Chapter 100. Another Republic?
"Aim our rear end at them," Noah ordered. Smoke billowed from the ruptured pipe. A pipe broke behind the technical station, sending sparks flying everywhere. Noah was thankful that Daisy wasn't here, that she was in the cabin, because an explosion from her station would have cost her her life.
"Captain, we can't hold on much longer!" Ingmar reported loudly.
Noah also saw all this, but they had no other choice. It was too late to escape. They could only continue to resist, hoping the ship would last longer than their enemies thought.
"Captain, more ships have appeared from the jump channel. The number is twice as many as before, probably more than 300 bow NX-class ships." Ingmar's voice sounded desperate. The enemy's advantage became too great.
Noah looked at the screen. New ships appear behind the enemy fleet. Their bright shells are visible from a distance. Without explanation, they attacked the black enemy ship. Almost instantly, the attack on the Republic ceased. The black Earth ship suddenly found an enemy behind it and had to turn around to deal with it.
Noah breathed a sigh of relief. Among the ships he recognized Earth's fleet. He remembered Frigg's words. That colony was supposed to be under attack from ships that were not part of Earth's fleet. Something must have happened on Earth. There is a battle going on here, and there must have been some intra-Earth strife and power struggles before that. And now, this power struggle has an interest in the Republic.
"Captain, the Earth fleet is suffering heavy losses," Ingmarhui reported. "The Black Fleet is at a disadvantage against these ships."
"Then let's seize the opportunity now and retreat. Mr. Jeffrey, how are you progressing?"
Jeffrey didn't answer, but continued working without stopping. He wanted to make the most of every second. Noah had to wait patiently until the Vulcan was ready. Meanwhile, the Republic slowly left the battlefield. No one seemed to notice for the moment, as the opposing fleets remained preoccupied with fighting among themselves.
Soon after, Jeffrey reports that they can now time jump. They used deflectors to create a time field in front of the Republic, and when Jeffrey gave the order, the ship entered it. Before the fighting ships realized what was happening, the time field had disappeared. And the Republic disappeared.
Noah breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the screen with relief. Their plan worked. In front of them, Vulcan appeared as a sandy-yellow sphere, and everything went according to plan.
After they leave the battleship and travel back in time 2,000 years ago, their journey to the planet Vulcan is uneventful. In their current era, the universe seemed much emptier. No subspace news, no other alien ships. In this part of the universe, most civilizations are just beginning to develop. In this era, there is no space-faring race. That's a good thing for Noah and his crew. None of them wanted to have any more surprises. They just want to get home as soon as possible.
Everyone was relieved to see Vulcan intact, and new hope came to their hearts. The first part of their plan, time travel, had worked, so the rest should work as well.
They used deflectors to construct a time field in front of the planet. Based on research data from Cindy Arms and Flolt, they were able to determine the location and timing of the rays emitted from the future. Or rather, the point at which it will be launched, depending on how you look at it. Therefore, they established a limited field that was maintained using ship energy. To build a shield that can withstand destructive energy, energy is simply not enough, even if the ship is in perfect condition. Therefore, Flort devised a plan to use the space-time field to redirect energy rays into the distant past.
At the edge of the established time field, energy rays come from the future. But instead of hitting the planet, it entered the artificial field built by Republic and disappeared into the extremely distant past. If Flort's calculations are correct, the energy rays should have reappeared at a point about 20 billion years ago. Vulcan didn't exist yet, so no harm could be done. Since the planet still exists, this part of the plan seems to have been successful.
"Mr. Ingmar, turn off the energy supply," Noah ordered. They have channeled energy into a temporal field constructed in front of the planet in order to intercept the weapon's energy rays. This puts a huge strain on the spacecraft's energy reserves. Now they may be pressed for time, but in order to restore the timeline, they must take the risk. Correcting the timeline is more important than their own fate.
Ingmar obeyed. As energy is consumed, the time field collapses and disappears completely.
The captain turned to his science officer. "Mr. Jeffrey, what do your data say? Is it successful?"
The Vulcan raised his right eyebrow. "The planet is still there, which suggests it may have been successful. But we can't tell from here whether our timeline has been restored."
Noah nodded. "Of course. After all, we can't peek into the future."
"Captain. It looks like the Vulcans have noticed us. They are preparing two gliders similar to the ancient Earth space shuttles. They will be able to get close enough to see us." Ingmar reported excitedly .
