Nemesis: The Search for Orion

by Saxon Andrew

  Chelag felt rage and fear in equal measure. He threw his long hair over his shoulder and felt the bunker shake again. Those beings were ready to attack during the Watcher’s conversation, the destruction of that small ship must have been what started them shooting. He wondered if he had acted too quickly when he ordered that ship destroyed. The room shook violenty and his fear quickly overwhelmed his rage.

  • • •

  Cinny arrived at the Capital Planet and said, “Ana, how many?”

  “Five thousand of those giant battleships are above the planet.”

  Cinny looked at Telah, “I want all ships to move in on the warships above the planet and be prepared to destroy them on my signal. Telah, make the assignments.”

  Telah nodded and began sending out thoughts assigning the cruisers their assigned Invader Warship. After twenty minutes, Telah thought, “Cinny, we’ve targeted all of them.”

  Cinny nodded and said with her lips pulled back from her teeth, “On my command, take them out and then fan out above the planet and attack anything that jumps in to attack Earth’s Fleet.” Cinny nodded to Telah, saw her thoughts and sent a thought to Telee, “Admiral, jump in three, two, one, NOW!!!”

  Blake pressed his panel and five thousand main battleships appeared above the planet. Blake was shocked at the number of giant warships burning above the planet. He saw the sprawling city on the surface and he yelled, “BURN IT DOWN!!” The entire night side of the planet strobed as fifty thousand brilliant beams hit the giant city. A wave of fire blew high into the atmosphere in the center of the metropolis and then rushed out and began merging with other waves of flame. Giant skyscrapers blew apart in the three hundred mile an hour wall of flame and then vaporized in the heat. What was once a thriving city died a flaming death. The tsunami of flame blew out of the city and burned everything around it for ten miles.

  Cinny saw more explosions appearing above the planet and she yelled, “GET OUT OF HERE, BLAKE!!”

  Blake nodded and pressed the recall button on his panel. His ships vanished into subspace as more and more Invader Warships rushed in. None of them thought about following the subspace contacts. They assumed they were their own commercial ships attempting to escape. Cinny looked at Gaylee, “How many do you have?”

  “About two thousand.”

  “Send one to two of my ships until they all have a target.”

  “I’ll need to collect four hundred more.”

  “Send what you have now. If we don’t have enough, we won’t worry about it.”

  “I can collect the others in time, Cinny. I just need a few more moments.”

  Cinny shook her head at the speed Gaylee was entering the coordinates. Cinny looked at Telah and she nodded. Cinny began issuing orders, “I’m sending a planetary coordinate to every pair of ships. On my command, jump to that planet and if there are warships there, kill two and then jump back to our assembly coordinates.” Cinny looked at Gaylee, who nodded. “Jump now!!”

  One moment the Invader’s Capital had a massive space battle that was taking place above it. The next instant, there was nothing to attack. Less than a minute later, the Invader fleet began receiving distress calls from thousands of planets that there were burning warships above them. There was no one to give them orders, the Leaders were trapped underground and those leaders not with them had died in the fire.

  • • •

  The Watcher turned to his Talker and saw his shocked expression, “The Capital is under attack.” The Watcher stood up and the Talker shook his head, “The Capital has been destroyed by a space bombardment.”

  “How did this happen?”

  The Talker held up his hand and shook his head, “Watcher, thousands of our planets have been attacked. They have warships burning in orbit.”

  The Watcher looked at the thousands of burning warships scattered around his fleet and knew he had no choice, “All available ships will leave and go to the Capital. I will give you your instructions there.” He sat back in his chair and kept hearing, “Do you think you are immune from what happed to your attacker?” It haunted him all the way to the Capital.

  • • •

  Cinny looked at the small Spider and tried desperately to hold back her tears, “Gaylee, how were you able to collect all those coordinates so quickly?”

  “I started as soon as we arrived. There were thousands of commercial ships jumping away from the planet and I took the coordinates from the jump officers’ minds. Once the attack began, the ships jumping away doubled in number.”

  “How are you able to see the location of someone during a conversation?”

  “I have no idea. I just know that if I hear their thoughts, I can see where they’re located.”

  “Are all of your brothers and sisters able to do this?”

  “No, only a handful of us have the talent. That’s why I was chosen to come with you on this mission.”

  Telah said, “She will be taking my place. It’s time for me to start a family. Cinny, I’m sorry about Grant.” Cinny’s tears started and she left the bridge for her quarters.

  Gaylee looked at Telah, “She will have him back soon.”

  “You don’t understand love. The time he’s not with her will seem to last forever.”

  Gaylee stared at Telah, “No, I guess I don’t understand.”

  Telah smiled, “Not yet; you eventually will.”

  Gaylee shook her head, “If love causes that much pain, I don’t want any part of it.”

  “Wait until they’re back together and then see how you feel.”

  Telah left the bridge to join Cinny and Gaylee watched her leave. “Nope, I want no part of it.”

  Ana laughed and Gaylee said, “What?”

