AE: Ride of the Valkyrie

 Mission 2.6 – Arrival

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
~ Winston S. Churchill

“...And thankfully the shuttle held together enough that we were able to ride out the resulting shock-wave from the Fold Core explosion." Marus told the five board board members in front of him. “While the shock-wave did knock out the shuttle's engines, the SSG Kobyashie Maru was able to swing back around and pick us up on their way back to the rest of the fleet."

“I see." Commandant Hickman said as he leaned back in his chair. “Is there anything else that you want to add?"

“No sir. I've already made my thoughts known at the start sir."

The human looked at the others at the table who all nodded in conformation before the Commandant returned his attention back to the black wolf “In that case Cadet Marus'Cal, Thank you for your time and consider yourself on leave until the Kobyashie Maru reaches its destination."

“Thank you sir." The Lykain said as he stood up from his seat to leave. “Uhm, sir?"

“Yes cadet?"

“May I ask a question?" Hickman nodded for Marus to continue. “What is going to happen to cadet Wilkes? And depending on the answer, may I make a request?"

- - -

The colorful swirls of slip space fell behind the two ships as they traveled towards their destination. The smaller of the two was almost abandoned aside from a small skeleton crew that kept watch over its systems while the larger of the two housed not only the crew of the small ship, but also the crew of the sister ship that was now nothing more than scattered scrap metal in empty space. Most of the cadets of the two ships were told to rest and heal after the events of the last few weeks.

However, one young cadet wasn't watching the light show as they were going faster than light but deeply lost in thought.

Lynnette stood alone at the rear observation deck of the Kobyashie Maru, looking out at the remains of the frigate LCS Sartine that was currently boot-strapped between the freighter's long cargo spines. The ship looked fine if you looked straight at the frigate straight on, it wasn't till one changed their angle of view and saw the rear of the ship to see why the old frigate was being towed. More than half of the rear of the port side engine housing was gone, blown apart when a torpedo got through the countermeasures that was sent to stop it. It was lucky that the Sartine only lost its engines and didn't get outright destroyed as the torpedoes got very near where the ship's reactor was.

Even though it's been a little after two weeks after what was now being called the “Battle of the Kobyashie Maru", the events still played out fresh in her mind. She was ready to die on that ship. Hell, if she was being truthful she wanted to die that day. Reg had died protecting her in his arms, what better way to join him in the afterlife than by sacrificing herself to protecting others?

She barely registered the doors swishing open and closed as well as the muffled sounds of shoes on carpet coming over towards her. The person stopped just before they got in her proverbial vision, standing silently as they looked out the view port at the damaged frigate. It wasn't until one of them spoke up that the silence was broken.

“Why..."

“Hmm?"

“Why did Reg have to die yet I have to live? Why did Marus disobey orders to come back for me and pull me off the ship?" Lynnette turned around and looked at the human that had come in, tears running down the sides of her face as she looked at him. “Why did he do that? Why can't I be allowed to join my mate in the great beyond?" He frowned and didn't say any for several long seconds. She turned back to the window, not really looking out at the view, but just off into the void.

“That is something that you might have to take up with Marus at some point." He finally said with an almost guilty sadness filled his voice. “The other things, I can only speculate. Perhaps 'Fate' has something in store for you? That when it's your time, it will take you then and only then when it's time for you to leave this existence. Not before, not after."

The two fell back into silence, broken only by the light sniffles from Lynnette as she tried to get her emotions back in check. “So... What's going to happen now, Director Solus?" She finally said. “Are you here to tell me that my contract will be canceled and that I will be kicked from the MCRU program? I wouldn't blame you, because I seem to be some kind of curse. People seem to die around me all the time."

 “No." Ash said as he shook his head. “While the tribunal is still going over a few things, you are clear of any charges as you didn't do anything wrong."

“But I purposely put lives in danger and people died."

