Post by Kelshanlegacy on Aug 3, 2014 19:54:10 GMT -8
Chapter one- One giant step
Kagrido Novan took a deep breath and opened his eyes, looking through the great viewport of the observation deck. Stretching out before him was the dagger shape of The Vigilant, successor to The Blade, Dark Watch’s first Harrower class Dreadnaught. The ship hadn’t seen much action when it was commandeered a year ago, aside from aiding in The Imperial invasion of Tython and repelling the Republic counter attack on Korriban.
The Commandant smiled softly. Now the ship was one of the other four Star Destroyers chosen to test a new form of faster than light travel, a technology that forces wormholes into existence. They would go one at a time, The Vigilant being the first to test the warp drive.
He heard the sounds of boots hitting the metal decking; he turned to see the white haired sith exile smiling and holding a cup of hot caff out to him, “Would it kill you to smile more white eyes? You’re making me tense; as if we’re all gonna die on this test run.”
Kelshan wasn’t by any standard bad looking his personality need work though, twenty eight years old with wavy white hair part of which covered his right eye, white skinned and dark blue eyes. He wore his black duster with a white t-shirt underneath, black pants, knee high black boots, a black glove on his left hand, his right hand a cybernetic augmentation and a grey utility belt with two pouches, one with throwing knives and the other holstered his Jedaii katana, his lightsabre held by a magnetic lock on the opposite end.
Kagrido took the cup from Kelshan, “I’ll put a big smile on my face if this test is successful.”
Kelshan nodded and looked down at the bridge section and the crew pits below. The observation deck was nothing more than a collection of railed walkways, all leading to a central platform. On this platform was a huge holographic table, used by commanders to observe surroundings and issue orders.
Kagrido blew on his steaming hot drink and cast a glance at Kelshan. He also had a cup of caff in his hand but he wasn’t drinking. Instead he looked at the huge expanse of twinkling stars from the huge viewport. The view was incredible.
To their left and right were the smaller dagger shapes of their escort, ten Imperial-class ships and four light cruisers.
“I want to get this mission done and over with.” Kagrido added. “I have other pressing matters to attend to.”
Kelshan snorted a laugh, “Yeah, force forbid this mission cuts into your brooding and drinking time. This may take quite some time hence why Inig isn’t here herself, you know kids and all that. So sit down and buckle in for the long and boring haul white eyes.”
Kagrido frowned at the young man. Sometimes his blatant disrespect for authority was amusing, other times he just wanted to strangle the man. He didn’t mind that much though he found Kelshan’s demeanor refreshing as opposed to all his requests being answered with ‘yes my lord’.
“Thanks for reminding me.” He replied in a sarcastic deadpan
Kelshan took a sip of his caff and smirked, “Your welcome.”
“My lords,” both men turned to the central console to see the ship’s captain. Dennenia was a female Chiss and young by humanoid standards but she was a serious officer and something of a diabolical genius. “All ship Captains report that they are ready and are awaiting instructions.”
Kagrido nodded as he approached the center of the command deck, “Very good Captain. Patch me through to the engineering section would you?”
“Yes my lord.”
“I’ll be over here,” Kelshan said suddenly, walking back to the viewport and absently raising his hand in a casual wave. “I swear if that crazy woman gets in my face again I’ll take her arms off.”
Kagrido sighed, noticing his captain’s lips were curling upwards in a small smile, “If you don’t want to you don’t have to be here either.”
She gave him a thankful smile before walking over to the edge of the deck to stand beside the Sith Exile. How the hell was this woman able to make of his command staff hate her in only a few months? It wasn’t possible.
Kagrido felt a headache coming on, but ignored it as he began to push a few runes on the keyboard. Within a few seconds a twenty foot image of the engineering bay snapped into life above the table. The section was, as predicted, a mess with cables of different shapes and sizes snaking across the floor all connecting to this massive spherical mass which was so big he couldn’t see a tenth of it on the monitor. Engineers and technicians were either standing by computer consoles or making last minute checkups to the main generators.
