AN: Here it is ladies and gents, another update, all of the first person POV work has once again been shifted into third person for a better reading experience, it should make things a little easier on the eyes at least, continuity errors and additional songs have been added for your listening pleasure once again what's in the [Play:] brackets was whatever I was actually listening to mid re-write.
If you've not worked out I've some fucking weird tastes in music I'm either A) Not Trying hard enough or B) I've sobered up to the point that I've officially realised that there is no spoon and need to start hitting the bloody liquor harder to get back to normalcy...
yeah... no, I'm nuts don't like it well fuck you and your high horse.
October 7th 2206 EMC [Earth Military Calendar] 2150 CE [Common Era].
Human Systems Alliance Space, Frontier Colonial Systems.
Ragnar-Alpha Sector, Ragnar super gas-giant.
SSV LION R-106, En-route to the Executive Officer's Quarters.
[Play: Minutes Til Midnight: Bulletproof Dreams – Gospel of the Throttle]
The walk to the Lion's CIC was informative to Ka'mara to say the least, every hallway had pneumatic jacks lining both sides of the corridors clearly marked in a distinctive yellow and black striped pattern some corridors even had the Primary Superstructure running through the centre of the corridors at odd angles, making the journey somewhat unique having to duck or manoeuvre around the two metre by two metre thick titanium struts.
Also unique to the Lion seemed to be the constant vibrations in the deck every couple of minutes as trams travelled the length breadth and depth of the ship, additionally there was copious amounts of cargo netting bolted to the ceiling.
Ka'mara would watch as a human crewmen would jump up and climb into the net whilst another who already occupied it would drop down onto the deck before moving off to whatever duties they had to do.
Without even breaking his stride or looking towards her captain Spruce spoke up beside her. "Our crew is broken into battle-buddies, teams of two, one man will run a shift for twelve hours whilst the other does four hours of light duties and rests for eight, the cargo nets up there to provide a place to rest up near their posts so they don't have to travel hundreds of metres to their barracks, they get two thirty minute breaks whilst on duty, where a junior crewman will gain work experience by running said post during those breaks."
Ka'mara nodded, it was a unique sight to be sure but she could see the benefit having a second man close to the post during a shift, especially in case of an emergency situation.
Ka'mara was quick to note that the Two For Flinching lacked the cargo netting altogether, so she asked the question burning in her head. "I haven't seen anything like this on the Two For Flinching while I was aboard, is this a standard practice in the Systems Alliance Navy?"
Captain Spruce shook his head in the negative in response before replying. "It was my own idea really, the Admiralty disapproved of the practice until they realised just how effective it was to have crewmen on a sort of hot-standby in case of an emergency, it's being trialled throughout the reserves currently to collect some hard data on it, other than that though it's not really a thing for those ships in frontline service."
Ka'mara could also see the logic behind the decision the Admiralty had made, they wanted the facts, the pro's and con's as it were to utilising such a method, it needed testing but to do so on frontline vessels would be outright dangerous.
As the pair continued to walk Ka'mara spoke up once more. "It's unique to see to say the least, I might even trial it aboard my own vessel when I reach the rank of captain." Ka'mara's mandibles clicked twice, the Turian equivalent of a thoughtful facial expression.
Liam chuckled to himself. "With the citations I read on your file before you arrived aboard, I can quite easily determine that you'll have a promotion waiting for you when you make it back home." Ka'mara slowed to a stop she was a little taken aback if her eyes widening a little when he'd turned to look at her were to go by.
Liam stopped to look at her properly, when Ka'mara finally replied after a couple of seconds to gather her thoughts. "That's a little optimistic of you captain, saying 'when' not 'if' any number of things could go wrong on this trip, we're travelling through uncharted space, this isn't some; what was the phrase I heard, milk run." Liam smiled at her, before gesturing for her to follow him turning a corner into an adjacent corridor.
On the wall was the emblem of the SSV Lion, A lions head with its maw open teeth bared with a crown atop its head, it was backed with a circle with the union jack colouring it, around the edge a golden band with old English styled writing both the name of the SSV LION alongside it's pennant number R-106 around the top, with the words Belli Dura Despicio along the bottom.
Placing his hand onto the worn emblem. "Commander…. No, Ka'mara, this vessel has an interesting backstory, one which you'll experience first-hand on this journey no doubt, the phrase you see Belli Dura Despicio actually belongs to another vessel, the Warspite which this ship was going to be named after. However, with plans changing she was commissioned as the Lion never the less the legacy of the phrase rings true for the Lion, she despises the hard knocks of war and will spite anyone or anything that gets in the way of her mission, I can guarantee you here and now that the Lion will get you and yours back home, safe and sound in mind and body."
