CHAPTER 66 – CONSEQUENCES
DATE: JUNE 11th, 7 A.U. (AFTER UNIFICATION)
LOCATION: EARTH, OUTER ATMOSPHERE
ABOARD UTRN FIST OF THE ARGONAUTS
LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER OLIVIA SEYDOUX
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“Shadowhawk one approaching strike zone, eta five minutes. Estimated time to orbital pickup is twenty minutes. That localized storm is still obscuring satellite view.”
“Thank you sensors, any sign of life with that bogey?” Olivia asked.
“Nothing obvious aside from reading a couple degrees warmer, but that’s probably because they’re sun facing now. They’re maintaining current course and speed, all quiet otherwise.”
Still so quiet… I’d like to think we’ve gone undetected, but…
“Keep a sharp eye out and let us know the moment anything changes.” She replied. “What do you think, skipper?”
“I think it’s all going too damn easy. No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy, at least not fully intact.” The captain said before he turned toward the crew.
“Fire control, prep a missile salvo to fire on my command, three conventional and one scrambler. Helm, maintain current course and speed. Olivia, go ahead and get Henry on the Q-Comm for me. He wanted to listen in on the attack run.”
“Aye Captain, maintaining current course and speed.” Their pilot replied.
“On it, skipper.” She replied as she pulled up his Q-Comm contact. Henry was quick to pick up the line. “Hello Captain, patching you in as requested.”
"Thanks Olivia."
“Magazine control reports launch tubes one through four loaded and ready to fire on your command, sir.”
“Good, ready active sensors, but don’t give our position away just yet. It is absolutely critical we maintain the element of surprise.” Commander Cutter ordered.
“Sounds busy over there. I thought I ordered you to keep a low profile.” Henry interjected.
“We’re behaving ourselves, sir. We’re tracking a craft or satellite of some unknown kind in polar orbit over the strike zone, so we’re taking precautions. It shows no signs of life, nor do we have any reason to believe they have detected us. Should we abort, sir?” Olivia replied.
“No, proceed with the strike as planned, just be ready to intervene if that craft moves out of place.” Henry replied.
“Yes, sir.” She took a deep breath before she opened comms with the Shadowhawk.
“Sniper, this is mission control, do you copy?”
“Reading you loud and clear, mission control. We’ve successfully entered the atmosphere with clear scopes. We will continue to monitor for signs of enemy interest or activity. How’s our bogey looking?” Eddie replied.
“Still no signs of change. Your timetables are looking good, and you are clear to proceed with your mission. Godspeed, and good luck.” She replied.
“We’ll get it done, ma’am.” He replied in a flat tone.
“I know you will. Stay vigilant and keep us in the loop.” Olivia said.
“Wilco, mission control.”
“They’re going to be just fine. They know what they’re doing.” Commander Cutter clapped her on the shoulder.
I know he's right. So then why is my stomach in knots?
“Approaching the target area. Passive sensors are clear, switching to satellite targeting view. Opening primary missile bay.” Eddie said.
“Looks like they’re in the strike zone.” Olivia turned back to her console to read the telemetry feed as it came in through their Q-Comm link. “Let’s hope this works out...” She muttered under her breath.
“Mierda! There’s too much cloud cover. When the hell did that happen? Odd... the skies were clear not even an hour ago… No way around it, we’re gonna need to get in closer and use the manual targeting pod from under the cloud layer.”
“Alright, I'll glide us in nice and close so we can make our strike, and then we'll break for orbit. Extending flaps and killing all TK fields.” Yulia’s voice replied over the comms.
“Should be about ninety seconds to max range by my calculations… Visibility is shit right now. Switching to infrared.”
“I’m keeping her as steady as I can for you." Yulia exclaimed.
“Target locked, firing rail one!”
Her heart beat at an absurd pace as an alert caught her attention.
RAIL ONE HYDRAULIC RELEASE FAILURE –
LAUNCH ABORTED; HGSM 500 KG SMART BOMB.
“No, no, not right now!”
“Looks like they had a launch failure on the five hundred kilo.” You just HAD to go and say something, didn’t you, girl? She chided herself, even though she knew it was unfair.
