Gabatrix: The First Peace

"Where is the aperture forming?"

"Approximately 176 degrees true vector on the x-axis and 303 degrees true vector on the Y-axis."

The captain sighed. "Almost a little above us directly behind. That is why I need Ifra here. Contact the Atra. We need answers now before this gets out of hand," the captain looked at Ifra. "I need you to help translate for us."

"I will help," she replied as she stepped forward near the captain.

Kane watched the exit aperture of the wormhole begin to stabilize. It was perfectly formed. Whatever was coming would be here any minute.

"I got the adjunct of the Atra on coms!" yelled out one of the crew members. "Patching it in your console now, sir!"

The console emitted an active voice connection. They could hear a familiar voice spoken earlier from the meeting just prior ten minutes ago. It was distinctly female as before, and the captain knew immediately who it was.

"Adjunct Tara'Talar," the captain called out to his console. "Do you know who is coming out of that wormhole?"

Ifra went ahead and translated the words to ensure that the captain of the Atra could understand. Her cackles, clicks, and own words went through the open channel. There was some brief pause as she listened and quickly translated it.

"Tara'Talar says that they caught a spy on the Atra," Ifra said. "The spy was appr.....app....."

"Apprehended," Kane added.

"Yes. The spy had sent a message through the wormhole. She had sab.....sabo......sabotaged the weapons array and engines. The adjunct reports that the systems are operating at 50%. It will take an hour to get it back to full condition again."

"It's a trap!" Ramírez called out. "Somebody knew the meeting was happening and is trying to stop it."

"It means that whoever is going to come through that wormhole is going to be nasty," the captain said. He turned to direct his question back to the console. "Adjunct, can you call in reinforcements?"

Ifra translated his words to her. There was a moment of pause as the adjunct replied back to Ifra.

"She says it would take thirty minutes for them to respond," she answered.

"That is too long," Ramírez commented. "They can destroy us by the time help arrives."

"Sir!" the navigator of the ship called out. "Something is immerging from the wormhole."

Kane looked at the exit aperture. There was a sign of lightning that erupted from the gate as they could see a large warship fly through and immerge near their location. The ship was red in color.

"Aksren....." Kane commented upon seeing it.

Ifra's feathers lifted up a little bit. Her tail even tensed up as well.

The ship was big. It looked similar to the Atra, but it was a quarter larger in length. Kane watched it all. The vessel carried a broad engine array behind it. It had two centripetal rings that were spinning. The central portion of the ship had two large rail gun turrets. The guns were bigger than the Atra's or the Gabatrix's guns. There was a central hangar bay that was in the center of the dorsal and ventral guns. Near the front midsection was a sizeable vertical missile tube array. Two large dual forward-mounted engines with several mounted small guns were positioned beside the launch array. The front section of the ship consisted of what looked like the forward dorsal and ventral bridges. There were two large bow-mounted particle cannons and four missile tubes. The warship was a beast that had Ifra even nervous.

"Sir......running tactical analysis on the warship," the navigator called out. "Sending the data to your console."

Ramírez and the captain both looked at the console. It began to display a series of schematics on the warship of its type.

"According to the Syn's data logs and eyewitness reports......" the captain said as he read the displayed data. "This is a Durgas class Dreadnought. This is one of the common heavy warships of the Aksren clan," he sighed. "Shit......this is one of the warships that was spotted at the siege of Cipra."

The Aksren warship had completed its leap from the wormhole. It emitted a series of flames from the forward-mounted thrusters as it began to slow down to a stop.

"Can we fight it?" Kane asked.

"That wouldn't be wise.....," the captain said. "The Atra is operating at 50% combat capability right now. We are not in better shape, either."

"Why not?"

Ramírez turned his head towards him. "When they launched this ship back into service today, they were expecting this to be a suicide mission. They didn't put much ammunition or munitions on the Gabatrix."

"How is our weapon stock?" the captain asked.

"We have four Mk 70 Anti-Ship Torpedoes and two Mk 651 Standard All-Purpose Missiles for the forward tubes. Our Railgun inventory is about eight shells. The AIO turrets.....we are fully stocked."

