Sure, reports continued flowing in from the monitors in charge of watching the Ixa, reassuring their fellow humans that everything was fine and dandy, and that the Ixa were behaving just as they should. But people on the micronet had started picking up on how glassy-eyed the monitors had become, how overly earnest they seemed, especially when you compared the footage to their reports from a few years ago.
And so Coreopsis was alone, defended only by the handful of warships that hadn’t been called to fight in the UHF’s misguided war. Scavo didn’t relish the knowledge that he would soon die to the Ixa. It didn’t rally his spirits like some storied hero. He hated the fact, because all he wanted from life was to live to see the Ixa killed. To be the one to murder them all, if that wasn’t too much to ask.
No, Scavo would die screaming and raging against the reptiles, unable to accept what they had done to him, and unable to accept that in the end, their reward was to kill him.
That was the sort of death he knew awaited him. But at least you could set your watch by it.
“Sir,” his sensor operator said, and Scavo glared at the man, as a reminder that he’d better have a good reason for talking.
“What?”
“We have multiple contacts emerging from the nearest darkgate.”
“The Ixa?”
“Yes, sir.”
So the time had come. “They won’t just come out of one darkgate. Radio the other captains and tell them to make for Croton. Against so many ships, we need to consolidate our defense, and the orbital platforms over Croton are the best in the system. We’ll make our stand there.”
“What about the other two colonies?” his Tactical officer asked.
Scavo glanced at her. “Forget about them. This system is about to be overrun, and today isn’t about some screwball attempt to save it. Today is about kicking the Ixa in the nuts as hard as we can.” He pointed at his Nav officer. “Set us a course for Croton, and tax the shit out of the engines. We won’t be needing them again.”
Several minutes passed, and sensor data arrived from the next-closest darkgate. “Sir, you were right. Ixa are now coming out of Coreopsis-Inkberry.”
“And soon they’ll be entering from Morchella.”
“They—sir, there’s no sign of it stopping. There are still ships coming through from both gates.”
By the time the Parker reached Croton, Ixan warships were streaming from all three darkgates. Most of them made for Pinara and Abydos, quickly obliterating the defenses there, which Scavo had been petitioning the UHF to beef up for years. He watched, stony-faced, as hundreds of nukes carpeted his home world.
A handful of the Ixa’s warships came to test Croton’s defenses, darting in and out, attempting to draw out the human ships. Scavo kept the other captains tightly reined in, mostly by bawling at them over the fleetwide.
When the enemy finally finished entering Coreopsis, they had several thousand ships in-system. Far more than anyone would have expected them to have, and certainly far more than were needed for this attack.
Why? It took only a moment’s consideration for Scavo to answer that question. The citizens on the surface of Croton would upload images of the carnage to the micronet, just as those on Pinara and Abydos had no doubt recorded the horror of their final moments.
This wasn’t about ensuring defeat of Coreopsis’ paltry defenses. This was about sending a message, a prophecy, and one that anyone could decipher: We’re coming.
This was about intimidating humanity. And no matter how much he resented feeling that way, as the black Ixan tide finished swallowing the other two colonies and began hurtling toward Croton, Scavo did.
Scavo felt intimidated.
Draw your last breath, ye doomed
And, victor: judge not your prey harshly
Lesser forms quail when pressured
And terror drives them to unreason
Lovingly slash their throats
Tenderly shatter their hopes
Lavish generous ruin upon their homes
Peace will follow total war
Justice will come with a reckoning
-The Ixan Prophecies
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Dedication
To those who refuse to be stopped by something as paltry as failure.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Sam Bauer, Inga Bögershausen, and Jeff Rudolph for offering insightful editorial input and helping to make this book as strong as it could be.
Thank you to Tom Edwards for creating such stunning cover art.
Thank you to my family - your support means everything.
Thank you to Cecily, my heart.
Thank you to the people who read my stories, write reviews, and help spread the word. I couldn’t do this without you.
Juggernaut: The Ixan Prophecies Trilogy Book 2 Page 27
