Alutia Rising

by Craig Gerttula

  The records, as he'd expected, were incomplete. But they did locate some interesting information about a local ring of young nobles. This small group was found to be selling three-dimensional scans, or full-size replicas, of prominent female nobles, which the spy service promptly shut down, while the culprits were either sent back to their families or off to other planets. That's when Sir Seb'Losh knew it was a lost cause and reluctantly gave up the search, but not before collecting a list of the names of the departed nobles. The door chimed, bringing Sir Seb'Losh back to the present.

  "Enter." His voice was distant, having just received an alert level one message from Knight Admiral Bhool, which caused a tone to emanate through his BC node. Alutia Guard Commander Rok'Lew, who'd also been banished on this fool's errand by Grand Duchess Sasha, walked through the door and came to attention.

  "I'll be with you in a moment Commander Rok'Lew, I have a message I need to review." The older man nodded while Sir Seb'Losh noted in passing that he seemed to be sweating rather considerably in the cool Tidelia air. He quickly queued the letter.

  "Knight Captain Seb'Losh...An assassination attempt by the Alutia Guard on Grand Duchess Sasha was thwarted, but at the loss of many lives and the destruction of the NHA Shuttle ABF Princess One. Grand Duchess Sasha and her ladies safely arrived at the Terra Space Battalion Fleet Base and are currently awaiting the outcome of a space battle occurring within the Earth star system.

  "I would recommend you apprehend Alutia Guard Commander Rok'Lew until his part in this traitorous act can be ascertained. Our investigation has pointed to Duke Zehman being ultimately responsible, hoping to remove Grand Duchess Sasha before she could interfere with his plans. He appears to have placed his own agents within the Alutia Guard, only three of which have been verified to actually be loyal, yourself, Alutia Guard Lieutenant Lia'Sil, and Alutia Guard Private Usa'Pol..." Sir Seb'Losh, stunned beyond belief, requeued the message, verifying its contents. There had to be a mistake! It was impossible for his own men to have perpetrated the heinous act Knight Admiral Bhool described, he thought desperately. But as much as he disliked her, she was an honorable woman and would not lie about something like this. Cursing under his breath, and at his patron who had to send him away now of all times. He forced himself to calm, trusting in his training as he traced through his memory...was there something he missed during the recruitment phase?

  The stack of reports on the possible recruits had arrived while he was still on Vn'Oco and he'd personally reviewed each and every possible recruit for the Alutia Guard, and they were all said to be from Don'Alutia, no standing allegiances. Then, with sudden horror, it dawned on him...who was it that provided the information he requested? None other than a representative of the Hulk'Zif Duchy, Duke Zehman's Duchy, the man Knight Admiral Bhool said was responsible for the assassination attempt.

  He cursed his miscalculation, knowing there was no way he could have recognized the Dukes treachery, but he still felt as if he failed. His mind suddenly shot back to the past, about to relive a moment he'd tried so hard to forget, the moment of his biggest failure. The memory started flooding back, of his young charge, vanishing from her crib...but he repressed it, this wasn't the time.

  Sir Seb'Losh immediately forwarded the message to the Countess, as well as a request for assistance from the Tidelia Guard. The message sent, he closed his link to the BAP, turning his attention to the problem at hand.

  Alutia Guard Commander Rok'Lew was standing on the far side of the sitting room, staring out the window, through the light mist that covered the dense foliage. Sir Seb'Losh stood, slowly walking across the floor, sliding a laser arc from its hidden holster up his sleeve and keeping his footfalls as light as possible.

  "Did I ever tell you of my life before I entered the Guard, Sir? I don't think I did, since it wasn't in that fabricated file you received." Sir Seb'Losh froze as Guard Commander Rok'Lew spoke, eyes still fixed on the distant horizon.

  "I was an elite private guard for a research company that was working on a world with no name, just a number. They collected petty's from a few different industrial worlds and had them performing some normal mining work while researching the effects of the substance being mined on the human body." His voice provided no hint of his emotions as Sir Seb'Losh stood silent, allowing the man to continue.

