As Klarb led the charge towards furthering a lesser civilization's spaceflight capabilities, millions of light years away, an uneventful shot-in-the-dark mission continued. Tasked with finding the proverbial needle in the near-infinite haystack that was the mythical existence of a surviving pre-Empire sect of Irken, Corr and those in his command set out from Haven to solve the centuries-old mystery in a desperate bid to gain critically-needed support for the growing resistance to their tyrannical successor.
According to on-board monitoring equipment, approximately nine months had come to pass since departing Haven onto the last known coordinates and lingering clues to the whereabouts of the RCS Ambition. Most of it largely spent in-transit with occasional investigative trips to nearby celestial bodies or potential leads that more often than not turned up empty-handed. The "Ghosts of the Republic" now in newly-crafted lore picking up on the long-lost history of the Irken people. The Dark Era was coming to a close with pinholes of truth casting light on the shadows of censorship.
Thus far, the exploratory expedition had been fruitless. Traces of the colony ship had long since dissipated into the nebulous ether of the endless void of space. Starship signatures and emissions lingered only so long before joining the background radiation and particles. All hope was not lost, however, as the occasional clue did surface through their efforts. A story began to unfold with each found, pointing to a particular vector in space. Each narrowed the search and renewed hope of producing results while their friends and allies set to engage in full-scale war back home.
Just as the conversation was being had to turn back for Haven and reassess their strategy, the first big break came about. Following the projected flight path from Devastis into the unknown, they happened upon a vast asteroid field from any star system. Likely the remains of a system lost to a supernova untold eons ago and its debris ejected across impossibly-vast distances. The rogue field in itself was nothing out of the ordinary, but what was located within. Full-spectrum scanning produced a match to artificially-produced metallurgy matching Republic-era starship construction. Closer inspection with an exploratory shuttle from the main vessel located several sizable, gnarled chunks of centuries-old hull plating. One such piece clearly designated with the scuffed, barely-legible lettering of the ship it belonged to: The RCS Ambition.
The lack of a debris field or further salvage began to paint the picture. Attempts to navigate the vast, rogue field of asteroids resulted in a collision. How severe was difficult to determine with the evidence left behind, but enough to shear meters-thick hull plating from the exterior. A definitively-damaging impact that would require immediate repair to remain spaceworthy.
Unlike the larger frigate, Chavsa decided to go in closer with her more nimble fighter. Slic made some quick tweaks to the gun camera to send footage to the frigate of what appeared head on, as well as a feed from Chavsa's HUD on what she was seeing. Taking it slow and making evasive maneuvers where she had to, it granted those aboard Renown a better look.
"Seems like the ship took some serious damage?"
"Seems that way. Based on what Calla's told me and what little technical info I can dig up on the ship, they smashed it into something fierce. My guess would be a rogue asteroid in the middle of a maneuver to avoid another, ship-destroying one. Lucky that's all it did. Not sure how they laid hulls back then but there's no way they went far without making repairs first from that kind of damage. Not this far into uncharted space and risking venting entire decks." Rem's expertise rang through Chavsa's cockpit in-communication. "This colony ship was supposed to be self-sufficient and able to manufacture whatever it needed so long as they had the resources. Look for any signs of mining out of the asteroids or equipment they may have left behind. It's a long shot but it's better than what we knew this morning." She concluded, monitoring their own instruments and remaining wary of the field's behavior around them.
"Right," Chavsa turned to the asteroid field itself. Looking around for any visual indicators on her end. "Slic, you got anything?"
"If I saw anything I'd have told you, meatbag."
"Well fuck you too."
"Oh I'm sure you'd like that you fi-" the AI paused, "Wait, turn to three one two, something just popped up on scanners."
Chavsa made a turn in that direction, "What is it?"
"Unnatural metallic formation on one of the asteroids. No signs of any organic activity."
"Well we're about to find out." Chavsa came up on a rather sizable asteroid, one easily capable of destroying a planet if it were on such a trajectory. The pilot searched around until her eyes found what Slic picked up on the scanners. "Guys, get a load of this."
"Get a load of what?" Rem pursued at the fighter pilot's insistence.
Her own question answered itself as the exploratory craft's nose cleared the crest of another asteroid, bringing into view the sight of an industrious facility nestled deep into a crater on the massive, floating body of rock and metal. Not a single illuminating light sources to be found, cold as the background space around it, but very clearly something built on the asteroid. A ghost of the past, sitting before them. The closer Chavsa's craft grew, the more detailed the picture became. Republic-era architecture and technology clearly of Irken origin. The crater itself was not entirely natural as steps, furrows, and great swaths of mined material left irregular patterns across its surface.
"...they were here…the Ambition was here!" The frigate's captain exclaimed in jubilation.
"What?" Calla's voice followed, rushing to the communications panel on the bridge to see for herself. "...by Irk…nearly identical to the mining facilities across Devos. Zero-gravity environment and the vacuum of space, but without question, the similarities are there…that was built by Irken."
Chavsa slowed the fighter down and took it in as close as possible, looking for docking facilities, any way to possibly get inside. "I think Rem's right. Probably found a nice mineral deposit in this thing and used it to get the raw materials for repairs and other spare parts." The pilot paused as she also spotted pipes coming from the crater itself and to the remnants of towers, the upper works of which have been knocked away over time by passing objects. "Fuel depot too by the look of it. Think we found one of their first stops. Worth taking a look around inside?"
