by Ivan Kal
The carriers were firing long-range missiles, and the Val’ayash were doing the same. Then one of the remaining Val’ayash light cruisers disappeared and reappeared a few moments after next to one of the carriers. Its purple beam fired at point-blank range and blew the ship apart. The other carriers reacted, firing their weapons at the Val’ayash cruiser, but its hull was too powerful.
Aiko did however note on her first viewing that, after it came out of FTL, the Val’ayash light cruiser didn’t have its shields. A few moments later she saw the light cruiser get rocked by internal explosions, and she knew that the carriers had managed to hit it with their blink cannons. It was nearly impossible to hit a moving target with the blink cannon at any meaningful distance, but the light cruiser was close. It survived for a few moments more until the fire from the carriers destroyed it, but not before it took down one more carrier.
By the time the fighters reached their ships—those that had survived—Aiko could see nothing but chaos as the fighters of the destroyed ships were sent to the others to resupply, and the Val’ayash ships entered the range of their beam weapons and started hammering at the carriers.
After that, the battle ended quickly. Two carriers managed to send out fighters for another attack run, but both runs failed, and every fighter was destroyed. Soon after, their carries joined the others. The Val’ayash then cleared Earth’s orbit of defenses and settled in high orbit. They started bombing a few targets, and then hours later their transports were sending assault ships down to the planet. The records included the data on their targets as well as some battles on the grounds, but Aiko stopped the recordings and looked at her officers.
“They invaded the planet,” Jasmine said with a tremor in her voice. “The records of the war show that Val’ayash rarely invaded. They would wipe planets clear of all life with orbital bombardment, as per their religious beliefs that any death they cause sends the dead souls to their creator.”
Aiko nodded. “That suggests that they are not there simply to continue their crusade.”
“Magi-tech,” Chief Randor said.
Aiko nodded. “Yes, they have our equipment from our encounter on their old world. And they have Lieutenant Kovac—that means that they might know about the portal to Ethorria.”
“So far we are the only people who understand magi-tech and who even have magic-capable people,” Randor said slowly.
“Yes, and if they gain control of the portal…” Aiko shook her head. “The portal is an enormous resource. An entire universe’s worth of resources, theirs for the taking.”
“I think that you are underestimating my world, Captain,” Specialist O’nga said. “You have not seen what a true mage can do, and there are other worlds beyond Ethorria with great armies and great powers. We might not travel among the stars like you do, but our World Gates connect many. Taking Ethorria would not be an easy thing for anyone, not even people from this side with their technology.”
Aiko raised her hand in apology. She didn’t know much about Ethorria’s military power, but that wasn’t her concern at the moment, so she moved on. “I also suspect that they did not expect to be met with this much resistance.”
“Resistance?” Jasmine asked. “They destroyed eleven ships, and the only reason we even did damage was because of the Qash’vo’tar and Zhal battleships. They rolled over us.”
“Aiko is right,” Kane said, speaking for the first time since their meeting started. “Their information about Earth had to be limited to only what Kovac knew. Both the Qash’vo’tar and the Zhal are keeping our arrangement and Earth in general a secret. They couldn’t have expected their battleships and cruisers. But based on what they know about our capabilities, the force they brought was enough to take care of what they believed we, and only we, had.”
“I agree,” Aiko said. “They didn’t expect the Qash’vo’tar and the Zhal.”
Kane tapped his chin as he was looking at the frozen holo. “Only their light cruiser used FTL speeds in system.”
“You’re right—why didn’t the others?” Jasmine asked.
“Perhaps they are not capable of it?” O’nga said.
“Perhaps, and their ship did not have shields after they did it,” Kane added.
“I’ll have our teams go over the data carefully. If the answer is there we will know,” Aiko said. “Now, we need to talk about what we are going to do next.”
“Do we have any idea why Fleet would send us to an empty system?” Jasmine asked.
“No,” Kane answered. “Unless it is not empty.”
Aiko nodded. “We must assume that their priority is to liberate Earth. I doubt that they would send us to a place which did not aid in that goal. And we did get access codes, with instructions to use inside the system. At the very least, there must be a facility of some kind there. For now, there’s not much that we can do other than go over the data and see what advantages we might get from it.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Grimm sat in the large mess call assigned for use by the Dragons. Senka was a large planet, with many facilities across it. The southern continent had the colony proper, with people living there not being military. They were the people chosen to keep humanity alive, should the worst come to pass; but the northern continent was more military oriented, and the Dragons’ facility was buried deep into the mountain, next to the weapons-research facilities.
The Dragons were isolated, and so outsiders were not allowed into their mess hall. Ever since Grimm had been confronted by the Dragons, however, he had been allowed inside their facilities in a more open fashion. He didn’t understand that; he had told them what he had done, and their response had been the complete opposite of what he had expected. But then again, he could never hope to understand their minds. They had grown beyond what they had tried to teach them. He was only thankful that they hadn’t decided that Earth wasn’t worth protecting—not yet, at least.
