Chapter Two
Nikola’s First Battle
Bardlun didn’t waste any time. “Are you aware that your presence here is in direct violation of the Treaty of Spirel? Are you in any trouble? Do you need assistance?”
He spoke eloquently, never raising his voice and demonstrating respect at all times with careful hand gestures and movements. Nikola had always admired that about her old professor.
Nikola Yakimenko, the ship’s new pilot, fidgeted restlessly in her seat, watching the negotiations take place. She didn’t necessarily understand what all was being said, as politics had never been her strong suit, but she tried to pay attention anyway.
The Woraugenn remained silent for a moment, its stalk eyes watching Bardlun carefully. Nikola had heard stories all her life about the giant, slime-covered beings who had tried to invade the galaxy, but she had never actually seen one up close. Twice the size of the tallest human, it basically dwarfed Nikola by miles.
The Woraugenn opened its wide mouth full of teeth and snarled at Bardlun. “We do not acknowledge your treaty, Star Keeper,” it said in the voice of the ship’s communications officer. “Our leaders betrayed the Kampsyn by signing that treaty, and his true followers do not stand by it.”
Nikola cocked her head. “Kampsyn.” She’d never heard that word before. It sounded like a religious leader or something.
Bardlun cleared his throat, probably taking note of what had just been said. “I am sorry you feel that way,” he said, keeping his tone even. “However, as a representative of the United Worlds, I cannot allow you to remain here. I must ask you to remove your ship from this planet’s atmosphere, or we will be forced to take action.”
The Woraugenn growled again, rising from its seat. “We are not going anywhere, Star Keeper. Conquest of this planet is ours by divine right.” Yep, probably religious leader. The Woraugenn rose up to its full height, towering over Bardlun and baring its dripping teeth. “We will not be bullied by the Star Keepers and your false treaty.”
Bardlun stared up at the Woraugenn, unfazed by its attempts to intimidate him. Nikola glanced back at the ship floating high above them. From the sound of it, she expected they were heading toward a fight, despite Bardlun’s efforts. Nikola gripped her controls, itching to start flying. She fidgeted in her seat, wondering when the negotiations would be over.
Behind her, the discussion continued. “There is an uninhabited planet two systems to your starbird,” Bardlun said. “If you wish, you are free to terraform and establish a colony there. But you cannot remain here.”
“We do not need your permission,” the Woraugenn spat, spittle and slime flying from its face. Thankfully for Bardlun, it was all just a hologram. “We have the blessing of the Kampsyn, and we will not bow to the reign of infidels.”
There was that word again. “Kampsyn.” Definitely a religious figure. Nikola gripped her controls restlessly, tapping her foot.
She glanced back at the rest of the command crew. The young captain, a Human just like her, with clear blue eyes and a long ponytail. For some reason, he had silver streaks running through it. Maybe he was older than she thought. Beside him sat the first officer, a Witani with a really long name Nikola had been unable to pronounce when looking through her assignment files. And finally, the combat officer, a tall Leadikan with curly brown hair and hard gray eyes. All three watched the negotiations with rapt attention. They had all probably been through situations like this a hundred times before.
The captain leaned forward to talk to his fellows. Nikola couldn’t help but lean in to listen. “What are you thinking?” he asked.
“We were right in our assumptions,” the first officer said, rubbing his right ear. Nikola noticed it seemed to be scarred or something. “A splinter group unhappy with the treaty was right on the money.”
“Why wouldn’t they have attacked yet?” the captain said. “They’ve been here almost a day.”
“Probably because they don’t really want the planet,” the combat officer said. “They want attention. What better way to get some than by taking down one of the ships that bested them in war.”
Nikola glanced back at the Woraugenn ship. They were their target?
The captain rubbed his nose, leaning back and studying the enemy ship. “Be ready to go, Commander Neru,” he told the combat officer. “I don’t expect Ambassador Bardlun’s negotiations will last much longer.”
“Yes, Captain,” Commander Neru said. She turned to look at Nikola. “Did you get all that, Lieutenant?”
Nikola’s face went red. “Um, yes, ma’am,” she stuttered.
The combat officer smirked. “Good. Get ready to fly.”
“Yes, Commander.” Nikola turned, trying her best not to feel embarrassed. She readied herself at the controls and acted as professional as possible. Here it comes, she thought.
