Year 2718, April the 2nd
Sector Victory-12-33.706, Abraham system
Orbit over Abraham 3, Twin Moon Imperial Super Dreadnought Flagship Dauntless
Commodore Ada Dravograd was sitting in her quarters. Currently she was reading a book about a love story during a fictional war between the Twin Moon Empire and the Terran Mining Consortium. The main characters were a female naval officer of the rank of Lieutenant and a male Master Sergeant in the Space Marine Corps. She was just barely over half the three-hundred page book. She was sitting in her bed, dressed in casual clothes, an ocean blue top and black sweat pants. Her black hair had been let out of her usual ponytail and was hanging roughly behind her and some strains over her shoulders. Her tanned hands held the book gently. The room was lightly lit up but it was enough for her light grey eyes to read the pages in the book.
As the ships commanding officer and a commodore she had larger quarters than others onboard and her bed was soft and larger and not at all military issue. It was one of the perks of commanding the Twin Moon Imperial Navy’s flagship. Of course it also had some trouble coming with it. Such as having a mandatory presence at many political festivities with dignitaries, nobles and military officers plus their families. Also Ada had to look her best when potentially representing the TWE while being forced to play intergalactic politics. But, she did get to see many different parts of the empire. The Imperial flagships presence was requested in many different systems as a show of force. Sense the Dauntless was one of the only Super Dreadnoughts that had ever existed and her presence weighted heavily on any negotiation. So she had to escort a lot of diplomats and show foreign dignitaries around the ship-keeping them out of important areas of course. Anyway, this was a very important commission, especially for a twenty-eight year old woman.
The Dauntless was nine kilometers long, three times longer than any existing Dreadnought. A Dreadnought was usually three miles long and a Heavy Carrier were only one km long. A Supreme Carrier extended to four km but the Dauntless was the largest Dreadnought that had ever been built. No other Super dreadnought had ever been larger than five or six km.
Ada heard a beep that told her someone was by her door. Her tall frame rose and walked over to the door and keyed the panel to open it.
Outside stood a thirty-four year old woman with a blonde ponytail. Her light brown eyes was stoic, having to look slightly up at Ada. She wore a black thick marine armored suit. The suit was very thick and gave her a boost up with ten centimeters. She appeared at least three times her normal size while wearing the armored suit. Her silver visor was retracted. The woman saluted with her right armored hand. Her thick arm rising to her head. The suit gave off mechanical and metallic noises every time the wearer moved a muscle.
“Commodore.”
Ada nodded.
“At ease Lt. Commander,” she said.
The marine lowered her hand and clapped them together behind her back.
“What can I do for you, Morgan?” Ada asked the older woman.
“So sorry to interrupt your personal time Commodore,” Lt. Commander Morgan apologized, keeping her stoic expression. “We have received a distress call from the Petrograd colony in the Petrograd system.”
“About what?”
“Unknown sir,” Morgan explain. “They aren’t responding to our transmissions. Communications think they are being jammed.”
Ada nodded.
“Order the flotilla to jump to hyperspace and set a course for the Petrograd colony,” she ordered. “Have a two Heavy Cruisers, a Light Cruiser and three Destroyers task force remain here until further notice.”
Morgan nodded affirmatively.
“Aye, sir.”
She saluted and Ada responded with a nod.
“Dismissed.”
She closed the door and headed to her locker to undress and put on her uniform again. If the colony’s communication was being jammed it would suggest they were under attack by somebody. Could it be pirates? Possibly. Luckily Petrograd was practically around the corner. It was only fifty minutes or so away from her current position. Whoever was attacking them, they could handle it. The Dauntless was one of the most powerful ships ever build and they had four Light Carriers and fifteen Destroyers as support at all times. Currently they even had-minus the ships she ordered to stay behind-three Light Cruisers and seven Frigates.
She dressed in her black uniform, pinned her medals to her chest and fix her hair into a ponytail. She made sure to put her book on her desk and placed the bookmark on the page she had stopped on. She than left her quarters and made her way to the bridge. She took an elevator in the end of the corridor to the bridge deck.
“Commodore on deck!” An office barked.
A round of salutes flooded across the bridge.
“At ease,” Ada said.
She saw Lt. Commander Morgan standing beside her First Officer. He was somewhat taller than her, but only slightly because the thick marine armor brought Morgan up a tad. Captain Alan Haig was a thirty-six year old man with light brown hair and an Australian accent. He had pale skin. Almost all Ada’s senior staff was older than she was. Haig was one of those people who believed seniority should decide some commission and commands in the Imperial navy. She didn’t know if he supported that military commands should go to rich nobles instead of the most talented military officers just because they was from a lower social class. The nobles had fought for that in politics for ages and always failed. Her Excellency was not stupid and neither was her successors.
“Commodore,” he greeted.
“Captain. Now give me some details about what’s ahead of us,” Ada said.
“I’m afraid we don’t have much, sir. But sense their communications are jammed, we should assume that they are being attacked. We will arrive in forty-five minutes. But, the Petrograd colony isn’t too far off from the border and Unborn Marauder activity has been registered in nearby systems.”
Ada groaned at the mention of the Unborn Marauders. She hated the entire organization. They were nothing but a pirate and mercenary syndicate, filled with criminals.
“I have ordered a Battalion of marines standing by in case the colony is under siege,” Morgan added.
Ada nodded.
“Good. Tell me about Petrograd.”
Haig shifted his feet and cleared his throat.
“It’s a minor colony that was established twelve years ago. Approximately seven-thousand colonists live there now. The wealth comes mostly from agriculture. The planet itself was discovered-”
“-I don’t care about that part,” Ada interrupted.
Haig nodded slowly.
“Very well.”
Forty-five minutes later, Petrograd colony
Ada sat in the command chair, looking out at the view screen as space returned to normal when they reentered normal space. Haig stood on her left and Morgan on her right. She immediately spotted several objects ahead of them.
“Identify them,” she ordered calmly.
There was a moment of silence before a reply came.
“Commodore-” it came from the scanning station. “-Detecting multiple Unborn Marauder starships and five friendlies.”
“Damn pirates,” she heard Haig mutter a curse.
“Give me an id on the friendlies.”
