When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars)

by Korenman, Adam

That hit Hiro hard. John Fuller had been DeHart’s friend since they were in the Academy. The Commodore wished he could do more, but the fallen would be honored later.“Get to a pod and head toward Primus. As soon as the Arks are clear, I’m sending the stations to Sol.”

  “Aye.”The line crackled with static.“I’ll call you once we’re away.”

  Hiro hung up the mic. He looked at his crew, hoping his face didn’t betray the feelings inside. Losing a powerhouse like Valley Forge was a heavy blow against the Terrans. As they watched through the monitors, the crew of Midway saw the escape shuttles launch from the fractured keel of the supercruiser. A few alien fighters attempted to attack the fleeing humans, but a sortie of Phoenixes drove them away. Still, watching the proud vessel burn away robbed the men and women of their hope. How could anything hope to stand against such power?

  “Commodore,”Earl said.“The juggernaut is powering up. It’s preparing to fire.”

  Hiro nodded. There would be time to mourn, oh yes. But now there was need for strength. Before Hiro had a chance to answer, the bridge began to spark. Blue electricity coursed over the panels, shocking some of the crew. The surge stopped after a few seconds. Hiro scanned the room, checking on all of his officers.“Is everyone okay? Someone check the main circuit board. We can’t risk losing power now.”

  An alarm sounded over the command net.“All stations this net, all stations this net. This is Primus. Clear the field. I say again. Clear the field. Major energy build up on unknown vessel. Directional laser has sighted a target for attack.”

  God help us, Hiro thought. Then he saw it. The arms of the monstrous warship began to glow a dull yellow, the colorful light growing in intensity and racing up and down the fins from tip to base. At the same time, the nose of the craft opened and a trident pressed out, crackling with a fiery orange charge. A strange calm flowed over the Commodore as he watched the beautiful display. He barely heard the final call over the Net.

  “All stations this net. All stations this net. This is Primus. Unknown vessel appears to be preparing to fire on planet. Clear path. All ground forces, incoming!”

  - XII -

  He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Of course the situation on New Eden was bad; he’d known that weeks ago. But this, a giant spaceship arriving and opening fire on the surface of the planet? It was terrifying. He had no idea what was about to happen, and only his worst fears to give him guidance.

  Alexander sat in the parlor with Jonah, more or less in a stupor. He had been brought there to listen to the radio, but for some unknown purpose. Now it all made sense. Jonah wanted him scared, wanted him pliable for any request the demented rebel could think of. Worse yet, it was working. That ungodly juggernaut had appeared like out of some nightmare, and no one knew its capabilities. Alexander was afraid they were about to find out.

  “The juggernaut is centering over the Abbot Plains,”the voice on the radio explained. Alexander didn’t know which ship’s transmission they were receiving, but the technician on the other side was clearly terrified.“No idea what they’re planning to do. Maybe test-fire a weapon as a show of force? There’s no one near that area, so that could be the case. I hope that’s the case.”

  Jonah turned to Alexander, offering a sympathetic face.“I know how you feel, Alexander. I have members of the order on New Eden. Their loss will be a powerful blow to the Red Hammer.”

  “This is more than a billion people’s lives, Jonah.”Alexander felt tears in his eyes, but knew they were more from anger than fear.“How many more humans have to die before you see that I’m not the enemy you need to be fighting right now?”

  The rebel shook his head.“It’s not about us, Alexander. This war should never have started. We are not ready to take our place in the galaxy, and the Boxti are a not-so-gentle reminder of that fact.”He sat up, pointing a bony finger at the politician.“Your hubris brought us to this point. And you are going to listen to the effect of your decisions on the people of the galaxy. Maybe then you’ll understand why I need those codes.”

  “Even if we close the relays, all it will do is prevent Fleet from rejoining the defense of Earth.”

  “If the ships come back here,”Jonah started,“they’ll lead the aliens back with them. They found New Eden with the relays at Tallus, and all roads lead to Earth. We can’t have that. It’s better to reset the clock, to lose a hundred years of reckless expansion and have to start over than to lose everything and become slaves to some godless creatures from the ends of the universe.”

