by M. D. Cooper
STELLAR DATE: 01.12.8928 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Terran Capitol Building, High Terra
REGION: Terra, Sol System, Hegemony of Worlds
“Half gone?” President Uriel heard the words, but they just didn’t make sense. “What do you mean the fifth fleet is half gone? How can one of our fleets just be half gone?”
Her confusion turned into anger, which she directed at the woman in front of her, Admiral Jerra.
The admiral shifted uncomfortably.
“Well, ma’am, the reports we have from observers in the Bollam’s System indicate that the colony ship’s fleet took out our initial six dreadnaughts with almost no fight at all. Their fighters were able to punch right through our shields and deliver some sort of superweapon that destroyed our ships,” she said.
“Punched through,” Uriel said the words with disbelief. “You’re saying that fighters were able to shoot through our ship’s shielding? How could a fighter do that?”
“No, ma’am,” the admiral shook her head. “They didn’t shoot through. The fighters themselves flew right through the shields.”
“Flew through them.” Uriel felt like an idiot repeating the Admiral’s words, but they were too incredible to believe. She had never heard of a fighter being a meaningful ship in any combat, let alone even making a dent in a Hegemony Dreadnaught.
“Yes, sir, the colony ship appeared to have very powerful shields, ones that no weapon thrown at them could penetrate.”
Uriel’s mind swam at the enormity of it. The ship, from what her intelligence had been able to gather, was a relic of the early fifth millennia. The extent of shielding in that age consisted of electrostatic shields, ablative plating, and refractive countermeasures.
The destruction of the first six dreadnaughts told her that the ancient stories of the Intrepid possessing picotech were probably true. She had suspected as much and anticipated that the first expeditionary force would not survive. Rather, they were to draw out the colony ship and get it to expose its tech so that they could counter and overwhelm it with the fifth fleet.
Not lose the fifth fleet.
“How did we lose half the fleet, then?” Uriel asked.
“They couldn’t defeat the ship, and so they decided to collapse that fuel planet the Bollam’s Worlders created—while the colony ship was refueling inside its cloud cover.”
Uriel nodded. That fuel world had been of concern to her for some time. Bollam’s World had no such need of such a massive fuel supply. They had been planning something big—perhaps expansion to other systems. Destroying it had been a secondary objective in the system.
“And the colony ship?” Uriel asked.
Admiral Jerra paused and Uriel wondered what news to expect next.
“They survived,” Jerra said slowly.
“We lost half the fifth fleet and they survived?” Uriel realized she was half out of her chair and Jerra had taken a step back.
“The fuel planet collapsed into a black hole, and started drawing mass from the dark layer…everything was falling back in, but then the black hole’s relativistic jet hit the colony ship. Somehow it survived and was pushed out to safety.”
“And we pursued?” Uriel asked, increasingly annoyed at Jerra, for being forced to pull each tidbit out of her.
“We did, our ships fired every RM we could at them, but then they jumped to FTL.”
Uriel didn’t respond at first. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought Jerra was pulling a prank on her. The Intrepid predated FTL, and even so, was far too massive to transition into the dark layer.
“The ancient colony ship jumped to FTL,” she finally stated.
“Yes. The remains of the fifth are attempting to track it, but so far they have had no luck.”
“The fifth millennia colony ship, with magical shields and probably picotech, jumped to FTL.”
Jerra grimaced. “Yes, ma’am.”
Uriel remained silent for several minutes, trying to imagine all the possible places the ship could have gone, and who could have given them the ability to jump to FTL—an ability Hegemony scientists suspected was possible for ships that large, but had been unsuccessful in pulling off themselves.
“What intel do we have?” she eventually asked.
“We have tactical analysis of the battle and the aftermath of the black hole formation in Bollam’s. We have the vector the colony ship left on, though, if they’re smart, they’ve changed that long ago.”
“And Bollam’s? Have we left a presence there?”
Admiral Jerra shook her head. “Two ships remained after the majority of the fifth left to track the colony ship, it should have been enough to keep the Bollam’s World Space Force in line—they were mostly engaged in rescue operations—but the entire system rose up, every freighter, police ship, yacht and tug they had. They forced us out.
“What about our survivors?”
Jerra shook her head. “We didn’t have any.”
Uriel was stunned. Half the fleet and the initial six dreadnaughts...it had to be nearly a hundred thousand dead. The implications were staggering. It would not take long for this news to get out to the rest of the Hegemony if it hadn’t already.
“Jerra, find that ship, I don’t care what it takes.”
AN OLD FRIEND
STELLAR DATE: 03.17.8928 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Fenis Mining Town
REGION: Jornel, Treshin System, Spica Federation
Elena signaled the bartender for a refill on her beer and turned to survey the room. Most people were lost in their Links or holo displays, watching the news streaming out of the Bollam’s World System. It was fascinating to be sure, but at this point, everything was speculation.
