Crazedwraith wrote:Kewl! Combat! Yay!
The ending was good: it remeonded me of the end of "the last Starfighter"
Never seen it.
Shroom Man 777 wrote:Undersuits? Did you take that term from my BS-300 profile? I thought I saw some other terms which were taken from the SOTSverse. And that suiting up scene of Txaxil was a little like the scene I wrote for Chapter Five in SOTS. Oh my God, you can read minds through the internet! Nooo! *puts on tinfoil hat* Scary.
That scene was there in the old version too, which was written long before you started work on SOTS.
But for the revision I did indeed take a few ideas from SOTS, such as the chameleonic camouflage.
And the corvette guy, he's the captain so why is he driving the thing?
I've based my corvettes upon the ones from Homeworld, where they are more akin to huge fighters than anything else.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
Col. Crackpot wrote:cool! The Xhatrr are due for a painfull lesson.
Hey! Why do you read his fic and ignore SOTS? Go read SOTS!
@ Peregrine: You certainly took your time
And what movies did you base your corvettes on?
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
Shroom Man 777 wrote:
And what movies did you base your corvettes on?
The "Homeworld" series of computer games have been a major influence upon the space battle scenes.
For an idea what they look like, the best parallels I can provide... try to envision a less bird-like Kaark-class Attack Bomber from the first Homeworld game. Then size it up to a length of 120m and a wingspan of 80m. Replace the plasma launcher weaponry with two laser turrets mounted over-and-under on each wing, and you'll have a VERY VAGUE idea what it looks like. Basically an oversized heavy fighter. When I do an illustration, I'll upload it.
And it seems like I've got out of my writer's block, I'm already working on the 11th chapter!
Oh, Shroomy - of interest to you, it's today I reached 7777 posts!
Speaking of its length, I have found out that what I have written so far is 90 pages on A4. Since most paperbacks are half the format of A4 or so, the first 10 chapters fill up 180 or so pages. If it ever gets published, its full length will thusly be ~400 pages.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
Chapter 11 - Storms Gather And Death Reaps Her Harvest
Vorou Star System, aboard Kormunrak-class carrier Selkantar of the Shaikarsite Union Space Navy
The second hangar of the Selkantar opened its blast door, as the Avarni escape shuttle's request for docking permission was approved of. Having taken from the shuttlebay of the an escape ship mangled by fire from Kh-Sriil corvettes later to escape from the range of their targeters somewhere between Avarnam and Shaikarsa, its engines were soon out of fuel.
Landing lights glowing inside the carvernous hangar, the damaged and dented escape shuttle limped its way to a vacant area in the shuttle bay. Between two shovel-nosed Moruunkar-class heavy bombers, it finally found its rest despite barely being able to fit there.
The blast door closed again, and the atmosphere supply of the shuttle bay was activated again. Inside the shuttle, Tukajra saw on a viewscreen that a group of Shaikarsite Marines were approaching, along with a female naval officer, clad in their blue-grey uniforms.
Lt. Skalaf Tel, second-in-command of the Selkantar, watched the rear hatch of the Avarni shuttle open horizontically. A small cloudblanket of greyish-white steam covered the opening hatch before she saw a group of Avarni crewmen exit through the ramp, headed by a hoary and white-bearded Jardra who could only be First Admiral Tukajra.
Tukajra approached Lt. Tel and the escorting marines, telling her solemnly: "As you can see, I am First Admiral Tukajra of the Avarnam Defense Force. With me are the crew of the Kalshaksa-class Heavy Cruiser Jarshkai. We are all that remain of the Avarni Fleet. The Jarshkai was built at Battlestation Shavolar's shipyards in year 3268 (Avarni Standard) and crippled in 3281 Avarni Standard. She will not be forgotten."
Skalaf Tel answered: "I am Lieutenant Skalaf Tel of the Shaikarsite Union Space Navy, and second-in-command to Captain Kaelob Kaltoruul of the Kormunrak-class carrier Selkantar. Kaltoruul wishes to speak to you."
The Avarni crew followed Tel through the dark hangar to a perfectly cylindrical tube, obviously an elevator shaft. A door on the tube then opened, and the group walked into it. The interior of the elevator was coloured a shining gunmetal, unlike the matt colours dominating the interiors of Avarni ships. Somewhere in the tubular interior of the elevator, there was a set of 20 white buttons each with a number on it. Lt. Tel pressed one of them, and they then all felt as if they were moving up. After two seconds, the door opened and they walked unto the ship's bridge.
The bridge's command chair turned clockwise to reveal the captain of the Selkantar sitting in it. He was somewhat tall for a Jardra at roughly 165cm, of average build, had pale creamy skin and was completely bald save for his eyebrows, which were a dim dark grey in colour.
Tukajra was not slow to speak, as he uttered: "Sir, I assume you are Captain Kaelob Kaltoruul. You need little introduction to my identity."
Kaltoruul answered: "Guilty as charged, Sir. And you are none other than First Admiral Tukajra of the Avarnam Defense Fleet, I assume?"
The ancient white-haired admiral nodded to answer: "As soon as possible, Cpt. Kaltoruul, take me back to Rishina Tvurak or a place where I can talk to the highest officers of the Shaikasite Union Space Navy."
He then paused, as he took place on an empty command chair by Kaltoruul's side. After taking a breath, he looked upon the viewscreen and commented upon what he saw: "It seems like the Kh-Sriil corvettes are fleeing - or at least breaking formation."
Coldly, Kaltoruul replied: "Indeed, sir. I can conclude that they obviously weren't prepared for a full-scale confrontation, but in case their mission was to hunt down the escape ships, I'll say that you're very fortunate that the Kh-Sriil corvettes didn't accomplish their mission, First Admiral."
Tukajra directed his eyes another time at the strategic viewscreen and saw that the carriers and their escorts were at full acceleration re-pursuing the Kh-Sriil corvettes. On the tactical viewscreen just beside it, he saw too that the Kadantar-class heavy fighters were in the process of surrounding the Kh-Sriil corvettes and snowballing them with antimatter torpedoes. He could easily see before him the Kh-Sriil corvettes being shattered before the solar ashes, antimatter explosives turning expensive war machines into useless clouds of metallic debris.
At the same time, Kaltoruul uttered to himself: "I fucking hope none of the Kh-Sriil vettes survive. If they snitch to the main fleet, Shaikarsa's fucking doomed too. We'll better call the Sarkaians for help just for the sake of it." Though Kaltoruul rarely would ask the United Moons Of Sarkai for help, he also knew that sometimes the method "by any means necessary" could be the only way out. He didn't like the United Moons of Sarkai that much, actually. In fact, they were commonly regarded by Shaikarsites as a tax haven run amuck in order to legitimize themselves - and he actually doubted how much use they would be of as allies in this war. After all, the Sarkaians were isolationists when it came to military matters. They had no standing ground forces except for the Lunar Militias which were highly irregular, given that individual Lunar Militia soldiers had to supply their own weaponry and pay for the maintenance. They did have something which came close to space navies - the so-called Protector
Houses. These Protector Houses were corporations of a sort which made a living out renting their warships out to shipping companies. This would seem like a paranoid measure to an Avarni, but Kaltoruul had actually been once as far out as Tainaret, Korentha and Salakash - the three Outer Worlds of the Vorou system. The further you travelled away from Shaikarsa, the more likely your ship was to be ambushed by a pack of space pirates. Given that the gas-giant Sarkai and its many moons had no government other than a council of the largest corporations and an infamous AI called "The Overseer" to supervise them... well, then it was little surprise that some of the more sparsely populated of the moons often had their fair share of outlaws. Typical for a "state" which in effect was little more than what many would see as a thinly veiled tax haven - indeed a textbook example of proof that popular notions of freedom were socially destabilizing when taken to an extreme. On the other hand, this meant that the limited armed forces of the United Moons of Sarkai actually were quite experienced despite lacking the funding from taxpayer money. And as rag-tag as the space pirates were, Kaltoruul honestly believed that they would make good allies. He was not sure why, but the Kh-Sriil outnumbered the Shaikarsites by such a factor that any help would be welcome.
On the strategic viewscreen, though, both Kaltoruul and Tukajra could watch most of the Kh-Sriil corvettes being destroyed. However, they knew little about the capabilities about Kh-Sriil communications systems, and it was still possible that they could send distress calls from this distance. For some reason the two officers were pondering exactly the same, and Kaltoruul nervously asked: "First Admiral, how big is the Kh-Sriil fleet?"
Surprisingly undaunted - perhaps jaded - Tukajra's answer were the grim words: "They outnumbered us by what I call shitloads-to-one, captain. For some reason I've forgotten the exact number, but when they come here, I can assure you one thing... The term "living hell" will gain a new meaning. On the bright side... if I remember Arkrai's press release on Kh-Sriil military dogma well, they'll probably wait with attacking this planet until they've chewed up Avarnam."
Giving an awkward, bug-eyed stare, Kaltoruul enquired: "Any idea how long that takes?"
Tukajra talked back: "Depends entirely on how they do it. If they just nuke it all, it may take a few weeks. But you see, our lanky arch-enemies want to conquer Avarnam. If their leaders have as much patience as I would have in their place... this means we might have several months to gather our forces." As he completed the last sentence, the sombre and concerned frown on his face turned into a wicked, belligerent smile.
Kaltoruul commented: "It would be a motley assortment, though. Sarkaian corporate mercenaries and militias, pirates and privateers, the rough and austere Outworlders... and the moons of Taurash finally agreeing about something? This indeed is a strange time to live. Perhaps it is time to remind you that we Shaikarsites have a curse which doesn't seem like one until you think about it."
Turning his head from the strategic viewscreen to Kaltoruul's face, Tukajra asked: "And that is?"
With a mysterious smile on his lips, leaving Tukajra slightly dumbstruck, Kaltoruul answered: "May you live in interesting times."
