Frontline

by Z H Brown

  The Star Eater’s frustration with its current situation boiled over and manifested in a sudden burst of golden flame. The retaliatory attack was so sudden that a number of ships were caught by surprise and vaporized by the burning organic plasma. This seemed to signal a change in the creature’s strategy, as it now began emitting stream after stream of fire, throwing its head in different directions to catch as many of the pestering ships as it could. While the creature’s initial attack had destroyed many fighters, the pilots and robotic brains of the crafts adjusted their own approach, preventing too many of them from being obliterated by its new attacks.

  A flight of five fighters, three Dragon Fangs and two Germstones, raced toward the beast; this group was the famous Jade Squad, renowned for cooperation, camaraderie and kill-count. The Fangs unleashed a hail of piercing energy beams which were followed up by a barrage of projectiles from the Gemstones. Their attack hit a bloody burn spot on the beast’s back, causing it to spasm in pain. Before they could successfully break off their attack, the Star Eater whipped its head around in rage and caught a Fang and a Gemstone in its flames.

  Tread had also lost two of his own drones to the gold flames, and so he disengaged to enact a new strategy; he divided his drones into two groups of three and one group of four and once everything was in place, he began his attack run. He came at the creature from above its head, avoiding detection until the last moment. The beast continued to thrash its head about, but had yet to aim in Tread’s direction.

  This proved to be a grave mistake on the extragalactic monster’s part. Tread’s drones struck in groups one after the other after the other. Their attacks, concentrated on a single target and firing with the speed and precision of a machine, struck perfectly.

  The beast gave a silent howl that would have deafened anyone if they could have heard it, and clasped one claw over its eye. It thrashed about wildly in pain, causing the fighters to quickly scatter or risk being destroyed by the colossal convulsions.

  When the brute pulled its huge hand away, the assembled pilots got a good look at the blow that had been struck: one of the beast’s eyes had been fried, the orb now a dry, blackened husk and the skin and scales around it scorched and bloody.

  The Star Eater silently roared in rage and pain and resumed pouring out fire. The creature was emitting sustained rivers of superheated matter, catching countless ships in its overwhelming heat, and forcing the rest to retreat to a safe distance.

  Not so for Critter; the diminutive soldier had seen what his comrade’s attack had done and had been emboldened by his success. The corporal decided to strike while the creature was in a blind rage, spreading flame about widely without actually looking for targets.

  Critter maneuvered his mech around to the back of the leviathan, keeping his eyes open to avoid being swept up in the beast’s mighty wings. As he got closer, he also had to avoid being caught by one of the monsters spines, or getting thrashed against its writhing body.

  Critter watched the serpentine body twist and turn for a few moments before taking his chance. Putting on a burst of speed, he moved his mech around the massive arm of his opponent while at the same time deploying his suit’s pincers. Critter locked on to his target and shot like a bolt toward the vulnerable spot in the beasts hide.

  A new lance of pain shot through the Star Eater. It threw back its head and replaced its fire with a baleful, unheard moan of pain. It looked down at its tarnished body and found the source of its discomfort: a speck had jabbed one of its stingers into one of the wounds created and exacerbated by the larger pests' earlier attacks. Even as the consumer-of-suns looked, the insignificant creature twisted and spread its tiny barbs inside the wound, sending fresh agony throughout its body.

  The Star Eater reached down with its massive claws to pluck the painful thorn and crush it like the crumb it was. However, it was denied even that pleasure, as the tiny thing nimbly avoided its grasp and raced to rejoin its fellows. The mighty monster took aim and unleashed another burst of fire, seeking to incinerate the swarm before they began their next attack. Once again, the blast only served in catching the slowest and already compromised ships, leaving the majority intact.

  More stings, bites, barbs and pecks covered the Star Eater’s massive body. Its ruined eye released occasional waves of pain, while the pests whizzed about, trying to get at the beast's tender and wounded areas. While it tried to incinerate the specks with its flame, it also attempted to smash as many as it could with its limbs and long body.

