The XO grinned at this.
“Quite.”
He turned and walked back to the small group of officers to speak with Captain Harris, the commander of the mighty warship. He glanced at the two new arrivals and nodded.
“How does it feel to be back?” asked Gun.
Teresa smiled at him.
“Feels like I never left. Spartan would feel just the same.”
* * *
The T’Kari Assembly was an unusual building. It had been carved directly into the rock of the moon, and its doors were built from the same stone. The primitive looking exterior betrayed the exquisite interior that was filled with statues of T’Kari from eons past. Teresa and Gun waited patiently inside the structure, soaking in the lavish detail. The colors had faded and there was some damage, yet the vast room retained its greatness, even after being abandoned for so long. Gun nodded toward the entrance. As Teresa turned, she spotted a procession of the alien warriors; their helmets removed and carrying their rifles up on the shoulder like a human soldier.
“They even look a bit like soldiers now, don’t they?” chortled Gun.
He was less than inspired by what he’d seen of the T’Kari in combat. They were fast on their feet and agile, but their tactics were primitive. They had no idea of how to fight in close range combat. In short, they were the exact opposite of the Jötnar.
Maybe that’s why they treat us like Gods? Gun wondered.
The procession continued inside with Ayndir, the T’Kari leader at the front, along with several senior figures of their people. Teresa looked around the rest of the Assembly Hall, noting there were about fifty in total, and this figure included a substantial marine contingent; as well as a Jötnar squad wearing the armor manufactured in the factories of Prometheus. She looked at each of their faces, trying to recognize as many as she could. All the company commanders for the three battalions of marines were there, as well as their commanding officers from the ships in the small fleet.
Ah, there he is.
Teresa had spotted Admiral Anderson was present. Though he now had to report directly to the new office of the Joint Chiefs, he was still the highest military authority in New Charon. She moved to the next man before noticing the movement from Gun. She could see a look of genuine pleasure on his face. There were only two people that did that, and she turned, half expecting to see Spartan, but instead it was the aged form of General Rivers, now Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He saw her and smiled briefly before turning his attention back to the T’Kari. Standing directly behind him was the younger Brigadier General Daniels, a man with whom Teresa and Gun had fought alongside just as much as General Rivers.
“If Rivers and Daniels are here, then we can expect a fight,” Gun said gleefully.
A few of the naval officers nearby snarled at him, and Gun laughed, immediately drawing the attention of those in the hall. Ayndir noticed him and bowed gently. It was a measure of the importance they placed on the Jötnar that the other T’Kari soon did the same. Normally, Gun would have simply laughed, but even he realized the solemnity of the occasion and of their response. He lowered his head in respect to them, and Teresa watched in amusement. The procession continued once more, and Teresa leaned into towards Gun.
“Bowing to the T’Kari, are you? Very nice.”
He scowled at her enjoyment of his action.
“It’s hard to find friends of the Jötnar. These T’Kari are the closest thing we have.”
Teresa looked taken aback at his comment. He could see she was hurt, and he lifted his hand to rub his face.
“With a few obvious exceptions, of course,” he said, trying to make up for it.
They turned their gaze back to the group of high-ranking people and watched them move around to the front. Teresa recalled when a more formalized command structure had been proposed. There had been a lot of fuss, but she could appreciate the importance of creating a military High Command that could report back directly with the civilian command structure. It was a new system and based upon the similar system still being used by countries on Earth back in the twenty-first century. The General was now the leader of the Joint Chiefs, while active representatives from the Navy, Marine Corps, and the brand new Colonial Guard made up the rest of the body. The Guard was a territorial unit to provide disaster relief and short-term emergency forces. It lacked heavy equipment and weapons or the ability to leave their home colonies, something that was outlawed by the Senate. General Rivers had been voted in over the last year and advised the President directly on military matters. The others stood near him were unfamiliar to her.
I don’t know any of you, though, she thought.
Teresa turned her attention to Ayndir who had now reached the front and turned to face the audience.
“Greetings, my friends, it is a pleasure to see you once more as we embark upon this great adventure,” she said in a high-pitched voice.
It was the first time Teresa had heard her speak in English without the use of her suit’s translator. By the look of the other people assembled, it was also quite clear that nobody else had either.
“Strange,” Gun said quietly.
Teresa looked disapprovingly at him, but his only response was a wide grin. She looked back as Admiral Anderson and the Defense Secretary moved up to the raised area near the front, between two beautifully carved stone sculptures. They showed ancient T’Kari in primitive armor and carrying weapons that looked similar to spears. Like much of the art Teresa had seen, these two images were designed to show their physical forms off to perfection. The T’Kari leader looked to her two comrades and nodded gently. This was the first time Teresa had seen her old commander, the General, in this position. He’d rescued them during the fighting on Hades when a force had come through a Spacebridge and attempted to wrest control of New Charon. Ayndir placed her hands together, and a beautifully detailed model of a star system appeared. She started to speak, but this time it was in her native tongue, and it took a brief moment before the suit translators kicked in.
