A Disith fleet is crossing the Grand Stream to meet up with the Disith task fleet 23 and provide reinforcements for them in the battle against Mad-Thane's Anatoray fleet at Minagith. This is the story of a Disith ship's captain who is attacked in episode one of Last Exile and tells the story of Captain Solios and his crew as they pass through the Grand Stream and go to war.
"Sir ship seven's bridge has been damaged by flying debris." The crew on the bridge of the commander's ship stared both at the troubled ship and their captain trying to anticipate what actions he would take. The watchmen saw two flares fly from the Disith warship "Green, Red. Sir ship seven is requesting permission to exit the Grand Stream. The winds are to strong for them to continue flying." The captain sat there thinking. "Captain, they are straying off course. The winds are flying into the ship! If they are separated from the fleet they don't stand a chance!" The Captain slowly stood and looked towards the ship. "Send the flares, give ship seven permission to exit the Grand Stream and send ship ten with them, I want to make sure that"… "Sir! I see a vanship, red, 1.37 miles!" The captain turned to the man who spotted the vanship with surprise due to the news and the interruption. "Sir the vanship has a cable attached to it, I'm not sure what it is doing here." The Captain thought about the vanship for a moment but then realized that one of his ships was in danger and needed help. "Ignore it, I want ship ten to escort ship seven out of the Grand Stream now!" "Yes Sir, launching the signal flares now." The signal flares flew into the air giving the commands to ship seven and ten and the ships behind then had room to advance and keep the fleet together.
"With that out of the way we can continue to move through the Grand Stream." Whispered the captain to himself. "Ahead Full." "Affirmative Ahead Full" repeated the first officer. "Sir sonar posts are picking up rapid cannon fire!" yelled one of the crew listening on headphones. "Cannon fire? Who would be…" His pondering was cut short by explosions from all sides. The entire ship shook and the crew were thrown into shock by the noise and light of the impacts nearby. Two Disith ships in the fleet were torn in half at the middle truss section after suffering multiple hits. One of the crew was able to recover from the explosions and yell over the noise, "Sir, ships three and five have been hit and are sinking. What should we do, Sir?" He quickly replied "Hard to Port and watch the bow on the turn we have to get out of range." The crew went to work to fulfill the captain's orders. "Sir, sonar is detecting continued cannon fire!" "All hands prepare for impact." Yelled the captain. The crew held tight to anything they could find but the fleet managed to avoid the second volley. "Sir the fire has stopped. Whoever was firing must have lost us or given up. We lost the Foruione and the Uhitores to the cannon fire but the rest of the fleet and our ship suffered minimal to no damage and we are back on course. "Sir, who do you think was firing? Was it the Anatoray?" said a crewmember. "Was it that damn Mad-Thane?" said another. The captain sat and closed his eyes and said "Mad-Thane did not do this he wouldn't bring his fleet here. We were attacked by Alex Roe of the Silvana." The crew stared at him in disbelief whispering to themselves and others. Again he stood and began to walk away, "I have some things to take care of I'll be in my quarters. Oh, and Michelle please save the recording of that cannon fire and send it to my quarters when you get a chance, thank you." He closed the door behind him, not allowing her to respond to him.
The Captain swiftly walked down the empty halls in the direction of his quarters. The off-duty crew heard the lone footsteps in the halls and poked their heads out of their cabins to see who was in the halls. Captain Solios turned around with a smirk and saying "You men should rest up you never know what might happen in the Grand Stream." The man nervously nodded embarrassed that he had been found out. The captain continued walking and his footsteps stopped when he reached the door of his quarters. He slowly lifted his head and read the sign on the door and whispered it to himself, "Captain Solios". He smirked and turned the handle on the door. "Used to be the most respected captain in the Disith…. That's what it should say." he whispered as he entered his simple cabin and closed the door behind him sending an echo down the halls. "At least I have the respect of my crew." He opened the hatch of the communication pipe that was connected to the bridge and sat at his desk looking at a map of the Grand Stream. Solios brought his mouth to the pipe "Anthony what is our current location?" he heard some indistinct talking between the crew and moved his ear closer "Sir we are in section 01457 and having no problems." Said the navigator in a happy tone. "Thank you Anthony please inform me if there are any changes or problems." Another more formal and louder voice came through the tube. It was his first officer Robert Tellmen explaining what had happened earlier and ensuring the crew that they had escaped the unknown enemy and they were safe. Solios was a little uninterested seeing that he saw everything that happened so he closed the hatch of the pipe and sat back in his chair. He closed his eyes "We will be there soon." He said to himself and drifted off to sleep.