Taking a few seconds to admire the emblem that personified the SSV Lion Ka'mara had a feeling that what Captain Spruce said was nothing but the truth, the Lion had a feeling to her like most vessels in any navy in existence, just the feeling was something more.
"Come on Commander we have about sixty metres before we hit CIC and your quarters, it's best we continue our conversation there." Ka'mara replied with an 'Aye Sir' before continuing to follow her commanding officer.
October 7th 2150 CE [Common Era], 2206 EMC [Earth Military Calendar]
Turian Hierarchy Space, Inner Colony Space.
Apien Crest, Trebia System, Palaven, Cipritine City.
Hierarchy High Command.
[Play: Joy Division: Best of British – Love Will Tear Us Apart Again (Remastered)]
Turian High Command knew keeping both Admiral Gavilan Nyx and Commodore Ardella Nyx about the situation around the 72nd Cruiser Battlegroup for the last two months was going to get their collective shin-plates drilled so to speak when the news was published, their daughter was after all the Battlegroup's Second in Command, but they knew it would be better for all parties including the families who had lost their loved ones in a short but brutal knife fight engagement with a Bartarian slaver fleet, that they got every last scrap of information collected and fully inspected.
The picture before them was devastating in more ways than one, however some small amount of respite was given in that the Invictus could be officially declared only as 'missing with all hands' after the gruelling two month investigation after they had successfully recovered the Invictus's Emergency Black Box.
The Black Box was a little known device that had been Incorporated in all Turian naval ship designs ever since they lost contact with multiple colony ships in the early days of Turian colonisation efforts, the devices were designed to be launched either manually or jettisoned automatically a single second before the vessel performed an emergency blind jump, holding the records of both the ship and it's crews status till the very last second.
What worried the Admiralty and the council of Primarch's was the very real possibility of both the Admiral and Commodore going on an absolute war path with the Hegemony over this attack, no one slighted the Nyx's with impunity, nobody who wanted to live a long life that is.
What else was worrying was the fact that the records had shown that the HNV Invictus's Eezo core overloaded causing the vessel to jump way beyond its original design specifications, right into deep space far beyond Relay 314 which had been dormant since its discovery 1000 years ago, the law surrounding dormant Relay's meant that the Council would never permit a rescue attempt, even under exceptional circumstances.
It would be up to the crew of the Invictus to make their own way home, not a pleasant thought to say the least, given the extent of the damage reported, but at least the Admiralty to could make the case on the crews behalf of extenuating circumstances if the Invictus opened the Relay to make it back home.
Right now, however they would be under the gun so to speak to justify themselves to multiple families who had lost their loved ones and kept the knowledge from the public for such an extended amount of time, right now however they collectively had to deal with two very irate officers of the Sixth Fleet and the 113th Heavy Cruiser Battlegroup respectfully.
The Admiralties muttering were broken when the doors into the Admiralty boardroom were shoved apart by Admiral Nyx his slit pupils conveyed all of the information needed, his wife clearly shaking in anger beside him.
"Admiral before this breaks down into shouting match, you know our policy on notifying the kin of those lost in combat we don't share details until we have the full story, so please keep it civil." The Supreme Admiral of the Turian Hierarchy spoke.
Gavilan's fists that were clenched tight enough to draw blood with his own talons relaxed, before releasing a frustrated breath. "Spirits damn it, I know the spirits damned policy, but this feeling, this rage…." Gavilan growled.
Another of the assembled admiralty spoke up beside the Supreme Admiral her feminine voice clear for all to hear. "Not many of us can say we understand the pain both of you are going through, but we can now officially open up to the both of you and the public of the situation surrounding the 72nd Cruiser Battlegroup, though what we are about to state will be infuriating to the highest degree." She paused before continuing."
"The Frigates Valiant, Crucible, Gargant and Haven were all destroyed with all hands lost, though not without gutting the Bartarian Slaver bastards own fleet at the cost of their lives, the Invictus as you both know had recently had its Eezo core overhauled by Quarrian contractors one of which was actively serving as part of the crew, the news is good in the sense that the Invictus survived long enough to gut the spineless bastards fleet further before catastrophic damage was suffered, causing your daughter to order the Invictus to blind jump away from the conflict."
