[geoschmo]

(Hadn't planed on posting so often, but a lot is happening very quickly.)

Year 2400.6

Captain Grandow watched through the portal as the second Aksu class exploratory vessel rose through the roiling clouds below. It was the rainy season in the southern continent. No doubt the shipyard workers and others around Capitol City were getting a good soaking right about now. Maybe we will get lucky and a lightening bolt would strike the senate chambers, Grandow thought with a snort.

Three months now since the Xi'Chung ship had appeared, and still the damn thing hadn't moved. Except to block the entrance to the warp point to a diplomatic shuttle that had attempted to saunter by with a wave and a warm smile. If that wasn't a hostile action, Grandow didn't know what was. But the REMF's decided it was just a cultural difference and we should not read too much into it.

"Cultural difference my rear!" Grandow said out loud to no one in particular. "The damn politicians won't admit there's a threat here until the bugs march up Main Street Capitol City, bite their heads off, and feed them to their Queen!"

"Careful Antony. The walls have ears, even on your own ship." It was Lieutenant Commander Dannak, Grandows former second-in-command, protege, and closest friend. "Don't give them a reason to take your command. The Republic needs you on this bridge, when the inevitable happens."

Grandow thought back to their meeting with Senator Flicken three days before. It was then that Grandow had been given orders to escort the new Colony ship to Narcisston IX as soon as the Artemis (Aksu class explorer, series 0002) left space dock and could take over patrol around the homeworld. Grandow almost resigned his commission on the spot, which would have pleased Flicken to no end. His nephew was the captain of the newly commissioned Artemis. The senator would like nothing better than to promote him to the bridge of the flagship of the fledgling Sallegan Space Service. It was Dannak that saved Grandow from his own temper then, as he had so many times before.

Grandow knew the Xi'Chung were stalling, he couldn't understand why the politicians didn't know it too. Of course the reason was that politicians are not typically students of history as military officers are. For a race that had not had a conflict of note for three generations, it was not an easy thing to be a military officer. Grandow had never fired a shot in anger. Had never tasted battle. No living Sallegan had.

Grandow didn't like leaving the entire Sallegan race undefended. And he didn't trust Flickens nephew to defend it. He finally agreed to the assignment, but insisted that Dannak be transferred to the Aksu 0002 as first officer.

Danaak's shuttle undocked from the Aksu, and Grandow gave the order to come about. The colony ship was slower, and the Aksu would have to run at less than full cruising speed for it to keep up. The round trip would Last three months, if the Aksu were allowed to return as soon as the colony ship landed. That had not even been decided yet.

He only hoped that the bugs would take enough time to allow the Aleppa class attack ship to be built. Three months they told him. One more to finish the third Aksu class vessel, and two to build the new, larger Aleppa. And, he hoped, enough time for him to get back to Narcisston VIII himself.

Year 2400.7 Day 0

Grandow paced the bridge like a caged Pintha cat. The tension was palpable. He was in such a foul mood that the comm officer almost was afraid to make his report. But he knew it would be worse for him if he didn't. "Captain. We picked up a communication on the official channels. Queen Kaziktra rejected the Senates latest treaty proposal."

"Those idiots! They have to know now the bugs are not interested in being our friends. Contact Space control and request permission to return immediately." But permission did not come. And at this point Grandow made in retrospect the most important decision in the history of the Sallegan race. "Helm, bring us about. Maximum speed. Take us home. Lieutenant, signal the Aden, tell them to continue on their mission. They won’t be needing an escort the rest of the way." Grandow knew the danger was behind them, not in front.

Year 2400.7 Day 10

The call the Captain was expecting for a week and a half now finally came. Senator Flicken himself was scowling at Grandow from the view screen. "Captain, please tell me you have a good reason for disobeying a direct order and putting 34 million civilians at risk. My aides tell me you have not reported any malfunction, and are in fact travelling at maximum speed."

Grandow stood up straight. "We are coming home Senator. I cannot stand by and watch the Sallegan race endangered by your shortsighted leadership."

Flickens eyes burned. "Why you insolent... I don't suppose ordering you thrown in the brig and instructing your XO to resume course would do any good. That cult of personality you have with your officers is well known. Well, so be it. When you return you all can share a prison cell. Flicken out."