Behind her, Bardlun was still trying to talk the Woraugenns down. “The United Worlds and the Star Keeper Corps have kept the Woraugenn race from their destiny long enough,” the Woraugenn snarled. It curled a slimy finger at Bardlun. “We will have our revenge, and we will start with this ship.” Its mouth curled into a smile and it waved its hand, ending the transmission.
In a flash, the Woraugenn disappeared. The white light filling the cylinder dissipated and the ship’s communications officer reappeared, a tiny yellow lizard floating by his tail. “He seemed nice,” the officer said. “Once we’re done here, we ought to invite him over for breakfast.”
Bardlun turned his seat to face the captain. “I am sorry, Captain. I failed to reach a peaceful resolution.”
The captain nodded. “Thank you for trying, Ambassador,” he said. He turned to the combat officer. “You’re up.”
“Yes, Captain,” Commander Neru said, hopping to her feet. She turned to face the enemy ship, her gray eyes hardening into a steely gaze. “Lieutenant Latil, Lieutenant Yakimenko, get ready for combat.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Nikola and the ship’s weapons officer said in tandem.
An alarm blared. “We have movement,” the ship’s computer officer, Mr. Garrison, said. “The Woraugenn ship is moving into attack position.”
“Understood,” Commander Neru said. “Lieutenant Yakimenko, switch over to capture mode.”
Yes! Nikola nearly hopped out of her seat in excitement. No, no, down, girl, she reminded herself. It’s your first day. Make a good impression. She straightened up and said, “Yes, Ma’am.”
She tapped her console and stood. The console and seat retracted into the floor, and the platform she stood on lit up with bright white light. Her whole body tingled with energy as her feet lifted off the floor. She extended her arms and let herself fall forward until she hung horizontally a few feet off the floor. The air shimmered as a cylinder of light encircled her, just like the one around the communications officer. The bridge of the ship changed into a perfect replica of the stars around the ship, the purple planet hanging just above her, and a small golden ship heading straight for her. If Nikola squinted, she could just barely make out the bridge behind the holograms.
Another alarm went off, making Nikola jump. “A second ship is approaching fast to our starbird side,” the computer officer said.
Nikola looked around in confusion, before noticing a red blip appearing in space below her and to the right.
Behind her, she heard the combat officer curse. “Yakimenko, Latil, stay on this first ship. Mr. Garrison, I’m going to need two drones activated immediately.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” the computer officer said. He tapped at his screens. Nikola looked down to see a swarm of ten silvery orbs appearing out of thin air just below her stomach. The drones formed up into groups of five, jetting off toward the blip. Fly, my children, fly! Nikola joked to herself.
Once they were out of sight, Nikola turned her attention back to the oncoming ship heading her way. Alright, tough guy, she thought, let’s see what you can do. She extended her arms forward, past her head, and pointed herself at her opponent. She thrust her hands backwards, launching herself and the ship forward at mach speed.
A spray of red laser fire burst from the enemy ship’s face, pelting toward Nikola. Nikola tipped her arm up, the ship matching her movements. She skewed the ship out of the path of the laser fire, and then rolled back the other way when the Woraugenn gunners tried to adjust. Nikola let out a little wiggle of excitement, trying to pass it off as a flashy maneuver. She looped around to face the enemy ship, giving it a cocky grin.
Is that all you got? she asked. The Woraugenn ship blasted her again, bombarding the ship with laser fire. A meter popped up in Nikola’s peripheral, letting her know that the shields were still holding for now. She maintained her position, letting the weapons officer to her left fire back. A few seconds later, the laser fire ceased as Latil had reduced the ship's laser array to scrap metal.
Nikola smirked, sweeping up and speeding along the ship’s side. A row of turrets lining its wing tried to get her, but she was too quick. Latil took aim as she passed, blasting each and every turret. The ship seemed to get wise, and tried to evade them instead. Nikola kept up with them, letting Latil finish off the turrets before moving on to the engine. In no time at all, the engine had been left smoking and the ship was now limping at half speed through space. By the look of the ship, Nikola guessed it was about twenty years old, far outmatched by the more modern Arrowhead. And Nikola’s superior flying skill. Probably.
