Awakened Horror, page 17
Chapter 11
The Battle for Gaia – Part 1
2160, Common Era – Planet Gaia, Outer Rim, the Republic of Humanity
With each passing day, I felt my anxiety ease, and the more I relaxed, the more my body healed. Freed from the weight of responsibility and duty, and released from the grasp of fear and uncertainty, I could finally experience a period of unbroken serenity.
We immersed ourselves in the beauty of nature, living au naturel, swimming in the lake, sunbathing on the deck, and rolling about on the lawn – equally engrossed by the feeling of the grass and each other’s bare skin.
The cabin was well stocked with healthy, nutritious food, and in combination with the fresh air and the clean water, I was gaining weight and putting on muscle – reclaiming the strength that had been stolen from me.
Our sense of time distorted as well; with no demands on our time, we were free to do as we pleased. The days felt like they were never-ending, yet as each one drew to a close, they felt like they had gone by too quickly.
“Hey, Bitsy – what’s the date today?” I asked, glancing at the Arachnobot on the bedside table.
Bitsy tilted its abdomen towards me as the answer displayed, *Today is Monday, the 27th of October, 2160.*
It’s the 27th already?
I shook my head, wondering where the last three weeks had gone. I glanced to my right and gazed at Amorina’s naked form, my brain still happily flooded with oxytocin, endorphins, and dopamine. We had unknowingly formed a habit of doing similar things every day, and today would be no exception; we’d made love just as the sun was rising, and soon we’d leisurely enjoy breakfast before taking a dip in the lake. We’d have a few hours to ourselves to read or sunbathe or nap, then indulge in another passionate duet, closely followed by lunch. A walk through the bush and another nap would round out the afternoon; then it’d be time for dinner, and the day would end with a last dance for dessert.
Now, as I lay in post-coital euphoria, all I wanted to do was hit the universe’s pause button. If I could stay here in this moment with Amorina forever … I’d be good with that. Soaring on a natural high, surrounded by beautiful wilderness, with a gorgeous naked woman beside me. There was no danger and no stress, no worry or doubt – only peace and bliss, elation and harmony.
Could I ever hope for a better moment than this?
I rolled onto my side and carefully shuffled over until I was spooning Amorina. I wrapped my arm around her, enjoying the warmth radiating from her skin and the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. I propped my head up on my right arm and looked down at her face, admiring how relaxed she looked. There was movement behind her closed eyes – perhaps she was dreaming.
“Question is, what is it you are dreaming about?” I whispered as I watched her eyes move. “Is it me you’re seeing?”
A smile flashed across Amorina’s face, and I wondered where she was in her imagination. Was it here? Or was it somewhere else? Not that it mattered either way – her joy was my joy. I closed my eyes and lay back down, listening to the sound of her breathing and feeling her heart beating.
“Truly, this is a sweet surrender,” I mumbled to myself.
I suddenly winced as I felt the metallic points of Bitsy’s feet digging into my skin as the Arachnobot climbed onto my side.
“Bitsy – what are you do –” I stopped when I saw the message scrolling across Bitsy’s screen.
*Something is coming.*
I let go of Amorina and offered my hand to Bitsy, who promptly climbed onto it, and then I sat up.
“What’s coming?”
*A ship.*
Suddenly, there it was – a faint hum in the distance. A familiar sound if you knew what you were hearing – ship engines. The noise was rapidly growing louder.
It’s moving with urgency.
I knew there was probably only one reason a ship would be approaching quickly.
The Horror … it’s on the move again.
I looked down at Amorina.
“I’m sorry, my dear,” I said as I gently shook her shoulder.
She stirred and looked up at me. “Uh?”
“I think our time here is at its end. We need to get ready to leave.”
She didn’t say anything, but her expression said it all: sadness that our retreat was over and fear of what was coming. She nodded, swung her legs over the side of the bed and began finding her clothes. I did the same, and as I pulled on a pair of pants, the ship roared overhead, setting itself down on the lawn. As Republic soldiers climbed out of the ship and headed towards the cabin, I knew my suspicions were true.
“Let’s do this.”
[)
The soldiers were extremely tight-lipped, refusing to explain the circumstances behind our pickup. The pilot was pushing the ship, working it hard to get us to our next destination as quickly as possible, which, as it turned out, was the farm. As the ship touched down, Emma, Adanna, Winona, and Father stepped out of the house, staring at the ship in confusion.
