All right, this is part two of the trilogy I'm writing. The first part was Altaria' Last Stand. https://forums.galciv2.com/176275. I've written a summary of part 1, but you may want to read the actual story if you want more details.
Okay: Here it is.
Prologue
At the end of Altaria’s Last Stand, Admiral Jim Ebyon had fled back to Earth to escape the powerful Dread Lords, and the Evil Drengin Empire. The Terran Alliance, along with their allies, the Arcean Empire, and the Altarian Republic, had been fighting the Drengin and their allies, the robotic Yor Collective. The Terran Admiral James Ebyon, along with a leader of a rogue fighter squadron, Jordan Locke, uncovered a Drengin secret about a plan for an attack on Altaria, the capital of the Altarian Republic. James (called Jim) and Jordan raced back to Twilight Station, which orbits Earth to deliver the important news. At a conference, the three civilizations formed a plan to defend Altaria.
As their time together goes on, Jim becomes more impatient with Jordan. The reckless academy graduate says and does things that contradict Jim’s beliefs. One day, Jim loses his temper at Jordan and insults him. Jordan then leaves. Jim’s first officer and friend, Altos Carniss, an Altarian, inquires about Jim’s loss of control. Jim doesn’t respond.
When the Drengin and Yor finally arrive, they learn that the Drengin leader, Lord Kona, had managed add more ships to the attack fleet, bringing the number of attack ships past one thousand, outnumbering the defenders three to one. Nevertheless, the defenders charged forward. Shocked by the braveness and ferocity of the attack, the Drengin nearly retreat. However, the massive battleship Lord Kona’s Pride appears, and goes on the attack. The Drengin reorganize themselves, and pound the defensive fleet. Despite the heroic efforts of Jim and Jordan, the defenders are pushed back farther and farther.
Then, a fleet of Torian Confederation ships jumped into the system, and attacks the Drengin as part of their long awaited revenge for their enslavement. With the odds evened, the Terrans and their allies begin to regain their strength. A giant flash then appeared, and then the evil Dread Lords, long thought to be extinct appear in the system, and start attacking everything. Both fleets are destroyed. The survivors scatter.
After a chase back to Earth, Jim and Altos learn that several Dread Lord attacks were pushed back, but the Drengin used this distraction to destroy the Terran Alliance and its allies. The Arceans were occupied. The Altarian Republic and Torian Confederation went into semi-seclusion. Earth had built a giant shield to protect itself, the plans for which were given by a mysterious individual called Draginol.
The shield was quickly raised, but it had consequences. Jordan was trapped outside of Earth, along with a small fleet. With Drengin approaching, he had no choice but to flee. Jim wasn’t sure about what Jordan would do, but he had a feeling Jordan would attack the Drengin as revenge for destroying the Terran Alliance. The burden of discovering how the Dread Lords appeared, and how the Drengin were able to defeat the Terrans, now falls on the shoulders of Jordan Locke.
Chapter 1
Jordan Locke slumped in the seat of his personal fighter, watching the galaxy go by. It had been a long time since the remains of the Terran Alliance had raised a shield over Earth to protect themselves from the Drengin. But those morons forgot one thing: He wasn’t inside yet! And now, here he was, stuck with a small fleet of ships. Well, it wasn’t that small. Three Altarian heavy carriers, two Terran battleships the size of small cities, and various other ships really wouldn’t be considered small if you weren’t thinking in numerical terms. Jordan didn’t care. As long as it was strong, and could win major battles, he was fine with it. But still, he wondered why he was fighting for the Terrans, and leading this fleet. They shut him out of Earth. And Jim Ebyon, he was probably responsible. Wanted to get rid of me that bad? Oh, Jim is gonna pay for this one…, Jordan thought. What ever happened to Jim? One day he was starting to accept different kinds of people, the next he screamed at them. Idiot…
“Jordan?”
Jordan stopped thinking about the past and switched his radio on. “Zane? What’s up?” Zane Noverson was one of Jordan’s fellow academy graduates. He was in Jordan’s fighter squad, until he took refuge on one of the battleships. When Jordan took control of the fleet, he chose him for the position of first officer.
“We’ve got some news on the Dread Lords. Connor has been doing some hacking into the Drengin supercomputers, and we think we’ve found out the reason for the Dread Lords appearing. Head to the Independence. Sorry to interrupt you’re pleasure flight”
“It really wasn’t a pleasure cruise; I was both patrolling and thinking. I’ll head over there now. It sounds important.”
