Re: Inspiration; Titan
Part One
By James Phillips
Copyright 2012 James Phillips
Thank you for your support.
“…In the year 2785 the first colony settled on Mars, marking mankind’s first territory outside of the Earth and its Moon. Fourteen years later, in the year 2799 an expedition set out to explore deep space; this fleet of spacecraft, the Banner Expedition, was lost only three weeks after their launch. Records indicate that the Banner Expedition was consumed by a black hole. After the incident with the Banner Expedition all plans for further expansion into deep space were halted. Six years later, in the year 2805, a transmission was received from the spacecraft, Plains of Freedom, the flag-ship of the Banner Expedition.
According to the Captain of the Plains of Freedom, their fleet had been sucked into a worm hole and dropped into an undiscovered sector of space. After the accident the Banner Expedition found and settled on a habitable planet in the new sector and worked toward reconnecting with the rest of humanity. Six years of progress had proved successful and after the Banner-Expedition reconnected with their brethren they began searching for a way back to Earth. Through nine years of work from both sides of the universe, the Trans-Stellar Space-Way was born. The Trans-Stellar Space-Way acted as a high-way between Earth and the Banner-Sector’s colonized planet, Earth II.
Less than a year after the opening of the Space-Way, an extra-terrestrial race called the Tel’amin crashed onto Earth II. According to the stories told by the Tel’amin survivors, they were running from their vicious brother-race, the Tel’vivim, who had turned on the peaceful Tel’amin and slaughtered a great many Tel’amin innocents. The forces of Earth decided to aid the Tel’amin and bolstered their defenses on Earth II; thus, with the help of the Tel’amin’s advanced technology, the first generation of battle-grade spacecraft was born.
Two years after the Tel’amin arrived on Earth II, in the year 2817, the Tel’vivim armada arrived in the outskirts of the Banner-Sector. With the first generation Battle-Cruisers at the head of the fleet, the combined forces of man and the Tel’amin headed out to battle. The Tel’vivim armada easily crushed all resistance and eradicated all life from the surface of Earth II; they then turned to the Space-Way and set their sights on Earth. As a last-stand, the surviving ships from Earth II’s defense force sprung a surprise attack on the Tel’vivim armada, ultimately destroying the Tel’vivim flagship and damaging the Space-Way. With their Mother-Ship destroyed and their gate-way to Earth gone, the remainder of the armada retreated to an unknown location.
Three years after the battle of Earth II, the Space-Way was fully repaired, Earth II was terra-formed to once again bear life and, with the help of the Tel’amin, the United Planetary Space-Corps was formed. The UPSC was created as an organization between the humans and the Tel’amin with the goal of expanding the territories of mankind and providing protection to all under its wings…”
~~~~~
The voice ended abruptly and the hologram flickered away. Captain Morgan Hughes looked up from the display at the empty bridge of the UPSC Windsor, his senses came back to him and he began to wonder how long it had been since he’d last slept. He slowly rose from his chair and walked over to a dim monitor and looked at his reflection in the black screen, dark circles lay beneath his eyes and a thick layer of stubble coated his face. Suddenly alarms started to blare and the warning lights flashed. Captain Hughes jumped at the sudden cacophony, “Bolt report!” he shouted over the sirens.
The floor next to the Captain turned blue and from the light grew a woman. She was slightly transparent, tall and slender with long hair and a lab coat over her standard UPSC uniform, she had sharp yellow eyes and she radiated with a light blue hue; Bolt, the Windsor’s navigations and communications artificial-intelligence, snapped a salute to the Captain. “Yes Captain.”
Morgan saluted back and both the man and the hologram stood at ease. “What’s our situation?”
Bolt’s color shifted from powder blue to a deep green as she processed the order, the sirens and lights subsided and Bolt spoke: “Sir, we are preparing to exit the Space-Way. Minimal turbulence is to be expected. ETA: ten minutes and counting.”