  The gambit seemed to be paying off, as the attackers found that their numbers were now dropping at a steady rate; Tread had been reduced to just half his fighters.

  The attackers once more had to put room between themselves and their enemy, as the Star Eater’s enraged thrashing made hitting its weak spots a game of chance, forcing them to focus almost completely on not being smashed or incinerated. The fighters now formed a loose cloud around the extragalactic invader, waiting for their next opening.

  Unfortunately, the creature seemed to have had enough of the stinging it had been subjected too. As the annoyances broke off their attack, the creature used its remaining eye to survey the area, trying to find some advantage it could use. Its gaze alighted on the ships still making their way for the safety of the other side of the nearest planet.

  If it couldn’t smash the pests, it would smash their hives.

  The Star Eater stretched its wings out full, allowing the light of the local star to fill them with energy. Finally, it organically transformed the energy into ion emissions and began gliding through space once more. Scores of fighters were scattered as it passed, the monster not even taking the time to burn them up.

  It took just a few moments for the pilots and drones to realize that the creature was heading toward their carriers. Every ship pushed their speed to the maximum, trying to catch up with their enemy, but without any real way to stop it.

  The creature’s advance did not go unnoticed by the ships of Attack Group Typhoon and Sandstorm fleet. As the Star Eater bore towards them, the capital ships moved as quickly as they could to form a defensive line between it and the fleet of carriers. The warships increased their speed, trying to put a planet between them and the enraged alien.

  Every ship opened fire as soon as it was able to, small volleys constantly following one another. The gunners and technicians tried as best they could to avoid hitting their own fighters, but some of them still fell to friendly fire. A small knot of ships was obliterated by a Nova missile, which did nothing to slow the creature's advance. Others were annihilated by stray energy beams that sailed past their target or accidentally collided with them before they could hit home.

  While the last barrage had brought the beast’s warpath to a halt, this assault was too scattered to be effective. Between the nightmare bearing down on them, and their own fighters cluttering up their targeting sensors, the gunners and other weapon operators couldn’t do much more than further annoy the gargantuan serpent.

  As soon as the Star Eater was within range of the large ships, it struck. Its impossibly long tail whipped out and smashed a large warship to pieces. With its mighty claws, it caught up two nearby ships and smashed them together; their shields shimmered rapidly before failing to the incredible pressure that destroyed both vessels. The Star Eater opened its jaws and poured forth more destructive fire, annihilating six ships, one after the other.

  The fighters now had to contend with the rapidly expanding debris field as they tried to inflict another crippling injury on their adversary. Critter tried to take aim and drive his pincer into the monster’s blind eye, but was knocked off course by a piece of wreckage nearly as large as his own suit. Tread lost a drone that was swept up in the beast’s claws as it grabbed another ship to crumple.

  It was at this point that the first of the fighters had to withdraw, their fuel and energy nearly completely spent and their home-ships rapidly retreating around to the other side of the planet, trying desperately t
o keep an entire world between them and their enemy. Critter eyed his own energy gauge, and saw that he was more than half empty. He’d have to withdraw soon as well.

  However, it became increasingly clear that the battle was nearing its end. The Star Eater had smashed, ripped, crushed and obliterated most of the offensive ships. The remaining ones were beginning to break off their attack, still firing at the target, but bringing their ships around toward the planet.

  Sure enough, a general retreat was sent to all fighters, drones and mechs. Some of the small ships immediately obeyed, rocketing away to follow the retreating ships. Others took a few more shots at the creature before also breaking off. Critter fired the last of his on-board missiles before reluctantly turning his back to the leviathan. As he fell in with the other pilots, he received a message from Tread, requesting his location.

  Critter replied and a few seconds later, he found his battle-mech being escorted by his comrade’s five remaining drones. Their reunion was quickly soured by a warning broadcasted to all fighters.

  “Scatter, it’s getting ready to fire!!”

