Terranus: Renaissance: Book two of the 'Terranus: Origins' series.

by Joe Crouch

  “Soon, so take a seat and strap in.” Taking a seat, he looked up towards the ceiling in a daze. The strip lights that ran around the outside of the bridge seemed to glare and pulse as his heart raced. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly as he tried to regain control of his body, after a few breaths his vision slowly cleared.

  “Bridge to all crew aboard the Mar’Ell,” came Fez’s unexpected voice over the comms, “We will be entering slip space within the next five minutes, please ensure all stations are prepared and you are ready for immediate actions once we return to normal space.” Sean closed his eyes, leant back and listened to the power begin to surge through the walls. It was almost as if the ship had its own heartbeat once the oscillating hum began.

  The patter of footsteps all around him made no difference to his relative serenity, within a few hours they would either slip out to certain death or find themselves face-to-face with an enemy ready to tear him limb from limb. His eyes grew heavy as he felt the energy reaching out for his skin, making his hairs stand on end. In his near lucid state, he felt the space around him begin to bend and contort as the ship played with physics he didn’t understand. Just as he was about to fall asleep the darkness that occupied his vision turned a faint blue as the ship scrambled into slip space.

  What came next no one knew, but they knew it wasn’t going to be easy and many wouldn’t be coming home. Was their objective worth the lives of so many? Sean wasn’t so sure, but he came to terms with the fact that this could be his final hurrah as the curtain came falling and closed on his life.

  Chapter 24

  Sean bit his lip as he watched the overhead clock countdown the final remaining minutes until they left slip space. He stood with his arms crossed and tapped his boot on the base of his terminal impatiently. His nerves were obvious to anyone who looked. With a final instruction from Yumie, he sat down and strapped in as the clock ticked ever closer to zero. Nervously, he tapped his fingers on the console, not breaking sight on the large red numbers overhead.

  Finally, in a snap of action that rocked him in his seat, the Mar’Ell crashed out from the safety of sub-space. They arrived late, their newer, long distance drives restricted their speed. The Veterum and Ioution, together in unison, were engaged with the vast Xuron armada above the as-of-yet unnamed world. The distant sky was lit up with the blinding colours of the weapons fire which blasted out from the ships. His terminal flashed online and displayed the ships in orbit.

  “Wow…” he muttered to himself as he saw the vast numbers within the system. Again, they were outnumbered and outgunned, but today wasn’t about winning a victory in orbit it was about getting to the surface and recovering the final weapon piece.

  With a sharp intake of breath, he stopped – there it was behind the Xuron lines, an immense sphere that lumbered about slowly as it rotated on its own axis. It towered over anything else on the battlefield and blocked out the light from the lone star as the Mar’Ell came about.

  “It’s the size of a city,” Sean shook with fear, “How the hell are we going to make a dent?”

  Fez turned in his seat and unbuttoned his harness. “It is not our primary concern, remember? We are here to secure…”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know…” he trailed off as he zoomed into the massive structure and got a closer look at the nodules along its equator that spewed out a purple haze, “It’s a shame, though.” A general alert rang out around the ship. Emergency lighting came online as every surface was bathed in a coat of blood red. Fez turned back to his console and barked out orders to his officers. The ship came alive with energy as the shields and weapons came online. In the distance was a large, green explosion, a Xuron destroyer had sustained too much damage and now littered the battlefield with its debris.

  “Forward weapons are ready, captain,” came a call that broke the relative silence on the bridge.

  “Good,” Fez replied, sipping on a hot, steaming mug of mieno, “Bring us about and set a course for the skirmish but avoid any unnecessary engagements, winning up here is not our concern.” With a nod, the helmsman played with the large board of controls in front of him. The ship tightly turned as it pointed its nose towards the bright light over the planet.

  “Sir! Increased energy readings coming from the hive ship,” cried Yumie. They watched as the huge structure quickly rotated. As it spun, its surface was illuminated by the hundreds of batteries that lashed out thin orange beams of thunder towards the Veterum ships.

