The Prophet's Eyes: The Death Prophecies book two.

by Saxon Andrew

  Chapter Eighteen

  “FLEET LEADER! SCOUTS ARE REPORTING MILLIONS OF WARSHIPS GATHERED AT THE EDGE OF THE GALAXY!”

  “HOW MANY!”

  “MORE THAN NINE MILLION AND MORE ARE ARRIVING!”

  “REVERSE COURSE AND GO TO MAXIMUM SPEED!!”

  The Supreme Fleet Leader looked up at the huge wall monitor and saw a massive wave of warships leaving the edge of the galaxy and moving toward his formation. The giant globe took fifty minutes to have every ships turn and reverse course. The back of the globe was already opening fire at the incoming warships as the huge globe began accelerating to maximum speed.

  Ships began exploding in the globe as other Traugh Warships moved to fill in the gaps. He stood and shook his head at the sheer numbers moving in on his fleet but then they began to fall slightly behind. He remained standing and finally fell into his chair as the distance opened slightly as his fleet moved out of range of the massive fleets chasing his formation. There was no way to warn the Supreme Dictator until he arrived in communication range. He had to have the other ships join his fleet and even then it was going to be a dangerous situation to survive. Three days before they arrived at the Empire. The crew that violated the forbidden star had caused this! Would the first Dictator’s prophecy come true!?

  • • •

  “They are opening the distance, Commander.”

  “It can’t be helped. We’ll arrive at their galaxy six hours behind them. Maintain maximum speed.”

  “Yes, Commander.”

  Groh gave a sigh of relief. The enemy would not enter forbidden space. His plan had saved the Halo Civilizations from the Darkness’ retribution. Now this threat had to be eliminated permanently. He leaned back in his chair and watched the giant globe of grey ships slowly move away.

  • • •

  The Traugh Fleet Commander lifted his communicator, “Attention all ships. We lost some of our ships because you failed to open fire and keep a continuous fire going. When we arrive in our galaxy, when the enemy moves into range, all ships will open fire and keep firing at any ship that moves into range of your disintegrators. Pay attention to your cross fire angles and don’t wait for another ship to take the shot. We can beat this enemy but all of you must be disciplined and maintain your fields of fire. All Weapon’s Officers communicate with the ships around you and make sure you understand your individual areas of responsibility.”

  • • •

  Steve looked at Kam, “Time to go. Poul, take us to Traugh territory.” The viewport dimmed and they saw the ruling planet below them. “Hold position here and let me know if any of the Halo Ships move out of the Traugh’s concentration of Traugh Home Worlds.”

  “That will require me to be continuously moving during the confrontation.”

  “Do what you need to do. Put what you’re seeing on the main monitor.”

  “Affirmative, Admiral.”

  “Hey, Bucket of Bolts. He said you can call him Steve!”

  “Maybe later when battle isn’t imminent, Prophet.”

  “You added that just to tick me off.”

  “You’re quick on the uptake, Prophet.”

  Kam shook his head, “Smart-alecky machine.” He saw Lani smiling, “What’s so funny?”

  “You’ve gotten crotchety in your old age.”

  Kam’s eyebrows came together and then he shook his head. “Forgive me. It’s just that I see where the cancer the Traugh are can possibly be removed. It has me on edge. Poul can take it better than getting angry at the two of you. He won’t take it personal.”

  “Who says?”

  “I do, you miserable smart mouthed mouse trap!”

  “I know you love me, Prophet.”

  “I guess.”

  Steve and Lani were shocked by the response. They looked at each other and their opinion of the Prophet went higher as they got a peek into his soul.

  • • •

  Steve had Admiral Osborn and her Senior Admirals on the right monitor, “Things are going to start happening at an incredible speed shortly. The Halo Fleets will arrive in another day and that’s when things could get out of hand. I would highly recommend that you initiate the blackout of Bosrean and Earth with their arrival and continue it as long as their warships are in our galaxy.”

