Episode 5: Baptism of Fire

Wildstar stood stock still on the dark, silent bridge of the old warship. The only sounds were the captain's, Venture's, and Wildstar's quiet breaths, along with the usual computer hum of the ship's systems.

Derek took a deep breath and held it, straining his ears to catch even the barest hint of the coming of the enemy.

Captain Avatar sat perched in his captain's chair, also listening, waiting.

Venture could barely see the outline of either man in the low glow of the ship's instruments.

To Mark, the silence was almost unbearable. That was the stark difference between him and Wildstar, Derek had little fear. After all, he'd faced uncertainty his entire life. What was one more day of not knowing where he'd be tomorrow? Mark, on the other hand was uncomfortable not knowing exactly where he would be a week from now, much less tomorrow. For Mark, this unexpected jaunt out to the strange ship was rather unnerving. He stood still, concentrating on what he would do if the enemy really was out there and suddenly appeared. If they weren't there, he would drag Derek back to the barracks and try to get some sleep.

The bridge remained deathly silent.


"It's been hours since I told you to destroy that ship," Colonel Gantz fumed at the man who showed him the Eratites' buried construct. "Why isn't it scrap yet?"

"Sir, we had… setbacks… No one knows why. It's almost like someone knew we were planning on making a run on the site and saw to it that we couldn't until now."

"Hmm, a saboteur?" Gantz asked, eyebrow raised, and the subordinate momentarily thought he might be off the hook, then Gantz exploded, "You expect me to believe that? You're all lazy and incompetent! That's the real reason the Eratite ship isn't destroyed yet. Just go and get rid of it. You may even enlist Din* and her sister-ships. Just get this done!"

"Yes, sir…" the man saluted the Colonel and scurried away.

Once the man was gone, Gantz sat down heavily in his chair and sighed, "Hilde…" he thought, the image of his daughter appearing in his mind, unbidden, "If only I had known… I would have hidden you away from them; they never would have found you, and I wouldn't have to be out in his awful, lonely galaxy…"

The day his daughter Hilde was abducted by Deun the Usurper – the elder brother of Gamilon's current ruler, Leader Desslok – he was sent out here to help oversee this endeavor. General Dommel Lysis, head of the Gamilon Royal Navy saw to it that the troops were battle-ready and that Gantz received the resources and training to lead this group. But no matter what he did, Gantz always ended up thinking about getting his daughter back – having her safe again.

Right now no one knew where Hilde was. Even after Leader Desslok deposed his wayward brother there was no information released that might lead them to Hilde's location. It was all beginning to seem like a sick joke to Gantz. How could this have happened? How could it still be happening?

Every day Gantz waited for news that they found his daughter – alive and well, he hoped. Despite his hopes, day after day passed with no word. And now there was this new mess with the Eratites and their new-found will to fight back. Why didn't they just give up? Surely it would be easier than dying slowly from the toxins that were being pumped into the planet. If they surrendered, Leader Desslok offered to make them a territory subject to Gamilon. They would still have to house the entire population of Gamilon – and the remaining two inhabitants of Iscandar – but they would at least be alive.

They were stubborn men, these Eratites – had to learn everything the hard way it seemed.

"Colonel?" the voice of the man he dismissed several minutes ago echoed into the room via the communications system.

"What?" Gantz growled.

"Din and her fleet are ready to take off, Sir."

"Then go already! Stop making me wait for a victory that should have been ours days ago."

"Yes, Colonel Gantz. We're taking off now, Sir."

With that, the base rumbled as the ships launched and began their short journey through the solar system to Erats. They would be there in a couple of hours. Until then, there was nothing to do except wait.


Alarms erupted from everywhere at once. Wildstar flew into action, taking his position at the combat chief's chair.

Venture couldn't move for the barest second before the shock of the imminent threat sent him jumping to his friend's side. He took the navigator's chair – though what either of them could do with the ship still entrenched in crusted ocean muck, Mark wasn't sure.

Derek stared out the blocked bridge viewport, as though his eyes could melt away the grime crusted there.

"Enemy fleet approaching your position, Captain Avatar," The same voice that announced the coming of the scout planes days earlier now heralded the coming of something much more deadly.

"Understood," Avatar replied. "Evacuate the area directly beneath us."

"Yes, Captain."

"Captain Avatar?!" Nova's welcome voice pierced through the shrill alarms as the nurse appeared at the back of the bridge, her hair mussed and face still sleep-filled, but her eyes were wide awake, "Is the radar operational yet?"

"Yes," Avatar replied.

