Black Swarm

by Ivan Kal

  The Empire had relied on Adrian just as Tomas had relied on him. If it had not been for Adrian the Empire would have not become what it was today. And yes, Adrian’s words had stung—because he had been right. The strong ruled, Tomas had always known that. If Adrian had so wished, he could’ve ruled his Empire.

  It had taken Tomas a few days to recover enough from their encounter such that he could analyze it clearly, and now Tomas knew that he hadn’t been fair. He had told Adrian that he didn’t understand him, that he was no longer human. But it was only afterward that he understood that the same words applied to him as well. Tomas had changed much from who he used to be on Earth—he had changed genetically as well as mentally—and he realized that to the ordinary person, Tomas was something beyond human, an existence that they could not understand, the same as Adrian was to him.

  But it didn’t change anything. Tomas still didn’t trust Adrian, and he did not agree with his plans. He was sorry for that, but deep down he had always known that it could only end the way it had. The two of them had grown too powerful to stay what they had been: a leader and a follower.

  Finally, a chime sounded in his imp, letting him know that his guests had arrived. Tomas sighed and walked out of his room. He walked through the palace, two guards stepping behind him as soon as he left his quarters.

  Meetings in the middle of the night were not something that he generally attended, but this had sounded like it was an emergency. The Tar’ferat Representative Urvu’ri had sent word a few days ago that she was returning to Sanctuary, and that she was bringing a guest: a Josanti League Representative.

  Tomas had not been too happy about that, as he remembered the Josanti League’s insults and disrespect at the summit. For them to reach out was an indicator that something had changed, however, and seeing as they had been viciously attacked by the Enlightened, it was not difficult to see what that something was.

  He walked into a meeting room and headed to the head of the table. The two visitors, along with their advisers, were already there.

  “Emperor,” Urvu’ri said from her perch. Tomas nodded at the black, bird-like alien, and then turned to the other guest.

  The second person was of a race called Lefari. He was a hexapod whose body consisted of a small blob at his top, from which legs sprung. The blob held a large mouth and two manipulator arms, along with some long hair that were his sensory organs. The Lefari were one of the more prominent races in the Josanti League, and while Tomas had only ever seen one Lefari before this, he nonetheless recognized the telepathic signature of the one standing before him. They had met before.

  “Emperor Klein,” the Lefari said in an even tone of voice.

  “Councilor Andar,” Tomas returned. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  The Councilor seemed somewhat uncomfortable, which was to be expected since the Josanti League had insulted and looked down upon Tomas and his allies before. Councilor Andar had been one of the only Josanti League citizens that Tomas had interacted favorably with, as he had been one of Levisomaerni’s allies in the League and had tried to convince his nation that what Tomas and his allies had presented was the truth. Sadly, his nation had not been so open minded as to believe anything someone from outside of the galactic core said.

  “I have come on behalf of my government,” Andar said.

  “Oh?” Tomas commented.

  “Yes…” Andar began. “The Josanti League wishes to extend its apologies for the way certain former members of our government had treated with you and your allies.”

  Tomas suppressed the desire to smile and waited silently for a few moments. Clearly the political situation in the Josanti League had changed.

  “I appreciate your words,” Tomas said, purposefully not accepting the apology, and then waited.

  After a few moments of Andar squirming, the alien opened his mouth again. “I have been sent here to inquire about the possibility of the Josanti League joining your alliance.”

  Tomas didn’t react outwardly, but he was very surprised. The invasion of their territory must have hurt them fiercely—and that only spoke to the Enlightened’s power. Two years were nothing in a war against nations with as massive a territory as the Josanti League. Hell, without access points one could barely travel through all of their territory in that time.

  “The war is not going your way, is it?” Tomas asked, deciding to cut through to the heart of the matter.

  Andar didn’t respond immediately, and Tomas could feel several conflicting emotions run through him until they settled finally on shame.

  “No,” Andar said. “I know what Levisomaerni told us, and while I did try to get my people to listen to you I must admit that deep down I never really believed that these Enlightened could be such a threat. We are the Josanti League—one of the most powerful nations in the galaxy! We have stood for longer than most races knew how to speak! The possibility of us losing never really entered my mind.”

  “I know,” Tomas replied with a nod. “It was hard for me to come to terms with that knowledge myself when I first learned about them.” He leaned forward. “Tell me all that has happened.”

  * * *

  A little while later, Tomas sat in his office with Urvu’ri standing across from him. Andar had told them the broad overview of their war with the Enlightened, some of which the Great Alliance already knew from their contacts in the Josanti League. Some they hadn’t been aware of, however—the Josanti League had been suppressing the truth for a while now.

  “I can’t believe that they really lost Davarosh,” Urvu’ri said. “It has always been one of the most defended systems in the core. My people had always thought it impossible to invade, not just because of its defenses but also because of the close proximity of several Josanti League fleets which could reinforce the system quickly. And to think that not only did those reinforcements fail, but that the great fleet they had assembled to take the system back has been destroyed… It is almost unbelievable.”

