Baptism
Anthony Adex watched the news with a sense of terrible familiarity, finally breaking his attention from it to look across the atrium of the villa that had been awarded to him almost a century before. Remian olive trees extended tranquilly into the distance, imported cyprus trees covering the mountains framing the valley.
The former Mykentian colony of Rem’At had been found abandoned by the Charting Company, one of the many, many subsidiaries of Thomason Holdings just over two hundred years before. This gave House Thomason claim over the planet and with a sense of historical irony that was popular at the time, they had renamed the planet Remus. The similarities of the layout of government buildings around a central forum, as well as the climate had made such comparisons inevitable, but there was already a Nova Roma in the Oceanus sector, and New Rome in the Agrina Sector. Buildings were given new classical facades and a planetary government established modeled on the Roman Republic.
At one hundred twenty-eight years old, Adex felt almost as ancient as those old buildings, in spite of the geriatric nanotreatment that gave him the health and appearance of eighty-eight. As the former Grand Admiral of both the Terran Imperium and the Remian Republic, it had been hard for him to retire without being called back. Many knew where he now lived, but few knew how to contact him.
He turned his attention back to the news, watching the report of the Battle of Vaga Imbrium. A mysterious new enemy had appeared from nowhere, striking out of the darkness with overwhelming force. They rolled like a wave across the face of the galaxy, sweeping aside the five fleets that had been sent to stop them like flotsam.
Just like Monsos did… Adex thought, letting his mind wander…
The nature of human expansion came to a sudden change in the year 860 of the Mykentian calendar. The young, twenty-seven year old Anthony Adex did not realize this as he was summoned to the flag bridge of the flagship of the Imperial 7th Fleet. Bismarck was new, only delivered to the fleet six months before following the extensive reconstruction awarded to a limited number of the Leviathan Class Fleetships. The Leviathan’s were a new design, coming into service only ten years before after an appallingly short design period. Taking years to build, most had been rushed through production at the expense of both quality and yard capacity that could have been used for other ships. But Emperor Claudius II of House Carruthers had not cared what it took, he wanted his monstrous ships.
What a pile of junk, Adex thought as the internal monorail surged over another bump. They should have fixed that during the reconstruction. At least they did something about those engines…
The fleet designers had gone to the new Emperor with the plans for a one kilometer long command ship to compliment the new Titan Class Dreadnaughts and their almost identical cruiser and destroyer escorts. Claudius had been delighted with the design, but in typical Imperial fashion he had changed the size of the design with the uncomprehending stroke of a gilded pen. The ship was to be put into production immediately, but as a four kilometer long monster, and no time was given to make design changes. To their credit, the designers had done what they could in the very limited time they had, but so much had to be redesigned for scale as they were building that there remained no single set of blueprints for the Leviathan class.
Bismarck was originally Leviathan-217, chosen by Fleet Command for a complete reconstruction because it had been built just well enough to make it worthwhile. Over a thousand of the giant ships had been laid down during the thankfully short, five year reign of Claudius, but just as thankfully only a fraction of those had been completed. Most had been scrapped during construction after the discovery of irreparable defects in their structural works. The new Emperor Theodosius IV had justifiably cancelled the entire program, only allowing those Leviathan’s that were nearing completion to survive to see service.
The monorail doors squeaked as they opened to the short, guarded corridor leading to the Flag Bridge, and the quarters he should have been in, had Vice Admiral Jameson of Engineering not called him to take a look at the ever temperamental cluster of fusion reactors.
Any ship that has to put a Vice Admiral in charge of Engineering is too big, Adex thought as he walked past the immaculately uniformed Marines. Each engine is overseen by a Captain… Though I suppose that’s fitting since the engines are the size of cruisers…
“Admiral, we’ve lost contact with all forces outside the system,” Captain Davis reported as he saw Adex arrive.
“All forces?” Adex asked. “Is something else broken on this damn ship?”
“The rest of the fleet reports the same,” Davis replied. “It’s like we’re being jammed.”
“Out here?” Adex frowned as he took his seat in the command chair. “There’s nothing strategic out here at all.”