  “What? Hive ships have never been armed before,” Sean said surprised, “This isn’t gonna end well, Fez…” With nothing more than a quick glance up at him, Fez patched himself through the comms system to Sha’mi, who promptly answered.

  “Captain Feghouli,” she smiled as sparks erupted out from a console behind her, “So nice of you to arrive.”

  “I apologise,” he said seriously, in no mood for playful banter, “We’re going to avoid the majority of the combat and head for the planet, stay safe,” and without giving her time to reply he cut the communication.

  As Sean was about to speak their ship was hit with a blast of plasma that had immense concussive force and the Mar’Ell was pushed on its axis. Sean was thrown to the floor, he hit his head on a metal railing. His vision was blurred, but he could make out a dark figure stood over him, screaming into his face. Sluggishly he blinked once, everything was distorted and sounds seemed distant. Only a sharp pain on his cheek brought him rushing back into reality.

  “Sean, Sean!” shouted a female voice – Taris’ voice. He shook his head and latched onto the held-out hand as she pulled him to his feet. Wobbling, he held onto the same metal railing for balance as he looked about the bridge. Two Ioution officers laid face down, a thick blue liquid trickled away from large gashes on their heads and pooled up into a puddle.

  “Are they ok?” Sean asked, rubbing his eyes, “… I need to sit down.” With that, he shuffled over to a chair and slumped down. Saliva built in his mouth, and within moments he leant over his seat and threw up everything he had eaten in the last few hours. The bridge was in a bad way. Consoles flashed and sputtered as they struggled for power. Officers were either coming to or helping the wounded. And Fez’s face was a picture of worry as he scrolled through the initial damage reports. “How bad is it?”

  Fez looked over and stared Sean in the eyes, the same eyes a man just stabbed would give, hollow, cold. “Keep your mind focussed,” he eventually replied, avoiding the question. The captain got up and rushed to the front of the ship, he pushed the unconscious – or dead – woman from her seat and input commands. A sudden shift came in their trajectory as the ships aft pushed out violently, rocking everyone in their seats.

  Holding onto the railing with both hands as he fought with the grav plating, he shouted out to Fez. “What are you doing!? Don’t you think this is a bit violent?” The captain ignored the question, instead diverting power to the aft shields as they raced towards the planet. Another blast rocked them without warning, but with the increased energy feeding the shields there was only a minor jolt on board.

  Taris grabbed Sean’s hand. Her face was a picture of worry as the barren, rocky planet grew larger on their display. “Shouldn’t we head for the shuttles?” she asked, her hands trembled with fear as she tried to hide her true emotions.

  Fez pushed himself off the console and waved towards the pair who stood expectantly. They raced through the empty hallways and headed towards the shuttle bay. More weapons fire slammed into their shields causing critical systems on the ship to switch to backups. The hallways were dark apart from a faint red that washed over the usual white polymer panels. The struggling alarm coughed and spluttered as it cut in and out. Sean stumbled, grabbing onto Taris as a huge blast rocked the ship. Terminals within the walls went dim as sparks ejected out from them.

  With a fist into a control panel, the doors to the shuttle bay split in two and receded into the walls. They stepped out onto the gangway. Below, Veterum soldiers marched across
the wide, open space towards their designated craft, following orders from the ornately adorned praetorian. He wore bulky black armour with imagery of a bird painted in red on its chest. Gold was inlaid into every seam as a blue energy moved throughout the suit in small, flowing channels. He looked up to the team stood atop the gangway and motioned for them to come down.

  “Captain Feghouli of the Mar’Ell, I am Praetorian Kaeso Postumius and I will be leading the invasion of the surface, I hope that does not impede with your own plans.”

  “Carry on,” Fez said without hesitation, “I recommend getting all your people off the ship as quickly as possible.” The Praetorian pointed towards a shuttle for them to board. A vast mixture of differently armoured and equipped Veterum funnelled into the deceptively large vessel. They rustled through a box of armaments that had been left in the shuttle bay since their last mission and grabbed their usual weapons. With a final look around the ship, Sean watched as Fez, Taris, and Zarid boarded the ship. As he stepped up the ramp an out-of-breath Remulus burst through the doors above and charged down the stairs.

