“Just one more thing.” Sapphire paused for a moment like she was searching for the right words. “You said that there was someone here that could help me control... “She trailed off and looked abashed.
“Oh yes, I almost forgot. Corban is a fire elemental also. I am sure he would be happy to help you learn to control your fire bending.” Kiyan made a mental note to tell Corban about the situation. Sapphire looked relieved but still a little worried.
“I don't think you will burn anything before then.” Luke took a visible form. “Until then I can stay with you to put out any accidental fires.” Luke snapped his finger and a light rain began to fall around them. “This room is outfitted for watering the plants so it should work as a fire suppressant as well.” Seeing a satisfied look come over Sapphire's face Kiyan shook his head and activated the teleporter. Kendra and the commander of one of the other vessels were talking and hardly glanced up as Kiyan materialized.
“We only found a few dozen ships hiding in an abandoned system.” The reborn drakken managed to capture a clone archive on one of the ships. The Thoran that Kiyan had never met was describing the events of the last couple days.
“I didn't expect find many ships but not that few. I can't believe that we had managed to weaken the dark lord that much. If he had any plans of returning with a show of strength he would need thousands of clones to crew the ships.” Kendra mused on the new information.
“We did find something curious. It would appear that when the dark lord evacuated, he sent several hundred ships into a star. All we have to verify that is the sensor logs on one of the ships. We have scanned the star to find out if they had used it as an energy source for a gateway of some sort but we find no anomalies. Just a few molten blobs of drakken metal about to be consumed by the star.” The thoran shook his head like he wasn't believing what he was saying himself. “It makes no sense to destroy even a fleet that small. I know that when they first invaded they marshaled fleets in the thousands but a fleet of a few hundred ships could still cause havoc.”
Kiyan had been half listening and half thinking about other things as the conversation progressed. His thoughts were drifting between Terra and what to do for her to make up for his sudden disappearance and the updates that Alec kept sending about the changes in the atmospheric lab. The AI seemed annoyed that Sapphire had undertaken redesigning the entire place. Kiyan smiled to himself when one of the newest reports indicated an increased efficiency and processing capacity of the lab. He was looking at a schematic of the new tree locations when the image of ships pouring through the portal reminded him of the current conversation.
“Do we have any ships guarding the portal?” Kiyan had a nagging worry in the back of his mind.
“We control the sector. Even if there were more drakken to crew the ships they couldn't get close enough to the portal to get on board.” The thoran looked over Kiyan as if for the first time. “Besides you killed Vagneur, the only dark lord in this universe so there isn't any one to command them should they get a crew.”
“Vagneur?” Kiyan was confused for an instant. “No we killed Corsav. Is there another dark lord?”
The thoran's facial scales paled slightly. “Two cycles ago while you were gone we captured some drakken vessels. In the data banks of one was a communication about a command from Dark Lord Vagneur.”
“Please tell me there are sensors monitoring the portal.” Kendra leaned forward expectantly.
“Of course. I set the sensor grid up personally. It kept alerting me every time a new ship came through but they were all just hulks without a crew so I set the sensors to scan for organic matter since none would be coming through the portal. Here let me double check to reassure you.” Kendra was still leaning forward but didn't look as intense. The thoran laid a hand on the table and opened a connection from his ship. The glimmering edges of the portal glowed like shreds in the fabric of space behind the projection that appeared. Illuminated fan like sweeps crossed and crisscrossed the sector as the scattered drones scanned for organic matter. Nothing else was shown in the image. The thoran tapped a few buttons and the sensor sweeps rapidly covered every inch of the sector. Kiyan didn't see anything and began to relax a little until he looked back at the thoran. The thin scales near his eyes had turned pure white and the general shade over his face was pale.
