Ghosts of Lyarra (7 page)

“They gave it to me.” Aen replied as he donned the robe and pulled the hood over his
helmet.

“
And might it be too much to ask what it is you hope to accomplish
?” it
asked.

“If everything goes well, I will be declaring war on the
Empire.”

—
Lyarran Vessel: Dark Light; Imperial Shipyards of Thsin

This meeting was unlike any of the others she had attended; everything about it felt off. From the absence of Bryx to the general feeling of the room and now the holo-link from the Prophets being active, Lyxia felt totally off kilter with everything. It wasn’t uncommon for the Prophets to ‘dial in’ and listen to the proceedings, but the view was usually of the ocean lapping at the shore on an unknown beach in the cosmos. But this was a room she didn’t recognize and the images were all in red; something was wrong, yet no one paid it much
attention.

Then her attention returned to the proceedings, and the room began to fuss about some goings on with Terra Sol. Lyxia perked up and leaned in to hear more. She watched as Council Sara Foster shared a viewpoint she was watching and played it for all to see on the overhead screens. As if to replay a moment from five years ago, the entire room gasped in fear as they looked upon the fearsome sight of a Husk ship on an inbound vector to the human
planet!

This one was much smaller the marauder that pummelled Terra Sol not so long ago, but the only one in the room without a look of panic or fear was the Terra Sol Councillor. Last meeting, she had gone on record about the defense network that slowed visitors to the picturesque world. She fielded complaints, but was adamant on the fact that this was the way it would be. There were no apologies from Terra Sol, just a promise that what had happened five years ago would never happen
again!

Then it came to her; the humans were about to demonstrate their might! Lyxia knew that Terra Sol had taken a beating politically for some of the concessions they had been granted in their inclusion in the Empire and that many other worlds envied the abundance of riches held by them. Jealousy and greed had shown their faces as there had been requests to share the riches or sell the rights to them; all of which had been answered with a stern no. Council Sara must have felt a show of force was necessary and Lyxia for one, was glad this time had come. She stood silent and watched as the scene
unfolded.

—
Geneva, Switzerland; Earth Council Headquarters

“Witness what we are seeing right now!” Sara spoke loudly as she showed the live images for all watching to see. “The ship arrived in system a half hour ago and has not responded to our requests for it to stand down. It was conveniently missed by the Imperial watchdog out on the perimeter, but our early warning scouts detected it shortly after it arrived. You are looking at live images from one of those scouts which has taken up a synchronous flight path so you all may
watch.”

The image then split to show a camera angle looking up at a massive white PA cannon. Many recognized them as the same that held a defensive perimeter around a multiple of the Imperial worlds, but these ones looked
different.

“What you are now seeing is the Jovian defensive ring - the first ring of our modified PA Cannons - that protect our planet and all the assets we control. These cannons have an increased range from the standard issue and will reach out to the ice fields that surround the Sol System.” Sara
continued.

The room watched as the cannon came to life and began to search for its new target. There were a few clicks of radio interruption as another voice joined the transmission from the weapons
control.

“
Earth Control this is Jupiter Command
,” the voice crackled over the airways. “
Tracking target nearing Neptune space and closing at a hundred kilometers per
second
.”

“Jupiter Command this is Council Foster, please advise when you have target
lock.”

“
Yes sir, Councillor
!” was the reply. There was a quiet, few seconds before it spoke again. “
Target acquired; awaiting
orders
.”

Sara hit the link to mute her connection and turned her attention back to the
Council.

“Five years ago a ship like this made us cower in fear. From what I have read in the logs, it did much the same for all of you as well. Now, we fear little; as I promised my people that what the Husk did to us would never be repeated and today I will show you why Terra Sol will not tolerate any threats.” She said standing tall and proud. She tapped the comm line with the weapons command to regain
communication.

“Jupiter Command you may fire at will! Send those bastards to
hell!”

“
With pleasure
sir
!”

The base of the cannon began to spin; accelerating in a blur until it looked stationary once more. Then with a flash of blinding white light it belched out a massive plasma round that flew out of frame in a blink of an eye. The screen then shifted to full view once more of the Husk ship, which begun to turn in an attempt to evade the oncoming assault, but it was far too late. From weapon fire to impact it had taken fifteen seconds and the plasma charge struck the bow of the Husk ship just off to the right of center. The energy shields buckled in a fraction of a second and the round gutted the ship from stem to stern. Not even the heralded defence cannons of the Lyarran system had this capability; the whole room stood in silent awe at what had been
witnessed.

Sara stood back with a smug look on her face. She had shown those who had threatened, ever so subtly, that Earth was no one’s doormat. After this demonstration, she also knew that those same worlds may become adversaries but it was a risk that needed to be taken and a statement that needed to be made. She ended the video feed as the cheers from Jupiter Command were the only sound echoing in the Grand Council and reverted the room into an uneasy
silence.

—
Lyarran Throne World Havyiin; Grand Council Chamber

Iana was initially scared when she saw the image of the Husk vessel; her heart sank as she feared Terra Sol would be doomed to a repeat of the tragedy five years ago. With no Aen and no Lyarran intervention she feared the worse. But when the weapon fired and the vessel was all but obliterated, she felt vindicated in her saving the humans. It was their ingenuity that had advanced the Lyarran defence technology to further its
effectiveness.