Though deeming Kaltoruul to possess a morbid sense of humour, Tukajra knew that the bald Shaikarsite was on to something. Taurash was the Vorou system's other great gas giant, a great deal smaller than the humongous Sarkai - but its moons were still populated. Though the Sarkaian moons at least were united by having the same currency and at least a sense of unity, the Taurashan moons were another matter. Their inhabitants had descended from what Tukajra considered to be the dregs of Avarni and Shaikarsite society, not possessing of many other motivations in life than a strong sense of self-preservation. The Taurashan moons were in a state of near-anarchy like the Sarkaian ones, but one of a much more chaotic nature. They were ruled mostly by warlords who fought between each other, split into two huge blocks each called "The
Confederated Moons of Taurash" and "The United Moons Of Taurash", respectively. It was not totally verifiable, but there were rumours of connections between the Taurashan Jardra and the dominant pirate clans which terrorized Sarkai. These rumours were no doubt fuelled by visual similarities between some Sarkaian pirate vessels and those few Taurashan-built spaceships which had peacefully found their way to the moons of Sarkai. Of course, there were also told loose rumours about a great Spaceship Graveyard hidden somewhere in the asteroid belt near Taurash, but Tukajra had not seen it during his voyage to the Outer Worlds and thusly deemed it most logical to assume that the Spaceship Graveyard was nothing but an urban legend... and if the pirates flew refit wreckages recovered from the mythical Graveyard, then where did they refit them? Taurash and its moons were shrouded in mystery - they were the Third Millenium's equivalent of the by-then unexplored wastelands on Avarnam where medieval cartographers wrote "Here Be Monsters".
In another display of the apparent empathy between the two - as well as strange Shaikarsite humour, Kaltoruul asked rhetorically: "You know what, First Admiral Tukajra? I think the Taurashans could make for some interesting allies too. Not only because I'd like to see if they could fight together against a common enemy, but... ever been to the Taurashan moons? Met a Taurashan? Or read the stories which originate there?"
Tukajra swept his head from side to side, indicating that he didn't.
Reclining in his chair, Kaltoruul elaborated: "The landscapes are barren, icy wastelands. The cities are hells of steel. Every day is a war. No law but the rule of the strong. Comfort is an unknown word. Fight to live, live to fight. It's a rare occassion that Taurashans manage to get their way to the Sarkaian moons or the Shaikarsite Union... but I once met a Taurashan. For an idea of how these people are, try to just... imagine the sheer desire for survival and will-to-power that such an environment must breed. Not to mention the natural fighting experience of such people. Most civilians would probably be repulsed by the very idea... but I find something appealing about the Taurashans. Remember my talk about actually meeting one?"
Tukajra nodded.
"Know of when a person is branded living proof of something? If you practice that sort of labeling, I suppose that the Taurashan bloke must have been living proof of the motto Strength Through Adversity. War is second nature to these people..."
The old, combat-scarred Tukajra interrupted him: "Alright, I get it, Kaltoruul. You sound like one of these civilians who enlist in the military because it gives them an escape, so to speak, from the decadence - or whatever you call it - of what life has become these days. But given that you've risen to Captain here... I assume you mean that the Taurashans are to us what we are to civilians?"
The bald head of Kaelob Kaltoruul nodded, proclaiming: "You hit the nail right on the head."
Tukajra then continued, with a smile that Kaltoruul assumed to be slightly ironic: "Well, I suppose that's the impression you may have had but remember that you've never actually been there, and it's quite obvious that you've never been in the ground forces. An instinct for self-preservation does not alone a good soldier make, nor is a good fighter the same as a good soldier." Taking a pause to breathe, the hoary admiral continued: "Some great general of the past - can't remember which one - once said: I do not fear an army of predators if they are led by a herd-beast, but I do fear an army of herd-beasts if they are led by a predator. I thought you knew that individual fighting skills don't matter when..."
Then Kaltoruul interrupted Tukajra: "... sorry, I just got carried away"
Still, silently Tukajra admitted that it would be interesting to gather the entire Vorou system against the Kh-Sriil... such a fleet would obviously be quite a sight to behold. The state-of-the-art ships of the Sarkaian Protector Houses, the Shaikarsites' warships built from modified freighter designs, rag-tag pirates from all over the solar system's outskirts, and the Taurashan warlords' enigmatic armadae... whatever they looked like. Though Tukajra passed past Taurash and its moons on his voyage to the outer worlds, he did not remember much about the ships which the viewscreens displayed as his transport went past Taurash, those many years ago. Due to the chaotic nature of Taurash, the captain of said passenger ship kept a constant distance from even the outmost moon of Taurash. But the loose rumours and vague mystique around Taurash and its moons were not what should be of primary concern to Tukajra now. His primary priority now was to gather the divided Jardrakin against the looming threat of the Kh-Sriil invasion. Perhaps this chaos should be what would give Tukajra his place in the future public consciousness' hall of heroes.
In the meantime, Kaltoruul saw that the Kh-Sriil corvettes were too far away. He put on his neural control-cap and sent a message to all the fighters which the Selkantar "hosted", telling them to go back and dock. He then gazed upon one of the many viewscreens, the one displaying the hangar overview. They already were starting to dock, but it would take some time for all of them to get back.
Just to be sure, Tukajra asked further: "So, I assume we'll send the distress call to the rest of the system as soon as possible when we're back at Rishina Tvurak?"
Kaltoruul, too concentrated to answer, then said: "We'll first need the permission of the gov't. But that's no problem, I just need to send the request to Admiral Telshii Korenzar and await for approval, but she probably already has the same idea"
Meanwhile...
Vorou Star System, Planet of Avarnam, the partially ruined Karlathsh Mountain Military Base
Stormlord Nraxyr reminded himself that the antimatter grenade was just a figment of his imagination, more of a metaphor for an instant "bunker-buster" to so speak - a concept, not something physical. And it would anyway be overkill. He still, however, figured out that brute force would be the best solution to the blockade of debris at the end of the corridor.
By his communicator, he ordered three Xvarrol to align in front of the rest of the 5th company and demolish the rubble of steel and concrete with superthermate grenades. With a mechanical-seeming efficiency which would have frightened a civilian, the Xvarrol heavy weapon troopers aligned in the firing position and snowballed the hill of debris with the corrosive ordnances.
The unintelligible mass of concrete, metal and dead aliens ignited and melted, corroded into an even stranger synthesis of inorganic material and flesh.
Preceded by their gun-drones, the 5th company advanced as their powersuits' sensor systems detected a group of alien gundrones not too far away.
A door on the corridor's right-hand side fell down, the Xril gundrones directed their weapons immediately at that door along with the spearheading Xvarrol squad. As the Xril gundrones detected the radar beeps within to come closer, they unleashed a metallic hailstorm of suppressive fire, downing one alien gundrone to hover up and let a Xvarrol fire-team advance to quickly fire a pair of grenades into the room, sending another heavy alien gundrone into a devastating cloud of shrapnel before the surviving alien drone let loose a continous burst of suppressive fire, making countless dents in the Xvarrol's exo-armour. Unharmed, the fire-team's leader raised his autocannon and downed the gundrone with three roaring 20mm depleted uranium projectiles.
Stopping the advance to consolidate, the 5th company saw more enemy gundrones approaching thiry metres down the corridor, this time moving in zig-zag.
Though the alien base's lights were out, the visors of the powersuits allowed the Xvarrol to see it all in infrared, and as they were pelted by harmless suppression fire, they detected two of their own lighter gundrones clank to the ground, damaged from alien multilaser fire.
Within a second, the foremost Xvarrol again pulled out the superthermate grenades and lobbed them at the approaching drones, reducing three of them to unrecognizeable piles of molten metal and polymer, also leaving quite sizeable holes in the floor in the process, which quickly were filled with the molten remains of the alien drones.
However, the other half of the enemy drone squadron survived, retaliating with multilaser bursts chipping off the left shoulder guard of a Xvarrol and hitting another's upper arm - which fortunately happened to be an armoured cybernetic limb. A third Xvarrol, Stormwarrior Krna-Txu, who unfortunately happened to be the foremost fire-team's leader, was hit straight in the belly. As his inner organs were incinerated he dropped to the ground and his fire-team, cool in the face of adversity, unleashed a flurry of 3-shot bursts with their autocannons. As the roar of the guns echoed throughout the corridor, alien gun-drones yet again crashed to the cooling melted mass of concrete and steel that the floor had morphed into as a side-effect of superthermate grenades being detonated.
Nraxyr gave order to advance further into the bowels of the enemy base as he saw that the drones were out of the picture.
In his command APC slightway away from the battle itself, Txaxil brooded and ordered to move into the hole. On the viewscreen, he saw that it could easily could be located in the immediate opening, but that it would have tough luck in most of the corridors. Txaxil reminded himself of why he hadn't just have a couple of ordinary Rxazhyrs send a nuclear-warhead cruise missile through the holes cracked open by the neutron guns. Zxavor wanted the alien planet to conquer, Txaxil wanted its citizenry as potential allies. In any case, the planet should be taken in one piece. Since dangerous radiation and its polluting effect would... well, infuriate the inhabitants and make it unpleasant for hypothetical Xril settles. But the Xvarrol were making progress through the hive of corridors, though the 5th company's advance seemed a bit slow due to various factors. One of these was the death of their stormlord, necessitating a change in the chain-of-command, as well as an unfortunately placed RPG shot used in what euphemistically could be called "creative aiming". Under all circumstances, this would prove quite a challenge.
While Txaxil pondered this, the cybernetic neural implants tracked every movement of every Xvarrol in the base. Obviously, the aliens were putting up quite the fight despite their lack of exoskeletal armour and so, but they had their strength in plentiful gundrones vastly superior to those of the Xril. The large, heavily armed gundrones used by the aliens - told Txaxil that he had underestimated the potential of this technology. Though fire-support gundrones also existed, the Xhatrr Dominion Army did not use them to the same extent as the aliens did. When sitting here in his command vehicle, Txaxil was reminded that there indeed was truth to the old adage "Strength Through Adversity". Indeed, when reflecting upon the Great Uprising he found that for each battle he learnt something. And the more he learnt, the more he knew how much he had to learn...
"Ye gods!", he told himself, "I'm not supposed to be philosophizing about such matters right now." He then switched his brain back to what he liked to refer as "battle-trance", becoming one with the movements of the troops deep inside the mountains.
Kwargash was in the middle of a chaotic situation. The place where he was dwelled had been overran by Kh-Sriil special forces, and it was unsafe to be anywhere. Around the darkened, corner, he spotted a couple of the tiny Kh-Sriil gundrones. He immediately aimed his submachinegun at them and let loose rain of armour-piercing bullets against them, inflicting slight damage. However, he knew that a Kh-Sriil squad was soon, and he ran - backed by a lone Avarni gundrone - to the nearest place he thought there was a weapons depot. Furiously, he opened a door with a warning sign upon it and inside the room he saw a variety of guns and some grenades. Not willing to drop his versalite submachinegun, he picked up a packet of superthermate grenades. Superthermate grenades contained, as the name implied, a substance which did the same thing to matter as thermate, but much more effectively. They were rather few in quantity here and were used mainly for anti-tank purposes - but when your opponents were the closest thing to a walking tank which you ever had seen, then why not? Near them, he found a grenade launcher and the first thing he did was to drop his submachinegun. He had earlier this day shot it at Kh-Sriil special forces only to see the bullets do nothing but dent the armour. A miracle he survived. As a sensible replacement, he took the grenade launcher and loaded it with superthermate grenades - leaving the submachinegun in the room.