“Agreed,” Davis nodded. “The only reason we’re out here are those reports of missing ships Commodore Beck and 8th Battle Group are investigating further down the arm. I’ve sent Johnston-1563 off to Vice Admiral Hood to see if he’s having the same trouble.”
“Good idea,” Adex said as he activated the holographic globe at the center of the Flag Bridge. “Is it just me, or is this thing all foggy again?”
Davis swung his seat around, giving the pedestal under the globe a firm kick to clear the image.
“What yard was the reconstruction done in again?” Adex asked with annoyance.
“The Industrie Spatiale yards of Calabria, Admiral,” Davis shrugged.
“Their work sucks,” Adex said bitterly.
“They weren’t exactly given a lot to work with,” Davis chuckled.
“Next time we get leave on Terra I’m definitely going to complain,” Adex frowned as he studied the map.
“Might be faster to just ask the Prince Regent for a new ship,” Davis smiled knowingly. “Or maybe his mother’s family would fix it for us.”
“Thomason Shipbuilding would have at least turned everything on to make sure it worked, first,” Adex agreed.
“Preferably all at the same time,” Davis said, returning to his screen.
“That might be asking too much from a Leviathan,” Adex grinned. “Still, better than L-782 that I was on before, where you couldn’t run the engines and long range sensors at the same time because of feedback they could never…”
Adex was interrupted by an alert sounding, quickly keying the command console mounted to the arm of his chair.
“Unknown ships have jumped into the system,” Davis reported. “Radar reads ten destroyers.”
“Only the radar?” Adex asked, glancing up.
“They’re giving off all the emissions of a large shuttle, Admiral,” Davis said, focused on his plot. “This doesn’t make sense. Who has that level of emissions control?”
“Set condition two, and take up a defensive position around Bismarck,” Adex ordered. “Standard comm procedures. Let’s see if they want to talk.”
“They’re launching fighters,” Davis said quickly.
“Condition one, set point defense to barrier mode,” Adex snapped. “All carriers, expedite full deck launch.”
“Reading… fifty squadrons inbound,” Davis said in surprise.
“Fifty? From ten destroyers?” Adex asked in confusion, bringing the data up in the holographic globe. He looked with shock as the unknown ships accelerated, closing in right behind their fighter screen. Carriers simply did not close in for direct engagements with capital ships.
“Evasive, port,” Adex ordered, quickly fastening his restraints. “Throw the Titan’s and Johnston’s out in front, pull the Obliterator’s and Ark Royal’s behind. We’ll try to shield them with this giant whale of a ship.”
Bismarck shook as it turned on an agonizingly slow turn, the oncoming ships opening fire at impossible ranges, raking beam weapons across the hull.
“Am I imagining things, or are those capital particle beams?” Adex asked, watching the damage reports slashing across the damage control panel over his head.
“Carriers with battleship level weapons, and the speed of cruisers,” Davis said in shock. “What the hell are they?”
“Return fire, give them everything we have,” Adex growled.
“We are, Admiral,” Davis said emphatically.
“Then why aren’t we doing anything? We haven’t even scratched their paint yet.”
“They seem to have incredibly heavy point defense, so our missiles aren’t getting through,” Davis replied, panic starting to tinge his voice. “They appear to be well armored and have some kind of shields.”
A ship that can do everything is impossible, Adex thought with surprise. Or at least we thought it was. Whatever these are, they have to be horribly expensive to build, and probably large, hence the extreme emissions control and stealth hull.
“Swing the cruisers around to their rear to hit them in their blind spots,” Adex ordered calmly in an attempt to stem the panic he was beginning to sense.
They have to be vulnerable somewhere, he reflected as he leaned back in his seat as calmly as he could. But then, there was that warning from the Galatian Ambassador years ago that we shouldn’t expand beyond a certain point. They said there was another successor state to the old Mykentian Republic there that it would be better to avoid. If we’ve encroached too close to that line…
Adex shook himself from the memory as he heard his comm chiming politely on the table next to him. He glanced at the number and sighed as he accepted the call. The hologram formed chaotically in front of him, the caller apparently placing it in a hurry as they rushed around the room, palm trees swaying gently across a patio beyond the windows. A black armored Legionnaire from the Legion of Mykentos stood out of focus, but still imposing in the background. The image suddenly filled with the face of Mark Thomason, buttoning a uniform jacket in a hurry.