But as the silence remained in the room, she remembered the plan and how even with this unexpected interruption, that it needed to be followed. She had seen the link of the Prophets activate, and as others dismissed it as nothing abnormal she noticed that the background was indeed different than usual. Now that Terra Sol had made their point, it was time for her to give her
performance.

Before she was able to say a word, the transmission from the Prophets let out a squeal and a few clicks, one after another, that seemed to echo louder and louder. The feed seemed to be broadcasting across the Empire as a whole; her friend was truly pushing the limits of his
plan.

—
Temple of the Divine Light; Guild World Ryas

Aen was impressed by the human’s show of force as it would further accentuate what he was about to say. To add to the effect, before he went live he had the AI make the feed go live across the entire stretch of the Empire. He remembered a saying from an Earth text: ‘go big or go home’ and he decided to do just that. He let the microphone squeal as he opened his helmet mic too close to that of the holo-link and the sound of the feed being uploaded everywhere began to echo repeatedly. It was now or
never!

With his hood cowl hanging over to mask any semblance of the Ifierin armor, he stood before the projector and let it load his image. Within a few seconds, all eyes in the Empire were looking at him and he was sure to give them a
show.

“It is you I seek,” he began as the growly voice was distorted by the helmet’s electronics to both add effect and disguise his identity. The words rattled off every wall and staggered back more than a few listeners in a beginning of a speech that would be remembered in Imperial lore for all
time.

—
Lyarran Throne World Havyiin; Grand Council Chamber

“
It is you I seek
,” the figure began in the image, “
But as you cower in the shadows I cannot see you. For some time I have been aware of you; your plans were not as secretive as you imagined. But I was where I wanted to be; alone with only the whispers of the Dark God himself to keep me company. I was happy being isolated, for the first time in my life I was at
peace
.”

“
I had turned a blind eye to the darkness you created; to the madness you sought to bring to this life as none of it affected me in the slightest. Despite your careful planning, you then made your first mistake. You sent your elite to kill me; a move of stupid ignorance as you knew not what they would face, but you sent them none the less. Your bringers of a silent death, fell quickly for I am far beyond what they could have ever prepared for. My home had been violated and disturbed, so in retribution I decided to join your little
game
.”

All the Councillors began to look around the room, searching for the one who this message was meant for. Even Iana squinted her eyes and looked around frantically, but whoever was the intended recipient of the message was not giving themselves away so easily. There was a feeling of mild panic in the room; no one had experienced this type of directed terror
before.

“
So now that you have made your move, I shall make mine. I will take from you your feeling of safety; steal from your very hands that which gives you comfort. From this moment on you will know how close I am to seeing your face and you shall look behind you every moment of every day. Every footstep you hear will strike terror in your heart, for you shall never know who or what I truly
am
.”

At this point, even Iana was truly terrified at the threatening broadcast; unsure if this was part of the act or something truly real. Looking around the room, she saw that the most hardened resolved of the strongest willed women she knew had been crushed under the weight of this new threat. Some of the Councillors even had tears of fear in their eyes; the level of anxiety in the room had hit a fever
pitch!

“
Then I will take from you what you covet most,” the message continued, “I will deprive you of your precious prize that you have worked so hard for. There are no prayers that can stop me; no sage advice from your wise Prophets. All have left these shores for a safer time as the ships of chaos have landed upon you now and watch as anarchy reigns upon your world of
lies
!”

The image shifted to an overhead view of the Temple of the Divine Light on Ryas; the home of the Guild. It was a building on an unparalleled scale in size and height; much like the Aztec pyramids in the Amazon in shape and design but near to the size of Olympus Mons on Mars. Its towering spires reached high into the upper atmosphere of the Guild planet as it was a symbol of peace and wisdom across the Empire. As the murmurs began to rise in the room, they were quickly silenced by an explosion that tore through the ancient structure. Emanating from the core of the temple, the blast sent flames shooting out from the windows on the level that reached outwards several hundred feet. The only thing that saved the structure from collapse was its construction of heavy rock and usage of titanium, yet one could only imagine the devastation left behind by the
detonation.

Cries of anguish rose in the Council as the very symbol of the Empire’s religious foundation burned in the afternoon light. From their podiums, they watched survivors run, limp and crawl from the temple’s exits; some of them burned horribly and clothes still smoking. The transmission of the unknown assailant ended, but was immediately replaced by planetary news feeds; it was the known terrorist attack in the long history of the Empire, and it was an exclamation point of the dysfunction in the Council of recent
times.

Within moments of the blast, an Ifierin security team rushed in to the chambers and secured the Empress before rushing her out to safety. The whereabouts of the terrorist threat was unknown, and the first priority was Iana’s safety. Other Ifierin began to secure the building for those that had attended the Council in person and those linked, had their holo-links terminated. As the mad rush to vacate the building began, the chaos the creature had promised was immediately
visible.

An unmarked shuttle tore away from the building’s depot; the Empress of Lyarra was being whisked away by the Ifierin to the safest place possible; her ship the Lyarra’s Fire that circled above. Moments after the shuttle docked, the golden ship pulled away from Havyiin and set up station away from the planetary orbits along with a guard force of two warships. A tense twenty minutes after the blast on Ryas, the Empress was declared safe and secure! Now there was only the business of picking up the pieces and figuring out who or what had dared to wage war with the
Empire.