by Dalo Lorn
Zeshaira concealed herself and headed towards her targets, while Lanis aimed his pistol at the other two, waiting for the attack to begin. Suddenly, her wristblade slashed across her two targets - which, to Lanis’ surprise, simply fell to the ground, unconscious. Before he could act, Zeshaira telekinetically pushed the other two into a wall, stunning them. After that, she levitated all of them to a safe distance.
“Show-off,” he told Zeshaira as she returned, and they all went inside. Once inside, they saw the crystalline capacitors; relatively inconspicuous when compared to the hyperdrive they powered, they truly contained a lot of energy. On the other side of the building, they saw what appeared to be a control room.
“Over there,” Fanra said. “I might be able to access the drive controls - or at least get schematics for the facility - from there.”
Lanis turned around, surveying the environment. “We must be careful - there is no way of knowing when the Xargans will detect us,” Zeshaira said.
“Speaking of which… I think I know when,” Lanis answered, pointing at a surveillance camera which was looking right at them. “Should have thought about that one,” he added as he fired a shot at the camera, an action which, due to the makeup of the camera and the building as a whole, proved as fruitless as he expected.
“They’ll probably lock down the control room, but if I can get close enough, I might be able to bypass the door locks.”
“Alright, we’ll cover you.”
Fanra ran off to the control room door; as expected, it was locked, so she took out her tools and started working. Meanwhile, several guards - Lanis wasn’t sure if these were Xargans in disguise or genuine Petrans anymore - charged into the room and opened fire.
“How long do we have to hold them off? These aren’t exactly great odds, you know!”
“Just give me a minute or two to override the controls!”
“How come you could vent yourself into space in five seconds, but you need two minutes to get past a locked door?!”
“I have to override the locking mechanism or it’ll just slam shut the instant I start opening it, and the fact that I’m being shot at isn’t helping!” Fanra answered.
“Could we not cut through it?”
“It’d either regenerate or absorb the energy, depending on whether you had a kinetic weapon or an energy weapon - and we’d have to find a drill capable of actually getting through. It’s one of the nasty things about Petran crystals, and probably the reason none of these stray shots are doing anything to the capacitors,” Lanis explained.
“That, and the fact that they’re armored,” Fanra added just before receiving a direct hit to her back and collapsing to the floor.
Somehow, Lanis didn’t feel as bad about it as he probably would have under different circumstances, remembering the fact that this was a suicide mission from its inception. “Wonderful, there goes the mission,” he said, before rising from cover to empty his pistol’s power cell into one of the guards who - thinking he could take advantage of his kill - had tried to move to a more advantageous position. “Now what do we do?” he asked while replacing the power cell.
“The only thing we can do,” Zeshaira answered, disappearing as she said it. About fifteen seconds later, she reappeared near the door the guards had come from - right behind one of them. Before anyone realized what was going on, the guard had been stabbed in the back - even his shield was useless against such an attack. Now, the rest of them were caught in a crossfire, and it didn’t take long for the fight to end.
Suddenly, Fanra got up and opened the door. “I hope you didn’t think I was dead,” she told them. “The shot knocked me down, and I just thought I’d take advantage of my ‘death’ to work without worrying about whether or not my shield was still working.”
“Well, that’s certainly a relief,” Lanis said, walking into the control room.
Fanra inspected the displays. “Uh oh…”
“What’s wrong now?”
“I should have seen this coming - these aren’t the only capacitors, they’re too small. There’s a few more facilities like this one scattered throughout Petra, linked to each other by custom-made power conduits capable of handling the power output and feeding it into the bomb. If any of those were to be detonated, it’d blow a sizable chunk out of the planet instead of outright destroying it like we thought.”
“Then how do we get rid of them all?”
“I’m not sure yet. On the bright side, I think I can hack into the bomb’s control systems from here, and it doesn’t look like there are any guards left.”
“Perhaps we can still reconfigure the bomb?” Zeshaira suggested.
