Portsmouth was next as the swarm tore over the English coast and began to overwhelm the British Navy and air defence network. Thunderous blasts rocked the skies as AA shells tore the once quiet fog of the morning apart and took the fleet of drones off guard; the English were ready and were throwing everything at the siege they had to defend their soil as much more of their defences remained despite orders to scatter and hide. The British Admiral stood proud and tall beside Patterson in the war room, but he knew that it was only a matter of time before this effort fell short too. In a span of forty minutes, the drones gathered themselves and readjusted their strategy, repositioning attack vectors to fly in under the minimum range of the AA fire and low enough to make it difficult for the fighter jets to engage. With these tweaks to the strategy, Portsmouth fell in a matter of ten minutes with heavy casualties and total loss of military assets. The guns were silent, the Destroyers burned as they sank and the skies held no more jets; the only sound was the crackling of flames and the lapping of the waves on the shore with the smell of burnt metal and flesh in the air.
Across the Atlantic, the swarm spread—the next to fall was the Canadian port of Halifax. Evacuations of the population were well under way and the ships at port were minimal, but the devastation was quick and ruthless none the less; within fifteen minutes the “show” of resistance was wiped clear and Halifax too ceased to exist. From there, the alien drones gathered up and raced down the east coast towards the heart of the Atlantic defence: Norfolk, Virginia. Patterson knew this too would be a lost cause, but he had the city evacuated a long time ago and had a special trick up his sleeve for the attackers.
It took less than fifteen minutes for the drones to reach the proud naval city and begin pouring down a fire rain to the city below. Computer-controlled AA guns and brave volunteers stayed behind to hold the assault back as long as possible, along with a few older Navy ships and various other assets. Once more, the AA fire caught the swarm off-guard as a fair number of their drones fell from the sky before they adapted strategies to counter attack. But once they did this, the guns went quiet and the fighter jets began to swoop in from above as the human forces mixed things up to confuse the machines. Planes and drones danced in the sky; from a distance, the twirling and sweeping maneuvers looked like a well-choreographed dance routine, although it was anything but. For a while, the tide looked to turn but momentum was never gained due to the seemingly unending numbers of the attacking drones. Just over an hour passed before Norfolk met the fate of its predecessors, but as they began to descend on the city itself to reduce it to ashes, Patterson let loose the surprise he had stashed away for them. Watching from overhead satellites, the city itself disappeared in a flash of blinding light along with the majority of the drones as a small-yield nuclear weapon detonated remotely. In an act of desperation, Patterson and the others determined it to be Norfolk that would be victim to the extreme sacrifice; a difficult and sobering decision that doomed that area to the fallout from a nuclear blast. Within seconds of the detonation, the sky dimmed as a towering mushroom cloud rose from the ashes of a once beautiful and picturesque seaport. Norfolk, the Husk drones, and any possible survivors were reduced to dust; the assault of the drones would not march on to the next city.
As the debris settled and the massive shockwave dissipated, the war room erupted in cheers with the victory. High-fives and smiles surrounded the cagey general, but Patterson knew that it was far too soon to celebrate anything. He simply keyed the screens to change point of view, switching to the orbiting ship, to watch the next move—he had a hunch the Husk would have a response ready. He didn’t have to wait long as the massive craft began to adjust its positioning and point its nose to the planet below. The nose cone of the ship opened and began to glow wildly in the dark of space; the side of the moon beside the craft began to shine along with it. In a flash, the ship loosed a bolt of plasma the size of an aircraft carrier towards the American Midwest; the cheers in the room died off immediately and Patterson held his breath.
Seconds later, they felt the reverberations of the impact tremor through the deep rock the base was buried under. They weren’t dead, but the general wondered if they were the true target. Confusion reigned supreme as people scurried about the room to find out what and where got hit. Time stood still until a Corporal looked up from his computer with a look of dread on his face, the color washed away from it.
“NORAD sir,” he said with a shaky whisper. “It’s NORAD that was hit.”
“Get me a visual son,” Patterson barked immediately. “Any survivors?”
“You...you don’t understand sir; it’s gone...all of it.” The soldier stuttered in shock.
“Son, you aren’t making any damn sense; what’s gone? Peterson base, the bunker, what?”
“All of it, sir.” He replied. “Peterson Air Force base, Colorado Springs, all of it is just a puddle of magma.”
The satellite finally brought the location into view and zoomed in automatically, as the grizzly reality of the man’s words sunk in to all. Where once stood a peaceful mountain city and a bustling airbase, there was only a bubbling pool of molten rock and ash. It was the warning shot of all warning shots, and four hundred thousand-plus lives had been extinguished in an instant. Thoughts of surrender crossed every mind in the room; how could they possibly fight back against such a dominant force?