A few seconds passed before the head scientist appeared on the screen. Bella Lissana was a tall woman in her later mid-forties, a Mirialan in a simple pair of white overalls, caked in oil and dirt, making her look just like horde of technicians and engineers surrounding her. Her hair was long and black, tied in a messy ponytail; skin was a greenish yellow with the ritual tattoos dark purple on the bridge of her nose and chin.
“What is it now my lord?” she asked in clipped tone.
“Just needed to remind you about the deadline, Chief.” he replied. “All other ship commanders are reporting that they are ready and waiting. All they need is my word and for that I need your word. Are we ready?”
“Yes we are ready.” she replied. “No thanks to you and your lackeys of course with you constantly pestering us with ‘When will it be done?’ and ‘Remember the deadline?’. This isn’t a piece of meat you can cook and throw out. This is a very delicate piece of machinery, a prototype.”
If Kagrido wanted to kill her he didn’t show it, force knows he’s thought about it, “So that means you’re ready right?”
She glared at him for a moment, “Yes, we are ready.”
“Then let’s begin.” Kagrido replied before terminating the link and turning back to see both Kelshan and Dennenia looking over their shoulders as if silently asking if she was gone. “You both are such a great help.”
“Apologies my lord but in this case I share Kelshan’s sentiment about removing her arms. I thought it would be best if I stayed away.” Dennenia replied with a nervous smile.
“Well we have our permission, so how about we take this flying Rancor for a spin.” Kelshan walked to the very end of the viewport once again, looking out at the stars as Dennenia contacted the other ship captains within the fleet.
It was a few minutes when they heard a new sound join the symphony of noises that were normal for a warship, a deep hum which seemed to reverberate through the Star Destroyer’s very superstructure. The Vice Commandant felt the railings he was leaning on begin to shudder as the massive machine started up. Before long everyone could feel the trembling.
There was a blast of static before the chief’s excited voice echoed through, “Prism Drive has started up without a hitch. The board is green; all gauges show readings within acceptable parameters, power levels at thirty percent and rising.”
“No way is this normal.” He heard Kelshan say to Dennenia as he leaned against the railing, placing a hand on the young captain’s shoulder to keep her grounded.
Lissana’s voice pierced the air again, “All gauges still reading normal parameters, the board is still green. Power levels at fifty percent.”
The trembling seem to escalate, and Kagrido heard a low groaning noise which he somehow knew was the skeletal structure of the Vigilant, as if voicing its discomfort to all those within her armored hull. “Power levels at sixty percent and rising!”
Suddenly there was a huge boom, which was a precursor for the trembling to escalate to that of a low level ground quake. The power behind the blast sent everyone on both the observation deck and the bridge to the floor. Alarms began to blare, deafening Kagrido and making his ears ring for a few crucial seconds.
He looked around just in time to see one of the junior officers lose his footing and fall over the railing, hitting the central walkway with a bone crushing thud. Dennenia nearly went with him, but Kelshan looped an arm around her waist and pulled her back onto the deck, still holding tightly to the railing.
“Lissana,” he shouted in surprise and anger. “Did you just break my ship!?”
“Power levels reached seventy percent,” her suddenly panicked voice replied. “Then the whole thing went to hell. Its chaos down here, red all across the board and pressures went up well past a hundred.”
“Then turn the damned thing off,” he shouted, scrambling his way to the circular console.
The chief scientist’s voice returned, “Understood, commencing emergency shut down procedures!”
“Kag,” he heard Kelshan’s voice and turned to see both him and Dennenia staring at the viewports with widen eyes. With effort Kagrido spun himself around, and his own white orbs went as wide as dinner plates.
A mass of haze which resembled a spherical orb, about the size of a small moon appeared before their ships, barely five thousand kilometers away from the closest ship’s bow. Kagrido watched the orb even as he received a garbled mass of communications from the other ship captains, demanding to know what was happening. For what seemed like an eternity the orb hung there motionless, and then opened up like a blooming flower.
