Disclaimer: Volition-inc. owns Descent: Freespace, Admiral Shima, and several other things. I own Vincent Schaard, Lt. Risnan, and Lorkhena as well as most of the plot, except where it intertwines with or makes reference to the plot of the game.

Fun Fact: Although all intersystem communications are accompanied by a visual of the speaker, most pilots disregard the video feed, their focus on the task at hand. This explains why Vince usually says that he "hears" someone say something while in combat, rather than simply saying who it is. There are some cases in which a communicae is audio only, usually the result of a weakened communications subsystem.

Chapter Ten: 4/1/2335 Bigger Fish to Fry

"Wake up boys and girls, we're back on duty!"

Our shift begins with the same news we've had for the last two days; the Hammer and its two cruisers have survived our pursuit through Ross 128, Laramis, and Luyten 726-8 A. Despite a string of relentless assaults on our part, the Hammer has only lost two turrets, the Lance took some engine damage, and on the 31st Tate managed to take out the Pike's navigation subsystem. We've taken a few hits too; the Bastion lost a radar dish and some turrets, while the Hope has a damaged weapons subsystem. Casualties are nearly even on both sides.

In spite of all this action and frustration, I cannot take my mind off of my lost home. We've all lost our homes, Terrans and Vasudans, and it makes me wonder if the Shivans ever had a home. They must have come from somewhere; could they be a weapons experiment gone wrong? The result of a much-too-curious civilization, older even than the Ancients? Wandering nomad-warriors, searching for a way home? Who are they?

I have no time to dwell on this, however, as we all suit up for the next round of this interminable battle. We begin to talk as we head out into the hallway.

"We're going to have to turn back soon," says Lawrence, "Our ships don't have the fuel to cross another system."

"Yeah," says George, "but those HOL ships can't go on forever either. The fuel in those cruisers must be nearly dried up by now."

"Well," says Ron, "You remember the last command brief: we turn back ten clicks from the Luyten node. There's no point in going much farther, and there are no HOL bases in any of these systems, so they'll have to go back the way we all came."

"Right," says Sanford, "And we can just go back to Luyten and wait to pounce on the bastards!"

"Those HOL morons!" says Tate, "They threw their lives away when they ran off to Ross 128. Only a bunch of fools would head for Dubhe, one hell of a dead end, but I guess they didn't know I was on their tails!"

"Yeah," says Sanford, "If they did, they would have turned their guns on all of us right away!"

"What!" Tate retorts.

As Tate and Sanford commence one of their bragging competitions, I notice that Lorkhena has a far-off look in her eyes.

However, it's D who says, "What's up, Lorkhena?"

"I was contemplating Tate's remark," says Lorkhena, "That the Hammer of Light would knowingly retreat to a dead-end system. There may be something more to all this…"

"All pilots and crew, prepare for intersystem jump," the intercom buzzes.

We're still in the hallway, so Tinman says, "Time to crouch for our lives."

The journey is brief, and only two or three minutes go by before we hear the intercom again, "Now arriving in Wolf 359."

Wolf 359 is a red dwarf: dim but fairly common in size for a star. The only jump nodes in the system connect it to Luyten 726-8 A, from which we've just arrived, and Alphard, which leads to Dubhe, a very troublesome system to navigate. Dubhe, now that I remember, is the same system the Hammer of Light retreated to from Barnard's Star during one of our earlier missions, when we attacked two of their cruisers and one of their freighters. Considering their latest tactics, I wouldn't be surprised if our current targets ended up in Dubhe as well.

We've arrived in system, and all of us stand up again to continue to the hangar. We reach it to find Risnan waiting for us as usual.

"Right," he says, "The targets aren't far off. We're escorting two bomber wings: Delta and Epsilon. Normal designations. Let's go."

As we get into our ships, Ron says to me, "Risnan's just about as tired of this chase as the rest of us, huh?"

"Yeah, so am I," I say, "I don't really care about catching them all that much. If they're stranded out here, that's good enough for me."

We lift off, the Hammer and the light of the Lance's and Pike's engines off in the distance. They're off to the fore-fore-east so we turn accordingly. The Bastion and Hope follow suit, and we of the 66th form up on Delta and Epsilon wings. The Hope has sent out a similar arrangement of bombers with their escort wings, and they head for the enemy alongside us.

"This is Admiral Deais," I hear from the Hope, "Delta and Epsilon wings are to attack the Hammer, while Mu and Pi take down the Lance and Pike. We have also deployed Lambda wing to disable and disarm the Hammer. Good luck, pilots."

In silence, the result of a lack of faith in our mission, we approach the Hammer of Light ships. Everything seems to move so slowly, much like our approach to the Delta Serpentis jump node during our mission to chase the Lucifer. The only difference now was that time slowed out of boredom rather than fear. My thoughts turn to Lorkhena's words in the hall. But what more could there be? They're just as desperate to escape as they were back in Barnard's Star, and besides that, we're in a very deserted region of the galaxy. The Shivans never even ventured out this far into Terran space.

My thoughts are interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a ship from subspace.

"This is the GTSC Galileo," a science cruiser.

"You're supposed to be orbiting the third moon of Leon," I hear Admiral Shima exclaim, "What are you doing out here?"

