Few people would have thought beforehand that cooperation between the Order and the fifth fleet of the Liberty Navy would have
gone as well as it had. Decades of propaganda and mistrust had ensured that the Order had a hard time achieving positive relations
with any of the lawful entities in the Sirius sector, let alone a House Navy. Yet one genuine warning of the ever increasing
Nomad threat was, at least partly, enough to set aside these differences and focus on the bigger whole.
Admiral Xander chuckled to himself as he looked out towards the Apocalypse in the docks of Fort Carthage, it was quite a relief to him
that at least some in the Liberty Navy had actual experience combating Nomads now. The help provided to the Order was, of course, most welcome as well.
The pinnacle of this cooperation was being prepared right in front of him; the Apocalypse, an Atlantis class carrier, was undergoing its last inspections after its construction was finally finished.
The Apocalypse would be the second proper carrier in the Orders fleet, the first being the Armageddon which had started its patrols but a few months ago.
The choice for fielding a carrier had been somewhat of a controversial decision in the Order; many believed that their focus should be on
combating the Nomads with heavier and stronger assets. However history and experience proved that it had been the Orders ability
to strike when unexpected and use of small elite wings of pilots that had made all the difference in the Nomad War. These carriers
would be able to do the job of bringing these wings to where they needed to be far more effectively than an Osiris class battleship could,
while still providing supportive fire if required.
A soft beep chimed through the room, a signal that someone was trying to reach the Admirals comm.
Xander walked up to his desk and answered it, odds were it would likely be the results of the final inspections, he couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. "You've got Admiral Parothia, what is it?" the result came instantaneous, almost cutting off the Admirals final words: "This is Ensign Jenkins sir, reporting on behalf of the Engineering team here on the Apocalypse." Xander rested his head in the palm of his hand, a greenhorn, "Yes Ensign, what is the news?""She passed muster sir. The crew is being let onboard as we speak for her maiden voyage."
The Admiral grinned and simply responded: "I am on my way."
The Maiden Voyage
"Admiral on the bridge!" the security officer bellowed as Xander walked onto the bridge, an act which he responded to by giving a nod in recognition before turning his attention to the rest of the bridge crew. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are standing on one of the most unique ships in the fleet." he paused for a moment, taking his time to look each of them over before continuing: "Not only is this a Liberty carrier, a ship some of you are very much familiar with from your past. No, you are standing on something much more than that.
You are standing on a collaborative effort between Liberty and the Order. This ship consists of both our technologies."
The Admiral stepped towards the front of the bridge as he spoke before turning around to face the crew again. "In a way, you could say this vessel embodies the very thing we fight for. The banding together of Humanity against a common threat. The Nomad threat."
Xander grinned, leaning forward slightly with his arms folded behind his back. raising to his toes before dropping back to his heels and added: "So what say you all we go and prove what the Order is made of eh!?"
With a loud cheer the ships crew went to work, Fort Carthage was hailed and the Apocalypse departed for its maiden voyage in the Omicron Epsilon system.
The planned trip was fairly routine; travel to several coordinates, launch a patrol wing, meet up with the patrol wing at different coordinates,
fire at some asteroids and then return to base. The patrol was designed to test all the systems in practice as well as measure how the crew performed in their new environment.
The hum of the cruise engines filled the ship as the Apocalypse flew to its first destination. "Admiral, we are approaching the first vector, Planet Tunis is in range."
This would be the location where the patrol wing would launch and head to the Helljumper Planetary Fragments field.
Meanwhile the Apocalypse would turn around and take a detour and approach the field via Lisbon Station. "Dawnbreakers reporting in, we're ready to launch."
The Admiral smiled, so far the trip reminded him of a similar exercise on the Armageddon. The Dawnbreakers were an elite squad of veterans of Libertonian origin,
the chance to fly with an Atlantis class carrier was no doubt a nostalgic experience for them.
Without further ado the Dawnbreakers departed on their patrol and the Apocalypse adjusted its course.
Fortunately the patrol was a success, the Dawnbreakers met up successfully with the Apocalypse, having encountered minimal resistance during their patrol.
The Apocalypse meanwhile had managed to test its weapon systems against some of the larger chunks near the debris field successfully as well.
Having concluded that all systems were operating to specs, the Apocalypse set course back to Fort Carthage. "Transmit our ID codes to Fort Carthage and initiate docking procedure" Admiral Xander stated as he got up from his seat. "I will inform the Grand Admiral of the good news."
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