[Sf] Defender of the Mother Galaxy (T)

"OH LOOK, another aspiring young sci-fi writter... " ~I dunno who I might be quoting.
Yeah, yeah, I'm writing sci-fi.
(And as such, I would assume "[Sf]" is the right prefix?)


ANYway. I've been writing a sci-fi story that I pretty much just come up with as I go. I have no plot. I have no storyline. I have only my creativity (and literary skills). Oh, and a handful of typos.

I've been uploading my story to my deviantART account, but I decided I'd broaden my audiance (haha, selfish).

Oh, and before we continue, I must warn you that my story:
1. Is incredibly stereotypical. Originality in character personalities, story, and, well, just about everything, is hard to come by these days.
2. Is Japanese influenced. Or, at least the characters, and the names for each USC ship class. Yeah, more stereotypicalism.
So yeah, if you're looking for pure originality... you're barking up the wrong tree.
3. Has a handful of typos here and there. I write these chapters at 2-3 in the morning (that's when I have time).
4. Jumps from present to past-tense a lot. I'm trying to work on that though!

Now then, if you so desire, please begin reading with the prologue, as it lays down what's happened before the actual story takes place. Feel free to read (and comment on) my story over at dA:

Archive:
DotMG Prologue
DotMG Chapter 1
DotMG Chapter 2
DotMG Chapter 3
DotMG Chapter 4
DotMG Chapter 5
DotMG Chapter 6
DotMG Chapter 7

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Defender of the Mother Galaxy Prologue

Kyros Dimitri Dillon. My name basically means either "Leader Devoted to Handsome" or "Leader Devoted to Brave". Take you pick... I fit both descriptions. Anyway, I'm Captain of the Battleship Sovereignty, and Commander of the Delta Squad, which consists of three Battleship, six Heavy Cruisers, ten Cruisers, fifteen Destroyers, thirty Heavy Bombers, and fifty Fighters. We're the fourth of six fleets intended to protect the six inhabited planets of the mother galaxy... the good ol' Milky Way. The only reason we really have for defending our galaxy is the Nirtan. They currently control Neptune, meaning we don’t. Mercury has strayed to close to the Sun to be used for anything, and I fear that soon it will be utterly destroyed by the Sun.

The Nirtan came storming to our galaxy in 2053... They first destroyed a new colony on Saturn. Then they went on to build a military base on Jupiter. No one even noticed, as we did not get any communiqué from Saturn It was only when their troops charged through and destroyed the three colonies, one Military base, and two Trade sites on Jupiter that we knew of their presence... About ten-thousand humans died in the mere month it took them. Preceding the destruction they built a fortress, a few Planetary Defense Turrets, and a Shipyard. There was no way we could take the planet back. They had a good staging point to take the rest of the galaxy. About two weeks after they completed all this they destroyed nearly our entire defense fleet in the Asteroid Belt. They then built Mining Camps on many of the asteroids there to get some resources to continue building their invasion fleet.

One month later they attacked Mars. We had bunched the bulk of our fleet there as a final defense. Through some technological advances, and good tactics, we barely saved ourselves from destruction. We lost so many people... It's hard to think about it. We finally pushed them back to their fortress on Jupiter. There was fought a long battle in which both sides took heavy losses.
Finally a truce was signed and the Nirtan packed up and left. This happened when I was seven. It's been a while since then.

But then, in 2062, they came back. But we had anticipated this, so we were ready for them. This time we held them back at Neptune, which was our outer Military Defense Base. It was heavily fortified, and held them back for a good time. They weren't expecting this much from us and eventually left again. They were pretty mad, since they thought of us as pretty dumb beasts. We upgraded our defenses yet again, waiting for their return.

There was a peace that lasted almost ten years. Things were going quite well. Mars was basically a second Earth, and Jupiter was close behind. The Mining Camps left behind by the Nirtan were retro-fitted to human technology, and used to mine resources from the Asteroid Belt. Saturn basically got turned into a big shipyard. Many kinds ships were produced there. It was a grand site... to those who understood ships. Uranus and Neptune were both defensive planets that produced some ships of their own.
Mercury strayed too close to the sun to be of any use, so it was left alone after 2066. Anything that was there either melted, or burned. Venus became the main planet for researching all kind of things. It was amazing some of the ideas that came out of there. Quite an interesting place to visit, whether you understand any of it or not.

Then, in 2071 they came back. They brought huge fleets. It must have taken them all this time just to make them all. They attacked Neptune and Uranus at the same time. We held them off for a good while, but they broke through. When they got near Saturn they met our main fleet. The battles raged on for a very long time... about four years. More ships kept coming from both sides, fueling the fight. In 2075 we pushed them back past Uranus. We couldn't get them past Neptune though, and they took it over. They turned the whole place into a fortress... with some powerful defenses. We tried in vain to take back Neptune for almost an entire year. It did not work. We took far too many losses, so the campaign was aborted. They had their first real victory.

I come in now, about 2077, at the age of thirty-one. I have been with the USC Navy since I was twenty years of age. I've fought against the Nirtan at least five times. That's not much, but I have made twenty-four confirmed kills. I became Captain of the Sovereignty, and Commander of Delta Squad in 2076, so I've been Captain, and Commander for a year, seeing as it's 2077 right now.

I'll be leaving on a mission soon, so this history lesson will have to end here.

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Defender of the Mother Galaxy Chapter 1

I was heading for the Command Center with all haste, as I had been called under urgent orders. It was not a long way from where I was at the time, just down the road. I could only guess as to what it could have been. The Nirtan hadn’t attacked for some time, just some skirmishes here and there. Maybe now they’ve got something new up their sleeves. Regardless, I must hurry.

When I got there I went straight to the meeting room. The Armada Admiral, as well as Fleet and Squadron Admirals were there. Several other Commanders and Squadron Commanders were present… This was certainly big. As I sat down I had noticed Staff Sergeant Miranda sitting a few chairs away. Technically I out-rank her, but she’s so much more of a leader than I.

