by Alex Guerra
“Art,” said Seya, placing a hand on my shoulder. “That’s not a Darkkon ship.”
I felt her hand tremble slightly.
“Dotty…” I said.
The A.I. knew the question I was about to ask and answered. “There are no logs of a Yau ship of this size ever existing. However, all evidence points to that being the case.”
“Where the hell did the empire get a Yau ship that big?” I asked.
“Art,” said Seya. “This has to be the work of whoever is influencing my brother.”
“You mean—”
“I don’t believe Entosh and Piki are the last living Yau,” she said, alluding back to the origin of the cube crystal.
“Arthur, with the appearance of the new ship, and the bulk of the conglomerate ground forces on Lumarus—”
It hit all of us before the A.I. could finish the words. Most of the conglomerate forces all in one spot. My mind jumped back to Vallus. If there was anything capable of destroying an entire planet, it had to be this thing.
This was a trap on a planetary scale. They weren’t after anything on the planet…
They were using the planet as bait—for us.
“Put me through to Admiral Rannek!” I shouted. I shouldered my weapon and looked at the team around me. “This must be the thing that destroyed Vallus.”
“Patching you through,” said Dotty.
Numerous troopers revealed their faces. The threat was no longer across the bridge, it was heading towards Lumarus through space. A growing understanding was evident among them. The Codari troopers most likely felt the same pang of fear I did.
“What the hell is that thing?” came the admiral’s gruff voice, a sense of urgency superseding proper communications etiquette.
“Admiral, turn all our ships to engage the newly arrived ship,” I said. “It’s the planet killer.”
“Vallus…” muttered the admiral.
“Exactly,” I replied. “We should recall all ground forces. The empire is already doing the same.”
“I’ll put in the recall, get the hell off that planet, Captain. Rannek out.” The channel closed.
“Put the word out to Prime Commander Laipas,” I said to Ardet. The specialist shot Disma a look of approval. The commander nodded, and Ardet went to work.
“What about the civilians?” asked Disma.
“We don’t have enough transports to take them with us,” said Kayton.
I sighed, placing my hands on my hips. “You’re not going to like the sound of this, but we need to get our forces off the planet before anyone else,” I said, shaking my head.
There was a silence between us.
“There’s barely enough room for the troopers we brought down here, to begin with. We can’t take many with us,” I said.
“Art is right,” said Seya. Having the words come from her, slowly cut through the reservations Disma and his troopers had. “If this truly is the planet killer, then it’s not just this capital we have to worry about. This would require a planetary exodus—something we could not have planned for. If we die on this planet, the conglomerate will not recuperate in time from the loss—this would mark the end of the Galactic Conglomerate for good.”
“I understand…” said Disma, still not liking the outcome. “We are condemning the Lumaran people to death.
“Maybe not,” I said. “Not if we stop that thing from reaching the planet.”
“Commander, Prime Laipas has issued the evac,” said Ardet.
Disma nodded and raised an arm to the east towards our exfil point. “Let’s go,” he said. “All units, move out!”
Calling down the troopers in the towers behind us, we made our way east.
*****
It was unfair to the civilians, seeing most of the council members fly away with the troopers, including the remaining Lumaran guard. Fights broke out, injuring or even killing some people. This would be a P.R. nightmare that would bite us in the ass down the road, but keeping a standing army was the only thing preventing the Darkkon Empire from taking over the conglomerate worlds. We piled into Dagger along with our borrowed troopers. At the request of Prime Laipas, the council members would take Commander Disma’s team’s spots aboard the ship they arrived on.
We broke through the atmosphere in cramped quarters, with the dropship holding the sixteen of us. The fleet moved to intercept the planet killer while leaving a small number of ships behind to tie up the imperial vessels still in operation. A few shuttles and dropships docked with transport ships, though the majority of our forces would still take a while to leave the planet. With their hangars now full, some of the transport ships wasted no time in warping out of the system, their precious cargo more valuable than the little offensive capabilities they possessed.
