The following events take place before The Helix Wars: Beachhead.


“I hope you have a damn good reason for dragging me out of bed this early in the fragging morning, John,” Krauze gave a hoarse grunt, advertising his mood.

“Trust me Sam, you’re gonna love this,” Smith assured his friend.

Down and down through the seemingly endless complex they went, through winding corridors upon winding corridors until Krauze came under the impression that Smith was lost and they were going in circles. At last, they reached a large, strike that, enormous room. Thinking back on the trip they took, Krauze realized Jonathan had the route memorized.

Whatever was in this room, it had his old friend very worked up. It took a lot to get Jonathan Smith worked up, especially in the mood he had been in lately. Surprisingly, the seemingly magical return from the dead his son had made had not done very much to improve his depression, and Samuel realized that was one of the highest ranking military officials left, John had taken the final defeat and Andoz very personally, and that meant he had taken all the lives they had left behind very personally as well.

Quite a burden for one man to bear.

And it was not a burden Smith was bearing alone, even if he wasn’t aware of it. Almost every single soul that had survived the final defeat took some measure of responsibility for their civilization’s destruction, whether it was reasonable for them to or not. Every single citizen felt as though they had done something wrong. Every single citizen was, as a result, depressed as hell.

It would be a long road to recovery.

“It’s a very large room,” Krauze pointed out, peering out at John, “Spectacular.”

“Over here! Over here!” Smith waved his friend over violently, grinning like a maniac, “You’ve gotta see this, Sam!”

And as Krauze rounded the corner of boxes piled high that prevented him from being able to see what Smith was so worked up about right as he entered the room, his jaw dropped. Standing before him, as real as the Zenith Admiral right beside him, was a fully sized, powered up Excalibur-class Interceptor. He stared for a good minute, and then craned his neck slightly to look at Jonathan.

“It’s a fragging Excalibur, John,” Samuel said, dumbfounded.

“Yep,” John replied, his eyes staring straight ahead at the spaceship, twinkling.

“How did you fit a fragging Excalibur all the way down here?” Krauze asked, then shook his head, “Never mind, I probably don’t want to know. What’s so special about an Excalibur, even if it is in the last place I’d expect it to be.”

“Look at it, Sam,” Smith said.

“I am looking at in, John,” Krauze shot back, “Its kind of hard to miss.”

“You’re looking, but you’re not looking,” John shook his head, “Really look at it.”

Krauze looked harder, furrowing his brow.

“You got rid of the guns,” Krauze pointed out, motioning at the spot where the very large projectile cannons would be, “And those new engines are really big.”

“Correction, we replaced the guns,” Smith admonished, “And those engines aren’t the main ones.”

Samuel looked closer at the Excalibur, noticing for the first time the much smaller looking weapons that were in the place where the projectile cannons had once been, and also took note of the identical weapons underneath the cannons’ former location. Leaning to the side, Krauze realized that the original ship’s engines were still in place.

“What are those new guns?” Krauze asked, pointing at the four cannons.

“They’re laser cannons, Sam,” Smith smiled widely, “Actual laser cannons.”

“You’re joking,” Krauze raised his eyebrows.

“Hell no,” Smith smiled, “They’re actually laser cannons. Come over here!”

Smith motioned Krauze over, heading underneath the left wing, ducking his head to avoid getting hit by the bulky new engines Smith had not explained yet. Krauze followed, and for the first time noticed the gunner’s seat jutting out from the hull of the ship directly underneath the central fin, right at the end of the ship. The guns looked just as unobtrusive as the laser cannons which had replaced the old projectile ones.

“Quad laser cannons,” Smith explained, “This Exalibur has more than quadruple the firepower it did before. And that’s now even counting the concussion missile launchers.”

Smith pointed at the tube-shaped launchers jutting out further up on the Excalibur’s hull. They could only be one thing, Krauze realized, and that would be missile tubes. He had never seen missile tubes on a spaceship so small. Especially one as small as the Excalibur, which was the smallest spaceship in the Andozian arsenal. Who knows, after these new upgrades, maybe that would soon change.

“So what are these new engines up here?” Krauze asked, motioning toward the added engines he had mistaken for the main ones earlier.

“They’re afterburners,” Smith explained, “Most of the starfighters in this galaxy are a lot smaller than the Excaliburs, so the boys over at R&D thought the Excalibur could use a bit of extra juice. I’ve never loved scientists so much.”

“So when is it being tested?” Krauze asked, his eyebrows raised.

“It already has been,” John turned to grin at Sam, “At least, its been tested unmanned. The first manned test is due to go up in about…five minutes.”