She has flat, blonde hair, a small nose, a round earring, about in two or so inches around on each ear, yellow tinted reading glasses, and she always wore a stern look. Her personality is that there’s no such thing as leisure, unless you’re off-duty. Even off-duty she is stern, but she does relax a lot. But really, you can get along with her without too much trouble. She almost contradicts her own personality at times.

“I need the full attention of you all!” Derigan, our Fleet Admiral, announced. “I have received information of a possible attack by the Nirtan.” He paused, not expecting a reply, and not receiving one. “They should be sending in a squadron of 6 Darrion Class Cruisers. I believe we all know what those can do.”
“Where will they be coming in?” I asked almost immediately.
“From what we’ve gathered it seems they’ll be attacking Saturn within the next few days. We need you to send your squadron there to defend Saturn, should they actually attack. We really don’t have much to work on, so we’ll play it safe.” There was a pause after Derigan finished.
Miranda suddenly spoke up. “Where did we get this… sketchy, information?”
“Classified.” The Armada Admiral said softly. He wasn’t one for being too loud, unless he really needed to get a point across. “Kyros. We need you over there, so we’ll have Squadron Commander Darius take your defense position at Mars.”
“Yes sir! I’ll leave as soon as repairs to the Sovereignty are finished. That last skirmish with the Nirtan took out a couple of her Ion Turrets, as well as the scanners.” I would have left right then, but those scanners were very important for defending a planet.
Then one of the Commanders finally spoke to me, “We can send Damien as backup if you need him. He’ll be ready at all times.”
“Well, if it’s six Darrion Cruisers, then I shouldn’t need help. But I’m always glad to have backup as these situations can go awry so quickly.” I was really bragging about my ships, but we had room for a little pride in our work. Miranda didn’t approve much of it though.

More was said, but it was just typical meeting things, like what ships have completed construction, how many new recruits have come in, and the results of recent skirmishes. Nothing much to go into detail about. When the meeting ended we all walked out, back to whatever business we had to attend to. Miranda was in quite a hurry, but that was nothing new. She was always hasty, and you’d expect to see her way ahead of time, yet she never arrived early, nor late. It makes you wonder what she does in the mean time. But I digress, I must be off to my ships to make sure they are ready, and stocked up on weapon stores.

By the time I got to the Sovereignty, it was just about finished, and the workers were getting ready to load the torpedo bays. A mix of Alpha and Ceti Torpedoes. No Delta class this time? Ah well. More Ceti’s can fit in the ship than Delta’s. While I waited I checked the other ship’s logs to see if they were ready yet.

Heavy Cruiser Dissention:
Torpedo Bay 1: Full
Torpedo Bay 2: Full
Torpedo Bay 3: Full

Shields: 100%
Hull: 100%
Drives: Full Power

Hanger:
10 Fighters
5 Heavy Bombers

The rest of the logs had pretty much the same setup, though Destroyers certainly don’t have three torpedo bays, or hanger room. Since the rest of the ships were prepared I went back to my main ship… Glorious thing, as are a good many ships in the Unified System Colonies Navy. But it’s time to board, so I shouldn‘t go on like this. As I headed for the ship I saw Tiyana, a Lieutenant Captain under my command. She’s very sweet, but so shy. I don’t see how she is in a Navy like this.

But maybe it’s for the better. She doesn’t get distracted by most people, since she shies away and just gets her work done. Her purple died hair and blue headband fit her well. The purple hair alludes to how mysterious she is, and the blue headband hints at her shyness.

“Tiyana!” I shout across the hanger of the shipyard we were in.
She turns and looks over at me, waiting for me to walk over. “Oh, Commander. I hear we’re off to another skirmish?” she asks quietly, as is her fashion.
“Could be more. From what I hear there may be a real fight this time.”
“That’s good. It’ll be nice to disable another of their fleets.” She walks away toward the ship before I can continue. I followed suite and started off to the bridge to get flying.
And you know, she may be shy, but not when it comes to making sure our solar system is safe.

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“It’s been a few days, and still no sign of the Nirtan, sir.” I was reporting back to the Fleet Admiral with the fact that it’s been dead quiet around Saturn.
“Alright. Just give it another day, then come on back. We guessed the information may not be completely accurate.”
“Yes sir, I can stand another day watching ships fly in and out of a big ball of gas.” I was being sarcastic really. It was very interesting to see just how many ships really can fly in and out of the gas ball called Saturn. Derigan understood the joke and laughed.
“Well, if they do show up, let us know. And don’t lose that ship! She’s important to us.”
“You bet I won’t. Ha-ha, I wouldn’t dare, sir!” I replied swiftly.

DWEEOOP! DWEEOOP!

“Sir! We’re picking up signs of… both USC and NAF Cruisers.” The helmsman was confused about the information the scanners were sending in, as were the rest of us.
“Derigan, it seems we’ve company.” I said hinting that I need to have my full attention on the situation.
“Don’t let me hinder you. Do you what you need!” He signed off a moment later.
“Prime Torpedo Bays one and two.” I ordered to the Tactical Officer.
A moment later he replied with a simple, “Loaded, sir. Ready to fire at your command.”

I like it so far; will you be posting further chapters on this site, or do we have to look at the DeviantArt ones for the rest?

But from what I see, it's interesting.

I was just waiting for some feedback before I posted some more. (I have some chores to run and do now, so I'll edit the next few chapters into this post when I'm done.)

I read some of it already and it's quite interesting, David!

Even though I'm not much of a sci-fi fan.

Defender of the Mother Galaxy Chapter 2

“Oh it can’t be!” I exclaimed in dismay. Then, as if some ill force was against us, one Battlecruiser, seven Cruisers, five Heavy Cruisers, seventeen Destroyers, twenty-one Frigates, three NAF Darrion Cruisers, and five Skeet Bombers warped in. If there were any Fighter or Bombers, they weren’t out of their hangers yet. All the Cruisers and Heavy Cruisers had the old Jolly Roger on them, and that meant only one thing… the Dartfire Pirates had returned.

