Revolution of the Gods: The Battle for Sol Book Two (14 page)

“I will personally accompany our forces to that location immediately,”
Lindherst interjected, eager to make up for his past performance and forgetting his new place in the pecking order.

Gibil looked over at Ningishzida with an agitated expression.

“Lindherst, do not issue any commands, we will coordinate our response from here. Your participation is not necessary in this matter,” Ningishzida informed with each word rising in volume.

“But Lord Chancellor, we can have our forces there within the hour,”
Lindherst countered, directly appealing to the commander and attempting to sidestep Ningishzida.

“Mr. Lindherst, did you not understand the orders just given to you by your superior? I suggest you learn to comprehend how a command structure operates or your next demotion will be of a more permanent nature!” Gibil impatiently chastised.

“Lindherst, your presence will not be required at the Dulce facility any longer. Upon my arrival, you will return to NAU Command in New York,” the new director commanded.

“Yes sir, Lindherst out.”

“Sir, I take responsibility for his behavior. When time permits, I will personally rectify Lindherst’s incompetency,” Ningishzida reassured.

“It is reasonable to assume that signature is coming from the long hidden Zealieon Destroyer. I want you back at Dulce immediately to personally oversee this operation. You are to order two interceptor squads and two of the frigates to the Salton Sea coordinates. Also take the S2s with you. The emperor will be most pleased if we can capture the Zealieon and neutralize the GEO in the process,” Gibil surmised.

A
n enormous burst of information caused Taon to jerk out of his unconsciousness as he woke up yet again in another chamber. But this time the chamber held no fluid and only required minimal connections to his body. Most reassuring to Taon was Alana’s face that appeared soon after he opened eyes.

The senior medical officer was a Torahnossian of exceptional beauty. Her cerulean gentle eyes struck all of her observers with a reflective moment of pause. Resplendent golden locks of hair embraced her flawless oval face and radiant smile. Alana stood at an even six feet and was perfect in every definition of the word across the entire galaxy.
She helped open the chamber and quickly checked Taon’s vital signs which were returning to normal. Taon’s regeneration had resulted in a momentary power drain across the ship and caused all the systems to briefly flicker which subsequently created an anomaly that was currently being exploited by the Ansharians.

“How do you feel,” Alana asked, helping Taon out of the chamber.

“I actually feel complete…whole,” he said as his conscious brain struggled to keep pace with his greatly enhanced repository of knowledge and experiences spanning back thousands of years.

“Your encoding was successfully completed,” she informed. “Unfortunately we do not have time to analyze the results right now. Your presence has been requested on the bridge immediately upon completion of our process. I will accompany you.”

The two of them exited the medical bay and were on their way to the lift when Alana decided to break the news to Taon.

“There is something I think you would want to know about right away,” she alerted. “A few hours after you entered the chamber, the Ansharians launched a strike directed at the Dugway facility. They infiltrated the base and captured Gideon. We believe he is currently being held on the Nekelmu,” Alana explained.

“Was he injured in the attack?” Taon asked.

“Not to our knowledge. But, General Kirsch has subsequently assumed command of the facility,” Alana paused as they reached the lift door and pressed the panel. She continued, “Using Gideon’s data pad, Kirsch established direct communication with Akilan soon after the attack to inform us that the doctor was captured and Bracken was critically wounded.”

The doors slid open and they entered the lift. After Alana delivered a verbal command to be transported to the bridge, she turned back to face Taon and offered a gentle smile. She had always considered herself a conservative person that was in full control of her impulses. But the medical officer’s assessment of herself had been consistently tested from the moment she saw Taon.

Contain yourself Alana
, she thought as they ascended toward the upper levels.

Mykah, Simeon and Ben where already sitting with Akilan when Taon and Alana arrived on the bridge. Alana escorted Taon down the two command platforms and waited for him to join the group at the holo-table before returning back to the medical bay.

“It is time for us to depart the sanctuary,” Akilan announced, without mincing words for the sake of brevity.