As he went out the door with the grenade launcher, he spotted a fire-team of Kh-Sriil special forces. Towering head and shoulders above Kwargash in their exo-armour which enabled them to shrug off small-arms fire like insect bite, armed with autocannons which could mow through infantry like a scythe through a field, the first thing he did was to lob two superthermate grenades in direction of the Kh-Sriil. As they hit their mark and detonated, the two Kh-Sriil soon lay writing on the ground in agony, the plates of their exo-armour twisting and burning their flesh. He even could hear their high-pitched screams of death, complete with streams of curses in some bizzarre alien language.
While keeping the grenade launcher in one hand by its pistol-style grip, he drew out the massive Tounrashni T-56R handgun and emptied its magazine into the small gundrones accompanying them, sending them collapsing to the ground - of course assisted by the gundrone escorting himself. As the enormous semi-automatic pistol was now useless, he dropped it and went into the weapons depot again to pick an ordinary pistol, 10mm or such in calibre. He loaded it with a full clip and put it into the gun holster where he had the Tounrashni before.
Stepping outside and running in the opposite direction as that the Kh-Sriil had come from, the small gundrone following him. In the darkened corridor he saw some shapes smaller than Kh-Sriil... Jardra! And they were accompanied by nine heavy gundrones armed to the teeth with multi-lasers.
Meeting Kwargash was the familiar voice of groupleader Voshal: "Where the holy flying fuck of doom have you been, Kwargash? Are you trying to get yourself killed, for fucks sake? Oh - and fucking watch behind you, Kwargash. DUCK!!"
Kwargash turned his head behind. He saw a Kh-Sriil special forces soldier, fully armoured and aiming his autocannon at Kwargash. Suddenly, he heard a loud thud which coincidenced with intense pain as he was suddenly paralyzed in his lower body as a 20mm depleted uranium projectile pierced his spine. He hit the ground bleeding, his consciousness quickly fading as unbearable pain overwhelmed him. Before he closed his eyes to ultimately pass out, he responded: "It appears so, Voshaaaaaallllll...."
Voshal looked down upon the dying Kwargash to resume sight against the Kh-Sriil and fire off an extended burst against the head of the foremost. He hoped he at least could penetrate the reinforced glass visor, if not the armour itself.
As his squad laid down a hail of suppression fire, in return at least five of them dropped to the ground in a red lake of freshly spilled blood as depleted uranium was sent roaring through the air. The 20mm bullet barely missed Voshal as he jumped to the sight, seeing two of the heavy gundrones rain multilaser fire upon the Kh-Sriil special forces. More of the armoured giants fell, temporarily giving him some secrecy. Again, he resumed sight at the bloodied and dying civilian Kwargash. Kwargash was, as an aircraft expert, too much of a resource to go to waste with his firsthand experience of Kh-Sriil airpower. Using the communications system in his helmet, Voshal snet out a distress call to the nearest medic-drone of those accompanying his squad.
Kwargash, while he passed out, thought that this would be the end for him. It was not.
Vorou Solar System, Command Battleship Aulx of the Xhatrr Spacefleet in orbit around Avarnam
After their mission to destroy the alien escape ships, the corvettes returned... or so it seemed to Exalted Fleet-Lord Xyakkath.
However, the incoming corvettes that he saw on the tactical viewscreen were more than halved in number, and all heavily damaged. Opening up communications to them, he gave out the question: "What happened? Asteroid belt?"
The responding corvette captain's words: "No, far worse. What met us was... well, the next planet in this solar system is also inhabited by those aliens. They had a fleet there, but of different shiptypes than those we fought here. They picked up the lone survivor of the escape fleet, who got away in a small shuttle as we crippled the actual escape ship. Thing was just, those shuttles were too fast and there were three alien carriers or so with escorts."
Shocked, Xyakkath asked over the communications line: "Carriers? They have those?"
From the corvette, Xyakkath's communicator picked up this message: "Many. All the alien ships there had different insignia and a different look than those at this planet. The aliens might be divided into several factions."
Xyakkath thought to himself - why had he been such an idiot? He had neglected to search the system for more alien settlements and warfleets earlier, and now he paid his price for his errors! Ye gods, had he taken such matters before, he would not have this problem with missing over half his corvettes. All he could hope was that the aliens were not more numerous and widespread across the alien solar system than that... but he first had to make sure.
First, Xyakkath sent an order to the sensors-controlling AI of the Aulx - to scan long-range to the edges of this solar system.
Then, he ordered to the remaining corvettes: "Dock with your parent carriers as soon as possible - and at least one of you, get over to the Aulx. I want to communicate under four eyes about the aliens on that other planet."
While the tactical viewscreen displayed a couple of corvettes heading towards the Aulx to dock and receive repairs, he picked up a communicator-implant telepathic message from the sensors. It were detecting radio activity from the solid planet where the corvettes eventually were repelled, and from the moons of two huge gas-giants and three outer solid planets. Xyakkath was in for a very nasty surprise.
He thought of already taking action and ordering the fleet to move at full to the next planet, but then reminded himself that Txaxil would have to be contacted first, and that said Supreme Battle-Lord was down on the planet's surface. And that was before taking into account the various odd political agendae of Txaxil. In fact, either it was just Xyakkath or there had been persistent rumours in the government of the Xhatrr Dominion that this whole invasion was in reality not as much a ploy to find new ground, as it was to get Txaxil out of the picture. Though if these rumours were true, then Zxavor would obviously have made a bad choice cost-wise - after all, there were easier methods of disposing of Txaxil. However, this one appeared to be the method which was the easiest to cover up. Aside from the sheer cost of it all, Xyakkath knew that there was another "disadvantage" to this, he commented to himself: "I've fought in the Great Uprising and I almost remember it all like it was yesterday - and if there's one thing which hasn't changed since then, it is that Zxavor has a habit of underrating his minions..."
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
I love this! The dialogue between the Avarani admiral and the Shaik captain was great and the battle scenes were great as well.
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
Chapter 12 - As Blood Stains The Corridors Beneath...
Vorou Star System, Planet Avarnam, somewhere beneath Karlathsh Mountain
Kwargash opened his eyes, lying upon a bed similar to those he found.
The first thing he saw was an almost blinding light and an egg-shaped medic-drone hovering above. Aside from a natural feeling of dizzyness, he could also sense something strange inside him - as well as some headgear placed upon him, connected to a web of small electrical cords connected to some computer-like device at the end of the bed.
He then asked the drone: "Where am I?"
The drone answered politely: "Mr. Kwargash, you're in the 42th infirmary of Karlathsh Mountain Base. You were mortally injured in fighting, and you now have several of your internal organs as well as a good deal of your spine with cybernetics. How are you feeling?"
Kwargash replied: "I'm fine, but a little tired... and my new robotic innards feel strange."
His reply prompted a comment from the drone: "You should be accustomed to that feeling, since you already have a cybernetic lung which was implanted twelve years ago."
The drone buzzed over to the computer-like installation at the end of the bed and pressed a button with one of its many arms, prompting the headgear to loosen and the cords retract into the machine.
The ivory-coloured robotic orb floated over to Kwargash to remove the headgear while its synthesized voice mournfully reported: "It distresses me much to report it, but..."
Kwargash interrupted the automaton's voice: "What?"
"You might be shocked by these news, Kwargash, but the Kh-Sriil have conquered the upper part of the base and you'll have to leave soon to be safe. A couple of floors below, you'll find the underground train station of Karlathsh Mountain."
Kwargash was quite stirred inside, but he knew that worse things could happen. He actually wondered why the Kh-Sriil didn't just nuke the base with a couple of cruise missiles once they had "opened" the mountainside with their neutron guns. At least he was still alive, and he still had the opportunity to flee... though he did feel prompted to ask: "Underground trains?"
As a wheeled transport-drone the size of a large briefcase arrived with clothes for Kwargash as well as some food in form of ration bars, the hovering medic-drone answered: "All of the Avarnam Defense Force's ground bases are connected to each other by a network of maglev trains unknown to civilians, which may explain why you are not aware of them."
With an apparently ironic smile, Kwargash asked as he put on the clothes: "Kinda like those unmarked airliners occassionally sighted in airports, right?"
The red anchor insignia on the automaton glowed, the drone equivalent of a nod, followed by synthesized words: "Well, Kwargash, I'm not demanding anything, but since the Kh-Sriil are drawing closer, I recommend that you board the next train as soon as possible."
Arising from the operating table, Kwargash went out of the infirmary dressed in black slippers, an olive-green tunic and similar trousers.
Along the deepest corridors he saw scores of heavily Avarni soldiers and various gundrones, the first of whom struck him as familiar... Voshal, who remarked: "Kwargash?"
Kwargash turned around and greeted: "Aye, sir... where's the way to the underground train station?"
Then, he saw the group of troops whom Voshal was leading, move quickly towards one specific T-junction a few metres right of where Voshal was standing, as Voshal answered: "Just follow the signs... I'll have to go now! Run like hell or worse, the Kh-Sriil have broken through just half a click that way!"
Voshal followed the rest of the troops and changed path at said T-junction, running towards another corridor from whose far-distant end a faint thud could be heard, accompanied by a rumble in the ground. As adrenaline spread throughout his veins, Kwargash noted a red sign pointing to the left, its text indicating access to the train station.
He ran in the direction, past military personnel as well as various robotic drones. In the meantime, he could hear faint sounds which reminded him of gunfire. At a point, while hustling through the greyish-blue caverns of concrete, they came at a stop at two vermilion doors with a set of glowing buttons between them. The writing above them, in the midst, informed him that they indeed were elevators.
Fortunately for Kwargash, one of the doors opened and he stormed into it, accompanied by various other non-combatant Jardra whom he couldn't identify as well as a wheeled carrier-drone identical to that which gave him his new clothes.
