'What's the current shield status for our ships?' asked Wynn.
'Ten ships below 70 percent shield power, eight below 50 percent power and two are under 20 percent power and three have already been destroyed.'
'What about the Esyia?'
'She's approaching 30 percent power and still taking a pounding sir.'
Wynn continued to sort through the incoming images on the war room displays. The armada was really getting beaten to death up there. They were tough ships, but the odds were against them. If they failed to stop the Baruk in space then the fight would hit the ground.
'Sir, another of our ships has been destroyed, the Kyrysk,' said Davers.
The other four soldiers manning the war room control systems paused briefly to look up at Wynn then continued with their work.
'What about the Baruk fleet?' asked Wynn, 'what kind of damage are they taking?'
'They're going blow for blow, but our ships are grossly outnumbered,' said Davers.
'By the time they do any significant damage, their shields will be down and it will be over very quickly. Have we notified Tiet yet?'
'He's in the med lab; the alarms don't sound in there.'
'Put me through.'
'Online, Sir.'
'Dr. K'ore, may I help you?'
'Mirah. Wynn Gareth here. I need to speak with Tiet immediately.'
'My patient is still undergoing treatment under sedation,' said Mirah.
'I need you to wake him up. We've got a situation; he's needed.'
'What he needs is to get this treatment completed without duress, Commander.'
'Doctor, our fleet is getting burned out of the sky. The Baruk will begin a ground assault as soon as they get the chance. Please, we need him on his feet now.'
'I'll do the best I can, Mirah out.'
The communication link was terminated at that point. 'I'd better make sure of it,' said Wynn. 'Davers, what's the status of our troops?'
'All division commanders report ready and awaiting deployment instructions.'
'Tell them to hold positions and the king will instruct them personally,' said Wynn as he headed out the door.
MIRAH returned to the control panel monitoring Tiet's treatment. He was coming out of his sedation as the procedure finished up. Everything was precisely computer controlled. She walked into the treatment room as he began to come around.
'How are you feeling?'
'A little groggy, but I feel alright. My arm feels a lot better; just a little sore now.'
'Well, that will pass soon enough. You've got plenty of pain meds on board.'
'I appreciate the fix up Doc.'
'You don't have to be so formal.'
'I know. There's just been so much happening recently Mirah.'
'Well the arm looks fine,' she evaded.
'Thank you Mirah,' he said, not pursuing. Tiet flexed the arm, trying out the repair. 'You do wonderful work.'
'Tiet I uh…' She started to speak as the door to the med lab, opened to let Wynn inside.
'Well I see you're on your feet again,' he said quickly.
The two dropped their gazes to the ground and then to Wynn and he suddenly realized he might have interrupted something. The thought might have delighted him more had it not been for the present danger; deadly business was at hand.
'Tiet, we've got to get you to the main deployment area. The Baruk are hammering our ships and it looks like we'll be looking at a ground assault somewhere very soon.'
'I'm ready, let's go,' he said as he gathered the upper body portion of his uniform from the counter nearby. They both headed out the main door as he called behind to Mirah.
'Thanks again Mirah, we'll talk soon,' he said as the door closed behind them.
'I hope so,' she whispered to the empty exam room.
They walked quickly together to the nearest lift. 'Tiet, I want to apologize for the situation with Kale.'
'Wynn, don't worry about it. You did what was right. It's just that…he betrayed everything we knew, and yet he's my brother.'
'I know.'
The lift opened allowing them in. 'Main deployment area,' said Wynn.
The computer complied with the settings and away went the lift through the city.
'You could have killed him and he wouldn't have made any effort to stop you. I think he even longed for you to do it, to end his pain and guilt.'
'Why should I care about his pain? He betrayed us-all of us. Including you, Wynn.'
'That's right. And I am still asking you to consider the situation with your brother despite that fact.'
Tiet looked at him sternly then looked back at the city without saying anything.
'I don't mean this in any insulting way, but Kale did not need my help to save himself from your sword.'
'Do you think he's that powerful?' asked Tiet more thoughtfully.
'Well, he did defeat Orin and if I have any sensibility about these things I believe he is very powerful.'
'I don't want to hate him Wynn, I just don't know how to handle this right now…'
The lift slowed as they entered the deployment area and its control tower.
'…but we have a war to deal with; everything else will have to wait.'
AS Wynn and Tiet entered the control center of the city's main deployment area, the data techs were busy monitoring the current situation with the fleet as well as troop status and the readiness of the twelve cities and their defense systems.
Each city had a large portion of the new army assigned to defend it in the event they came under a Baruk attack. At the least, they hoped to hold on until the other legions could arrive at whichever city became the main front.
'What's the status of the fleet?' asked Tiet.
'Ten of our ships have been destroyed sir. The rest are trying to out-maneuver the Baruk ships, but they're dangerously low on shield power,' said one of the techs.
'Can you patch me in to Estall on the Esyia?' he asked.
'Yes sir, one moment. Baeth Periege ground control hailing the Captain of the Esyia.'
'CAPTAIN, the ground control at Baeth Periege is hailing us,' said one of the communications officers.
'Put them through,' said Estall. 'Ranul, have you got the system reconfigured yet?'
'I'm still working on it, just a few more circuits to re-route.'
The intercom on Estall's command chair sounded with Tiet's voice. 'Estall, what is your status?'
'We've lost ten ships so far and it's not looking good. Some of the Baruk are veering away from the main group. They look to be troop transports. I don't know if we can stop them, we're barely hanging on up here.'
'Estall, I want you to get your people out of there. Do you hear me? I want you to withdraw your remaining ships immediately,' said Tiet.
'I want to send out the weaker ships first. Ranul is working on a reconfiguration of the dispersion cannon that may just allow us to penetrate their shields.'
'Do what you think is best, but don't take any chances,' said Tiet.
'Affirmative. If this doesn't work we'll withdraw the remaining ships to the surface; Esyia out.'
Estall clicked the switch on the intercom panel of his chair as he watched the stats for the fleet on a smaller window of the main screen. 'Mellar, give withdraw commands to the ships below twenty-five percent shield
