by Ashley West
"What?" Katia asked sharply, pulling back.
"It's alright," he soothed. "They get one attack and only one. Just enough for the governments to realize there is a problem. And then we'll wage war on them. It's the most efficient way."
Katia still looked torn, but she nodded eventually. "You're right. It would take forever the other way. What about the people?"
"You'll be fine," Silas promised. "We'll take the fight to them soon enough, and it will all happen outside your atmosphere if all goes according to plan."
"And if it doesn't?"
"Then Ammaline will suggest that people evacuate. It's the best we can do." And as far as last minute plans went, it was pretty darn good, if Silas did say so himself. Everything that could be accounted for was accounted for, and anything else would just have to be dealt with on the fly.
"When?" Katia wanted to know.
"I'm not sure. Since this is a matter of some importance, Her Imperial Majesty is launching the ships tonight. It depends on how long it takes them to get here."
"How long does it usually take?"
"Depends on the warp paths." He'd explained those to her when he'd first arrived, of course. About how they changed shape and length and speed seemingly at will and people were just at their mercy. “And on when the Fremeri attack, I guess. But we’ll be ready for them.”
"So what you’re saying is I shouldn't call in sick tomorrow?"
Silas laughed. "No, no. There's still plenty of time. And you love Sundays at the inn."
There was time, but war would be upon them soon enough. The old thrill that had always accompanied missions where he got to fly and fight was coming back, but surprisingly enough, it was dampened now by worry. Worry for Katia, for himself, for what would happen after.
This was why most members of HIMA didn't have families. It was too much to always be wondering what would happen if something went wrong.
But he didn't want to think about that now.
Instead, he made both of them comfortable in the bed, keeping his hold on Katia because he wanted her close. He shut off the lamp and they talked softly about nothing in particular until she fell asleep.
Silas stayed awake for a while longer, watching her sleep. She looked peaceful and soft like this, and he stroked her hair and tried to match his breathing with hers. His nerves were all jangly, ready to fight, ready to end this, and he made himself breathe. The sooner the fight happened, the sooner he'd have to make decisions about his future and most likely say goodbye to someone who meant a great deal to him now.
He wasn't in any hurry.
The day that HIMA arrived on Earth was almost completely unremarkable. No one noticed, outside of those who were waiting for them, and no fanfare was made. There were no flags flying, no announcements made. No diplomatic meetings and no dress uniforms.
The warships came as close as they dared and then cloaked themselves, so as not to be picked up on the humans’ radar.
It wasn’t a moment too soon.
Already things were happening. Silas and Katia had already spent quite a few evenings sitting on her couch listening to news reports about missing people and mysterious illnesses.
“The Fremeri,” Silas had said as soon as he’d seen the first one.
Katia had tried to convince him that it wasn’t necessarily them. She said that people went missing all the time on Earth, and it didn’t necessarily mean something alien was happening. But when the first human turned up drained of blood, Silas had been quietly smug and outwardly horrified.
“They’re here,” Katia had said. “What are we going to do?”
“There isn’t much we can do until HIMA arrives.”
And it had seemed to take forever, even though it was really only a week and a half or so until they arrived. In order to keep a low profile, the Captains of the limbs of HIMA had taken a smaller shuttle, cloaked and hidden and come to meet Silas. Together, they had come up with their plan.
It was going to be an old fashioned fire fight. Ships and blasters and shields, the way it was meant to be. Silas tried not to seem too excited. This was serious, after all.
Still, they needed the Fremeri to do something large and flashy. Something that they could point at and say ‘see, we’re saving you from them’ so that the humans would know that HIMA was on their side.
It felt callous to wait for that to make a move, but Silas wasn’t sure what else to do, and he had his orders. Going up against the Empress again was probably a terrible idea.
Katia was getting anxious, he could see that. The more people who vanished, the more she fidgeted and worried. She had stopped asking when something was going to happen already because she already knew Silas’ answer.
But they needn’t have worried, as it turned out.
Nearly two weeks after the plan had been made, the Fremeri declared war on Earth. One of Earth’s major landmarks and a symbol of the country (The Statue of Liberty, Katia had called it in a horrified voice) was destroyed by a single, bright red bolt of energy from a Fremeri ship.
The ship had to get close to fire the bolt, so of course the image of it was all over the media. Reporters were going crazy talking about an alien invasion and what it might mean. Some people attributed it to religion, which made no sense to Silas, but Katia said that happened often enough.
They’d made their move, and now it was time for HIMA’s answering fire.
Silas was ready.
Chapter Twelve: Firefight Farewells
"Be careful," Katia said for what had to be the fiftieth time since they'd woken up that morning. "Please be careful."
Silas had been shooting her his cocky grin for most of it, telling her that there wasn't a Fremeri that could take him out, but she hadn't seemed reassured in the slightest. Finally, he dropped the act and pulled her closer to him. "I will be careful," he said. "I promise. I will come back to you."
Katia averted her eyes when he said that, and he knew it was because she was thinking that he would have to leave soon after anyway. But clearly she preferred him alive, even if he had to be far from her.
