by Amy DuBoff
“Okay. Let me scout ahead.” Wil slipped into a state of simultaneous observation, tethered to the ship. He reached outward toward Bakzen territory, taking in the various inhabited outposts dotting the rift, but those would all be easy to eliminate once the center of command was gone. I just need to see where we’re going… Wil reached out further, but his vision unexpectedly began to distort as he approached the main planet. He struggled to fight through the fog, but he couldn’t make out any details about the Bakzen forces surrounding the planet in normal space or the rift. After a full minute of trying to cut through and getting nowhere, he pulled back to his physical self. “Shite.”
“What was it?” Michael asked, frowning.
“I can’t get through whatever that was blocking my view. We’ll have to jump in blind.” Wil pulled up the command interface for the navigation network on the lower portion of the viewscreen. “This will all need to happen fast. Since we don’t have a nav beacon at the destination, we’ll need to feed coordinates to the ships that don’t have independent jump drives. The Conquest will jump in and relay the rendezvous details to the rest of the fleet. We’ll only have a few seconds to act and maintain the element of surprise.”
“I’m standing by,” Rianne assured him.
“All right. Now, I remember the Bakzen having the majority of their forces in the rift, so we’ll tackle that first and then pick off the rest in normal space. The planet is populated in normal space, just like any of ours,” Wil continued. “Michael, Ian, and Ethan, I want you to clear the rift. Curtis, assess the situation on the planet and figure out how to fence them in. I won’t be able to do much else while holding both of those visuals for you. Once we clear the rift, we’ll pull into normal space and finish off the planet.”
Curtis smirked. “Easy!”
“I knew you’d think so.” Wil tightened his grip on his handhold. “Let’s go!”
The Conquest vibrated with a surge of energy as it slipped into subspace. It hovered for a moment in the swirling cloud before dropping into normal space.
“Stars!” Wil breathed.
Taking up the entire front of the viewscreen, the Bakzen planet stood out against the blackness of space as a uniform brown. The Vanquish was situated toward the planet’s dawn, and the atmosphere glowed slightly in the rays of light. Wispy white clouds swirled in the sky over the barren rust-colored landscape below. In the areas still cast in shadow, lights illuminated massive cities laid out in precise grids around a central district, like spokes on a wheel. In orbit of the planet, massive spaceports housing warships were situated in geosynchronous orbit. If it wasn’t an enemy force, Wil would have been impressed with the scale and design of the structures—enough to rival the most developed Taran worlds. If the Bakzen could accomplish so much while relegated to the outskirts of society with minimal resources, he couldn’t help but wonder what would have been possible if the Bakzen had been embraced by Tarans as their creators originally intended.
“Coordinates acquired!” Rianne announced. “Transmitting to the fleet now.”
There was no time to waste. Wil detached from his physical self and pulled into a state of simultaneous observation. The clear image of normal space distorted as he passed through the dimensional veil. Beyond, he found the rift. Except, it was no longer the stockpile of weaponry he had witnessed as a teenager. There were spaceports surrounding the planet, but they were only empty skeletons.
The fleet is jumping to the wrong place! Curtis’ tactical team would be completely exposed on its own. “They’re not in the rift,” Wil hurriedly told his officers. “Head straight for normal space.”
He shifted his attention to observing the physical plane around him, but kept the back of his consciousness connected enough to the rift to detect any new Bakzen presence.
The planet below was fortified, but surprisingly few ships were standing guard. Then again, Tararia or any of the other planets didn’t have a large-scale defense fleet, either. The fight was never supposed to come to one’s front door.
A pang of guilt struck Wil. This entire civilization is about to end. He hated that truth, but he had no other choice. He needed to restore peace, and that would only be possible once the Bakzen were no longer a threat. Hatred for Tararia ran too deep for them to find any common ground. The outcome was decided well before he was ever born. He just needed to carry out the order.
