26 – THE MIGHT OF THE EMPRESS
The city rumbled as the Yellows fled. Legions of Purples and Oranges followed in airborne vehicles, and behind them, Pelicans and Phantoms were dropping off land-based forces. The Yellows wove in between small streets, trying to maintain cover despite being shot at from both the side and the air. The Yellows had just come to the crossing of a large street, which was going to be very difficult because of the noticeable lack of sky protection. Suddenly, a line of floating golden power cores appeared in front of them. "Hop onto us!" one of them shouted at the Yellows. "We will take you to the city entrance." As the Yellows looked at each other, the cores lowered themselves closer to the ground, inviting the Yellows to step on. The leader of the group, Hester was the first to try doing so. As soon as she set her boot upon a core's surface, she instantly felt herself levitate onto the center of the coil via some electromagnetic field. Then the coil lifted off the ground.
"They're going to fly us?" said Wren. "I dunno about this, sis."
A sudden boom echoed from behind them. "I don't think we have a choice, guys," Amber said. "The enemy is right out our tail."
Recognizing the truth of that statement, the Yellows each climbed into one of the cores. Just like Hester was, they all became levitated in place, at which point the cores took off from the ground. "Let's all hope this ends well," said Ryan. The cores rose until they were above the level of most buildings, at which point they all came into a V formation, and took off in the direction of the city entrance. They flew like Longsword Fighters, albeit much smaller and more agile. But they streaked across the city at a speed that someone standing on the ground would probably not have been able to follow with their eyes. Enemy aircraft were still pouring in through the new holes in the chamber's ceiling, and they attempted to intercept the power cores in fleets. But the cores discharged strokes of lightening which vaporized everything in their path. The city echoed as Ryan gave a series of enthusiastic whoops, and Brian (who many of the Yellows suddenly remembered was with them) started jovially exclaiming at the view.
They arrived at the chamber entrance within just seconds. The power cores swooped down, and sure enough, a company of roughly two hundred soldiers were waiting for them, having just gotten down the elevator shaft. Their commanding officer was at the front, and he saluted. It was Pete Oles. "Oh fantastic," Patton muttered under his breath.
"Hey guys," said Oles. "I decided you might need my help, so I came down from my post."
"We didn't," said Hester abruptly, nearly cutting Oles off.
Oles seemed as though he was waiting for a "thanks anyways" but when he didn't get one after a moment, he simply nodded. "Right. So what's the situation?"
Hester simply pointed behind her. Oles moved his gaze to the scene of destruction at the city. "Whoa, that's a lot goin' on there. We're gonna need backup. A LOT of it!" He opened his tacpad. "This is Colonel Pete Oles, Twelfth Company. Calling for reinforcements at the installation's elevator shaft. The underground chamber is under attack by air assault. I repeat, the underground chamber is under attack. At least a division is needed." A moment later, his tacpad beeped, indicating that the order had been received. "Right, I've sent in for about two thousand soldiers to rendezvous with us. They'll be with us in about five."
Patton was about to make a comment about getting the situation under control when the whole shaft started to shake. Many people nearly fell over. The Yellows looked around wildly. "What the hell is that?" Ryan asked.
"Something's going on up above!" Oles exclaimed. The roar eventually subsided, but the sounds of conflict remained: distant beats of gunfire and explosions. At the same time, a large cloud of smoke was eschewing down from above, carrying with it the scent of char and heated metal.
"We need to get back up the shaft," said Hester. "Something huge is happening up there."
"But what about the city?" Amber asked.
"Oles and his lot will have to take care of it," said Patton. He turned to Oles. "I trust you can do that?"
Oles nodded as Brian might right after receiving a huge chocolate treat. "Oh yeah, totally! I mean…yessir."
"Let's head out, then," said Hester.
The group of power cores which had delivered the Yellows suddenly flew in their path. "We shall accompany you," said one of them. "The Epic Glory of the Lord of the Digest's Moustache specifically ordered us to assist you in any matters you require."
