The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3)

by Kocho Trajchevski

  “Try contacting them.” Artas hissed angry.

  He knew that he had a fault in this as he never considered that the stupid slaves would have the courage to do this. For a second in his mind he thought that there must have been humans on that ship. They were the craziest of all.

  “Damn them. It was my fault.”

  He noticed his first officer turning.

  “Sir?”

  “Nothing…Kazar, destroy the other hauler don’t take any chances.”

  “Yes sir.”

  The order was delivered immediately and the frigate opened fire on the hauler.

  A moment later his communication officer told him that they can’t raise the Himarua.

  It seemed that they lost communications among the other things when that hauler hit them.

  He turned and gave the order to continue the pursuit. He knew that he will have time to check on them after they destroy the other two haulers. There was nothing he could do for them now.

  Azogas was thrown away as the hauler was hit by the multiple weapons of the frigate. The hauler rocked as the plasma weapons bruised its hull. He could already see the screens and sensors indicating that there is a hull breach.

  He noticed Maruk laying on the other side unconscious. Three of his men were already dead. As he tried to enter the command and steer the hauler towards the frigate the hauler was hit one more time. The consoles exploded and he was thrown away. He felt himself hit a deck and knew that he had heavy injuries. He saw the human across him bleeding and the woman as well. They were both dying.

  He noticed Meraz going to the console and trying to take control of the hauler.

  He was young and strong. He was bleeding from several wounds and losing strength as he watched him but he stayed conscious and kept fighting to control the hauler.

  Suddenly he turned.

  “Sir we have another ship in front of us.”

  Artas saw the hauler take multiple hits and losing control. It was slowly drifting and stumbling without control. This one was no danger. Not anymore. The gravity would soon kill everyone onboard.

  “Target the second hauler I want it destroyed.”

  As the targeting sensors on the ship and the AI controlling them started firing on the second hauler suddenly a new contact appeared out of nowhere on the sensors right in front of them.

  “What…”

  But he never finished that sentence.

  Jennings watched anxiously as the haulers tried desperately to escape from the frigates. He saw the first one explode as the plasma shots hit something vital in its insides. Then he noticed the second sacrificing it self hitting the second frigate causing serious damage enough to slow it down if not destroy it.

  The second frigate took no more chances and opened fire with all its weapons on the second hauler. Multiple hits hit it and hulled it. The hauler lost control and started tumbling. He knew that the chances are slim that anyone could survive.

  Moments later he noticed the timer hitting zero.

  “Get the bastards.”

  The Excelsior was on a reconnaissance mission but it was a new class of heavy cruiser built with only one purpose. It was built for war.

  It had one MAC gun that could fire a fifty ton projectile and it could fire three in a row, twelve plasma cannons, and thirty six missile launchers. An advanced Aegis system, four main rail guns placed on the front, forty eight placed on other parts of the hull and eighty four dual kinetic point defence weapons. It was impressive and it was powered by sixteen fusion reactors. It also had an AI that was just as the crew itching to fire those weapons in anger at their enemy.

  And for the first time the Excelsior got that chance.

  In the few seconds that the dacarian frigate tried to retarget its weapons at them the hull of the Excelsior seemed to explode as every weapon fired almost at once.

  Several hundred kilometres to the side in his dying moments Meraz managed to stabilize the hauler and on the window that miraculously survived keeping what was left of the atmosphere inside the sealed compartment saw the strange ship fire on the frigate from knife hitting range. There was no way for the frigate to evade.

  And behind them he saw a small hyper space window opening. He smiled in his last moments knowing that they succeeded.

  The plasma beams moving close to the speed of light hit the frigate first. Its shields flared white but easily shrugged them aside. But they had no chance against what came next. Hundreds of rail rounds hit the frigate and moments later first the four large rounds from the main rail guns arrived. They carried enough kinetic energy to overwhelm the shields and create considerable damage on the frigate. And a second after that the MAC round hit. The fifty ton projectile hulled the frigate all the way through and the released energy made it explode in million peaces. The largest surviving piece was several meters large, a small hull plate that drifted at a considerable speed pass the Excelsior.

  As soon as the first frigate exploded Jennings gave the order to destroy the second one. The damage frigate fired what weapons it had but the shields of the Excelsior easily brushed the hits aside taking no damage.

  The Mac gun fired twice the ship rocking slightly as the two large projectiles were launched towards the helpless enemy. As they saw their fate escape pods started exploding from the frigate but the point defence systems of the Excelsior targeted them all and blew them to pieces. Just a second later the frigate exploded.

  “All pods are destroyed. There are no dacarian survivors.”

  Jennings nodded at Aria’s report.

  “What about the haulers.”

  The one they were all protecting opened a hyper space window.

  Jennings smiled. He wished them luck.

  “What about the other?”

  “It is still drifting but its rotation is slowed. Someone managed to slow it down.”

