Here ya go people! A short chapter, but a nice way to start things off.
One retcon needed to be mentioned. Sergeant Drake Winter is a woman now, and goes by Dakota, not Drake. She also uses power fists instead of a sword (swords are a little too generic for my taste) I will go back and change this at some point in the future, but I'm leaving this note so no old readers get confused.
If more retcons come in the future, I'll let y'all know, so nobody gets blindsided.
Anyway, please enjoy this new (and ABSURDLY delayed) installment!
Part 4: War and Resolve
Chapter 37: Unidentified
5 years later
If there's one thing Davian learned from his Grandpa, it's that most military service involves sitting around and waiting. Maintaining equipment, following mandatory protocol, and finding ways to pass the hours by. Outside of combat, life as a navy man was pretty mundane, in stark contrast with the thrill and excitement so often portrayed in the media. Most could handle the mundanity pretty well. Others could go crazy from it. Davian thought himself as being somewhere in between. With his recent promotion, he figured he'd be seeing more combat, but the exact opposite came true.
Davian watched the empty void of space from the seat of his chair. He commanded a Pleiades-class cruiser, The Star Brigade, accompanied by twin Cornerian Assault Carriers: Crimson and Rover. He twiddled his thumbs and took a deep breath through his nose. It didn't take AI to register his anxiety. Things had been too quiet recently, and it was starting to get to him. On his left, Lieutenant Dash looked up from his monitor and spoke up.
"No signs of activity sir. Same as the weeks before."
Davian grumbled at that. His ship patrolled space within the Globekian System, named after its Homeworld Globekia. An infamous system in the Outskirts, known by most Lylats only as a failed Cornerian Colony. A colony they'd been trying for years to reclaim. Davian leaned his hand against his forehead.
"It doesn't make a lick of sense," he shook his head, "We get all kinds of faces down here. Pirates, smugglers, slave-traders. Where have they all gone?"
"If I may sir," Sergeant Dakota spoke from behind the captain, sitting at one of the terminals, "it's possible they grew tired of our interference. Perhaps they've moved on to quieter systems."
"That's optimistic thinking," Davian frowned, "too optimistic. We must be on full alert.
The intercom started beeping.
"It's the Crimson, sir," a private spoke up.
"Path 'em through," Davian ordered.
A monitor screen came up, with a Dalmatian Canine in a white uniform. He looked a bit nervous, wiping his forehead.
"Commodore Hare," the Dalmatian cleared his throat, "I hope your day is going well."
"I can't say it is, Captain Joy," Davian admitted, "I don't like coming up dry on a patrol. Makes me uneasy."
"Understandable," the Dalmatian nodded, swallowing heavily, "Regarding these patrols, I have a consideration that I wish to voice."
"You want to call off this mission." Davian stated like it was a simple fact.
"Commodore," Joy shook his head, "all due respect, these endeavors are fruitless. It's been nearly three months since our last encounter. Whatever threats plagued this system are gone."
"I disagree," Davian crossed his arms, "there's something here. Something that scared everything else off. It's hiding from us."
"Did you ever consider that we are the ones who scared them off?" Joy mentioned.
"Yeah, and it ain't logical," Davian reiterated, "this sort of change doesn't happen overnight. We went from having a beehive to a pinecone in a single rotation. That doesn't make sense."
"It's unusual, granted. But not unheard of. I think it's best we call off the mission and bring our findings back to Fleet Command. We're accomplishing nothing here."
Davian hummed and closed his eyes. He interlocked his fingers, resting his elbows on his knees. His feet tapped softly against the metal floor. Compromise seemed appropriate.
"Alright then. Hail the Rover. Tell them to return home. We'll give Command a full report, and ask if relieval is optional."
Captain Joy looked relieved, and nodded.
"Aye sir. Will we continue the mission?"
"Yes Captain. Your voice is heard, but my suspicions ain't exactly quelled. We gotta keep a lookout for now."
Captain Joy saluted, and the view display vanished. The Rover began circling around. Dakota stretched her arms over her head and /yawned.
"Thank the Creator. Maybe we'll be able to head back for some real action. I'm tired of chasing ghosts."
"Sure thing Dakota," Corporal Clark laughed, "I bet your boyfriend misses you too."
Dakota shot him a glare. He chuckled and returned to his monitor.
"Keep your wits about you," Davian spoke up, "this is just a standard report. Until we hear back from Fleet Command, we'll have to remain-
Davians speech cut off as a dark violet light suddenly filled the bridge. Alarms blared, as what looked like a large circle of lightning approached their vessel at rapid speed. Davian's eyes were off the viewscreen for only a second. He saw no sign of any other vessels.
"What the hell is that!?" Dash barked.
"Evasive maneuvers!" Davian shouted as the circle of lightning got closer.
The circle engulfed all three vessels. The ship shook violently, as all the lights shut down in a heartbeat. Emergency power took over, turning the lights and life support systems back on, but the rest of the ship remained dead. Crewmen hollered and panicked as they tried to turn on their devices. All of the monitors were out. A gleam of red filled the bridge from the emergency lights.
"Talk to me Corporal," Davian made his voice loud and stern.
"Everything's down sir," Clark sounded panicked, "engines, shields, weapon systems. We're a sitting duck!"
