NationStates Jolt Archive

Humbert Ajax is my name. For my families entire existence we have served in the nobility that is the Eurydian military. Since time began, since our people’s humble beginnings we have diligently and unquestioningly served. I do not know what gives us this urge, this quest for service. When I was a boy I would often times amuse myself with toy soldiers, or rouse my friends for a game of cops and robbers; me being the officer of course. I would often times stare for long periods at our television screen, watching Eurdyian warships perform maneuvers or tests. Indeed I knew I would one day command one of these noble vessels.

My father was a ship captain during his younger days. He looked much like I do now; you might even call us brothers. Perhaps it was his short, cropped, dark hair. Perhaps it was his chin, firmly set and determined. Then again, maybe it was his eyes. My goodness, a whole paragraph could be devoted to those jewels, rare and precious. Our family is one of the few with dark eyes… if you can call them that. They are more a brown-green, hazel perhaps. Deeply set and encased in a darkness that gives them an extra ounce of radiance not often found in Eurydian culture. Our eyes are sunken in so it would almost look as though our entire family had held a weeklong vigil for some sickly person. The name I would not know, for I have never cared for a soul. Perhaps it is the brows, which shield eyes from unnecessary harm. They are set high above the actual eye, and yet maintain a relative coziness with the rest of the face. Perhaps it is the smile, which could charm a witch and tame a lion. Whatever it was, it made my father an excellent captain.

He was an idol to those who served under him I’m sure, but his military merits are of little concern to me. Indeed I myself am little interested in medals I have received through the course of my being a captain. Truly those shiny, flickering, metallic objects loosely hung from ones uniform are nothing short of a nuisance to my work and to me. Men who do suspend those medallions from atop their breasts like a criminal is hung from the highest tree… I scoff at, and wish that they could see the superficiality in their ways. It is not the commendations you receive, it is how your cohorts and comrades perceive you.

Unfortunately my father was killed during a skirmish with pirates, the names of which I know not of. The pirates escaped after capturing my father’s vessel and looting the entirety of it. They knew better than to steal a Royal Navy star cruiser, but did not have sense to keep a knife from my father’s throat. In fact the entire crew suffered the same fate as my father, and when help finally arrived in the form of a small frigate, the rescuers found only blood a death. They waded through over 100 persons before finally coming upon my father still seated in his captains chair, clutching the armrests with determination.

This all happened when I was 15 and just starting my days in the military. I was in my first month at the academy when I heard of my fathers demise, and it shook me for a time. Eventually I overcame and endured, graduating from Southshore Military School at the top of my class. Again, citations mattered little to me, and being the “best” was on the same level as that. This did give me however many options to pursue when I finally became an officer. My commendations allowed me the opportunity to captain a small vessel for my first assignment. She was named the Bigsby, and she was a fine vessel. She was only 32 meters long and lacked weapons of any sort. The Bigsby was a research vessel sent to chart far of solar systems. I captained her for 2 years, researching many planets and moons, before I took a transfer to a larger vessel. This vessel would be my last transfer, for its sheer beauty and stunning capabilities blew all other Eurydian ships out of the water. The Damnation's End.

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My latest mission involved deep space research. Since the Republic was never at war, most warships had been equipped with the dual role of “attack and explore.” While the Intari Class War-Cruiser I commanded was well equipped for offense, we had been relegated to the duties of studying the galaxy.

More specifically our task involved exploring solar system 1221. There wasn’t anything to special about that particular place; 2 small rocky planets and one large gas giant. Our home system of 47 UM is far more stunning and interesting than 1221. Still we had our orders, and so with a grimace clad face, my crew and I left for 1221.

The journey through hyperspace took roughly 3 weeks. We were traveling towards the galactic core, and had almost reached it when we finally arrived at our destination. With the flick of a switch we were propelled back into the swirling form that is realspace. Hyperspace can be such a boring place. A person or vessel is surrounded on all sides by a undulating red mass, alternating between black and red. That’s about it, and after staring at it for 3 weeks; it can drive a person to their limits. That is why we were selected for this mission. The crew of the Damnation’s End was the finest in the fleet, and could weather the harshness of Hyperspace.

We arrived in-between the two smaller planets. They appeared as two small, brown dots on either side of us. Instead of harsh red, the space around us was filled with blackness, the only difference being a beacon of light; 1221’s star. I quickly made the decision to work our way towards the first planet, and start our studies there.

