Isabelle's expression darkened like a thundercloud, and she clenched her teeth. "Of course I am certain, Ambassador. I witnessed them myself and fought them. There were too many, and we were forced to retreat, but all of your citizens are in grave danger."
“Well, I will of course order the embassy be evacuated, Deputy Director. Although from what I can hear,” he paused, “the alarms to evacuate the station have already sounded.”
Isabelle stepped toward the Ambassador. “I will ask you this once, Ambassador, and I expect an honest answer. Did you know anything about this illicit smuggling of Krai’kesh by the merchants aboard this station?”
The Ambassador cleared his throat and looked away before re-establishing eye contact with Isabelle. “I am an ambassador of the Federation. It is preposterous to think for a moment I would betray the Federation.”
“What about the Cult of Rae?” Kimberly asked. “Do you know anything about that organization?”
The Ambassador’s eyes widened for a moment before he could control his emotions. “Who is this then?” he asked.
He’s avoiding the question. “I am the agent in charge of the FIA cell on this station. Please answer the question, Ambassador.”
“I thought Agent Sloane was in charge,” he challenged.
“Agent Sloane turned out to be a traitor. He betrayed the Federation to the Cult of Rae and thus aided and abetted the Krai'kesh."
“Did you kill him?” the woman on the couch asked.
“When I find him, he will face justice,” Kimberly promised.
“No, I have not heard of this Cult of Rae’Shela,” the Ambassador said.
“We didn’t say the full name of the Cult,” Kimberly said. “Sloane made the same mistake.”
The Ambassador rose. “I… I…I must go,” he rose.
“Sit down,” Isabelle demanded.
He sat.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Kimberly said. “You can tell us what you know or we can interrogate you to get the information out. I will ask again. What do you know about the Cult of Rae?”
The ambassador slumped in his seat, defeated. “They told me they would kill me if I told anyone about their cult.”
“We may well kill you if you don’t tell us,” Isabelle threatened.
"All right, all right," he said, holding up his hands. "Word of the Cult spread through the station about two years ago. They approached me and Sloane from the start and bought, or threatened our compliance. They had us make sure no information about them ever got out in any official reports. That was the beginning. They soon asked for us to turn a blind eye to their movements. We freed their members from detention cells through executive action and ordered no inspections on cargo carried by certain vessels. Anyone who became suspicious disappeared or was paid off.”
“And you complied because you were scared,” Kimberly guessed.
“They threatened to rape my wife in front of me and hang my children by their entrails if I didn’t comply.”
“Why didn’t you report it anyway, clear out the scum before they got a foothold?”
"They told me they had people everywhere, that they would know if I sent a message or called for the aid of any kind. I was afraid."
“And you?” Isabelle asked, looking at the woman on the couch. “What role did you have in this?”
“N…nothing, I’m just his wife.”
“You seemed awfully concerned about Agent Sloane.”
“He’s…he’s my brother.”
“Were you used as leverage against him as well?” Kimberly asked. If that were the case…
“No, no,” she looked down. “Sloane went along with the Cult of Rae because of greed. He accepted their money and didn't give them any reason to threaten him. Please don't blame him. If he hadn't complied, they would have threatened him.”
Kimberly didn’t answer. So, he was indirectly blackmailed. It was a moral gray area. He could have sacrificed himself, sent the message out anyway, but he knew they would go after his sister if he did.
"Regardless of his motives," Isabelle said, "he is a criminal. And so are both of you. But at this moment, I will swallow my distaste for the two of you and work with you." She pointed at them both one-by-one. "But rest assured when this ordeal is over you will both face charges of treason."
The Ambassador nodded in resignation. His wife had tears in her eyes, but she also nodded. Their lives would be ruined due to a situation they thought they had no choice in.
“Evacuate your embassy. The transport my Marines and I brought over can help transport people faster. My Marines and I will hold the embassy entrance while you and your staff evacuate.”
The Ambassador stared at her for a moment, a blank expression occupying his face.
