Scout ships were able to as well, but those were primarily used to deploy recon units due to their speed and small size. However, in emergency situations, it wasn’t uncommon for a scout ship to make its way toward a group of Hashmedai ground forces in need of medical assistance or extraction.
Last, and the most important vessels of a command ship fleet, were the carrier and stratosphere frigates. The carrier was a massive rectangular vessel, the underside fitted with drop bays to launch two types of fighter craft—interceptors and psionic assault fighters. The Radiance Union relied upon the might and sheer numbers of their ships to win battles. However, if a Hashmedai battle group deployed multiple carriers, launching all twenty-five interceptors and ten psionic assault fighters they typically held, the results often were catastrophic to Radiance. Both interceptors and assault fighters were extremely fast and highly maneuverable, making them hard targets to acquire. Multiple squadrons could fly past a handful of capital ships, hit a specific target, and fly out with minimal casualties. In addition, both fighters were proficient at entering the atmosphere of a planet, adding to the chaos Hashmedai could do to a heavily populated world.
Psionic assault fighters were a step up from the interceptors. Two people operated the fighter—a primary pilot and a psionic copilot. The back compartment of this triangular craft held three attack drones, which the psionic on board operated via a psionic link. If the drones were not needed—or were destroyed—the psionic supported the fighter in the same manner shipboard psionics support their ships.
The stratosphere frigates, which were essentially mobile bases, could enter the atmosphere of any planet. Each one docked up to five corvettes and held a small docking for fighter craft to recharge or have damage repaired. At the center of each frigate was an infirmary, small cargo hold, and barracks with hordes of backup soldiers ready for action.
Humanity is not ready.
Jerut stared at the image of the human world from the main bridge of the command ship. The entire crew had reported in, ready for action. All ships docked down below were fully equipped and prepared to launch on his order. Secret communications from Xyniea and all associates in the system reported in to him, stating that they were ready for the next phase.
“Inform all vessels to power their engines,” Jerut ordered. “We’ll launch our attack now.”
A bridge officer named Tonif replied, “Right away, sir.”
His communication implants activated as an incoming transmission was being relayed to him. “I see you’ve entered the next phase.” It was Nodevar. Perfect timing.
“Yes, I need you and Lettielia to transfer to the Voidwrath. My…associates there will aid you on your next assignment. Also, inform Whigli to return here.”
“We’ve picked up a guest—an assassin sent to work with the recon team.”
Jerut’s eyes shut as he pondered this new information. “What’s the assassin’s name?”
“Phylarlie Starchaser,” Nodevar revealed.
Jerut chuckled to himself; the name almost sounded like “Noylarlie.” In any case, Phylarlie wasn’t on the Order’s database of trusted assassins. “Kill her.” This was not the time to be taking risks. The transmission ended, and his sights turned to focus on the blue planet directly in front of the bridge’s forward window.
………
Phylarlie lay back in a relaxing position on the frozen arctic ground, staring up at the blue cloudless sky. The stretching chants of penguins nearby could be heard every so often, and four slowly waddled toward Phylarlie, taking interest in her presence. She was oblivious to their presence, however, as her mind was too busy going over the exchange of information she and Whigli shared before he was summoned up by Nodevar.
Most notably, she had learned that her sister Noylarlie’s psionic potential was discovered by the empire, with their mother being caught for disclosing their existence. Knowing her mother being dead via execution didn’t bring as much sadness to her heart as Whigli would have thought. Phylarlie’s dream had always been to travel to the stars. Of course, living a life in space meant spending a lot of time in cryo or waiting for a space bridge to rematerialize the ship. Decades could pass with one not aging a bit, while loved ones who remained planetside grew old and died. Phylarlie knew very well that becoming an assassin meant never seeing Noylarlie or Mother ever again. Talking about mother to Abraxin most likey aided in Noylarlie’s discovery.
