'How long?' the giant Heridian leader asked impatiently. 'I want it done now…'
A soldier below looked up, 'Three half cycles my Lord,' it said, then in fear of retribution, twisted its attention back to the consoles.
A screen to the right of the Heridian Lord illuminated and came to life, showing a large group of red blips overlay onto a map of the local area.
The Heridian lord laughed, 'Like insects they keep coming. Maybe this time they will stay and fight unlike the last cowards, so disappointing. Let them in close, I want all of their force engaged in this fight. Send word to our forces they are to feign surprise and die if they have to.' The soldiers in the room acknowledged in the standard Heridian language. 'When the cycle count down is complete, this pathetic enemy will burn,' the Lord grinned. 'Where ever you are Draethus, I call to you now, see this fire as a beacon and fight me once more!'
*
'Open fire!' roared the order over the coms from Captain Wrath to his tank formation.
The landscape exploded with hundreds of bright orange and yellow streaks of light, connecting with the large complex over the water. Concrete and steel ruptured, sending dust and debris into the air with pieces crashing into the murky liquid surrounding the area. The tank force had masked its signature perfectly and surprised the Heridian enemy guarding the displacement device.
Enemy troops quickly took up positions across the other side and returned fire. One tank bore the focus of enemy fire and exploded, causing vibrations through the ground. Repeatedly, the thunder of guns rocked the landscape in a dance of violent confusion. Heridian walkers exploded as the tank group shifted focus to reduce the incoming damage and where one died another would take its place in a never ending battle.
'I want twenty guns on that complex at all times,' Wrath yelled. 'The rest take care of that enemy armor. Gunners target the Rids on the ground, they might be small but they add up. Any sign of their ground artillery, Camerous?'
'No, Sir,' the Lieutenant replied. 'No sign at all, which is strange. Forward scouts reported seeing them in this area days ago, it wouldn't make sense to leave the complex unprotected.'
'No matter, just keep at them. All units spread out in case that artillery makes an appearance.' Wrath tapped a few keys on his console. 'This is Captain Wrath to Sky-Station. We have engaged the complex and require aerial assistance. If we win this fight, the complex will be ours for the taking, however these tanks don't swim to well.'
The coms crackled and a gruff voice replied, 'We didn't expect you to engage, why did you not notify…' the voice cut out abruptly, replaced by someone more superior.
'This is the Praefectus. I commend you on getting so close to the complex, you must have caught them off guard. You will have aerial support shortly, Captain.'
'Thank you, Sir,' Wrath replied, fighting the urge to solute over the coms.
Another thunderous shudder rocked the command tank as a friendly unit exploded unexpectedly, killing all the crew on board. Wrath turned his external cameras to his force and saw the extent of damage. Fires covered most of the monstrous vehicles, armor on some were melting however they still continued their onslaught. For the first time they were winning, a fact Wrath knew, but losing people dulled the excitement. All under his command were his responsibility, his pride and his fault.
The enemy lines had piled up with twisted metal debris that the Heridians took advantage of for cover. The once murky water turned a dark red with whatever ran through their veins. A Heridian walker scaled over a wall, let off a blast from its over-shoulder cannon that landed in the dirt, before reeling back from return fire and breaking into pieces in a smouldering explosion. Sparks ignited the fuel soaked ground nearby and burnt a blue fire, sending gray smoke into the already clouded area. Wrath's gaze followed it skyward, and he noticed something shimmering above the battle.
The ground shook violently; the battle damaged complex changed and opened, flooding the surrounding area with more blue light. Wrath could feel the air around him tingle with electricity as the hairs on his arms stood up.
This isn't good, he thought to himself.
A single beam of light reached into the sky from the complex and hit the shimmering clouds above. A terrifying crack of sound waves ripped across the heavens, tearing the fabric of time itself in a show of amazing illumination. For a moment all Wrath could see was white as he shielded his eyes, then all faded to dark as a space vessel of the most immense size emerged from the tear in the sky that blocked out the sun.
*
'This way!' Tremon yelled to his colleagues behind him.
He was in a wide passageway of whites and grays, with an illuminated blue underfloor that increased in intensity as he walked on the different sections. At every few meters the bulkheads seemed to come alive with mechanical activity, reacting to his presence. He stopped at the base of some stairs that lead up to a double doorway of smooth, cold to the touch, white metal.
The team had been exploring the ship since Draethus had found a way in, and although they had discovered some remarkable rooms, the bridge or command room had evaded them. Spect ran up behind Tremon and hugged the door like a friend he hadn't seen in a lifetime.
'This has to be it!' he screamed. 'This has to be the control bridge, can we cut through it?'
'Move aside,' Draethus said, clamping his hand on the scientist's shoulder. 'That panel on the side has the same markings as before.'
He lifted his hand up, a beam of light appeared and the doors phased out of existence. Walking onto the command deck the equipment activated, panels sparked to life, holograms flickered and morphed, and the floor once again illuminated a soft blue. Six panels with flight chairs rested on both sides of center and lead out onto a ledge overlooking a lower section. Bulkheads lined the room shaped with curvatures, soft edges and thin lines.