With one engine gone, it was no trouble at all for Nikola to get Latil lined up with the engine and turrets on the opposite side so that he could finish them off. Soon, every turrets was a blackened pockmark in the ship’s hull, and the vessel floated dead in space, as harmless as an insect.
Nikola flipped over to look at the command crew. “Enemy neutralized.”
“Well done, Lieutenants,” she heard Commander Neru say. “Now, head over to help Garrison with the other ship.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Nikola said. She turned away from the downed Woraugenn ship and sped toward the red blip on her display. Behind her, she heard the captain tell Bardlun and the communications officer to make contact with the downed ship again and work out a surrender.
“Heads up!” Mr. Garrison shouted.
The red blip got bigger and bigger. Nikola pulled back quickly as the second Woraugenn ship blazed past her at top speed, two sets of silvery orbs giving chase.
“Sorry, Commander,” the computer officer said. “They got past me.”
“Yakimenko, after it!”
“Got it.” Nikola spun the ship around and thrust herself after the Woraugenns. The Woraugenn ship raced hard toward the purple planet, penetrating its atmosphere with Nikola in hot pursuit. Bright yellow flames lit up in a triangular shape around Nikola, highlighting the ship’s actual shape.
Down and down they flew, racing as fast as they could. The Woraugenn ship hit the cloud barrier, disappearing within. Nikola followed, keeping her eyes fixed on the red blip straight ahead of her as moisture speckled the invisible Arrowhead. A few seconds later, both burst through the cloud barrier and a lush green landscape opened up before them. Whoa, Nikola thought. A wide mountain range divided the landscape, rivers running down from it to feed valleys below. As they got closer, Nikola could see cities dotting the landscape. From up here, it almost looked like they were all built around enormous trees with blue leaves.
The Woraugenn ship made a beeline for the nearest city. Oh, no, you don’t, Nikola thought. She tucked her arms in as tightly as she could, speeding after the ship and closing the distance between them. The nearest city came into view. It turned out it was built around a gigantic tree. Neat.
Nikola pulled up alongside the ship, positioning herself so that Latil could have a nice clear shot at it. Before he could fire though, the Woraugenn pilot dipped the ship out and around Nikola, swerving so that Nikola shot past it. So, this guy’s a bit more tricky, huh? Nikola smirked, flipping herself around.
Nikola sped toward the ship, taking it face on just like she had before. The ship’s front-facing array fired, but the lasers shot right past her. Nikola glanced back to see them strike the tree, lighting its canopy on fire.
“No!” Nikola said out loud.
Commander Neru didn’t miss a beat. “Latil, the tree.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” the weapons officer said.
Nikola glanced at the officer and squinted through her holograms. Latil held two controllers in his small hands. Keeping one pointed at the ship, he pointed the other at the tree, swiping his thumb over the trigger button and changed it from red to blue. He fired, and a spray of fine blue mist covered the tree, dousing the fire immediately.
Nikola breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to face the Woraugenn ship again. Latil refocused his remotes to the ship’s front array and blasted it into submission. Once that was done, Nikola sped up the side of the ship, letting Latil target the turrets along it as she flew.
She raced up to the engine, lining up with it and Latil took it out. Soon, it was trailing smoke behind it. Nikola flipped over to get the other engine, but the Woraugenn pilot decided to get tricky with her again. It swerved suddenly in one direction so that it’s remaining wing’s turrets were pointed at the ground.
Commander Neru caught on before Nikola did. “Yakimenko, take out those turrets now!”
Before Nikola could do anything, the two largest turrets closest to the ship’s head fired. Instead of lasers, however, two large black spheres like giant cannonballs fired from the ship, hurtling toward the ground with terrifying speed. With a loud snapping and crashing sound, the two orbs barrel through the branches of the giant tree, leaving a gaping hole in its canopy. A second later, they slammed into the village below, demolishing several huts and leaving wide divots in the soft earth.
Getting mad, Nikola focused on the enemy ship. She lined herself up with the ship’s wing so that Latil could destroy the remaining turrets before they could fire again.
Down below, the two giant spheres settled into the dirt where they had landed. A crowd of the planet’s inhabitants, tiny yellow fuzzy things as far as Nikola could see, had started to approach cautiously. A loud crack filled the air, causing the inhabitants to flee backwards. Bright green cracks started spreading across the orbs’ surface.
