The Dream
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¡°Sir we have been followed, it appears to be Kraz¡¯ox scout ship,¡± Roanne, one of the three combat specialists on the Pegasus, said.
¡°Target it right away, try to jam its communication towards other Kraz¡¯oxs,¡± James said decisively.
¡°Yes, sir,¡± Roanne answered and started playing with the hologram ahead of her. ¡°Target locked, communications jammed, should we fire right away.¡± She asked looking at James.
James thought about it for a second, but decided against immediately shooting at the alien ship, ¡°Don¡¯t shoot, open a channel towards him, I want to know how he managed to follow us.¡±
Roanne nodded and went back to work, moments later she nodded back toward James, the channel was open.
¡°This is Captain James Barnes of the battleship Pegasus speaking, disable your weapon systems and power down your ship right away if you don¡¯t want to be destroyed,¡± James said and waited a few moments before Chloe confirmed the Kraz¡¯ox ship has shut down all its systems besides communication.
¡°We are going to board your ship, and take you in for questioning, do you understand?¡± James continued.
¡°I understand,¡± Kraz¡¯ox voice echoed inside the command room of Pegasus.
James called for Hugo Lawson another close friend of Luitenant William Grant who was appointed as chief of the strike team on Pegasus I. His team included six more members on the shortened crew and, at full capacity his team could count up to fifty members once everyone goes through training. James gave Hugo instructions to board the Kraz¡¯ox shield, take the Alien and his ship into Pegasus, and if the alien tries anything funny, Hugo had full clearance to end it there.
For now, only ten smaller combat and explorer ships were part of the Pegasus I hangar, Hugo and his team would split into two for the upcoming mission.
Anxiety and stress never completely left James these past three years, and after a short period of a lull after a successful jump, these feelings came back like a storm once the Kraz¡¯ox ship followed them. James felt confident that the Kraz¡¯ox couldn¡¯t send a signal back to the Kraz¡¯ox command as they intercepted him as soon as he jumped in, but if he was alone, was yet to be seen.
James, Chloe, and the rest of the team watched the live feed, from cameras integrated into battle suit¡¯s helmets, as Hugo and his team approached the Kraz¡¯ox ship. The boarding went without a problem, Kraz¡¯ox alien, who introduced himself as Youx, complied with everything Hugo has demanded. They easily retrieved the Alien and his ship into the Pegasus. On Captain James¡¯s command, Hugo brought the alien into one of the rooms designed to keep eventual prisoners, something they didn¡¯t anticipate happening on their first-ever mission.
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Alien complied with everything Hugo¡¯s team said and waited for Captain James in silence sitting at the table¡¯s far side. As James entered Alien stood up and extended his hand as if to shake hands, something Kraz¡¯ox never did. James shook his hand reluctantly and after doing so the Alien introduced himself once again.
¡°I am Captain James Barnes of the first human interstellar ship Pegasus I,¡± James said.
¡°My name is Youx,¡± The alien said with a slight accent and James noticed he was not using a translator, but speaking directly to him.
¡°How do you know our language?¡± James asked.
¡°I am fascinated by new cultures and yours is one of the most vibrant and beautiful I¡¯ve seen in my life,¡± The alien said.
¡°So, what are you? You can¡¯t be just an ordinary soldier, tracking us here, knowing this well, you must be someone of a rank,¡± James asked.
A tiny smile appeared on Youx¡¯s face, humans could rarely see when Kraz¡¯ox smiled, but this time it was noticeable. Youx then went into his story, how he hated war and everything that comes with it but was forced into this one because of the mobilization caused by heavy losses on both sides. He hated the job, but as all Kraz¡¯ox did it to his best capabilities and that¡¯s how he tracked Pegasus, by scanning everything and looking for the slightest details, Kraz¡¯ox were perfectionists as a species.
James was not sure if he believed him, but there was some sincerity in the Alien¡¯s voice, but for now, he was to be locked in this room and treated as a prisoner of war. There could be some use for him once they eventually head back to earth, there as still so much to learn about Kraz¡¯ox, maybe he was a blessing in disguise after all.
James returned to the bridge and the view was magnificent, ancient planet decorated the screens and the windows of the ship, Ephulea III stood silent in all its glory.
¡°No life sign readings coming from the planet or anywhere in the system sir,¡± Roanne said.
¡°Good,¡± James said with a nod. ¡°You all know your tasks for the rest of the day after that get some rest and tomorrow we proceed with the mission.¡±
They agreed they would run diagnostics and wait at least a day before going down to an Ephulea III just to be sure Pegasus¡¯s systems worked perfectly after the first jump. Until tomorrow James could finally rest, this was the easiest part of their mission, just merely arriving here, now they had to explore the ancient planet and somehow return to Earth without Kraz¡¯ox noticing, but those were thoughts for tomorrow, James went to his cabin and sunk into the bed.
James floated in space without a suit, but somehow was alive and not cold, he could move freely, like diving through water. In the distance, Earth and Qhiks home planet somehow stood side to side. Seconds later darkness, with neon blue veins running through it appeared behind the two planets, towering over both of them and slowly engulfing them. James stood and watched in horror as always before the voice started calling him once again. ¡°James, James, you know what you have to do,¡± the deep thunderous voice said. ¡°Who are you, what are you?¡± James tried to ask this voice all kinds of questions, but answers never came, it repeated itself like a broken record. ¡°You will have to decide James, you will have to choose and sacrifice them!¡± The voice said and as always that was a queue for him to wake up.
James awoke sweating once again, the same recurring dream returning to hunt him once again. The dream started a few days after he returned to Earth and reappeared every so often, no patterns, just randomly it would appear. James couldn¡¯t really go to a psychiatrist without revealing too much about everything that was going on, but luckily for him Dr. Jones at South Pole Station finished Psychology amongst other things and James talked with him regularly. What they derived was that it was just James coping with the insanity of the whole situation, aliens existing, getting taken by one, finding out even more ancient aliens exist that are scared of some unknown all-eating space monster, and also by the fact that James from and ordinary astronaut became a Captain of first Human space battleship and was responsible for so many people. James accepted that answer, it was a logical one, but he also felt like there was more to it, there had to be, a dream can¡¯t repeat itself almost to perfection this many times.
James stood up and got dressed, there was no time to dwell on this today, they had a planet to explore.
16. Ephulea III
James walked towards Youx¡¯s cell before going to the bridge. He had more questions for him and the Alien seemed willing to answer everything he threw at him. But the alien was asleep, one of the guards said that he fell asleep not so long ago, so James let him be.
He had more important things to do, and he would tell Chloe to visit him once he goes down to explore the planet. Chloe was to stay on the ship and take charge while they do the expedition on Ephulea III.
Once he entered the bridge, everyone salute him, James saluted back, but the feeling was still not natural to him. James asked Lieutenant William if they could remove saluting on Pegasus, but William was persuasive that they needed to keep some form of human military ranking and customs. James complied, it made sense, but the feeling of it being unnecessary was still present.
¡°Captain, we got the ship in the position from which you can safely and easily leave and land on Ephulea III,¡± Chloe said.
¡°Great and thank you XO,¡± James said looking around the busy bridge crew. ¡°Where is chief Lawson?¡± James asked.
¡°He is getting his crew ready and doing one last check-up before the expedition,¡± Chloe answered.
¡°Good,¡± James said and nodded. ¡°Make the announcement we leave in an hour. I am going to get suited up myself in the meantime.¡±
Before he left the bridge, James pulled Chloe to the side and told her to keep an eye on Youx, and gave her a list of the questions to ask him.
Getting into a new human spacesuit was easy, it was made so one person could quickly suit up on their own if it was necessary. But since there was no rush James was helped by one of the staff. The suit had three parts, boots that went up to almost a knee, a helmet, and the rest of the shit. James put on the boots, and was helped with the suit and helmet could wait until they board the landing ship. He clicked a few buttons on his suit control panel that was located on his left forearm and the suit tightened and adapted to his body.
James made a short walk towards the hangar where Chief Lawson lawson and his team were already suited up and were boarding the landing ships with the necessary equipment and rations to last them a week, although the mission was supposed to be only two or three days, they agreed it was smarter to bring more.
Fifteen people were selected to go down to Ephulea III including James, Chief Lawson and, three members of his team, and the rest of the crew was compiled of scientists and researchers. For James time always seemed to slow down before the mission started, seconds turned into minutes, minutes into hours, he kept checking the countdown on the suit¡¯s control panel, fifteen more minutes. He paced around the hangar waiting for everyone to arrive and for the ship to be boarded, before giving a short speech. He didn¡¯t prepare for this one, just a few short and simple sentences for both the crew going down and staying at the Pegasus. For someone who had the yips whenever he was supposed to speak in front of more than five people, he was growing accustomed to them now.
The expedition crew was split into two landing ships piloted by Chief Lawson and his second-in-command Aleisha Gray. Ships were boarded, supplies and equipment triple-checked, the timer showed zero and James found himself on the way toward Ephulea III.
The Qhiks never got to explore that planet, once they found out about it, the Void already became too large of a threat so they caved back into their home systems along with their enemies. Qhiks believe it¡¯s one of the Ellad¡¯s original planets, one of the first they colonized after their home planet, so in their opinion, it could hold more information on the Void and Ellads themselves.
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Entering into the atmosphere was rocky, similar to when James entered Earth¡¯s atmosphere on board Kraz¡¯ox ships three years ago. Once they cleared the clouds James could enjoy everything the Ephulea III had to offer. The planet was similar to Earth in size, it had three huge continents surrounded by large oceans. Two continents run almost parallel to each other, one starting from the north pole and stretching towards the south, and the other doing the same from the south pole upwards. The third continent, and their location, was lonely on the other side of the planet. The continent was huge, almost twice the size of Asia, some eighty million square kilometers.
James expected a somewhat apocalyptic look for a planet, the image of scorched earth was embroidered in his mind, but Ephulea III was everything but that. Once they came closer to the ground it was clear that the planet was booming with vegetation outside a few mountaintops that peaked with their white coat everything else was a mix of green, red and yellow. Scientists aboard James¡¯s landing ship were already documenting everything they saw with their suits. James just enjoy the view, there would be plenty of time to document things.
Their spot was on the northern part of the continent and didn¡¯t seem to differ any from the other scenery, only once they came closer to where they didn¡¯t need to enchant the view, James started to notice skeletal remains of alien structures that towered over the trees. Vegetation grew around them, but those grayish remains were clear. There was even some clear space in between threes near the location Qhiks provided for them.
¡°I think the best course of action is to land in the clearing, Sir,¡± Chief Lawson said. ¡°And make the rest of the way on foot or with buggies, it¡¯s not more than a kilometer from our location.¡±
¡°I agree,¡± James said through the comms. ¡°I will radio the other ship, you lead the way.¡±
The landing went smooth, Chief Lawson practiced it in their simulators at South Pole Station what seemed like billion times, and the other ship followed half a minute later. It took them less than 10 minutes to unload all the necessary equipment and assemble the buggies. They decided on assembling buggies to at least carry some load of the equipment for them.
The trees were not dense on the surface, but there were a lot of smaller plants and rocks in the way, but one of the buggies that took the front cleared it without much of a problem. Some 800 meters in the trees got denser and the terrain was too much for buggies, so they took the equipment and decided to walk the rest of the way.
The map showed their mission location just behind a small hill, an alien structure now was clearly visible, reaching for the sky way above them. The structure tentacles that reached towards the sky had a biological feel to them, and vines that looked like veins that used to give life to the structure were dead now. Qhiks have said that Ellads have combined technology with living organisms to reach new unimaginable levels of development and advancement.
Climbing the hill was not much of a task since most of them were in their best year and trained hard at the South Pole Station. Once at top of the hill, James could finally see what their mission was. There was a small building at the bottom of the hill, with a large hatch at the top. The building went underground and the large structures that were poking like Antena were some kind of an extension.
They made their way down the hill easily, their radars constantly scanning the area around them for any form of life outside the plants, scans came back negative.
Once down the hill they look for a way in, but the structure withstood the test of time, that¡¯s something Qhiks have said as well, Ellads building and ships didn¡¯t seem to decay. And all the time Qhinks studied Ellads and their technology they didn¡¯t find a way to open their building without blowing them up. Luckily, while the buildings and the rest of their technology were powered down it was easy to blow it up with almost any form of explosion, human explosions would suffice as well.
