The Eye of Argonis

"Helm, evasive maneuvers.  Hard to port!" the captain barked out, glancing nervously at the readouts on the terminal beside his left arm.

"Aye Captain, adjusting 30 degrees port," the helmsman replied, correcting the ships coarse with the controls in front of him.

The hull groaned as the large ship pulled the evasive maneuver, causing the crew to feel the pull as the inertial dampeners worked to capacity to compensate for the harsh action of the vertical thrusters.  On the bridge's main screen, the image of the oncoming torpedo whisked by to the right, flying into the empty space past the starboard side of the ship.  The small tactical screen on the armrest of the Captain's chair showed the all-clear.  Breathing a sigh of relief from the near-miss, the Captain straightened his uniform, and began to relay his new orders.

"Helm, come about 5 degrees starboard, let's show this bastard what we're made of.  Prepare the batteries for a stern rake," the captain barked, eschewing confidence, as was his trademark.

The overhead lights flickered and a large groan was heard around the ship as the weapon batteries charged to fire, causing a slight power surge across the grid.  The large Lunar class cruiser Nex Visio, well within targeting range and now directing its starboard batteries to the enemy, fired a large salvo into the fleeing ship.    The stern rake expertly executed by the crew caused massive damage to the enemy's aft.  Large plumes of plasma residue and metal debris from the cruiser's engines scattered in its wake.

"Captain, I suggest we take advantage of her immobility.  Perhaps a torpedo strike?" offered the ship's first officer.
         
"Agreed, number One.  Helm, pitch 25 degrees starboard.  Ready the prow torpedo launchers.  Hit her while she's standing still for us boys.  Fire at will!" the Captain ordered, a confident smile playing on his rugged and regal features.

The bridge shook briefly as the torpedo bays ejected their deadly warheads.  The main view port of the bridge showed the scene outside as the missiles sped their way to the crippled ship drifting a few kilometers ahead.  Thick layers of armor seemingly melted like butter as the torpedoes buried themselves deep into the Lightbringer, only to detonate moments later and spread the remnants of the once proud ship in a huge radius around the explosion.  Cheers erupted from the bridge crew, as the last pockets of air and flammable gases were extinguishing into cold space.  Captain Tharius Godspur was content to smile as he watched the reaction of his crew around him.  It was a great way to say good-bye.

"The Lightbringer's hailing us, sir," the small man at the communications station spoke loudly, trying to be heard over the noise of the celebration.

"Put it on the main vox, Ensign," Tharius ordered, a smile still drawn on his face.

"My congratulations, Captain.  At one point, were I a betting man, I would have been sure that we had you cold.  Once again your prowess on the battlefield impresses all.  Well fought Captain, or should I say Admiral?" the man on the vox link exclaimed.

"Now, now, Felonius, we both know that's not official, yet.  But in regards to the battle, modesty must permit me to tell you that even I was unsure the outcome of that one.  Your torpedoes only missed by a hair's length," Tharius replied.

Tharius pressed several buttons on his command cogitator, and suddenly the shattered image on the main screen was replaced with that of the Lightbringer, safely anchored in front of the Nex Visio.  A voice from the bridge's main vox notified the staff that the simulation had ended.

"Well, no matter how it ended, it was once again a pleasure to duel with such a fine captain.  I know you will make an exquisite Admiral."

"My thanks, old friend.  Now board your shuttle, we shall celebrate with a fine dinner aboard the Nex Visio.  I'll have the chef prepare your favorite," Tharius offered.

"Fillet Grox sautéed in a sweet amasec, how can I refuse?  I shall join you shortly.  The Emperor protects.  Lightbringer out," The rival captain replied, excitement laden in his voice.

"Fine work, people.  Once again, it has been my honor to serve with the fleet's best crew.  I shall retire to my chambers before the captain arrives.  Number One, you have the bridge.  The Emperor protects," the Captain said, saluting as he turned to leave.

"Aye, Captain," replied the first officer, raising his salute until Tharius turned around and left the bridge.



Captain Tharius Godspur, a tall and handsome man in his late forties looked into the mirror of his private cabin.  Absently combing his short midnight black hair, he let his mind wander through the events that played out earlier.  He locked onto his hazel eyes in the mirror, and took a few deep breaths.  The after-effects of battle, even simulated ones, usually left him drained and feeling weak.

