by Luigi Robles
“Which is?” Fain asked.
“Unlike their smaller counterparts,” Eora said, “the large cannons cannot fire indefinitely. In other words, we believe they will heat up. They also consume a great deal more energy than the smaller ones.”
“We believe… When you say that, you mean they really haven’t been tested?” Fain asked.
“That’s correct,” Eora said. “That’s because their destructive power is too much, and there’s not really a facility where we can test them out. And lastly, there is this.” Eora changed the hologram once again to highlight the long lines that ran across the ship.
“The main cannons,” Fain murmured.
“Yes, the main cannons,” Eora said. “Or as I like to call them, Fate cannons. With these, we really don’t know just how much we can do. The last time we tested them, we ended up destroying a small island, so the ESAF vowed never to test the Fate cannons on Earth ever again.”
“A small island gone?” Fain asked.
“Yes, and that was only at twenty percent of their total power,” Eora said. “And the best part is that the battery modules didn’t see any depletion at all. And whatever depletion did occur, it was quickly restored by the ship’s power core.”
This is good, this is all good news, Fain thought. We aren’t going to be just some scrawny ship that can barely fly. Sodenia is a force to reckon with. But even with this ship, the Herrion did not make it…
“Colonel Green commented that we have improved the ship since it got here,” Fain said. “What are those improvements he mentioned?”
“There have been countless upgrades. Pycca would be the best person to tell you about those,” Eora said as she closed the hologram. “The levitation and gravity machines have been heavily modified. I think Pycca may have perfected them. In theory, they will allow the ship to move in unison with the pilot. Also, perhaps the biggest upgrades were the battery modules. Somehow when we combined the alien tech with materials from Earth, they became quantifiably much more efficient.”
Will that be enough? Fain thought. Will that be enough to at least stop the coming threat?
“I understand,” Fain said. “Thank you for coming. I need you to ready everything to fire at a moment’s notice. If something needs to be primed, prime it, and if something needs to be loaded, load it.”
“I will do that, Captain.”
Fain nodded, dismissing Eora, and she quickly left the room without saying anything else. Eora’s lighthearted personality reminded Fain of hope, something that he didn’t want to allow himself to feel just yet, at least not until everyone was safely on board the ship. He was determined to protect those around him.
“Kya, can you give me an update?” Fain asked. “Where is the cluster of ships now?”
“It has been increasingly difficult to track their movements in the past ten minutes, as they have been sporadic, speeding up and slowing down, while alternating between different levels of cloaking as well. But my calculations show them reaching Earth within twenty-six minutes.”
“Twenty-six minutes? That’s hardly enough time,” Fain said. “Kya, prepare for an imminent attack. Make sure that all the defense weapons this bunker has are pointing towards the incoming spaceships. Fire as soon as they come into range.”
“Would you like their coordinates as well when they come into range?” Kya asked.
“Yes, send them to the area where they will be operating the cannons,” Fain said.
“That would be the weapons bay, located underneath the command bridge. The entire first floor of the three-story bridge is dedicated to such operations. And there’s one more thing. Several commanders and even the council on board the ship have been trying to contact you.”
“Thank you, Kya, that’s good to know. As for the people trying to contact me, I saw that flashing light on my wrist long ago; it’s not like the rest. Please don’t let them bother me. I will deal with them later,” Fain said. “Patch me through to Larissa.”
“Captain!” Larissa said.
“Status,” Fain said as he leaned against the console.
“We are just about done,” Larissa said. “We are just waiting on a few bunker personnel from the far side of the island.”
Great, we are on the same page. She thought about getting everyone off the island also. She knows what the Acram are capable of.
“Is there any way we can hurry that up?” Fain said. “Everyone needs to be on board the ship and at their stations within the next five minutes.”
“Perhaps I can help get the last of the personnel here,” Kya interjected.
“Do it,” Fain said. “Larissa, how are things down there?”
“It’s quite a mess. There are around two thousand more people than originally planned. Sodenia’s dock is getting full. People are starting to panic.”
“Go with them. Try to keep everything under control. Being in here is their only chance for survival. It’s our only chance.”
Not a minute had passed before August and Pycca entered the bridge along with six other officers, every one of them breathing heavily, as if they had just run a mile.
“Captain!” August said. “We are reporting to our stations.”
The bridge of Sodenia was large, larger than any bridge that Fain had seen before. Besides the console at the center of the room and the pilot’s command station, the bridge had ten other stations, three of them almost as large as the pilot’s command station. Each of the smaller stations was to monitor crucial components of the ship, and the larger ones were for the flight crew that would help Fain delegate command.
Pycca went to occupy one of the larger stations to the left of the console, while August sat down at the one on the right. Both of them flipped and twisted buttons with expert knowledge. One of the three larger stations towards the back right of the console was left empty.
That must be Larissa’s station, Fain thought. Eora’s will surely be downstairs, managing the weapons.
“Is everyone else at their stations?” Fain asked.
“We are at about eighty percent capacity,” August said. “Most of the officers are at their stations, but there are a few missing, and Larissa and Eora have not checked in.”
