by Aer-ki Jyr
“The consequence of arrogance.”
“You knew?”
“Yes. But I had no data to share. Only the word of a few of the survivors that I still hold in high respect.”
“Who sent the request?”
“Da’gran. Last I knew, he was on Wendigama. I suggest we go there now. There’s not much left to stop us if they wanted.”
Mak’to’ran knew the stupidity of that statement, for there were thousands of ships out there that could cause them trouble, but they were but a fraction of what had once been here…or rather were still here, now reduced to rubble clearly visible on sensors as it lay scattered across hundreds of locations.
“Not yet,” he said, sending a mental order to take them around the star to where a pair of massive defense stations used to be…and were now reduced to trash. But it was trash that was still partially operational, at least as far as life support was concerned. “There were Era’tran here. We’re going to check if any still remain.”
“Understood, but do not delay long. This is still an unstable region. We need to begin spreading our influence.”
“We will begin here,” Mak’to’ran lightly insisted.
“We don’t have enough room for survivors,” Hamob said, referencing the trillions of people in the system, many of which were now dead.
“That’s no excuse for leaving behind those that could be saved. And if there is still fighting to be done, we are not going to stand by and watch. I will show no patience for this insanity while our brethren are fighting and dying on the front.”
“It looks like it is mostly concluded,” Hamob said sadly as more information began to come to their attention. Large tracts of the various planets were showing damage, not in a major way that orbital bombardment would have resulted in, but it was widespread small-scale damage that appeared to be from ground combat and some aerial/orbital strikes against key facilities, with large chunks of the planetary shields on Wendigama and the other planets currently offline.
“Itaru has never been this exposed,” Mak’to’ran all but cursed.
“Dispatch what ships you need to the recovery, but please find Da’gran immediately. This is worse than I feared,” Hamob said distractedly as he studied a separate console.
“Agreed,” Mak’to’ran said, giving the necessary orders and splitting his small fleet of 62 warships. He took 5 along with him, then sent the others out in groups on various cleanup tasks as his Kafcha traveled to the capitol within the capitol that was Wendigama.
When they came into high orbit and he was able to get close in sensor scans from his own ship his jaw dropped in utter shock. The surface of the planet had most of the buildings still standing, but they were almost all damaged. Huge and small chunks were knocked out of them with pyres of smoke everywhere as ground combat was still continuing in a few regions, but for the most part the planet was deathly still with so many bodies visible in the streets that he knew there weren’t many remaining, else they would have been cleaned up by now.
Mak’to’ran’s ship got clearance to enter low orbit and assurance from the remaining planetary defenses that they were allied to Da’gran, who now had operational control of the planet and whose loyal forces were current still in combat against the remnants of the arrogant. The Sess’nat wasn’t available for holocomm, but sent a message indicating where he wanted them to land.
That wasn’t what Mak’to’ran wanted to do, fearing this might be a trap…or at least an opportunity to strike at him in some last ditch bit of revenge, but the Era’tran dismissed the notion quickly. Itaru was wrecked, and as long as he went down with escorts there was nothing left here that could harm him with his warships overhead and gaps in the planetary shields for them to exploit if necessary.
Rather than going down by drop pod, he brought his Kafcha into the atmosphere and set it into a hover just over one of the oceans, on the rim of which Da’gran had indicated that they should meet him. Mak’to’ran didn’t bother with a drop pod, merely walking out of one of the hangars and falling the last few hundred meters to the ground and slowing his descent with his armor’s limited anti-grav. He came down with his blood red battleplates fully deployed, as did his escorts, which included four Era’tran, two Hjar’at, and 18 others from various races. He was not here as the leader of the Era’tran, he was here as leaded of the V’kit’no’sat and they all had a stake in protecting the single most important point of unity that remained within the empire.
The point of the rendezvous wasn’t a building or facility, but an empty bit of shoreline that hadn’t been hit by weaponsfire. Mak’to’ran, with his escorts flanking all around him in a protective sphere, walked across the sandy dunes to the water’s edge where a small group of Oso’lon and other land dwellers were standing with their feet in the water next to several aquatics wading in the shallows, including two J’gar and several dozen others, but Mak’to’ran saw no Sess’nat until he came to the water’s edge, then several hundred of them appeared in the distance as they came to the surface and swam towards him.
Da’gran and his own escorts.
Hamob walked by Mak’to’ran and down into the water himself, retracting his armor’s helmet as a Sess’nat swam up and retracted his own.
“Hamob. I am relieved to see you here.”
“Likewise,” the Era’tran said as they exchanged some private telepathic assurances and information swaps. “Seeing all this, I am surprised you survived.”
“The aquatics were less foolish than others. I was able to rally most here into some sanity, though many still died in combat. Those who wished to attack you would not relent and had to be destroyed. In the end they were shooting anyone on sight that was not one of them, and this is what resulted. The combat is not finished yet. Can you assist?”
“Most of our fleet is on the front, but we have a few ships already taking action.”
“Send them to the combat directly. My allies are beyond fatigued at this point. Where is Mak’to’ran?”