  “I’ll replay this later.”

  “I’m not kidding, I don’t want any part of it.”

  “Good. You can stay with me.”

  “You’ve got a deal.”

  • • •

  The Watcher arrived at the Capital and saw the city was in ruins. He looked down at the desolation and knew that this new enemy now knew the locations of thousands of their inhabited planets. This war would also be a defensive struggle. In the past, no civilization had ever found their location. This was the first attack in thousands of years. He lifted his communicator, “Did our Great Leader survive the attack?”

  “He is trapped in the bunker under the former Council Building more than a thousand feet underground.”

  “How are you going to get him out?”

  “The surface is too hot to make the attempt. We thought about digging in from outside the desolation but that means starting more than forty miles away from the center of the city. The surface will cool before we could reach him from that far away.”

  “What about other members of the Council?”

  “Five are trapped with him and the others are ash blowing around the remains of the city.”

  The Watcher shook his head, “I am the ranking officer on the scene. I am taking command until we can release our leaders.”

  “Yes Watcher, what are your orders?”

  “Gather all the heavy transports available and have them go to the warehouses around the planet and gather containers of CO2. Have them start spraying the area around the former Council Building until the surface is cool enough for you to start rescue operations.”

  “Yes Watcher.”

  He looked at his talker, “Open a channel to all our fleets.” He waited until the Talker pointed at him, “I know all of you have heard that our Capital has been attacked. Ships from the civilization we recently attacked have bombarded the Capital City and nothing remains but rubble. They have also destroyed more than forty thousand of the Warships gathered at Kyaamga. They possess a weapon that will penetrate our force fields. They are also invisible to our scanners. The only safe way to defend yourselves is to form a box and fire your beams at low power. If anything appears, go to full power. I’m sending medical teams to my fleet along with the two thousand p
lanets that were attacked. My Seeker will be assigning your ships to planets to defend them against future attacks.”

  He punched off his communicator and the Seeker said, “Where do you want to send ships?”

  “We will remain at the Capital. I want three fleets defending Kyaamga. The rest will be evenly dispersed among the planets they attacked.”

  “What about the others that weren’t attacked?”

  “We know for certain they know the ones they attacked; we’ll not worry about the others until they do.”

  The Seeker nodded and said, “Watcher?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why didn’t they bombard the other planets?”

  “I don’t know. However, I suspect the next time they will. What they did this time was for our destruction of their ship.”

  “Can we win?”

  The Watcher shrugged, “We have the weapon needed to destroy this enemy, but we will pay a heavy price before we achieve victory.”

  “We don’t know where the builder of those ships is located.”

  The Watcher nodded, “And that may be what kills us.”

  “Watcher, the transports are starting to arrive. I’ll keep you informed of our progress.”

  “That would be good.”

  • • •

  Blake listened to the conversation between Grant and the Invader Commander. He also heard the Ruler of the Invaders say they would kill everyone leaving no survivors to seek revenge. He looked at Cleve, “You know, I felt pretty bad about bombarding that city. Now I wish I had brought more ships and done a number on the planet.”

  “Next time you’ll do it right. Did you send a copy of this to the Admiral?”

  “I did. He has voiced support for what we did.”

  “Where do we stand on getting our battleships modified?”

  “I’ve not heard any good news about that, Sir.”

  Blake shook his head, “I hope the Invaders take some time before attacking again. We’re going to need it.”

  • • •

  The Watcher sat in orbit with his fleet continuously firing beams at low power. The surface was cooled after twenty hours of spraying the surface with CO2 and the digging was progressing nicely. He wondered what the Great Leader was going to say on his emergence. The citizens on the planet were in a state of shock. This was the first attack in centuries and it was totally unexpected. No one could explain what happened and everyone waited for the Surviving Council members to emerge from the rubble of the former Capital. The local leaders attempted to contact him to find out what was going on but he refused all calls. This would be up to the Great Leader to discuss. He wondered how he was going to explain it.

  • • •

  The next day, the survivors were pulled out from the bunker and the Great Leader was lifted out to Nemula. The huge city on the opposite side of the planet was actually larger than the Capital. It didn’t have the number of tall buildings but it was spread out over a much larger area. The Watcher waited and after another day passed, the Great Leader emerged from the new Government Building and spoke to the huge gathering that had rushed into the city’s center to hear what was going on.

  The Great Leader lifted the communicator and said, “We have been attacked without warning by a civilization that is like our first Attacker. I promise you, we will make them pay.”

  The Watcher stared at the display and watched his bridge crew turn to look at him. The Great One never mentioned that he had attacked that civilization first. The Watcher knew that it would never be revealed that the civilization had come and asked for peace. He showed no emotion and his subordinates didn’t know whether to challenge what was being said or to keep silent. The Watcher knew it was just a matter of time until the truth got out. The hundreds of thousands of those that took part in the attack could not all be silenced. He wondered if the first Attacker also failed to tell his species that they were losing the war. He remained at his post knowing what was coming. Three hours later, it did.

