“WE HAVE CONTACTS BEARING….BEARING… THEY’RE EVERYWHERE! The voice of her sensor operator broke Ruo out of a mid-shift daze and sent a shot of adrenaline burning through her body.
“What? What is it? Distance?” She stuttered, trying to find the right questions to ask.
“Unknown vessels, Ten light seconds. Oh my god there are more now! Thirty, maybe Forty total. There’s something interfering with our sensors. A blast of radiation I think or an EMP.”
Ruo shot out of the command seat, calling for Zhao and motioning for the large monitor to show her a view outside of the ship. The image instantly changed from the forward point of view which mostly showed Dottir as the ship closely orbited her, to the starboard view. The blackness of space was repeatedly punctured by flashes of light, almost like a rapid thunderstorm back on Earth. Ruo thought it would have been beautiful if not for the implications of each flash. These were ships flaring their engines to slow themselves.
“Lieutenant Commander, we’re being hailed on a system wide frequency.”
“Play the message.”
“All ships of the United Dottir Militia. This is not a drill. Scramble into formation and break orbit. I repeat. This is not a drill, scramble into formation and break orbit. Approach the unknown ships and attempt to make contact. Do not fire. Do not fire.”
A feeling of calm washed over Ruo as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A practiced mental maneuver to gain control of her fear and emotions so that she could lead others who were just as scared and looked to her for answers. Her eyes opened and her face was all business.
“Do as he says. Break orbit and join the other ships of the wall. Keep the weapons locked, we don’t want to be the reason for a war to break out. Sound battle stations.”
An alarm Klaxon wailed five times and the lights across the ship dimmed to signify all hands to battle stations. All across the ship items were strapped down or stowed, environmental suits were made ready, weapons were handed out to those qualified to use them, and crewmen prayed to their gods for safe passage through whatever lie ahead. Zhao barged onto the bridge with messy hair, buttoning his blouse as he fast-walked toward Ruo.
“What is it?” he said, still bleary eyed.
“Forty plus unknown contacts in system and more are coming as we speak. We’ve been ordered to break orbit and form a wall. They''re manipulating our sensors. Take the second seat and monitor communications for anything that I might miss.” She ordered, stopping all questions or conversation that would have followed the revelation.
“Yes Lieutenant Commander.” Was his crisp reply and he set to work.
The Bao vibrated as the lightly used engines roared to life, turning the ship away from the vibrant blue and green of Dottir and into the inky black of space itself. Ruo’s nerves tried to claw their way back to the forefront and her stomach twisted and threatened to show itself but she pushed it all down to where it came from and stared at the forward view. Flash. Flash. Flash. They just kept coming.
Hours passed and conversation fizzled out as the tension took hold of everyone aboard the Bao. Some of the other nation’s ships had already arrived at the pre determined rally point and took their positions with the larger capitol ships in the rear and their escorts all around them to act as a primary point defense for incoming missiles. Nobody even knew if these mystery ships used missiles.
The entire doctrine of the U.D.M. was based on what humans knew to be possible but everybody knew that if hostile aliens attacked, anything could be possible. Ruo’s destroyer, Bao, took up a position alongside the flagship super destroyer, Xi’an, which was tucked away behind 35 cruisers and 10 heavy battleships, all armed with their own missiles, energy weapons, and point defense drones which had not yet been launched as they were very costly and could not be recalled.
The Alien ships too were coming together.
Flash. Flash. Flash.
“How many are there now?” Zhao asked the sensor tech.
“Over one hundred sir, but our sensors are struggling. Each ship seems to be sending out a pulse of some kind that temporarily disables them. I can only see what is happening when there is a momentary lull.”
“Very well. You’re doing fine.” Zhao said and glanced at Ruo who only nodded.
Ruo looked at the real-time tactical information on her personal instruments. To the left of the Tiantang wall was the considerable New Vistan fleet and to the right, the Republic of Svoboda fleet had lined up. Between those three nations, there were 140 warships but that was largely escort vessels and battleships. They were still armed with sharp teeth but only seven were hulking capital ships. The alien formation continued to grow and float slowly toward Dottir.
It was still outnumbered but there was no sign of the new arrivals slowing. Ruo feared that soon the battle would look like a knight standing before a dragon with his village behind him. Maybe it wouldn’t be a battle though. She did not know their intentions, although there were better ways to introduce yourself than bringing an entire fleet and blasting radiation throughout the system.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.
“We are being hailed on all frequencies!” The communications tech called out. “Audio and visual.” He added.
“Acknowledged, show me.” Ruo responded curtly.
The image on the main view screen changed from the growing fleet ahead to the view inside one of the ships, ceasing all conversation on the bridge of the Bao. The screen showed a human-like form dressed from head to toe in body armor so black that it seemed to darken the area around it. A set of gloved hands reached up and slowly removed the crimson red helmet, exposing a gray face punctuated by slanted black eyes and a grin showing a set of teeth that would scare away most earthly predators.
It’s nostrils flared as it held out it’s hand to a crew member but it didn’t break eye contact with the camera. It took a small metallic object from an open gray palm and inserted it into it’s ear. Ruo’s skin crawled at the sight. They may have been human-like in shape, they had two arms, two legs and two eyes, but they would never be mistaken for one outside of that armor.
