CHAPTER 12

FIRST FLIGHT OF THE DELPHINUS

I sighed as I stepped out of the lift, and onto the Bridge.

This was it. The big one. My first real command, (The Legacy was Amelia's not mine.) and what a command.

The bridge was busy as it could be. Jim sat at the Helm console, practicing using the controls as the Computer talked him through it.

Silver and Mikhail manned the gunner and Engineering consoles, Silver was the Gunner, Mikhail was the Engineer.

Susan manned the Nav console, and Peter sat at Science.

Jenny stood beside the Captain's Chair, decked out in a uniform borrowed from Amelia. She would be my First Officer, seeing Amelia had promised not to come.

"CAPTAIN ON THE BRIDGE!" the computer called out.

Jenny looked over and smiled as the others stood up from their consoles and coming to attention.

I smiled and adjusted my hat, the final gift Fina gave me.

Apparently it had been Vyse's hat before, and looked like the hats worn by British navel officers.

It was white for the most part, aside from a black band around the edge. At the front was a black cap, with gold feathers embroidered on it, above the peak was His symbol: the Planet Arcadia, surrounded by six of it's seven moons.

I sighed as I looked around the bridge, before heading up to the Captain's Chair and pressing the intercom button, ship-wide.

"Attention, this is your Captain speaking," I began, "This, is going to be a delicate operation for us. This mission, is going to be bigger then anything we've ever done. I know most of you have barely seen a proper battle, let alone fought one. To be truthful, even I haven't done anything this big in the five years I've served the Empire. But, in my opinion, you are the best, and finest crew a man could ever hope for. So let's do this, not for the glory of the Empire, but for the peace and prosperity of the Galaxy, and the future. That is all."

I sighed as I clicked the intercom off and looked around the Bridge.

"Shall we begin?"

Jenny nodded, before turning to the rest of the Bridge crew, "All hands to stations! Pre-flight checks, go!"

"Helm control: Check." called Jim.

"Main Batteries: Check.

Secondary Batteries: Check.

AA gunners: Standing by." Silver followed on.

"Engines are at one hundred percent.

Shields are at one hundred percent." Volenski continued.

"Navigation: A okay." Walden said.

"Sensors are at one hundred percent of capacity." Peter finished.

I fished out the map that Fina had given me, before tapping in the code and placing it in an indention in the floor.

Almost immediately a green ball seemed to shoot up from the ground, the thousands of destinations twinkling like stars.

"The Gateway is open," I heard Amelia's voice come over the intercom, "Your cleared for your flight path. Good Luck Daniel."

I nodded, even though I knew she couldn't see it.

"Thank you Amelia…I love you. Delphinus out."

I once again resumed my seat in my Chair, Jenny standing beside me.

"Docking clamps released," Peter called out.

"Ahead one third," I called out as Jim nodded.

The ship groaned as she moved from her moorings, her engines glowing bright green as she headed towards the green opening.

"Commander Desoto, select our destination: Planet Earth,"

Jenny nodded as she headed over to the map, pressing the object to open the gate.

The Gateway in front of us closed momentarily, only to be replaced a second later by a starry sky, the murky grey sphere of Earth in the corner, the yellow sun directly ahead.

"Engage Crystal shield," I ordered.

The computer bleeped for a moment, before the shield surrounded us, appearing out of nowhere in the form of hexagons, before disappearing when the shield was complete.

"Shield initialised Captain," Volenski called out.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, this is it," I sighed, "Mr. Hawkins, ahead full. Mr. Silver, the moment we emerge from the Gate, you may fire at will. Have the AA guns on full alert."

"Aye Aye Sir!"

The Delphinus roared through the Gateway, her hull glistening in the light of the Solar System's Sun. No sooner had the ship cleared the green portal, then the ships guns started firing. Seeing the Procyon Armada had been caught off guard, a good deal of ships went down in the first volley.

Soon the plasma balls started flying, harmlessly bouncing off the Crystal shield like flies.

I sat in my Chair, my hands gripping the armrests tightly.

"I don't know what Fina did to this ship, but whatever she did, it's working!" Peter called from his console, "No matter how many shots they fire, they just bounce right off!"

The AA guns took down the smaller craft with the greatest of ease, the miniature moonstone energy balls slicing through the smaller ships while the larger cannons took out the battleships.

"Keep us on our course Mr. Hawkins," I called out.

"Aye aye sir. I… what the!"

Suddenly that feeling came over me again. A cold wash of darkness and death, coursing me to double over.

"Sir, something's on the front deck," I barely heard Armstrong, "but I don't know how it got there."

"Noycorp…" I whispered through my teeth.

"What are your orders sir?" Jenny asked as she rushed to my side.

I stood up straight. Fina had been afraid this would happen. I turned to Jenny and handed her my hat.

"keep this warm for me ok?" I said with a smile, "I'll take care of it,"

"Daniel…" Jenny trailed off as she took the hat.

I smiled and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be back," I said reassuringly, "I've got a promise to keep to Amelia, Fina…and now you."
she looked up at me, her blue eyes rimmed with tears, before standing straight and nodding.

"Aye sir,"

I nodded back and headed for the Front deck.

This, would be my toughest fight yet.