Jasken grimaced as he looked out from the bridge of the Wingspan to see the advancing fleet of star trees landing a few hundred yards from the fort's front entrance, indicating that they’d likely be staging a ground assault alongside whatever Naval assets they’d be utilizing. Scouts had reported the arrival of a royal star tree as well as a parlay between the Astralbians and the Ramshackle Collective, so he was not entirely surprised by the sudden move, but he dreaded it nonetheless.
After directing all personnel to battle stations, he called Talon Squad, Drixen, Captains Hunt and Fenrik, Dekken, and Mairen to the bridge.
"Where do we stand, folks?" asked Jasken as he paced the polished floor of the bridge.
"The base's EM shields are fully functional," said Fenrik, "so we should be able withstand a blast or two from that royal star tree's great eye. Given the shield's resiliency and the time it takes to charge an eye like that, we should be able to withstand their fire, at least for a while."
"And our guns?" asked Jasken.
"Fully operational," confirmed Dekken. "Ballistic cannons should work well against star trees, but we'll have decent energy weapon capabilities as well. They'll be sapped somewhat going through our shields, but the directionality of the shielding will mitigate that."
"Hold off on energy weapons unless and until the Ramshackle Collective shows up," commanded Jasken. "What about our ripmed drive?"
"Fully operational according to our tests and diagnostics, but untried," responded Dekken. Jasken nodded.
"Mairen," said the Admiral, addressing the Communications Officer. "Our satellites have been keeping an eye on both the Collective and the FRF. What are their positions?"
"Both parties made ripmed jumps. The FRF just after our people returned from their fleet and the Collective just after the Astralbians launched their star trees.
"We suspect the Collective is simply engaging in a double-back maneuver. They'll pop up somewhere nearby shortly, I'm sure.
Jasken frowned, pausing. "At our backs, I'd assume. But what about the FRF?"
"No idea, sir," said Mairen with a shrug. “We really don't know anything about their reasoning."
"I suppose they don't owe us anything," said Jasken with an air of defeat. "Regardless, Drixen, I want you and your squads ready to scramble; Talon Squad, coordinate with Captain Fenrik and his scouts to keep our perimeter secure. Dekken, please return to your post, make sure your engineers are ready to address any damage from the battle. Mairen, Captain Hunt, you're with me. The others left in a chorus of "yes, sirs" and nods.
No sooner had everyone cleared the room than a comm came in from Raelik.
“Raelik, if you’re hoping to finish us off easily, you’ve got another thing coming,” said Jasken, his face cold and his body rigid.
“Jasken, Jasken, don’t be ridiculous,” cooed Raelik. “Just give us the cylinder and we’ll be on our way. At this point, we all know that’s what this is about.”
“Right. I’m afraid I can’t simply give you Republic property. Not to mention the fact that you’ve killed many of my people, and nothing short of killing you myself would give me as much pleasure as keeping you from getting your hands on that cylinder. I’m exceedingly grateful to say that we can now drop all pretense of diplomacy, as you have decided to make war on the Republic over Hittania and its associated finds and resources.”
“Are you certain this is the path you want to take, Jasken?”
“It’s the path you’ve chosen,” Jasken responded, his face twisting in a sneer, “and you’ll come to regret it. Get off my planet before I wipe you off of it.” He turned from the screen and nodded to Mairen to terminate the communication.
Jasken frowned. It was unlike Raelik to be so straightforward.
“Captain Fenrik, have you heard anything from the perimeter guards?” he asked.
“Just their scheduled check-ins,” said Fenrik thoughtfully. “Everyone’s been on time, too. Is there something in particular they should be looking for?”
Jasken shook his head. “No, just remind them to keep their eyes peeled.”
***
It had been all too easy for Traelby to waltz across the battlefield with a perception bubble up and sneak onto the Wingspan. He had avoided everyone’s line of sight as best he could, not wanting to test the limits of his perception bubble too harshly.
He found his way to Jasken’s office and waited for the Admiral to step out, sliding in behind him. Jasken looked around, sure he’d seen something. He walked back into the office and looked around, while Traelby stood stock still in the shadows, careful not to make eye contact and focusing on his bubble. Jasken shook his head and shrugged it off, blaming pre-battle jitters for the sensation.
Traelby would have liked to have killed the troublesome Admiral, but his mission relied on stealth and biologicals always left such a mess when they died. Besides that, King Hylik was adamant that if the cylinder could be obtained without any additional bloodshed, that would cause the least headache for the Kingdom.
***
Outside the walls of Fort Bog Iron, Kwa-Kwa was making the rounds with Rahk. There had been no movement from the Astralbians since they had landed a few hours ago, but the scouts had been tasked to watch the perimeter along with Talon Squad. Once, Kwa-Kwa thought she heard something by the woodline, but she hadn’t seen anything and decided to move on.
