"Launch confirmed, may god have mercy on our souls."
A blinding flash, the world falls silent for but a moment. Nothing moves.
The shock-wave hits, anything that stands falls to the ground.
The heat burns away armor, flesh, and bone at once.
The very earth itself screams in pain, but it can not be heard.
The world cries out, but its siblings can not answer.
The siblings fall one by one, the heat burning them beyond ash.
The star screams in a final defiance, then it falls silent.
"Detonation successful, all targets confirmed destroyed. May god never forgive us for this."
4 months post arrival
Summer awoke in a sweat. It was that same dream again. The same one she had been having for the past month. It was getting better, the dream was shorter now.
"Summer? You alright?" her friend, Nona asked, concern filling her voice.
"I'm fine Nona, just a nightmare."
"Same one?"
"Yes, but it was shorter this time."
"You really should go see Pavle."
"I will, and thanks for looking out for me."
"No problem."
"It sounds like a premonition." Pavle said after several minutes of silence.
"What do you mean?" Summer asked in confusion. "Do you mean I'm seeing the future?"
Pavle turned to look at Summer, his face one of concentration.
"Yes and no." he finally said. "You are seeing the future, but at the same time you aren't."
"And what does that even mean?" Summer asked, her voice beginning to fill with annoyance.
"It means, you are seeing a possible future. Perhaps for this convulsion, perhaps a future one. I can not be sure. But know that a premonition is not set in stone."
Summer's face contorted into confusion. She stared at Pavle, his words not making sense. And Pavle noticed, so he elaborated.
"Time, as our human minds can comprehend it, is something we see as linear. We see that there is a set past, present, and future. But that is not the case. The Rift has proven that time is nonlinear, it may even be non-euclidean in nature. In reality, despite what our mind can comprehend, time does not have a set past, present, or future. Premonitions are a view at what may occur at some point in time. Perhaps it is something you will see happen in your lifetime, perhaps it has already happened in a past convulsion, or perhaps it will occur in a future one. We can not be sure." Pavle explained to Summer, with her becoming more and more confused.
"And how does this affect me?"
"It does not. What you saw may never come to pass, or maybe it will. But we can not do anything to stop that. It is not possible for us to directly affect the dimension of time. We can morph it, slightly bend it to our needs to speed up or slow something down. But we can not control it. So you don't need to worry about those dreams."
"I see." Summer in fact, did see but didn't understand. "But what I keep seeing, it scares me. I keep seeing destruction on a scale that shouldn't be possible. But I keep seeing it. Is there anything you can do to help me?" Summer asked, with a hint of desperation in her tone.
After thinking for a minute, Pavle answered. "That was the final dream. You won't see any more. But if you do, come see me."
"Thank you Pavle. I'll be going now." Summer said with a smile.
Pavle smiled back, before saying one last thing to Summer as she left the room. "Your welcome, Summer."
Ceren was standing in front of the rough galactic map they had made, plotting the next jump for the Pathfinder.
"Give me a report on our supplies."
"Food and fuel are at 100%, no issues. We have 6 E-77s down for repairs, 2 E-77s salvageable. PDC's are down to 63% for all guns, the fabricators are already working on replenishing ammo. Secondary and AA batteries are at full capacity, same with the primary batteries. Main gun rounds are at 100%. Missiles are down to 52% on bays 1-240." one of the bridge crew said, reading the list he had compiled.
"Alright, has D-bay 2 been converted?"
"Yes sir, D-bay 2 has been fully converted into a manufacturing bay. It is ready to begin making missiles at your orders sir."
"Good, get started on replenishing our missile stock, I want us at full capacity. Nav, have you plotted our next jump yet?"
"Just finished sir, we are go to jump whenever."
Ceren smiled. It was a rough month, 3 Red Star attacks occurring one after the other had drained the Pathfinder of its missile stock fairly quickly. While they were nowhere near running completely empty on ammo, 240 of the 440 bays they had were almost below 50%.
"Nav, jump us." Ceren said, turning to the navigation officer.
"Copy sir, beginning jump. Jump time; 3 days."
"Thorn, you are cleared for launch. Happy hunting, Pathfinder out."
Summer watched the hangar blur around her as she and the rest of her squadron began their CAP. Summer, and the rest of the ship, were still on edge. 2 weeks had passed without encountering any Red Stars. But it still made her nervous. From what she learned about them, the Red Stars were very patient, and were more than willing to wait for the perfect moment to strike.
