January 12, Deep Space, en route to Emerald Coasts colony.
Guardian Unit of Nations Space Command ship, the Knothole.
...
"Geez kid, cool it will ya? Yer' gonna make ME nervous!"
Commander Bunnie Rabbot almost failed to stifle a laugh, cooped up in the cramped elevator as it hummed up the decks.
"Oh, I am sorry Commander..." her companion, a brown-furred coyote-mobian with a mess of fuzzy blond fur atop his head, anxiously adjusted his grey uniform as they rode the elevator, brand new ensigns' insignia glinting in the overhead lights. "I do try to cool it, but I cannot settle my nerds!"
The Commander shook her head, long ears flopping with the motion. "Your nerves, D'Coolette, you need to settle your nerves!" the rabbit-mobian regarded the Ensign with amusement, the younger male clearly very nervous. "First posting, Ensign?"
D'Coolette nodded, his bangs brushing across his forehead. "Y... yes, Commander. I was top of my class in the academy but this... the real thing is extremely unsettling! You understand, yes?"
Bunnie nodded. "Sure do, Ensign. And you know where that was?" the woman grinned and gestured around the elevator, "this old horse right here, back when she was the Iroquois! An' I was a baby officer myself, first time in a vacuum an' all!" She sighed, remembering far deadlier times. "Back in the war, too... so yeah, I guess you could say I was quakin' in mah spurs!"
Before her comrade could respond, the elevator pinged to signal their arrival on the command deck. The doors slid open and Bunnie gestured, before striding into a hallway filled with grey-uniformed crewmen, a mixed bag of humans and mobians going about their busy day.
D'Coolette stumbled after her and Bunnie smirked, maintaining her stride as the man hustled to catch up. "You... joined up during the war Ma'am?" the coyote gasped, awkwardly veering around other crew who irritably glanced in his direction.
Bunnie nodded, her cheerful demeanour fading as their boots clacked from the deck tiles. "Sure did... 2550 GC, me an' Sally girl... right here on this old tub..." the rabbit-mobian's eyes scanned the gleaming, untarnished cream panelling of the walls and the faces of freshly posted crew, remembering a time when these halls would be filled with exposed wiring, smoke... and blood. She rotated her left arm, a movement that went unnoticed by her nervous charge, "Can't say I miss those days much, if I'm bein' frank."
Ensign D'Coolette's ears drooped, and he suddenly appeared even more sheepish. "If you would be begging my pardon Lieutenant..." the Ensign said awkwardly, "but I would be thinking that makes you more of a man than I... I mean woman! I mean Officer! I... I..."
Bunnie chuckled as the coyote began to fumble with his words. She clapped him on the shoulder as they rounded a bulkhead, bringing more sputters from the unfortunate Ensign. "Just relax, Antoine!" she said, returning to her usual cheery tone, "stay calm, keep your mind on the job, and you'll do fine, kid!"
Kid. She was twenty five, less than half a decade his senior. Not that she felt it much any more. Even less looking at this nervous wreck of a man who presently had the composure of a small child trembling at the edge of a diving board.
D'Coolette swallowed nervously. "But the Captain... I do not wish to disappoint her..."
Bunnie paused at a sliding door and smirked. "What? She's just the Captain! She don't bite!" The Commander offered the Ensign a mischievous wink. "Well, not often!"
D'Coolette's mouth flapped, unsure how to respond... before he shook his head, eyes scanning the deck nervously. "I know... it is just... what if I am no good? I am... so afraid that I will fail...
Bunnie cocked her head and chewed her thoughts over, before offering the Ensign a shrug. "Can't be afraid forever, Ensign. Sometimes you just gotta get on and do it to it." D'Coolette frowned at the female's expression, but before he could respond the Lieutenant-Commander palmed the door controls, twin sheets of metal swishing aside and allowing her to stride onto the Bridge. The Ensign took a breath, and followed after her.
The blink and bleep of myriad brightly lit consoles, candy-coloured lights flashing in freshly-pressed steel panels arranged around the perimeter of the circular room. Bridge officers in their grey GUNSC uniforms occupied their stations, while at the far end of the Bridge a line of reinforced windows displayed the dull steel grey of lowered protective shields, standard procedure during faster-than-light travel.