  Critter wheeled his suit around and saw that the warning had been correct. The creature had thrown its head back, and the tiny corporal could already see the glow coming from the monster’s open jaws.

  He suddenly put on a burst of speed, angling ‘up’ and away from the creature’s line of fire. All around him other craft scattered similarly.

  The blast of fiery plasma, thousands of miles long, silently thundered by, rushing through the path countless fighters had been taking just moments before. Once again, the slowest and already damaged ships failed to escape the inferno, incinerating them in an instant.

  But the fighters hadn’t been the monster’s target. Its true target had been the last of the retreating carriers and capital ships that were making their way around the curve of the planet. About eight of them were still visible, the rest having safely moved out of range.

  The golden fire moved from one ship to the next, annihilating each in turn. One of the ships was grazed before it dodged the flame, but as it limped on something inside gave away and it exploded like all the rest. Another ship escaped the actual flame, only to be wounded by the explosions of its comrades. Chunks of debris sliced through the shield and armor of the vessel, bringing it to a halt. The emissions from its engines flickered and died, and it hung motionless in space for a handful of beats, before the gravity of the planet seized it and dragged it to its doom. The tail-end of the fleet had been wiped out.

  The assembled fighters, momentarily stunned by the unexpected destruction, regained their senses and did the only thing they could: throttle up their crafts and continue making their way back to their carriers- or, for many, finding new carriers to service them.

  Those who took the time to get one last look at their adversary would have seen a wounded beast, silently roaring in triumph as yet another annoyance scattered before it. Once the Star Eater was certain the insects were truly gone, it turned once more towards the star that would provide a revitalizing feast, and began gliding away.

  Chapter XXX

  Nova

  ~Attack Group Typhoon has been breached; fighter casualties estimated to be fifty-eight percent, and capital ship losses projected to be thirty-five percent. The creature has been dealt more damage and has been deprived an eye. Onslaught has been initiated, and the survivors are beginning to link up with Attack Group Inferno. The invader is approaching the Golden Armada.~

  -- Administrator Epsilon, updating Queen Zira in Shield Fleet.

  The wounded Star Eater fixed its cruel and hungry gaze upon the star glowing steadily hundreds of thousands of miles away. Its various wounds throbbed painfully while vital fluids slowly leaked from the fresher and deeper injuries. It growled silently to itself as its anger, along with its inner flames, simmered.

  As the vast distance between itself and the star diminished, it began to notice something obscuring its prey. The bright, delicious light of the sun began to be blocked by a smattering of objects; its missing eye made it difficult for it to discern what it was, but as it drew closer, the Star Eater saw what was impeding its feast: more insignificant ships.

  While it was more ships than the cosmic creature had ever seen in one place before, it was not daunted by the numbers. Rather, it was encouraged; the wounds it had sustained had awakened in the beast a appetite for revenge. Now, it would be able to punish more of the microbes for the pain they had caused, and for prolonging its hunger.

  The Star Eater stretched its body and limbs wide, roaring silently in challenge and ignoring the fresh wave of agony that wracked its damaged form. It let loose with a short burst of flame before resuming its phenomenal speed forward.

  The Golden Armada, the Imperium fleet assembled to be the last, best defense against the extragalactic monstrosity, began transmitting footage of the creature as soon as it came within range. The signal was coming from the Tamian Protector, a massive vessel in its own right, and one of the few with the privilege of accompanying the Golden Flagship into every battle. The Tamian Protector was both respected and hated within the Imperial fleet: it had destroyed countless Xenlongian ships, and despite the efforts of countless more Imperial vessels, had never sustained more than moderate damage in battle. It was the dream of many an Imperial captain and admiral to be the one to pulverize the Protector once and for all, but today, that was not the case. Today, those same Imperials were now hoping and praying that their hated enemy would be able to stop something that had proved to be far more threatening than any war of ideologies and territory.