The Dartfire Pirates were a group started around 2071 by a man named Daac’sha. He was just your average soldier, ready and willing for a fight. Though, he seemed to think that the Fleet Admirals thought he was too violent. They didn’t, but he believed that they did, and that upset him so very much. He went storming into Derigan’s office claiming that he, and the other Fleet Admirals, thought he was insane, or something along those lines. Derigan tried to explain that he had no clue what he meant, but Daac’sha wouldn’t believe him. He jumped at Derigan, trying to grab his throat and choke him. The scuffle was heard from outside the office, and a few guards rushed in to get Daac’sha away. He squirmed and managed to get free, dashing off closely followed by several other soldiers. Somehow he escaped them and disappeared. We heard nothing from him until 2073, when one of our fleets was attacked by our own ships. This was a shock until Daac’sha contacted us over the Earth’s entire communications network. He announced many cliché things about how he could undermine the Navy’s power, and simply walk in and take control of the entire solar system.

But while he was off on a monologue, a few Fighters flew into the hanger of his main ship, and snuck their way to him, avoiding anyone they could. He was actually captured, but not for long. He strangely disappeared, obviously with some cloaking device. He killed off two of the four soldiers that captured him, but just as he lunged for the third his cloak failed and the other soldier managed a quick headshot. We hoped, hopelessly, that that was the end of it.

Things aren’t that simple. Just a year later his son, Daac’ra, had taken control of several good ships from our side and a handful from the Nirtan. He attacked Saturn in hopes of taking it and producing his own ships, but it was a foolish thing to do. Since Saturn is a shipyard there were many, many battle-ready ships. His fleet was decimated and he escaped with only a single Cruiser. This was all we have seen of him since. Not a peep has come from any ships that are under our command, yet we have been mysteriously losing ships here and there.

Of course, we now know where they went. Daac’ra has returned, but he does not have the power to destroy my fleet. I out-number, and out-gun him. So, my first order of this battle? “Fire all torpedoes in Bay one at the Battlecruiser.”
The Tactical Officer responded immediately, firing the torpedoes. “Torpedoes away, sir.”
The six Alpha Torpedoes flew full speed at the Battlecruiser, but the ship escaped. It’s speed was incredible! No Battlecruiser has ever flown fast enough to dodge torpedoes like that.
“Full turn, charge the Ion Turrets, and fire a full spread of torpedoes from Bay two!”
The Battleship whirled around, with turrets firing at the Battlecruiser. The torpedoes flew out of their bay, and managed to follow the ship as it slowed down to turn and face me. Two of the six torpedoes hit, and passed through the Battlecruiser’s shield, impacting it’s hull. It didn’t do enough damage, so the turrets were aligned and fired again. The hit the shield and less than half the shots got through.
“He’s upgraded those shields!” I wasn’t too happy. Maybe I should show him a little more. “Charge the Photon Turret, and fire on my command.”
“Yes sir.”

But before the turret was charged the Battlecruiser fired a full volley of twelve Alpha Torpedoes. Four of them missed, and two of them exploded on the shield, but the other six got though. They hit the ship, taking out a couple Ion Turrets, and about five Plasma Turrets.
“Fire that turret!” I yelled. Those torpedoes shouldn’t have damaged an Ion Turret that much.
“Firing, sir.”
The green beam that blasted out from the main turret flew off into black space… The Battlecruiser wasn’t there. Suddenly the ship rocked as explosion from behind disabled the Fusion Drives.
“Eh!? We can’t turn! Charge and fire all rear Plasma Turrets!” I was quite confused and upset. Quickly I ordered my other ships to engage the enemy ships, except for one of the Heavy Cruisers. It was the Dissention. It flew over to me and started firing it’s Ion Turrets at the Battlecruiser to distract it while the engineers repaired my Fusion Drives.

I watched as the Dissention fought off the Battlecruiser. I couldn’t fire my weapons to help because all power had to be re-routed the Engine Room. Though, after several minutes, the engines were back up.
“Charge the Ion Turrets, and load the last two Torpedo Bays!” I commanded.
“On it, sir.” That Tactical Officer was getting on my nerves… Of course he was on it. I told him to didn’t I? The turrets were charged and ready to fire, when I saw the Battlecruiser fire several torpedoes at the Dissention. It was a critical hit. The engines were down, and all power went out. Just a sitting duck, waiting for it’s doom. But the Battlecruiser didn’t finish it off. Instead it flew a squad of Fighter over to capture the ship.
“Fire those turrets! Now, while it’s vulnerable!” I paused. “And don’t say ‘Yes sir’! It’s getting on my nerves!” Naturally the Tactical Officer didn’t make a sound.

The shots all hit the Battlecruiser full-force. We got lucky and one shot took out the ship’s entire weapons systems. Hoorah! The torpedoes had also damaged the ship’s shields. This meant we could pick the ship off… assuming we could catch it. The engines were still intact, so it was as speedy as ever. We caught a call on our comm. system about a retreat. I order that the ship be turned around. When it was around I saw a horrid sight. One of my Battleships, all of the Heavy Cruisers, six of the Cruisers, and 3 Destroyers were either lost, or disabled with boarding parties about the take them. The enemy had lost all their Skeet Bombers, one Darrion Cruiser, thirteen Frigates, and one Heavy Cruiser. We were losing, so why were they retreating? Maybe it was because their capitol ship was mostly disabled? I don’t know, but right before they left I received a communication from the Battlecruiser. It was Daac’ra’s voice.

“Ha-ha. I suppose you think you’ve won. We were not out to destroy you, or even get these ships… Except for one of them. You don’t need to know which. I’ll leave your and your precious planet.” With that he closed the comm. system, and warped his ships out, with my disabled ships in tow. I was enraged. He got several ships from the skirmish, and even managed to nearly destroy my own ship. Not much else we can do now though, other than return to Earth for repairs. I had to tell the Fleet Admiral what happened here.

