“Yes, Dumakas... sleep now. Tomorrow is a grand day! We shall launch our invasion!”
“Yes... sleep... launching invasion at dawn... sleep... sleep.”
Tumaleka smiled and released Dumakas’ shoulders. He lay quietly on his back. The quiet soon was interrupted by the loud noise of the Emperor snoring.
________________________
Earth Orbit
Antarian Warship
________________________
“Rocinante, this is Empress-One, come in please,” Race spoke directly into the comm microphone.
“Go ahead, Colonel,” Jed answered, “Empress-One?”
“Yeah, seems there was some debate on what to call her, Sir. We all settled on that.”
Jed heard an angry Danielle standing behind Race, “Liberator is the name I chose, Admiral!”
“Oh I don’t know, Colonel, I think Ms. Danielle has a point. She is the Empress after all.”
“But Sir...”
“...I think she can name her ship anything she wants... and quite frankly, Colonel, I like the Liberator; has a nice ring to it.”
“Admiral...”
“Good,” Jed interrupted once more, “Then it’s settled. Liberator, what is your status?”
“Our status, Admiral,” Danielle said, cutting Race off, “Is that the Liberator will be ready to depart within the hour.”
Race turned his head toward Danielle and leaned closer to the microphone, “Yes, Admiral, Empress-One will be ready within the hour.”
“Do you require an escort to the Betelgeuse sector?”
Danielle leaned closer to the mic, “Yes, Admiral, I would be honored to have an escort.”
Race slid his arms in front of Danielle and squeezed closer to the mic, “Thank you, Sir, and yes, we’d be honored...Sir.”
“Very well then, I’ll arrange to have both Excalibur and the Rocinante escort you through the corridor. I’m dispatching an ACE support to relay through the corridor of your arrival.”
“Thank you, Sir. From there we will spin our FTL and jump directly to the fourth planet, Lebencha, in orbit around the third moon, Serintin.”
“Ah, thank you, Colonel for your celestial review, but I think everyone already knows you’re going to Serintin.”
“Yes, well, ah, sure. Sorry Sir.”
“No worries, Colonel. So what is the plan once you arrive?”
Danielle pushed her way to the microphone and leaned close, nearly touching Race’s cheeks with her lips, “I shall announce my arrival to all the Houses.”
“Since we are flying an Antarian Warship,” Darnash added, “We will not set off any alarms.”
“Surely you don’t expect Dumakas to welcome you with open arms, once he knows you’re still alive?”
“Quite right, Admiral Fitz,” Danielle answered, “I am sure my arrival will stir things up a bit, but once I make my announcement, Mister Thelix will keep the Houses busy with red-tape, so to speak, while Darnash and I will make our way to the surface.”
“To seek the female Boreshog creature?”
“No, to the adolescent creature at Storm Keep.”
“It is our hope, Admiral,” Darnash again added, “is that the blood within the adolescent is still potent.”
“What do you mean, still potent?”
“If the creature is too deep into hibernation, the song within the creatures veins will be dormant.”
“Thus it will not fulfill Empress Danielle’s destiny,” Gor’con said. “She must have one more Kron’shulooka in order for Bron vis’Ka to take place.”
“Well, whatever it’s called,” Jed said with concern, “It sounds dangerous, you all be careful now, you read me?”
“Yes, Admiral,” Race turned his head towards Danielle, his lips nearly meeting hers, “We’ll be very careful, you have my word.”
Danielle swallowed hard. She turned away from Race to focus on the microphone, “Admiral, finding the adolescent and partaking in the Kron’Shulooka is the easy part.”
“What’s the hard part?”
“Facing Emperor Dumakas, and getting him to partake of my blood spirit.”
“Do you have any plan for that?”
“No, Admiral,” Danielle answered, “other than a full assault on the Serintin Palace.”
Mister Thelix leaned into the microphone. Danielle turned toward Race, and she looked him deep in the eyes as Thelix spoke, “I will land the warship outside the Palace. They will not be expecting our assault on the walls.”