"That's the Captain's call. We're not picking up any life signs from here. No power, no pressurized atmosphere. Imagine they stripped anything useful before they left and it's an empty shell now. Impacts over the years have damaged the facility, too…but there could be clues to where they went after leaving here, too." Rem reasoned, looking over her shoulder as the news had reached the others, rushing to see for themselves.
"What's the word, Sir? Don't need to remind you how dangerous it is to linger in this field…but this is our first big break."
"We have to investigate." Calla responded, looking to Corr quickly with insistence. "It's our only lead."
"We're in the middle of an asteroid field, Calla…I'd rather not we end up smeared across one of the big ones if we can avoid it." The seated pilot patiently reasoned to her emotional response.
Mokan looked around outside and to the footage from Chavsa's fighter. The Lieutenant rubbed his chin in thought before snapping his fingers. "Take the frigate out of the field where we don't have to worry about getting hit by something. We can take one of the shuttles over and investigate ourselves, small group of no more than three. The other alternative is Chavsa looks inside by herself. I just think more sets of eyes might be helpful."
Rem typed at her console interface, backtracking their previous waypoints set until before they entered the asteroid field.
"I can double-back and hold outside the perimeter of this but we won't be in any position to immediately assist if anything goes awry."
"I think we can handle anything." Mokan nodded, looking to Corr and Calla, "Up to you who you want to send."
Corr looked briefly at Calla before turning his head back to the Lieutenant, "Myself and Calla can go. You come as well, just in case we need any doors blown open while we're in there. Combined with Chavsa that will round out the crew."
"You got it, Captain." Mokan nodded, heading off to get geared up and fire up the shuttle.
"Rem," Corr's attention turned to her, "Once we lift off, go ahead and wait for us outside the field. Once we finish looking around, we'll come back to you and continue on."
"Yes, Sir….and be careful, please." She pleaded with sincerity. "We'll standby and continue long-range scanning until you call for extraction."
"Of course, no unnecessary risks." Corr smiled at her before heading off with Calla, the two of them gearing up and meeting Mokan at the shuttle. Chavsa, while they were on the way, found an open hangar bay and set her fighter down inside. She pushed herself out of the cockpit and towards the door, Slic remained behind to relay messages and keep the engines warm as it were.
After the shuttle departed the frigate with Corr, Calla, and Mokan aboard, Rem carefully piloted their ship back towards their original heading. A short time later, the small craft set down in the unpressurized, pitch-black hangar next to Chasva's fighter. Much like she had done, the vessel wasn't fully powered down, prepared to disembark in a hurry if need be. Investigating derelict facilities in uncharted space was bound to be dangerous. No unnecessary risks to be taken.
Mokan stood from his seat, placing his helmet on his head. A locking twist and hiss of atmosphere pressurizing inside sealed his armored suit properly.
"Comms check."
"Loud and clear." Calla, equally adorned with the exception of a pistol at her hip and no other armaments. A long, shaky exhale of anxiety followed as she looked to the Captain. "Ready when you are, Corr."
Corr flipped on the flashlight fixed to a shotgun after donning his helmet. "Mag locks on, let's go."
"Opening the door now," Mokan hit a button, opening the back ramp for their shuttle, the three of them walking out into the pitch black.
"Chavsa has been looking around. She's currently in some residential quarters but nothing substantial." Slic spoke up over the radio, having been monitoring the pilot's progress.
"Anything else?"
"She said the elevator to the reactor is sealed. Would need to get there using the stairs but I doubt you have the time for that. The facility is remarkably well mapped out through some color coding on the walls. She says one path will take you right to a Central Control."
Despite setting foot into the disorienting vacuum of space with metal soles of her boots magnetically adhering to the decking beneath her feet, Calla could not help but be mesmerized. Her helmeted lamp slowly scanned around the vacant hangar. Crystals of ice, motes of dust, and small debris lackadaisical floated, reflecting and refracting in the illumination of her lamp.
"...some of the Republic's best and brightest crewed the Ambition. No surprise they were meticulous in planning and building a temporary facility." She commented, a gauntlet-encased hand running her digits along the nearest wall. "Our people, worthy of praise and prowess, admired…before the Grand Design. Before alien influence. Before…everything. This is wholly Irken and what our people were capable of in my time."
"There's a good chance they're still around, then." Corr looked around the hangar, part in historical awe and part glee that they found such a relic of the past. "It would be nice to study this more fully when we have some more time on our hands."
"Nice as that sounds, we have other priorities to attend to." Mokan patiently pointed out. "Can't hurt to mark the coordinates and come back some other time, but the less time we spend here, the better. I've been on derelict ships before, but this is different."
"Different how?" Calla pursued as the group's collective steps thudded and reverberated through their contained environments with each magnetizing and demagnetizing in the absence of gravity.
"A warship gone cold due to battle damage or reactor problems is one thing. They tend to be a quick fix. This place…it's like walking among the bones of a dead creature…doesn't help matters any at any given moment one of those asteroids could slam into this place and turn all of us into paste, either."
