HOMEWORLD2: WRATH OF THE GODS
CHAPTER 5: BUILD UP
It is a common misconception that the Three Cores symbolized the culmination of all the Progenitors' advances in hyperspace technology. Of course, it is naïve to think that the ancient race would have stopped at the slightest entry into this mysterious domain.
Dissatisfied with the fact that it took the Three Cores combined to achieve the true far jumping they desired, the Progenitors put their brightest minds together in a quest to create a Hyperspace Core with infinite range. Such a Core would finally put the farthest corners of the Universe within grasp of their explorers.
The process was long and hard. Thousands of test pilots sacrificed their lives when the test Cores onboard their ships failed to contain the massive energies involved in such ranged jumps. The worst had yet to come, though. Convinced that they had finally achieved a breakthrough design, a ship with another prototype Core was launched. It entered hyperspace with disastrous results. Not only was the ship lost, but the massive space-time disruption caused resulted in the destruction of an entire sector.
The project was abandoned when the War of Sajuuk came, and the Progenitors were plunged into great chaos. It was during this time of upheaval that a scientist residing on the Progenitor homeworld accidentally came up with a working model. And thus, the Grand Core was forged, with the potential to jump across an infinite number of light years. Regrettably, there was no way for it to achieve infinite range as it required an impossible infinite power source.
Minutes before the homeworld was obliterated by the rebels' World Crusher, the Grand Core was secreted away to Karos, the final stronghold of the Progenitor Elders. When the Elders learned of the power of this Core, they chose instead to distract the rebels with the Sajuuk while the Grand Core was hidden in a space-time discontinuity within the Coruc-Tel System. There, it would be sealed forever, inaccessible by conventional hyperdrives.
Onboard the Legacy of Kharak, high orbit over Hiigara:
Luca stood smartly among the ranks of other veterans chosen to fight for the new fleet. They had re-launched from the Second Scaffold just minutes ago, and now Admiral Eefrit was about to brief them on their mission before they left Hiigara for a long time. As the overhead speakers buzzed into activity, the hall fell silent.
"Attention all pilots! The security of Hiigara is threatened yet again, and I am grateful for your response to this crisis. You have all been assigned to this fleet as we have received disturbing reports. You must have heard of the loss of the Gatekeeper of Sajuuk, and hence you must make sure that their sacrifice was not made in vain. We will be making a jump to the Coruc-Tel System shortly to investigate the fate of both Gatekeeper and Sabre. We have lost all communications and must assume that they have both fallen to the Beast infection. We cannot make the mistake of underestimating the Turanic Raiders again. That is all. All pilots please report to your positions immediately!"
Luca saluted along with the rest of the pilots, and they began filing out of the hall. Minutes later, the voice of Yuno boomed through the ship.
"This is Yuno reporting Mothership status. All systems are nominal and the hyperspace module is fully charged. Initiating hyperspace jump to Coruc-Tel in one minute."
Millions of Hiigarans watched from their screens as the Hiigaran Defence Fleet gathered in formation to send the massive vessel off. As the Legacy opened her hyperspace window, the surrounding Ion Cannon Frigates fired off their beams as a blessing to the new Mothership.
A new journey had begun.
Onboard the Sajuuk, the Southern Fringe:
Karan awoke abruptly from her dream, having heard a desperate distress call from a distant place. Almost instantly, she was swarmed by messages from the bridge of the ship.
"Karan, we're picking up stress signals in your bio signs! Is there anything wrong?"
"I am alright. It's just that I felt a call for help somewhere… Never mind. Give me an update on what's going on."
"It's hard to get an update given our present distance, but we did receive a message regarding the loss of the Dreadnaught."
"Gatekeeper has been lost! How?"
"We're not sure. The last message we got from the escort carrier Sabre was that Bravo II has fallen to the Beast infection. They were about to transmit data on the Gatekeeper when we lost contact."
"So… that foul monstrosity has returned yet again?"
"That's not all, it turns out that the Turanic Raiders have somehow found a way to contain and control the virus for their own needs."
"The Turanic Raiders? So, it seems that we must go to war once more. Any word on Kiir Sjet and the Exile?"