“One large grain freighter plus two Destroyers Escort class and one Frigate and a Destroyer class. The Frigates are out of action and one Destroyer Escort has weapons, shields and engines disabled. There’re dead in space. The Destroyer has taken heavy damage and their engines are disabled. The remaining Destroyer Escort is holding a position between the grain freighter and the Marauder starships, but they are being encircled.”
“The Destroyer. Military grade ship?”
“No ma’am. An outdated Bravado class starship.”
“Probably modified by the colonists for defensive purposes,” Haig said. “Probably bought it off the navy when they were decommissioned or in a scrapyard.”
“How many Marauder starships are there?”
“Thirteen sir. Two Escort Carriers of Defender M12 class and two Destroyers of Killer M1 class. The rest is Hunter M2 class Corvettes…” he paused. “Commodore! We have identified one of the Hunter class starships as the Lewis & Clark!”
Ada stared in surprise and froze for a second.
“Bjorn Dennison’s starship,” Haig stated, also he surprised. “That bastard.”
Ada quickly regain her sense.
“Order our Light Carriers to launch Aerospace fighters. Have them follow us in. I want one Frigate nearby each Carrier. All other ships will defend those colonials and engage the Marauders head on,” she ordered swiftly. “Take us straight at them.”
“Aye, sir.”
She knew the Marauder Hunter M2 class Corvettes could not stand up to a military grade starship over Frigate class. It would not matter how much the Marauders had modified them. Corvettes could not be a threat for any ship larger than a Light Cruiser at best.
“Are the colony in danger?” Morgan asked suddenly.
“No Marauders on ground Lt. Commander.”
Ada breathed a sigh of relief. At least that was some good news. She smiled just thinking about the faces of those Marauders when they saw the Dauntless approaching. Several of the Corvettes set a course for her advancing support ships and one of the Killer class Destroyers maneuvered in to protect the Escort Carriers from enemy fire.
“Our Interceptors have engaged the enemy Interceptors,” a junior officer-standing beside the scanner operator-alerted. “We are outnumbering them five-one, sir.”
As the Interceptors was swirling around the dark and weightless space, two Light Cruisers approached the grain freighter and opened up a barrage on the faster maneuvering Marauder Corvettes.
“We are in range.”
“Fire,” Ada ordered.
A lone Corvette was quickly maneuvering closer to the Dauntless. Bad move. The quick sublight engines was not enough to avoid the massive barrage of death from the Super Dreadnought. Within seconds the engines, shields and all primary systems was disabled and within another few seconds and Hunter M2 was destroyed and turned into a burning wreck of metal plates that swirled in different directions of space. There were no survivors. They didn’t even have time to realize they should abandon ship.
“Commodore. We can identify the wreck of a Corvette. Hunter class, sir,” a junior officer alerted.
“Colonists took one out before we got here,” Haig muttered positively. “Nice.”
“We are also detecting the wrecks of two freighters and a transport. It is a civilian ship.”
“They destroyed a civilian starship!” Haig exclaimed.
“Affirmative, sir.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t worry Alan,” Ada said, keeping her anger under control. “They’ll pay for it.”
Haig clenched his fist.
“Damn right they will.”
The Hunter M2 Corvettes was 30 percent faster than other classes of Corvettes was. They had clearly been modified by the Marauders to outrun most capital and support class ships in a fight with sublight engines. A Corvette was disabled by the Dauntless’s heavy barrage. They just survived by chance as the batteries changed targets. The second Killer M1 opened up a barrage on Dauntless. The shields held with ease. The Destroyer fired with its plasma batteries, mass driver-rapid firing batteries and missiles. To the huge Super Dreadnought it was-barely-like a tiny mosquito. Two Corvettes attempted to run rings around them and outrun their weaponry while firing. It would turn into a horrible idea. Their combined attack had no effect at all. Heavy Interceptors pursued them.
“Sir. The Carriers is requesting permission to launch Light bombers with Interceptor escort,” a female junior officer said. She stood by the communications console at the moment.
“Granted,” Ada said. “Disable the enemy engines primarily.”
“Transmitting orders.”
She was called over by a console operator nearby.
One of her Frigates that were adding supporting fire to a Light Cruiser was badly damaged and half the primary and some secondary systems was offline. A Destroyer was moving in to add a defensive screen for the ship to retreat to the Dauntless’s position. The grain freighter had managed to retreat beyond range of the Marauders. It took up a position near one of the Light Carriers and its protective Frigate escort. No Marauder would be stupid enough to engage it. Not when it was in range of Dauntless’s firepower. At least Ada and her officers thought so.
“The Lewis & Clark is approaching the freighter with another Corvette. One more is disengaging from us and setting a course,” the female junior officer alerted-now from the scanning console. She stood behind the scanner operator.
“If they want to die,” Haig said with a peaceful shrug.
Ada smiled for a moment.
“Concentrate our firepower to defend that freighter,” she ordered.
“Understood.”
“I want aerospace Starfighters protecting that freighter,” she added.
One squadron of Multirole Starfighters was dispatched from the hangar of the Carrier closest to the freighter. It had been on standby sense the battle started. Two squadrons of Interceptors quickly maneuvered in from behind the Corvettes. One of the Corvettes was being swarmed by dozens of Interceptors and a squadron of bombers. It started slowing down when the engines were too badly damaged.
Bjorn Dennison’s Corvette approached quickly, almost entering firing range. Bjorn was an Unborn Marauder Spector and was assumable to be in charge of the operation. He had committed horrible war crimes four years ago in the 1714 war between the United Colonial Directorate and the Terran Mining Consortium. The Marauders had been hired by the Consortium to fight as mercenaries. Spector Bjorn Dennison had been responsible for slaughtering eight-hundred civilian humans. Even the TMC turned their back on them at that point sense there were no reason for the slaughter rather then that Dennison felt like it. At that point the Marauders-Dennison in particular got upset and attacked a Consortium colony and massacred three-thousand and five-hundred innocent humans in pure rage. At that point all human factions and many none-human civilizations started treating the Marauders as the pirates and criminals they were. Captured Marauders was always executed or spent the rest of their life in prison after being interrogated and sometimes even tortured-depending on who captured them. Being captured by the Klloorr Hierarchy was the best end for a Marauder. The Klloorr had the best and most comfortable prisons in the galaxy.
“Commodore, one of the Marauder Destroyers have been destroyed.”
