A Shifting Alliance (Galaxy Ascendant Book 3)

by Yakov Merkin

  Asharra tentatively stood up and faced the door. Did she allow herself to hope that this was a rescue? But what if it had been an attempted escape that had failed? She might not survive that news. One way or another, this nightmare had to end, however. And she would not dishonor all of her fallen friends by dying while cowering and fearful.

  She approached the door and opened herself to the Shift. Like any practiced motion, the intangible force that was the flow of the universe soon connected with her, and she readied herself to use it.

  Footsteps drew nearer to her cell, and as she tensed, Asharra heard voices. It was strange, though, as the troopers here always wore helmets that gave their voices a distinctive distortion. These sounded like… normal people.

  Then her cell door opened.

  Asharra willed away as much weakness as she could, and faced whoever was entering.

  She froze, however, when she saw a number of people, including Svetorans and Nihlurans, wearing Imperial armor sans helmets, save one, who stood near the back of the small group.

  “Captain Arvah Saral?” Asked the Svetoran she presumed was leading the team, who looked vaguely familiar, along with some of the others, though names escaped her.

  Asharra froze for a moment as she recognized the pseudonym she used these days, and stared at her rescuers. “Y-yes,” she replied. “Are you with—”

  “The rebellion, yes. We’re here to get you out.”

  This was real. It was really happening.

  Relief flooded her, and as the pent up tension relaxed, her weakness returned and she nearly collapsed but for the quick assistance of two of her rescuers.

  “The others?” She asked. “And how did you find us, get in here?”

  “We’ve got everyone still alive,” the leader replied. “We can talk more later; as you surely heard, they did manage to sound an alarm briefly, and I don’t want to be here when a full security detail arrives. Can you walk?”

  Asharra tried to stand on he own, but after a few seconds her legs started to buckle again. “I think I need a little help,” she said with a weak smile.

  The commander assigned one of the others to stay with her, then spoke quickly into his comm, presumably conferring with other members of their team.

  “We’ve got everything we came for,” he announced. “Let’s move, back to the ship!”

  Asharra moved with them, doing her best to not slow them down, though she wasn’t too proud to rely on the support of her helper.

  The monotonous hallways of the prison ship passed by in a blur, both due to their sameness and because all of her focus was on moving, so when alarms began to blare again, she practically jumped.

  The team leader cursed. “Move, everyone, double time! Carry the captain if we have to.”

  Fortunately, adrenaline finally kicked in, and Asharra was able to hobble along at a faster pace.

  After progressing a bit further, however, the group abruptly stopped short.

  “Troopers!” Someone shouted, and suddenly the sounds of weapons fire filled the air.

  “Hold them off!” The commander ordered. “Keep them busy as long as possible, then make for the ship.” He turned to the soldier assisting Asharra as he readied his weapon. “Get the captain to the ship, and make sure it gets started up. We can hold them off for a few minutes in these narrow corridors.”

  “Yes sir,” the soldier replied, then saluted and began to help Asharra along.

  The ship wasn’t far, and soon came into sight, though the sounds of battle, weapons fire with the occasional curse or shout of pain, only intensified, and the too-familiar sharp smell of weapons discharges filled the air.

  As they approached the docking arm, however, Asharra suddenly got a very, very bad feeling.

  For a few moments she was confused, but then she remembered that she was still open to the Shift, and it was now telling her that Lord Tavas was approaching. They all had to get out, now, or they were all dead.

  “We have to leave,” she said to the soldier at her side. “Get to the others, tell them that we can’t delay any more, or we’re all going to die here. Now!”

  The soldier started, but nodded. He gestured to a figure standing inside the docking arm. “Come help her, and get the ship ready to leave!” He shouted. “I have to go back to the others.”

  The figure, a Svetoran—and a particularly handsome one, Asharra couldn’t help but note as he stepped out into the hallway, with stripes that curled into each other and horns curved in an impressive way—frowned, but nodded. “If troopers get here before you, I’m not waiting,” he said.

