Chronicles of Sol: The Fall

The warlord shifted in his seat, as he watched his crew work. At the moment he was waiting while warriors loyal to him gathered supplies for their trip. Recent developments meant that his yard here at Demair was no longer secure. He had lost a few holds key to its defense, and worse one of the worlds that supplied his shipyard here had been taken by his rivals. It was a minor setback, but one that would delay his plans. Unlike these upstarts, he’d been planning a bid for the throne for years now. He had been gathering forces for some time, but the loss of the homeworld had occurred perhaps a little too early for his liking. Still it was clearly a sign that he was right, he was meant to be Grand Warlord, not these upstarts, and not that useless buffoon who until just a few months ago had held the post. Soon his flagship would be finished, and with the Grand Warlord’s Throne he will beat down his rivals, and then he would turn to the Krall, and defeat that ever-persistent thorn in their side. First, he needed to move the ship to a new more secure yard where the final construction could take place. While the ship was mostly operational, a few systems were not, and others weren’t yet able to function at full potential.

To that end, his allies in the VTC had secured him a port, and technicians at Cantra. The final components had even been built by Valorian engineers. All he needed to do was reach the system safely. However he knew speed was of the essence. He had little doubt his rivals may have caught wind of his plans. They had caught and executed a few spies, but at least one had escaped. Nothing he could do about that, except reaching Cantra quickly. Once his ship was fully operational nothing would be able to stop him. He was sure of it.

That was why he had gathered his fastest ships, he needed to get his flagship there quickly for the final component installation. Once there it would only take a week at the most for the finishing touches, and then he could strike back at the upstarts.

Footsteps behind him signaled the arrival of his personal slave. He turned to her, as she cowered before his magnificence. “...My lord, the troops have finished preparations for your departure.”

“Excellent. We leave at once”

Countryman watched Reia’s face as she was informed about how long it would take for her sister to recover.

“I see, but I guess a few weeks for recovery should have been expected.”

“Perhaps, but we haven’t yet discussed your sister’s ship. FTL capability has been restored, but frankly the ship is still in shambles. She needs time in a yard for a refit.” Countryman left out that he could do that. They weren’t willing to waste resources repairing alien vessels when it wasn’t needed.

Reia nodded, “Cantra. Its an open port on the Confederation border. There is a yard there, and more importantly medical facilities that could actually care for the people recovering. Unfortunately its a fair distance from here about four and a half months at warp four.”

Countryman frowned, “Anything closer?”

“Not really, there are a couple of small military outposts, and maybe a few yards owned by mercenary companies. Cantra however is our best bet. It would also be the only port in range where your ships would actually be welcome. Cantra is an open port, ships of all kinds are welcome there.”

“Interesting. Anything I need to know about the system?”

“Cantra is a major port, tens of thousands of merchant vessels from various interstellar powers pass through the system every month. As a result, the planet supports a well-developed orbital marketplace, and extensive planetary starports to manage the flow, and sell of goods. The local shipyards are predominately owned by various merchant companies and will sell slips to anyone with sufficient credits. In fact the yards at Cantra are the most renowned in the sector, and several neighboring sectors as well.

“Of course with all that traffic, and a major yard there as well. Its perhaps no surprise that things can get tense at times. Its not unheard for multiple rival groups to be in the system at the same time. As such, the navy does maintain a peacekeeping garrison there at all times.”

“Good to know, “ replied Countryman as he was checking their star charts. It was not too difficult to locate the system in question. The system was a little under 40 light years away. At warp five that would have only taken two weeks, and not over four months to reach. Unfortunately, they were going to have to take things slow. Neira’s cruiser had sustained heavy damage, and even with the repairs, he doubted the ship could handle the stresses of being towed at high warp. Hell the damage to the star frame was quite extensive, and with that compromised he wasn’t sure it would take being towed very well. It was doubtful it could even reach warp four on its own. Then he continued, “Although 40 light years is a fair distance to travel with a badly damaged cruiser in tow. I think it would be a good idea to shore up her structural integrity before we depart.”

“Yes, the Guilded Heart is in bad shape. I agree we should.”

