Chapter2

“Fifty years ago, by the Terran calendar that was the year 2623, Earth was devastated by what we have come to call the seven hour war” S117 said as he walked through the corridors of the Imperial Palace. “We don’t know who fired the first weapon but no attempts were made to make peace and every nation responded in kind.  A cease fire was called 6 hours and 47 minutes after the first missile was launched but it was too late.  There was little left standing, every one of earths cities lay in ruin.  There were over 14 billion people on Earth on that morning, by nightfall there were just 2 billion.”  

He had been tasked with escorting the Hive representative to the council chamber but when he had accepted he hadn’t expected the Hive in question to be so inquisitive.  He hated taking about the war, he wasn’t there but he had often wondered what the Terran Empire would be like if the war hadn’t happened.

“But if we recall correctly, Müller didn’t start to take over until six years after that” stated the Insect.

“Yes, those that didn’t die during the war were forced to fight for survival in a living hell.  The sun was blocked out for 3 years and so the entire planet was covered in complete darkness and all natural plant and animal life died.  The Eurasian government was the only one which had not been completely obliterated, leading many to believe that they fired the first shot as they were the ones who were prepared.  But instead of helping their people, they abandoned them, they just grew more and more paranoid inside their bunkers.  Müller took command of what little was left of the Eurasian army and lead a coup to gain control of the government centre.  He rallied the forces of the Eurasian Federation and the entire planet was under his rule in less than 11 years.  He then declared himself Emperor and ordered the construction of the Imperial City over the ruins of his home city of Berlin with the Imperial Palace,” he said gesturing around “in the very centre.”

“What is the population of the Imperial City?” Asked the Hive in, what S117 guessed, was a Hive look of curiosity.

“Almost 3 Billion, the city spreads out for about 100kilometres in all directions.”

“Impressive, nothing like the cities on our home world” said the hive looking out of a nearby window.

As S117 and the Hive walked into the council chamber the rest of the council stood up.

“Good afternoon ambassador” Sonar said, sitting down again “Please, take a seat”.

“Prime Minister” The Hive said, with a bow.

The Hive ambassador looked around the room as he made his way towards one of the empty seats. It was a large circular room, the walls were about 20 metres high and lead up to a domed ceiling which seemed to change colour as you moved.  Occupying most of the room was a semi-circular table. On the curved side of the table there was a large throne, and on each side of the throne were 7 seats.  Along the straight side of the table were 5 seats, clearly for guests, thought the ambassador.

“What have you called us here for?” asked the Hive.  The insect was alone but all members of the Hive collective thought together, so it was rare for one of them to refer to themselves as “I”.

Sonar sighed “Approximately seventeen hours ago Emperor Greenys ship, The Pride of Terra, disappeared off of our hyperspace sensors on the way to Betelgeux from Vega.  Its common for ships to disappear off sensors in the badlands, we usually regain sensor locks on them within a few minutes, or an hour at the most.  But we never did with Greenys ship.”

“What is this ‘Badlands’ you speak of?” The Hive inquired.

“The Badlands” Narses replied “is the area of space surrounding the Wolf 369 and Hades systems”

“Pirate territory” J0E0NE concluded.

“Ah, we understand, please continue”

“Well, at exactly the same time, all of our sensor relay stations in Wolf were disabled.  We have already contacted the Orfine and Plexxan governments, all of their sensors went down in that system too” Sonar continued “It is probable that all of the other races sensors are down as well.  However, your cloaking technology may have helped your relay stations in the area avoid detection.”

“We will check…”

“Oh and ambassador” J0E0NE interrupted “The majority of the collective doesn’t need to know this, ok”

“We agree, the hive responded, in our interactions with other races, we have learned that not all things should be shared” the Hive responded.

“We have been told that all the sensors in Wolf went down” the Hive said, after several minutes of silence and twitching “Except one, it is the oldest one in the system.”  Sonar sat up in his chair “It recorded some sort of energy pulse at the same time your sensors went down”

“Can you locate a source?” Demanded S117.