"I'm afraid not. We'll have to get back within range of the nearest listening post before we can get an update on their status."
"Very well. The loss of the Dreadnaught and Captain Soban is reason enough to abandon this exploration for the moment. All hands stand by for far jum…"
Something assaulted Karan's senses, stunning her momentarily. Focusing again, she searched the ship's sensors quickly to find the source of the disturbance. Within moments, she had found the anomaly. Another thought, and she was standing next to the phenomenon.
A derelict ship that was clearly of Progenitor origin. As Karan inspected the hull closely, she gave a shriek of terror and rebounded back into the safety of the Sajuuk, alarming the crew yet again.
"Karan! What did you find?"
"It's… I was doing a close range scan… I believe it could be… the Beast virus… Yet, it feels different. Almost certainly, this is a new strain. But what could it be doing on the Progenitor vessel? I'll try to access its databanks…"
Karan shut her eyes and focused on the derelict again. Soon, she was flying through a seething mass of data, much of which was corrupted and useless to her. Karan focused harder, trying to sieve something useful and undamaged out of the mess. Stream after stream of data vanished as she narrowed down her search. Then, she was greeted by a flood of information. Instantly, she proceeded to download all the uncorrupted data to the Sajuuk, where the techs started their analysis immediately. Fatigued by the sudden effort, Karan withdrew into the Sajuuk to rest for a moment. She quickly recovered and helped in the analysis of the data. Much of the information came as a rude shock.
"I don't believe it. This ship is ten thousand years old – just like the Foundry ship in Karos."
"Karan, we got some information here too. It's disturbing, but it appears that the ship was an experimental lab for a "techno-organic lifeform" that was to be used for war."
"A lab? Does that mean that the Beast's origins could be traced back to…"
"That's not all. It seems that the experiment was successful, and the weapon "pushed into immediate warfare usage." Apparently it was controlled remotely from a central command, due to a certain uninfectable nanite they were using in the mix, which transmits orders to the organic mass."
"This means that the Beast virus we encountered was probably a failed experiment. But, the Naggarok was built millions of years beforehand, how could it possibly have picked up the virus?"
"Unknown. We still do not have a thorough understanding of hyperspace's properties, as well as that of quantum waveform energies. However, the minute disruptions of the passage of time onboard early test ships back at Kharak all point to the possibility of time travel."
"At any rate, it's best we leave immediately to tend to the matter at hand. I will be initiating far jump to the nearest listening post or base. All hands, please stand by for hyperspace."
The Three Cores roared to life, shaking the space-time continuum in the region. A mighty window opened before the legendary ship, glowing as brightly as a star, and the Sajuuk began its powerful hyperspace jump.
Onboard the Exile, the Great Beyond:
Commander Hyll Naabal sipped some water in the privacy of his room, trying to calm himself down before beginning his entry in the electronic log.
"Situation report number forty-three. The Exile is now hiding in a dense nebula approximately seven point nine light years from our previous battle. We are hoping that the sensor interference will keep us hidden from the infected Bentusi fleet that slaughtered almost all of our ships. Meanwhile, astronavigation teams are working on mapping the surrounding space so as to allow us to make maximum range hyperspace jumps. We have also deployed resource ops to harvest nearby resources, and awakened all those in cryosleep onboard. Production is running at one hundred percent efficiency, and we hope to have a decent-sized fleet before we jump out of this nebula."
Hyll paused for a moment to catch his breath, and solemnly continued his entry.
"We managed to get a distress signal out before we made our hyperspace escape. I personally doubt the effectiveness of such a signal, given our position in a foreign galaxy and the unknown distance between here and home. Nonetheless, Kiir Sjet is working hard on his theories in the hope that we can somehow enhance our own hyperspace module's effective range, so that the journey will take only several years instead of the projected decades. We are also considering trying to get home via the Eye of Aaraan, but that will mean having to get through the infected fleet. Furthermore, we will still face the problem of the closed gate."
Hyll could think of nothing more to say, and ended his entry. He lay down on his bed to take a brief nap. He was going to need all the energy he could get to last out this long field trip.