“We have been tracking the movements of the Ansharian orbital positions. The Kashurra carrier has arrived nearly overhead our location. After Taon’s encoding was completed a few minutes ago,
some type of feedback occurred. A momentary power drain caused a fluctuation in our dampening field. But that’s all it would take for our signature to be revealed. There are currently two frigates and two Gigim Xul squads headed for our coordinates. Their estimated arrival is within five minutes,” explained Akilan.

“You said it was time to depart. How?” Mykah asked her uncle.

“You are already sitting in it. We knew that the completion of Taon’s encoding ran the risk of exactly what happened. Preparations have been in order for many decades to relocate the Zealieon to our larger, better equipped facility in South America,” Akilan replied.

“When are we leaving?” Mykah asked.

Before Akilan formed his response, a brief rumble vibrated through the entire ship leveling off to an almost undetectable background hum.

“Now,” Akilan responded as the anti-matter engines initialized. He pressed some buttons on his console and established a channel with Cadan.

“We are in position,”
Cadan informed after his image appeared on the large bridge viewer. He and another pilot were already in the two Valkyries, hovering near the top of the shaft leading out of the top of the mountain. His wingman in this endeavor was an extremely capable pilot named Dretan; he was also a longtime friend. Cadan had trained him a few decades ago. And even though he would never admit it to his former pupil, Cadan knew that Dretan was every bit his equal as a pilot.

“Standby,” Akilan informed.

As the Zealieon slowly began to lift upwards, the landing platforms started to retract. The 16,000 year old destroyer had been entirely rebuilt over the course of the last 500 years back to its original specs – better in fact. The 6000 foot shaft leading out the top of the mountain was unobstructed and allowed the majestic Torahnossian destroyer to quickly ascend the distance.

“Sir, Gigim Xul interceptors are 1.3 miles out,” the tactical officer updated Akilan.

“Cadan, proceed with the chamber breach and engage the interceptors. Isolate all the Ansharian signatures and store them in the targeting array. Once we clear the peak, fire on all targets within range,” Akilan ordered.

The worthy Valkyries shot upward out of the mountain in the direction of the incoming squad. The extreme velocities achieved by each type of fighter craft put the Torahnossians and Ansharians face to face after only a few seconds.

The Gigim Xul pilots were taken by surprise, not anticipating an encounter with any type of craft that could keep pace with their advanced interceptors. Cadan and Dretan destroyed three interceptors on their initial pass, taking advantage of their element of surprise.

The two Torahnossian pilots looped around to take on the remaining three ships in the first squad. They each took out one interceptor with the third one darting ahead, increasing its distance and headed straight for the emerging Zealieon.

The old destroyer was unable to raise its shield or use its weapons until after it was clear of the mountain chamber. Before that point the Zealieon was vulnerable and at the moment its bridge was being targeted by the Ansharian interceptor. Just before it opened fire, Cadan descended down on the Ansharian and destroyed the craft. His Valkyrie flew through the explosion and very close to the Zealieon’s bridge as the interceptor’s debris bounced off the destroyer’s hull.

For over 500 years the destroyer had not hovered above the Earth’s surface and when it gained sufficient clearance, its new shield was activated. The ancient Torahnossian craft appeared almost as it did the day it was launched out of the ship yards at Khuno; one of the two moons orbiting Torahnoss. The fuselage was shaped like a narrow arrowhead and clad in a polished silver polymer alloy skin. The command superstructure, located near the rear of the fuselage, rose about 200 feet and housed a most formidable array of weaponry and firepower. The sleek and shiny instrument of war had returned to its former glory.

Cadan and Dretan were back on an intercept course with the next Ansharian targets. This time however, before they even came into visual range, a barrage of plasma blasts flew past the Valkyries hitting one of the approaching frigates. As soon as the Zealieon’s upgraded cannons and phasers were online, they had fired on the frigates completely disintegrating both of the ships. This allowed the Valkyries to push their perimeter further out toward the last remaining Gigim Xul squad. After another masterful display of superior flight skill, Cadan and Dretan were left with only a lone interceptor.