Suddenly, something burst through the wood line and charged towards her; it was five feet long and scurrying on all fours, with a brown and speckled white coat.
“Freckles! What are you doing here, buddy!?” asked Kwa-Kwa excitedly.
“Huh,” said Rahk. “I guess he does like you. Must have followed us back from the lake and waited for you to show up again.”
“I suppose so,” she said, reaching down to scratch behind Freckle’s small ears. The beast stomped his feet in his standard display of pleasure. He stopped stomping suddenly and his ears, normally flattened down to his head for swimming, perked up, swishing from side to side like tiny radar dishes. He sniffed and bared his teeth, as though something were nearby.
“What did I do?” asked Rahk, sounding upset.
“It’s not you,” answered Kwa-Kwa. “He’s looking at something up on the wall… oh, I don’t know. I didn’t see anything.”
Rahk looked over where she had glanced, and immediately looked away again. He didn’t see anything either.
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“Hold up,” said Rahk, holding his head. Something didn’t feel right. “Look again.”
“Huh? Why would I look aga-” Kwa-Kwa stopped mid sentence, looked back at the spot and tried to concentrate. Something was glimmering there, just out of sight, but not far enough away to be so hard to see. She opened her comms immediately.
"All scouts and Talon Squad, I'm on the northeast corner. Having trouble identifying the target but I believe there's an enemy in the area, likely using psychic abilities."
A shot went off and Kwa-Kwa and Rahk dove to the ground, swinging their rifles towards the sound. The glimmer was on the ground now, fleeing towards the woods. Kwa-Kwa still struggled to focus on it enough to aim.
Freckles sprinted towards the glimmer, not phased by the projection, and leapt up, grabbing and pulling down with his wide maw. His concentration lost, Traelby was pulled to the ground, fully visible, with a beast gnawing on his cape. He had a thorn gun in one hand and the Shrump's cylinder in the other.
Traelby took a wild shot at the furgator as he stood up, peppering it with thorns. He broke off and made a dash for the protection of his fleet.
Vanbrook, who had sprinted to the scene as soon as Kwa-Kwa had called for them, ran to cut him off, pistol outstretched, but Traelby had reactivated his perception bubble. The two found themselves in the open ground between the two gathered forces.
"A duel!" shouted Vanbrook, holstering his revolver and drawing his saber from where it hung over his shoulder. "I challenge you to a duel for the cylinder."
The glimmering mass that was Traelby halted, and moved towards Vanbrook, reforming into a sneering Astralbian knight. He stepped arrogantly up to Vanbrook and unsheathed his sword.
"You'll have your duel," spat Traelby as he stowed the cylinder, "and the galaxy will be better off for it."
The two duelists equipped their bucklers, keeping eye contact at all times. Vanbrook energized his metal blade, the crackling sound breaking the silence before fading to a soft buzz. Traelby smiled a wolfish smile and walked forward.
At first, both duelists kept their emotions under check, going through the motions of sizing up their opponent. Traelby's first strikes were simply exploratory, testing Vanbrook's defenses. The swashbuckler smirked as he calmly parried the first two strikes, then deflected the third with greater force, creating an opening. However, Traelby recovered quickly and parried the thrust, face twisting in a mask of rage.
Vanbrook smiled. It had been too long since he'd had a true duel. Fighting off deadly wildlife was one thing, but one-on-one combat with a skilled opponent was a real treat.
Annoyed that his opponent was not taking him seriously, Traelby struck out suddenly, hoping to break through the swordsman's defenses by strength and surprise.
The tactic failed. Vanbrook slapped it aside with his shield and stabbed at Traelby's torso. Traelby lifted his buckler in time to save himself, but he felt the heat coming off of the blade as it grazed his shoulders.
Traelby snarled and pushed Vanbrook back with his buckler, hoping to put him off balance and create an opening. Vanbrook's instincts were too keen, and he kept his defense up even as he staggered back.
The duelists traded lunges and parries, neither able to get the upper hand. Every time Traelby attempted to press the attack, Vanbrook exploited Traelby's overreach, enraging his opponent.
Finally, Vanbrook made a risky move, lunging past a thrust to stab at Traelby's thigh. The bid was somewhat successful, as he managed to slice a deep, sparking gouge into his opponent's leg. However, Traelby managed to correct the angle of his blade and cut into Vanbrook's shoulder at the same time. The two pushed off one another, both stepping back to reassess their strategies.
Despite the blood flowing down his left arm, Vanbrook grinned, challenging Traelby and smacking his energized saber into his shield to send off a showy shower of sparks.
Traelby had had enough. A small spike of fear should be enough to put Vanbrook off his game without raising suspicion. He reached out with his mind to unsettle his overconfident opponent.
There was a strange sensation, like walking into a pane of glass unexpectedly.
