“We are approaching the launch coordinates,” Captain Hodge called over the intercom from the bridge of the Revolution. “All crews report to battle positions.”
Having been contacted ahead of time by the Captain, Yen was in the hangar bay well in advance of his pilots and ground assault teams’ arrival. As they filtered in, he directed the ground teams to their specific Cair ships. Within moments, the sounds of whining plasma engines filled the bay. The acrid fumes filled the expansive room, burning Yen’s nostrils. Regardless, he held his position near the door, letting his presence as the Squadron Commander be felt as his nervous pilots entered the hangar.
As the crowd passed by, many pausing to shake Yen’s hand, the psychic finally spotted the man he had been waiting for. Waving over the top of the throng, Yen caught the eye of the Uligart pilot and motioned him over. Pushing his way through the crowd, an Uligart wearing his full flight suit arrived at Yen’s location. Snapping to the position of attention, he reported to his Commander.
“Warrant Pelasi, reporting for duty, sir,” Pelasi said before Yen gestured for him to relax. The pilot seemed surprised when Yen extended his hand and he paused before shaking.
“You need to relax, Warrant,” Yen ordered. “You’re my pilot now, which means you need to feel comfortable around me. We’ll be spending too much time together for you to constantly be snapping to attention every time I enter the cockpit of the Cair Thewlis.”
“Permission to speak freely, sir?” Warrant Pelasi asked.
“Go ahead.”
The Uligart sighed and his shoulders dropped from their previously rigid position. “It’s just going to take some getting used to, sir. My last Squadron Commander was very strict and expected unwavering customs and courtesies whenever any of us were in his presence. It’s just a little different to be around someone telling me just the opposite.”
“Well, you have a lot to learn about how much respect you actually have to show this guy,” a female voice chided from behind Pelasi. From the taller figures, Iana forced her way through the crowd. She stopped before the pair before nodding toward Yen. “Good to see you, sir.”
“Glad to see you made it,” Yen responded.
“It wouldn’t have been a party without me,” Iana joked, nudging Pelasi with her elbow.
Yen smiled. “Are you ready for this, Iana?”
Iana shrugged. “Let’s see. We’re going to use pretty much untested warp technology to appear, hopefully, behind the Terran satellite defense grid. Then we’re going to blow up whatever fleet they manage to muster in defense while the rest of our invasion ground forces land on the home world of the Alliance’s most hated enemies. What’s there to worry about?”
“You know,” Pelasi croaked, “you have a pretty unique way of putting things in perspective.”
“Don’t you worry, Gregario,” she laughed. “I’ll keep the Terrans off you. All you have to do is land on the planet.”
Yen put a hand on her shoulder and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “I know you’re not all that worried, Iana, but be careful out there.”
“I’m always safe,” Iana said with a wink. “Speaking of being careful, I figured I had better give you a warning. Buren’s waiting for you. He looks ready for a fight.”
Yen stood up straight, his eyes scanning the crowd for the Uligart infantryman. “Where is he?”
Iana jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. “Back there, standing outside your ship. He doesn’t look all that happy about being here.”
“Isn’t Magistrate Buren one of the people on your team, sir?” Pelasi asked, looking perplexed.
Yen frowned. “Yes, he is, though not by choice.”
“Is there something I need to know about the team on board?” the Uligart pilot asked quietly. “There’s not going to be trouble, is there?”
“No,” Yen replied, shaking his head. “Buren and I pulled a mission together a year ago. It didn’t go well and quite a few good men lost their lives as a result. He was put in a hospital. I thought they would have kicked him out of the service, but instead they apparently promoted him. I don’t know what his problem is, but he obviously doesn’t like me. And now, because someone higher up doesn’t like me either, he and I will be serving together.”
“It…” Pelasi began before stopping in mid sentence.
“What is it?” Yen asked.
“Nothing, sir.”
Yen frowned again. “Warrant Pelasi, if you’re going to be my pilot, you’re going to have to feel comfortable speaking your mind.”
Pelasi seemed nervous. “I mean no disrespect, but it wasn’t your fault, was it? The people dying, I mean.”
“There was only one group responsible for those men dying: Terrans. And I intend to exact my revenge during our mission.” Sighing, Yen nodded to both the pilots. “Well, I probably need to go see what he wants. Get to your ships. Once the Captain gives us the all clear, I’ll order the launch. And, good luck to both of you.”
“You too,” Iana said before hurrying to her Duun fighter.
Though Pelasi and Yen were both heading to the same Cair ship, Pelasi intentionally distanced himself from the Commander and entered the ship well in advance of Yen. Buren, Yen noted, hardly acknowledged the pilot as he passed. The boney protrusions along his cheeks, jaw line, and brow twitched with irritation and impatience as he watched Yen approach.
“You’re nearly late,” Buren growled, his arms crossed defensively across his chest.
“Then I guess it’s a good thing that I’m important enough that they won’t leave without me.”
