Thine is the golden glow of day,
Thine is the blue hue of twilight.
Thine are the worlds of two shadows:
Thine is Solaris.
Solaris, the Reefs of Gandorine...
Gandorine was an air world, and one of the most important planets in Solaris. This reputation was due in part to the wide variety of resources that can be found in the various rocks that float about within the atmosphere. More important than this was the Reefs, a group of small planetoids that followed Gandorine in it's orbit around the system's two stars. These small moons were a haven for merchants of all types. The Reefs were so named because they reminded Cartanian sailors of an ocean reef that can often be found near a port. Somewhere in the Reefs, one could find a colony of every race in the known spheres. The most important of these were the Gandorian elves who came from the air world itself, and the Tabaxi from the Shogunate of Tigera, or "Tiger's Rock." Ships from these and other groups could be seen milling about constantly in what some travelers called an "interplanetary bazaar."
Today, however, it was different. The only ships that traveled these lanes, as was the case in many parts of Solaris, belonged to one of several groups who were determined to change Solaris to their liking. For some this involved conquest, for others it was protecting other civilizations, for others it was commercial gain, and for still others it was personal glory. Whatever the case, the void of Solaris had become, in the last eighteen months, one of the most dangerous regions of the universe.
As a testimony of this, a single warship was hiding amid the smaller rocks that float about between the major worlds of the Reef. The ship was a marlin, or "Muldravian Warfish." Named for the marine animal it resembles, the marlin was a sleek, fast moving warship whose very presence could strike fear into the heart of its prey. Today, this marlin was on the hunt.
From the bridge of the ship, the captain, a thin but muscular man, looked at a magical map that gave a tactical overview of the area. The marlin was dead silent. Even the helms were down, but everyone on the ship was ready to move fast.
"If they follow their pattern," one of the officers said, "they will travel through this opening here, and make an attack raid on Darson's Rock." The officer, an older man with a scraggly beard, was pointing to various features on the magical map.
"Is there any interference in the area?" the captain asked the tactical officer.
"No sir," a voice answered.
"Very well," the captain said. "Deploy the detector, medium range."
"Aye."
A few minutes later, a strange bolt flew from one of the marlin's ballistas. Instead of a point, the head of the bolt held a gem about the size of a flail ball, that glowed with a soft red color. A silky thread was attached to the gem. It went down the length of the bolt, through a special loop on the tail, and beyond. Eventually, the thread reached all the way to the ship, which was now almost two miles away, and down to the magical map. The thread went taught and the bolt came to a stop in the open. Back on the marlin, some new lights appeared on the map table.
"Six ships," the bearded man said, pointing to a formation of lights. "It looks like they are heading for Gandoria Port, judging by their position."
"What about this one?" the captain asked, pointing to another light.
"Can't tell. It doesn't appear to be moving. Could be another trader, or even a patrol ship."
"Keep an eye on it," the captain said. "Maintain Yellow alert," he said to another officer.
For several hours the marlin lay motionless amid the asteroids, while the strange magical gem continued to look for other ships. When the heat of the twin suns hit the hull of the marlin, the heat became unbearable. Normally, Solaris was a comfortable 65 degrees or so, but with the additional reflection from the air world below, it seemed much higher than that. After several more, agonizing hours, another light appeared on the map.
"We have another one," the bearded man said, "and this one is moving fast!"
"How strong is the signal?" the captain asked.
The bearded man looked at the light for a few moments.
"Major helm. No question!"
"That's our boy. Red Alert!" The captain said. In seconds, two huge humans released a special spring. A counterweight moved from one position to another, and the silk thread began to rewind. Three miles away, the strange bolt began to return to the ship. Elsewhere, weapon crews loaded the various ballistas and catapults, while deck crews began to position the marlin's extensive collection of sails.
"Keep the helm down until I give the word," the first officer said.
The new light on the map was still moving closer. It wouldn't be long...
After a few more minutes, the marlin's chain helm was activated. The chief helmsman reached out with his mind...
[Ship approaching at Tactical 8, heading six-three-four mark twenty-three fifty-one!]
"Helm up, and prepare to engage!" the captain called. A bell was struck, and the great marlin lunged out from behind it's hiding place and confronted the approaching ship. The other ship was taken by surprise, and moved aside to get a better position.
