OT: War to End All Worlds

[Renegade 13]

Very very good story! I hope there are more to come in the near future, I haven't been this entralled for a long time with a story! Good job.

[AgentZero]

Glad to see my efforts are appreciated. ;-) Couple questions though. A: If anyone notices anything that seems to be in direct condtradiction to current military regulations, please let me know (unless I've already mentioned in the story that it's against regulations). B: I'd appreciate any help with military rank. Especially things like what rank an engineer would hold aboard a ship, and what rank the chief engineer would usually have. With that in mind, here is part two.


“What would happen if we took our hyperdrive modulator offline?”

Ramsey shook his head. “The instability is now part of our drive field. The only way to correct it would be for us to drop back into normal space and make repairs before continuing on.”

Kellet exhaled heavily, staring at the tactical plot in front of him. Their covert mission had taken them deep inside enemy territory, and even at full hyperdrive speed, it would still take three days to get clear. He keyed in a few commands, and the plot zoomed in on a single system: Odin’s Star. The system where, in one hour, Alpha Group would be wrenched from hyperspace and three battlecruisers would be destroyed, and nine thousand men and women would lose their lives. It was also a heavily populated enemy system and bound to b e crawling with hostile warships. Scrolling back out, he stared at the icons representing the eight star systems they would pass through before reaching Odin’s Star.

“The BC engineers are upgrading the inertial compensators and altering the modulation of the shields as we speak,” Ramsey continued. “So, in theory, when we-”

“Will it work?”

Ramsey and Kellet turned to look at Captain Aolo. He’d risen from his chair, and while outwardly composed, Kellet could sense the pain and turmoil writhing within his childhood friend. Ramsey’s shoulders slumped.

“No,” he admitted. “It won’t do a damn thing.”

Kellet nodded slowly, then thumbed a switch on his chair, opening a communications link with another section of the ship. “Have Commander Matthews report to the bridge,” he said quietly. Not quietly enough, he noticed, as several nearby crewmen shifted uncomfortably. A few moments later, the bridge doors ground open and Matthews strolled onto the bridge. Despite their best efforts, the male bridge staff were unable to keep themselves from staring. Commander Sarah Matthews was, by all accounts, stunningly beautiful. Her shimmering black hair reached down to her shoulders, noticeably longer than military regs permitted and her sparkling green eyes focused solely on Kellet as she strode towards the admiral’s chair, her slender body swaying sensuously as she approached. Kellet rose to return her salute, then waited as she snapped an equally crisp salute to Aolo, before nodding upwards at Ramsey. Matthews was a fair bit shorter than the Terran norm for females, though one would be hard pressed to find a man who would complain about it. As she turned back towards Kellet, a slight smile tugged at her lips.

You look terrible, her voice echoed in his head. Along with being the head of the 23rd Fleet’s Intelligence Division, Matthews was also a high-ranked member of the Psy Corp, meaning she possessed both powerful telepathic and telekinetic abilities. Kellet ran a series of numbers images and memories through his mind, a special code that would unblock the conditioning in Matthews mind for a short while, and allow her to receive his thoughts.

You’ve looked better yourself, he replied, letting his eyes wander over the freshly treated gash in her forehead. How’d you earn that, he inquired. Power overload?

No, she replied. McPherson’s coffee mug.

Kellet chuckled despite himself, drawing curious looks from Aolo and Ramsey, both of whom were completely oblivious to the exchange between the two. Kellet ignored them and had Ramsey explain the hyperdrive situation to Matthews. When he was done, Matthews turned back to Kellet.

“So, exactly what do you want me to do about it?” she asked bluntly. Members of the Psy Corp were not renowned for their subtlety.

“You know enemy space better than anyone,” said Kellet. “We need to find somewhere quiet where we can drop out of hyperspace and make repairs.”

“There,” Matthews replied instantly, pointing to a system on the tactical plot. “The Ootek’rey System. Uninhabited due to the lack of any hospitable worlds. Only two planets orbit it’s star, and both are completely barren, devoid of any resources or even atmosphere. If you want somewhere to hide, there’s your spot.”

“Ramsey?” Kellet inquired, noticing that the engineer was shaking his head.

“Ootek’rey is forty-eight minutes out, sir,” he said. “By then, the field imbalance have gotten to the stage where making transit would be fatal to our BCs.”

“Then they won’t make transit,” said Aolo. “The Ardent, Trafalgar and Renown will jump in-system, make repairs, then catch up with the rest of the fleet at the rendezvous point.”

Ramsey cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Problem is, sir, only the Renown and Ardent have functioning hyperdrive modulators. If we jump out, the BCs will be trapped in hyperspace, and have no way to manoeuvre, let alone jump back into normal space.”

“But the Trafalgar’s drive is working?” asked Aolo.

“Yes, sir. Perfectly,” Ramsey replied.

“Then the Ardent will jump alone,” Kellet informed them. “The rest of Alpha Group will carry on without us.”

“Without our screening ships we will be extremely vulnerable if discovered,” Aolo pointed out.

“Agreed,” nodded Kellet. “But unfortunately, we don’t seem to have much choice.”

Forty-five minutes later, a strange thing began to happen in a lonely patch of space in the Ootek’rey System. The very fabric of space began to twist and contort, pulling and straining, bucking and heaving until suddenly it split wide open and the vast energies of hyperspace spewed outwards for a brief moment, until they were blotted out by the Ardent as she thundered into normal space.

