by Ivan Kal
She snarled and her mind opened up, shocking everyone in the room. With a vicious, powerful, yet unfocused attack, she lashed out at Vorash. He barely had enough time to prepare his defenses. The attack staggered him and dropped him to the ground. A moment later, he felt telepathic bursts leaving her, going outside of the room, and moments after the door behind her opened and her guards entered. Vorash reached quickly beneath the table and pressed a button there, summoning the guards, hoping that Valanaru did not own all of them.
A few instants later, the room turned into a bloodbath.
* * *
Vorash sat in his compound, a medical officer standing above him, treating the wound on his arm. His office had been turned into a battle center rather quickly. Valanaru had gone insane, completely and utterly. She had not only attacked the other O’fa with her mind, a thing forbidden on the penalty of death, but she had also triggered a rebellion. Vorash had known that she had elements of the Erasi military loyal to her, but he had not anticipated this. Almost a third of all military personnel on Gena Prime had sided with her.
Her private guards had killed two of the O’fa and dozens of other guards, and Vorash and the rest had just barely left with their lives. On the bright side, the surviving O’fa were now completely on his side. Now they needed only to arrest her and quell her little rebellion.
He turned to look at the military commanders in the room.
“What do we know?” Vorash asked.
“She is holed up in her compound. Plans are being formulated for an assault, but…” one of the commanders, an Uvaramo like Vorash, spoke.
“But that place is a fortress,” Vorash finished.
“Yes, O’fa. We are assembling a force, but she has many under her banner. It will not be an easy fight. And there has been some chatter about fighting on the Pillar; we are not certain yet if it is true, but we are unable to send messages over the network. It could be something else, as the whole planet seems to be in chaos. But I’ve sent forces to check and reinforce or retake the Pillar if needed.”
Vorash grimaced. The Pillar was the hub for every comm relay in the Erasi space. It controlled communications for every service in the Erasi, from civilian to military. It had been Valanaru’s brain child, a single point from where they could control everything. It was supposed to prevent infiltration into their network and provide them with security. In truth, it was the main tool in her repertoire. She had used it to control the Erasi public for far too long.
“We can’t let her have it. If she does, she can lock us out. She could spin whatever tale she wants and everyone would believe her. And our words would never reach outside of this system,” Vorash said.
A chime on the commander’s comm unit sounded, and the commander stepped aside, answering in private. A moment later, he came back with a resigned look on his face.
“O’fa, we need to get you and the rest of the council off planet,” the commander said.
“What happened?”
“Several fleets just dropped in. They are not responding to hails and they are moving straight for the planet.”
“The Home Guard?” Vorash asked.
“It won’t reach Gena in time,” the commander said. “The skim disruptors have been activated around the system. And I have intel that suggests that Valanaru will soon control the orbital defenses. It is really best if we leave now.”
Vorash wanted to argue, but he knew that there was no time. With a groan, he stood and followed everyone out of the room.
He’d had everything planned. The provisional heads were ready to support him, most of the corporations had been bought, their support all but guaranteed. He would’ve stepped in as the head of the O’fa with no problems. He did not account for Valanaru not going down quietly–he made a mistake. As they boarded a shuttle that took them up to the ship waiting in orbit, there was only one thought stuck in his mind: This was not what was supposed to happen.
Interlude IV
Union of Species ~ Fifteen thousand years ago
“It is beautiful,” Vorash said, looking down on a perfect world–a blue-and-green gem. It had the perfect climate, the perfect conditions. The third planet from the star, with a single moon. The system was a hub, meaning that it had several trans-lanes leading out of it and toward it. A perfect candidate to settle.
The only problem was that it was already occupied. The indigenous race was primitive, but it was clearly intelligent.
Vorash knew that their need was great, but he could not in good conscience mark it for colonization.
“Mark the system as not a match,” Vorash said to his subordinate.
“Yes, Commander.”
It was a shame, really–it would’ve been perfect. Something about it called to him, didn’t want him to let it go.
“Our scout ships are equipped with FTL comms, right?” Vorash asked.
“Yes, no entanglement, but they can broadcast. It will take a while for the message to reach anywhere outside of the system, though.”
“I want you to leave one of our scout ships here. Instruct the AI to monitor the planet and send a message if the indigenous race ever reaches the level of technology where they could leave their solar system.”
“As you will, Commander.”
Vorash watched as the small scout ship lowered itself into the world’s ocean. He might not be willing to take the world from its inhabitants, but he would like to visit here again.
Taking one last look at the world, he ordered the ship start on a new course.
“Enter the course that Garash sent us. He said that he found something interesting. Perhaps it is our new home.”
Chapter Twenty
Alliance staging point
Adrian sat in his office on the Herald of War, reading through reports and plans for the upcoming offensive. They had been recalling and gathering forces from all across the front for another attempt to push into the core, this time with a larger force. But Ryaana’s intel had changed their plans a bit, had delayed their assault until their scouts could make sure that there was no sign of the Erasi’s new weapon anywhere close to their target system.
