The Corrupted Star

by Martin HC

  He and his sponsors were not going to allow the first strike to happen by Ferren hands, so they'd taken the initiative, devised a plan that would be sure to collapse the Ferrens completely. Lying would be useless, in their previous engagement he became fully accustomed to the girl's uncanny ability to see through lies.

  “Satellites.” He answered.

  “Satellites?”

  “Yes satellites, you see, the great Desian fleet that entered Darkspace thirteen hundred years ago made a mistake, a grave one.”

  “They all died from what I've been told, I'd say it was more than a mistake.”

  “The mistake was not in their deaths, that was inevitable, the mistake was that they tried to tell of their fate,” he explained, getting nothing but a blank stare and no response he continued. “The true mistake was that they fired off communications satellites back towards their borders, linking them back to the communications chain. The demons that reside here in this pocket of space followed the trail back out, then followed every other deep space comms signal to each inhabited system that they destroyed.”

  “I'm still at a loss here.”

  “They will find us at some point, we will launch our satellites, they will follow our satellites, we will withdraw.”

  “You think they just follow the satellites?” Tira interjected.

  “Yes, the Desians discovered it, by switching off their satellites they halted the enemies advance, they never once followed fleet ships.”

  “Did it not occur to you that there was an ulterior motive to that, that they had been programmed that way?”

  “Programmed?”

  “Yes programmed, they're drones and they only managed to kill so many systems and people by only engaging fleet ships when attacked. I would say the directed target was the populations.”

  “Then why not destroy the fleets completely first?” he asked her. “This would have allowed them unfettered access to the Empire.”

  “Perhaps their mandate was not to win, but to terrorize, a warning to humanity to stay away,” she finally concluded.

  “You should know they're on their way here now, they've been following the wake of your star drives, I'm surprised you even made it this far,” Haydn told him, taking back the conversation.

  “The idiotic persona may fool others, but please do not take me for the fool you think I am, you're obviously a man of great measure to manipulate events the way you do.”

  “Why do people always think these things?”

  “Enough, did you come here to bring the beings in Darkspace out of their territory? I know of the server breach, and that you've been seeking information on them,” Haithe shouted out.

  “Again, you got us wrong friend and the server thing, that was just vandalism,” Haydn answered, nodding his head to Tira and rolling his eyes, much to her annoyance. “But you should really leave now, they'll be here shortly.”

  “We can help you, you will become powerful beyond measure, join us and together we will subdue the Ferren threat, then bring order to the galaxy.”

  “Or rule it you mean and which us do you mean? We're not buying it and not that we like you or anything, but you should leave before those ships get here.”

  “What ships? We detect nothing, again a cunning ploy or are you working with them?”

  “No, really not working with anyone,”

  “So why have they not killed you?”

  “They tried, we won and the others don't see us unless we're very close.”

  “Why are you here?”

  “To find out where we came from, and again you should leave. We've just picked up another three following a bigger one.”

  “I believe you are lying to me, and if you won't join us, then we will have to destroy you. You're trapped by the gravity pull of the sun and that structure, you cannot run this time, and we have you locked on visual targeting.”

  “Gravity wells have no effect on our star drive and you're too late anyway, they're here,” Haydn answered. “You must have been told of what we can do, what we're capable of.”

  “Commander, the sensors have picked up the pulse of the enemy signal,” a sensor operator told Haithe off screen.

  “Its a lie, a ruse, they just want us to run,” he told the crew before answering Haydn's remark. “Yes an impressive weapon to say the least, two Ferren battleships dead with a single blow, that is also part of why I'm here, to take that back with me, if not willingly then by force.”

  “OK, I'm happy for you to die now,” Haydn told him bluntly, then turned to Tira. “Kill the channel.”

  The image of the persistent and stubborn man disappeared to reveal a tactical overlay, showing the newcomers burning down directly towards the hunter ships.

  When Devastating Plans Backfire

  As expected, the burly commander didn't run, thinking it was a trick he began moving in towards their prey, weapons systems and defensive networks powered up as they closed the small gap, but didn't make the distance.

  It began with a wave of energy shutting down every star drive.

  “The big one fired an energy wave, that must have been what they were waiting for,” Tira told both Haydn and Jill. “Our systems are fine but I think the hunters are helpless.”

  “What did it do?”

  “It's disabled their star drives, at best they have minor manoeuvring, they can't compensate for the G-forces induced through acceleration.”

  “Should we leave now?” Jill asked

  “No, lets see what happens.”

