HOMEWORLD2: WRATH OF THE GODS
CHAPTER 19: COMPLICATION
"It tears at us! Devouring memory, rewriting song, turning our own bodies against us! Binding us! This cannot be!
We will not be Bound!"
- Bentusi records
Onboard the Legacy of Kharak, the Southern Fringe:
"By the gods, is that ship really what I think it is?" Eefrit gaped at the amazing sight of the newly-appeared Progenitor vessel.
"Eefrit, there is no doubt about it… that vessel is the Guardian, Koshiir Ra! And its capabilities… they're nothing like what I've ever seen before! That ship alone is responsible for the quantum distortion field that is protecting us from harm right now!"
"That's incredible alright, but we don't have all day," Eefrit commented as he glanced at several sensor readings, "That field's energy levels are starting to fluctuate, it's not going to stand there forever!"
"You're right Eefrit. I've done a quick scan of the field, and it seems to be a one-way barrier. We can move out and fire through from here, but the Keepers and their firepower can't get in."
"Excellent. Eefrit to Qwaar, do you read?"
"General Qwaar standing by on the Paaura here. What can we do?"
"Scans have revealed that the distortion field will not stop our firepower, but will halt all external influences. We can use this chance to…"
"… Siege them? I get your point Eefrit. Making preps to fire Siege Cannons, Qwaar out."
The three Somtaaw command ships slowly manoeuvred to get their cannons into position while the rest of the fleet got out of their firing path. Meanwhile, the Koshiir Ra's distortion field stood defiantly in the face of the Keepers' fire.
Paaura fired first, followed by the Kuun Lan and Faal Corum. Three glittering spheres of high-energy plasma raced through the empty void of space, passing harmlessly through the distortion field and into the Keeper fleet.
When the spheres reached the centre of the Keeper fleet, they detonated at the same time, releasing deadly plasma shockwaves that spread through the Keeper forces. Drones exploded and Keepers faltered. Even with the protection of their shields, it was still enough to take out a good third of the Keepers and damage the rest considerably. However, the damage dealt was still not enough – even in their damaged condition, the Keepers would still have a good chance of defeating the Exodus fleet.
Meanwhile, Koshiir Ra's distortion field continued to lose power.
Onboard the Pride of Hiigara, the Southern Fringe:
"Koshiir Ra… so the legends are indeed true…"
"Whatever the legends are, we're going to become lost legends too if this keeps up," Kiir argued, his hands placed upon a computer console. He was trying to get into the system, but was encountering great difficulty. Perhaps he was not up to the task of doing multiple entrances and exits all in the time frame of one day yet.
"Kiir, what are you doing?" Kro could not understand why his friend was now grasping the sides of a computer console rather tightly, "What are you trying to do?"
"You wouldn't understand it if I told you now," Kiir uttered, eyes closed in fierce concentration. Beads of sweat were now rolling down his forehead, but still his attempts met with failure.
The situation outside looked rather bleak – Keepers were phasing out and hyperspacing back in to increase their energy levels. With each jump, the ancient machines became ever-more nimble and agile, with higher power ion blasts each time. Sensors were now pointing at a possible 50 increase in ion firepower alone.
Acolyte II fighters stood by to engage the Drones should the distortion field fail. Ion frigates were trying their best to target the Keepers, firing through the distortion field with their aqua ionic beams. However, the Keepers had gained enough manoeuvrability to make half their shots miss. Even the torpedoes had trouble keeping up with the Keepers.
The only ships that were successfully hitting the Keepers were the battlecruisers and destroyers, which were firing with their arbiter cannons. The battlecruisers' ion turrets faced the same fate of the ion frigates, unable to unleash its full damage on the evasive Keepers.
Kiir made one last effort, then collapsed from the fatigue. Kro rushed forward to help the scientist up.
"Kiir, are you alright? Don't scare me there, say something!"
Onboard the Paaura, the Southern Fringe:
General Qwaar watched as the Keepers danced all around the distortion field, maintaining their merciless attacks on the distortion field before them. The Siege Cannon was in the midst of recharging, but the process was painfully slow.
"How much time before we can fire the cannon again?" Qwaar asked urgently, "We need all the firepower we can get."
"We're already diverting all excess power to the Siege Cannon, as are the Kuun Lan and Faal Corum. Estimated time to full charge – eight minutes."
