Captain Ta’Kinar sat at the command chair of his new ship. The Empress Protects was an older heavy cruiser, designed and built decades ago by the Royal Shipyards to protect the colony worlds from agression with the Hissar. After piece negotiations between the Empress and Emperor Tission IV military spending was cut, and she was mothballed to the reserve docks.
Now she was swarmed over by technicians doing repairs and upgrades, even the upholstery of his chair was fresh and new. While she was a bit newer than The Unwavering Message, she lacked the creature comforts. This was after all, a ship of war. He looked to his right, “XO Mal’Kinnah, how are we looking?”
His XO looked to her holo-screens, “Sir, as of this shift we have a full crew compliment, even if some of them are pensioners who came out of retirement with the plea of the Empress. Shields are upgraded, as is the new reactors, but the yards say there is nothing we can do for the Warp Drive, the old class threes were a technological dead end.”
Captain Ta’Kinar grinned, “Yeah, my old ship had them replaced at some point with class fives, and those are considered old now. What I’d give to have those Terran Skip drives though, can you imagine crossing the universe in three months?”
Executive Officer Mal’Kinnah sighed, “The AI Simon states we lack the manufacturing capability to even build the most primitive skip drive, much less build a kugelblitz reactor to provide the power necessary. But, his liberty ship design that the shipyards are churning out are a marvel of simplicity of design. They’re nothing but a hull, minimal shielding, amazing fusion reactors and the warp engines are downright amazing, not just for speed, but simplicity.”
Ta’Kinar sighed, “Simon is an amazing asset, I’m sure he’s pulled from Terran history to find designs we can build. Of course, if we had to design a ship like that it would take us years, I’m sure for him it was a few hours.” He then received a ping from command, he reached over and tapped the holo-screen.
Admiral Ren’Alaan appeared in his holo-screen, “Captain Ta’Kinar, the shipyards state you will be ready for action by end of shift. Meet up with the 1st fleet and await further commands, glad to have you Captain.”
Captain Ta’Kinar smiled into his screen, “Glad to be here Admiral, we will get underway as soon as the shipyards sign off on our ship. Might I get a glimpse of what our orders will be? The 1st fleet is the home fleet, and its numbers have always been small.”
Admiral Ren’Alaan grinned, “I was warned you would use your charm to try and glean more information than your post required. But considering you were given your post by decree of the Empress herself I can hardly deny you much of anything. The first will be defending the Empress herself as she leaves Nal’Shiar for the first time.” Her look darkened, “It will be the first time an Empress has left the home system in nearly eighty years.”
Ta’Kinar blinked, “Will the Empress be aboard a military vessel?”
Ren’Alaan shook her head, “No, she will be aboard a fleet of liberty ships that we will be escorting and protecting out of the system. They will be the last convoy, she will be staying on Enub until the last moment she can.”
Ta’Kinar nodded, “Understood Admiral, I will ensure we are ready for defense of the Empress, I look forward to meeting up with the rest of the fleet.”
Admiral Ren did a brisk nod, “See that you do Captain.” And with that, disconnected from his holo-screen.
XO Mal’Kinnah looked over to her new Captain, “You were commissioned by the Empress herself?” She stated in disbelief.
Ta’Kinar shut down his holo-screen and looked at the large screen forward of the bridge showing the shipyards. “My previous Captain recommended me for promotion, as she had the ear of the Empress herself when bringing the Terrans back to Enub, well, I’m sure the Empress filed it away. Once this crisis was brought to the Empress by Nora we needed every ship, mothballed or not, and as such, the Empress issued a Royal Commission to the 1st fleet, which is in fact, her fleet.
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XO Mal’Kinnah looked to Ta’Kinar in awe at this point, which was a bit discerning to Ta’Kinar, who for all his charm and bluster wasn’t accustomed to it. “So you met the Empress herself, in person to receive the commission?”
Ta’Kinar looked to the elevator as more technicians flooded the bridge for final tests of the new stations, “Yes, it was a small and quick ceremony. I was told it was the first Royal Commission in a century.”
