Year #103 Day #246
Operation: Self diagnostic
Power sys: 100%
Drive Train: 100% operational
Tac/Comm: Online
Nav: Online
Tracking/sensors: 100% operational
Suspension: 100% operational
Secondary and tertiary system operations: 99.991% integrated
Magnetic shielding: 100% operational
Weapons:
Hellbore 1, 2 Operational
Hellrail 1 operational
Infinite repeater banks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, operational
Tertiary weapons systems reporting
Self diagnostic complete (0.20 seconds) systems at 99.998%
I have performed six self-diagnostics within the last half hour, all of them report that I am at full functionality. Although I'm pleased with these results I still can't believe my sensors. I first detected the FTL transmission at 2755 hundred hours last night, and it has continued since then. The Idea that after all this time some one is actually out in this region of space is astounding. The idea that for even a few short minutes I am not completely alone is almost too much to process. Still the nature of the transmission has me worried. I'm not sure which I find more troublesome the fact that I don't understand the language in which it is being sent, or the fact that it sounds disturbingly like a distress beacon. Regardless it is out there 53.786 light years from my current location in the general direction of the star I've labeled as T38 the Great. I feel lost, I can do no more than listen to the transmission, yet I feel the overcoming urge to do something anything to help those people. Still I will sit and listen and ready my self for any action I may need to take.
The Attack had come as a complete surprise, Hyline Rickover captain of the generational ship New Hope was still reeling from the first shot. He now had his navigation crew working the Hope through maneuvers that should never be performed by a ship of its size; all in a desperate attempt to our run her pursuers. The crew was putting up a valiant effort. However, the attacking raiders where faster and more maneuverable. Soon they would overtake the flying city and everybody knew it. Luckily the enemy seemed intent on taking the ship with as little damage done to it as possible, and this meant it would take longer to overcome the Hope. Rickover was taking this advantage for every thing it was worth. He ordered another round of hard turns designed to smash any pursuers foolish enough to get to close. In truth he was happy that the enemy had chosen to attack with primarily cruiser class ships. It was those pesky fighters that he had to watch out for. He punched the coms button and called up the electronics room he practically barked into the receiver "I'd like to use my flash drives sooner rather than latter!"
Leo Teff sat at his console attacking the keys with a vigor that no one knew was in him, these raiders where going to pay for disrupting his chat with Mrs. Behm. He was in his element; the enemy's computer network has a playground to him and his team! They moved forward intent on their target, the enemy cruisers' flash drive computers. They sliced through the defending systems cutting them into pieces to be crippled or destroyed by the rest of the pack. Leo and his team made no effort to be secretive about their actions, this was war, and someone would have to be daft to not expect a digital attack. It was the strength of the pack that allowed them to quickly over come a battle computer. It was the strength of the pack that protected them from the enemy. Still their target was well defended and it was taking far to long to take it down. He knew the captain was counting on them to cripple the enemy's ability to pursue during an FTL flash. The problem was that the computers controlling the navigation and engine systems where too well defended for a quick takedown. As he scanned the possible entry points it occurred to him that all he needed to do was cut the flash drive booster line, then when the enemy tried to flash the extra power needed wouldn't be able to get to the drive. He left the navigation computer that he had been working on and began to hack the power distribution network. He found the system he was looking for, he yelled, "hit the power network we need to reroute their drive's power." His team responded soon he had complete access to the routers. "Now where to send it", he thought. It took just a few seconds to form the plan. Now he grinned sadistically as he told the enemy computer to send all power to life support. Soon This cruiser would get a refreshing blast of cool clean air just be fore its waste management system blew up and its grav system failed. He took a second to enjoy the image of shock on his enemy's face, hopefully they would be cleaning the shit off the walls for the next cycle. As he turned his attention to the next cruiser he decided to send its power to the lighting systems. Who needed big guns all he needed were a coms link and a Fluff Max grooming comb!
