Welcome to the penultimate chapter of Year of Hell.
Chapter 40: Paradise Found
Year of Hell, Day 365
Cali D’Kara
Alari Armed Forces
The Citadel, Persepolis City
Stardate 2257.03.01, 15:30hours
Moka was still alive when the medics wheeled her into an Alari field hospital at the Citadel. Cali wanted to follow her into surgery, but she was caught by a Commissar and sent to find her husband instead.
When Cali got to Dak’s command center, she found the place as busy as a beehive. INTO soldiers from across five species were trying to make sense of a very confusing situation. Dak was standing in front of a holocommunicatior, where the holographic image of an immensely beautiful woman nodded along as Dak explained the situation. Cali immediately recognized this person as Vas the Gilded, a renowned diplomat and staunch supporter of the INTO Alliance. The last time Cali heard news about her, Vas was on the Imperial Throneworld, trying to negotiate an end to the war.
“I understand now.” Said Vas the Gilded. “The situation is moving faster than I could have predicted. Keep the faith, Commodore J’Bassim. I will communicate with INTO Alliance Parliament immediately to seek new instructions. Also… as much as I revile violence, I must advise you to consider offensive action on the battlefield.”
“Honored delegate, those are serious words.” Dak replied. “You’ve reminded us plenty of times that you hate violence. How would a renewed offensive help in this situation?”
“Our enemies have begun to war amongst each other.” Vas replied. “We must exploit this situation to create a favorable peace, one that will restructure the Galactic order to prevent future conflicts like this. I am very confident that I can pull one or two vassals away from the Galactic Empress using the events playing out on Arcadia now. The Necromages of Tufsin waver in their loyalty, while I hear mutinous mutterings among the Faleen. One more push may cause the Galactic Empress to stumble on the diplomatic stage… and this is all I need. Keep the faith, Commodore. Glory to Alaria.”
The hologram faded and Vas was gone.
A tactical officer grabbed Cali by the arm.
“Have you been debriefed?” The TO asked.
Cali nodded.
“Okay, Dak is going to address all unit commanders in the next few moments. Please hold anything you need to say until after the briefing.”
Dak moved toward a large conference table in the middle of the room. A three-dimensional map of the Indus Peninsula was projected onto it from lights in the ceiling. Dak called out for attention. Alari, Hazbuzi, Andarian, Kel-Azaan, and Kobarian officers gathered around. A team of Iribot droids joined the briefing as well.
“Here is the situation as it stands.” Dak began. “SDF and Imperial forces are now hostile to each other. They are attacking each other at all points along the front line. Furthermore, the Imperial Starfleet is bombarding SDF positions from orbit. In response, SDF is turning their ground-to-space cannons against the Imperials in orbit. Several enemy cruisers and battleships have already been destroyed.
“Elsewhere on the battlefield, the Faleen have withdrawn from combat. I’m talking about an Imperial Vassal-State here, not the Imperials themselves. Faleen units have disengaged from the front line and are withdrawing to the south. They seem to have no interest in fighting anyone at the moment.
“Finally, we’ve received a communication from Scyldari Star Command.” Dak concluded. “Scyldaria is saying they’ve lost contact with a Special Forces team that was on a black bag mission near Fort Saragarhi. They claim this to be the same team who worked alongside Captain D’Kara and Corporal J’Bassim before our counter-invasion started. Those are all of the recent updates. Does anyone have late-coming information they need to add to the briefing?”
There was a great rustling sound as everybody in the room turned to face the nearest Morbuzakh plant. Cali had to withhold the urge to laugh. Of course, this action made sense. The hive-minded plantoid was now widespread over most of the region, turning itself into a kind of naturally occurring spy network. A few moments went by, then the Morbuzakh plant opened its flytrap and raised a vine for attention.
“Tell the Scyldari we found some of their men.” The plant said. “After a brief search of the Indus Peninsula spanning the past thirty seconds, our saplings discovered the bodies of four Scyldari, one Alari, and one Android.”
“Android!?” Cali raised her voice in alarm. “Was it Pixal?”
The flytrap lowered itself in a grim nod.
“The dismantled android does appear to be the Typhon android known as Pixal.” The Morbuzakh replied. “We have also confirmed the identities of the five dead SF Operators: Scyldari troops Raldrim den Subir, Goridrig den Harak, Virpim den Sukar, and Kunrig den Boknar. One Alari wearing a Scyldari uniform was also found dead. He is Vir B’Scul. These are indeed the same Special Forces operators we encountered earlier in the conflict. They appear to have been killed by Imperial weapons, and we found their bodies within visual range of an Imperial base. This suggests your decision to designate them hostile may have been ill-informed, Commodore.”
