The Dawn Eclipse flew on point, positioned at the front of the fleet in a low orbit. The vessel streaked across the sky, a golden angel leading the pirates to victory.
'By the creator,' Spect said in shock, 'it's coming for us.'
'What are you talking about?' Tremon asked as his smile quickly vanished. 'Um… Commander?'
'I see it Tremon, there isn't anything we can do,' replied Draethus.
The incredible and enormous Heridian creature ship, a capital vessel that would cast a shadow over any other in existence, was on an intercept course. Like the enemy flagship the crew had encountered previously, it resembled a prehistoric ocean monster, covered in dark red plated scales with multiple tails. The tip of each tail held a capital weapon of immense proportion, its hull lined with an arsenal of smaller weaponry.
It was the bow that caused the crew to panic. Rows of giant teeth surrounded an opening, a physical anti-ship weapon that could clamp down on helpless capitals in close quarters, or swallow them for capture. The bridge of the Dawn Eclipse grew dark as it had nowhere to turn; the creature ship closed its enormous jaws and captured the time shifting vessel.
*
Raeson looked on in terror, knowing what losing the golden ship meant. 'Begin bombardment of the surface,' he ordered the fleet. 'Slin, you have command of the Arvernus, I'm going to take a fighter and try board that monstrosity.'
CHAPTER 22.
Seized by Vestige.
Stalking through the corridors, the Heridian soldiers pushed forward. It was only a matter of time until they found the humans on board the golden ship and carried out their Lord's orders. The enemy creature ship had captured the Dawn Eclipse, now restrained by innumerable gravity waves whilst being bombarded with a range of electronic warfare. Electromagnetic waves continuously pulsed through the victim, its power drained as minute nanites attacked its hull like microbes feasting on a carcass.
Eclipse, are you there? Draethus said into his mind. Damn it, where are you?
Secured on the command deck the three crew members readied themselves, weapons primed they sat in darkness waiting for the enemy to breach the door. The dim cyan emergency lights flicked intermittently creating silhouettes across the consoles, the pirates' projectile weapons rested over the top with eyes aimed down the sights.
'The Eclipse is not responsive, we are on our own. Shoot everything that comes through that door and we will try to break for the docking bay,' Draethus ordered.
Tremon, armed with the biggest rifle possible was unflinching. 'Death comes today; let's make sure it's the Rids and not us.'
The scientist Spectalin tried to hold his pistol steady and aimed in the general direction of the white door but remained quiet. The other two men knew he was inexperienced in combat, especially an engagement in such a tight space.
'You'll be alright Spect,' Draethus assured the shaking man, 'just aim at the door and squeeze the trigger when they cut through.'
Spect looked over with a nod and laid his other hand over the gun to steady.
The cutter started with a flash of sparks as the Heridians worked their way through the white metal. With the ship disabled, the nanites that normally repaired such damage were offline, making the breach possible. Smoke bellowed into the bridge from the cutting and created a haze Draethus hoped could give them some advantage.
'Not long now,' the Commander said.
*
Following the creature ship down through the atmosphere, Xain Raeson pushed the throttle in his fighter further. He pulled out of the trajectory needed to compensate for entering orbit and changed his systems into an atmospheric configuration. The wings of the Widowmaker class fighter swept backwards giving it a more aerodynamic attribute and engaged the front intakes to accept the new chemical that made up Heridia's air.
His coms re-connected with a rush of static voices; Raeson altered the communication settings and filtered out the garble.
'Talon Commander Raeson,' Slin said from the command deck on the Arvernus, 'we are in position and request permission to begin operation.'
'This is Raeson; you are free to engage the planets' surface. I want everything levelled do you hear me?'
'Command accepted. All vessels begin bombardment of the planet and leave nothing untouched,' there was a pause before Slin continued. 'Sir, what is happening with the Eclipse?'