Jordan took manual control of his fighter, and steered toward the ship Jim Ebyon used to command.
After a long wait, I have been dragged back to the keyboard...
Chapter 13
“Get the warp engines online, men!” said Zane as he and Jordan entered the bridge.
“Why?” one of the men asked.
“Let’s just say that we’re going on a little trip. To the Drengin Empire.”
“What?!” asked another.
“We gonna pillage some system?” asked yet another.
“No. Sorry to disappoint you guys, but we’re just gonna gather some intelligence on that Korath Clan,” said Jordan.
“Those guys? Why?” asked Ashley
“The leader of that Yor fleet wants us to. He thinks the Korath are a threat.”
“But if Lord Kona can control them…”
“I’m getting the feeling that Ordo is right about this.”
Ashley raised one eyebrow. “Who’s Ordo?”
“He’s the fleet leader.”
“Oh. So what does he want us to do?”
“Find out stuff about the Korath, I guess. I don’t we can ditch this guy. He’ll just find us again. Let’s just get this done.”
“Right,” said Ashley.
A message alert flashed in front of Jordan. He opened system. “Message from Altos,” he said to himself. The message read:
Jordan, Ordo has sent me system maps where the Korath Clan have stations set up. It’s attached to this message. Jordan, I don’t trust this Ordo. The fact that he even has a personality is frightening enough. Something tells me that we’re being set up. As soon we do what we need to do, we should try to get away from him. My fleet will be accompanying yours on this mission. I believe that we should go to the main Korath station. See you there.
Jordan leaned back in his chair. “Set coordinates for that system,” he ordered.
Ashley pressed several buttons to activate the warp engines.
Zane opened the communication system. “All ships, jump on my mark,” he said.
The warp engines roared, and the Independence sped off.
Rock On!!!
Good god, I need to write a new chapter. Sorry for the huge delay, I've been facing a little something called school.
“He’s the fleet leader of the Yor.”
The fleet entered the system without detection. After an hour of hiding in a group of asteroids, Altos’ fleet arrived.
Altos hailed the Independence. “Okay, Jordan. We’ve done a sensor sweep of the system. We’ve located the station. We also found a small fleet in the area, but it’s nowhere near the station. I think intelligence drones will be sufficient for getting data about that station.”
“All right man. Move the ships up, and we’ll launch the first drones.”
After moving the ships out of the field to get a clear reception, as well as powering down all unimportant systems to stay hidden, the first drones were launched. These ones would take pictures of the station, as well as find weak spots in the station’s defenses, as well as the strength of the computer’s security systems, vital for stealing data.
After twenty minutes, the drones sent back the data. The station was average sized, with an average station population of twenty thousand. The station had impressive defenses, with six missile pads, and twenty mass driver batteries. What was truly different was the station’s appearance. Rather than the dull red and green of Drengin stations, this one was a dark brownish-purple with yellow trim.
Zane spoke up. “I’m thinking this is a sign that the Korath are trying to break off from the Drengin. They wouldn’t build their station that way otherwise.”
“Interesting,” said Jordan. “Launch the second group.”
The second group of drones would scan the information the station’s computers carried, and then transmit it back to the fleet.
The second group was launched. Because they were smaller, they could move quicker. They were soon in scanning range of the station.
“Okay, the drones are starting to probe the computers. They’re past the anti-hacker defenses, they are now accessing the main documents. Opening the ships data receivers,” said a technician.
The computers on the Independence began to process the stolen data.
“Any word on if they’ve found any top secret files?” asked Jordan.
“We’re getting to it,” came the reply.
An alert sounded. “What’s going on?” asked Jordan.
“Sir, the Korath fleet in the system has warped here and is attacking the drones. We need to get them away or we won’t be able to get any more data!” said a crewman.
“Damn it! Drive those ships off!”
The Independence launched several torpedoes at the Korath frigates. Because the ships were small, many of the torpedoes missed. The Torpedoes that hit completely obliterated their targets. Several Korath ships retreated, but the others held their position and continued to attack the drones.
The Altarian carriers launched squads of fighters to attempt to drive of the Korath. Several attack runs disabled the weapons systems of several Korath ships, but those ships transferred excess power to the ships that still had functional weapons to give them extra firepower. It seemed hopeless. The enemy ships were still to far away for the Indepedence and the other ships to attack with their guns.
