiation related accidents changed many, and killed more, and even as the Governments of Erth tried to exterminate these mutants, their numbers swelled into the millions. What was once considered murder, turned quickly into genocide. And just as quickly it escalated into full blown war.
But the wars were long resolved, the Phaerons resolved it. So they fled, the "norms" and the mutants, in different ships, in different directions.
And while the humans continued to use technology to turn their new homeworlds into paradises, the mutants stumbled upon true paradise, and decided to leave it untouched. They built their settlements in the skies over New Gaia, giant hovering platforms were their cities, whose walkways were completely transparent to allow sunlight to filter right through to the fauna on the surface of the planet. Most Offworlders still had trouble mustering the courage to walk on the walkways, merely because they couldn't see them.
New Gaia was a sanctuary, not only for the natural habitat, but also for all lifeforms. New Gaia has always been considered neutral ground, belonging to all humans and mutants, regardless of origin or form, united by their need for shelter.
But the immediate needs of the twelve most powerful people in all humanity were very very different. They needed answers.
They needed to know how the ELF Fleet, the hope of human resistance against the Phaerons, the liberators of Planet Erth, had just suffered a catastrophic defeat in Saturn space.
They needed to know what to do. The twelve people who made up the ELF Council sat in uncommon silence as the emergency session laid out the full, unedited news of the ELF Fleet's progress.
And the destruction of the fleet's flagship, the Cervantes.
They needed leadership for the ELF Council was falling apart.
"And I say bring them back."
James K. Lockwind was a cold, calculating man, who possessed a truly calm and manipulative mind. But he felt no calm under the circumstances. He felt anger. But his voice still refused to let him betray his emotions, and his voice was at it normally was. Quiet, articulate and obeyed without questions.
But he was not in the headquarters of Lockwind Heavy Industries. He wasn't the leading manufacturer of Mech and heavy weapons in the galaxy. He was a weapons supplier, in the presence of world leaders. And in that sense he was powerless, for he held no power over the five people he was addressing.
New Gaia's leader stood up and motioned him to calm down, as it was her job as arbitrator. Lockwind looked at the mutant leader, Ingrid Hargloom looked undeniably human - a rarity among her kind, and it was because of her looks that she has made New Gaia appealing once more to the rest of humanity. She was attractive, but underneath the blue eyes of crystal ice lay an analytical and amazing mind that rivaled his own. She wasn't a New Earth University graduate simply because of her looks.
"Mr. Lockwind," Ingrid said, her voice equally cold as his, "I understand your personal attachment to the cause."
Ingrid naturally meant Lockwind's only child, Eve. She continued.
"But you are not the only one who has a personal attachment to this war effort."
Everyone tried not to look in the direction of the royal presence seated next to Ingrid. And for their benefit, the King of Acceleria ignored their poorly disguised efforts.
Ingrid went on. "Know that while we are stunned by the news of the Cervantes' destruction, it does not weaken our resolve, nor will we be forced into a hasty and uncoordinated retreat."
Once she was sure she had the attention of the entire room, Ingrid pressed home her point. "Only us five can make decision, but we will make that decision together. We will weigh the situation in its entirety - because that is what is expected of us. Because it is our job. Then we will make our decision."
Ingrid returned to her seat, signaling all debate was essentially over, regardless of any further recriminations.
Lockwind glared a little longer at the five leaders, before storming out of the Council hall. He was quickly joined by his aide and his security detail. They cleared out the elevator of other occupants and entered.
As they ascended to their waiting transport ship, the aide quickly relayed his piece of new information. "We are ready to extract Miss Lockwind from the Nausicaa at your order sir. Our operatives are standing by."
Lockwind grunted but said no more. He was more occupied by the cost of losing the Cervantes. Half the ships were Lockwind Heavy Industries investments, and this war threatened to destroy all that he had worked so hard for all his life.
"Damn you, bastards."
----------------------------
Achilles Collier surveyed the damage to the ELF Fleet. The shipyards that he had warped in on as part of the support for the invasion fleet were quickly repairing and getting the ships back to battle readiness.
But already there was talk about stripping down some of those too far gone and using them as spare parts. The problem was too many were too far gone. And the more that were stripped, the less the Fleet numbered.
Achilles had warped in yesterday, and had been waiting for a supply shuttle to the Nausicaa before meeting up with them. The Nausicaa had come in a few hours ago, as part of the rearguard. He looked at her sleek beautiful form and saw aside from a few laser scorch marks, the Nausicaa was in pristine condition.
'Either the Captain is a coward, or extremely skilled.' Achilles thought before returning to his files. He pulled up a new search.
'Sayaka Sanada.'
Achilles concluded with her service record, that the Captain was no coward. He wondered what she was like.
----------------------------
Sayaka was not holding up well. She was sprawled out drunk across her table, various maps and journals scattered across the surface and a solitary half empty bottle of scotch whisky on the table.
Her trash can was filled with other recently emptied bottles. It was the cost of having too many memories - memories that made the present too painful to bare.
Sayaka knew that her mentor would one day be the wrong side of the statistic, but it only served to make reality harder. The memorial for him would be today, once the Nausicaa is replaced on patrol and finally make its long lonely descent into shipyard.
"Come in, Eve."
Eve was surprised. She hadn't even knocked on the door yet. She let herself in and locked the door behind her.
"How did you know I was here?"
Sayaka pointed at the picture frame on her table. It flickered and revealed the corridor outside her room. Eve took a deep breath before returning her attention to her best friend.
"The Nausicaa has been given the go ahead to dock with the shipyard."
For the longest time, Sayaka didn't move. She remained lying there, her head facing away from Eve. For a brief moment, Eve thought that Sayaka had fallen asleep, but the deep groan that escaped from the young Captain's lips put an end to that assumption.