"Thorn, form up on me. Prep accelerator drives, we are heading towards moon Alpha. Stay alert." Summer said into the radio, the rest of her squadron quickly complying. Pavle was right, the dreams stopped after she visited him.
"SIR! Rift energy just spiked around the rear of giant beta! Unknown cause." the sensors officer suddenly called out.
Ceren quickly responded, her voice calm and collected. "Have Dagger report, and prep all weapons for combat!"
"This is Dagger, we have eyes on the anomaly. It's a ship, DIS."
"Dagger 3 reporting, ship is a Explorator class destroyer. Scans indicate it's been here for at least a thousand years. The Rift energy is coming from its Rift drive, it seems to be leaking."
Ceren began to calm down. The confusion was still there, how the hell had an Explorator wound up here. And the thing was ancient.
"All squadrons, RTB. We have a DIS vessel with a leaking Rift drive. Get your asses back so we can jump before that thing ends up going critical."
Following those orders were a collection of confirmations from the squadron leads.
"Nav, get us a jump plotted. And fire a salvo at that ship right before we leave, don't want to leave it for the Red Stars."
"Copy sir."
6 months post arrival
"Incoming missiles!"
"Evasive maneuvers, PDC's get on those damn things NOW!"
"Dagger and Bulwark have reported losses! Kaltis is down to half strength! Thorn is RTB!"
"INCOMING 155's! PORT SIDE!"
"BRACE FOR IMPACT!"
The ship shuddered from the impact of the rounds.
"DAMAGE REPORT!"
"SHIELDS STOPPED THEM! STRAIN UP TO 43% NOW!"
"WEAPONS, GIVE THOSE BASTARDS A 900MM WELCOME!"
"COPY, FIRING!"
"155 SALVO, STARBOARD SIDE!"
Ceren was knocked to the ground, the Pathfinder groaning under the hits.
Fucking Red Stars.
Summer turned her fighter hard to the right, narrowly dodging another missile that was fired at her. Before she could breath she had to thrust down and to the left to avoid a burst of AA shells.
"THORN! GET YOUR ASSES BACK TO THE PATHFINDER NOW! WE ARE LEAVING SOON!" Summer shouted into the radio, ordering her squad to move.
The system was peaceful when they first arrived, then a Red Star force ambushed them. That was 10 minutes ago. Only 10 minutes? It felt like she had been fighting for hours.
"SHIT!" Summer was torn from her thoughts when she as forced to dodge another burst of AA fire followed by 3 missiles.
"INCOMING 230'S, BRACE FOR IMPACT!" someone shouted, but their voice was lost as the Pathfinder groaned once more, the ship feeling the impacts of multiple shells.
"SHIELDS ARE DOWN! 2 SHELLS MADE IT THROUGH, SEALING DECKS 4-6!"
"TURRET 1 IS DOWN, SECONDARY BATTERIES 3-6 ARE DOWN!"
"ENEMY CRUSIER GOING NOSE ON! IT'S PREPING TO FIRE!"
"HELM, GET OUR NOSE ON THAT SHIP AND FIRE THE ACCELERATOR!"
"ROGER!"
In a unnamed system near the edge of the galaxy, the fires of war raged.
Guns fired in anger, ships torn apart.
And in the midst of this battle, two ships turned to face one another, nose to nose.
For the briefest of moments, those two ships did not fire. For a moment those two ships were full of people praying that they would survive.
Then the bow of the larger ship lit up. A shell fired from its nose at 70% lightspeed, straight towards the other.
It took a single moment, but once the round hit, the smaller ship ceased to exist. Split down the middle, the sides of the ship began drifting apart, the crew, those unlucky enough to not be vaporized, were thrown into the void of space, to die in the cold, merciless vacuum.
And the ship that survived, it simply jumped. Disappearing from the battlefield as the ships that remained began to try and save their comrades.
Ceren lifted herself off the ground, her entire body sweating. They made it, they fired first. That crusier was gone. Not only had the Pathfinder survived, but they managed to strike a major blow to the Red Stars. Destroyers, they could replace, given enough time, but anything larger couldn't. That was one less cruiser to worry about.
"Damage report." Ceren asked, the rest of the bridge crew getting back into their seats.
