She thought for a moment, then laughed.
I do not see what is so amusing, thought the Darkening Horizon.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said out loud. “I was just thinking about what a strange galaxy it is that we live in when the only person who you can rely on is the one you’ve hurt the most.”
Raichel, Riccard Brams, two of his most trusted aides and the remaining Edo ran through the Imperial Headquarters down towards the closest docking bay, a squad of shock troopers at their heel. Calista Flores and Gil looked particularly impressive as they led the group, their mirrored gowns billowing out behind them as they ran, reflecting the entire headlong rush. People soon cleared the way when they saw a pair of fearsome Imperial Defenders thundering towards them. At the bay, Brams had assured Raichel, were plenty of ships, including an Underford yacht that was heavily modified for use on official duties. It had plenty of room for them all and had considerable defensive capabilities.
As soon as they entered the large bay Raichel’s eyebrows raised. A group of Delta Mark 4’s sat in their landing stations, gleaming. How very exciting. As an ex-Gladiator, Raichel loved flying fighters and the opportunity to fly a Mark 4, the most advanced and heavily armed Delta fighter, was too great to resist.
“Jake, Gil, Calista, with me. We will fly defense. Elenore, Kaliko please join Brams and his staff on the yacht. Kaliko will pilot.”
They moved with haste. Gil and Flores flung off their gowns and helmet as they ran towards the Deltas. With barely a glance at Raichel Elenore ran up the ramp into the yacht, the Imperial Majesty, closely followed by Kaliko. Raichel saw Jake flash Kaliko a quick reassuring smile but the she missed it as she ducked into the ship. It warmed Raichel’s heart to see her cousin breaking out of his obsession over Thea Leilani. All they had to do now was somehow escape from Citadel without being captured or annihilated by Admiral Adami.
She projected confidence to the other Edo, but mainly to assure Elenore and in return she received positive touches back. Despite everything, despite their losses they still worked well as a team, and Elenore had progressed so well whilst with Raichel. Raichel hadn’t even known Elenore could physically block plasma bolts. Her heart had leapt into her throat as she watched helplessly as that woman had fired at Elenore, and Raichel had been amazed at how well prepared Elenore had been.
Raichel clambered up into the Mark 4’s cramped cockpit. Though similar to a standard Delta fighter, with its gimbal-mounted seat and huge expansive view port the Mark 4 was improved in nearly every function, and included a hyperdrive. It was faster, more maneuverable, better defended and better armed. Had these fighters been available to the Dominion to defend the first Goliath Battle Station then Raichel was confident that history would be telling a very different tale. She powered up the ship, ran through a quick diagnostic and received green lights across the board.
“Lead, ready. Gil, with me. Flores, Jake, take aft.” Clicks over the comms signaled understanding.
Raichel flicked a switch to unlock the ship’s docking cradle and then fed in power to the repulsors. The ship smoothly lifted up and she turned and throttled up, moving swiftly out of the bay and up into the sky, closely followed by Gil to her rear and starboard. She checked her passive sensors, saw there were no other ships within firing range and watched as the yacht and the other two Delta fighters left the hangar. Together they sped across the massive city, as low as they dared, directly away from section of the shield now under assault. They weaved between tall buildings, hoping to avoid detection.
It had been decided that they would not lower the shield until it was breached, just in case a miracle were to happen and it wasn’t necessary for them to flee. If and when the city shield was penetrated then the shield operators would drop the entire shield immediately afterwards, with the planetary shield being opened to allow them escape soon after. By resealing the planetary shield immediately after their escape, any of Adami’s ships that were still within the planetary shield would need to follow by going back to the original breach, if it was still open, delaying them sufficiently enough to allow Raichel and the others to leave Citadel’s gravity well and make the jump into hyperspace.
It sounded good in theory, at least, Raichel thought as they approached the city shield. They landed close by and powered down to emergency stand-by status. Now all they had to do was wait.
