2140

S.D.N Whirlwind

Rimaris System

Hel'lius Quadrant

Milky Way Galaxy

----------------------------------------

"Hey, Malcolm! Get this thing runni— Lovely day, everyone! I am John Madison reporting live on the E.W.L. Network. We are currently at the armed forces staging ground on the planet of Erdani IX! The final push against the planet's last standing city of the Unified Supremacy Front will be commencing shortly!" The H.T.V. buzzed in the darkened corner of the room. The rays of the nearby star cast themselves into the gloomy room filled with staunch wooden furniture.

"Multiple artillery batteries, as you can see behind me, have begun softening the enemy's trench lines! Even with our issued ear protection, I can still hear and feel the thunderous barrels of the guns!" The holographic television continued. Ambassador Quinn groaned as he woke up from his slumber, standing up from his bed, his eyes focused on the screen.

"The Directorate's armoured vehicles and tanks have begun moving forward onto the planet's capital! We also have information that approximately over five million troops have mobilized to siege the capital of Erdani IX, reports of additional corps are currently orbiting and disembarking from the 4th Expeditionary Fleet above us as of this moment," continued the reporter. Signs of war occupied the large screen of the television as scraps of rubble and debris scattered throughout the location.

"Allied advance in the last few days have been hampered due to terrain conditions of the planet and the efforts of the U.S.F to counter the campai—OH MY LORD! Malcolm! Look up! If you would redirect your focus to the skies, allied warships in orbit have begun firing onto the enemy's trench lines!" Said the reporter. Blinding flashes of lines and orbs engulfed the television screen as the orbital bombardment pounds the U.S.F forces.

"Massive explosions rocked the U.S.F lines! Large amounts of smoke covered the outskirts of the city!" Continued the reporter as armoured columns of the allied forces can be heard and seen in the background. "Allied forces have begun moving towards the capital at this moment! Once again, folks, I am John Madison of the E.W.L, reporting live from Erdani I—" buzzed the television before it cut off. The silhouette of the Ambassador's naked posture revelled in the glares of Rimari. The blue dwarf glowed in the space of Rimaris. Such a view would have been perfect for a fantastic morning if only escort ships did not bastardize the star's silhouette.

As the Ambassador got dressed, a faint buzz rang in his bed. "Answer," said Quinn and a hologram erupted in the center of his bed from where his device rested.

"Well, someone hasn't paid attention to the importance of time, eh Quinn?" A female voice remarked. The hologram made up a tall, slender woman clad in a white coat. The emblem of the Directorate's bright blues irritated the rest of her outfit. A faint rumble in the kitchen distracted the Ambassador, and with a sigh, Quinn walked towards his coffeemaker.

"Good morning Valecia, and yes, quite frankly, there are some things in life that I take my time in," followed the Ambassador as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "Formalities aside, how is our expedition's timeframe?"

"We've encountered anomalies in the adjacent systems that is slowing down our sublight thrusters and jamming our hyperdrives," said Valecia. "We do not know the source of these anomalies other than they are present. Our friends from the Serenity said the same thing," finished Valecia.

"Quite an encouragement. You would think the Directorate's brightest would find an alternative hyperlane trajectory course to avoid these certain 'anomalies' eh, Valecia?" said the Ambassador as he gulped down his coffee. An irritated Valecia expressed herself through her hologram resting in the middle of the room, moping about the sarcastic Ambassador.

"Quite so. However, one would also say that an Ambassador of your stature would be so professional as to wake up in time for the summit. We are an one hour away from the Ascended's borders, if the assigned people care to fix this issue," retorted Valecia. "Finish your 'formalities' and get dressed, the Captain needs you on the bridge, Ambassador," said Valecia as the hologram nestled back into the device it projected from.

"Yeah, yeah.." sighed the Ambassador as he continued to get dressed. The Ambassador creeped out of his room into a lavish hallway, his eyes shocked by the brightness of the white corridors of the Whirlwind. As he walked towards the bridge of the ship, he encountered many sailors and marines gossipping and watching the siege of Erdani IX unfold when he walked past the mess hall.

"Fucking Americans, still doing the same stunt for four centuries now,"

"You are of American descent, aren't you, Jones? Even your name reeks of undercooked burgers and school shootings."

"You know, you could do one better than trying to bring out stereotypes that have existed for over a hundred years, right? Especially when gun ownership got outlawed in the entire world which includes America."

"Yeah, but you brought out stereotypes first, jackass."

"Yeah, Lin, how come a bright person from the finest regions of Asia does not know the law? Oh, I get it. Because those stereotypes died a hundred years ago, much like your grandmother that I've been boning." Laughter occupied much of the hall as the crew bantered on.

