by Ivan Kal
And having Araxi with them would be helpful. The massive beast was the Krashinar response to the Erasi Devastators; it was a bit larger than one, and held much more mass. Adrian knew, or rather remembered, it being grown. It was a powerful beast, as powerful as a Sovereign, if a bit smaller.
But a part of Adrian was still worried. He had seen the memories of Old Scar, and he knew how well regarded it was by the Six. Adrian was certain that Old Scar didn’t understand, that it did not feel worthy of their regard. But to an outsider’s eyes, it was obvious that the Six did care for Old Scar greatly. Losing it would be a great blow not only to the Krashinar, but also to the alliance they had made.
Regardless, it was not really his decision. He could deny the request and harm the relationship he had with the Krashinar for certain, or let Old Scar come and merely risk it.
“Very well, Old Scar. You and Araxi are welcome to come with my forces,” Adrian said. “I will need to inform the Erasi of this, as well as have some changes made to the plan. Once I have the plans revised, I will send you my memories of them.”
“Thank you, Adrian. We will be ready,” Old Scar said as it pulled itself from the water, using the Sha to dry itself by removing the water from its body and pushing it back into the pool.
“It will be an honor to fight by your side, Old Scar.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Alliance staging point
Ryaana threw her fists at the punching bag, trying very hard to keep her head clear. The last few days had been a whirlwind of activity and plans, but it was the fact that she was going to be fighting alongside the Erasi that had her mind spiraling. She was going to be fighting alongside those who had destroyed her entire force, killed people under her command. It was not a good feeling, but she had been training for all of her life to rule, to lead, to fight, to make hard decisions, to set aside her feelings and do what she had to do.
She knew intellectually that she would not be fighting with the same Erasi who had slaughtered people under her command, and she didn’t really hate the races that were part of the Erasi. She had Ssarath and Bomtu friends, or at least acquaintances. People that lived in the occupation zone had all once been Erasi, or were descended from them. Race didn’t matter–only actions did.
The fact that she was a part of the team going after the Weaver made her feel better, a lot better. She knew that it had been the Weaver’s machinations that had trapped Ryaana’s force, and she wanted payback.
Her fists rained against the punching bag, not using anything other than her brute strength. Sometimes training without the Sha was far more satisfying. With each punch, she felt as if a little bit of her anger drained away. She would not let it compromise her mission, despite knowing that it had affected her. A few days after coming back from her defeat, she had lashed out at Marie, the tech girl who had asked her out, and she hadn’t done anything other than ask her if she was all right. Ryaana had been sick of people asking her that. She had been cranky.
She felt a presence enter the training room behind her, but she didn’t turn; she already knew who it was. She kept hitting the bag, increasing her speed.
She could feel her looking at the back of her head, and eventually, when the other person refused to speak, Ryaana threw one more punch and then turned around to glare at the other woman.
“Mother,” she said as she walked toward her, removing the gloves from her hands.
“You are angry,” Kar Daim Anessa said.
Ryaana couldn’t stand that tone, her mother’s ruling voice. “I am not angry!” Ryaana yelled out.
Her mother only raised an eyebrow.
Ryaana visibly controlled herself, then took a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” she said. She did not want to get into an argument with her, especially not after they had just started working on their relationship.
Her mother took a step closer and then caught Ryaana’s eyes.
“It is all right to be angry, Ryaana, to feel. Do not bottle things down inside. Trust me, I know. I made that same mistake long ago.”
“They all died because of me…” Ryaana whispered.
“They died because your father and I sent you there. They died because Valanaru started this war. They died because the enemy had more information. They died because they made a trap. They died because of a thousand other things, too. Your fault is just a tiny little piece of why what happened did happen,” her mother told her.
Ryaana felt tears welling up in her eyes. She hadn’t grieved for the people under her command, not really. She had just been trying to hold it all in. Ryaana closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears inside.
Then she felt her mother envelop her in an embrace, putting Ryaana’s head on her shoulder.
“I’ve been a bad mother,” she whispered in Ryaana’s ear. “I didn’t hold you enough, I didn’t tell you how much I love you. You are a piece of me, Ryaana, the best parts of who I am. It’s okay, my daughter. It will be all right.”
Ryaana felt it all break–her feelings about her mother, her pain at failing, the loss of people under her command. And she wept, the tears running down her cheeks and on her mother’s shoulder.
* * *
A while later, after Ryaana had had a chance to clean up and calm herself, along with her mother–surprisingly–the two of them were training together. It was the first time that Ryaana had felt at ease and comfortable in the presence of her mother. It felt good.
Anessa threw a kinetic attack at Ryaana, one that she sidestepped before returning one of her own.
Her mother smirked and ran head on toward Ryaana’s attack, and with flick of her hand her mother somehow parted the attack around her. Ryaana, caught by surprise, could only watch as her mother jumped forward, extending her palms toward Ryaana.
