Barbarians

The start of Armageddon

It was just another day

We all saw the news, nothing to say

So many friends are missing, our family members gone

So we all pray that God help them be strong

Good Charlotte/Mest/Goldfinger - “The Innocent”

The crew of the Earth ship Wayfarer sat in a parking orbit high above the Triumvirate planet Jituttaz, waiting for authorization for resupply. Their erstwhile allies had spent ten millennia raising the concept of bureaucracy to high art and seemed to take extra joy in inflicting it on the poor backward humans.

“I don’t believe this!” Gernot Roldán snarled, pounding the console in frustration. “Twelve more hours? For what?”

Captain Nneka Hollands shook her head at her Exec as she read the message on her display. “According to this, a ‘Safety and Compliance’ Inspection.” She took a sip of her coffee as she eyed her officer with sympathy. They were traveling to the outer quadrants, searching for new habitable planets, and it was just good sense to top off their consumables at one of the remote Triumvirate worlds before heading into the deep black.

Despite all the hoops they were being forced to jump through.

“Better we spend a few hours in orbit cooling our heels than turn back two months early,” she reminded him. “You know how the Triumvirate operates, so why are you so surprised?”

“I’m not surprised, I’m frustrated,” Gernot growled. “I’m sick and tired of being forced to sit at the kid's table.”

“You can’t change who they are,” Nneka said with equanimity. “Some things must simply be endured.”

Gernot snorted in disgust and started to reply when a blinking light caught his attention. “Captain...I’m reading something funny on sensors,” he said in surprise, his frustration now forgotten. “Multiple point sources have just entered the system.”

Captain Hollands sat up straight and pulled up her own display, her eyes going wide as the data started coming in. “... there are over a hundred ships burning hard for Jituttaz,” she said in shock, “and the computer doesn’t have their configuration in its memory banks.”

Roldán slaved his display to his Captain’s, blinking as he zoomed in the unknown ships. “If they’re not ours, and they’re not the Triumvirate’s...then who are they?”

“I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling about this,” she said, as she brought up coms. “We need to warn the planet,” she told her Exec, as an Ophiptera Control operator appeared on the screen. “This is the UES Wayfarer,” she blurted out, before the alien began to speak. “We’re showing over a hundred unknown vessels headed straight for Jituttaz. I don’t know what you can do, but I’d do it fast.”

The Ophiptera regarded her with what appeared to be insouciance. “Our sensors have already detected the unknown ships so your warning is unnecessary and while we appreciate the courtesy I can assure you should they prove hostile our shields are more than adequate in preventing them access though if you wish to leave orbit we will allow your departure.” The alien didn't appear to be perturbed in the slightest.

She didn’t waste a nanosecond on that decision. “We’ll take you up on that. Wayfarer out.” Hollands turned to her Exec. “Get us out of here now.”

“Engines are hot,” he answered, “Breaking orbit.” The ship began pulling away from the planet, as Gernot looked up from his console. “What’s our course?”

“Anywhere but here,” she snapped back at him, as they turned away from the incoming fleet. Captain Hollands brought up coms once more while keeping an eye on the display. “Earth definitely needs to know about this,” she said almost to herself, as they ran for safety.

Dhyaksh Jiyazh Ghuuyaz smiled as the enemy planet grew larger on his screen. “So... they cower behind their shields,” he said, as the glowing green sphere shimmered beneath them. “Are the Breakers ready?” he asked his Tactical officer.

“Yes, Dhyaksh,” the officer replied. “Awaiting your command.”

Jiyazh rose to his feet, savoring the moment. “Our forebears are with us this day,” he said with pride. “Far too long they have waited for their vengeance, but today, they shall have it.” His hand found the dagger at his waist, as his smile turned cold as space. “Fire.”

The twelve lead ships each belched an oversized torpedo, the missiles arcing away from the Armada and racing towards the planet.

“Dhyaksh, there is a ship leaving the planet’s orbit,” his Astrogator blurted out, as Jiyazh turned to her.

“An enemy ship?” he asked.

“No, Dhyaksh,” she replied. “It is a configuration unknown to us.”

