Onslaught (Rise of the Empire Book 6) (17 page)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Tarabat

Aileen entered the small building that served as the human base/embassy to the Erasi on Tarabat. After she got through the security check, she made her way to the meeting room where Björn was already waiting for her.

“Sentinel,” Björn Borg said when she entered the room.

“What do we have?” Aileen asked.

“A few traders from the Erasi core systems arrived two days ago. According to our Jugat informants, the rumor is that the Erasi have been moving a massive force towards the edge of their territory, and not just any force—it’s their ships-of-the-line. A lot of them. None of these traders have ever seen or heard of a force so large. This was almost a year ago; by now, those forces have probably already arrived at their destination.”

“Do we know where they were headed?” Aileen asked.

“The word is that they were headed coreward with an spinward tilt,” Björn said.

That meant that they were moving in the opposite direction of the Empire, which was coreward and anti-spinward of the Erasi territory. But the only thing in the direction they were supposedly going were the Shara Daim.

“So the Shara Daim, most likely. I doubt that the Shara Daim would try and attack two opponents of comparable strength at the same time,” Aileen commented.

“Probably not, and they had peace with the Erasi for a long time. The only thing that makes sense is that the Erasi took advantage of the Shara Daim preparations for an attack on us.”

Aileen nodded. “Yes, they mobilized their Legions. The Erasi could’ve attacked as soon as they saw an opportunity. We need to find out more. I’ll send a message to Adrian. He is still receiving reports from our stealth ships in Shara Daim territory; he will know more about their status.”

“If the Erasi attacked them, then their actions with us make more sense,” Björn said.

“How so?”

“They offered us defense platforms that could arguably stand up to Shara Daim ships. If they have attacked, it is in their best interest to keep us and the Shara Daim at war.”

“Makes sense, only we kept things close and they didn’t know what we had. They still don’t, not now when we’ve forced them to remove their stealth ships from our territory,” Aileen said.

“If they knew the truth, they wouldn’t be so scared of us now,” Björn said with a chuckle.

Aileen smiled too. The Erasi were treading very carefully around the Empire these days. And if they were at war with the Shara Daim, it explained why they couldn’t afford humanity taking to the offense.

“And there haven’t been any movements against us from the Shara Daim, at least none that reports from Sol mentioned. If the Erasi attacked them, it would explain why there have been no follow-up attacks; they are too busy defending,” Björn said.

“This gives us an opportunity to take risks, get a network up in their space,” Aileen said.

“Speaking of networks, how did your meeting go?”

Aileen grimaced as she remembered her meeting with the Uraasat called Jurr, the large, snake-like alien that had given her the information about the Erasi Weavers and their stealth ships in return for her trying to find a cure for his people’s infertility.

“Sanctuary discovered the cure, so he is happy. And he wants us to take in a large number of his people, help them set up a colony in the Empire’s territory.”

“In return for?”

“Intel. The Uraasat have a vast network of spies across the Erasi territory,” Aileen answered.

“We don’t have any assets in the Erasi core systems; our relationship with the Jugat only covers systems they are allowed in, which are frankly only unimportant systems at the edge of the Erasi territory,” Björn said.

“I know. I will probably agree. But Jurr is a vengeful being; he wants revenge against the Erasi.”

“Do you blame him?”

“No, but we can’t afford being connected with a faction of Erasi that is opposed to their rulers. From what I learned, Uraasat have connections with many races that live in the Erasi. And Jurr’s ‘organization’ has members in almost every race in the Erasi. If they do something and the Erasi find out that we have been helping them, it would go badly,” Aileen said.

“Then make sure to have a very precise deal in place, what we will do and what we won’t. If they break it, the deal is off,” Björn said.

“If we take their people in, we won’t ever really be able to break off relations.”

“Ask yourself if that is a risk worth taking to get intel on the Erasi. You are the Sentinel on site; these are the decisions that you are supposed to make.”

“I know,” Aileen said, releasing a long breath. “I’ll think it over.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Two months later — September; Year 56 of the Empire — Shara Radum

Anessa was one hundred and thirty-nine years old. She and Garaam had been enjoying themselves on a resort planet in Shara Daim territory. And while Garaam would rather bathe in the warm ponds, Anessa would much rather read about the history of the Shara Daim.

She had always been interested in the ancient history of her people. A time before they had gone to space and before the Sha, when the creeds of blood and death had originated. To fight and become stronger was the greatest honor. To be a warrior was a holy calling. The old Shara Daim had followed only the strongest; it made them ever-changing, since every leader ruled only for as long as he was the strongest. Rulers would fight off challengers for their rule constantly, but eventually every ruler lost, and a new stronger and younger one took his or her place, molding the Shara Daim into something new.

Anessa was fascinated with the old Shara Daim; they had had no Sha, and had fought simply and perhaps more barbarically. But still they had had honor.

“How are you not bored with reading that?” Garaam asked as she leaned on the edge of the pond and looked at Anessa lounging on the warm rocks with a reading device in hand.

“You could learn a lot from our history, Garaam.”

“Yes, I can learn about the most barbaric ways to take power,” Garaam said.

