The Mothership
Kharak System outskirts
The active displays showing a multitude of angles of the battle danced around her thin frame. Deep within their home system's farthest corner, at their meeting site with the Khar-Selim, the Mothership of the Kushan hovered in place, her defensive systems online. Fleet Command's gaze was absolute, her mind having been directly connected to the Mothership's multitude of computers and sensor suites.
She saw, felt and heard like she had never before. She could perceive the farthest stars visible in the deep teal of the void around them. She could perceive the damage done to the Khar-Selim and the lack of life signs aboard her battered forward hull. She could perceive the craters dug by the weapons of the enemy her Strike Craft now fought.
"Vector to two-five. Check your six."
"One on my tail. Reversing."
"I got one! Moving to support!"
The callouts of her pilots, dozens at a time, played in her mind as if she was right next to them. She watched their scouts and fighters, dance with the enemy's own ramshackle strike vessels and support elements. Far behind the wreckage ahead and past the dozens of asteroids, she felt the presence of the carrier that had hauled these animalistic murderers over.
She watched three of her wings of fighters, asymmetric strike craft with twin-linked rotary cannons in their maws, dive upon an ugly-looking, yellow and black-painted starcraft as it turned to fire the rockets in its pods. She saw the craft dance around it utilizing their guidance thrusters, pelting it with high-caliber weapons fire in rapid, harsh bursts.
Craters dug into the frame of the alien machine, its makeshift armor tearing off as the penetrating rounds ripped into the crew compartment next. Two more such craft tried to dive in and assist their brother, but Fleet Command sent forth an order. The scouts, faster ships with a thinner maw and less heavy armament, dived down from among the rocks and raked the ship, rounds tearing its engines open, leaving it dead in the water.
She spoke, her voice light, soft and distant, "I want sensors to focus on the contact behind the Khar-Selim's wreck. Scout Squadron two, peel away and provide line of sight. Confirm the presence of the enemy's carrier if you can," before her hands hovered over the haptic display in front of her, a holographic touchpad of a sort that surrounded her.
A large ring with emitters surrounded her, placed upon a crane arm to provide Fleet Command more direct command and control of the currently tiny fleet of strike assets. She lifted her hand and a production screen appeared, revealing the time left for a full squadron of fighters to reinforce the others.
Her gaze was transfixed on the battle ahead next, watching the fighters rip asunder the last of these Raiders' strike craft with impunity. Meanwhile, the salvage Corvette attached to the wreck's side disengaged, the crew chief reporting, "We've retrieved all necessary data from the Khar-Selim. Requesting allied squadron for escort."
"Assigned," Fleet Command spoke, gently 'touching' a squadron on the display and tapping on the form of the Corvette. She stated, "All fighters of Squadron 2, priority has changed. Provide escort to the corvette. All else is secondary," while actively gazing upon sensor data, feeling it all stream into her mind.
Anomalous disturbances were picked up at the very far edge of Kharak's gravity well again, but they did not look the part of Hyperspace transfers. And they seemed to almost be moving. She stared, confusion streaking through her mind and the ship's systems for a moment. She requested, "Fleet Intelligence, confirm sensor suite reports. Unidentified gravitational anomalies incoming…"
"Confirmed, Fleet Command," The smooth voice of the man in charge of giving a second glance over the reports replied. He told her, "Estimates put their arrival within the next thirty seconds. Advise that we engage our own thrusters and move out of the way if possible…" and he paused, seeing the same thing she was. In the CIC of the Mothership, sensor warnings flared in front of the crews, with Fleet Command gazing upon the contacts… He stated, "The Raider flagship is retreating as well. They have jumped to Hyperspace."
"Recall all strike craft and form a defensive perimeter," Fleet Command replied, her gaze locked onto the estimated ingress point of the two 'anomalies'. She then added, "Shunt additional power to recharge the Hyperspace core and be ready to jump as soon as it is at one hundred percent. We do not know if these contacts will be more friendly than the Raiders."
"Understood. Engineering reports power is being diverted from two non-essential systems to charge the Drive. ETA is well past the arrival of the two new contacts, however," Fleet Intelligence answered as he touched a few buttons on his display, his gaze affixed onto the external cameras and the dozens of points of view from the various strike craft pilots.
