(Cockpit, HSS True Perfection, Darkspace in Shadowgate System)
Supreme Most High of Naval Science Aiwin Valsys was an important man. As the tenth-most powerful person in the Haven Navy’s command structure, it was up to him to ensure that Haven’s defenders had the best ships that their technology could provide. Part of his duties lay in organizing the scientists who worked on samples of technology brought in from outside the Great Barrier.
As a Supreme Most High, he was one of the few in Haven that knew the truth about how Haven had been protected for the last two hundred and fifty thousand years, of how the Temporal Expansion Array saved them. He knew the true history of his kind, and how they had survived. How TEA had saved them during the Great Hunting.
To the common rabble, the Great Hunting was a mythological event, like a creation myth in the worlds outside Haven (or Shadowgate, as the Untouched called it). The Untouched, envious at the powers that had been worked upon the very DNA of the Perfected, had vilified and hunted their kind, even as they Perfected others, to fight their wars for them. The Untouched wished for the Perfected to be their obedient slaves.
The Perfected rose up against this injustice, and rallied together under the leadership of the High Evolutionary, a Perfected who could make other Perfected. But even together, superior as they were to the Untouched, they could not match the brute numbers that the Untouched arrayed against them. And so, the High Evolutionary had led his people in a retreat, to a world where the mercantile nature of the Untouched inhabitants blinded them to all else, so long as their price was paid.
It was then that the High Evolutionary found the Solar Temple, an ancient construct left by the Precursors. Braving the Temple’s defenses alone, with only his personal guards, he managed to find the inner sanctum of the Temple, and activate the devices. In an instant, the Great Barrier rose up, and sundered space, cutting off the system from the rest of the universe, creating the perfect sanctuary for the Perfected.
The Untouched in the system were angry, and tried to destroy the Solar Temple and the Great Barrier. But the High Evolutionary led the Perfected against them in their ships of war, and scattered the merchant people’s ships which were only designed to defend against solitary pirates. And then, the High Evolutionary and his Council of Nine turned their forces against the Untouched on the planets and stations in the system, and brought them all under their rule, to serve the Perfected forevermore. Thus, the Perfected had found their Haven.
Of course, the reality was a bit different from the tale the commoners told. In truth, the Perfected were chimeras, and they were officially classified as war crimes just for existing. As such, they were effectively slaves of the governments and corporations who made them, with no rights, until they had united at the end of a war. They stole ships from their slavers on both sides, and ran, until they came upon this system, and bribed the Consortium with promises to work for them.
That same Consortium had been most upset when they used Infiltrator models to gain access to all levels of government, and took control of the system, thereby gaining access codes to the Precursor facility in orbit of the sun. Finding out how to turn on the ‘Solar Temple’ was something that cost many Untouched lives, in a deadly series of trials and errors. But, eventually, they were able to activate the TEA, and secured Haven for themselves.
The designs for the Darkspace ships left in the Solar Temple’s databanks were used as the formation of a new naval force, since they were the only known ship designs that could freely transit out of the Great Barrier’s time dilation. The Perfected had been enslaved once, and they would be damned if they were ever enslaved again. But ensuring their continued freedom meant having knowledge and eyes on the outside. Hence, the Navy.
Valsys sighed as he leaned back in his cockpit. Unlike most of the Supreme Most Highs, he enjoyed the piloting of Darkspace craft, like he had done while working his way up through the Navy. Since his duties necessitated moving to the various research facilities and shipyards, he used the True Perfection to get around the system.
The Perfection was a schooner designed to be run by a single hand, if necessary, though it could comfortably sleep six. If they pushed the life support to the limits, and were able to get to port soon enough, she could even do ten, but that was not recommended, obviously. She was a simple ship, and not rated for Darkspace travel beyond the Barrier, but for a pleasure craft, or simply getting between the different parts of the system, it was perfect.
It also, as an added bonus, made him more popular with his underlings than many of the Most Highs. Like today, he typically traveled with just two hand-picked aides. Those aides were picked not just for their ability to keep his schedule, but for their technical and practical abilities.
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He knew ships, and their handling. Meira knew her way weapons systems and armor better than anyone he knew, but her… forward nature had all but ended her career before he picked her up. Faylen, on the other hand, was a scientist who cared more about knowing the science than doing the science, which had, naturally, stalled her career.
At the moment, they were returning to Naval Command in Haven orbit from Telcara Research Base. That base, in orbit of Ydara, the sixth moon of Mertulna, the largest gas giant in the system, had been tasked with researching new scientific developments from outside the Great Barrier, and determining what use they could be to Haven’s forces, or what threat they might pose. The specific group he had been visiting was responsible for a new group that had appeared in the last ten thousand years, local time, called ‘Black Star’.
Unfortunately, as he discovered, they had little information on Black Star, and their technology. Most of the information was hearsay from the Shadow Network outside Haven. When the normal methods of getting their technology had not worked, High Command had authorized a delegation be sent to suborn Black Star. That delegation’s return was several generations overdue, leaving even more questions than answers about the kind of technology they had to have.