Captain Hughes gazed out the main view-screen at the bow of the ship; the twisting violet-madness of torn space that made up the inside of the space-way swirled around and flew by in a gut-wrenching manner. He recalled a story that he had overheard during his short time at the UPSC Moon-Base:
“Legend has it that the inside of the space-way is a gate-way to another dimension, a world filled with vicious creatures. Creatures so vile and revolting that even a man with the strongest will would lose his mind to insanity before them. They say that if you stare into the torn space long enough you can see through the dimensional walls, you can see the creatures, and the mere sight of them will drive you mad.” The marine had said to his fellow soldier.
“Captain?” Bolt’s voice tore his thoughts away from the twisting madness of the torn space. He forced his eyes away from the view-screen and nodded for her to continue. “Sensors indicate that a cluster of debris may cross our point of arrival. I have prepared a course so that we avoid the cluster, shall I take action?”
“Yes, thank you Bolt.” He replied.
“Yes Captain.” Bolt flashed from green to blue and back before vanishing from the deck. Captain Hughes walked to the center of the bridge and stared into the maddening-abyss before him. Not long ago, the idea of even visiting the Moon would have seemed ridiculous to him, but now he was captain of an inter-stellar battleship. He lost himself in thoughts of the past as he continued to gaze into the torn space.
~~~~~
Two years ago, in the year 2842, Morgan was a part of an organization called Volt. Through magic and science he, along with a small group of Volt operatives, transcended the dimensional walls and arrived on an Earth deemed “Scorched Earth”. Shortly after their arrival on Scorched Earth, the handful of Volt soldiers sided with the UPSC and joined the battle against the Tel’vivim, they were stationed on the UPSC Battle-Cruiser Windsor. The Windsor was a small ship with only one squad of marines aboard when Volt joined their ranks. According to Fen Mao, one of the marines, the UPSC Elite Ground Force Squad 11 was a special case among the UPSC, they were soldiers that had been scientifically enhanced with super-natural powers, a new breed of humans called Meta-Humans. And even though Squad 11 was young in terms of military experience they had seen many battles, and were a special task force for carrying out seemingly-impossible missions.
Soon after their recruitment, Volt and the crew of the Windsor were tasked with destroying the Tel’vivim headquarters on Ramses, a small Earth-like planet in the far reaches of the Banner-Sector. During their mission to infiltrate the Tel’vivim base, the Windsor was attacked by a group of human rebels, they were repelled but at the cost of the life of the ship’s Captain, Tory Nikken. After successfully carrying out their mission and defeating the Tel’vivim at Ramses, the Volt forces decided to move on to another dimension; Morgan, and his close friends from Volt, decided to stay with Squad 11 and see the war against the Tel’vivim out until the end. Thus they parted ways.
When the issue of Morgan’s team, the Spirits, formally joining the UPSC arose it was the leader of Squad 11, Shaark Durstal, and his crew-mate, Trip Canta, who spoke to the High-Council and gained their approval. Morgan’s background as an Admiral from his Earth’s navy earned him the position of Captain of the Windsor, the rest of the Spirits were given positions among the crew and their fight against the Tel’vivim had continued ever since.
~~~~~
Captain Hughes was brought back to reality by the sound of rapidly approaching foot-steps, metallic pings emanated f
rom the cold steel ground as Trip Canta, the Windsor’s head Engineer, strode across the bridge. Morgan shook his head to clear his thoughts and, to himself, questioned the validity of the marine’s story about torn space.
“Captain.” Trip came to a halt and saluted.
“Trip, it’s good to see you out of your hangar for one.” Morgan joked and returned the salute. Trip was three years his senior, but other than titles and greetings, formalities were rare amongst the Windsor’s crew. “What can I do for you?”
“I was looking at the latest scans that Bolt performed; it looks to me like the debris we are approaching is a ship.” Worry was apparent in Trip’s features; his green eyes were locked onto Morgan’s. “Sir, it was a passenger shuttle, the remains of one anyway. There may be survivors.”
Fen Mao, better known to the crew as Kitty, appeared silently behind Trip. “We’re going to check it out, right Cap’?” She spoke in a hushed tone, as if not wanting anyone else to hear.
