Draethus looked back at the monument and into the distance, hoping to see his vision of Rel once more.
*
Talon Commander Arcilous Draethus, warrior, soldier and recently recruited pirate, stood at the center of his command deck and ran his eyes across its elegant design. Sleek lines interwove the metallic white surfaces of the consoles as the holographic interface floated above each station. Strange shapes marked the various controls linked to the ship.
How are the repairs coming Eclipse? He thought in his mind, knowing the vessel was with him.
The repairs are complete, Commander Draethus. The damage inflicted by the Heridian electronic warfare is no more, as is the invasive nanites.
Draethus could sense there was more to say, a curiosity lingering in the background of the Eclipses' consciousness.
Eclipse, he thought with a stern tone, is there something else you are not telling me?
There was silence for a moment as the ship considered its options, deciding to go with the truthful question. Are you leaving, Commander Draethus?
He smiled to himself and sent in a thought, for a short time, yes I will leave. I have a mission to complete which involves delivering a message to the SOV on Echelon.
He felt a sadness emanate from the entity inside his mind, a sense of abandonment with a need to follow.
I would take you along of course, however I have agreed with the Khan that you would stay here, Draethus said in his mind.
I see Commander, and how long would you be absent for?
Well the scientist, Spect, replied the pirate, thinks that it's a ten month round trip depending of course on how long I stay on Echelon. I don't see the need to stay long, just enough to leave the details for the SOV to find.
The ship didn't seem too happy with the decision, but gave the Commander the sense of acceptance. Very well Commander, it replied.
Draethus walked off his command deck when he realised he'd never asked about the ship's involvement with the Specters. Did you know the Specters would help us on Heridia? He asked.
Did the Eclipse know it was smuggling the deadly ethereal beings called Specters into the military center of the Heridian race in order to slay their leadership? The Eclipse replied smugly.
I'll take that as a yes, Draethus replied.
*
The scientist Spectalin ran his fingers quickly over the long console in front of him as he calibrated the controls of his new creation. Thanks to their time within the Heridian pocket of space, he gained a massive amount of data and had spent a vast amount of time compiling it into ship schematics.
Spect had scanned every wreck within the ship graveyard with enough detail to construct plans to recreate the vessels. It was this idea the Khan had liked the most, to rebuild the fleet using ancient designs from the large capital vessels down to the smallest of fighters. In the foreseeable future, the Cygnian fleet would comprise Heridian designs alongside the unknown reptilian race.
As he finished the last of the calibrations, the soldiers he had fought alongside, men and women he'd grown fond of, were ready to give their Commander a send off.
Draethus leaned against the ship he would call home for the next twelve months. He ran his hand along its nose and admired the rugged appearance. Unlike the Widowmaker class fighters, the craft wasn't sleek and resembled a winged reptile. He imagined the race that designed it to share similarities. The scientist had the ship painted the black and gray of the pirates as opposed to the khaki green of the original design.
Draethus looked over his group of friends and felt great pride in what they had accomplished. Tremon and Raeson stood next to Spect, with Slin and Nash on the other side.
'She's the first of her kind,' Spect started, 'well, built by us that is. I've taken to calling the race who designed it the Tiberous because of their former planet.'
'Looks fast,' replied Raeson, 'and it's designed for translocation I hear?'
Spect ran a finger across the frame of his glasses and realised he was the center of attention. His face flushed a bright red as he said, 'In a limited capacity yes, the craft can make short distance translocates but also has stasis capability. Commander Draethus can sleep for months at a time if he so wishes.'
'Have you named the class of ship yet?' Slin asked.
Tremon laughed, 'This is Spect we're talking about here, and he's probably named the whole damned fleet by now.'
'Now hear this,' Spect started before catching his temper. 'Alright, maybe I have named the entire fleet and the new ships we'll be building soon, but I give them illustrious names.'
'That you do old friend,' Draethus added, 'and we call this?'
'An Aspen class long distance fighter. Although not as manoeuvrable as the standard pirate craft, it's designed specifically for long journeys and will be perfect for your mission. As mentioned earlier, I have fitted it with a stasis module as the fighter can only support one person. The darkness out there is lonely and can be hazardous to a pilot's mental state, so this is the solution.'
'So the sleeping princess can deliver his message,' Raeson laughed as he gave Draethus a shove.
'I'd give you a shove back if you weren't so delicate,' Draethus joked.
Spect tapped some of his controls and a door behind the canopy opened. It slid to the side as a crude ladder extended down to the docking platform.
'We have stored all your belongings aboard as requested. I've also run multiple systems checks and you are safe to fly,' Spect announced.
Tremon was first to clasp forearms with Draethus, they locked each other in a stern gaze, old rivals turned friends.
'Be well, friend,' said Tremon.
'And you Tremon, the new Paladins won't know what hit them,' Draethus grinned.
Raeson faced him, 'It's been a long road, an unfinished one, but we have done well. Come back soon, there's still Rids to kill after all.'
'Look after these soldiers for me Raeson,' Draethus replied as he clasped arms, 'they will need your leadership in the next battles.'
They nodded before Draethus slapped the scientist on the shoulder, 'I'm proud of you too Spect, you're quite the warrior now.'
The scientist looked down and smiled, 'Thank you, Sir,' he replied.