“What is it, Zane?”
“A large group of Korath ships is heading our way. We need to get out of here.”
Jordan turned his attention back the fighting.
“Please, dude! We’ll have no chance. We should just take what data we have and leave.”
Jordan sighed. “All right. Order a retreat.”
Something flashed on the screen of Jordan’s console. One of the drones found something about the Dread Lords and something about a Korath superweapon. It was the most secure data on the station. Jordan quickly stored the data. The drone that sent the info was destroyed two seconds later.
“All right, guys. Warp engines are online! Let’s get the hell out of here!”
The ships’ engine flared, then sped away into the depths of space with the stolen data.
Okay, the wait is over. I am going to (hopefully) finish this story quicker. Enjoy.
Chapter 14
The fleets arrived in a star system far from where they had been. No empire owned it, either because of the war, or there was nothing of interest.
Zane leaned back in his chair. “Now what?”
Ashley spoke up. “Now we chose whether to run, give the information to Ordo, or something else.”
Jordan leaned forward. “As much I’d like to, I simply don’t think we can get away from Ordo. He figured out every single place we hid before. I don’t how he does it, but his method seems foolproof. I sure as hell hope that the Yor haven’t developed some new tracking technology. He’ll eventually get the info we got, even if he has to kill us all and pry open the ship’s computer to get it.”
“I’d sure like to kick his metal can,” said a crewman.
“If we did try to run, we could try to get back to what’s left of the Terran Alliance or the Altarian Repubic and give them the info. Then we would probably we safe. Problem is that Ordo would probably intercept us. If the engines were in better shape, we could make one long warp to Earth, but the engines couldn’t take it.”
“Yeah, and consider the fact that the Drengin and the Yor that Ordo hasn’t reprogrammed to fight for him are still probably all over the Terran Alliance and Altarian Republic,” said Zane. “If Ordo doesn’t catch us, they will.”
“Then what should we do?” asked Zane.
Jordan paused. “Well, we might as well organize the data and present it to Altos.”
“Yeah.”
Jordan commed the technicians. “Get the stolen data on a portable device. I will need it for a meeting”
“Yes, sir,” came the reply.
“All right guys, send Altos a message telling him that we will be meeting him in an hour to discuss our findings.”
An hour later Jordan climbed into an armored shuttle, one of the last ones that was still functional.
“Man this thing needs maintenance,” grumbled an officer that was to serve as Jordan’s copilot. “Hopefully it won’t fall apart.”
“Quit complaining,” said Jordan. He switched on his radio. “We’re ready to go,” he told the hangar master.
The hangar doors make a deep groaning sound as they slid open, and then stopped suddenly. Jordan could hear in the background the hangar master swearing at the workers for not maintaining the doors. He rolled his eyes.
After five minutes, the doors were forced open, and then shuttle took off.
Jordan quickly found the Altarian fleet and landed at Altos’ ship. He quickly got out and went to the conference room. God, I hope that bitch isn’t there, he thought.
After a five minutes, Jordan found the conference room. He knocked on the door. Altos answered it. “Just you this time?” he asked.
“Just me.”
“Good. Come in.”
Altos and Jordan entered the room. Several important looking Altarians sat a table in front of a presentation stand. One spoke. “This is the Terran you spoke of, Altos?”
Jordan spoke. “Hey, this Terran has a name, you know. And it’s Jordan Locke.”
“Silence. I was speaking to Altos, not you,” replied the Altarian.
Altos broke in to avoid an argument. “Yes, this is Jordan. He gathered at great deal of information to help us. He will present it to us.”
The one that had spoken before leaned over and tried to speak to Altos in Altarian.
“We are equals here,” he said to the Altarian. “Speak a tongue we can all understand,” he finished, looking at Jordan. The Altarian gave a pleading look, but Altos held firm. “You may begin,” he said to Jordan.
Jordan cleared his throat and turned on the data device. Diagrams flashed up. “The Korath are planning to secede from the Drengin Empire,” he began. “This may seem obvious, now more than ever because more and more details are beginning to be uncovered. They oppose the policies concerning the treatment of conquered species, favoring extermination over enslavement, but for what reason? That is what my men and I have uncovered. The reason is this: The Dread Lords.”
Several Altarians snorted. “The Dread Lords?!” laughed one. “What sort of intelligence did you gather? They’re all dead!”
