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Chapter Nineteen

Five Hundred Ten Years Ago...

The Terran Federation Navy had amassed a fleet of only twenty ships to await the arrival of the massive vessel that had been described by the distress call from the Valkyrie.

Although they were unsure of what demon they were facing, they were resolute in their desire to protect their home. All the species of Terra stood united against this singular threat, unsure if they were truly able to defeat a vessel which was so powerful it could create wormholes out of nothing.

Terran Federation scientists based on Celestial Gate station had worked tirelessly since the Valkyrie's call had come in to try and understand this new enemy but all the data collected from the initial transmission was completely baffling. They had neither encountered or even heard of a vessel that remotely resembled this one.

The alien vessel was massive, easily dwarfing Celestial Gate herself and had a unique golden hull, a gigantic pinecone, with massive golden spikes that jutted out at the front to the vessel, the Terrans had never seen anything like it.

However the most interesting aspect of the vessel itself was the fact that it appeared translucent, almost as if it was but was not there. The technology needed to even conceive such a ship was completely beyond that of Terran understanding.

The Terran fleet consisted of several large block-like cruisers, which were designed more for efficiency rather than aesthetics. Several different sizes and classes of ship that were all in formation in front of the planet, all performing different functions from large, slow battleships like the flagship, the Tyrant Wing, produced by the aggressive Dratari, to the smaller, support vessels such as the Mercy, produced by the collectivist rabbit-like Luptari.

All the strengths of the races of Terra were united against this threat, with each race having designed and built their own flagship to serve as parts of a large unifying force.

For almost five thousand years, the Terran species had known peace and cooperation and that was not going to end today.

The was silence...

The alien vessel moved slowly from behind Terra's only moon, its massive shadow almost completely eclipsing it as it moved into view of the fleet. The communication channels of the fleet almost exploded with exclamations of terror as this colossal ship silently edged towards them, cutting through space like a knife.

The massive vessel almost completely ignoring the severely damaged Valkyrie which was tailing it. The ship had not given a response apart from its previous message and had continued to move ominously towards the planet. The Valkyrie, now only with one functional Engine Pod was struggling to keep up.

Fleet Admiral Orias Gandora was on the bridge of the largest Terran Battleship, the Tyrant Wing and was leading the fleet against this unknown foe. She was a Dratari, a rather overweight black dragon who was renowned for her volatile temper as much as she was being a valiant leader of her people.

"Silence!" she commanded over the communications channel to the panicked fleet. Most of the fleet respected the old Dratari enough to understand that when she gave an order, she expected it to be obeyed. She was one of most respected and best military commanders in Terran history, personally commanding the Terran Federation to several victories against Alexandria. She was as much feared for her ruthlessness, as much as respect for her genius.

"Unknown Vessel!" she commanded in a husky tone. "You have entered Terran space! If you do not immediately withdraw, we will open fire!"

Her demand provoked no reaction from the alien colossus, which continued to move closer and closer to the lush blue and green sphere behind them.

"Admiral Gandora..." came another voice over the comm system. This one was a snide, almost sarcastic sounding tone. "This is Levantine Bittersweet... I don't have time to explain who I am but you need to hold off that ship until we can bring the Aegis online!"

"Excuse me" replied the Admiral. "This is a restricted channel for Fleet Communications only! Who the hell are you?"

"No time to explain... just do it!"

"How dare you tell me what to do with my fl--"

Another voice entered the exchange, a voice of a much older and more mature male. "Admiral Gandora, this is President Aden aboard Celestial Gate. Authorisation, Omega Black Two One Five. By order of the Terran Federation, you are to follow Mister Bittersweet's direction!"

"What? President Aden!? I have no idea who this person is!"

"You will comply with the directive or I will have you removed and command transferred to somebody else. There is no time to debate this."

Admiral Gandora was not happen with her command being circumvented so frivolously. She had always believed that a military command structure was essential to good order and hated it when politicians like Aden interfered with military orders. However she was bound by her oath to protect and serve the Terran Federation and she intended to do just that.

What was this Aegis that this Levantine had mentioned? There was something that she was not being told and she did not like being kept in the dark about this, it was not something she was going to allow the President to get away with in future.

The alien vessel was still edging closer to Terra, she had no choice.

"All ships..." she commanded, giving a chance to take a deep breath, a calm before a storm. "Open fire!".

A massive hailstorm of bolts of lights from the railgun cannons on each of the Terran Federation ships erupted across the darkness of space, with each ship releasing massive payloads of shells and missiles at the alien ship, the Valkyrie having to swerve to the side in order to avoid being hit by the storm.

The storm however was almost completely ineffective, passing through the massive pine cone shaped ship like it was not there at all. Continual volleys continued to do nothing against this behemoth.

An orange light blazed from the front of the colossus, swirled in a vortex of orange and yellow, charging before releasing itself in a continual beam straight in the direction of the Tyrant Wing,

From the bridge of the Valkyrie, Kestra and her crew watched helplessly as the largest vessel in the Terran fleet, the Tyrant Wing and Fleet Admiral Orias Gandora were completely incinerated by the beam, their much stronger Kinetic Barriers completely ineffective against the sustained beam that sliced through their hole and straight through two other ships as the Fleet heroically continued their assault.

"This is madness!" thought Kestra as she watched the Tyrant Wing explode and with it, any hope for the situation. That was the strongest vessel that they had and if that could be destroyed so easily, what hope was there for any of them?

Some of the smaller vessels began to break out of formation upon seeing the Tyrant Wing's destruction, fleeing for their lives. Kestra could not blame them. What hope was there against such overwhelming power from an alien force that had yet to reveal themselves or their motives.

Several smaller orange bolts, like the one that struck the Valkyrie when they had encountered the ship were now released from the colossus, picking off the smaller vessels one by one as they attempted to flee in terror.

The chilling explosions and death cries of the Fleet were all that Kestra could hear over the comm.

The death cry of the Terran civilisation itself..?

The alien vessel then stopped dead in its tracks, leaving most of the Terran fleet scattered and divided. What more did it want? It had already single handedly decimated a fleet in more than one shot?

"Commander!" called out Summerton, who had been watching the terror unfold on the monitors, powerless and demoralised. "They are transmitting a visual signal!"

"Let's see it" said Commander Marcell in Kestra's place. Still trying to maintain a semblance of order and authority on the bridge in the wake of such crippling terror.

A figure appeared on the computer screen, it was a primate, but a unique kind of primate without any sort of fur covering its both, similar to the creatures of Terra but with a short nose on its face and long blonde hair, instead of fur, draping down to its shoulders.

Kestra's eyes opened in terror. "No" she said. "They're a myth!"

She had only heard about this particular species in the ancient writings of her people, which she had long since dismissed as mythical when she became the first Tachyrea to join the Terran civilisation.

The ancient wall carvings of her home depicted a hairless mammal which had once resided on Terra before being cast out by the "Gods" themselves.

The creature spoke, raising her hand to address the world. "People of "Terra"" she said, her blue eyes tranquil and calm for the massacre that they had just caused. "Know that today, your lives are over. We have returned to reclaim our ancestral home and from today, Terra will be known by its "correct" name..."

"Earth..."

Kestra put her head in her hands. This could not be true! It just couldn't be!

"Commander?" asked Summerton, noting her reaction. "What is it..?"

Kestra said nothing as she rose to her feet, looking at the figure on the monitor and letting out a quiet, broken mutter.

"Humans..." she said.