Drills
The bow of the Astaroth slowly spun into position as helmsman Li pointed the ship at a free floating asteroid. Bridge technicians worked away at their stations, audible calling out as they finished their task.
“Chamber pressure is at zero point zero PSI”
“Opening the external hatch, no leaks detected.”
“Cooling is at optimal temps.”
“Firing rod is in place.”
“Neutron shield is at full, rad shielding is at full, heat shielding is at full, we’re ready for the payload.”
Astarte felt a smile tug at the edges of her face, she smothered it to better maintain the stern but confident look she was putting on for her crew.
This was a pivotal moment, one that could herald a change in the way wars were fought. During the Astaroth’s fight with the Prophet of Fire they had thrown everything they had in battling the behemoth ship, and though they were greatly wounded from their earlier battles, their weapons failed to make a dent. It was in this battle that Astarte truly learned that when all the odds were stacked against you no amount of conventional weaponry would ever be enough. They had succeeded up until then because they were mostly fighting those weaker than them, but when finally matched with equal and greater power the Astaroth had nearly fallen. Only the timely arrival of the Lucifer and her shield breaker cannon had spared them.
The power of the shield breaker cannon was truly awe inspiring to behold, but it wasn’t without its dangers. The shield breaker cannon took advantage of the powerful x-rays generated by the detonation of nuclear weapons and channeled them into powerful shotgun like beams of energy that could overwhelm a battleships powerful shields and wreak havoc on its thick armor. However the equipment and barrel needed to fully harness the power was not something that could used externally, so the weapon had to be built into the ship’s bow and run nearly two thirds of the ship’s length. Meaning, that to use their trump card they had to detonate a nuclear bomb within the heart of their ship.
Astarte began the Hellworlders nuclear program shortly after the battle for Grayland on one of Perditions four barren rocky worlds, Sheol. She hoped to develop more potent weapons to fight the Union using the highly advanced technology Terrans now had access to. And it had bared fruit, just not in the way she had hoped. Having a cannon that required you to set off a weapon of mass destruction within your own ship seemed more than a little fool hardy.
But her reservations were in the past, after seeing just how effective the shield breaker cannon was Astarte had finally relented and ordered one to be built into the Astaroth. And now it was their first live weapons test.
“Lieutenant, ready a single charge payload, hold fire on my mark.” Astarte ordered calmly.
Karega saluted and turned to the newly built control station specifically meant for the shield breaker cannon. “Load one charge, hold fire.”
The stoic man helming the control station nodded and relayed the order through his headset. Seconds later he gave Karega a nod of confirmation, the weapon was primed, loaded, and ready to fire.
Her heart fluttered with fear, but only for a moment. She fixed her gaze on the slowly rotating continent sized asteroid before her, a local chunk of ordinary space debris caught in the powerful gravity of the blue gas giant Gehenna. If it were any larger it would have been classified as a moon. Astarte took in one deep breath and let out slowly. “FIRE!” she ordered, a tingle crawling up her back.
The viewing screens immediately darkened like the vizor of a welders mask just seconds before the bomb went off. There was no sound to be heard as the cannon fired as their was no air for the sound to travel through, it made to incongruous sight of instant devastation on the rocks surface even more terrifying. One second they were looking at the rocky exterior of an asteroid, the next they were staring into hundreds of molten cherry red craters. There had been a brief flash of light as some of the x-ray’s energy fizzled off into photons, though only a fraction of the weapons energy was lost.
There was a stunned silence amongst the crew present on the bridge, all contemplating the awe inspiring power at their fingertips. Astarte worked very hard to smother the wolfish grin forming on her face. This was a moment that demanded solemn silence, she would not act like the grinning generals at the Trinity test. And while she had succeeded in plastering a grim expression on her face those who knew her well could see the excitement in her eyes.
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She waited an appropriate minute before she spoke again “Close the hatch. Mr. Li, this marks the final space trial for the Astaroth after her refit. Please chart a swift course for Femeri space station, we leave in the next hour.”
Li Fan nodded and began to pull the Astaroth away from the site of their weapons test. Astarte turned to the set of door just behind her command chair and into her private captains quarters.
~~~*~~~
A timer went off and Alwen stepped away from the training dummy she and Menda were working to resuscitate. Alwen wiped a hand over her forehead. “Alright, not bad. Couple more drills like that and I’ll consider us good for action.”
Menda huffed and gave Alwen an exhausted look “Not today right?” she really needed to join Alwen for some more cardio.
Today had been the first day of their long trip to Femeri, and the first day Astarte ran the ship’s crew through a set of emergency response drills. “No, they’ll happen randomly throughout the journey.” Throughout the whole ship people had been running to respond to the ‘emergency’, fire fighting crews readied their equipment, engineering pretended that one of the heat-syncs had just burst, Marines geared up and readied their weapons, and the deck crew prepared for any unforeseen damage.
Being the Chief Medical officer Alwen had prepared a few CPR dummies and had snagged a few spare deck apes to pretend to be injured. She and Menda had been on duty in the med-bay when the alarm went off, while Foru and Kana had been off dealing with their PT and had to drag some of the ‘injured’ deck apes into the Med-bay. Vira had been off duty and asleep, but the moment the alarm went off she was awake and ready to assist. All and All, Alwen was pleased with their quick response, though there was room for improvement. A Deck ape who Alwen had told to stumble blindly through the halls with a fake concussion had never been found by the boys, nor reported by the other crew. And Vira had set up an IV in the wrong place for the Lycanoid dummy. But it was a good start.
