Within four years, the Electerians built the SSS (Super Space Station) and had the new fighter class prototype in the works. Their fighter was the most advanced weapon in the Nebula region. They designed it to hold only two people—the pilot and his navigator/gunner. It was fast, maneuverable, and had laser cannons that could penetrate the toughest hull plating. After showing great skill in landing the badly damaged shuttle, the council chose Lyemad to pilot the new fighter and he requested Darkel as his navigator. Darkel had gained favor with Lyemad the day he got him off Graznos without asking a bunch of questions.
On the SSS, Lyemad was just about to take a shuttle down to the planet when an announcement came over the intercom, “Alert, Alert, incoming Drewlayian fighters. All hands to battle stations.”
“So much for that nice dinner tonight,” Lyemad said as he turned and started running back toward the fighter. “Hurry along, Darkel. I want to get out there and engage those Drewlayians before they have a chance to destroy any of our ships.”
“I am right there with you, Sir, “ replied Darkel. “Lets get them. Maybe once they get a taste of our technology they will not be so anxious to attack us.”
“Let us hope you are right,” replied Lyemad.
Once they were in the fighter and on an intercept course, Darkel said, “I have three fighters coming in at bearing 015 mark 2. Intercept time—two minutes.”
Lyemad engaged the Drewlayians and disabled one of their fighters before they even knew what hit them. The other two were out of commission within a couple of minutes and sending rescue signals back to their home world. Lyemad was very pleased with the way the new fighter had performed in battle, and he was happy that they were able to disable the Drewlayian fighters without destroying them.
“Darkel, open a channel to the Drewlayians,” ordered Lyemad.
“Yes, Sir,” he replied with a less than sure voice.
“Drewlayian fighters. Can we be of assistance to you?” Lyemad asked.
“I think you have done enough to us for one day,” replied one of the Drewlayians. Our life-supports are functioning and we have sent for a rescue.”
“Alright, then. I hope you will let the rest of your world know that we are prepared to defend ourselves and we request that you stay out of our space. Lyemad – out.”
Lyemad was certain that things would now start to change for the better. He knew that the animal worlds would not want to engage the Electerian fighter again. Moreover, because he had not destroyed them, he was certain that his gesture of goodwill would start to bring peace to all the worlds.
“Darkel, let’s head back. I still have that craving for a fancy meal,” Lyemad said with more pep in his voice than usual.
***
“Tessslan, how long are you going to hang on to thisss hatred towardsss Lyemad?” Timsssack asked as he walked into the communications room on the Graznosian space station.
“Father, look I wasss monitoring the Drewlayiansss asss they were attacking Electerusss. Three of their bessst fightersss are sssitting out there completely disssabled by one Electerian fighter, and Lyemad isss the pilot,” said Tessslan.
“How can that be?” Timsssack asked, as he looked closer at the sensor screen.
“The readingsss on hisss fighter are like nothing I have ssseen before,” Tessslan answered.
With a serious, yet somber voice, Timsssack said, “Tessslan, you need to let thisss bitternesss go. We cannot win a war againssst their technology. Besssidesss, we are a peaccceful raccce and should not be fighting with other created beingsss.”
With anger and frustration, Tessslan responded, “What good isss peaccce if othersss can take it away from you? Lyemad ssstarted thisss a long time ago becaussse he wasss jealousss of our waysss. It isss not my fault that he cannot underssstand them. I will not sssit back and let him dessstroy any more of our cussstomsss, and I will make him pay for the damage he hasss already causssed.”
Before he had even finished talking, he spun around and walked out the door. He knew in his heart that his father was partially right, but no one was going to talk him out of his perceived role of being the guardian of the Graznosian faith. He sacrificed too much already, and he truly believed that the fate of his world was in his hands. He knew that Graznos was not safe until he could eliminate the evil Lyemad and his technological world.
