27
Captain Fei
Viper Battle Group
“Keep the formation tight, Commanders.” Captain Fei observed his screen from the captain’s chair while his five Viper class patrol boats made slight adjustments, then moved as one group. His ship, the Kwan Yin, moved in the center and was flanked by four vessels two forward of its position a thousand meters and two astern two thousand meters, spread wider like an upside down ‘W’. Fei rolled powerful fingers over his data-pad. His screen split into six different boxes. The Battle-Net displayed real-time views from all four sides plus top and bottom of the Battle group.
At 20,000 clicks out from the black field, Captain Fei pictured his mighty Viper class vessels as ants staring up from the base of the Great Wall of his homeland. The immensity of this dark barrier was dizzying. The bridge was silent; every breath hushed and protected.
Fei focused on his monitor. Four of the six boxes were filled with brave, silent crews waiting for hell to open its doors or simply to float and wait for orders to return to Station Pluto. The formation was simple. With five patrol boats, similar armament and capabilities, the only formation that made sense was the ‘Fighting Wing.’
It gave each vessel the ability to afford protection to the others while providing maximum cover for the command vessel at its center.
Great when you were expecting an attack, Fei thought, but we have no idea if or when it will come. However, we do have solid data on where it will come from, or at least where it came from. The endless wall in front of us.
“Lieutenant, prepare to test full VSV.” Captain Fei gripped his armrests while the rest of his personnel on the bridge grabbed something to ground them to their stations. He was getting comfortable with the new technologies and Virtual Surround Vision (VSV) was at the top on his list. He had yet to find a military reason to use the system, he simply loved the view.
Captain Fei was reminded of the first time he and his crew took the Kwan Yin on her maiden voyage to Luna Station. While in orbit the technician’s on board had asked the captain if they could give a presentation to the crew regarding the new technology behind the VSV. Twenty minutes of tech speak went by and Captain Fei and most of the officers on the bridge were stoically and rigidly fighting off boredom.
Seeing the ‘thunder’ of their technological brilliance being stolen by the sleep-inducing effect of their own impressive jargon, the lead technician offered a ‘live example.’ Fei, looking and feeling relieved, practically begged them to stop torturing them and show the crew something they could understand.
“We are ready, Captain Fei, with your permission we will begin the ‘live example’.”
Fei, keeping a professional and military posture, looked at the lead. “Begin,” he stated.
“Holy shit,” flew in all directions in a dozen or so dialects as the deck beneath their feet, dissolved to show the moon’s surface. Fei had never seen a Chinese crew completely lose their discipline in an instant. Not bad for a dog and pony technology—
“Captain?” The COMs officer patiently waited and tried again. “Captain?”
Fei returned to the present, finding himself clinging to his armrests using his best death grip and expecting to see the moon beneath his feet.
“Captain, VSV is ready to engage.”
Fei nodded. “Keep the deck, Lieutenant, I want to see my boots on a solid surface. Engage VSV.” The bulkheads fluttered and then dissolved. All that remained to the human eye was the floor. It never disappointed, Fei thought.
He picked up the ember glow of the two Viper engines ahead. Fei swiveled his command chair to view the vessels at the rear tips of the ‘Fighting Wing’ through the VSV stern cameras.
Squinting Fei grunted, “Lieutenant, magnify five point five, stern. There they are, perfect formation.” He exhaled hard and fast. “VSV off.” Seconds passed, a slight visual ripple and the hull was back, providing the false sense of security that humans needed during space travel.
“COMs, open channel.”
The COMs officer connected with the other boats. “Channel is live, sir.”
Fei gave the young man a short, curt nod. “Commanders, this is Captain Fei. Our orders are to continue our current heading until we reach the coordinates of the first attack near the face of the black field.” The words felt ridiculous coming out of his mouth. An attack out here in the middle of nothing, the edge of humanity’s solar system did not make sense. Even if someone did manage to beat the UN to this area all they would need to do is file their claim or build their own space station. There was not a lack of opportunity once you were past the Mars Station.
“ETA, one hour. You have seen the data from the encounter. Test and retest your systems, Defender missiles in the forward launchers with Interceptors in the mid and aft tubes. Keep sharp, someone beat us out here and went to a lot of trouble to keep us away. We will connect our Battle-Nets to the Kwan Yin in ten minutes.” Captain Fei motioned to his COMs officer to close the channel.
He left the six views of his battle group up and running. The Battle-Net sensors showed him everything they were designed to find. The split screen video feeds gave him little comfort, but they provided a backdrop of the black field, the endless face of a massive fortress with no doors, or windows. Or, was it all a doorway?
He turned to another display and ran the video feed uploaded from Captain Falco. The ‘lightning storm’ could be anything or nothing, but the glow of combustion-based engines close to the face made a lot of sense. Falco’s last message had stated that very theory. The glow the result of moving vessels or weapons systems close to the face of the black field.
Admiral Chen had questioned the accuracy and validity of the data along with Captain Falco’s theories. Something so vast, he could not see the top, nor find the bottom. It seemed to be infinite, though the scanners and computer modeling provided an estimate. It was as much dark matter as anything else scientists could label. The reality of knowing so little about their environment was unsettling at best.