“Anthony,” Mark said quickly, his mind clearly racing. “I am sure you have seen the news.”
“Who hasn’t, Hilt Thomason,” Adex replied, noting the insignia on the uniform.
“I cannot do it all,” Mark explained. “Arogast and the Heunos scattered the reserves in the worst possible places, they have ignored the warning signals, and we are totally flat footed. I need your help to sort it out.”
“The Admiralty is largely a political body,” Adex said, considering the situation carefully. “All the best Admirals have fallen or retired.”
“We need a new batch of ‘Young Heroes,’” Mark chuckled as he quickly threw a few personal items in a bag in no particular order, “and I cannot think of anyone better to help me find them.”
“I’m far too old to take a field commission, Hilt,” Adex said, “and that is essentially what you need.”
“I will take command of the front lines and try to stop the panic,” Mark explained. “What I would like is for you to organize the rest of the fleet and find those commanders that are worth promoting.”
“I can do that,” Adex nodded slowly in understanding. “The fleet will also react well to having me behind you.”
“There is that, too,” Mark said, straightening his uniform as he looked around the room for anything he may have forgotten in his haste. “They are waiting outside to take me to Defender of Hope, and I am heading directly to the fleet from there.”
“I will go direct to Fleet Command then,” Adex replied. “I may need special authority to…”
“I will transmit your authorization as High Admiral as soon as I am aboard,” Mark interrupted. “There can be no doubt, and no obstacles.”
“Understood, Hilt,” Adex agreed. “This is the war you warned me was coming, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Mark said somberly, “but we are not prepared enough. This enemy will take every resource, and every talent we have to defeat.”
“Time,” Adex said quietly.
“Yes,” Mark agreed. “We need to move quickly. I will leave you to it.”
Adex stood wearily as the image faded, stretching his muscles to relieve the tension he suddenly felt.
I suppose I do have one more fight in me, he thought as he headed inside the villa to pack. But first, I need to know where all the reserves are, the munitions depots, the food stockpiles…
He glanced at the news again, noting the change in tone as they announced Mark Thomason had accepted the office of Hilt of the Republic.
And hope, he nodded. We need to find hope…
The former Mykentian colony of Rem’At had been found abandoned by the Charting Company, one of the many, many subsidiaries of Thomason Holdings just over two hundred years before. This gave House Thomason claim over the planet and with a sense of historical irony that was popular at the time, they had renamed the planet Remus. The similarities of the layout of government buildings around a central forum, as well as the climate had made such comparisons inevitable, but there was already a Nova Roma in the Oceanus sector, and New Rome in the Agrina Sector. Buildings were given new classical facades and a planetary government established modeled on the Roman Republic.
At one hundred twenty-eight years old, Adex felt almost as ancient as those old buildings, in spite of the geriatric nanotreatment that gave him the health and appearance of eighty-eight. As the former Grand Admiral of both the Terran Imperium and the Remian Republic, it had been hard for him to retire without being called back. Many knew where he now lived, but few knew how to contact him.
He turned his attention back to the news, watching the report of the Battle of Vaga Imbrium. A mysterious new enemy had appeared from nowhere, striking out of the darkness with overwhelming force. They rolled like a wave across the face of the galaxy, sweeping aside the five fleets that had been sent to stop them like flotsam.
Just like Monsos did… Adex thought, letting his mind wander…
***
The nature of human expansion came to a sudden change in the year 860 of the Mykentian calendar. The young, twenty-seven year old Anthony Adex did not realize this as he was summoned to the flag bridge of the flagship of the Imperial 7th Fleet. Bismarck was new, only delivered to the fleet six months before following the extensive reconstruction awarded to a limited number of the Leviathan Class Fleetships. The Leviathan’s were a new design, coming into service only ten years before after an appallingly short design period. Taking years to build, most had been rushed through production at the expense of both quality and yard capacity that could have been used for other ships. But Emperor Claudius II of House Carruthers had not cared what it took, he wanted his monstrous ships.
