Ghosts of Lyarra

by Damian Shishkin

  It knew of her plans; knew of her intentions and meant to undermine everything she had worked for. This was her birthright at stake and she had planned far too long to let it get away from her now. She had to know more; who was this unknown assailant and why had he turned his ire on her? She noted it had mentioned an intrusion into his home and began to think. She had given the go ahead to thousands of missions by her assassins; it could be any of those in which he had been attacked!

  Taking a deep breath, she did her best to compose herself. It would serve no purpose to let the help see her in this state. Someone of her stature had to remain in control at all times, even in the face of adversity. Holding back all the nervous energy that flooded her body she looked on at the news vids that continued on the explosions at the temple. He had struck with no warning, a slap to her face that would sting for some time to come, but worse yet he had left the threat of another attack. He had threatened to take from her everything she sought after and that was something that just couldn’t happen. The Throne of Light was just within her reach and she would not lose it now!

  —

  Lyarran Vessel Dark Light; Imperial Shipyards of Thsin

  Lyxia left the holo-chamber in silence; still stunned from the events of the Council meeting. The entire staff of the Ops Control stared in anticipation of an order, but as the Council of the Dark Light sank into her chair none came. Instead, she began to replay all that transpired in an attempt to make sense of it. In a flash, an unknown being had declared war on the Empire and for the first time none of her training or instincts could help her.

  Looking up at the view screen, she could see the commotion about the docks as all available ships disembarked to the inner system to track down the assailant. All rules and procedures went out the window as each ship tried to leave at the same time; all in a rush to bag the bad guy and become the newest Imperial hero. Near collisions and hulls scraping were all about them, but again Lyxia gave no orders to join the fray. In her mind there would be nothing to find; anyone that could walk into the den of the Forgotten and raze their home to the ground would be gone by the time the explosion happened. They were dealing with a new type of enemy; one none in the fleet had encountered before.

  “Computer.” She called out after an agonizing long silence.

  “How may I assist you, Council?” the ships VI droned back in response.

  “Cross reference the incident on Ryas with any known happenings in the Imperial database. I need to know how to fight what we don’t know how to fight.”

  “Processing.”

  “Fleet Com is wondering why we aren’t moving yet.” Onai spoke as the quiet in the room had finally been broken.

  Holding up her palm to both silence her friend and signal to not respond to Fleet Com, Lyxia chose to wait for her inquiry to be answered first.

  “There are no instances that correlate with the events of today, Council. There are no cases of this type of strike against the Empire in its long history.” The computer answered.

  “Dig deeper; try searching data uploads from individual worlds from their history books. I want to know what I don’t know and I want to know it now!”

  “There is a resemblance in the historic files of a few worlds, of such activity. A few planetary members have had some type of threatening activity to prompt change in governments or military regimes. In fact, one world has a long history of such savage attacks.”

  This peaked Lyxia’s attention immediately. Finally she was getting somewhere with this god forsaken machine!

  “Which planet?” she asked as she stood up from her slump in her chair.

  “Terra Sol. The humans have a long history of violence to evoke change throughout their records and……”

  “Onai, set course for Terra Sol and engage jump drives as soon as we are clear from the shipping lanes!” Lyxia barked out. “Get those damn mooring clamps off my ship and get this thing moving!”

  “What about Fleet Com?” Onai asked as she began to carry out her orders.

  “Tell them if they want to sort through the ash and debris for nothing to be my guest, but we are on our way to find answers.”

  —

  Geneva, Switzerland; Earth Council Headquarters

  It was a scene out of the past for Sara; memories of terrorists laying claim to their horrific artistry still rang fresh in her mind from before the Husk had reshaped the world. To her, that was what this being was; a terrorist. But the question of who was the attack against was one that confused her more than anything. Although mildly rattled by the display of anger, the scene had left more questions than fear in the Council for Earth.

  Those around her in the Council had been horrified as if none had truly experienced something like that. In fact, Sara wondered how the Empire had become as large without any type of social resistance as it grew. There had been such fear in the eyes in the room, and the terrorist had preyed upon that to prove his point. Here, behind the massive arrays of PA Cannons Sara felt safe, but also took little consolation in the fact that this thing had attacked the very home of the temple assassins; creatures that the entire Empire seemed to fear. If that hadn’t dissuaded him then the cannons would do little to do so either. She wondered what and who this thing was after and to what lengths it might go to get it. She remembered the terrorist attacks around the world and how determined some of those groups had been to get to a desired result. Times before the Husk were full of angst and unrest; not that these times were much better.

  In the last five years the Earth had been transformed; no longer the scared and self centered civilization it used to be. The rebuild of the lost cities of the planet was now underway, yet it was clear the emotional scars would not heal as fast as the physical ones. Humanity had gotten up after an immense beating and showed its collective fortitude in doing so as they continued on in life. They had built an extreme shield in which to fend off any other attacks, but behind their defenses they were still as afraid as they had been when the Husk had landed. There was much anger and hate built up towards anything alien; old habits and prejudices were difficult to let go. Now the planet was almost divided in its beliefs, and that division showed on how the rebuild progressed around the planet.

