[font=Courier New]Part One Paved With Good Intentions
[font=Palatino Linotype]Alaska Jumpgate, Zone 21, New York System
LNS Twilight, you are cleared for jump.
Roger that, Gate Command. Preparing to jump in 3, 2, 1. Engaging jump sequence.
The LNS Twilight transmitted the codes for the Alaska Jumpgate. As the gate opened, Commander Havelock Matheson began to wonder what exactly went on in that remote place. Oh well, he though to himself, Guess Ill find out soon enough. Alright, Mr. Andrews, bring us in.
The gunboat slowly approached the glowing, pulsing event horizon of the wormhole. As she crossed the interface, a slight jolt shook the ship, and the glittering, swirling sides of the wormhole came into view.
God, but isnt that beautiful! exclaimed Ensign Scott Andrews. I never get tired of this. After several minutes of travel through the wormhole, Andrews said, Exits approaching, sir.
Understood, Ensign. Take her out.
Aye aye, sir.
There was another jolt as the ship made the transition into normal space.
Huh. Eerie, said Havelock, as he swept his gaze over the viewscreen before him. And yet, somehow, I always though it would be a bit more colourful out here.
It does seem a bit empty, sir, said Ensign Jones. Sir, I have three LSF vessels on an approach vector. Theyre hailing.
Open a channel, Ensign.
There was a slight crackle, and the viewscreen changed to show one of the pilots. LNS Twilight, we will be escorting you to the Prison Station Mitchell.
Roger that, replied the Commander.
The fighters entered formation with the Twilight, and Andrews guided the ship through the beacons that marked the passage to the prison station. Wonder what they want us for out here, said Jones.
They didnt say much. Whatever it is, its top level stuff. Very secret, said Havelock pensively.
As they neared the station, the LSF escort broke off and headed for the station, stopping a short distance away from it. Sir, we have docking permission, said Lieutenant Jones.
Alright, then. Engage docking sequence. Lets get over there and find out exactly what were supposed to be doing here, replied the Commander.
[font=Palatino Linotype]Prison Station Mitchell, Alaska System
Not a very impressive station, though Havelock as he stepped onto the station deck, I always expected it to be more imposing. Commander Havelock Matheson and Ensign Jeremy Smith entered the corridor, and were greeted by several LSF Agents and a man in the uniform of a Liberty Navy Vice Admiral.
Reporting as ordered, sir, said Havelock, as he saluted the Vice Admiral.
Ah, Commander Havelock. I am Vice Admiral Gerald Patterson. Ill be acting as your CO for your time out here in Alaska. If you would both follow me, please?
The Vice Admiral headed down the hall, with Havelock and Jeremy following behind. Eventually, he reached a briefing room, and invited the two to take a seat at the table. Once they were seated, the Vice Admiral took out two small devices, and laid them on the table. One was a holo-emitter, and Havelock had never seen the other device before. The Vice Admiral flipped a switch on the small, black device.
There. The room is secure now.
Havelock merely looked at the small, black box in puzzlement, but Jeremy spoke up, Uh sir, ah, may I ask why we need that?
Havelock turned to look at Jeremy, then back at the Vice Admiral. Ensign? he said.
Erm Havel-, uh , sir, thats a device for blocking remote transmissions. Its used to disable spying equipment, but I have no idea why we would need one here, replied the ensign, pointedly.
You can never be too careful, said Patterson. Especially with what Im about to show you. Spies could be anywhere, and we cant afford to let our enemies know we have this. You've been selected for Operation Archangel. You will be assigned to my taskforce under the operation's flagship, the LNS Purifier. We have developed a new generation of weapons technology, and you will be fighting on the front lines against the Nomads, and terrorist groups like the Order. With that, he pressed a button on the holo-emitter, and it projected an image of an eerie blue object. It vaguely resembled some sort of turret, but Havelock had never seen anything like it before. It looked like it had been grown! "This is a prototype weapon, Commander. Lab tests have shown that it is far more powerful than anything else we have in the field, and much less energy intensive.
After examining it for several seconds, Havelock exclaimed, Sir, Ive never seen anything like it!
No, I dont expect you have, Commander, said the Vice Admiral, We designed it using Nomad technology.