Antoine hurried after Bunnie as she strode smartly toward the centre of the room, moving to meet a pair of seated individuals seemingly engaged in conversation. He copied the Commander's actions as she placed her hands behind her back and awaited one individual in particular to grant her attention.
"Captain. Lieutenant-Commander Rabbot reporting, ma'am."
Antoine found himself mildly confused as a sudden silence enveloped the group, the hum of the ship, the mild chatter of other Bridge crew, and the light bleeps of the instruments now seemingly much louder. His feet became rooted and panic gripped his chest as the lieutenant-Commander cleared her throat... and a pair of ice-cold blue eyes regarded him with scrutiny from the perch of the ship's command chair.
"Uh..." Antoine shuffled in place, tail arching as he straightened his back and did his best to puff out his chest in what he hoped would be an impressive manner, "E... Ensign D'Coolette reporting for duty, Madame!" The coyote fell, before he blanched and realised his error. "I.. I mean Ma'am! C... C... Capitan! Captain Acorn!"
Beside him, out of the hapless Ensign's notice, Bunnie smirked and moved in to rescue him. "Ensign D'Coolette reporting as well, Ma'am." The rabbit mobian gestured cheerfully to her companion. "Our new helm officer?"
Upon the command chair, a grey-uniformed female mobian bearing Captain's insignia upon her breast eyed the Lieutenant-Commander, a slight expression of amusement going unnoticed to all save for Rabbot herself, before ice-blue eyes returned to Ensign D'Coolette. "Indeed?" Captain Acorn leaned back in her chair and raised an eyebrow as she regarded the Ensign. "First day on the job, son?"
D'Coolette's mouth flapped, though at an encouraging nod from Bunnie he cleared his throat and did his best to settle his nerves. "Aye Captain..." the coyote replied as evenly as he could.
The Captain nodded and clasped her fingers. "You'll do fine, Ensign. Just keep your head and the Lieutenant-Commander here will look after you. Is that clear?"
"Y... yes, ma'am!" D'Coolette replied, his anxiety settling as he relaxed a little.
"Don't worry Captain," Bunnie smirked, "I'll hold his hand!"
Antoine's ears drooped a little, and the coyote did his best not to shuffle nervously in place.
The Captain gestured easily to a pair of consoles before her chair. "Well then. Lieutenant-Commander Rabbot?"
"Yes ma'am?"
"Take Ensign D'Coolette and report to your stations. We'll be emerging from Slipspace within the hour."
"Yes ma'am!"
Bunnie lightly nudged D'Coolette's elbow with hers as she turned and passed, spurring the Ensign into ducking after her like a lost child and trotting toward their stations.
...
Sally watched as the two officers took their posts, the conjoined navigation and weapons stations having been made empty for the new Ensign's first proper operation. Bunnie slid easily into her chair, despite the barely apparent stiffness in her limbs, gloved hands happily tapping away at the consoles as she checked her instruments. Ensign D'Coolette's entry into his station was a little clumsier, almost tripping over his own boots as he entered his seat, wincing as he sat on his own tail, then rocking back and forth as he attempted to adjust the seat settings. Sally kept her patience however, and eventually the young man began to breathe a little easier, carefully checking his own instruments.
He seemed to be doing well. He barely had any sideward glances from the rest of the Bridge crew.
With the not-unexpected interruption taken care of, Sally was able to return her attention to her previous business. Beside her, a pale-skinned human wore a dryly unamused expression as he observed the new Ensign, milky eyes peering down the length of his hooked nose.
Commander Julian Snively Robotnik. Her second in command aboard the Knothole.
Sally raised a hand and tapped at her personal console, retrieving information on their present mission. "I would have preferred more than three hours' notice before being sent in the complete opposite direction across space..." she said lightly, her free hand moving a strand of brown head-fur from her face, "still. We're making good time. These new engines are certainly impressive, wouldn't you say Commander?"
The human acknowledged the chipmunk-mobian with a slight turn of the head, his hooked nose making him seem like a bald-headed vulture. Sally remarked inwardly that she had never seen such a hairless individual before, even among humans.
"I shall be impressed," Commander Robotnik replied dryly, "when we have the opportunity to observe the Knothole's capabilities in the field, Captain." The human looked away, hooked nose lowering to his own chair's console. "Until then, I am content to remain wary."