'What do you make of that?' Tremon asked as the team looked over the ledge.
Below the group rested a liquid of dark reflection, a metallic substance that shifted like an ocean stretching the entire length of the bottom level.
'Is that supposed to be there? It doesn't look right,' Varican said.
'It's a little unsettling, isn't it?' Spect was almost dancing with excitement. 'I'm sure you can see the stars in it too!'
A section of liquid splashed up against a bulkhead and separated like a wave crashing on rocks. They could see a nebula shining a multitude of colors in the shimmer's surface.
Very unsettling, Draethus thought.
Spect danced around the consoles like a child exploring his new toy, pushing the holographic keys and smiling when they vibrated in response to his touch. One console displayed a disc that the scientist subsequently grabbed hold of and rotated, ending in a clicking sound.
'Maybe you touch nothing, Spect,' said Tremon, feeling an anxiety brought on by their unfamiliar surroundings and the fear of some defence system killing them all. Pushing buttons can be dangerous.
The lights in the bridge faded to red as a digital warning alarm sounded. A voice spoke over the loudspeaker in a language none of them understood and the strange liquid below became a still, dark reflective lake once more.
'I didn't do that, I swear,' the scientist said as they all stared at him. 'Wait, what's that?'
A three-dimensional scene appeared in the air over the liquid, depicting almost a hundred massive tanks fighting a battle across a large lake against hordes of Heridian armor and infantry.
'That's the complex,' said Varican, gripping hold of the guardrail. 'Is that happening right now, how can the ship see this?'
'I want one of these hologram machines…' Spect said sheepishly, slinking away after he realised he spoke aloud.
The lead tank moved to the front of the line and destroyed an enemy walker that exploded and fell into the lake.
'That's got to be Captain Wrath.' Tremon had been in the Paladins long enough to recognise the markings. 'I wasn't aware there was an assault on the complex?'
'We should be…' Draethus said, interrupted.
A light blinded them all, followed by a dark tear that opened over the battle. It shimmered, like the liquid below, and illuminated the edges of the surrounding space. A massive Heridian vessel emerged and cast a shadow over the carnage below as the payload of weapons it carried unleased an inferno through the lines of tanks. Clusters of the Paladin war machines exploded as the huge capital lasers bombarded them with streaks of plasma, transforming the battlefield into a molten mess.
'What is that?' asked Varican, mouth wide open.
'The Rids.' Draethus rushed over to the consoles. 'How do we get this ship moving!' he screamed, pushing buttons trying to get a response. 'Spect…'
'I'm on it,' the scientist replied, reverting to his previous behaviour of twisting holograms and dials, though in a more serious and determined manner.
The rest of the team followed their example, choosing a console each and hoping blind luck could help them. Draethus slammed his fist down in frustration; his voice drowned out by the battle still raging on the hologram. The surviving tanks scattered in all directions to avoid the aerial bombardment, racing full pace away from the complex, most of them damaged and on fire in some respect.
The ship's audio system activated again in the strange language, a deep mechanical voice that sounded inquisitive, then it paused… Commander?
'You speak our language?' Draethus exclaimed, feeling hope flood his mind, and rushed over to the hologram battle. The three other men looked at him, puzzled.
'Who speaks our language, what are you talking about?' asked Tremon, bewildered.
'The ship spoke Echelonian, did you not hear it? Ship, take us to that battle.'
Those around you cannot hear this voice, Commander Draethus from the Soldiers of the Void. The voice in his mind felt warm yet somewhat ominous.
I knew something felt unsettling, well the screams in my head should have given that away. What do you call yourself, ship? Draethus thought.
Known by many names over the eons and in many languages. Your scientist referred the name the Dawn Eclipse, which will suffice.
Alright Eclipse, take us to the battle.
Step over to the ledge… the voice faded in Draethus' mind and he felt its presence drifting and lingering in the background.
The railing phased out, like the door earlier, and a platform levitated from beneath the dark metallic waves and floated to the edge of where the soldier was standing.
'What is going on?' Varican asked him as Draethus stepped onto the platform. It dipped in the air with his weight.
'I think the ship likes me,' Draethus said. 'It accepts the name you gave it as well, Spect.'
The scientist's face brightened as if he just received the greatest compliment of his entire career.
The platform floated out high over the dark liquid lake and without warning plummeted into the middle. Draethus hadn't the time to react to the panic of drowning before he found himself in an unworldly place. The surrounding area was a dim red, with floating patches of black cloud that gradually swirled around him like ink in water. His mind couldn't comprehend what suspended him, and the soldier gave in and breathed. The fluid entered his lungs as his heart pounded in fear and subsided after a few breaths.
We are as one, Commander Draethus, the dark voice said into his mind.
His thoughts washed over with a strange yet familiar feeling of being, as he could feel the ship's systems coursing through his veins. In his mind's eye he could see himself as the sleek golden ship, berthed at the dock. He willed the exotic vessel to move and felt controls manifest in his hands. He thrust the throttle forward and from his view of the outside watched the vessel's engines flare a hot white, and the ship propel forward.
