There is a bond of loyalty that exists between the House VonGrippen and the House of Taïr. It's a bond that goes above and beyond the loyalties that exist in the Empire, it is a bond of blood and of promises that have always been kept.
HMS Excalibur - Yeji-Sola System
"Good morning," Rikard purred.
Galadriel sat upright in her bed, turning to look at Rikard. "Not you, not again."
He stood beside her bunk, his hands in his pockets, shrugging his shoulders lightly. "I don't need to sleep. It provides me with a lot of idle time." He chuckled. "I take it you're about to call the Marines."
"And have you vanish again, so they think I'm crazy?" She pulled her legs up under her as she sat up, not even bothering to cover herself this time. Rikard could be damned for all she cared.
"Are you really sane?" Rikard asked charmingly, "You are talking to a ghost."
"No," she said, shaking her head, "A projection, or a physical manifestation, maybe. If the Prince can do it, you probably can..."
"Prince Edward is here?" Rikard asked, in amusement. "Naturally, where else would he be but hiding in the arms of his..." Rikard's smile broadened, "He must really love Highlord Taine."
"Look," Galadriel said, waving between them, "I really enjoy this little chit-chat thing you have going on here with me. But firstly, it's like you're stalking me; secondly, you're the High Commander of the Amsus Hegemony!"
"Yes, that does tend to cut down on my social life," Rikard responded flippantly. He pulled a pair of glasses out of his pocket and set them on, accepting a flat metal disk handed to him by someone she couldn't see. He smiled, looking up at her. "I am glad that you seem to have become accustomed to my manifestations, it means that we can discuss things like professionals."
"What?" Galadriel gaped at him incredulously, "Why would..."
"Because you are an academic, a person of keen intellect," he tapped his temple, "I have a healthy respect of anyone who can out-think me. I was genetically constructed to be a genius; you, it seems, were a product of evolutionary roulette." He nodded. "You would make a fascinating study..."
"I've seen first-hand what you do in your labs," Galadriel snarled, remembering the Gorean Ambassador, "I am not going to help you, whatever you want."
"Desperation makes strange bedfellows," Rikard said calmly.
"Mixed metaphors, I thought you were a genius?" Galadriel taunted.
"I am adaptive," Rikard responded, holding up the octagonal disk so that she could see it, "I know where Peligia is."
Galadriel was up in a second, sprinting through the deck, not bothering to stop as Rikard chuckled after her.
* * *
Lex Talionis, monitoring the FTL communication, zeroed his full attention on Rikard, tracking his location, processing intelligence data and formulating a plan.
* * *
Darien had his arm about Edward's shoulders as they leisurely walked back through the Excalibur. A few of the crew, up for the night shift, or just about to head towards their racks, gave them a few smiles as they walked past, returning to their work. Happy to see, what many of them considered, the first sign of good luck in a while.
"You're thinking about the morning," Edward said, catching a look from Darien.
"We're running out of time," Darien said quietly, "And Colonel Mayfair is two hours late reporting in... that combined with the fact that we need to get to Taïr as quickly as..."
He stared and then openly gaped at the young woman running towards him in her underwear. Edward looked confused, turning his head as he too stared in shock.
"He knows where Peligia is!" Galadriel yelled the moment she sighted Darien, slowing as she ran up, catching her breath, "He has the decoder disk..."
"What? Who?" Darien asked in confusion.
"Rikard, he told me..." Galadriel shook her head, folding her arms about her lithe frame, "He..."
Darien threw a questioning look down at Edward, who looked back up at him and shook his head. "I would know if he was here..."
"He was here," Galadriel insisted, "I saw him." Her brown eyes burned intensely, needing Darien to believe her, "He produced the disk... he showed it to me and said he knew where..."
"It's a trap," Darien said firmly.
"Trap?" Edward said frowning, "What..."
"Rikard is baiting us," Darien said calmly, "He's trying to keep us distracted from doing what... Damnit, and I fell for it."
"I actually told you that yesterday," Edward pointed out, helpful as usual.
Darien bit his lip, looking at Galadriel before reaching for his TAC-link. Realizing that he was still in his pyjamas, he pulled the small roll-radio from Edward's pocket and activated it. "Bridge, Taine. Sound General Quarters and clear the decks for action."