“Maybe… I might be able to get it to open a hyperspace window in empty space instead of the planet. It’ll take a few minutes, though.”
“Do we have enough time?”
“I don’t know, but it’s our best shot.”
*** Earlier, on the new Tarhedian homeworld ***
Hatos appeared in the Tarhedian government building. Varren had assumed - quite correctly - that he had to be sent further into the past to accomplish his objective, and his current situation was a consequence of this. He could feel that the Council was in session; he hurried towards the council chambers, telekinetically opening the doors in his path.
As this was taking place, Kanet was presenting an argument. “We all know the story behind the stranger’s key. Why it was given to us. The disappearance of the Tarhedia may be the beginning of the disaster referenced in the instructions that came with it, and if this is the case, we cannot waste any time. We must take action.”
“Calm yourself, Kanet,” one of the older council members told him. “It could just as easily be our hasty action that makes the key necessary. Without more information, I cannot approve of this ‘rescue mission’ you are proposing.”
Suddenly, the door to the chamber was telekinetically forced open. “Then I shall give you the information you seek, Garsal,” Hatos said, entering the room to the great surprise of his fellow Tarhedians. “I have come from the future to tell you what must be done. First, we must abandon this world. Perhaps I am wrong in this, but if that is the case, we can easily return. Second, we must access the data module that came with the key, for if my suspicions are correct, it will allow us to win the coming battles. Third, we must take the entirety of our fleet to these coordinates,” using the holoemitters at the center of the council chambers, he displayed a map of the galaxy and indicated the location of the Vaanle system on it, “fully prepared for war. There is little time and much to do, so we must begin our work at once.”
“But we cannot access the module without--”
“The name is Lanis Baltor,” he interrupted Garsal. “I would not be here if I did not know it, for the key allowed my arrival. Kanet was right in his requests, but he could not persuade you to allow his expedition in time, nor did you have the resources required to change our fate. Perhaps this time there will be hope.”
*** Imperial Palace courtyard, Petra, present day ***
“Major Lurvat,” Poteran said, “I hear we have you and your men to thank for our survival.”
“I would not thank myself if I were you, Captain,” Lurvat told him, taking out a small remote control and pushing the button on it.
To his surprise, nothing happened. When he looked up into the sky, he realized that something had happened. Though this something was, in fact, precisely what he expected, it was in the wrong place.
*** Hyperspace bomb warehouse ***
“This is bad,” Fanra said. “I think I just figured out how they got the hyperspace window to destabilize the way it did…”
As if to add weight to her statement, the hyperdrive exploded. It was not a very big explosion; technically, it was the capacitors inside the warehouse that exploded, consuming their last bits of power to destroy everything inside the building, destabilizing the displaced hyperspace window in a carefully planned and highly destructive fashion. Fortunately,
as there was no planet to be consumed, all that happened was the rearrangement of whatever particles had been floating in the empty space somewhere between Petra and its sun.
Back at the Palace, the guards that had accompanied the fleet’s captains raised their weapons at Lurvat. The captains did the same as quickly as they could unholster their pistols.
“Xargan, you are under arrest for conspiracy against the Petran government and people, impersonating an officer of the Imperial Petran Army, and willingly participating in mass murder through orbital bombardment,” Poteran stated in a formal tone, correctly assuming that there could be only one logical reason for Lurvat’s sudden betrayal.
“How can this be?!” Lurvat said. Both he and Woren - realizing the hopelessness of their situation - then transformed into one of the Xargan attack forms and attempted to attack Poteran before being brought down by a concentrated burst of weapons fire.
“What was that thing?” Rotgen asked, talking about the hyperspace window they saw.
“I don’t know,” Poteran answered, “but I think our ships’ sensors will have the answer to that. You and Boller will handle the cleanup while I try to piece this together.”