No doubt rudely awoken from a deep sleep.
Amorina and I stepped out of the ship when a soldier placed a hand on my chest.
“Not you, sir, only your missus.”
I looked past the soldier at Amorina.
“It’s all right,” she said with a reassuring nod. “Do what you need to do.”
I sighed. “Okay. Give my love to the girls and Father.”
“I will.”
I watched Amorina climb out and run over to the rest of the family. The ship lifted off as soon as she was clear, and I watched their sleepy, confused faces grow distant as we raced away.
“Okay – now, can you tell me what the hell is going on?”
“Yes, sir. Apologies for the silence; we were under strict orders that this information was for your ears only.”
With a circular wave of my hand, I gestured for them to cut to the chase and give me the details.
“Sir,” the soldier said, acknowledging the motion. “About five hours ago, the surveillance satellites captured the Horror moving away from Akka. The transmission feed from the first satellite ends shortly after that, and the second satellite captures the first's destruction before going dark itself.”
I nodded solemnly.
The clock is ticking now. Time is running out.
“The Horror is on its way,” I muttered quietly.
“Yes, sir.”
“Don’t call me sir.”
“Yes, si – ah … Governor?”
I shook my head. “Just call me Raith.”
“Of course, Raith.”
I glanced out of the ship, watching the scenery flash by below us.
“Where are we going now, then?”
“The GBDOC,” the soldier replied.
I raised an eyebrow. “The what now?”
“The GBD – oh, right. The Ground Based Defensive Operations Centre.”
I acknowledged the soldier’s explanation with a nod, then looked away and rolled my eyes.
I think the Republic loves their acronyms a little too much.
In the distance, I could now see a collection of tents, satellite dishes, and radio antennae. As we got closer, I could see people running about everywhere – from this tent to that tent, from this dish to that antenna. Ships were coming and going, dropping people off and picking people up.
“We’re going to need to make this drop off quick, Raith,” the soldier said as the ship descended towards a landing zone.
“Got it.”
The ship jolted as it landed, and I leapt out, dashing away to give the ship enough space to take off again, which it promptly did. I turned and watched the ship soar away.
“Welcome to GBDOC, Governor Raith.”
I jumped and spun around to see a Republic officer standing behind me.
“President Knox is waiting for you,” they said, giving me no time to respond. “Follow me, please.”
“Yep, okay.”
The officer led me this way and that through the maze of tents, and I marvelled at what they had put together. With only the supplies available onboard the Republic fleet ships, the crew constructed an impromptu setup on short notice – they’d utilised the last four weeks well, doing their best to anticipate what this operations centre would need to manage.
I wondered whether the Empire’s version of this would look anything like this if the same kind of response was expected from them. Try as I might, I just couldn’t see it.
“Just in here, sir,” the officer said, pulling back the flap of a tent.
“Thank you,” I replied, stepping inside.
Within the tent, a large war table occupied the centre of the room, with numerous Republic officers gathered around it.
“Ah, Raith – you’ve finally joined us. Enjoy your little jaunt in the hills, did you?” Knox asked sourly, barely looking up from the war table as I entered.
“Yes, I did, Madam President. You should try it sometime – it might make you a bit more relaxed.”
I pretended to be oblivious to the intense, burning stare that Knox directed my way.
“Anyway,” she said, clearing her throat. “This is a real-time view of Gaia, the orbital defence laser, and all the Republic and Empire ships, respectively,” she said, pointing to the different parts of a hologram in the middle of the war table.
“Where is Tynan?” I asked, noticing the lack of any Empire presence within the room.
“I invited the Empire to have a presence here, but they didn’t even have the curtsy to refuse the request,” Knox replied dismissively.
“I see,” I said, as I felt a shiver run down my spine.
If Tynan isn’t here, preparing for the Horror’s arrival, then where is he and what is he doing?
“Now, as I was saying, these are the positions of our defensive forces. We’ve evacuated roughly sixty percent of the civilians and tasked all our smaller vessels and commandeered any nearby private and commercial vessels to help evacuate the remaining citizens. They’re all being taken to Machina Station. Other vessels are taking them onward from there to Earth.”
“How long do you think we need to evac the last forty percent?”
“Ideally, as much time as possible … realistically, as much time as we can get.”