Hester shrugged. "I don't see why not. Come on then. We can all take the lift. I don't much care for flying, if it's all the same to you." She began walking towards the lift, while the power cores and the rest of Lemon and Yellow Team followed behind her.
Wren was already at the levitating platform, getting it to activate again. Soon it rose gently from the floor and stopped twenty centimeters in midair. "Got it, sis," Wren reported.
They all got on, and as soon as they did the platform began to move slowly upwards. The sounds from above were only getting louder as the Yellows and their comrades approached the top. The explosions revealed themselves to be far more than just the standard heavy weapons explosions: the sounds were actually mechanical roars that could only have been coming from something HUGE. Everyone had their weapons ready, though even Hobar with his rocket launcher expressed doubt that they had enough to face whatever the hell it was on the surface.
Finally they reached the top, after five minutes of agonizing anticipation. Nothing but smoke and ruins awaited them. The Yellows just stared. Everything was destroyed. It was as if the Yellow encampment had never existed. Not only had the base been flattened, but it had also been incinerated, for even the rubble itself had been destroyed. Quite literally everything was gone.
"So this is the surface," said one of the power cores. "It sucks."
"Well it's not normally supposed to be like this," said Amber, looking around stunned as she spoke. "What the hell happened?"
"This place wasn't doing too hot when we left," said Ryan slowly. "But now it's practically been removed from existence!"
"What could possibly have done all this?" Amber asked.
"There's no radiation, so it wasn't nuked," said Wren.
"But whatever did it was definitely huge," said Patton.
Hearts looked over and saw that Brian was looking up jovially into the sky. He gently nudged the former Blue to get him to pay attention…again. But Brian didn't move, except to regard Hearts with barely a glance. Then Brain said "Um…did you guys notice that giant thing in the sky? 'Cause I think it might be what you guys are talking about."
The other Yellows looked upwards, and they began to gape. An incomparably huge thing was floating directly over the dead base. Six massive metal chambers were situated around a point of light which was glowing brighter then the sun. The thing was probably larger than most Frigates the Yellows were accustomed to seeing. The thing in the sky was simply hovering there, and rotating slowly about one of its axes. Small orange colored specks could be seen inside of it, which were surely its Orange soldier crew. "Holy crap," Ryan exclaimed. "This is like something straight out of Flash Gordon. I don't know if we should run, or just stay put and see what it does."
"I opt for taking it the hell out," said Hester without an ounce of fear or awe in her tone. "This…whatever it is…is clearly responsible for the destruction if this encampment. We cannot allow it to do this again."
"I second that motion," said Patton. "Hobar!"
"Aw, common boss!" Ryan complained. "I never get to blow up the huge things—"
"We're not gonna shoot it yet, Hobar!" Patton shouted back at him. "We can't take it out with the weapons we have equipped, it's much too big."
Ryan began to nod. "Yeah, I thought so, boss. Because it's not like that thing can be felled with just a few rockets and grenades." He began to backpedal slowly out from under the shadow of the thing in the sky. "Well then, I uh, I guess we'll just have to go back to the firebase and restalk—"
"We need to board it and blow it up from the inside," Patton finished.
The others members of Lemon Squadron nodded approvingly as Ryan let out a huge groan.
The Might of the Empress was not the oddest ship that Yoren Stendaar had been on. It was still pretty close, however. When Solienne Tarl had told him that the Orange Army had brought along a weapon capable of doing to Trevelyan Fields all that an array of Green Frigates had done to it two years ago, Stendaar had simply gone along with the comment, thinking in his private mind that certainly it was just a ploy. There was no way that the Orange Army could have gained possession of such a weapon, no matter where they had gone in the strange alternate dimension they claimed to have come from. But then, just before the ongoing battle, Tarl had brought this craft down from orbit and shown it to the Purples, a great ship that looked like a cross between a very strange six-sided die and three hourglasses which had somehow been forced together at the midsection. Tarl had insisted that Stendaar should join him on the craft. In support of their alliance, Stendaar had agreed.