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Defender of the Mother Galaxy Chapter 3

It was a couple days before we got back to Earth. I opened a connection with Derigan and informed him about the trickery.
“Admiral… As you guessed we didn’t encounter the Nirtan. In fact, it was Daac’ra…”
“What? He hasn’t shown himself for so long. We thought maybe the Nirtan caught him.”
“It seems not. And then guess what. Not only has he been slowly gaining our ships, but he has also been stealing Nirtan ships. We saw a few Darrion Cruisers, and several Skeet Bombers.”
This information was a surprise to Derigan. “How many ships did you lose?”
“Accurate numbers haven’t come in yet, but from what I saw, one Battleship, three Heavy Cruisers, four Cruisers, and three Destroyers were lost. Daac’ra made up in part for his losses.”
“What do you mean?” The Admiral was slightly puzzled.
“What I mean is, he captured, and now controls two of our Heavy Cruisers, and two Cruisers. I’m not sure how many Figh-”
Derigan cut my off abruptly. “Did he get the Dissention?”
“-ters… Yes, he did. Why do you ask?”
“I’m not at liberty to reveal this information to you at this time.” I took a moment to sigh. There was so much they wouldn’t say. But, I don’t decide what’s important enough for little old me to know.
“Admiral, if there’s something going on with my fleet, I need to know ab-”
“I’d tell you, but I’m not allowed. This goes high up in the chain. There’s know way I can get you in on it. I swear.” Derigan was starting to get a little frantic, but stayed quite. I was getting worried. If I had know that the Dissention was so important, I would have left it at Earth.

We arrived at the West Sophia Shipyard just about an hour later, and docked in the appropriate stations. Each ship has it’s own docking station assigned to it… that’s how few we have. I got off the Sovereignty and preceded to take a Mono-Line, a huge improvement over the Mono-Rail trains, to the USC Headquarters in what used to be called Japan. There aren’t any ‘countries’ or ‘states’ or things like that. It’s all known as Earth. Everyone knows where everything is, and cultures and people have mixed so thoroughly that there was no need for borders. The world is one. Wow, that almost sounds like some of those science fiction movies from a hundred years ago. Hmm, but I’m almost to my destination.

The USC Headquarters is a grand building. Maybe 980 floors high, and made of a pure metal not found on Earth. The metal came from Neptune, before the Nirtan took it. It’s scientific name is for too long for the average joe to even guess, but it goes by Beridilium with us commoners. It was also used to create our very first warships. It’s very strong, and has an extremely high melting point, though not enough to save a building from being melted by the Sun. It’s a nasty green-brown, smelly substance in it’s raw form, but exposure to oxygen removes the smell, and sun light turns it a very light grey. However, after losing Neptune we had to turn to Dentrilite for ship metal. It’s not nearly as strong, but the melting point is about the same, maybe a few degrees lower.

On my way to Derigan’s office I saw Miranda again. She was on the Cruiser Cyprus, one of the few that made it back. She looked like she had a broken leg, as she limped even while the two Medical Officers helped her to the infirmary. I wanted to know what happened, but I didn’t have the time, and it was pretty obvious. I have to be in Derigan’s office just as soon as I can. The report I wrote on the way back to Earth is very important as it’s the first encounter of the Dartfire Pirates for years.

Upon reaching the office I tried to open the door, but it was locked. I didn’t even know this door had a lock. I tried knocking, but nothing happened. You can bet that I was worried. I got an Security Officer nearby to help me bash down the door. It took a good six collisions to break the door open. My fears were confirmed. Derigan was sitting in his chair with a hole in his chest. This was the work of a Jartac, an elite assassin. They work along with the pirates, but are a separate group of their own. This needs to go to the Armada Admiral. But, I won’t be the one reporting this. Not directly to the Armada Admiral himself. Only Fleet Admirals, like Derigan, can go right to him.

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These past few days have been a mess. With Derigan’s death Armock, a backup incase of exactly this, was appointed Fleet Admiral, in place of Derigan. He is ordering my fleet to go to the Asteroid Belt. He says they’ve got some strange things going on there. Something about an asteroid that was just floating along just… stopping. I mean, not exactly stopping, but not following it’s normal pattern, as though it had jammed into something. I don’t see what’s so important about it, but I do have to follow orders.

There’s something good about this though. Since the higher-ups, as some call the Fleet Admirals, are worried that the cloaking technology Daac’sha used might have been adapted to a ship‘s shields. In other words, they think that maybe Daac’ra is hiding ships in the Asteroid belt. So, the good thing? All my ships get fancy new scanners. They can detect cloaked ships in a few ways.
One way is to sound out a sound wave, like old-fashioned radar.
Another way is to use Brion particles, sub-space particles that can bring objects partially into the visible spectrum.
The final way is nice and simple. Just send out a few disrupter waves. It’s got Brion particles in the waves, so that if it doesn’t disable the ship, and it’s cloak, it will at least make an outline appear.
We all hope they work right, if there are ships there. But now my fleet is ready, so I must board my ship, and spend several hours getting to the Asteroid Belt.

I like this chapter too. It's good. ALTHOUGH, there is an error with the sound waves bit. In space, such as the asteroid belt, there can be no sound waves as there is no air to cause sound, thus sound waves can't be used like they were here on Earth in old-fashioned radars.

Although Colton is right, David, I still enjoyed it as well! I might actually get into some sci-fi after reading this. :3

My boyfriend is a good writer!

Originally Posted by Colton the Last

I like this chapter too. It's good. ALTHOUGH, there is an error with the sound waves bit. In space, such as the asteroid belt, there can be no sound waves as there is no air to cause sound, thus sound waves can't be used like they were here on Earth in old-fashioned radars.

It's science fiction, dude!
Kidding.

(Actualy, you ARE right though, I didn't think about that. I mean, I KNEW it, but it didn't occur to me. XP)

Maybe you ought to think before you write next time, David.

Joking, joking lol but seriously don't get any obvious stuff wrong, k?

Defender of the Mother Galaxy Chapter 4

We hadn’t been in flight long when we came to the designated location. I had no clue how the nerds figured an asteroid’s orbit… they just seemed to fly everywhere. I ordered our local nerd, the guy who came up with these new gadgets, to try the first test. One of the Fleet Admirals thought it might be ‘proper’ to let him be the first to fire it up. But the results of the first test, the sound waves, were negative.
“Alright then, try the eh…”
“Brion particles?”
“Ah, yes. Go emit your Brion particles.” I figured since he formed the particles himself they were ‘his’ in a sense.
“It seems we may have gotten some minor results.”
“Oh, and what would those be?” I really didn’t care much, but I thought I’d let him have his fun.
“The space outside the window was distorted slightly. Whatever the particles hit, it’s massive. I suggest we broaden the waves, and emit the disrupter wave.”
“Alright, fire away!”

