Shadow Star

Part 1. Are You Crazy?

These are the voyages of the USS Catena Ruptor, a Sovereign Class Destroyer. Having passed the frontier of known space several years ago this ship delves into the unending abyss of the galaxy. Her continuing mission is to chart a course for humanity into unknown regions. Searching for allies and to uncover hidden threats, the crew are led by Captain Nephis. She has faced many challenges during her tenure as leader of this plucky crew. Sentient rocks that talk, undying Xeno armies and of course having to deal with the peculiarities of her crew. 

Admittedly the previous challenge they faced was an unexpected one. What should have been a peaceful trade negotiation on the farming planet ‘Entendre Entendre’, turned into a bloody fight to the death. Some of those present at the meeting say it was due to the Captain herself. They also say it was due to her miscommunicating her intentions to the locals, others present refuse to talk about it and go red in the face before changing the subject.

  Nevertheless the ship is crewed by the finest human volunteers the Terran fleet has to offer. At her disposal are a cadre of talented officers and technologies so advanced, it would appear to the uneducated masses that they sprang directly from a dream…

Currently the ‘Catena Ruptor’ has made a diversion in her journey. She flies in synchronous orbit around a gas giant, while responding to a faint distress call. This unintelligible message suffered from heavy interference. After clearing up the signal somewhat, they are still unable to understand the words, but all agree that it was from a faintly familiar voice. 

An alarm blared throughout the bridge as the emergency lighting flickered to life. Captain Nephis clung to the side of her command chair wiping blood from her eyes but still dazed at the violent shaking that had thrown her to the floor. 

“Report. What hit us?” she barked at the comms officer.

“Ma’am, a Mord vessel just de-cloaked 500 metres off our stern” came the swift reply from Ensign Kai.

Captain Nephis grimaced. She had dealt with these scum before. Each member of the vicious race was a mirror image of another. Fearsome in battle, they never took prisoners nor showed any sense of self preservation. Instead they overwhelmed their foes with numbers and reckless aggression. What was worse about them though, in her opinion, was that no tactic worked twice with The Mord. They were able to assimilate and adapt the technologies of other races to their own ends.

“Why wasn’t anyone monitoring the scanners? Their technology isn’t perfect, we can clearly see the spatial distortions caused by their engines” she groaned as she held a bloody wound on the side of her head. Whirling around in anger she stared at the monitoring station to her left.

“Errrr…well…you see, Lieutenant Effie had to leave to grab a snack” the blind Commander Cassie timidly responded, as she climbed up off the floor “Seeing as you banned food on the bridge after you found crumbs in your chair. So she asked me to…ummmm… LOOK…after her monitors…” She attempted a dutiful salute, unfortunately after standing up, she was now facing the medical supply cupboard instead of her Captain.

With an impassive face, Captain Nephis stared at the back of the blind Commander’s head in silence. This silence grew more and more awkward as it spread across the bridge. Nobody knew where to look or what to do as time ticked by, even the blaring alarm felt uncomfortable and turned itself off.

Eventually, Ensign Kai offered “Captain, the Mord are on an intercept course, I believe they intend to board the Catena Ruptor, slaughter us all and steal our technology.”