Chapter 31

ARAZIS

“Hello there outsider,” she said to herself when the enemy fighter revealed its cockpit interior. The pilot inside had long brown hair, brown eyes, and skin that was much darker than her own. Some of the other fighters were still on approach, so she adjusted her orientation and fired a bunch of rounds into the leader’s green painted ship leaving it with severe damage, one shot at a time until it exploded. She shifted orientation back to face the Red Ship.

“No more interference, just you and me.” And as though he were reading her lips, the rest of the fighters broke off their attack run at her. She felt hatred, pain, sorrow, and a modicum of respect for this pilot’s abilities which seemed to rival her own even in a less maneuverable fighter. “Now that it’s just the two of us, time to end this.” And with that, she flipped her ship upwards and sped away to turn and start her run.

MARK

“No!” He shouted forgetting his comms were open.

After his ship was gone, he noticed a transmission was received from Jeroll prior to his ship’s destruction. He hit play. “Well I guess that’s it then, Mark my guy, you win this bet. If you’re hearing this it means I’ve been killed in action. Sad, I know, but so what man, so many more important and relevant people than I are dead already because of this massive expedition. And look, I too really wanted to see Hiigara with my own eyes to know that paradise is as real as the Gaalsi profess. But what’s happened cannot be undone. This was my fate in then end, it can’t be changed. So now that you’ve heard my final message, do this one for me okay, lead us home, Mark. Lead us all home. I’ll be watching and rooting from Balcora. So long, my friend.” The message ended. He hadn’t noticed, but he had been crying. He wiped his tears, closed his eyes, and nodded.

“Break off, it looks like she’s challenging me, or something it’s hard to explain.”

“Don’t be stupid, Mark.”

“Isabella, I’ll be fine. What, you think I’ll be bested by someone so small?”

“Fine, it’s just one craft anyway.” She said before pulling the rest of Red and Green back as well.

Then his gaze turned serious, eyes deadlocked with this mystery pilot. Her ship pulled up and raced off. He hit the accelerator and pursued. She turned around and fired a salvo that he dodged with no effort. He would’t let Jeroll down just yet.

“You want a piece of me, eh? Come and get some!” He said spinning around and chasing her. He opened a salvo of his own, but apparently she could dodge just as well as him. He swapped to aggressive tactics and let off another, a few shots hit this time, but not enough. He followed her small fighter all the way past the void left by the destroyed flagship and well beyond it, the two of them exchanging salvos back and forth while making their way to the unknowns at the edge of comms range.

“I’m not letting you run from me for that one, no. This ends here.”

ARAZIS

“Why, why can’t I just hit you?!” She kept trying and trying, but he kept avoiding the majority of her shots. “Come on, come on!” She looked to sensors. No one was in view of them. They had gone far away from the battleground, and the clouds of the Garden hid all from view but the Red Ship. So far that she fell out of communication range with all but the Amun.

He chased her down effortlessly, all the way to where she was taking him. She swerved and spun and corkscrewed trying to avoid taking as many hits as she could in the process. She ran out of ammunition, and was running on fumes in terms of fuel. And then the vessels appeared into view. She swung a pass around them, and stopped waiting for the Red Ship to come. It was beelining and firing until no more bullets flew her way, but he continued to approach until he stopped close enough to see eye to eye.

She made sure she had his attention, then slowly, without expression, pointed her finger to the two vessels. He had a confused look, but then when he saw what she wanted to show him, his jaw dropped.

MARK

Once exiting comms range, he felt a shockwave rock his ship, and to the rear a bright light shone briefly then faded. Sensors revealed nothing but he assumed this meant a second flagship had gone down.

And then, the enemy came to a stop. He fired, and fired, until his ammo ran empty. He approached until close enough to see her face again, and also her finger pointing off somewhere. Confused, he followed and witnessed what he never expected to see so far from Kharak. Directly beside the two fighters, were two derelict vessels. One of them was a large rectangular shaped vessel he knew and recognized all too well. The Khar-Toba.

He could not believe his eyes. Khar-Toba, First City. Or at least the same ship type. It could only confirm Karan’s suspicion about their common origins. “They are us then. So then, she’s also how would I say it, Hiigaran same as the Kushan? I mean she sure looks like us, but…” he said to himself. So did the Taiidan. Which also puzzled him. The one sight before him made everything so clear. He stole his gaze from the derelict and returned to the pilot in the small fighter. I looked back to the derelict, and to her again. He placed his hand on the glass. She did the same. Five digits, same as us. It should be impossible, but the evidence and the commonalities, and even the slight recognition of their ambassador before the battle started convinced him of it to be true. “Did you lead me here on purpose?” He wanted to ask, but couldn’t.

