Five minutes left, I need to finish this!
Desperation took complete control over Chevallier’s body. She moved like a silent killer in the night, her finger was centimeters away from the trigger, and her scope an inch away from the backs of the last two invader soldiers. They came into view when she approached them from behind. Five seconds of rapidly fired rounds rendered Tolukei’s mission a failure and hopefully would put some sense into his head. This was not the time to be taking prisoners.
“Why did you do that?!” Tolukei spat upon hearing and seeing what she had done.
“My finger slipped.” Chevallier smirked, not that he’d be able to see it under her helmet. “Sorry about your mission, but we got to go.”
The rocky ground rumbled, and for a moment Chevallier thought the orbital strike had begun. Her HUD said otherwise, there was still time. She looked beyond her new cover and examined the Dragon Knight duo, the source of all remaining action on the mountains. One of them had collapsed, the male one by the looks, as smoke blew up and away from its singed armor. Tolukei’s psionic attacks and his last remaining undead minion made progress, progress that would allow for her to escape.
Chevallier sprinted away from the rock, away from Tolukei as her pleas for him to escape with her went unanswered. I tried, if he wants to waste his life for this battle, that’s his own problem.
With the pointless battle behind her along with the threat of someone shooting her gone, Chevallier’s mass-reduced body leaped and glided down the steep incline of the mountains. Rocks, trees, and the like moved past her just as fast as the remaining minutes and seconds ticked away on her HUD’s countdown. Light flashed suddenly behind her, she wasn’t sure if it was a teleportation or Tolukei’s battle with the Dragon Maiden taking an unexpected turn.
What she did know was the next bright pulse of light that came moments later was the UNE ion cannon orbital strike. Ka-boom did not begin to describe the explosive blast that knocked her over and sent her body into an uncontrolled tumble to the surface.
25 Peiun
Rezeki’s Rage
Jacobus orbit, Kapteyn’s Star system
August 9, 2118, 18:23 SST (Sol Standard Time)
Hundreds of human transport ships fled from the colony as the invaders’ fleet neared and prepared to hurl its winged, serpent life-forms into its atmosphere. Peiun observed from the bridge of the Rezeki’s Rage when it entered orbit around the planet, that many of the fleeing human ships had opted to make their escape into interstellar space, as opposed to utilizing the wormhole. A wormhole that had been blocked off by several invader ships.
“We should do the same, Captain,” said Louik as the rest of the bridge crew watched the view screen. “Let us flee while the invaders have their way with this world.”
“And where would we go at sub light speed?” Peiun said. “It will take us decades to return back to Imperial space.”
Human and Radiance ships were equipped with FTL, Imperial ships, however, were still slave to the old sub light engines, relying heavily on the space bridge network for interstellar travel. Ships that entered the space bridge could teleport anywhere within the galaxy, with one stipulation. The larger a ship was, the longer the process took.
Imperial ships with MRF, however, could reduce their mass enough to speed up the process to take several minutes to an hour. The Empire literally had the power to teleport ships from one location to the next, provided the right conditions were met. The Rezeki’s Rage had a secret nonfunctioning MRF and found itself in a system dozens of light-years away from Imperial space, and a space bridge. Said conditions were not met.
“So be it, let us sleep this conflict out,” said Louik.
Peiun faced him, his voice growing firm. “A moment ago, you were ready to give up your life to fight; now you want to sleep out this war?”
“That was before I realized how insane an enemy we faced.”
Manzo showed signs of agreement with Louik with nods and grunts of approval, while Alesyna remained committed to following the chain of command and defending Peiun’s choices. Louik and Manzo were all loyal to the original captain and first officer and were key players of the bridge’s main operational team. Peiun mostly served below decks and rarely appeared on the bridge unless requested. His rank was the sole reason he sat in the captain’s chair. He was in some way an outsider taking control, an outsider that needed to be removed. The four members of the overextended bridge crew were divided.
