Rigel Rising

Stage 5- Felis Horribilis

"This is horrible..."

I looked at the empty bridge, and my heart sank when I saw outside the windows the damage the dock has sustained.

It is almost unrecognizable.

There are even dead bodies floating around along with the debris.

"We are lucky we were inside the ship when the attack happened. If the captain has followed the orders of the Lord High Admiral to have all the crew of Rigel listen to his speech, we would've been goners," Drew said grimly as I went to the captain's seat and pressed the main switch located in the screen attached to the end of its right armrest, "What's the status of the ship?"

I quickly looked at the damage report sent by the damage control teams just now, "It will take more than several explosions to sink this ship, that's for sure."

"So we can launch this?"

"If we can secure enough power from its reactor, that is. It is offline. why?"

Drew sat on the navigation seat and began typing on the keyboard rapidly, "The Rigel is equipped with the experimental gravitational perpetual motion reactor. It requires a lot of time to activate."

"Time? Not power?" I asked curiously as I checked the engine, and it is indeed online and will require more than an hour to even activate, "Time is a luxury we can not afford right now. The communications are jammed both short and long-range. We will be sitting ducks if we don't get the power systems online."

The door suddenly opened, and four crew members appeared, three women and one man looking somewhat bewildered at the sight of the only room they never thought they will have the chance to even see at all when they signed up for this.

"Candice Azalea and Cailee Ariana, Culinary Specialists at your service," the younger of the two introduced herself and her companion, who nudged the petite and dainty looking girl next to her.

"Mariana Demia, Supply Officer."

Their male companion clapped the back of the shy girl energetically, "You have to be peppier than that, Mariana! I'm Trey Elsman, Chief Petty Officer. So, are we really going to move this thing or what?"

"If we can get power to the engines, why not?" I asked quietly as the three of them went to their stations, and I was surprised that Candice went to the executive officer's seat while her sister went for the fire control officer's, "You two are from the mess hall, right?"

Cailee winked at me as she happily activated the weapons system of the ship efficiently without even looking at the screen while tapping her keyboard, "Yes. But don't worry, we are capable of mincing meat, kitchen or not."

"I'm not one to talk, I'm from the maintenance staff, but I am more than capable of controlling the armor, bulkheads, and whatnot. After all, I have to learn how they work before I can fix them, eh?" Trey said as he began to assess the armor damages we have sustained and the situation of the maintenance and repair teams.

Mariana looked at me from her communications stations timidly, "Uhm, should I raise the battlestation to level one?"

I nodded slowly, and to our surprise, she began speaking on the coms in a relatively confident and essentially different way than she does personally.

"All hands to level one battlestations! I repeat, all hands to level one battlestations! All personals to your stations! The ship is preparing final sequences for launch. All crews are ordered to handle your posts immediately! I repeat..."

Drew raised an eyebrow in her direction in awe as he just remembered something, "If I am not mistaken, you major in battle communications while we are at the academy, right, Mariana?"

"Yes, I have. Though I graduated a year ahead of you."

"I knew it. You are one of the best of your graduating batch. What the heck are you doing as a Supply Officer when you can be a bridge crew on whatever ship you choose?"

Mariana glanced in my direction before smiling sadly, "Sometimes, we get where we have to be against our will. I really prefer to work in a low-profile position. I'm not that good with socializing, personally speaking. But since he is willing to help, I decided that I should do what I can and pitch with what little I can do."

"Spoken like a saint, Mariana," Candice commented rather rudely, but it seemed they are close enough that she didn't mind it at all and even managed to giggle a little, "Anyways, I heard from one of the chatting engineers a few days ago at the mess hall that if the main reactor is not working, the ship has reserves it can tap into in case of emergencies. Good for several days of power at that."

I furrowed my brow and searched for something like that in the ship's system, and after a minute of frantic typing, I finally found something.

"Clowder Gravity Booster?" I asked myself quietly as I clicked the option, and suddenly, the ship shuddered in a steady hum like a purring cat, "What happened?!"

Trey gasped when he looked at his screen, "Main powers are online! Output is stable! The Clowder Gravity Boosters are providing power to the systems!"

"Commence launch sequence! Divert powers to life support, propulsion, and weaponry," I ordered everyone around, and suddenly I stopped.