  “Room for one more?” she asked with a wry smile. Nodding, he moved aside and let the bulky Veterum climb aboard. He grabbed onto one of the many dangling down hand restraints and watched as the rear of the ship began to close. A shuttle beside them roared into life and shot out past the shields with no preamble. The thin hand restraint he held onto provided little solace as the ship’s rear sealed shut and a surge of energy erupted beneath their feet. Violent vibrations rocked everyone where they stood, and out the small, square windows which were punched into the hull of the ship he saw the inside of the shuttle bay disappear and transform into nothing but the dark, empty canvas of space.

  Shuttles blasted out from every Ioution and Veterum vessel, the blue streaks from the ships waved and danced about as a glow stick would in the dark. In the distance, space began to tear and distort as bright, white light burst out from nowhere. Snapping out from subspace came a small armada of Terran vessels. They wasted little time in advancing on the Xuron craft as flames billowed out from their engines. Their hulls were lit up with the muzzle flashes from the huge railguns which rotated and opened fire on the slow-moving enemy. Something about the sight always made Sean giddy with excitement, he could almost smell the oil dripping out from the heavy, over-engineered machinery.

  A flash of green erupted from behind them as the Terran vessels unleashed their entire force upon the single heavy ship which assaulted the Mar’Ell. A thick gas lingered in space as chunks of the former Xuron ship bounced off the Ioution’s rear shields. He breathed a sigh of relief knowing the situation aboard was now that little bit safer.

  They screamed towards the planet’s atmosphere. Shuttles lined up beside them as they hit its thin outer layer. Flames licked their hull as the ship rocked from side to side. Sean closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he bumped into those beside him, the Veterum remained resolute, however, and didn’t pay attention to the squirming Human. Blind fire from Xuron cruisers screeched past, their long tails of plasma soon dissipated as they thumped into the upper atmosphere.

  A bright orange explosion expanded outwards, “What the hell was that?” Sean shouted, it was only when he saw the torn debris from one of the Veterum landers that it sunk in. Plasma fire streaked up from the surface past their shuttle and smashed into another. It jolted up into the air as its underside armour was torn away. Once exposed there was no hope for everyone aboard. The ship shook violently; its bow tore backwards as the metals contorted under the stresses of entry. It didn't take long for there to be anything more to remember the crew by then a thin dust which scattered out in the winds.

  Shuttle after shuttle was destroyed from the anti-air emplacements on the ground. They were thrown about as the pilot veered unexpectedly from left-to-right to avoid incoming fire. The rigours of entry began to calm, though. Sean let out a soothing breath as he looked out over the planet. It was desolate, barren. Its surface was a muddy brown, large hills and mountains arced up into the cloudless sky, their tips were covered in a deep, blue ice. “What a shithole,” he muttered to himself. Slowly appearing in the distance was their target. Its large defensive towers stood tall over a thick wall that squared off around the smattering of tightly packed buildings within.

  They veered aggressively to the right and ducked behind the crest of a large hill for cover. The shuttle came to a stop and hovered in place for a moment before gently lowering down to the ground. With a thud that rocked his bones, they touched down on the dense surface. Sean let go of his hand restraint and doubled over as he caught his breath. With a snap, the rear of the ship opened, the atmosphere within hissed out in a white fog before dispersing. Veterum soldiers slowly marched out and barged past him as he hesitated. Vicious forces shook the craft as other landers circled about and came ito land beside them. With a deep breath and a quick glance over to a worried Taris he stepped out from the shuttle.

  The atmosphere was just about breathable. Heat blared down on them from the large Sun that hung in the day sky. Wiping away the sweat that already beaded down his face he noticed the air was dense when he moved, every step felt as if he were walking through a swimming pool. Gravity on the planet was also different, he felt heavier and sluggish. A thin, orange dust kicked up from the concrete-like floor as the downward thrusters of the shuttles slowed their descent. “This place sucks,” Zarid said as he cleared his throat and spat on the floor, “The dust is blocking my sinuses.”

