“Ten, it dumped ten just outside of the capital! I’ve got to do something,” Einar said despite knowing his efforts would be fruitless. Regardless, he changed his focus to the missiles. They were faster than the Imil. Einar accelerated and fired on a missile in the center of the cluster hoping he could take more than one out at a time, but they had already begun to separate and go their own way. As the plasma charge approached, the missile sensed it and adjusted its flight pattern and the others adjusted to accommodate the movement maintaining the proper distance.
“What? They are communicating with each other?” he asked incredulously.
The Scat missiles abruptly separated. Out of desperation, Einar fired several rounds anticipating adjustments made by the missiles. He nearly waited too long to pull up and the percussion from the explosion felt like it had ripped the Imil apart. His fighter rolled over as Einar lost control and struggled to regain it. He was crashing toward the surface, regained control and pulled the craft back up in time to see missiles from all directions launched from various locations as they struck strategic targets in the capital city and detonated. One by one the missiles unleashed catastrophic damage. Buildings tumbled and fires instantly raged across the city. The entirety of the structures used to house and conduct matters of the state were now in ruins. The only exception was the Presidential residence, which must have been the intended target of the one missile he was able to take out. Einar was sick and overcome by his failure to stop the attack. How many had just died? Cities all over the planet were suffering the same death and destruction.
He realized what he needed to do. It was a suicide mission of his own. He would deal his own significant blow to the Kasadu. “I’m reversing celerity. I can see where they came in; we know how far the command ships are. I’m going after them!” Einar said into the microphone.
“Take the fight to them. They will call back their fighters,” Cyperien noted.
“I assume most of their force is here. I’ll hit back as hard as I can,” Einar repeated.
“Affirmative!” Cyperien said, “let’s light them up! Command center, we are going to cut off the head!”
Ovtave’s heart skipped a beat when she heard the exchange. She had always understood that in their work the likely hood that he would be injured or killed in the line of duty was far greater than most professions one could choose. Cyperien was a soldier at heart and would always be the one willing to make that sacrifice for his country…for his people. He was fearless and determined.
In a panic, she spun around to see Art looking at her. In her face, he could see a plea for help…a demand to intervein. Art recognized what it was that they intended to do. He skipped the formalities and replied, “No! That is not your job. You were never supposed to engage in the first place! You need to return to base.”
“Tell my wife that I love her! But we have to stop this now. I have no choice. I’m sorry director, but I have to do this,” Cyperien said as he and Einar met at the coordinates, positioned themselves on what the guidance system told them was the correct line and jumped into celerity. Both fighters suddenly went offline. Ovtave looked to the giant screen of the world map on which all the military assets and personnel were tracked. When an allied craft went down, an image of the pilot, their name, rank, and ID number of the craft appeared on the left side of the screen for a few seconds and turned into a red dot with a number as it moved to the destination on the map where the craft went down. She looked and saw that neither Cyperien nor Einar’s image or information was on the display. Like ghosts, they were gone and were no longer able to be tracked. They were on their own.
They came out of celerity just as the anti-collision alarm sounded. Motionless in formation, the armada was before them. To the rear was nine of the largest carriers either had ever seen. Each opening illuminated with the blue-white glow of the electronic fields used to seal each hanger protecting it from the elements of outer space and the unwanted entry of foreign spacecraft. The cannons and blasters were quiet for the moment, which they hoped meant that they had yet to be spotted. In front of them were two large transports that housed mobile hospitals and appeared to match the capacity of any land-based facility that was ever constructed in Viennin. They were as large as the carriers. At least they are expecting a lot of casualties, Einar thought. Next to the medical facilities were two carriers that both recognized from their time in the military as munition and fuel storage. Cyperien immediately began setting coordinates on his payload to take out both munition storage facilities.
