Ruins of the Galaxy by J. N. Chaney & Christopher Hopper

Author:J. N. Chaney & Christopher Hopper [Chaney, J. N. & Hopper, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Variant Publications
Published: 2019-07-27T06:00:00+00:00

“All souls accounted for,” Dutch yelled to the bridge.

“Detach,” Nolan ordered Rawlson.

“Detaching.” There was a momentary pause, and the ship shuddered. “Ship away, ship away,” Rawlson said.

“Well, would you look at that,” the senator said, peeking his head inside the bridge. Out the starboard window loomed one of the most foreboding heavy armored transports in the galaxy. Bull Wraiths, while not destroyers, still packed a serious punch for any ship unlucky enough to tangle with one. The black hulk looked more like a battering ram than a starship and boasted two mega-gauss cannons on either side of its nose-forward bridge. Several Titan missile-defense batteries were clustered above and below the hull, while T300 blaster turrets covered the sides.

Beyond weapons capabilities, the ship also had an advanced cargo and rapid delivery system, or ACARD. It was able to stow and deploy everything from munitions and troops to armament and small cruisers faster than most ships could run a startup sequence. It deployed its cargo from four cavities, including one under the bridge, which Magnus always thought looked like a giant maw ready to chomp down on prey. It was commonly said that if the Bull Wraith didn’t scare you, whatever was in it should.

“You gotta give us something, Nolan,” Magnus said.

“Almost ready, sir.”

“That’s not good enough.” He watched the warrant officer finish the start-up sequence, port the two main engine ventricles, and slide his fingers up the dashboard for full engine burn.

“There she is,” Nolan said. “Everyone hold on! Engines ahead, full!”

Magnus and the senator grabbed seat backs as the ship lurched forward. The cockpit rattled, and a loud roar filled the air. While the Sparrow didn’t meet anyone’s definition of comfortable, it was fast, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

“How soon until we can jump?” Magnus asked, yelling above the engines.

“Coordinates almost calculated!” Rawlson replied.

“Jump core standing by!” Gilder added.

“Lock in those coordinates,” Nolan ordered. “We need to be gone yesterday!”

The roar would have been deafening had it lasted any longer. Magnus glanced at Rawlson’s displays and saw that they were pulling away from the Bull Wraith. A small wave of relief filled his chest. But he’d seen far too much action to know that nothing was over until you’d had at least one good meal to commemorate your survival.

“Locked!” Rawlson yelled.

“Jumping!” Nolan exclaimed and slid the secondary throttle fields to full. But nothing happened. No space-time bend, no light stretch—nothing. To make things worse, the engines suddenly started to wind down.

“I need to know what’s going on here, Nolan,” Magnus ordered.

“I don’t know, sir.”

“That’s unacceptable!”

“Jump core off-line,” Rawlson yelled. “Propulsion off-line. Navigation off-line!”

Nolan spun around. “How’s this happening?”

“It’s the other ship, isn’t it, Lieutenant?” the senator said.

Magnus was afraid of this. While the Republic placed certain limitations on its weapons capabilities, particularly hostile long-range ship-to-ship interfacing, non-Republic fleets did not feel the need to be so ethical. No doubt a Luma stipulation or some political jockey who wanted to make everyone feel better about having the deadliest navy in the galaxy.

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