Chapter 21: Chapter 7.2: Rise

      Space combat was a delicate affair, one requiring an enormous amount of patience, will, and a healthy reserve of luck. It was one thing to fight in the seat of a star fighter, where your life was partially in your own hands. Sitting on the bridge of a large ship, however, was to look into the eye of death, and watch as your demise slowly approached. There wasn’t a way out, or a way through. One could only stand there, and watch as the end came for you. 

      Torpedoes could take hours to reach their target, and broadside batteries often took minutes. Standard naval tactics dictated it was preferable to engage enemy warships at long range. Deploying scry-missiles or guidance torpedoes, while maneuvering away from your target carried significant advantages, especially when engaging larger spacecraft. 

      The crew of the Star of Argon had already trained on what to do should they encounter a significant threat. At that moment, Rise could feel the unnatural energies siphoning through key systems as their gravity drives were lit up for emergency expulsion. They would unleash several volley’s of scry-missiles, and use the chaos to evade to the systems edge where the stars gravity was weakest. Once there, they could ignite the gravity drive, and hopefully their tech-seer could safely navigate them to another star system.

      Few ships were designed to take substantial punishment, and to duke it out amongst other vessels at close range. That didn’t mean it was unheard of to see ship classifications of bizarre design. The cruiser they picked up on there long range scanners, for instance, was truly a unique construction, the likes of which Rise had never seen. It looked like a spear head, layered in steel and blistering with gun batteries. A tapestry of temples, and skyscrapers, covered its spine like a miniature city of unknown architecture. 

      “Do not engage,” The captains voice was a deep groan above the bridge staff. He sat in his command chair, with bloodshot eyes, and several new lines on his face. He hadn’t slept in two days, and it was showing. His fingers were clasping the wood hand rests hard enough for his knuckles to turn white. The captains uniform was creased, and several buttons were loose after days of wear.

      Rise knew it was only a matter of time before they came across something truly dangerous in this treacherous region of space. So far they had been lucky. Small pirate bands, and payouts to local warlords had been their only obstacles until now. They hadn’t even had to spend a single round from their point defense systems, or expend a single volley from their mid-range broadsides. The forward cannon was still cold, and Rise couldn’t help but wonder if it was a waste of resources. As Rise looked at the data readouts spilling down the monitor screen, he got the sense that their luck had run out. 

      The Star of Argon was turning, its engines on full burn as its super-structure glided away from the threat on deep range scanners. Rise wasn’t sure what to make of it. At first he believed it must’ve been a mistake, there was no way that a cruiser could wander into the system without being detected. The entire bridge staff was glued to their screens, and caught completely by surprise as the sudden ship suddenly appeared. 

      There was some debate at first that the vessel could’ve been a misreading. That maybe, it could’ve been the aging listening post, and that some rogue glitch mistook the dead station for something far worse. This was quickly dashed aside, as heat blooms, and a massive gravity drive signature, became visible through the viewing glass. 

      Even from thousands of kilometers away, the rogue ship could be seen as a wandering star, slowly burning brighter with each second. 

      “Sir,” Luitenant Rise wiped the sweat from his brow. “Fighter escort is away.” 

      Not that it would do any good, Rise kept his opinion to himself. A single fighter escort might be useful to watch out for enemy interceptors, or target boarding craft. Otherwise, there wasn’t much more he could do.

      “Order him to stay close, we can’t afford to lose our one escort.” The captain rubbed his temples before second guessing himself. He slammed his hand on the arm rest and motioned for Rise to listen, “Belay that, signal for him to scout jump coordinates. We need to make sure the way is clear, if this cruiser snuck up on our radar, who knows what else is out there.”

      “Aye sir,” Rise looked over his readouts. The enemy cruiser was truly massive. He wasn’t sure if it could technically be classified as a cruiser at all. He keyed in a series of commands, and blinked when he saw their escorts acknowledgment signal. Rise then quickly shot a look over to the master of ordnance, who was busy assessing the situation with his own officers.

      Rise noticed the old man sweating, and it didn’t make him feel any less nervous. It was his job to make sure the broadsides were ready to fire, if necessary. 

      The radar pinged, seizing Rise’s attention away from the other officers on the bridge. One quick glance, and he looked over to the captain. “It looks like the cruiser is coming about.”