Fei rolled over his controls and replaced the image of a ‘lightning storm’ with a hologram of the dark wall that lay before them. He adjusted it, wanting to look around or through the image, trying to see what it was hiding. He read Ensign Holts’s report and ended with the notes added by Captain Falco. All this time, he thought, we looked at this dark field and assumed it was remnants of the violent birth of the universe. Now we find someone or something hiding in it. How in Lord Buddha’s name could it be used to hide weapons? If we do not possess the technology to see into it… who on earth figured out a means to see out of it?
What if we are wrong? From meetings with Admiral Chen, Fei knew the Russian Federation and the Euro-Arab League had denied placing weaponry beyond Pluto. The United Nations did not believe them and assumed one of the two dominant powers outside of themselves were responsible. Certain words that Captain Falco used during their conversation kept coming back to Fei.
‘Them, they…’ For centuries we have dismissed every satellite launched from Earth that disappeared or changed course as it approached this section of our solar system, ignored our probes that kept skirting around the borders of this dark field. It must be some type of interference coming from the field was the common theory. But, maybe it was sending us a message to stay away, to keep our distance and yet, here we are. A battle group crawling towards something that does not want to be found, or bothered, five Viper class patrol boats, a pin to prick a lion. He expanded the hologram and stared at the five pricks of light representing his Battle group sitting in front of a vast nothingness. A full day’s burn from Station Pluto.
Captain Fei considered the countless governments that comprised the United Nations and unanimously voted to fund and resurrect Project ORT-133. The cost of Station Pluto would be a fraction of what the UN estimated they could make in ore revenue. They wanted something out here and would use Station Pluto and all its resources to get it. We are but pawns, he thought, but are we guar
dians of this immense black or fodder for what lurks behind it?
Fei tapped a key and the hologram disappeared. He turned back to the split screen. Their formation remained tight. The dark field overwhelmed the center video feeds. It seemed to be expanding, eating away whatever open space was left between it and the vessels that pushed closer. Fei observed the forward and roof top video feeds fill with the shifting black mass until the entire view from the split screens formed a dull, oily cloud. The two lead Vipers’ engines became eyes staring back at Fei from an endless shadow.
the Darkness border
LOR and Aris
Now is our time! We must crush the voices and destroy the weak vessels they bring to our frontier!
The newest LOR was already giving in to the warrior’s rage. Aris the Chosen One listened to the leader of the Warruq over a private thought-stream. She towered over LOR who showed his respect for her position by hovering well below her optical sensors.
Aris brushed a massive fin across the crown of his unbreakable skull. Remarkable, she thought, making sure to separate her personal observations and keep them safe on her private stream.
Your time will come, mighty LOR. You and your clans will fulfill your Oath and take the journey through battle and sacrifice to the Warrior’s Realm. The Creators will be pleased. I have a message to send. Break the Veil and connect me to the clans in the Void.
Aris felt the fury pulsating from her second, through waves of energy rippling one after the other from within his carapace. LOR remained silent and was close to losing control of his systems to the warrior’s rage. Aris was intrigued by the possible outcome as most Warruq lacked the discipline and power to suppress the rage once it began.
To her surprise, LOR continued to radiate heat, but the waves cooled, slowed and subsided. LOR turned towards the void and pushed his carapace through so half of him was in the Darkness and half in the Void. Aris used LOR as a conduit to connect her ocular systems to the waiting clans.
Aris watched the five invading vessels closing in on their territory. The clans of Warruq remained stationary, using only a miniscule amount of power to run their tracking systems. She switched to a private thought-stream. These invaders are spawned from a different beast, she contemplated. The voices were also using another form of communication. The vessels were silent; they made no attempt to reach out to her. Predators, she was sure.
They move as one. Aris continued to track their movement. There, she picked up the slightest discrepancy between the two on the outside of the group. She began sifting through the data being streamed to her from the Warruq positioned in the void.
These warriors would serve their purpose, but only if Aris had the opportunity to release them. The five crafts continued their advance. Soon, she thought, we will offer the gift of oblivion to all those who would attack the Darkness.
Aris opened a thought-stream to the Creators and uploaded her findings. She added an extra data packet at the end, one that contained her new battle plan based on her latest observations. There was a long pause in the thought-stream, one that she had expected. Prox, even Aris, the leader of the clans, did not make plans and even if they did, they did not send them to the Creators.
Orders erupted, filling the stream and jolting her systems. Bright pain overwhelmed her and a powerful current ravaged through her carapace. The Creators closed the thought-stream and left her reeling in the Darkness, curled into a defensive ball. The shifting, swirling shades of gray and black were gone, the thick warmth of the Darkness was no more, sound waves that filled her thought-streams vanished, there was nothing, the Creators had shut her down…
Another jolt and Aris uncoiled her clenched form, each plate of her carapace unlocking, releasing itself from its instinctual position of defense. The warrior’s rage flooded through her and she fought to control it. Slowly, Aris regained control and her systems started coming back online. She detected a new data packet uploaded into her system and opened it.
Plan accepted. You may begin.