Satisfied that his appearance at least qualified as decent, he left his private cabin and made for the shuttle bay.  Midway to his destination, an alarm suddenly blared over the vox speakers in the corridor.  Quickly following the alarm, the vox bead in his ear came to life.

"Captain, we've intercepted a distress signal, originating from the Argonis system," the first officer explained over the vox link.

"The nature?" asked the Captain.

"We're unable to decode the actual message, sir.  However, it is using imperial encryption.  It's definitely one of ours, sir."

"Understood, notify Captain Felonius of the Lightbringer of the situation, and send him my apologies.  Set course for the Argonis system.  I'm heading back to my cabin to change and then I'll join you on the bridge.  Captain out." barked Tharius, agitated and disappointed to miss a chance at having a good meal with good company.



An hour and twenty minutes later, the Nex Visio translated out of warp near the third planet in the Argonis system.  The ship's brief travel through the empyrean still showed the tell-tale signs of the warp, as trace amounts of ice and an ethereal haze surrounded the large cruiser as it firmly set back into real space.  The ship's helmsman set course for the large expanse of deep space between the third and fourth planets of the uninhabited system, the source location of the distress signal.

"Report," the Captain stated, walking into the bridge and making his way to his command chair.
 
"Sir, we're in the approximate area of the signal source.  ETA in one minute and twenty seconds," replied the young man sitting at one of the main terminals.

Bringing the outside view of space onto the main view port screen, the Captain searched visually for signs of what might have called them out to this desolate waste of space.

Turbulence unexpectedly rocked the ship, tossing several of the crew in the bridge against the equipment and machinery lining the area.  An alert sounded loudly over the vox as amber warning lights replaced the normally bright white ones.

"Helm, report!" the Captain yelled over the blurting klaxons.

"Nothing but empty space in front of us, sir.  It's almost as if we just came out of warp.  I'm reading a vast power source fading from our last position," the Ensign shouted quickly.

"Damage report?"

"All systems reporting nominal, sir!" yelled a man from his station behind the Captain's chair.

"Turn off that bloody alarm," instructed the Captain, tempted to cover his ears with his hands.

The alarm quickly subsided, and the amber light faded as the bridge was once again lit bright white.

"Navigator, did you notice any fluctuations with the warp drive?"

"None, my Captain.  However I too felt a strange surge of warp power," an eerie sounding voice echoed through the vox.

"Ensign Vogel, investigate with engineering and give me a report in five."

"Aye, Aye, Captain," resounded the Ensign, keying over the vox to speak with the engineering section.

Outside of the ship, a small field of debris floated directly in front of them, a few kilometers away.  A slight haze surrounded the field, causing it to seem blurry at times.

"Number One, send a search drone to that field, also set it to look for signs of a warp field.  That debris is nowhere near large enough to be a ship, so someone must have fled this area, I want to know who and why."

The first officer nodded his head, saluted and made his way to the cogitator in the back.  Tharius watched as a small drone shot out from under them and appeared in the space in front of the ship.  It scattered to and fro, searching for signs it was programmed to find.  The drone began to appear smaller and smaller, as it waded further away.  It was barely visible when it reached the debris and shot back a burst of data to the terminal the first officer was using.

Abruptly, the space around the tiny drone seemed to grow darker.  Before Tharius's eyes could make out any details, the drone exploded in a bright shower of sparks.  In an instant, the space where the drone was became an enormous metal object.  Streaming out of the disturbed space, Tharius could now see that it was a large ship soaring towards them.  Still many kilometers away, he could still make out that the ship was venting trace amounts of gas and had visible battle damage.

The alarms returned as the Nex Visio's sensors now detected the emerging ship nearby.  The bridge crew hurriedly assessed data and checked their terminals to find out what had just taken place.

Tharius, familiar with just about every ship in the Emperor's fine navy, recognized the ship as a Lunar class cruiser, the same as the Nex Visio.  Its prow showed scars and burns from recent laser damage.  Random antennae and aesthetic features across its body were also torn and broken.  The unknown ship's propulsion hinted at a good amount of engine damage, making its flight slow and clumsy.

