Chapter Nine

The Cathedral of Kadesh

ARAZIS

"We cannot stay." The female voice said. The outsiders' commander was being broadcast to every ship in the massive fleet.

She and Saiin had joined a squadron of eight Swarmers and they were escorting the Ambassador along with several multi-beam frigates.

"We're on a journey. But let there be peace between us for we have something in common. The hyperdrive technology left to us by our ancestors is identical to yours. The Homeworld we seek may be yours as well." That was a hard load of information for her to process. She had only heard stories. She thought of them as nothing more than legends. The other Exiles have returned.

"You will fail." The Ambassador replied. "The evil that drove us here will find and destroy you. From you they will know of us and come here! This cannot come to pass." He was losing it. She thought. His voice was cracking. But it no longer mattered. The battle had begun. The Swarmers were moving in for attack. It would be all over in a matter of minutes. And she could return to the Amun and her friends. Or the ones left.

"Saiin, stay by me." Just as she was about to move in for attack, she saw the black and red fighter from the day before. The one she couldn't get at. This time she would make sure she did.

MARK

They attacked. "Engage and destroy hostiles." Intelligence advised. I pulled my squad into an 'X' formation and we were on our way to deal with the threat. We all set to evasive to out manoeuvre them while attacking. It seemed to be the only way. If not, we would be shot down like many of the fighters surrounding us.

I looked at my sensors manager screen and saw that Jay's ship was moving in towards one of the frigate-sized ships for a salvage run. "Okay squad, let's go help the salvage team." I said while pulling them over in that general direction. I had to make sure Jay would be safe.

"Uh . . . Mark, two of them had been following us this whole time and they don't seem to be too happy." Isel said. I looked on a rear-view screen and saw them coming in fast.

"I'll handle them. You just make sure Jay gets that frigate to its destination." I immediately pulled out of formation and set my boosters on full throttle towards these two followers. I noticed Isel immediately taking the lead. She's definitely my favourite wingman.

TRIIKOR

The Nebulans, or Kadeshans, or whatever they called themselves started to attack. From the Rancor, it looked to be far away. But that's when it hit. Literally. In seconds, a blue beam of ions blasted at the hull just below the viewport she had been standing behind to observe the battle. She had no idea what was going on until the ship surprisingly rolled its way into view. She blinked and widened her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. The enemy ion ship was doing barrel rolls in space. It had four ion cannons and they were all firing at the same time. She dismissed it as a tactic to cause the most damage possible.

She had already gotten over the horror yesterday and was feeling slightly less horrified. Very slightly. She also observed as two salvage corvettes griped it and the beams turned off. It was captured and headed for the hangar.

She ran there to get a look at the Kadeshand herself. She had never seen them, so she wanted to.

What she saw when she entered was both comforting and disturbing. The Nebulans were pale-skinned, but not bleach-white like the Turanic. They looked Taiidan. Or Kushan. They were all pretty much the same. Maybe the Taiidan and the Kushan are ancient relatives? She thought. They were all shorter than her, and she wasn't the tallest on the pirate ship either. They looked more like the Taiidan than the Kushan. They had blue or green eyes and walked with their heads down in shame. They knew where they were going. What else she noticed that really surprised her, was that there seemed to be only two hair colors. It was blond or red and everything in between. One girl looking to be only about twelve had pink hair. She looked to them like they were every color of the nebula.

They called the Taiidan the "evil that drove them here". And yet she was one of them, standing only a few feet away. They had no idea. And she didn't feel like telling them.

She saw one of them get knocked over in surprise. "T-T-Taiidan!" he yelled. The rest turned to face her. She didn't know what to do. She looked both ways, and the guards were struggling to get them to the elevator deck to the prison level. She felt sad for them. They had panicked looks on their faces. Some ran for the end of the hangar only to be zapped with a taser rod. She looked to them like some kind of demon or killer. They were all afraid. She took a step back and then another. They calmed down a little. Not calm, but not screaming or sprinting for the door. She turned and ran out the hangar. She didn't know what else to do. She didn't want to be seen as someone to be feared like that.

ARAZIS

"He's coming towards us? Saiin, get behind me. I'll take the lead." The obedient little guy obeyed and fell behind but still continued forward.

The black ship screamed forward and opened fire. She noticed it had extra engines on the top and bottom sides. It made him fast, it made him a threat. "Fire!" she yelled. Her and Saiin opened fire on the outsider and hit, but he survived. He made a spiral and blasted past them. She turned and followed. He was already facing them opening fire. But his other engines were off now making him a slower target, but still a big threat. He was good. He was really good.

