The Grey Chronicles Part One: New Declaration of An Old War

Chapter 12: Pretty Bad, Apparently.

            *unfinished garbage in need of rewrite. Disregard until finished.*

Outline:
Briarios follows Augustus. Listens in on convo with Company man.
Nearly caught. Convinces Augustus he just arrived after sending debriefing.
Proceed to bridge. Vidcomm call with Set about Salem's condition.
Start towards Onyx; scans show potential scouting vessels surveying a mine in Onyx. Move to intercept.

The Anarchist, outer space around Onyx Six, April of 8096 AL.

The battle group was arranged in an inverted chevron, with the cruisers in the point while the destroyers formed the arms and the support frigates resided in the space between them. The bridge was silent except for a low murmur among the command crew, they had been patrolling the system for five days, waiting for the Titanus fleet to show itself; five days for the crew to get wound up. They weren't nervous, they were excited; itching for a fight, and the ship's sensors had just found them one.

Briarios could see nothing in the space ahead, but the long-range sensors said otherwise; the display showed eight ships approaching in a V formation. Briarios shifted nervously at the helm, sitting in what was normally his father's seat. It was his first time piloting a cruiser in real-life combat, his nerves nearly got the better of him.

Come on, he thought, You've been on the bridge during space battles before. Of course, dad was always the leader then. This is my first time at the helm outside of the simulator and he's blacked out three decks below me. I'd really hoped to see him by my side tonight. I wish Orion was here, he'd say something perfect to help me calm down.

He sighed at the bittersweet memory, then a noise caught his ear; he heard scuffling behind him and was surprised at what, or rather who, was struggling to sit down in the seat beside him.

Salem was shuffling up the ramp towards the curved table, leaning on a cane. He was barefoot and wore black sweat pants, his torso was wrapped in bandages and his right arm was in a sling. He was panting heavily as he sat down beside his son, sweat poured down his face.

"Father? What, what are you doing here? You're still weak, you need to rest. I'll take you back to the infirmary," he said, secretly relieved that his father was here. If things went wrong, Salem would take control of the situation. Everything would be okay as long as he was here.

"Do you really expect me to miss a single minute of your first time at the helm? I have absolutely no intentions of returning to that small, dull hole you call a room, and I certainly won't miss seeing you wipe the floor with these poor bastards," Salem grinned, panting and still out of breath.

Briarios smiled and raised an eyebrow at the older man. Salem was a good father, he thought; equal parts laid-back best friend, supportive dad, and strict disciplinarian.

"Besides," Salem continued, panting, "We both know you couldn't make me leave if you wanted to; I might be half dead, but that other half can still kick your ass."

Briarios chuckled and turned back to the starmap. All eight hostile ships were now close enough to identify; there were six destroyers and a pair of cruisers, four of the destroyers were Stonehaaryn, the others and one of the cruisers were Machinae. The second cruiser was a huge Stonehaaryn vessel, almost eight kilometers long; nearly as large as the flagships of the Stonehaaryn fleet. The Endless Curse was one of three flagships, which were the only vessels in their fleet capable of standing up to Machinae cruisers one-on-one.

He was wondering which ships to send after the destroyers and which ships to attack the cruisers with when his mother and sister joined them; Soluna was just as shocked as Briarios to see Salem on the bridge. Korana, however, had expected her husband to be there.