Galactic Assimilation 2:: Empire Rising

by J. K. Mabrey

  "Maybe you should have taken my warnings a little more seriously," Zavik said.

  "Perhaps, but with the information we had, I still think I made the right call. Given the same information, I would make the same decisions."

  "Zavik, you can't be mad at the Councilor," Dani said. "She's just doing her job."

  "Her job is to protect Earth's interests," Zavik said.

  "As an ambassador that is true," Hains said, "as a Councilor my job is to represent Earth's interests while protecting the Galaxy's."

  "What are you going to do?" he asked.

  She sighed and her shoulder slumped. "I'm going to suggest a battle fleet be dispatched to Garos to ensure it's safety. I don't want to leave Earth too vulnerable in case resources need to be pulled to other parts of the Outer Spiral, but I agree that Garos needs to be protected."

  "Good," Zavik said. "When will the Council meet?"

  "Soon, I hope," she said. "Councilor Ekridge hasn't made a call for a meeting yet. I would guess he'd ask for an emergency meeting, and hope to have everyone available within the hour."

  "What do you want to do, Zavik?" Dani asked.

  "I want to hear what the Council has to say," he replied.

  "I'm afraid this meeting will be closed," Hains said.

  "You used to hate it when they had closed meetings on you, and now?" Zavik asked.

  "They're closed for security reasons," she said.

  "Or do you just not want the people to see how scared you really are, how little you know, or how unprepared you are?"

  "I don't have to take any more of your berating," she said. "You are welcome to stay here, and I will report back what I can after the meeting, or you can go. You do still have a job to do, or have you forgotten."

  "There's no point in doing the job if those people are all going to get wiped out by Varin's forces."

  "Earth's fleet will defend them," she said. "I won't let them be destroyed."

  Chapter 19

  Zavik and Brax waited in the Councilor's office while she attended the emergency meeting. Charra and Dani went looking around that part of Cedona for fresh food and supplies. It was a safe part of Cedona, even for humans, so Zavik wasn't worried about her nearly as much as he usually was. She also had Charra with her. No one would mess with her, or many other people with Charra around.

  Councilor Hains had been gone almost forty-five minutes when the door burst open and she stormed in. She looked tired and angry. Her hair was ruffled from the pristine placement it had before. She locked onto them sitting in her reception area.

  "Come in," she said, clearly rattled.

  They followed her into her office. Brax closed the door just as she began to yell. "The stupid Savins won't commit to anything until there is proof, the Rovun are demanding more information on this lost race of Chokmnd and the Iriquios are ready to mobilize forces but want to focus on their interests first, not the most vulnerable systems."

  "Hell of a summary," Brax said.

  "So, no consensus?" Zavik asked. He tried to fake a smile but all that came out was bared teeth.

  "They finally agreed to heighten the security levels. They want to hear back about Soltin, but if the battle group we sent there was destroyed, it could take days or weeks to learn anything, and they want to look at the mystery attacks again, just to be sure what all of the targets were."

  "Don't they see they're wasting time?" Brax asked.

  "They aren't convinced the threat is real," she said. "They have their head in the sand on Varin. They want him to be gone, so they're just ignoring the evidence."

  "Sounds familiar," Zavik quipped.

  She held her gaze on him and said, "Yes, well it is tougher for some to believe it, I'll admit. Most of us just wanted him to be gone forever. Not all of us have a deep seeded desire for revenge. I would be perfectly happy if he spent the rest of his years in the Dark Sector, rotting away. You, I think, would find that to be too good for him."

  "It is," Zavik said. "He should be made to suffer for what he did, and what he's trying to do."

  "Careful, Zavik," Hains said, "don't let your hatred of him dominate your life. You're a good person, I don't want to see you lose that."

  He just nodded. Was he really a good person? He had convinced himself he was a good person. He helped others, although that usually involved getting paid. How was he supposed to know if he were a good person? If he couldn't tell by his actions, he would have to look into his heart. Right now it was filled with anger, and not just at Varin.

  "Garos's defense has been upgraded," she said. "A large fleet was sent there. If anyone tries to attack them, they will be sorely surprised."