  As the dreaded beast drew closer, the innumerable weapons of the Golden Armada activated, powered-up, and unlocked, all waiting for the moment when their adversary drew close enough to engage. Within the mighty Golden Flagship that sat in the middle of the hemispherical array of ships, the powers of the Flame that suffused the divine Emperor of the Golden Imperium of Infinite Starlight flooded through focusing and channeling systems, feeding directly into the massive vessel’s devastating main weapon. While the Golden Flagship had the reach and power to attack the invader first, it instead steadily built up its energy to its maximum levels.

  As their emperor’s ship continued to charge, the Imperium gunners and firing commanders watched as the creature came to the extreme edge of its firing range. The instant it passed the limitation line, thousands upon thousands of Imperium weapons locked on and fired; while the Empire utilized a mixture of missiles, energy weapons and physical projectiles, the Imperium had never latched on to the idea of ship-borne railguns, and instead focused on larger numbers of rockets and energy weapon armaments.

  Hundreds of thousands of explosive missiles zoomed through the empty void. As with the last two defensive lines, they were a mix of different warheads and yields. A higher than average number contained a chemical mixture designed to eat through the hulls of ships; the Imperium commanders hoped to incapacitate the beast with crippling pain to allow for their emperor’s shot.

  And incapacitate they did. The searing-hot substance ate into the vulnerable flesh of the beast’s injuries, every explosion increasing its agony. Compared to the pain of the chemical weapons, the blasts of the conventional missiles seemed like an afterthought.

  Then came the nukes: Golden Wrath, Eternal Flame, and Divine Light. Each class of atomic weapon struck with varying force, some capable of destroying a fleet, others capable of flattening continents; each blast releasing bursts of golden, orange and yellow light. The power of the nuclear explosions was strong enough to knock the nightmare backward through space a short distance relative to its size.

  For a few moments, the fearsome beast was obscured by the overwhelming light of the radioactive detonations. As the last of the weapons exploded, and the atomic light began to die down, the limp figure of the Star Eater came into focus. The high-powered camera of the Tamian Protector zoomed in to show the Imperium and Imperial forces throughout the system the twitching form of their
shared adversary. Beings capable of breathing aboard all the remaining ships held their breath collectively, not daring to hope that their nightmare had come to an end.

  Those few who had begun to hope found their dreams dashed as the massive creature suddenly thrashed its tail, its remaining eye snapping open, and its wings stretching out wide. It opened its jaws to let loose an unheard roar, before once again continuing on its warpath.

  While many were disheartened that the battle yet continued, the Golden Armada was ready to continue the fight. The beast, while clearly still feeling the effects of the last salvo, was rapidly moving towards the Imperium fleet. At its current manic speed, it would be able to reach any of the ships with its deadly flame. Before it could get the chance, every ship in the Armada, save one, locked on with their energy weapons; lasers and plasma emitters all fully charged, and aimed at a single target. All together, they fired.

  Enough firepower to obliterate a planetoid converged on a single target. A conical wave of mingled gold, yellow and orange beams struck with a blinding flash greater than anything in the atomic barrage had created. The blast was so bright that it temporarily blinded both those in the Armada and those watching throughout the system.

  As the immense glow died away, and all witnesses recovered their eyesight, the defenders were able to see what this latest attack had done. It seemed, to those who dared to hope once more, that the beast was finished.

  But this was not enough for the Golden Emperor. For this moment, he had set aside a blood-feud that had consumed his attention for every waking hour throughout the last forty years of his reign. For the sake of his people, indeed his galaxy, he had been forced to ally with the upstart ruler Xandarius, his most hated rival, and unite their forces as one. Now, after admittedly many losses for both sides, the feared creature was likely dead at the weapons of the Golden Imperium of Infinite Starlight, and it wasn't enough. He still had a point to prove: that he, the Golden Emperor, the Emperor of Infinite Starlight, King of All Stars in the Tamian Sky, the Golden Flame of Life, Death, Conquest and Creation, had been the one to save them once and for all.