Chapter 15

The vehicle explodes, literally explodes, off the pad. The simulator shakes you a little bit, but the actual liftoff shakes your entire body and soul.

- Mike McCulley

Independence

"Admiral!" a young commander saluted the admiral with a datapad in his hand.

"Commander," Admiral Briggs returned the salute.

Admiral Briggs is the commanding officer of one of the Federations Command Cruisers, the F.W.S. Independence. She is one of only five Juggernauts built in the Federation and is also the Federation’s current flagship. She is the command ship of the vast majority of the Federation fleet. Juggernauts are the most massive starships ever to be constructed by humans.

"Sir." The commander finished the salute and immediately handed Briggs a datapad. "We just received a communica from Federation Command. The WarpStar is over forty-eight hours past her scheduled check-in, and the Orion Colony reports that the WarpStar had not arrived."

"Oh?" the admiral replied as he grabbed the datapad and began to read the report. "Thank you, commander."

As the admiral read the entire report, his facial expressions went from slight worry to full-on nervous.

"Commander, call an emergency command meeting. I want the captains and X.O.s of each ship in the briefing room in thirty minutes." The young commander acknowledged the order with a quick salute, and left the room.

Admiral Morgan Briggs is a decorated admiral, having served with the Federation Navy for most of his adult life, logging forty-five years in service. Briggs has accumulated more combat experience than any other Naval officer in Federation history. Briggs was in command during most of Earth's major space battles: the Martian Civil War, Battle of Titan, Ceres uprising. Born in space aboard the Helmijiar Enterprises Mining Barge, Briggs spent his entire life in the void, with only a handful of times on solid dirt.

The F.W.S. Independence is widely respected and feared, mostly from her tenure under the command of Admiral Briggs. Surviving every major encounter with pirates, Russian Republic forces, and a few with the Legion. She is armed to the teeth with particle cannons, plasma lance beams, microwave disruption lasers, multifrequency laser arrays, point defense energy arrays, plasma torpedoes, and ion weaponry. Along with her list of impressive modern energy weapons, she has a wide range of the older, kinetic weapons from the earlier stages in the war, when kinetic rounds were used, including 250mm to 1000 mm Railguns, 150mm tungsten auto lancer rapid-fire turrets, rapid-fire light missile launchers, long-range cruise missile launchers, short-range heavy torpedo ship killers. She is packed with the latest in shielding to protect against any known energy weapons. Thirty-five fusion reactors power her shields, and a robust magnetic deflection screen to easily deflect any kinetic rounds unlucky enough to find their way near the mighty behemoth of a ship.

The Independence is also scheduled for an extensive overhaul, a planned refit to remove the outdated kinetic weapon systems, and replace them with the all-new Antimatter weapon systems along with the installation of the new reactor. Antimatter technology is being tested in the WarpStar for the first time since its conception almost twenty years prior, with the only working reactor in the destroyer serving as a proof of concept. Military engineers have already begun utilizing the technology to create weapons based on anti-protons created from the antimatter core, hoping the new particles would rip apart the molecules that bind a hull together on enemy vessels.

Admiral Briggs was pleased as he walked into the conference room. The command staff of all the ships of the fleet, including the Dreadnaughts Queens Vengeance, Africa, United Kingdom, Peace, Pacific, Japan, Gitche Gumee; the Destroyers Merciful, Greed, Homeward, Iceland; the Frigates Justice, Michigan, Delaware, Simplicity, Jackson, Franklin; and the Carriers Washington, Enterprise, Discovery, and Queen Elizabeth were all in attendance. This made up the entirety of the Federation’s Mighty First fleet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please be seated," the admiral commanded.

"I called you here for an emergency brief to mount a rescue mission."

"Rescue? Of who?" the captain of the Franklin spoke up.

"The F.W.S. WarpStar."

Everyone in the room looked around in utter surprise. No one expected to hear this news, as the WarpStar symbolized a new era in humanity, both in exploration and politics. The loss of the WarpStar would surely mean the end of the Antimatter project, a project that had so much potential it could eliminate all other sources of inefficient power usage, along with the possibility of various scientific discoveries. But the Federation’s conservative political party tried every opportunity to kill the Antimatter project, to fail at every attempt. If the WarpStar turns out to be lost, this will give the Senate all the fuel it needs to kill scientific advancement.

