Ivan Kal
ONSLAUGHT
Map
Timeline
November 2103 – A faction of humanity—Olympus—leaves to colonize a planet in a star system 600 light years from Earth.
February 2159 – An alien race called Ra’a’zani conquers Earth.
May 2164 – Olympus arrives at their destination; they name the planet Sanctuary. They get involved in a conflict against an alien race called Sowir. Ally themselves with the Nel of Nuva.
March 2170 – Resistance from Earth contacts Olympus on Sanctuary, asking for aid.
December 2171 – Olympus and Sowir Dominion make a pact of non-aggression.
January 2172 – Olympus fleet arrives in the Sol system, engaging Ra’a’zani forces in the system. The battle for Earth results in narrow human victory, but the cost is the Earth. Ra’a’zani weapon makes the planet uninhabitable.
March 2172 – Year 1 of the Empire – Tomas Klein leader of Olympus creates the Empire.
December – Year 30 of the Empire – Sowir attack Nelus system, homeworld of the Nel. Empire breaks the non-aggression pact with Sowir by simultaneously sending aid to Nelus and invading the Sowir territory. Clan Leader Adrian Farkas overuses the Watchtower command interface, falling into a coma.
January–March Year 31 of the Empire – Adrian Farkas wakes up and hears the telepathic beacon from the sphere left by the originator of the human and Nel races, unlocking all the knowledge and technology contained inside.
March Year 36 of the Empire – Empire wins the war against the Sowir.
Year 36–Year 54 of the Empire – Empire at peace, focusing on exploring, developing technologies from the sphere of the People, expanding their borders to reclaim Sol.
June Year 54 of the Empire – Empire meets an alien race called the Erasi.
July Year 54 of the Empire – Lord Sentinel Adrian Farkas meets Dai Sha Anessa of the Shara Daim, the third race created by Axull Darr. Anessa attempts to capture Adrian, the fight ends in narrow victory for Adrian and his people. They take the Dai Sha prisoner.
January Year 55 of the Empire – Shara Daim Elders recall all of their forces for an attack on the Empire, seeking the device left by Axull Darr.
Prologue
February; Year 55 of the Empire – Shara Daim territory
Narrasak, Dai Sha of the Third Legion, commanded his forces from the flagship of his Legion, the Ravager. The force amassed against him was great in numbers, but disorganized, cobbled together by many races. Ships of every shape and size were present, forming an uneven sphere of ships. The fleet, and calling it that was a stretch, moved without order, small groupings of ships trying to act as a unit without actually being a part of the whole.
The force outnumbered his Legion, with their exact count being 6843 ships, compared to his Legion, which numbered 2000 warships with another 100 auxiliaries—like all the Legions of the Shara Daim—it seemed overwhelmingly stronger. But ultimately it was nothing compared to his force.
His opponent’s fleet was put together by dozens of races, those who wanted to stop Shara Daim expansion into what they considered their territory. Most of them, save for a few races, were weak and had territories so small that they were of no consequence. The Shara Daim had moved into the new area of space, ignoring other races, colonizing worlds that they wanted, engulfing territories of entire civilizations. Those who held a territory larger than a single system or two were warned to stay out of the Shara Daim’s way. But sadly they had not listened.
They had gathered allies from other races in the area, those whose future expansion was threatened by the Shara Daim. And now they had a fleet of ships that they believed strong enough to threaten the Shara Daim, to intimidate and force them to pull back.
The enemy fleet had been trying to establish communications since they’d entered the system, but Narrasak had ignored every attempt, there was nothing to discuss. In a way this act had made him respect them more, they had shown him strength and determination to protect what they believed was theirs. But, unfortunately for them, the Shara Daim would not tolerate anyone standing in their way.
Narrasak watched as the last ship in his opponent’s formation entered well into his Legion’s weapons range. With a thought, he sent the order. Every ship in his Legion fired at the same moment, and beams of dark blue crackling energy connected his fleet and that of his opponents. Wherever the beams hit, hulls disintegrated; crackling energy arced from the impact point to scorch and eat into the rest of the ship. His opponents tried to evade, tried to turn around and escape, and their superficial unity collapsed as clusters broke off in different directions.
The Third Legion continued firing, destroying ships even as they tried to escape. A few clusters among the mass held ships from the more advanced races, but their numbers and even their level of technology was not enough—they too would die.
Narrasak was ordering his Legion to pursue the fleeing ships, intending to destroy every single one of them, when one of his subordinates interrupted him.
“Dai Sha, we have received a top priority message from Shara Radum,” the Va Sun said.
Intrigued, Narrasak reached with his mind to the console in front of him, engaging the privacy screen around his chair, and then opened the message from the homeworld. An Elder appeared in front of him and started issuing him new orders. Narrasak’s eyes narrowed as the message finished, and he disengaged the privacy screen. He turned to his subordinates.
“Send the orders for the fleet to halt,” he said as he watched a few of the enemy ships burning as hard as they could in order to escape. “Let them go.”
“Dai Sha?” his Do Sun and second in command asked.
“The Legions have been recalled. It appears we have a new worthy enemy,” Narrasak said.
“How many Legions are being sent?” Do Sun asked eagerly. It had been a long time since more than a single Legion had been sent against an enemy.
Narrasak turned to look at his second in command, and gave him a wicked grin before he responded, “All of them.”
Chapter One
One month later — March; Year 55 of the Empire—Mars—Olympus Monss
Adrian jumped through the air; six heavy steel-lead balls the size of his head were spinning around him in synchronized orbits, held there by his Sha. As soon as his left foot hit the ground, he turned around in a dance-like spin, switching his legs and making a swiping motion with his hands. The orbits of the balls expanded; his Sha pushed the balls faster and each struck a different plastic pillar in front of him, set at varying distances. The pillars exploded in pieces as the balls struck and smashed through them. Then the balls returned to their smaller orbits around Adrian.
Adrian took a deep breath and flicked his right hand forward, sending the balls to hover in the middle of the debris from the pillars. He closed his eyes and concentrated, remembering the battle he had had with the Dai Sha of the Shara Daim on Tarabat and the feeling of her using her Sha. Searching deep within his own Sha, he found what he was looking for.
He opened his eyes and looked down at his outstretched arm. He released his telekinetic hold on the balls, and the balls started to fall towards the ground. Then Adrian closed his fingers, making a fist. The balls lurched, suddenly pulled back towards a single point above the ground, the plastic debris flying off the floor and towards the same point with a soft whooshing sound. Adrian felt the power of his Sha as his arm shook, and he watched as everything at that point was compressed into a spherical bundle. Then he felt the last of his power leave him and he lowered his hand. The bundle of plastic and lead fell to the floor, making a loud thumping sound.