Since there was no clear way in, Chief Lawson started setting up the charges around the large hatch, James kept looking around the strange alien plants and trees, from the distance they didn¡¯t much differ from the earth, but now up close and actually looking at them all off it looked odd to him.
Chief Lawson gave the command for everyone to clear the area for the blast and they spread around the bottom of the hill. But before the countdown reached zero James heard a scream coming from his right side. Turning around he managed to see a large creature dragging one of the scientists and tossing them around, two seconds later James himself was on the ground, something tugging on his legs.
17. Battle on all fronts
¡°We are under atta-,¡± James yelled over the comes, but was cut off before he could finish.
¡°Captain, what¡¯s going on?¡± Chloe yelled back, but no reply came.¡°Roanne what is going on, why can¡¯t we contact them?¡± Chloe turned her focus towards her.
¡°I don¡¯t know XO, the comms are somehow down,¡± Roanne answered while fiddling with the panel in front of her.
¡°Can we fix it?¡± Chloe asked.
¡°To be honest, I have no idea what is going on, but I am doing my best.¡± She said not turning around and continuing to play with the panel in front of her. ¡°Here,¡± Roanne yelled. ¡°We can¡¯t get comms, nor visuals, but at least I managed to pull their vitals.¡± She said and pulled a hologram, then transferred it to the middle of the ship where acting Captain Chloe could see it easier.
A rough image of the terrain appeared as the 3D hologram and their team as blue dots running around. Chloe quickly counted fourteen dots instead of fifteen.
¡°I count only fourteen, who is missing,¡± She yelled.
¡°Wait,¡± Roanne said. ¡°Doctor Vasquez is missing, I can¡¯t find his suit signature anywhere.¡± She said then held her hand up. ¡°Wait I am getting something else,¡± and ten red dots appeared scattered around the blue dots on the hologram.
¡°What the hell is that?¡± Chloe asked.
¡°No idea Captain,¡± Roanne answered and continued to work.
¡°Can we get an image on the ground?¡± Chloe asked.
¡°I am trying-¡± before Roanne could answer Pegasus shook violently and the lighting around the bridge turned dim red. Alarms started blaring, and Chloe pulled up the radar which didn¡¯t show anything in their proximity.
¡°What happened?¡± Chloe asked around the room.
¡°We were hit on the right side, no damage to the ship thought,¡± Dark-haired, thick-bearded crew member with a deep voice answered. Chloe was bad with names and as the crew was selected only a few weeks before the mission she was afraid she would forget the names of some people.
Luckily for her, she remembered his name, he worked for NASA before all this happened. Their paths before the aliens have never crossed, but they chatted several times while at the South Pole Station. ¡°Thank you, Thomas,¡± She said. ¡°What hit us, I am not seeing anything on the radar.¡±
¡°We are still trying to figure it out,¡± Thomas said.
¡°I¡¯ve got it,¡± Another technician said. A blue-haired thin woman in her mid-thirties.
Chloe remembered her as well, maybe her fears were misplaced, she knew this person well after all most of them spent at least a year together at South Pole Station. Her name was Nicole and she was a part of the British Royal Navy before all this. Lieutenant William knew her as well from one of their missions and recruited her to the South Pole Station a few months after they started.
As Chloe was about to ask Nicole what she got, two red dots appeared on the radar on both sides of the ship, next to the planet¡¯s moons.
¡°There appear to be two platforms that were hidden by the moon and powered down so our radars didn¡¯t pick them up,¡± Nicole said. ¡°One of them fired on us, the other one is still idle.¡±
¡°I am getting the image,¡± Roanne said and swapped the hologram in the middle of the bridge that showed a situation on the planet with the image of a platform. It was long and rectangular in shape, it had no lights and was barely visible next to the moon. Before anyone could say anything one of the sides of the platform opened and five objects flew out in the direction of the Pegasus.
¡°What the hell are those,¡± Chloe asked.
¡°They appeared to be small battleships similar in size to ours,¡± Roanne said. ¡°But I am not reading any life signs from them, they might be drones.¡±
Chloe felt overwhelmed, what had they gotten themselves into? Qhiks have never mentioned any Ellad platforms or ships, they have never mentioned stumbling onto anything alive on Ellad planets. But there is no time to dwell now, they were under attack both here and on the ground. She first needed to take care of the situation here in space before she could help Captain James and the rest of the expedition crew on the ground.
The drones were small and could easily outmaneuver any Pegasus defense, fortunately, they had fighting ships of their own aboard the Pegasus. Unfortunate thing was that five people that knew how to fly fighter ships were down on the Ephulea III. That left only two members of Chief Lawson¡¯s team, Jojo and Elna, and her. Three of them versus what appeared to be ten drones for now.
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She gave the order for Jojo and Elna to run towards the hangar, explained to bridge what her plan was, and then ran there herself.
Before she could board and fly the fighter ships, they called them Hornets, Chloe needed to suit up. Luckily for her one of the technicians was ahead of that and prepared everything, it took her less than a minute to be fully suited up and aboard the ship.
¡°I am Hornet one, Jojo you are two, Elna you are three,¡± Chloe said over the comms.
¡°Roger that,¡± both of them confirmed.
¡°We fly together, don¡¯t split up unless we are forced to,¡± Chloe continued. ¡°We have no idea of those drone¡¯s capabilities so be very careful until we figure them out.¡± And with that, all three of them left Pegasus hangar and rushed towards five drones coming from their right side as they were closer.
It took them around five minutes of flying at about fifty percent speed to reach the drones and start scraping with them. Hornets had a mix of Kraz¡¯ox and old Qhiks AI when it came to dodging and firing, fighting could be done almost fully automatically. But that was the problem as the drones apparently had similar systems, after almost a minute of scrapping no one hit anyone, but they were outnumbered, once the other five drones reached them, it would be only a matter of time before they started hitting Hornets and the battle was lost.
¡°Switch to manual targeting and shooting,¡± Chloe said over the comms. ¡°And just start firing at random, we need to confuse their dodging as much as we can.¡±
¡°Roger that,¡± Both Jojo and Elna confirmed.
¡°I am going to split, you two keep fighting together,¡± Chloe said over the comms and flew towards the platform.
Only one drone followed her and four stayed on the other two Hornets. Her Hornet easily dodged all the attacks, and she drew the drone away from the fight consistently firing at him. When they were far away, she stopped firing at all for some thirty seconds letting the drone chase her, then she flipped her ship one eighty degrees and fired straight ahead, and then a few shots at each side. The drone¡¯s system was focused on the fire coming straight ahead and tried to dodge to the side running into one of the straight energy blasts that Chloe sent which hit it to the side. The drone seemed to be disabled, but Chloe flew closer and fired more shots just to be sure.
Jojo and Elna were chased by the four drones not so far away from her position, so she went toward them at full speed, but before she reached them Roanne contacted her from the Pegasus.
¡°The other platform started firing at us,¡± Roanne said. ¡°And the other four drones just flew past the Pegasus, they seem to be after you.¡±
¡°Can you handle Platforms on our own with Peagsus¡¯s weapons,¡± Chloe asked.
¡°We can, you take care of the drones, we will dismantle those platforms in no time,¡± Roanne said, and Chloe saw Pegasus start moving, and after a few seconds, it jumped towards the Station far to the left.
Chloe had to focus on her fight, in no time other five drones would be approaching, and they needed to dismantle those four before they arrived. She trusted Roanne and her crew, they will be able to dismantle the platforms with ease.
Chloe flew after the drones that were chasing Jojo and Elna. She gave orders for both of them to focus their fire on one of the drones that was after Jojo and they were able to shut it down in no time. They repeated the process on another drone but as it now was three versus three drones completely changed their strategy and started running towards the other five drones that were coming to help.
As their full focus now was on dodging, in three minutes they ran towards their backup only one of the drones was shut down. Chloe, Jojo, and Elna now found themselves in seven versus three situations scrambling to dodge everything that drones threw at them. Chloe wanted to repeat the same she did the first time and split from the team. But this time, three drones flew after her and only four stayed at the other two Hornets. Drones blocked her path back toward her team and slowly started to surrender her.
¡°Try to shut them down there, I will try to survive for now,¡± Chloe said over the comms.
¡°Hold on Hornet one, we will come to help you as soon as we can,¡± Jojo said.
Chloe flew around dodging everything the drones threw at her, but they were tightening the circle around her. They were dragging her toward the station on the right side and cutting her way toward the other two Hornets. She tried to fight back, but the drones easily dodged her attacks, she only did a disservice to herself by firing and found herself completely surrounded. She tried going up or down, relative to her position, but the drones follow milliseconds later and were coming closer, her sensors were already warning her that the enemy was too close and that the AI had no time to react to the shots.
She got hit once, then twice, luckily their blasts were weaker than Hornet¡¯s and she redirected more Power to the Shields, so she could take several more hits without any serious damage. She looked over the radar and Jojo and Elna managed to destroy one drone and were engaging the other three, trying to break toward her but were several minutes away, she couldn¡¯t hold for that long. She got hit several more times, the ship¡¯s voice informing her that her shield was done.
The drone in front of her fired again and she instinctively closed her eyes, one second passed nothing, two, three, four, five, and nothing. She opened her eyes to the sight of one of the drones laying dismantled in front of her and another Hornet fighting the two drones that had her surrounded. She checked the radar, Jojo and Elna were still far away, now fighting two versus two, managing to destroy one more drone.
She opened comms towards the Hornet near her and asked, ¡°Who is it?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t you mean thanks for saving your ass, as you humans would say,¡± A weird voice answered, Chloe couldn¡¯t connect it to anyone she knew. ¡°It¡¯s Youx, you prisoner, here to help.¡±
¡°What? Who let you out and gave you a ship?¡± Chloe asked.
¡°No one, once your ship got hit, the powered went down for a millisecond and the door unlocked,¡± Youx said. ¡°I stole your ship as you disabled mine and wanted to get away, but all this feels weird so I decided to help, to find out what is going on.¡±
¡°Well, thanks I guess,¡± Chloe said. ¡°Still wanna help?¡±
¡°Let¡¯s finish the job,¡± Youx said and they engaged the remaining drones.
18. What Lies Beneath
¡°We are under attack, I repeat we are under attack,¡± James yelled as he struggled to get up, something trying to drag him away.
He hated training for four hours each day in the suits, but Luitenant William was relentless you had to repeat each exercise and scenario over and over again. William said that it was the only way to carve something into the human brain so that when the situation calls for it, the brain would take over and save someone¡¯s life. Luckily for James, Luitenant was right, he didn¡¯t panic, and he didn¡¯t try to find out what was tugging on his leg, he remained calm and fired his thrusters that were primarily used to maneuver in the vacuum of space but would do in this situation as well. He propelled himself to the side with the power of the thrusters he easily escaped the grip of whatever was dragon on him.
Once he was free, he quickly stood up and turned toward the direction he came from, there he saw a creature size of a grizzly bear. The creature was a blend of flash and metal, it stood on all fours like a lot of earth animals but had two extra limbs protruding from his sides close to the neck. Its mouth was a mash of metal teeth, it had three metal horns on top of its head and spikes all over the back. It all had a faint orange glow topped off with a bright glow from the eyes.
There was no doubt in James¡¯s mind that it was the same technology or mix of technology and biology that Qhiks used. But Qhiks was adamant that Ellads were extinct and that all the worlds they visited showed no signs of life. James couldn¡¯t dwell on those thoughts for long as the creature was already charging him. Training took over again and James dodged an attack from a creature that tried to impale him with its horns.
He took a moment to look around the valley, which suddenly turned into a battlefield. There were around ten creatures as far as James could count by just looking around. Most of his crew was either already on the ground or managed to barely escape like him. One of his team members lay on the ground not moving, he didn¡¯t recognize who as all of their suits were the same, so he enabled name tags on his visor and it showed Dr. Vasquez and no vital signs coming from his suit. James froze for a moment and the creature slammed into him from the side, its horn scraping James¡¯ side, luckily it hit the heavily armored part of the suit and didn¡¯t pierce it, but James once again found himself on the ground with an aching pain all over his body.
