HOMEWORLD2: WRATH OF THE GODS
CHAPTER 28: SECOND CONTACT
"The Door of Hara opened, and fury lashed forth. The heavens faltered and the guardians swayed."
"Never had the Ancients faced such a terror."
Common words appearing repeatedly in Progenitor research.
Onboard the Legacy of Kharak, Northern Outer Rim:
The situation had changed instantly. The Imperial Fleets suddenly changed their minds about the T-MAT and now manoeuvred in for battle. Yuno had persisted in maintaining a stance of peace, but was forced to acknowledge their hostilities when they began firing upon the T-MAT.
"They are fools to attack the Unbound. The Imperials will be regrettably destroyed."
"T-MAT fleet, return fire but try to disable the Imperials rather than destroy them. We can't ally ourselves with a debris field."
"We will use whatever non-lethal means possible."
"Thank you very much. Yuno to fleet, return fire on the Imperials. Target their weapons and drives only, repeat target their weapons and drives only. We need the Imperial fleets intact."
Moments after the orders went out, the Legacy came under fire by the Imperial interceptors. Gauss projectiles penetrated the outer armour without difficulty, but did little real damage due to the Mothership's extensive multi-layered protection.
The attacks ceased as soon as the Hiigaran strike craft came into the picture. The heavy interceptors broke off their strafing rounds to engage the Acolyte IIs. Meanwhile, modified Raider missile corvettes swooped in to handle the Hiigaran gunships.
The strike craft battle had barely begun when the Imperial battle frigates came within range. They wasted no time in releasing their versatile spectrum of firepower on the enemy before them. Hiigaran commanders were duly surprised to see the frigates fire off both ion beams and mass drivers simultaneously. They had not expected the Taiidani to combine ion cannons and mass driver turrets on a single frigate chassis.
Disadvantaged in the frigate front, Hiigaran captains were forced to work together to combat the versatile Imperial vessels. Ion frigates paired up immediately with torpedo frigates so as to equal the enemy's firepower, while the flak frigates continued to cover their flanks from the ever-hungry Taiidani bombers.
Circumstances were more equal in the super capital class. Destroyers, heavy dreadnoughts and battlecruisers fought off Imperial equivalents. Every now and then, the Imperials would gain a firepower advantage by firing off an energy burst salvo. However, the Hiigarans would gain the lost ground immediately by applying repulsors, depriving Taiidani vessels of advantageous positioning.
While the outcome of the Taiidani-Hiigaran battle was uncertain, there was no contest for the T-MAT. Taiidani super capital vessels were easily outmanoeuvred by the megaships, which evaded shots by dancing around the slower battlecruisers. Rapid-fire ion cannons ripped into Imperial hulls while Imperial shots struggled to hit their highly mobile T-MAT targets.
As the battle went on, the Hiigaran fleet continued taking losses while the Imperials took none. However, increasing numbers of the Taiidani ships drifted without power in space as their drives and weapons were scuttled by precision shots. It was a gamble that Yuno had taken, and it seemed that she was winning the bet.
"Hiigaran fleet, you are taking considerable losses. It may not be wise for you to continue your current strategy."
"Don't worry about us, we can take this onslaught for a little while longer," Yuno reassured, "We're just a few minutes away from disabling their entire fleet."
Yuno glanced at the Sajuuk and Koshiir Ra, which were both drifting in space. She wished that they could use their abilities, but with Kiir and gang far away, they would have to make do without divine assistance.
Onboard the Horizon, Sealed Gate of Hara:
"All hands prepare for battle with Neo-Beast fleet," Kiir announced as the bridge was bathed in a flashing red, "Karan, you might want to hold onto something for this one."
"If you ask me, we should get out of here on the double," Eefrit advised, "I have no doubt that Horizon is an excellent ship, but we're up against an entire fleet here, and they have the Qwaar Jet with them."
