It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.
Earth was a protected planet. The High Elf Congress had hollowed out Pluto almost two thousand years before and turned it into a huge space station. It was supposed to guard the Warpgate, a ring so large that a Cruiser could fit through it, at the edge of the system. The Warpgate was supposed to only be able to be accessed by a senior member of the Congressional Defense Force, but Dark Legion Ships had begun pouring through the Warpgate right after Pluto had exploded.
The Dark Legion had formed just over five hundred years before out of every vile race of creatures that roamed the Galaxy. There had been a brief war between the Elves and their allies before a strained peace had been reached. That peace had lasted until sixty years ago when a Dark Elf had begun experimenting with forbidden magic. The race to acquire the new spells had sparked fighting that had been begging to be released. The Dark Legion began sweeping through the Galaxy, conquering almost every planet they attacked.
The Elves believed that Earth would be safe. Today, they were proved wrong.
Mettan, the lone occupant of the bottle-shaped, repurposed freighter, Camadt’s Bite, watched the Dark Legion ships entering the system. He stared at the view screen on his bridge with disbelief and a heavy heart. Most of the Elves that made up the Earth Defense Fleet had been disgraced in some way. It was where the Congress put the problems that were too valuable to destroy, but too controversial to keep in the main fleets. The Congress wouldn’t care if everyone here died, but he did. These might be outcasts, but they were Elves that he respected.
More ships came through the Warpgate. With Pluto destroyed, there was only the actual fleet to try to stem the invading ships. They had one Cruiser, three Frigates, and the four squadrons of Fighters that docked in each of the Frigates. After the fourth Cruiser passed through the Warpgate, it was obvious that they were going to lose. All they could do now was hope to hold out until backup arrived.
Mettan took a deep breath of the filtered air as he leaned forward in the pilot seat. He rolled the sleeves of his grey uniform up over his black arms and began typing commands into the panel in front of him. His ship had been modified by some of the Elders, the ruling body over the Elf Mages. It wouldn’t be able to take down a Cruiser, but he would be able to help.
He had been in orbit around Venus when the battle had started. With a personal ship, he was allowed to wander from the rest of the fleet. It helped that the Fleet Commander, Admiral Pattar, was an old friend. Plus most of the Elves were uncomfortable with him being so close to the rest of the fleet. No matter the reason, desertion was a high crime for the Elves.
His heart sank as he watched the Legion, the Fleet’s only Cruiser and home of his friend, break in half under the fire of the Dark Legion ships. Without the backbone of their fleet, it wouldn’t be long before the Dark Legion ships reached Earth.
He didn’t want to think about what would happen once those ships touched down. Humans had been without access to the Conduit, the energy that gave beings elemental and magical powers, for over two thousand years. It had been why the Earth Defense Fleet had been created, so the Elves could watch over their weaker cousins.
Mettan pushed the distracting thoughts from his mind. He needed to focus on the survivors. He turned on his com. Voices were all talking at once. Without Pattar to lead them, no one knew who was next in line. It should have been one of the Frigate captains, but those were gone too. All that was left of the Earth Defense Fleet were fighters and his freighter.
“QUIET!” Mettan ordered. At once the chatter died. They might not like him, but for now, he was the highest-ranking Elf. That meant they would listen to him.
“Fighters wings A, D, H, and L provide cover for wings C, E, I, and J. Get those escape pods out of the kill zone.” He checked his screen to see what other fighters he could use. He never got a chance; the Dark Legion fighters swarmed him. He had reached the battle.
The ship shook as the enemy fighters pounded it. Mettan clenched his jaw. The shields would hold, but not for long under this punishment.
There was a ping on his screen. One of the escape pods was sending out a distress signal. The signal was unique to commanding officers, one that only Admiral Pattars would use.
“All remaining fighters, form on me, I have the Admiral’s escape pod!” He ordered
“We’re try-“ A voice answered before it was cut short
Mettan watched a fighter to his right break apart under fire from Dark Legion lasers. He slid his fingers over the controls and his ship banked right. The Dark Legion fighter that had killed the pilot flew through the wreckage and saw the larger ship too late. There was a bump as the Dark Legion fighter clipped the back of the Camadt’s Bite and spun out, colliding with another Dark Legion Fighter.
“There’s too many of them!” A call came over the com
“We’re never going to get these pods out of-“
Mettan stood up as the last voice was cut short and another High Elf died. He moved between the two consoles on the bridge of his ship. With one hand on either console, he could control both the navigation and the weapon systems.
