Darvik shifted his weight and took a sip from his flask as he stood guard over Koomia’s first settlement. For the time being, it was really just a few tents and some surveillance and communications equipment set up inside a circle of ships, but their numbers had increased greatly and the next arrival of followers was supposed to be coming with heavy construction equipment.
The way station on Hruduk had been compromised, but another planet had been found in the same solar system as Glasaxia that had replaced it. The world, which Hoon-Kra had named T’Lakia in honor of T’Lak, the squid-like aether beast that was rumored to have been spotted in the area, was too small and had too thin an atmosphere to make a decent settlement, but there was enough ice there to create a suitable way station.
Darvik was beginning to wonder when his guard shift was going to end when his comm buzzed.
“Darvik, this is Hoon-Kra,” said the cult leader. “Report to my office aboard the Swamp’s Pride immediately. I have a job for you.”
***
"What are you saying, Prime Minister? You can’t avoid this conflict diplomatically?" asked Trekna.
Skritka stared down the representative from the dais in the Major House’s auditorium inside of Griffon Keep. He had been addressing a joint session of the Major and Minor Houses about the threat of all-out war, and the room was full of tense politicians who did not like the thought of breaking the Griffon Republic’s decades-long peace with the Astralbian Kingdom. Many of the representatives were there only through screens and cameras, but all their attention was focused on Skritka.
Trekna had barely survived a reelection bid in his home district recently, largely because he had lost a political clash with Skritka. Trekna had not forgotten that, and made a habit of trying to undermine him. He had made sure to be at the session in person for more impactful video clips.
"I am saying that war with the Astralbians is a real possibility, Senator," answered Skritka flatly. "While that is not ideal or desirable, it is true. I remain open to diplomacy, but that means very little if the other side is not. Jylik is not nearly as reserved as his father and is making an aggressive move against the Cornucopia Cluster. We need to send a full military fleet to Kirakna immediately so a response to aggression can be made quickly and decisively.”
“Is this group of planets so desirable as to justify war?” asked Trekna, his face a picture of earnestness.
“Allowing ourselves to be bullied out of a region that we discovered through hardship and battle is certainly not in our interest,” scolded Skritka. “For now, the threat is theoretical, but the resources are real. Our advanced team has found an unprecedented density of habitable planets, confirming what Shrump claimed about the resources in the area. One such planet, now named Thioa, is incredibly sulfur-rich, which could help us ramp up industrial and agricultural efforts in the area.”
“I agree with the Prime Minister,” said Ulytri, an Astralbian who represented a small fishing world. She nodded to Skritka. “He was right to defend our claim on Hittania and he is right to stand up to the Astralbian Kingdom now. Jylik is hungry to rekindle the Empire, and rolling over and giving him the Cluster would be unwise.”
“Thank you, Senator,” said Skritka.
The questions continued until Skritka felt like he couldn’t string another sentence together, but the tide turned in his favor and the questions became far less hostile. Eventually both houses agreed to send a fleet to Kirakna.
Sometime later he found himself walking down the halls of Griffon Keep, angling towards his office. Despite his confidence before the two Houses, he wondered to himself what it was like for those out there on the frontier. Jasken had assured him that the military presence was ready for whatever came about. Gnawing at the back of his mind, however, was the fact that they had encountered one of the legendary aether beasts in the flesh on their first trip out to the Cluster. The information was highly classified for the time being, but knowing additional threats beyond hostile military forces and the typical dangers of exploration weighed on him heavily.
***
T’Lakia was a dark, stony world that barely qualified as a planetoid. A makeshift ice harvesting operation had been set up and a series of airlock ports jutted out of the buildings so that Koomite ships making a stop there could receive water without having to don the filtration masks and oxygen tanks that were necessary to survive on T’Lakia’s surface.
Darvik took in the purplish, stony landscape from the porthole by his bunk. The small ship had made pretty good time on its journey from Koomia, but Hruduk was still a couple weeks away.
“You gonna help get things hooked up or what?” asked a voice.
Darvik looked over to his doorway with bleary eyes to see their pilot and technician, Rentra. He was a short, stocky Talpidarian with grease stains from his fingers to his elbows, standing with his hands on his hips.
“I’m an assassin, not a technician,” said Darvik irritably.
The pilot huffed and walked away.
“It wouldn’t kill you to do something besides drink,” said Cevla as she walked by his doorway.
A powerful psychic, especially for a Human, Cevla was supposed to be his partner for the operation. She was tall and wide-shouldered but still a picture of feminine grace. Her dark brown hair was pulled up into a braid that suggested a kind of mohawk on top of her head, and she wore a pistol on one hip and a long knife on the other. She’d been nothing but a thorn in Darvik’s side and he was ready to be done with the assassination and be rid of her.
***
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
The next few weeks passed by slowly for Talon Squad, who helped rebuild Gred’s city walls alongside the Hrudukites. The Marines stuck around as well, pitching in to help with the reconstruction efforts while Chully and Huluna investigated the crashed Koomite ship for clues to its travels. Once a couple of Zrykyk scouts came by, but they fled as soon as they were spotted.
The IGC had decided Zrykyk’s forces amounted to nothing more than a small enclave of rebels, and the Army set to work laying the groundwork for a satellite network. The Wingspan would help finish the job, being better prepared for that kind of work. Jasken and his crew had already started their jump, the Shepherd being towed behind, and would arrive at Hruduk within the week.
Vanbrook was looking forward to pushing back into the Cornucopia Cluster, or at least returning to Gateway. As much as he loved the streets of Kerucester, he felt at home on the frontier. Maybe it was because Wilbis was gone now, and the memory of home was sullied by his murder, but he just didn’t feel the pull back to Griffonia like he used to.