Draethus finished his goodbyes with both Slin and Nash before he climbed the ladder, turned and bowed his head in salute. His team, his colleagues and friends returned the salute as the door closed. The new ship's pilot climbed into his cockpit and then ran his pre-start check. The fighter's engine burst to life, the clamps released him off the dock and he headed out into the void.
I'll return once I've left the co-ordinates somewhere the SOV will find them, along with the exact times the link will open so they can be ready for the invasion, he reassured himself.
He settled back into his chair and missed the warm feeling in his mind that was the Dawn Eclipse. As he set the autopilot to the route Spect had plotted to Echelon, he noticed something hidden under his console, a bottle with a note stuck to the front.
'A friend to keep you warm on your journey—Tremon,' it read.
As he lifted the note off, Draethus saw writing underneath and engraved on the bottle.
FANG.
*
Back on the docks the group watched as the fire from the Aspen class fighter's engines disappeared into the night.
'I feel I should be alongside him,' Tremon frowned as Raeson punched him in the arm.
'You have a Paladin army to train now,' the pirate Commander smiled.
'With the route I calculated Draethus will arrive at the time specified, we will see him again soon, if we survive the coming war. There are Heridian fleets still out there,' Spect added.
'Always the positive optimist,' Slin chuckled.
Nash held Slin's hand and pulled him in close, 'Could we go check on Tek, we haven't seen him in a couple of weeks?' she asked him.
Before Slin could respond, alarms began echoing through the docks, a klaxon warning that a vess
el was making an unauthorized action nearby. Every light transformed the massive open area into a yellow haze as pirate guards began running towards the danger.
'What's going on?' Raeson asked a guard as he approached.
'That gold ship has disengaged the docking clamp somehow and is trying to leave,' the man replied out of breath.
The group followed the guard to the dock in question, as it wasn't hard to figure out exactly what ship he was talking about.
When they arrived, the golden ship was indeed unsecured from its mooring but hadn't engaged its engines. The majestic vessel floated still and looked ready for an escape.
'Raeson to the Eclipse, what are you doing?' the pirate Commander yelled into his coms. 'I know you can hear me.'
The Eclipse is sorry, was the only reply from the ship into his mind. This is the only way.
Xain's mind reeled at the sound of a voice in his head other than his own.
The Tether Source within the core of the vessel spun into action as the golden external armor plates slid back revealing the glow of blue within. Light pulsed and swirled from the vessel as an intense energy erupted like azure fire around it. Everyone on the docks shielded their eyes from the blinding light. The vibrations in the air were almost too much to handle, and the noise of a thousand engines shrieked through the docks of the Wing of Vidar.
As the noise vanished, Raeson removed the hands from his eyes and felt the pain from the ringing in his ears. He looked up, expecting to see the empty dock and a missing ship, only to see that the Dawn Eclipse was still in the same position.
'Raeson to the Eclipse, what is going on?' he said as the noise in his ears faded. 'You better have a good explanation for this, and why did it look like you executed a time shift?'
His coms crackled to life with a voice that he didn't recognise, but felt familiar. 'Raeson, as in Xain Raeson?' the man asked.
'Yes, who is this?' the pirate Commander ordered.
'Well, if that is truthful, then I guess that makes you my son.'
Epilogue
Draethus awoke to a screaming alarm originating from the cockpit of his Aspen class fighter. It took a few moments for the stasis gas to clear in his horizontal chamber. A blanket of mist that covered his entire body dissipated as the containment glass lifted.
The pirate ran into the small cockpit and the sight of a fast approaching surface through the canopy. His consoles flickered with warning holograms informing him of imminent danger combined with a full systems failure. Fear raged through his being.
'Not now,' he yelled, 'I haven't come all this way to fail now!'
He ran back into the mid-section of his craft and rapidly put on his armor. If he was going to crash, he would need all the protection he could get. His helmet automatically flipped over his face from behind and created an air-tight seal as he strapped into the flight chair. The control stick was unresponsive, and nothing Draethus touched had any effect.
The Aspen fighter slammed into the dusty gray surface, carving a three kilometre long crater as the craft skidded through the rock. Wings tore away, the body became a shell as the projectile slowed to a fiery halt. The remaining oxygen burned off, leaving the pirate with only the limited supply contained within his personal armor.
His head throbbed as he fought the urge to pass out. His hands ran over the console to make sure his message was still intact only to find it partially corrupted.
'The co-ordinates to the link is missing,' Draethus said to himself, 'but the invasion dates are intact, I guess that's something.'
He pressed the locater graphic on the floating display to discover where exactly he had crashed and laughed. 'Echelon's moon and thousands of years too early. So that's what the SOV found up here… me.'
He knew his oxygen supply was dangerously low because of a small rupture in the armor. He could see the vapor emanating from multiple locations, too many to cover all at once. The reading inside his helmet displayed he hadn't long to live, and his vision faded into darkness. The image of his lover appeared in the distance, standing quietly in the gray dust, smiling and holding a purple flower.
'Rel,' he whispered.
Arcilous Draethus held the locket, gifted to him by Rel, in his hand and caressed it with the thumb of his armored glove.
TO CONTINUE…
A Dark Oceans Descent: (Heridian Saga, Book 1) Page 32