Outside, the Kushan Mothership, a many kilometer-tall vessel, hanged in the Debris field as its fighters and scout craft soon dived in, forming that requested defensive perimeter and engaging their thrusters. In the distance, the glowing sun of Kharak shined behind the new hope of the people of Kharak, illuminating her engines…
Various antennae and sensor suites poked out from among the hull of the Mothership, too. Though she lacked weapons, having decided to rely on whatever fleet she would build on her trip for defense and support, the Mothership was more than just a few weapons stations. Clad in a main blue color and bearing various others to symbolize the other Kiith of Kharak, it had a white emblem. A pair of wings formed a wedge above a circle, said item being placed upon the main 'door' to the vessel's port side.
As the timer counted down to the moment of the arrival, the ship crews and fighter pilots tensed. The area for the arrival of these new contacts had been painted rather visibly with a waypoint on the Heads-Up Displays of the crews. As they waited, the pilots gently adjusted their crafts' positions in relation to the Mothership.
The tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. Fleet Command didn't know what would come through. And as the space ahead distorted, forming instead of a perfect, colored square of reality-separating Hyperspace energy, a cloudy storm several times the size of the Mothership, like a blue whirlwind of some kind, arcing with electrical current, dozens of vessels emerged on sensors, sensors picking up major power fluctuations across the board.
One fleet was of black, with faint white stripes. Several of their dozen or so vessels were in various states of disrepair, damaged by what looked to have been combat. They ranged from massive heavy warships that were almost the size of the Mothership herself to smaller craft that almost resembled what one would call a destroyer in Kushan space naval theory.
Right beside them, a single massive vessel with two pods attached via thick two thickly-armored connectors each and lined with guns and missile tubes stood. It almost looked like one of the massive carnivorous lizards native to Kharak, going by the shape of her head. She was grey with scarlet stripes and looked almost skeletal, as if someone had stripped parts of her armor off. She, too, came with a fleet, though initial sensor readings pointed to only her having actual weapons capable of ship-to-ship warfare.
"... Prepare Search and Rescue Teams," Fleet Command ordered, staring at the ships. Her heart felt heavy, to leave such ships disabled. The large carrier-like vessel on the left impacted an asteroid, shattering it into a thousand tiny pieces, but slowing herself all the same, unintentionally. No, they couldn't leave disabled craft like this. The Wreck of the Khar-Selim resided right there, next to them… And there was something about these strangers.
Fleet Intel paused, then inquired, "Fleet Command?"
"... Trust me," She spoke softly, then ordered, "Deploying Salvage Corvettes and shuttles to assist… Begin attempts to ping both fleets for communication. All salvage craft and fighters, be ready to depart and return to the Mothership when I give the order…" Then she pulled up another window to her left, allowing her to visualize the newcomers' ships status.
Some subsystems were already coming back online. Life Support itself had been the first rebooted system by whatever ship computers both sides had, meaning the crews, which scanned in the thousands for many of the ships, wouldn't die of suffocation. The Black Fleet to the left had a much quicker capability of system restart.
On a side panel, she opened data about the resource collection work of their three Collectors, watching as they came and went rhythmically and wondering how many of those resources they would need to help the black fleet recover its strength. Many of their larger ships bore wounds across their hulls, but were still active.
Whatever the Black Fleet was, Fleet Command thought, they must've been the survivors of something. The Mothership echoed the thought for a moment through a few of her subsystems, the Life Support of the colony craft slightly gaining a boost. Fleet Command cracked a small smile at that and let the ship wind down for a second, before humming.
As she watched more and more subsystems come online, she also saw their Salvage Corvettes gently docking on the ships' sides. One of the Corvettes, the one attached to the massive carrier-class vessel on the other Fleet, sent a message. She opened the com channel and requested, "Salvage Corvette Two, report?"
"Fleet Command. Corvette Two reporting," The Captain of the vessel began to speak, "The computer systems of the warship we've just docked are decades, maybe centuries older than whatever the Black Fleet has. They're older than ours, too, more analog. It may take us some time to interface properly with them."
"Proceed as planned. Retreat only if there are signs the vessel is recovering quicker, or if there are outward signs of hostility," Fleet Command replied. The Captain of the vessel gave a light, but affirmative reply before the com channel, though still open, went quiet while the crews worked. She sighed, then cupped her own chin, taking the pose of a thinker as she stared at the data streaming through.
For all intents and purposes, all vessels seemed to slowly be recovering. Fleet Command could feel the tension throughout the fleets as she loomed over her screens, eyes locked onto the Black Fleet's largest ships, some kilometer-long war behemoths armored enough to withstand the bombardment of anything she had at her disposal.