At first, Noah was surprised, but then he remembered that Vulcans at this time were already flying frequently, exploring Vulcan's moons and exploring the vastness of the universe via Sleeper ships. After all, going back 2,000 years doesn't mean Vulcans would be as primitive as Earthlings were then.
"When will they arrive?"
"It may still take some time. They are just starting to build the launch platform now. I estimate that it will take about five hours." Ingmar replied calmly.
"Captain, we should try to avoid contact as much as possible," Jeffrey suggested. "These Vulcans are not ready to realize that there is other life in the universe. It will be three hundred years before the discovery of intelligent life, and even seventeen hundred years before the first contact."
Noah looked at him with wide eyes. "Although they have discovered intelligent life long ago, their race can actually endure without contact for a thousand years?" He thought suspiciously that humans might not be able to hold on for that long.
"It is logical not to interfere in the development of other civilizations," Jeffrey replied calmly, seeming to think that this explanation was sufficient.
"Okay," Noah said with a smile. "We have completed our mission. Let's leave this galaxy. Mr. Nierfer, set the course. We don't want to continue to disturb the Vulcans. Ms. Daisy, prepare for a time jump." He gave the order.
After everyone confirmed, Ingmar turned around. "Captain, can't we take this opportunity to go and have a look at Earth? We could certainly bring some interesting data to our historians. There might be a lot of things that need to be corrected. And we could finally learn about some historical figures, like Julius Caesar .”
Noah smiled and said: "For Caesar, we are more than two hundred years too late. Moreover, by inadvertently intervening, we may bring great risks to the future. Our historians should study through excavation and discovery It used to be more fun that way.”
Ingmar shrugged: "It's a pity. I originally hoped that we could win some awards for this, such as the Nobel Prize or something like that. Forget it, that's it." After that, he returned to his console.
The Republic slowly left the orbit of Vulcan and then left the system. A few hours later, Vulcan's glider reached orbit, but there was no sign of Republic. However, unknown to the crew of the Republic, the Vulcans had captured images of the ship using telescopes. Although it's a little blurry, it can still be identified as a spaceship. Lacking further confirmation, the incident was classified as a UFO sighting and then forgotten in the ensuing chaos of war. During the ensuing war that nearly wiped out the Vulcans, all relevant files were burned and completely lost. Therefore, there is no longer evidence that a Starfleet ship had visited the planet Vulcan two thousand years before its founding.
However, the crew had one more thing to do. They must prevent Cindy from using the weapon again. As it stands, Cindy should think the weapons are malfunctioning because they're not having the desired effect. They can launch again at any time. In order to completely eliminate the danger, this weapon must be destroyed. And that's exactly what Noah did next.
They are still in the distant past. Considering the damage to the ship, the captain decided this was the safest option. Here they faced the least danger, as there were no space-faring races at this time. Thus, they reached Area 859J without interference, where the Sindy weapons would be constructed in the future.
Noah is standing in Daisy's cabin with his deputy and Jeffrey. They need to discuss next steps.
"The energy we need to return to the present time may be available," the chief engineer reported. "But we couldn't live through another battle. The idea of attacking the weapon was suicidal. I remember that weapon being guarded by multiple ships. There was no way we could survive that."
"What chance do we have of destroying the weapon?" Noah ignored Daisy's objections.
"I can't be sure," Jeffrey replied. "We had no idea how much damage our first attack had caused."
"We're assuming the worst. The weapon was barely damaged."
"Then our remaining photon torpedoes are not enough to destroy the weapon."
Noah nodded. The next question he had to ask was one he didn't want to ask. "If we use the Republic ramming weapon, will that be enough?"
Jeffrey raised his right eyebrow and pointed at two dots on the screen, where the glowing graphics of Cindy's weapons were. "Due to the energy value of the weapon, these are particularly critical points. The probability of destroying the weapon by causing the Republic to explode is 95%."
"That's enough," Noah decided.
Jeffrey reminded the captain, "You know this ship can't withstand such an impact."
"That's what I thought, though," the captain confirmed.
"Are you serious?" Daisy confirmed.
"The problem is destroying the weapon. Never allow it to be used again. Because next time, we certainly won't have such good luck with saving a ship from a timeline change and saving our universe," Noah replied firmly . "This is our number one goal. All other priorities take a back seat. All priorities, including our survival. If that means we have to destroy this ship, then that's what it has to do. I don't agree with you any more. Yes, but we have to keep that option open.”