Fain eyed the pilot’s command station, constantly adjusting and making calculations to see just how fast he could go.
“Engineering, what’s your status,” Fain asked.
“Sodenia is up and running at one hundred percent. She is purring like a kitten,” Pycca said.
“The last of the facility’s personnel are safely on board the ship,” Kya said.
“Let’s close her up and get ready for flight,” Fain said.
Fain remembered that the blue button would allow him to speak to the whole crew. He pressed it without knowing what he was about to say. The only thing he knew was that everyone on board Sodenia needed to hear something.
“This is Captain Fain Jegga. With everyone on board, we will get Sodenia ready for her first flight. We have a possible attack incoming. We will not move or make a sound until it happens. We don’t know what the enemy wants, but we will find out. As for them, they don’t know what we humans can do, but if they attack us, they will find out. Sodenia’s maiden flight should have been met with a grand celebration—to honor those who have worked so hard to bring it to its current state; to lift the hopes of one and all that live under the shadow of fear that the alien invaders left on Earth; and to remember those who are not among us anymore. For now, that will be postponed until we safely return home.” Fain let go of the button.
“Kya, do we have a visual?” Fain asked.
“It has been increasingly difficult to keep track of them,” Kya said. “Scrolling through satellite viewpoints on screen.”
After Kya had showed him five different viewpoints on the main screen, the alien cluster finally appeared. They were moving fast through space. Fain felt the room grow colder as everyone stood quietly, watching the soundless video.
For two s
olid minutes, there was nothing but silence, but Fain kept focus, waiting for their first strike. The cluster of spaceships was fast to disappear from the main screen as it moved forward. Fain had already made a guess that the facility would come in range for the incoming threat much sooner than the bunker’s weapons would be able to reach the enemy. He wanted to make sure that they were it; something about them struck Fain as different.
“Incoming fire,” Kya said as the viewpoint on the main screen switched to a different angle. “Affected radius will be approximately twenty miles.”
“Send the coordinates to Eora; tell her to get ready,” Fain said. “Are there any civilians in the crossfire?”
“No, Colonel Green has already evacuated them to safety,” Kya said.
The first shots landing on the facility felt like a slight nudge, but as the seconds passed, they quickly grew in intensity, even causing tremors.
“The spaceships have broken into Earth’s atmosphere; it will be thirty seconds more before they come into range.”
“Kya, open fire as soon as you have a target,” Fain said. “Everyone else, get ready for imminent takeoff.”
The main screen changed to show the view outside the bunker from a camera in a nearby palm tree. It was raining fire from the sky as the aliens zeroed in on their target. Seconds later, the bunker on the surface of the manmade island fired back, turning the once blue sky into fire itself. The muffled soundwaves from the surface barely reached the ship deep underground.
But no matter how hard the weapons on the surface of the island tried, they were all getting wiped out one by one, as the alien fire was relentless.
“We are leaving,” Fain said as he ran to the pilot’s command station. “Eora, get ready.”
When Fain got into the pilot’s seat, the controls automatically adjusted to fit him perfectly. The simulator controls were a faithful replica of the controls before him, with one exception. These controls had a strange but premium feel to them, unlike anything he had felt before, solid in construction yet smooth at the same time.
Once he was seated, the command station began to rise from the ground as an opening in the ceiling of the bridge appeared. The room Fain was in now was dark, but within seconds panels all around him began to light up with the view of the outside. He had a complete view of the outside world; the only thing he couldn’t see was a small spot below his seat. He saw the colossal ship in its entirety as well as everything around it.
Without wasting any time gasping over the stunning view, he slammed the pedal down and pulled on the control lever. The ship followed his command loyally and lifted from the ground. Gauges appeared all around him, letting him know the amount of force each component of the ship was exerting.
“Kya, is the hangar door working?” Fain asked.
“I cannot tell with certainty, as we are no longer docked,” Kya said. “But it’s likely that it will not open, as the building is about to collapse.”
“Shield up,” Fain said.
“Roger that, Captain,” August replied—his name appeared next to the gauges to show that he was the one speaking. “Shield at one hundred percent.”
There’s no time to waste. Let’s see what she can do, Fain thought as he pressed down on the push pedals and raised the booster lever a quarter of the way up.
The ship flew upwards with tremendous force, instantly hitting the hangar’s ceiling and breaking through it with ease. But there was no shaking inside the ship as it passed through the millions of tons of dirt and rock as if they were water.
“Eora, fire when you are ready,” Fain said as he kept his feet on the pedals, still accelerating upwards.
Moments later, most of the small cannons spread out all over Sodenia opened fire, unleashing a hell-storm on the enemy ships. But the enemy did not back down; instead, it looked like they had become more tenacious.
As Fain pressed on and Sodenia rose up even higher into the sky, a sign of hope appeared. It looked like one of the enemy ships had just exploded, then another, and another after that. Their numbers were dwindling fast.
“Confirm target destroyed,” Fain said.
“Target destroyed, Captain,” Eora said on the other side of the channel. “I can confirm ten of them.”