I nodded. It was better than Akka, but it still wasn’t great. If the Horror turned up now, were we even capable of holding it off for long enough to enable those other citizens’ safe passage away from the coming destruction?
“Okay, it seems like we’re pretty ready here – what communication has there been with Tynan regarding the readiness of their shi –”
Suddenly, the earth lurched beneath us, and we were all thrown to the ground – objects falling all around and on us. Before we could get our heads around what had happened and gain our footing, the earth began to shake so violently that it was impossible to stand back up. People began screaming, both outside and inside the tent, and we scrambled for cover under the war table, holding on tightly to anything we could reach. My hands were shaking as I held onto the table leg, my heart pounding with fear and bewilderment at the situation. Everyone stared, terrified, at Knox, waiting for her direction.
“What is happening?” I shouted over the rumble of the earth.
“I don’t fucking know!” Knox shouted back at me.
I looked over the edge of the table at the hologram, which was in the process of updating. As the latest information was rendered in the air, my stomach dropped: the Horror was here, displayed in all its terrifying might, looming over everything – its girth so huge that it stretched beyond the hologram’s projection limit. As the quaking finally subsided, reducing to a constant background tremor, everyone slowly rose to their feet and gathered around the table. A quick glance around the room showed that no one in here was severely injured – but others had been less fortunate from the continued screams coming from outside. The projection of Gaia updated again and now showed volcanic plumes rising into the air from multiple locations around the planet.
“What the fuck just happened?”
Knox shook her head. “I can’t say for sure, but the only thing that comes to mind is the theoretical effects of a gravitational quake – that thing must have quite the gravity, and for it to just drop out of warp beside the planet … well, we all just felt what that feels like.”
A stronger quake rolled through the ground beneath us, and the hologram showed a new volcanic eruption bursting forth from Gaia’s surface.
“And so it begins,” I mumbled as I took in the unfolding events.
This was different to Akka; the Horror’s approach there had been slow and cautious, now it was coming at Gaia with speed and confidence. That was a problem because all the Republic's strategy would’ve been built off the intel I provided based on how the Horror had attacked Akka.
I glanced at Knox, and she nodded. I watched as she took a second to compose herself, and then she was in her presidential mindset. “Everyone, you know the plan, you know your duty. The Horror is coming at us differently, but the plan remains unchanged. Let’s get out there and show that thing what we’re capable of – move out!”
The officers responded immediately, running out of the tent with predetermined plans to enact. I ran out of the tent with them, turning to the right as I exited.
“Raith, you’re with me!” Knox yelled behind me.
“But I need to get my family!” I said, turning around to face her.
“Don’t worry about them – I’ve already instructed a dropship to evacuate them.”
I stopped, trying to decide what I should do – did I trust what Knox was saying?
“Look, I get it,” Knox said. “We’ve a rocky history, relationships aren’t exactly on the best terms right now, etc. But when the Republic says it will do something, that thing will be done! Trust me, someone is on the way to them as we speak – and I will personally check that they’ve safely been evacuated.”
I hesitated. I wanted to trust Knox, but I also wanted to see that my family was safe with my own eyes.
“Come on! We need to go now!”
“Okay, fine!” I snapped, running over towards her. “But I want that confirmation that my family is safe!”
“You’ll have it!”
I followed Knox as she led me out of the GBDOC and into an awaiting dropship. As soon as the vessel’s exterior doors were closed, it took off, rocketing towards space before I’d even had a chance to sit down. I watched a Republic officer speak to Knox, showing her things on a tablet.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
“Because the Horror dropped out of warp so much closer to Gaia than it did to Akka – it’s already pulling Gaia away from its normal orbit.”
“What can we do about that?”
“Right now? Fuck all! The best thing we can do for Gaia now is to get rid of the Horror as soon as possible and try to minimize the damage caused by its presence in the system.”
“And what about my family?”
“Let me check.”
I watched as Knox summoned the previous officer and spoke to him again. He quickly began tapping away at his tablet.
“It’s even better than I told you before,” she stated after he had re-laid his findings. “Two dropships ended up going to your farm and picked all of your family up. They’re safely flying away from the planet as we speak!”
I sighed in relief, feeling my shoulders drop and some of the tension leave my body. They were safe. They were heading for safety. Regardless of how today turned out, I knew they would be okay.
“Thank you, Knox. This means the world to me!”