“Excellent,” Ada said.
“We’re in range of the Escort Carriers, sir.”
“Destroy them.”
Some batteries were diverted and focused on the Escort Carriers. It was the smallest form in the Carrier family with only fifty Starfighter in the hangars. The Dauntless barrage was enough to disable the shields of the first Escort Carrier. It quickly crumbled under the devastating barrage.
The second Escort Carrier suddenly jumped to hyperspace before its shields could fail them. The Destroyer defending the Carriers had lost its shields and some weaponry and also it jumped to hyperspace.
“The cowards are running,” Haig chuckled.
Ada focused her attention on Spector Dennison’s Corvette. Beside her Morgan stood silently.
“Sir, one Corvette is jumping to hyperspace. Only two Corvettes left.”
“One of them are losing shields.”
Suddenly the Lewis & Clark entered hyperspace and escaped from the system. It was badly damaged. Ada cursed over that he got away in the last moment. The last functioning Marauder ship was destroyed. Even if he escaped, the Marauders lost large amount of ships in this battle. An Escort Carrier would not be easy for them to replace. It would take time and resources to construct or countless credits to buy. They without a doubt had the funds but it was a heavy blow on a consortium of pirates and terrorists.
Ada sighed. She cursed that Spector Dennison escaped her grip. The only Corvette still present was one that was disabled earlier.
“You wanna board it?” Haig asked with a smile. “Or just blow them the fuck up.”
The second suggestion was interesting but Ada decided not to give herself the pleasure. No, those Marauder assholes would be arrested, interrogate, tortured and executed.
“Take us into the hangar,” Ada decided. “Morgan.” Their eyes met for a moment. “Gather your marines.”
“Aye commodore,” Morgan confirmed. She lowered the silver visor to completely cover her head and face.
“Contact the colonial governor, Haig. Ask him if he needs anything and tell him that two Frigates and a Light Cruiser will remain here for some time.”
Haig nodded.
“Aye sir. No doubt he’ll appreciate that.”
“I’ll be in my quarters reading if you need me,” she said. “You have the bridge, Haig.”
“Aye commodore.”
Morgan departed the bridge with her. Ada glanced at her.
“You think there’s a chance they’ll surrender?” She asked.
“No sir,” Morgan replied confidently. “They never do, as you know.”
“Yeah,” Ada mumbled. “But please, Lizzy. Take prisoners. We need someone to interrogate.”
Morgan turned to her and the sound echoed with mechanic and metallic noises.
“I’ll do my best, commodore Dravograd,” she assured her.
Ada nodded subtly.
During the whole battle, she had never actually sounded “General quarters.” She hadn’t seen the need. Nothing they faced was a threat to anyone onboard at all.
Morgan walked through the corridor towards the hangar where the Corvette was being brought onboard. Dauntless was equipped with a massive hangar. It didn’t have any aerospace Starfighters equipped but it could have several Corvettes in the hangar under its belly. When she walked into the hangar she saw the Corvette being brought in. Sixty marines in the thick black armored suits had gathered. They wielded large Gail-23 pulsar rifles.
“Commander,” an officer came up to her.
“The men’s ready, sir,” he informed her.
Morgan continued walking.
“Very good. We’re going in. We need prisoners, Sergeant, understood?”
“Copy that, Lt. Commander.”
As the “large” ship sat down gently on the metal deck and the massive retractable doors closed underneath it. With explosives the ramp in the aft was forced open and Morgan ordered her marines to penetrate the defenses. Projectile fire was flying in both directions. Three marines was killed by a portable machinegun that was placed inside in the aft cargo hold.
“Grenadiers up!” Morgan commanded, taking cover by a container.
Marine grenadiers approached the ramp with grenades in hand. They had a NPL-2 semi-automatic rifle at the ready. It was not as large as the Gail-23 pulsar rifle that was fully automatic and it was brown colored instead of black. One of the men went down in a blaze of enemy fire. Four grenades was lobbed inside the cargo hold. They heard shouting from inside before the grenades exploded. The machinegun stopped spewing out projectiles.
Marines swarmed inside. Morgan was right behind them. A few rifles was fired but only a few lone bullets was used. They opened a door and peeked into the corridor. With a gesture, marines continued swiftly down the corridor and deeper inside the ship.
“This bastards wounded,” a female marine alerted.
He reached for his rifle but it was kicked away from him.
“Here’s another. Unconscious by the looks of it.”
“The rests dead, sir.”
“Disarm the wounded and get them medical attention,” Morgan ordered. “Keep them under guard at all times.”
“Aye, sir.”
Morgan stopped and looked down at a dead Marauder. He wore a black uniform with a gasmask with red glass and a helmet covering his head. It was a lot easier to get through the vests they had than the armor suit of the marines. She looked around seven dead marines and two injured against eighteen dead Marauders and two injured. She smiled under her silver colored visor. She heard gunfire inside the Corvette. She turned to a group of five marines that were still inside the cargo hold.
“Get moving!” She snapped, starting to walk towards the corridor. “This ship isn’t securing itself.”
“Yes sir!” The exclaimed in unison.
As she marched down the corridor she stepped over two dead Marauders. A few meters down sat an injured marine grenadier. He had a gap in his armor around his waist. She stopped beside him.
“Are you gonna be alright marine?” She asked in a stoic voice.
“Y-yes s-sir,” he stuttered. “I’ll live.”
She nodded.
“Sit tight. You’ll get a medic soon,” she promised him. “What’s your name?”
He straightened himself.
“Corporal Dick Morris, sir. I have a-an v-ver-very important question.”
She kneeled beside him.
“I-is a h-hot nurse i-included?” He asked, looking up at her.
Morgan smirked under her silver visor.
”I’ll make sure you get two hot nurses, Corporal.”
He chuckled.
“S-sounds… f-fan-fantastic.” He coughed with painful breaths.
“Breathe Corporal Morris, breathe.”
She stood up and continued down the corridor. As she turned she saw more bodies. She opened the door and looked inside the crew quarters. Three marines lay dead inside, along with two Marauders. Hearing voices she turned back to the corridor. Two marines were dragging an injured Marauder. He had his gasmask pulled down around his throat and his helmed off. It hung behind his head. He was human, with brown messy hair and orange eyes. He had a killer look in his eyes. Morgan gave him a second look and moved down the corridor. That made three captured Marauders. That would probably make the commodore happy.
