Author's Note: I haven't much time to work on my writing lately and since I had kind of left this one in a lousy spot for a cliffhanger prior to hiatus I'm skipping ahead chronologically here. So if you're wondering why I all the sudden went off world here that is why. I will be filling in chapters behind this later on and will repost this chapter, cleaned up and fleshed out better without this note once I have caught up. Though it may be a while before the next meaningful update this story not abandoned, by some means I do intend to finish this and my other stories as well it is just going to take a lot longer than I expected. Cheers!

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Chapter: A Sense of Urgency

Volm Expeditionary Force in orbit over Hercution VI

62,437 light-years from Earth

The Volm fleet floated silently in position around the pale gas giant now securely in the hands of their Rlatlakthra allies. Shuttles traversed to and from the planet and the capital ships in orbit on mundane business between the two species and with Volm forces within the atmosphere. After defeating the Espheni forces in orbit the Volm had driven off a second attempt to retake the planet with naught but a series of skirmishes which had convinced the second Espheni fleet the planet was not worth the effort. While there remained a few strong holdouts of Espheni converted Rlatlakthra deep within the denser portions of the atmosphere towards the core the Volm and their allies felt the planet was securely in their grasp. A successfully liberated world, another victory for the Alliance and a welcome one at that, they had few major successes wholly liberating planets in the past hundred cycles often arriving too late or saving a world that was too badly beaten down to contribute much if anything to the overall effort. Iu-Rlatlyss was a clear and decisive victory and the Rlatlakthra were eager to join them in their crusade to expel the Espheni from the galaxy. Ambassadors from the Volm and three other member species entreating the Rlatlakthra leadership for Alliance membership had already arrived on world and negotiations were underway to define the new partnership. It was almost a given that they would join the Alliance and a fine addition to the Alliance they would make. They would prove invaluable when dealing with worlds such as their own which even with their advanced technology Volm forces had difficulty waging a ground or more accurately an "air" war within.

Cochise stood on the bridge observing the planet feeling some small sense of accomplishment. Though a victory was imminent he knew that this was but another tiny pebble to be removed in order to bring down a vast mighty mountain range. The thought of his father's orders and the pressing weight of the need to secure some obscure blue-green world which was circumstantially at a juncture between them and their allies bore down on him. Beneath his focused, collected exterior his anxiety did not show through, even less from a human observer's perspective as the Volm did not reflect emotion as obviously as human beings did though they were capable of feeling much the same array of emotions as we humans do. Nonetheless Cochise was proverbially chomping at the bit to leave. There were but a few loose ends to tie up here and then it was onward and forward they went. The fleet would be divided at that point with several ships remaining behind to secure Iu-Rlatlyss in case the second Espheni fleet returned and the rest proceeding to another nearby beleaguered star system to divide the Espheni's efforts in the sector while Cochise took a special forces team to the blue-green world to evaluate and raise up a native resistance while his father and the main battle fleet were en route for its liberation. It was a careful game they were playing, one which they did not want to give up any ground gained in one sector to prevent a loss in another. Every victory they achieved was hard won; none could be thrown away so lightly even for what appeared to be so decisive an effort at first glance. Thus was the Volm doctrine on strategy, to always be rational and never brash, utilitarian when need be but always seeking the maximum gain. While his father did not share his optimism Cochise believed that they could secure both Iu-Rlatlyss and Earth within the required span of time before the Espheni could activate their defense grid on the latter, hardening their position against an attempted landing or bombardment. Nonetheless the window of opportunity was growing short, even with the enhanced hyperspace capabilities of the stealth ship to be employed, with a transit time three times as fast as any other ship in the fleet, there was still little margin for error on Cochise's part.

"Status report." Cochise asked for the eleventh time of the "morning" per the ship's chronometer.

"Northern hemisphere facilities report operational and all secure. Southern hemisphere facilities report 2 attacks in the last twelve hours both of which were successfully repelled by our allies. Power stations 6, 7 and 9 are operational with 11 and 12 expected to be up and running within the next six rotations. Power station 8 is still experiencing difficulties due to the ionic storm in that region. The Rlatlakthra delegation is set to convene in seven hours to discuss material transport arrangements with the Alliance. Construction nearly complete on lunar battle station S-7 with satellite defense grid operating at 83% capacity." the ship's captain started reporting after checking the displays positioned next to him while conferring with others throughout the fleet activity.

Just then a loud repeated beeping sound could be heard within the bridge.

"Something is coming out of hyperspace. . ." the Volm sensor operator reported. "Within the sun's corona." he continued, aghast at the preposterousness of what his instruments had detected.

"Is it ours or the Espheni?" Cochise asked.

"What foolishness, nothing could survive dropping out of hyperspace that close to a star." an older Volm officer scoffed, interrupting Cochise at the same time he made his inquiry.

"Unable to determine sir. It is entering the photosphere now." the operator reported back.

It took Cochise only a few seconds to realize what was going on.

"Tell the fleet to jump to hyperspace. Now!" Cochise ordered.

The ship's executive officer turned to issuing recall orders for all shuttles and Volm installations to begin evacuation procedures.

"Belay the evacuation commander. Prepare the fleet to jump at once." Cochise sternly commanded.

"But what about our forces on the planet?" asked the XO.

"There is no time for them. Jump now!" Cochise insisted, a sense of urgency overwhelming his composure.

"Jump where?" asked the navigator.

"Anywhere! Just get us out of here!" Cochise shouted.

As the fleet inputted coordinates for the jump and powered up their engines whilst moving away from the planet the sensor operator noticed a sudden change in readings from the star.

"We're reading a spike in output from the star, increasing exponentially." the sensor operator nervously stated.

"Initiate jump sequence at once!" Cochise commanded.

"All ships initiate jump sequence." the captain relayed to the rest of the fleet.

The fleet cleared the orbits of the planet's outer moons as the already faint sun dimmed even more, recessing back until it looked indistinguishable from any of the vast multitude of distant stars against the black canopy of the near endless expanse of space. The shuttles were left behind by the ships trailing like broken bread crumbs during the hasty retreat. On the planet's surface day swiftly turned to night giving cause for the Rlatlakthra and Volm within the upper layers of the atmosphere alike to turn their gaze skyward as their sun went out like a light. It felt as if there was a brief pause in time for just a second, like the hang time from a terrible fall from a great height before the impact with the ground. The moment Cochise's flagship jumped to hyperspace he caught the first glimpse of when the star burst in a violent supernova, it's rapidly expanding fireball rushing out a distance behind the visible light of the event occurring behind it.

The darkness quickly became the brightest day the Rlatlakthra had ever experienced as a wave of bewilderment washed over them. For the Volm that sense quickly turned into dread and despair. The supernova shattered the inner planets and vaporized their remnants adding minutely to the deformed spherical wave of superheated plasma rushing outward towards the outer planets. When the blast reached Iu-Rlatlyss only a fraction of the Volm fleet had jumped to safety. As moons fractured and broke apart and the planet's atmosphere burned the remaining Volm ships were consumed in insignificant pops against the bright overwhelming violent glow of the expanding supernova. For those on the planet their destruction was over in an instant; it was not a cruel death, but cruelly efficient. The planet the Volm had fought so hard to liberate was destroyed in the blink of an eye and all of their gains with it.