Onslaught (Rise of the Empire Book 6)

by Ivan Kal

  “Yeah, but that will change soon enough. Once the Sha becomes widespread, we will have new martial arts that incorporate those abilities. And I might have the Sha now, but I don’t know nearly enough to teach it. Perhaps later, once things settle and find new balance. For now, I think that I should go out there, see what I find,” Hayashi said.

  Adrian nodded. He understood his teacher’s point of view. “Well, of course. You know that you’ll need to study; Sentinels need to be versed in diplomacy and xenology.”

  “Of course,” Hayashi said. “I’ve already started classes on diplomacy.”

  “Well, then, as soon as you finish, you can go to Clara or Meifeng for them to test you,” Adrian said. “You didn’t really need to ask me, you know. Anyone from Warpath can take the tests.”

  “I know, I just felt like I should,” Hayashi said.

  Adrian nodded. Hayashi had been Adrian’s teacher since he was kid back on Earth. Now things would be different; Hayashi would answer to Adrian. “I understand.”

  “Good,” Hayashi said, relaxing. “So how about a little sparring match?” he said mischievously.

  ***

  Two days later, Adrian looked through the giant window looking over the Forge. He saw hundreds of shuttles moving from one dock to the other and to the outside of the massive asteroid. Dozens of yards were filled with hulls in various stages of construction, but his eyes were drawn to one that was closer to him. In that particular yard lay Veritas, undergoing some small upgrades to its systems, and an overall maintenance check.

  Adrian felt the presence of someone approaching him. His eyes glossed over as he drew the Sha, accessing an ability he had discovered after his latest upgrade. An image of his surroundings formed in his mind, and he could see everything from the floor and glass to people walking around. Only he couldn’t really see features, it was more like shadowy impressions. One of those shadows reached him, and Adrian turned to look at him.

  “Isani,” Adrian said, looking at the Clan Leader of Warpath. In his eyes, his image was overlapped by shadows, and then as Adrian let go of the Sha, Isani cleared.

  “Adrian, what do you think?” Isani asked as he turned to look at the Forge.

  “It’s impressive, but there is still a lot more room to grow,” Adrian answered, indicating the empty rock walls.

  “Yes. Hopefully one day it will become something truly unique. I read your report on the resin assembling pools; they are fast,” he commented.

  “They are, but we still can’t manage to build anything more complicated than a shuttle,” Adrian said.

  “A few of my people looked it over; they think that you might have success if you utilize them to build parts that you assemble later,” Isani said.

  “We thought about it. It’s pointless; this is supposed to increase our construction times tenfold and replace the fabricators. If we do it in parts, it is just as efficient as our current-gen fabricators. No point in doing it that way when we gain almost nothing.”

  “At least you can build shuttles really fast,” he said.

  Adrian turned to glare at his expressionless Nel face. He knew Nel well enough to know that that was a jab.

  “Funny. If we could make it work, we could build an entirely finished battleship in days compared to months,” Adrian said.

  “We’ll figure it out, we always do,” Isani said. “I saw that Veritas is scheduled to depart as soon as the work on it is done. You going back to Sol?”

  “Yes, Gotu might have everything under control, but I think that it is time that I start expanding the Sentinel facilities beyond Mars.”

  “There has been an increase in people testing to become Sentinels.”

  “Yes, the only way to get the Sha early is if you are a part of the army, Fleet, the Hand, or a Sentinel. Well, for most people.”

  “We aren’t going to be able to build ships for all of them,” Isani said.

  “I know. Jupiter shipyards are building them as fast as they can, but without the Forge, we won’t meet the demand. But thankfully I have a system to build up. I’ll keep them occupied.”

  They lapsed into silence, watching the movements from beyond the window for a few minutes before Isani spoke.

  “Tomas wants a vote to bring the Sowir fully into the Empire,” he said.

  “I know, I recommended it,” Adrian said.

  “Gotu has urged me to vote yes. Apparently the Nel and Sowir in Sol have found common ground.”

