Rise of Aen (38 page)

Like a beacon in the burning night, the blast shot upwards through the sky and past the atmosphere as it clipped a grouping of smaller drop ships starting their entry. Shields were overcome by a blast that wasn’t calculated in strength, and buckled—one by one, the ships burned away to
ash.

Then, as fast as it had started, the blast stopped and left an eerie silence across the war torn suburb. The wind made a whining sound in the emptiness as if the Earth itself was almost crying from being damaged. What was once a housing development was now an alien landscape, completely unrecognizable from its postcard portrait beginnings; a massive crater now dug into the once picturesque landscape, sinking fifty feet or so to its bottom. The mighty Husk were gone; ash and debris fell from the sky like snow. As the Army Rangers began to rise from the remains of their bunker, each was affected differently by what awaited them above. Some celebrated the victory with shouts of jubilance and joy, but the older, more seasoned veterans were reserved. Yes, they had survived, but they had hardly won! Losses in their ranks were alarmingly high; outgunned and overmatched, they only stood there because of the intervention of something else which seemingly sacrificed itself for
them.

A few of the Rangers began to push through the falling ash, coughing and spitting it out as it burned their lungs as they climbed the crater’s rim. Weapons drawn and held at ready stance, they approached cautiously, unsure of what might have been awaiting them below. As they reached the top and peered down, the ash cloud was dense and difficult to see through. Donning their night vision goggles in an attempt to better assess any possible threats below, they could make out a lone figure standing at the center of the
crater.

“Possible target found,” one said upon the discovery and directed the rest to take aim and position for maximum effectiveness in their shots. Fanning out, they began to surround the target while holding the superior position on the crater
rim.

Below, the target stood motionless. It was humanoid in shape, not the shape of the aliens, and was covered in thick ash as if it had been unmoved this whole time. Almost statuesque, it remained still despite the targeting lasers that danced around as the soldiers positioned themselves. It was after a long few minutes of silent inquiry, that the quiet was broken by a crackle on their comm lines. First it was static, before a voice that they had heard only briefly during the firefight spoke—it was
him!

“Stand down, it’s me.” Aen spoke in a reserved voice over the radio. He was exhausted and barely able to stand, never mind have any desire to attack them. His body drained, he finally dropped to his knees as the built-up ash fell from him suddenly causing the soldiers to begin a rapid descent down to aid him. One battle had taken his all, and it was only a small battle. The Husk now knew they had a stronger opponent and would adjust accordingly. Next time they would be better prepared for him, a fact that troubled him. From here it would only escalate—now they would hit humanity harder to better crush the emotional lift this victory would create. Aen wondered silently as the footsteps neared if he hadn’t made it worse by interfering; if by stepping in so early may have turned the tide in the wrong sense. Help was coming, but now that he had flexed his muscles in this fight, he truly wondered if they would they be too late by the time they
arrived?

SEVENTEEN

Himalayan Mountains, Mount Kailash, Tibet -
Fifteen Hours since Arrival

Like a candle in the night, the entire western world witnessed the true power of the Harbinger as he destroyed an entire battalion of Husk in an instant, others listening to descriptions of the scene on the radio or watched videos off the remnants of the tattered remains of the internet. From their hide out in the mountains, the entire small colony watched in awe as they monitored the last few news feeds via satellite. Fear and helplessness filled all of them; it was as if they were so far removed from the situation for it to be real. But it was real, and many struggled with various forms of survivor’s guilt as the attack rolled
on.

Sara stood quietly as she watched the eerie orange glow fill the Eastern night sky apart from the grouping. She had found a ledge above the camp, and there she could be alone in her sorrow. It was as Aen had told her, the Earth burned and humanity was at a point of no return. Fleeing was not an option—it was fight back or be
destroyed!

In the past few days, everything had fallen apart that the world had clung to so dearly. Religions struggled to maintain their grip on the populace; scripture and prayer could not explain the arrival of an extraterrestrial race. The airwaves had been full of panic and fear before being cut off by the EMP. When power had been restored, the assault had begun and the entire world shook in terror. There was no infrastructure to assist in this scenario, no plan on how to help the populace accept or adapt to this. Everything simply collapsed and the world became
chaos.

And now the Earth itself had begun to pay the price for humanity’s arrogance as the aliens had destroyed wondrous and breathtaking places that would now only exist in memories. The victory in Seattle was diminished by the devastating defeats in other cities. The world as they had known it was over and now they all had been given a great choice: adapt or die! Sara wasn’t sure if humanity as a whole was ready for
this.

“Do you think that was him?” her mother’s voice whispered behind her from where the tree line opened up to the rock face she was perched on. Between the commotion below and the rumbling of the fires in the distance, Sara hadn’t even noticed her mother pushing through the brush to join
her.