“Units, report in,” she ordered in her comm.
“At least three to five holding up in the mess hall Lt. Commander.”
“Lieutenant Veasqeas is down, sir. He’s stabile but injured on the second deck, 5th junction.”
She suddenly heard an explosion nearby.
“What the hell was that?! Report!”
“Rocket launcher!”
She started running and soon came around a corner to see the burning remains of flesh and metal armor. The marine had taken a hit right on by the looks of it. Two marines stood, firing down the corridor. Morgan aimed her Gail-23 pulsar rifle and fired. She heard a woman cry out in the corridors other end.
Year 2718, April the 2nd
Sector Jingo-11-55.310, Greece system
Planet Athena, United Colonial Directorate Fort Morty
Montgomery wore a green dress uniform with six medals on his chest. He fiddled with his white mustache as he looked at the holographic map over the sector Kekk-09-00.498. He scratched his white hair and his grey eyes studied a specific part on the map. It was the Bor’rock system. His eyes darted to the massive reptile across the holographic map table.
His scales were dark brown and his eyes red. The large 8.5 feet Arconian wore a thick red armor. His red eyes looked over at Montgomery. He was a famous Drakken Warmaster. He placed his large hands on the edge of the table.
“I assume the losses at Bor’rock is staggering,” UCD Admiral Jake Hailey voiced.
Warmaster Derkk turned his head to him.
“Seven-hundred fifty-eight-thousand and two-hundred dead in total,” he said in his deep and raspy voice. “Five-hundred ships destroyed in Bor’rock and nearby systems.” He started a grim smile. “But the Alliances have suffered worse. 1.2 million Casualties and five-hundred-and-eighty ships destroyed.”
Montgomery remained quiet. Both the Drakken’s and the Terran Holy Alliance had suffered incredibly high casualties in this system alone. Whoever won that battle, might win the entire war. If they beat them back, the war would turn in their favor.
“The religious bastards don’t know much about fighting Drakken’s,” Derkk grinned. “Even after seven wars of experience.”
“Don’t underestimate them,” General Bailey Horn warned. “What they lack in combat they make up for it fighting spirit and sacrifices for the crusade.”
Derkk snorted.
“What about your front?” He asked, ignoring her point.
She didn’t seem to mind, but she certainly noticed.
“We have halted the fourth fleet,” she said. “The third, fifth and eight fleets are still advancing deeper into our territory. But are troops are slowing them down, making sure they take heavy casualties for every meters advance.”
Derkk laughed.
“That’s the spirit!” He banged his fist into the table, making it shake. “Oh, sorry.”
Montgomery smirked.
Derkk chuckled but quickly returned to the moment at hand.
“Have many dead?”
“This month?” Admiral Hailey asked with a heavy voice. “Twenty-nine-thousand dead or injured halting the fourth Alliance fleet, General Morgan report thirteen-thousand five-hundred dead marines in his failed offensive. Almost forty-thousand dead or injured battling the third, fifth and eighth fleets. Our offensive grounded to a bloody crawl before halting completely. Moral is at an all-time low throughout the UCD armed forces.” He looked over at Montgomery. “We need a victory. A big one, or our troops will desert in ever greater numbers.”
The military leadership knew that small flotillas of Corvettes, Frigates, Destroyer Escorts and Escort Carriers was have a lot of success attacking the Alliance supply lines, but that didn’t do the troops much right now. They needed a grand victory. An obvious one.
Montgomery looked up at Hailey and shifted his gaze to Derkk.
“When is your offensive ready?” He asked.
“Two weeks,” Derkk answered. He glanced at Hailey. “We’re just waiting for the last freighters to join in. We need the supply line to be able to get all supplies we need to the front as soon as possible. When the last two-hundred freighters have joined the supply lines, we’re ready. Don’t want any supply trouble halting our offensive.” He cleared his throat. “When we’re done, millions of alliance troops will be dead or captured.” He started grinning and licked his lips.
“How many ships will participate?” Hailey asked.
“Almost four-thousand. Everything we are able to spare,” Derkk replied casually. “Ten million troops are ready to outflank the Alliance scum.”
Montgomery leaned over the table.
“Where’s Grand Admiral Kitchener anyway?” Derkk asked.
“He’s trying to organize a naval offensive,” Montgomery answered. “The idea is that when you launch your offensive, they might transfer troops to rescue their sieged comrades and when they do, we’ll launch a mayor naval attack at the fifth fleet. Kitchener is gathering every available capital ship for the offensive and veterans to break through on the ground.”
Derkk snorted.
“Figure we’d have to save your asses.”
Hailey and Horn glared at Derkk. He merely chuckled.
Year 2718, April the 2nd
Location: Beyond the Dark Rift, immediate location unknown
The Dark Rift. The end of space. Or at least the known galaxy. Unknown space, unknown species were beyond it. Primitives, yes. Advanced civilizations, unknown? Spacefaring species with vast armadas and strong militaries and a junta or a democratic government, all unknown. What really lies beyond the Dark Rift was mysterious worlds with mysterious faunas and possible inhabitance. The furthest anyone had ever gone beyond the Dark Rift was ten Lightyears. In 2160 the Vaan’jorch Dominion sent an expedition beyond the Dark Rift, fat beyond ten lightyears beyond it. Twenty starships. The largest was a Battleship. Lady Duilir was in command of the expedition. Neither of her ships ever returned to known space and their fate was unknown.
Far and deep into the Dark Rift and in the darkest and coldest of places tens of thousands of dark green ships waited in deep space. The smallest were a few hundred meters from stern to aft. While some of the largest were eight kilometers from stern to aft. As they laid silently they made space somehow feel much colder by their presence. But, the absolute largest vessel was not eight kilometers. From aft till stern, it was twenty-five kilometers. In known space, no such construction project had ever been attempted. It may have been spoken about but no one was foolish enough to but down such a vast sum of resources on a starship. The vast amounts of credits and resources to build it would be too much. The massive ship laid in the middle of the formation of all tens of thousands of vessels. Suddenly a message went out from the massive starship and all ships began jumping to hyperspace and countless windows of blue energy opened. They had set a course for what was-in their perspective-beyond the Dark Rift.
Known space.