“Follow the targets; don’t let up,” Fain said as he pitched Sodenia’s bow upwards into the sky, facing the enemy head-on. “Everyone else, I hope you are strapped in or holding on to something.”
“Adjusting to target,” Eora said as Sodenia kept on firing.
If Sodenia was able to get out of the hangar with ease, it should have no problem flying through the cluster, Fain thought. I’ve seen just how deep it was buried; there is no way a ship will matter to Sodenia’s mass.
Fain raised the booster lever all the way up, and the ship’s rear thrusters erupted monstrously into life, sending Sodenia flying through and past the cluster of alien ships and into space. As it passed through the cluster, there were a few vibrations, but it was nothing major.
“Shield at seventy-two percent, Captain,” August said. “Steadily climbing back up.”
“Pycca, what have you got?” Fain asked.
“It looks like you hit and destroyed a few of them on your way up; the impact was greater than any weapon they have. They might be packed with some kind of explosives. I’m working on the shield now,” Pycca said.
“We are out of range with the small cannons,” Eora said as Sodenia flew into space for the first time since it had landed on Earth.
“Keep your eye on the target. I’ll try to stay close and see if they will follow. We have to get them away from Earth to avoid casualties.”
Whoa, she’s fast, Fain marveled. She handles just like the small ship in the simulator, if not faster. But speed alone isn’t going to cut it. So far, we’ve only destroyed a few out of sixty-two. This was a big risk I took, but if they follow me, it will be well worth it. Sodenia is now at home; now we can really fight back.
7
Survival
In outer space, Fain’s spherical view screen instantly adapted to the environment, and the enemy ships turned into transparent green figures. He was still able to see everything with great detail, including the ship itself.
Fain waited for the cluster of enemy ships to follow Sodenia into space; it took them longer than he expected. Something didn’t seem right to Fain, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. The enemy ships had stopped their fire and they looked hesitant, not at all interested in pursuing the massive ship into space.
Sodenia was many times larger than the enemy ships, so in theory, they should have no problem outmaneuvering it, but so far, they had failed to do just that. However, one by one they exited the atmosphere, facing Sodenia, and this time they formed a perfect circular cluster. Some kind of liquid bubble began forming behind it, and electric static began to appear inside the circular cluster. It was hard for Fain to tell exactly what that was.
Looks like we got ourselves a good old-fashioned Mexican standoff, he thought. It’s either going to be us or them. And honestly, to hell with them.
“Eora, it’s time to use the large cannons, but fire them on my signal. Keep them locked on the enemy at all times,” Fain said, beginning to like the efficiency of the ship’s coms system. He knew that Kya was behind it all, making communication between the decks seamless. “But as soon as we start moving, fire all the smaller cannons, and let’s send a full set of drones out.”
“What are we doing with the drones?” Eora asked.
“Send them flying at full speed towards the center of that circle,” Fain said. “Make them look hostile. We need to make the enemy fire first.”
“Roger that, Captain,” Eora said. “Drones are on the way.”
It wasn’t long before Fain saw the twenty-four drones leave the ship, going towards the alien cluster at a high speed. Sodenia, the drones, and the enemy cluster of ships were lined up. Fain waited until the drones were halfway between them and the enemy cluster b
efore he made his move. But then he saw the electric static inside the circular cluster increasing rapidly.
Fain then knew that they had no time; the enemy was getting ready to do whatever it was going to do and so should he. So, he moved Sodenia down and forward towards the enemy. But this time, instead of the ship responding how it did on the simulator, it responded like a dream, with instant and powerful movement.
The enemy cluster fired a huge beam of energy towards the incoming drones, decimating them with ease. For a few seconds, Fain’s view of the outside was blanketed with a bright yellow light. But Fain concentrated on the task at hand, moving Sodenia rapidly through space as the small cannons fired on the enemy.
The cluster of enemy ships tried to follow Fain’s movements as its inner circle began to recharge. Fain knew that if Sodenia were to get hit by that giant yellow beam, it would cause some serious damage, if not fatal, but he also knew that the chances of the enemy catching up to them were unlikely.
Maybe that’s why they were so hesitant to come into space in the first place. They knew that Sodenia would be able to move much faster in space than in Earth’s atmosphere. Why not give up? Why not refuse to leave?
“Eora,” Fain said as Sodenia reached around the cluster of enemies. “It’s time to unleash the larger cannons. Let them know why they shouldn’t come back to Earth ever again.”
Sodenia fired six of the eight larger cannons in rapid succession, and each hit that landed destroyed an enemy ship. In less than a minute, the cluster of alien ships was wiped out of existence.
“Confirm target destroyed,” Fain said as he kept Sodenia circling around the target’s debris.
“I can confirm that all targets have been destroyed, Captain,” Eora said cheerfully.
Fain needed to get away from Earth, at least for now, to keep anyone from falling victim to any future crossfire. He was sure that if there were any future attacks, they would all be looking for Sodenia first. After all, there was not much on Earth that could defend against the Acram, at least nothing that he knew about.