They had both lost visuals on the target but their readouts indicated he was approaching Dretan’s position at maximum speed. Dretan tried to evade the Ansharian pilot’s incoming vector as he dropped in behind the Valkyrie but Dretan could not shake his pursuer. The interceptor was about to fire when Cadan sliced between it and Dretan’s ship.

Cadan’s Valkyrie took the brunt of the plasma blasts to its underside, disabling its shields. The aft section of Cadan’s ship slammed into the Ansharians cockpit violently peeling off the front half of the interceptor before the Ansharian exploded. The force of the collision sent the Valkyrie into an uncontrollable inverted high speed flat spin, plummeting 12,000 feet before slamming into the ground just south of LakeArrowhead in an area called Skyforest.

“Sir, the last interceptor has been destroyed but Cadan’s ship crash landed 86.9 miles northwest. All sensor readings from his ship are offline. Dretan is docking in the hanger now,” the tactical officer alerted Akilan.

“We must find Cadan,” Ben asserted, standing on the Zealieon’s bridge next to Akilan. Ben owed a great debt to his new friend for giving him his freedom and informed everyone around him of his sentiment.

“Ben’s right, we cannot leave him out there,” Mykah pleaded.

“I can take another Valkyrie and be there in just a couple of minutes,” Simeon offered, knowing full well there were far better trained pilots on board.

“Sir, we have entered within visual range of another incoming Ansharian frigate. They are initializing targeting protocols,” the helmsman reported.

“We cannot jeopardize our effort with further confrontation at this point. The last frigate represents a much more serious threat with our remaining energy compromised. Initialize the cloak and set a course for the Old Peaks,” Akilan reluctantly and regretfully ordered.

The ship’s most advanced and impressive new technology was activated. Lining the entire surface of the Zealieon’s hull were tiny micro-structures smaller than the wavelength of light. This cloaking skin guided rays of visible light and plasma around the destroyer causing it to disappear completely from all forms of Ansharian sensors and visual surveillance. It flew off completely undetectable to the south.

N
ingishzida had arrived back at the Dulce facility from the Nekelmu shortly after the Ansharian frigates and interceptors took off for the Salton Sea facility. He had been observing a live feed of the confrontation being transmitted from the Kashurra in orbit with former Director Lindherst present on the command level.

“So, you guys have it all figured out, huh?” Lindherst flippantly commented while he watched his successor observe the destruction of their supposedly superior Ansharian forces.

“I suggest you shut your mouth, you inept half-blood,” Ningishzida blurted out, losing all composure.

“Or what? Are you going to demote me again?” Lindherst lamented.

“Lindherst, continue your insubordination and your next demotion will be to your grave,” Ningishzida threatened.

“Well I guess only you pure blooded types know what you are doing,” Lindherst responded in absolute defiance.

“Get him the hell out of here,” Ningishzida ordered two of the Dulce soldiers. “You can contemplate your insolence in a cell and await some
pure
Ansharian punishment.”

Lindherst was led off the command level toward an upper detainment level. Once he was interned into his cell, the two escorts from the command level departed. After a few minutes, Lindherst called over to one of the detainment guards and initiated his plan.

Shortly after the Zealieon disappeared from all of their sensors, an incoming message alert flashed on Ningishzida’s viewer.

“You are directed to locate the Torahnossian's crash site in Skyforest and bring back whatever you can salvage to the Dulce facility for analysis. Appropriate all the C7 ground personnel necessary and get underway immediately,”
Gibil ordered.

B
efore slamming into the ground, Cadan had managed to maneuver the Valkyrie back upright, allowing for the bottom of the hull to strike first. He had no time to eject and the system was offline anyway. The Torahnossian fighter crashed into Rim of the World Hwy in a densely wooded vacated community named Skyforest

The Valkyrie had initially skidded down the pavement in a nearly straight line. But the uneven road quickly displaced its equilibrium, causing the craft to begin flipping end to end and tearing off the wings in the process. The smashed nose eventually caused it to begin rolling on its side through a general store parking lot, slamming into a wall hulled out of the mountain behind the structure. The final impact caused an explosion before Cadan even had a chance to release his restraints.