(INS Triumphant, Nuevo Edo System)
It felt kind of nostalgic to be back in the pilot’s chair of the Starlight Raven. So much of what we’d done in the last year had been fleet actions, and I hadn’t been able to get as much stick time as I would have liked. Now that I had a couple moments while I flew towards the Imperial flagship, I checked the notifications I’d gotten from the battle.
I whistled softly to myself as I saw the perks. My part in the actual battle was really pretty small, since my part was mostly done once I’d laid out forces to respond to the incoming threat. The Hardware and First Aid skill ups had come from having to force a work-around to get out of the ‘flag bridge’ when Shinokage got rocked by the last exchange of fire with the dreadnought, and helping with emergency first aid on crew members as they made their way to the flight deck.
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‘Lucky to be alive’ was the understatement of the year, as far as the crew of the Shinokage was concerned, but even before he’d launched the Raven to rendezvous with the Imperials, he noticed a bit of a swagger in their step. Not many cruisers can say they took on a dreadnought and won. If the whole fleet hadn’t been built to punch above their weight class, it wouldn’t have been possible. We were very, very lucky indeed. And it showed that we were definitely going to have to do some design work, and come up with heavier ships for Nuevo Edo’s navy. Black Star could get away with being a ghost fleet, but the NEN had to protect their home. They couldn’t afford to be outgunned like they had been here. They’d need at least battlecruisers, if not a dreadnought or two, and a carrier. More fighter and bomber squadrons wouldn’t hurt, either.
There was a lot of work ahead of us, since we still had to repair the surviving ships. There wasn’t a single warship that hadn’t taken some serious damage in the battle. More than a couple were just barely holding together. If the Empress hadn’t shown up… well, it would have been bad when the X’thari managed to slip out of Point Beta’s tarpit area.
So far, the death toll was holding at a little over six hundred, between Black Star and Nuevo Edo forces. That was, frankly, a minor miracle, despite how horrible it sounded. With the number of damaged ships, it should have been higher. Would have been, if Black Star designs were made to be light on crew, and have a preponderance of ‘little ships’ with force multipliers, instead of the big ships. If we’d concentrated on bigger ships instead of putting out as many fighters, gunboats, and Assassins as we could, we’d have lost many more, and maybe the battle itself.
“BSS Starlight Raven, this is Triumphant Control. You are cleared to dock at Hatch 4, Port Side.”
Breaking out from my reverie, I smiled, and hit the comms. “Affirmative, Triumphant Control. Starlight Raven docking at Port Side Hatch 4. Black Star Prime, out.”
As I got closer, the Raven’s scanners played over the Imperial fleet. Unlike our scrappy ships, the Triumphant and her task force had been easily the match of the ships at Point Beta. Imperial ships were built for a head to head slugfest, so while their smaller ships had been beaten up a bit, and the records of the battle showed a few lost fighters from their carrier, they hadn’t lost any ships, and it seemed like the Triumphant had come through without a scratch. Sometimes size did matter.
Of course, when I’d created the Black Star Fleet, I wasn’t counting on having to do a planetary defense with these ships. The goal was to have a ‘security force’ that could respond to threats with overwhelming force and end things as quickly and unfairly as possible. A slugging match was the last thing we needed. Shinokage had barely survived that last suicidal charge I’d ordered her on, and she was going to be in the docks for a while repairing stress fractures throughout the hull, not to mention repairing all the blown out conduits and equipment that had overloaded when that last shot was fired. When I left, they were still on battery power, but that should have been fixed by now, and hopefully they’d have communications soon. So far, Captain Inatumal had refused to have her ship towed into port, but the Assassins of First Group were standing by her, in case Shinokage lost power before she got into orbit.
As we docked, I checked the Raven’s external cameras, and chuckled as I saw what was waiting on the other side of the airlock. Looking over to Raven, I said, “Tell everyone to get ready to make an appearance. Ops uniform, no visible weapons. Let’s look badass classy.”
