HOMEWORLD2: WRATH OF THE GODS
CHAPTER 23: SHATTERING ENCOUNTER
"All that research has not gone to waste, as the secret to Far Jumping is finally within our grasp. It turned out that the hypothesis was correct – the Hyperspace Cores use supremely refined and accurate algorithms, allowing them to jump ships farther at relatively lower energy costs. Now that the recipe is out, it's just a matter of time before we can apply the same algorithms to our own hyperspace modules."
"Curiously enough, the Grand Core operates on a totally different principle. Apparently, as both Hiigaran and Progenitor research has shown, faster-than-light travel within hyperspace has a speed limit at around 1 billion times the speed of light. Yet, the Grand Core is somehow able to break this limit and even operate at a speed triple that of the maximum velocity."
"This new discovery points to one possibility – that the Grand Core somehow bends the Laws of Physics governing hyperspace to allow velocities past the maximum. This would be similar to the concept of pulling hyperspatial fabric around a target vessel to achieve hyperspatial velocities – by isolating the target from realspace and the Physical Laws governing the dimension."
Kiir Sjet's research logs
Imperial Hive, Nalthoran Capital City:
Karan Sjet walked into the banquet hall dressed in an elegant gown the Nalthorans had provided. She was also escorted by a dozen heavily armed guards. The Nalthorans apparently refused to underestimate Karan's potential to escape.
The Sajuuk-Khar sat down calmly at the table, admiring the exquisite floral decorations and shimmering chandeliers that hung from the high ceiling. She didn't have to wait long before Queen Dosis came walking in with her cabinet of ministers and officials.
As soon as everyone was seated at the long table, Queen Dosis stood up to begin the Banquet.
"Greetings to one and all," Queen Dosis started, "It is my great pleasure to announce that this year, we have a very special guest in attendance of the Royal Banquet. She is none other than Karan Sjet of the Hiigaran Republic, otherwise known as the Sajuuk-Khar."
Everyone at the table clapped politely and looked towards Karan, who responded with a slight smile. She wished that Queen Dosis would do away with all the diplomatic extras and come straight to the point.
"Well then, I hereby begin the Royal Banquet! It is my greatest hope and wish that you leave no morsel unturned and enjoy yourselves to the fullest!"
Queen Dosis clapped her hands twice, and then sat down as the butlers came out bearing luscious delicacies of the Nalthoran culture. The plates of steaming hot food were set down upon the table, and everyone began devouring the feast.
Karan felt appalled by all the formalities and courtesies. Out there in space, dozens of worlds were falling to the Progenitor invasion and the Nalthorans were still indulging in such pleasures. She looked to Queen Dosis with a steely gaze, and got an ambivalent one in return. Whatever Dosis was up to, she could not fathom.
Karan ate very little – not because she disliked Nalthoran cuisine, but because she was trying to think of how to establish a diplomatic discussion with the Queen in such a setting. The minutes dragged on as the Banquet continued, and the hall was silent except for the munching and crunching of the ministers and officials.
At last, Karan could bear the silence no longer and stood up abruptly, shocking everyone with her suddenness.
"Queen Dosis, I came here to have a word with you as the leader of the Hiigaran Republic, not to dine and feast!" Karan spoke loudly, refusing to hide her displeasure at the whole event.
"My dear Karan," Dosis began, "There is a time and place for everything. Right now is the time to feast, and no discussion of any kind shall take place at this moment."
"You know that I specifically asked for an audience so that I might understand your intentions for capturing the Sajuuk," Karan retorted strongly, "What you have just done was an audacious act that threatens to destabilise the situation in the Galaxy, which isn't very stable to begin with right now!"
"I understand the intentions regarding your request, but I must reiterate that the Royal Banquet has rules governing it," the Queen replied firmly, "In all our history, we have never discussed political or business matters at the banquet table…"
"Then you will all fall when the Progenitors come!" Karan yelled, unable to contain her emotions any longer, "When the Progenitors come to invade, they will spare no planet or ship. Every one of you will be cruelly and mercilessly slaughtered while they pursue the Sajuuk! Queen Dosis, I beseech you to come to your senses! The times we live in are dangerous times…"
"That is enough, Sajuuk-Khar!" Queen Dosis roared, bringing her fist down heavily on the table, "Understand that you are currently a prisoner and have absolutely no rights whatsoever, be it requests for audiences or anything else. Though, I must add that the information you quoted is woefully incorrect…"
With that, Queen Dosis summoned an attendant and whispered a few words into his ear. The attendant nodded and walked off quickly to perform his task. Dosis looked back at Karan, who was showing a mix of anger and puzzlement on her face.
