HOMEWORLD2: INTERSTELLAR ODYSSEY
CHAPTER 11: LOOMING CRISIS
"Impossible!" Ecron exclaimed incredulously, "Countless millennia have passed since the Progenitors disappeared! He couldn't have lived that long!"
"Actually, we don't really know whether he's still alive," Talos admitted.
"Wha…?" Ecron asked, his bewilderment giving way to confusion.
"In fact, we received a scattered hyperspace transmission about a year ago," Talos explained, "While we couldn't trace its source, it was confirmed to be Progenitor in origin after extensive testing."
"And why would you suspect it to be Progenitor in origin, and from Sajuuk in particular?"
"Because design specs for various aspects of Progenitor technology were transmitted along with the message," Talos answered, "To be exact, we received data concerning Far Jumpers, phased energy weapons, and antimatter technology."
"So what did the message say?" Ecron asked, his eyes watching Talos with great curiosity and interest.
"Everything I've just told you about the Agemo, along with a note that the one behind the transmission was Sajuuk himself," Talos replied as he took another sip of water, "I'm sorry the whole thing sounds rather far-fetched, but who else would have the means and knowledge of such advanced technology?"
"Any other ancient race that has lived since the Progenitors' time," Ecron bluntly said, "But since the Progenitors have been identified as the sole creators of the Far Jumpers up till now, I guess we can give that prophecy some credibility…"
"'Some' credibility?" Talos asked disappointedly, "I was hoping you would be fully convinced."
"I'll believe it when I see it with my own eyes," Ecron countered as he got up to leave, "Now if you will excuse me for the next hour, I have business with my doctor…"
"What if I told you that we received more than that transmission?" General Xiedo suddenly spoke, "What if I told you that…"
"The Admiral has already expressed his doubts on the matter, and those doubts are understandable given the circumstances," Talos said to Xiedo.
"With all due respect Prime Minister, as advanced as our military forces are, it will not stand up to a joint Mythra-Agemo invasion," Xiedo rebuked as he continued staring at Ecron, who had paused at the door and turned to face the general.
"I am sure that any such doubts will be cleared up with ample time," Talos chided, "I do not see how a ship's display will do any good to hasten the process."
"Prime Minister, we do not have the 'ample time' you speak of," Xiedo argued, "If the prophecy is true, and we cross-reference the details with the recent Mythra attacks on the Inner Rim, then the Agemo could arrive anytime within the week! Perhaps even within the next few days! If we do not have a unified Galactic fleet by then, then this Galaxy will truly be doomed to fall!"
"I see there is no convincing you," Talos noted thoughtfully, "Very well. Do what you deem fit, general, to clear the doubts of Sir Ecron."
"Thank you, Prime Minister," Xiedo said slowly as he lifted his wrist communicator to his lips, "Xiedo to Guardian, decloak now."
Without saying a word, Ecron walked back to the meeting table and tapped a few buttons on the armrest of his seat. The room dimmed as a panel on the wall slid away to reveal a flickering viewscreen. It took a few moments for the screen to form a view of the Frerrn Aggregate fleet that was holding position before the Merciless II.
Ecron managed to make out a slight glimmer of warping light on the right extreme of the Frerrn formation. The glimmer was quickly amplified as the decloaking continued, revealing a crisp outline of the ship at hand. And then, the ship dropped back into the visible spectrum, shocking Ecron almost as much as when Talos had first revealed the Frerrn's links with Sajuuk.
It was the unmistakable design of a Progenitor Dreadnaught.
Talos, judging from the look on Ecron's face, concluded that the Admiral was now fully convinced.
Onboard the Tiamat, the Shining Hinterlands:
It was Kiir's first time onboard a T-MAT vessel, and while the T-MAT had done everything in their power to make the visitations area as accommodating to Bound personas as possible, the ship's interior still looked somewhat spartan and claustrophobic.
He had bravely made the suggestion of a proper diplomatic meeting between the Vaygr, the T-MAT, and the Nalthorans. While the T-MAT were agreeable to the idea, the Nalthorans had cried foul and accused the Hiigarans of plotting against the Alliance. Even with T-MAT intervention, the Nalthorans' unforgiving nature continued to rear its ugly head. Kiir could not get adequate assurance of Vanaar's safety onboard the Redemption, while the Nalthorans stubbornly refused to send a delegation to the Scimitar, stating that they had no intention of sending their diplomats to "certain death." Since Eidolon had been built as a war-ready dreadnaught with no proper diplomatic facilities, the only other option in the immediate vicinity was the T-MAT mothership itself.
