Resurgence - Upgrade
Upgrade
“No, no, no, no!” shouted Imala from the room he was waiting in. Running to the hatch, he started pounding on the door, “Guard! Guard!”
Opening the door in a panic, the trooper stood with his rifle at the ready. “The hell is going on in here?!”
“I need to speak with the Galaxy Commander! If those explosions on the hull are the Sea Foxes, I need to talk to him now!” Imala said in a panic. He knew they were in a Sea Fox system.
A couple seconds of the trooper checking with his superior went by like time was stopped. Then two more troopers emerged from further down the corridor. Knowing he was on thin ice claiming to have come from the Word of Blake, his heart sank momentarily, thinking he may have done something to be punished.
“Run to those two troopers and follow them. I will be right behind you, do not try anything.” Said the trooper next to him.
They all ran down the corridor to the lift.
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“Are the fighters ready to deploy?!” shouted the Star Colonel.
“We are only waiting on the mechanical cycling, sir, the pilots are here and ready.” Came back a voice over his console he was working furiously with.
“Guns, I want weapons fire on that Arcship, rip that traitor’s heart out!” shouted the Captain.
Galaxy Commander Magnus had taken up his Command position in the war room, setting up firing positions and working through data that was flowing in like a river.
External views were visible on multiple screens in the war room, showing waves of Sea Fox fighters battling the emerging Ravens. Waves of Barracuda missiles were launching from the Arcship, hitting multiple assault dropships and warships. Although seeing the Conqueror Naval Star forming up was something that could be sold as an action film for a civilian holovid. It was magnificent, yet devastating.
All five warships began focusing fire on the nearest Sea Fox warship as they were closing to attack one of the two Arcships, massive barrages of weapons fire tearing it to pieces. Dropships were beginning release sequences to disengage from their attached jumpships and warships.
Then the troopers and Precentor Imala ran onto the bridge, catching the attention of the Galaxy Commander, Star Colonel, and Captain. “Galaxy Commander!” shouted Imala, seeing him in the war room.
Hitting a button, Magnus opened the hatch, “What are you doing here, Imala?!”
“Sir, are these the Sea Foxes?!”
“How would you think this attack would be them? This is their system.” Asked Magnus suspiciously, hinting that this should have been information provided earlier.
“We sent multiple distress signals in all directions. The signals began to shut down in systems further from here. We thought there was no way for the Sea Foxes to get here this fast without charging. This is what I was going to warn you of before jumping, to watch for them.”
The hull around them quaked, flashes radiating through the bridge from external weapons fire, and even a couple fighters flew by, chasing each other.
“Well now we are stuck, Imala. Hawker said they could follow us if we jumped. If they are being supplied by the Blakists, is that true?”
Grimacing and gritting his teeth, “Yes, Galaxy Commander… They would be able to detect where you arrive within a certain distance.”
“Dezgra Foxes!” shouted the Galaxy Commander, slamming his fist down on the table.
“However, there is a solution. I have the algorithmic software upgrades to increase the performance of even standard jump drive systems.” Imala raised his arm up and held it across his chest. He pulled up his uniform to his elbow, showing his forearm to Magnus. It made some quiet mechanical sounds, then split open with a small hiss, revealing what appeared to be a series of data crystals. Plucking one up, he held it out toward the Galaxy Commander.
“Is this that upgrade?” Magnus carefully reached out, grabbing it between his thumb and index finger, being very cautious, but, even if it was an explosive device he was dead anyway.
“You must stop force deployment to bring those dropships and fighters with us. There should be enough time to recall them. This upgrade will not take long.” Proposed Imala.
“Are you saying the only chance of us surviving this is to plug a data crystal in that originated from the Word of Blake and pray that my warships and fleet don’t just get obliterated?”
Holding his hands out, almost like pleading, Imala responded with passion and in a tone of voice that said he could be trusted, “Yes, Galaxy Commander. This Sea Fox fleet is the one that was hunting us, they have killed thousands of my people in just the last couple weeks. By uploading this crystal’s data, your ships will be able to go a third farther than a regular jump, beyond even the range of the best trackers the Swordships have. They will not even know where to search for us in a three hundred sixty degree sphere around this system.”
Star Colonel McKenna had been within hearing range and was looking over at the Galaxy Commander. Making eye contact he nodded his own acceptance of the situation. Magnus rose and passed by Precentor Imala to the Captain. Handing the crystal to the Captain, he inserted it and the hologram projection on the bridge began changing colors and loading coding and data.
A wave of lights flickering swept around the bridge, some consoles blinking off and on again but, thankfully retaining their data so the personnel could continue their actions. Rumbling from the ship’s engines caused the ship to shake, outside of the weapons fire impacts. Thoughts of the ship self-destructing haunted both the Commander’s minds.
“Captain, this is engines. We have some questionable readings right now, please advise.” Came out of the Captain’s armrest speaker.
“Aff, engines we have uploaded a data crystal for an upgrade. Just make sure she holds together.” He responded.
The coding on the holoprojection continued running and running, until seconds later it went blank, then showed the emblem of Comstar. Magnus' eyes searched around the bridge. The lights stopped flickering. “It is done?”
“Yes, Galaxy Commander. Now you can upload to the fleet.” Said Imala from behind him.
“Navigation, are the jump paths displaying that we can jump further?” shouted Magnus over the rumbling outside the ship.
“Affirmative, Galaxy Commander! We have a range much further than we have seen before!” shouted back an excited crewman.
Magnus looked at the Captain and nodded, then gave the orders fleet wide, “All vessels, this is Raven’s Nest, prepare for data transfer, recall all fighters and dropships, once the upload completes you will receive jump data, continue to fire with the main ship weapons.”
Standing beside Imala, the Galaxy Commander watched the chaos outside and the Captain’s personal console as the minutes ticked by. Ship by ship, confirmation of successful upload completed. Dropships and fighters fought against their physical enemy and the clock, to dock and secure under fire. Ironically, the surprise attack worked in their favor. Only a fraction of defending forces had deployed, making the recall quicker.
“Stormhawk Galaxy, jump now!” shouted Magus into the fleetwide comms.
Flash after flash took place as the fleet began jumping away from the Alta Vista system. Missiles and Lasers aimed at Raven ships missed entirely as the targets vanished.