I won't interfere unless you try using psychic abilities, said a voice in his mind. I've made a bubble around you. I'm sure you could break it, but it'd take more concentration than you can spare. May the best duelist win.
Traelby looked up in impotent rage to see the psychic, Raivyn, standing grimly at the gate of the Republic fort. She nodded to him in cold recognition.
Vanbrook moved in, unaware of the psychic exchange. He went on the offensive, seeing if the effort and injuries had worn Traelby down at all. His opponent seemed distracted, even panicky, and Vanbrook managed to graze his arms and shoulders a few times while doing no real damage.
Traelby pressed in, bullying Vanbrook back with his buckler and pushing his saber aside with his own. He tried to bring his blade back in swiftly but Vanbrook twisted and deflected it with his shield. He then brought his saber up under his shield arm and stabbed deep into his shoulder. Traelby gasped, his arm flickering as his saber fell to the ground. Vanbrook twirled around entirely, his blade swinging in a wide, powerful arc that cut down through Traelby from his shoulder down through his torso. His sneer permanently erased, Traelby's eyes flashed with horror. He then burst into a blue shockwave, his death crystal falling to the ground by his sword.
Vanbrook stooped, rifling through the empty armor and cloth to find the cylinder. The moment he found it a bolt screamed from one of the star tree’s eyes and the ground to his right erupted into a shower of dirt. He stumbled back, cylinder in hand, and turned to run back to the safety of the fort’s shielding. A muffled explosion sounded behind his head, and he turned to see red energy crackling and dissipating along the contours of the fort’s shield.
The void wasps swarming around the star trees would be able to fly through the shield as easily as he had walked through. They only stopped objects moving with force or energy beyond a certain threshold. He kept running, getting into the base just as the Republic fighters scrambled and flew overhead. He reached the gate at the same time as Kwa-Kwa and Rahk. They carried a furry, spotted brown-and-white creature. Vanbrook eyed them with curiosity but ran to meet up with Talon Squad.
Captain Fenrick rushed to greet his scouts as they fell back into the fort.
“Scouts,” said Fenrick, “you’ll be acting as sharpshooters in defense of the fort, and- and what exactly are you carrying?”
“It’s Freckles, sir,” said Kwa-Kwa, clearly in distress. “I’ve been training him at the lake in my down time. He’s the one who caught the intruder. I wouldn’t have noticed anything was wrong otherwise.”
Fenrik’s scaly brow furrowed as he looked at the injured beast. “Keep him out of the way, don’t let him distract you from your duties. Please get up on the wall and start picking off those Void Wasps.”
Kwa-Kwa’s face brightened and hardened simultaneously. With her new pet safe, she was excited to take the fight to the enemy.
“Yes, sir!” she answered. She set Freckles down at the foot of the wall, scratched behind his ears, and climbed the ladder to find a good position.
Talon Squad found similar perches. Doc and D’Jarric had their normal rifle and energy blast respectively, but Vanbrook, Raivyn, and Reclan had standard combat rifles in addition to their normal loadout. Raivyn was anxious to find ways to use her psychic abilities, but a rifle was simply more suited to a mass battle situation.
“Feel better now that you finally got to take Traelby down?” asked Reclan.
“Eh,” said Vanbrook soberly. “Killing isn’t exactly therapy, but the guy needed to go, and I’m glad I got to be the one to send him. Honestly, I’m a little shocked he didn’t try to pull any head games with me. Maybe he had some sense of honor, after all.”
Raivyn smiled but didn’t say a word.
***
“Alright folks,” said Drixen as the fighters approached the battlefield. “Stay sharp, hang close to the fort to take advantage of the shielding and try to keep from getting bogged down by too many wasps. Bombers, focus on large groups of ground troops and any skiffs. Let’s do this!” Much to the delight of his squads, he did a barrel roll and sent a smatter of gunfire towards the enemy.
The fighters shot out over the fort and were immediately engaged by void wasps. The small band of pilots were ready for the fight and they downed over a dozen wasps in their first sweep of the battlefield.
***
From the bridge, Jasken watched the battle begin to unfold. Drixen and his fellow pilots were taking down wasps at a tremendous rate, but there were simply too many enemies. A red dot appeared on the horizon as the royal star tree’s great eye opened, firing its first shot at the fort’s shield. A massive boom sounded as the red energy crackled against the shield, but the shield held. It would be some time before the eye could fire again, but Jasken wasn’t sure how many more blasts the shield could take.
The forces lined up on the wall fired cannons, rifles, and other ballistics at the enemy, and the Wingspan’s guns could be heard firing at regular intervals, but the hordes of Astralbians kept advancing; calvary on void wasps and infantry in small star tree skiffs.
“Captain Hunt,” said Jasken. “You have command of the ship. It’s been too long since Ol’ Blue saw combat.”
“Yes, sir,” said Hunt. With that, Jasken nodded and left the room, heading for the stables.