The TALE of the TESSERACT
2: The Fall of Thar
"The Grox are a soulless race of killing machines. They oppose the Life Force in every way! They are incapable of enlightenment or transcendence." -Scrolls of Harmony
Roku's ship was designed by the Tharians to excel in speed and stealth, while at the same time being loaded with all of the newest weapon systems. The ship itself was only about 20ft long and 10ft wide. It was designed to be a one-man ship, but could fit 5 people comfortably. The ship was jet black, with two twin dark energy propulsion engines on either side. It was dubbed the "Tharak" as a reference to the Tharian's scientific name, Akros Tharak. This was the very ship that Roku had used to penetrate the Grox and reach the center of the Galaxy, something that everyone in the galaxy had wanted to do.
Captain Roku maneuvered his ship into the docking bay of Harko's workshop. With a loud THUMP the Tharak's hover system locked itself onto the docking platform.
"Ok," Harko said to Roku over a radio, "Your gonna need to get out of the ship before I begin the process. There is gonna be some serious radiation."
"This isn't the first time I've done this," Roku replied. Roku slid off of the Captains seat and walked over to the beaming platform near the back of his ship. Seconds later, the Tharak beamed Roku over to the obeservation deck where Harko was standing.
"So, how's it been? I hear you just beat up a bunch of pirates on Lux-5." Harko questioned.
"Yeah, it wasn't really that hard. After one use of Mind Meld, they were all so pleased to go hang out at Kimplemvora Prision. What a laugh!" Roku said, smirking.
"We'll let's see. I should be done with your ship in a few minutes, you can take a minute to look around if you want." Harko explained.
"I knew I could count on you," Roku said, appreciatively. A lound rumble was heard throughout the shop as the Dark Energy Core inside the ship was charged full of exotic particles. Roku did indeed take this moment to look around.
The workshop was shaped like a large square, with an opened roof, and platforms lining each the four walls, one of which was where Roku was standing. The majority of the workshop was colored with the boring monochromatic color of white. Roku had tried to get Harko to change it multiple times, but Harko just got busy doing something else, and eventually would forget. Even now, Roku could look up though the ceiling and see multiple Tharian hover vehicles zoom by, and the silhouette of the Main Control Tower in the distance.
As he looked around, he saw lots of different things that Harko had been constructing. Three or four monoliths lay scattered around the shop, sitting there as though they were completely insignificant. We'll they were... to the Tharians.
In the center of the workshop was the large docking bay, where Roku had arrived. Currently, he could see the Tharak being bombarded by waves of energy, coming from the docking platform itself. It seemed like a marvel of technology. But he knew it was just a routine blast of quantum exotic particles looping through the photon reactor, creating dark energy, which was then channeled into the ships energy chamber. Harko, was right though, there would be some serious radiation. That's why there was a shield around the docking bay. Without it, they would all hit head on with ridiculous amounts of kronon atoms, which would vaporize them instantly.
Most species would agree that that would be the best way to die, but in response to this, Roku would say that he would rather not die at all. Of course, New Tharians had one of the longest lifespans of any of the empires in the galaxy, around 700 years. Of course, some of this was technology enhanced, but most of it came from the elusive "hypercube," which had landed on the planet so many years ago. Roku was currently 437, but that was not something he told most people. Most species would say that he looked "young," a term that has lost most of its meaning in the Tharian Empire. Humans, who's lifespan was less than Tharians by a power of 10, would say that he didn't even look older than 20. But how exactly can you measure how "old" someone is, when the numbers almost never match?
"Ok, It looks like were finishing up the process, I should be done in just a few... there!" Harko exclaimed.
It was then that the dark energy lasers powered down, and the Tharak gave a low hum to signalize that it was fully charged.
"So... I can leave?" Roku questioned
"We'll yes, but..." Harko started.
Bleep. Bleep.
Roku's Subspace Message Receiver was signaling again.
\\ALL CAPTIANS REPORT TO NEW THARIAN SPACEPORT ONE. REPEAT REPORT TO SPACEPORT ONE. THERE IS AN URGENT MATTER REGARDING THE SAFETY OF THE EMPIRE. ARRIVE NOW.
-COMMANDER BLANKS/
"What?! What the heck is going on!" Roku exclaimed.
"Off on a mission again?" Harko asked.
"Yeah but this one seems a little fishy. Why wouldn't they send a briefing message through a video? And, I always respond to the commander to report that I will arrive, but this message doesn't even give the option to reply!" Roku said, puzzled.
"This is also strange." Harko said. Roku looked up from his SMR. Harko was looking up recent message activity on a hologram monitor. "They seem to also be calling up all of the Tharian military fleet, and defense systems! And.. none of them got a reason. What the heck is going on?!"
"Are they all moving to Spaceport One?" Roku asked.
"Yes. I suppose you should go too." Harko replied.
Roku thought for a moment. Why wouldn't they give a reason? Something wasn't right.
"Harko, patch the link through your workshops SM tower, we might be able to reply to whoever sent us this message." Roku suggested.