Kiir watched nervously as a heavily-armed Nalthoran delegation stormed into the close confines of what the T-MAT called a "meeting room." Being Unbound and connected to their ships, the T-MAT had no use for such facilities except for formal receptions involving Bound dignitaries. While the place had not been designed to accommodate the personnel involved in multilateral talks, Kiir knew that room space was going to be the least of their concerns.
"The Unbound sure have different ideas on what chairs are," Soban commented unhappily as he tried to make himself comfortable on his seat, which was a small and hard disc set on top of a single metallic leg.
"I guess the T-MAT like a minimalist approach," Kiir tried to joke in spite of his current mood.
"Your attention please," the T-MAT's collective voice spoke over the intercom, "To facilitate the progression of these diplomatic talks, we request that all arms be surrendered immediately to the nearest droid."
As the voice died away, small panels in the walls slid open to reveal waist-high crystalline droids. The machines gathered around the table and began warbling loudly for the temporary seizure of any and all hand arms. Audible curses could be heard coming from the Nalthoran delegation as the security officers and representatives passed their weapons to the droids. While the Hiigaran delegation only surrendered light ion pistols to the droid on the Hiigaran side, Kiir's eyes widened when he saw the Nalthorans produce heavy plasma rifles, rapid-fire ion guns, and even shock grenades.
The doors to the room opened as the droids moved away quickly with the last of the Nalthorans' firepower. Vanaar strolled in nonchalantly, accompanied by a group of Vaygr warrior guards. Completely oblivious to the cold and hateful stares from the Nalthoran delegation, he sat down calmly on his side of the round table.
It took another minute or so before the T-MAT droids could whisk away the various weapons of the Vaygr group, allowing the meeting to begin proper.
"This diplomatic meeting has officially begun," the T-MAT spoke like an omniscient presence, "As a formality, will the various delegates kindly introduce themselves?"
"I am Kiir Sjet, Kiith'sa of Sjet and Hiigara'sa of the Hiigaran Republic," Kiir introduced as he stood up before the others.
"I am Rei Araman, and I speak on behalf of King Ora for the Nalthoran Kingdom," the Nalthoran spoke icily, never shifting his hateful gaze from the Vaygr group for even a moment. All it did was solicit a slight chuckle from the Vaygr warlord as he stood up and dwarfed the others with his sheer build and height.
"Allow me to introduce myself as Vanaar, Supreme Commander of the Warriors of the Fringe," the warlord smiled as he enunciated the words clearly and crisply, "I sincerely hope that history doesn't get in the way…"
"If it weren't for the confiscation, you'd be history right now," Rei growled as the rest of the Nalthoran delegation shifted restlessly in their seats.
"Sir Rei, please," Kiir spoke quickly, "Let us discuss these matters in a civilised manner."
"Indeed. The purpose of this meeting is to come to an agreement with the Vaygr forces," the T-MAT agreed, "Let us not stray from this agenda."
"Perfectly understandable, considering what the Nalthorans suffered at our hands in the past," Vanaar began in a smooth, conversational tone, even managing to appear a bit remorseful for what the Vaygr had done to the Nalthorans in the past, though his next remark meant otherwise, "But as fate would have it, we are now seated in this room to discuss an alliance treaty."
"We wouldn't even be here if it weren't for the T-MAT and the Hiigarans, along with the current Galactic circumstances," Rei replied in a barely-controlled voice that seethed with pure rage, "Even if a treaty comes to pass, we will never forgive you Vaygr for your actions."
"The Vaygr have never suffered any such full-scale invasions before, so I'm afraid I cannot really sympathise," Vanaar spoke with neither warmth nor sarcasm, "These issues aside, I have no other conditions for this new relationship with the Alliance."
"But why an unconditional alliance at this stage?" the T-MAT queried, "Granted – the Mythra are becoming a serious threat to the Galaxy's security, but why now?"
"Let's just say that I've done some reflecting after the sacrifice of our previous Vaygr Khar," Vanaar answered in a calm and detached manner, "And let us say that I have come to the conclusion that a disunited Galaxy can never prevail against the Mythra."
There was a momentary silence as Vanaar's words sank in. This sounded too good to be true, even for Kiir. While Vanaar had carried himself as a character who was anyone but ordinary during Kiir's meetings with him, the warlord's choice of words was puzzling even with that knowledge.
"All I can say is that you show more eloquence than your predecessor," Rei commented, making no effort to hide the sarcasm.
Such rudeness, coming from what he thought was a people who were sore losers, was inexcusable even for Vanaar. But he swallowed his anger temporarily, maintaining a diplomatic look on his face, though the calmness had faded considerably.
"Perhaps, but I would think it wise to watch my mouth if I were you, Nalthoran."
Rei's voice was colder than the great void of space, "Barbaric murderers deserve no politeness."