"This place survived centuries, somehow, a half hour is barely even a blink of an eye in such a span of time." Corr spoke reassuringly before coming to a stop as several lights began flickering on. Emergency lights.
"HA! Slic said you guys were here," Chavsa's voice came through the radio, "Good news, I found the emergency generators. They're…old, like really old."
"How old?" Corr asked,
"Old enough that there's just one usable fuel cell in here and a bunch of empty fuel cans."
"Hybrid fuel cell-fossil fuel generator?"
"Something like that. Takes either fuel. I'll meet you guys at Central Control. This fuel cell's charge is so low we probably only got an hour at most."
"More than enough. We'll see you there."
Although the emergency lighting was dim with many flickering or failing from time alone, they could see the craftsmanship and careful planning that went into this facility first-hand. A well-preserved hulk void of corrosion thanks to space with the only abnormalities being the errant, stray asteroids striking sections of the facility over the years.
"I'm led to believe they spent a considerable amount of time here." Calla commented as they progressed towards Central Control, following the wall markings and signage. "The damage from the asteroid field must have been extensive to require all of this."
Corr looked at the various signs as they passed, "Multiple foundries, iron mines, a fuel refinery and extraction facility…I suspect their jump may have had a number of them end up within the field and they needed to repair considerable damage not just to the colony ship but also to their escorts and restock whatever supplies they used constructing this."
"Sure didn't see any construction equipment outside on the way in," Mokan commented.
"They likely took everything they could before abandoning the place. If we went down to the foundries I wouldn't be surprised to see them gutted entirely."
Chavsa was already at work in Central Control, having arrived only shortly before them, busy turning on various terminals, hoping for some information.
"Find anything so far?" Corr asked.
"Nothing in the habitation blocks. Found this though," Chavsa flung a metal clipboard towards him. A small item left over from the former inhabitants. "Looks like a running list, handwritten."
Corr browsed through as the terminals powered on, "Ambition, D Seven Seven, Devos, Narb, Tuu, D One Two…" Corr paused as he extended the list to Calla, "Looks like Ambition, two destroyers, a couple of light cruisers, and a heavy cruiser named for your planet also suffered damage in addition to the colony ship itself. These were a running list of repairs. Devos looked to be the least damaged."
"Can't imagine the pandemonium of running head-long into a rogue asteroid field battering the fleet…" She commented, scanning through the scrawled notes. "Starships didn't have the most sophisticated long-range scanning capabilities as your vessels do now. The same cosmic dust storms, asteroid fields, and singularities we easily navigated would have been a matter of chance happening upon them for them."
As Chavsa attempted to type commands at the activated console, burst of static nearly deafened everyone present through their own communications equipment. A holographic projection flickered into view from an emitter, displaying the bust of an Irken. Female. Most of all, PAKless. She wore professional garb of a scientific mind. Skin hue and eye color were impossible to determine with the entire projection being a sickly, neon green.
The static gave way to a garbled mess of distorted conversation as the projection began to speak. Either time had corrupted and deteriorated the data present or their equipment was struggling to interpret the ancient signals.
"Slic, can you clean that up?" Calla pursued, forgoing taking careful steps to the console as she demagnetized and pushed off to drift through the zero-gravity environment before grasping the console and coming to a stop next to Chavsa. "What is she saying?"
"Something about a route. Can't tell much else, lots of garbled mess."
"Hey, stick handler, this place have wireless?"
Chavsa made her way to another console, typing in some data and starting a router despite a message that activating the wireless network would drain the emergency power faster. "Done, make it quick."
"Make it quick," Slic replied in a mocking tone. "Bah, who do you think I am?" The AI worked quickly, clearing up the resolution of the message and making both the image and the message audible.
"KZZZZZTT-one who is playing this message, I am Master Engineer Tann of the RCS Ambition. And you are standing inside of Defiance Station, the last bastion of the Republic. Defiance Station is a safe haven from the Empire and its Grand Design. Repair your vessels, refuel, and run as far and as fast as your ships will take you. Destroy all transponder and tracking equipment and shut off non-critical communications arrays. Isolate yourselves and do not broadcast any signals unless absolutely necessary. I repeat, Defiance Station is a safe haven from the Empire and the Grand Design…."
"I don't believe it…" Mokan blinked as the message played, noting Calla's posture and paled expression through her visor. "What's wrong?"
"...I knew Tann. She was instrumental in establishing Devos' mining infrastructure. Seeing this, hearing her…she's been dead for centuries…It's…surreal."
"Voice recognition matched. Authorizing."
"What?" Chavsa blinked, stunned as the rest of the gathering around them.
The projection flickered, opening another recorded file. Tann reappeared, this time not in uniform, but civilian attire. Off-duty…and the professional and proper posture slackened. She was weary, exhausted…almost an entirely different person.
"Calla, if you're watching this I suspect it's one of two outcomes ever since Arxs stopped transmitting the resistance's escapades into the dark that we've been picking up. Either you've managed to do in General Krad and have come looking for us or you've been found out and made a daring escape. If it's the first instance, don't bother looking for us. Unless Irk itself falls under its own weight we'll just get another Krad and this process will doom all of us. If it's the latter…"
A pause followed, Tann taking a drink from a bottle, "Remember what I told you before I left Devos to join the crew of the Ambition? About the situation back on Irk?"