"The problem is that we may not have eight minutes! Helm, bring us to the rim of the distortion field, and fire all our pulse cannons at the Keepers immediately."
"Affirmative," came the reply. Almost instantly, the entire ship shuddered as it banked sharply and began moving towards the edges of the distortion field. General Qwaar thought for a short while, then quickly gave out more orders.
"General Qwaar to the Kuun Lan and Faal Corum, follow our course and open fire with all pulse cannons!"
The three great ships of the Somtaaw manoeuvred closely to the edges of the Koshiir Ra's distortion field. As soon as they were within range, the command ships' heavy pulse cannons came online, firing bolts of energy at the Keepers outside. The plasma bolts, charged with an energy signature exactly opposite to that of the Keepers' shielding, pierced the ships' barriers to scorch their hulls.
Meanwhile, the Legacy of Kharak was undergoing emergency repairs. Resource collectors and Workers had launched from the carriers and motherships, patching up hull breaches and repairing torn superstructure.
Ion beams fired from the battlecruisers and frigates, as well as torpedoes and mass driver slugs. The Exodus Fleet was giving its all to bring down as many Keepers as possible before the distortion field failed.
Koshiir Ra itself seemed detached from the entire battle, hovering serenely in space. It was a beautiful ship.
It had twin sword-like proboscis like the Sajuuk, only they were shorter and possessed no superweapons within. They were side by side, to give the impression that the entire vessel was two lesser versions of Sajuuk fixed together.
Closer to the rear of the legendary vessel, large arrays resembling those at Chimera station jutted out at the ship's sides. They were probably the projection devices responsible for the massive field that now protected the Hiigaran fleet.
Lastly, near the rear end where the two halves of the ship were linked together, there was a large concentric array facing the front, gazing into the large gap between the twin swords. It seemed to resemble a possible superweapon, if the Koshiir Ra indeed had any.
Whatever was taking place onboard the vessel, however, no one knew.
It was then that the Koshiir Ra seemed to realise what was happening, and it began to take another course of action. The space surrounding the projection arrays shimmered as the quantum output began changing.
Onboard the Legacy of Kharak:
"Priority alert, anomaly detected in the Koshiir Ra!"
"I get your point," replied Eefrit, who now tried to make sense of the new sensor readings, "Energy levels are shooting through the roof! What could possibly be going on!"
"I have no idea either, these readings are completely alien to me. I suppose all we can do is watch…"
Everyone in the Exodus Fleet watched in awe as the projection arrays of the Koshiir Ra began glowing with increasing brilliance. As the glow amplified, the distortion field around the fleet began changing, as did the incoming fire.
No longer was the incoming enemy fire being deflected. Now, ion beams came slamming into the field, only to accumulate in vermillion spheres of energy. Plasma bolts from the Drones were also halted in the same way, gathering in dazzling dots all around the distortion field.
The accumulation of energies continued for some time, then stopped abruptly. Any further shots that came in were deflected in the normal way, but the gathered energies remained. What happened next took everyone entirely by surprise.
The energies were released in an amazing array of beams, raining down upon the Keepers and Drones. The mechanical guardians had not anticipated such an attack, and many failed to phase out in time. The Keeper fleet was lit up by the light of many exploding ships.
The event had yet to end. Now the quantum distortion field began to refract light, and it soon became plainly visible to the naked eye. Without warning, the field sprang outwards like a repulsor on steroids. The resulting shockwave dealt the finishing blow, reducing the enemy numbers to a miserable dozen.
The quantum distortion field was no longer present, but Yuno and Eefrit were no longer worried.
"Scans indicate that only 12 of the Keepers remain, along with 40 of their Drones. observed Yuno."
"Good to hear that. Eefrit to fleet, engage and neutralise."
The Exodus Fleet leapt forward to finish the kill while the shimmering glow around Koshiir Ra dissipated and faded.
Onboard Nalthoran orbital station Stargazer, high orbit over Nalthora:
They walked about the bridge, seeing to their monotonous regular duties. Some checked for communications updates from the Imperial Hive, some checked the status of the various satellites in orbit, and some focused on their task of scanning the Nalthoran System for hostiles.