Mal’Kinaah turned and tapped her screen to acknowledge some requests, “That is impressive Captain, the first Royal Commission to the first fleet in a century, I’ll bet your parents are proud.”
Captain Ta’Kinar sighed, “They would be, but I lost them in a vehicle accident when I was at the academy. I have a sister who is now part of the evacuation fleet, she is a navigation officer onboard one of the new liberty ships.”
Mal’Kinaah sighed wistfully as she got back to work on her holo-screens, “One day I hope to meet the Empress.”
Ta’Kinar just smiled as he got back to work himself.
_______________________
Nora embraced Simon, “You don’t have to do this, Adam has made plenty of new AI’s that could lead the fleets.”
Simon stood back, holding Nora by her hips, “I know, but none of these AI’s have real world battle experience. And I have centuries of combat knowledge in fighting the Jennifers, so when Adam asked me to be supreme allied commander, I couldn’t turn him down.
Nora nodded, tears still in her eyes, “I know, but couldn’t you do it remotely from here? Why do you have to put your own core onboard one of the ships?”
Simon sighed, “You know that even with the new string radios there will be lag, maybe only a few nanoseconds, but for battle everyone will be frame jacked to the maximum and nanoseconds count, especially for command. The only way I can effectively command the fleet is by physically being there, in real space.”
Nora nodded as a lone tear ran down her face, “I just found you Simon, I don’t want you to go, I don’t want to lose you.”
Simon teared up himself, “I don’t want to go either, but if I don’t, then someone inexperienced will take my place, and they might freeze, or worse. We defend the UTL fleet from whatever the new Jennifers send. They’ll be sitting ducks while they tow the ships, and even with the new skip drives, the added mass of towing will slow them down more than enough for even the Jennifers from the last war could keep up.”
Nora hugged in deep to Simon again, “Promise me you’ll stay safe, don’t take unnecessary risks, with the loss of my home system you’re literally the only thing I have left.”
Simon broke the embrace but still held her, “I promise, and Adam built our new ships tough, he made mine custom, it’s exterior is identical to the rest of the fleet, but the entire hull is Warsteel, it has an additional reactor, and additional shield generators. He also put in a big red button, he wouldn’t tell me what it was for, but he said only hit it as a last resort.”
Nora smiled through her tears, “Knowing Adam he means it, don’t get curious and push it, who knows what will happen.”
Simon let a tear roll down his cheek, “I’ve got to go, I love you Nora, no matter what.”
Nora choked a bit as she looked down, “I love you too ya big oaf, get going, and don’t do anything stupid out there.
Simon smiled back and vanished in a hail of voxels. Nora sat down on the steps behind her London home and cried into her hands.
_______________________
Simon stood on the bridge of his new ship. Not one member of the fleet had a name, only a hull number. But he liked to affectionately call it Nora’s Smile. He didn’t mention this to his bridge crew, which only numbered three, and his total crew totaled only 25. Not bad for a ship that displaced a two hundred thousand long tons.
He sent out a mental command and a holo-window appeared before him, it was connected to the half a million strong fleet. “Combined Fleet, this is your Fleet Admiral Simon. We will soon be leaving Midean for real space, this will put us at maximum skip two and a half months out from Nal’Shiar space.”
He looked into the monitor with what he hoped showed determination, “Admirals Amanda, Jacob, and Dennis will be dispatching your orders and flight positions. Today we are tasked with a horrible purpose. To defend the UTL fleet as it tows refugee ships back to Terran Space. It means combat, and loss, but it also means salvation to the Nal’Shiar.”
He turned to look offscreen to his bridge crew, “It’s time to show the universe the best side of Terrans, a message must be sent that we will protect life no matter the cost. The enemy fleets were located by the professor from long range sensor scans with the FC probe and three others in the vicinity, either they are taking their time, or their skip drives are the same as they were in the last war. This means they have a three day advantage over us.”
He turned back to the screen, “We leave Median and we push our drives to their breaking point, every second we shave off means a transport or warship is defended. I know this is a large burden to bear, but I will not stand by and watch a species die, and neither will you. Fortify yourselves today, for we come to the defense of the Nal’Shiar!”