It''s low gravely voice commanded authority.
“My name is one that you would not understand or be able to say. You will refer to me as Fleet Lord Skald. A name that I have chosen from the history of your...other world. Our world. We have come to harvest what belongs to us. We have traveled a vast distance to make our claim. You would be wise to hand over control peacefully. You have one of your days to decide. The amount of blood that must be spilled before this happens will also be decided by you, but know this. You cannot resist the Sharlah. If you try, you will only know war and a crushing defeat. We can uplift your species from the ball of mud that you inhabit. We have technology far beyond yours. We can cure your diseases, we can bring peace to your nations, we can show you other worlds, but you must not resist us.”
More ships entered the system.
<hr>
Charlie took control of the flat screen television in the lounge area of the Solent and the screen turned black before projecting a paused image of dirt and the toe of someone''s boot.
"What I am about to show you is extremely graphic. I think it is important that you know what the people of Dottir face if the message from Mr. Young is true. You will not be the same people that I see now when this video is finished." The soft feminine voice of the ships ai sounded even softer than normal. Ash was beginning to think there was more to her than just programming.
"Go ahead Charlie. I want to know." Ash said, glancing over at Jayden and Kate just to be sure. They nodded solemnly.
The video unpaused and it the camera quickly tilted up and took on the view of a helmet camera. The soldier was getting up from a rest on the side of a road. It looked just like Dottir, it was shocking. even the roads were painted the same way. She really was the daughter of Earth. The soldier waved his arm in a circular motion and several others rose to their feet and began climbing into the truck that was parked right in front of them.
"Lance Corporal! Thirty seconds, lets go." the POV soldier said as he climbed into the drivers seat and started up the old military transport. There was a banging sound behind him and he started to pull away when an emergency alert sounded from the cell phone in his pocket. he stopped midway into the road and pulled it out to check. The message read.
"All units report back to Camp Lejune. This is not a drill. Hostile fleet in orbit."
"I am skipping ahead now." Charlie said, nearly in a whisper.
The video jump cut to the man looking down at his blood soaked camoflauge thighs, still in the truck and then over at the passenger who was missing half of his head and face. The front of the truck was on fire as he rolled out of the drivers door, dazed. He stumbled on wobbly legs over the embankment as a jet black fighter craft banked in the distance and then lined up the covoy for another strike. Red beams zipped from it like lightning bolts and the flaming transport lifted and rolled as if picked up by a strong wind. I just missed the soldier who had captured the moment perfectly and it rolled down the embankment, spilling men and equipment from the back.
He ran to them and grabbed a rifle and several magazines from a still form on the ground. "RALLY ON ME!" he screamed, making the same circular motion. Another craft flared its tail end, firing thrusters from the bottom to come to a hover just over the ground. The side door slid open and armored alien troops spilled out, firing red pulses from their rifles that splintered the trees behind him. Screams erupted from the men higher on the bank as he called out "FIRE!" and opened up with his own rifle.
Some of the alien troops stumbled with the impacts and a few even went down but behind them were more. He stopped and watched in shock as a second craft belched out larger beings, still humanoid but massive, like professional wrestlers. Behind them were muscular dog like creatures that were snarling and trying to bite everything, anyone, even friendlies in their path that weren''t on the ship with them.
The video cut again and the POV soldier was looking at the ground and crying. He was deeper in the woods this time, he must have retreated. A wounded soldier was lying beside him and trying to hold pressure on his throat but he was pale and trembling. He looked at the man with the camera, pleading with his eyes.
"I''m sorry. I c-c-cant help." He said as he picked up his rifle and limped away from him. Howls echoed through the forest and red beams flashed through the canopy, bringing down the tops of trees like razor sharp chainsaws.
The man stumbled but climbed back to his feet and then stumbled again. He looked down at a mangled lower leg. It was burned all the way up to his shin and his boot was missing. Tattered camouflage and blood was all that remained of his foot. He started to crawl, the camera buried in the leaves and dirt but was lifted and tossed at least five yards, coming to the ground with a grunt.
He rolled over just in time to see a gray faced nightmare coming down on him with fangs ready to tear his flesh. It wasn''t one of the dogs, it was one of the soldiers. He screamed in terror and pain as it ripped into his chest rig and then began trying to remove it. He lifted his rifle and fired but it was swatted away by another alien being that was still wearing it''s jet black helmet and it kicked him in the face, sending the camera skittering away. It landed a few feet away, still recording, but Charlie cut the feed.
<hr>
The feed cut off and was momentarily black before returning to the front facing cameras of the Bao. All heads turned to Lieutenant Commander Ruo including Zhao who looked at her in shock. Ruo again pushed her feelings into a dark corner and put on a brave face. There was no call for her to make. This situation was far above her pay grade and she simply needed to wait for word from the flag and execute her orders.
“I don''t know any more than you do. They seem hostile but willing to talk. We do not yield." She said, her voice low and breathy. "Hold our position in the wall and wait for orders from the Xi’an. Admiral Chen has also received the same transmission.”