Chapter Five- A New Place

Rear Admiral William Black walked through the corridors of the LNS Jefferson. The ship was brand new, and the sparkling clean halls and rooms were a testament to that fact. He made his way to the bridge. The bridge was huge, and filled with all sorts of new equipment. He walked around and looked at all of the different scanners, weapon stations, and viewscreens. It was an incredible ship, top of the line.

Black then made his way up to the command post. It was at the very top of the ship. This was the part of the ship where the admiral would sit. He would watch the ship, and his fleet, and make decisions. This would be his place.

Black exited the lift and walked into the room. There were big viewports all the way around, and towards the center of the room, there was a huge chair. He walked over, and sat down in it. On the sides, there were a variety of screens. The chair faced a massive viewport. He looked out at the prow of a Liberty battleship. The Jefferson was the newest ship in the Liberty fleet, and it was the top of its class.

He looked down at the screens on the chair. One had a schematic diagram of the ship, and gave damage reports. Another told him how much power was currently available to the ship. Another told him about the weapons. They were the best part. Four huge, slow firing guns were mounted on the ship's bow. They were for fighting other capital ships. There were also a variety of missile turrets, flak turrets, and secondary turrets.
"You haven't even seen the best part, sir." Said Captain Fox.

Captain Fox was the Captain of the Jefferson. He would manage the command of the ship, while Black would manage the whole fleet. In his task force, he had the Jefferson, his old three cruisers, and a new cruiser-- (the Glory)--four fighter wings for the cruisers, and three more wings on the Jefferson. The whole group was named Task Force 3. They were yet to receive deployment orders.

"What would that be?" Black asked.

"Let me show you."

Fox walked over to the chair that Black was in. He looked at the damage screen. He hit a few buttons on the screen. The schematic on the screen began to pulsate a blue color. 'Shields Online', came up on the screen.

"This thing has shields?"

"Yes sir, it does indeed. However, they drain our energy, so only activate them in battle."

"Sounds good."

This ship was truly top of the line.

A few days later, Admiral Black was sitting in his office, when a mail message popped up on his screen. The message contained orders for him to go and escort a Liberty diplomat to Waterloo Station in orbit around Planet New London. His trip would take him first to San Diego, where he would pick up the diplomat, then on to Bretonia through Magellan. His entire task force was ordered to leave the next day. He told an aide to have all of his ships prepped for departure.

He had a feeling about what this mission was for. Tensions with Bretonia had been escalating, and this diplomat was probably being sent to smooth things over with the Bretonians. Assassinations were a possibility, because Kusari could hire a variety of criminal groups in Magellan, or in Bretonia itself to attempt to kill this ambassador, so the High Command must have considered this moderate-risk task a good one for Black's first job as an Admiral.

The next day, Admiral Black was sitting in the command post of the LNS Jefferson. He watched as the ship pulled away from the shipyard. Waiting for them were the other ships in the task force. The force made their way to the California system after the Jefferson had met up with them. Black was impressed, Captain Fox was doing an excellent job of running the ship. They encountered no problems on the way to San Diego.

When they arrived at the San Diego, Black boarded a small, armored transport to dock with the station. On board, the ambassador was waiting for him.

"Admiral Black?"

"Yes, that would be me. And you are?"

"Diplomat Charles Hapgood."

"Nice to meet you. Now, we have no time to lose, we need to back on board my ship."

"Of course Admiral."

During the trip to Magellan, Hapgood stayed at the command post. He claimed that it was because he wanted to see everything, but Black knew that was not it. Hapgood was watching Black, he wanted to make sure Black didn't make any mistakes. Black talked to Hapgood as they traveled through the jump. Hapgood was an aging gentleman, who had a very commanding presence. Black learned that he had been Liberty's finest diplomat for over twenty years, and had been a diplomat of some kind for over thirty. Apparently he was being sent to Bretonia to attempt to 'work things out' with the Bretonian government.
They arrived in Magellan and went to Freeport 4. The trip in the trade lane was uneventful. Freeport 4 reported of no hostile activity in the area, so they continued to the Manchester Jump Gate. Halfway there, Black noticed a large, dark cloud up ahead. He had been to Magellan before, and he hadn't recalled ever seeing such a cloud before. He asked Hapgood about it and he said that he had no idea either. The task force proceeded into the cloud.

Partway through, Black could make out the next trade ring. However, it was bent out of shape, as if it had taken incredible damage. The ships flew through the damaged ring. They stopped.

"Why have we stopped, Captain?" Black asked over the intercom.

"The trade ring has been damaged, sir. Looks like a pirate attack. It happened pretty recently too, sir."

Black had a hunch.

"Scan this field, tell me what it is made of."

"One moment, sir. It appears to be made of fuel and engine parts, plus some radiation."

"Take us towards the source of it all."

"Okay, but that will take us away from the trade lane."

"Just do it, Captain."

The ship turned. They moved deeper into the field. Black could begin to make out shapes. Then, he could see it all. All the carnage. Scattered throughout the field were wrecks. Dozens of them. He saw the bow of a battleship, half a cruiser, a scorched Defender. The strangest thing, however, was that they were all Liberty wrecks. It had to have been a full battlegroup, and there were no dead enemies. It was impossible. No full Liberty battlegroup could be destroyed that easily. In fact, he had no knowledge of any battlegroup ever being fully decimated like this. Nothing like this had ever happened before.