"Tell the entire crew to be in full dress uniform by 1800 hours." Sayaka sat upright and stared at the bottle on her table. She picked it up.
"We're having the funeral of-" Sayaka paused, as she struggled to find the words as to what Admiral Sean Masters truly was. War hero? Admiral and leader of the ELF Fleet? The most distinguished Armed Forces leader in the history of mankind?
"We're having the funeral of-" Sayaka repeated as she adjusted the bottle carefully on her desk, "-my father."
----------------------------
Sancho stood on the balcony overseeing the entire funeral preparation. He was in complete dress uniform, cutting a smart figure in the pure white with blue slash trim on the shoulders. He felt a presence approach.
Nakashima Nakago was alone as he approached the balcony railing. He stood some way apart from Sancho, and neither man acknowledged the other. But the silence was not awkward, despite appearances. It was a silence shared by two men who had seen death first hand, and dealt it in equal measure. The silence that said volumes about the passing of comrades, even if lamented, their sacrifice should not be disparaged.
A lesser man may have spoken to break the silence, and Sancho by comparison to Nakago was the lesser man. Nakago was impressed by Sancho's nerve, for he was sure the young Battle Field Advisor would have felt compelled to at least greet him. Nakago remained quiet, for he was sure that the lack of greeting wasn't a lack of acknowledgment, just a lack of need to be sociable.
As the garden hall below filled up with selected personnel from the other ships, joined by all the crew of the Nausicaa and the survivors of the Cervantes, Sancho looked down at the preparations and wondered about the future of the ELF Fleet.
It was a subject that worried many minds, over many distances.
----------------------------
"What of the invasion?"
"We have won a major victory over the sixth planet, Praetor." the Phaeron bowed deeply as it delivered the news of their victory over the humans in Saturn space. The Praetor stood on the dais in its personal chamber.
"And assimilation?"
"Successful, but we weren't able to get as many as we wished."
The Praetor nodded and dismissed the Phaeron. Once alone, the energy being strode back and forth, absorbing the news and its implications. Finally, the Praetor stopped.
"Do you not trust we are away from observation?"
A Praetor emerged from its cloak, which shielded it from prying eyes while it stood in plain sight.
"I just like being cautious."
The two Praetors glowed a little brighter, as if laughing at some private joke. The second Praetor continued, "The humans are strong, they will not disengage.
The first Praetor beckoned for its colleague to join it. "Good. All the more better for us." The Praetor produced a small energy vial and offered to the second. "You've seen the effects. It goes poorly for our Lord. Come, a toast."
The second Praetor dimmed. It turned down the energy vial and sat down on the firsst Praetor's throne, as if it were its own. "I choose not to underestimate the Lord Praetor. But I will share that toast when this is over."
The second Praetor glowed faintly red."When the Lord Praetor glows no more."
===================================================
"There is law, there is justice and there is politics. Law protects everyone, justice punishes the guilty and politics confuses the two."
- Anonymous
New Gaia was a beautiful planet, in many ways uncannily similar to what Erth once was in its youth. The lessons learned harshly on humankind's original planet were taken to heart here. New Gaia's surface is untouched by humans and it remains untouched for the strict laws regarding the contamination of New Gaia.
Bar one.
On the surface of the planet, a massive farm-network which provides most of the food needed by New Gaia snakes out and covers one especially fertile ground, but even then, it remains untouched by human hands. For New Gaians aren't considered humans, not since the days of the Radiation Wars.
New Gaians are mutants, the progeny of what once upon a time, were early human space explorers. Radiation related accidents changed many, and killed more, and even as the Governments of Erth tried to exterminate these mutants, their numbers swelled into the millions. What was once considered murder, turned quickly into genocide. And just as quickly it escalated into full blown war.
But the wars were long resolved, the Phaerons resolved it. So they fled, the "norms" and the mutants, in different ships, in different directions.
And while the humans continued to use technology to turn their new homeworlds into paradises, the mutants stumbled upon true paradise, and decided to leave it untouched. They built their settlements in the skies over New Gaia, giant hovering platforms were their cities, whose walkways were completely transparent to allow sunlight to filter right through to the fauna on the surface of the planet. Most Offworlders still had trouble mustering the courage to walk on the walkways, merely because they couldn't see them.
New Gaia was a sanctuary, not only for the natural habitat, but also for all lifeforms. New Gaia has always been considered neutral ground, belonging to all humans and mutants, regardless of origin or form, united by their need for shelter.
But the immediate needs of the twelve most powerful people in all humanity were very very different. They needed answers.
They needed to know how the ELF Fleet, the hope of human resistance against the Phaerons, the liberators of Planet Erth, had just suffered a catastrophic defeat in Saturn space.
They needed to know what to do. The twelve people who made up the ELF Council sat in uncommon silence as the emergency session laid out the full, unedited news of the ELF Fleet's progress.
And the destruction of the fleet's flagship, the Cervantes.
They needed leadership for the ELF Council was falling apart.
"And I say bring them back."
James K. Lockwind was a cold, calculating man, who possessed a truly calm and manipulative mind. But he felt no calm under the circumstances. He felt anger. But his voice still refused to let him betray his emotions, and his voice was at it normally was. Quiet, articulate and obeyed without questions.
But he was not in the headquarters of Lockwind Heavy Industries. He wasn't the leading manufacturer of Mech and heavy weapons in the galaxy. He was a weapons supplier, in the presence of world leaders. And in that sense he was powerless, for he held no power over the five people he was addressing.
