Tides of Change

[Rodent]

It had been almost a year since the incident with Ensign Mara has occured. The execution was swift and it was carried out without a show. Moiraine knew that the crew didn’t need to see a show to understand their odds. If there were other traitors within the crew, they would think twice before acting again. Moiraine was sure that they would act sooner or later. The reports coming from Toledo were disturbing. It was only a matter of time now, feeling the crushing hammer of Nomads. It would be naive to expect the alien lovers to sit still while their grand masters playing their show in all its glory.

The Immortal was still in Tau’s, operating in secrecy, observing the alien activity. She was battered with sabotages conducted by Ensign Mara, and was in dire need of repairs near to the need of her crew relaxing. A deep space mission usually took about a month or two under normal circumstances. But it wasn’t a time of peace or regularities. Moiraine was able to feel the storm coming. This was the calm before it happening in full force. She knew that the inevitable war of their time was at hand.

When she requested the Immortal to be assigned back to Omicrons, the High Command simply refused her request and ordered the Immortal to patrol Tau space. Almost all of Order’s assets were being called back in the last month after the reports of massive alien forces building up in Nomad worlds. Immortal was one of the few capital craft ordered to stay away from home space. She was suspecting that the High Command was avoiding a total loss by leaving certain key craft and personnel away. Their mission in Tau space was proven to be a useless endeavour. They had scanned the area for any sign of alien or conspirator activity and even if they were any, the Immortal crew couldn’t notice it.

Moiraine Damodred, the Iron Lady was a cunning operative. She knew how to read the situation and when to do what. After her refusal of taking the command, she was put back in field duty and Moiraine was thankful for that. She was one of Rand Seith’s closest friends in the Order, a rather unpopular name recently, and it was good to be away from all the power strains back in Omicrons. She was a reliable asset and that was securing her place as a carrier commander, but given the chance, there were people who would gladly remove her from active duty simply because she was a part of Rand Seith’s legacy. No one knew where Seith was gone and most suspected that Moiraine knew the fate of one of Order’s past leaders, keeping it to herself in an act of protecting his name.

With thoughts swirling in her mind, Moiraine poured herself a drink, observing the cloudy scenery of Tau 21, watching the ice rocks harmlessly passing by. She was tired. The voice inside her head was silent for almost a year now. Perhaps she was getting rid of that disturbing character inside her head after all, but Moiraine was not so sure about it. Whenever the hope breaker stopped whispering, something bad had happened. There was no reason to believe otherwise in this dark times.

“Commodore, Ma’am?”

She didn’t even notice Lieutenant Mitchell coming. She was getting distracted by her thoughts. It was dangerous to let one’s guard down, especially when surrounded with conspirators and traitors.

“Yes, what is it Lieutenant?”

“The patrol and search reports ma’am. We didn’t find anything suspicious in our sweep and nothing out of the ordinary in crew’s actions.”

“Good, keep me posted. I know you are tired. I am tired myself, but the enemy is out there, lurking and hoping to find a gap in our defense. We have to be on alert at all times. Soon, we will be back home.”

Moiraine was able to see it in Mitchell’s eyes. The broken will. It was in the heart and souls of every crew member. Most were shaken by the fact of facing with alien lovers in Order. Others were simply homesick and in need of a long, well earned rest. Moiraine was one of the few who didn’t show any signs of weariness. She was the Iron Lady after all, and even if she was tired, she didn’t have the luxury of showing it to her crew, not when she was in command.


It all happened in a moment’s notice. The dark figure coming out of the corner of Moiraine’s room, with a remote button in his hands, speaking in some weird language, alien to her ears, looking as if he was in trance. There wasn’t enough time to stop him. Mitchell jumped on Moiraine, pushing his commanding officer behind the door frame near her office seat. She didn’t even see it coming, and it was Mitchell’s reflexes that saved her.

The explosion’s blast was immense. Half of her office and two corridors to the opposite side of her restroom was gone. Whatever there was in her room had been sucked out to space before the emergency force field barrier came online. Her ears were ringing and her vision was blurry. She felt completely disoriented and it took her a good long minute before she realized that Mitchell was lying dead in her arms, most of his back burnt, caused by the explosion. His left leg was missing and it took a real stomach to look at his face. He pushed Moiraine to the restroom in time to save her. His decision was of pure instinct. If he had picked the ready room instead of the restroom, she would be blown into space.

Alarms were ringing throughout the ship. Within the chaos’ conflict, she didn’t realize it, but there was another explosion at the forward decks. Half of the hangar bay was gone, killing over 40 personnel, taking out almost 3/4th of the flight squadron.

When the security team found her, she was staring into Mitchell’s eyes, trying to remember every detail of his face. Her loyal officer, saving her life in exchange of his.

“Ma’am, are you alright?!”

The commander rushed near her through the new “door” opened near the wall by the blast of the explosion.

“I am alright.” She wasn’t feeling her right hand and she was having a hard time standing still, but she had to be strong for her crew. For Mitchell.

“Damodred to the bridge, I want a sit rep and a damage report in five minutes. I am on my way.”

“Yes Ma’am.” Her XO’s voice was disturbed. She readied herself to hear the worse.

”And lay a course to Omicron 100. I had enough of this spy game parade.”
Two marines were helping her walk towards the bride, a protesting medical officer rushing righ after them. She didn’t have the time to get medical attention.

”You can check me on the bridge as well doctor. As you can see, I am not dying of this instant.”

Her voice didn’t leave room for any argument...

But the voice inside her head started to hum slowly, whispering into her thoughts.

”Lieutenant Mitchell Warkas... How many more? How many other Mitchell’s to come?”

//Written by Ophidian.