'It's gone Slin, however I am going to follow this beast down, I can't do much but at least I can try, Raeson out.'
The Heridian creature ship continued on its downward vector towards the planet's surface, contrails covered much of the vessel as Raeson manoeuvred his craft inside to hide himself from any ground defenses.
This is the most idiotic thing I've done in my life, he thought. What am I going to do against something this large?
The ground was quickly approaching and although the pirate couldn't see through his canopy, his systems told him there wasn't much time before he had to break from the capital ship and find somewhere to land. He banked to the left, quickly picked out a mountain range in the distance and decided it was time.
The creature ship changed its orientation from a direct heading into one led by its belly then headed for a dark patch on the surface.
It was only then that Raeson saw the Spire for the first time, in reality at least, and felt himself gripped by dread. The enormous spike protruded from the ground on a diagonal and reached into the heavens. Its rusted exterior gave the impression of rock mixed with plating, but Xain could see lights across its surface. Small craft hovered, orbiting the giant structure like a busy city, some landed while others journeyed to the buildings at its base.
It only took a few moments of awe for the pirate commander to miss the light that headed his way, a distraction that cost him his freedom. The anti-air artillery struck his fighter and cut his wing clean off. He streaked towards the creature ship that was preparing its own landing.
Blood covered Xain's face, his eyes stung, and with his head throbbing he prepared to make a crash landing. Impact jolted him forward in his seat, and the straps across his chest held him in place as the fighter contacted the ocean. A body of liquid he guessed wasn't water.
The world faded to darkness as he fought the need to pass out, the desire to sleep. His craft floated in place for a few moments before it slipped below the waves. He unclipped his harness, opened the canopy and with a groggy effort pulled himself free.
Barely had he the chance to jump from the fighter when a hovering Heridian craft, open topped and piloted by three mechanical soldiers, reached his position and held him at gunpoint. Raeson couldn't get the words out before the world around him faded in blackness, and he passed out.
*
The door to the command deck blew inwards as the Heridian cutting torch finished its work and the enemy soldiers began their assault. Projectiles flooded the bridge; bolts of laser scorched the consoles as the mechanical menace burst through the opening. Crimson armored beasts, covered in runes and wielding rifles, ran towards the men in pure disregard for their own safety.
Tremon fired first catching one soldier in the chest, turning the creature into a melding of twisted metal, spraying a mist of dark liquid over the floor.
Draethus hit an enemy in the shoulder only to have it spray random fire in his direction as it spun wildly away, surprised at being struck. It turned again to aim, clicking its extruded jaws at the team before dying to a second shot from the Commander.
Spect fired his pistol repeatedly into the cloudy opening the enemy was emanating from, with no target in the hope to shoot something. As another enemy burst through, the scientist hit it in the head and although the bullet didn't penetrate, gave Tremon enough time to aim and end the creature's life.
'Two down, come on, you pathetic menace is that all you have for us?' Tremon yelled as he reloaded his large rifle. 'Try again!'
Spect looked over to him with fear beaming from his eyes, 'Do you have to encourage them?' he said.
Draethus stood up from his position and stormed for the door, 'Let's go, follow behind and we can reach the docking bay.'
The pirates hadn't the chance to see the grenade rolling onto the command deck before it detonated. The three men fell to the floor. Through a fading of vision Draethus glimpsed the mechanical menace standing over him, the barrel of a rifle pressed against his temple.
*
It seemed like hours later, and the sky above was dark with thunderous clouds rolling and swirling together. A fight for supremacy for the next acid downpour. Draethus lay restrained on his back, thin metal filaments binding him to the hovering Heridian craft. He raised his head to get a glimpse of what lay behind and caught the sight of the creature ship landed in the ocean of crimson. The vessel blocked out the sky and the world behind it, a beached predatory creature resting in the shallows. Draethus knew however, with the size of the capital ship, the waters it rested would have been extremely deep.