Sally stared into the man's face for a moment. Starch-ass, the thought ran unbidden through the mobian woman's head at the human's disdainful manner.
"Well she is a new ship, Commander..." Sally replied easily. "With brand new systems. All the newest toys FLEETCOMM can spare. Consider this a chance to stretch her legs a bit."
Snively appeared unamused. "I was under the impression that this ship previously served as the Iroqouis?"
Sally bristled a little at the man's irritable tone, but held her composure. "True," she replied, hands gripping the hem of her jacket as she adjusted her uniform, "but after thirty-six months of refit she may as well be a brand new ship." A brown-furred brow raised as she regarded him sternly. "There wasn't exactly much of her left prior to refit, after all."
The human cocked his head slightly as though considering. "Aye Captain," the human replied sullenly, "I would still prefer to be outfitted with proven technology however. As opposed to systems that have yet to be properly field-tested."
Sally nodded lightly. The human may have been somewhat inapproachable, but she understood his concern at least.
The Captain decided not to pursue the conversation, instead casting her gaze across the Bridge. Officers calmly occupied their stations, multicoloured lights blinking in succession. Bleeps and chirrups pinged from the consoles. The atmosphere hummed. The bulkheads gleamed beneath the lights.
It had not always been this way, Sally remembered. Years of war against xenophobic aliens had seen to that.
Still, those days were gone. Sally put memories of smoke and flame aside and nodded with satisfaction at her new command, the ship humming smoothly about her. "I understand, Commander..." the Captain said, returning her attention to her computer screen, "that you were present at Emerald Coasts during the war?"
Snively did not reply immediately. Sally looked to find the man seemingly considering his words, pale eyes staring into his console.
"Yes Captain," the Commander replied, declining to meet her gaze directly, "I was a junior Lieutenant aboard the GUNSC Farragut. I was there during the evacuation of 2550."
Sally's ears twitched. Same year as Green Hills, she remembered. Irrelevant at this time, but still... it seemed 2550 had been a bad year for colonies lost to the Covenant advance.
"What can you tell me about the evacuation?" Sally continued, checking her files again, "these records seem a little vague if I'm honest."
Robotnik sniffed. "It was a... messy affair, Captain." the man said, staring across the Bridge toward the presently shuttered windows, "I'm unsurprised the files are vague. Though I am unsure what you would expect, given the swiftness of the retreat in the face of such an overwhelming advance."
Sally nodded evenly. "Strange..." she said, regarding the records again, "I wonder who's still out there... who could have transmitted these signals?"
"Some survivors may have been left behind..." Robotnik said carefully, "despite all efforts to evacuate as many as possible."
Sally chewed it over in her mind, pondering just how many people could have been left behind... and saddened at the unfortunate reality that Captain Del-Rio, in command of the task force at the colony, had ordered his ships to remain as long as possible.
Still... if these transmissions could be trusted, then somebody was still alive back there. There was, it seemed, still hope. Hence why the Knothole had been redirected from her primary mission to investigate.
The Captain rubbed her chin and nodded. "Ensign D'Coolette?"
The coyote's ears perked and he barely managed to prevent himself from jerking in his seat, an amused smirk tweaking Bunnie's face as she continued her own duties beside him "Y... yes Captain?"
"Be ready to drop us from Slipspace when ready," Sally commanded, watching as the young man nodded nervously to himself and double-checked his instruments. "And Ensign?"
"Y... yes Ma'am?"
"Steady as she goes."
Sally's ears twitched as she heard the Ensign take a deep breath, yet again calming his nerves before he responded. "Yes, Ma'am."
...
Ships logs, Captain Sally Acorn, Officer Commanding... The Knothole has been diverted from her primary mission of investigating the Delphin Cluster to investigate transmissions, beamed from the colony of Emerald Coasts Station - a world thought lost to the Covenant advance during the war. This could mean somebody is alive back there... somebody who needs our help.