“What are you waiting for? Move!” Isabelle shouted.
He shot up out of his chair, rushed over to his wife and together they exited the room.
Kimberly waited until the two were out of the room before speaking. “With respect, Isabelle, they believed they had no choice. Even Sloane. It’s changing my sympathies for him slightly.”
Isabelle did not look at Kimberly. “There is always a choice, Agent Hague. Always. I learned that lesson a long time ago.” She looked at her. “It simply takes the courage to make that choice for the greater good. But right now we need to get to the embassy entrance. I suspect the Krai’kesh will be on their way up if they know the Federation is on to them.”
“How long will we hold the entrance for?”
“Until every Federation employee in this embassy is safe.” She smiled. “I may be heartless when it comes to criminals, but I’m not a monster.”
Chapter 12 - Total Eclipse of the Sun
“Federation signatures. Hundreds of them, sir.”
Martin let out a huge sigh of relief and sat back in his chair. The black fleet had arrived. “Praise God.”
Outside the viewport of the Independence a carrier, two cruisers and various smaller capital ships emerged from shadow space to take the position between the Independence and Krai’kesh capital ships. Fighters hurtled out of the carrier moments later, while the cruisers fired railgun projectiles and missiles in swarms at the nearest Krai’kesh capital ships.
“This is Supreme Commander Dawyn Darklance of the FSS Nightblade hailing the Independence. Do you copy?”
Martin wiped the tears from his eyes, cleared his throat and signaled Zigana to open the channel. “This is Acting Admiral Rigsby of the FSS Independence. Reading you loud and clear, sir. And if I may say so, we are much relieved by your arrival. We did not receive your message until moments ago.”
“Then it was a good thing we arrived on time, isn’t it?” The Supreme Commander stood on the bridge of the Nightblade, the space battle ensuing behind him through the viewport. His dark blue eyes looked off-screen for a moment before coming back to focus on Martin. “Our sensors are detecting two Krai’kesh fleets, is that correct?”
“Yes, they split their forces. We expect they were waiting to do a hammer and anvil maneuver. The force nearest the planet is bombarding our ground forces.”
“We will take care of it,” Dawyn said. “You did well, Admiral, based upon the odds I see here.”
You haven’t heard about Serpentis III yet. I let them drop a moon on that planet. Or Velmar V where we didn’t have enough forces to stop them from wiping out the colony. That may change your opinion of my performance. But all he said was, “thank you, sir. I shall brief you when this battle is concluded.”
“The supreme tactical commander will be in touch with your tactical commander to coordinate our efforts. Stand by.” The link closed.
“Receiving information and instructions from the Nightblade, sir,” Zigana reported. “Shall I comply with their orders?”
“Yes, slave us to their tactical command structure. You’ve earned the rest.”
“Thank you, sir.”
***
When the first void portals
had opened, Selene had stared. Hundreds of portals stretched across the vastness of space, expelling forth capital ship after capital ship. Her HUD showed four star carriers plus the Nightblade deploying fighters. In seconds her HUD counted over six hundred Federation fighters and bombers deployed. Amazing.
The discipline with which the fighters formed up and deployed was admirable. They flew in perfect formation toward the Krai’kesh fighters. Coilguns, lasers and missiles hurtled through the void and in the first wave destroyed half the Krai’kesh fighters.
Her communication link beeped. The CAG came on the line. “Attention all fighters assigned to the Independence, we are linking to the CAG of the Nightblade and their fighter control. Stand by.” The link closed, then came back, filled with cool, calculated chatter concerning tactical commands.
“Omega Squadron, move to sector seven. Dragon Squadron, make your bombing run, Victory Squadron will support. Independence squadrons, you are all designated Raptor Squadron for now.”
Selene acknowledged with a click and consulted the HUD. Only eleven fighters left assigned to the Independence. It’s so sad that it’s come to this.
“This is Raptor One,” she said over the new link. “What are our orders?”
“Head for Eligar II. You are to deploy in close ground support operations of our forces there.”