Footsteps crushed the snow and ice, getting closer to Phylarlie. It wasn’t the penguins. Her vision of the sky changed to that of the ground as her head tilted to the side. Whigli was approaching.
“You’re too relaxed,” he said.
She smiled and said, “This is the first mission in which I completed most of my objectives.” She sat up, taking in the view of the snow-covered mountain in front of her. “And the first mission after which getting home to collect my reward is…questionable.”
Whigli sat next to her. “Which reminds me—let us continue where we left off.”
“Getting Chidorli and Kroshka off this world.” She pondered what would be required to pull this off.
“It will not be an easy task,” he said, and she nodded in agreement.
“That transport ship you three have should work, provided Lettielia and Nodevar won’t object. Get Kroshka and Chidorli on board, and hope the command ship doesn’t send another ship to shoot it down for some unknown reason,” she said. “It’s a shame Akeia will not be returning, but his human murderers have been dealt with.”
Whigli’s body language showed signs of uneasiness. Phylarlie noticed right away that something was going through his head, something she needed to know. “Hey, listen,” he said.
“What is it?” she asked.
White cold mist left his mouth as he let out a massive sigh. “We need to come up with a plan to make this happen, but there’s information you need to know going forward.” Phylarlie grew tense as he continued. “I’m going to tell you the truth so there are no unexpected surprises that might trouble you.”
“By all means, please continue,” she said.
“When your sister rescued me, Jerut recruited me into some kind of secret group. I’m still not sure of their main objective, as I’m new and they were in a rush to get me on board the fleet that came here. But I do know the real reason they are here is to invade this world by convincing the empress that humans killed Kroshka and Akeia.” Phylarlie remained silent, bottling up her rage. “But the humans are not responsible. Jerut’s associates, as he calls us, are. Lettielia and Nodevar killed Akeia. The humans merely held him captive while they questioned him. The assassins are still contracted to kill Kroshka as well, but they’ve been unable to locate her.”
Whigli tumbled over to the frozen ground, Phylarlie on top of him with one hand around his neck and the other holding her blade high in the air. She was waiting for him to give her a reason to thrust the blade through his face. But no reason came. He didn’t fight back, and as a psionic, he had an advantage.
“Why?” was all she had to say to his pinned body, hesitating to finish him.
“I was sent to a space bridge. He got me out, so I owed him everything.”
“Those humans died for no reason. Lettielia and Nodevar were my real targets, not them.” Her rage turned to fury. “And you knew—this makes you my target as well!”
“End me if you must. But know you will never reunite with your sister if you do. I know of her last known location.”
Her blade plunged toward him, stopping one inch before his eyes at the last second. “Don’t you fucking dare make a deal with me!”
“Do it then. Let’s see how far you’ll get in your mission to take Kroshka home. Let’s see how far you can get off this continent without teleportation.”
He is right. As of right now, Whigli was her only means back to the transport. The thought made her sick.
“And you’re not fooling anyone by asking the humans here for assistance,” he added, “as sections o
f this world will be turned to glass in the next few hours.”
Whigli was released from her death grip as she stood back and holstered her weapons. He stood up, snow and ice covering his exposed back. “What I don’t understand is why the assassins' guild would issue a kill order for Kroshka and Akeia,” Whigli said, “then issue an order to kill those who attacked them?”
“People in high places throughout the empire can petition the guild to have people taken care of. It’s up to the guild masters to accept or reject those requests. My orders were requested by the empress, so the guild has no choice but to accept it,” Phylarlie explained.
“So the kill orders to remove Kroshka and Akeia came from where?”
More of the puzzle stated to snap together. “Jerut’s associates,” she said. “Why the guild masters accepted it is another story.”
“Perhaps the guild master is one of Jerut’s associates.” He looked at the horizon in the distance. “This world is going to burn soon. Chidorli and Kroshka might not survive the bombardment. We need to find a way to get them off this world fast.”