"That is enough," Kiir quickly interjected in an attempt at controlling the situation, "The Vaygr have done crimes against us that are as bad, if not worse, than the deeds against your kingdom. Remember that atmosphere deprivation warheads were dropped into Hiigara's atmosphere during the final battle of the Vaygr War, and again after our second Exodus."
"And you welcome them as friends barely five years after," Rei commented, his icy tone unwavering, "Remember that it was not the Progenitors that killed your people, but the Vaygr who wiped every last Hiigaran life from the face of your homeworld."
"As terrible as that tragedy was, it will pale in comparison to a Mythra invasion that succeeds because we are not united," Kiir answered, his calm voice wavering slightly.
"Grand ideals indeed," Rei almost laughed, "I wonder what Karan would've felt, seeing her dearest disciple siding with an enemy that has committed such heinous crimes…"
"How dare you?" Kiir demanded, his calmness and patience running out rapidly.
"Do I not speak truth? That you have chosen to befriend an enemy that has tried to destroy the very people she strove to protect, even at the expense of her own life?"
No sooner had Rei finished speaking when he was suddenly thrown backwards by the invisible force of a telekinetic outburst, crashing heavily on the hard metallic wall behind him. An audible yelp of pain could be heard as the Nalthoran crumpled to the floor, writhing on the floor in agony. The rest of the delegation was incensed, standing up to hurl unimaginable insults at the Hiigaran group, which was trying very hard to restrain a visibly angered Kiir. Alarms sounded as T-MAT security droids swarmed into the room to contain the situation.
"Desist at once, or we will not hesitate to use drastic measures!" the T-MAT ordered as their security droids tried to keep the Nalthorans from lunging at the Hiigarans' throats.
"Sajuuk damn it, this meeting's over!" Soban bellowed as he quickly dealt a hard blow to Kiir's neck, knocking his superior out cold before he could do anything explosive with his abilities. Wasting no time, the Hiigaran marines quickly grabbed their unconscious Hiigara'sa and carried him out of the chaotic room, followed by an equally-furious Soban who was trying his best to ignore the Nalthoran insults.
Vanaar agreed wholeheartedly with the Hiigarans' departure, and stood up to leave calmly with his entourage, completely oblivious to the restrained Nalthorans' cries and screams of rage. Only when his hair crackled from the sudden pulse of an electromagnetic pulse did he stop to turn around.
The T-MAT security droids had been completely disabled by a blast from a hidden Nalthoran EMP device. The Vaygr guards quickly rushed forward to protect their Vaygr Khar, only to fall unconscious at the firepower of stun guns that the Nalthorans had not surrendered. The seething mass of Nalthorans lunged for the outnumbered Vaygr Khar, their hands shooting for his throat and their clenched fists plummeting towards his body. Vanaar merely sighed, reacting to the Nalthoran brawlers by dodging their punches and rendering them unconscious with quick sharp blows mastered after decades of Vaygr martial arts training. A quick scan of his surroundings quickly revealed another group of Nalthorans waiting in the rear, their stun guns aimed directly at him.
Therefore, Vanaar told the Nalthorans to stop.
"Nothing disgusts me more than a group of savages ganging up on a lone and unarmed individual," Vanaar told the telekinetically-paralysed group of Nalthorans, his eyes glowing with the rage of an angered Vaygr warrior.
Whereupon the remaining Nalthorans crumpled unconscious to the floor from the full-powered mindblast that followed.
Dusting off his crumpled uniform, Vanaar answered his wrist communicator which had suddenly come to life.
"My lord, the Nalthoran fleet is taking up attack vectors. Your orders?"
Vanaar sighed once again as he made his decision, "Retaliate."
Onboard the Eidolon, the Shining Hinterlands:
"Priority alert, Nalthoran vessels on incoming vectors with weapons hot!" Eliir announced, "The Nalthorans have thrown a communications blanking field over the Tiamat. I can't contact the captain."
"Raising shields and powering up all weapons," Aalcor spoke as he switched to combat-readiness, "Acting captain?"
"Hold fire, we don't want to go to war unless it's absolutely necessary," Taruur quickly answered.
A series of vibrations gripping the bridge quickly changed the First Officer's mind.
"Alright, change of plans," Taruur muttered as he rushed to the command console, "Return fire, target drives and weapons only."
Aalcor nodded and calmly gave an efficient response to the Nalthoran attack. Turbopulsars locked on and lashed out at the oncoming Nalthoran fighters with their blue lances of light. The strike craft were reduced to immobile pieces of metal as the precision strikes did their work.
