Tenders of the Garden by SajuukCor
Published on Kiith Iopia on the 03 July 2001
We dropped from hyperspace and the hanger bay doors opened. Seconds later, we were given the go-ahead to release from dock and head out. It was beautiful; the colors were heavenly as they streaked across space and resource veins were everywhere. Behind us the Resource Collectors roared past and went into formation. Four Assault and five Ion Frigates were already outside and online, waiting for orders. The Research Division reported that they're working on a new capitol ship drive as I steered my Light Corvette into the proper line with the others.
"Damn, what's up with the sensors?" my friend asked.
I didn't even turn my own on yet. As I did, hundreds of emergency pings and enemy locations filled the screen. "It's the Taiidan!" I yelled.
"Nah, the nebula and resources are screwing with the sensors. Fleet Command just radioed that they're working on it." I calmed down and relaxed a bit. My friend went on. "Besides, as far as I can tell, if the Taiidanai were here, we'd be fighting them right now."
"I guess you're right," I replied. Looking down, I read the orders. "We got it easy today. Orders are to stand by and wait for the collection operation to finish."
"By the size of those veins, we're going to be here for a while." Collectors and Controllers departed in three directions and started harvesting. It was unsettling to just sit and wait for once. Those cursed Taiidan and Raiders trying to brush us off like our race never existed. Life was a battle everyday, and looks like today we're getting some deserved time off.
Maybe not, looking down again at the sensors. "Hey, is anyone reading this?"
"A Mothership signal? Yeah, I see it," my friend answered. Everyone else did to, as did Fleet Command as new orders came through. "Looks like we got guard duty." Three groups of four Light Corvettes, six Heavy Corvettes, two Scouts and twelve Interceptors rushed to protect our resource investment. Us two in our LCs went with the top group. The Assault Frigates formed a wall formation and the Ion Cannons in a X; both groups stayed with our MS.
"Unknown ship now in visual range," said a commander. I rolled to see it, and it was a little small for a Mothership class. It was like a white needle with a large disk on the front. Visually, it had no weapons to speak of, but was moving pretty fast for its large size.
The ambassador ship was launched as the Mothership came to a stop. Seconds later, a small ship shot out of a hidden hanger of the needle MS. They met between the two behemoths. Their sizes were undeniably noticeable, the unknown ship being less than a fifth to the refitted Heavy Corvette. Their words were heard by everyone...
"This is the Garden of Kadesh. For thirteen generations we have protected it from the unclean..."
"Wow, that's quite a while they spent here. Wonder if that's what stumped their growth," my friend joked, followed by complaints to keep it down.
"...The Turanic Raiders who came before you refused to join and were punished for this trespass. Like theirs, your ship has already defiled this holy place. If you have come to join we welcome you and will spare your ship until all have disembarked. If you have come to consume the garden you will be removed at once."
Please give a good response...
The ambassador spoke. "We were unaware of the significance of this location. We mean you no conflict. Please allow us time to prepare our engines so we may withdraw as requested." Their response time was short. "If you will not join, then die. There is no withdrawal from the Garden." The small ship turned around and headed back.
"Damn, everyone wants us dead," someone said.
"They can't be that bad, look how small they are," added another.
The ship entered its command ship, and almost instantly, hundreds of the tiny ships poured from the needle along with three frigate class vessels. I could hear many of my shipmates curse and sigh under their breath. I swallowed hard and quickly searched for the evasive tactics panel. Three groups of twenty headed towards the Collectors as the rest made a beeline to our Mothership. We waited with an unwanted anxiety for them as they danced around in the space, casting their long yellow trails. They were quite a while away when they started their attack. We dodged the initial shots and started our run. The Interceptors, being faster than the others, reached them first. Strangely, even though two were destroyed on the first pass, the fighters flew on. The Swarmers, aptly named for their numbers, kept their target in view, the Collector, and held down their triggers.
As soon as the Collector felt the bullets against its hull, they made the smart decision to make a retreat back to the Mothership. I tried to stay on one ship, but ended up having two more on my tail. "These guys are too damn fast!"
