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Episode 2: Prelude to the Action at Carnegia
The Wheel ship EXPULSION finished its slow exit from the fourth dimension. The rip in space healed behind it and it floated, basking in the light of the distant star. A second later, every view screen on the giant battleship threw itself open, letting in whatever little light there was “outside”. On the bridge of the EXPULSION, deep inside the ship, Comms Officer Alexi Perrobs spun around in his chair, facing the commander of the ship, who was intently watching a live feed of the situation around the EXPULSION.
“Admiral?” Said Alexi. The Admiral grunted.
“We’ve arrived at Carnegia.” He continued.
The Admiral turned his head, and gave a quick nod. He was an old man, the last of his graying hair hidden beneath his cap. He had not shaved for several days. Alexi turned back to the communications panel. The only ship in range was the DELIVERANCE, but, knowing its situation, Alexi didn’t contact it.
“Contact the Deliverance.” The captain muttered. Alexi briefly turned, shrugged, and turned back.
He opened a channel with the DELIVERANCE.
“Deliverance, this is the Expulsion. We’ve arrived as part of a search and rescue mission as per order R16. Please respond.” Alexi listened for a response, and got only static and the sound of groaning metal. He whirled back to the captain.
“Should I try again, Sir?”
“Do it.”
Alexi repeated the transmission twice, but he had never really expected an answer. No ship, not even a Wheel battleship, could survive being trapped in orbit inside of an asteroid belt. He was about to spin around to the Admiral for a third time when the radar observation officer, a pleasant woman named Jana, spoke up.
“Admiral, there’s another ship here. A one man vessel, antiquated. Looks like a scavenger or a merc.”
The Admiral walked over to Jana, looking over her soldier. The rest of the officers on the bridge looked on tersely. Alexi could not see what the Admiral saw, but he could see that he was not happy with it.
“Alexi.” The Admiral said, “Contact the ship. Tell whoever’s there to surrender to us immediately.”
Alexi shrugged and spun back around in his chair. Pressing a few buttons, he opened up communications with the unknown vessel.
“Attention scavenger!” He transmitted, “This is the EXPULSION. Power down your shields and weapons and stay where you are. Scouts will come to retrieve you shortly.” He waited for a response.
“Admiral.” Jana said, after a few moments of silence. “The scavenger is moving back into the asteroid belt.”
The Admiral sighed a heavy sigh. He took his off his captain’s cap and scratched the back of his head (once full and flowing, now only accommodating short gray hair) with his black-gloved hand. He pinched the bridge of his nose with the other hand as he bowed his head. After a second in thought, he raised his head once more.
“Destroy it. I don’t want to deal with this right now.”
Shrugging, Alexi opened communications with the fire control wing.
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The first missiles impacted the rocks around him just as Jay sped back inside the asteroid belt. Once he was there, however, he found it necessary to slow down to avoid being ripped to shreds. While secretly proud of how highly the Wheel had thought of him, he was a little bit ashamed to know that the Space Wasp had no shields to speak of. Any dent made in its hull was one that Jay would have to get out with a hammer, pay to get fixed, or, the most likely option, leave it as it is. He had half a mind to return to the DELIVERANCE and hide, but he knew someone would find him there eventually. He had another half a mind to land on the planet, but it wouldn’t be that hard to find one man on the surface on an uninhabited world (given the sensors that the EXPULSION undoubtedly carried). For now, he had to evade and hope to get a lucky break.
The next salvo of missiles penetrated deeper into the field, blowing chunks out of rocks and peppering the hull of the Space Wasp with a hail of pellets. Jay gunned it, hoping to make it to the other side of the planet. There, at least, he would have a minute or two to plan out a strategy while the much larger Wheel battleship repositioned itself.
The third salvo hit a rather large asteroid floating closest to Jay. The shockwave sent the Wasp barrel-rolling towards the planet, luckily moving itself out of the path of a blasted off meteorite. More pebbles barraged the Wasp’s hull. A particularly heavy stone struck the Wasp’s side viewscreen, creating a snaking crack. Jay righted the Wasp, only to notice he was slowing down and losing altitude. He pushed the throttle higher and gunned the Bunker-class fighter back into the asteroid belt, not wanted to become a meteorite himself in the atmosphere of Carnegia. As he awaited a fourth salvo, he noticed another rip and tear opening in space; Two hundred kilometers away from the last one and slightly smaller. Jay was elated. Could this be who he thought it was?
