Valhalla Rising

[MB52]

*On board the ThunderBay, high polar orbit of Toledo*

The bridge was quiet, a few crew members went along with their daily business, mostly just button pressing and running diagnostics. The Thunder Bay had not seen major action in quite some time, the Order still weren't too sure if they wanted to take on the ship or not. Jess had taken it upon herself to fly combat and scouting missions whenever the opportunity arose, in order to get accustomed to order procedures and strategies but it wasn't the same as commanding a ship, she finally began to feel she belonged in the captains chair.

Her thoughts were interupted when an alarm sounded

"Jess" John stood up "We just received a report, apparently the nomads launched an attack on Newyork"

"What kind of attack?" she stood up and ran over to the communications console

"Looks like, fighters, battleships... normally no problem, but the Navy's primary fleet is busy with a Rheinland incursion, only the 30th reserve fleet is in position to deal with it..."

"Damn, they can't handle an attack of this magnitude..." She returned to her chair "Engine room, power up the jumpdrive, set coordinates for New York"

"Ma'am?" a confused engineer came over the comms

"You heard me" she turned to John " Ask our new Order friends for some help, we will need it"

"Core is charged and ready" reported John

"All hands brace yourselfs and secure all stations for a jump to hyperspace" Jess orderd over the comms

"All decks report ready"

"Engage"

The ship lurched into hyperspace, covering vast distances in seconds, the ride was much smoother this time, as the technology had been tweaked, and this jump was controlled, unlike their last jump... The ship exited smoothly, and was illuminated immediately by the New York sun. In the distance weapons fire and explosions could be seen nearing Manhattan.

"Helm, get us there at best speed" The Thunder Bay sped forward at cruise speeds, her weapons charged and ready. Without hesitation, all her turrets opened fire as soon as they were in range. None of the other Navy ships noticed, but continued their fight. The ship rocked violently as several torpedoes struck her Aft shields, knocking out half her turrets.

"Evasive maneuvers, all turrets engage the gunboats, then the battleship" Jess ordered her crew.

The battle raged on longer, with the ThunderBay taking more hits from the nomads before they were all destroyed except the battleship which now turned towards Manhattan. Wreckage of Navy ships littered the area and the ThunderBay was the only ship left that was capable of damaging the Battleship but... her weapons were nearly all offline..

"Its making a run for Manhattan, Jess we are picking up some form of explosives onboard... seems it may be making a suicide run"

"Options?"

"We have none, all our weapons are down..." John let out between reading the information on his consoles.

"Damn... then there is no other option.. we need to stop it..."Jess gave a quick look around the bridge "Helm, set a collision course, engine room set the jump drive to overload, all hands abandon ship"

None of the crew questioned her, they just did their duties. The ship sped forward and was rocked by another explosion

"Damn, we lost autopilot... John, make sure the crew gets clear, I'll steer the ship manually"
"Jess, come on, I won't leave you"
"GO please, I'll get in a pod as soon as the ship is close"

He left... not that he wanted to.. the escape pods launched and the ship was eerily quiet. Not a soul remained except Jess, and she realized it had all come down to this moment.. this shows the strength of her resolve.

The ThunderBay closed on the Nomad ship, her hull torn and battered, fires raged across her decks. She would catch the Nomad before it was too late, her home would be saved. When she became sure that she ThunderBay was well on its way she rushed to the escape pod, tripping over some debreas as she fled. She felt her forehead as she got up, and noticed some blood but there was no time to worry, she got in the pod and launched, viewing the burning ship as her pod launched.

She had just about cleared the area, when her pod rocked with weapons fire. All controls were lost as its small engines were destroyed, her pod floated in space, at the mercy of whoever had attacked her.

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I’ll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because it’s flag that I love
And a flag that I trust