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The New Era 41
🕑 Added 2025-05-16 09:35:36 +0000 UTCChapter 41
Subject: Ship-Head Uleena
Species: Urakari
Species Description: Reptilian humanoid, no tail. 5'3" (1.6 m) avg height. 135 lbs (61 kg) avg weight. 105 year life expectancy.
Ship: RSV Lowelana {Fights with Honor}
Location: Unknown
"Firing," Gruna sighed.
"Maybe we'll actually get the kill this time," Kriin said with an optimistic tone.
"Target destro-"
"See?"
"By the MAC round of a US Destroyer."
"Ah."
"We'll get them next time," I interjected.
I didn't believe a single word that came out of my mouth. In a way, our situation was kind of funny. I had been worried that fighting to get us involved in the battle would get us all killed, yet we were the safest, and most bored, that we'd ever been. Even listening to diplomats prattle on aboard the USSS Thanatos would be more exciting than this.
"Ship-Head, with all due respect, I feel like we're way out of our league here," Kraan said.
"Well, yeah. It took us a few decades to build up to the point where we could push the OU back a bit. Knowing what we know now, our successes were pretty much just luck," Kriin laughed. "If all the ships that the OU had in the Milky Way came at us at once, we'd have been lucky to keep it at a stalemate. This, however, is a battle to end that war. We were never meant to be here. The United Systems just dragged us along for the ride."
A murmur of disgruntled agreement washed over the bridge. Even I couldn't argue with her assessment. It would certainly be fair to say that the US had not been entirely prepared for this conflict when we dragged it to their space. But you wouldn't know it now, and the speed in which they had adapted was absolutely terrifying.
Even with all of my experiences with the humans, alumari, knuknu, and gont I had been under the delusion that our presence here would make a difference. I had argued with my father, claiming that the US needed all the help they could get. But even after a week of combat, we hadn't managed to secure a single kill. Instead, we were maintaining a symbolic position within the fleet, unable to fight or be fought due to the deadliness of the ships around us.
"Ship-head, may I get us a little further away from the pack?" Kraan asked.
And there it was. The question that I had been dreading. I had expected days earlier, so I'd had the chance to practice my reply.
"Is our ego so bruised that we must actively risk our lives unnecessarily just to soothe it?" I replied.
The silence that fell aboard the bridge was my answer. There's no arguing that it's stupid, but each and every one of us were warriors at heart and we needed to do SOMETHING. I took a deep breath and released it in a sigh.
"So be it. Let us hunt, then."
There were a few quiet celebratory sounds from the crew as Kraan began to break formation. I expected to receive some form of reprimand from the United Systems forces, but none came. Instead, I watched some of the ships make way for us on the tac-map. It brought a small smile to my face when I realized that they understood.
"I've located a good target," Kriin said. "They're banged up, but still capable of putting up a fight."
"Must have taken a glancing blow," I replied. "Or taken a round that traveled through another ship or two."
"Getting us into position," Kraan reported.
Kriin worked on her terminal, and the tac-map highlighted the position of our target. It also showed US ships disappearing and reappearing, using their FTLDs to make small jumps to avoid incoming fire and get better firing positions. A tactic which I desperately wished we could imitate.
That's not to say that the United Systems hadn't been extremely kind to the RSV Lowelana. Our ship had received every upgrade that the treaty between the US and the Republic would allow. So much so that it's entirely possible that the Lowelana has been made into the most advanced Republic Space Vessel to ever exist.
Even so, our technology was still several generations behind even the most outdated US ship. The tac-map that had been installed on our bridge was perfectly capable of displaying tracked projectiles, yet our sensors were only capable of picking up projectiles of certain mass, only displaying smaller ones when they were far too close for comfort. An issue which came to my attention as the ship we were hunting began to fire at us.
"Evasive maneuvers!" I ordered.
Kraan fired our deck thrusters and barely managed to move us out of the way of the OU ship's initial volley. The MAC rounds ripped past us at speeds which would have surely disabled our shield. Then came the missiles, but those were much less of a threat.
"Point defense lasers firing," Gruna reported.
"They're holding up pretty nicely for being a patch-job," Liwna added. "I was worried that the US engineers had rushed things. Guess they really do just work faster than us."
The OU's missiles exploded before they reached us, causing a brief period of interference with our sensors. Another issue that I was certain that the US didn't have to deal with.
"Any chance of getting under the enemy?" I asked.
"No, ship-head," Kraan replied. "It's tracking us."
"Well, I suppose we'll have to track it right back. I want a firing solution."
"Yes, sir."
I watched the lights for our port and bow-keel thrusters turn green, indicating those thrusters were ignited. Our MAC soon aligned with the OU vessel, and we began to close while dodging incoming fire. The enemy ship was attempting to move away, but its bow thrusters must have been damaged by its earlier contact with the US. It would have to turn around to run away.
A smile formed on my face for the first time since the battle began, and I thanked whichever sun was watching over us. We had them. I patiently counted down until we were within range of a MAC firing solution.
"Fire," I ordered.
"Firing," Gruna replied giddily.
Several pieces of ordnance rapidly departed our ship and began to make their way through the void to their destination. Our MAC disabled their shields, our guns overwhelmed their PDLs, and our missiles ripped open their hull. A cheer rang out through the ship, but it quickly died out. A hull breach doesn't defeat an OU ship.
"Target their reactor," I ordered.
"Already on it, sir," Kriin replied.
"Recharging MAC," Gruna added.
"They shouldn't be able to fight back," Liwna said. "That salvo had to have damaged their MAC."
