Ivan Kal
WHAT WAR HAD WROUGHT
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 the 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 the 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.
June Year 55 of the Empire – Lord Sentinel releases Dai Sha Anessa.
August Year 55 of the Empire – The Empire defeats the Ra’a’zani, leaving their people abandoned on their worlds with no way of getting back into space.
September Year 55 of the Empire – Three Shara Daim Legions attack Sol. Lord Sentinel defends, and defeats the invading forces, allowing Dai Sha Anessa and her remaining forces to leave Sol.
December Year 55 of the Empire – Erasi invade Shara Daim territory.
September Year 56 of the Empire – After finding out about a conspiracy by the Elders of the Shara Daim, Dai Sha Anessa removes them from power, taking the rule of the Shara Daim for herself, claiming the title Kar Daim.
March Year 57 of the Empire – Shara Daim reach out to the Empire, inviting Lord Sentinel to their homeworld Shara Radum for diplomatic talks.
June Year 57 of the Empire – Empire diplomatic task force is ambushed by the Erasi on their way to Shara Daim homeworld. One battleship is destroyed, but the rest of the taskforce manages to escape.
July Year 57 of the Empire – The Empire and the Shara Daim reach an agreement, forming an alliance. The Empire obligated to help the Shara Daim against the Erasi invasion.
November Year 57 of the Empire – A large Erasi force is detected at the border of the Shara Daim, more than one hundred fleets moving to reinforce the Erasi invasion.
Prologue
February; Year 58 of the Empire — Warpath system — Secret Base
Emperor Tomas Klein stepped off the shuttle and onto the Warpath base. A Nel man was waiting close by, and Tomas made his way towards him. Once he was close enough, Tomas raised his palm to his chest and made a Nel gesture for greeting, which the man returned.
“How long can you stay?” Clan Leader Isani asked.
“A day. Jusan is covering for me at Waypoint. No one should notice that I’m gone,” Tomas responded.
Isani gestured and led Tomas deeper into the complex. “You didn’t need to come in person, I could’ve updated you on everything at Sanctuary.”
“More than a decade had passed since we recovered it; I need to see it in person,” Tomas said as Isani led him through a corridor leading deeper into the asteroid—a small planetoid, really. The walls were uneven rock, with lights mounted on the ceiling. They made their way past several doors and intersections, and eventually they stepped out of the corridor and into a large viewing room. Much like the similarly designed viewing rooms on Warpath’s Forge, an entire wall was see-through, and beyond it stretched a large cavern hollowed out inside the asteroid. Only this cavern was more of a large hole drilled into the side of the asteroid than it was a cavern. The ‘entrance’ to it was almost 200 kilometers in diameter, with the ‘cavern’ being some 300 kilometers deep and 200 wide, and it had to be, because of its purpose.
The asteroid itself was on the other side of the system from the three asteroids that together formed Warpath’s principal city. It was also a secret known only to those working here, Tomas, and a few select people from Clan Dai Ven. And the Hand of the Empire, for there was no secret that the Hand wasn’t privy to and no place in the Empire that they didn’t have access to. The asteroids beyond obscured the view inside through the large entrance, and more large rocks had been moved in front of it to make it impossible to see inside the large cavern from anywhere else in the system.
The two made their way to the end of the room and looked at the large cavern. A massive object dominated the view. It was 168 kilometers long and 76 kilometers in diameter at its widest. It was a ship, with a black-and-silver smooth, glistening hull. Its front was a six-sided pyramid with wavy sides that widened and melted at the back into a half sphere that covered the back end, making it look almost like some kind of an abstract teardrop.
“Damn, it’s more impressive in person,” Tomas said.
“It is, but wait until you see inside,” Isani said, and gestured for them to continue walking. They turned and exited the viewing room through one of the side doors, and entered a small landing bay with several shuttles arranged in a line.
“You know, we could’ve just had my shuttle land in this bay,” Tomas commented lightly as they made their way towards one of the shuttles that was already primed and waiting for them.
“You wanted heightened security. The same protocols apply for everyone,” Isani responded seriously.
“Of course,” Tomas conceded.
They boarded the shuttle and it took them the rest of the way. The large ship filled the shuttle’s viewers, and as they approached the back end of the ship, a portion of its hull seemed to flow away, the outer armor, leaving a smooth gray hull shaped like a circle maybe double the size of the shuttle. The pilot made his way directly towards that circle, and just as Tomas was about to question them speeding towards the ship’s hull, it parted in an iris-like motion with a soft blue light emanating from the inside.
Once the shuttle passed the hull, it closed back behind them, and Tomas could see the inside of the ship. They appeared to be in a landing bay of sorts, one with several levels, and completely inside the ship. The shuttle made its way towards the top level and landed beside another Warpath shuttle. Tomas exited the shuttle and squinted with his eyes in the strange light hue.