"So, our daughter lives, thank the spirits…." Ardella released a sigh, however Gavilan picked up on the open end to the statement. "There is a but isn't there." A holographic interface illuminated the centre of the boardroom, both officers recognising the issue instantly. "Spirits."
Another admiral chipped in. "The HNV Invictus jumped well beyond it's intended specifications, Admiral, Commodore, your daughter alongside the rest of the surviving Invictus crew have jumped way beyond known space, further than Relay 314 we cannot send a search and rescue operation due to the laws set by our esteemed Citadel Council, they are lost…. However, the Admiralty agrees that if in some way, somehow that the Invictus is able to travel through Relay 314 we will pull every political favour at our disposal to see that the crew is not punished by the law, given the extenuating circumstances of the HNV Invictus's situation." He finished.
The Supreme Admiral picked up the impromptu briefing "As a side note, we're going to be researching if it would be capable to replicate the incident in a controlled manner, but progress as you know with untested equipment is slow going even with Quarrian assistance, it could take years as we will not be involving the Salarian Union or the Asari Republics in this endeavour…. as a means to exploit a technical loophole regarding Relay's."
The session of the Admiralty would go on for some hours, before the pair politely dismissed themselves, to allow the Admiralty some time to gather themselves and their speeches before opening up to the general public regarding the fate of the 72nd Cruiser Battlegroup.
The pair would arrive home to their eldest son who ran the local academy for up and coming citizens of the Hierarchy such as their youngest daughter, currently curled up on the living room couch waiting for the news to come.
"Good news and bad news I'm afraid, Ka'mara is alive of that much is certain, however attempting to get clear of a desperate situation, she ordered the Invictus to blind jump…. The Invictus is way beyond Relay 314, any attempt at sending a search and rescue is going to be blocked by the Citadel Council."
"Spirits…. Always figured she'd be the one to pull off something crazy, but this…." Adrian Nyx muttered to himself out loud, turning to his sister trying to console the distraught youngest of the Nyx family.
Ardella was quick to chip in, to raise her daughter's spirits up just a little. "Listen here Mali, Ka'mara isn't going to let something like this stop her, she promised you that tour of the Invictus you know our family motto, she will never break a promise to family as long as she draws breath, it may take months or years but you will see her." The ten-year-old rubbed the tears from her face as she nodded, she knew Ka'mara was strong no way was her sister going to break her word.
"What now?" Adrian asked.
"Now we take our ten pounds of flesh cracking down on the slaver bastards that cost citizens of the Hierarchy their lives, we'll bleed the slaver markets dry by destroying their infrastructure one spirits damned base at a time, the Hegemony has been running amok for too long, it's about time the Batarian's learned the hard way why you never cross the Hierarchy."
October 7th 2206 EMC [Earth Military Calendar] 2150 CE [Common Era].
Human Systems Alliance Space, Frontier Colonial Systems.
Ragnar-Alpha Sector, Ragnar super gas-giant.
SSV LION R-106, Executive Officer's Quarters.
[Play: The Offspring: Rise And Fall, Rage and Grace – You're Gonna Go Far, Kid.]
Ka'mara had been pleased to find that the previous Executive Officer had taken pride in keeping the executive officers quarters to such a high standard, it was a shame that she had missed the opportunity to meet the previous XO however Ka'mara could tell by how uniform all of the rooms ornamentation was that she would've very much liked the red haired officer with a temperament, if the captains word about the woman was to be believed.
After a solid couple of hours explaining her coming duties, passing nuggets of wisdom on how the crew reacted to certain verbal tones and what could potentially lead to cultural misunderstandings as it were, apparently a long standing tradition to initiate the uninitiated was to have the new starters ask for particular items from the bosun's store which would cause mild embarrassment to the crewman in question.
Glass hammers, long-stands, elbow grease and sky-hooks were common items alongside a plethora of other odd traditions such as lighting an alcoholic beverage called rum mixed with gunpowder of all things to test its proof.
Another tradition was the Gun-Run in which an ancient well looked after artillery piece would be relayed through an obstacle course as a test of endurance and teamwork, crews would actively compete in a championship across human space between vessels, official records would be kept during the championship the top ten teams who completed 100 Gun-Runs' would then compete for the Championship Cup on Earth.