“No worries, Raith,” Knox said, looking out the dropship window. “We’re almost at my capital ship, so I need you to focus now, okay? It’s going to take all our attention to win this fight!”
“Understood!”
It was my turn to glance out the window now, watching as Knox’s ship grew closer and closer, its name proudly emblazoned on its side – the ROHS Celestial.
I inhaled and tried to focus – Knox was right. This was going to take all our concentration!
[)
Minutes later, the dropship had docked, and we’d been rushed to the bridge and debriefed, bringing us up to speed on the latest intel; the Republic and Empire ships had moved forward, placing themselves between the Horror and Gaia, and the monstrosity itself had ceased its movement, much to the concern of the fleet. One question seemed to permeate everyone’s minds: What will this thing do next?
“What’s your plan, Knox?” I asked when the officers finished passing on their information.
“First and foremost, we’re going to be reactionary – if that thing does something, we must be ready to respond swiftly and flexibly. If it doesn’t give us anything to react to, we’re going to synchronize all our ships and fire a simultaneous, multi-weapon volley. If we can punch a hole in its exterior, we’ll fire a blast of the orbital defence laser into its internals!”
I nodded – that seemed to be a solid plan – now I just hoped it worked.
“Raith? What’s going on?”
I spun around to find Amorina and Emma standing in the entranceway to the bridge.
“What are you doing here?” I exclaimed, rushing to them. I ran my eyes over them both, checking they were okay. A feeling of dread flooded my body with a shudder, and my stomach dropped.
“I don’t know!” Amorina angrily retorted, her gaze fixed on me as if I had just said something foolish. “Two dropships arrived to evacuate us, and they split us between them. I watched the other one take your parents, Adanna, and Winona towards one of the evac ships, but our one dropped us off here?”
I turned towards Knox. “Did you know about this?”
“No, I didn’t – they should’ve gone to the evac ship with all the other civilians!”
“Well, we have to get them to an evac ship!”
Knox shook her head. “There’s no time. They’re here now. They’ll have to stay here.”
“We’re about to fly into combat! This is the opposite of keeping my family safe!”
Knox held up her hand and waved a crew member over. “Private Ivan, please escort these ladies to the engineering core. See that they are comfortable and secure, please.”
The Battle for Gaia – Part 1
2160, Common Era – Planet Gaia, Outer Rim, the Republic of Humanity
With each passing day, I felt my anxiety ease, and the more I relaxed, the more my body healed. Freed from the weight of responsibility and duty, and released from the grasp of fear and uncertainty, I could finally experience a period of unbroken serenity.
We immersed ourselves in the beauty of nature, living au naturel, swimming in the lake, sunbathing on the deck, and rolling about on the lawn – equally engrossed by the feeling of the grass and each other’s bare skin.
The cabin was well stocked with healthy, nutritious food, and in combination with the fresh air and the clean water, I was gaining weight and putting on muscle – reclaiming the strength that had been stolen from me.
Our sense of time distorted as well; with no demands on our time, we were free to do as we pleased. The days felt like they were never-ending, yet as each one drew to a close, they felt like they had gone by too quickly.
“Hey, Bitsy – what’s the date today?” I asked, glancing at the Arachnobot on the bedside table.
Bitsy tilted its abdomen towards me as the answer displayed, *Today is Monday, the 27th of October, 2160.*
It’s the 27th already?
I shook my head, wondering where the last three weeks had gone. I glanced to my right and gazed at Amorina’s naked form, my brain still happily flooded with oxytocin, endorphins, and dopamine. We had unknowingly formed a habit of doing similar things every day, and today would be no exception; we’d made love just as the sun was rising, and soon we’d leisurely enjoy breakfast before taking a dip in the lake. We’d have a few hours to ourselves to read or sunbathe or nap, then indulge in another passionate duet, closely followed by lunch. A walk through the bush and another nap would round out the afternoon; then it’d be time for dinner, and the day would end with a last dance for dessert.
Now, as I lay in post-coital euphoria, all I wanted to do was hit the universe’s pause button. If I could stay here in this moment with Amorina forever … I’d be good with that. Soaring on a natural high, surrounded by beautiful wilderness, with a gorgeous naked woman beside me. There was no danger and no stress, no worry or doubt – only peace and bliss, elation and harmony.
Could I ever hope for a better moment than this?