Dak winced.
Cali felt herself deflate.
“If Pixal’s dead, and Iridar’s team got killed, then that means General Sun got away with the Vultaum artifact.”
Dak nodded grimly.
“We’ll have to let that one go and focus on the bigger crisis.” Dak told Cali. Then he projected his voice across the room to address all of the officers. “Here are my new orders! The end of the war is clearly imminent. We must put our alliance in the strongest position possible when Vas restarts her negotiations with the enemy. I want the Galactic Empress to feel cornered. Order our fleet to fire long-range weapons against the Imperial warships! Simultaneously, I want our armored columns positioned on the enemy’s flanks to advance. Make the SDF think we’re trying to encircle their strongholds, and tell the tank commanders to complete the encirclement if practical! Someone call Lieutenant Y’Pana and the Grenadier unit. Order them to capture Hill 499 at all costs. It has to be today!”
The command center became busy again. Dak broke away from his advisors for just a moment to grab Cali and hug her.
“I’m so sorry.” He said. “I never should have sent you out there.”
“Moka’s alive.” Cali told him. “It’ll be a while before the doctors let us see her. What about the war? When will we know?”
“Everything’s happening really fast.” Dak said. “Enemy forces are collapsing on all fronts. The Faleen are retreating faster than we can chase them, the Imperial navy up there is getting shredded. I really think this thing is going to be over before my orders can be carried out. I’m just hoping that if word gets back to the enemy that I’ve ordered an offensive, it’ll spook them into making peace. That’s the hope, anyway.”
… Just like that, Cali D’Kara’s role in this conflict was over. There was no way for her to reach any of the combat zones in time, and even if there was, she was too badly injured to do much beyond walking. She walked upstairs to the roof the Citadel, determined to watch the ending of the conflict from a place with a decent view.
Atop the pentagon-shaped structure, Cali could see the distant flashes of light that denoted the front line so many miles away. Looking up, Cali could see white streaks racing from the Stellaris toward some distant point over the horizon. The flagship was shooting over the curvature of the planet to hit the Imperial fleet.
At some point, a flustered-looking nurse found Cali on the rooftop and insisted on giving Cali her next dose of anti-cancer medication. Cali reluctantly obliged, sitting down on an air conditioning unit to watch the show above.
Sometime around sunset, the final battle began. The pulses of light and rumble of thunder on the southern horizon became constant. Stellaris and her escort fleet began to move across the sky, spitting overwhelming volleys of fire at a foe Cali could not see.
The symphony of fire and death erupting on the horizon became so dense that Cali’s eyes slid out of focus. She saw light reflecting on the undersides of clouds, a deep rumble like an oncoming hovercraft that refused to stop.
Then… something incredible happened.
Cali spotted movement on the horizon. For a moment, she felt her stomach lurch with fear. She worried that the enemy had launched a final barrage of nuclear missiles to wipe out all INTO forces on the planet. But the points of light stayed in the heavens. As the sun set and stars winked into the night sky, Cali adjusted her optical implants, telescoping her vision.
It was the Imperial star fleet.
The warships were battered and damaged, and as far as Cali could tell, they were moving away from Arcadia! The Imperial ships grew smaller and smaller in Cali’s field of view. INTO vessels appeared moments later, giving chase, but it was too late. One by one, each Imperial ship vanished into Hyperspace with a faith pop of light. After just a few moments, the armada of the Galactic Imperium was gone.
Cali let out a low whistle.
“What now?” She asked herself.
The answer came a few moments later.
A loud, shrill screech came from somewhere down below as a public address system was activated. Cali winced, but paid attention as Dak’s voice blared out across the Citadel. Presumably, his message was also being retransmitted to every INTO soldier with access to a radio.
“Attention all INTO units. This is Commodore Dak J’Bassim.” Dak’s voice boomed across the Citadel. “Cease all hostilities. I say again: Cease all hostilities. The Arcadia Self Defense Forces have announced their unconditional surrender. This comes from General Sun Xishan himself. Message repeats: All enemy forces have surrendered by order of General Sun Xishan. SDF units are standing down. All INTO units are ordered to cease hostilities and prepare to take prisoners.”
Cali let out the biggest sigh of relief in her life.
Unconcerned about who might see her, she lay flat on her back, looking up from the rooftop at the starfield above. She relaxed.
The Year of Hell was over.