The other ship was a Lepidoptera class Man-O-War, the mainstay of the Imperial Elven Navy. It was painted dark green, with black highlights. The marlin, itself painted silver and blue, prepared to use its ram in a sheering attack. The Man-O-War continued to move aside, hoping to get itself free of the marlin's attack.
Scenes like this were becoming more common in Solaris. Although no formal declaration had been made from either side, it was clear to everyone involved that a state of war existed between the Muldravian Empire and the Imperial Elven Navy.
Near Beacon...
Beacon was a small, cold earth world, named for the wide ring of fire that circled it. Under the right conditions, the glow from the ring could be seen anywhere in the sphere. Beacon, the furthermost planet from the suns, was a popular place for trading and re-supplying. It was similar to the Spectre of Greyspace in that respect, but the continual presence of the Muldravian navy maintained a certain level of order. Until recently, the elven navy maintained a presence there as well, but they had withdrawn from the planet without any explanation.
Currently, a single hammership was approaching the planet. The ship was copper colored, with ornate brass and ivory trimmings. The brightly colored standard of the Conorg Collective flew on the main mast. On the main deck, under a small tent, was an arcane. Papers of various types were stacked on the desk in an orderly manner, and the arcane was quietly sipping a drink. A lakshu quietly approached the arcane.
"We will be in position in a few minutes, my lady," the lakshu said.
"Thank you, Pyr," Hypathia the arcane answered. She stood up and looked at Beacon through a telescope. After scanning the sky for a few minutes, she spotted two ships approaching.
"Drop to tactical," she called. In an instant the hammership dropped to tactical speed, and the other two ships did the same. One was an armada, bearing the standard of Olvenholt, the elven federation of Cartania. These elves were independent of the Navy. In fact, some years ago the Navy had tried to subjugate them in what history now called the Second Elven Civil War.
The other ship was the same size, but in the shape of an eagle. The citadel on the back of the bird-like ship looked stark and imposing when compared to its elven companion. This was a Muldravian Warhawk, the newest space faring weapon of the Muldravian Empire. An uneasy alliance existed between the humans and their elven neighbors, but both bore a deep-rooted mistrust of the Imperial Navy.
"Hypathia," a voice called from the bow of the hammership, "the Terranova and the Relekis have arrived as planned."
"Don't raise the colors until our escort appears," the arcane responded.
As if on cue, an ethereal shape appeared slightly behind the hammership. It appeared to move like water for a moment, then took on the distinct shape of a squid ship. When the cloaking illusion had completely vanished, the Calla Maraine asumed a position parallel to the hammership. A few seconds later, a swirling cloud of soft light appeared as Cherrylyn Tiegorus, Bagath Droitan, Djan Alantri and Galedrial Goldring appeared on the deck of Hypathia's hammership, the "Copper Whale".
"Strike the colors," Hypathia called. The hammership's flags went up, and two ships emerged from the two large vessels in the distance. One was a standard flitter. The other looked like a tiny version of a Shrike ship.
"Well, so far so good," Hypathia said to her visitors.
"Not necessarily," Cherry responded. "Darran Koor vanished from the ship somewhere in the flow. Since then there has been no sign of him."
"You don't seem worried," the arcane said.
"He's a Nimar. He plays by his own rules. He said he had business to attend to, and left it at that."
The others just shrugged as the two small ships grappled themselves to the bow of the hammership. From the flitter came two elves. From the bird-like ship, two humans. One of the humans was an old man with a closely cut-beard and an elaborate cane that looked something like a K'r'r'r staff helm. All four of the visitors were in full military uniform.
"Admiral Redwood regrets that he could not attend personally," one of the elves said. "There was a sudden emergency that required his personal attention," the elf added with slight embarrassment, indicating that even he didn't know what was going on.
Hypathia just nodded in understanding. She then looked at the human with the cane.
"Admiral Camarek," she said respectfully, "welcome aboard."
"Greetings accepted, Hypathia," Camarek answered with respect, "but I'm afraid we are pressed for time. Recent events have placed us under a great deal of stress."
"Understood," Hypathia answered. She then gestured for Pyr to bring forth two books.
"These are copies of the information I obtained from Hall-ee-mor Dargess on Bral," Hypathia said, handing one book to Camarek and the other to the elven commander. "It may contain some errors on specific details, but all of this information is consistent with the intelligence reports you provided me some time back."
