FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Our journey to the border was only interrupted by our stop to intercept the rest of the armada and form the first fleet. While we waited for the rest of the ships, anyone who was not a soldier was forced to disembark, with myself and Zox’i’s entourage being the only exceptions. Hunter, Ov’ids and Bogra were forced to live aboard the Kiqu’s ship, while I was kept close to Master’s side at all times.

Seeing Reon and his newly expanded family be forced to leave was a little painful to witness. However, Master himself ordered it, and we had both been there to watch them board the transport bound for their ancestral home: the royal palace on planet Liovis. I assumed Master wanted them where he wouldn’t need to worry about their safety.

Talk between the ships of the new First fleet did not stop while we waited, constantly making plans then remaking them. There were a lot of contingencies that they had to plan for it turned out, thankfully the listening post stations had continued to monitor the Eldon Theocracy. They confirmed that the Eldon forces were taking their time making their way from the capital. Once the final battle plans were confirmed, the journey to the border was continued.

We arrived long before the Eldon forces did, and despite the earlier announcement that Master would be squashing them and then the Theocracy, we waited for their fleet to arrive. In the mean, Master had dictated a message that was transmitted, on loop, into their territory.

“Eldon Theocracy. Call off your attack and you will be spared. This is your only warning.”

We knew it would have little to no effect on the encroaching forces. The Theocracy had made their intentions clear. Master hoped that it would at least give them some pause for thought to think about what really was at stake. However the Eldon saw every person who died in battle as a martyr, even the act of offering thoughts and prayers to the family left behind for the fallen, was revered in their culture.

“A death isn’t a death in their culture, it’s a chance to show how much more devout and religious they are over others. No gift is too big, no prayer too strong, all to show others that they are religiously superior.” A spy had once reported.

It also was required by intergalactic law. Something the Eldon didn’t abide by, but Master was going to obey the laws when and how he could. All attempts had to be taken to end the conflict diplomatically. If those attempts were ignored, any and all means could be used for defence.

Eventually, the hour came that we knew they would be arriving. I was sitting securely in my seat, two personal shield generators attached to my body. Master was pacing back and forth while Captain Markeus and I watched. The crew was acting like they were perfectly fine, but even I could sense they were on edge, Master’s pacing not helping that situation.

“Sire, please sit down.” Markeus requested and the lion simply rumbled in reply.

“Has there been any response to our message?” he asked, the Tiger at the Tower station shook his head.

“No sire.” he answered and Master gave another grumble. My eyes met with the captains when he looked my way. There was a pleading in his gaze, in response I heaved a sigh. The dragon clearly was worried but didn’t want to overstep his authority.

“Master?” I called softly, getting a dismissive grumble in return, so I decided to be less gentle “Master!”

“What?” he asked sharply, turning to look at me, then softened “Sorry, David.”

“Calm. Down.” were my simple, firm instructions.

“You…” he started but I shook my head and got up. I headed to the briefing room, looking back at him when I reached the doors. The lion was irritated but followed me, clearly curious as to what I was thinking. When the doors closed, I rounded on him.

“You are stressing!” I scolded him irritably “And it is affecting your crew! They respond to you more than you think they do! You are their Emperor! The unflappable Emperor who faced down an attempted coup, an assassination attempt, and a surprise attack from one of your own ships with barely a flinch! To see you worried like this, has THEM worried. Calm down, take a breath, then sit in your chair and drink some tea or coffee, act like this is nothing but an inconvenience to you, to us.

“Because at the end of the day, that is all this is. Sure they have declared war, sure we don't have the entire fleet with us, but you need to make your people believe that this is Nothing to you. That we will swat their ships aside, as if they are but a fly buzzing around our dinner.” I reached up to gently stroke his cheek and smiled warmly, getting such a smile in return.

He took some deep breaths, sniffing at my skin and taking in my scent to help it calm him. He then ordered himself a coffee from the synthesiser. As it processed, he closed his eyes and took some more deep breaths, clearly trying to calm himself and get into the mind set he needed to be in. Once the coffee was ready, he collected it up and looked over to me with a smile, his expression returning to the stern look I had grown so used to seeing.

“Ready?” I asked, getting a nod in return “Excellent. Now let's squash this inconvenience.”

“David,” he called before I could open the door and I looked back, seeing a cheeky, lewd smile on his face “Remind me to reward you later.” I blushed but smiled, nodding before walking out to the bridge once more.

The air was just as bad as it had been before, tense, but as Master walked in with his new composure, it began to lift. He sat in his chair beside me and took a long sip of his coffee before looking up and cleared his throat. When he spoke, now his tone was calm, if a little bored.

