Rise of Aen (42 page)

In a flash, Aen was back on the Amarra—naked, burned horribly and filthy, but free of his dirt prison. He gasped deeply, and though he did not need the air he was more than glad he was able to breathe it once more. The metal-grated floor was ice cold on his skin, soothing the pain that had broken through the temporary mental block he had put in place to come here. He was amazed at how bright it was in the room and became aware of the vibration in the deck he lay upon; the Amarra had been resurrected while he had been gone and was more alive than
ever!

“There you are,”
the AI cooed,
“For a while there I was beginning to think the Husk had destroyed
you
!”

Although in the past Aen had been more than annoyed to hear the whining drone of the constructs voice, he was never happier than now to hear it again. He was where he needed to be, and remembering the visit from the Empress there was much to do here before it all fell
apart.

NINETEEN

Lyarran Vessel Dark Light, Beyond Earth Orbit -
Three Days, two hours since Arrival

Lyxia had all stations reporting ready for battle as the Dark Light bust out of jump space. A mild bit of frustration rolled in her as they were far off the intended mark; they sat four million miles away from Terra Sol on the vertical plain, looking down at the ongoing devastation. They had arrived just in time to watch the Husk Harvester take heavy damage from some kind of ballistic weapon on the surface; a crude show of force but wildly effective, she thought. So as the Husk lay dead and motionless, Lyxia knew their timing could not have been more perfect and they had arrived undetected. An emergency venting of the jump space reactors was ordered, and the sub-light engines were brought online—it was time for the Dark light to turn the
tide.

As they lurched forward, she tried to find a way to contact the strategic command of the planet. As much as she wanted to just go ahead and intervene, there were rules in place about first contact with a civilization that couldn’t be ignored even in the midst of a battle. Landing a few thousand Ifierin on the surface was bound to add more confusion and fear to the inhabitants of Terra Sol then they already had. A quick scan of the planet’s atmosphere showed a multitude of radio wavelengths; primitive but effective. Lyxia just hoped that the EMP interference had dissipated enough for her to break
through.

It took an hour to find a usable connection before she was able to send a message, by then the Husk had come alive again and began to hammer the planet with fire and brute force; they were pissed beyond belief at being struck so hard! Once the line was free she formally announced their presence and intentions, but no response. Again she tried and still there was no response, she sighed in frustration while still on the air. Breaking the connection, Lyxia began to think how she could overcome the language barrier that obviously was keeping any contact from being achieved; then it hit
her!

“Amarra AI, are you still connected?” she asked aloud with all those in the Operations Control looking back at her. A moment lapsed before the response
came.

“Always at your service, Council, how can I assist you?”
Caretaker
replied.

“I need a translator for the human dialect, construct; the creatures don’t understand the Imperial language as of
yet.”

“Ah yes, it is English you require and I believe in know where to send the signal for such a transmission.”
It went on.
“I shall make some adjustments to your signal so you can speak on your end and be translated on their end and vice-versa. It should make for a signal delay
of…”

“I don’t care construct, just fucking do it!” Lyxia’s patience was non-existent. She turned her attention to the rest of the stations. “Get me a layout of what is happening down there and tell Axyn to get his Ifierin ready to drop! Power up the PAC and prepare the turrets, we will engage as soon as we are in
range!”

Attention drew away from her and back to the task at hand—they were less than an hour away from PAC range. Lyxia drummed her fingers on her console, and waited at high intensity for the AI to finish his
adjustments.

“Axyn reports that drop ships will be ready in ten minutes,” a tech called
out.

“Husk ship targeted and cannons ready to fire,” another added. “Forty minutes from firing
range!”

“Connection is made and translator is in place, Council—it is ready to go when you are,”
Caretaker chimed in as
well.

Lyxia leaned in to the microphone of the console and spoke firmly, hoping this damn thing knew what it was doing. She worried that it was unstable due to all the unfettered time on the planet, left to advance itself against
regulations.

“Command of Terra Sol, this is the Dark Light of Lyarran Empire. Do you require assistance?” she spoke and heard her words turned into a foreign language. There was a long pause before a gruff male voice replied. It was near gibberish at first then the translator kicked
in.

