The Terran destroyer passed through the debris field now surrounding Othus and assumed an orbit around the planet. Fragments of metal and remains of former crewmen bounced off its hull. The view screen on the destroyer showed the swollen black sun, its heat sequestered and its darkness now throwing the planets in this galaxy into an unnatural night. Its crew was still cheering the destruction of the two Alliance Cruisers when it launched its small fighters and large bombers into the atmosphere of the planet.
The first few fighters dove quickly toward the planet, the dozens of ships pouring through the atmosphere glowed from the friction of entry like meteor showers in the night sky. They immediately began pursuing ships trying to leave orbit, streaking through the sky with deadly intent. The bloated merchant vessels were no match for the quick fighters and soon the sky was littered with explosions as plasma rockets and large bore automatic machine guns tore through the slower ships.
The larger bombers, slower on their entry but twice as deadly as the Terran fighters, moved into positions over the planet’s major cities. A single bomber took up orbit above Miller’s Glen, its sleek silver, arrowhead shaped hull glistening even in the unnatural twilight caused by the blackened sun.
Merchants and citizens alike throughout Miller’s Glen fled the city toward the spaceport, eager to climb its spiral body and reach their ships. The Terran fighters had ignored the spaceport, focusing instead on destroying the ships and recreational vehicles that scattered like insects under the assaulting Terran fleet. Those fleeing toward the spaceport felt a false sense of security; the slightest glimmer of hope shone in their panicked minds that there was escape from the impending massacre. Keryn and her crew, still huddled inside their hotel room, knew better than to hope. There would be a slaughter of the planet, and death would come from the bomber hovering above the city.
As people packed into the spaceport, its body filling with those who had run across the length of the city searching for escape, the bomber turned slowly in the sky, taking up station above the port. On the bottom of its sleek form, two doors slid open, exposing the black depths inside. With no more than a whisper, a pair of glowing orbs dropped from the ship, blue and purple plasma swirling within their core. As they fell deceptively slowly toward the planet’s surface, a thick ion trail followed in their wake, trailing a colorful menagerie of released energy. Engines whined to life along the spaceport, pilots eager to skip as much of their pre-flight checks as possible in their hurry. But none of the ships were quick enough to escape the two falling plasma bombs.
After striking the top of the spaceport, the bombs unleashed unholy energy. The port exploded outward, its debris shattering through the glass walls of the tall towers in the center of the city. Explosion after explosion rocked the port as the ships along its reaching arms ignited in the inferno. From the center of the explosion, a shockwave erupted. Out of town, trees were blown from their roots and rock formations crumbled under the assault. Inside the city, the devastation was much worse.
The shockwave rolled rapidly through town, not slowing at all as it leveled all the stone structures and warehouses closest to the spaceport. The thousands that died in those buildings had barely enough time to release a unified scream of terror before their existence was erased from the universe. As the wave rolled on, people closer to the center of town fled as ceilings collapsed on those indoors while the unlucky ones still on the streets were torn apart by stones and shards of wood as booths and carts that lined the street were transformed into flying instruments of death.
Within the hotel, Keryn and her crew dove for cover as the shockwave hit their building. The windows exploded inward and the air itself was replaced with a reverberating angry roar of unleashed power. The walls shook and pieces of the ceiling collapsed, smashing through the sofa and destroying the end table that had held the bloodied scalpel. They covered their ears as the sound of ripping stone erupted from the back room. The insulated wooden door that separated the rooms rattled as though possessed as the firestorm rolled over them.
Though it seemed like an eternity to Keryn, the door slowly quit rattling and a strange silence permeated the room. She took her hands from her ears and shook the dust from her hair and face. Her once tan body was coated with a pale white film; the air itself was full of the vaporized stone and wood, a direct result of the destruction of half the city. Glancing around, she let out a sigh of relief as Adam pushed his way from underneath a slab of the ceiling. A black-clawed hand burst forth from the ruined sofa on the far side of the room and Penchant, looking worse for wear, drug himself from the wreckage.
Laboring for breath, Keryn looked them both over. “Is everyone…” She was overcome with a coughing fit, her lungs struggling to take in oxygen amidst the thick particles in the air. Recovering, she tried to continue. “Is everyone okay?”
Neither Penchant nor Adam replied, both content to simply nod in agreement. Blood flowed freely from the reopened wound on Adam’s arm, the gunshot wound not even given a chance to heal before being torn again in the explosion. Keryn had never had much luck figuring out the physiology of the Lithids. Penchant looked no different than before, save the dust that clung to his body. But his movements seemed jerked and unstable, so she had to assume that he had not made it through the explosion unscathed, regardless of his tough exoskeleton.
Adam moved toward the door leading into the back room, his hand held over his face in an attempt to keep out the pollutants in the air. Leaning his hand against the wall, he pulled on the door but to no avail. The heat from the explosion had swollen the wood, jamming the door into its frame. Stepping back, Adam assumed a fighting stance before striking forward with his foot. The wooden door splintered on its hinges, hinges that were partially melted in the blast. The entire door collapsed inward, allowing Adam a surprising view of the city. He glanced around uncertainly. The walls and ceiling had all been torn free, finally resting somewhere further within the city. Only the thin floor remained, though even a section of the floor was missing. More importantly was what had previously been firmly attached to that section of floor.
Adam turned away from the destroyed back room. “Cardax is gone,” he said weakly. “Gone for good, if I had to take a guess at it.”
Keryn nodded, her vision blurry and eyes stinging as sweat pulled the plaster and dust into her eyes. Wiping them ineffectually with the back of her hand, she walked toward the balcony door. Pulling on the handle, she had to jump hurriedly out of the way as the door, frame, and part of the wall collapsed into the room. Stepping onto the gaping hole, she peered out into the ruins of the once beautiful city. In the center of town, the once proud emerald spires lay in ruins. The metal girders that had once held the towers aloft now jutted from their remains like rib cages of an animal graveyard. Fires burned freely from a multitude of structures, their flames leaping high into the artificial night.
Looking the other way, Keryn let tears flow freely from her eyes as she witnessed the decimation that had occurred when the two plasma bombs struck the lower city. Even through the thick smoke and debris, Keryn could make out the outline of a massive crater; a crater that took the lives of everyone within the once tall space port. The land around the crater was cleared of debris. Not even the foundations of buildings could be seen from where she stood and the ground itself looked smooth, as though the intense heat had turned the ground to glass. She cried for all those who lost their lives; even those who were criminals and smugglers had deserved a better fate than this. But she cried most of all for the sounds that reached her ears: cries of those wounded, their limbs removed or pierced by debris. They cried out in a rising crescendo of pain and suffering. They begged for help and aid. They cried out for their loved ones who were dead or missing. Their cries fell on deaf ears.
Adam and Penchant joined her on the balcony. Even the guardrail that she had leaned against only a few minutes before was gone now, replaced by a warped metal interpretation of modern art. Looking toward the sky, Adam’s shoulders fell in defeat. Following his vision, Keryn saw the thick, box-shaped ships descending toward the surface. The troop transports from the Terran destroyer in orbit made their landing on the glassy surface outside the crater and, even from their distance, the trio watched wave after wave of Terran soldiers march off in organized military order.
Small fighters still scurried overhead, destroying what remained of those who tried to escape the planet. Other fighters shot off into the distance, searching the areas beyond the cities for survivors and those who tried to escape. The Terrans gave no quarter and had no mercy for anyone on the planet, whether Interstellar Alliance or merely civilian traders. The Terran destroyer sat in orbit, its ships patrolled the skies, and Terran soldiers now marched through the streets.
In less than thirty minutes, Othus had fallen to the Terrans.