Chapter Twenty-Six
"Orders are made to be followed even if it means turning your back on glory to become the saviour of another" - Admiral Patrick Williams
December 2, 2067, 16:40 hours, Outside Paragumo Island, Bridge of the Sparta
On the bridge of the Sparta, a massive Floating Fortress vessel currently off the shore of Flag Admiral Duinhir's island, a figure not really known in the politics of pirates was observing the smoking ruins of one of the greatest commanders on the Forsaken Seas. Rear Admiral Patrick Williams was a recently promoted officer, once the commander of a fleet of Sea Wolves that were now acting as escorts for Admiral Alalcomenous' massive armada. Originally, this magnificent vessel was under the command of Alalcomenous' second in command, Vice Admiral Themistocles. But as he was left in charge of Alalcomenous' Outpost, codenamed Delphi, he took over command of the Sparta. With fiery red hair that was left long, but wrapped in a ponytail and piercing green eyes, his looks and personality were in stark contrast to the calm and collected Admiral Alalcomenous or the brooding and always plotting Themistocles.
"Rear Admiral, the Athens is hailing us," said his communications officer Lieutenant Alexis Hastings, looking straight at the Rear Admiral as he sat in his command chair.
"Put it on speakers Lieutenant Commander," Williams answered with a smile. He knew that the only reason Alalcomenous would hail him is if he decides to give him an assignment. And usually, Alalcomenous gives Williams the assignments that would most likely require heavy combat, something Williams delighted in.
"Alalcomenous to Sparta, are you receiving? Over"
Reaching up for the radio, Williams answered, "This is Sparta Actual, and we are receiving."
"Proceed to coordinates 43311,188 and ascertain the condition of the island at those coordinates. There will most likely be some heavy fighting, so you are to bring your escorts. I want a full report as soon as you get information," Alalcomenous answered, his voice collected and calm, yet seething with a fury Patrick never heard from the Admiral.
"Understood Admiral. Proceeding as ordered. Sparta out," Williams said as Alexis disconnected the comms, "Alexis, patch me through to the Atropos and the Clotho."
"Patching through to both ships," Alexis answered. The Atropos and Clotho were the flagships of both Sea Wolf Fleets Alalcomenous brought with him on his crusade, named after two of the Greek Goddesses of Fate. Which was appropriate as they have been through multiple battles and have determined the fate of many a Draconian and Forsaken, "You are patched in sir."
"Williams to Clotho and Atropos, receiving? Over."
"Clotho Actual reporting sir."
"Atropos Actual receives you sir."
"Both of your fleets are with me. Head to coordinates 43311,188 with Sparta and the rest of Beta Fleet," Williams said, "Alexis, forward the coordinates to the rest of the fleet."
The Sparta slowly moved forward, turning its massive bulk towards the general direction of the coordinates he received. The rest of the Sparta's task force followed, cutting through the waves to their destination.
"Approximate travel time is thirty minutes sir," reported the helmsman, Ensign Marcus Pace as Williams reclined back in his command chair with a smirk on his face. As mentioned before, this officer delighted in intense combat and the thought of destroying Draconian ships and advancing the glory of his people always brought a smile to his face. Thirty minutes till battle. Thirty minutes till more Draconians fall to the Sparta's guns
Meanwhile, a great menace was about to terrorize an unprepared island…
From across the seas, beyond the horizon, as some of the Forsaken people went about their business of survival in this world, two massive ships sailed towards an unknown destination. With hulls the colour of darkest black and bristling with some of the largest and most technologically advanced weapons to ever make it to the high seas, these Dreadnoughts as the old world would classify such terrifying vessels were built to destroy almost anything in their path. And their path was taking them towards an island inhabited by what the Draconians call either an 'old ally' or 'a gnat that hasn't been killed in far too long'.
"Admiral Serka, we are coming up to our destination," said the Draconian helmsman with obvious glee in his voice, even if it was distorted by the mask on his face.
A sinister chuckle responded to the helmsman from the Admiral himself. As Serka looked out the bridges bulletproof glass window atop his command chair, a feral glare was directed straight at the island, "Good helmsman, we'll see to it that these Forsaken people get taught a lesson that will be etched into the survivor's brains for all time. Signal red alert. It is time we go into battle in the name of the Empire," said Serka with what would be a sinister smile on his face as the klaxons started going all across his ship.
December 2, 2067, 16:41 hours, Captain Rowan Duinhir's Outpost, Lookout Tower
"By God, what has come to us now?" said the lookout man as he saw through his telescope the two Dreadnoughts coming straight for the island Outpost of Flag Admiral Duinhir's wife, Rowan. Unlike her husband, Rowan just wanted to be left in peace, though she knew maintaining a sizeable fleet was necessary to survive in these harsh times. It was because of these differences that the two went their separate ways after Alalcomenous, their son was born. She didn't want to play in Artan's "war games".