Reaching The Pillar, we made our way to the bridge. Disma and his team half-stumbled through the ship, lagging behind us as they took in their new surroundings. There was no time for a tour, as my team and I found our preferred seating, securing ourselves in.
“Bring us into formation with the fleet,” I ordered, and the stars shifted and rotated before us as The Pillar changed its heading. Ahead of us, the fleet moved into optimal range to engage. The huge ship moved slowly towards the formation but had yet to attack.
“Nemetor, this is The Pillar, we are with you,” I said into the channel.
“This is Nemetor,” said Admiral Rannek. “Stay alongside us.”
“Moving,” I replied.
“Gods, look at the size of that thing,” said Kayton, the enemy ship dominating the main screen. The bow was sleek with features similar to our own.
“All ships engage,” ordered Rannek. The formation plumed with smoke as hundreds of torpedoes fired off, streaking towards the ship. When it neared, the familiar green plasma shots met the incoming missiles in the same way The Pillar reacted. All but a few torpedoes reached their destination, smashing themselves upon a shield and exploding. The shield flared to life in blue waves momentarily, before turning invisible once again. We didn’t damage the target.
The enemy ship strobed with light. Six green points brightened on its bow before they lanced out at the fleet. The green lines swept down once through our line cutting ships in half in an instant then swept back up again, further taking out more ships. In just three seconds, the gigantic ship took out a dozen ships. The intensity of the laser was so high that they didn’t even need to focus on a single point to melt the ships’ hulls.
“Scatter,” said Rannek. The attack appeared to be minuscule compared to the ships size, like a cat playing with a toy rather than a tiger going in for the kill. It was not entirely clear that the fleet was its target. It kept moving towards us, nearly ramming the closest ship, whose speed was just fast enough to escape its massive berth. Slowly, it slid closer into position for its real target—Lumarus. There were still forces planetside needing an escape.
As the ship moved closer into the formation, it lanced out at more of our ships, taking out another dozen with ease. One of the lasers nearly hit The Pillar, as the screens overlaying the viewports turned white for a few seconds before their picture returned to normal.
“Admiral, we have to stop this ship!” I shouted over the comms.
“We can’t make it through those shields,” responded Rannek.
“Do you still have those warheads Vira made?” I asked.
“Priming the last one now,” came his response. “All ships, move to engage the enemy at this location.” Each ship acknowledged the command with a ping on the radar. The fleet moved to a position out from in front of the ship and towards its belly. We drew significantly less laser fire from the ship once in position with the absence of defense turrets on its underside.
“Warhead is ready for launch,” said Rannek, his voice booming across the fleet. “Fire off a salvo of missiles ahead of it. We only have one chance. When it goes through, unleash everything you have. Push the ships to the max—I don’t care if your core’s melt!”
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br /> “Dotty, ready the main cannon and fire as soon as those shields drop,” I ordered.
“Affirmative,” replied the A.I. in its calm voice as no doubt everyone else was sweating through their suits. Disma and his troopers strapped in and he squeezed the armrests of his seat to the point of shaking. He too, must have felt nervous aboard a ship, and at the mercy of an A.I.
Torpedoes launched ahead of the attack. A few anti-missile defenses shot out at the incoming barrage, but we found its weak point, and a considerable number of missiles charged through unimpeded with the lone modified warhead hidden among the attack. An icon appeared on the radar marking its trajectory. It closed in with each passing second.
Please make it, I prayed.
The icon inched towards the colossal ship, each second seeming like an eternity. Missiles ignited mid-flight with each passing lance of the laser defenses that intercepted them. I hoped that their coverage would be enough to let the warhead slip through.
The trajectory had a countdown on it. Just five more seconds until impact.
Three…two…one…
An explosion grander than the rest of the missiles combined ignited brighter than the system’s star.
“Holy shit!” I yelled over the brilliant display.