Around them the alert klaxons began to resound. crewmembers roused from their bunks began to sprint to their action stations, Darien already leading the three heading for the elevator.
Inside, he paused, looking at Galadriel before he reached out and pulled Edward's blue shirt off.
"Hey... time and a place!" the young prince protested.
"Not like you to complain," Darien smiled tightly, as he handed the shirt over to Galadriel. Gratefully she slipped it on and followed as he led the way out onto the bridge.
"Someone like to explain the din?" Sub-Lieutenant Ryerson bounded out of the opposite elevator wearing his GO RAIDERS T-shirt, his hair askew, and an automatic strapped over his boxer shorts. It had been an unwritten rule of survival on the Excalibur drilled into them: get to their action stations, and worry about modesty later.
Commander Durnham stood from the Excalibur's command chair as Darien marched forward to take it, his other senior officers adopting their stations. There wasn't time for Darien to worry about subtleties as he sank into his seat and glanced over the holographic displays that sprang to life around him, immersing him in a sea of information about his ship's readiness.
Excalibur felt expectant beneath him.
"We just ran out of time," Darien explained as he looked around him.
"All sections report cleared for action." Lieutenant Galadriel walked down to the second tier and looked up towards Darien. "All scopes are clear and we're at Condition One."
"Propylons?" Darien asked, looking up and across to Edward as Lieutenant Ryerson joined him over at the pair of engineering monitoring stations.
The Sub-Lieutenant shook his head. "The modifications should hold, there's nothing wrong with the system, all the simulations confirm that." He folded his arms, glancing at Edward sceptically.
"It's push button and pray time," Edward summed up the verdict of the engineering teams, "Its gonna work, or blow us up. At least the latter will be a pretty neat explosion..."
"For a god, you're not all that inspiring in the faith department," Ryerson replied sarcastically.
"I'm the god of burritos," Edward replied with a shrug, "All the good positions were taken."
"Can't we dub you the luck god instead?" Ryerson grumbled, leaning over the console, adamant that he needed all the luck he could get.
"Right," Darien said, standing, "I have a plan..."
"You've got that look," Edward and Ryerson repeated together, pausing as they realized they had all said it at the same time, as Darien blinked, looking at each of them.
"What?" he asked, shaking his head, "Are you guys trying to tell me something here?"
Edward turned Darien's Captain's cap slant-ways on his head as he leaned on the back of Ryerson's chair, looking back at Darien. "Look, we took a poll, this time you have to tell us the plan before we go charging off..."
"It would be nice," Commander Durnham agreed, turning back to look up at the Captain.
Darien felt a flicker of amusement from the Excalibur flow through the Command chair he was sitting in.
"Oh shut up," Darien glanced down at it and back at his crew, crossing his legs and offering a light glare, realizing he was still underdressed, "Can we be professionals just once?"
"I think we're saying you have a tendency to... not share plans ahead of... you know...doing them," Edward remarked, "Little annoying... the Propylons are drawing power directly from the Zero-Point generators so they're good to go when you are... in case you were wondering, that is." Edward faltered.
Darien eyed each of them around him and sighed, folding his arms tiredly. "I am going to fight the Amsus, beat them, and stop them from invading Taïr. Any questions?" He glanced at Edward who was chuckling to himself. "Set co-ordinates for the intercept point, current location of the Amsus Battle group... put us in at the outer edge of their RADAR range."
"Co-ordinates set," Lieutenant Galadriel looked up and across at Ryerson. "This is going to be... fun."
Ryerson nervously began to bite his nails, murmuring to Edward, "Look, if this doesn't work..."
"Relax," Edward whispered with a light smile, "It's gonna work." He looked back and over at Darien. "All systems set, we're good to go. If it helps, you can pray to me if you like..."
"The only one getting on his knees for you is the Skipper," Ryerson warned in a low voice as he walked back to look over at Darien, smiling lightly with a wry grin, "Shall I have our fighters prepped for launch?"