“It would appear the humans have left people behind,” Alesyna said, cutting a swathe through the testosterone in the air that Peiun and the feuding bridge crew were creating. “A team of researchers are stranded near the Lyonria ruins on the surface.”
Peiun adjusted his posture. “Show me their location.”
The view screen updated, zooming in to a rocky and mountainous region of the planet they orbited. A glowing navigational marker was superimposed over the location of the distress signal coming from the surface.
“How soon can we have a transport ready?” Peiun said, eyeing the projection.
“You can’t be serious?” Louik said to Peiun. “We are in no position to rescue anyone, let alone humans!”
“The humans have a saying, scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours,” Peiun said. “If we save the lives of those left behind, we could use it as leverage.”
Louik made a wincing glare at him. “Leverage for what?”
“For the UNE not to shoot us down once we enter the wormhole without permission,” Peiun growled, hoping his new tone of voice would remind them who’s in command. “Because, as of now, that’s the only way we’re leaving this system. I will not sleep for seventeen years while we return to Imperial-controlled space.”
“UNE battleships are on their way to the system now,” Alesyna added.
“All the more reason to rescue these researchers now,” Peiun said.
Four invader ships entered orbit having dropped out of FTL. Peiun grimaced as he witnessed hordes of the winged serpents soar away from the organic ships along with large pods that sank beneath the clouds, officially commencing their assault on the planet. The survivors responsible for sending the distress beacon had very little time left.
The Rezeki’s Rage remaining in orbit already put them at great risk. It would only be a matter of time before the rest of the invader’s fleet swarmed the enormous planet, having discovered the lone Imperial frigate hiding in orbit.
The time to act was now, regardless of whatever path they chose.
Whichever path he chose.
“I still didn’t get an answer about that transport,” Peiun said.
“Why not send her to teleport down?” Manzo grunted, pointing at Alesyna.
“I’m the only psionic aboard,” Alesyna said.
“Indeed, her place is on the bridge,” Peiun said. “If the invaders choose to continue their attacks against us, we’ll need her to survive.”
“Then, let’s just leave now and save ourselves the danger,” said Manzo.
Peiun spun his chair to face him. “Did you not listen to a word I said?”
“I did, and I think your own plan is putting what remains of this ship and crew at unnecessary risk,” he spat back. “Take us out of the system, no wormhole, no leverage, let’s enter cryostasis and return to the Empire.”
Alesyna retorted. “You need to follow the orders of the man that sits in that chair.”
“I refuse.” Manzo said, and stood.
Louik stood in defiance, joining him. “It was a mistake to have you take command. Your generation, like all the younger ones, is soft . . . weak, sympathetic.”
Peiun and Alesyna remained sitting and staring at the rebelling officers with their red glowing eyes. “If we weren’t in such a dire situation, I’d kill you where you stand,” Peiun calmly spoke.
Louik laughed. “You don’t have the fangs for that.”
Peiun furiously hissed at him like an angry beast, showing his sharp fangs. L
ouik returned the gesture then allowed his retractable claws to sprout out from his fingers.
“Enough!” Alesyna yelled, pointing at the invader ships on the view screen. “That is the enemy, not the people around you!”
Manzo left his post, cracking his knuckles, drawing his claws out. “Who’s up next for the captain’s chair?”
Louik smirked. “I am.”
Manzo reached for his sheathed, short plasma sword. “Then, let’s get you in there.”
Louik joined him in his mutiny, arming himself with his sidearm plasma sword. Both their weapons activated, releasing a green glow of light illuminating the dimly lit bridge, raising its temperature slightly in the process. Their actions forced Peiun to rise from his chair and do the same and answer their challenge to the captain’s chair.
Conflicts like this were perfectly legal within the Imperial navy. If a captain incurred the rage of their subordinates, they had the right to challenge the captain to a duel to the death and replace them with someone the crew would prefer to serve under. Should the captain win the fight, then it would send a powerful message they were not to be crossed, and therefore they belonged in the seat. If the captain lost? Then they were weak, hated by the crew, and got what they deserved.