Before the Captain could bark out any orders, the strange ship's forward lance batteries fired.  Searing blasts struck the Nex Visio's prow, damaging the starboard side torpedo tube.  Once again the bridge crew was rocked back and forth as the inertial dampeners couldn't compensate for the sudden force.

"Helm, 45 degrees port.  Ready the starboard batteries, fire when locked.  And somebody get those damn shields activated!" spat the Captain, holding onto his chair tightly to prevent from being thrown to the metal floor.

"Comms, open a vox link to the unknown ship."  After a brief second or two, the vox link beeped a successful connection.

"Un-identified ship.  I am Captain Tharius Godspur of the Lunar Class cruiser Nex Visio of the Imperial Navy.  You have taken hostile actions, we will be forced to fire back unless you power down all weapons immediately!"

Two more blasts followed immediately, targeting the communications antennae.  The vox link churped and fell dead silent.

"Sir, comms are down." reported Ensign Vogel.

"Emperor-damnit, fire on these bastards!" yelled the Captain through gritted teeth.

The Nex Visio turned her starboard batteries on the oncoming attacker.  The laser cannons tore into the ship, scoring huge chunks out of the prow and even destroying the lance lasers.  Severe damage had been handed to the enemy, but still she kept her course straight towards the Nex Visio.

"What's the situation on the shields?"

"Captain, we've sustained damage to the shield generators, it could take several minutes to get them up!" one of the ratings yelled from his station up front.

"This is just perfect..." the Captain mumbled to himself.  He quickly turned around and shot a look at his first officer.  His chief mate returned the knowing look.  Remembering that they've been in worse situations, the Captain gave a little smile of re-assurance back and nodded.

"Sir, I've identified the ship.  She's..." the Ensign trailed off, a confused expression overtaking his features.

"Ensign, report!" shouted the Captain, currently at a loss for patience.

"Sir, she's... she's the Nex Visio.  She's us... sir."  The Ensign turned around for his last few words, hoping the Captain would understand that he was dead serious.

Another alert joined the chorus of the red alert klaxon as the attacker fired a torpedo.  The deadly warhead launched out of the tube and started its path towards them.

"They've fired a torpedo, Captain!" the first officer shouted.

"What damage are we looking at if it hits?" Tharius dared to ask.

"Captain, with our shields down and no chance to outrun it, we're looking at total damage, sir," the first officer answered.  "We've no time to scramble fighters, and point defense turret sets three through six are irreparably damaged."

"Ideas, thoughts, number One?" asked the captain in a grave voice.

"Sir, I... I..." trailed the first officer, clearly not knowing what to do.

With a sudden confidence and renewed vigor, the Captain stood from his command chair.  "Helm, prepare translation to warp.  Use our last jump data as coordinates.  Warp as soon as humanly possible."

Clearly troubled by his Captains orders, the Ensign swallowed hard and began to follow orders.  The first officer, in evident panic, left his station and approached closely to reason with the Captain.

"Sir, that's madness.  Even if we survive the sudden translation to warp, the other ship's gravity could destroy us.  This attempt could kill the navigator outright, and even if we do make it to warp there's no telling when or where we'll end up!" he spoke in a low voice directly to the Captain.  All he could see in return was the confident gaze from Tharius.

"Settle down old friend.  You said it yourself; we're scrap if we stay.  Trust me, this is the only chance we have to avoid sure destruction," the Captain replied calmly.

Nodding his head slowly, the uneasy first mate returned to his station and prepared for the desperate gamble.  The torpedo, now more than half it's way to them, sped along its course.

The Captain was clearly troubled by the events unfolding.  Recognizing his own ship, it was disturbing to see its mirror image attacking him, forcing him to put his entire ship and crew in dire danger.  Resolving to survive for now and ask questions later, he opened the channel to vox the entire ship's crew.

"All hands, prepare for immediate warp translation.  Prepare for possible impact.  The Emperor protects!"

The Captain nodded to the Ensign, and the warp translation engine was activated.  The normal rites and ceremony for entering warp space had to be ignored for this quick maneuver, putting the ship and every soul aboard it in the most extreme danger.  Thousands of lips murmured prayers to the God-Emperor as the ship started to buck and sputter as the real space outside of the ship merged with the ethereal nature of the warp.

