Dark Haven - Chapter 20

[crunn]

Chapter 01 (Fate of the Armadeaus)
Chapter 02 (Portents)
Chapter 03 (Passing of a Fantasy)
Chapter 04 (Fissures in the Dark)
Chapter 05 (Reminiscence)
Chapter 06 (Things that go Bump...)
Chapter 07 (The Rocky Road)
Chapter 08 (Escape Plan)
Chapter 09 (Becoming)
Chapter 10 (And it Begins Again)
Chapter 11 (Flight)
Chapter 12 (Cut-off)
Chapter 13 (Spicy Noodles Under a Blood Coloured Moon)
Chapter 14 (The Dreaming)
Chapter 15 (Room With A View)
Chapter 16 (Clearing the Way)
Chapter 17 (Nasty)
Chapter 18 (The Gathering)
Chapter 19 (Duty Calls)

------------------------------------------
DARK HAVEN

Chapter 20 (Transition)


Teladi Way


The group of Elites are making short work of the asteroids. More than half way in, though the field gets ever denser.
An obvious path can be seen piercing its way into the field, more than wide enough for the largest carriers to pass.

...

Pegasus


'Another ship coming through. I wonder who this time.'

'The Admiral himself, how very strange. He hasn't left his office in fifteen years.'

'And no shields. I have a couple of missiles onboard, that may be enough.
if i drop the cloak I'd have weapons too.
Oh, the temptation.
But no, I have another mission.
Besides if we really wanted him dead there would be no problem, even at the AFC.'

...

Argon One


'Incoming wormhole.'

'Ah, the Teladi hopefully.'

'No, an Argon Buster, no shields
It's hailing us.'

'General Illandas, this is Ornov, I'm coming onboard.'

'Admiral?'

'I'll speak with you in your office once I arrive'

A few mizuras later he reaches the carrier and docks. The tiny Buster is barely a speck next to the command ship.

...

Illandas' Office


The General is seated at his desk looking at the progress of the Elites when the Admiral enters.

"I must say, Admiral, I am more than a little surprised to see you here."

Ornov walks to the window and looks out.

"Yes General, I too am surprised, a last minute change of plans.
I have decided to command the battle personally."

"You don't think I'm capable?"

"I know you are more than capable of commanding a battle Illandas, you have fought and won against the Xenon countless times, you have brought renegade Split and Boron factions to justice. But perhaps most impressively of all, you have taken down three separate Pirate cartels, the first and largest when you were only a Luitanant.
So I know you are capable.
You have seen the old records of the attack on the Xenon by these aliens as well as I have."

"Not recently, but I remember them well.
I had hoped we might make an alliance with them."

"That doesn't look likely now, but we will try to contact them and give them one last chance to show they are friendly.
Given the importance and severity of this, as well as the involvement of the other races, I feel I should be here personally."

"Very well, you make a good point."

"In addition to taking command of the battle I think it would be best if I took command of the Argon One."

"Admiral, I must protest.
This is my ship, my crew..."

"This is a ship of the AFC.
Besides, both of us commanding separately onboard the same ship may lead to confusion, the last thing we need."

"So you want me off the ship as well!"

"I know you are an excellent fighter pilot, or if you prefer I could give you temporary command of the Jubilee."

The General considers for a moment.
'Another good point about confusing matters if we were both here, damn him and his good points.
Fighter or Jubilee?
I could take a Titan, no a General replacing a General, that won't happen.
Hmm, well I was a good fighter pilot in my youth, but it has been a while, sure I use the sim at least once a week, but I'm certainly not as good as the pilot I'd be replacing.
Jubilee, I don't like taking over command of a ship just like that but I have little choice.'

"Very well Admiral, I will take the Jubilee."

"Ok, get yourself over there, I will inform the Captain."

Illandas take a last look around his office and leaves.
Ornov sits in the Generals chair.
"Ha! Now I have a window."

...

Jubilee


"Captain, General Illandas has just arrived, he is asking to meet with you in your office."

"Very well, Ensign."


Captain Hall arrives at her office a few moments before Illandas.
The two sit.

"It is nice to finally meet you in person Captain."

"Likewise General."

"As you know the Admiral has 'officially' put me in command of the Jubilee.
However, I know first hand what it's like to have your command take right out from under you, not nice.
This being your first trip out in your new ship makes it worse.
So I've decided not to take command, I will stay here in a purely advisory capacity.
The Jubilee is still yours Captain."

"Thank you General.
I appreciate that.
And I will take all the advice you have to offer."

"I'd very much like to see Captain Monroe, now that I'm here."

"I'm sure he hasn't regained consciousness yet, but you are welcome to take a look.
That's if you can get passed the Doctor, he's in one of his odd moods."

"Oh dear, well wish me luck."

"Good luck General.
I'll be back on the bridge if you are looking for me."

...

Medical Bay


The Doctor is hunched over the microscope making strange humming and hawing noises.
Then he jumps up exclaiming,

"Pah!!
I was sure that would work, not even a reaction."

'Well, I have a few more ideas.'

The General walks in without the Doctor noticing.

"What seems to be the trouble Doctor?
One of your experiments not work out?"

"Yes General, yet another.
General?!"

The startled Doctor spins on the spot to face Illandas.

"What are you doing here Illandas?
Come for that physical exam at last?"

"No Doctor, I'm just here to see Monroe.
I'll bet his injuries were Nasty."

"Been a long time since I saw worse.
He is through here."

The Doctor leads the way.

