Holograms filled the glass wall with feeds from every world in the Conclave. The Shay were attacking and killing on every planet, slaughtering people like animals. Local security forces had taken up arms but they were spread too thin, having never been designed to repel an enemy embedded on every corner of every planet, in every echelon of command. Where possible, C-Sec vessels were responding and sending transports of troops down to the various worlds’ surfaces, and providing the wild Shay with something other than innocent citizens to attack.
Another holo-feed appeared alongside the horrific images, showing them where every ship in the navy was based. Even after expansion, C-Sec still wasn’t large enough to have a presence on every planet in the Conclave.
Uthor turned to his command officers. “Have every Nexus-Class battlecruiser abandon their border patrols and make for the nearest core world. All Nebula-Class vessels are to separate and take one world each; I want C-Sec boots on every planet. Alert all local governments that their security forces now fall under my command. They are to consider themselves part of C-Sec now. Make sure the Charges are aware of their extra forces.”
“Sir…” A Ch’kara sitting behind the Laronian officer intently studied the data on his console, his face mere centimetres from the screen. “Reports coming in from multiple C-Sec cruisers. The Shay officers are attacking. The Provor, the Starflare, and the Movus are reporting catastrophic engine failures. I’ve got six other ships stating they’ve lost their navigation systems and three Nebula-Class cruisers reporting a loss of weapons.”
Telarrek couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “This is a coordinated attack.”
“But, why now?” Uthor asked.
“Sir, incoming transmission from the Valkor.”
“Valkor?” Uthor repeated. “That’s Charge Hox’s command. Weren’t they investigating the Solian Way?”
The Laronian nodded. “With a human contingent on board.”
“Put them on the screen,” the Raalak ordered.
The holo-feeds from around the Conclave were pushed to the edges of the glass wall, making space for Charge Hox’s blue Laronian face. Behind him was a bridge crew who had clearly seen some action, but Telarrek’s eyes were drawn to his son, Naydaalan. The younger Novaarian was standing beside the human Raiders from the Paladin, all of whom appeared out of breath and covered in a sheen of sweat. Standing in the middle of them all was Roland North, attired in his usual hide coat with a pair of Tri-rollers strapped to his thighs.
“High Charge,” Hox began, “The Rackham has returned from the Solian Way with grave news.”
Uthor shook his head. “It can’t be any worse than a galaxy-wide assault from within, Charge Hox. What have they discovered?”
“There was indeed a Starforge hiding in the Solian Way—”
“Get to the bad bit,” Roland interrupted, coming alongside the irritated Laronian. “They’re here! One massive ship came out of the Forge and broke into thousands of others. It’s them! The biggest one was on course for Arakesh; that’s where we’re headed now.”
Telarrek looked at Uthor, who had suddenly become very distracted. The Raalak’s dark eyes glazed over and his hand gripped the railing so tight the metal began to bend.
The Novaarian ambassador answered for him. “Continue to Arakesh, Valkor. We will divert reinforcements to assist you.”
“This thing was huge, Telarrek,” Roland continued. “By reinforcements I hope you mean people who can move shit with their minds.”
Telarrek had no answer since he had no authority by himself to release the Gomar or Kalian from the Evalan system.
“You will have all available help,” Uthor finally said. “Maximum speed, Charge Hox.” The Raalak cut the feed and turned to his command staff. “Have the Balko and the Parfadon divert from Ch’ket to Arakesh, no delays.”
Telarrek checked the galaxy map. “Uthor, those are Nexus-Class cruisers. They need to stay where they are to defend Ch’ket and the shipyards.” The Novaarian could see the High Charge was being driven entirely by emotion.
Uthor ignored him. “Send word to Charge Ilo. I want the Sentinel en route to Arakesh.”
“Uthor!” Telarrek stepped in front of the Raalak. “The Sentinel is our strongest ship. It needs to stay here and defend the capital. You are spreading our forces too thin.”