Within minutes, Tessslan was in a cargo ship headed towards the disabled Drewlayian fighters to see if he could assist them. He also intended to return to Drewlay with them to discuss his plans with Crusher about building better fighters. Furthermore, he wanted to get Antamus involved, because the Wicterians were by far the best natural pilots and he wanted their participation on the new fighter designs. His plan was to build a huge armada of ships and overwhelm the Electerians and the Furzonians, along with the Angelians—if they were foolish enough to get involved. He calculated that within nine months, his three allied worlds could assemble a secret fleet and make a surprise attack that would end the threat to his world.
Chapter XIV
Song of pain
Lyemad stuck his head around the corner of his father’s workshop and in a lighthearted way said, “Father, what are you working on?”
A little startled, Bellmus replied, “Oh, Lyemad, its nothing important. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I was thinking that we could use the cover of the Nebula to set up spying missions to keep an eye on the Wicterians and the Drewlayians. Their technology is more of a threat to us than the Graznosian’s will ever be,” replied Lyemad.
“That is a good point,” started Bellmus, “but you know how dangerous that would be. Do you remember how we lost those two research ships to the Nebula four years ago? The hidden gravity wells and super-charged particles make it much too dangerous.”
“I know it is a risk, but I think it would be worth it if we uncover and stop any plots against us,” Lyemad said enthusiastically but seriously. “Besides, we can stay on the very edge of the Nebula.”
“What is your plan?” Bellmus asked.
That was just what Lyemad was waiting for. He cleared off a spot on the workbench and unrolled a map that had all the stars and planets on it that the Volkran had visited. He took some colored pens and plotted out a path through the Nebula that allowed for getting to and monitoring both planets without anyone detecting them. They would be using the high-energy particles from the Nebula to hide their ships from sensors, while using extremely powerful telescopes to spy on the worlds. All the worlds knew that the particles in the Nebula interfered with all the computerized systems in a ship and that is why Lyemad’s plan was so great. No one would even think of looking in the Nebula for a spying ship. The final part of the plan was to have each ship replaced every fifteen days, to keep up-to-date information coming in without having to use communicators.
***
Tessslan had successfully met with Antamus and Crusher and they had decided to start building the new fighters on Drewlay. They had determined that Wicterus was too close to Furzon to hide an armada of fighters and did not want to chance blowing their cover. The newly-designed, advanced fighters were already in production and the first squadron was on its way to the Drewlayian space station, where Tessslan was waiting to inspect them.
“Here they come now,” said Crusher as he pointed to some black dots that were just coming out of the atmosphere.
As they got closer, Tessslan said, “Oh, yesss. That isss wonderful, and frightening.”
The Drewlayians had made the new fighters to look like curled up snakes ready to strike. The head of the snakes, which stood high above the front of the curled body, held the pilot and navigator. The tip of the tail, which stuck out above and behind the curled body, held the gunner. The fighters were heavily armed and shielded but still highly maneuverable and fast. Tessslan watched in amazement as the squadron performed many combat maneuvers and shot at old satellites.
“There isss no ssstopping usss now from ending the threat of the
Electeriansss and any other world that ssstandsss with them,” said Tessslan, his eyes opened wide and glaring as if he were already looking at the destruction of Lyemad.
After the display of power, Antamus asked, “Sir Crusher, how long before you have the next squadron ready?”
“Thanks to all your support we should have a squadron ready every thirty days,” started Crusher. “In the next four months we should have fifty fighters ready for your invasion of Electerus and Furzon.”
“If it isss not too much to asssk, I would like to take one of thessse asss my own persssonal ship. I would also requessst a Wicterian pilot—at leassst until my pilot learnsss how to fly it,” said Tessslan.
“Darkel, Sir. Come look at this,” said an excited navigator on board one of the spy ships setting at the edge of the Nebula near Drewlay. “It looks like their space station has at least a dozen ships around it.”
“How can that be,” asked Darkel. “There were only two of them five minutes ago.”