“So captain… they haven't responded?” he asked, getting a shake of the head in response from the Dragon “We will need to teach them manners too it seems. Even if the answer is a ‘no’ they shouldn’t keep an Emperor waiting.”

The dragon gave a chuckle and went to respond when there was a warning buzzer from tactical station one. Master flicked his ear but otherwise didn’t react.

“Long range Sensors have picked up jump signatures approaching!” the lioness reported “Counting over one hundred contacts, five minutes out!”

“Well it seems we have our answer,” Master heaved a sigh and took another sip of his coffee “They clearly need spanking like naughty children. Tower station, open a channel to the fleet.”

“Done, you are on Sire.” The tiger reported.

“Attention all personnel of the First Fleet,” Master started, lowering his coffee “Despite our efforts to resolve this peacefully, our efforts have been unsuccessful. In five minutes warships from the Eldon Theocracy will drop out of jump close to our location. Flag Ship Captain Markeus will be taking command of the fleet. Use everything at your disposal to squash this… uprising. Show them no quarter. For the Empire!”

He motioned to the tiger who cut the channel, then took a sip of his coffee and looked at the dragon captain who was looking at his emperor with surprise. Even i was surprised, why was he not taking command of the fleet himself?

“Markeus.”

“Yes sire?” The dragon replied curiously.

“There was a reason I made you captain of MY ship… there are some things you are exceptionally good at,” Master explained, a sinister smile growing rapidly on his feline face “You have my orders… Show. No. Quarter. Now go to work.” The dragons eyes seemed to grow wider before a smile grew on his own face.

“Yes Sire!” He replied, almost ecstatically, then turned to face the front of the bridge “Tower, inform the rest of the fleet, shields and all defensives up, weapons hot. I want them to spread out and form the Sharmei formation. Inform them they are permitted to use any manoeuvres they see fit, we are ships, not a wall, if they sit still, they will die.”

“Ninety seconds till contact.” the tactical officer reported.

“Tactical stations, defences to max, anti-jump fields to maximum range, arm all weapons,” the dragon ordered “Fire off sixty, mark 18 torpedoes, send them to location 395.786 by 16.77845, have them spaced twenty metres apart. Activate their motion triggers with ident trackers activated. We don’t want to hit our own ships. Once those are away, reload with mark 19 torpedoes and charge primary particle cannons, set secondary rail guns to auto intercept any incoming.”

“Change primary display to tactical.” Master ordered, the view screen changing and gave a 3D grid pattern, showing where every ship was relative to the Sovreign, including the torpedoes we had launched moments ago.

“Contact in ten seconds!”

“Markeus to all ships, In the name of Emperor Leniad Leo and for the Empire, let's remind them who won the last war!”

“Three, Two… ONE!”

The display was rapidly filled with red dots, however what surprised me was a significant amount appeared where the torpedoes had been left previously. A large portion of the contacts disappeared again along with them. Master grew a smile and raised his coffee cup in a toast.

“First blood to us.” the Lion mused with a happy purr.

“All ships, OPEN FIRE!” Markeus ordered loudly. The display lit up with outgoing weapons, the particle weapons not showing, but the enemy ships started to reduce in numbers quickly.

Our lead was clear, the fact we had been ready for them and had opened fire before they had a chance to react was especially in our favour. In the first few minutes over half of their fleet had been wiped out even though they outnumbered us initially. Clearly Markeus had been anticipating where they would drop out, and the arrangement of not only our torpedoes turned mines, but the fleet's positioning, had been in preparation for that.

However the Eldon recovered quickly and soon weapons fire was being returned the other way. Markeus barked out orders loudly, his eyes didn’t even seem to watch the display screen, he somehow instinctively knew what was where in the field of battle. The ship shook as weapons impacted with the shields, shaking everyone a bit, Master just contently sipped his coffee as he watched.

The battle continued for almost an hour. With both sides taking casualties and losses. The Eldon side however was clearly losing the fight. From over one hundred ships, they were rapidly whittled down to ten, while we had barely lost four in our much smaller fleet of nearly thirty ships. It seemed that the Eldon had just mass built ships, and not worked to develop any of their technology along the way.

“It’s like they are fighting with the same warships from the war… Old tech but mass produced,” Master remarked as he observed everything “What is the ace they are playing?...”

“Sardinya, Escapald, target the ship to your port, aim for the lower starboard area!” Markeus commanded “Tactical one, aim for the ship at 294.543, Tactical two, Launch two lots of torpedoes, first half to the same target as Tactical one, the other half dispersed to 385.773 by 104.338.” The ship shook, and there was an eruption of sparks from overhead.

