Out of the Ashes (Rise of the Empire Book 3) (5 page)

The other ace has been Jacob’s trump card since he discovered it. A stealth ship, more of a shuttle really, capable of flying in the atmosphere and in space. That was the reason his part of the Resistance was the only one that had any presence in space. The shuttle was small, capable of carrying ten people at most. His people found it abandoned in a forgotten League base, it’s purpose unknown. It was an unimaginable asset that allowed them to have a presence in the asteroid belt, as it was undetectable by the Ra’a’zani. Any data concerning it and its systems has been destroyed before Jacob’s people found it. And other than a few personal datapads that had vague references to its systems, they had to figure out everything on their own. And they had few if any people that could even begin to understand the technology behind it, that’s why Jacob used it rarely and with great care for fear of losing it to a simple malfunction that they had no idea how to fix. Another fear Jacob had was because the shuttle had no means of defending itself. The design was clearly made in a way that assumed weapons, with room left open for such a purpose, but when they discovered the shuttle it had none installed. Jacob assumed that whatever happened that caused the shuttle to be forgotten happened before it was completely finished. He believed that it was created as a part of a top secret military project, as he didn’t know about it even though at the time he was highly placed in the government.

But now Jacob felt more comfortable with risking it. With the help of the Olympus Ai Jacob’s people managed to figure out most of its systems. According to Asumy – the Ai, the shuttle’s technology was derived from more than sixty year old Olympus technology. Of course it was far more advanced now than what Olympus had then, the League scientists that worked on it improved and adapted the technology in amazing ways. The most impressive one being the shuttle’s drive. It was based on Olympus artificial gravity technology. Or it used that technology as a starting point. The shuttle was proof that the League made amazing breakthroughs during the war. According to Asumy the shuttle’s drive generated a gravity field that exerted a force on already present gravity fields using them to move the shuttle. It didn’t emit any heat or light, and it didn’t emit anything easily detectable. Jacob knew that it was one of his greatest weapons. He even had Asumy send all the data concerning it to Olympus.

Now with Asumy and Olympus ships on their way, Earth had a chance of getting its freedom back. With the fabricators Asumy provided they could rearm the Lord, and maybe even arm Jacob’s shuttle. They had about a year to plan and set things into motion, and then finally strike back against the enemy.

Chapter Five

January 2171 – Earth

Dakar Vit’r’an watched over his subordinates as they worked. It was a part of his daily routine, his people needed to see him, lest they forget who was in charge.

“Dakar, one of our patrols has detected ships entering the system.” One of Vit’r’an’s subordinates said.

“When?” Vit’r’an asked.

“They sent the information immediately, so it was seven seka ago.”

“They will be sending follow up information soon.” Vit’r’an said, the light speed was still a limitation with the communications inside a system, they could send communications to another system using comm drones that moved faster than light, but inside a system they were limited. The patrol ship would be sending information as they acquired it, which meant that Vit’r’an would be learning about events after they occurred.

“The ships have been identified, fifteen cargo ships and three clan warships. The Jaws of Ooruvan and the Tide of Sakar escorting the Law of Ooruvan.” The subordinate said.

“Law of Ooruvan? Has that been confirmed?” Vit’r’an asked, shocked. The Law of Ooruvan was one of the strongest ships in the Ooruvan clan, not only that, but the flagship of Elder Tig’r’an, Vit’r’an’s sire. The Elders were there to guide and advise the leader of the clan, the Rakar. They each held enormous influence and power. And among them Elder Tig’r’an was the most powerful. The Ra’a’zani society didn’t put much stock into family bonds, the next generation was raised by caretakers. But every hatchling knew who it was that sired them, but none were acknowledged by their sire unless they did something that their sire considered worthy. Vit’r’an’s conquest of Sol system gave him that right. And since then Tig’r’an had taken upon himself to push his progeny slowly forward, grooming him for the role of Rakar in the future. But in truth, they had never met in person, only via comms. Which, coupled with the fact that there were no scheduled convoys in the near future, made this unannounced visit all the more surprising.

“It is confirmed Dakar, we have received a message for you from the Law of Ooruvan.”

Vit’r’an walked up to one of the terminals and engaged the privacy screen around it. Then he accessed the message, “Greetings Vit’r’an, from your sire Tig’r’an.” The dark gray Ra’a’zani said. As soon as Tig’r’an acknowledged the connection between them Vit’r’an relaxed. That meant that the visit wasn’t because he did something to displease Tig’r’an. Calming himself, he focused on the rest of the message, “I am afraid that there had been a development on the other side of Ra’a’zani space. But we shall speak about that in a greater detail once I arrive to the planet two days from now. For now I need you to prepare the manifest of all the materials you have stored, and are available on hand, including anything that is a part of the orders for the other clans. As well as the exact number of slaves you have in the breeding camps.”