In the end, it had been a waste of a trip. He hadn’t learned anything, and wild speculation about Black Star’s use of advanced kinetics did nothing to help him design and build the next generation of Haven’s navy. The only upside was that he got to fly the Perfection.
As they reached the L1 Lagrange point between Haven and its moon, he made sure the sail was furled, and hit the button to transition back to real space. The transition was a good deal rougher than usual. However, thoughts about the cause were thrown out of his mind the moment he looked out the window. The sight that should have greeted him was the familiar view of Resolute Station, home of Haven Naval Command. What he actually saw, however, was a rapidly expanding cloud of debris where the station had formerly been.
Well, perhaps getting to fly wasn’t the only upside of his trip, after all.
(Bridge, BSN Shinokage, Shadowgate System)
Slave-Captain Aurae Inatumal focused on maintaining a calm, cool exterior as she watched the mission clock count down. This was the part that movies left out, the waiting. She had seen a couple films about Black Star’s participation in the Imperial Civil War. One had been a ‘dramatic retelling’ that had portrayed the Master as a swashbuckling hero who single-handedly helped save the Empire. The other had been a thinly-disguised porn video about the Master’s other ‘exploits’. Neither had included the kind of waiting that happened in real naval combats.
The mission clock hit -0:00, and then hit +0.01. If everything went as planned, the party should have just started. She took a long, slow, breath, and said, “Sensors, any change?”
“None so far, Captain. But the light won’t reach us for some time. I expect that—” The officer was cut off as Shinokage shook beneath their feet.
“Report!”
“Engineering reports no damage, Ma’am. Infirmary reporting some minor injuries due to falls, but nothing severe.”
Inatumal turned to the Sensor officer. “Sensors?”
The officer looked up from his screens. “Gravity event. Pushed space-time ahead of it so that we couldn’t see it until it was on us.”
“Ensign Crusher?”
Ensign Lesley Crusher nodded. “Yes, Captain, I have made contact with Command. The time dilation field must be down.”
“Excellent. Comms, give Hearthstone the strike order. Sensors, give me a tachyon pulse to draw their attention. Ladies and gentlemen, lets show these Shadowgate fools who they have been messing with.”
(Cockpit, HSS True Perfection, Shadowgate System)
The atmosphere in the Perfection had changed in an instant. Valsys’s aides were manning the additional stations in the three-person cockpit. Faylen was on sensors, and Meira was handling comms. As for him, he was doing his best to avoid debris, while trying to find a safe place to dock.
“Reports coming in from across the system, Most High,” Meira called out. “They are reporting simultaneous strikes at Resolute Station, Council Headquarters, all four of our principal shipyards, the Eldara resource hub, and…” She swallowed hard. “And the Solar Temple.”
“Status of targets?”
“All targets are being reported as severely damaged or destroyed. A gravity pulse was reported as well, just as we were leaving Darkspace. The Solar Temple has been completely destroyed.”
Faylen cursed. “Most High, if the Temple is gone, that means that the Great Barrier is gone with it!”
Valsys forced himself to remain calm. Just like navigating a darkmatter shoal in Darkspace. You couldn’t panic, no matter how fast things were moving, or you’d die. He took a long breath, hoping to steady himself.
“Meira, who is in command? What is Grand Most High Leokas doing about this?”
“Grand Most High Leokas was on Resolute Station, along with the rest of the Supreme Most Highs. They did not make it off the station. I-I think you are the Most High of the Navy remaining.”
Faylen looked over from her screen. “Most High! Gravity distortions detected! Consistent with warp drives!”
Meira’s eyes went wide as she heard something over the comms. “Most High, enemy ships and fighters just jumped into the Reserve Depot! The Stasis generator has been destroyed, and they are attacking the reserve fleet!”
Valsys felt his blood turn cold. This was not the calm of flying through a shoal. Part of his mind knew he was in shock. The scale of the attack, the sudden decapitation of the Haven Navy, all of it. It would be more shocking if he weren’t in a bit of shock.
But he couldn’t go to pieces. Not now. Not when he was the only one left to hold things together. Woodenly, he pulled a headset on, and adjusted the microphone.
“Give me system-wide. Emergency override protocols. I need to assume control.”
“You’re on.”
“This is Supreme Most High Valsys. I am declaring a state of Emergency, pursuant to Haven Code 8.67-53.09. All civilian craft are to make for the nearest port. All military personnel are to return to base, all leaves are now canceled. All naval reserves are to be activated immediately.”
Faylen started. “New warp exit! Range… twenty kilometers!”
Valsys grit his teeth, and threw the nimble schooner into evasive maneuvers, as his HUD displayed three fighter-sized craft, angling in on an attack vector. Three fighters, no doubt armed for military action. Against his unarmed schooner.
“Missile launch!”
Valsys didn’t even realize that his ship was still broadcasting to the entire system as he threw the ship into a tight spin. The entire system hearing his final words before the three missiles destroyed his ship. “I’m sorry, girls.”