A fourth salvo fired and this time Jaet could see plumes of atmosphere actually being blown off into space. He stared through the view port in horror. The entire planet was now covered in swirling, roiling clouds. Thousands of lighting blots flashed through the sky. Enormous plumes of atmosphere were now being ripped from the planet’s surface.
The cloud cover parted momentarily in their wake. Jaet could see massive steam clouds rising from his planet’s oceans. They were joined by clouds of smoke as the rapidly heating atmosphere caused vegetation to spontaneously combust. Another salvo struck and still more atmosphere was ripped away. One of the plumes was coming straight at him. The station shuddered and spun as it was blasted off into space.
Warning lights flashed and an alarm blared around him. Solar panels and antennae were ripped from the hull. The station groaned and creaked under the strain. Jaet felt himself being thrown about as the station tumbled and spun. His head slammed against something hard and everything went dark.
Jaet shifted uncomfortably, his closed eyes twitching restlessly. Then they burst open and he gasped for air. He tried to lift his hands, only to have them bump up against something hard. Everything was dark and quite, then a soft hissing noise broke the silence. The darkness parted and he fell forward out of the stasis pod.
Landing on all fours, he coughed and wretched, trying to clear the fluid from his lungs. After a second or two he managed to take a few gasping breaths. The air tasting odd, cold and stale. A blinding pain ripped through his head, he screamed clutching at it.
“It is time,” a voice whispered.
Jaet concentrated, willing the pain to stop. Slowly, he felt it recede and he was able to stand up. Small clouds of dust hung in the stale air and coated the dimly glowing control panels on the walls.
“How, how long has it been?” He asked.
“Almost three hundred years,” whispered the voice.
“So long?”
“It makes no difference,” the voice assured him.
“My people have arrived.”
“Then we are ready to begin?” Asked Jaet.
“All is set, soon we shall both have our vengeance and watch this wretched galaxy burn!”
To be continued…
Imperium: Contact Page 43
