Darkness: Book One of the Oortian Wars

by Iain Richmond

  Falco had found nothing when scanning with the Oortian Detector, again the feeling of being watched became overwhelming. We found nothing within our sensors range from Battle Station Pluto.

  “What if they knew the capabilities of our sensors?” Falco whispered. “If they knew we were here, they tried to skirt the Fleet to get to us. Why not try again?”

  “Captain?” Commander Shar’ran leaned toward Falco.

  “We need to scan around the station again. This time we’ll send out the Anam Cara to extend our range,” Falco exhaled, “I’ll take her out.”

  The COM-Box in the center of the table barked again. The static laden voice of Commander Lee aboard the Command Ship was updating Admiral Chen, 10th Fleet and finally, Battle Station Pluto.

  “Ten seconds to Hell-Fire impact.”

  63

  the Movoo – the Clans

  the Territories

  Except for the hidden planet Tzara, the home world of the Movoo was the oldest, but also the smallest. A single, fully formed Movoo was twice its size and the reason they grew and matured in the full heat of the small fiery star, far from their home world.

  Upon creation, the Movoo spawn emerged from the core of their world. The core was a single birthing chamber surrounded by nutrient-rich liquid. Once the young breached the field surrounding the chamber, the long journey began, a journey towards the growing warmth of a distant star. A dangerous voyage taking hundreds of cycles to make, for the few that did.

  Growing, feeding and trying to evade the creatures that searched for the young, soft flesh that moved toward the surface in mass numbers. One Movoo in billions would find its way where liquid turned to vapor, gas and finally, open space and the location of the heat source they followed. Once eight Movoo had made the journey, there could not be another unless replacements where needed and the birthing chamber would release her young and the process would begin again, until eight Movoo orbited their fiery star.

  Each felt the cool pull of the Darkness as they neared her mass, leaving the comfort and beauty of the Creators worlds revolving around the two warm, fiery stars. Each, with great effort had broken free of their synchronized orbits around the smallest star. The Darkness flowed above them, sifting between murky gray and endless black. Exhaustion rippled through their massive, moon-like forms. Thin layers of ice continued to form around their thick hides from water excreted from trillions of tiny pores, pushed its way towards the surface only to freeze, cracking the layers above.

  There had always been a clan of eight and they had always shared a common thought-stream, at least that was all their history knew. Each decreased their movement to a slow burn to maintain their positions, all felt the intense shooting pain from the slight bobbing of their cargo, far above them. The Darkness swirled around the massive stalks, each anchored into the body of a Movoo.

  Fleshy orifices adjusted their shape, focusing the force of their slow burn in opposition to the ebb and flow of the endless stalks, covered in strongholds that rose and disappeared into the Darkness. Though tired and worn, the eight were happy to be awaken again for a new purpose, after millions of cycles.

  Their load was light in comparison to past cargos that were pulled rather than pushed, but refueling was always necessary. Each felt their methane sacks collapsing from their bodies bulk being pushed inward to fill the growing cavity as the fuel was spent.

  Simultaneously, eight fleshy tubes stretched from the Movoo’s cargo platforms, where the endless stalks were fastened to their bodies. The fueling tube slithered up and into the approaching Darkness.

  Ripples worked their way down while fuel from the dark mass flowed into the Movoo. Pressure pushed outward, their sacks grew bloated and expanded towards the painful point of rupture and death, but stopped. Ice fractured and fell in large pieces, tearing away thick chunks of hardened skin.

  From the vantage of the Creators twelve worlds, the moon-sized creatures formed a fiery line. Radiation from the two burning suns poured through the newly fragmented ice and splintered into a reflected shimmering brilliance.

  Magnified heat scorched the Movoo’s patches of torn flesh. Pain was always part of their awakening and soon their bodies and systems would adjust. The Darkness would heal their wounds as they passed through her.

