The primary goal of the mission was to cut the food source stored at the cluster of planets and seriously cripple the Heridian fleet.
Raeson exited the briefing followed closely behind by Zekhal who quickly joined his side.
'You think this mission is going to be successful?' Zekhal asked, running his fingers back through his thick brown hair.
'I think we will pull it off,' Raeson replied. 'How successful cutting off their supplies will be though is another matter.'
'So you believe even if we're successful it won't affect the Rid fleet?' Zekhal said a little stunned with Raeson's response.
'There are so many Rid fleets out there,' Raeson replied. 'Cutting off the food supply to one fleet will not stop them.'
'And what would you suggest?'
Raeson stopped and looked at him, 'We track one enemy fleet back to its home-world and bombard the menace from space. A lot of enemy will die while we look down and laugh at them.'
'Brilliant plan, but how do you track something that big without being detected? Especially when it translocates and you can't track it. That's if they even return to their home-world, if that even exists.'
'Minor details,' Raeson said. 'My point is we need to destroy the head of the menace and cut it off from the source. With no leadership, they cannot co-ordinate strikes. If we create a power vacuum during the reselection of leadership, we can cause chaos during the confusion.'
Zekhal scratched his head, 'Why don't you put a plan together and present it to the Khan? Speaking of which, did you find out why he gave you the Arvernus?'
Raeson grinned, 'That I did my friend. He gave me that ship so I can prove myself, because of my family's past.'
'I see,' said Zekhal, 'Tame the beast and you tame everyone's doubt and restore pride to your family name.'
A group of soldiers ran past the two men in the corridor, all of which gave a quick salute when they realized what rank they were.
Still smiling, Raeson again felt the weight lift off his shoulders, 'There is much to do, I better get back to my fighter.'
'I think Rel will have it so shiny we could use it for the next jump beacon,' laughed Zekhal. 'And I discovered why she could keep that extra-long hair of hers.'
Curiosity filled Raeson's eyes as he began the walk to his fighter. It was a good fifteen minutes away, and he had much preparation to do.
'Apparently,' Zekhal continued keeping up with Raeson, 'Rel received an ordered to cut it shorter by the master technician, but she cried in front of the entire maintenance crew. The master tech didn't know what to do. He just flushed a bright red in embarrassment and gave in to the stares from his men.'
'That sounds like Rel,' Raeson laughed.
'I can't believe that someone can get away with crying on a pirate vessel. I don't know what I would do if one of my crew members cried in front of me. Speaking of which, I better go introduce myself to them, I haven't even been aboard my new command yet,' replied Zekhal. He gave a quick informal salute and headed in a different direction.
Zekhal is right; my fighter will be in perfect condition if I know Rel. There better not be a purple flower in my cockpit again though, Raeson thought.
*
Far from the Sky-Station, on Echelon's surface, the large Heridian creature glanced up at the smoke filled sky above. Ash from the distant fires drifted through the air and landed on the complex's glass ceiling, ash created from the battles taking place in the city.
The menace turned and scanned the displacement device with its alien eyes, digital enhancements displayed readings of dimension and mass alongside other anomalies. The displacement device attached to a large platform like structure, capable of transferring matter to another time and space, the same device that brought them here.
Other smaller Heridians, hunched over and the size of a small human, attempted to repair the damage to it caused during their shifting to this instance.
The large Heridian walked up the platform, illuminated red runes covering its armored body left light trails that followed behind. The runes signified bio-intelligence inside its core, a living brain and spinal column taken from an organic life form. In a standard Heridian soldier this would make it smarter, faster and stronger. This Heridian however was different; this was a leader amongst the menace even before it gained biological internals. It not only possessed the skill of leadership but also free will, ambition and above all a great sense of self-awareness.
Its orders had been simple, lead a force of Heridians to the device's location and seize control of it, regardless of opposition. After obtaining the objective, the creature was to transport it aboard a walker and take it back to the base on the other side of the planet. If the Heridians could accomplish this task, they could access any location at any point in time they choose. They could even go as far as sending resources back to the past and infinitely increase the size of their army. However, the mission did not go as straightforward as it sounded. The Heridians faced an army of dark gray armored warriors, The Soldiers of the Void. These warriors held off the menace, and it was only because of their lack of knowledge of the machine that gave the Heridians its location.
The device had never meant to activate the way it had. That blame falls on the one soldier that stood alone at the end. The Heridian leader hadn't seen the soldier since the event, despite dispatching the many scout hunters at its disposal. It was not wise to assume the soldier had perished.
*
Five kilometers away, the human scout zoomed in closer with her sniper rifle, being careful not to give away her concealed position. She had hidden away whilst the Heridians first attacked the city and felt puzzled by how they appeared. For days, the sniper silently watched the menace at work on the device through the transparent ceiling of the complex. The large Heridian leader moved over to the device as she tracked it with her scope. She could take the shot and kill the creature, one well-placed bullet, if she hit the mark. The only drawback would be her death, the menace would be on her position in minutes, and the exit strategy was too slow, too exposed.
