DIABOLOS
STARDATE 02.13.24
HIGH GUARD/INTERGALACTIC ASSEMBLAGE OF SYSTEMS
Lady Shiva stood in her Ready Room carefully analyzing a holographic recreation of a recent tactical engagement. Her six blue arms pointed to various starships and then traced their routes throughout the battle. At times, Lady Shiva would pause the recording to take a moment to consider all the tactical implications of that particular moment. This was an important exercise for her. She had lost too many crew members in the last engagement and she was determined to discover ways that those lives could have been saved.
A devilish figure appeared before Lady Shiva. Its red form was that of a classic devil, complete with two horns and a pointed triangular tail. This was the Ship’s Avatar aboard the Diabolos.
Lady Shiva pretended to not see the Devil, instead staring continuously at her tactical projection. “Didn’t I leave instructions that I was not to be disturbed?” she said harshly.
“My apologies, Captain…” Lady Shiva glared menacingly at the Devil. “…ah…Lady Shiva. But I have received a distress call from a Drom Cruiser in the Tepe System.”
Instantly, Lady Shiva made mental calculations to determine if there were any other High Guard starships closer to the Tepe System than the Diabolos. The Aquarius was three days away and the Quilt was a week away.
“What have those haulers gotten themselves into this time? Aren’t they supposed to be transporting resources from the Sierra System?”
“That is indeed where they were…” the Devil said sarcastically. “However, it appears they soon discovered an Ancient Anomaly in the nearby Tepe System. Their distress call was brief, but I was able to discern that they had opened a piece of Ancient Machinery in hopes of finding lost technology or knowledge. The Drom Cruiser inadvertently activated the Ancient Machine causing the ongoing creation of what they describe as ‘miniature shuttles with built-in weaponry and defenses.’ The Drom fought them off with their limited weaponry, but are now in danger of being overwhelmed. They cannot turn the Ancient Machine off.”
Lady Shiva cursed loudly. She deactivated her tactical projection. When were the Drom going to learn? This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. The Intergalactic Assemblage of Systems needs to impose stricter penalties on the Drom for these kinds of incidents. But that ventured into the realm of politics, an arena that Lady Shiva was smart enough to stay well away from. Lady Shiva considered for a millisecond letting the Ancient Machine run amok in order to make the Drom look even more guilty, but there were populated worlds in the Tepe System. The High Guard was sworn to safeguard every one of those lives.
“Set a course for the Tepe System. Maximum Skip Warp. Charge the Central Capacitor to full. Raise our Seventh Shield. Ready the Defense Field. Prepare for Viral Warfare. If there’s a way to infiltrate these ‘miniature shuttles’ and take over their controls without direct combat, that is preferrable. Bring the Quantum Transporters online. Have six squads of Powered Armor suited up and ready to jump into space on my order. Prepare to lay our Warp Field Distortion Mines, we may need to drop the Ancient Machine into a singularity. Arm the Quantum Torpedoes. I want long range scans completed to determine the exact locations of all the ‘miniature shuttles’ and the Ancient Machine long before the Diabolos even enters the battlefield. We’ll determine our approach based on the tactical positions of the Ancient Machine, the ‘miniature shuttles’, and the Drom Cruiser.”
“It will be done…my Lady,” Devil replied slyly before bowing and disappearing in a flash of light.
Lady Shiva’s facial expression became as hard as stone.
AND SO ONCE AGAIN, THE HIGH GUARD CHARGE INTO BATTLE TO PROTECT THE INNOCENT AND THOSE TOO WEAK TO DEFEND THEMSELVES.