Vorou Star System, aboard Kormunrak-class carrier Selkantar of the Shaikarsite Union Space Navy
Tukajra took a peek at the viewscreen directly displaying that in front of the Selkantar. He saw ice-blue light erupted from inside the eighteenth docking bay of Rishina Tvurak as its blast doors slid to the side. A few hundred metres ahead of it, the carrier Selkantar waited to dock there. As a voice on the bridge of the carrier reported that the gates were open, Kaelob Kaltoruul relaxed in his chair as the navigational AI of the Selkantar guided the auto-docking process. The retro-thrusters rolled the boxy capital ship around so that it would be face-to-face with the docking bay.
Suddenly, a blue button on the bridge lighted up while a synthesized voice told Kaltoruul that a message from Admiral Telshii Korenzar had arrived. The bald-shaven naval officer replied: "Display message."
Korenzar's visage, that of an almost androgynous-looking Jardra female with short golden hair in sharply contrast to her dark tan skin, appeared on another viewscreen and spoke something about the leaders of Shaikarsa soon being called to a meeting aboard Rishina Tvurak. Pitying himself slightly for not paying maximum attention, Tukajra was too immersed in his own contemplations to pick up more than vague details of what would soon come to pass. What the world-weary Admiral Tukajra now speculated was that this war, as much as it would murder honest and noble folk of both Jardra and Kh-Sriil blood, would finally bring meaning to the existence of all the billions of people born within the Vorou system.
Was it not true that those to complain about hardship in life too were those who never had experienced true suffering? Did true strength not derive from adversity? And had the society of Avarnam not lost any concept of a greater unified purpose of its citizens' lives, other than the short-sighted desires of individuals with little in common?
"All of these thoughts are confirmed by what I have seen in my long life", the silver-haired Tukajra thought to himself. He had lived all his life in a society where technological advancement was generally viewed as an end in itself rather than a method - truly a terrifying thought, was it not? This was apparently also a society where the supposed right of choice was perceived as guaranteed, even if it gave people opportunity to follow inherently self-destructive lifestyles, and where few possible views of life had a chance of transcending the banality of being. The vast majority of Avarni Jardra did not educate themselves for the sake of enlightenment leading towards the discovery of a higher purpose in life, but to secure themselves jobs whose ultimate function would be those of sustaining the lives of people who had became so meaningless that they could be deluded into viewing the individual as a meaning unto himself. The average citizen's attitudes to his or her profession were also starting to
disturb Tukajra, the more he observed upon the nature of life. Most work had only two effective premises - that to sustain already meaningless lives, and that to enable aforementioned meaningless lives with credits to purchase needless luxuries which would not help them over any longer sight. As Tukajra came to this conclusion, he also finally found the perhaps true reason to why he found the Moons of Taurash and Outer Worlds so appealing from a cultural viewpoint, and also why he in fact joined the Avarnam Defense Force.
Tukajra realized that he liked the outworlders for the reason that they did not take their life for granted. They lived in social hierarchies where such a strong instinct for self-preservation was necessary that continued existence could be a honest purpose of life. It was a far cry for the self-obsessed and ultimately spoilt Avarni people and their "I am, therefore I shall be" reasoning. The Taurashans had to fight to stay alive, so for them life was a fight. Prosperity was not guaranteed, it was something to be earned. They were truly noble, for they were among the only people in the solar system who could be achievements unto themselves. What he could gather from rumours was that in their culture and worldview, the central philosophical tenet was the belief that true beauty lies in a display of might. They were living evidence that strength came through adversity, and that hardship would breed hope rather than despair. The people of the Outer Worlds, though not as martially minded as the Taurashans, gave Tukajra similar impressions. Fate was not a matter of nature or nurture, it was a matter of how the environment influenced the natural selection which would genetically determine one's destiny.
But here came the pondering which would mean the most to Tukajra, for his decision to pursue a career within the military was more of a defining facet of his life than his visit to the Outer Worlds ever could be. He did not follow a path of life that was that of a space officer in the the Avarnam Defense Force because of the material rewards such as paid vacation and others - for by that time, he had already seen that the Avarnam Defense Force only offered such services to bolster the ranks of their ground forces with people who wanted to perpetuate their lives in a metaphysical vacuum. Tukajra actually held some contempt for the ground forces due to this reality, but he nonetheless respected them for opening up the gate to transcendence of life's apparent lack of value, if not walking through it. The
reason why Tukajra had walked down the closest thing to a "Way Of The Warrior" that existed in the 32th and 33th centuries of the Planetary Commonwealth of Avarnam's history stood clear as a luminous beam at the end of a tunnel where only shadow reigned: It gave his life meaning, a purpose. That way, Tukajra did not follow his own ultimately foolish and illogical whims, but rather what would further the greater good of the Commonwealth.
He, by virtue of being such a decorated officer within Avarnam's spacefleet, had succeeded in transcending life itself by now living as a dedicated vindicator of Avarnam's political independence. He was a leader rather than a follower, but still so in a way that his leadership followed a grander sense of justification for his own existence. Throughout his long life he had thusly became an example for others - for in a society where life had come too convenient, he hardened himselves by venturing steadfastly through the difficulties of military life. If theJardra - and the Avarni in particular - would be reborn as a people through victory, Tukajra would be part of the blueprints for the Jardrakin to emerge. The philosophy and insight which, despite himself not thinking about it until now, had made him such a living legend. That, which had qualified him for leading the Avarni fleet. He did not believe, he knew that he was one of the only true heroes alive among the Avarni today. If he survived the hell
soon to engulf the planets that orbited the star of Vorou, there would be no doubt that Tukajra would be among those to lead Avarnam to glory, an once-proud planetary nation returning to glory which many had forgotten all too long ago.
Or, that was at least one of many different interpretations of reality. So did Tukajra think with his mind briefly pondering those among the Jardra who said that there was no truth, only evaluations of different views of the same world. The ideas he had now would certainly not be ones he should express loudly if he wanted the Sarkaian Jardra on his side, for the United Moons of Sarkai were individualism and corporate capitalism taken to their utmost extremes to be combined. The Overseer, as the super-AI in charge of keeping the Sarkaian corporations from waging war against each other was called, could impossibly let the Sarkaians into a war which would accelerate a new order contrary to everything which the United Moons of Sarkai were founded on as a nation.
All these thoughts had passed through Tukajra's mind in barely a minute as the Selkantar slowly drifted into the cavernous docking bay's electrically illuminated embrace.
The bald captain of the carrier, Kaelob Kaltoruul, looked at Tukajra and asked him: "You look concerned... and I understand why. It is an understatement to call it difficult times."
With a smile, Tukajra replied: "Difficult? At first glance it might seem so... but if the Jardra as a people survive, the flames of war will not scar us all - some of us will be reborn in the fire."
Kaltoruul then asked, with a bug-eyed look on his face: "You're almost starting to sound like a poet or a philosopher, sir."
Tukajra's voice calmed, commenting: "Perhaps I do, but haven't you ever had the feeling that history needs to be reset? That's what we have the potential to this time. Strength through adversity, my friend - and what we have before us is the greatest challenge which the Jardra as a whole have ever faced. Remember that pessimism can only exist in a vacuum where ease of being seems like hardship due to the lack of contrast."
Kaltoruul then said: "I'm not much into philosophy and all that, sir, but is it a bit like how some people say that perfection will not be recognizeable when it finally is achieved due to a lack of squalor to contrast it with?"
Tukajra nodded his head and continued: "Also - you should note that people who face great suffering are always full of hope of overcoming it."
Kaltoruul then asked: "Not to be rude, sir, but if I wanted philosophy, I'd read an e-book on the subject." Tukajra looked back at the viewscreens, seeing that the docking process was all but complete. After a few huge mechanical robot arms had maneuvered into position for potential refuellings of the huge carrier, the navigational AI's familiar synthesizer voice sounded: "Docking process complete."
Understanding from his studies into the various fighting ships of the solar system, Tukajra followed Kaltoruul away from the bridge and down into the Selkantar's shuttlebay through an elevator only a twenty metres' walk away.
In the shuttlebay, Tukajra and Kaltoruul found many of the delta-shaped, blackish-grey Shaikarsite shuttles each 35 metres in length, crewmen embarking through a ramp descending from the shutttle's middle. Kaltoruul told Tukajra: "Follow me, sir, to the shuttle Sehek-Shanar."
Through the half-dozen shuttles parked crampedly beside each other, they walked, and walked up the ramp of a certain shuttle. As he followed in Kaltoruul's footsteps, Tukajra noted that its nose was painted a bright red and the name SEHEK-SHANAR was emblazoned upon its side with red letters.
In the lighted-up ghastly grey polymer interior of the shuttle, on two of its many seats, Tukajra and Kaltoruul took seat along with other bridge officers which had followed them - including a woman whom Tukajra reconized to be Lt. Tel, none other than Kaltoruul's second-in-command.
Then, the holographic projector of the Sehek-Shanar showed a pre-flight safety demonstration video. Tukajra didn't pay attention as he fastened the seatbelt. He had travelled with shuttlecraft countless times before, and he also happened to know that shuttlecraft designs were incredibly standardized from Avarnam to Sarkai. Even remotely unorthodox and difficult-to-use safety systems only began to be common on the near-anarchic moons of Taurash.
When he felt the Sehek-Shanar take off, he barely noticed. The voyage would be over in less than a minute. In very little time, the Sehek-Shanar had landed in the Rishina Tvurak dock's own shuttle-hangar. The First Admiral only now reminded himself that Rishina Tvurak happened to be the biggest fleet base in the Vorou system. At least in matters of volume - the two huge, now-gone stations around Avarnam were more size-effective and had just as great a docking capacity.
Tukajra and the Shaikarsite officers exited the shuttle and were greeted by a hovering communications drone which told them, with its red focusing-light directed towards him: Greetings. I assume that you, sir, are First Admiral Tukajra formerly of the Avarnam Spacefleet?
He answered: "Guilty as charged."
The drone continued: "Well, sirs, I can report that the Military Department of the Shaikarsite gov't is being summoned to this station to discuss the state of affairs with you. First Admiral, are you familiar with the layout of Rishina Tvurak?"
Tukajra nodded with a comment: "I know of its rough construction and all that, but I'm no specialist at it. I know, however, that personnel are being transported from place to place here by use of Maglev trains. And let me guess - your purpose is to guide me around the base, telling me what's what?"
The red light which seemed to act as the elliptical metallic drone's "eye" blinked, a gesture which drones used as the equivalent of a nod.
