by J. P. Yager
Fox nodded. He was sad he'd miss this. "Take her out."
He took a seat at the center of the room in front of the great monitors displaying the views from the hundreds of cameras throughout. Helcarion's great engines shook the ground. Fire exploded out of the bottom of the supership, and it slowly lifted off the artificial ground they had laid down within Neroth.
Building momentum, it continued to shoot into the sky of the gas planet. The thin atmosphere spread as they burst through it. Then the viewers all showed something he hadn't seen in a long time: space. They had been hiding for so long building their fleet.
The Helcarion broke gravity from Neroth and idled. The Valians were up with them, ready to go.
With everybody ready to fight, Fox experienced a sensation he hadn't anticipated. He felt it running through him like something he couldn't control. This moment, everything was at peace. The universe was on pause. Their path was unknown, their future wide open for anything that would come their way. He hoped that they would do what was right, that they would make a difference again.
After years of training and practice, constructing the ships and crafting the weapons, working with aliens throughout the universe, and secretly building this force—now there was only one thing left to do. It was time to attack Ruvera head-on before they knew what was coming. Velkas knew they existed, it was impossible to keep it completely secret, but he didn't know about the force they had built up. Not yet.
The chief security officer was at his side, Fox's moment had ended. "Sir, we just picked up an escape pod with an Asterion soldier on board. We believe he's a little mad from space travel but may have vital intel."
Fox nodded. "Administer whatever medical attention he needs. We'll keep a close eye on him."
"Yes, sir." The security officer left.
The attack on Razerus loomed ahead, when his head of radio operations ran up.
"Sir, I have reports streaming in."
Fox turned from the screens. "Out with it."
"Our lab on Aquaria was discovered. A Breaker-class ship rifted the planet to erase all trace of what we were doing there."
A terrible feeling of loss descended on him. "Our people there…"
"Didn't make it, sir. Except for one. That leads me to my other report. One of our drogue satellites just picked up a signal."
"That's what they're for, Soldier," Fox said.
The operator knew his vice commander was fighting back the bad news in his own way. "Maybe you should take a look. It's a coded message for you."
Fox took the papers from his hand and saw the odd frequency. When he looked closer at the repeating numbers, he saw the words embedded in them.
"Good work," he told his radio operator and turned to his director of flight. He motioned for him to follow him to the star map. "We're headed here. Now." The planet he zeroed in on appeared to be moving through a system.
His operations officer was at his side. "But the attack, sir…"
"Will wait. My father will understand. This is more important." Fox flicked his head at his director of flight, indicating he was to do as he was commanded.
"I'll let the Valian generals know too, sir."
Fox took a deep breath. He hoped he was right to take a big chance on this side mission. But the message had promised him something—a new hope.
He just hoped he wasn't too late.
Chapter 11
After thirty minutes underground, Nathan had everyone gather in the cargo hold. Utilizing the wooden pallets for fuel and an old gas tank, he had a nice little fire going on the metal floor. The temperature was easily below zero and dropping. The only light came from the fledgling fire and emergency lighting.
After the crash land, Nathan turned off all nonessential equipment to kill any heat signature the Ruverans could pick up. Out of the kindness of his heart, he had even thrown Daphkalian a blanket on his way to build the fire. He had been nearly frozen. The locks on the cell were always powered by the ship batteries, so Nathan wasn't worried about his escaping.
As everyone came down into the hold, Nathan made sure his combat-terrain vehicle had made it through. Besides a couple cracks in the window and a small dent in the side, the CTV-44 was fine. If it wasn't so cold on this planet, he'd be able to see if it still ran.
Trevor and Kaida were in the cold-weather gear they kept aboard, including face masks. They stood warming up at the barrel fire, looking tired and haggard.
The bombing runs continued overhead. So deep underground, the explosives only caused rumblings. At first, the Ruverans had pounded the area above them. Most likely, the glaciers had caved in together and buried them deeper. It wasn't yet clear how they would escape their frozen burial chamber.
For a time, they didn't say a word. Yes they were being bombed, but the world had changed. A writhing darkness had devoured an entire galaxy. It was continuing through the universe. Who knew what was capable of or what it was. The rules to living were different now. It was more about escaping the path of whatever that thing was. And sitting motionless on this planet only meant it was getting closer.
Then there were the Ruverans out there trying to kill them. Without the force drive again, they were essentially trapped in a snowball.
And so they stood there, the three of them warming their hands in the cargo compartment as even their breath looked like it was turning to ice. Boost came down, oblivious to the cold, the attack on them, and the universe eater.
"I got it!" Kaida said suddenly, through chattering teeth.
The two men looked at her through freezing-cold hoods.
"I solved one of the algorithms. The answer was easy once I thought about it."
Nathan threw a few more pieces of wood into the fire, secretly apprehensive to get another piece of the alien's puzzle. The first part of what the alien had whispered had proven true. The darkness was real. But the second part was still too unbelievable.
Kaida's hands were shaking, but she still managed to pull the Nymarian's data pad out. She fat-fingered the solution in. One of the three sliders on it moved over and unlocked. A small compartment on the side opened up. She set the pad down.
