Super Soldier in Another World

The Sparrow and The Dragon

"Final Kind cruiser inbound!" the ensign shouted, several blaring red monitors under-lighting her face as she scrambled toward the intercom "Dragon class cruiser inbound! Prepare for combat!"

Captain Henry Stol maintained his air of calm command despite this harrowing news. He needed his crew members to see that he wasn't buckling under this pressure or they would soon follow suit. Internally though, Henry saw little hope of survival. A Dragon-class cruiser was the largest and most deadly of all the Final Kind's spacecraft... Henry had been through some close calls with the Final Kind's fleet, but he and his crew had never faced a dragon-class all by themselves...

His ship, the Sparrow, had beaten the odds for the past six months, avoiding Final Kind ships and destroying the ones that got too close. They shouldn't have even made it this long... he knew that. He rubbed a hand through his short black hair, white-winged at the temples. His crows feet felt like they were deepening with every passing moment, another sign of his growing stress and age. With the Dragon appearing now, he was precisely aware of every wrinkle on his face furrowing as he thought on what he would have to do to save his ship. He adjusted the collar of his white uniform; a Ternan captain's garb, mostly white and trimmed with red, made him easily stick out compared to the rest of the crew. He had never been partial to the twin tails that streaked down from the coat to nearly brush the floor, but the uniform was mandatory.

He pursed his lips and turned to face his crew. There were around thirty people manning the amphitheater right now, max capacity. Technicians, weapons personnel and shield jockeys all fiddled about with their terminals, making calls to the crew below to give orders. Henry might not have been able to tell the difference between all of them had their one-piece jumpsuits all been the same color. Red for weapons, blue for shields, and green for technicians, though at a glance it didn't seem that any of them were performing their tasks any differently from one another.

These men and women had gone through these hellish six months with him and were still willing to fight whatever had to come the Sparrow's way. Henry would need their bravery very soon. He turned back to the holo-deck and frowned as nervous sweat rolled down his brow.

This little sparrow-class frigate would be turned into a floating hunk of charred gray metal unless they got out of here, fast... but those talon beams would easily stop their escape... That left only one option. He turned to address the amphitheater, where several crewmen fiddled with terminals and spoke in nervous whispers. The amphitheater was large enough for his voice to echo, and the little speaker implanted in his throat ensured that his orders wouldn't go unheard.

"You hear that?" Henry asked his crew, his voice deep and clear "They had to send a Dragon after a Sparrow, what does that tell you?" He paused for a moment, the eyes of his crew glued to him as he stepped over to the glowing holo-deck "It means they're scared of us, and they should be. We've been on the run for six months since they took earth, and every ship they sent after us never returned." Henry clasped his hands behind his back then, taking a deep breath to steady himself "We aren't going to escape, you all need to know that right now. The Dragon can pull us right out of light-speed with it's talon beam... Knowing that, I want to take the beast down with us. Are you all with me?"

Nervous silence came over the amphitheater, interrupted only by the sounds of the terminals. The silence made Henry wonder if his men were all about to break out into panic. Thankfully, the crew all shouted their agreement, all rather wanting to go down fighting then submit to the rule of the Final Kind. Henry smiled at the enthusiasm of his crew, a single tear threatening to slide down his cheek.

He wiped it away, turning to the holo-deck next to him and pressing his thumb down on the glowing button. It was designed to pick up on any spacecraft nearby and display them for his crew to see. That way, they could all come up with a plan of action on how to engage the enemy, for they could all see what they were dealing with.