Chapter 6

Klu'koth stormed into the bridge. He scanned the room furiously, "Who authorized a hyperspace
entry?" 

No one answered him immediately, and he repeated, "Who authorized it?" 

Reluctantly, Esh'lar stood up. "I did, sir." The magistrate looked at him. "May I ask why?" The pilot
answered, "Well, sir, I was on the bridge when a distress call arrived. It was from a Hiigaran Ion
Frigate. It only reported that it was fighting an Imperialist taskforce when another fleet hyped in to
intercept them, overwhelming their forces." 

Klu'koth fumed. "We aren't taught to jump at every distress call made. You should know that,
Esh'lar. We have to stay out of battles that aren't ours." Esh'lar nodded, and explained, "I know, sir,
but the Frigate also reported that the attacking fleet was giving off anomalous bio-signatures." 

Something clicked into place. "The Beast?" he asked, warily. 
Esh'lar nodded. "That was my best guess, sir. I deemed it a good opportunity to spread word of the
Beast, and test our new countermeasures." His superior slackened his pose. "Or be subverted in the
process." He sighed. "Nevertheless, I admire your initiative, Lieutenant. How far are we from the
fleet?" 

"We got the message five minutes ago. They were only forty light-years away, so we have about
twelve minutes left before reversion. There is a chance we can make a difference." 

Klu'koth filed this information, and sat in his captain's chair. It had been five days since he, Mej'hol,
and Myar'ko held their private conference about the Beast biology. Not surprisingly, the information
spread through their large Carrier fleet like wildfire. He noticed many of he junior officers seemed
more jumpy than before, and more than one case of powerful paranoia had taken place (their most
vivid fantasies were of finding a large amount of Beast biomatter in their quarters.) He tried to
console them, telling them that they were warriors, and could defeat this menace. However, he
seriously doubted that. Given the options, he wouldn't have fought the Beast for all the riches in the
universe. 

Upon inquiring how Esh'lar intended to move the Swift Death out of the Gul'daan fleet, and into a
massive furball, he replied sheepishly that he'd slaved the navicomps of all the Frigates and Carriers
to the Swift Death. Leader Mej'hol would not be pleased. 

However, despite the massive sense of fear that everyone felt, it wouldn't have been unusual to have
a strong feeling of adventure right now. After all, this was one enemy they knew nothing about. His
fleet could become famous for defeating the almighty, terrifying Beast. He liked that. 

Several weapons had been built that they thought could do damage to the Beast. Some were
biological viruses that could kill off the biological portion of the Beast, but there were other, rather
unorthodox weapons like sonic-based energy beams that they theorized could disable the nanoprobes. Many they were quite certain would not work, but they couldn't be sure until they'd tested
them. 

Well, in any case, they would soon find out how much they really knew. 

Things were worse. 

Admiral Liir Hra looked at his Number One, a Liir Hra of the name Mel, and inquired,
"Commander, I thought that those missiles were attacking both of us." His First Officer shrugged.
"Don't look at me, sir. I just work here." 

The missiles had ceased to attack the Taiidan about ten minutes after they hyped out, and were
instead forming up to escort them to a safe hyperspace marker. However, this wasn't until after the
missiles had impacted on two of the badly-damaged Taiidan vessels, and he and his fleet witnessed
the horrible transformation that the Beast had performed. His fighters fought back valiantly, as did
the rest of his fleet, but the missiles had subverted his Missile Destroyer before it could truly
retaliate. The admiral knew that remote-activating its self-destruct mechanism was better than
leaving it for the enemy to take over, but he still regretted having to give that order. 

He felt the rocking as the Heavy guns on his ship fired away at the rather slow projectiles. They were
quite slow, and easy to track as they moved in straight paths, but their sheer numbers more than
made up for it, and the Taiidan fighters began to defend them with their own starfighters. Two
Scouts flew in to attack one missile, but its escort of Heavy Corvettes smashed them into scrap
easily. 