“Yes, we require assistance!” the voice said full of anxiousness. “You are the help that Aen spoke
of?”

“We are the immediate assistance requested by the Harbinger, yes.” She replied. “My ship is on an intercept course and will be on station shortly. I ask your permission to land ground forces to assist you on the
battlefront?”

“As much as it pains me to land more aliens on Earth, we need all the help you can muster. Hopefully we softened them up a bit for you,” The man said
sorrowfully.

Lyxia smiled, she could tell this was a proud soldier who was close to admitting defeat before they had arrived. Though short, this battle had taken a huge toll on the inhabitants of Terra Sol, she hoped it was not too late to save
it.

“You have fought valiantly, Terra Sol Command, and have fared better than many others before you. The Husk have broken many stronger and better equipped worlds before you, yet we see you have pushed them farther than any could expect. Help is here, the Empire holds you in its favor as we seek to shield you from this horror. We shall fight together for glory and victory! Hold on Terra Sol, we shall light the sky with our
arrival.”

Lyxia ended the transmission and hoped her little speech had restored a semblance of fire within those to hear it. She knew they had endured much and the pain being rained down on them was tremendous, but now was not the time to quit, not
yet.

Lyarran Vessel Amarra, South Pacific -
Three days, Four Hours since Arrival

Aen was tired, but knew there was no time to rest now as he began to work on the adjustments in the reactor room of the Amarra. With the help of some repair drones, he had created a work platform to control the ship from just in front of the massive jump space reactor while still being connected to it. A harness hung behind him with wires and various connections ran from it to connect to all three of the reactors and a myriad of other systems. On the side of the harness that attached to Aen, a spike was ready to pierce his body, connecting to his powerful heart, the heart that would pump energy and fuel the ship. Boots were welded to the floor to keep him stationary and the harness was secured at a certain height—all designed to keep him upright the entire time he was
connected.

In his mind, he was still trying to solve the riddle of the Empress. Use Ameia’s last standing legacy against the Harvester, the words could mean so many different things. Aen had planned on using what he could of the Amarra’s defenses to assist in the fight, but was severely limited in usable ammunition. The PA cannons were ready to fire, but it was a big if that they would. Turrets were semi-operational; only five worked properly out of the seventeen that lined her hull with two that would work intermittently. In a nutshell, the Amarra was more a shield than a
hammer.

A hammer! Aen finally got it; he knew what the Empress was hinting at. He was about to refigure some calculations on the console when Caretaker interrupted his line of
thought.

“The Dark Light has arrived and her Council wishes a word with
you.”

“A bit of a bad time for a chat, isn’t it?” Aen snipped at the
AI.

“I am afraid I have been ordered to patch you through, like it or not, Aen. Her rank overrides any and all of my codes of conduct.”
Caretaker
whined.

Aen dropped what he was doing and walked to the holo-link set up that he had moved from the Ops Con a few hours ago. He had used it there for something far different than this, but now it would be for last minute consultation. If his plans worked, he would draw this conflict to a close before the day was out and humanity would survive to grow amongst the Empire. The device powered up as he approached and he stepped on the
pad.

“I am glad to see that you are still
live.”

The voice was that of the being who had haunted the recesses of his mind for the last few months. Aen found it hard to believe that he could fall in love with someone he had never met in person, but the way his heart jumped every time he saw her he knew it had to be nothing less than
love.

“I find that I am quite difficult to kill, but I’m sure we will test that further in the next few hours,” he
replied.

Lyxia looked rather annoyed at such a display of bravado, but the passion she held for this man soon overtook any negative feelings. For too long she had struggled with these strange feelings, but now she chose to embrace them as the Empress told her to. Without thinking, she stepped forward and placed her hands on his cheeks and held him so she could gaze upon
him.

