Abwehran Commander
Inactive Member
AF 259, Fourth Quarter, Third Month, 14th Day
Location: ISS Revelry
It had been nearly a couple of weeks since the first colonization wave to the north had been completed and trade was still at a trickle. Captain Adler Godard had been out to the Meltra system to deliver goods to the colonists. But Adler hated it. Sure, in the long term colonization would bring in more capital to everyone, even a small fry trader like him. But he needed the big bucks fast and now. Those gambling debts weren't going away any time soon and if he didn't get 12 million credits to the the people he borrowed money from soon...let's just say they'd chop something off that couldn't grow back.
The question was how could he do it. He only had a few trade goods remaining and no where to pawn it off for more. Besides, such things wouldn't bring in the credits. If only he could find something exotic. Something that no one else had in supply but everyone would love to get.
To his surprise, it was his first mate who made the suggestion. Poor little Richter had been down with the Flu for nearly two weeks, but he had been showing signs of kicking it. Adler would have been glad to help the poor kid out, but he just didn't have facilities or the time to take him.
But his suggestion had merit. A world that the Abwehrans had yet to make contact with, though there were plenty of them. But this one was on the fringe of even Yamatai. Khorsovarolor in the Paracrux system was supposed to have a minor manufacturing corporation there and be pretty advanced for a fringe, mono-system nation. Why they hadn't bothered expanding was beyond the independent Captain. It was only a short jump to it too. Setting a course, Adler didn't thank his ancestors just yet. His trade goods were just textiles after all...not worth that much unless he tried scamming his potential customers.
Well, he had done so before with worse products. Webber Silk was a pretty fancy commodity anyway.
**************************************
AF 259, Fourth Quarter, Fourth Month, 16th Day
Location: Khorovarolor
It was horrible, the Captain would continue thinking in shock as he stood amongst the graveyard that had once been the most advanced hospital on planet. The dead had now begun to fill even the hallways now as the morgue became full and even more people would fill it soon enough.
The local crazies had no clue what was happening. They had identified it as a virus of some sort, but normal anti-viral treatments weren't working. It seemed to be affecting everyone from young to old, but there wasn't a single survivor of anyone who caught it. This couldn't be an illness...it was as if the universe itself had unleashed its vast knowledge of epidemics and dropped it right on top of these poor people. What was worse was that he too was showing signs of the illness. Richter seemed unaffected, but had opted locking himself in the Revelry to be on the safe side.
How long had it been since the first symptoms of this pandemic appeared? Three weeks? A month? No...he had arrived around that time and had seen no such sickness plaguing this nice people.
Adler looked from his hospital bed in the hallway and to one of the corpses piled near him. The poor kid couldn't have been any older than a single Abwehran Year. How could it's body had produces so much puss? It flooded from every poor it seemed, but the blood...oh universe high the blood. The middle-aged Abwehran couldn't help but break out into tears as he saw another child placed right beside the next. "Why," he cried out in Abwehran. "Why did it turn out like this!!??" he shouted as nurses moved to restrain his flailing body.
When he had arrived here, he had been the strongest man on world. Why...how had he become so weak even children such as these could hold him down with little effort?
********************************************
Location: HMS Valiant
The haggard Hauptmann Weiss looked at his datapad sadly before glancing up at his Ship's Doctor. "So we are the cause of this horrible plague." he muttered as he set the datapad onto his desk.
"Unfortunately," Doctor Kessler replied as she massaged her temple. She seemed pale and shaking, which made the Squadron Commander even more scared than he had been when the Civilian on that world had called for assistance. This was the Empire's worst fear after all. They had figured out from CSEIA's help that they had the record for strongest viri and bacteria they had ever seen...some of them even coming close to what most Nepleslians could only manufacture in laboratories.
Because of this, the Abwehran Government had restricted first contact scenarios to military personnel. Mostly because the military had better medical facilities on board their ships than civilians did. "By the void," Weiss muttered as he dry washed his hands with his prime hands. "And you said the flu caused this...this monstrosity!?"
"Not just a simple flu, Hauptmann." the Doctor spoke calmly, surprising for her expression. "It seems like our flu bug got a nasty upgrade by coming into contact with the local biosphere. One of the trader's crew members infected one of the locals which just started the mutations path. One thing led to another, infection, atmospheric composition, solar radiation, they all became a factor to create this pandemic."
