Chapter 15 First Battle of Solaris

Chapter 15 First Battle of Solaris;

I stood in front of the airlock in full uniform, my bag at my feet. As the Phoenix lightly bumped the station and latched onto the airlock of the military station. I could already see two other soldiers. I had already said my goodbyes to the others but my brother suddenly grabbed me and gave me a strong hug. “Please be safe, Jake!” he said as he held on for a moment.

His purple mate, now free of the duty of docking the Phoenix to the station came into the room, squeezing their small frame among the others to get to me, and grabbed onto me as well. “Jake, it’s been nice getting to know you, we will see you again soon!” they said. I’m glad we had gotten onto better terms, Deakon really did pick a good dragon to be a mate.

A light next to the airlock door turned green, indicating everything was pressurized. Deakon let go of me and pressed a button to the side of the door, it slide open, along with the outer door. The station’s door was already opening, freeing me into the base floating in orbit. “Sub-Commander Jake, Captain Vink is waiting for you, the Rebel is docked further up the station!” Said one of the soldiers, a certain urgency in his voice.

I turned back to t others, waving “I’ll see you all again soon, I promise!” Then I walked through the airlocks.

The other solder spoke into the Phoenix “You don’t have any comms system, we couldn’t communicate other than that small radio. We recommend you go to the planet’s surface until the dangers is over! I would recommend checking out the vendors down at the spaceport on the surface, they would likely have something for communication with other ships and stations, and a transponder too! We almost shot you down!”

Deakon affirmed with the solder “Okay, we’ll check it out, and sorry for sneaking up on you like that!”

I hurried along with the first solder. “What’s going on?” I asked him “There’s something happening isn’t there?”

“Intel says there are three ships coming this way, We don’t have time to abandon the base like we did in the past. From what I hear the generals also want to start ‘standing our ground’ as a show of defiance. Vink needs you back on the Rebel, I guess the ship is a little short staffed” He paused for a moment but kept walking. “Intel also says the lead ship is a Longsword.”

I fell silent but kept pace with him, a little shocked myself. ‘Longsword’ class ships were Titan’s biggest. 1000 meters wide with 24 forward guns, they were pride of his fleet, and were only brought out when he wanted to really blow something up. We arrived at the airlock to the Rebel, I could see her through the window next to the airlock, nosed on and giant compared the Phoenix. The soldier gestured with his hand to embark. “Captain Vink is waiting for you on the command deck”. I entered and made my way as quickly as I could.

I reached the command deck, dropping my bag temporarily at the entry, hoping the Captain wouldn’t notice. I walked forward, he was on the command platform. Dragon ships had a central platform raised about a meter off the rest of the command deck, with a small console in the middle for quickly viewing statuses of the ship, a small grab rail around it to hang on when things got rough. This would be were the ship Captains and First Commanders would issue orders to the command deck from. It was elevated to give the commanding officers a view of everyone’s screens and their situations. I’ve heard on Titan’s ships there was even a railing surrounding the platform to remind the crew they were segregated from the commanding crew. On our ships however, there were steps surrounding the platform so the crew could easily interact, to promote a more productive crew that works together. Captain Vink was standing at the center of the platform. Jude was at the Lead gunner console to the right and forward. The was a pilot on the control mount, straight ahead of the command platform.

I approached, placing my hand on my chest and bowing slightly, I hadn’t been noticed yet when I spoke up. “Sir! Ready to resume duty!” I stated. He turned to me, his face seemed to be relieved a little upon seeing me.

“When I said I hoped you could return early, I had hoped it be more than two days. But your timing is perfect, I need you!” He looked at Jude for a moment, then back to me. “I need to know before you take your post, is your head clear? Did you get everything accomplished you needed to?”

I didn’t really need to think, between being reunited with Deakon, and the meditation that Glavous taught me, “I’m likely more clear and level headed than ever, Sir! I’m perfectly fit to resume my role as lead gunner!”

“Well that’s great news, but you won’t be returning to the post quite yet”

“Sir?” I was concerned, had I been demoted in my absence?

“First Commander Zho is still on the surface, and there is no way for her to return quickly enough. The Wilds and the Defiant are already en route to the edge of this system along with 5 Dissident class ships. We need to leave here right away. You’re acting First Commander” He stated. “I hope you didn’t get rusty in the past 3 months!”