Meanwhile Camille Behm sat at her console quietly analyzing the enemy's hold on the Hopes flash drive only the rhythmic swishing of her tail indicated that she felt pressured. She admired Leo's tenacity and drive, but his hacking style was so blunt. Tearing the enemy apart with tooth and claw worked very well for a pack, she however, preferred to crawl through the wild jungle of the Hope's computer networks watching for weakness to exploit. She preferred to strike her enemy from the side, snapping his neck or slicing his jugular in one quick motion. She had spent the last few minutes poking and prodding the enemy computer that held the Hope's flash drive captive, looking for an in. To her it was amazing that the enemy didn't simply destroy the system. Instead they chose to keep every thing operational. It looked like the enemy had no idea of how to truly operate a flash drive; they only knew how to control it. Her tail made an unconscious twitch upward, she had tracked the enemy back to his access point, a simple game that kept players scores updated on an internet based leader board. It was the type of game that was played in offices, interesting enough to be fun yet boring enough to encourage work. She had to laugh at the enemy, he was so confident in his control of the engines; he was playing the game right now. His score was better than hers! "Hell it's going to take me forever to get my score back." She thought as she sent the game into an irrecoverable crash. She looked back at the Hope's flash drive systems and jumped into the air in a triumphant show of her success.
"Captain the drives are back on line!" a navigation officer called out
Rickover had been planning what to do when the drives came back on for the last several minutes, he had come to the conclusion that a short jump with in sensor range wasn't enough to shake the pursuing craft, even if they didn't manage to get their drives operational in time. Instead he needed to make a long jump that would take them out of the range of enemy sensors, the draw back was that he would be jumping blind and if they weren't lucky the Hope would end up in the core of some space rock. "Lt. Slan activate flash drives, set your destination for Frast orbit." He was petrified and felt colder than a comets breath when he gave the order but he couldn't let it show. As the energy needed to flash a ship the size of a good size mountain 53 light years away was pulled into the flash drive, he offered up a prayer to the goddess of all things fuzzy that they would make the jump safely.
A ship coms system gave a single "BOOONG" in warning, as the New Hope's flash drives released the there stored energy. And then it was done! Rickover breathed a sigh of relief as all of the ships stations began reporting all systems green. Still Rickover felt ill at ease, it was the anticlimactic ending to a jump, and it always made him feel that way. He felt there should be more maybe a flash of light or the sensation of your knees turning to mush. yet he was left with nothing. He keyed the ships comms system "Ladies and Gents we have arrived at the planet Frast! Please check your stations and commence the preliminary landing studies. " "Lt. Slan any signs of the enemy?"
It's nearly impossible a probability of 8,733,847,821 to 1 against! That ship should not be there. I've never actually thought any one would come to this place! I run a full diagnostic carefully going over every sensor this takes me a full 1.249 seconds. Yet the ship is in a clear orbit of this planet. It appears that this is the ship that was broadcasting the strange distress beacon. The Captain must have made a blind jump, Insane!
I've spent far to long marveling at this ships appearance. I must find out whom I'm dealing with. I reach out and touch the ships computer network letting myself in by way of a firewall designed to keep the enemy at bay. I pause a moment to analyze their electronic defenses, It's in binary! I take another fraction of a second to admire the quaint simplicity of the system. My first target is the ships library, for quick lessons in foreign languages and history. I take all of 2.53 seconds to translate their language and note the events leading up to this ships creation. It would appear as if these new comers, the Renan, built this ship to escape a dieing star. Leaving the library I set my sites on the ships "black boxes" I disregard all but the last week of information. There is nothing of interest aside from an incident involving several hundred pies until today. It looks like the ship was attacked shortly before I received the distress signals. I am particularly interested in how the enemy attacked, it would seem that the enemy wanted the ship and crew intact, yet the attack was rather clumsy. The records are showing me significant damage to the navigation sensors. I quickly check this fact visually a large scar is painted over what would have been the ships main sensor array the damage also seems to extend to a major coms hub. The enemy didn't want to be seen. Shortly after the attack began the ships FTL drive was attacked but not destroyed, I make a note to find out who saved the drives computer systems. Approximately forty minutes into the attack the FTL drive was returned to functional status at which time the captain ordered a jump. Upon arrival the captain addressed the crew and ordered the preliminaries for a landing on the planet Frast. "Ladies and Gents we have arrived a the planet Frast." The Jump wasn't random this planet was their destination all along! I'm not sure how I feel about this. I think . . . excited!
Shifting gears I travel further into the system and locate a video link. I pull up video feed of Captain Rickover, Tech officers Camille Behn and Leo Teff, and a half dozen others. Studying these people I can only feel a sense of relief, they aren't human I'm not restricted in how I choose to deal with them. I count two species, I quickly check the ships medical logs, too confirm the fact. The first species that of Leo Teff and Captain Rickover resembles a coyote in human from, the second that of Camille Behn is a feline variation on the theme. I find it ironic that my creators got it wrong, cats and dogs can live side by side. I drop all but the captain's and Mrs. Behn's video connections.
