A Dark Oceans Descent: (Heridian Saga, Book 1)

by Darryl J. W. Temple

  'Yes, my Khan,' Raeson replied, 'it saved me and my wing in my last mission, a vessel worthy of commanding'. He turned to his longtime friend and with a small nod of his head continued, 'congratulations.'

  Zekhal couldn't hide his excitement. Finally, the commander of his own capital ship, not the size of a dreadnaught, however still powerful and a step closer to his goal.

  The Khan turned to Raeson and continued, 'and you, Xain Raeson, will command the Arvernus,' he studied the look on Raeson's face as he broke the news. There was no change in Raeson's expression, no look of dread or fear. Zekhal looked as if he had seen death itself, eyes wide and face pale. He did his best to cover up his emotion for the sake of his friend.

  'The Arvernus, my Khan, you would have me command such a famous ship amongst our fleet?'

  The Khan turned his back, walked over to the large window at the rear of his observation room, and took a moment of thought before he spoke.

  'Congratulations again Amus Zekhal, on your promotion to talon commander, you may leave.'

  'Yes, my Khan,' Zekhal replied. He locked eye contact with Raeson before turning and leaving the room.

  The doors slid shut, prompting the Khan to alter the direction of the conversation. 'This flagship,' he began, 'most races considered cursed before we captured it. Where this vessel would go, war followed and death not far behind. When we plundered the home world of the ship's builders, many of them were happy to see it leave.'

  Raeson could see the Khan smiling and reminiscing about his prides past, the Wing of Vidar, and how it came to be the flagship of the pirates.

  'When I saw the Vidar, I knew it was the vessel I was to command, despite the hearsay and rumours. The technology was so similar to our own, even down to the solar sails, yet so much bigger than anything we owned. It was and still is the gem of our fleet, even though others constructed it.'

  'It is an incredible vessel my Khan' Raeson said.

  'Yet if you told a version of me that was ten years younger, before I captured it, I may have not believed that.' The Khan went silent for a few moments

  'Tell me Raeson,' the Khan asked, 'what do you know of the Arvernus?'

  'I know that it's a corvette class vessel, slightly smaller than a frigate, capable of harboring five fighters and has the ability of limited translocation jumps.' He paused for a few seconds thinking about how to continue. 'I also know that almost every pilot considers the vessel cursed, because all its commanders have vanished during its jumps, without explanation.'

  'Does that bother you, Commander?' the Khan asked, putting an emphasis on Raeson's new rank. 'Join me for this view Raeson, few bipeds get the privilege.'

  He did as his Khan asked of him and still felt curious why he was still in the room.

  'Do you believe that my decision is an injustice to you because of your past, young pilot?' the Khan asked, his gaze not leaving the armada of ships in formation outside the large window.

  'No sir, however, I do believe it may be because of someone else.'

  'Oh yes, your father, the one that abandoned us causing hundreds to lose their lives.' The Khan turned and looked into Raeson's face, giving him his full attention. 'It is because of your father I give you command of this ship.'

  Raeson could feel his anger rising inside him; he had held this burden his whole military life.

  'It is however not for the reason you believe. I give you this vessel so you may prove yourself to all those that doubt you. If you can tame and master this great ship, then none have reason to be against you.'

  Raeson's anger vanished as quickly as it had begun, 'You offer me a solution to my almost exiled existence here amongst us? I thank you, my Khan, though I ask why you are helping me.'

  The Khan's body language seemed less formal, 'I help you young one because no person should live under the dark repentant shadow of another's deeds. I know this well; I know this like I knew your father.'

  'My father, you knew him!?! How could I not have known this?'

  'The past is the past,' the Khan replied, 'we may learn from it and hopefully not repeat it and there was no need for your involvement.'

  'What was he like, my father?'

  'He was a great man, a skilled pilot and a brilliant commander. I grew up with him through our military career, much like you and Zekhal, so I hear.'

  Raeson had many questions, and it was hard to know how to ask them all at once. 'Yes, I and Zekhal are close. If you knew my father, the way I know my friend, then you can tell me why he abandoned us like he did?'