"Shields are back up, our propulsion is at 93%. We have hull breaches on decks 4, 5, 7, and 12. Secondary gun batteries 2-16 are disabled, turret 1 is heavily damaged. Dagger and Bulwark sqaudrons both suffered 2 losses. Kaltis squadron is down to 3 ships. Reactor alpha is damaged and in shut-down mode. The accelerator is beginning it's recharge cycle." damage control reported.
"Casualties?"
"23 dead, 149 wounded. Kaltis squadron is not going to be able to continue, its lost too many."
Ceren's brow furrowed, her heart beginning to ache as she heard the report. More, more souls under her command died. More guilt she would have to live with.
"Get the wounded to medical, and prepare funerals for the dead." she finally said after several minutes of silence.
"Yes sir." damage control responded, his voice equally as downtrodden.
"And so we send these brave souls into the void of space, so that they may continue to explore, and so that they may one day find a world of peace, where they no longer need to fight."
Summer kept her head bowed, the 23 coffins, filled or not, that sat before them containing the bodies of those that died in the battle. Summer didn't know any of them. She didn't even know their names. But they were still comrades, they fought with her, no matter how small their role.
And they paid the ultimate price for that service.
"Farewell, and may the nameless warrior watch over you all." Ceren finished the speech, before nodding.
The crew near the airlock opened the otter door, sending those coffins into the darkness of space.
Ceren stood at the nav-map. Her eyes scanning over the systems it showed. All of them had Red Star installations. All of them were going to be destroyed. The Red Stars had declared war this time, and they would get war.
"Crew of the Pathfinder, I know today has been hard. I know we have lost someone. Maybe it was a friend, maybe family, maybe just another comrade in arms. The losses we suffered were because of the Red Stars, their attack lead to this. When we first arrived, I had hoped that the Red Stars would leave us alone, that the situation we found ourselves in would have them stop the fighting. But it hasn't. It has made them more bold. They came after us seeking to destroy us all, seeking to end us. If they wanted a fight to the death, they have gotten one. Our probes have found multiple Red Star installations in nearby systems, all of these installations are now our targets. We will destroy them all. And once we do, then we will go after their battle-station. We are at risk as long as the Red Stars can fight. And Remnant is also at risk. Those of us on this ship can fight back against them, we can beat them, but Remnant can't. And I made a promise to get Summer Rose home. I can't fulfill that promise if she doesn't have a home to return to. So, we shall destroy the Red Stars, we shall tear them apart piece by piece until we can destroy their base. And we will ensure the safety of the innocent on Remnant. They may never learn of the sacrifices we will make for them, but we will make them all the same. Because we are the UEC. And Into Eternity, We Protect!"
8 months post arrival
'Alright people listen up, we are assaulting a Red Star mining base. Intel says to expect light resistance, so be prepared to face medium resistance. Once we are on the ground, we split into 2 groups. Alpha, your job is to get into the facility proper and initiate a reactor overload. Beta, your mission is to set demo charges on the fuel storage. Once you complete your mission head to the designated evac points. Got it?"
"SIR YES SIR!"
As the noise inside the E-80 began to stop, the only thoughts on the minds of the marines was the mission. There were several navy crewmen on the mission, due to the fact that the Pathfinder didn't have enough marines onboard. So volunteers from the crew were given marine training and allowed to join the missions. Among them, was Summer Rose, her Huntress training proving to be invaluable on previous missions.
"2-2 GET YOUR ASS BEHIND COVER!"
"RELOADING, COVER ME!"
"MG, 2ND WINDOW ON THE RIGHT, GET A GRENADE IN THERE CASSIO!"
Summer dove into cover behind a wall, narrowly dodging several rounds from the enemy MG. Checking her HUD, Summer saw that the current mag she had was empty. Quickly ejecting it and slamming another in, she poked her head around the corner, only to pull it back as several rifle rounds hit the wall she was hiding behind.
"Sir, I can hit the MG from here, but I need cover." Summer heard Cassio say over the radio.
Jumping from cover, Summer began to fire at the Red Stars at the facilities entrance, her shots, while none hit, forced them to duck.
"Cassio, your clear! Get that MG!" Summer all but shouted into the radio, to which Cassio quickly acted on.
With a bang, the MG nest fell silent. The rest of the Red Stars outside retreating into the building after the MG was destroyed.
