As soon as the Cair Thewlis passed through the event horizon of the wormhole, Yen’s world ceased making sense. The artificial gravity went haywire, changing the direction of the gravitational pull every three feet throughout the ship. He could hear some of the members of the strike force yelling from the crew compartment as they found themselves seated directly in the middle of where the gravity changed directions. Pulled in opposite directions by equal gravitational forces, their bodies threatened to revolt and split in two.
In the cockpit, Yen felt disoriented. The view from outside the ship made Yen feel as though he were sliding down a drain. A surreal fluid seemed to course down the walls of the tunnel around the ship, driving the Cair Thewlis forward at increasing speeds. Beams of light erupted from around the ship, passing insubstantially through both the hull and through their bodies. Whenever the light struck, Yen felt his nerves set ablaze as though he had been shot. As quickly as it came, the pain faded away, leaving him gasping for breath.
“How much… longer,” Yen asked Warrant Pelasi as he gasped for air.
Yen could see the strain on Pelasi’s face. The controls constantly threatened to leap from the Uligart’s hands as he struggled to maintain a clear path through the wormhole. His expression showed Yen all he needed to know. A gravitational field had shifted behind the pilot, driving him painfully back into his seat. Looking down, Pelasi read one of the dials in front of him.
“Just a…” Pelasi groaned against the pressure. “A couple more seconds.”
Those seconds felt like an eternity. Finally, as the shifting pressure on Yen’s mind threatened to drive him insane, he saw a blue and green light shining ahead in the tunnel. Unlike the searing light that passed through the hull, this light seemed fixed and pure; an ending to their painful journey. Gritting his teeth, Pelasi drove the ship forward until they were launched from the end of the wormhole.
Reality immediately reasserted itself through the Cair Thewlis. Yen could hear the crashing of boxes and supplies in the crew compartment as regular gravity was restored. The pressure they all felt during their warp was gone, though a painful headache remained. Yen sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair.
Beside him, Pelasi coughed loudly, the cough sounding dangerously wet, as though the Uligart was dislodging blood. As Yen tried to look over at the pilot, he was distracted by the view out the front of the cockpit. Filling the front view, a massive blue and green planet hung in space. White clouds swirled across its surface as Yen watched, carried further around its equator by unseen winds. After the chaos of their warp, staring at Earth seemed serene. Shaking his head to wipe away any thoughts of tranquility, Yen glanced left and right. The Cair Thewlis hung in space between Earth and a series of massive satellites, which formed a comprehensive grid around the planet. Each nearly the size of a Duun fighter, the satellites hung quiet and deadly in space.
All around them, other Alliance ships were dropping out of warp. Many, like the Cair Thewlis, hovered at their exit point for moments afterward while the disorientation faded away. Not all ships appeared so lucky. From all around him, wormholes opened and dislodged metallic and organic debris. Ships turned inside out by the dangerous warp were spewed forth, cluttering the space around Earth with twisted metal and the bodies of Yen’s fellow soldiers. Out of the corner of his eye, Yen saw an intense yellow glow light up the dark space around him. Turning, Yen saw one of the satellites changing its trajectory and powering up. At the tip of its antenna array, a brilliant yellow glow began to build as the stored solar cells released all their energy into the weapon. Beyond the satellite, an unfortunate Cair ship had dropped out of warp on the far side of the satellite grid. Now targeted by the Empire’s defensive network, there was little Yen or anyone could do but watch as it fired. A giant beam of yellow light leapt from the end of the satellite. The beam struck the side of the Cair ship, searing a hole directly through the hull. The satellite turned as it continued to fire, melting through the ship as it angled toward the cockpit. Soon, the entire ship was engulfed in solar flames as the few remaining pieces of debris floated further out into space. With the target destroyed, the satellite powered down before resuming its previous position.
Anger welled in Yen’s chest as he watched so many Alliance soldiers and crewmen dying without ever having the opportunity to engage the enemy. To die in combat was to be expected, but to die just in transport to Earth was an embarrassment for the entire Alliance. Frowning, Yen remembered the scientist performing the warp presentation. Seeing what was happening to a full quarter of the Alliance invasion fleet, Yen realize the scientist had been right to be afraid of the possible results. More importantly, the scientist should be afraid of what Yen will do to him for this if he ever saw him again.
“Commander Xiao,” a female voice called over the radio, “this is Alpha Leader.”
Yen smiled at hearing Iana’s voice. “Alpha Leader, this is Commander Xiao. I’m damn glad to hear you’re still alive.”
There was a pause before Iana replied. “I am, sir, but many of my pilots are not. I lost nearly a third of the Duun fighters during the warp. I have at least a dozen others with minor hull breaches from where bulkheads tore loose during the trip. They’ll still be able to fight, but they won’t be able to make any long flights in the near future. I don’t think the smaller fighters were made to withstand that sort of a journey.”
“Get your fighters together and provide what defense you can,” Yen ordered. “We’ve caught the Terrans by surprise right now, but it won’t be long until they start sending up their own fighters to meet us.”
Yen waited until the Duun fighters began moving into protective positions around the Cair ships before he switched to the Squadron-wide channel. “All ships, this is Commander Xiao. Duun fighters will provide cover fire while the Cair ships move toward their pre-designated satellites. Eliminate your satellites quickly, then begin your descent to the planet’s surface.”
The ships all split in different directions as the Cair ships, laden with plasma rockets, moved to destroy the integral satellites that interlocked the entire grid. If everyone were successful, destroying only a few satellites would disable the entire network, allowing the remainder of the Alliance Fleet to fly directly into orbit around Earth before starting the final invasion.
Warrant Pelasi turned the Cair Thewlis and accelerated toward a more distant satellite. According to the High Council’s projections, the satellite they were ordered to destroy would be in orbit directly above the Empire’s capital city. Once their satellite was destroyed, they would have only a short flight down to the planet’s surface in order to apprehend the Terran scientist, Doctor Solomon.
Behind the Cair Thewlis, four Duun fighters fell into line, offering a more thorough protection for the strike force than they were for the rest of the Cair ships. Looking ahead, Yen could make out the targeted satellite, looking inconspicuous amongst all its brethren. Written across its side, as had been written along the sides of all the satellites, was the words Strategic Interlocking Nodule. There was nothing remarkable about the satellite, though Yen knew it held one of the relay stations within its computer that interconnected the rest of the grid for this section. Without this single satellite, a small portion of the network would be inoperable. Coupled with the rest of the targeted satellites, Earth would soon be unprotected from an invasion force the likes of which they had never seen.
As they grew closer to the satellite, his radio suddenly crackled to life.
“Here they come!” Iana cried out in warning.
Looking at the radar, Yen knew why she sounded concerned. The entire space around the planet was suddenly filled with small red dots, far more than they had expected as a defensive fleet around Earth. Nearly standing, Yen pressed his face against the window, trying to get a better view of the approaching ships. As they came into view, they were nothing like Yen expected. Anticipating an invasion, the Terrans had outfitted nearly every available ship on Earth with improvised armor and weapons. Many of the ships flying toward the Alliance strike force were little more than cargo vessels carrying bulky, outdated weaponry. Darting quickly between the hulking brutish ships, however, were smaller Terran fighters, the types that Yen had faced before. The Terran fighters were heavily armed and armored and would pose a significant threat to the Fleet if not eliminated early.
“Keep them busy, Alpha Leader,” Yen ordered. He switched over to the Squadron net as he continued. “All fighters, target the Terran fighters first. Keep them off the Cair ships until we can finish our mission!”
