A massive ship floated in front of her. She felt waves of gravity emanating out of it and pummeling the star carrier behind her. Waves slammed into the Renegade too, bucking it like a buoy caught in high waves. Hang on, she thought. She turned back to the enemy ship. This ends, now, she thought, unable to speak in the void of space. She closed her eyes and drew fully upon her power. She no longer felt her body, only gravity. She felt the pull of the sun, strong despite the distance. She felt the smaller pull of the nearby planet and its moon. She felt the pull of distant planets in the solar system and nearby stars. All the gravity waves emitted by every celestial body within dozens of light years pummeled her consciousness. Compared to such waves the ship in front of her was nothing but a pebble dropped in the ocean. She focused on the enemy ship. She felt its gravity shield, felt a foreign mechanism drawing the natural gravity waves found all around it into itself. She likened it to a pump sucking water up from a pool. It was time to drain the pool.
She cast out her hands and imagined a barrier around the enemy ship. A barrier which blocked gravity that would not permit it to reach the gravity pump. It worked. She saw in her mind’s eye the waves bouncing off her barrier, sliding around the bubble she'd created. The enemy's gravity shield faltered, the waves it had been flinging toward the Federation ship and the Renegade stopped. Now, she thought, this time directing it into her implant, which, through the Renegade’s communication array, was sent to her intended audience.
***
Martin stared slack-jawed as the hazy swirling darkness around the gravity ship disappeared. The gravity waves had stopped too. "How?" was the only word he could muster.
"Sir, we're detecting yet another void signature. Above the gravity ship."
Martin did not look at Zigana, his eyes transfixed on the sight before him.
There, materializing not piecemeal like a ship traveling through a void portal, but all at once, was the largest ship Martin had ever seen. "My God," he said.
A ping indicated an incoming communication. "Video communication coming in, sir."
Martin stepped back to in front of his chair so he could see the communication. The communication display morphed into the image of Dawyn Darklance. Martin gasped.
"This is Supreme Commander Dawyn Darklance of the Federation Navy. I am speaking to all loyal Federation forces. Today is our day. The dawn has come. Let us banish the darkness once and for all."
Several crew members let out cheers. Martin, despite feeling shock, found himself wearing a wide grin.
Dawyn's expression became angry. "And to the Krai'kesh and their human allies. Know this. Your days are numbered. You chose your side and now we will send you to meet your god-emperor. May he have mercy on your soul, for you will find none from me. Now witness the fury of the Nightblade."
Indeed, the sensor display identified the new ship as the Nightblade mark II. Moments later the screen filled with lights, colors, and icons as the ship attacked. Martin went back to the viewport to watch.
Railguns, dozens of them, fired streams of shells at the gravity ship and other vessels. Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of missiles erupted from the flank of the ship and streaked off in every direction. Concentrated beams of red laser light shot out from dozens of laser batteries too. From beneath came hundreds of small objects. "What are those?" Martin wondered aloud.
"They appear to be un-manned drones, sir," Zigana answered.
"Drones?" That was experimental, and restricted, technology. But it was the Supreme Commander they were talking about. And the enemy was the Krai'kesh. It was worth the risk.
The drones moved in packs toward the enemy fleet, ignoring the gravity ship. For its part, the gravity ship looked like it had sustained heavy damage. It had relied on its shield so much it lacked traditional armor. Super-heated chunks of hull flew off into space while railgun shells peppered it like meteorites striking the surface of a moon. A few minutes after the Nightblade arrived the gravity ship was shattered, its pieces flying off in every direction and creating a miniature asteroid field.
The Renegade took off from where it had been floating stationary in space and headed toward the Nightblade where it flew inside.
The remaining Krai'kesh and rogue Federation forces did not stand a chance against the onslaught brought by the Nightblade. Not that they didn't try, but their projectiles were destroyed by overlapping fields of coilgun fire and their lasers met an energy shield. Meanwhile they were overwhelmed. One ship tried to surrender, but Dawyn paid their communication no mind and the ship exploded a minute later.
"I will allow survivors in escape pods to be picked up," Dawyn said on the global channel broadcast to all ships, friend and foe. "But no traitorous vessels shall be spared."
Soon the Krai'kesh and rogue vessels tried to retreat. The loyalist ships pursued them. Only a handful of enemy ships managed to escape to shadow space.
Within half an hour of the arrival of the Renegade the battle was over. Martin breathed a sigh of relief and slumped in his chair. He put his head in his hands and sobbed. They were not tears of sadness but joy at surviving. It was a miracle, he thought.
"Sir, the Nightblade is hailing us."
Martin lifted his head, wiped his eyes and cleared his throat. "Put it through."
Dawyn appeared on the display. "Martin, my old friend. I am glad you survived."
"Glad that I survived?" Martin asked. "With all due respect, sir, it was you who was presumed dead."
"I assure you, the duplicity was necessary. While I did not intend for the original Nightblade to be destroyed, I was prepared for such an eventuality."
Martin shook his head. Prepared for a betrayal from within? And where had the massive ship come from? He had so many questions. "I understand, sir," he said.
Dawyn laughed. "I can see you don't. I want you to come over to the Nightblade. You can hitch a ride on the Dauntless. I'm calling a strategy meeting."
"Of course, sir. I am on my way."
Chapter 19 - Reunited
Martin descended the Dauntless' ramp and stared in wonder at the massive docking bay inside the Nightblade. They could fit a hundred fighters in here, easily, he thought.
