HB Dreadnoughts
‘First Officer Clar, what just dropped out of subspace in sector seven?’
Clar frantically checked his screens and zoomed in on the sector, upset that he hadn’t noticed it before the captain did. There will be hell to pay as he was the Intelligence of the ship and supposed to monitor for potential intercepts while they were scouting along the edge of Terran space.
‘Umm…Terran ship sir, smaller than most…confirmed as HB class in their language. Closing in, I’m arming the railgun.’
He looked to the captain, whose face had gone noticeable paler than the rich purple he was known for. His crest was also pulled down in a fear response.
‘No, we need all power to the shields that is not needed to initiate a jump.’
‘Captain?’
‘Do it! Arm shields now and hope we get out of here before they reach us.’
‘With due respect, captain. The scouting mission for the Federation is more important than a little battleship and we are at least three times bigger -’
‘Size doesn’t matter now, we need to jump.’
‘Captain, this is highly irregular! To abandon a mission because of a little - ’
‘First Officer Clar, you are relieved of duties. Comms, how long before they get here? And get me an update on the jump initiation!’
Clar’s crest was fully erect, the only thing keeping him from physically attacking his captain was years of subservience drilled into all officers of the Federation fleet. Even the cultural reverence for the elders wasn’t enough to prevent his anger.
‘Intercept in three draums, engineering reports we can jump in about the same time.’
Captain Skar sat down heavily and slumped in his seat, the action causing Clar to pause as he has never seen a look of defeat as clearly on anyone’s face before.
‘Heavens help us, three draums or we are dead.’
‘Captain, I need an explanation for this behaviour, I may be relieved as First Officer, but the report still needs to be filed!’
‘Officer Skaab, you studied Terran history as part of your elective as I recall? Can you explain the history of the Terran dreadnought?’
‘Yes sir, the dreadnought was an old battleship from the Terran sailing history, when they still travelled in water, from before their First Great War as they called it. Almost immediately obsolete, it started an arms race to make bigger and more powerful ships. The same happened once they first starting spacefaring, they started small and now field the biggest ships in - ’
It was Clar’s turn to interrupt now, ‘What has this to do with abandoning the mission?’
‘Officer Skaab, can you explain the HB designation?’
‘Yes sir, the HB class dreadnoughts are named after a Terran mammal that is known for its resilience and persistence when fighting, and love of a natural sweet syrup, named the Honey Badger. It has been known to – ‘
‘And who normally mans the HB class ships, according to Terran tradition?’
‘The misfits sir. The officers and men that cannot get along with anyone else. It was initially considered a punishment but is now the equivalent of a promotion in rank. They are the scouts as well as the advance force in the Terran Space Marines.’
‘Thank you Officer Skaab.’
Captain Skar turned to face Clar, defeat and resignation visible on his face.
‘Officer Clar, do you understand now? You may resume duties, but if we don’t jump before that ship gets here, there will be no one to file a report left.’
Clar’s crest was also pulled back now, ‘Comms, how long before we can jump?’
‘Engineering is reporting a 5 scants sir.’
The outside comms channel was suddenly flooded and the image of a bearded man projected onto their screens.
‘Howdy, this is Captain Wiley of the HB Randall, you are in Terran space and must be lost, how can we help -’
‘Jump, for the love of the heavens, jump!’, Clar screamed.