  Europe, Asia, and Africa showed the most progress in the rebuild, and along with an influx of population from the west, these parts had grown into the more refined part of civilization. Old cities such as Rome, Paris, and Berlin were repaired of any damages and became new homes for many of the world’s displaced population. New lives were carved out in the defence industry and the new political scope; through the endearing nature of these people the Earth, was able to move forward towards a better future. Enhancements in technology were more prevalent here; gifts from the Empire to help bridge the gap of trust that still existed. It was here the tourism industry thrived; it was the Eastern world that reached out to embrace all the new things to be discovered with the partnership of the Lyarrans. Aside from Moscow, which was a desolate wasteland of death where nothing would grow or survive, the Eastern world was happy and thriving.

  The remains of the continental United States, Central and South America were the opposite. Here, the full might of the Husk had been unleashed and almost sixty percent of the population had been decimated by the attacks. Here the line in the sand had been drawn and here the hate still burned white hot. The clean-up and rebuilding had been slower to proceed here; the crews of Lyarran workers had constant barrages of violence to impede any major progress. After time, the Lyarrans had given the task over to a newly trained crew of humans; but even these crews faced resistance and hatred. So the western shores of the Americas lay barren; cleared of the debris from the attack, but yet to be rebuilt in any way. Miles and miles of the coast were empty; reclaimed by the sand brought by the ocean waves. The East coast remained buried in rubble; only the dead had been removed, as the clean-up had been abandoned before any signs of progress could be made. Once proud cities like Philadelphia, Boston, and
New York were left in shambles in comparison to their former glory. There was life here, but not of the quality of the Eastern World. Here the scars hadn’t healed one bit; here wounds stayed open and raw as if the Husk were still in full attack mode.

  But not all of the west was bad; mid America thrived under advancements from the Lyarran partnership as farmland and research facilities grew and prospered. In the battles, many Husk corpses had been saved from the Ifierin purges and were now being studied in great detail. Cities grew and flourished here, a stark contrast to the former world that saw riches and success in the hands of those on the coasts. Though all this success and growth was happening, there still showed the shadows of resentment towards anything not human.

  It was this division that fueled some of the political strife that slowed much of the advancements the planet sorely needed. Sara had hoped the Husk would galvanize the forever divided cultures of humanity - and for the most part it had - but there was still much work to be done to unify Earth as one voice amongst the stars. It was this constant that kept her worn down and forever tired; the planet needed her as a voice for all of them, united or not.

  But it was not all good times coming from transforming the world to mesh with the Imperial ways; many things were slow and hard to change. Earth had been rocked to its very core, and the physical damage ran much deeper than that of death and wreckage. The Empire only helped in the clean-up and rebuild from the attack, but not from the economic and emotional damage done. An economy driven by global stock markets no longer existed; Wall Street lay under tons of rubble just as the economy it ran did. A monetary system that was grown over hundreds of years had collapsed, and in doing so the survivors were left to learn a new and alien one with little or no assets. Those with wealth and power, who had stashed themselves away in safety before the Husk attack, now emerged with none of what kept them safe.

  It was here that Sara saw trouble early, and with diligent work with the new government they had emptied out the global vaulted reserves of gold and other precious metals and mortgaged this with the Empire to restart a dead economy. At the time it drew the ire of many detractors to her appointment, but as the days passed it showed to be a wise and calculated move as gold was scarce everywhere and it gave the planet a leg to stand on in this new economic nightmare. They had used these funds to stabilize the planet, and used the surplus of funds to purchase state of the art mining technology to harvest the system’s bountiful resources. This was the part of the financial move that paid off a hundred fold, because what they found in one of their mining expeditions would help drive the planet to new heights.

  On Jupiter’s moon Io, a find of monumental proportions was discovered. In the flows of the ever erupting volcanoes lay entire lakes of molten liquid gold! The moon known for being one of the most violent places in the system turned out to be the saving grace of Earth. This was the true reason for the Jovian ring of Pa cannons; not as an extra layer of defense for the planet but to ward off any pirates to the largest claim of gold found in the galaxy! It was this find that enabled Sara to enact a way to help fix the emotional damage done by the Husk.

  Despite its new riches, Earth was fragile in its confidence and emotional state. A few years before they had been happily alone in the universe and ignorant to the fact that danger was just around the corner. They had paid dearly for that ignorance, and now the ugly head of fear showed on the everyday faces of the human race. Fear of another attack, fear of being conquered by any of the more powerful worlds of the Empire, and the fear that they were truly insignificant in the grand scheme of things began to take hold in one form or the other and triggered xenophobia in much of humanity.