  “They’ve been forced to work together; their crimes aren’t forgotten or forgiven, but Gotu understands their right for a chance to make amends,” Adrian said. He then turned to face Isani. “You understand why he wants a vote, don’t you? He doesn’t need to have a vote; it is his decision.”

  “I do. He wants us all to agree, to test if his Empire is as united as we like to believe…I will think on it. Until we see each other again, Lord Sentinel,” Isani said, and gave Adrian a very human-like smile as he walked away.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Tarabat

  Aileen entered the small building that served as the human base/embassy to the Erasi on Tarabat. After she got through the security check, she made her way to the meeting room where Björn was already waiting for her.

  “Sentinel,” Björn Borg said when she entered the room.

  “What do we have?” Aileen asked.

  “A few traders from the Erasi core systems arrived two days ago. According to our Jugat informants, the rumor is that the Erasi have been moving a massive force towards the edge of their territory, and not just any force—it’s their ships-of-the-line. A lot of them. None of these traders have ever seen or heard of a force so large. This was almost a year ago; by now, those forces have probably already arrived at their destination.”

  “Do we know where they were headed?” Aileen asked.

  “The word is that they were headed coreward with an spinward tilt,” Björn said.

  That meant that they were moving in the opposite direction of the Empire, which was coreward and anti-spinward of the Erasi territory. But the only thing in the direction they were supposedly going were the Shara Daim.

  “So the Shara Daim, most likely. I doubt that the Shara Daim would try and attack two opponents of comparable strength at the same time,” Aileen commented.

  “Probably not, and they had peace with the Erasi for a long time. The only thing that makes sense is that the Erasi took advantage of the Shara Daim preparations for an attack on us.”

  Aileen nodded. “Yes, they mobilized their Legions. The Erasi could’ve attacked as soon as they saw an opportunity. We need to find out more. I’ll send a message to Adrian. He is still receiving reports from our stealth ships in Shara Daim territory; he will know more about their status.”

  “If the Erasi attacked them, then their actions with us make more sense,” Björn said.

  “How so?”

  “They offered us defense platforms that could arguably stand up to Shara Daim ships. If they have attacked, it is in their best interest to keep us and the Shara Daim at war.”

  “Makes sense, only we kept things close and they didn’t know what we had. They still don’t, not now when we’ve forced them to remove their stealth ships from our territory,” Aileen said.

  “If they knew the truth, they wouldn’t be so scared of us now,” Björn said with a chuckle.

  Aileen smiled too. The Erasi were treading very carefully around the Empire these days. And if they were at war with the Shara Daim, it explained why they couldn’t afford humanity taking to the offense.

  “And there haven’t been any movements against us from the Shara Daim, at least none that reports from Sol mentioned. If the Erasi attacked them, it would explain why there have been no follow-up attacks; they are too busy defending,” Björn said.

  “This gives us an opportunity to take risks, get a network up in their space,” Aileen said.

  “Speaking of networks, how did your meeting go?”

  Aileen
grimaced as she remembered her meeting with the Uraasat called Jurr, the large, snake-like alien that had given her the information about the Erasi Weavers and their stealth ships in return for her trying to find a cure for his people’s infertility.

  “Sanctuary discovered the cure, so he is happy. And he wants us to take in a large number of his people, help them set up a colony in the Empire’s territory.”

  “In return for?”

  “Intel. The Uraasat have a vast network of spies across the Erasi territory,” Aileen answered.

  “We don’t have any assets in the Erasi core systems; our relationship with the Jugat only covers systems they are allowed in, which are frankly only unimportant systems at the edge of the Erasi territory,” Björn said.

  “I know. I will probably agree. But Jurr is a vengeful being; he wants revenge against the Erasi.”

  “Do you blame him?”

  “No, but we can’t afford being connected with a faction of Erasi that is opposed to their rulers. From what I learned, Uraasat have connections with many races that live in the Erasi. And Jurr’s ‘organization’ has members in almost every race in the Erasi. If they do something and the Erasi find out that we have been helping them, it would go badly,” Aileen said.