Many years have been exhausted fighting the rebellious bunch of the U.S.F, such years to claim adjacent star systems and build worthwhile colonies on habitable worlds. But what came was madness and ignorance. Hopefully, such transgressions would not appeal bitterly to the council of the Ascended.

If only contact remained with the Sirian colonists, such a tragedy would not have happened due to misunderstandings and complications with the Directorate.

The Ambassador walked through the crude and lavish hallways of the flagship, reaching the sliding door that leads towards the bridge of the Whirlwind. Quinn entered the bridge, unveiling several electronics and intercom consoles flanking the Captain's seat in the middle, surrounded by holographic images. The bridge was filled with energy and discipline as sailors and officers worked tirelessly to operate the flagship.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Ambassador Quinn, good to see you. How was your morning?" said the individual in the middle of the bridge. A stoic man with a tall frame asked the Ambassador. Clad in white silks of elegant clothing littered with stripes of blue and an emblem positioned on where his heart resides, the Sol Directorate's flag. The flag sat beside dozens of medals of war.

"It would have been better if it wasn't interrupted, Captain." Retorted the Ambassador, "I merely jest if you didn't notice, but to be frank, it would have been better if I did not hear that we have slight complications in the adjustments of our trajectory through hyperlane routes, is this true?" continued the Ambassador. A slight smirk formed on the Captain's mouth as he went through the informative holograms.

"Quite true, but regardless, we are almost at our destination. The trajectory course issue will be fixed by our chief navigators soon enough. I called you to the bridge to deal with our fellow alien allies should they search for proof that we are indeed their friends." said Captain Gallahan.

"We have several P.O.Is affiliated with the government agencies of the Gal'hia Serenity. I think that is enough to prove that we are indeed coming from the Directorate, no?" questioned Quinn.

"Well, if it were that easy, then I would not have called you to the bridge, eh Quinn?" retorted Gallahan. "Jokes aside, Ambassador. We received reports that S.D.N vessels stationed in Proxima A's naval shipyards have, unfortunately, been raided by U.S.F insurrectionists."

"How is this relevant to our current situation Captain?" pondered the Ambassador. The Captain occupied himself searching the holograms until a sight came before him. He fixated on the hologram's images and zoomed in, turning it towards the Ambassador, and then he turned to face Quinn as well.

"This is why, Ambassador Quinn, S.D.N hijacked vessels by U.S.F terrorists have ransacked and plundered a mining outpost in the Quaxiras League's borders. They left no survivors. You do see how this complicates things, especially since the Ascended Council Assembly is on the edge of the Quaxiras League's space." said the Captain. "I called the P.O.Is and Hal'io to come to the bridge to assist you in proving that we are indeed "allies." of the Ascended."

"My god, no survivors?" asked the Ambassador. The Captain nodded. "This certainly complicates things. The Quaxir out of all the races we could have meddled with. It's the ones that absolutely abhor our guts. We are just that lucky, huh?"

"To be fair, we are barbarians who got "enlightened" in their eyes. As much as I hate, the bastards from the U.S.F have furthered this look in our friends in the Ascended," said the Captain. A chief officer approached the duo as he flanked Gallahan's side.

"Captain, good news, the trajectory route has been managed, and our headings have been initialized and recalibrated. I also bring bad tidings from what we've found out," said the officer.

"Great news for once, eh? So what was the bad news, Bran?" The Captain asked as the officer's face formed into a scurried look.

"An anomaly which has been unexplained, Captain. Deep space analysts from our end and some from the Serenity's have concluded that the same anomalies have plagued our space navigation and communications networks for decades," the more the officer explained, the more confused the Captain and the Ambassador got.

"That means that these "anomalies" are the same issues that prevented you from contacting your splinter colonists in what you call the Sirius system." finished Hal'io as the hiss of the sliding door faded. The Gal'hians, clad in their respective caste clothing, walked into the busy bridge.

"The same colonists that turned into the U.S.F that we know today, Ambassador," said Captain Gallahan. "The colonists were the product of the pioneers from the old organization of N.A.T.O before the third world war broke out. Several space agencies within the organization worked on an experimental method to attempt faster-than-light travel," he explained as the curious Gal'hians and Ambassador stood nearby.

"It worked for a while. After initial probes were successful, the colonist fleet of a million souls jumped into hyperspace towards the targeted system. However, within the first few years of constant communication with the colony, they suddenly went dark." said the Captain.

"Where'd you learn all your history pieces, eh, Gallahan?" Quinn jested, a smirk formed on the Captain's and the Chief Officer's faces.