"So, how are you enjoying being out in the field, not stuck back at the AFC doing research?"

"So far, fairly exciting. Though I was looking forward to exploring the unknown sector, I believe they call it X10?
But as it turns out X8 is plenty exciting.
Here we are, Monroe.
Still unconscious.
I don't dare try to wake him with drugs just yet, given the head injuries.
We'll fit his replacement leg once he wakes.
Otherwise, there is not much more we can do."

"His eyes..."

"Yes REM sleep, he is dreaming."

...


'An alert.
We are needed.
A Spore may be in danger.
Jump.'

'A flash and we are there.
This is the same place again, very busy here.
We sense danger, we must protect.
There, a ship, we recognise it, similar to the previous small one. Grey, near the structure.
It is called M5, how do we know that?
It is around the same size as us, no matter.
It must be destroyed.
It will make good nourishment.'

'It is fleeing, beyond our weapon range, we will give chase.
It is too fast, no matter, we will catch it, in time.
Nothing can outrun us forever.'

'We are catching, but it is almost at the gate made by the 'Others'.
It can not be allowed to escape, it might bring more.
We must give a little of ourselves to stop it, to disable it, then we can kill it.'

'We have hit it.
Again and again but it does not stop.
Does it resist us?'

'It is at the gate and gone.
The danger is gone, we will return home.'

'No, the spore is contacting us...'

...

'I am still dreaming.
I can't seem to wake up.
I want to, but I can't feel anything.'

'These events must have happened after I escaped the Spore.
That Discoverer we were chasing...
I mean they were chasing,
I think I'm onboard it now.
There must still be some connection between us.'

...

'The Spore tells us there is further danger.
We must find it.
Back towards the structure.'

'We see them now.
Four small ships. We recognise them. Grey. Like the ones earlier.
Again we know its name, how can this be?
I do not understand.
They are called Bayamon and Mandalay of Pirate...
No matter.
They must be destroyed.
They will make good nourishment.'

'We surround them and kill them, as always their remains are gathered and placed with the Spore.'

'We must now wait and watch over the Spore in its final stage.
Soon, soon glorious life begins here.'

[KiwiNZ]

Very good read! So it appears as though organic matter is being infected by the aliens. Will be interesting to see what they come up with on board the Jubilee. Now why exactly did the Admiral get there without any shields? Even more puzzling, without shields in a ship that can't really outrun anything around?!

Looking forward to the next installment.

[crunn]

Thanks Kiwi

Now why exactly did the Admiral get there without any shields? Even more puzzling, without shields in a ship that can't really outrun anything around?!

Remember the last chapter where the only jump capable ship available was a dammaged buster, it would have gone with the Argon One if it were not dammaged.
So the Admiral had no choice if he wanted to get there in time.

It's of no real significance to the story anyway, probably never hear of that Buster again.

[Moss]

Have to say Admiral Ornov behaved very childishly towards General Illandas, even though they have some bad history together.

Kicking Illandas off his own ship was very unprofessional, sure he's an admiral and has the right to take over, but it would have made more sense to keep him aboard, then if anything had happened to Ornov he'd have been able to take over, now of course it will mean some lower rank will do that! and it puts Illandas in more danger too, but maybe thats the plan!

Seems Monroe still has the mental connection with that ship even after leaving the sector, could be handy if he wakes in time for any trouble.

Good read, just not the way i'd expect an admiral to behave, especialy in a hostile situation.

[crunn]

You're right, Moss, about Ornov/Illandas.
Not sure I like that bit myself, but I need Illandas onboard the Jubilee and couldn't think of a plausible reason.

Hall suddenly becomes sick and a new command officer is needed?
(I'm sure Pierson/Sina could cope)
Monroe wakes and suddenly kills Hall, a new command officer is needed?
(That's not going to happen)
Argon One breaks down, Illandas takes command of the Jubilee.
(hmm, these are getting worse.)

Don't suppose you have any suggestions?

[Moss]

I did actualy think that you may need Illandas aboard the Jubilee for the story, and petulant admirals are not unknown! so i'd sugest leaving it as is, maybe show a little resentment/surprise from one or two of Illandas' upper crew members on the Argon One before the story progresses too far, just to reinforce the unusualness of this move! (and maybe Ornov will get dragged over the carpet for it later, especialy if he messes up somewhere along the line )

Don't worry the story is fine! it just makes one wonder how this guy became an admiral keep it coming.

[Deleted User]

any suggestions?

The Royals ... is their no way to be rid of them ?

"In the event that I am reincarnated, I would like to return as a deadly virus, in order to contribute something to solve overpopulation." Prince phillip

[crunn]

Don't panic folks, I've not forgot.
Ch21 is about done, I need to look at the last couple of paragraphs again, something not quite right there.
Anyways I'm off out tonight, go-karting with the lads.
It should be up tomorrow sometime.
L8R

[KiwiNZ]

good to see you did not abandon us ... yet

have fun

[Al]

Good stuff. Interesting build up to what I presume is going to be a little skirmish

Al

[crunn]

good to see you did not abandon us ... yet

have fun

No, never abandon.
3-ish chapters to go, nearly done.
And the glimmer of a sequal in mind.

Go-Karts were cool, but as usual I came in last.
There's always next time. (to come last again )

[crunn]

Good stuff. Interesting build up to what I presume is going to be a little skirmish

Al

Yes, a little skirmish might be right.


Thanks again everyone.


Just noticed almost 100 hits on this chapter.
I'm sure many are folks checking back on replies,
but it makes me wonder just how many are reading DH.