  “Focus on the mission,” Fez barked, “We did not come here for a holiday if you are going to be a liability then stay behind.” Sean looked at the captain with a raised eyebrow, was it the heat or the pressure that was getting to him? He wasn’t sure, but Fez was rarely so flustered.

  The team stood to the side as the Veterum soldiers formed up into neat banks that stretched the entire base of the hill, at least one-hundred men and women long by five ranks deep, and that was a single legion. Veterum engineers poured out from a newly landed craft. They dragged a heavy metal crate behind them that dug a trench into the solid surface as they pulled it. With a tap of a button on the side a countdown appeared on a small screen, they shouted for everyone to clear the area as they moved away. As it reached zero, the box expanded and contorted with its own will. It vastly grew in size and shaped itself into some form of tank-looking vehicle. A thick smoke appeared around it like some cheap magic trick, but once it cleared an imposing vehicle hovered freely off the floor ready for action.

  Praetorian Kaeso strolled along the battle lines with his hands cupped behind his back. He inspected the infinity which formed themselves into five legions approximately two-thousand-five-hundred strong. He stood halfway up the hill and turned to face the soldiers below him.

  “Today we fight for the future of our race, we fight for the rebirth of our race, this is our renaissance, this will be the crowning glory of our once noble and proud empire. Fight with conviction. Fight with passion. But most of all, fight for victory.” The gathered crowd remained silent and stalwart, Sean leant into Fez.

  “He’s much better than you,” he smiled.

  “Shut up,” Fez lashed out. The crew grabbed their gear, flung it over the shoulders and embedded themselves into the rear of one of the legions. The Veterum were like machines, they stood deathly still with their long hasta pierced into the ground. Kaeso pulled out a long, bladed weapon, knelt and held it up to the sky. After a moment, he stood and pointed it towards the top of the hill.

  And the army began its march.

  Soldiers walked in unison. Every footstep was like a clap of thunder as they assaulted the hill. Every fourth step was met with a guttural roar by the intimidating force. The Praetorian walked out in front, leading the legions up the gentle incline. Sean’s fingers twitched around the trigger of his weapon as he became increasingly nervous. The energy that flowed from the soldiers battered every sense he had. To his left and right was a seemingly endless sea of bodies, all stone fac
ed with their spear weapons held closely to their chest.

  Their advance came to a halt as Kaeso raised his weapon. Alone, the praetorian made the final few steps to the top of the hill and stood proudly atop it. Sean panted in the heat like a dog, he hadn’t worn much armour but even the lightest Ioution protection insulated heat a bit too well. Taris wiped away sweat with her forearm before giving him a flicker of a smile. Then suddenly four vicious booms rocked out in front of them. Chunks of earth and particles were thrown up into the air all around an immovable praetorian who slowly turned and walked back towards his legions. “Their towers contain heavy weaponry we must be careful of,” he spoke with a deep, experienced voice, “Their walls are destroyable if not scalable, this used to be one of our own facilities so expect familiar weaponry and layouts – We advance on my order.”

  Everyone within the legions rustled about as excitement grew. The leader raised his weapon but as he was about to swing it down four loud, successive sonic booms came from above. Sean looked up and saw four Ioution fighters arc out from the sky and nosedive with incredible speed down before pulling up and skating over the tops of their heads. In the distance, he heard the rapid energy fire of the Ioution fighter weapons lashing out against the facility. They climbed high into the air in a spiral move to come back for another attacking run. Anti-aircraft fire littered the sky from the Xuron and hit a single craft. Its rear blew up in a bright blue flame, the remaining forward section spiralled out of control before detonating in mid-air.

  “Damn…” Fez sighed, “I wonder who that was.” Kaeso looked back at the sea behind him and with a flick of his wrist a pulsing blue and violet oval shield snapped into life with a crack of energy. Every Veterum within the front two rows of their legion did the same. The air crackled with power as shields sizzled into existence. One by one the front row formed an almost impenetrable wall by locking their shields together. Behind, the second row raised their shields into the air and protected them from above forming a testudo. The organisation was special; Sean had seen nothing like it before and marvelled at the flowing wall of energy that protected them all.