An Injured Warrior

Admiral Sathish was livid; in his 43 years of service he had never once failed the emperor. He had always been noted for his efficiency and precision with which he concluded his missions successfully; it had been the reason he had been tasked with escorting the emperor back to the home world of Ambapuram. Half way through the journey, The Silent assassin had been attacked and crippled.

“30% hull damage? Are you kidding me?” he glared at the captain who had come to brief him about the repairs. “How can that be possible with all generators online?”

“Sir, we didn’t expect them to ram us.”

“ARE YOU INSANE? THIS SHIP IS DESIGNED TO WITHSTAND A COLLISION WITH SHIPS A HUNDRED TIMES THOSE THAT RAMMED THE SILENT ASSASSIN! WE SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN HURT IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!” He closed his eyes trying to calm down. “Didn’t expect to be rammed, my foot!!” his blood boiled at the incompetence, the inefficiency and the lack of plain commonsense. “Did you expect the enemy to gift you a bunch of roses?” he shook his head. There was no use blaming the captain but he needed to shake that laziness out of his bones if the ship was to make the trip back home safely with the emperor in one piece.

He looked at the now shaking captain with a cold gaze that could send chills down the hardest criminal in the empire. He had a reputation of tearing apart offenders with his bare nails which brought a wicked smile on his lips.

“Prepare my scout ship captain. I wish to see the damage myself. Dismissed.” The captain saluted and marched out as if his life depended on it. Sathish smiled as he picked up the intercom.

“Commander Arjun, here.”

“Arjun, it’s me.”

“Sir!”

“I need a full security analysis of all the systems ship wide along with a full security feed of the battle by the time I come back from my inspection.”

“Consider it done sir.”

“Good. And prepare the command staff for a truth scan. No exceptions.”

“Aye, sir.”

Sathish was pensive as he walked down the corridors to the C deck where the scout ships were placed. He returned salutes absently as he walked swiftly, his mind reliving the past hour of battle analysing the details.

‘Something is wrong.’ He thought. He had been commanding the Silent Assassin for the past 6 six years, building it from scratch, handpicking the 3472 crew on the main deck and the 3867 soldiers each in the aft and port parts of the ship that played a vital role in defending the bridge.

‘Has the enemy got one over me?’ he mused, a chill running down his spine at the thought. That would be his greatest nightmare which he wished was not true; but given the nature of the battle and the damage reported, sabotage could not be ruled out.

He silently strapped himself to the co pilot’s seat of the scout ship Chakra, mechanically going through the pre-flight checks. Satisfied that everything was fine, he looked at the young pilot who looked tense.

“What is your name son?”

“Rajesh sir.”

“Rajesh, I wish to return alive to the deck. Can you handle that?”

“Sir, yes sir.”

“I trust my men and I trust you to do your job well. Am I wrong?”

“Sir, No Sir.”

“Take her out, soldier.”

“Aye, aye, sir”

The Chakra moved out of the ship gracefully rising to the standard inspection height revolving round the crippled ship that looked like an injured warrior with his armour crushed. The ship that looked like a pillar was charred and dented in many places. A part of the ship had caved in and appeared as if someone had punched a hole in it which was true. The question was, would she be able to withstand another attack?

As Manoj surveyed the ship he saw maintenance crew working furiously to patch up the rent in the ship’s posterior. He knew they would do what was needed but this ship needed a complete overhaul in the royal dockyards.

His mind wandered to the enemy who had made such a daring move against the throne. Why did he do it? What did he gain by it? Did he truly believe he would be able to decimate the royal family? Who was funding this mission? He shook his head as these questions could be answered by only one man – Karan.

He came back to his office and found two files on his desk – the reports he had asked for. He also saw Commander Arjun waiting for him who stood to attention and saluted as Manoj entered.

“Sit.”

There was silence for a few minutes as Manoj read the reports. His brows furrowed deeply as he turned the pages. Finally he looked up.

“Why do we have such a grim situation Arjun?” he knew the answer but he waited for the latter’s response.

“Sire, the enemy managed to infiltrate deeply into the crew and so we have several cases of sabotage which fortunately, were reduced to some extent by loyal officers and crew. Some of the traitors were isolated to the D deck which got damaged in the battle. A few still are hiding but we will flush them out soon.”

“Any traitors in the command staff?”

“Yes, Sire. We need more than a truth scan to identify them.”

“Arjun, I need you to find those traitors before they can further compromise the mission. Despite being injured, The Silent Assassin can still assist the battle at the palace. We need to be sure there won’t be any more sabotage at the last minute.”

“Yes, Sire. I will not fail you.”

“Send in Admiral Sathish.”

“Sir!”

Manoj sat contemplating his next move. He needed to move fast but he couldn’t throw caution to the wind either. His ship had to be in a position to assist – not be in need of assistance from others which meant that he couldn’t rush off home just like that. He rubbed his temple as he kept analysing his options.

He closed his eyes hoping that he was already not too late!