"Eefrit, I understand your concern for my safety, but the fact is that we cannot allow the Neo-Beast to claim this gate," Karan replied, "This gate needs to be investigated thoroughly, for it most likely has a link of some sort to the civilisation the Progenitors were fighting against here."
"Well then, Kiir, does the Horizon have anything that'll give it a chance in this fight?" Eefrit asked, hoping for some good news.
"I took the trouble to install modified Quantum Distortion Algorithms on this ship," Kiir explained, "They use the Far Jumper, so maintaining a stable field shouldn't be a problem. It just means we can't hyperspace from here, which isn't possible anyway with those Keeper inhibitors on."
The Neo-Beast fighters glided in, weapons blazing furiously. Instantly, the quantum distortion field sprang up and enveloped the battlecruiser. Bullets and plasma bolts swerved away along the curvature of the field as they interacted with the warped space time around the ship.
When the Horizon's weapons came online, everyone was surprised to see rapid-fire ion beams scorching away from the supposed pulsar defence turrets.
"Rapid-fire ion turrets?" Soban asked, cocking one eye approvingly at Kiir.
"Project Light Sword. I mean, why put those things on fighters when we can have more of those cannons on a battlecruiser chassis?" the scientist replied, grinning widely.
The new turrets tracked the fighters effortlessly, bringing them down with single shots. Neo-Beast frigates moved in to pump their weapons into the Horizon's distortion field, and were greeted by bolts of deadly energy. Kiir had apparently replaced the Arbiter cannons with the updated pulse cannons that the Somtaaw command ships sported.
"Excellently designed, if I might add," Karan commented, "But we are still severely outmatched, Kiir. I hope you understand that."
"No problem, I'm about to test the new weapons I put on the ship. Brace yourselves!"
Where the heavy ion turrets used to be, there were now slightly larger cannon turrets that resembled some kind of beam weapon. The top turret turned to target an incoming Neo-Beast Imperial heavy destroyer, then began glowing a brilliant blue as it charged up to fire. Several seconds later, an oscillating blue ray of light leapt forth and pummelled the destroyer, shattering it completely as the vibrations overwhelmed its structural integrity.
"I call them Distortion Cannons. It's a quantum-based weapon I designed by expanding upon the quantum algorithms I've refined thus far. It works by sending a focused quantum distortion into the target, and blowing it apart by sheer stress. Only problem is that its recycle time is slightly longer than the original heavy ion turrets."
Karan was about to compliment Kiir on all his breakthroughs when the Horizon shuddered violently. A few consoles blew apart, sending sparks flying across the bridge. Glancing at the flickering viewscreens, Karan saw that the Qwaar Jet had opened fire with its ion warp turrets. Now a blizzard of wavy ion beams lashed away at the battlecruiser's protective distortion field.
"We've got some overload damage to ship circuitry, otherwise we're fine," Kiir reassured, "Quantum distortion field is holding at 85."
Kiir wasted no time retaliating against the larger Progenitor ship. The full force of the Horizon's weaponry blasted away at the Qwaar Jet, which absorbed the firepower with its energy shields. However, the distortion beams sent ripples of disruption through the vermillion energy shields, which eventually ripped apart and allowed the rest of Horizon's conventional fire to get through.
"That'll teach them to blow up planets," Kiir muttered, proceeding to target every wounded area he could see now that the Qwaar Jet had lost its protective shielding. Ion beams and energy bolts slammed into the various wounds on the Qwaar Jet's hull, causing the ship to seemingly reel in agony.
Kiir fired the distortion cannons again as soon as they had recharged, and the oscillating blue beams struck the Qwaar Jet's unhealed damage. The vibrations spread through the hull and shattered the superstructure within, blowing apart organic growths and Progenitor construction alike. Those wounded areas had not completely recovered from the Sajuuk and Gatekeeper's Phased Cannon assaults, making them exceptionally vulnerable to the attacks.