As her Semblance activated once again, the razor-sharp rose petals created from it assaulted the Red Stars that had just showed up. While it barely did anything to the armor and shields of the Red Stars, it did obscure their vision, giving group Alpha a bit of concealment.
"Double time it people! We don't have long until this places goes up!"
Quickly activating her semblance to dodge several rounds, Summer rejoined the rest of Alpha group. The Red Stars had began attacking in force.
Summer snapped her rifle to the right and pulled the trigger, a 3-round burst of 7.92mm rounds slamming into the chest of another Red Star, their body falling to the ground while letting out a burst from their rifle.
"The exit is up ahead, our evac is already here, get moving people!" Cassio shouted, the rest of the team beginning to move faster.
The door got closer and closer, Summer's eyes were beginning to see the E-80 more clearly. She was almost there. She was almost out.
"SUMMER, LEFT!"
Her head snapped to the left, her rifle following it. But she wasn't fast enough. There was a flash, then everything became pain.
The last thing her eyes saw, was the armor of her squad standing over her. Then everything went black.
Zuhura's face was covered in sweat. She wasn't overwhelmed, but she was stressed. The mission to eliminate a Red Star mining base was successful, with minimal casualties. The cause of her stress was right in front of her.
Summer Rose. She had made it out of the mission alive, but she was wounded. A Red Star had caught Summer off-guard, and managed to hit her at point-blank range with a shotgun.
Somehow that Red Star had found a magazine of shield-piercer slugs. And one of those slugs hit Summer directly in the left shoulder. The round tore through Summer's shield and her Aura at the same time, and almost cut Summer's arm off. Thankfully it was a 12-gauge slug, if it had been anything else Summer would have bled out.
Zuhura finally came to a conclusion on what to do about Summer's arm. She hoped that Summer would understand.
"Nav, jump us."
"Copy sir, jumping. Jump time; 4 days."
Ceren breathed a sigh of relief. The missions had gone off without many losses. 6 Red Star installations were destroyed. Along with another 3 destroyers. While all the ships had purged their navigation data to prevent Eve from getting the location of their base, a major blow had still been dealt. It would take some time for the Red Stars to get installations of those levels up and running again. That gave the Pathfinder time to recuperate and repair.
As Ceren retired to her quarters, she found herself looking at the camera display of the exterior. The stars rushing by as the Pathfinder moved through space at speeds faster than light. It was calming to Ceren.
She was 158 years old now, with 142 of those years being involved in war in some way. It was these moments where she could just watch the stars blur past her that she could relive her childhood. The days when she thought that space was a peaceful and beautiful place.
And it was still beautiful. But Ceren knew now that it was by no means peaceful. The Orion war and following Justiniar conflict had proven that to her.
It had been so long since she last saw her home, so many years fighting and killing. She had made peace with that fact long ago. She just wished she could see her home one more time.
It was calming to him, to see the universe this way. Many would never be able to see the universe the way that Pavle did. And he would never be able to see it the way those people did.
While Pavle's body was still, his eyes closed, he was not resting. Far from it.
'8 months, and still nothing. I must be missing something'
Pavle had spent the last 8 months trying to find out where the portal that Summer had gone through originated from. With no luck.
'There must be something. Something that connects Summer to the portal. Something'
As Pavle's frustration grew, his mind remembered something, something from all those months ago.
'You are different Summer.'
'How so?'
'Your connection to the Rift is only that of a mid-level tier 2. But your eyes, they are something far more powerful. Yet they don't affect your connection. I have never seen something like this before.'
'Well, back home my eyes are unique, very few people have them. The only people I know who have them are me and my daughter, Ruby'
'I see. That is quite interesting.'
'Of course! Summer's silver eyes are something that stands out, and her daughter has those same eyes. If I search for the same imprint that Summer's eyes have, I should find the imprint of Ruby's eyes. They will be similar enough that I can find them.'
Restarting his search with renewed vigor, Pavle spent the next hours searching.
As he was about to give up hope, he sensed them. It was faint, a tiny ember in a sea of ash, but he felt it.
'I've got it. I can barely sense it, but I found it. The closer we get, the clearer I will be able to sense it. Ruby Rose, I don't know anything about you other than who your mother is. But you have my eternal thanks. You have helped bring your mother home.'
"Ruby Rose. I know you cannot hear me, but I swear upon my very soul, that I will bring you back your mother. Even if I must tear apart this galaxy to do so.