The disrupter wave looked like blue lighting flying sideways away from the ship. It looks so much cooler coming from a Disrupter Cannon. But my mood of “yeah right, like there’s anything that massive out there” quickly changed into an order. “Charge the Photon Cannon, all forward Ion and Plasma Cannons, and arm torpedo bays!” I yelled to the crew of my own ship, while sending a signal to the other ships to arm their bays, and charge their cannons. I was stunned as a massive ship come into view just ahead of my fleet. At first nothing happened, and I had my hand up, ready to give the order to fire. But, as if hit by an invisible disrupter wave, my ship, and the rest of the fleet all just shut down… frozen in their places.

“Sir, we… we can’t do anything. Whoever they were, they had a rather large EM emitter, or something very similar. And it isn’t the usual kind either. Doctor?” I was talking with one of the engineers over the intercom, after power was restored. He was with one of the scientist nerds.
The doctor came to the intercom. “Whatever enhancements they’ve made to that EM wave, it went right through our shield. We thought that we’d made our shields impervious to any form of EM waves, but it looks like we’ve got a new one to contend with.”
I thought about it a moment. A new form of EM? I remember learning about the, like, six-billion known varieties back in school. “So you’re saying we’re helpless against them should they decide to attack?”
“For the moment, yes. But once we get the read-outs on the wave’s frequency, we can adapt our shields to block it. We’ll have to run some tests first to make sure it works though.” With that the intercom closed, I tried to make contact with Earth. The wave must have reached far… All I got was static. After a few minutes Fleet Admiral Jerald, Derigan’s replacement, opened communication with my ship.
“Kyros? Are you there?”
“Yes sir. I assume you felt that too?”
“Indeed we did. What the hell happened over there?”
“You’ll get full details in my report, but basically, we came here, shot off our disrupter wave, and saw a really big ship. Much larger than the Sovereignty, sir.”
“Then what?” Jerald was upset, to say the least.
“Well, we charged our cannons, and waited to see what they would do. Suddenly my whole fleet froze. It was some sort of new EM wave. Some of the nerds are working on getting some reading about it’s frequency so they can improve our shields to block it.”
“You work on that and see if you can track them.”
“Alright sir, we’ll see what we can do. Kyros out.” I closed the comm. with Jerald and ordered the fleet to split into three groups. We’d all stay within sensor range, so that if one group got in trouble it wouldn’t take long to get to them.

After about three hours of searching the scientists finally had the upgrades for the shields ready. Since we couldn’t just get new shields, we had to change the shield output to a certain degree, meaning our shield were using more power. Several places on the ships had to be shut off, and the groups had to share their power, so that all the ships could have the energy needed. Fighters and the like couldn’t use the shield upgrade though. That’s for another day when we’re on Earth. So, we were of to see if the new enhancements would work.

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It had been almost six hours since we had started the search and still nothing. The disrupter waves were being emitted at a constant rate of one waver per second. Nice and steady, but nothing had shown up. We were going to search for another hour, and then head back, since it’d be 00:00 AM at that point. But it wasn’t yet, so we continued on.

Finally, after maybe forty-five minutes we got something. Group D-2 had detected on object. It was as if the corner of a large object passed through the wave. I opened a com with the lead ships of Group D-2. “Follow it in the direction it went, we’ll come to you.” I ordered Group D-3, and my group to head to Group D-2’s location. They weren’t far. We got there in under a minute, and Group D-3 wasn’t far behind. We spread out the entire fleet to cover more area, and hoped we could find whatever passed through the wave. But it seemed hopeless until almost ten minutes afterward. Another corner showed up.

We charged the cannons, and armed the torpedo bays as we whipped around. The waves emitted from my fleet again managed to show a large ship. “Prepare to fire on my order.” I wanted to talk to them, but if they were hostile, I didn’t want to get caught off-guard. I ordered the Communications Officer to “Open a channel with the alien vessel.” There was no response to the multiple hails sent out. Suddenly the ship shook and one of the smaller ships shut down. The must have fired another wave. “Fire torpedo bays one through three, and fire the Photon Cannon!” I ordered to all the Battleships. The Frigates and Destroyers fired their Plasma and Ion Cannons, by a command I had given with one of the signals used for easy fleet management. I watched as the torpedoes and beams from the cannons flew toward the alien ship at high speed, hoping that we weren’t starting any kind of war…

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Defender of the Mother Galaxy Chapter 5

The attack failed. Very few of the weapons actually made it through the shield of the ‘enemy’ ship. We had expected an attack of retaliation, but instead the ship lowered it’s shields. This really threw me off for a moment, but then I remembered battles from when the world still fought itself. In the event of a stale-mate, or if one side was offering peace, they would lower their shields. I ordered all but the Battleships to power down their weapons. I had the Battleships keep their Photon Cannons charged, just in case. Though if they had attacked, it would have been a very one-sided battle.

They surprised us shortly after, though, because they started to slowly move beside my ship. I wasn’t sure what to do, so for the moment I did nothing. I was about to order that the Sovereignty turn around to face the large ship when it fired some sort of cables at us. They went clear through the shields, and jammed into the side of the ship.
“S-sir..? Our… our weapons are offline.”
“What? How did they-” I was cut off as I watched the ship fire wires at the other Battleships, probably disabling their weapons as well. “What do they think they’re doing?” I shouted as I turned to the comm. system. The little orange light was blinking, indicating that a message was being sent. I opened a channel and a slightly distorted voice rang out.
“Humans of the USC, This is Lt. Commodore William Chase of the Catalonian Republic, we hope to open up relations with your Union.”

