Chronicles of Sol: The Fall

Reynolds stepped off the lift. He had just arrived on the Coto minutes ago. Countryman had thoughtfully given him a pad with everything he would need to know on the ship. Some of that he already knew from reading the database on the Enterprise. Regardless, he found it fascinating reading. He had just been reading up on the new photon torpedoes that were replacing the mark fives he was familiar with.

They used a laser-initiated cascade fusion detonation core. That allowed a variable detonation yield. The figures he read indicated that they were markedly more powerful than older mark fives. He was most fascinated by the warhead itself. Upon detonation, the cascade fusion core unleashes a powerful photon pulse hence the name. The photon pulse is composed mainly of high-intensity gamma rays. It is also the main vector of damage for the weapon.

The torpedoes thankfully didn’t require a major change to the launchers for use either. The designers had made them that way on purpose. As such he wasn’t going to have to get used to some different launcher mechanism. Earth ships used a type of rapid-fire torpedo launcher that had proved quite effective in battle.

RF torpedo launchers used a magazine system that allowed them to quickly unload a volley on a target. Automated systems were used to load the system, and it was designed to cycle between several mags. That way the first mag could be reloading while a second mag was firing the next volley. It took the system a few seconds to load a mag, and a few seconds to switch them as well. Continuous fire was still a long way away, but it gave them an advantage. They were able to fire a volley of five torpedoes every six seconds with this set up. Equating to fifty torpedoes a minute. Assuming a ship had the space to spare for the bulky reload mechanisms.

Capital ships like the Yamato often carried specialized torpedo turrets that allowed them to target multiple ships without undue maneuvering. The Coto didn’t carry any turrets, while the Enterprise’s launchers had been limited to a fore and aft firing vector. Most ships her size would carry full turrets, but that wasn’t the case with the Enterprise. Likely because the space had been needed for other systems. Although she did have turrets for the smaller photon missiles. They were based on the same technology but designed for engaging smaller ships such as corvettes and fighters. Also of note is that photon missiles didn’t use catapults in the launchers like the torpedoes did. This meant they got all their speed from the onboard thruster assembly.

He put thoughts about torpedoes, and missiles aside, and stepped into the bridge. His bridge. He hadn’t just given his command to Countryman because he thought he would be a better captain for the Enterprise. Reynold knew he would be, but that was not just because the man was more familiar with the ship. It was practically his child, the man was clearly in love with the ship, even if he tried to hide it.

Any good captain loved his ship like nothing else. He knew it, and the brief time he had aboard the Enterprise had been enough for him. His heart told him the ship was never meant to be his. During the battle however, he had noticed the Coto. She called to him. He felt at home on her bridge, this was the ship he was meant to command. Even if he had not been here more than an hour, he already knew.

A young ensign announced his entry to the bridge. A woman slipped out of the command chair, and turned to face him. “Ah, Captain Reynolds. I am glad to see you made it aboard safely. I am your first officer, Commander Taylor, at your service.”

He shook her hand, and said, “Nice to meet you. I presume you were in command during the battle. You showed promise.”

“Thank you, sir. I have the general readiness report available for your review.”

He smiled, “Let's hear it then.”

“We are currently at condition blue. Damage control teams have completed repairs to the ship. We finished repairs to the last hull breach an hour ago and tested the replacement plates. Engineering teams are currently converting secondary cargo bays, four and five into secondary crew quarters. We expect them to be finished by tomorrow, in the meantime most of our extra passengers will have to find accommodations elsewhere. I have the quartermaster dealing with that.”

He interjected, “Yes that is a problem. Have you taken into account that we will be expecting more passengers over the next few days?”

She nodded, “Yes. I have the engineers drawing up plans for converting two more secondary bays into living quarters. I also have them working on beefing up the life support systems to handle all the extra people. Although we might be a little lacking in privacy, when all is said and done.”

He just shook his head, “I figured. With all the extra people we will have to use a more communal set up than we are used to. We’ll adapt and get used to it.”

“I’m sure we will.”

“Anyway, I would like us to get underway. Our orders are to sweep the debris fields for anything we can use, and for any survivors that we may have missed.”

“Aye, sir. I will alert the engine room.”

Countryman watched his crew work, as the ship pulled into a lunar orbit. They had made for Luna as their first stop. The two destroyers and the remaining sublight ships were out sweeping the debris fields. They may be planning to abandon those ships, but since they were not leaving yet, they might as well use them. The ones that still had working engines, and sensors that is. Using those vessels in this manner would speed up their search for usable supplies, and survivors that were missed in the initial sweep.