"I have asked an attendant to bring something, it will answer some of your questions. Until then, you would be wise to continue the feast in silence, for the consequences are dire."
Karan saw no choice but to sit down and resume her meal. She sipped her soup slowly, awaiting the return of the attendant. Sure enough, he did, carrying a mini holographic projector with him. The attendant set the projector down beside the table and the hall lights dimmed. With the touch of a few buttons, the projector shimmered into life.
"What you are about to see was recorded onboard a T-MAT megaship watching from afar. You may find it a little… disturbing," Queen Dosis commented as she looked haughtily at Karan. Karan's attention was now focused on the images being shown, and they were truly a nightmare.
Karan watched as the Six Fleets were brutally and mercilessly shot to pieces by the Vaygr Crusades. She watched as the carriers and destroyers crumbled under the onslaught of the Vaygr Trinity Cannons, while the battlecruisers were shattered by salvos of heavy missiles. Hiigaran interceptors and Acolytes screamed through the Void, struggling to stop the Vaygr fighter swarms. With a flash of projectiles, the strike craft tore apart.
The images of war now shifted to something far worse – Vaygr carriers moved into low Hiigaran orbit to deliver their vengeful payload. Karan groaned and wept as she saw the atmospheric deprivation warheads slam into Hiigara one after the other. Entire cities were wiped off the surface, whole continents burned. Only when Hiigara was reduced to a smouldering black ruin did the Vaygr halt their bombardment.
And now, the ultimate horror began. The Progenitor fleet hyperspaced in and took the Vaygr fleet head on. Karan saw the Vaygr being ripped to pieces and the mysterious subversion of the Progenitor fleet from the rear. She saw the Progenitors handle the infection skilfully, only to have an entire infected fleet jump in behind them.
Infection beams flared and blazed as the Keepers fell to the plague. The Vaygr saw their chance to escape but refused to do so, choosing to go down fighting. The Oblivion's frontal section shattered as the Qwaar Jet roared to life, turning around to face the desperate Progenitor fleet. The quantum energies built and then released in an angry flare of white and blue.
When Hiigara shattered, Karan screamed as though a thousand knives were cutting through her heart. The pieces of debris flew outward as the beam subsided, leaving only the newly infected Progenitor fleet. Memories of Kharak's Burning came flooding back.
There was no more Hiigara.
The projector powered down as Karan fainted from the emotional shock, tears rolling uncontrollably down her face. Queen Dosis smirked and signalled to the attendants.
"It appears that the Sajuuk-Khar is incapable of continuing with the Banquet. Take her away!" Dosis snapped.
Karan's limp body was dragged out of the hall.
Onboard the Gatekeeper of Sajuuk, the Great Wastelands:
Captain Soban watched as the rest of the taskforce exited hyperspace. He looked at the familiar scene of the Galactic Core in the distance and realised how much he had missed the place. Wasting no time, he gave his orders quickly.
"Status of the taskforce?"
"Taskforce has reverted to normal space and is awaiting further orders," came the reply of the communications officer, "Your will?"
"Synchronise hyperdrives and take us to Nalthora. We're pretty close and should have the range for a single jump. Helm, can you confirm?"
"Yep, we can make it to Nalthora with one jump," the Helm officer replied, "That is, if we do not encounter any hyperspace inhibitors along the way."
"The Nalthorans do not have inhibitor technology, so it should be of no problem. Soban to taskforce ships, stand by to synchronise hyperdrives on my mark. Coordinates are being uploaded to your NAV systems."
Soban consulted quickly with Engineering, and got the all-clear signal. They were ready.
"Alright then. Helm, take us to Nalthora."
The taskforce surrounded the Gatekeeper of Sajuuk, which took a few moments to gather itself. Then, the fleet leapt to hyperspace.
Onboard the Legacy of Kharak, the Southern Fringe:
Kiir Sjet watched anxiously as the production lines put the finishing touches on the module. He had designed it hastily and fed the specs into the computer, hoping it would be able to come up with something concrete. The computer had considered the matter for a while, then exceeded expectations by building a prototype Far Jumper hyperspace module.