"From school and declassified archives, you muppet of a cunt," rebutted Gallahan. A faint laugh formed among the humans.

"You Terrans and your crude humour, I have yet to understand it," replied Hal'io as he sighed while his Gal'hian colleagues remained dumbfounded.

"Believe me, Hal'io, it'll take a while," replied the Ambassador. "So we have established that these anomalies have been the reason why our fellow brethen have remained in the dark for so long and why further hyperspace jump attempts have failed to supply our colonists in the Sirius system, I take it that you know the answer to our questions?" Ambassador Quinn finished.

"That is correct, Ambassador Quinn," said Hal'io. "However, I fear we might know the nature of the anomaly itself. Chief Officer Bran, with the esteemed researchers within my caste, have concluded that these anomalies are the phenomenon, as we call it, Hyperspace Raptures," continued the Gal'hian.

"These events have been unexplained yet, but have been happening ever since the dawn of space travel to sentient beings. We have been studying these phenomena for a millennia to no avail," said Hal'io.

"Bran, how come our trajectory route has been readjusted to Quaxir space?" Captain Gallahan asked frantically as a new hologram depicted the route they must take, directly on course towards Ce'luaka Ombri, the system in which the U.S.F has plundered the outpost.

"Our original route has been deemed non-viable due to our scout probes. A rapture event has made that route dangerous. The only hyperlane network we can take is towards Ce'luaka Ombri." Chief Officer Bran replied.

"Fuck me. That system is still on high alert after what those insurrectionist dogs pulled off just days ago," replied the Captain. "I am worried that a recent raid has occurred on the same star system that we are going to jump soon. S.D.N warships commandeered by insurrectionists performed that raid." Gallahan finished as he placed his palms on his face and leaned on the podium.

"Captain, fret not, for several of my nation's military caste's vessels are part of your fleet. The Quaxir will not dare lay hands on one of the Ascended," replied Hal'io. Captain Gallahan stared into his holograms idled in response, clearly distressed from the series of unlucky events.

"Gallahan, take us through, me, and Hal'io will deal with it," said the Ambassador in a reassuring tone.

Sighing, the Captain reluctantly agreed and pressed a button adjacent to the communications hub. Once pressed, the entirety of the ship has sprung into disciplinary alert as red lights blinked repeatedly. Sailors and marines went into their jump stations and braced themselves on the pods to prevent what they would call "Jump fatigue." Travelling with the velocity of the speed of light through the vacuum of hyperspace will have an enormous amount of material for long-term injuries. The pods drastically lower these chances of happening to a minimal inconvenience of nausea and vomiting due to sensory overload.

As the Ambassador and the Gal'hians strapped in with the rest of the bridge crew in their pods, the Captain announced to the fleet through the communications deck. "All stations! Captain Gallahan of the S.D.N Whirlwind! Be advised, we are executing jump procedures, ready your crews!" he exclaimed throughout the network. Within moments, several escort ships and warships have the same red lights seen flashing in their respective bridges and crewdecks.

The Captain strapped in his pod that rose from the bottom of his chair, substituting the chair in its old position. "All stations! Prep for hyperspace drives to initiate jumping procedures! Respective coordinates have been given out to your navigators! Safe travels to you all!" Captain Gallahan exclaimed. The drives beside the ship's thrusters began to glow in the dim environment of space. Soon, all the vessels in the fleet glow the same.

"All stations! Be advised we are jumping in T-Minus 10 seconds!" As the numbers counted down, the blue apparatus of the hyperdrives grew brighter and brighter. When the countdown dropped to a second, the contours of the bridge in the Whirlwind became warped, and the flagship rattled in hyperspace. Booming noises occupied the ambience as the outsides of the bridge brightened from darkness to the entire spectrum of light.

Twenty excruciating seconds before the hyperspace jump subsided and the entirety of the fleet arrived at Quaxir's borders. Tens of ships blinked into existence as they entered local space, just a couple of leagues away from Ce'luaka Ombri's bright binary dwarf stars and its planets of the Quaxiras League.

As soon as the fleet exited hyperspace into realspace, the Captain and the crew unloaded in their pods, exhausted. After a brief recovery, multiple Quaxir titan-class warships approached the fleet with bristling guns and beam accelerators pointed toward the Directorate's fleet.

"Captain Gallahan, they're hailing us!" One of the communications crew reported.

"Put 'em through!" Captain Gallahan replied. The sailor nodded, and an intermission hologram appeared in the middle of the bridge. He then turned towards the Ambassador and Hal'io. "You two are up. I hope you are right."