by Michael Kan
But that wasn’t all. Alysdeon showed it to him, sending the data to the view screen.
It was the kill count, the number staggering.
“Is this right?” he asked, in disbelief.
Julian rose from his seat, and looked back at the data.
“Over 2,000 ships destroyed…”
Julian glanced at his arm and hand, and saw all the dry blood.
He didn’t care. Julian may have been battered, but the nosebleed had finally stopped. Blowing out the air from his lungs, he patted his jacket, ready to make the next run.
“Signal the fleet,” he said. “Tell them we’re just getting started.”
***
The Ouryan agent was pleased. Very pleased.
Everything had gone as planned. The Endervars, not only in retreat, but badly beaten. Over half of their fleet was in ruin, the rest left to lick their wounds, and prepare for the next attack. The enemy had paid in full for their mistake.
It could see them now, percolating around Haven in a chamber of ships. No doubt they would change tactics, and avoid committing the same folly as before. It was likely they would spread themselves far and wide, perhaps across the entire system, and prolong the vile affair.
The Ouryan was happy to oblige. But first, it had its own surprise.
Only over half of the Alliance’s armada had arrived to join the battle. The remainder was moments away from appearing near Haven to make the next assault. Together, the full might of the entire super fleet would move in for the kill, and destroy their presence around the planet.
Inhabiting its human form, the Ouryan expressed a wide and satisfied smile.
The blonde-haired man was there, among the personnel. The command vessel an Alliance battle carrier, and moving along with the hundreds of other warships toward Haven.
The fleet admirals had already begun making the orders, the strategy in motion. So the Ouryan did as a human would, and looked up to watch the scans. Already, the fleet staff was charging the ship’s weapon batteries, and readying the next round of assault drones.
“Prepare neo-plasma beams,” an Iyanas commander said. “Maximum firepower.”
The ship howled in its own battle cry; the combat machines rose from the craft as the siege canons catapulted destruction.
It was all music to the Ouryan’s ear, the melody foreboding, but still so sweet. The dance had begun once more. The targets in sight.
The armada and the Endervars would exchange fire, the arsenals of both sides lighting a blaze around Haven. The Ouryan sauntered off, imagining all the fury. The weapons releasing and stripping away force fields and hull.
It would not be long before the battlefield would become a graveyard; dead matter and exhumed energy would be everywhere. Tens of thousands of attack drones had already been lost.
And yet with each strike, the armada came closer to reaching the planet. To reaching that elusive goal.
Indeed, it was a pleasing sensation. To be so close. To that notion one might call victory.
The organics yearned for liberation, and would die to achieve it. All very commendable, and noble. Even the Ouryan was happy to applaud.
But still, would it be enough?
The Ouryan stood on the ship’s bridge, recalling all the battles it had fought. It dare not think too far. No. As much as the Ouryan wanted to dance with victory, to do so was simply premature.
Instead, the agent had no choice but to wait.
“Where are you old friend?” the Ouryan asked in a whisper. “Or are you afraid?”
The agent did not need to wait long. Its nemesis was here.
The various alerts went off, the Ouryan raising its head to look at the scans.
“We have new signals,” the Iyanas commander announced. “Large, enormous, moving fast.”
The warp signatures were numerous, all concentrated on single area, just inside the bounds of the system. The agent could hear the estimates, the scans pinpointing to thousands of new enemy ships.
The Ouryan knew better. It was only matter of time before it was confirmed.
“Overlord inbound,” shouted a commander. “I repeat, Overlord class.”
The Ouryan sneered, examining the scans, the ship appearing just as the agent remembered it. Spanning over 2,000 miles across, the Endervar mothership came, ready to end the conflict.
It was like a star had been born, the white light reaching out across the system. In spite of its massive size, the entity was now moving, and on course to attack the Alliance. The personnel on board the command vessel watched in horror, the faces of so many organics briefly locked in dread.
“Let it come,” the Arcenian admiral declared in defiance. “Ready our plan. Contact the Sovereign, and let’s begin!”
The dance was over. This was the real battle. What the Ouryan had long waited for.
The Overlord. It was why the simulations had all failed, the enemy defeating the Alliance with a power it had yet to fully understand. The Ouryan had prepared for this, devising every manner of strategy to counter the foe.
Would it be enough? The Ouryan had its doubts.
Watching the plan unfold, the agent listened to the commotion over the command networks, and heard the call.
“The Au-O’sanah is en route and preparing to engage.”
The Ouryan looked at the scans, and saw the tiny vessel on an intercept course. The captain was still a distance away from the Overlord. But he sought to slay the enemy, no matter what the odds. No matter what the cost.
Taking in the sight, the Ouryan wrapped its hand around its human lips.
The agent and the captain had rehearsed this before, although no simulation could predict what might happen.
Maybe Julian would fall. And perhaps the rest of the fleet.
Nevertheless, the Ouryan could still only smile.
“This will be a glorious battle,” the agent whispered, letting the grin crease over its lips.
