The first day, p.36
The First Day, page 36
part #1 of Vanguard Series
“It doesn’t look good,” Doix replied, pouring them both a drink. “Rescue team found only debris.”
“Damn, that’s a nut shot,” Backstab said.
“Indeed,” Doix replied.
“You know, these muther fuckers have some serious payback coming their way,” Backstab said, grinding his teeth as he did.
“Hell yeah,” Doix agreed. “But first, let us drink to our fallen,” he concluded, standing.
“An honour.” Backstab, helped by Pax, stood. Doix now recited an ancient Norn dirge, which had been adopted by the marines:
“To battle they came, with spirits aflame,
they fought like heroes in Valiance name,
but come back all, sadly did not,
for Victories name is not cheaply bought
And thus, they fell, not for honour nor acclaim,
but the weak in need is why they came,
no rewards of gold, nor silver where sought
to be thy enemies’ bane is why they fought
By death's embrace their spirits were claimed,
even as their bodies here lay slain,
to dwell forever in the renown the made
and write the legends, for which they dearly paid”
“Azak nemaro retarince” (‘Honour the Fallen’ in Norn), they said, raising their glasses. They sat back down, each silent for a moment.
“Did you figure out that Valkyrie thing?” Doix asked.
“No, why?” Pax responded.
“The enemy, we figure they’re the same ones who hit the fod base.”
“Huh, I didn’t know that,” she added.
“You didn’t get a close-up view like us.” Doix smirked.
“Perhaps the two are linked.” She paused in thought. “I need to check that data again.”
Hunter stood still stunned by his new orders, and that responsibility lay heavily on him. But he knew that the decision would not have been taken lightly.
“Vyzrin, plot us a strike vector.”
“Understood, sir,” she replied.
“Moros, lay in an intercept course for the World-Ship,” Hunter ordered. “Daubrey load strategic ordinance, tubes one and two.”
“Course laid in, sir,” Moros reported.
“Torpedoes loaded, sir, awaiting authentication and arming code,” Daubrey said.
“Cece, authenticate strike confirmation,” Hunter ordered.
“Strike authenticity confirmed.” Cece paused. “Unlocking fire control,” she added, followed by a single klaxon wail.
“Arming sequence zero, blue, six, one, tango,” Daubrey stated as he began inputting target co-ordinates.
“Sequence confirmed,” Cerberus stated, again followed by another klaxon wail. “Awaiting command code.”
“Omega, seven, zero, red, strike,” Hunter replied.
“Code verified,” Cerberus replied. The klaxon sounded again three times, and the lighting switched to red.
“Vyz, link strike vector to fire control.”
“Aye, sir, firing solution is at one, five, six, mark two by eight, one, eight. Launch threshold set at three thousand miles.”
“Got it,” Daubrey replied.
“Ok. Moros, take us in,” Hunter ordered. He turned and moved to the tactical station. “I’ll take it from here.” He smiled, sadly.
“Understood, sir,” Daubrey replied.
“Sir, the World-Ship’s energy levels are plateauing,” Vyzrin announced.
“Any indication that they have spotted us?” Hunter questioned.
“Not as far as I can see” Vyzrin replied.
“Good,” Hunter stated. “Moros, I want you to get us clear of the blast zone as soon as I’ve launched, understood?”
“That’s the plan,” Moros replied, the stress evident in his voice.
“Keep us within observation range, though.”
“Understood, sir.”
“Recommend once we’ve launched, we switch from cloak to shields,” Daubrey said.
“Agreed,” Hunter nodded.
“Vanjellise…” Elshak said in disbelief as the planet began to break apart.
“Scanning,” Vyzrin stated.
“We’re starting to get gravimetric sheering,” Moros announced as the ship was rocked.
“Steady as she goes,” Hunter stated, staring at the World-Ship looming ever closer through the viewscreen. He looked back at the targeting controls, watching the firing point approach. “Firing!” he cried, pressing the launch button.
Cerberus banked left, pulling away from the World-Ship rapidly as the two torpedoes raced towards their target, and a second later they both detonated. There were two small explosions and for a nano-second dozens of pale blue energy filaments rippled out before collapsing back on the point of detonation. Then there was a blinding flash that grew in intensity and a cascading inferno of destruction ripped out in all directions at twice the speed of light consuming all it encompassed. Cerberus herself caught the leading edge of the explosion. She was heavily buffeted around and thrown out of warp on the edge of the system. Commander Hunter picked himself up as alarm sirens wailed, and sparks flew from several consoles and systems.
“We’re alive,” a relieved Moros stated.
“What happened?” Hunter asked.