“Don’t worry, we’ll get the techs to fix it when they get back, they still have both two-fifties and the thermobaric to work with. One hydraulic failure isn’t going to put a stop to the mission.” Commander Cutter said from over her shoulder.
“Firing, rails three and four!”
RAIL THREE LAUNCH SUCCESS - LGSM 250 KG SMART BOMB RAIL FOUR LAUNCH SUCCESS – LGSM 250 KG SMART BOMB
“Oh, good. They successfully fired both two fifties. That should be plenty to do the trick.” Olivia said in a relieved tone.
“See, what’d I tell you?” The Captain said before the Q-Comm crackled to life and cut him off.
“Damnit!! How did they know?” Eddie’s voice rang out from her console.
“I don’t like the sound of that…” Olivia began.
Please be a kill….
“Captain! Our bogey just woke up! It’s accelerating towards GS-1 at three gees and climbing!”
“Captain, our bogey just moved to intercept GS-1, do we have permission to engage?” Commander Cutter wasted no time.
“Permission granted, blow them out of the sky and get our people out of there!” Henry snarled.
“Helm, lock in an intercept course and acceleration, now! Fire control, paint our bogey with active sensors and get me a firing solution!” Commander Cutter yelled out before he activated the ship-wide comms.
“All hands prepare for combat acceleration! We are moving to engage the enemy. Hangar one, stand by for emergency Shadowhawk recovery.”
The moment he finished speaking, Olivia opened a comm link to the endangered Shadowhawk.
“Sniper, we see you’ve launched missiles, can you confirm target destruction?” Olivia asked.
“Negative kill. I repeat, negative on the kill. Target turtled up under a barrier just in time.”
“We were afraid of that possibility. Our mystery bogey lit up with new thermal activity right as you arrived on site. It’s accelerating hard towards your position now and we are moving to intercept. The mission is scrubbed, you are ordered to burn hard for sub-orbital pickup, now!” Olivia said.
“Yes, ma’am.” He replied tensely. “You heard the lady, get us the hell out of here!” Eddie shouted.
“Don’t need to tell me twice! We’ve bled an awful lot of airspeed, so this is gonna get ugly!”
“Firing solution ready, Captain!” Their fire control officer shouted.
“Fire tubes one and two, then three and four, two second stagger, then reload for a second salvo!” Commander Cutter ordered.
“Missiles away!” He replied as the ship shuddered twice in close succession.
“So, am I crazy, or is that a FUCKING DRAGON chasing us?!” Yulia asked in a panicked tone.
“You ain’t crazy! Just fly! It’s gaining on us!” Eddie’s voice shot back over comms.
“Did she just say a dragon is chasing them?!” The terrified voice of their comms officer asked.
“Never mind that now, focus on your jobs, they’ll focus on theirs!” The Captain replied.
Olivia’s heart pounded as she watched the missiles progress toward the bogey. The scrambler missile lit up with both sensor dazzlers and electronic warfare countermeasures to protect the others as they streaked towards their target. The bogey stepped up its acceleration and dove deeper into the upper atmosphere in response.
Come on… come on… if that thing gets any lower in the atmosphere they’re gonna burn up before they arrive…
“This thing isn’t exactly optimized for in-atmo flight! I’m pulling every spare watt I can from the reactor just to fight the gravity well!”
“We should be able to pull a few more gees than this!” Eddie shouted. “I thought you'd killed the deceleration field…”
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“We got a big problem..” Eddie began.
“Dragon’s a telekinetic… Right? At least that explains why our girl is so slow..”
“They’re a damn powerful one, at that, to slow us down from that far off.” Eddie replied.
Bright flashes of laser fire detonated one of their missiles as the remaining three closed in.
“Shall I fire the second salvo, sir?”
“Don’t bother, they won’t make it through the atmosphere. It’s up to them to either shoot it down or escape now. We should have just killed it in orbit when we had the chance…” The captain said in a hollow tone as the remaining missiles detonated well shy of their target.
“Skipper…” Olivia began to speak, only to be cut off as her console erupted in a sea of red status alerts.
“Most of my systems are down! We’re flying blind until my console reboots!” Eddie shouted.