  "That's a relief," Zavik said.

  "Will you finish the job for Garos?" Hains asked. "There's no point in saving the colonists if they're just going to starve to death."

  Zavik wanted to go to the Outer Spiral and search for Varin. He knew he was lurking out there, plotting his next move. It made him sick to think about it. "Yes, we'll find new farming equipment for them," he said. "I want to swing by Garos first."

  "Why?" Hains asked. "They would be better served if you would just finish making your delivery."

  "Perhaps, but I would be better served if I could see that they were well protected."

  "It won't take long," Brax said. "We could be there in an hour."

  "That's all I want to do," he said.

  "Then you'd better go," Hains said. "And Zavik, for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

  Chapter 20

  The Rinada lifted off from Cedona and headed for the Earth portal. Zavik noticed many capital ships stirring around Cedona. Some were headed for portals, others seemed to be patrolling around Cedona. To his relief, most of the ships were headed to Outer Spiral systems. Every now and then he would see one going to a different sector. He thought that was just to balance out where the fleet was spread. There were intelligent beings controlling the fleet. He had to trust that they knew what they were doing.

  They jumped to Earth and immediately turned for Garos's portal. They slipped through the bubble and found themselves looking at a burning ship as it rocketed beneath them. He could make out that it was a U.E.F. fighter just before it slipped under the Rinada. Ahead of them raged a battle of U.E.F. capital ships, which he recognized, and other ships, one large, black, and smooth, that he did not.

  Zavik's eyes ran across the window of the Rinada, flowing from one side to the other. He locked on one ship then quickly found another to study.

  There was one large black ship situated to his left. It was a round ship, similar to a submarine with a wide trench running down the middle of its hull. At the top were two levels that protruded from the center. The first level spread about half way across the top and the second level was half the first's size. Three smaller capital ships surrounded it. Zavik immediately recognized them from the battle over Chokmna as Red Moon dreadnoughts. There they had just been a small part of the defending fleet. Varin had already taken most of his ships into the Dark Sector.

  Zavik recognized the U.E.F. forces on his right. There were seven StarCruiser class dreadnoughts. The StarCruisers were sixteen hundred feet long and Zavik estimated the large black ship was at least three times bigger. The three Red Moon dreadnoughts looked about two thousand feet long.

  The StarCruisers placed their bridge in the center of the ship, raised slightly over the rest of the hull. This was typical of Earth designed ships. Six turbolasers surrounded the bridge and another three sat ahead and behind it. Four missile launchers were installed on the dreadnoughts, one on each side near the front and near the rear. A small hangar sat on the left side of each ship capable of holding three dozen fighters. The U.E.F. preferred to utilize special dropships for housing fighters rather than packing them into the capital ship's hull. Zavik counted four dropships, each capable of deploying seven dozen fighters. There were eight other support ships visible in the U.E.F. fleet. Three were destroyer class ships, fast, maneuverable, and
well suited to escorting the dreadnought ships. They were about half as big as the dreadnoughts but were built with a focus on offense. Their armaments were lined along the sides of the ship and most of their energy was routed to the ten turbolasers fixed to their hull. Three of the other ships were battleships. They measured twelve hundred feet in length and were the slowest vessels in the fleet. Their exceptional armor helped them survive most battles. They were typically deployed to draw fire away from more vulnerable ships. However, the offensive capabilities of the battleships were not to be underestimated based on their speed. They contained six heavy turbolasers and two missile launchers. The other two ships were corvette class ships. They were some of the smallest military ships in the fleet at four hundred feet. They were easily able to enter most atmospheres, something the large ships were hesitant to do, and were better suited for attacking enemy fighters than challenging capital ships.

  Situated between the two fleets were hundreds of fighters engaged in battle. The U.E.F. used EF-32 Katanas. The Katanas were small starships, a quarter the size of the Rinada, but their offensive capabilities allowed them to inflict heavy damage to capital ships. They had two laser cannons affixed to their wings and a missile launcher under the cockpit. The missile launcher could be configured to hold up to five concussion missiles, three shield penetrating photon torpedoes, or three energy disrupting ion missiles. Their shields were strong enough to withstand a few direct shots of fire from most fighters, but a direct hit from a turbolaser fired from a capital ship could easily overwhelm their defenses and destroy them.