  "There was this one girl, her eyes still bright, not sharing the distant hollow look that always seems to fill the eyes of a petty. I was smitten by her and after calling in some favors...I was able to take her as my wife. She was removed from the research and lived with me and we were happy..." He went quiet for a time, ignoring the door which suddenly slid open and the Tidelia Guards who rushed in, laser arc’s drawn. Sir Seb'Losh raised his hand at the men, who stopped and slightly lowered their weapons, staying near the door, confused looks on their tense faces.

  "Five years passed and we had two children, a four year old girl, Ewa'Lew, and a two year old boy, Tua'Lew. I thought that time of happiness would never end, but the company had other plans. When the research completed, the petty's were expected to be shipped back to the worlds they originally hailed. I never dreamt they'd include my Cas'Lye, but when I came back from duty one day, they were gone, both my wife and children...gone. I tried to find them, but petty records are usually vague and only include their numbers. But even when I provided hers, she couldn't be located. The only guess the administrators could provide was that when they called for all petty's to assemble, she must have left, assuming she was still one of them." The Tidelia Guards had slowly crept closer and were now in a semi-circular formation around Guard Commander Rok'Lew, who'd yet to look from the window.

  "I searched for a couple years, but had no luck...and when I'd finally given up hope, thinking my options had run out, I met a man...a man who said that he could find my wife and kids..." His breathing increased, his back rising swiftly in evidence. "...All I would have to do is swear absolute allegiance to Duke Zehman and join his special Arcguard..." The man's right hand vanished, causing Sir Seb'Losh and the Tidelia Guards to tense. "...For ten years I did his dirty work, always being told that they were getting closer to locating my wife and children...and then I received word...they'd been found...and all I had to do was one more job, then I'd be released from my service and be able to live the rest of my life with my family." He turned then, with his laser arc pointed to his chin.

  "I knew they were lying, Knight Captain...but I couldn't give up hope! I'd have killed the Emperor himself if it would bring them back to me." Tears were streaming down the man's checks, a morbid smile crossing his lips.

  "I wish I could have seen them one last time..." Sir Seb'Losh tried to close his eyes, but it was too late...the laser arc fired, and Alutia Guard Commander Rok'Lew's headless body fell limp to the floor. Two of the Tidelia guardsman slumped over, faces green, unable to hold back at the horrid sight. But Sir Seb'Losh, unable to forgive the man, no matter his past, started towards the door, knowing what he needed to do. But as he emerged into the hallway he met Countess Liana, who was being held back by her guards, tears streaming down her aged face. She looked into his eyes and he saw her hate.

  "They tried to kill my babies!" Her voice was that of a mother, a mother lost in fear for her two children. Sir Seb'Losh knew what he needed to do.

  "I take full responsibility, My Lady, but before you lay down your punishment, please allow me to make amends. I believe your daughters may still be in danger, allow me access to a starship and I promise you, I will save them if I can." He knew it was his only chance, the message from Knight Admiral Bhool implied that he could be trusted, and he hoped that would save him from the worst of her wrath. The hate left her eyes as a raging fire of determination took its place, causing a red hot smirk to spread across her lips, sending a shiver down his spine.

  "Yes, I think I will allow you to do that Sir Seb'Losh." She took a step back and turned to the man standing at her side.

  "Guard-Captain Ho'Vic, send a message to Knight
High-Admiral Rewika. Inform her of the need to assemble all available battle groups to leave within the hour." The Guard Captain looked as if he would object, but thought better of it, escaping into his BC node. She then turned back to Sir Seb'Losh...her expression could have cowed the Emperor.

  "You shall have your chance, Sir Seb'Losh...and I will be there to make sure that you do, indeed, keep your promise." Her voice was cold, but to his relief, it was aimed elsewhere. "...and Duke Zehman will pay for this...oh yes...he will pay." Sir Seb'Losh couldn't help but smile at those words, knowing that he wouldn't want to be present when the Countess of Tidelia met the Duke of Hulk'Zif.

  Chapter 17

  The bridge of the TSB Ero'Cia was eerily silent as the countdown timer ticked in unison with his heartbeat, passing five minutes till contact ...the time of Daniel's betrayal. His fiery emotions had finally cooled as the gravity of what he'd done sank in and icy fear began to grip him...fear of being caught...fear of being betrayed. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his rushing heart, while he continued studying his tactical display, trying ease his wayward mind.