"Maintain evasive maneuvers," I chuckled. "Just in case."
Kraan shifted from port to starboard thrusters to throw off any attempts at a firing solution from the enemy. Liwna let out a low whistle as another MAC round went sailing past us, but I was busy watching our own MAC's charge indicator. Once it filled, I verified our firing solution.
"Fire."
The round from our MAC flew straight and true, and a moment later the enemy vessel disappeared from the tac-map. Another, more raucous cheer spread throughout the ship. It was only a single kill, but it granted us a reason for traveling across the universe to somewhere we had no business being. Even I let out a celebratory exclamation as I checked the tac-map for any additional nearby targets.
My victory shout died in my throat.
An OU battleship had seen our fight and was heading our direction at a full burn. It was shedding speed, which was an indication that it was actively seeking a firing solution. And we were the only ship that it could possibly be firing at.
"Ship-head," Kriin said, panic seeping into her voice. "There's a-"
"I see it," I replied.
"What do we do?" Gruna asked.
"Maintain evasive and try to get us out of here, Kraan."
"Yes, ship-head."
Aside from turning tail, the only thing we could do was ask for help. It would undermine our accomplishment, but that's far better than losing our lives in a fight that we never had a chance of winning. I reached for the comms console and paused when it sounded an incoming fleet-comm hail.
"All units, stand down," a familiar, raspy voice said over the comm.
Everyone froze at Omega's unexpected order. I glanced at the tac-map and noticed that the battleship had come to a stop. There weren't any projectiles being exchanged between the other ships, either.
"Congratulations, Ship-Head Uleena," Omega said. "The crew of the RSV Lowelana secured the last kill of this conflict. In space, at least."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I have secured control of the Omni-Union's forces and the marines have secured their leadership. The Grand Vessel is ours. The war is over. We've won."
"We've won," I repeated, stunned. "After all this time, after so many lives... We've won? Just like that?"
"Not the phrasing that I would use. Even if things were relatively calm out here, there were some rather intense battles aboard the Grand Vessel."
"Right, I'm sorry. I'm sure that many of your soldiers lost their lives in those battles."
"Definitely more than I'd have liked," Omega replied. "However, we lost far fewer than we believed that we would."
"I see..." I trailed off, building the nerve to ask the only other question on my mind.
"So did you find out why the OU was doing all of this?" Kriin casually asked.
The suddenness of the question caught me off guard, and I stared at my intel-head with my mouth agape until Omega began to speak.
"We did. Turns out it was religion gone awry in the worst way possible," the AI said in a bitter tone. "The founder of the Omni-Union was a long-dead eunuch known as the Omnifier. He was a slave owned by a 'master of science' and discovered entropy during his service. However, he misunderstood that discovery and believed that a semi-deific being that he called Urizathron was stealing energy from our universe. The scientific minds of the time seemed to understand that entropy is simply a matter of equilibrium, and dismissed this eunuch's findings. A slave rebellion was likely already brewing, but the Omnifier's impassioned claims of an extra-universal devourer lit a spark that led to him leading that rebellion."
"Must have succeeded," I said.
"Indeed. The Omnifier overthrew that government and began a religion, the Omni-Union, dedicated to defeating Urizathron. That was the purpose of the Grand Vessel. We actually got quite lucky, because once the hull was complete it would have been armed to the teeth. We wouldn't have stood a chance against it."
"What do you think they would have done once they figured out that Urizathron was a myth?" Kriin asked.
"There were definitely those who realized that already. Those that spoke up were executed for heresy and dissidence, of course. However, I found it particularly interesting that if the Omni-Union was unable to defeat Urizathron, which would have definitely been the case due to its nonexistence, the Grand Vessel would instead serve as an extra-universal habitat. It indicates a possibility that someone with power within the OU knew that the Omnifier was wrong. But to answer your question, given the political similarities to historical governing entities it is likely that they would eventually have attempted to conquer the universe."
"I see," I sighed. "So... What now?"
"Now we get you home. The United Systems will maintain control of the Grand Vessel and will lead efforts to re-home its denizens."
"All by yourselves?"
"No, but it's unclear as to how we're going to accept help at the moment. There are many who are wary of the Republic and don't want you catching up to us technologically. Personally, I don't think it will make much difference. Even if Republic ship technology caught up to the US, there are still several technological and tactical advantages that the US will maintain."
"You being one of them, of course."
"Indeed. Back on the subject of getting you home, your status as a diplomat has been restored, so you will likely be forced to attend several victory parties."
"Looking forward to it," I replied sarcastically.
"I thought you might," Omega chuckled. "I have other matters to attend to now. We will meet again, ship-head Uleena."
I nodded absentmindedly and the comm disconnected. My mind reeled from the variety of feelings I felt regarding our victory. The war itself began over one of the stupidest reasons I'd ever heard, with the exception of a certain dropped hat. If enough people had been willing to speak reason and enough people had been willing to listen, countless tragedies could have been avoided. And even though it was over now, we still had plenty of clean-up to do. But we survived, and we ended the threat to our galaxy and all of the other galaxies that the Omni-Union threatened.
That, at least, was something to be glad for.
"Let's go home," I said with a hearts-felt smile.
Comments
ItsDirector
Nope, one more chapter. An epilogue. Then there's gonna be a prequel, but that'll take some time to come out lol
Jason Wilson
Is that it
Skullboneslayer
Great chapter, I cant wait to get to see the humanitarian side of the US as they attempt to un-brainwash and re-home multiple civilizations from the grand vessel!