New Gaia's leader stood up and motioned him to calm down, as it was her job as arbitrator. Lockwind looked at the mutant leader, Ingrid Hargloom looked undeniably human - a rarity among her kind, and it was because of her looks that she has made New Gaia appealing once more to the rest of humanity. She was attractive, but underneath the blue eyes of crystal ice lay an analytical and amazing mind that rivaled his own. She wasn't a New Earth University graduate simply because of her looks.
"Mr. Lockwind," Ingrid said, her voice equally cold as his, "I understand your personal attachment to the cause."
Ingrid naturally meant Lockwind's only child, Eve. She continued.
"But you are not the only one who has a personal attachment to this war effort."
Everyone tried not to look in the direction of the royal presence seated next to Ingrid. And for their benefit, the King of Acceleria ignored their poorly disguised efforts.
Ingrid went on. "Know that while we are stunned by the news of the Cervantes' destruction, it does not weaken our resolve, nor will we be forced into a hasty and uncoordinated retreat."
Once she was sure she had the attention of the entire room, Ingrid pressed home her point. "Only us five can make decision, but we will make that decision together. We will weigh the situation in its entirety - because that is what is expected of us. Because it is our job. Then we will make our decision."
Ingrid returned to her seat, signaling all debate was essentially over, regardless of any further recriminations.
Lockwind glared a little longer at the five leaders, before storming out of the Council hall. He was quickly joined by his aide and his security detail. They cleared out the elevator of other occupants and entered.
As they ascended to their waiting transport ship, the aide quickly relayed his piece of new information. "We are ready to extract Miss Lockwind from the Nausicaa at your order sir. Our operatives are standing by."
Lockwind grunted but said no more. He was more occupied by the cost of losing the Cervantes. Half the ships were Lockwind Heavy Industries investments, and this war threatened to destroy all that he had worked so hard for all his life.
"Damn you, bastards."
----------------------------
Achilles Collier surveyed the damage to the ELF Fleet. The shipyards that he had warped in on as part of the support for the invasion fleet were quickly repairing and getting the ships back to battle readiness.
But already there was talk about stripping down some of those too far gone and using them as spare parts. The problem was too many were too far gone. And the more that were stripped, the less the Fleet numbered.
Achilles had warped in yesterday, and had been waiting for a supply shuttle to the Nausicaa before meeting up with them. The Nausicaa had come in a few hours ago, as part of the rearguard. He looked at her sleek beautiful form and saw aside from a few laser scorch marks, the Nausicaa was in pristine condition.
'Either the Captain is a coward, or extremely skilled.' Achilles thought before returning to his files. He pulled up a new search.
'Sayaka Sanada.'
Achilles concluded with her service record, that the Captain was no coward. He wondered what she was like.
----------------------------
Sayaka was not holding up well. She was sprawled out drunk across her table, various maps and journals scattered across the surface and a solitary half empty bottle of scotch whisky on the table.
Her trash can was filled with other recently emptied bottles. It was the cost of having too many memories - memories that made the present too painful to bare.
Sayaka knew that her mentor would one day be the wrong side of the statistic, but it only served to make reality harder. The memorial for him would be today, once the Nausicaa is replaced on patrol and finally make its long lonely descent into shipyard.
"Come in, Eve."
Eve was surprised. She hadn't even knocked on the door yet. She let herself in and locked the door behind her.
"How did you know I was here?"
Sayaka pointed at the picture frame on her table. It flickered and revealed the corridor outside her room. Eve took a deep breath before returning her attention to her best friend.
"The Nausicaa has been given the go ahead to dock with the shipyard."
For the longest time, Sayaka didn't move. She remained lying there, her head facing away from Eve. For a brief moment, Eve thought that Sayaka had fallen asleep, but the deep groan that escaped from the young Captain's lips put an end to that assumption.
"Tell the entire crew to be in full dress uniform by 1800 hours." Sayaka sat upright and stared at the bottle on her table. She picked it up.
"We're having the funeral of-" Sayaka paused, as she struggled to find the words as to what Admiral Sean Masters truly was. War hero? Admiral and leader of the ELF Fleet? The most distinguished Armed Forces leader in the history of mankind?
"We're having the funeral of-" Sayaka repeated as she adjusted the bottle carefully on her desk, "-my father."
----------------------------
Sancho stood on the balcony overseeing the entire funeral preparation. He was in complete dress uniform, cutting a smart figure in the pure white with blue slash trim on the shoulders. He felt a presence approach.
Nakashima Nakago was alone as he approached the balcony railing. He stood some way apart from Sancho, and neither man acknowledged the other. But the silence was not awkward, despite appearances. It was a silence shared by two men who had seen death first hand, and dealt it in equal measure. The silence that said volumes about the passing of comrades, even if lamented, their sacrifice should not be disparaged.
A lesser man may have spoken to break the silence, and Sancho by comparison to Nakago was the lesser man. Nakago was impressed by Sancho's nerve, for he was sure the young Battle Field Advisor would have felt compelled to at least greet him. Nakago remained quiet, for he was sure that the lack of greeting wasn't a lack of acknowledgment, just a lack of need to be sociable.
As the garden hall below filled up with selected personnel from the other ships, joined by all the crew of the Nausicaa and the survivors of the Cervantes, Sancho looked down at the preparations and wondered about the future of the ELF Fleet.
It was a subject that worried many minds, over many distances.
----------------------------
"What of the invasion?"
"We have won a major victory over the sixth planet, Praetor." the Phaeron bowed deeply as it delivered the news of their victory over the humans in Saturn space. The Praetor stood on the dais in its personal chamber.
"And assimilation?"
"Successful, but we weren't able to get as many as we wished."
The Praetor nodded and dismissed the Phaeron. Once alone, the energy being strode back and forth, absorbing the news and its implications. Finally, the Praetor stopped.