“We caught the edge of the subspace disruption pulse, it collapsed the warp field,” Vyzrin stated. “Until we clear the affected area, we won’t be able to form a warp field.”
“How far?” Hunter asked.
“Thirty thousand miles.”
“Status?” Hunter said, staring at the static filled view screen.
“Minor damage,” Daubrey reported. “A lot of systems got blown out by the pulse.”
“Sensors?”
“Coming back online now,” Vyzrin reported.
“Get me a visual of the target,” Hunter ordered.
Sparks flew all around the darkened cockpit. Groggily and with his ears ringing, Jennings shakenly stood. As he regained his senses, he activated the emergency power. Several lights flickered to life.
“Report.”
“Urgh,” Baelis groaned, holding his head. “Ship’s intact, mostly.”
“Where are we?” Arzael asked, looking out the window.
“Give me a minute,” Moussa replied, working on the navigation charts.
“Everyone okay back there!” Jennings shouted.
“Shaken, but alive,” Serallis reported after a brief pause.
“Fuckin hell, that was intense,” Raxs stated as the gunnery chair descended.
“Warp in a ball turret, huh,” Jones said.
“Yeah, I’ll cross it off the bucket list,” Raxs laughed. “So, this don’t look like the Aurura Nebulae.”
“You think?” Jones quipped. Raxs replied with a grin and a middle finger.
“Oh crap,” Moussa stated.
“Well?” Jennings quizzed.
“We’re here,” Moussa replied, bringing the map up on the main display. “About a hundred lightyears beyond the DSB, in the Blefh Sector.”
“How did we end up here?” Taeya asked.
“That last hit ruptured out reserve pyon tank.” He paused. “They leeched into the starboard engine by the looks.”
“What’s the status of the drive?” Jennings asked.
“It’s fried,” he replied, tapping on the console. “Looks like the transition coils have fused.”
“So even more screwed than we were,” Jones said. “Figures.”
“What’s our options?” Jennings asked.
“Well without warp, we ain’t getting far” Baelis replied. “With only sublights and limited energy reserves, we’ve got a range of thirty, maybe forty lightyears at best.” He paused. “And there’s nothing out here.”
“No, there’s something out there,” Taeya said with a puzzled look.
“Not picking anything up on the sensors,” Moussa stated.
“Taeya?” Jennings said.
“I don’t know, I can’t tell you what it is, just that something’s there.”
“Taeya’s got a feeling, good enough for me,” Jones stated.
“So, we’re following a feeling?” Moussa asked.
“Got any better options?”
DeLancy stared at the view screen watching the live feed being transmitted by the sensor buoys Cerberus had deployed. He watched as the immense fireball having reached its peak began to dissipate and fade, plunging the system into relative darkness. It took a few seconds for the sensors to adjust, and the bridge fell silent as everyone stared at what little remained of the devastated system. The now damaged star flickered, and the two outer planets still survived, but everything in between had been vaporised. All except the World-Ship, which remained undamaged.
“How?” Hixxs exasperated. “Sensors indicate virtually no damage.”
“We had to try,” DeLancy lamented. “Dillon, contact Cerberus, have them break off and regroup back here.”
“Understood, sir,” she shakenly replied.
“Buoys detecting massive quantities of particles being emitted by the World-Ship,” Brown stated. “They are being focussed at co-ordinates one seven zero, by eight two mark four.”
“Can you ascertain their purpose?” DeLancy asked.
“Not sure, the particles are some sort of phased leptons.”
“What is that?” Tarim asked, staring at the view screen and watching the World-Ship firing an energy beam towards the same coordinates. As a distortion began to form, the energy beam began to pulsate, and each pulse caused the swirling distortion to expand.
“Omicron radiation,” Hixxs announced.
“It can’t be,” Brown stated, staring at the readings, which only confirmed his realisation. “They’re opening an artificial wormhole.”
“Are you sure?” Hixxs queried.
“Positive, look,” Brown replied, pointing at the screen in front of him. Hixxs took one step before stopping in her tracks, her attention drawn by the flash from the view screen. They stared in stunned silence watching the artificial wormhole burst open. DeLancy stared in awe at the wormhole, a circular cloud of colour that seemed to wobble back and forth. Around its edges a swirling vortex infinitely looped back in on the wormhole. Then his heart sank as through the wormhole came another smaller World-Ship, about half the size of the first. It was followed by five more, each one escorted by hundreds of thousands of ships. With the last ship coming through, the World-Ship ceased its omicron beam and the wormhole collapsed shut.
“We are so boned now,” Friestar dejectedly announced.
Peter Irvine, The First Day