“In that case, I’ll send some work crews over to install some additional bracing, and shore up her Structural integrity field grid. That should help ensure she can reach warp four again, at least long enough to make 40 lightyears.”

Reia blinked, “40? I haven’t even given you the coordinates.”

“Yes, well that system is public information, and we’ve acquired a number of star charts from various sources. All of the ones that cover this area of space list the system, rather prominently,” he pressed a button, and a second later a holographic chart of the local sectors appeared. Cantra was marked as a bright dot with bold text floating above it.

“I see, but why did you offer my sister a job if you already had these charts?”

He chuckled, “Knowledge is one thing, understanding is another. Not to mention they aren’t complete. I didn’t know about that hyperspace corridor for example, and while it might be useless for us, its still an object of interest. One worth a fair amount of scientific study, but perhaps not at this time.”

Reia nodded, “it is, and I do know there is always a few ships out there making studies of that corridor. Hyperspace is a complicated, and bizarre realm, one that we don’t fully understand, and my people have known about it for centuries. Long enough to develop practical uses for the domain.”

“Yet you are still uncovering new mysteries. I see. All the more reason to procure a few advisors from other races.” he glanced at the clock. “Anyway its about time for lunch. Are you hungry?”

She nodded, “I guess, but are you sure the food here is safe?”

“Oh, yes. We’ve already checked, and I have a complete list of what items you can, and can’t eat loaded to memory.”

Reia frowned, “Already? That is impressive.”

“Well, we did the work before. Just reapplied it for our new guests.”

“I see,” her gaze at the ground, and somewhat different tone in her voice.

He stood up, and guided her out of the room. Changing the subject a little, “The mess hall is this way, and at the moment there are a few options available.”

“Um, is this okay? I’m not going to hurt your supply margin am I?”

“The Enterprise only left port 18 months ago, and she was designed to be largely self-sustaining. We grow all our food here aboard ship. We actually have some rather extensive hydroponics facilities right here on the Enterprise, and at the moment we are producing at a surplus.”

She blinked, “I guess that should have been expected. Many capital ships, especially ones this large include their own farming facilities. Nice to hear that you are producing at a surplus, but does that mean you are undermanned?”

He chuckled, “Goodness no. If anything its the other way around, we have no shortage of personnel or supplies. Of course the Enterprise was designed with extended deployment in mind.”

“Well most capital ships are, especially if those with their own hydroponics bays.”

“True enough. A ship like the Enterprise could be deployed away from port for months even years at a time. I imagine its the same for other races.”

“Usually, my ship is fairly bare bones amenities wise. We lack most of the items needed for lengthy deployments. We can stow supplies for a year maybe two. How long can the Enterprise stay away from port?”

“Theoretically? Indefinitely. In practice? I have no idea. Food is largely a non-issue, we can produce what we need. Water is much the same, we can recycle, and purify what we need or if needed harvest from whatever source might be available. Fuel is perhaps the largest limiter, but our tanks can store enough to meet our needs for decades.”

“I see, sounds like you are better equipped than most.”

“Perhaps, but equipment only counts for so much. You can only prepare for so much. We do what we can, but there is always the one thing you may have overlooked. One thing we have been looking for out here, is new friends. There is something to be said for strength in numbers.”

She nodded along, but said nothing. The rest of the journey down to the mess hall was in silence. Once there he introduced her to one of his favorite meals. Nothing complicated, a lightly breaded and seasoned fillet of fish fried in oil, and served with a side of potatoes that had been cut into strips, seasoned with salt, and deep fried in hot oil. A dish that had originated in the Isles of Western Europe, once the homeland of the British people, and the seat of power of the United Kingdom. That dish was the humble ‘fish and chips’ and it was one dish that they produced all the ingredients they needed locally. As they raised fish and even grew potatoes aboard ship. In fact fish was the only source of meat they had in their diet outside of synthetic sources. A shame really since humans are omnivores. Meaning a balanced and varied diet was needed for a healthy life. Even if humans could survive on almost anything, but a balanced, and varied diet was best. A fact that had forced them to get creative with what they had left.