Galactic Assimilation 2:: Empire Rising

by J. K. Mabrey

  "It looks as though the last log was filed by the captain five minutes after they arrived at Rashala," Dani said. "I'll play the file for you."

  Static filled their ears. A rushed and heavy voice said, "This is Captain Vanudun, we're under attack! Repeat, under attack!" The voice breathed heavily in the mic. "As soon as we came through the portal at Rashala a group of ships attacked the convoy."

  "We've lost starboard engines!" a voice in the background yelled.

  "Revert power to the shields. We’ve got to get to Dracona," the captain said.

  A blast rang out, piercing their ears.

  "Look!" another voice said. "The Surli's been hit hard. I've lost contact."

  "We've lost contact with our companion, the Surli," the captain said.

  Suddenly a blast, small, not from outside the ship, but inside was heard.

  "What the hell!" the captain shouted. Someone in the background cried out as another blaster sounded. "Rickon! What are you doing?"

  "These weapons are more valuable to me than your lives, so I figured I'd just take both."

  A blaster shot and the captain screamed. Charra cringed at the sound. Zavik looked around, imagining the fight taking place. He looked at one of the Rovuns, now tied down, a blaster shot was dead center on his chest. Probably the captain.

  "Let's go," Zavik said under his breath. "I think we've heard enough."

  "I know I have," Charra said. "Is it enough?"

  "For what?" Zavik asked.

  "For Enduli."

  "We found his ships," Zavik said, "and there's nothing here. Whoever this Rickon is, he clearly betrayed the convoy. If this captain knows him, Enduli will know him. That's all there is to give him."

  They returned to the Rinada and detached from the derelict ship, leaving the Rovun's in their dark and cold tomb. Zavik and Charra stripped off their space suits and started to make their way back to the cockpit. It took Zavik a few seconds to readjust to the gravity generated on his ship, but by the time he reached his seat the creeping feeling of vertigo had subsided.

  An alarm suddenly sounded and Dani jerked the Rinada away from the convoy.

  "What's that alarm?" Charra asked, trying to find his seat in the cockpit after being thrown to the floor by her initial move.

  "Five ships have targeted us and are closing fast," Dani said.

  "Reverting power to the shields and engines," Zavik said as he punched away at the console.

  "Are these the same ships that attacked the convoy?" Charra asked.

  Dani hesitated and the ship veered to the right. "I don't think so," she said. "These just came out of the portal to Nganu and headed straight for us."

  "Here," Zavik said and a view of the ships appeared on the screen in front of him. Five ships were shown. They were small, with a round cockpit that took up much of its mass. A large black fin ran down the back half of the cockpit, and a triangular viewport sat in the middle.

  "I've never seen any ship like that," Dani said.

  "Me either," Charra said.

  Zavik stared at the screen while the Rinada continued on a straight path for a portal. The ship banked to the left to avoid an incoming blast.

  "I could use some help," Dani said over the radio.

  Brax sat in the laser turret already aiming at the incoming ships. "I was already taking care of them," he replied. He fired multiple shots to the rear of the Rinada, but none connected. His firing slowed to a stop as they raced closer before he shook his head clear and continued firing.

  "Zavik, what are you doing?" she shouted as the incoming laser blasts zoomed past. "I need power to the engines if we're going to get out of here."

  He continued to stare, her words echoing in his ear but her request not registering. His hands were frozen and unresponsive to his commands. "I...I think...I've seen those ships before." His face was blank and ridged, and his hands rested on the screen.

  "Really?" Charra asked. "Where?"

  "I'm trying to remember," he said.

  "Well, can you try and remember when we've gotten away?" Dani asked.

  She turned the ship towards the portal to Urdanis. The odd ships followed closely, firing at them. The shields flashed but were relatively unfazed. The lower cannon on the Rinada swirled around and fired at the ships along with the top blaster manned by Brax. One was caught dead-center in its cockpit but flew through it.

  "They have strong shields for being so small," Charra said.

  "I've hit a few of them, but they keep coming," Brax said. "They're not afraid of taking a shot from our guns."