The sleek, daggerlike gunmetal hull of the Knothole emerged from the extra-dimensional 'Slipspace' dimension like a like a dart silently piercing through a thin film of velvet. The ship, triangular upper hull sweeping above a bulky, partially cylindrical section, hung in the void, her portside hull illuminated from the light of the system's star. The interior lights from her windows glinted on her dark side, as her massive rear-mounted engines pulsed blue, fins opening and relaxing as the vessel completed her emergence from the Slipspace realm.
"Captain?" Ensign D'Coolette, blonde bangs hanging over his brown-furred cheek, tapped at his controls and licked his lips as the Knothole groaned around him, "we have ex... exited the Slipspace dimension. F... FTL drives powering down, reactor stable."
"Thank you Mister D'Coolette," Sally replied, setting a freshly-received aluminum coffee canteen into its safety holster, "set a course for the planet, one-third thrust." The chipmunk mobian leaned forward in her seat, one arm resting as her other hand stroked her cheek. "Mister Rabbot? Raise protective shields at your convenience."
"yes Ma'am."
Sally leaned back in her chair, as the armoured panels protecting the Bridge windows began to retract. A low, smooth grind sounded as they retreated, though the hull remained still, until the dull grey of the armoured panelling gave way... to twinkling stars, billions of fairy lights, twinkling in the vastness of space.
Sally had seen it a hundred times before. Normally, within those stars would spell danger, filled with xenophobic aliens ready to wreak havoc upon her ship out of the black. They had meant nothing else for quite some time. But now, after the war... maybe there was a day they could be pretty again.
"Engineering..." Sally looked away from the open windows and casually tapped at her console, "this is the Captain."
It took a moment before Sally's Chief Engineer replied. Enough time for Lieutenant-Commander Rabbot to chuckle beneath her breath to the puzzlement of Ensign D'Coolette, but soon enough a gruff, heavily-accented voice responded. "'dis is Rotor speakin', how can ah help you Captain Acorn?"
Sally's muzzle tweaked with a smile. "Commander Rotor..." the chipmunk-mobian allowed a smile to tweak her muzzle at the familiar voice on the other end of the line, "I notice we haven't exploded yet. I take it our new engines are performing nicely?"
"Smooth as butter, Captain!" the recipient gave a hearty laugh as he responded, "I couldn't ask for a finer transition! Reminds me of when I put the Merriweather through her paces at the Acheron Belt back in..."
"Thank you, Rotor..." Sally cut her Chief Engineer off before he could ramble further, an unamused glance cast her way from Robotnik, "happy to hear you're enjoying yourself, Commander. Keep us informed."
"Aye, Captain... hey! Watch what you're doin' with that coolant inductor, ya damn knuckleheaded-"
The line cut off with a fuzz, Commander Robotnik offering Sally a look of mild alarm. "are you sure our Chief Engineer is capable?"
Sally offered the human a patient smile in response. "Commander Rotor has served on twelve ships in his career, from one end of the galaxy to the other. I assure you, Mister Robotnik. He is quite capable."
The Commander didn't appear convinced, though he did not press the matter further.
"Captain?" Sally's ears perked as Rabbot spoke up from her station, "approaching the planet, Ma'am."
"Thank you, Commander." Sally shifted in her command chair, Robotnik doing the same beside her. Out the Bridge windows, the gleaming blue and green sphere of Emerald Coasts slowly grew larger, her silver moon shining several hundred thousand kilometres away. "Ensign D'Coolette? Stationary orbit if you please. Communications, open hailing frequencies." The Captain's hands rested on the arms of her chair, "let's see if anybody picks up."
A chorus of 'yes Ma'am's' was her response, the crew smartly carrying out their orders. Even D'Coolette appeared to have beaten his nerves, for now.
"Communications open, Ma'am."
"Thank you. Attention, this is the GUNSC Knothole hailing Emerald Coasts station. If anybody is receiving this, please respond."
The ship continued to hum with power, the blinking and twittering of the consoles and the quiet murmur of crewmen the only sounds for a shot while, before Sally had her response.
"This is Emerald Coasts station..." Sally's screen flickered and fuzzed, the image of a tan-skinned man crackling into her view, "the hell do you want, Earthers- oh." The man's brow furrowed as he undoubtedly was met with Sally's brown and peach muzzled face on his end, clearly having expected human contact. "Who is this?"
"I am Captain Sally Acorn of the Knothole," Sally confirmed, "to whom am I speaking?"