She could probably insinuate herself into one of the groups discussing the events in low voices, but tonight was supposed to be a night off. There would be time enough for digging into what happened in Bollam’s tomorrow. Besides, by then some real intel may have arrived, not just the initial feeds of some battle unfolding with an ancient colony ship.
She looked down at her outfit, her favorite “out on the town” dress, a low-cut shimmering silver number that hugged her curves just right and ended only a few centimeters down her thighs. On her legs she wore blood-red leggings and her feet were tucked into a matching pair of heels. She had finished the outfit with elbow length gloves.
It screamed, “fuck me” but still she sat alone.
The bartender slid her a fresh beer and she nodded in thanks.
“Crowd’s not interested in what you want tonight, eh, Elena?” he asked.
She sighed and shook her head. “I guess not. It’s been a brutal week and I just wanted to blow off some steam. But looks like all that anyone cares about is some battle halfway across the Arm from here.
“Not that far,” a man said as he perched on the stool next to hers. “Bollam’s is only a couple hundred lights from here; have to go a bit further to get half-way across the arm.”
Elena glanced at him. He was attractive enough in a rugged sort of way, probably worked in one of the refineries outside the town. She cycled her vision to see the carbon dust in his pours. Yup, definitely worked in a refinery.
Jornel was a stage two, terraformed world. Stage two was a nice way to say “not done yet, but we colonized it anyway.” It was the Spica Federation’s specialty. She couldn’t blame the Federation too much; they got shit done, it just wasn’t really that fun to be part of the group doing things.
That’s what made a night where she could relax, catch a bit of tail, and enjoy some choice, virtually enhanced fantasies with one or more of her fellow humans, the highlight of her week.
Still, the man beside her was attractive enough. If there were no other takers, she could have a fun romp with him.
“I’m Elena,” she said and offered her hand.
He took it and she passed an electric jolt through her palm into his, startling him as he said, “Anton.”
&n
bsp; Anton recovered quickly and flashed a coy smile. “So, that’s what you’re interested in tonight, is it?”
“Could be, if the right folks show up.”
He looked up at the holo display above the bar. “They seem more interested in what’s happening out in Bollam’s”
“Yeah,” Elena said with a nod, glancing up at the display, her casual look drawing her face into a scowl.
Anton glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”
“Some of those ships, in that fleet above the moon there, I think I recognize one of the cruisers,” Elena replied.
She flipped through the various feeds of commentary on the local net surrounding the video and found a reference she was looking for. Kade.
“Well hot damn,” she said quietly. “That’s a Mark fleet.”
“Really?” Anton asked. “Are you sure?”
Everyone knew of The Mark, though few knew exactly what they really did, or which ships really comprised their fleets. It wasn’t like the Gedri Freedom Federation, where you really knew who was in and who was out—what with their sad attempts to form a legitimate government.
“Yeah,” Elena replied with a nod. “I had a run-in with them once, and there’s some commentary on the feeds that confirms my suspicion.”
“Commentary on a feed hardly confirms anything,” Anton said with a chuckle. “People will say anything for attention.”
Elena nodded. “I know. It wasn’t like someone said hey, that’s The Mark. It was just confirmation of a ship’s signature.”
“That’s The Mark there?” A woman in a group nearby asked after overhearing Elena.
“That’s what she thinks, yeah,” Anton replied to the woman.
“What are they doing out there?” another man asked, and Elena just shrugged.
Luckily, the conversation shifted away as more people began talking about what The Mark could be doing at Bollam’s World, and less about who had made the initial statement. A minute later their attention drifted further as they watched a maneuver The Mark ships were forming—the pirates were trying to create a shield bubble.
This fight wasn’t going to go well for someone. Elena pitied that lost colony ship. They had really stepped into some sort of mess—probably all caused by some amazing tech they had, or maybe just some tech people thought they may have. Either way, it was a shit show, and she didn’t see any point in watching it unfold in real-time.
“Hey,” she nudged Anton. “Want to get out of here? I really don’t want to watch this right now.”
He tilted his head, staring straight into her dark red eyes. “Seriously? This shit is nuts. How can you not want to watch it?”
“Tomorrow we’ll have full feeds, and we’ll be able to get some legit commentary, not all the garbage flying around right now,” Elena said. Then she smiled, revealing her sharp, elongated canine teeth—which slowly protracted past her lower lip. “I can show you some real shit that’s nuts.”
Anton’s eyes widened and a smile crept across his face. “Well, since you put it that way.”
She grabbed her coat on the way out, and together they stepped into Jornel’s deep dusk. Elena took in the scent of the night, and the scent of the man next to her. The carbon on his skin—and likely in his blood—was going to taste great.
* * * * *
Later, as Anton slept beside her, Elena stared up at the ceiling of her apartment, basking in the afterglow of lust, sex, and blood. She had gone easy on him, only drank a pint, but she made sure he loved every second of it.
She had made sure he took in a replenishing cocktail before falling asleep so she didn’t have to worry about him being too tired to go to work the next day—drowsy, post-drink, lay-a-bouts were not the sort she wanted in her home come morning.
