Heavens of Glory

Chapter VI

Orion returned from the Kaischew game, elated with the thrill of victory. Seedo and Maria met him as he walked through the main doors with the rest of the team.
          “Great job!” Maria shouted over the tumult.
          “Thanks!” Orion managed to reply before he was swept away towards the dining hall for the inevitable victory feast. At least there he could talk with his friends.
          “So what happened while we were gone?” Orion asked as soon as he managed to sit down at their usual table. Most of the team sat at the table up in the front, but some, like him, preferred to sit with their friends.
          “Not much. Professor Apyinzae announced when the Tournament will be,” Seedo said. Orion knew what tournament Seedo was talking about. There was only one real Tournament. That was the annual battle, during which the school was split into four armies, and the entire Academy was turned into a massive battle field for the mock-battle. “It’s scheduled for three weeks from now. Oh, and your Commander of the green team.”
          “What? Commander?”
          “Yeah. Apparently you did so well last year that they think you’re ready. I’m second in command in blue,, and Maria’s second in command in red.”
          “Wow. It’s unusual for fourth-years to get command positions. They usually reserve those for sixth or seventh-years.”
          “They split us up, though.”
          “Yeah, that sucks. But oh well. At least we all won’t have to fight each other.”
         The waiters brought out the food as the three’s conversation turned to other things…

         The fleet arrived at their first target with no mishaps. Maria stood on the bridge of the Caleb as her captain ordered the tachyon burst back into real space. The main view screen turned on, and Maria could see the far away outlines of hundreds of Union platforms spreading away to the left and right, and up and down, emerge into view as the screen cleared. Other ships were popping into existence around them, and soon all eight hundred were in location. The eighty-two carriers each deployed their three hundred fighters, and soon the entire fleet was assembled.
         The face of the CO of the fleet, Zip, appeared on the view screen. “All ships, I’ve detected over two hundred Union vessels beyond the platforms. I’ve ordered theNero to proceed with its mission, but just in case something goes wrong, watch out for those ships.”
         The view screen showed the fleet again, with the tactical ship Nero moving slowly ahead of the others. The ship began to glow a brilliant white, growing stronger until it hurt to look at it, and illuminating everything around it. One by one the lights on each of the platforms winked out for a second and then came back online.
         Zip appeared on the screen again. “So far, so good. It appears that it worked.”
         Another captain voiced his thoughts on the channel. “So what, will they try to destroy the stations using their men who are onboard now?”
          “I doubt it,” Zip answered. “They won’t waste their resources like that. I’m sure they’ll find a way to override the auto-protect sequencing, and at least stop the platforms from firing on their own. Meanwhile, we’ll be able to pass through. All ships, move forward.”
         The Alliance fleet moved slowly towards the defense. On the far side, the Union fleet began to do the same. When the enemy fleet came within two ultrasecs of the platforms, the massive lines of stations opened fire and quickly decimated the Union forces. The Alliance fleet moved quickly past.
          “I want everyone to know,” Zip said, “that we only had one EMP-RF bomb. This will be a one-way mission, unless we can get out before they get the platforms back online. After this, maintain full comm. silence unless necessary. Black-out mode. Everyone, good luck. Zip out.”

*          *          *

         Carla Laos strolled through her private garden fifty-two grasecs from the chaos known as Hera. In front of her stood the Grand Legislature, a building almost two grasecs from side to side, and twelve stories tall. The massive statue that was the emblem of the Alliance, two Scythers and two felons joining hands around a planet, stood in front of the structure. She knew that somewhere in there were the two other Alliancic Leaders, probably being harassed by the press. She hurried up to join them, anticipating the press conference almost as much as she would hand to hand combat.
         She arrived appropriately late, and was immediately bedraggled by the reporters trying to get personal meetings and exclusive interviews. She ignored them all politely and stepped up to join Sal and Neo. As soon as she took her place, the room became expectantly silent.
         Neo began. “My fellow citizens, I am sure that you are wondering about this alleged attack on the Union space. We are here to confirm whether these rumors are true, or no more than just that: rumors. Before I answer this question, I ask that you withhold all your comments until you have heard us out, heard our thoughts, and our reasoning, and then it will all be clear.” Carla knew that this was a lie. Very little would be clear. But they had a good speech planned, and it would deceive the press for at least a little while.
         Sal took over the microphone now. “We have, after much debate, decided to proceed with a direct attack on Union space, striking directly at two targets. The Warleader Tash supported us in full, and has launched the attack, which is, as we speak right now, breaking through the Union defense, and destroying their heart. We spoke to the bonscouts about this two weeks ago. We have posted on our sight in the worldnet the speech we gave.”
         Now Carla stepped up, taking her turn in the conference. “We ask that you view this first, and then make your comments. Thank you.” The three left the podium. Carla Laos knew that they had promised to give them their thoughts, and they hadn’t. Yet she also knew that they would get away with it, as their speeches to the bonscouts were never publicized, although it would help explain nothing.
         As the three left the room, they could hear each of the reporters calling up the sight on the worldnet, and Carla could here her speech being played through fifty earphones. She smiled.

