City of IF

[sparta12]

Virtual
Chapter 15: R&R

Warning to Action Hungry Readers: This chapter does not contain any action. Hey you can't have a story that's action all the way through.

Captain Jack Art had been found in the gym on the Deck C Sector 2 which had been named: The Leisure Area. He was hammering a punching bag with his bare fists and his knuckles were dripping blood onto the floor but the marines hands were machine guns that were not going to stop until their was no strength left in them. He was mad about what happened to Matthew Barrels, he felt it was his fault that he got killed and he thought that if he had just kept an eye out instead of letting his guard down that he would have spotted that missile before it was too late. First it was Halloway and now Barrels. The pilot had only been with them for just under a year and Jack was questioning with his fists as to why after several years of fighting why hadn't he died but the answer came just as his right fist slammed into the bag but this made him froze. He was remembering a conversation he had with a friend
The answer is because you are too stubborn to die. When it comes to fighting all you think about is getting your people and yourself back home alive. You do what you can and at the end of the day that is all that matters. Jack... Don't worry about things you have no control of.
This voice had come from a friend who had been with him for five years after they finished training but his friend however got killed by a Boragnian Interceptor squadron that took down the convoy of discharged pilots and sailors. Senior Gunnery Sergeant Paul Gamator was his name. Jack sat down at stand in front of a boxing ring and nodded in agreement with what his friend had told him the day he shipped back home. Jack sat there for a while, his red face turned back to normal, a grin replaced his anger but he sat there still bleeding from hammering the punching bag before he finally got up and walked out of the empty gym.



'AAC this is the Chimera. We will finish repairs and will move out afterwards. Where is the rendezvous point over?' Angus Prime replied after considering the order
'Chimera this is the AAC. Roger we will wait for your fleet at Draconus Bravo, Sector Six in twenty-four hours out.' the operator on the other end of the radio finished and the Admiral hung up the radio. He then walked over to the comms area of his bridge and keyed a radio for the Fleet Channel
'This is Fleet Admiral Prime I have an announcement to make,' Angus reported over the channel.

24 Hours Remaining Before Jump:
Jack had just walked out of the Medical Bay when he heard a booming voice come over the speakers spontaneously
'My fellow Pilots and Sailors.' Jack recognised it was the Fleet Admiral making an announcement, he looked around the corridor and in the medical bay to find everyone come to a pause to listen to this announcement.
'I have received word from Command that over the past few months we have finally pushed the Boragnians back to their Homeworld in Draconus Bravo.' The ship roared with cheers of triumph and Captain Art joined in cheering to the good news with his comrades
'Ha, ha, ha. As such Command has ordered us to jump to Draconus Bravo Sector Six to rendezvous with almost all of the Navies Fleets and once our repairs are done we will jump to that sector. In the time being I am granting all pilots and sailors a twenty-four hour pass for R and R. Repairs will be completed by drones but in the mean time everyone enjoy some time off. Fleet Admiral Prime out.' the speakers stopped. The sailors and pilots looked at each other in shock at this announcement but then the cruiser returned back to nothing but cheers for a few more minutes. Jack stayed with the crowd for a little while celebrating with the other sailors and pilots before heading to the elevator at the end of the hall. Right now the Captain just wanted to get some sleep just for a few hours but afterwards he would make the most of his 24 Hour Pass but he wasn't sure on what that would be but he could figure that out when he woke up.