Dawyn was not waiting for them but had instructed them to come to the bridge. Markers on the wall led him and the others to a transporter tube which carried them across the length of the ship to the bridge. The bridge impressed Martin even more than the docking bay. Pristine consoles lined the walls, an advanced tactical command station sat vacant near the captain's chair. A tactical display table sat in front of the captain's chair, and that is where Martin found the other guests.
He recognized Bridgette and Dawyn, but one of the guests caused him to stop in his tracks. "President Galantos?" he blurted.
The president turned and smiled. "Ah, Admiral Rigsby, it is good to finally meet you in person!" The president stepped forward and offered his hand.
Martin shook it. The other guests he could picture being there, even the unknown ones, but the president of the Federation? "With respect, sir. How, or better yet, why, are you here?"
"Well, it's a long story, so join us and Dawyn will brief us all on what's happened."
"Nice ship, dude," John said to Dawyn. "You were holding out on us this whole time?"
"I had to keep it a secret," Dawyn said. "From everyone."
"So who helped you build this? Not that you aren't smart...just saying."
"Our mutual brother-in-law."
"Jason?" John and Bridgette said in unison.
"Correct." Dawyn smiled and looked at Bridgette. "He was not being a 'deadbeat' husband but was in fact helping to remotely build the vessel we are standing on. I hope that mollifies you a bit."
Bridgette nodded and smirked. "It does explain why he was so consumed by work that he couldn't spent time with me."
"I believe introductions are in order," Dawyn said. He proceeded to introduce his daughter and her companions, the FIA agents and the Eternals. Many already seemed to kno
w one another, for Martin noticed Kimberly staring at Rachel across the table and Rachel in turn glaring at Isabelle, but he did not have time to try to unravel all the connections.
"Now that's out of the way, we need to talk strategy." He beckoned to the tactical display, which morphed into a list of fleets and planets. "The Krai'kesh suffered a major setback here today. Their super weapon was destroyed, as was most of their fleet. However, they are not destroyed."
"Nope, we only killed the overseer of the Krai'kesh," John said. "It sounded like the god-emperor was still out there."
Dawyn nodded. "Correct. And I highly doubt he was aboard the gravity ship Rachel so soundly dealt with. It would have been a stupid move for him to do such a thing."
"So that means the war isn't over?" Ashley asked.
"Not by a long shot. But, we have bigger problems. Isabelle, would you care to explain?"
Isabelle nodded. "My agents," she gestured to her three agents, "discovered a mass infiltration effort by the Krai'kesh. They were aided by certain houses in the Commerce Sector," her gaze flickered to Selene for a moment, "to spread throughout the Federation undetected. We have a partial list of their locations but still do not know the full extent of their spread or how long they have been in our galaxy prior to the invasion. We have to assume they have been gathering intelligence and allies alike during their time here."
John whistled. "Wow, that's a lot to digest. And are those Krai'kesh related to this rebellion that's going on?"
"Yes and no," Bridgette said. "The human traitors are adherents of the 'Cult of Rae,' a group of religious zealots who worship the god-emperor of the Krai'kesh." She raised a hand when John opened his mouth. "Don't ask me why. While these traitors likely would have rebelled on their own, they're the type to latch onto any cause that suits their goals, they were emboldened by Krai'kesh elements in our galaxy which spread the gospel of their god-emperor and radicalized them."
"So it's like the vultures coming to feast on a carcass. All the traitors came flying down when they smelled blood," John said.
"Correct."
"So we have two problems now," Dawyn said. "We have to contend with this rebellion, which has reached as high as Fleet Command and Tar Ebon, hence the presence of the president, who barely escaped with his life. Secondly, we must prepare our defenses for the next wave of Krai'kesh. I have a feeling this incursion was only an exploratory fleet, sent to make way for the full invasion fleet. We must crush this rebellion swiftly and present a united front against the Krai'kesh. If we are divided we will fall."
"Does that include the Empire?" Martin asked.
Dawyn nodded. "Yes, we must bring the Empire into the fold. We cannot continue to keep ships on the Imperium Line. We have to convince them to join the Federation or at the least sign an alliance with us."
"What of the Commerce Sector?" Selene asked.
"They will be given a choice. Ally with us and renounce their ties with the Krai'kesh or be destroyed."
"That is more than they deserve," Selene said.
Dawyn held her gaze for a few extra moments before nodding. Was he surprised at the vehemence in her voice? She was from House Artois after all. Would she be okay with her house being destroyed? "I understand a Marine who worked closely with the Edgerton's and Emma were both wounded in the fight with the overseer?"
Ethan spoke. "Emma was taken over by the overseer somehow. We knocked her unconscious but she appears to be in a coma. We have her under observation until we can have doctors look at her."
"Perhaps Jason can examine her now that his work on this project is done," Dawyn said. "And the Marine?"
John cleared his throat. "He suffered a broken, well, crushed, arm, but is awake and recovering."
"He risked his life to save mine," Ethan said. "He deserves a medal."
"And he will get one. Most of you in this room deserve medals. Although we prepared for this day as best we could, none of us could anticipate what actually came out from the void. We will do our best to survive this and we will be prepared to fight the next wave."
<<<>>>
Other Books in the Seven Stars Universe
The Shadow Trilogy (Fantasy)
1. Blood and Shadows
2. Time of Shadows
3. Shadows Fall
The Dark Tide Trilogy (Space Opera)
1. Emergence
2. Eclipse
3. Ruin (this book)
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Ruin: A Seven Stars Novel (Dark Tide Trilogy Book 3) Page 20