“Fleet Admiral sir! Long-range scanners have eyed an vessel about to exit the jump lane! It’s magnometric signature is massive!” An officer yelled over his shoulder from his seat at his control console.
“Is it friendly?”
“Unknown sir, but it’s landing in approximately... five seconds.”
The Fleet Admiral grunted in acknowledgment. “Let’s see what we got here...”
A large area in the vast emptiness of space began to shift and change form, as if that one section of space were caving in on itself like that of a supernova. The space began to crush itself closer and closer, the distant stars through the clear area coming closer and closer to form their own ball of gleaming bright brilliance.
The contorting space had reached it’s limit. In less than a second, the distorted space burst outward in a bright-red flare, leaving only a single, colossal object in it’s place.
The officer perked up again, “Sir, vessel has been confirmed as a Nyx-class supercarrier. It’s ID tag has identified it as the Iron Giant. Should I set up a comms link?”
“Do it. Transfer the comms link to me once it gets through.”
“Aye sir. Will do.” The officer went back to his console.
~~~~~
Jump Drive core shutdown. All systems are green. No damage detected
“We made it. How are you holding up?” The commander turned to Canderous, who was face down on the floor and groaning in agony.
“Yea, I-I’m fine” said Canderous while struggling to stand up, only to fall flat on the floor again. The sergeant couldn’t help himself. He burst out laughing, holding his sides tightly as to contain some of the ironically joyful pain of watching a new recruit squirm around after their first long-distance jump.
After finishing his hearty laugh, he helped Canderous from up off the floor, patting him on the back good-naturedly. “You’ll get used to it Nord. We all had to get used to it. I remember watching the captain fall flat on his ass after we used the LDJCS for the first time. Everyone laughed it out for days on end, that is until he threatened to court martial us.”
Canderous was back on his feet, rubbing his forehead to regain some of his senses. He hoped would never have to do something that nauseating ever again, but then again, he had felt worse before, especially after a dozen beers or so at the local bar every night.
Disengaging port and starboard viewing port locks. Opening bridge observation deck.
Clicks and bangs resounded around the bridge as small metal hatches disengaged their holding locks and disappeared into the ship’s hull, revealing clear glass port holes no bigger than dinner plates. Each window did however give a clear view of the vast, awe-inspiring emptiness of space. It seems so simple that one can trigger a wave of artistic or calming emotions by simply staring at the nearest nebulae cluster.
Just then, an earsplitting noise of metal grinding on metal tore through the air like a knife grinding it’s sharp blade on smooth stone. Canderous covered his ears to block out the sudden torrent of noise, turning his head in every direction to try to discover the source of the noise, until he noticed how everyone but himself seemed perfectly fine. Everyone, even the sergeant stood there as if this sort of noise came around on a daily basis.
“Sergeant, what in the hell is that noise?!” said Canderous with a raised voice.
“Annoying as hell isn’t it? It’s the observation deck!” The sergeant’s voice got lower as the noise level suddenly rose higher.
“The what?!”
The sergeant grunted and rolled his eyes. He grabbed Canderous by his shirt collar and hoisted him up into the air. He let go of Canderous and pointed one of his muscly fingers towards the front of the bridge area. Gigantic twin steel panels were slowly sliding inward, revealing two large, very wide windows separated by a single girder. The grinding noise gradually lowered as the panels slowed to a halt, a loud bang and few extra clicks indicating that the panels were fully inward and locked in place. What they revealed to everyone on the bridge, was a glorious sight that very few non-military personnel get to see.
From what Canderous could guess was about fifty kilometers away, was a ship of incredible power and strength, an Erebus-class Titan, sitting right next to what could possibly be the largest Gallente military complex ever assembled, it’s walls stretching as far as the eye could see. Dozens of Megathron and Hyperion-class battleships guarded the only noticeable entrance to the complex, with sentry guns placed at strategic locations around them. Hundreds of frigates and interceptor craft patrolled the areas outside of the walls of the complex. A fleet of Moros-class dreadnoughts sat in assorted positions around the Titan, giving it an even stronger sense of power. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of warships at the complex. But behind all of that, there was something that every inhabitant of New Eden only dreamt of seeing.
The New Eden gate. The real New Eden gate.
No longer was the gate surrounded by a torrential magnetic storm. The gate itself was nearly triple the size of the Erebus titan that Canderous had gazed upon with awe for the first time. The gate’s form was a tall and wide circular ring, with two equally tall pylons attached to it’s “sides”, with the topmost part of each pylon an equal distance away from the other. Alongside the hull of one of the pylons was a single word, of which the gate is famous for, inscribed in bold white letters.
EVE
“Bendak! Nord! Front and center!” the captain yelled over his shoulder .