"Do you not trust we are away from observation?"
A Praetor emerged from its cloak, which shielded it from prying eyes while it stood in plain sight.
"I just like being cautious."
The two Praetors glowed a little brighter, as if laughing at some private joke. The second Praetor continued, "The humans are strong, they will not disengage.
The first Praetor beckoned for its colleague to join it. "Good. All the more better for us." The Praetor produced a small energy vial and offered to the second. "You've seen the effects. It goes poorly for our Lord. Come, a toast."
The second Praetor dimmed. It turned down the energy vial and sat down on the firsst Praetor's throne, as if it were its own. "I choose not to underestimate the Lord Praetor. But I will share that toast when this is over."
The second Praetor glowed faintly red."When the Lord Praetor glows no more."
===================================================
CHAPTER EIGHT
"You can only betray someone you care about. When that person means nothing to you, it's called lying."
- Legendary Swarm Wars Heroine, Pirate and Explorer Misato Kawasaki (2930-????)
FIVE thousand men and women from various planets and star systems - their uniform colors denoted their particular sovereign allegiance despite their united cause, stood at full attention, eyes firmly transfixed on the procession that passed before them.
It was a sombre affair but also a simple one, despite the presence of near half the surviving ELF Fleet as they gathered to pay their last respects to their fallen brethren. As the first of an unimaginable amount of coffins launched into space, they saluted as one.
The coffins would protect the bodies of the fallen, or at least some memento of the dead as they made their individual ways, through hyperspace on their journeys home where they would be given the respect and dignity of a proper burial. These were humanity's lost sons and daughters, lost to an enemy that threatened to destroy everything humanity stood for.
The final coffin was no differently adorned than the others. The coffin was empty, for the body of the great man who was supposed to occupy it was lost to everyone. He gave the Fleet his life.
Captain Sayaka Sanada forced her eyes to remain focussed dead ahead. She knew the contents of the coffin, after all, she had been asked to add the memento. It was her finest flask of Soshirine brandy.
She had planned to save that bottle for her own retirement, something she would do after this ELF mission finished, a mission she accepted only so the government of New Erth no longer held any power over her.
Ships from all planetary factions lined up in space as a mark of respect, each firing seven guns, three times. A twenty-one gun salute, something still practiced by the Imperium Armed Forces of New Erth, and a mark of ultimate respect from the fleet when even ships from Elverez and Soshirine participated. The coffin slowly passed by the saluting congregation, before launching to space, and in an instant, disappeared into hyperspace.
Sayaka knew the price of independence was high, but now she questioned if the price was worth it.
----------------------------
"We need a new leader."
The four other leaders of humanity's five planetary factions sat in silence as the President of Elverez made that declaration. The silence may be in part due to respect of her office, or perhaps that of her heritage.
The Elverian Presidency has not always covered itself in glory. Corruption, deception and even dementia have made their presence felt in the House of Memphis, the symbol of Elverian governance.
But President Alis Kawasaki-Santiago had changed all that. Elverez, a world in rapid economic decline due to various planetwide natural disasters recovered under her astute leadership - quickly returning to the status of one of the three most powerful human governments.
Alis also knew that perhaps her name had helped influence part of revival. Perhaps it was also the reason why everyone was silent now. She was Kawasaki-Santiago, the only child of two great heroes of the Swarm Wars. She was a Grade Five citizen - only the King of Accelaria was on par with her.
And it was the King who spoke next.
"Why do you automatically assume we will continue this war?"
The King, despite the solemnity of the proceedings was dressed in his normal attire. Instead of an armor of pure black onyx, as was his battle uniform, he wore a simple cloth robe, lacking any decoration or ornamentation of any kind. The hood hid his face, but there was no mistaking the authority he exuded.
"Pray tell, Alis." the King said, showing the level of esteem he held the Elverian Presidency, and proving that her heritage held more sway with him. "What makes you think Accelaria or anyone else will continue on this fools errand we call a mission?"
Alis knew that Elverez still existed partly because the King had known her parents. In fact, her parents had in part, helped the King stay alive as his own family tried to have him assassinated. And while there was familiarity, the King was never close to her parents. Life debt there may be, but it only continued as long as the Kawasaki-Santiago name held power on Elverez - something that would only last another four years, before new elections.
Ingrid Hargloom, the New Gaian leader and arbitrator to the proceedings interrupted. She was a mutant, despite her very attractive human appearance, and that put the delegates around her on guard - because they were unable to judge what her mutation actually was.
"Actually, I agree with President Kawasaki-Santiago. We need a new leader for the ELF Fleet. We cannot risk the Fleet breaking apart-"
The New Erth Prime Minister held up his hand in protest. "The Fleet has already been crushed. We will need to rebuild the fleet for another attempt - something that won't come cheap!"
Alis interjected. "Something that also didn't cost the New Erth government a single cent, considering the donation Lockwind Enterprises..."
"And when Lockwind marks down his yearly profits, his taxes plunge too. Who do you think pays for that considerable donation?"
"Mr. Lockwind has already called for the return of the fleet."
The others turned to the owner of the sweet melodic voice, the Empress of Soshirine. Her exotic oriental features accentuated her youthful appearance extremely well, she looked younger than Alis, though she had been ruling far longer than anyone else at the table had been alive. The harsh environmental conditions on Soshirine masked the planet's greatest secret - longevity that bordered on near immortality.
The Empress continued. "Arguing about him is moot, considering he led the calls to end this war."
"The Elverians can pick up from Lockwind Industries..." Alis offered.
