The Sky is Endless

by Alexander W Meurant

  Niall watched as the missiles erupted one after the other and headed towards their target, one of the airships that had fired on them earlier. The missiles crashed into the ships shields one after the other mere seconds apart, causing a constant stream of explosions. After no more than five seconds of the barrage, the enemy ship's shields gave way and the remaining missiles hammered into it.

  Instead of sinking to the ground, the enemy ship simply blew apart. It erupted into a white ball of flame and spewed fiery debris in every direction, a large section spiralling off into another nearby ship, breaking through its shield and crushing a good section of the airship. Niall watched as both the remains of the missile's victim and the damaged ship came to the ground. The first crashing into the ground and plastering the surrounding environment in fire and debris, lighting up the darkness. The second ship crash landed more elegantly and appeared to be largely intact, if a ground assault occurred, it would come from there.

  Feeling his heart racing, Niall surveyed the battle raging in the sky, the airships in the air were no longer firing upon the grounded Harlaus as they focused their efforts on Phidel's remaining eight airships. Clovis had lost two of his seven in a matter of seconds and now the numbers advantage was beginning to show. Niall located what he thought was Clovis' flagship. It was called the Moset if Niall remembered correctly, and it was just an ordinary looking battleship and undistinguishable from any other airship of its class.

  The Moset had stopped firing all together and Niall wondered what it was doing. Looking closer he noticed a section of the airship moving and a bright light appeared to be growing larger. Suddenly feeling sick, Niall reached for a radio he had taken from an engineer manning the missile batteries.

  "Sergeant Kori, this is Belford. Do you copy? Over" he spoke into the radio naming the officer in charge of the batteries. As he waited for a reply he looked up into the sky seeing an object speeding towards him and he stared wide eyed as a gunship came into view. He saw two missiles release and they slammed straight into the shield above them, erupting in an enormous explosion that sent flames racing along the shield. He swore he even saw the shield shimmer under the blow. As the gunship sped overhead he scowled, guessing it would come around for another pass soon enough. As his radio crackled, he lifted it up to his ear to hear better.

  "I hear you Sir Belford, what do you need? Over" came the reply on the radio, somewhat broken up but understandable.

  "Can you see an enemy ship with a growing light on the front of it? Over" Niall asked as he once more turned his attention to the ship he thought was the Moset.

  "I can. Do you want it gone my lord? Over" Kori crackled back over the radio. Niall pursed his lips as that light on the ship grew even more. He did not like this, he did not like this at all.

  "Send everything we have at it Sergeant" Niall ordered, his hand tightening around the radio momentarily.

  "With pleasure Sir" Kori stated over the radio, his broken voice sounding tense.

  Niall watched as the light on the Moset grew even more, and he turned his gaze away as it became too bright to look at. The light reached even his small force, illuminating the entire battle. Unable to do anything about it, he guessed it was a weapon of some sort and it appeared to be charging an energy blast of some magnitude. It would not be the first time he had seen a weapon of its sort, having witnessed some of the massive battles fought in the Kratsch Empire.

  Hearing the familiar whoosh of the missiles, he looked up, a hand lifted to his eyes to shield them from the light and smiled grimly. The new barrage of missiles erupted from the Harlaus' batteries and streamed towards the Moset even as the Moset fired its own mysterious cannon.

  The rain darkened sky lit up with a bright white flash and a stream of energy fire erupted from the Moset, spraying everything in front of it in an irregular energy arc. Two of Phidel’s cruiser type airships where caught in the erratic blast. Their ships shields crumbled under the blast, before simply being blown out of the air. Unable to believe his own eyes Niall just stood dumbly as the energy blasts ripped into the two ships, causing pieces of them to blow off and fall to the ground in fiery balls. The remains of the two ships then began to sink, somewhat still intact as they plummeted into the ground. Niall felt his stomach tighten and his heart race as a number of his countrymen's lives were ended and he turned his gaze away as one ship exploded on impact in a massive blast of orange light. He now focused his attention on the Moset, his jaw tight.

  As the Moset finished firing, its blast petering out, the missiles fired by the Harlaus slammed into its shields erratically. Perhaps the missiles had been thrown off by the energy blast. Niall didn’t particularly care as he watched the missiles exploding on the Moset's shield and rip through. The shield was punctured it in a single area, and a missile got through, exploding on its portside flank. The ship stayed in the air however, although it appeared to be heavily damaged. The ship began to sink slowly as a thick plume of black smoke began to erupt from its damaged area and Niall smiled grimly as a small cheer went up amongst the men around Niall. The cheer died out quickly though as few others joined in. The ship was still in fighting form and the Imperials had just lost two of their own.

  Still in a grim mood as he watched the Moset start to regain altitude, Niall was shocked back to reality as a strong blast of energy hit the Harlaus' shield directly in front of him.