      “Are there any tubes in the void?” The captains concern was clearly reflected in his voice. The unknown cruiser didn’t broadcast a transponder, nor did it answer any of their hails for identification. It didn’t take long to determine that it belonged to pirates, smugglers, or worse. Unwilling to identify itself, the next question was what were its intentions. If it were there to destroy, or cripple, them then it certainly would’ve unleashed some form of ordnance by now. 

      Long range imaging confirmed it held an abundance of long range cannons, and several torpedo tubes were located along its angular forward prow. Thus the crew of the Star of Argon waited in quiet fear to see if this cruiser meant to destroy them. 

      “No tubes in the void sir,” Rise answered with a shaking voice.

      Rise wasn’t sure if that made things better or worse. If it wasn’t intend on engaging them…then it needed the ship intact. A thousand scenarios flew through his mind as Rise tried to understand the situation.

      “Sir,” Rise spoke up. “The cruiser is gaining speed, and its adjusting its angle of approach…I advise we evade capture.”

      He didn’t want to say the word that was on everyone’s mind. If this nameless behemoth wasn’t there to destroy them, or damage their hull as previous pirates had tried, then they were after a prize worth keeping the ship intact. Aboard the Star of Argon, there was only one thing they could be after. 

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      The crew. 

      The word Rise didn’t want to say remained glued to his thoughts. He found his throat going dry as he clung onto his own seat with dread.

      Slavers!

      The pirates they fought before were scavengers, and petty smugglers, hoping to snag a ship full of cargo. It was why they were eager to unleash torrents of firepower at them during their ambush. The pirates they faced before were poorly funded, and badly organized. Whoever was captaining this ship, however, was in another league entirely.

      There was a short pause shared by the entire crew as the shared realization dawned. No torpedoes were launched. No intercepter’s were unleashed. The cruiser was gaining speed, however, and seemed eager to get within short range.

      It was the captain that finally spoke. “I want the engines at full power, and queue up the gravity drive. Master of Ordnance.” He looked over at the senior officer. “Prepare to fire launch tubes 8 through 12. Scry-missile load-out set to wide spread. It may not do much, but its possible we could disrupt its line of advance.”

      “Sir,” Rise called out after noticing another signal on the display. He checked it twice to make sure, and he felt it necessary to relay the information. “I’m receiving another contact. It’s a distress signal coming from the listening outpost.”

      “That things still alive?” The master of navigation, a younger woman of questionable skill, but well endowed, took a moment to look away from her charts to ask the question. 

      Rise was just as surprised himself, but the data was clear. Given little information, he was left to his own conclusions. “More likely scavengers were on board, and are trying to escape whatever that ship is. It’s a single escape pod traveling at high speed. Theres a short range radio beacon calling for help.”

      The escape pod was large enough to shelter a dozen souls, all of whom must’ve been desperate to take the risk. The captain of the Star of Argon leaned back in his chair to consider the options.

      “Sir, Captain Reward is asking for permission to retrieve the pod before we make the emergency jump.” Rise relayed their escorts message. “He claims he can drag the escape pod into the docking bay. Also, he reports there are no other surprises waiting for us at the edge of the system.”

      The Captain sighed in frustration. No one wanted to save a possible band of pirates or scavengers, and bring them aboard. But, at the same time, none of them were heartless enough to leave them to such a terrible fate. “Tell him he’s cleared to proceed, but only if he can return to dock in five minutes.”

      “Sir?” Reward raised an eyebrow.

      “I want an emergency transition out of system as soon as possible. The second we get to the edge of the system, we’re igniting the gravity drive.” The captain narrowed his eyes while in deep thought, “Lets just make sure we don’t use up all our fuel in the process.”

      “That thing is moving fast.” Rise felt his heart racing beneath his breast as he looked out the massive viewport window. The silhouette outline of the cruiser was coming into view. He had never seen a ship move so fast, it was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

      “Thank the gods that we upgraded our engines before charting this trip.” The captain got up from his seat, as if to rally the crew. “Full power to engines Lieutenant Rise, get us to jump coordinates before that bitch is close enough to board us!“

      “Aye sir,” Rise gulped. Judging by the laws of physics, it was going to be close. 

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