The High Charge leant in, his tone softer than normal. “My family is on Arakesh, Telarrek. I will not let these monsters take my home.”
“You cannot favour your home world, Uthor. You have to see the bigger picture. The capital stands for more than any one planet. It is the core of the Conclave…”
“When I’m wearing this uniform, Ambassador, you cannot tell me what I can or cannot do with my fleet. Assemble your new council. Until then, I am in command here.”
Telarrek backed away, fearful of his friend’s decisions. He needed to re-form the Highclave and take back control of the fleet before Uthor let his emotions plunge them into darkness.
“Have the Marillion brought in-system to replace the Sentinel,” Uthor continued. By the time it gets here, I want all external traffic and trade to have stopped. Issue an alert: everyone outside the atmo barriers is to either enter the capital or leave the system.” The High Charge gave Telarrek one last look. “Activate the shell defence.”
The Novaarian was frozen to the spot when he registered the last command. The capital’s shell defence was public knowledge, but it had never been activated in all of the Conclave’s history.
It all started to make sense now. Telarrek looked at the chaos erupting all over the Conclave as massacres broke out in the streets on every planet. More and more C-Sec vessels were reporting damages inflicted by the Shay crewmembers, crippling them in space. Had Li’ara Ducarté not succeeded, months ago, in destroying the cube Protocorps had built into the Conclave’s central AI, their entire civilisation would have been vulnerable. Thanks to Li’ara’s actions, even though they were under attack on every planet and on every ship, they could at least still communicate with each other via the AI hubs.
If this was all orchestrated by a few cubes, the sub-AIs of the Vanguard, Telarrek dreaded to think what would happen when they arrived…
Chapter 13
Kalian stood with his arms folded, watching the UDC staff do their best to make contact with anyone on the capital. Communications were sporadic, but every half report they managed to link into spoke of attacks and ship-wide damage. The word Shay came up with alarming frequency.
“What’s happening out there?” Captain Fey asked.
Kalian took in the captain’s age-defying looks and wanted to tell her everything about the nanocelium, but he hadn’t received the whole picture from ALF. That and, as usual, there was a crisis emerging that threatened life as they knew it.
“It sounds like talking to C-Sec is going to be difficult,” Li’ara said. “Let’s try our neighbours.”
“Our neighbours?” Captain Jedediah Holt stood looking at the wall of holographics with his hands resting authoritatively on his hips.
“Nova Prime’s our closest,” Li’ara explained. “They’re one of the core worlds; they would have a decent flow of communication.”
Fey looked to Commander Vale. “Do it.”
It’s them, Kalian.
Kalian glanced over his shoulder at Sef, whose bulk took up as much space as two humans. I know… he replied telepathically.
“That’s strange.” Commander Vale furrowed her brow. “I’m just getting… Oh, wait! We’re receiving a transmission from the capital.”
“About time,” Jed said.
Captain Fey looked almost relieved. “Let’s hear it.”
For all the distractions, it always brought a smile to Kalian’s face when he saw Telarrek. The Novaarian’s dishevelled appearance, however, soon sobered any elation. The ambassador looked around nervously, as if he wasn’t supposed to be communicating with them, and stepped closer to the holocam on his end, the corresponding holopro
jection at the UDC growing larger as he did so.
“I wish I had greetings of peace, New Genesis, but it seems war has found us.”
“Ambassador, what’s happening?” Fey asked with concern in her voice.
“The entire Conclave is under attack,” the Novaarian replied. “Not a single planet has remained untouched by their reach. The Highclave is gone.”
“Gone?” Fey’s tone rose an octave.
“Was it the Shay?” Kalian asked pointedly.
Telarrek’s head bowed in despair. “If only it were just the Shay…”
Kalian looked at Sef and Li’ara before asking, “They’re here, aren’t they?”
“The report came from Roland North,” Telarrek explained. “A whole fleet has emerged from one of the Starforges.”
If only that were true, Kalian thought. Evidence had been uncovered over the last two months that proved Protocorps had built more than two or three Starforges. They wouldn’t have built that many if they only needed the one. There would be more coming. A lot more.
