Titan Royalty

The Titans intercept a distress call from an imperial ship. When they investigate, they discover that there is a danger lurking. Dark times are ahead, is there any hope?

Chapter 1

Something flew closely over my head. I looked up and saw a beautiful, flaming red bird. Man, even the birds on this planet were amazing. Thalassa is well known for its beauty. Here I was, sitting on the palace balcony on this beautiful day. The sun was shining bright. The metallic ocean was glittering. A light breeze was stroking my face. The blue grass came to life. The palace' garden was truly the most magnificent place in all of Thalassa.

I was tired. Alysia had been up all night again crying. But today was the day, today Mavis and I were going to present Alysia to our loyal subjects.

"Sir, the shuttle is ready and awaiting your word."
"Ah, I was hoping to enjoy this magnificent sight for a little while longer. Promise me again, Dorian, will you keep my daughter safe?."
"Always, sir."
Dorian was my tactical advisor, head of the personal guard and above all a close friend.
"What route will we taking, Dorian?"

"The royal shuttle will lift off from the inner courtyard. We will meet up with the Artorian outside of Thalassa's atmosphere. We will be escorted by three frigates and two corvettes. The royal convoy will leave the Telchines system and set a course for the Belugian Hub."

"Ah yes, the Belugian Hub, the control room of everything media related throughout the Empire."

"Indeed sir. Our journey will be guarded closely. Scouts have been sent to every corner of imperial jurisdiction. All war fleets are on standby, ready to engage when necessary. We will not be taken by surprise. And besides, we have an ace up our sleeves."

"Ooh, and what might that be?"

"All in good time, sir, all in good time."

"Still, I worry. The Primes are growing bolder and they attack more frequent.

"Those terrorists do not stand a chance against a military operation like this. Trust me, you of nothing to worry about. Shall we go, sir?"

"We shall, Dorian. Are my wife and daughter ready as well?"

"They are already in the courtyard, sir."

 

"All hail emperor Astor Bellèc!"

"Please, there is no need for such an announcement."

The royal guard were all saluting me. I walked towards Mavis, she was holding my beautiful daughter in her arms.

"Here," she said, "be a father to your daughter." As she handed me Alysia.

We got into the shuttle and departed for the Artorian, the flagship of the imperial navy. She was named after the first emperor, emperor Arthur Bellèc.

The convoy departed and all was well.

 

"It is a strange thought that one day this tiny little person will be the leader of a powerful empire." I said.

"She's a Bellèc, she will do fine. Let us hope for now that she will ease the minds of our people." Mavis comforted me.

"Senator Bellrose is trying hard to unite the people but things have been difficult since the discovery of the Velcoon and the Roavi and their Concord. Diplomatic relations are fragile between us and these creatures. Bellrose says a war with them is inevitable. The human race is devided, Bellrose wants unity though war, he has made that very clear to me."

"Bellrose has always been your friend and he will always remain to be one. I'm certain that he trusts you to do what's best."

"I know, but my actions have been unsuccessful thus far. The Sol Consortium refuses to see the inevitable and the Free Systems only care about themselves. I fear that we would have to fight a war with the Concord on our own."

"Let us focus on the present. We have a beautiful day ahead of us."

Mavis was right, a war could be years away but the present was right now.

 

 

Chapter 2
We were having lunch when we were suddenly interrupted by a loud bang. Everything started shaking for a few seconds. "All crew report to your stations." It sounded over the intercom. Dorian came in to check on us. "What was that Dorian?" I asked.
"Our hyperspace jump failed. There seems to be a problem with our navigation system. We got too close to a star so we were automatically pulled out of hyperspace to avoid a crash. This should not have happened sir, I'll get to the bottom of it."
The sudden blast woke Alysia up, she was crying. "I'll go." I said to Mavis.
I took Alysia in my arms and started to rock her.
Suddenly the lights went out. I went back to Mavis, with Alysia still in my arms. "A power outage?" Mavis asked confused as the emergency generator kicked in. It did not have the capacity to supply the entire ship of power so the lights were dimmed, a bit redish. Dorian stormed in to the room. "Sir, you better come with me."
I handed Alysia over to Mavis. "I'll be right back." I said.

 

"So what wrong?" I asked Dorian.