“That’s a black hole.” He heard Kelshan say with fear and shock in his voice; he’d never seen Kelshan afraid before, now he was really concerned.
“Turn us around,” but his voice was a whisper at first, but as the trembling died down and it became possible to stand his voice became a roar. “Turn us around! Full power to the main engines and contact the fleet, tell them to do the same. Turn us around now!”
As one the other ships began a desperate turning action, the fifteen strong fleet squadron was able to make the turn but then stopped in their tracks, the engines unable to fight against the suction of the black hole.
A male’s voice crackled over the wireless, “This is captain Augustus of the Victor, we’re going to attempt a hyperspace jump!”
Kagrido immediately hit the communications switch, “This is Novan, abort that order! Do you hear me, abort!”
It was too late, the mile long Star Destroyer seemed to extend, like an elastic band, and then it vanished in a flash. Barley a second later the ship reappeared, its superstructure cut in two like a giant sword had ran through it.
“Send this to all ships,” he shouted. “Reroute all power from weapons to the engines. Don’t let up until you break free!”
It didn’t matter however, the Star Destroyers made it a few kilometers before the power of the black hole overwhelmed them again. Kagrido and the others were forced to watch as one by one the Imperial and Harrower class Star Destroyers were pulled back into the wait arms of the anomaly.
Over the next ten minutes the ships were slowly forced back, one by one vanishing into the eternal depths of the monstrous black hole. All aboard the Vigilant were forced to hear the screams of those aboard their support craft as they vanished. Eventually only the Vigilant remained.
A sudden tremor so strong it made the entire superstructure roar and sent everyone to the decking. The very ship began to list backward, like an old sea fairing ship sinking beneath the waves. Kagrido watched as cables snapped and consoles below sparked. He saw Kelshan fall to the ground still holding Dennenia. He saw his command staff hand on to anything they could as the battleship was forced into the black hole.
Then a great darkness took him from consciousness.
Okay so that's it for chapter one and for the record I don't own Star Wars or Warhammer 40k. If I did I would have to go to work.
Kagrido Novan took a deep breath and opened his eyes, looking through the great viewport of the observation deck. Stretching out before him was the dagger shape of The Vigilant, successor to The Blade, Dark Watch’s first Harrower class Dreadnaught. The ship hadn’t seen much action when it was commandeered a year ago, aside from aiding in The Imperial invasion of Tython and repelling the Republic counter attack on Korriban.
The Commandant smiled softly. Now the ship was one of the other four Star Destroyers chosen to test a new form of faster than light travel, a technology that forces wormholes into existence. They would go one at a time, The Vigilant being the first to test the warp drive.
He heard the sounds of boots hitting the metal decking; he turned to see the white haired sith exile smiling and holding a cup of hot caff out to him, “Would it kill you to smile more white eyes? You’re making me tense; as if we’re all gonna die on this test run.”
Kelshan wasn’t by any standard bad looking his personality need work though, twenty eight years old with wavy white hair part of which covered his right eye, white skinned and dark blue eyes. He wore his black duster with a white t-shirt underneath, black pants, knee high black boots, a black glove on his left hand, his right hand a cybernetic augmentation and a grey utility belt with two pouches, one with throwing knives and the other holstered his Jedaii katana, his lightsabre held by a magnetic lock on the opposite end.
Kagrido took the cup from Kelshan, “I’ll put a big smile on my face if this test is successful.”
Kelshan nodded and looked down at the bridge section and the crew pits below. The observation deck was nothing more than a collection of railed walkways, all leading to a central platform. On this platform was a huge holographic table, used by commanders to observe surroundings and issue orders.
Kagrido blew on his steaming hot drink and cast a glance at Kelshan. He also had a cup of caff in his hand but he wasn’t drinking. Instead he looked at the huge expanse of twinkling stars from the huge viewport. The view was incredible.
To their left and right were the smaller dagger shapes of their escort, ten Imperial-class ships and four light cruisers.