[Starhawk]

Well as far as Rank goes here is a complete list of US navy Ranks

E-1 Seaman Recruit
E-2 Seaman Apprentice
E-3 Seaman
E-4 Petty Officer 3rd
E-5 Petty Officer 2nd
E-6 Petty Officer 1st
E-7 Chief Petty Officer
E-8 Senior Chief Petty Officer
E-9 Master Chief Petty Officer
E-9 Special Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
W-2 Cheif Warrant Officer
W-3 Cheif Warrant Officer
W-4 Cheif Warrant Officer
O-1 Ensign
O-2 Lieutenant, Junior Grade
O-3 Lieutenant
O-4 Lieutenant Commander
O-5 Commander
O-6 Captain
O-7 Rear Admiral, Lower Half (Commodore)
O-8 Rear Admiral, Upper Half
O-9 Vice Admiral
O-10 Admiral


Chief Engineer 12 or more years Commander
Chief Engineer under 12 years Lieutenant
First Assistant Engineer --- Master
Second Assistant Engineer --- Passed Midshipman
Third Assistant Engineer --- Midshipman

That's a little outdated but it's the best I could do on what ranks engineers usually heald. Your average engineer is probobly a Seaman by modern standards.

[AgentZero]

Great, thanks. I know it took a little while, but here's a few pages to keep you all going.

The massive warship turned ponderously as her velocity dropped rapidly from an exit speed of .95c, swinging her nose around towards the system’s innermost planet.

“Transit complete,” announced the navigator. “ETA at waypoint one is four hours, thirty-six minutes.”
“Very good,” Kellet acknowledged before turning back to the three standing at his side. He noticed immediately that Matthews was looking a few shades greener than usual. Hyperspace transit was notorious for affecting telepaths more than anyone else.

We’re not going to do that again, are we? her voice inquired timidly in his mind.
Not for a while, he replied.
Good, she thought gratefully as she moved her hand over her mouth to conceal an unpleasant gaseous emission.

“Now then,” he said aloud. The next words out of his mouth were cut off as a violent cacophony of noise drowned out everything else. Kellet had only time enough to catch Aolo’s eyes long enough to see a combination of awed curiosity and sheer terror before being hurled across the bridge by the hand of an invisible giant. He slammed down into the gunnery pit and felt something crunch, but the pain was overwhelmed by the fierce agony in his head as an awful psychic scream ripped through his mind. He knew it could only come from one source, and he twisted desperately to catch some glimpse of Matthews as he was hurled towards the ceiling. He managed to grab a hold on one of the upper display monitors for a brief moment before it was wrenched from his grasp and he was tossed across the bridge and slammed into the navigation station before dropping to the deck which, mercifully, no long seemed inclined to move. He pushed himself slowly to his feet as cries for medics began to fill the air. Stumbling on unsteady legs he cast his eyes about, seeking one shape in the dim emergency lights. He caught sight of Aolo, who had somehow managed to get from the rear to the front of the bridge with no visible damage. The Ardent’s commander waved Kellet towards the rear of the bridge, just behind his command chair. Moving as quickly as his protesting muscles would allow him, he hurried towards the rear. As he came around the command chair, he caught sight of Matthews’ small form, curled into a tiny ball. He dropped to her side and pulled her into his lap, tilting her face towards his. Blood ran from her wide, moist eyes, and dribbled from her ears.

“By the Nine Circles,” he whispered. “Can you hear me?”
Matthews nodded.
“OK,” he said, pushing the hair out of her face. “You’re going to be fine. The medics are on their way and-” he stopped as she shook her head violently.
“…don’t need medics,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Hyperdrive coils… gone… so many… gone…”
“Sarah,” he murmured. “Focus, my love.”
She drew herself closer to him, her fingers digging into his back as she pressed her face into his chest. “I felt fear,” she whispered numbly. “I opened my mind to try to feel where it was coming from. Opened my mind all the way, to the whole ship. Then there was an explosion. I closed my mind quick. Not quick enough.” She turned her face up to look at him. “I felt their deaths,” she said, her voice breaking as tears began to roll down her cheeks. “The pain, the fear, panic, screaming, desperation to live, and then the silence. Gods the silence at the end.” She paused to survey the chaos around them for a moment then turned back to him. “Do you know how scared someone is before they die?” she asked softly.
Kellet slowly shook his head.
“More afraid than I hope you’ll ever be,” she told him, then reached up and kissed him deeply. He broke away after a moment and helped her to her feet.
“Are you hurt otherwise?” he asked, giving her a quick look-over.
“Fine,” she replied before grinning fatalistically. “Aside from this rib stuck in my lung, anyway.” A dribble of blood trickled from her lips and Kellet instinctively wiped his own, to find his hand came away streaked with her blood.
“MEDIC!” he hollered, the terror in his voice bringing four white-clad medics sprinting over. One gave her a quick run over with his medical scanner.
“Stretcher!” he shouted. “We’ll operate immediately. Sick Bay 2,” he instructed the orderlies.
“Goody,” Matthews smiled as she lay down on the stretcher. “Another scar. Christmas has come early.”
One of the orderlies stared at the other blankly and mouthed, Christmas? The other simply shrugged.
The doctor began to turn to follow the stretcher when Kellet’s hand shot out and caught the doctor’s shoulder in a vice grip, spinning him around to face the admiral.
“Doctor,” he voice grated. “Fix. Her.”

[Spoo]

More!

[AgentZero]

Might take be a day or two. My muse is angry with me right now.

[Atrocities]

We have all been there. Looking forward to next chapter though.