Deus Absentis

This is a short piece of fiction that I decided to write because i had nothing to do. It is a rough draft so expect spelling/grammar/etc errors throughout the piece. For those of you who cant read latin, the title means "Absence of God". Please comment!

Deus Absentis

The silent stars streamed by, their magnificence matched only by the crimson lasers which streaked past Dieter's cockpit. He gazed out into the void and time seemed to slow as the fiery lances danced around his fighter. His pursuers twisted and weaved between each other in an almost hypnotic manner. They were fighting time, trying in despair to destroy the lone fighter before them. Dieter snapped back into reality and closed his eyes. He could see them, a swarm of insects moving in unison, their intent clear. Glancing down at the instrument panel, Dieter saw that his shields were at the breaking point and as if on cue, the shimmering blue bubble which encased his fighter flickered and died out. Acting with the iron will of one who had been in thousands of battles, Dieter jerked back the flight stick with incredible force and brought the fighter into a tight vertical u-turn. There was a moment of silence as the pursuing fighters re-targeted Dieter's craft and compensated for his sudden change in direction. Dieter once again gazed out towards the stars; a tear began to form at the corner of his eye. The attacking fighters opened fire, sending a deadly hail of crimson bolts towards Dieter. He was brought back into reality by the distinct sound of his fighter being ripped to shreds. Armor plating was torn asunder as the fiery lasers slammed into Dieter's craft. Suddenly regaining his sense of duty, the grizzled pilot took hold of the flight stick and hit the accelerator. A gout of flame burst out of the back of the ancient fighter as it began to accelerate at a startling pace. A stray bolt skimmed across the side of Dieter's cockpit and shattered it, sending shards of glass into the cold darkness. Dieter flinched, his fight suit would keep him alive long enough. As his fighter was torn away from around him, Dieter sternly guided it to the center of the attacking formation. The brilliant red lances were everywhere now, gouging holes and burning away metal. Time slowed once again for Dieter, he shifted his right hand to the console in front of him and flipped the plastic cover off of one of the buttons. As the enemy fighters began to move aside in an attempt to avoid the lone fighter, a single word escaped from Dieter's lips: "Sarah". He closed his eyes and saw her before him, she smiled. "Good bye Dieter". He smiled in return, and pressed the "Self Destruct button". The Dark void was filled with a light so bright that it blocked out the stars. It grew to the size of a sun and began to fade. The stars returned as the light retreated and disappeared. Once again, they continued their silent gaze over the cosmos.

"All hands brace for impact!" The alarm claxon sounded as the shockwave approached the battleship at an amazing rate. Captain Price braced himself in his command chair and shouted.

"All power to deflectors! Everyone hold on!" Glancing out the side view port, Price could distinctly see the blue ring surging away from the explosion. He watched as it grew nearer until it finally made contact with the Battle Group. The Destroyer Imperius was cut in two and a moment later it was engulfed in a violent explosion, its fusion drive had detonated. The shockwave roared onward and slammed into the Destroyers Aeternus and Glorificus who were side by side. The Aeternus had managed to activate its deflector, however and a large amount of the energy flowed around it until the drive failed and the massive ship was suddenly slammed into the Glorificus. Groaning under the incredible strain, it began a slow spin as it floated away from what was left of the Aeternus. There was another blinding flash as the mangled hulk detonated. Price swore and waited for the secondary explosion, none came as the incredible engineers on the Glorificus had managed to activate its deflectors and were harmlessly pushed aside by the blast. Price smiled at the sight and swore once again as the shockwave slammed into his battleship, the Terminus. The deflector took the brunt of the impact, but the enormous battleship shook violently as the energy wave stormed by. People all over the bridge were thrown about but somehow Price managed to stay in his seat. Slamming down a button on his console Price shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Deflector status!" There was a slight pause and the familiar voice of Burke came over the com-link.