23 And A Half Hours Remaining Before Jump:Jack had tried getting some sleep but with the recent news of the war being over within the next few days all he could do was reflect on his years of service as a Federated Earth Marine Pilot but he could not get the memories to subside so he could sleep but he kept reflecting on things. Such as the last thing he said while standing on Earth before he shipped out to fight the Boragnians.
'I guess this is the calm before the storm huh?' it was the last thing he said before boarding the Freedom. He had said that because six hours after launch all the pilots began a raid on a Boragnian Battle Station which ended as soon as it started for all of the fighters had been armed with small nuclear missiles attached to their wings. Jack tried to shake this flashback episode but he just couldn't do it. When he joined the marines to be a pilot he had just finished high school and, now years later he was 30 years old and still fighting the same war that he signed up to fight. Jack sat on the side of his bed reflecting and holding a crucifix his mother had given to him before he left
'Mom you know I don't believe in that stuff,' he told his mother when she shoved it into his hand but she insisted
'Okay mom okay I'll keep it with me and I will never lose It.' he promised her just before he entered Basic Training. It was the last time he had seen his mother for only a few days later she had been killed along with his father in a bombing raid by the Boragnians.
Just then he heard a knocking on his door, he walked over to the door and slammed a button to the left-side of the door which brought up a screen showing who was at his door. It was Lt. Anne Johnson at his door that stood there with a small grin on her face, the captain opened the door
'Hey Anne, come in, take a seat,' Jack greeted stepping out of the doorway to let her in
'Thanks,' she replied stepping inside the Captains Quarters and sitting on the side of his bed
'What are you doing here?' Jack asked politely as he closed the door
'Well I wanted to talk to you about-
'About the war coming to an end?' Jack interrupted as he pulled up his swivel chair from his desk and moved it in front of the Lieutenant
'Yeah. I’m glad the war will be over after this "if" we succeed but even if we do what. What will we do next?' she asked the captain making hand gestures as she spoke
'Anne do you know how long I have been here in the Marines? On board this ship fighting?' he asked her, the left side of his lips grinning. The Lieutenant shook her head at her superior
'I have been fighting this war for twelve years. I signed up when I was eighteen and now I am thirty-years-old. I have not seen Earth with my own eyes since I left and I have no idea what I am going to do when or if I get out of the service but I'm not scared about what will happen next. I do not know what will happen next but if we get back to Earth there will be nothing to do but control our own lives, do what we do and we'll never have to fight anything ever again. All there will be to do is grow old and enjoy our lives as time passes us by.' Jack answered, leaning forward in his chair and smiling as he spoke. Anne's face turned from concerned to confident as Jack answered her question and the two looked at each other for some time before Anne leaned forward and kissed Jack on the lips. Jack leaned forwards, kissing her tenderly but slowly pushing the 27-year-old woman onto his bed and his arms reached around to the back of her hips. Anne and Jack continued this until the two somehow lost their pants which were followed shortly by their underwear.




19 Hours Remaining Before Jump:
Jack sighed with a smile as he watched the blue-eyed Anne walk away down the hall with her brown hair down as she walked to the elevator. When she stood inside and turned around she blushed when she saw the captain staring at her with a gentle smile. When the doors closed Jack closed the door to his quarters and walked in the opposite direction Anne did. For the remaining 19 hours he didn't have anything to worry about but he did however had questions that needed answering.
Jack entered the Virtual Reality room and sat down in one of the seats. He entered a code into a number-panel and then two spikes entered the top of his spine which connected him into the world of Virtual Reality but this time it was not a simulator. He found himself standing in a street where several people hooked up to Virtual Reality surrounded him and Jack took a few seconds to observe the world that had been constructed for Virtual Reality. It was just like real-life only you said a command to take you to this place and you would appear at that location. Virtual Reality was not just for simulations but it was basically a new Internet only without having to use a keyboard to type in the address for a website or waiting for a page to load. Virtual Reality was a world created for browsing the Internet but being a part of it at the same time and this way you could also play games but actually be doing it in cyber space rather than sitting in front of your computer clicking options. People stared at Jack for his Virtual image of himself was of him wearing the formal marine uniform.
'Find me Admiral Magnus of the Federated Earth Navy,' Jack said aloud and suddenly he was outside a pristine looking house with painted planks of wood that me up the one-story house. He stood outside and admired the admiral's house. This was actually what Magnus' house looked like in real-life, Jack approached but he was stopped in his tracks when the Admiral appeared right in front of him but the Admiral was wearing casual clothes.
'Sir uh-' Jack said surprised at the sudden appearance of the Admiral but after a few seconds Jack came to attention and gave a salute. Magnus did the same but then retorted
'You don't have to do that anymore captain,' Magnus replied. Jack hadn't seen the captain wearing civilian clothes before, he didn't look as though he were trying to impress or to act serious but just wore casual clothes and his hair wasn't combed as usual but rather messed up.
'What happened with your court martial sir?' Jack enquired, as he stood relaxed in front of him
'Please just call me Andrew. Anyway they put me on medication to cure me of schizophrenia. I have to take two damn needles filled with some crap that stops me from hearing and seeing people. I got off on the charge for Endangering Crew Members because they understood my situation and what I had to do at the time so they decided to give me an honourable discharged and they also gave me the Medal Of Honour. They chose not to publicise it though,' Former Admiral Andrew Magnus informed Jack as they walked inside the Virtual home.
'Well sir- I mean Andrew. I am here because I wanted to tell you something very important,' Jack said as he sat on the opposite side of a coffee table inside the lounge room of the virtual house.
'By all means go ahead and say it,' Andrew Magnus said confidently
'In... Nineteen hours we are going to rendezvous in a sector outside the Boragnian Homeworld with almost every fleet in the navy and we are going to engage the Boragnians and if all goes well we may end this war,' Jack informed his former superior
'Well that's fantastic news,' Andrew replied with a single clap and a laugh.
'Yeah but there's something that is bothering me about it,' Jack mumbled
'It's just... I am worried about our manpower. I mean after Earth was attacked five years ago we did the best we could to defend Earth and we suffered heavy casualties in defeating that Serabus and those fleets. After that catastrophe we had to mix Marine Pilots, Naval Pilots and Air Force Pilots into the same squadrons to remake our fighting force,' Captain Art elaborated
'Jack. I trust you have seen The Zeta Rail Cannon in action yes?' Andrew answered tilting his head as he talked
'How do you know about that?'
'Before I was discharged they informed me that the Zeta Rail Cannon had been installed to all the Flagships, destroyers and some cruisers. Anyway my point is this weapon has been designed to pulverise almost every enemy ship ever made and reduce them to nothing. Do you think it's a coincidence that they are beginning this attack just as our newest weapon has been brought in? With the Zeta Rail Cannon we are going to do to the Boragnians what they tried to do to Earth but with this weapon we will finish off those bastards once and for all,' Andrew answered the Captain with a motivating speech ending with his fist slamming down on the coffee table. Jack grinned, motivated by this speech
'Well I better head back but before I do sir I would like to ask you one final question... Who was Colonel Ballows?' Jack said
'Colonel Ballows was an officer who I went through the Navy Academy with. For years we had been stationed on the same ship but when he became Admiral, he was put in charge of a ship and after a massacre he along with a quarter of his crew escaped in pods. He was court-martialled but I insisted that he should be only demoted and to serve as my Second In Command. Then a few years later he had a stroke and died in his sleep.'
'Right... Well before I go sir I,' Jack replied coming to attention and gave the discharged Navy Admiral a final salute. Andrew stood up and saluted the captain
'Semper Fi marine.'
'Semper Fi sir.'