Gene therapy only made matters worse as there were multiple generations of Hashmedai serving. The most common generations being those born and raised during the reign of Empress Y’lin and Emperor Rezeki, when war and vengeance were encouraged amongst Hashmedai, and those that were raised during the reign of their daughter, Kroshka, where peace within the galaxy was encouraged.
The two generations repeatedly conflicted over their ideas, which were expected, given the past history of the Empire. Only this time, older generations did not die off due to old age, or were in limbo due to cryostasis sleep, or a lengthy space bridge teleportation. Both generations worked together, and both generations refused to accept each other’s differences.
Alesyna and Peiun were the youngest of those present on the bridge.
Peiun held his blade forward and faced his two attackers. Three blades infused with burning plasma energy clashed against each other. The swings of his blade were made for defense, while his two attackers swung for the kill. Peiun’s finesse and swordplay kept him alive. Skills and moves his mother taught him were recalled in an instant, they were skills and moves his mother used during the many assassins she committed in the name of the Empire.
He saw and predicted their swings seconds before they executed them and countered with the appropriate move of his body or swing of his blade. He shifted his body about, ducking when a swing went for his head, leaping back when that wasn’t an option, deflecting when he felt his sword would do the trick. He would have made a decent assassin had the Empire not forced him to join the navy.
Ultimately, however, his moves were taught to him at a young age, oftentimes when he and his mother were free. Peiun was by no means an experienced assassin, and there were limits to his abilities, limits Alesyna saw as he backed into the gunnery control station unexpectedly. Louik lunged forward to make what was supposed to be the fatal strike that would end Peiun’s command. Alesyna’s psionic might intervened with a telekinetic knock back.
Officially, Alesyna’s intervention was a foul, as the captain was expected to face their challengers solo. For all intents and purposes, Peiun had lost the match and was expected to give up command and be thankful he didn’t have to give his life up to make that happen.
“Alesyna . . .” he grunted to her.
Manzo, playing by the rules powered down his blade, holstering it back at his side and moved to aid Louik, the new captain. Alesyna’s cybernetic arms began to glow orange and gold colors as they charged with super-heated energy generated by her psionic powers. White flames rippled away from the palms of her hands, white flames that formed into a fireball she launched into the chest of Louik turning it into ash and setting what remained of his legs on fire.
“The new captain is dead,” Alesyna said, smirking at Peiun. “I guess that makes you the ranking officer . . . again Peiun.”
Technically it should have been her, but she didn’t officially state she was challenging Louik for the chair. Not that anyone had plans to argue with her on that topic, as her actions reminded everyone who really had the power aboard the ship . . . the lone shipboard psionic.
Peiun powered his weapon off. He pushed aside the fact that the bridge crew wanted to remove him as captain and focused on the real problem at hand, the invaders, the survivors still on the surface, and their leverage to flee into human space without incurring their wrath.
“I’ll take the transport down myself,” Peiun said as he moved to leave the bridge. “If I’m not back in time, take the ship back to the Empire via sub light.”
“Very well . . .” Manzo said, reluctantly.
“Alesyna, you have command,” Peiun said.
Alesyna looked at him, confused. “Me?”
Peiun verified his decision via searching the crew manifest with his HNI. With Louik’s vitals fatal, Alesyna’s name moved up the list, she was the first officer now. “Louik is dead; you’re the ranking officer now as long as I’m gone. Rest your mind up as well we may need the overshields again.”
He watched as Alesyna happily left her psionic workstation to take the captain’s chair, sitting cross-legged, confident that nobody would dare try to challenge her for command.
Peiun hurried across various corridors and elevator lifts, arriving down in the central docking bay where he entered a transport and began the preflight take off sequence. His transport left the Rezeki’s Rage minutes later, giving him a closer view of the extent of damage done to the exterior of the ship, and the strange goo-like substance that clung to its hulls.