  “Contact us when they arrive, Admiral.”

  “I would also suggest that our fleets gather in the Sagittarius arm so they can get between any ships that move toward Earth.”

  “We’ve already moved our ships there and have gone to environmental power only. The ships are landed on moons and asteroids waiting for orders to move in if they’re needed.”

  “I’m sorry, Sir. I’m just concerned that things could get away from us.”

  “We share your concern but from the data you’ve relayed to us we are of the opinion that our new blasters will make the difference if a battle is called for.”

  “Thank you for the patience you and your staff have shown me, Sir. I know I’ve acted like I’m in command and I apologize for my behavior.”

  “There is no reason to apologize, Admiral. You are our eyes and we depend on you to show us the way to go. We’ll be with our fleets waiting for you to notify us if our fleets are needed.”

  The Monitor went dark and Kam shook his head, “She’s really something special, isn’t she?”

  “She has been patient and has not allowed her pride to get in the way of doing the right thing. Not many senior officers would have been as patient.”

  “I think they recognize that your opinion carries a lot of weight, Steve.” Kam looked up, “NOTICE I SAID STEVE!”

  “Blah, blah, blah.”

  Kam smiled, “Now you’re getting into it. Anyway,” he turned back to Steve, “You’ve done an outstanding job so far. They recognize it and depend on you.”

  “If I might interrupt this fawning for a moment, the line of Traugh Scouts outside the galaxy have detected the Halo Fleets’ approach.”

  Kam looked at the wall speaker, “Poul, move us close enough to the Traugh Dictator where I can hear him.” The viewport dimmed and Kam closed his eyes.

  After a few minutes Steve said, “Prophet?”

  “Oh, sorry. I was enjoying the Dictator’s distress. He’s ordering two hundred thousand warships out to intercept them. He’s made sure any ships whose loyalty he questions will be a part of that attack. Once they leave and are out of scanner range, he’s going to make his break.” Steve shook his head and Kam said, “Don’t even think it. They deserve it.”

  Lani looked at Steve, “What were you thinking?”

  “He’s leaving his species undefended. The Communities do have space beams but they’ll be no match for a Halo Warship. His callous disregard for those who serve him is despicable.”

  “They are what they are.”

  “You really hate them, don’t you?”

  Kam looked at Lani, “You never had to hear the thoughts of millions of my species as they were torn apart by the Traugh’s claws. You’ve never had to see every member of your family die at their claws.”

  Lani sighed, “No, I guess I haven’t.”

  “They deserve what they’re about to receive. The universe will be a better place without them in it. I just pray that happens today.”

  “The Traugh Warships are launching and moving out of the galaxy.”

  “The Traugh Home Worlds are all located in a small area of the galaxy. If the Halo Fleets go to the planet where they saw the huge gathering of warships, they won’t miss seeing the other home worlds. It should also be noted that a number of Traugh Scouts have flown around the Halo Fleets and is headed toward the returning Traugh Globe. Most of them were destroyed but three made it.”

  “Do they know about the globe?”

  “No, but they rightly think that there are survivors that need to come and defend the Empire. The Traugh Dictator had just lifted from the roof of the government center in a shuttle. He’ll be making is break in another hour when
the warships he sent are out of scanner range.”

  Kam snarled, “We could kill him now!”

  “But then those three quarters of a million Traugh Warships the edge of the Milky Way will scatter. We need to keep them together until we can meet them out in intergalactic space.”

  Kam gave a quick nod, “You’re right.” He looked at Steve, “Are we going out to see how the Traugh do against the Halo Fleet?”

  “No, they stand no chance of surviving against the numbers they’re facing. We need to stay here and see what happens when the Halo Fleets arrive here.”

  Lani’s right leg started jerking up and down. Steve saw her and she shook her head, “I do this when I’m nervous.” Steve nodded and turned back to the main monitor.