“Yes Sir, it looked like they came up from the surface. I was just about to put that new eyepiece in the scope to see if I can get a better view of what they are,” replied the navigator.
“Yes, hurry it up. I think this is really bad news for us,” stated Darkel.
After a few minutes of setting the new eyepiece in place, the navigator said, “Oh, no. I do not believe what I am seeing.”
“Here, let me see,” said an anxious Darkel as he pushed the navigator aside. “They look like snakes!” he exclaimed. “What kind of ships are they? One of them is leaving orbit. I think we had better follow it.“
“Sir, it will be another five days before our replacements are here,” protested the navigator.
If that is some kind of new super-fighter, then we cannot wait five days. We have to find out where it is going and who it is,” answered Darkel.
Darkel followed the fighter all the way back to the Styner system before he finally intercepted Tessslan’s communication with Graznos. Then, he circled around the backside of Electerus before moving away from the Nebula—careful to not give away his position. Once he docked at the SSS, he headed straight to Lyemad to tell him of the new developments. Lyemad called an emergency meeting of the council to discuss what the next step should be in dealing with this new menace. After hours of debate, they decided to start building as many super-fighters as possible. Because they had no idea of the extent of the Drewlayian plans, they decided to err on the side of caution.
During the next three months, the spy missions revealed to Lyemad, who now had the title “General of the Electerian fleet”, just how extensive the Drewlayian buildup was becoming. Without knowing when the Drewlayians might attack, Lyemad called a meeting with Generals Huglam and Bichael to discuss a plan to strike the Drewlayians first. His plan was to use the cover of the Nebula to move the fleet of super-fighters as close to Drewlay as possible and then strike the space station with everything they had, right when the Drewlayians were switching shifts. The Electerians only had twenty-or-so super-fighters ready to go while the Drewlayians had about forty at their space station. Lyemad knew that surprise was the only thing that would give them the upper hand.
“General Huglam, are your men ready?” Lyemad barked out.
“Yes Sir, General Tomolack. Just give the order,” Huglam replied while he stood tall as possible and pumped up his muscles.
“General Bichael, are your men fully prepared?” Lyemad asked in a slightly less harsh tone.
“We are ready, uh, General, uh, Sir,” replied Bichael, still not used to all the military protocols.
“Good,” started Lyemad, “Just remember, there are to be no communications. Once we are at the rendezvous, I will lead the attack. My signal to start the run will be a laser blast across the front of your fighters. General Huglam, your group will attack from the left. General Bichael, you take your squad to the right. I will take three fighters with me right down the center. I will shoot first to draw their defensive fire and then you both come in hard and fast from the sides. Now, if there are no further questions, then may the God of our fathers be at your backs, and their spirits guard your front and sides.”
***
“General Fessslander, the next batch of fighters are on the way up from the surface,” said Crusher as he stood up to lead Tessslan and Antamus to the observation deck of the space platform.
“Excccellent,” said Tessslan, “in just one more month we will be ready for our attack. I trussst that your generalsss have been putting the pilotsss through the sssimulationsss that I worked out.”
“Yes, Sir. We will be fully ready to go at your command,” replied Antamus.
The Wicterian pilots put on a dazzling display of aerial combat with the new squadron of fighters as Tessslan watched from the top of the space station. His mind was full of visions about the destruction of Lyemad and his technological world. When the exhibition was completed and the fighters had docked with the station, Tessslan, Crusher and Antamus went to congratulate the pilots on their performance. They had no idea that Lyemad already had his fleet in position and set to strike.
Thanks to the great work of Darkel and the spy ships, Lyemad knew exactly what time the Drewlayian and Wicterian crews would be making their shift changes. All the super-fighters were in position just inside the Nebula as Lyemad intently watched his clock—anticipating the time to signal the attack. His mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the destruction he was about to cause and the loss of life that was sure to occur. He felt confident that his plan was the only way to protect his and the other worlds, but he still had a horrible feeling inside about being responsible for what was about to transpire.
