The Beginning of the End (Universe in Flames Book 4)

by Christian Kallias

  “So much for my uneventful delivery run . . .”

  She engaged her top-of-the-line anti-jamming communication array. It took a while for the computer to bypass the jamming frequency, but after a few minutes she opened a channel.

  “This is Keera Hawking of the Valken. Anybody, please respond?”

  A boyish voice answered. “This is Ronan, son of Ryonna and Jax Isch’ys.”

  “Ronan? Wait, as in Ryonna’s boy? I know your mother!”

  “Is she with you? Please tell me you have her on board.”

  “Afraid not, Ronan, she’s deep in Alliance territory helping Chase regain Alpha Prime, last I heard.”

  “Understood. How did you manage to get a signal inside the jamming field?”

  “I have specific tech designed to break or transmit through jamming fields. Very expensive tech; not exactly legal either.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. We need your help. Can you please let the Earth Alliance and my mother know what is transpiring here? Soon the fleet will be wiped out.”

  “I can see that. Sneaky tactic they’ve used.”

  “These Zarlacks have no honor. This is not how warfare is fought!”

  Keera could sense the anger in Ronan’s tone.

  “Having had the displeasure of meeting Argos briefly I can tell you he will do whatever is necessary to achieve his goals. I don’t think he cares one bit about being honorable.”

  “Can you send that distress call?”

  “Hang on, I’m contacting Earth now. Okay, I’ve relayed the message, but it will take three hours for them to travel to Droxia with the jumpgate.”

  “The jumpgate has been destroyed already.”

  “Of course it has. Then the nearest help is at least seven hours away.”

  “We’ll be long dead by then.”

  Keera wanted to find words to reassure Ronan, but she didn’t see what she could tell him to make him feel better.

  “You need to get out of there, Ronan.”

  “We know, but aside from the escape pods I don’t see how. We’d be sitting ducks the moment we launched them.”

  “I might be able to do something about that.”

  “First things first. I’ve launched an escape pod transmitting a distress call to my mother a while back. Do you see it?”

  “Let me check. I see a small and slow-moving object traveling away from the fleet on my scopes, yes.”

  “Is there any way you can use whatever tech you’re using to talk with us to replicate and amplify this signal through the jamming fields?”

  “I think so. Give me a minute . . . and, done.”

  “Good, that should let my mother know we need help here.”

  “Look, Ronan, if you escape using an escape pod I could tractor you out.”

  “You’d risk becoming a target yourself.”

  “I have a cloak. It only lasts a few minutes but that’s all I would need.”

  “I’m afraid the magnetic field trapping us would trap your ship as well, unless your tractor beam has at least a fifty-thousand-mile range?”

  “Not even close, I’m afraid.”

  “Then don’t even risk it. Enough people are going to die today. No need to add yourself to the list in a futile attempt to get us out of here.”

  “There has to be something I can do. I can’t just stand here and let you and thousands others die.”

  “If only we could pinpoint the devices that generate the fields, we could fire on them.”

  “I’m getting garbled readings. Let me try some more and get back to you shortly, okay?”

  “Understood. Thanks for your help, Keera!”

  “Sure thing. Hang on, Ronan, I’ll do everything I can to get you out of here.”

  Keera tried different algorithms to try and detect the source of the fields but came up empty each time.

  “Dammit!”

  “Perhaps I can be of assistance,” said a male voice behind her.

  Keera thought she’d have a heart attack. She jumped out of her chair when a sphere of golden light appeared in the cockpit and soon took human shape.

  “Ares! You need to stop doing that, man.”

  “Sorry, I was in Olympus when I felt a strong disturbance. Millions have just died on Droxia. I can feel Argos nearby.”

  “You can sense him?”

  “Yes. But it’s not his presence that has me worried, but the two other Furies currently on the surface of Droxia. They’re infinitely more powerful than him.”

  “More powerful than Argos?” said Keera with a look of terror.

  Ares nodded gravely.

  She struggled with the concept, and then brushed the thought away, not sure she even wanted to know what it could mean.

  “Well, one problem at the time. Can you help me locate the fields that are holding the defense fleet immobilized?”

  “That I can do. In fact, I can sense every single one of the artificial magnetic fields being generated. Let me tag them for you.”

  “Them? How many are there?”

  “I sense five different sources.”

  “Thorough bastards.”

  Ares waved his hand above Keera’s console and five golden dots were overlaid on her scopes. She tagged them and sent their coordinates to Ronan.

  “Anything you can do to get Ronan out of there?”

  “In order to delay Argos and his Fury friends I have to go now, before it’s too late.”

  Keera’s eyes widened. “What do you mean you have to go?”

  But Ares was already gone.

  “I guess not, then. Thanks anyway.”

  She re-established communication with Ronan.

  “I’ve just sent you the coordinates of the magnetic fields generators. Can you take them out?”

