Echo Sector.
EMIRE’S WARSHIP EMBASSY.
Heading: 372 mark 7822.1; towards planet Lilia Alpha.
Mission of Defense: Defend Lilia Alpha against unknown invaders. Invaders presumed to be Alliance attackers.
RED ALERT.
“System check!” shouted Captain Freely, “Comm systems.”
“Comm systems go,” announced communication sergeant.
“Engines.”
“Engines are in the green.”
“Heading?”
“Heading is steady. 372 mark 7822.1.”
“Weapon systems?”
“All weapons are go!”
“Hangar.”
“All starfighters are prepped!”
“Bridge staff!”
“All but Green is accounted for!” Green, the first mate, was in the on-ship medical bay after suffering extensive injuries. She had been on shore leave when protesters against the war had attacked her and many more officers of the Emperor’s Navy.
“Roll call!”
“3,581 officers on board; we are short one engineer, one cadet, one lieutenant, one major, and four sergeants.”
“What?! Explain!” asked the captain with worry. With a mission of defense so important, this was not acceptable.
“Not known.”
“Orders indicate we are to continue. This is a very sensitive mission and we cannot delay,” added Thams to what the second mate had said. Thams was a man with the job of observer. He reinforced the rules and reminded the captain of orders.
“I know our orders!” the captain yelled. Freely didn’t like Thams for she liked to take the current mission into her own hands. She didn’t want some politician who didn’t know what was going on, interfere with the mission.
“All systems are go! Prepare for microjump on my mark.” Freely was always nervous before a fight, but she felt very uneasy right now.
Five silent seconds ticked by.
“Mark!”
The Embassy entered the artificially created wormhole it had constructed with its new state-of-the-art engines.
Thirteen seconds afterwards, the Embassy staggered into realspace.
“Incoming fire!”
“What?! Evasive action!” the captain’s uneasiness had become fear. This top secret defense mission could not have been known by Alliance rebels, “Scramble all fighters!”
EMPIRE’S WARSHIP EMBASSY.
Hangar Deck.
“Scramble all fighters!” came over the onboard speakers. Nova squadron was out first, missing one Bubble Pit starfighter. The location of Major Ramsley was unknown; he was one of the officers that were missing. Squad Commander Quail was disappointed with Ramsley because he was with one of the best squads in the whole navy. The new major was not showing commitment and respect for his commander and wing mates.
“Go for the capital ship and escorting frigates,” announced Embassy.
“Copy, Embassy. Let’s punish these rebels! They need more experience; they don’t even have their starfighters deployed,” announced Commander Quail, “Prepare for torpedo strafing run. Let’s kill some scum.
As the fighters sped towards the capital ship, comm systems on Embassy suddenly went dark.
“Stay on target. Keep current formation and check weapons. No new orders from Embassy , so we’ll keep comm silence.”
“Copy,” replied the commanders of Gold, Platinum, and Hoax squadrons to Commander Quail’s announcement.
Thirty seconds afterwards, at three hundred klicks from the now recognized Alliance ship, a blue lightning flash emitted from one of the nearest ships to an Alliance medium-sized frigate.
“Report,” Quail said.
Silence.
More blue flashes surrounded all the squadrons.
“Evasive maneuvers!” Came the order from Quail, “Embassy, we are under some kind of attack. Requesting orders!”
No response came.
A blue flash exploded in front of Quail’s Bubble Pit cockpit. Suddenly, his ship’s alarms wailed then went silent. All the cockpit lights went dark; even the emergency lighting didn’t turn on.
“Goddamn!” yelled Quail. He tried to regain control, but his ship didn’t respond. The weapons were down and there was nothing he could do. He slammed his hands in the buttons and switches and the joystick that were working just moments earlier. “Goddamn, Goddamn, Goddamn! Hell, I’m not gonna stay in a flippin’ starfighter my whole life!”
Fortunately, he didn’t. He kept speeding away from Embassy because of the velocity he had been going at. He saw shuttles streaming out of the Alliance ships towards the downed fighters. He saw no fighters with power. Every once in a while he saw blue electricity bolts and sparks jump on the outside of the starfighters. He caught a glimpse of Embassy and what he saw didn’t please him. Apparently what had happened to the fighters had happened to Embassy. He saw shuttles docking at its numerous bays and its weapons systems were down too. Fortunately he could see lights from onboard.
How could the Alliance know when and where we were coming? It was top secret! Then it occurred to him: Maybe the missing officers! How come eight crew members suddenly disappeared right at the eve of a battle? That was one possibility. But how could there be traitors in the Empire’s forces? What about the blue flashes? That was an easy answer: probably EMPs, but that kind of technology is extremely expensive, especially to disable a gargantuan capital ship. Hmm. Maybe the Alliance rebels were more resourceful than we thought. Never underestimate your enemy.
Suddenly a rebel shuttle started to tug him into an Alliance ship. He saw its weapons trained on him. He entered the hangar without incident and saw many pilots and crew members from Embassy and its starfighters lined up with their hands on their heads.
Commander Quail joined the group of senior officers and waited. Hours passed and still more of the Embassy’s crew streamed in. 3,581 officers is a lot of people.
After much waiting, apparently the entire crew was packed the enormous hangar of the unfamiliar ship.
“You are now in the custody of the Alliance of Systems Against the Empire. You are to put your hands on your heads if you are not already doing so.”
This is ridiculous! They will pay for this. Quail thought. It was a hateful thought. It was also his last.
“Fire!” said the leading rebel officer. The Embassy's crew all looked surprised.
The shots flew across the hangar at the crew, and they all started to drop. The captain's face showed hate; these were her crew, her responsibility.
“You murderers! I'll kill you!” Captain Freely screamed and ran at the same time towards the rebel officer who had issued the order to murder more than 3,500 men and women. She spun as a shot hit her in the thigh and staggered. Soon, another three shots hit her in the back, followed by a hole in the lower arm, and the last one in the throat. “You’ll pay,” she whispered her last breath.
REBEL WARSHIP IDENTITY.
Hangar Deck.
“These new ships will make a fine addition to our secret fleet.”
“Yes they will, Admiral Wendall.”
