The Turquoise Queen, page 36
part #1 of Coalition Series
He had first heard whispers of Erchtria's grand, desperate plan from the Galxij governor at Urvasat. Given the quality of the previous information obtained from that source, he'd been inclined to dismiss it as mere rumor. Then, more rumors had appeared, from imperial sympathizers infiltrated in the separatist fleet and, finally, from his own operatives.
In response, the Rageris had pulled back his invasion forces, to begin mounting a defense perimeter around the Empire's borders. But that perimeter had been spread far too thin for his liking, because there was no information about where the attack would come from. Now, at last, confirmation that the threat was real, from a source as close to the enemy regent as there was, and more.
That was what he showed the high priests, after they were done asking all their hostile questions, in his Flagship's meeting room.
They had arrived there on other warships, or on private civilian transports. Flameridrail had sailed from the homeworld, aboard the Sankharidon, to this ship manufacturing colony on the border with the separatist capital. Along the way, he had collected and brought along the hundreds of dreadnoughts now sailing by on the bridge's screen.
The Sankhron Ree watched the recordings from Irshte's interrogation with great attention. All her noise and attempts at diversion filtered out, what remained was a fuzzy image of a piece of a galaxy map.
In the background, what appeared to be the interior of a Raiac vessel. A few chunks of the decor were oddly vivid, as if the prisoner had tried to concentrate on them to distract the mind probe from the map.
There was audio too. Crackling whispers, sometimes in Irshte's own voice, others in the regent's. These told of the enormous number of ships that would be involved in the assault, and the exact date when it would all begin.
The greatest prize, however, the one imperial agents had been seeking for the whole past tide, was the sequence of star systems highlighted on the map. The exact route the Coalition intended to use. Before speaking again, Flameridrail gave the priests a good while to process what they were seeing, to grasp the significance of it.
"You say I have failed to punish Corhadriam and his separatists. That the people question my leadership." He was defiant. "This is my reply."
With a wave of his hand, the circular wall of the meeting room lit up, from end to end. It displayed the space outside, with the crescent of Aknossindeli underneath. Above, all around, they saw the vast fleet assembled in orbit.
"We shall strike them here, with all the imperial armada's might," He pointed at the spot where two routes, one departing from Illuminated Ocean, the other from Sharizinar, met. "We will strike them as they emerge from transit, so that, even after realizing how hopeless their cause is, they shall not be able to retreat. Then, once the fleets of the traitors and their allies are naught but burning wreckage, we will press on, and lay siege to Illuminated Ocean."
He paused, facing each of the muted priests. "Is that adequate punishment?"There was a long silence, before one of the Ree, hesitant, spoke.
"Your eminence, how can we know the exact moment the enemy fleet will emerge from transit, without alerting them to the presence of our own warships in the system?"
Flameridrail was ready for that. Before answering, however, he called out the names of eight high priests. He thanked them for their presence, and for their continued support. Then he told them he was sure they had their own, urgent business to attend to, and that they had his permission to leave.
It was the war opposition's cue to exit the room. In the Rageris' opinion, these naysayers had heard too much of his plan as it was. The next piece of information he meant to reveal was far too specific and vital. He could not risk one of them leaking it to the separatists.
Half the names he called swam out right away. The others threw pleading gazes at the rest of the priesthood, scanning their peers for a show of support. None dared protest.
Once the room had been emptied of his perceived opponents, Flameridrail continued his presentation. With another hand wave, the portraits of head of security Rohaifril, and of four other Sencris, appeared on the screen behind him, each accompanied by a brief dossier, including their rank and what ship they served in.
The Rageris knew sharing such crucial intelligence with all but a few of the priests was risky, but he felt it necessary to earn their full trust. Besides, he had redoubled his surveillance of their outgoing communications in recent tides, even of the most loyal ones. Thus, he was confident enough that the identities of those five Sencris would never leave the Sankharidon.
"These are the faces of officers who have seen the error of their ways and have decided to return to their true brethren's side. All serve aboard the ships coming to attack Senchrien. When the Coalition fleet emerges from transit, to join forces with the traitors from Illuminated Ocean, these brave Sencris will alert our admirals. Only then will our own dreadnoughts move in."
Seeing that all the Ree's concerns had been put to rest, the Rageris adjourned the meeting. At the end of the day, he would take an armored transport back to Senchrien, leaving the Sankharidon and the armada in his admiralty's capable hands. Their inspection completed, a few of the high priests would travel with him. Most were already on their way out, having chosen to use their own personal ships in the journey home. When the time was right, they would all reconvene, in the throne room, to watch the battle unfold.
The emperor himself had one final task to complete. After taking all necessary security precautions, he opened a channel to the provisional headquarters of his occupation forces on Sirpratl.
Admiral Dagedriom's face appeared on the meeting room screen, replacing those of the five informants. He looked surprised to be speaking to his master in person, again, so soon.
"I have a mission for you," the Rageris began, cutting straight to the chase. "All the information you've provided, I understand it was obtained from a member of regent Kreshalti's inner circle, correct?"
The admiral nodded, once, almost a salute.