“There is no worse time to give in to feelings such as we have for one another,” she began. Aen could actually feel her hands touching him though this was only a holographic display. “But the two of us find ourselves torn emotionally at the cusp of battle. I for one am tired of hiding what I feel for you Aen of Terra Sol, but the words themselves will wait until we stand this way in person. I am so happy you are still with us and the ancestors have let you walk amongst us once again, but I wish that you restrain yourself from such foolish displays of
power.”

Aen sighed as he now knew she felt the same as he did; there was nothing worse than being in love with someone that didn’t feel the same. His heart sang with jubilation, but he wore his mask of indifference well to hide the truth. If she had an inkling of what he needed to do she would rush down to stop him instead of battling on as needed. So as hard as it was to do it, Aen decided to lie to the angel before
him.

“And so I shall, Council—such foolishness in a time of war is unwarranted,” he said, trying not to choke on the lies he spewed
forth.

She smiled nervously; her right hand moved over his brow as she caressed his face lightly. If Aen had tears left, this display of affection would pour them forth in force. It had been so long since he felt loved, so long his broken soul craved it, that in a time such as this he would feel it was tearing him
asunder.

“When this is done, we shall spend a great deal of time together. Your soul can teach me such wonders, and I can help mend yours,” Lyxia said with a tear in her eye. Her hands slowly pulled away and returned back to her side. “But now, we must go over the plan. The Dark Light is mere minutes away from range of firing upon the Harvester and will send Ifierin to clean the Husk filth from the planet. I will need you to use the Amarra to flank the Husk ship and distract it when the time is
right.”

“She is limited, but it is yours to command—my hand is yours, Council.” Aen said with a
bow.

“Excellent. Power the ship up and be at these coordinates when I give the order. Keep the line open to make it easier to communicate.” She said as she signed off by stepping away from the
pad.

The coordinates scrolled on the engineering console behind him, and along with the battle plan he had all he needed to help her win the day—everything that is, but a functional ship. Aen returned to his station and began to set himself up. Slipping his naked feet into the boots welded to the floor, he felt them tense and seal themselves around him and to his armor. With a deep breath, he slipped into the harness and pushed the button on the machine to drive the attachment straight into his heart from behind. Although he was nearly immortal, it didn’t mean that he was numb and felt no pain. It was quite the opposite; Aen felt every cut and wound he received, and as the spike drove into his heart the pain was excruciating! Had he not been supported by the harness and his boots one with the floor below, he would have collapsed in
agony.

As the probe reached his heart, it began to draw from the limitless well of energy that was his heart. The ship became truly alive and lifted herself higher in the air. Lights on every deck lit, processors and computers awoke, weapons systems and engines came back online; the Amarra would fly one last time and would give her all in the battle to save the
Earth.

Lyarran Vessel Dark Light, High Earth Orbit -
Three days, Four Hours since Arrival

“Fire PA cannons on target,” hollered Lyxia as they finally reached firing range. Huge plasma charges lit in the heart of the triple-barreled weapon and were flung forward by linear magnetic coils that accelerated the rounds at nearly the speed of light. White-hot balls of liquid gas shot out from the Dark Light and sped towards the enemy, as the entire Lyarran ship shuddered from the recoil. It looked like all stealth was for naught as the Husk ship began to turn slowly towards the new—and quite unexpected—threat, but was not able to gain firing position of its own as the rounds struck the hull one after another with enough force to shatter the moon itself. The first two buckled the Husks vaunted defensive shielding while the third tore into the side catastrophically and with explosive force enough to blow debris out the opposite side of the craft leaving the mother of all exit
wounds.

Lyxia watched the Harvester spin the opposite way than it initially started to, away from them and giving her time to deploy the ground forces. The attack was not meant to end the conflict in one salvo, though in her heart she had hoped it would, but it was meant to buy enough time to ensure some safety to the drop ships full of Ifierin to
land.

“It’s now or never, Axyn; get your asses down there and get some work in for once,” she hollered into the comm
line.

They all felt the thud of depressurizations as the landing crafts burst free from the bays quickly and shot down to the burning planet below. “Ifierin have left the ‘Light, Council!” the Captain’s voice rang through the speakers. “Hurry up with this ugly fucker and join us below while there’s some fun left to
have!”