  They didn’t know the details, of course, only what the Josanti League had agreed to reveal, but even that was enough to let them know just how hard the Josanti League had lost.

  “Now we know where at least one of the Enlightened is,” Tomas said. Over the years they had spotted the Living-ships moving with the raid fleets, but they had never stayed for long. They always ran away rather than entering into conflict with the Great Alliance ships.

  “Do you think that the Nomad Fleet will agree to attack the system with us?” Urvu’ri asked. They had already told Andar that they would aid the Josanti League, but her question made him grimace. She wasn’t aware of Tomas’ and Adrian’s falling out; she just knew that the Nomad Fleet had refused to search the galaxy for the Enlightened.

  “I shall send a message,” Tomas said slowly. Adrian had said that he would remain with the Alliance, but hopefully now that they knew where one of the Enlightened was, he would agree to come. The Enlightened was entrenched deep in the system, clearly turning it into a base of operations. It was the perfect opportunity to ambush one of them.

  Although no matter what Tomas said, he did worry that they hadn’t seen more than one of them at a time. Their scans were insufficient to tell if they had always seen one of them or several at different times, but the analysts were leaning toward it being only a single Enlightened.

  “Even if he doesn’t agree, this is the opportunity we have been waiting for. We must take it,” Tomas said.

  “Of course. I will call for more fleets—we must assemble as many ships as possible,” Urvu’ri said.

  “Yes, but we can’t wait for long. The Enlightened is building up defenses, and the more time we give it, the harder it will be to assault the system.”

  Tomas already sent word for Johanna and her force to be recalled. She would have to leave some forces to protect Orna, but her force would be the core of the assault. Now he only had to send word to his other allies and ask for more ships.

  Tomas was a bit worried
that Adrian’s suspicions were true and the AI had a way of monitoring their comms, but it shouldn’t matter much in this instance—not if they acted fast, before the Enlightened had the chance to reinforce its position.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Year 718 of the Empire — Krashinar territory

  Adrian sat patiently on the throne inside Moirai as she was being chased across the system by a pair of Krashinar great beasts. He could feel her joy and exhilaration at the fact that she was the fastest thing in the system, and also the largest. The two great beasts were of the Old Hunters, great beasts that had been born long ago and served in the Great Packs against the Erasi thousands of years in the past. Even though they were old, they were still powerful. Krashinar Old Hunters were those beasts that had served for a thousand years, and were then moved from the Great Packs to this, their new home: a massive pack that traveled the void in Krashinar territory, patrolling it, or simply exploring beyond it.

  The Krashinar Old Hunters might not be as powerful as their current Great Packs, but they had other things on their side: age and experience. Not to say that they were weak, of course—their weapons and biological systems had only gotten stronger with age—but they did not have many of the newer weapons added after their time. Still, they were more than a match for the machine ships. Old Hunter great beasts were not the same size as Araxi, who had grown to be around sixty kilometers long, although it had been allowed to grow in the recent years as the Krashinar, for the first time ever, had begun genetically altering their beasts after they were fully grown. The largest ones here were between ten and fifteen kilometers long, as they were the first generation of great beasts—still far larger than the biggest of the AI battleships.

  And then there were the Eternal Hunters, the beasts grown for the purpose of testing out new designs. They were a motley bunch, and there was no unity among them. Each was unique, although some subsets did share some similar characteristics. They were not as numerous as the Old Hunters, but their numbers in the system already exceeded the entire Fleet of the Empire, which stood at eight hundred thousand ships. Some were massive, the size of the Titans, at around thirty kilometers. The current great beast designs the Krashinar used came from the Eternal Hunters, so it was only logical that their first iterations were here. This did not mean that the great beasts like Araxi were more powerful; there were beasts here that had more powerful weapons or tougher hides, but in the end the Great Pack had only refined designs, and “refined” sometimes meant reducing firepower, or giving their great beasts a weaker hide, to make way for other necessities.

  The system they were in now was filled with Krashinar beasts, and more were coming every day. The force assembling here was shaping up to be something truly magnificent.

  “WON AGAIN.” Moirai’s voice shook Adrian out of his thoughts. He smiled at her simple joy.

  “Congratulations,” Adrian said back.

  “OLD ONES ASK, WHEN FIGHT?” Moirai sent, and Adrian felt just a bit of her previous impatience. Ever since the force had started to gather, Moirai had had stuff to do. She had never before been surrounded by so many void beasts aside from Araxi, and having the others here had served to curb some of her impatience.

  She had taken well to the Old Hunters, or rather they had taken her under their wing. From what Adrian could gather from her, the Old Hunters doted on Moirai. To them she was a child—a babe, really—and yet she was the largest and most powerful beast in the system at one hundred and twenty kilometers in size. On top of that, her hide was protected by cold metal, as the Krashinar liked to say.

  Moirai had bragged to him about all the things she had learned from the “old ones.” How to navigate the void better, how to sense the flow of battle, how to get the most out of her weapons. Adrian didn’t mind that at all. Moirai was learning much, and everything that she did learn only served to make her stronger.