Sounding tired, Tukajra told the drone: "Save that for later, or just skip it. I need nothing more than some rest right now. All you need to do is to follow me and the Selkantar officers aboard that maglev train and show me my guest quarters. I assume that I'll first meet with the Shaikarsite politicians tomorrow, right?"
Attempting to sound mournful, the digitized voice of the drone attempted to lament the situation while following Tukajra and the other officers: "I'm afraid not, the meeting is scheduled to be in less than three hours. You might still be able to get some sleep by then, but I don't think it can amount to much."
After walking down a series of escalators, the group came to a train platform. There, they boarded an an oddly-shaped maglev train. Its front car had two eye-like decoratory protusions, and the magnetic rail it clung to was mounted above the train rather than below, thusly easing passenger acess to the train. He asked the hovering drone: "Well, if no sleep before the meeting... then I hope you have some jushar here, or at least that artificial quickener... I think it's called hyperdextrose right? You know, that thing you take when you can't find crack, and after you've eaten it or drank it in liquid form, you can only think about how many cars you can lift with your bad arm."
The group went into the maglev-train and took seat on its velveted seats. Tukajra noted the simple interior colour scheme of the train - various shades of coldly pleasant greys and blues, assorted neatly into geometrical shapes. Quite functional and much more pleasing to the eyes than the interiors of Avarni trains, where garish neons had replaced the familiar sepia and ochre-coloured matte browns over the last 40 years.
Kaltoruul answered: "Where we're going, there's a vending machine which dispenses all sorts of refreshments. I think you also can get free jushar, though you'll need some Shaikarsite Credits."
Tukajra asked: "Crap, I don't have any of those Shaikarsite money. I don't even think my credit cards are usable now... the banks on Avarnam have probably been nuked."
As the train glided through the corridors, Kaltoruul uttered: "Sorry for not thinking about that... I'll just buy you a can of it."
Vorou Star System, Planet Avarnam, somewhere beneath Karlathsh Mountain
As Kwargash arrived at the subterranean train station and stepped out the elevator, he saw troops everywhere and makeshift artillery emplacements lined everywhere in the humongous underground station. The station almost appeared to be the size of a shopping mall, but he could not get a thorough look of it as an armed soldier directed him, yelling "Go! Go! Go!" while pointing his assault rifle at Kwargash. Then, Kwargash understood why as he saw one of the huge maglev-trains explode in an orgy of fiery orange death. Fortunately, it was not the one he was being goaded into. As the soldier herded Kwargash into the train together with at least a hundred other people, the frightened Kwargash spotted many metallic vehicles emerge from the end of the cavernous railway station which his train was about to drive away from. The vehicles all had the shape resembling a flattened and pointed egg, with a turret on top. Their armament differed - some had missile pods for turrets, other ordinary-looking turrets which could carry either mass-drivers or lasers. They were light grey in colour, but he could hardly deduct more before one of the soldiers almost threw him into the train car. They did not resemble any Avarni or Shaikarsite hovertanks he was familiar with, and he thusly assumed them to be the tanks of the invading Kh-Sriil.
Kwargash would have hit the floor when pushed into the train if he did not unintentionally stumble into a young woman with short, reddish-brown hair. In normal situations he would have expected her to complain and even hit back, but in this case, Kwargash was happy to be alive. A soldier aboard the train shoveled Kwargash and the others into one of the train's compartments, to make way for those who were directed up the stairs to the second floor of the train. Meanwhile, he heard gunfire, screams and thunderous explosions outside. Then, he felt the Maglev train accelerate as it left the ground beneath Karlathsh Mountain.
Hundreds were burning alive above the other maglev rail as their train was hit by an incendiary warhead fired from a hovering Kh-Sriil fire support vehicle. A trio of Avarni anti-tank gun drones ascended up and locked their targeters on a single Kh-Sriil tank which howled towards them. The gundrone trio fired six high-powered laser beams at the almond-shaped alien war machine, incapacitating its engines and sending it crashing down on the end of one platform. The crashing Kh-Sriil vehicle accidentally crushed one of the gun emplacement. The Kh-Sriil fire support tank literally became a metallic seed of death.
The three foremost of the Kh-Sriil hovertanks, as bullets bounced off their armoured hulls, opened fire with the autocannons that constituted their secondary armament. Golden fire lanced from their barrels, heralding a rain of shells which felled dozens of Jardra. Screams pierced the air and blood flowed on the concrete. In return, the Avarni soldiers' gun emplacements fired at the approaching tanks. The cacophonic rattle of Kh-Sriil autocannons was answered by the throaty roar of 37mm Avarni heavy autocannons, thudding grenades and the faint hisses of anti-armour lasers. Half of one alien tank eroded as it was hit by a hyperthermate grenade, immobilizing it and causing it to crash on a maglev rail.
The Kh-Sriil tanks sent more gunfire in the Jardra's direction, and the support vehicles launched anti-personnel missiles in all directions. As the missiles impacted, they blossomed into flowers of fire and shrapnel, spreading pain and mutilation as metallic shards embedded themselves in the flesh of the Avarni.
The personnel evacuated to the station were even more confused and shocked. Now, the soldiers tried to goad them back into the elevators and up back to the base... but everyone knew there was little hope. The Kh-Sriil troops were already overrunning the base, and the Jardra were falling by the dozen. Any semblance of order was ceasing to be, as explosives and laser fire disfigured the architecture, blood stained the floors and all that could be heard was an unintelligible amalgam of explosions, gunfire and the cries of the dying.
Kwargash was already kilometres away in a crowded maglev train. As it sped through the subterranean tunnel, he was confused. He was barely aware of the secret underground railway network between Avarnam Defense Force military bases. He had travelled with it a few times in the past, but he was also aware knew of less than a tenth of its routes and full extent. He asked one of the guarding Avarnam Defense Force soldiers: "Sir, where is this train evacuating us to?"
The soldier answered: "The entire Avarni pangea is being attacked by the Kh-Sriil, and there's no safe places on the mainland... so we're going through the tunnel under the Volkarnath Sea, and dropping you off either at a submarine base. One of those, or Arctic Base 12. You've probably never heard of them, but the Avarnam Defense Force has many naval and aerial bases on both poles."
Kwargash had heard about the underwater bases, but it was very limited how much about them was let out to the public, aside from their existence. However, as a former employee of a corporation which manufactured aircraft for the Avarnam Defense Force, he did know of airbases on the arctic and antarctic continents of Avarnam... but for the first time in his life he would actually see one. He did definately not expect a frostbitten wasteland to be a safer place than anywhere else, but this was war.
Many light years away, on Xhatrr...
Zxavor stood in one of his palace's many chambers, beholding a piedestal-shaped holographic projector's display of the alien planet where more than two thirds of the Xhatrr Dominion's armed forces were fighting. It was significantly larger than Xhatrr, orbited by a single moon, and its geography was somewhat different from Xhatrr. It had only one large continent, a huge pangea with a huge lake the size of a typical Xhatrr continent in its midst. Aside from this ring, it had various smaller islands scattered around on its surface. The alien planet was nowhere as urbanized as Xhatrr, the planet where Zxavor currently dwelt. Xhatrr had 6 island-shaped continents. Once, they had plains, vegetation and desert - but now, all that was upon Xhatrr's continents was millions of cities each enclosed all in one mile-high, spiky tower, as well as hive-like industrial complexes, the largest of which spanned half the Ltazr continent. On Ltazr, it was not rare for a factory overseer to live his or her entire life in the
factory complex, only seeing an actual city once or twice a year. All organic products to be used for foods were taken from the sea, which could impossibly support a planetary population in the billions.
Perhaps for the first time in decades, it now frightened Zxavor that it was a rarity to eat organic food of a truly natural origin, rather than something which was chemically manufactured or grown in hydroponic vats. Perhaps there was some truth to Txaxil's talk about the Xril being so developed that they had became a plague which killed the primordial nature which they came from and once were part of. This notion shot a surge of energy through Zxavor's mind, which he concentrated on one thing - Txaxil.
Zxavor had memories of considering Txaxil's growing political influence and unorthodox philosophical ideas a threat to himself. Though that indeed could be true, Zxavor was starting to doubt whether he had started this war to get Txaxil away. He could also have started it to focus the population's worries from internal political struggle to something several light-years away. Zxavor now thoroughly perused his cerebral computer-implants' database of memories and thoughts. He found out that he had started that war to dispose of... overpopulation in the Xholnra system? Zxavor could not believe he had started such a war for such a trivial reason. Overpopulation could be solved by cheaper means. Txaxil could be disposed of in other ways, but this one was also most likely to get rid of the Xvarrol... however, it appeared to Zxavor that his database of memories said that he had at first started the war to secure new territory, and then later found other reasons to justify it personally, as he saw that there were
cheaper ways to combat overpopulations. He was aware that in many times past, corporate interests had started wars - but Zxavor couldn't push the blame on someone else. Or could he? Perhaps the computer programs of the cybernetic implants in his brain were started to defect, and his subconsciousness could be fabricating false memories.
Then, Zxavor asked himself: "Am I really that crazy? My subconsciousness are my instincts... how can they influence me while my will does not know? It's almost as if I am developing a multiple personality disorder."
Perhaps he started the war knowing that he had no reason. If there was anything Zxavor was getting tired of now, it was thinking. Especially thinking about the state of society, what was best for him and what was best for the population, what would serve to further specific ideologies and moral convictions. Could life have become so progressively more meaningless over the centuries that there now was no possibility of giving it anything which resembled meaning. In any case, Zxavor now found himself fit to abdicate. But who should take the crown, then? Every Xril had been taught to revere Zxavor as a living god, but it was highly debatable whether anyone believed that literally. Such an ideology, however, would certainly have drained all but a few of any desire to rule. Zxavor did not know any of those few... except for Txaxil and the rest of the Xvarrol.
Zxavor walked to the asymmetrical window and beheld the rainswept skyline. Dozens of mile-high buildings towered into the sky, each shaped vaguely like the hull of a ship whose aft end was buried in the ground. Hundreds of white lights glittered among the dark abyss of the near-midnight. Neither moon nor stars were visible below the carpet of blackish-grey clouds which rolled over, while torrents of rain poured down from above.
He said to noone, not even himself: "I don't want to think about this. I am too weary of life to think. It is too late for me to do anything but embrace the Chaos which I have taken part in creating. As for the Supreme Battle-Lord Txaxil, I do not wish to know whether he will make a better ruler than I was at my peak. However, he has none of my aloof, world-detached apathy. And the worst thing is, I may have forgotten all this as I wake up next morning..."