“I want to get this mission done and over with.” Kagrido added. “I have other pressing matters to attend to.”
Kelshan snorted a laugh, “Yeah, force forbid this mission cuts into your brooding and drinking time. This may take quite some time hence why Inig isn’t here herself, you know kids and all that. So sit down and buckle in for the long and boring haul white eyes.”
Kagrido frowned at the young man. Sometimes his blatant disrespect for authority was amusing, other times he just wanted to strangle the man. He didn’t mind that much though he found Kelshan’s demeanor refreshing as opposed to all his requests being answered with ‘yes my lord’.
“Thanks for reminding me.” He replied in a sarcastic deadpan
Kelshan took a sip of his caff and smirked, “Your welcome.”
“My lords,” both men turned to the central console to see the ship’s captain. Dennenia was a female Chiss and young by humanoid standards but she was a serious officer and something of a diabolical genius. “All ship Captains report that they are ready and are awaiting instructions.”
Kagrido nodded as he approached the center of the command deck, “Very good Captain. Patch me through to the engineering section would you?”
“Yes my lord.”
“I’ll be over here,” Kelshan said suddenly, walking back to the viewport and absently raising his hand in a casual wave. “I swear if that crazy woman gets in my face again I’ll take her arms off.”
Kagrido sighed, noticing his captain’s lips were curling upwards in a small smile, “If you don’t want to you don’t have to be here either.”
She gave him a thankful smile before walking over to the edge of the deck to stand beside the Sith Exile. How the hell was this woman able to make of his command staff hate her in only a few months? It wasn’t possible.
Kagrido felt a headache coming on, but ignored it as he began to push a few runes on the keyboard. Within a few seconds a twenty foot image of the engineering bay snapped into life above the table. The section was, as predicted, a mess with cables of different shapes and sizes snaking across the floor all connecting to this massive spherical mass which was so big he couldn’t see a tenth of it on the monitor. Engineers and technicians were either standing by computer consoles or making last minute checkups to the main generators.
A few seconds passed before the head scientist appeared on the screen. Bella Lissana was a tall woman in her later mid-forties, a Mirialan in a simple pair of white overalls, caked in oil and dirt, making her look just like horde of technicians and engineers surrounding her. Her hair was long and black, tied in a messy ponytail; skin was a greenish yellow with the ritual tattoos dark purple on the bridge of her nose and chin.
“What is it now my lord?” she asked in clipped tone.
“Just needed to remind you about the deadline, Chief.” he replied. “All other ship commanders are reporting that they are ready and waiting. All they need is my word and for that I need your word. Are we ready?”
“Yes we are ready.” she replied. “No thanks to you and your lackeys of course with you constantly pestering us with ‘When will it be done?’ and ‘Remember the deadline?’. This isn’t a piece of meat you can cook and throw out. This is a very delicate piece of machinery, a prototype.”
If Kagrido wanted to kill her he didn’t show it, force knows he’s thought about it, “So that means you’re ready right?”
She glared at him for a moment, “Yes, we are ready.”
“Then let’s begin.” Kagrido replied before terminating the link and turning back to see both Kelshan and Dennenia looking over their shoulders as if silently asking if she was gone. “You both are such a great help.”
“Apologies my lord but in this case I share Kelshan’s sentiment about removing her arms. I thought it would be best if I stayed away.” Dennenia replied with a nervous smile.
“Well we have our permission, so how about we take this flying Rancor for a spin.” Kelshan walked to the very end of the viewport once again, looking out at the stars as Dennenia contacted the other ship captains within the fleet.
It was a few minutes when they heard a new sound join the symphony of noises that were normal for a warship, a deep hum which seemed to reverberate through the Star Destroyer’s very superstructure. The Vice Commandant felt the railings he was leaning on begin to shudder as the massive machine started up. Before long everyone could feel the trembling.
There was a blast of static before the chief’s excited voice echoed through, “Prism Drive has started up without a hitch. The board is green; all gauges show readings within acceptable parameters, power levels at thirty percent and rising.”