  “I think I've figured out how they disable the star drives, I'm certain I can do the same, I also think the same method can be applied to disabling targeting equipment and more importantly their stealth technology.”

  Haydn, Tira and Jill watched the helpless struggle, the old outdated and ragged hunter fleet was being annihilated. Technology, weapons and armour had come a long way since the time of the Desians but it was still surprisingly difficult to hit what they couldn't see.

  Their tactics were uncontrolled and sloppy, there was no chance to run or move with speed, all they had was secondary manoeuvring and it proved useless, ship after ship blew, consuming themselves in brilliant blinding balls of raw energy.

  “This is a slaughter,” Jill told them.

  “Look there,” Haydn pointed out.

  Seven ships began moving again, their drives fired back to life and they ran from the group, leaving their comrades to die. A single drone followed, then a short while later the larger drone with five escorts also gave chase.

  “What's Haithe doing? Look there, he's breaking off,” he asked Tira the question, but she was gone now so her alternative answered.

  “It looks like he's trying to clear the fight.”

  Several blips appeared from his ship as multiple objects were fired away into space, they headed away from the fight and there was no perceived target, eventually they cleared the gravity well of the star and an aura of light lit them up, immediately after they shot off and blinked out of sight, a single drone followed.

  “Great, Tira decides now is the time to take a nap, what were those Tiralyn?

  “Communications satellites, they don't have star drives, but the acceleration curves indicate they have advanced mass manipulation technology and are capable of reaching faster than light speeds.”

  “Why would he...” Haydn stopped the question mid track remembering the conversation about satellites, thinking not why but where. “Tiralyn, where are they headed?”

  “Trajectories indicate to the centre of Ferren controlled space.”

  “And the others? The seven hunter ships that ran?”

  “Fleeing towards Mergence controlled space.”

  “We can't let that happen Haydn, we can't let them loose,” Jill told him. “They'll follow the hunters and satellites right into populated space, like the Mergence Admiral said.”

  “We can only follow one group, we'll have to follow the ones that went after those ships, there were
more of them.”

  “And the satellites?”

  “It's just the one drone, the Ferren's will need to deal with it alone.”

  “Incoming transmission from the flag,” Tira interrupted.

  “Answer it Tira.”

  The commander's face was an ashen grey, he sat solemnly in his private office and drunk a ruby red liquid from a gleaming crystal glass bottle.

  “Your fleet is dying while you drink alone in your office commander, how noble,” Jill spat.

  “How are you doing this? Did you summon them here?”

  “We're not doing this, we have no idea what is controlling them,” Haydn answered.

  “Then why have you not run already, like those other cowards.” he said with scorn, swigging again from the bottle.

  “Because they're killing you, not us.”

  “If you're not with them, then why do you not stop them?”

  “You fired satellites towards the heart of Ferren space, just to get them to follow. You're nothing but murderous cowards.”

  “The Darkspace terrors will follow them, that was my mission, my mandate.”

  “One followed the satellites, six followed your friends that ran, try to guess where they're running to.”

  “Your ship, the stealth is like theirs? If you're not with them, who are you with? Where did you come from?”

  “We don't know, I found this ship under a jungle, Tira was already in it and now we're trying to figure out where we came from, so I can get home.”

  Haithe's face screwed up, it clearly upset him to hear the truth of their background.

  “You mean you're nothing but a backward fool that found the ship you're in?”

  “A little harsh that, coming from someone who just tried to commit genocide,” Haydn answered, sounding offended.

  “He really is just an idiot, I can never let his mind wander for too long, it's too small to be left alone.”

  Haydn stared back at Tira now, disbelief in his expression.

  “What did I do to you today? Is this because of me and Jill, are you jealous?”

  She looked back at him and laughed, “Don't be absurd, I like Jill, like I said earlier, evolution.”

  “Thanks,” the lover added from the corner.

  “Oh, right, you know with that attitude I'm not surprised you were abandoned.”

  She looked away from him, her eyes dropping.

  “I'm sorry, I didn...” he caught the manipulative edge in her eye, she couldn't hide it fast enough. “You're winding me up again, right when this is all done here we're on a time out, no talking.”

  Realising the plan had backfired in the worst possible way and listening to the bickering pair, the commander's face contorted in rage and he began yelling but his rant was cut off, the signal dropped leaving the wall blank.

  “Well that was just uncalled for, calls me those names and didn't even give me a chance to say bugger all back.”

  “He died,” Tiralyn answered pleasantly.

  “Oh, well, I suppose death is a good reason to end a call,” he summed up, Tiralyn stared at him with an empty expression.

