sent out to the closest Battle Core, and that required gaining some distance from the pursuing ships and getting far enough away from the interference of the solar system in order to send its transmission.
On board the mothership, Artad watched the chase and knew exactly what the Swarm was trying to do. There was no hesitation as he ordered one of the Talons to follow directly while the other two were to loop around the star at the minimum safe distance.
As the scout ship and Talon dived deeper into the sun’s gravity well, the Talon opened fire. Golden bolts of energyshot from the needle nose of the craft toward the scout ship. One struck, sending the scout ship tumbling for several seconds before the Swarm regained control of the damaged vessel. Other bolts were absorbed into the sun. Responding to the incoming power, a solar flare suddenly boiled up from the surface of the sun and enveloped both ships in a bright explosion of light. When it disappeared, both ships were gone.
Artad ordered the surviving two Talons to return to the mothership, then he turned his attention to the image on the screen.
“
Did you see?
” he asked Aspasia.
“
Yes.
”
Artad scanned the instruments on the console in front of him. “_ It does not appear that the Swarm ship was able to get a_
message out before it was destroyed. However, that does not
mean it did not get an initial message out prior to our discovering
it. If the Swarm was behind the reprogramming of the Master
Guardian via tentacle infiltration of one of your people, then it has
been in this system a very long time
.”
Aspasia held up a six-fingered hand. “
I propose a truce to
deal with this problem.
”
“
You propose?
” Artad glared at the image of the High Commissioner. “
It is your failures that have led to this
.”
“
Accept the reality of the situation,
” Harrah cut in. “
You have
always let emotions rule you, Artad, and that was, and is, your
greatest shortcoming
.”
Artad slammed a hand down on the side of his chair and glared at the screen.
“How dare you—
”
“
If the Swarm come,
” Aspasia said, “_ they will not care who is_
at fault. They will kill us all.
”
“
What do you propose?
” Artad demanded.
Donnchadh slid the dagger’s black blade across the throat of the Guide, then stepped back to avoid the spurt of blood that issued forth from the severed jugular. She felt no guilt—one who had been turned into a Guide was a creature she no longer considered human. In fact, she was freeing whatever core human part remained trapped inside the unfortunate soul’s mind. She removed the medallion from around its neck, the ring from its finger, and added them to the ones already in the small leather satchel she’d taken from the others she’d killed.
She was weaving a bloody path into the palace, not caring how many corpses she left behind. As soon as she’d climbed out of the ditch and entered the city proper, she’d been in the midst of confusion. People ran to and fro, some with their belongings, others with nothing. Some were heading toward the palace spire crying out in supplication, others away from it. A voice was echoing out of loudspeakers listing name after name, directing them to report to the palace. Looking up, she spotted half a dozen golden saucers bracketing the spire. The key to the uproar, though, was the massive black mothership that hovered over the top of the temple spire. Its shadow covered the entire city. Something unprecedented was happening and for those humans who lived under the unchanging thrall of the Airlia, such a development was terrifying. The Airlia had beat routine and consistency into those who served them for generation after generation.
Donnchadh was taking advantage of the confusion to wreak a small measure of vengeance and get closer to the center of activity to discover exactly what was happening. She made her way onto the large plaza in front of the spire and halted at the near edge
On board the mothership, Artad watched the chase and knew exactly what the Swarm was trying to do. There was no hesitation as he ordered one of the Talons to follow directly while the other two were to loop around the star at the minimum safe distance.
As the scout ship and Talon dived deeper into the sun’s gravity well, the Talon opened fire. Golden bolts of energyshot from the needle nose of the craft toward the scout ship. One struck, sending the scout ship tumbling for several seconds before the Swarm regained control of the damaged vessel. Other bolts were absorbed into the sun. Responding to the incoming power, a solar flare suddenly boiled up from the surface of the sun and enveloped both ships in a bright explosion of light. When it disappeared, both ships were gone.
Artad ordered the surviving two Talons to return to the mothership, then he turned his attention to the image on the screen.
“
Did you see?
” he asked Aspasia.
“
Yes.
”
Artad scanned the instruments on the console in front of him. “_ It does not appear that the Swarm ship was able to get a_
message out before it was destroyed. However, that does not
mean it did not get an initial message out prior to our discovering
it. If the Swarm was behind the reprogramming of the Master
Guardian via tentacle infiltration of one of your people, then it has
been in this system a very long time
.”
Aspasia held up a six-fingered hand. “
I propose a truce to
deal with this problem.
”
“
You propose?
” Artad glared at the image of the High Commissioner. “
It is your failures that have led to this
.”
“
Accept the reality of the situation,
” Harrah cut in. “
You have
always let emotions rule you, Artad, and that was, and is, your
greatest shortcoming
.”
Artad slammed a hand down on the side of his chair and glared at the screen.
“How dare you—
”
“
If the Swarm come,
” Aspasia said, “_ they will not care who is_
at fault. They will kill us all.
”
“
What do you propose?
” Artad demanded.
Donnchadh slid the dagger’s black blade across the throat of the Guide, then stepped back to avoid the spurt of blood that issued forth from the severed jugular. She felt no guilt—one who had been turned into a Guide was a creature she no longer considered human. In fact, she was freeing whatever core human part remained trapped inside the unfortunate soul’s mind. She removed the medallion from around its neck, the ring from its finger, and added them to the ones already in the small leather satchel she’d taken from the others she’d killed.
She was weaving a bloody path into the palace, not caring how many corpses she left behind. As soon as she’d climbed out of the ditch and entered the city proper, she’d been in the midst of confusion. People ran to and fro, some with their belongings, others with nothing. Some were heading toward the palace spire crying out in supplication, others away from it. A voice was echoing out of loudspeakers listing name after name, directing them to report to the palace. Looking up, she spotted half a dozen golden saucers bracketing the spire. The key to the uproar, though, was the massive black mothership that hovered over the top of the temple spire. Its shadow covered the entire city. Something unprecedented was happening and for those humans who lived under the unchanging thrall of the Airlia, such a development was terrifying. The Airlia had beat routine and consistency into those who served them for generation after generation.
Donnchadh was taking advantage of the confusion to wreak a small measure of vengeance and get closer to the center of activity to discover exactly what was happening. She made her way onto the large plaza in front of the spire and halted at the near edge
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