"The navigation system has been sabotaged. We were not supposed to be this close to the Ernisian star. Even if we were to get close, the hyperspace drive would have dropped us out."

"It did drop us out, didn't it?"

"Yes, but not in time. It should have dropped us out sooner. We are in the star's orbit and all our systems have shut down because of the interference the star is causing."

"And you can't get us out of orbit."

"No. We are too close but we can't increase our distance because we don't have any systems online. To make matters worse, the star is slowly pulling us closer."

"What about the rest of the convoy?." Mavis asked. She had followed us and overheard everything.

"They are still enroute to the Belugian Hub. We are the only ones that were dropped out."

"Can we send out a distress call and get other ships to pull us out of orbit."

"We could redirect all power to the comms system, but to pull us out of orbit is impossible. The Artorian is lost. We need to be evacuated. Shuttles could potentially get us out of here because of their small size, but it would be extremely risky."

"But it's the only way?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, send out a distress call."

 

 

 

Chapter 3
"Mayday, mayday, this is imperial starship Artorian. We are on impact collision with the Ernisian star. We are in need of immediate evacuation." The comms specialist was attempting to establish communications with other ships in the area.

"No luck, sir. The star's causing too much interference."

Another loud explosion went off. "All stations report!" Captain Meinhart shouted.

"Our drive core just malfunctioned, captain." One of the crew members answered him.

"We are gaining speed, sir. Twenty minutes before our hull starts to melt."

"Dorian, I need options." I prompted.

An alarm went off. "Captain, life support malfunctioned as well. We are no longer filtering the air."

"Dorian! You said we had an ace, what is it?"

"I don't think they can help us either, sir"

"Who are they, Dorian."

Dorian took me away from the bridge.

"I once helped someone, sir, back when I worked for the Sol Consortium. there was a big fight on one of Jupiter's moons. A local scientist was performing unspeakable tests on prisoners. Some of the test subjects decided that it was enough and they escaped, destroying everything on their way out. I covered the whole thing up and reported that an explosion, cause unknown, killed everyone. I know it was wrong sir, but what that scientist was doing to them was really horrible. I figured they had been through enough and gave them the benefit of the doubt."

"I trust in your judgment, Dorian. I'm sure you did the right thing. Can they help us or not?"

"They possess state of the art technology. I don't know much about them other than they're supposed to be some kind of super soldiers."

"Ah, it doesn't matter. The star's causing more interference than the ship can handle. You can't contact them."

"Maybe I can, sir. They were very grateful for my help. They gave me this." Dorian showed me a small transmitter.

"It has a lot of power on its own but if we were to connect it to the ship, we might be able to call them."

 

"Captain! We need you to redirect all power to the comms system again." Dorian commanded.

"That would be a waste of power! We need to preserve it any way we can!"

"Captain you will do as he says!" I was getting quite agitated about the whole situation.

"Alright, we should have direct contact with their ship now, sir." The comms specialist said.

"Send out another distress call. Let's hope it works."

 

 

Chapter 4
"You know, you really should be more careful in the field. You're not invincible." Gaia said in a worried tone.

"Don't worry I was built for it." I joked.

"Commander I need you on the bridge." Dinlas said over the intercom.

"You know he would be nothing without you, right? Go on, I'll wait!"

"I'll be right back, Gaia."

"You better be."

         

"Dinlas, what's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm receiving a distress call, sir."

"Do I need to remind you that we have a very tight schedule, we can't delay."

"I know sir but you might want to reconsider. I had Clio run an analysis."

"The distress call was enhanced by one of our transmitters." Clio said with her cold, robotic voice.

"I have cleaned up the transmission best I could, commander."

"Play it." I said

 

"Mayday, ###day, this is im#rial starship Artorian. ######## impact collision with # Ernisian star. We ####### immediate evacuation."

 

"Artorian? Alright get us down there Dinlas. Clio assemble the crew for me."

 

"I have called you all over here because one of our transmitters has been activated. In a few moments we will arrive at the Ernisian star. I'm ,thus far, unaware of what we'll find."

 

Ares and Athena were staring out the window when we dropped out of hyperspace.

"Look at the size of that ship!" Aries shouted.

"The Artorian, flagship of the imperial fleet." Athena noted.

"Well, size isn't everything." Dinlas couldn't stand the thought of his crew admiring another ship.

