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May 14th, 2280
TSS (Terran Star Ship) Kennedy
Anubis System
Above the planet Ananke
The TSS Kennedy was floating through the darkness of space in the Anubis system. An earthlike world, titled Ananke, a vital agricultural world was directly below the ship. Commanding the ship was a renowned captain, captain Chandler Elliot of the Terran Naval Force. He stared out from the bridge of his noble vessel, bored and waiting patiently for either action, which he doubted would come, or his next assignment, which would be granted to him at the end of the next rotation, which was approximately 12 hours from now. Below him were the working stations of his bridge crew. Currently, under the rather peaceful, and boring circumstance of their present situation, they found themselves also, staring without a hint of interest either out into the vastness of the black and mysterious sea known as space or to their monitors and stations, doing routine check-ups and system scans.
Several minutes passed before the scanner operator Ross Alvarez perked up in his station, before speaking up
"Captain Elliot, sir I think you'll want to see this."
Captain Elliot shifted his gaze to the operator before getting up and making his way to the station.
"What is it Ross?" he asked whilst making his
way.
Ross replied
"It seems that our scanners are picking up an energy source, there seems to be a ship warping in, the problem is we didn't receive any transportation codes as per protocol."
Captain Elliot furrowed his brow as he read the signatures of the warp energy, the blue lights of the stations monitor lighting up his tanned face with an aura of blue, and the screen reflecting back off his green eyes.
"It's most likely just some smugglers trying to get past security. We'll hail them once they enter the system before boarding and searching their ship." Captain Elliot said simply.
"That's a negative sir, the ships are bearing Terran Naval Force identity signatures," Ross replied as he pointed to the scans displayed on the screen.
"What? the rotation doesn't end for another 12 hours, I wasn't informed of any incoming fleets. How many signatures are there?"
"14 sir," he said simply.
"Hail them as soon as they arrive, this is an unexpected turn of events."
the captain ordered.
Not long after that, 14 ships had appeared from warp, all of them were menacing warships, notorious throughout the Terran Navy. The comms station was illuminated by the red blinking of the display, the comms officer Howard Smitz, perked up as well, before informing the captain.
"Captain sir, they seem to be hailing us," the comms officer said.
"Route the call to the bridge." the captain said, whilst walking back to his original position at the center of the bridge. A display panel had dropped down from the ceiling, ready to display the incoming call. The captain composed himself professionally, before the display was lit up, and displayed the face of an admiral known throughout the Terran navy for his cunning and experience in hunting down smugglers and pirates. The Admiral was none other than Admiral Glen Callus of the 3rd Terran Naval Fleet. The aged man was glaring at Captain Chandler with a face of professionalism, however, his eyes were that of someone determined to achieve his goal at all costs. He spoke with a voice that demanded respect and attention.
"Captain Chandler Elliot of the TSS Kennedy, I am Admiral Glen Callus of the TCSS Guevara. I'm pleased to meet you," he spoke.
The captain furrowed his brow ever so slightly at the abnormal call-sign of the ship. If he remembered right, the correct call-sign of the ship before him was the TSS Reagan.
"Please state your business in this system Admiral Glen, I wasn't expecting a fleet here." he inquired professionally.
"I am afraid I can not completely inform you of the situation, however, I am under orders to secure this system, and re-assign any and all Republican military assets under our fleets command,"
the Admiral answered cautiously.
The captain was not buying this, however, as he further asked
"I'm sorry, but I can not allow that. Whose orders are you acting upon, and why have I not received word of such? Also, why are you acting under an unrecognized callsign?"
The admiral's professional demeanor had not changed as he replied bluntly.
"This is an operation for the better of humanity, we are formally declaring our secession from the Terran Republic, and the formation of the Terran Commune, the one and only legitimate government body to represent humanity. In accordance with this proclamation, we hereby declare war upon the Terran Republic and call upon all of the worlds of humanity to join our cause for a better future. As for the call-sign, I have had it changed, this ship has been rechristened from the TSS Reagan to the TCSS Guevara"
The Captain took a long moment to process what the admiral had spoken to him.
"What you are speaking of is treason, and it is my duty to serve and protect the Terran Republic from treasonous scum like you. I will not serve those who work against the ideals of the Republic."