Cannons folded out of the sides of Camadt’s Bite and began filling the space with more deadly lasers. Warning lights flashed, warning that the ship’s shields were taking too many hits and beginning to weaken. Mettan gritted his teeth as he flew alone through the kill zone toward the escape pods. His ship could take the beating and it wouldn’t be long before help arrived.
He stole a glance at the Warpgate, except it wasn’t there. Once the last of the Dark Legion Fleet had come through, they must have blown it up. His heart sank, reinforcements weren’t coming. All that stood between a planet full of powerless humans and the Dark Legion Fleet was a few dozen Fighters.
“Stay close to me!” Mettan ordered. He checked his screen. His words were filling empty space. There wasn’t another fighter anywhere close to the escape pods. The few still alive had fled from the battle and were heading away from Earth. He didn’t blame them, every Elf was taught from birth to do whatever they could to survive. Throwing away their lives to try to rescue doomed allies ran in deep contrast to their nature.
He thought about fleeing with them. His ship could easily take the beating and with Earth as the target, he could easily escape.
A deep beep sang from the console. The distress beacon from Admiral Pattar’s escape pod was begging for help. Dark Legion Fighters were flocking to it like sharks on a feeding frenzy. Any Elf should have ignored the pleas for help.
The Camadt’s Bite turned towards the chaos. The bigger ships had left the clean-up to the Fighters and were on their way to Earth. It made him the biggest ship in the sea of wreckage.
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The Fighters turned their attention to the suicidal ship. Even with magically reinforced shields, it wouldn’t last long.
Mettan never flinched as he directed the ship toward the debris of what had once been a space station. It wasn’t the most direct path to the escape pods, but there was a chance that he could entice the fighters to chase him. Anything to give the escape pods time to get away.
Not enough Fighters started chasing him. While dodging chunks of the hollowed planet-base he had enough time to watch the Admiral’s escape pod destroyed. There was nothing he could do as the enemy found the remaining escape pods.
He tried not to think about how the Dark Legion had found all the escape pods so fast. All of the pods used an encrypted frequency that only the Defense fleet should have known to watch.
Mettan focused on the fighters around him. He needed to get away from the wreckage. He had a mobile warpgate in his cargo bay that would allow him to get the remaining Earth Defense Fleet fighters to safety. He just needed an empty space near the Fighters large enough to deploy it.
The ship shuddered as one of the enemy fighters directed a piece of debris into the side of the ship. Without someone to run the turret, he could not fire at something attacking him from the sides or the rear.
“Want some help?” A voice from behind Mettan asked
He smelled popcorn and ash smoke. That combination only belonged to one pair of beings in the entire Universe, his young cousin and an Ancient dragon guardian.
Zeus had red scales, gold reptilian eyes, and short, jet-black hair. He was wearing a purple robe and had an old oak staff in his hands. A human might have mistaken the Dragon for just another human with a skin condition. In humanoid form, most Dragons did look like a human, but they could easily change to their serpentine form.
The Dragon wordlessly planted the oak staff into the floor of the bridge. Mettan’s ears popped as magic flowed out of the staff, creating a second shield around the ship.
Kark hopped into the gunner’s chair. Instead of wearing the accepted purple robes of the High Elf Mages, he was dressed in blue jeans and a light green shirt with white tennis shoes. His ruddy hair, white skin, and gold eyes were starkly different from Mettan’s raven hair, black skin, and blue eyes. Their features and powers they had inherited from their fathers while owing their blood relationship to their mothers being sisters.
“It took you long enough,” Mettan growled as his ship began to move out of the middle of the Dark Legion Fleet. “Did you bring back up?”
“Nope,” Kark said as the cannons rotated and began slicing the smaller ships into smaller pieces.
Zeus’s clawed feet clicked against the floor as he walked around the walls and activated the screens implanted within to allow them to watch the rest of the fleet.
Mettan gritted his teeth as a piece of one of the destroyed cruisers spiraled past them, “Is there a plan?”
“Not one you’re going to like,” Kark snapped his fingers as he blasted another fighter apart.
“I never like your plans.”
Kark groaned as he missed a fighter. “The Congress has decided to put their faith in the Prophesy that says the Human Triftion will destroy the Dark Legion. Since it will be impossible for the Human Triftion to have access to his powers as long as he is cut off from the Conduit, the Congress decided that now would be the perfect time to allow humans’ access to the Conduit again.”
Mettan frowned, “That fleet will crush them before any of the humans can develop their talents enough to make a difference.”
Kark flicked his wrist at the fighter he had missed. All ships were warded against magic. For most Mages, it was like squirting water at something coated with oil. His cousin wasn’t like most Mages.
