Stay Of Execution

As the white swirling clouds slowed their dance around the emerging mass of the starships, screens once more flickered into life on the bridge of the Dark Redemption. Major Owyer clasped his hands onto the rail and eyed the new stars ahead of him proudly.

"Take a look, ladies and gentlemen" he invited the staff assembled on the bridge. "You are laying eyes on stars never before seen by our race. Though we may be a fledgling empire, we have now taken a step from which there is no turning back. We can consider ourselves truly to have conquered space."

There was a hushed murmur of approval from the people on the bridge. To most, this was not as auspicious an occasion as the Major had made out, this was just a mission that they were glad not to have died undertaking. At least not yet. There was still the impending fleet engagement. With these largely untested ships, most of the crew had not relished the idea of heading into a combat situation. It was one thing to be defending your own borders, but all aboard knew there were no colonies this far out, so the mission was inevitably to fight on another race's planet. Nobody was thrilled with the prospect.

Still, they needed some pomp and grandeur, the Major thought. They needed to take every opportunity to celebrate success and this was, after all, a big step forward. The alliance was at war, but that war was very far away, and this expedition would pave the way for the empire to lend its support where it could.

"Status report on the rest of the fleet" Owyer asked.

A bridge office gave a curt reply "All ships accounted for. Setting course for waypoint alpha"

The Dark Redemption led a fleet of 12 cruisers and 4 frigates, all with a full compliment of fighters for protection. The ships adopted a staggered cross formation with the frigates at the edges and made their way slowly through the darkness in space.

The major gave a nod to the officer of the watch to take the bridge, and invited his executive officer to join him in the briefing room. As the two men entered the sparsely decorated room, the Major invited his second, Commander Norrin, to take a seat.

"Now that we have made it this far Frank, it's time to discuss the mission parameters." Major Owyer sat down in the chair on the opposite side of a small mahogany table. He slipped a data cel from his jacket and activated it, sliding it across the table to the commander.

The commander frowned. "This doesn't appear to have anything to do with the war. What exactly are we doing liberating this world?"

"This may not be part of a war Frank, it's three stars belonging to a friend of the alliance, and they are being occupied by hostile forces. We are en route to render assitance in breaking those occupations and clearing a path for medical aide to get through to the inhabitants."

"And exactly why are we getting involved sir? I know these guys have a membership in a larger alliance, but they are not part of the pack. Why aren't their own helping them?"

Owyer tipped his head. "Communication has been difficult to establish with their guildmasters. It may be that they have too many engagements to notice or be able to afford ships to render such help."

The commander shook his head graveley. "We have our own engagements we need to worry about. Our own kind are under attack and fleet command have been unwilling to send any aide, why here? Why now?"

The major stood up and opened a small cabinet, pulling from it a bottle of wine and two small glasses, pouring one out for each. He laid a hand on the commander's shoulder. "Frank.. You haven't been privvy to the reports coming in from the front. Our forces are engaged across a whole galactic region, you know how many engagements there are, but you've no idea the size of them. Fleet command doesn't have enough ships to make a difference. We have what, thirty thousand ships? Many of those engagements involve hundreds of thousands of ships... on both sides.. We have to face the truth Frank. Most of the empires involved in this conflict could swat our entire race overnight. Fleet command is divided on sending troops to assist, as we will only get slaughtered wherever we go."

"So why this fools mission to rescue some other empire, just because we won't face insurmountable odds?"

"Because of politics Frank. We are still but a fledgling race in a galaxy of giants. We can do little to make our mark on such powers, but what we can do, is we can help someone else, some other young race, we can gain reputation for defending the weak when they need it, we can build bridges, we can gather allies and we can make the name of the pack spoken with honour. We won't shout it in such a way that it will echo through all time, but we will whisper its name in the dark places, in the corners and the corridors and the name will travel and spread. We will work for our guild by bringing her honour. It is all we have."

The commander sipped his drink but did not look convinced. He was about to speak when the officer of the watch buzzed the intercom. Major Owyer replied.

"Sir, the scout ship is arriving at waypoint beta. Waypoint Alpha has been cleared. It would seem to occupation has withdrawn."

The major nodded. "Perhaps they intercepted our telemetry, or they moved off in any case. Advise the local governor we will be arriving in three hours and will ensure the star is secured before we proceed to waypoint beta."

* * *

Seventeen hours later, the Dark Redemption arrived at waypoint beta. The occupying fleet had recently moved away, but not before engaging and destroying their scout ships. The governors had also just advised, all occupations had now withdrawn. The fleet had arrived to collect the remains of the scout pilots.

Both officers were on the bridge. Though both the commander and major looked concerned, there was a sense of relief among the crew, happy that they would not be risking their lives today after all.

Commander Norrin sighed and leaned close to the Major, to keep the conversation between them. "This was a monumental waste of time. Fleet Command have got to rethink their strategy."

The major shook his head, looking at the messages of thanks on his datacel and noting several civilian ships now moving to and from the planet, able to do so without the threat of destruction. "No, not a waste of time. The mission goal was to break the occupation and this was achieved, with but a single loss on our side, which is an acceptable outcome balanced against the freedom of three entire systems. No, this was not a waste of time... Perhaps, just a stay of execution."