Grimm finished with his meal and then stood up, leaving the mess hall and heading for the Dragons living quarters. He was greeted by every Dragon he encountered, and feeling just a bit awkward he returned the greetings. He entered a room and spotted his target immediately. Ethan had invited him to come and visit, and Grimm headed toward him, but his eyes were drawn to what was in front of the Dragon.
The entire wall held a painting.
“You finished it,” Grimm said as he stepped next to Ethan who didn’t turn around.
“Yes,” Ethan said.
Grimm studied the painting for a long while. He hadn’t been allowed to see it, Ethan had told him that he wanted to finish it before letting anyone see it. Grimm was amazed, the painting was magnificent. There were colors there that Grimm wasn’t sure he had ever seen before.
The painting was of a massive dragon, standing atop a narrow mountain. Bellow it, on the left side of the mountain was fire, cities burning, people lying dead in the streets. It was a depressing depiction, the fall of humanity. But Grimm could see the details which told him much. The dead people were clutching jewelry in their hands, their fingers elongated and nails longer claw-like, even as dying children stood next to them. The message was clear to Grimm, the worst of what humans could be. It made him feel depressed, sad, but also somehow guilty.
Not being able to look at it anymore, Grimm turned his head to the other side of the wall, to the right of the mountain and the dragon. The other side was filled with light, the sun shining down on the human cities, people walking in the streets with smiles on their faces. Children playing, and even a few aliens walking among them. It was a stark contrast to the other side of the painting.
“A painting of what is to come?” Grimm asked.
“Of what could be, and what we hope,” Ethan said.
Grimm looked back at the painting, thinking about what it meant for the Dragons plans. Then a loud sound broke Grimm out of his thoughts, startling him as a voice spoke through the speakers.
“Wormhole opening in system. Code orange.”
/> Immediately, Ethan turned and ran out of the room, Grimm followed close behind him, making his way to through the series of hallways until he reached the command room a few minutes later.
Admiral Eliot was already there, standing next to a large holodesk which showed the still forming wormhole and its location in system. “I want Everest’s squadrons launched and on their way to the incursion. Chimborazo’s squadrons are to take defensive positions around the two carriers and the station. What does the defense network say?” the Admiral asked.
“Scanners indicate that there is only one ship inside the wormhole corridor, in the cruiser weight class,” one of the officers reported.
Grimm released a sigh of relief as he heard that, and thanked god for the fact that Senka had developed scanners which could see inside wormholes, at least when they were about to open. It allowed them to prepare better. To the side, Grimm noticed Ethan walking over to his sister Remi D-002 who was standing and watching the controlled chaos of the command room with a blank face. The two were now part of the Admiral’s command staff, serving as something like advisors. Grimm made his way to them and stood next to them without saying a word.
“The wormhole is opening,” another voice added, and then a moment later spoke again. “The ship is passing through—we’ve got a match on our scanners! It’s the Prometheus!”
Grimm frowned. The Prometheus should not have been anywhere near Senka. The plan had never been for them to send ships here, it was too much of a risk. Immediately, he knew something was wrong.
“Greet them,” Admiral said, and Grimm shivered as he remembered when he too had been greeted by Senka.
A few tense moments passed as they watched the Prometheus enter the system. Its weapons were already powered up as far as Grimm could see on the holo, but no one fired yet.
“They’ve sent the access codes, Admiral.”
“Good.” Eliot nodded. “Instruct them to power down their weapons and dock with the station. Get a team ready to meet them.”
Grimm walked over, the two Dragons following behind him. “Admiral,” he started. “The Prometheus should not be here.”
The Admiral nodded. He had been briefed on everything that had happened since he left Sol, which was just after the Prometheus had left the system. “Yet here they are, and I do not like what that means.”
“Admiral,” Remi D-002 said as she took a step closer. “The Dragons wish to be a party to all the meetings with the crew of the Prometheus.”
Eliot looked at Remi for a long moment, then nodded.
***
Grimm sat down in the Admiral’s briefing room. The last few hours had been a shock, for both the people on Senka and the crew of the Prometheus. He still couldn’t quite believe what he had learned. Earth invaded by Val’ayash… That hadn’t been in any of their doomsday scenarios. Their plans revolved around either Zhal or Qash’vo’tar invasions, even them attacking Earth together. But not this.
Grimm glanced around the room. The Admiral was sitting to his right with his elbows on the table and his fingers clasped in front of him. Next to him were the Dragons on his left, and across from them were Captains Aiko and Kane. They had all spent the last several hours going over the Prometheus’s files and the records of the battle, and now it was time for them to make a decision.
“We only have two Atlas-class carriers and the Fury,” Admiral Eliot said. “Against three Val’ayash battleships and four cruisers.”
Captain Aiko shook her head in disbelief. “I still can’t believe that you’ve built it. When I was part of the planning team it had only been an idea.”
“We’ve made it real,” Eliot said. “But I don’t know if we can fight them off. All our planning and tactics were for fighting the Zhal and the Qash’vo’tar.”