He mused over this as he helped push a massive wooden pillar into place that would make up one third of the door frame for Gred’s new main gate. When it was in place, a bronzesmith and her apprentice took measurements between it and its twin, which had already been set, to start making designs for the new gate. Hrynkak was a through-and-through traditionalist, so he had refused to use the Republic’s machinery to help the work go faster. He was happy to have additional muscle, though, and no sooner were the pillars set than Vanbrook was called to help unload a cart full of rocks from a nearby quarry.
“Did you hear King Hrynkak wants to mass produce the hammer rifle I made for Hrake?” asked Reclan as she waddled past, carrying a particularly large rock. “Likes modern weaponry, but not construction equipment, I guess.”
Vanbrook laughed. “What can you do? Hrynkak is being dragged into the modern galaxy whether he likes it or not. Hard to blame him for holding on to what he can.”
“Rumor is the Republic has been courting Hruduk, hoping to get them to join, but without any luck,” said Reclan as she dropped the stone to the ground by the wall and promptly sat on it.
“Good for them,” said Raivyn with a shrug. She was just coming over from the stone cart herself, arms loaded with three smaller stones. “There’s no need for every sapient nation in the galaxy to be part of the same central government. The Republic was formed out of necessity as an alliance against the Astralbian Empire, not to become an empire itself. I say good for the Hrudukites if they want to keep their sovereignty. They’ll be powerful allies.”
“Less politics,” said Hrake with a smile as he tossed a boulder to the ground and returned to the cart. “More carrying stones.”
***
The window had been narrow, but Darvik’s ship had managed to land on Hruduk before the satellite network had been established. They were forced to land about twenty miles from Gred, but Darvik, Rentra, and Cevla had a hovercraft they used to cover the majority of the distance, timing things so they arrived after dark. After that they’d been forced to go on foot, with Cevla keeping up a perception bubble as they traveled to psychically avoid any prying eyes. Cresting a ridge, they were able to look down into a valley at the lights of Gred.
“Alright, keep that bubble up and leave the technical end up to me,” said Rentra.
The band descended the grassy slope and made their way to the Gladius, staying clear of the Gredite patrols that made their rounds around the freshly rebuilt walls. The Gladius itself had a guard of two Republic soldiers. They were both unconscious, drugged, bound, and stuffed behind the ship’s ramp before they knew anyone was there. It seemed silly to Darvik not to just kill them, but Hoon-Kra had been very strict in ordering them not to kill anyone besides the target.
Rentra held his tablet up to the door and started tapping. Soon the door clicked and he opened it, a smug look on his face. They moved cautiously into the Gladius, heading towards the cockpit. Rentra closed the door and put a small, magnetic device on it. They then turned and moved towards the aft of the ship in search of their prey, with Rentra putting similar devices on every door they passed. A short Talpidarian in pajamas appeared in the hall, a mug of rakka in her hands. She stared down the hallway a moment and then shook her head, returning to her quarters. Rentra placed a device on her door, as well.
“It’s a shame Hoon-Kra wanted this to be so surgical,” he whispered with a soft chuckle. “We could sure do a lot of damage.”
“Shut up,” said Cevla. Maintaining the perception bubble was quickly wearing her out.
Finally, they found what they were looking for.
“Finally,” said Cevla softly, dropping the perception bubble in front of the small cell.
Huge eyes bulged in their sockets as Trar-Brak saw the three Koomites appear before him.
“Ha!” he snorted quietly. “A rescue mission! About time.”
Darvik waved Trar-Brak over to the bars. When he was just up against them, the swordsman reached around Trar-Brak’s broad head and pulled it into the bars while stabbing his saber through his throat. Trar-Brak fell into a growing puddle of his own blood, choking silently for a moment before going still.
“Let’s go,” said Darvik, tearing his eyes away from the scene.
***
Vanbrook was sleeping heavily in his quarters in Hrynkak’s palace. While he craved adventure, the manual labor of rebuilding Gred’s walls had done him good and, after a hardy Hrudukite supper, he went to bed contented. Then his comm buzzed.
“Talon Squad, this is Grepk, something’s wrong!”
He snapped awake suddenly, grabbing his comm from his bedside.
“What’s going on?” asked Raivyn’s voice.
“Not sure,” said Grepk. “Keshri called a moment ago and said she couldn’t get out of her quarters. She said something felt wrong when she was grabbing a midnight snack, but she couldn’t put it together and went back to her room. When she tried to leave again to take another look her door was stuck fast. Krum-Bahk and I are stuck, too.”
“We’re on our way,” said Raivyn.
Suddenly the palace’s hallway was alive with hastily dressed squadmates, all running towards the Gladius.
“What’s this?” asked the Palace Guard as they rushed past.
“Not sure, brother,” called out Hrake. “Hold where you are for now!”
They were quickly let out of the main gate, where one of the Hrudukite patrols joined them.
“Can we help?” asked a guard with an orange headband.
“Come with us, captain, but be careful,” said Hrake.
Raivyn looked around, and noticed a distant shimmer on the hillside, near the peak and moving away from the Gladius. She fought the urge to look away, and concentrated on the spot.
“We’ve got three individuals running away from the scene,” she said, pointing. “They’re using a perception bubble, so there’s at least one powerful psychic. They’re out of gun range and moving quickly, but they’re on foot.”
“Hrake, come with me and Raivyn,” said Vanbrook. He turned to the guard captain. “How quickly can we get some desert hounds saddled up?”