"At the rate those politicians are stuffing their wallets, the colonization program will be dead before we find anything useful." She morosely responded in the false conversation.
Another subtle distortion of the projection took place. Another data file? Surely this wasn't some sort of artificial intelligence, was it?
"Ha! Yes! You did make your escape! Good. Listen, we're packing up and moving out. Captain Vern put it to a vote and the majority thought we should leave Defiance Station. Far too many close calls to stay any longer. In this terminal there's a file saved with your name on it. Copy of the navigation computer's records from the ships we've had to repair as well as our own. I'm leaving you with our next heading into the void. Hopefully you can piece together what happened with our ramshackle escorts before they joined up with us. Maybe you'll bump into us along the way and we'll take you in or we'll see you on our new home. Good luck, Calla, I'm rooting for you. Wherever we end up, if you find us, first round of drinks are on me. I hope we find somewhere with a tropical zone and beaches."
A long bout of silence among the living crew at the conclusion of the message fading away followed. Tann had anticipated the possibility of Calla locating Defiance Station…but not centuries after the fact.
"...I know there's such a thing as coincidence but is anyone else creeped out by that?" Mokan commented, semi-serious.
"Calla had a reputation…if anything it sounds like Tann expected her centuries ago if things went horribly wrong and she was able to make her way off world. She was expecting to see her again…" Corr was stunned himself. "Doubt that file would've opened if Calla didn't say what she said, not to mention Tann possibly having recordings of her around to program the voice recognition software."
The temporally-displaced woman barely acknowledged the ongoing conversation as she typed away at the console. As the projection promised, an unlocked, decrypted file pre-loaded to external storage was ejected from the console. She did her best to not think of the possibilities of how else this could have played out. How if Corr and the others hadn't found "her" on Devastis or managed to acquire her a new body or even find this station of all places in uncharted space. The fate of their people's future hinged on this…and she was the crux to it.
"I-I have it. I have the file."
"Unless there is any other need to poke around further, we should get back to the shuttle and call for pickup." Mokan gestured toward the corridor they came from.
"Yeah, I don't know how mu-" Chavsa began before being cut off.
"Not to interrupt you meatbags but hostile contacts have arrived! It's the destroyer Zaad!" Slic announced on the comms.
"An Imperial destroyer?! Here?!" Corr yelled, immediately taking off back for the shuttle with everyone else quickly falling in behind him.
"Yep. Signal says they're Special Operations Group Mirage-"
"Of-fucking-course it is!" Calla growled, securing the data drive in a pouch on her belt. "How did they find us?"
"Likely following our engine trails," Chavsa announced from the back of the group. "That's my guess."
"She's likely correct. Also, the meatbags have told Rem to power down her engines and prepare to be boarded. Rem responded by powering up her weapons. You best hurry."
A burst of static cut into their helmets from a familiar frequency.
"Captain, an Irk-damned Imperial destroyer just dropped out of FTL in my lap an' are demanding to come aboard! Whatever you're doing, wrap it up, I'm comin' in hot!"
"We've just finished up, coming out to you now!" Corr replied over the radio as Chavsa nimbly made her way into the nearby fighter.
"Need Chavsa two minutes ago to run interference! We don't have the tonnage for a straight-up fight. I'm en route and hoping these idiots follow me into the asteroid field!"
"Slic, armaments."
"Cannons will only piss it off, don't even bother. Nothing on our wings but we have a pair of anti-ship missiles in our internal bay."
"I'm comin!" She backed her fighter out of the hangar and threw the fighter into full throttle to speed through the mix of rocks and long abandoned ship plating to make her way over, flipping on her radar to lock onto the destroyer in an attempt to force them to back off of their frigate.
Rem made her self-imposed title of the best starship pilot alive well known as she pushed the frigate through the perilous field of gargantuan rocks. Manipulation of maneuvering thrusters and their main engines allowed them to carve dangerously close to the floating leviathans of stone. The Imperial destroyer gave chase, struggling to maintain line-of-sight, let alone get a clear targeting solution as the main armaments struggled to lock. Secondaries fired away, hoping for hits with accuracy by volume but to no avail.
"Can't keep this up forever, Chavsa!" Rem radioed amidst orchestrating the frigate's course in, around, and away from certain death by collision while avoiding certain death by a hull compromise and implosion from a destroyer's main battery. "We die, everyone dies out here!"
The fighter pilot swung around to the back of the destroyer, lining up behind one of the engines. Audible sounds in the cockpit indicated a radar lock as she flipped a switch to open the internal bay and depressed the trigger, firing one of the two missiles stored within the fuselage bay, headed right for the destroyer's left engine.
The radar lock didn't go unnoticed as turreted secondaries to the aft of the vessel ceased targeting Rem and swung around to engage the fighter on their six o'clock. A lance of magenta energy sought to swat the missile from its trajectory, but narrowly missed. Unfortunately, it ruptured into a violent, roiling fireball against the destroyer's kinetic shielding, depleting it, but wasting ordnance in the process.
"Damn it!" Chavsa quickly fired the second missile, swinging hard and raking the back of the hull with her cannons before jetting off and making maneuvers around the destroyer, weaving between rocks and plates, all while evading the blasts of secondary armament.