“Yes sir!” The pair replied in unison, Canderous breaking his gaze away from the sudden moment of beauty. They quickly made their way to the small pedestal-like control console where the captain stood, his fingers tapping noisily on the console’s smooth surface in impatience. When the pair made it to the captain, they stood upright and threw their arms into a salute. The captain signaled them to be at ease. He turned back to his console and pressed a series of buttons, causing the control console to lock up. After doing so, he turned to Canderous, his hands placed behind his back.
“Canderous, from what your recently received records tell me, you haven’t been in the Federation for more than fourty-eight hours. Meaning that you have yet to receive some combat training, a Federation issued ID number, or even taught how to properly identify and address someone of a higher rank than yo-.” The captain was interrupted by the voice of an officer near him.
“Sir! Incoming transmission from the Endar Spire. They are requesting a full identity code and calling card. Navy interceptors are closing in to escort us to our assigned position near the Endar Spire.”
“Good” the captain grunted, “Transmit the code and give them the go-ahead for the escort.” the captain yelled back. “Bendak,” The captain turned back to the sergeant, “Take Nord to the barracks and get him fitted with a uniform. His rank is Forward Scout, so see too it that he gets the right one. Report back to the bridge once your task is complete. Dismissed.”
~~~~~
“Well, now you see why I didn’t tell you earlier. It was a surprise, and a damn good one at that.” said the commander as he and Canderous walked through the barracks door.
“I can agree with you on that. I can’t believe that it actually happened. The New Eden gate...re-opened at last. Who knows what awaits us on the other side?!”
“Well the gate isn’t completely open. The gate can be reactivated and opened again. We just have to let the white coats in the science division figure out how to do it. It wouldn’t take too long I suppose. Those guys have been crawling all over that damn thing ever since we set up the outpost. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them decided to break off a piece of the gate and snort the space dust right off of it.”
Bendak and Canderous snaked through the many rows of lockers and benches of the barracks. Weapon racks lined the walls, holding various weapons such as EMP rifles and grenade launchers. Most of the heavy weapons were locked away inside of a fenced-in area tucked away in the corner of the barracks. The barracks was not empty though. Many marines were rummaging through their lockers or hunching over on metal benches chatting it up with their fellow comrades. As Bendak and Canderous made their way to the back of the barracks, some marines stopped their conversations to say something to Bendak, like ‘Evening sarge’.’ and, ‘Is the captain pissed off again sarge’?’ Bendak only replied to each of them with an annoyed grunt as he passed by.
After a noisy and rather annoying walk through the barracks the pair had finally reached the uniform room. Hanging on small hooks suspended from the ceiling were dozens of elegant uniforms of all sizes and colors, each color representing a different position in the Federation Navy. On the shoulders of each uniform there was a patch of same-color leather with a special insignia, defining the rank of whoever wore the uniform.
“The marine boys outside wouldn’t be caught dead in here if they plan on embarrassing themselves. To think that any of them would get out of their power armor and slip into something like this would make everyone in his platoon want to beat him senseless. So let’s make this quick. Take a seat on that bench Nord. I’ll be back in a minute.” Bendak walked towards the back of the room, turning his head left and right to try and find the uniform that would properly identify Canderous. He returned a few minutes later, a pair of Federation-issue boots in one hand and a large red jacket slung over his shoulder. In his other hand, he held a small medal, which gave off a nice silvery sheen in the glow of the light. The medal was shaped into the form of two bird wings, criss-crossing behind an eagle’s eye formed in the middle. The eye’s gaze practically stared into the soul of anyone who looked upon it’s gleaming form. Bendak let the jacket droop off of his shoulder and onto the floor, tossing the boots and the shiny medal on top of it.
“Put on those boots and make sure that the jacket fits. You pin that medal onto the front of the jacket. It will signify you as a forward scout for the Federation Navy...well you’ll be the only forward scout in the Federation Navy. There hasn’t been a forward scout in the Navy for years... one that survived of course.”
As Canderous was tightening the straps on his boots, he looked up to Bendak with worried eyes, “Survived? What do you mean survived?”
“Oh come on Nord everyone knows that the forward scout is usually the first to die in any fleet. The poor bastard might have to jump through a stargate to scout ahead into an adjacent star system, only to land right on top of an enemy fleet and instantly destroyed as soon as the enemy fleet commander catches eye of him. First to enter, first to leave... permanently.”
“That’s uhh...good to know I guess.” said Canderous as he finished securing the straps on the second boot.
“But there’s nothing to worry about. We’re surrounded by the largest Federation fleet ever assembled. We even have the Fleet Admiral himself here. With him around, no one would be stupid enough as to try and attack us.”
Canderous had finished zipping up the jacket and pinning the medal near the jacket’s front pocket, narrowly missing his skin in the process. Strangely, there was no mirror in the room, but he pictured himself looking like a typical “big shot fly-boy” like the ones he saw at nearly every bar in Jita, with their hair gelled back and usually two drunken women at their sides. Not exactly the look that he would normally choose, but for a Gallentean, this was considered common evening-wear.
