Chapter 198

Pegasus Galaxy

Borealis's ability to track a vessel in hyperspace made possible the task at hand. Constant monitoring of hyperspace activity by both city sh.i.p.s made possible the creation of an overall picture of movement activities in a large portion of the galaxy. As the positions of allied sh.i.p.s was already known, and Wraith Hive movement's were limited to certain corridors of Pegasus, it was a fair guess that the lone unidentified ship speeding across the cosmos belonged to the Harbinger. That was the thought anyway.

Intelligence gathering was the cornerstone of any war effort. Little was known about the Harbinger, and that deficiency was one that was badly in need of correction. To answer that call, the Daedalus class vessel Leonidas had been dispatched. Racing through hyperspace, Leonidas was the only asset in position to intercept the new threat. Tensions were high as the ship and her crew raced towards the unknown. Far too little was known about their potential foe.

"Incoming message subspace message sir. Borealis has detected the target dropping out of hyperspace. Updated coordinates are available." The communications officer announced.

"Confirm receipt of coordinates. Helm, take us their at best possible speed." Colonel Lucas Pratt ordered.

"Estimate our arrival at new coordinates in seventeen minutes sir." The helmsman stated.

"Understood. When we drop out of hyperspace, I want the cloak online. Let's not take any chances with this one." Pratt ordered hopefully.

Seconds spanned into minutes as Leonidas closed in on her prey. As a relatively untested crew, everyone was jittery to a certain extent. Speeding into the great unknown in an Athena was one thing, but it was an altogether different prospect in the much smaller 304. These were the moments they had trained for, and no other option existed but to rise to the occasion. Now was not the time to have these types of thoughts Pratt said to himself.

Bringing the cloak online, Leonidas prepared to exit hyperspace. Weapons were powered and placed in standby, sensors were brought to maximum gain, and battle stations were manned. All was ready. Ninety seconds later the warship slipped out of hyperspace, wrapped safely in the warm embrace of their invisibility.

Standing off in the distance laid the imposing bulk of the Harbinger's vessel. Large, sleek, and fearsome; it was an intimidating sight. Justification for that intimidation was confirmed, as sensors began to take readings. Detected power levels showed several times the amount of energy production than a standard Wraith Hive. Internal scans provided a picture of a vessel far different from a Hive in layout as well. Instead of many corridors and compartments, this vessel seemed to only have a lone corridor and a single compartment. Clearly, this was the bridge of the unique ship. If only they had known that on that bridge, a hyperspace window opening had been noticed.

"The targets power levels are dropping like a stone sir." The sensor officer announced.

"Transferring power to other systems?" Pratt wondered aloud.

"Not that the sensors can detect sir." Sensor's answered.

"I don't like this. Something is not right. Take us in closer and see if we get anything else on the sensors." Pratt ordered.

At low speed, Leonidas pushed closer towards the vessel before her. Coming to a stop eighty kilometers away, the sensors continued to peer into the distance. Despite closing on the target, additional readings were not forthcoming. Power levels aboard the enemy ship continued to fall. It made no sense to anyone among the 304's bridge crew. Normally, Wraith vessels devoted a majority of their available power to hull regeneration after exiting hyperspace.

In several compartments in differing sections of the Leonidas, several screams rang out. In the port hanger bay, a few of the more level headed 302 pilots jumped in surprise, swearing that they saw something out of the corner of their eye. Around the ship, the unease grew. Startle turned to fright. Fright turned to terror. Two minutes after the first shrieks, screams began to ring out on every level. Joining these screams filling the air were staccato bursts of pistol fire as several armed Marines discharged their weapons at nothing more than thin air.

Crewmembers in all compartments burst into frightened runs. Each and every one saw terrifying visions of phantoms and other things they feared deeply all around them. Panic broke out repeatedly. Some screamed, others cried while cowering, and still others attempted to run. In one horrific case, an armed Marine pleaded aloud for forgiveness before putting his pistol to his temple and firing a single round. On the bridge, the scene was no different.

"It's not real! It's just a hallucination!" Pratt yelled.

In a moment of clarity, the helmsman was able to overcome his fear and take action. Moving the weapons from standby to active while dropping the cloak, the helmsman initiated an automated attack program. Two pale blue shafts of superheated plasma raced towards the Harbinger's vessel. Instead of verifying the damage done, the helmsman began to maneuver Leonidas away. They must run!

Having detected the hyperspace window, Harbinger had lured the vessel he knew was out there somewhere closer by reducing power. Waiting patiently, he then activated the mind manipulation device that ran down the spine of his fearsome ship. This tactic was one he had used to great effect many times during the Ancient/Wraith War. Seeing the small vessel maneuver away without its cloak engaged, Harbinger began his pursuit. He knew that by now panic would have broken out aboard, and that made his task so much the easier. Surprisingly, they had managed to raise their shields. An answer for that was close at hand, he thought with a smirk.

The Leonidas continued to maneuver. Reversing course, the small vessel attempted to outturn the larger and escape. Nose to nose, the two vessels found themselves locked in a high tech game of chicken. From the bow of Harbinger's vessel, a flowing energy wave erupted. Following closely behind this wave were four smaller objects closely resembling Darts. Unknown to the panicked humans, the outcome was already decided.

Impacting the Asgard designed shields; the energy wave broke like a storm surge. Designed to protect from energy weapons, they were not prepared to protect against a weapon never considered by Asgard engineers. The energy wave was very similar to a widely known piece of Wraith technology, the culling beam. Much more powerful, this culling weapon was not meant to capture prey. Instead, highly structured energy fields were absorbed in much the same way. The stronger the shield, the more effective the culling weapon.

Seven seconds after the collapse of the forward shields of Leonidas, the Dart like objects slammed bodily into their target. One struck the nose, one the elongated neck, and the remaining two the main body of the Tauri vessel. Instead of carrying a pilot, these craft were instead very agile and fast moving anti-ship weapons. As they penetrated the outer hull of Leonidas, thunderous explosions shattered the once powerful warship. Scant seconds after it had began it was over. Leonidas met her end with all hands lost. Transmitting a continuous subspace microburst, the onboard Emergency Locator Transmitter announced to allied forces the eternal resting place of two hundred men and women.