I rolled onto my side and carefully shuffled over until I was spooning Amorina. I wrapped my arm around her, enjoying the warmth radiating from her skin and the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. I propped my head up on my right arm and looked down at her face, admiring how relaxed she looked. There was movement behind her closed eyes – perhaps she was dreaming.
“Question is, what is it you are dreaming about?” I whispered as I watched her eyes move. “Is it me you’re seeing?”
A smile flashed across Amorina’s face, and I wondered where she was in her imagination. Was it here? Or was it somewhere else? Not that it mattered either way – her joy was my joy. I closed my eyes and lay back down, listening to the sound of her breathing and feeling her heart beating.
“Truly, this is a sweet surrender,” I mumbled to myself.
I suddenly winced as I felt the metallic points of Bitsy’s feet digging into my skin as the Arachnobot climbed onto my side.
“Bitsy – what are you do –” I stopped when I saw the message scrolling across Bitsy’s screen.
*Something is coming.*
I let go of Amorina and offered my hand to Bitsy, who promptly climbed onto it, and then I sat up.
“What’s coming?”
*A ship.*
Suddenly, there it was – a faint hum in the distance. A familiar sound if you knew what you were hearing – ship engines. The noise was rapidly growing louder.
It’s moving with urgency.
I knew there was probably only one reason a ship would be approaching quickly.
The Horror … it’s on the move again.
I looked down at Amorina.
“I’m sorry, my dear,” I said as I gently shook her shoulder.
She stirred and looked up at me. “Uh?”
“I think our time here is at its end. We need to get ready to leave.”
She didn’t say anything, but her expression said it all: sadness that our retreat was over and fear of what was coming. She nodded, swung her legs over the side of the bed and began finding her clothes. I did the same, and as I pulled on a pair of pants, the ship roared overhead, setting itself down on the lawn. As Republic soldiers climbed out of the ship and headed towards the cabin, I knew my suspicions were true.
“Let’s do this.”
[)
The soldiers were extremely tight-lipped, refusing to explain the circumstances behind our pickup. The pilot was pushing the ship, working it hard to get us to our next destination as quickly as possible, which, as it turned out, was the farm. As the ship touched down, Emma, Adanna, Winona, and Father stepped out of the house, staring at the ship in confusion.
No doubt rudely awoken from a deep sleep.
Amorina and I stepped out of the ship when a soldier placed a hand on my chest.
“Not you, sir, only your missus.”
I looked past the soldier at Amorina.
“It’s all right,” she said with a reassuring nod. “Do what you need to do.”
I sighed. “Okay. Give my love to the girls and Father.”
“I will.”
I watched Amorina climb out and run over to the rest of the family. The ship lifted off as soon as she was clear, and I watched their sleepy, confused faces grow distant as we raced away.
“Okay – now, can you tell me what the hell is going on?”
“Yes, sir. Apologies for the silence; we were under strict orders that this information was for your ears only.”
With a circular wave of my hand, I gestured for them to cut to the chase and give me the details.
“Sir,” the soldier said, acknowledging the motion. “About five hours ago, the surveillance satellites captured the Horror moving away from Akka. The transmission feed from the first satellite ends shortly after that, and the second satellite captures the first's destruction before going dark itself.”
I nodded solemnly.
The clock is ticking now. Time is running out.
“The Horror is on its way,” I muttered quietly.
“Yes, sir.”
“Don’t call me sir.”
“Yes, si – ah … Governor?”
I shook my head. “Just call me Raith.”
“Of course, Raith.”
I glanced out of the ship, watching the scenery flash by below us.
“Where are we going now, then?”
“The GBDOC,” the soldier replied.
I raised an eyebrow. “The what now?”
“The GBD – oh, right. The Ground Based Defensive Operations Centre.”
I acknowledged the soldier’s explanation with a nod, then looked away and rolled my eyes.
I think the Republic loves their acronyms a little too much.
In the distance, I could now see a collection of tents, satellite dishes, and radio antennae. As we got closer, I could see people running about everywhere – from this tent to that tent, from this dish to that antenna. Ships were coming and going, dropping people off and picking people up.
“We’re going to need to make this drop off quick, Raith,” the soldier said as the ship descended towards a landing zone.
“Got it.”
The ship jolted as it landed, and I leapt out, dashing away to give the ship enough space to take off again, which it promptly did. I turned and watched the ship soar away.
