For they fired on the ships that were built to take the punishment they could deliver, take it and then strike.
When the shields failed the armor held. When the armor on one side was too damaged they rolled presenting the undamaged side, and still kept firing.
Fifteen hundred ships fired at them. In the end only two ships fell behind, the HMS Eagle and the Akagi.
Simonson watched as the small task force faced off the armada. Tears fell down on his cheeks as he watched them burn and still fight back.
Behind him all the ships jumped out. The Yorktown was the last one. BY luck or chance the two Alteran cruisers jumped first unnoticed.
In the outside system Robertson received the message and ordered his small task force to jump out. Five ships jumped out. They left thirty nine enemy ships drifting behind them, and five dead of their own.
Alexander watched as The HMS Eagle and the Akagi slowed behind...
The fleet was free. One hundred and thirteen ships jumped away.
They did their duty.
He ordered the retreat and it was obvious that his two carriers could not follow. Instead they turned and facet the juggernaut.
They started moving forward draining the last of the energy their engines had.
They formed a line behind which their sister ships pulled back.
The dacarians tried to pass but every ship that tried paid the price.
And in the end when their munitions ran dry the two young commanders and those few of the crew that survived crushed the ships in the middle of the enemy formations activating the self destruct.
G’kan watched the carnage outside.
He stopped the pursuit of the enemy ships. He knew where they were. They were trapped but they also trapped his ships. And he couldn’t hunt them. Not those ships.
He finally knew who he faced. The wrecks were totally destroyed every ship they disabled in the end activated a self destruct. But his search teams found bodies among the debris.
And there was no doubt.
The bodies were humans.
Alterans…
The ancient enemy was back.
He shivered but not from fear. It was excitement. He knew the stories the legends. And now he witnessed them.
He destroyed almost one hundred and fifty ships.
And he lost three hundred and sixty three. And two hundred others had various damages.
The fighter wings of his carriers were savaged. Almost seventy percent died.
The planet was savaged, and a battle field.
There were more than three hundred thousand alteran soldiers down there. And hundreds of thousands of escaped slaves, slaves that would be armed by the alterans.
Arcadia was the first battlefield of a new war, a war he suspected would be the hardest the empire fought since the ancient days.
He sent four couriers to deliver the news but none managed to break through. The alterans destroyed them.
They were hidden in the asteroid belt. He knew that soon he will have to find them. And he knew that it will cost him ships. But he had no choice.
But that could wait. At least until the legions his ships carried went down on the planet.
They had a war to fight and a powerful and determined enemy.
He watched the general studying the situation.
Voraz was experienced general He lead troops against the Sicarians, the Mrall and several other races.
“How many troops do you think you will need?”
“It depends on how fast we can defeat the alterans. We have over four hundred legions on the transports. I think fifty will do but all the transports better land. It is dangerous up here as long as those ships are out there.”
“We can’t send information’s. They are blocking every attempt I tried to send ships. The asteroid field of this damn system is the main problem. It spreads all around, and blocks our jumps in most locations. We have to traverse it everywhere except here and they are blocking the path. Just forty five of their bloody ships are trapping our entire fleet.”
“In one or two weeks we will get a courier from Ducat. The moment he is out of the warp point he will get your message. They can’t stop that.”
G’kan nodded.
“When do u think you can move against them down there?”
“The legions are already moving. We are surrounding them. In four or five days I will have my troops on the ground and I will attack. And I will crush them.”
They both smiled and looked at the map.
Alexander watched the plot as the crew worked around the clock to repair the ship. The damage was great and he knew that it would take months, months that they all had to survive.
He had forty five ships. All had damages but they were all space worthy and could still fight. They buried their dead in space.
The enemy tried to sneak couriers several times but so far his pickets destroyed them all. He knew that no message must get through.
He was the guardian now. And he knew that thousands of men on the ground were now fighting for their lives. From the images they could get the planet was a vision of hell, a hell that the soldiers down there knew how to survive. He just prayed that they will survive long enough.
Because he didn’t plan on giving up and neither did they.
Simonson watched as the fleet slowly moved through hyper space. The unthinkable happened. He knew they had no choice but it was still hard. They left almost half a million men behind.
He made a promise to himself that he would return.
No matter how, no matter when but if even one soldier survived he would go back.
The last communiqué he received before jumping out was that the marines and the Macedonian contingents were launching the attack on the base.
He prayed that they succeed. If they did they had a chance.
And he prayed for the small fleet that was still in that system. Ten captains stayed behind as well. One was a factory ship. Six were cruisers. The other three were corvettes.
They would drift back in the system. The same way the Excelsior did. And they would have the same ship leading them.