7 Hours Remaining Before Jump:
There was only a few hours left before the fleet would make the jump to Draconus Bravo and the entire cruiser was fast asleep and drifting away on auto-pilot but one or two Petty Officers were performing shifts on the bridge just incase something happened but so far it was all quiet. Jack however had awoken his entire squadron and gotten them to gather at the bar in the leisure area on the cruiser. There was not a soul in the leisure area, which made the moment more memorable
'I'm sorry I interrupted you all from your sleep but I thought I would do something special before we go on what we all hope to be our last mission in this war. Anyway I thought we should all have a drink so-' Jack stopped and picked up a glass half-filled with whiskey
'To all those who didn't survive the past twelve years and to those who were in our squadron who have passed on.' he toasted before he sat down next to Anne and drank his glass of alcohol among the pilots in his squadron at a long table next to the bar counter. Jack took a good look at the pilots that sat around him as he knew that the chances of seeing all their faces after this mission and with that thought Jack turned to Anne and kissed her in front of the entire squadron. Fraternisation among soldiers, pilots or sailors was not allowed but seeing that they might be out of "The Suck" when or if the battle is won he might as well do it while he had the chance. Everyone there just laughed at the captain themselves. Anne however smiled and then got a bit payback on the captain by kissing him on the mouth.



30 Seconds Remaining Until Jump:
Fleet Admiral Prime stood on the bridge, right next to the map table in the centre and the admiral was ready to make the jump to the rendezvous point, get briefed and prepare for the attack on the Boragnian Homeworld.
'All ships report status over,' Angus Prime requested over the radio
'This is the Frigate Emblem, all systems functioning normally over,'
'This is the Cruiser Hawk, all systems functioning normally over,'
The only ship that remained damaged in the entire fleet was the Freedom
'This is the Cruiser Freedom engine number two is slightly damaged and our shield generator needs to be replaced because we can only get our shields up to eighty-five percent over.' came the report from the Freedom.

To Be Continued...

P.S. Yeah, yeah I know not much of a decision point but I got the next chapter planned out along with the poll.

[sparta12]

We are now officially 3 quarters of the way through Virtual!

[ethereal_fauna]

Good chapter. I liked the countdown, the final hours and thoughts of a career soldier anticipating retirement. No suggestions at this point though, simply waiting for the poll…down to those final chapters where decisions are limited. I’m looking forward to the resolution. :biggrin:

[sparta12]

Thanks for those comments fauna. Anywho I'll put up the poll now.

[kingcappie]

Use the damaged ships. Use all the fire power you have and get this over with once and for all. :biggrin:

[sparta12]

Nice to hear from you Kingcappie, thanks for commenting and voting! :D

[sparta12]

snuh

[saxon215]

i say use the damaged cruiser, this is the battle for the end throw everything at them an hope that its gonna kill em, this is the finale, you will bloody well send everything you've got at that mother of a battle