Subject: Rear Admiral Thomas Hawn

Species: Human

Description: Mammalian humanoid, no tail. 6'2" (1.87 m) avg height. 185 lbs (84 kg) avg weight. 170 year life expectancy.

Ship: USSS Doom

Location: Classified

"How's it handling?" I asked.

"A lot smoother than I'd thought a beast this big would, sir," Commander Nguyen answered. "Is this how the Nidhogg handled?"

"I do recall it being a particularly smooth ride, yes," I laughed. "Though it's been more than thirty years since I piloted it."

My time aboard the USSS Nidhogg had been the dullest point of my career. Flying the biggest superweapon ever created sounds thrilling on paper, but in practice it's the most boring thing you could ever do. I'd been forcefully volunteered for the duty a week after I hit commander, and spent the next six years doing everything in my power to become a captain so I could transfer.

I sighed quietly through my nose as I looked over the bridge of the USSS Doom. It looked exactly the same as the Nidhogg, but with one glaring difference that made me somewhat uncomfortable. I'd never worked aboard a ship that had a human-only crew before, so it was a slightly unnerving to only see human faces looking back at me. It was difficult to shake the expectation of seeing a beak when someone turned around, and I somewhat missed the soft chittering of the alumari as they went about their tasks.

That was the deal with these new Gungnir-class dreadnoughts, though. Each species would get one of their own and then share the rest. The first created was generously ceded to the alumari, and this was the second one made. I suppressed a grin, this may be the second Gungnir-class dreadnought but it's the one in charge at the moment.

"Weapons system dry fire complete, everything is green, sir," Commander Earnest informed me. "Wish we could try a live fire, though."

I knew Earnest well enough to know that the reason he wants a live fire is because he's nervous about the system, not because he's excited about firing the big cannon. Nguyen and Earnest had been with me for my last two commands, and had even seen me promoted to Rear Admiral. Nguyen's a skilled pilot, and Earnest is the best weapons tech a flag officer could ask for. They hadn't worked directly under me in our last posting, but we still saw each other in the officer's mess pretty frequently.

"That 'live fire' would be an alpha one weapon of mass destruction in a high penetration casing. And it's being fired from the largest and most powerful magnetic acceleration cannon the United Systems has ever built," I reminded him. "Best not to fire that unless we absolutely need to."

"Aye, sir," he answered.

"Shakedown run complete, Admiral," Captain Gibbons said. "Movers are green, weapons are green, nav is green, and comms are five by five."

"How's the reactor system handling everything?" I asked.

"Getting no immediate complaints from engineering," he answered. "They'll have their full report ready in a few minutes, though."

I nodded. Fair enough, the reactor system on a dreadnought is exceedingly complex. I'd much prefer that they take their time instead of missing an issue. Even minor issues with the power tend to snowball into big problems, which typically arise at the most inconvenient times possible. It's somewhat amusing how something as small as a bad wiring job can cripple a ship, and potentially spell the end of an entire fleet.

I decided to take my seat as we waited for engineering's report. It was a remarkably comfortable chair. Much better than most seats my posterior has had the honor of occupying. I wondered if the same type was aboard the USSS Nidhogg. If not, it should be. Might as well be comfortable when annihilating a solar system. I felt a small pang of guilt that I was enjoying the same comfort when I'm not going to be doing anything quite so grandiose.

"Did you hear about the Nidhogg firing, sir?" Nguyen asked.

"Hard to miss news like that, commander," I chuckled. "Before you ask, no. I'm not sorry that I wasn't aboard when it happened."

"That is indeed what I was about to ask, sir," Nguyen said in a monotone. "As usual you are much smarter and wiser than I could ever hope to be."

I had annoyed Nguyen by shortening the conversation. When he gets annoyed, he flings false compliments at the source of annoyance as a form of psychological warfare. After all, why would you want to annoy someone who is nice to you? Plus, if one suffers from imposter syndrome, it's a whole different ball-game. Unfortunately for the commander, I didn't suffer from imposter syndrome and was onto his little tricks.

