Echoes of Harmony

SSV Celestial Phoenix

Nen Dural System

11 February 3297

Admiral Elliott Hayes sat in his chair after he finished his transmission. He knew Najjar would disagree with the message he sent. As such, he didn’t bother running it by the commissar beforehand. The man clearing his throat behind him told him it was the correct choice. Hayes turned to see Najjar sitting in the XO chair as expected. A smirk crossed his lips.

“Quite the remark, Admiral.” Najjar folded his hands in his lap. “Of course, I will have to inform you that, at the conclusion of this battle, you will be stripped of your rank and tried for sedition against the Hyperion Empire.”

“Frankly, Commissar, I don’t give a damn.” Hayes turned his head to look towards the viewscreen and the time to jump slowly ticking down. “My first priority has been, is, and always will be the safety of my crew. I will do whatever I can to make sure I bring as many as I can back alive.”

“Is that why you ordered this very ship to ram the Hyperion frigate during the Liberation of Stariek? Killing hundreds of your crew was your plan to keep them alive?”

Hayes felt his breath rate increase. His hands clutched the arms of his chair to the point of his knuckles turning white. He barely resisted the urge to stand and pummel the man.

“Not a day goes by where I don’t think about every single one of those I lost that day. Where I don’t think about my hand cramping from writing each of the letters to the families of those were perished. But sometimes, there’s a need to sacrifice the few for the many. If we didn’t do what we did, many more would have been lost.”

“Ah, so the needs of the many outweigh that of the few.” Though he didn’t look back, Hayes was sure Najjar was smiling. “That is an ideal we instill in all our citizens from a young age. Perhaps you will make a good Hyperion after all. Society functions better when we understand how and why it functions.”

Instead of replying, Hayes stood and walked to the front of the bridge, between the navigation and tactical stations. Captain Gibson glanced at him as he neared.

“For what it’s worth, sir,” she said, “it has been an absolute honor serving with you.”

“Even though we’ve had our differences, I’m glad to be able to say the same, Captain.” He turned to her and smiled. Lowering his voice so only she could hear, he continued, “I’m sure you’ll take as many of them with us as you can.”

“That I guarantee to you.” She winked and returned her attention to her console.

Hayes looked around the rest of the bridge, his gaze passing over each of the stations. The lights were dimmed and blue, the usual when the ship was at general quarters. He knew many of them were going to die. Nothing he did would change that fact. Even with their movements, he could tell his words got to them. However, none stopped in their duty. They all continued about their jobs as if it were another day. Several looked up at him and smiled, and others nodded their heads as if to assure him they were going to fight the good fight, no matter the odds.

Hayes returned to his chair, distinctly aware of the fact that Najjar was staring at him. The timer slowly ticked down to zero.

“Proceeding to jump to Nen Dural per preplanned instructions,” called out the navigation officer the moment the countdown ended.

A dazzling array of colors appeared as the wormhole opened in front of them. The ship deftly moved forward, lurching as it entered and emerged at the other side. Almost immediately, a slurry of magnetic cannon rounds slammed into the hull of the ship. The carrier rocked under the force before the shields came online and deflected the rest of the assault. Hayes gritted his teeth, hoping too much damage wasn’t done.

“Tactical, populate the board with contacts. Tie into the Oberlander’s network for designations and firing solutions as necessary.” Hayes maintained an aura of calm, knowing it would do no good to panic. He stood and moved to the tactical board after Gibson confirmed the order. A ring of blue dots surrounded the mass of red representing the Druthagar forces. There were nearly one hundred and sixty warships, forty more than anticipated. Judging by the numbers on the contacts, over four thousand of their fighters were in the void with hundreds more joining them by the second. He gritted his teeth. “Captain, are these designations correct?”

“All data is being relayed from the Oberlander, sir.” She glanced at Najjar out of the corner of her eye. “I have no reason to question their attention to detail.”

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“Very well. Send orders to scramble the fighters. Firing point procedures, magnetic cannons and neutron beams, Masters Ninety Two and One Hundred Sixteen,” Hayes called out, seeing which were the closest and most rapidly approaching.

“Firing solution set.”

“Match bearings, shoot, magnetic cannons and neutron beams.”

The ship rumbled as the cannons first swiveled then let loose their barrage. Blue beams lashed out into the void and tore into the enemy ships. Master Ninety Two, a somewhat boxy warship that looked almost like a trapezoid with the back straight, lit up with small blossoms of explosions. It turned to avoid the assault. As it did, it ripped apart, exploding with a brief fireball before the oxygen ran out. One Hundred Sixteen, on the other hand, took the beating and continued plowing forward. Before it got too close, however, missiles from one of the Hyperion ships crashed against the hull. They exploded, causing a chain reaction with what must have been an ammunition storage. A few moments later, it too was nothing more than a field of debris.

