Dawn of the Final Frontier

Chapter 2: When It Began

        James stood in the hangar, watching as the alien craft landed. James had to launch his squadron of Raptors and Falcons. Both to make room, and as a security measure. A ramp slid down from the alien craft, and a door opened. Out came 3 of his guests. Each had a tall neck, a large eye where most facial features would be, along with smaller eyes around the main eye. They seemed over 6 feet tall, and muscular. The one in the middle's armor shone as a maroon color, while the 2 at his sides wore onyx black armor of the same type. Their knees were in the opposite fashion of human knees. Their hands, with 4 fingers each, held long, curved weapons. Presumably ranged, the front was made of a single flickering band of energy that arced between 2 physical tips. The handle was several inches behind the "barrel". The spiked end in which came from the 2 tips served as a stock, as well as some sort of shield. 

        The alien in the middle did not hold a weapon, but rather a data pad of sorts, which was just a display, and completely see-through, while James could still make out lettering. The guards behind James shifted uneasily at the sight of alien weapons, shouldering their AR-54 rifles. James opened his arms wide, and waved the aliens forward, hoping to seem friendly. He motioned towards the elevator behind him, and followed to aliens as they went in. In the few awkward minutes in the elevator, they just glanced around, not making eye contact.

        Once they reached the right floor, James walked towards the conference room at the end of the corridor. The lights turned on, and James motioned for them to sit down. Once sat, James closed the doors, leaving his guards to stay at the door. He sat down, his hands folded on the table.

        "Are you able to communicate?" James asked. The alien reached into his pocket, and handed him 3 earpieces of sorts. He gave two to his guards, and put the third on. The alien tapped the pad in his hand several times, and James heard a click, and static in his earpiece. 

        "Hope this works. If doesn't, both our mind should adjust fast." The alien said, the translator giving him a quirky English accent. 

        The alien raised it's hand, "We are the Ardwunmar Confederate, a collection of-" it paused, as if searching for the right word," species, lack for better term. I am Haridee Chella, Captain of the ACFV Righteous Solstice"

        James thought for a second, letting the words seek in. "I am Captain James Sterlein of the Terran Naval Command, under the Earth Space Alliance, a group of colonies under one banner."

        The alien narrowed it's one eye, but suddenly widened it. "Intriguing! How strange we both have space-faring empires. Although, your technology is," It paused, "slightly outdated compared to ours." 

        James was about to respond when one of the guards tapped his shoulder, he looked back, more of Anderson's men behind him. "Sir, the New York is moving. We may need you on the bridge."

        "Very well. Excuse me, Captain," James said, looking at the Ardwunmar,"I will be back shortly." James placed his earpiece on the table, and walked out the room.

       Once on the bridge, the view screen showed the New York moving in front of the Gladius, although slowly. He then saw why. The Ardwunmar ships were heating up their weapons, evident in the fact that their guns glowed a dull red. Then, their guns suddenly turned blue hot, and a lance of energy jumped towards the Gladius. The New York quickly jumped in front of the energy beams, covering the entire view screen. Bright blue light shone around the silhouette of the New York. Explosions lept out from the hangar doors. James could hear all kinds of comms coming from the ship. Most of the chatter consisted of screams, something James would have nightmares of for the next week.

        The engines exploded soon after, as chunks of armor and ship drifted. Parts of the New York glowed a bright red, heated to extreme temperatures. The armor melted on the nearest side to the Gladius, exposing the innersuperstructure. Another volley of energy beams from the alien ships caused even more explosions within the ship. The New York's thrusters suddenly fired, propelling it downwards, revealing the red hot guns of the aliens.

        James was shocked. Soon, anger boiled in his veins. He opened a COM to all other ships.

        "All Gladius class ships, charge up laser arrays. Pick your targets, and light their curtains. Blast 'em all to hell!" James growled. He watched his crew work, the lasers being charged. 

        A minute later, Johnson yelled, "Firing!" as their laser array fired. The beam of orange light jumped forward, along with almost seven others. Seconds later, the lasers impacted, cutting through the armor and hull of the alien ships. Two of the three ships were crippled, but none were out of the fight entirely. He could see them re-warming their guns. He couldn't let them fire again. The lasers charged, and fired again, along with four others. The crippled ships exploded into a blue-white ball of fire, the third gutted and disabled.

        James attempted to hail the New York, but only got an automated response from the on-board AI, listed as AI Summers. He pulled up an image of the ship. It drifted silently, broken into 3 large chunks and it's engines no longer there.

      "Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is the GCS-004 New York, need immediate recovery. Excessive casaulties detected. Immediate assistance requested." It was on a loop, at that point.

        James sighed. His anger gone, replaced with sorrow. The TNC had already lost a ship to these aliens. Aswell as a fine captain.

        James turned, keying his COM as he stormed out of the bridge. "Guards, terminate the two alien soldiers. Keep the Captain alive, we need to have a talk." James unholstered his sidearm, cocked the slide once, and stepped onto the elevator.