“That err...uniform will signify you as the forward scout for the Iron Giant, and a forward scout for the Federation Navy should you ever get reassigned to another vessel.” Bendak continued, ” I’d go through the whole lecture on what to do and what not to do in the Navy, but seeing how pressed for time we are that will have to wait a while. Captain Aran ordered the both of us to report back to the bridge once we are finished here. Let’s go.”
Canderous got up from the bench and strode out of the room with Bendak. As of now, he no longer considered himself Canderous the common pilot, but Canderous the Navy Man.
~~~~~
“Fleet Admiral sir!” said a saluting marine with a deep tone of respect, “ The head of the research team has arrived with this findings. Should we allow him on the bridge?”
“Yes corporal. Let him in.”
The marine lowered his arm and walked back to his post at the bridge door control console. He punched in his ID code and a password to use the console. After pushing a multitude of other buttons, the bridge bulkhead door slid open, revealing a tall, dirt-covered man in a dirty white trench coat, beads of sweat on his forehead and a holo-tablet clenched tightly in his hands. You can tell that this man was the head of the research team just by his face, or rather his “eye”. The man owned a cybernetic ocular implant in his right eye, a rare implant that is usually meant for looks rather than scientific purposes.
The dirty man walked hastly through the open door, nodding to the marine at the control console as a sign of thanks. He calmly walked up to the fleet admiral, giving a short bow to act as a temporary salute instead of having to let go of his holo-tablet to salute him properly. The fleet admiral put his hands behind his back and began to speak.
“Head researcher Sticatto, I’ve been told that you have just recently found a way to use the New Eden gate?”
The researcher cleared his throat before speaking, “Y-yes sir. After throughly studying the gate, we have discovered a way to reactivate it. It uses the same methods that our jump drives of today use. With a few more months of research and development, we can integrate our own jump drives with the gate's systems, allowing us to use the gate whenever we wish. Main power to the gate’s control tower has been re-established along with it’s other basic life-support and tertiary systems, meaning that we can use the gate at any time. There is just one problem...”
The fleet admiral raised an eyebrow in question, “And what problem would that be?”
“We... we don’t posses anyone who is willing to scout out the other side. Oddly, we didn’t find any critical damage done to the gate by the magnetic storm, but this gate is ancient sir, very ancient. Who knows as to what could happen should we try to send a man through?”
“I know this Sticatto, and I know of the risks,” said the fleet with a heavy sigh before continuing, “but can it be done?”
Sticatto could only stare at the fleet admiral in shock. Was he really willing to risk another man’s life in the name of something that they barely know about?
“Y-yes sir, it can be done, with an eighty-five percent succession rate actually, in the gate’s current state that is...”
The fleet admiral moved his gaze down to the floor, thinking as to what the next course of action should be. He knew that no one, not even one of his battle-hardened marines was willing to risk his life for this. And the last time he had checked, the Federation hasn’t had a forward scout in ye-.
The fleet admiral jolted upward, a single thought setting off a hopeful spark for this discovery. He immediately turned to an man standing off to his side with a holo-tablet in his hands.
“Lieutenant Vadik, did the Federation receive a new forward scout just today?”
The lieutenant brought the holo-tablet up to his fingers, scanning through the Navy’s databanks of enlisted men. He stopped at the facial profile of a sleek-faced man, with four blue dots in a tattoo pattern across the right side of his face and a small scar across his cheek. The lieutenant walked over to the fleet admiral and handed the tablet over to him. The fleet admiral’s eyes went wide, his face slowly contorting into a smile.
“Sticatto, I believe we have a man for the job.” He handed the tablet to the researcher, who’s eyes grew wide as well.
“Yes, yes! With this man, who knows what we will find on the other side! We need this man, and we need him now!”
“Where is he located?”
The researcher’s implant clicked and whirred, zooming in on the tiny electronic text next to his facial profile. “According to his recent profile, he has been placed aboard the Iron Giant. Didn’t that ship just recently arrive?”
The fleet admiral grunted but kept his smile, “Yes. Yes it did.” He turned towards the front of the bridge, “Officer Fallman, send a message to the Iron Giant requesting that Canderous Nord report to me on the bridge of the Endar Spire as soon as possible.” A faint ‘Yes sir!’ acknowledged his request.
He turned back to Sticatto, who was now rubbing his hands together in an anxious mood. “Sticatto, you may head back to your team now. I will call for you when mister Nord arrives.”
Sticatto gave a quick bow and handed the tablet back to the fleet admiral. He shuffled to the bulkhead door, signaled the marine to open it again, and scurried out of the bridge.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~