"Brilliant. It will just take me a sec... there. We have a stable video connection with Commander Blanks." Harko said.
The video monitor materialized as a hologram screen to their right. Roku was startled by it as he forgot that he was standing RIGHT WHERE it was going to appear. Good thing it wasn't as deadly as the exotic particles.
But that was definitely not what scared him the most. It was who was on the screen that brought every bit of fear in Roku's heart to the front.
It couldn't be.
Never.
This COULD NOT BE the person that was instructing the entire New Tharian fleet to mobilize!
NEVER.
How could it be!
Before him, on the screen, was Civet, the Commander of the GROX. He sat smugly in his chair, all the sudden surprised by the sudden video link.
"Who dares disturb the plan of the great Grand Master!" Civet retaliated.
"What?!" Harko screamed, "You're not Commander Blanks!"
"Yes, I gathered that much as well," Roku replied.
"How did you discover our whereabouts!" Civet inquired.
"We'll, you didn't quite send a reason as to why you needed to move ALL OF the Tharian Military forces to Spaceport One, rendering Thar COMPLETELY HELPLESS if there was an attack from... oh, MAYBE THE GROX!" Roku exclaimed.
"How smart you are. But it's pointless now. The rest of your pathetic forces decided not to find a way to reply to the message like you did. I must give you credit for that. But it's no use, as we've already cut off all of your communication technology," Civet said, with a smirk on his face.
"He's right," Harko said, "The SMR isn't working anymore!"
"So I guess this is it, huh. But there's one thing that still doesn't make sense," Roku asked, "I've been in battles with the Grox countless times, and this does not seem like Grox strategy at all! Normally you just go barging into the fight, Planet Busters at maximum. Who could have come up with this new tactic?"
"Do not question the almighty power of the Grand Master!" Civet exclaimed.
"Yeah, who is this 'Grand Master'?," Roku said, "Never heard of him before."
"How dare you insult the god that will come! Prepare to witness the destruction of your empire. This is the fall of Thar!" Civet retaliated.
"Wait, weren't you gonna do that anyway?" Roku asked.
"ENOUGH!" Civet screamed, just before the video link was cut off.
Almost instantaneously afterwords, the sky was lit up as 16 to 17 hundred Grox ships jumped out of hyperspace. The sight was phenomenal and terrifying at the same time. Even the mighty Uber Turret was pathetic in comparison to this fleet. Each ship was black and loaded with all of the Grox weapon's. Their technology put all of the other empires in the Galaxy's to shame. All except for the Tharians that is, but that didn't matter anymore, as anything that could help them was already light years away. The ships blanketed the planet with utter hopelessness, as their seemed to be no way to escape the impending disaster.
"We can't let this happen!" Harko screamed, "If they take control of the Main Control Tower, it will take mere minutes to conquer the rest of the empire!"
"I realize this, and that's why were gonna get out of here now!" Roku exclaimed.
"What exactly do you plan on doing!" Harko asked.
"Um... surviving, living to see another day, beating the bad guys while I'm at it. Sound good?" Roku replied.
"No but listen to me," Harko commanded, "If they take this planet with you on it, there will be no hope left for this galaxy. If the entire New Tharian Empire falls, then who is left to protect the galaxy?" Roku stood there for a moment. He looked up at the sky. The battle was hopeless. Everything was falling apart.
"Agreed. But where am I supposed to go? The Grox will follow me to every corner of the universe." Roku responded.
"Yes, hold on just a sec..." Harko said typing furiously one of the panels. "Yes. While you were having that conversation with Civet, I was able to hack into their ships coordinate computer through the video link. Let's see... the coordinates are 77ΔAE-5. That's where their heading next."
"Wait," Roku said, in realization, "That's Sol III, but isn't that planet still a civ.? Why would they want to go there?"
"Beats me," Harko said.
"We'll, saving them is the least I can do." Roku stated. Harko nodded his head and walked back over to the control panel. With a few more button jabs, the Tharak was released from the docking bay.-
"Quickly, we need to go now." Roku shouted. The two of them raced for the Tharak's extraction beam.
But just as they were in a few feet of it, they heard the last noise that they could have possibly wanted to hear. The Grox were now dropping anti-matter bombs in mass across the city. They were hearing the sound of one of those dreaded bombs heading straight for their workshop. Mere instinct propelled them as they gave all of their energy and jumped for the beam.
Roku made it.
But Harko didn't.
A HUGE explosion was heard around the outside of the Tharak, luckily the shield protected its passengers.
A dark and horrible realization hit Roku. No one had materialized behind him. It was like it didn't even happen, or at least every fiber of Roku said that it couldn't be.
How could Harko, my best friend and partner as a space captain, die. Just Now. That was it. It COULD NOT be. Everything was happening to fast.
"No!" Roku screamed, "Why... but that... NO!" Roku said, collapsing to the floor, but he knew that there was some serious work to be done. He ran for the Control Panel and activated the ships Hyperdrive.
As he blazed past the Grox fleet, and out into the space past Thar, he knew that he would do everything in his power to save the Galaxy.