We'll need to keep this up for another eight minutes until the Mothership has enough energy to jump out." The Research Division was doing what they did best, attacking a bad situation with new technology. As the Super Capitol Ship Drive was finished, they announced they were working on a new ship design to target up to six different enemies at once, called a Multigun Corvette. Until then, every available ship was defending the extinction of our race. The Assault and Ion Cannon Frigates forced their way to the Kadesh Mothership and began their barrage. Panels opened around the needle to reveal thirteen mass drives for defense. My friend and I broke formation and headed to help our assaulting force. We circled it and started chipping away at its hull.
"Its integrity is rather low for this big of a ship. I'm reading that it's at fifty percent," an Assault Frigate transmitted as it fired another round of plasma bombs. Panels and wires started to fly around the vicinity of the battle.
I heard the comm rattle on: "This is group Alpha defending the Mothership. We are under extreme heavy fire and require backup from any unit. All the Collectors and Controllers are in. Repeat, we need every available unit..." then static.
I broke off as my friend did. On our way there, we saw eight Swarmers slowly creep their way to their frigate vessel. "That must be some sort of Support Frigate. Look at them crawl their way back for repairs," my friend commented.
"I don't think so," I replied. "Those ships don't even have a scratch on them, but look how they fly, all erratic. I think they're out of fuel." As I got closer to the ship, our brand new capitol ship rolled out of the assembly line, called a Destroyer. I brought up my scanner system and did a quick flyby. "There's nothing in there but fuel. Its a Fuel Pod."
"Nice name, now lets take out those Swarmers." My friend banked and destroyed three in one pass. My strategy was just to sit in space and take them down. After the ships were gone, the Fuel Pod slowly turned and started firing its only weapon, a mass driver. "Bold move."
"Very." I opened a channel to the Destroyer. "The lumbering frigates out here are fuel pods. Take them out and the Swarmers will be sitting ducks."
"Roger that, we'll see what we can do," the commander replied. The Destroyer turned and headed towards our Fuel Pod. Their rail guns thundered and destroyed two docking ports, and then its two side mounted ion cannons flared on and flew right through it. As the beams hit the fuel, the pod exploded with enough energy to destroy seven nearby Swarmers and cripple four more. Us two made a hasty escape before the explosion.
Just then, a bright blue and white light was cast over my ship. I had to shield my eyes it was so bright. As it died down, I realized it was the Kadesh Mothership as huge pieces of debris floated into space. Part of the saucer section hit a nearby Fuel Pod, and it, the surrounding Swarmers and some of our force went up all at once.
"News from the MS. Engines are charged and are ready to get the hell out of here."
"Best news I heard all day," I said as I flew towards our floating city, taking out the motionless ships on the way. All of the Fuel Pods were gone and only fifteen or so were still at flying status. I went back into the huge hanger and let the machine latch on. The rest of the fleet came through when the threat was at its minimum. The larger ships with jump drives lined up in the basic parade formation with the Mothership, and opened multiple conduits into hyperspace.
I sat in my ship as the others disembarked from theirs. I never thought I would see so many ships at once, and so fast. Strange how they attacked us almost without a cause, just because they think that the nebula they were in was theirs. My friend walked up and knocked on my ship. I unlocked the canopy and jumped out. "Some shoot'n there."
"Why thanks."
"I was talking about me, hotshot."
"Yeah, well, thank Jakuul that we go out of there. How long we got until re-entry?"
"About a minute."
Wow, a whole minute. "So, what was up with those guys? They thought they own the place."
"Own nothing, we put them in their place. Fleet Command said that the Kadeshi hyperdrive was of the same as ours. Those could've been Kharakan."
"Oh, look over there." I turned to where he was pointing. "That's the new Multigun Corvette."
"We could've used them back there. Would've saved us fewer losses."
The floor rattled as we exited hyperspace. I walked to a nearby panel and turned on the video sensors.
It can't be...