by Ivan Kal
Grimm took in a long breath. He had known what his decision was going to be from the beginning—he had just wanted to hear what they had to say. “We will go and help Earth.”
He saw the relief in the Captain Aiko’s eyes, and Captain Kane’s nod. Even Admiral Eliot nodded in grim agreement.
“We will need to start planning our strike immediately,” Ethan said. “Also, I believe that it would be best if Captain Aiko is given command of the Fury.”
“What?” Admiral Eliot asked, a sentiment echoed by Captain Aiko a moment later.
Ethan turned toward the Admiral. “Captain Aiko has far more experience than Captain Jones. She has fought dozens of battles in space, while Captain Jones hadn’t been in combat even once. It is the most logical thing to do, although I would recommend Captain Jones remaining on the Fury as second in command to help Captain Aiko get accustomed to the new ship. Everything on the Fury has been built with the same standards as the Prometheus, Admiral. It is only larger.”
The Admiral struggled for a moment, but then nodded, agreeing. “All right, and since I will be remaining on Senka I assume that you want to take direct command of the operation.”
The Dragons nodded in unison. “It is what we have been created to do. We will leave the details to Captain Aiko and Captain Kane, but we wish to be deployed with them. We will be instrumental in helping the situation on the ground.”
“That makes sense,” Grimm said. After that, the meeting was concluded.
They had a lot of work to do.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Kane sat in the Leviathan going through the last system checks as they got ready to transfer the mech-frames to the Fury. Jasmine, Aiko’s second in command, was going to take command of the Prometheus, while Aiko and a few of her staff and officers were transferred over to the Fury. The mech-frames were being transferred because Fury would be the staging point for the ground assaults; Leviathan would not fight this fight in space, but rather on the ground. Senka didn’t have much in terms of ground troops—they had five thousand soldiers—and only about half of them were going to Earth. They needed all the help they could get on the ground.
He finished his diagnostics and then climbed out of his cockpit and started climbing down the mech. Only once his feet hit the ground did he notice a person standing close, looking at the Leviathan. Kane recognized him as Ethan Dragon-001. The first time he seen him he had been intrigued by the fact that he had spellscripts on his face. During their meetings with the Admiral, he had been confused by the presence of the two Dragons and the attitude that everyone had toward them.
But after that meeting he had found out exactly who and what they were—and he didn’t know how to feel about it.
“The mech-frames are awakened golems, yes?” the Dragon, who was barely old enough to be considered a man, asked.
“They are,” Kane said, crossing his arms and studying him.
“They can move on their own?” Ethan D-001 asked.
“If given a command by their owner, yes.”
“It is impressive looking,” Ethan said as he took a step closer, before glancing at Kane. “You’ve learned what we are?”
“Yes, I had a long and illuminating talk with McCullagh. He is not a fan,” Kane answered.
Ethan nodded. “Our former teacher is resentful. He imagined us as a project which would push him to greater heights. He taught us how to fight, but we have since surpassed him. He was not made aware of the part we would be playing once our training was completed.”
“And what part is that? He wasn’t really clear on that point.”
“We are to be humanity’s protectors…and judges.”
“And you think that you are capable of acting in those capacities? When you can’t even remember what Earth looks like?”
Ethan tilted his head. “This is why we are going with you to Earth now, to see and decide.”
Kane grew quiet, holding the man’s gaze. The Dragon gave Kane a strange feeling. He was certain that Ethan was telling the truth, certain that he didn’t care enough to lie. But he could also see that he was not quite human; it wasn’t that something was missing, although Kane was certain that something was—it was the sense that he was just better. A different, superior species.
Kane shifted uncomfortably after he realized that he had been staring. Then he spoke again. “How many scripts do you have?”
“Classified.” His tone was serious, but Kane thought that he saw a glint of a smile.
“McCullagh mentioned that you have power cells implanted in your body? And better versions of the ones we have in our suits.”
“Yes, they can replenish power both from our bodies directly and from outside sources, and they hold far more power. We also have better suits,” Ethan told him, and Kane knew that the man was having fun.
“Oh, really?” Kane grinned.
Ethan allowed himself to smile. “We were imagined as your successors. All that you can do, we can do better.”
Kane was really tempted to ask Ethan to spar, but he wasn’t that stupid. Just the amount of scripts he had on his body made him far more dangerous than Kane. “I believe it. So they didn’t make mech-frames for you guys?”
Ethan shook his head. “Mech-frames were deemed far too costly and inefficient. Fighters were better in space and other weapons cheaper to make for the ground.”
Kane nodded as he looked back to Leviathan. He loved his mech-frame, but he knew its limitations. There were too few people with magic to pilot them, and losing one was losing far more than just losing one fighter in terms of investment.
“Aiko told me that you will be with her during the operation, on the Fury,” Kane said.
Ethan nodded. “Yes, we feel it necessary for one of us to act as an advisor during the battle in space. We might see things that others miss. The rest of my brothers and sisters will be on the ground.”
“I look forward to seeing them in action,” Kane said.