As the Nex Visio translated to warp, the torpedo nearby was caught in the conversion of otherworldly energy, causing it to explode immediately.  Immense waves of destruction rippled outward and struck the aft of the Nex Visio just as it transferred into the empyrean.
 
The ship felt as if it had accelerated tenfold without warning, and every person aboard the ship was flung forward violently.  Machinery sparked and small fires erupted inside of the bridge, as the Captain crawled his way back to his command chair.  Wiping the blood from his brow, he actively noticed that he was still alive, and that the ship was safely in the warp.  He laughed briefly as the notion of being ‘safely' in the warp was quite contrary to itself.

Dazed and still quite in shock, the first officer stared puzzlingly at his Captain, bloody and laughing in his command chair.  Trying to shake off the effects of the concussion, he stood at his station and ran a damage check.

"Captain, engineering is reporting massive damage to engines four through six.  Hull breeches in sections 118 and 202 have been sealed.  Other than that, we're in warp and the safety shield is holding," the first officer reported, adding a sigh of relief at the end.

"Everyone ok?" asked the Captain.  A chorus of ‘yes sir' resounded as each of the bridge crew tried to put out the small fires and repair their working areas.

"Navigator Hensly, what's our status?"

"My captain, we are navigating the warp.  However, due to the quick and harsh nature of our entrance, I cannot tell presently where we are.  When I locate the astrinomicon I will inform you of our whereabouts."

"Very well, keep me informed." Tharius replied simply.

"Captain, sensors reported the destruction of the other ship as we translated to warp.  The wake from our translation and the ensuing explosion from the torpedo rented it apart."

"Thank you, number One.  Let's get everything repaired and assessed.  I want senior officers to meet me in the tactical briefing room in ten minutes," the Captain ordered as he stood up and started to leave.

"Good job everyone.  Now let's see if we can make sense of this mess.  Number One you have the bridge," he replied before turning to the hatch and exiting the bridge.



The bandage secure on his forehead, the Captain absently touched the sore area around it and sat down at the long oval table.

"Gentlemen, let's get down to business," he started as the senior staff and his chief mate took their seats around the table.  "Number One, were you able to make out what the initial distress signal stated?"

The tall and slender first officer cleared his throat before answering.  He pushed aside a few strands of his blond hair that had fallen into his eyes as he sat down. 
"I have, sir.  It turns out that using standard imperial de-cryptors was insufficient to translate the message.  However, using our own internal decryption, I was able to decipher most of the distress call."

Whispers and excited murmurs broke out from the men all across the table.  The Captain allowed a few moment of this until asking the first officer to continue.

Callow Iseng, first officer of the Nex Visio for over eight years, took a deep breath before speaking again.

"This can only mean that someone that has our ciphers and knows our system could have encoded that message.  Sir, either we sent that message, or somehow someone stole our ciphers and system data and sent it."

Ignoring the commotion once again breaking out and growing impatient, the Captain asked, "Given some time, I'm sure we or anyone else could have decoded.  What does it say?"

"There was a little bit of signal loss, but from what I can derive it warned ‘Do not enter the Argonis system.. area is to be quarantined ...of the Imperial Navy.'  From there, I've been trying to use filters to figure out the missing sections of the message, but so far no luck."

"Very good, number One.  See if you can't figure out the rest," the Captain nodded and began to type on the command terminal in front of him.

"Navigator, have you found a marker yet on our location?" asked Tharius.

"No, my Captain.  Keeping us safe from the torrents of the warp storm we are caught in have kept most of my attention.  I do have some curious data that I wish to compare, but it will have to wait until I can safely give more of my attention to it," the uncanny voice explained, emanating from the vox speaker on the tabletop.

"Very well, the Emperor Protects," replied the Captain, cutting off the vox link.

"Now, what about this business of the other ship.  Why was it broadcasting our identification?  And how did it look so bloody much like the Nex Visio?" Tharius demanded, looking to each of his staff around the table.

"Sir..." one of the senior ranked men braved.  "It seems to be a genuine ID signature, Imperial Navy issue, sir."

"Oh that's a bunch of bull..." chimed another, before Callow interrupted him.

"Sir, I ask that we take a break so that more information could be gathered and interpreted," the first officer soothed.