What a pile of junk, Adex thought as the internal monorail surged over another bump. They should have fixed that during the reconstruction. At least they did something about those engines…
The fleet designers had gone to the new Emperor with the plans for a one kilometer long command ship to compliment the new Titan Class Dreadnaughts and their almost identical cruiser and destroyer escorts. Claudius had been delighted with the design, but in typical Imperial fashion he had changed the size of the design with the uncomprehending stroke of a gilded pen. The ship was to be put into production immediately, but as a four kilometer long monster, and no time was given to make design changes. To their credit, the designers had done what they could in the very limited time they had, but so much had to be redesigned for scale as they were building that there remained no single set of blueprints for the Leviathan class.
Bismarck was originally Leviathan-217, chosen by Fleet Command for a complete reconstruction because it had been built just well enough to make it worthwhile. Over a thousand of the giant ships had been laid down during the thankfully short, five year reign of Claudius, but just as thankfully only a fraction of those had been completed. Most had been scrapped during construction after the discovery of irreparable defects in their structural works. The new Emperor Theodosius IV had justifiably cancelled the entire program, only allowing those Leviathan’s that were nearing completion to survive to see service.
The monorail doors squeaked as they opened to the short, guarded corridor leading to the Flag Bridge, and the quarters he should have been in, had Vice Admiral Jameson of Engineering not called him to take a look at the ever temperamental cluster of fusion reactors.
Any ship that has to put a Vice Admiral in charge of Engineering is too big, Adex thought as he walked past the immaculately uniformed Marines. Each engine is overseen by a Captain… Though I suppose that’s fitting since the engines are the size of cruisers…
“Admiral, we’ve lost contact with all forces outside the system,” Captain Davis reported as he saw Adex arrive.
“All forces?” Adex asked. “Is something else broken on this damn ship?”
“The rest of the fleet reports the same,” Davis replied. “It’s like we’re being jammed.”
“Out here?” Adex frowned as he took his seat in the command chair. “There’s nothing strategic out here at all.”
“Agreed,” Davis nodded. “The only reason we’re out here are those reports of missing ships Commodore Beck and 8th Battle Group are investigating further down the arm. I’ve sent Johnston-1563 off to Vice Admiral Hood to see if he’s having the same trouble.”
“Good idea,” Adex said as he activated the holographic globe at the center of the Flag Bridge. “Is it just me, or is this thing all foggy again?”
Davis swung his seat around, giving the pedestal under the globe a firm kick to clear the image.
“What yard was the reconstruction done in again?” Adex asked with annoyance.
“The Industrie Spatiale yards of Calabria, Admiral,” Davis shrugged.
“Their work sucks,” Adex said bitterly.
“They weren’t exactly given a lot to work with,” Davis chuckled.
“Next time we get leave on Terra I’m definitely going to complain,” Adex frowned as he studied the map.
“Might be faster to just ask the Prince Regent for a new ship,” Davis smiled knowingly. “Or maybe his mother’s family would fix it for us.”
“Thomason Shipbuilding would have at least turned everything on to make sure it worked, first,” Adex agreed.
“Preferably all at the same time,” Davis said, returning to his screen.
“That might be asking too much from a Leviathan,” Adex grinned. “Still, better than L-782 that I was on before, where you couldn’t run the engines and long range sensors at the same time because of feedback they could never…”
Adex was interrupted by an alert sounding, quickly keying the command console mounted to the arm of his chair.
“Unknown ships have jumped into the system,” Davis reported. “Radar reads ten destroyers.”
“Only the radar?” Adex asked, glancing up.
“They’re giving off all the emissions of a large shuttle, Admiral,” Davis said, focused on his plot. “This doesn’t make sense. Who has that level of emissions control?”
“Set condition two, and take up a defensive position around Bismarck,” Adex ordered. “Standard comm procedures. Let’s see if they want to talk.”
“They’re launching fighters,” Davis said quickly.
“Condition one, set point defense to barrier mode,” Adex snapped. “All carriers, expedite full deck launch.”
“Reading… fifty squadrons inbound,” Davis said in surprise.
“Fifty? From ten destroyers?” Adex asked in confusion, bringing the data up in the holographic globe. He looked with shock as the unknown ships accelerated, closing in right behind their fighter screen. Carriers simply did not close in for direct engagements with capital ships.