"A pandemic indeed, which is also causing a panic. I've been able to enlist what little forces in space the KHSF have to apply a quarantine blockade upon this world, but they aren't following proper quarantine procedures." he growled as he looked at his desk computer. "I know it may seem a bit savage to destroy any ships entering or leaving the atmosphere except for medical shuttles, but damn it...we have to keep that damn thing on that world. If it so much as gets out into the galaxy, who knows what could happen. We also have a report of one of our nationals being infected."
"And he will die within the next 48 hours," the doctor affirmed quietly.
"What about the other crewmen...isn't he immune? Perhaps."
"We've already thought of checking him for an antibody, Hauptmann. Unfortunately, he has the wrong type of antibodies. In fact...he is also infected." the doctor explained with a tone of dread.
"And?"
"...He committed suicide the moment we left the room," she said with teeth gritted.
"Son of a Charec," Weiss muttered as he ran a hand through the fuzz on his head. "What's our option, Doctor? Can we save these people?" The doctor seemed to pause as if to stave off the truth. But the Squadron Commander looked at her with grief upon his face. "So that's how it is," he muttered as he looked away from the doctor. "You know...I have two children back on Jaspis," he muttered as he pulled up their picture on his deck computer. "Seeing those pictures of..." he gritted his teeth as he seemed to have a flash of anger. "Stupid sons of Charec Worms," he growled. "They knew it was illegal to go to planets we haven't contact yet....they damn well knew!"
"But that past has passed, Hauptmann. There's nothing we can do but keep this pandemic from leaving." she said sadly.
**************************************
AF 259, Fourth Quarter, Fifth Month, 1st Day
Location: Khorovarolor Orbit
The next day, there was hell to pay. Hauptmann Weiss wouldn't know where it had started until it was too late, but the deed had been done either way.
Hauptmann Weiss was in command of a full Destroyer squadron of nine Löwenhertz II-class Destroyers, the newest and most powerful of Abwehran warships. It lacked the missile weaponry of its predecessor, but it gained a powerful new energy weapon, the 160mm Tri-barreled Laser Turret.
When he had entered the system, he had immediately contacted the Khorovarolor Homeworld Security Force and had placed his squadron within their command sphere. But he had also made sure that his squadron had divided up into three divisions of three to ensure their protection from the Security Force just in case anything...bad...happened.
Such a thing occurred at 1000 hours of the first day of the fifth month, when the HMS Fang opened fire upon a ship fleeing from Khorovarolor with only a single warning to return to the planet. The ship had claimed to be carrying diseased people towards Yamatai for treatment, but protocol had been made clear to the inhabitants. A full barrage of laser fire from three destroyers had made the Geshrinari Light Freighter, later identified as a smuggler vessel, into free-floating debris before it could bring its CDD up and running.
The resulting outcry of the response to procedure would result in what would be a secret skirmish to everyone. The ratio of Hurricane Escorts to Löwenhertz II's were twenty to nine, but the Löwenhertz II's had the advantage of range and a naval tradition of small group maneuvers compared to the KHSF.
It began with the HMS Valiant's DesDiv 002A coming into contact with the KHSF's flagship and four escorts. The result became a running battle with the Hauptmann's Division being chased around Khorovarolor's orbit, keeping the range around 400,000 kilometers as they used the planet's gravity to arc their laser fire around and into the KHSF's forces.
One hour later, five more Hurricanes joined the battle by coming around in a parallel path following an opposing course from the Valiant. Ranges closed to a knife fighting range of 8,000 kilometers, where the use of Ion Cannon's downed two of the Hurricanes in passing. The furious force of charged hydrogen smashed into the KHSF's shields as photons crashed into DesDiv 002A's shields. One of the HMS Valiant's compatriots took fire to it's ventral-port Fusion Engine while the Valiant herself too a hit to it's forward-port Laser battery.
Elsewhere in system, DesDivs 002B and 002C joined forces. Disappearing into the gas giant of Trios, the two destroyer squadrons began a guerrilla war with ten Hurricanes as they fought both in and out of the atmosphere. The result of that skirmish was all ten Hurricanes destroyed with one Löwenhertz II destroyed with all hands and the rest with a varying degree of battle damage.
