UNCLAIMED SPACE- EDGE OF UNK402 SYSTEM

IRN Riptide- Bridge

The Riptide had been in the UNK402 system a little over an hour when the Communications/Sensor officer let me know I had received an encrypted message from FleetComm and flagged for my eyes only. We had sent off the report for what had found in UNK427 about 30 minutes ago. Finding the wreck of the Gilded Claw must have really scared someone for them to respond so quickly. 'Kate, do a quick scan and see if they left anything nasty on it. If not, can you bring it up on my console?' That would take the ship's A.I. a minute while John looked at the central halo that displayed the UNK402 system. It was pretty barren. A Red sun with only 1 gas giant with 8 moons and two asteroid belts.

'Captain, I cannot detect any malicious coding within the message. I cannot bring it up on the bridge it is keyed to your personal quarters.' Kate responded after finishing the diagnostics.

"Lieutenant O'Hansen, you have command until I get back. It shouldn't be that long." John commanded as he walked off the bridge and toward his quarters.

'Kate I want you to make a copy of the message they sent if you cannot copy it record the message as it plays using the sensors within my quarters.' John commanded the AI.

The console on the desk lit up as he entered the room. "Authenticate Command Code please" the message immediately requested.

"Command Code Authorization is Tango, Juliet, Zeta, Alpha 3792. Captain John Port Commander of IRN Riptide." John responded immediately.

"Command Code authenticated, please standby for message....." The face that took over his screen was well known, Fleet Admiral Jamie Hernandez. She was second only to High Admiral William Douglas on the Admirals Board.

"Captain Port, this is Admiral Hernandez, on behalf of FleetComm we wanted to congratulate you and your crew on finding the Gilded Claw. We are sad to hear that you and your crew did not discover why she was lost. We have dispatched a ship to recover the remains of any remaining crew that were lost so that their families might have some closure. We look forward to seeing you." with that the screen went black.

'What do you think, Kate? Should we be worried?'....'Kate'....ok John failed to receive a response from the ship's A.I.

'I apologize Captain on the delay. You were right to be worried, they did leave a malicious worm in the message itself that nearly had me. If it had succeeded it would have vented the ship. It's going to take some time, but I will have to go over all the data banks on the ship to make sure nothing was corrupted. I should be done within 24 hours.' the AI finally responded.

'Shit, ok do it. Jeeves see if you can help her out so we can cut that window down. I will lock us down so we don't go anywhere until you guys are done scanning the ship databases. Keep me, the XO, and Chief Letts in the loop.' John told the two AIs as he left his quarters and went to Engineering.

As John walked into the Engineering section several enlisted stopped what they were doing to solute "As you were people." John called out as he flagged the Chief over.

"FleetComm just took a shot at us using a malicious Worm. Kate thinks she stopped it before it damaged anything but she wants to scan every database and it will take twenty-four hours. I don't want to go anywhere until Kate and Jeeves are done making sure everything is ok. I need a reason to hold us here for twenty-four hours. What do you have for me?" John asked the Chief Engineer.

Letts paled a little when he heard FleetComm took a shot, but then his face firmed and became thoughtful "One of our Fusion Generators 'might' be out of alignment. It will take twelve hours to check, each. That is your twenty-four hours Captain."

John smiled at the grizzled man "Thanks Chief, I will make sure the XO knows so you can run your diagnostics. Loop in those you think that need to know." With that, John spun on his heel and headed for his XO quarters.

His XO was less than pleased to be interrupted in the middle of filing reports, but it was amusing to watch her gain control of her temper when she saw who was at her door. Once she heard what FleetComm had almost done she was pissed off again. John had to listen to her curse the Admirals board for a good five minutes before he got her settled down. He let her know Chief Letts was aware of the problem and had come up with a reason to stay in the system an extra twenty-four hours. That bought them some time, but if John was FleetComm he would dispatch a ship ASAP toward UNK402 to confirm that an "accident" had occurred and that all hands were lost. Hell, the ship might already be on the way. The last thing he told his XO was to either take up boxing or spend more time at the arms range to work out her anger issues. Then he left to go see Lieutenant Birge.