"Dakota, how about communications? Can we contact the sister ships?"
"Standard coms are down. Transitioning to morse," she pressed her headphones into her ears, before clenching her fist, "their electronics are down too. Looks like we were all caught in the blast."
Davian felt his heartbeat pickup rapidly.
"Rover didn't make it out?"
"Affirmative sir. Their hyperdrive is fried."
Davian almost slammed his fist, but he maintained his composure. His grandfather's words rang in his ears,
"Never let temper get the best of you. The ship relies on cool heads."
Davian took a deep breath to calm himself down.
"Corporal, try getting our viewports back online. We need to find out what the sam hell is going on out there."
"Yes sir!" the Corporal got off his seat and lifted one of the floor panels.
"Private Wart, get to the bridge. Find out where we are with the fighters. If any of them survived the blast, we'll need them for recon ASAP."
"Aye Captain," Wart jumped off his chair and began running.
When he tried opening the doors, he realized they were shut off.
"Sir, electronics in the doors are out too!" he grunted as he tried prying them open.
Dakota threw off her headphones and rushed over, quickly putting on her power gloves.
"Step aside!" she barked.
Wart obliged. Gritting her teeth, the sergeant closed her eyes and yanked the doors apart. On the other side, more crew were already running about, trying to figure out what was happening. Wart nodded to her, and ran into the chaos. The Lieutenant checked his blaster.
"Looks like our weapons weren't affected by it," he spun the blaster in his hand, "maybe our equipment was spared too."
"Let's hope so," Davian looked over at Clark, "Corporal, how are we looking? Is your toolkit kicking?"
"Aye sir, but this will take some time," he grunted as blue sparks flew from below the floor, "it's a mess down here!"
"Get it online, Corporal. We don't have time to-
A horrible shake interrupted Davian, throwing him from his seat. Clark shouted as his tools fell on top of him from above. His head poked up from the hole, and he rubbed it.
"What is it now!?" he sounded distressed.
Davian stood up, catching his breath. Horrible creaks followed, making him look at the ceiling. The rest of the crew looked as well.
"That doesn't sound good," Dash growled.
"No it doesn't," Davian frowned, "something's latched onto us."
"A boarding party?" Dash guessed.
"I sure hope not," Davian swallowed.
As if on cue, screams started coming from the rest of the ship, accompanied by laser fire. Davian pulled out his twin pistols instinctively. The rest of the crew grabbed their weapons. They heard more weapons, discharges none of them recognized. More crew started running into the bridge, both with and without guns. Some appeared injured. Davian ran to help a particularly shot-up individual. A chameleon private who wailed in pain. Wart ran in as well, armed with an assault rifle. His green skin looked pale, and his eyes wider than usual.
"What's going on?" Davian asked.
"Boarders sir!" Wart's voice was in full panic, "machines of some sort. I've never seen them before!"
"Machines?" Dash raised an eyebrow.
Wart shook his head, putting a hand on his forehead.
"T-they came through the bridge. Started hitting our fighters. I ran, and found more coming from the rest of the ship. I think they're using the escape hatches as entry points."
More members pooled into the bridge, until half the crew was there.
"I need details. Descriptions. Firepower," Davian ordered, grabbing Wart's shoulders, "You gotta work with me."
Wart nodded rapidly, and looked over to the doors. It looked like nobody else was coming. In the distance, there was only silence, followed by the sounds of clanking feet on metal.
"Close the doors!" he shouted, "They're coming!"
Dakota got right to it, running over to pry them shut. Right as she was about to close them, indistinguishable figures rounded the corners, marching in unison. Blue orbs flew by her head as they opened fire, and she shut the doors for good. Clark ran over with a torch and began sealing it shut.
"Something tells me this won't last," Dash snarled.
"What are they?' Davian asked.
"They're bipedal," Wart continued, "Not much bigger than us. I could only catch two variants, one bulkier than the other. They looked gray, and didn't have heads. Just a single red orb on their chests. They had weapons attached to their arms. That's all I can say."
"I've never heard of anything like that before," Dash commented.
"Neither have I," Dakota stepped closer to Davian, "this is something new."
Davian turned to the rest of the crew,
"Does anybody who saw these machines recognize them?"
No answers. A flash of sparkles lit up the whole room, as the top of the doors started getting cut.
"They're breaking through!" Clark hollered as he stepped back, grabbing his rifle.
"Everyone, take cover!" Davian shouted, holding up both pistols, "They want to take this ship? Let's give them a high price!"
Everyone started taking cover, hiding under the panels, behind monitors, even using chairs as cover. Davian, Dakota, and Dash all hid up on his command perch, along with five other members. Dakota had her Chain Blaster out and revved. Davian knelt next to her.
"We may not get out of this one, sir." she spoke in a low voice.
"Of course we will," he grinned at her, "you and Marcus still have a score to settle, right?"
She smiled back and nodded. Despite trying to lift spirits, Davian couldn't escape the gloom and doom of the situation. No computer was needed to explain their bad odds. But he didn't forget what his grandfather told him.
"Remember sonny. It ain't over till you give the order."
Davian tightened his grip on the blasters. No matter what, he would get his crew out of this.
Even if the price was his life.