"We are evacuating the system," I can tell by his voice that the cruiser's commander is shaken, "Shivan vessels are in pursuit."

The Shivans! Here?

"You are certain, Galileo?" Shima asks tentatively.

"Yes! They aren't far behind…"

"Don't worry, Galileo, we can cover your escape. Pilots, stick to your mission, we will cover the Galileo with the Bastion and Hope. Your reinforcement wings will be reassigned to the Galileo's protection and deployed should the Shivans prove any threat."

"No!" the Galileo again, "You have to evacuate NOW!

"Calm down, we have no reason to fear the Shivans any longer."

"You must escape…to warn Terran Command. They have another Lucifer!"

There is a resounding silence, the kind that makes your stomach turn and your ears swell. The spell is broken by the return of Shima's voice.

"Come again, Galileo?"

"You heard me! They have a second Lucifer, you have to evacuate!"

"Pilots," says Admiral Deais, "Disregard the Galileo's transmission, you will carry out this operation and destroy the Hammer of Light targets. We will investigate this possibility at a later time."

We are somewhat shaken, but continue on course. Except for protests from the Galileo at various intervals, the battle is much the same as the two others before it; everything feels repetitive. The Vasudan ships behave exactly as they always do, and we handle any slight changes in tactics as usual. Time moves slowly once more. Things begin to pick up when we lose one of the bombers, but the battle soon slows down again and it's obvious that the enemy forces are weakening. The fighter wings are replaced at greater intervals, and it isn't long before there are no new wings to relieve the destroyed fighters.

"I think we've finally got them," says Risnan as the Hammer's engines fry, "All that's left is to take out turrets, and let the bombers do their job."

No sooner have his words reached my ears than a massive subspace wormhole forms to the east.

"They're here!" the Galileo's transmission bursts into my headset, startling me to temporarily lose my grip on my ship's controls, "We haven't reached the jump node yet, we're all doomed!"

Then, from the depths of subspace, a massive vessel emerges: the Lucifer. I've never seen it up close before: few have. The two forward prongs tipped with its insanely powerful flux cannons arrive first, followed by the insect-like head and antennae. Like most capital ships, it arrives at a high speed, nearly 400 m/s, much greater than any other vessel ever designed. In addition to that, its size is astounding; this is truly a vessel from the darkest regions of the cosmos.

"All ships retreat," says Admiral Deais, "We cannot stand against that destroyer. We will have the Hope and Bastion jump to safer positions on the opposite side of the Luyten 726-8 A node. You will receive further orders from there."

"You heard the admiral," says Risnan, "Everyone, return to the Bastion."

The Lucifer has now slowed down to a normal pace, and it begins firing on the Hammer. We regretfully approach the Bastion, our mission a success in a way. However, I now fear the Great War is not yet over. The Hammer is destroyed brief moments after our last ship arrives in the Bastion's hangar bay. The Hope confirms the return of its ships and both prepare to jump out.

The Lance and Pike both bite the dust and the Lucifer turns on the Bastion.

"Prepare for subspace jump," the intercom buzzes calmly, as we all wait, still in our cockpits. The Hope makes the jump to subspace, but the Bastion hasn't yet; I begin to sweat furiously. Fortunately, the Lucifer doesn't have time to fire its main guns before we finally jump out. We arrive near the Hope, and, as I clamber out of my cockpit, I hear the intercom again.

"All active pilots report for command brief."

"They have a plan already?" says George. The rest of the squadron gathers with me and we head for the briefing hall.

"There's only one thing we can do," I say, "There's no way we can survive another Shivan assault; we must destroy this second Lucifer."

We jog in silence, eager to reach the hall in time for the news. We enter, and Shima is already standing waiting for us. Behind her, the screen reveals another room that is slightly odd in appearance.

"That must be the briefing hall onboard the Hope," says Lorkhena, "We're going to have a combined brief."

I notice a Vasudan in uniform on the screen: Admiral Deais. We all sit and it isn't long before the rest of the pilots have arrived. The other room fills with pilots as well, and Deais begins the brief.

"This is truly an alarming development. We don't know what the arrival of another Lucifer means, except that the Shivans are still a threat to us. However, we have confirmed the existence of a connection between the HOL retreat and the Lucifer's appearance in this system; we intercepted a transmission from the PVD Hammer to all its ships and we have been able to ascertain that a Hammer of Light freighter entered Dubhe some time ago, in a desperate retreat from the GTD Intrepid, and it encountered the Lucifer upon its arrival. It informed HOL authorities and they planned to draw our ships into the Lucifer's line of fire. After the destruction of the first Lucifer, they decided that they could use the second to weaken the GTA and PVN to a point at which we would no longer be able to defend against a second Shivan assault."

Shima continues, "I personally contacted Galactic Terran Command only moments ago, and they have ordered that we halt the progress of this new foe, officially designated SD Dreadnought, by any means necessary. We deployed a recon team comprised of three Valkyries, after reaching our current position, to assess the situation. They determined that the Dreadnought bears the same shielding system as the first Lucifer, and that it is currently en route to the Luyten 726-8 A jump node. We plan to intercept the Dreadnought during transit. All available pilots will be put on this mission, and both the Bastion and Hope will be present to provide cover.

"The fate of both the Terran and Vasudan civilizations is dependant on the success of this mission, pilots; we will accomplish it."