10-27-2006, 12:45 AM
All around him, chaos reigned. His personal holographics showed the approaching Protaen warcruisers, and flashed displays as the ship's trio of A.I. went through their combat diagnostics.
As Alaris Coran watched, his ship, the AES Gaharion, readied itself for combat. Alaris spared a moment to think of the package nestled in a special launch container down in the cargo hold. He tried not to think that at this moment, the hopes of his people rested on the fighting ability of the his ship and his crew.
He knew Project Starseed must be completed if ever the Archon race would rise again and reclaim their lost heritage. Alaris would most likely never live to see that day, for the Protaen vessels were emitting entron particles.
The Gaharion turned broadside as the first of the Protaen warcruisers came within range, and opened fire. Energy bolts raced across the vast gulf seperating the ships and gouged away at the shields of the lead warcruiser. Quantum missiles followed, their inertialess drives effortlessly hurling them to their doom.
The warcruisers answered with fire of their own, as disruptor bolts traced their own path back, and tore into the Archon vessel. Her captain wincing as shield status flashed across his holographics. The time was quickly approaching when it would be necessary to launch the payload. Polarity sensors were begining to detect the subtle changes in the fabric of the universe, signalling the emergence of a spatial fault leading deep into the Unknown Sectors. He only had to buy a few more minutes.
The Gaharion closed in, using the lead warcruiser as a shield, raking its enemies with weapons fire, manuevering to keep the others at bay. her shields failed faster then expected, and her secondaries sprang to life, but not before weapon's fire slipped through and punched holes into the hull.
Alaris felt the damage as if it were his own body, but millennia of training blocked it out, and kept him thinking. He flashed commands to navigation and weapons control. The able crew manning those stations didn't reply, but he knew they heard. 400 years of serving together, through life and dead situations brought that knowledge.
The Gaharion broke clear of the warcruiser, savaging it as the mighty ship slid by, running for the forming space fault. A special launcher in its belly purred to life as the starseed package was loaded into its launch craddle. Smelling blood, the Protaen warcruisers swarmed after the Gaharion, ravaging the ship mercilessly as the Gharion and her crew turned their attention to the one mission worth all their lives: the eventual continuation of their species.
As the secondary shields failed and the damage reports began to mount, Captain Alaris Coran gave his last two orders; the starseed screamed from its launch tube and darted into the space fault, collapsing it as it went, and called up the ship's navigation, ordering a retreat. He knew the ship wouldn't be able to survive teh punishment, but he had to try, if only because his crew expected it.
The Gaharion, bleeding atmosphere and other gases, turned away from the Protaen warcruisers, its drive roaring to life, and as the space fault slammed closed, tried to leap away.
Both Archons and Protaens thought they knew the outcome, but something higher in scheme of things intervened as the collapse of the space fault flashed into a burst of energy, washing over everything.
Alaris closed his eyes against the glare, and felt himself being thrown from his command couch. As he hit the bulkhead and slid toward the darkness, his last, fleeting thought was for his crew, who served bravely, only to be lost at the moment of their people's greatest victory...
As Alaris Coran watched, his ship, the AES Gaharion, readied itself for combat. Alaris spared a moment to think of the package nestled in a special launch container down in the cargo hold. He tried not to think that at this moment, the hopes of his people rested on the fighting ability of the his ship and his crew.
He knew Project Starseed must be completed if ever the Archon race would rise again and reclaim their lost heritage. Alaris would most likely never live to see that day, for the Protaen vessels were emitting entron particles.
The Gaharion turned broadside as the first of the Protaen warcruisers came within range, and opened fire. Energy bolts raced across the vast gulf seperating the ships and gouged away at the shields of the lead warcruiser. Quantum missiles followed, their inertialess drives effortlessly hurling them to their doom.
The warcruisers answered with fire of their own, as disruptor bolts traced their own path back, and tore into the Archon vessel. Her captain wincing as shield status flashed across his holographics. The time was quickly approaching when it would be necessary to launch the payload. Polarity sensors were begining to detect the subtle changes in the fabric of the universe, signalling the emergence of a spatial fault leading deep into the Unknown Sectors. He only had to buy a few more minutes.
The Gaharion closed in, using the lead warcruiser as a shield, raking its enemies with weapons fire, manuevering to keep the others at bay. her shields failed faster then expected, and her secondaries sprang to life, but not before weapon's fire slipped through and punched holes into the hull.
Alaris felt the damage as if it were his own body, but millennia of training blocked it out, and kept him thinking. He flashed commands to navigation and weapons control. The able crew manning those stations didn't reply, but he knew they heard. 400 years of serving together, through life and dead situations brought that knowledge.
The Gaharion broke clear of the warcruiser, savaging it as the mighty ship slid by, running for the forming space fault. A special launcher in its belly purred to life as the starseed package was loaded into its launch craddle. Smelling blood, the Protaen warcruisers swarmed after the Gaharion, ravaging the ship mercilessly as the Gharion and her crew turned their attention to the one mission worth all their lives: the eventual continuation of their species.
As the secondary shields failed and the damage reports began to mount, Captain Alaris Coran gave his last two orders; the starseed screamed from its launch tube and darted into the space fault, collapsing it as it went, and called up the ship's navigation, ordering a retreat. He knew the ship wouldn't be able to survive teh punishment, but he had to try, if only because his crew expected it.
The Gaharion, bleeding atmosphere and other gases, turned away from the Protaen warcruisers, its drive roaring to life, and as the space fault slammed closed, tried to leap away.
Both Archons and Protaens thought they knew the outcome, but something higher in scheme of things intervened as the collapse of the space fault flashed into a burst of energy, washing over everything.
Alaris closed his eyes against the glare, and felt himself being thrown from his command couch. As he hit the bulkhead and slid toward the darkness, his last, fleeting thought was for his crew, who served bravely, only to be lost at the moment of their people's greatest victory...