She paused as she saw a flash on the screen dead ahead of her, then Fleet Intelligence reported, "Ma'am. The com relay of the largest warship with the Black Fleet is online. Her propulsion is also coming back online and they've accepted our Handshake," to which Fleet Command immediately turned one of the external cameras toward the ship. She saw her gently line up straight among her peers.
Fleet Command stated, "Direct connection to me. Opening channel. Handshake accepted," then, when a window with a sound bar appeared, the woman spoke, "This is Fleet Command of the Kushan Mothership. We do not seek hostilities with you or your people. We are a colony vessel under escort by starfighter squadrons while on a very eventful shakedown cruise."
"... Very eventful indeed, if the Debris tell me anything," A female voice replied tactfully. She continued, "This is Admiral Eiko Nakano, bridge officer of the UNSC Marathon-class heavy cruiser Serene Mind and acting commander of Battle Group Serene. Greetings to you, Fleet Command. We don't intend any harm either, but you'll have to excuse us if we're a bit more uptight. We just escaped a small armageddon above my homeworld."
"Our condolences," Fleet Command replied, her voice slightly softer. She then offered, "If you'll allow our ships to aid your fleet…"
"We'd appreciate help getting back up on our feet. Especially if they come swinging after us again…" The Admiral replied. She audibly shifted in her seat, then asked, "What about the fleet to our left? I'm seeing a lot of Civilians and cargo vessels…" only to pause as one of their Salvage Corvettes flew by her window. She spoke, "Duly noted. Fleet Command… Where are we, by the way?"
"At the edge of our home system, Kharak," The woman replied as she pulled up more sensor readings, trying to identify just what the hell had caused the Gravitational Anomaly that dropped these two fleets into their laps. She hummed and asked, "Fleet Intelligence. Estimate the required time for us returning to Kharak and provide me with an updated list of all available craft."
The man gave an affirmative reply, to which Nakano asked, "Guessing this has to do with the destroyed craft we're picking up on sensors." all while her bridge crew were audibly working and talking in the background, trying to get every single system online. The Admiral herself offered, "Anything we can do to help?"
"We can speak of it when our other compatriots awake," The woman replied as she looked back at the screen displaying data from Salvager Two, noting that the carrier ship's internal power was returning slowly. She saw several things flicker back on, including shipwide propulsion, before watching the communications system aboard come to life, "And there they are… Accepting call from unknown vessel providing escort to the hundreds of civilian vessels. This is Fleet Command of the Kushan Mothership. We mean no hostilities and are only here on our shakedown cruise. Please, acknowledge."
A tense moment's pause filled the com with static. Slowly, however, the static began to clear away, giving way to a strong, if rough voice. A reply came, as calm as can be, "This is Commander Adama of the Battlestar Galactica. Acknowledged, Fleet Command… You and your friends scared the frak out of us when our DRADIS came back online."
"Galactica. Fleet Command copies all," The woman replied almost mechanically, but the faintest sense of urgency echoed in each word, "We're glad to know hostilities aren't on any of our minds as of right now, but I am afraid our ship will have to make an immediate jump back to the center of Kharak, to our home planet, to warn our Defenses of possible raids that may be coming. We will leave some of our salvage Corvettes if your fleet requires them to assist in reactivating your fleet's systems."
"Galactica to Fleet Command. We understand. We'd appreciate the help," The Commander replied calmly.
"This is Admiral Nakano of the UNSC to Commander Adama. Good to meet you," The woman stated, "Be advised:Most of our own ships are also in need of reactivation, so it looks like some of'em will be staying here as they're being worked on. To Fleet Command:If you guys need assistance to protect your home planet, the Serene Mind's crew are ready to provide it. We'll leave a guard unit here to secure our recovering fleets."
"... A surprising offer of kindness," Fleet Command mumbled, then replied, "Very well. If you wish to aid us, we're transmitting the coordinates to the planet now. Spool up your Hyperspace drive and follow on our vector. Galactica, if you wish to stay behind and protect your fleet, you're welcome to, but we must depart. This discussion will continue when we return."
"We'll be coming with you. If the UNSC's leaving their own here to keep their fleet and ours safe, we figured the least we can do for you helping us recover is lend a hand back in the defense," Adama stated calmly over the com, "This is Adama to all crew:Enter Condition Two and prepare Alert Vipers just in case."
"That is deeply appreciated," Fleet Command smiled a little. They'd have a bunch of good news to deliver to Kharak, then, including finding actual allies in the midst of it all. She spoke, "We are transmitting coordinates to both ships. We advise caution, however. It is unknown if the enemy further broke through Kharak's territories."
