by Christi Smit
Cheers went up from the Wolves who saw Nathan make the catch. Bear had been close to losing his own grip on the handholds attached to the side of the cargo compartment while he tried to reach for his brother. Pyoter had steadied the Lieutenant by securing his arm with his own strong, armoured hands. Xander stood ready behind Nathan to either jump for the rookie if Nathan missed or to hold on to him in case he lost his balance.
They had formed what looked like a human chain behind Nathan as the Titan screamed for his brother to jump.
What was only a second or two felt like a lifetime to everyone else. Christian’s left leg had almost cost him the distance to make the jump, but he had just enough momentum to carry him far enough and into the waiting grasp of Nathan’s powerful grip.
Christian finally blacked out from the pain just as Nathan wrenched his damaged body upward and into the cargo hold of the Maiden of Flame.
“Hit it Gunn! We have him!” Locke ordered the annoyed pilot in the cockpit of the Maiden.
The drop ship’s door closed and the ship climbed instantly. Around the Maiden her escorts formed up, all of them climbing into the blue heavens towards the waiting Hyperion.
No-one looked back at the beasts that had been following Christian, their fates were already sealed within their mutated flesh.
Christian regained consciousness after he felt something slap the side of his helmet. Nathan was standing over him, checking his brother’s vitals as the drop ship rocked back and forth from the ascent back into the void above Santor. “Ouch,” he said.
“By the state of you, ouch is the least of your problems,” Rivers said from the side, his helmet removed, showing his concerned face to the rookie Titan.
“Are we all safe?” Christian asked.
“Worry about yourself right now Corporal Quinn, but yes, all of the Wolves are safe and the Lancers will live on.” Locke’s head turned towards Jessica, who was trying to get next to Christian’s prone body, but she was struggling due to the other Titans surrounding him. “It looks likes the doctor wants to give you a once over.”
Christian sighed with relief as he listened to Locke speak. Everyone was safe, even Jay by the sound of it. His body relaxed more when Jessica finally crouched next to him, laying her hands on his cracked visor.
Jessica looked at the Titans around Christian. “Help me get this off,” she said, her tired hands fiddling for the release button hidden underneath Christian’s chin.
Nathan helped the doctor, removing his brother’s helmet slowly, revealing Christian’s bloody and beaten face.
Xander, who was looking down at the rookie, chuckled slightly. “Well, at least I am the pretty one again,” he said.
“Nonsense, we all know Rivers is the handsome one,” Christian replied.
Everyone except Tristan and Jessica laughed at the joke; they were more concerned with his wellbeing than the attempt to lighten the mood inside the Maiden’s cargo hold.
Jessica checked Christian’s vision, her hair draping over his face as she listened to his ragged breathing. Her eyes were filled with tears as she spoke. “Once we get to where we are going, you are not leaving my site until you are better. Is that clear?” she said.
Christian knew better than to argue, so instead he just smiled and reached with his right hand for his neck. He searched for something, clumsily clasping at a chain hidden underneath his suit. He pulled it free and let it fall to his chest in front of Jessica.
Her face changed almost instantly from concern to pure happiness. She knew the necklace, it was hers. She started crying, tears of joy rolling down her face as she leaned forward and kissed Christian on his bleeding lips.
“Oh Shit,” Xander said, “don’t look now, the rookie is getting lucky.”
“No time for that rookie,” Locke added. “We are nearing the Hyperion.”
Just as Locke finished speaking Gray’s voice broke over the radio. “Good to see all of you again, even if there are fewer of my fighters than there were before. This will be a scoop and scoot Gabriel. We are leaving as soon as you are on-board. Do your best not to get shot down so close to being rescued.” Gray waited for a response, leaving the channel open.
Locke could hear the Hyperion taking fire in the background. “We will do our best,” he replied.
“Good, because we aren’t leaving without any of you,” Gray said before cutting the link.
