Up and Coming
An entry by Admiral Ryno
Maybe you are wondering who I am, or how I came to be the admiral of the Emperor’s Navy so fast. Well…
When the Krie nation fell, it was with hate, the leaders assassinated, the ranks of nobility scattered to the wind while the newly commissioned architect toiled on the fleet’s outlying port. The insurrection happened so suddenly that the fleet was not even hailed. While the fires of what was once home cooled to cinders, the news finally reached the young architect, now heir to a Vy’keen fleet with no flag to rally behind. In the wake of this tragedy he renamed what was now his flag ship, “The Ghost of Krie,” and began searching the stars for any remnants left of his home.
Five core cycles have passed since the Krie fell. Ryno surveys his fleet through the viewport of his flag ship. He had not seen a hub larger than a small space station since the massacre of his homeworld. In the moments of truth he would admit that he had given that hope up long ago, and was content with the niche he had found: thwarting the occasional pirate raids the fleet came across in their pilgrimage to nothing.
Today was like any other day he thought, his chrono showed the time relative to his lost home. Still early he thought. There was always crew bustling on “The Ghost of Krie” so he wasn’t surprised when he heard the captain grunt at his station under the catwalk he was currently standing on and he decided to join him at the helm.
As Ryno arrived at the helm the captain addressed him with a grunt and roar. If he hadn’t been accustomed to the Vy’keen language before he came in command of this fleet, he was fluent in understanding now, though he found speaking it difficult, the captain and most of the crew understood his Traveler language well enough that the two could communicate fluently. “Good morning commander.” He grunted as Ryno took his spot at the window, hands clasped behind his back.
They had been following rumors of pirates for the last two cycles and it had led them almost to the Fade of the Tufinglu Adjunct. Ryno didn’t mind this as he knew any small civilization near the core would take a fleet this size as an act of aggression, so he was resigned to stay closer to the Fade at any rate. He addressed the captain for a sitrep of the battle that had spanned the previous two days. The results weren’t great, out of the two freighters left in his fleet, one has been critically damaged leaving only his flag ship capable of flight. The remaining crew of “the relic” were picking the scrap from its carcass and bringing it to the flag ship.
As they discussed the new allocation of supplies and crew the coms officer called out for the commander. When Ryno asked him what the interruption was about he barked that a distress signal was being broadcast on all channels coming from only a short skip away. This wasn’t surprising as a small squadron of pirates and their frigate had managed to escape the battle the day prior.
Ryno knew his flag ship would need to stay docked while the other freighter was scraped so he ordered the captain to hail his personal squadron to be ready in the hanger and for the navigator to send the coordinates to his ship as he hastily made his way off the bridge. He would have no problem handling a few fighters and a frigate with his elite squadron on his wing. As he arrived in the hanger the squadron saluted him and he returned their gesture, lightly explaining what was happening as he mounted his cockpit. For a moment he missed what once was. As the cockpit hissed shut he remembered lessons from his fathers about breathing through th G. The freedom of his first skip jumper. The memories passed as the thrusters engaged and he exited the hanger, the squadron checked in with the coordinates and the warp opened around them.
The hallucination of the warp gave way and Ryno could here his squadron checking back in. The frigate was making its way to the space station in front of them, the pirate squadron already picking off merchant travelers around it. This is what he lived for now he thought as the adrenaline touched the tips of his fingers and he ordered the attack to a joyous squadron who happily complied.
As he engaged his thrusters to take formation, he started targeting the frigates defense turrets and noticed his coms blinking on another channel. As he clicked the flashing button to receive the new communication a glint caught his eye on the distance. The light of a local solar body reflected gold off of a single vector as it erupted through the cloud cover of a soft red planet. “This is Almar, Emperor of Eld. You have engaged in violence in civilized space. Identify yourself.”