  Tubes retracted into their pouches and data filled their shared thought-stream. The orders from the Creators were uploaded, the data flow ended and the Movoo began to quake when they entered the Darkness. For the first time in their shared history, the Movoo received the gift of the warrior’s rage. It seeped into every organ and crawled through their systems. Soon they would ignite to a full burn and push the stalks covered with warrior strongholds into battle.

  …and after the Movoo released their cargo of warrior’s and shields, they would move on to their true mission, the one they were created for, the one they had accomplished eleven times since their own world and history came to be.

  Aris the Chosen One completed her latest upload. The Creators had changed her orders. The hunting pack was to hold their position and wait for further data. The Movoo had come to a halt and were now fueling for their final push, leaving the towering stalks swaying in the churning Darkness. Her optical sensors continued to see what the Darkness would allow by thinning her dark mass to aid the Movoo’s movement.

  The invaders waiting in the open space had destroyed all of the Seekers placed among the Creators newly positioned debris field. Not a single Seeker returned to the Darkness to upload its findings. All had fulfilled their Oath to the Creators and traveled to the Realm of Warriors. Anything history gathered about the invaders was lost. Only one needed to reach the Darkness, but all were slain.

  Aris sensed the four ancient Prox swell with pride as she shared chosen fragments of the Creators’ data over their linked thought-stream. She closed the stream and opened her private channel leaving them alone in their euphoric state.

  They are unsure of the true power of the invaders, she thought, the Creators do not have the resources to feed the Darkness and expand its protecting mass, so they wait to see if their shields will hold. A test. Aris sensed the wisdom in that and she joined the thought-stream shared by thousands of warriors riding the stalks, protected in their stronghold sacs and waiting to be released into battle. Who will be sacrificed, she pondered, who will be tested?

  Pain shot through her systems and with it, a familiar power surge. The Darkness had plans of her own. The rest of the hunting pack pushed away to avoid their leaders thrashing carapace. As fast as the Darkness entered Aris, the pain eased into a numbness and soon, her organs and systems returned to their natural state. The Darkness had plans for the hunters; the vessel they sought was resting on the far side of the visible field and Aris was given the exact location of the enemy that invaded the Darkness without fear and would now be shown no mercy.

  Aris the Chosen One had a decision to make, a choice that would decide her fate. That she believed she had a fate, gave light to the path she had already taken. Travel to the Realm of Warriors as the Creators promised upon the moment your existence is extinguished in battle… or believe in the power of the Darkness and the chance to exist forever.

  The Creators plans were no longer imperative. Aris fed the necessary data to the four ancient Prox and waited for the Movoo to begin their formation. Once they had pushed past the hunting pack into the Darkness above, Aris would order the four Prox to descend on the helpless invader, shred its protective layer and destroy all that hid within its dark shell.

  An ember flashed far below and was joined by seven more. It is time, she thought, the Movoo are fully fueled and ready to ignite their energy bloom. Stalks began to move closer to one another… all but one. Hundreds of stronghold sacs bristled, the warriors within ebbed and flowed with the movement of the stalk their stronghold sacs were attached to.

  Behind the great shield, LOR observed the shadowy Darkness swirling through the opaque walls of his stronghold sac that sucked and pushed
against his carapace, adjusting to the changing forces of the Darkness outside. He was in the leader’s position. We are close, he thought on his private stream. Pride filled his systems, a warrior’s pride.

  The shield protecting his stalk and the hundreds of stronghold sacs fastened to it remained on the surface of the Darkness. The seven others retracted into the protection of the Darkness and formed a tight, layered circle around their leader’s stalk, each shield overlapping the others.

  I will be first. LOR embraced the warrior’s rage, opening his systems and organs, letting it course through him completely. He hardened his carapace and locked each armored plate. Soon the stronghold sac would release and LOR would ravage the intruders who stood just outside of their newly claimed territories and waited in the Void.

  Pressure forced LOR hard against the veiny membrane of his stronghold. The thrust from a single Movoo releasing their full energy bloom pushed LOR and his warriors toward their enemy and away from the protection of the Darkness.