“The Val’ayash can be defeated,” Captain Kane said.
As Captain Kane spoke, Grimm noticed the two Dragons cast curious glances at him. The others probably didn’t notice, but for Grimm who knew them well, it was obvious. He is their biological father, I guess that they are curious about him.
“I don’t know if we should risk it,” the Admiral said. “Fury is mostly finished, but it is not yet fully operational. One of its blink cannons doesn’t have its script plates yet and its rail-guns aren’t operational. Not that rail-guns are going to be a decisive weapon against those ships, anyway—they were designed as weapons against fixed targets. The biggest problem is that the Fury doesn’t have a traditional point defense system. We planned on putting in something new we have been working on, but it is not ready yet.”
Captain Aiko spoke. “We were sent here for a reason. We need to go back and fight. You saw the records of the fighting on the ground? With every day that passes the Val’ayash are gaining more ground!”
Captain Kane put a hand on his wife’s shoulder urging her to calm down. He then turned to look at the Admiral. “How long would it take to put in the point defense system like what our other ships use?”
“A few months? I’m not certain, we never planned for the Fury to use conventional point defense, it would take time,” Admiral Eliot shook his head. “It might be better to wait, if we can research the technology you brought… If we build more ships with this compressed matter and ones capable of FTL comms, we would have a much greater chance of winning,” the Admiral said.
Grimm could see the look of disbelief on Captain Aiko’s face.
Then Remi spoke up for the first time since they began the meeting. “Fortunately, this is not your decision to make,” Remi told the Admiral.
Eliot turned to look at the Dragon. He narrowed his eyes at her and tightened his fists. “I am in command of Senka and its assets—all of its assets.”
Grimm grimaced. He realized that the Admiral was attempting to subtly tell the Dragons that he was their commander, but that was not still strictly true. Since they’d signed the accords, they were now an autonomous organization under the oversight of the council.
“Yes, but whether Senka’s assets are deployed to help Earth is not your decision,” Ethan said, picking up his sister’s words. “With Earth invaded, and the council unable to act, all decisions regarding Senka are now in the hands of Mr. Grimm, who has authorization from the council to make any and all decisions regarding Senka.”
Eliot blinked, then turned to look at Grimm, who felt all eyes turn to him. He took a moment to compose himself. He had allowed recent events to throw him off balance, and that was not something that he should have allowed. He turned to look at the two Dragons.
“What do you think that we should do?” he asked them. He could see the two captains from the Prometheus frown; they didn’t know exactly who the two Dragons were, though Grimm had seen Captain Kane study their spellscripts with great interest. Grimm wondered what the man would think if he knew that he was sitting next to his own children.
“Liberating Earth is of utmost importance,” Remi started. “Every day that we delay increases the chances that Earth will remain under Val’ayash control permanently. The Zhal and the Qash’vo’tar are too far away to be called on for aid—by the time they would arrive, the Val’ayash will have certainly received reinforcements. The greatest problem we will have is on the ground. The Val’ayash assaults have been brutal and efficient. They have bombed the biggest cities and more visible military bases, though the Fleet and the military were quick enough to have evacuated as many as possible once they realized that the fleet in space was going to lose. Still, the Val’ayash had still delivered a devastating blow. Their invasion is now occurring on three different fronts: North America, Europe, and Asia. Am I correct in assuming that Lieutenant Kovac knew of the portal but hadn’t been given higher clearance beyond what knowledge of the portal required?”
Captain Kane frowned. “He visited Ethorria once I believe, but he was trained on Earth. So no, there was no need for any higher clearance.”
Ethan continued. “That would mean that he wasn’t aware of our top secret entrances
to our underground complexes, which means that the only ones he could’ve betrayed are the ones that were public knowledge—the ones we told the Qash’vo’tar about. And all of them are located in North America, Europe, and Asia.”
“They are looking to get control of the portal,” Grimm concluded.
“Based on what we know, that is their objective. They’ve laid siege to Denver and Austin in North America, Vienna and Belgrade in Europe, and Xi’an and Seoul in Asia. All cities with public access points to the facilities underground.”
“All cities with increased defenses as well,” Grimm said.
“Based on their actions, I do not think that the Val’ayash care much about that. They have superior technology on their side.”
Grimm thought about it for long minute before speaking. “What would happen if we waited?”
“The Val’ayash will entrench themselves on the planet; the inevitable reinforcements from their base systems will make Sol nearly impossible to take back on our own. By that time the Zhal and Qash’vo’tar would’ve learned about the attack, as several trading ships had managed to escape, but their response would take an even longer time as the two great powers would need to gather forces from their territories and then coordinate an attack—that is, if they decide that Earth is worth it to them. But seeing as the Val’ayash have decided to act openly, we must assume that they are ready to begin their war again. That means that soon the two great powers will find their own territories attacked, and at such a time help for Earth will be the last thing on their minds,” Remi told him.
