Gaia Lost

Chapter 5-The Invincible City

“Krova, over here, hurry. The platforms will separate any minute.” Beneth yelled to his friend over the howling winds, the sea quickly rising, growing more violent with every passing minute. The storm was coming, its mission clear. It had never stopped before, it never will. It was foolish to not take it seriously, something the Nevians had learned the hard way those many years ago.

“Don't worry, we have a good two minutes.” Krova yelled back.

“Just get over here.”

Krova slowly began to walk across the narrow catwalk, each gust of wind threatening to throw him off. The city would soon begin to pull its outer sections into the central unit. Time was very limited.

“Hurry, we need to get to the shelter, we have no chance out here.” Beneth yelled, his voice barely intelligible over the roar of the winds.

“I know.”

Soon he was across the catwalk, closer to safety. He had made it just in time, the catwalk retracted out of sight seconds after he made it across. Soon after, the sections separated, drifting away from each other in the ocean waves. The massive section of the city they stood on began to rotate, following a curved guide rail towards the inside of the shelter. The section was near ten miles in area yet moved with ease. Now all they could do was wait, and hope it made it in time.

“The storm is particularly strong this year” Beneth said, his voice filled with unease.

“This is nothing, you should have seen it ten years ago, ripped section nine clean off its support pillar.” Krova responded, his voice confident and strong. He was fearless in all situations, this one being no exception.

The city began moving into the shelter, each section rotating in sync with each other. The two young men looked up as the shadow of the shelter began to cast itself over the city. All the sections of the city were pulled in, the massive doors of the shelter slowly closing behind them. Soon the giant, floating dome was sealed off, cutting off the citizens from the massive storm outside.

“I hope all the sections made it, I heard a rumor that section six was having problems with it's hydro jets.” Beneth said nervously.

“Don't pay attention to rumors and don't worry about it, thats my advice. If it happens it happens.” Krova said coldly.

“How can you say that? Peoples lives are at stake!”

“Lives are at stake every year, I'm just use to it, unlike you.”

A voice was soon heard, one heard by everyone in the dome, one that echoed with extreme power. It was the emperor, giving the annual speech.

“No lives were taken today, the God's must truly be pleased. Praise the covenant with all your body and soul if you wish this divine protection to continue. The Gods will not be this forgiving the next time.”

The emporers voice dissipated as quickly as it came, his only public speech of the year now over. The storm still raging outside, the two young men began to walk back to the military academy, which all young men were forced to attend. Beneth walked slowly, looking straight down at the ground as he walked.

“Whats wrong?” Krova asked.

“I heard that there was a terrorist attack on Tunare. The last thing I need is to get involved in a war, I was hoping to get out of the military this year.” Beneth responded, his voice quiet and his tone reserved.

“It's every Nevian's dream to serve his empire in a time of war, why would you be any different?”

“Don't give me that crap, the military's support is waning, everyone knows it. The war cost the lives of millions, not one person out there wants to see that happen again.”

Both fell silent, neither wanting the conversation to continue. They walked throughout the city, its streets now empty. Everyone had fled to the shelters. The academy was nearby though, the lonely walk would not be a long one.

They walked through the streets, the buildings all eerily similar. They were all dome shaped and a bright, vibrant white. The design was strictly utilitarian. They both looked to the sky, amazed at the size of the shelter. The emporers tower was in the center, now retracted in order to protect it from the storm. Normally it would tower thousands of feet above the city, watching over it.

“Here we are” Beneth said.

The academy stood imposingly above them, a strange collection of domes and towers. It served as both the military base for the planet and the training grounds for the entire empire. It took up an entire section of the city.

“I hope your ready, we have a flight exercise today.” Krova asked.

“Are they insane, the storm is outside, how can they even think of launching any ships?!” Beneth yelled back

“Its the emporer's will, your not questioning him, are you?” Krova asked. “I hope I wont have to question your motives.”