“Oh, I mean, Yes Sir!” I was surprised. I looked at Jude who nodded with a little pride. We made a good team, and suddenly the urge to kick ass together again rose inside of me.

“Good, I don’t know what you heard so far, but these are the facts. One Longsword and two Cutlass class ships are coming at us. The high ranks tell us it’s time we start standing our ground instead of running. I happen to agree with them. We’re going to meet them at the edge of the system and hold them back. There are 5 more Dissident class of ours holding back in case we need backup and to protect the surface should one of the ships break through.

“You’ve seen enough I think you know what we’re going to do. Take us out there, the pilot already has coordinates. I need to review the mission brief a little more closely. Once I have a good understanding I’ll have you read it for yourself.” He paused, then said the words I’ve wanted to hear for years now “You have the ship! I’ll be in the briefing room until we get closer. Get her moving, Commander”

“Yes, sir!” I replied. Captain Vink walked off the bridge leaving me in command. I looked at Jude, he smiled back to me.

“Welcome back, Sir!”

“Thank you Jude, I’m glad to be back on board.” I turned me head to the other side, starting to issue the orders to get going. “Ops, take a roll call, if everyone is on board that needs to be, declare our intention to leave and let go of the airlock as soon as the station gives us clearance”

“Yes sir” said the dragon as she turned to her console.

“Pilot, you have coordinates, confirm?”

“Yes, Sir. We are meeting just past the orbit of the outer gas giant, course direction is already inputted”

“Very good. All stations confirm status!” I ordered, one by one each station repeated back “Ready”, Jude last as lead gunner.

“Roll call all on board” Said the dragon at the ops station. “The Station has cleared us, releasing clamps” The hull of the ship echoed a lough thunk as the docking clamps released.

“Pilot, we’re loose, take us out and go to maximum FTL as soon as we’re turned”

“Yes, Sir!” he replied, his wings tail and hands went to work, backing out the ship and turning her outwards away from the star. As we turned I saw the Phoenix, she had only let go of the dock herself a moment or two prior, but was making a sharp turn toward the surface of Solaris. She seemed so small among the larger silver ships, her reddish brown exterior made he seem even more out of place. Our hull groaned as the coils at her wingtips came to life, taking the ship to super luminal speed. “Underway, Commander, ETA 43 minutes”

The gravity of the situation started to sink in for me. I had had several simulated training sessions as lead gunner in first command roles. Command deck training requires it, but it doesn’t replace experience. To make matters worst we were facing a Longsword, the biggest of our enemies, and I had not actually seen one with my own eyes before. Up until now we weren’t worthy of such big resources from Titan. The fact he was now turning his big ships on us actually brought a fire inside, we had his attention now.

About 20 minutes of silence was interrupted by the Vink returning to the bridge. He handed me a device, the text on the screen in Draconis laid out the details. Our two sister ships were already waiting, along with 5 smaller ones. Two more Defiant class ships were on the way, the Uncivil, the newest of our sisters, was 3 hours away, the Adamant was 7 hours. The battle would likely be over by the time the latter arrived, provided things went well. All other ships were more than a day away. It was just us 8, but felt like it was enough. The plan was to disable the two Cutlass class ships before going after the Longsword. It’s massive size made it less maneuverable leaving it actually east to stay out of the line of gunfire it could make. Something else caught my attention as I read over the brief. The First Commander of the Defiant was now listed as “Commander Parith”. I’d have to congratulate that asshole sometime.

The battle plan was simple enough. We, the three larger ships, would take on the Longsword, taking out the drive coils first so it couldn’t make a run at the base or planet, then try to take out her heart, running at the engine area until it would lose power and be disabled. Once it could no longer move or fire, we’d help the smaller ships finish up with it’s two escorts if needed.

“Approaching the location, Sir” the pilot said, as he pulled back a large switch, dropping us to sub luminal speed and his wings going back to work. We slowed and lined up with the other ships on the right.

“Hold and stand by” Vink issued his order. The Pilot lined up perfectly with the others. This was a new pilot, he wasn’t here when I left, I hoped he was half as good as it turned out Exodus was. But then I turned my attention to our gunner.

“Jude, we’re going coils first, then the reactor on the Longsword” I told him.