"Can the boot-licking," I grinned mischievously. "There's no need to be stating the obvious."

"Aye aye, sir," he gave me the blank look that one gives a CO when they want to glare but don't want Non-Judicial Punishment.

"I kind of wish I was there," Earnest piped up. "At the very least, it would have been a once in a lifetime thing to see."

"You hope," I added.

"Oh... yes, of course, sir."

"The Nidhogg is a fire once kind of weapon," Captain Gibbons said. "Especially now that we have these dreadnoughts that can take out MPPs without obliterating a solar system. Now that everyone knows for certain what it can do, nobody but the OU is going to tempt fate."

"The only time a weapon has ever only been fired once is when the weapon didn't work," I shook my head bemused. "But we've got entire stockpiles of weapons that people thought only needed to be fired once. As long as we've got it, we'll find another excuse to use it."

Gibbons looked deep in thought for a moment, probably trying to find an example to prove me wrong. He shrugged his shoulders in resignation, likely realizing that it's not a great idea to debate your commanding officer. I resisted the urge to laugh and pulled up the tac-map on my seat's terminal.

The tac-map showed half of second fleet and another dreadnought. The USSS Igranvon, piloted and crewed by the alumari. It was amazing to see just how much smaller all of the other ships were. It brought to mind the first time I'd seen a battleship from the outside. It had seemed like the largest ship in the entire universe. Then I saw the Nidhogg. I couldn't even tell how much larger it was. Now there's three dreadnoughts with more on the way.

"You know, one of these days ships are going to stop getting bigger," I half-whispered to myself.

"Sir, I've got the report from engineering," Gibbons said.

"Give me the gist."

"Everything is good, but we won't be able to charge the big gun and the FTLD at the same time."

I let the implications of that sink in. Unlike the other ships, our FTLD can only handle one charge at a time. Creating a faster than light drive that could move this thing more than once with one charge was extremely cost-prohibitive. Plus, the USSS Nidhogg only ever needed the one charge.

So once we started powering up the cannon, we kiss our ability to warp goodbye. Which means that we can't pre-charge our primary weapon. It normally takes a full minute for the thing to charge, but if we throw everything we can at it we can cut that down to forty-five seconds. Still an eternity when you're being shot at, though, and it would also mean giving up our shields. A minute it is.

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"Well, we'll make do," I said. "We've got the most powerful shield system in the fleet, possibly the galaxy. Our hull-armor is nothing to scoff at, either."

I wasn't entirely sure of whom I was trying to convince. I certainly had my doubts that both the USSS Doom and the USSS Igranvon would make it out unscathed. I also doubted that a trade would be a win in this case. The Omni-Union has over a hundred MPPs, so we'll be needing to be able to take them out without our equalizers being destroyed in the process.

"Alright, recap. Habitation modules are in working order, the head and other waste management systems are good to go, the tactical suite is functioning, and the weapons, propulsion, shields, reactors, communications and FTLD are all green," I listed off. "Are there any issues, even minor ones?"

"No, sir. We are mission ready," Gibbons said as he took his seat. "Just waiting for the... As I was, the USSS Igranvon is reporting as mission ready as well."

"Tell them to form up."

I checked the data from our scout ship's last pass of Pinurm 3. It wasn't as detailed as I would have liked, they were keeping a safe distance from the system, but it showed us where the MPP is. The question is whether we should jump in close or give ourselves a bit of distance.

Both options have their advantages and drawbacks. If we give ourselves distance, it will take longer for the MPP to attain a firing solution, but if the MPP isn't interested in fighting it might be able to outmaneuver the shots and escape. If we jump in close, on the other hand, we will guarantee a successful firing solution but we'll be open to bombardment by the MPP's weapons.

The very same weapons that can punch a hole clean through a battleship. Our shields and armor are the best of the fleet, but I doubt we'd be able to simply grit our teeth and bear and assault like that. If we flank it, then we'll at least be sure that one of our dreadnoughts survive and carries out the mission. Who will end up making the ultimate sacrifice then? The alumari or the humans?