“Hang on to your nuts Wolves. Things might get a little bumpy,” Locke said to his squad.
All of them braced themselves, on the Maiden and on the other drop ships flanking her. They were almost home, just a few more minutes and then...well no-one knew exactly what would happen after they reached the Hyperion, but whatever it was it would probably be worse than the fight on New Horizon.
“Are you close?” Gray asked.
“Less than a minute away,” Gunn replied.
The relentless attacks from the traitors on the Hyperion were letting up slightly as the Stygian Council moved ever closer. Gray had no doubt in his mind that the Stygian Council and that bastard Vincent wanted to personally destroy the Hyperion. He was calling off his slaves to deal the death blow - not that Gray would give him the opportunity to kill his ship.
Guns belonging to the last two remaining vessels that had formed the blockade had finally fallen silent. One had been silenced by a barrage of magnetic cannons from an enemy vessel, breaking it apart as its crew suffocated and froze in the open void. The last blockade vessel perished when its entire command crew was annihilated by a well-aimed torpedo from a squadron of heavy bombers. It had kept firing even though its captain had been exterminated, but the traitors had cut out its heart, and slowly it was picked apart by the enemy’s plethora of weaponry. Its name was the Behemoth’s Heart, and its death was an honourable one. It had fought on without leadership, its crew were all heroes in Gray’s eyes, and if he ever got the chance he would tell others the tale of the great vessel and its gallantry.
There was nothing between the Hyperion and the enemy now. All allied vessels had either been destroyed or had run with whatever they had rescued from the surface of New Horizon.
It was just the Hyperion that had stayed behind, waiting for its lost friends to come home. Gray would not leave anyone behind that could be rescued. Even if the planet was being overrun by the Beast, and the traitors were killing innocent civilians on New Horizon’s surface, Gray still had hope that more would come to the planet’s aid well after the current battle was over.
“Incoming hail sir,” Remy said at Gray’s side. She was already strapped into her chair, ready to depart and leave the horrors of the last few days behind them. “It’s from the Stygian Council...” her words trailed off, her disbelief obvious at the idea of Lord Vincent stopping to gloat, or make matters worse with his terrible presence.
“This should be interesting. That son of a bitch can’t let anyone else have the last say,” Gray said before he half nodded to Remy to make the connection and put it up on his display.
Once again the screen in front of Gray crackled and fizzed, slowly focusing on Lord Vincent’s throne and his determined, but gaunt face.
“Captain Gray. Well done,” Lord Vincent said before Gray could say anything.
“I don’t have time for your shit, Victor. What do you want? Haven’t you done enough already? Or do you just want to boast about your treacherous actions?” Gray said. He was showing his anger without noticing it. Gray prided himself on being able to remain stone-faced in dire times, but Lord Vincent’s arrogance was just too much for him to ignore.
“I want you all to witness something before you skulk away like the vermin that you are,” Vincent replied calmly. The Lord of the North showed no emotion, remaining dead still as he spoke, his gloved hands resting on the armrests of his throne.
Gray’s mind was racing. Vincent’s words were heavy with meaning. What did he want them to witness. “You will not get your claws into my ship and my crew. Do your worst!” Gray said, his
anger bubbling over for the first time in many years.
Vincent smiled at Gray’s reaction. His lips parted, exposing his pristine teeth, grinning like a mad man at Gray. “You old fool,” he said. “You and your crew are nothing but insects to me. You are nothing but the shit I scrape from my boot after I have crushed you with my heel. Do not flatter yourself. I want you to witness something far grander than the destruction of your precious vessel.”
Remy suddenly stirred, the display on her lap was blurting sirens. “Captain! Sensors are reporting a massive energy spike from his ship!”
“Let me show you that my words are not just idle threats. Look upon my power and witness what I am capable of!” Lord Vincent was visibly excited, grinning even wider.
Gray rose from his seat slowly, his eyes fixed on the viewports at the head of the Hyperion’s bridge.