Hamob looked back and angled his head towards the other Era’tran still fully encased in his armor.
“Come here,” Da’gran said, with Mak’to’ran hesitating slightly before walking down to the water’s edge, but he would not step into it as he too retracted his helmet. The Sess’nat responded by walking up the shallows until he all but stood on his flippers before him, but still had to look up at the Era’tran’s huge head.
“What have you done here?” Mak’to’ran asked.
“What had to be done. What we should have done before most of the loyal V’kit’no’sat left to join you. The Zen’zat were the key to our narrow victory, else you would have had a significant assault force hitting your systems now, though I can’t vouch for those beyond Itaru. The fighting has occurred in almost all the systems that remained allied to Itaru, and some of those conflicts are not yet finished. There may still be a threat to your worlds.”
“Our defensive fleets have already been alerted. We will be able to weather whatever scraps are left here.”
“There may be more than scraps elsewhere, but I leave that to you. We have done what was needed to keep them from striking you, and on behalf of Itaru and many other systems we apologize for our lack of vision. Your defiance of the Elder Conclave was in fact wisdom, and we should have seen it before the traitors brought us to this. The Zen’zat sacrificed themselves en mass to ensure their fleets could not leave, and in payment for that the traitors turned on the civilian population. We could not save most of them. Itaru is now gutted, but it is yours. Your reforged empire is the legitimate one, and the survivors here ask for immediate reabsorption…with penalty if necessary, but we cannot be divided in the face of the Hadarak threat. We therefore surrender Itaru to you and ask that you move your Conclave here and take immediate possession.”
“Do you speak for all those remaining here?” Mak’to’ran asked.
“I do. Those remaining few who think otherwise are fighting and dying in the last refuges of
rebellion.”
“What is the situation in the oceans?”
“Damaged, but in far better condition than the land.”
“I have heard your name in legend only, but now I count myself grateful that your reputation was not over-exaggerated and that you survived to summon me here. I lead the V’kit’no’sat, and while that is an unusual position for us, it comes with advantages. I need not consult the Conclave. All those here are officially absolved from previous misdeeds, contingent on unfettered cooperation from this point forward. We have an immense task before us and we cannot afford to waste time with recriminations. What has happened here is more than sufficient punishment to cover any previous crimes or lack of foresight.”
“And those still in combat?”
“Is there anything else you need from me immediately?”
“Other than for you to send the necessary messages through the Urrtren, no, you have done enough with that absolvement and I thank you for it. We never should have put you in the position of being a rebel, but you bore it well.”
“It was more him than you,” Mak’to’ran said, glancing at Hamob. “He will stay here with you and begin necessary restructuring while I take what troops I have to finish the fight here.”
“It will take more than that in the other systems. Not all of those fights are being won. There will be a lot of cleanup needed.”
“Itaru first,” Mak’to’ran said calmly. “Once centered here we can deal with the rest. What happened to the Elder Conclave?”
“All were killed, as far as I have been able to determine. Even those that withdrew before the fighting began were hunted down by the traitors and eliminated as a matter of principle.”
Mak’to’ran sneered. “Are those that remain inclined to surrender?”
“None have that I have been informed of.”
“So be it,” he declared, reactivating his helmet and turning away from the shore. “Then they will die with the rest of them and we will finish cleansing this system in blood.”
Hamob watched him and the others go, leaving only the Era’tran Elder behind as drop pods were flown down and picked up the V’kit’no’sat leader as more came out of the Kafcha and headed for the battlefields that remained.
“He will not be in danger,” Da’gran promised. “The traitors have little left to fight with. And neither do we.”
“Enough to save and refurbish,” Hamob said more optimistically. “The buildings do not matter to me as much as our unity, which is now restored.”
“It will not be for those who fought here. Many are numbed by the betrayal. Those who survived are damaged in ways that a Kich’a’kat cannot fix.”
“I understand, but those wounds can be healed with time.”
“Not all. This planet carries the stench of betrayal too thick to eliminate entirely.”
“Forthcoming hatchlings will not bear it.”
“I am not worried about them. We are supposed to be better than this. I regret not keeping a closer watch on my race as you have.”
“If they had been worthy V’kit’no’sat they would not have needed your constant oversight.”
“My not realizing they were inferior is fault on me.”
“No,” Hamob said firmly as he looked around at the carnage in the distance. “They brought this on themselves. Our responsibility lies in picking up the pieces.”
“I do not absolve myself for this. I let hatchlings do the unthinkable because I underestimated their corruption. That will not happen again.”
“No, it won’t,” Hamob agreed. “We’ll both make sure of that.”
9
March 4, 3696
Teor’cho System (Itaru faction territory)
Vidia
In the weeks that followed his arrival in Itaru, Mak’to’ran spent most of his time personally fighting the remainder of the arrogant until they could get more troops there from other systems. After that he backed off from personal combat and led the reunification efforts at Hamob’s request while others directed the majority of the fighting. Itaru was so beat up that there wasn’t much for Mak’to’ran to do other than give the survivors a focal point to rally around…and rally they did.
