by Saxon Andrew
• • •
The Supreme War Leader was holding position at the rear of the giant formations and he ordered the fleets to hold formation as the Fagan warships moved in on them at high speed. He planned to capture them in a massive crossfire. He knew the range of his Planet Killer’s blasters far exceeded those on the Fagan fortresses and he expected this fight to end quickly. But the giant Fagan formation suddenly turned into a gigantic wedge and blew into the center of his formations. Tens of thousands of Fagan warships were blasted into vapor, but they were now inside the alien formations and the increased range of the alien’s blasters was neutralized; they couldn’t fire at the Fagan without hitting their own ships and the ensuing battle was nightmarish. The War Leader saw holding formation in the developing battle was a death sentence. Fagan warships were crashing into Planet Killers and he yelled over the fleet’s frequency, “ALL SHIPS SCATTER AND FIGHT THEM SHIP TO SHIP!! SCATTER AND SURVIVE!!” The Supreme War Leader realized that the fight would be resolved in space just outside the spiral arm. It was horror on a grand scale, and it didn’t stop.
• • •
Keeping track of all the warships around you was impossible. The millions of ships picked a target and attacked it with every weapon on board. Many were destroyed by warships moving in from the side or a Fagan rushing in and ramming a Planet Killer. Ships were dying in impossible numbers and still the carnage continued.
The Fagan Fleet Leader stayed behind the front lines of his fortresses but realized any semblance of order had disappeared. He looked at his pilot and ordered, “Attack those three large enemy vessels in front of us.” The giant fortress rushed forward and was rocked by a Planet Killer’s beam that grazed the Fortress. The Pilot saw that the ship was losing atmosphere and he gritted his teeth and went to maximum speed. He rammed into the center Planet Killer and both ships went up in a huge blast taking out the two Planet Killers holding position next to the rammed ship. Everywhere death stalked space taking its toll.
• • •
The High Leader saw the Fleet Leader’s ship blow up and shook his head. His fleets were holding their own but, he saw the giant alien fleets suddenly break out of their formations and scatter. They were spread out and now there were enough space between them to make their horrible blaster beams effective. Alien warships were still blowing up, but the handwriting was on the wall. The advantage was with the giant alien ships and it was only a matter of time until they ultimately prevailed. He sat back and strangely felt at peace. At least his son had escaped, and he could start a new civilization elsewhere. But it was becoming clear that this battle would soon be over.
• • •
It took four weeks before the last Fagan warship was destroyed. The Supreme War Leader refused to attack the Fagan planets until every one of their warships were eliminated; he was not going to allow them to attack his ships from behind as they entered Fagan Space. At the end, he lost half of his ships. His anger was monumental, and he ordered his fleets to move out into the spiral arm and commence destroying the Fagan inhabited planets. More than a billion Fagan warriors had died in their fleets but more than that died on the first Fagan Planet destroyed by a Planet Killer.
• • •
The War Leader heard a communication come in and listened, “I’m moving in on an inhabited planet and I’ve not detected any technology on it. Do you want me to attack it?”
The War Leader stood up, “Is the planet inhabited by the species we’re attacking?”
“No, Supremacy. It appears to be a farming planet with only primitive tools.”
The War Leader Scowled, “DO NOT WASTE TIME OR ENERGY ON THAT PLANET! WE WILL HANDLE IT AFTER THIS WAR IS OVER!”
“Yes, Supremacy!”
The War Leader looked at his Communications Leader, “Order all ships to ignore any planet that doesn’t have advanced technology or the species we’re attacking. Do not waste time on them!” The communication leader nodded and sent the message.
• • •
The Group Leader saw the distant planet getting closer and heard, “Ship Leader, I’m detecting small nuclear signatures on the planet.”
“What do you mean by small?”
“They can’t be larger than a hand sized item.”
“Is this planet inhabited by the Fagan?”
The alien stared at his scanner and shook his head slightly, “I’m detecting some of them, but the population isn’t Fagan. There appears to only be a small number of them on the surface.”
The Group Leader thought for a moment and turned to his second, “We are ordered not to attack a planet without advanced technology or is absent the Fagan species.”
“This planet had next to no advanced technology and only a small number of Fagan on it, Group Leader,” the Second responded.
The Group Leader thought about it and shrugged, “I’d rather be safe than questioned on this. Destroy the planet.” Five huge Planet Killers moved into orbit above the planet and turned their giant beams toward the surface. They flew around the planet and left everything burning before leaving for their next target.
• • •
The High Leader waited at his console and was the last one in the room. He saw the ten giant alien warships moving into orbit and knew his time had run out. He suddenly heard over the wall speaker, “I’ve been asked by the War Leader that came here years ago to destroy the white ships to tell you that you should have agreed not to attack each other.”
“Would that agreement have stopped this from happening?” the High leader asked.
The High Leader waited and finally heard a chuckle, “Probably not.”