"Well done, Hypathia," Camarek said. "You will be pleased to know that I have arranged an audience for you with Emperor Charles. He is looking forward to finally meeting you in person."
"As am I," Hypathia said. "I fell I should also inform you of the recent events concerning the GATH. It appears that..."
Hypathia's sentence was cut off by a cry from the crow's nest:
"ENEMY CONTACT!" the voice called. Nine ships were approaching. Three mindspiders, one deathspider, two mantis, and three barracuda were closing on the four other ships.
In an instant, the crew of the Calla Maraine returned to their ship and prepared to break formation. The armada and warhawk closed on the hammership to retrieve their crew members, as they too prepared to engage the attackers.
The Calla Maraine moved away from the other ships in a smooth arc, while the Warhawk maneuvered into position between the Copper Whale and the deathspider. The armada moved to one side, allowing the flitters to emerge. Like a swarm of angry hornets, the tiny ships descended on the three barracuda ships.
As if in answer, the mindspiders closed on the Warhawk and began to assault it with weapon fire. Several of the small, bird-shaped fighter craft began to dart around one of the mindspiders, forcing it to break formation. One of the mantis ships had started to peruse the Copper Whale, which was attempting to take a position beside the Calla Maraine. The squid ship, for it's part, was busy with the other mantis.
"Where the blazes did these people come from?!?" Bagath yelled?
"This is too elaborate for a chance encounter," Cherry responded. "This could be some sort of assault squad."
"Whoever they are, they don't play around!"
At that the Calla Maraine was struck by a burning mass of greek fire from one of the mantis ships. It's gossamer sales burned away in an instant.
"Sheering attack," Bagath called, "all weapons fire at will!"
The squid ship banked to one side and rapidly closed on the mantis. Before the mantis could react the Calla Maraine's ram found its mark, and reduced two of the mantis's sheering blades to twisted globs of metal. The castle deck exploded in a huge green mass of magical fire.
Meanwhile, the Copper Whale was trapped in the grappling arms of the other mantis ship. Bit by bit, the hammership was beginning to creak and break. The attack was brought to an abrupt end when Hypathia opened a dimension door to the command deck of the mantis, allowing a large boarding party to enter. With its bridge in a state of chaos, the mantis drifted free of the Copper Whale.
From the bridge of his flagship, the warhawk "Terranova", admiral Camarec ordered an all-out assault on the deathspider. A few months back, he had fought a deathspider one on one and defeated it. This time, however, the deathspider had several companion ships, so the battle wouldn't be as easy. He looked around and saw the Relekis battling with two mindspiders, while several flitters battled one of the barracuda ships. The other two barracudas and several of the flitters were now lifeless hulks. The Copper Whale was busy with a mantis, and things didn't look good for it. As for the Calla Maraine, it had dealt a crippling blow to the other mantis, but it had not yet reacted to the mindspider that was closing on it.
"Mindspider direct astern!" a voice called. Cherry and Bagath turned around fast and saw the neogi ship get closer and closer.
"Aft ballista!" Bagath cried frantically, "Fire at will!"
His orders were never heard. A barrage from the mindspider had destroyed the ballista, as well as break the two masts off at the base. Instinctively, Bagath grabbed Cherry and jumped through an open hatch to the bridge below. He could hear the lookout shriek as he fell to the deck, and then the silence after a sickening thud. Another hit struck the squid ship, driving a ballista bolt right through the hull. The Calla Maraine banked wildly in a corkscrew movement as planks continued to break all around them. Meanwhile, the mantis had returned and it too was pummeling the squid ship.
"Tempest is in jammershock, great helm is down!" Bagath heard Djan call.
"The minor helm has been destroyed!" Gaye called from the same area. Just as she called a plank broke from above and struck Cherry on the head. She fell to the floor unconscious. The ship was spinning around wildly. No one could tell which way was up or down. Another boulder hit the ship, and a ear-piercing crack could be heard. The keel of the ship had been compromised. Bagath looked around the crumbling bridge. He saw Djan emerge carrying Tempest, with Gaye close behind.