This was quite a shock to us all. They called us human, yet they sound themselves human. I froze for a moment thinking of what to do next. Do I try to break the connection and hope to just get out of this mess, or do I talk with them? I’m not a diplomat, and have no right to open any relations without proper authorization. But, they were far stronger than us, so trying to break off would be a bad idea. I decided to attempt communication with the alien vessel.
“I am Squadron Commander Kyros Dimitri Dillon of the USC Navy. What is your purpose in our system? You say you wish to open relations with us, yet the very first thing you do is disable an entire fleet. This would make you seem hostile, and if you indeed are, we will defend ourselves should you attack. Even if it means our destruction. But, if your intentions are passive, then please refrain from disabling this, or any other USC fleet.”
I sent the message and awaited a response from these… Catalonians.

Just a moment later they responded. "I am truly sorry for the choice of action we took, however that was the only thing we saw fit... We did not choose to open fire, as that only would open a hostile relation between us, however I find it interesting that you choose to pursue us and then chose to open fire, who did you think we were...?”
They ask us why we fired at them, even though they tried to disrupt my fleet again? I responded firmly. “We do not take kindly to those who would disable our fleets. We have not the numbers to manage an entire fleet being shut down if there was to be an attack. My fleet was under orders to find you. We needed to know if you were a threat to us. Also, please note that we take the disabling of a fleet as severely as the destruction of a fleet, so my attack on you was of a defensive nature.” There was a short pause.
“Understood, however you saw us take flight and yet you choose to pursue, you chose to open fire on us when we attempted to do the exact same thing. If we were to engage in a fight with your fleet we would have opened fire. And we could have with your current stunt… However, I understand your slight frustration.”
They didn‘t seem to understand that the choice of following them was not mine. "Must I repeat myself? I was under orders to follow you. It wasn't my decision. I also did not know the defensive capabilities of your vessel, but I'm trained to defend my fleet. You attacked, and I defended, it's a simple concept."
“I, too, was under orders to advert any direct contact between us. Seeing as you followed and cut us off we tried yet again to non-violently disrupt your fleet without any major use of force or offensive weapons.”
I took a short moment to think about what they had just said. "Our definitions of 'offensive' seem to be very different. If you are going to stay in this system, please refrain from destroying and disrupting our fleets. Though I do believe it would be best if you were to stay hidden, as alien ships being detected in our system would certainly cause some panic."
"There might be a slight flaw with that. We are starting to run short on supplies, and our supply lines seem to be stretched very thin as of right now. One of our ships requires serious maintenance and, as of several days ago, our naval command has sent a… well, 'negotiation' fleet with the goal of creating a bond between these two nations. I am sorry to say that the fleet cannot be sent back, will continue containing a superior officer and several of our dignitaries to discuss our terms with you. All of their intentions for discussion is unknown by me, so I regret to be unable to inform you of their goals."
I paused a moment think of what panic an alien ship of a size larger than our own could cause. Finally I replied. "You cannot just send the ships in need of maintenance back to wherever you came from while still hidden by your cloak? And you say a vessel has been sent to Earth? Then please, disconnect from my ship, as it's disrupting my communications system. I wish to inform my superiors not to fire on the vessel that has been sent."
“First, we are not from this galaxy. A jump that long could take several months, and is not an option since the ship’s jump drives are not capable of that kind of use. They would eventually burn out and leave it in an unknown part of space. It would require a larger ship to act like a carrier for it. Now, the one containing dignitaries is in transit from our galaxy taking again a month or two to get here. For now our ship, and the others, are all we have. Also it seems that your detection system has caused several problems with our shroud emitters, and they too require maintenance."
"I see... Well, allow me to disconnect and inform the leaders and diplomats of this system of the current situation." I was trying to just end this conversation. It didn’t seem to really go anywhere. A response came through, interrupting my thoughts.
“Will do, but first, may I ask… are we permitted to use one of your maintenance docks? An asteroid seems to be stuck in one of our carrier’s launch doors."
The request shocked me a good deal. "I, umm… I suppose I can accept, but I will require you to be under escort. We shall take you to Saturn to dock, and receive repair. But please, stay in your vessel, and speak to no one.”
“This is somewhat… strange, but yes. We will follow you to Saturn. Disconnecting now.”
The transmission ended and the wires broke off from my ship, being pulled back into the alien vessel.

The alien ship backed away from mine, and as it did so all normal communication systems came back online. I immediately sent out a signal to the Armada Admiral under a code NH, Non-Hostile. It wasn’t very long before the Armada Admiral opened a channel with me.
“Kyros, what’s going on? We’ve picked up an entire fleet of large ships headed right for Earth!”
“Don’t worry, sir” I assured him, “They are non-hostile, and wish to open relations with us.”
“Non-hostile? Didn’t they disable your entire fleet not that long ago?”
“Yes, sir, but they thought it was of a defensive nature.”
“Defensive? Bah! If they were being defensive they would merely have left their shields up.”
“Sir, they have a… different definition of ‘defensive’ as I have gathered from a talk I just had with them.”
“Well what do you want me to do?”
“I would suggest we hide two fleets on the dark side of the planet, making them undetectable, while one other fleet is ready to meet the alien fleet when the arrive.”
There was a pause as the Armada Admiral thought through the matter. “I trust you, Kyros, but this is just crazy.”
“It’ll all work out. Oh, and before you go, I must mention that I’m escorting a few of these aliens to Saturn. Their ships need maintenance, and I thought Saturn would be the best place for that.”
I could hear the admiral slapping his hand to his forehead… He didn’t like the idea. “Oh, Kyros… Fine. Let them repair their ships, but move them away from there just as soon as you can!”
“Yes sir, I know the importance of keeping the Dreads a secret, but I don’t believe even their scanners could penetrate that much of Saturn.”
“I hope for your sake that this is true. Signing off now.” with that the Armada Admiral signed off, and I gave the green light for the Catalonians to follow my fleet to Saturn.