  'That is a question I have asked myself for many years, my boy, and I am still no closer to an answer.'

  'I see,' Raeson added, 'and I imagine there is data on the events leading up to it?'

  'He erased Everything,' said the Khan. 'It was all premeditated. Your father was a very smart man, and he knew how to cover his tracks.'

  'Still not smart enough to avoid the hunters you sent after him,' Raeson said hatefully.

  'Yes, you are right and the hunters ended everything for him.' The Khan motioned to Raeson and escorted him to the door. 'That is all I have time for at this stage, Talon Commander Raeson. Look after the Arvernus, despite the hearsay she is a good ship, like the Dying Nova worthy of an excellent commander.'

  'Thank you, my Khan, I will prove myself.'

  'I know you will, my boy, I know you will. Watch your back out there and keep your eye on the dark corners,' the Khan finished as Raeson left, the doors closing behind him.

  He walked down the corridor and headed for the briefing that was about to take place. Some large-scale attack on a Heridian fleet.

  I can't believe Khan Hayreddin knew my father. Exactly what was my father thinking when this happened? Raeson thought. The event seems straight forward yet something doesn't seem right, it can't just be the deletion of records.

  Raeson froze and stood in the middle of the busy corridor before he realized something.

  I always watch the dark corners, ever since the assassin attempts started. Does he know about the killers? Or is he involved?

  *

  On the Sky-Station, Tremon and Draethus had reached the hangers and launching bays. It was of an unusual design. The fighters and troop carrier craft pointed downward, towards the floor. Draethus could see fourteen craft at first, with more in the background. He walked over to the first fighter and peered into the open cockpit.

  'That's a Drop Fighter,' Tremon said as Draethus began studying the weapons attached to the forward swept wings. 'We designed them as aerial support fighters to escort the bigger troop carriers. Those are the carriers over there.' Tremon pointed to a larger craft which resembled one of the reptile flying lizards that Draethus had seen on the planet.

  'You launch them downward?' Draethus asked, examining the mechanism underneath.

  'That's right, as we are on a fortress in midair it is easier for the fighters to drop rather than launch. I would have thought that a Soldier of the Void might have been clever enough to realize this?' Tremon said with a smug expression.

  'Watch your tongue or I will cut it out and show it to you,' said Draethus. He could feel his anger rising and wasn't about to let someone dishonor him.

  The soldier began walking towards Tremon when another man stepped in from the side. Covered in oil and smelling like he hadn't had a bath in years, he shook the large tool in his hand and said, 'The squadron is ready, Sir!'

  Tremon looked at the man, 'Thank you mechanic, please notify the squad leader and perform preliminary checks. We will launch in one hour, no mistakes!'

  'Yes, Sir,' the mechanic said as he backed away and hurried off.

  'You better know what you are doing or you are going to get more people, good people, killed,' Tremon warned.

  'More people will die if the menace gets that device working, perhaps billions,' Draethus replied, putting aside his thoughts of tearing the man to pieces and continued. 'Tell me, Tremon, why do you not trust me, I am a warrior dedicated to destroy
ing the Heridians, yet you treat me with such disdain.'

  'Because you are an outsider, a stranger to our cause, and it worries me at what lengths you will go for victory. Would you sacrifice all of us to rid Echelon of this threat?'

  Draethus thought about his answer, which was yes, of course. A SOV's purpose is the greater good. Sometimes that involves extreme actions in order to achieve it. He would sacrifice an entire world if it meant saving the rest.

  'Get yourself ready, Draethus, we are going in,' Tremon said.

  With the approval of the Senechal, the operation to insert soldiers behind Heridian lines had begun. The aerial craft were ready for launch, and Draethus sat in one of the Drakon drop ships. Because of his height, he had to duck his head to avoid the hand railing behind him. The craft was bustling with activity with paladin soldiers checking equipment, weapons and safety gear. He checked his own harness and found it difficult because of the vertical position of the dropship. He placed his feet on the base of the chair so they didn't dangle freely.