“Sure, Ja- I mean, yes, Sir!” he smiled a little, I could tell he was happy to have me back. He typed away at his console then replied a few moments later “Targets pre-loaded” I nodded to confirm. Then turned to the Pilot.

“I see you’re new, we haven’t met, I’m Sub-Comander Jake”

“Lieutenant Trit, Sir” He leaned back a little and looked me in the face. “I transferred on 2 weeks ago”

“How long have you been flying?” I asked him

“4 years with the Militia, but 85 years before that as a civilian, Sir” He replied, the answer gave me a lot of relief. He turned back and leaned back onto the mount, like everyone else on board, he was preparing himself mentally for the battle ahead. But for an hour it was nothing, Silence and waiting while we waited for our biggest challenge yet to show up. I was beginning to think it had somehow already slipped passed us, but comms was silent, they would have called for us if had made it be before now. Eventually I turned to Vink.

“Sir, is it possible it’s gotten past us?” I asked

“No, we would know, at least one of it’s support ships wo- THERE!” He pointed out the large windows at the front of the command deck. I set my eyes on one of these behemoths for the first time. It was as large as it’s legends proceeded it. A kilometer wide and a row of 12 canons on each wing. Less than a second after I turned my head, the two smaller escort ships dropped instantly into view, to each side and lower then the main ship. The escorts were the same size as us, but had more armor plating. A pair Cutlass class, closely related to the same class ship the plans of our ship was based on. “Combat level 3!” Vink ordered “Engage them!”

“Lieutenant Trit, Start your run on the left coil!” I ordered, the ships was already lurching forward before I could the next orders “Try to keep us out of those guns’ firing range!” Like ours, I assumed it’s guns only had a certain level of rotation before the ship itself would need to turn to attack us. Keeping out of these imaginary cones in front of these ships was key. “Jude, try to hit the coils before the armor closes in on them!”

“Yes, Sir!” he replied. Armored dragon warships had a layer of armor that opened up while at warp, allowing the coils less restriction to travel faster. When in battle, these giant covers would close to protect the driver coils. A ship could still jump to super luminal speeds in that configuration, but the speed would be greatly limited. I noted as Longsword appeared, it’s armor was open, likely the crew assumed they would make it all the way to the station as with all attacks before, and left the armor up until it was closer. This was also a great sign, we caught them off guard and had the upper hand.

“Jude, have the rear gunners try to take out any thruster banks as we fly by too, we can limit it’s ability to maneuver it will give us the advantage.”

He smiled, we were already in sync, he had already been inputting those targets” Already done, Sir!”

We swung in very smoothly, the hull echoed as our guns started firing off, the gunners in each seat across our wings showing us what they could do. Each of our 6 guns fired twice on our first run, directly hitting the Longsword’s left coil as the cover closed, one of those shots straying and hitting the outer armor beside the closing covers. I’m not sure it was on purpose or not, but the stray shot exploded and made a hole in the armor, destroying the mechanism that closed the upper half, leaving it’s coil partially exposed.

“Jude! Did you see that?” I exclaimed

“Yes! That shot came form number 3, Ensign Berso. We’re all going to owe her a drink after this!”

“She just made the rest of our first job easier!” Vink spoke up “Bring us around and make a second run, make sure that coil is done!”

“Yes, Sir!” I turned to the pilot “Bank us right and come around again, Trit!”

“On it!” he replied as the ship leered to the right, we made a large semi-circle and came around again, coming at the ships left side straight on. As we ran at the ship again, I could see the Wilds and the Defiant taking turns on the right coil.

“Fire as will when in range!” I said.

“All guns firing!” Jude replied. Our hull echoed again with the large booms of the Rebel’s 6 forward guns fired again. Each hitting the still exposed driver coil as the last few shots broke it apart in a firey mess. As we got close to the Longsword, Trit pulled up, the rear guns now fired hitting key thrusters on the enemy’s left side.

Shooting the thrusters wasn’t enough yet, the Longsword could still move, and as we made a retreating move to get ready for another run, the ship turned up at us. It’s canons starting firing, Trit expertly dodging the first few shots, but then the ships violently lurched, rotating to our left.

“Direct his to our left coil!” Ops announced, ans Trit leaned to the right, trying to get us out of the danger zone of the guns’ range.