"No thank you," Darien replied, sitting down in his command chair and steepling his fingers, his brow furrowing thoughtfully, "I'm not willing to risk any more lives, not when I have a choice in the matter." He looked up. "Prepare to jump."
"All hands," Lieutenant Galadriel announced over the PA, "Standby for hyperspace jump." She walked along the line of the forward communication and sensor consoles, making sure that they were ready.
"Jump," Darien commanded.
Deep inside the depths of the Excalibur the alien Propylons flared with light, pouring energies into the focusing crystals that made up the Zero-Point Bore, Excalibur's primary weapon system. The focusing crystal channelled the energy forward along the ship, magnifying the energies as the ship flared, became a shard of light, and vanished.
It reappeared a moment later, intact, exactly in the projected position.
There was a moment's silence, followed by a whoop from Edward and Ryerson, grinning like maniacs and hugging each other.
Darien turned, glancing at Ryerson and nodding his approval before he turned his attention to the tactical boards. The data began to pour over them, the two battle groups in their staggered formation sprinting to action stations as the Imperial Flagship dropped virtually right on top of them, alone.
"Well, they've seen us," Ryerson sobered up, becoming professional again as he observed as the Amsus vessels began to launch their Alert fighters and the Raptors formed up to intercept them.
Darien nodded. "Wait for it..." His eyes slid over the holographic displays around him, making notes and taking precise readings. Making a few calculations, he glanced down at Commander Durnham. "Fire for effect, AA7733, Primary weapon systems."
"Fire for effect," Commander Durnham nodded, taking a stance just behind the gunnery consoles, "Primary weapon systems, aye."
"Direction Zero-zero-five mark Three-five-zero, distance..." Darien checked his calculations, ignoring the Amsus Raptors screaming down towards them, "Fifty five hundred."
"Direction Zero-Zero-Five mark Three-Five-Zero, distance fifty-five hundred." Kit stepped back as the Excalibur's Zero-Point Bore sighted in on its target, the lead Amsus battlecruiser. "Battlecruiser targeted. Authenticate." Commander Durnham turned back to Darien.
"I authenticate," Darien sat back in his chair, "to quote our lost friend, send them to hell."
Commander Durnham nodded, gesturing to the gunnery officer as the Excalibur threw a lance of pure energy shrieking through space towards the Amsus battle groups. The massive salvo tore through the battlecruiser, rending it apart as it carried on through the port quarter of one of its escort vessels. The explosion ripped both ships to pieces.
"Helm, new co-ordinates," Darien sat forward again, tapping in the jump co-ordinates he had pre-calculated, watching the Amsus Raptors closing to the edge of their weapons range, "Jump."
The Excalibur flared and was gone again.
It reappeared in the opposite edge of the Amsus fleet, the Raptors opening fire on empty space as they reacted too slow to the sudden disappearance of the Imperial Command Carrier.
Darien stood. "Target the next battlecruiser and fire at will," he commanded. Taking a step forward he rested a hand on the back of the helmsman's chair "Stand ready to jump again, let's give them enough of a chance to swallow the bait a second time..."
His keen eyes studied the Amsus ships as they tried to reposition, the Excalibur dispatching another of their heaviest capital ships in a single, bloody stroke. Missile destroyers hammered back at them with a stream of heavy missile fire.
He pointed to the helmsman and the Excalibur jumped again.
"My god..." Ryerson swore in shock.
"Tactical jumps," Darien said calmly, "Helm, bring us about and keep us circling the remainder of the Amsus forces. Jump each time the Amsus turn on our position." His eyes creased, studying the disarray of the Amsus ships, trying to adapt to something that they had never seen before. He closed his eyes as a pair of missile destroyers crossed each other's firing arcs waves of missiles erupting into each other. The Excalibur's rapid shifts were tying them up in knots as they tried to manoeuvre.
The Excalibur jumped again, cutting loose on another ship, tearing through the densest concentration of enemy ships, leaping away again as the Amsus Predators careened about to intercept them.
"Signal Taïr," Darien ordered, walking down from the upper tier to stand beside Lieutenant Galadriel, "Inform them that we could use the assistance of the Taïrian defence force, that we have engaged, and beaten the Amsus invasion force."