“My heart tells me it is,” she replied, never taking her eyes off the spot where the light once
was.

“Mine too,” Krista said as she settled down beside her daughter. Silently they both suspected Aen’s true identity, but neither were sure if it was simply their hearts trying desperately to make it
so.

When she had first lain eyes on Aen, Krista’s heart had jumped. Not in fear from seeing this strange-looking creature, but the fact she could see facial features and body language cues that were reminiscent of the man she loved for all those years and missed so dearly. Time had begun to heal her from his loss, but when this man stood before her it all rushed back and she nearly shut down completely. In her mind she knew it was him or what he had become and she longed to ask
him.

Krista had kept this feeling from her daughter, more to protect her than anything else. This Aen was so different than her husband had been, so cold and alien. His eyes were truly frightening as she could feel them trying to pull at her soul as a black hole would pull at the universe itself. It would be so easy to lose oneself in them, but he was not a being that was searching for love. Aen was built for war and she was glad he was there to fight on their
side.

Side by side, the two sat and stared out into the night. Each thought different things, but shared them not. Instead, they sat in silence and enjoyed the fact that for now they were safe. The thoughts of what was to come were pushed aside; if the end was truly coming, they were both at peace that they would have this moment together. Together they sat and watched the night burn in silence and held each other close. It didn’t feel like the end, it felt more like a new beginning and that fueled the hope rising in their
hearts.

Lyarran Vessel Amarra, Southern Pacific -
Twenty Hours since Arrival

Caretaker ended his communications with the Dark Light when Aen began to build up his energy. Before that, he had become untraceable due to the ongoing plasma discharges from the Husk attackers. In a sense, his usual energy signature had become lost in the
noise.

But in an instant, Aen had appeared in the midst of a battle in the southeast and began to quickly build up an immense charge before letting loose an explosion on the scale of a small solar flare. Caretaker quickly began to assess the damages it caused, but the magnetic interference was tremendous. He worried that Ameia had birthed a creature that would destroy the planet she had wanted to save so badly; his power too great for him to
control.

His sensors noticed that the vessel that was dropping troops along the Eastern seaboard had now stopped and began to assess the blast itself; the Husk had become aware of a superior force on this planet. In fact, all the ships that had been moving about the planet had stopped. The Amarra’s sensors showed that they all were linking up to the massive ship above, all awaiting new strategy and orders to deal with this new
threat.

The data on the blast began to pour in, and Caretaker began to crunch the numbers as he also monitored the enemy and kept the Amarra’s shields oscillating frequencies to keep it hidden from any sensor sweeps. He was in heaven, so to speak. It was the first time in thousands of years he had so much to do and he was quite enjoying
it!

As he handled all the other tasks, he also began to search local radio frequencies in the southeast, as he wanted to make contact with Aen who had once again disappeared. The airways were chalk full of distortion due to the blast, but small blurbs of conversations began to come free from the white noise. Then, Aen’s voice appeared and Caretaker rushed to get a fix; he had him! Once he pinpointed his location, the AI established a link and reached out to the barely conscious
Harbinger.

Lyarran Vessel Amarra, Southern Pacific -
One Day since Arrival

“If you wanted to make a statement,”
Caretaker’s voice rang in Aen’s helmet,
“You certainly accomplished that! I believe the Husk are trying to reassess their battle plans to accommodate for your
presence.”

Aen grimaced slightly; it was like hearing your mother nagging at you when you were trying to sleep off a hangover. The construct’s voice was the last one he wanted to hear as he was being helped to his feet. He turned off the external helmet speaker to ensure privacy, and answered the nosy
AI.

“Any update on the reinforcements?” he
grumbled.

“Yes. I had a detailed and in depth conversation with the commander of the lead rescue vessel. A wonderful creature she is, although she did seem a bit preoccupied with my
programming…..”

“How long till they get here?” Aen interrupted, unable to take the rambling of this overeager and overly chipper
machine.

“Oh, yes. They have experienced a delay, as the extended travel in jump space has overheated their reactors. I took the liberty of assessing their problems and rewrote the engineering software to better accommodate such long travels. Although, I am unsure if the Commander will be grateful, as she seems to have issues with my altered
programming…”

“I don’t need a recap of the whole thing, just a timeline. When do they get here?” Aen’s patience was non-existent at this
point.

“I am afraid it will be a bit more than four more days. The rest of the battle group will be even
longer.”

His heart sank: four days might as well be four months. Yes, they had beaten the horde here in Seattle, but it had come at too high of a cost and the loss of many innocent lives. This battle was just about to escalate and Aen was sure that the human race would be in tough against the Husk to last a few more days. They had to change strategies; they had to adapt the plan as patience was no longer a card they had to
play.