“No, however it came from the region around the asteroid designated WX-88”

“What about Greenys ship?” Asked Sonar.

“Our visual records are damaged, however our sensor logs from the relay station show that a large energy source entered the system just after the sensors went down.  Power readings indicate that it was the Pride of Terra.  After that there were several dozen weapons bursts many of them with a Terran energy signature.  The power levels suddenly drop after a large explosion aboard the Pride and soon after that the weapons fire stops.  However the Pride of Terra was not destroyed.  All the surviving ships then go to hyperspace, including the Pride” The Hive said, avoiding eye contact with anyone at the table.

 “Admirals Aragon, Phantom and Armageddon were dispatched 2 hours ago with a fleet of over 150 ships.  They are going to Wolf to see if they can locate where Greeny is, if he is still alive at all” Sonar said gravely “Until we hear word from them we will continue as normal, I will send you all messages when we hear from them.  Thank you Ambassador” he said, nodding to the Hive Ambassador.

“Glad we could help” He replied, slowly rising from his seat.

Greenys head spun.  He tried to stand, but the movement caused his head to feel as if it was split in two and he collapsed back to the floor.

“I wouldn’t try to move too soon ‘Emperor’” Said a voice mockingly.

“Who are you?” Greeny said scrambling back against the wall.  He realized that his vision was blurred, but he didn’t squint.  He pulled himself up against the wall.  He was in a prison cell, there was no bed so either he wasn’t going to be here long or he was in for some uncomfortable nights.  The man he was talking to was looking at a computer console, but Greeny couldn’t see what he was looking at.

“I will take you to my master soon” Replied the man, ignoring Greenys question.

“What happened to my ship” Greeny said angrily, suddenly remembering the events aboard the Pride of Terra.

“Your ship is…safe” Said the man, then he chuckled “I can’t say the same for you crew”.

Greeny slid back down the wall he was leaning against.  What had happened in those final moments?  He remembered gun fire, explosions then pain.  He looked down at his forearms, his right arm was cut and bruised but his left was encased in a blue tube.

“What is this?” Greeny asked, holding up his arm.

“The toasters that boarded you didn’t realize how fragile Terran bones are” the man replied “We do apologize” he said in a manor that clearly showed that he was not the least bit sorry.  “You will have to leave it on for a few days until your arm heals.  I must admit I am impressed by how fast you heal”.

“One of the benefits of being an Emperor” Greeny gave a slight smile, even though he didn’t feel the slightest bit happy “You get the latest in bio-implant technology” He looked up, “Who is your master?” He asked.

Greenys vision was returning and he could see now that the man he was talking to was Plexxan.  Most people couldn’t tell the difference between a Terran and a Plexxan, but Greeny had spent enough time amongst both races to know the difference.    

“He would prefer it if you didn’t know.”

Greeny pulled himself up against the wall again.  He made it to his feet and locked his knees to keep himself upright.

“We will go see my master now” The Plexxan said.  He opened the cell door and grabbed Greeny, who nearly fell again.  “Hurry up, hurry up, my master is not a patient man” he said, pushing Greeny along the corridor.  Greeny recognized the structure of the ship, it was an older design Invincible Battlecruiser.  This design was faster than the new designs but had often had random power failures in secondary systems.  The Plexxan pushed him through the door to the ships conference room but he didn’t follow.

“Greetings Greeny” Said a voice.

“Who are you?” Greeny asked, the room was dark and he couldn’t locate the source of the sound.  “Show me who you are” Greeny shouted.

“I suppose I might as well tell you” Greeny saw a figure appear from a particularly dark corner and clapped his hands together loudly activating the lights.  This did little to reveal his identity however as he wore a long black robe with a large hood which left his face in shadows.  “My name is Cold Fire” he said lowering his hood.