The system-wide skirmish continued on into the local night as reinforcements from the 3rd Destroyer Squadron entered the system. By this time, 2nd Squadrons forces had whittled down the KHSF to eight Hurricanes with no damage, four floating wrecks, and two barely habitable Hurricanes. Unfortunately, the 2nd Squadron had been beaten down as well to only a single full Division and two extras, none of which escaped damage.
With the additional reinforcements, the KHSF was forced back into their homeworld's orbit. Hauptmann Kaufman of the HMS Relentless pleaded with the security forces to surrender and a few ships did. But blood had been spilled and many of the survivors put up a valiant battle. But caught in their world's gravity well with no ability to use their FTL drives, the 3rd Destroyer Squadron relentlessly pounded them from a 30 light-seconds out (8,993,773.74 kilometers). With no way to retaliate, the remaining fighting force was decimated.
**************************************
AF 259, Fourth Quarter, Fifth Month, 2nd Day
The aftermath of the skirmish had been as horrible as the actual fighting. Marines from Second and Third Destroyer Squadrons invaded the local shipyards to secure them as the remaining Löwenhertz II's from Second Squadron began to dock to receive repairs.
Third Squadron took over the Quarantine Duties of its predecessor with an even more strict vigil than before. Even the ISS Revelry was unable to lift off as it remained grounded on a dying world. No more doctors from the Abwehran Star Empire were sent down as the plague worsened. It had only been two weeks since it's first outbreak and 20% of the total planetary population had been annihilated.
Assistance in the form of consultation and information was sent to the dying Khorovaran's, but after the skirmish...distrust had been sown. Riots and protests were occurring all over the planet, but the Abwehran's stood firm as they held the high ground over the entire world.
The damage had been done. Nothing seemed to be able to stop the plague from killing the planet's inhabitance. Every evacuation ship launched was sent back or destroyed and every call for help was blocked. After what had happened, it would hurt the Empire's reputation. But Hauptmann Weiss overruled his savior's decision.
One message was sent out to the Jaspis System to inform the High Command of what had occurred. After that, it was up to the Admiralty and Politicians. At that moment, the two Squadron Commanders could only do their duty to keep the plague from reaching the rest of the galaxy. No matter how barbaric the means. And for the first time ever, soldiers of the Empire wept over what was their duty.
To be Continued.
Location: ISS Revelry
It had been nearly a couple of weeks since the first colonization wave to the north had been completed and trade was still at a trickle. Captain Adler Godard had been out to the Meltra system to deliver goods to the colonists. But Adler hated it. Sure, in the long term colonization would bring in more capital to everyone, even a small fry trader like him. But he needed the big bucks fast and now. Those gambling debts weren't going away any time soon and if he didn't get 12 million credits to the the people he borrowed money from soon...let's just say they'd chop something off that couldn't grow back.
The question was how could he do it. He only had a few trade goods remaining and no where to pawn it off for more. Besides, such things wouldn't bring in the credits. If only he could find something exotic. Something that no one else had in supply but everyone would love to get.
To his surprise, it was his first mate who made the suggestion. Poor little Richter had been down with the Flu for nearly two weeks, but he had been showing signs of kicking it. Adler would have been glad to help the poor kid out, but he just didn't have facilities or the time to take him.
But his suggestion had merit. A world that the Abwehrans had yet to make contact with, though there were plenty of them. But this one was on the fringe of even Yamatai. Khorsovarolor in the Paracrux system was supposed to have a minor manufacturing corporation there and be pretty advanced for a fringe, mono-system nation. Why they hadn't bothered expanding was beyond the independent Captain. It was only a short jump to it too. Setting a course, Adler didn't thank his ancestors just yet. His trade goods were just textiles after all...not worth that much unless he tried scamming his potential customers.
Well, he had done so before with worse products. Webber Silk was a pretty fancy commodity anyway.
**************************************
AF 259, Fourth Quarter, Fourth Month, 16th Day
Location: Khorovarolor
It was horrible, the Captain would continue thinking in shock as he stood amongst the graveyard that had once been the most advanced hospital on planet. The dead had now begun to fill even the hallways now as the morgue became full and even more people would fill it soon enough.
The local crazies had no clue what was happening. They had identified it as a virus of some sort, but normal anti-viral treatments weren't working. It seemed to be affecting everyone from young to old, but there wasn't a single survivor of anyone who caught it. This couldn't be an illness...it was as if the universe itself had unleashed its vast knowledge of epidemics and dropped it right on top of these poor people. What was worse was that he too was showing signs of the illness. Richter seemed unaffected, but had opted locking himself in the Revelry to be on the safe side.