Stunned Vit’r’an watched as Tig’r’an signed off and the message ended. He stood there frozen for a few moments, staring at the blank screen. Then he turned and walked back towards his position in the center of the room. The others watched him, but none dared ask him what the message was about.

A few seconds later, Vit’r’an turned towards one of his subordinates, “Get me the manifests on all the materials we currently have in storage including those on mining spots. And an exact number of humans in the breeding camps.”

***

Olympus Explorer Ship Star Gazer

“Mathias.” A voice made Mathias snap his eyes open from his nap on the bridge of the Olympus ship.

“What is it Asumy?” Mathias asked the Olympus Ai.

“Eighteen Ra’a’zani ships have entered the system.” Asumy answered.

Mathias frowned. “There isn’t a convoy scheduled for at least another two years.” Asumy remained silent. Sighing Mathias switched to the sensor station, he was the only one on the bridge as it was the middle of the night.

“Can you identify them?” Mathias asked as he looked over the data on the screens.

“Fifteen ships have been identified as cargo ships. The other three are unknown.” Asumy said.

“Their convoys usually travel with at least two warships, perhaps those three are the escorts?”

“There is a great possibility that is true.” Asumy responded.

Mathias looked over the data still coming in from Asumy’s long range passive sensors, when something caught his eye.

“Wait, this can’t be right. Asumy is this correct?” Mathias asked.

“What are you referring to?”

“Their size.”

“Yes, I calculated the size using their cargo ships as reference.” Asumy said.

“My God. If those are warships, they are the biggest ones we have seen to date.” Mathias said. The largest Ra’a’zani warships recorded were the ones currently in the system, the patrol ships and the Overlords flagship, they were 450 meters long and 220 meters wide. The other warships they have seen were mostly escorts for the convoys which were either of the same class or smaller. The three ships that have just entered the system on the other hand were bigger, much bigger. Two of the three were identical, and according to Asumy’s calculations were between 1600 and 1800 meters long, and between 700 and 900 wide. But the third ship was even bigger, its length being anywhere between 2400 and 2600 meters, and width between 1000 and 1300. At least two and a half kilometers long. Mathias looked at the data in disbelief. The ship wasn’t the biggest Ra’a’zani ship they knew about, their cargo ships were anywhere between 2 and 3 kilometers long. But those were cargo ships, not warships.

“I got to let Jacob know about this.” Mathias said. “Asumy prepare the message.”

***

Earth orbit

Two days later a shuttle took Vit’r’an from his base to the Elder’s ship. As soon as Vit’r’an exited the shuttle with his two guards following close behind, he was met with the three Ra’a’zani wearing brown armor. They were the elite guards of the Elders. The one in the lead bowed his head in greeting, Vit’r’an returned the greeting with a bow of his own. The three then guided them through the massive ship. The brown walls of the ship were just a few shades darker than those of the three guards. The hallway was curved to the left, with visible slots on the ceilings from which huge doors could drop cutting the passage off in case of boarders. Although it had been a long time since the clans warred amongst themselves. Every now and then they would reach an intersection in the hallway, with other Ra’a’zani moving on their way. It took them some time until they finally reached an elevator. The ride itself took a fraction of the time it took them to reach the elevator itself. After they stepped off the elevator they walked for a few steps only until they reached a door. The guards motioned for Vit’r’an to enter and for his guards to stay. Vit’r’an then entered.

The room was spacious, and empty save for the big pool in its middle. The water had a small layer of steam gathered on its surface moving upwards, indicating that it was the perfect temperature. Inside the pool was Elder Tig’r’an. Vit’r’an walked to the pool’s edge, then lowered his legs and body as far as they would go bowing his head deeply.

“Greetings, sire.” Vit’r’an said. It was a bit presumptuous for Vit’r’an to open talks with the acknowledging of their connection. But as he didn’t know the reason for the visit, he wanted to keep the connection between the two fresh in Tig’r’an’s mind. Not that he believed it would in any way influence Tig’r’an. He was far too old and powerful for that.

Tig’r’an let out a series of growls that were Ra’a’zani laughter. “You have grown much in your new position offspring. Pretension suits you well. Come submerge yourself in the waters of Ra’zar with me, and then we shall talk.”

Vit’r’an’s head rose and he looked at his sire. “The water is from the home world?”

“Of course, you don’t expect me to bath in the impure waters of other worlds?”