“No way is this normal.” He heard Kelshan say to Dennenia as he leaned against the railing, placing a hand on the young captain’s shoulder to keep her grounded.
Lissana’s voice pierced the air again, “All gauges still reading normal parameters, the board is still green. Power levels at fifty percent.”
The trembling seem to escalate, and Kagrido heard a low groaning noise which he somehow knew was the skeletal structure of the Vigilant, as if voicing its discomfort to all those within her armored hull. “Power levels at sixty percent and rising!”
Suddenly there was a huge boom, which was a precursor for the trembling to escalate to that of a low level ground quake. The power behind the blast sent everyone on both the observation deck and the bridge to the floor. Alarms began to blare, deafening Kagrido and making his ears ring for a few crucial seconds.
He looked around just in time to see one of the junior officers lose his footing and fall over the railing, hitting the central walkway with a bone crushing thud. Dennenia nearly went with him, but Kelshan looped an arm around her waist and pulled her back onto the deck, still holding tightly to the railing.
“Lissana,” he shouted in surprise and anger. “Did you just break my ship!?”
“Power levels reached seventy percent,” her suddenly panicked voice replied. “Then the whole thing went to hell. Its chaos down here, red all across the board and pressures went up well past a hundred.”
“Then turn the damned thing off,” he shouted, scrambling his way to the circular console.
The chief scientist’s voice returned, “Understood, commencing emergency shut down procedures!”
“Kag,” he heard Kelshan’s voice and turned to see both him and Dennenia staring at the viewports with widen eyes. With effort Kagrido spun himself around, and his own white orbs went as wide as dinner plates.
A mass of haze which resembled a spherical orb, about the size of a small moon appeared before their ships, barely five thousand kilometers away from the closest ship’s bow. Kagrido watched the orb even as he received a garbled mass of communications from the other ship captains, demanding to know what was happening. For what seemed like an eternity the orb hung there motionless, and then opened up like a blooming flower.
“That’s a black hole.” He heard Kelshan say with fear and shock in his voice; he’d never seen Kelshan afraid before, now he was really concerned.
“Turn us around,” but his voice was a whisper at first, but as the trembling died down and it became possible to stand his voice became a roar. “Turn us around! Full power to the main engines and contact the fleet, tell them to do the same. Turn us around now!”
As one the other ships began a desperate turning action, the fifteen strong fleet squadron was able to make the turn but then stopped in their tracks, the engines unable to fight against the suction of the black hole.
A male’s voice crackled over the wireless, “This is captain Augustus of the Victor, we’re going to attempt a hyperspace jump!”
Kagrido immediately hit the communications switch, “This is Novan, abort that order! Do you hear me, abort!”
It was too late, the mile long Star Destroyer seemed to extend, like an elastic band, and then it vanished in a flash. Barley a second later the ship reappeared, its superstructure cut in two like a giant sword had ran through it.
“Send this to all ships,” he shouted. “Reroute all power from weapons to the engines. Don’t let up until you break free!”
It didn’t matter however, the Star Destroyers made it a few kilometers before the power of the black hole overwhelmed them again. Kagrido and the others were forced to watch as one by one the Imperial and Harrower class Star Destroyers were pulled back into the wait arms of the anomaly.
Over the next ten minutes the ships were slowly forced back, one by one vanishing into the eternal depths of the monstrous black hole. All aboard the Vigilant were forced to hear the screams of those aboard their support craft as they vanished. Eventually only the Vigilant remained.
A sudden tremor so strong it made the entire superstructure roar and sent everyone to the decking. The very ship began to list backward, like an old sea fairing ship sinking beneath the waves. Kagrido watched as cables snapped and consoles below sparked. He saw Kelshan fall to the ground still holding Dennenia. He saw his command staff hand on to anything they could as the battleship was forced into the black hole.
Then a great darkness took him from consciousness.
Okay so that's it for chapter one and for the record I don't own Star Wars or Warhammer 40k. If I did I would have to go to work.