The Fall of Warp Point 34-1267

Here I sit. Just outside of the turbulence of warp point # 34-1267. Time to ponder the fates again. How did I come to be guarding a third rate warp point of a nebular system hundreds of light years from any action? And my orders. “You will sentry in the immediate vicinity of the warp point. Upon detecting any enemy ships, you will notify headquarters soonest.” So stupid. If I’m supposed to sound the alarm, why can’t I stay just within sensor range of the warp point? If I’m supposed to fight, why am I “here”? My exec stops by, glances down and says, “If you hadn’t been found between the legs of the admiral’s youngest daughter, we might actually be “somewhere” instead of “here”.” “Hey, how was I supposed to know she was the admiral’s daughter? There wasn’t a UNSC tattoo on her cute little butt or anything!” I smile, trying to take the edge off of my voice. We’ve had this conversation before. So “here” we sit. Seven ships to guard a warp point at the armpit of the empire. And not even seven good ships. Our cruisers were reassigned “mysteriously”. I managed to hang onto the light carrier and a partial complement of fighters. Two light cruisers and four frigates. Barely a force but we’ve been given a FLEET designation. Yeah, fleet of the dammed, maybe.

I broke the fleet into three task forces. A light cruiser and two frigates in two with my carrier as the final task force. I’m trying to keep everyone sharp running simulations. My two light cruisers against each other with the carrier running flight sims against both task forces. We’ve now wiped each other out about a dozen times. That commander Hinkley is real sneaky. The times I’ve lost the carrier, she was able slip past my fighters while they were chasing the other task force. Losing against a woman doesn’t bother me all that much. IF this was a real fleet, she would be my fleet captain in a second. But we’re too small to afford to have a fleet captain and my ship already has a captain, me. All in all, we’re ready for anything except the boredom of this place. Not even one stinking planet for some R&R. I think the next time the courier ship arrives without a change of orders, I gonna shoot the captain “pour encourager les autres”. Being in the brig can’t be any worse than “here”. In the brig, I’ve still got a name, not a crummy number like this warp point. Enough of this self-flagellation, I’m going to head for the rack.

After what seems like seconds, the com in my quarters sounds with the emergency signal. Before I can answer it, the ship wide klaxon sounds off. “ACTION STATIONS! ACTION STATIONS! ALL HANDS MAN YOUR ACTION STATIONS!” The officer of the watch is on the other end of the com. “Sir, we have a ship making transit through the warp point.” “Very well, Lieutenant Grimes. I’m on my way.” “Sir, Tracking says it a hostile!” “Go to battle stations, lieutenant. I’ll be on the bridge shortly.” While I’m reaching for the OFF button, the klaxon sounds again. “BATTLE STATIONS! BATTLE STATIONS! ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS!”

The look of relief on the lieutenant’s face when I enter the bridge is nearly scary. He looks like he’s looked in the face of death and saw himself. “REPORT!, Lieutenant.” “Sir, we intercepted an Agido drone as it came through the warp point but it sent something back through the point that we did not destroy.” “Agido? What the hell is an Agido drone doing this far from the front lines and coming in from that direction?” The blank look on Lt. Grimes face tells me he’s not up to rhetorical questions yet. I wish my orders would have allowed me to send probes through this warp point. Maybe we could have had some warning about this back door the Agido have found. “Engineering, I need a drone with it’s warhead removed and a radio beacon installed ASAP. Shoot it back towards the nearest starbase. Have it turn on it’s beacon AFTER it transits the first warp point. I don’t want anybody finding it before it gets away.” “Aye Aye, Sir. Right away, Sir.”

I look over at the exec. “Looks like the admiral’s revenge is going to be a little more thorough than he thought it would be.” “Aye, if the Agido stay with their usual tactics, we should have an interesting time.” “Yeah, while we last.” On the screens, the warp point no longer looks like a living sculpture. It has taken on a distintly malevolent feel. It’s like staring at the portal to hell and wondering when it’s going to spit death and destruction in our general direction. The shimmering warp point suddenly pulses brightly. “Here they come!”, someone says needlessly. The ready fighters launch while my small fleet moves in to engage the enemy. The first ships are cruisers and no match for my fighters. This seems an easy victory over a usually much tougher foe. Then the warp point pulses again and the pulse seems to go on forever.

I feel the familiar yet unwelcome sensation of a warp point transit. Behind me, I hear a youngling get sick. “Dobrezian”, I think. It is youngest and unfamiliar with warp points and discipline. The screens stabilize and I see the fleas of the Terran ships attacking my escorts. Farther out but coming at me, I see more ships and even farther out I see the flea-cocoon. She is turning now, having released her young, to hide behind them. I sneer at the cowardly act of hiding behind the little ones. She will learn this wake period that that is not an option. The shields stabilize and now we are untouchable by both the fleas and their larger cousins. Orders go out and we head towards the flea-cocoon to stamp out this nest of bugs.

I watch the fleas die. Some die when the guns designed to kill them turn them into vapor clouds. Some die when they get too close and brush against the new shields. None survive either encounter. Their cousins are tougher but the new shields hold against their beams and those Hui-dammed balls of energy. We swat the fleas and slice their cousins. Soon, all too soon, they are glowing clouds of plasma slowly dimming behind us. Up ahead and running for her life is the flea-cocoon but we will catch her before she even reaches the sun of this system. And then. And then, the Terrans shall know fear.