  Looking out over the rain soaked field he saw that a large number of soldiers were heading towards him and his men. The grounded ship beyond them had its cannons aimed at the Harlaus and it had begun firing as the UFN soldiers approached Phidel's flagship. Cannon fire began to erupt from the Harlaus as well and Niall guessed the ship was out of missiles. No surprise there. The blasts of energy streamed through the air as the two grounded airships continued to fire at each other, sending ripples and bursts of colours down the shields. It looked almost like a fireworks display.

  As the soldiers approached, Niall saw a number of machines being wheeled towards him on trolleys. Pursing his lips, Niall felt his frustration rise as he recognised the machines as shield breakers. The things were cumbersome items that could be used to manipulate a shields energy from the outside, allowing foreign objects to pass through the shield.

  Shields had been designed so that any object could freely pass through them if the object came from the inside, otherwise things like the cannons would not work. Someone in the UFN had come up with a technology that broke that design, allowing entry from the outside without having an identification code. The machine though, was still primitive in nature as they had to be touching the shield being broken. Niall just shook his head to clear his thoughts as he turned his gaze to the officer of the combat personnel.

  "You, officer. Take over. You should know more about infantry lines than I" he barked out with a hand raised at the man. The man turned around, looking at Niall with a suitably surprised expression. He nodded though and turned back to his men, ordering them to spread out. His men seemed to know what to do and around half of them lay down in the dirt and mud, taking firing positions whilst others knelt behind them.

  Niall's own people started to move also, coming to stand behind the combat personnel and take up firing positions of their own. Niall moved to stand with them and lifted his pistol even as he gulped. He felt a knot in his stomach knowing his people would be much more easy targets as they remained standing.

  Flexing his fingers around his energy pistol, Niall watched as the UFN soldiers came closer still, illuminated as they were by the cannon fire in the sky. As the enemy came into range, the imperials opened fire on them. Niall started firing as well, energy beams passing through the Harlaus' shield with no problem. The three layered line of fire ripped into the ranks of the UFN soldiers and screams and curses sounded out. The soldiers had no doubt been relying on the heavy rain to conceal their approach yet they had been exposed by the light of their own cannon fire. They spread out in a long line and some even dropped to the ground and sta
rted firing in turn, the energy beams being nullified by the Harlaus' shield. Niall and his Imperials just kept firing, watching as the enemy force was whittled down to the point Niall doubted they would even reach the shield between them. A number of soldiers moved in from the rear though, carrying riot shields. It was too soon too late, the small portable energy shields doing little to stem the flow of Imperial fire.

  Niall swore as his pistol stopped firing and he looked down at it, noticing the energy crystal was empty. He clenched his jaw and flicked the small switch that would eject the empty energy clip even as he reached for a new one. Sliding the cylindrical object into the weapon he looked back up at the advancing UFN soldiers, doubting he would need to fire more.

  Sure enough, the enemy seemed to have been all but wiped out. Those that had held the riot shields had been shot through, the light shields not up for a concentrated assault. He just shook his head at the thought of those dead soldiers. Whoever had ordered the attack was not only suicidal, but also an idiot. As the Imperial officer of the combat group yelled to cease fire, Niall just watched a few of the UFN survivors stand up and retreat, more than a few dragging or carrying wounded comrades. Niall clenched his jaw, feeling more deflated than elated. Such a waste of life.

  Small cheers and jeers sounded from the Imperials and Niall just let them continue, such a small victory was deserved considering the losses made in the greater battle. He just sighed and looked down at his pistol, turning it over in his hands and wondering if any of his shots had made their mark. He knew it was a very different feeling to kill someone from a fight in the sky to a person on the ground that you could see, and actually identify with.

  "Niall", hearing his name spoken Niall jolted out of his dark thoughts and turned around to look at a group of people approaching. His group of combatants shrunk away out of respect and the formation of combat personnel too broke apart, its members standing up and wiping themselves and their weapons down.

  "My lady, what are you doing here, you could have been killed" Niall spoke out as he holstered his pistol and strode towards Phidel, meeting her in the middle so to speak. He looked past her for the briefest of moments, recognising the faces of Mark and the other body guards.

  "Don’t lecture me Niall, I'm not one of your women" Phidel snapped at him as she came to a halt and looked around at the unhurt force of Imperials. Hearing anger in his liege's voice Niall narrowed his eyes at Phidel and pursed his lips. He was not in a good enough mood to put up with her shit at this moment.

  "Why did you come here my lady?" he asked his voice hard and hinting at his own smouldering anger. Phidel actually shot him a scolding look and sighed as she lifted a hand to flick some hair out of her eyes.

  "The battle in the air is won, I would not have left you here to be overrun Niall. Though it appears as though you did not need my assistance in the slightest" she stated her voice much softer now, containing a tone of sadness. She looked away from him then and stared up into the stormy sky, just remaining silent now.

  Following Phidel's gaze, Niall turned and peered into the sky, noticing that the fighting had stopped. There was no more cannon fire from either side and he could see Clovis' remaining airships retreating north. He could not actually believe it. He just stayed silent as Phidel spoke once more.

  "The garrison of Kernow will be here shortly to help us with clean up and rescue operations. I don't think the surviving and stranded federation troops will fight us. “Phidel spoke quietly, subdued as she was.