He and Anessa were not foolish enough to pit their fleets against that ship without knowing more about it, at least to the point of having a way to neutralize it, especially with the size of their new assault force. They were not about to risk losing a big chunk of the alliance’s forces to that thing.
And that meant more planning and waiting. The system had already filled out with ships, and with the access point active, they had ships moving between Sol and the staging point constantly. Supplies, ammo, and damaged ships were going to the Jupiter yards and then returning once they were repaired. The access point allowed them a constant stream of supplies deep into Erasi territory without the need to pass through the rest of their territory.
Sadly, that wouldn’t be possible in their core. The few access points that did exist in their core were guarded and nearly impossible for them to reach and activate. Even if they somehow managed it, the Erasi had turned the areas around them into death traps.
And so they had to go the old-fashioned way, through hyperspace and trans-space. They needed a secure trans-lane route to the core in order to sustain the invasion. But they were not all that far from the core, in reality–merely two months by hyperspace and a few weeks by trans-space, if their intel was correct. But it didn’t matter that they could merely strike from here; war like this was far more about the ability to sustain the offensive than just striking once.
But Adrian had to admit that he was having trouble focusing on the war when Ryaana’s improbable escape bothered him so. On its face, Ryaana and Vas’s escape seemed particularly lucky, but not impossible. However, Adrian knew what Vas truly was. Knowing that, the most likely conclusion was that the Enlightened had something to do with their escape.
In a way, then, Adrian was thankful after reviewing the scans. Up until they had decided to abandon ship, Adrian could see that th
e Erasi had the upper hand, that there would have been no escape from that system for any of the alliance’s forces–and yet his daughter had survived. Vas had saved her. His story about how he did so was plausible, if only just, and believable when one didn’t know what he was.
Adrian was certain that the Enlightened had made sure that she survived. The question was: Why? The most obvious answer was that the Enlightened was not satisfied with his or her mission. That they needed to learn more, and that Ryaana was their best way to get information. Yet it seemed like an unnecessary risk, a being that old and able to assume any form could’ve found a way to gain access again. The Enlightened had no reason to believe that it had been discovered.
Shaking his head, Adrian turned his mind away from the topic. It wouldn’t lead anywhere. He had more important things to do. He returned his attention to his holotable and the endless reports. Then in a corner of his eye on his HUD a small message indicator appeared. Frowning, Adrian used his implant to look at the message. It was an encrypted message, one that had been sent with the last comm drone that had passed through the access point from Sol.
“Iris?”
“Hm… It is a very powerful encryption.”
“Can you tell who sent it, at least?”
“I can only tell that it originated in Sol. Wait, let me see… Ah, there. I got it.”
“What? How?”
“It was set to open once you or I attempted to break the encryption. It is safe.”
“That is strange,” Adrian commented, but opened it on his HUD nonetheless.
It was a set of coordinates, leading to a system just under two light years away from Nelus. A cursory look at the map told him that it was an uninhabited system, with a single small star and a large rocky planet. There didn’t seem to be anything else of interest there.
There was also a short, simple message.
Come at your convenience.
- AD
“Know who it is from?” Iris asked.
Adrian nodded. There was only one person that it could be from. “Yeah, it’s from Axull Darr.”
Adrian was extremely interested in what he had to say, but did not know if he should leave the invasion force to go. The system was fairly close to Nelus, which meant that he was not all that far away. All it would take was a single pass through the access point and then a short hyperspace trip from Nelus. He could get there in a few hours at most. He did not know what Axull Darr wanted, but he most certainly knew all the latest from the invasion–he was, after all, monitoring everything.
It was also not like they were going to invade tomorrow, and Anessa would be able to lead alone in case anything did happen.
Making the decision, he stood up. He had been staring at charts and plans for too long–he needed a bit of a rest.
“We’re going?”
“Yes.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Gena system – Erasi core
Vorash looked at the holo and the position of the forces in the system. The highest-ranking commanders of the military stood next to him, as well as several O’fa.
“Gena Prime is firmly under her control,” one of his commanders said. “All of the planet’s defenses along with the fleets she has make it extremely unlikely that we could retake the planet, not now.”
Vorash grimaced. Almost half of the Home Guard had turned out to be under her thumb, and if that wasn’t enough, more fleets had started arriving in the system by the trans-lanes she controlled. The entire Gatrey race had sided with her, or at least their military had. That wasn’t all that surprising, as Valanaru had always ruled the Gatrey. He just hadn’t realized that not one of the Gatrey fleets had been sent to the front. As it appeared, all of them had remained in the core.