  “We are waiting for more to come,” Adrian said again. It had been several months since the Seventh had issued the call, but Krashinar territory was large, and even with them opening another three access points it had taken a long while for their forces to gather.

  “STRONG NOW, SHOULD FIGHT.”

  “The enemy we are going against has far more ships. Even when our force is fully assembled, we will still be outnumbered.”

  He could feel Moirai thinking, and then he felt her reach out with her mind to the great beasts around her. There was an exchange, and Adrian waited for several minutes as she conversed with the Old Hunters.

  When she finally returned her attention to him, he could feel her pout just a bit. “OLD ONES SAY YOU ARE RIGHT. SAY I SHOULD LISTEN TO HANDLER.”

  Adrian chuckled. Their relationship hadn’t been exactly like that between a Krashinar beast and their handlers—it had always been something more. “I don’t want you to think that I must be obeyed always. I do not know everything, but I do know much. I ask only that you listen to me when I speak of things I know more about.”

  Moirai stilled for a while, and then finally asked a question. “WHY DO OLD ONES CALL YOU HEART OF THE MOUNTAIN?”

  Adrian was taken aback. He hadn’t known that that name had spread to the Krashinar beasts. Moirai had some of his experiences, his thoughts and memories, but he hadn’t shared everything with her. He knew that to Moirai he didn’t really even have a name—he was a part of her, someone who was just “YOU” to her. It was more than that, of course, as Moirai wasn’t like any other life form. She could communicate with words, but she didn’t need to. Like the Krashinar great beasts, she didn’t speak with words, but more with emotions and thoughts, so he was surprised that she had learned one of his names. He wondered how she had managed to translate it to speech from what the beasts had told her. He thought about how to respond for a while.

  “It is a name that had been given to me by another,” Adrian said at last.

  “LIKE YOU DID FOR MOIRAI?” she asked.

  “Yes, exactly like that. There is a people who have powerful telepaths. In their culture, it is an honor to be given a name by someone powerful in the mind Sha. I was given the name by an enemy, someone who was powerful and who respected that power.”

  “WHY TAKE NAME FROM ENEMY?”

  “Why indeed…” Adrian thought about it for a few moments. “Because it is more than a name. The person who gave it to me saw my inner world, and she had given me a name to reflect that. Because it is more than a name—it is who I am,” Adrian said slowly, and as he spoke he realized how true that was. He hadn’t really thought about it so much, but now he understood.

  He was the Heart of the Mountain. Massive, strong, unmovable, always reaching for the sky, but never touching it. He would always strive to reach the next level of power, always reach for what was above him—but there was no end that he could see, and he would never reach that which he was seeking to find. In many ways, Heart of the Mountain was a far more suitable name for him than the one he had received at birth.

  “MOIRAI, DESTINY AND FATE,” Moirai said, repeating the words he had told her when he named her.

  “Yes, that is what you are.”

  “GOOD NAMES.”

  Adrian smiled. “Yes, they are good names.”

  * * *

  Adrian waited in Moirai’s landing bay as a small shuttle beast entered and landed next to his own shuttles. There, the Seventh exited and slithered over to Adrian.

  “Should I greet you now with the respect due to the Seven always? Or may we speak as friends?” Adrian asked humorously.

  The Seventh sent him its amusement. “We are and always will be friends, Adrian.”

  “So, why are you here then? Don’t the Seven always stay on a single planet? I would have thought that you would have more duties now.”

  “They do, but we have discussed this matter at length. I am one of the Seven, but I am different, and it has become apparent that the Krashinar need something different. It has been decided that I will serve as the Seventh from Araxi, that I w
ould continue my life as a Hunt-master—the first who is also one of the Seven.”

  Adrian raised his eyebrows at that. “That is a lot to handle.”

  “It is, but Araxi has already been altered with a greater amplifier and a new breed of relay beast has been assigned to it. I will be able to converse with the others.”

  “So, are you going back to the Great Packs with Johanna’s forces?”

  “No, there are many capable Hunt-masters there. I will be coming with you, to lead the Eternal Hunters and the Old Hunters.”

  Adrian nodded. “I am glad to have you, my friend.”

  “Good. The final packs should be arriving within two months. This is enough time for you to tell me your plan, and for us and the others of the Seven to speak and prepare. Having a wealth of memories such as they possess is a great advantage.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Year 718 of the Empire — Sol

  Johanna looked at the assembled forces in the orbit of the sun. The force that she was going to lead against the Enlightened in Josanti League territory.

  The fleet consisted of more than just the ships of the major members of the Great Alliance. Tomas had reached out to every member and asked for as much as they could give. Not all of them were as advanced as the major members, and not all had many ships, but all had sent at least some of their forces nonetheless. Johanna had had a headache for what seemed like weeks as she tried to figure out where it would be best to put those ships that were not as powerful as the major players. They would still be useful, their weapons could hurt the bioships, but it would take more time.