HOMEWORLD2: WRATH OF THE GODS
CHAPTER 31: CRESCENDO
"Galactic lore has spoken of a great God whose Name is Sajuuk, He Whose Hand Shapes What Is."
"And now, this incredible warship we have rescued from Vaygr hands shows that Sajuuk is, indeed, neither myth nor tale."
"Sajuuk is real."
"The question now is, how real?"
Debrief by Karan Sjet after the Rescue of Hiigara.
She opened her eyes groggily, expecting to see the dull metal surroundings of the Horizon's interior.
All Karan saw was the bright white mist.
The mist was all around her, and she appeared to be drifting in the middle of nowhere. Yet she was definitely standing on something solid.
'Is this a dream?' Karan wondered.
"Quite the contrary, Chosen of Sajuuk."
The voice had come suddenly, echoing gently from all directions and dissipating gradually into the mystical misty surroundings. It was commanding, yet soothing in nature.
"Where am I?" Karan asked, recovering quickly from the suddenness of the voice.
"You are in a safe place, that is all that matters," replied the voice.
The power of the voice stunned Karan into silence once more. Never before had she encountered something so supreme, so divine.
"Who… who are you?"
"My identity varies from culture to culture. In your language, I am known as Koshiir Ra."
"Koshiir Ra! But, you're supposed to be a ship…"
"Why yes, I am a ship. To be more specific, I am the innate artificial intelligence that governs the Koshiir Ra and its functions."
"You control the ship? But then, how is Kiir then able to…"
"Kiir is like you, Chosen of Sajuuk. Kiir Sjet, and only Kiir Sjet, is able to wield my power, for I have selected him."
"… You choose your pilots?"
"Intriguing to your way of thinking, isn't it? That the ship should choose the pilot, rather than vice versa?"
"I see… Why then did you bring me here?"
"Surely you haven't forgotten?" replied Koshiir Ra, the surroundings changing as the syllables echoed away to nothingness. The white mist lost its brightness and everything darkened to become the blackness of space. Karan got the feeling she was hurtling through space to some destination.
The battle came into view quickly enough, only it was paused in limbo. Karan saw the ships frozen in space, shots of firepower unmoving yet en route to their targets. The massive Sphere hung some distance from the struggling Alliance Fleet, which was dealing with some very bad problems of its own.
Where Koshiir Ra and Sajuuk were supposed to be, there was only a sphere of blinding crimson light, as though some lethal energy had engulfed both ships in a mighty blast.
"The Mythra will do anything to accomplish their objective, even if it means obliterating unrelated fleets standing in their way."
"The Mythra? You mean, this ancient race you were fighting so many years ago?"
"We encountered them when we opened an experimental hyperspace gate, one that has the potential to reach any point in known space. It was originally intended to open a route to the next galaxy, but programming errors caused a wormhole to link this galaxy to the neighbouring supercluster."
"I gather your first encounter turned out badly?"
"Needless to say, the Mythra were uninterested in diplomatic relations. I would tell you more, but Kiir Sjet has a task to accomplish."
"Kiir? Wait, tell me more about Kiir! Is he alright? If he's your Chosen pilot, why aren't you talking to him in…"
"All will be answered in due time, Karan. We will meet again…"
"Koshiir Ra! Wait!"
But the voice had gone for good, and Karan was plunged into darkness.
Onboard the Horizon, Northern Outer Rim:
"… Damage report…" Eefrit murmured as he pulled himself from the cold hard floor. He wasn't sure if the ship could still move after that last blast. Most importantly, he wasn't sure if Koshiir Ra was still around.
The rest of the bridge officers attempted to comply with Eefrit's request, trying their best to shake off the dizziness that had come with the last shockwave. Sensors provided scrambled information, while the viewscreens displayed flickering static.
"… Sir, sensors are too scrambled, we need some time for them to compensate…" an officer managed to blurt out.
"We don't have time, get those sensors up ASAP, we can't fight this battle if we're blind…"
The officer nodded, and typed away at whatever remained of the console before him. Horizon had taken so many hits that the resulting electrical feedback had knocked out a good majority of the bridge command stations. That they still had any functioning consoles at all was a miracle.
One of the viewscreens responded, the flickering static struggling to focus into something coherent. As Eefrit strained his eyes, he was able to make out some faint signs of a big battle going on outside, but nothing more.