“Evasive, port,” Adex ordered, quickly fastening his restraints. “Throw the Titan’s and Johnston’s out in front, pull the Obliterator’s and Ark Royal’s behind. We’ll try to shield them with this giant whale of a ship.”
Bismarck shook as it turned on an agonizingly slow turn, the oncoming ships opening fire at impossible ranges, raking beam weapons across the hull.
“Am I imagining things, or are those capital particle beams?” Adex asked, watching the damage reports slashing across the damage control panel over his head.
“Carriers with battleship level weapons, and the speed of cruisers,” Davis said in shock. “What the hell are they?”
“Return fire, give them everything we have,” Adex growled.
“We are, Admiral,” Davis said emphatically.
“Then why aren’t we doing anything? We haven’t even scratched their paint yet.”
“They seem to have incredibly heavy point defense, so our missiles aren’t getting through,” Davis replied, panic starting to tinge his voice. “They appear to be well armored and have some kind of shields.”
A ship that can do everything is impossible, Adex thought with surprise. Or at least we thought it was. Whatever these are, they have to be horribly expensive to build, and probably large, hence the extreme emissions control and stealth hull.
“Swing the cruisers around to their rear to hit them in their blind spots,” Adex ordered calmly in an attempt to stem the panic he was beginning to sense.
They have to be vulnerable somewhere, he reflected as he leaned back in his seat as calmly as he could. But then, there was that warning from the Galatian Ambassador years ago that we shouldn’t expand beyond a certain point. They said there was another successor state to the old Mykentian Republic there that it would be better to avoid. If we’ve encroached too close to that line…
***
Adex shook himself from the memory as he heard his comm chiming politely on the table next to him. He glanced at the number and sighed as he accepted the call. The hologram formed chaotically in front of him, the caller apparently placing it in a hurry as they rushed around the room, palm trees swaying gently across a patio beyond the windows. A black armored Legionnaire from the Legion of Mykentos stood out of focus, but still imposing in the background. The image suddenly filled with the face of Mark Thomason, buttoning a uniform jacket in a hurry.
“Anthony,” Mark said quickly, his mind clearly racing. “I am sure you have seen the news.”
“Who hasn’t, Hilt Thomason,” Adex replied, noting the insignia on the uniform.
“I cannot do it all,” Mark explained. “Arogast and the Heunos scattered the reserves in the worst possible places, they have ignored the warning signals, and we are totally flat footed. I need your help to sort it out.”
“The Admiralty is largely a political body,” Adex said, considering the situation carefully. “All the best Admirals have fallen or retired.”
“We need a new batch of ‘Young Heroes,’” Mark chuckled as he quickly threw a few personal items in a bag in no particular order, “and I cannot think of anyone better to help me find them.”
“I’m far too old to take a field commission, Hilt,” Adex said, “and that is essentially what you need.”
“I will take command of the front lines and try to stop the panic,” Mark explained. “What I would like is for you to organize the rest of the fleet and find those commanders that are worth promoting.”
“I can do that,” Adex nodded slowly in understanding. “The fleet will also react well to having me behind you.”
“There is that, too,” Mark said, straightening his uniform as he looked around the room for anything he may have forgotten in his haste. “They are waiting outside to take me to Defender of Hope, and I am heading directly to the fleet from there.”
“I will go direct to Fleet Command then,” Adex replied. “I may need special authority to…”
“I will transmit your authorization as High Admiral as soon as I am aboard,” Mark interrupted. “There can be no doubt, and no obstacles.”
“Understood, Hilt,” Adex agreed. “This is the war you warned me was coming, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Mark said somberly, “but we are not prepared enough. This enemy will take every resource, and every talent we have to defeat.”
“Time,” Adex said quietly.
“Yes,” Mark agreed. “We need to move quickly. I will leave you to it.”
Adex stood wearily as the image faded, stretching his muscles to relieve the tension he suddenly felt.
I suppose I do have one more fight in me, he thought as he headed inside the villa to pack. But first, I need to know where all the reserves are, the munitions depots, the food stockpiles…
He glanced at the news again, noting the change in tone as they announced Mark Thomason had accepted the office of Hilt of the Republic.
And hope, he nodded. We need to find hope…
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