She had to live.
Her self-imposed mission was to track the movements of the enemy and feed the information back to the Paladin units on the front line. Without this information, the Heridians would dominate and eventually win against the ground forces. They had lost many human lives during the initial battle and she wanted no more blood spilled, human blood anyway.
The communication device on her head vibrated softly, to notify the sniper of an incoming message. With a thought the message opened and displayed on the digital lens that covered her eye, small text scrolled as she read its contents:
Times of Shrike,
Keep in contact with your family of Wrath. Look behind you for others and help them cross over, for they need to share the vision you see now.
CW
The sniper backed slowly away from her hiding place, turned and silently slipped away from the area. Her orders were simple and hopefully not to any others who may have intercepted the message.
*
Draethus and the Paladin squad moved quietly through the burnt-out buildings, fires smoldered as rubble fell from the ceilings. Sneaking was not something Draethus was used to, as SOV soldiers preferred a more head on approach.
He brought up the tactical map inside his helmet, reviewed the estimated enemy positions and the direction of their objective. Much of the information was old data relayed from infiltrators and the odd street level scanner hidden away by ground forces.
He stopped, crouched, and held up his fist in a silent command to halt the team. Tremon moved quietly up to his position and made sure he didn't surprise the big soldier.
'What is it?' Tremon whispered.
'I saw movement up ahead,' Draethus replied.
'Are you seeing ghosts?'
'I trust my senses, Tremon. If you want to challenge me, wait until after the mission and I will gladly accept, back on the Sky-Station.'
'If you live
that long,' Tremon replied bitterly as he moved across to another building, roughly twenty meters to the left of the squad.
Tremon reached behind him and pulled out a small visual device that he put up to his face. He zoomed in to where Draethus thought he saw movement, and within seconds his vision alerted him to hostile contacts. The enemy was approaching down the road that ran towards the squad's position. Rushing back to the squad, he whispered a harsh warning and immediately the men went to ground, finding hiding places under the rubble.
The Heridian patrol, although few, contained enough firepower to wipe out the squad. Four standard Heridian creatures walked in formation, carrying pulse rifles whilst scanning the ruins. Behind them skulked their armored escort, a larger four legged abomination with a body the size of a small tank. Attached to the walker's carapace were anti-infantry Gatling cannons that seemed to pivot of their own accord on gimbaled fixtures. Draethus couldn't see any glowing runes on the enemy, signifying they were not overly clever, however still dangerous.
Everything fell silent; the enemy patrol ceased movement as Draethus lowered his face under the concrete rubble.
They must be on top of us, Draethus thought to himself. Even if we fought, they would only call reinforcements and it would compromise our position.
The wind blew sand over the back of his head as the sound of his heartbeat thrummed in his throat. He could almost feel the Heridian's eyes staring towards his hiding place. A straight forward fight would have been so much easier had it not been for the mission. The Heridian patrol began moving towards them, slowly and purposefully. Something had caught their attention.
Suddenly there was a colossal explosion off in the distance and the resulting tremors shook the surrounding buildings. The Heridians changed their heading to investigate, the walker leading the way. Draethus looked up, shook off the powdered concrete in his hair and surveyed the area to make sure it was safe for the squad to continue forward.
Tremon, with Varican trailing behind, ran over to him, 'Soldier, you need to look at this,' he said as he tapped his helmet.
The message transferred to Draethus and appeared on his own display:
Gray armor of the man,
Your foes have diverted, and your pathway is clear. Meet me where the metal mass makes crossing over practical.
S.
'Crossing over?' Draethus asked Tremon. 'We are on a mission of the highest importance and I'm reading riddles?'
'It's code,' the Paladin replied. 'Heridians are smart and we believe they intercept the messages.'
'What does he mean by crossing over, does he mean death?' Draethus asked.
A Paladin in the squad, an older man covered in facial scars, moved up to the three. 'He probably means the bridge that connects the other part of the city. Whoever sent this message might know a better way to the device.'
Draethus checked the ammunition level on his rifle and said, 'Well you're the mission leader so it's your call, Tremon. We can't advance from this position, and my map information suggests enemy forces have us cut off. How reliable would this person be; can we trust him?'
'We don't really have an option,' Tremon replied, 'Do we?'
*
Swirls of smoke spun like mini tornados down the desolate street as the dim rays from Echelon's sun struggled to penetrate the ash clouds. The fighting in the city had decreased, as what remained of the population had fled into the jungles, hunted by the small animal sized Heridians tasked with culling what they could catch. Even the engagements on the front line had lessened.
Captain Wrath, the commander of the armored division, alongside the forces in his unit, was dug in and holding their ground on the other side of the city.
The small squad of Paladins led by Draethus advanced through the remnants of buildings parallel to the road. Tremon signaled that the bridge was up ahead and pointed to a tall structure visible over the ruins. Draethus zoomed in with the optic lens in his helmet and could make out a small red circle on one floor.