“And again because of your quick thinking and actions, the casualty list is a lot smaller than what it could have been. You say that you're a curse, I don't think that you are. If anything, you're more of your nickname that you have earned. A Valkyrie."

“So you think that I'm some kind of warrior angel of death?"

Ash sighed as he shook his head. “There's more to it than that. Yes, the Valkyrie of norse myths are warrior angels sent by Odin to go to battle and bring back those worthy of entering Valhalla, but, they were also seen as guardian angels and protectors."

“I don't feel like any kind of guardian angel. In fact, I don't want to be. I just... " Lynnette never finished her thought and the two fell into silence again. Ash had a pretty good idea of what she was about to say. She wanted to be with Reginald, and he couldn't blame her. 

They both stood there looking out into the trailing vastness of slipspace. It was a little while before they broke the silence again, though this time it was Ash that spoke up.

“You know, there's a little known secret that I learned about the Caushae."

Lynnette turned to look at the human confused. “A... Secret?" Ash just nodded as he continued to look out the window. 

“It seems that whenever a Caushae gets close to someone; be it another Caushae, Lykain, or a Human, I believe that they form a bond. A kind of psychic connection and one that goes deeper than most realize." He said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “Sometimes, they give each other a gift that they don't realize that they have given."

“So… You were close to a Caushae and you were given such a gift sir?"

“Yes." He said as he crossed his arms. “It was close to twelve or so years ago now. Both our friends could see how much we liked each other. 'Fate' seemed to want us together and made sure to do so rather forcibly."

“How so?" 

“Well… It's a long story and one I'm not ready to tell yet." 

“Oh..."

“You know," Ash spoke up before the two fell back into silence. “If I didn't know any better, I think that maybe you received a gift from Mr. Rossetti yourself."

“What do you mean?" Lynnette asked as she turned to face the human fully. 

“There's something different. Something more." He said as he stepped past her towards the window. “There's almost a second presence that I can feel around you now. It wasn't there when I first met you during that first inquiry nor when you were in the observation balcony. Maybe it was there when you were in the hospital and I couldn't sense it. I'm not sure but if I had to guess, you now have a guardian angel watching over you." 

She blinked, stunned by what he was saying. “Whah…?" 

Ash turned and looked at her. “I do not know how or when it happened, only that it has. Whether it was from the vision that you had in the control room or the fact that a part of Mister Rossetti stayed behind when he died holding and protecting you in his arms. I don't know. To say for sure that it's even a part of Mr. Rossetti's spirit, I cannot say for sure. Only that something has become a part of you and is now watching over you."

Lynnette was silent as her gaze fell to the floor.

“Take it as you will." Ash said as he gave her shoulder another reassuring squeeze. “But I think that you were given a gift so that you can continue on with Reginald Rossetti's memory." He sighed and turned back to the window. “I don't know, nor will I tell you what to believe. I just know that there are things out there that science can't explain, just like there are things that can't be explained away by faith alone. What you make of that gift is yours to choose, just like it's your path that you are making. Just use your best judgment and make it the best that you can." He turned to face her again. “Not just for you, but also for Mr. Rossetti." 

He gave her shoulders a light pat before making his way to the door. “Director Solus?" He stopped when he heard his name and looked over his shoulders at the snow leopard. “Thank you… for everything." She said in a simple bow.

Ash nodded in her direction. “Anytime." He said lightly before making his exit into the corridor.

It was several minutes later while walking through an empty hallway when he felt a slight chill in the air. Ash stopped and looked around, he could feel a presence close by but there was no one around. “Hello?" He called out, trying to see if someone was following him. He heard something, a disjointed voice coming from nowhere yet everywhere at the same time.

'Thank you…' 

Ash stood there for several seconds, looking back towards the way he came. “Godspeed… Mr. Rossetti." 