The admiral gave out search and rescue orders to the fleet, as they all worried the WarpStar would be lost. "At zero three hundred hours, the deadline of the scheduled check-in point of the WarpStar, no transmissions were received. At zero seven hundred hours, the Orion colony reported to Federation command, no arrival of the WarpStar. We have plotted the course from Earth to Orion, and come up with a search and rescue op. Unfortunately, the fleet will be separated. Subgroup one will jump to Earth, supply up, then take on a sublight journey from the starting point to the rendezvous, which is here where the Independence will stay. Subgroup three will jump to Orion, supply up, and travel a reverse course. Subgroup nine and seven will start from this vector and initiate search and rescue protocols. All groups will have their fighters on wide search protocols. The moment anyone picks up anything at all, initiate communication, and prepare to drop a Hyper-Bouey so the fleet can jump."

"Sir," the captain for Michigan spoke up. "Traveling those courses at sub-light speeds would take hundreds of years.”

"I understand, captain. It's the best we have right now; we just have to analyze sensor readouts and go from there. I won't lie to you all." Marcus looked around the room with a grim look on his face. "The Senate is already declaring the WarpStar lost in action. Naval Command does not approve this op. I convinced the C.N.O. to give me three weeks. I know that's nothing in terms of timeframe, but we owe it to the crew of the WarpStar to try."

WarpStar

The WarpStar had made a moderately safe landing. Ensign Carr pulled off another impossible feat. Landing a starship, with only two of her five engines and with no help from the stabilizers or thrusters. She landed the ship in a field with only minor damage caused. Granted, the ship herself was suffering from damage from whatever had caused the initial explosion, but her pilot did not add much other than a few scrapes of paint to the list.

The captain had docked back on the WarpStar, inspecting the damage on his way to the bridge. John had no idea the extent of it, continually running the scenario through his mind as he walked past downed beans, broken and frayed conduits, and injured crew members seeking help.

"Sitrep!" The captain called as he walked on the bridge.

"Sir, damage reports are still coming in," Lt. Commander Watney replied from her station at tactical. "We got hull breaches across decks seven, three, and nine. Sections three-alpha and three-charlie. Main power offline, emergency power operating at fifteen percent."

The captain cut her off as she was trying to finish the reports.

"Alright, there's a lot of work that needs to be done. I want full reports from all heads of departments ready in two hours. Commander, Char, in my office now," the captain ordered as he walked towards the rear hatch.

As they entered the Command office, the door tried to shut, made a few hisses, even creaks and cracks, then fell off its rail. John looked at it with a hint of disgust on his face. Looking directly at Commander O'Connell, John showed visible anger, upset over the outcome of this historic flight.

"I want to know what the hell happened. Make sure Donovan does a thorough sweep on all systems, have him work overtime if need be."

"Aye, sir," the X.O. replied, exhausted, but understanding the C.O.'s frustration.

"Char, no doubt we are going to need some sort of supplies, and I'm not sure if you saw it or not while crashing …"

Ensign Carr interrupted the captain. "Uh, excuse me, I call… "

John was not in the mood for friendships or any sort of shenanigans at this moment.

"Ensign!!!" John yelled, and Carr snapped to attention. She had never seen her close friend lash out like this before. Even the X.O. was taken off guard and was shocked that the captain did not show his friend any special treatment.

"Sir," standing at full attention, the young officer replied to her Commander.

"Take a wing of 401s out there, explore the area... I saw what appeared to be the ruins of an ancient city down there."

"Ancient city, sir?" the commander chimed in, a bit surprised.

"Yes, it looks like the remains of a civilization."

"Sir, if that's true, that means we are not the only ones out here."

"Yes, I know. The scientists are going to have a field day out there, and frankly, I'm extremely curious to find a good explanation. But, right now, we need to focus on the WarpStar. She is our number one priority. Char, recon protocols only right now, we need to know what is out there before risking anything else. Keep weapons ready," the captain further explained.

"Yes, sir," Carr said as she saluted.

"You have your orders, and I want reports every hour. And commander, I want a full status update in two hours. Carr, keep your comms open; you will be patched into the meeting."

"Aye, sir," both the ensign and the commander said as they gave quick salutes, then exited the door.

John looked out the window of his beloved ship, which sat in ruins, overlooking a beautiful mountain range, a strange alien blue sky above.