To his front a Heridian soldier piloted the craft, its back turned and confident the prisoner was secure. The pirate Commander ran his eyes over the dark armor, plates of metal over laced the gears and cogs beneath. A feeling of hatred ran through his body. He had killed so many of the creatures, yet still made no difference. The hatred turned to helplessness as he struggled to break free. The filaments only squeezed tighter.
Rel, he thought to himself. I wish we could just get away from this place.
The hover craft shuddered as a wave splashed over him, drips of the red liquid covered his face. Draethus licked his lips and realised the craft wasn't flying over water; it was blood, an entire ocean of it. He struggled to comprehend how such a place could exist.
He tried to put the thought out of his mind, 'Where are you taking me?' he yelled at the pilot.
The pilot didn't respond and kept its eyes forward, either from ignorance or a lack of intelligence. The pirate noticed the runes across its body unlit and decided it mustn't have a biological mind contained inside. It was but a drone following commands.
He forced his head to turn off to the side and could see two more hover craft flying alongside and skimming the liquid. Although he couldn't see them, he knew his crew had suffered the same fate and his helplessness turned into guilt.
Both men, before he appeared in their lives, were happy with the world they lived. Tremon, an ex-ganger turned Paladin protected his city, walking the streets in his mechanized walker. The man had come so far in his life and stood up for what he believed in. Draethus remembered how they fought to begin with, how he'd won Tremon's trust and became friends.
Spectalin, the scientist, worked vigorously in his lab whilst fighting off that small lizard of Varican's. Even though it was this scientist that created the displacement device that started this mess, if it wasn't for his actions there may have never been a fighting chance against the Heridian forces.
Draethus craned his neck to see the driver again and laid eyes on the spire, the enormous structure reaching into the skies. He didn't understand why they were still alive, why his mind wasn't beneath the armor plate of a foul mechanical soldier. He lay back down and stared once again into the dark heavens.
We're not dead yet, which means they need something, he thought.
*
Darkness, silence and the void.
Draethus felt pain constricting his body. They'd taken away his armor, and he knew the metal filaments still bound his torso and limbs. All he could see was blackness. He had to blink a few times to figure out if his eyes were open, and if it wasn't for the pain, he thought he was floating. Memories of his interrogation flooded back when the Specter questioned him on the Sky-Station.
'Damn you,' a voice echoed next to him, 'I'll kill you all.'
'Raeson, is that you?' Draethus asked turning in the direction the voice originated.
'Draethus? Yea, it's me, I guess you got captured too eh? What of the other two?'
'I'm here, Commander,' Tremon voiced. 'I don't know what these restraints are but they get tighter the more you struggle.'
'They're probably designed as a torture method and escape deterrent,' Spect said into the darkness.
'That makes four of us then,' Raeson replied. 'Spect is right though, these filaments will hurt more if you struggle. I found myself on a Rid destroyer once and tortured with them. The Rid's name was Skylord Theradin, evil piece of shit, I'm pretty sure it died.'
A vibration hummed through the room, hydraulics sounded with a hissing of air and the contact of metal. There was a dull illumination from ceiling hatches that opened as three cylindrical tanks slowly descended from above. The captured men could see wires connecting the top of the tanks to the space where they originated from, the lack of light in the room made it too difficult to make out what was inside.
'So Theradin is no more,' a voice said, emanating from one tank. 'How did you purge it?'
'Purge it, you mean kill it?' Raeson replied.
'Indeed,' another voice said.
Draethus interrupted, 'How about you first tell us where we are and what you are?'
'You are in no position to give orders, human,' a third voice said.
The filaments holding the men tightened, 'How did you purge it?'
Raeson was adamant to remain stubborn until he saw the pain on Spect's face in the darkness. 'Something killed it and I couldn't see what as the fight happened behind a closed door.'
'I see,' the second voice replied, 'then you shall have your questions answered, if you cooperate you shall receive.'
