Rise of Shadows

by Vincent Trigili

  “Where is the Dust Dragon now?” I asked.

  “They have just joined the Third Wing and are heading to intercept that battleship fleet,” he said.

  “Excellent. As soon as that mission is complete, ask them to join me,” I said.

  “Yes, sir,” he replied.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Dusty, as soon as we come out of jump space make us disappear,” said Shadow.

  “Okay, Shadow,” I said. Shadow continued to give instructions to the others, but I stopped listening. I knew we would be in jump space soon so I had to prepare my mind for casting. Entering jump space would break any spell that was cast, so I could not start casting until we came out the other side. In order to get the spell off as soon as we exited jump space, I would need to be focused and ready to go.

  “Shadow, I have us locked into fleet control. We will be jumping in less than a minute,” I heard Flame say somewhere behind me.

  I took a deep breath as the azure energy of jump space flowed around me. It was a very pleasant feeling, but I did not understand why. I reminded myself that I had to keep my mind on the task at hand. This was not a time to be distracted. Soon we were exiting jump space, and I immediately cast my cloaking spell. Casting the spell was easy; the hard work was in keeping it going while the ship operated. It would get harder the more power the ship expended, but as we were just cruising I could afford to pay attention to my surroundings once again.

  “Shadow, we are clear of jump space, and the fleet is moving towards the pirates,” said Flame.

  “Looks like they call themselves the Scorpion Gang,” said Spectra.

  “Shadow, I have the cloak stable, and it appears that the fleet we are approaching is the same one that we attacked yesterday. There are no additional targets, at least,” I said.

  We followed the fleet, completely invisible. It seemed odd to me that Shadow wanted us cloaked when we were the only ship in this group that could cloak. The Scorpion Gang would clearly see the whole flight coming, so I did not know what we had to gain by this.

  “Shadow, they appear to be demanding the surrender of the Scorpions,” said Spectra.

  Shadow chuckled and said, “Standard operational procedure. Show up with an obviously inferior force; demand surrender, and when that fails bring in the rest of your force to destroy them. Some things never change.”

  “That seems a bit underhanded,” I said.

  “Oh, it is, but everyone knows that is what goes on so it becomes a gamble for everyone,” he said.

  “A gamble? I don’t understand,” I said.

  “The enemy knows that we have more forces hidden, so they have to take a gamble on what we might be able to bring, and it would be a safe assumption for us that they have help on the way, so we are gambling we can win before help comes,” said Shadow.

  “This much deception seems more fitting for sorcerers than for us,” said Flame.

  “I had not thought about it that way,” started Shadow. “But it is just the way war is fought. Both sides play the game, each hoping to outmaneuver the other.”

  “I guess it’s not really deception if both sides are in on it,” said Spectra.

  “Shadow, they are launching drones and fighters!” I called out.

  “Then it is showtime. Flame, bring us on an attack vector for that drone control ship, but keep it easy for now. I do not want to drop our cloak just yet,” said Shadow.

  “Shadow, the Aleeryon forces have moved to attack,” I said. Just as I finished saying that, tactical alarms started going off as weapon fire erupted around us.

  “That is our cue! Drop the cloak and engage that drone control ship,” said Shadow.

  The Dust Dragon jumped forward as Flame brought us up to attack speed. Freed from the rigor of spell focus, I turned to my tactical station and brought all our weapons online. “Spectra, can you find the drone launch bays?” I asked.

  “Sure, Dusty,” she said and soon had them on my tactical display.

  “Excellent!” I said as I adjusted my targeting. “I have positive lock, Shadow!”

  “Fire!” he ordered.

  I sent two waves of antimatter torpedoes on their way towards the drone launch tubes. Soon we would be close enough to use the grand staves, but by the time we reach the drone ship both sets of torpedoes will have done their job and removed its ability to launch any more drones.

  “All torpedoes, confirmed hits!” called out Spectra moments later. “They are running!”

  “Stay on them, Flame. Dusty, when we’re in range, take out their primary engines,” ordered Shadow.

  As I was working out the targeting for the engines a call came over the comm: “All ships, prepare for micro-jump; lock in on my mark.”

  “Flame, do as they say,” said Shadow.

  “Incoming drones!” called out Spectra.

  “Dusty, do not change targets. Flame, pass navigation to me. I will need you to handle whichever drones come after us,” said Shadow.

  “How?” asked Flame.

  “Easy. As they approach, use your power to heat them up. Their fuel store is notoriously unstable. They should explode with very little effort,” said Shadow.

  With Shadow at the controls we approached the drone ship, and I said, “Positive lock!” I knew that once the drone ship was destroyed, the drones in space would be disabled for lack of a controller. Since the drones were the only things the pirates had that the stealth bombers needed to be concerned about, I knew this to be a critical moment in the fight. Shadow’s idea to have us attack this drone ship was brilliant. We would be seen as instrumental in the success of this attack and continue to build the reputation that Shadow wanted.

  “Fire!” said Shadow as he expertly banked the Dust Dragon around, maximizing the amount of time we would have to shoot.

