Thunderstraat
17-06-2004, 15:50
"In a move no one's going to call surprising, the Imperial government ejected the ambassadors of six ESUS member nations not including the Five Civilized Nations this morning. The embassy staff left the throne world of Cathedral soon after. At the same time, Thunderstraat recalled its ambassadors from the nations of The Mindset, Underwater Asylum, Indra Prime, Jimathon..."
Fleet Admiral Jakob de Groot, Imperial Thunderstraater Navy, saw his fleet - and it was good.
Though half of the massive reserve of Thunderstraater vessels had been pulled back to defend the major worlds of Cathedral, Pinkett Prime, and Scivarius IV, the starships assembled around a hyperspace beacon in deep space still intimidated the man in charge of it. As de Groot watched it go by in his transparent inspection vessel, he frowned. There were a lot of good men in these ships - an awful lot. Many of them were quite probably going to die very soon.
The tiny inspection ship turned on its preplanned course and flew back the way it had come. It entered the mighty flagship, Ad Victoriam, in between the mighty Greenstar engines that powered the ship. They glowed coldly - if they were on, the safest place to be around them was inside the ship they powered. Even the bolts dwarfed the ship's yacht as it silently glided through the factory level. The machinery to rip matter from hyperspace and assemble it as the building blocks of killing machines lay silent. Soon they would be alive, alive with movement as they created the deaths of so many, so many -
The inspection vessel docked on the far end of the vast factory space that comprised most of the inner cube of the Greenstar factory/carrier. The Fleet Admiral strode across the hallway for a slidelift, which carried him to the heavily armored room near the front of the ship where no other commander had yet resided. He lay down on the aerogel impact couch and held his breath while the command sensors wrapped themselves around him.
He had been the commander of the Ad Victoriam since its christening, but now he was the ship.
A message had pushed past its queue with special priority. Very special priority. As Jakob de Groot watched, it displayed itself in his field of view.
His lips moved under the mask, completely free of his consciousness, as they reflected his inner thoughts.
"It's... started..."
Fleet Admiral Jakob de Groot, Imperial Thunderstraater Navy, saw his fleet - and it was good.
Though half of the massive reserve of Thunderstraater vessels had been pulled back to defend the major worlds of Cathedral, Pinkett Prime, and Scivarius IV, the starships assembled around a hyperspace beacon in deep space still intimidated the man in charge of it. As de Groot watched it go by in his transparent inspection vessel, he frowned. There were a lot of good men in these ships - an awful lot. Many of them were quite probably going to die very soon.
The tiny inspection ship turned on its preplanned course and flew back the way it had come. It entered the mighty flagship, Ad Victoriam, in between the mighty Greenstar engines that powered the ship. They glowed coldly - if they were on, the safest place to be around them was inside the ship they powered. Even the bolts dwarfed the ship's yacht as it silently glided through the factory level. The machinery to rip matter from hyperspace and assemble it as the building blocks of killing machines lay silent. Soon they would be alive, alive with movement as they created the deaths of so many, so many -
The inspection vessel docked on the far end of the vast factory space that comprised most of the inner cube of the Greenstar factory/carrier. The Fleet Admiral strode across the hallway for a slidelift, which carried him to the heavily armored room near the front of the ship where no other commander had yet resided. He lay down on the aerogel impact couch and held his breath while the command sensors wrapped themselves around him.
He had been the commander of the Ad Victoriam since its christening, but now he was the ship.
A message had pushed past its queue with special priority. Very special priority. As Jakob de Groot watched, it displayed itself in his field of view.
His lips moved under the mask, completely free of his consciousness, as they reflected his inner thoughts.
"It's... started..."