“Our army is a formidable one, Admiral Fitz,” Gor’con added. “My people have trained for this moment for one-hundred Antarian Generations. Our time has come to reclaim our birthright and remove the evil and vial blood song from our people once and for all... before the Warlords can destroy and take more of what is not theirs.”
“Well said, Ambassador.”
“As a part of our assault on Serintin, we will target the energy collector arrays and cut all power to the moon. This will bring down the blue shield that was activated when Dumakas attempted his hostile takeover,” Darnash said.
“Very well,” the crew of the Liberator could almost hear Jed’s nod. “Stay safe, and god-speed, Liberator!”
The channel crackled the end of Jed’s voice. Danielle and Race continued to look into each other’s eyes. Race pulled her to his lips. The two locked and she threw her arms around him.
The kiss lasted several seconds before the two parted. Danielle pushed away and turned from him.
“I...I’m so sorry, Danielle.”
“It is alright, Colonel Jennings...Race.”
“I don’t know what came over me, I really don’t know.”
“You did not intent to kiss me?” She turned back to him, frowning.
“No, no, it’s not like that. Not at all, I really did want to kiss you, but...”
“Save it, Colonel, it was my Blood song that sings to you too. You could not help yourself.”
“I...I won’t let it happen again, I swear.”
“Do not discount my feelings in this matter, Race, I did return the kiss.”
Darnash silently turned toward his console. He would not look her way again until they were ready to commence the jump.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
________________________
Serintin Orbit
Antarian Flagship
________________________
Ma’har inspected every deck, and every system of the Emperor’s flagship. A Customary process when any battle was to begin. He shook hands, encouraged his crew, and inspected all critical systems in preparation of departing for the Betelgeuse system.
Arriving to the command deck, his first officer Getera announced his arrival, “Attention all duty officers, Captain Ma’har is on deck!”
“Lord Getera, report.”
“Yes, my Lord, all six hundred ships are ready to jump into battle.”
“Excellent. Send word to the Palace. Let them know we are ready to depart.”
“Yes, my Lord,” Getera turned to his communications console and began relaying the message.
Ma’har took his seat center of the command deck and patiently looked around at this eager crew.
“My Lord,” Getera reported, “We have received departure approval.”
“NAV: set course to the Betelgeuse system. Helm: take us out of orbit. Ion drives at full speed. Bring us to a safe distance from Lebencha and prepare to jump the fleet.”
“Yes, my Lord,” Ker reported, “Jump coordinates have been programmed and transmitted to all three fleets. All NAV computers in each fleet are linked to jump on your orders.”
“Excellent, Lady Tira,” Ma’har acknowledged with a grin. “Today we shall all fill our blood lust. The Betelgeuse sector will soon be ours!”
“My Lord,” Tira added, “The fleet is pulling away from Serintin. All fleet ships will be clear of Lebencha and ready to jump in thirty minutes.”
“Maintain course and speed across
the fleet. Keep all three fleets together as we jump.”
“Yes, my Lord,” Tira answered, “the fleet wide jump clock is set for thirty minutes and counting.”
“This indeed will be a great day for the Rising Star Antares,” Ma’har nodded, “Charge all weapons. Ready all fighter squadrons for immediate launch upon arrival at Betelgeuse.”
Ma’har transmitted the commands to all ships.
“All weapons systems are online. Shielding activated. Systems synchronization complete. All ships report battle ready status,” he reported to himself and for the crew’s benefit.
Like an angry swarm of hornets leaving its nest, the fleet of six hundred warships powered away from the gravity well of Lebencha. Once far enough away from the planet’s mass, the six-hundred warships, plus one flagship would cross the fabric of space and time to swarm the unsuspecting Centaurian fleet.
________________________
Serintin
Storm Keep
________________________
Chelek studied his monitor deep within the new base. The only entrance, covered with several feet of snow, was a metal shaft with a ladder that led down inside the protected base.
