The Violin is Broken

Commandant Tyranus el le Gi'del stood at the helm of his prized ship, and capitol battlecruiser of the Leo Battle Fleet, the U.S.S. Violin. With his fleet engaged in combat, and his orders to keep the Violin out of danger, the Commadant had no other choice than to float aimlessly, and watch his best pilots get eaten alive by the disgusting enemy. He peared over his glasses at the campaign losing it's grip on the ledge of what this pitiful war has become. Suddenly, the threat control monitoring officer spoke up.

"Commadant, my liege, we are taking fire in our hull from the starbird side! A plague beast intercepter unit must have slipped by our flank!" Gi'del replied with utter and eerie stoicness.

"Full power to shields, call the destroyers to drive them off, and continue our drifting status." the officer nodded, and did what was ordered of him. The Commadant continued his gaze at the seemable massacre, and continued the battle inside his own mind.

"My orders are to observe. Why can't I? If I moved the flank in, we might just be able to turn the tide of the battle... But, I am a loyal man, and have never disobeyed my orders..." he thought to himself. He kept watching the fight through his now dampened eyes.

"M'lord, the fighter you have requested to be monitered has been heavily damaged, and is being pursued through quadrant B-2574!" a navigation officer called out. Gi'del now had his reason to break his first order in 35 years of service, and that he did.

"Damn my orders! May they burn in hell with the rests of these beasts!" he yelled. "Move the whole flank in, full attack mode!"

"My liege! Full attack? That is strictly forbidden in a type D space combat situation!" exclaimed his first mate, Lieutinant Commander Eliza Freeplane.

"You dare disobey my, your liege's commands? If you want to win this fight, and not feel responsible for one hundred thousand deaths, you WILL do this Eliza! Now!" the Commadant spat back.

"Y... Yes m'lord. As you wish..." The order was sent to the entire flank squadron, and foward it went unto the fray. The Violin burrowed deep into the enemy lines, to the B quadrants. Gi'del spotted the damaged gunboat, and ordered the use of the afterburners to fly in between the pursuers and their prey. Nearly twenty-five Plague Hunters flew headlong into the Violin, hitting the core of the ventilation system on the ship. From that point on, it was nothing more than waiting for the inevitable, the plague would now spread through the ship like wildfire.

"Try to seal off sectors H through R! Turn this instrument of war around and fly to the Hive Mind! If we destroy that, this battle will end quickly and decisively." Gi'del watched the wounded gunboat hyperjump out of the system, and he braced himself for the attack. The U.S.S. Violin dug it's way through the swarms of Plague ships, and began it's decent towards the planet Avon.

"Ready the escape pods, and once they are readied, I want you to leave upon them, all of you." the Commadant slowly stated.

"But, m..." Freeplane was interupted by Gi'del.

"Go, catch the wind and find your way home. Then lead the New Federation to victory, and make sure the Leo fleet takes back Sol, I wouldn't have it any other way. Now go."

"Yes... M'lord. Goodbye, my liege... Goodbye, Tyranus." Eliza managed to get out, through her tears and lumpy throat. Gi'del nodded, and waived his hand not looking them in the eyes, for he feared his tears would show themselves soon. Once gone, the Commadant set a course directly unto the Hive Mind, which was making it's disgusting nest out of Avon.

All of the Violin's crew made it out alive and unaffected by the plague that day. Eliza ejected in her escape pod, as she saw a bright red light reflecting from her glasses as she moved away, and she began to cry.