“Our two peoples have come together as friends and allies in these last two years. We have provided you with technical assistance, and you have provided manpower and security. Even so, recent events show us that our shared enemy is near. In the past, we would have hidden, but with our combined strength, we have the confidence to allow you into our circle.”
The senior officers and officials nodded at these words. All of them, including Teresa and Gun, knew the basics of their operation. They were on a fact-finding mission to obtain intelligence on the Spacebridges and the enemy. It was the details that Teresa really wanted to understand however.
Okay, so you are our friend, and now you think we’re tough enough to do something. Why do I think this means we will get our hands bloody on their behalf?
She looked at the alien, specifically at her mouth as she struggled with the English words.
“We have experienced much the same strife and struggle on our worlds as you have. Agents sent by the enemy also forced us into wars amongst our neighbors and ourselves for centuries. We are now all that is left of the T’Kari Empire. We are but a fraction of our former selves, but we will rebuild with our skills and your help. Today is a day that will be remembered by future generations. It is the day that our two peoples united forces against the darkness that turns us against our own people.”
Ayndir nodded and seven T’Kari entered the open space. They held up seven icons on staffs. Teresa recognized one immediately as the scythe type marking that was present on the clothing and armor of the T’Kari. The others were completely new to her. She thought what they might represent, and it quickly occurred to her that they must be something to do with the other T’Kari, perhaps lost worlds or colonies. Ayndir interrupted her thinking and confounded her with her next words.
“Even though our many worlds and billions of people thrived, we were never alone. A few of our great empires were connected via Spacebridges that we built, much like the one
you constructed to reach here. Over time, we located a great Anomaly in space that allowed multiple Spacebridges from different sources to coalesce in one star system. We worked together to create this system over a hundred years to create the great Network. When completed, it allowed travel to the center and then back to any of the connected empires.”
The model transformed to show a convoy of ships entering a Spacebridge, only to appear outside of a massive planet surrounded by further Spacebridge entrances.
“This construction allowed travel and trade between scores of great empires in much the way we are connected to the rest of your worlds. For many star systems, it was the only way to retain contact with others, while a small number maintained additional links to each other dependent upon distances and technology.”
The image changed to show a living, thriving model of hundreds of star systems with thousands of ships plying trade routes. It was an image of a system that could only be dreamt of in the far less developed Alliance. Teresa looked at it with fascination, trying to imagine what it would be like to live in a place filled with so many people and species. The map was spherical in shape with groups of stars around the outside of the ring connected by green dotted lines. Different colors then moved from each of them to the central yellow point. The image quickly changed to show badly damaged images from the surface of ravaged worlds. Great cities burned and the skies of each one were black with smoke.
“As you have already learned from our conferences on your capital world of Terra Nova, our history is just as complex as your own. For the purposes of this expedition, it is important to understand the significance of Helios. To do this we must return to the Great Enemy and his place in the downfall of the T’Kari.”
Gun shook his head, and Teresa was convinced she could hear him complaining. Like him, she had heard the stories of the T’Kari and the struggles they’d been involved in. There were few in the Alliance that hadn’t lapped up the stories of battle and defeat. Even now the T’Kari were something new and foreign, and that always caught the attention of the masses. As Ayndir continued, it was obvious she intended on providing far more detail than ever before.
“We are just one race of the many hundreds that we know of. Most vanished long ago, either through disease, war, loss of resources, or simply migrating to new and better places.”
Teresa smelled the air in the place. It felt damp and alien. Even so, the low-level lightning and subtle mist coming in from the vast open doors gave the place an almost mystical feel.
“Each of our peoples was connected, just like the spokes of a wheel, to this central point that we call Helios. This star system is rich with worlds, people, and resources. It is the focal point for all of us, due to the collection of Spacebridges that we built. None of us controlled this region; it was free for us all, and people from a hundred different races lived there in peace. As I explained, a small number of these systems were also connected directly to each other as well as to Helios. We suspect that your own worlds also share a hidden connection with Helios.”
The Alliance leaders at the front seemed unfazed, but the audience of Navy and Marine personnel was surprised by the information. Teresa looked at their faces and to the front where Daniels was looking directly at her. He nodded as though he’d just shared important knowledge with her.
“One of the lesser races was a planet of biomechanical engineers who perfected the grafting of machine and the living. For a long time, they were one of the many people with Spacebridge connections to Helios. This was until the day they decided Helios should be theirs.”
Again the imagery changed to show paintings and artworks of an ancient war, with millions of warriors locked into a never-ending struggle. Vast fleets of ships clashed with great armies of machines, and entire planets appeared to be engulfed in flames. Even Gun seemed moved by the imagery.
“The war was terrible, and for a thousand years the enemy controlled Helios. He used this time to seed planets and worlds with machines and technology that we suspect was placed in case it was needed in the future. We do not speak of their true name outside of our own people; instead, we call them simply the Great Enemy, or sometimes the Great Devourer.”