Year 2718, April the 2nd
Sector Victory-12-33.706, Abraham system
Orbit over Abraham 3, Twin Moon Imperial Super Dreadnought Flagship Dauntless
Commodore Ada Dravograd was sitting in her quarters. Currently she was reading a book about a love story during a fictional war between the Twin Moon Empire and the Terran Mining Consortium. The main characters were a female naval officer of the rank of Lieutenant and a male Master Sergeant in the Space Marine Corps. She was just barely over half the three-hundred page book. She was sitting in her bed, dressed in casual clothes, an ocean blue top and black sweat pants. Her black hair had been let out of her usual ponytail and was hanging roughly behind her and some strains over her shoulders. Her tanned hands held the book gently. The room was lightly lit up but it was enough for her light grey eyes to read the pages in the book.
As the ships commanding officer and a commodore she had larger quarters than others onboard and her bed was soft and larger and not at all military issue. It was one of the perks of commanding the Twin Moon Imperial Navy’s flagship. Of course it also had some trouble coming with it. Such as having a mandatory presence at many political festivities with dignitaries, nobles and military officers plus their families. Also Ada had to look her best when potentially representing the TWE while being forced to play intergalactic politics. But, she did get to see many different parts of the empire. The Imperial flagships presence was requested in many different systems as a show of force. Sense the Dauntless was one of the only Super Dreadnoughts that had ever existed and her presence weighted heavily on any negotiation. So she had to escort a lot of diplomats and show foreign dignitaries around the ship-keeping them out of important areas of course. Anyway, this was a very important commission, especially for a twenty-eight year old woman.
The Dauntless was nine miles long, three times longer than any existing Dreadnought. A Dreadnought was usually three miles long and a Heavy Carrier were only one km long. A Supreme Carrier extended to four km but the Dauntless was the largest Dreadnought that had ever been built. No other Super dreadnought had ever been larger than five or six km.
Ada heard a beep that told her someone was by her door. Her tall frame rose and walked over to the door and keyed the panel to open it.
Outside stood a thirty-four year old woman with a blonde ponytail. Her light brown eyes was stoic, having to look slightly up at Ada. She wore a black thick marine armored suit. The suit was very thick and gave her a boost up with ten centimeters. She appeared at least three times her normal size while wearing the armored suit. Her silver visor was retracted. The woman saluted with her right armored hand. Her thick arm rising to her head. The suit gave off mechanical and metallic noises every time the wearer moved a muscle.
“Commodore.”
Ada nodded.
“At ease Lt. Commander,” she said.
The marine lowered her hand and clapped them together behind her back.
“What can I do for you, Morgan?” Ada asked the older woman.
“So sorry to interrupt your personal time Commodore,” Lt. Commander Morgan apologized, keeping her stoic expression. “We have received a distress call from the Petrograd colony in the Petrograd system.”
“About what?”
“Unknown sir,” Morgan explain. “They aren’t responding to our transmissions. Communications think they are being jammed.”
Ada nodded.
“Order the flotilla to jump to hyperspace and set a course for the Petrograd colony,” she ordered. “Have a two Heavy Cruisers, a Light Cruiser and three Destroyers task force remain here until further notice.”
Morgan nodded affirmatively.
“Aye, sir.”
She saluted and Ada responded with a nod.
“Dismissed.”
She closed the door and headed to her locker to undress and put on her uniform again. If the colony’s communication was being jammed it would suggest they were under attack by somebody. Could it be pirates? Possibly. Luckily Petrograd was practically around the corner. It was only fifty minutes or so away from her current position. Whoever was attacking them, they could handle it. The Dauntless was one of the most powerful ships ever build and they had four Light Carriers and fifteen Destroyers as support at all times. Currently they even had-minus the ships she ordered to stay behind-three Light Cruisers and seven Frigates.
She dressed in her black uniform, pinned her medals to her chest and fix her hair into a ponytail. She made sure to put her book on her desk and placed the bookmark on the page she had stopped on. She than left her quarters and made her way to the bridge. She took an elevator in the end of the corridor to the bridge deck.
“Commodore on deck!” An office barked.
A round of salutes flooded across the bridge.
“At ease,” Ada said.
She saw Lt. Commander Morgan standing beside her First Officer. He was somewhat taller than her, but only slightly because the thick marine armor brought Morgan up a tad. Captain Alan Haig was a thirty-six year old man with light brown hair and an Australian accent. He had pale skin. Almost all Ada’s senior staff was older than she was. Haig was one of those people who believed seniority should decide some commission and commands in the Imperial navy. She didn’t know if he supported that military commands should go to rich nobles instead of the most talented military officers just because they was from a lower social class. The nobles had fought for that in politics for ages and always failed. Her Excellency was not stupid and neither was her successors.
“Commodore,” he greeted.
“Captain. Now give me some details about what’s ahead of us,” Ada said.
“I’m afraid we don’t have much, sir. But sense their communications are jammed, we should assume that they are being attacked. We will arrive in forty-five minutes. But, the Petrograd colony isn’t too far off from the border and Unborn Marauder activity has been registered in nearby systems.”
Ada groaned at the mention of the Unborn Marauders. She hated the entire organization. They were nothing but a pirate and mercenary syndicate, filled with criminals.
“I have ordered a Battalion of marines standing by in case the colony is under siege,” Morgan added.
Ada nodded.
“Good. Tell me about Petrograd.”
Haig shifted his feet and cleared his throat.
“It’s a minor colony that was established twelve years ago. Approximately seven-thousand colonists live there now. The wealth comes mostly from agriculture. The planet itself was discovered-”
“-I don’t care about that part,” Ada interrupted.
Haig nodded slowly.
“Very well.”
Forty-five minutes later, Petrograd colony
Ada sat in the command chair, looking out at the view screen as space returned to normal when they reentered normal space. Haig stood on her left and Morgan on her right. She immediately spotted several objects ahead of them.
“Identify them,” she ordered calmly.
There was a moment of silence before a reply came.
“Commodore-” it came from the scanning station. “-Detecting multiple Unborn Marauder starships and five friendlies.”
“Damn pirates,” she heard Haig mutter a curse.
“Give me an id on the friendlies.”
