VC2 Chapter 20-Medical Bay

Sector 2100

Planet 2101

November 14, 2052

“This isn't how it's supposed to end.” Franklin stood next to a group of officers outside the medical bay watching as doctors operate on Charlie's body.

“This is the cost of war Lieutenant Franklin.” Tarbuck crossed his arms and sighed.

“He didn't ask for this. He never wanted to go find combat with this mission.” McClelland spoke out in defence.

“Then what? Even I wasn't notified of this black ops mission.” Owens watched as the doctors swapped a bag of blood to transfer.

“Are we allowed to speak of this?” Papagiannis looked at McClelland and then Owens.

“Poor kid went to find the girl of his dreams and you guys accuse him of picking a fight intentionally.” McClelland replied angrily.

“If I may say something here...” a middle-aged man with dark hair who had been quietly listening interrupted.

“Go on Captain Antonopoulos.” Owens looked at the man.

“If you knew Charlie well, that girl means a lot to him. He reminds me of my younger self.” Antonopoulos chuckled lightly.

“He still didn't deserve this.” Franklin spoke sadly.

“What did the docs say?” Tarbuck looked grim.

“He's in critical condition. The cryo pod actually made the difference between life and death. They were able to jumpstart his heart once we unlocked the pod. A lot of his organs were messed up by the crash.” Wicker looked at his datapad and reported.

“Is he able to pull through?” Owens expressed his concern.

“Doesn't say...chances are ...slim.” Wicker scrolled on his datapad.

“I believe in Charlie. I know he doesn't give up easy.” Antonopoulos looked at the doctors remove a foreign object out of Charlie's body.

“One can always have hope.” Papagiannis.

“There is nothing we can do here. We still have the stations to run.” Owens walked off.

One by one, the officers slowly exited the room until McClelland and Antonopoulos were left. McClelland look at Antonopoulos and nodded before leaving the man alone in the room.

 “Where are you Sarah...where are you?” Antonopoulos muttered to himself.

VC2 Chapter 19-Present Day

Sector 2300

Planet 2305

November 13, 2052

“Sir, our warp engines have overheated, we're being forced out of warp.” McClelland reported as he looked on his computer.

The Nighthawk violently exited warp space into an asteroid field. The ship slammed into an asteroid creating a spectacular display of fireworks sending debris and ship parts all over the space.

“Hull breach. Aft side, engines are shutting down.” an officer frantically typed on his computer.

“See that planet? We're going to land there with the remaining power.” Charlie pointed at the nearby luscious green planet.

Charlie steered the battered frigate clear of the asteroid field making sure he did not slow down or else they would not make the planet with such low speeds in the asteroid field.

“Charlie, we've lost all engines.” an officer reported to the Admiral as sparks flew from his console.

“Send a distress signal out to Northern Base.” Charlie commanded.

“Aye sir. Patching transmission to NB.” the communications officer acknowledged.

“We're being pulled by the planet.” the officer reported as he changed his command station when an electrical fire broke out.

“I can see that. Get to the escape pods.” Charlie watched as the surface of the ship began to turn into a scorching red as it fell into its atmosphere.

                                                                        * * *

McClelland stared at the lifeless body of Charlie and zoned out into the crash debris in front of him. At the corner of his eye, he saw a section of the ship that was intact with three large capsules. One of the capsule glass case had been shattered, another was deformed by the crash, but one was fully intact.

“Get Charlie into that cryo pod now!” McClelland yelled as he dashed towards the capsule.

“But he's gone sir.” an officer grabbed an emergency fire pax and chopped off the tree impaling Charlie.

“Not fully. The brain is still alive for a few minutes. The cryo pod will put his brain into deep space hibernation just enough time for rescue. Do it now.” McClelland opened the capsule and keyed in some figures.

Two officers grabbed ahold of Charlie's arms and carried him to the capsule. McClelland inserted some needles into Charlie's arm and watched as the hibernation solution go into the body.

“Seal it up.” McClelland dashed to a nearby console for cryo sequence activation.

One officer buckled Charlie into the his place while the other monitored the flow of the hibernation solution. McClelland pushed a button on his console and watched as the glass door hiss shut.

“Is it going to work?” the officer watched as the capsule began to quickly freeze inside.

“We should be able to slow down the cell degeneration process. It's never been done before, but I sure hope to God that it works.” McClelland exhaled deeply and sat on the floor in exhaustion.

 “This is NB Rear Admiral Tarbuck, does anyone copy? Repeat, this is Rear Admiral Tarbuck, does anyone copy over?” a nearby computer fuzzed with static.

VC2 Chapter 18-Black Ops

Sector 2300

Planet 2315

November 12, 2052

“It's been two weeks sir and we have found no solid leads.” McClelland reported from the battle screen aboard Charlie's Nighthawk frigate.

“She's a drifter now bro. Or...what do we call it? Ah yes, a space pirate.” Papagiannis interrupted in the comms.

“You have something to say?” Charlie glared at Papagiannis.

Charlie swivelled around his command chair in annoyance when an officer approached him.

“Admiral, we have ships exiting warp ten seconds port side.” the officer alerted.

“Alright gentlemen, form up.” Charlie switched the battle screen.

Charlie's frigate flew in between Papagiannis' and McClelland's Nighthawk frigates and watched as the space left of them turned bright blue. Six Apocrypha cruisers with grey stripes exited warp and began to fire their hydra missiles.

“Contact! TFD!” Papagiannis shouted as the first wave of missiles splashed against his ship's shields.

“Break formation into kite formation. I want one by one by one strafing angle 30 degrees starboard. Do it now!” Charlie ordered as he began to turn his ship.

As the frigates began to turn away from the enemy cruisers, the mass drivers on the Nighthawk had already begun firing its penetrating rounds.

“Sir this is going to be hard kiting.” McClelland angled his ship and fired as he strafed his frigate away.

Charlie watched as one of his shots get dodged by the cruiser and shook his head in frustration. His weapons didn't have locking feature nor speed.

“Shall we call for reinforcements?” Papagiannis watched as his own round missed the enemy.

“No, we are black ops. We are dark.” Charlie immediately replied.

“I'm losing shields soon!” Papagiannis alerted.

“Warp out on my mark.” Charlie turned his ship away from the enemy cruisers in full speed.

“In three...two..” Charlie grabbed the throttle.

Suddenly a missile slammed into Charlie's engines and knocked the power out.

“I'm drifting!” Charlie jumped out of his seat.

“McClelland, we're ejecting pods. Pick us up now. Papagiannis, divert firepower now.” Charlie waved at his crew and pointed at the escape pods.

“Aye sir. I'll do my best.” Papagiannis watched as Charlie's frigate launched its escape pods.

He turned his ships forward and began to fire at the enemy cruisers while accelerating forward. McClelland quickly brought his frigate to the pods and hooked them into its cargo bay.

“My shields gone Charlie. I need to get out.” Papagiannis flew into the clear.

“Warp now.” Charlie exited his escape pod and rushed towards McClelland's bridge.

Papagiannis acknowledged the order and immediately warped out of the combat zone leaving McClelland's ship left.

“Officer on deck.” McClelland watched as Charlie entered the bridge.

“Let's get out of here.” Charlie commanded.

 “Chair's all yours sir.” McClelland got out of his chair and pointed.