  “Firing!” I called out as I concentrated the power from all six staves on what I was sure was their primary engine core. Something like purple liquid fire flowed out of the staves and into the drone ship, blasting a huge chunk off the back. The ship’s hull buckled as the force of the blow traveled through it. The back end where our staves had hit was molten and blasted clear through in places. Soon secondary explosions rippled throughout the drone ship until there was nothing left but a broken hull and a field of debris.

  Over the comm came: “It’s time, lock in jump drives and let’s clear out!”

  “Shadow, bombs incoming!” said Spectra.

  “Flame, take the controls and get us out of here,” said Shadow.

  Once we cleared jump space Shadow said, “Well done, everyone! Spectra, bring up the tactical feed from the Aleeryon Navy so that we can see the results.”

  I examined the information that Spectra put up for us as it came in. It looked like the attack was an astounding success. The stealth bombers had done their part perfectly and decimated the pirate fleet.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Once the bombers caught up with our fleet, the Aleeryon commander invited Shadow to join them as they were heading for Aleeryon Prime. Shadow seemed on the point of accepting when reports came of reinforcements moving into the area. The Aleeryon Navy needed to return to Prime for supplies before they could fight again. They urged us to join them, saying that we would be no match for the incoming enemies alone. Shadow politely but firmly refused and then cut the channel and had me cloak the ship. That was hours ago, and now we sat silent and motionless back in the debris field that was all that was left of the fleet we defeated.

  “Shadow, I don’t understand. Why we are hiding here? I thought the goal was to get to Aleeryon Prime?” I asked.

  “Yes, it is, Dusty, but Commander Jackson said they are bringing a carrier fleet here,” said Shadow and then was silent.

  “Shadow, I think it would help if you told us your plan,” said Flame.

  He seemed to snap out of something and said, “Yes, sorry, I was searching for the fleet.”

  �
�Did you find them?” I asked.

  “Yes, and they are angry about something. They are definitely coming here, but I am not sure what the delay is,” he said.

  “Ok, just to review, a massive fleet that hates us is en route and will kill us as soon as they see us, and we are, like, just hanging around?” asked Phoenix.

  “Yes, exactly. We need information. Something is not right out here. The Scorpion Gang was only a handful of criminals barely eking out a living beyond the outer rim before the Great War, and now they have carrier fleets? That is simply not possible,” said Shadow.

  “So you think they are the same ones,” said Spectra with an odd tone in her voice.

  “Yes, the markings of the fleet we defeated were the same. I am a fool for not noticing them before,” said Shadow.

  “Okay, so to update our situation, they hate us, have a carrier fleet, and are long-time criminals, and we are just hanging around?” asked Phoenix.

  “Relax, with Dusty’s cloak there is no way they will know we are here, and this will give us the chance to spy on them a bit,” said Shadow. His head cocked suddenly as if he heard something, and then he said, “Battle stations, they just jumped.”

  We all turned back to our controls and strapped ourselves back into our seats. Each of us called out our readiness when the fleet started to arrive. The fleet was massive, far more ships than I had ever seen before. “Shadow, their weapons are powering up, and they are launching drones!” I called out.

  “Relax, they do not know we are here but expect a trap, so they have their automated defenses running. Remember, they need 45 to 60 seconds to recover from a jump,” said Shadow. “Flame, slowly move us over to that carrier and bring us to zero relative on it.”

  “Sure thing,” she said as she eased the ship around.

  “Spectra, record all the conversations you can find, and get the ship’s computers working on decrypting them. Our computers probably will not be able to crack them, but we can get the Aleeryon Navy to work on them later. Just record everything you can,” said Shadow.

  “Shadow, we do not need the computers. I can decrypt them,” I said.

  “You can?” asked Shadow. “Then do so.”

  “On it,” I said. I undid my safety harness so that I could move more freely as I cast. Chanting and weaving my hands in an intricate pattern I felt my power build around me, then with a sudden downward thrust I forced my power into the ship’s computers. On the screen, the encrypted text was suddenly decrypted, and the computers immediately began to parse the data and build a database of everything it was receiving.

  “Well done, Dusty! Spectra, the computer should be able to deduce the encryption keys now that it has both decrypted and encrypted copies of the data, so get it working on that and record everything. See what you can find out,” said Shadow.

  “Wait, how did you do that?” asked Spectra.

  “The information was hidden. I revealed it,” I said. Since my primary skill was in the concealment line of magic, no mundane could hide anything from me.

  “Yeah, but it was on the computer,” she said.

  “So? Technology is not a barrier to us, only to the professors from the other realm, and even then it’s due to their pride, not any real reason,” I said.

  “That is great insight, Dusty,” said Shadow. He seemed to ponder that for a while then said to Flame, “Gently set us down on the carrier’s hull and lock the magnetic anchors.”

  “Sure, but is that really a good idea?” asked Flame.

  “We are in the middle of their gravity well. If they decided to jump we could not get out of it in time, and typically an uncontrolled jump is something to be avoided,” he said.