The interior of the Might of the Empress looked very similar to what Stendaar had always imagined an Orange ship would be, even as odd of one as this: orange colored lighting was everywhere, making everything look as though it was washed in fire. The vectors for the artificial gravity worked a bit differently for this craft, given its odd shape and the fact it always had to be slowly rotation on an axis for some reason: "down" on the ship actually meant towards the outer hull, such that the decks were actually hollow shells surrounding one another, with people walking along the surface of each shell, and each deck level "up" being inside the deck before it. The bridge was the innermost deck, surrounded by the rest of the ship.
The bridge room was shaped like a ball, with round metal grating walkway cutting through its middle, the place where people could actually stand. On all surfaces of the room were monitors showing the view in that direction outside of the ship. The whole room actually looked like a vista of the battlefield. Since the ship had entered the battle, Tarl had been standing where he was now: in front of the main control console for the ship. Immediately upon entering, Stendaar had asked him what this ship actually did, as well as how it worked. Tarl had given but a small chuckle, then turned back to what he was doing.
Tarl was not a particularly forthcoming man, but he wasn't boring either: as the ship soared above Trevelyan Fields, and the two of them watched from above as legions of Purple, Orange, and Yellow soldiers met with explosive force, they did carry on a small conversation. "Peace is not what it once was," Tarl began. "The galaxy is now filled with war, and I doubt that most young people even recall what it feels to be in a time of peace."
"And it is only becoming more warlike, with the events directly below us serving as an example," said Stendaar. He turned and looked Tarl directly in the visor. "Tell me…does your Empress truly serve the cause of peace?"
"But of course," Tarl responded frankly. "In a galaxy of war, however, the methods for obtaining peace are not always nonviolent, or even close to it. There are some who say that the best way to extinguish a bonfire is with water. But my Army and its Empress, we believe that the best way is with more fire. Better to starve the flames by depriving them of oxygen, then to use great amounts of water, when forgotten embers may rekindle the cycle of burning after the water has long since dried."
"My Army's beliefs are similar," said Stendaar. "We believe that peace should be imposed upon the galaxy, for without a central power to keep order, there can only be chaos. However, we also believe in putting justice first. That is why the Big Three have become our targets, for the wrath that they have brought—particularly the Green Army—must be met with an equal show of force, devastation for devastation, to ensure balance."
"Balance," said Tarl slowly. "While I see the value in it, I do not necessarily see the need for it to be placed above all other values. The Empress believes in peace, and for it to be the end of all our Army's plans. That was why she bothered to attend the War Council, even despite her lack of invitation: she was giving the Big Three the chance to see reason. When that failed, she decided that fire needed to be used to extinguish fire, and so we now have the battle you see before you."
"Fire must be used when the others do not see reason, on that point both our Armies agree," said Stendaar. "Rather, it seems that balance is the key difference of our Armies values. But both are for peace in the long run, and that is what truly matters. We shall use our alliance to become powerful, and rid ourselves of Amnion and the Reds. Then the Big Three will fall."
"And glory shall be ours," said Tarl, though he paused before saying it, seeming deep in thought. He looked up at one of the screens. "Ah, we have arrived at our destination."
"The energy signatures?" Stendaar asked.
Tarl nodded. "Yet it appears that the Yellows have beaten us to it. Ah, it is no matter: it only means that I can demonstrate to you the power of this vessel sooner than I had originally expected."
Down below sat a shaft which led into the ground further than Stendaar could make out. The surface around it was covered with lights of several different colors. Yet surrounding it was a great Yellow base, a ring of military structures clad in lemon-colored paint. The Yellow encampment formed a thick ring around the installation entrance. There were hundreds of Yellows in vehicles and on foot, marching within the base and preparing to head down into the installation. Tarl hit a few commands on the main console, and then stepped back to watch. The cameras zoomed in to the top of a ridge overlooking the eastern edge of the encampment. A very large company of Orange soldiers had pulled up, and were cautiously looking down at the Yellows below. "The first wave," Tarl indicated to Stendaar. Then he gave the command into his mike: "Fire."