"Makes sense.....the Gabatrix was tested with the Mk 11 AIO turrets. They decided just to keep the ammunition for the turrets there until the Gabatrix would be scrapped. Anything we have else is either in the launch tubes or by the railguns."

"They might as well gave us rocks to throw at the Aksren....." Ramírez commented.

The dreadnought began to activate its ventral thrusters. Small flames emitted from the sides of the ship as it began to turn its nose towards the Gabatrix and the Atra slowly.

"What about escaping?" Kane asked.

"That wouldn't work. The Durgas would be in weapons range in half the time we are trying to get the wormhole gates fully operational. We would be dead before it would happen Ambassador."

The captain was thinking to himself as he put his hand to his beard. He was looking at the Durgas as the ship straightened itself directly towards both the connected Atra and Gabatrix.

"Captain....." Tara'Talar called out from the console. "What is you, combat......abilities?"

"We are not in good shape, adjunct. Your ship is operating at 50% capability, and we carry limited ammunition onboard. I would try fighting back but.....I don't know."

"Captain...." She struggled to say in her poor English skills. "We will fight the Aksren. We will cover your escape while you try......to jump back to your system."

"What about your Ambassador?" he replied.

"Bring her back home."

Kane looked at Ifra. She was shaking her head and looked away from the screen.

"No.....no....." Ifra replied.

Time was at the essence. The Durga's rear engines began to emit a slow deep red of hot flames.

"Sir!" the navigator called out. "The Aksren dreadnought is powering up its engines. It is heading towards us."

"Estimated that the warship will be in firing range in eleven minutes," Ramírez commented.

Kane could watch the captain was utterly calm at the situation. Death was barreling down upon them. Instead, Kane looked at Ifra. Instinctively she reached out her clawed hand at the ambassador's arm. He could tell that Ifra was scared now. It seemed as if time had slowed down as Kane knew that this was it. The crew, himself,....everyone had all signed up for a suicide mission. The enemy Itrean clan responsible for taking the colony of Cipra was going to come and blow the two warships to atoms, and there was seemingly nothing that could be done to stop it.

The captain was looking at the console. Then he turned around and looked at Ifra. He could see the ambassador of an alien race.....now possibly confirmed to be a descendant of the dinosaurs, holding the arm of the UWA official. William seemed fixated on what he saw the two were doing. He seemed to feel some remorse about the scene. Precious time was ticking away. Second, by second, the Aksren would come to deliver the deathblow to both ships.

"No.....," the captain said quietly as he sighed. "Not this time....."

"Sir?" Ramírez asked.

The captain nodded his head as he turned to look down at the console. He seemed happy with what came in his mind.

"Adjunct Tara'Talar, hold that action!" the captain yelled out to the console. "I have a plan. Are you still there?"

"Yes," she replied through the comm channel.

"Begin your jump prep. Do you have the coordinates to the New Olympian system?"

There was a short pause. Ifra relaxed her grip on Kane's arm as she helped translate the words for her to understand.

"Yes," the adjunct replied.

"Set a course for there. I have a request. Take the crew of the Gabatrix home."

"Sir?" Ramírez said.

A few of the crew members looked at the captain the moment that he said that. There was a brief pause as the adjunct was trying to understand what she was hearing. She even spoke a little bit as Ifra helped ensure what she heard was true.

"I don't understand, Captain," the adjunct replied.

"You heard me adjunct. We don't have much time. I am evacuating the crew to your ship. A partnership peace treaty is in the process of being made.....I guess it is time to make it a reality. You don't have to sacrifice yourself or your crew. Only one person is going to die today."

"Sir?!" Ramírez replied again. His eyes were widened the moment he heard William said that.

"Adjunct.....I am issuing the Gabatrix to evacuate to your ship. One person needs to pilot the Gabatrix, and it will be me. Can I trust you with our crew?"

The adjunct replied back with her own language. Ifra responded immediately with her own words. Kane knew that the adjunct must have been confused but was making sense of what he just told her. There was a short brief pause.

"Very well......understood Captain William of the Gabatrix. Your crew are my crew....I will begin the process of jump prep to the New Olympian system."

"Sir! I must protest this course of action!" Ramírez called out. "It is insane. You are trusting over us to the alien race that....."