  “Can the sensors detect any life signs?”

  Aria scanned the hauler with passive sensors.

  “There are survivors. At least one is human, and a Sicarian.”

  “Launch a drop ship. Tell them to pick up any survivors and head back at once. And stand down. Go passive again.”

  “The sensors are picking up several ships in the inner system. They are all heading in the asteroid belt. None are heading this way. It seems we managed to stay hidden.”

  “Good to know but our luck won’t last. As soon as we pick up the survivors we are heading out. We might have to rush it.”

  Epps looked at the carnage inside the hauler. They managed to stabilize the stumble using the drop ship and then he and his team entered the ship. Before they reached the bridge all they found were dead bodies. But as they cut their way in after sealing the previous compartment so that they don’t depressurize the bridge they read the life signs on the scanners.

  As he entered he noticed the bodies lying around. He scanned and saw that there were five survivors, all injured badly. He gave the signal to the rest of his men to spread out and take the survivors. They were all unconscious, which considering their injuries was a lucky thing.

  He took a moment to check for any sign of anything useful and then followed his team as they exited the hauler.

  The entire operation took 15 minutes.

  They picked up five survivors and also took the body of the dead human.

  One of the survivors was a Sicarian while the others were from races that were unknown to any of the marines.

  As they entered the drop ship the pilots set course for the Excelsior.

  Jennings saw the drop ship enter the bay and gave the order to resume their heading.

  He looked at Aria.

  She nodded and a moment later delivered the report.

  “Lieutenant Epps reports that they have five survivors. One is a human female and one Sicarian. The other three are unknown. They all have heavy injuries and they are taking them to medical.”

  Dr. Thomas looked at the marines as they brought the survivors of the shuttle. They
were all unconscious and she immediately signalled for her staff to prep the operation rooms.

  She sent the human female and the Sicarian first considering that they had full knowledge about their physiology.

  The other two doctors on the ship Dr. Crow and Dr. Torstein took over their operations.

  She indicated to the marines to place the other three on the beds in front of her and then move them one by one to the scanner.

  As she scanned she also searched the database for any mentioning of their races.

  She found one for the second alien in the latest info they received from the landing teams. They were indicated as Zerg and flagged as priority.

  The creature looked like a strange mix between a wolf and a reptile. The scanner showed that he had the most minimal injuries.

  The other two aliens were marked as unknowns and had multiple injuries, all critical.

  She called the rest of her staff and showed them the bodies of the unknown creatures.

  They nodded and took them to the operating room. She and the last surgeon Dr. Godunov each took one of them and started the surgery.

  As the others finished they joined them.

  The next few hours passed in hard work as they struggled with the unknown physiology of the creatures. At the end they knew that they can’t save them. They managed to close most of the wounds but as they finished she realised that one of them wont regain conciseness. The other one, she hoped that she could save him if she could wake him up and with the help from Aria learn his language so that she could ask him about the injured organs and their function.

  Crow and Torstein indicated that they saved the woman but that both the Zerg and the Sicarian are dying.

  One of the nurses told them that the Sicarian was already waking up. She indicated that they should wake up the other alien in half an hour.

  Azogas woke up slowly feeling the stabbing pain from the wounds he received as the hauler was hit by the dacarians. And yet he could feel the pain being muted and subsided. He felt strong medications in his bloodstream and he could feel him self drifting.

  He slowly turned and noticed Maruk and the young Hof lying in the beds close to him. They were both connected to some strange machines and as his sight cleared he was shocked to see humans watching them. They were dressed in white. He turned and noticed two more by the door. These were obviously soldiers. He noticed the strange looking weapons that they carried strapped in.

  He tried to speak but he felt his trough was dry and he barely managed a sound.

  One of the humans turned and saw that he was awake. It was a female.

  Helen noticed the alien waking up. She indicated for the nurse and for the other doctors to come at once.

  “Aria he’s awake.”

  As she said those words she immediately went to him.

  She touched him gently on the chest and lowered him down on the bed.

  “Stay still. You have internal bleeding and several fractured bones.”

  She took a glass of water and gently helped him drink.

  Azogas watched the human with astonishment. He remembered the humans in the mines, their passion, their sheer will… but this…

  For a moment he thought that he must be dreaming but as he felt the glass and the cold water slide down his throat he knew that it was real.

  “Who are you?”

  He immediately saw that she didn’t understand him.

  For a moment he was confused but then he realized that he spoke on his own language. He knew the language the humans spoke. They spoke several in fact but they all spoke one. They called it Latin.

  “My name is Azogas.”

  Helen looked at the strange creature with surprise. She just like everyone on the ship knew Latin. It was mandatory and she knew it better then most since it was a language that saw a great use in her profession.

  She smiled before answering.

  “My name is Helen. Doctor Helen Thomas.”