“They lived by their strength, more so than we do now,” Anessa responded.

“We are more civilized.”

“Perhaps, but there are still lessons to be learned from the words of ancient Kar Daim,” Anessa added. Garaam sighed in frustration and turned her back to Anessa, swimming away.

Anessa walked through the great Hall of Ages, under the high-reaching arcs, and past paintings and murals depicting the Shara Daim history, reminding her of who her people truly were. A race of warriors who had never bowed down to weakness. Only it had taken a defeat to teach her what strength truly meant.

Behind her followed Do Sun Arisak and eight of her best Va Sun. Immediately upon entering the system, the Elders had ordered her to come to them. They had provided no reason as to why, but it wasn’t necessary. Anessa knew the reason; the Elders had learned of her orders to the Legions. She had sent the message only to the Legions, making sure that the message didn’t pass through the Shara Radum relay, which meant that someone had informed them on purpose, as she had known someone would. But the circumspect relay had given her time.

Anessa and her party reached the end of the hall and the ornate doors leading to the Elders’ sanctum. Two honor guards stood in front, as they always did. There were no other guards in sight, which probably meant that the Elders, while displeased with her, didn’t plan on having her arrested. That was interesting, but then, she was their greatest Dai Sha; they couldn’t really arrest her without a great cause. They would want to talk, demand a reason for her actions. And Anessa would give it to them.

She turned to Arisak and motioned for him and the Va Sun to stay there. They already knew what to do. Her Legion knew everything—all the information they had about Axull Darr and the suspicions about the Elders. And they were loyal to her.

Anessa inclined her head to the two guards wearing the traditional brown chestplate armors that covered their torso and left their arms bare presenting the white markings going around their forearms. Anessa stepped through as they opened the doors. She entered the dark room and moved down the stairs toward the podium in center of the room, dropping to one knee before the nine Elders that were sitting on high-backed chairs on the pedestals in a half circle in front of her.

“Elders, I answer your summons,” Anessa said, keeping all emotion out of her posture and voice.

For a few beats there was no response, but then the Elder sitting directly in front of her spoke. “Rise, Dai Sha Anessa,” he said, and waited for her to stand before continuing, “You have been summoned as a courtesy. We want to give you a chance to explain your actions.”

“And what actions are that?” Anessa asked.

A female Elder to her right was the one that spoke. “You have failed to report the results of the attack on the Empire’s system of Sol, and you have issued orders to the Legions that are in direct conflict to our own. You have overstepped your authority. The only reason you are not in chains is that we can’t afford to lose a Dai Sha of your power now, but make no mistake, there will be punishment,” the Elder said, her voice booming through the room.

Anessa tilted her head and looked in the direction of the Elder. “You wish for my report? Very well. The attack on Sol failed; Dai Sha Narrasak and his Legion were destroyed, and both mine and Dai Sha Garaam’s Legions sustained heavy losses to our forces.”

A series of exclamations came from the Elders, each disbelieving. The Elder directly in front of her spoke loudly enough to silence the others. “Enough! What do you mean failed? The Humans are weaklings. Their system was undefended; Narrasak sent us reports before you left.”

“The system wasn’t undefended, it was a ruse. Narrasak died because he was weak and unworthy of the position he held. Once faced with an equal opponent, he lost composure and charged blindly into an enemy trap.”

Again the Elders voiced their disbelief, and again they were silenced. “And if you lost, how is it that you are here now before us?”

“The Empire’s commander let us go.”

“What?”

“But not before he allowed me and Garaam to speak with Axull Darr,” Anessa added before they could ask anything else.

Silence reigned in the room. Then a voice from her left broke it. “What did you say?”

“I spoke with Axull Darr, or rather the copy of his consciousness stored inside the device you sent us to retrieve. But I’m sure that you know all about that; there must’ve been records of what the device was.”The Elders were silent, so Anessa kept talking. “I learned a lot of things from him. It seems that a lot of what we believe isn’t actually true. Like our people being destined to rule the galaxy, or our ancestors ruling it through strength by dominating other races.”

“Really? And you believed this deception?” another Elder said, but Anessa could feel his voice shake.

“You told me that I would know the device was real if I heard the beacon.”

“Well, you are obviously wrong; the device didn’t have anything like that, only data,” yet another Elder said, only the words came out in a rush.

“Perhaps you are the one that is wrong? The device was lost long ago, far before your time, Elder,” Anessa said. “Perhaps it was simply not documented.”

“If what you say is true, we will need to reevaluate a lot of our history. It is interesting. We will need you to write a full report about all that you learned. We shall meet again to discuss it after you provide us with everything. For now, we shall give you quarters on Shara Radum until we have investigated this matter,” the Elder in front of her said. “You are free to leave for now, Dai Sha Anessa, but await our summons.”

He dismissed her, but Anessa didn’t move.

“Dai Sha?” the same Elder asked, his voice sounding strange.

“We still haven’t discussed me sending orders to the Legions,” Anessa said slowly, taking a step forward, closer to the Elders.

“Ah…Yes, we will speak of it during the next meeting. You have given us a lot to think and debate about,” the Elder said quickly.