The twelve soldiers at the front of the company aimed a set of very bulky weapons down at the encampment. Then they released, and several tens of glowing orange orbs of light were suddenly sent cascading down into the Yellow Base. Stendaar was appalled by what he saw. It was like a hail from hell: once the orbs made contact, they immediately scattered in all directions, and everything they touched…Stendaar had never seen anything like this. Everything they touched seemed to vaporize into glowing particles in the air. Structures collapsed as their supports disappeared. Vehicles, and even people, were all turned into glowing points of light. As all of this was happening, the Orange squad on the ridge had begun to move downwards, yelling a battle cry as they slid down the steep slope towards the encampment.
The Yellows still in the base did not bother to engage the Oranges, for they were already too preoccupied just staying alive, not to mention shocked by the sudden devastation around them. This changed when the Oranges came to the entrance to the installation: the Yellows had managed to set up barricades along the opposite edge of the shaft, and were firing back at the Oranges to keep them from entering. The Oranges set up their own barricades and fired back with their strange orb-emitting guns. The Yellows were hampered by this, but persevered, eventually managing to provide cover fire for a group of Yellows to make it to the elevator at the center of the shaft and head down into the installation.
This was the moment when Tarl decided it was time for the second and final wave. He ordered the company of Oranges to retreat back to the edge of the encampment, and then he pulled up on the command console a set of command options for the ship itself. He painted an area over the entire Yellow encampment, and then he hit INITIATE. "Now comes the second wave," he informed Stendaar. "Now, you shall see the Might of the Empress." There was a rumble from all around the ship.
What weaponry has the Orange Army gained from the alternate dimension, Stendaar wondered to himself. A demonstration of power, indeed, but how exactly have they acquired it? All six sides of the ship were now glowing, and according to the readings on the monitors, there was now a tremendous electromagnetic field outside which was surrounding the entire ship. Then something began glowing from directly above Stendaar. It was a glow of tendril-like light which stretched out from directly above the central chamber, from the exact center of the ship itself. Looking at it, Stendaar was suddenly filled with a sense of awe and wonder. The light above him was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He felt complete, whole somehow, and he could only focus upon the light.
Then the entire ship became light, and the Yellow encampment outside vanished.
When Stendaar could see again, he slowly regained his mental senses. The light had captivated him, but now it had faded, as had the electromagnetic field around the ship. But below him, the Yellow encampment had been completely annihilated. No structures rose above the ground any longer, for all there was now was simply ruin where the encampment had once existed.
"Do you see?" Tarl asked him. "Do you see the true power of the Might of the Empress, and by extension, of the Orange Army itself?"
"They are great indeed," said Stendaar. "But how are they possible? What did your Army find in the other dimension that allows you to do this?"
"In time you will learn," said Tarl. "And now, the installation."
Tarl gave commands to the Orange company to move into the shaft. At once, the Oranges began marching over the still smoking remains of the Yellow encampment, towards the great opening in the earth. But suddenly, great metal panels began to close over the shaft, sealing the massive opening shut with a CLANG. The Yellows had clearly installed some kind of failsafe for just such a situation as this, where their base had been compromised, ensuring that even in defeat their enemies would not take the prize. To this, Tarl ordered another of the Oranges devices be brought out, and to Stendaar's intrigue they did not disappoint: they looked like gigantic drills on wheels. They angled themselves just to the east of the entrance, and then the drills rose on hydraulic instruments to angle themselves vertically, so that they were pointing at the ground.
"You're going to drill down into the installation," said Stendaar.
"We are indeed," said Tarl. The ground rumbled down below as the drills began to spin, slowly lowering themselves into the earth. At the same time, Tarl queued up a rather large host of aircraft from nearby, hundreds of VTOLs and airborne attack vehicles. He requested that Stendaar do the same. Stendaar obliged.