“Then what difference does it make?”
“I guess he just wanted the last word,” the Supreme War Leader replied. A moment later, the room with the High Leader in it was vaporized.
A scout high above the Fagan Government Planet intercepted the communication and knew her mission was over. She turned and fled out into open space high above the spiral arm and sent the message and recording of the planet’s destruction to Fleet Operations. RJ received the recording and realized that Grady was right. There would be no bargaining with the Britannia Aliens. This truly was a fight to the death.
• • •
It took six months to finally destroy the last planet with Fagan inhabitants. What extended the time was hundreds of thousands of Fagan commercial vessels trying to escape their planets; none managed to do it. More than a quarter of a million additional warships arrived to assist in the extinction of the Fagan or it could have taken a year to complete. But finally, it was over. The Britannia Aliens left and now turned their attention to their sole remaining enemy on this side of the core, Earth.
• • •
Grady stared at the tactical monitor and pressed his communicator, “Admiral Horton, have the aliens left any ships behind?”
“No, Admiral Henricks.”
“You may take your scouts back to New Britannia for a month of liberty. At the end of that time, please return to alien territory and keep us informed of their actions.”
“Thank you, Sir. My scouts will appreciate the time off.”
Grady nodded and ended the call. He spoke into his helmet communicator, “All ships assigned to check on the slave planets may leave now. Inform me of what you find when you arrive. All other ships use the charts of Fagan Territory to go and investigate your assigned planet. Report in when you arrive.” Grady ended the contact and sat back. He looked at Taffy and said, “I want a recording of what the Britannia Aliens have done here. Our people and warriors need to see it.” Taffy nodded and activated her computer to receive the reports.
• • •
The reports started coming in and Taffy looked up from her console, “Candy will be pleased to know the slave planets weren’t attacked.”
“All of them?” Grady asked.
Taffy sighed, “The planet with the surviving Fagan was destroyed.” Grady nodded and turned back to the wall
monitor. Two hours later, Grady heard Taffy ask, “What are they saying?” Grady jerked his head around to her and Taffy said quietly, “One of our ships is receiving a Fagan frequency from out on the edge of the spiral arm. It’s coming from a small M-Type Star.”
“What are they saying, Taffy?”
“They’re asking if anyone has survived, Grady.”
“Give that planet’s coordinates to Ron and get the ship moving there immediately.”
• • •
The Rex Hare with its twenty escorts went to full speed and flew across the spiral arm at incredible speed. It arrived in less than an hour and Grady heard the weak transmission. He moved the ship into orbit as Taffy stared at her console scanning the planet. She looked up, “Grady, there are no defenses on this planet and no ship building facilities. The city is modern but does not match the profile of any other Fagan planet.”
Grady was sitting in his chair with his chin propped up by his right hand with his index finger on his lips. Taffy saw him and pressed a button on her console, “Who is broadcasting this transmission?”
The transmission instantly stopped, and Grady said, “All ships, activate your weapons.”
Taffy quickly said, “If you want to survive, you better start talking!”
There was a long silence and Grady turned to his weapons officer. Suddenly, they heard, “We really aren’t worried about dying but we are curious about what happened to the Empire. I am the elected leader of this planet.”
Taffy held up her hand stopping Grady from launching an attack, and asked, “Why is your planet not defended?”
“We are not allowed by the empire to defend our planet and wouldn’t do so even if it was allowed.”
“Why is that?”
The voice hesitated and asked, “Has any planets survived the attack?”
“Answer my question!” Taffy said firmly.
“Everyone on this planet has been exiled here from the Empire.”
“Why?”
“We refused to take part in the actions of our people.”
“What actions?”
“Attacking any intelligent civilization the Empire encountered.”
Grady spoke up, “Why didn’t the Empire just execute you for your actions?”
“Because all of us have members of our families that are highly placed in the Empire. This was a compromise that allowed us to live.”
“That doesn’t sound like something the Empire would do!” Grady said harshly.
“You’re right; normally they just kill any traitors. But our families agreed to allow us to live in exile. Even the High Leader’s youngest son was disowned by him and sent here to live out his life. It’s easy to kill those you don’t love. The leaders of the Empire agreed to send their obstinate children here hoping we would change our mind.”
“Did any of you change your minds?”
“No, we were willing to die for what we believed and being sent here wouldn’t change that. All of us told our parents that it was only a matter of time until the Empire ran into a more advanced civilization and the Empire would end. Did you destroy the Empire?”
“No, the aliens from the core have done that; I believe you are the last surviving members of your species,” Grady answered.
Grady turned to his weapons officer and raised a hand as the voice said, “You reap what you sow.”
Grady lowered his hand and said, “I notice you aren’t asking me to allow you to live.”
“We don’t deserve mercy. My species history is filled with horrific conquest and enslavement of many civilizations. Asking for mercy is not something my species has ever done and honestly, they wouldn’t deserve it if they did.”