  The clans were coming and the enemy waiting in the Void would suffer the warrior’s rage and death would be the only escape.

  64

  Captain Fei

  the Black Field

  Captain Yue Fei and the crew of the Kwan Yin ebbed in the newly arriving graying zone of the field. The bow disappeared in the smoky mass they were now accustomed to, but the stern of the Kwan Yin hung in the fluctuating gray fog where massive discs rose and disappeared above, leaving behind thick trailing tubes with countless strange pods attached to them.

  “We may have five objects off the stern, Captain, just beyond the tubes. Sensors are not getting a hard read, but they are comparable to the objects that attacked Captain Falco’s vessel.” Commander Zhu stated, just above a whisper.

  Fei nodded. “Distance?”

  “Maybe twenty,” Zhu shook his head, “maybe thirty klicks.”

  “Commander,” Fei paused, looking out through the Virtual Surround Vision at the swirling, flowing mass, “the gray zone has a current. That, added to the distance to the objects, gives us seconds? Or possibly minutes if they can detect us and choose to attack.”

  Captain Fei looked overhead at the ring of massive plates that hovered a few klicks above the Kwan Yin. His vessel now found itself just outside the area of the closest disc. Far below them, a fiery ring was growing larger, getting closer. The center stem was moving quickly upwards, its red, almost transparent pods glistening as they streaked by, faster and faster.

  These titanic vessels can only be a carrier for war, troops or munitions, Fei thought, as more of the iridescent, red eggs passed by. Based on the sheer numbers of pods and size of the discs, Fei believed 10th Fleet had to be on the other side. Somewhere nearby in open space. He found hope, knowing there were still survivors outside the dark field ready to meet the enemy’s advance. It also shows us the way out. Fei followed the progress of the center tube on his screen. It continued to push through the hole left by the overlapping shields.

  “Lieutenant.” Captain Fei looked toward his pilot.

  From the bow station, the pilot spun his chair to meet his captain’s eyes.

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Plot a parallel flight path.” Fei pointed towards the moving tube and clustered discs around it. “That is the direction to Station Pluto.”

  The lieutenant slowly nodded. “Battle-Net and all our sensors will be completely useless once we are out of the gray cloud and back into the black field, even here our sensors provide only a glimpse of what is around us.”

  “So be it.” Captain Fei grinned. “Do your best.”

  “Prepare for full burn, Lieutenant.” Fei observed the speed of the rising tube change.

  “It’s slowing down, Captain.” Commander Zhu pointed at the Kwan Yin’s hull where the center tube had slowed its outward progress to a crawl. “Captain!” Zhu was in a panic. “The five objects are no longer on our scans! Sensor field closing! We’re back in the dark.”

  The black field slid across them, the gray area grew dark and the Kwan Yin and her crew found themselves in an ocean of suffocating blackness once again.

  “Full burn, Lieutenant! GO…GO…GO!” Fei heard a roar like that of a rushing river fill the Kwan Yin when the main engine came online and drove the vessel forward. Crewmen slammed into their harnesses and pitched backwards as the grav-system worked to stabilize the newly added thrust.

  Fei adjusted his harness and turned to view the full bridge when the Kwan Yin lurched up from the impact of something large slamming into the bottom of her hull. The blackness around their boat glowed a surreal vibrant green that shown bright near the stern engine and grew faint, but detectable, at the bow.

  Another impact rippled from the stern.

  “Main engine damaged, fifty-six percent, fifty-four, fifty…” the pilot yelled over the COM.

  The vibrating deck under Fei’s feet emitted a smooth hum, the engine firing more consistently as the damage below was contained. Repair epoxy foamed out of the Kwan Yin’s damaged hull, sealing her wounds with the excess leaving a hardening trail behind her while she ran for open space. Multiple impacts sounded on the bridge and were followed by a groan. Captain Fei turned to find officers and crew pointing at the starboard side. His eyes fastened onto the area of the hull that was now the center of attention.