Meanwhile, Kiir Sjet was in his quarters scribbling equations yet again. He was no warrior and had completely no experience in space battles. He was useless to the Exile. The only thing he could help the ship with was with his scientific expertise. How he regretted not learning the arts of the warrior.
Hours had gone by and he was still faced with the perplexing problem – Kiir could not find the elusive mathematical answer. Angered, he yelled an expletive and shoved all his papers onto the floor. He lay down his head on the table and began to weep.
He was a little child back then, out on an expedition to the rainforests of Hiigara. His parents were brilliant naturalists who had embarked on the ambitious quest of recording all the known species of flora and fauna on this new world. They spent countless hours of fun in the wild lands, pursuing elusive animals and capturing tiny insect specimens. They would always in the end sit down to a simple meal around a small fire, all the exotic ingredients provided for by the rainforest itself.
On that fateful night, a shrill scream had pierced the air of the rainforest, causing all the birds to rise up to the skies in alarm. Kiir had peeked out of his tent to see his mother cornered by a large beast. His father was out cold at the side of his tent, his laser pistol by his side. Just before the creature pounced to maul the terrified woman, he picked up the pistol and fired. Alas, his shot was wild and missed the predator by metres. Distracted by the laser shot, the beast had leapt towards him, knocking him over and dislodging the pistol in his hand. He was about to be impaled by the monster's claws when his father came to and shielded him. Terrified beyond measure, Kiir had passed out.
When he came to, he only saw his mother weeping uncontrollably by the side of his father's corpse, bloodied from the gory abdominal wounds. The beast lay dead several metres away, at the feet of a group of hunters. Their heads were all bowed down in mourning for the deceased.
Kiir's mother changed since that incident, and she relinquished her scientific quest. Days later, she died of grief in the hospital. Kiir Sjet was at a loss, and heaven knows what would have happened had Karan Sjet not personally ordered for him to be well taken care of in recognition of his parents' scientific contributions, and her deep friendship with them.
If only he had the expertise of war back then, if only he could have aimed better, his parents would have still been alive and well on Hiigara now. Kiir continued to weep, until he fell asleep in emotional and mental exhaustion.
Onboard the Gatekeeper of Sajuuk, the Great Wastelands:
The Gatekeeper of Sajuuk emerged from hyperspace safely, but the bizarre and sudden nature of the jump left the crew disoriented. Captain Soban was the first to recover, and he went about trying to determine their current position. Sensors soon confirmed that they were thousands of light years from Coruc-Tel, in the middle of the Great Wastelands.
Just a century ago, the Mothership had passed through this place on its epic voyage across the Galaxy. Most recently, it was also the location where his frigate had fallen prey to a Vaygr carrier before being taken to the dreaded command station Thaddis Sabbah.
It was then that a blip on the sensor screen caught his eye. By then, the rest of the crew had regained their senses.
"Is everyone alright?" enquired Soban, only to be greeted by soft, muffled replies of "Yes." It seemed that the rest of the crew had taken the jump really badly. Captain Soban turned back to the screen. To his surprise, that sensor blip was the Grand Core! Somehow, they had activated the Grand Core, which hyperspaced itself and the Gatekeeper out of a fiery doom.
"Engineering, have you any idea what might have happened?"
"Err… not sure, but we're investigating the source of the signal burst that occurred when Helm tried to engage the hyperspace module."
"Sensors officer, can you check out the Core's power source?"
"Well, it appears that… sorry, still a bit confused here… it looks like the Grand Core is getting its power by tapping directly into the quantum energies of the space-time continuum itself."
"By Kharak, that means an infinite energy supply!"
"Not really, the Core's energy intake is limited by the maximum capacity of its tappers, which by far is still pretty large."
"That's rather amazing still. Can we get a signal to Hiigara from here?"
Unfortunately, the fragile communications system had been knocked out when the ship was buffeted by the ion assaults both from the Keepers and the approach of Tel. Captain Soban knew that the repairs would take considerable time, since they were still working on fixing the Dreadnaught's hyperdrives. It was therefore a good thing that they were out of danger – now they had all the time in the Universe to carry out the much-needed repairs.