Daisy nodded. Of course, Noah was right. Although she was very reluctant to sacrifice the ship. They have put enough sweat and effort into it during many restorations.
"Mr. Jeffrey, calculate a course that we can use to ram the weapons and fire our final torpedoes into the forward opening before doing so."
"Yes, sir."
"Ms. Carol, prepare for the evacuation of the ship. We will leave immediately with the ship and life capsule after returning to the past."
Nervously entering his cabin, Ingmar came in a hurry. The captain has just informed the crew of the upcoming evacuation plan. He gave the crew only half an hour to remove some personal belongings from the cabin. Items cannot be too large or bulky as space in the rescue pod is limited. There's just room for a few personal data storage devices and maybe a little amulet that's pretty much in everyone's cabin.
Ingemar also just wanted to save some data. That was a video he and Shu Ran recorded while exploring the Taurus Alpha 6 planet. He picked up his data tablet and was about to start when he saw a new message sign. Did Shu Ran send him a message? In fact, he had planned to meet her tonight. He checked the date of the message. This message was sent five hours ago, after the rescue of Vulcan.
Ingemar opened the message with great anticipation, and they often exchanged ambiguous messages to increase the anticipation of meeting each other. This message was indeed sent by Shu Ran.
"Hi, Ingmar. Look, I'm sorry that I have to cancel our next meeting. Please don't be angry with me. I feel like things are going too fast right now. We've been together for half a year. It's time to move on. Take the next step. It's just that I'm not ready yet. I'm feeling a little restricted. I need some time to sort out my feelings more clearly. I may not be completely over my last relationship yet. I need some time to work through that. Continue with It's not fair to you that you're together and I'm still so messed up inside. I have to sort it all out. Until then, I'm asking you to put our relationship on hold. We can get along as just friends. Because I never want to Losing you as a good friend. I hope you understand. Hope to see you again soon."
Ingemar stood there blankly, looking at the wall with dull eyes. His smile disappeared. His heart was still pounding, but now he felt as if it was about to break. A cold needle seemed to penetrate his heart, almost making him breathless. An almost physical pain-like feeling spread through him, worse than any of the harshest tortures. In the end what happened? Did he miss something? Just last night, they were kissing in the corridor, almost inseparable. How could it be like this now? He had never felt such a strong attraction to a woman. He had never been so deeply in love. He had always thought he knew what love was. Since he met Shu Ran, he was convinced that he really understood what love was.
How could she suddenly turn a blind eye to him? Does she feel the age gap is too big now? Could it be that they served on the same ship and never knew the dangers of their jobs? She felt too cramped. How can this be? Sure, they do spend a lot of time together, but isn't that normal for a new relationship?
An extremely depressing feeling enveloped Ingemar. An endless sadness and emptiness. He had never felt so empty. Never been in such a bad mood. I've never felt so hurt. Maybe this was retribution for all the hearts he'd broken before. But even this irony left him feeling nothing.
Would it be easier if he could detect the signs of her decision? but none. Or did he ignore it? But they were so happy before. Yes, they are, right? It all happened so suddenly and unexpectedly that he didn't know what to do now. Should he grant her wish and pretend nothing happened? He wasn't sure he could do it. Or does she just want to challenge him? Want him to work harder for her? Should he go for her now? Did she want that?
He put the computer aside and stood up. He has work to do. He must fulfill his duty. He walked slowly towards the door. He took a deep breath before exiting his cabin. He has to find a way to stay focused on work. Life depends on it. It's just that he's not sure he can do it. Then he returned to the bridge. Data backup is irrelevant to him at this moment.
"Captain, I've got our course set," Jeffrey said, showing off a computer simulation. According to the simulation, the Republic will appear directly next to the weapon's energy ray from the past. At the moment they were captured by the ray half a year ago. They would then fire the remaining torpedoes. The torpedo will explode when the weapon switches off its energy beam. After this, they activate the ship and rescue capsule. Three minutes later, the Republic will impact the weapon's casing, triggering a chain reaction that destroys the weapon.
That's pretty much the plan. Noah could only hope for the best. Without the spaceship, they would be unable to take any further action.
"This course, are we going to see ourselves? I mean, another Republic trapped in the ray?" Noah was fascinated by imagining seeing the ship from another angle.
