Exule
2014-08-20 |  | OS - Encounter (part 1) |  |
Encounter (part 1)
Admiral Morgan stood on the bridge of his Kalieum class cruiser, looking out into the vast expanse of space. His flagship sat at the head of a small Terran contingent. The admiral’s task force was a modest fleet of about ten destroyers, sixteen frigates, twenty-four corvettes, and about two hundred fighters and scout ships. The admiral was confident that even if Marauders were behind the recent communications failure, they would be no problem for his battle group’s firepower.
“Admiral, we’re ready to make the jump to LN23.”
“Excellent, proceed with the jump then.”
“Aye, aye sir.”
One after another the ships began to jump away. For a moment, all time seemed suspended in stasis as the ships lurched through space at supra-light speed velocities. What seemed like a moment had passed before Morgan’s fleet dropped out of hyperspace. They were in System LN23.
“I don’t see anything,” said Morgan.
“There! What’s that?” One of the crew was pointing at a strangely shaped shadow floating close to the form of a nearby moon, silhouetted by the light of the system’s flaming gas giant.
“Scan that thing, I want to know what it is. I’ve never seen a Terran or Marauder ship shaped like that before. Is it Aspha?” Morgan did not think the Aspha Miners had ventured this far past the territory lines established following the great Terran-Aspha War. It seemed unlikely that the Aspha Miners, more often relishing peaceful trade over war, would purposely violate the peace treaty.
“Admiral, we’re registering a large concentration of metals and… strafez organism, sir…”
“That can’t be,” said Morgan, “we’ve only barely begun testing with strafez organism. Could someone have beat us to it?”
“Sir! You’re not going to believe this! Scanner results of the planet’s atmosphere reveal that it does not match the atmospheric profile of the planet that is supposed to be there. In fact, it doesn’t appear to match any known worlds.” |
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Exule
99+ day(s) ago | “That’s impossible,” Morgan exclaimed, “are you sure we’re in System LN23?”
“Affirmative admiral, the star patterns do not lie. This is definitely LN23.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this, tell the fleet to prepare for battle. We’re going to find out exactly what that thing out there is and then figure out what happened to this planet.”
While Admiral Morgan’s communication officers were relaying the orders to the Terran warships, Victor was doubled over in pain once again. Victor’s head was filled with the sound of the Voice.
“Victor.”
“Yes master?”
“The Kohoutek scouts have detected a group of Terrans entering the solar system. This presents a set back to our plans.”
From the moment the Terrans had entered the system, Victor had telepathically felt the sense of alarm from his scouts. The experiences of his troops were transmitted to Victor’s consciousness as one might feel the urgent sensation of one’s own hand touching a burning hot surface. This shared consciousness gave the Virals a distinct tactical advantage during battle.
“This changes nothing. I have already taken notice of this incursion and it will be dealt with quickly.”
“See that it is, we cannot spend too much time here. If we wait too long, the Marauders’ main force will have moved on from this sector.” The Voice paused. “You need not be reminded of what is at stake here.”
“I understand master. I shall dispose of these troublesome pests.”
“Excellent. Go now and deal with these intruders.”
“Yes, master. I shall make this quick.” Victor regained his feet and turned his attention to the Viral fleet orbiting Exule’s moon. |
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