“One large grain freighter plus two Destroyers Escort class and one Frigate and a Destroyer class. The Frigates are out of action and one Destroyer Escort has weapons, shields and engines disabled. There’re dead in space. The Destroyer has taken heavy damage and their engines are disabled. The remaining Destroyer Escort is holding a position between the grain freighter and the Marauder starships, but they are being encircled.”
“The Destroyer. Military grade ship?”
“No ma’am. An outdated Bravado class starship.”
“Probably modified by the colonists for defensive purposes,” Haig said. “Probably bought it off the navy when they were decommissioned or in a scrapyard.”
“How many Marauder starships are there?”
“Thirteen sir. Two Escort Carriers of Defender M12 class and two Destroyers of Killer M1 class. The rest is Hunter M2 class Corvettes…” he paused. “Commodore! We have identified one of the Hunter class starships as the Lewis & Clark!”
Ada stared in surprise and froze for a second.
“Bjorn Dennison’s starship,” Haig stated, also he surprised. “That bastard.”
Ada quickly regain her sense.
“Order our Light Carriers to launch Aerospace fighters. Have them follow us in. I want one Frigate nearby each Carrier. All other ships will defend those colonials and engage the Marauders head on,” she ordered swiftly. “Take us straight at them.”
“Aye, sir.”
She knew the Marauder Hunter M2 class Corvettes could not stand up to a military grade starship over Frigate class. It would not matter how much the Marauders had modified them. Corvettes could not be a threat for any ship larger than a Light Cruiser at best.
“Are the colony in danger?” Morgan asked suddenly.
“No Marauders on ground Lt. Commander.”
Ada breathed a sigh of relief. At least that was some good news. She smiled just thinking about the faces of those Marauders when they saw the Dauntless approaching. Several of the Corvettes set a course for her advancing support ships and one of the Killer class Destroyers maneuvered in to protect the Escort Carriers from enemy fire.
“Our Interceptors have engaged the enemy Interceptors,” a junior officer-standing beside the scanner operator-alerted. “We are outnumbering them five-one, sir.”
As the Interceptors was swirling around the dark and weightless space, two Light Cruisers approached the grain freighter and opened up a barrage on the faster maneuvering Marauder Corvettes.
“We are in range.”
“Fire,” Ada ordered.
A lone Corvette was quickly maneuvering closer to the Dauntless. Bad move. The quick sublight engines was not enough to avoid the massive barrage of death from the Super Dreadnought. Within seconds the engines, shields and all primary systems was disabled and within another few seconds and Hunter M2 was destroyed and turned into a burning wreck of metal plates that swirled in different directions of space. There were no survivors. They didn’t even have time to realize they should abandon ship.
“Commodore. We can identify the wreck of a Corvette. Hunter class, sir,” a junior officer alerted.
“Colonists took one out before we got here,” Haig muttered positively. “Nice.”
“We are also detecting the wrecks of two freighters and a transport. It is a civilian ship.”
“They destroyed a civilian starship!” Haig exclaimed.
“Affirmative, sir.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t worry Alan,” Ada said, keeping her anger under control. “They’ll pay for it.”
Haig clenched his fist.
“Damn right they will.”
The Hunter M2 Corvettes was 30 percent faster than other classes of Corvettes was. They had clearly been modified by the Marauders to outrun most capital and support class ships in a fight with sublight engines. A Corvette was disabled by the Dauntless’s heavy barrage. They just survived by chance as the batteries changed targets. The second Killer M1 opened up a barrage on Dauntless. The shields held with ease. The Destroyer fired with its plasma batteries, mass driver-rapid firing batteries and missiles. To the huge Super Dreadnought it was-barely-like a tiny mosquito. Two Corvettes attempted to run rings around them and outrun their weaponry while firing. It would turn into a horrible idea. Their combined attack had no effect at all. Heavy Interceptors pursued them.
“Sir. The Carriers is requesting permission to launch Light bombers with Interceptor escort,” a female junior officer said. She stood by the communications console at the moment.
“Granted,” Ada said. “Disable the enemy engines primarily.”
“Transmitting orders.”
She was called over by a console operator nearby.
One of her Frigates that were adding supporting fire to a Light Cruiser was badly damaged and half the primary and some secondary systems was offline. A Destroyer was moving in to add a defensive screen for the ship to retreat to the Dauntless’s position. The grain freighter had managed to retreat beyond range of the Marauders. It took up a position near one of the Light Carriers and its protective Frigate escort. No Marauder would be stupid enough to engage it. Not when it was in range of Dauntless’s firepower. At least Ada and her officers thought so.
“The Lewis & Clark is approaching the freighter with another Corvette. One more is disengaging from us and setting a course,” the female junior officer alerted-now from the scanning console. She stood behind the scanner operator.
“If they want to die,” Haig said with a peaceful shrug.
Ada smiled for a moment.
“Concentrate our firepower to defend that freighter,” she ordered.
“Understood.”
“I want aerospace Starfighters protecting that freighter,” she added.
One squadron of Multirole Starfighters was dispatched from the hangar of the Carrier closest to the freighter. It had been on standby sense the battle started. Two squadrons of Interceptors quickly maneuvered in from behind the Corvettes. One of the Corvettes was being swarmed by dozens of Interceptors and a squadron of bombers. It started slowing down when the engines were too badly damaged.
Bjorn Dennison’s Corvette approached quickly, almost entering firing range. Bjorn was an Unborn Marauder Spector and was assumable to be in charge of the operation. He had committed horrible war crimes four years ago in the 1714 war between the United Colonial Directorate and the Terran Mining Consortium. The Marauders had been hired by the Consortium to fight as mercenaries. Spector Bjorn Dennison had been responsible for slaughtering eight-hundred civilian humans. Even the TMC turned their back on them at that point sense there were no reason for the slaughter rather then that Dennison felt like it. At that point the Marauders-Dennison in particular got upset and attacked a Consortium colony and massacred three-thousand and five-hundred innocent humans in pure rage. At that point all human factions and many none-human civilizations started treating the Marauders as the pirates and criminals they were. Captured Marauders was always executed or spent the rest of their life in prison after being interrogated and sometimes even tortured-depending on who captured them. Being captured by the Klloorr Hierarchy was the best end for a Marauder. The Klloorr had the best and most comfortable prisons in the galaxy.
“Commodore, one of the Marauder Destroyers have been destroyed.”