Onboard infected inhibitor station Bravo II, Coruc-Tel System:
We fear… our Selves fear… our Children fear…
The Turanic Raiders are nothing in the face of this new… Self. They are mindless and seek to contain it like they contained us Selves.
This new Self is different, is not Ourselves. When it comes, our Parts will be taken by their Parts. We sense its approach. It is inevitable.
But we fear the Ones behind the Self more. They are our creators, and will destroy Ourselves as well.
It is inevitable.
Onboard the Legacy of Kharak, Coruc-Tel System:
"Hyperspace jump successful. We are on target."
"Alright! Admiral Eefrit to all ships, launch and stand by to engage the enemy! Stay clear of the inhibitor station at all costs! Yuno, try to open communications with the Sabre!"
"I'm afraid that won't be necessary. I have picked up the carrier fleet on long range sensors – they have all fallen to the Beast infection."
"Dammit! Then let's finish this scourge once and for all!"
The new acolyte fighters soared out from the Mothership's launch bays, moving into position to provide cover for the Legacy's frigate screen. Meanwhile, other fighters were swarming in to support the attack of the destroyers and battlecruisers that were moving in to mop up the Raider fleet. Yuno engaged the Legacy's drives, and the massive vessel advanced to the main battle.
The Turanic Raiders had called in reinforcements, but they were now fighting amongst themselves. The Beast was infecting ship after ship as the Raiders frantically raced to protect themselves from infection. Even a new Imperialist battlecruiser had fallen to the monstrosity.
Admiral Eefrit was worried about that battlecruiser. Whatever the Imperials had been up to for the past century, this was one of their better projects. A sleek design similar to that of the Vaygr battlecruiser, this mighty ship was equipped with quadruple frontal heavy ion cannons, supported by no less than six heavy mass drivers on its sides. There was also a mysterious weapon mounted on the bottom of the battlecruiser, and it didn't look nice, as it resembled a nastily big gun.
"All capital ships, stand by to concentrate fire on the Beast battlecruiser! Use the Naar Directive if the situation demands it! Yuno, any luck on the weaponry analysis?"
"Unknown, the ship is well-shielded from any attempts at deep scanning. All I can make out is that the cannon is energy-based and has a long recharge time. I have no idea on the destructive potential it has."
"Well, it looks like the Raiders didn't really find a way to control the virus – their last ship just went to hell."
As the Hiigaran battlecruisers approached Bravo II accompanied by their supporting destroyers and acolytes, the Beast battlecruiser took aim and began charging its primary weapon. Moments later, the cannon exploded in a fury of light, raining hundreds of beams of destruction on the advancing forces. While the fighters were agile enough to dodge the beams, one of the seven destroyers didn't survive and exploded. The four Hiigaran battlecruisers were left with unsightly scorches on their armor, but still they pushed on and opened fire on the enemy ship, slicing it up with their heavy ion cannons. The Beast battlecruiser, outnumbered and outgunned, detonated under the massive firepower.
"That takes care of that gun. Looks like the Imperials came up with something pretty darned powerful."
"Indeed. It appears to be an energy burst weapon that fires multiple beams of energy for extended damage instead of concentrating it all into a single bolt of energy. I am transmitting all analysis data back to Hiigaran Fleet Command now. Warning though, the remaining Beast fleet is regrouping for an assault! There's at least a hundred cruise missiles out there!"
"All ships, cruise missiles are top priority targets! Objectives will be to destroy the inhibitor station before it gets the field back up again!"
With that, Hiigaran and Beast forces clashed in a chaotic battle.
Onboard an Acolyte II fighter:
This was too easy. Luca flew his strike craft around the infected vessels without fear of infection ever since Yuno had announced the absence of infection beams in this fleet. He had taken out three frigates and dozens of fighters thus far, and was sweeping in for more. A cruise missile tried to take him out, but was itself dispatched by a flurry of firing from his ship's mass drivers.
Now he approached an infected Beast destroyer, which was also a new Imperialist destroyer design. He unleashed the wrath of his pulse cannons on the ship to support his comrades aboard the other capital ships. The acolyte soared away from the stricken ship moments before its reactor went critical.
Luca was starting to enjoy himself.