The module was very small, about the size of a small hovercar. But that was to be expected from a prototype model. If the trials were successful, they could then scale it up appropriately to fit onto starships, and Far Jumping would finally be achievable by all Hiigaran ships.
Yuno watched the whole affair from a camera feed with great interest and decided to help.
"Looks like you could use a hand with the data gathering, Kiir," Yuno started.
"Yuno!" Kiir exclaimed, "Sorry I didn't have time to say hi, I was just too eager to get started."
"I can see that. Well, that prototype module looks pretty good, how are you going to test it?"
"The module can store enough charge to take it on a 5000 light year jump. That should qualify as a Far Jump, shouldn't it?"
"Considering that the Legacy's hyperdrive never achieved the predicted 2000 light year jump range, it should more than qualify for "Far Jump." That said, I've already despatched a recon frigate to scan for data. I will jump it the moment you're ready."
"Gee, thanks for the help Yuno," Kiir replied sheepishly, "I can start anytime you know, just give me a set of coordinates."
"Coordinates? Alright, I'm uploading the data to your module now. It's based on the preliminary scans of the Southern Fringe, so we could use the additional scans anyway."
"Okay then, we can start."
Kiir keyed a few commands into his handheld computer and activated remote control of the module. He pressed a few buttons and the module began charging.'
"The charge shouldn't take longer than 30 seconds, after which I'll launch the thing into space and I can start the jump sequence."
"Alright, just give me the signal and I'll hyper that frigate in."
Seconds later, the charge was complete and the wires detached automatically. The conveyor belt lugged the module into the airlock and vented the thing into outer space. As soon as the module was far enough from the Mothership, Kiir Sjet activated the jump sequence.
Yuno picked up a mounting quantum waveform signature from the module as it opened its jump window, disappearing into the realm of hyperspace.
"There's no need to send that frigate now, the Grand Core can cover the distance in 50 seconds. However, the prototype is supposed to be operating at 10 000 000 c, so it'll take a little over 4 hours before it gets there." Kiir reminded.
"No problem, I can wait. We've nothing much to do but fleet expansion anyway. By the way, what else are you building?"
For Yuno had noted the assembly lines were still hard at work, putting together another device. Only this time, it was a unique design never seen before in all hyperspace module construction up till now.
"It's nothing, really," Kiir insisted, "If this Far Jump fails, then that new toy I'm making won't work either…"
"It doesn't matter whether it works or not, I'm interested to know!" Yuno pleaded.
"If so, it's best we keep it a surprise. These things can wait, can't they?" came the cool reply.
With that, Yuno gave a sigh and agreed not to pursue the matter any longer.
Imperial Council, New Taiidan:
"And that concludes my report on the Hiigarans' destruction," Admiral Ecron finished, looking expectantly at the Council members, "Are there any questions?"
"I have one, Sir Ecron," spoke one of the elders, "Your details on 'increased hyperspace activity' and the possibility of 'Beast-infected Progenitor ships' are sketchy at best, and does not warrant a complete evacuation of the Frontier regions. You understand that the evacuation will force us to abandon many valuable assets and resource-rich star systems. I'm not sure if that will be in the Imperium's best interests."
"I recommend immediate evacuation because of the speed with which the Enemy struck down the Hiigarans," replied Ecron, "Consider this: the Hiigarans were able to repel all our incursions made over the last century, and still have the resources to halt Makaan's invasion. Though they are our enemies, you cannot deny that they are to be respected for the power they wield. And yet, they fall instantly to the new Enemy we are about to face. Is that not a good enough indicator of what we are up against?"
"That may not be true. It is commonly agreed upon that despite their possession of the Sajuuk, the Hiigarans never really recovered from the Vaygr invasion," countered the Elder, "It is more likely that they succumbed because of their weakened state after the Vaygr siege."
"I concur," interjected another, "Admiral Ecron, perhaps all those years in space has had a debilitating effect on your… psyche."
"Gentlemen, I must remind you that now is not the time for politicking," Ecron reminded, "The situation we face right now is similar to one of old, during the Homeworld War. Remember when the Exiles first breached the Imperial perimeter? The Emperor gave it little thought, doubtful that a fleet of that size had the firepower and means to push through to Hiigara. And look what happened."
"Lies!" came the roaring response, "The Exiles had the aid of the Bentusi, who were not supposed to interfere according to their own directives! Even if the Emperor had mobilised the entire Imperial Fleet at the time, we would have stood little chance against the Exiles and their Bentusi friends! His hands were tied because of the Galactic Council! How dare you slander the Emperor's name!"
