Rise of Aen (43 page)

A small smile crept on her lips; the Captain was one of her closest friends on the ship but recent events had caused her to shy away from him. She desperately hoped that she would see him again so the two could catch up on the whirlwind that had brought them so far. Lyxia knew that there was no way to send a response as the line crackled in static; the ships had made it into the atmosphere. Instead, she turned her attention to the hulk before them that had spun around to engage them. The real fight was just about to
begin!

Groom Lake Military Installation –
Code Name Area 51, Nevada -
Three Days, Four Hours since Arrival

Patterson and his officers watched in awe as three blazing fireballs came from nowhere and struck the nightmarish craft that had tormented them one after another. The Husk obviously had known they were under attack, because shortly before the rounds struck it had begun to turn towards the unknown assailant. It was all for naught as the General keenly observed a bluish shimmering coating around the Harvester spark once then shatter before the third round struck. When it did, it tore into the hull and blew out the other side as bodies and red-hot metal spit out from the ship; it reminded him of someone taking a bullet to the head and the brain splattering out the exit
wound.

Then they watched as the enemy ship used the momentum given to it to spin itself around and once again attempt to engage its attacker, but the Lyarran vessel sped past it and began to circle its prey like a shark in the ocean—it was much faster and agile than its adversary and sought to exploit this as much as possible. It was clear the commander of the Lyarran vessel was well versed in battle strategy—Patterson, for one, was so pleased to see help arrive he nearly
fainted.

But as he sat himself down, he began to see a startling picture begin to unfold on the myriad of other screens he had before him; others with him saw it too. Five smaller Husk attack cruisers began to disengage from their bombardment runs and rise up to assist the stricken mothership—unknowingly the Lyarrans would quickly become
outnumbered.

As the first few broke free of the upper atmosphere, they fired upon the aggressor, which took a few bursts and shrugged them off as it spun around to take another run at the Harvester. It quickly changed course and began to address the new attackers with cannons strewn along the entire length of the ship. Once again, the Husk cruisers fired and the Lyarran ship dodged the shots, but Patterson saw what was happening and once again rose to his feet. The Lyarrans were being herded towards the main cannon of the crippled Husk ship; and worse they had no idea that the weapon was
active!

Lyarran Vessel Amarra, Earth Mesosphere -
Three Days, Seven Hours since Arrival

Blue turned to white, then to blackness as the Amarra rose from the warm embrace of the planet which held her close for so long; with Aen at her heart, she slowly lifted through the atmosphere and out into space. Air rushed out of the reactor room as the hull was weakened to the point of depressurization. Oxygen vented out from there and many other places as more than one leak had sprung in the old hulk. She looked more the part of the lumbering zombie than a threat of any kind, but as she inched closer to the rendezvous point she was imminently more dangerous than she let on. Her PA cannon was armed and ready to fire as were three of her defense turrets. The Amarra was ready to fight despite what her appearance may tell
otherwise.

Aen saw the trap unfold before him—the Husk had shepherded the Dark Light into a course which would take it in line with the main plasma cannon, the one which had struck Aen down from the heavens. In his helmet, he thought the commands to open fire on the cruisers with the plasma turrets and began to spend his short supply of ammunition to try and save the Lyarrans before it was too
late.

With a flash, the turrets belched round after round to the enemy craft that were occupied with their plan. As the smaller ships were just being used to herd the enemy, their shields were on a minimal charge and the combined effort of his fire along with that of the Dark Light buckled the meager defenses of two of the ships and tore them apart. Two down, three to
go.

Aen watched as the trifecta of cannons spat another volley at the Husk Harvester, rounds the Husk hive mind used to help their crippled ship get into prime firing position. The nose cannon glowed wildly as the plasma bursts tore into the hull and ripped deck upon deck apart; melting countless Husk into pools of muck along with the metal structures around them. But the momentum from the blasts spun the nose to face the Dark Light and
fired.