Captain Solios sat at his desk with his head thrown back sleeping and making small sounds more like gibberish than words. Suddenly loud knocking and yelling came from the door of his cabin. He flung his neck up to an upright position and threw his hands from his legs to his desk. He jammed a few fingers and the pain showed on his face as hen held them. "Captain! It's Exile. It's coming right for us!" said a muffled voice from behind the door. The captain quickly opened the door and ran down the hall bumping past the messenger who stared at the captain's back as ran to the stairs. As he ran up the stairs he was thrown side to side by the vessels movements. He looked at the door for a second not knowing what to expect on the bridge. Solios opened the door to the helm breathing heavily from the ascent he walked to his seat looking out the windows in awe of the flying leviathan heading in their direction. "Aim and fire all forward turrets at Exile and turn hard to starboard with a 3 decrease in altitude. Signal all ships to follow and reduce Claudia pressure." He received multiple replies from the crew but was unable to concentrate in the presence of Exile. Captain Solios had defeated many foes in this ship but never had he seen Exile, he was not completely sure he could get his fleet through the Grand Stream alive.
He stared at Exile's curves, which slightly resembled those of the Disith warships, and he looked at the intricate patterns that covered the entire ship. But from the stories Solios had heard since he was a child he knew they were destructive weapons that could eat an airship that came too close. Solios stood there staring at it almost hypnotized by Exile until he felt the jolt of the cannons firing and the ship maneuvering to pass the mysterious ship on the right side and stay as far from it as possible without moving into uncharted areas of the Stream. There were many explosions on the surface of Exile but it remained un-phased by the blasts. Captain Solios was excited by this battle and yelled to the crew "Keep firing!" Solio's ship was now parallel to the monstrous vessel and five ships followed closely behind firing all cannons that had Exile in their sites. A low-pitched ripping noise came from the back of the fleet. Long whip like tentacles were ripping at the stern of one of the ships in that got to close to Exile. "Sir, Yesverish is being attacked by Exile!" yelled one of the crew. "Slow engines to half and concentrate fire on the tentacles. We need to free Yesverish from its grasps. Fire!" shouted Captain Solios. The aft armaments took aim and began firing, ripping through the tentacles and freeing the Disith ship. By this time Exile had passed the fleet and they were able to reform and travel through the Grand Stream. "Captain that was an ingenious idea. You saved the Yesverish. good work, Sir!" Said the wheelman with adulation. "Thank you Doset, but you all should be proud. I did not accomplish this alone. All of you participated to keep the Fornoset and the rest of the fleet alive." There was a short applause and then the crew went back to their stations. The captain pointed forward and exclaimed "Ahead full to Minagith!" "Aye-Aye Captain, Ahead Full."
Solios left the helm and walked down the stairs to the living quarters knowing that walking was faster and better for him. He didn't really have to worry about things like weight or form because he had always been tall, fit, and rather handsome. Many of the female crew were attracted to him when they first joined the ship but it was obvious to see that women had no impact on his life and he was concentrated on other things. He reached the bottom of the stairs and began to walk down the simple gray halls. Unlike many captains, Solios had a preference for simple arrangements and only wanted on his ship what was necessary to survival and operation. The walls of the ship often exposed welded pipes and valves that only the mechanics and engineers knew what to do with. The crew cabins were not like normal Disith crew living quarters. They were slimed down and stripped to the bare essentials. Although life on the Fornoset was less luxurious and attractive it was very practical and had lots of history. Also the crew is always able to rest knowing they had a very knowledgeable and reliable captain that would stop at nothing to protect his crew and his ship.
Solios was outside of his quarters again where he spent most of his time when not needed. He stared up again at the sign bolted to the door, smiling at what he had done and the compliments he had received from his crew ran through his mind. Still smiling he grasped the handle of his cabin's door and entered, lightly closing it so not to wake the off-duty gunners that were sleeping in cabins near-by. He placed his hat on a rack adjacent to the door revealing his messy black hair with the occasional gray hair hidden in the darkness. He turned his head and found himself staring at a bowl of hot soup and a glass of scotch arranged on a napkin on his desk. He smiled and suddenly realized that he was indeed very hungry. The crew, including Solios, had his schedule thrown off due to all of the recent events and he had missed his dinner by at least three hours. He sat down and happily ate the meal thinking to himself about what would lie ahead for him and the fleet he was leading through the Stream. He slowly lurched to his bed and laid down falling asleep almost instantly.