Lee Gaspara had turned to their new course, with August, Dang and Shawn Moller forming up perfectly behind him. Like the other three, he held his breath, awaiting the outcome of the argument between the powerful Edo Mushur. They were already out of visual range of their enemy and with their stealth systems engaged they were effectively out of harm’s way. If the disagreement turned sour then he would turn back and assist Raif and Nate Shepherd as best they could. It’s what they would have done for him.
“Gray, do not question me ever again,” growled Val Nordin, his anger clear to everyone over the comms channel. “Ko, this is - “
Static screamed through Lee’s comms channel, quickly filtered down by his robot.
“Nordin’s hit,” cried another voice, one Lee didn’t recognize. “Lower port wing is gone. He seems unconscious. The ship is in an uncontrolled spin. Attempting… to… assist…”
“Gladiators, they need our assistance,” said Lee, flipping over onto his starboard s-foil and executing a rolling turn to bring him about. The other pilots copied his maneuver perfectly.
Lee watched on his screen as the other Nebula fighters drew in closely to the spinning fighter. Its spinning slowed until finally it was aligned with the others, who had closed up enough to provide support through overlapping shields, which were taking a battering from the surrounding enemy fighters.
“Gladiators, identify you chosen targets. Let’s reduce the heat, shall we?”
“Aye, aye, General,” came Shawn’s response.
Enemy ships lit up across his screen as the others highlighted their targets.
“Torpedoes, fire.”
Four plasma torpedoes bloomed ahead of their Nebula fighters as if mocking their speed and quickly each torpedo found their mark, either through detonating early if sensing a N-sphere ahead of it or upon impact. Four of the ugly Delta bombers disintegrated satisfyingly.
They streaked in, hot on the heels of their deadly torpedoes and strafed across the enemy fighters, August scoring a kill.
“This is Lee Gaspara, we are coming around for another run, hold in there gentlemen.”
“Lee, Dical Dimerchi, Edo Askari. Thank you but please, check your scanners, you need to get out of here, now.”
Lee frowned. Was this more Edo arrogance?
“Copy that, Dimerchi,” commed Dang, “but that’s not our style. Either we all make it or none of us do.”
Lee checked his scanners to see that another large number of Imperial vessels, standard Imperial ships, had jumped into the system. His X4 unit had already marked them as enemy, and he could see by the positions that they were moving into why. They were supporting the invading fleet. No doubt about it, this was a coup, and an imminently successful one at that.
After a short pause Dimerchi replied. “Thank, Gladiators. We’re heading back up to the breach, cover would be appreciated.”
“You got it,” said Lee. “Just hurry - the shield is reforming.”
The Gladiators completed their turn and came back towards the Edo and their surrounding gaggle of bumpy fighters. There were still fifteen ships remaining, and the Edo were taking a battering. Four against fifteen? Those were the sort of odds Lee liked. He didn’t think that they were going to make it to the planetary shield before it re-established itself, but they would cross that hyperspace lane when they got to it. For now, saving a few Edo was all he had time to think about.
Chapter Sixteen
Jake sat in his sparkling new Mark 4 Delta, eyes glued to his scanners. Watching the battle unfold was frustrating. Channeling, he could feel other Edo out there, fighting for their lives. He cou
ld sense thousands of lives being snuffed out and here he was, stuck within the Disthasus city shield, hoping to escape rather than enter the fight when the shield finally fell.
He knew that his job was to ensure the safety of Riccard Brams and the rest of the party, but he yearned to be up there, taking the fight to Admiral Adami. That woman had done more than enough damage throughout the galaxy already. She had ordered many atrocities during her time as an Admiral. She needed to be stopped.
Luckily for Adami, he had a job to do, and he needed to do it well. Not just to save Brams, but also to increase the chances of helping his cousins, Kaliko, Calista Flores and Gil escape. They had lost enough Edo already. If, when the shields came down, he went and fought and any of them died then he knew he’d never be able to live with himself. He knew that Michael Silverdell lived daily with the weight of lives lost due to decisions he’d made, and Jake knew what that had cost the man. No, he knew his duty. And also, he was wanted to stay near Kaliko.
“Shield breach looks imminent,” said Raichel over the comm. “Bring systems up to full readiness, stay sharp.”