"We're formed up and ready to initiate Operation Planet-Fall, sir," Gibbons informed me.

"Sure do love their poetic operation names, don't they?" Nguyen said with a measure of sarcasm.

"Why's it poetic?" Earnest asked.

"Maybe poetic's the wrong word, but like... you know. Planet-fall. Like landing on a planet, but in this case killing one."

"Oh, got it. You mean a pun."

"That's enough," I interrupted. "Omega, we're good to go."

The holographic emitters in the arm of my seat silently went to work to project an avatar in the shape of the grim reaper next to my terminal. Many consider Omega's choice of avatar to be tasteless, but I find it fitting in its own way. It always seems to be pretty close to the death of others.

"Excellent. The concerns regarding the reactor system, FTLD, and Main Cannon are noted and engineers are working on a fix," it informed me.

"Are we going to continue with this operation?"

"We have to," it said. "I notice that you accessed the scout data. Did you notice how close the MPP is to one of the planets in the system?"

"I did, but thought nothing of it. Why's it relevant?" I asked. "Are we sticking with our agreement to the Republic regarding the use of climate destroying weaponry in habitable systems?"

"No, the Republic has waived the agreement in this case. But if you zoom in, you'll notice that there appears to be mass moving from the MPP to the planet. The distance and image quality degradation means we can't tell for certain, but we believe that the mass is likely VI platforms. We believe that the most likely reason that an MPP would be moving platforms to a planet would be to create a new MPP."

By we, it meant the Bureau of United Systems Intelligence. Maybe even whatever the Republic's version of an intelligence bureau is, as well. So BUSI thinks this thing is trying to make more of itself. How long would that take, though? Surely it would take quite a bit of time. Hollowing out an entire planet and refilling it with complex machinery, then adding an AI to that machinery. That's gotta take years, right?

But what if it doesn't?

"Shit," I said in a lowered voice. "So what you're saying is that the operation isn't cancelled."

"Correct. We don't know the timetable for the construction of a new MPP, and our odds are much better against a single MPP than they are against multiple."

"Are you going to be joining us?"

"Yes, but you won't need me aboard the ship. There are some cyberwarfare tactics that I'd like to try against the MPP. You might lose comms for a few seconds here and there, but you won't be needing those until after the MPP is destroyed."

"Understood," I said, then leaned close and whispered, "Go on then, ask us to die."

"Once more unto the breach, Admiral," the AI mirrored my grim humor.

"Operation Planet-Fall is a go," I said with a chuckle as I rose from my seat and Omega's avatar disappeared. "Have everyone prepare for warp. Support ships are to enter the system here and target the Omni-Union ships, the dreadnoughts are to enter here and target the MPP. I want the big stick charging as soon as we leave warp, Earnest. Make sure the smaller batteries are charged before we enter warp."

"Aye aye, sir!" they shouted as they began their tasks.

"Orders sent, Admiral," Gibbons said.

I nodded as we waited for the FTLDs to charge. It seemed to take especially long since I was still standing stoically in front of my seat. I thought about sitting down, but decided against it. It's only right to give certain orders while standing, of course. Nguyen flashed me a knowing grin. I glared in response.

"We're all set, sir," Gibbons reported.

"Excellent," I took a deep breath. "Initiate the warp."

"Aye sir!" Gibbons and Nguyen shouted.

I took my seat as our behemoth entered subspace. The journeys one take into hell always seem to be the shortest ones. I didn't even get the chance to let out a sigh before we popped back into real-space, directly in front of the MPP.

"Charge the main cannon, fire all batteries!" I shouted. "Target their weapons!"

One minute on the clock. It took five seconds for the MPP to realize it was under attack and begin firing back. I kept a nervous eye on our support fleet, but they were doing their job and keeping the OU off our back. The Igranvon was on the other side of the MPP, at an angle to us so as to avoid friendly fire. Our MACs slammed slugs into the surface of the false planet, and I watched our shields drain as the return fire met them. Each impact chipped away at the bar and shook the ship. Unfortunately, the shields were draining faster than the Ultra-MAC was charging.