  The attacking fighters looked to be a mixture of Chokmnd RAs that Red Moon typically used, and other fighters Zavik recognized as the mysterious ships that had been attacking the Galaxy as well as them. The RAs were small single pilot ships with brown armor plating. They were slightly smaller than Katanas, with weak shields and would typically detonate on impact with even a glancing blow. They were cheap to produce and were deployed in large numbers to overwhelm opponents. Red Moon wasn't the only group to use RAs, they were still a large staple of the Chokmnd fleet, and their proliferation around the Galaxy had helped them establish at least a small presence in almost every pirate fleet and criminal organization.

  The other ships were just a small round cockpit with a fin running down the back half, just as Zavik remembered. A triangular viewport was in the front. He remembered them having strong shields for being such small fighters.

  "What the hell?" Brax asked in a barely audible tone.

  "Red Moon," Zavik said.

  "They're trying to destroy Garos," Charra said.

  "We have to help them," Dani said.

  "She's right," Charra replied.

  "Brax, get on the gun!" Zavik said.

  Brax hopped out of his chair and dashed out of the cockpit.

  Charra took control of the lower blaster, it was much weaker than the main cannons, but could still menace the fighters, especially the RAs which appeared to be numerous.

  Dani took control of the ship and pushed the Rinada through the thicket of fighters dividing the capital ships.

  The Rinada flew in front of a squadron of RAs and fire rained out from the overhead swivel cannon. Red flashes streaked past the cockpit window. Three yellow explosions appeared in the distance as a few of the red lasers found their targets.

  Dani continued to push the Rinada through the thicket of fighters. Some of them now took notice of the ship and laser fire began bombarding the hull of the ship. The shields of the Rinada were one of the strongest systems it had. Zavik had bought a new generator after the Red Moon rebellion, and even five years later it was still one of the best shield generators you could buy. He monitored their system. Five shots hit the ship and their shields flickered down to ninety-five percent. If they ever reached zero the generator would overheat and need to vent to the vacuum of space. The ship would be without protection until it cooled off, a direct laser hit could rip through the hull and completely destroy them. He routed a little more power to the shields anyway.

  Dani noticed the loss of speed and grimaced. "I need more power to the engines," she said.

  "Won't do us any good if the shields go out," Zavik said. "You can't just fly through there and be a big target for them."

  "I'm trying to draw their fire away from the fighters."

  He pulled his lips tight. It was the right thing to do, what he would do. He had to learn to trust her piloting more. It was tough for him to admit she was better.

  She turned the ship towards the U.E.F. forces and flew above a squad of four Katanas. One caught a laser blast on the corner of its wing and began to spin. It curved to the right and kept spinning until it was out of their view, a trail of burning metal followed behind it.

  The radio on the Rinada chirped on and a voice said, "Unidentified ship, what is your business?"

  "This is Zavik Khan, captain of the Rinada, we'd like to help."

  A different voice came on this time and said, "Mr. Khan, this is Admiral Nathan of the U.E.F. Recognizance. I was briefed on your work for Garos and in past campaigns. I suggest you get out of this system. I can not be responsible for you and your crew."

  "We appreciate the concern," Zavik said. The ship took a hard shot from the left and shook them hard. "If we wanted to leave we would've turned around right away. We came here to make sure everything was all right. Clearly, it's not."

  "What happened, Admiral?" Dani asked.

  "My fleet was dispatched to defend Garos," he said. "Seems like there was some kind of credible threat to the system, to a lot of the systems in the Outer Spiral, and we were sent as a precaution. We were here about an hour or so and these ships began to appear out of nowhere. They didn't take the portal, they used lightdrives. Now we have data on the RAs, but these other things we don't know about, and those capital ships are a completely different story."

  "The capital ships don't seem to be attacking," Zavik said.