“I’m not leaving until Lettielia and Nodevar are dead.”
“Well, that might just be our means out of here. With those two dead, that transport will be ours. We just need to find Chidorli and Kroshka, and at that point we travel to the nearest space bridge.”
“You’ll be betraying Jerut. I thought you I ‘owed him everything,’” she said.
“The orders to attack the recon team she was a part of months ago, shoot down the scout ship she was aboard, and now burning this world while she’s out there.” He crossed his arms, determination in his face. “He’s the one who betrayed me by keeping this secret. I owe him nothing.”
………
Captain Ueyei sat in his chair onboard the Abyssal Explorer. Displayed next to him via a hologram was tactical information regarding the Hashmedai command ship that just recently entered orbit around the human world. Those on bridge frantically moved about in preparation for the unexpected.
Lieutenant Ary Relei, manning a computer workstation to the side, took notice of the situation. “Sir, the command ship’s main doors are opening!”
Ueyei used his tiny hands to guide the hologram. His right hand hovered over the projected image of the command ship and then moved back, causing the projection to provide a zoomed-in perspective. The officer was indeed correct—the massive doors in the middle of the spherical ship were now open. Hashmedai battleships propelled out, heading toward…
He waved his hands again, and the hologram changed to display the location of the command ship, its ships now being released toward the Abyssal Explorer and the human world. The Hashmedai fleet quickly fanned out, positioning directly above four continents. His left hand formed into a fist, and the display vanished, while his other hand interacted with a terminal attached to the arm of his chair.
A hologram of Gengei manifested before him and spoke. “Go ahead, Captain. I’m reading you.”
“We got a situation up here. The Hashmedai just surrounded the planet, so you need to get back here at once,” ordered Ueyei.
“Then we have failed in our mission,” Gengei said, disappointed.
“We must protect the humans at all costs, so we’re not done yet.”
“Captain, three frigates have directly moved and locked weapons onto us!” yelled a tactical officer, Ure Dashea.
“What’s going on?” asked Gengei.
“Standby, Commander.” His hologram vanished. “Battle stations! Raise shields!”
A screaming alarm sounded as the bridge crew sat at their designated stations and secured their seat belts. Ueyei summoned a new hologram, one of Karklosea. “Report to the bridge right away. Bring your apprentice—time for him to get some real combat experience.”
Karklosea stepped off the elevator into the bridge of the Abyssal Explorer. Her head took a quick scan at how focused everyone was and the sheer number of orbiting Hashmedai ships, which were visible from the window upfront. Behind her was Ary Stolanei, her young apprentice. He wore a sleeveless robe that was left open to reveal green scales on the sides of his fit body and cybernetic implants on his chest.
Behind Ueyei’s captain’s chair was the psionic workstation. It consisted of a large computer terminal with a hologram that displayed information about the stats of the ship and the state of the environment outside of it. The workstation had two substations to the left and right sides of it. When multiple psionics worked on it, the strongest held down the middle while the other two manned the sides.
Only one psionic was positioned in the middle—Mil Dargonea, a Javnis next in line for apprenticeship. She wore black slacks and a hood that shrouded her face and four eyes. As with all augmented psionics, her body was exposed to display cybernetic implants buried within her reptilian skin.
Karklosea gracefully walked next to her; their heads turned to face each other. Dargonea shifted her body to the right, taking on one of the substations while abandoning the central post to Karklosea. Karklosea didn’t need to use words or telepathy to tell people she was taking over as lead bridge psionic. Stolanei attended the substation to the left of Karklosea as Ueyei turned his tiny body to face her. “Go all out. We’re out numbered here,” he said.
Karklosea nodded. “We’re going silent. Relay all verbal communications to Dargonea.”
“Understood.” Ueyei faced the front of the bridge.