“You need to evacuate Evalan,” Telarrek continued. “Arakesh is the first to be attacked and Uthor has diverted resources to assist in its defence. Your world is vulnerable and most certainly a target of interest.”
Captain Holt shook his head. “We can’t just abandon the planet. We’ve only just got it!”
“Telarrek’s right,” Kalian agreed. “There’s nowhere on Evalan we can hide from them. We’re a threat they cannot ignore.”
“Use your Starforge,” Telarrek instructed. “More of them are being activated across the core worlds to assist with evacuations. Come to the capital.”
Commander Vale was already shaking her head before she spoke. “We can’t access any of the capital’s Forges. Our installation wasn’t completed; we can only travel to Nova Prime or Corvus.”
“Then go to Nova Prime,” Telarrek said. “From there you can travel to the capital.”
Captain Fey rubbed her eyes. “Trekking over a hundred thousand people across a few planets isn’t going to be easy, especially if every planet is under attack…”
Kalian could feel the air displace around the room when Vox stepped forward in her exosuit. “What about us?” she asked. “We’re not supposed to leave the planet.”
“Better to ask for forgiveness than permission,” Li’ara replied.
“I agree with Li’ara,” Telarrek added. “Your unique abilities are not to be overlooked.”
Captain Fey appeared to be thinking of several things at once. “Thank you for contacting us, Ambassador Telarrek. We will see you on the capital.”
Telarrek bowed his head and the hologram vanished. The room descended into a series of orders and affirmatives as Fey and Holt began to coordinate the mass evacuation. Li’ara walked past Kalian and squeezed his hand, a silent communication that told him she was going to help them. He watched her as she went straight to work at a console, well aware of the asset she would be.
What can we do?
Kalian turned to Sef but his attention was quickly diverted back to himself when he detected a slither of nanocelium snaking up the side of his neck. Before he could stop it, the nanocelium solidified into a small extension resting on the soft skin behind his earlobe.
“They’re here, Kalian.”
Kalian blinked slowly in an effort to keep his temper in check. “How the hell did you get back into my suit?” he asked aloud, ignoring the suspicious looks from the Gomar.
“You should have been paying more attention on my ship,” ALF replied.
“You’re a little late,” Kalian said, making his way on to the balcony beside the control room. “Telarrek just informed us—”
“They’re here, Kalian. As in, look up!”
Kalian whipped his head towards the sky. “Where?”
“A Starforge just emerged from subspace. There are ships already coming out of it…”
“Wait!” Commander Vale shouted over the hubbub. “We just got a subspace alert. Something massive has just emerged in real space.”
Kalian walked back into the control room, his eyes scanning for Li’ara. “Get the Starforge working now.”
“What is it, Kalian?” Captain Fey asked, though he suspected she already knew the answer.
“It’s them. You need to get everyone through the Forge now.” Kalian looked to the awkward gathering of Gomar. “We’ll keep them busy.”
Fey’s momentary hesitation was to be expected. She had just been told that an extinction level event was about to take place unless she could get over a hundred thousand people through a small wormhole in a few minutes. As understandable as it was, her pause still felt like an eternity to Kalian.
“Come on, let’s go!” he shouted over the control room.
Captain Fey turned to Jed and the two ushered everyone out. Whatever their plan was to get people out of their homes and through the Starforge, Kalian just hoped it could be done fast.
“Kalian…” Li’ara ran against the flow of the evacuation.
“You need to go,” Kalian said, grabbing her by the arms. “Don’t wait for us, just get through the Forge.”
Li’ara pushed up on her toes and kissed him. “Don’t die out there, flyboy.”
Kalian offered a hopeful smile. “I’ll see you on Nova Prime.” He kissed her again and watched her run out of the control room. He would see her again. He repeated that thought to himself two more times before turning to Sef and the others.
Vox folded her arms. “You remember that we can’t fly, right?”