The planet killer’s shields flared fleetingly, going from its bright blue to red in seconds and radiating out from the blast zone. The shield collapsed, and the underside received grave damage. Chunks of its hulls scattered throughout space, the smaller pieces bouncing off our shield and peppering the rest of the fleet with minimal damage.
Silent and adrift in space, the planet killer was wandering towards its target at a snail’s pace. The lights on its hull strobed with a deathly appearance, before going completely dark.
A cheer came from the bridge—we killed it with Vira’s weapon.
“Wait…wait!” shouted Seya, the words cutting through the excitement. She pointed at the main screen. The enemy ship pulsed several times, before reviving itself.
No, not only reviving itself but powering up its main cannon.
“Admiral!” I yelled.
“Fire everything at the damaged point!” he ordered.
“Fire the main cannon, Dotty!” I ordered, gripping my chair and clenching my teeth.
Fuck! It was in position all along, I thought.
The Pillar recoiled for a moment, the giant green laser lashing out at the damaged section of the ship, piercing further into its depths. The fleet shot everything it had at the same point, but the ship continued to power up.
“Give it everything, Dotty!” I yelled.
“We only have two power cores left,” it replied.
“Leave us with one, we need to take down that ship,” I said, sweat running down my face. My helmet was fighting the rising internal temperature, but heat rose from my collar.
“Adding power core now,” informed Dotty. “Brace.”
A secondary, high-pitched whine emanated around us, rising to meet the current tone. Dotty dumped the power core into the laser. I didn’t know how much more power it would add, but the fleet kept its lasers going, all of them converging on the same point we were firing at. The enemy ship pulsed even faster, a point of green light growing from its bow.
“It’s going to fire!” shouted Seya.
The added core reached its limit, and our laser expanded twice as wide and with even more intensity. Just before the enemy could fire, it bucked from the added power-shot, and secondary internal explosions rocked the ship. Its laser reached out but missed Lumarus, passing between the plant and its moon. The planet killer’s laser kept its position between the two, firing out into open space but slowly correcting the beam towards the planet. It wasn’t until the fleet’s combined laser fire shot cleanly through the enemy ship, disabling the gigantic laser before it got closer to Lumarus. Our laser shut off and the screens adjusted their brightness before returning to normal.
On the main screen, the image zoomed in on the damage we inflicted. The hull continued to burn a searing white. At its center, stars shone through a gaping hole clear to the top of the ship, big enough to fit a frigate through.
I stood up from my seat, took off my helmet, and slowly walked towards the screen to study it. Drops of sweat fell from my helmet with the bridge dead silent enough to hear their patter on the deck. Reaching out a gloved hand, I placed it on the screen like trying to touch a dangerous animal. I couldn’t believe it. We did it this time—for sure.
Turning around, the team were all on their feet staring in awe at the screen before drawing their attention to me. I locked eyes with Seya, and joy crept up inside me. Dropping my helmet, I pumped my fists into the air.
“Holy shit! Yes!” I cheered.
“We did it!” said Seya, giving me a tight hug. The team jumped up and down in pure elation.
Disma wiped the sweat from his brow and heaved a sigh of relief. “You have one crazy ship, Captain.”
Turning my gaze back to the main screen, some of the fleet approached the wrecked ship with caution; they would no doubt explore its remains for anything vital.
“This is Admiral Rannek,” the gruff voice cut through the celebration. “Threat neutralized. Finish off the remaining enemy fleet in the system and standby for further orders.”
Ships pinged their responses and set out to hunt down the enemy. Something didn’t feel right. The attack was a ruse to get a significant amount of conglomerate forces on the planet. Despite our victory, the debris littering the space was a mashup of conglomerate and imperial technology. With the planet killer destroyed, was the main threat taken care of? The Darkkon must have had more forces at the ready, but their whereabouts or status was unknown.
