1 - KOVA

2

KOVA

          Silence both filled and surrounded the ship as it lazily cruised along through the darkness, having yet to experience anything abnormal during its federation standard month long patrol.  The ship's sole conscious occupant had a feeling that that particular trend would continue until their relief came.  Also, he couldn't possibly be any more miserable.

          Kova sat at the bridge, multiple monitors surrounding him, bored out of his mind.  One of the screens was meant to show incoming radar pings, but it had been re-purposed for the intent of gaining access to the Federation's information network.  He hoped to catch up on the events of the brewing conflict between the Coalition and the Federation, but he was unable to gleam much outside of minor conflicts and territory disputes along the border worlds.  There was nothing on his previous assignment, meaning the Federal Council had most likely buried his involvement and used a cover up story to explain away the death toll.

          Something was coming, Kova knew it, and there was nothing the Federation could do to stop it.  The Coalition would strike again, or something else would be the catalyst that turned border disputes into something much bloodier and widespread.  No matter what that would be, he was still here, wasting away on pointless patrol duty, unable to be where he was needed most.

          Sometimes he wondered why he still pressed on.  He had served his time and earned his reputation.  Most would say his glory days were long behind him, that he clung to a shadow of his former self.  Never to his face, of course, but it was still said.  Many times past he'd considered retiring, yet something, somehow, had always managed to pull him back into the fire.

          Now was not one of those times, however.  If he were to leave it all behind, he would want it to be on a much higher note, not in a way that could be seen as a cheap means of getting out of a contemptible assignment.  So, even if perhaps mostly out of spite, he would do his duty until either a miracle got him reassigned to something better, or he no longer could.

          "You're not Vektor," came a soft feminine voice from behind.  Joule had come to relieve the station, not expecting to find Kova sitting there.

          "Couldn't sleep," Kova gruffly responded, never taking his eyes off his screen, despite the warm aroma of her cup of Coranthi spiced tea filling him.  "So I let him off early.  Besides," he turned to look into her bright teal eyes, "if something were to happen I wouldn't want him manning the guns half asleep."

          "Oh, yeah?" A smirk cracked her face, "And what happens when you need to maneuver this ship half asleep and jacked up on stims?"

          He responded with a grunt and turned back to face the monitors once more.  "Don't worry about me," he said, a slight hint of condescension in his tone.  She moved, letting out a somewhat irritated sigh, and leaned against the desk to face him.

          "Would it kill you to admit that I'm right once in a while?" She didn't expect a response, merely studying his face.  "You look like hell, Templar.  Get some rest."

          After a few brief moments, Kova let out a breath of futility and finally made eye contact.  "Fine," he said, slowly getting out of his chair, turning his gaze from her intricately tattooed indigo blue face before adding, "there's nothing to report, anyway."

          "That's not surprising," Joule sat down and set her tea upon the workstation.

          "Oh, you did get a message," Kova amended, stopping just before leaving the bridge, "from Anion I believe."

          "Great!" Joule perked up noticeably, "I was beginning to wonder when I'd hear from her."

          Kova voiced his approval with a soft grunt, lingering in the hatchway for a moment as Joule settled herself in and operated the computers about the station.  He found himself lost in thought, wondering how someone could remain so optimistic after everything that had recently happened while he was fighting his hardest to recuperate.

         "You good?" came Joule's voice, snapping Kova from his haze, prompting a mutter of affirmation from him as he turned and made his way down the short, cramped corridor.

         It didn't take him long to reach his quarters as his ship, the Intrepid, wasn't very large.  It was a Dauntless class light freighter that Kova had personally re-purposed as his own patrol and combat ship after his advancement to Redeemer status.  The bridge, living quarters, and common areas were all located along a large ring-like structure that spun to simulate gravity.  The central part of the ship was where lighter craft referred to as "Falcons" and "Ravens" were located, as well as some maintenance areas for the propulsion systems.

          Kova shut the hatch to his quarters behind him and drew in a deep breath, the haunting memories and sleepless nights starting to catch up to him.  He removed his shirt, revealing the physical scars of his past, and haphazardly dropped it on the deck.  He caught his reflection in his mirror upon entering his washroom, and silently agreed with Joule that he appeared rather grim before splashing his face with stale water.  One thing he hated most about being on patrol for long periods of time was how the recycled water smelled and tasted like several people had drank it before him.