  “You’re insane,”Alexander said. He wanted to mean it, but a part of him also understood the truth in Jonah’s words. That scared him.

  The rebel shrugged.“Maybe, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m right. This isn’t a war over borders or resources. The Boxti don’t care about religion or government. This war can’t be won by a politician, Alec.”

  “Christ.”A vein stood out on Alexander’s forehead, pulsing with his beating heart.“I will not forsake those people.”

  Jonah smiled. He could tell he was starting to break down the High Chancellor’s defenses.“We’ll see.”

  - XIII -

  It was the Boun who spotted them first. He had taken to walking as close to Eruk as possible. Even though the Warlord wanted the honor of the first shot, it still wouldn’t do to have their commander running point into an enemy defensive.

  The humans were dug in well, with earthen barriers erected between them and the Boxti advance. It would take a strong attack to uproot their position. The Cthanul sneered, already tasting the blood in the air. His body writhed with anticipation, and the Druuma seemed to be getting into the fervor as well. He cherished the moment, savoring the thrill of the hunt, and raised one of his rifles. Eruk sighted the largest of the humans, a grotesque creature in oil black armor.

  The Boun platoon leader couldn’t make out his targets clearly, what with the brush in the way. He snuck around the back, to the left of the Warlord, looking for an easier shot. As he stepped over a fallen tree, he felt a small pressure on his ankle. It was nothing too strong, probably just a branch from the dying oak, but it caused him to look down. It was just a branch, but it seemed caught on a small gray plate near the stump of the tree. As he pushed forward, his eyes on the strange object, he heard a distinct snap and the clink of metal on metal.

  The rock creature’s last thought was how strange that sound was, coming from such a small gray stone.

  * * * * *

  Dax turned at the explosion in time to see a strange orange creature reduced to powder. A round snapped by his head and he dropped to the ground. There, hiding in the trees, stood a towering beast with four arms and two enormous rifles. Dax quickly returned fire, causing the alien to drop to the ground for cover.

  “Flank, flank!”he shouted. Pierre and Fares appeared, firing as they took up positions. Pierre used a borrowed weapon from one of the tankers, a foldable carbine. He’d had to rip out the trigger guard to fit his gloved fingers through, but it functioned well enough. Liane held back, firing her sniper rifle into the brush and taking the head off another of the rock things.

  “Here they come,”Captain Grahams shouted. Dax could hear the tanks rumbling closer. The first of the Shiva rounds send a roll of thunder over head. Even that quickly drowned into a constant noise as the fire intensified. The alien weapons chewed through the human’s barricades, digging divots in their armor and splashing burnt dirt into the air with each miss.

  Dax dove to the side to avoid another volley from the four-armed leader. He crawled deeper into the trees, trying to gain a better vantage. When he popped up, he was at an angle looking out at the enemy squad. He lifted his Ragnarok up onto a nearby boulder for support and laid down a withering barrage. Two of the smaller aliens were cut down, but his real target slipped away again.

  “One tank down!”Grahams called out. Dax looked over and saw black smoke billowing toward the sky. One of the Shivas had been split in half by an enemy rocket.
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br />   “Cho,”Dax said over the radio.“Get our ride working now. Is Kaileen ready? We need to evac.”

  “It’s a little hot, don’t you think?”

  Dax couldn’t argue.“Let’s hope she’s paid well.”He charged off after the Boxti, pausing every few feet to stop and listen. It wouldn’t help anyone if he ran right into an ambush.“Alexa?”

  She spoke in a soft voice he’d never heard before, something so foreign to her usual exuberance. She sounded defeated.“I’m here.”

  “Make sure Josh is on that shuttle.”

  Alexa sucked in a breath, fighting to keep her voice straight.“I won’t leave without him. Or you.”

  “I know,”Dax said.“I’ve just gotta kill something, then I’ll be back.”

  Pierre laughed.“It’s always the same with you Tallusites.”