  “Then make sure to have a very precise deal in place, what we will do and what we won’t. If they break it, the deal is off,” Björn said.

  “If we take their people in, we won’t ever really be able to break off relations.”

  “Ask yourself if that is a risk worth taking to get intel on the Erasi. You are the Sentinel on site; these are the decisions that you are supposed to make.”

  “I know,” Aileen said, releasing a long breath. “I’ll think it over.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Two months later — September; Year 56 of the Empire — Shara Radum

  Anessa was one hundred and thirty-nine years old. She and Garaam had been enjoying themselves on a resort planet in Shara Daim territory. And while Garaam would rather bathe in the warm ponds, Anessa would much rather read about the history of the Shara Daim.

  She had always been interested in the ancient history of her people. A time before they had gone to space and before the Sha, when the creeds of blood and death had originated. To fight and become stronger was the greatest honor. To be a warrior was a holy calling. The old Shara Daim had followed only the strongest; it made them ever-changing, since every leader ruled only for as long as he was the strongest. Rulers would fight off challengers for their rule constantly, but eventually every ruler lost, and a new stronger and younger one took his or her place, molding the Shara Daim into something new.

  Anessa was fascinated with the old Shara Daim; they had had no Sha, and had fought simply and perhaps more barbarically. But still they had had honor.

  “How are you not bored with reading that?” Garaam asked as she leaned on the edge of the pond and looked at Anessa lounging on the warm rocks with a reading device in hand.

  “You could learn a lot from our history, Garaam.”

  “Yes, I can learn about the most barbaric ways to take power,” Garaam said.

  “They lived by their strength, more so than we do now,” Anessa responded.

  “We are more civilized.”

  “Perhaps, but there are still lessons to be learned from the words of ancient Kar Daim,” Anessa added. Garaam sighed in frustration and turned her back to Anessa, swimming away.

  Anessa walked through the great Hall of Ages, under the high-reaching arcs, and past paintings and murals depicting the Shara Daim history, reminding her of who her people truly were. A race of warriors who had never bowed down to weakness. Only it had taken a defeat to teach her what strength truly meant.

  Behind her followed Do Sun Arisak and eight of her best Va Sun. Immediately upon entering the system, the Elders had ordered her to come to them. They had provided no reason as to why, but it wasn’t necessary. Anessa knew the reason; the Elders had learned of her orders to the Legions. She had sent the message only to the Legions, making sure that the message didn’t pass through the Shara Radum relay, which meant that someone had informed them on purpose, as she had known someone would. But the circumspect relay had given her time.

  Anessa and her party reached the end of the hall and the ornate doors leading to the Elders’ sanctum. Two honor guards stood in front, as they always did. There were no other guards in sight, which probably meant that the Elders, while displeased with her, didn’t plan on having her arrested. That was interesting, but then, she was their greatest Dai Sha; they couldn’t really arrest her without a great cause. They would want to talk, demand a reason for her actions. And Anessa would give it to them.

  She turned to Arisak and motioned for him and the Va Sun to stay there. They already knew what to do. Her Legion knew everything—all the information they had about Axull Darr and the suspicions about the Elders. And they were loyal to her.

  Anessa inclined her head to the two guards wearing the traditional brown chestplate armors that covered their torso and left their arms bare presenting the white markings going around their forearms. Anessa stepped through as they opened the doors. She entered the dark room and moved down the stairs toward the podium in center of the room, dropping to one knee before the nine Elders that were sitting on high-backed chairs on the pedestals in a half circle in front of her.

  “Elders, I answer your summons,” Anessa said, keeping all emotion out of her posture and voice.

  For a few beats there was no response, but then the Elder sitting directly in front of her spoke. “Rise, Dai Sha Anessa,” he said, and waited for her to stand before continuing, “You have been summoned as a courtesy. We want to give you a chance to explain your actions.”