  A blast hit the rear of the Rinada and sent Dani forward in her seat. She braced her head with her arms and quickly regained her seating. Charra was thrown into Zavik's seat, and Zavik was knocked out of his chair. He collapsed to his knees before scrambling to sit back down.

  "A little warning would be nice," Charra said over the radio.

  "I thought this ship had sensors for that sort of thing," Brax said.

  "Our sensors were knocked out," Dani said.

  More blasts rang out from the Rinada but the ships started to drift back a little.

  "We can outrun them if we give all power to the engines," Zavik said.

  "I'll save a little for the rear shields," Dani said.

  "They're gonna follow us to Urdanis," Charra said.

  “I don’t think so,” Zavik said.

  “Why’s that?” Charra asked.

  "I've got a surprise for them," Zavik said.

  "What?"

  "I'm going to use one of those EMP's we got on Candor," Zavik said. "We'll drop it just before we get to the portal. Hopefully, it'll knock out the portal connection long enough for us to get away."

  "Not worried about attracting unwanted attention?" Charra asked.

  "Well, I'm sure these aren't legal, but the connection isn't supposed to be fully broken so it shouldn't have to be recalibrated. When it comes back on after a minute or two it should be fine. It might even go unnoticed. If we're lucky.”

  The Rinada flew to the Urdanis portal and dropped a small device out of the back of its hull. It floated towards the portal. The Rinada entered the portal and disappeared from Rashala space. The EMP exploded in a blue haze emanating from its center. The portal went dark and the bubble collapsed on itself. Static shot out from the center to the edge of the ring.

  Chapter 11

  Zavik walked out of the cockpit and sat down at the table in the living area. His mind was combing deep into his memories as he tried to block out all the distractions around him. A faint memory of an image of those ships cleared, but he couldn’t place it. He remembered smelling smoke and fire. The vision cleared and a building became emerged, but it wasn't just a building, it was a tower. A wall was destroyed and he was standing in an office searching for something. Brax was there. They were at a computer terminal, downloading information. The screen flashed code, and then files and images opened. His mind froze on one image that flashed on the screen. It was a round spaceship with a large black fin to its back and a triangular viewport. It was the same ships that attacked them.

  He looked around in his memory and the pieces fell into place. They were raiding Varin's office for information that would link him to Red Moon. They knew Varin was the leader of the group but had no proof. He was the Chief of Staff for the Chokmnd Councilor Paquiko and the son of the Chokmnd Emperor; no one ever thought he could also be running one of the largest criminal organizations in the Galaxy, but they knew better. Dani had them download a lot of information from his terminal besides the list of contacts that was eventually used as evidence of his involvement. That list was supposed to end the whole mess when they showed it to the Paquiko, but it just began an even bigger conflict. They never imagined Varin would kill Paquiko right there in front of them, in cold blood. He should have, he told himself. Whenever you cage an animal you should always expect it to lash out violently. Varin was trapped, but in a split second he had set them up for Paquiko's murder and set ou
t to bring the Chokmnd and humans to war to further his quest to have his Chokmnd followers take power over the Galaxy. It had almost worked too, he thought, before Varin made a mistake, and revealed his true plans to his father, the Emperor of Chokmna. The Emperor, Paukston Bragko did not hold to his son's ideals and had no desire to plunge the Galaxy into war. He agreed to banish Varin to the Dark Sector where he was hiding, promising to never again let Varin back in the Galaxy in exchange for peace with the other systems.

  He wasn't certain of his memory, though. The image in his mind was clearly marked TOP SECRET with PROTOTYPE VERSION 1.3. He'd never seen the ships before, and Red Moon certainly wasn't in a position to build any new ships.

  Brax climbed down from the gun turret and saw Zavik sitting down. "You ok?" he asked as he grabbed a glass of water from the sink.

  "I'm not sure," Zavik responded.

  "Cryptic answer," Brax said.

  "Sorry," Zavik responded trying to shake the fog away. "Did those ships look familiar to you?"