Gone were the arrogant, having died or woken up to their stupidity. Half the capitol lay in ruins and the Hadarak were pushing out from the core. The V’kit’no’sat empire was severely weakened and the inevitable fall against the forces of the heretics responsible for Terraxis was a moot point now, for unless they were able to stop the current invasion the Hadarak would destroy the V’kit’no’sat for them.
Most of the survivors recognized this fact in addition to the realization of how far gone the arrogant were when they chose to move against Mak’to’ran rather than fight the Hadarak. There was a lot of self-reflection going on as basic repairs were begun in the stable areas and reports from the front continued to spill in. Thankfully the Urrtren relays hadn’t been hit in the fighting, so connectivity with the rest of the empire remained…with it becoming clear that while the arrogant in Itaru had been decimated there were others throughout the Itaru faction still in power and currently fighting a civil war against the ‘rebels’ amongst them…with the arrogant winning some of the fights.
So Mak’to’ran had assembled scraps of ships from across the empire, lowering basic defensive fleets dangerously thin, and pulled together an armada that he led out from Itaru to aid the rebels and put an end to the arrogant once and for all via conquest. He hated wasting resources on infighting, but this had to be done and done quickly, else in the long term the V’kit’no’sat were doomed. Already more Hadarak were coming forward to test additional areas, and if they sensed enough weakness they would start coming out in numbers that would break the V’kit’no’sat’s hold on the galaxy.
Thankfully there were many other commanders capable of fighting the Hadarak, some more skilled than Mak’to’ran, that had immediately volunteered to go into the combat zones and lead the pushback, some of which had ‘retired’ from active combat long ago. Beyond the Itaru faction the empire was pulling together quickly and only a month ago the Conclave on Vviot had moved, returning to the V’kit’no’sat capitol in Itaru and becoming the sole Elder Conclave. The original one had been destroyed in the fighting and Mak’to’ran was glad he wasn’t going to have to try to integrate the two. The carnage that had taken place was unbearable, but it did leave him with a clean start to work from.
Currently Mak’to’ran was directing the battle of Vidia from orbit as his limited fleet bombarded a heavy planetary shield whose anti-orbital weaponry had temporarily been disabled thanks to ground teams that had landed on other parts of the planet. He had to get through the shields before they came back online, otherwise his fleet would have to pull back and a very costly ground war would have to be waged…which was something Mak’to’ran did not have the patience for.
Some 4,923 ships sat in orbit and pounded away, but without the luxury of a Mach’nel aiding them with Tar’vem’jic. All those possessed by the V’kit’no’sat were now on the Hadarak front trying to slow down the invasion as much as possible, including those recovered from the arrogant in recent weeks. That hadn’t been Mak’to’ran’s doing, but rather rebels from within that took control or lowered weapons and shields at the right moment for Mak’to’ran’s troops to get onboard and take control. Had he been forced to fight them he would have lost most of his armada, but thankfully there was enough loyalty left within the empire to bring them together quickly as more and more resources flowed to the Hadarak front.
Vidia was one of several fights remaining, but there was no victory waiting for the arrogant. The best they could hope for was to hold out and force a stalemate. They had no fleets to push out into other systems with, but Mak’to’ran wasn’t going to let them hold onto what they had and try to spread their poison through the empire again. They were an infection that had to be purged here and now, no matter how long it kept him away from the Hadarak.
As he
monitored the orbital bombardment another ship entered the system. It was an Era’tran Dak’bri bearing Hamob’s insignia, drawing a bit of curiosity from Mak’to’ran. Hamob was supposed to be in Itaru, and if he needed something from him he would have sent a message through the Urrtren. Him being here in person said either something was seriously wrong or there was a matter to attend to that was too sensitive to send across comm channels.
Seeing that the shield was almost breached he ignored Hamob temporarily and personally targeted the myriad of locations exposed once the energy barrier started to show holes. Such things were tricky to do, not knowing how long the shield would be weak and, more importantly, how long the planetary defense weaponry would be down. Using precision weaponsfire, Mak’to’ran clipped power relays, comm centers, and made disabling but not overly destructive wounds to the shield generators and larger guns before turning over the mop up work to his subordinates, then he took a drop pod away from his fleet as they continued to rain down firepower onto the planet.
He met up with Hamob’s ship in a slightly higher orbit and went onboard, with the Elder Era’tran not saying what the purpose of his visit was and that he had to speak with the V’kit’no’sat leader in person.
Mak’to’ran didn’t find that surprising, so he went straight over and met Hamob in the hangar bay where he immediately began to pick up some signs of agitation. If he hadn’t spent time with him before he wouldn’t have noticed, but Hamob was definitely uneasy about whatever he had to tell him.
What has happened? Mak’to’ran demanded telepathically.
Nothing negative, Hamob assured him. But there is uncertainty in the future that I need you to support or we could be embroiled in another war.
Against who?
You will see soon. I have revealed most of my secrets to you, but this one I dared not risk until the empire was reunited and you were in firm control. However, with the Hadarak winning at present, I believe we need to take the chance now. It will not make a great difference, but it could make a small one…and we need every advantage we can get.