"Looks like the Vaygr are fighting back too," Eliir commented as the main viewscreen was lit up by the vermillion flare of the Scimitar's phased cannon array and the battlecruisers' lesser phased energy cannons. The uncanny power of Progenitor technology pierced right through several Nalthoran destroyers and heavy cruisers without trouble, detonating the ships' reactors in several blazes of light.
"Picking up quantum waveform generation all over – the Nalthorans are escaping to hyperspace," Eliir updated a moment later as the Nalthoran fleet disappeared from normal space, evidently retreating from the incredible firepower of the Vaygr fleet.
"Looks like the battle has ended with little loss of life," Taruur noted with relief, "Sora, take us to the Tiamat. We need to pick up our captain and Hiigara'sa."
"Wait, sensors are picking up a massive hyperspace inhibitor field!" Eliir exclaimed with sudden shock, "Nalthoran fleet is dropping from hyperspace! Super dreadnaught class hyperspace signature detected!"
"What in Sajuuk's name…" Taruur uttered as he saw the Koshiir Ra slide back into normal space before the gathered fleets.
Yuno watched in horror as the Koshiir Ra dispatched a T-MAT megaship calmly by impaling it with a distortion field. The intruder had cruelly granted her a view of the outside from within her prison cell in a bid to mock her helplessness.
"No! Stop it!" Yuno cried helplessly as the Nalthorans and T-MAT scrambled to retaliate, with the Vaygr fleet and the Eidolon surging forward to assist.
"Let's see how your lesser race triumphs against a God," the intruder's voice laughed.
Onboard the Veer Rak II:
Eefrit groaned as the bridge swam into existence before his dazed eyes. His head felt like there was somebody bashing his brain at regular intervals. With the rest of the crew either dead, unconscious, or barely conscious, Eefrit decided that it had been a bad idea to blind jump. Not only had the ship suffered substantial damage, as determined from the lack of operable consoles remaining on the bridge, there was also no guarantee that the blind jump had removed them from danger as it was supposed to do. Struggling to his feet, Eefrit tapped at a few unresponsive buttons in a bid to get the main viewscreen online. Sure enough, the viewscreen remained blank.
"Damn it, we're flying blind here," Eefrit cursed under his breath, "Anyone still there?"
"I'm here," Commander Faruun mentioned from the sensors console.
"By Sajuuk, you need to rest," Eefrit exclaimed when he saw the bandages on the commander's left leg.
"The painkillers'll last," Faruun dismissed as he continued to tap away at the barely functional station before him, "We're back in normal space."
"What's still working around here?"
"Conventional drives are at thirty percent power, life support at seventy percent," Faruun listed, "Everything else is offline. Amazingly, we still have auxiliary sensors."
"Well, where the hell are we?" Eefrit asked impatiently, knowing it was not good to be stranded in hostile space without hyperspace capability.
"The sensors aren't giving many details, but all I can say is that we're in a debris field of some sort," Faruun replied, "There's also this strange mass of energy signatures just several thousand kilometres from here. I'm attempting to glean more data…"
"Take your time, from the looks of it we'll be stuck here for quite some time," Eefrit trailed off as he went to assist a wounded officer.
It was only through helping the wounded that Eefrit managed to see the extent of the carrier's damage. The ship's hull had been breached in many sections, and there were wounded officers everywhere. Sickbay was overcrowding and the hangar bay was a mess of ruined construction and docking equipment.
Engineering had been worst hit. The main reactor core had suffered a partial breach, causing the immediate deaths of most of the engineering crew before emergency safeguards could kick in. The plasma leak had also damaged the hyperspace module beyond repair, meaning there was no way for them to even limp back to Hiigara. To top it off, the carrier's hyperspace communication array had been knocked out as a consequence of their blind jump.
As Eefrit returned to the bridge, exhausted from carrying so many wounded personnel to sickbay, he prayed for some good news from the commander.
"Anything new?" the admiral asked in a weary voice as he dragged himself through the doors.
"I managed to get the auxiliary sensors up to sixty percent effectiveness, and astronavigation's partially online," Faruun reported as he stared at the flickering viewscreen, "In other words, I know where we are, but you're not going to like what I've found."
"We're stuck in a barely-functional carrier with enough supplies to last us a few more days, what could be worse?" Eefrit rolled his eyes as he sat down on the nearest intact seat.
Faruun shrugged as he tapped another button, "We're in a debris field a few hundred thousand kilometres from the Gate of Hara. Preliminary scans also reveal a… a considerable Mythra presence around the gate."
Eefrit's eyes widened in bewilderment at the news, "Considerable? Considerable as in…?"
"Sensors estimate at least a few dozen Spheres," Faruun continued, "And the gate's active."
"Sajuuk be damned."