Though tired of his life, Zxavor did not wish to commit suicide. He would rather like to observe his own demise, for he found that more interesting, or whatever. Staring at the rain outside, Zxavor shifted all attention to the sky. Since he was a child, the sky had always intrigued him. It was never consistent in its appearance, yet it was that part of terrestrial nature which was hardest to exterminate. Or so it appeared to him. What did it tell about Zxavor that he could barely look at something as simple as the night sky without delving into philosophical ponderings about it?
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
Vorou Solar System, aboard Patrol Cutter Valkannir of the Confederated Moons of Taurash
The 180 metre-long Patrol Cunner Valkannir drifted past its namesake, the biggest of the Confederated Moons of Taurash. As it was tradition in the Confederated Moons' spacefleet, the Valkannir was painted in a bright colour scheme of yellow with red stripes and a fanged mouth on the ship's prow. This was more than decoration, the Confederated Moons of Taurash had painted their ships that way ever since The Schism which divided the gas giant Taurash's fifty moons into two factions of roughly equal size. The United Moons of Taurash, or the Taurash Union as the other Taurashi Jardra faction usually was called to avoid confusion with the United Moons of Sarkai, used dullish grey spaceships with little more decoration than a dark red Taurash Union insignia emblazoned on each facing of the hull. It used to happen every ten or twenty years that a warlord would arise on either side and re-ignite the dormant civil war, but by now skirmishes were usually triggered by mere accidents - such as when
Confederate craft came too close to Union-held moons or vessels. It was commonly assumed that the age of the Warlords had ended 24 years ago, when Volatkir III was defeated.
Perhaps this was because both the Confederation and the Union had forgotten exactly why the Schism occured. Perhaps it was because neither Taurashi faction could afford large-scale version. Not even the Union, which officially had the financial backing of the Shaikarsite Union. In effect, this amounted to the Taurash Union Spacefleet using a couple of Shaikarsite-built Kormunrak-class Carriers. These were among the very few capital ships seen around the gas giant Taurash, as each loose alliance of Taurashi Moons operated less than a half a dozen military ships above frigate size. Or perhaps it was just because neither factions were very strongly united. There weren't any centralized governments in either factions, the differences between Union moons and Confederate moons were basically whom their inhabitants shunned, whether they ventured to the Outer Worlds or Shaikarsa when they went on interplanetary trade trips, and whether they painted their spacecraft in many bright colours.
The Confederate Moons painted their spacecraft, occassionally traded with the Outer Worlds and didn't like the United Moons who didn't paint their ships and used to trade with the Shaikarsites.
Until the fateful year 3281 (Avarni Standard), life on the Moons of Taurash was largely cyclical. Various raw resources were mined, either from the moons themselves, or from bypassing asteroids. Food was grown in hydroponic vats. When more mineral resources than needed were accumulated, they were sold to either the Outer Worlds, the Shaikarsites or the United Moons of Sarkai. A tedious life perhaps, but both factions of Taurashi Moons were completely self-sufficient and politically independent due to their lack of offworld connections. It occassionally happened, though, that groups of disaffected young Taurashi Jardra set course for Sarkai to never return again. What happened to these exodite Taurashi was the stuff of much speculation on the desolate moons they came from. Some said they converted their freighters into makeshift raiders and resorted to piracy. Others believed them to have in their mind more legitimate financial careers. That was at least how it seemed whenever some of these Taurashi
"immigrants" (as they were jokingly reffered to) returned back to the Moons of Taurash to tell about what had happened. Some of them were actually paid to do so, since their tales were the only major news source for the Confederated Moons of Taurash.
The invading Kh-Sriil's arrival brought change to the Vorou system... even to its distant outskirts. Though Avarnam had in effect fallen, it was only now that the Taurashi had heard of it.
In the cramped cabin of the [/i]Valkannir[/i], crewman Kelrannur Volkart exclaimed: "What do you mean... some skinny cone-headed aliens have conquered Avarnam and we only hear about it now? Well, it then appears that good' ol-fashioned Taurashi tranquility has its price."
The navigator, as she took a pause to breathe, then commented: "I'm not sure exactly what's happened, but I'm sure that the last of the Avarni admirals has fled to Sarkai and is planning some big retaliation attack..."
A confused Volkart asked: "Wait a minute... I always got it that way that he fled to Shaikarsa, not Sarkai. And by the way, Sarkai is a gas giant. Its moons are inhabited by some big corporations and their employees. Those big corporations rule everything on the moons of Sarkai. Some sort of tax haven."
He was met by the captain Sharrinus Kemkharith's confused comments: "I always thought that Shaikarsa was this minimal-government place which didn't really have a centralized gov't and standing army... and that Sarkai was this world which used to be a mining colony of some sort, and where only university eggheads and army vets can vote? ... Oh, wait. After thinking more about it, I think Volkart has it the right way."
The cutter's navigator, as concentrated on maneuvering the ship towards Kalurnak, the next moon in the Confederation, dryly added: "But thing is - I hear that the Avarni admiral wants the entire Vorou system - except Avarnam of course - united against the Kh-Sriil. Makes sense to me, the skinny coneheads have almost a hundred capships or so."
Captain Sharrinus Kemkharith rotated his chair around and scratched his beard as he obviously slipped into deep thought and said: "Gonna be tough work, then. The Outer Worlds have practically no contact to anyone else. We Taurashi barely have contact to the Shaikarsites and Sarkaians. The Shaikar... I mean Sarkaians don't have an unified navy but just those Protector Houses or what you call them. We Taurashans have some frigate-sized ships, but they're not in optimal condition... and are actually converted freighters for the most part. Only the Sark..Sakair.."
Volkart exclaimed: "Shaikarsites."
Kemkharith continued: "Anyway, now Avarnam's blasted by the Kh-Sriil, the Shaikarsites are the only ones here who have an actual navy. I hear that the bigger Protector Houses come close, though. If that Avarni admiral succeeds in uniting us against the Kh-Sriil, it's gonna be a damn rag-tag fleet he's going to command."
Such an alliance would certainly bring the Vorou system closer to each other. It reminded Kemkharith that most Taurashi had long since forgotten what the Avarni language sounded like, except that he was certain that some words in the Taurashi language were taken from Avarni. The Taurashi language in itself was a pidgin of Shaikarsaan and a bit Avarni, with a great deal of words and even grammar structure from Klataik, an old trade language artificially designed to be easy to understand.
Despite such eventual problems, Kemkharith actually looked forward to what such an unification of the Jardra would result in. If it didn't succeed in repelling the Kh-Sriil, it would be perhaps in the far future viewed as a noble but futile effort by a Jardra species enslaved by a civilization from another solar system. If the Kh-Sriil would be defeated, perhaps the Avarni admiral - whose name Kemkharith couldn't remember - would be hailed as a saviour and lead the Jardra to glory with a harsh but just fist of steel. Maybe the alliance would just disband as soon as the Kh-Sriil surrendered or retreated. The second option, as pseudo-mythological and downright stupid it sounded, nonetheless offered some hope for Kemkharith. Such a strong monarch could perhaps make order out of chaos, glory out of ignominy and lead the survivors of the war into a new golden age. Perhaps this once-and-future-king, this emperor, wouldn't be the Avarni admiral but perhaps somebody else. Perhaps the latter option happen - that
Jardra civilization would divide again, resort into barbarism or feudalism and then see the rise of some great leader. If it would happen this way, however, Kemkharith would most likely not live to experience this. Then, Kemkharith found himself forced to get his mind out of his far-out fantasies about the future evolution of civilization, and back into reality.
If the situation reminded Kemkharith of anything, it reminded him of the fact that in some place it was considered a curse to wish another person to live in interesting times.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
Yay, It's funny I was just thinking I hadn't seen you post in a while....
[shameless plug]Also did you know you a Sol Protectorate Ambasador? See Inversion (in my sig)[/sp].
Crazedwraith wrote:
[shameless plug]Also did you know you a Sol Protectorate Ambasador? See Inversion (in my sig)[/sp].
Didn't note that. BTW - what's that thing in your avatar? Some sort of stealth bomber?
My Av as I think it states in my sig is the F-302 from Stargate SG-1 an Advanced Interceptor for fighting death gliders and Al'Kesh bombers, it's stealth capabillities are unknown but it's predecesor the X-301 had them so it properly does to...
Vorou Star System, aboard Military Space Station Rishina Tvurak of the Shaikarsite Union Space Navy
Tukajra sat sloched in a chair by an oval grey table in the meeting hall of Rishina Tvurak. To his left sat Cpt. Kaltoruul and to his right, Admiral Telshii Korenzar.
He was still feeling dizzy, ingestion of synthesized jushar had barely helped. He looked at the digital clock on the wall and saw that the government officials were about half an hour late. Certainly not an appropiate delay considering the urgency of the situation.
Then, something happened. The rectangular silver-coloured door at the room's end opened, and in stepped ten government officials in a line, escorted by two Shaikarsite Union Marines. Due to the importance of the situation, the two marines had switched their ordinary blue uniforms for the green ceremonial uniforms instantly recognizeable by their yellow trim and quadratic caps; features which Tukajra himself always had found rather unintentionally funny.
The government officials were spearheaded by a man who was rather dark-skinned for a Shaikarsite, had black hair treated with gel as to make it stand up in "spikes" (thus making him a couple of inches taller) and appeared to be wearing some sort of make-up over the eyes which made his eyebrows look larger than they actually were. His attire was more ornate than those of the rest of the delegation, marked by a black cloak of imitation fur. He sat down at the exact opposite end of Tukajra, who could not help but direct all his attention towards this very important man. Tukajra had simply seen his face, but somehow he had forgotten its name.
The spiky-haired Shaikarsite official spoke: "Greetings, First Admiral Tukajra. I am Kiaram Ukirras, Consul of the Shaikarsite Union."
Tukajra was on the verge of slapping his own forehead, but he had too much dignity to do that. How could he forget whom the Shaikarsite Consul was?
Trying to concentrate on the actual subject matter, Tukajra spoke: "Greetings, High Consul Ukirras.".
While he saw that the other representatives had taken seat too, he heard Ukirras' further words. He spoke in a thick, deep voice which Tukajra immediately recognised as well: "First Admiral Tukajra, I hope you understand the fact that the worldview of the entire Jardra species may never be the same again. Have you heard some of the theories which Shaikarsite biologists have posited on the origin of the Kh-Sriil?"