“Excellent,” Ada said.
“We’re in range of the Escort Carriers, sir.”
“Destroy them.”
Some batteries were diverted and focused on the Escort Carriers. It was the smallest form in the Carrier family with only fifty Starfighter in the hangars. The Dauntless barrage was enough to disable the shields of the first Escort Carrier. It quickly crumbled under the devastating barrage.
The second Escort Carrier suddenly jumped to hyperspace before its shields could fail them. The Destroyer defending the Carriers had lost its shields and some weaponry and also it jumped to hyperspace.
“The cowards are running,” Haig chuckled.
Ada focused her attention on Spector Dennison’s Corvette. Beside her Morgan stood silently.
“Sir, one Corvette is jumping to hyperspace. Only two Corvettes left.”
“One of them are losing shields.”
Suddenly the Lewis & Clark entered hyperspace and escaped from the system. It was badly damaged. Ada cursed over that he got away in the last moment. The last functioning Marauder ship was destroyed. Even if he escaped, the Marauders lost large amount of ships in this battle. An Escort Carrier would not be easy for them to replace. It would take time and resources to construct or countless credits to buy. They without a doubt had the funds but it was a heavy blow on a consortium of pirates and terrorists.
Ada sighed. She cursed that Spector Dennison escaped her grip. The only Corvette still present was one that was disabled earlier.
“You wanna board it?” Haig asked with a smile. “Or just blow them the fuck up.”
The second suggestion was interesting but Ada decided not to give herself the pleasure. No, those Marauder assholes would be arrested, interrogate, tortured and executed.
“Take us into the hangar,” Ada decided. “Morgan.” Their eyes met for a moment. “Gather your marines.”
“Aye commodore,” Morgan confirmed. She lowered the silver visor to completely cover her head and face.
“Contact the colonial governor, Haig. Ask him if he needs anything and tell him that two Frigates and a Light Cruiser will remain here for some time.”
Haig nodded.
“Aye sir. No doubt he’ll appreciate that.”
“I’ll be in my quarters reading if you need me,” she said. “You have the bridge, Haig.”
“Aye commodore.”
Morgan departed the bridge with her. Ada glanced at her.
“You think there’s a chance they’ll surrender?” She asked.
“No sir,” Morgan replied confidently. “They never do, as you know.”
“Yeah,” Ada mumbled. “But please, Lizzy. Take prisoners. We need someone to interrogate.”
Morgan turned to her and the sound echoed with mechanic and metallic noises.
“I’ll do my best, commodore Dravograd,” she assured her.
Ada nodded subtly.
During the whole battle, she had never actually sounded “General quarters.” She hadn’t seen the need. Nothing they faced was a threat to anyone onboard at all.
Morgan walked through the corridor towards the hangar where the Corvette was being brought onboard. Dauntless was equipped with a massive hangar. It didn’t have any aerospace Starfighters equipped but it could have several Corvettes in the hangar under its belly. When she walked into the hangar she saw the Corvette being brought in. Sixty marines in the thick black armored suits had gathered. They wielded large Gail-23 pulsar rifles.
“Commander,” an officer came up to her.
“The men’s ready, sir,” he informed her.
Morgan continued walking.
“Very good. We’re going in. We need prisoners, Sergeant, understood?”
“Copy that, Lt. Commander.”
As the “large” ship sat down gently on the metal deck and the massive retractable doors closed underneath it. With explosives the ramp in the aft was forced open and Morgan ordered her marines to penetrate the defenses. Projectile fire was flying in both directions. Three marines was killed by a portable machinegun that was placed inside in the aft cargo hold.
“Grenadiers up!” Morgan commanded, taking cover by a container.
Marine grenadiers approached the ramp with grenades in hand. They had a NPL-2 semi-automatic rifle at the ready. It was not as large as the Gail-23 pulsar rifle that was fully automatic and it was brown colored instead of black. One of the men went down in a blaze of enemy fire. Four grenades was lobbed inside the cargo hold. They heard shouting from inside before the grenades exploded. The machinegun stopped spewing out projectiles.
Marines swarmed inside. Morgan was right behind them. A few rifles was fired but only a few lone bullets was used. They opened a door and peeked into the corridor. With a gesture, marines continued swiftly down the corridor and deeper inside the ship.
“This bastards wounded,” a female marine alerted.
He reached for his rifle but it was kicked away from him.
“Here’s another. Unconscious by the looks of it.”
“The rests dead, sir.”
“Disarm the wounded and get them medical attention,” Morgan ordered. “Keep them under guard at all times.”
“Aye, sir.”
Morgan stopped and looked down at a dead Marauder. He wore a black uniform with a gasmask with red glass and a helmet covering his head. It was a lot easier to get through the vests they had than the armor suit of the marines. She looked around seven dead marines and two injured against eighteen dead Marauders and two injured. She smiled under her silver colored visor. She heard gunfire inside the Corvette. She turned to a group of five marines that were still inside the cargo hold.
“Get moving!” She snapped, starting to walk towards the corridor. “This ship isn’t securing itself.”
“Yes sir!” The exclaimed in unison.
As she marched down the corridor she stepped over two dead Marauders. A few meters down sat an injured marine grenadier. He had a gap in his armor around his waist. She stopped beside him.
“Are you gonna be alright marine?” She asked in a stoic voice.
“Y-yes s-sir,” he stuttered. “I’ll live.”
She nodded.
“Sit tight. You’ll get a medic soon,” she promised him. “What’s your name?”
He straightened himself.
“Corporal Dick Morris, sir. I have a-an v-ver-very important question.”
She kneeled beside him.
“I-is a h-hot nurse i-included?” He asked, looking up at her.
Morgan smirked under her silver visor.
”I’ll make sure you get two hot nurses, Corporal.”
He chuckled.
“S-sounds… f-fan-fantastic.” He coughed with painful breaths.
“Breathe Corporal Morris, breathe.”
She stood up and continued down the corridor. As she turned she saw more bodies. She opened the door and looked inside the crew quarters. Three marines lay dead inside, along with two Marauders. Hearing voices she turned back to the corridor. Two marines were dragging an injured Marauder. He had his gasmask pulled down around his throat and his helmed off. It hung behind his head. He was human, with brown messy hair and orange eyes. He had a killer look in his eyes. Morgan gave him a second look and moved down the corridor. That made three captured Marauders. That would probably make the commodore happy.