Spending a couple of hour to organise herself, her quarters and her thoughts Ka'mara grabbed the issued dog-tags around her neck giving them a quick once over, Captain Spruce had explained to her that CIC was a closed down sector and that for her to access it she would need to present her tags to the marines guarding one for the four entrances to scan until they could safely recognise her face and not confuse it with any other Turian aboard, stepping out of her quarters it was a brisk 20 metre walk to the closest entrance.
Examining her surroundings Ka'mara quickly realised something about the corridors the same hazard warning stripes as the ones on the pneumatic jacks adorned the deck plates at random intervals each a half a metre long running the breadth of the corridor, quickly realising its purpose as a form of deployable cover, only now did she realise what an absolute hell it would be to board the ship, no doubt various crawl spaces and hidden compartments were scattered throughout the ship as ambush points.
Approaching the marine section guarding CIC the marines snapped to attention no doubtedly recognising the command operations patch she had attached using her uniforms newly applied Velcro strips, which had been attached whilst travelling aboard the Two For Flinching.
"Ma'am please present your tags for an ID scan." Quickly following the marine's instruction, the marine in question brought a scanner to the barcode present on the backside, the small device chimed. "Thank you, ma'am you're clear to proceed inside." The rearmost marines proceeded to open the bulkhead door for her, quickly stepping through the door was resealed shut.
Quickly recognising Captain stood at the war table he turned to look towards her. "Crew make yourselves presentable it seems our XO has decided to pay a visit to CIC." The crew quickly scrambled to attention, one of the ensigns barking out 'XO on the bridge' Ka'mara quickly standing them at ease before allowing them to continue with their duties. "Sorry for the disruption Captain." Ka'mara stated as she stepped towards the war table.
"Don't be XO, it's always good to have the CIC on their toes, keeps the lot of them from slacking off too much." The good captain spoke up for the crew to hear.
"Who us sir? When have we ever slacked off?" One of the senior officers jibed back.
"What you think I haven't noticed you playing Galaga Lieutenant, you can't bullshit a bullshitter and just for that smart-arse comment of yours, you're on clean up duty in waste management once your shift ends." Said Lieutenant muttered a quick shit to himself, the rest of CIC chuckling at their fellow officers' expense.
Standing opposite Captain Spruce, Ka'mara was looking over the screen display as she manipulated the 3D schematic of the SSV Lion and got a real in depth look at the layout of the vessel, much like she had assumed CIC wasn't the only secure sector of the ship, Main Engineering, the Primary and Secondary Magazines, Fuel and water storage the hangers under the flight pod decks as well as the secondary backups, however what surprised her was the position of the FTL Drive or in this case drives, the massive cylindrical objects were placed some distance apart from one another one directly behind the alligator head the other just forward of the engine nacelles.
"Impressive old girl, don't you think, though I can see it on your face that you're confused about something." Liam spoke up from his post opposite her.
"I've seen a lot of old vessels with some quirks but I've never seen an FTL drive quite like this, it's strange." Ka'mara replied.
Liam laughed before replying. "I'm not an engineer but I know enough about my ship to get by, what you're looking at is our method of keeping the quasi-wormholes our ships use to jump stable enough to utilise them, in a way they act like two giant kinetic barrier generators keeping the vessel from being blown to oblivion mid jump by the turbulent nature of said wormholes."
Liam paused before continuing again. "We also learned the hard way during the early days of FTL development that having two of our jump drives in close proximity to one another causes a type of friction which results in some messy situations, so we space them apart from one another whilst maintaining a centre of balance, additionally the greater the mass of a vessel the greater the demand for power and the more drives you need to stabilise the wormhole. Technically speaking we could weaponize a moon sized space station and jump it around so long as it had adequate power and enough drives to get the job done."
"Please tell me that was a joke?" Ka'mara asked.
"No joke, weaponizing a moon has been a fantasy of our scientists for I say around 100 years now." Liam smiled at what he assumed was the Turian equivalent of sheer bewilderment.
To be Continued….
AN: Hope you lot are enjoying the updates being released far more frequently once all the corrections have been done with an actual new chapter will be released to move the story along.
Also happy new year you sorry lot of minions, plans are in the work for world domination once again, it shall be called British Empire 2: Electric Boogaloo, all I have to do is supercharge the Queen's Psionic abilities with 300 billion tons of Yorkshire tea gold and the liberal sacrifice of any coffee drinkers within York.
You've been warned heretics!
I have spoken, God Save The Queen, Praise the Omnissiah, Stay safe in these dark days and let the purge commence!