“We lost some thrust on that side too!” Trit said while struggling with the controls. “Nothing major, I can still control her well!”

“Wilds and Defiant report one more run should take care of the right coil, Captain” Said the dragon as comms.

“Good! This is going very well so far!” Vink said before giving his next order “Make a run at the reactor!”

“Trit, get above the ship, as far above as you can, then take a run at the very center!” I said, then turned to ops. “Get the intel on the ships plans and give Trit a target to work with!” She nodded and started typing at buttons.

“Got it! Trit sending to your console!” She said

“Try to give me 30 second runs Trit!” Jude asked.

“Got it!” HE replied. He flew from the ship, flying straight away from the top of it, then made a large upward loop and pointed the Rebel right at the heart of the Longsword. Immediately All 6 guns started firing again. 30 Seconds was enough time for 3 shots each this time. As we made our run 18 total shots tore away at the armor, it made a great deal of damage, but didn’t penetrate yet into the hull, it would take more than just one run to make the hole. As we reached the ship, Trit dived down, taking us under the less dangerous back side of the ship. The 6 rear guns guns did try to take shots as we passed, but Trit expertly dodged as we fly past.

“Defiant and Wilds report the right coil destroyed, Defiant is now joining us in runs at the reactor!” The dragon at comms informed up. “Wilds is going to continue at disabling thrusters!”

I looked ahead as one of the smaller Cutlass was being assaulted by three of our small ships. The second Cutlass suddenly disaspeared in a streak towards Solaris.

“Sir!” I pointed it out.

“Comms, send a message to the station warning of one incoming!” Vink ordered

“Should we go after it?” I asked

“No, Commander, we left ships behind for a reason. Our job is this Longsowrd!” he replied. “Line us up for another run!”

“Yes, Sir!” I turned to Trit. “Take us above again and line up for another run!”

“Pulling up!” The ship turned upwards and flew up past the front of the ship this time, a risky move, but it would put us in better position for our next run. Jude had his gunners fire at the forward canons of the larger ship as we zipped past, taking out two of it’s 24 guns. As we flew above the ship, we passed the Defiant, making a run of it’s own at the middle of the ship.

“Another 30 second run!” I told Trit.

“30 seconds sir!” he confirmed. We flew upwards away form the ship, then made a hard turn, pointing the Rebel’s nose at the enemy’s heart again, just as the Defiant pulled out of it’s run. I could see the wilds, circling the massive polished silver ship, now showing it’s damages. She was firing at it, still taking out the last of it’s maneuvering thrust, leaving it a sitting duck for us to finish the job. We took our dive at the center again, firing 18 more shots again. The ship still didn’t relent, but as the last could shots hit and we got closer, there was an explosive decompression from the center. Debris flew into space, and, making me turn my head, I could see the bodies of a few of it’s crew being flung into space form the ship’s engine compartment. It was tough to watch, but this was war. As we pulled out I could see it’s reactor, it was exposed now. We had punched out hole.

It was the Defiant who started out run behind us, that would deliver the death blow. Her shots dived deep into the hull, and after only two rounds of firing the center of the ship exploded. The rector blown to bits, blowing mostly out of the whole we made at the top, but the massive explosion also blew a new hole out of the bottom. The Longsword went dark, what little lights were visible went out, the ship started listing to the left while starting to drift to the right. I couldn’t help but make a fist and pull it down in excitement, gritting my teeth and holding in an excited yelp. Just lightly pounded his fist on his console.

“It’s not quite over yet!” Vink spoke up “Jake, the Cutlass class!”

“Right, Sir!” I came back form the sense of victory. “Trit, take us around the left wing of the Longsword and take a run at the Cutlass!” Even though the huge ship was adrift, it would have capacitor banks attached to the canon like us, it was disabled, but still dangerous if we passed it the wrong way, at least for a few hours until the power ran out.

We ran at the remaining ship, it was already looking pretty beaten, but it was putting up a strong fight still. Two of the smaller Dissident class ships of our own were adrift, disabled by the larger cutlass. We were the same size as it was, and still in great shape. The support ship remained distracted by the 3 smaller ships as we approached. As we got close I issued my command. “Fire at will”

Our hull echoed the deep thumps of the 6 forward guns firing into the Cutlass. Those 6 rounds were all that was needed, as a couple hit the center, penetrating the weaken armor to it’s core, the ship exploded in the center. It broke in half as the left side continue to burn and explode into smaller pieces. I frowned a little, the goal isn’t always to completely destroy ships, but to disable them, like the we did with the Longsword, with hope to salvage the ship into our own fleet.