Cailee looked at me inquiringly, "Is there a problem? Do your wounds hurt?"

"No, it's just, I am throwing orders around, and I just realized that I am rude doing it like a superior or something," I confessed that made Candice sighed angrily before speaking.

"The only thing rude about you is that you keep on standing next to the captain's chair. Are you telling us that we should stand as well like you?"

I quickly shook my head and looked at the empty seat next to me, "No, but..."

"Sit the heck down, please. I think you have enough of being thrown around for today, right?" Drew said, and I nodded before sitting at the captain's chair, "That's better. Now, for the sake of simplicity and coherence, we will begin to address you as captain for the duration of our time here at the bridge. Standard operating procedures, I hope nobody disagrees?"

The three girls smiled at him as Trey chuckled a little, "No arguments here. Also, don't be afraid to order us around. It's your job to do it."

Another explosion rocked the dock, and we looked at each other knowingly.

We don't have time to waste anymore.

The longer we stay here, the higher chance of us being killed.

And if there's one thing my teammates taught me that I can never forget, it is to never die without a fight.

At least if we indeed perish in this endeavor of ours, I can look at them straight into the eyes and say that I resisted at least.

"We are in no position to do all system check sequences. We will thus omit the non-essential processes from the checks. Begin the final preparations!"

Drew began getting the engines online, "Gravitational perpetual motion reactor online, diverting power from the Clowder Gravity Boosters. Conduits online, thrusters online, main engines all green!"

"External communications are still being jammed, internal communications unaffected. Connections between different bulkheads established all lines are working as intended. Combat information center performing at acceptable levels. Transmission systems online!" Mariana reported as everything on her screen turned green.

Cailee continues to type rapidly on her keyboard seriously, "Fire control systems online. Felis, Caracal, Rufus, Ocelot, and Oncilla responding to system checks. Weapons system stable!"

"Life support systems functioning. Anti-Beam Water Cannons normal, modular armor at one hundred percent capacity and automation. Sealing all airtight bulkheads and compartments. We're in the green!" Trey reported to Candice, who is sitting just below me and acting as my second in command.

"All Rigel systems online, final preparations for launch complete, Captain Caerus?" she asked loudly for my next orders.

I took a deep breath and nodded to myself, "All hands, prepare for explosions and sudden impacts. Gunnery crew, standby. Maximum combat speed. Launch Rigel!"

The ship finally shuddered to movement, and slowly, we are moving towards the closed gates of the dock.

"The codes are not working. The main gate is not responding to our ship's launch!" Mariana reported panic, but before I can reply, it's my second in command who spoke first.

"Activate the Felis Triple High Energy Beam Cannons! Target: The Main Gate!"

My eyes widened in shock when I heard her, "Wait, why?!"

"Unless you want us to ram the gate instead, captain," Candice replied pointedly as two gigantic triple-barrelled cannons mounted on the top and bottom of the ship's bow appeared from inside the ship's hull and began targetting the closed gate dead ahead.

"Felis locked and loaded, sis!" Cailee reported loudly, and her sister called my attention.

"The honor is all yours, Captain Caerus. Unless you are serious about us ramming this ship bow first?"

I shook my head and took a deep breath, "Desperate times call for desperate measures, eh? Felis, fire!"

At my command, six massive red beams are emitted from our main guns and traveled straight ahead, destroying the main gate in an enormous explosion, and our way out of the dock is opened.

"Maintain maximum combat speed! We are getting the hell out of here!" I shouted as the Rigel quickly emerged from the explosions we created and into the colony proper.

What we saw will haunt me for the rest of my life.

The Regina Space Colony, my home, is now burning. It's like a scene from a morbid movie or something.

Imperial battleships raining artillery wantonly at the civilian districts while its cosmo armors are bombing everything that is not yet burning or destroyed to rubble.

"How horrendous! This is no longer a war! This is g******e!"

We can all but agree with what Trey has said as we looked at a battleship destroying a hospital with its green beam cannons.

Mariana suddenly spoke, which made us all feel a bit of relief, "All civilians have been evacuated already earlier successfully to our other colonies! There's an automated broadcast in all royal secured channels instructing that the colony is an open battlefield now!"