The answer was simple: fight back or surrender into slavery, and that was not an option. Earth would give them everything they had before they would quit. He watched on as the ship kept its nose towards the planet, but retracted the weapon while the rear spires of the shape extended. Before he could zoom the image in, the spires separated from the ship and bright blue flares of propulsion systems burned behind them, propelling them outwards. A quick count resulted in close to forty craft, all the size of the average city, departing from the main of the ship and turning towards Earth. It all made sense to Patterson—the drone swarm had been sent to both soften up defenses and see what the opposition forces could muster, but now that the planetary defenses had been analyzed, they were sending in the real troops to finish the job. The Husk were brilliantly efficient and calculating; he could only shudder as he imagined what horrors would befall mankind when those ships landed.
Lyarran Vessel Amarra, Southern Pacific -
Two Hours since Arrival
Aen watched the events unfold on the Amarra’s view screen, unable to do more than what he was already doing about it. He felt little; a coldness about the situation at hand surprised him a slight bit, but he had been detached from the human race for some time now. Other than his family, he didn’t worry much about the average person in the world, and they were safe from all this for now. So as he watched, he was able to watch without bias and see the enemy for what they truly were—a technological marvel. Aen could only imagine what resources and intelligence was required for a species to not only live long enough to reach the stars, but to construct a mighty terror like this to impose their will on other lesser evolved species. They had picked their quarry carefully, but were still in the dark about himself and the Amarra. Although he felt a distance from the humans, he wasn’t about to leave them to be sacked and plundered by the Husk.
As the swarm of robotic drones emerged from the Husk ship, Aen was intrigued—this was not amongst any of the logged tactics the Lyarrans had collected. He watched as they tore apart key military installations: Russia, England, and the United States all felt the might of this new measure before an atomic trap had been let loose to stop them. As impressed as he was by the leaders of the world, willing to sacrifice an entire city to nuclear fallout, Aen was blown away by the response from the enemy above. With little more than a shrug, the Husk fired their main plasma cannon and blew away the key cog in the American defence network; NORAD was a puddle of lava. From his position in the South Pacific, Aen felt the impact of that single round of fire—not physically, but emotionally. A single shot wi
ped out and entire city and hundreds of thousands of lives in an instant. It was a hard right hook to the head of humanity that every loss the Husk felt would be returned a hundredfold.
As the ship shed its ground assault troops—in carrier vessels, headed for the surface—Aen wondered what they would do once he joined the fray. How would they analyze a response to something that they could never anticipate in all their careful calculations? And what could he do to stop the shock troops from escalating the violence once he joined in? There would be a lot of tough questions with no certain answers in the next few days.
At last he turned from the screen and made his way down the snaking corridors to the armory; it was time to ready himself for the fight. Ground troops meant it would be much easier for him to engage the enemy without betraying this hidden vessel. The Amarra had to stay a secret until it could no longer be kept out of the battle. It was a wildcard in this high stakes game of poker. So he donned the dark red armor of the mighty Ifierin, the warrior caste of the Lyarran Empire, as it was much stronger than the other, more prevalent suits of protection in the hold. He hoped to do its legacy proud. It was more rigid and weighed significantly more than the armor he wore to fight Taylor and his toy soldiers, but it was designed to fight much greater and dangerous foes. It reminded him of a combination of ancient Roman Centurion crossed with a tank and painted blood red. The helmet was not a smooth contour like his other suit; this one was edged hard with a V that started below the chin line and carried over the entire front of the helmet and ending past the top back in a horn look. As Aen turned it over in his hands, he could tell it—along with the rest of the armor—was designed for intimidation as well as protection.
“When does the first troop transport land and where?” he asked the omnipresent AI.
“The first ship will land outside of Seattle, followed by others up and down the West coast. ETA is forty minutes. I will relay this data to Patterson’s strategic command so they can rally some resistance to that point.”
Aen nodded his head in agreement and donned his helmet. There was no more brooding about what had been lost, no more worrying about what could have been. Now was the time to show the Husk and the rest of the galaxy what he truly was, and to make sure the Earth survived the few more days it needed to until help arrived. As the armor’s systems engaged, Aen had a moment of quiet, as all his senses were muted by the suit itself. It was time he used to push down any doubt he had about himself or what needed to be done. The planet had felt the might of the alien Harvesters; it was time the Husk felt power like they never felt before.
Lyarran Vessel Dark Light, Epsilon Eradini -
Four Hours since Arrival
It was at the edge of an older star system that the Dark Light now rested as it vented the overheated jump engines. Lyxia had pushed the ship far past all operating safeguards much to the chagrin of the techs in the reactor deck. She, like them, worried that they were pushing the ship too far, but they were trying to make up some lost time and more as they raced to Terra Sol. It was this extreme push of the ship that she thought would be up for discussion as she had been summoned to the holo-chamber; Fleet Command was calling and it was time to pay the piper for her abuse of the pride and joy of the Imperial Fleet.
But as soon as she entered the dark room and stood upon the holo-pad, she realized that this conference was nothing like what she had thought. Instantly, she was face-to-face with the brightest orange eyes and flaming orange hair along with the perfect vision of calm and poise. It was a face she recognized instantly and fell to her knees to bow in respect; it wasn’t Fleet Command that summoned her, it was the Empress!
“Pardon my insolence, Goddess.” She prayed respectively. “Had I known it was you...”