“No, of course not. I have nothing but support for our emporer.” Beneth replied nervously.

“Good, you know what happens to those who openly disapprove.”

“I know.” Beneth said, his spirits sinking. His friend was acting different today and he couldn't see any reason for it.

“Normally he is very moderate when it comes to imperial matters, what happened?” Beneth thought to himself.

They walked up to the surrounding walls of the academy. They showed their cards to the guard in charge of the gate, who promptly let them through.

“I'm hoping to make lieutenant this year” Krova said, “Then I will truly be able to serve my empire in battle, not just sitting in seminars all day.”

“I don't think high commander Mogros will let you get any higher, he views you as careless ever since last years incident.”

“There was no incident, two of my pilots were incompetent so I abandoned them. If I hadn't of done that then the mission would not have been accomplished.”

“It was a training exercise, the entire point was to train them, not give up on them.”

“They couldn't be trained, they were worthless!” Krova yelled, his entire face turning a bright red.

Beneth gave up and decided to stay silent. He walked towards the side door of the academy, leaving Krova behind.

“Wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you.” Krova said.

Beneth kept walking, that was enough for the day, he couldn't take any more. Krova was a shell of his former self. Now he served as a pawn of the emporer, nothing more. Beneth couldn't give up on the friendship though, at least not yet. He still had hope.

He reached out and typed in the code for the door. It opened in a flash, almost too fast for the eye to see. A long corridor stretched out in front of him for about a hundred feet before branching off into the separate paths. Beneth walked forward and took the middle path, the path that led to the ready room. He needed to talk with Mogros about the days planned flight exercise.

Walking down the hall, its metallic walls in stark contrast to the white of the outside dome, he thought about what he would say to Mogros. Disobeying an officer was a direct violation of the Nevian code of conduct, so refusing to do the flight exercise was not an option. You had no options in the military. All he could do was try and convince him that the exercise was not in the military's best interest, which was far from an easy task.

He walked down the halls for ten minutes before reaching the ready room. Some pilots were already preparing for the flight. All looked nervous, a flight had never before been attempted during the storm. Something was going on, something big, something new and unknown. Commander Mogros was at the front of the room, typing something on the computer terminal. Beneth walked up to him and saluted.

“At ease. What do you want, I'm very busy.” Mogros responded, never once looking up from his work.

“I just had a few questions about todays...”

“Your in no position to ask questions.”

“I just wanted to advise against...” Beneth said, his voice meek and his whole body shaking.

“I have advisors to give me advice, I have pilots to fly my missions. Don't forget your place.” Mogros said, still calm and focused on his work.

“Yes sir.” Beneth said as he slowly walked away, humiliated.

He sat down in one of the seats,waiting for the briefing to begin. He didn't have to wait long, within ten minutes the briefing had begun. The room was filled with all the third year pilots, by now almost all the incompetent pilots had been weeded out. The commander soon stepped up to the podium, attracting the attention of everyone in the room.

“Todays briefing will now commence. As you all well know, the Nevian Deltian war ended over a hundred years ago. However since then tensions still exist. The Deltians continue to refuse to open diplomatic relations. They secretly attack our trade convoys, blaming pirates. They refuse to apologize for initiating the war. Now the Deltians have gone too far. They are attempting to return to Earth, holiest of all Nevian prophecies, the land of our ancient ancestors. We cannot allow them to reach earth, their corruption will spread like a plague. They are sending a convoy in three days, we will ready a response before then. Todays flight exercise will prepare you for the attack, you will join your fellow fighters and honor the Nevian empire. Report to your designated squadron for further instructions. This isn't a request, its an order. That is all.”

Beneth got up from his seat along with everyone else. He followed his squadmates through the door on the left, wondering where they would lead him. They walked through the hall nervous and scared. Beneth knew what fueled their fear. The God's tempest, the destroyer of civilizations. It had claimed the planets original settlers and tried to claim them even now. Flying into it was madness. It was to be expected though, they were being led by a madman.