  We had learned during our training that if the ship ever entered jump space in an uncontrolled manner it very often would break apart and never be seen again.

  “Excellent point,” said Flame as she maneuvered the ship on to the carrier. Once we were locked in place, we would be safe, as it would take us through jump space in a controlled manner should it jump without us having a chance to get away.

  “Spectra, Dusty, take a rest cycle. If all goes well I will have a special plan for you. Flame, put us back in low power mode. We will be completely undetectable in the shadow of this carrier, and that will allow Dusty to have a break,” said Shadow.

  “Okay,” I said as I followed Spectra off the bridge. We walked together in silence to the ship’s mess hall. Once we had some food and were seated I asked, “So how are you liking this mission?”

  “Not sure. All the fighting is exciting, I guess, but not really my thing; but this cloak and dagger stuff we are starting now? That is fun!” she said with a dark twinkle in her eye.

  “That’s great to hear! I wonder why he sent us on break?” I asked.

  “He probably plans to rotate us all through. I do not know if you noticed but we really have two teams on this ship,” she said.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Well, you and I are one, and they are the second,” she said.

  “Why do you think that?” I asked.

  “Shadow needs to keep his crew split by abilities. You can cloak, and so can he, therefore you both cannot be on break at the same time. I can gate, and you cannot, so that makes you and me a team. Your ice and Flame’s fire give Shadow two different sets of offensive magic. It is just good tactical sense. You and I are a set, and those three are the other,” she said.

  I thought about that a while and realized that what she said seemed true. “Okay, I guess I can see that, but we are still one team.”

  “Oh, we are on the same side, for sure. Maybe you would be more comfortable with thinking of us as two squads on the same team?” she asked.

  “Yes, that does sound much better,” I said. We talked a little more, then retired to our respective quarters. It was odd, but I started to think I agreed with Spectra. This cloak and dagger stuff was the best part of the trip so far. It was just too stressful to manage the weapons while under fire. This slow and quiet sneaking around was more my pace.

  Chapter Eighteen

  After Spectra and I finished a brief rest cycle, we returned to the bridge. Flame, Shadow, and Phoenix took their turn, leaving Spectra and me alone on the bridge. We sat in silence a long time just staring at the reports coming in from the enemy. There was nothing exciting about them, just routine messages. Things like “sector five clear, moving to sector ten.” As boring as it was, I could think of no way to break the ice in the room, so we sat in silence.

  While we sat there I could not help but wonder if I was on the right path in life. I was far from anything that I could remotely call close to my original dreams. I started out with the noble ambition of just helping people, but I failed at everything I tried. I went to medical school and failed in the first few years. I tried to be a first responder but failed the certifications. Time and time again, whatever I tried, I failed at. After a while I realized I was just too stupid for schooling of any kind and retreated into a life of solitude as a failure. I am not really sure why I made the decision to apply to Alpha Academy, but I had expected that to be a fruitless endeavor also. Yet, somehow this school was different than the others. I flew through the prospect stage in record time, but hit a wall as a student. I thought I would never make it through all those tests and classes. No one was more shocked than I when my promotion to apprentice was announced.

  It was those years of hard work in the Academy’s program that brought me to this point. When I first came to Alpha Academy I was hoping to learn healing magic like Master Kellyn, but apparently that was not the way I was made. I had just wanted to help people, but instead I was sitting in control of the most advanced war machine in the entire known universe. A cold chill and a wave of nausea passed through me as I thought of the men and women we had killed already. I knew that we were at war and that we were helping the good people of this region through our actions, but still I wondered: did t
he ones I killed have families? Were their children at home right now crying in bed with no parents to comfort them because I had killed them?

  Eventually Shadow and the others returned to their stations, and then Shadow asked for a report.

  “No change,” I said.

  “This plan does not seem to be yielding much, but I did not expect it to. I just needed to delay a while so that they would become comfortable sitting here,” said Shadow. He then looked over at me and asked, “Are you ready for a solo mission?”

  I gulped and said, “Umm….”

  “Good, here is the plan,” interrupted Shadow. “Spectra transports you on to the carrier. Once on the carrier you will stay hidden and learn all that you can. This will include finding an isolated computer terminal and downloading as much information as you can access. Also it would be good if you could find where the top officers meet and record any conversations they have. In general your goal will be to learn as much as you can without being detected. Easy stuff, think you can handle it?”

  “Ummm …” I started. I was having a hard time wrapping my thoughts around the idea of this mission, but before I could even think anything, I was cut off again.

  “Shadow, are you sure that’s wise?” interrupted Flame.

  “Oh, more than sure. He is a master at sneaking around places he should not be, and he knows how to make the computers talk his language. It is a perfect fit. Right, Dusty?” he asked.

  “Well …” I started.

  “But it’s not good for a wizard to be alone, right?” interrupted Flame.

  “He would not be truly alone. We will have Spectra check in with him regularly via our telepathic network, and he will always be able to reach us the same way. We will be able to monitor him and pull him out if there is trouble,” said Shadow.