  * * * * *

  Cameron’s pulse pounded in his skull as he pulled a gut-wrenching 180. His vision darkened as the intense gravitational forces pulled blood from his brain. He leveled out just in time, feeling a wave of nausea wash over him. The Boxti Ace was still in close pursuit. It flew with incredible agility; he hadn’t been able to shake it once. With the rest of his fighters engaged in their own games of cat and mouse, he was on his own.

  “Kaileen, what’s the situation?”

  There was a lot of noise on her end. From his position overhead, Cameron could see why. The Boxti advance had reached the friendly tanks, and now both were engaged in a heavy battle. Rockets flew on either side, and the ground erupted in a dozen small fireballs with each hit.

  “Cameron,”she said.“I don’t know if we’re going to make it.”

  He swore.“Don’t say that. I’ve got your back. Just got that Val off the ground.”A blast lifted him out of his seat, but the Phoenix held together. Alarms sounded from every console. He couldn’t take another hit.“We’re running on fumes up here.”

  Kaileen shouted something obscene.“We’re not exactly playing with fucking dolls down here.”There were several gunshots and a guttural scream.“Liftoff in five.”

  Cameron was about to answer when a blinding white light pierced the sky and hit the ground far off to his right. His eyes traced the beam to the source and his heart nearly stopped. The alien juggernaut was using its primary weapon. His Phoenix bucked hard, nearly dropping from the sky. Sparks danced across his console and spat from the various screens.

  “God have mercy,”he said.“Kail, you don’t have five. Get out of there now!”

  - XIV -

  Eruk ran as fast as he could, ducking incoming fire every few seconds. Branches whipped at his face and chest, leaving thin scratches that trickled beads of blood. The beast at his feet was faster than any human he had encountered. It wasn’t fear that drove him away, only the need to gain better ground. In truth, Eruk was excited to have finally met a challenge. He emerged from the wood into a small clearing and turned to face his attacker, rifles at the ready. When the human emerged, the Warlord howled.

  “Come,”Eruk shouted. He suddenly wished he could speak more of the alien language. Maybe that would be his next personal goal, to better taunt his foes.“Fight,”he said. The smell of dead grass and scorched wood filled his nostrils as he sucked in deep chestfuls of air. On his back, the Druuma quivered.

  The human carried a large cannon in both arms, but dropped it to the ground in favor of a small black blade from his back. It was still a head shorter than the Cthanul, but bore an air of menace.“Let’s go, motherfucker!”

  Eruk smiled. Perhaps there was honor in these meat bags. He set down his rifles and drew a curved knife from his belt, easing into a fighting stance. The two warriors paused a moment, sizing the other up, and then charged.

  The Cthanul was practiced with a blade, and had killed thousands of creatures in hand-to-hand combat, but he was unprepared for the ferocious and unrelenting attacks the human used. Each strike sent painful vibrations through the Warlord’s joints, each parry matched with a sudden strike from a knee or elbow. It was violent in a way the Boxti had never known. And it was exhilarating. His three free hands snapped and grabbed at the armored man, always coming up empty. Each failed grapple was met with a sharp crack from an elbow or fist.

  As they fought, the battle enclosed them. Scorpions and Shivas fired overhead, deafening explosions rocked the ground and smoke filled the field and obscured their sight. A body flew through the air, landing nearby with a cry of pain. The human grabbed ahold of Eruk’s shoulder to maintain contact. It was a mistake. The Warlord pivoted, pulling the alien forward, and used its momentum to hurl the armored creature head over feet. It landed with a splash of mud, leaving a deep imprint in the ground. Eruk dropped a knee on its chest, holding the blade at its throat.

  “You fought well,”Eruk said in his own tongue. It didn’t matter if the human understood, this part wasn’t for him.“You die honorably, warrior. Go to your paradise.”He raised the knife, preparing to strike. As he brought his arm down, a terrible pain split through his back and out of his chest. Blood sprayed from his mouth as he cried and screamed.

  A tall and thin human, the one who’d landed at his feet, pushed a length of steel clean though the warlord’s torso. Eruk fell away from his opponent, wrestling with the diminutive creature. The jagged pipe had pierced the Druuma and the parasite roared in agony.