'Receive what exactly?' Draethus asked.
There was a pause, and it became apparent that they ignored his question.
'You are in the depths of the spire, one of the deepest levels closest to the planet's core,' the first voice answered. 'Who amongst you knows where the golden ship originates?'
Spect trembled as he answered when Tremon interrupted him and said, 'It just appeared on our world one day. First it wasn't there, and then it just was so we do not know where it originated from.'
'What is the spire?' asked Raeson.
The voices seemed to chatter amongst themselves before the second voice said, 'The spire is the structure at the center of our world that is Heridia. It serves as a base, city and communication with all that exists outside of the link. Who of you integrates with the time ship?'
'I am the Commander of the Dawn Eclipse, the ship you refer to as the time ship,' Draethus answered.
'Then it is you that will join our army, you that will lead our fleets out of this prison and you that will bow down to our will,' the first voice announced in a sinister tone.
'I would sooner end my own life than allow myself to become Heridian. I saw what it did to my friend, Servatus, and I will die first,' said Draethus.
The second voice laughed, 'Oh we won't harvest your mind like the rest of the legion, I very much doubt the consciousness of the ship would allow access to its systems.'
'No, you will stay as you are human, and we will hold your friends until the day you are of no use,' said the third voice.
Raeson struggled against his bindings, 'He will not let your race of filth escape just to save the three of us. As honorable a man as he is, we would all sacrificed for the greater good.'
'And what of you, Scientist, would you agree to sacrifice when you could study the race that is Heridian?' the second voice asked. 'Could you, given enough time, be able to gain control of such a ship?'
'I can't,' Spect whispered. 'Not again, I couldn't kill millions of people just to save my own life.'
The first voice laughed, 'I think we could tear the Paladin's mind from his body and have him torture the scientist until he builds us one.'
Tremon fought his restrains, hoping to find a way free, and glared at the dark tanks.
'What can we do Draethus?' the Paladin whispered between gritted teeth.
'There is nothing you can do, soldier,' the second voice interrupted. 'You have after all already joined our ranks.'
'That will never happen!' Raeson yelled.
'So you want the ship to control the link and release your forces,' Draethus stated, trying to stall and think of a way out of the situation.
The tanks hissed and buzzed for a few moments, the cables above swayed as if a chemical was being pumped into the enclosures. An acrid smell filled the room.
The First voice said, 'With control of the vessel, we no longer have to wait for the natural occurrence when the link will open unassisted. This will give us complete access to the outside universe, we can import resources to build our fleets and freely attack any world we chose. It will also enable us the ability to travel to any time and place of our choosing therefore giving us more choice in our targets of interest. We will also be able to transport multiple versions of our fleets from different timelines and bring them to Heridia for its defence.'
'By import you mean the biological minds of other sentient races?' Raeson asked.
'That's correct pirate,' replied the third voice. 'We can strike any race on any world and at an instance in time. Whether that be at the beginning of a race's evolution or the middle, either way we will cause the extinction of that species.'
'But without our cooperation the ship will be useless,' the Paladin said.
'Yes,' replied the first voice, 'even if your scientist built us another displacement device we cannot leave as we need the ship to open the link. We do not think him capable of building a vessel so complex.'
'Then all we have to do is die,' said Raeson angrily, 'and you lose access to the Eclipse and remain trapped here.'
The first voice laughed, 'We are the Lords of Heridia, and we know you don't die.'
The three dark tanks illuminated as lights on the inside ignited within the liquid. Oxygen bubbles behind the glass streamed to the top, as the Lords contained within revealed themselves. Corpses hung suspended like lab experiments in a nightmare. In the first tank floated a skull with an attached spine, the lower jaw missing as wires connected to a device at the top of the cylindrical enclosure. The bone was fragmented and scared, the eye sockets dark with decay and a sense of emptiness.
A Dark Oceans Descent: (Heridian Saga, Book 1) Page 29