The Trinity
Over the last four weeks of investigating the first several planets taken by the Volma the crew had become well acclimated with the ship and all its bells, whistles, and annoying quirks. Tarvon had left so abruptly that he neglected to mention a few things that they had to find out on their own. For example, the ship had an experimental inertial dampener which allowed for free movement while the ship was travelling faster than light. However, it took the system several hours to spin up and compensate after acceleration began. The crew called the first several hours of each light speed jump "nap time" since there was little to do except close your eyes until the system kicked in. The first jump Pheny's crew experienced was so short that they couldn't take advantage of it.
Pheny listened to the report from the landing party commander with a sense of déjà vu. The planet of Mastriol was cleared of all sentient inhabitants just like the previous three systems they had investigated. So far the investigation had drawn a quite confusing picture. Not only were there no signs of inhabitants on each world, but there were almost no signs of forcible relocation. What was even more odd was it appeared as if the inhabitants had been allowed to pack belongings. There were even entire farms devoid of livestock. It was looking more and more likely that this was a deliberate evacuation as opposed to a conquering enslavement.
"Thank you for the report Captain, get your teams gear stowed and prepare for travel to Cranoz" Pheny stated. The Captain acknowledged and ended the communication. Solomon leaned forward and addressed Pheny directly, "Commander, do we really need to go to Cranoz? I have a hunch we will find more of the same. Maybe it's time we head towards the Volma sector." Pheny nodded slightly and replied, "I agree, but one more planet couldn't hurt. We may find something useful. Besides we're already on our way there. Regardless of what we find, we will head to Volma after the investigation of Cranoz." All the officers in her ready room nodded in agreement. "Alright, prepare the ship for travel. Let's get under way within thirty minutes. Solomon, Amie, Priya I would like a word with you. The rest of you are dismissed" She said.
After the room was cleared and the door shut Pheny began, "I am starting to think my Dad was correct in assuming that there is more to this war than we know." This received nods of agreement from the remaining officers. Priya noted, "Conquered people are rarely allowed to pack up and leave. I hope we're not out of our depth on this one Commander." Pheny nodded in understanding and continued, "Well, if there's more to this entire war than meets the eye, there could also be more on this very ship. It may sound a tad paranoid, but I want you all to be be on the lookout for anything or anyone that seems incongruous." The three seated at the table all responded with a simultaneous "Yes, Captain!". Pheny smiled, "Good. Let's get everything ready for arrival at Cranoz." she said as she stood and headed for the door, Solomon, Amie, and Priya following her out.
Cruiser 31
"Has the monitoring probe been triggered?" Opless asked. Under Lieutenant Sacul replied "Negative, Sir.". While en route to Cranoz the probes at Laurentian, Fal Ezra, and Mastriol all had triggered with atmospheric incursions. Each about a week apart. "So looks like we beat them here. If they are coming here" Opless thought to himself. The planet of Cranoz was an eye-catching orb from space. Deep blue waters surrounding continents of rich red rock and deep purple forests. A ring of debris orbited the sphere, remnants of a moon shattered long before sentient life evolved here. Opless turned to the navigator, "Take us into the debris ring and park us next to one of the larger rocks." he said. Next turning to the communications officer, "Ship wide channel" he ordered. A loud ping echoed through the ship indicating a ship wide transmission, "Crew of the 31. Once we are in position in the ring we are to go dark. Minimal life support and sensors only. I do want every one to be ready to power back up at a moments notice". Opless made a slicing gesture with his hand across his neck indicating the message was complete and the communications officer closed the channel.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
It took several minutes, but the navigator found a suitable moon remnant and parked the ship on the planet side of it. This would effectively prevent any ships from detecting them unless they were right on top of them. "Now we wait" Opless said to nobody in particular. He hated waiting. Especially since he wasn't sure how long the wait would be. He took an immense risk even coming here in the first place. The mystery ship may not even come. He was still confident in his gut feeling though, and would face the consequences no matter what happened. "I will be in my quarters, contact me the second we pick up anything on sensors." he announced to the bridge. He stood, straightened his uniform, and began to walk to the aft of the bridge. As he reached the door to the bridge, so many thoughts were clouding his mind that he almost didn't process it when Lieutenant Sacul called out in alarm, "SENSOR CONTACT!!"
Opless' eyebrows shot up so far they were damn near in orbit. "Report!" he ordered. Sacul studied his station carefully and raised his head to look at Opless, a mask of confusion on his face, "Five alliance frigates approaching, sir.", his voice straining with a hint of fear. Opless felt his heart drop into his stomach. "What kind of trap did we walk into" he thought. Shaking that thought away he spoke again, "Any sign that they have detected us?" Sacul, again, studied his instrumentation. This time replying with a little less strain in his voice, "It doesn't appear so, Sir. They seem to be vectoring towards another part of the debris ring." Opless narrowed his eyes and returned to the Captain's chair, taking a seat. "Watch them closely. Any hint of a move in our direction and we go to full combat readiness." he ordered.
After about forty-five minutes of unbridled tension, Sacul spoke up with a report, "Commander.. the frigates seem to be doing exactly what we are. They have parked themselves behind larger debris and gone dark. I can no longer see them on sensors, but I have marked the debris that they are parked behind." Opless couldn't help but allow confusion to contort his face, "What in the galaxy is going on here." He stated, mostly to himself. Turning to his tactical officer he ordered, "I want firing solutions on all five ships. If we have to defend ourselves I want to do as much damage as possible before they take us out." Opless knew that the five frigates together would win the battle just with pure numbers. They may be able to stand up to a three on one, but five on one just wasn't possible. The Tactical officer acknowledged the order, and Opless sat back in the Captain's chair preparing himself for a standoff of unknown length.
The Trinity
Decelerating from light speed wasn't nearly as jarring as the acceleration, but it did leave ones insides feeling momentarily like everything was mashed together and liquified. As the world of Cranoz came into view Amie was the first to comment, "Wow. That planet is beautiful!" Pheny couldn't help but silently agree with her, outwardly though it was all business. "Sensors, report." She ordered. After several seconds Priya reported an all clear on sensors and Pheny issued the next command, "Alright, let's get past the ring and into orbit."
As the planet grew larger in the view port Pheny looked around the bridge and saw nearly everyone staring out at the blue red and purple planet. Most with mouths agape in awe. "Travelling the galaxy should be filled with moments like this. Not for war" She thought to herself. Amie reported from the helm station, "Passing debris ring now, we will reach orbit in ten minutes". Pheny punched a new frequency into her communicator, "Investigation team, prepare to....". Priya cut her off quickly with alarm in her voice, "Captain! We just received a message from Jorya, text only, it's.. you better look Sir, I'm sending it to your station." Pheny's face turned red with anger at being cut off in mid command like that, but it was quickly replaced with confusion and fear once she looked at the message.
"Family taken. Traitor on board. Ambush imminent"
She turned to Priya and inquired, "Did the communication stream have any identifying markers?" Priya shook her head, "None sir. It wasn't even encrypted. What do you think it...." Priya trailed off as her attention was grabbed by her sensor station. Pheny noticed that Priya's eyes widened into saucers as Priya looked up and exclaimed, "Sensor contact!! Five marks, bearing two forty by one seventy-five. They appear to be alliance frigates!" Pheny looked towards Solomon and saw on his face an expression that she knew well, wordlessly conveying "Shit, meet fan". She shook her head, mind racing. "It's possible they are a task force assigned to this area, Solomon. Don't go there just yet" Pheny said as calmly as she could muster. That is until Priya's next report about a second later, "They've opened fire Sir!! Two torpedos from each ship!"