"Paradise once had a wall,
We were the watchers on that wall.
Paradise was swept away
and the wall fell.
If Paradise is to be restored it will
need new watchers on the wall.
The task falls now to you,
to take you places on the wall."
Dylan Hunt
excerpt - Commencement Address to
the High Guard Academy
CY 10089
Chapter Fifteen
"Welcome, Captian," Dylan said as Captian Meduk entered the room. Dylan was standing in front of a large monitor that was displaying the tactical situation the Commonwealth was facing. On it nearly two dozen worlds were represented in a dark red, worlds that had fallen to the Empire.
"Thank you," Meduk replied as Dylan directed her to a seat at a small conference table.
Dylan sat down across from her leaning back he crossed his arms and waited for here to speak.
"Why have you brought me here," she asked.
"That's a more loaded question then you might think," Dylan told her as he leaned forward, "Your Empire has, for the most part, been winning this war. The momentum is about to change Captian, and your going to be part of that."
"What makes you think I would betray the Empire, my own people," she demanded coldly.
"Because I know you Tealera," Dylan said, "I the very least I know your type. Your honourable, for the most part, and you don't like going back on your word.
"Your also angry, angry at an Empire that forced you to do things you are not proud of, just to get the very things you had already earned."
"Idealistic bastard," Meduk shot back as she bolted from her seat, "The Empire is my home, my life. I will not betray it. I can not."
"It has already betrayed you Tealera," Dylan said quietly, "You wanted to complete the deal didn't you. I heard it in your voice when we brought you the slipstream technology. They compromised you, and you like a dutiful officer let it happen."
"Would you have done anything different," she returned with bitterness.
"I don't know," Dylan replied honestly, "But if I would of hated myself if I hadn't done something different."
Tears began to form in the corners of Meduk's eyes as she consider the consequences of her actions. She would never be able to return home again, never see her family or visit the Greenway on her homeworld.
"You do have an option Tealera," Dylan said quietly, "In return for your help we will give you one of the escape shuttles your crew used. We have a pilot from the Rebel Alliance, Luke Skywalker, with us. If you would like, once this is over, he'll take you home."
"Luke Skywalker," Tealera breathed, "He destroyed the Death Star right out from Darth Vader's nose.
"I accept, Dylan," she said, "When do we begin?"
_____________________
Brother Behemial Far Traveller walked the paths of the planet Kingfisher with a certain trepidation. He had been spawned on this world, he had been show the Way on this world. There was a small Wayist commune not far off where Magog converts were welcomed.
The local population was not pleased by this, they still feared the Magog and with good reason. For the last forty years the Magog had come periodically to this world killing and raping and feeding as they pleased.
It was in one of those raids that Red Plague had been born.
He still did not like to think of himself as being Red Plague, he had cast that all aside to become Rev Bem, a being dedicated to peace.
A child ran out in front of him nearly tripping over Rev Bem's all covering Wayist robes. A new Magog assault had started in the last few days, the largest in over a decade. The child was being chased by two of those Magog.
"Stand behind me," Rev growled to the child, "I will let no harm come to you."
The two Magog approached screeching out a warning as they detected the sent of one of their own kind.
"You will not harm this child," Rev told them simply, "Go now, and find easier prey."
The two Magog were not so eager to let their prize escape them and the continued to approach.
"I have warned you," Rev told them, "The consequences will be on your own heads."
This did not seem to bother these Magog at all as they launched their attack. Forced into no other option Rev struck back with a ferocity he had not felt since the Magog attacked the Andromeda.
These two Magog stood no chance against him, Rev knew how to defend himself and how to fight in a worthy cause. The child he had protected looked in awe at what he had just seen.
"Go now to the commune," Rev demanded, "You will be safe there."
"I want to stay with you," the child cried.
Rev pulled back his hood to show the child his gruesome face, the child looked back in horror to see that his saviour was in fact the same species as his enemy.
"Go now," Rev growled, "You will be safe with my brothers."
Rev Bem discarded his Wayist robes as he approached one of the landing fields that the agile Magog Swarmships had used. Underneath was the armoured tunic he had stolen aboard the world ship nearly two years prior. It identified him as someone of a higher position in the loose Magog hierarchy.
He was Red Plague once again.
As he passed through the encampment that had grown near the landing sites he began to here whispers. They spoke of the Abyss, the fleet he had assembled, and a coming battle that could be the key to everything.
A sudden realization dawned on Rev as he walked through the camp, none of the Magog that had been descended from the first invasions had known of the Spirit of the Abyss. The god of the Magog was all but entirely forgotten among his people, except for those aboard the Worldship.
The fleet was from the Worldship, possibly the vanguard of the new and final Magog invasion. Dylan needed to know about this.
Many of the Magog were talking of the invasion fleet from a distant galaxy. A people who called themselves the Empire. They were to be the first targets of Magog wrath.
Rev hurried himself over to the parked Swarmships weaving his way through the carnage and death he had hoped to never see again. The Magog had little concern for guarding their ships, there simply weren't a lot of people foolish enough to try to steal them and so Rev found it easy to board one of the small but powerful ships.
It was therefore, something of a surprise to find a already in the pilot seat.
"Great One," the creature growled, "What you doing here?"
"I will go where I please," Rev bit back, "Now step away from the controls."
"I not moving," it responded.
With no other choice Rev lashed out at the creature knocking it unconscious. He cast it out the airlock and took up the pilots station.
It was only a matter of moments before he could bring the craft into the air. Other swarmships in the area seemed to be trying to launch in pursuit of Rev, but they would not catch him. However, the thousands of Magog ships in orbit might have a better chance.