The Council table erupted in a tremendous uproar, each member trying to push his own agenda now. Some demanded that the Admiral step down immediately, while others argued that now was the chance to invade Hiigaran space. Chaos reigned throughout the room until the intercom system started buzzing urgently.
Admiral Ecron raised a hand for silence, and the Council reluctantly granted it. He hesitated for a moment before pushing the button. Ecron took care to broadcast the message across the Council room, making sure every one of them could hear what was coming.
"This is Admiral Ecron, what is the matter?"
Sir, we have lost contact with the Frontier Base Echo III. They reported an unstoppable assault by a substantial fleet of infected ships, including at least a dozen infected Progenitor Keepers.
"Do you have any sensor data regarding the current situation?"
The last sensor update reported a massive hyperspace inhibitor field and lots of ionic activity, probably ion cannons and plasma-based weaponry.
"Alright, set the fleet to Red Alert and begin extrapolating hyperspace trajectories to determine possible invasion corridors. That is all."
Admiral Ecron closed the channel and turned to the shocked faces of the Council.
"Gentlemen, the fleet beckons. I take my leave."
He bowed and strode quickly out of the room.
Imperial Hive, Nalthoran Capital City:
Karan had awakened, imprisoned in a guest suite, only to remember what she had just seen. She cried on the bed, staining the bedsheets with her tears. Hiigara was like a part of herself, a part of her soul. When it exploded, shattered under the firepower of the Qwaar Jet, she felt a part of her die away. Physically and emotionally exhausted by Dosis' cruel and blunt revelation, she cried herself to sleep.
Only to have the nightmares begin. Even in slumber, Karan was not spared. She was floating freely through space and saw the Hiigaran fleet under fire. One by one, the ships detonated, releasing great pockets of air and venting writhing Hiigarans into the cold hard vacuum of space. And then she saw the mighty Qwaar Jet, spreading its arrays like a flower. She screamed and glided between the ship and her home, trying to stop the inevitable.
The beam just blazed harmlessly through her, blasting away at the planet behind, and she saw the cruel scene once more.
Hiigara bursting into fire, shattering into a million pieces.
When Karan could stand it no longer, she awakened and left the cruel nightmare, eyes crimson from the relentless tearing. She didn't know what had rescued her from slumber – her own consciousness or the klaxons now blaring loudly throughout the complex.
Onboard the Gatekeeper of Sajuuk, low orbit over Nalthora:
"Captain, our hyperspace exit has not gone unnoticed," reported the sensors officer, "The Nalthoran fleet is moving from high orbit to engage us."
"That is to be expected," noted Captain Soban, "Engineering, are you 100 certain that phasing is possible within a gravity well?"
"It'll definitely work, since phasing is quite different from standard hyperspace entry despite the various similarities." Engineering reported.
"Alright then, Captain Soban to the taskforce – your job is to delay the Nalthoran fleet and engage them at maximum range. Carrier Cosmos will lead the boarding team to retrieve Sajuuk. I'm taking the Dreadnaught planetside to rescue Karan. Everyone clear?"
"Yes sir, we're on it." came the chorused reply.
The battlecruiser Omniscient leapt forward with the destroyers Sigma II and Theta V to engage the incoming cruisers and frigates. Meanwhile, the Cosmos trudged towards the Stargazer and the docked Sajuuk, shielded from the strike craft swarms by the flak and torpedo frigates surrounding the carrier.
Captain Soban personally took the helm as he plunged the Gatekeeper down into the Nalthoran atmosphere. Immediately, the descent through the atmosphere began showing itself as a brilliant vermillion glow against the Dreadnaught's shields. As the ship screamed through the clouds, Soban struggled to stabilise the ship's descent, diverting whatever power they had to the main drives and thrusters. He didn't know if the Dreadnaught was even designed to make planetfall.
Well, they would find out soon.
"Everyone hold onto something!" yelled Soban as he manoeuvred the Gatekeeper in a series of sharp turns, each swerve bringing them closer to Nalthora's surface. The rest of the bridge officers held onto their consoles and handgrips so as not to lose their balance.
The Dreadnaught broke through the clouds and the re-entry heat dissipated. The Royal Palace was a few dozen kilometres ahead. The Gatekeeper shuddered as anti-aircraft missiles began slamming into its belly, accompanied by slashing laser bursts. The shields held, but the attack threatened to destabilise their descent.
