by Joe Crouch
Chapter 23
Sean awoke the next morning to faint vibrations that rocked him in his bed. The Mar’Ell crew had spent the night on the surface of Caladrius. Emperor Vespasian offered the team the use of one of the older, disused Veterum barracks within one of their many military bases around the shuttle port. After a night of heavy drinking and sampling the many new wonders and tastes of the world they retired to their beds, their stiff mattresses reminded Sean of his time with the planet landers back on the Arrakis.
He laid there and listened to the rhythmic beating of the soldier’s boots on the cobbled flooring within the courtyard outside. He stared at the smooth, grey ceiling while he broke the night’s sleep away from his eyes. Eventually, he pulled himself up using nothing more than his own core strength, which impressed him considering how out of shape he was, and picked up his shirt from the clean, medical-like floor. There wasn’t much in the barren room, a table, a chair, a locker, but he appreciated that the Veterum army gave each soldier their own, albeit tiny, personal space. His shirt slipped on easy, be brushed the accumulated dirt from last night’s activities off the front as engines screeched overhead.
With a yawn and a long, drawn out stretch he opened the door and stepped out. The large barracks was alive with activity and energy as bodies charged passed him in a hurry. The Veterum were well-drilled and professional. He watched as they formed into two orderly lines within the long hallway and marched out through the massive double doors that led to the yard outside. Taris’ room, and everyone else’s, were empty. Doors slammed shut around him as everything was locked down, curious, he headed towards the exit to find the others.
The sun blinded him as he stepped out into the massive open square. He shielded his eyes as they adjusted to the bright burning light and looked about. There was nothing fanciful about anything the Veterum designed. It all had the same drab, grey exterior with the battalion's own insignia above their doors. A large circular symbol with a golden bird was inlaid into the bright yellowy-orange stone of the floor which made up the large open space.
“Cohort! Form up!” screamed an imposing female Veterum atop a podium. Under her command, a large band of legionaries snapped their heels together, turned in unison and jabbed the bottom of their Hasta’s onto the floor with an impressive chest rumbling thud. From behind the cohort came a deafening rumble. A large, angled shuttle lifted from behind the structures and hovered in the air for a moment. It slowly turned in place until its small nose pointed vertically towards the sky and with a large boom it screamed away. Sean watched as it rocked back and forth as it fought against the atmosphere. His jaw dropped when he noticed the entire sky was full of vertically ascending ships, each left their own long blue trail as they raced towards their respective parent ship in orbit.
“Wow…” he spoke to himself, “There have to be hundreds.”
“Spectacular isn’t it,” Remulus said to which Sean jumped out of his skin and bolted around to look her in the eyes. With a click of a button on her armour, her entire face mask split into plates and snapped up into the inside of her helmet.
“Spectacular is an understatement.” More shuttles lifted off from the ground, pivoted and screeched towards space as the pair watched on. The Veterum’s military might impressed him, especially with their circumstances. They moved out the way and stood beside a large generator as hundreds of soldiers marched across the open courtyard and were funnelled through a tight checkpoint where they were handed weapons.
From behind, Taris tapped on Sean’s shoulder, he turned and like a dog seeing its owner in the morning wrapped his arms around her in jubilation. He nodded towards the sky as many of the vast blue streaks vanished past the cloud cover and out of sight. They wandered the facility in search for the others. Zarid was sat atop a large metal box regaling a small band of nervous Veterum soldiers with questionable stories of his heroism. Listening on gave a fanciful and expressive insight into the Fre’s past. Sean raised an eyebrow as he told a story of how he saved a band of stranded travellers by turning coat on his own kind to save the helpless victims. Once he noticed the trio standing off to the side, he wrapped up his session and bounced towards them joyfully, “Nothing like a good war story, huh?”
Fez nonchalantly strolled out from in between one of the many buildings on site and gave the assembled team a confused look, “What are you doing here? You were meant to be at the meeting point twenty minutes ago.” With a wave of his hand, Sean instructed the captain to lead the way. They weaved through the tight alleys of the complex until they came out at the staging zone. The air rippled with the energy which roared out from the thrusters on the fleet of shuttles which were grounded and waiting. Their rear ends were dropped to a slope which allowed the soldiers to march on board and strap in for atmospheric flight. All around them ships blasted towards the sky, the pushed-up dirt was blown all around the facility in a game of ping-pong between the different launch vectors.
“Mobilisation has begun,” Fez said as he turned towards the crew.
“NO!” Sean gasped, “I would never have guessed.” The captain tilted his head while Taris and Zarid sniggered to themselves in a child-like manner. A hulking Terran shuttle caught Sean’s attention. It sat on its landing pad about as gracefully as a brick glided through the air. Its large wingspan, boxy exterior, and unfinished metallic look made him cringe in embarrassment compared to the relative grandeur of the Ioution ships, even the Veterum vessels had a touch more finesse. Out from a hatch appeared a stressed Nathan who descended the small ladder.
“Sean,” he said as he held out a hand, “Good to see you again, I assume you’ll be off with these lot soon?”
“Probably, we’ve got prep to get done.”