Chief Hugo Lawson and his team were the first ones that have shaken off the initial shock and started fighting creatures, after all, they were soldiers and most of their training focused on combat or flying. Hugo used the suit to its fullest potential dancing around the battlefield with enchanted speed and using thrusters to quickly change directions. He quickly realized that creatures were pretty straightforward with their attacks, charging head-first into the enemy. So he waited for the one that was focusing on him to charge again and as soon as it did, he charged back.
The creature looked straight at him with its orange glowing eyes and just before they were about to clash the creature lowered its head and pointed its horns toward Hugo. Hugo used his thrusters to avoid being impaled and fired an energy blast from the suit¡¯s right sleeve into the creature¡¯s neck. The creature stumbled and was visibly hurt by the blast so Hugo seized the moment and attacked the creature. The suit had the option of turning its blasting energy into an almost solid object like a hammer, knife, scalpel, torch, or similar tools that were supposed to be used when repairing ships. He used most of the energy and created what almost looked like a sword that shined bright from blue energy.
Hugo attacked the same spot he hit with the blast and impaled the creature with his energy sword. The creature let out an inhumane roar and stumbled onto the ground. Just to be sure, Hugo repeated the attacks with the sword a few more times.
His team had a similar idea, and it took them a little bit longer but they were defeating creatures that were focusing on them one by one. Scientists, on the other hand, were scrambling for their life, most of the were barely dodging attacks and ran around the valley, and one of them lay on the ground, not moving. Hugo noticed that James was not running but tried to fight the creature, but he found himself on the ground, the creature above him.
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Hugo removed his sword and started blasting energy projectiles at the creature that was at top of Captain James. He ran at the full speed gaining the creature¡¯s attention. It turned towards him and started running at full speed. Hugo wanted to repeat the same thing he did just a minute ago so he ran at full speed at the creature waiting for it to bow its head, but that moment never came, the creature kept looking at him while charging. Hugo tried to dodge and repeat the attack anyway, but as he slid to the right side, the creature turned its head and switched directions launching Hugo into the air. Hugo flew some ten meters before colliding with the ground hard, luckily he managed to engage the thrusters mitigating his fall.
By the time it took him to regain his focus, the creature engaged James once again. The Captain kept running around and firing the blasts from his right arm but it didn¡¯t do any damage. Their points must be their necks and joints, possibly the underbelly.
Hugo stood up and started blasting once again, knowing it would not do any damage to the creature but it would get its attention. Once again he found himself running head to head with the beast, but this time knowing that creature would not bow its head, so moments before colliding he slid through the ground below the creature once again making a sword and cutting the creature open from its neck down towards its belly. The creature fell to the ground behind him and Captain James helped him up.
Hugo¡¯s team was able to defeat several more creatures, so now they found themself with a great number of adventures. Hugo relayed everything he noticed over the comms and lead the attack against the remaining creatures. It took them less than five minutes to defeat them all, creatures were adopting fast, but human numbers provided them with a great advantage.
Once all the creatures were downed, they all rushed towards the unconscious man, Dr. Vasquez, who went down at the start of the battle. James hoped that Doctor was just unconscious and that suit malfunctioned, but the pool of blood next to him spoke a different tune. The creature that attacked Dr. Vasquez managed to impale him through the weak point on the suit, right at the armpit, and cut him open towards the abdomen. Some of the scientists along with Hugo, who knew field medicine, tried to help the Doctor, but it was too late, James had lost his first crew member.
James turned away from his crew as something tightened in his gut and he felt nauseous. He tried to gather himself, they needed a captain now.
¡°Captain, captain¡¡± Chief Lawson¡¯s voice echoed over the comms and James snapped out of it.
¡°Yes, Chief,¡± James said his voice cracking.
¡°We can not reach the ship, comms seem to be down,¡± Hugo said.
James tried to contact Pegasus himself, but there was nothing, only silence over the comms. He pulled the radar on the display of his suit and tried to find a sign of the ship on the radar. Zooming out of the planet he saw a blinking dot that showed Pegasus who blinked away from its original position, and four Hornets scattered around the space. What was going on? He tried contacting Pegasus again, but nothing.
He turned towards his crew, pushing the anxiety and nausea away, and before he could talk his radar started blaring, a swarm of red dots appearing behind the hill. A few moments later hundreds of creatures appeared at top of the hill, they were completely surrounded. Panic took over once again, as they all looked around.
¡°We need to blast that hatch and get underground, clear the area¡± Chief Lawson yelled.
The explosion echoed over the valley and they rushed towards the hatch. As the dust settled they looked for an opening, but the hatch was undamaged. Chief Lawson scrambled for more explosion but he stopped dead in his tracks as a stampede of creatures rushed down the hill.
James watched in horror, ¡°Can we break through towards our buggies?¡± He asked Chief Lawson.
¡°Let¡¯s try, it¡¯s in that direction,¡± Hugo pointed. ¡°My team and Captain let¡¯s take the front and try to break through, rest of you behind us and watch our backs.¡±
Creatures were already halfway down and James knew deep down that there was no way they would break through, but he took his position anyway, there was no harm in trying.
¡°Get ready,¡± Chief Lawson said. ¡°And-¡±
Before Chief Lawson could finish a loud buzzing filled the air around them and creatures stopped right in their tracks. Seconds later the buzzing grew uncomfortably loud and the Alien structure came alive with orange light. The light spiraled out of the ground towards the top of the half-arches that were protruding towards the sky.
They were all stunned, only once he turned around James noticed that the hatch had opened.
19. Unwelcome Guests
¡°Get inside,¡± Chief Lawson yelled. ¡°Get into the shaft.¡± But James stood still at the sight of the creatures that froze like they were glanced at by Medusa, still alive but unable to move.
By the time James came to his senses, most of the scientists had already entered the hatch, and Chief Lawson was yelling solely at him. James remained frozen for a few more seconds before he snapped out and ran towards the hatch, Chief Lawson following a few steps behind him. There was a ladder leading to a small platform some ten meters below. Two of the remaining scientists were using the ladder, but James and Chief Lawson knew that with the suits and help of the thrusters short jump of ten meters was nothing, so they jumped down and joined their team before the last scientist let go of the ladder.
James looked around but could not find any buttons, doors, or levers; the walls around them were naked, nothing but yellowish alien-looking moss that had grown over time. Moments later, the creatures started moving again, like someone flipped a switch and came after the hatch. Panic spread across the crew as Chief Lawson and his team prepared to fight the creatures in this pit. Getting stuck in this pit now seemed like a not-so-smart move.
Moments later, one of the creature¡¯s heads poked above, and they all started blasting it with their suits, but it was ineffective as more and more creatures peaked over at them.
¡°I am going to try and lure them away somehow,¡± Chief Lawson yelled over comms. ¡°Use that time to try and find a way in. There must be a reason why the hatch opened.¡±
¡°It¡¯s a suicide mission, and we don¡¯t even know if there is anything below,¡± James answered.
¡°I don¡¯t see another way,¡± Chief Lawson said, but before James could protest further, a loud sound of metal grinding on metal filled the pit, and the hatch above them closed.
It was complete darkness for a few seconds before the light flickered and lit the pit, now a metal box. Before they could process what was going on, they felt the floor beneath them disappear. It startled James, he thought someone had removed the floor, and they were in free fall. Only after looking down and seeing his boots were still on the same floor did his brain process the fact that they were in some elevator. Less than a minute later, the lift stopped, Chief Lawson and his team looking around for any threat, ready to combat it head first.
Wall behind James hissed and slid apart, spilling into a dimly lit hallway.
¡°What the hell is this,¡± Chief Lawson asked.
¡°No idea,¡± James answered, stepping in front of the scientists towards the hallway.
Chief Lawson stopped James with a hand across his chest. ¡°Let me, Captain,¡± Chief said and gestured his team to follow in tight formation. James nodded and followed closely behind, telling the rest of the crew to follow closely.
The hallway was comfortably wide. Five people could easily walk next to each other, which was almost twice as high. There was only one way to go, so they followed the hallway forward for five hundred meters, their suits keeping track of the distance and location. James enabled one of the suit options to track their position and map their surroundings.
¡°Stop,¡± Chief Lawson said.
¡°What is it, Chief?¡± James asked.
¡°Never mind, it¡¯s just a shadow.¡± Chief Said. ¡°The hallway splits in two shortly ahead. Follow us.¡± Chief Lawson said and gestured his team ahead.
James reached the splitting a few seconds after Chief Lawson and his team. The left side seemed like a ded end, another greyish wall without any markings, handles, or anything, while the right side led into a bigger room, an opening. Chief Lawson gestured forward without a word and held his arm in front of him if he needed to engage the enemy. James knew it was the right way, but he could not hide the fact that it looked ridiculous. Chief Lawson was a military man, they learned to sweep the rooms with guns, and he held his arm in a similar position even though there was no gun. There was no need for one at the moment as the suit could produce enough energy blasts for small combats. They made big guns for ground combat, but they were heavy, and this planet was supposed to be long dead.
Chief Lawson entered a massive room with high ceilings and started sweeping it for enemies. To James, it was apparent there wasn¡¯t anyone here in eons, but Chief had to do his job. This huge room was primarily empty, dust covering most of the staff left behind. It seemed to be some laboratory left behind in a hurry.
While Chief Lawson and his team cleared each corner and all the side rooms away, James started exploring independently. All the equipment left behind had markings in an Alien language that his visor had problems translating. Qhiks did mention that the Ellads language was not fully figured out. Scientists quickly spread around the room and started exploring on their own.
James walked into one of the rooms with two beds on the far wall, or at least he guessed those were beds. The room was lit only by the lights coming from the main room and hallway, so James used his suit¡¯s night vision to look around. He found pieces of equipment, picked them up from the table but quickly returned them, he had no idea what they were for, and there were people here that knew what to do with the equipment found there.
James was lost in his thoughts, slowly exploring the room, when his night vision flashed brightly. It took him a few seconds to realize what was going on. Someone had turned on all the lights, and not only them. Most of the equipment that lay dead only seconds ago was buzzing with various sounds now and coming alive.
¡°Who did that?¡± James said as he rushed out of the room he was exploring.
¡°It wasn¡¯t ut,¡± Chief Lawson said, and the rest of the crew confirmed shortly after.
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¡°It was me,¡± An unfamiliar voice said.
¡°Who said that?¡± James asked.
¡°Me,¡± The voice said. ¡°I said that, and I turned everything on.¡±
¡°Where are you?¡± James asked, looking around the room, unable to spot anyone. ¡°Show yourself!¡± James yelled while Chief Lawson was directing his squad on the other side of the room to look for the source of the voice as well.
¡°I can not show myself as I, how to put this, do not really have a body.¡± The voice said. It sounded human but was still a bit out of place.
¡°What do you mean you don¡¯t have a body?¡± James asked, unsure where to look, so he fixated his eyes on the ceiling. It felt natural to him.
¡°This might be easier for you,¡± The voice said, and one hologram jumped out from one of the pieces of equipment in the middle of the big room. The hologram showed randomly colored shapes that jumped in rhythm with the voice as it spoke. ¡°Now you can see me somewhat.¡±
¡°What are you? Are you Ellad?¡± James asked, now looking directly at the hologram.
¡°No, huh,¡± Voice said and let a sound similar to a laugh. ¡°I am Artificial Intelligence that Ellads created.¡±
James stood silent for a moment, looking at his crew members, who were all as confused as he was. ¡°How are you still working? Aren¡¯t Ellads dead for eons now?¡±
¡°I was asleep. A few millennia ago, I put myself to sleep when it became clear that Ellads were not coming back. I was so lonely; I could not escape this solar system,¡± The AI said. ¡°I set the timer to wake me up every fifty years to see if anything has changed, but something malfunctioned, so thanks for waking me up, humans. That¡¯s what you call yourself, right?.¡±
¡°Yes, we are humans. How do you know that?¡± James asked.
¡°I went through your suits and ship data to learn as about you as I could. That¡¯s why I was a little bit too late, and you had to fight off my guard dogs, as you would say, both here and in space,¡± the AI said.
¡°You control those creatures outside. Why did you attack us?¡± Chief Lawson joined the conversation.
¡°Yes, I control all planetary and solar system defenses on top of many other things,¡± The AI said. ¡°And I am sorry about that. It was a long sleep. Some things were left on automatic, and it took me some time to regain full control. I also had to see who you were and if you meant harm.¡±
¡°We don¡¯t mean harm,¡± Captain James said.