Most of the Purple Army as at the front lines, keeping the Yellow Army at bay while the Orange Army secured the artifacts, as had been the plan. So far, things were going mostly to plan: the Yellows had stayed near the south of the fields, with the small exception of the encampment which had just been destroyed. Yet while most Purple forces were far away, there were enough still near the installation's location that they would certainly bolster whatever force Tarl was already sending in. Great holes now existed in the ground, and Orange aircraft had begun descending into them when the Purple forces Stendaar had requested began to show up. Yet they were not alone when they did so: the Yellow Army had now succeeded in getting a small number of reinforcements to the entrance's location. A couple hundred of them took up residence by the opposite side of the shaft, installing some kind of key code that made the metal doors atop the shaft open slightly, on their side, so that they could start getting some forces down into the installation as well.
Stendaar briefly glanced at Tarl to see his reaction to this, but Tarl hardly seemed to care, no doubt thinking that the Orange and Purple union of forces heading into the installation would be many times more than enough to repel the newly arrived Yellows. Tarl did little more than watch the Yellows head down the shaft, until they had all left the surface. The radio chatter coming to the ship from down below told both of them everything they needed to know: the installation contained millions of energy storage devices which not only contained all the energy they had been predicted to, but also were actually sentient, having made an entire city out of themselves, a civilization. The risk of detonations of them from weapons fire would make combat in the installation difficult, but that held true for the Yellows down there as well, so no advantage was lost to either side. Tarl gave the order for collection of the devices to begin as soon as the Yellows had been dealt with.
From that moment on, things started to go relatively slowly. The city of power cores was already practically taken, because there were hardly any Yellows within it to begin with. Several minutes went by while the two of them listened to reports of the power core's extraction getting underway.
Then suddenly, alarm klaxons started blaring. The ship had somehow been boarded. Tarl quickly pulled up the camera feeds of the area of the ship in question. He saw a corridor full of Orange soldiers whom had all keeled over. Standing above them were several Yellow soldiers, most of which had reflective golden armor. Lemon Squadron, Stendaar and Tarl both thought in unison. Lemon wasn't alone: floating next to the Yellows were several long metallic boxes which were simply levitating in the air. Tarl ordered that section of the ship to be sealed off immediately, though privately Stendaar doubted that effort would do very much, especially in light of Lemon's previous escape from the Avant Garde itself.
When he had done everything he could, Tarl stepped back from the console. "This is only a slight annoyance, as more of my Army's technology will no doubt show you soon. However, it has moved up my timetable a bit." He hit a few keys on his tacpad. "Yes, the time of the final phase of this operation is now at hand."
A pair of Orange guards suddenly appeared from behind Stendaar and grabbed his arms, holding him. "W-what is this?" Stendaar shouted.
"It is time to put out fire with more fire," was all Tarl said in response. "The power cores will soon be in my Army's possession, so we have no further need of our alliance with your Army anymore, Stendaar." He began pacing slowly around the command room. "I had not planned on doing this until we had already gotten out with the power cores, but with Lemon Squadron on this ship, I have to make sure that the last phase has been completed before this vessel is compromised."
Stendaar could only stare in shock at Tarl. "What last phase? What're you talking about, Tarl! Our Armies had a deal! We help you get the power cores, and you help us get rid of Amnion."
Tarl only shook his head and gave the same small chuckle he had become known for. "You Purples are all gullible fools. With Amnion as powerful as he is, did you seriously think that my Army would wait to get rid of him, if we were capable of doing so? We are not quite that powerful, Stendaar. We never intended to help your Army, only to use it. Guards, take him to the brig."
"YOU LIAR!" Stendaar shouted as the guards began to move him out of the room. "When Vorennius finds out about this, he will turn his forces on these fields against you. You will never leave Trevelyan with the power cores!"
Tarl only shook his helmet slowly. "You forget, Stendaar. Fire with fire. This ship is capable of far more than just the destruction of one encampment. With the heart of the Quantum Manipulator powering it, the Might of the Empress has the ability to do to these entire fields what it has done to that insignificant Yellow outpost. Both Yellow and Purple forces will fall, and then the Oranges will return to claim our prize."
A cold feeling crawled down Stendaar's spine as he finally understood the extent of Tarl's plan. He intends to destroy all of Trevelyan, everyone and everything, and then take the power cores after everyone has died. He could only let out a cry of fury as the guards took him down the hallway, a howl of betrayal.