The order was then made. The armada would divert its assault, and move the core ships away from the inner system. But as for the Ouryan, it would join Julian in battle, and bring whatever might it had left.
Although most of its own drones had already been lost, the man that it once was would not back down. It had prepared the Ouryan Union’s most powerful battleships for this.
“Hmph,” the agent said, speaking to the image of its enemy. “Time to die.”
Chapter 69
Arendi sighed. This was not working.
She closed her eyes, and hid her face in her ungloved hand. “What do I do?” she asked to no one, but herself.
Letting her hand slip from her cheek, Arendi accessed the comm one more time. “Davinity, are you there? Can anyone read this?”
As she sent the message, Arendi found herself stepping back onto grass. She had drifted away from the anomaly, the enemy gateway miles behind her. Maybe. Just maybe, she could receive a signal, and find some guidance.
But as she quickly discovered, all contact with the outside world had ended. Probably days ago. Arendi couldn’t tell.
Her scans had begun registering the spatial distortions, the anomaly erratically disrupting the flow of time across the vicinity. So she walked further off, toward the peak of the grassy hill, thinking that perhaps she was far enough.
Above her was the night sky, the Endervar ships among the stars.
There were hundreds of them. Perhaps more. The enemy spilling out in giant arms over the planet’s orbit. It was a strange sight. The view almost peaceful, but the enemy hanging above in armies of white. She guessed that a force field was now in place, disrupting all incoming comm traffic to the planet. Nothing could pass, and nothing could leave — the shattered Endervar shield replaced with something just as menacing.
“No…” she said, feeling the failure.
Arendi pulled her gaze away.
Everything had turned to darkness, the sun o
ut of view, the surrounding landscape at rest. She looked out from the hill, and saw the forests below sleeping amidst the shadows.
It was as it should be: alive and undisturbed.
Behind her, however, was the unnatural source of light; the enemy gateway was still thriving, and wanting to bloom. Hours ago, Arendi had entered near the center of the gateway, and initiated the scans. As she feared, it was on the verge of implosion, even as it continued to pull copious amounts of energy from the enemy’s realm.
She estimated that maybe she had another few more hours, before it would self-destruct. There was little time left to study the phenomenon, only enough to act, and hope it would work.
Frustrated, Arendi brushed back her hair, and clenched her teeth. So far, her attempts to stop the gateway, had nearly ended in disaster. From what she could tell, the anomaly had only grown more unstable since she had tried to seal it, the alien chasm fluctuating in shockwaves of energy. Inadvertently, she had likely accelerated its collapse. Arendi could see it crackle, the gateway seismically shaking in the sky.
She needed to act quickly, and send it away. But even if Arendi somehow sealed the gateway, the enemy would still come back.
She looked up and could see that they were already there. Perhaps that’s what the Endervars wanted. To let the gateway die, and build anew.
Glancing back at the anomaly, Arendi felt trapped. The solutions so limited. Or maybe even nonexistent.
It was how it had always been. Arendi struggling.
Why must everything be so hard, she asked. Why was she even here?
Doubt and more doubt.
As she looked at the surrounding trees, and felt the soft graze of the planet, Arendi breathed. “I can do this.”
She was here for a reason. And so she would not give up. Arendi gazed back at the stars.
“Davinity,” Arendi said over the vacant comm channel. “Proceeding with the next attempt.”
Again, she expected nothing to come back. She was so close to turning away from the sky, until Arendi noticed the change.
At first, it was gradual. The pearls in the night disappearing from view. One by one, they left, until finally, it became a movement.
The arms surrounding the planet released, the Endervar ships mysteriously dispersing.
“Zssss...Rsstt…copy…”
Arendi thought she heard words. Human words. Disrupted and mangled, but there. She listened closely, her systems switching between the known comm channels.
“Szzzsr…bombard…”
Startled, Arendi looked up at the sky. The peaceful view above was bursting apart. It came as weapons fire, the attack hitting the enemy’s orbital force fields. It was like a wall of foam had formed in the sky, before it exploded, sending the invisible barrier reeling back.
Arendi then heard the fresh stream of comm traffic, her systems attempting to translate. The messages were faint, and mostly encrypted. But within the chaos, was the still open Terran channel, redirecting the commands.
“Sskkrr…bombing formations…hammer down.”
She stared at the sky, and saw the streaks of light churn across the orbit and slam against each other. It was warfare, the night becoming rife with fire. She could not see the enemy’s attackers. But they were undoubtedly there. The explosions were raging forth and leaving a dissipating trail that splashed against the stars.
“Davinity, do you read?” Arendi asked. “Come in.”
She searched the sky, hoping to find some sign of it amidst the battle. After waiting for so long, the ship finally messaged back.
“Arendi, we read you.”
It was the captain of the Davinity, the woman’s voice penetrating the veil.
“…Are you safe?”
“Yes. I’m here, not far from the gateway.”
“Copy…still interference, but standby.”
Arendi began connecting with the overarching command network. The data stream was open, the exchange sending the real-time information. Indeed, a battle was taking place, at Haven’s orbit, and spreading across the entire system. Thousands of ships had arrived, all of them locked in combat with the enemy.