ERIC

He regained consciousness, and sat up from the hospital bed. “Oh Sajuuk, my head!”

“Welcome back to the living,” Tristen said. She sat beside him in the chair.

“Tris? What happened, last I remember I was… oh, right. I blacked out on my dock approach. And I guess if I’m here I must have aimed good enough.”

“That you did.”

“What happened?”

“I was in the racks watching the enemy ships being captured into the hangar bay. Then I saw an interceptor crash land and decided to go see if they needed any help, and when I found you, you were unconscious and not breathing.”

“So you mean…”

“You almost died, Eric. I didn’t let you.”

“Oh, thanks then I guess,” he said clicking the button on the side of the bed to call the nurse over.

“What’s going on outside? Did we win?”

“Still ongoing. Two pointy bastards down, one to go.”

The nurse entered. “Good morning, how are you feeling?”

“Other than my pulsating migraine okay I guess.”

“That will last only a few hours.”

“Can I go?”

“I don’t recommend getting up and moving just yet, but I can’t force you to stay here, no.”

“Thanks,” he said pulling off the probes and slowly and painfully making his way onto his feet. His balance was not perfect, but he could stand.

“Here, let me help.” Tristen grabbed him by one side and helped keep him from falling over.

“Uh, take care!” The nurse said as they were leaving.

The walk back to his quarters was slow, but that was fine. It gave them time to talk. “I’m sorry I scared you a bit there,” he said.

“More than a bit.”

“Comes with the job, you’re a pilot too I’m sure you understand.”

“I do. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“I don’t like it either all that much if I’m being totally honest, but what kind of man would I be if I didn’t fight for my species’ survival?”

“I’m not mad, Eric. I’m just happy you’re alive.”

“I know, it’s just…”

“Yeah.”

They arrived at his quarters and he entered his lock combination. He made his way to his bed and lied down again.

“You good?”

“Yeah, just taking it easy I guess, doc’s orders.”

“I can come back later and let you sleep if you want,” she said.

“You don’t have to leave, Tris. Check the desk, there’s a few of my books on there. Have a read while you’re waiting.”

“I might just do that, actually.”

He closed his eyes, and let himself drift into unconsciousness the healthier way.

ARAZIS

She had a swirl of emotion mixing in her, the man in the Red Ship looked like any Kadeshi, just darker. She saw him staring with awe at the prison barge. “I wonder, could it be?” She asked herself.

While the malfunction was aboard the Ptah and it was now destroyed too just the same as the Suteh, Jeremiah was adamant on ending this here. She knew it to be true that this battle was already lost. They lost two of the three Needles and the enemy still had a substantial fighting force remaining. Her flagship and home for the last three cycles would die here today along with everyone she met in that time. But then she remembered Saiin’s demand of her. She had no idea if he was still alive, she could only hope he was aboard one of the frigates they captured instead of one they destroyed. But she had to keep to that promise and survive the encounter.

“Attention fleet,” came the captain’s voice. “The malfunction aboard the Ptah that was preventing us from short jumping to repair our hull is gone now that she is too. Its hyperspace inhibitor generator had malfunctioned and overloaded the inhibition field, meaning even we could not enter hyperspace. Hence the shocking loss of the Suteh. The Amun will now prepare for our final attack run towards the enemy’s main vessel.”

“Captain Jeremiah,” she said.

“Yes, Restona?”

“You’re not going to do what I think you’re planning to, are you?”

“If you mean using our forward bulkhead in one last ditch attempt to destroy their flagship, then yes. Yes I am.”

“But sir, you can’t. Or you shouldn’t rather.”

“Oh, and why do you say that?”

“Because I’m out of ammo and with insufficient fuel for return with one of their squad leaders. I let him to the prison barge and the imperial carrier, and the look of recognition of that ship…”

“What are you saying?”

“They are the lost other half of the convoy, captain. They’re us.”

“You cannot be sure.”

“I can. I’m staring into his very Hiigaran eyes right this second.”

“I see.” There was a silence. “Then I do what I must with the heaviest my heart has ever been.”

“What if we helped them on their journey? What if we joined power and could defeat Sajuuk’s Emissaries and reclaim paradise?”

“We cannot risk the destruction of all Kadesh by allowing knowledge of our existence to cross Sajuuk’s senses.”

“Captain, if the Amun is destroyed so is my entire life. I already don’t know if Saiin is still alive. If you all die too, I initiate self-destruct.”

