Chapter 2: A Meeting of Mice and Men
"We have a contact! Bearing 117…", the young officer sitting at his console gave an audible gasp. Baker rushed to him, sirens blaring all around him. "What is it Jake?" he asked leaning over the man's shoulder. "Sir…..the contact's coming…out of the anomaly!" Baker felt a chill creep down his spine. Whatever this thing was, he wasn't going to take any chances. "All hands to battle stations!" he yelled, turning his head back. "Message to all ships in Task Force Epsilon, battle stations!" He paused for a moment and looked towards the hologram of the now massive portal. 'And may God help us all….', he thought silently, the knot in his stomach tightening. And then the portal exploded.
Tendrils of aetheric power arced from within the portal, multi-hued flames licked across its boundaries. Its form convulsed and what seemed like screaming faces and howling maws appeared momentarily on the maddening shapes of the portals edge. Then in almighty explosion, a massive prow jutted out of the portal's center. A ship slid majestically towards the Task Force ships, energy coiling and writhing around it as it exited the portal. Then, it broke free from the tendrils holding it powering forwards inexorably. "What in the hell is THAT?!", Baker heard a voice pierce the sudden silence of the CIC. The ship was truly massive, he put it at over eight kilometers in length. The ship's armored prow loomed over the Alliance ships like a mountain, a two-headed eagle emblazoned on its front. Gothic spires rose on its back like the towers of an ancient bastion. Baker found himself staring at the dizzying monstrosity of the ships bridge which rose over it like massive citadel. Mighty thrusters and innumerable weapons dotted the ships baroque hull, massive barrels pointing menacingly from armored housings. To the eyes of the crew of Task Force Epsilon, it was quite simply awe-inspiring in its magnitude.
Baker was awakened from his stupor by a crackle from the ships intercom. "Captain!" he heard the voice of the comms officer, "We are being hailed, Sir! Its…the ship….Sir…." Baker swallowed, his throat dry. His voice emerged raspy, but he quickly regained his composure, "Put in on the main holo-screen." A static-laced image appeared on the hologram, the face of an ancient man depicted on it. "Can we clean up the signal?" he called. The image cleared slightly, and Baker saw the face was dotted with implants. The man's shaven head was enveloped in a mass of tubes and wires, and one of his eyes glowed a menacing red. Then, with a voice like grating glass, he spoke, "Greetings fellow human, this is Captain Merec Talthus of the Oberon Class Battleship Dominatus Terra. I request an audience with the commanding officer of this Strike Force."
"That would be me", Baker said with as much conviction as he could muster, "Captain Anthony Baker of the Alliance 5th Fleet, current commander of Task Force Epsilon." He felt the man's cold gaze pass over him, he fought to stop from shivering. "I see", the grating voice replied slowly, "Tell me…Captain Baker…what year is it?" Baker was taken aback by the question. "Uhm…it's the 15th of October 2184 by the Alliance Calendar." The ancient Captain's face seemed to turn pale at this news, his eyes red glow momentarily brightening. "That is….most troubling news….", the man said, visually straining to absorb the situation. 'Who was this strange man, and where…..or when…..had he come from?' Baker thought. He was about to ask, when his thoughts were interrupted by a yell from Jensen. "What is it Lieutenant?" Baker asked, turning from the hologram. "Sir! We have another contact from within the anomaly!" Baker twisted around to the hologram of the portal. Again, it seemed to be pulsing and convulsing. But something seemed different, the portal seemed to exuding a foul aura, a palpable feeling of rage and anguish swept over Baker.