In only twenty four hours, the GTVA science teams had proceeded through the subspace portal in Alpha Centauri. They were escorted by the Vasudan 2nd fleet, led by the GVD Vasuda, the destroyer from the repair yard that the Swords had guard, so very long ago.
The science teams had fourteen Faustus science vessels, along with an aging Fenris cruiser that served as the leader of the fleet. Each Faustus vessel had an array of labs and resources for scientific research. Their names were simply Research 1 through Research 14. Their job was to begin to understand how the ring worked.
It was an enormous task, one made even greater by the shear size of the ring. To Chris, it really didn't matter. He was seated in the mess hall, at a small two person table. He spooned his food slowly. He wasn't really hungry, but he tried to eat anyway.
"What wrong?" Anya asked from across the table.
"I don't know." Chris replied honestly. "I've got this nagging feeling of dread. Of what I don't know. We're not even on duty."
"Maybe that's just it."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we've been through so much recently, from the action in Alpha Centauri to the discovery of this ring. The inaction could just simply be causing you to feel like you're not doing something you should."
"Maybe you're right."
"You know I am." Anya smiled. "I'm a woman, that makes me far more perceptive than you'll ever be. As far as emotions are concerned."
"True." Chris smiled. "Guys can be perceptive though."
There conversation was cut short when an announcement boomed over the Fire Dawn's intercomm system. "All pilots, report to the briefing room. We are now at condition red."
"Condition red, that means battle stations in five minutes!"
Chris and Anya hastily drank some of their beverages before getting up abruptly and racing for the briefing room.
The briefing room was crowed with all of the pilots, from every squadron on the Fire Dawn. Admiral Sean Loyde was standing on a holoprojector, which meant that he was also briefing the pilots from all the other ships in the armada. On the display screen behind him the ring was showed from a real-time camera display.
"The Gate," Admiral Sean Loyde began, "as we've come to call it. Is more than just a subspace portal, as we first thought. The eggheads have determined that it is actually capable of creating a subspace node to any stable node in our galaxy, and seems to connect to a host of other Gates like itself. Their locations are a mystery."
He paused, letting the information sink in. "A computer in the control room contains the information needed to activate the Gate. It also contains records of every usage. That includes where the Shivans and the Harbinger went. GTVA command has given us our instructions. We are to follow the Harbinger, and successfully destroy or capture it. GTVA command would prefer the latter. Since we have no idea what we'll be heading into, I want everyone ready for battle. We launch in twenty minutes, any questions."
Silence answered him. "Alright, everyone head for your flight decks. The deck commander in the hanger will assign ships and weapons. Good Luck.
The Swords were the first to be readied. They were all in brand new Erinyes fighters, armed to the teeth with UD-8 Kaysers, Maxim cannons, and Tempest Hellbats, the newest version of the Tempest dumbfire rocket. Chris was sitting in his cockpit, his fighter primed and ready for a quick start. The engines hummed quietly behind him.
"All right! We're finally doing something." said Louis over the squadron's comm frequency.
"Personally, I prefer nothing." Amy replied. "If we never have to go into combat again, then it'll be too soon."
"Here, here." Nick replied.
"I have a mate on Aldebaran," SiHah commented. "I would like to leave the war so I could be with her."
"You're one of a kind." Chris stated. "Most of us are too young to have wives."
"I am of a proud thirty-six years of age human. I am a child by my species. You are at least an adult by your species, you are never too young, as long as you are ready."
The ship shook as it entered the Gate. "Wow," Jack said in awe. "We're crossing into the unknown."
"To boldly go were no one has gone before." Anya stated. "That should be the motto of the GTVA."
"This is definitely the plus side to this job." Sydney added. "And just think of it, in a few minutes we'll be the first ones out of the ship."
"Most likely into combat." Franz added, with a serious tone.
"True, but we can still hope not." Sydney's tone was optimistic.
The ship shook again, and the order came to launch. Chris rammed the throttles to full and toggled his afterburner, shooting out of the hanger like a lightning bolt, with the squadron in hot pursuit. Chris was shocked at what was in front of them.