Leading the armada was two transports that the Kasadu were using as mission control. The craft also housed the leaders of the Kasadu possibly for the sake of any political necessities that may arise in the event of a surrender of the nations of Econ. Just the thought of the arrogance made Einar even angrier if it were possible. Both transports were covered with hundreds of large storefronts intended for observational use by the most senior members as they sat back and watched the attack on the planets they invaded. Only, they had yet to approach Econ as the initial assault was still underway.
“I’ll go for the munitions and telenium storage. If either goes, it will certainly take out the other and one or two carriers. Kind of stupid to have it next to the other ships,” Cyperien said.
“To our advantage. I’ve already set the Scat…five each for the mission control and five for the other transport.”
Both opened their cargo bays and let the missiles take flight. The movement triggered the laser cannons on the crafts. They came alive and concentrated spray of red, green and blue lasers in the area of the incoming missiles. They were too far out of range and the laser and plasma rounds fizzled out before reaching them. Both agents watched eagerly as the missiles spread out and flew in a pattern that made them very difficult targets to hit. One of Einar’s missiles exploded early as a plasma round struck it. It was too far away and resulted in no damage.
“You may want to move sir!” both heard a voice call out over their earpieces as hundreds of missiles zipped past them toward the armada. They looked at the monitors and saw that at least a hundred of the allied fighters had followed them.
“Cutting off the head, Sir! Just came to help,” the young Captain said, “we couldn’t let you go at it alone!”
“Thank you, Captain. We are glad for the help,” Cyperien replied while quickly repositioning himself out of the way.
The first rounds of missiles exploded into the side of mission control. Bright red-orange flashes lit up the belly and sides of the transports. The damage was certainly severe but did not appear to be catastrophic. The exterior was designed for impacts, for lesser munitions than the CS45’s, but was still reinforced enough to reduce the area of the impact.
A brilliant explosion nearly blinded them as the missiles struck the munitions storage. Hues of red, yellow, blue and green lit up the universe like an exploding star. The military transports jolted to the left and right and were listing at about thirty-degrees. The exterior dented and was ripped open by the impact.
The Kasadu began to release missiles since they were out of range of their laser cannons. The barrage of newly incoming missiles began to impact the newly launched barrage by the Allied forces. Despite their efforts, many reached their targets and peppered the area with large, destructive, explosions. The formation of the armada was in disarray and looked as if they had been successful. It was no doubt that the Kasadu had expected the Allies to fight by the rules, which they themselves had always ignored with impunity, and never expected this kind of response. Now they had brought the fight to them and despite the formal ‘rules of engagement’ as agreed upon by all nations, that the Kasadu never seemed bound by, they were killing at will with no concern for any form of diplomatic immunity.
“Time for those responsible to pay. Going for mission control. The Kasadu leaders want to watch from their fancy accommodations as our people die. Well, it’s time to give them something to look at…to be excited about,” Einar said
as the Imil lunged forward.
Fighters began to exit the bays on the carriers, but the bulk of their forces were away taking part in the assault on Econ. Quickly, the Allied forces went on the offensive and attacked the Kasadu fighters that relied on the element of surprise for success. The defense was a pitiful effort and three and four spacecraft at a time exploded and drifted off into the eternal darkness of space. In a very short time frame, they had dealt a heavy blow to the Kasadu, but it was nothing compared to what was done to the nations of Econ.
Einar engaged an Anbar fighter and made easy work of it. The pilot was infinitely inferior. He could see that the control deck of the transport was still unscathed. Einar decided to focus on it and jammed the thrusters of the Imil forward. On the inside of the transparent wall, he could see hundreds of Kasadu leaders watching as he approached. He smiled and squeezed the trigger sending a barrage of automatic fire as he guided the craft through the maze of incoming. He rolled the Imil on its side and pulled up sending the automatic fire from left to right blowing out the transparent wall in the control station. The bridge was now exposed, and he assumed, disabled. He continued down the port side unleashing a relentless assault utilizing all the firepower the Imil could muster as he watched the mass chaos of those on the ship scurrying to get on the pods. Cyperien assaulted the bow and took out the rear thrusters. From all sides, mission control was disabled. Einar flew his Imil through an opening in the external wall and into a section of the transport that may have been used to gather large groups. He fired off another round that took out the internal structure supporting the center of the craft.