Alwen stepped away from the operating table to examine the dressings on the ‘injured’ Deck apes and nodded with satisfaction. The one she had assigned a twisted ankle had the right kind of splint, the one with and bunch of fake blood on his torso had his ‘grievous’ wound cleaned and bandaged. And Limey who she had instructed to be as difficult as possible was tightly secured to his medical bed.
“You’re a deft hand with those cuffs luv” he said to Vira.
“Lots of practice” she said with a wink.
Alwen examined the cuffs and made a small ‘hmm’ as she lifted the cuffs. “You attached it the right spot on the bed, but you grabbed the wrong cuffs. Limey is a human Marine, and you’ll remember from my lecture on Terran artificial muscles that these would not be enough to hold him back. I’m sure he could have actually pulled out of these if he wanted to.”
Vira frowned at Alwen “do we really need to chain down our patients, it seems a bit barbaric?”
Alwen smirked at Vira and turned to Limey. “I don’t know, Limey, do we really need to chain you down?”
He gave Vira an embarrassed smile as he pulled on one of the cuffs until the thin chain broke and he could sit up. “I wouldn’t put it past us.” He said without a hint of shame, “If the ship is boarded then it’ll be ‘ell to keep us still. You’ll need to chain us like Andromeda.”
Vira frowned “Whose that?”
Limey opened his mouth but Alwen cut him off “A Greek princess who was chained to a rock as a sacrifice to a sea monster in order to appease an angry sea god. Terrans also use her name for Dayro galaxy.”
Limey looked sullen “you ruined my fun. I was going to mistake her for Cu Chulainn.”
Alwen rolled her eyes and helped him undo the second cuff before patting him on the shoulder “You’ll have plenty of time to confuse my friends later, but right now its time for dinner.” She turned to Kana and Menda “You two have the morning duty, so I’d recommend going to sleep now.” She turned to Vira and Foru “You two are on the night watch together, you should eat now.”
Vira frowned sullenly “But I only got four hours of rest before the drill.”
Alwen gave her a sympathetic smile “unfortunately during a real emergency you wouldn’t be allowed to go back to sleep, and we have to practice for that day. When we’re under way we’re always on call, and there are no rest days. Good news is that I convinced Butch to start stalking Torweni tea in the mess deck for us.”
Vira let out an over exaggerated grown as Foru put his arm over her shoulder and led her out of the Med-bay. Kana and Menda watched them leave with a look of pity before they left to get some sleep. It was unfair to Vira that the drill landed in the middle of her sleep, but that had been apart of the plan. Next it would Kana and Menda who lost sleep, then Alwen and Foru. The biggest thing Alwen had learned during the fight with the Draxori was that sleep came second to healing injured sailors, and she wanted them to know that as well before it was too late.
Limey leaned in and watched the two walk off to the mess deck “Are they… you know?”
“Shagging” Alwen said bluntly.
Limey blinked before nodding.
“Nope, in all the time I’ve known Foru and Vira they’ve never showed any attraction for the other. They grew up in the same town, along with Kana, so they’re more like brother and sister. Though maybe they tried to give it a go before I met them, its not like Vira to let a man as handsome as Foru get away.”
Limey nodded sagely “I see, I’m guessing from the skin that she’s one of your southerners.”
Alwen nodded. “Yeah, she’s always been a lot more adventurous then anyone I’ve met, must be the call of the southern winds.”
Limey raised an eyebrow “I take it that’s an idiom from Torwen.”
“Its from an old poem before the Sun Gods war, I think the turn ‘fiery Latin passion’ is the Terran equivalent.” She had heard the term from Alice when referring to Izzy’s personality, and Alwen couldn’t help but see the similarities. “Could I ask a favor from you?”
“So long as it doesn’t involve Emu throats.”
Alwen shot him a puzzled look. “Emu, like those big birds your ancestors lost a war to?”
“That was the Ozzys, I’m from Bristol. And yes, I’d rather not explain why.”
Alwen shook her head, Limey had relaxed his buffoonish act around her, but that didn’t stop him from saying some truly absurd things for the hell of it. “Its been a week on board and I’m afraid they’re not integrating very well. And before that they mostly spent their time on Pandemonium amongst the other Torweni. I was hoping you could help?”
He thought for a moment “Just the first pair, or do you want me to snare the love birds as well?”
“Vira and Foru are fine for now, Foru had already made some inroads with the cadets, and Vira makes friends easily enough. If they integrate then Kana and Menda will follow.”
Limey shrugged as he hopped off the bed “I’ll see what I can do, might help if you ate with us lowly grunts more often.”
“Maybe soon, but right now I’m expected to eat at the officers mess. Its supposed to help me settle into command. Besides, the Bosun and Heizer are expecting me. We’re going to discuss the drill and issues. No rest for the weary you know.”
He put a hand to his forehead and made a very serious face “Yes Sir, aye aye Sir!”
Alwen snorted and gave him the finger. He smirked and his shoulders slumped as he dropped the ridiculous salute.
A lot of things had change with her promotion, but she was glad that Limey would always be Limey. She was about to follow him out when she felt a tight twisting pain in her abdomen. She stooped over a clutched a bed rail until it passed. It took a whole minute before the pain passed and Alwen let out a weary sigh “the fuck was that?”