Raven chuckled, and disappeared to get into her own ‘uniform’, allowing me to change from the simple Navy blacks I was wearing (and which really needed a bit of repair to deal with the burns and blood stains) and changed into the more roguish black outfit with my long coat that I typically wore when on missions that didn’t require milspec armor. I said no visible weapons, but I most certainly had my main ones stored in my bracer, ready to use if needed. I seriously doubted I would, though.
Five minutes later, I was standing with the rest of the Raven’s crew, and signaled Raven to open the hatch. Stepping through the connecting tunnel, I paused for a moment just shy of the Triumphant’s deck. Standing there were two lines of five Imperial Marines who snapped to attention in unison. At the far end of the little tunnel was a group of eight in two rows of four: four Imperial Guards, dressed in their red armor, standing at parade rest in the second rank, a man in a white Imperial Navy uniform bearing Captain’s insignia, and three figures I knew quite well. With a roguish grin, I continued forward until I was standing in front of the ladies in the center of the front rank, turned to look at the woman standing next to the Captain, and asked “Permission to come aboard?”
Admiral Han Moon-Hee looked like she couldn’t decide whether to greet me warmly, or order the guards to shoot me. I guess she still hadn’t forgotten the whole ‘incident’ when I rescued her from the breeding ranch. Still, she was professional, and said, “Permission granted, Commodore Mollen. This is Captain Sanna Adler, commander of the Triumphant. And I believe you know the Empress and her Chief of Staff?” She motioned to the other two.
After offering a polite nod to the Captain, I looked to the other two, and offered a bow to the Empress. “Empress, you are looking as lovely as ever. I am glad that Lucio hasn’t kept you buried under tons of paperwork.”
The Empress chuckled, and said, “Not for lack of trying, of course. There is a great deal of work still to be done to rebuild after the Civil War, but we’ve finished the trials of those rebels who were not important enough to join the cult and flee with their masters. Now the healing can begin.”
Lucio simply smiled, and said, “When you told us of the incoming attack we were wondering if we’d be transitioning into a battle that was already over, one way or the other. I would not have cared to bet against you, Commodore, but that many ships, it is a wonder that you survived.”
I sighed, and said, “Not all of us did, Lucio, and it was a close thing for many of us. Shinokage was leading the only force without bomber support, and we were severely outgunned. The ship was badly mauled in the fighting. Others weren’t as lucky. But the butcher’s bill for the battle was far smaller than it ought to have been for a battle like this, and it would have been even higher were it not for your task force’s timely intervention.”
I paused, noticing the looks the Empress was giving over my shoulder, and chuckled. I motioned for Sheila to step forward from where she had a hand protectively on Cali’s arm. The limp and the bandages I knew were under her ops uniform were the only sign she’d been in combat. “You’d be proud of your little sister, Majesty. She was helping Shearah and the Shinokage’s damage control teams while the battle was underway. She kept working to help keep the ship fighting even in the worst of the battle.”
Merida rushed past me to hug her sister, but let up when she felt more than saw Sheila wincing in pain. “What’s wrong, Sheila?”
“Conduit blew, and threw me up against a bulkhead. Couple cracked ribs, but I would have been dead if not for Cali when the hull breach came.”
“HULL BREACH!”
I cleared my throat. “During the last high-speed attack run to get behind the X’thari dreadnought, we suffered multiple hull breaches due to their point defense weapons. Twelve crewmen were lost to vacuum. Cali here managed to throw Sheila through a hatch just before the blast doors closed, which is how she injured her knee.”
Empress Merida winced at the mention of crewmen being sucked out into space. Even with shipsuits, there was only so much that could be done in that situation. She looked over to Cali, and said, “But what happened to you?”
Cali shrugged, and said, “I lived long enough to see a X’thari dreadnought explode in my face. According to the logs of our connection to this world, a mix of shrapnel and concussive force is what killed me. But I’m a Nomad. Sheila’s a member of our crew, and she’s only got the one life to live. Easy choice.”
“That may be, but I, Empress Merida Vaughn announce that you, your Master, and all your crew, are Friends of the Empire. For so long as I live, may you go in peace within our borders.”
Cali bowed low. “I am honored, Empress. May you live long, and prosper.”
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