  "No," Brax paused. "For a second I thought I had seen them before, but couldn’t place them. Weird, right? I was sure I'd seen every type of ship used by pirates these days."

  "I don't think these were pirate ships," Zavik said.

  "Really?"

  "Dani said they just appeared from Nganu and came for us. They weren't waiting for scavengers."

  "Then we were just unlucky, again?" Brax asked.

  "I'm not so sure," Zavik said. "They looked familiar to me."

  "How familiar?" Brax asked.

  "I’m pretty sure I saw them on Varin's terminal when we were downloading his information to prove his identity."

  "Hmm..." Brax rubbed his chin and sat down next to Zavik. He took another sip from his cup. He thought about what Zavik said, trying to recall that day, replaying the memory of their escape over in his head. It was more vivid than anything else from that day. He shook his head and said, "Maybe they do look familiar, Zavik."

  "I know they were there. They were a top secret prototype fighter."

  "And now they're a finished fighter that's not so top secret," Brax said. "Even if they were on his computer, what does that mean? Someone else finished the project and now a Red Moon group has new ships. It makes sense really. It's not the first time Red Moon's gone after us. Probably won't be the last."

  "I guess you're right," Zavik said.

  "Of course, I am. What did you think? That Varin had built new fighters and attacked us?"

  Zavik laughed and said, "Kinda popped into my mind."

  Dani and Charra walked into the room. "I've got the Rinada orbiting Urdanis," she said. "We can land whenever you want."

  "Ok," Zavik responded, his mind still far off, focused on the ships. "I think I figured out where I know those ships from."

  "Yeah, all those attacks that keep happening in the Outer Spiral," Charra said.

  "No," Zavik said shaking his head. "Wait, what?"

  "Yeah, those ships fit the description of the ones that attacked Yalary and Helmstat. I've never seen anything like them, and no one on those planets had either. That's why all the headlines said 'mystery ships'."

  "That's not what Zavik was talking about," Brax said.

  "You’ve seen them before?" Dani asked.

  "In Varin's office," Zavik said.

  "His office?" Charra said and threw his arms in the air. “That was five years ago.”

  "I know, but they’re the same ships.”

  “Why would someone use new Red Moon ships to attack us?” Charra asked.

  “To send a message,” Brax said. “If those are the same mystery ships attacking places throughout the Galaxy, whoever’s doing that, clearly wants us dead.”

  “Maybe you guys,” Charra said. “I had nothing to do with it.”

  “I don’t think their blasters will differentiate between any of us,” Dani said. “Are you sure they’re the same ships?”

  “I don’t know if I can be sure,” Zavik said comparing the images in his mind. Were they the same or was he just looking for a connection that wasn’t there? He needed to know.

  "We still have the files," she said putting her hands up to brace him. "We can look through them to find the ships." She pulled out a datapad screen from the counter and brought it over to the table. She typed away on the flat, clear device and a file system appeared. She scrolled down and down until resting on a file labeled Red Moon. She opened it and handed the device to Zavik. "I'll get some more so we can all look."

  Zavik scrolled through the files taking in every detail he could. He'd looked through this file many times before, but rarely with anything precise in mind. Typically he found himself just looking, just absorbing the information. They had used the file many times to find secret Red Moon locations and to get a better understanding of their underlying structure. It had proven useful, in the beginning. Red Moon had been slow to adapt to a world without Varin. They fragmented and were sloppy. Now the structure had changed so much, and the hidden bases were either abandoned or known to everyone.

  He was determined to find the ships. He knew they were there. Those ships were attacking random planets, at least it looked random to him. The Council wasn't releasing any details on the attacks such as what was hit or how bad the attack was. Zavik remembered three attacks that had made the news so far, and wondered if there were any that the Council kept quite about.

  Whoever it was using these ships, they had a purpose for these attacks and a purpose for coming after them. It wasn't just disgruntled pirates or even a random remnant of Red Moon. It was someone with a plan. You don't just attack random systems for no reason. It draws unwanted attention to your organization and can upset the wrong people. Although they had no idea what organization it was, perhaps the Council did. Perhaps Councilor Hains did.

