Mantrin Imperial Guard - Pilot Episode - 001 Darkening Sky

Chapter 4: Double Encounter

The words 'Akrennian' and 'warship' vaguely rang in Raeth's ears. Time seemed to stretch into infinity as a swirl of thought took control of his mind, pushing it out of focus for what in reality were only a few ticks.

Very few things in the universe were as unstable as the relationship between the Akrennians and everyone else, but especially his own kind. Like oil and water. Unable to mix. Even when shaken like a cocktail. Neither side was to blame for this and yet both sides were at the same time. On countless occasions, they had demonstrated the uncanny ability to separate as utterly and completely as the two substances did after a short recess.

Unable to lay the foundations of a stronger alliance the current agreements had taken the form of a non-aggression pact. That was the term only used in official documents. Any Ginjha who went out this far knew that things were less formal. The outcome of meetings such as these often depended on the mood of both commanders. Intentions were never clear until the exchange of harsh words, not even if actual shots were fired beforehand. He had a gut feeling that this was going to be another one of those tough negotiations.

"Alert status! Raise shields and keep weapons on standby."

Snapping back to reality he vowed to deal with it in a quick and efficient way as the lives of the Hanii Nyra's crew were at stake. Cruisers of her class carried a crew of around 200 individuals. Even if that number had counted two zeros less his approach would not have been different.

"Bridge to gun crew. Stations! Azdar, you better be on your way."

One deck down, the short-tempered Sogowan answered his wristcom, tossing a look over his shoulder to check if every member of his four-headed team was still following his lead.

"Getting warmed up, sir! Masai, directly on the right. Thylun and Weyan, back left and right!"

Without paying attention to their confirmation he took the remaining station on the left next to Masai. With the station already on standby the weapon was ready to fire. Grabbing the control sticks, the master gunner's fast instincts and reflexes leveled up a couple of notches as he adjusted to the level of response. This was what he and his team were good at. This was why they were a part of this new crew.

"Permission to fire when target's in range, sir."

"Negative! Remain on standby."

Azdar's response was a grunt of annoyance. It was enough for his commanding officer to realize his temperament was going to give him trouble sooner or later. A direct link between bridge and gunnery deck was established. A camera and projected display linked the latter space to the left secondary viewer on the former.

"Sir, we're about to overshoot our destination."

His navigator's warning was justified yet it didn't matter right now. There were too many unknown variables yet the time to decide was now.

"Jetreycka?"

"They haven't answered any of our hails so far. Not even the one stating non-hostile intentions."

"All right. Freya, increase speed to maximum and standby to drop back to sublight speed."

"Sir?"

Her response was understandable, given their current predicament. If his line of thinking was correct it would be their best option. Getting ahead of their adversary would allow them to enter a better position should this encounter indeed turn out hostile. Chances of that were increasing with every passing tick.

"Do it."

She kicked the quantum drive into its highest gear, rapidly increasing the distance between them and their pursuer. Tipping his head to the right, he noticed his Kaedar's eyes were trying to find his. He was surprised to find them accompanied by an upward curve of the corner of his hooked beak. The odd sensation that struck Raeth upon seeing this disappeared when he remembered the details of Jirro's profile. The words that came out of his Kaedar's mouth and the way they expressed a certain desire to do battle confirmed it.