For his part, Silas hadn't decided what he was going to do yet. There were vague stirrings of ideas in his head, thoughts about going back to Gathra, but coming back here to visit, thoughts about trying to make something long distance work. And even...well. He couldn't truthfully say he hadn't thought about just walking away from HIMA and staying here.
But none of that would matter if they didn't beat the Fremeri because he'd likely be dead and Earth would be colonized or destroyed. So he needed to focus.
He pulled Katia as close as he could and kissed her hard. When she fisted her hands in the fabric of his shirt (he was back in his uniform, which just felt odd now), he groaned and grabbed her under her thighs to pick her up.
She kissed him like it might be the last time and she wanted to leave no doubt in his mind how she felt about him. She kissed him like she wanted to keep him beside her all the time, but when he made a soft sound and then sighed, she let him go.
"I'll come back," he promised again, looking at her. From this distance, he could see every freckle on her skin and the way her eyes were heavy with concern and sadness. He kissed the tip of her nose and then her mouth again for good measure. "I promise."
"Okay," she said softly, and she allowed him to set her down on her feet. "Good luck. Fight well."
The cocky grin made its return, and he gave her a salute. "In your honor," he said.
Katia watched him as he left, and he let himself feel all the things he felt for her for a moment more. When he got in his ship, his mind needed to fully be on the battle. Distractions could mean his death or the death of a friend and fellow soldier. But until he got on his ship his mind was full of Katia, and he didn't mind one bit.
Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Ammaline of Gathra wasn't the type to show up to a battle like this herself. It wasn't safe, for one thing, and though she was technically the head of the military, she watched all
the battles from the safety of the fortress, surrounded by screens that would show her the feed from the different ships being used in this attack.
She could issue orders and see all the action, but she was removed from it.
So of course there was a holo screen in each ship that was displaying her face as she relayed her orders. She was never one to be too far from the action, of course.
Silas sat in his ship, fingers sliding over the controls. Earth was below him now, and he glanced at it occasionally, almost like reminding himself why he was doing this. Not that he needed the reminder with the way Katia had said goodbye to him that morning, but still. Perspective was important.
"You know why you're doing this," the Empress was saying. "The Fremeri mean to take over this planet and turn it into something twisted for their own means. We will not allow it. They have taken people from us, taken people from the humans. We had no reason to believe they are on any of the Fremeri fighter ships. Fire at will. Show them no mercy. If they want a war, then we will bring them one and make them regret the day they ever thought they could hope to defeat us. You know the stories of our victories in the past. When the limbs of HIMA come together, no one can hope to stand against them. Let us work to make this as glorious a battle as the ones of old."
A cheer went up, each fighter in their ship ready for battle. Those who weren't trained for battle in a fighter ship were either back on Gathra, defending the people there just in case of some sneak attack while the rest were distracted, or they were hidden on Earth, ready to defend the humans on the ground if need be.
Before the Empress had even finished speaking, though, a beam of green light came bursting from seemingly out of nowhere, and it hit one of the ships to Silas' left. Luckily their particle barrier was up, so the beam just bounced off and then dissipated, but that was an official start to the fighting.
The Empress ended her speech and everyone got ready. Silas fired up his own blasters, ready to go.
One by one the Gathran ships dropped their cloaking devices, revealing themselves to the enemy and to any humans with decent radar at this distance. Each limb of HIMA was arranged in a classic formation, with one of the larger ships at the tip of a V shape that went out in diagonal lines and then curved outwards. It was perfect for covering more space and making sure that nothing got past them. It was the opening formation for most classical battles between them and any enemies, though it rarely lasted long.
Eventually everyone would break off and fight their own battles, and Silas found himself itching for that point. All this sitting around and waiting was getting old.
But he didn't have long to wait. Another two beams of light came firing out of the distance and someone in his ear gave a triumphant laugh.
"Idiots," Hamara said over the comm link. Silas could hear her in his earpiece, but she wasn't on the screen. "They've just revealed their position."
Everyone locked onto the targets she was projecting to their ships and they started firing. Beams of multicolored lights flashed and whizzed through the space between the Gathran ships and those of the Fremeri. The deafening sound of them hitting shields and bouncing away was thick in the space between them as well, and Silas narrowed his eyes.
"Don't let up," he called. "Ships that old don't have strong enough barriers to last through this. Let them know we're serious."
"Yes, Captain!" came a chorus from the ships on either side of him.
He fired up one of his stronger blasters and let that one fly, white hot energy streaking through the darkness and knocking straight into a ship that was closer than he'd expected it to be. Whatever cloaking the ship had was damaged by his blast, and it flickered back into view, old and rusted and already smoking at one side from the blast Silas had just delivered.
"It's almost not even fair," Silas laughed. "Such old tech up against ours."
"Captain, one of their ships is hailing us," someone said from behind him.
"Well, answer it," Silas replied. "Wouldn't want to keep them waiting."
