“The Anchorage?”
Syala shook her head.
“No, the entire system. Spartan and Gun are no fools. They’ve been playing their own game, and they are playing it well. You didn’t think we’d leave you behind, did you?”
Syala beckoned towards her. The two moved to the ledge and looked down out the vast open area. Valentine knew there were bodies down there, but that wasn’t what Syala was pointing to. As she looked down, she spotted multiple robotic warriors advancing in formation. They looked familiar, though she still had absolutely no idea what was happening.
“I thought the ships and the fleet had left.”
Syala nodded.
“True, all but two ships left. But we also left behind the combined ground forces of the Interstellar Assault Brigade.”
Even as they waited, a number of large armoured suits advanced with the robotic soldiers. They were nearly three metres tall, fully contained, and carrying heavy guns.
“Vanguard Marines,” said Syala, “We hid the lot here before we left, and now it’s time to get back into the fight.”
“But why? We have no ships here?”
Syala lifted her eyebrows in mock confusion.
“Don’t we?”
* * *
Grand Cruiser ‘Raiukat’
Ararrh II, Orion Interstellar Empire
Legate Catecahassa froze for a second, wondering if this was it, the moment he’d dreamed of. He had everything in position, just as he’d been ordered. Yet the days had trickled away, one after the other until he was concerned the Princeps had given up on the entire project.
“Put the Princeps on the main screen.”
Two seconds later the crackling image of the Princeps appeared, and to Catecahassa’s surprise he seemed to be aboard a warship, much like his own, though the interior appeared even larger.
Can it be? Does he command the Burijas Leviathan? I thought it had been crippled.
“Princeps Tahkeome, you honour me with your presence. I had no idea you had restored Burijas to combat.”
The half-blood leader of the Orion Interstellar Empire remained motionless, save for his eyes. They shifted from left to right, drinking in everything around him as though he could see all. He wore his ceremonial garb of office, yet beneath it Catecahassa could see the golden plates and scales of his amour.
“Indeed. Legate Catecahassa, is your fleet ready for war?”
Catecahassa nodded, though quite irritated that his question had been ignored.
“It is, Princeps. My forces are ready to breach the minefield and to engage the Alliance forces on command.”
“Good, very good. I have sent you updated information. Check it, and confirm you understand.”
Catecahassa’s eyes shifted to the side of the screen where a diagram appeared of multiple planetary systems. On one side was the Fiorr Veej System with its massive Alliance fleet. On the other he could see the disputed Tenth Quadrant, protected by the growing number of Byotai ships commanded by the traitor General Makos. Both fleets protected the Rifts that led back to the prize, the Helion System, heart of the Alliance holdings in this part of the galaxy. He checked the lists of ships and their targets, and then gasped.
“Princeps. Are you certain? I thought we would send everything at the Alliance and drive them from the Fiorr Veej System, and onto their planets. There are many ships missing from this list. And Burijas, it is…”
The half-breed leader of the Star Empire nodded slowly.
“We have suffered unexpected setbacks in the last week. Alliance forces have attacked deep into our territory in an attempt to divert me.”
Catecahassa’s eyes widened as he listened. He understood the Alliance was on the back foot, and yet they appeared to be initiating actions, while he remained trapped here. His gut instinct told him they should withdraw and deal with the internal threats. But in doing so they would remove pressure on the border, and return the initiative to the Humans and their grand coalition.
“Military Tribune Naciss has still not arrived. When can…”
The Princeps lifted one hand and talked over him as though the Legate had not said a single word.
“Distractions do not concern me, Legate. The Alliance is a problem, and the quicker we strike, the quicker we will end their power in the region. Together we will end this pitiful alliance of races, and bring order and peace.”
He hesitated for a few seconds before getting to the part Catecahassa was so desperate to hear.
“But first, the Byotai must be utterly wiped out. Makos and his rebels have entrenched themselves near Karnak, and they are slowing our securing the Tenth Quadrant.”
Immediately Catecahassa felt nervous. If the Byotai were such an issue, then the entire invasion might be halted.
“It is my intention to take our reserves and a squadron of my personal guard to deal with Makos personally. I will use Burijas, burn a hole at the heart of their fleet, and end this upstart. With him gone, I can clear the Tenth Quadrant of the fleet, and then threaten Helios directly.”
“I see, Princeps. They will then have to withdraw to Helios Prime, where we will be able to choose the time and place for our attack.”
“Exactly. We will have multiple lines of attack, and can attack at will. However, Catecahassa, I cannot do this if the Alliance is able to come to their aid. And the Fiorr Veej System connects both to their reserves in Helios, as well as to the Tenth Quadrant. There is a reason it is known as the gateway of the four Rifts.”
Catecahassa gulped upon realising the magnitude of what he was being asked to do. He’d always assumed his role would be to lead the grand assault against the enemy, but with the full support of the Princeps. Now he knew that was incorrect. Tahkeome would be the man of the hour, after all, but his role would now be even harder than before.