A scope, he thought to himself, the Rids don't use snipers, must be one of Tremon's men.
Varican moved up next to him, 'Our scout is up ahead in that building, we need to reach his position so we can get an overview of the way through.'
'Agreed,' Draethus replied. 'Your intelligence network is slow'.
'Unfortunately we have not dealt with creatures like this before, my friend, however our scouts are very good at what they do.'
Varican was defensive of his forces, and his Paladins had been loyal to him for many years. His off-world operations had been so successful in the past he reached the rank of Captain relatively quickly and set a high standard for the rest of the Paladins who looked up to him. Tremon, however, although not in a captaincy position, still held a higher rank because of his status as honor guard for the Senechal.
Tremon signaled the go ahead to his men, and they took advantage of the nearby cover to conceal themselves on the path to the structure. Draethus followed behind with Tremon at his back, sidestepping through a tangle of wires and debris as he moved forward. Passing through a narrow ally created by a fallen building, the squad continued on, walking ankle deep in muddy water.
'Blood,' whispered Tremon.
Draethus looked over and knew the comment was for him.
'That is blood we are walking through,' Tremon continued. 'That is blood caused by your actions.' From the moment Tremon found Draethus, he harbored a relentless distrust for the soldier.
'I have spilled much blood in my time Tremon. What's at our feet is but a fraction of what the Heridian race is capable of.'
As the two warriors exchanged words, the squad came to a halt. The Paladin soldier, running point, scouted ahead alone into the entrance of the tall structure.
Running his armored glove along one wall, Draethus drew a line in the blood that seeped from a corpse pinned by debris above. He lifted it to eye level in front of Tremon and continued. 'Until you have seen mountains of corpses, left by the menace to taunt and scare, you have experienced nothing close to what I've seen.'
Draethus could see the anger rising in Tremon's blood, and if it hadn't been for the need for silence, would have felt happy to fight it out.
'Left unchecked,' continued Draethus, 'the Rids would take you all. When no humans remain, they will turn their attention to the wildlife. They will share the same fate, harvested for their biological internals and the Heridian force would grow. If they activate the displacement device, the Heridians will bring in an infinite amount of reinforcements and spread throughout your known space. Your solar system will burn. Whether this happens here in your instance of time or in mine, the result is the same, everything is at risk. Be thankful you are part of the solution.'
The Paladin who ran point returned, 'It's clear,' he whispered as the squad began filling the lower level of the structure.
It was a large and dimly lit room with stairs that ascended the middle and spread both ways at the top to adjoin the next level. Residue from gunfire charred the walls, and scorch marks reached a high ceiling.
The group moved in haste and covered both sides of the stairs, assault rifles at the ready, as they advanced. Taking the direction to the right, they sprinted along the broken tiled floor to a stairwell that lead to the upper floors. Within minutes the squad had passed twenty-two levels and arrived at the highest room, close to where Draethus spotted the red scope. The soldier who ran point, the man to the front, stopped and with a quick swipe across his eye, brought down a digital display over his retina. A large marking was visible through his lens on the nearby wall, and geometric patterns informed the Paladin that a friendly combatant was in the next room, but to approach with caution. As the Paladin flicked the lens back from over his eye, a red beam appeared on his forehead, from a gap in the doors ahead.
Quickly the squad raised their weapons and crouched down to take aim. The Paladin however dared not move as his life was now at the mercy of another. The beam from the sniper rifle
vanished as the doors slowly opened; volumetric light filled the corridor as the scout purposefully approached. She pointed her long black rifle to the side, a show of friendly behavior. She wore camouflaged clothing with shades of urban grays, and her shoulder length black and blonde hair flicked outwards at their ends.
Assassin, Draethus thought.
'I heard you coming,' the scout said as she holstered the pistol she had drawn and concealed behind her back. 'These creatures have better hearing than I do, so I suggest you show more caution next time.'
Draethus approached the women and towered over her, 'We have no time for your words Assassin; we need a way to the device.'
The scout eyed the soldier from head to foot and back again. 'You are the hulking warrior the others have spoken of,' she replied. 'However, I thought you would be more intimidating.'
Varican cut them off, 'We have no time for this. Scout, show us the overview of the bridge and show us the way past'.
'Very well,' she scorned and spun in a gesture that seemed disrespectful to Draethus.
'You make enemies easily, Draethus,' finished Tremon with a smirk.
The scout led the squad back through the doors in which she arrived and, as they entered, found themselves surrounded by the familiar damage that resembled the rest of the city. Half the floor was missing, the roof only partially covered the group, and the entire side of the building lay in ruin on the street below.
'Stick to the wall and for all our benefit be silent,' whispered the scout. She stared at Draethus and made sure he knew he was the focus.
Draethus neared the edge where a wall once stood and looked over; the smoke rested like a blanket of ocean and covered everything beneath them.
'There,' the scout stated, pointing to a distant structure that was barely visible through the clouds of haze over the ruins.
A Dark Oceans Descent: (Heridian Saga, Book 1) Page 8