“Had you known it was me, then your whole ship would have been notified as well, and that is a spectacle that I am trying to avoid. There simply isn’t the time for that now,” Iana said with a quiet calm. “Please stand my child, for you are much too strong to be kneeling at a time like this.”
“Why?” Lyxia asked as she rose to her feet. “I hardly think that a minor skirmish over a rim star planet with a rogue Husk cell is a huge deal.”
“But it is, my child.” The Empress’s expression changed from calm to a look of concern. “Long have we known of the Husk growing in strength and numbers outside the fringe of the Empire; waiting for the day to once again challenge us. This is a pivotal point in the way that the future unfolds. Many outcomes and possibilities hinge on what is to come in the next few days. Out on this rim star world as you call it, paradise burns and a creature unlike any other awaits. The Husk know he’s there as his value is unfathomable as a living weapon.”
Lyxia was speechless; she had long thought that they were trying to help the humans, not just be the first to secure an asset. She found herself struggling to grasp the big picture at the moment and had a feeling of being used sneaking up her spine.
“So that is why you are on your way?” she asked after a quiet moment.
“Aen cannot be lost to the Husk or any of the forces outside the Empire, but also Terra Sol must be saved as the future potential of this lonely world is just as valuable. Both are equal tasks that must be taken care of; Terra Sol must not fall.”
“And you know then that our intervention on this could be what starts a war?” Lyxia asked, knowing she might be overstepping her bounds.
“It would be this conflict or another in the future that sets it off, but war is coming whether we want it to or not. Aen is the reason I have chosen this vantage point, he is the key to this and future victories.”
“I am sorry to question you on this, Goddess, but how is one man that important—so important that we risk you being on the frontlines of any battle and so far away from home?”
Iana smiled, her hunches on Lyxia were right and the young Council was a bright one. Her mind was always rolling with scenarios and counter-scenarios; never resting on simply accepting orders as they were. It had been a long time since someone had questioned her openly, never mind twice in a conversation; Lyxia’s open candor was warming and refreshing!
“As you are soon to find out, Aen is hardly normal and worth risking my life and many others for. Think of him as a youngling, a mere glint of the creature he will become is visible now. I know you are not one to dwell on the scriptures of the prophets, but the Harbinger is the awakening of the one true eternal being. Aen is the future of the Empire!”
“And what does his awakening mean for you?” The question was frank and very to the point.
“For now, very little, so fret not, child. As for the future, there are many roads that have not yet been chosen, but that will start to unfold very soon. Either he will be used by others to usurp my throne or he will be handed it by me in my end of days. There are other futures that show him as nothing to do with the Empire at all, but those odds lessen each day as we approach.” Iana stopped and looked deep into Lyxia’s worried eyes. “For now, it is not worthy of dwelling on. Terra Sol is burning and needs you to focus on their rescue; after that, whatever will be, will be.”
“So why tell me all this? Why am I worthy of such knowledge?”
“Because you love him already, because even now your heart calls out for him and you are helpless for it and because Aen will need you more than you can imagine. Although he has strength beyond measure, his heart is as fragile as glass.”
“You want me to...love him?” Lyxia was embarrassed for the first time in her adult life. “My station doesn’t afford me a luxury such as that.”
“You already love him—I want you to embrace those feelings you have been fighting the last few weeks and let someone into that locked vault you call a heart. I promise you that he is more than worth it. This fight, this war will take much from all of us, and those with love will stand tall at the end. It is the one thing that separates us from the cold darkness of the Husk and it was
what will be needed to win.”
“I….don’t know if I understand Goddess.”
“I didn’t call on you to make you understand, just to open your eyes to the big picture and your role in it.” Iana said with a soothing smile on her lips. Lyxia found herself almost hypnotized at times by the breathtaking beauty of the Empress, an almost regular occurrence for most in her presence. “Now I need you to rush on to the hidden paradise of Terra Sol. Push your ship as hard as you need to. Paradise burns and Aen won’t be able to save it without you. May Lyarra’s light hold you tight in the darkness.”
With that, the Empress disappeared; the transmission ended and Lyxia was left almost in tears. War—war was coming to tear the quiet serenity of peace to shreds and to shake the Empire to its very core. But more shocking to her was the revelation that she was given blessing to love this creature she had never met, but was struggling to keep her feelings hidden. The Goddess was right, love did conquer all, but it would take much more than love to beat the Husk. Independently they were a handful—collectively they would pose the greatest threat the Imperial Fleet could ever face and Lyxia silently wondered if this was a war they could hope to win.
Seattle, Washington -
Ten Hours since Arrival
Hunkered down in the makeshift bunkers on the outskirts of Seattle, thousands of soldiers watched nervously as the deep black ships slowly flew down from the heavens to loose their payload of terror on the Earth. Almost devoid of any markings or structure, the drop ships were simple rectangular tubes, narrower at the front end and expansive at the rear. Inside waited the ultimate of unknowns, for no one knew what the enemy looked like or had for weapons or vehicles. But if any of it was anywhere near as terrifying as the insect-like drones that leveled cities around the world in minute, the soldiers here knew they probably wouldn’t live another day.
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