“Don’t you know sending that transmission would lead to your destruction?” Taffy asked.
“None of us are afraid of death. We just wanted to know if the Empire has paid for its abominations. I think we could die in peace knowing that. We voted and decided to ask if there were any survivors.”
“Your transmission is very weak,” Taffy noted.
“We aren’t allowed to have any communication with the Empire. But we do have receivers and heard the screams of many ships being destroyed. One of us built this transmitter and we voted to use it.”
Grady was glaring at Taffy and she quickly asked, “Now that you know the Empire has been destroyed, does that change how you feel?”
“Our prayers have been answered. Our souls have been redeemed for standing up for what is right, and we can die in peace if the Empire is truly dead.”
“How many of you are living on this planet?” Grady asked.
“Around twenty thousand.”
“So, you’re telling me out of the trillions of Fagan living here, only twenty thousand have ethics?!” Grady snarled.
“I suspect there were many more, but they would be executed if they spoke up. All of us feel immense guilt at being allowed to live because of our families’ status. That is a sin we are forced to endure. We were denied dying for our beliefs.”
“Why didn’t you just kill yourselves?” Grady asked.
“There is a part of us that won’t allow us to do that.”
“Are there children on the planet?” Taffy glared at Grady for his harsh tone as she asked.
“Yes.”
“Why haven’t they been taken away from you and back to the Empire.”
“The Empire considered them tainted by their association with those of us who are unclean. We would welcome you destroying our planet.”
“What about the children!?” Taffy asked loudly.
“They have no future,” the voice replied.
• • •
RJ and Angel were listening to the conversation and RJ’s expression was dour. Angel said, “Grady is probably going to grant their wish.”
• • •
Grady was silent for a very long moment and then he said softly, “The only future you have is redemption.”
“What?”
“Your species have murdered and enslaved trillions of innocent intelligent beings. Just standing by your beliefs is not enough. You must make up for the horror your species has caused or die trying. I will not destroy your world. I think the appropriate punishment for you is to allow you to live. It’s up to you to make up for your species crimes.”
“But we are so few!”
“My wife and I are the only survivors who managed to escape an alien attack on my home world. It’s due to our actions that the aliens at the core of the galaxy may get their reckoning. You have a decision to make. Do you choose to wallow in your self-pity or do something to rectify the evil done by your species. Either way, I will not kill you.”
“Please!”
Grady looked at Ron, “Take the ship back into the spiral arm.” The twenty-one ships disappeared, and Taffy’s tears began falling. Never had she been as proud of Grady as she was at that moment.
• • •
RJ’s head remained down, and Angel was shaking her head, “How could he do that and allow them to live? He was willing to kill a billion slaves to kill the few surviving Fagan.”
RJ turned to her, “That was the right thing to do, Angel. And this was also the right thing to do. I understand my role in this war now. Grady is someone I hope to be like one day.”
“But…”
RJ held up his hand silencing her, “I don’t know what’s going to come of the seed Grady planted today but it could be something incredible. There was a man with twelve followers in Earth’s ancient history who were unafraid of dying and they stood by their beliefs. The impact they made on human history was astounding. There’s twenty thousand like them on that planet and heaven knows what they may cause in this universe. I think it could be something very special.
• • •
Grady and his escort arrived above the Fagan Government planet and saw that the Britannia Aliens had given it special attention. Not only were the continents scorched but the seas had been boiled killing al
l life in them. Grady stared at the monitor showing the destruction to the planet and his face turned grim. “Sir, I’m detecting destroyed space craft all the way out to the next planet. It appears many inhabitants tried to escape in commercial or personal vessels.” Grady nodded and knew that the aliens were masters at conquest, they’d been doing it for thousands of years. They destroyed all the aerial craft on Britannia as well before going after the surviving population. They were, if nothing else, thorough.
“With the vast distances between stars, one would think that some of the Fagan should have been able to hide,” Taffy said quietly.
“Some probably have,” Grady replied. He turned to Taffy, “But their chances of survival are minimal.”
“Why?”
“You said it earlier, Taffy. The Fagan aren’t like humans that can eat many things and survive. They are held hostage to their food sources and can only live on what they produce. All the planets with their food sources have been burned and destroyed. Even if survivors took enough food to survive, they will eventually run out.”
“Couldn’t they synthesize it?”
“You mean duplicate it in a lab?” Ron nodded. “I don’t think any survivors had a lab on their ships capable of doing that and every lab on every planet is gone. If they knew about the survivors on that planet we just visited, they would all head there.”
“You don’t think they will?” Taffy asked.
“No. I suspect they stopped transmitting after we left; they wouldn’t want any survivors coming to their world. I’m also certain that planet was a well-kept secret by the Fagan leadership; wouldn’t do for the masses to know their treasonous children had not been executed.”