"That's the best I can get you, Sir," the officer reported with a sigh, "Now we just have to wait for proper recalibration."
"You've done your best, so no worries," replied Eefrit, who had finally managed to knock the dizziness out of his head, "Helm, lock on to the Sajuuk's NAV beacon and home in on autopilot. I don't see how we can steer like…"
It was then that the viewscreen suddenly went through a few more flickers, then organised itself into a proper image. There was plenty of interference, but its contents were plainly recognisable by all who looked at it.
Koshiir Ra was still there, and the crimson blast was burning itself out inside a spherical distortion field.
When Karan regained consciousness, she was relieved to find herself back in the metallic interior of the Horizon. She felt some dismay, however, that she wasn't able to get anything more out of her little conversation.
"Some knock on the head that was… Kiir, you alright?" Karan asked, looking around for Kiir. To her surprise, she could not find him anywhere around. Glancing at the airlock, she was relieved to find that it had not been opened anytime during the past few minutes.
"Where in Kharak's name could Kiir be…" Karan muttered as she punched the intercom button, "Karan to bridge, anyone there?"
"Karan Sjet?" came the voice of Eefrit, "You're alright, I trust?"
"Nothing serious, but Kiir… he's not here!"
"Kiir? Why, there's no way he could have left the ship, the airlock never opened, the shockwave knocked us away before we could link up. I'll check the internal sensors."
"Don't bother, something tells me he's no longer on this ship," Karan flatly replied, "He's probably safe wherever he is, so we should concentrate on getting to the Sajuuk quickly."
"Right then, we're bringing the Hyperphase Drive online again."
Onboard the Gatekeeper of Sajuuk, Northern Outer Rim:
Captain Soban couldn't be more grateful to the T-MAT for their assistance. The shuttle had left the shipyard on a supposed suicide mission – captain transfers in the middle of battle was unheard of. Soban's transport shuttle had nearly fallen prey to the enemy's strike craft on numerous occasions, but he was always saved by a quick strategic ion burst from a nearby megaship. The T-MAT megaships had also done a good job covering the Gatekeeper from the attacks of the enemy.
"Captain Soban to T-MAT fleet, I thank you for your assistance," Soban spoke into the channel, relieved to be in one piece on his bridge, "Where do you need the firepower?"
"One must tackle the problem at its roots – deal with the main Sphere and perhaps we will face better odds."
"Very well. Helm, you got that?"
The officer didn't reply, but responded by giving the Dreadnaught's drives a kick of energy. The ship leapt forward, its flanks covered by T-MAT megaships and cruisers. Sure enough, an enemy heavy cruiser manoeuvred to block their path, only to be torn apart by the blazing vermillion beam of the Phased Cannon Array.
The battle had supposedly taken a turn for the worse when the Sphere fired upon an unprotected Koshiir Ra. Now that the legendary ship was online again, things were starting to look up.
The crimson blast had finally burned itself out, freeing the Koshiir Ra to project its protection where it was most needed. Soban was glad to see the Koshiir Ra put up a large primary field around the Alliance, and a small secondary field around the Gatekeeper and the accompanying T-MAT strike force. Now they could head for the Sphere without worrying about enemy fire.
Onboard the Koshiir Ra, Northern Outer Rim:
When one has little shield power and so much to defend, shield management is tricky business. Kiir found out that having an almost boundless amount of shield energy did little to make the management easier. Things were getting so chaotic that simply wrapping the fleet in one big field bubble would not work – too many enemy ships had slipped in among allied ships.
The enemy, or the Mythra as the Koshiir Ra's databanks so called them, had stepped up their assaults with the Koshiir Ra's activation. Now the Mythra capital ships were ignoring the Hiigaran, Imperial and T-MAT vessels to go straight for the Koshiir Ra, pummelling the ship's localised field in an attempt to break through and tear the vessel apart. But the distortion field, designed to resist firepower of much greater magnitude, shrugged it off casually.
Many things were worrying him, one of those worries being the Legacy's severe internal damage. He had attempted to establish communications with Yuno but to no avail.
"Don't tell me their communications were wiped out as well," Kiir muttered as he tried to jump over to the Legacy via the virtual world. He was unceremoniously stopped by Koshiir Ra security algorithms displaying error messages. As if on cue, alert dialogs began popping up around him, indicating the Sphere had not given up.
