Upon landing they were informed that a recorded, heavily encrypted comms projector message had been received marked for Raif and Nate’s attention. A message from the Conclave. They had been assigned some rooms in the barracks for FleetTech’s test pilots and so they took the message there, having invited the other pilots along. Nate gave one of their X4’s the code to unlock the encryption. After a short delay the little robot beamed the contents out, with a small version of Mushur Hallowwyrn appearing before them.
“Mushur Ko and Shepherd,” croaked the Maladorni.
“Why does everyone seem to put your first?” murmured Nate.
“Looks before age,” said Raif, throwing Nate a quick wink.
“I hope that your work in the Dominion goes well. Mushur Okarachebe informed me of your activities before she departed to the Commonwealth. Unfortunately I need to inform you that she has been arrested, the details of which are included in the supplementary files attached to this message. The Assembly is seeking the death penalty.”
The six of them exchanged worried glances. Hallowwyrn’s hologram continued.
“Mushur Nordin has expressed his great displeasure out at our failure to intervene in the matter, and also at being refused access to Mushur Ison’s captive. He has indicated that he is sending one of his flight groups to the Imperial Dominion - I would suggest that they coordinate their actions with you. Whilst I know this must come as a great shock, and that your first reaction will be to go to Mushur Okarachebe’s aid, I must ask that you continue to support Mushur Ison. She and her Edo must survive. I have felt that their survival is critical to the survival of the Edo sect. I know that you will do all that you can. May the Astrals guide you.”
Stunned silence ensued, the six men almost motionless. The X4 robot spent a considerable fraction of its processing time to consider if it was supposed to play the message again.
“Well, she’s not one for small talk is she?” said August.
“You’re not kidding, I’m not even Edo and I feel like a bomb’s just gone off in my face,” said Shawn Moller sheepishly.
“Being an Edo isn’t as glamorous as some might imagine,” said Nate.
“What do you want to do?” asked Lee.
“If it was up to me we’d be hooking up with Nordin and going in, Astral weapons swinging, guns howling,” said Shepherd, frankly. He held his hand up to Ko. “But as Mushur Hallowwyrn says our duty is here. Sord’s life is not the only one on the line, and at least we should be given notice for when he is going to be put to death.”
“You sound as though you already expect him to be found guilty,” said Dang. “Have you lost so much faith in the Commonwealth?”
Ko considered. Dang Obasanji was still active in the Shadow squadron, so he needed to believe in what he was fighting for.
“Dang, we still support the Commonwealth,” he said. “We still believe in it. Unfortunately, at the moment, their view of the Edo, whether justified or not, is so bad that they want nothing more than to slaughter us all. One by one, until we are all gone. This is just the beginning and is probably the real reason why we’re here in the Dominion - the Edo are going to need all the allies they can get.”
“How about we try and keep enough fuel in our tanks to reach Himdel, just in case?” offered August, to nods from everyone. Even the X4 tootled positively.
“Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to,” said Lee, “can you imagine how difficult Shawn will be to be around if he can claim to have saved an Edo Grand Mushur’s life?”
“Even more difficult than now,” agreed August.
“Hey, I helped destroy the second Goliath Battle Station!”
Everyone laughed, the humour much needed at that moment. The X4, getting into the swing of things, blew a long and loud electronic raspberry.
Sat cross-legged within her ship, the Darkening Horizon, Thea Leilani watched as Admiral Adami’s fleet left orbit and aligned themselves for the first leg of the hyperspace voyage back to the Dominion.
Viewed abstractly, she was interested to see how the Imperial-Zhur Thoggu technology would perform. Some of the technologies, those that she’d been able to obtain, seemed like definite improvements over the standard Imperial fare. Emotionally, she was appalled at what Adami had done. The Zhur Thoggu were monstrosities, organic life-hating machines that should have been eradicated or expelled from the galaxy. That the Edo and the Commonwealth had allowed the defeated Zhur Thoggu to remain was a folly that seemed about ripe to teach them a lesson they wouldn’t soon forget.