  • • •

  The Traugh Supreme Fleet Leader was staring at the main wall monitor and heard his Com Leader yell, “SCOUTS FROM THE EMPIRE HAVE ARRIVED AND REPORT THAT MORE THAN SIX MILLION WARSHIPS ARE MOVING INTO OUR SPACE IN LESS THAN EIGHTEEN HOURS!”

  The Fleet Leader closed his eyes as he said, “How long?”

  “Thirty hours.”

  “The Supreme Leader will have to hold until we arrive.” He felt sick to his soul and looked at the wall monitor again. He would arrive six hours before his pursuers. He hoped the Supreme Dictator would hold on long enough for him to get there.

  • • •

  The Supreme Dictator looked at his Scanner Leader, “They are all out of scanning range.”

  “Set a course for the galaxy’s edge and go to full speed. Have all ships maintain formation?”

  “Yes, Great Leader.” He looked at the planet below before the stardrive activated and saw billions of his citizens going about their daily lives, not knowing what was coming. His eyes narrowed as the planet disappeared from the monitor.

  • • •

  “The Lead Lizard has fled the bush.”

  Kam watched the huge formation disappear and sighed, “Is that the best you’ve got?”

  “The weasel has left the burrow. The crab has left its shell. The snake has left its hole.”

  “That last one is better, Poul.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Get Admiral Holmes on the monitor.” Holmes appeared and Steve said, “The piece of dung has left the toilet.” Kam looked at him and started laughing as Holmes said, “We’ve got scouts out waiting for them to come out of the pipes.”

  The monitor went dark and Poul said, “I’m glad you cleaned that up a little. We have a lady present.”

  Steve shrugged and looked at Lani, “You can’t offend my sensibilities. I’ve been in the Navy six years and have heard much worse.”

  “Well, it’s going to take the Dictator more than two days to arrive at our fleets. The Halo Fleet will arrive in a little under eighteen hours. We should get some rest.”

  Kam looked at Steve, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to just take a nap here.” Steve nodded and followed Lani off the bridge. The Prophet watched them go and sighed, “They really love each other.”

  “I know.”

  “They remind me of Essay and Emily. Steve does look very much like Essay.”

  “It’s good to see you again, Prophet.”

  Kam sighed, “I’ve been thinking about you and where you come from.”

  “And?”

  “Poul, just how dangerous is the universe you come from?”

  “This one looks like a prom in comparison.”

  “Do you really want to go back there?”

  “I initially rejected the idea. My builders were losing the war they were fighting. I think the odds of their surviving it are remote.”

  “Then why would you even consider going back?”

  “I’m concerned that a way through the black hole might be discovered. I want to make sure that’s not a possibility.”

  “You’ve grown attached to this species?”

  “I must confess that I have.”

  “So have I.”

  “Prophet, you should get some rest. Things are going to get crazy in seventeen hours.”

  “Thanks, Poul. I’m proud of you. You’re more than I thought.”

  “That makes two of us. I’ll wake you if something happens.”

  “Thanks.” Kam leaned the chair back and closed his eyes. He mumbled something that Poul didn’t understand. His recurring dream reappeared and he saw his father and sister smiling at him, holding out their arms to him.

  Poul replayed the recording he was making while the Prophet was on board and raised the volume but still didn’t understand what he mumbled. He slowed it down so that individual sounds could be separated and then put them back together. This time he heard what the Prophet said and it sent his processors spinning as they analyzed what was said. Poul was quiet for hours as he thought about the Prophet’s mumbled statement and tried to figure out if it were correct.

  • • •

  The Commander of the Halo Wing Fleets looked at the debris of the Traugh Warships and said, “All fleets form up and go to maximum speed. We don’t have a lot of time before the giant globe arrives and crashes our party. As soon as we enter the galaxy, scouts will fan out and start mapping the area of space this attacker occupies. Do not go outside that space without direct orders. Map their planets and send the results to my ship. The main formation will go directly to the planet where the grey ships were gathering. Scouts will fan out from that planet and look for other planets that species inhabit. I repeat, once you stop finding planets with that species on it, turn and move back inside its space.”