“Great job!” Vink announced and patted me heavily on the back between my wing stubs. I did feel proud but there was more to do. “Comms, message the Wilds and Defiant, request voice” The dragon nodded and typed things out on their console.

“Booth Responding” They replied after a couple seconds

“Open mic!” Vink said, the comms officer nodded to confirm it was open “Rebel here, we’re down one coil and some thrust but otherwise in very good condition. We should send one of the larger ships back to the station to ensure the other Cutlass is taken care of, what are you status’s?”

“Wilds here, we have both coils but lost all the canons on our left and all on the rear, we took a lot of damage to our maneuvering jets as well, we can’t really fight more move a lot but we’re far from disabled still.”

“Defiant here, we took hits to both coils, I’m not sure we even have warp at all right now”

“I would recommend you stay here then, and help deal with the aftermath and taking the Longsword. We’re going to go back to the station and ensure that Cutlass that escaped is dealt with before it gets an upper hand” Vink announced. “We will return if needed.”

“Good luck” Both ships responded as their channels closed. The Defiant and wilds would stay here for hours, waiting for the Longsword to completely run out of power, making it harmless, then board the ship, taking the crew, hopefully peacefully, rather than letting the suffocate and freeze to death.

“You heard our Captain!” I announced “Set course back to the station, maximum FTL!”

“Yes, Sir!” Trit started turning the ship

“Yes, Sir!” The dragon at Nav made a course, not very far, so would only take him seconds to feed the target to Trit’s panels.

“With one coil down, we’re at 75 percent speed” Ops spoke up, I didn’t understand warp field theory like my brother did, so I never got why losing one coil only lost a quarter of the speed, all I knew is that coils don’t’ scale up linearly.

“Understood” Vink said “Take us away when ready, Trit”

“Yes, Sir!” After only a few more seconds on controlling the ship into a perfect line back towards the station, the familiar groan of coils working echoed off the wall, however it was notably heavy on one side this time, as one of them was not working.

It took over an hour to get back, greeted to sight of a heavily damaged but still fighting Cutlass taking on the 5 remaining smaller Dissident class of our own. 2 more from the previous battle had followed us back to the station, and all 3 of us immediately joined in.

“Comms, Message the station and check to see if they’ve been hit” Vink ordered.

“Yes, Sir!” she replied

“Lead Gun, have your targets set, Commander Jake, Take us back to battle, It looks like they have her coils down already, so aim for the guns and reactor now”

“Yes, Sir!” I replied “Trit, take a run at it, Jude, have you-” I didn’t get to finish my orders before the ship suddenly ran, but not towards us, or towards the station, but instead it headed towards Solaris, behind the station.

“After it!” Vink yelled.

Trit worked his wings, and pushes the throttles fully forward, The Rebel rumbled and we started chasing down the other ship. After only a few minutes, It started skipping off the atmosphere, not firing a round, and showing no signs of stopping, suddenly it nose dived, and I looked at Vink as his face realized the same thought as mine. This ship was going to crash itself into a city!

“JUDE!” I yelled “START SHOOTING! BREAK IT UP!”

“I-” Jude scrambled at his console “I can’t get a lock, the atmosphere is making it jump around too much!”

“Ops!” Vink started “Is our hull in good enough condition to go after-”

The comms officer cut him off “SIR! You really need to hear this!” Vink nodded and she started playing a message over the speakers.

“MAYDAY MAYDAY This is the first officer of the ‘Decay of Chaos’. We’ve killed our Captain, He tried to crash us into the planet to kill us and millions but we’re out of control and we can’t pull out! PLEASE HELP!”

This resonated with my soul, this sudden look into the dissident of Titan’s own military, where leaders would throw themselves to death while the crew are helpless dragged into oblivion. To my very core, I was shocked, so shocked I couldn’t speak for a second. I looked around, and for a second, it seemed like neither could any one else.

But there were people down there, and also people on that ship, even if we were enemies moments ago, they were lives, just like we were. I thought for a second, how we could pull this ship out of it’s decent. There was only one idea I had, how we took the Phoenix home.