"Corr, she'll do what she can but trick flying is much harder when you're being shot at!"
"I have a plan, but she won't like it!" Rem opened, the fighter's second missile managing to land true and damage one of the destroyer's main thrusters, hampering its maneuverability and giving them some breathing room. "Get them to chase you. You're a heck of a lot more nimble than I am. Distract them and I'll use our main guns and rip them to shreds with their barriers down."
"Yeah, she's right! I don't like it! But that thing has the firepower I don't!" Chavsa used her cannons to plant shots onto the hull of the destroyer as she weaved through the asteroids, including several shots towards the bridge itself before flying deeper into the asteroid field.
Her transgressions had the intended effect as the destroyer saw fit to give chase to the fighter harassing them. The close call of penetrating the bridge with dozens of mass-driven rounds may have had something to do with it. The fighter pilot teasingly sat within their targeting cone, only to avoid destruction at the last moment. Enough of a nuisance to give Rem the space she needed to maneuver into position.
Hugging tight to the circumference of a small moon-sized asteroid, the frigate had its bow-facing weapons squarely sighted on the destroyer's underside. One rapid targeting solution later as they closed in fast, a pair of magenta beams pierced the destroyer's hull just behind midship, near its powerplant. If they couldn't kill it, they needed to cripple it and get away before they gave chase.
"Slic, what's the status of that thing?!" Chavsa yelled after dodging another blast from the destroyer.
"Give it another hit!" Slic yelled to Rem. "Scans are showing you burned the hull off! Put one right into their engineering compartment!"
"Easier said than done!" She huffed, attempting to maneuver into an advantageous position to do just that. Unfortunately, they were onto the ruse and broke off from the fighter to re-engage the frigate. "Don't think they're going to show me their belly again after that. Not looking to win here, just get away, open to suggestions."
Chavsa took a breath and spun out to take a shot at it herself. "Let me see if I can't…" The pilot went for it, taking up station on the side of the destroyer with the scorched hull plating, using a target point provided by Slic to dump several bursts of cannon shells before pulling off once again just in case they decided to chase her once more.
"Of course they upgraded the plating. Why wouldn't they?" Rem mockingly commented at their plight. "Captain, what's your status? We need to scoop you up and get outta here. Anywhere but here, we're not equipped to fight this thing!"
"We see you now, just make sure the hangar's open." Corr quickly replied, "Chavsa, forget it, just prepare for jump."
"On it. Skrem, Iros, clear the deck down there and open the door. Precious cargo inbound."
"Didn't have to tell me twice!" Skrem got the hangar doors open, himself and Iros having been clearing a wide berth for a violent landing in the hangar for Corr and the others.
"Ready and waiting, Sir. Just need to thread the needle and as soon as I clear this field, I'm blind-jumping."
"Coming in hot now."
The frigate cleared the field into the small sanctuary of space near Defiance Station. The mote of thrusters attached to a shuttle flickered, growing in size as they rapidly closed. Steady hands at the controls, Rem leveled out, timing the angle of approach to give them the largest target possible without touching the throttle and losing speed to the gaining destroyer.
Mokan soared into the hangar, setting the shuttle down with a hard thud. Chavsa soon followed, setting her fighter down next to the shuttle having gone from mach 2 to zero within a short time, needing to catch her breath having it pulled out of her. A blind jump in her fighter with no coordination was a great recipe to get lost.
No sooner had she read everyone successfully aboard and the crafts screeching to a halt inside the bay, Iros smashed the emergency bay doors button. Rather than a slow, gentle closing, the massive doors magnetically sealed in the blink of an eye with an awful shudder. Feeling the reverberation through the deck at her feet, Rem pushed the frigate farther and faster.
"C'mon…c'mon…I'm not ending up smeared like I was on Vort, not again!" She exclaimed, warings blaring as the extremities of the vessel collided with smaller floating debris of the field. Superficial damage…for now.
The destroyer's main gun fired, narrowly missing the frigate. The lance of energy nearly blinded Rem as the cockpit filled with the light snapping past her right, smashing into an asteroid ahead of them. What was clear space ahead suddenly became imminent danger as smaller chunks of molten rock jettisoned from the impact, directly into her current heading with no time to evade.
Shuddering thuds of asteroids impacting the hull echoed and screeched throughout the ship. A horrible din of terrible noise that could spell imminent doom if the damage was severe enough. The blast doors of the hangar absorbed an impact, deforming and threatening to give way, but held. For now. The cockpit screeched with deafening alarms of sustained damage and tripped sensors.
"I know, I know, shut up!" She exclaimed, rolling the craft between two asteroids and finally clearing the field as the vast darkness of open space came into view.
Deft hands went into action as the FTL drive spooled up, a destination chosen. The navigational computer didn't throw any immediate dangers but nothing was for certain this far out. Inertia dampening struggled to adjust to the abrupt change as one moment, the frigate was before the destroyer, the next, disappeared from view at impossible speed.
Once out of a combat zone, and with Chavsa recovering in the hangar, Corr and Calla made their way to the bridge. Once there, the two made their way over to a navigation computer. Skrem followed shortly after.
"Bah, of course the Empire doesn't have the sort of connection for this." Corr looked between the drive and the various slots on the computer.