Lieutenant Birge was in the middle of his sleep cycle but quickly woke up as he heard everything that had happened and was informed of the maintenance engineering had to do on the Fusion Generators. John also told the Lieutenant that they might have some company sooner rather then later that was hostile. He nodded his head before turning away and going back to bed. John then headed out to track down Commander Smitt and inform him of what happened and of possible conflict that was ahead of them.

Twenty minutes later he walked back onto the bridge, he made sure everyone was aware that due to some maintenance problems that they would be extending the stay in UNK402 for twenty-four hours. He told the tactical officer that due to this he wanted the Riptide to stay in stealth the whole time and as soon as they were done scanning the system that they were to proceed to the outermost asteroid field to practice maneuvers and to have all PDCs and Pulse Cannons manned just in case they were needed. The big question is where would they go. If they continued on the preplanned route, eventually a ship from FleetComm would catch up and he would have no choice to fight. If he just went off-mission he would give FleetComm the excuse they needed to blow the ship up.

Eighteen hours later proved me right. "General Quarters, General Quarters, all hands man your battle stations, this is not a drill." Came over the internal comm channels. 'Kate, what do we got? Are our computer systems secure?' John asked as he injected a stim into his system as he scrambled for his combat suit.

'Long Range sensors detected an incoming ship that just dropped out of warp. Current speeds indicate that the ship will reach the Inner System in thirty minutes and we will be in scanning range in twenty minutes. Whoever it is, is no trying to hide. They are using active sensors and based on the energy signature its a seventy-five percent chance it is an IRN ship. Jeeves and I finished scanning the last databases about an hour ago, we are good to go.' the A.I. replied quickly.

SHIT SHIT SHIT 'Message to Chief Letts...We are done playing possum I will need all my Fusion Generators. Message to Commander Smitt...Code Omega, I repeat Code Omega, secure the ship. Get me ship-wide.....This is the Captain if you are not assigned to a battle station you are to report to your quarters immediately. I repeat if you are not at a battle station you are to report to your quarters immediately.' John called out as he came onto the bridge.

"Report people, talk to me tell me what we got." John barked out.

Lieutenant Birge was hovering over by the Sensor/Comm console and immediately responded "Sir we got an incoming vessel, a high probability that it's an IRN. Best guess at this time is that its a Dauntless class destroyer. I am heading to the secondary bridge if you don't need me for anything else, sir?" John returned the Lieutenants salute and relieved him of command. 'Jeeves what do you got on Dauntless Destroyers??' John asked the A.I. and the display in front of him lit up with the information.

Class: Dauntless

Length: 500 Feet

Width: 80 Feet

Crew Compliment: 150 Sailers (including NCO and Officers) and 50 Marines (Including NCO and Officers)

Reactor: 4 Type 3 Fusion Generators

Engines: 6 Type 1 Pulse Engines

Energy Shielding: 1200

Armor: 1000

Defensive Weapons: 30 PDC

Offensive Weapons: 4 Forward and 4 Aft Missile launchers (60 Kinetic Missiles with up too 10 tactical 20 Ton tactical nukes), 20 Single Pulse Cannons

Other: 6 Combat Drones, 4 Sensor Drones, 2 Personnel Shuttles, 2 Lancer Assualt Shuttles

Shit, if that ship was armed with nukes this fight would be difficult. They would have to be careful and suck her into close range or use the asteroid field against them. Either way, they were in the best position and if they ran, the ship could kill them at long range. All this ran through his head as the hostile vessel drew closer. "Tactical any chance you could rig one of the drones as a decoy and lead them into the asteroid field? Also, make sure you can bounce our communications through the drone as well."

The tactical officer considered his options before responding "Give me 5 minutes or so and yeah, we will be able to do that sir." The tactical display was constantly updating, it currently showed the Riptide with two Combat drones deployed. The incoming vessel was currently 15 light minutes out and closing at a rapid pace, they would be able to confirm the ship's ID in 10.

4 minutes later the tactical officer came back "Captain we rigged one of the combat drones we captured from the pirates. The military comm gear isn't up to spec, once you start using it, it should take the other ship about 5 minutes to figure out its a decoy."