“Oh?” Krauze grunted, “Who are the lucky two that get to test this contraption out?”

“Us,” John smiled widely.

“I was afraid you were going to say that.”

“John!” Krauze yelled, squeezing his eyes shut as tightly as he could, “John!”

“You don’t have to yell, Sam,” Smith said, wincing, “I’m right here.”

“Oh…” Krauze blushed slightly, “I was just…I was just expecting more…well, noise is all…”

“Don’t worry about it, so was I when I first heard the recording from the unmanned test,” John winked at his friend, “Freeow, Sam. You should see the engines on these babies. They make our shit look completely obsolete…which, of course, it is.”

“Softer engines…” Krauze murmured to no one in particular, “the improvements just keep coming. Uh, should we be going so…fragging fast, John?”

“We’re not going any faster than any of our ships when exiting the atmosphere,” Smith assured him.

“Ah, right…” Krauze nodded slowly, “It’s just…well…”

“You’ve never punched through the atmosphere of a planet…or an artificial replica of a planet…on anything as small as an Excalibur before.”

“Yeah…” Krauze smirked uncomfortably at Smith, “That and…well…um, we have such a fantastic view of it.”

Jonathan smiled. Krauze was referring to the transparisteel windows they had outfitted in the cockpit to allow the pilots a view of the space in front of them and, to a point, on either sides. Having long believed reinforcing glass to a point where it could withstand spaceflight to be both unnecessary and extremely dangerous, the discovery of transparisteel was a surprising and alarming thing to the Andozians. After years of ‘looking outside’ of their spaceships through the way of sensors and artificial representations, the real thing was something that startled many.

“Almost out of hyperspace, control,” Smith spoke into the comm., “Entering orbit…orbit obtained.”

“Affirmative Excalibur One. Good job. Prepare to initiate engines tests.”

“Roger that, control,” Smith acknowledged, “Preparing to initiate engines tests…initiating.”

The Excalibur jerked forward suddenly, leaving the orbit of one of Helix’s rings. The shock of the acceleration came much to Krauze’s dismay, which he voiced very vocally. The Chancellor screamed the entire acceleration. The Excalibur banked to the right suddenly, and Krauze prepared to throw up. Surprisingly, however, nothing felt like it wanted out. In fact, nothing felt wrong at all. He didn’t even feel like he was getting pulled anywhere. Turning his head, he realized to his horror that Jonathan had unbuckled his harness.

“Are you fragging mad, John?”

“Inertial dampeners, Sam,” Jonathan reassured him, “Relax. Outside we’re traveling at ridiculous speeds, but inside this ship, its as if we’re not moving at all. Go ahead, take a walk around the cockpit.”

“Uh, thanks, but I’d rather not,” Krauze shook his head rather violently.

“Suit yourself,” Smith said, grinning like a maniac.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Krauze accused, glaring at him, “You’re enjoying my panic! I have no idea how you convinced me to climb aboard this flying deathtrap.”

“Very good, Excalibur One. Prepare to initiate test of afterburners.”

“Oh hell no,” Sam whispered.

“Roger that control,” Smith said, buckling his harness, “Preparing to initiate afterburners…”

“You fragging promised, John!”

“…initiating.”

The Excalibur sprang forward with a sudden jolt that sent Krauze careening back into the depths of his seat, and sending a terrible feeling through him, the sudden desperate need to throw up without any of the urge. The dampeners did their job very well…perhaps too well.

“Get me off this fragging thing!” Krauze bellowed, forgetting the silence of the engines inside the cockpit. He glanced out the window to his right to view one of the afterburners powered up, orange flame glowing deep inside of it, sending light out the front. Sam jerked his head back to look straight forward, at the nothingness of space.

And then it was over.

“Test of afterburners successful, control,” Smith checked over the diagnostics, “No signs of any engine overheating. I think if we stay under fifteen second burns we should be fine.”

“Roger that, Excalibur One. Prepare for astromech and weapons testing.”

“Okay, weapons testing I understood, but astromech?” Krauze asked, “What the frag is that?”

“I didn’t mention it?” Smith asked, grinning, and then opened the comm., “Roger that, control. Assuming weapons test position. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes, Sam.”

Smith unbuckled his harness, and climbed out from the pilot’s chair. He began to move off toward the back of the starfighter.

“Wait a fragging minute, John!” Sam jerked his head around, struggling to keep his friend in his sights, “Who the frag is going to fly this thing, cause I sure as hell won’t be!”

“He will,” Smith answered, pointing at the astromech droid hooked up to the consoles behind the pilot’s chair.

“What the frag is that?” Krauze called.

