2976.263
GFS Dauntless, Calliope-IX orbit
Dakona System
The lift was quiet, despite half a dozen other crew being on it with her. It didn't take much to realize something was wrong with how everything had gone silent. It wasn't much people looking at her, but there was a definite sense of dread as the lift rose up the main elevation shaft. Various stops occurred as shipsmen hurried to their combat stations, leaving Samus to herself by the time she reached the command deck. The lift opened to a now very busy hallway, but the layout was labeled enough to know where she was going without distracting the crew. The Vixiv might have been a vastly smaller ship, but standard design philosophy for Confederation Fleet ships tended to stick to proven layouts.
It didn't take her long to reach the command bridge. The entry panel was tapped, leading to a protracted opening cycle. The doors slid open just in time to see the primary viewscreens and the events going on in orbit over Calliope-IX, something she had not been expecting to witness first hand. Streaks of plasma rained down onto the moon's surface, the raging fire of the bombs erupting into a series of atmosphere eating waves, each cascading into another as they spread. Soon, the planet's biosphere was igniting, the waves of incinerating fury washing over the surface. Even in the academy, she had never seen this before, not even in simulation form. And it struck her with horror as her mind could imagine and hear the thousands of voices crying in fear, in agony, and silenced.
"Helm, get us out of here and on the way to FS-176. There's nothing else we can do."
She was still staring at the images on the viewscreens when she realized that Dane was now looking directly at her. The shift in gravity alignment was noticeable when the Dauntless began its heavy thrust away from the moon and the attacking Kromus ship, then the lurch of crossing the threshold into slipspace. And yet, nothing could take away from the attentions now on her, and the fact she was very much sticking out like a sore thumb didn't help her mood.
"Samus, I think you had best get to quarters and try to relax after what you've been through." The admiral gave a gesture for the young woman to be escorted away, his face worn with everything they had just ensured. "I'll have some real food delivered once we're out of the woods."
"Admiral, we need to talk about Zebes." She didn't even try to hide the issue. "We can't seriously head in there with only one carrier."
A weary sigh as he nodded to Captain Ran. "The bridge is yours, captain. I'll see to our guest." As he walked across the command landing of the bridge, he waved his hand at Samus, indicating for her to accompany him. "The Daedalus battle group is already heading out there ahead of the Seventh Fleet. I assumed your message was a warning of an immanent invasion attempt, so that should be enough to hold the Kromus off while the Seventh mobilizes."
She blinked, brushing a frayed bang away from her eyes and shaking her head. "Sir, that was over a month ago I tried to tell Harper, and none of the people on Calliope would listen." It was odd, and perturbing she realized, as her mind recalled what she had just witnessed, and that they were already racing away at slipspeeds that had crossed over a dozen parsecs already in mere minutes. "That's what I have been trying to tell you. The Kromus weren't on their way, they have already taken Zebes, I left during the invasion."
Concern arched his lips in worried contemplation, while his brow creased after realizing just how badly the delay had been. He was well aware of how long they'd had during the war when the Kromus had made an attempt for Zebes. Just over two weeks for their fastest ships of the time and any vessels that could catch the slipspace wake or tether with those carriers and battlewagons capable of the journey. They'd gotten word last time when the pirates had tripped early warning and defense systems and been forced to take over a week just to reach the inner system region. This time, it had been over a month since the Kromus had actually taken possession of the planet. Something that wasn't supposed to have happened.
"They've had Zebes for over a month now." The horrible implications were sinking in. "Samus, how quickly would they be able to take control of the cryptum under Chozodia? I know that the Ancients buried their greatest ships there, Gray Voice told me about it when the Kromus tried invading twenty-three years ago."
She hesitated. Memories of being in the ancient city and what had almost happened there. "I'm not sure," came Aran's wavered reply. Recalling that bothered her, almost as much as remembering anything from when she had been taken in by the Chozo. "They'd have already been burning across the Spur if they had broken in before now, and it would take either the Council or Mother Brain helping them."
That information was both comforting and worrisome at the same time. While Kromus taking slave worlds was not unprecedented, they didn't often worry about such a small population being usable, especially an aging species that was, unknown to most of the galaxy, spiraling toward extinction. But it also meant also that the incredible technologies kept hidden by the living Chozo, the legacies of their own ancestors, had yet to be disturbed.
"I'd hope the Council would never give into whatever passes for Kromus High Command these days, and an aurora unit precursor certainly should have safe guards." Yet even his own words clearly did not dispel his concern. The Kromus had held Zebes for over a standard month, and no word at all had come to alert them save the warning that Samus had tried to deliver to deaf ears on Calliope-IX. Access to the hidden cryptum under the ancient city or not, there was still plenty the planet held to make it a worry. "We should be making system in under eighteen hours, I want you to get some food and get rest before we arrive and throw the Kromus out again."
And despite his comforting words, Samus still did not have confidence that this was in any way such a simple task.