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The DSCS-Pretoria, a medium sized Faster-than-light Battlecruiser made its way out of the fourth dimension and into the space surrounding Carnegia. Directly to its front floated the planet itself, and to its flank floated the Wheel ship EXPULSION. At the head of the Pretoria stood Captain Stefan Sonett, known to his friends as “The Poet”. While never having read a word of Shakespeare (he preferred more modern writers), he liked the nickname as he thought himself a man of great culture. His uniform was always sparkling white, the gold paint on his sashes always crisp. He abhorred smoking and beards, so he was missing those, but altogether he believed he cast quite an imposing image.
From the wide view screen at the head of the Pretoria, he observed the EXPULSION closely. Its attentions were clearly not on the Deep Space Confederacy Battlecruiser, but he was still nervous. For one, the EXPULSION was a full-on battleship, and could easily take on the Pretoria. The magnetically accelerated projectiles the EXPULSION could fire were much, much larger than what the Pretoria could come to bear. Maybe the first hit could be absorbed by the shields, but if they were hit a second time, the battlecruiser would be sheared in half. Stefan had a few missile frigates in close contact in case hostilities broke out, but he did not wish to risk his vessel in any situation. But if the going got really dire, the DSCS-Jupiter, a massive Dreadnought, was docked nearby and could theoretically be called over. Stefan hoped it would not come to that.
From the wide view screen at the head of the Pretoria, he observed the EXPULSION closely. Its attentions were clearly not on the Deep Space Confederacy Battlecruiser, but he was still nervous. For one, the EXPULSION was a full-on battleship, and could easily take on the Pretoria. The magnetically accelerated projectiles the EXPULSION could fire were much, much larger than what the Pretoria could come to bear. Maybe the first hit could be absorbed by the shields, but if they were hit a second time, the battlecruiser would be sheared in half. Stefan had a few missile frigates in close contact in case hostilities broke out, but he did not wish to risk his vessel in any situation. But if the going got really dire, the DSCS-Jupiter, a massive Dreadnought, was docked nearby and could theoretically be called over. Stefan hoped it would not come to that.
“Officer Reynolds!” He shouted, addressing his communications officer. “Open a channel with that Wheel ship. Find out what’s up.” He sat down into the captain’s seat, observing the EXPULSION intently. Reynolds did as he was asked.
“Attention Wheel vessel, this is the Deep Space Confederacy Battlecruiser Pretoria. You are in DSC space, and nearby long range sensors have detected fire in this area. State your intent.”
The reply came promptly from the Wheel comms officer.
“Pretoria, this is Expulsion. We have reason to believe a wanted smuggler is operating in this area. We are apprehending him as we see fit.”
Reynolds turned to the Stefan, looking for words. The Captain motioned to put him through to the EXPULSION.
“EXPULSION, this is Captain Sonett of the Pretoria. If there is a smuggler in this area, then he is under our jurisdiction, not yours. You must leave the system immediately.”
A crackle was heard as an image came through from the EXPULSION: The Captain of the vessel; an old, wizened man, was pictured on the Pretoria’s bridge monitor. But he was not a captain – Stefan saw that he wore the uniform of an admiral.
“Sonett, this is Admiral Landover of the Wheel fleet. We do not have any intention of leaving the system until we have spoken with an ambassador from the DSC. You do not have the authority to force us from the system.”
Stefan leaned back in his chair. The Wheel Admiral had a point. Stefan could attack the vessel if ordered, and could defend himself if he felt threatened, but could not make the EXPULSION leave. Things had been tense but not hostile between the Wheel and the DSC recently, and Stefan did not want to be responsible for the outbreak of war. In fact, he was just about to call in for an ambassador when a volley of missiles, followed by throngs of Wheel fighters, erupted from the bowels of the Wheel Battleship, and sped out in all directions.
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