  So Sara did something she had hoped not to, but something she needed to do to help her people; she began to arm them. First came the orbital and Jovian defense rings; a public display to secure the feeling of safety to the general public, which after today’s demonstration, she was sure would no longer be an issue. Any attacker trying to get to Earth would lose much if not all of their forces before arriving on humanity’s doorstep; a price she was confident not many would pay. But all they had done was create a shield, and like all shields they could only hold up for so long. They needed a sword; a way to bring the fight to those who sought them out and Sara had reluctantly brought on the one man she hated more than life itself.

  General Marcus Patterson had retired shortly after the hand over to the new government, to great ceremony and accolades; despite what she knew of his involvement in the events that led to the death of her father it was deemed the world needed a live hero and he was the perfect person to suit that role. Now, a few years after the battle for Earth she reached out to the devil himself to help the people of Earth once more. No matter how much she hated him and wanted to make him pay for his sins, the man knew how to keep a secret and pick those who could do much the same. So he was brought out of retirement to meet with her, though she was determined to make sure the man knew who was truly in charge of the program.

  So they met, and after much discussion agreed on a course of action; giving birth to the second greatest secret in human history after the creation of Aen. Three years ago they had started the Olympus project, and after a great deal of effort and lies, it was close to completion. It pained her deeply to lie to the Empress when questioned about further arming of humanity, but this was a crucial step in furthering human kind’s place in the galaxy and a necessary evil in such darkened days. Patterson had taught her the value of such lies and that the future was riding on those lies; it took the devil to teach an angel to lie to God.

  Her train of thoughts was broken by her message of pending arrivals in which she saw the name of her friend’s ship, the Dark Light. Lyxia was coming back; Sara was both elated and saddened at the same time. On one hand it was great to have her friend here to see in person and share stories of adventures with, and on the other hand it was nerve-racking to think that an Imperial cruiser would be within sensor range of the Olympus project. Although it was well concealed within the inner solar system, Olympus would stick out like a sore thumb on any sweep, due to its immense size. Though there would be no reason for a sensor sweep to be done while at docking, it was still a possibility and she needed to inform Patterson of this development immediately even though that was something she dreaded; she really fucking hated the man!

  —

  Lyarran Flag Ship, Lyarra’s Fire

  She waited within her personal chambers for him to arrive. In here she was more secure than anywhere else in the Empire, yet for some reason Iana didn’t feel safe. She truly felt scared now; everything that was happening began to sink in after the events of today. Before now, she had only seen Aen in the light of an ally and a friend, but now she witnessed his true power first hand and it gripped her heart with an icy fear. Now she understood the prophecies of what he could become and how easily he could take the throne if he so decided; after today she doubted there was anyone in the Empire that could stand in his way.

  But now all she had to do was wait; the next phase of his plan would start once he arrived and joined her in her quarters. Though the Ifierin guards outside would think her to be safe and sound, Aen could go anywhere he wanted, undetected. There were no locked doors that could stop him from entering. Iana sat not on her throne on the platform in the center of the room, but on the glass-like floor with her dress in a mess around her. In a move unlike any of her known behavior, she had not changed to different and clean pressed clothes after being whisked away from the abbreviated Council session. Iana - the great Empress of the Lyarran Empire - sat in a heap and waited helplessly for the next act in this crazy adventure to start.

  The wait served her well; it allowed her emotions to cool and calm. If Aen had appeared soon after she arrived here, she would have torn him apart in a fit of rage and frustration. Now her anger had gone from a boil to a simmer, and her calm nature began to take hold and get her back in the proper frame of mind. She still felt scared and helple
ss, but she knew she had help from the right person and held no doubts that in his hands she would come out of this ordeal alive.

  The longer she waited, the more it seemed that something had gone wrong. There was no hero coming to save her; there was nothing but emptiness in the room with her. The plan had gone south, or worse yet……but it wasn’t possible! There was no way Aen could have betrayed her; it was her that sent Bryx out to the very borders of the known galaxy to rescue him. It was because of her that he was safe and able to try and find himself once more. But what if something had happened; what if her enemies in the shadows reasoned with him and seeing as he wasn’t the man he once was, he joined them?

  Iana felt the cold hands of death wrap around her heart as the realization that she had been betrayed began to creep up on her. Aen was not coming to save her; he was now the one leading the charge to kill her! But how did he sway Bryx? The J’Karin had been her loyal servant and friend for ages and showed no signs of ever wanting to do such evil to her. And though she could not piece together why he had betrayed her too, the fact that he was not at her side when she needed him the most made it a hard fact to ignore. She had no proof of any of this; no way to convince anyone of what was happening. All the Empress could do was sit here by herself and wait for what was next; for deep inside, Iana knew that the next shot from the stranger wouldn’t be at a building or at the Guild. She knew the next attack would come straight at her and it angered her that she didn’t see it coming until now.