"So be it, " the Admiral said with a menacing glare before the transmission was cut. It was at this moment, that the bridge of the TSS Kennedy was lit aglow by the warning displays around the ship before Ross turned to the Captain quickly before shouting
"Their Mass Driver cannons are charging up!"
the Captain acted quickly
"Full power to the thrusters! Plot a course to maneuver out of their range of fire!"
Before they knew it, the ship lurched forward, as it desperately tried to make it out of the way of the incoming Mass Driver slug. The TCSS Guevara's front end was visibly charging up with blue light before a stream of neon blue light shot forward at remarkable speeds, nearly the speed of light itself. The slug screamed towards the Kennedy, barely missing as it continued onward, hitting a starport in orbit around the planet below. The starport shattered from the force of the slug, as it punched through the station like a race car through a glass pane. The debris of the station flew out in all directions before finally being pulled by the gravity of the planet below, falling to the surface. The decimated chassis of the station burning up as it made contact with the planet's atmosphere. The Kennedy meanwhile, was saved from the damage, currently making its way towards the moon of the planet below.
The captain pointed quickly towards the operator in charge of the Mass Driver cannon outfitted to the Kennedy, before ordering with a tone that demanded urgency.
"Get our Mass Drivers armed and ready! Arm them with the umbrella slugs! We need to be able to retaliate before they can hit us. Have our batteries ready to bombard them from a distance,"
He then turns to the engineering operator
"Maintain our current speed towards the side of that moon, we're going to attempt to use its gravity to slingshot us back around towards the enemy."
Finally, he punches in a few keys on the side of the wall, where a comms panel and microphone was revealed. He took the mic and then proceeded to say
"All crewmen, man your battle stations, I repeat, man your battle stations. Prepare for combat. This is not a drill, I repeat again, this is not a drill,"
Everyone followed their orders to the letter, flipping various switches, pressing buttons, and typing commands into their consoles. The ship continued its course towards the moon, the gravity of the celestial body tugging at it, causing the crew inside to lurch slightly at the forceful tug. The crew of the Kennedy waited with intense anticipation. Meanwhile, the enemy fleet was positioning itself in anticipation of the oncoming attack.
Finally, after an anxiety-filled 15 minutes of waiting, the TSS Kennedy appeared out from behind the moon at amazing speed, aided by the slingshot effect created by the moon's gravity as well as the thrust of its powerful engines. Aboard the bridge, the captain bellowed the order to fire the Mass Drivers. The 3 large cannons located directly on the front of the ship began to glow with a bright blue light, before 3 bright streams of light blue light screamed forward towards the enemy fleet before suddenly splitting into dozens of tiny shrapnel blazing forward at near light speed towards the enemy fleet, shredding any that were unlucky enough to be directly in their path, and severely damaging the others.
Out of the original 14 of the fleet, only 9 were left functional.
The TCSS Guevara had survived the onslaught of shrapnel and advanced upon the TSS Kennedy, its turrets firing away with powerful kinetic projectiles, making contact with the armored hull of the Kennedy. The Kennedy, for the most part, had been capable of tanking the rounds, however, as soon as the rest of what remained of the enemy fleet began bombarding the vessel as well. The hull of the ship groaned as it took a beating from the enemy ships. In the bridge, captain Chandler was barking orders, attempting to manage the chaos of the battle.
"All power to weapons systems! Communications officer Trey, I want a message transmitted to the planet below as well as Naval Highcom that rebels are attempting to seize control of the system! Tell them we need reinforcements sooner rather than later."
The battle raged onwards from there, with the Kennedy taking a devastating beating, but not before it had dwindled the enemy fleet down to 7 ships remaining, through sheer skill, and tactful cunning. The Kennedy had taken near crippling damage, before Captain Chandler had ordered they retreat from the system, seeing as no word had yet arrived of reinforcements. The Kennedy began to flee, taking the hidden side of the moon as cover, before warping out of the system, leaving the planet's militia to fend off the rebels themselves until a Terran Naval fleet could return to reclaim the system. This was the day the great steel talons of Terra had final been sharpened, and gained a taste for blood. This was the first war humanity has ever fought in space, and it was against itself. The Terran Civil War has begun.