          His quarters were modest compared to those of other captains, consisting of what he considered all that was necessary.  There was his rack, of course, along with a small cabinet and a desk where he took advantage of down time or worked on important documents on his personal computer.  Off to one side was a closet with his clothes and armor within, and on another bulkhead was the hatch to the washroom he was currently exiting.

          Deciding he should at least attempt to get a little rest, he sat down on his rack and removed his boots, trying to think of something to occupy his mind other than the increasingly tumultuous state of the Federation or his last failed mission. He got up and walked over to his small cabinet, opening it and removing a bottle of dark amber liquid, and poured some of the contents into a glass on his desk, savoring the aroma of one of his very few indulgences.  A moment later, he had downed the modest amount he allowed himself to imbibe, set the glass back upon the desk and sat back down on his rack.  Laying his head on the pillowless bunk he found himself slowly dozing off, his imaginings of serenity and requiescence gradually being replaced with dreams of horror and violence.

* * * * *

          Darkness surrounded him, darker than the blackness of space, stretching infinitely in all directions and permeating his being to the core.  He was breathing heavily and attempting to cry out but heard nothing, barely even feeling his vocal chords vibrate in his throat.  Dread and panic flooded him, since, for all he knew, he had been in this black emptiness since before the beginning of time itself and would be there well after it ended.  He ran, or at least he thought he was running despite not being able to see his own legs nor the ground beneath them in the void, in a meager attempt to escape the emptiness, but after an apparent eternity it seemed as if he hadn't moved at all.

          Hope was lost to him, despair flowing through his mind as he accepted his fate.  This was his punishment, his purgatory, for his failure, and he welcomed it, believing he deserved far worse.

          Eternities passed as he relived the worst moments of his past in his mind over and over, the idea of earning retribution for his transgressions and therefore the possibility of ever absconding his own personal hell had long since been replaced with the utmost certainty that he would exist forever in this eternal void.         

          Eons came and went, the madness of the endless vacuum having long consumed him, but in an instant he went from feeling absolutely alone to feeling like he shared this purgatory with someone, or some thing.  It came at him like a ripple, gradually increasing in intensity, until he felt he would drown with the sudden and long-awaited upheaval.  He looked in all directions, soundlessly calling out at whatever it was to make itself known, but other than his feeling there was no indication that he was anything besides alone.

          And then he heard something, if he even heard anything, since it was entirely plausible that in his madness he was simply imagining all this.  But what he thought he heard was familiar to him, a sequence of sounds he had heard quite often before he was here in this endless night.

          "Kova," it came again, and he spun around to look in the direction he thought it came from, only to find the same endless expanse of nothing he'd become all too familiar with through the ages.  Then, to his right, came a flash of brilliant white light that pierced the darkness, blinding him after having seen nothing but pitch black for millennia.  Then, however, the light dimmed and his vision slowly returned to him, allowing him to just make out the silhouette of a womanly figure encased in radiating white light.

          She seemed somewhat familiar, like a fleeting memory after a dream, but all the eternities couldn't wipe her image from his mind.  After all, failing her was the main reason he had been in this black prison.

          "Carina..." his lips moved and his vocal chords resonated but no sound was made, her light blue eyes piercing him from behind a veil of dark hair the only affirmation that he was correct.  As his vision finally fully returned to him after the shock of light that came from her, he noticed how her features seemed to fade to a blur before refocusing somewhat regularly, as if she was trapped in a place somewhere between his purgatory and some other existence.  Despite this, he took every chance to study her bare form so he could keep the image fresh in his mind for when she inevitably left him here.

          For a moment they simply stared at each other, Kova speechless, the nature of the void rendering him unable to voice his repentance for failing her.  But soon her expression changed from being calm to resentment and animosity, pointing her finger towards him in accusation before flinging her hand outstretched to her side.

          With that, his entire surroundings changed from blackness to flame.  His feet touched charred ground, the skies overhead darkened from smoke and ash, as if the entire world he stood upon burned.  It didn't take him long to recognize where he was: Adara, his homeworld.  He tried to scream at the sight, but as before no sounds emanated from him.  He looked at Carina who stood beside him, staring at him with righteous fury.