“Lord Laboolaron,” Chelek called, “I just intercepted a transmission from the Palace to the Emperor’s flagship.”
Laboolaron looked up from is tasks and stepped over to look over Chelek’s shoulder, “What does it say?”
“Permission for the fleet to disembark; it appears Lord Ma’har is in command on the flagship.”
“Then we should send a scout and warn the unsuspecting fleet, lest Emperor Dumakas take control of Betelgeuse.”
“My Lord,” Rotheg began, stepping to Laboolaron’s side, “That would be treason.”
“If we are to stop Lord Dumakas from taking permanent control of the Warlords, then we must do everything in our power to stop him. If they gain control of the corridor, Earth is doomed, and the Empress will never return.”
“Point you have, my friend, but alerting the Centaurians will cause our own kind, our Brethren, to be killed.”
“It is a conundrum to be certain,” Chelek added, looking up to Rotheg, “We are already committing treason. Are we, or are we not, with Laboolaron in waiting for the return of the Empress.”
“We do not know where she is! We cannot risk the lives of our own...”
“We must try,” Laboolaron pleaded, “I feel that the Empress’ song strengthens. She is returning, I can feel it within my own blood spirit. Besides, every Antarian Warrior enters battle knowing they may not return.”
Rotheg reasoned to Laboolaron, “My Lord, even if we could get a shuttle past the orbital defenses, by that time, the attack will have already been underway. It would be too risky and our movement would be over before it started. I say a better plan is to wait it out here. If you are truly feeling her song as I do, then you will know that she will find a way home. When she does, we’ll be here and ready to assist her. But if we go forward with your plan, we could lose everything before she arrives. Our base will be compromised, and we will all be arrested.”
“Or killed on site,” Laboolaron added, “Perhaps you are right, Lord Rotheg.”
“Then it is settled, my Lord. We will continue to monitor the situation and hope for the best. There isn’t anything we can do for them at Betelgeuse.”
“Morgesh, Lord Rotheg,” Laboolaron bowed, “Morgesh.”
“Bea’goth!” Rotheg replied with look of pride on his face.
The two looked at each other, raised their hands to the ceiling and shouted in unison, “Mae’sheen...”
“May our ancient ancestors of Revein’sev guide the Empress back to Serintin,” Chelek said with closed eyes, “and soon.”
________________________
Betelgeuse Event Horizon
ACE Support Relay Duty
________________________
“Relay One, this is Relay Two. Standing by.”
“Roger that, Relay Two, we are prepped and ready to make the next hourly report.”
“ETA to departure?”
“ETA is thirty seconds, over.”
“Ten-four, Relay One, we read you and will await your return in ten minutes...Mark.”
“...and they’ve entered the event horizon,” the pilot reported.
“Come on,” the co-pilot smiled, “we got a few minutes before their return. How about a couple hands of five card?”
The pilot smiled his reply, “Got the deck already shuffled.”
As the pilot dealt out the final card, the ship’s alarms began blaring and the computer changed the interior lighting to the familiar red.
The co-pilot jumped at the sudden alarms, dropping his cards on the floor, “What the hell?”
The pilot returned to his seat and buckled in. Looking at the display he synched his straps a bit harder, “We’ve got multiple contacts on the screen!”
“We’re under attack!”
“Engage engines and head into the event horizon! We’re goin’ through!”
“We’ve got to get a complete scan of the sector before we head back.”
“What’s our time?”
“We can’t enter past the seven minute mark, they’ll be heading back. We’ve got to go now!”
“Almost, just another minute!”
“We got to go now, how complete is your report?”
“Eighty percent...”
“We’re at six minutes,” the pilot nodded, “Turning off external dampeners and heading into the corridor!”
“I got ninety percent, message sent to the fleet commander!”
“We’ve got a three minute trip, prepare for turbulence; we’ll be exiting seconds before Relay One heads back.”
