Dawn of the Final Frontier

Chapter 5: Beating the Drums of War

        Rick Randall watched as part of the TNC fleet moved away from Earth. From his office aboard the ESS Mistrel, he viewed Earth on his viewscreen. He admired the size of the fleet, which was currently leaving the planet's orbit. The Warhammer-class warships looked like schools of fish. Undoubtedly, the Gladius-class ships dwarfed them  

        The camera paned to the left, revealing the startling yet stunning close up image of a Gladius-class. It slowly passed the Mistrel. Rick could see the dozens of missile pods and autocannons that bristled the surface. The hangar was viewable, with the few spacecraft the ship was armed with. Green lights strobed at several points. In big white letter, the name of the vessel was written. ESS Gladius. The rear of the ship came into view, the large fusion engines glowing a light blue. The engines flared as the ship sped up, over-taking the Mistrel with ease.

        Rick sighed. He thought those ships were beautiful. He envied those who were able to command them. At the same time, he loved the Mistrel. It was a masterpiece, armed with a cut down version of the Laser Array, as well as a few missile pods and autocannons. Not to mention it had twice the armor of a standard Warhammer-class.

        Rick turned and walked out of his office, into the bridge. He sat down in his Captain's chair.

        "Lieutenant Marshal, take us to Octania."

        The lieutenant replied, "Aye aye, sir."

        The viewscreen showed several ships already making their jumps to Octania, the Gladius-class ships being some of the first. Then the viewscreen went black.