Tukajra nodded his head and answered: "No, I've only read what Arkrai wrote down. And I don't know where he is. Unfortunately, he may be dead right now... or captured by the Kh-Sriil. Anyway, what's those theories?"
Ukirras sipped from a cup of jushar and elaborated further. Though the situation would throw most politicians into panic, the Shaikarsite Consul was calm as a misty fall morning. "Well, First Admiral Tukajra, you do know that the Kh-Sriil came through a worm-hole? Thing is, these worm-holes are gateways not just through space, but also through time. Are you neither surprised how much the Kh-Sriil have in common with us Jardra physiologically?"
With his ears tuned in, he asked: "Well, you're on to something, sir. Remember the Progenitor Hypothesis, an infamous theory about the origin of the Jardra species, posited to explain why there are so few theories to what the pre-Jardra creatures known from fossils on Avarnam evolved from?"
The Consul answered: "I've heard of it. You're saying that the Kh-Sriil are the Progenitors and that we Jardra are Kh-Sriil who have adapted to life on high-gravity worlds? Well, that's not what us Shaikarsites' new theories are about, but it's certainly an interesting view."
Tukajra felt a slight unease. He had not thought enough about the implications of the fact that the Kh-Sriil were so closely related to the Jardra. Yes, he had thought much about the results of the Jardra uniting under a military gov't against a common foe, but not about what perhaps was the sociologically most important aspect of this war. Showing this unease in his voice, he uttered: "No, certainly not that, Consul. I am rather uncertain myself. I have thought more about how to defeat the Kh-Sriil."
The old admiral saw Consul Ukirras raise his eyebrows and proclaim: "The Kh-Sriil may be the progenitors, but they may in fact be from the future. Perhaps we Jardra will some day in the future, when we master wormhole travel ourselves, immigrate to a low-gravity planet. Anyway - this theory is that the Kh-Sriil are in fact a future stage of the Jardra. If they exterminate us or enslave us, they are thusly destroying their own past incarnation. If they are to survive too, they will need to communicate with us and negotiate."
Tukajra shook his shoulders as he answered: "No. I don't believe that. It's inconsistent with what Arkrai wrote. Firstly, the Kh-Sriil have a written history going many thousands of years. Though they have a Progenitor Hypothesis arising from a similar paradigm as ours, their reconstructions of proto-Kh-Sriil cultures have little in common with any current Jardra culture. In fact, the Proto-Jardra fossils are strikingly similar to proto-Xril fossils. Anyway, how should we communicate with them? The only one who speaks fluent Kh-Sriil language is Arkrai, and we don't have a single clue to where he is.".
As Tukajra uttered those words, he was a bit frustrated. He had assumed he was there to discuss strategy, not to discuss Kh-Sriil biology.
Ukirras continued: "So the Kh-Sriil are neither our fathers nor our sons, but our cousins? As for Arkrai, his Kh-Sriil dictionary has found its way to Shaikarsa, but it may take two years before we have educated fluent speakers."
Again resisting the temptation to slap his forehead or slam a clenched fist into the table, Tukajra said: "What these Kh-Sriil are is of course important, but it's not the only thing about this, Consul. They have declared war on Avarnam, and we need to mount a counter-attack. Contrary to what you Shaikarsites may think, the coneheads aren't that high-tech. Their main edges are neutron beam weaponry and strength in numbers. The Sarkaian Protector Houses have made research into neutron beam guns. If we unite the entire Vorou system against the Kh-Sriil, we can show them that we will not give up without a fight."
The bug-eyed Consul asked: "You're meaning... Shaikarsites, Sarkaians, both Taurashan factions and the Outer Worlds against the Kh-Sriil? Perhaps even the pirates, too?"
Tukajra nodded gleefully as he continued: "Yessir! We need to hold back the invaders and eventually repel them. When we've brought them down, then we can negotiate with them."
Consul Ukirras asked: "I suppose, then, that this must be done as quickly as possible?"
Tukajra continued: "Indeed it shall! Look at the size of their navies and their armies, they outnumbered the Avarnam Defense Force at least eight-to-one! We may not come out unscathed from such a retaliation, but it will sure as hell show them that you're not just apathetic to it all! We shall make the Kh-Sriil regret that they even thought of invading the Vorou system."
The next person to speak was a Shaikarsite female who had no other hair than single a shoulder-length braid, identified by her nametag as Defense Minister Kiion Tebaln: "I like the idea, Admiral, but I'm afraid it will take a lot of time. I can easily envision what you're planning, though - gathering all naval forces of the Vorou system together. That may be an easy task, if the fate of the entire Jardra species is at risk like you imply. However, once we have gathered them, it will be a bit of a hassle to devise a naval strategy. We'll be operating with dozens, if not a hundred, different ship classes; from the warships of the Shaikarsite Union Navy and the Sarkaian Protector Houses to rag-tag pirate vessels and the plethora of craft utilized by the Taurashans, most of whom are frigate size or smaller."
As Tukajra felt his frustration wane, he directed his gaze at Tebaln and told her: "Umbrella terms are our friends, then. We can group the various Taurashi vessels into classes based upon size. They don't vary that much, since there's very few optimal ways to convert freighters into makeshift warships like they do."
He took a pause to breathe and continued: "I think we can agree that something must be done. We can't sit idly by and let the Kh-Sriil conquer Avarnam. A massed retaliation will show them that we Jardra stand together. Even if we don't repel them with one strike, we will at least make them think twice."
Ukirras interrupted Tukajra: "Wait a minute, First Admiral. I am the ruler of the Shaikarsite Union. You're a military leader from Avarnam, you don't make decisions about what to do, you only have a word in how it's done."
Full of fire in his eyes and his voice, the silver-haired Tukajra replied: "Are you crazy, Consul? If we don't stop them while they pillage Avarnam, they may go on, stronger than before, to attack Shaikarsa. Then you'll be doomed, too! We can't just negotiate with them, either."
His fiery speech drew the total attention of everyone in the room, who now looked towards the hoary old admiral in his tattered Avarnam Space Force uniform. Now, Tukajra stood up and his speech continued:
"Actions always speak louder than words. Their ships are more numerous. Their ships have more powerful weapons. Their minds think very differently from ours. They're hell bent on conquest, and a plea for mercy isn't guaranteed to stop them. But if they see an united Jardrakin, taking up arms under one banner against those who ínvade their lands, they will at least not remember us as cowards! Yes, I may subscribe to some pretty old-fashioned ideas, namely that it is better to die in glory to live in ignominy, that many of us die without ever living and that honour and courage aren't some sort of disease worse than death! Yes, you may find my beliefs repellant, but they were the creed that Avarnam was built upon. I will not compromise my code of honour as long as I draw breath."
Before anyone could interrupt him, he continued further, his commanding voice more awe-inspiring than ever before: "Perhaps we are facing a literal Battle of Keivishnur-Katash as prophesized by the legends of old. Perhaps we will all gather 'neath a bloodred banner, to confront a mysterious shadowy foe on a dark battlefield, and charge straight into the jaws of Hell itself! Maybe we are all going to our own deaths, but we will let our enemies know that we will rather die upon the anvil of battle than kneel before them!"
The Shaikarsites were left speechless. They each had something they wanted to say, and many of them disagreed with Tukajra, but the only one to utter a word was the Consul, who stammered: Well, Admiral, I agree that something must be done. However, the strategy of the retaliation will be planned tomorrow by you, Tebaln, her Ministry of Defense and the Shaikarsite Union Navy's council of admirals."
Tukajra was speechless too, gasping after air. Such inspiring speeches were quite exhausting. However, he knew that they were worth it - he certainly found some sort of sadistic pleasue in watching the stunned faces of those repulsed by what he just had said. Yes, the Shaikarsite intellectual elite was certainly cut of a different cloth than him, and they would neither like Tukajra's messianic ambitions.
All he really could think about now, however, was that now the counter-offensive was certain to occur.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
Chapter 15 - Countless Eyes Stare Into The Thickening Mists of War...
Vorou Star System, aboard Nxalyzr-class Troop Transport Rzaan of the Xhatrr Spacefleet
Txaxil sat aboard the bridge of the Rzaan and looked at the viewscreen displaying the alien planet. He knew that down on the surface of this planet, battles were being fought between Xril and these aliens, who were so much like themselves and yet so different. Txaxil had trouble believing that his former plan for overthrowing Zxavor would involve winning these aliens over to his side, especially now that he had driven them from their homes and forced them into certain death. His thoughts barely touched the problem of communicating with them, but such a glancing thought was enough for him to make him chance his mind.
There was another plan his robotically enhanced brain had devised in only a minute or so, but that did not render said plan ridiculous or ill-conceived. After all, the computerized and emotionless brain of Txaxil could think at many times the speed of an ordinary Xril civilian.
The plan was one which at first glance appeared simple, though it would require much further planning to actually work. It was to continue the war against the aliens and conquer their territory and then, when Txaxil had returned home, using his hypothetically increased popularity to orchestrate an overthrow of Zxavor.
However, Txaxil was a man who lived in the now and always believed that the future was by definition uncertain. If communication with the aliens was enabled somehow and they offered a truce, Txaxil would of course accept it and attempt to exploit the situation to his own advantage. He did not even remind himself, though, that communication was more than just speaking the same language. Negotiation was all about appealing to emotion, and how would Txaxil handle such matters with his almost complete lack of such emotions?
There was another level to the whole issue which Txaxil felt that he had thought too little about. How did he win Exalted Fleet-Lord Xyakkath, supreme commander of the Xhatrr Space Navy, on his side? Xyakkath was a strange man in Txaxil's eyes, perhaps even stranger than Zxavor. Txaxil viewed Xyakkath as an almost tragicomical perfectionist, though in a different way than himself. Where Txaxil had in the past caught himself trying to apply military logic (which he mastered perhaps better than anyone else) to civilian matters, Xyakkath appeared to have an almost single-minded obsession with achieving complete perfection and maximum efficiency in that narrow field he specialized in; spacefleet tactics. It was not as if he had much of a challenge here, though, since he had an enormous numerical advantage which would make victory inevitable. On the other hand, Txaxil was aware that his picture of Xyakkath had been formed largely from assumptions and speculation, for Xyakkath had a quite opaque personality.
His neuro-cybernetic network communication (or whatever they were called) were always set to the highest security level available, making it difficult for anyone else than Zxavor to "scan" Xyakkath's thoughts.