“No...” Gray breathed.
“Yes!” Vincent said excitedly. “I want you to remember this day forever. Whenever you close your eyes, these images will haunt you for the rest of your miserable, insignificant life!”
“It can’t be” Remy said at Gray’s side.
“I am afraid it is my dear. Fire!” Vincent ordered enthusiastically.
Bright light built up inside the dormant fusion cannon built into the belly of the Stygian Council. The dormant weapon believed by many to be incapable of ever firing again, was preparing to fire and rise from its metallic coffin. The weapon’s heat sinks extended from the cannon’s sides, glowing lava red against the darkness of the void. Rings of steam formed by the heat sinks venting heat into the cold void, freezing as the nothingness transformed water vapour into solid ice.
“There is nowhere you can hide from me Captain Gray. Run as fast as you can. My reckoning will catch up to you sooner or later.” Vincent waved his hand dismissively, cutting the link between the two vessels.
Gray watched in stunned silence as the Stygian Council’s fusion cannon fired. Lord Vincent’s vessel was thousands of miles away from New Horizon, but it took the planet-killing shell only a few moments to reach the infested planet’s surface. It hit ground in the northern hemisphere of New Horizon, far to the west of Santor. The fusion cannon’s shell was the size of a small cargo vessel, filled to the brim with deadly life-consuming fire. When it hit, it carved a crater into New Horizon’s surface before exploding, its thick casing protecting its terrible contents until detonation.
The first sign of the planet-killing weapon’s blast was the clouds above its landfall pushed aside as if an ancient god had reached down with his hand and parted the skies. The inextinguishable fire followed soon after, erupting from the impact site.
“Everyone is on-board sir!” a communications officer announced.
Gray did not hear. His eyes were fixated on what was unfolding before his eyes. He could not believe what he was seeing.
“Captain Locke wants to know what is going on,” Remy said at Gray’s side.
Gray did not reply. He was still frozen in shocked silence.
“Dammit Remy, if he can’t answer me, you can!” Locke demanded over the radio. The Titans were still on-board the Maiden, remaining inside the drop ship’s cargo hold.
“It’s too...I can’t,” Remy replied. Her eyes were filled with tears.
Locke was ready to disembark from the Maiden and make his way to the bridge. If Gray was not going to push the button, he sure as hell would. Every second they wasted gave the enemy more opportunities to move in and surround them.
Locke was about to disengage the door lock when Gray finally spoke.
“Locke?” Gray asked. His voice was filled with anger and pain. It sounded as if the captain of the Hyperion had reached the end of his rope, as if he had stared into oblivion and seen the nothingness waiting there for him.
“Punch it Willis. Let’s get the hell out of here!” Locke replied.
Gray did not reply. He fell back into his command chair and with a tired hand pushed the button to belonging to the waiting BEAM drive’s activation mechanism. He remained silent, wordlessly watching the viewports, closing his eyes to burn the memory into his mind as the BEAM drive fired once again. It would carry them far away, to relative safety, for now.
The bright light from the Hyperion’s departure gladdened Lord Vincent. The Hyperion’s interference was ruining the show for him. He wanted no distractions while he watched New Horizon burn.
Most of the northern hemisphere was already covered in righteous fire, consuming everything organic it came in contact with. Lord Vincent had fired the weapon without any regard or thought for his own men still on the surface of the planet. The firestorm gained speed and ferocity as it crept over New Horizon’s beautiful landscape, leaving nothing but smoke and ash behind. The cleansing flame from the fusion cannon killed without pausing, indiscriminately scorching beast and any surviving humans, leaving nothing but husks of burnt flesh behind.
“Sir?” an officer standing in front of Lord Vincent’s throne, bowed slightly in respect, or fear, for his master. “The Device is ready on your order.”
“No. I want it to burn. Everyone that passes this damned sector will bear witness to what awaits them should they stand in my way. We will use Project Black on our next target,” Lord Vincent said dismissively.