Soban was unafraid, and continued to push the Dreadnaught past its limits. The hull groaned under the massive stress and the superstructure threatened to tear itself apart, but excellent Progenitor engineering held the whole thing together. The Gatekeeper was now a few kilometres above the ground, and impact was due in a few seconds.
"Engineering, full power to shields! People, hang tight!" Soban yelled as everyone braced for impact.
The Progenitor Dreadnaught ploughed into the city, demolishing every building in its path. The shields crackled and spat as they tried to protect the ship's underside, causing pure energy to arc and writhe all around the ship. Soban quickly recovered himself and powered up the thrusters in a bid to slow themselves down. With a roar, the thrusters activated and pushed hard against the thick Nalthoran atmosphere. Everyone held their breath until the Gatekeeper came to a full stop several metres in front of the Royal Palace.
The ship continued to shake under the attack of Nalthoran ground forces outside, but Soban quickly assembled a strike team to get in and extract Karan. He would personally lead the team into battle.
As soon as the Dreadnaught's point defence systems came online, Soban and his team leapt out of the ship. The shields deactivated briefly for the group to get out, then powered up again to spare the hull from the beating of the Nalthorans' ground weapons. Soban had no trouble sneaking into the complex – the ground forces were all distracted by the superior firepower of the Gatekeeper's point defences.
Doors slammed open as the strike team searched quickly through the palace, looking for any sign of Karan and the rest of the Sajuuk's crew. Any guards they came across were quickly dealt with by a burst of bullets. Soban checked his wrist locator for a brief update on where they were, and the Gatekeeper's sensors quickly enlightened him.
Barging into what seemed a prison cell for political prisoners, Soban and his team encountered heavily armed Nalthoran guards. The guards fired with their heavy rocket launchers and laser pistols, forcing them to retreat for safety. As they ducked behind the thick walls, the helm officer dug an ion grenade out of his pocket and hurled the bomb in.
Moments later, the room was illuminated by a burning flash of light that knocked all the guards unconscious. Sweeping in, they found the Sajuuk's crew sealed in behind a forcefield. The field was brought down in seconds and the crews came swarming out, grabbing the weapons dropped by the unconscious guards.
"Captain Soban, it's good to see you," spoke the Sajuuk's chief security officer, "According to the locator I have, Karan's being held in the east wing. The Queen's probably there too, so expect heavy resistance."
"I see. Is there any way we can get there without encountering the guards?"
"If you can somehow bring down the linkway between the east and west wings, we can probably take isolate the east wing from the rest of the complex and go in via the garden. The vegetation's pretty thick there, so we can go in hidden."
"Got it. Weapons officer?" Soban now spoke into his communicator.
"Weapons here, what do you want, Captain?"
"I need you to bring down the linkway between the east and west wings. Is that possible?"
"Consider it done. Cover your eyes and ears if you please."
Everyone wasted little time doing so as the Dreadnaught fired off a low power beam from the Phased Cannon Array. The blast burned through the air and smashed the linkway, reducing it to smithereens. The shockwave caused the whole complex to shake violently but everyone started running for the gardens immediately.
The expanded group was moving stealthily through the vegetation when an urgent message came through on Soban's communicator.
"Captain Soban, this is the carrier Cosmos. We have the Sajuuk and are reconfiguring the Cores for an emergency wake jump to the Great Wastelands. The problem is, the T-MAT fleet has just hyperspaced into high orbit and is moving to intercept both the Omniscient and Sajuuk. We don't have much time left."
"Point taken, we're nearly there. Soban out."
The team smashed their way through another door and ran up the stairs, following the security officer's locator. Another few turns and dashes and they would finally reach Karan.
The doors of the guest suite burst open as Soban's team swept in, only to stop abruptly.
Karan was being held at gunpoint by Queen Dosis herself. There were two guards by her side, each holding a high-yield grenade.
"I expected a rescue such as this," Dosis began, "But it all ends here right now. Make one wrong move and we shall all perish in the flames."
"Dosis, you're crazy," Karan spoke, "So the infection entity has the power to destroy planets, and they did Hiigara in first. What makes you think that Nalthora won't suffer the same fate?"
"Hiigara?" Soban spluttered, "Karan, what happened to Hiigara?"