The Harbinger was off in the distance, above a planet that was in a state of intense volcanic activity. Even from this far away, they could see the volcanoes erupting. Also above the planet were, three Sathanas juggernauts, two Lucifer superdestroyers, three Rakshasa cruisers, and over a hundred Lilith and Cain cruisers.
A transmission soon was broadcast from the Harbinger. "This is what you've come to destroy, all that remains of the Shivan race. Because of you and your actions, the once proud and strong race of the Shivans, our ancestors are soon to be extinct."
Doubt surged through Chris's mind. How could this be possible, the Shivans were nothing like Terrans, or Vasudans for that matter.
"I don't believe you." Admiral Yaleson replied.
"The Shivans were planning another attempt to wipe you from the galaxy when you decimated their advance fleet in Alpha Centauri, then disaster struck. The Shivan's homeworld, this world you see before you, began to tear itself apart. There is not even time to run now. The only route left open to leave this system is through the Gate."
"You're under arrest for treason against the GTVA, stealing GTVA property, and assault on GTVA personnel and equipment." Admiral Kristine Loyde yelled.
Then another transmission broke into the conversation. It was a series of tones. Chris immediately recognized it as morse code. His fighter's comm system translated it into the message. Human, the traitors speak truth.
"This is impossible. Shivan vessel, transmit again." Admiral Sean Loyde was in shock.
This time, a scratchy voice, obviously from a voice synthesizer answered. "We are the ones you call Shivan." The voice was slow. "We wish to return home. For our species will not live long. We are the Atreasians. We are your ancestors. Years of struggle to survive turned us into who we are, turned us into a mindless species, fearful of others. The destroyers were defeated by us, but only a cost that turned our thriving culture into nothing."
"Then how are you like you are now? You aren't even close to us anymore."
"Many years would result in our change. We used genetic modification to adapt. Our bodies began stronger than our minds. We wish to learn about you."
"Do you even realize what you're saying." The commander of the Harbinger replied, to the Shivans. "These are the destroyers of your legacy. They've come to destroy you."
"They are the chosen race. You turn your backs on your own people. We do not believe traitors."
"Then suffer my wrath." The Harbinger's commander yelled. "For I am Admiral Aken Bosch. I command the destroyers."
Chris noticed at least fifteen jump signatures enter the system. "Uhh, Fire Dawn?"
"The destroyers have been waiting. I command then. I will rule the galaxy!"
Then Chris's targeting computer began to lock onto the new ships. Three of them were the size of Sathanas juggernauts, but shaped spherically with massive beam cannons pointing in all directions. Four of them were shaped like the Sathanas juggernaut, but had smaller engines and longer cannons that were larger, by a factor of five, than the rest of the ship. The remaining ships were about as large as the Saphah frigates, but with protruding from every inch of the ship. Each ship had the erie appearance of a Shivan ship, except that their ships were death black and radioactive green.
"All ships, charge beam cannons." Admiral Sean Loyde yelled.
The three Orion destroyers slowly turned so that they faced broadside with the Harbinger and it's escort fleet of destroyer ships. The Shivan fleet slowly turned and faced the Harbinger as well. Fighters began to spill from the fighter bays on the Shivan ships.
"Human, receive our aid." The Shivans transmitted from their capitol ship. "We transmit all we know. Please.... aid us."
"This is a momentous occasion." Admiral Sean Loyde stated over everyone's comm channel. "Blow the Harbinger apart. FIRE!" He yelled the last word with every ounce of energy he could yell with, as if it could increase the output of the beam cannons.
Every gun on the 6th fleet and the Shivan fleet opened fire simultaneously. Uncountable amounts of energy were poured into the Harbinger. The Harbinger was vaporized in seconds. Then the destroyers attacked, their purple beam cannons instantly cut the Shivan fleet in two. However, their beams missed the 6th fleet. The beam cannon inhibitors worked.