“Of course not sire.” Vit’r’an said as he removed the belt from his hips and entered the pool. Vit’r’an never had the chance to bathe in the waters of the home world. In fact it was against the agreement between the clans to take the holy water from their home world off it. His sire must hold much more power amongst the other clans and the guardians of the home world if he managed to take enough water off world for a pool.

As soon as Vit’r’an entered the pool he felt the soft bites of Rasari, the fish that Ra’a’zani used for cleaning, eating the filth of his body. Looking down in the water he saw that these were yellow in color and not the muddy brown of the altered fish that they transferred from their home world to the other worlds.

“How does it feel?” Tig’r’an asked.

“It feels… Right.” Vit’r’an answered.

Tig’r’an showed his teeth in a Ra’a’zani smile. “Yes.” He said then closed his eyes.

For some time they remained silent, enjoying the feel of the water and the soft bites of the fish. And then Tig’r’an moved and drew closer to Vit’r’an.

“There has been a development.” He started, “Clan Ravinan has encountered another high intelligence race.” Tig’r’an said.

Vit’r’an moved and looked at Tig’r’an. “Another slave race?” Already he was thinking what the repercussions of such a discovery would be. The clan Ravinan was a minor clan before, but now with the influx of slaves and most likely materials that would change, the discovery alone might make them one of the core. “That will have a great effect on the core. Another slave race wi-”

“No.” Tig’r’an interrupted. “Not another slave race.” He said.

“What do you mean?” Confused, Vit’r’an asked.

“The ships Ravinan sent to conquer the new world were destroyed.” Tig’r’an said, and continued before Vit’r’an could interject, “This new race are not like the others we found before. They had ships, that could travel the great void between the stars. And everything we learned until now suggest that they were not contained on a single world. They have more, the same as us.”

“But, that is impossible.” Vit’r’an said.

Tig’r’an smiled. “Not impossible, the clan leaders knew that it was bound to happen sooner or later. That is why we still build warships such as the Law of Ooruvan. We were fortunate not to have met any race that was our match until now. But this race… They didn’t just destroyed the Ravinan ships, they went on an offensive, they conquered two of Ravinan outer worlds and destroyed the Ravinan main fleet. The clans agree that they are a threat to all Ra’a’zani.”

Stunned, Vit’r’an barely managed to ask another question. “Why are you here then?”

“There has been talks between the clans, for the first time in a thousand of rotations the unification of the Ra’a’zani clans has been proposed.” Tig’r’an said.

“They can’t be that much of a threat! Clan Ooruvan alone holds a thousand warships! Three times as much as the Ravinan, and they have no ship bigger than a battleship!” Vit’r’an said angrily standing up in the pool.

Tig’r’an watched him calmly. “Sit down Vit’r’an.”

The tone of the command snapped Vit’r’an out of his anger and he lowered himself down into the water. “Apologies Elder.” He said with a bowed head.

Tig’r’an watched him for a moment before acknowledging Vit’r’an’s apology.

“I have seen the records of the battle Vit’r’an. Those ships of theirs ripped Ravinan fleet apart. Ravinan ships did inflict damage upon them, even destroyed a few. But the battle favored their side greatly. And we don’t know how big their territory is or how many battle ready ships they have. The Rakar has decided, and the Elders agree with him, we need to focus on our holdings in the core, strengthening our positions and building more ships.” Tig’r’an paused for a second before continuing, “A joint fleet has been proposed amongst the clans. And we will need every available ship back home. It has been decided that we will abandon this system.”

“Sire please, I understand that the situation is dire, but a few ships can’t possibly make a difference. And this system gives us access to a lot of materials -”

“No Vit’r’an. It isn’t enough. You have done well, and I have made sure that you will not lose any influence amongst the other Dakars. But this system is nowhere near the development level of our other mining systems. It has great resources, but its infrastructure is nowhere near capable enough to support our future demands.”

“What about our obligations to the other clans? And what of the slaves?” Vit’r’an said.

“The clans that have standing orders have already been reimbursed from other systems, and the rest will come from what you have mined until now. We will load everything you have on hand into the five cargo ships, and I will leave five for you to fill before abandoning the system. And as for the slaves, the last five cargo ships have been modified to carry slaves. We will take all of your breeding groups, and some of the ones raised by us. With them and those we have back in the core we will have enough to breed a lot more.” Tig’r’an said.

“And what of the rest? Are we just going to leave them unsupervised?”

“Of course not.” Tig’r’an said barring his wicked teeth. “I have brought an Destra’ka for your ship.”

Vit’r’an looked at the wicked teeth of his sire, stunned and unable to find any words.

“Just the reaction I expected.” Tig’r’an said, snapping Vit’r’an out of his trance.