Buren’s hand shot out, grabbing a firm hold on Yen’s upper arm. Yen paused in his steps and looked down at the offensive hand. Deep within him, he could feel the anger taking form, siphoning off his psychic energy and growing with a life of his own. It had been a while since Yen had felt that hatred, the anger having been suppressed when he was around Keryn. It frightened him to know that it was returning.
“You might want to take your hand off me,” Yen warned.
“Let’s get something straight,” Buren said, though he did release Yen’s arm. “I don’t like you.”
“What did I ever do to you?”
“What did you do to me?” Buren asked in shock. “Do you know what happened to me after our mission? I got admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Apparently, someone told them I was having trouble adapting to the stresses of war.”
Yen frowned, knowing that his own testimony had been damning toward Buren’s mental state.
“I rotted in an institute for months before they decided I was fit to be released. The entire time I was there, I was left alone. No roommate. No friends. Just me, in a room full of objects so childishly secure that I couldn’t have given myself a paper cut. Do you know what people do when they spend months inside their own head? They relive the horrors that put them there in the first place.”
Yen wanted to feel sorry for the Uligart, but had trouble battling through his own dislike for the self-depravation.
“I know where this is going,” Yen seethed. “What happened wasn’t my fault.”
“It wasn’t…” Buren began, before pausing in disbelief. “It wasn’t your fault? I was stuck in that outpost with you, while those things tried to tear their way in and eat us. I heard your teammates talking. I heard your boss talking about the Captain. It didn’t take a genius to put it all together. Something your team did led to us being slaughtered like animals on that planet. And, as far as I can tell, you’re the only member of your team left. So like it or not, everything is your fault!”
Yen was done with the conversation, knowing that anything he said would lead down a dangerous path. Infuriated, he pushed past Buren and toward the rear of the Cair ship.
“This time around, let’s try something different,” Buren said as Yen walked away. “I figure that so long as you’re willing to take orders from me, we might just make it out of this alive. That would be a pleasant change for you, wouldn’t it? Actually leaving with your team alive?”
Yen stopped without turning toward the Uligart, anger seething just below the surface of his skin. He could feel the psychic energy crawling along his nerves, setting fire to his joints and muscles. Biting the inside of his lip, Yen bit back his anger and tried to respond tactfully. “You know, I think you and the Revolution’s Tactical Officer would be fast friends. However, he’s not here, nor was he selected to lead this assault. I was. And whether you like it or not, I am your boss now. Whether or not you like me, when we are in front of the soldiers you will act as though you have never had a better friend than me.”
Yen turned to face Buren, his anger unmasked. “The first time I hear even the least little bit of dissent or insubordination, I’ll push you out of the first airlock I can find.” Yen let his eyes flash a dangerous blue as he continued. “Is there anything you didn’t understand about that?”
Buren glared, but said nothing. Turning sharply, the Uligart walked on board the Cair Thewlis. Yen watched him disappear into the dimly lit gloom of the ship’s interior, his mind awhirl with Buren’s words. Though he would have never believed it, Buren must have overheard Yen and Vance talking about the disk. Suddenly, the survivor’s guilt Buren felt made significantly more sense. But it also left Yen in a delicate position. If Buren told others what he knew, there would be an inquiry. It could ruin Yen’s reputation and career. A darkness spread its fingers across Yen’s mind, finding root in the darker recesses of his mind. Frowning, Yen stared at the interior of the ship, into which Buren had disappeared. Someone needed to teach the Uligart an important lesson, Yen thought. Knowledge is power, but it can also be a very dangerous thing in the wrong hands.
Shaking away the darker thoughts, Yen stepped on board the Cair Thewlis, closing the ship’s rear hatch as he did. His eyes quickly adjusted to the interior, which was lit by ambient red light being cast from the warning lights positioned throughout the crew compartment. All of his team sat in their seats, their bodies appearing bulky under the thick body armor they all wore. Large caliber rifles and explosives were strewn in the spaces between the seats. Scanning the crowd, Yen made sure to make eye contact with each member of his strike force, stopping finally when his eyes fell upon Buren. Even seated across the compartment from Yen, the psychic could feel the Uligart’s piercing glare. Ignoring him, Yen addressed his team.
“This will be your final brief before we get the go ahead for launch,” he yelled into the spacious ship. From over his right shoulder, a display lowered from the ceiling and began glowing. Slowly, a representation of Earth appeared on the screen.
“As you are all aware, our team has been tasked with an important mission. Once we have warped behind Earth’s defenses, the rest of the Cair ships will be dropping their teams in surgical strikes throughout the planet. Our mission, however, is a search and capture. There is a Terran scientist of great importance that the High Council wants alive.”
The screen behind him changed, zooming in on the eastern coast of one of the large continents. The screen continued to enlarge until the team could make out specific city blocks. “Our intel has provided us the location of the scientist’s laboratory. It is located here, on the outskirts of a large open park in the middle of the Terran capital city.”
“Sir,” one of the team members asked from Yen’s right.
“You have a question?” Yen asked.
“Sir, what do we know about this park?” the Wyndgaart soldier asked, pointing at the odd architecture present throughout the park. “One of those items in the park looks quite a bit like a missile silo.”