  A voice sounded over the intercom in the hanger, 'Ready to launch in five...'

  'Shouldn't the engines be spooling up?' Draethus asked, looking over at Tremon who sat opposite. He noticed his pale blue and white armor still fit well in the cramped space, though the man looked unwell.

  'No, it's free fall, until we clear the electromagnetic pulse field that protects the underside of the Sky-Station,' Tremon replied.

  'You mean to say that we are going to be dropping from the sky with no power or engines?' Draethus was a little surprised. 'What happens if the systems don't come online?' he finished.

  'Then we die, of course,' Varican replied from behind and grinned.

  'Drop, drop, drop!' the voice announced.

  With a loud rush of air, the hanger bay doors below opened, the clamps holding the craft in place disengaged and all the ships went into free-fall. The sensors on the craft blared warning alarms to notify the pilots they were plummeting to the ground. The troops held on tight to the rail above as the craft nosed downward, spiraling out of control. Draethus felt his stomach hit the floor and vertigo overcame his senses. Shaking his head, he focused on the view through the cockpit and could just make out the ground approaching quickly.

  He listened to the pilots talking over the coms, 'Out of interference in three, two, one… engage power systems and light up the controls.'

  At first the controls didn't respond, the alarm volume increased, then without warning the cockpit was active with lights. Engines spun up and harsh vibrations rattled the interior so much that Draethus thought it would fall apart. His ears popped and the roaring noise of engines became clearer. All the drop craft leveled out and formed smoothly into formation, carrier drop ships in the middle surrounded by the Vampire fighters on the outside as escort. Tremon looked worse than before.

  The squadron flew east first and then north, approaching the city from a different angle in the hope to confuse the enemy. Draethus remembered seeing the city from the balcony on the Sky-Station, with the fire and smoke rising into the distance. It wouldn't be long until they reached their destination, and Draethus could once again kill the enemy. He sat back and savored the feeling of his vibration sword slicing into the menacing creatures, watching them smash to the ground in agony and subconsciously tapped the blade hilt.

  Not long now, he thought.

  The coms crackled again as the squadron leader gave the orders, 'Drop to level two and begin insertion.'

  Draethus felt the carrier make a quick dip in altitude as it prepared to make a lightning fast landing. Without warning, a massive explosion detonated off the side of the carrier's armor, causing it to veer off course. The pilot did well to keep control and pulled it back to approach vector.

  'That was a close one!' Draethus could hear over the coms chatter.

  The noise from the explosions was getting louder, they were being fired upon by a weapon he was familiar with. He had seen it before, a large walking tank that resembled a hunched over cockroach that carried a massive rail gun on its back atop of four legs. It doubled as anti-aircraft and anti-ground assault, used in great numbers it made a formidable opponent. Again an explosion ignited off the armor, vibrations rippled through the metal as the carrier came near to destruction. Looking out the window, Draethus could see the carrier next to them was not so lucky, taking a rail gun hit directly to the cockpit. The ship spun wildly out of control and almost collided with one of the Vampire escorts as it careened to the ground, exploding before impact.

  'Get ready, men!' Tremon yelled over the explosions. 'The moment we land, I want everyone out fast and following my lead!'

  'Understood!' the soldiers replied in unison.

  The Paladin soldiers impressed Draethus. They were not green warriors but courageous shock troops that appeared to have seen action in the past. These Paladins' were earning his respect.

  The drop carriers decreased their altitude again and fired the ship's afterburners. Bright orange flame trailed as they flew over the ruined buildings below. The drop fighter escorts fired salvos of air-to-surface rockets at the ground targets below, before climbing high into the atmosphere.

  'Looping back, you are clear to drop your troops,' the escorts reported over the coms.

  'We copy,' replied the dropship pilots.