Another blow hit the ship, and suddenly the Calla Maraine was ablaze with greek fire. Banking out of control, the squid ship was caught in Beacon's gravity well and began to fall. During the fall the Calla Maraine broke in two and continued to fall, burning as it went. After a few minutes, the twisted mass of burning wood struck the surface of Beacon. For a brief moment, one of Beacon's lifeless, icy planes was alive with an inferno of flame, fueled by what had once been the Calla Maraine.
No one who was on the ship at that moment survived.
The Terranova turned toward the deathspider, with all of its weapons firing. Elsewhere, the armada Relekis maneuvered between two mindspiders. The Copper Whale had vanished. It appeared it had been lost, just like the Calla Maraine. Hypathia had delivered the information about the neogi safely to Admiral Camerek, but if it couldn't be brought to Cartania, then her death would have been for nothing. As for the loss of Tiegorus of Maplegrove, that was too great to be measured.
The Terranova continued to rock back and forth, as enemy catapult fire continued to impact the decks. Finally, the warhawk had an opening to fire on the narrow, central section of the deathspider. The first officer gave the order, and every weapon on the great ship opened fire on the deathspider. After a few seconds, the deathspider broke in mid section and exploded.
Admiral Camerek quickly scanned the area. He saw a mantis ship burning in the distance. Damage to the ship itself looked minimal, so he assumed that it had somehow been boarded. All three of the barracuda ships were lifeless. Flitters and sparrowhawks had detained one of the mindspiders, and the admiral looked in time to see the Relekis destroy one of the remaining two.
With as much haste as they could, the remaining mindspider and mantis withdrew from the area. After several minutes, the two large ships assumed an orbit position over Beacon.
Admiral Camerek then breathed heavily as he waited for his pulse to return to normal.
"Get me the Relekis," he said finally.
A few minutes later, the image of the elven commander appeared on the hailing crystal. The commander had a bandage on his head, and the bridge of the armada looked to be in total shambles.
"Your status, commander?" the admiral asked.
"Serious damage to the primary hull," the elf answered, "but we can repair it, assuming we don't have any more trouble."
"Any sign of the Copper Whale?" the admiral asked, hesitating slightly.
"...none," the elf answered. "I did see the Calla Maraine go down... I'm preparing a landing party to go investigate the wreck, but I don't think..."
"Me neither," Camerek commented. "I'll tell the sparrowhawks to search for the Copper Whale. In the mean time..."
"Admiral!" a voice called. Camerek looked over his shoulder as his navigator, who was pointing to a light on the planetary locator. The admiral looked at the light, then out the portal.
There was the Copper Whale. The once proud hammership was now almost a total wreck. People could be seen walking around on it, so at least there were survivors. Camarek darted back to the hailing crystal.
"Commander, we have located the Copper Whale, and there are survivors," he said. The elf on the crystal heaved a sigh of relief.
Later, the wounded from the Copper Whale were brought on board the Terranova. Half of Hypathia's crew had died in the battle. Hypathia herself had been badly injured. Pyr likewise, but the Lakshu shrugged off any offer for medical help.
"...with all of the weapons destroyed and the helm down," Hypathia explained to Camerek, "we had no choice but to hide behind an illusion."
"I'm just glad you're alive," Camarek said. "Right now, we have to get you and your crew off the ship and to the surface, and..."
"Admiral," the arcane interrupted, "I have to get to Cartania faster than ever now. Someone knew we had the information about the neogi, and tried to kill us to prevent the exchange."
"Which is precisely why you must get off this ship now!" Camerek commanded. The aged human was not used to having his demands questioned. He had been the commander in chief of the Muldravian Stellar Navy for almost ten years, and he had done his job well. So much so that no one dared to question him. But then, Hypathia had a reputation of her own to uphold: play for the long run.
"If I must be sent to the surface," she said, "then at least arrange for me to take another ship to Cartania. The longer my meeting with the Emperor waits, the more grave this situation becomes. As it is, the neogi and the humanoids working together is an unexpected development."
Camerek scowled.
"Understood. You will be placed on another Muldravian ship that is leaving for Cartania tomorrow."
"Acceptable," Hypathia said.
Later that day, a damselfly came up from the surface of Beacon and collected Hypathia and the few survivors from her crew. The small ship then descended to the planet below. Meanwhile, the Terranova and the Relekis vanished into space to resume their missions.