Lyarran Vessel Dark Light, High Earth Orbit -
Three Days, Seven Hours since Arrival

It all seemed to be going too well; even the unexpected addition of the cruisers was shrugged off as an annoyance rather than a miscalculation. It wasn’t until they had rifled off the second salvo that Lyxia had seen her mistake and truly saw the trap the Husk had lain
out.

“Turn the ship now,” she screamed. “Evasive action—prepare for
impact!”

The ship fire emergency thrusters and turned away from her foe as the plasma struck home once more. Lyxia watched in horror as the Husk used the blast to spin and return fire on the Dark Light. With a brilliant flash, the Harvester spit out a massive burst of plasma that struck the Lyarran vessel on her side square on; while they had managed to turn away from the blast head on, the ship was struck hard on her starboard engine. Shields held briefly, then gave way beneath the heat and impact of the blast causing the engine pod to disintegrate in an enormous burst of energy. Her fusion reactor spilled forth more energy to the explosion as a wave of destructive energy rippled down the hull. In an instant, the predator had become prey, the Dark Light was now motionless and struggling to keep power to life support. She was defenseless and the Husk were moving in for the
kill!

Las Vegas, Nevada -
Three Days, Seven Hours since Arrival

Las Vegas was the push-back point of the ground war; the position where the American forces drew the line in the sand to stop the push of human survivors further inland. Although it looked to be the perfect place for a stand—to save Sin City, of all places, was significant—it was more of a strategic plan than any other, considering the world military headquarters lay out North East of the famous city. Groom Lake was being threatened by the alien advance and what was left of the strategic command was only a few miles beneath the
sand.

So the battle raged on and both sides dug in hard as the lay of the land was in the human court. Home field advantage led to street-to-street combat; small skirmishes that were easily won by the Americans. But the Husk began to demolish the city, calling in a cruiser to raze the buildings to the ground and flush out the pesky humans. For every step forward the Earth forces made, the Husk drove them two or three
back.

Ever present was the thunderous rumble of the alien infantry as they marched ever forward; footsteps that shook the very ground for miles around. What was at first a small legion of the greyish cyborgs became an entire battalion that grew further each hour. The enemy had recognized the importance of this battle, and they knew that winning here would certainly break the spirit of the resistance of man. On and on the battle raged, as time passed the Husk began to assert their dominance more and more. Exhausted and overwhelmed, the American front line began to weaken and fracture—it wouldn’t be long until it was
over!

Then the whine of engines behind them drew some attention as landing crafts began to descend from the heavens. What remained of battlefront leadership called in to command in desperation; was it friend or foe? Direct lines to the command bunker only a few miles away were sketchy and the response was more static than words as the fear of being surrounded crept in. But from the swirling desert sand emerged a new force, one clad in deep blood red armour and wielding weapons similar to those the marines had been issued for this fight. The unknown soldiers stood close to seven feet tall, moved in perfect unison, and began to spread out to cover the broken flanks of the front line with not but a respectful nod to the humans manning the barriers. Their armor made them look like walking tanks as the crimson red glowed in the gloom of the smoky haze; in a way, these aliens looked like a legion from hell after a quick glance as they jumped down into the Marine’s bunker. But instead of staying behind cover, they hopped over the barricade and opened fire on the advancing Husk infantry. The newcomers flowed like water in battle; seamless maneuvers and well planned attacks began to halt the enemy push in mere moments. It seemed that the tide had finally begun to turn as the radio cleared and messages poured
in.

“
Help has arrived!! Don’t fire on the Lyarran soldiers; they are here to assist
us!”

Assist—the newcomers began to assert themselves in a way none could ever foresee. As soon as they engaged, the Husk began to change strategies; the aggressive and nonchalant disregard of the humans was now replaced with a fearful respect. It was clear the battlefield belonged to the Lyarrans and no other; the Ifierin were here and now it was their time to fight for glory and
pride!