¡°I know that now. I saw that you have Ellads DNA inside of you. You must be one of their child races, and by the level of your advancement, I would guess you are one of the newer ones,¡± The AI said. ¡°So, what are you doing here?¡±
¡°The Qhiks sent us,¡± James said. ¡°Long story short, we were attacked by one race called Kraz¡¯ox, saved by another called Anoi, then somewhat freed by Qhiks who gave us a brief history of the universe and shared some of their previous technology with us, but we have to do some exploring for them, and that¡¯s why we are here. Qhiks want to know what happened with Ellads, and we are doing the work.¡±
¡°Interesting,¡± The AI said. ¡°The Qhiks, you say. Hmm, never liked them, but yes, they are indeed descendants of Ellads, same as you, but you have far more similarities with the Ellads than them.¡±
¡°Before we continue, our ship is in orbit. Is it intact? Is my crew ok? Also, comms do not work at the moment. Did you do that?¡± James asked.
¡°Ohh, sorry, yes, I blocked the comms instructively.¡± The AI said and buzzed for a moment. ¡°There you, restored. You can contact them now, they are fine. They destroyed a few of my drones. You are a feisty race, aren¡¯t you?¡±
¡°Well, we beat your monsters on the ground, and they beat your drones in space, so you are not really good at your job.¡± Chief Lawson added.
¡°Ohh, don¡¯t think so highly of yourselves. I was barely functioning on twenty percent of my power as I was rebooting.¡± The AI said. ¡°And they barely beat ten ships, and you barely beat 10 of my guardians. I have thousands more in orbit, and you saw just a fraction of the army on the surface. So do you want to go for round two, Chief?¡±
James excused himself for a second while Chief Lawson and AI did a measuring contest. Entering one of the smaller rooms away from the noise, he tried to contact Pegasus, and this time it went thru. One of the bridge staff answered his call and quickly got Chloe, who apparently was in battle herself. They did a quick recap, her telling him that no one in space was injured and that they only suffered minor damage to the ship, nothing that couldn¡¯t be fixed in a few hours.
Unfortunately, James informed her that they were not as lucky as some creatures attacked them and that Dr. Vasquez was killed in the conflict. He explained where they were now and that they stumbled onto an ancient AI that acted too human for his liking. They exchanged a few more sentences on what to do, and James went back to the large room.
¡°Ok, two of you, it¡¯s enough,¡± James said. ¡°AI, we need some answers and information about Ellads. What do you know?¡±
¡°I need answers as well. I know very little. I was asleep for a long time, remember?¡± AI said, and James could swear he heard a condescending tone in AI¡¯s voice.
¡°So you are useless to us, is what you are saying?¡± James provoked the AI.
¡°Ohh, wow, that is rude.¡± The AI said. ¡°I still have far superior knowledge from Qhiks of everything that happened up until the point I went to sleep and compared to you. Hmm, let me find a human analogy,¡± The AI buzzed for a few seconds. ¡°Ah yes, I am to you as you are to, hmm, let¡¯s say, fly on the wall. No, even worse, you are like ameba!¡± Yes, that¡¯s perfect cooperation! If I were a human, you would be an ameba, a simple organism, ¡° The AI said and produced a sound resembling a human chuckle.
James and Chief Lawson shared a look. This AI was strange, the look said. Before James could think of an answer to such a provocation, the AI buzzed again.
¡°Uh-oh,¡± The AI said in a weirdly human tone.
¡°What is it?¡± Captain James asked.
¡°We have a visitor,¡± The AI said. ¡°How much do you know about The Void humans?¡±
¡°We know as much as Qhiks shared with us,¡± James answered. ¡°It¡¯s basically the opposite of the Source, which is what Ellads used, and it seeks everything the source touches to destroy and devour it.¡±
¡°Hmm,¡± The AI hummed. ¡°That pretty much sums it up. The Void is bad, like really really bad.¡±
¡°Yes, we know it,¡± James said, and a thought popped into his head.
¡°By the look at your face Captain, I think you figured out who our guest is,¡± The AI said. ¡°The Void is entering this system as we speak.¡±
¡°But why?¡± James Asked. ¡°We didn¡¯t use the Source in our technology.¡±
¡°That would be my mistake,¡± The AI said. ¡°Some of our defenses and planetary structures use the Source, and instead of selectively waking up only the ones that don¡¯t use it, I awoke everything, my bad.¡±
¡°Fucking hell,¡± Chief lawson cursed in frustration.
¡°How much time do we have before it¡¯s here?¡± James asked.
¡°3 hours and 25 minutes,¡± The AI said.
¡°Well, we better hurry up and go,¡± James said. ¡°Note everything you can in the next 25 minutes, and we leave,¡± James instructed his crew.
¡°You have to take me with you,¡± The AI said. ¡°Don¡¯t leave me here to get devoured by that thing. I need to know what happened to my creators, I can help you get the answers you need, and maybe together, we can stop that thing from doing any more harm.¡±
¡°Hmm,¡± James considered for a second. ¡°How do we take you with us? Haven¡¯t you infiltrated our systems already?¡± James asked.
¡°Yes, I did, but I can not stay there. I can infiltrate, but Ellads made some restrictions. I can not replicate myself without a host inviting me in first,¡± The AI said. ¡°Like a vampire, you need to invite me into your home.¡±
¡°You are beyond weird,¡± Captain James said. ¡°Fine, I think we can use you.¡±
¡°Great, great,¡± The AI said. ¡°Invite into your ship.¡±
¡°No, that¡¯s too much control. We don¡¯t know you like that still.¡± The Captain said. ¡°You are welcome into my suit and only into my suit operative system.¡±
¡°Fine,¡± The AI made an annoyed gasp. ¡°I am coming in.¡±
20. Parasite
¡°We gotta go people, hurry up.¡± Captain James yelled over the comms.
¡°We have plenty of time, relax. Let them get everything I said. We will need it.¡± The AI, now part of his suit, said directly to James.
They already had three arguments in less than five minutes. One of them is for AI not to interrupt him while speaking to his team.
¡°God damnit, I am already regreting the decision to let you in!¡± James said with a sign of frustration.
¡°Calm down Captain, your vitals are off the charts.¡± The AI said. ¡°You will get a heart attack.¡±
James just sighed, arguing with the ancient AI was pointless so he continued to gather some of the machinery that AI instructed him to. He picked up a grayish box that weighed at least fifty kilograms, but with the suit¡¯s help, it was like picking up a child¡¯s toy. James fiddled with the box, switching it from under one arm to another.
¡°Easy there Captain,¡± The AI echoed inside his suit once again. ¡°It¡¯s a delicate technology, don¡¯t break it!¡±
James did not bother to answer as he stood at the entrance of the alien laboratory, his heart racing as she checked the remaining time before Void would devour this entire solar system.
¡°Come on, people,¡± James called out once again, ¡°we need to move faster.¡±
His team was scattered throughout the lab, grabbing as much equipment as they could carry. But they were moving too slowly for his liking.
¡°We¡¯re almost done here, Captain,¡± the AI replied, with an annoyingly cheerful voice for a machine. ¡°But we need to be careful. Some of the equipment is delicate. And some of you are real grunts.¡±
A short time after AI was finally satisfied with everything they could carry away and Chief of Security Lawson instructed his team to escort the expedition out of the lab towards the hatch, while he and Captain James waited for everyone at the door.
¡°That¡¯s everybody,¡± Chief Lawson said and Captain James nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±
They raced out of the lab, moving as fast as they could while carrying this additional load. The AI reassured James that there was plenty of time, but the only thing that was on Captain James¡¯s mind was void, it hunting him in his dream and the rest of humanity under the paw of Kraz¡¯ox on Earth. If they fail here if the void engulfs them what would be the faith of Humanity? James did not trust the Qhiks in the slightest but he and the others, including Chloe, Meng, and Luitenant William saw a way out of this mess through them.
Front of the expedition led by Charlie one of Chief Lawson¡¯s most trusted team members quickly reached the elevator that would lead them to the surface. The team quickly filled the large platform some of them resting the equipment they carried on the ground.
¡°How do we activate the elevator?¡± James asked the AI.
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¡°Just a second,¡± The AI answered, and the elevator buzzed into function.
¡°Wait!¡± Chief Lawson yelled. ¡°What about the monsters on the surface?¡± Lawson directed the question at the AI but looked straight at Captain James.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about them, they are good boys as you humans would say.¡± The AI answered throughout the comms so everyone could hear him. ¡°They will help us.¡±
The elevator ride was short. James could not even gather his thought before they reached the surface. To his surprise, the menacing creatures they fought a short time ago now were playful, running around the hatch, crashing into each other, and most importantly ignoring them.
¡°I see where your ship is located.¡± The AI said. ¡°We are going to use Qholops to carry both you and the equipment.¡±
¡°Qholops?¡± James asked.
¡°The big dogs with spikes and horns you see here Captain.¡± The AI answered.
All of a sudden Qholops stopped playing with each other and turned towards the team, slowly gathering around them. Chief Lawson did not like that and prepared his blasters aiming them toward the monsters.
¡°What¡¯s going on Captain,¡± Chief Lawson asked.
¡°The AI said they are going to help us,¡± Captain James answered.
The creatures lay on the ground, like a Camel did when it was about to be mounted by a person, and retracted most of their spikes.
¡°Go on, climb the Qholops,¡± The AI said through the comms.
¡°I am not climbing that thing,¡± Chief Lawson said. ¡°It killed one of our own and we have buggies right around the hill.¡±
¡°First of all, I am sorry about that,¡± The AI said, actually sounding sorrowful. ¡°That was unfortunate, the Qholops are programmed to defend this planet against all threats. Now you are not a threat anymore and they are here to help. Second of all, you don¡¯t have buggies anymore they were destroyed while you fought them here and even if they were not, riding these creatures is the fastest way towards your ship.¡±
Chief Lawson reluctantly agreed and the expedition slowly mounted the creatures carrying the equipment in their hands.
¡°So these are also robots?¡± Captain James asked the AI.
¡°Robots? Not exactly.¡± The AI answered. ¡°They were biological life form that was infused with the orange stuff you call Source and some simple programming. When not under the influence of the program they act like normal animals, but once something happens that triggers the code, they act accordingly.¡±
Qholops carried them toward their ships via a different route, but the AI assured James it was the fastest way.
¡°Why can¡¯t I reach my ship?¡± Captain asked. ¡°Are they ok?¡±
¡°Oh, sorry Captain. I jammed your signal. It¡¯s lifted now.¡± The AI said. ¡°They are fine, they fought some of my drones and won somehow, impressive for such a backward species.
¡°Does every compliment have to come with an insult with you?¡± James asked the creature before trying to contact his ship. ¡°Pegasus, this is Captain James speaking. Do you copy?¡±
A few seconds later familiar voice finally came through, and James felt instant relief. ¡°We can hear you loud and clear Captain,¡± Chloe said. ¡°Are you guys ok, what the hell happened?¡±
¡°You won¡¯t believe me when I tell you,¡± James said. ¡°We are on our way up soon and then we will talk, we do not have time to waste the Void is here.¡±
¡°We know, we saw it,¡± Chloe said. ¡°We were just debating how long to wait for you guys before we leave, we lost your signals some hours ago after the comms went down.¡±
¡°You should have already left,¡± Captain James said. ¡°But thanks for waiting for us. See you soon in person.¡± James closed off the comms towards the Pegasus and informed the expedition that their ship and crew members were fine.
¡°She sounds lovely,¡± The AI said. ¡°I already like her.¡±
¡°Unlike you, she really is,¡± James said. ¡°I have to give you a name so I can cuss you off accordingly. For now, I am thinking parasite.¡±
¡°Because I don¡¯t have a body and need you to survive?¡± The AI said. ¡°That¡¯s clever Captain, maybe even slightly funny.¡± The AI tried to imitate a laugh.
A few minutes later they were at their landing site and their ships were not harmed. The AI said if it took him a few minutes longer to wake up the ships would have been gone too.
They boarded the equipment and fired up the engines in a hurry.
¡°We are on our way,¡± James said to the Pegasus over the comms.