“There should be dozens of ships here.” The thoran tapped the buttons several times but nothing new appeared. With each tap the sensors made mad sweeps across the sector but nothing turned up. “I know there was at least a dozen ships there earlier today.” There was a frantic tone in the thoran's voice. Suddenly the portal lit up and began to spew hundreds of ships into the sector. Shooting into the empty space they drifted for a moment before the watchers saw flashes of light from the drives initiating.
“It’s impossible. There can't be any drakken near enough to board those ships. My scanners can pierce their cloaks.” There was silence and a shocked look on the thorans face when several of the ships turned from the main group and headed towards the dots representing sensors. The ships lit up when they came within range and the sweeping scanners went dark. Only a couple remained online long enough to show the ships disappear into a warp frame.
“But how?” The thoran finally managed a couple words to break the silence.
“A mechanical crew.” Kiyan knew Kendra had seen the same vision as he had when she said what he was thinking. “The drakken have never used androids but it stands to reason they could assimilate their imprinting technology. Kiyan, do you have any idea where they could be heading? There aren't any ships close enough to follow them into subspace.”
“I don't think I know.” Kiyan racked his brain thinking. He felt like he knew the answer but couldn't place it. The only fleet movement that he had any foreknowledge of was..... “Kendra, what is the earth date?”
“I think it is late January in the year 2015. You don't think...” There was a hint of a desperate look in Kendra's eyes. “What do you know?”
“When I was on that mission to save Merlin, I met the old Merlin. He gave me a warning about when the year 2015 was new. He said the sky would rain fire. He said that he had been told to tell me that by Arthur a long time ago.” Kiyan stomped to his feet. “Why didn't I put the two visions together. I saw what they plan on doing to earth.”
“There is yet time. Earth is a long ways from here and our ships are faster.” Kendra tapped the table and opened a com channel with her own ship. “We need to move fast if we are going to make a successful ambush.” Kendra looked at Kiyan for a moment with affection before Alec informed him of the Athena's arrival and Kendra dematerialized.
“I feel this is my fault. I should never have underestimated the dark one's machinations. Allow me to redeem myself by joining you.” The thoran still looked pale but also ashamed.
“It is truly my fault. I have been seeing a vision of the ships coming through the portal but I never knew when they would strike. We will need every one we can get to help us defend earth.” Kiyan watched as the thoran nodded before disengaging his hologram and disappearing. The ability to appear in a conference room at great distances as if in person still amazed Kiyan. Hardly a minute passed before Kendra reappeared from her own ship. She was followed shortly by Theo and a couple dozen of the other commanders that were still in the vicinity.
“Here is what we know. We only killed one of two dark lords known to be in this universe. It would also appear that ships crewed with drakken androids has come through the portal.” Kiyan was glad that Kendra had volunteered to brief the assembled commanders. “The fleet escaped to warp and we weren't able to track them but we have Intel that earth is the target.”
“Earth is just one planet. We should hunt the dark lord and rid ourselves of him while we have the chance.” One of the other commanders spoke from the back of the room. Kiyan flinched at the words. He felt Theo and Kendra flinch also. The question struck a chord in his heart and he suspected it had struck a s
imilar chord in his parent's hearts also. He had spent several years of his life on earth. All be it a damaged timeline and not the happiest years of his life but he had happy memories also. There had been times when a kind soul had offered him a compliment or a scrap of food when he hadn't the money to buy his own. Kiyan scowled knowing his reasons for wanting to protect earth were purely personal. In the end it was Theo that broke the silence.
“Earth is known as a protected planet. It is our word as the protectorate that is at stake here. If you feel that hunting the dark lord is more important that protecting the weak then by all means take any who see this your way and go on your hunt.” The words left an icy chill in the air that made the alien commander shiver.
“You weaken us by making pledges to protect unworthy planets. I will have no part in your mistakes.” Kiyan scrutinized the commander. He was the first member of the Calhath race that Kiyan had seen. Yellow fur peeked out from under the uniform and covered most of the alien's face. A low growl ascended in the air before the calhathian disengaged his link and disappeared. A murmur arose in a half dozen different languages as the assembly discussed the proposal. In the end half of the people present disappeared as they made their choices.