Alexander needed all the help he could get.
“We came to save the world and we found hell instead. But hell is what you know best, hell is what you trained for. Just survive… Survive.”
THE END
Other books from me
The Icarian Legacy: Brave Souls
Soon The Icarian Legacy: Hell on Arcadia
And several short stories concerning the other teams on Arcadia will follow.
STAR WARS
DARKNESS RISING
THE CREED OF RUIN
There is no passion. There is solely obsession.
There is no knowledge. There is solely conviction.
There is no purpose. There is solely will.
There is nothing. Only me.
Excerpt…
2020 BBY
As the middle aged umbaran dressed in a brown robe slowly descended the steps of the Jedi Temple few people paid him heed.
Only several elder Jedi masters watched their former colleague and fellow Jedi as he left the temple and the order to which he was sworn forever.
He left it in peace with full agreement from the council of which he was also a member. The reason was his personal objections to the current Jedi Dogma.
The Jedi order changed a lot since the end of the Old Sith Wars and the collapse of the arch enemy of the Republic. With the destruction of the Sith Empire and the disappearance of the Sith, the ancient enemy of the Jedi, the galaxy finally found peace. And it was peace that lasted for more than a thousand years in which both the Galactic Republic and the Jedi order prospered.
But the old fear of the dark side and the danger it presented for the ones that were not careful changed the order. New doctrines were implemented such as repression of strong emotions and even marriages. In time each master devoted himself to just one student, and Jedi were trained from i
nfancy, severing totally the family attachments and creating Jedi that were devoted to the Order.
The worlds of the now long gone Empire were raided and everything that could lead to the dark side was either destroyed or kept safe in the Jedi Temples far from prying eyes.
It was known that members of the Sith both Sith masters and warriors survived the collapse of the empire and were hiding in the worlds in the Outer Rim as well as on worlds that used to be part of the Ancient Empire.
They were hunted until what remained was considered too weak to be able to rise once again.
With all of this it was easy to think that the Galaxy, the order and the Republic were safe.
No one suspected that when the Sith will rise again they would rise from within from one of their own.
And as history will tell they will never know.
Phanius was one of the most respected Jedi Masters of the order despite his radical views.
In his long life of service to the order he trained many knights, went on missions for the Order and served both it and the republic to the best of his ability.
But in all those years no one could suspect what lingered deep inside his mind. From his earliest days there was that ancient craving, the need for more. He tried to fight it and even in a way to change the order always teaching and saying his opinions no matter how radical they seemed.
But in the end he realized that what he wanted could never be achieved through the order.
In a way he knew that it was linked to who he was and the race he belonged to. The Umbaran society was one of secrets, assassination and subterfuge. They were a race that craved power, their whole society was built to enhance those instincts.
The few umbarans beside himself who were present here on Coruscant held high positions both in the Senate and the Corporations. The Senators were well respected and included in the most important decisions the republic made.
Power was something every Umbaran felt he deserved to have.
And as he descended the stairs Phanius knew that it was something he will have.
As he descended the last step he turned looking one last time at the temple in which he spent his entire life. He had friends there, people he cared for.
And he knew that he had allies. There were many who shared his view. Not completely but in many ways. He could see it in their eyes.
And he knew that when the time comes they will come to him.
But that time was far off.
He enjoyed the view for several minutes.
The temple was magnificent. It was built almost three thousand years ago on the Sacred Spire a place of worship for the ancient people on this world. It was indeed a sacred place as the mountain was also home to a force nexus. In ancient times it was just few classrooms and buildings but today it encompassed the entire mountain.
In him he felt the power of the force. For a moment he closed his eyes and opened himself to it. He could feel it flowing through him, telling him to stay. He could feel the light and goodness here.
But he wasn’t complete.
He opened the yes and for a moment he glanced with pride. It was the last time he looked at the temple as a Jedi, the last time that he saw it with those eyes.
Then he turned and walked away.
Korriban
Before 2000 BBY
Few people watched as the caped figure left the small outpost and headed in the desolate regions of the planet.
From what they could see on him he looked like a Jedi.
It came from the robes he wore, the way he moved and acted. Even the few Jedi that were present on the planet and the station orbiting it acted as if he was one of them.
And yet there was something strange in him.
Farah Nar couldn’t place it but as he watched the Umbaran disappear in the distance he felt his instincts warning him of danger.
And he knew what caused it.
There was something in the eyes of the Umbaran. Something that he knew he saw before.
And yet even as he watched him leave the memory of the encounter was already fading away.
Soon he forgot ever seeing the Umbaran Jedi.
Phanius moved fast.