Which, from an economic viewpoint, was a disaster. She was now wealthier than she had ever thought possible. After acquiring her ship, and enhancing it, she had used her talents, both physical and Skave, to accumulate wealth. She had quickly reached a tipping point, where her money made it easier and easier to gather more. Her bank account values had accelerated at an exponential rate ever since.
With a not inconsiderable amount of her galaxy spanning business occurring within the Imperial Dominion, Thea was worried that Adami’s efforts would have a serious impact on her income from those areas.
Not that this was her main concern. Of far more importance was the fact that her kin were at large in the Dominion, by all accounts assisting Adami and unknown parties to overthrow Brams. Why they were helping, she hadn’t yet been able to determine. Her spies were capable, they would find out eventually. Whatever the reason, she would need to do something about them. The stronger they grew, the more resources they would dedicate to hunting her. She needed more time to accumulate the wealth and power needed to deal with them herself, and so she would have to do what she could to thwart them.
But first, she needed to go to the Nushothi cluster and see for herself the outcome of the Imperial assisted Zhur Thoggu invasion. She had arranged for a small surprise of her own.
The misshapen vessels of Adami’s fleet accelerated until one by one they flickered, vanishing into hyperspace.
Chapter Twelve
Raif Ko shivered. A great sense of foreboding held him like a child in its grip. “Nate,” he said over the comms channel, “do you feel it?”
“Affirmative, Raif,” replied the other Edo Mushur. “Everyone, look sharp, something unpleasant is about to ruin our day.”
“Just when I was starting to enjoy the constellations,” quipped Shawn Moller.
“Cut the chatter, Shawn,” said Lee. “Gladiators, form up on me.”
As they regrouped, the feeling strengthened. “Something’s happening,” said Raif.
“Multiple hyperspace distortions detected,” called Dang. “It’s a fleet.”
They watched in stunned silence as ship after ship poured out from hyperspace. Raif’s X4 had trouble identifying some of the ships but they were clearly Imperial in nature, even if the models weren’t fully catalogued.
“I don’t like the look of those vessels,” said Lee, “I’ve never seen Battleships so misshapen before. They remind me of…” he tailed off, too horrified to finish the sentence.
“Zhur Thoggu ships,” said August Durante, equally mortified. “They’re covered in Ulorbana nanite steel.”
“What have they done?” said Raif. “What kind of insanity would cause people to do this?”
“It gets worse, Raif, I’m reading elevated temperatures within those Battleships,” commed Lee. “Here it comes,” he said as the first bloom of superheated plasma erupted from one of the giant encrusted ships.
“I’m wondering how they got a Battleship to mate with a Zhur Thoggu ship,” quipped Moller, darkly.
Admiral Adami stood on the observation deck of her flagship, the Decimator. Her heart thumped away violently within her chest as she watched her new weapons fling their deadly contents towards the flat-footed defense fleet. This was it. This was really it. Finally she would reclaim a position within the Dominion that she deserved. Leading the Commonwealth had been all well and good, at least initially, but she would always be an Imperialist. This was where she belonged.
If her return to power meant blood had to be shed, then so be it. Plenty had been shed during the past, with more to flow in the future. It was the way of things.
She turned to Captain Domovero. “Report.”
“Admiral,” he said, coming to swift attention. “The position of the Citadel defense force was within expected parameters. Our appearance appears to have taken them by complete surprise. The fleet is moving to engage, fighters are launching now.”
“Good. Proceed as planned, Captain.”
“Admiral!” said the man. He span on his heels, issuing commands before he’d even finished turning.
She smiled to herself. Yes, indeed, he would be a fine officer, within my fleet - the Dominion’s navy.
Riccard Brams ran down a corridor, the two surviving Edo Imperial Defenders right behind him. An alarm had awoken Brams from a troubled sleep, and since he had contacted his chief of staff on his way to tactical command he knew a fleet had emerged from hyperspace close to Citadel.