Jake flicked switches and brought his fighter to full power, engaging shields and transferring energy to weapons, charging up his lasers. Even if they were going to try and escape directly it wouldn’t hurt to be ready in case the opportunity came to eliminate a few enemy craft at the same time.
He reached out and touched Kaliko Savina’s mind, receiving warm, reassuring reciprocation from her. He knew she would be as concerned with his survival as he with hers, and for a moment that understanding caused a wave of tingles to dance delightfully over his skin.
“Shield breached,” called Raichel. “Shield should be disengaged momentarily. As soon as it’s down resume previous formation and head for the planetary shield at full speed. Ok, it’s down. Go!”
Jake Bulver waited a moment and then applied power to the repulsors and the twin ion engines. The Delta leapt up into the sky and shot forwards with its famous howl piercing the night sky. He caught up with Calista Flores and dropped into formation off her port side. Ahead flew Raichel and Gil, with the yacht between the two pairs, holding its precious cargo.
The five ships climbed and climbed, engines pushing them ever forwards, defying the hungry pull of the planet below. As they approached the planetary shield Jake hoped that the operators of the shield were still loyal to Riccard Brams. With the defending fleet now clearly playing only for time it was a worry that the Imperial officers would switch sides, hoping to gain favor with their soon to be new rulers.
The young Lieutenant Bromph walked as quickly along the observation deck toward her as quickly as decorum allowed. He snapped to attention. “Admiral Adami,” he said, his voice betraying his excitement and nerves.
She turned towards him, gave him a look that lesser officers could not face without looking away. Though no longer as sharply beautiful as she had once been, when her looks and tenacity had won a special place for her with Fleet Admiral Vang, she still possessed a haughty look. Though her hair was now almost completely gray and her face wrinkled and scarred, she still maintained a trim physique which also kept her face finely featured enough so as to still intimidate when she wished to.
“What is it, Lieutenant?”
“Admiral, sensors had detected a small number of ships attempting to escape from Citadel, from Disthasus. They were waiting to escape from within the city shield as soon as it dropped. There are many ships preparing to flee all over the planet but none were so well coordinated.”
Adami’s eyes narrowed. “Brams. Well done, Lieutenant. Bring assault group delta around and intercept those ships. Brams must not escape. Do you understand?”
The Lieutenant clicked his heels together. “Understood, Admiral.” He span around and marched off, almost quicker than before.
The battle for Citadel was going well. Weststar had played his part beautifully with the ships so far coming to aid Citadel coming from Doyen sectors allied with Weststar and hence fighting with Adami, not against her. With each passing moment the fight swung more and more towards victory for her. The only possible spanner in the works would be if Brams were able to escape. This could not happen, it would be prevented. One way or another. His death would not be politically well-received but it would be preferable to his escape. Weststar had made it perfectly clear what he wanted, and with her being close enough to taste her return to the Dominion, she wasn’t about to let him down now.
Elenore Frost couldn’t help wriggling as she sat upon the co-pilot seat, looking out at the shimmering planetary shield that seemed close enough to touch.
“Why hasn’t the shield dropped yet?” she asked for the umpteenth time, despite knowing that Kaliko Savina, Edo Askari, didn’t know. Kaliko, poised ready to apply full power to the yacht's engines, ignored her completely.
I’m being annoying, thought Elenore. I should be doing what I can to help, not give in to my frustrations and potentially distract the beautiful blond Edo sat in the pilot’s chair. Elenore thought Kaliko was stunningly captivating, even being used to Grazan levels of physical perfection as she was. There was something about her that was so vital that it made the vacuous Grazan royalty seem like caricatures, nothing but skin-deep appeal. Kaliko on the other hand, well, she exuded capability - capability to mesmerize with her looks, or defeat a platoon of foe single-handedly, or win the heart of any man she set her mind too. Elenore didn’t think there was anything that Kaliko couldn’t do. Elenore desperately wanted to be more like Kaliko.