  “And what actions are that?” Anessa asked.

  A female Elder to her right was the one that spoke. “You have failed to report the results of the attack on the Empire’s system of Sol, and you have issued orders to the Legions that are in direct conflict to our own. You have overstepped your authority. The only reason you are not in chains is that we can’t afford to lose a Dai Sha of your power now, but make no mistake, there will be punishment,” the Elder said, her voice booming through the room.

  Anessa tilted her head and looked in the direction of the Elder. “You wish for my report? Very well. The attack on Sol failed; Dai Sha Narrasak and his Legion were destroyed, and both mine and Dai Sha Garaam’s Legions sustained heavy losses to our forces.”

  A series of exclamations came from the Elders, each disbelieving. The Elder directly in front of her spoke loudly enough to silence the others. “Enough! What do you mean failed? The Humans are weaklings. Their system was undefended; Narrasak sent us reports before you left.”

  “The system wasn’t undefended, it was a ruse. Narrasak died because he was weak and unworthy of the position he held. Once faced with an equal opponent, he lost composure and charged blindly into an enemy trap.”

  Again the Elders voiced their disbelief, and again they were silenced. “And if you lost, how is it that you are here now before us?”

  “The Empire’s commander let us go.”

  “What?”

  “But not before he allowed me and Garaam to speak with Axull Darr,” Anessa added before they could ask anything else.

  Silence reigned in the room. Then a voice from her left broke it. “What did you say?”

  “I spoke with Axull Darr, or rather the copy of his consciousness stored inside the device you sent us to retrieve. But I’m sure that you know all about that; there must’ve been records of what the device was.”The Elders were silent, so Anessa kept talking. “I learned a lot of things from him. It seems that a lot of what we believe isn’t actually true. Like our people being destined to rule the galaxy, or our ancestors ruling it through strength by dominating other races.”

  “Really? And you believed this deception?” another Elder said, but Anessa could feel his voice shake.

  “You told me tha
t I would know the device was real if I heard the beacon.”

  “Well, you are obviously wrong; the device didn’t have anything like that, only data,” yet another Elder said, only the words came out in a rush.

  “Perhaps you are the one that is wrong? The device was lost long ago, far before your time, Elder,” Anessa said. “Perhaps it was simply not documented.”

  “If what you say is true, we will need to reevaluate a lot of our history. It is interesting. We will need you to write a full report about all that you learned. We shall meet again to discuss it after you provide us with everything. For now, we shall give you quarters on Shara Radum until we have investigated this matter,” the Elder in front of her said. “You are free to leave for now, Dai Sha Anessa, but await our summons.”

  He dismissed her, but Anessa didn’t move.

  “Dai Sha?” the same Elder asked, his voice sounding strange.

  “We still haven’t discussed me sending orders to the Legions,” Anessa said slowly, taking a step forward, closer to the Elders.

  “Ah…Yes, we will speak of it during the next meeting. You have given us a lot to think and debate about,” the Elder said quickly.

  Anessa drew just a bit of the Sha, enough so that her eyes could see in the dark, but not enough for the Elders to notice. The darkness disappeared and she saw their faces, saw their fear.

  “I did it because we are Shara Daim. We do not abandon our own people; that is what our teachings always say. The Legions were created to defend our people and to be a bastion of our strength. We do not sacrifice our people for greed and power.”

  The Elders were now shifting uncomfortably on their large chairs, their minds connecting with the Sha as they started to speak mind to mind. Anessa took another step forward.

  “Dai Sha Anessa! Leave this room now, or we will summon the guards to remove you!” the Elder in front of her said, but his words sounded weak, pitiful.

  “Tell me, why did you make us age?” Anessa said in a whisper that carried across the room. She saw the eyes of the Elder in front of her widen, and she knew that Garaam was right. The Elder’s hand moved quickly to the armrest of the chair, moving towards the button that would summon the guards, but Anessa didn’t let it reach it. The Sha filled her and she stopped the hand.