Chapter 29
ARAZIS
She and Saiin sat in her crew quarters in silence. There was nothing to say between the two to alleviate their hearts and minds. They knew many who made it out with the Amun, but many more of who they knew were left behind in their escape. Saiin only got out being a gunner on a frigate that could jump away. Arazis, being a pilot, had lost many. Abandoned by the captain out of necessity.
“So what’s the plan anyway? Do we even have one?” Saiin asked breaking the most uncomfortable silence. He could almost hear the screams of the dead across hyperspace, he thought. Saiin was not present during the debriefing, only her fellow pilots were.
“We’ve called the Suteh and the Ptah and they will meet us at our secondary intercept coordinates. The Ptah already has its inhibitor field up to take them back into the Garden so we can end this.”
“For all of the fallen.”
She nodded. “Our remote probes tell us they’re already falling directly into the trap.” She almost had a maniacal joy about it.
“Ara, you sound different. Are you sure you’re up to this?”
“I’ve been told an unimaginable truth. We do not worship a god. We worship protection against a god.” She and the other squad leaders as well as a few select other higher ups were informed of a few facts by the captain.
“What do you mean? Are you blaspheming against all the order of our faith has taught us for our history? I mean, I’m not knocking you if you are. Just surprising coming from the daughter of a priest.”
“I’m saying that she’s not alive. She’s an it. Kadesh is the nebula. The Tiamat and Kadesh idols were created to keep us in comfort. Sajuuk, however. That one is real. That one, that’s the real danger. And if he knows how to find us, nothing can save our people.”
“So, that’s all there is to it then. We must stop these invaders at all costs.”
“That’s the idea. Still though, if Kadesh is just the nebula itself, why do we call this place her Garden?”
“I’m sure there’s a reason, I just haven’t figured it out yet.” Then silence returned between them. She did not like to hear the screams of the dead either. “How about you? You good?”
“No, honestly. Sure most of the people I know are my fellow frigate crew, but that doesn’t mean watching three other frigates in our strike group go down didn’t hurt.”
“I get it.”
“Yeah but that doesn’t compare at all, Ara. You lost your entire squad. I—I just have no idea what to say to that.”
“It’s okay, Saiin. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll kill them for it. I’ll kill them all.”
“That’s just making me worry more.” He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. “Don’t go down this path of vengeance. It will not end well, and it won’t make you feel any happier in the end nor bring our friends back to life. And besides, It’s not what Cial would want for you.”
He felt her start to shake uncontrollably, and then she began to cry. “Oh, Saiin. I know.”
MARK
The day passed by. Or was it night? He couldn’t tell. All point of temporal reference was meaningless now. He was barely awake when he got out of bed. He entered the washroom and splashed some cold water into his face to wake up some more. He stared into his dark hazel eyes unblinking.
He stepped into the shower and turned on the water. His long, dark brown hair soaked up the water and fell in front of his eyes. He wiped it to each side to see. He hadn’t realized just how much it had grown since Mothership launched. There was no dust, no dirt, no sand. Just grease and oil, really. And a low far off hum ever present of the hyperdrive running. Just a low, constant, hum. Beeping. And beeping away.
It took him a moment to snap back to reality. It was the alarm. “Attention fleet, we’re being dragged out of hyperspace,” came Karan’s confirmation.
“Shit, shit, shit!” He said repeatedly, trying to rapidly dry off and dress himself into at least his underwear. He barged out of his quarters and Isabella was still putting on a shirt in the hallway.
“Why the hell? I bet it’s those Kadeshi again,” she said as he finished getting dressed. Sure, a comedic novelty tee wasn’t appropriate military attire but she hardly had the time to be choosey about clothing, so off they went to the hangar.