"With what? Elfernana Aerospace?" the Prime Minister scoffed. "They're bankrupt, Madam President, or almost at least. With all due respect - they hardly bring technological upgrades a new ELF Fleet will require - upgrades that only Lockwind Industries can supply."
Ingrid spoke up. "So that's it then? We're going to abandon all hope of destroying the Phaerons because we cannot see beyond our budgets and agendas? Remember that the Phaerons have continued to encroach on our territories - they know where we are. And when they come - they will come eventually, are we supposed to flee once again - and abandon billions like how we did on Erth?"
At the end of Ingrid's outburst, the room returned to its original silence, until a lone laugh broke it. Everyone turned to the King. He looked up after suppressing his wry laugh.
"Isn't it ironic that a mutant is the most passionate about the salvation of humankind?"
No one reacted, not knowing how to react. The King finally returned to his serious self.
"The mutant is right." Everyone knew the King liked antagonizing people, but to Ingrid's credit, she didn't bite. The King continued. "The Phaerons know where we are, and if they have already launched attacks to gauge our strength, then their invasion fleet may not be far behind."
"We agreed to this war once before because we chose to strike first and damage them - hopefully permanently so they should never choose to enter our space again. The liberation of Erth - unlike what we told everyone else - is secondary and unimportant. We only wanted to show our might."
The King sighed deeply. "But now the Phaerons have destroyed half our fleet, so they know that they could best us in a war. We will lose everything we have again, and that is unacceptable."
"We need to fight - and if possible, we need to win."
"Mr. Lockwind..."
"Lockwind will obey our directives - his daughter is onboard with my Shadow Knights."
The lack of acknowledgment of his second son, Nakago was noticeable. He remained the unspoken one - a mark of shame among Accelaria's royalty.
"You will use force against his daughter?" Ingrid asked, appalled at the implication.
"The price of victory is paid in blood. Lockwind may not have any particular fondness for his daughter, but his empire will never survive the news he let his own daughter die because he tried to save money."
"You can't threaten a citizen of New Erth! I will not abide..."
"But you will abide by Lockwind's decision? Who runs New Erth, Prime Minister?" The King interrupted. "If it's Lockwind, then he should be seated in your chair, and you shouldn't be here."
"Are you trying to start an international incident?"
"No, I'm trying to stop the Phaerons. What are you doing?"
The Prime Minister got to his feet enraged. "As of this moment, New Erth will not sanction this war. Our war has ended - but if the King continues to insult New Erth..."
"I didn't insult New Erth. I insulted you. Get that right."
The Prime Minister looked as if he was about to have an apoplexy. Incensed, he stormed off without another word, despite the calls for cooler heads by Alis and Ingrid. Alis slumped dejectedly in her seat.
"And then there were four." Alis said, tapping her pen against the table top. "What now?"
"Now we nominate a new leader for the ELF Fleet." The King said as if nothing new had transpired over the course of the meeting.
"New Erth will pull its ships and citizens out of the war. That's over two hundred surviving ships and about sixty percent of our fighting men and women!"
Ingrid turned to allay Alis's fears. "Yes, but we can reinforce them with the second fleet we were recruiting. We've got another hundred ships fully manned."
"No."
They turned at the Empress single note of rejection. "The second fleet was meant to protect us if our first fleet failed. A hundred ships are barely enough at the moment, but if we send them we will have nothing. We cannot wait another three years to build up a fleet of that magnitude."
Alis turned to the King. "We needed the New Erthlings. Without their resources..."
"You are mistaken. We do not need New Erth. We need Lockwind." As Alis looked to object, the King held up his hand to stay her judgment. "And no, I will not harm his daughter. I am not a total savage."
"So how are we going to change Lockwind's mind?" Ingrid asked.
"We can't." Alis sighed. "He'll need to change it himself. For the sake of the ELF Fleet, I hope he changes it soon."
====================================================
"You can only betray someone you care about. When that person means nothing to you, it's called lying."
- Legendary Swarm Wars Heroine, Pirate and Explorer Misato Kawasaki (2930-????)
FIVE thousand men and women from various planets and star systems - their uniform colors denoted their particular sovereign allegiance despite their united cause, stood at full attention, eyes firmly transfixed on the procession that passed before them.
It was a sombre affair but also a simple one, despite the presence of near half the surviving ELF Fleet as they gathered to pay their last respects to their fallen brethren. As the first of an unimaginable amount of coffins launched into space, they saluted as one.
The coffins would protect the bodies of the fallen, or at least some memento of the dead as they made their individual ways, through hyperspace on their journeys home where they would be given the respect and dignity of a proper burial. These were humanity's lost sons and daughters, lost to an enemy that threatened to destroy everything humanity stood for.
The final coffin was no differently adorned than the others. The coffin was empty, for the body of the great man who was supposed to occupy it was lost to everyone. He gave the Fleet his life.
Captain Sayaka Sanada forced her eyes to remain focussed dead ahead. She knew the contents of the coffin, after all, she had been asked to add the memento. It was her finest flask of Soshirine brandy.
She had planned to save that bottle for her own retirement, something she would do after this ELF mission finished, a mission she accepted only so the government of New Erth no longer held any power over her.
Ships from all planetary factions lined up in space as a mark of respect, each firing seven guns, three times. A twenty-one gun salute, something still practiced by the Imperium Armed Forces of New Erth, and a mark of ultimate respect from the fleet when even ships from Elverez and Soshirine participated. The coffin slowly passed by the saluting congregation, before launching to space, and in an instant, disappeared into hyperspace.
Sayaka knew the price of independence was high, but now she questioned if the price was worth it.
----------------------------
"We need a new leader."
The four other leaders of humanity's five planetary factions sat in silence as the President of Elverez made that declaration. The silence may be in part due to respect of her office, or perhaps that of her heritage.