"Deflector drive is on the verge of overload! Everything is exploding down here! We need to divert -" Burke was cut short as Battleship was suddenly wracked with a huge detonation. All of the electrical systems on the bridge exploded as raw energy forced its way through everything. Price was launched from his chair as a jet of plasma shot out from behind him. He flew across the bridge and slammed into the frontal view screen which shattered and collapsed around him. The Battleship Terminus went into a dead float as all of its systems failed. There was a huge hole at the rear of the ship where the engineering section used to be. The dead hulk acted as a shield for the ship located to the left of it, scattering the shockwave and sparing it from any damage. The shockwave passed through the Battle Group vaporising the smaller ships and ravaging the larger ones. There was another large detonation as the munitions freighter Armarium collided with the Destroyer Fatum. Silence quickly returned and the remaining ships drifted aimlessly through the wreckage that was the mighty Battle Group Caelestis.
"This is the Destroyer Spiritus to all ships, report in." Captain Solus shifted in his seat as he hesitated. "I repeat, all ships report in." Glancing out to his right he could see the twisted form of the Battle Ship Terminus. Captain Damian Solus gazed in awe as he watched the 20-km long ship drift ever so slowly. Its sheer mass had managed to protect the Spiritus and everyone onboard. Damian swallowed hard when he thought about the thirty-thousand crewmen onboard. There were no fires burning around the ship, it was completely silent. The lack of fire meant one thing: no oxygen. There would be no survivors. Damian jerked his attention back to the main view screen. Everyone on the bridge fell silent as the soft crackle of static began to flow through the speakers. The static lowered in intensity and faded out as a transmission made its way to the Spiritus.

"Spiritus, this is the Glorificus. Starboard hull, extensive damage. Crew casualties, heavy. Electrical systems, 37% failure. Ship status: Operational." The static returned as the message ended. Damian pressed a button on his console and spoke.

"This is the Spiritus, can you make it to our position?" He hesitated for a moment, and added: "Where is Captain Freeman?" The static persisted for a moment before the response came.

"Setting course for your position..." Static once again filled the speakers. Damian waited for the rest of the message but it never came. The damaged destroyer simply lurched into motion and began moving toward the Spiritus. Damian furrowed his brows and whispered a curse. He took a look out of the left view port and saw the remains of the Fatum, a few scattered chunks of metal, the Armarium had been reduced to dust when all of the munitions that it had been carrying detonated. Glancing back to the main view screen, Damian could see that his crew was performing a survey of the surrounding area. The view panned slowly as it examined each and every ship, one by one the ships were being marked off: "Imperius: destroyed, Aeternus: destroyed, Vitae: destroyed, Fatum: destroyed, Incomitatus: destroyed, Contemno: destroyed, Diligo: destroyed, Armarium: destroyed, Terminus: destroyed..." The list stretched on until the camera finally settled on the approaching destroyer: "Glorificus: operational"

"This is the Glorificus, we are now in formation with you Spiritus, awaiting orders" Damian looked back out at the Terminus and closed his eyes.

"Captain Solus speaking, Glorificus, where is Captain Freeman?" There was a hiss of static and an image appeared on the view screen.

"Captain Solus, I am Master Sergeant Lorica, the ranking officer on the ship..." The sergeant had her long dark hair tied up in a pony tail, her uniform was singed and burned, there was blood on her face and her left arm was bent at an unnatural angle, yet she stood at perfect attention. Damian cleared his throat and spoke in a more soothing tone.

"Where is your Captain?" Sergeant Lorica glanced down at her feet and took a step to her right. Captain Freeman was still in his command chair; his left arm still gripped the arm rest tightly while his right arm dangled loosely. He was slouched to the right and would have slid out of the chair, if it weren’t for the piece of shrapnel protruding from his chest which kept him in place. There was a moment of silence on both bridges as the veteran Captain of a hundred battles sat motionless in the same chair that he had started his career over 60 years ago. Sergeant Lorica was the one to break the silence.

"Awaiting orders, Captain." Damian regained his composure and nodded towards the sergeant.

"Maintain formation, Glorificus, we are heading back to Star Fortress Pugnaculum." he paused. "And Sergeant, fix that arm." Lorica nodded and gave a sharp salute before cutting the video feed. The two Destroyers coasted silently out of the scattered wreckage and into the dark void. Near by, a craft shimmered into existence and glided past the Terminus. The pilot shed a tear as she flew past the point where the explosion originated.
"Good bye Dieter... my love..." A blue portal opened in front of the craft and it floated through. The portal closed and everything was silent.

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"Captain, Pugnaculum is hailing us." Damian looked up at the communications officer and nodded. He jestured to the screen and a moment later, the image of a slightly irritated Admiral Vir appeared.

"Captain Solus, its nice to see you again, really, but why prey tell have you left the Caelestis to return here? I gave no such order... And dont even think about trying to convince me that Captain Price ordered you to escort the Glorificus, because I know he didnt. The standing order was that damaged vessels were to make their way back on their own... Now you better give me a damn good reason for why you arent with the Battle Group..." Admiral Vir crossed hs arms and stood impatiently. Damian ran a hand through his short black hair and met his gaze.

"I have not left the Battle Group, Admiral..." Damian kept his stern gaze and the Admiral became angry.

"Are you looking for a court marshal, Solus? Damnit, I dont have time for this! Where is the Battle Group Caelestis?" Damian waited untill The Admiral had calmed slightly before responding.