Kiir swore he could feel the Koshiir Ra shake, that is, if he could even feel the vibrations in virtual space. Visual sensors told him that the blast had dissipated itself along the curvature of the primary field, but not without causing some slight feedback in the Koshiir Ra's shield systems.
He interpreted the sensors with disbelief. Here was a cannon lacking the power a Quantum Pulse weapon possessed, yet with considerably more effectiveness against shielding?
Onboard the Ascension, hyperspace transit:
The Tobari flagship raced through hyperspace with its invasion fleet. The invasion was certainly going well, having crushed easily the few Turanic Raider fleets that even dared to get in the way.
With each successful conquest, commanders would put together navigational data salvaged from the defeated, organising a new updated galactic map of the new powers in the Galaxy. After all, they had been isolated in the Southern Fringe for such a long time, and older maps had become very irrelevant.
Their next target was the Elor System, home to a so-called "splinter kingdom" of the old Taiidan Empire. Information scoured from the Turanic Raider computer core wrecks had revealed that the star system was particularly rich in resources, explaining why the kingdom had had the military power to repel any Imperialist attempt to take over.
General Tora had taken their resource supremacy into consideration – his fleet would have to rely almost entirely upon their stealth to defeat this enemy. Once all military targets had been neutralised, the resources found in the star system would prove very useful to the invasion.
"General, we will be arriving at the Elor System in two minutes' time," the NAV officer reported.
"Excellent, order all ships to raise cloak immediately. Objectives are to neutralise any and all targets of opportunity that may present a threat against us."
"Sir, we have incoming transmissions," interrupted another officer, "It appears to be a distress signal from the Elor homeworld."
"So the Elor System is already under attack," mused the General, "This will make things so much easier for us. Patch it through."
A few taps on the console powered up the communications channels in the bridge. The buzz of static was quickly replaced by the desperate call for help.
"This is the Royal Elor Fleet calling any ships in range. We are under attack by a hostile force and require immediate assistance! Our own ships are being turned against us! Someone help…"
The voice cut out and was replaced by screams of agony and terror. Ripping sounds echoed through the bridge as the channel continued operating, transmitting the horrific audio signals to the ears of the Tobari officers. Then it all ended abruptly as the static resumed.
"In the name of the Emerald Star," uttered Tora, "What happened?"
"General, we are emerging from hyperspace. Stand by for hyperspace exit to the Elor homeworld."
The shimmering realm of hyperspace pulled back as realspace intruded upon them. Seconds later, the quantum wavefronts had retreated completely, leaving the Ascension and the invasion fleet in normal space.
It was a horror to behold: the remnants of the Royal Elor Fleet were putting up a last-ditch defence against a sole Keeper and its fleet, which comprised ships belonging to the Royal Guard. Their hulls were shaded a different colour, a dull organic crimson, and the Keeper continued to take over more ships with a strange crimson beam.
"General, the Royal Guard is engaging a Progenitor-led force," the sensors officer reported, "What action should we take?"
"Hold fire, you all know the capabilities of the Progenitors," Tora replied, "Order all ships to hold fire and maintain cloak. We will observe them from maximum range before deciding our next move."
The last of the Royal Guard was cut down quickly enough and subverted to join the Keeper's fleet. The odds were good – the Tobari still outnumbered them considerably, but General Tora was extremely worried by the strange organic beam the Keeper was using. No Keeper in the Southern Fringe had ever used such a weapon before.
The Keeper seemed to admire its newly-acquired brethren, then moved on to face the planet. The Progenitor vessel seemed to glow intensely with vermillion energy as it powered up for its next move.
A supercharged version of the crimson beam fired away at the Elor homeworld.
General Tora turned away immediately, as did many of his bridge officers. They could not bear to see what was coming next. The communications console blurted out the screams for help emanating from the planet as the thing began to consume everything on the homeworld, forcing the officer to power down the console.
"By the Emerald Star, what is this power we are witnessing?" Tora implored, his eyes gazing at the ceiling, "Why did the Ancients build such terrible weapons to wield?"
"I think we'll be knowing the answer rather soon General," commented the sensors officer, "The Keeper appears to have pierced our cloaks and is advancing on us quickly."