The Elverian Presidency has not always covered itself in glory. Corruption, deception and even dementia have made their presence felt in the House of Memphis, the symbol of Elverian governance.
But President Alis Kawasaki-Santiago had changed all that. Elverez, a world in rapid economic decline due to various planetwide natural disasters recovered under her astute leadership - quickly returning to the status of one of the three most powerful human governments.
Alis also knew that perhaps her name had helped influence part of revival. Perhaps it was also the reason why everyone was silent now. She was Kawasaki-Santiago, the only child of two great heroes of the Swarm Wars. She was a Grade Five citizen - only the King of Accelaria was on par with her.
And it was the King who spoke next.
"Why do you automatically assume we will continue this war?"
The King, despite the solemnity of the proceedings was dressed in his normal attire. Instead of an armor of pure black onyx, as was his battle uniform, he wore a simple cloth robe, lacking any decoration or ornamentation of any kind. The hood hid his face, but there was no mistaking the authority he exuded.
"Pray tell, Alis." the King said, showing the level of esteem he held the Elverian Presidency, and proving that her heritage held more sway with him. "What makes you think Accelaria or anyone else will continue on this fools errand we call a mission?"
Alis knew that Elverez still existed partly because the King had known her parents. In fact, her parents had in part, helped the King stay alive as his own family tried to have him assassinated. And while there was familiarity, the King was never close to her parents. Life debt there may be, but it only continued as long as the Kawasaki-Santiago name held power on Elverez - something that would only last another four years, before new elections.
Ingrid Hargloom, the New Gaian leader and arbitrator to the proceedings interrupted. She was a mutant, despite her very attractive human appearance, and that put the delegates around her on guard - because they were unable to judge what her mutation actually was.
"Actually, I agree with President Kawasaki-Santiago. We need a new leader for the ELF Fleet. We cannot risk the Fleet breaking apart-"
The New Erth Prime Minister held up his hand in protest. "The Fleet has already been crushed. We will need to rebuild the fleet for another attempt - something that won't come cheap!"
Alis interjected. "Something that also didn't cost the New Erth government a single cent, considering the donation Lockwind Enterprises..."
"And when Lockwind marks down his yearly profits, his taxes plunge too. Who do you think pays for that considerable donation?"
"Mr. Lockwind has already called for the return of the fleet."
The others turned to the owner of the sweet melodic voice, the Empress of Soshirine. Her exotic oriental features accentuated her youthful appearance extremely well, she looked younger than Alis, though she had been ruling far longer than anyone else at the table had been alive. The harsh environmental conditions on Soshirine masked the planet's greatest secret - longevity that bordered on near immortality.
The Empress continued. "Arguing about him is moot, considering he led the calls to end this war."
"The Elverians can pick up from Lockwind Industries..." Alis offered.
"With what? Elfernana Aerospace?" the Prime Minister scoffed. "They're bankrupt, Madam President, or almost at least. With all due respect - they hardly bring technological upgrades a new ELF Fleet will require - upgrades that only Lockwind Industries can supply."
Ingrid spoke up. "So that's it then? We're going to abandon all hope of destroying the Phaerons because we cannot see beyond our budgets and agendas? Remember that the Phaerons have continued to encroach on our territories - they know where we are. And when they come - they will come eventually, are we supposed to flee once again - and abandon billions like how we did on Erth?"
At the end of Ingrid's outburst, the room returned to its original silence, until a lone laugh broke it. Everyone turned to the King. He looked up after suppressing his wry laugh.
"Isn't it ironic that a mutant is the most passionate about the salvation of humankind?"
No one reacted, not knowing how to react. The King finally returned to his serious self.
"The mutant is right." Everyone knew the King liked antagonizing people, but to Ingrid's credit, she didn't bite. The King continued. "The Phaerons know where we are, and if they have already launched attacks to gauge our strength, then their invasion fleet may not be far behind."
"We agreed to this war once before because we chose to strike first and damage them - hopefully permanently so they should never choose to enter our space again. The liberation of Erth - unlike what we told everyone else - is secondary and unimportant. We only wanted to show our might."
The King sighed deeply. "But now the Phaerons have destroyed half our fleet, so they know that they could best us in a war. We will lose everything we have again, and that is unacceptable."
"We need to fight - and if possible, we need to win."
"Mr. Lockwind..."
"Lockwind will obey our directives - his daughter is onboard with my Shadow Knights."
The lack of acknowledgment of his second son, Nakago was noticeable. He remained the unspoken one - a mark of shame among Accelaria's royalty.
"You will use force against his daughter?" Ingrid asked, appalled at the implication.
"The price of victory is paid in blood. Lockwind may not have any particular fondness for his daughter, but his empire will never survive the news he let his own daughter die because he tried to save money."
"You can't threaten a citizen of New Erth! I will not abide..."
"But you will abide by Lockwind's decision? Who runs New Erth, Prime Minister?" The King interrupted. "If it's Lockwind, then he should be seated in your chair, and you shouldn't be here."
"Are you trying to start an international incident?"
"No, I'm trying to stop the Phaerons. What are you doing?"
The Prime Minister got to his feet enraged. "As of this moment, New Erth will not sanction this war. Our war has ended - but if the King continues to insult New Erth..."
"I didn't insult New Erth. I insulted you. Get that right."
The Prime Minister looked as if he was about to have an apoplexy. Incensed, he stormed off without another word, despite the calls for cooler heads by Alis and Ingrid. Alis slumped dejectedly in her seat.
"And then there were four." Alis said, tapping her pen against the table top. "What now?"
"Now we nominate a new leader for the ELF Fleet." The King said as if nothing new had transpired over the course of the meeting.