Both fleet officers acknowledged the call as the Corvettes were working to help restore their vessels. The two warships began to move under their own power, joining the Kushan vessel as it charged its hyperspace core. Though Admiral Nakano asked one more thing before they prepared to depart. She asked, "Do you have an actual name, Fleet Command?"
"... I do," The woman replied, "I am Karan. Of Kiith S'Jet."
"A pleasure, ma'am," Adama added over the com. The woman nodded, watching reports from the data retrieved off of the wreck of Khar-Selim stream through her computer cores. As she set up the coordinates for the jump toward Kharak itself, she wondered just how the Daiamid would react to the discoveries made at the bare edge of the System…"
After the Hyperspace Core had charged, the woman ordered, "All Kushan craft not engaged in repair duties, return to the Mothership… We must go," before powering on the Drive. She detected energy spikes from both the Galactica and the Serene Mind. Their own drives charged, preparing the vessels for the jump back.
"Initiate…" She whispered. And before long, her vessel was enveloped in the bright, blue, warm blanket of Hyperspace. She breathed a deep sigh, letting the travel go on. Though they couldn't track their newfound allies of convenience through FTL, she felt their energy signatures spike. While her sensor data continued to play, she listened in on the reports from Fleet Intel.
They'd make their way back, warn Kharak's Missile Defense and orbital patrols about incoming threats, repair and prepare for an enemy strike force to come in. It was easy enough, she thought, and the fact that they'd managed to force the enemy Carrier into retreat was a good enough sign that, maybe, they'd be fine, what with their new allies present.
… However, neither joy, nor a warm welcome would await for them back home…
As the Mothership and her allies emerged over Kharak itself, the first thing to come to Karan's attention was the Silence… No transmissions, no beacons, no data streams from Satellites or planetary defenses or support vessels. She felt a lump in her throat, eyes widening as she panned the multitude of external cameras around. Her heart dropped the moment she caught sight of what remained of the Scaffold.
The station that had been built to allow the creation of the Kushan people's hope of returning to Hiigara, to their Homeworld, lay in ruins. Artillery holes, plasma burns and massive craters stained the once somewhat-pristine hull of the massive vertical shipyard designed to allow the Mothership to dock, repair and refit.
Corpses and debris floated around them, pinging off the hulls of the warships and she heard the audible gasp of Admiral Nakano over the com. She felt a pit form in her stomach as she panned the camera over to where Kharak was supposed to be, only for the planet's surface to come into view, visibly ablaze, blackened, the Polar Regions that once supported life burning, ice caps melting…
"There's no-one left… Everything is gone…!" Her voice cracked as she stared at their homeworld, "Kharak is burning…!"
"... Miss S'Jet… I'm so sorry," Admiral Nakano spoke again, sorrow and fury mixing into a cold, quiet tone. A tear ran down Karan's cheek as she gazed upon her burning home from aboard what she soon realized was the last hope of the Kushan. She swallowed empty, feeling cold fury well up in her own heart…
"Kharak is being consumed by a Firestorm," Fleet Intel himself added as he gazed upon his screen. Around him, crew stared in pure disbelief at the sight. Some wept, some glared. Many remained quiet as a sign of mourning for their world. He watched the firestorms raging on the surface of his home, the glass glowing on the planet below, then continued, his voice low, "The Scaffold has been destroyed… All orbital facilities destroyed… Significant debris fields in low Kharak Orbit. We're receiving no communications from anywhere in the system. Not even beacons…"
"Gods…" Adama spoke over the com, "This is all-too familiar…"
… Aboard the Serene Mind, Admiral Nakano, an elderly woman of Asian descent, leaned against one of the support frames holding the thick, armored glass of the bridge in place as she gazed down upon the planet. In her dark eyes, the flames below flickered as she ran a hand over the scar on her face. She mumbled, "... All too familiar indeed, Commander…"
Her own crew's feelings had quickly shifted from disbelief to sorrow. Sorrow for another people experiencing something similar to what they'd gone through. That and pure, unadulterated anger, rather obviously, with even the shipboard AI, Charon, stating, "Ma'am… Sensor suites are picking up something nearby."
"Wait!" Fleet Command's voice audibly echoed over the com, "On the maintenance frequency! We're detecting a mayday from one of the Cryo-Trays in orbit. It is suffering major damage!" and at that, Nakano perked up. She looked to the crew and, with one slash of her hand, the ship turned to Red Alert.