How long had it been since the first symptoms of this pandemic appeared? Three weeks? A month? No...he had arrived around that time and had seen no such sickness plaguing this nice people.
Adler looked from his hospital bed in the hallway and to one of the corpses piled near him. The poor kid couldn't have been any older than a single Abwehran Year. How could it's body had produces so much puss? It flooded from every poor it seemed, but the blood...oh universe high the blood. The middle-aged Abwehran couldn't help but break out into tears as he saw another child placed right beside the next. "Why," he cried out in Abwehran. "Why did it turn out like this!!??" he shouted as nurses moved to restrain his flailing body.
When he had arrived here, he had been the strongest man on world. Why...how had he become so weak even children such as these could hold him down with little effort?
********************************************
Location: HMS Valiant
The haggard Hauptmann Weiss looked at his datapad sadly before glancing up at his Ship's Doctor. "So we are the cause of this horrible plague." he muttered as he set the datapad onto his desk.
"Unfortunately," Doctor Kessler replied as she massaged her temple. She seemed pale and shaking, which made the Squadron Commander even more scared than he had been when the Civilian on that world had called for assistance. This was the Empire's worst fear after all. They had figured out from CSEIA's help that they had the record for strongest viri and bacteria they had ever seen...some of them even coming close to what most Nepleslians could only manufacture in laboratories.
Because of this, the Abwehran Government had restricted first contact scenarios to military personnel. Mostly because the military had better medical facilities on board their ships than civilians did. "By the void," Weiss muttered as he dry washed his hands with his prime hands. "And you said the flu caused this...this monstrosity!?"
"Not just a simple flu, Hauptmann." the Doctor spoke calmly, surprising for her expression. "It seems like our flu bug got a nasty upgrade by coming into contact with the local biosphere. One of the trader's crew members infected one of the locals which just started the mutations path. One thing led to another, infection, atmospheric composition, solar radiation, they all became a factor to create this pandemic."
"A pandemic indeed, which is also causing a panic. I've been able to enlist what little forces in space the KHSF have to apply a quarantine blockade upon this world, but they aren't following proper quarantine procedures." he growled as he looked at his desk computer. "I know it may seem a bit savage to destroy any ships entering or leaving the atmosphere except for medical shuttles, but damn it...we have to keep that damn thing on that world. If it so much as gets out into the galaxy, who knows what could happen. We also have a report of one of our nationals being infected."
"And he will die within the next 48 hours," the doctor affirmed quietly.
"What about the other crewmen...isn't he immune? Perhaps."
"We've already thought of checking him for an antibody, Hauptmann. Unfortunately, he has the wrong type of antibodies. In fact...he is also infected." the doctor explained with a tone of dread.
"And?"
"...He committed suicide the moment we left the room," she said with teeth gritted.
"Son of a Charec," Weiss muttered as he ran a hand through the fuzz on his head. "What's our option, Doctor? Can we save these people?" The doctor seemed to pause as if to stave off the truth. But the Squadron Commander looked at her with grief upon his face. "So that's how it is," he muttered as he looked away from the doctor. "You know...I have two children back on Jaspis," he muttered as he pulled up their picture on his deck computer. "Seeing those pictures of..." he gritted his teeth as he seemed to have a flash of anger. "Stupid sons of Charec Worms," he growled. "They knew it was illegal to go to planets we haven't contact yet....they damn well knew!"
"But that past has passed, Hauptmann. There's nothing we can do but keep this pandemic from leaving." she said sadly.
**************************************
AF 259, Fourth Quarter, Fifth Month, 1st Day
Location: Khorovarolor Orbit
The next day, there was hell to pay. Hauptmann Weiss wouldn't know where it had started until it was too late, but the deed had been done either way.
Hauptmann Weiss was in command of a full Destroyer squadron of nine Löwenhertz II-class Destroyers, the newest and most powerful of Abwehran warships. It lacked the missile weaponry of its predecessor, but it gained a powerful new energy weapon, the 160mm Tri-barreled Laser Turret.