“Shut up!” yelled Jordan. “I thought you Altarians favored politeness and not interrupting. Now let me continue.”
The Altarians sitting at the table stared at Jordan. Altos let out a sigh.
Jordan continued. “This is real information. The Korath have taken great steps to hide this. Apparently a deal has been struck. The Dread Lords have greatly increased the physical and mental capacities of the Korath, making them look somewhat different from other Drengin. In return, the Korath are to exterminate all other species in the galaxy, allowing the Dread Lords to rule the galaxy.”
There was complete silence in the room.
“These events show that the Dread Lords have changed in their tactics and thinking. Instead of attacking us head on, where we defeated them with sheer numbers. They now seem to be using tactics not unlike those of the Drath. They now sit in shadows pulling the strings to make things go in their favor before emerging to strike the final blow.”
Altos raised his hand.
“Yes?”
“If the Dread Lords are doing what said they are, how are we to find them and destroy them? If you paid attention during your history classes at the Terran Alliance Military Academy, you would remember that during the Altarian-Korx war, it was very difficult to find the real perpetrators of that war: The Drath. It will no doubt be tougher to find the Dread Lords.”
“I did pay attention in those classes Altos, and I do know that the Terran Alliance and Altarian Republic had to tear through countless Korx ships and facilities to find out about the Drath. The Korath are a whole different matter. They control a sizable area, have a large fleet of powerful ships, and have notoriously skilled soldiers armed with weapons like this.” He turned on a second data device.
“Spore?” asked Altos reading the displays, “What is this Spore?”
“It’s a biological superweapon that Korath are developing. Judging by what we’ve seen, this weapon is going to be primary way for the Korath to exterminate everyone, not just the conquered. We’re lucky to have this bit of information. The drone that sent it was destroyed seconds after the transmission was finished.”
“How does it work?”
“These spores are basically a bunch of deadly bacteria. They are designed to completely wipe out a planet’s ecosystem. The spores are dropped in canisters from a special ship into a planets atmosphere. There the canisters open and release the spores into the air. Once released, the spores kill everything they come in contact with, multiplying from the remains of whatever it’s killed. Soon, nothing on the planet is alive. After the job is complete, the spores will either die, and leave the planet clear and lifeless, or remain, rendering the planet into a toxic wasteland. We’re not sure which will occur.”
“Where are they developing this weapon?!” asked a revolted Altarian, “We need to find it before they can use it!”
“It is in a hidden lab on a planet known as Dithir. It is simply inaccessible. We won’t be able to get at it. There are too many enemies.”
“Then what do you suppose we do?”
“We sell the information to the Drengin Empire and let them deal with it.”
There a lot of angry shouting between the Altarian. Jordan looked at Altos. Altos shrugged. One Altarian, who was rather fat compared to the others, stood up. “What sort of idea is that?! What’s going to stop the Drengin from destroying us once they’ve finished with the Korath?”
Jordan smiled. “This war between the Drengin and the Korath will last quite a while, I assure you that. It will be a perfect chance to strike back and regain territory.”
“It’s stupid! Why would you ever give our enemies a piece of information as important as that?! Are you out of your mind?!”
“Do have any better ideas?! The Terran Alliance would do nothing to help us, nor would your precious Altarian Republic! Don’t be an idiot!”
The Altarian got red in the face “You Terrans disgust me. This is why we Altarians are superior. We have manners, you do not. We have good values, you do not. You Terrans are nothing.”
“SHUT YOUR GOD DAMN MOUTH!” yelled Jordan. “If you talked to me like that on my ship, you would be shot dead! Have you forgotten that we saved your asses at Altaria AND during the Korx war? If it weren’t for us, you would be dead! And what do we get? Arrogance and ungratefulness! Our peoples are equal!”
There was silence in the room. The Altarians at the table were dumbstruck, while Altos glared at them.
The door slid open. Tresia stepped in. She saw Jordan and frowned. “I figured you were in here, with all the yelling,” she said disapprovingly. “Why are you tainting the ship with your presence again?”
Altos broke in. “Tresia, this is not the-“
“I ask again, why are you here? You are not welcome aboard this ship.”
Jordan rolled his eyes. “None of your business.”
Altos attempted to speak again. “Tresia, please. I will talk to you in a s-“
“Judging by what I have heard, you are yet again disrespecting people who are more respectable than you.”