Part of Grandow hoped that he was court-martialed, because that would mean he would be wrong and that the Xi'Chung did not attack. At least this way my ship will be where it's needed, even if I am not on board her he thought.

Year 2400.7 Day 15

The Aksu was halfway back, but still days away at top speed. Grandow was watching the Xi'Chung ship on the tactical display. It was just visible at this distance. The wormhole was not, as it phased out of view when not being used they had discovered many months before. Suddenly the energy readings spiked, and the wormhole flared into view. "What is it?" he asked the science officer.

"I don't know sir. But I think another ship is coming through." As the words still hung in the air, the Captain watched on the viewer as a second bug ship exited the wormhole. This one was larger than the first. From the looks of it, it was a 200 Kt hull. The size of the new attack ships Grandow had been pleading the Space service to build for so many months.

The new ship reached the spot where the first waited, but did not stop as everyone expected. And a moment later the first ship came to life. It quickly got up to speed and fell into formation behind the larger ship. Both on a course for the Sallegan homeworld, and there was no way the Aksu could get there before them.

"Ship to ship! Raise the Artemis, NOW!" After what seemed like an eternity, the viewscreen sprang to life, and the welcome face of Dannak filled the screen.

"Yes captain. I see them." the lieutenant commander said before Grandow could get the question out. "We are tracking them in. The course is straight for Narcisston VIII." No words were spoken for the next few moments, but as the two friends looked at each other, much was said.

"Good luck Paul." Grandow finally broke the silence. "We are on our way. Aksu out." Both men knew at the moment the words were spoken, that the Aksu would arrive too late to be any help. Artemis was on her own.

Year 2400.7 Day 20

S. S. S. Artemis
The Xi’Chung ships closing on the Sallegan homeworld were closer than the Aksu racing to intercept them, but they were still days away when they started moving. This actually worked against the Sallegans as it gave them time to calm down from the initial shock of the second ships arrival. Already the politicians were coming up out of their bunkers and starting to think maybe this was simply a peace delegation coming for a visit. The significance of the fact that they were not communicating during their approach was lost on the senate. At least it was lost on the part of Senator Flicken. But it was all too evident what was happening to Paul Dannak aboard the Artemis. They were at war. Even though a shot had not been fired. And no formal declaration had been made, the Xi’Chung were attacking the Sallegan homeworld.

Unfortunatly his captain was an incompetant paper pusher who had been given his position as a favor to his powerful uncle. He had at least had the sense to allow Paul to handle the day to day operations of the Artemis. This meant the crew had been drilled and prepared. But the captain was still insisting that no shots would be fired until they wre given orders from the planet. Dannak had given up trying to reason with him. But as XO he had the responsibility for crew shifts. And he made sure his best people were where he would need them when things started happening.

The Aksu class Explorer was designed with durability and flexibility in mind. Having been built before the Sallegans were even aware of the exsistance of the Xi’Chung, military hardware was not considerd a high priority. Fortunatly though it had as a primary mission the destruction of space debris large enough to be a hazard for the planets in the system. To this end it was fitted with a missle launcher capable of firing nuclear tipped missles. They were fast, they had range, and they could punch a big hole in something when the hit. Unfortunatly they took a long time to reload, and they took up a lot of space. Because of this there wasn’t enough room for anything else of value on the ship. Almost as an afterthought, the designers threw in an auxilliary control center on the ship. If anything happened to the bridge, they thought, at least the crew could limp home for repairs. This is where the XO had spent most of his time the Last few days. Testing the equipment, running simulations. Making sure that if needed, it would be ready.

As the Xi’Ching ships entered sector 1, many people hoped they would stop then, and start broadcasting amessage of peace. But they did not. On the bridge of the Artemis, Dakken spoke up. “Captain, I implore you to open fire as soon as they come into range. We don’t know what kind of weapons they have. We may only get one shot.”
“No. We have our orders commander. We will move out from the planet to meet them, but will not open fire first. We don't want to start a war.”

“Start a war! Damnnit, we are already in a war. And we are going to be it’s first casualties if we don’t take action.” Dannak shot back.