“That’s an astromech droid,” Smith said, smiling, “He’ll be your pilot today. Relax, Sam. It’s perfectly safe. He’s completely programmed to handle flying the ship. He’s even pretty fragging good at evasive maneuvers.”

“Oh, great,” Krauze groaned, “Don’t tell me it does standup too.”

“It might,” John paused to think, “But it’d probably be kind of hard to understand it.”

“Beep boop bop beep!” the astromech droid chimed.

“Oh, great,” Samuel groaned even more, “You could teach it how to fly the ship, but not how to speak fragging Basic?”

Jonathan just grinned, and disappeared into the crawlway that led to the quad laser cannons and the gunner’s seat that controlled them. For a few seconds there was silence in the cockpit, and then…

“Alrighty,” John’s voiced crackled over the comm., “Can you hear me Sam?”

“Yeah I can hear you,” Krauze grunted.

“Push the blinking button to respond, Sam,” John’s voice crackled.

Sam jabbed the blinking button.

“Yeah, I can fragging hear you,” he growled.

“Fantastic, hold on,” Smith said, “R4-63, initiate weapons test.”

“Beep beep bop bop!” R4-63 chimed.

Red lasers flashed out from the two wings to Krauze’s side, obliterating debris the Chancellor hadn’t noticed before. Behind him, he could feel a rumbling sensation, and could hear the lasers firing from the quad laser cannons, as Smith began firing. More debris exploded in a fantastic display of fireworks Samuel might have enjoyed if he hadn’t been in a constant state of fear since they had taken off.

“What are you, oh frag,” Krauze grunted and jabbed the button that was not blinking anymore, “What are you shooting at, John?”

“Wreckage from the Vong armada,” Smith’s voice came back, “Figured we might as well put the remains of their ships to good work.”

“Ah,” was all Sam could think of to say.

The fireworks show continued on for several more minutes, and then ended abruptly as two missiles rocketed out from underneath the Excalibur, to Krauze’s surprise and dismay. Beeping started on the displays in front of Sam, and he looked down at what he recognized to be radar. Two dots had appeared on the screen which Krauze instantly realized were the two concussion missiles the astromech droid must have fired. He followed the two missiles on the radar until he looked up just in time to see a dazzling explosion as they struck two larger pieces of debris, vaporizing them.

“Wow, that was more fun than I thought it would be,” Sam turned his head once more to see John coming out of the crawlway and making his way back over to the pilot’s chair.

“Relax, Sam,” John grinned, “You’re sweating. We’re almost done.”

“Weapons and astromech test completely successful, control,” John spoke into the comm.

“Affirmative, Excalibur One,” came the voice on the other end, “Prepare for test of hyperdrive.”

“Did he just say what I think he said?” Krauze hissed, “This thing has a fragging hyperdrive?”

“Of course, Sam,” Smith said, “I didn’t mention that?”

“No, you didn’t fragging mention that,” Sam growled, “Has it been tested?”

“Of course it has, Sam,” John assured him, “All of this was tested earlier during the unmanned op.”

“Oh, fantastic,” Krauze groaned, “I’m putting my fate in the hands of a fragging unmanned op.”

“Trust me, Sam,” John pleaded, “Would I ever make you do something if I didn’t believe it to be perfectly safe?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t like space flight much, do you?” Smith asked.

“No.”

A beep rang from somewhere on the console in front of Sam.

“We have hyperspace coordinate confirmation, control,” Smith spoke through the comm., “We are go for hyperspace jump.”

“Affirmative, Excalibur One,” the voice of control responded, “You are go for hyperspace jump.”

“See you in a bit, control.”

Smith pulled back a lever on the console in front of him, and Sam forgot how to scream. The change only lasted for maybe fifteen seconds, but it was enough to scare the hell out of Krauze. The stars exploded into lines, and the sudden feeling that they had increased in speed dramatically and he hadn’t noticed filled Sam.

And then it was over.

“That…that was it?” Krauze asked.

“Almost,” Smith said.

The Zenith Admiral swung the ship around, and pulled the lever once more. Off they went, the stars exploded into lines, fifteen more seconds.

And then they returned to normality once more, the familiar sight of Helix right in front of them.

“You were expecting a day long journey?” Smith asked.

“Well, yeah…kinda.”

“Control, this is Excalibur One,” John spoke through the comm., “All tests of the new Excalibur-class Interceptor successful.”

“Affirmative, Excalibur One,” the voice of control came back, “Good job. Bring it on home.”

“Roger that, control,” Smith keyed the comm. off.

“John?”

“Yeah Sam?”

“When we get on the ground, remind me to kill you.”

Delete.