"Very well, we'll meet back here at 1300 hours."



Tharius awoke ten minutes before 1300 hours.  He was covered in sweat and could scarcely remember the bad dreams that had just haunted him.  Taking a look at the clock beside his bed, he stood up and reached for his beeping vox.

Pressing the button, navigator Hensly's strange and hoarse voice sounded over the vox.  "My captain, I have found some disturbing coincidences," he started.

"Coincidences?" the Captain yawned, trying to shake the sleep out of his weary body.

"It seems that the strange signature our drone had come upon before its destruction closely matches that of this area in warp space.  In fact, I don't believe that we've left the Argonis system.  I don't believe we can," he explained calmly.

"What the hell do you mean you don't think we can?" the Captain replied, suddenly more awake than he had been for days.

"It's almost as if we're caught in a whirlpool of warp energy.  We're moving, but mainly circling around the point where we translated to warp, my Captain.  Ufortunately that is all I can gather.  I am pretty sure that we can safely translate back into real space, but I'm not sure exactly where we'll come out."

"Thank you, navigator Hensly.  I will relay this information to my senior staff and we'll formulate a strategy."

"The Emperor protects, my Captain."

"The Emperor protects, navigator," he replied, this time confidence lacking in his voice.



Once again the senior staff was seated around the large oval briefing table.  Faces turned to alarm and confusion as the Captain relayed the navigator's findings.

When asked about possible scenarios, the room fell suddenly quiet.

"A theory, Captain," the first officer stated, breaking the silence.

"Of course, number One," the Captain affirmed.

"I was able to decrypt the last piece of the message.  A lot of the data had been lost, but I was still able to decipher it.  Given the fact of what the navigator told us the drone sent back, our current situation in the warp, and the mystery of the attacking ship, I am left with one possible answer."

Anticipation filled the already cramped room, as a few of the men even leaned forward in their chair, awaiting Callow's answer.

"Sir, if you will remember back to when the ship first appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, it was crippled."

"Yes, I remember it was venting trace gases, and there was extensive damage to the prow," the Captain answered.

"Exactly.  After running a damage report comparison, I have found that the Nex Visio has almost the same exact damage.  I believe it is the same damage.  Sir, engines four through six are still down.  In fact, we have a small plasma leak from engine four, causing what would be a trace gas leak in real space," Callow explained, excitement taking over his voice.

"Just what are you suggesting?" the Captain asked, his hands rubbing against his eyes and forehead in frustration.

"Sir, the total message that I can reconstruct merely says this, ‘Do not enter the Argonis system.  This area is to be quarantined by the authority of Captain Tharius Godspur of the Nex Visio, Imperial Navy'." 

Tharius swiftly looked up at his first officer.  Voices once again broke out all over the room as the staff discussed this last bit of shocking news.

"How can this be?" the Captain asked no one in particular.

"Sir, the vessel that shot us had the same damage as we do.  It has the same ID and make.  It even has our enciphers and system data.  I believe that the ship we encountered was ourselves, from another point in time.  The future, from when we encountered it.  We're in the state that the attacking ship was in when we first clashed."

Pandemonium struck as some of the officers stood up and started to shout voices of dissent and disbelief.  Several men just laughed it off, explaining this all to be a bad dream and perhaps they had not survived the translation to warp after all.

"Sir, there's more.  I need to speak with you alone.  I've consulted with Hensly and I think I know why this is happening!" Callow yelled over the panicking men.

A hush fell over them as all eyes went to that of the Captain.

"You are all excused.  Number One, meet me in my private quarters," the Captain was able to say before hell broke out again in the room.



"Callow, you and I have seen some strange things in our years together.  Tell it to me straight old friend, you know I can take it," the Captain said, making sure the door was closed and the privacy field was up in his private cabin.

"Tharius, have you ever heard of the old philosophical discussion of the chicken and the egg?  Which came first?"

"Of course."

"Unfortunately I don't have an answer there, nor do I for how this exactly started.  But basically we're in a time loop."  Callow allowed a minute for the thought to sink in.

"A time loop?" the Captain repeated, more to himself than anything.

"Like I said, I'm not sure how it all started, but our hasty translation to warp, and the destruction of the crippled Nex Visio... we've started or added to something very bad."