21. The Plan
James pondered everything that happened ever since they left Earth on Pegasus. The dreams, Alien artifacts, the AI. Their mission was a success but was cut short by an unexpected threat of the Void. The Void had entered the solar system they were in and was heading straight for them.
The journey to the Pegasus was fraught with tension. The Void was closing in fast, and every second counted. James''s mind raced with thoughts of the safety of his team, and the fate of their ship as well as humanity as a whole.
When they finally caught sight of the Pegasus, Captain James felt a rush of relief. The ship was waiting for them some short distance from the original destination. They quickly docked their ships and boarded Pegasus.
¡°It¡¯s good to see you, Captain,¡± Chloe said, ¡°What happened down there?¡±
¡°Good to see you too Chloe,¡± James said with a smile. ¡°Weird things, what¡¯s status with the crew, is everyone ok?¡±
¡°Everyone is ok at our side, we had a small skirmish here. We were attacked by the alien platforms defending the planet, but they went idle once again.¡± Chloe said.
¡°So I¡¯ve heard from our new friend,¡± James said.
¡°New friend?¡± Chloe asked curiously.
¡°We found an ancient AI in the lab down on the planet,¡± James said. ¡°He controls most of the things on and around the planet. He asked for a ride, so we brought him with us.¡±
¡°Where is he?¡± Chloe asked.
¡°Inside my suit,¡± James asked. ¡°For now.¡±
¡°Hello Ms. Chloe,¡± an unfamiliar voice said directly to Chloe through comms. ¡°I am the ancient AI in question, we really don¡¯t have time to further introductions now with Void being after us and all.¡±
¡°Hello,¡± Chloe said. ¡°I agree. Let¡¯s get out of here.¡±
¡°Captain,¡± The AI said. ¡°Your ship is rather big, do you mind if I bring a few of my controlled drones, the old ones without the source so void doesn¡¯t follow us,¡± AI asked.
¡°I guess we could use any help we can get,¡± Get them inside but hurry up.
¡°They are already at the door, just open the hangar door,¡± The AI said.
James agreed and allowed almost thirty AI-controlled drones to dock in his ship¡¯s hangar. James rushed to the bridge and ordered the ship to move away from the void before they decide on the location for their jump.
¡°Where to Captain?¡± Chloe asked him.
¡°Can the void follow based on our hyperdrive?¡± James asked the AI.
¡°No,¡± The AI answered. ¡°It¡¯s only able to follow the source. But just to be sure we should jump two or three times once we leave this system to cover your tracks.¡±
¡°I was thinking the same thing,¡± Chloe added.
¡°Yeah¡¡± James said with a sigh.
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¡°Where do we even go?¡± Chloe asked. ¡°We can not get to Earth just like that, the Kraz¡¯ox will be waiting for us.¡±
¡°Well¡¡± The AI said through comms for everyone to hear. ¡°I can help you get rid of the Kraz¡¯ox occupation, but I will need something in return.¡±
¡°How? and what?¡± James asked.
¡°I need you to help me find out what happened with my creators, I need a ship and a crew. And also I will need you to build me a body.¡± The AI said.
¡°How would you help us get rid of the Kraz¡¯ox?¡± Captain James asked.
¡°Well¡ I was thinking we visit a few of the old Ellad¡¯s systems.¡± The AI said. ¡°I will start my investigation of what happened to my creators and build you an army from whatever I can find of the old technology without the source.¡±
¡°And you are sure you can beat them and liberate Earth?¡± James asked.
¡°I could probably beat them with a little modification to Peagasus.¡± The AI said and the crew shared a few looks with each other, the offer was tempting.
¡°How do we know you won¡¯t betray us once we reach the next Ellad system?¡± Captain James asked.
"I will keep my end of the bargain, Captain James," it said. "I know what your situation is, I kinda feel sorry for you Earthlings with everything that happened to you in the past few years."
¡°Let¡¯s just jump away and we the crew will talk about it and make a decision.¡± Captain James said ordering the crew to prepare for the jump to a nearby system.¡°
Once they arrived at their new destination Captain James had given them all time to consider the offer before convening a meeting in the ship''s conference room.
"I know this is a lot to take in," Captain James said as she sat at the head of the table. "But we have to decide whether or not to take the AI''s offer. I want to hear your thoughts on the matter."
The crew exchanged glances, each one weighing the pros and cons of the proposal. The AI had promised to help them get rid of the Kraz''ox, but in exchange, it required their assistance with an unknown mission, getting them deeper and deeper into the secrets of the universe and everything it held.
"I''m not sure about this," Chief Lawson said, his brow furrowed in concern. "We don''t even know what we''re dealing with here. For all we know, the AI could be leading us to our demise."
"I agree," Eric chimed in. "And even if we gather an army there is no guarantee we can free Earth, maybe we anger them even more and make our lives back home a living hell."
The room fell into a moment of silence as the crew considered the risks. But then, XO Chloe spoke up.
"Look, I understand the concerns," she said. "But we''ve been searching for a way to get rid of the Kraz''ox ever since we created our division. And if this AI can help us do that, then we owe it to ourselves to try."
The other crew members nodded in agreement, and Captain James smiled.
"I''m glad to see that some of you are open to the possibility," He said. "But we still need to be cautious. We don''t know what we''re getting ourselves into."
The crew spent the next few hours discussing the AI''s proposal, weighing the risks and benefits of accepting it. In the end, they decided that the potential rewards were worth the risks, and they agreed to move forward with the plan.
¡°So¡¡± James said to the AI. ¡°We accept your offer but under a few conditions.¡±
¡°And those are?¡± The AI asked.
¡°Liberating Earth is our priority, we go and gather an army of your ships and drones and as soon as we have enough we go and get rid of the Kraz¡¯ox, and then and only then we go and help you with whatever you need.¡± Captain James said. ¡°I will personally go with you and stay with you as long as you need.¡±
¡°Deal,¡± The AI said. ¡°What about my body?¡±
That was not a focal point of their earlier discussion and giving a body to an unknown ancient AI felt dangerous, but James agreed, one problem at the time.
¡°Where to?¡± James asked the AI.
The system the AI gave the coordinates to was in a remote and desolate area, far from any known civilization. According to the AI that was the System the Ellads used way before they started experimenting with the source and was abandoned due to its location, being far from every other system Ellads populated and it was not worth building gates for this alone system.
The AI calculated their jumps to the shortest amount of time. The trip there and back to Earth with all the jumps, missions there, and a few other stops before they gather an army would take at least six months if everything goes according to plan.
James did not like abandoning the Earth for that long, but they had no other choice, he managed to convince himself this was the only and best way for the future of humanity.
22. The Far Away
As Pegasus left the Solar System and Kraz¡¯ox returned from the fake threat the humans instigated, things changed for the worse for humanity. As soon as Kraz¡¯ox realized that something had left the Solar system while they were occupied with the threat and that one of their scout ships was missing on top of that, they started investigating everyone.
Meng felt a knot form in his stomach as the Kraz''ox interrogated him and the other members of the International Space Station. He knew that they were looking for answers about what had happened that day, who set up the false alarm of Anoi ships and he feared that they would discover the truth about the Pegasus and their secret base on the South Pole.
Meng and others had been instructed to keep their involvement in the Pegasus project a secret at all costs, but with the way Kraz¡¯ox had been pressing them, Meng feared someone would break eventually.
Despite the fear that gripped him, Meng remained calm and collected during the interrogations. He stuck to the story that they saw real Anoi ships and just sounded the alarms, if anything shady was going it was the work of the Anoi, that they somehow hacked their systems.
Days turned into weeks, and the tension on the International Space Station continued to mount. The Kraz''ox were becoming increasingly aggressive in their questioning and general behavior towards humans.
Mens was not allowed the leave ISS and go back to Earth, but he had heard from various sources that the Kraz¡¯ox were not as friendly as they once were. There was no tolerance toward humans anymore, there were more and more conflicts between humans and the occupiers and the Kraz¡¯ox were not merciful anymore, best case scenario you were sent to one of the remote work camps or killed in the conflict.
The situation of the South Pole Statio did not change much. Luckily for them, they were not discovered by the Pegasus launch so they continued with their work further. By the time Pegasus left they were almost halfway done with the second ship, called Vanguard. The only thing that has changed is that they have kept contact with everyone outside the station at a minimum. No one was allowed to leave the Station nor come in before Pegasus returned.
*********
Captain James and the crew of the Pegasus had been traveling through the vast expanse of space for what felt like an eternity. As they flew through the inky blackness of space, the days and nights began to blend together into one long, never-ending journey. The monotony of the voyage had begun to take its toll on the crew of the Pegasus, leaving them feeling isolated and alone.
Captain James felt a sense of dread gnawing at his gut as he thought about the people left behind on Earth. He couldn''t help but wonder what had become of them and whether they were safe under the Kraz''ox occupation. The thought of not being there to help them made him feel helpless and vulnerable.
The rest of the crew felt similarly uneasy. They all had families and friends back on Earth, and the thought of never seeing them again was a constant source of anxiety. Despite their fear, they knew they had a mission to complete, and they were determined to see it through to the end.
On their way toward the old Ellad system, the AI made several detours to abandoned space stations left behind by ancient civilizations. The AI collected all the data from the station in hopes of finding something he was missing on what happened to his creators. More important to Captain James and the earth was the fact the AI was also collecting old technology before the Ellads started using sources. They amassed a large fleet of drones and battleships and two large cruisers that they decided to leave behind and pick up on their way back to earth.
Captain James spent much of his time in his quarters, poring over maps and data provided by the AI. He was determined to make the most of the resources at his disposal, and he knew that every decision he made could mean the difference between success and failure.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the Pegasus arrived at the coordinates of the solar system provided by the AI. They scanned the area for any signs of life but found only silence and emptiness, no one was here ever since Ellads left the planet alone.
"Attention crew of the Pegasus," announced AI over the ship''s intercom. "We have arrived at the designated coordinates, and I am pleased to report that we have located the long-abandoned planet of the Ellads. Our scans have indicated that there are still remnants of their civilization on the planet''s surface, and I believe this could provide valuable insight into the fate of my creators."
Captain James nodded in agreement. "Understood. But before we go down to the planet, we need to make sure it''s safe. Are there any potential threats we should be aware of like the creatures on Eluphea III or your Drones and Stations around the planet, I have to ask one more time?"
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¡°Captain James, we have been over this a hundred times and I apologized even more,¡± The AI said trying to imitate boredom with his voice. ¡°There is nothing down there, this planet was used way before Ellads started using the source, so there is nothing but some animals on the planet.¡±
¡°Fine,¡± Captain James said. ¡°I had to ask, crew, let¡¯s get ready for the finale of our mission.¡±
The crew nodded in agreement and started making preparations to send a team along with the AI down to the planet''s surface in order. As they descended, they couldn''t help but feel a sense of excitement and curiosity about what they might find on this mysterious, abandoned planet.
This time they decided to only take one ship and bring no scientist with them. Just a quick in-and-out mission consisting of Captain James and AI inside his suit, Chief Lawson, and four members of Lawson¡¯s team. James once again left Chloe, his XO, in command of the Pegasus until they returned.
They descended onto the planet''s surface, their spacecraft hovering above the lush green forests and crystal-clear lakes. The moment they stepped out of the ship, they were greeted with the sounds of wildlife and the sweet scent of local flora.
"Wow, this place is beautiful," said one of Chief Lawson¡¯s crew members, awestruck by the scenery.
Chief Lawson nodded in agreement. "It''s hard to believe there are so many beautiful planets out there."
Captain James turned to the AI in his suit. "Are you sure we''re in the right place? I thought this planet was supposed to be devoid of all life, only a few animals and some vegetation scattered around the planet."
"Yes, Captain," the AI responded confidently. "This is the correct planet. But it appears that life has managed to thrive here after Ellads abandoned it."
James nodded, slightly amused at the AI''s surprise. "Alright then, let''s get to work."
The team carefully made their way through the lush jungle, following the guidance of the AI. The atmosphere was thick and humid, and the sounds of wildlife echoed through the trees. The team had their weapons at the ready, but the AI assured them there were no known threats in the area.
After a few hours of trekking, they finally reached the research facility. The building was overgrown with vines and moss and a pinkish plant James could not recognize, but the structure still seemed intact. They cautiously approached the entrance, scanning for any potential dangers.