Tek is down there, he reminded himself, to fuel his motivation for the final hunt. The war ends today.
The fleet emerged from subspace in one spectacular wave. As the blue-green cloud dissipated, Wil saw that only half the fleet had received the command to go to normal space rather than the rift. They’d have to make do until the rest could make the dimensional jump.
Determined to not allow himself to become distracted by the emotional weight of what he was about to do, Wil gripped his handhold tighter and began doling out commands. “Michael, have the fleet concentrate on the space docks first. We need to drive them to the surface. Ian, send tactical teams to begin a bombardment on the main cities. Take out the command centers so they can’t mobilize.”
Wil swallowed the knot in his throat as the initial weapons fire rained from the ships on the viewscreen. There’s no other way. He got to work.
* * *
Another blast shook the administrative building, sending a shower of concrete dust onto Haersen’s shoulders.
“We need to get down to a bunker!” he insisted to Tek again.
The Imperial Director shook his head, not taking his gaze from the display on his wall. The grid of video feeds depicted the destruction all around the planet and its surrounding ports. Once majestic cities were slowly being reduced to rubble with each passing TSS bombardment.
“If we take the tunnels to the port—” Haersen began.
“No.” Tek finally tore his attention from the screen. “They won’t stop until we’re destroyed. All of us. I would rather die in my home than run like a coward.”
“Yes, sir.”
To think after all those years and finally gaining the power Haersen had desired his whole life, the TSS would win in the end. The Bakzen were no doubt superior, but the TSS did have numbers on their side. In the end, perhaps that was enough.
The building shuttered as the adjacent plaza burst into flames.
Haersen took in his reflection against the glass of the window. His transformation was complete—he was one of the Bakzen, despite the odds. He had pledged to live as one of them, and so he would die as one. They had given him power and strength, but also the confidence to be himself. Though his time with them was short, it was the only opportunity he’d had to live to the fullest—the life he wanted to have. The pain, the sacrifice… every excruciating moment was worth it to have experienced the power that now coursed through him. Nothing could ever change that he had become his best self. He would rather die prematurely as a Bakzen than have lived his full life as a Taran.
“I didn’t think it would end like this,” Tek mused, breaking Haersen’s reverie. “Tararia was always supposed to be the one to fall.”
“If only Wil had died back then.” That failure was on both of them.
Tek let out a slow breath, surprisingly calm despite the building crumbling around them. “If it wasn’t him, then it would have been another.”
That was probably true. If Tarans were anything, they were tenacious. Wil could have died years before, but it could have just delayed the inevitable. When it came down to it, the Bakzen would always be outsiders—a deviation from the natural order. They would always have had to fight for survival. It would seem the odds were too much to overcome, despite their ambitions.
“At least I had a vision,” Tek continued. “I wanted more for us.”
“It was a glorious vision,” Haersen agreed.
“It’s a shame all of this was for nothing.”
“No, not nothing.” Haersen stepped toward his leader, unsteady on his feet as the building lurched again. “Yo
u showed what was possible—what could be achieved when a civilization unites. You showed a glimpse of what Tarans can become. They may be too blind to see it now, but you demonstrated that path. One day, they’ll thank you.”
“A day I’ll never get to see.”
“But you will die free and unburdened knowing that you did everything you could for your people.”
Tek nodded. “That I will.”
The power flickered, then cut out entirely. Only light cast from the smoldering plaza outside illuminated the office.
“Come. We have one more stop to make.” Tek headed for the door.
Haersen took in the office one last time—a place where he was finally respected. The place where his loyalty and dedication had granted him a role in bringing the Bakzen into a new era. That era would be the last, but it was also their greatest. He was in his true home, and for that he was eternally thankful.
* * *
“Don’t let any of the ships jump away!” Wil commanded as the main space station in orbit of the Bakzen planet succumbed to the weapons fire.