He looked at that sight in fury, and opened a hailing channel with the head Taiidan Destroyer, the
one that hadn't been subverted. "Imperial Destroyer, what is the meaning of this? Didn't you see your
ships get taken over by that……that……whatever it is? How can you let yourselves ally with that
thing?" 

A hologram of a smug Imperial officer obstructed his view of the battle. "Well, Exile, we know
when we're beaten, unlike you. And apparently, those missiles have just received an order from their
command center that our forces have struck a deal. Now, I could either be insubordinate, and watch
as my fleet is taken away by force, or capitulate, and join forces by this obviously more powerful
fleet. It was far from a difficult decision, I assure you." 

Admiral Liir Hra thought for a moment. "Who are they, and why are your Cruise Missiles under
their control?" The officer shook his head. "Oh no, I won't give away priceless info like that. But just
hang on. Stick around long enough, and you will be, shall we say, 'drafted' into their army." 

The transmission was cut off, and the admiral mulled over his options, which were very few. He
sure wasn't going to lick boot like those Imperialist cowards. Hell no. But at this rate, they weren't
doing so good. 

"Just out of curiosity, Lieutenant, how many more missiles are there?" 

A green, young officer replied, "Just over three hundred, sir." 

Damn. They had barely taken out half of them, and with the Taiidan on their side, it would
complicate things much more than he'd hoped. However, as a commander of a fleet, he had to show
an example of courage. That was his duty, after all. 

"Listen up, people. This is an Avatar-class Heavy cruiser. We have six guns and four Ion Beams; this
thing can give out a lot of damage and beg for even more. It will take a lot more than a handful of
Fighters and Corvettes, and a few hundred archaic Cruise missiles to take us down. Now, I want you
to recall the part of Scythe Wing that was defending our Resource group, and tell them to report
over here. Our Assault Frigates can take care of whatever missiles head over to them." 

His Number One chewed on his lower lip before replying, "Well, actually, Scythe Wing arrived to
the main battle a few minutes ago. Our Resourcers and Frigates were ambushed by a cloaked missile
group." 

"Oh. I see……" replied the admiral, not being his best in leadership. One officer suggested that they
retreat, and while he refused, he did not see it as quite a bad idea anymore. Right before he
considered ordering his fighters to doc for hyperspace, his sensors officer piped up, "Sir? You won't
believe this, but five Turanic Carriers and nine Ion Array Frigates have hyped in twenty clicks off
to port!" 

He looked soberly at the Ensign, and said, "Please tell me it's good news." 

The younger man shrugged. "See for yourself. Patching in the comm. signal now." 

A holo of a short, buglike creature appeared in front of him. The admiral never really liked the
Turanic. They were ugly, filthy creatures, and their loyalties were hard to ascertain. Still, he would
have accepted help from the Tiamat right about now. 

"Admiral Liir Hra, this is Leader Mej'hol of the Gul'daan Turanic Core fleet. One of your ion
Frigates, the Smooth Flight, sent out a distress call that we picked up. We have vital information
about the enemy you are facing, and would be glad to offer our assistance in fighting them off." 

The Hiigaran conceded, "Sure thing, Leader Mej'hol. Deploy fighters and Corvettes, and attack all
Taiidan Cruise missiles in the area. Disregard those Imperialist warships unless they attack you; our
main problem right now is the……" 

"The Beast," the Turanic offered. 

Admiral Liir Hra nodded. Fitting name, he thought. 

Klu'koth strapped himself into the gunner's seat of the Penetrator once more. He left Lieutenant Vark
in charge of his Carrier; a good officer, but he wouldn't have trusted him entirely in a combat
situation. Nevertheless, the Magistrate knew he could make the most difference out in a Corvette,
so he accepted the fact that his ship could stand a few hours without him at the helm. 