  Niall nodded his assent, feeling no need to say anything. His eyes glanced around as the combat personnel began to disperse, the officer barking orders at them.

  "Damn it all to hell" Phidel spoke suddenly, her voice hard as she kicked at a chunk of debris from her ship.

  "If I win another victory such as this I will be undone" she stated as she looked up once more, a strike of lightning illuminating the sky and her face, a stream of tears running down her cheeks. Niall clenched his jaw, knowing how she hated wasting lives. Every life was considered precious to her, yet she had been born into an era of war that she did not want.

  He shook his head sadly and turned to stand right by her side as he thought on her final words. Niall realised she was right in a way. They had lost two airships completely, another was missing and couldn't be contacted, the Harlaus would be out of action for a long period, and then there were the crew members and personnel that had lost their lives. Niall sighed and stepped away, deciding to go and check on those within the Harlaus, to help take his mind off of darker thoughts.

  Chapter 27

  * * *

  "Well, this is a surprise" Broderick stated as he looked Sain up and down, a slight smile on his face.

  "I did not expect you to be up and moving so soon" the Admiral stated, a hand being lifted to run through his beard, stroking it somewhat.

  Sain looked up at the man and offered a slight smile in return, stretching his arms slightly. He was still thin, but felt two hundred percent. He stepped away from the table he had been leaning on, and wobbled a little as his legs seemed on the verge of giving out. Broderick looked at the youth worryingly and actually stepped forward, grabbing the youth by the biceps. Steadying him a little Broderick smiled sadly.

  "Careful lad. Don't need you falling down. Its barely been two days since you woke up" Broderick stated, that look of concern still on his face as he let go of Sain, satisfied he was steady now.

  "I'll be alright. Thanks" Sain murmured as he straightened up. He looked around him now, and noting the hustle and bustle about him as a crew prepared a small airship for flight. A frigate class he had been told. He did a slow turn, looking around the hangar they were in, and noting the looks he received from many of the soldiers nearby. And then there was the three that were responsible for his rescue. His eyes drifted down to Manny, Ryan and Kasui, the latter actually pushing a wheelchair that she had obviously expected Sain to use. He had of course declined its use, choosing to try and walk on his own strength.

  "So, how long will it take us to get to the Union? How long do you think I will be cooped up there?" Sain asked his gaze on Kasui mainly, figuring she was in charge of the trio.

  "Don't know. Don't care" the woman snapped at Sain and then started forward, pushing the wheelchair past Sain, seeing as he obviously had no intention of using it. She stepped onto the gangway of the small airship and moved up it, disappearing into the frigate. Sain stared at her back, mouth hanging open a little in surprise. She had given him similar answers the last few days, all delivered in that seemingly pissed off manner.

  "Don’t let her get up you kid" Manny stated as he stepped forward and placed a hand lightly on the youths shoulder.

  "She is like that with pretty much everyone" he added before giving him a light pat and moving to follow the woman into the frigate. He stopped briefly to shake the hand of Broderick, and offer murmured thanks before he too, disappeared inside.

  Ryan likewise followed suit, shaking the Admirals hand and disappearing inside, leaving just Sain and then old man standing silently by the gangway. Sain held a look of nervousness on his face as he looked at the Admiral. He had been surprised to hear who the man was from Manny. Sain was standing before a living legend. A man that had broken the back of the Empire all those years ago. The Admiral seemed to survey Sain for a short time before smiling sadly once more, his eyes disappearing beneath a mass of crinkles.

  "Sain. I do hope we meet again. I feel you have a very bright future ahead of you" Broderick stated as he stepped forward and grasped both of Sains hands in his own.

  "If you should ever pass through my country, feel free to reach out to me. Even if it is just for a chat. I would love to hear what you get up to" the old man stated, his smile filled with warmth. Sain could not help but feel relaxed and, oddly happy in the man’s presence. He carried a vibe of a grandfather, what he had always imagined Clyde would have been like if he had been just that bit nicer.

  "I do hope so to. I cann
ot, well thank you enough for caring for me whilst I have been here, even if you didn't personally pull me out of that hell of Bradley's" Sain stated and nodded, as if coming to terms a little with what had happened to him. Truthfully, he had had horrid nightmares the last few nights, and had awoken screaming, only to have the Admiral appear out of nowhere, night hat on and in a dressing gown and slippers, like he had just leapt out of a bed just down the hall. Just the great man being there had made Sain feel incredibly special. He doubted Broderick did that for just about anyone. But at the same time, even Sain recognised the adoring looks all of that the soldiers on this base gave Broderick. He seemed to be a natural leader, loved by his people.

  "Not a trouble at all Sain my boy. Now, the ship is readying to depart, so let’s get you inside okay" the old man stated, and turning, he grabbed Sain gently by the elbow, guiding him gently, but firmly onto the gangway. Sain took hold of the left railing and took slow steps up the metal platform. It was an effort and a half, but he could feel himself getting used to walking once more.