"General, the Keeper has yet to power up its inhibitor field. We can still pull back if that is your wish," the NAV officer reported.
Tora considered his options, then barked his orders at his subordinates.
"Shunt all power to hyperspace modules. Get the fleet out of here!"
Onboard the Gatekeeper of Sajuuk, Northern Outer Rim:
Captain Soban was emotionally pained as he watched the battle continue outside. Of the seven T-MAT megaships escorting them, four had succumbed to the astounding long range point defences of the Sphere. So powerful was the Sphere's defences that the Dreadnaught task force was the only Alliance group capable of getting within weapons range.
"Captain, the Sphere is within firing range of the plasma turret, we may fire at will," came the voice of the weapons officer over the intercom.
"How's the progress with recalibrating the Phased Cannon Array?" Soban enquired, for the T-MAT had given them a detailed breakdown of the enemy's armour composition, allowing them to calibrate their main weapon for maximum damage.
"Recalibrations will be done in little over a minute."
"Good, fire plasma turret!"
The Gatekeeper's plasma turret spat away at the massive Sphere looming before them, the shots of plasma barely grazing the Sphere's protective armour. The accompanying T-MAT megaships followed suit, lashing away with their rapid-fire ion weapons. In response, the Sphere released another focused salvo of energy bolts, disintegrating a megaship and crippling another. The Dreadnaught rocked hard as the shields struggled to compensate.
"Captain, this is Engineering. We can't take much more of this!"
"What's the status on our shields?"
"Shield power at 56.4 percentand falling, we're getting system shorts everywhere. This feedback's too much for us to handle dammit!"
Soban became grim. For the Chief Engineer to start swearing at the captain meant that the situation was getting rather bad. The feedback damage was already evident on the bridge, with dozens of officers injured by their command consoles shorting out and exploding.
"I know things are looking bad," Soban returned, "But this is one battle we can't afford to lose. Just try to keep my ship together as long as possible, okay?"
The Chief Engineer muttered a Kharakian curse before grunting a reluctant "Roger," closing the channel immediately afterwards.
Another salvo raked across the Gatekeeper's shields, causing more command consoles to spark and smoke. Soban swore loudly.
"Weapons, once you're done, just fire the damn…"
Captain Soban was cut short as the Dreadnaught shuddered again, this time from the firing of the Phased Cannon Array. The vermillion beam impaled the Sphere deeply, cutting through the armour easily. Soban gave a victorious whoop as he saw some kind of chain reaction take place, causing multiple explosions underneath the affected section.
"That'll show them to mess around with us," bristled Soban, "Weapons, get ready to fire…"
This time, the shields failed completely as the feedback overwhelmed the Gatekeeper's power systems. Dozens of energy bolts plowed into the thick armour, some of it getting through and breaching the inner hull. The lights on the bridge flickered and gave out, leaving the place in the dim glow of emergency lighting.
"Captain, we've lost main power! Life support at 40 percentand falling!" an officer cried in dismay.
Soban swore, then fell silent as he saw another salvo of energy bolts head their way. This was it…
…Or so he thought. A megaship flashed in before them, taking the full brunt of the impact. The T-MAT vessel exploded under the stress, the crystalline superstructure shattering into millions of shards. Hundreds of voices echoed from the barely-functioning communications system, bringing tears to all who heard it.
"SAJUUK DAMN THEM ALL!" Soban cried as he brought his fist down on the non-functioning console before him. He was now weeping at the senseless loss of life, and the valiant sacrifices of the T-MAT. The only reason the Imperials and Hiigarans had been taking so few losses was because T-MAT megaships had been taking the hits for them. Now the T-MAT fleet was a shadow of its former self, relegating what few ships it had left to reinforce the T-MAT mothership's escort fleet.
"Consider your wish granted," Karan's voice echoed through the channel as a brilliant lance of light plunged into the Sphere. Soban quickly switched views on the viewscreen, and was relieved to find the Sajuuk fully functional.
The main lighting flickered on as the ship's main power was restored temporarily. The Dreadnaught shook as the array powered up for a final blast, then released all the energy it could muster at the Sphere. The Gatekeeper blasted the Sphere once more, its main reactors giving out and plunging them all into eternal darkness. Sajuuk joined in with another Phased Cannon blast, supplemented with salvos of ion pulses from its point defences.