- - -

It was the next day when the Kobyashie Maru arrived at its destination, Artemis Terminal. A deep space station that sat on the edge of known space and near the borders of the Caushae Sovereignty, the Lykain Freehold Territories and TAFT space met. It was one of many locations picked out for what would become the region's newly formed Mobile Crisis Response Unit headquarters. While it wasn't in a solar system like you would usually find such stations, it was at least still within a day or so of an inhabited system by Slipspace FTL jump and a few days from other systems that have been charted but have yet to be fully explored or prospected. 

Lynnette couldn't help but to run her fingers along the lapel pin that was now on her new uniform, it felt almost surreal to her. It  was now the day after the graduation ceremony and after she had received her new rank, Lieutenant-Commander. 

“Keep doing that, you might wear it out." A voice joked next to her. 

“Sorry sir." She muttered, dropping her hands into her lap.

Ash made a light chuckle. “For one, there's nothing to apologize for. It was a joke. And for another…" He gave a sigh. “I personally don't like titles or being called 'sir' unless it's for official capacity."

“I… understand, sir."

Ash sighed as he shook his head. “You can just use my name in this environment, I'm not that much of a stuck-up. Besides, it's not like anyone here is going to charge you with insubordination. Right Arthur?"

“Right sir." Came a cheeky replay from the helm station on the shuttle that the\y were on. Ash just groaned as the co-pilot stifled a laugh.

“Sir, may I ask a question?" Lynnette asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the compartment.

“Go ahead, but please. At least for today, call me Ash." 

“What ever happened with the investigation?"

Ash huffed as he crossed his arms. “Sadly, we went as far as we could. We know that the virus originated from the TAF Pandora. However because the sabotage happened on a TAFT vessel, TAFT investigators have taken over. So aside from taking everyone's statements, we did everything that we could do and it's now out of our hands." 

“What?" Lynnette blurted out in disbelief. “You mean that after all that, the interviews, investigating, the people lost. It's out of your hands?"

“Keep in mind, Miss Wilkes. That until the Mobile Crisis Response charter is fully drawn up and ratified by all participants, we are still part of a 'civilian' corporation. So for now TAFT has jurisdiction over this matter because the situation had originated on board one of their destroyers, even though it was a trainer and we were involved."

“But with everything that happened, the needless loss of life. Are we supposed to just forget about it? Them taking jurisdiction just sounds to me like they're going to try and bury what has happened."

“Trust me, I'm not going to let it drop. I don't take kindly to people taking pot shots at me or mine, which includes personnel under my command and company property. So, I do have a few connections within TAFT that I will be in contact with, so I will be doing what I can to keep tabs on what happens."   

“Shuttle 281," A voice cackled from the com-line silencing the two pasengers. “The outer doors have cycled open and you are now cleared for departure." 

“Thank you control, this is Shuttle 281 taking off and departing."

“Safe flight Shuttle 281."

“Thanks Control, see you in a few hours. Shuttle 281 out."

The engines of the shuttle hummed to life and started to push the craft out of the station's hanger airlock. Within moments the shuttle was enveloped out in space and a soft thunk was heard through the hull after the shuttle was clear of the hanger as the wings locked into flight position. The pilots began to maneuver the shuttle on their desired course and the four people on board could see the station going by on their right. The shuttle's course was taking them relatively above the station, giving them a splendid view of the city like structures on top of the arms that stretched out into space that they were starting to pass by. The station sprawled out into a Y shape with long, city like arms coming out of a central core that stretched out into space. Each arm was also connected by a docking ring that circled the core and entered into each arm of the station just before the halfway point. The station's lights twinkled in the backdrop of space in the way that reminded Lynnette of the few times when she was traveling with her father and seeing a new city lit up like a Christmas tree before them. 

 “Well Miss Wilkes," Ash said, breaking the silence that settled in the shuttle. “Are you excited for your first assignment?"

Lynnette opened her mouth to speak only to close it again when nothing came out. After giving it a little thought, she tried again. “More like nervous, sir." Ash sighed and rolled his eyes at the word sir, but let her finish. “When I first entered the academy, I only wanted to help others like my father had helped me. To say that I might be leading a squad or even commanding a starship someday, it's… I… I can't help but wonder if I am or will even be cut out for it."