“These small men will lose much glory in the battle that awaits us.” Kiyan recognized Seth the commander of the draconic vessel. He knew that Seth had been chosen as commander by the Assurian command so he commanded an Assurian battleship like Kiyan. Sadly that only counted five Assurian class battleships in the fleet. The rest were contributions by allied races. Few of which seemed to hold any respect for the pledges made by the protectorate. Many had been retrofit with Assurian tech and were mighty cruisers and frigates in their own right but they faced a fleet of the newest ships the drakken could offer crewed with machines. Kiyan sensed Luke and Alec calculating the possible affects this might have on the threat the fleet offered. Both the AI were convinced in that the battleships could stand but they differed on the possible outcomes of earth. Alec maintained that if they engaged the drakken it was possible that ships might get past them and unleash weapons like what Deep Current had discovered in orbit of the elven world. A single strike from such a weapon could devastate the planet.
“Tell me, if we win the war, will the timelines reset and this battle never have happened either way?” Seth posed a logical question.
“Time is soft around earth right now. Too many shifts had damaged the flow of time. Even if we win some of the changes could bleed through and tear the planet apart at the seams.” Theo had calmed down some since the calhathian had left but he still smoldered.
“Enough said. Let us continue this when we are in subspace.” Seth's hologram melted and was soon followed by the remaining commanders. When he was left alone Kiyan hardly had to send a thought towards Alec before the Avenger slipped into motion. Kiyan teleported to the bridge and updated Corban on what was happening. Kiyan began interfacing with the ship and watched as the small tiles that covering the floor in the center of the deck began to float into the air. In a few seconds the command interface chair hung before him. Kiyan took the seat and felt the tiles conform to his form.
“I've always wanted to see earth.” Kiyan heard Corban whisper as he completed the interface. For a second everything was dark as his mind melded with the ship. An instant later he could see everything. He saw or felt more accurately the control deck from outside of his body. The chair that supported his body slowly turned towards the front of the room. A protective force field flickered into place around him. Corban was still standing watching him but turned and stood in front of his console. A similar chair floated up under him and he took a seat. A second later Kiyan felt his first officer complete the interface. In normal operation Corban would have performed his duties without the interface but in a battle he could work ten times faster when he only had to think a command to make it so. Jeremy and Fred appeared and joined the interface.
One of the things that made these ships so powerful was that the commander, ship and crew could think as one unit. Kiyan was in charge but under him Alec dealt with a million things like charging the weapons and sustaining force fields and calculated aim and identifying targets. Corban was next to Alec but he worked more closely with Kiyan by helping pick the targets and overseeing point defense systems. Corban could fire weapons or pilot support ships depending on the need. Of course Alec helped where any one was lacking making everything flow as one unit. The rest of the crew was hardly more than Ray, Fred, Jeremy, Savos and Kronos but they played their part by developing and implementing new tactics to support the command unit. Their fighters would make daring strikes past the defenses of the enemy or they would play tricks, offer a smoke screen to help.
“Greetings.” Kiyan received a message from Theo as the Odyssey joined the Avenger's warp bubble. Once in the same pocket universe they were able to communicate freely ship to ship with their thoughts. Kendra's Athena joined shortly before the rest. Together their warp bubble sped toward earth.
“Let the battleships take the front. Our fighter squadrons will run interference and pick off any thing that slips past us. There are only five of us so rest assured there will frequently be plenty to worry about. After that I need all the smaller cruisers and frigates to take care of whatever is too big for the fighters to handle. Our drop ships will support us where our defenses grow thin and add to our overall firepower.” Theo began giving orders when the last of their group joined up. “My AI tells me that these drakken ships may well be more capable than any we have met to date.” Kiyan concurred that Atlas' calculations matched with Luke and Alec's.
“There will be a glorious fight then.” Seth relished the opportunity.