  A second later Aria appeared on the opposite side.

  Azogas almost jumped with surprise. He knew about holograms and AI’s, knew that the dacarians had them and he even suspected that his own race did as well in the past. But it was something he saw only twice in his life and as he noticed her he knew that none of them were as advanced as the one that appeared now.

  He could immediately see her striking beauty and the hidden intelligence as she watched him. It was not just an AI, it was an AI that was self aware, a conscious being and as he noticed the humans in the room he could see that they accepted her as an equal being.

  He felt humbled.

  “Azogas my name is Aria and I’m a class seven AI created by the Alterans.”

  “Alterans?”

  Aria noticed the confusion in his eyes.

  “The ancestors of the humans, or better said a small group of them that fought the Dacarians and their masters twelve thousand cycles ago.”

  As she said those words Azogas felt his mind spinning. Twelve thousand cycles…his race was probably still fighting with swords at the time when humans were a space faring race.

  He realized now why the legionaries always showed respect towards the humans, he realized also the hatred that he could see in their eyes, a hatred that came in equal measure from the humans.

  “I know I’m dying I can feel my life force slipping away.”

  He turned towards the others.

  “If you can save them I would be grateful.”

  Helen looked at the Zerg.

  “We managed to stabilize them for now but we know nothing about their physiology, about your physiology, considering that he is one of your people.”

  As she said the words she pointed towards Hof. The youngling was not looking good. As he saw him Azogas knew that he was also beyond help. Even if they knew everything about them there was nothing they could do.

  “Help me up. I will tell you all you want to know but I’m afraid there is nothing you could do for us now.”

  He noticed the pained look in her eyes.

  “At least nothing more but trust me you did more then enough, more then enough.”

  As he stood up he almost fell down. One of the human soldiers came close to him and supported him.

  He turned towards the doctor.

  “Do you have any scans of our bodies?”

  Aria was the first to answer.

  “Yes Azogas we do.”

  A moment later a hologram appeared showing his physiology.

  Azogas slowly came close and started listing the organs and their function.

  As he finished he could feel his strength fading. But he also noticed the smile on the face of the humans.

  “Mr. Azogas if you would just lie down I would come to you in a second.”

  He watched the human female as she hurried away and started talking with the other doctors.

  A moment later two of the doctors lifted Hof and put him on a second bed which they ushered in one of the other rooms. Two other doctors went in after them.

  He turned towards Aria.

  “What are they doing?”

  The AI looked at him and smiled.

  “The same thing that they will do with you, they are saving his life.”

  “But…”

  “There is no but Azogas. They are doing their job, something that they feared they wouldn’t be able to do considering that they knew nothing about you just a few moments ago, nothing but the name of your race.”

  She noticed his face darken as she said those words.

  “My race…We might have been great once but we are almost gone now. I grew up with stories passed from generation to generation but with each passing cycle our numbers are diminishing. I fear that my race will soon be nothing more then a distant memory.”

  He could see the sadness in Aria’s eyes.

  “Since the day I was awakened I learned that many races have perished. Your race still has a chance. You might have wronged them in the past but they will do all they can
to help you survive. And they will make the dacarians pay for all they have done.”

  Azogas looked at the humans.

  He could see their determination but then he remembered what he knew of the dacarians and their empire.

  “I wish that they win with all my heart but the chance is small for that AI. The empire is enormous.”

  Aria looked at the strange creature.

  “The odds may be against them but the dacarians never faced an enemy like them before. Not even my creators, their ancestors were as merciless and capable for war as they are. Most of the races I know of had their wars but managed to unite early in their history and advanced in peace through long periods of stability and slowly. They have been at war with one another since the day they climbed down from the trees their ancestors lived in. They were at war between each other even the day the dacarian ships appeared on their skies above Earth. And then they united and crushed the enemy even though they didn’t have the technology he had. And now they do. They make huge leaps advancing in a few cycles in fields that your and many other races needed centuries to do, just as the dacarians did in the past when they were a young race. That is why they will win.”

  Azogas watched her and said nothing.

  He noticed the human female approaching again.

  Aria smiled.

  “It’s time for your surgery.”

  As he watched her he felt a stab in his hand. He felt his conciseness slipping away. The last thing he saw was the face of Helen.

  The surgery lasted for two hours.

  It was the hardest surgery each of the doctors did in their lives. In the end they knew they saved one. But there was no hope for the younger Zerg. Even though they managed to close al his wounds he was slowly drifting away.

  Ganak woke up with a start. He rose immediately noticing the strange room he was in. He could feel the stitches on several parts of his body, and he felt that he had inner injuries that were treated. He awoke almost an hour ago but he meditated allowing his body to heal faster.

  As he rose to his full height he noticed a dark robe very similar to what his race wore in the past on the chair next to the bed.

  He slowly put it on and felt the warmth as the strange material touched his skin.