Qwaar Jet was not defeated yet – it too fought back by focusing all the might of its ionic weapons onto a single point on the Horizon's distortion field. The effect was devastating – half a dozen ion beams got through the field and scorched across the Horizon's outer hull, leaving ugly gashes in its armour.
As smoke billowed into the bridge and warning sirens blared, Kiir decided they had had enough.
"Alright people, we're getting the hell outta here. Stand by for hyperspeed jump!"
The smouldering Horizon swerved away from the looming Qwaar Jet and blinked beyond lightspeed.
Onboard the Qwaar Jet, Sealed Gate of Hara:
Kaark groaned as he felt the pain of the ship. The wounds given to it by the Sajuuk and Gatekeeper had yet to heal completely, and now they were reopened and festered badly by the short skirmish. He focused his mental strength on blocking the pain, opening his eyes as the agony dissipated.
The battlecruiser had proven to be much more of a fight than he had expected. It was disturbing to see a Hiigaran vessel wield nearly as much power as the Ancients, even though its technology was far from perfect. He was astounded by the power of the new never-before-seen quantum weapons the ship had sported.
Then there was how the ship had gotten away before he could deal the finishing blow. Checking the Keepers in the fleet, Kaark noted that the inhibitors were still up at maximum power. The battlecruiser had escaped using some new form of faster-than-light travel.
Most importantly, he sensed two mighty presences on the Hiigaran ship, both of whom he had encountered before. One was Karan Sjet, and the other was the one who had foiled his assassination attempt.
Karan was the same, but the other Hiigaran seemed to have become much stronger. In fact, he appeared to be emanating some kind of psychic aurora.
The new developments did not bode well for his invasion plan, but there was also the massive gate before him. Its sheer size was seductive – it could have accommodated three Qwaar Jets placed end-to-end without difficulty.
A single thought, and the Neo-Beast fleet fired a multitude of infection beams into the gate. The infection nanites burrowed deep into the circuits and systems of the ancient gate, repairing system shorts and healing battle damage. Barely a few minutes had passed before repairs to the gate system itself were completed.
"Perhaps this will provide a quicker route to Balcora than short jumping there…" Kaark thought as he sent the command to the gate.
The Gate of Hara, now under Neo-Beast control, responded and began to turn. Eight power generators lit up and began channelling immense amounts of quantum energy into the turning gate, which began to glow a bright aquamarine.
The Neo-Beast fleet, dwarfed by the gate's sheer size, withdrew to a good distance in preparation for the final breakthrough.
And then the space in the centre of the gate shimmered and bent, then burst into a dazzling hyperspace portal that shone with all the colours in the visible spectrum. A shockwave reverberated slightly through the Neo-Beast fleet as the gateway opened, beckoning to all which wished to come forth.
Kaark's wonder turned to shock as the portal wobbled and collapsed rapidly, disappearing from view as quickly as it had appeared. Another shockwave vibrated through the Neo-Beast fleet as the space time continuum returned to normality, the gate slowing down with each passing second. Generator after generator shut down until the Gate of Hara was silent once again.
The nanites rushed to repair the damage, only to find that the gate had overloaded and damaged itself beyond any form of repair. As the damage reports filtered into Kaark's mind, he sighed and looked away from the dead gate.
The Neo-Beast fleet jumped into hyperspace.
Location unknown:
'Quantum waveform detected, locking on.'
'Target lock confirmed, extrapolating coordinate data.'
'Extrapolation completed, source of waveform confirmed.'
'Counterchecking historical data… complete.'
'Resuming primary objectives – annihilation of invaders.'
'Commencing recon program.'
Onboard the Merciless, Northern Outer Rim:
"Look at us, we're being disabled slowly but steadily," Admiral Ecron commented to his captors, "You see that we have no choice but to ally ourselves with the Hiigarans and T-MAT."
"Silence, traitor, the Council will do to you what we are doing to the Hiigarans soon enough," an officer scoffed haughtily.
