Lost Dynasties

[Corsair]

Hataki


The battleship Hataki was finished. The repaired hulk of the old Nagasaki, lost in battle in 798 AS. The busted hull repaired, the ruined interior replaced, the Hataki was set to guard the secluded system of Kitakyushu, a system that was only recently charted. Many of Hiroshimas exposed bases were moved into Kitakyushu, as Hiroshima was no longer a secret.

Hiratsuka shipyard, the yard that the Hataki was repaired at, detached the security lines from the repaired battleship. Fuel lines were opened, and engines flared to life. The ship gained momentum, and lurched forward. The Hataki moved with silent grace into space.

The ship was on its maiden voyage, a calculation run. Readings were being analyzed on-site as the ship tested its new equipment. Engineers were talking amongst themselves as they watched the battleship move.

Its repaired nicely.
Yes, quite nicely.
Questionable structural durability on deck five, flight two.
Agreed. Reinforce that area.
But then we would need to reinforce decks seven and eight, they are both directly connected with flight two.
Then do so. The Kataki is our newest battleship, it deserves everything we can give it.
Hiro, youre so cold. Dont refer to the Hataki as an it. Shes our newest child.
I want a son, not a weak little girl.

The squabble went quietly on, and the ship finally ran its course. It was some hours later that weapons were fixed onto the ship. As each one was attached and secured, the powercore gave a flutter that worried everyone watching. But it held steady in the green as the last one connected. Security lines detached, and the ship floated out for armament and tracking algorithm testing.

Drones buzzed around the Hataki, and were promptly shut down. The guns flared brightly, and sent flaming wrecks spinning away from the grand vessel. It once again, moored.

Testing was complete. The Hataki was deemed battle-ready. An Aoi Iseijin operative on the base sent the signal. The time was now right. The Hataki slid out, headed for Hiroshima, and battle. The crew had been shuttled in a few hours prior, and were excited to serve on the newest and best of Kusari. When the perimeter alarms started blaring, everybody was lost for a moment. They milled around, before the commander began whipping out orders.

Weve got intruders! All hands to your stations! Gunners, get to your posts! Navigation and Engineering, get us in position to protect the jump hole! Scouts began feeding information. Weve got a mix of Nomad vessels and presumed Aoi Iseijin. Reading a fighter interceptor wing of four fighters, bomber wing of five ships of alien and Kusari design, and a Marduk Nomad battleship!

The Nagasaki positioned Its broadside across the jump hole, all guns trained on the Marduk. Fighters poured from its hangar, and as soon as they had, the invaders were upon them.

Aoi Iseijin and human pilot fought, twisting and turning in mad dances of death and glory. Every human pilot there hardly breathed, living off the adrenaline of the life and death situation they faced. The bombers were hanging back, with the Marduk. As soon as the Marduk was five kilometers from firing range, they sped forward, barraging the shield with their energy weapons and singularity generators. The shield was brand new, and lasted quite a while before finally exhausting. Instantly, all of the attacking vessels threw themselves at the battleship, working to destroy all of the weapons on it that they could. With their backs to the Kusarians, they fell quickly, but not before a dozen of the battleship guns were crippled. The confusion of the battle had allowed the Marduk to approach.

The Nomad battleship fired upon the shipyard with everything it had, targeting the Hangar first. The shields held for a moment, then collapsed. The metal flew apart and the fuel inside the grounded vessels ignited, sending huge blasts of flame out of the area. Gouts of flaming liquid splashed the few escaping fighters. Human fighters, no matter how bravely fighting, fell one by one. Escape shuttles were shot down, and the last vestiges of humanity purged from the area. However, the battleship stood, firing on the Marduk and inflicting serious damage. The swarm turned on it, and disarmed the broadside facing the Marduk, who was finishing destroying the human shipyard. The Hataki engaged engines, attempting to flee, but the swarm of fighters stopped it from charging it's engines to full strength.

The Marduk easily overtook the ship and began the long process of manipulating it's shell. It formed small 'hooks' and attached itself to the gun-less side of the battleship. It used the easiest opening it could find to begin to enter the ship. In the Marduk, a pore opened and began to expand, directly over the Hangar bay. It opened a tunnel to it's interior energy, which lanced out and scored a hole in the hangar, and two tendrils reached out, slowly, and began to pry open the opening.

It was a process of several weeks that the Marduk slowly worked it's way into the ship, transferring it's own energy into the Hataki. The crew was long subdued by the Aoi Iseijin sleeper agents, and pilots from the battle. They were kept alive by the Aoi Iseijin, who one by one, converted the humans into their agents. After a time, the ship looked completely human on the outside. But below the armored plate, lay a second layer of blue-purple armor, and the air within thrummed with a constant energy, and purple hue. The crew activated the cruise engines, and set course for a far distant jump hole.

The ship flew for many days, until they approached a jump hole that had been stabilized using Daam KVosh gate technology. The battleship entered this jump hole, and they existed in the tunnel for hours, before hurtling out of FTL speed, in the far outskirts of the Tohoku system.

It was several hours of flying, when the ships engines ran out of fuel, and the Nomad controlling force began using its own energy to power the ship. The Arch came into distant view, and the Controller stopped using its energy, allowing momentum to carry it the rest of the way.

At the Arch, many ships were brought up to stop the coasting battleship, and it was eventually carried to a nearby outpost. The Controller had time now to rest, and fully integrate itself into its new shell, until it flowed through every power line, controlled every circuit, and busied itself with the wealth of knowledge on the ships main computer bank.

The crew filtered back onto the ship, one by one, to learn how to operate the massive battleship. While it was controlled by a Nomad, it could not operate every little process. The old crew was moved back on, chosen for their previous knowledge of operating human warships. Small hands scurried across the vessel, satisfying the small itches that the master could not reach.

It would soon be ready to operate. Soon be ready to return to Kusari, and have the revenge of the Hataki brought upon them. Fighter craft swarmed around every contour of the ship, each one ready to sacrifice itself to reclaim its true home.

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