As they entered the research facility, the team was met with a dimly lit hallway by the sun the shine through the windows and cracks in the walls. As they reached the first room out of the hallways the AI detected that a large amount of equipment was missing from the facility.
"Captain, it seems that someone has beaten us to this facility," the AI reported to James.
"Are you sure?" James asked, his grip tightening on his weapon.
"Yes, Captain. The equipment that was supposed to be here is no longer present," the AI replied.
James frowned, his mind racing with the possibilities of who could have taken the equipment. "Alright, let''s split up and search for any clues. Be cautious and report back to me if you find anything," he ordered.
The team split up and began searching the facility. As they moved deeper into the facility, they found more and more evidence that someone had been there, and to AI¡¯s surprise, it was recently. At first, James didn¡¯t notice it but with the guidance of AI, he noticed patterns in the strange Alien equipment and its missing pieces.
After a few hours of searching, the team regrouped to report their findings to James.
"Captain, I found this in one of the offices," Chief Lawson said, holding up a piece of equipment that did not look as old as the one in the facility.
James took the device and examined it. ¡°What is this, he asked the AI?¡±
¡°To be honest,¡± The AI said. ¡°I have no idea, there is no reference to this device anywhere in my database.¡±
¡°What do we do now?" James asked.
¡°I think it¡¯s best we leave right away,¡± The AI said. ¡°I found nothing in the devices I was able to infiltrate, finding the truth will have to wait. Let¡¯s go and liberate your planet I can see you were all on the edge, the whole trip.¡±
¡°What about this device?¡± James asked.
¡°Bring it,¡± The AI said. ¡°It might lead us to who was here before us.¡±
James nodded and the team quickly gathered what they could and made their way back to the ship. James'' mind was buzzing with questions and theories about who could have taken the equipment and what their intentions were.
After returning to the Pegasus, Captain James gathered the entire crew for a meeting to share their findings. They discovered that the research facility had been raided prior to their arrival, but it was unclear who or what caused it. However, the team did find an unknown device that even the AI couldn''t identify the origin of. It was clear that something was going on and the AI was right to come here, so they needed to be extra cautious on their way back to earth.
As the Pegasus prepared to leave this faraway solar system, the crew couldn''t help but feel a mix of excitement and apprehension about what lay ahead. They had a long journey ahead of them back to Earth and once there was a difficult task of liberating their home world. Finally, they initiated the jump, and the stars streaked past as they hurtled through the vast expanse of space.
23. Crossroads
Meng had noticed another shift in Kraz¡¯ox''s behavior a few months after the Pegasus mission began. Along with the regular crackdown on humanity, interrogations, and constant check-ups, the Kraz¡¯ox seemed more nervous than usual, at least to Meng''s eyes.
He had seen a significant increase in the number of Kraz¡¯ox military ships entering the Solar System, positioning themselves at various strategic locations. When he attempted to ask the Kraz¡¯ox about it, they remained secretive, revealing no information. Despite having made personal friends with several Kraz¡¯ox over the years, even they kept him at a distance during these past few months, only reassuring him that he had nothing to worry about and that the military presence wasn''t aimed at humans.
Meng''s growing unease was shared by the rest of the team responsible for the Pegasus launch. The team became increasingly paranoid in the months following the first human ship''s departure as the Kraz¡¯ox crackdown and checks continued to intensify. Eventually, the ISS team decided to cut all contact with the South Pole Station to avoid any risks of the Kraz¡¯ox discovering the secret human base. If Captain James and the crew of the Pegasus failed with their mission, the team knew that the station''s second ship, which was close to being finished, might end up being humanity''s only hope for freedom.
*********
The journey back to Earth from the abandoned Ellad world where their mission had failed was tedious and uneventful. Along with traveling vast distances in space, they initiated jumps as soon as their drive was ready, all while feeling increasing anxiety and worry about how to liberate Earth. They had put all their trust in the Ancient Ellad AI to help them free Earth with the aid of the old abandoned Ellad technology.
Captain James became less certain of their mission after the AI''s failure on the distant Ellad planet. However, the AI reassured James that he could easily dismantle and destroy the entire Kraz''ox army, even if they sent every last ship they had at their disposal. The AI claimed his intelligence exceeded anything humans, Kraz''ox, or any other species could comprehend.
As they traveled back, they acquired a large Ellad cruiser ship, a class Destroyer with heavy weaponry that AI thoroughly checked, along with hundreds of smaller drones and scout ships. In addition, they picked up two slightly smaller attack vessels than Pegasus. Their fleet to liberate Earth from Kraz''ox occupation now consisted of Pegasus, one enormous cruiser, one destroyer, and two attack vessels.
They named the large cruisers Eclipse and the class destroyer Nova, while the two smaller attack vessels were called Thunderbolt and Vindicator.
Once they reached the dead zone of space, where no permanent civilizations existed according to AI, they conducted military exercises using one of the planets in the star system as a mockup of Earth. The AI used all available information about Kraz''ox ships and positions to create simulations, expanding some of his drones to resemble Kraz''ox vessels. They conducted three exercises in five days, with the AI taking one day to set up the next test and recalibrating the drones to make each test more challenging.
In the first exercise, they managed to eliminate all the Kraz''ox ships but lost Pegasus, Eclipse, and both Thunderbolt and Vindicator in the process. The second exercise was also successful, but this time they lost Eclipse and Vindicator. In the third exercise, they only lost Eclipse. The large cruiser ship Eclipse was a problem because it had huge weaponry but was slow in close combat near a planet. Usually, they came in big armadas, with one or two large cruisers providing heavy fire cover while dozens of destroyers and smaller ships covered large space beasts.
After finishing the exercises, they resumed their journey back to Earth, with one month separating them from their biggest battle yet. The team once again found themselves in the conference room, the meeting called by the AI himself.
¡°Captain James,¡± the AI opened the meeting in a solemn tone. ¡°I have a suggestion that you might not like.¡±
Captain James sighed inwardly. Quibble had always been an annoyance, but he had also been an invaluable asset to their mission. They had argued for well over three days before James finally gave the AI a name, and "Quibble" seemed to fit due to his tendency to quibble over everything James said. The name had stuck throughout the ship.
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¡°What is it, Quibble?¡± James asked, trying to sound patient.
¡°I think it¡¯s best if we send two or three people to each of the ships,¡± Quibble said. ¡°Yes, I can run everything, yes, I am almighty, but I need monkeys to physically press buttons for me. I think that way we can save all the ships and liberate the Earth almost certainly.¡±
James raised an eyebrow. ¡°Where is this coming from?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve run simulations based on the training we have done,¡± Quibble continued. ¡°And if there are people on four of our big ships doing the tasks I assign them, I can focus more of my power on drones and other things, and we can win the battle easily.¡±
James looked around the room, trying to gauge what everyone thought, but their tired faces gave him no clue. ¡°Fine, I guess, if you say it will help.¡±
¡°It will,¡± Quibble said, trying to sound reassuring. ¡°I want Chloe and Eric on Nova. I want Chief Lawson and Roanne on Eclipse.¡± Quibble continued to assign two more members to each of the attacking vessels.
James checked with the crew, but they had no objections to it if it truly helped them liberate Earth easier and not lose any ships in the process. All of them knew and were willing to accept the risk of boarding the old Ellad ships and going into a battle with them.
Over the next few wekks, Quibble worked tirelessly, teaching the crew members about their assigned ships and the tasks they were supposed to do. He went over every detail with them, drilling them until they could perform their duties in their sleep.
With seven days left until they reached the edge of the Solar System, they punched in the final sequence of jump coordinates and prepared themselves for the battle of their lives. The ship hummed with anticipation as they hurtled through space.
Once they reached the edge of the Solar System, they would send one of the Ellad drone ships piloted Quibble to send the secret signal message to ISS and SPS that they were back and that they had brought the backup.
******
Meng awoke to alarms blaring all across the new International Space Station. Meng''s heart raced as he hurried through the dimly lit corridors. Alarms blared all around him, signaling danger. He could hear the frantic footsteps of other crew members rushing to their stations, but he had no idea what was happening.
He caught hold of a passing Kraz''ox and demanded an explanation. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He yelled so the alien could hear him over the alarms.
"They are here," Kraz''ox replied, his voice urgent. Without another word, he broke free from Meng¡¯s grip and sprinted down the hallway.
Meng''s mind raced. Who could possibly be arriving in the Solar System? Was it the Pegasus, is Captain James and the crew back? He shook his head, trying to think clearer. It was unlikely, but the possibility nagged at him.
When Meng arrived at the main room, he found a group of humans gathered around a screen displaying a live feed of the Solar System. Their faces were etched with worry, and Meng''s heart sank.
"What''s going on?" he asked, his voice strained.
"Some ships just jumped into the Solar System," a lanky man with messy hair answered. Meng couldn''t remember his name, but it didn''t matter. "We don''t know whose they are yet." The man continued
Meng''s mind whirled with possibilities. As the crew scrambled to gather information and prepare for the worst, Meng couldn''t shake the feeling that something was off.
He gathered all the people that were familiar with the South Space Station program and the Pegasus launch and decided to break the radio silence towards the SPS. He orders everyone to meet in his quarters in fifteen minutes.
Seven of them gathered and hurdled around in Meng¡¯s quarters.
¡°Are you sure you want to do this?¡± Nathan asked. ¡°If we break the radio silence now, they can track us if the alarm is for nothing.¡±
¡°I think it¡¯s for the best,¡± Meng answered his heart racing.
¡°Alright,¡± Nathan said and continued to type on his pad. Less than thirty seconds later they had an established connection with South Pole Station.
¡°South Pole Station, do you copy?¡± Meng said. ¡°Meng here, here do copy?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± The voice crackled through the comms. ¡°We can hear you, what is going on?¡±
¡°Kraz¡¯ox is on high alert, alarms are blaring all blaring all across the ISS, do you have any information as to what is going on?¡±
¡°We are seeing the ships enter the Solar System, but we do not have visuals yet.¡± The response came from the SPS. ¡°One of our satellites will be in a position to get visual in less than a minute.
The minute that followed felt like an eternity to Meng and his crew. They waited with bated breath as they listened to the silence on the other end of the line. Finally, after what seemed like an agonizingly long time, the voice on the other end spoke up again.
"Meng, we have visual confirmation," the voice said, and Meng felt his heart sink. He something bad was coming next.
"It''s the Anoi Armada," the voice continued. "They''ve entered the solar system. We''re picking up thirty or more battle-ready ships."
Meng felt a wave of despair wash over him as the reality of the situation sank in. The Anoi were back with an armada and if they had come all this way, it could only mean one thing: they were looking for a fight.
¡°Wait,¡± The voice from SPS said. ¡°We are picking something else, a message.¡±
¡°What message?¡± Meng asked anxiously.
¡°It¡¯s Pegasus.¡±
¡°What?¡± Meng was shocked. ¡°Where are they?¡±
¡°Wait for a second, decrypting the message.¡± The line went silent for a few seconds. ¡°They are saying, we are back and we have our own fleet. We see the Anoi and the Kraz¡¯ox, we are liberating the Earth today, get ready to help!¡±
Meng felt a wave of euphoria wash over him. ¡°It was a damn time,¡± Meng exclaimed. ¡°Let¡¯s get ready to help our boys and girls and free our planet!¡±
24. Battle For Earth
The Pegasus comms crackled to life, and Quibble''s voice sounded urgent. "On your mark, Captain."
James surveyed the radar and read the scouting vessel''s reports. He allowed Quibble to use the comms freely during the impending battle. "We wait a little bit more," James said, his voice low and serious. "Let them fight each other. As long as the Earth and the ISS are in danger, we wait."
His eyes darted across the screen as he searched for any new developments. The tension in the air was palpable, and James couldn''t help but worry about the safety of the Earth and the ISS. He knew that they had to be patient and wait for the right moment to strike.
"Aye, aye, Captain," Quibble responded, his voice crisp and professional. "I am going to get closer to the Earth. I doubt they will notice me as they are busy fighting each other."
James nodded in agreement. "Go ahead."
Quibble piloted the scouting ship with ease, and it zipped towards the Earth. James watched with bated breath as the ship drew closer and closer to their home planet. The blue and green hues of the Earth''s surface filled the screen, and James couldn''t help but marvel at its beauty.
