The Arcturus Front

Chapter 1: Unexpected Guests

The alarm sounds its shrill tone throughout the operations deck.

"Sir, we have taken two missile impacts to the hull. The science bay is in vacuum and the crew quarters deck is also." Petty Officer second class Ramirez says in a calm, professional tone, despite the current situation.

"Where the hell did those come from?" Shouts Commander Massey. "There's nothing on our active scanners for over one hundred-thousand clicks! Trace their flight paths back to their origin! Request the Fairfield to launch a strike fighter flight now!"

"Aye aye, sir." Petty officer Ramirez says. His hands start quickly gliding across the holopad with a practiced speed and rhythm.

I watched this occur as I was frozen in place. I'd never been shot at before. Quite frankly, it's absolutely terrifying. I'd quickly decided that anybody who has told me otherwise is full of shit.

"Petty Officer Mullens... PETTY OFFICER MULLENS!" I jolted back into reality and see Commander Massey right in front of me.

"Get with it son, we are under attack and you're sitting there with a stick up your ass! Get me UNES Fairfield on tight beam comms."

I spun around in my chair which locks in place once I was in line with my holopad. I swiped until I found the tight beam emergency frequency back to our flagship. I selected the frequency with one tap, then began our transmission.

"UNES Fairfield, this is UNES Richmond, we have taken fire from an unknown source. Two direct hits. weapons bay and crew quarters are in vacuum. Unknown number wounded and KIA."

Fairfield Replies with a quick and clipped tone.

"Richmond, Fairfield. Copy that you have been fired upon by an unknown source. What is your combat status?"

"Fairfield, request a flight of strike fighters to the location that we took fire from. All hands that are available are at combat stations.

"Copy." Fairfield replied.

"We will have reinforcement strike fighters inbound shortly. Our Search and recovery vessels will hold back until the threat has retreated or been neutralized."

"Roger that Fairfield. If there are any changes, we will update. Richmond, out."

Commander Massey overheard the whole exchange as he sat over my shoulder. I decide to give him the update anyway.

"Sir, Fairfield says that they will be sending strike fighter reinforcements shortly. They will send in search and recovery teams as soon as they have the all clear."

Over the radio, strike fighter squadron seven comes in and sounds a bit unnerved.

"Richmond, Strike Seven. Looks like we found the bastard that shot you up. It's um... big."

I look over to Commander Massey. He looks almost as puzzled as I do.

"Can you identify it?" Asks Massey.

"No sir." Strike Seven leader replies. "It doesn't match up with anything in our database."

"Strike Seven, when you say big, could you be a little more specific?"

"It's about four times the size of the Fairfield." Replies Strike Seven.

At that moment, the entire operations center falls silent. UNES Fairfield is the largest and newest carrier in the fleet. It's about the size of thirty city blocks. It is quite literally a city in space. The ship is long and flat. Because it's a Carrier class ship, there are many structures jutting out and into space away from the ship. All of UNE's ships are a dark gray color and emblazoned on the bow of the ships; a blue Earth wrapped in ferns and crossed swords through the center. The color makes the ships difficult to see among the jet black backdrop of space. Along the sides there is a constant eerie blue glow from the docking bay nano shields that allow the fighters and other ships to pass through, but not the precious air in the ships.

For something to be that big, and stay hidden, someone or something has been keeping a big secret.

"Sir I...." Commander Massey cuts me off before I can even get the words out of my mouth.

"What the fuck could be that big? Whatever it is, why would they shoot at us? We couldn't even see it, let alone do anything to it if we wanted."

"I have no idea sir." I reply, even though I realize that it's pointless to say so.

"When was the last time we had a conflict with the Arcturus Front?" I asked.

Commander Massey lets out a grunt that is half mocking. "Nobody has heard anything from that system in the last 31 years. They're assumed dead. Good riddance to them if you ask me. Nothing but scum." He emphasizes that last sentence with a snarl.

"I'd place a bet that if anybody had the materials and manpower to do this, it would be the Vega Alliance..."

"Petty Officer Mullens, have the Fairfield recall Strike Seven. I don't want them anywhere near that thing. Get them out of there while it's still quiet. No need to lose an entire flight of fighters. As soon as they dock, we'll do a high G burn out of the system. There's no way anybody survived in the weapon bays or crew quarters. At this point, it's not worth a search and recovery effort. We are at about 90% accountability from those who responded to the battle stations call. Contact Fairfield and inform them of our plans."

"Aye aye sir."

"Sir, Strike Seven has returned and docked. All fighters are accounted for. We are departing from the gravity well of Alpha Centauri, Commander." Lieutenant Carson says. "Warp in T minus fifteen."

Lieutenant Carson is a short woman, soft spoken. She is the junior navigation officer on the Richmond. Damn good at her job too.

"Petty Officer Mullens, announce standby for warp. Keep everybody at battle stations until we get back in to Sol System."

I tapped my screen where it gives me the option to address the entire ship. A two tone bell sounds before I began my message.

"All hands, prepare for emergency jump back to Sol System. T minus fifteen minutes. I repeat, all hands prepare for emergency jump back to Sol System. T minus fifteen minutes. Maintain combat stations until given the all clear."

As a Cruiser class ship, the Richmond generally has the ability to take a solid number of shots and take a fair jab back at whatever decided to poke at them. Cruisers overall are very angular and have nothing sticking out away from the ship. They look something somewhat reminiscent of the extremely old stealth fighters from the mid nineteen-hundreds. 

This has little to do with stealth and is an attempt at causing projectile weapons that get through the shield to bounce off of the ship instead of landing a direct and smashing blow through the hull. When it comes to trying to fend off energy weapons, the cruisers have to hope the shield holds out until the other ship is destroyed. The angular panels don't dissipate the extreme temperatures very well. Luckily, in this case we had taken hits to the hull from projectile weapons. 

It was only us and the Fairfield that were there when this happened. Frigates unfortunately are round and don't have the luxury of being able to withstand any significant volley of projectile ammo. They do have the ability to ablate heat better though when hit with energy weapons such as pulse cannons or laser beams. Fleet commanders need to have the ability to determine what type of foe they are facing and the type of weapons they are using. While frigates are small and have extremely low armor they can pack a nasty punch if utilized properly.

A few years ago I joined the Navy to get school paid for and to say I've been in space. Not everyone can say that. Even in an age where spaceflight is common. It seemed that I'd got more than I bargained for and wasn't sure how to deal with that.