"I don't suppose there's any chance of..." I steadied myself as the ship rocked, "of evasive maneuvers?"

"SIR? IN THIS THING!?" Nguyen demanded.

"Yeah, didn't think so."

We were going to have to rely on our armor unless the lord saw fit to grant us a miracle. I opened our targeting guide and checked to see exactly what we were firing at. Its MACs were still our primary target, but the dust kicked up from the impacts were obscuring them until they fired a response, which was interfering with our targeting solutions. Shit.

Thirty seconds to go. I nervously watched our shield bar dwindle down to nearly nothing when there was suddenly an interruption in the impacts. My jaw dropped open slightly as our shields began to recharge.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"They've stopped firing, sir," Gibbons replied.

"Yes, but why?"

"You're welcome," Omega's voice replied without manifesting its avatar.

I grinned as I watched our shield bar catch up and surpass the charge for the Ultra-MAC. We're going to make it after all. My grin faded as the MPP began to turn and move.

"Where's it going?"

"Evasive maneuvers?" Earnest guessed.

"Negative, it's charging its warp drive!" Gibbons called from over his shoulder.

"It's trying to RUN?" I shouted incredulously.

Even though I had previously considered the possibility, I admit to being somewhat blindsided. It hadn't occurred to me that a machine would actually try to retreat, especially when its comrades hadn't ever seemed to even think about doing so. In hindsight, I realize that the virtual intelligences aren't as smart as an AI, and the AI probably doesn't consider them comrades, either. Running when you're outclassed makes sense to anything that can think.

"What do we do, sir?" Earnest asked.

"Adjust target to their engines," I answered. "Keep charging the Ultra-MAC. We only need one shot if we aim it well. You'll put it right up that planet's ass, Commander."

"Aye aye, sir!"

We sat in silent tension as we waited to see if our gun charged faster than their FTLD. Our MACs tore into its engines, but it didn't actually need those to go to warp. It was using them to try to evade some of our fire, and perhaps even our main cannon.

By destroying the engines, I was more or less hoping the loss would cause it to panic and make a mistake that would buy us more time, or that we would guarantee a good firing solution if we beat its FTLD. Five, four, three, two, one...

"CHARGED, SIR!" Earnest shouted.

"FIRE!"

The entire ship shuddered once again as the largest MAC ever built fired its first round in combat. A millisecond later, the Igranvon fired theirs as well. I watched on the edge of my seat as the rounds approached the MPP. Both were good shots, both would hit, unless...

The tac-map fizzled as a massive amount of radiation hit our sensors. It had entered warp. The last thing I'd seen was our shells almost impacting. I slammed my fist into the arm of my chair in frustration.

"Recalibrate the sensors, Gibbons. I need to know if we hit it before it warped!"

"Aye aye, sir!"

I squeezed the arm of my chair, trying to will the tac-map back to life. Two seconds ticked by and finally it came back up. I immediately zoomed in on the area that the MPP had previously occupied, but Gibbons had beat me to it.

"Only one A1 Penetrator detected!" he shouted.

"We hit it!" I practically screamed with joy.

"Was it really us?" Nguyen asked slyly. "Or was it the alumari?"

"One way to find out. Earnest, send the kill command," I ordered.

"Aye aye, sir," he replied as he set about the task. "It's not responding, sir."

I grinned at Nguyen as I keyed the comm, "USSS Doom to USSS Igranvon, send your kill code, over."

"It will be done," came the reply from the comm. "Out."

A few seconds later the A1 Penetrator disappeared off of the tac-map, and we erupted in celebration. The MPP had warped away, but it did so with an A1 package inside of it. Wherever it had gone, it would now be in pieces, and Project Gungnir had been a success. We'd made it out the other side, and I had been wrong about our odds. After shaking the hands of everyone aboard the bridge, I returned to my seat and sighed in relief.

"Have a scout follow their wake and find the wreckage. I want a confirmed kill," I said.

"Good work, Admiral," Omega said as his avatar materialized once again. "Now we need to talk about the next steps."