Just before Volt had joined the crew of the Windsor, a member of Squad 11 started a rebellion. Beast and his gang left the Windsor on one of its shuttles, leaving the crew of the Windsor and the remnants of Squad 11 under the suspicious gaze of the UPSC High-Council. Beast’s rebellion was the same group of rebels who attacked the Windsor during the assault on Ramses, killing Tory Nikken.
The chances of this craft being the same shuttle that the Beasts escaped on were slim, but if by some miracle it was their ship, justice could finally be served. “We will.” Morgan said then he turned to Kitty. “Get Slick, Sever and Nightmare and meet Trip in the hangar, don’t let Doll find out about this.” Doll was one of the first members of Squad 11. Her brother, Scarr, was one of the rebels who followed Beast, even though she claims he was taken against his will.
“Aye-aye Cap’!” Mao saluted and exited the bridge.
Morgan turned to Trip. “Get a shuttle ready.”
“Sir.” Trip replied while snapping a salute. “What if-“
Captain Hughes cut him off. “We’ll worry about “what-ifs” when the time comes, you get a shuttle ready and I’ll have Jolt prepare the medical bays. Now go.”
“Yes sir.” Trip turned on his heels and exited through the blast doors.
Exhaustion flooded into Morgan and he fell into his chair. “Jolt report.” He said as he toyed with his chair’s controls.
Jolt materialized before him, a glowing pink twin to Bolt. Both A.I.’s shared the same sharp-yellow eyes and the breath-taking beauty of their creator, brilliant scientist and former captain of the UPSC Windsor, Tory Nikken. “Aye Captain.”
“Prep the medical bays for multiple patients; we might have some guests in the near future. Have battle remedies at the ready and equip the operation rooms for the worst.”
“Aye Captain.” Her body darkened to red as she sent commands to the computers in the medical bay. “If I may ask, Captain, are you feeling well?” She faded back to her natural pink. “Scans indicate that-“
“I’m just tired Jolt, I’ll have Shaark take over after we check out this crashed shuttle.” He rubbed his temples and waved to the A.I. “That is all, you can go now.”
“Aye captain.” Jolt bowed and vanished as she came back up.
Morgan leaned back in his chair and stared at the torn space in front of him, within seconds he drifted off to sleep.
~~~~~
A sudden explosion rocked the bridge and Captain Hughes fell from his chair. Drowsy from his nap, Morgan staggered to his feet. Another explosion rattled the steel beneath his feet and he shouted: “Bolt what’s going on!”
The navigations A.I. materialized behind him, her skin was a dark blue, a color Morgan had rarely seen on the A.I. “Sir we are experiencing minor turbulence as we transition out of the Space-Way.”
Morgan grabbed the nearby railing to keep steady, and then he switched on the microphone to the hangar. “Trip how’s that shuttle coming along?”
A few seconds later Trip’s voice reported from the speakers. “I’m all green, our rescue team is down here and we are ready to launch as soon as we enter calm conditions.”
“Great, launch as soon as possible, if there are survivors out there every second might make a difference.” He flipped the switch and killed the connection. “Jolt; as soon as we exit the Space-Way I want you to scan the debris cluster for signs of life.”
“Aye Captain.” Jolt replied.
Captain Hughes glanced up at the main view-screen; the madness of torn space slowly gave way to the calm nothingness of normal space, the endless black void was maddening in its own way.
~~~~~
The four marines from Squad 11, clad in battle-grade space armor, piled into the back of the shuttle. Bolt appeared in the seat beside Trip. “Bay doors open, docking bay clear, you are ready for launch.” Bolt said over the speakers of the shuttle.
“Thanks.” Trip flipped the ignition and eased the thruster pedal forward.
The shuttle slowly floated from the Windsor, once it reached a safe distance Trip switched off the stabilizers and floored the thrusters. The shuttle jumped forward and zoomed toward the debris field.
“Hey now,” Mao climbed into the co-pilots seat and sat on the edge. “I’ve gotten better, but I’m still prone to motion-sickness you know.” She joked and her tail whipped around behind her.
“You’ll get over it.” He replied as he maneuvered the shuttle to enter the debris.
“Yeah, I’ll get over it alright, all over your shoulder.” Mao mumbled as she lifted herself out of the chair and returned to the bus, Jolt passed her as she exited the cockpit.