"It's centuries old, what did you expect?" Calla commented, holding her helmet at her hip.
"Old hardware doesn't get support, but I can always make one," Skrem replied. The Invader quickly got to work, crafting a connection between a blank drive to interface with the computer itself and running wires to the antiquated drive.
"You're all welcome, by the way…you know, just saving all of our c'hurtas and dinging my ship up." Rem sourly commented over her shoulder to the group with a scoff, overhearing the discussion as she looked back to see Skrem working. "Whoa, hey, hey, hey what are you doing? Don't plug random junk into the ship!"
The navigation computer flickered for a few brief moments as the contents of the data drive entered the system. Skrem, too engrossed in his work, hit a button allowing for an overlay of the Republic era charts with their current map. Navigation data from the Heavy Cruiser Devos and other vessels soon filtered in.
Resistance wasn't just on Devos, but within the military, spanning much of the Republic. Soldiers and sailors refusing to go along with the program defected and fought back, as combat records indicate with Devos and the two destroyers that joined her noting they wiped out the entire battle group they were stationed with when they decided to find and join Ambition rather than side with Irk. Similar stories for other ships which evaded detection to join with the Ambition at some random point in space.
The tracks then showed various jumps to Defiance Station and then the next plotted jump direction, parallel to the direction they took off in to evade the destroyer on their tail. Nothing else beyond that, as was to be expected, but it was a major clue all the same.
Corr looked at the maps, shocked initially, but a smile soon came to his face. "We may have lost everything but maybe we really aren't too far detached from our own ancestors who decided to rebel in the face of all this."
Skrem heaved a sigh of relief, "I got a little too ahead of myself…she's right, I shouldn't have just hooked it up like that but…"
"We have a heading…but that's it." Calla observed with a sigh. "No way of knowing for sure how far or what to expect beyond that. We may very well travel for years and find nothing."
"Not necessarily, but first, Captain?" She sought Corr's attention. "Permission to speak freely?"
"Of course but…I do apologize for the haste of wanting to see this data. I do have something for you later."
"Fine, sure, whatever…but if you ever have put me in a position to risk a repeat of Tallum out here again like that, you can kindly go fuck yourself…Sir. Lucky this ship don't look like a mesh net after that asteroid field."
"...Duly noted." Corr blinked, rather shocked to hear it personally rather than being surprised at her view of things after Tallum. A pause followed as he sighed, "Slic and Chavsa think that they've been following our engine trails. How much time do you think we have before they're on us again?"
"Unless there's some magical voodoo witchcraft I'm not aware of, it's scientifically impossible to track a vessel in FTL. Dropping in or out may as well light off a flare though and if they're listening in at the right place and right time, they'll pick up on it." Rem went on to explain. "Not sure what you want to do now that the Empire is on our tail. We can't lead them straight to these Irken if they're still alive."
"We haven't much of a choice." Calla grimly reasoned. "Misdirection may throw them off of us, if only briefly."
Rem pondered briefly before refocusing on the group.
"...do we have enough spare parts aboard to fashion miniature FTL drives? Like, fit inside of a missile small."
Skrem quickly moved to another terminal and ran through a cargo list. Spare missile engines in case of any misfires, pipes, a slew of parts, even Imperial transponders that were disabled and removed sitting in the cargo hold. "I can probably make about four or five of them. We even have this ship's transponders and other trackers in storage if we want to throw those in."
"What did you have in mind?" Calla queried, genuinely curious now.
"Like I said, impossible to track a ship that's already in-transit FTL. Only when it enters or leaves it…but if we can rig up dummy "ships" and send them out at the same time we jump, they're forced to choose which one to chase. Increases our chances of evasion and losing them. They don't have to be super sophisticated, just fire-and-forget. They'll drop out of FTL when they run out of fuel and we'll be long gone by then."
"Very simple procedure to tie them into our own navigation computer to receive a signal to jump. Hook them up to a battery to last long enough. Have Chavsa zoom around and drop them from her fighter to point in different directions other than the one we're going. They may as well be chasing figments of our imagination for weeks before they realize they've been had." Skrem added, "It's a genius idea, I like it."
"Well, thank you." She smiled, proud of herself. "...only drawback is that it is resource-intensive. Basically giving up all of our spare components and parts to fix our drive if anything happens to it. Heck of a gamble."
"Meaning if our drive fails after we do this, we'll be stranded." Calla summarized.
"Essentially. Sub-light engines only get you so far and if we're between star systems? May as well initiate self-destruct before we starve to death or go insane after spending decades isolated…nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?"
"If we die at least I found out what love was before that." Skrem smiled, earning an eye roll from Rem, albeit one with a smirk.
"Very well. Skrem, get to work…and tell our pilot that if we need any spare parts for our drive after this we're cannibalizing that miniature one in her fighter."
"Oh she won't like that." Skrem grinned as he left the bridge to get to work fabricating the phony FTL missiles.
Corr, true to his word, would leave Rem an unopened bottle of Vortian malt liquor in a gesture of thanks for her efforts at getting them out of there. Meanwhile, Skrem fashioned a total of eight missiles, fabricating new, single use solid fuel engines where he had to. They lacked the range as the others but would be more than enough to add to the ruse.