“We have company. I just got word that most, if not all, of the remaining Kasadu forces have pulled back and are headed this way,” Cyperien said. Immediately the collision alarm on his Imil began to sound.
“Okay, let’s get out of here!” the Captain commanded.
The Allied fighters reversed course and entered celerity and were gone in minutes, “Let’s go!” Cyperien said to Einar hoping he wouldn’t resist.
“Okay. Just one more pass!” he said while opening fire on the bridge for a second time. He was driven by anger, revenge and the need to penalize them for what they had done. He wanted them all dead, even if it meant his own life. This was better than returning to the carnage, cleanup, and recovery that would remind him of their failure. The unknown number of dead that would no doubt haunt him from this point forward. They failed to see this coming. They had failed to adequately prepare and defend Econ. Many citizens had paid the ultimate price for their failure. The evil, power-hungry, beings responsible for the carnage on Econ would die. He watched as the lasers entered the bridge and penetrated deeper into the structure cutting down those fleeing for safety despite having nowhere to run.
“You go!” Einar demanded as he darted out after an escape pod and destroyed it.
“I’m not leaving you!” Cyperien forcefully replied.
Einar became frustrated and angry with Cyperien for putting him in that position. If he didn’t leave, he would also carry the burden of the death of his friend. Then he thought of Eerika. He needed to know what happened to her and if she was still alive. He jerked the control and shot out of the side of the wounded vessel. They saw the first wave of fighters as they returned and accelerated into celerity.
Upon returning, Einar and Cyperien couldn’t help but instantly realize the magnitude of the attack as they could see the destruction from miles above their planet. Plumes of smoke rose into the atmosphere from the major cities. Counting the dead would be an impossible task. Many would never know the exact fate of their lost loved ones as many would certainly be unaccounted for. Fatalities were sure to number in the millions. How did we let this happen? Einar wondered.
“We can’t let this go unanswered! We need to strike back harder than they hit us!” Einar said unconcerned about who was listening in on the conversation.
“Yes, I agree! That will not be our decision. We must rely on the President for that,” Cyperien noted.
Ovtave heard Cyperien’s voice and let out a long breath for the first time in what seemed like hours. Her hands were shaking as she put them over her face to wipe her eyes.
Both flew toward Auslet to observe the damage and the possibility of remnant Kasadu forces. Right away they could tell that many buildings had been razed to the ground. The skyline was absent of a number of the skyscrapers that were once landmarks of the Capital City. Very little could be seen through the dense walls of rising black and grey smoke and huge waves of out of control fires that seemed to lick the air in search of oxygen to help it spread. The capital appeared to be ground zero from the air. The city was devastated.
Einar banked hard to his port and noticed red flashes off in the distance on the southern edge of the city. As he drew closer, he saw that it was lasers from a sniper hiding behind debris from his crashed Schwan fighter. The pilot was firing on civilians as they attempted to find refuge from the spreading smoke and fire that blanketed the city. Einar cautiously fired off a round that exploded on the ground just behind the sniper desiring to take the enemy combatant alive. The ground exploded and the Tish was thrown into the air and was separated from its weapon.