The Lord of the North kept watching New Horizon burn, his eyes mirroring the zeal the flames were now showing the enemies of humankind.
By the time the Stygian Council moved on to its next destination New Horizon would be no more. A once great world, the centre of technology and research for sectors in every direction would be left to smoulder in its own embers. Its beautiful landscape reduced to nothing but dust and smouldering ash. Billions of lives were lost, and the planet would never be able to sustain life again.
Even the bacteria, invisible and microscopic, working behind the scenes of all living organism, perished in the firestorm.
New Horizon’s death heralded the dawn of a dark period in humankind’s future, only a fraction of our race would survive to see the conclusion to events that would change the course of humankind’s path through time, forever.
The Dawn of Extinction had finally arrived.
Epilogue
Hyperion
BEAM Jump in process
Location: Unknown
Emotions were high and nerves were raw on-board the Hyperion. Everywhere Locke walked, through the corridors of his home ship, past engineers and soldiers, the effect of New Horizon’s death could be seen on their tired faces.
Many crew members that called the Hyperion home were from New Horizon. Now the Hyperion was the only thing they had left. It was a small consolation prize, and they were all coming to the same realization - the universe was a horribly large place and their safe haven had shrunk considerably.
Locke should have felt his home planet’s death more than others. It was after all part of him, part of his legacy. His ancestor, the great Star Explorer Captain Locke, had been the first to set foot on its then alien surface. He had helped to build the first colonies on New Horizon. Locke’s bloodline was so deeply rooted in the foundations of that world that when the world bled, so did his family. He was the only one left now, his lineage burned from the face of the universe forever, the last in a long line of honoured men and women dedicated to the preservation of humankind.
But he did not feel the loss as the others did. He would not allow it to drag him down; wallowing in the catastrophe they had all suffered through, and were suffering through. Locke chose to use the anger and sadness he felt to stoke the furnace inside his soul, further strengthening his resolve against his enemies. He shaped the turbulent emotions he felt into determination.
Locke took a deep breath as he reached the doors leading to the Hyperion’s bridge, pausing for a moment before he pressed the button to open the door.
From behind him Nathan appeared from an unlit corridor leading to the medical bays deeper into the Hyperion’s belly. He said nothing, stopping to give Locke
the moment to himself.
“You are still terrible at sneaking up on something,” Locke said to Nathan, looking at his second in command over his shoulder.
Nathan snorted but said nothing.
“How is he?” Locke asked.
“Not good. The good doctor hasn’t left his side, but nobody can say if he will fully recover. He will live, but how long is anyone’s guess. He might die tomorrow or years from now in battle.” Nathan folded his arms, leaning his weight against the corner of the corridor he had appeared from.
“Annoying, isn’t it?” Locke said. He sighed after he spoke.
“You have no bloody idea. I will have to persuade them to give me answers soon, and it might get messy.”
“Just clean up when you are done. I have enough on my plate already.”
“Speaking of which,” Nathan said, pointing at the door in front of Locke. “Shall we?” he asked.
Locke nodded and opened the door with a button press. Both Titans entered the bridge, both wearing military fatigues. It had been more than two weeks since their departure from New Horizon, and they had spent their time in the recovery tanks. The dreams during those days were the worst the Titans ever experienced, and all of them carried the weight of all the lives lost on New Horizon on their shoulders.
Gray had called the meeting, inviting everyone he thought could help plan their next course of action.
The Wolves were there, dressed in the same fatigues Locke was wearing. Christian was obviously missing, but Corporal Jay had proudly volunteered to stand in Corporal Quinn’s place until the damaged Titan was back on his feet.
Gray was hunched over the command table in the centre of the bridge, Remy standing next to him, moving her petite hands over the displays mounted inside the command table. She was relaying information to Gray, and he was listening intently to everything she was saying. The lights from the displays and the lights hidden in the table’s metal sides cast an eerie glow on the gathering Gray had called.