As he walked in the desert he could feel the power of the force on the desolate world. He could feel the Dark Side of the Force emanating from the planet.
It didn’t surprise him.
Korriban was the birthplace of the Sith race, the very center of their ancient empire. It was the final home to the greatest warriors of the ancient Sith Order.
The dark power of the force flowed through the world. He could feel it everywhere. He could feel it calling him.
Other Jedi would have shirked, retreated, would have feared of being tainted by it.
But he welcomed it. He wanted that power. In the years since he left the Order he traveled across the ancient empire slowly finding the hidden survivors of the Sith Order. He studied the forbidden secrets of the dark side on Yavin 4, Ziost and Dromund Kaas. His journey was almost complete.
This was the final test.
As he moved towards the Valley of the Dead Sith Lords two figures watched him go.
A young human male dressed in simple clothes and a blue cape that hid his face that moved slowly behind him. The face of the man showed disgust. It came as reaction to the dark force that filled this world.
Lenir knew who the man before him was. Once a long time ago he was a man he respected. He remembered a time at the academy before he was knighted when he listened to his teachings. They were always radical but essentially good. He was younger than. The Umbaran Jedi Master impressed the young Jedi Knight from Alderaan.
But there was a lot of difference between that man and the creature he followed now. He felt respect for him in the past, but as he followed him through his journeys that respect evaporated. If there was any doubt before, it was almost gone now. He tried to speak to the former Jedi Master once, to persuade him to stop his quest. He still remembered that meeting on Onderon.
He still hoped then. But hope was something that was also gone now.
He felt that he made a mistake by not informing the council of his doubts. But there was no turning back now.
Far ahead of him and Phanius another figure watched.
Yuthaara Van watched as the two Jedi moved towards the Valley of the Dark Lords. He could feel other creatures too.
Korriban was home to several vicious species most notable among them the tuk'ata. The dangerous hounds were the guardians of the valley. They hunted in packs and even now they trailed the two figures.
He knew they could feel him too. They were semi sentient and could communicate in the ancient sith language.
And then there were the Shyracks and the Hssiss. If the hounds were the outside guardians the other two were the guardians inside the crypts.
He focused on the two Jedi in the distance.
He could feel the force flowing through them.
One was in pain inflicted by the world itself. But the other was something else.
Yuthaara didn’t know his name but he could feel the power emanating from him. It was power he never felt before in any of the surviving Sith Lords. While the other Jedi was shielding himself from the dark force the first one was embracing it, he was welcoming it. He could feel his power growing.
As he probed he knew he sensed a Sith Lord in the birth.
Times were changing.
He could feel the change in the force. He knew he felt it the first time he saw the human on Ziost.
Only this time the feeling was stronger.
Whatever lay in the future he knew that it will start here.
He slowly withdrew and moved to his speeder.
He would wait for them inside the Valley.
He knew that nothing will happen until they get there.
It took them two more days.
He watched as Phanius slowly moved by the tombs looking for something.
The other Jedi was hidden.
Phanius stopped before a crypt of an ancient Sith Lord. Yuthaara didn’t know his name but it wasn’t important. The fallen Jedi obviously found what he wanted.
He picked up the can and drank water. As he did he noticed the Jedi turning and looking straight at him.
He felt naked at that stare.
A moment later the umbaran turned and disappeared inside the tomb.
Phanius moved slowly inside the tomb. He knew what he was looking for. It was a holocron. It belonged to an unnamed Sith Lord that was buried here before the last war. He sensed the hounds behind him and the other creatures in front.
He opened himself to the force, to passion and to the anger. He could feel the dark power flowing in him feeding him making him stronger every second.
He sensed the attack long before it happened. He used a force push to throw two of the hounds to the far wall and then used his light saber to decapitate the other two. A moment later he killed the two Hssiss. The two lizards were waiting in ambush but never managed to strike.
As the other two hounds stood up he reached to them with the force.
They sensed the dark power inside him and a moment later retreated under his command.
It took him almost a whole day to reach the final resting place of the ancient Sith.
As he did he felt a strange presence close by.
He turned activating his light saber and was confronted with a force ghost. The ancient sith was human, probably one of the fallen Jedi that came to this world.
“You will find only death here Phanius.”
Phanius smiled and looked defiantly at the ghost confronting him. He could feel the dark power of the force trying to choke him down.
“I will find rebirth the true me.”
The answer seemed to surprise the Sith Lord.
Phanius opened himself to the force. He could feel the ancient Sith trying to kill him and it angered him. He felt his anger rising and giving him strength.
He draw on it letting the energy build up and when he was ready he let the power go.
The Icarian Legacy Collected Edition: Brave Souls - First Strike (Volume 3) Page 84