Oh, and there was a third issue which had also been neglected by Txaxil too long. When Zxavor was overthrown and if that would happen, what would Txaxil replace the old society with? Txaxil had for decades believed in a society founded on pure, objective logic. That vision, however, fell apart like a house of cards upon further thought. It was well-proven that the senses were greatly affected by individual assumptions and prejudices. Who could say for sure whether cyborgization improved the senses or distorted them further? Txaxil admitted to himself that not only did he not understand sociology as much as he used to think, perhaps he did not understand it at all. A possible future would be a society ruled by computers. However, Txaxil was not too sure about that - he reminded himself that he was a warrior, not a politician.
It was in fact quite possible that Txaxil would not be the one to replace Zxavor as ruler, but it would certainly be him who would overthrow him.
Vorou Star System, aboard Military Space Station Rishina Tvurak of the Shaikarsite Union Space Navy
"What a fine mess we currently are in."
Tukajra felt slightly insulted by Kaltoruul's words, as if they were a veiled criticism of the ancient Avarni. However, there was some truth to it. He then said: "You're on to something, captain. Say, how much time is there until that meeting where we'll plan the strategy? I need some sleep."
Kaltoruul looked at his wristwatch and said: "Well, First Admiral, it appears there's roughly 9 hours or so. It's at 10 Shaikarsite Standard Time tomorrow, it's currently one."
Tukajra then got up on his feet and momentarily jumped up and down to keep his feet from feeling dizzy. He wandered out of the nearest door, turned his head around and said: "Cpt. Kaltoruul, I'll be in the guest quarters and get six hours of sleep. If I'm lucky."
Vorou Star System, Planet of Avarnam, in a maglevtrain somewhere..
Kwargash sat in the crowded maglev train heading for the North Pole of Avarnam, speeding though a tunnel underneath the Volkarnath sea.
Then, the person sitting next to Kwargash, the young reddish-haired female Jardra he had bumped into earlier - whispered: "Hey, wanna know a secret? You know that the Kh-Sriil are totally 'borged out and so?"
Kwargash answered silently: "I've heard that... but I have a lot of robotic innards and, heck, at least two thirds of people here on Avarnam has some chips implanted in their brains which improve their mathematical calculation abilties... so why should the Kh-Sriil be any different, except that they're ahead of ours in the personal communication department? I..."
The woman continued whispering: "Nothing unusual either, I have those math-boosters to. But, you see, the Kh-Sriil are all hooked up by robot brains to this interspecies network. They can communicate by telepathy, but you implied that... so you're probably aware of that. But the thing is... the Avarni gov't, and the Shaikarsite especially, has been tinkering with cyborg super-soldiers. It's all top secret."
Attempting to suspend disbelief in a time when most people's homes had been destroyed and millions been killed by invaders from another solar system, Kwargash thought to himself that the woman beside him had gotten paranoid and went nuts from all the chaos and death around them. But in a situation like this, was there anything else you could do? Had this thing happened 100 years earlier or so, most people would have thought that the Kh-Sriil were demons from Hell, or something like that. But with people like Arkrai running around, assuming that he still was alive, then why not cyborg supersoldiers? Heck, if the Kh-Sriil aren't that above the Jardra in technological development, it would only be 15 years before all Jardra were hooked up to an interplanetary network through advanced computer chips like the Kh-Sriil were too... if only you-know-who hadn't intervened. At the rate technological development was accelerating, the most surprising thing was that cyborgization wasn't that common.
Kwargash said back into the woman's ear: "Tell me more."
However, before she could continue, the soldier in the train started goading the passengers outside... and Kwargash could see why. The train had stopped at the train station of either an underwater Avarnam Defense Force base, or Arctic Base 12.
Guarding the subterranean - or submarine - train stations were many Avarnam Defense Force soldiers, decked out from head to toe in body armour, their faces obscured by gas masks. They were divided into fire-teams of two soldiers, one wielding an assault rifle with an underslung grenade launcher and the other armed with a handheld laser rifle, apparently a shortened version of the type used by snipers.
One of the soldiers goaded males and females into two rows respectively. Kwargash was not sure what happened, but soon he was well past the guards, surrounded by people he didn't know. The reddish-haired woman who talked to him in the train was nowhere to be seen.
Like an ominous ancient suit of plate armour animated by demonic possession, one of the Avarnam Defense Force officers stood between the two rows of evacuees. With a voice distorted by the rebreather built into his armour, he bellowed out, "Do not panic. You are all in temporary safety. This underwater base is top secret and heavily guarded and has chosen as a destination for evacuees because Kh-Sriil dropships and bombers have been sighted near the polar areas."
Vorou Star System, Planet of Avarnam, Arctic Base 12
The dawn of battle.
There was nothing but darkness and ice. Kilometres of endless ice, a cold horizon broken only by dozens of defense laser turrets.
There were no celestial bodies were to be seen, save for the firmament's army of brightly glowing stars and an armada of invading spaceships brooding ominously in orbit.
Then, the sepulchral silence was broken. The sky was shattered by a choir of terrifying screams as a multitude of brightly glowing dart-like trails swept down from the sky to speed over the endless wastelands of eternal frost, contrails of ice-white smoke cutting scars in the sky.
Like ultraterrestrial demons mounted on silvern sky-chariots, they took aim and unleashed a volley of air-to-surface missiles.
Dozens of fire-bolts split the dark sky.
Suddenly, many beams of light lept from the towers to the sky. Accelerating dots in the sky blossomed into flowers of burning steel.
The continuous dirge of hypersonic engines was joined by loud explosions.
Earth and air exchanged fire.
Brightly orange explosions broke the night-shrouded greyness of the ground fortress. Glowing laser beams, speeding aircraft and missiles set the skies aflame.
The bloodcurdling roars of hypersonic warplanes.
The furious screams of guided missiles.
The blunt thuds of downed fighters and bombers crashing against the ice.
Silence and darkness were no more.
Armoured hovertanks sped across the ice, their weapons pointed at the attackers above.
Enormous dropships joined the myriad smaller aircrafts from orbit and discharged hundreds of military hover-vehicles.
The battle for the north pole of Avarnam had began.
Thlaxr clutched her bullpup assault rifle close to her, while staring at her fellow soldiers from inside the APC. She was going to see combat for the first time, on a planet she had never been on before, against an alien civilization she had never encountered before. They were all nervous, but their anxiety should hopefully soon be eclipsed by their determination to fight for the future of the Xril as a people.
Over the communications network incorporated in her helmet, she heard a voice confirm that repeated bombings and shellings had torn open the enemy base and was now ready for cleansing by the infantry.
Suddenly, she heard a loud explosion as her squad's APC impacted against the ground.
Thlaxr was in panic. Despite being tightened by her seatbelt, she felt like being thrown around in a washing machine as the APC rolled around.
When it stopped rolling, she yelled: "Is anyone hurt? You can all move, right?"
The squad leader, Hraktl, added: "My arm feels a bit odd, Thlaxr... oh, and here's the truly bad news. The comm systems and engines are off-line. I'll call for assistance while you'll protect the wreck, right?"
Keeping her nerves cool, Thlaxr unbuttoned her safety belt along with the rest of the squad and readied her assault rifle.
As the APC's rear hatch opened, a freezing wind entered the near-wrecked vehicle. Snow hit their armour and weapons. In defiance of the cold, they ventured outside.
Wading outside with her assault rifle by her side, Thlaxr felt the snow up to her knee. With her fire-team mate Rxu, she walked further through the snow and positioned herself to guard the right facing of the APC while Lnax and Xthalu protected the left facing, Nkazr and Lmu the front and the remaining three the rear hatch.
The snow and the darkness obscured much, but through the infrared vision provided by her helmet's visor, she could see Xlorash-class heavy fighters pelt the flaming enemy base with bombs, as well as other Xhojj-class APCs speeding across the snow.
She could also see something else. Trios of Xhatrr Dominion Army battletanks closing in on alien tanks, exchanging fire with them. Suddenly, she saw a Xril battletank erupt in flame, impaled upon the laser beams projected by the turrets of two alien tanks. The two other members of its tank squadron were suddenly shown as disabled by her helmet's Head-up display as they careened off into.
Fear was in the chilling air along with the snow as Thlaxr and her siblings in arms saw two alien tanks speed towards them from afar. As quickly as possible, she shouted: "Everyone on the right facing, we're attacked by tanks!"
Through the oppressive blankets of snow from above and the strong wind, her compatriots waded and arrayed their guns against the approaching tanks.
Lnax aimed his anti-tank laser rifle at the armoured behemoth which was now 300 metres away and pressed the trigger. A red beam lanced instantly through the darkness to impact one of the other tanks.
However, before Thlaxr could notice that, she saw a bright burst erupt from the muzzle of an alien tank's secondary gun, heard a roar deafened sligthly by the howls of the fighters and bombers in the sky and instantly felt a salvo of 25mm bullets penetrate her body.
As blood immediately splattered down on the snow and shards of her body armour stuck themselves in her flesh, she collapsed bleeding on the ground with a scream.
Pain eclipsed her other impressions of that moment as she spotted another barrage of small-arms fire wipe out Lnax and Rxu. Their blood splattered down upon the snow, the ice and the dying Thlaxr's body.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
I've said it a few seconds before in OZ and I'll say it again:
Woah! That's pretty damn goddamn good!
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
If he's like me, a completely lazy slobastard, then no, he can't...count to six.
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
Crazedwraith wrote:Very nice. Though I shall have to nitpick the title. Three people is hardly 'countless' eyes and more like: six. I assume you can count to 6
Hmmm... perhaps I should stop making my titles obtuse-for-the-sake-of-being-obtuse.
Also, it was originally supposed to have many more points of view being presented, including those of Txaxil and Tukajra.
"Hi there, would you like to have a cookie?"
"No, actually I would HATE to have a cookie, you vapid waste of inedible flesh!"
Or maybe, these few dead guys are representative of a bunch of dead guys dying across Avrani (sp?).
"DO YOU WORSHIP HOMOSEXUALS?" - Curtis Saxton (source) shroom is a lovely boy and i wont hear a bad word against him - LUSY-CHAN! Shit! Man, I didn't think of that! It took Shroom to properly interpret the screams of dying people - PeZook Shroom, I read out the stuff you write about us. You are an endless supply of morale down here. :p - an OWS street medic Pink Sugar Heart Attack!
"
- PeZook