“Welcome to GBDOC, Governor Raith.”
I jumped and spun around to see a Republic officer standing behind me.
“President Knox is waiting for you,” they said, giving me no time to respond. “Follow me, please.”
“Yep, okay.”
The officer led me this way and that through the maze of tents, and I marvelled at what they had put together. With only the supplies available onboard the Republic fleet ships, the crew constructed an impromptu setup on short notice – they’d utilised the last four weeks well, doing their best to anticipate what this operations centre would need to manage.
I wondered whether the Empire’s version of this would look anything like this if the same kind of response was expected from them. Try as I might, I just couldn’t see it.
“Just in here, sir,” the officer said, pulling back the flap of a tent.
“Thank you,” I replied, stepping inside.
Within the tent, a large war table occupied the centre of the room, with numerous Republic officers gathered around it.
“Ah, Raith – you’ve finally joined us. Enjoy your little jaunt in the hills, did you?” Knox asked sourly, barely looking up from the war table as I entered.
“Yes, I did, Madam President. You should try it sometime – it might make you a bit more relaxed.”
I pretended to be oblivious to the intense, burning stare that Knox directed my way.
“Anyway,” she said, clearing her throat. “This is a real-time view of Gaia, the orbital defence laser, and all the Republic and Empire ships, respectively,” she said, pointing to the different parts of a hologram in the middle of the war table.
“Where is Tynan?” I asked, noticing the lack of any Empire presence within the room.
“I invited the Empire to have a presence here, but they didn’t even have the curtsy to refuse the request,” Knox replied dismissively.
“I see,” I said, as I felt a shiver run down my spine.
If Tynan isn’t here, preparing for the Horror’s arrival, then where is he and what is he doing?
“Now, as I was saying, these are the positions of our defensive forces. We’ve evacuated roughly sixty percent of the civilians and tasked all our smaller vessels and commandeered any nearby private and commercial vessels to help evacuate the remaining citizens. They’re all being taken to Machina Station. Other vessels are taking them onward from there to Earth.”
“How long do you think we need to evac the last forty percent?”
“Ideally, as much time as possible … realistically, as much time as we can get.”
I nodded. It was better than Akka, but it still wasn’t great. If the Horror turned up now, were we even capable of holding it off for long enough to enable those other citizens’ safe passage away from the coming destruction?
“Okay, it seems like we’re pretty ready here – what communication has there been with Tynan regarding the readiness of their shi –”
Suddenly, the earth lurched beneath us, and we were all thrown to the ground – objects falling all around and on us. Before we could get our heads around what had happened and gain our footing, the earth began to shake so violently that it was impossible to stand back up. People began screaming, both outside and inside the tent, and we scrambled for cover under the war table, holding on tightly to anything we could reach. My hands were shaking as I held onto the table leg, my heart pounding with fear and bewilderment at the situation. Everyone stared, terrified, at Knox, waiting for her direction.
“What is happening?” I shouted over the rumble of the earth.
“I don’t fucking know!” Knox shouted back at me.
I looked over the edge of the table at the hologram, which was in the process of updating. As the latest information was rendered in the air, my stomach dropped: the Horror was here, displayed in all its terrifying might, looming over everything – its girth so huge that it stretched beyond the hologram’s projection limit. As the quaking finally subsided, reducing to a constant background tremor, everyone slowly rose to their feet and gathered around the table. A quick glance around the room showed that no one in here was severely injured – but others had been less fortunate from the continued screams coming from outside. The projection of Gaia updated again and now showed volcanic plumes rising into the air from multiple locations around the planet.
“What the fuck just happened?”
Knox shook her head. “I can’t say for sure, but the only thing that comes to mind is the theoretical effects of a gravitational quake – that thing must have quite the gravity, and for it to just drop out of warp beside the planet … well, we all just felt what that feels like.”
A stronger quake rolled through the ground beneath us, and the hologram showed a new volcanic eruption bursting forth from Gaia’s surface.
“And so it begins,” I mumbled as I took in the unfolding events.
This was different to Akka; the Horror’s approach there had been slow and cautious, now it was coming at Gaia with speed and confidence. That was a problem because all the Republic's strategy would’ve been built off the intel I provided based on how the Horror had attacked Akka.
I glanced at Knox, and she nodded. I watched as she took a second to compose herself, and then she was in her presidential mindset. “Everyone, you know the plan, you know your duty. The Horror is coming at us differently, but the plan remains unchanged. Let’s get out there and show that thing what we’re capable of – move out!”