  The two remaining dropship carriers nosed up, their engines pivoting on the sides, then fired retro rockets towards the ground to slow the heavy craft's descent. They hit the ground hard as the back doors sprung open to let out the occupants. Draethus rushed out and with assault laser in hand snapped off shots at an enemy Heridian soldier surprised by the landing. The carrier's anti-personnel guns mounted on the top of the craft swept a ring of automatic laser fire around the landing site to clear a path for the ground troops. Then, just as quickly as they landed, the carriers took off in a plume of dust and headed away from the battle, a new direction out of the city.

  'You are on your own,' a pilot voiced over the coms.

  'Affirmative, just be ready for extraction,' Tremon ordered the pilot.

  'Copy that.'

  The insertion team had successfully dropped behind the Heridian lines and lost only one carrier. The first part of the mission was over, and it would not get easier.

  CHAPTER 06.

  Times of Shrike.

  It had been three days since Slin had been in surgery, having the robotic mechanisms implanted into his body and pushing the pirate to the limits of his pain threshold. Nash never left his side. Although they had only been coupling for a short time, she felt very attached and besotted with the pilot. She looked up at the large liquid filled tube and tried to make out the blurred figure of her lover through the glass inside.

  'Is he in there?' asked a voice from behind her.

  She turned to see Tek, the aging fighter pilot, walking through the door, looking as if he hadn't cleaned himself for days. As he approached, she struck out her hand and slapped his face as hard as she could.

  'What were you thinking!' she screamed. 'You were shooting at me when you should have been shooting at the enemy!' She aggressed towards him, more intent on taking out her anger.

  'That was a few days ago, I thought you would have been over that by now, little one,' Tek replied as he crept back, feeling the heat emanating off the woman.

  Nash continued, 'You are part of our squad, we're supposed to help each other and watch each other's backs, not play around like children!'

  Tek stopped and looked down. He felt disgraced and ashamed. A dark shadow covered his face as he said, 'that word again.'

  'What word? You mean help each other? Or acting like children!?' Nash still hadn't calmed.

  'Squad,' he whispered, 'I had one of those once.'

  'And did you shoot at them too? I'm surprised you've lasted this long Tek.' She turned her back on him and walked over to the tube. Putting her hand on the glass, she felt the cold of the condensation dripping down its surface.

  She c
almed herself, 'Do you know what's happening to him in there?' her voice soft, anger replaced with sadness.

  The old man looked up, his face a mirror of regret. 'No,' he replied.

  'When in this tank, Slin's skin will grow over his mechanical implants the machines are currently adjusting. If the cybernetics suit their host, provided the body doesn't reject them, an observer would never know they existed. But Slin will know and never forget, he may never feel a whole person again.'

  Tek walked over to the woman and put his hand on her shoulder, 'He will be alright,' he started. 'He will be alright because he has you to look after him'.

  Nash smiled a little, 'It's rumoured that the pain factor inside the tube can lead to mental breakdowns, feeling every molecule of skin growing back at an accelerated rate. I hope your right Tek, for Slin's sake.'

  He looked at her, 'You must be hungry, waiting by his side like this. I'll be back with some food soon.'

  Tek paused and waited for her acknowledgement before exiting the room, and as the doors closed he stopped.

  'My squad,' he muttered to himself. 'Why did it have to be that way? Damn creatures.'

  Nash could see a great sadness enveloped him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cylinder, unscrewed the lid and took a drink. The warm substance trickled down his neck and into his stomach, and the feeling of remorse subsided.

  'Food,' he whispered, 'better get some before she gets angry again.'

  *

  The briefing was long and tiresome and involved a quarter of the fleet's commanders. War strategists labeled the upcoming mission as a surgical strike, and it was to be co-ordinated into the heart of a newly discovered enemy supply line. The Heridians had been using a small cluster of planets as a mid-point, launching attacks on nearby systems and drawing back to repair and rearm.

  Intelligence information suggested that some Heridian soldiers required sources of food to remain functional. They deduced these troops to be the creatures containing the biological components, or minds, captured from other forms of life. Without food, the humanoid parts contained within degenerate and become unstable. The science teams also speculated the Heridian soldiers that harbor these humanoid parts to be smarter, devious, and a greater threat than their counterparts.