Hayes let out a breath and shook his head. Even with two ships down, there were still over a hundred more to go through. The mass of blue from fighters being launched at least made the view on the tactical board slightly less intimidating. It did nothing, however, to calm his nerves. Especially when the small fighters seemed to disappear as quickly as they left their respective hangars.

Najjar stood to join him at the tactical board.

“I’m no expert, but that does not look good.”

“I could really do without your commentary right about now, Commissar,” Hayes said through gritted teeth. The ship shook as one of the harpoons from a nearby Druthagar ship slammed into the hull. Before he had a chance to call out an order, the neutron beams lashed out at the chain connecting the two vessels. It snapped with a resounding groan through their own ship. “Navigation, put some space between us and them. Tactical, firing point procedures, neutron beams and magnetic cannons, Master Seventy Two.”

“Firing solution set,” Gibson called out.

“Match bearings, shoot, magnetic cannons and neutron beams,” he said, the words coming out smooth despite a month of being out of combat. Before they had a chance to fire, however, A pair of rumbles ran through the carrier as two more harpoons latched on from Master Seventy Two. Slowly, they reeled the Celestial Phoenix closer to them despite the engines best efforts to prevent it. “Navigation, I thought I told you to get us out of here.”

“I am trying my best, sir,” the Hyperion officer replied. “If our tactical officer would destroy those chains, it would make it much easier.”

“I’d like to see you do a better job,” Gibson shot back.

“Enough.” Hayes slammed his hand against the tactical board to stop the bickering. “We’re a team, so it would be nice if you two started acting as such. Communications, send a distress signal to nearby friendly vessels. Request their aid in destroying these chains.”

“Aye, sir,” said Lieutenant Kiran Price. Only a few moments passed before he continued, “Reply received from Colonel Mao Huang of the HMV Wagener. He sends his regards and indicates his vessel is en route to lend support.”

“Good,” Hayes said, watching the tactical board. Another Druthagar warship, Master Ninety Seven, was moving in to meet them. “We’re definitely going to be needing it.”

Watching a combination of the tactical board and the viewscreen showed the Wagener in all its glory as it soared over the Celestial Phoenix. It placed itself between the carrier and the nearest Druthagar warship. Flashes came from the battleship’s magnetic cannons as it ripped the enemy ship apart piece by piece. The chains holding them in place went slack, giving the Hyperion navigation officer the opportunity to put some more distance between them.

“Sir, I’m detecting more contacts emerging from the far side of the planet,” Gibson called out.

“Populate the board, Captain,” Hayes said, holding his breath. Part of him hoped they would be desperately needed Hyperion reinforcements. Another, however, knew it would be anything but.

This was confirmed when over a hundred new red dots manifested, heading towards what remained of their forces.

“Designating new contacts as Masters Two Thirty Five through Four Zero Two.” Gibson’s voice was choked, barely able to maintain professionalism.

“That’s it. I’m calling it.” Hayes sat in his chair and held himself upright. With a press of a button, he tied himself into the 1MC channel on the carrier. His gaze landed on Najjar, who crossed his arms with a faint smile on his lips. “Attention all hands, stand down. I repeat, stand down. We are no longer fighting this battle. I refuse to waste more lives. You are to return to your quarters at once and prepare for whatever boarding and inspection the Druthagar carry out.”

With a click, the line went out.

“Captain Gibson, disarm our weapons. Navigation, cease all thrust. Lieutenant Price, send a signal across all bands designating our intention of surrender and get me a vidlink with whoever is in charge over there to discuss terms.”

All the orders were followed at once, even, to Hayes’ surprise, the one issued to the Hyperion officer at the navigation station. Najjar, however, seethed. He walked up to Hayes, his feet clacking with every step.

“Admiral, I must remind you under the terms of your contract, you do not have the authority to surrender this vessel to any enemy government or military. You’re actions are unlawful and I am bound to put a stop to them.”

“Najjar, I must remind you to shut the hell up and sit down.” Hayes turned and stared the man down. “You are on my ship. I don’t give a damn who you think you are, but you have no authority to order me around other than that made up to inflate your ego. So, you can either sit and surrender with us, or you can be put on a one way shuttle into the depths of space. Your choice.”

Najjar snarled, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Without saying a word, he stormed off to the door. It quickly opened to allow him into the corridor before slamming shut behind him. Hayes turned back to Price.

“Now, if you wouldn’t mind sending that message, Lieutenant.”

“Yes, sir.”

The younger man looked relieved. Hayes couldn’t blame him. He felt the same himself, though he knew not what the future would hold. Assuming, of course, the Druthagar actually accepted their surrender and they did have a future.