A few hours later, after Lossuh reported the bombardment of Melraas and the success of the attack on Petra to Hatos and the others, the Tarhedia was contacted by the Hippasrus. “Hatos, I wanted to deliver the news to you myself,” Poteran said. “It would seem that one of your crew was left behind when the Tarhedia left Petra; though we can’t identify the person in question, he or she may have played a vital role in thwarting a Xargan plot to destroy the planet. Whoever it was, they did not survive.”
“That is indeed good - and tragic - news. I shall see to it that they are identified and their relatives are informed of this as soon as possible,” Hatos told him. “Is there anything else?”
“As the head of the provisional government, I have formally requested assistance from the United Systems - with their current situation, though, it’s unlikely that it will arrive in time. But, I’ve been informed of your mission to Vaanle and have officially approved it. You shouldn’t encounter any resistance from our side. In fact, Jalno and I will be bringing some backup of our own now that we’re not fighting our own people anymore.”
“Excellent. If we are fortunate enough, there may be no need for an evacuation.”
“My thoughts exactly. Hippasrus out.” The holoviewer shut off.
“There wasn’t anyone left on Petra; I’d have found them,” Lanis pointed out.
“Indeed. The fact that there was a Tarhedian on Petra, and the only possible explanation for it tell me that our chances of success may have been drastically improved.”
“What do you mean?” Fanra asked.
“It involves time travel, and I believe I know by whom. Other than that, it is best that I do not tell you - if the information falls into the wrong hands, it could very well be the end of civilization as we know it. Regardless, the arrival of Tarhedian reinforcements is all but guaranteed now - I am certain of it. Now, let us prepare for the battle.”
A few hours later, the Hippasrus was torn out of hyperspace - to the great surprise of its captain - along with the full force of the fleet that had participated in the battle for Petra, regardless of the side they fought for. “Where did they get a hyperspace disruptor so quickly?” Poteran wondered. “Open a communications channel to the defense fleet.”
“Captain, it’s good to see you on our side for a change,” the officer in charge of the Vaanlean defense fleet said once the connection was established. “I hope you like our new defense mechanism.”
“I was just about to ask how you got it,” Poteran told him.
“We took a page out of your book. Instead of growing the entire station using one shipyard, we made several smaller modules using all of our shipyards and the last of our resources, then assembled it near the star. We’re establishing a perimeter at the edge of the field - the Xargans should be coming soon. Odds are we’ll be seeing some friendly ships making a run for it - there’s nothing we can do for the ships themselves, but we can get the crews off, test them to see if they’re Xargans, and send them off to Petra.”
“Alright, we’ll be at the perimeter shortly. We should expect the Tarhedia’s arrival within an hour - if we can hold them off that long, the evacuation may become pointless.”
“We should evacuate the system anyway, just in case something goes wrong,” Rotgen pointed out.
“Agreed. Stay alert, but don’t shoot our ships unless they shoot at us first.”
A while later, Poteran’s fleet arrived at the perimeter. As they moved into a defensive formation alongside the Vaanlean forces, a small group of heavily battered Petran ships of all sizes was torn out of hyperspace just beyond firing range. “This is Admiral Ladim of the Tlopis. We were overrun by the Xargans… there were simply too many of them. They’re right behind us - you have to help us!” the commanding officer of the largest ship in the group said upon establishing a connection with the fleet’s tacnet.
“Jalno, take a few ships and see if you can do anything. Admiral, head to the station at the coordinates I’m sending you - they’ll know what to do.”
The Soscut and a few smaller craft - as well as their fighter complements - maneuvered to escort the remnants of Ladim’s fleet as the Xargans were forced to emerge from hyperspace. Before the Xargans could act, the defenders opened fire; the small scout force was obliterated, but a larger force had been following closely behind.
“We’re taking fire - shields are down to ninety percent,” Rotgen said as the Xargan weapons impacted the Soscut. “This operation isn’t off to a great start…”
“It could be worse,” Poteran told him. “Just hold them at bay for now, let the Tlopis get behind the perimeter. No heroics.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it; if I went down, who would you compete with?”