One of the TSS cruisers from the second wave of ships emerged from the rift and took aim at the Bakzen vessels attempting to flee. A Bakzen carrier separated itself from the fighting enough to initiate a jump, and a subspace glow formed around it.
“I’ve got it,” Ian stated.
Jets from Ian’s lead tactical unit swooped in, targeting their shots on the Bakzen ship’s jump drive. The engines exploded, and the subspace glow dissipated in an instant. With their target destroyed, the jets headed out toward the other large ships to ensure they were also disabled. A TSS cruiser opened fire on the stranded Bakzen carrier to finish it off, first taking out the weapons and shields. In a matter of seconds, it was completely at the mercy of the TSS fleet, charred and ragged. The ship was too close to the planet by the end of the fight, and it was drawn into the gravity. It burst into a fiery mass of twisted metal as it burned through the atmosphere.
The other ships fared no better. Most were soon reduced to scrap floating across the battlefield. The carnage was too much for Wil to absorb at once, so he kept his focus on the goal. They needed to take out the planet itself.
“All available ships, target the planetary shield,” Wil instructed.
“Sir, I’m getting an incoming communication,” Rianne stated. “It’s not one of ours.”
Wil’s officers glanced up with confusion for a moment, but quickly returned their attention to doling out telekinetic commands to finish off the remaining Bakzen vessels.
“Put it through,” Wil told Rianne.
The video feed resolved on the viewscreen. Smoke clouded the picture, but the faces of Tek and Haersen were unmistakable. The two of them took up the entire view, obscuring the background.
“Haersen,” Wil said, “so, you managed to worm your way right to the top with Tek.”
Rianne gasped, and Wil’s other officers paused their commands to stare at the viewscreen, in shock.
The Bakzen had never had a tangible face to them, Wil realized. They knew the names, but the enemy was always just a ship in the distance. Seeing that their leader was a person not too dissimilar from them changed that impression. That’s why I couldn’t tell them who the Bakzen really are.
“I’ve made something of myself,” Haersen replied. “You do nothing but destroy.”
“They’re trying to distract us. Stay focused,” Wil told his friends.
They returned to their commands, but eyes kept darting toward the viewscreen.
“I should have made sure you were dead,” Haersen sneered.
Wil could hardly believe the transformation of the former TSS officer. His skin had completely morphed into the tough orange-tinted exterior of the Bakzen, and his eyes shone with their characteristic red glow. Even his once thin frame was now muscular and broadened. “What have they done to you?”
“They made me better, just like we could have done for all of you,” Haersen spat back. “Instead, you’ll eliminate us and continue on with your weak, pathetic lives.”
Wil met his gaze. “What you are now isn’t natural.” The Priesthood shouldn’t have created a life that had no way of surviving. To make them suffer like this is too great an injustice to comprehend.
“We were the future,” Tek declared.
“No, Tek,” Wil shook his head. “Your ancestors were a grasp at capturing a future that should never have been. Engineering a new way of life was never a viable answer. The physical self cannot be separated from its surrounding context. We need to evolve as a people holistically—culture driving form and function. What happened to you was wrong, but it can’t be undone. You never should have been driven away, but you also shouldn’t have been created in the first place. I understand why you have fought for your existence—I would have done the same—but the time for fighting has ended. If we can’t live together, then our conflict must end here.”
“So you do know the truth,” Tek murmured.
“I do. I’m sorry that the Bakzen people need to meet this end, but you led them to this juncture. And facing you… I’ve been waiting for this day a very long time.”
Around him, Wil’s officers had tuned into the conversation, trying to piece together the truth he was talking around. There was no sense in keeping it from them any longer—the war was already won.
Wil straightened in his chair. “The Priesthood will pay for their mistakes. I’ll make sure the Bakzen are remembered for what you achieved, not for what we made you become.”
Tek’s face softened with surprising understanding. “We fought to the end.”
