Chapter 3: First Contact
Earth standard time 2841.7.29
Rudolf's bracelet was vibrating and blinking on his wrist, the pattern was a coded message that signaled an enemy attack. The ship's alarm system sounded off to inform the crew and emergency lights were lit throughout the vessel.
Rudolf walked as quickly as he could to the nearest emergency elevator to lead him to the bridge deck.
The ship was large enough to hold a small city inside. It was by sheer luck that the officer's medical bay was near the bridge. The elevator was not graceful in its landing on the bridge deck, the doors swung open so fast one could wonder if they had broken in the process.
A tremor, the ship shook and Rudolf nearly lost his footing. That's why you didn't run onboard a battleship. One wrong step and you'll be launched against a wall cracking your skull open and bleeding out with no one able to help you till the end of the battle.
Rudolf could now see the door to the bridge, why were the hallways so damn long he thought. He was almost there and it only took him fifteen minutes. Those crazy elevators are amazing.
Right before he made it to the door he felt his stomach churn wildly.
Those must have been the grav shields being deployed. Rudolf had already ordered the kinetic shields to be enabled before they had arrived at the designated location just in case. And if the bridge team enabled the grav shields as well then things were serious.
The bridge's reinforced doors swung open, alerting First Lieutenant Kolsey who quickly went off the captain's chair and saluted the oncoming captain.
"Captain, we have been struck twice by energy weapons on the starboard side which we could not identify. We also cannot find the enemy but they must be nearby based on the trajectory of the blast." Lieutenant Edward Kolsey was Dr.Elizabeth Kolsey's husband and the Hand of Fire's First Lieutenant Primus.
He was probably the person Rudolf trusted most onboard. He was a blond hair blue eyed jackass with a strong jawline that stood at nearly six feet tall. All in all, they were good friends, which made Rudolf wonder why he was always mean to his friends. Unfortunately for Rudolf's friends that was a problem for another day.
"Well done Primus, are you certain it's only one enemy?" Rudolf took his seat and began digging through the logs from the time of the attack until the present.
"No captain, unfortunately we can only be sure that the same thing attached us twice." Primus Kolsey also took his seat at his station below the captain's stand.
Rudolf opened the bridge wide comm to ensure open communication with his whole team. "Continue current scans and let's hope we get lucky with at least thermal."
"Yes, Captain Reis."
Another tremor, the ship's starboard side was being hit again.
"Captain we found it!"
Just as the message came through the comms Rudolf pressed a button on his chairs control panel. Immediately the kinetic munitions guns on the starboard side of the Hand of Fire began to fire. Every shot was aimed at the enemy target, they would show no mercy.
The button Rudolf had pressed sent a signal to the gun teams on the starboard side ordering them to open fire. This was one of the quickest ways of communication onboard, and Rudolf would use it often rather than sending verbal messages.
Rudolf and his bridge crew could hear and feel the thud of the heavy armaments on the starboard side firing without end. Rudolf could also see the enemy ship being battered while its invisibility wore off through the screens that surrounded the bridge room.
He didn't recognize the ship's design, which was concerning. What was more concerning was that he could tell that his very knowledgeable Lieutenant Primus couldn't either, and he was a huge bookworm! He wasn't as intelligent as the scientists, doctors, and other intellectuals onboard but he was definitely a bookworm.
Autarchy ships were built with practicality in mind. They had little decor and even less aesthetic appeal. Unlike the cruisers of the Ordino Sanctificatus that were basically made to look grand and holy.
The enemy ship on the other hand could only be described with one word, slick. It has a smooth outer shell with radiant colors of greens and blues. Its guns were all energy weapons from what he could tell. And it's shield made a strange rainbow effect whenever it was hit.
The enemy ship tried to escape by making a loop around the Hand of Fire. It was fast, if it was any other battleship than the Hand of Fire this battle would take much longer.
"Ramming speed Helmsman." Rudolf relayed his order and also pressed another button on his console.
The starboard side guns stopped their fire, and the forward guns began theirs. The Hand of Fire was a battleship made for only one purpose, war. It had guns on all sides and even its defensive arsenal was made to improve the ship's destructive capabilities.
Rudolf always found it amazing how everything came together. The beauty of kinetic shields was how it affected the kinetic guns on the ship. When a kinetic gun fired a shot at an enemy from inside the shield it would speed up as soon as it left the gun and was launched out of the shield. This made every shot faster after it was shot which would confuse more primitive sensors that relied on data gathered through scans to perform evasive maneuvers.