The door to the Tactical Command facility fled into the ceiling as he approached. The room was in chaos, with staff dashing in and out and others shouting into comms devices or at each other. Brams looked around until he found who he needed and walked over, as slowly as he could manage, which wasn’t very slowly at all.
“General Tilmer, please, update me.”
“Sir, we’re under attack.” Tilmer was an aging officer, one who had spent many loyal years in service to the Dominion. His lean, mustachioed face betrayed the strain he was feeling. “The incoming vessels have opened fire on our fleet. They are Imperial, but appear to be equipped with Zhur Thoggu technology. Even though we outnumber them they are already beginning to gain the upper hand. We are repositioning the fleet as best as we can.”
“I see. Have they identified themselves?”
“Not yet, Sir.”
“Thank you, General. Please continue.” Brams turned to the Edo. “This is unfortunate. I normally prefer to have breakfast before dealing with an invasion.” Brams heard Gil choke back a laugh. Brams switched on his communicator, and paused whilst he considered. He made a decision. “Danica, get a message out to all the Doyen’s tell them Citadel is under assault and request all available forces are dispatched to Citadel with all haste. Any and all assistance will be very richly rewarded.”
Danica Prilission didn’t waste time in responding, instead she started delegating contacting the Doyen’s out amongst the other aides. He watched her. Such a tremendous woman, and one he had treated well and rewarded often. So why had she decided to betray him? She was the mole, or at least the most significant one. Was it something about him, or was she in it purely for the credits? She had been the only aide he had discussed Raichel’s trip to the starport and so she must have been the one to tip off the enemy. The Edo had done what he had needed them to do, at the expense of three of their lives. But now, with Citadel under assault, had it been too little, too late? Had their lives been given in vain, as he had feared they might?
He turned to the taller of his two guards. “Please, monitor that one,” he said quietly, eyeing Danica. “She has proven untrustworthy.” The giant Edo nodded slowly. Riccard knew that the Edo had capabilities for sensing emotion and enhancing their common senses so he felt sure that the Edo would be able to prevent any further actions by the woman. Once the invasion was repelled, he would have to have her arrested.
“Somebody get me Doyen Weststar on comms, and please find and bring the Fists of the Dominion here.” Several of his staff acknowledged him and got to work. He watched the screens update, showing several of his force already badly damaged. He had competent men leading those ships and their tactics were sound - drawing back to the planet to prevent the other fleet from encircling them. They just needed to hold out long enough for the backup to arrive. If it arrived. He wasn’t sure that any of the Doyens would answer his call. Or if they did they would come, but fight for the invaders, not him.
“Status report on our shields, please General?”
General Tilmer, leant over a desk talking to an aide seated at it, looked around. “Sir, planetary shield is up at 100%. City shields are coming online now.”
“Thank you, General.”
A staffer approached. “Sir, Doyen Weststar’s team has reported that the Doyen is currently unavailable.”
“Thank you, I appreciate the quick update.” The man saluted and rushed away. Brams would have been more surprised if Weststar had taken the call. He was obviously a very busy man right now.
And that was that. There wasn’t much Riccard could do, other than watch and wonder what he could have done differently.
Doyen Weststar delayed answering the comms projector call from Doyen Niettha. He knew it would only anger the man further but it was a truism that one had to appreciate the small pleasures in life.
An entire battalion of troops had arrived to fortify his home just minutes before the invasion. Though that would seem most suspicious to anyone who wished to look into such things, he rather hoped that the results of today’s actions would mean that no one would, not when he was Emperor. A wing of Delta heavy assault fighters covered the air whilst shock troopers and chariots defended the ground. Whilst he felt that Brams would have his hands much too full to consider attempting to arrest Weststar, he always liked to err on the side of caution. A heavily armored and modified troop transport was ready to escort him away should it be needed, but with the Emperor willing he would use it to transport himself to the Imperial Headquarters to assume command once the invasion had toppled Riccard Brams.