28
Captain Fei
Viper Battle Group
“Harnesses on. Slow to a full stop,” Captain Fei ordered. He sat rigid in the Kwan Yin’s captain’s seat, clicking into his harness with only the slightest of movements. The bridge wasted space with modern designed workstations and molded poly-panels swooped into the deck. Yes, it looks stunning, he thought, but the facade did something else, it took a lethal vessel and softened the edges, making it feel like home.
Fei’s smooth skin took years off his true age, but his eyes replaced them. They had seen the horrors of war, the massive losses inflicted by the Korean Terror Militia. And they watched his wife desperately trying to tear the LINK from her neck as Fei raced across their small backyard, screaming for her to release the ultimate global connection.
The memory always begins when the order came buzzing through Fei’s head. Fei instinctively pulled his LINK out while yelling to his wife as she planted vegetables. His empty teacup hanging loosely from his fingers as the LINK sent a massive electric pulse through her body, stopping her heart instantly. She lay crumpled like an old pair of pants on the grass. Did I wait an extra second as I pulled mine out before I warned her? Did that second cost her her life? He pressed his eyes tightly shut until the tears that threatened to come, fled back into the hellish part of his memory that he desperately tried to bury.
Thrusters lit up the bow of each vessel as they burned and fought to eliminate any forward momentum that each had worked hard to earn. And there they sat, five matte black Viper class patrol boats, waiting.
“Captain.” His lieutenant held a finger to his screen, working down the report. “Battle group is armed and ready. I have forwarded the report to your display.”
Fei gave the man a quick nod and glanced at the split-screen one last time. He spun to his other monitor and pulled up the report.
Confidence grew while he skimmed the munitions stock. We could conquer a small fleet. The Viper class boats were missile heavy. The Chinese knew that if the peace treaty between the Euro-Arab League and Russian Federation ended and there were battles in space, they would be fought far from Earth’s warring regions.
Starships could rain down ordnance from above making bullets or even the cumbersome rail guns of little value, though Captain Falco’s crewman had made one hell of a shot with the old cannon they had on board. Pride swelled and Fei permitted the feeling to almost turn to admiration.
“COMs.”
The young ensign looked up. “Yes, Captain,” he asked, not making eye contact.
“Ensign? Don’t you want to know with whom I want to speak? Or is this open-COM link to Lord Buddha himself?”
The youthful communications officer sheepishly looked at the glowing red link. “Sorry, Captain.” Fei held back a grin and noticed that his other officers were respectfully doing the same.
“Admiral Chen. An open-COM is fine.” Fei waited for the light to turn green, knowing that his officers would follow the conversation.
“Admiral Chen.”
Captain Fei looked hard to his right and let out a sharp exhale. “Admiral, we are in position and holding. What are my orders, sir?” There was a long and drawn out silence that was the admiral’s usual manner of letting Captain Fei know that he was ‘just a captain.’
Chen broke the silence. “Continue holding present position and continue full data feed to Station Pluto. According to your Battle group’s sensors there are no signs of the enemy.”
Fei looked at his lieutenant, his eyes stating the obvious. Did the admiral think they would be out here mulling about, waiting for us?
“Admiral, the black field shows no signatures of any kind. Nothing like the ‘lightning storm’ image sent from the Anam Cara. If they are out here, they are probably hiding within it.”
Another long pause. “Captain Yue Fei, remain in your current position and continue your surveillance feed.” The COM turned red.
“Yes, Admiral Chen,
I know, I am a captain in the People’s Navy,” Fei whispered to the dead COM-link.
the Veil
LOR and Aris
Why do they wait, Aris the Chosen One? They are afraid of the Darkness and the warriors that protect it, LOR pushed through their thought-stream. I want them closer. They must breach our border so you can release the Warruq upon them!
If only she had left LOR in the open where he belongs, Aris thought to herself, out in the void, unprotected and at the mercy of the invaders cutting weapons. The Darkness is for the Prox. Warruqs are mindless warriors that fight carapace to carapace without thought or care.
Aris the Chosen One rolled her head downward to look at her second-in-command. Enormous sinewy muscles covered with thick layers of cartilage and bony plates, flexed and adjusted as her optical sensors neared those of the much smaller LOR.
She looked deep into the Warruq. Twisted and formed by the Creators for one purpose, to die in defense of the Territories. Like us, they possibly wait for their directives. They wait for their own Creators to send them a plan to attack the Darkness or turn and flee, a coward’s fate that would last an eternity. Aris added that thought for LOR.
LOR filled their shared thought-stream with a warrior’s pride.
Yes, LOR, if they run, we remain in the Darkness, but if they enter our territorial boundary that lays just outside of her protection… where she meets and fades into the Void, one becoming the other—
It begins, LOR pushed.
Aris gave LOR his orders and with great satisfaction the warrior swiftly moved towards his position, using his eight appendages for propulsion.
So that is what death looks like, Aris thought. She opened her direct stream to the Creators and sent her request. All the invaders need now is courage to continue their forward progress, enter the territories and see what lurks behind the cloak they have come to fear.
Darkness: Book One of the Oortian Wars Page 14