Chavsa flew them in various directions with the fighter, simply dropping them with a release of the trigger before heading back to the frigate. Rem plotted a course to bring them back on track with the last known heading of the long lost remnant of the Republic. Once Chavsa landed and the hangar door sealed once more, the frigate sent off and, just as planned, all eight missiles fired off in their various directions.
By the time the Zaad arrived some days later after critical repairs, the crew were absolutely confused as to where to go next. Phok, Mirage's Purple lead that took control of the force hunting Corr, opted for the path of one of the missiles. They'd be thrown off for weeks, if not a couple months before they realize they hit the wrong trail.
The close call at Defiance Station remained fresh in mind despite the breathing room gained from the costly gambit. They had only delayed the inevitable with clever ploys and a whole mountain of optimism that they would be able to find the pre-Empire Irken descendants of the Ambition alive and well somewhere in the universe. Duties and daily tasks went on as normal, continuing on the heading provided by a long-dead Tann leaving a message on the off-chance Calla managed to recover it. Only time would tell if it would lead to another great discovery or come up empty-handed with the Empire hot on their heels once more.
Corr continued reading on information from Byte and things recovered from Devastis. Clearly those who didn't have access to ships wouldn't have lasted long in rebellion against Irk, but they tried. They tried, gave it their all, and knew it was better to leave it all on the battlefield and die with their principles than kneel. Admirable people, commendable, and this new movement picked up their long dormant torch to rekindle that sort of ferocity within their own species.
He'd look up after hearing the door open, Calla coming into their shared quarters. The man smiled and turned his chair to face her.
"The more I find out about our forebears and how much more of the truth comes out, the more I'm inspired by them."
"As one should be," She concurred, the door cycling shut behind her.
She held a tray with two freshly-prepared drinks, setting it on the desk near him.
"Internal rot aside, the Republic had merit. Our people entered the era of exosolar colonization and major changes were inevitable. The Empire was not what any of us had in mind at the time, I assure you."
Taking up one of the mugs, she offered it to Corr before accepting her own. Drink in hand, she plucked the dataslate from his grasp to set on the desk before taking his hand to guide him to the larger, reclining chair in the corner of the room. Once he complied and settled in, she slipped into his lap, laying against him in kind.
"...why read dry, bland texts when you can play twenty questions with your own piece of living history?" She playfully mused.
"You make a good point." Corr took a sip of his drink, placing an arm around her. "You seem to know Tann. How well did you two know each other?"
"Closest thing to a sister I had. Similar to how you and your squadmates view each other. Reminded me a lot of myself, no-nonsense, strong-willed, driven…had to be in a male-dominated career field like engineering. Everyone had their jokes and made light of her efforts, but her work spoke for itself. There's a reason why she was Master Engineer of one of the largest starships ever laid down by our people."
Calla paused, gathering her memories now centuries old.
"She was one of the first people I met after moving to Devos. Met by happenstance one evening at a club while I lived in the capital. Our personalities just…meshed, I suppose. Genuinely enjoyed being around her. Auntie Tann to my sons…my own family back on Irk may as well cease to be after I moved. Early colonization held some stigma in the Republic…running away from problems or abandoning the homeworld instead of fixing the internal strife. Tann understood when something was a losing battle and Irk wasn't one worth fighting for back then."
"Sounds very similar to us in a way…and from what I've seen of what befell your home and what happened with Irk, not to mention what you've told me…I can understand wanting to leave behind a rotten regime and start fresh. I can imagine those who had the same sentiment that tried to go live in the woods on Irk didn't last too long, did they?"
"The defiant that regressed away from the direction society was going were left to their own devices for some time. That was, until the Grand Design was in full swing. Bounties were placed on PAKless Irken. They would be either captured alive and PAKed or killed in the process. Either way, the Empire achieved its goals in the end. Devos had its own fair share of solo acts as well. Enclaves formed in the old mine shafts…"
She paused, hesitating to continue as she took a lengthy drink.
"...Krad buried them alive and let it be known what became of those who refused the Empire's "gifts" and subverted its authority."
"Sounds like something the Empire would do even now." Corr shook his head, "Though, you've had plenty of time since we've been at Kyozist now. How is it being back in the land of the living and getting used to your own skin once again?"
Her orange eyes studiously peered to nothing in particular. Deeper thought and consideration to describe the odd complexity and amalgamation of unique feelings and experiences that was her new lease on life.
"...doesn't feel real sometimes. Like one big dream…or nightmare, depending on the day. Mundane things remind me of what I lost. What I will never have again. The friendly faces and people I cared for have been dead and all but forgotten for decades…centuries, even. I shouldn't be here, but here I am. I'm grateful to be given this opportunity and the wonderful people I've met since then…but sometimes…I wonder if being left to forever sleep on that hard disk in that closet on Devastis would have been a more suitable fate."
Corr planted a kiss on her cheek. "If it means anything coming from me, I'm glad you're here. I'm happy you've also helped me…loosen up. Used to be such a stiff, but you've heard Kaz say that I had a pole up my c'hurta…except he used the Vortian word." He paused to chuckle, "This sort of thing with romance that was lost to us. It's enjoyable, shameful that we had it stolen from us."
Calla couldn't help but smile wistfully at his affections, turning to meet his eyes.