"Now now, Dinlas don't be jealous." Artemis joked

 

"Dinlas, try to hail them."

"Artorian, this is starship Damocles requesting a status update.... No response, sir"

"Clio, what can you tell me?"

"The Artorian was enroute to the Belugian Hub when they suffered a navigation system malfunction. They were dropped out of hyperspace too close to the star."

"Why were they going to the Belugian Hub and more importantly, is the emperor aboard the ship?" Gaia asked.

"The emperor and his wife are on board. They were on their way to introduce their newly born daughter to the Empire."

"Alright, prepare all shuttles. We are going to evacuate the people on that ship."

"That would be a waste of time, commander. I scanned the ship and have found no signs of life."

I ordered Vulcan to prepare a shuttle anyway.

"Fire team Onyx, suit up. We're gonna search for survivors and find out how this could have happened."

 

 

As we approached the Artorian we tried to hail her again.

"Artorian, this is starship Damocles. We are dispatching a team to assist you. Please open your docking bay doors."

No one answered an the doors stayed closed.

"Clio, can you hack the docking bay doors?"

"Affirmative commander, the doors will open shortly."

And so they did. Vulcan flew us in to the docking bay and landed, but there was no one there.

"Athena, take Ares and get to the ship's bridge. Vulcan salvage what you can from the ship, she's lost anyways. Thane, with me. We're going to the royal chambers."

On our way to the royal chambers we came across a few bodies. They had suffocated. It was probably for the best. They would have slowly burned to death otherwise.

 

"Nothing but death. I fear for the emperor's life, sir."

"I know. I do not think that we'll find any survivors. But we have to be certain that the royal family is gone."

"The Bellèc line dies with emperor Astor Bellèc. He has no siblings, no aunts or uncles. This is a complete nightmare. The Empire will be severely weakened. There will be consequences."

"Uncertain times are ahead, that is for sure."

 

We arrived at the royal suite but the door was locked. "Clio, I need you to open a door for me."

"I am unable, commander. The door is physically locked from the inside. Commander, it appears that in a final attempt to save the emperor's life all power was redirected to a malfunctioning life support system. The system could only provide one room with oxygen however. To preserve the little oxygen available, all crew members sacrificed their lives to save the emperor. I detect no signs of life inside, however."

"Sacrificed? Or were sacrificed?" Thane asked.

"The emperor is a beloved leader. I believe they volunteered."

 

Thane and I decided to use force to break the door. After a few tries we succeeded. Inside we found three lifeless bodies.

 

"It's the emperor and his wife, sir. I don't know who the third one is."

"I do. That is the man who let our escape go unnoticed. The man who covered up the Callisto incident. He was one of the few in possession of one of our transmitters."
"Looks like they recorded something."

"We are running out of air... the crew is dead... they sacrificed themselves for me... I...I'm afraid this is the end.... Dorian has told me about you, Titans.... you are my last hope.... we have roughly two minutes of oxygen left... Dorian is redirecting the oxygen supply one more time.... Titans.... the Artorian was sabotaged, that much is clear to me... there is only one man that could have done this... senator Bellrose... my old friend... beware Titans, all he sees is war... he will likely become the next emperor... he is power hungry... I fear there are dark times ahead.."
Dorian interrupted him.
"I'm ready, sir."
"Titans, I hope you will arrive soon. I'm buying my daughter some time... please look after her for me... she will be needed in the upcoming war... do it Dorian."

 

"How long ago was this taken?" I asked.

"Ten minutes ago."

"Where's the daughter!" I shouted. "There were two minutes of air left for three grownups. A baby doesn't need as much air. She could still be alive!"

Thane and I quickly searched the room and we found her. She was lying in an incubator with almost no oxygen left, but she was alive.

"Thane, download the recording then meet me back at the shuttle."

 

"Athena! The emperor and his wife are dead, but we have the daughter. She's barely breathing, but alive. Gather what you can on the bridge and head for the shuttle."

I was running towards the shuttle, knowing that it had additional oxygen aboard.

I was too late. Alysia had stopped breathing entirely. I tried reviving her but was unsuccessful. In a final act of desperation I decided to do something very dangerous. I told the team to stand back. I was going to use my power. The trick would be to control the charge so it wouldn't fry the baby. I directed most of the charge away from Alysia and let the rest of it flow through her body. It worked. She woke up and cried.