Commander Neru cursed.
“Mr. Garrison, I need a drone back here,” she said.
“Yes, Ma’am,” the computer officer said, tapping quickly at his consoles. Nikola glanced down to see another set of drones appear just below her belly. A new screen popped up on Garrison’s console, displaying what the drone saw. He grabbed it with two fingers and flicked his hand backwards.
Nikola looked back to see Commander Neru hold out her hand, the image appearing in midair before her. She tapped it. “Capture Mode!”
The image expanded and wrapped itself around her, creating her own holographic cylinder. The drones below Nikola moved around, two taking the place of Commander Neru’s hands, two on her feet, and one at her eye level.
“Stay on the ship, Latil, Yakimenko,” Qarian ordered. “I’ll be back.”
She punched her fists toward the ground and the drones dropped. Her hologram reflected the sky racing past. She shot past the tree, racing toward the ground. Just as she approached the ground, she slowed, touching gently down on the grass. The cracks on the two giant spheres continued spreading more and more.
Sticking to Commander Neru’s last order, Nikola turned back to the Woraugenn ship. All of its turrets and one engine down, it seemed to have given up the fight, content to watch whatever havoc its cannonballs created. Nikola circled around its last engine, Latil taking it out with ease. Garrison’s two drones circled it, trapping it in a force field before it could fall.
Nikola turned to look back at the captain. “Mission accomplished, sir.”
The captain smiled. “Thank you, Lieutenant.” He turned to Bardlun. “You know what to do.”
Bardlun nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Nikola grinned proudly, still floating in midair. She straightened herself back up into a vertical position and switched back to manual mode, touching back down on the ground as her seat and console returned. The holograms dropped, letting Nikola turn to watch the situation on the ground through Qarian’s cylinder.
The giant spheres had cracked open, revealing steaming piles of greenish goo. Commander Neru approached them cautiously, her hands held out, her drones ready to fire. The slime started shifting, moving around inside their shells. Massive arms formed, followed by heads and broad torsos, pulling themselves up out of the muck. Soon, two Woraugenn soldiers covered in black, rubbery armor stood amidst the rubble. They were huge, towering over the combat officer.
“I think now that the fight up here is over, we had best get down there, Captain,” the first officer said.
The captain nodded in agreement. “Mr. Garrison, two more drones,” he said, getting to his feet.
“Yes, sir.”
Soon, both officers were standing in their own cylinders of light, shooting down to join Commander Neru. The Woraugenns were now stepping out of the rubble of their containers, looking around at the fuzzy civilians cowering nearby.
“By the authority of the Star Keeper Corps, I order you to stand down,” the combat officer said. The captain and first officer touched down beside her and she acknowledged them with a nod.
The Woraugenns seemed to ignore all three of them, going in separate directions toward different groups of civilians.
“Let’s Move,” the combat officer said, throwing herself at the nearest Woraugenn.
“Right.”
Commander Neru jumped through the air, landing on her target’s back, bringing her hands around to blast the monster in its face. Meanwhile, the captain and first officer’s target had raised its hand into the air, a massive bony spike protruding from it as it shouted at its victims. The captain peppered it with laser fire, making it shout in anger and spin around. The first officer flanked it, spraying it with more. The Woraugenn thrusted its spike through the first officer’s chest. Nikola let out a yelp before remembering that they were just drones down there. The first officer grinned at his attacker and blasted it in the chest, throwing it back.
Soon enough, both Woraugenns were down, all three commanding officers standing over them. The first and combat officers extended their hands, four of their five orbs flying out to bind the Woraugenns in force fields. “By the authority of the Star Keeper Corps,” the captain said. “I place you under arrest.”
He thrust his hand toward the sky and the drones lifted the Woraugenns into the air, sending them back up to their ship. Commander Neru brushed her hands off. “Thanks for the help, Captain. Commander.”
The captain nodded. “Capture mode off,” he said. The cylinders surrounding all three disappeared and they were left standing back on the ship.
“Welcome back,” the communications officer said. “Have fun?”
The young captain was breathing heavy. “A bit,” he said. He looked up at Nikola. “Nice flying today, Lieutenant.”
Nikola puffed out her chest proudly. “No problem, Captain.”