  “I understand it was you that sped up my rescue.”

  “Yes Great Leader.”

  “It has also come to my attention that you refused to talk about this attack to anyone on the planet.”

  “That is also true.”

  “You heard what I said.”

  “I did.”

  “And?”

  “You are my Leader. I don’t question anything you choose to do.”

  “Do you agree with what I did?”

  “I do not question your decisions, Great Leader.”

  “I won’t execute you for being honest, you may speak freely.”

  “Great Leader, I am not in a position to have an opinion. It is your responsibility to make sure we are safe.”

  “I want every ship and all the ground forces that took part in the last invasion moved to Kyaamga, immediately. They will remain on their ships until they are given their assignments.”

  “I will issued the orders immediately.” The display went dark and the Watcher knew it was a waste of time. Thousands of the ship crews and Ground Forces had been given liberty after the invasion. He was certain they had not remained silent when they heard what was being said. However, that was not his problem. He knew he had to be careful or he would be executed. If the Great Leader would deliberately lie to his people, he would lie about not punishing him for being honest. Once trust was destroyed, it could never be regained. He looked at his Talker, “Issue the orders and recall all those who are on leave.”

  “Yes Watcher.”

  He heard his crew whispering among themselves and knew they were not alone. All of those that participated in the invasion knew the Great Leader was going to send them into danger in the hopes all the witnesses to his deception would be eliminated and he knew it was a real possibility. There was no defense against this new warship the enemy was using. All he would have to do was send them back to invade the planet again.

  He thought about it and made a decision. He went to his private office and contacted ten Minor Watchers that had served with him over the years. They were furious at what was happening and it didn’t take much to persuade them to do as he wanted. Now it was up to others to prevent their deaths.

  • • •

  “Cinny.”

  “Yes Gaylee.”

  “I’m sorry for interrupting you but I’ve been listening to the thoughts of that Fleet Commander.”

  “Don’t apologize. Sitting here waiting for Grant to come back seems to take forever. I welcome it. What’s going on?”

  “It appears the Leader of that civilization has lied to his subjects. He’s told them that we attacked without provocation.”

  “What? How could he get away with that?”

  “Evidently, they are not honest with their citizens. However, that Commander is trying to prevent being sent to attack Hegoth again. However, he’s going to need some help.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He thinks that the ships being used to defend the planets we attacked will be sent to replace his fleet and he’ll be ordered to attack.”

  Cinny thought for a moment and then smiled, “Well, let’s see if we can help him out.”

  “Why would you do that? We can destroy his fleet and reduce the number we have to face.”

  “He wasn’t the one that ordered Grant killed. If for no other reason than to anger that Leader, it’s worth doing.”

  “Is it love that’s leading you to do this?”

  “More like rage. However, tell all the ships to gather and prepare for another attack.”

  “Might I suggest something?”

  “What is that?”

  “I’ve been able to locate another two thousand planets. If you want to spread them out, those are the ones we should attack.”

  “That is a brilliant idea, Gaylee.”

  “Gee, thanks, Cinny.”

  “Give the ships their targets and I’ll join them shortly.” Cinny looked at the web surrounding the growing object
inside it. She missed him so much. “I’ll be back, my Love.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The Watcher looked at the Great Leader on his panel and said, “Great Leader, we’ve detected more than thirty of those ships above Kyaagma over the last three days. I think they’re looking for an opening to attack the planet.”

  The Great Leader looked angry, “I need you to go and destroy that planet you invaded.”

  “I will leave immediately; however, I believe the planet will be attacked if I remove my fleet. Kyaagma has more than forty percent of our munitions on the surface. Do you want me to leave?”

  The Watcher waited knowing the Great One might just take the chance to remove those that could expose his lie. “No. I’ll recall the ships we’ve sent to the attacked planets to take your place. No one has detected one of those ships there.”

  “Yes Great Leader, I will start issuing the orders for the invasion.”

  The Talker said, “One of the members of the Council has contacted the other ships to confirm the spotting of the enemy warships.”

  He nodded and knew it wouldn’t be long until he would take his fleet into danger. He knew the Great Leader would order them to fight to the death. He shook his head and waited for his replacements to arrive.

  • • •

  “Everyone has their targets. This time, I want you to attempt to destroy as many warships as you can, however, do not take a risk of your ship being destroyed. We’re going to need all of you to defend our planet.” Cinny looked at her panel and said, “Jump in ten seconds from…NOW!” Cinny looked out of the viewport at the thousands of crimson colored cruisers and suddenly, they disappeared.

  • • •

  Tricky arrive at his target planet and saw there were twenty Invader warships gathered above the planet. He thought for a moment and said, “Slim, why don’t we move in the middle of their formation and open fire as we rotate?”

  “Lead the way.”

  Tricky maneuvered his ship in the middle of the Invader formation and was surprised they weren’t firing their beams. He arrived and saw Slim was at the rear of his ship facing in the opposite direction. He released the splinter launchers thought, “Ok, on three; one, two, three!”