“I’ve still got flight control, but that’s on the sequestered backup grid. What the hell was that?!” Yulia replied.
“I think he hit us with lightning! I’ve got my targeting console back up. Let’s send him a surprise while I still can. Fuck I hope this works…”
“NO! This is sure as hell not happening on our watch! Everyone strap in! Helm, redline our acceleration and adjust our entry angle to compensate. Ops, ready the barrier, we’ll be coming in hot!” Commander Cutter growled.
“COME ON! I DON’T NEED THIS SHIT RIGHT NOW!” Eddie yelled through the speakers.
“I don’t think we can take another lightning strike!” Yulia yelled back.
“No luck with heat seekers, and the radar is down! We’ve lost cameras and lasers are off-“
“What the hell?!”
“I think they caught us!”
“Can we still make orbit!?”
Olivia and Commander Cutter shared a long, pained look as the mission continued to unravel with them utterly unable to help.
“Not with them on our back… and If they rip into the wrong systems, we’ll drop like a rock.”
Their outside view turned black as their barrier activated around them. They jerked forward in their acceleration couches as the deceleration field kicked in right after. They sat in darkness and despair as the Q-comm relayed their words and reports of cascading systems failures. After an agonizingly long minute, their barrier dropped and restored their exterior visiuals.
“Sensors, get me a targeting solution on our bogey! Hangar one, you’d better be ready for a hot pickup!” Commander Cutter shouted.
“Come on, sing for me mami... just one more time!”
Olivia frantically scanned the skies to locate their embattled Shadowhawk. As soon as she zoomed in, her heart plummeted into her stomach. The ship belched smoke while a horned, six-winged dragon tore at the insides of the ship.
ALERT: SHADOWHAWK GS-1 CRITICAL SYSTEMS FAILURE; REACTOR COOLANT DUMP INITIATED.
SWITCHING TO EMERGENCY RESERVE POWER.
“Captain...” She squeaked.
“I’ve got a radar fix on our bogey, its hovering over the surface! If I shoot it down now, it’s gonna rain debris all over those civilians. What are your orders, captain?” Their fire controlman yelled.
“If we’re going down, I can take him with us.” Eddie’s voice came over the speakers.
“Do it.” Yulia’s voice could barely be heard.
“Captain! You need to see this!” Olivia yelled.
“Hold your fire!” The Captain shouted before he turned to look at her display. “Oh my god…” He said as the color drained from his face.
“It’s been a pleasure serving with you, Yulia.”
ALERT: THERMOBARIC WARHEAD ARMED – MANUAL DETONATION SELECTED. ALERT: HGSM 500 KG SMART BOMB ARMED – MANUAL DETONATION SELECTED SEND ADMINISTRATOR OVERRIDE? Y / N ?
Her hand hovered over the control that would stop them, but she couldn’t bring herself to press the button. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she withdrew her hand and her shoulders slumped.
“Just… do it.”
“See you in hell, asshole!”
The whole of the CIC erupted into horrified gasps and a wail of anguish as the Shadowhawk erupted in a ball of blazing plasma.
“Sensors, report!”
“There’s nothing left, sir… Just hot ashes and falling debris.”
“They will not be forgotten. It’s up to us now to ensure their sacrifice wasn’t in vain.” Henry said with a boiling fury evident under his otherwise even tone.
“We’ll make sure of it, sir.” Commander Cutter said with his jaw firmly set.
“We’ve got a hawking radiation spike on the ground by the bogey!” Their sensor tech shouted.
A bright flash drew her attention, causing her to zoom in. The source of the light was a large, gilded box with two winged beings on the lid.
That’s the Ark of the Covenant!
The moment the light faded out, four robed figures hefted the Ark at the direction of a tall, armored figure and carried it up the gangplank.
“Looks like they’re loading the Ark of the Covenant into the ship now. They must be trying to escape with it!” Olivia said.
“What are your orders, Captain? Do we attempt to disable and capture, or shall we move to shoot it down?” Commander Cutter asked.
“That ship killed our element of surprise and led to the death of our people! The moment it clears civilian airspace, blow it out of the sky!” Henry growled.
