by Barlow,M
“No, we have so much to lose, Commander,” Mara said, her voice firm. “Everything is possible, and we’re covering all the bases. That’s why I’m staying here with the infiltration force.” Mara stood up, and leaned forward with her hands resting on the table. “I won’t lie to you. The odds are not in our favor—we are outnumbered four to one—and our backs are against the wall.”
The European Commander waved his hand. “In this case, is it wise to split our force?”
Mara shook her head. “We’re not splitting our forces. We’re sending our battleships to Andromeda. The small force we’re keeping on Earth won’t provide much advantage in space, but it will be as effective as the main force from here. If we stack sheer numbers behind the same number of cannons in outer space, we’ll be wasting our limited resources. Have faith in our strategy and follow Alissara’s command. She is our best pilot, and she is a capable leader.”
The Commander shook his head and reiterated his point of view. “No, you’re the best warrior. You should lead.”
She was leading. After what happened to her world, she’d take no chances with the fate of this one. She’d fight the Manakaris in space, and she’d fight them on the ground where the battle that mattered would take place.
They’re not after the Earthen army. They’re after the planet, and one way or another, they’d land on Earth. That’s why she’d stay here and turn this vast desert to a colossal graveyard.
“I’m leading from here,” Mara said. “Our enemy is powerful, and they outnumber us. But that’s not why we must fear them. They’re more cunning than you realize. You may think they are nothing but brutes. I assure you there is more to them than you know. They have a reason for everything they do. Their alternate plans have alternate plans.” She looked toward the European commander. “You worry we’re splitting our forces too thin to have a fall back, and I worry we don’t have enough soldiers to add two more contingencies.”
They’re worried. So was she. But they had to push aside their fears the same way she did. They needed their head on a swivel, and doubts would cloud their judgment and stifle their conviction.
“It’s time to make your preparations, commanders,” Mara said and motioned them to leave.
*****
Andromeda
Days to Earth destruction: 5
The bright stars of Andromeda shined through the shield of the Command Airship, much brighter than they did on Earth. But Alissara didn’t notice them.
Alissara commanded half a million US soldiers and the same number from Europe, Canada, and Australia. Her Korran Battleship led the formation. The Queen’s royal pilots commanded it under Dara’s supervision. Aboard the ship, she had a thousand Australian soldiers because the Korran soldiers stayed with Mara. Behind the Command Battleship, thousands of battleships hovered in space—the largest army humans sent to space. Under her command.
Pride and an overwhelming sense of achievement filled her. Mara had trusted her to lead this vast army. She was as focused as ever. Her mind ran through many scenarios for the upcoming battle.
Alissara drew a mental line in space behind her army, and she would stop the Manakaris before they crossed it. At any cost. Regardless of how many ships would warp, she’d crush them. She would reduce the Manakaris’ battleships to scraps of metal. Forever floating through space in the great nebula.
For Korr, for her mother, for her sisters, and for Earth.
Mara had doubts about the war, but Alissara had none. She felt nothing but hate for the Manakaris. Today, she would unleash it in their faces.
First, Alissara would thin the herd.
“Send it now.”
The Command Battleship launched a large projectile that traveled for a while before it vanished. Shara couldn’t be here, but she sent a gift.
“We have a transmission from the Space Center,” Dara, the royal advisor, said.
That would be Emily—the Australian astronomer tracking the movement of the Manakaris.
Alissara took her eyes off the front shield. She had met Emily twice, and every time, she beamed happiness and optimism.
One of the communication holograms showed the young astronomer. Her hands were twitching. Her face was pale. And her eyes sunk in their sockets as if they were made of quicksand. If Alissara had to guess, she would say Emily hadn’t slept for several days.
“They’re warping now,” Emily said. “Expect the first ships to arrive within the hour, and from there, you have twenty hours before they warp again.”
Alissara smiled. “They’ll have to warp faster if they value their lives.”
Emily’s eyebrows lifted to reveal blood-red eyes. “What?”
“We sent them a potent bomb. Once it explodes, what’s left of their ships will warp at once.” If Alissara was lucky, the bomb would destroy most of their battleships. “I need you to watch them and tell me how many ships are left after the explosion.”
Emily scowled. “It might take a while.”
“You don’t have to give me a precise number. An estimate would do.”
“Okay,” Emily said before her picture disappeared from the hologram, and the transmission ended.
“Are you all right?” Dara asked.
“I’m worried.”
Dara smirked. “It’s only life.” She lowered her gaze to her wrinkled hands that clasped the top of her staff as if her life depended on it. “Besides, there is worse ways to go.”
Alissara chuckled. She had grown fond of Dara over the past year. The old advisor wasn’t afraid of much and always knew what to say.
“What do you care? You’re old.”
Dara waved her staff in a threatening manner. “You’re lucky we’re busy.”
“Speaking of busy, it’s time we prepare. Conference the commanders.”
Within minutes Alissara looked at the commanders of the American, Australian, Canadian, and European armies on four separate holograms. Judging by the looks on their faces, they were a lot more worried than she was.