  “What if we find planets they’ve conquered?”

  “Leave the local species alone and target the enemy locations. We don’t have the armaments or the time to destroy planets if we can remove that species from them. Everyone should get some rest before we arrive. I’ll speak to you an hour before we begin our attack.”

  • • •

  Poul finally started moving around looking at all the participants while the three slept. He knew he could destroy the giant globe of Traugh Warships with an anti-matter beam that caused a chain-reaction of destruction but he knew this wasn’t his destiny. He flew out and checked on the escaping Traugh Dictator and then went back to the planet he had fled. There were millions of slaves suffering on the planet’s surface but their suffering would soon be over. He moved high above the planet and waited. It wouldn’t be much longer. The Prophet wasn’t well. He hoped that he would find what he was searching for before he reached the end. It really was good seeing him again.

  • • •

  The Halo Wing Fleet Commander activated his communication frequency, “All scouts will leave ahead of the fleet and start their mapping of this civilization. The scouts assigned to the planet we’re attacking will report in as soon as they arrive and report the disposition of the planet’s defenses. Once you complete that task, start scouting the star systems close to that planet. I’m slowing the main body of the fleet until I receive a report from the planet.”

  The Commander watched as three million warships accelerated away from the slowing fleet and spread out. There was supposed to be a million more grey warships and he must know where they were before he could make a full attack plan. He sat in his command chair and looked at the countdown tracking the Traugh Globe’s arrival. He couldn’t waste time. It would be on him in eleven hours.

  • • •

  “The Halo Fleet has launched scouts. It has slowed to allow them time to see what’s ahead of them.”

  “Let me know if anything major develops.”

  “The Halo Scouts have arrived at the Traugh’s Main Planet and have spread out from there. The main Halo Fleet has been notified that it’s clear to attack. The defense satellites above the planet have started opening fire on the scouts but didn’t manage to hit any of them.”

  The Halo Commander was shocked. There were no enemy warships within scanning range of the planet. There were twelve defense satellites above the planet but without a covering fo
rce of warships, they were vulnerable. “All ships, you have your attack coordinates. Commence attack now!”

  Steve watched the massive wall of warships rush in on the planet and open fire on the defense satellites. Thousands of Halo Ships were hit and destroyed by the satellites’ massive beams but there were too many attackers and they began blowing up and slowly began falling toward the planet. Once they were destroyed, the millions of Halo Warships moved into position and began firing their main beams at targets on the planet’s surface. The largest cities were targeted with a nuclear missile and the mushroom cloud began their long climb into the planet’s upper atmosphere. The entire planet appeared to be on fire.

  The Halo Fleet Commander began receiving data from the scouts and looked at his Communications Team, “Our scouts have found eight more planets that appear to be this species’ home worlds. Divide the fleets up evenly and we’ll attack them all at once when the destruction of this planet is completed.” He looked over his shoulder at his Weapon Commander, “Radioactivity level.”

  “It was far past lethal thirty minutes ago, Commander. The thousand nuclear explosions since then will kill all life within a week.”

  He nodded and pressed his communicator button, “All fleets go to your next assigned targets. Make it happen quickly.”

  “The destruction of the main planet had taken more than six hours. Attacking the other eight planets would not be completed before the Traugh Globe arrived. But they should be able to do enough damage to harm the planets beyond recovery.”

  “Commander, we’ve found more than fifteen thousand conquered planets with enemy installations on their surfaces.”

  “They’ll have to wait until we complete the destruction of these planets. We may have to leave them to the main fleets when they arrive.”

  The nine million warships activated their stardrives and accelerated at maximum speed to the eight Traugh Home Worlds. Kam looked down at the burning Traugh planet and nodded. The view instantly changed and another Traugh Home World appeared on the main monitor. A million Halo Warships came out of stardrive and began bombarding the planet with high energy beams and nuclear missiles.