“But sir, what about the Ark of the Covenant?” Olivia interjected before she could clamp down on the impulse.
“We can’t allow them to escape with it. I’d much rather see it destroyed than lost. Shoot. Them. Down.” Henry ordered.
“With pleasure, sir.” Commander Cutter said with a wicked smile spreading across his face.
“They’re lifting off! All launch tubes are full and ready to fire on your command, sir!”
“Helm, bring us about, and angle for interception! All hands prepare for combat acceleration! Prep laser batteries to fire at will!” Commander Cutter ordered.
“Sir! They’re breaking off to orbit angled away from us! Damn, they’re fast!”
“Not faster than this!” Their laser fire controlman shouted.
Their target rolled and pitched in a maddening attempt to avoid a direct hit. Molten spots appeared on the exterior armor in long streaks as the enemy ship dodged and rolled to prevent catastrophic damage.
“Slippery little bastard! Launch tubes one and two! Prep three and four to fire on my mark!” The Commander shouted.
The ship thumped as two anti-ship missiles streaked off to meet their target. The bogey wrapped itself in a barrier moments before they impacted, which bathed it in a sea of fire.
“Negative kill!” Their sensor tech shouted.
“We’re nearing the upper atmosphere, sir! They’re faster than us, if we let them escape the gravity well, they’ll be able to escape.” Olivia warned.
“We’re not going to let that happen.” The skipper hissed. “Laser batteries, step up the pressure on that barrier! If they want to turtle up, we’ll just have to blow out their cooling system.”
Both fire control techs worked furiously at their consoles as the enemy barrier lit up and deflected their fire in rapid succession.
“Sir, reactor heat sink levels are rising fast! Capacitor reserves are down to forty percent. We won't be able to maintain this forever.”
“I don’t give a damn about that right now! Redline the reactor and deploy the trailing radiators! We need to keep up the pressure or we’re going to lose them!” Commander Cutter barked.
“Yes, sir!”
“They’ve escaped the atmosphere!” Olivia warned as she continued to track the bogey’s progress.
“Fire tube three on proximity impact, wait ten seconds and then fire tube four in loitering mode! Magazine control, reload all tubes and prepare to fire on command. Laser batteries, keep up the pressure!”
“Aye Captain!”
The ship thumped as the first missile streaked off toward its target, ten seconds after, another missile fired off at a slower pace trailing behind. The gap between the two missiles grew until the first impacted against the barrier, and the other settled in behind to match the pace of its prey, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
“When the hell is that barrier going to drop?! Their cooling systems can’t last forever…” Olivia asked in frustration.
“Hawking radiation burst!” Their sensor tech shouted as a bright flash appeared in front of the craft.
A bright reflective sphere grew to engulf the null matter wrapped craft as it slipped inside.
“What the hell is that?!” “Is that a wormhole!?” “They’re getting away!” The CIC erupted in a cacophony of voices.
The missile slipped through the wormhole mere moments before the event horizon collapsed in on itself in a bright flash of light. Silence reigned as the reality of the situation sank in.
“What in hell just happened? Report!” Henry’s voice broke the silence.
“They… escaped, sir.” Commander Cutter admitted.
“I’m going to need a better explanation than that, commander.” Henry growled.
“They escaped into what we believe to be a wormhole, sir. There was a notable hawking radiation burst while they were still on the ground. I believe it was linked to the Ark of the Covenant.”
The commander growled in frustration before he pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath and continued.
“It seems so obvious now in retrospect. I take full and personal responsibility for this failure, sir. My crew performed admirably and are above blame in this scenario.” Commander Cutter replied with his back straight and a grim look on his face.
“We will discuss the nature of your failure further in private. Return to the space around the Doghouse facility to retrieve Karst’s team and provide mission support in whatever ways are needed. You are to then return to the Indomitable Will for a full debrief.”
“Sir, yes, sir.” He replied stiffly.
“Keep me posted, out.” Henry said before he cut the feed.
“Commander…” Olivia started before he interrupted her with a look of fiery determination.
“You heard the Captain, helm set a course for the nearest bend of the gravitational superhighway. Ops, prep the inversion drive. It’s time to go get the rest of our people.”