"The Raiacs and their allies must not know we have taken this woman prisoner," Flameridrail continued. "At all costs, understood? Can it be done?"
If word got out of Irshte's capture, the so-called Coalition would alter their schedule, select a new attack route. All the information gathering his agents had done in the past tide would be rendered useless.
Dagedriom nodded again. "Of course. I am already working on it, your eminence. As far as the Raiacs believe, their agent still roams the tunnels of Sirpratl at night, murdering our soldiers. And they shall continue believing that."
Flameridrail smiled and gave his underling permission to leave. To get to work. Right away, the admiral rushed to the cell pavilion, adjacent to the interrogation room. He was in an ancient, Raiac built prison, repurposed by the Sencris invaders to hold the endless numbers of insurgents plaguing them. He slithered past rows of reinforced doors, on both sides of a corridor untouched by natural light. One of those cells had two guards posted by its entrance, at all times. It contained his most valuable prisoner. Both saluted him as he passed them by.
With a lance in his hand, he unlocked another door. Inside was a large, green-eyed Raiac man.
"Colonel Inakshtir." The admiral tilted his head down, hands behind his back. A polite, ironic salutation. His prisoner grunted. His left shoulder was bandaged, and his exoskeleton had scratches all over. Wounds from the battle at the landing pad.
"You were right about Fercharst," Dagedriom continued, unfazed by the other man's mood. "The information she provided us was invaluable. You've kept your end of our bargain, so I will keep mine. Your city will remain intact, for now."
The Raiac looked away from his captor, pedipalps tilted up in anger. This was the second time he was captured, the second time he met this particular Sencris face to face. The first had been when the occupation forces landed.
Inakshtir had obeyed his superiors' orders to the letter. As regent Kreshalti had instructed, he'd stayed home while the enemy troops landed on his world. Rather than fight a losing battle out in the open, he'd begun preparing to conceal his identity and engage in guerrilla warfare.
However, that same day, the Sencris had knocked down his door and dragged him away in shackles. Despite the local regent's official surrender, the invaders' first order of business had been to apprehend any known members of the military they could get their hands on.
After a few days locked in a cell, the Sencris had brought him before their leader. This was because of Inakshtir's rank and skill set, and because they'd studied his psychological profile. The admiral had explained that, among their high-value prisoners, he'd been found to be the most prone to do the right thing, as he put it.
Dagedriom had presented Inakshtir with a choice. Take up a leadership role in the local resistance, and report any significant developments he could find. All information he brought in would be validated by mind probe. Do that, or watch as the dreadnoughts in orbit bombed his city, one district at a time. To demonstrate his seriousness, the admiral had ordered a torpedo to be fired at a nearby army facility, with several Raiac soldiers locked inside.
After that, the colonel had chosen to cooperate. No matter how valid it had been from a strategic viewpoint, the fact remained that Raichr had left Sirpratl to fend for itself. Because of that, the planet stood in the hands of this ruthless man. Anger at that had been an easy justification for his betrayal. He would place the lives of the local populace above the interests of the Alliance at large. His duty was to his home first, he'd convinced himself.
From the moment they let him back out on the street, Inakshtir had commanded his band of freedom fighters with brutal efficiency. The enemy had given him permission to do that much, for his cover must be as convincing as possible. But, when he came across something, or someone, of significance to the war at large, he had not hesitated to meet with a Sencris agent in a dark alley, and hand over Irshte's name, and their plans to attack that landing pad.
While his fighters were cut down all around by the enemy ambush, he had been struck, like Irshte, by a tranquilizer dart, and taken to meet the admiral again.
"I assume my task is done, at least," Inakshtir shouted. "I am to call this cozy cell home, for as long as you people are here, yes?"
Dagedriom shook his head, and deposited the lance he'd been holding on the cell floor.
"No, no. One more thing you must do for me. You must convince your regent and her admirals that your friend, Fercharst, is still hard at work, carrying out the mission she was sent here for. My agents will provide the necessary forged transmissions, but I need a credible source, like you, to deliver them. Our original agreement still stands, should you fail to comply."
At that, the admiral pointed at the ceiling, at the sky far above, at the huge guns pointed at Sirpratl's heads. He turned to leave, paused, and smirked.
"That lance is empty by the way, so don't bother pointing it at me. You spent every last flechette escaping this prison. That's what you'll tell the other insurgents, when you meet them again. I'll redecorate this place to make it look like that's what really happened. Good luck, colonel Inakshtir."
Dagedriom left the cell door open and slithered back the way he'd come.
The God of Dusk and Dawn
They gathered over her homeworld's skies, more pouring in each day. An armada like no other in galactic history, for the variety of ship designs composing it. Erchtria tasted the tension in the air, heard it in the somber voice of every commander who reported in.
Sharizinar stood between most of their homeworlds and the borders of the Empire. The numerous weapons platforms orbiting both of the system's inhabited planets felt like a wall separating the rest of the galaxy from the invaders. Though this was the most fortified location they could have chosen to rally their forces, they all still feared a surprise Sencris attack, at any moment.