“Your people did,” Wil agreed. “But you, Tek—you don’t deserve an honorable death.” He came after me, after Saera—he tried to take everything I love from me, and so now I’ll do the same. He’ll watch as everything he’s built is destroyed.
“Sir, a volley of shuttles just launched from the surface!” Rianne interrupted. “Intense telekinetic signatures.”
More clones to detonate as bombs. Wil met Tek’s cool stare.
Tek nodded. “They are so very special. It’s a shame you never had a chance to meet your brothers.” He stepped to the side, revealing an underground lab filled with clone maturation tanks. Their faces were eerily familiar.
They cloned me! Wil gaped in horror at the abominations. He had always wondered why the Bakzen had wanted to extract marrow from him during his initial capture. In his wildest speculation, he never imagined it was to bolster the Bakzen army. The hatred for all things Taran had seemingly run far too deep. If there was some aspect of him worth incorporating, even if it meant an adulteration of the pure Bakzen bloodlines, then he couldn’t underestimate them for a moment.
“I wonder if they’re as strong as you?” Tek asked.
“Take out those shuttles!” Wil ordered Rianne. That’s it… That’s the pinnacle of his achievement. They will be his undoing.
“I’m on it!” she replied, targeting the Conquest’s weapons on the approaching vessels.
Wil’s skin tingled as telekinetic energy surged through him. “This was your aim all along—to make me a part of your perverse plan.”
Tek sneered back. “Don’t flatter yourself. This has always just been about the advancement of the Bakzen race, and we borrowed one little piece from you to accomplish that goal. It’s the very same imperative the Priesthood programmed into us at our inception.”
Not only did they try to manipulate my mind, but they used my very genetic code as a weapon! His grip tightened on the handhold, glaring into Tek’s searing red eyes. This ends now. “I won’t have any part in your future.”
“You didn’t have a choice,” Tek replied. “And come now—you couldn’t hurt these poor innocents, could you?” He swept his arm to encompass the clones in the maturation tanks. “After all, they’re your brothers. They want to meet you.”
“Sir!” Rianne cut in. “The shuttles have been destroyed, but the electromagnetic signature around the plane
t is intensifying. Our sensors can’t get clear readings.”
The clones… that must have been what was blocking me when I attempted to observe the planet before the attack. Wil examined the immature clones in the tanks behind Tek on the viewscreen, detecting a telekinetic link between them. Together, under Tek’s direction, they could take out the whole TSS fleet. However, their abilities were also the perfect weapon to use against Tek—turning the creation against the creator, just like the Bakzen had done to the Priesthood.
Wil steeled himself for the task at hand, trying to maintain emotional distance from the abominations on screen in front of him. The clones had been aged to the equivalent of early-teens—almost the same age as Wil was when the bone marrow sample had been taken from him. Their entire purpose in life was to kill and destroy, just like Wil had been created to do. Except, they weren’t a copy of him, but rather living weapons in the hands of the enemy—mindless drones being manipulated toward Tek’s ends. The Bakzen could consume them alive, with no thought for them as individuals. I won’t let them suffer any longer. I won’t let anyone else suffer at the Bakzen’s hands. “You say they want to meet me?” Wil asked his adversaries over the viewscreen.
Tek nodded, and Haersen smirked next to him.
Wil extended his consciousness toward the planet. As he approached, hundreds of the clones’ voices filled Wil’s mind, chanting a repeating mantra in unison: “Killer! You let them die. You killed them all.” Caught by surprise, Wil released the handholds connecting him to the Conquest and pressed his palms over his ears, but the voices continued to taunt him. Except, the thoughts weren’t from the clones. Underneath it all, Wil detected Tek and Haersen leading the chorus.
Gathering himself, Wil remembered his target. This was between him and Tek—the rest was just a distraction. He can’t control me.
Consumed by rage, Wil summoned all his power and blocked his mind. His world went silent. In the new stillness around him, he reached across the distance to isolate Tek’s mind. “No, I didn’t kill them,” he told him. “You did.”