“Hold your position…” the captain signaled. “We’ll attempt…ggrrsshh.”
“No,” she answered back. “The gateway. It’s still unstable.”
Arendi looked off at the chasm, and began uploading all her scans to the far-off ship.
“Davinity, I’m still proceeding to seal the gateway. The information I’m sending you, it can be used to perfect the nullifier. Standby.”
“Confirmed. We can’t reach you yet… skkzzzz…”
“Please repeat.”
“We’re still away…grrzzzss…”
“I’m losing you.”
The captain’s words were still muffled, the interference coming back. It went on, the static interrupting the messaging, and waxing over the comm channel; at times, the bits and pieces of language were impossible to discern. Eventually, the channel cut out, and with it, her direct link to the command network. But not before Arendi heard that brief moment of clarity.
She had been switching through the comm channels, hoping to clear up the frequency, when she noticed it. Although she had no idea who was speaking, the call was urgent.
“The Au-O’sanah… ssshhrrr.”
Arendi listened closer, focusing all her attention to the words.
“The Au-O’sanah. It’s moving to engage.”
She knew that name. It was the ship. Julian’s ship. Somehow, it had returned. Arendi looked up, knowing little else. But still, she could feel it.
He was there. Along with the vessel and the Sovereign. All together, and fighting the enemy. Arendi wiped her eyes, and smiled.
“You’re safe,” she said, relieved. “Yes.”
Arendi wanted to reach him. Speak with him, and make sure, that he was really there.
“Julian, can you read this?” she asked, wondering where he might be.
Arendi heard nothing, but the final warning.
“Distress call…Protect the Au-O’sanah…skkrrr. ”
It was the last thing she wanted to hear, the ship apparently in danger.
With the connection severed, Arendi poured over what data she managed to pull from the command network, and came to understand why.
She felt sick.
“It can’t be…”
Out in space, people were dying. The ships were trying to stop the enemy mothership, but failing. The foe was large, so massive, it was almost hard to fathom. The coordinates placed it near the system’s sixth planet, the Alliance attempting to confront the enemy there.
She gazed up at the sky, and saw the pearls of light return. The orbital force fields were coming back, the Endervars reasserting their dominion. Inevitably, the thought came to her. It was one that made her cringe.
Perhaps, the enemy was winning. Not just winning, but destroying everything in sight.
“Julian,” she asked. “Are you there?”
Nothing. Not even the sound of static.
It was pointless to try and reach him. The enemy was drowning out any hope of contact. The Endervars — they would do as they had always done. Subjugate and destroy. The cycle never-ending.
Enough, she thought. Arendi had to do something. So she closed her eyes, and focused.
The doubt was gone, buried away, and forgotten. For once, the emotions were at her side, driving her, and bringing her in tune. She began making the calculations, readying her armor, the nano-machines raising the power.
This would work, she told herself. It has to.
She then rose into the air.
***
“Brace for impact!”
Julian shouted the words, half-expecting death.
It was not a particle beam, but space turned rampant. The enemy fighting fire with fire. It came as a poison rippling through the vacuum, the Overlord wielding its influence at every turn.
Julian saw the effect. The reality warped and wea
ponized, but this time redirected at the Au-O’sanah and a surrounding group of drones.
It hit with the force of a bomb, the ships violently veering off path and tearing apart. Stumbling to the floor, Julian clung to the bridge’s railing, and heard the Au-O’sanah screech.
At one moment, they were moving in an evasive, but ordered path. In the next, they were spinning out of control. He felt the hit, the defending drones exploding to the impact, and the torrent of fresh debris and fire crashing into the Au-O’sanah. Shields were down, the outer hull exposed. The ship screamed. The Au-O’sanah was being burned alive.
Julian tapped his implant, trying to maneuver the ship away from the onslaught. “Hang on!” he said. But still, the Au-O’sanah was struggling to react to his guidance, the ship knocked into a daze.
Alysdeon was barely standing, her two hands holding the side of the console display, as the bridge continued to sway.
She bit her lip, feeling the ship reel. The Au-O’sanah was falling back, plunging against the tattered remains of so many dead drones, the craft tossed aside like a rag doll.
“Just hold on,” Julian said, reaching for the manual controls. “Activating auxiliaries.”
As the thrusters ignited, the Au-O’sanah began to jerk back into control. Julian then set a course away from the fallout, the ship wounded and barely mustering much engine strength.
He wiped the sweat from his face, relieved that they had finally regained some footing. As for everything else, Julian stood back watching in dread. On the scans, he saw that most of the surrounding drones had been destroyed, the losses rising to over 700 unmanned ships.
But worse yet was the other attack taking place, the Overlord swatting away at anything to come near its path. He witnessed the vessels fall, the machine fleet and the giant battleships crumbling before his eyes.
“Sentinel Mega,” Julian said. “He’s down. So are the Ouryan juggernauts.”
This was pure carnage. A devastation few might survive. Julian could dodge the particle beams, but not this. The gravity magnified, and sent whipping out through space.