"It's a hologram," she announced.
A burst of light jumped out of the pad and unfolded into a figure. The creature turned out to be a robed Eckelion. They had encountered some in their travels. They were a sea people, blue-scaled and about three feet tall. This one was dressed as a robed Scribe, which meant he worked with an armored Absolver. One took life while the other atoned for it and recorded the history of what they both accomplished.
"Greetings, Cleph'thera. I hope this message finds you well. I am Raxus, Scribe of Azel. By the light of the stars, my people are glad to assist yours in these dark times." The Eckelion bowed.
Trevor turned his back to the fire and kept watching as the Eckelion paused.
"A few days ago, we came across a Salarian emergency beacon. My Absolver, Azel, and I decided we should retrieve their holy relic back for them. We attacked a Ruveran ship and stole it back from them. Now I know I shouldn't have, but when we had it on board I touched it. Oddly, the moment I did, it showed me a vision. I saw many things of the present and the future. It was then I understood that the Salarian was trying to get it away to a specific person. I can't explain it, Cleph, but it has chosen someone to battle a great darkness—to protect us from being erased from existence. I believe that, somehow, we are supposed to help search for this person."
The Eckelion pulled a small orb out from his robes.
"Here it is, the Void Star, the most powerful weapon in the universe."
Nathan walked back with more wood. He didn't look like he was paying much attention. His eyes caught on the little device, and his mouth grew thin.
"I coded this pad in a specific way. The first solution is the easiest and why you should be seeing this first. The second is more difficult and gives the coordinates to where I am. The third, should all else fail, is nearly impossible and tells who t
he chosen one is. The one with the terribly scarred eyes. Even if Ruvera gets their hands on this, it'll take them forever to break into it, since they aren't familiar with our sciences or math. I will have to move locations should it take you longer to find where I am in order to protect this." Raxus the hologram appeared to be nervous about being caught. "Each solution will show you another piece of the puzzle, this being one of the three. Now this wasn't part of the vision I received, but I knew you would want to be a part of this. Your people were right about the Void Star when everyone else was wrong. It is…remarkable."
The explosions outside were either taking a break or were too far away to hear.
"I hope to see you soon with the chosen one. I fear to imagine another outcome. Farewell old friend." The hologram blinked off.
A silence descended on all of them. It was a lot to process.
Nathan broke it. "Boost, what do you have on this Void Star?"
Boost took a moment to gather facts from his information bank. "Void Star. Three entries; first one, known to those in the Parsi System as Vuli'sa, the Jewel of the Universe. They believed it existed to stop a universal rebirth, where everything would be pulled back into itself and burst forth once more to re-evolve as something else. They were a strange people who kept to themselves, but records show they once had the star before it was moved to Vale. Second entry: Yehara 45-3 System, known as the Helcarion which roughly translates to 'unstoppable force.' They believed it contained some massive, unknown power. They had it for a while until the Salarians got it back through years of war. Last entry: this is according to a Valian inscription I saw once, 'Void Star, protect us from the Dark One in our greatest time of need.' It's either Dark One or Darkness. In the Salarian tongue—"
"I got it." Nathan stopped him. He mulled this over silently.
An explosion shook the ground above them, and for a moment, the power flickered. It took a second for the emergency lights to come back on. A worried look flashed across everyone's face for a split second. But the ship hadn't been hit directly.
"Close one," Trevor whispered.
Kaida nodded.
Nathan walked up to Kaida. "Do you think you can solve the other two algorithms?"
"It will take me some time. But, yes, I believe I can." She pocketed the data pad.
Suddenly, a hard metal clang rang out through the cargo hold. Trev and Nathan exchanged a look. The two men ran up to the catwalk and crawled up to the top of the ship. Nathan had a flashlight out and found that the ship hadn't been completely covered by snow after all. They were embedded in a large ice cave. The light reflected off the ice crystals, and the whole cave lit up.
Already in the distance, they could see a figure disappearing deeper into the caves. The figure had made off with some of their spare cold-weather gear and a bag of supplies by the look of it.
The two of them dropped back down and closed off the freezing cold. It had been hard to imagine it getting worse outside, but it was worlds colder.
They retreated back to the cell, and sure enough, the cell door was wide open. There was no one inside.
Nathan just shook his head.
Kaida watched both men return and could tell what had happened. Daphkalian had escaped. She didn't want their moods to become too somber. "He probably won't survive for long out there." Even though she had meant it to cheer them up, it just sounded cryptic when it came out.
Trevor shrugged. "I guess."
"Hold it." Nathan shushed them.
Trevor struggled to hear anything through the thick lining of his jacket. There wasn't a sound to be heard.
"Boost, can you pick that up?" Nathan asked.
Boost connected a piece of equipment he kept locked inside his central compartment and held it up toward the ceiling. He waited to make sure he had it right. He put his sound amplifier away. "It sounds like a battle."
"Who would fight the Ruverans?" Trevor scoffed. He knew whatever fight this was would be short-lived.
"It's the people I work for." Kaida smiled underneath her mask. "The Elysians."