"Will get you home," he cut him off. "Yes, my friend. I am trying to mitigate the loss of lives today. Yes, this is a suicide mission, but all of you don't have to die......not if I can't help it. That goes for all of you! The passageway to the Atra is still open. I am issuing a ship-wide evacuation. All of you will go to the Atra now! That is my final order!"

There was a little bit of confusion in the crew members' faces. Kane came up in the captain's defense.

"You heard your Captain," the ambassador told them. "We are at peace with clan T'rintar. They promise me that they will protect you. Get going!"

That was enough to start the tidal wave of crew members to begin leaving the bridge. All the consoles, one by one, were being vacated.

Ramírez shook his head as he stood up. "What are you going to do, Captain? You can't win a fight against that ship."

The captain brushed him aside as he stepped up to the console. He stuck his augmented hand to the console interface. A small blue light emitted as he temporarily muted the comm channel to the Atra. He then activated the ship's internal communication system. All the overhead speakers began to activate as the captain went to address the crew.

"Attention crew of the Gabatrix. This is your captain speaking. I want all of you to begin heading toward the main central airlock right now. Every single individual. This is a direct order from your captain. We have an Aksren dreadnought that is heading towards us. We are completely outgunned and have no chance of winning against it. I have issued an evacuation order to the Atra. The commander has made an agreement to take all of you home. Ambassador Kane has done his job in convincing clan T'rintar to ally with the UWA. This will be their first action. You have eight minutes. Move as fast as you can. Do not worry about me coming with you. It is my job to ensure that the Aksren do not end your lives. Return back to home. Fight another day. Fight to defend your homes and loved ones......Captain William out."

The ship's intercom ceased. The captain seemed to remain calm and relaxed. Kane couldn't believe it, and Ramírez had his mouth agape from shock.

"You heard what I said, Commander Ramírez," William addressed him. "All of you....get to the airlock right now. Assist the Atra crew....stay out of their way.....do whatever you need. Get the crew home...."

Ramírez seemed to pause a little bit. He finally gave a salute to him. "God speed, sir...."

With that, the commander walked out and to the elevator. The captain once again seemed to give a calm composure. The dreadnought was getting closer and closer as a blue alarm light was being emitted from the ship's overhead lights.

"Ambassador Kane.....Ambassador Ifra," the captain addressed them both. "Do me a favor and sign that treaty. Your survival is more important than anything right now. It is worth my own life. Save our people....save your people....save the people of Earth.....save everyone."

"We will," Ifra replied in a sad tone. She even reached out and touched the captain's arm

The captain simply smiled back at her. He looked down and nodded to her. He then turned his head to look at Kane.

"Kane.....tell my wife what happens today."

"I will," he replied.

"Remember Kane.....," the captain told him. "It is as that story was.....the captain of the Cabot told me that it wasn't my time yet. Some people must die so that others may live."

Kane remembered the story, but now was not the time to think about it. Ifra let go of the captain's arm. She backed away as Kane took hold of her hand. They moved as fast as they could towards the elevator. Ramírez kept the elevator door open as the two ambassadors made their way to it.

They turned around and looked at the bridge one last time. Kane could remember seeing the captain as he gave one final nod to the three as the elevator doors slid closed. Instead, the captain saw himself alone on the bridge of the ship. In front of him was the clear depiction of the zoomed image of the Durgas class Dreadnought. The ship was slowly getting closer and closer to them. Second, by second it was getting faster and faster.

The captain went and sat down by the command console. He seemed at peace with his decision. He began to buckle himself up to prevent himself from floating away from his seat. He would breathe slowly as he put his hand by the base of the console.

"You were a good ship," he said out loud. "You are named after a man that didn't give a damn about getting us out here. He brought us forward into the future and saved us from ourselves. Let no one forget his name or your name.....Gabatrix."

Chapter 11: The Battle of MJJ-12

"Come on! Come on!" one of the crew members yelled to another as they walked as fast as they could to the airlock passageway. "The Atra is already setting up the gate probes. Move your ass now!"