The Excalibur fired again, leaping like a cat away from the Amsus, who were pulling their forces back. They were trying to form into a more defensible formation, but that was useless against a weapon as powerful as the Zero-Point Bore, exerted from an agile and fast-moving vessel, wielded by a tactician who knew exactly the full tactical advantage that the Propylons provided him.
It was a massacre.
There was no pride in any of the crew as they cut the Amsus fleet to pieces. The Taïrian vessels jumped into the system to assist with the mop-up operation, watching as the Excalibur darted to and fro, as deadly on the galactic chessboard as a white queen unfettered amidst pawns.
Checkmate.
* * *
"What do you mean it's gone?" Sephradon demanded, as the news filtered into her Command Centre.
"The Jump Nexus is not in this system," the Fleet Marshal reported, "Our tactical scopes show negative contacts."
"You simply don't misplace a Jump Nexus, an Imperial war fleet and a battle station!" She yelled, livid over his ineptitude.
"Mistress, it is simply not here," the Fleet Marshal replied, "We're recalibrating and co-ordinating with our outposts, however, as yet, there are no indications of the Imperial assets in any of the surrounding systems."
"Find them!" she demanded, climbing to her throne and seating herself, "They are here somewhere... could they have cloaked themselves somehow?"
"Light refraction technology isn't possible for something as big as a Jump Nexus..." the Fleet Marshal offered, "And without front line Command and Control Frigates, our likelihood of detecting them is greatly reduced."
"Where are the Frigates?" Sephradon demanded, "I ordered our entire fleet of them to the front."
"They haven't arrived mistress, our belief is they were destroyed..."
Sephradon seethed, gritting her teeth as she looked back at the tactical map. her hands perched on the arms of her throne, her knuckles white, "Then they have jumped the Jump Nexus somewhere," Sephradon remarked, "Highlord Taine!"
"We are continuing to pursue his Raptor. Our hunting force has reported that they are driving it ahead of them. The pilot is... formidably skilled, however we have dedicated, at your insistence, a sizable force to the pursuit."
Sephradon rested her slender hand on her brow. "How hard is it to simply kill one man? How many ships do I need to send to accomplish this?" She stood, fury in her eyes. "How many troops? We cannot beat the Empire as long as..." She stopped, smiling.
"VonGrippen," she said ruthlessly, "He's a VonGrippen... meaning he suffers the same failing Alexander suffered..."
"Mistress?" the fleet Marshal inquired.
"Take us to the nearest human colony. Aceoq-Vik Nomus should suffice."
"That is an agricultural planet," the Fleet Marshal reported, "Not a strategic asset."
"It is home to nearly a billion human beings," Sephradon said calmly, "That is all the strategic value I require of it. Once we arrive, obliterate the surface of that world."
"Mistress," the Inquisitor leaned in, "The planet in question is a primary source of food for a majority of the colonies in this sector. If we destroy it, you would be risking famine on over twelve worlds, seven of which are key production..."
"Do it," she ordered maliciously, "That will get Taine's attention..."
"The High Commander..." the Inquisitor began.
"High Commander Rikard has placed me in charge of the Hegemony," Sephradon bit out, "Once it is done, I want you to open an FTL Channel to Highlord Darien Taine..."
* * *
Darien watched the remaining ships of the Amsus battle group offering their surrender. Surrounded, out-gunned and out-matched by the Taïrian defence fleet the Amsus had been offered an ultimatum: stand down or be annihilated.
He sipped on his morning coffee, his eyes surveying the devastation. Excalibur had come into her own, a tactical weapon that had been the decisive edge in the second Battle for Taïr. But however, tactical jumps it were a tactic that, whilst effective against the small Amsus battle groups, would be ultimately useless against the Amsus Armada. A fleet of that size would be able to bring enough firepower to bear and would be able to hold the Excalibur at bay no matter how many times she jumped.
There were light jokes and laughter from some of the crew, mainly over the choices of nightwear. And around the bridge there was a sense of relief in the accomplishment. Taïr was safe for the time being, and that eased Darien's mind; now he had to figure out how he was supposed to deal with the Amsus Armada... and Rikard.