—

Communication with the front lines was erratic at best, but what was clear was that the Lyarran forces had landed and quickly spread out around the globe to shore up defenses in key battles. There were a ton of calls to make in a short time, but the message was all the same despite the language being transmitted; the Lyarrans were friend not foe. Without much adulation, the newcomers engaged the Husk forces and immediately made a difference. Reports from around the globe showed the enemy was confused and alarmed by the inclusion of the new troops. For the first time in days Patterson was able to breathe normally; the tide had begun to turn in their favor on the ground despite the light show
above.

Las Vegas had switched from a no-win scenario to the turning of the tide as the Lyarran troops began to hit the Husk hard and fast. Renewed by seeing the enemy recoil in fear of the Ifierin, the American troops rejoined the fray to help the enemy body count rise. This fight wasn’t the only one that began to turn, skirmishes in Paris, London, Rome, and Beijing also showed promise with the inclusion of the alien reserves. Not for a few thousand years had humans and Lyarrans fought side by side, but not unlike the knights and elves of old the two races meshed well on the battlefield to work together. The Husk showed the first signs of weakness as they were the ones overmatched in the ground war with the Ifierin who were clearly masters of their craft of
war.

But it was hard to keep eyes on the battlefield as the war above the Earth blazed on. Explosions of plasma lit mini-suns that spread their brief but bright light in the warzone below. Along with a few very bright flashes there was one blinding flash that slowed everyone as all eyes pointed upwards; the battle above was coming to a quick but epic
close.

Lyarran Vessel Dark Light, High Earth Orbit -
Three Days, Seven Hours since Arrival

Lyxia slowly pulled herself upright again; the entire ship had taken massive damage and every deck was reporting damage. Silently she cursed herself for her mistake and hoped that Aen could buy her some time to get her injured ship back in the fight. She watched as the Harvester began to creep closer; her hull was scorched and tattered as the PA cannons had done their part with devastating results. The enemy ship ran under reserve power and inched towards the crippled Lyarran cruiser as her structure shifted and groaned with every movement. Lyxia only wished that they had gotten to fire another volley before this result came around, but there was no shame in dying in battle, it was the hope of every battle hardened Ifierin and that attitude had more than rubbed off on the rest of the
crew.

“Load dormant plasma rounds in the starboard escape pods,” she called out in over the comm lines. “If we are going down, we will take these bastards to the afterlife with us and make the gods
proud!”

She was rewarded with smiles around her, and battle cries echoed in the halls—the Dark Light may have met her end far too soon, but in her death she and her crew would live on forever in tales of lore. Injured but proud, the crew carried out her commands as the seconds ticked by, the Husk vessel slowly beginning to turn her nose towards them, but was so damaged it took more time than the enemy wanted it
to.

“Are the PACs functional?” Lyxia asked, unwilling to wait silently for the
end.

“Cannons two and three are a-go and ready to fire,” a voice called
back.

Lyxia’s head hurt and she felt the warmth of her purple blood pouring from her forehead as it matted her hair; the wound had caused her once hawk-like vision to blur. She was sure she was injured badly as her back and entire left flank roared in pain as she stood tall, but in the face of death one didn’t give in to pain. It was the sight of their bloodied but proud leader standing proud that helped the crew of the Operations deck carry
on.

“If that shot spins us like ours did to them, fire at will without orders! Let’s give Terra Sol a show and the best chance at
survival!”

There was no response, but the orders were clear and made ready. Everyone held a collective breath as the Husk vessel almost had finished its turn and its vaunted cannon readied to fire in a hellish glow. Lyxia closed her eyes and waited for the end—to watch it come was unbearable. She had been so close to the one thing that had eluded her for her entire life, but at least she got to feel what love felt like for a moment and for that she was grateful. It was a shame she didn’t get to hold him in her arms before it was over. As she took a deep breath, she heard his
voice.