With other matters pressing upon him, Weststar activated the holographic system, and Doyen Niettha’s head and upper torso coalesced above the emitter dais. He was not happy.
“What have you done, Weststar?”
“Me? Nothing. Admiral Adami on the other hand, has begun her assault.”
“I told you that my forces were not yet ready,” warned Niettha.
“Indeed you did. As I told you, I could not wait any longer. Brams was too close. It was now or never.”
Niettha stared at him. “Your invasion may fail without my ships.”
“True, but what choice did I have? You told me to gain access to the prisoner quickly. This will achieve that instruction. Can you speed up their arrival?”
“I will see what I can do. But listen very closely, Amos. Do anything like this ever again and it will be the last thing you do.”
Feeling more in control than for a while, Weststar inclined his head and smiled slightly. “Of course, of course.”
The projector switched off and Weststar took a moment. The meeting with Niettha had proceeded much more smoothly than he had anticipated. Interesting. Very interesting.
Lee and the other pilots had wanted to dive head long into the melee. Raif had had to argue fiercely against them, convinced that the Astrals needed them somewhere else. Shepherd had back him up and so with some resentment Lee had agreed to stand by and collect as much data as they could whilst they waited.
So far things were not going well for the home team. It had quickly become apparent that plasma volcano cannons and Ulorbana nanite steel were not the only Zhur Thoggu technologies the invaders were equipped with. The first fighter clashes had revealed that the invading fighters reacted very quickly, indicating some sort of Zhur Thoggu interface technology, but worse still was their use of N-spheres. The Zhur Thoggu themselves used them almost exclusively in a defensive manner, to absorb or deflect attacks. The invaders, however, were using them as weapons, firing out the micro N-spheres like torpedoes. Raif had watched as Delta fighter after Delta fighter winked out in a blaze of actinic light and exotic particles. Initial shock had given way to wariness as the gravimetric distortions given off by the N-spheres was tracked and used to help defend against the attacks. Since only the larger Delta bomber analogues seemed equipped with N-sphere emitters it because important to keep distance from them. Unfortunately this meant that those ships had the capability to mov
e throughout the engagement zone freely, since no one wanted to engage them directly, and any long range shots against them were easily countered by those very same N-sphere emitters. They had already caused serious damage to several of Brams’ Hellfire-class Battleships.
Lee was first to notice. “Heads up. A small freighter has just launched from one of their destroyers. It’s escorted by four bombers.”
“Copy,” said Ko, already feeling pulled towards the vessel. “That’s what we’ve been waiting for. They’re heading towards the planet.”
“Engage active sensors. Let’s go spoil their fun,” confirmed Lee. All six Stealth Nebula fighters throttled up and plunged down towards the planet, hot on the heels of the freighter and its escort.
“I’m reading massive gravimetric distortions coming from the freighter,” commed Dang Obasanji. “Far more powerful than anything the bombers can produce.”
The freighter slowed as it neared the planetary shield and the bombers turned to focus their attention upon the Nebula fighters.
“Incoming!” called August. The veteran pilots nimbly maneuvered their ships around the deadly N-spheres. It seemed that the N-spheres could only be controlled when close to the bombers, so when launched offensively they acted like normal dumb missiles and followed their trajectories until their own energies tore them apart at some fundamental level way beyond Raif’s understanding.
Unfortunately, the closer they got, the harder it was to avoid the N-spheres. Having to rely on gravimetric data fed to their screens by their X4’s meant having to wait before being able to dodge. Fortunately for Raif and Nate being Astral-sensitive allowed them to sense the N-spheres quicker than the X4’s could, giving them a distinct advantage over the non-Edo.
“The freighter is doing something to the shield,” commed Dang. “Integrity is beginning to fail across an area one kilometer in breadth.”
The Rise of The Dominion: A Dominion War novel Page 15