"Tell that to the T-MAT. Unless I'm very much mistaken, the Merciless' fleet cover is nearly gone, and we are locked in by an inhibitor field," Ecron coolly replied.
The officer checked the sensors and viewscreens, then gulped in dismay when he realised that Ecron was right. Their defenders were faltering on all fronts, their weapons and engines ruined by the Hiigarans' attacks. In fact, a wave of T-MAT megaships was advancing on the flagship with little resistance.
He hesitated for a while, wondering if the Council could possibly be wrong. The officer looked at the battle data again, then back at Ecron, who was smiling smugly at him.
"You win this time, Admiral, but the Council will get you next time," the officer swore as he signalled for Ecron to be released. The cuffs were unlocked and Ecron stood up, flexing his limbs. Ignoring the traitorous officer completely, he strode forward to the communications console.
"Ecron to fleet, stand down immediately. This battle is decided – we have lost."
"Admiral Ecron, it's good to have you back," came Yuno's voice, "I trust the politics have been taken care of?"
"Yes, and I apologise for the interruption to our discussions. I am ordering all ships to stand down now…"
"… This fleet will not stand down until the infidels are destroyed, traitor," the Council commander retorted, "Ecron, you are no longer an Admiral. You have no more power over the Imperial fleets."
"If I have no more power, then so be it," Ecron replied calmly, "But it is still the fleet's choice when it comes to leadership."
Ecron paused as he watched the response. Sure enough, the remaining Imperial ships halted their attacks and surrendered plainly to the Hiigarans and T-MAT. The Council commander was incensed.
"Filthy Ecron, the Council will have your head for this!"
The transmission ended abruptly and a battlecruiser swerved towards the Merciless. It began firing upon the flagship while maintaining a collision course. Ecron was unworried despite the heavy damage being dealt to the flagship, for the bulk of the T-MAT fleet swooped in and sliced the battlecruiser to pieces in a matter of seconds.
"T-MAT fleet, I thank you for your assistance."
"As do we, for your clear sight on this matter."
"Good, then it seems we can start discussions proper now?" Yuno began in a hopeful voice.
"Why of course. The sooner we begin, the sooner we can be prepared for a joint strike against the Neo-Beast," Ecron responded.
Onboard the Horizon, hyperspeed transit:
"We'll be out of range of their inhibitors in about five minutes' time," Kirr announced, "Then we'll be far jumping straight back to home fleet."
"It was a pity the Qwaar Jet was such a dastardly fighting machine. Even then, this ship of yours put up a terrific fight, I must say," Captain Soban complimented, "In fact, not even my Gatekeeper could have done the same."
"Thanks a lot, Soban," Kiir smiled before turning to Karan, who was lost in thought staring at the stars streak across the main viewscreen, "Karan, is there anything wrong?"
"I'm not sure. A few minutes ago, I felt this hyperspatial reverberation."
"Hyperspatial reverberation?" Kiir gawked, "You can sense hyperspatial anomalies?"
"I guess it was the exposure to the Cores and all that let me sense those things," Karan explained, "And that certain reverberation was almost like a gate opening. Did you sensors pick up anything?"
"Sorry, but that last attack knocked out the long range sensors," Kiir apologised, "So I'm blinder than you are."
"Well, I would guess that the Neo-Beast has taken over the gate and opened it. Naturally I'm worried because the Progenitors must have sealed it for a reason."
"You're thinking about that battlefield again, aren't you? But it's been thousands of years, I mean, they could be extinct like the Progenitors are right now."
"Kiir, I hope you're right. I really hope you are."
And Karan returned her attention to the stars streaking past them.
Northern Galactic Outskirts:
The fabric of space time bent and folded, distorting the light coming from nearby stars. Then it all crumpled into a tiny singularity, which later expanded into a blindingly-bright aperture through the dimensions themselves.
A large metallic sphere hurtled out of the portal, depositing itself into realspace.
As the portal closed behind it, the sphere considered the implications of the end of its long but quick journey.
'Destination achieved.'