"Any response from any Royal Space Navy Command?" I asked quickly as several scout cosmo armors flew past us before returning to the direction of their motherships, "This is bad. They already spotted us."

"No response from our hails! All external communications are heavily jammed, and no allied forces within our effective radar range!" the communications officer answered quickly before confirming my fears, "Targetting arrays detected! Nearby imperial ships are locking in on us! Confirmed Hela-Class Imperial Destroyer and Baal-Class Imperial Battleship!"

I swore loudly as I opened the ship's specs on my screen and began reading as fast as I can because not just my life but everyone on this ship depends on it.

HRMS-00 Rigel Prototype Carrier, Testbed Ship of the Nebula-Class Assault Carriers.

Armaments

"Panthera" Gravity Cannon

The most potent weapon of the Rigel Prototype Carrier is its one gigantic gravity cannon hidden inside the hull of the ship and requires the gravitational perpetual motion reactor to power it by diverting all its energy in a massive destructive blast but requires a long charge and recharge time.

"Felis" 390cm Triple High-Energy Beam Cannon

The only beam weapon carried by Rigel Prototype Carrier is two "Felis" 335cm Triple High-Energy Beam Cannons mounted on the top and bottom of the ship. It is the primary weapon and capable of engaging in a wide firing angle. When not in use, it is retracted within the hull.

"Caracal" 90mm Automatic Multi-Barrel CIWS

Rigel Prototype Carrier is armed with an array of 19 "Caracal" 80mm automatic multi-barrel CIWS guns for intercepting incoming missiles or cosmo armors. The CIWS guns are movable to shoot down targets from several directions, retractable and adequate only in close quarters.

"Rufus" 190cm Helical Railguns

Under the bridge of the ship mounts a single "Rufus" 190cm Helical Railguns, which are retractable like most of the armaments of Rigel, and useable when underwater or in events when Felis cannot be used due to anti-beam depth charges or interference.

"Ocelot" Surface-to-air Missile Launchers

The Rigel has 19 surface-to-air missile launchers located at the stern of the ship near the engines. These launchers are loaded with numerous, short-range "Ocelot" anti-aircraft/projectile missiles. Together with the Caracal, it forms the first and second layer close-range defenses of the carrier.

"Oncilla" Surface-to-ship Missile Launcher

29 vertical launched surface-to-ship missile launchers are located in the stern section of the Rigel, usually hidden within its hull like many of its weapons. These launchers can fire "Oncilla" surface-to-ship missiles traditionally used in tandem with Rufus when beam weaponry is unavailable. They can either be launched one by one or in one giant swarm of projectiles capable of overwhelming their opponents' defensive system if used properly.

"Clowder" Gravity Booster Gunboats

One of the two gigantic weapons that set the Rigel Prototype Carrier from its successors, almost half the size of the entire ship. The Panthera Gravity Cannon requires the gravitational perpetual motion reactor to power it and have multiple functions. First, it acts as auxiliary batteries for gravity energy when the main reactor is offline by storing excess energy. Second, it acts as boosters for the ship by providing additional thrust and propulsion by using its own reserves or connecting with the main reactor. Third, it can be detached and controlled remotely to provide extra firepower by utilizing its reserves to power miniature "Panthera" Gravity Cannons. Lastly, when needed, they can be used as evacuation pods.

Special Equipment & Features

Gravity Field

A unique and secret feature of the Rigel Prototype Carrier. Using the excess power produced by its gravitational perpetual motion reactor, the ship can project a sizeable defensive bubble around to protect it from all incoming attacks entirely. The downside is that no weapons can be used while it is online, as it also blocks the ship's weapons from the inside. Finally, it is power extensive and requires all Clowders to have reserves to even bring online for few minutes.

Anti-Beam Water Cannons

Located all around the hull of the Rigel are countless water cannons capable of firing tons of water that immediately vaporizes and forms a defensive dome that protects it from beam weapons as that kind of armaments are useless when it comes to contact with moisture or liquid. Used sparingly because it also renders the Felis unusable as well.

Modular Armor

The outer hull of the Rigel Prototype Carrier is composed of microscopic modular armors made of the beam and physical resistant tungsten that can be replaced during battle automatically as long as the automation can keep up with the damage and there are available resources to restore the strongest, but very brittle armor on the fly every time the ship gets hit.