"Your looking at it..." Admiral Vir was about to explode into a rage when he saw the look on Damian's face. Slowly, Vir began to turn pale as the blood rushed from his face. He sat down and let his jaw drop slightly. Everyone on the command deck of the Star Fortress froze in disbelief. The Battle Group Caelestis was the pride of the Imperial Fleet, it had fought in countless battles and had defeated countless foes. It was considered to be an invincible force, timeless and indestructable, it contained some of the most powerful ships in all of the Empire. Vir regained his composure and cleared his throat.

"This is all that remains?" Damian closed his eyes and nodded. The silence was deafening.

"Permission to dock."

"Granted."

The two destroyers approached the Star Fortress. The 7-km long ships were tiny when placed next to the Pugnaculum, one of the only three Star Fortresses in existence. The Ancient Fortress was constructed several millennia before the Empire existed and was discovered during the early conquests. The other two fortresses, Antiquus and Semper were discovered in the following centuries. At first, they were used as massive engines of conquest, now they were used to maintain and defend the Empire. Pugnaculum was 150-km long and was 135-km tall at its highest point, it bristled with weapons created eons ago. No one understood how the Star Fortresses functioned. It took a century of research before the scientists of the Empire had discovered how to maniplulate them and even now, there was much that was not known. Infact, much of the Imperial Fleet was constructed from information acquired by studying the Star Fortresses. The ancient technology was replicated using what resources were available at the time. The Entire Imperial Fleet had been constructed two centuries after Pugnaculum had been discovered. The Massive Battle Ships took over 150 years of constant toil and labour to construct but once completed, they were invincible in battle. In the entire history of the Empire, not a single Battleship had been destroyed.

"What happened out there?" Admiral Vir was eerily silent, in great contrast to his usual self. Damian took a sip from the mug of coffee on the table in front of him and gathered his thoughts. What did happen out there? Damian could recall watching interceptor squadron Primitus chase down the unknown fighter, and a moment later almost being blinded by the explosion that it set off. He could remember watching in terror as the Terminus was torn apart in front of his eyes and the immense relief when it became clear that the Spiritus would be left untouched. He also clearly recalled the incredible sense of guilt afterwards. Glancing up at the Admiral seated before him, Damian set down his mug and shook his head slightly.

"You have access to records of both the Spiritus and the Glorificus, I cant tell you any more than they can..." Admiral Vir appeared disappointed, he wasnt looking forward to witnessing the destruction of Caelestis, yet he nodded and placed a sheet of paper in front of Damian.

"Your new orders, just look them over for now, you arent expected untill tomorrow." Damian nodded and the Admiral left the Captain's Quarters. When the door shut, Damian stood and took the paper in hand before heading for the bridge. As he walked through the tight corridors, Damian was slightly surpised to see that each and every crew member who passed by took the time to stop and salute.

"Captain on the bridge!" Immediately Damian motioned for everyone to carry on and made his way to the communications officer who snapped a smart salute. Damian took a glance at the sheet of paper that he had been holding and looked up at the officer.

"We have orders to head out tomorow, alert the crew and tell them that they have the rest of the day for on-ship R&R." The Communications officer cracked a pretty smile and nodded. Damian and furrowed his brow slightly and wondered why she was so happy. Dismissing the thought, he glanced across the bridge and added: "Oh, and also, I want you to request a transfer from the Glorificus..."

"And who would that be, sir?" Damian glanced to his left and cleared his throat.

"Uh, ahem, a Master Sergent Lorica..." The Officer's face light up and she cracked another smile.

"Oh, you mean the lady who took temporary command, the one who you spoke with?" Damian coughed and nodded.

"Alright then, Ill get on it immediately!" She was smiling again, to which Damian reddened slightly. He quickly saluted and found his way back off of the bridge. On his way back to the Captain's Quarters, Damian took the time to fully read his orders. The Spiritus would be leaving tomorrow in order to join the Battle Group Fortuna. Once the Spiritus had linked up with the Battle Group, new orders would be relayed. Damian looked it over once more to be sure, the Glorificus would be left behind due to extensive repairs. Damian knew that he wouldnt be able to get any sleep, so he spent the rest of the night running over the personal records of his bridge crew, it was about time for him to start learning their names, as shouting out their various titles had grown thin rather quickly. It was going to be a long night...

"You made contact?"

"Yes..."

"Were you discovered?"

"...Yes..."

"Why did Lord Rhinehardt fail to return?"

"He...delayed them..."

"For what purpose?"

"...To allow me to escape undetected..."

"What is the Lord's current status?"

"..."