  “Two of them are in range of our turrets so we’ll try. The bridge isn’t responding, though. We’ll get there and deal with these two one way or the other, but we can’t dispatch the other three. Other ships nearer their location probably could, if they still have firing capabilities. Can you send the coordinates to the Manticora and the Sphinx?”

  “Relaying now.”

  C H A P T E R

  X

  The three Zarlack destroyers were almost within firing range of the Hope when Ryonna stormed onto the bridge.

  “What is it, Ryonna?”

  She handed him the distress call device he had given her after their return to Hellstar.

  “Please tell me this doesn’t mean what I think it does?”

  Chase wished he could tell her otherwise but it seemed Ronan was in trouble.

  “It does.”

  Sarah looked puzzled. “What does it mean?”

  “It means Ronan is in trouble. Chase, can you please try to establish contact with Droxia.”

  “Hang on.”

  The shipped rocked when the first wave of plasma fire ignited the Hope’s shield. Chase piloted the Hope into a series of evasive actions while he opened the channel to Droxia, but he never got a signal.

  “This isn’t good,” said Chase.

  “What’s happening?” Ryonna was unable to contain the worry in her voice.

  “I’m not getting through. And I can feel something is terribly wrong.”

  “I have to get out of here and back to Droxia!”

  “It’s too far, Ryonna. Even with a StarFury it would take you the better part of a week to reach Droxia.”

  “I can hijack a jump capable ship on my way there.”

  “Most of what was once Alliance space is empty or under Zarlack occupation. That’s a foolish plan at best.”

  “Chase! He is my son! I need to do something about it.”

  The ship rocked after being hit several more times. Chase shot a look at Sarah. She understood he needed to take care of this fight now.

  “Look, Ryonna,” said Sarah, “the moment we’re done dealing with these ships we’ll go back to Droxia with you. That’s the fastest way to reach him anyway.”

  “
I could use your help with targeting the laser batteries, Ryonna,” said Chase, his eyes closed and already fully in combat mode, retaliating against their attackers with the Hope’s laser batteries and torpedoes.

  Of course, he didn’t need Ryonna’s help. He was perfectly able to remote control them with his mind, like every other part of the ship. But she needed to keep herself busy for the time being. So did Chase.

  Argos, why am I sure you’re behind all this again?

  Chase pushed his own rhetorical thought away and returned his full attention to the fight.

  You’re right, he is behind it, heard Chase in his thoughts.

  Ares. What’s happening?

  Droxia is under attack. The fleet has been immobilized and Argos is kicking the shit out of them at a distance, not taking any risks.

  I have no love for him, but I didn’t peg him for such a coward.

  Well, he’s not alone and might not be calling the shots anymore. Two of his Fury friends are destroying Droxia’s cities one by one. You need to jump to Droxia as soon as possible.

  We’re at least twelve hours away, Ares, even if we left now. We’re in the middle of a battle here, in case you didn’t notice.

  You’re right. I need to find a way to delay them. I’ll get back to you soon. Hurry up and dispatch your current enemies. I’ll need your help to save Droxia soon.

  How do you propose we do that? Last I checked there’s nothing faster than hyperspace travel.

  Well, I can travel faster, and I think you probably could as well.

  What? Mind explaining that?

  No time to explain now. Got to go put a wrench in your brother’s well-oiled destructive machine. I’ll get back to you soon.

  The shipped rocked when more torpedoes impacted with the shields. It was time for Chase to get rid of his current opposition.

  Today would be a very long day.

  * * *

  Ronan and Arknon arrived on the bridge and were shocked by the damage. Paneling and supporting bulkhead structures had fallen from the ceiling and wreaked havoc with most of the consoles. A few bodies lay around, some dead, some still breathing. A strong, steel support beam took the place of the captain’s torso in the captain’s chair.

  “At least now we know why the bridge wasn’t answering,” said Ronan.

  “We need to gain access to firing controls.”

  “Isn’t that the tactical console?” asked Ronan, pointing at a destroyed console that was still shooting sparks.

  “It was. I’ll divert its main functions to the another working console. You need to do the same with navigational controls.”

  “I don’t get it. The ship is not as badly damaged as the others nearer to the Zarlacks. How did this happen?”

  Arknon was madly inputting commands to one of few working terminals in his area.

  “I think this happened when I was ordered to push the engines past their limits. It must have torn the ship apart. According to these readings, many decks have been exposed to space, and structural integrity is dangerously low. We have minimal shielding and life support is erratic at best.”

  “Will the ship fire, let alone fly?”

  “We’re about to find out. We at least need to find a way to fire either lasers or torpedoes so we can destroy these two field-generating devices.”

  “I sure hope the crew of the Manticora and Sphinx are in better shape, or we’re not getting anywhere anytime soon.”

  “Many of the ships have been badly damaged. Even if we break free from the fields it’s not going to be easy repelling those behemoth destroyers now.”

  “We have to try. I’m not dying any other way than fighting!” exclaimed Ronan.

  “Your mother would be proud, as am I. But in the likely case we don’t survive . . .”