Almost two hundred fleets now surrounded Gena Prime. Vorash’s side had its own fleets in the system, of course. The loyal portion of the Home Guard, as well as defense fleets from the surrounding systems, those that they could reach quickly with couriers. Valanaru’s control of the Pillar was hobbling them. The couriers could spread the word only so much, as the closest systems were informed of what had happened, but those farther away had only heard Valanaru’s version of events.
For now, the state of the system was chaotic. Vorash controlled the harvesting stations around the star as well as the first planet in the system and all the stations and defenses between. Valanaru’s forces were entrenched behind the defenses surrounding the second planet, the capital–Gena Prime. There were several very well-defended trans-points close to them that she controlled as well. The third planet, the gas giant along with all of its yards, was also hers, although it was not loyal to her. A portion of her forces had it blockaded. There hadn’t been any fighting yet, as Valanaru probably didn’t want to lose any of her forces without knowing if she could get more. The rest of the planets in the system were under Vorash’s control but they weren’t all that important. Only the capital and the Pillar mattered.
It was not a good position for them to be in. While Vorash’s forces in the Gena system were almost equal to Valanaru’s, they were at an impasse. The defenses around Gena Prime were the most formidable ones in the Erasi, and Valanaru did not seem interested in moving her forces away from them. Instead, she kept only to the single planet and a few trans-points in the system. The planetary shield alone would take a massive force to take down, not to mention the fact that any attack on the capital would be endangering their own people.
There had been no major battles between them for now–only a few skirmishes–but Vorash knew that time was on Valanaru’s side. The more time they took to retake the Pillar and send out the truth, the more she would be able to poison the minds of the people through the Pillar and the more she would be able to organize forces from the furthest reaches of the Erasi, while they could rely only on the forces in their immediate vicinity.
“We need to do something,” Vorash said.
“O’fa Vorash, I fear that this is the hardest time in the history of the Erasi. We cannot afford a civil war now,” one of the other O’fa said.
“We need the Pillar. With it, we can unite the Erasi,” Vorash said. He had planned on taking control of the Erasi for a long time, since his brother’s death. He had laid down the groundwork. The outer territories were mostly loyal to him; he had spent a long time and a great amount of funds in order to make sure that the regional rulers would support him. He could take control of the core, too, with the help of the other O’fa, who were all now on his side.
The commander leaned down on the table, looking closely at the map of the system. “Her position is too favorable. She holds a massive force and defenses. We cannot take over the planet with what we have. She holds most of the Devastators.”
Again Vorash grimaced at another thing he had missed. Most of the commanders of the great vessels were people loyal to her. A few had remained loyal to the council but not all. And with most of the others still in Krashin territory it meant that they could not be reached. But Vorash suspected that most of those would be hers as well. Only three Devastators in the system were on his side, with seven being on hers for now.
“The forces on the front could be useful about now,” another O’fa commented.
“We don’t know how many of them are loyal, and in any case we can’t risk pulling them back, not when it would mean giving the invaders a direct route to the core. Not to mention that Valanaru has more systems under her control. We don’t have enough ships. Even if by some miracle we manage to retake Gena, Valanaru is the most powerful mindbender in the Erasi. I don’t think that we have anyone capable enough to defeat her.”
Vorash narrowed his eyes, thinking. He did have one more card to play–he just did not know how to spin it.
“We agree,” Vorash asked, “that we need to capture Valanaru to retake Gena Prime?”
“Of course, O’fa. I just don’t see how we can do that,” the commander said.
“What if we can come to an agreement with the
invaders?”
“O’fa… I don’t know how that would be possible.”
“The only reason we are at war is because of Valanaru’s propaganda and schemes. We were the ones that invaded them first, and we were the ones that planned on invading again. All of it was Valanaru’s plan. If I reach out and ask for a ceasefire, I think that there is a good chance that we get it,” Vorash said. He was fairly certain of it.
“Even if you manage it, O’fa, and we verify that our forces are loyal, it would take time for us to send couriers to recall them, and time for them to return. We don’t have that much time. And there is still the problem of Valanaru herself–capturing her would be near impossible. She is in the middle of the city, so bombardment is out of the question unless we are willing to kill many of our own people. And as long as she is free, the forces loyal to her will fight.”
Vorash looked around the room, locking his eyes with everyone inside. “There is a way to deal with both of those problems. Do you trust me, Commander? Do the rest of you trust me?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kenos system – Empire territory
The frigate Adrian had borrowed from the Herald slowly moved deeper into the system. He had decided to answer Axull Darr’s invitation alone. He knew that there was much for the two of them to discuss, and Adrian had been putting the conversation off because of the war. Now, he would finally get more answers.
A little over a year ago, Adrian had discovered that what everyone in the Empire had thought to be simply an imprint of Axull Darr’s memories, programmed to answer in the same way that the original would, was in fact much more than that. It was Axull Darr himself: he had figured a way to upload himself into a digital brain, a distinction that might not mean much to many, but one that was significant.