Nova nodded and within a second she was behind the radar console, pushing buttons and watching screens and readouts. Within a ten-count, the radar was ready, "Enemy ships thirty thousand mega-meters directly above us. Five battleships and… hundreds of fighters! They know we're here!"

Avatar nodded and for an instant, he said nothing, then to the surprise of all three young people he said, "Orion, take us up."

"What?!" Derek questioned, utterly taken aback. "They'll squash us like bugs if we do that!"

"Sit down, Wildstar," Avatar commanded.

Derek slowly obeyed, just now realizing that, in his declaration, he'd risen all the way up out of his chair.

"Cap'n! She's a bit rusty; this engine hasn't been tested yet!" The old Irishman's voice crackled back through the ship's comm system.

"Now is as good a time as any to test it. The more we know now, the easier it'll be for us later."

"If there is a later," Wildstar mumbled under his breath.

"Gentleman," Avatar addressed Derek and Mark, "And Miss Forrester," he nodded to Nova, "This is your baptism of fire."

Nova nodded, her jaw set in a determined line, eyes fierce. Derek and Mark nodded grimly, ready.

Ten long seconds passed, ten agonizing seconds of the enemy drawing ever closer to their defenseless position.

Then, the ground quaked beneath them. Gently at first, then violently, the ground, caked about the hulk of the long-dead ship loosened, blown away from the site by the force of the rising ship.

Con tower, main guns, upper decks, lower decks, and finally, the lower bridge all emerged from the dirt. The ship raised its proud head above the grave it was sentenced to for too many decades and stared up at the enemy now descending upon it, as if to say, "This is my home, and you'll not have it!"

"How is this happening?" Wildstar asked as the dirt, caked over the front view port, began to crack and give way under the engine's shaking. Piece after piece of debris crumbled away to reveal the radiation-ridden world around them, eerily glowing in the stone-cold night.

Derek had never seen Earth like this – after the sun went down. No one was allowed out here at night; it was too dangerous. If a man's suit breached, he froze in minutes. At least during the day the only thing an unlucky soul would get was some exposure to the radiation, which could – most of the time – be treated if the victim was found quickly enough, but at night… if trouble came, death followed it swiftly.

This night was even deadlier still because now, Gamilon ships were descending on them and the untested Earth ship was only equipped with a crew of four, plus the old captain.

"Not great odds," Thought Wildstar, "Ah… so what?" he shook the thought of his impending doom out of his mind. After all, he had no family to go home to after this, so what did he have to lose?

He stole a glance over at Venture. Mark's face was white as a sheet and if the situation hadn't been so dire, Derek would have had a good laugh at Venture's expense. Not this time though – at least, not until they got out of this.

"Forrester, how long until the enemy is within firing range?" Avatar asked.

"Two minutes, Captain," Nova replied from her station.

"Wildstar, start charging weapons. They'll need some extra time to prepare."

"Yes, Captain," Derek acknowledged and began the preparation sequence he drilled over time and time again over the past many days.

"Ninety seconds," Nova announced.

"Weapons are charging," Derek announced and watched as the readout for the main guns changed, their energy levels rising closer and closer to the one hundred percent mark.

"Sixty seconds."

The energy level barely squeaked above the thirty percent marker.

"Captain, we don't have time!" Wildstar suddenly blurted, "We're not going to have enough power!"

"Yes, we will," Avatar insisted. "Be patient."

Derek gritted his teeth as he watched the indicator rise too slowly. Finally it reached the fifty percent mark.

"Fifteen seconds!" Nova's voice had a hint of anxiety in it now.

"Captain, we can't do this!" Derek shook his head, seeing no human way possible to finish charging the ship's guns in time to meet the incoming ships.

"Yes. We can!" The captain repeated as he saw a wild look begin to creep into Wildstar's eyes. "Be still! The less time you have, the more you need to use the time you have wisely. Now stop overthinking it and let's do this by the numbers."

Wildstar stared into the captain's face, speechless at the confidence the old man still exuded.

"Five! Four! Three!"

Suddenly the readout lit up brighter than anything Wildstar had ever seen before and the power level soared from half to full in an instant.

"Two!"

"Power at one hundred percent," the computer announced.

Derek was too stunned to react for half a second and just nearly succeeded in picking his jaw up off of the floor in time to hear Nova finish her countdown.

"One! They're in firing range now, Captain."

"Fire at will, Wildstar," Avatar ordered the young man.

Derek took careful aim.

"Firing the main guns now, Captain," Wildstar announced as he let loose a barrage of laser fire into the oncoming horde of planes.