Anessa drew just a bit of the Sha, enough so that her eyes could see in the dark, but not enough for the Elders to notice. The darkness disappeared and she saw their faces, saw their fear.

“I did it because we are Shara Daim. We do not abandon our own people; that is what our teachings always say. The Legions were created to defend our people and to be a bastion of our strength. We do not sacrifice our people for greed and power.”

The Elders were now shifting uncomfortably on their large chairs, their minds connecting with the Sha as they started to speak mind to mind. Anessa took another step forward.

“Dai Sha Anessa! Leave this room now, or we will summon the guards to remove you!” the Elder in front of her said, but his words sounded weak, pitiful.

“Tell me, why did you make us age?” Anessa said in a whisper that carried across the room. She saw the eyes of the Elder in front of her widen, and she knew that Garaam was right. The Elder’s hand moved quickly to the armrest of the chair, moving towards the button that would summon the guards, but Anessa didn’t let it reach it. The Sha filled her and she stopped the hand.

“Wh-What do you think you are doing? Using the Sha against an Elder is a death sentence!” a female Elder from the left yelled out.

Anessa didn’t care, something in her snapped. She bent her knees and jumped forward. In a split second, she reached the chair of the Elder in front of her, his face now filled with fear and disbelief. Anessa’s hand covered his face, and using all of her considerable strength, her fingers tightened around his face, keeping it in place as she moved his head forward and then smashed it back against the back of the chair. The Elder’s skull burst into pieces from the force of the attack; brain matter and blood covered the chair and her hand. As she let go, the body with a pulverized head dropped over the armrest and then onto the floor, breaking the shock of the other Elders.

She heard some of them pressing the buttons on their own chairs, calling for the guard; others were standing up trying to get away. It wouldn’t matter in the end.

Anessa drew on the Sha as she had never drawn before. She had never used her full power; a part of her knew that she’d never had the need for it, just as another knew that she had been afraid of her own power ever since the moment it had come to her and she had almost killed someone. Anessa was the strongest Sha user in living memory, perhaps the strongest to have ever lived. The greatest Dai Sha, her talent and ability with the Sha had no equal. Her time as a ‘prisoner’ had taught her a great deal, and the most important thing she had learned was to abandon her arrogance, to never again lose because she was caught off guard or was keeping herself back.

There were eight Elders left alive, and Anessa moved. She jumped across the room to the chair on the far left. The Elder there had just stood up from her chair as Anessa dropped to the floor, her left arm grabbing the Elder by the shoulder and slamming her back against the chair, keeping her immobilized. She positioned her right hand above the Elder’s head and a ball of orange plasma exploded out of her palm, vaporizing everything above the shoulders.

She turned and saw two of the other Elders closest to her running towards the back door. She reached with the Sha and crushed their ribcages with a force strong enough to break stone. None had even tried to defend themselves. None had drawn on the Sha. She put her hand on the headless corpse of the Elder beside her and looked inside her body. She saw that she was healthy; there was no signs of aging in the Elder, which meant that their outward appearance was only for show. She dug deeper and realized that the body was only healthy but not fit, not by the standards of any other Shara Daim. She knew what she was seeing; these were the signs of someone who did not care to train his or her body.

With a scowl of disgust, she turned to the others. They had reached the front door, and were trying to open them, but of course, they couldn’t. Arisak had his orders. Anessa walked slowly towards them. Two of the Elders saw her, and she felt them take hold of the Sha. Anessa didn’t react; she watched their sloppy and pitiful attempt to grab hold of her and keep her in place. With a thought, she sent a surge of power around her, nullifying their attack.

“Pathetic…For how long have you lived?” she asked with revulsion in her voice. “How much stronger could you have become if only you hadn’t wasted that time?”

“Wait! Wait! We can make you like us, give you immortality. You would never die!” an Elder said. Anessa sneered at her as she moved impossibly fast forward. She grabbed the Elder by the throat and threw her back across the room, where she hit one of the chairs with her back and a bone-crunching snap. The four remaining Elders tried to attack her mind, but even that attempt was nothing. They were weak, no more powerful than a Shara Daim just out of academy was. Anessa walked over to the closest one, her hand covering the Elder’s throat. Her fingers squeezed, her nails biting through the skin and into the flesh as she crushed and then ripped out the windpipe out of his throat. He dropped to the floor, dying slowly in a pool of his own blood. The last three looked horrified at her, and she didn’t care.

One moved forward, throwing a kinetic attack that made Anessa take a single step backwards, and his fist followed quickly with a punch aimed at her head. Anessa moved out of the way, grabbing the Elder’s wrist in a move she had learned from Adrian. She twisted the wrist around, breaking the arm. She grabbed his head with her other hand, and then let go of the wrist to grab the back of his head also. With a quick twist, she broke his neck.

The two in front of her dropped down on their knees begging for mercy, but she ignored them. Shara Daim did not beg, but then, these were not Shara Daim. A plasma ball burned a hole through the chest of one, prompting the other to try running again. He managed a few steps before she snatched him up with the Sha. She kept him in the air and pulled. He screamed as she tore him in half, his torso flying in one direction and his hips and legs in the other.