Expecting a kinetic attack, Ryaana bent her knees, waiting for the right moment to jump away–but instead, suddenly every part of her body got pushed back, as if something heavy had pressed against her.
Ryaana stumbled backward as her mother landed in front of her and grabbed hold of Ryaana’s hands, pulling her forward and over her back to throw her on the floor.
Ryaana hit the floor hard, losing most of her breath.
Her mother stood over her with a grin on her face.
“What was that?” Ryaana asked.
“Something your father taught me,” her mother said as she extended her hand and helped Ryaana up.
“You must teach me how to do that,” Ryaana said.
“Of course, Ry,” her mother said with a smile on her face. It was rare for Ryaana to see her mother like this, with no mask on her face. She liked it.
“Well,” her mother said, “I need to be away. Duty calls.”
Ryaana felt a pang of sadness–she didn’t want the moment to end. This was what she had always wanted: time to spend with her mother, away from the Kar Daim.
Her mother stepped closer and cupped her cheek. “I know that I made many mistakes. But believe me, things will be better soon. Your father and I have many plans for the future, and we will have time to spend as a family, I promise.”
“I hope so,” Ryaana said.
“Be safe,” her mother said, and left.
Ryaana watched her go, feeling happy for the time they had spent together, as short as it was. And it had felt good, like she had mended another part of their relationship. She was glad that her mother hadn’t offered to let someone else be part of the assault team.
It was Ryaana’s job, a part of who she was. She didn’t need to be protected…although, it had felt good to be held in her mother’s arms. She hadn’t realized how much she had needed that.
* * *
Adrian sat in his room reading through the latest findings Seo-yun had sent him. Her ideas and theories on the Sha had been very interesting. And if they were true, they gave him some insight into what had happened to the Enlightened and how they had gained so much power. He still couldn’t understand their motives, but he would eventually. He
was certain of it.
Regardless, the main point of it was that the conduit that all life forms of high intelligence possessed, the one that connected and allowed more of the Sha to pool in them, also allowed them a greater control of the Sha. Some of this Adrian had already suspected; he had moments when he had done things with the Sha that the People had not had classified as an ability. Presumably, they hadn't even known about it.
It meant that he could theoretically do more. He was a part of the Sha, like all living things, like the Enlightened. It was only their connection that differed. For some reason, the Enlightened were more connected, and Adrian knew that that connection was the key. And if she was right, it meant that if one could integrate with the Sha on a deeper level, then they would not need nearly as much energy to use it. That could mean that the Enlightened weren’t actually more powerful, it was they simply did not need to use nearly as much energy to accomplish things with the Sha, allowing them to do more.
He only needed to figure it out.
Finishing with the reading, he stood up and walked over to his bed. Anessa lay there, sleeping, and her relaxed and content form made him somehow feel guilty. Lurker of the Depths had asked him why he hadn’t told her about the Enlightened, and Adrian had said that it was for her own safety. It was partially true, of course, as Anessa was not particularly good at keeping secrets. Yet he couldn’t escape the feeling that he should’ve told her. He knew a part of the reason why he hadn’t–he didn’t want her to go against the Enlightened. She was strong, but he knew that she wasn’t a match for them. He wasn’t either, in his estimation, yet he felt like he could reach their level.
But then again, when he had found out about the Enlightened, Anessa had still planned on being the Kar Daim. Now, he knew that she would step down as soon as the war was over. She wanted to walk beside him, as they reached for a greater challenge. That need that she had, the same one that he had, was why he had fallen in love with her.
He slipped into the bed, gently reaching over and pulling her to him. She wrapped herself around him and continued sleeping.
He would tell her, once the war was over. They would find a way to defeat the Enlightened together–as it always should be.
Interlude VI
~Fifteen thousand years ago
It was a great day. Vorash watched as three more races prepared to sign and join the Erasi, the union of races that would grow to become something truly great. They were going to be the force that drove cooperation, trade, and safety across the galaxy. They were small, still, but in time they would become strong enough to protect their people. What had happened with the Union would not happen again.
It was also a day of remembrance, as it had been nearly ten years since the last ship from their home had arrived. The Union was no more. Vorash wept for the many souls that had died, for all those that they couldn’t have saved. It had hit Garash harder; he felt responsible, as well as required to do better. Vorash’s brother had vowed to never again allow what had happened to the Union to happen to their people, to the Erasi, now.
At times Vorash worried about his brother, as there was darkness there taking root in his pain. But Vorash was confident that having the Erasi would help him deal with the pain. Having something new to protect, and grow. In time he would see this as his home.
The ceremony reached its peak as the representatives walked up to the long table and put their marks on the agreement and stood before Garash. His brother’s smile was a great thing to behold as he welcomed the new additions.
“It is really something,” a voice from Vorash’s side said, “to see it happen all before our eyes.”
Vorash glanced to his side, seeing Valanaru standing next to him.