“Commanders, please nod if you can hear me,” Alissara said.
All four of them nodded.
“Good, I know we’re going against the odds, but that’s not as bad as it sounds. Our bomb must’ve destroyed many of their ships. Now they’re rushing to warp, and we must use it to our advantage. We’ll annihilate their ships as they teleport. Once we destroy a wave, shuffle the formation. I want the first line of defense charged and ready at all times. Do not let your guard down no matter how easy the battle seems. When you least expect it, their last, biggest, and most vicious wave will strike. Prepare for combat.”
Alissara motioned the pilot to end the transmission. She hoped the brief message lifted their spirits, but it’d come down to how many Manakaris’ ships remained.
American battleships moved into formation in the heart of the army. European battleships formed the right wing while Australian and Canadian battleships merged to form the left wing.
Alissara examined the holograms, showing the formations. The army was a force to be reckoned with and a true testament to what humans could do when they faced an impossible choice. She and her sisters had helped. They’d provided the designs. They’d supervised everything from building manufacturing facilities for the airships to enhancing soldiers. Still, humans did the heavy lifting. They strengthened a thousand times since she first landed on Earth less than two years ago.
Her only regret was that her sisters weren’t here to fight alongside her. Just in case this was the end. She wanted their faces to be the last thing she’d see.
“Another transmission from Australia,” Dara said.
Emily’s picture appeared on the hologram. Her eyes sparkled, and her cheeks were flushed. She was a changed person.
“The bomb wiped out thousands of their battleships. They have around ten thousand ships, heading your way. I can’t believe it.”
“Thanks, Emily,” Alissara said and ended the transmission.
“And you’re w
orried,” Dara said, smiling. “You know it has been a long time since we had someone as bright as Shara.”
Alissara laughed. “We never had anyone as bright as Shara.”
Her enemy would soon warp, and the war would begin. Their numbers were manageable now. As long as she was quick on her feet and managed the battle well.
She had asked her soldiers to sleep long hours and exercise daily on the battleships to stay on form while waiting for the Manakaris to arrive. Her strategy paid off. Within an hour, the entire army was ready for war.
“The first wave is here. Ten ships,” Dara said.
Images of the ten ships appeared on the surveillance holograms. The black ships were the size of an Earthen battleship or smaller. They were long, tubular-shaped with a large, intimidating cannon in the front and two thin wings, each carried a smaller cannon.
“Destroy them,” Alissara said.
The battleships in the first line of defense fired long-range missiles that soared into space until they reached the ten ships and destroyed them.
More Manakari battleships arrived in groups of ten or twenty. Her battleships destroyed them with ease. Maybe that was the point. They took out the waves with ease, but they weren’t big enough to make a difference. An hour later, the waves stopped arriving altogether.
It would’ve made her job easier, but Alissara didn’t expect to annihilate their entire army ten ships at a time—they’re far too smart for that. Still, she was surprised they didn’t put up much of a fight, no elaborate maneuvers, and no advanced weapons. They never fired a single shot. They must’ve been busy doing something else.
What if they were scouts? Small groups of ships with the sole purpose of exploring the battlefield and making sure the area was safe before the rest of their army warped. If this was true, the Manakaris would have an accurate picture of her forces.
David Harris, the American commander, appeared on a hologram. “Why did they stop?”
“They required confirmation from every wave that warps before more followed. They know their ships are gone, and they know we are here.”
“What now?” David asked.
“They’re gathering on the other side. Once they’re ready, they’ll cross together.”
David nodded.
“Hold tight, but keep an eye on that area, in case they send a bomb.”
“Speaking of bombs, should we send another one?”
Alissara had considered it, but they had one bomb left, and she’d use it if they lose the battle to make sure no one leaves this area alive.
“No, they’re not stupid. They’ll be ready for it.” She thought for a while. “Spread our forces.”
“You got it,” David said and ended the transmission.
Alissara sat down in the command chair. The battle would start soon, and she needed every cell in her core working overtime.
A few hours later, the Manakaris army flooded the space in front of her battleship like big, angry sea waves, slamming against a smooth, sandy shore. Within minutes, thousands of ships arrived.
Their battleships were many times the size of the earlier ships which confirmed her thoughts—the small waves were scouting the battlefield. These battleships sported a large cannon in the front and no wings. On the sides, they had two cylinder-shaped parts attached to the ship’s body.
Alissara looked at the enormous army, blocking the light of the bright stars in the horizon. How big was their army before the bomb? How big was it when they attacked Korr? The Manakaris army had no pattern or organization. Their battleships didn’t line up in a specific formation. Their whole army was a random mess.
Emily appeared on the hologram again. This time, her face pale with a hint of confusion. “Their ships teleported, but not all of them teleported to your location.”
Genius! Once they estimated the size of her army, they left enough ships to defeat her and sent the rest to secure victory.
Alissara knew the answer, but she asked anyway. “Where did they go?”
“They’re headed for the Milky Way.”
“Are they behind us?”
“Yeah,” Emily said.
“Can you tell me how many ships in that force?”