The man composed himself, a scowl plastering his face, "Nathan Lantree. I'm in charge of this station. The Hell are you doing here, GUN?"
Sally shifted in her seat and regarded the man closely. "We... detected transmissions emanating from this system. Our mission here is to investigate and make contact with any survivors from the war." Sally raised an eyebrow, puzzled at the human's seemingly hostile composure, "I am correct in assuming you have people down there, correct?"
Lantree set his jaw and nodded. "Yeah. That's right, Captain. Funny that you care now, huh? After what your people did during the war?"
Sally's puzzlement increased, though she declined to show it in her face, "I don't understand, mister Lantree. Our records show that the colony was evacuated, your presence here was previously unknown to us."
Lantree's mouth split into an incredulous, hostile grin, and he scoffed. "Uh huh, I'll bet." The man lowered his brow and all but glared from the screen. "Listen, Captain. We do not want you here. My people and I have done just fine this last four years without you. So you can take your little ship, turn it around, and fly all the way back to Earth. That's what you're best at, isn't it?"
"Mister Lantree, I don't understand. If we could discuss this some more I'm sure we can reach some kind of-"
Lantree simply turned away, the screen flickering out as he cut his end of the conversation. Sally's jaw dropped as she gawped, brow creasing in absolute befuddlement now. The planet gleamed from the Bridge windows.
"They don't seem happy to see us Ma'am," Bunnie spoke up from her station, appearing just as confused as her Captain.
"It sure seems that way, Commander..." Sally replied, looking to Snively beside her. "I certainly wasn't expecting such a hostile welcome."
Robotnik pursed his lips and peered down his nose at the planet below. "Anti-GUNSC sentiment is certainly rare for a world this close to Earth space," the man replied carefully, "you would think they'd appreciate our arrival. I am as unsure as you, Captain."
Sally frowned, something about her executive officer's response not quite ringing properly.
"Captain..." Ensign D'Coolette spoke up, appearing just as puzzled as Sally, "I... have run a scan of the station... I am reading thousands of life signatures down there. Thousands." The young man swivelled in his seat and looked to her, pure befuddlement in his face. "Captain?"
Sally stared at the world below, her radiant greens and blues seemingly untouched by weapons of any kind. "Commander..." the mobian turned and regarded Snively questioningly. "During the evacuation... the fleet did everything they could to rescue the population... didn't they?"
Snively continued to glare through the Bridge windows as the colony spun below. "I cannot say, Captain..." the man said at last.
Sally's suspicion was now fully raised. She continued to stare into Snively's face, before making a decision. "Lieutenant Marcus, you have the Bridge." Sally signalled one of her junior officers and stood from her chair, adjusting her uniform as she did so, "Commander Robotnik, Commander Rabbot... briefing room, please."
...
"Commander Robotnik..." Sally took her seat at the head of the briefing table, pouring water from an aluminum jug into a cup of the same material, "you were present at the evacuation of Emerald Coasts station." Sally raised her cup and took a sip, eyeballing the human across the table. "The official reports tell us that the fleet present did everything they could to remove the population, correct?"
Snively did not meet her eye, instead staring out the briefing room window. The curvature of the planet shone beneath them. "As I told you, Captain..." the human said sullenly, "the fleet did everything they could."
"Everything, huh?" Bunnie spoke up, arms folded as she paced the briefing room floor. Lime green eyes locked on the man, the rabbit-mobian all but glaring with suspicion, "then how 'bout you tell us why there's over twenty-thousand folks still down there? Unless they got real busy while we were away, that should not be possible!"
Snively glowered at the woman, hands clasped and resting on the table. "As I told you, Captain... it was a messy business."
Sally regarded the man carefully, understanding that he had been hiding something from her. She swirled her cup. "Commander Robotnik. You will tell me exactly what occurred at Emerald Coasts station during the evacuation. That is an order."
The human sniffed, appearing less than pleased at his predicament... before nodding to himself as though considering his options. "Very well. Captain, there is a reason the records from the incident are vague. The evacuation did not go as smoothly as the reports make out."
"Yeah, we figured..." Bunnie muttered, Sally raising a hand to silence her.
"Go on, Commander."