“Sir, initial scans indicate weak signs of life coming fr-“
“Emergency distress signal detected, patching to the main view-screen.” Bolt’s voice echoed through the cabin.
Trip threw the reverse thrusters on and slowed the shuttle to a crawl. In the bottom corner of the view-screen the thrashed interior of small craft came into view. Trip stared into the empty ship, various wires hung from the ceiling, the co-pilots chair was in two pieces on the floor and scorch-marks charred most of the visible bulkheads. Trip keyed the microphone: “This is Trip Canta, head-engineer of the UPSC Battle-Cruiser Windsor, my team and I have been dispatched to provide aid to any and all survivors. I repeat we’re here to provide aid to survivors, does anyone copy?”
Trip was about to repeat the message when a face suddenly appeared before the camera. The small simian creature stepped back from the camera so that his entire fuzzy orange body came into view. The monkey saluted: “This is Co-Captain Charlie of the Outrunner; we’ve got three badly injured passengers, including our Captain. Our life-support systems are severely damaged and we are running out of air. What is your ETA?”
Trip stared at the creature; he had seen many odd things during his life in the Banner-Sector, but never before had he seen a talking monkey. He was speechless. Jolt dropped down next to Trip so that she would appear in the Outrunner’s view-screen. “We are currently en route, ETA two minutes and counting. Please prepare your boarding mechanisms and be ready for extraction.”
“Roger that, thank you.” Charlie reached forward and killed the connection.
Seconds later Captain Hughes’ voice came through the cockpit speakers of the shuttle. “You handled that smoothly, Mister Canta.” He chuckled.
Trip killed the connection and opened the microphone to the bus of the shuttle. “All-righty, we’ve got four passengers, three badly injured. Everyone be ready to move, forty-five seconds and counting.” All four Squad 11 soldiers barked acknowledgement in unison. “And Mao, we’re going to want to salvage their shuttle, the Outrunner, I’ll leave that to you.”
Mao poked her head through the cockpit door. “Is that an order Sir? Because you know I hate being in open space.”
Trip looked back at her and smiled. “Yes that was an order.” The ship rattled as the shuttle started to connect to the Outrunner. A row of lights on the shuttle’s panel turned green. “
We’re all green, it’s all you now Kitty.”
Mao’s ears twitched in anger and she donned her helmet and ran to the back of the shuttle to join her fellow soldiers.
~~~~~
The hull of the Outrunner shuddered and Bolt’s voice emanated from the internal speakers: “Docking mechanisms initiating, please prepare to be boarded.”
Charlie, the scientifically-augmented tamarin, leapt from the control panel and skittered toward the blast doors. When he reached them, the set of heavy blast doors slid apart and four soldiers stood in the door way. The lead soldier was the shortest of the four and the only female; she had a pair of ears and a tail fashioned onto her suit, Charlie briefly wondered if they were practical or cosmetic, but decided it didn’t matter. The two in the middle were roughly the same size and both carried emergency med-packs. The last soldier towered above his teammates and had to duck when he passed through the doorway.
“The Captain is this way!” Charlie jumped up and down and pointed to the cockpit. “The others are in the bus!”
Mao followed Charlie to the cockpit and the other three ran towards the passenger area. The Captain was face down on the floor, a small pool of blood puddled around his midsection. Mao ran through the door and leapt over the fallen co-pilot’s chair. “Oxygen levels normalized.” Bolt announced over the speakers of both the shuttle and the Outrunner.
Mao peeled off her helmet and attached it to her suit’s utility belt. Charlie paused as her hair fell from her helmet and two feline-esque ears turned in freedom, but he quickly resumed running. Mao carefully drew the Captain into her arms and turned to leave, as she did she spied a strange metallic ball on the floor, she scooped it up and dropped it into her helmet as she passed it.
Mao reached the shuttle and laid the Captain onto a stretcher. Jolt materialized beside her: “Oxygen.” The hologram reached down and grabbed a can with a face-mask fastened on the top.
“Right.” Mao snatched the can from the A.I. and put the mask to the Captain’s mouth and squeezed.