“I want you to take the forces you have at hand, and hit the Alliance and Byotai as hard as you can at Fiorr Veej. You do not need to win, but you do need to inflict heavy damage on their forces. They must be fully committed before I can enter the System.”
Catecahassa nodded.
“Very well, my Princeps. I will do as asked. Not one Alliance ship will leave Fiorr Veej as long as I breathe. We will attack them in an unrelenting wave of flesh, metal, and blood.”
“Excellent. That is the news I wanted to hear. I am sending you the entirety of the militia forces in your sector, more than quarter of a million volunteers, burning with desire for martyrdom. Use them as you see fit to launch your attack. And you have the Rift generator ships to maintain the Rift.”
“Yes, Princeps. Are they necessary? The Rifts are all stable in the old Byotai territories. Permanent according to my navigational charts.”
“In theory they are.” Agreed the Princeps. “But they have the treacherous T’Kari with them and have had time to prepare. With enough equipment, it is possible to induce temporary instability that can damage ships, or cast them out into the void. Trust me, you must leave nothing to chance. That is why you have my full arsenal of ships for this.”
It looked like he might leave, but there was something the Princeps looked confused about. He waited for a moment and then spoke firmly, but tinged with irritation.
“Do you have any questions?”
He had so many questions he didn’t know where to begin. Even so, a single thought stuck in his mind more than any other. He wondered about various parts of the strategy, about what fleets remained in the Empire, who was protecting the homeworld, and so much more. Of them all, one pushed to the top above all others.
“Just one, my Princeps. Where is the weapon? After all this time, I have been…”
He stopped as the calm expression on Tahkeome’s face quickly vanished. Tahkeome was still much of an unknown to him, and he’d heard enough stories about those who’d been close to the man, only to vanish overnight.
“It will not be ready in time. Legate. We have more than enough ships for the fight to come. The weapon will be r
eady soon enough.”
He looked frustrated and didn’t bother waiting for Catecahassa to say any more.
“You will begin your attack in ten hours. Remember the plan. It is your duty to pin the enemy down. Only then can I pass through with most of the fleet to engage Makos. Fail, and we will be trapped at Fiorr Veej, right where Makos can flank us.”
The image faded to black and was replaced by the crackling Rift and the squadrons of ships. The Orion Interstellar Empire was ready for war, and for the last two weeks every available ship had moved into position along the border with the Alliance. Scores of ships, tens of thousands of crew, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers waited patiently for the order to begin the attack. Catecahassa was in charge now, and as he lifted his hand, he felt his mouth turn dry.
“Move into position at the Rift.”
On his command, the six large Rift Engine ships moved towards the Rift leading to the Fiorr Veej System. A dozen small ships waited patiently nearby, swarms of fighters racing around them all, looking for any signs of danger. The Rift Engine ships were massive, and at seven hundred metres in length outclassed even the largest of the Star Empire warships waiting patiently for them to begin their work. As they reached their objective, they adjusted their positions until formed in a circle in front of the Rift. Now ready, they activated long prongs that extended out like the tines of a fork. Blue energy flashed between the forks of each ship, creating a circle of light that quickly increased in intensity until bright white. In a matter of minutes they would be able to stabilise the Rift, making it ready for a contested crossing.
With the ships now ready for his attack, Catecahassa relaxed. There was little for him to do now but follow the plan, and bring about the end of their foes. It would stun his people if they knew the ships were hybrid technology, based on their own designs, mixed with a captured vessel recovered from the Biomech War. He’d not seen the wreck, but he did know an unknown party in the Alliance had sold it, and that amused him greatly.
They are weak and corrupt. Ripe for the taking.
He pressed the button on the screen.
“It is time for the Humans to pay for what they have done. On my command, the invasion begins. All units, move into final assault positions.”
The entire formation of ships activated their engines and began moving forward. At the same time, the large formation of Star Empire ships opened their gun ports, the traditional sign that violence was about to be initiated. Seconds later, numerous hangar doors slid open to release groups of fighters. There were hundreds of them, positioned like swarms of wasps looking for their next victims. The ships reached the lashing tendrils of the Rift; the unholy distortion in space-time that allowed ships to travel incredible distances, without ever moving. First to enter would be the scores of civilian vessels, followed closely by the lines of warships. The invasion fleet pushed towards the whirlpool of the Spacebridge, poised for the terrible fight to come.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Alliance Assault Carrier ‘ANS Indomitable’
Approaching Fiorr Veej System, Deadlands
January 18th 2473
Nate and Billy moved along the central passageway and towards the pilots’ recreation room once more. They’d spent the last days stuck below on the operations level, with a few hours each day given over to rest. The ship moved in formation with the other vessels in the fleet, though the only sign of that was when they gained access to the external cameras. The unique method of transport used by the IAB allowed them to travel vast distances at impossible speeds, all without moving in local space. For the first day, Nate had helped the crew isolate the damage on his fighter, but as time went on, he and the others drifted towards the other pilots. Some had never been in combat until now, but with the devastating combat at Kalar, they all had something in common. After days of this, Nate was keen to be somewhere else, no matter where for a few hours rest and recuperation.