"Shut up, you know I can't let either Karan or the Sajuuk go," Dosis interrupted, her voice becoming one filled with anxiety, "Nalthora's existence depends on this. We know the T-MAT can't protect us from what is yet to come, so the Sajuuk is our only hope of leaving this terrible place."
"You know that we don't have to leave," Karan urged, "If we were to combine the forces of both our fleets, we might stand a chance…"
"Silence! The T-MAT's will is ultimate! They promised us a route out of the Galaxy if we complied with their instructions, and so we cannot let go of the Sajuuk!"
As if to defuse the situation, Soban's communicator crackled to life.
"Soban, this is Cosmos, you're not going to believe this, the commander breathed heavily, A large Progenitor fleet has just jumped in behind the T-MAT, and they have a Sajuuk-class vessel with them. You need to leave now!"
The room was silent as the sudden revelation sunk in. Queen Dosis murmured something then dropped her pistol, letting Karan go. Dosis collapsed to the floor, muttering in resignation.
"It's over… our culture, our heritage, our history… it's all over…" she repeated over and over again.
Karan stepped forward and helped the Queen up, asking the two shocked guards to take care of her. Then she closed her eyes and focused on a message in her mind.
"Help."
Onboard the Legacy of Kharak, the Southern Fringe:
Yuno could not understand what had happened. Kiir Sjet had launched himself into the Legacy's systems and locked her out! Was this an act of betrayal?
"Kiir, what in Kharak's name are you doing?" Yuno yelled behind the lock program that held her in, "Why are you doing this?"
"No time for explanations Yuno," Kiir replied as he summoned up all the programs and quickly reconfigured everything under his control, "I heard a cry for help, and I have to answer it."
"What kind of message?"
"You'll see."
Kiir vanished from view as he jumped to the Koshiir Ra's systems. Eefrit began swearing as he found himself getting locked out of the Koshiir Ra's control systems.
And then the Grand Core hauled them all into hyperspace.
Onboard the Qwaar Jet, high orbit over Nalthora:
Kaark gazed in awe at the mighty Sajuuk. In just a few minutes, that ship would be within range of their long range infection beams, and the conquest could really get started. He cared little for the pitiful Hiigaran carrier fleet trying desperately to keep them away from the Sajuuk, and so he chose to ignore them completely. They could always be subverted later.
For now, the T-MAT were putting up one heck of a fight. The Unbound fleet used their excellent manoeuvrability to evade and dodge their assaults while raining ion beams upon the advancing Keepers. But the T-MAT could only do so much.
Kaark sent the mental thought through the fleet and retaliated with a barrage of infection beams. Dozens of megaships were hit, and all chose destruction over subversion. The T-MAT fleet began lighting up with explosive flares.
The Qwaar Jet moved casually through the chaos, shrugging off the T-MAT attacks with its energy shielding. Even when the T-MAT started hyperspacing reinforcements on top of them, Kaark chose to ignore them.
The God of Pain and Enslavement bloomed once more in space, spreading its massive quantum arrays in preparation for the decisive strike.
Imperial Hive, Nalthoran Capital City:
The group stepped out of the ruined Royal Palace. The ground forces had stood down and now focused on getting Queen Dosis to safety. As Karan helped Dosis onboard the Gatekeeper of Sajuuk, she knew that a silent alliance had been forged between them.
Then a Nalthoran soldier gasped as he looked to the sky. Karan and Soban followed his gaze, along with everyone else. Nalthora's primary star was setting and the sky was dimming except for a building brilliant spot of blue.
The Quantum Pulse Cannon.
Karan closed her eyes and awaited the inevitable.
High orbit over Nalthora:
The T-MAT fleet saw what was coming, and quickly moved the bulk of their fleet out of the cannon's firing arc. The sphere of quantum energies gathered at the Qwaar Jet's front continued to glow more brilliantly and increase in size. Then, the beam fired, not as a wide shockwave beam like at Hiigara, but a focused tight aqua beam that would finish the planet more quickly.
The beam of pure hyperspace tore through normal space and looked poised to doom Nalthora to oblivion when… it contacted with an invisible wall and exploded outwards, scattering around what seemed to be a spherical force field. Kaark was shocked at the sudden turn of events and watched the sensors closely.
Blue hyperspace windows started opening behind the distortion field, releasing the Exodus Fleet into realspace. As the force of the Quantum Pulse Cannon dissipated around the field, a yellow hyperspace window opened and slid back to reveal another Sajuuk-class ship.
Koshiir Ra had arrived.