The sensor returns that Rev was now seeing showed the largest fleet of swarmships the galaxy had known since the invasion of Brandeburg Tor over three hundred years ago. That attack had devested the planet and killed nearly all of its three billion inhabitants.
Veering away from the massive swarm, Rev decided he must go straight to Dylan despite the danger, and warn him of the impending doom.
_________________________
The time had come.
Dylan Hunt stood at the Captain's station on the Command Deck of the Andromeda Ascendant waiting for battle. The ship was ready, fully stocked with missiles, the antiproton tanks were filled to the brim and every slipfighter had just been reconditioned.
Similar preparations had taken place on the nearly three hundred Commonwealth ships that were there with him at the staging area on the eve of battle.
Dylan opened a communication channel to his fleet.
"This is Captain Dylan Hunt," he began, "Today is the day we have been waiting for, the day we have trained for, the day we have prepared for. In a few moments time we, the combined forces of the Restored Systems Commonwealth, will go forward into battle for the first time as a unified force.
"We have fought together before to be sure, but we always fought for our own goals, now we fight for the security of the Commonwealth and for the goal of bringing lasting peace to the galaxy.
"This battle may not be easy but I have been told, long ago, that nothing worth doing is easy."
"Today sentient beings of the Commonwealth, we turn this war around. Today is the first step toward restoring peace to the galaxy."
Dylan paused in his speech for a moment, gathering strength.
"All craft, prepare for slipstream," he ordered, "Jump."
Three hundred Commonwealth ships leaped into the Cheops system, the system the Empire called "Beachhead" and spread out across space.
The Empire had seeded the system with thousands of mines since the last battle took place here but they did not stand in the way as High Guard group defence frigates began sweeping the mines from in front of the massive fleet.
Defending the Imperial installation were thirty warships, a significant fraction of the Imperial fleet in this galaxy and they were prepared for a fight. Many of the ships were the large Imperial Star Destroyers and carried enough firepower, in Meduk's words, to slag an entire world.
"Imperial Forces," Dylan transmitted to the enemy fleet, "Surrender immediately and you will be allowed to return to your home galaxy in peace. Fail to surrender and you may not survive."
A moment passed and no response came from the Imperials.
"It seems you have your answer, Captian Hunt," Tyr remarked from the fire control station.
"All craft, engage," Dylan ordered.
The Imperials were not about to give up without a fight, the Star Destroyers and orbital stations launched their complements of TIE fighters and were joined by fighters stationed on the planet. Assault ships and missile boats added to the Empire's military strength.
The Imperial missile boats, shuttle sized heavy fighters capable of hyperspace jumps, began to make predetermined hops through hyperspace to engage the Commonwealth forces. Slower than even the TIE fighters when compared to Slipfighters the missile boats carried heavy shields and began to attack the gathered Commonwealth ships.
A Sabra-Jaguar battleship suffered the brunt of the first assault as dozens in Imperial concussion missiles fired at close range peppered its hull. The ship's fighter escorts quickly swept away the missile boats but not before doing serious damage to the drive system and hull.
Across the fleet the Imperial's first strike had meet with little success. Point-defence lasers were able to cut down most of the slow moving missiles before they were a threat to most ships and much of the damage that did occur was largely surface damage.
"Tyr, target the nearest Star Destroyer and open fire," Dylan ordered, "Beka keep us just out of the main battle line, I want to be able to see everything."
He received acknowledgements from both parties and began to focus on the larger battle.
The Imperials were holding back, that much was obvious. They didn't want to risk themselves engaging a numerically far superior force. However the Imperial commander was he was smart enough to know that his ships could not stand a sustained attack from a ship like the Andromeda and so he was working to keep them away.
"These mines are a problem," Beka announced, "The frigates are clearing them away as fast as they can but the Imperials just keep dumping more of the them."
"That can't last forever," Dylan told her, "But it will slow us down. Trance where are those mines launching from?"
"They seem to be coming from the main space station," Trance reported, "They are launching about two hundred mines a second, fist sized thermonuclear devices it seems."
"Rommie, have the Wrath of Achilles tack out that base," Dylan ordered.
The Wrath acknowledged the order and moved into a better strike position. It began to fire at its maximum rate at the large station. Fourteen hundred missiles struck the station every second for thirty seconds before the shields began to buckle. It took ten more seconds to finish the station off.
Without the minefield to protect them any more the Imperial ships were forced to engage the Commonwealth head to head. With the fleet so spread out over the system the Imperials had to pick their battles carefully. The began to engage a force of Castalian destroyers defending a Commonwealth cruiser. The Castalians managed to disable one of the powerful warships before most of the rest broke through the line.
Now it became a real fight as Commonwealth forces began to swoop down on the Imperial vessels. Ships that strayed too close to the Imperial suffered greatly as their powerful turbolasers often incinerated the offending craft.
The Imperial forces knew they had lost and were trying to get clear to jump into hyperspace, most of their ships did not make the jump.
____________________
Within days the reports began to come in to Dylan's office, the Imperials had begun to withdraw from over a dozen worlds. The destruction of the base in the Cheops system had change the momentum in the war. The Empire still maintained its base on Kafreion and in other systems but worlds they had not invested in with a great deal of resources were quickly abandoned.
"They'll move to reinforce the Conduit system," Tealera told him, still wearing her Imperial uniform.
"I figured as much," Dylan told her, "I know this is difficult for you. But you are doing the right thing."
"He is right you know," Luke said as he reviewed the tactical data from the battle, "The Empire has no business in this galaxy."
"What would a Rebel know of it," Meduk snapped.
"Enough," Luke told her, "More then enough."
"Bickering isn't going to help," Dylan interjected before Meduk could respond, "If you to want to go home before the end your going to need to work together, because one thing is for sure, I'm going to destroy your conduit once and for all."