Yen nodded. “I saw the same thing when it was briefed to me. I have been promised, however, that everything in this park is harmless. The square lake, the silo, the dome… they’re all artifacts of a former Terran government that ruled the continent before the Senate was created.”
Turning his attention away from the soldier, Yen addressed the rest of the team again. “Our approach will not be easy. We’ll be relying heavily on the Duun fighters to eliminate most of the anti-aircraft weapons along the coastline. Once we get past their batteries, we’ll set down here, a few blocks from the park. We can expect a resistance from the Terran home guard, but they shouldn’t cause us too much trouble.
“Our job is straightforward. Capture the scientist and return him to the High Council. Everything else is secondary. While we are performing our mission, everyone else will be occupying the Terran ground forces in order to buy the couple of hours it will take for the rest of the Fleet to arrive. In less than forty-eight hours, Earth will be ours.”
The soldiers erupted in cheers. Yen felt their elation, knowing that he could lead the assault that puts an end to the Terran war, once and for all. Yet, for all his joy, he found his gaze falling back on Buren, who glowered from his seat, not sharing in the cheering of the others. Walking up the aisle, Yen passed Buren and paused at the cockpit door before turning back toward his men.
“Leaders, perform a pre-combat check on your men’s gear. We’ll be launching in less than ten minutes.”
Stepping into the cockpit, Yen let the door slide closed behind him, cutting off the chatter that seeped from the crew compartment. Feeling weary, Yen collapsed into the co-pilot’s chair and leaned his head back against the head rest.
“That was a pretty good speech,” Pelasi mentioned as he ignited the engines. The Cair Thewlis rolled from its berth in the hangar bay and took its place among the other ships, which filled the center of the cavernous room.
Without responding, Yen stared at the closed doors at the far end of the room, the ones that, when open, would launch his entire Squadron into space. A myriad of worries weighed heavily on Yen’s mind. His concerns over the warp technology collided with his pining for Keryn, which quickly intermingled with his new worries over Buren and the knowledge he possessed. Yen wracked his brain, searching for a simple answer that would solve all his problems. His powers crawled through his skin, offering Yen the answer he needed, if only he had the strength of will to use them. Instead, Yen closed his eyes, squeezing them tightly together. He remained in that position until the radio crackled to life.
“Commander Xiao,” Captain Hodge called. “You are a go for launch.” She paused, as though pondering whether or not it would be appropriate to continue. In the end, she cast aside her doubts. “May the Gods watch over and protect you.”
Yen flipped a switch, activating his Squadron communications channel. As the Commander for the entire group of invading Duun and Cair ships, Yen’s transmission was carried over multiple Cruisers. “All ships, we are a go for launch. Proceed with caution to the coordinates. Never forget that we are now past the Demilitarized Zone and well into Terran space. Expect anything.”
At the end of the room, the door cracked open, revealing a sea of stars beyond the open bay of the Revolution. One by one, the fighters first, the ships poured from the Revolution and all the nearby Cruisers. Yen looked cautiously left and right as the Cair Thewlis launched into space, half expecting a Terran ambush to be waiting around every corner. To his amazement, the space as far as their scanners could reach appeared empty.
The Alliance had selected this launch point for many reasons. Not the least of which was that, at full acceleration, a Cruiser could reach Earth in just over twenty-four hours. Were it not for the distractions that pulled the Terran Fleet away from Earth, the Alliance Fleet would have never been able to approach so close without being engaged. As it was, the Alliance had a clear approach to the Terran’s greatest stronghold.
The Squadron spread out, filling the nearby space with its small ships. They seemed insignificant against the dark velvet of deep space, but carried a massive arsenal capable of leveling the major cities throughout the Terran home world. In these small ships, death for the enemies of the Alliance sat in each of the pilot’s seats.
Yen could feel sweat beading on his brow and he clenched and unclenched his fist. The next step in their battle plan was obvious, but scared Yen badly. Try as he might, Yen was unable to shake the mental images that he had seen in the mind of the warp technology scientist: twisted animals and dismembered bodies. That damnation was only a push of a button away for his Squadron. As much as they stood a chance at raining death down upon the Terrans, Yen stood an equal chance of sending all his men to their deaths.
“Squadron Commander,” Captain Hodge called over the radio. “Is there a problem?”
Yen ignored her call and, instead, switched his channel back to the internal Squadron net. “All ships, activate your warp generators.”
Across Yen’s field of vision, hundreds of small, red wormholes appeared, hovering only a few dozen feet in front of each ship. Yen gripped his chair tightly as Pelasi activated the Cair Thewlis’ warp generator. A soft hum rolled through the ship, quickly followed by a pulse of energy. The pulse washed over Yen, leaving his body feeling alternately numb and charged with energy. In front of the ship, a red wormhole exploded to life, the event horizon open angrily like the hungry maw of a giant monster.
Taking a deep breath, Yen activated the radio once more. “All ships, move forward and enter the wormholes.”