He nodded to himself, climbing back up the sloped ramp around the bridge to the upper tier, closing on Ryerson and Edward, the two checking systems to make sure the modifications had held up under the strain.
Edward was grinning like a maniac, full of pride in his accomplishment. As he should, Darien thought. He'd earned it.
"Matty," Darien asked, keeping his voice low and he folded his arms and leaned across the engineering console, a look indicating Ryerson should stay as well, "We need to deal with the Rikard problem..."
Edward looked uneasy. His thin, dark eyebrows deepened as he thought. "I can project myself and I can manifest myself anywhere... and I know when he is close by. So if he is on this ship, he's got to be strong enough to trick me... and Excalibur's sensors."
"Well, Rikard didn't seem to be able to..." Ryerson scratched his brown stubble before snapped his finger, "Pop off... you know... um... vanish. Well he did, but he had to use the Propylons..."
"Perhaps we're thinking too... metaphysically," Edward said, picking up a metal clipboard and pulling out a sheet of paper. He pulled a pencil out of his pocket and began to take notes. "So, what do we have aside from magic?"
"Drugs?" Ryerson suggested, "There are a bunch of hallucinogens that can make..."
"Yeah, I know," Edward grinned, "They're great..." He stopped when he saw Darien's eyes widen. "Right, yeah... drugs bad... what else..."
"Well, she's seeing things that aren't there... she could be..." Ryerson twirled his finger around his temple.
"Crazier than a pack of Anu Pigmies on freshly-squeezed frog juice?" Edward asked, "Sorry D, but we have to consider it..."
Darien held up his hands. "You know my stance on that."
"Right," Edward mused, "What else makes people see things?"
"Excuse me, Highlord," Commander Durnham said, materialising, "The Mysteri of the Taïrian fleet wishes to inform you that the last Amsus vessel has been neutralized..." he stopped, realizing that both engineers were staring at him.
"Holograms," Edward and Ryerson said in unison, turning to face each other.
"But how would Rikard have access to..." Ryerson began.
"Remotely too," Edward chimed in. "He'd need..."
"...an FTL Comm." Ryerson continued, "but we'd log a communication from the main system...'
"...meaning he's using a back-up system," Edward surmised.
"He had the time to install one," Ryerson stroked his thin chin, chewing on the problem. "There are hundreds of places he could hide it on the ship, and if he does have an FTL device here..."
"He'd be able to track the Excalibur," Darien said, sounding worried. "We should..."
"Sir," Lieutenant Galadriel looked up from where she stood apart from the two others bantering on their ideas, "There's an incoming transmission stream, and it's encoded for you."
"Me?" Darien asked, looking confused as he walked around to the command chair, "But all Imperial FTL Nets are..."
"It's from a woman claiming to lead the Amsus Hegemony."
"Display it," Darien commanded, taking his chair as the image of an elegant woman formed on the deck before him. She was sculpted, ageless, the kind of beauty only attainable through countless cosmetic surgeries, like he had seen on some of the out of control plastic surgery addicts on Mars. Her eyes were an unnatural shade of blue, and her hair a platinum white/blonde that seemed to blend into the sheer white satin dress she wore pulled up and over the pill box hat atop her head, like a nun in an open-faced white habit.
"Highlord Darien Taine," she said, her voice cracked with age - there were some signs of aging that doctors could never disguise. Her eyes swept down over his appearance, plaid pyjama bottoms and a striking falcon T-shirt. She spared a glance about her, as if somewhat surprised at his surroundings, seeming to recognize the Excalibur.
"Sephradon," Edward said, his voice hardening angrily as he took a threatening step forward, his hands balling.
"Ah, Prince Edward," she remarked, turning her attention to him, "Interesting that you would find yourself at Taine's side, I should have anticipated that. No matter, this permits me to kill two birds with one stone."
"You two know each other?" Darien asked, lightly, wagging a finger to and fro, "Hmm, FTL connecting people, bringing families together. Can I help you, or are you here to make idle threats, bounce a few times, and stalk off in a huff like you did on Ordessus?"
"Your impudence..." Sephradon bristled.
"Try living with him," Edward replied, "Though he has his upsides, like the fact that your invasion fleet bound for Taïr just surrendered to him."