"Galactica, Condition One! Launch Alert Vipers and protect those Trays!" Barked the Commander of the massive carrier to their left. Nakano herself caught sight of the enemy vessels first. Painted a burning yellow, with red stripes and a strange circular emblem on their sides, shaped like hammerheads and bearing heavy guns on their bows and missile launcher systems all across their bodies, maybe a half-dozen vessels bombarded one of six large orbital objects arranged in two rows of three.
"Ma'am. MACs are fully charged and we have firing solution," Charon spoke, their own fury barely contained as they gently tugged on the hood of their ragged cloak. As she stared at the holographic display ahead, noting the Maydays and the entire fleet of enemy ships, she nodded. The Serene Mind moved into position, her two massive fusion engines roaring to life.
The vessel angled herself, her maw aimed directly at the first ship of the half-dozen ahead. With a wave of her hand, the Admiral ordered the shot and the ship shook violently. Two ferromagnetic slugs left the barrels of the Mass Accelerator Cannons, striking the first ship and punching clean through it. The impact was so powerful that the ship split at the seams at impact point just before its reactor went critical.
The Galactica's three-engine starfighters soon rolled out, a swarm of starcraft that had launched from the ship's right pod. They dived down upon the enemy warships as they turned to meet the incoming fleet. Rapid-fire railguns mounted on the right and left wings of the fighters ripple-fired and raked the armored bodies of the enemy's warships.
Kushan fighters followed them in, gunfire ripping through the bodies of the enemy Frigates as they fired missiles to try and engage the incoming force. The Serene Mind's own missile tubes spat out a volley of two dozen Archer missiles while her fighter complement took off from its bay, too. Close-In Weapons Systems, the 50mm Rampart multipurpose dual Coilgun turrets, let loose.
Flak rounds ripped apart the enemy missiles, with the Galactica herself angling down to allow the turrets atop her hull to aim and fire. A volley of mass drivers let loose from the barrels of the ship, rounds flying through the void toward the enemy's warships, catching one right in the bow and digging deep craters into her hull.
The two commanding warships moved to flank the Frigates while their fighters harassed them, missiles and kinetic rounds striking the hulls of this genocidal aggressor. Their enemy's return fire, however, was nothing to scoff at. The four bow turrets on each ship soon swiveled and fired upon the vessels, striking armor plate and causing superficial wounds at first, with the Serene Mind turning on her axis to deliver another MAC shot.
"Admiral, Commander," Fleet Command said, "We've deployed two Salvage Corvettes. Let us capture one of the ships for interrogation. Destroy the rest."
Even with her usually calm demeanor, the two officers felt the fury behind those words. The crews of both ships were keen to comply. Providing covering fire to the two Corvettes, UNSC, Kushan and Galactica fighters dived down upon the enemy like a pack of angry piranha, missiles and bullets tearing through the armor plates of several enemy craft.
The Corvettes dodged rounds from the enemy's mass driver batteries, narrowly managing to approach the enemy vessel and attach themselves to the craft, emitting a pulse that caused their engines and weapons to fail as they clamped on and began dragging the craft away. The moment it cleared the battle zone, the UNSC's Cruiser fired its MACs.
Another round ripped through the bow of one of the enemy vessels as it was trying to engage them and went out the other side, leaving a vessel dead in the water while its sibling was soon bombarded by another volley of missiles and gunshots from the swarming fighters. The Galactica's own batteries fired what could only amount to a full broadside, each shot impacting the armor and tearing through the thinner plate of what must've been simple Frigates.
"Enemy crew has been interred," Fleet Intelligence spoke, watching the Cruiser and Battlestar simply disassemble whatever remaining enemy units there were. He suggested, "Fleet Command… We've acquired intelligence as we were scouring through the computers of the vessel… We should depart and reform with the two Allied Fleets as soon as we acquire the Cryo Trays. Watch the data feed there."
"There is nothing left for us here…" Fleet Command mumbled. She then reactivated and keyed her communication system, then spoke, "Very well… Admiral. Commander. Let us gather our surviving people. We will leave, gather our fleets… And depart from Kharak. We will speak more when we're back at the Edge. Learn of each-other and our new enemy."
She watched the two ships reform with them, gathering their fighter Craft. Though they remained quiet, Karan knew they were waiting to depart a dead world as much as the few survivors. The Salvage Corvettes carried the few hundred thousand survivors to the Mothership… To the last hope of their people…
… What had the Galaxy just done to them…?