“No! Arazis, see reason here, child. There is so much life left to uncover for you still. Surrender to them, see Hiigara with your own eyes. They may fail in their journey, but that does not mean yours must end today. I have sent you the patch to allow you to communicate with them.”

“Out of the question!”

“Please!”

“Did you know? Did you know they were the lost other part of the eternal convoy?”

“After our second meeting I pieced it together, yes. They are the lost other part of our kind, they are also the children of Hiigara.”

“And you still plan on attacking, yet you want me to surrender?”

“Look, Arazis. I see our chances here. The reinforcements will not arrive in time. If I simply give up, I would be disgraced in the eyes of our Goddess. I will do what is required of me. As a former Elite Guardian, it is my eternal duty to protect the Garden regardless of all circumstances. All means all. This will be the final battle of the Amun as well as myself, and as her captain I must see this through to the end. All personnel other than myself have already been ordered to the escape pods. It is done.”

“Why? What is the point of dying for no cause when we could simply battle to retake our own original homeworld as well? This has no logic to it, I hate this!”

“You are wise, Arazis, but not that wise. I have lived a life of a hundred and thirty one years. I may not look it, but I am tired. I was going to pass all my deeper knowledge on to you and others I consider acolytes, But I no longer have the time. Fate has led us all to this moment for a purpose. If that purpose is to assist in retaking Hiigara—our ancestral lands—then that is what must be done. And besides, was it not you who always dreamed of seeing the worlds beyond the shroud of the Garden?”

“Jeremiah, don’t.”

“One thing I will tell you is this. This is knowledge that has been kept hidden for millennia from all our kind but very few of the highest ranking members of the Elite Guard. Please, hit your recorder so others may know these truths as well, and believe them coming from my mouth.” She did. “I have told you bits and pieces, yes. Some I was not allowed to. But there is a lot more to our tale than what even I know. We have kept our true past hidden from the average Kadeshi to prevent escape from this safe haven we revere and to ensure a future, but it was never meant to be eternal. Even the Codex states this. Fear is a path to great power and control, but it never lasts. Hiigara is not a legend, it is very much real. It is a world of pure beauty and provision. None go hungry or ration to survive under its blue sky. It is your birthright to have it all. No, truly it is the birthright of everyone present today. The Emissaries of Sajuuk, as we have come to call them, are the Taiidan. We describe them in legend as having hair and eyes of gold, and having eyes in every corner of the Galaxy save here. That is also true, as their Empire spans a good portion of this Galaxy. They and Hiigara are the oldest of nemeses. Our conflict has been ongoing for all of recorded history and even well before that to an unknown point in the past so long ago now, that it is very unlikely anyone alive today would know the whole truth of it all. Their might is great from what our long range scouts outside the Garden have determined, but they are not invincible servants of a god. They are mortals same as us. So go, topple these Taiidan and reclaim our world.”

“And what if these Taiidan are not as powerful as we have all been lead to believe? What then if your sacrifice is for nothing?”

“Then I will be dying for that which I believe. No, not to protect a nebula. I am doing this sacrifice to ensure you all make it out of here alive. There is only one path to Balcora. You understand, yes?”

“I do, captain. I will miss you, Jeremiah.”

He spoke now on an open channel. “This is my final order to the fleet of the Amun. Survive. These trespassers are your brothers and sisters of Hiigara. Their return signals the prophesy within the Codex coming to fruition. If Hiigara is reclaimed, Sajuuk himself will not be able to stop us. This battle has been lost, and no one is close enough to help prevent their escape. And so this is it. Every end is a new beginning, just as every beginning has its end.” Another quote from the Codex. “To hate—and I mean true hatred not simple anger or frustration—is the highest sin one can commit in the eyes of Kadesh. I do not hate these outsiders, no. I do not even hate Sajuuk or his servants, and neither must any of you. Our highest truths have been heard. The messenger’s name is Arazis. Live, and follow her into the unknown and to paradise. That is my final command. May the will of Hiigara be heard from all corners of the Galaxy once more! Or, follow me to Balcora. The choice is yours.”

She could see the Amun approaching now from behind, making a beeline toward the enemy, or rather their fellow Hiigarans’ flagship. It continued forward until no longer visible through the fog. From her vantage she could not see, but imagined many of her comrades beginning their final kamikaze run.

She realized she’d been crying, and that the pilot in front of her had been watching the entire time. She decided to find the communication patch Jeremiah sent her, and installed it to her swarmer’s computer. Immediately, she was able to input a text string to send over to him. Who are you? Was her simple inquiry.

The reply came. Someone you can trust.

After only moments, another flash of light. Amun was dead, as was her life within the Garden. “Every end is a new beginning,” she repeated.