John acknowledged his words "Launch the decoy and put it in the asteroid belt 3 light minutes ahead of us. Engineering shut down all non-essential systems. Time to play possum." The next 6 minutes were nerve-racking as the IRN vessel drew closer toward the Riptides hiding position.

"We can confirm that it is a Dauntless class Destroyer, based on the sensor return it should be the Raven, but the archives show her as being decommissioned as of 2 years ago Captain." the sensor officer called out.

John considered what to do and gave his orders to the two AIs about what he wanted them to do. "Tactical, we are going to sucker them in. I understand you have your misgivings about what is happening but trust me, people. They are here to make sure we are dead and if we are not dead they are going to kill us. We will give them a chance to leave us in peace, but I am sure they won't and when they prove themselves hostile we will defend ourselves. Engineering standby we are going to full power. Tactical, do a cold launch of the remaining combat drones, keep them near us at all times. As soon as I signal you bring up the shields if everything goes to my plan we will be in range for rapid-fire mode so make sure the forward launchers are ready. Lieutenant O'Hansen, you only have maneuvering thrusters. Choose a rock to hide behind and keep it between us and the Raven."

Six minutes later the Raven was almost exactly where John wanted her. He just needed the captain to get in just a little closer. "Ok people time to get this show on the road. Comms link us into the decoy drone. Tactical and Navigation standby on combat. As soon as I signal you, get us in position and light them up." John called out.

The Comm officer signaled that he was ready to broadcast "Attention IRN vessel this is the IRN Riptide. Please identify yourselves." John called out over the channel.

The clock was ticking down on his display from five minutes...."Attention Riptide this is the Raven. We were tasked with providing you with assistance. FleetComm sent us an Alpha level message that you were dead in space and needed immediate assistance. Please confirm current status."

John narrowed his eyes at the tactical display, just a little bit more "IRN Raven was decommissioned two years ago and placed in mothballs. Our sensors show that you are fully armed and operational. Please confirm identity and standby."

The Raven continued to move toward the 'Riptides' location "I confirm this is the Raven, Command Code Mike, Foxtrot, Charlie, Tango 689. Confirm Riptide." The arrogant bastard was getting sucked right in.

"Raven standby while we confirm. Hold your current position while we confirm, any other movements will be considered hostile and we will open fire." John signaled the Sensor/Comm officer to cut the signal. They still had two minutes and thirty seconds left if they needed it.

The Sensor officer suddenly screamed "Missile launch, I repeat we got missile launch on target Beta, it's a Nuke thirty seconds to impact! All hands brace for a nuclear detonation, in twenty-five seconds...Mark."

25 seconds later the tactical display lit up like a christmas tree before going dark as the external sensors were overwhelmed. It took another 10 seconds for the display to clear as the sensors came back online. "Ok people the Raven thinks we are dead. Lieutenant O'Hansen, we are waiting on you, as soon as you light up our engines tactical lock onto the Raven, we are close enough for rapid-fire mode. I want 3 salvos from the forward missile tubes. Target her engines only. I want her dead in space. After we launch the salvos navigation keep us in her blind spot." John snapped out.

Thirty seconds later five of the Raven's engines had been destroyed with three out of the four rear missile tubes. "Shit, navigation maneuver us so our Pulse Cannons can take out that last missile tube. Tactical I want that tube taken out now!!!" In all honesty, the missile tube was probably nonoperational but John wanted the captain that tried to kill him to know that he was only alive because he allowed it.

"The Raven is contacting us again sir. I am bringing them up now...' Attention Riptide this is Lt. Nick Grimes of the IRN Raven, I repeat this is Lt. Nick Grimes of the IRN Raven. We surrender. Please stop shooting at us.'" John heard over the comm line.

What happened to the Captain, John wondered...."Attention Raven this is the Riptide. We will accept your surrender but you have to power down your remaining engine, all your weapons, lock down your ships AI and open up your computer core to my ship's AI. Your enlisted will then be locked in their quarters including the NCOs. The officers will stay at their stations but the senior staff will report to the launch bay where they will personally surrender to my Marines when they arrive. You have five minutes to comply at which point we will turn your ship into a smoking ruin."