The captain looked at him. “Mr Dannak you are relieved. Go to your quarters immedietly.” Dannak paused, and then thought better of it. He turned to leave the bridge, as he did he gave a look to the weapons officer. Orders or no orders, the missles would be ready to fire at the first sign of weapons fire coming from the bug ships. They may get us with our pants down, but we are going to go down swinging the commander thought. He entered the lift and punched the button for G deck. He would go to the Auxillary control room and keep a close eye on things from there.

The bug ships closed in tight formation. The larger ship leading the smaller by a few thousand yards. The captain ordered them hailed again. “Still no answer sir.” Came the reply from the comm officer.

As the ships came closer the lead ship suddenly lurched and fired at the Artemis. Large mettalic shells composed of depleted uranium, accerated to incredible speeds by magnetic powered rail guns. The Artemis didn’t even have time to react before the first shells closed the gap and tore into her upper hull, venting the aptmosphere. The captain and half the bridge crew were sucked out the top and died instantly. The remainder died seconds later strapped into their positions. The Last act of the weapons officer before he passed out was to trigger the firing sequence for the missle launcher. The ship reeling from a gaping wound, the missle was pointed in the wrong direction when it left the launcher. Internal guidance ssytems kicked in instantly and it righted itslef and made a course for the largest of the two Xi’Chung ships.

The bug ship attempted to evade, but the missle was faster, and more manuverable. It impacted on the rear of the ship, knocking out thee engines, and cutting power to one of the uranium cannons. The ship came around and brought it’s wepons to bear on the Artemis. She appeared dead and drifting. The Xi’Chung captain decided it was no longer a threat and resumed course towards it’s main objective, the Sallegan homeworld. The smaller ship now took the lead in the formation and they moved on. Onboard the Artemis secondary explosions rocked the ship. Fires burned wherever they could find the oxygen to sustain themselves. The missle launcher was fully operational, but the bridge was gone, and the captain was dead. One engine had been damaged in the attack

Commander Dannak made his way to auxilliary control. It took several minutes as power to the lifts went out with the bridge and he had to use the maintenance crawlways. As he went he made sure people were at their stations, and damage control teams were putting out the fires. He arrived in aux control just as main powere was restored. He was pleased to see his people were doing their jobs well, and several officers were already taking up their positions on the new bridge.

"Status." He asked the lieutenant as he moved over to the center chair.

"No response from the bridge commander. Engineering reports we can make about 70% of maximum speed. The missle launcher is reloaded and ready to fire." The lieutenant responded.

"Allright, bring us about. Let's teach those bastards a lesson."

Year 2400.8

Captain Grandow watched silently as the S.S.S. Drakken (Aksu class, series 0003) moved into orbit along side his vessel. The repairs to his own ship had already been completed. As he read over the causualty reports, he couldn't help but feel sick. Over 100 million Sallegans dead. Capitol City a smoking, radioactive ruin. Fortunatly the Space Yard on the outskirts of the city sustained only minor damage and was fully operational within hours. If there was any bright side to the attack it was that Senator Flicken was among the missing. "If the bugs didn't get him, I will." thought Grandow.

As bad as it was, it would have been much worse if not for the heroic actions of the crew of the Artemis. They were able to disable the weapons systems of the Xi'Chung frigate completely. The delay saved countless lives and the Aksu returned to destroy both bug ships. Unfortunatly the Aksu did not make it in time to save the Artemis. She was lost with all hands, including Captain Drakken, who had been promoted posthumously for his actions.

Next to the casualty reports, Grandow had a printout of the latest communication received from the Hive. It had been received on a narrow beam transmission through the wormhole itself. Grandow had been mildly suprised that was even possible, but once he read the text, he cared little for the tecnical aspects of the message. It was received fully two weeks after the attack on Narcisston VIII.

"Though we are not a violent species, you have left us no choice. We declare war on your reckless society."

The colony on Narcisston IX was busy building a hastily designed weapons platform, as was the homeworld. The Aleppa class attack frigate would soon follow. There was no telling what the outcome of this war would be. But they would not be caught unprepared again.

[ 18 March 2002: Message edited by: geoschmo ]