Ash chuckled a little. “I think that you have proven that you are more than capable to command a spaceship when it comes down to it. Most don't go through what you have during training and even after years of experience, some don't keep a level head like you have. Not everyone can turn a no win scenario into a fighting chance."

She was silent for a few moments, thinking about what Ash said. “Still, I can't help but wonder, would I be worthy of being in command? What is going to be expected from me? Will I screw something up and make a situation worse? Would others even follow me as a captain?"

“I can't quite answer those. I will however tell you that I believe that you have already shown that others can put their faith in you and your abilities." He took a breath before he continued. “You were hired to be who you are and do what you can to the best of your abilities. I don't expect you to be a miracle worker and pull a rabbit out of your hat in every situation. But I do expect that you will be out there, give it your all and just by being yourself, others may follow. You already have two comrades that think of you as your friend and are more than willing to jump into the proverbial fire with you."

“I… thank you, sir."

He sighed. “At least for today, call me Ash. I might be a director of the company, but I am still a human and remember where I came from. You've more than earned your right to be here and to wear that uniform."

“Understood si… Ash." Ash just shook his head with a slight chuckle.

It was about then she noticed that they weren't passing the station anymore, but another super structure. One that seems to dwarf the new station that was still under construction. Whatever it was, from her perspective it stretched as far as her eyes could see and it honestly didn't look like they were passing that close to it.

“The LCS Leviathan." Ash said, as if reading her thoughts. “A ten point five kilometer long Super Space Dreadnought that serves as both a mobile construction yard and company headquarters to the Leviathan Corporation. The pride and joy of LeviCorp."

“By the Maker." Lynnette gasp. “That is massive! How did the company build something so large?"

“We didn't."

“You didn't? But how…"

“It's one of the three derelicts that has been found." He was quiet for a moment before adding. “So far anyway."

Lynnette was left to wonder about the giant ship as the shuttle continued on its course. Most stories that she had heard of the derelicts were that they had been made by a long forgotten race that built them and then vanished from history for some unknown reason. The first known record of such a ship was when one was discovered by chance during the human's Colonial Conflicts, where the ship was found drifting in Saturn's rings. Named 'The Drifter' by the Martian scientists that were studying it, the ship housed a treasure trove of technology and secrets but proved that it wasn't willing to give up it's hidden secrets easily. Humanity was still able to learn from it though and the technology learned from it had helped when they went to war against the Caushae. The other appeared close to twelve years ago and had threatened not only the gathered fleets of humans, Lykains, and Caushae, but also the Caushae home-world of Caushela Prime. Both ships are now anchored around Mars and Caushela Prime with no power aside from portable power generators and no idea on how to bring them to life.

How those of LeviCorp were able to not only get their hands on a derelict spaceship but to also have one operational nearly boggles the mind.

“A magician never fully discloses their secrets, Ms Wilkes." Ash simply said.

The shuttle continued along its course till it reached a medium size hanger entrance that looked like it could accommodate a mid size capital ship or freighter. The shuttle joined a group of other small craft as they entered the open hanger but continued on its own as the other crafts veered off onto another direction. Lynnette was left in awe as she looked out the shuttle's view-ports at the internal cavity that was surrounded by unknown layers of metal hull and superstructure. Where they were flying through was very much like a construction yard as she could see several types of ships in berths at different points in their construction. She watched as they passed by the skeletal frame of what could be a destroyer when a small, blue, delta shape hull came into view and caught her attention. The ship was in a birth seemingly designed for a larger ship as there were four of the same class being constructed there, each in a different state in the design's assembly.

“The Strix Class Deep Space Patrol and Rescue Corvette. The first of her kind." Ash said with a bit of pride in his voice. “One hundred and ninety meters in length, the class boasts some of the state of the art technology available which includes new propulsion systems, improved armor plating and shields, weapons, sensor suite, and a few other features that should prove useful. Making her one of the most advanced Star Ships built by anyone in the known galaxy."