“Jordan did nothing wrong, it was their-“
“Was it their fault? I do not think so. It was something Jordan said earlier that made them reply like that.”
“Will you let me t-“
“Now, what was being said before I came in?” asked Tresia to the other Altarians.
“You mean barged in,” muttered Jordan with an eye roll.
“Silence, fool!”
The fat Altarian spoke. “I was saying how Jordan exemplifies his species lack of manners and respect.”
Oh boy, this guy is really asking for it…, thought Jordan.
“You speak the truth,” said Tresia, “Terrans are indeed inferior to us. Completely improper.”
While Tresia continued to talk, Jordan reached into his pocket and pulled out his knife. Tresia saw the glint of metal out the corner of her eye and whirled around. Jordan threw the knife so it would miss her by a few inches, knowing that if he hit her, his fate would have a grisly end. The knife flew past Tresia and hit the wall, going in a few inches. One of the Altarians at the table fainted. The fat one fell out of his chair and distanced himself from Jordan.
Jordan smiled cruelly. “You guys were fairly lucky I missed, eh?” He pocketed his data devices, ripped the knife out of the wall, and left.
Woah. When Jordan gets angry, he gets angry.
The Altarians were asking for it...
Chapter 15 coming after Thanksgiving.
Chapter 15
“Jordan!” shouted Altos as he chased Jordan through the hallways of his ship.
Jordan whirled around. “What do you want, Altos? You got bunch of bastard friends back there. What is their deal? You’re lucky I’m not gonna just take off without you guys.”
“Look, Jordan. You and your crews are a valuable asset to both me and the whole resistance against the Drengin. You know this.”
“Tell that to those bastards.”
“JORDAN, STOP IT!” shouted Altos. Jordan was surprised. This was one of the few times he’d seen Altos angry at someone. “I cannot have you act the way you do towards people on my ship! Before the war, those people were some of the most powerful on Altaria! And you attempted to kill them! What is wrong with you?!”
“I missed on purpose, Altos. Do you think I would really kill them? Of course not.”
“You’re missing the point Jordan. Why would you even do something like that?”
Jordan shrugged.
“Jordan!”
“Those people are horrible, Altos. They may have been in power in the past, but that was the past. Look at them for who they truly are. I can sum up who they are with two words: Arrogant f^ckers.”
Altos sighed.
Jordan rolled his eyes. “You’re a hopeless case, Altos. I doubt you’ll ever get what I’m saying.”
“That isn’t true, Jordan. I will consider what you’ve said.”
“Good.” He turned to leave.
Altos spoke. “Jordan, look at me.”
“Huh?”
“You heard me.”
“Fine, I’m looking.”
Altos put his hand on Jordan’s shoulder. “Jordan, you have changed a lot. Mostly for the better. You’ve always been a leader, but now more strongly than ever. I’ve spoken with some of your crew members. They like and respect you much more than my crew respects me. They would willingly die for you. Pulling everyone together while you were trapped outside of Earth, well, that was no small feat. You impress me, you impress your crew, you impress even those who dislike and even hate you.”
“You’re humbling yourself, Altos.”
“No, I’m not. And that shows another way you’ve changed. Remember when we first met? No offense, but you were one of the most immature people I ever met. I even wondered how you managed to stay in the navy. Remember Jim? You drove him up the wall with your antics. Now, you’re a hell of a serious person. Almost too serious. I get almost no humor out of you. You used to be light hearted, and somewhat carefree. Now, well, now you seem dark and heavy hearted. You carry a heavy burden on your shoulders, Jordan. That is clear.”
Jordan was silent.
“Believe me, Jordan, it is true. I know this may seem strange for me to say this after our argument, but I could think of no other time.”
Jordan mumbled something not even he could understand.
“Now, you should let Ordo know about some of the info we’ve gathered. He’s probably getting impatient. But in the name of our peoples, don’t let him know about the spore weapon. God knows what he would do if he got his hands on it”
“Right.”
“Good. Now get going.”
Jordan turned and walked away without a sound. I don’t get Altos, he thought. First he’s angry at me, then he compliments me. Strange.
After the ride back, Jordan met a nervous looking crewman who told him someone very important was waiting for him in his quarters.
Jordan found his room and went inside. When he saw who was in there, his blood turned to ice.
“Hello, Jordan,” said Ordo.
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