  "Look, here," Charra said. "This does kind of look like those ships."

  An image on Charra's datapad confirmed Zavik's memory. It was the same image he saw five years ago while standing in Varin's office. These ships, these unidentified, mystery ships, had attacked them and had probably attacked a number of other systems in the Galaxy. Now he wanted to know why? Where did they come from? Who ordered them to attack? Could it be Varin? No, there was no way. Then who?

  He tried to tell himself it didn’t matter who it was. It wasn’t their fight, remember. He still had a job to do. They needed to finish getting the food supply for Garos and move on to the other needs of the colony. Chasing Red Moon or these ships wouldn't pay the bills, he knew that. All it would do wad get them into more trouble. It was the Council's job anyway. He had more lucrative business to attend to.

  "If we get the chance we can give this information to Councilor Hains," Zavik said.

  "You don't want to investigate it yourself?" Brax asked. "This is coming from Varin's personal files."

  "No," Zavik said. "I'm tired of chasing his ghost. Besides, we have a job to finish."

  Dani smiled at Zavik and he returned one himself. It felt good to not take the easy way out and drop everything to go chase a lead on Red Moon. Garos was more important, he told himself. He believed it too, but in the back of his mind, he wondered. He wondered why those ships had attacked them, out in the middle of nowhere? What strategic value did they hold? Who would have ties to Red Moon or Varin and want them dead? He wondered a lot about it, and his mind always came back to one conclusion. Varin had ordered the ships to destroy them. He knew it, he felt it, but he tried not to think about it. Instead, he thought about Dani, and how she smiled when he put Garos as the priority. That was worth so much more.

  Zavik, Brax and Rudy stood in Enduli's office. A rotating globe of the planet sat on one end and an ivory statue of a rothian sat on the other side. Rothians were quadruped creatures that roamed the Rovun homeworld. They were large in stature and resembled elephants of Earth. Other animal statues littered the desk, many of animals Zavik had never seen before.

  Alberit leaned back in his seat and intersected
his fingers. "You say you had success in finding my convoy, but all of my cargo was gone?" he asked with a slight hint of skepticism in his voice.

  "Yes," Zavik said, "it was ambushed as soon as it reached Rashala. They never had a chance."

  "What did you find?" Alberit asked.

  "We have their last recording log. Rudy, play if for him."

  Rudy played the recording for Alberit. His eyes lit up when the name Rickon was heard. After the recording ended Alberit just sat there and focused his eyes on the crew of the Rinada.

  "You know the name?" Zavik asked.

  "Yes," Alberit said. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it and finally said, "Thank you for delivering this. It will certainly help in closing up loose ends."

  Zavik and Brax just stood there, well aware of what closing up loose ends meant for Rickon.

  “We’re glad it could help,” Zavik said.

  "You left the human woman and the Rovun on your ship?" he asked.

  "Yes, is that a problem?" Zavik asked.

  "No." He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk. "It's just interesting."

  Zavik looked at Brax and shrugged his shoulders. "Why is it interesting? It's my ship, my crew."

  "It's interesting that you trust that Rovun with your ship and your woman."

  "First of all, I wouldn't call her my woman," Zavik said. "Definitely not to her face." Brax shook his head in agreement. "She's my wife, my partner, my friend. Second, I do trust Charra. He's been on my ship for over a year. We're companions and friends. There aren't many people I trust with my ship, but these three I do."

  "Not the robot?" Alberit asked.

  "I barely trust him to make my lunch," Zavik said.

  "Culinary skills are not one of my primary functions," Rudy said. "However, if you were to download a culinary program, I could become more proficient at such tasks."

  "There you go," Zavik said, "all I have to do is download some programming and then I'll trust him to make lunch."

  "Good for you, Mr. Khan," Alberit said. "That kind of loyalty is tough to come by in this Galaxy. I know. There are about four people I trust with my life, and even they I have contingency plans for, should they try and betray me. Something I consider to be inevitable."