“Sounds impressive, sir... Ash." Lynnette said and corrected herself. “It probably has an amazing captain in command."

“Heh... The captain I have in mind is one of a kind and has proven themselves capable on more than one occasion." Ash gave her a wink which made the feline look at him confused.

The shuttle drew closer to the mostly completed corvette and dipped below the hull of the ship to reveal two small hangers under the wider part of the ship. The co-pilot had already requested landing clearance while Ash and Lynnette were talking so she didn't catch the name of the ship. The starboard side hanger doors started to open to allow the shuttle in as the shuttle aligned itself to slide in the smaller hanger. There was an audible whirl of machine parts inside the cabin as the shuttle's wings folded up into their landing position to allow the shuttle to fit into the slightly cramped hanger. The doors closed behind them as the shuttle hovered to about halfway of the hanger area and settled down onto its extended landing struts.

“Ready to meet the crew that you will be joining for your assignment, Miss Wilkes?" Ash asked as he stood up to disembark

.“No..." She said before taking a deep breath. “But let's get this over with."

The two went to the hatch that was hissing open and stepped out into the landing deck of the hanger. Lynnette could see that while it was indeed small, it still had enough room for maintenance crews to get around it with their tools, but there was no space for the shuttle to turn around or for any kind of major work that it might need if there was major damage to it. Alarms sounded seconds before a large airlock door started to slide open relieving more of the hanger to the two. From what she could see, the rest of the interior was quite spacious and open. Something that she wasn't expecting from the small ship. Ash led her up the ramp into what she assumed was the main cargo hold of the hanger area.

“Captain On Deck!"

As soon as she heard the announcement, Lynnette stopped in place and her posture went stiff as she stood at attention. She glanced around to see who was there and who her commanding officer will be. However, she was left confused when she took in her surroundings. Standing on the deck of the cargo hold was an odd mix of forty personnel consisting of humans, Caushae, Lykains, and a few others that she both did and did not recognize their race standing at attention. The only two that she could see that stood out from the rest was Director Ash Solus and a brown furred Mauluse that was wearing glasses and what would be considered a business casual outfit, which she was giving the snow leopard Caushae a scrutinizing gaze. Lynnette turned her head to where Ash was standing wondering what the explanation was.

Ash just grinned as he faced her. “Well Miss Wilkes, Welcome aboard the LCS Valkyrie." He turned to face the gathered personnel. “You asked me who would follow your orders if you were given command of a ship. Well..." He chuckled. “I'd say that you have made quite the impression on some of these individuals here as they ask if they could be a part of the crew you served with. How they will respond to your orders, I can't fully say. But we will soon find out."

Lynnette was stunned by what she just heard. “Wait, MY Orders?"

Ash just nodded. “Yes, your orders." He crossed his arms as he continued. “When I approached you over a year ago, I told you that they were looking for a leader for the first team of the MCRU. Your stunt back at the academy was a bit of a double edge sword in that it showed how reckless you could be, but also that you could and did rise to the occasion and rescued your fellow cadets despite not being actually involved with the situation.

“Then in the recent battle, you not only caught something that others missed, much to their embarrassment but also saved much of the crews of the fleet while also turned the tide of battle to your favor by using your crew's strengths and what you had available on hand." He placed a hand on her shoulders in a reassuring manner as he continued. “Not many could do such a thing and you have been recognized for it and have been given this opportunity. What you did during training as well as your training voyage has proven that you are a capable commander. Inexperience, yes. But that is something that will change in time. Everyone starts from somewhere."

Lynnette was left speechless with everything that was just said. “I… I don't know what to say."

“Say 'At ease.' My legs are getting sore from standing at attention for so long." The comment caused almost everyone there to chuckle.

“This is… Just overwhelming." Lynnette said, biting her lip.