*          *          *

         Two days into Union space left the fleet demoralized. They had not seen any sign of Union occupation, and had been completely blocked from transmitting out through the anti-tachyon grid along the Union perimeter. Maria sat down in her quarters. She brought up an image of her family on her console, turning it this way and that with her hands, examining each hologram with love and care, and longing. The knocker rang.
          “Come in.”
         Mac entered. “Zip thinks that we found the First Wave. We changed course to intercept the Elbulgar fleet, and we’ll join with them in one hour. You should report to your station and expect some casualties.”
         Maria’s mind flashed back to Laos’ speech. “We must attack now, while this new treaty is fresh, and while the Elbulgar’s detestable fleet is still space-bound, the only place where the Elbulgar’s are at all vulnerable. I ask you now, the bonscouts of the Alliance, to support me in this strike before the Elbulgar’s come any closer to our space.”
         She nodded and stood up. They both knew that by “some” casualties, he meant at least half the fleet. The Elbulgars could easily decimate a ship with their bio-enhanced weapons and shields. Even this mighty fleet barely stood a chance against twenty Elbulgar warships. And what their ships couldn’t destroy, they themselves would destroy in person. The Elbulgars would board the Alliancic vessels, and change themselves to look like species of the Alliance. They could not be eradicated without severe loss of friendly troops.
         The two doctors headed towards the sickbay decks, which were over four-fifths of the ship. Zip had been right: this was a one-way mission.

*           *          *

         Orion looked out of the large window in the briefing room. The four bright suns continued to illuminate the Federation Base in a pale golden glow, just as they had an outer month ago. He turned back around to face the eight other people in the room.
          “Here’s the deal: Admiral Hadrmagar believes that the ambassador’s ship may have been sabotaged by the rebel pirate faction called the Allies. Although they have not remained much of a problem until now, they seem to be immensely against us gaining a foothold in the Andromeda Galaxy. Therefore, the Admiral suggests that we abandon the Ambassador’s ship here, and take the Ambassador, along with his crew, aboard the Neyna. The Admiral has deployed four additional fighters to guard the ship while the Ambassador is away.
          “Now, we have approximately three hours before their ships come through, if all goes according to plan. After picking up the Ambassador, we should proceed to the Teler II Station, approximately two parsecs from here, where we will escort the Ambassador to meet with the Grand Head Trader of the Federation. After that meeting is complete, we escort the two colony ships which are coming through with the Ambassador to world 2358, which has just been dubbed ‘Jacobia,’ and we are to assist them in building their new colony for ten days, at which point we will head back here and make the jump to Alliancic Space. Any questions?”
         Orion paused for a moment, then continued. “During those ten days, Scarth, Seedo, and I are going to run a few reconnaissance missions, so Tano, you are in charge. Oversee that there is order in the colony, and that they have set up a city according to the constitution which they wrote before coming here. You may use any of the ship’s resources except for its weapons during the construction of the city. Dismissed.”
         As everyone got up to leave, Orion motioned Scarth over to him. “I need the fighter down in cargo bay IV ready within three hours. Can you do it?”
         Scarth nodded. “Of course. But why do we need that fighter? It’s been sitting down there for years. Wouldn’t one of the two already in the launch bay be better?”
         Orion shook his head. “No. That fighter has had a few… improvements… which aren’t entirely legal within the Milky Way Galaxy by ruling of the Galactic Coalition. It can pack almost as much a punch as the Neyna, and I think that if Hadrmagar is right, and the Ambassador’s ship has been sabotaged, then we going to need all of the firepower we can get. I want you to escort the shuttle that will carry the Ambassador and his men here in this fighter, and use its sensors to scan every single man who comes aboard. Understood?”
          “Aye, sir.” Scarth left for the cargo bay, motioning for Tom, the Chief Engineer, to follow.