The officers responded immediately, running out of the tent with predetermined plans to enact. I ran out of the tent with them, turning to the right as I exited.
“Raith, you’re with me!” Knox yelled behind me.
“But I need to get my family!” I said, turning around to face her.
“Don’t worry about them – I’ve already instructed a dropship to evacuate them.”
I stopped, trying to decide what I should do – did I trust what Knox was saying?
“Look, I get it,” Knox said. “We’ve a rocky history, relationships aren’t exactly on the best terms right now, etc. But when the Republic says it will do something, that thing will be done! Trust me, someone is on the way to them as we speak – and I will personally check that they’ve safely been evacuated.”
I hesitated. I wanted to trust Knox, but I also wanted to see that my family was safe with my own eyes.
“Come on! We need to go now!”
“Okay, fine!” I snapped, running over towards her. “But I want that confirmation that my family is safe!”
“You’ll have it!”
I followed Knox as she led me out of the GBDOC and into an awaiting dropship. As soon as the vessel’s exterior doors were closed, it took off, rocketing towards space before I’d even had a chance to sit down. I watched a Republic officer speak to Knox, showing her things on a tablet.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
“Because the Horror dropped out of warp so much closer to Gaia than it did to Akka – it’s already pulling Gaia away from its normal orbit.”
“What can we do about that?”
“Right now? Fuck all! The best thing we can do for Gaia now is to get rid of the Horror as soon as possible and try to minimize the damage caused by its presence in the system.”
“And what about my family?”
“Let me check.”
I watched as Knox summoned the previous officer and spoke to him again. He quickly began tapping away at his tablet.
“It’s even better than I told you before,” she stated after he had re-laid his findings. “Two dropships ended up going to your farm and picked all of your family up. They’re safely flying away from the planet as we speak!”
I sighed in relief, feeling my shoulders drop and some of the tension leave my body. They were safe. They were heading for safety. Regardless of how today turned out, I knew they would be okay.
“Thank you, Knox. This means the world to me!”
“No worries, Raith,” Knox said, looking out the dropship window. “We’re almost at my capital ship, so I need you to focus now, okay? It’s going to take all our attention to win this fight!”
“Understood!”
It was my turn to glance out the window now, watching as Knox’s ship grew closer and closer, its name proudly emblazoned on its side – the ROHS Celestial.
I inhaled and tried to focus – Knox was right. This was going to take all our concentration!
[)
Minutes later, the dropship had docked, and we’d been rushed to the bridge and debriefed, bringing us up to speed on the latest intel; the Republic and Empire ships had moved forward, placing themselves between the Horror and Gaia, and the monstrosity itself had ceased its movement, much to the concern of the fleet. One question seemed to permeate everyone’s minds: What will this thing do next?
“What’s your plan, Knox?” I asked when the officers finished passing on their information.
“First and foremost, we’re going to be reactionary – if that thing does something, we must be ready to respond swiftly and flexibly. If it doesn’t give us anything to react to, we’re going to synchronize all our ships and fire a simultaneous, multi-weapon volley. If we can punch a hole in its exterior, we’ll fire a blast of the orbital defence laser into its internals!”
I nodded – that seemed to be a solid plan – now I just hoped it worked.
“Raith? What’s going on?”
I spun around to find Amorina and Emma standing in the entranceway to the bridge.
“What are you doing here?” I exclaimed, rushing to them. I ran my eyes over them both, checking they were okay. A feeling of dread flooded my body with a shudder, and my stomach dropped.
“I don’t know!” Amorina angrily retorted, her gaze fixed on me as if I had just said something foolish. “Two dropships arrived to evacuate us, and they split us between them. I watched the other one take your parents, Adanna, and Winona towards one of the evac ships, but our one dropped us off here?”
I turned towards Knox. “Did you know about this?”
“No, I didn’t – they should’ve gone to the evac ship with all the other civilians!”
“Well, we have to get them to an evac ship!”
Knox shook her head. “There’s no time. They’re here now. They’ll have to stay here.”
“We’re about to fly into combat! This is the opposite of keeping my family safe!”
Knox held up her hand and waved a crew member over. “Private Ivan, please escort these ladies to the engineering core. See that they are comfortable and secure, please.”