A moment later, the screen in the ship was filled with the gnarled, scaled face of one of the Fremeri. This one was decidedly male, Silas thought, and seemed older than the others he'd encountered. His face was thick with scars, and one eye was milky and probably unseeing. A leader of some sort, he was willing to bet.
"Something we can do for you?" Silas asked, his voice deceptively pleasant.
"This is futile," the creature hissed in a whispery voice. "You will perish here, and we will take Earth for ourselves. So lovely and blue, blue, blue."
"Okay," Silas said slowly, arching an eyebrow. Clearly this guy had spent too long underground. "You won't get the chance to do that, though. Because we're going to blast you out of the sky here and now."
A chuckle like glass breaking rasped out of the creature's throat, and Silas shuddered. "Your arrogance will be your end," the Fremeri said. "You will fall, and we will rule once more. Humans are so soft and sweet tasting. So delicious."
The hissed words made his stomach turn, and Silas made a face. "Cress?" he said conversationally to his friend who was piloting the ship just behind him and to the left.
"Yes, Captain."
"Show our friend here just how outclassed he really is."
"Gladly, Captain." Cress sounded pleased to have been chosen, and Silas watched as his ship slid out of formation effortlessly and then went still. For a moment, nothing happened, but then a bright blue burst of laser fire ripped across the space between them and blasted through two ships before knocking into a third. Judging from how the projected image of the Fremeri on the screen rocked with the blast, Silas was guessing this creature was on the third ship.
"Found you," he said, grinning and taunting just a bit.
"Fremeri," the creature whisper-yelled. "Attack."
From there, it was an all-out firefight. The Gathrans broke their formations, shields up and blasters hot. The usual darkness was illuminated by the flashing bolts of laser fire that streaked from ships to slam into others.
Silas turned down the sound on his comm because the shouts of glee and swearing were starting to distract him, and he needed to focus.
For the first part, the Fremeri tried to attack in force. They made their own formations and tried to bear down on the Gathran ships, but they hadn't counted on the skill of the pilots. One of the first things HIMA fighter pilots learned was how to be evasive, and there were ships darting and spiraling all over the place, formations well and truly broken at this point.
"Get them," the head Fremeri hissed, and Silas just shook his head and barrel rolled over a jet of green light that was heading for him.
It felt so good to be in the thick of battle again, sort of like coming home in a way, though it wasn't exactly the same as before. Something was missing, he thought. It was like coming home after a long trip away to find that your things had been rearranged and your clothes didn't quite fit anymore. It was odd to say the least.
But this was still something he was good at, and he was grinning as he led two Fremeri ships on a merry chase, pushing his speed throttle to the limits as he zig zagged and zoomed all over.
He dodged and evaded the blasts they were aiming at him and managed to end up in a situation where they had him 'surrounded', mostly meaning that there was one at his front and one at his back. He could see them charging their cannons and, Silas smirked, counting the seconds that passed. One bad thing about old ships was that they were very predictable.
"Three, two, one," he murmured under his breath and then pulled up at a sharp angle, getting out of the way just as the two ships fired. On each other.
They both exploded in a brilliant barrage of light and flame, and Silas laughed and zoomed away.
“Silas?”
His head jerked up in surprise to hear Katia’s voice. He was under fire and waiting for someone to come and assist him in fending off the Fremeri who were on his tail. And Katia’s voice was coming from his ship’s console.
“Katia?”
“Hi,” she said. “How’s it going?”
“Where are you?” Silas demanded, a frisson of fear bubbling in his stomach. If she was somewhere near by then she would be in danger, and Silas was going to go find her as soon as possible.
“Calm down,” she said soothingly. “I’m still at home. Cress gave me his tablet thing, so I thought I’d check in.”
Silas breathed a sigh of relief. She was safe, then. As safe as she could be in this situation, at least. “We’re winning,” he said, smiling as if she could see him. “Shouldn’t be too much longer now.”
“That’s good,” Katia replied, the relief evident in her voice. “The humans are taking note, too. At first, I think they thought you were coming to hurt us, but then they managed to get a satellite near the moon aimed at your battle. I think they can tell you’re defending us.”
“All according to plan, then.”
“Seems like it.” She hesitated for a moment, and Silas wondered if the feed had cut out. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hamara’s ship come swooping in to take out the three Fremeri fighters that were on him. He gave a whoop of triumph.
“I won’t distract you,” Katia continued. “I know that would be bad. I just wanted to make sure you were okay and you know what was happening down here.”
“I appreciate it,” Silas told her. “It’s a mess up here, but we’re winning. Rest assured.”
“I never doubted you,” she replied, sounding a little sad. “Be safe.”
Somehow the call from Katia served to make him more determined to win this. He revved his thrusters and rejoined the fray, cannons hot as he blasted through enemy after enemy. It was some of the best flying of his life, and it seemed to be inspiring the rest of his team to do the same.
They had already been winning, the Fremeri had very little hope of standing against them, but the refreshed attitude made them an even better fighting force. The other limbs of HIMA were doing their best as well, and there was no doubt in Silas’ mind that this would be a victory.