  The soldier nodded, then ran off.

  Asharra’s eyes remained locked on where she instinctively knew Tavas was approaching from, but when help was offered, she accepted it.

  “I knew this was a bad idea,” he muttered to himself, though Asharra could clearly hear. “‘We just need transport’, they said. ‘Nothing dangerous, no risk to you or your ship’, they said. Never again. If we get shot at, I’m asking for more pay.”

  Asharra was too tired to question him, but it was clear that he had been an outside pilot hired by the rebels for this mission. Odds were good he’d be on the Empire’s scanners now, and that life as he knew it was about to drastically change.

  The pilot helped Asharra into the surprisingly pleasant-smelling ship—did this cranky smuggler use flower-scented cleaning solution?—to what looked like a recently installed seat in the ship’s central area, then darted to the cockpit.

  As she leaned back and strapped herself in, Asharra saw several familiar, weary faces. Unfortunately, there were a couple missing.

  As the minutes passed, and she felt Lord Tavas draw ever closer, his presence becoming oppressive in her mind, Asharra began to fidget. What was taking so long?

  Just before she could unstrap herself to go and look, she heard several people run into the ship, boots clanking and weapons rattling, then someone shouted for the pilot to take off.

  Moments later, she heard the docking arm release, and felt the ship start to move. Only once they made the jump to hyperspace, however, following what felt like a brief pursuit, did Asharra let herself relax and fall into the first blissful sleep she’d had in far too long. Somehow, she was saved.

  CHAPTER 25

  This meeting with the rebel high command had a completely different feel to it than the last. There were no glares, no open hostility, and upon his arrival, several of the attendees had greeted him cordially. That wasn’t to say they were all his friends, of course. His long-trained senses still picked up on their trepidation, their discomfort at being around a former enemy, and eyes followed him as he passed by. But, Spirits willing, a corner had been turned. Hopefully, they would now trust him enough to follow his suggestion, and do what absolutely needed to be done.

  “Before we begin,” said Chancellor Vau, standing in front of an Imperial banner “liberated” from the prison ship, her green hair tied back in a more martial style than before, “I would like to express gratitude, on behalf of the rebellion, to Director Revval for not only providing us with what was needed to rescue many of our own, but for willingly putting himself in the line of fire in order to do so.”

  Corras nodded, and looked over at Captain Arvah Saral, the highest ranking officer rescued, present here mainly due to her connection to the recent mission. She was another rebel with whom Corras had become familiar with, though her past remained a near-complete mystery, likely because her name was an assumed one. Perhaps now that she owed him, she would be willing to indulge his curiosity. She smiled and nodded.

  “As such,” Vau went on, “I think we owe enough to Director Revval to allow him to speak, and present what he believes our primary course of action should be.”

  No one interjected, so Corras nodded his thanks and stood.

  “I first wish to thank you for being willing to hear me out, and I hope that my actions thus far have made it clear that I indeed seek to do what is best for the rebellion, a
nd the galaxy as a whole. As those of you who have perused the information I have provided are likely aware, it provides avenues by which you could hurt the Empire. However, in my opinion, there is one thing alone that must be your—our—priority.” He inserted a data card into the reader and holographic projector embedded in the table.

  After a simple sequence of commands, an image appeared, rotating slowly before those assembled. It resembled a massively scaled-up version of the Imperial Conqueror-class battleship, at least its rear half did. Where the front of a Conqueror would feature cannon batteries and a narrower profile, Final Awakening was far wider to support a massive energy projector that alone was larger than most warships. “This is Project Final Awakening. A project so secret that even I only learned about it very recently, after it was already near completion. From what little I know, it is, in short, a superweapon capable of unspeakable destruction, of permanently disabling entire fleets, and even scrambling a planet’s atmosphere, destroying it and thus instantly rendering it unfit for life. Doubtless the Empire’s plan is to use it to eliminate the fleet of the Galactic Alliance, their only true threat, by luring the Alliance into a massive engagement. Once the immediate threat is removed, we can be assured that it will then be turned loose on worlds suspected of sympathizing with any dissident elements, or suspected of housing rebel bases. Therefore, we must find a way to destroy it, or if that proves too difficult, at least disable it so that it cannot be used in battle.”