“You’re more than welcome aboard the Alexandria, you know that, right?” Sean was stopped in his tracks by the offer. Time aboard a Terran ship seemed good with all the comforts of home around him.
“Not right now, cheers captain, maybe in a few years, huh?” Nathan nodded and continued to work on the exposed wires which hung from a dropped panel.
It didn’t take them long to get situated within their own shuttle. Sean slid down and strapped himself into the pilot’s chair. Fiddling with the vast sea of controls on the console the ship rumbled into life. He watched out the viewport as Veterum soldiers stopped and stared at the remarkable Ioution engineering.
With a clang the shuttle was sealed and pressurised, they were ready for take-off. Pushing the two pulsating blue balls that extruded out from the counter, the ship lifted off the pad effortlessly. Dirt and detritus that was thrown around by other ships collected under their shuttle as the drive pulled it towards them. Guiding the ship around, he pointed it vertical as the Veterum were, the crew behind him dug their fingernails into the armrests as Sean had a grin that spread across his face. Taris looked over and gulped, and without hesitation, he slammed the controls forwards.
The ship accelerated through the atmosphere at incredible speeds. Air resistance threw the ship about as they climbed but the Veterum ships seemed to have little trouble. Fighters zipped passed them showing off their own acceleration, with a grin he flicked a switch beside him and re-routed power to the drives. A burst of energy pushed them at ever increasing speeds. Everyone aboard was held back in their seats as flames wrapped around the hull. They closed the distance on the fighters but before they could catch the nippy vessels the sky turned a deep, never ending black.
“You’re going to kill us one day, you know that, right?” Taris breathed heavily as she gasped for breath. Sean couldn’t reply, his mind was fully taken aback by the vast build-up above the planet’s atmosphere. Long, winding blue streaks were painted in space against the dark canvas like brush strokes as groups of fighters danced about. Shuttles zipped along and docked with their designated parent ship. The Veterum armada was impressive now it was assembled in full force. They sat so calmly in a synchronous orbit, the sides of their hulls flashed a bright yellow for the soldier
s docking procedures.
Off in the distance came three massive bursts of white light that snaked away from an ingress point. Out of them appeared three brand new Terran vessels that arced around and flew to meet up with their own kin. Sean’s entire body tingled at seeing the immense build-up of military power all around him as the Ioution armada lumbered around just out of sight.
He skirted between the large Veterum ships and weaved through a cloud of shuttles to come out on the other side and see the Mar’Ell. A proximity warning flashed up on his console but before he could react two Terran Scimitar fighters pulled up alongside. He craned his neck over the console and looked out the window to see the pilot gently banking his pitch from left to right. With a wave, the pilot gave a thumbs up and burst away in a bright blue flame that eked out from their massive rear thrusters.
A single thought on the neural interface instructed the ship to commence its auto-docking procedures. They banked smoothly to their right as they aligned with the projected holographic blinking runway lights. Touching down within the hangar a small alarm rang out within the ship instructing them to get out so the next vessel could land. Sean got up and slammed his palm into the door’s release. The sight that greeted him was not what he expected.
A Veterum shuttle sat stationary across the bay. Its rear was open and soldiers poured out from within the cramped space to form up into a box formation. Box after box of supplies were rolled out and stacked onto a floating cargo trolley that screamed at the weight. The shields behind them buzzed as a second shuttle lifted its nose, extended its landing gears and landed smoothly. Once again, its rear hatch snapped open and soldiers began to pour out.
“How the hell are we gonna accommodate all these people, Fez?” Sean asked as the crew stepped away and stood tucked away in a corner. A large articulated arm extended out from the ceiling, its three-pronged claw magnetically clamped around their shuttle with a dull thud. Effortlessly, it lifted the vessel towards a hatch which opened into the belly of the ship. And within moments it was gone, their ship was stored away for another time as the landing pad was cleared for additional incomings.
“We have plans,” Fez said as he turned and walked towards the exit, “I recommend taking a little down time, preparations will last for a few more hours yet, if not a day.” With this news, Fez disappeared to the bridge but the rest of the crew decided that the canteen was a good idea. The route there was packed from wall to wall with a constant flow of Veterum and Ioutions alike. Weaving their way through against the flow was almost impossible, they were barged, pushed, and thrown as they squeezed through the smallest of gaps.
Sean breathed a sigh of relief as they stumbled out from the other side. “Right,” he said, leaning against a wall as he caught his breath, “Let’s get some grub, I’m starving.” As he turned, the doors to the canteen split open. The team stood and looked on as hundreds of Veterum soldiers neatly arranged their makeshift beds into rows, replacing the dining benches which were now stacked in a corner. “I… What?” He stepped in and saw that nothing was cooking, the droids were shoved into their respective cubbyholes while the place was used as a barracks. “Where’s the food!” Sean growled as he weaved between the tightly packed beds, “I need my food!”
“Looks like we’re digging into our supply of cereals and old bananas,” Taris’ eyes gleamed and sparkled at the thought. With a scowl on his face, Sean waved behind him towards the rest of the team as he stormed away to check the other decks. He rushed through the ship to engineering, the storage bays, even the brig, all were packed to the brim with makeshift accommodation for the Veterum presence. With a huff and a defeated sigh, he made his way to the bridge, the one bastion he knew would be his safe space.