“It is the beginning of a new age for all of our peoples,” Vorash told her.
“That it is,” Valanaru agreed.
Chapter Thirty
Gena system
Valanaru walked into the command center that had been improvised in the heart of the Pillar. From here, she could monitor the entire system. She made her way quickly to the holo in the center of the room and her commanders.
“O’fa,” they greeted her with bows of their heads.
“What is it?” she asked tersely.
“There has been movement in the traitor’s fleets.”
Valanaru frowned. She did not think that Vorash would actually try to take the planet. He had a great force, perhaps enough to do it, but it would decimate both his and her fleets, and most certainly leave the Erasi vulnerable to the invaders.
“What are they doing?” Valanaru asked.
“We are not certain, O’fa…”
Valanaru frowned at the idiot. For a moment she debated ripping into his mind to get the information directly, but she quickly put that thought aside.
“Explain,” she ordered impatiently. She was truly surrounded by idiots, she thought bitterly.
“The forces they have in the system have split into several smaller forces and are moving. But their courses don’t make sense.”
“Are they headed here?” Valanaru asked.
“Uh… No, O’fa.”
“Then what do I care? Don’t interrupt me again without a good cause!”
Valanaru turned and began walking out of the command center. She did not have the time to worry about every little thing. She needed to figure out how to convince those still holding off to join her. The most important thing she needed were the corporations and their industry. But they’ve been resisting her, even with her offering incentives, which was not like them. That meant that Vorash had already gotten to them, she thought with a spike of rage. If that was the case, however, she only needed to find out the right price.
As she was about to step out of the room, alarms started blaring out, startling her. She turned back and glared at her commanders.
“What is it?” she demanded.
They looked at the holo for a long minute, almost ignoring her. She again debated killing them and putting more competent people in their place, but then one of them turned and answered her question.
“We are being attacked. Several positions in the city are under siege.”
Valanaru immediately felt fear.
“Here? They are attacking the Pillar?”
“No, O’fa, but–”
“Then deal with it,” Valanaru said, relieved. She didn’t care as long as she had the Pillar. And this place was a fortress–she did not believe that the traitors had enough troops on the ground to take it.
She walked out of the room, leaving the commanders to deal with it.
* * *
Vorash sat in the command center on board a massive station in the orbit of the first planet in the system, their temporary base of operations. The plans had been set in motion and now he only had to wait and see how it all turned out.
Almost the entirety of the forces he had in the system, some two hundred and fifty fleets, split out slowly, moving on different courses across the system. The plan was for them to pass close to the skim disruptor stations and take them out. Valanaru hadn’t bothered to reinforce them much, and she didn’t control them all, only those surrounding the capital. She probably didn’t think that Vorash would want to take them down and allow skim missiles into play. Of course, not all of his fleets were going toward the disruptors; others were simply getting in position for an attack, but Valanaru didn’t know that.
The skim missiles were a terrible weapon, and without powerful detection grids one couldn’t even know that they were coming. At most one might get a few moments of warning. But the ability to bombard the enemy with s-missiles in a single moment from far beyond the detection range had worried the Erasi ever since the Empire had showed them the capability. It was why they had focused all their efforts on finding a way to neutralize that advantage.
And as soon as they had, they had implemented a skim-disruption field all around the Gena system. They had not wanted to wake up one morning only to see the entire
planet glassed by missiles they didn’t see coming.
But while introducing the s-missiles back into play might bring some advantage to both sides, it was the fact that it would allow him to suddenly bring in the fleets that would help them strike a great opening blow.
The fact that the access point was inside the sun, obscured from her sensors, had been a blessing. With all the ships moving around the harvesting stations it would’ve been a miracle if Valanaru had noticed that a few ships had entered the corona. Further, she couldn’t see that he had removed the mines inside the shield generated by the access point. And so she would not see when the frontier fleets arrived, not until they had already exited the star and entered skim.
The plan for the assault of the planet had been devised by Vorash’s commanders, with some advice from Heart of the Mountain. His commanders hadn’t been all that happy with accepting help, but after reviewing his plans they had begrudgingly agreed that it was better than what they had come up with.
The capabilities of the Sovereigns amazed him, but one key capability in particular was what they were basing their opening move on. All of the ships in the Erasi and even alliance fleets needed a while to recharge their skim drives after dropping out of skim, but the Sovereigns did not require that much time. They could skim around far faster, and with much less recharge time.
The first strike would be delivered by a single Sovereign, one that would, in concert with their teams that were already planet-side, deliver the assault strike against the Pillar. When Vorash had found out that the alliance had more assets on the planet than he was aware of, he hadn’t been all that surprised. However, he had been surprised when he learned that they had people in the facility that controlled the planetary shield, and that they had a way to drop any section of the shield, for a while at least. They didn’t know for how long, since they obviously never did any tests, but they believed that it would be anywhere from fifteen seconds to a full minute.