  “Do you have a plan for doing so?” Commodore Mierran asked.

  “This is where it gets complicated. As the project was not relevant to my division, I was not privy to the Final Awakening’s schematics or construction location, both of which we will need in order to mount a successful strike.” He input another command, and the image changed, displaying a moon in orbit around a gas giant.

  “This is Fayren, a moon that houses the Empire’s largest information storage data banks. It is the one place that I can be certain will have both the plans for Final Awakening and information on the location of its construction as well as likely travel routes. It will take time, however, to plan for this as well as to travel there, as it is strategically placed far from the more commonly used hyperspace routes. Additionally, in order for this to have any chance at success, we will need to acquire an Imperial vessel without their being aware of its theft.”

  “And, I presume, a lot of this also rides on their not yet realizing you have defected,” Admiral Dahar interjected.

  Corras nodded. “In my opinion, we should try our best to formulate a backup plan in case we arrive and my codes no longer work. Moving quickly is key, but even more crucial, in my long experience, is meticulous preparation.”

  “I then would propose that we adjourn for now,” said General Orran. “There are a few specialists that we should bring to any planning session.” He glanced around at the assembled group; the rebels’ key leaders, their primary military commanders, Arvah Saral, and then ended on Corras himself. “I imagine that this silence means we are done for now?”

  The other leaders nodded in assent, and they rose from their seats as Corras shut down the display and removed the data card.

  Most of the officers had left by the time Corras reached the door, but he was stopped by Arvah Saral touching him on the arm.

  “I just wanted to say thank you, for all that you did that led to my rescue. I owe you my life.”

  Corras looked at the young captain for a moment; she’d greatly recovered since their return, but he could still see the effects of prolonged imprisonment and interrogation in her eyes. She might never fully get past it, and, ultimately, it had been he who had orchestrated her capture.

  “It was the right thing to do,” he finally replied. “It is a good feeling, to know that everything I do now is for the right reasons.”

  Arvah smiled, and they began to walk out of the room together. “I have to admit,” she said, “after so much time despising you, it feels strange to work with you at all, let alone owe you so much. I mean, we might be able to actually win this fight now, and if we do, it will all be thanks to one who for so long was one of the biggest obstacles in our path.”

  “It is a strange feeling for me as well,” he replied, repeating what he had told the others before they had embarked on the rescue mission. “For so long I hunted you, and in that process I learned a great deal about many of you, to the point that I know many of you nearly as well as you know yourselves. Not you, however, Captain. “Your history remains a mystery. I do not intend to pry, to try and learn what you are hiding—though I am naturally curious—but I imagine you would like to know that whatever it is was so well concealed that even I had not uncovered much at all.”

  Her smile widened. “That was the idea, Director.”

  Director. Did he still want to be called that?

  “Call me Corras,” he said. “I am director of nothing now, and I seek no rank here. I am only seeking to make up for terrible things I have had my hand in or otherwise been a party to. As I told the leadership when I arrived, I do not see myself as betraying the Empire. It was, and still could be a great uniting force for good in the galaxy. But it has become something I cannot support, and must oppose. The Empire was great back when I first began my service, if flawed, and my hope is that one day it can be that great again, if not even greater.”

  “I am not sure I share the same sentiments, but so long as we both agree that the Empire, as it stands currently, needs to be opposed, I am happy to do so at your side.” She laughed. “These are certainly strange times we live in.”

  “Strange times indeed,” Corras replied as they headed off to work on a plan to get them into one of the most secure facilities in the Empire.