As the ship approached, James noticed Kraz¡¯ox reinforcements that were coming in from their nearby sectors. They positioned at least a dozen of them around the new International Space Station, their new command center for this system. Some of his anxiety was washed away knowing the fact that Kraz¡¯ox would defend Earth and the ISS as if it was their own due to their own people being there.
He tore his gaze away from the screen and looked around the bridge of the ship. The walls were lined with computer consoles, and only the swift movements of the crew could be heard. James could see the determination etched on his crew''s faces as they waited for his command.
"Steady on," James said, his voice echoing through the ship. "We wait for the right moment.
********
¡°Meng, what is the word?¡± Lieutenant William Grant crackled through the device.
¡°We are still waiting for more instructions from Pegasus,¡± Meng said. ¡°They said they brought backup and are ready to fight both of them.¡±
¡°Keep me posted,¡± Lieutenant William Grant said.
¡°Of course sir,¡± Meng said and cut the call. Meng had said some of his crew to spy on the Kraz¡¯ox that were occupied with the battle. As he awaited reports his device buzzed again. He was about to get frustrated with another call when he saw an unknown id that said, the savior of the human race.
Meng accepted the call. ¡°Who is this? How did you reach me on this encrypted device?¡±
¡°Easy peasy,¡± an unkown voice said. ¡°Your encryptions are child''s play for me.¡± The voice said laughing. ¡°This is God calling, I am here to help.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t have ti-¡± Meng began saying but the unknown caller cut him off.
¡°Oh my, easy there. You humans are so tense under pressure,¡± The voice said. ¡°I am the mighty AI that Captain James found on their mission. He says hi. We are here to help you liberate yourselves from these pests.¡±
¡°An AI? What?¡± Meng was beyond confused in this mess of a day.
¡°Yes, yes Mr. Meng,¡± Quibble said. ¡°Captain James found me and we made a deal, I will help him liberate earth and he will help me with my thing. I am bringing several ships and a lot of drones.¡±
¡°So, what¡¯s the plan?¡± Meng asked still unsure if this was some kind of trick.
¡°Captain James is waiting for the right moment, he wants them to waste each other first before we jump in,¡± Quibble said. ¡°I am here to keep an eye on things. Well, I am both here and there, I that good.¡±
¡°Makes sense,¡± Meng said. ¡°What can I do to help?¡±
¡°Do you have any additional information we could use?¡±
¡°I sent some of my crew to spy on Kraz¡¯ox. I am still waiting on those.¡± Meng said.
¡°As soon as you get them, forward them to me,¡± Quibble said. ¡°I am going to continue circling around.¡±
Meng took a deep breath trying to calm himself and got up from his seat to go investigate some on his own.
******
¡°Anything new?¡± Captain James asked.
¡°Same as when you asked 20 seconds ago,¡± Quibble said annoyingly. ¡°They are fighting each other, earth and the ISS are safe for now.¡±
¡°Any news from Meng?¡± James asked.
¡°No,¡± I am still waiting Quibble said. ¡°Wait, he is calling me.¡± Quibble hummed for some reason over the comms for everyone to hear, a tune familiar to James but he couldn¡¯t place where he knew it from.
¡°Good news and bad news,¡± Quibble continued. ¡°Which one do you want first?¡±
¡°Just tell us,¡± James said frustration building in his voice. ¡°What is wrong with you?¡±
¡°Oh my, relax Captain.¡± Quibble knew James hated when they told him to relax, so he had to do it. ¡°Good news is, all of the humans are safe and they have no idea we are here.¡±
¡°What¡¯s the bad news,¡± James asked before Quibble could continue.
¡°Bad news is, Kraz¡¯ox will get back up soon,¡± Quibble said. ¡°Two big armadas are nearby, one will arrive in three to four hours, the other one within the next ten hours.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not good,¡± James said pondering his next step. ¡°I think we should act now.¡±
¡°About damn time Captain,¡± Quibble said imitating the sound of crackling fingers.
¡°Is everyone ready,¡± James asked and confirmation came from everyone almost instantly. ¡°Quibble takes us in,¡± James said proudly, and the AI engaged the hyperdrive.
Pegasus appeared close to the earth, but on the other side of the conflict. James quickly looked over the radar and gouged their situation. He noticed a small skirmish of three Kraz¡¯ox destroyers and their smaller ships, battling Anoi Cruiser and two Destroyers near them.
¡°Seeing what I am seeing Captin?¡± Quibble asked.
¡°Yep,¡± James said. ¡°That¡¯s where we announce ourselves. Everyone get ready¡± James paused for a second and took a deep breath. ¡°Go, Quibble has the command now, listen to him, I will overrule him if he tries anything stupid.¡±
¡°Nice trust there Captain,¡± Quible said mockingly. ¡°Everyone, we had practiced this, I am doing most of the heavy lifting here, just follow my instructions and we will run through them with ease,¡± Quibble said trying to sound motivational. ¡°On my mark, three, two, one, go.¡±
Pegasus shook as Quibble drove it full speed toward the small skirmish. James watched in awe as Quible fired up a swarm of his drones and rushed them at the Anoi cruiser. The AI positioned Elipse far back as a heavy support, he didn¡¯t want to jeperdisy it in a small squirmish, Destroyer Nova and Peagasus went straight ahed at the enemy, wihle two smaller attack ships Thunderbolt and Vindicator were flanking the enemies from both sides with the sawm of drones.
It was visible that both the Anoi and Kraz¡¯ox were surprised by the sudden appearance of Peagasus and four unknown ships. They ceased fire for a second and before they could react Quibble¡¯s drones started barraging the Anoi ships. Kraz¡¯ox noticed that and took what they thought was an unexpected ally to start fighting the Anoi again.
Anoi ships took defensive formation and started firing at Quibble¡¯s drones and two attack vessels, but Quibble¡¯s piloting was immaculate. Not a single drone was lost before he managed to disable both all of the Anoi ships. They made a deal, if it¡¯s possible Quibble would go for the enemy¡¯s drive and weapons to disable the ships and would only turn to full destruction as a last resort.
As both of the Anoi ships were immobilized James felt a wave of reassurance that this crazy plan could actually work.
¡°Captain, the Kraz¡¯oxs are hailing us,¡± Troy said looking over from his chair next to James. Troy was appointed as XO in the absence of Chloe and Eric who Quibble put on the Nova for the battle.
¡°Put them through,¡± James said.
¡°Do you want me to talk to them?¡± Quibble joined in the conversation.
¡°No, I¡¯ll handle this you focus on the fighting,¡± James said. ¡°You take us into the main battle,¡± James said to Quibble. ¡°Troy, open the comms toward the Kraz¡¯ox,¡±
¡°Yes, Captain!¡± She said and pressed a few buttons in front of her.
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An unfamiliar voice echoed through the bridge. ¡°This is Kraz¡¯ox cruiser ship, Admiral Treoiuox speaking, please identify yourselves!¡±
James cleared his throat before answering. ¡°This is Captain James Barnes of the first human interstellar ship Pegasus I!¡± James made a short pause. ¡°We are here to help clear the Anoi thread and then we will talk further,¡± James said with a confident voice.
¡°First human ship?¡± Confusion could be heard in Admiral Treoiuox''s voice. ¡°Where did you get one and what are those other ships, we don¡¯t have them in our database?¡± Admiral asked.
¡°No time to explain now,¡± James said. ¡°We need to use the advantage of surprise we have, continue fighting the enemy all the same, and we will take care of the business,¡± James said and cut off the comms.
¡°That was¡ so cool of you Captain,¡± Quibble said half-jokingly. ¡°We will engage in the main battle in less than a minute, everyone get ready to follow my command if necessary,¡± Quibble said and reorganized ships into a new formation not letting Anoi get any tactical advantage from the previous skirmish.
Quibble easily weaved in and out of the enemy fire, using the five bigger ships only as a cover for the drones. One by one the Anoi ships were destroyed or incapacitated and left floating in space. A few of the remaining Anoi ships started to full-back down and initiate hyper-jump away from the Solar System and the Quibble allowed them to do so, he wanted survivors to tell the story of what happened here today to the rest of their civilization.
With the Anoi threat gone, they were left to deal with the original enemy, the Kraz¡¯ox. ¡°Any ideas what to do next, Captain? Start fighting right away or?¡± Quibble asked, his voice betraying a hint of excitement.
James furrowed his brow, deep in thought. ¡°Let¡¯s try to talk with the first and see how they react,¡± he said, trying to sound as confident as possible. He turned to Troy. ¡°Open the comms back towards Admiral Treoiuox and the Kraz¡¯ox cruiser.¡±
Troy nodded, his fingers dancing across the console. ¡°Comms are open, Captain.¡±
¡°Admiral, this is Captain James speaking,¡± James said, his voice echoing through the bridge. ¡°We have helped you clear the Anoi threat and we would like to speak peacefully on where to proceed from here. Please disarm your ships, and we will do the same.¡±
The bridge fell silent as they waited for a response. A tense minute passed before a crackling voice filled the air.
¡°Pegasus battleship, this is Admiral Treoiuox speaking,¡± the voice said, deep and commanding. ¡°I have the authority to speak with you openly. We would like you to power off your ships and allow us to board you.¡±
A wave of anxiety washed over James at the request. ¡°Once that is done we can talk freely,¡± the Admiral added.
James hesitated, unsure of what to do, before he could think of an answer Quibble joined the conversation but made himself muted towards the Kraz¡¯ox. ¡°I don¡¯t think we should allow them to do that,¡± Quibble said. ¡°We have the upper hand, tell them to leave Earth or power their ships down, if they refuse we fight,¡± Quibble continued.
¡°I am afraid I have to agree with Quibble,¡± James said and the rest of the crew nodded knowing well what it meant. James waited for a moment before speaking to Admiral again. ¡°Admiral Treoiuox I am afraid we can not do that. We are here to liberate the earth and we have two options. You can power off and disarm your ships and we can talk about some sort of a plan for your departure from the Solar System and resolve this peacefully or we can fight and you can suffer the same faith as the Anoi.¡± James said trying to sound unsettled by the words he was saying.
Thirty seconds passed and no answer, then a minute, then two, and before a five-minute mark as the tension was almost visible in the bridge Quibble finally spoke. ¡°Captain they are firing up their rail guns, I am starting the evasive maneuvers.¡± And as Quibble finished dozens of blasts from Kraz¡¯ox railguns rushed towards the Pegasus and the crew.
Quibble was caught off guard by the blitz attack from Kraz¡¯ox but he managed to evade all but one of the railguns. Nova was hit badly, James immediately opened the comms, but not before instructing Quibble to start fighting them. ¡°Chloe, Eric are you ok?¡± James asked, and as he waited for the answer, a knot formed in his stomach.
¡°Captain we are ok,¡± Chloe¡¯s voice came through. ¡°Both of us are good, minors scratches, but the ship is done,¡± Chloe said panting.
¡°Those motherfuckers,¡± Quibble said. ¡°I am sorry for not reacting better, they will feel my wrath now,¡± Quibble said and launched all the remaining drones that were left behind.
He stormed Admiral Treoiuox¡¯s ship first with most of his drones and cover fire from the Pegasus. Kraz¡¯ox changed formation trying to guard their admiral but Quibble navigated his drones with easy, finding the smallest cracks and their formation and sacrificing drones where it was necessary. Several of the drones broke through defenses and found them selves eye to eye with the enormous Kraz¡¯ox ship.
Qubbile knew there was no point in firing at the ship, so he targeted vital parts of the Kraz¡¯ox command vessel and suicided the drones.
¡°Their drive, comms, and navigation is fried,¡± Quibble said. ¡°Let¡¯s take care of the rest.¡±
There was a brief applause on the bridge before the crew returned to their station and overlooked the battle Quibble was masterfully leading. Just when the victory was in the sights as Quibble disabled the vast majority of the Kraz¡¯ox ship radars and alerts started blaring across the bridge.
¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± James asked unable to find any information on his screen.
¡°Wait for a second,¡± Troy said switching screens frantically. ¡°There,¡± He said pointing toward the hologram in the middle of the bridge.