“Units, report in,” she ordered in her comm.
“At least three to five holding up in the mess hall Lt. Commander.”
“Lieutenant Veasqeas is down, sir. He’s stabile but injured on the second deck, 5th junction.”
She suddenly heard an explosion nearby.
“What the hell was that?! Report!”
“Rocket launcher!”
She started running and soon came around a corner to see the burning remains of flesh and metal armor. The marine had taken a hit right on by the looks of it. Two marines stood, firing down the corridor. Morgan aimed her Gail-23 pulsar rifle and fired. She heard a woman cry out in the corridors other end.
Year 2718, April the 2nd
Sector Jingo-11-55.310, Greece system
Planet Athena, United Colonial Directorate Fort Morty
Montgomery wore a green dress uniform with six medals on his chest. He fiddled with his white mustache as he looked at the holographic map over the sector Kekk-09-00.498. He scratched his white hair and his grey eyes studied a specific part on the map. It was the Bor’rock system. His eyes darted to the massive reptile across the holographic map table.
His scales were dark brown and his eyes red. The large 8.5 feet Drakken wore a thick red armor. His red eyes looked over at Montgomery. He was a famous Drakken Warmaster. He placed his large hands on the edge of the table.
“I assume the losses at Bor’rock is staggering,” UCD Admiral Jake Hailey voiced.
Warmaster Derkk turned his head to him.
“Seven-hundred fifty-eight-thousand and two-hundred dead in total,” he said in his deep and raspy voice. “Five-hundred ships destroyed in Bor’rock and nearby systems.” He started a grim smile. “But the Alliances have suffered worse. 1.2 million Casualties and five-hundred-and-eighty ships destroyed.”
Montgomery remained quiet. Both the Drakken’s and the Terran Holy Alliance had suffered incredibly high casualties in this system alone. Whoever won that battle, might win the entire war. If they beat them back, the war would turn in their favor.
“The religious bastards don’t know much about fighting Drakken’s,” Derkk grinned. “Even after seven wars of experience.”
“Don’t underestimate them,” General Bailey Horn warned. “What they lack in combat they make up for it fighting spirit and sacrifices for the crusade.”
Derkk snorted.
“What about your front?” He asked, ignoring her point.
She didn’t seem to mind, but she certainly noticed.
“We have halted the fourth fleet,” she said. “The third, fifth and eight fleets are still advancing deeper into our territory. But are troops are slowing them down, making sure they take heavy casualties for every meters advance.”
Derkk laughed.
“That’s the spirit!” He banged his fist into the table, making it shake. “Oh, sorry.”
Montgomery smirked.
Derkk chuckled but quickly returned to the moment at hand.
“Have many dead?”
“This month?” Admiral Hailey asked with a heavy voice. “Twenty-nine-thousand dead or injured halting the fourth Alliance fleet, General Morgan report thirteen-thousand five-hundred dead marines in his failed offensive. Almost forty-thousand dead or injured battling the third, fifth and eighth fleets. Our offensive grounded to a bloody crawl before halting completely. Moral is at an all-time low throughout the UCD armed forces.” He looked over at Montgomery. “We need a victory. A big one, or our troops will desert in ever greater numbers.”
The military leadership knew that small flotillas of Corvettes, Frigates, Destroyer Escorts and Escort Carriers was have a lot of success attacking the Alliance supply lines, but that didn’t do the troops much right now. They needed a grand victory. An obvious one.
Montgomery looked up at Hailey and shifted his gaze to Derkk.
“When is your offensive ready?” He asked.
“Two weeks,” Derkk answered. He glanced at Hailey. “We’re just waiting for the last freighters to join in. We need the supply line to be able to get all supplies we need to the front as soon as possible. When the last two-hundred freighters have joined the supply lines, we’re ready. Don’t want any supply trouble halting our offensive.” He cleared his throat. “When we’re done, millions of alliance troops will be dead or captured.” He started grinning and licked his lips.
“How many ships will participate?” Hailey asked.
“Almost four-thousand. Everything we are able to spare,” Derkk replied casually. “Ten million troops are ready to outflank the Alliance scum.”
Montgomery leaned over the table.
“Where’s Grand Admiral Kitchener anyway?” Derkk asked.
“He’s trying to organize a naval offensive,” Montgomery answered. “The idea is that when you launch your offensive, they might transfer troops to rescue their sieged comrades and when they do, we’ll launch a mayor naval attack at the fifth fleet. Kitchener is gathering every available capital ship for the offensive and veterans to break through on the ground.”
Derkk snorted.
“Figure we’d have to save your asses.”
Hailey and Horn glared at Derkk. He merely chuckled.
Year 2718, April the 2nd
Location: Beyond the Dark Rift, immediate location unknown
The Dark Rift. The end of space. Or at least the known galaxy. Unknown space, unknown species were beyond it. Primitives, yes. Advanced civilizations, unknown? Spacefaring species with vast armadas and strong militaries and a junta or a democratic government, all unknown. What really lies beyond the Dark Rift was mysterious worlds with mysterious faunas and possible inhabitance. The furthest anyone had ever gone beyond the Dark Rift was ten Lightyears. In 2160 the Vaan’jorch Dominion sent an expedition beyond the Dark Rift, fat beyond ten lightyears beyond it. Twenty starships. The largest was a Battleship. Lady Duilir was in command of the expedition. Neither of her ships ever returned to known space and their fate was unknown.
Far and deep into the Dark Rift and in the darkest and coldest of places tens of thousands of dark green ships waited in deep space. The smallest were a few hundred meters from stern to aft. While some of the largest were eight kilometers from stern to aft. As they laid silently they made space somehow feel much colder by their presence. But, the absolute largest vessel was not eight kilometers. From aft till stern, it was twenty-five kilometers. In known space, no such construction project had ever been attempted. It may have been spoken about but no one was foolish enough to put down such a vast sum of resources on a starship. The vast amounts of credits and resources to build it would be too much. The massive ship laid in the middle of the formation of all tens-of-thousands of vessels. Suddenly a message went out from the massive starship and all ships began jumping to hyperspace and countless windows of blue energy opened. They had set a course for what was-in their perspective-beyond the Dark Rift.
Known space.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