Einar quickly set the Imil Nomo down and jumped out of the cockpit. He ran over to the Tish, who had already returned to his feet and was moving toward his rifle. Einar grabbed a piece of metal and ran after the Tisht. It’s four eyes would prevent any kind of surprise attack, but Einar charged regardless. Filled with rage and hatred he held the metal rod in the right hand. The Tish spun around with the weapon, which was met with the full force of the metal rod as it was brought down across the top by the charging core. The laser rifle exploded, knocking both back off their feet. The Tisht was the first to recover and return to a standing position. He was wounded but was ready to fight to the death. Einar continued to lie on the ground exaggerating the extent of his injuries. The Tish decided that he no longer needed a weapon and would beat Einar to death with his three-fingered fists. As the Tisht pilot got within range, Einar rolled over and fired a round into its chest. He wanted to take the alien pilot alive and had used a stun charge. A blue web of electricity covered its lanky body stopping it long enough for Einar to return to his feet. The Tish shook off the stun charge and continued to move toward him. Einar fired off a second and third round which had the same result. This time he used the brief opportunity to lunge at the Tisht and swung the rod, which was somehow blocked by the Tisht pilot while fighting off two of the stun charges. It grabbed Einar and wrapped its three fingers around his throat. Einar fought to breathe and swung the rod one more time at the head of the Tisht, but the effort was woefully weak and was blocked. Einar, realizing it was fruitless to swing at the side with the open arm, opted to move to the side where the Tish was vulnerable. In a fluid movement after the failed attempt at the head, he pulled back the rod, passed it behind his back, then rotated the shaft in his hand as it rose into the air and was driven deep into the eye. When the Tisht realized what Einar was doing, he began to release him, but the rod was driven deep into the eye before he had the chance to do so. It let go and winced in pain as the fluid from its eyes ran down its scaly face. Einar jerked the rod out and began a relentless assault bringing it down on the top of the alien pilot’s head until it was on the ground. He swung violently with all the rage he could muster and continued to pummel the Tish across its arms and legs until it moved no longer. With its appendages shattered, the Tish was no longer a threat. While attempting to retain his breath, Einar walked over to the Imil and radioed for the local authorities to pick up their future informant.
Art was in the SINSTER headquarters staring at the map attempting to assess the damage across the world to the allies of Viennin. Something struck him as odd when he focused the satellite over the nations of Aldevi and Capetes. No smoke, no damage, they were spared completely. He referred to the giant electronic map on the wall and saw no Aldevian or Capetanin casualties, nor any sign
of the deployment of any of their military assets. “Ovtave, what of our allies in Aldevi and Capetes?”
“Sir,” a young male agent called over.
Art walked over while running through the scenarios in his mind, “I hope this is important.”
“We intercepted this message. Looks like it is from a location just outside of the city of Ativoa in Aldevi. The agent tapped on an illuminated button and played a recorded message. The first voice is a masculine voice clearly speaking in Tisht. The agent let it play out then paused the playback. “The translation, ‘You disappoint us Paramount Leader. Perhaps our confidence in you was misguided.’ The second voice is clearly Aldevian, ‘You attacked before we were ready. We were not in position. You were too early. Bo Nen and Capetes had a hard time relocating their assets without the Viennians figuring out what was going on. You don’t just move that kind of military force in that time frame without drawing attention.’ We crossed referenced it and positively identified it as the Paramount Leader Wonsan,” he pressed play again and went to the translator for the response, “When will your ground forces be in position?”
“A few days,” Wonsan replied.
“And we thought you had the aspirations of a world power,” the unidentified Tisht said. The voice began to break up and it was difficult for the translator to get an accurate account of the final comment before the connection was broken.
“We did our best to make sense of the last comment. It seems to suggest a second wave of attacks. We have no idea when this will occur, but it appears to be a ground assault by Aldevi, Bo Nen and Capetes,” the young agent said.
“Nothing like the betrayal of an ally,” Art said coldly.
That isn’t all. He slid over to a monitor; I found this video that was uploaded before the Kasadu attack. He vocally commanded the video playback. The hologram extended from the wall-mounted unit and played back a scene from what used to be the main thoroughfare during the era when transportation had been grounded. Most traveled by air in the modern era and the shadows of the traffic above moved across the angry dense crowd of thousands. “Traitor, betrayer, and treason,” was shouted by an angry mob as they drug two dead bodies feet first down the street. The two were partially clothed and their faces were bloodied and swollen from being beaten relentlessly.
Universal Code Page 61