“Get me a line to the General,” he said at long last, “we have to move ahead with our plan. Tomorrow we need to go on the offensive and take the fight to them so we can survive to the next
day.”

Lyarran Vessel Dark Light, Alpha Centari -
One Day since Arrival

Lyxia studied the data from the event on Terra Sol with eagerness. Never before had such a thing occurred on a planet; she had even cross-referenced the Imperial records to double check. Readouts showed the equivalent of a small solar flare erupting from the planet’s surface; if she hadn’t witnessed the event caught by the sensor network she would scoff at the mere idea of
it.

She was more than impressed by this Harbinger creature than she thought she would be. Since she was a youngling she had heard the prophecies of his coming, and it was even part of the curriculum in the Academy. But for all the times she had heard the tales, she had dismissed it as just that—a children’s story! It was one of the greatest shocks in her life to see him there in the Council chamber staring back at her. In a flash, fiction had become
reality!

And now, any doubt she had of him being this mythical creature was dashed away by the overwhelming data of the flare. There, in the very far reaches of the galaxy, was the Harbinger. He had announced his very existence with a bold statement to the entire universe and probably even added doubt to the very confident Husk
slavers.

Sitting alone in her quarters, she poured over the data readouts and began to truly be amazed. She forwarded a copy to the Empress and the science wing of the Guild back home. There was no comparison to use to better judge what she would be meeting when she got there; no measuring stick to something like this. All Lyxia could do is adapt on the fly and try and use this creature to help drive away the Husk. She was naturally confident, born and bred for this specific role and had risen through the ranks while catching the eye of the Empress herself. But in this time of urgency, she could pull from that confidence no longer, as a strange fear crept into her soul. A shudder ran up her spine as she silently began to wonder about what the Harbinger really was, and what he truly was the herald
for.

Moscow, Russia - One Day, Eight Hours since Arrival

The sun was barely over the horizon of Moscow and the battle was already hours old. Tank cannons barked out in the dawn along with the staccato of high-powered rifles. The air was hot and smelled like ozone as the Husk heavy infantry returned fire with blazing plasma rounds. But this fight was not as lopsided as the one in Seattle hours before; this one was a complete
turnaround!

Soldiers of the Russian National army had dug in deep and had plenty of advanced notice about the impending attack. They were armed to the teeth and had a sheltered supply chain for ammo and other necessities. The Husk had advanced and been caught off guard by the resistance and now held on for a fight they had never seen coming. For every resistance fighter to fall, ten of the horde was dropped. Their resolve was unwavering and the men and women fought proud and
hard.

As their numbers began to waiver, the Husk drop ship loomed in the distance, as it brought more battalions of troops to the line. The size was a disadvantage here as it was quickly targeted by the anti-aircraft guns and when in range it began to take immediate damage. It began its descent a little before the fortifications set up by the rest of the alien horde as heavy rounds began to wear down the
shields.

Hovering just a few meters off the ground, the enemy troops frantically began to offload. The Russian troops, seeing the panic in the enemy actions had tanks target and open fire on the ship as well. The additional firepower paid off as the shields buckled and the ship exploded in a brilliant fireball with a little over half its troops unloaded on the ground and it fell with a resonant thud. A roar from the Russian troops erupted in the battlefield; it was the second of such ships they had felled in the last few hours! Morale was high on the line, the enemy wasn’t as strong as they thought they would
be!

But the hope that was building in the hearts of those who had fought so long now was a false one, as death loomed on the horizon. The destruction of the drop ship was viewed as a last straw by the Husk and they were unwilling to sacrifice much more equipment and troops in this skirmish. A small dark shadow became visible in the Southern sky behind the enemy lines; a foreboding sign of the doom that followed it. In the distance approached another Husk ship, but this time it was an attack cruiser that had begun to bombard the Earth in cities that were cleared by the alien
troops.

It didn’t take long for the Russian soldiers to take notice of the lumbering giant looming closer. Elation turned to sorrow; the realization that death would soon overtake them began to creep over the troops. Whispers started to roam and dissension began to rear its ugly head. Talk of a possible retreat surfaced along with a bit of panic, and it was at this time they began to notice the stranger in their midst—Aen had
arrived.

It had taken a few hours to regain enough strength to teleport to Moscow, even though he was aware of the conflict as soon as it started. The Seattle incident had taken a lot out of him, more than he was willing to admit. And with that expenditure of sheer power came some strange side effects, some of which were a bit worrisome. Most troubling to him was the faint echo of a ghostly voice that was too hard to interpret, but was becoming annoying. In concert with the whisper was flashes of another place—somewhere he had never been—that held a presence that unnerved him. Aen was not confident in his stability, but wrote most of this off on exhaustion and battle fatigue. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it; this was hardly the time to be seeing
ghosts!