Shadow Core - The Legacy

by Licinio Goncalves

  “Toby, you think you’re comfortable enough to Vortex the ship out of this system? I can get Nexus to take over if you’re not feeling up to it,” Static said.

  “I’m fine actually. The system is very intuitive, and the ship is in perfect working order. I can do it if you’d like, but are we really going to leave the system without dealing with the Goliath platform? You know the rules about letting our technology fall into the wrong hands,” Toby said.

  “I don’t really know what to do about it. Since we don’t know where they got the information they used to build it I’m not sure if destroying it would actually accomplish anything. For the moment it is best to retreat and let the Council know. Let them decide what to do about it,” Static decided, concerned about taking action before fully understanding the situation.

  Concerned, Drake said, “For all we know, the Council, or at least someone on it, sold them the information. You know who I’m talking about.”

  “It has crossed my mind, yes. He was really upset at our presence in this system. But I don’t want to believe that someone on the Council would betray our people like that. And we can’t jump to conclusions, his call could have just been a coincidence,” Static reasoned.

  “You said it was an older design. Could the Union have salvaged that unit?” Jude asked.

  “I don’t see how. According to all our records no Goliath platform was ever deployed in the Sol system, and they can’t be moved between systems. They had to build it here, though they could have made their own version of it based on scans of our platforms,” Toby said.

  “If it can’t be moved out of the system, then is this thing really a threat?” Kade asked.

  “As powerful as the Goliath is, it’s just a tool. A tool designed to compress the power of a star into an energy beam capable of destroying small moons, granted, but a tool nonetheless. The threat comes from having a potentially tyrannical power having control of it. If the Union were to deploy one of these things in a disputed system they would be able to blockade planets and decimate local forces with brute force. There would be no need for mediation, dialogue or understanding. That kind of power is dangerous in the right hands, let alone the wrong ones,” Static surmised.

  “So why design it then?” Kade asked.

  “Deploy one in the right place, and couple it with a good quality early warning system, and the platform can protect planets against large impactors. It is especially useful in systems with large numbers of free asteroids and complex gravitational set-ups. Unfortunately, military forces only ever tend to notice its sheer destructive potential,” Static said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

  Kade couldn’t help but stare absent-mindedly at the schematics of the Goliath installation, for it was truly aptly named in both scope and size. She had actually seen orbital space ports of smaller size than this behemoth.

  The bulk of the installation was comprised of what appeared to be solar arrays and particle harvesters: designed to collect and compress the stellar matter being ejected by the sun into a gigantic storage chamber at the core of the structure.

  A set of toroidal particle accelerators were designed into the superstructure itself, allowing the platform to speed up the stored particles to near light speed before firing them at the target.

  In Kade’s opinion this was not a ‘problem’, this was a full blown disaster just waiting to happen. For even with its heavy armour there was simply no way that even the Zenith would be able to survive being hit by a blast from such a monstrosity.

  She could see what Static had been talking about as clear as day. In the right hands this structure could save a planet. In the wrong ones it could probably destroy one… literally.

  Toby was right, they had to leave and they had to do it now. If that monster were to fire on them there would be no escaping the inevitable end.

  The Regent

  It was the end result of a ten year long concept engineering effort, commissioned and coordinated by the Solarian Union military. The project’s singular purpose had been to merge the tactical capabilities of a traditional carrier with the brute force and stamina of a dreadnought. And by the time the work was complete the new ship design managed to out-gun and outperform all other ship designs in the Union, past and present.

  To this day it is still unknown what originally inspired the union to design such a beast. Which in theory is capable of tackling an enemy fleet on its own. Not that the captain has been born yet who would be stupid enough to actually want to put the claim to the test.

  It was the Jupiter class capital ship design.

  Six Jupiter class ships have been pressed into service since the design’s introduction into active service over a decade ago, with four more still under construction. And each ship serves as the command and control centre of one of the Union’s strategic combat fleets. The most notable being the First Forward Fleet, under the command of the Regent.

  The First Forward Fleet, or the ‘triple effed’ as it is sometimes called by those who would oppose it, is the premier damage multiplier of the Union. And is often dispatched into theatres of war out on the fringes of colonised space. Bringing a swift and often brutal resolution to any dispute it is sent to deal with.

  Over the years it has gained an almost mythical status among Union forces, with officers old and new competing for the privilege of serving in it.

  The fleet is comprised of the Regent, five carriers, ten support cruisers per carrier, one hundred destroyers and close to one thousand frigates of varying types. Or put another way, enough fire-power to eradicate all life on a planet down to the microbial level in no time flat. And that’s without taking the fighters, bombers, corvettes and nuclear armaments into consideration.

  The main gun of the Regent, a one kilometre long spinal particle accelerator, is capable of discharging a compressed plasma burst that can punch through even the heaviest of armoured targets, or be discharged as a narrow beam that can carve up targets with strategic precision.