But the Sphere still did not give up. The giant aperture of its main cannon now faced the helpless Dreadnaught. Captain Soban watched haplessly as the crimson energies built up once more…
… And then exploded in a brilliant shockwave of energy as the Koshiir Ra extended part of its distortion field into the Sphere like an invisible dagger. The angular distortion field protruded out the other end of the Sphere, pushing out shattered electronics and circuitry.
'Critical damage sustained.'
'Aborting mission objectives.'
The Alliance fleet shook as the fabric of space time bent and tore around them. Moments later, the smouldering Sphere vanished from the battlefield, leaving its fleet behind. The remaining ships continued to fight on, but the battle was lost for them.
Onboard the Legacy of Kharak¸ Northern Outer Rim:
Everyone was gathered in the ready room for the debrief. Yuno's hologram flickered with substantial interference, showing the extent of the internal damage which the Mothership had suffered.
"Everyone, we have just won a very tough battle, and I must applaud you all for your efforts," Karan began, standing before the commanding officers assembled in the room, "But the price was heavy. Yuno shall give the details."
"Thank you Karan," said Yuno as she dimmed the lights for her debrief, "This is the Alliance fleet's post-battle report. Imperial and Hiigaran forces both lost only 15 percentof ship numbers, and we all know why."
A wave of her flickering holographic hand brought up a graph of statistics. Hiigaran and Imperial casualties were far fewer as compared with…
"… The T-MAT have done much for us all, at the cost of nearly three quarters of their forces. They express continued support for the alliance, but regrets that they will not be able to join us for subsequent battles. They indicate a desperate need to refit and rebuild themselves, which means that we will be on our own if we get into any fights within the next few weeks."
"That is all regarding the T-MAT. As for the damage to the Legacy, it is very likely that the Legacy will have to take a back seat from future battles," Yuno commented as she brought up the damage report of the Mothership.
"That last feedback event has done major damage to many critical Mothership systems, some of which have been damaged beyond all hope of repair. Thankfully, the cryogenic subsystems were spared this time round and no colonists were lost. However, if an event such as this was to take place again…"
"In the light of such circumstances, the Pride of Hiigara shall take over flagship functions on a permanent basis, while the Legacy will be kept at the fleet's rear at all times. Naturally, this will bring up concerns regarding the Grand Core and which ship should be housing it in place of the Legacy."
"After careful consideration and discussion, it has been decided that the Grand Core shall be transferred to the Koshiir Ra. Research by Kiir Sjet has shown that the Grand Core's quantum tappers will do much to enhance Koshiir Ra's defensive capabilities. Hopefully, it will let the Koshiir Ra deflect singularity events by the Qwaar Jet."
"As for this new enemy, databanks from the Koshiir Ra have dubbed them the Mythra. They are a race of artificially intelligent ships and structures with only one goal – conquest. Apparently, the Progenitors encountered this race in their extra-galactic travels, and fought a long and hard war to repulse them from this Galaxy."
"Winning the war against the Neo-Beast is crucial, but safeguarding ourselves against the Mythra is just as pressing. We may have won the battle today, but it is likely that the Mythra will return. Note that the Mythra are not after us, but the Progenitor ships in our possession. So long as the Sajuuk, Koshiir Ra and Gatekeeper of Sajuuk remain in our fleet, we will continue to be their target."
"For now, we are probably safe as we've done quite a bit of damage to their flagship. We will be jumping to the Fields of Plaz as soon as the Grand Core transfer is complete. There, we will begin resourcing operations to rebuild whatever we have lost today. The T-MAT will probably not be following us, but we will stay in touch. That is all I guess."
Yuno turned to Karan, wondering if she had anything else to add. Karan shook her head, and the room was dismissed.
As the commanders and captains began leaving the room, Admiral Ecron walked straight up to Karan.
"Admiral Ecron, it's a pleasure to meet you," Karan greeted, "I am grateful for your fleet's assistance in this war."
"So am I. Had your forces not jumped here, the entire Imperial fleet would probably have been slaughtered by the Mythra."
"But so would we if your forces had not cooperated in battle," responded Karan, "Well then, do you have something to tell me?"
"I do, but it will have to wait till we are alone."
Yuno watched as the last commander left the room, then shut the ready room doors and locked them. She nodded at Karan, who turned back to face Ecron.