“Shields down 40%,” Science station one reported “Ships structural levels down 27%, we are experiencing some fluctuations to the power grid, it is within expected limits.”

“Injuries reported on deck seven, power junction blow out.” Science station two reported “Severe damage and injuries reported on the Lexington. The Hawk’s engines have been disabled, they are reporting heavy losses but their defences are holding, the Drumph has been destroyed.”

“Prepare to send repair teams to…” Master started when the ship shook violently and the Tower station exploded, sending the tiger flying backwards, shards of the station triggering the body shields I was wearing. I managed a glance down at the tiger, but even I could tell he was dead before he had even hit the floor.

“Hull breach! Royal decks! Emergency fields are holding!” Science station one reported and both Master and Markeus looked over in shock. The ship then shook violently again, “Two more hits! Decks Twelve, Thirteen and Fourteen have been breached! Emergency Fields are barely holding! Evacuating the area!”

“What the hell is hitting us!?” Master demanded.

“Don’t know, the Torpedoes they fired at us seemed to bypass our shields, other ships are not reporting the same issue.” Tactical station two reported “Scans of the torpedoes even show they are standard Eldon warheads.”

“HELM! COME ABOUT!” Markeus demanded and looked to Master “We’re toast if they hit those spots again.”

“Science station two, take over as Tower, inform the fleet to target the ship that is shooting at us!” Master ordered “Station one, medical team to the bridge!” there was another impact, the ship shaking violently again.

“Another hit! Main Hangar bay doors destroyed! Atmos shielding is holding!”

“Target neutralised,” Markeus reported “four ships target ships remaining… they are trying to escape, they are trying to engage jump drives. Should we let them go?”

“I said ‘Show No Quarter’ Captain!” Master answered with an angry growl “That means I don't want ANY to escape! Especially now!”

“Yes sire! All Ships! Surround and destroy them!”

“Engineering to bridge!” a voice called out over the com but they were ignored.

“Targets neutralised, all enemy ships have been destroyed. Beginning clean up procedures.” Tactical station one announced.

“Engineering to bridge! Priority one!” came the voice again.

“Bridge here.” Master answered and the main screen flickered to a view of the engineering room, the head engineer in the centre looking worried. The image was also fluttery, like something was affecting the transmission.

“Emperor! Whatever they hit us with has affected the Jump Drive, we can’t shut it down and it has begun to wind up.” He reported looking over his shoulder towards the drive “Shutoffs are not responding, fuel feeder lines are locked wide open, and core ejection systems are not responding to commands.”

“How much time?” Master asked worriedly.

“With the multiple breaks to the coolant lines on deck twelve…” they responded and looked over their shoulder again “I estimate six minutes before the primary coolant has bled dry, two more after that the emergency coolant, then four minutes till containment breach.”

“Emperor Leniad Leo to all decks!” Master called out, transmitting to the whole ship “This is NOT a drill! All hands abandon ship! I repeat, this is NOT A DRILL! ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP!”

“Markeus to the fleet! Emergency! We are abandoning the Sovereign! Distance yourselves from the ship immediately! Fly to and maintain a minimum ten kilometre distance! Drive breach in progress!”

“C’mon David!” Master commanded and pulled me to my feet, rushing towards the lifts as everyone else did as well, all except the captain “MARKEUS! If you don't get off this bridge Immediately, so help me…”

“But sire...” Markeus started but master growled and walked over to him, grabbing him firmly by his collar and dragged him to the lift with the other staff and shoved him in.

“No Captain goes down on MY ship! Now get to your escape pod!” Master ordered, then we got into the royal lift “Docking bay thirteen!”

“Where are we going Master?” I asked and he hushed me.

“Zox’i! We are on our way! You will need to push to at least a ten kilometre distance once we are clear of the ship!” Master announced.

“Understood, we are waiting, Milgais is already ready to go, he sensed what was going on.” Zox’i responded as the lift moved quickly. The channel cut out leaving us to the hum of the lift moving and the sound of the alarm sounding.

“All the safeguards in place… how the HELL did this happen!?” Master asked out loud, not exactly wanting a response “Just had a refit and repair, the most advanced ship in the fleet, and she goes out like this!”

The lift continued as he pondered out loud on ways it could have happened, what could have gone wrong. Each time he answered that possibility with a redundancy that should have prevented it. As the lift came to a stop, an automated alert rang out from the ship’s computer.

“Warning! Core overheating! Emergency coolant cells activated. Six minutes till critical failure!”