Tall and beautiful, the young queen stood watching as events transpired on the world her people and her sister-world's populace now knew as "Erats."

She saw to it that the message capsule her sister brought to Erats was used as the core of whatever ship the Eratites used to make the long journey to Iscandar.

Because of this, every time the ship used the core in some fashion, or whenever it was in distress, she could see everything happening onboard ship for a limited time.

This was the first instance it happened and it thrilled her to be able to see the faces of some of the brave men and women who were making the journey. They had no idea who she was, or why she wanted to help them, but they accepted her message in good faith, and she intended to do everything in her power to help them reach Iscandar alive and well and return home safely, bringing healing to Erats.

Gamilon riddled Erats with deadly radiation, but they also helped construct the fabled Rophi Shamayim* - a machine that once restored Iscandar from the brink of annihilation. If it could do that for a planet so far gone as Iscandar once was, surely it could also restore Erats to its former glory.

"By the will of Yahweh…" the young queen thought, "I pray it will be so."

The queen peered into the Eratite ship and watched as hundreds of Gamilon fighters swarmed the single ship. She expected to feel some apprehension at the sight, but found she was not anxious.

Ever since the day she'd first seen the malakhim shl Adonai* with her own eyes, she began to sense things she was never able to before - things that once would have troubled her no longer did, and things she would have never noticed before now stood out clearly.

"You will make it, my Eratite friends. Do not despair at the host that has encamped against you. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand… but Yahweh will see to it that you remain unharmed," The woman smiled faintly as she watched the exchange.


"They're… they're gone!" Wildstar exclaimed less than a minute later, "Wiped out!"

"Yeah," Venture agreed, stunned at the ferocity Wildstar exhibited as he mowed down the entire group of planes trying to turn them back into scrap.

"Those are some guns, Captain," Wildstar turned to look back at Avatar.

"They are," the old man replied, "But it looks like that was just the beginning."

Nova agreed and announced, "Three warships now approaching our position. They aren't sending out any more fighters."

"Yeah, because they don't have any more," Derek smirked.

"Be that as it may, be wary of the," Avatar instructed, "Ships less powerful than these were at Pluto…"

Derek's brow furrowed at the mention of the slaughter at Pluto. His jaw tightened and he waited the intolerably long time it took for the warships to get into weapons' range.

Finally, the first of the three ships got just close enough for Derek to hit it.

"Die, filth," he growled as he shot a gigantic hole right through the center of the alien ship.

The second warship, not anticipating its companion's sudden demise sailed right into Wildstar's firing range just as he began his second salvo.

The third warship stopped just out of the ship's firing range.

"Come on! Just a little closer, you coward," He challenged the ship.

Derek taunted the destroyer over and over hoping that it would dance into his range so he could blow it out of the sky just as he had the two other ships and their fighters, but it just… sat there.

Derek finally slammed his fist into the console and stood half-way up out of his seat. "Come on already!" he shouted at the enemy. Let me finish this!"

Despite this final challenge, the third ship didn't drift any closer. Instead, two seconds later, it turned tail and ran.

There was silence on the bridge for a moment before Venture said, "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it… We really can beat them with this thing!" he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Nova looked up from her post, a triumphant smile on her face, "That's not all we can do," she said, holding up a tablet computer which now displayed an image of the ships they just faced. "We also just got a detailed scan of that warship. Consider it one of the first of many entries we'll be able to make about the Gamilons' ships."

"Well done, Forrester," Avatar praised the young woman. "You got information on the fighters as well, I assume."

"Of course," she replied, tapping the screen a few times and bringing up the information she collected on the smaller planes.

"Very good work, all of you," Avatar addressed his three-person crew. "Venture, set her down. A crew will be in here all night moving her to the underground hangar we prepared for her."

"Yes, Sir," Venture acknowledged and gently set the mammoth vessel back down on the scarred earth.

"Now go get some sleep," the captain ordered, "We all have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. The ship is to be christened, and I'm the one they convinced to do it. I'll see you all in the morning."

With that, they all dispersed, Wildstar and Venture still in a fog from the flurry of events.

"Remind me never to follow you out of the barracks at night ever again," Venture said, finally starting to feel the consequences of the adrenaline rush he just experienced. He was about to crash, and if he didn't find his bed, and quickly, Wildstar was going to have to carry him back.


Episode 5 Notes:
* Din – a ship, name means "Vengeance"
* Rophi Shamayim – what the Earth-dwellers dubbed the "Cosmo DNA"
* Malakhim shl Adonai – angels of God