  “A glancing blow.” It felt like they had hit a deer on an interstellar highway. “Those are organs, fluids?” Fei found himself eerily objective, while assessing the chunks and sinew being washed from the hull, the gory remains dissolving from the edges toward the center and were gone. Some of the micro-cams of the Virtual Surround Vision system were damaged from the impact. Part of the inner-hull could now be seen again.

  “Are we on course, Lieutenant?” Fei kept his tone calm.

  “I have a course plotted, Captain!” his pilot yelled without a shred of confidence.

  “Hold the course.” Fei tightened his harness and gripped the armrests.

  “COM-Sat has been destroyed, Captain, main engine holding at fifty percent,” Commander Zhu stated.

  COM-Sat and the main engine, are they trying to capture or destroy us? Fei thought. Neither option was acceptable.

  We must escape or die trying.

  65

  Admiral Chen

  10th Fleet

  Nothing. Two waves of Hell-Fire missiles had already disappeared, a wave at a time into the surface of the lone, massive disc. An additional volley, twice the number of missiles, was on its way. Admiral Chen sat in the chair, stunned. That would have leveled a small city, he thought and nothing, not even a small explosion… nothing. It swallowed them whole.

  “Maintain formation.” Admiral Chen kept a close eye on 10th Fleet’s withdrawal, he could afford no stragglers. The COM officer continued flashing Chen’s orders through the laser beacon to the thirteen remaining Vipers. Each had lost its COM-Sat to an Oortian Hull Pounder, but were intact. The five others were little more than floating scrap.

  The Viper class vessels were the front line of defense. Nine cruisers and three dreadnoughts fired their bow thrusters in sputtering bursts, their linked Battle-Nets keeping them in position behind the patrol boats.

  Space going vessels had a bow and stern and missile ports faced forward similar to the old submarines on earth. Though locked missiles would turn and chase their targets, crucial time was lost and in their current situation. Time was everything.

  The Fleet’s formation was simple and meant to tempt a powerful adversary who held an exceptional defensive position. A position that it must relinquish to give the escaping forces a chance at victory. The Phoenix Formation resembled a ‘V’ with the point facing the enemy.

  Qing Long, the command ship, was protected in the center of the open area of the ‘V’ formation, with the remaining two dreadnoughts each holding a wide position furthest from the point, held by Captain Zhi of the rail gun laden vessel, the cruiser Lie Gong. The remaining eight cruisers formed the sides and ran f
our deep, from the widest point anchored by the dreadnoughts towards the Lie Gong and her heavy rail guns.

  Thirteen Viper class patrol boats formed the guard of 10th Fleet and lay between the Phoenix formation and the Oortians.

  “Wave three, fifteen seconds to impact, Admiral.” Commander Lee was on high alert along with every crewman and officer in 10th Fleet as they followed the ember points streaking towards the lone disc holding its position in open space. Seven others had formed a tight circle around it, then slowly submerged into the black field and off the Battle-Net’s scanners, leaving the massive disk to stand alone as another wave of Hell-Fire missiles closed in.

  “Contact!” Chen turned from his station and watched the hologram in the center of the bridge. The missiles hammered into the disc the size of Station Pluto. This time, pink rings formed and expanded across its surface, rippling to the edge and bouncing back toward its center. Again there were no explosions but the disc shimmered, sending larger ring-like waves bouncing across its glowing face. Admiral Chen remained fixed on the image floating in the center of the bridge. The last pinkish ring disappeared. The disc remained, whole and unmarked, but the surface color changed to a reddish-orange.

  “How is that possible?” Commander Lee looked to his admiral.

  “Increase speed!” Chen belted the order out.

  The Battle-Net wailed of approaching danger. “We have a solar flare warning, sir,” Lee stated. “There is a dark spot forming on the surface.”