"New Erth will pull its ships and citizens out of the war. That's over two hundred surviving ships and about sixty percent of our fighting men and women!"
Ingrid turned to allay Alis's fears. "Yes, but we can reinforce them with the second fleet we were recruiting. We've got another hundred ships fully manned."
"No."
They turned at the Empress single note of rejection. "The second fleet was meant to protect us if our first fleet failed. A hundred ships are barely enough at the moment, but if we send them we will have nothing. We cannot wait another three years to build up a fleet of that magnitude."
Alis turned to the King. "We needed the New Erthlings. Without their resources..."
"You are mistaken. We do not need New Erth. We need Lockwind." As Alis looked to object, the King held up his hand to stay her judgment. "And no, I will not harm his daughter. I am not a total savage."
"So how are we going to change Lockwind's mind?" Ingrid asked.
"We can't." Alis sighed. "He'll need to change it himself. For the sake of the ELF Fleet, I hope he changes it soon."
====================================================
CHAPTER NINE
"Many historians believe that the Swarm were the ones who chased the Phaerons off their home planet, that the invaders of Earth were refugees of that conflict. But they are wrong. The Swarm, like humans, were the losers of that war."
- Excerpt from Life and Death: The Data Logs of Spaceship Athena
Sylia Linkus looked up in the sky and saw the private shuttle making its final approach. Her orange-yellow hair was now smattered with a touch of white, giving it an even more lustrous sheen, making it glisten like gold. But her age hadn't diminished her beauty nor capabilities, and her vision made out the small logo of Lockwind Heavy Industries on the underside of the wing. There was no mistaking the visitor.
She made her way up to the landing pad, foregoing the various hoverlifts and ramps, instead she climbed up the structure with her bare claws.
Perhaps it was time to state the obvious. Sylia wasn't human. She was of a near extinct race, save her and her twin cubs, her kind no longer existed. The Swarm Wars had seen to that. When she reached the top, she realized that the visitor looked unkindly on nakedness, so she unpacked the leather garment that was her uniform on this planet. She put it on.
Sylia was a Lycan, a once semi-developed alien race who regularly engaged in war - though most of their wars were against their own kind, but they were never close to extinction until the day the deadly Swarm had devoured the planet.
In a traditional Erth sense, Sylia looked like a cross between a woman and a wolf. She was intelligent but also feral, though her proud days of battle had jaded her. Sylia ran this colony of Sparta XI, a small moon far removed from New Erth space, where the ruling government was determined by who possessed the biggest gun.
No one owned as much firepower as Lockwind Heavy Industries. The visitor had made sure of that.
The ship landed, and the ramp extended. After his security personnel had secured the platform, the visitor appeared. Feris bowed her head slightly.
"Good morning, Mr. Lockwind. You honor us with your presence."
Lockwind looked at the great beast woman who stood before him. She was a little over six-feet tall, but her body was both lean and muscular, announcing that she could easily overpower any creature up to twice her size. He noticed she had put on the uniform this time, good. He had been a little unnerved the last time when she had appeared in her natural state, her wolf features did little to detract attention from her other extremely human female assets.
He looked at the landscape of Sparta XI, the excavation work on the newest crater was going well it seemed, and the native near-indestructible Abertonium alloy that was used in the construction of ships like the Nausicaa, available here in the Outer Belt worlds, were being mined at a sufficiently efficient rate.
Sparta XI should be classified a habitable world, ripe for terraforming. It had its own atmosphere, weather and water. But bribes, blackmail and threats were enough to make sure Sparta XI remained 'dead' in the eyes of the human colonies.
And most of the workers here on Sparta XI winded up dead in a very real sense within a year.
Sparta XI was a prison colony, where the most dangerous criminals in all of humanity served. Those who survived long enough were promoted. Sylia had survived the longest. She led her benefactor the way to her chambers.
Once inside, Lockwind addressed one of his concerns. "The numbers for Abertonium have plateaued."
Sylia agreed, but was quick to point out the hazards and intricacies of the extraction process.
"Don't lecture me about it - after all, I came up with the method we use today." Lockwind sat down. "At current rate, we'll have enough Abertonium ore to make a paperweight in one year." Lockwind rubbed his forehead gently, easing away the headache. "Fortunately, that's enough to cover a Supercarrier once we convert it into paint."
"But that's not the reason why I'm here." Lockwind finally got to the reason for his visit.
"I refuse." Sylia said immediately.
Lockwind nodded, expecting that answer, but it was the wrong one. So Lockwind proceeded to highlight just how wrong her answer was.
"Your cubs are near adulthood." he said, knowing Sylia was all to aware of what would happen next to her children.
"I will kill one of them." Sylia replied. "They will not consummate the h'aira'koun."
Lockwind could understand violence, and could understand Sylia's stance. H'aira'koun meant first heat. Once Sylia's daughter became fertile, her brother would cease to be just her brother. The animal need would prove to be irresistible, particularly now, since they were the last of their kind. The h'aira'bal'torida, the act of consummation among blood relations in itself was a death sentence - not merely because of the mental retardation in their offspring, but they would all be genetically cursed - and disease would ravage all of them.
But it would be impossible to keep them apart once she gets her h'aira'koun.
"There may be other survivors." Lockwind said.
"There are none."
"Here, yes. But the universe is a big place. And I can take her to see it all."
"You want my she-cub?!" Sylia whirled around in surprise. "I thought my male-cub..."
"He is more useful here. He is strong. He can take over your place when we leave."
Sylia furrowed her brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, as of now, you are to work for me personally. You were the wife of General Feris Linkus, great war hero. You will keep your she-cub in check. But most importantly, I have a special task for you."
"I cannot leave my male-cub."