“The ball is in your cort as the saying goes, Miss Wilkes. What will it be? Will you accept command or will you let this opportunity go by?"

“I…" Lynnette looked between the assembled crew and Ash standing there waiting for her answer. She could see a mix of familiar faces as well as new ones, but in her mind she couldn't help but ask if she was ready. 

'I believe in you kitten.' 

Hearing Reg's voice in her mind seemed to have strengthened her resolve as her posture changed slightly for the better.

“I accept the offer and command of the LCS Valkyrie."

The assembled crew had moved to the ship's dining room on what they learned was called “B Deck" of the ship with refreshments ready so they could relax and mingle with each other. Ash had stayed a little bit but left when something took his attention away and had to leave. He did wish her a safe journey and reassured her that she was the right person for the job before he left.

In her mingling, she was not only glad to find that both Rayne and Faelynne was a part of the crew as the head pilot and medical officer respectively, but was also surprised to find Anoixi, Marisa, and Marus had also volunteered to join the crew.

“Because," Marus told her, “From what I've seen, you're not only going to need someone to watch your back, but also someone there to pull your tail out of trouble that you will no doubt get yourself into." Lynnette could feel her face turn red as her ears went flat against her head in embarrassment. About then, Anoixi walked up to the two with a young avian in tow.

“Hey Captain, Marus. Enjoying the party?"

“As much as can be expected." Lynnette said simply, which she was still getting over from what Marus had said.

Marus nodded towards the Avian. “Who's your friend?"

The wingless avian raised a black talon hand as he stepped forward to greet the two. “Thom Niels Chriton the third. Or as my grandpa used to call me, Trip." The three shook hands in greetings before he continued. “Hope you don't mind, but I really wanted to meet the person who came up with the idea to take a frigate and ram it up that cruiser's ass." Lynnette sighed as Marus shook his head at the comment. “Hopefully by broadcasting that jamming signal, I was able to help you guys out."

“That was you?" Lynnette asked, tilting her head.

“Yeah, that was my doing."

“How were you able to do that?" Anoixi asked.

“I'm curious too." Marus agreed. “I've never seen a jamming signal like that before."

Trip shrugged. “What can I say? My family runs a converted Aphelion Class prowler as a freighter and the Sartine uses a similar ECW suite. My grandfather showed me a few tricks when I was growing up and I was glad that I was able to put it to use. Not sure how it will stack up against more technically advanced enemies though"

“I see." Marus tilted his head as he thought about something. “So were  you raised by a human or…?"

Trip clicked his beak in amusement. “You can kind of say that. I'm part human."

“Wow, Really?" Anoixi asked as she looked at the griffon. 

“Yep." Trip said simply. “My grandfather who was a Human mated with a Liunerthan."

“That must be some kind of story there."

“Ha." The avian laughed with a click of his beak. “You have no idea. Maybe I'll tell ya when we've shipped out."

“What are you guys talking about over here?" Marisa asked as she came up to the group, sucking on another one of her lollipops.

“If you excuse me." Lynnette said a bit quietly before stepping away. The four of them said their goodbyes as she left the group. The feline made her way to the counter where there were a variety of refreshments for everyone which she went and grabbed a cup of punch and took a sip as she looked over at the crew.

The more she thought about it, the more she thought about her life and the journey that took her here. She had always felt like an outsider looking for a place that she belonged. She was a Caushae snow leopard, a rarity among her race, that was raised by a human TAFT officer. Almost always on the move depending on the assignment her adopted father had and more often than not, she was the only alien in a system of human children. Even when she went to the LeviCorp PMC academy and met Reg for the first time, she still longed to belong somewhere. She couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride as she watched everyone. Despite their differences and the times she had butted heads with them, they were willing to join her on this ship and follow her commands. 

For the first time that she could remember, she felt like she had just come home and that she belonged where she was. 

She took a sip of punch before muttering her thoughts to no one in particular.

“I have arrived…"