“Acknowledged,” Selene said. She and her squadron flew around the moon and headed toward the planet. As they flew, a dozen squadrons from the black fleet passed them, heading toward the melee on the dark side of the moon where the Independence sat. She would soon help Derek…if he was still alive.
***
Although the ground forces on Eligar II had been given a brief reprieve by John’s heroic action with his sword, more void portals were opening by the minute as more commanders and skitterers emerged.
The saving grace was the Marines from the Independence had been outfitted with black swords and shields. They were holding their own against the skitterers and able to team up to face the commanders. Without those weapons they would have already been overrun.
Derek looked to where the golems were grumbling. Ashley was running out of steam, and the Krai’kesh were leaping over them on the backs of their comrades. One golem fell, creating a gap which allowed the Krai’kesh to trickle through.
A crash to the right made Derek look and witness another section of the wall collapsing due to acid assault. There were no golems there. He raced toward that position, shouting “Marines to the breach!” as he ran. He was vaguely aware of John at his side as he ran.
Derek watched as a wave of Krai’kesh took advantage of the newly destroyed section of wall. He stood there, a couple of dozen Marines joining him, plus John, and prepared to make his final stand. But then he looked at the gap and realized their odds would be better if they fought in the gap. He looked at John. “This may be crazy, but you must trust me.”
“What are you planning?”
“Watch,” Derek said, charging forward toward the gap. The Krai’kesh were almost at the gap. He would be alone. He looked behind him and saw all the Marines were following him. John shook his head and shouted something Derek could not hear, but then ran after them.
Derek braced himself, shield held steady and sword ready, as the first Krai’kesh neared the gap.
The first Krai’kesh slammed its claws into Derek’s shield. The shield held and the Krai’kesh snapped at it with its mandibles.
Derek stabbed with his sword while holding the enemy at bay with his shield. A claw parried the first stab, but the second stab hit the creature in a leg. The Krai'kesh roared in pain and anger. Derek used that moment to push forward with his shield and slash at the Krai'kesh. His blade cut through the arm of the enemy, and its claw fell to the ground. Before he could finish the enemy off, however, he was forced to fall back as two more Krai’kesh came toward him.
The second and third Krai’kesh tried to flank him. He was worried about being attacked from two sides when John came and stood at his side. “Don’t worry, we got this,” John said. Derek smiled. They didn’t have it, the enemy seemed endless, but at least they would die heroically.
Derek fought the second Krai’kesh while John fought the third Krai’kesh. The original Krai’kesh hung back but surged forwarded while Derek was locked claw to sword with the second Krai’kesh. Derek ducked the first swipe of the first enemy’s single claw, then pulled back, slashing as he went.
John dispatched of his enemy, then came and killed the first Krai’kesh while Derek stabbed the second Krai’kesh in the chest.
Derek felt his slashes growing weaker. He was running out of energy. Adrenaline buoyed him but would only last so long. Once it ran out…
John looked up sharply. Derek followed his gaze. The sun was being eclipsed. “Is this your doing?” Derek asked.
“No,” John smiled. “It’s not magic, it’s something better.”
Derek looked back at the eclipsed sun for a moment and squinted, using his visor to magnify the image. It was a silhouette of something. A ship? Multiple ships. “Is it Krai’kesh ships?” he asked as he blocked a blow from an oncoming Krai’kesh warrior.
John shook his head. “Link to the global channel and find out.” He parried a blow from an oncoming Krai’kesh.
Derek did as John suggested. Instantly his feed filled with the voices of pilots and others. “Dragon Squadron commencing bombing run,” one voice said. Overhead Derek saw a squadron of bombers fly by. They launched proton torpedoes and missiles into the mass of creatures. One missile slammed into the Krai’kesh flooding the gap in front of Derek, sending the Krai’kesh flying and forcing Derek back several paces.