  The TSB Fleet was approaching the HZBF battle groups from the rear, slightly above and to the left, negative 40 by 35. Thirty ABF battle group signatures were also approaching the enemy, scattered to all sides, with only four being real. The others were faked, created by the remaining TSB EW Frigates, to mask the approach of the real fleet.

  It should have been a perfect plan, there was no way that the HZBF would have been able to locate the real ABF battle groups out of all the false signatures, allowing the smaller ABF force to engage first, launching two or three salvos before the HZBF could react. The thought brought Daniel out of his temporary regret as he recalled what would happen if the HZBF didn't know there was a real fleet out there...that the TSB Fleet would take the brunt of the first attack...with catastrophic results. The timer continued to tick down, two minutes until contact.

  "Helm, prepare for emergency deceleration at my command." Captain Aysi's blustering words pierced the eerie silence, having returned to her normal, boisterous self...it made Daniel's stomach turn.

  "Tactical, I want a super-capital! You do that for me and I'll forget your little outburst!" shouted the Captain while staring directly at Daniel. He forced a blush, feigning embarrassment, as he responded.

  "Yes, Ma'am." he said through clenched teeth...his hatred for the Captain threatening to burst forth. Except instead, a new idea suddenly appeared...he was already a traitor, why not sabotage the weapon systems? Have them angle off course or malfunction at the last minute? He licked his lips at the thought, staring at the manual override that would allow him to enter the targeting calculations manually. But as his hand inched closer, his eyes growing wider, he tensed, his mind peeking through his raging feelings, and he quickly discarded the idea. Not for any sort of lingering allegiance to the TSB, but because he'd rather not provide any additional reasons to suspect him.

  The contact timer ticked down to one minute as his tactical display began to update rapidly, zooming in on a sector of the enemy fleet as battle group command set targeting priorities. He selected the NHA Super-Capital HZBF Mar'Zif that sat in the center of his assigned targeting zone, and began marking EW anomalies for the targeting system.

  Thirty-seconds...the anomalies appeared faster and faster, allowing Daniel to easily lose himself in his work as he marked one after another. Finding that, to his surprise, he had no trouble keeping up this time...XO Geoff would have been proud...had he not died in vain. He cringed the thought away, reviewing the anomalies marked by the 16 year old tactical trainee in CSS. Another bout of regret suddenly enveloped him, but he forced it away...it was too late.

  Ten seconds...weapon crews reported surviving LPAs active and the plasma cannon online. He hovered his trembling hand over the fire icon, sweat dripping off his brow.

  "Fire all LPAs!" the Captain shouted and Daniel punched the fire icon. His two large LPAs, and the remaining medium and small LPAs, fired in unison with the surrounding TSB starships. The majority were targeting the NHA Super-Capital HZBF Mar'Zif, having been a priority target for combined battle group one, since removing another of the behemoths from the fight would provide the outnumber ABF a better chance of survival. Daniel felt his tension ease as no return fire was detected and the first TSB salvo struck the enemy fleet. Four HZBF screening frigates and two corvettes flickered, vanishing as they did their job, protecting the more powerful starships within. The few LPAs that made it through the screen were absorbed and redirected by the super-capitals massive ESS.

  "Change of orders! Helm, accelerate into plasma cannon range!" Daniel shivered as Captain Aysi's order echoed across the bridge. This wasn't right, Daniel thought, they were supposed to retreat to safety after firing their first salvo! Why must they continue to place their lives on the line for nothing? His gaze was pulled towards his laser arc as his desperate emotions began to fester, but he held himself back, hoping Duke Zehman would keep his promise.

  As one, the TSB Fleet accelerated, closing in on the 500,000 kilometer max range of the plasma cannons. Daniel, having recovered from his momentary lapse, kept up his fire, joining the rest of the fleet in sending a third salvo of large LPAs at the HZBF Mar'Zif, which, having lost a majority of its screening starships, flickered and started to slow, debris and air streaming free as LPAs found gaps in the suddenly weakening ESS.