  Enemies flee from it and colonies surrender before it even enters the system. Such is the fear that the First Forward Fleet invokes in its enemies. For only a fool would oppose it, or so the saying goes.

  Since the day of its formation, the Solarian Union has remained at the vanguard of military might throughout the known systems, and it’s arguably the strongest of the known human forces. However, despite what its detractors would like the galaxy to believe, the Union does not see itself as conquerors out to subjugate the colonies; though few can agree if this is because they are unwilling or simply unable to do so.

  Despite the overwhelming force it is capable of projecting, the simple fact remains that space is so vast and human colonies so numerous, that even the Union would never be capable of maintaining control over more than a fraction of it at any given time. Territorial defence becoming a big issue when neighbouring colonised systems can be days, weeks or months apart even at hyper-light travel.

  The Union’s sphere of influence grows with each new fleet it adds to its roster. But even with its considerable economic power it is still limited by the massive logistical support required to keep the massive fleets operational for any significant length of time. And this is what has led to the current galactic political climate: where each colonial power enjoys and fiercely protects its independence.

  While the Union was much more aggressive in the past, these days it favours the use of the subtle tools of economic and political influence to get the job done. With strategic deployment of its strike fleets performed only against those undesirables who would dare threaten the stability of their sphere of influence.

  On board the Regent, the executive officer stopped near the closed door to the situation room and spoke into the intercom.

  “Sir, I have the report you asked for,” said the female executive officer, dressed in the standard navy blue uniform of the Solarian military.

  “Enter,” came the reply from the intercom.

  The door opened and th
e executive officer stepped inside the room, immediately heading towards the Admiral who was overseeing the operation. He was an older man with silver hair and a neatly trimmed beard, his weathered appearance granting those around him the immediate understanding that he had seen more combat than most of the officers currently serving on the Regent put together.

  The area was filled by a low hum, coming from the multitude of highly skilled analysts sitting at the workstations which lined the walls of the room. And at the centre was a holographic display map with three chairs around it, with the Admiral sitting in the chair which would normally be reserved for the captain of the Regent; a fact that the captain, standing by the Admiral’s chair, was clearly not happy about.

  As the X.O. approached them she could hear that they were arguing again.

  “The fleet is getting restless Admiral. It has been almost a full month since you pulled us from active duty and recalled the fleet back to Sol without an explanation. And I’m sure I don’t need to remind you that the situation in the Lagos system has seriously deteriorated since our withdrawal,” the Captain respectfully related his frustration.

  “Yes, yes… shut up about it already!” The Admiral snapped back, tired of listening to his junior officer saying the same thing over and over again.

  “Sir! The information you requested,” the X.O. said as she stood at attention, saluting them.

  “Ah! Miss Arrington was it?” The old admiral asked without taking his eyes off the holographic situation display in the middle of the room.

  “Yes Admiral. I have finished compiling the information you requested, but I’m afraid the report is not as complete as you may be hoping for,” she said as she typed some commands into her Echo, causing the information to be transferred to the Admiral’s display.

  “Any particular reason? I was led to believe by your captain that you were fairly competent. Was I miss-informed?” The Admiral asked in an insinuating tone, obviously displeased.

  She said with pride, “No sir, you were not. Some of the information you requested cannot be obtained at this time, but technical is working on it.”

  “At ease Ashlyn. You’re going to sprain something if you stay like that for too long,” the captain said to the X.O, who was still stood at attention.

  “Thank you sir,” Ashlyn said as she adopted a more comfortable form, with her arms behind her back.

  “Now, what happened with the information?” The Captain asked.

  “Sir! Some of the information requested was apparently deleted from our main data-centre approximately 40 years ago using unknown means. The technical division is attempting to reconstruct it from older backups as we speak, but they say the process could take several hours before it is complete. So I thought you would want to review the remaining data before then. Sir!” Ashlyn said.

  “Yes, good work,” The Admiral said, satisfied with the explanation. “What’s missing?” He asked.

  “The crew profiles sir. As well as the detailed scan results of the target’s hyper-light drive system and weaponry,” Ashlyn reported.

  The Admiral placed his hand on the chair’s identification pad, causing the holographic screen to momentarily display his credentials and then unlock the sensitive information. The holographic display now showed a detailed 3D representation of the Zenith.

  The expression on the Captain’s face changed instantly. Until this point he had not been made aware of what his mission actually was. The fleet had been operating under direct orders from the Admiral.

  The blood seemed to drain from the Captain’s face, going pale as he recognised the ship’s silhouette from the combat briefing he had received when he had been granted command of his first ship.

  “Sir! If I may ask, why the Shadows?” Ashlyn said.

  The Admiral replied brusquely, “Why what?”

  “Why use the Shadows as an exercise target? Why not the Outer Rim Alliance, or maybe an unaligned colony?” Ashlyn asked, curious as to why this exercise was aimed at a non-existent enemy.

  “You have the wrong idea, this is not a drill. Our target is quite real,” the Admiral said as he pulled up a live feed from the system defence grid, showing the Zenith in all its splendour.