~
“Hard to port! Hard to port!” the co-pilot shouted as Relay Two exited the corridor.
“TAC two, TAC two, TAC two!” the pilot shouted over the comm system.
“It’s too late, Relay one has entered the corridor for their return!”
“Open a channel! Emergency, Emergency! Betelgeuse is under attack! I repeat, we’re under attack!”
The radio crackled Admiral Fitz’s voice, “This is the Rock actual, what is your status Relay Two?”
“Multiple contacts, Sir...”
“How many, and did you get their fleet composition?”
“Transmitting the data now, Sir, but it’s bad, Sir. We only had time to collect ninety percent of the data.”
“What’re the number’s Captain?”
“We counted over five-hundred warships. Closer to six-hundred if you factor in the missing data. Their ships seem to be split up into three fleets...”
“Damn! They scouted our ring formation and are hitting every one of our fleets simultaneously. They’re trying to gain control of the corridor! Good work, Captain. Return through the corridor and report to Captain McCartney on Zetaal’s flag. Tell them we’re gathering reinforcements.”
“Aye-aye, Sir,” Admiral Fitz heard through his end of the comm link, “We’re turning course and heading back now, Sir. Relay Two out!”
Jed turned to his comm officer, “Alert the rest of the fleet, we’re going to General Quarters!”
Commander Jameson raised his restraint system to stand position and with a face of passion he shouted, “This is the XO! Battle Stations! Set condition one throughout the ship! This is no drill! Battle Stations! Battle Stations!”
“Henderson, get me the Liberator!”
“Aye, Sir, I have them now, go ahead.”
“This is Skatie of the Liberator. We monitored that last communication.”
“Very well, Skatie. Let everyone know we’re at General Quarters. If you’re going to get to Serintin, it would appear that you’re going to have to fight your way there!”
“Understood, Admiral,” Skatie replied, “We’re heading through the corridor now.”
“Colonel Jennings, you take care and I’ll see you back on the flipside!”
; “You got it, Admiral. Alright people!” Race exclaimed, “This is show time!”
Mister Thelix’s hands flew across his console, “Arming all weapon systems and raising shields. Engines are at full power.”
“What’s our time to jump after we exit?” Race asked, his face slightly stricken with panic.
“Once we exit, we can finalize our NAV coordinates and spool the jump engines...”
Race cut him off with a rather fast-pasted voice, “Yes, yes, Mister Thelix, I appreciate the narrative, but how long do we have to hold them off?”
“Two minutes.”
“Alright, then. It’s likely to be a rough two minutes.”
“What makes you think they will target the Liberator over the Centaurian ships?” Danielle asked.
“Because we’ll be coming out of the corridor,” Race answered.
“It is likely they will attempt to hail us,” Darnash said.
“Then answer them and tell them... tell them...we escaped the Sol sector and are jumping back to Antares for repairs.”
“They might buy it,” Mister Thelix added.
“Then let’s hope they do,” Race nodded, “Ruki’, Gor’con, you better buckle down tight just in case they don’t.”
“Weapons are hot,” Skatie reported, “targeting computers are on stand-by. The Rocinante and Excalibur are thirty seconds behind us.”
“Time to exit?”
“Fifteen seconds,” Mister Thelix counted between grunts. “Five...four...three...two...one... exiting the Betelgeuse corridor now!”
“Multiple contacts!” Mister Thelix reported, “There are separate battles underway with one main fleet ship off to one side. They are spaced five minutes apart and five, ten, and fifteen minutes from our present location.”
“That is the flag,” Darnash nodded, “Changing course to intercept. Arming all weapons.”
“Hold weapons!” Danielle ordered, “Thelix, begin transmitting both transponder codes, we must ensure the Centaurian fleet can tell its us...”
“...and to make sure the Antarian fleets know we are Antarian,” Mister Thelix added. “All transponder codes are active and transmitting.”
Warlords Saga Page 72