As the clock clicked off the last second, Lyemad shot two blasts of his laser—one in front of each group—and started his run toward the Drewlayian space station. Within moments, Bichael and Huglam’s groups were exiting the Nebula from the sides. Lyemad locked onto one of the Drewlayian fighters and fired a series of laser blasts at it.
On the station, the proximity alarm sounded just as Lyemad’s laser blast caused the Drewlayian fighter to explode. The shock of the explosion rocked the station and set off other alarms.
After almost being knocked to the floor, Tessslan jumped up and yelled, “What wasss that?”
Just then, a voice came over the intercom saying, “We are under attack! All fighter crews to your ships! This is not a drill! I repeat this is not a drill!”
While running from the lounge toward the docking bays, Crusher hollered over his handheld communicator, “Report!”
“We have multiple fighters coming in from all sides!” reported an officer, just as another explosion rocked the station and slammed Antamus into a bulkhead.
“We have to get to the fighters,” yelled Crusher. “We are sleeping Podicles here.”
Lyemad and his fleet took out a dozen of the Drewlayian fighters before any of the pilots had a chance to get to them. Many more of them were disabled or destroyed as they were leaving the docks. When the Wicterian pilots started to engage Lyemad’s fleet in one-to-one combat, a couple of his fighters were render inoperative.
Realizing that the Wicterian pilots were more skilled than his were, Lyemad broke the radio silence and said, “Huglam, Bichael, divide your squads into pairs and take on those Wicterians as teams. My team will continue to take out any that are still docked.”
Working in pairs, the super-fighters quickly took out most of the remaining Drewlayian fighters. Huglam flew close enough to one of the fighters to see that it was Antamus flying it. As he passed by him, Antamus maneuvered around behind him and started firing at him. Huglam called out for help because he could not shake off the attack. Bichael—being the closet one to Huglam—told him to cut hard left, which brought Antamus right in front of him. Just as Antamus blasted one of the wingtips off Huglam’s fighter, Bichael shot and hit Antamus in the engine. The Drewlayian fighter exploded in a spectacular ball off flame and Bichael flew through the center of the
blaze. Huglam’s fighter was drifting uselessly in space, but his life-support was intact.
Lyemad managed to destroy all the rest of the fighters at the docks except for one that was speeding away from the battle in the direction of Styner. The space station was partially destroyed and falling towards Drewlay. Darkel was piloting one of the super-fighters and he was familiar with the locations of the Drewlayian factories that produced the fighters.
Lyemad opened a channel to all the super-fighters and said, “Everyone follow Darkel down to destroy the Drewlayian factories, but be careful of the defensive fire. I will follow that one fighter back to Graznos. Once the factories are out of commission—start a rescue mission for survivors. I will meet everyone back at Electerus.”
“You cannot go by yourself,” protested Darkel.
“I need to handle this on my own. I am sure that is Tessslan in that fighter, and I need to settle our dispute once and for all,” answered Lyemad. “Besides, you will need every available fighter to take out those factories.”
The Electerian super-fighter was a little faster than the Drewlayian one that Tessslan was flying and it did not take long for Lyemad to catch up to him. Opening a channel, Lyemad said, “Tessslan, your plans have failed and it is time to put an end to all this fighting.”
With abhorrence in his voice, Tessslan responded, “Lyemad, I knew that you were behind thisss outrageousss attack. The only end to fighting will be when your barbarian raccce and itsss followersss are wiped out of the galaxxxy.”
“I do not know why I even try to talk to you,” Lyemad said, as his frustration with Tessslan’s closed mind grew stronger. “Why is it that you always take the hard way? I have had about all I can take of your narrow-mindedness. You either surrender and follow me to Electerus to turn yourself in, or I will destroy you here and now.”
Flidoring The Early Wars Page 12