  “I’ll have none of that, Arknon. Let’s focus on what needs to be done. We’re not giving up.”

  “Very well. I’ve managed to divert navigational controls to your console.”

  “I see them.”

  “The minute we’re free from the field you need to put as much distance between us and these Zarlack destroyers as you can.”

  “What? No! We’re not fleeing.”

  “Who said anything about fleeing? But we need to regain shields to have the slightest chance to retaliate.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “It’s alright to be scared, Ronan. Your training till now never prepared you for contingencies like this.”

  Ronan nodded.

  “Looks like I’m the acting captain now, by the way,” said Arknon.

  “Captain Arknon. I like it.”

  “Which makes you my first officer, Ensign Isch’ys.”

  “Ensign?”

  “I can’t have a cadet for my first officer,” said Arknon, smiling.

  Another explosion rocked the ship.

  “We’d better focus on getting back firing controls or both our new field promotions won’t count for squat.”

  “Hang on, Ronan, I think I got it. Lasers are only at forty percent but I have half a dozen torpedoes ready to be launched. Targeting the coordinates we’ve received.”

  “Wish we could contact the other ships and check their status.”

  “Can’t your friend out there manage to set this up.”

  “Right, if anyone can do this it’s her. I’m gonna ask her now.”

  Ronan opened a channel. “Keera? Do you read me?”

  There was an uncomfortably long silence before she answered. “Yes, Ronan, what is it?”

  “Any way to jury-rig us a channel with the other ships? The same way you are able to communicate with us.”

  “I think it’s possible yes . . . Give me a minute to reconfigure my own communications to act as a hub for all the fleet’s communication.”

  “Thank you, Keera.”

  “How is the destroying of these device going? I see the Manticora is powering weapons.”

  “We’re getting there.”

  “Alright, I’ll leave you to it while I fulfil your last request.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Be careful, and good luck with dispatching these field generators.”

  “Roger that.”

  A nearby Alliance ship exploded and filled the bridge with a yellow-orange light for a brief instant. The ship shook when the shockwave hit whatever was left of the Phoenix’s shield.

  “We don’t have much time left,” said Ronan.

  “I’ve targeted the nearest field generator, Ronan. We’re about to find out if this plan will work.”

  “It has to.”

  * * *

  Back on Earth inside the training facility, Spiros and Gaia were working together on improving the training battle droids when Ares appeared in the room in his humanoid, golden-aura form.

  “What is this? Who . . . What are you?” asked Spiros.

  “My name is Ares,”

  “Right, I’ve heard of you. You’re the Olympian who trained Chase. This,” said Spiros, pointing at the maintenance droid currently AI controlled, “is Gaia. Well, sort of.”

  “Never mind this, Spiros, I’m here for your battle droids. How many have you managed to produce?”

  “A little rude, but okay. We have close to a hundred already. We’re in the process of upgrading their memory banks with the latest data we’ve gathered from Chase’s training these past months.”

  “I’ve also added tactics gathered from observing the fight between Argos and Chase that took place in Tokyo a while back,” added the Gaia droid.

  “Good, that will help. How efficient will these be against a very strong Fury?”

  “On their own they don’t stand a chance; these are for training purposes only. They are only efficient for that task when we’ve artificially altered the gravity inside the training chamber. We have a newer, more efficient model on its way, but we’ve just finished validating the prototype, so we’ll need at least two days to start producing them.”

  “The old
ones will have to do for now. How efficient would they be on Droxia?”

  “Why Droxia?” inquired Spiros.

  “It’s under attack right now by two incredibly powerful Furies. I need to distract them until Chase can come and help.”

  “Well, since Droxian gravity is close to Earth’s, in one-on-one combat they stand zero chance of providing any resistance to someone as powerful as Chase.”

  “That’s what I was afraid of, except the Furies I want to use the droids against are significantly more powerful than he is.”

  “What? More powerful than Chase? He has progressed tremendously lately.”

  “Let’s just hope he has made enough progress to fend them off. What if I use all the droids at once against a single Fury?”

  “I don’t know what to tell you. Without observing these Furies in combat situations it’s difficult to evaluate this. But even so, there would be the problem of transporting them there. Droxia is three hours away by jumpgate travel.”

  “The Droxian jumpgate has been destroyed, but don’t worry, I’ll take care of transport.”

  “What? How?”

  “Never mind how, Spiros. How effective would nearly one hundred of them be?”

  “It all depends, really. Gaia? What do you think?”

  “If the target Furies use all their powers at once they won’t last long, but they may at least provide a distraction for a time. It depends what tactics the Furies use against the droids. If, like Chase, they enjoy the challenge, then it could be a viable diversion, but I suspect the minute they were tired of it they could destroy all the droids quickly; except mine, which is a much better design. And by ‘mine’ I don’t mean the one you’re looking at now. My prototype avatar droid is currently recharging and finishing uploading the last changes we’ve build into it.”