When he had entered the system, he had immediately contacted the Khorovarolor Homeworld Security Force and had placed his squadron within their command sphere. But he had also made sure that his squadron had divided up into three divisions of three to ensure their protection from the Security Force just in case anything...bad...happened.
Such a thing occurred at 1000 hours of the first day of the fifth month, when the HMS Fang opened fire upon a ship fleeing from Khorovarolor with only a single warning to return to the planet. The ship had claimed to be carrying diseased people towards Yamatai for treatment, but protocol had been made clear to the inhabitants. A full barrage of laser fire from three destroyers had made the Geshrinari Light Freighter, later identified as a smuggler vessel, into free-floating debris before it could bring its CDD up and running.
The resulting outcry of the response to procedure would result in what would be a secret skirmish to everyone. The ratio of Hurricane Escorts to Löwenhertz II's were twenty to nine, but the Löwenhertz II's had the advantage of range and a naval tradition of small group maneuvers compared to the KHSF.
It began with the HMS Valiant's DesDiv 002A coming into contact with the KHSF's flagship and four escorts. The result became a running battle with the Hauptmann's Division being chased around Khorovarolor's orbit, keeping the range around 400,000 kilometers as they used the planet's gravity to arc their laser fire around and into the KHSF's forces.
One hour later, five more Hurricanes joined the battle by coming around in a parallel path following an opposing course from the Valiant. Ranges closed to a knife fighting range of 8,000 kilometers, where the use of Ion Cannon's downed two of the Hurricanes in passing. The furious force of charged hydrogen smashed into the KHSF's shields as photons crashed into DesDiv 002A's shields. One of the HMS Valiant's compatriots took fire to it's ventral-port Fusion Engine while the Valiant herself too a hit to it's forward-port Laser battery.
Elsewhere in system, DesDivs 002B and 002C joined forces. Disappearing into the gas giant of Trios, the two destroyer squadrons began a guerrilla war with ten Hurricanes as they fought both in and out of the atmosphere. The result of that skirmish was all ten Hurricanes destroyed with one Löwenhertz II destroyed with all hands and the rest with a varying degree of battle damage.
The system-wide skirmish continued on into the local night as reinforcements from the 3rd Destroyer Squadron entered the system. By this time, 2nd Squadrons forces had whittled down the KHSF to eight Hurricanes with no damage, four floating wrecks, and two barely habitable Hurricanes. Unfortunately, the 2nd Squadron had been beaten down as well to only a single full Division and two extras, none of which escaped damage.
With the additional reinforcements, the KHSF was forced back into their homeworld's orbit. Hauptmann Kaufman of the HMS Relentless pleaded with the security forces to surrender and a few ships did. But blood had been spilled and many of the survivors put up a valiant battle. But caught in their world's gravity well with no ability to use their FTL drives, the 3rd Destroyer Squadron relentlessly pounded them from a 30 light-seconds out (8,993,773.74 kilometers). With no way to retaliate, the remaining fighting force was decimated.
**************************************
AF 259, Fourth Quarter, Fifth Month, 2nd Day
The aftermath of the skirmish had been as horrible as the actual fighting. Marines from Second and Third Destroyer Squadrons invaded the local shipyards to secure them as the remaining Löwenhertz II's from Second Squadron began to dock to receive repairs.
Third Squadron took over the Quarantine Duties of its predecessor with an even more strict vigil than before. Even the ISS Revelry was unable to lift off as it remained grounded on a dying world. No more doctors from the Abwehran Star Empire were sent down as the plague worsened. It had only been two weeks since it's first outbreak and 20% of the total planetary population had been annihilated.
Assistance in the form of consultation and information was sent to the dying Khorovaran's, but after the skirmish...distrust had been sown. Riots and protests were occurring all over the planet, but the Abwehran's stood firm as they held the high ground over the entire world.
The damage had been done. Nothing seemed to be able to stop the plague from killing the planet's inhabitance. Every evacuation ship launched was sent back or destroyed and every call for help was blocked. After what had happened, it would hurt the Empire's reputation. But Hauptmann Weiss overruled his savior's decision.
One message was sent out to the Jaspis System to inform the High Command of what had occurred. After that, it was up to the Admiralty and Politicians. At that moment, the two Squadron Commanders could only do their duty to keep the plague from reaching the rest of the galaxy. No matter how barbaric the means. And for the first time ever, soldiers of the Empire wept over what was their duty.
To be Continued.