“Ops! Start modifying our warp field parameters!” I ordered, “Wrap our bubble around that ship we’re going to pull it out!”

“Jake, it’s dangerous!” Vink Snapped back, shocked himself at what we just heard.

“I know, but it’s our only choice!” I looked at Vink, his worry was mainly for his crew, but righfully so, but this ship was also headed down to crash into innocent lives.

Captain Vink thought about it, but with little time to think, he agreed. “Okay, let’s do it!”

I continued with my plan. “Trit, get down as close as you can to the ship! Jude, lock down your guns we’re a rescue mission now! Ops, let me know when your modifications are ready!”

Trit pointed the nose down “I can get us within a few dozen meters, but the rough atmosphere is going to keep me from getting closer!”

“Do what you can!”

“Ready on our one coil, Sir!” Ops said, I had forgotten for a moment we only had one left, it would have to be enough.

“Start it off easy when we fire it up, remember the goal isn’t to actually go to warp, just help this ship pull out”

“Yes Sir!” A few more taps on the console “Trit, I’m ready here!”

“Get in nice and close Trit, and get ready to flip that switch on my command!”

“60 meters and closing!” Trit said, his wings and tails now rapidly correcting for the atmospheric drag, especially on the left side, where the damaged coil was slowing us, trying to throw the Rebel into a spin. “50 meters!” a few more second pass, the ground getting closer. “40 meters! 30 meters!”

“NOW!” I ordered. Trit threw the switch, the ships violently shuddered as the field grabbed us and his wings rotated back, his tail lifting up the rear control, the Rebel rotated up but continued to fall with the Cutlass under us.

“Comms! Get us a voice connection on their frequency!” Vink ordered

“Open sir!” She replied

“Titan ship, we’ve got our warp field around you but it’s not strong enough, you need to pull up too!” Vink commanded. The Cutlass’s right wing started breaking up, it’s coil heading for the city below.

“We’re trying! We had little control thrust left before we were throw into this! WE’RE PULLING AS HARD AS WE CAN!”

“We’re Changing!” Trit shouted “Not much be we’re pulling up! I need more!” The dragon at ops moved some controls at their console, the one coil at our side groaned more, but it sounded wrong, straining to do what it wasn’t designed to. She analyzed her screen.

“Keep trying! We still have along pull ahead!” he shouted.

I looked ahead out of the large windows of the command deck, flames crept over the glass, we were out from over the continent now, over open ocean. The population on the ground was saved already.

“Captain, it’s course is clear of the city!” she stated. That’s great, but it wasn’t enough for me.

The coil sound suddenly changed, instead of a loud groan it changed suddenly to a high pitched whine, then cut out completely. The Rebel lurched violently to the right as the field collapsed, we no longer had a grip on the falling ship. The voice channel was still open, we could hear panic let loose on the command deck of the other ship. “PULL UP! PULL! UP!” along with other yelling and commands. Our command deck fell silent as there was nothing left we could do listening to the final screams and words of the ship that would have killed us only moments ago.

The Cutlass hit the water at a couple thousand kilometers per hour. Even with it’s extra armor it was no match for the hard water at that speed. It disintegrated on impact, spreading across the surface in a violent long white splash, breaking into thousands of pieces that skipped across the surface. Parts slowed on the water then started instantly sinking as the friction brought them to a stop. Some parts briefly ablaze before being taken into the ocean. There would be no survivors.

Trit strained at the controls, trying to keep the Rebel form experiencing the same fate, slowly but surely he was able to somewhat slow us down and bring the noise up, taking us back up and into orbit. Several long moments of silence passed as the sky turned back into the familiar field of stars in space. Finally, Vink broke the silent.

“End Combat status”

24 hours had passed, from the safety of the station I looked onto the ship I was second in command of yesterday. The Rebel already had workers in spacesuits crawling all over her on the outside. Repairing the damage we had done in saving all these people yesterday. I looked down the row of docks. The Wilds and Defiant were getting the same treatment, but they were worst for wear, it might be months before they were battle ready again. Out newer sisters had arrived shortly after the battle. Patrolling as fresh ships in case a second wave we didn’t know about showed up. But what as truly shocking was the corpse of the Longsword, brought to the station for inspection, intelligence and most of all, to see if it could be rebuilt, renamed, and put back in service under our flag. Larice broke my concentration, placing her hand on my shoulder.