"He will be free to rejoin you and your she-cub when you complete your mission for me. And of course after your she-cub's h'aira is over.
Freedom from this hellhole. Sylia had been in many hard places, some much harder than this. But her cubs did not deserve to be prisoners, because of her past crimes. This may be the one chance for reestablishing the honor and glory of their father's name.
"What is this mission?"
---------------------------------------
Achilles Collier stood before the Nausicaa's charge d'affairs, since the Captain was unavailable. He looked at the small man wh
"Many historians believe that the Swarm were the ones who chased the Phaerons off their home planet, that the invaders of Earth were refugees of that conflict. But they are wrong. The Swarm, like humans, were the losers of that war."
- Excerpt from Life and Death: The Data Logs of Spaceship Athena
Sylia Linkus looked up in the sky and saw the private shuttle making its final approach. Her orange-yellow hair was now smattered with a touch of white, giving it an even more lustrous sheen, making it glisten like gold. But her age hadn't diminished her beauty nor capabilities, and her vision made out the small logo of Lockwind Heavy Industries on the underside of the wing. There was no mistaking the visitor.
She made her way up to the landing pad, foregoing the various hoverlifts and ramps, instead she climbed up the structure with her bare claws.
Perhaps it was time to state the obvious. Sylia wasn't human. She was of a near extinct race, save her and her twin cubs, her kind no longer existed. The Swarm Wars had seen to that. When she reached the top, she realized that the visitor looked unkindly on nakedness, so she unpacked the leather garment that was her uniform on this planet. She put it on.
Sylia was a Lycan, a once semi-developed alien race who regularly engaged in war - though most of their wars were against their own kind, but they were never close to extinction until the day the deadly Swarm had devoured the planet.
In a traditional Erth sense, Sylia looked like a cross between a woman and a wolf. She was intelligent but also feral, though her proud days of battle had jaded her. Sylia ran this colony of Sparta XI, a small moon far removed from New Erth space, where the ruling government was determined by who possessed the biggest gun.
No one owned as much firepower as Lockwind Heavy Industries. The visitor had made sure of that.
The ship landed, and the ramp extended. After his security personnel had secured the platform, the visitor appeared. Feris bowed her head slightly.
"Good morning, Mr. Lockwind. You honor us with your presence."
Lockwind looked at the great beast woman who stood before him. She was a little over six-feet tall, but her body was both lean and muscular, announcing that she could easily overpower any creature up to twice her size. He noticed she had put on the uniform this time, good. He had been a little unnerved the last time when she had appeared in her natural state, her wolf features did little to detract attention from her other extremely human female assets.
He looked at the landscape of Sparta XI, the excavation work on the newest crater was going well it seemed, and the native near-indestructible Abertonium alloy that was used in the construction of ships like the Nausicaa, available here in the Outer Belt worlds, were being mined at a sufficiently efficient rate.
Sparta XI should be classified a habitable world, ripe for terraforming. It had its own atmosphere, weather and water. But bribes, blackmail and threats were enough to make sure Sparta XI remained 'dead' in the eyes of the human colonies.
And most of the workers here on Sparta XI winded up dead in a very real sense within a year.
Sparta XI was a prison colony, where the most dangerous criminals in all of humanity served. Those who survived long enough were promoted. Sylia had survived the longest. She led her benefactor the way to her chambers.
Once inside, Lockwind addressed one of his concerns. "The numbers for Abertonium have plateaued."
Sylia agreed, but was quick to point out the hazards and intricacies of the extraction process.
"Don't lecture me about it - after all, I came up with the method we use today." Lockwind sat down. "At current rate, we'll have enough Abertonium ore to make a paperweight in one year." Lockwind rubbed his forehead gently, easing away the headache. "Fortunately, that's enough to cover a Supercarrier once we convert it into paint."
"But that's not the reason why I'm here." Lockwind finally got to the reason for his visit.
"I refuse." Sylia said immediately.
Lockwind nodded, expecting that answer, but it was the wrong one. So Lockwind proceeded to highlight just how wrong her answer was.
"Your cubs are near adulthood." he said, knowing Sylia was all to aware of what would happen next to her children.
"I will kill one of them." Sylia replied. "They will not consummate the h'aira'koun."
Lockwind could understand violence, and could understand Sylia's stance. H'aira'koun meant first heat. Once Sylia's daughter became fertile, her brother would cease to be just her brother. The animal need would prove to be irresistible, particularly now, since they were the last of their kind. The h'aira'bal'torida, the act of consummation among blood relations in itself was a death sentence - not merely because of the mental retardation in their offspring, but they would all be genetically cursed - and disease would ravage all of them.
But it would be impossible to keep them apart once she gets her h'aira'koun.
"There may be other survivors." Lockwind said.
"There are none."
"Here, yes. But the universe is a big place. And I can take her to see it all."
"You want my she-cub?!" Sylia whirled around in surprise. "I thought my male-cub..."
"He is more useful here. He is strong. He can take over your place when we leave."
Sylia furrowed her brow in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, as of now, you are to work for me personally. You were the wife of General Feris Linkus, great war hero. You will keep your she-cub in check. But most importantly, I have a special task for you."
"I cannot leave my male-cub."
"He will be free to rejoin you and your she-cub when you complete your mission for me. And of course after your she-cub's h'aira is over.
Freedom from this hellhole. Sylia had been in many hard places, some much harder than this. But her cubs did not deserve to be prisoners, because of her past crimes. This may be the one chance for reestablishing the honor and glory of their father's name.
"What is this mission?"
---------------------------------------
Achilles Collier stood before the Nausicaa's charge d'affairs, since the Captain was unavailable. He looked at the small man wh