As he neared the planet, he brought up the distress signal in question and guided the transport closer to its location and reviewed information about its sender. Oddly enough the signal itself used a Radiance HNI to broadcast, though the contents of the message were transmitted in English, a human language.
The signal was being transmitted on behalf of a human female, an explorer named Rebecca Foster.
26 Foster
Ancient City
Jacobus, Kapteyn’s Star system
August 9, 2118, 18:45 SST (Sol Standard Time)
Wyverns flapped their massive wings as they dove below the thick yellow and grey clouds above the ancient city. Their earsplitting shrieks increased in volume as they closed the massive gap between Foster and her company from the skies, instilling her body with fear for what would come next.
The invader soldiers were a frightful thing to be seen as they fell from the skies in their organic drop pods, and landing within the streets of the ancient city, clawing their way out with tachyon rifles in hand. Aged pillars and the dragon statues were the only sources of cover for Foster, Pierce, Eicelea, and Vynei with his blazing rifle, from the invader’s energy weapons that shot through the air.
One Radiance magnetic rifle, versus dozens of invader tachyon rifles, it wasn’t a fair fight at all.
“Every time I venture into new ruins trouble finds me!” Eicelea yelled. “The Gods must be trying to communicate a message to me.”
“Time for a career change?” Foster snickered to her.
Eicelea nodded. “Indeed.”
“Don’t bother,” Pierce said. “I tried that once, look at what it got me?”
Three pods plummeted from the skies, creating small craters within the ancient streets as they landed. Four invaders clawed and ripped their way out from the skin of each of the three pods, with their bronze armor covered in translucent slime. Vynei was now faced with a grand total of twenty-one soldiers. He’d managed to kill three just seconds before the new pods landed. Nevertheless, the four were faced with twenty-one blasts of tachyon beams, beams which were vaporizing chunks of their pillar and statue cover with each shot.
Eicelea patted Vynei from behind. “Vynei, keep shooting like t
his, get me out of here in relatively good health, and I shall double your salary!”
“Sure thing, boss,” Vynei said before sticking his rifle back out into the fray, spraying bullets at the closest invader soldiers.
Foster peeked around the corner of her crumbling pillar and noted the number of invader soldiers still pushing toward them. She shook her head. “We’s gotta fall back,” she said to Eicelea.
“Back? Look around, human, there is no safe place! Except being next to Vynei . . .”
Foster pointed at the mysterious monolith behind them. “That floating thingy is gonna give us better cover than these flimsy ass pillars and statues.”
“Have you gone mad, human?” Eicelea said. “Put the monolith in direct line of fire between the two of us? That is the most prized structure in this system.”
“Suit ya self,” Foster said, grabbing ahold of Pierce’s arm. “Let’s go, Travis.”
Foster and Pierce made a quick dash backward to the monolith, keeping their heads low, and what remained of their cover behind to obstruct the invader’s aim at them. Their hasty departure from the invader’s choke point brought to their attention additional drop pods falling around them, cratering the once pristine and undamaged streets.
“Uh, run faster,” Foster murmured upon noticing the skin of the pods quickly start to rip open from the inside.
Unlike the original invader group that continued to shoot toward Eicelea and Vynei, this newly landed group would be in the perfect position to gun all four of them down. Foster quickly looked back and shouted to Eicelea and Vynei. “Ya’ll might wanna look behind.”
Eicelea’s dwarflike body leaped up and down with panic, her arms flailing. “Vynei, do something about this—”
“Run to us, you fools!” Foster cut in.
Foster and Pierce continued to run, marching up short flights of stairs onto the platform where the golden monolith hovered and hummed. Behind her, she heard the footsteps of Eicelea and Vynei totter as they fled to join them. Amidst those sounds were the pods being torn open, and slime-covered invader soldiers splashing out from them, searching for their rifles still on the insides of the pods.
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