  “Sir?” Ashlyn asked with a confused expression. She had never seen any official documents relating to the Shadows. As far as she knew they were just a myth created by the trash inhabiting the outskirts of human controlled space.

  “It’s in this system? Admiral! Why was the fleet not informed?” The captain asked, incensed.

  “Because you would have done something stupid. Consider yourself informed,” the Admiral said.

  “I need to inform the rest of the fleet,” the captain said as he raised his hand to his earpiece.

  “Not yet!” The Admiral ordered, causing the Captain to stop just moments before activating his communicator. “This operation has been planned out to the smallest detail. I will not have some trigger happy moron compromise it, am I understood?”

  “Yes… sir!” The Captain replied.

  “Good. Now take a seat, both of you,” the Admiral gestured to the Captain and his X.O.

  “Now then, this is the situation. The enemy is sitting midway between the Earth and Mars orbits, but at an elevated position relative to the ecliptic plane. This places it outside all established travel routes but still relatively central to most of our assets in the system. Strategically, this location is almost perfect for a reconnaissance mission,” the Admiral said.

  “Question: Why don’t we have a monitoring station at this location if it is so strategically significant?” Ashlyn asked, causing the Captain to smile.

  “Because the area is also a death-trap. Burst drives do not operate properly, either failing to engage or becoming unstable shortly after. The area is also littered with particulate debris which is a hazard to navigation and interferes with sensors, negating any advantage the location itself could provide,” the Captain said.

  “For our sensor technology yes, but the admiralty is working on the worst case scenario. We are assuming that the enemy has full sensor coverage. We are also assuming that the enemy may have found a way to make use of its Burst drive in order to enter and leave this area. So, in short, we are assuming they chose this area specifically for its impact on our ships, putting us at a disadvantage,” the Admiral said and sat back on his chair.

  “By sensor disruption, is it safe to assume that we just can’t distinguish between objects in the region due to clutter, or are we dealing with jammers?” Ashlyn asked.

  The captain said confidently, “The science division has classified the entire area as a class 5 navigation hazard. Which basically means they haven’t got a clue what’s wrong with the place. But the solar system monitoring grid is not affected by it, so we can just tap into the data feeds for accurate real time information.”

  “In theory yes, but unfortunately our target does not show up on active scans conducted by the grid. It registers the occasional sensor echo but that’s it. We can’t even be sure how long it’s been in this system. Our best estimate being three months,” The Admiral said.

  “If the grid can’t see it then how was it detected? And what are we looking at right now?” The captain asked as he pointed at the live video feed.

  “I didn’t say the grid couldn’t see it, we are looking at it right now after all. The satellite cameras can pick it up just fine. But according to the radar and all the other detection methods at our disposal, that ship isn’t actually there. We wouldn’t have known it was there at all if someone at the grid maintenance centre hadn’t gotten curious at the number of echoes being registered from this one location. Even then, it was a month before the patrol forces decided to do something about it, and they had no interest in risking ships in that area, so they did something rather inspired.” The Admiral smiled. “They spread rumours about cargo ships using the area and then waited for pirates to take the bait. The sensor grid tracked a Shrike in and picked up clear signs of
an engagement of some kind, quickly followed by the pirate escape pods exiting the area. The patrols intercepted the pods and interrogated the pirates. The captain was less than cooperative, but his crew talked… eventually. The telemetry the pirate ship had collected was analysed, and that’s when the military were called in. We recalled the fleet in preparation for a strike, but the Intelligence service put a stop to that plan,” the Admiral said, clearly upset at that turn of events.

  “The S.I.S is involved? Is that why the fleet was not informed sooner?” The Captain asked.

  “Yes,” the Admiral said in a strained voice as he looked away, clearly angry at the S.I.S interference.

  “Apparently, they couldn’t run the risk of someone in the fleet deciding to rush the enemy before all the parts of their little plan were in place, or some such stupid nonsense… morons… bah!” The admiral said in disgust at having the integrity of the military questioned by the people in the Intelligence branch, as Ashlyn tried to contain her amusement at his hypocrisy.

  “Sir, do we know what the S.I.S plan was?” Ashlyn asked, hoping for more information to work with.

  “Those intelligence…” the Admiral started to say and then seemingly got side tracked by his own commentary. “…intelligence, hah! Those idiots couldn’t find their own backsides with both hands and a star-chart. But anyway, they had some operation going to plant a spy on some ship, and then use that ship to gather Intel on our target. I never did get the full details on what they were up to.”

  “Probably the Patriarch we saw disappear from sensors not very long ago. So the distress signal we picked up was from this spy?” The Captain asked.

  “Yes. According to the S.I.S he was supposed to fire the thing once he had confirmed the target. But only if he could not extricate himself from the area within the hour,” the Admiral said and then asked with an amused expression, “Can you believe those Intelligence dimwits actually ordered me to deploy the fleet into the area and board the Zenith if we saw that signal?”