Once again, interesting! You've got some pretty well-developed characters there, David! Keep up the good work. :3

Defender of the Mother Galaxy Chapter 6

We had been flying for almost five hours, making sure to avoid the planets the Nirtan controlled. We arrived at Saturn and ordered the Felix Station, one of the dry docks used for repairing ships, cleared so the Catalonian vessels could dock. It was impossible for the Catalonian ships to avoid being seen as there were many hundred of ships, mostly civilian. After the vessels were fully docked, and held in by clamps, we had all humans exit the area, and the Catalonians exited their ship. They were similar to us in body form, but taller, and had more muscle. Their faces were slender and… almost like a hawk’s face. Their cheeks were higher than a human’s and their eyes were deep set. Some had dark skin, while others had normal, slightly tanned skin. Each had several scars on their faces, and anywhere else skin was visible. They were obviously veterans from many hard-fought battles. We seemed to pale in comparison…

We had to alternate who would be working on the ships as they got repaired. One day we humans would do some work while the Catalonians rested. They had given me instructions to give to our engineers on what to do on their days. On other days the Catalonians would work on their ships while the humans went to work at another shipyard. They worked faster, and more efficiently, though this was to be expected. It took only one day for the Catalonians to repair one vessel, but the other one, called the Venture, took half of a week to remove the asteroid that had gotten caught in it. We took this time to repair our own ships as they need to be restocked, and had suffered minor damage when the Catalonians had sent out their disruption wave. Our shields weren’t perfect for defending against it yet, but once we got to Earth we’d be able to properly upgrade them. He second thing we had planned, after getting to Earth, was to strengthen the effectiveness of the Disrupter Wave so it would change frequencies, making it very difficult to defend against with standard shields. This new technology would be an immense help in our battle against the Nirtan. We also planned to create shield that would randomly change frequencies, just incase Daac’ra or the Nirtan gained our Disrupter Wave technology.

A few of the other alien vessels had gone behind the planet to avoid detection. They were in the one area that we hadn’t built shipyards in just yet, so they wouldn’t be picked up by any sensors. After the Catalonian ships had finished all repairs they flew behind the planet to join with the other ships. I had gotten a communication from the Catalonians asking about something they had detected in the depths of Saturn. I told them that it was just some power generators using Saturn’s gas to create energy. We hoped they bought it, and they acted as though they did. We didn’t want them knowing about what we were building down there. They would certainly know soon enough… maybe a week from now? That’s when they were scheduled to come out.

But everything halted. A fleet exited warp very near Saturn. I knew exactly who it was. Daac’ra and his little band of pirates. They had the Dissention with them and it was covered in explosive devises, that obviously came from Skeet Bombers. It looked as though they were going to ram the shipyard with the Dissention. But I couldn’t let that happen! I need to get that ship back. I sent a message to the Catalonian fleet asking them to stay hidden. There was no response. I had forgotten that our comm. systems weren’t compatible. That annoyed me, but regardless I ordered my fleet to meet with Daac’ra’s fleet. And that only took a few minutes. I sent the first message.
“Daac’ra. What do you want here? This is Saturn, a place filled with many battle ready ships.” I waited a moment for a response. “Daac’ra, do you hear me? I will not hesitate to order my fleet to destroy yours.” Again there was no reply. I was about to order an attack, but Daac’ra finally responded.
“Kyros, greetings again. How’ve you been since our last encounter? Hmm… that’s not important. I have come to ask for something.”
“What is that, Daac’ra?”
“Simple. If I give you the Dissention, you give me one of those fancy new ships you’re building.”
“What!? Never!”
“So you desire that I destroy the Felix Station, and the Dissention. Or have you forgotten what’s on it?”
I gasped as I remembered what was on the Dissention. It was a small germ. Harmless to humans, but incredibly deadly to the Nirtan. We needed that germ to get back at the Nirtan.
“Daac’ra… You’re enemies with the Nirtan too, right? Then why destroy the one thing that can wipe them from this system?”
“Because… I don’t need a germ to kill them. Just give me one of those ships, and I’ll be on my way.”
“But they aren’t even finished yet!”
“That’s not the point. You don’t know what I’ve planned, and you won’t… so don’t ask.”
I froze, trying desperately to think of something. Then it hit me! The Disrupter Wave!
“Flannigan, charge the Disrupter Wave, now!” I ordered to the new D-Wave System Operator. The wave charged and I received a message from Daac’ra, but I ignored it.
“Charged, sir.”
“Fire it, hurry!” The wave shot out as it did before, disabling Daac’ra’s entire fleet. I immediately ordered the Rock, a Heavy Cruiser, to send a team to recapture the Dissention before the ships came back on. It felt like time slowed down as the Fighters went over with their pilots to board the ship. Finally the Dissention’s power returned. It flew over the shipyard. I thought that the ship had been recaptured, but I was very wrong. I watched, wrapped in horror as the Dissention crashed right into the Felix Station, blowing it to kingdom come… After that It was unclear exactly what happened. I remember ordering all ships to fire on the enemy fleet, and many explosions, but I eventually just blacked out.

I came to only a few minutes later. I had been placed in the Vice-Captain’s seat, while he was in mine. Standard procedure. I stood up and looked at the Vice-Captain.
“Sir… you’re alright. That’s a relief. You, and several other crew members blacked out a moment ago. We don’t know why.” I heard him, but it echoes through my head… all sounds did.
“I… urgh. Whisper please… everything is… so loud.” I found it rather difficult to speak, and my sight was slightly blurred.
“You should sit back down sir…”
“No, no… My legs are chicken.” What did I just say?
“Sir?”
“No! My legs are fine. It’s just me head that hurts.”
“I’m going to call the Medical Officer up here to help you.”
I looked at him with a slight frown. “Yes, fine. Do that.” And so he did.

After the doctor examined me, and gave me some sort of shot, I started feeling better. My sight was fine, and sounds weren’t too loud now, but I insisted that everyone just keep whispering. I had turned to the Vice-Captain and asked him what had happened.
“Well, to start off you ordered the fleet to fire on Daac’ra’s pirates. We did so and destroyed most of their ships. But the others came back on and raised their shields. Daac’ra’s ship escaped again, as did most of the others that were left. But we did manage to pick off another before they left.”
“So they got away again?” I asked.
“Yes sir, I’m afraid they did.”
“Urgh… I need some food. Doct- Argh! Loud…” I paused and the waved for the Medical Officer to come over.
“What is it sir?”
“I’m hungry. Got anything with you?”
“Well… I have my lunch, but-”
“That’ll do, thanks.” He slowly handed me a turkey and ham sandwich with lettuce and avocados on it. It was quite tasty… for a sandwich. After I finished we flew to the Calyx Station to dock. I ordered a Destroyer to go call the Catalonians here so we could talk. We needed to talk about working on a communications system that we can both use.