“Hey stud! I heard you fucked those ships as acting first commander yesterday!” She said. Damn, it was so good to lay my eyes on her again.

“Yea I-” I didn’t even get to really start my sentence when Jude Came up, slapping my on my back

“THIS GUY!” he boasted “Deserves his own ship! His ideas might have saved millions of dragons yesterday!” He laughed and started pulling me along. “We owe you a drink! Hell this whole station owes you a drink! All of Solaris even!”

“I know I’d like to reward him too!” Larice said “A tall ale for the biggest hero in the system today!”

“Guys, Come on! It was our whole ship!” It wasn’t a lie, Jude was amazing in his post, And seeing Larice’s action on the Wilds form afar. “Really, we’ve made a good team! Not Just us, but the three ships!”

Larice laughed “Hell yea! A few around the station started calling our ships the ‘Slayer Sisters’ for bringing down a Longsword!”

“The drink will have to wait though!” Jude interrupted “Vink wants to see you! Larice, you’re going to want to come as well!”

“What’s going on?” I asked him “Is everything okay?”

“I’m not sure entirely. Other than he wants you in one of the large common areas.”

We walked along, chatting and catching up. I felt really good to be between my best friends again. They asked me about my brother, and how everything went catching up with him. I told them I’ll tell them all about it with a few drinks after this meeting with Vink. We were all really feeling good about meeting up again. We quickly ended up where the Vink wanted to see me, a rather large crowd had gathered. What surprised me was a small round of applause when I entered. Vink was gesturing me to come over rather frantically, so I hurried to him.

“What is it, Sir?” I asked

“We don’t want to keep the General waiting!” HE said. I was rather shocked. Which General? Vink pulled me onto a temporary platform where Sodin, and our ships first commander Zho was already standing.

“About time, Jake!” Sodin said lowly, smiling at me.

“Sorry, Sir, if I had know I would have been quicker!” I glanced and Jude, he was smiling as if it was some prank.

“If I may have a moment of your attention please!” Sodin shouted out over the murmuring crowd. It silenced after a few seconds “Thank you!” He paused “As some of you know, we have yet another 5 ships completed. We have chosen the captains for these new ships, one of which is here today. Usually these promotions are taken care of by my the Colonels or other ranks, but sometimes I can take that pleasure for myself!” Suddenly Zho’s absence made sense yesterday, they were likely taking the tests required to become a Captain, when the attack broke out. Sodin turned to Zho. “Commander Zho!” He smiled at her “Congratulations! I hereby promote you to the rank of Captain, and order you to service in command of the Maverick!”

“Yes, Sir! Thank you sir!” She couldn’t help but smile, as she ceremoniously lowered her head. Sodin removed the three narrow bands form her left horn, and placed one broad gold band in their place, indicating her new rank of Captain. Afterwards he lifted he head, placed her hand on her chest and bowed forward. Sodin returned the salute.

“I know you will make us proud, Captain Zho!”

“I will, Sir!” She replied.

Then Sodin marched towards me. I stood at attention, even more rigid than usual. He paused, and inspected me, up and down. I hadn’t had a chance to straighten out, I really hoped my uniform was up to standards.

“Sub-Commander Jake” His voice changed “Your heroic actions saved a large part of the population yesterday, I know you wanted to save the lives of that crew aboard the Cutlass as well. You show a devotion to preserving life that inspire many of us to keep fighting for!” Another soldier walked up to him, handing him a plaque and a small package. “In recognition of these actions, I hereby awards you this metal of Valor!” Sodin pulled a metal pin from the package, very polished red emblem, and pinned it on the left side of my uniform top. As he did so, he leaned into me, privately speaking to me, and only me, to my ear. “You mother and Father would be proud of you. You truly are their son” He leaned back upright as I fight to keep a tear from forming in my eye, and handed me my the Plaque, this one was heavy, not made of cheap material, and highly polished. He spoke aloud again “This is one of the highest honors in our ranks, and I am proud to present it to you!” He placed his hand on his chest and bowed. Smiling, I returned the salute to the General. Then he stepped aside as the crowd applauded, talking to Vink “He’s all yours Captain Vink”

There was more?