Nomads, sir? But isnt that dangerous? asked Ensign Smith.
No. The techies assure me that its safe. Theyve done lab and field tests of it, and were ready to start mounting it on our ships. Yours will be one of the first ones to equip them.
Havelocks brow creased, and he glanced at the floating image of the weapon. Why me, sir? Why was I chosen for this?
We selected you because you have shown to be very flexible. Your crew always has high morale, and you have good leadership capabilities. Youll be out here for the next eight months, Commander, and we need a captain who is capable of holding his crew together under the kind of pressure youll be facing. Ah, and please have your engineer look over the weapons specifications. He handed the emitter over to Havelock.
Here, Ensign, said Havelock, as he tossed it over to Jeremy, who deftly caught it. The Vice Admiral scowled at this, but let it pass.
Very well, then, said the Vice Admiral, as he rose to his feet. Im sure youd like to return to the Twilight to supervise the fitting.
God, I hope we know what were doing, thought Vice Admiral Patterson as he ushered them out of the briefing room.
Lower lower alright, thats it. Hold it still. Ok, great. Looks like its fitted properly. Uh wow, is it supposed to pulse like that?
Yes, it is. Theres no need to worry, replied the tech.
Alright then. Thats good, replied Jeremy, slightly relieved. The new weapons were bothering him. The station techs had been pretty evasive about a few things, and Jeremy was starting to worry that maybe they didnt quite understand the new technology.
Mr. Smith, is everything going well? shouted up Havelock.
Yes, sir. Everything looks fine up here, shouted back Jeremy, from atop the scaffolding alongside the Twilight, Well have to run some tests to make sure, but it looks like all the connections are good. Ensign Jeremy Smith had been spending the last couple of weeks with technicians on board the prison station retrofitting the Twilight for the new weaponry. It had taken a week to upgrade the powerplant and alter the wiring on the weapon ports to accommodate the new weaponry, and another four days to actually install the new guns.
Excellent! Commander Havelock shouted back .
Jeremy moved cautiously down the scaffolding, along with two technicians who had been assisting him in attaching the ships new armaments. The bay was mostly empty, as most of the modifications to the gunboat had already been made, and the ship was almost ready for the live fire exercises that had been planned for the next day. The next few days were going to be occupied by flight simulations and weapons tests as the techs monitored the ship. Havelock looked up at the ship with awe. Theyre beautiful, he thought. The newly installed weapons pulsed with a blue-indigo light, which bathed the ship and the floor plating around it in an eerie glow.
Well, those new weapons certainly are something, said Havelock, as he walked around the ship, admiring the changes.
Yes, sir, said Jeremy, We had some trouble adapting a few circuits around weapons port five, because of the damage we took last month, when we were engaged with those Rogues.
I remember that one. We never expected that bomber. It tore a hole in the hull around there. Im amazed we survived that. Ah, I thought you said we fixed that?
We did, sir, but some of the repairs we made were incompatible with the new wiring, so we had to tear most of it and redo it from scratch.
Ouch. Well, at least shes ready now. She is ready, isnt she?
Yes, sir, we think so. As I said, we still have some tests to run, but it looks like everythings fine.
Good, replied Havelock. The weapons were beautiful, but something about them made his skin crawl.
[font=Palatino Linotype]Planet Anchorage, Alaska System
Havelock stood on the bridge of the Twilight, his face to the viewscreen as they headed into the testing grounds in orbit of Planet Anchorage. “Bring her in line with the first target, Mr Andrews,” commanded the captain, an optimistic smile on his face.
“Aye, sir.”
The gunboat manoeuvred slowly into line with a small buoy that lay about a kilometre away.
“ In line with the first target, sir,” said Ensign Andrews once he had lined them up.
“Excellent, Mr. Johnson. Lieutenant Johnson, lock weapons on the first target.”
“Target sighted and locked, sir,” replied Lieutenant Avery Johnson over the comms.
“Very well, lieutenant. Jeremy, we ready to go?” barked Havelock over the comms to Engineering.
“Um… wait a sec… yeah, we’re just about ready. Engaging weapons interface and charging capacitors. Okay… good to go, sir.”