“Those Byotai pilots are keen to fight, aren’t they?”
Nate smiled and looked to his friend. Billy’s hair was even more unkempt than usual, and the cut to his cheek now starting to heal. They’d been so busy he didn’t even remember how he’d received that cut.
“Can you blame them, Billy? They lost everything, and now they want revenge.”
They walked on further through the innards of the large and eerily quiet ship. When they’d been on Victorious, they’d bumped into people at nearly every single intersection, but not on this one.
“Still. Some of them don’t care what happens when they take off. They just want to hurt somebody, and if that means they don’t come back, so what?”
“It’s understandable,” said Cassandra. She’d been following them in relative silence a few metres behind. Since the battle over Kalar, she’d become more withdrawn than they considered normal, “I’m just glad they’re on our side. Talking of that, where are Valdis and the others? Weren’t they supposed to be checking the gun mounts on the Hawkmoths?”
Nate was sure he detected a hint of something in her voice. He couldn’t tell if it was anger, irritation, or even jealousy. It was something, though. He could feel her eyes burning into the back of his head. As he stepped forward, he felt a shiver running down his spine. They moved quickly until stopping in front of a pair of Naval workman. They wore fatigues, and to Nate’s surprise, both carried sidearms.
“You can’t go that way.”
“What?” Billy asked, “But we’re heading to the rec room.”
The man shook his head.
“Damage in the secondary shaft, another coolant unit overloaded on the third engineering deck. We need to shut down this part of the ship until we can shut down the engines. We expect number four to fail within the day.”
“Can’t you just do the work now?”
The man laughed.
“Shut it down? And cut the engines? Are you serious? You know what that will do, don’t you?”
The irritated man looked away, and Nate placed a hand on his friend’s arm.
“Billy. With the nacelles off-line, we aren’t going anywhere. Don’t forget, they’re creating a…”
Nate tried hard, but nothing came to mind. He twisted around and looked right at Matilda.
“What is it?”
She sighed before answering.
“The nacelles create a configurable energy-density field lower than a vacuum. The ship then contracts space in front of the field, and expands space behind it to travel at high speed.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
Matilda continued to grumble, and Nate had to hide his smile for fear of annoying her further. The man pointed behind him where a small group of technicians were busy attaching brackets in the passage.
“We’ve got a team on it now, but they’re gonna be here a while. You need to go up and through the accommodation deck and then down on the other side.”
Billy looked confused.
“Accommodation?”
The man laughed.
“Yeah, where all the Jarheads live. Don’t take any crap from them. Got it?”
Nate nodded.
“I know the layout. Follow me.”
Matilda moved off without saying another word and led them through the maze-like interior. The ship might have been a mirror copy of the ship they’d been operating on before, with few internal changes other than damage in the lower decks. Even so, they’d had little reason to travel through these sections, especially those used by the marines. As soon as they reached the deck, it was clear this area was very different to other parts of the ship. Though brand new, there were already pieces of art and commemorative objects placed at key points to serve as a reminder of recent glories.
“Look,” said Billy, “I’ve seen one of those before.”
He stopped in front of wall and pointed to pieces of armour laid out as a display. Each piece was attached to a thick bar running along the length of the wall. The gear was much thicker and heavier than the kit used by mari
nes today.
“That isn’t Marine Corps issue.”
Matilda waited for them to say more, but to her annoyance they said nothing, and instead reached out to touch the objects.
“Well, don’t you want to know?”
“Okay, okay,” said Nate, “Tell us.”
Matilda hesitated, perhaps considering whether she should even bother. Finally, she pointed to the thick chest armour.
“This armour is the gear worn by the old Confederate Army. Decades ago they were the regular soldiers on every one of our planets. Heavily armed and armoured, and sent into battle aboard heavy transports.”
“So what’s the gear doing here?”
Cassandra pointed to a plaque.
“It says here the armour was taken from traitors at New Carlos, in the Great Uprising.”
Nate’s eyes were now wide open as he looked at the military relics.
“That was over thirty years ago.”
He shook his head.
“Back then there was no Alliance, and we’d never seen an alien before. Crazy.”
This time Matilda actually seemed interested in what he was saying.
“And since then we’ve reached the stars, made friends and even more enemies.”
“We’ve done a lot more than that,” added Cassandra, “Don’t forget, since we’ve been here, we’ve allied with the Helions and fought an entire war.”
Matilda sighed.
“And now we’re in the middle of another one. Sometimes I wonder if coming out here was the smartest move.”
Nate listened to them with interest. He was familiar with the rapid exploration and expansion since the end of the infamous Uprising. Yet for all the problems and losses they’d suffered, Humanity had benefitted by the colonisation, technological know-how, and trade.
“We can never go back to how it was,” he said slowly, “Even if we closed the Spacebridges, we would still live in an era where we know others exist out here.”
He then smiled at the grim looking Matilda.
“You’ve seen the trade convoys coming from home. It’s a gold rush, and everybody wants a piece of it.”
Star Crusader: Siege of Kalar Page 18