He was here to locate survivors of the attack on the domes when the Cathamari had penetrated the Lunar perimeter a few days earlier. Well, locate survivors, and gather anything they could use. However, Countryman also wanted to erect a memorial to honor all their fallen, all their dead in this war. It would even serve as a record of what happened here. On the screen, he could already see the scarred Lunar surface. Numerous shattered domes and scorched lunar surfaces dotted his view. One that was no longer marred by a gap. Repair crews had thankfully finished their repairs to the Enterprise. Even from outside one could no longer tell that the hull had been breached. The damaged plates had been replaced with new ones. The gel layer was restored, and the circuitry as well. As for the damaged materials, those had been removed during the repairs, those had been taken below to be recycled. A nano dissembler would be used to take them apart. The materials would then be used as feedstock for the nano-fabricator A device that could be used to produce any spare part they might need. It functioned through the use of nanomachines, and it was essential to producing hull plating at a reasonable cost.

Nano-fabricators were invaluable to modern factories. Most ship components were actually built from the ground up at microscopic level by nanites. Those tiny little machines could produce quality ship parts in very short order. By using nanites in this matter they cut the cost of building overlord style hull plating by more than eighty percent. As much of the cost for those plates actually came from the difficulty of integrating the required circuitry. A task made trivial by nanites who can put the plating together in seconds layer by layer. They can even do it with precision and more easily than by any other method.

At the moment, the ship’s onboard foundries were already being put to use to convert scrap into easily stored salvage cubes. It was the best way to store the vast amount of useful scrap around them.

As the crew reported a stable orbit, Misaki suddenly looked up from her operations console. “Sir, we are receiving a hail from the Lunar surface.”

He had assigned Misaki to the regular bridge crew since he took over. He liked the young woman and her professionalism. She also delivered her reports in a clear, and pleasant voice.

“Onscreen.” he ordered. Instantly on the forward viewscreen, a disheveled young man appeared.

“Enterprise, are we glad to see you. We could use your assistance.”

Countryman said, “We are here to assist. Stand by for immediate evacuation.”

The man seemed relieved, “Thank you Enterprise. I’ll inform the others you are here. I am sure they will be relieved to be getting out of here as well. Dome four failed yesterday, and I don’t even want to guess how much longer this one will hold.”

Without even closing the channel the man ran off. Countryman sighed, ordered Misaki to close the channel, and then said, “Start scanning for landing sites. I would like to start this evacuation asap. I also want to know how many people are still down there.”

She nodded, “Already started sir. It seems a fair number of the locals made it to emergency bunkers. I’m reading nearly twenty thousand life signs down there.”

That was a dishearteningly small number. The lunar colonies had been thriving, even with the war. Luna had a population of a few million. Although most of them had been living in the main domes, and those had been destroyed in the bombardment. Unfortunately, as small as that number was, it was almost too many for the poor Enterprise. Thankfully they were already at work making sure the ship could accommodate as many people as possible. With that number, the poor ship was going to be packed, and privacy was going to be a rare luxury. Not much he could do about that without more ships. Unfortunately, they couldn’t just sit here and build a new one. That would not only take too long, but if they stay here too long the Cathamari may come back to finish them off. It was too risky. They could do it elsewhere. As in theory, with a few modifications, the Enterprise could build them additional ships if needed.

Something he figured they would need eventually if the journey lasted more than a few years. People were going to hook up afterall, and he was not going to stop them from having kids. In fact he was going to encourage them. With so few humans left, their race was on the brink of extinction. There were less than a hundred thousand humans left, when just days ago there were billions. At least, that he knew for sure about. There may be more stranded on Earth, but he had no way to confirm that. Even if he did, there was no way to safely transport them off the planet. Not to mention their resources were going to be strained already. Spreading roughly fifty thousand people across three ships was not going to be easy.

He let out a breath, “We better get them up here then. As soon as you find a good landing site, start dispatching shuttles. Send down some marines, and make sure they are armed. Preferably with a weapon that supports a stun setting. We are going to need it, with all those frightened colonists.”

She nodded, “Yes, sir. Would you like me to send some engineers down as well?”

He replied, “I would. They will need to shore up the domes. That will give us more time to get the people out, and whatever we want to take with us. I would also like them to erect a memorial down there for us. Something to honor the dead, and mark what happened here.”

She smiled, “That sounds nice. I think it would serve morale well. We could all use a chance to mourn our dead.”

He nodded, “My thoughts exactly.” Countryman tapped his display sending a file over to her. “Give them that. It’s my design plans for it. It should only take us a few days. We are going to be here that long anyway.”

She nodded, “Will do, sir.”

Countryman turned his attention to his displays. This was the boring part of command. The waiting for things to be done. Countryman knew that it was best to be bored though. It is when things get exciting that you have to be worried.