"How bad?" pondered Tharius.

"Sir, I believe that billions of lives are at stake," Callow put it out plainly.

"Billions?  That's ludicrous!  The Argonis system is uninhabitable.  There's no one around for light years!" the Captain said, his voice rising uncontrollably.

"I've consulted with navigator Hensly, and the information we got from the drone, coupled with the warp storm we're currently in, we've found out something very disturbing.  Somehow, we've created a tear in normal space.  The debris field where the future Nex Visio came out of... that's where warp space is opening into real space."

"Like a miniature Eye?" the Captain dared to ponder.  The first officer merely nodded slowly.  Shuddering, Tharius made the sign of the Aquila on his chest, and turned to face the window of his cabin.  All he could see was black as the safety shield prevented the horrors of the warp from reaching inside the ship.

Dubbed the Eye of Terror, it was a physical place in the known universe where the very substance of the chaotic warp space mingled with reality.  Some of the most horrific and evil creatures ventured out from this point, invading mankind and its many settlements.

"Exactly, sir.  Somehow, we figured this out before, and when we emerged back into real space, you sent the quarantine message, and we attacked our own ship, trying to prevent ourselves from going into warp and making things worse."  His nerves involuntarily speeding up his words, Callow took a couple of needed deep breaths for calm.

"But how could we know exactly what we would do?" the Captain wondered.  "Even I never thought that we would pull a stunt like going into warp the way we did.  How could we have predicted that?"

"Sir, maybe because we've seen us do it before..."

"Now I'm really getting a headache," the Captain said, causing both men to laugh nervously.

"According to our calculations, if we go through the loop one more time, the tear could become permanent, and grow in size exponentially.  Another Eye of Terror in space, this time only a few light years from hundreds of Imperial planets.  Billions of Imperial citizens."

"So what do you think we should do, Callow?  You know I've always respected your opinion and treasured your advice."

"Captain, Tharius, old-friend, I think it may be time to stop thinking about our survival, and start thinking about the bigger picture.  We have to stop our past selves from making warp.  If we don't, there's gonna be larger problems than one lost cruiser in this sub-sector."

"Well, you know I never really wanted to be Admiral.  I've always known that I was destined to die a Captain.  There's no better crew or first mate that I could've asked for," the Captain said, putting his hand on Callow's shoulder.  Callow returned the gesture, looked into Tharius's eyes and nodded.

"So, we've failed before, how can we make it work this time?" Tharius asked.

"You're the brilliant tactician, sir.  I'm sure you'll think of something."



The hardest thing Captain Tharius Godspur ever had to do was to inform his senior staff and crew of the impending fate that awaited them.  Even when told his plan, not one person flinched from duty to the Imperium or the Emperor.

"Once again, the greatest honor a Captain can ever have is to serve with as fine a crew as this.  The Emperor protects!" the Captain finished over the vox, addressing the entire ship.

"Navigator Hensly, prepare for translation back into real space."



As the Nex Visio materialized back into real space, the younger Nex Visio stood only a few kilometers ahead of them.  Captain Tharius Godspur stared at the viewport screen for a minute, and then made the order.

"Send the distress signal."  Tharius checked the terminal next to his chair to ensure that the signal went out, hoping that the repairs to the communications antennae were sufficient.

"Sir, signal is away," the man at the communications station relayed.
The Captain, navigator, and first mate had all brainstormed on how to prevent total disaster.  The second guessing, outmaneuvering, and outwitting of their mirror selves seemed too hard a task.  The Captain had entertained various suggestions, but had made up his mind a few minutes before they transitioned out of the empyrean.

"Ensign, I want all power re-routed to the engines.  Take the lasers off-line.  Relay even the auxiliary life support systems.  Everything but the vox and main view port."

"Aye Captain!" barked the Ensign, keying in his commands.

The lights in the bridge began to flicker, moments later going out and being substituted by the backup system.  Once again the bridge's illumination was replaced with the deep amber of the emergency lighting.  A low-grade rumbling shook the deck as all power was being thrust into the few working engines of the crippled ship.  Every man and woman aboard could feel the acceleration, as even the inertial dampeners were feeding into the engines.

"Ready a torpedo in the port launcher."