She waited for a moment and looked out to her audience. They were captivated by the information, especially the details of the enemy. She looked to her own comrades before continuing.
“It was this race of people that sent agents to light the fires of insurrection, the fires that started civil wars that raged for hundreds of years. This continued until only seven of the old empires remained, and of course, the eighth, the Great Enemy.”
The T’Kari lifted up their icons at this point. Those present looked at them, but without specifics, they were just faceless objects.
“What happened to the others we will never know because of what occurred next. Perhaps they managed to break the Rifts and isolate themselves. Many were destroyed, and now nothing remains of them other than their sterile worlds and ruins.”
The image changed once more to show a dark gray world with nothing but rocks and debris on it. Teresa could only assume this was one of the sterilized worlds.
Doesn’t look much different to this moon, she thought, deciding to keep her thoughts to herself.
“To preserve what was left, we grouped our last forces together and forced the Enemy back into his domain before collapsing his Rift to Helios. We used the technology of the Helions to do this. With the Enemy contained, we all agreed to seal our Rifts to Helios. This was drastic and left each of us weaker, but is also denied access to the Network and our worlds. The Great Enemy was quicker, however, and in the time it took for us to leave Helios and shut down the Rifts, he left spies, equipment, and soldiers behind. It didn’t take long before we turned against ourselves and tore our own worlds apart, ready for his arrival. Even without the Rifts, the Enemy retained a number of its commanders in our territories, one of which oversaw our destruction. Only by keeping the knowledge of the sealed Rift hidden, did we stop him escaping and doing the same to the others.”
Ayndir lifted her hands outwards as if to encompass everything.
“All that remains of our people from that final war can be seen here.”
She paused while the Alliance guests drank in her words. Only a few, including Teresa and Gun, were unfamiliar with this last piece of information. Even so, it was of monumental significance. Teresa’s first thoughts were the questions so many Alliance citizens had been asking since ANS Beagle had travelled through to New Charon, deep inside the Orion Nebula.
Where is the Enemy, and why is he not attacking?
“With us beaten, the Enemy left a handful of us in hiding, though for what purpose we do not know. We wondered for many years why we had been saved, but none ever discovered the truth.”
Ayndir beckoned for one of her commanders to approach. He wore scarred armor and had the look of an experienced leader about him. He stopped in front of the Alliance leaders, shook their hands, and turned to the small audience.
He spoke through the translators of his suit, “I am T’Kron, commander of the Exiles. We are the sworn defenders of the sealed Rifts. We are now just six ships and two hundred T’Kari.”
Gun grinned at the sight of a T’Kari warrior, “So, have you heard of these Exiles before?”
She nodded and whispered to him, “Spartan spoke with Ayndir about them. They patrol the Rifts and watch for signs of the Enemy. They have the weapon that can disrupt and collapse Rifts. The ship that helped us was one of theirs.”
Gun nodded with interest. T’Kron used his hands to change the shape of the image being shown, and this time it moved back to the rocky world of Hades, the inhabited moon on which they all currently stood upon.
“A Guardian ship was left here along with their commander, a number of agents from different worlds, and a garrison, based on this very moon.”
He pointed to the ground.
“They appeared periodically and attacked us if we tried t
o move out from our remaining settlements, while they continued to stockpile equipment and machines. It is our belief that this force identified your worlds generations ago and established these stockpiles ready to be used to break your people, just as they did with us. They were in the process of leaving to attack you when our moon’s Rift was destroyed with atomic weapons. Your work I believe?”
He paused as those in the audience familiar with the Hyperion incident considered his comments.
“With all our space-based Rifts sealed, we were finally safe, but dared not raise our heads too quickly in case it was a trick. Seventeen years later, your people arrived in our system, and that is when we found the Enemy had a secret. They had kept a back door into New Charon, a way to bring in ships and warriors when the time was right.”
This news caught the attention of most of those present with surprise. Evidently, the General and the other commanders already knew of the information. Teresa could see the fear in the eyes of the Alliance officers standing alongside her. It was a fear she could understand.
Gun looked less concerned at the news, and she leaned in to speak, but a sudden hush silenced the room. The T’Kari commander hadn’t finished.
“Together we held back their forces before more ships could arrive and destroy the Guardian vessel. Your arrival, and the arrival of the Enemy from this unmapped Rift, has caused us great concern. We understood that only Helios and the great wheel of Rifts could connect our empires together. Now we find there are other bridges through space. We had assumed this meant this part of space was secure. With the news from the asteroid field now public, it would seem not. There are other Rift entrances here that we are unfamiliar with. If there are unmapped points, then it is safe to assume the same is true for your own worlds, if the Enemy has any more forces in your part of space. The Enemy could potentially appear and strike any world at will, and before ships can be mobilized for defense.”
Machine Gods (Star Crusades Nexus, Book 2) Page 9