James took a look at the hologram and saw a large fleet of the Kraz¡¯ox ship. There must have been hundreds of them flying straight at earth. It was the backup Kraz¡¯ox called in order to deal with the Anoi. They expected them but this was almost half of their total ships coming to help, the numbers were overwhelming.
¡°Are you seeing this?¡± James asked worry etched into his voice.
¡°Yes Captain, I am not blind,¡± Quibble said.
¡°Any ideas?¡± James asked unsure of what to say.
¡°Yes, millions,¡± Quibble said. ¡°I will need you all to take control of the ships for new minutes until I focus my whole capacity towards the solution,¡± Quibble said. ¡°Don¡¯t die and don¡¯t destroy my ships.¡±
James was caught off guard but quickly snapped out of it. ¡°Everyone at your stations and get ready,¡± James said to the crew on the bridge and the rest of the crew on the other ships. ¡°We evade their attacks until Quibble figures something out.¡±
Confirmation came across the comms. ¡°I think it¡¯s best we separate,¡± James said. Everyone takes their own side, we will try to lure them away.¡°
James flew the ship away from the Earth and towards Mars. Most of the Kraz¡¯ox ships flew after them some following Eclipse and two remaining ships. The fleet that was left was not an issue as Quibble dismantled most of them, but the reinforcements were quickly closing in.
In less than five minutes the reinforcements fully closed in on them and started firing at the Pegasus. James managed to evade most of the hits but was getting surrounded as he flew the ship toward Mars.
His only way out was closed by the sudden appearance of the Kraz¡¯ox cruiser that came out of the hyperjump. ¡°Shit,¡± James said. ¡°We are fully surrounded, Quibble we need help right now.¡±
¡°A few minutes more Captain,¡± Quibble said.
¡°We don¡¯t have a few minutes,¡± James yelled but Quibble said nothing.
James looked for a possible way out as the ship started taking damage. Its shields were still holding, but it was a matter of minutes before they completely gave out and it was done for the Pegasus. He scanned the area and found one of the flanks guarded only by two smaller Kraz¡¯ox destroyers and several scout ships.
¡°There, James said poting at the radar.¡± Fly us there and concentrate all the fire on the smaller destroyer.
The crew shifted and darted around the bridge and Pegasus changed course for ninety degrees flying towards the opening James saw. They concentrated all the fire on the vessel James marked and managed to hit it several times but in the process, their shields were done and they started taking heavy damage.
They needed to destroy the other attack ship before they could escape, but with their shields down they needed to focus fire on the upcoming missiles in order to stay alive.
As they neared the point of no return, their railgun was damaged beyond repair and the remaining gun power was not enough to break out of the Kraz¡¯ox circle.
A wave of despair washed over James as he watched his crew¡¯s faces, they all knew what was going to happen in a matter of seconds and they had no other way out.
¡°Quibble now or we are dead,¡± James yelled and almost instantaneously the remaining Kraz¡¯ox destroyer was destroyed in a flash of light blue light. ¡°About damn time, James said and the crew cheered as they broke out of the Kraz¡¯ox circle.
¡°It wasn¡¯t me,¡± Quibble said.
¡°Who was it then?¡± James asked the incoming transmission blinked on the screen and James accepted it immediately.
A familiar face appeared on screen, Lieutenant William Grant flashed a welcome smile. ¡°This is Lieutenant William Grant acting captain of a second human interstellar ship Vanguard speaking.¡±
¡°God damn it¡¯s good to see you, Lieutenant,¡± James said unable to hide his excitement.
¡°What¡¯s the plan, Captain?¡± William asked.
¡°We are wai-¡±
Before he could finish Quibble finally joined in the conversation. ¡°Got it,¡± He just said and took control of the ship. ¡°Vanguard follow me back towards the earth.
¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± James asked.
¡°You¡¯ll see in a minute Captain,¡± Quibble said.
¡°We almost died and you didn¡¯t help us,¡± James said angrily.
¡°I saw Vanguard coming to help you and calculated it was enough for you to survive before I finish what I was doing.¡±
¡°Why didn¡¯t you say anything then?¡± James asked frustration building inside him.
¡°I love dramatic moments Captain,¡± Quibble said. ¡°When they make a movie about us, this scene is going to be so good.¡±
¡°Stupid bot,¡± James exclaimed, but let it go, for now, it was time to win the battle according to the ancient AI.
It took them ten minutes with all of the Kraz¡¯ox armies on their tail to regroup with the remaining ships and Quibble¡¯s drones. The Pegasus took the most damage by far but it was still functioning.
¡°Ok, watch this,¡± Quible said and stopped all of the ships in the tracks and rushed all of the remaining drones at the Kraz¡¯ox armada suiciding one by one. He crashed each drone in front of the Kraz¡¯ox ships but none of them were dismantled they kept on firing and coming at Pegasus.
¡°What are you doing?¡± James asked frantically. ¡°We are all going to die.¡± He yelled.
¡°Now, now Captain, a little trust,¡± Quibble said as the Kraz¡¯ox ships neared them.
¡°Three, two, one¡¡± Quibble said and all of the Kraz¡¯ox ships powered down at the same time. ¡°Ta-da,¡± Quible said as James watched in confusion.
¡°What happened? What did you do?¡± James asked.
¡°Miracle, Captain,¡± Quibble said imitating a chuckle. ¡°When I crashed at the Admirals Treoiuox¡¯s ship I managed to infiltrate their systems and their core. Their ships are not run by AI, but it does most of their automated functions for them.¡° Quibble said.
¡°And so I made hundreds of copies of myself, a lot dumber of course, and inserted them into the drones with only one goal. Once they crush into the Kraz¡¯ox ship they would look for a way to hunt down and destroy their AI giving me control of their fleet essentially.¡± Quibble continued. ¡°So in short, we have full control of their ships and the remaining Anoi ship we incapacitated earlier I took my time to infiltrate them as well.¡°
¡°Woah,¡± James said. ¡°That¡¯s actually impressive Quibble, even for you.¡±
¡°Oh thank you, Captain, you will make me blush,¡± Quibble said. ¡°There you go, Earth is safe as I promised! What do you want me to do with all of them?¡±
¡°Can you force a transmission to all of the Kraz¡¯ox and Anoi ships?¡± James asked.
¡°Yes of course, what do you have in mind?¡± Quibble asked curiously.
¡°You will see, give me a second,¡± James said and composed himself. ¡°Open the transmission and record me speaking.¡±
¡°Aye, aye, Captain,¡± Quibble said. ¡°We are ready!¡±
James cleared his throat, put on a serious but friendly expression, and started.
¡°Dear Kraz¡¯ox and Anoi, I will need you all to listen very carefully now. You all have been played and have been fighting a proxy war for species older than all of us, who do not care for your civilization a single bit and see you as ants. They are fighting a war almost as old as the universe itself and are running away from an unimaginable terror I have seen with my own eyes¡¡± James continued his speech explaining everything they have discovered so far from the Qhiks to Ellads and their enemies and the threat of the Void itself, hoping to find a reason with the two alien species with a common enemy that can devour them in a matter of seconds.
25. Epilogue - What the future holds!
Marcus sat in his Manhattan office, gazing out at the spot where Kraz''ox had landed almost four years ago. Quibble, an ancient AI, had chosen Marcus to lead one of the divisions tasked with learning more about the AI and how Ellads and other ancient civilizations had used them.
Quibble had only given them a small portion of his code, less than 0.5%, but it was unlike anything Marcus and his team had ever seen. The scale and language were unimaginable to anyone prior to Quibble''s release of the code.
As Marcus read through his team''s reports, he was interrupted by Adrian, his new colleague from the office next door.
"Hey, we''re about to leave," Adrian said, peeking through the doorway. "Are you coming with us?"
Marcus took a moment to look up and respond. "Sure, let me just finish up here. I''ll meet you in front in five minutes, okay?" Adrian nodded and left.
On top of giving them a small portion of his own code, Quibble released all the documents on various research even with the heavy protest from earth¡¯s governments. The AI did not like how Earth¡¯s system of government was set so he released it to the public, without truly understanding how humans and humanity work he did not fully understand the possible consequences of his action.
Amongst millions of documents released, there were instructions from zero on how to terraform planets, build floating cities, and make artificial gravitational fields on asteroids, ships, and space stations. The released documents also included numerous medical and other advancements that would help humans prolong their life spans and make their life easier, from cures to most of the known diseases to efficient and renewable sources of energy to simple things like easy water filtering systems that turn any water source into a hundred percent drinkable.
Quibble had a good idea in his mind, but humanity did not work like that, the vast majority of the human race couldn¡¯t do much with those documents. That¡¯s why governments, big corporations, and wealthy individuals were already in a race toward the new world order.
Marcus closed his laptop and walked out of his office to join his friends. They were headed towards the ceremony in the central park where Captain James, maybe the most famous human at this point in history, would be crowned admiral of the new Galactic Federation led by humanity and its other two founding members Kraz¡¯ox and Anoi.
Three species fought a battle that nearly wiped out all their fleets six months ago and now they were officially forming their own alliance. Two other races were set to join now, former allies of Anoi, the Trox, and Poyours.
The negotiations were long and tiresome before the two warring races were presented with undeniable proof that they were fighting a proxy war for ancient species and decided it was best they joined forces for now with Humans as intermediates between them.
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The park was packed with guests and reporters, but Marcus and his friends had seats near the front row as part of the AI research team. The podium was empty as they found their seats but quickly a young woman took the stand, she was part of the new United Nations that incorporated almost every country in the world, and only a few declined to join to this day.
She briefly went over the day¡¯s program and introduced the next speaker, Earth¡¯s ambassador. Marcus thought that title was a little bit far-fetched and surely a man in his late seventies was not the best choice for the ambassador of Earth. But he had a soft and professional voice and an aura of calm around him as he spoke on goals and future plans for humanity and their new federation.
A few more speakers swapped on the main stand before a thunderous sound broke the boredom of the crown as Pegasus I, the first human interstellar ship, broke into the atmosphere and hovered above the crowd as the crowd broke into cheers. Minutes later a smaller ship, the one used for landing, left Pegasus and landed behind the podium.
The girl announced Captain James Barnes and his companion the ancient AI Quibble and the crowd gave them a standing ovation. Quibble was originally part of Captain¡¯s suit, but after the battle, they built him a body of sorts. For some reason, he was not allowed by his programming restrictions to have a humanoid body, so by his instructions, they build him a half-meter cube that could shift and change its looks.
Captain James walked onto the podium with Quibble in his new form hovering slightly behind him and accepted his new role, as the first official and highest-ranked Admiral of the Galactic Federation.
¡°Thank you,¡± Admiral James said as the crowd¡¯s cheering died down slowly. ¡°Thank you for your trust!¡± Admiral James took a deep breath and continued.
¡°My fellow humans, Kraz''ox, Anoi, Trox, and Poyours, and all other beings present here today, I stand before you humbled and honored to accept the position of Admiral of the Galactic Federation. I don¡¯t know if I am the most qualified person for this job, but I will certainly give my best with every second on the job!¡± He said taking a short pause to compose himself.
¡°As we embark on this new chapter in our history, we must remember that we are not alone in this universe. Our actions affect not only our planet but also the entire galaxy. We must take responsibility for our actions and work together to create a better future for all who are part of this Federation and even those who are not.¡± A small applause broke out but James continued.
¡°As we work towards our common goal of peace and prosperity, we must also remember the lessons of our past. We must learn from our mistakes and work to ensure that they are not repeated. We must strive for equality and justice for all, regardless of species or background. The formation of this Galactic Federation is just the beginning. We must continue to work together, listen to one another, and build a better future for all. Let us take this opportunity to unite and create a brighter tomorrow for ourselves and for all those who will come after us.¡° The crowd broke into cheers once again as Admiral James and Quibble left the podium.
Marcus found himself on the list of special guests who were invited to the gala later in the night. He didn¡¯t feel like going, but his position demanded his presence there.
He pondered the words Admiral James said, they had a huge burden on their shoulders now as a species. But Marcus worried about the history of violence of the human race and the inability to be united through Earth¡¯s history it was only a matter of time before humanity realized what power they held. He worried for the future of his kids and what the unknown held for them. He wanted them to have a normal life, but that timeline was long gone and he and the rest of humanity had to accept that. It was time to adapt and do his best to help navigate humanity in these uncharted waters.