felt as the hot water cascaded onto his tense shoulders and ran, dripping, from his long dark hair. Trying his best not to lose track of time while enjoying the shower, he pressed the knob to deactivate the water and grabbed a towel from the peg on the wall. Yen dried quickly and pulled on his dress uniform; its dark grey fabric signified that he was an officer of the Alliance Fleet while the rich purple piping along the shoulders and sleeves signified him as Squadron Commander.
Exiting his room, Yen’s boots clicked loudly on the metal floors of the ship as he made his way to the lift. Stepping inside, he entered his command code and the doors slid shut before him. He felt a twisting in his stomach that he knew was a sickly combination of hunger and nerves, the latter being caused by him being late to the meeting. He dreaded confrontation with any of the senior officers, though there were only two that outranked him aboard: Captain Hodge and Eminent Merric, the tactical officer. Still, with his powers acting so unpredictably, even the smallest disagreement could quickly turn lethal. His fears subsided as the doors opened on the War Room. Though he was the last to arrive, many had still not taken their seats around the circular table that dominated the center of the room. Small clusters of officers — with their orange, yellow, and red piping signifying their ranks — stood around the numerous displays on the side walls, many of which showed the progress of the Alliance Fleet as it raced through the void of space.
As Captain Hodge, her own captain’s piping a brilliant white, noticed Yen enter, she called the room to order and invited them all to take their seats. Yen made his way through the crowd and sat two seats down from the Captain; only Merric sitting closer to her due to his rank. The others spent little time with cordial salutations, instead focusing on the three dimensional map of the universe that floated above the center of the table.
“Welcome, all of you,” Captain Hodge said, drawing their attention to her position at the table. “We are faced with a situation we were not expecting and have, therefore, not planned for accordingly. We are now pursuing the entire Terran Fleet through space in an attempt to destroy the last vestiges of Terran existence. However, we are also facing one of the biggest catastrophes in Alliance history as one after another of the suns in Alliance space are being blacked out by Terran deception. You all received data streams this morning informing you of the specifics, but all information at this time is fluid. I now invite Eminent Merric to fill you in on the details of what we know.”
Taking her seat, Merric stood instead. Yen raised an eyebrow as he watched the other officers pouring through volumes of data on the screens before them, updating themselves on the attacks against the galaxies’ suns. He was sure he had received the information himself, but hadn’t bothered to check his files before staggering from his room this morning.
“Thank you, Captain,” Merric began, his low voice carrying in the vaulted War Room. His fingers began flying across the keyboard before him; his actions reflected in movements among the floating diagram above the table. One after one, the representations of suns disappeared from the screen, replaced by silent black orbs. “To date, seventeen suns have been corrupted by the Terran assault. A list of affected planets is on your display screens now. As you can see, we’re looking at approximately three point two trillion individuals now trapped on dying planets. These numbers are, as always, an estimation since it is unknown how many people escaped on ships once the suns were attacked.”
One of the Warrants, the working class of officers on board the ship, on the far side of the table raised a hand. Yen recognized her as one of the weapons bay Warrants, responsible for the maintenance and operability of both the plasma rockets and rail guns. Her handsome face was framed by her Wyndgaart tattoos and her eyes were serious as she waited to be recognized.
“Warrant Scyant,” Merric said, pointing at her position. Scyant rose to her feet and addressed the group.
“Do we have any information yet on how to reverse the Deplitoxide affect on the suns?” she asked. Yen was impressed that she had done enough research since receiving the packet this morning to clearly identify the chemical being used from memory. Having asked her question, she took her seat again at the table.
“Unfortunately we do not at this time,” Merric replied. “However, we are currently awaiting a response from High Council on our possible courses of action. Regardless, the destruction of the suns is not our primary concern. The Alliance Fleet is being sent solely to pursue and destroy the Terran Fleet before it is able to reach Arcendor.”
His fingers flew across the keyboard as the map zoomed in on a specific sector of space, dominated by a multitude of red dots. “We have been receiving partial reports from freighters and commercial ships operating throughout Alliance territory. So far, we have tracked the Terran Fleet through four galaxies as they move toward Arcendor. From the estimates we have received, we believe…”
“Don’t we have ships defending these galaxies?” a young Magistrate asked from a few seats to Yen’s left.
Merric glowered at the younger man, obviously slighted for the interruption. “Yes, we
Merric zoomed in again on the series of red dots on the map. “We believe from the reports we’ve received that the Terran Fleet consists of forty-four ships. That is ten ships more than what are currently in the Alliance Fleet.” Merric paused for effect, but noticed that little of the room seemed surprised by the situation. Clearing his throat, he continued. “However, we have the advantage of fighting in familiar space and we have a higher concentration of weaponry per ship than do the Terran vessels.”
“And while we continue in pursuit of the Terran Fleet,” the young Lithid Magistrate chimed in once more, to Merric’s dismay, “are we to leave our families to die on frozen planets orbiting lifeless suns?” His question caused a stir of discontentment among the other officers around the table. Sidebar conversations broke out, with a number of Magistrates and lower ranking Prestiges agreeing with the sentiment of the Lithid.
The noise of a dozen independent conversations rolled through Yen’s mind, rattling within the close confines of his skull. His headache slowly grew, though he was no longer sure if it was solely the result of his inebriation the night before. Reaching forward, he slammed his hand down on the table. The sound reverberated in the vaulted room and silence fell as everyone turned toward him. Looking up, his black eyes appeared as maelstroms of barely contained power.
Yen spoke slowly and softly, letting his words carry across the crowded room. “There is a chance for those trapped on the planets. Before we invaded Earth, High Council ordered a small contingent to hunt down the source of the Deplitoxide and bring it back in order to make an antidote to its destructive effects.” Yen found his thoughts wandering, the beautiful face of the Wyndgaart pilot appeared in his vision. He lost himself in the memory of her touch, the feel of her soft skin against his, the love they shared. She had saved his life once and, more importantly, saved his soul when he thought he would be consumed by the burgeoning power.
Focusing on the room once more, he noticed that all faces stared at him in anticipation. “If anyone can find a cure for our current dilemma,” he continued, “Keryn will.”
“If High Council already had the foresight to send someone to find a cure,” the Captain interceded, halting any chance for a debate on the subject, “then I am content that a solution will be presented shortly. However, it doesn’t negate our own responsibility to destroy the Terran Fleet. Eminent Merric, please brief the officers on the most recent piece of information.”
Merric stood once more and pointed at the map, indicating a number of red dots that broke away from the main collection. “As you can see, recent information indicates that half the Terran Fleet has separated themselves from the rest of their ships and is moving into an intercept position between us and Arcendor. That means that they know we’re coming to stop them. I encourage you all to spend the next few days devising a plan to overcome their blockade as quickly as possible so as to not slow our advance toward Arcendor. I will be meeting with select groups of officers shortly to begin devising a strategy. In the mean time, check and double check your assigned sections to ensure we are ready for combat. Now that the Terrans know that we are coming, it won’t be long before we’re fully engaged. The Terrans are fighting for their lives against us, but we are fighting for the survival of everything we know and love. Don’t underestimate them, but don’t expect them to underestimate us either.” Turning, he nodded to Captain Hodge and took his seat.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I stress the importance of our responsibility here,” she said. “Let’s ensure that we