The psionics shut their eyes to focus, creating a link between the three of them while merging their minds with the ship’s computers. During this intense trance, neither Karklosea nor Stolanei were able to focus on what was being said on the bridge. Their minds were now part of the ship, able to enhance weapon systems and defense systems, and prevent critical systems from becoming too badly damaged, as well as having the best take on what went on outside.
Dargonea entered a partial trance, as her role would be to relay orders from the captain to Karklosea and Stolanei via their three-way telepathic bond.
“I’m still creating gravity for the bridge,” Dargonea communicated.
“Keep doing it until things get intense,” Karklosea replied. “Stolanei, how many psionics onboard are free?”
His mind accessed the ship’s personnel files, and the search results beamed into his mind. “Fourteen are available,” he relayed telepathically.
“Good, send five to the engine room, three to the infirmary. Have the remaining six divided into groups of two and placed on standby in a secure location,” Karklosea ordered.
The three Hashmedai frigates slowed their approach to the Abyssal Explorer. Plasma turrets all swung their barrels in the direction of the Radiance cruiser, releasing a flurry of plasma balls. All destroyers in orbit did the same as massive balls of plasmas shot toward the planet’s surface. The Abyssal Explorer just happened to be in the direct line of fire of two destroyers aiming toward the surface.
The first wave of plasma fired from the frigates impacted on the shields of the Abyssal Explorer, producing a light show of green-charged balls exploding on a blue energy barrier.
Lieutenant Relei reported, “Direct hit on the portside—shields down to ninety-five percent!”
“Incoming destroyer plasma!” yelled Lieutenant Za Gyniei.
"Psionic team, overshields now! Helmsmen, bring us about—target the lead frigate, and fire plasma missiles!” Ueyei frantically ordered.
“The captain is requesting overshields,” Dargonea transmitted telepathically.
Karklosea replied. “He must think I’m an idiot. Those are already up.”
Dargonea relayed additional info. “Plasma missiles are being armed.”
“I’m on it,” Stolanei offered.
Karklosea’s mind transferred shield information to Stolanei and then communicated, “Iris the shields at these locations when the time comes.”
The Abyssal Explorer faced away from the planet and toward its mortal enemies. The landscape below slowly glowed red in the a
reas hit by the destroyers’ plasma blasts. Humanity was officially at war—a war they couldn’t win.
Multiple plasma shots from the destroyers collided with the overshield, a psionic barrier covering the ship so the shipboard shields wouldn’t be impacted—shields for the shields essentially. Green orbs half the size of the Abyssal Explorer added to the light show.
Stress filled Karklosea’s mind as she transmitted, “I won’t be able to hold the overshield much longer at this rate.”
“I’ll lend you my power.” It was Dargonea.
“I will as well,” offered Stolanei.
The trio used their combined gifts, transferring more psionic power to the overshields. “Thanks, that should do for the time being,” Karklosea transmitted.
“Won’t be…able to keep gravity going though,” Dargonea mentioned.
“That’s OK—drop it,” Karklosea transmitted.
Dargonea shouted to the bridge crew, “Gravity shutting off!”
“Everyone, strap in if you haven’t!” ordered Ueyei.
“Missiles going out!” a weapons officer, Za Yerea, reported.
The Abyssal Explorer, like all Radiance Union ships, held its missiles on the underside of the ship. Firing main weapons during a frontal barrage was risky, as the shields needed to iris and form a hole large enough for weapon fire to escape, leaving the chance for enemy weapons’ fire to slip through.
Since the plasma missiles were homing, they could be launched from the underside, travel through an iris section of the shield that was not seeing any action, change course, and race toward its intended target. Psionics were able to further enhance this by connecting their minds to the guidance control systems of the missile. Psionics were quite proficient at guiding missiles into irised sections of the Hashmedai shields, all while helping it evade antimissile fire. A series of green spherical explosions ruptured alongside the forward sections of the three frigates as half the missiles cut through the open holes of their shields.
Celestial Ascension (Splintered Galaxy Book 1) Page 24