Snively took a breath, appearing as though a weight was slowly being lifted from his shoulders. "The Covenant advance would have taken them just a dozen light years from the system. For all intents and purposes, the planet was considered lost." The Commander's eyes flickered between their mobian counterparts. "There were only three Slipspace-capable ships present during the incident. Three ships... for thirty-thousand colonists. I was aboard the Farragut, a junior Lieutenant at the time, serving under Captain Del Rio. Some hours into the evacuation, the Farragut suffered a severe reactor failure. She lost power, and was effectively dead in space. Our most powerful ship, out of action. Captain Del Rio made the decision... that the Farragut be towed out-system, and all ships would disengage..." Robotnik's gaze had slowly fallen, the man now staring through his own hands. "The fleet retreated into Slipspace seven hours after the evacuation had begun. The colony was deemed lost by the GUNSC."
Sally stared into the man, while Bunnie's mouth hug open. "You abandoned them!" The rabbit-mobian said, unable to believe what she was hearing, "you left them to die!"
Snively regarded the mobian coldly. "I was a junior officer, Lieutenant Commander. Following orders. And I was not the only one. All GUNSC command personnel were ordered to keep silent regarding the true nature of Captain Del Rio's orders to retreat. The refugees were spread around the remaining colonies, our crews similarly dispersed. After the incident, the Covenant advance made sure that everybody involved forgot... or were destroyed." The Commander grimaced, looking back up to his Captain, "I doubt there are many people left who remember what happened here."
Bunnie snorted, angrily stomping across the deck and shaking her head. "Unbelievable... what kind of Captain straight up turns tail and abandons thousands of people just like that?!"
"We were at war, Commander..." Robotnik said pointedly, milky eyes glaring into hers, "with an utterly unstoppable, xenophobic alien force. The extinction of both our species was at hand. Just in case you were not aware."
"Yeah, I remember..." Bunnie's hands smacked onto the table and she glared daggers at the human, "I was there! An' I saw ships go down fighting to save just a few dozen survivors from bein' blown outta the vacuum! Just in case you weren't aware, Commander!"
"Enough!" Sally raised her voice and snapped a hand into the air, glaring between her two officers, "what's past is past," the Captain sighed, considering her thoughts as Bunnie and Snively fully redirected their attentions to her. "We can't change what happened back then. All we can do now is offer our assistance to the colony, and if they refuse us..." Sally allowed her words to hang in the air a moment before continuing, "we leave."
"What, we just abandon them again?" Bunnie said, sniping a glance at Robotnik who pointedly ignored her.
"We can't force our protection on people who don't want it, Commander..." Sally shrugged, "we aren't out here to dictate."
Bunnie looked away and cursed beneath her breath. "Chaos... no wonder they don't want us here." The rabbit-mobian glowered sullenly at her fellow Commander. " 'jus' followin' orders, huh? Sure. I'll bet if you were runnin' the show you'd have done the exact same thing."
Snively shifted in his chair, eyes boring into the mobian's. "I did not have the luxury of command at that time," he said through grit teeth, "and I cannot see every possible outcome of every incident I find myself in. But it was a sound strategic retreat. Worlds were burning, the fleet needed every ship it had left. I cannot say that were I in Captain Del Rio's position... that I would have done anything different."
Sally gestured to Bunnie as she took a breath to answer. "There's nothing much more we can do here. We'll maintain orbit for another hour and offer our services again... and if they decline, we will continue on our previous mission." The chipmunk-mobian looked back to Robotnik and regarded him coldly. "Thank you for your honesty, Commander."
The man merely sniffed. "Of course. Captain."
Silence descended on the briefing room, save for the gentle hum of the ship, as the planet slowly rotated outside the reinforced windows.
"Very well. We return to duty." Sally took another sip of water and stood from her chair, Snively doing the same as she left the table and adjusted her uniform, "We'll hail the colony. The very least we can do is offer them supplies-"
Sally's words caught in her throat, her ears perking as the briefing room communications system crackled to life and cut her off. "Captain! E... Ensign D'Coolette reporting! We 'ave an emergency!"
Sally exchanged a panicked look with her officers before swiftly palming the wall-mounted communications panel. "Go ahead, Ensign."
"Captain... it's the Covenant! We 'ave a Covenant ship inbound!"