“I’ve seen you fight in space,” Kalian replied. “It’s damn close to flying. Find a shuttle in the space dock and meet me up there.”
If there were any further comments he didn’t wait to hear them. Kalian strode back on to the balcony and gently lifted into the air before pulling away from Evalan and building up speed. His suit’s helmet and gloves enveloped him, protecting his skin as he passed through the thermosphere. The planet’s haze evaporated around him as the infinite glory of space consumed his vision.
Mapping the solar system would reveal everything inside of it, but there was no need when he could see the flashes of weapons fire beyond Evalan’s moon. Kalian shot forward using telekinesis. Due to the vastness of space, it felt to him as if the universe was moving around his body rather than him moving forward. Consequently, it appeared as if the space battle up ahead were hurtling towards him.
ALF’s new bronze battleship design was indeed distinct against the behemoths that flew around him, their much larger sizes made them easier to see, despite their dark colour against the blackness of space. The general shape of the enemy vessels was comparable to a tuning fork, except these tuning forks were coated in writhing black snakes.
Nanocelium-based weaponry unleashed their payloads across the gulf, putting each other’s hulls to the test. Thanks to his size, ALF had the advantage of agility and speed. His battleship turned and weaved between the missiles and energy projectiles, pulling off manoeuvres that would kill anyone aboard were he a real C-Sec cruiser.
The two enemy ships continued to move, but ALF always stayed in the middle baiting their fire, ensuring that any cannons that missed him went on to inflict damage to the ship on the opposite side. Chunks of nanocelium were blown from the hulls of all three vessels, littering the vacuum. ALF changed his direction at the last second and avoided a missile to his starboard side. The AI’s thruster kicked into overdrive and his bronze battleship made a point of flying through the debris that had been blown from the enemy’s hull.
Kalian couldn’t believe his eyes. ALF absorbed their nanocelium and used it to patch his own ship, removing any signs of damage. The larger ships were too big to choose whether they flew through the debris of nanocelium or not. Consequently, some of ALF’s nanocelium attached itself to their black hulls. This resulted in the amputation of what the enemy ships must have considered to be an infected limb as whole sections of the massive beasts detached from the main ships
and were left to float across the battlefield.
ALF swung his stern around, once again evading the missiles that would have obliterated his engines, and fired on the large chunks of nanocelium that had been detached and abandoned. The AI flew through the centre of the resulting debris and picked up every scrap of nanocelium, each piece attracted to his hull like a magnet.
He was getting bigger…
Kalian had no more time to consider ALF’s tactics when the two missiles that the AI had just avoided came rocketing towards him. Kalian reached out, feeling every particle of matter and dark matter in the gulf of space between him and the missiles. As far as the universe was concerned, they were all part of the same thing. Kalian closed his fist and the missiles collided in a bright, silent explosion.
One of the tuning forks banked to port in the distance and a dozen more missiles began their journey towards Kalian. He reached out again, feeling for all of them in the galactic soup. Just as Kalian began to close his fist to destroy them, all twelve of the missiles shed their casings and each one projected six further projectiles into space. Kalian reduced the original twelve to atoms, but the rest were now so close that he risked being caught in the blast if he detonated them, leaving him no option but to shoot forwards and weave between them.
“Let’s get you kids back to your parents, shall we?”
As the missiles came back around, Kalian closed the gap between him and nearest enemy ship, trailing all seventy-two projectiles behind him. He increased his speed exponentially and pushed out telekinetically in front of him as he speared the hull. His body pierced the starboard limb of the enemy ship and passed all the way through before exiting back into space between the tuning fork’s two prongs. Due to his speed, there was no stopping him from entering the portside limb of the ship. The missiles exploded into the black hull on the starboard side, inflicting catastrophic damage. By the time he shot out of the port side, the enemy ship had lost the end of its starboard limb.
“I’ll take that,” ALF said, firing his own energy projectiles into the drifting end piece. His ship grew in size every time he added more nanocelium to his hull.
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