As if reading my thoughts, Rannek hailed us on a private channel, his face replacing the image of the planet killer. “Captain Holland, your ship has helped us immensely in this battle. I, on behalf of the conglomerate, thank you and your team for your assistance.”
“I’m just glad we got it in time, Admiral,” I responded.
“Had we known your ship was capable of such destruction, we would have asked you to use it earlier,” he said.
“We could only use it when the right opportunity presented itself,” I admitted. “The thing is—we’re on low power. Looks like we’re going to be out of any real fight until we recover more power cores.”
“The Circles briefed me about your energy situation,” he said. “Witnessing your ship’s capability firsthand, I will recommend that the Circles prioritize assisting you in finding these cores.
“That would be much appreciated, Admiral,” I said. Admittedly, trying to find power cores alone was going to take a long time, and the war was not going to end anytime soon.
“Holland,” the admiral paused. “This is not the end…the Darkkon are not known to give up so easily. These ships were probably not even part of their main fleet. The giant ship on the other hand…I just hope that’s the last we see of its kind.”
I nodded at the statement. “We’re right there with you, Admiral. If it is alright with you, we will be returning to Fengar.”
“We have enough ships to take care of the rest. Feel free to return to the capital, Captain,” he said.
Slowly slinking around the admiral’s back, Vira appeared. “Admiral, permission ta’ speak ta’ Art?” she asked.
“Of course, Ms. Olmos,” he said. “I’ll speak to you soon, Captain. Good work today,” said Rannek, giving a nod and walking off screen.
The Tychon woman stepped into the center of the screen. “Art—wow ya’ always seem ta’ have more people with ya’ every time we meet—I will be stayin’ here ta’ investigate that ship. We may be able ta’ find something useful aboard.” Her large eyes darted around the screen, studying all of us. “Everythin’ I need is on my shuttle, but you still have a lot of my things on your ship, take care of them will ya’?”
A smirk creeped across my face. “Will do,” I said. “Don’t take too long, I�
�ll want to see your findings right away.”
“Yes, of course,” she said, waving her hand dismissively and tapping away at her dataslate. Just as quickly as she arrived, she walked off screen, leaving the camera to refocus on the bridge crew working around their consoles.
“Dotty, close the channel,” I said.
Kayton shot me a look in response to Vira’s strange ways and gave me a hard slap on the back. “We did it, Art!”
“Yes, we did,” I said. “Good job, everyone. Let’s get out of here. Dotty, set our destination for Fengar and move out.”
“Right away, Artur,” said Dotty, running the jump sequence.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Skip drones steadily made their way back with updates of the battle to the Circles ahead of our arrival. Immediately, communication requests bombarded us upon returning to the Fengar system. I delayed all the communication, prioritizing the Inner Circle’s request.
“This is Captain Holland,” I said, viewing the five exotic looking individuals on the screen.
“Greetings, Captain,” said the to the man in the middle with a long, gray beard and decorations braided in along its length. He and his counterparts clothing sported the traditional Fengar red and gold with sections of white on the chest area that separated them from the members of the Outer Circle. “I am High Councilor Ventall, along with the rest of the Inner Circle. We thank you for your efforts in the Lumarus system on behalf of the Galactic Conglomerate. Seeing the Darkkon weapon destroyed brings us, and the rest of the Galactic Conglomerate, a great deal of relief.”
“Thank you, High Councilor,” I said, straightening my posture in an effort to mimic Seya’s regal manner.
“We have received Admiral Rannek’s request that the special task force aids you in finding and reclaiming Yau technology to help your mission moving forward,” he said.
“Wow, that’s—” I stopped myself from saying anything that sounded stupid. “thank you, High Councilors.” The Pillar maintained all its normal functions from the single core we had left, but I didn’t think that we would see Rannek’s proposal approved so soon. The Pillar proved itself today, and the admiral seemed to understand the importance of having our ship at the conglomerate’s disposal for future engagements. And as always, we could not afford to waste time.