As the Corvette launched swiftly out of the Carrier's hangar, he scanned the area for the Cruise
Missiles. One particularly large concentration of them threatened one of the Hiigaran Carriers, and
he commanded Esh'lar to take them over there. He brought down his visor helmet, and as the
missiles came into view, he saw virtual crosshairs appear close to one of them. 

The missile was outlined in a red rectangle, and the crosshairs moved towards it, holding position
when the turrets achieved a target lock. He fired, and red pulses of energy pumped out towards the
target. One of the shots wasn't enough to bring it down, but two more knocked out its engines,
throwing it off course. It exploded in a flameless shockwave (he figured the carcinogenic fluids were
replaced by Beast bio-matter. Coupled with the horrid "infection beam," these Beast sure knew how
to reproduce. 

The debris riding the shockwave did little to detract the other missiles, so Esh'lar pushed the
Corvette forward to get into firing position. Two more missiles went down, and more were vaped
by a duo of Defenders that moved in to flank the Heavy Corvette. 

Klu'koth looked to his right, and one of the spherical ships retracted its guns while its pilot waved
at him. He managed to return a slack salute, but the man had little time to register the reply, as his
ship was hit by a horrid red beam, forcing it behind the Penetrator. 

Klu'koth looked at the infected vessel, then at the origin of the beam. 

"Dammit!" he declared, as he saw the Hiigaran Carrier was infected, and had grown its own
infection beams. The other missiles had scattered. He was not about to attack the massive Beast
Carrier, for fear of following the Defender's fate, but it didn't matter, as the ship went into
hyperspace moments later. 

"How many more missiles, Esh'lar?" 

"About a hundred, sir!" 

Good. But not good enough. 

Something on his sensors attracted him, and Klu'koth magnified the image top check it out. Sure
enough, one of Mej'hol's Carriers, the Rotaran, had captured five of the Cruise Missiles in a green
beam emanating from its Ion Cannon. Fuming, he ordered, "Penetrator to Rotaran. This is
Magistrate Klu'koth. Deactivate the Starship Tug immediately! I repeat, deactivate the Tug now!"

The captain of the vessel reported, "Nothing to worry about, Magistrate. We're not so stupid as to
bring the Missiles aboard. We're just holding the Missiles in place so that we can examine them."

Klu'koth slackened, but then almost immediately replied, "Wait, the Starship Tug is a plasma beam,
Rotaran!" 

"So?" 

"So, the Beast Infection Beam works on the principles of charged plasma ions, and……" 

The warning was too late. Already, the Beast nanoprobes on the Cruise Missiles' hulls began to drift
along the green beam coat the Carrier's hull. Frantically, the Carrier attempted to kill them off by
firing an Ion Beam through the Tug, but already the infection had begun to spread. Within minutes,
the Carrier had become the enemy. 

"This is Magistrate Klu'koth to any and all Ion Array Frigates still on our side! The Rotaran has been
subverted! Destroy it immediately; we don't want our Carrier technology in Beast hands!" 

All nine Ion Frigates moved in to intercept the Rotaran, raking it with blue beams of destruction.
However, like the Hiigaran Carrier, the Rotaran also revved up its hyperdrive and warped out of the
battle. The Beast didn't want to fight; they just wanted to build up their fleet. And they had
succeeded. 

All missiles were gone. The Taiidan fleet and all new Beast warships were also gone. The Beast had
gained countless new technologies without needing to expend its own Frigates; leaving the job to
archaic Cruise Missiles, which Klu'koth had decided were not their own. And this mysterious
alliance with the Imperialists…… 

Not much was going their way. 

Klu'koth, Mej'hol, and the Magistrates of the other two Turanic Carriers met with the Hiigaran
admiral aboard his own Heavy Cruiser. The Missile Corvette that had ferried them over to the
Cruiser's hangar wheezed down onto its landing gear, the sign of a very aged, and very victorious
vessel. However, it had gained little extra victory from its most recent assignment. 