"Damocles, Onyx Actual. We're on our way back. Have Artemis standing by."

"Copy that, Onyx Actual."

 

Chapter 5

"How's she doing Artemis?" I asked concerned.

"She will be fine, you were just in time."

"What are we going to do with her, sir. She is the heir to the throne. If Bellrose finds out that she is still alive, he'll send assassins after her." Ares said.

"We're gonna take her to Earth. Dinlas make sure no one finds out about our role here today."

"Roger that, masking our signature now."

 

"Earth? Zeus, really?" Gaia disagreed with my decision.

"The Empire could easily take down the Sol Consortium if they wanted to. She won't be save on earth."

"She won't be save anywhere. Within imperial borders, it'll be easy for Bellrose to take her out. In the Free Systems no one really cares about the Empire. Only the Sol Consortium will hinder any action Bellrose undertakes."

"Huhm. I guess you're right."

"Besides, we'll place her under the protection of the Librarians. Even Bellrose is smart enough not to attack the Librarians."

"Dinlas, plot a course for the Archives on Earth."

"Yes sir. All crew, prepare for hyperspace jump."

 

Chapter 6
"We are in range of the archives, sir." Dinlas said.

"Vulcan can you take me in?"

"Yes sir, are you going in alone?"

"The Librarians are the least violent people I know. I need to convince them to help us, having armed soldiers by my side will not help."

I took Alysia in my arms and went down to the surface. The Archives are a real tourist attraction so the Damocles had to stay pretty far behind to remain hidden. I had called ahead and luckily one of the Librarians was willing to speak with me. It was a real honour. The Librarians are watchers. They study the universe, the alien races and humanity itself. They collect artefacts and catalogue events then store them in the Archives. Although the Archives are located on Earth, they are not considered part of the Sol Consortium. The ground on which the archives were built is considered sacred. The Librarians rule this independent piece of land. They are well respected and honoured for their work.

"Commander Zeus tell me, what is so important that you insisted on speaking to one of our order?"

"Not what but who. Can I trust you mister eh?"

"Isaac Munshin and yes you can. The Librarians only wish to preserve knowledge, to document events and people. We do not care about your secrets or motives. Now tell me, who is so important."

"This is princess Alysia Bellèc, heir to the imperial throne. My team and I rescued her from the Artorian, which was sabotaged. The ship was swallowed by the Ernisian star. All crew died, including the emperor. Alysia is the sole survivor."

"This is very unfortunate. But why did you come to us?"

"The new emperor will likely be senator Bellrose, the man behind the sabotage. He is power hungry. A great war is coming. The princess is the only one that can stop Bellrose. If he finds out she survived, he'll send assassins after her.

"As I said, Librarians do not interfere. Our order cannot help you, I am truly sorry."

Munshin turned around and walked away.

 

"Commander, I have looked into Isaac Mushin's background. He joined the Librarians at 18. He has become one of the most respected Librarians within the order. He is married and lives close the Archives. His marriage has had a lot to suffer the past years. His wife miscarried three times. The Archives are his refuge during dark times."

Having an AI like Clio on board really could come in handy sometimes.

 

"Mister Munshin! Maybe the order can't help us, but you can!"

I got his attention again.

"I know you and your wife have been trying to have a baby. I know she miscarried three times. I'm offering you a chance to be a father, Isaac. For your wife to be a mother. For this little girl to have a proper childhood. I know that you can keep her safe. I know that you will be a good father to her. Please Isaac. If not for me, do it for her."

"Very well, how could I possibly refuse her beautiful face. I will keep her safe, commander."

"Troubled times are ahead, Isaac. Alysia might be the Empire's only hope. I'm leaving you one of our transmitters. With it you can contact us directly, should you ever find yourself in trouble."

"Where will you be going?"

"A war is coming. We are soldiers. We will be where the people need us most. When there is no one left to help them, we will answer their calls.

We are Titans."

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

please look past any grammer/spelling mistakes, english is not my native language.

Reviews

[Wez Hardyn]

A fairly engaging and pacy old fashioned SF story - although the first person narrative was confusing when you used it for another character at the beginning of chapter four. I like the sound of the freedom fighters called 'Titans' - perhaps you could develop a deeper political narrative using these 'super space warriors'. We need more Science Fiction here in the Cafe - keep up the good work!