“Damn it… Let’s go David!” he ordered and picked up a brisk walk, quickly stepping out the lift and into the bay. The kiqu’s ship was already hovering, a low hum in the air. From its side was the ramp, door still open at the top. Sitting at the zenith of the ramp was Ov’ids. He gave a Trill in our direction and stood up, tail giving a wag as we approached.

“Good boy Ov’ids, good to see you too,” Master praised as we stepped into the ship's interior “Zox’i, we’re on board! Let's go!” The door closed behind us seamlessly and Master started to walk us deeper into the ship.

“Emperor,” Bogra greeted from a lounge area that looked out the front of the ship. Sitting beside him was Hunter who was looking stressed and upset. Which was understandable given the situation “Welcome aboard, come sit, Zox’i is manually piloting Mil.”

“Thankyou Bogra.” Master replied and we walked around to sit on a plush seat. It was at that moment I realised that Bogra and Hunter were both Naked. Bogra seemed to see my eyes go wide and fixate on him. He looked down at himself then gave a deep chuckle.

“Ah yes, sorry, when you live with a Kiqu, you get used to being naked all the time too.” he said with a smile and a shrug “I heard that when Leniad here travelled with Zox’i for a few months, he started to do the same.”

“That was a long time ago,” Master replied with a chuckle, his eyes fixed on the window as we made a quick escape from the docking bays “I was still the crowned prince back then and my father sat on the throne.”

“Yes but old habits die hard… and who knows, David may like the view,” Bogra said with a laugh then looked up “Ah we’re out.”

The view changed to show the retreating view of the Sovereign, the ship growing smaller as it grew more distant by the second, till it snapped back with a zoom in. The image did this a few times, as we distanced ourselves from the ship as quickly as Milgais could fly.

Zox’i appeared from a small room off to the side a moment later, the room sealing shut behind him. He gave a gusty exhale and looked up to the screen in concern. He too was naked, like the first thing he had done when he got aboard his ship had been to strip off.

“Any moment now… we barely made it,” he explained “All the escape pods have been picked up by the other shi…”

He stopped as there was a bright flash on the screen and in that glow, the Sovereign vanished. In its place was a bright explosion that radiated out in all directions. There was very little rubble, most of the ship having been obliterated in the blast. Master heaved a sad sigh and looked to Zox’i.

“May I contact the other ships?”

“Of course, Mil can tap into the com signals easily. I assume our destination is as previously discussed?”

“Yes, I trust you are still ok with it?”

“Perfectly. Make your announcement.” Zox’i dismissed with a gesture as he walked to the lounge to sit.

“Emperor Leniad Leo to all ships of the First fleet!” He announced a com channel opening.

“First fleet here Emperor, Acting Flagship, Pertoria, responding, all ships receiving.” a female voice replied.

“First things first… Status of the crew of the Sovereign?” Master asked.

“Almost all accounted for, forty missing, assumed dead. Reports state one from the bridge and the rest from the previously damaged sections of the ship.”

“And Captain Markeus?”

“Alive, a little shaken, he is aboard the Kelban.” a different voice called out.

“Excellent… then i guess it is time for the necessary part,” Master said with a sigh “It is with a heavy heart that we must farewell the Sovereign, taken from us way too soon. Greater than that however, we extend our mourning to those who lost their lives in this senseless battle. They will not have passed in vain, we shall see to it. Now, By royal decree, all surviving members of the Sovereign crew are to be transferred to one ship, with my preference being the Denmer. They are then to report to Starbase One where they will await further orders. The rest of the fleet will form a defensive line along the Theocracy border. Fleets Ten, Four, and Six will be joining shortly to reinforce the line. The orders are simple: kill anything that tries to cross.”

“And what of you Emperor? Where are you heading?” It was Markeus’s voice this time. Clearly there was concern in his voice, but just hearing it brought a smile to the white lion's face.

“For now, that will remain confidential to only those aboard this ship,” Master responded looking to Zox’i who nodded again “You have your orders Markeus, go to Starbase One. As for everyone else, you all have your orders!”

“Yes Sire!” came the response and the channel was closed. Master released a big gusty sigh and slumped a little.

“To think this is what I’m doing, a bloody nose and I do this… feel like a coward.” Master grumbled.

“It’s for the best,” Zox’i answered as Milgais started moving again on his own “You have David to consider, and don't forget, it isn’t forever. You will be back, but for now without a ship…”

“I do have a ship…” Master replied with an eye roll “It just isn’t finished yet.”

“So… where are we going Master?” I asked as Milgais entered jump speed.

“We are going to the Empires Heart,” he answered and chuckled softly “We are going to where my brother is right now, Liovis, homeworld of the Imperial Palace.”