Grav shields were even more amazing. Gravity was a strange force of nature that was studied by every superpower in the galaxy. Some would believe that gravity merely pulls objects together like planets and stars. Which isn't wrong, but the scientists of the Asian Republic several hundred years ago found a new way to use it. The grav shields onboard an Autarchy battleship used the push and pull of gravity to create a film of gravitation force strong enough to stop almost anything in its tracks. The end product was an invisible solid wall of gravity that surrounded the ship.
The engines of the Hand of Fire came to life with a fury from the dormant state they were in a few seconds prior. It was a good thing that battle protocols prepared the crew of the Hand of Fire for something like this. Everyone should be in their designated areas, and the few areas that had to be standing were protected by weaker special versions of the grav shield which protected them against sudden movements so they wouldn't be launched across the ship and become wall art.
The Hand of Fire sped forward in space, she wasn't as fast as the unknown enemy before her but she was fast enough to catch them by surprise.
With the enemy ship being battered by the forward guns it couldn't move as nimbly as it was clearly meant to.
The next thing that occurred was what the Navy liked to call the bulls horn maneuver.
The enemy ship didn't look like it could take such a beating in Rudolf's opinion, and he was right. The enemy ship's shield was quietly torn apart. Its hull was ripped apart releasing its internal atmosphere.
"Take down the grav shields long enough to release War Wing Alpha through Delta." Rudolf quickly pressed several more buttons on his control panel ordering his fighter pilots to prepare for launch.
"Collect any fragments of the enemy ship and deposit them in bay eight. Seal the bay and only allow the research teams inside after all precautionary measures have been taken."
"Yes, Captain!"
"At once Captain!"
A string of confirmations came through the comms one by one.
"Any survivors are to be captured alive, War Wings."
Rudolf let out a small sigh and leaned back into his chair. Why was this chair always so uncomfortable?
"Primus, put all of the events from one hour before the battle till the present into a sealed report and send it to my office."
Rudolf had a short conversation with the rest of his officers before making a beeline to his office. He left the Primus in charge of the bridge
Before he reached his office he felt his stomach churn once again, that was the grav shields being powered down to a part of the ship. About a minute later finally in his office, he once again felt the stomach churning sensation. He had grown used to it but Rudolf was certain that there were some poor children onboard that would be emptying their stomach content right about now. He felt bad for them but it was proven that there wouldn't be any adverse effect on their health, and they too would grow used to it in time.
He had already ordered Artemis to relay the data to sector command as soon as he left his chair. As expected it wasn't long before the screen at the opposite end of his office lit up.
"Captain Reis, please explain to me what I'm looking at?" Admiral Dulius Dares was the first to appear and the one who had given Rudolf his orders about a week prior.
The second person on the screen was Grand Admiral Ume Yamamoto.
F*ck me out to orbit!
Rudolf stood at attention with a perfect salute to both the Admiral and the Grand Admiral.
Great, now I have to deal with an Imperial and an Asian Republican, and they freaking hate each other!
The Asian Republic and the Empire didn't get along too well. And it was not uncommon for them to use their own military forces against each other in times of peace.
If Rudolf had to deal with one or the other he wouldn't mind. He was technically an Imperial by heritage but everyone knew from just glancing at his public file that he wasn't born in the Empire. Not only that, but the Autarchy Admiralty was well aware of his independence from any sovereign force within the Autarchy.
Unfortunately, the admirals on the screen weren't like Rudolf. They were both well known patriots of the Autarchy and their respective sovereignties.
"At ease Captain Reis. We're aware of what you're thinking but you don't have to worry." The first to speak was Admiral Dares.
"Admiral Dares is correct, Captain. Although we understand your concerns aren't unfounded this is a time to put our differences aside." Grand Admiral Yamamoto was every bit as stoic as Rudolf remembered. Even the sound of his voice was near monotone.
"We need to talk about what you just witnessed Captain."
Before the conversation could continue an emergency message came through the office comms.
"Captain, we found another enemy ship, we are beginning our pursuit. What are our orders?"
Before Rudolf replied to Primus Kolsey he looked up at the two admirals.
After a second of eye contact with his superiors, no words were spoken and Rudolf gave his reply.
"War tactics Primus, hunt them down."
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