Whilst Raichel was also beautiful and powerful, to Elenore she seemed at times to feel the weight of the galaxy upon her shoulders. Being a Blake, being an Edo Mushur seemed too much for Raichel at times. Kaliko had none of those burdens, or at least acted as though unencumbered by such things. Elenore resolved that even when she was Queen she would act more like Kaliko than like Raichel. After all, she had people like Raichel to support her, and with her own improving abilities, why worry.
Even now, with the shield still not down, she was not truly frightened. She was surrounded by some of the most powerful Edo in the galaxy. Yes, the shield was frustrating her but underlying it all she couldn’t help but admit what fun she had had since becoming Raichel’s Neophyte. She’d even received an assassination attempt all the way out here. Exciting! And the looks on everyone’s faces when she’d blocked the blasts. Priceless. She was going to have so many stories to tell her mother when she returned to Graz.
“Oh, thank the Astrals,” said Kaliko. “Shield destabilizing.”
“At last,” said Elenore, jubilantly. “I was going to gather some air around me in a bubble, go extra-vehicular and put a hole in it myself.”
Kaliko turned towards Elenore and feigned approval. “That can still be arranged,” she said. Elenore poked her tongue out at Kaliko.
“Shield is down, but we have a problem,” came Raichel’s voice over the comm. “It seems that we have been spotted.”
Elenore checked the scopes. A group of four Ulorbana-covered Battleships and their escort vessels had positioned themselves above them, covering all the most direct escape vectors. Fighters began to boil down towards them, as well fighters from down below, but from way over the horizon, in the direction of the original shield breach.
Kaliko looked over at Elenore. “Things are about to get a little bit tricky.”
Elenore beamed. “For them, you mean.”
Chapter Seventeen
Stood in the very heart of the Cursed Dead of the Bogdasinni, the eerily colorless graveyard that was a powerful nexus point for the Deep, Val Nordin felt the Astrals flowing into him. More power bristled within his body than ever before. The pathetic, so-called Edo Mushur, Michael Silverdell, had no understanding at all of the capabilities of the Deep. He would show Silverdell just how weak he was, what a fool he was for not making full use of the Astral plane. Perhaps Silverdell was not as favored by the Astrals as Val. Perhaps he could not resist the corrupting effects of the Dee
p. Silverdell did not deserve to lead the Edo, not when Val was so much mightier. He would teach those worthy how to Channel from both the High and the Deep and together they would lead the galaxy to an era of peace never before seen.
Using just a tiny amount of his power, Nordin entered into the Astral plane. To do so he used a technique few Edo or Skave had mastered and fewer still ever used.
Something like déjà vu tugged at his mind, he’d done this before. He was somehow reliving these steps. No matter. He would find Adil Necron’s ethereal Astral form and destroy him for good. Necron had been interfering with his search for the Verdant Cube, a long lost Edo artifact and his meddling could be allowed any longer.
The Astral plane was a strange dimension, filled with a swirling fog-like medium that reduced visibility to an arm’s reach and also resisted against movement so that it felt like you were moving through water. Worrisome shapes flitted about in the fog, just beyond view. Val had learned to ignore them long ago – it was the things that came out of the fog that you had to worry about.
He brought to mind Necron, formed his shape, his essence and then, using Deep energy he began to summon him, to draw the being to him, rather than hunt him down.
Nordin was pleased. No other Edo would be capable of such a feat. Truly all would respect him, or fear him, if he wished. He would deal with Adil Necron, and then he would gain Michael Silverdell’s fealty, or destroy him too. With a flash of insight Nordin realized that both Necron and Silverdell were weak because they only used one side of the Astral plane. This left them like cripples, unwilling or unable to balance themselves by accepting both the High and the Deep. He would show them that all Channeling was not to be feared when used as it should, that by not dwelling on one side only you could fulfil your potential and avoid the pitfalls that following only one side led to. Focusing solely on the Deep led to corruption and greed, whilst using only the High side led to arrogance, conceit and pride. The Astral plane was balanced by both sides, and so was the Channeler capable enough to use both.
The Rise of The Dominion: A Dominion War novel Page 18