The grand Hiigaran admiral, complete in ancient Kushan military garb, bowed to them. "Gloried
Turanic warriors, welcome to the Protector. I am Admiral Raynar Liir Hra. And I am in great debt
to you. 

Mej'hol bowed back. "I am Mej'hol, leader of the Gul'daan sect. These are my head commanders,
Magistrates Klu'koth, of the Swift Death, Agam'nar, of the Rusty Hull, and Dath'mir, of the
Barnacle. We seek an alliance with your fleet. We have begun a private war against the creature we
know as the Beast, and we have much information about it. You, in return, have a large, impressive
frontier fleet which has the firepower we need to help us reach this goal." 

The Hiigaran nodded. "You are of Gul'daan. I know my Turanic history, and if you weren't impartial
to your employers, I would not have let you onboard my vessel. We have only met these creatures
once, but we can tell they are a superior foe. We will agree on such a truce, since it could threaten
all of Hiigara. Come, follow me to the war room. We must discuss this in private." 

In the admiral's war room, the holoprojector in the center of the table was online. It displayed a
hologram of an Imperialist Cruise Missile, and what the warriors had discovered because of it was
promising. 

Mej'hol stood up, being the most senior of the officers in the room, and began to explain the
revelation. "This," he began, "as we all know, is a Taiidani Cruise Missile. Back in the days when
the Taiidan Empire reigned, Emperor Riesstu III used thousands of these in his skirmishes against
the Frrern. Instead of wasting his best officers in bloody firefights, he would hype in these weapons
within fifty kilometers of the enemy fleet, and they would usually decimate the opponent before they
could properly react. Often a control ship would hype in at the perimeter of the battlefield to relay
orders to these remotes, although the missiles' tracking systems were unparalleled. 

"These were employed several times, with deadly success ratios, in a time when ships were built to
be slow and well armored. Few of their targets would be able to outrun them, let alone withstand
their explosive yield. 

"However, with the advent of the Firrkan-class Scout, and fast-tracking mass driver cannons, these
weapons became obsolete, and were easily defeated. Emperor Riesstu IV began his reign already
recognizing this fact, putting his military wealth into retiring the old Missiles to build up his Assault
Frigates. Since a hundred years ago, the Missiles were never used once." 

He tapped up a hologram of a starbase that Klu'koth was unfamiliar with. It had no weapons, and
thin armor, but appeared to have a very massive hangar facility for shipbuilding, revealed by its
multiple docking bays. "However," he continued, "that does not mean that they were al destroyed.
This is only one of the missile silos where thousands of the weapons were stored, for safekeeping.
In the event of a civil war, these stations were in classified locations, known only by the Emperor
himself. He could draw upon these arsenals in times of dire need to impose his wrath upon the
galaxy once again. However, since he was the only person who knew about it, the knowledge of
them died with him fifteen years ago. 

"The stations' crews lived on, and a few Turanic carrier groups had encountered them, plundering
their arms to make them more powerful warlords. Not all were looted, though, and some were
reinforced by Imperial warlords that happened to discover them. They held the secret, knowing that
it could be advantageous to them. 

"We assume that the Beast has infected one of the last stations, and took over the complete
complement of Missiles. Scans taken from your Hiigaran vessels, Admiral, revealed their
hyperspace course, and confirmed our suspicion. They definitely came from a station known in the
Turanic databases. My guess is that the Taiidan reinforcements were quick to cut a deal, knowing
they'd been defeated." 

He cleared his throat. "We have already told you what we know about the Beast, and I believe our
next action is to move to this supposed installation, and learn more about this Beast plague." 

Admiral Liir Hra nodded. "One thing, however," he said. "I have dealt with you Turanic before. You
have a saying: 'We work for any price except zero.' What do you plan to earn from this mission,
Leader?" 

Klu'koth spoke up, and everyone looked at him. "My good Admiral, we are working for the highest
price imaginable. Survival."