“Alright then. Lieutenant, you may fire the first volley on my mark. Aaaannnnddd… mark.”
An eerie shriek filled the ship for a second as the weapons discharged in unison, and six purple beams of energy raced towards the target. As they impacted the buoy, it vanished in a flash of purple. “Readings?” asked the captain.
[font=Palatino Linotype]Prison Station Mitchell, Alaska System
As the crew disembarked after re-docking on Mitchell, Havelock reflected upon the events of the past day. The tests had run flawlessly, with everything working well. Almost too well, he thought. He still didn’t trust those weapons. They creeped him out. He shook his head and banished those thoughts as he walked down the corridor to his quarters to prepare his report.
“According to your report here, everything went perfectly,” said Vice Admiral Patterson as he looked at Havelock’s report.”
“Yes, sir. Everything went quite smoothly. Readings looked normal, and we didn’t run into any problems. According to my engineer, she’s ready for active duty now.”
“And your crew?” probed Patterson.
“Well, after the exercises, they’re adjusting well to it. My gunnery crew has been training non-stop with the simulator and with the ship to acquaint themselves with the new weapons."
“Good to hear it, Commander,” said Patterson jovially, “Now, you’ll be under Captain Miranda Howe, who captains the cruiser LNS Fury. We’ll be doing some fleet exercises over the next week to get your battlegroup up to speed. Once you lot are ready, we’ll be sending you on your first mission. Good luck out there, Commander. Dismissed.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll give it my all,” said Havelock as he rose from his chair to salute the Vice Admiral, and left to inform his crew.
[font=Palatino Linotype]Planet Anchorage, Alaska System
Incoming transmission, sir. Its the LNS Fury, said Ensign Jones MacDougal.
Understood. Show it on the main viewscreen, said Commander Havelock. Captain Miranda Howe appeared on the viewscreen.
This should be a relatively routine mission, but keep your eyes open. Remember, were here to bag Nomads, and we dont want anyone else to know that. If you spot something unusual, inform us. Youre authorized to go after sighted vessels. We dont want word of this operation getting to the Order."
Understood, maam, replied Havelock. So, it seemed that this was it. The battlegroup had been assembled by Planet Anchorage, and consisted of three gunboats, a cruiser, and three fighter wings. A Nomad battleship had been sighted in the area, and the Navy wasnt taking any chances. They had been tasked with the collection of another twenty Nomads at the very least, and any Nomad Minor brains that they could find. Havelock was looking forward to the mission, as was his crew.
Now, lets move out, said Captain Howe, We wont catch any Nomads just sitting here by the planet all day. The flight path has been transmitted to all ships in the battlegroup. Howe out.
As the screen went blank, Havelock looked around the command deck with a smile. Well, you heard the Captain, he said, Lets get going!
Purple blasts washed over its shield as the LNS Twilight glided towards the incoming Nomad fighters. The Twilight angled her bow and unleashed searing purple blasts of her own into the oncoming fighters, shredding one and severely wounding another before they finished their pass. The jagged ice asteroids twinkled as their deadly dance continued on.
“MacDougal, what's the state of the fleet?” asked Havelock, calmly, as the gunboat swung around to face the Nomad fighters.
“Four fighters down, sir, but the the cruiser is fine, and the other gunboats are doing well,” replied Ensign MacDougal.
“Damn. Well, let's show these Nomads what we can do,” said the captain, a fey grin on his face. “Lieutenant, open fire on those Nomads!”
More purple screamed through the void, impacting on the wounded fighter, detonating it in a cloud of expanding pinkish-purple gas. The gunboat fired again, and again, dispatching the remaining Nomads easily, and tractored in what remained before moving back towards the main bulk of the fleet.
The fleet had encountered a large Nomad force in the depths of Alaska, consisting of four wings of fighters and two gunboat patrols. It seemed that the cruiser had dealt quite soundly with both gunboats, and the combination of Avengers, Guardians, and gunboats had taken care of the rest of the ships. Captain Howe appeared onscreen. “Good work, people. We lost five fighters, but have managed to successfully recover the pilots. Now, let's head back to Fairbanks to inventory the catch. Howe out.”
The fleet formed up about the Fury, and cruised off through the icy clouds of Alaska.