She ran her long fingernails down her sides, relishing in the feeling, wishing that she had lured more than just one person back to her home that night. After being drank, one person just didn’t have the stamina for more rounds, but she was always ready to keep going.
She wondered if maybe any of the other members of the nest had much luck that night. Perhaps she could seek them out see what they were up to. Elena nearly got up to rejoin the hunt again but decided that it wasn’t worth it this night. Everyone would be too distracted by the events in Bollam’s world—hells, as much as she tried to put it from her mind, she was too.
Eventually she gave in and surfed the feeds, looking for the latest information on what was happening in Bollam’s world.
What she found blew her mind.
her AI replied.
Elena shook her head in disbelief, replaying the footage of the Sabrina smashing through The Mark fleet’s shield bubble, again, and again. Smashing through and surviving.
Elena could barely formulate any words as she watched the massive ships dissolve into dust.
Oh Sera, what have you gotten yourself mixed up in this time?
* * * * *
Several hours later, Elena was aboard her ship, a craft she had secreted away in an old hanger outside of town. Jutio was running through the pre-flight checks, and she was ensuring that the provisions stored on the ship were enough to make the four-month journey to Ascella.
She was going to catch hell from her superiors for abandoning Jornel scant months after her cover had been established, but this was far more important. The data she had picked up revealed just which colony ship Sera had found out in the dark; and considering the invincible shields, and the strong likelihood of picotech, she knew that ship would be leaving Bollam’s before long, with FTL capability.
Given their trajectory through the Bollam’s system, Ascella was their obvious destination, and Elena knew there was no was Sera could be prepared for what was coming next.
Elena satisfied herself that she would survive the journey on the food and life support the small ship possessed and settled into her chair in the cockpit while Jutio warmed the engines.
She pulled up feeds from all the systems that were between the Spica Federation and Bollam’s world. Every single one was increasing patrols and readying their militaries for conflict. No one knew what was coming, but with the tech the Intrepid possessed, and the lengths to which the AST would go to find it, no one was going to take any chances.
Sera’s father certainly wouldn’t, and neither would The Guard.
It was possible that the FGT’s last millennia of work, all their effort to stabilize the Inner Stars, would be unraveled by Sera’s brash actions.
THE ORION GUARD
STELLAR DATE: 05.12.8928 (Adjusted Years)
LOCATION: Tredin Orbital Ring
REGION: Orion Prime, Borealis System, Orion Guard Space
General Garza scowled at the holo display in front of him. Though the news from the Pleiades was good, it could have been better.
“Silina,” he called out to his outer office. “Get me some coffee; I’m going to need a pick-me-up to get through this report.”
“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Silina called back.
Garza heard the sound of Silina’s chair rolling back before the woman rose to grab him a cup—probably going to get herself one too. The woman ran on coffee and never begrudged his requests for a cup since it meant that she had an excuse to get another for herself as well.
He slid the report’s overview aside and examined the details on the Trisilieds Alliance. Those worlds were always of the greatest interest to him. Events there often led events elsewhere in the cluster. If instability crept into the Trisilieds, it would creep in everywhere.<
br />
Silina slipped in and deposited a cup on his desk and Garza reached for it as he examined the report.
He pulled up filings from two other agents, correlating and cross-referencing their data, ensuring that the Guard’s plans were moving apace.
General Garza’s job was to manage and shepherd the Guard’s interests in the Inner Stars. It was a massive operation, and though he had legions of analysts, both human, and AI, he chose to do his own research whenever possible. Nothing kept those under him on point better than when he challenged their conclusions with his own.
Events in the Pleiades always got his personal attention.
The star cluster was the deepest foothold the Guard controlled within the Inner Stars, and the forces they were building there would be key to their ultimate strategy.
As Garza ran through his morning review, a new report from Admiral Munchen arrived from the core-ward fringes of the Trisilieds Alliance.
Munchen was a good man and a long-time plant of the Guard’s. He was a true believer in The Plan and would do whatever it took to extend the Guard’s influence and power.
Most of his report was standard fare, describing troop movements, a group of nations undertaking training exercises in the Sidian Reach, and rumors of a Hegemony of Worlds incursion in the Bollam’s World System.
That caught his attention. Of all the forces in the Inner Stars—and there were many—the Hegemony was the one he worried about the most. Guard agents had only managed the barest of infiltrations in the core world’s governments. Progress there was slow with The Hand already so well entrenched.
The Hegemony had never reached so far as Bollam’s World? It was something new. With New Eden between Bollam’s and the Core, it was not a strategic move he would have considered. Obviously, it would be difficult to manage such an expansion with New Eden in the middle—unless the Hegemony planned to surround New Eden and use that to leverage the rich system to join their alliance.
The Hegemony was expansionist; it would fit their narrative.
He leaned back in his chair and considered the implications. He had agents in the region; it was likely that they had filed reports with more data that would be arriving soon.