  “Go,”the small human shouted.“Get out while you still can.”

  Eruk noticed the wind had changed. The smoke blew clear as a transport descended onto the field. Other black armored humans hung out the sides, rifles trained down on him. He didn’t fear them. They would all be dead soon enough. He reached back with his upper arm, grabbing the small man and cracking his arm. The Warlord turned to face his attacker, surprised to find him without armor of any kind. Just dirty, plated coveralls.

  “Captain,”the bigger human called out.“We have to leave now.”

  The small human held up a device, something just big enough to fit his hand.“Just go. This is my fight.”The armored creature climbed aboard the ship and it roared out of sight, sending dirt and debris flying.

  Eruk turned his attention away from the shuttle to his new foe. The pole in his chest hurt terribly, but it was far from fatal. The Druuma was still alive and wouldn’t suffer a new host, so it had devoted its power to keeping the Cthanul breathing.

  “You,”Eruk said, spitting black blood in the pathetic human’s face.“You lose.”

  The human laughed. Why was it laughing? It held up the device, the small button that barely fit in its hand. Why was it laughing.

  “No,”the human said.“I win.”He squeezed the button.

  From inside the shuttle, the Archangels watched the ground disappear in a monstrous explosion. Acres of land morphed into a wall of bright yellow fire as the ordnance field outside of Metts finally went. This time they rode the shockwave fine, lifting higher and higher into the atmosphere as the ground dissolved into flame. Kaileen fought with the damaged engines, urging them to stay on.

  No one spoke. They had survived and accomplished their mission, but it was a hollow victory. Josh lay in the center aisle, white biofoam oozing down the side of his armor. Alexa stared out the window wearing a thousand-yard stare. Fares nursed a broken hand; he’d tried to knock out a stone-faced alien with a right hook.

  Kaileen grabbed the radio.“Cameron? Are we clear?”

  “No,”Dax said suddenly.“Christ, no!”He was looking out the window. They hadn’t been able to see it before under the smoke cloud, but from low orbit it looked like nothing but the end of all things. Gehnom, an unfathomable weapon, hung over the surface and prepared to fire.“What is it doing?”

  * * * * *

  Vanwa watched the explosion from his seat, sighing with disappointment. He had been warned that Eruk djun Tolan was a maverick, but to watch the Cthanul waste good resources on a suicide charge angered him. There were many more battles to come, and the Warlord had been a strong leader. At the very least, it confirmed the Ma’Ara
k’s suspicion that the Boxti had let in too many of the weaker species. As a lower caste, he had once sympathized with the thralls. No longer. They had demonstrated their inability to function without stronger hands at the reins.

  “We are prepared to fire, Great Commander.”

  Vanwa took no pleasure in the order. He had to remind himself that he was simply a vessel to serve the great conquest. With barely a sign of recognition, the Ma’Arak activated the terrible weapon.

  “Exterminate them.”

  - XV -

  The Master Control Unit awoke from stasis. It had been knocked out of commission, though it was unable to determine by what. The sensors that fed the program information seemed to be offline. No matter, its coding was simple and the directive simpler still. It ran a quick diagnostic, reaching out to all the other machines under its keep. After less than a second, the situation was clear. There had been excessive damage, but the unit was far from lost. Some of the raw material around the host had already been appropriated.

  Drawing on reserve power from the nearest external source, the MCU began emergency repair and refit operations. Estimated probability of success: 13%. Happily, the program accepted the odds and set about its task.

  It started to hum.

  - XVI -

  The humans threw everything they had at the juggernaut, but it was a wasted effort. As Valley Forge smoldered and a hundred smaller ships drifted away, the Harbinger delivered its message. Gehnom stood at center stage, arms aglow with roaring yellow flames. With almost peaceful ease, the beams of fire shot down into the surface, burrowing through the crust of the planet like a knife through butter. The crust peeled away like paper, exposing the raw underbelly of New Eden. Powered by unimaginable forces, the lances cleared a path to the planet core. As they dug, the streams grew wider and wider, opening a pit into Hell itself.