rendezvous point. It became obvious that the Meerte Manev and four of its supporting ships had been intercepted. Several minutes later, Poteran and the captains of the Piluams and Soscut - along with their senior staff - met in the Hippasrus’ briefing room.
“Now what do we do?” the Piluams’ captain, Neel Boller, asked. Her concern - and that of the rest of the officers in the room - was palpable. “Vaanle’s signal repeaters were lightly guarded, and even that raid was dangerous.”
“Maybe we should reassess our tactics,” the somewhat older Captain Jalno Rotgen of the Soscut - an old acquaintance and friendly rival of Poteran’s - said. “We should consider helping stabilize the Terrans. Once that’s done, we would not need to raid Petran bases to get the equipment we need.”
“No,” Poteran firmly stated. “This entire operation depends on convincing enough people of the existence of the Xargan infiltration that the new government simply has to investigate it or be removed from power. If we ally ourselves with the Terrans, the prejudice caused by the Carthan Wars would dampen the effects of the broadcast, possibly to the point where we would cause a civil war rather than put pressure on the High Council.”
“Then where do we find more signal repeaters?” Rotgen demanded.
“The news network,” Boller suddenly said. “Think about it - with most of the fleet out there looking for us and guarding other potential targets, we can hit Petra. Obviously, we wouldn’t be able to take out the Council, but if we can capture and hold key structures in the Petran news network long enough to get our message out--”
“We won’t need the signal repeaters,” Poteran interrupted, finishing her sentence for her. “That’s brilliant! We may need to draw more attention or get more resources before we can attack Petra, though.”
“What about Lieproi? We could run a quick analysis of the ancient ruins there during the fight - two objectives with one strike,” Rotgen suggested.
“That sounds like a good idea. We should jump to another meeting site before the enemy arrives; once we’re there, we can prepare for the attack. Also, make sure the Ivory Eagle is informed of our plan to attack Lieproi.” Poteran decided. “We cannot discuss this plan with anyone outside this briefing room - if Jelon captures another one of our ships, we can’t afford to have any of our crew succumb to torture. Dismissed.”
As everyone left the briefing room, the Petran captain wondered for the first time if they were even remotely improving the situation.
Chapter 6
Incursion
Pain. Misery. Death. Those are some of the words that would best describe the scene Zeshaira now gazed upon. The world around her was burning as death rained from the sky and people ran in every direction, trying uselessly to escape their fate. Above her, the stars were obscured by endless swarms of monsters, interrupted by the occasional falling debris - and suddenly, it changed. The Tarhedian did not recognize the first planet, only that it was a Terran world and had once been home to many cities, but the next one was Petra.
Everything looked the same - the bombardment, the swarm in the sky, the terror - but the world it was happening to was no longer the same. Countless Petrans died with each passing moment as the background changed again and she found herself amidst the sands of Cartha Three, in the ancient subterranean facility on that world, and countless other planets, ships and buildings, all sharing one single trait: complete annihilation.
Finally, she saw various people dying - or perhaps being transformed, she couldn’t tell - in a sort of Xargan nest: Lanis, Hatos, Fanra, Herrun, Poteran, and many more that she did not recognize. Outside, she saw the new Tarhedian colony in ruin as they took her and tried to do to her what they had done to the others as an unfamiliar deep voice spoke. “Your efforts are in vain, Tarhedian,” it
“Now what do we do?” the Piluams’ captain, Neel Boller, asked. Her concern - and that of the rest of the officers in the room - was palpable. “Vaanle’s signal repeaters were lightly guarded, and even that raid was dangerous.”
“Maybe we should reassess our tactics,” the somewhat older Captain Jalno Rotgen of the Soscut - an old acquaintance and friendly rival of Poteran’s - said. “We should consider helping stabilize the Terrans. Once that’s done, we would not need to raid Petran bases to get the equipment we need.”
“No,” Poteran firmly stated. “This entire operation depends on convincing enough people of the existence of the Xargan infiltration that the new government simply has to investigate it or be removed from power. If we ally ourselves with the Terrans, the prejudice caused by the Carthan Wars would dampen the effects of the broadcast, possibly to the point where we would cause a civil war rather than put pressure on the High Council.”
“Then where do we find more signal repeaters?” Rotgen demanded.
“The news network,” Boller suddenly said. “Think about it - with most of the fleet out there looking for us and guarding other potential targets, we can hit Petra. Obviously, we wouldn’t be able to take out the Council, but if we can capture and hold key structures in the Petran news network long enough to get our message out--”
“We won’t need the signal repeaters,” Poteran interrupted, finishing her sentence for her. “That’s brilliant! We may need to draw more attention or get more resources before we can attack Petra, though.”
“What about Lieproi? We could run a quick analysis of the ancient ruins there during the fight - two objectives with one strike,” Rotgen suggested.
“That sounds like a good idea. We should jump to another meeting site before the enemy arrives; once we’re there, we can prepare for the attack. Also, make sure the Ivory Eagle is informed of our plan to attack Lieproi.” Poteran decided. “We cannot discuss this plan with anyone outside this briefing room - if Jelon captures another one of our ships, we can’t afford to have any of our crew succumb to torture. Dismissed.”
As everyone left the briefing room, the Petran captain wondered for the first time if they were even remotely improving the situation.
Chapter 6
Incursion
Pain. Misery. Death. Those are some of the words that would best describe the scene Zeshaira now gazed upon. The world around her was burning as death rained from the sky and people ran in every direction, trying uselessly to escape their fate. Above her, the stars were obscured by endless swarms of monsters, interrupted by the occasional falling debris - and suddenly, it changed. The Tarhedian did not recognize the first planet, only that it was a Terran world and had once been home to many cities, but the next one was Petra.
Everything looked the same - the bombardment, the swarm in the sky, the terror - but the world it was happening to was no longer the same. Countless Petrans died with each passing moment as the background changed again and she found herself amidst the sands of Cartha Three, in the ancient subterranean facility on that world, and countless other planets, ships and buildings, all sharing one single trait: complete annihilation.
Finally, she saw various people dying - or perhaps being transformed, she couldn’t tell - in a sort of Xargan nest: Lanis, Hatos, Fanra, Herrun, Poteran, and many more that she did not recognize. Outside, she saw the new Tarhedian colony in ruin as they took her and tried to do to her what they had done to the others as an unfamiliar deep voice spoke. “Your efforts are in vain, Tarhedian,” it
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