The fighter wobbled as it tried to dodge a chunk of debris. Instead of ducking, it rose, smashing into the space junk.
More fighters flew to the aid of their fallen comrade. The ship began to shudder as enemy lasers chewed away at its shield.
“Kark…” Mettan urged
The younger elf closed his eyes. There was a flash of light, and they were miles away from the fight.
Kark nodded, “I know, but the Congress has made up their mind and forbidden us from pulling any of our resources away to aid the humans.”
“Many humans are going to be needlessly slaughtered,” Mettan stated
“Maybe,” Kark looked at Mettan, “I want you to take the surviving soldiers to Earth. If they can guide some of the more powerful humans through the chaos of the next few days, then Earth might have a better chance…” For a moment it was like the younger Elf was thinking, “To hold out until the Triftion can end this war. The remaining Mages will take the powerless soldiers back to the Home Fleet to be given new orders. The Elders will help your people in locating the humans that will be the easiest to train in the short time that you will have.”
Mettan shook his head, “There isn’t enough time, this fleet will be right behind us, by the time that we reach Earth we will have minutes at best before that Fleet lands.”
“About that…” Kark glanced at the screens to their left and right. All the blue dots that represented the remnants of the Earth Defense Fleet were clear of the red dots that were the Dark Legion ships. “Watch this.” He smiled as he stood up.
Kark stretched out his right hand and a smooth oak staff unfolded in it. The staff was covered in runes and stained gold from channeling magic. Kark squared his feet and pointed the staff at the Dark Legion Fleet. The tip of the staff glowed white so brightly that Mettan had to cover his eyes. With a snap, the light vanished and Kark’s staff shrank back into a four-inch miniature version. Kark stuck the staff in his pocket as he sat back down in the chair.
“What did you do this time?” Mettan asked cautiously.
“You say that like I always do crazy things.” Kark grinned, “When have I ever done something that went wrong?”
Mettan glared at his cousin, “Have you forgotten who raised you?” Mettan pulled an electronic pad off of his belt, “I’ve got a list I can read you right here.”
“So I’ve had a few brilliant ideas that didn’t stay on track.” Kark said sheepishly, “But this isn’t one of those times.”
Mettan followed Kark’s hand as the Elder pointed to the motionless Dark Legion Fleet.
“You froze time?” The older Elf asked incredulously.
“Don’t be crazy.” Kark shook his head as he began opening up communications from his console, “I just slowed it to a crawl. It won’t be long before their Mages can dispel it.”
Mettan marveled at the scene in front of him, time control was the most difficult type of magic to use, and Kark had wielded it with a mere wave of his staff.
“Why not just destroy them?” Mettan knew that Kark had a reason but he was wondering what it was.
Kark continued to mess with the communications on his console, “I could have destroyed maybe one-tenth of the fleet with the same amount of energy, but undoubtedly they will have Mage or ten that could misdirect my spell to fall harmlessly into space.” The younger cousin sighed, “Think of it this way, it’s easier to dump glue on the group than it is to smash each one individually.”
That explanation at least made some sense, “How much time do we have?”
The young mage looked up at the ceiling, doing some quick math in his head, “I would estimate that their Mages will be able to dispel my spell in about three days.”
Mettan shook his head, “That’s not enough time to do any decent training, nor is it enough time for the humans to be strong enough with their technology to be able to stand up to this fleet.” Mettan eyed Kark suspiciously, “Unless you’ve already opened the Conduit back up to them.”
“Aha!” Kark crowed as he connected his console to the communication frequency.
Kark smiled as he turned to his cousin, “We are going to do that as soon as I get back to Earth,” He nodded to Zeus, who pulled his staff out of the floor. Kark looked out at the forty-one blue dots on the screen. Of about two thousand elves that made up the Earth Defense Fleet, there were only forty-two left.
Kark took a deep breath as he turned on the com. “This is Vita Kark, I have trapped the Dark Legion Fleet in a time bubble. Do not fly too close to it or you will become trapped with them. I am placing Captain Mettan Cascade in charge of this fleet and conveying my orders through him. For the moment, focus on cleaning up the few fighters that didn’t get caught with the rest of their fleet.” Kark thought for a moment and then turned off the comm.
Kark turned back to Mettan, “I’ll send you the locations of the humans that need to be recruited, and you can distribute them between your soldiers.”
Mettan nodded, “We’ll wait out here for you to clear us.”
Kark smiled and then in a dim flash of light he and Zeus were gone.
Mettan turned back to the com, he had lots of work to do, and there wasn’t near enough time to get it all done. With only three days before the Dark Legion Fleet would break through Kark’s spell. He hoped for a miracle.