  "No, they just released a bunch of fighters," Admiral Nathan said. "I've kept my ships at a distance, the dogfighting seems to be about even."

  "Let's see if we can move those odds in our favor," Zavik said. "If you'll have us, we'll join your command."

  "That is appreciated," he said. "Remember, I can't be held responsible for what happens to you."

  "We understand."

  "Good, I hear that ship of yours is pretty well equipped," he said.

  "She does all right," Zavik said.

  "I'm interested to see what she can do," Admiral Nathan said. "Alpha group! This ship is the Rinada, captained by Zavik Khan. He will take the point on your squad. Understood?"

  A collection of four voices joined at once to say, "Yes, sir!"

  Four Katanas flew up to the ship and flanked their sides. One to the left and right, and one above and below.

  "Alpha one, in position above."

  "Alpha two, on your starboard side."

  "Alpha three, down below."

  "Alpha four, on your port."

  "Ok, then," Zavik said, "let's go hunting."

  The squad of five ships flew through the cluster of fighters engaged in their own dogfights. The Katanas could only shoot straight while the swivel gun on top of the Rinada had a three hundred and sixty-degree arc, and the blaster below could sweep one hundred and twenty degrees in the front.

  "Brax, watch our back," Zavik said. "Charra, you've got the front. Dani, give these boys something to shoot at."

  "Yes, sir," she said.

  She steered the Rinada through the heart of the enemy ships. Red lasers speed away from below the cockpit along with four other lasers from the corners. The RAs and the other ships flew at them head on. An RA took a shot to the center of its cockpit. An electrical burst flew out its side and fire crept into the cockpit. It erupted and split in two. One section fell below the ship as it passed and the other exploded into small pieces of burning metal. They caught up to one of the mystery ships as it sped away and Dani kept the squad on its tail. C
harra's aim was true and he caught it three times in the rear. A light flickered on it as the shields went down and another shot from a Katana caused the engines to explode. A shower of sparks and a large chunk of metal hit the Rinada. Mini flickers of light from their shield appeared in the window.

  "They have better shields than the RAs, but they can be taken out," Zavik said.

  "I think I should get credit for that kill," Charra said.

  "We're not keeping score," Zavik said.

  "That's one," Alpha two said over the radio.

  "I already have two," Alpha three replied.

  "Ok, so we are keeping score," Zavik said.

  Charra looked back at his controls and began firing ahead at everything that moved.

  "Easy," Dani said, "I need energy too."

  "You know, if we're keeping score, I've gotten five already," Brax said. "Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they don't count."

  The Rinada kept a monitor on the rear of the ship and Brax was doing a good job of keeping it clear. A Katana flew past the window and was being chased by an RA and one of the mystery ships. Dani jerked the Rinada to the left and closed in on the enemy fighters. Alpha one sped ahead a little and got a nice shot off on the RA. An engine went out and it pulled to the right and started coming down. It slowed and was caught by another blast. The laser ripped through the metal and the ship ripped into four burning parts before disappearing into the blackness of space. Charra kept his aim on the mystery ships and a combination of shots from him and Alpha two destroyed the trailing ship.

  A new voice came on the radio. "This is Delta four, thanks, guy-"

  A large laser blast hit the rear of the ship and the Katana exploded immediately. Zavik saw a piece of the wing emerge from the fire and for a second he thought the cockpit was still attached, but the wing just spun and burned as the rest of the ship disintegrated.

  "That shot didn't come from a fighter," Dani said.

  "No," Zavik said. "No, it didn't."

  The Rinada's viewscreen sat between Zavik and Dani. It flickered and then an image began to take shape on it. Zavik watched it, his mind distant from the battle and the chaos around him. The figure was dark at first, but then the light began to show on its face. It was a Chokmnd, that was clear right away. A hood sat over its head. All he could see was a gray chin and a small row of teeth. The hood was removed and the image turned his stomach over. His throat closed and his breathing was shallow. He realized his hands were shaking, but there was nothing he could do to stop them. He clasped them together and they still shook like he was underdressed for a winter night.