Thousand_Faces

This early chapter release is in honor of "elittesgamer" for being the first commenter of this new series. May the stars guide you well!

The shock of what captain Suro was looking at lasted a short second before years of experience and memory-based training kicked in. A finger flicked through the switchboard on the control panel, panels lit up and the hum of the ship gave birth to the noise of a ship rising from the dead. Kinetic weapons were the first weapon systems to go live as they required almost no power, but Suro's finger paused over the switch to initiate power weapons as his eyes watched the blinking fuel lights. If this fight turned intense he had at most enough fuel for several minutes of combat before he lost jump drive capability and another dozen at most before ships shields failed. A single click echoed in the captain's cockpit before Suro got up heading back to the medical bay.

The tablet in Suro’s hand provided focused readouts of the surrounding area that ship sensors could pick up. Each foot thumping fast towards the medical bay as his tablet’s readouts cause a beautiful face to turn horrid. Each crew member would take several minutes to be ready to even leave their pods, which didn't stop their captain from doing rounds through the pods twice before leaving them to arise. Groans could be through the ship's comm system as each individual's consciousness was sufficient enough to force them into a connection. By the time Suro had returned from the armory with a sufficient loadout, his first mates' words come across the comm unit.

“I know you don’t need the beauty sleep Suro with that ugly ass look, but I personally prefer it.” His humor ended in a cough as his body was recovering from its dehydration.

“We have an unidentified assault class ship the size of a colony craft floating out within visible distance. Multiple targets have been identified and no hostile actions confirmed yet. You have two minutes to suit up and be on the bridge.” Suro’s serious tone was enough to cause his first mate Jecko to force an early evacuation of his pod. Although clearly still dehydrated Jecko would suffice with his suite finished up the remaining of the process. Although not top of the line as his captain, it was combat and survival hardened for all conditions.

Suro’s harness clicked again as he engaged combat-ready mode, choosing to go for a condensed shift in the ship's design. The modular spacecraft design series had become a normalcy in craft design to fulfill the adaptive needs of situations. Compressed ship design allowed for hardened defenses and higher puncture resistance but sacrificed in compartmental survivability. Should a large enough impact puncture the ship's shields and hull it was likely to wipeout the complete crew if pressurized. This was only resolved by depressurizing the ship, although it still had the increased risk of a larger damage impact, its crew could maintain it without concern.

As the rooms and hallways began to shift into chosen form Jecko stepped onto the deck. His iv slipped into the pouch of his suit as the helmet lock engaged on his head. “Are those what I think they are?” Jacko’s tone clearly resisting an honest display of his emotions.

“Unconfirmed but strongly suspected. Preliminary readings suggest they are the crew from that ship. Unfortunately, it seems we have more bad than good news.” Sucko replied as he swiped a hand to transfer his tablet screen to Jecko’s before finally engaging his personal security protocol. His seat sank further into the ship as a secondary hardened cockpit emerged to consume him. This would maintain the survivability of the captain at all costs by shifting it throughout the ship in an unpredictable pattern.

Enough time had passed that each had received a situation report from Jecko and suited up for the unpredictable situation. Although the crew was one short of a complete dozen, the ship had the capability to support an existing active crew of twice as much and four times during military shifts. This humanity support ship was never required to partake in military law and even had the luxury of being void of all military law. Humanity ships were first chartered in the year 2768, they did not become mass-produced until the end of the same century.

 Falling under special jurisdiction they were void of any planet, empire, government, or laws. The only time they came under any restriction was if they were found to support or assist any group or majority of groups as it voided their charter. Technically they were legally allowed to fight each other, but few saw such combat, and most combat engagements were permitted under self-defense when avoiding military incursions. This legal gray area had seen abuse through the years, especially during the planetary rebellions, but was squashed when the first charter captain retaliated by removing support for the entire species and was joined by almost every ship chartered since.

The discovery charter remained as the number one provider for new planetary information, habitable zones, mining locations, emergency response, and any odd job that human galactic empires failed at maintaining. With even a specialized group that assisted in neutral planet development through shipping. Becoming one of the largest forces in the galactic empires and federations of the human species, they owned no planet but had claims on over 90% of existing found planets. This was the same reason captain Suro trusted his ship with every inch of his life as it was the best technology that mankind had to offer and adaptable to fulfill his needs.

Patting the control panel in a lift of confidence, Suro worried about what was going to come from in front of him. The intercom kicked on again as Suro gave his familiar order. “Buckle in we are riding the galactic bull. Get your guns ready and may the stars guide you well!” He shouted as the engines came to life, dislodging the ship from its current position. Its movement felt sluggish in relativity to its perceived surroundings, but it only confirmed the consensus feelings of the crew as they began to move. Wherever they were was massive, wrong, and it was more concerning that every vine floating in the vacuum of space was giving a reading of a strong life signal.