Sonya Blackwell

With her cybernetics linked to the shuttle’s sensors she made the walls of the shuttle around her transparent so she had an unobstructed view of her new command.

At five kilometers long the ship was massive and beautiful. The front prow had two sweeping wings that reached forward, almost like mandibles on a short neck with the larger body behind it. The body itself had wings that swept backward, almost protectively around the two bays. Each bay could hold two marauders and a massive amount of drop shuttles, drone fighters and other craft.

The black hull of the vessel seemed to absorb light and at first the ship looked dead and lifeless but Sonya knew it was humming with life within the armored shell. It was part dreadnought, part mothership and part deep space cruiser.

“Beautiful,” the officer said next to her. Captain Jeffrey Hunt would be her lead Republic Intelligence officer and keeper of official secrets. He was a big man, with broad shoulders, a short smashed nose, jet black hair and very prounounced eyebrows. His black mustache and darting eyes give him a handsome, if somewhat sinister look and standing he almost towered over Sonya.

His blue eyes seemed to miss nothing and Sonya was pretty sured he had a higher security clearance than she did, despite him being under her command. He was admin and was not command track but that didn’t mean he didn’t have command presence. Sonya wasn’t even sure about his real rank but for this mission he was holding the rank of captain.

“Yes,” Sonya breathed as the shuttle approached the opening on the starboard side. The closer the shuttle got the more Sonya realized just how massive the Huntress really was.

“It is going to feel like a ghost ship Commodore,” Hunt said.

With only two hundred crew, including close to fifty Marines, it certainly would. It could hold a crew of two thousand with ease and a crew of four thousand if needed for extended times. With only two hundred people aboard the ship could prowl deep space for centuries if it wanted.

The capabilities were also so classified at first Sonya didn’t believe they were right. The four marauders were also state of the art and no less impressive. Each one was 95 meters wide, 110 meters tall and 300 meters long. With a crew of twenty they could hold their own against any cruiser Sonya knew of and they also carried six fighter drones and could operate independently for almost two years without needing resupply. Each marauder was a fully self contained raider that could carry Marines, a company of avatars and drop ships, with the stealth and Fontaine-Hellman drives as advanced as the Huntress they were a marvel of Republic engineering.

In the bay next to the Huntress was a sister ship that Sonya knew would be christened the LRS Stalker. The Stalker was still a skeleton being assembled by robots but Sonya could see the landing bays and spine were already in place. Living quarters were also present and one of the gravity skids had just been fitted. Looking at the Stalker helped her understand the Huntress even better.

They would be the largest warships in the Republic arsenal and the first one was hers. She could have kissed Colonel Santiago as she looked at her new command slide by in front of her, continuing to grow as the shuttle approached.

She had been spending every moment awake studying the ship and her capabilities. Now it was here in front of her. Once she stepped aboard it was unlikely she would leave for the next five years, maybe the next decade. That was a daunting thought, she smiled though, imagining them trying to pry her from the ship. That would be the ship she could spend the rest of her life aboard and if she never had to step aboard another ship she would be happy.

The ship yard itself was hidden deep in the Oort cloud, a crater on a nameless proto-moon. There were no identifiable stars nearby and if any ship yard could be hidden further from Everette without being in another system, this was it. Colonel Santiago had said this wasn’t the only shipyard on the proto-moon but he hadn’t said how many there were. Robots were devouring the moon to build the ships but they were nowhere near making a dent in the planetoid.

Sonya didn’t care though. Not if they finished the beauty in front of her.

The shuttle slid into the cavernous landing bay and was pulled into a smaller bay but a robotic arm. The hatch closed and seconds later the main hatch of the shuttle slid open.

A loud whistle echoed throughout the shuttle bay. Jeffry Hunt stood and allowed Sonya to exit first.

“Commodore has arrived,” a voice announced followed by three bugle blasts.

Sonya walked down the ramp with Hunt behind her. A company of avatars stood at parade rest, facing the red carpet leading away from the shuttle and toward a hatch. At the end of the carpet two Fleet officers stood at attention. A Lieutenant Colonel and a Major stood waiting.

Stepping down off the ramp onto the deck a whistle blew. As one the Marine avatars snapped to a salute position, holding their rifles parallel to their body in front of them, looking just over the muzzle. As she passed the returned to the ‘port arms’ position.

Arriving in front of the two officers, Sonya turned to the emblem of the Leonis Republic, a proud Lion’s head and rendered a sharp salute. She then turned to the two officers and saluted.

“Commodore Sonya Blackwell request permission to come aboard,” Sonya said, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice.

“Welcome aboard Commodore,” the Lieutenant Colonel said returning the salute. “I am Lieutenant Colonel Berry. Executive Officer of Republic Intelligence Operations aboard these ship yards, acting Commander of the LRS Huntress. This is Major John Nelson, your weapons officer.”

Berry smiled and Sonya let her smile escape.

“A pleasure to meet you both,” Sonya said shaking their hands. Berry was actually shorter than Sonya and Nelson was tall and thin with a neutral expression. She remembered his dossier, he was an exceptional weapons officer that had come from the battleship Courageous and was highly commended.

“Welcome to the most powerful ship in the Republic,” Berry said smiling. “Let’s go to the command deck and get the command codes transferred shall we?”

Sonya could best describe her feelings as giddy but she kept her emotions locked down as her cybernetics established links with the Huntress systems. Right now it was just public access and her rank gave her some additional access but she was not fully listed as crew, or commander yet but she could sense the power and imagine the numerous menus available.

“I have some possibly good news,” Berry said, although Sonya heard in his voice there were reservations. “Your executive officer has been selected. His name is Lieutenant Colonel Barrett Rollins. He is being transferred from General Keating’s staff.”

Sonya’s good feelings crashed and burned. A member of Keating’s staff was going to be her executive officer? That was nothing short of a disaster. Could a spy for her arch enemy be anymore obvious?

“I hear he is an outstanding officer,” Berry continued and Sonya wondered if she knew anything about her relationship and the General. “He served as an executive officer aboard the battleship Unstoppable.”

Sonya nodded. Not trusting her voice. Berry glanced at her as they got aboard a tram that would take them to the command decks.

Having an agent of General Keating so close was going to make this mission even more difficult. Did Santiago know that? Is this what he had to promise Keating to get the general’s support?

The General would get his revenge she was sure, but at least she knew who would be sticking the knife in her back. Unfortunately there wasn’t a damn thing she could do, not if she wanted to have a fully functional and efficient ship. She couldn’t banish her executive officer to his quarters for the next five years. Could she?