The Nalthorans were a considerably advanced fledging race since the start of the Homeworld Wars, when the Exiles reclaimed Hiigara. Having managed their planet's resources carefully throughout their entire existence, they were content to remain bound to a terrestrial surface. However, that did not stop their endless quest for knowledge. In fact, the Nalthorans' mastery over innate ship systems has been rumoured to rival even that of the Unbound races.
The fallout of the Exiles' return made the pacifistic people realise the true situation they were in. Aware that the Galaxy was no longer the safe paradise of long ago, the Queen gave the radical order for a new fleet to be built in preparation for the worst.
And now, more than a century later, Nalthora stands proudly as one of the last domains of peace in the known Galaxy, or so they believed.
"Sir, I think you'd better come look at this," an officer gestured to his supervisor, who walked over quickly in response, "Long range scanners have just picked up a high energy hyperspace signature approaching the outskirts of the star system."
"How much time before contact?"
"Estimated time before exit over Nalthora, 15 minutes. We can't determine the nature of the ship until it gets much closer."
"Continue monitoring the ship and report any updates immediately."
The two officers watched intently as the red blip entered the Nalthoran System. Moments later, data started streaming in as the computers scanned the signature in detail and matched it with profiles in the databases.
"… It's a T-MAT vessel," commented the officer, eliciting a sigh of relief from his supervisor, "Standard procedures I presume?"
"Of course," the supervisor replied as he picked up a communications handset, "Attention Imperial Command, T-MAT ship on incoming vector."
"Roger that Stargazer, prepare for trade contact."
The Nalthoran fleet, while not on the same scale as those of the old Galactic Empires, was still a magnificent sight to behold. A hundred frigates hovered around a squad of three carriers, which were further defended by dozens of ships in the destroyer and cruiser class.
Stargazer itself was another impressive sight. The Nalthoran people had taken pains to equip themselves with a large-scale orbital station to handle their cosmic needs. The result was a near-mothership class space station with construction and research facilities. Now the station shone in the light of the Nalthoran sun, awaiting the arrival of the alien visitor.
Sure enough, a yellow hyperspace window pierced through the fabric of realspace, pulling back to reveal the crystalline T-MAT megaship. The megaship drifted silently in space for a while, then began to approach the Stargazer.
"Greetings, people of Nalthora. We ask to speak with your Queen immediately regarding a most pressing matter."
"And you shall have it," returned a majestic voice, "I am Queen Dosis of the Nalthoran people. We are eternally grateful as a civilisation to your trade deals in all these years. May I enquire about the purpose of your visit today?"
"Events in the Galaxy have taken a turn for the worst. The Hiigaran scourge has released yet another ancient horror, one which threatens to exceed even the Beast plague we all faced many years ago. Our scouts have received reports that Hiigara is no more, and a new virus now spreads outwards from the Hiigaran system."
"A new virus?"
"Indeed. The new virus is now overrunning worlds across the Inner Rim, and it is only a matter of time before they reach your system. In fact, we estimate their arrival in a matter of weeks."
"But, we have utterly no way to handle a techno-organic plague similar to the Beast! Why, our valiant quest to assist the Alliance during that terrible war resulted in tragedy, when we lost an entire carrier fleet to the thing."
"Naturally so, for this new entity possesses the power of the Ancients. In the light of our centuries-long trade links, we feel compelled to assist you."
"But why so?"
"The Hiigarans have effectively doomed themselves this time. Without their Bentusi protectors, they are now vulnerable and helpless. We T-MAT now see the errors of the Bentusi ways, and seek to save the few sane sentients that now remain. We are transmitting to you the coordinates to a trans-galactic hyperspace gate."
"Trans-galactic?"
"Yes, one that will take us all to another galaxy where we can start anew, it took us considerable orbits to complete. It lies beyond the Great Wastelands not far from here. There is only one problem."
"Which is?"
"The safest possible route from your system to the gate is naturally the most direct one. Move too far out to the rim and the Vaygr will threaten. Move too close to the Core and you may fall prey to the entity. However, it passes right through a fortified Hiigaran territory."
"… Unless I'm mistaken, you are referring to Tanis Base?"
"That is correct. Tanis Base has been equipped with several hyperspace inhibitors that were installed recently. They will halt your evacuation fleet unless extreme measures are taken. For that, we T-MAT will support you. We must not let the Hiigarans follow us to the new utopia, or they shall bring their curse along with them."