'Pick a console,' Draethus said over the coms to the confused team on the bridge, which was about to climb down to the bottom level to rescue him. Shocked at first, they complied.
'I will guide you throughout your systems as we need it,' Draethus finished.
His mind was everywhere through the ship, but with help he could multitask easier. Somehow, by being one with the ship, he just knew how to operate the systems.
'Here we go, ready yourselves,' Draethus said again.
The golden ship's engines flared even brighter, before accelerating and leaving the Sky-Station.
*
Looking out over the lake, the giant Heridian, leader and guardian of the displacement device, stared at the flames that burned into the sky. The creature's long serrated tail slapped the dirt in amusement, knowing how much death the vessel above had just inflicted on the Paladin armored force.
The smell of burnt flesh wafted through its senses as the wind changed direction. Smaller Heridian soldiers rushed around carrying supplies and any tools they thought would be valuable and loaded them into large platforms dropped by the ship above.
One such platform had finished being loaded as four thick cables lowered down, attached themselves and lifted the platform, pulling the structure into the ship. Every surface of the ground had something ready to haul as the complex was being stripped and transported onto the ship.
'Drop the tethers and take the device,' the lead Heridian communicated to the massive carrier above. 'Take care, if it falls, so do you.'
Within moments, more tethers lowered and began lifting the section of the complex housing the displacement device.
'Your transportation is ready to proceed,' notified the carrier.
The leader stepped onto a platform, sent a notification to the ship above, and as it lifted saw a flash and commanded, 'Tether faster, the device needs to reach the carrier now!'
The creature looked across to the other platform and wanted to scream.
*
The golden vessel, the Dawn Eclipse, burst into the skies above the battlefield with a crack of thunder and a flash of light. It vectored high, rolled over and dived into the shadow of the now rising carrier above.
'What are those structures being lifted?' Tremon asked as he fiddled around with his console, pushing highlighted buttons as he ran through a brief training exercise started by the ship's new Commander.
After a brief pause, some puzzled looks from Spect and a shrug of shoulders from Varican, the voice spoke again over the coms from Draethus. 'They're stripping the complex and taking the displacement device aboard that giant Rid vessel. We cannot let that happen. If that device is operational, if that ship escapes, there will be no way to halt the Heridian forces.'
'Let's shoot it down then.' Tremon's' hands hovered over the holographic weapon hilt that controlled the weapons. 'Target the device and lets end this. I'm sorry, Draethus, I know that means you can't return home.'
In viewing Draethus' actions and seeing the hatred he had for the menace, Tremon, for the first time, displayed compassion for the man.
The ship levelled, entered a firing pattern before jinking off to the side as a laser from the above carrier caused it to break off its run.
'Circling back around,' Draethus notified the already focused crew.
The golden vessel banked back around, shifted from side to side, and locked onto the signature of the displacement device. Tremon's controls lit green as he squeezed the three triggers in both hands. Six lasers pulsed out from the smooth sides of the ship smashing into the rising platform causing the tethers to buckle then snap. Tumbling, the device and its structure fell. Its sheer mass pounded the ground and buried it deep beneath the surface, leaving a crater and incapacitating enemy soldiers.
'The mass of the device must have been immensely dense to cause a crater that large,' said Spect, abandoning his console and leaning over the railing for a closer look.
'Forget about that for now and get back to your console.' Draethus was enjoying his new command. 'Follow your training and mark the Sky-Station as the next destination.'
'Copy that… Commander Draethus,' Spect replied with a smile. 'Sounds good, doesn't it? The Heridian vessel is on course
for the Sky-Station, I think we made it angry. Oh, and by the way, what's it like in that metal liquid… stuff?'
'You can ask questions later,' the new Commander replied.
'Have we got enough firepower to take on this enemy vessel?' asked Varican with worry in his voice.
'I'm sorry, but we don't my friend. I locked the waypoint in and are flaring engines, we'll do all we can.'
The Commander started the burn to the station.
*
'I know Draethus is piloting that ship. How did he learn to control it so quickly?' The Heridian leader roared furiously, as he paced the length of the command bridge on the enormous Heridian carrier.
Its tail scraped along the metal flooring behind, causing it to spark before flicking up and scratching the viewing window that stretched the length of the bridge.
A voice from the shadows in the corner warned, 'Don't mistake your current status as one able to damage my ship without punishment.' The source of the voice was stern but not insulting.
'That attack was far too fast, he must have had help, and he's destroyed the displacement device.' The leader stopped itself from lashing out again, pulling its third claw from the viewing window.
The voice from the dark continued, 'The Lords need that golden ship, you know this.' It moved about and shuffled in the dark. 'The device existed only for the purpose it now served.'
The leader growled a low tone like a wild animal sizing up another, 'I know its purpose. With that device we would not need that ship and the Lords could be free.'
'And if the device never fell, you would not be here now, would you?' the dark voice laughed.
The Heridian leader, angry, was not in any mood to be told what he already knew. 'When we reach the Sky-Station, open fire with everything you have. I want it crashing to the ground before we leave.'
*
A Dark Oceans Descent: (Heridian Saga, Book 1) Page 14