"Yes," Darien nodded, "Sorry about that. Tell you what, if you're interested we can sell you some surplus Amsus fleet technology. It's slightly singed, but I am sure a little of Denver's magic detergent'll shine it all right up."
"I am not certain how you manage to do the things you do, Highlord Taine," Sephradon said evenly, maintaining her composure, "But I have an ultimatum for you. By now your ship should be receiving a data packet from Aceoq-Vik Nomus, a Terran agricultural community. The biggest problem this community had was over-population. It appears that you have provided me with an adequate excuse to... solve that crisis."
Darien smile fell as he rose from his chair. "What did you do?" he demanded furiously.
On the bottom tier Galadriel gasped, as repeater displays began to display scenes of the once-vibrant blue-green world, burning and choked with smoke, the Amsus war fleet continuing their orbital bombardment of the world. Secondary monitors sprang to life following the course of an attack wing of Predators as they swept over settlements and farms, gunning down anything that moved indiscriminately.
Darien's eyes locked onto the monitor as nuclear missiles ripped through a city. A coastal city... that could have been anywhere, on any planet. Even San Francisco...
"There is only one way to effectively apply a threat," Sephradon said coldly, "That is with no mercy and no quarter. Now that you understand the depth of my resolve, Taine, you will meet my demands. For if you do not, I will be forced to destroy another world. Now the question is, how many innocent worlds will I eradicate before you surrender? Two, ten, a hundred?" She fixed cold icy eyes upon him.
"I think you have just signed the death warrant of the Amsus race." Edward's voice grew deadly calm as he stepped between Darien and the woman. "This ship is currently carrying Type Nine Zero-Point bombs, it has the capacity to jump where it will, whenever it wishes. Let me make one threat completely crystal clear; if you so much as enter another Terran or Taïrian system, I will destroy every Amsus world there is. If you harm another human being, I will exterminate the entire damn Amsus species. And you should never doubt my resolve!"
Everyone on the bridge stared at Edward in shock as he stepped forward to the woman standing before him, lifting his finger and his voice like iron. "You want to threaten me, threaten me. You want to threaten my goddamn race, then I will play the genocide game as well."
Stunned, Darien looked down to the bottom tier of the bridge. "Get her off my ship," he commanded, staring at Edward in disbelief.
"Who the hell is she?" he demanded.
Edward folded his arms. "Sephradon. She never had another name, not that I heard anyway. She was one of the first generation..." He sighed frustratedly. "It's hard to explain. The UN were fighting a civil war, tearing themselves apart. It was a war that threatened to spill over into the colonies... they needed to stop it so they created genetically enhanced... G-ens they were called... the first generation to the inner circles, who were to become the generals of the war effort. She was... different, too randomly violent, she was too unstable. And when the Emperor finally seized control, he made the conscious decision to have her exiled, rather than allow her to go on killing... He couldn't kill her, she was a war hero, but he couldn't just allow her freedom..."
"Why is it," Darien murmured, "That we're still paying for the Empire's stupidity? Were they all collectively insane?"
"At times, yeah, we were," Edward said, "We were capable of creating gods. You have to be insane to believe that you had a right to do it..."
"And so what?" Ryerson asked climbing back up to the top tier, "We have two of these G-ens running around?"
"First Generations, yes." Edward nodded, "Rikard is more powerful, he's had time to refine his powers, he knows how to use them better than she does... But don't underestimate her. I remember being told she was the Emperor's personal assassin..."
"Cheery," Ryerson said folding his arms, "I wonder if she had business cards?"
"And what are you?" Darien rested a hand on Edward's shoulder worriedly, "One of these First Generations?"
"I'm...different as well," Edward shrugged, "Rikard called me a Third Generation... but I don't know what he means by it beyond that I was made by a G-en that was made by a G-en... Biology, it seems, doesn't factor in to the equation..." Edward sighed. "I just don't know enough about it. Kyr might be able to explain it better."
Commander Durnham interrupted the musings. "Highlord, Captain Shale has returned to the Excalibur... he arrived moments ago via Propylons."
Darien nodded. "Send him..."