ARAZIS
The siren sounded moments after she was scheduled to wake. She already was, had been for hours. Hardly could sleep at all that night. As she’d gotten dressed already, she stood and left her quarters to join the others. She was ready to go meet these outsiders once more. And this time, it would not be a simple unprepared scouting party. This time would be for real. Three Needles are rarely required for anything at all, but seeing the damage this Kushan fleet did to the Amun’s forces, High Command deemed it necessary with another response team on its way as well, however it would take them hours to arrive. As the Harvest had completed, all Needles from Prime Colony had already departed for their own patrols. The Suteh and Ptah were the only two able to arrive in a timely fashion.
The location chosen as the final battleground was the holiest of holies that side of the Garden. The Origin Nexus. It was the resting place of the last undisturbed prison barge and the lone Hiigaran Empire carrier that provided it with assistance when it saw their ancestors break away from the original endless convoy. Its production facilities were essential for building the first defensive forces able to keep the Garden secure. Most all other prison barges were long ago converted into either museums, libraries, or chapels surrounding the colony outposts.
She made her way to the bow of the Amun to listen to the captain’s speech before engagement. Saiin found her in the crowd and joined. Captain Jeremiah Thesedus was alone on the central stage with a sparse crowd of all who remained gathered around.
“This is it? These few hundred people?” Anger and sadness cracked in her voice.
“This is it,” Saiin confirmed. “More than half present aren’t even going into combat, this includes the Amun’s personnel and those who’ve been on standby for any reason at all.”
“Oh my Goddess,” she said. Seeing it visually allowed it to finally sink in just how severe the prior day’s loss had been for them. How many people lost friends they’ve known their entire lives? Family? Lovers?
As if hearing their conversation, Jeremiah began to speak. “I know this appears dire, my beloved crew. We’ve lost so many to these invaders, too many. Reinforcements and additional auxiliary personnel are transferring over to us from the Suteh and the Ptah. They are also bringing with them two full legions. And as the Suteh is one of the more potent strike groups we have at our disposal, this includes many Elite Guardians as well with advanced swarmers a lot tougher and more frightening than our standard issue who can go twice as long without needing to refuel.”
“Guardians? I’ve only heard of them,” someone near them said in shock.
“Yeah, and from what I’ve heard they quashed an entire colony’s rebellion with only strike craft,” another added.
“I’ve heard even if you kill a Guardian, Kadesh just sends them back to us.”
“Silence!” Jeremiah shouted. “Please, please. Speculations aside, the Elite Guardians are the most proficiently trained in combat of our kind there are. You mentioned the rebellion of a colony quashed without their Needle needing to fire a single shot nor launch any frigates. That was the Suteh.”
A gasp reverberated across the crowd.
“Our victory this day is of dire importance. They must not be allowed to escape. If they do…” he need not finish the thought. Everyone present knew. “Yes, we have lost many already. However, we have so much more to lose should we fail. Think of your friends not in service. Think of your families. Your children. Your children’s children and even theirs someday. In order for our continued peaceful existence we must eliminate this threat entirely so He Who Shapes may never learn of our potential and decide to take notice with his Emissaries. To the death of all of us, if we must.”
“This is code black?” One asked.
“This is,” he confirmed.
Code black. It meant even if they were to succeed in the destruction of the Needles, They surely would not survive the suicidal kamikaze run of every vessel left of their fleets.
“I do not raise us to code black lightly. I never have in my entire years of service made this request of my crew. Should I fail, you must not. However if you cannot due to personal beliefs around suicide, I will not force you to condemn your immortal soul to eternal damnation.”
“My soul is worth nothing if my daughter’s gets destroyed by Sajuuk,” one man spoke.
“Indeed,” Jeremiah responded. “However as a commander in the navy who understands regulation, I must suggest should you choose to live if we all die, fly til your fuel is run dry so any rescue teams do not suspect you of abandoning your posts. It is not cowardice, this code black designation was never intended for use under normal circumstances. However, these are abnormal circumstances. All we have we must use. May Kadesh guide and protect us all.”
The captain walked off stage, and the crowd slowly started to talk among themselves.
“Hey, I have no one left to lose after yesterday. I’ll join my beloved if I must, I have no issues with this,” she overheard someone say.