***
Ethan D-001 was walking through the Prometheus on his way off the ship, when a small shape ran into him and nearly bounced off of him. Ethan caught the person and realized that he was holding an alien. His mind ran through the hundreds of reasons why an alien would be on the Prometheus, from infiltration and sabotage to a stowaway, all before he remembered that Prometheus has a single alien crew member. The former slave girl Jaila. He had read through the files the Prometheus provided, looking for anything that might help his mission and decision. But perhaps also because he wanted to learn more about the man that was his father.
“Are you all right?” Ethan asked. She looked tiny in his arms, but from her file he knew that she was close to his age.
The girl didn’t respond. Instead she looked at him in terror, her big eyes opening even wider. For a moment Ethan wondered why she was so afraid, but then he realized that to someone like her seeing his spellscripts might seem intimidating.
He released her and took a step back. “I will not hurt you,” he said. “I am Ethan D-001.”
The girl looked torn between running away and screaming for help, but eventually she bowed her head and whispered, “I’m Jaila.”
The only reason he heard her was because he was keeping the spellscript around his ears on. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Jaila.”
She looked up, almost surprised that he had heard her, and then she narrowed her big eyes at him suspiciously. Ethan smiled and opened his mouth to ask her another question but was interrupted by a large shape turning into the corridor.
“Jaila!” a tall Wanderer woman said, and walked over to them. “There you are! You need to hurry or you will be stuck on this ship.” The woman noticed Ethan and looked at him strangely. “And who might you be?”
Ethan introduced himself. “I am Ethan D-001. I’ve just been visiting Captain Kane; I wanted to see the mech-frames.”
“Ah.” The Wanderer’s eyes widened in realization. “One of the Dragons I have been hearing about.�
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As soon as she mentioned that, Jaila’s look turned frightful again.
“She is leaving the ship?” Ethan asked.
“Yes, she will be staying here on Senka, where it is nice and safe.”
Jaila didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t voice any objection either. She seemed like a timid little thing. Ethan couldn’t imagine living life like she had, being a slave. He could see some similarities with his own life, yet he didn’t resent what he had been turned into. He liked being a Dragon. From the files Ethan had taken from Grimm, he knew that his father Captain Reinhart felt the same way about his life. Ethan’s father had been taken from his family at a young age, and trained to become a soldier, yet from what Grimm’s files suggest his father had no resentment toward the people who took him. He liked being a soldier. Ethan couldn’t help but note the similarities, and wonder if perhaps there was more of Captain Kane Reinhart in Ethan and his siblings than he had initially thought.
“Don’t worry,” Ethan said. “Senka is perfectly safe, and I will make sure that my brothers and sisters who are staying here look after you.” He didn’t know why he said that, as there was nothing to be gained from doing so, but he felt good for saying what he had regardless.
Jaila appeared startled, but the Wanderer took her by the shoulders and dragged her away. “Let’s go! We don’t have much time.”
Ethan stood there watching them for a long moment. He had an unexplainable urge to protect the little girl, and he didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. After a moment, he continued walking on his way.
***
Kane looked at the ceiling from his uncomfortable spot on the floor. He couldn’t restrain himself, so he’d asked Ethan to spar. The result was…expected. The two of them were now on the Fury, preparing for the departure.
“I can’t believe what they have done to you,” Kane said. The way the young Dragon moved and used his magic, it was not human. His capabilities extended far beyond what Kane’s.
“It was necessary,” Ethan said as he blinked to stand next to Kane.
Kane shook his head. He still couldn’t believe how easy magic came to Ethan, how much power he had available to him. He wondered if he could have the same augmentations that the Dragons had—the upgraded blink spellscript and the power cells at the very least.
He could just imagine himself blinking himself across the battlefield. Although, his own version of the blink had its advantages—his could be used as a weapon, while the ones Dragons had could not in the same way. Their blink fields were contained to just their bodies.
Ethan extended his hand to him and Kane took it, letting the younger man pull him up.
“Let’s hope that you all are as good as that when the real thing comes,” Kane said.
Ethan nodded. “We will be.”
Kane stood next to the man, a child really, and studied his face. He couldn’t help but like him, there was something familiar about him. Based on everything that he had learned about the Dragons, Kane knew that he should be careful around them. Yet he didn’t feel like he should need to be, somehow he knew that they were trustworthy. His instincts were telling him that, and he had learned to trust his instincts.
He noticed the Dragon studying Kane in return. He had seen the other Dragons do the same, with the exact same expression. The problem was that he just couldn’t tell what they were thinking. He attributed that their unconventional upbringing, so he didn’t mention it.
Finally he shook his head, turning his thoughts to more important things. “Another round?”
Ethan smiled. “Of course.”
***
Aiko sat in the command center of the Fury, looking around at all the people running around making sure that everything was ready for their departure. The massive five-kilometer-long ship was a beast—a design which she helped come up with, although it had been changed a lot since the initial idea. Next to her stood Ethan D-001 and Captain Jones. The man didn’t seem too badly disappointed at losing his command; Aiko sensed that he felt more relieved not to be in command than resentful.