*          *          *

         The Farshot Catapult glowed as it was activated in anticipation of the seven ships coming through. One by one, the acceleration rings turned on. Orion waited.
         The shuttle and the fighter Stingray remained motionless one and a half Grasecs from the catapult. Orion waited.
         Over one hour later, forty minutes after its initial schedule, something finally shot through the catapult. Quickly followed by another thing, which in turn was followed by eight more things. Now Orion knew that something was wrong. He looked at what had come out first. Debris from a destroyed ship. It was the same with the hundreds of other small specs that were now coming through.
         But amid all the debris were four ships. Two were fighters, one was a colony ship, and the other was the ambassador’s ship. Orion motioned to Seedo to open a channel to the ambassador.
          “Captain,” came the immediate reply from the far ship, “We ran into some turbulence on the way here. We are not sure what caused it, but it was definitely external, not, I repeat, not caused by a saboteur.”
          “Did you take any scans of what it might have been?”
          “Our ship is not equipped with adequate sensors, and we could not contact the other ships inside Epsilon space. I’m consulting with one of the fighters now. Ambassador Obulo out.”
         It was then that Orion knew that nothing at all was right. Obulo was dead. He had died over four years ago, and a ship had been named after him. But he had died of cancer, not during a battle, so the Union wouldn’t be aware of his demise. His mind spun. There was definitely something wrong.
         Orion opened a channel to the Stingray. “Scarth, scan the ambassador’s ship with the genetic sensors.”
          “Captain?” came the reply.
          “The command can be voice activated. Do it now. Make sure that they are all of Alliancic origin.”
         After a moment, Scarth said, “None of them are. I also scanned the rubble, and there is enough bio-matter there for every person aboard the original envoy. I can’t get a definite lock on what species is aboard those ships. For all we know, they could be no more than DNA-based holograms.”
          “Scarth, fire on the fighters as soon as the Neyna starts firing. Do not allow any of the ships to board. As soon as the fighters are down, take out the Ambassador’s ship. I think that we have Elbulgars on our hands.” Orion turned to Seedo. “Tell the Neyna to act similarly.” Seedo nodded and did so. A moment later the Neyna launched eight missiles at the fighters, and the Stingray pummeled them with lasers. The fighters instantly swung into action, maneuvering to put the shuttle in between them and the Stingray. “Seedo, get us out of here. Move us to the Teler Station.”
         Seedo nodded and moved the throttle forward, but the fighters easily caught up. One of them locked onto the side of the shuttle. “Seedo, here!” Orion threw a Demi laser to him, setting his own to full power with the widest angle possible. Seedo caught it and ordered the autopilot to continue on its current path. He stood up and aimed at the hatch alongside Orion.
         In a sudden burst of pressure, the hatch blew inward, and six vague shapes dropped through, adjusting quickly to the different gravity angle. Orion immediately fired on one, the Demi particles spreading out as they approached the Elbulgar. All of the organic flesh of the Elbulgar instantly turning into oxygen and carbon dioxide. He aimed at another, but it was too close and he only hit half of the flesh, blowing a hole through the middle of the monster. The rest fell apart, then reorganized into a smaller form. Seedo swung his Demi laser around and shot it. They each took out one more before the Stingray shot the fighter off of the shuttle. With his lightening-quick reflexes, Seedo grabbed onto a chair, and Orion grabbed Seedo’s tail as the room depressurized for a split second, blowing the last Elbulgar away, before the emergency force fields came online.
         Meanwhile, the Neyna had destroyed the other fighter, but the colony ship had taken advantage of the few weapons it had and fired like hell at the smaller ship as it worked its way beside it.
         Orion gasped for air in the .2 atmospheres left from the auxiliary air reserves and opened a channel to the Stingray. “Scarth, you are equipped with two EMP rapid-fire lasers. Use them to stop that colony ship from getting too close to the Neyna. You also have a Domesdey Demi laser aboard. It will pierce the ship’s hull and kill the crew. You can set it for the right distance and it will only affect the colony ship.”
         The Stingray took off in the direction of the colony ship, firing the green EMP lasers in conjunction with its regular lasers, punching a hole through the outer hull into the circuitry, where the EMPs halted system after system. The Neyna pulled away and began focusing on the Ambassador’s ship as the Stingray fired its Demi laser.
         When the last ship had been neutralized and pulled to a stop by the Neyna’s tractor beam, Scarth opened a channel to the shuttle. “Captain, please don’t move the shuttle while I scan you.”
         Orion smiled. “Of course.” The scan was annoying, but he knew it was necessary. He nodded to Seedo, who pulled the throttle back until the ship was stopped. Orion felt a slight tingle as the Stingray scanned him. He knew that Seedo was feeling the same thing.
          “You’re clear,” Scarth said over the channel. Orion grunted, showing the slightest hint of annoyance, and closed the interface. The shuttle moved back into the Neyna’s shuttlebay, alongside the Stingray.
         Once on the bridge, Orion immediately became alive. “Tano, no casualties, right?”
          “Correct. The shuttle was the only ship that was successfully boarded.”
          “Good. Tano, take two others and board the colony ship. Review all of its logs. Sensor, personal, whatever. Just find out when the Elbulgars took over the envoy. Seedo, also take an away team and explore the Ambassador’s ship. Make sure they are armed with demi lasers. Sel, run an internal scan of all three of our ships that were involved, check that all systems are still nominal.”
         As the officers left the bridge, Orion sat down. He looked at the remaining crewmembers on the bridge, and mused, “This isn’t good. The fact that the Union could get into Epsilon space at all takes away our advantage to the fullest. And if they managed to capture the catapult on the Milky Way side, we have a definite problem.”
          “Indeed,” Sel replied as he ran the scans. “We could be stranded here indefinitely. We can’t send a message that far, either. Too much background noise. We have no real way of finding out what the situation is with the other catapult. Except for what we can salvage and piece together from the two ships we captured.”
         Orion nodded and opened a channel to the Teler station off in the distance to inform them of the situation, and to tell them not to worry about the weapons fire.