"CHARGE!!!" Sean Loyde yelled. "Fighters, Bombers, hit those ships with everything you've got."
Chris flew point for the entire Terran fighter screen as they charged at the Destroyer ships. As they near, they spotted the thousands of fighters launching from the bays of the Destroyer's largest ships. He picked one and opened fire. His Kayser rounds impacted a set of incredibly powerful shields. The Destroyer fighter fired a pair of missiles.
Chris deployed a pair of countermeasures, and then pursued his target, deafly aware the Anya was staying with him. When he got close in behind, he yanked all of the triggers on his flight stick, sending bolts of Kayser and Maxim rounds into his target. Still, the Destroyer fighter absorbed the rounds.
He reached down and dialed up the energy flow to his Kayser cannons. He then set the cannons to a rotating energy frequency. This time, his cannons punched through the fighter's shields easily and blew it to pieces. Amidst all the battle chatter he yelled, "set your guns to a rotating energy frequency. It will punch through their shields."
He selected another target. This one was harassing Sydney and Franz. Sydney's left engine was already shot up but she was still using her maneuvering thrusters to stay out of the way of the fighter's massive cannons.
Chris rammed his afterburners to catch up. "Together Anya." He stated over the comm to her. Her fighter inched up beside his and opened fire just after he did. They blew their target away in a single pass.
The Firestorm Battalion opened fire just as a lane opened. They poured beam cannons fire into the lead Destroyer ship. They targeted it's core. They were soon joined by the Sathanas juggernauts. After their cannons stopped firing, the Destroyer super ship exploded in a fireball, sending debris chunks the size of frigates in all directions.
All around the destroyer ships, Terran, Vasudan, and Shivan fighters fought side by side against the destroyers. Their efforts were not in vain, but their casualties were steadily increasing. Chris watched as SiHah's green blip turned red, then into a red circle on the squadron display.
"We lost SiHah!" Nick yelled.
"Sydney's disabled." Amy yelled. "Franz, keep her alive."
"I'm working on it." Franz yelled.
"Jack, turn to point zero five. We'll fly cover for Sid and Franz." Louis stated calmly. "Fire on my targets only."
Chris led Anya closer to where Sydney's fighter was slowly drifting farther away from the battle. Franz was circling around close, firing at the three destroyer fighters that were trying to get her. Jack and Louis swooped in, destroying one as Franz hammered another. Chris and Anya strafed the third.
"Support 3 is inbound." Franz stated, we only need to keep her safe a little longer.
A Hygeia support ship quickly raced towards Sydney's fighter, docking quickly. Microscopic robots were then deployed. They quickly swarmed Sydney's engines, repairing them in seconds. "Damage is repair, now reloaded missiles." The support vessel pilot stated. "Rearming and repairing complete mam. You're good to go."
"Swords, status regroup at entry point two." Admiral Kristine Loyde stated firmly. "You're to rendevous with a wing of Boanerges bombers. They are carrying a load of Helios torpedoes."
"Affirmative." Chris replied. "Swords, regroup." He led his squadron out of the melee and briefly, they were without enemy. His ship was only mildly damaged. However, most of the squadron was below fifty percent hull integrity.
Suddenly, the remaining destroyer ships leapt into subspace. Their fighters quickly followed. Chris was shocked. They had won.
He then noticed the massive numbers of casualties. Over 3/4 of the Shivan armada was destroyed, along with an unknown number of fighters and bomber. The 6th fleet was still in good shape, thanks to the beam inhibitors, but they had lost most of their fighter squadrons.
"All squadrons, return to your capitol ships." Admiral Sean Loyde stated, sadness evident in his voice.
Slowly, both the Terran and Shivan fleet began to pick up the pieces of their broken armadas.
End Note: Obviously, I've re-written everything Freespace in these last few chapters. I'm working towards a really wild finish. But I've been fighting a massive amount of writer's bloc recently. I'm going to have to start another story and work on it for a while, but I'll try to keep Devestation coming. Please, read and review and thanks to everyone who reviewed my story thus far.