  CHAPTER 26

  This was probably the most uncomfortable meeting Nayasar had ever participated in, and that was really saying something.

  Nayasar took stock of everyone present. Darkclaw was as unreadable as ever, though she already knew his opinions, as well as those of First Flight Leader Senkar, who looked as eager to be gone as Nayasar felt.

  The other attendees, the Talvostan commander and the Legion Navy’s top three officers, however, were another matter entirely. At least they had all agreed that the commanders of the minor militaries, such as the Daeris and Irhani, were not needed here. While having even one more friend would be pleasant, that would mean adding several more people who she did not like.

  The Talvostans remained the least predictable faction involved, ironically enough given their very straightforward nature, but both through talking to them and following the discussion going on within the Union, opinion was very much split. Many held the Tyrannodons in particular in very high regard, and thus favored closer ties, while others saw themselves as Alliance first, with a duty to support the Alliance mainstream. If push came to shove, what would they do?

  The Legion Navy reps were far easier to understand. Even if they hadn’t been a Tehlman, a Darvian, and. Cytan, they would have been more hostile. Since the war’s end, relations had been cordial, but that was it. Now, with them all thrust into war again and the Legion Navy suffering heavy losses… and that wasn’t even considering the enemy’s newest favorite tactic, small but effective strikes within Alliance space. Aside from earlier border probes, there had only been a few Revittan incursions into Alliance space, largely because the war had gone so poorly for them at the start. Ever since the tide had turned, however, they had resumed, and just recently several simultaneous attacks on Legion Navy bases and key outposts had finally shown the average Alliance citizen that this war could threaten them directly.

  “What are we going to do?” asked Supreme Commander Carron, face twisted into a frown. “How can we barely manage one small victory against the Empire that seemed to be on its last fuel cell mere weeks ago? We know that one to one, our ships are better. Our crews are well trained, and many have seen battle before. And yet, despite everything, we are being picked apart. And to add insult to in
jury, the enemy is now disrupting us within our own territory. How long until they strike a civilian target, or Dorandor itself?”

  “Panicking is not going to get us anywhere,” Nayasar snapped before she remembered herself and stopped short. It wasn’t the fear that irritated her—she had to admit that she felt some too—it was the cowardice. Military leaders could be many things, but cowardice could not be allowed. “We need to be methodical about this. We need to start with more recent positive developments, such as our victory at the Nirassil shipyards. Admiral Kharitzon made an important discovery, and took advantage of it.”

  “What, squadron-scale instead of fleet-scale maneuvers?” Asked the Cytan officer, his glow pulsing calmly. Or so it appeared, at least.

  Nayasar shook her head. “Unpredictability. This Grand Admiral of theirs, from what we’ve managed to learn, is some sort of tactical and analytical genius. How he figured us out so quickly, I cannot say. He might just be that smart, or may just be an excellent study. This is why that unusual strategy succeeded, and why the subsequent snap decision to take the battered fleet to aid the high executor worked so well. If we can keep up the pressure, and remain impossible to predict, we can nullify this advantage. We need more action, and fewer conferences like this.”

  “We cannot simply take action for the sake of taking action,” Legapratorem Vitarren replied. “After some early success, our pace of information gathering has ground to a halt. The Empire’s security has proven tough to crack, and our advantage of knowing that Nihlurans are present in both sectors has evaporated.”

  He did have a point. There had been no word from the Nihluran trio they had dispatched for spying purposes in quite some time, and their monitoring stations had mentioned an Empire-wide crackdown on and internment of Nihlurans precisely because they suspected spies. She really had not anticipated a civilization as large as the Empire being able to so effectively control the flow of information, but the longer she thought about it, Nayasar could understand both how it was done and why. In truth, even for a freedom-minded society, there were times when such tightening of control was needed. It might have helped prevent the enemy from learning as much as they had so quickly.