The Dragon, on the other hand, was another story. He didn’t speak much, nor was he giving out orders to everyone around him like Aiko had initially assumed he would be doing when she found out who and what he was. So far he had done nothing but oversee the transfer of command and give a few suggestions, always worded in a way so that they seemed like the most logical things imaginable.
And even Aiko had to admit that his suggestions made sense.
“Commodore?” Ethan called, and Aiko grimaced.
She had been given a new rank—to prevent confusion, for one, but also because she would be commanding four ships. “Yes?” Aiko answered.
“All troops are on board, and everything that can be fixed has been,” Ethan told her.
Aiko nodded. The ship was operational—mostly. Its rail-guns weren’t, nor would they be for this operation. One of their blink cannons wasn’t on-line, either, but seeing as the Fury had three, she didn’t see much need for another. And while the ship had better computers, it was still incredibly hard to hit a moving target with the blink cannons unless it was at near point blank range. The other thing that worried her was that they had no conventional point defense. They had the disintegration wave, but she would’ve been more comfortable if they had at least some point defense. Sadly the new type that Senka had been attempting to develop wasn’t yet finished and they had no time to install the traditional point defense turrets. Thankfully, Fury had a very thick kotarium hull.
“All right, then. Navigation, get us away from the station,” Aiko ordered, and watched the holo in front of her as her new ship moved away of the station. The Fury’s drives increased their thrust and the massive cylinder moved forward to join the other ships. The Atlas-class carriers Chimborazo and Everest, and her own Daedalus-class carrier Prometheus waited for the Fury-class super-carrier to join them in formation.
“Generate a wormhole,” Aiko ordered. They would drop out of the corridor and then enter again setting a course for Sol, just in case if things went wrong. They didn’t want to betray Senka’s location.
The wormhole began to open in front of them. Fueled by Fury, it grew to a size Aiko had never seen before. She took a deep breath and order her small fleet forward.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Aiko waited impatiently for her ship to exit the wormhole, attempting to calm herself before they arrived at Sol—her home. She had wished to come back to her homeworld for so long, but she had never imagined that it would be this way: tasked with repelling a Val’ayash invasion, while sitting on the most powerful warship humanity, maybe anyone, had ever built. She knew that the Val’ayash had technology that was arguably more advanced, but Fury had things that no Val’ayash ship had.
“Exiting the wormhole in two minutes,” her captain, Rick Jones, reported. It was a bit weird having a captain serve as her XO, but she understood that it was going to be just for this battle. Aiko had studied up on the Fury, but Jones knew her far better.
Ethan D-001 was standing next to Aiko on a small platform with several screens surrounding him. He didn’t speak, but instead was going through data too fast for Aiko to figure out what it was.
“Exiting the wormhole in—ten seconds,” the officer reported, and Aiko steeled herself.
The wormhole opened up before them and the Fury entered Sol, followed closely behind by the Everest, Chimborazo and the Prometheus. They entered the system above the plane, in much the same way that the Val’ayash had, only much closer to Earth—although “close” was relative in space.
Her crew immediately started using their sensors and scanners, and soon the image of the system began appearing on the holo in front of them.
“The Val’ayash ships are still in high orbit above Earth, Commodore,” an officer reported. “We are reading the six transports…as well as the three battlecruisers and the three battleships.”
“The light cruiser is missing,�
� Ethan D-001 said, speaking for the first time.
“Could they have sent it back to their territory? We don’t know if they have FTL comms, but if they don’t, it would make sense to have it go back to report,” Jones said.
Ethan didn’t respond. Instead, he kept looking at his screens. Then he finally turned around and looked at Aiko. “It is still here.”
“How do you know?” Aiko asked.
“Val’ayash ships are equipped with parasite craft capable of FTL speeds without wormholes. The time you fought and destroyed their light cruiser, one such craft escaped. It would not make sense for them to weaken their forces here, not when they have already lost some of their ships and have seen Prometheus arrive and immediately leave. They will want to keep as much of their power as is possible here.”
“Expand the search. Find that ship,” Aiko said. Then she turned to her comm officer. “Is there anything left of Earth’s network?” They didn’t have the time to check properly before.
“Nothing yet, Commodore.”
Aiko turned back to the images of Earth. They didn’t know anything about the situation on the ground other than what they had received from the transmission, and that had already been days-old data. Now it had been seven days since the Prometheus had first arrived in the system. Earth had spent almost two weeks under siege.
“Movement from the Val’ayash ships—the battlecruisers and the battleships are moving away from the planet on a course toward us!”
They are sending all of them. Aiko wondered what was going through their heads right then; they were sending all of their warships toward her formation, leaving the transports unguarded. The Fury must’ve scared them, and why wouldn’t it? It was the biggest ship in the system at five kilometers long and eight hundred wide, and weighed in at nearly a hundred million tons. The Val’ayash battleships, on the other hand, held at eighteen hundred meters and about seventeen million tons apiece.