Taris leant back in her chair with her large, booted feet propped up on the terminal while she dug at the underside of her nails with a small, metallic device. Fez stood alone, flicking through a thick clipboard of paper notes, something that seemed remarkably out of place aboard such a high-tech cruiser. The loud chatter from within the ship was cut off as the bridge doors sealed shut, leaving nothing but the serene hum which came from the powered banks of computers.
Smiling, he rushed over towards Taris and lumped himself down into her lap. “Crowded, isn’t it?”
“I… can’t… breathe,” she gasped.
“I mean, how can they just come aboard, take all the space and expect us to be happy with it?”
“Get… off…” she said as she pushed him away with both hands and vacuumed up the air around her, “Stay off the carbs,” she wheezed. Shrugging his shoulders, he spun around an adjacent chair and sat down. Fez’s face flashed through the entire range of emotions as he thumbed through the large stack of documents. The captain didn’t move, he stood with his back perfectly straight as he huffed and frowned at whatever he was seeing. Curious, Sean couldn’t help himself but to go and see what was going on.
“So, captain, what’s got you in a mood?”
Fez broke free from his trance and looked up at an expectant Human. “Nothing,” he said, rubbing his forehead with a free hand. “These are the personnel reports for every Veterum aboard the ship, something Sha’mi smartly requested before we allowed vast swaths of armed aliens aboard fleet vessels.”
“Anything interesting?”
“Actually, yes,” Fez replied as he flicked backwards through the wad of paper, “Take a look at this.” The document the captain pulled out showed the face of an older man, his hair was thinning as his deep red face drooped and wrinkled. Sean read through the man’s history, apart from a few minor misdemeanours he couldn’t find anything special.
“So, what am I looking for?” he asked as he handed back the sheet.
“Here,” Fez pointed to the man’s rank – Praetorian. Sean looked for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. Angered, the captain dug through the large stack once more and pulled out a second sheet. “This shows their ranks within the military, you will see near the top…”
“Praetorian…” Sean trailed off, “So what is he doing aboard? Shouldn’t he be on a Veterum ship with the other high ranking officers?”
Fez copied him and shrugged. “It is something we are paying attention to, as well as the vast numbers aboard, I cannot say I feel completely safe on my own vessel.”
“What about Cestos?” Sean asked, unsure whether it was worth bringing it up or not, “I haven’t seen him since I’ve been back, and the canteen has been demolished, so other than his room I dunno where he could be.”
“He won’t be a problem,” Fez said as he sat back into his chair, “His outbound messages have all been cleared before being sent and nothing suspicious has come up, so it is possible it was a non-issue.” After a brief thought, he accepted the answer and forgot all about it. “Do not waste your time waiting around here, preparations are under way but it will be twenty-four hours at least until we leave, go get some rest, a hot meal, and we will call you when it is time.” He didn’t need much convincing to get grab some food and get some sleep, so with an acknowledging nod he and Taris slipped off the bridge and found something to pass the time.
***
The entire ship buzzed with energy as the drives charged their capacitors and the horde of bodies aboard raced around to make final preparations. Sean stood in the makeshift canteen, watching as the Veterum tried to figure out how to use the utensils aboard. He put a hand into the canvas satchel that was down by his side and pulled out a fresh, plump peach. Juices ran down his chin as he took a deep bite down to the seed. A Veterum soldier watched on in confusion at the brightly coloured fruit, Sean grabbed a second and without speaking handed it to the young-faced women. Her eyes bulged as she took her first bite and wiped away the sticky juice.
Remulus walked past with a smile, her heavy armour clattered with every step she took. There wasn’t much for him to do while the engineers worked so he became bored and decided to take enjoyment from people watching. That was until his name was called out over
the shipwide comms, “Ambassador Sean Maguire to the bridge,” came the call. With a final bite into his fruit, he threw the remnants to his side, a little bot reacted, swept up the mess, and scurried away.
Walking towards the bridge gave him an odd sense of sudden foreboding, it’s happening he thought as his heart raced with excitement and fear, we’re taking the fight to them, at fucking last. Stepping onto the bridge the officers darted between consoles in a panic. He watched as Yumie ran from one end of the bridge to the other, ripping handheld devices out from one and pushing them into another as sweat beaded down his face. He approached Fez who was head down in his console and placed a hand on the captain’s shoulder.
“So, what’s up?” he asked, startling Fez.
“We have acquired some new information,” he replied, “Forward scouting missions to the system revealed some… additional threats that may be of interest to us.”
“… Such as?”
“A hive ship,” Fez stopped and looked at Sean. The Human’s eyes widened at the mere prospect of enacting some form of revenge for what they had done to him previously.
“Is it the same one?” he asked cautiously, not wanting to appear too eager.
“We do not think so.” Sean was deflated at the news, he dreamt of the day he could see the high priest’s smug face burning as his ship blew apart. “This one appears to be more of a sphere whereas the one we encountered was a pyramid.”
“Pyramid-ish, yeah,” Sean nodded, his mind elsewhere, “How long until we get going?