Vink stepped forward and in front of me. “As you just heard, I’m losing my first officer aboard the Rebel permanently. I was considering you as her replacement, but your actions yesterday confirmed my choice was solid!” He paused “Sub-Commander Jake, I hereby promote you tot he rank of Commander, and order you to service as my first officer aboard the Rebel!” The solder brought him two new gold bands. Vink gestured for me to lean down, placing those rings on my left horn along with the one that remained. He placed his hand on his chest as the General before and bowed, I happily returned his salute as well. I was honored to be this dragon’s first officer on a permanent basis now!

“Lieutenant Jude!” Vink called from the platform. Jude walked towards Vink and stood at attention beside me. “You have been acting as Lead Gunner for the last three months, that position is now your permanent rank and station. I hereby promote you to rank of Sub-Commander” The solder handed Vink yet another gold band. He turned to Jude, who was already leaning forward for him. Vink removed the silver bands of his Lieutenant rank and placed the one gold band, and they two saluted each other.

“Thank your for your attention!” Sodin announced and the crowded applauded again. Larice came onto the platform, giving me a strong hug then the same to Jude. Zho also approached, my former commanding officer. “Congratulations!” I said as I saluted her, Jude and Larice doing the same.

“To you as well, Commander! I look forward to working with you, Vink, and the Rebel!” she turned to Larice “And the Wilds as well of course!”

Sodin bid his farewell, Taking the two Captains with him “We have some more planing to discuss, Congratulations both of you, again!”

“Yes, Sir! Thank you, Sir!” We said, accidentally in unison. Sodin chuckled and walked, the two Captains following.

“NOW!” Larice shouted “It’s time for that ale! Follow me, there’s a bar about three pods down the station!

We walked down the station, carrying on and chatting, but along the way we passed some of the crew from the Longsword, being processed. Some would remain prisoners, properly treated of course. Others would be “Freed” and rleeased to the general population, but under close scruitiny for some time. They were knelt on the floor, heavily armed guards surrounding them, only about 10, they were being processed in groups. A couple lower ranked soldiers walking around, gathering names and ranks. But up front was the Longsword’s Captain, at least as far as I could tell, from his one wide gold band, if they used the same rank markings as we did. He looked defeated, as he should, but also something else in his eye, desperation. I slowed, I had a sick feeling in my gut. Larice and Jude stopped, noticing my change in mood.

“Jake, what is it?” Larice asked. But before I could answer, the Captain had quickly grabbed the sidearm from a passing Ensign, who had carelessly left their holster open.

“DOWN DOWN EVERYONE DOWN!” the guards started ordering the group. “DROP THE GUN!” one of them ordered the Captain. Suddenly every gun in this section of the station was pointed at him, this included mine, Larice’s, and Jude’s.

He swayed and shook, aiming from one guard to the next nonsensically, he was obviously no longer stable. One of the Commanders in charged holstered his gun, trying to talk him out of the situation. Extending a hand slowly. He tried talking to him.

“Captain, we told you, no one would be harmed if you cooperate. Please, put the gun down, no one is going to hurt you.” He pleaded.

“NO! NO! It’s not you I’m worried about!” He shouted, in a state of sheer panic now.

“We told you, we’re not sending you back, even if you wanted to go back, Titan isn’t going to kill you if you’re here with us!” The Commander tried to calm him, from the words he was saying I’m guessing this wasn’t the first outburst. I had sympathy for him. My new rank, though not in command, I would feel pretty terrible for my crew in his situation too. But even then, it didn’t seem to be his crew he was worried about.

“You’re not going to win this war! And when you lose, he’s going to find me! It’s going to be worst than death! I can’t go through that wrath!” Before anyone would react, he suddenly pulled the gun back, placed it under his jaw, and pulled the trigger. His staff behind him now covered in his blood as they all gasped, and his corpse fell forward.

Twice, in two days, I had an intimate look into Titan’s armies. It was not like ours at all. It was just a job to them. However instead of enduring the punishment of failure, they would rather die. Two Captains in two days ended their lives rather than accept failure, and this was truly frightening.

I holstered my side arm back to my though as did my friends. There was a quiet solemn moment, before I spoke, darkly.

“I can’t decide, if no longer want that drink, or want it even more.”