“Gunship squadrons, make your descent. Fire support in sector A bearing zero, three, nine,” another voice came over the comm. In the distance, Derek saw gunships, coming from the silhouetted ships eclipsing the moon, fly overhead, firing lasers, coilguns and rockets as they came. The gunships hovered over the walls of the fortress and behind Derek in the assembly grounds. Marines in black armor leapt from the gunships and entered the fray.
“Who are they?” Derek asked, a part of his mind knowing the answer.
“You don’t recognize them?” John asked. “You were there when the Imperial capital fell.”
“I just…can’t believe it.”
“Believe it. The black fleet has arrived.” John let out a whoop. “Now we can kick some ass.”
The gunships which had offloaded the Marines ascended back into the sky to pick up more Marines, while beams of light, railgun or coilgun projectiles and explosive ordnance descended upon the Krai’kesh.
Five fireballs descended and slammed into the ground during the Krai’kesh swarm. For a moment, nothing happened, but then five huge mechs unfurled from the craters. They were painted black, appropriate for the fleet they were assigned to and sported a chain coilgun on one arm while the other looked like a traditional fist and held a huge sword. Missile launchers rose out of the shoulders of each mech. They stomped out of the craters and set about destroying the Krai'kesh near them. One mech wiped out three Krai'kesh skitterers in one sweep of its blade, while another hurled coilgun shells, one hundred shells a minute into a cluster of Krai'kesh, causing a cloud of green blood to float into the air as they died.
One gunship hovered above the wall. A squad of Marines wearing cloaks, an odd attire for Marines, leapt out of the transport. They stood there, not bearing weapons, and for a moment Derek wondered what their role was. His question was answered moments later when they threw fireballs, lightning, ice spikes and more at the Krai’kesh on both sides of the wall. Mageguard commandos. A rarity among frontier fleets, the mageguards were legendary among core fleets. A huge asset in ground-based combat.
Another wave of five mechs landed among the Krai’kesh, while bombers came in for a second run. High above, Krai’kesh fighters mingled with Federation fighters to prevent them from stopping the bombers.
Derek turned his attention back t
o the gap, but most of the Krai’kesh had been killed in the space of a couple of minutes as the surge troops rushed past him to battle the Krai'kesh. Each Marine bore a laser rifle and wore a sword on their back with a sword at their side. As they neared the enemy, they slung their rifles on their backs and prepared for melee combat. One squad of Marines formed a shield wall of six shields and pressed forward against a handful of Krai’kesh, stabbing them and pushing them back. How did they prepare so fast to fight in melee?
Another wave of gunships landed in the assembly area and drop pods landed out in the field of battle. Lightning shot down from the few clouds in the sky and tornadoes formed on the field of battle. “Those behemoths still need to be stopped,” Derek said to John.
“Just watch,” John said, no longer fighting, and pointed into the distance. Five of the mechs which had dropped from the sky surrounded one behemoth. They poured coilgun shells into the carapace of the behemoth and fired two waves of missiles each, then they ran around the behemoth, slashing at its legs. One of the mechs, activating its leg repulsors, boosted onto the back of the creature and slashed with its blade.
The behemoths were fighting back, however. One behemoth knocked a gunship which got too close out of the sky. It then grabbed a passing bomber and crushed it. One of the mechs moved too slow, and another behemoth snatched it up, squeezing it. Derek admired the bravery of the mech pilot, firing and slashing until the mech exploded in the hand of the behemoth as its power cells were pierced.
The Krai'kesh, surprised and disoriented at first due to the ferocious surge of troops and firepower, tried to make a comeback. Derek witnessed one of the Krai'kesh commanders shifting behind a group of Marines and cutting all six of them down before they even knew it was there. They moved so fast. Three Marines surrounded the commander, but it slipped out of their encirclement by shifting away. It appeared behind one of the three Marines and stabbed them in the back, but then was stabbed by another Marine. It staggered, trying to create a void portal, but was stabbed again by the same Marine and dropped to the ground. It’s good for the men to see those things are not invincible.
Eclipse: Book Two of the Dark Tide Trilogy Page 11