ERIC

The battle was getting serious. Jay's team had just caught the second frigate and they were headed to help Mark. His mind raced from the fight, to Trix, to Mark, then to himself and the fight again. He had a hard time concentrating. He was feeling dizzy and light headed. "I think there's something wrong with my ship." He said to Isel. They became somewhat friends while he spent his time on the Mothership. He trusted her.

"What do you mean?" she asked. He heard the worry in her voice.

"I-I feel light head. It's c-cold in here." He started to shiver. "Hold on, I'm running a scan. Cough."

"Eric!" she screamed.

"I-I can't breathe! H-hold on, oh no! Oxygen levels are at cough point five percent! I have no air!" he started to panic. He checked them after he came back from yesterday's battle. He must have been hit. There was no other explanation. "I-I'm fogging up!" he screamed.

"Go back! Get to the Rancor! You won't die on my watch! Get outa here!" she screamed. He did as she said. He turned the ship back towards the red hangar so far away now. He blasted the Saju-Ka forward with only the hope he could get air in the hangar. His hands became cold. He risked a look, and they were frosted. He was freezing to death. The set as much of the power he could into the engines. He stopped breathing as it would make his lungs hurt. He just had to make it to the Rancor.

MARK

"You lost a wingman already? Isel, I expected more." I'm buzzing around these two Swarmers and didn't know if I was gonna make it out. But then, Isel showed up just in time.

"Yes and no. He's not dead. He was losing oxygen so he went back to the Rancor. He'll be fine as long as he makes it.

"Wait, Eric?" he didn't answer. I feared the worst for him. I just hoped he would make it. I didn't have many friends left. If I lost him, then . . . I can't even finish that sentence. "He'll be fine. Yeah he'll be fine." I tried convincing myself.

"Focus, Mark!" her voice said. She's right. I needed to focus on this battle.

The ships were easier targets now. They had to avoid all of Red Squad now. Minus Eric. We all came in from different directions making them not know where to go. They were done. We had them

But then, just as we were about to come in for the kill, twenty more ships were headed our way. We didn't stand a chance against that many.

"Fall back! Incoming swarm! Get outa here!" I screamed. They noticed. Because they were already leaving before I could finish. I followed. My fuel was low, so I wasn't going to risk using my boosters. I'm regretting not installing those super engines Jay found in his Porter. There was time for that later.

"There! Head for that Matriarch!" I said. We headed as fast as we could to the frigate that could save our lives. We got there in one piece, but I was hit more times than I can count. Good thing I upgraded my ship. That's when it hit me. Maybe it didn't really matter how many times I get hit as long as I destroy the enemy. I would test that theory out later. I needed fuel badly. I was starting to doubt I had enough to get to the frigate. But I made it. The supporter was guarded by half a dozen Tempests, and their thirty six guns took aim. The twenty had quickly become fifteen, then eight, then two, then none. We docked and got fuel.

"That was close." One of the unnamed wingmen said. He had no idea.

We were repaired and given a full tank of fuel and then it was out to battle again. We headed to the main battle. I was sure that Jay could handle himself. Besides, Rob was a smart guy, he would get one of these cool gun-covered corvettes to follow him around.

"Let's go." I said.

ERIC

He held his breath as long as he could. He thought he felt his face turn red, then purple, then blue. He was almost there, only a dozen meters to go.

He wanted to scream, but had no breath to do it. He felt his mind go blank. He was passing out, or worse. He had to stay conscious.

Seconds past, and he passed through the red hangar screen. he opened the hatch and filled his lungs with oxygen. He screamed and slammed the ship on the ground. He heard the sharp screech of metal on metal. It was the last thing he remembered. He saw people running for cover and a line of confused Nebulans backing away. A few seconds later, he saw the lights go out, and felt he was falling away. He was not dead, but unconscious.

TRIICOR

She heard a scream and the sound of screeching metal in the hangar. She thought one of the alien prisoners escaped and caused some damage. She ran in only to find that beyond the bulky frigate, there was a Blade Interceptor crash landing in the hangar. It was too far away to make out who it was, but the event in whole was enough to make her come running.

She ran towards the Blade that was already slowing down. It was smoking, probably because of all the heat and friction.

She ran through the crowd of confused Nebulans that backed away fast when she got there, avoiding her like she was the Kaldaan Plague.

Past the frigates, and over to a team of repairmen with extinguishers that shot out white foam. She got there, to see that there was a pilot already on a medical bed. When she saw who it was, her heart sank.

Eric was headed to the hospital unconscious. She had no clue as to what happened, and neither would anyone else until he woke. His ship was decided that it be kept in the current state to see what caused him to crash. She stayed by him until he would wake. Though she had only known him for a short while, she felt things she never felt about anyone before. He was special. So she couldn't let him leave her.