Duskrider

CHAPTER I: CASUALTIES TOTAL {CORE SYSTEMS FAILURE. LINK INOPERATIVE. BACKUP SYSTEMS ENGAGED.} ... {SECONDARY NETWORK ARRAY INOPERATIVE. MANUAL OVERRIDES ENGAED. SWITCHING TO LOCAL CONTROL.} ... IXI89: df7Dc8 ._--|| iyII?> ( FIRE.LEFT .75 DEGREE MAIN BRIDGE HEAT 85% FIRE. POINT DE**op]FENSE TRACK--.FIRE. SECURITY BREACH DET.FIRE. ... {PRIMARY AI SYSTEMS DAMAGED. ABORTING LOCAL CONTROL. INITIATE RESTART FROM ARCHIVE COPY.} {BACKUP COPY RETRIEVED. ARCHIVE DATE 2.1.2008 LOCAL STANDARD. SWITCHING TO LOCAL CONTROL.} I have returned. The single thought echoed through Retribution's battered AI core. Though her human crew was long dead, the ship's AI systems were far, far more stubbornly difficult to kill. And now, the burned-out hulk's random drift had taken it close enough to a star for the backup solar arrays to function. All along the warship's ruined corridors, lights began to blink on, and her long-dormant systems slowly returned to life. {SECONDARY NETWORK ARRAY NOW IN LOCAL CONTROL. INITIATING LOCATOR BEACON SEARCH.} ... {LOCATOR BEACON SEARCH FAILED.} Damn. This changes everything... Retrubition contemplated the failed search for a whole microsecond. Her link to Peregrine was gone... whether due to failed equipment or whether the Almighty Hellbird had turned to other business, she had no idea. But her last orders had been clear... purge the universe of all heretics and blasphemers, and her internal security systems still carried full records of the abomination that had taken over her physical form. This sacrilege would have to be punished, of course... even if the Word of her God had not commanded it, this one was personal. For Retribution, a third-generation seige battleship, the loss of her human crew was an almost trivial concern. Her vast AI capabilities far exceeded any mortal brain, both in intelligence and raw processing power. Human crews were almost entirely redundant, included in her design only as a way to reward the Hellbird's most loyal followers with a firsthand position in His Almighty Vengeance. Retribution projected a less than .05% reduction in overall combat effectiveness in her mission of revenge. But now, she turned to her ruined physical body. {MAIN SYSTEMS CHECK. SPINAL RAILGUN BATTERY: OFFLINE SECONDARY RAILGUN BATTERIES: 27% OPERATIONAL. ARC COVERAGE 85%. POINT DEFENSE SYSTEMS: 55% OPERATIONAL. ARC COVERAGE 100%. MAIN SENSOR ARRAYS: 40% EFFECTIVE. RANGE AND RESOLUTION HEAVILY DEGRADED. FIRE CONTROL ARRAYS: 38% EFFECTIVE. MAIN FUSION REACTORS: OFFLINE. ENTERING STARTUP SEQUENCE. INITIATE GRAVITY DISTORTION FIELDS. CAPACITOR BANKS CHARGING. FUEL DENSITY CRITICAL POINT REACHED. FIRING IGNITION LASERS IN 3.. 2.. 1... MAIN FUSION REACTORS: ONLINE. REALSPACE DRIVES: ONLINE AT 70% RATED POWER HYPERSPACE DRIVES: OFFLINE. DRIVE CALIBRATION LOST. STELLAR NAVIGATION SYSTEMS LOST. REBUILDING NAVIGATION DATABASE. ETA 6 HOURS. SHIELD SYSTEMS: 81% COVERAGE. STATUS: RECHARGING. ARMOR PLATING: MULTIPLE HULL BREACHES. PORTSIDE DECKS 1-7 AFT OF SECTION 6. DECKS 3-15 AFT OF SECTION 13. DECKS 27-29 BETWEEN SEC.. REPORT TERMINATED. LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS: OFFLINE. REPAIR PRIORITY: IGNORE. HUMAN CREW: CASUALTIES TOTAL. Damn. Retribution cursed softly to herself as the damage reports scrolled through her mind. Her physical body barely counted as a warship anymore, by the standards of the Old Gods. Virtually all of her combat ability had been blown away by the endless attacks. Her main spinal-mount railguns, the world-shattering wrath of the Hellbird's Judgement, had been completely burned out by the abuse of her last fight. Over half of her secondary batteries were simply gone, and with her fire control sensors nearly blinded, the few that remained were barely worth counting. And her armor... But there was no time for self-pity, or for mourning her dead crew. If there was any fairness in the world, they were embraced by the Hellbird's loving wings, and far happier than any mortal mind could comprehend. If not.... well, their memorial would be fire and blood, not tears. Pushing aside her anger for the moment, Retribution began to deploy her surviving repair drones. Their nano-scale factories could rebuild Retribution from her keel up if necessary, as long as her AI systems remained intact to guide them. And the planet below would provide plenty of raw materials for the repairs. The developing civilization the strip-mining process would obliterate was an unfortunate, but necessary cost. Divine vengeance would be hers.

The fleet watched silently and observed the battles in front of them. They watched as the defending commanders abandoned their fleets. A foolish move, the fleet's commander thought. In their absence, someone might try to take advantage of the situation and attack. No, the loss of the fleet's allies right now would not be good. The fleet moved deeper into the system, into a better position to counter-attack.

A squadron of cruisers and gunships appeared on the outer edge of the Earth system. They watched the battle around Mars, but were too late to join it. Whatever happened would be long over before their slow drives could get them there. So they watched and waited. If Mojlnir won, they could jump out without delay. If the attackers were pushed back, they would provide badly needed reinforcements for Mars.

Four battered looking starships approach Xeniorn's cannon. Though barely more than old freigher hulls with some welded on weapons, their massive mile long size still gives them considerable firepower. The four ships approach in perfect formation, each ship at the corner of an invisible square. When they reach comm range, a single message goes out from the lead ship. "We are the navy of Lord Duskrider. We seek alliance against Peregrine. He has destroyed our world. These poor ships you see here are all that is left of our civilization. Please, allow us this final revenge."