“Same here my brother in death,” another added.
“I as well.”
“If I ran my ancestors would never forgive me,” another said.
She nudged Saiin in the side to get his attention and motioned her head for the exit.
“That was…” he began.
“Something else,” she added.
“Something, that’s for sure. Ara, I need you to make me a promise.”
“Of course.”
“You must promise me not to.”
“Not to what?”
“To participate with code black.”
“I can’t make that kind of promise, I’m sorry.”
“Not gonna give you an option. If you don’t, I’ll break both your arms right here, right now so you won’t even be able to fly.”
“Saiin!”
“I’m not joking!” He was crying now. “I won’t have you die as well if I have to. There’s nothing left when you’re gone! Afterlife? Immortal soul? You know to me that’s all bullshit!”
She hugged him. “I promise, I promise. I won’t.”
“And if you break that promise and turns out I’m wrong, I’ll never stop haunting you over it.” He cracked a smile.
ERIC
The fighter pilot Eric Gaalsien was sitting in his interceptor running a full diagnostic since his ship got pretty beat up the day before, including the removal of his original sensor post. He was simply staring at the progress bar when he heard a familiar voice calling him from below on the deck.
“Eric!”
“Tristen? How did you—
“They let me go!” She shouted up as he was climbing out of the cockpit to go meet her. “I mean, I pretty much told them all I knew and now our course is apparently irreversibly altered moving forward, but hey, at least this way we might actually arrive at Hiigara.” He said nothing, just walked up to her and hugged her tight. “Too tight bud, need air!” She joked.
“So just like that, you’re not a prisoner?”
“Well I mean, strings attached, obviously. Pretty much under constant surveillance going forward and even now there’s more than a couple trailing me to make sure I don’t go anywhere.”
“Well shit, guess my cover’s blown,” he said and kissed her.
“Apparently there never was any cover cause they had you on video handing me my cell’s key.”
“Oh. Oops.”
“Sorry to kiss and run, I’m needed! We’ll talk when I get back!”
“No dying, asshole!”
“I’ll try!”
MARK
He and Isabella were running down the halls and rounding corners like a couple of crazed maniacs trying to get to the hangar, almost knocking someone walking the other way completely to the ground around one.
“Sorry! Gotta run!”
“Don’t worry, go kick some ass for us!” He replied.
“Guarantee we will!” Isabella added.
“It’s a trap,” Fleet Intelligence said over the comms as he hit the accelerator to launch. “Sensors report hyperspace inhibitors in a triangular formation.” His sensors manager showed three stable red dots in three directions surrounding them. The rest of the manager’s viewer was nothing but garbled noise and therefore useless. It appeared there was even more interference than last time.
“Looks like we’re flying with one eye closed again guys, keep your head up and don’t lose concentration on what’s in front or around you in line of sight,” he said over comms to the strike groups.
“Aye, aye, Captain Redblood!” Came a familiar reply. It was his old call sign in training, a joke on the fact not only did he join up with the Soban, he was also biologically the son of a Soban war hero.
“Go get some, Jasiid.”
Intelligence continued. “Even one can keep us from entering hyperspace. All of them must be destroyed. The nebula is still scrambling our sensors, but it appears that we have incoming enemy units.”
And the vanguard unit hailed the fleet. “Again we offer you the chance to join us and live here in peace.”
“We cannot stay,” Karan replied. “We’re on a journey. But let there be peace between us for we have something in common. The hyperdrive technology left to us by our ancestors is identical to yours. The homeworld we seek may be yours as well.”
The Kadeshi ambassador took a moment to think of a response. “You will fail. The evil that drove us here will find and destroy you. From you they may learn of us and come here! This cannot come to pass.” He was losing his calm demeanour. His ship and all of the ones behind it began to start moving in for battle.
“Engage and destroy all hostile,” Intel advised. Mark set his squad to claw and evasive, and moved in on their counter approach.