Through it all, the regent remained aboard her flagship, despite being a short shuttle trip away from home. She wanted to welcome the new arrivals in person, and reassure them that no attack would come, that the enemy was too busy preparing defenses of its own. Defenses which would amount to little, because they were spread thin across the Empire's vast borders.
Still, most commanders remained on edge when they wished her, and themselves, good luck. Erchtria herself grew nervous when, on the eve of departure, sensors announced dozens of new transit signatures over the planet. Yet her fear was short lived. Each had a diameter just under half a kilometer. Soon their shapes confirmed their identity, and the image of a uniformed Earthling appeared on the Ctriashiat's bridge screen.
He was an admiral, there to join the forces preparing to attack Senchrien. Many in the crews of his ships were survivors from Earth's defense fleet, eager to avenge fallen comrades and liberate their home. They were acting against direct orders from their government, he explained. At this very moment, their president was busy negotiating the Earthling Republic's surrender. This meant that, should their mission fail and the Empire triumph, all aboard his frigates would become outlaws. Exiles, he continued, forced to seek refuge in the Federation. That last bit took the regent by surprise.
"The Actonertalics offered you safe port?" She asked. Her own forces had no such luxury, nowhere to flee. If defeated, their only choice would be to retreat to the homeworld, to either fight to the bitter end or surrender.
"Yes," the Earthling admiral replied. "An associate of yours made an agreement with their senate. She asked me to tell you that she did what she could on her end, and that," he hesitated to continue, "you better get the job done."
Erchtria smiled, staring at the numerous new signatures on the sensors screen. Over half of the surviving Earthling ships had just joined her fleet. It made them that much less outnumbered by their enemy. She couldn't help but wonder what Natalie had had to offer the Actonertalics in return for their assistance, but that was a concern for later. Victory was all that mattered right now. She thanked the admiral and his crew, promising that they would indeed prevail.
That same day, before leaving the star system, Erchtria visited her homeworld's surface at last. She had decided she deserved that much, before heading into battle. She flew down over her island's lush blue forests, which were cradled by jagged, tarry hills. Dialing down her pod's speed, she glided past the tendrils of floating, grazing Narochrrandos, and flocks of iridescent birds. She took in these familiar sights as if she'd never seen them before.
She told the pod's guidance system to take her home. It headed into a wide, mountainside cave opening, to which many more pods converged, like nocturnal creatures returning from a night of feeding. Figures natural, historic and mythical had been carved into the rock spires surrounding the opening. Around these colossal sculptures, traffic control towers and other edifices, all gleaming and sinuous, had been grafted onto the stone. One of Naochraien Ashin's busiest spaceports, it was designed to seem like an organic continuation of the primal scenery. There the vehicle plunged in, to deposit its passenger near a large subway station.
The private subway car took the regent through the winding tunnels, past the landmarks of her childhood, to her parents' home. A spacious apartment near the surface, in a complex overlooking a deep underground canyon.
They knew she would come, so they had canceled plans, made her favorite food in advance, and greeted her with broad smiles and open arms. They sat in the living room and talked for hours. Each of the two tried to dissuade their daughter from going. To lead an attack in person was not part of a regent's duties, her father protested. She had no military experience. It was, in fact, irresponsible, her mother added. Her time would be better spent with matters of government, or reassuring the population in this time of crisis.
Meanwhile, far above, the fleets made final preparations. Myriad system checks were conducted. Those ships that used some form of ammunition took stock of it. When the call came to return to orbit, as much as it ached, Erchtria did not hesitate to answer. This was something she had decided to do from the beginning.
"Promise you'll come back victorious if you can, and safe if you cannot," her father said, once he realized there was no talking her out of it.
Once she'd boarded the Ctriashiat, she connected her personal computer to the ship's and synchronized their clocks. She set a chronometer to display in the corner of her eye, had it begin counting down.
Then she gave the order to leave to her chief admiral, who conveyed it to the rest of the fleet. Each step of the way after that, it was her word that triggered the sweeping mass of iridescent flashes, as they all transited to the next star system. They sailed past a Sharizinar Alliance colony, to arrive at another.
Erchtria started pacing from one side of the destroyer's bridge to the other. Her gaze darted from her chronometer to what lay ahead. The bridge bulkheads were covered by a wide, seamless screen. Framed by engraved silver, it showed what was happening outside, as if it were a large window into the void beyond.
In the distance, she saw a blue orb. A thriving world, still untouched by the imperial invasion, and she hoped to keep it that way. Spread across the vast darkness in between, hundreds of the Alliance's frigates, with their curved, double ax blade shaped hulls in dark blue and gleaming silver. The near total of both the Raiac and Tcheerazeen forces was out there, and more.
Besides the rebellious Earthlings, the Irlestur were present, as well as every other ally, great and small, she'd secured since the war started. They all had answered her call en masse.
All were present except one, who would be joining them soon. The next transit would lead to their rendezvous with the Sencris-Aquatic fleet. After that, they would head into enemy territory.
Scouts were sent ahead first, to make sure the next star system in their route was free of enemy presence. Four frigates, executing what the Idao-Vedaulken smugglers had baptized as a paired jump. This would allow them to retreat quickly, should any danger be encountered.