          "This is what you have wrought through your failure."

          Kova attempted to step forward only to feel something brittle crack beneath his feet, and looked down to see skulls and bones covering the ground with a thick layer of death's mementos stretching in all directions.  The horror of the sight made him want to scream even more despite he could not, the urge only doubling when he began to sink.  He looked to Carina, who merely looked on as he went further down, a look of furious satisfaction upon her wavering visage.

          Struggling to escape this particular fate, he felt as if his descent was slowing, and a small spark of hope ignited within him.  However, in the next moment, Carina moved to him, slightly bent, looking him in the eyes, cold damnation adorning her face, before placing her hands on his head and pushing him downward.  He looked up, fearful, silently crying out, just before he went under, to see her flash a look of victorious condemnation as the ocean of death swallowed him.

           "This will be your legacy."

          Kova was back in his prison, alone, in the dark once again, as if nothing had happened, left to dwell on the things he had just seen, and powerless to do anything about it.

          "Wake up." he heard, Carina's voice faintly echoing throughout the darkness.  He looked around him but didn't see her.  Turning, suddenly there she was, her face angrily lunging at him.

          "Wake up!" she screeched.

* * * * *

          Kova lurched up with a yell, sweating and breathing heavily, to the sound of faint knocking at his hatch.

          "Kova, wake up!"  It was Joule, and who knew how long she'd been at it.

          "What is it?" Kova sounded, still reeling from the dream and attempting to reconnect with reality.

          "I'm sorry to bother you, Templar, but I need you to come take a look at something at the bridge.  I don't know what to make of it."  Genuine concern was in her voice, and Kova knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't be disturbing him without reason.

          "Alright, I'll be right there." Kova sat up in his cot and wiped his eyes and face.  Shaking off the still present chills from the dream, he got up from his bed and walked over to his washroom.  Taking a good look at himself in the mirror within, he saw he was drenched with sweat and looked just as sullen as ever, and after a moment lost himself to the still terrifyingly clear images he had just seen.  He had had similar dreams before, but none so graphic, and never before had she been in them.

          Kova decided not to dwell on it, for he had a job to do, and it sounded like whatever Joule thought deserved his attention seemed pretty important.  So at that he turned from the mirror and dressed himself in his usual casual clothing to see what Joule had woken him up for.

          "Alright, what's got you all worked up?" Kova asked, moments later after returning to the bridge.

          "Well, like I said," Joule looked first at Kova then back to the many monitors as she continued, "I'm not really sure what it is."  She pointed to a screen designated for message traffic.  "It took me a while to find it but it's there.  Short range, on a frequency the Federation hasn't used in..." she paused, "centuries?"

          "Maybe a buoy malfunction?" Kova suggested.

          "My thoughts exactly, at first," Joule went on, "but then I tried to triangulate which one it could be, but it's not coming from any.  We're receiving it straight from the source."

          Kova grunted in speculation, though now clear why Joule saw fit to wake him, the number of questions going through his mind doubling.

          "Is it far?"

          "Not really, sublight would get us there in an hour at most." Joule implemented the proper controls to carry out the order without needing to be told to do so, and Kova felt the familiar feeling of the ship beginning to accelerate.  "But Kova, there's more.  I went through an old code book and translated the message.  It's a mayday, hasn't been used for about as long as the frequency it was sent on."  Kova pondered the information for a moment, his train of thought had already started to lean to a more tactical approach before hearing this, but now his next course of action was made clear.

          "Alright," he began, "set the autopilot to keep minimum safe distance and gear up."  Joule looked somewhat surprised at his last order, but did not question him, turning to the controls and inputting the proper commands into the navigation system.

          "Should I go wake Vektor?" she turned in her chair and stood up as her and Kova exited the dimly lit bridge.

          "I'll do it, go get ready." Kova replied, having already turned the corner and began making his way toward his other squadmate's quarters.