Within 2 hours we were upon the dismal, lifeless rock we only knew as 1221-1. We began sensor sweeps of the surface, looking for anything out of the ordinary. I scanned the planet with my eyes, seeing nothing even worth taking a second glance at. The planet looked as though it had been bombarded with over a 10,000 meteors, and some of the impacts had scooped out parts of the planet, or so it seemed. When this planet was formed it certainly was a volatile time. I surmised that the second planet in this system would look very similar to the first.

The tests continued for over 6 hours before our chief science officer was satisfied that nothing on that planet was worth staying for. We quickly shipped out for 1221-2.

1221-2 was not the same as 1221-1. It disturbed me as to how serene this planet was. There was not one mark on the planet; it was perfect. No mountains, no jutting peaks, no immense valley, not one thing at all that would give it a semblance of a regular world. It was just a dull brown mass of rock, just as lifeless as 1221-1, but a thousand times more confusing.

We finally entered standard orbit and started our research of the planet. Nothing came back to our ship. The planet was absorbing our sensor sweeps! After trying a myriad of different things, we gave up on trying to bombard the planet with our sensors. I was even more disturbed now that the supposedly dead planet was absorbing everything we sent at it. Perhaps it was a new mineral, never before discovered, that was playing havoc with our sensors. Whatever it was, further investigation was required.

One of our shuttles was dispatched to the planet, filled with equipment and a full crew of science officers. The sleek blue design of the Flyer contrasted the backdrop of the brown mass as I watched it descend toward 1221-2. The Flyer was to land on the planet and gather as much information as possible using local sensor devices.

Before the ship managed to even land, before it even passed through the lower atmosphere, something unexpected happened. A large bolt of energy erupted from the planet, and it cut through the Flyer as though it were nothing. My entire crew was astonished, and my eyes widened as the bright, fiery explosion filled the view screen. I ordered our ship to get the hell away from the planet, and the charge quickly came to pass. We rocketed away from the planet at full speed as a second burst of energy came from 1221-2.

It struck the lower part of our ship, blowing the bottom left wing clear off. It was shattered into a million pieces, and the ensuing explosion sent us careening off course. The crew and myself went flying from our posts, smashing into various consoles. Sparks flew and structural supports collapsed as the entire ship buckled under the explosion. A third shot rang out from the “Death planet,” but we had just cleared its accurate targeting range, and so it missed, but only just.

We went flying through the vastness of space with our power offline and no clue as to where we were going. My crew slowly regained their senses, and secondary power was restored soon after. Using our minimal power we brought ourselves to a stop, and began to work on modifying the Gravimetric Drive, taking into account the massive void in our vessel.

Within 2 hours we had completed as many repairs as we could, and tried to contact Eurydice. We managed to get a transmission through, and asked for any reinforcements they could provide. With our distress call sent, we simply stayed put and waited for help to arrive.

Our ordeal was not over. Only minutes after our transmission was sent, 1221-2 began to stir with life. While the planet itself was teeming with spaceships of various size and shape, only one approached us. It was a small ship; only 300 meters long at most and had strange markings all about it; but from what our sensors gathered (which wasn’t much) it was a formidable warship. Since our last encounter with these beings did not go well, I ordered that all weapons be brought online. That ship may have been highly advanced, but it is no match for a barrage of 15 Neutron Cannons.

The ship moved steadily forward and finally came to rest about 500 kilometers off our bow. We were bombarded with deep scans and thorough sensor sweeps as the ship probed every inch of the Damnation’s End. As soon as it finished it sped up again, heading strait for us. One of my ensigns picked up a power surge coming from the alien vessel, and that’s when we struck. I did not want to take any chances and have us blown out of the sky. The 15 Neutron cannons struck the ship dead center, but nothing really happened. The lasers seemed to glance off the vessel. I ordered a second barrage, this time to better effect. As the ship was just preparing to fire its main cannon it broke in half, and then in half again. We kept firing until the ship itself had disintegrated.

I made ready the jump engines (for they had just been repaired) and prepared to capture a piece of this strange, alien vessel. Once a sizeable piece of the craft was aboard the ship, we took off into hyperspace, leaving 1221 behind us, hopefully for good. As we drifted through hyperspace, the chunk of spaceship was researched thoroughly. We came to realize that the ship itself was… alive. The hull plating… if you could call it that, registered on our scanners as a living entity. In actuality the debris almost died, for it had been separated from its source of power for to long. Only after we attached it to our vessels power supply did it spring back to life. We could only do so much on the Damnation’s End, so we hurried back to Eurydice.