The lookout man hastily rang the bell behind him that signalled an impending attack and the inhabitants of the island knew what was coming and immediately dropped everything they were doing and ran for the bunkers nestled underground in case of an attack. The lookout man motioned for an Ensign to come near him as he hastily told the young boy, "Alert the Captain and do whatever she tells you to do. We got Draconian Dreadnoughts on the horizon" The Ensign looked absolutely frightened by that statement. Even boys as young as him knew about the dreaded ship, the biggest one in the Draconians arsenal. Only time they ever sent these behemoths out was when a Forsaken person needed to be completely eradicated. "Go kid! We have no time to lose!" shouted the lookout man due to the fact the Ensign was scared stiff.
As the Ensign ran towards the Captain's HQ, the lookout man came down from his high perch and followed the civilians to the bunkers. In Rowan's Headquarters, as she was finishing up a few things of paperwork, she heard the bell ring outside and looked up from her papers. Immediately standing up and heading out of her office door, she knew something terrible was about to happen. As she stepped out of her Headquarters front door, the Ensign came screeching to a halt in front of her. "What's the problem Ensign?" She asked Calmly.
"D-D-Draconians mam. Draconian Dreadnoughts are coming," he stammered, his knees shaking horribly due to fright.
Rowan's eyes lowered to the young boy as she kneeled to his height, "We will be okay Ensign, just go alert the Gun crews to the approaching threat and then get to the shelters. We'll ride this out just like any other threat," she answered, in an attempt to lift the boy's spirits in this time of crisis. As the Ensign gulped and nodded his head before running in another direction, Rowan looked up towards the sky, as if expecting an answer to be written in the wispy cirrus clouds over her base. We'll ride this out like every other threat. I hope those words don't come back to haunt me.
She thought as she made her way to the bunkers as well, but to a different part of the complex. Her underground CIC was built so in case of an invading fleet coming into her base, she can direct the bases defenses here and not be killed by any weapons fire. It also housed some of the technology she has left over from her days in the Republican guard, similar to the assets her husband and her son possessed. Several of her top officers were already crowing a large table with a representation of her base, in three dimensions. This was another relic from her days in the Republican Guard, amazingly it still worked as well as it did in those days, thanks to her technicians miracle work. With this piece of technology, they can actually see how the attack is going as it happens, "Status of the Draconian ships gentleman?"
"They will be entering the bases channels in 2 minutes mam," answered a tall, lean young man with sandy blond hair and thin rimmed glasses, "What I'm wondering mam is, why did the Draconians send only 2 ships?"
"These are Dreadnoughts, Commander Todd. Two is more than enough fire-power to bring against a well defended base. First, we need to send out a sector wide signal, giving our location coordinates. Alert them that another island is about to be attacked by the Draconians and request any assistance. Are our gun crew's ready for the attack?" She asked Todd nodded his answer "Good, we'll fight this threat until we can't fight no more," Rowan answered as she watched the three dimensional interpretation of what was about to take place beyond her bunkers walls. As the anticipation builds, she watched the three dimensional Dreadnoughts come closer and closer to the mouth of her bases channel and just when they were in range of her bases missiles and mortar defenses she uttered only one word, "Fire."
December 2, 2067, 16:47 hours, somewhere on the ocean, Bridge of the Sparta
"Rear Admiral, I am receiving a distress call. It's playing on all channels," said Hastings as Williams turned his command chair around to look at her.
"Play the message on speaker so I can hear it," answered Patrick as he turned back around to look out at the seas ahead.
After pressing a couple of buttons, the entire bridge heard the relayed message from the distress call, "This is Rowan Duinhir's base to all Forsaken people in the sector. We are under heavy Draconian attack. Our coordinates are 43311,188, please send help immediately. I repeat, we are under Draconian attack, our coordinates are 43311,118, please help us."
As the message ended, the Rear Admiral said to the helmsman, "Pace, I want to coax as much speed as you can out of these engines. Go to emergency speed immediately. Hastings, patch a message to the rest of the fleet. Order them to speed up to the Sparta's maximum speed immediately.
"With our new speed, we'll be at Rowan's base in ten minutes sir," answered Ensign Pace as the Fortress experienced a sudden burst of speed along with the rest of the fleet. As the Sparta now made its way towards Rowan's base with all haste, "Hastings, transmit this message to Rowan's base," Williams said as he added, "This is Task Force Sparta. Heading towards your coordinates as we speak. Approximate arrival time is ten minutes."