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Defender of the Mother Galaxy Chapter 7

“Chase, we really need to talk. This incident here has left some of my fleet disabled, and an entire docking bay destroyed. We needed some support, but we couldn’t contact you, as our communication systems can’t pick up the other’s signals.” I paused to take a breath. My head was clear now, so I continued. “If those pirates return, or the Nirtan come, and we can’t take them on our own, we’ll need backup. I know this isn’t your war, nor is it really even your problem. But, in light of future relations with the people of this system, we ask for your support, when we need it.” I paused again, thinking for only a moment. “We aren’t asking to fight this war for us, just with us… as support. We don’t have any right, nor the power, to force you into any agreement like this. But, from a diplomatic stance, it’d be in the best interest of both our people.” I turned to the comm. officer and signaled for him to send the message. There was a moment before we received a reply.
"Do not worry, my friend. We shall give you the support you desire. I will order the Goliad and our three escort ships to supplement your forces here. Our carrier, the Venture, and the two destroyers will wait on the other side of the planet in hiding, When the pirates return I will call them into action." Chase paused to think for a short second. "About the communications, we will need some of our engineering technicians to board your vessel to try to work out a level frequency from the comm. network in your bridge."
"Many thanks to you. Our docks are always open to you, should you need what repairs we can provide. When your diplomats arrive, you will be allowed to join them during the meetings, if you wish. The choice is all yours, though. Now then, again to the matter of communication... Just send over a small vessel, be it a Fighter or what-have-you, and our bays shall be open; ready to receive your engineers." Again I waited for a response… I’m glad we were going to work on the system at that time. The one in place just didn’t work well.
Finally I could hear Chase’s voice. "Right, thank you for your hospitality. We will send over one of our assault boats shortly. On board will be several technicians, two marines, and one of my ship’s lieutenants. Have somebody meet them there and help guide them to the bridge, and from there on to your communication terminals to begin work. And one more thing, do not worry about the marines… they are only there for security."
"Alright. Have them head into Bay 3... The one with the big 3's on the sides. We will have several crewmen ready to guide them to the bridge." After that I saw the wires detach, and draw back into the alien vessel. I ordered a small group of three techies, and five marines down to Bay 3.

It was several minutes later that our sensors picked up their assault boat. When their ship arrived, and the Catalonians had gotten out, they were escorted through the ship on the shortest path possible. As I was waiting, though, I got a call in my personal quarters. I put the Vice-Captain in charge until I got back. Upon entering my quarters I saw the Fleet Admiral on the screen.
“Kyros! I’ve heard the news. They destroyed the Dissention?”
I quietly replied. “Yes… I… I’m afraid so, sir.”
“Ky-” He sighed quite a heavy sigh. “That ship held the one thing we needed to re-gain our planets! It will take us months to reproduce that again.”
“Yes, sir… I know. But they didn’t get any of the Dreadnoughts.”
“That’s a relief. Do you know when they’ll be ready?”
“No more than a week now, sir. Oddly enough, they should be done right about the time that the alien diplomats arrive.”
“Hmph. The sooner they’re ready, the better. What’s your current situation?”
“Any ships that were damaged, and repairable, are in the docks right now, including the Sovereignty. I’ve got some of the Catalonian’s techies on-board developing a communications system we can both use, for ease of contact.”
“Good idea. I want you, and what’s left of your fleet, back to Earth as soon as you can.”
I looked out the window at some of the other ships. “That’ll be at least six days, sir.”
“Excellent! Then just stay there until the Dreadnoughts are ready. When they finish, and have their crews aboard, escort them, along with some of the Catalonians back here to Earth.”
“Yes, sir. Kyros out.” With that I turned off the console and exited my room. I noticed, as I walked out, that the Catalonian technicians were already there. I over heard the conversation.
"Okay, hand me the tuner… No, the other one. Attach it to the wires here, here, and here. Make sure the readings are equal, and once they hit equal levels connect the third wire to the comm. router. Okay, attach the other two to this connector.” This was all quite confusing. Far beyond me. “Take out the main board and replace it with this one. Make sure to bypass any extra frequencies and cancel them out. Now take this wire and attach it to these wires once they are stripped. Damn, this system is archaic.” Hey…! I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear that. “Okay, now that the receiver is set, get the view screen and attack it to the correct wires.” It took only moments for them to finish. “Now set it on top, and tune it in… Almost done… And there!” That was… fast. They sure knew what they were doing. “Testing… Goliad, are you there? No? Try this set…” They quickly switched something around, and continued. “Goliad come in.”
“This is the Goliad, we’re receiving you loud and clear.”
“Ah, good job.” One of them turned to me. “Done. There you go… An improved communication system, all finished up. This should reach us anywhere in this system, or even larger ranges, if needed.” Then the other one turned around towards me.
“Contact us again. We were glad to help."
I could really believe that it took them… not even thirty minutes. “Well, thank you very much. If we have any practical problems that we could use some help on, we know who to call.” With that they were escorted off the bridge, and back to their ship.

“Now that that’s done, I need to talk to Chase again. Open a channel, and connect the video feed to the big screen.”
“Yes, sir. Channel open.”
“Thank you.” I cleared my throat before beginning. “Chase. Thank you for helping us with this system. But I have some new news. I have orders to escort you, and a few of your ships, to Earth when the diplomats from your world arrive. I‘d rather give you a choice, but I do have my orders. Will this be a problem?”
Chase replied promptly. "Well, that’s good news, I see everything is working. And no, this will not be a problem. However, once Admiral Sherman arrives he is the one to ultimately decide that for my fleet."
"Alright... I'll inform my superiors of that. They should listen, seeing as you have the bigger stick, if you get what I'm saying."
"Heh, well they should be dropping out of their jump in the next week or so. Not much time left until their arrival, and until then we will keep a sharp eye out for any enemy disturbances.”
"Again, thank you. Kyros out." With that I closed the comm. The only thing left to do is wait for one of two events. Either the enemy returns, or we leave here for Earth after a week.