Olivia shivered as the fine hairs rose on the back of her neck. She snapped her head around to see a radiant figure robed in white hovering over the deck at the entrance to the CIC. It spoke in a booming voice full of righteous fury that made her knees weak and her spine shiver.
"You fools know not what you have done, or what evils have been set into motion. Your actions have doomed this timeline to be cut from the vine and purged in the fire of the Lord's wrath. Had you humbled yourselves enough to seek the will of your Lord, this world could have been delivered into your hands. You should have feared the name of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and sought the wisdom of his divine plan of redemption for this rebellious and sinful world. Instead you have chosen the path of rejection, the one true and unforgivable sin. You are cursed now to wallow in the miseries of your own making."
Speechless, Olivia fell to her knees as the CIC erupted into chaos around her and the entity dissipated before their eyes.
MEANWHILE…
DATE: UNKNOWN
LOCATION: EARTH, WESTERN ANATOLIA
APOLLO THE SEER
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Apollo and his twin stalked noiselessly through the brush in pursuit of their prey. An aged stag they had marked to be culled drank from a cool stream in the glade ahead of them. Artemis nocked her bow as she crept around into view off to his side. His bicep twitched and his brow furrowed at the old familiar fire burned hot behind his forehead. His twin loosed her arrow, striking the heart through the lung as the world faded and he fell into a vision trance.
All of the great cities of the world flashed before his eyes in splendor and life, only to decay into overgrowth and ruin. He saw the mighty walls of Troy, the city of his favor. Blood seeped from between the stones of the walls at a trickle, only to grow into a mighty wave that swept away the Achaean ships and their armies into the sea. He then shot high though the air into space, where day and night circled the globe at a terrific pace. Bright lights defied the night and slowly crept from Egypt and spread north and outwards until the whole world was lit in an unstoppable progression.
A black arrowhead fell from the heavens and detonated in cataclysmic fire, flashing back and forth between images of a far larger and obscure shape that hid in the blackness of the void. A blue beam arose from the sands of Egypt and shot past him, full of the souls of the brave and worthy, only for it to sputter and die as the souls fell back to the planet below. He was left feeling hollow and empty as fire spread across the surface of the Earth until even Olympus itself was surrounded and consumed.
An overwhelming force smacked him down to the surface and into his own body once more. Artemis wiped the blood from his nose and the tears of blood from his eyes as he snapped awake once more. As the shivers receded, and the burning fire in his mind cooled, the hollow feeling from before gave way to terror as his wits returned to him.
“Apollo, speak to me, brother. What did you see?”
It took a long moment for him to find his words, but when he did, he knew the basic shape of the truth, even if the details made little sense.
“The end of everything we know… and the possibility of a new beginning, one free of the tyranny of our father. A threat is lurking in the void, yet to reveal itself…. Our internal strife will be our undoing at their hands. The pathway of souls has been broken… A new anchor point dawns...”
“You speak in riddles, brother. Perhaps it would be wise for you to meditate on the meaning further. I’ll gather the herbs and the sacred mushrooms. We can make camp with the Amazons.” She replied with a note of concern in her voice.
“No… our time to act is perilously short… Hades. We must speak with Hades! If this vision is correct, then it will not take long for Zeus to discover the pathway to the Elysium fields has closed. He will consult the Pythian oracle, and then all advantage will truly be lost.” Apollo replied with a shake of his head.
“I knew this fool’s quarrel would be our undoing before Agamemnon ever launched his ships. Neither becalmed winds nor the love of his own innocent daughter could stop what had been set in motion. If this is what the pettiness of envy, lust, and discord has brought upon us, then perhaps we deserve this fate you have foreseen. Perhaps we should retire from this conflict at last, and let the apple fall where it may.”
“No, sister, you know as well as I do that we cannot do so. The world of men has been stirred up by the actions of our kin, and we must be the ones to hold back the tide of its worst terrors against the innocents it threatens to drown in its wake. We must make haste now, for time is not on our side. Troy doesn't have much time left, and if these visions come to pass, perhaps neither do we... We must uncover the meaning behind this, we must turn this to our advantage.”