"For someone who hadn't the vaguest clue a short time ago, you're a quick study. You always have been sharp and observant. Far more intelligent than the average soldier. Doing what comes naturally may have played a hand in the matter, but having allies well-versed in the concept helped reawaken those feelings."
"Certainly did in my case," he chuckled. "I forget if I asked after all this time because of everything that happened, but what was in that box you stashed? Kazak was very lucky to have found it."
"Momentos, mostly." Calla began, her attention elsewhere in the room. "Photos of my family and friends. Sappy love letters from Kalan, rife with spelling and punctuation errors. Vlaaksmas ornaments made by my boys…things I wanted to preserve and burn the rest to eliminate anyone or anything I held dear being punished by association."
Her forlorn smile subsided, looking to the man's visage in close proximity.
"...but that was a lifetime ago. Literally. That box holds the last pleasant memories of what I once was." She spoke, her unoccupied palm raising to cup his cheek tenderly. "I live here, in the present, with you. A second chance I refuse to waste."
A long pause followed a kiss on her lips. Thoughts were going through his head, a permanence of things. Long dormant desires borne of romance. "I suppose there's a sort of ceremony that's been lost to us? When you and Kalan declared yourself…bonded? Or did this happen spontaneously?"
His query gave her immediate pause. Corr had always fumbled about this realm of curiosity, but his direct question and the weight it carried was not lost on her in the slightest. Contemplatively biting her lower lip, orange eyes searching the room, she eventually gave a small, nervous laugh.
"...there is, yes. Was, I should say, all things considered." Calla began, her attention drifting back to the deep violet of the Captain's eyes in close proximity. "Traditionally, even well before our people took to the stars and left Irk, our culture prided strength, integrity, and merit above all else. A man's worth and his words were backed by his actions. Naturally…women preferred the strongest of men for favorable offspring, but you aren't seeking a lesson in biology or sociology, now, are you?"
Pausing, she situated herself more comfortably in Corr's lap with a shuffling of her weight.
"Far as the likes of Kalan and others during my time goes…generally if a man was kind, charming, respected by society, and could provide for his family-to-be…if there was any sort of chemistry or physical attraction after that, the rest very well could fall into place." Calla elaborated, teasingly smiling at the man whose lap she occupied. "...why are you suddenly so curious about these things, my Captain?"
"Considering everything…our companionship over the last nearly two years," Corr started, pausing to take a drink from his glass. "I'll just say it. I want that with you, Calla. We should have this ceremony and revive a long dead custom. If not here, then when we rejoin the others. But it's something I'd like to do. I'd like to spend the rest of my days with you."
His sincere words brought a warm flush to her cheeks as she wistfully smiled. Equally embarrassed as she was endeared by his claims, she struggled to remain composed in the moment. A myriad of feelings and thoughts filled the forefront of her mind. Days gone by, her life with Kalan, her "death", and now recent revival into the loving arms of this charismatic Captain. What was it with military men that captured her interest?
"...I still think you're a bit touched in the head." She finally spoke in jest, resting her forehead to his gently. "Maybe both of us are, all things considered…but it would be nice to return to some sense of normalcy that was taken from both of us. We have to lead by example, after all…are you formally proposing your hand to me then? As…mates?"
"Yes, yes I am. We know the others have been forging similar bonds. Vult and Hesa, what Haxx had with Volx, Aero and Vard, what we've seen with Rem and Skrem these past few months. But you're our link to the past, you know what we've lost. We may not be the first down the path of these relationships among our number but we can bring back what it is to have mates."
"They do have a bit of a head start in that regard…but you aren't wrong." Calla reasoned, still pleasantly charmed at the notion, if not a little flush from the insinuations. "...I see no reason to refuse or deny you. You have been nothing but understanding, patient, and compassionate for someone in my…predicament. Moreso than I expected, to be honest…there is an intellectual hiding under that rugged exterior who understands not all battles are physical and many wars are won before the fighting even begins."
She paused, nestling into the man beneath her all the more, arms wrapped around his neck.
"...at the risk of being…forthcoming…I think I'm ready." Corr's brow furrowed in mild confusion at her words. "I won't spell it out for you, but there is another step further after accepting your hand. You said you wished for the ceremony to be among the others when we return to known space…that leaves the…intimate part between you and I…and there is no one else I'd rather be with right now than you."
Corr quickly finished what was in the glass, setting it down nearby. "I think I know what you mean. Hard not to when the rock bashers of my squad are unable to keep their mouths shut about their…escapades." He shook his head, but it was quickly followed up with a kiss to Calla's lips. "Then it's off to bed. It seems funny, partaking of what I assume comes after before the ceremony. Almost feels like eating one of Aero's treats before dinner."
He quickly picked up on what she was implying, saving them both awkward words. Him standing with ease, supporting her weight, and intending to make true on their destination, Calla couldn't help but snicker in amusement with a grin.
"I think she could find it in her heart to forgive us for spoiling our meal, all things considered." She mused, helping herself to another deep, lingering kiss.
Never missing a step amidst their embrace, Corr smoothly laid Calla on her back into their shared bed. Their kiss grew more intimate, smoldering, and eventually forced to pause as she looked up at him, breathless and starry-eyed with a genuine smile.
"I love you."
"And I love you too, now and forever."