"By extreme measures, I take it you are proposing a decisive strike to destroy Tanis Base?"
"It is necessary. We also require that while you make preparations to load your people onto the colony ships, you will need to dispatch your military fleet to these designated coordinates."
"Why, these coordinates correspond to the Bentusi Ruins sector, whatever for should we go to such a god forsaken place?"
"We have recently picked up a massive energy surge in the sector, and only one ship in the Galaxy has the power to do that. We must add that it would be a bonus if we could take the Sajuuk with us."
"The Sajuuk? That is sacrilege, we will violate the divine rights of the Sajuuk Khar…"
"Karan is not worthy to be the Sajuuk Khar, not after all the disasters she has caused. That is why we would prefer yourself to take the helm instead, for your practices and policies throughout history have been most protective of the Galaxy's eternal quest for peace. That is all we have to say."
"… I will consider your suggestions very seriously."
"Excellent. We must take our leave now. If you are agreeable, simply transmit to us your intent using the trade unit we have provided you. Farewell."
With that, the megaship disappeared into hyperspace as quickly as it had come.
Imperial Hive, Nalthoran Capital City:
"… And that was what the T-MAT had to say," finished Queen Dosis. She now looked to the ministers and officials in attendance for advice, "What are your views on this?"
"It is very disturbing to hear about the new developments regarding the infection entity," commented one, "I would hence agree to the idea of a mass planet-wide evacuation to orbit."
"May I raise a point of information," added another, "The previous Beast infection never came within 20 light years of Nalthoran space. It might be possible that the new plague may be stopped in a similar way."
As the discussions continued in the court, the Nalthoran Queen was wracked by worry. She had led her people through many trials and tribulations, but nothing as severe as this one. Now for the first time in memory, their entire existence was at stake. Several minutes later, the discussions died down as the officials gave their recommendation.
"Your majesty, we would recommend immediate compliance with the T-MAT plan."
The Queen took it all in, and considered the matter for what seemed an eternity. On one hand was their very existence, and on the other was the sacrilegious act of snatching the Sajuuk from the Hiigaran Sajuuk Khar. This was so as her people also regarded Sajuuk as their ultimate, sole god, and any attempt to defy his doing, or his representative, would not go well with the masses.
But she had to sacrifice something for the greater good.
Queen Dosis sighed as she reached a decision.
"Give orders for immediate evacuation, and dispatch the fleet to the Bentusi Ruins at once!"
Onboard the Qwaar Jet, Bridge of Sighs:
Kaark walked through the hallways of the legendary vessel, marvelling at its intricacies and capabilities. Though the infection had taken place hours ago, there was still much to learn, and many more regions unreached by the infection nanites.
His hand ran along the wall of the corridor as the bridge beckoned. Stepping into the large room, Kaark observed a capsule at its centre.
An Unbound docking terminal.
Kaark walked closer to get a better look, wiping the layers of dust off its transparent surface. This would probably explain why he could not achieve perfect control of the Qwaar Jet despite dispersing control nanites throughout the ship's systems.
He regarded it with interest, then smiled as he prepared to get in.
Onboard the Legacy of Kharak, the Southern Fringe:
"Enemy forces have been neutralised," reported Eefrit pleasantly, sinking into his command chair for some rest, "I think we're safe for now."
"I've just run a sensor sweep of the surrounding area, and it appears that we are alone. We should take the chance to harvest resources, for I have detected a small asteroid field approximately three light years away."
"We could send the Kuun Lan and Faal Corum to do that. Meanwhile, we should try to get a science team onboard the Koshiir Ra. I'm dying to find out what it can really do."
"Of course. Even as we speak, I am assembling a team to do just that. However, the Pride of Hiigara medical bay reports that Kiir is unconscious from some severe mental exertion."
"He'll get over it I guess, but we should not let him delay the project."
"… Very well then, I shall dispatch the team without Kiir."
Yuno sent the command through the fleet networks, and ships began launching from the carriers and motherships. While the Kuun Lan and Faal Corum entered hyperspace, various corvettes and shuttles began approaching the Koshiir Ra.
Now fully powered down, the Progenitor vessel looked more like a derelict. As the rays of light from the surrounding space danced across its hull, it seemed to add to the mystery shrouding the ship.