The Shattering: Witness

Posted on Thu May 11th, 2023 @ 5:27am by Lieutenant Maia Swan

Mission: Out of Time
Location: Earth Spacedock
Timeline: The Shattering

ON

Maia hauled herself out of the bed in the massive infirmary and limped over towards the window. She'd been mired in this sickbay wing for the last two weeks as she recovered from the fight to save Valos, along with many of the survivors of the Falchion. Of the 250 crew that had manned the light warship that served as a picket on the Klingon border, only 73 had survived, 53 of them on board the battered little ship. 156 had gone down to the planet to root out the pests that the Klingon ships had sent when they realized that Commander Branson wouldn't let himself be beat in space, only 24 had returned to the doughty little ship alive, four dying before significant medical care could be provided.

Of the 18 wounded ground combatants, Lieutenant Junior Grade Maia Swan had been among the worst, bleeding profusely from scalp and face, one leg seemingly half-severed and one kidney punctured and had to be removed and a replacement grown. So they had been brought back to Earth with a Fleet welcoming party. A few days later, the remnants of Falchion had been assembled in one of the cavernous holds and medals, promotions and awards had been handed out like carnival prizes by one of the Lords of Terra's aides after the Lord of Terra had made a brief speech before leaving. Captain Branson had been promoted posthumously and made a Hero of the Empire, as were several of the living and dead crew of the little ship. All except for Maia, who had been given a small medal for being injured in the line of duty, then ignored.

But it was good to be back home, or at least as close to home as she could be while in the care of the Imperial medics. Even now, she was mostly let be on her own and she was eager to get back into form and back out into the universe rather than stuck on a starbase. But one perk of this temporary assignment was that when the sun crested the horizon over her homeland of New Zealand, Maia could watch the morning hit. She'd also made a habit of comming her family after they'd had breakfast, which would be in a couple hours.

Maia leaned against the window as the daylight terminator crossed the last miles of the Pacific Ocean and hit the land mass of the island and smiled. She'd have to make the medics let her visit home soon, see her four siblings, her parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts. And of course, if they were given enough warning, they'd have a good barbeque for the occasion. Smoke was rising from several of the mountains on the islands, which made the Maori woman press her nose to the window, seeking anything else she could. It wasn't unknown for this, just not normal, but no messages had been awaiting her when she woke, so her family wasn't concerned.

One of the other patients had ambled over, he was mostly healed and had been on the ground with Maia, "That's not too surprising, there have been earthquakes on Earth, the reports say, mostly around the Ring of Fire region, but also on the opposite side of the planet. No one's worried."

Maia nodded, "Thanks Reggie. You know where you're being shipped off to?" She turned with a smile towards him. His attitude towards her had changed after Valos, as had some others, but he'd been given the Imperial Star, the second highest medal for valor, while she hadn't.

"ISS Evenstar," Reggie Crasten grinned as if he won the biggest prize in the Empire, which was almost true, "Flagship of Fourth Fleet, going to be one of the Assistant Chiefs, probably Third Watch, but I can always move up."

That caused Maia to try to suppress a surge of jealousy. ISS Evenstar was one of the newer ships of the Fleet, handpicked by Admiral Rastar as her own flagship. She knew her own next assignment wouldn't be so posh or prestigious. Maia turned back to the window as she pondered her own potential fate and because she did, she saw her whole world come to an end.

It started with volcanic explosions all across the Pacific, but most of those were in Maia's peripheral vision because her eyes were on her homeland, specifically that patch of Earth where her home was. Or more importantly, had been. Debris was in the air, that much was certain, but the glow of magma seemed to have blanketed the island that was visible, a dull orange that almost expanded visibly from the lattice of massive cracks in the earth. The pyroclastic flow from the nine volcanos that were still classified as active was truly spreading as she watched while veritable mountains of rock were thrown dozens of kilometers away from their source.

Maia didn't even notice the red lights flashing around her, nor the announcement that declared the Starbase to be at General Quarters and that all comms were now restricted. Maia's eyes were only for her homeland, tears already streaming from her eyes while Reggie left the window, rushing towards the nurses station to get more information. She hit her comm, only getting the blank tone that told her that it wasn't going to work. She hit it again, and again, hoping for the prompt that meant she had an open commline, but to no avail.

Her eyes finally left the now obscured island and moved to Australia, where another series of volcanos had erupted, but more disturbing was the interior of the continent, where an upheaval was apparent. A look further around what was visible showed that it wasn't just the South Pacific, it was everywhere she looked. A new island was in the middle of the ocean, a golden orange jutting up as an underwater supervolcano had made itself known.

"Mom? Dad? Guys?" Maia asked softly as her legs fell from under her, unable to support her any longer, but her eyes couldn't move from what was happening on Earth. The Throne World for centuries.

Swarms of small craft and every starship that was within the Sol System began to react quickly, some suicidally diving into the inferno that was forming in an attempt to rescue... Someone... Anyone... But most of them hovered outside the atmosphere, questing with sensors for anyone to transport out, forlorn witnesses to the death of the planet.

And Maia, too, was a witness to the deaths of everyone she'd known and loved as she watched the crumbled ruins of the islands she called home recede back into the ocean they had come from.

And she was alone.


OFF:

Lieutenant (jg) Maia Swan
Earth Starbase, Medical Rehabilitation