“Indeed. There will be more glory or gore than any of us has the stomach for before this is ended.” Kiyan sensed the name of the thoran he had spoken with at the beginning. The network told him that the thoran’s name was Alefgoren. Together all of their ships were able to warp space around their bubble increasing their speed several times over. Subspace was a layer of space that consisted of raw energy without any matter. Here one could create a pocket universe with a warp frame and use the subspace energy to manipulate real space causing faster than light travel without actually moving. They were like on an island as the sea parted ahead and closed behind. Unless one could track a signal from the pocket universe it was virtually impossible to track. Real space wasn't hardly affected at all by the manipulation. An outside observer still saw space as it was. The stretching and compression was only felt by the pocket universe. Outside one could be stretched a dozen miles from a door but he could still see the room as a room and could cross it in a few steps. It felt like what one sees when they watch something from under a rippling pond surface.
In more time than it takes to tell of the concepts the protectorate fleet dropped out of their warp frame and beheld the blue marble hanging in the inky void with its constant companion the gray moon. Kiyan opened a chink in the Avenger's armor and shot an exotic matter beacon out. This beacon would draw any warp frames in the solar system to that spot. Now they knew where their enemy would appear. Several of the smaller ships sped off towards earth. Kiyan knew they were going to lay a thick mine field behind earth so they could focus on defending one side. One of the ships, a thoran frigate scattered a dozen heavy weapon platforms to help care for any lucky enough to sneak behind the blockade and avoid the mine field. Despite their superior warp technology the protectorate fleet only had an hour to prepare for the drakken fleet. They assumed their formation and slipped under cloak to wait just before the drakken warp frame opened. A couple dozen ships came out first. Kiyan had been expecting more until he remembered the missing ships that Alefgoren had spoken of. That meant there were more waves coming. How many was a guess. The first ships had only just assumed a formation when the next wave flashed into sight. They joined the first formation and began closing in on earth.
“Drakken never assume a formation. They always have a common goal
or orders and take the fastest method of completing their task. This fleet should more resemble a swarm.” Kiyan heard Drovak speaking through the network confirming Kiyan's fear that this smaller fleet would pose a greater threat than the first fleet he had fought. If they attacked with the same calculating discipline that they showed with their formation then they were significantly more deadly than a swarm of ships ten times their number. Kiyan recalled that fight and knew that he could deal far more damage now than he had that first time in the interface. They had destroyed thousands of ships but a large number had been when that forced point singularity had entered the drakken warp frame when they tried to escape. The same feat probably wouldn't be repeated here. If these were machines then they had no fear. Only cold tactical reasoning.
When they came within range of the Avenger's discrete sensors Kiyan saw that these ships were studded with weaponry. Long rail guns stretched the length of several of the vessels and looked capable of propelling a projectile weapon at enormous speeds. Turrets were mounted covering all sides of the larger ships. The smaller ships were designed with maneuverability and fast high damage strikes in mind instead of speed of production. More scans told of carriers being protected at the back of the fleet. Closer and closer the drakken ships came. Kiyan detected elevated energy levels on the ships. They had already charged weapons.
Kiyan felt Theo holding everyone in the net under cloak until they could make the most out of their ambush. “NOW.” The order came and Kiyan deactivated his cloak and flicked on the shields at the same time. The Avenger was in the path of the approaching fleet and took the brunt of the first salvo from the prepared drakken. What little impacted the hull before the shields reached full power did little more than leave scorch marks on the heavy neutronium plates. The rest was either absorbed, deflected or neutralized by the shields. Of the three neutralizing was the most costly. The massive shield capacitors only dropped a fraction before the temporal generators replaced the spent energy. Fighters swept out of the hangers in waves and flickered their shields to the same energy frequency as the main shields before passing through. A few faulted and failed when they didn't avoid the concentrated fire being aimed at the five giant ships but most simply hid behind the battleships to wait their turn.