          He arrived at Vektor's hatch mere moments later and soon attempted to awaken him by way of two loud thuds with his fist.  Kova received no indication Vektor was stirred by this and tried again, yet was still met with silence.  Kova then opened the hatch and peered into the dark room, taking a step inside only to step on something soft.  With a wave of his hand the lights came on and he realized he was standing on some article of clothing.  Simultaneously a figure rapidly sat up in a cot at one corner of the room, indicating Vektor was awake.

          "What's going on, boss?" he blinked the tired from his eyes while removing an electronic device that covered his ears, the faint sound of music coming from it.

          "Gear up," Kova responded sternly, "we've got a mayday."

          Vektor flashed a similar look that Joule had given Kova when he gave her that same order, a confused expression creasing his young, dark and stubbled face, but he did not question.  He gave Kova and understanding nod and stood up, stretching.

          "And clean up this mess a bit while you're at it." Kova added, just before leaving and heading towards his own quarters.

          Quite some time later Kova once again entered the bridge, his thick metal armor clanking with nearly every move.  In one hand he held his equally thick helmet, and a cup of caffeine was held in his other.  Joule was already there, as it didn't take her very long to put on her light armor, which was made from a mostly silicon carbide mesh and some ceramic steel plating.  She had slipped on her appointed blue Psion robes above her armor, and, like, Kova, had her helmet, which was sitting upon one of the workstations.

          "Status," Kova barked upon entering, sipping from his cup.

          "We'll reach M.S.D. in just a few minutes, Templar, but any hails I've sent receive no response.  Scans indicated it's a small craft, smaller than ours, but doesn't identify as being Federation."

          "Interesting." Kova thought to himself.  They were somewhat close to Coalition space, so perhaps a smuggler had voyaged too far from home and ran out of fuel.  "Are we close enough for a visual yet?"

          "Not quite, but even if we were, we aren't close enough to any nearby stars to be able to see it very well.  We would have to render in infrared."

          "Hmm," Kova paused for a moment, "any change in the message?"

          "No, it keeps playing on a loop, probably automated.  None of our scans can detect if there are any life forms on board, either."

          "Strange," Kova murmured, just before Vektor strode in, adorned in his stealth combat gear, his own helmet in hand.

          "Alright, what's the stink?" he half asked, half demanded.  Joule proceeded to fill him in on the details of the mayday signal and the unknown vessel as Kova took another swig from his mug, pondering the situation.

          "We should be close now," Kova said just after Joule finished bringing Vektor up to speed, eager to find some clarity in this highly unusual turn of events.

          "Right," Joule turned back toward the monitors, and entered commands into the computer.  Seconds later, one of the larger monitors switched to a black screen, displaying the image of the nothingness of space.  Moments after, the image began to brighten, until the outline of a small ship could bee seen, the infrared accentuating the relatively warm exhaust ports.  From the looks of it, the vessel had been floating aimlessly for some time.

          "Definitely not Federation," Vektor mumbled, voicing the thoughts that came to everyone's mind.

          "Well, we have a job to do." Kova finished the contents of his mug and set it down.  "Vektor, man the bridge and take us in. Keep all channels open.  Joule and I will board and find out what in the hell is going on."

          "Copy, Templar," Vektor sat down at the console shortly after Joule got up, setting his helmet in the same spot she had just removed hers from.  Kova exited the bridge, Joule following closely behind, and headed towards the airlock hatch, stopping just before to type a code into a keypad on the wall.  After a few button presses, a smaller window opened, allowing access to Judgement, Kova's rifle. Joule did the same to her armory, located opposite his, and withdrew her sidearm, Denial.

          "To bridge," Kova commanded the intercom system to connect to Vektor, and a short pause came before a soft tone from the speakers, allowing the two to communicate.  "Alright Slayer," he began, looking through the airlock hatch and being able to make out the faintest outline of the ship as the rotation ring spun it into view, "kill rotation."

          Slowly, he began to feel lighter as the rotation slowed to a stop, and he nodded to Joule, activating magnetic undersoles in his boots to keep him oriented, Joule following suit shortly after.

          "Never do get used to that," she murmured.

          "Zero rotation," Vektor said across the intercom.  Kova saw that the airlock was lined up with the ship now, and slowly closing in.  "Awaiting command."

          Kova took a breath, clearing his mind and focusing on the task at hand.

          "Engage."