A female officer quickly looked behind her. There was no one else that she saw. Kane was inside the Atra by the airlock as the crew of one hundred was being rounded up. Some Yutilians and a few Shal'rein had all met up with the evacuating crew. Ifra was helping others in their rapid adjustment to the new environment. Kane was also addressing the crew as well, while Ramírez was trying to keep the evacuation in proper order.

"What is our headcount?" Ramírez yelled out.

"We did it several times," Doctor Aline replied. "Ninety-nine are present except the captain, of course."

It was all that Kane needed to hear. He went and activated his left-hand display. He activated his communication beacon and patched it into the bridge of the Gabatrix. The screen was audio-only.

"Captain, can you hear me?" Kane asked.

"Yes," Captain William replied through the voice channel. "I am picking it up on my sensors that the last crew member departed the ship. Can you confirm on your end?"

"Confirmed!"

"Very well. Good luck, Ambassador."

"You too, Captain."

The com channel closed down. Kane's hand display went dark as he slowly closed his hand. He shut it off as he knew that it would probably be the last time he would ever possibly see the captain alive again.

The crew was standing crowded up in the central passageway of the Atra. It was a unique experience for everyone. To see the growing vines and branches on the passageway walls shocked a few individuals. Surprisingly, many were calmer than expected. It wasn't to say that everyone was completely relaxed, though. Some of the crew looked at the Itreans with disgust, wonder, or anger. One of the male crew members even reached his hand and touched one of the fruits.

"It is alright," Ifra told him. "It is edible."

The crew member, despite being told that, pulled his hand away, afraid to cause any form of anger to the aliens. It was understandable for the most part. The humans knew that they were on someone else's property.

"Listen, everyone!" Ifra explained. "I assure you that you will not be harmed."

"Yeah, after the stunt, your people pulled at Eutera!" one of the crew members called out.

"Everyone, we are going to get the Euterans back!" Kane replied. "We have reached an agreement. The Euterans are alive and well. They will be returned."

Kane and some of the crew turned their heads towards the airlock hatchway. Everyone was at a safe distance as the hatchway doors closed up. They slid closed as the passageway airlock was being retracted from both ships. The connection between both ships was severed as the crew knew that they were trapped in the Atra.

"Everyone!" Ramírez called out. "It is the captain's orders that we are here. The crew of the Atra will take us back home. Their adjunct has promised us that. I want all divisional officers to take charge of their divisions. I want us to remain here and listen to the T'rintar people and their instructions. I am sure they are used to influxes with a large number of people. I don't want to hear any complaints or any trouble! Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" some of the crew called out. Others nodded as they listened to their executive officer.

"Ambassador Kane.....Ambassador Ifra," Ramírez said as he turned to look at them. "I will need to speak to both of you immediately."

Kane wasn't that far from the commander. Ifra, on the other hand, was still talking with some of the Yutilians and Shal'rein. She was giving careful instructions on how the crew needed to be treated. Her hands were full, but many of the T'rintar were giving their quick nods. Some were armed as expected, but others appeared to be medical staff of some sort. It seemed the Itreans were treating the crew of the Gabatrix with proper respect and dignity.

Kane, one last time looked at the hatchway porthole window. The Itrean warship had thick see-through material as he could see the retractable passageways. He had one final look at the UHN Gabatrix. The ship, despite its age, looked beautiful. It was a shame that space made it hard for individuals to look at it from the outside. That was the job of the cameras. While he could hear the sounds of the conversation, alien languages, and interactions of hundreds of individuals, he knew that outside that hatch was absolutely nothing. Temperatures were absolute zero. There was no sound, and it was nothing but the lights of the two warships. Thankfully it seemed well lit enough that he could see the Gabatrix in its full glory. The centripetal ring was still spinning proudly, and there was a series of different lights that would flicker on and off. Even though the Atra was bigger than the Gabatrix, the UHN warship was still pretty big. Two hundred eighty meters in length still translated to a rather big size.

"Kane!" Ramírez called out to him. "I need to talk to both you and Ifra immediately!"

Kane shook his thoughts and turned his head away from the closed up hatchway. He walked up to the commander as he saw Ifra finally pull away from the other individuals she was talking with. She walked forward, stepped aside from a pair of two humans talking, and reached Kane and Ramírez.

"What do you need?" she asked.