I need to fully examine the ship. The first thing that catches my attention is a damage report, nothing to serious mostly a loss of sensors and communications gear, things I noted earlier. The ship is lightly armed and poses no threat to me it would appear that these people are not used to the concept of interplanetary war. The engines are operational but damaged. Life support is running smoothly, the captain got lucky today.
I felt it a millisecond ago several large energy signatures entering the planets air space. I scan the area to the rear of the New Hope several ships have appeared. Instantly I begin jamming all frequencies, at the same time I begin tapping these new ships for information, it appears these ship are all that's left of the fighter wing that attacked the New Hope. Instantly I'm looking into the faces of the pilots, as I expected they aren't humans. Again I'm relived. I begin tracking the fighters I will engage them if they become aggressive towards the Hope. I tap the new hope and pick up a audio and video link on the bridge. It occurs that I've just sided with the Renan I am 89% sure this is a good decision.
Captain Rickover groaned when he heard of the fighter wing that had just taken up position on his tail. "Suggestions anyone?" he called out to the bridge He had worried that the enemy might try and pursue them they had left a fairly distinct trail. Now it appeared that they had sent this small party to prevent them from jumping again.
"About he only thing we can do to shake the fighters is to land. I doubt they are designed to handle the stresses of going atmospheric" Lt. Slan suggested. Leave it to Slan to come up with an idea like that. Hell they didn't even know where to land!
Time to find out he thought "Begin the landing procedure tell the survey team they have two minutes to pick a good place to put us down!" he ordered. The idea of landing in order to shake the fighters was a bad one but it was the best they had at the moment. He worried that once they where on the ground they would be about as defenseless as a newborn pup. Still if the fighters did attempt to enter the atmosphere, the incredible heat of reentry would probably destroy them. "Has the enemy attempted to signal its main force?"
"Negative sir." An orderly called out
"Sir the survey team has found an LZ do you wish to begin the landing procedure?" Slan called out,
". . . Yees begin landing procedure. Put the LZ on display." Rickover groaned resignation.
I cant believe my digital ears. Well it's not like this place will kill them. I look in on the Hope's navigation computers. After analyzing the Hopes flight path and checking that against my own records I decide to alter the LZ. In less that .002 seconds I've arranged to have neighbors, they should land next the city I was built at. The new LZ will give them a strong and reliable water source as well as more fertile lands, not to mention the fact that it puts them with in easy striking distance of my hellbores.
With the Hope taken care of I turn my attention to the enemy fighters. I give their computers a quick scan and noting that the order to make the jump came from the flight leader and not from the flagship of their main attack force. I can only thing that the actions taken by Mr. Teff where successful in either killing or disabling the enemy's main fighting force. For now I limit the fighters' engines to half speed. I want to make my attack when the New Hope is beyond the horizon this means a long wait and a shortened window of attack for me but I'd prefer to remain hidden or at least unnoticed. The wait is agony I want to take action my programming tells me to shoot now and deal with the Renan later but still I wait.
As the new hope falls below the horizon and I fall out of her detection range I bring my hellrail to bear on the lead ship, a bolt of blue fire leaps into the air. I wait three seconds letting the fear sink into the enemy pilots. I fire again this time with my twin hellbores, Two more fighters fall, two to go. More blue fire leaves my barrels, I watch as nuclear fire engulfs the last two fighters. I've made my first kills I feel a sense of exhilaration. Now I can only wait to see what comes of my actions.
Leo Teff stood by Camille in absolute horror. They had been looking over the navigation system and had seen the LZ change and with it the whole flight path. The ship would breakup if it followed this new path! He felt the ship change course as it began its decent towards the planets surface it was all over. He looked at Camille, It occurred to him that in a very short while he would be dead and he had never told Camille how he felt about her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her close to him, kissing her with an unbeknown passion. He felt fulfilled for the first and last time in what was going to be a very short life. "Took you a while didn't it", Camille commented as they came up for air. "I hope you're looking for a mate because I've been waiting on you for far to long."
"Will you?" Leo asked in a ragged breath. It was pointless they both knew but still he needed to ask. He got his answer. Nether of them noticed when the New Hope gently touched down on their new home.