"Alright then, what is it?"
"Lady Karan, I gather we would need more firepower in this war against the Neo-Beast and the Mythra, so I thought it would be best if I gave you the coordinates for a project we were working on."
Ecron connected his data drive to a wall console, and a set of schematics appeared on the holographic projector. Both Karan and Yuno studied the design with surprise.
"Karan, isn't this the Republican Nomad Moon?" Yuno asked.
"It is indeed, but it is different in some ways," noted Karan.
"Ah, you are indeed a sharp one. Imperial scientists were working on ways to bolster our forces and counter the Sajuuk's capabilities. In the end, they pulled out the original Republican Nomad Moon design and made some modifications to it. They called it the War Moon. Other than the primary repulsor and ion cannon weaponry, the scientists added this."
Ecron pressed a few buttons, causing the projector to zoom in on the core of the War Moon.
"This is a Gravity Core, an amplified technology derived from the Homeworld War era of anti-fighter gravwells. It supposedly has the power to grasp any ship, even one as massive as the battlecruiser, and crush it in an amplified gravitational field. As far as I heard, tests on small frigate-sized asteroids have proven very successful. Coupled with a drive system that gives the War Moon mobility, it was supposed to be a weapon to bring down Hiigara once and for all."
"I can see how now," Karan commented, "You would use the War Moon to contain the Sajuuk, and possibly neutralise it. Once our trump card was dealt with…"
"… You would use superior numbers to destroy us," Yuno finished, "What a terrible weapon…"
"Indeed. The only problem is that it is still under Imperial control," Ecron added.
"What do you mean?"
"The gathered forces you see here may be the bulk of the Imperial Navy, but the War Moon Project is being carried out in an isolated sector of space. This was for the Project's own protection, for if Hiigaran intelligence had gotten wind of such a weapon… anyway, the Moon base runs under its own command, completely independent of New Taiidan."
"So if we want to get to the Moon," Karan spoke, "We'll have to deal with the Guard?"
"The sooner the better," Ecron stated, "War Moon is nearing completion. The last thing we want is to be fighting off three foes."
"Of course, it'll be tactically better if we could fight along the War Moon rather than against it," Yuno commented, "Where is it?"
"I don't know how, but you've already guessed the location," Ecron replied.
"What do you… surely you can't mean the Fields of Plaz!" Yuno was incredulous.
"There is no other region in Imperial space that contains the resources needed for such a large-scale project," explained the admiral, "That is why I am concerned that we may not be able to mount a successful offensive in our current state."
"Ecron, do you have details on the task force stationed there?" Karan enquired.
"As far as I know, nothing more than three carrier groups. However, the only thing incomplete about the War Moon is the drive system. The Gravity Core has been fully operational since a month ago."
There was a silence in the room as Yuno and Karan pondered this problem. If Ecron's claims were to be trusted, the War Moon would have the means to neutralise whatever ship it deemed to be a threat. Furthermore, given that it was a gravity weapon, it was unclear as to how Koshiir Ra's distortion field would handle it.
"There may be a way," Ecron mentioned, breaking the silence, "The Gravity Core requires a tremendous amount of energy to use, so expect a recharge time of at least five minutes between attacks."
"That gives us a window period of five minutes to take it down…" noted Yuno.
"Nothing we can't handle," declared Karan, "We have the Sajuuk and Koshiir Ra on our side. The sooner we deal with this, the better our odds in fighting the Neo-Beast and the Mythra."
Karan turned to the Taiidani admiral and shook him warmly by the hand. If they could use the War Moon's gravity weapon, perhaps there was hope in winning this war after all…
Onboard the Koshiir Ra, Northern Outer Rim:
Kiir still couldn't figure out how he had seemingly teleported himself from the Horizon to the Koshiir Ra. If it was via the virtual world, he could understand. But his physical body?
When he had withdrawn from the Koshiir Ra's computer systems, he had found himself lying on the interface platform on the ship's bridge. Either his abilities included teleportation, or some divine force brought him there.
But he would look into that later. Right now, the Koshiir Ra was bustling with activity as Hiigaran resource collectors towed the massive Grand Core towards the Koshiir Ra's open Core Containment Section.
He sincerely hoped that Koshiir Ra's wings could protect them all.