  Then, as planned, the 30 ABF battle groups, 26 of which were groups of TSB EW frigates, reached a million kilometers. Daniel gritted his teeth as the HZBF battle groups fired their thousands of LPAs in unison at what Daniel knew was the real ABF signatures, the mass of deadly fire taking three seconds to stream across the emptiness of space.

  It was complete annihilation, the four ABF battle groups vanishing from his tactical display as the torrent of fire struck. Daniel blinked, unable to understand what just occurred. There was no way the amount of LPA Fire that erupted from the HZBF could have destroyed four battle groups, he realized. He looked over his shoulder in wonder and noticed an evil smirk on the lips of Lt.-Commander Xi...he'd been betrayed. A message icon flashed and he punched it immediately, trying to ignore the sweat that had begun dripping into his eyes, while keeping his attention on the increasing EW anomalies.

  "I'll keep quiet, but you are now mine...." The words sunk in slow as the battle raged around him, his mind unable to register anything but the mayhem unfolding. The HZBF had turned and fired on another group of ABF signals that vanished in a sea of LPA fire, another group of EW Frigates meaninglessly giving their lives. He'd been setup...there was no way that Duke Zehman would take him in now...he had failed.

  Lt.-Commander Xi must have used Daniel to help feed false information to the Duke...using his betrayal as a means to make the information appear genuine. He brushed the sweat from his brow...there was nothing more he could do but try to stay alive.

  The ABF battle groups continued to close, no return fire erupting from any of the remaining 20 signatures. They must be waiting to get within plasma cannon range...which made sense, Daniel thought...since they were still greatly outnumbered.

  "Fire plasma cannon!" Daniel slammed the icon on his display, allowing the swirling plasma, born of a neutron star, to let loose milliseconds later than the rest of the fleet. The swirling beams shot across space at 200,000 kilometers per second. But the HZBF Fleet reacted immediately, changing course while firing on another false ABF signature.

  The majority of the plasma beams missed completely, but two struck home as the HZBF fleet maneuvered, causing the destruction of a line of screening corvettes and frigates. Their obliteration caught the attention of HZBF starships and they finally shifted their targeting towards the TSB Fleet. Two battle groups that made up the rear screen of the enemy arrowhead formation rotated and fired.

  "Helm, zero by twenty burn, now!" Captain Aysi screamed as the entire fleet angled up in an attempt to dodge the incoming LPA fire. Daniel braced himself as a group of 10 large LP
A beams passed just meters from the Ero'Cia's ESS. He wondered if Duke Zehman had taken the time to remove their starship signature after he found out the information was false or if he'd just never entered it in the first place...he shook his head...now wasn't the time.

  "Helm, zero by negative twenty burn!" The fleet angled down, attempting to maneuver out of the way of the slower plasma beams, which thankfully missed by a little over a thousand kilometers. A few of the HZBF's LPAs tracked their maneuver, catching a TSB corvette and frigate that reacted too slow, breaking through energy shields and slicing the ships to pieces.

  The ABF battle group signatures reached the 500,000 kilometer plasma cannon range, and to his surprise...and growing horror...no fire emerged, they just kept closing.

  "Tactical! Fire plasma cannon on next turn!" The Captain's words tore Daniel out of his momentary confusion. Unlike the Laser Particle Array's, which could fire on a 180 degree double plane arc, the plasma cannon required the starship to be aimed directly at the target.

  "Helm, zero by twenty burn...Now!" The starship began its return maneuver and Daniel hit the fire icon as the nose of the ship passed the designated angle. The plasma beam erupted, swirling through space and connecting with a HZBF capital ship that had taken up position next to the super-capital he had targeted. The 10 kilometer long starship flickered, then slowed as its ESS failed, LPAs and other plasma beams cutting holes through its massive hull....forcing it to fall out of the enemy formation.

  The Hulk'Zif Battle Fleet suddenly abandoned all attempts at concentrating on individual targets, splitting their fire between the 16 remaining ABF battle group signatures and the TSB Fleet. The ABF kept closing, now at 250,000 kilometers, while the TSB Fleet was doing its best to imitate an irregular wave pattern while keeping their range to target at just under 500,000 kilometers.