  “You know it's amazing that she's weak enough to not be here when it's important, yet somehow has the strength to come back through just to call me an idiot,” he complained to himself.

  “The last five ships were just destroyed, the remaining drones are now moving towards us,” Tiralyn spoke.

  Although they were not friends, enemies even, the admiral's death and the death's of all those in the hunter fleet still struck him as tragic. He felt a pang of regret at letting them die but then remembered the satellites, their intended purpose and what Commander Haithe had done, the regret was gone now.

  “If you wish to catch the remaining hunter ships and the drones chasing them, we should leave now, before they move out of our sensor range,” Tiralyn stated.

  Unwelcome Confessions, Unwelcome Signals

  It was a ragged and unorganised formation that met the waiting Mergence fleet.

  Things had gone too far, the journey into the Darkspace was never in the plan and neither was watching the fleet die, so they contacted the Mergence. Y'Riell's team being the first to receive their signal answered the call, they weren't Ferren and confirmed so themselves but wouldn't speak further, they only demanded amnesty for information.

  The meeting point had been staged for where the hunter fleet was seen moving towards Darkspace, she reported this up her chain of command. The orders that came back were extremely concerning though, kill the hunters regardless of their intent to surrender, do not speak further with them and jam any outgoing communications. She questioned her superiors naturally but received only silence in reply.

  “They're cutting their engines ma'am and powering down all reactors as agreed.”

  “Are they showing any signs of aggression? Is there any indications of a trap?”

  “No ma'am, they're requesting to talk.”

  To stonewall a fleet admiral was unheard of, in the time they'd been out on the border Brice had been recalled, he contacted her through an untraceable link once back and told her things were much the same for him. He'd been debriefed on the encounter with Haydn and the power his ship displayed, he'd been questioned in depth on her assumed weaknesses, Haydn's personal weaknesses and various other points which would indicate an attempt to seize the nightmarish looking ship.

  Finally, he explained to her the words spoken loudly of driving on the pursuit of war, not of avoiding it, and worse was the overheard whispers spoken quietly of releasing the Darkspace nightmares against the Ferren people.

  She had her orders, but would not follow them blindly, these people had information. War was coming and these events around the Darkspace was integral to it, she would hear what they had to say.

  “Answer and transfer to my office, instruct them to hold.”

  Making her way to the office, she composed herself, considered her actions and what they meant as she walked through the door. If they told her now that her government were deliberately trying to start a war, it may make her as much a target as they were.

  The display blared to life as Y'Riell opened the channel, revealling an individual wearing a uniform of sorts, plain black with no insignia or rank and stood in her own office, not the ship's bridge. The off screen info displayed her name.

  “Captain Ismal Hoult, before we proceed, understand, any indication of aggression or subterfuge will lead to the complete destruction of your ships.”

  “I fully understand and we will comply with everything you demand, Fleet Admiral Y'Riell.”

  Her dialect was similar to the Admirals and she even managed to pronounce Y'Riell's name correctly, very few ever did on a first meet which told Y'Riell one thing, she was Mergence.

  “Where is the remainder of your fleet Captain?”

  “Dead,” she answered factually. “Killed by the Darkspace enemy.”

  “Why did you attack our fleet? Why did you enter that region?”

  “While I am not in possession of all the details, I will tell you all I know, this has gone too far,” she answered. “The command of the fleet was made up of Mergence spec ops, some are Sciesin, almost the entirety of the crew was recruited from the fringes, pirates, bounty hunters, mercenaries, people who ask no questions so long as they're paid, fed and given a place to sleep. We were initially tasked to disrupt shipping lanes to key Ferren systems, for the purposes of collapsing their economies. Then orders changed, we were detailed to find the stealth ship. While the server breach brought the existence of a ghost ship out into the open, the truth is we've been aware of it for much longer.”

  “Lets get to the part where you fired on one of your own fleets, murdering thousands of your fellow spacers.” Y'Riell asked, making no effort to conceal her contempt for the woman.

  “To find and take the ship at any cost was our orders, we believed it was within the local vicinity but couldn't find it, we were hoping you would withdraw, the assault
was not meant to kill ships.”

  “The missile barrage?”

  “A desperate attempt to escape your closing range, we were being battered already, if we had come into range of your pulse cannons, it would have been our end,” she continued to explain calmly. “We split up the last barrage after expecting you to consolidate and defend yourselves, your losses would have been minimal, if none, but we in all honesty did not expect you defend the station.”