-o-
Outside the ice world of Frosterrene, twenty-two gunships and a mother ship appeared out of dead space. The Breaker VI had not been expecting visitors. It turned to evasive maneuvers. The fighters returned from their bomb runs to defend it.
"What do we got?" Fox asked his generals.
"Looks like they won't be retreating, sir. They are digging in."
Fox nodded. "All right. Just like we practiced, Ladies and Gentlemen. Hit them where it hurts. Show them they can be brought down."
Outside the Helcarion, the Valians were unleashing their own sets of fighters. They were smaller than the Ruverans', but faster and more maneuverable. A small-scale battle broke out.
Underneath Breaker VI, the rift gun started glowing. They had intel that Ruveran ships had the capability to use rift technology to destroy smaller-scale items instead of just to create a void in space that destroyed everything around it. It appeared that was the route they were going to take. The soft-blue hue of the machine warmed up, sending a shiver down Fox's spine.
The huge white light boomed out of it, and Valian 7 exploded.
"Everyone, focus on your assignment. Take it out now!" Fox screamed.
The Valians all opened up on the giant battleship, speeding around it, blasting away with everything they had. Even though they were doing massive damage, the ship was too great to bring down fast.
"Sir, I suggest we use one of the X-13's," his weapons officer, his cousin's son, Lieutenant Jake Clemons, called.
In that moment of panic, Fox didn't care how few of those weapons they had and how much they might need them later. "Use it!"
Jake ran over with his order and motioned for his people to spin it up.
An orange spike shot from the Helcarion and pierced the great gunship. The force of the shot tore through the Breaker, and then it shattered apart. The rift cannon evaporated.
The dogfighting went on until the Ruveran fighters either blew up or light-jumped away.
Fox mourned the loss of those aboard Valian 7. He would hold a memorial for them when he figured out the rest of this mess. It would be a bit. His people would be reporting losses and damage for the next few hours.
"So where is Kaida now?" Fox asked. He walked up to his radar officers.
One of them kept shrugging until a tiny blip flashed onscreen. "It's another ship. Not Ruveran by the look of it."
"They appear to be under a snow bank," another chimed in.
"That's probably her then." Fox smiled. "Send a team to help them out. I want another team here with me to greet them. I'm sure they'll have quite the story to tell."
Chapter 12
After a team had helped rescue and extract the Wrath, Nathan slowly brought the ship back to life. They were back in open air. The blizzard was still blowing at them harshly, but no one was trying to kill them. In the open ice fields, Nathan went back to work. As soon as the quantum engines were maxed out, the temperature jumped up to normal levels. The wing anti-ice melted off any residual icing. The crew completed all preflight checks, and then they were ready.
The Wrath jumped into the sky once more. Over the ground, they couldn't see any sign of Daphkalian. Most likely, he was a frozen ball of ice. Nathan brought them all out of the frozen planet, and they were back in open space. Once there, it was evident something had gone down. Chunks of a great ship were floating around, and fighter carcasses were slamming into each other. Beyond a dead field, the crew took in a sight.
A couple handfuls of sharp-looking attack craft stared back at them. Fighters were looming around those like bees guarding honey. In the middle was a circular one with what looked like a spired city at the center. Whoever they were, they were clearly not Ruveran.
Nathan played with the radios until he picked up their frequency. "Awaiting instructions." This was the usual parlay when you were overwhelmed by a peaceful force you didn't want to upset.
"
Let me talk to them," Kaida interjected.
"Quiet," Nathan told her gruffly.
Trevor finally recognized the uncle he knew. A hurt look played across her pretty face—she looked almost like a little girl about to cry—and then it turned to anger.
"Unknown craft, follow vectors for docking."
Trevor sat back and watched in awe as they grew closer. The flagship they were headed toward was astonishing; it looked like the inhabitants had recreated a small planet. Though it was like they had taken a slice off the top of a world, it reminded him of home. The buildings were like those back on Earth.
The docking station door opened as their ship arrived. They followed the glowing lines until they reached a large, empty spot. Already a crowd stood waiting, a lot of armed soldiers among them.
Trev started to think this wasn't such a good idea. Then they touched down, and Nathan killed the engines. Too late.
Outside the ship, Fox waited for the engines to speed down. It took a few minutes for the cargo ramp to open. He had everyone stand down until they knew the situation better.
Then finally he saw her. Kaida Elwin was disheveled and red-eyed but still lavishly beautiful. She was all smiles as she ran to him. He picked her up off her feet and hugged her tight.
Then he pulled away and took her beauty in once more. Her hair still shown like fire, even in the florescent lights of the docking bay. Her eyes were like emeralds. Old feelings welled up, but too much time had passed, and he knew those days were long gone.
"Here's the crew that helped me." She motioned back toward the little Tiger-37.
His eyes took in the little robot that oddly looked like a metal Salarian. Then he saw the dark-haired kid wearing…was that a sword? Finally, he saw a face he hadn't seen in a long time.
"Captain Sutherland?" he asked.
Nathan had the same look on his face, like he was seeing a ghost. "Fox…"
The two men met in the middle of the throng and clasped hands. "It's…it's been awhile." Fox hadn't seen his old flight commander since the final attack on Earth. The moment Nathan had lost his leg.