“No one, I’d have won. Piluams, Manev, try hitting the Xargan left flank, see if you can’t get some attention.”
“Understood, Piluams commencing attack run.”
As the Tlopis’ fleet moved closer to the Petran perimeter, the Piluams and the Meerte Manev made a high-speed maneuver across the Xargans’ left flank, bombarding targets of opportunity and turning back to return into their formation. Unfortunately, very little attention was to be had as the Xargans kept pushing forward.
“I’m beginning to wish we had some decent turrets… All remaining ships, fire at will. Take evasive action as you see fit, but do not let the Xargans deeper into the system unless ordered otherwise.”
The Tlopis moved past the defenders - the Soscut moved back into its position, and as the Xargans approached, both forces degenerated into a mess as they broke formation and started maneuvering at will.
“I don’t think we can hold them much longer,” Rotgen observed.
“We have to do our best, Jalno. These people depend on it.”
“I know, I’m just saying we won’t last too long at this rate. We’re going to start losing ships pretty soon.”
“Alright, make a controlled withdrawal to the first orbital radius,” Poteran ordered. “Keep firing all available weapons. All ships with over a hundred unused high-yield missiles, improvise minelayer modules containing twenty missiles, optimized for maximum coverage and stealth, respectively.”
“Do it,” Rotgen told one of his officers. “What are you thinking? Homing mines?” he asked as the fleet broke off and attempted to withdraw deeper into the system.
“More or less. If they don’t see them, they’ll ram into them. If they do see them, and I’m guessing they will, they’ll have a hard time safely getting around - or detonating them.”
“We won’t be able to launch them during this transition, though,” Boller noted.
“I know. When we retreat into the next orbit, we’ll launch.”
“It’s a good thing most of the planets we’re trying to protect are on the other side of the system...”
Rotgen mused.
The fleet - with the exception of whatever ships had virtually no shields remaining - moved into a location on the orbital path of the planet farthest from the system’s star. Although the smaller Xargans were quite capable of keeping up, they opted for the safer - albeit somewhat slower - approach of maintaining a cohesive formation. Some five minutes later, the two fleets clashed again.
“So, fifteen minutes and a quarter of our fleet later… Kellas, I hope those mines of yours work, because not only are we losing ships--”
“But we’re also not making the Xargans lose enough of theirs, I know,” Poteran finished Rotgen’s sentence, marking around two fifths of the remainder of their forces on the tacnet. “When we pull back, you and Boller will each take one of these groups out and behind the Xargans’ left and right flanks, respectively. Cut off the flow of reinforcements as well as you can, but if the main group breaks off to stop you, don’t let them catch you.”
“There’s still too many of them already here - you’ll be destroyed!” Boller told him.
“Not if you and the mines do your jobs right. Even if it fails, we hardly have any options left.”
“Shields are down to fifty percent!” the Hippasrus’ tactical officer reported. “Several ships are losing shields and breaking formation.”
“I think it’s time for us to do the same. Regroup in the second orbit, start launching mines when we’re one light second away from the Xargans. Green and blue groups, you know what to do.”
As planned, Rotgen and Boller broke off from the main group, attempting to move behind the Xargan lines. The Xargans kept pushing on, attempting to overpower the defenders as quickly as possible; clearly, they were in a hurry. Unfortunately for them, their attempts at maintaining cohesion allowed Poteran’s forces to reach the required distance long before they arrived at their destination. Consequently, around two hundred high-yield missiles had been dropped in the Xargan fleet’s path, powering up as soon they were detected and heading towards the larger Xargans.
Despite the fact that they were being fired upon, not all of the improvised ‘mines’ were destroyed. “Several targets destroyed or crippled, numerous swarmer casualties,” the Hippasrus’ tactical officer reported when the last missile was destroyed. “Some of the ships closer to the explosions have been moderately damaged - enemy fleet effectiveness may have been reduced up to fifteen percent.”