Emily looked away from the screen to check her computers before she faced the hologram again. “Roughly, ten percent of their army.”
Trying to decide her next move, Alissara knitted her brows. Emily took the cue and ended her transmission. They’re not as unorganized as they’d seemed. They only appeared that way.
“Do you want to send a force to intercept them?” Dara asked.
“No, that’s what they’d want us to do.”
They wouldn’t destroy Earth, but if she split her army, she could lose both battles. She moved past Dara and activated the general communication channel.
“Attack,” Alissara ordered.
Her eyes lit up and her core burned. The moment she waited for was here. The engines roared, and the Korran Battleship vibrated and sent green energy waves toward the enemy’s location. They annihilated the battleships they touched.
Her first line of defense opened fire. Missiles, carrying atomic and hydrogen bombs, traversed the large space between the two armies. They sought the enemy’s battleships and exploded. If she could hear sound in space, Alissara was sure she’d be deaf. The explosion shined as bright as a thousand suns. The front lines of the enemy’s battleships burned in an inferno.
But the level of destruction didn’t faze the Manakaris at all. It fed their anger. They retaliated with missiles, projectiles, beams of energy, and high-impact bombs.
“Teleport,” Alissara said.
Her ship warped above the enemy’s army to a pre-determined location, as did the rest of the army. They warped above the Manakari army.
The enemy’s missiles and bombs exploded in a massive spectacle in the space her army occupied seconds ago. The only thing she left behind was the chargers—large batteries enclosed in energy shields that spread around the battlefield with the sole duty of absorbing energy from the enemy’s attacks.
In the meantime, her ships fired their close-range rockets and bombs to take out as many Manakari battleships as possible before they teleported back to their original location.
“Fire!”
Again, they opened fire at the enemy. The explosions were as violent as the last attack, but a large, powerful shield absorbed its energy.
She wasn’t the only one with tricks up her sleeve. Through the energy shield, more Manakari missiles and bombs targeted her battleships.
“We can’t teleport through their shield,” Dara said.
Alissara considered her options, then she leaned forward to the communication device. “Space out the battleships and put up your defensive shields.”
The commanders did as she asked, but it wasn’t enough to evade the massive bursts of energy and explosions. She lost tens of battleships. Large shrapnel of metal launched toward nearby ships and damaged them.
“Rescue soldiers from the damaged ships,” Alissara said, her eyes almost burned holes in the communication device. “Fall into formation and fire the antimatter launchers. Take down their shield.”
Following her orders, the battleships fell back into formation while small ships hovered near the destroyed battleships to extract survivors. Her first row of battleships in the formation launched their antimatter waves toward the Manakaris shield. The dark waves of death punched holes in the shield and destroyed adjacent battleships.
While recharging, the first line of battleships hovered lower to allow the second line to fire their energy waves. The waves traveled through the openings in the shield. They wrecked tens of Manakaris’ ships in the blink of an eye.
The Manakaris ghost ships blasted through the holes in the shield. They headed for her army. They were small—couldn’t accommodate over ten people—and fast enough to evade most of the missiles and bursts Alissara had her army fire at them. Again, her ships opened fire to take out the ghost
ships. By the time, they reached her army, the Manakaris had destroyed half of them.
Once the surviving ghost ships reached her army, they targeted the right wing. They wreaked havoc, took out ships, and disappeared before her battleships reacted.
The European army commander appeared on the communication holograms. “We’re taking heavy damage here. Can you do anything about these ships?”
She couldn’t blame him. His force was bearing the grunt of the nimble attack. “I’ll send an infiltration unit to take care of it,” Alissara said. “Stay away from the ghost ships. Shield your vessels and make sure your soldiers are alert. Keep contact to a minimum.”
Alissara ended the transmission and turned to Dara. “Get Violet on the line.”
Dara nodded.
Alissara stared at the dark hologram for a moment until it came alive with the Australian Special Forces Commander who wore light, black armor.
“Take out the ghost ships in the right flank,” Alissara said.
*****
Zug Zwang
Violet had been on her feet since the battle started, staring at the radio. She watched from the sidelines while the enemy destroyed their ships. And she hated it. Her unit rescued the survivors from the burning battleships, but she wanted to do more. She was relieved to hear from Alissara. What was the point of leading an elite unit if she wouldn’t contribute?
She motioned her team to get ready. “How many?” Violet asked Alissara.
“Two hundred ships, give or take.”
“We’re on it,” Violet said through the radio.
Once the message ended, she switched the communication channel to speak to her unit. “We need to destroy the ghost ships in the right flank. There are two hundred of them. Follow my lead, use their communication patterns to find them if you don’t have visual, infiltrate when safe, and be careful—we’ll be surrounded by friendly battleships.”
She ended the message and motioned her pilot to take off.
The small airship took a sharp right turn and traveled between the US battleships. The rest of her force followed—a hundred ships just as small and just as agile. When her ship reached the right wing, Violet had it cloaked to fly by unnoticed. The airship slid under a large British ship the way a stingray passed under a blue whale.
