Risen: Shatterverse

A Grim Discovery

Tovin gestured dismissively.

"It doesn't matter how they got it, Sub-Admiral, only that they have it," she said. "Is this new tech the reason the Vanguard fleet elements attached to our task force have yet to fall in?"

"Affirmative, Supreme Commander," Aetohk replied without hesitation. "High Command is rushing additional assets to our muster point in an effort to counter the escalating threat."

Tovin found herself nodding. It made sense to bring in more ships if the clouds, already pretty damn effective in battle, could now move of their own accord. They could afford to wait, if those additional ships would make up the difference between victory and obliteration.

"Very well, Sub-Admiral, we'll wait for your reinforcements to arrive before embarking. What's their ETA?"

"They are currently inbound, Commander. Five Earth minutes until they breach hyperspace," was the swift answer.

Nodding even as she pointed to her K Campaign liaison, the veteran psyren went on.

"Advise Tusk of the delay and the ETA. And Comms, get the command team in here. They'll need to be on top of this thing," she directed before returning her attention to Aetohk. "Your information has added urgency to our effort, Sub-Admiral."

"High Command agrees, Supreme Commander," the nehvest replied. "The attached Vanguard elements under my command are ready to wormhole transition as soon as our assets breech."

"Which means we need targets reflecting that urgency," Tovin noted. "Tactical, what do you have for us?"

"Wormhole-capable probes out of New Oblivion had identified several targets of opportunity, but those were subsumed planets or stationary swarm clouds," the Tactical officer replied as they worked over their interface. "We're retasking a number of those probes now, using current combat status briefs available on the Vanguard Operations and Tactics network, to see if we can spot one of those mobile clouds."

"ETA to nearest probable target?" Tovin pressed.

"Thirty seconds, Commander, from my mark. Mark."

30 seconds. Tovin's expression tightened slightly. A lot could happen in 30 seconds. Especially if they're flying in blind. Maybe the Vanguard's battle data could give them an idea of what they were in for.

"Do those briefs have sufficient data in them to paint us a picture of the target area?" she asked.

"Checking now, Commander. If they do, I'll route it directly to one of the primary holo-displays," the Tactical officer indicated. "Tapped in and running a search. There! Got something, ma'am. Running it through a translation matrix and routing it to the display now."

Cooper, one of Max's most reliable commanders, was just stepping into the war room when the display came alive with an uneasily shifting blob of silver and black.

"Mobile swarm clouds?" he asked as he came to a halt beside Tovin to join her in staring at the image. "When did this bloody happen?"

"Just now," Tovin replied before making a gesture at Aetohk's image. "The Vanguard encountered them in a number of skirmishes within the last half hour." She looked over at the frowning British Risen. "They're sending additional assets to bolster the fleet."

Cooper threw a surprised look back at her.

"Are we seriously thinking of taking on one of those?" he asked, a brow lifted in question. "The stationary clouds are bad enough. We should get a bit more information before we rush to hit a moving one. Like what the bloody hell makes them move."