Terran 39th Battle fleet log 1Stardate 479.379
Location Undisclosed Star system
39th Battle Fleet of the Terran Alliance
Bridge of the Battleship Terra’s Pride
The dark expanse spread out before him, like an endless road he had yet to traverse. He could see many stars, many systems, yet uncharted, waiting for a brave soul to reach out and claim them as their own. Each bright spark blinking whistfully in the black, holding unknown potential, in resources at the least and in the wildest of his imaginings; new colonisable worlds. Yes, this is it the destiny of our once great empire to flourish a new. The man raised his hand to reach out to one of the specks twinkling before him, slowly closing it around it blocking it’s light so easily and inspected it as if he’d plucked it from the very sea of stars himself. If only it were so easy. Around him the bridge bustled with activity, the many deck officer’s sat at their stations making their regular checks on the ship’s systems, making tiny alterations in course as they cut a way through the bleak darkness guided by the machine powered sensor arrays. He savoured the relative peace that hung in the air, though an itch lay dormant, as an Admiral of a Battle Fleet of the Terran Alliance he was a man used to action, crashing into enemy fleet formations, laying down the almighty batteries his fleet possessed and jumping to the next engagement. Pondering and meandering through the star fields waiting on something to happen did not sit well with him in any way whatsoever.
This line of thought was cut short when a blinking light caught his eye over his right shoulder, followed swiftly by a rapid sequence of beeping noises, resounding quietly at first, then raising in Decibel level. The man’s mouth curled into a curt smile, like that of a hawk-eyed reporter upon seeing a good story for the next holo news sheet spun on his heel cut a sharp step and striding towards the communication station.
“Report Ensign”.He barked as he neared the station. The man sat at the desk, held up a hand with one finger, doing so until his other reached to remove the headpiece from his ears. This irked him, there was a chain of command for a reason , however the Ensign was the best pair of eyes and ears the fleet had available and as such was quite vital to their survival in this inhospitable region of space, something the Ensign was well aware of. Standing to his feet and snapping a quick salute the Ensign gestured to the console.
“Distress call Admiral,” the man’s brisk accent cut through the noise of the bridge, a softly spoken figure yet very well respected by all the bridge staff nonetheless. “It’s one of ours sir, Sentinel class, though there’s no indication as to whether it’s taken a hit from Space chaff or some less friendly means.” The Admiral’s face twisted, Space Chaff was the Ensign’s way of describing debris, meteor, asteroids, any form of non living projectiles that could cause damage or confusion to a ship, akin to how primitive Terran ships used scraps of metal to confuse early missile guidance systems. Less friendly means was a term the Admiral was all too well aware of and one that had earned the Ensign a position at his communication station on his ship.
“Damned fools for being out here without an escort. What are the chances of enemy contacts?” The Admiral growled at the thought of such foolish waste of resources. The Ensign picked up the headset, drumming several commands into the console. For a moment he stayed still bar the singular movement of a finger, applying filters to cut through layers of static. Removing the headset and replacing on the console top, he turned to the Admiral once more.
“65% chance of hostile activity sir. From what I could get from the recording there were no proximity alerts when that recording was sent. Suggesting either they didn’t see them or the scanners couldn’t pick the threat up before they got disabled.” The Admiral held up a hand pausing the ensign’s flow as the pieces began to fall into place.
“Or they were never attacked at all and this is a ruse to have us deploy into the sector only to be wiped out in an ambush.” The Ensign nodded.
“Aye there’s a fair chance of that sir, even with the static mostly cleared the transmission sounded rough around the edges.” The admiral smiled slightly, placing a hand on the Ensign’s shoulder.
“Good work Ensign,” patting his hand on his shoulder and pointing at an invisible map in his mind. “Call up the 2nd HKU and tell them to prepare for immediate departure into potentially Hostile Space.” The Admiral turned to walk to his chair central to the bridge, before pausing. “I shall see to it that you get a commendation from high command for this Lieutenant McCabe.” McCabe turned to enquire about the Admiral referring to him by the wrong rank, before turning back to the console. He knew a promotion from the admiral was difficult to receive and he wasn’t ready to look that particular gift horse in the mouth. His hand reached for a switch and punched in several quick commands, linking to several squadrons that made up the fleet’s 2nd Hunter Killer Unit.
“2nd HKU this is Terra’s Pride, orders from Admiral Harper, plot a course to the following coordinates at full speed, possible hostile contacts on arrival.” He glanced over his shoulder to see the Admiral was out of ear shot. Seeing that he was he leant over the console, covering the mouth piece of his headset. “Suggest you cut to sub light a parsec out, high chance of cloaked hostiles will give you a chance to pick them out from range, Radio silence is advised keep all contact to band 4129 Alpha, short burst only.” A crackle of static filled McCabe’s ears for a moment before a tinny voice came back in reply.
“Terra’s Pride this is 2nd HKU, Orders received, proceeding along that heading, 2nd HKU out.”
The Admiral sat in his chair finger’s rapping on the arm rest. Watching through the view screen as several ships broke from the fleet disappearing into the blackness. His head bobbed slightly as he thought on the current position he was in. Standing from his chair he hit a button and speakers throughout the fleet crackled into life.
“39th Battle Fleet, this is Admiral Harper, we have potential hostile activity in the Kee’vack system, the 2nd HKU has been dispatched to investigate, however in the case of this being the tip of the spear you are to make yourselves battle ready, warm up the FTL drives, bring the weapons online and ready on my mark, when the call comes in we jump down the enemies throats and remind them the Terran Alliance is still a name worthy of respect.” He punched the button on the arm of his chair and turned to McCabe. “Send out a transmission to High command, advise them of our current situation and inform them of our heading. We are going to war.”
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