Far below, press gangs were straining to place the heavy warhead into the tube launcher.  Several poor souls broke bones or worse to hurriedly get the torpedo in place and arm it for launch.

The ship in front of them, the people aboard assuredly asking plenty of questions and searching for answers as they once had, began to grow bigger in the view port.  The Captain took a deep breath and stood from his command throne.
"Coms, open a channel to the Nex Visio..."

The first officer raised an eyebrow, unsure of what his Captain was thinking.



Sending its last burst of data, Captain Tharius Godspur of the Nex Visio watched as the drone they had just sent to investigate the area scatter into a million pieces from the collision with the emergent ship.  The communication officer alerted the Captain of a vox request received from the strange cruiser.  Tharius turned to the young Ensign and nodded his acknowledgement.

"On the main view port screen, Ensign," he commanded.

Gasps echoed throughout the room, as on the view screen they saw a mirror image of their bridge.  A Captain, the spitting image of Tharius Godspur except for a bandage on his forehead, stood next to a chief mate that looked exactly like Callow Iseng.  Stung with surprise, the Captain stood speechless.

"Captain, unfortunately there is not enough time to explain what exactly is taking place here.  Needless to say, you've been here before.  I have been where you are now.  We have but moments, so listen very carefully.  What I do now, I do for the billions of lives in this sector, and for the greater good of the Imperium.  As my, our, entire life has been for the Emperor, so must our death be.  From the very beginning our crew has stood by us and the Emperor, and they will not shirk now, nor must we.  Stay the course, good Captain.  The Emperor protects," the doppelganger relayed gravely over the vox .

Silence filled the bridge on the Nex Visio.  The Captain sat in his chair, seemingly lost in thought.  The first mate stared into his terminal, pondering the situation quietly.  Suddenly alarms reverberated around them, bringing life and noise back as the crew moved into action.

"Sir, the ship is on a collision course with us.  Contact in thirty seconds," the helmsman reported.

Tharius stood deathly quiet, staring at the view port and watching in fascination as his ship, the Nex Visio sped towards him.  Towards his own ship.  A ship he knew better than himself.  The Nex Visio, given under his care over ten years ago.  A ship that had served unfailingly in over two-hundred space engagements.

"Captain, if we don't act now, we won't be able to escape collision.  Sir, give the order for evasive maneuvers!" first office Callow Iseng yelled, vying for Tharius's attention. 

"Orders?  Sir?" the Ensign pleaded, nervousness apparent in his voice.  Looking down, he saw his hands shaking above the terminal.

Everyone on the bridge turned and stared at their Captain, fervently awaiting his words. 

Callow left his station and approached Tharius, leaning down to speak into his ear.
"Tharius, give the order," he pleaded the Captain.

Breaking his reverie, Tharius looked up at his first mate and smiled.  Nodding, he patted his old friend and chief mate on the shoulder.  Rising to his feet, he gave his final order.

"Helm, hold coarse.  Keep her steady," he ordered calmly.  Letting out a deep breath, Tharius Godspur sat in his command chair.

"Sir... damnit... Tharius!  What are you doing?" Callow yelled, losing the battle to control his emotions.

The Captain looked up at him calmly and stated simply, "Trusting myself, old friend."



As the two ships met in a mammoth collision of colossal force, the armed torpedo in the port launcher of the crippled Nex Visio erupted.  The ensuing explosion momentarily matched the heat of a large sun.  More than half of each ship was instantaneously vaporized, sending very little debris in the radius around the destruction. 

A few minutes later, the harsh nature of space took back control in the Argonis system.  All that could be found in the gap between the third and fourth planets was a few scattered fields of wreckage.  The cold of deep space once again dominated the expanse.

Having received the distress signal and instructions from that of the Nex Visio, the Imperial Navy ordered an immediate quarantine of the Argonis system.  Twenty days later, a small rescue vessel braved the area where the Nex Visio was last known to have been.  With little evidence to go on, the disappearance of the Nex Visio was classified as a reactor failure.

With no bodies or personal effects to bury, a small ceremony for the leadership and crew of the ship was performed a few systems away on the Captain's home planet.

Captain Felonius Thesper, in honor of his friend's memory, and as the newly appointed Admiral, commissioned the Nex Visio Duos.