Jiyazh spent a few moments pondering the strange ship’s fate, before deciding.

“Let it go,” he said at last, as he watched the Breakers reach the shield.

Captain Hollands held her breath as the Armada fired, though the computers quickly determined they were not the target. Heaving a sigh of relief, she kept watch as the torpedoes began altering their trajectory, spacing themselves around the planet.

“I don’t know what they’re thinking,” Gernot said in disbelief. “Nothing can penetrate a Triumvirate shield unless they want it to.”

Nneka said nothing in reply. She didn’t know who these people were or their capabilities, and without more information she wasn’t willing to place bets either way. The missiles flew in a  carefully synchronized formation, and as she watched she realized they were moving to equidistant points over the planetary shield. “We’re recording all this, aren’t we?”

“Yes Captain,” Gernot replied, “ever since we first detected them.”

Hollands nodded; her eyes still glued on the display. The missiles had reached their final trajectories and were boring in hard, and with one last burn, they impacted as one, detonating against the shield.

There was a pregnant pause as they both watched their screens when a sudden flash caught them both by surprise. Nneka sat in shock as she stared at the screen, but it was her Exec who spoke first.

“...it’s gone,” he whispered. “The shield...it just disappeared!”

The two officers stared at each other. “Those poor bastards,” Hollands whispered, as they raced out of the system.

Cheers filled the bridge of Oathkeeper, as the enemy’s shield vanished. “The way is clear,” Dhyaksh Jiyazh Ghuuyaz said with pride, beaming at his crew. Until this moment they had been unsure whether the Breakers would be effective, but now the proof lay before them. He punched a control on his armrest. “This is the Dhyaksh to all ships,” he announced. “The great day has come, and our enemy is defenseless. Attack ships away...and no mercy.”

The hull seemed to reverberate with the howls of the Khonhim, as the Attack ships disengaged from their tenders and screamed towards the planet’s surface. The pilots steered their small craft towards the major cities, searching for targets of opportunity. Power generation facilities, ports, water recycling plants, factory complexes…the infrastructure of the entire planet.

They launched the first kinetic projectiles as the ships hit the atmosphere, their hypersonic trails booming across the sky as they slammed into their targets, sending mushroom-shaped geysers of smoke and ash into the air as their objectives were obliterated, one by one. Millions died in the space of minutes...and it was only the beginning.

“Launch Assault craft,” Jiyazh ordered, as his warriors followed the Attack ships to the surface. The enemy had already felt the heat of their bombs.

Now...it was time for them to taste their blades.

The mood in the Ministry Center was a far cry from her previous visit, Ambassador Singh deliberated, as she approached the waiting trio. Earth’s Embassy had been a flurry of activity as the reports started coming in, and none of her staff, least of all her, was immune to the shock they felt as they watched the images. The transmissions from Jituttaz had been a horror show of death and destruction, as alien ships bombarded the planet, though what had followed had been even worse. Other craft had landed across the planet, disgorging bipedal aliens with what appeared to be four arms, and what they did to the helpless Ophiptera was all too familiar to the children of Earth. The winged herbivores begged and pleaded for leniency, but they were shown no mercy from the invaders. Images of civilians being gunned down or spitted on bayonets would haunt her for the rest of her days, and she was already preparing to head for the Center on her own authority as the Minister’s summons arrived.

Though what she could offer them other than sympathy was beyond her.

Qomzoixaa’s wings fluttered in distress, his hands wringing over and over as his conical eyes darted about as if the enemy was already here. Leandra’s heart went out to him...seeing his people murdered in cold blood must have shocked the gentle creature to the core. Lassoarth’s head was bowed in sorrow, and she realized with a start there was a trait Saurotaurs shared with Humans.

They both shed tears...and the trails running down her face were rivers of pain.

Σ 121 Sub Δ was as inscrutable as always, but even there Leandra thought she could sense the mechanical sphere’s distress. Stopping before the trio, she bowed her head in respect. “The people of Earth offer their condolences to the Triumvirate during this emergency,” she informed them, “and we stand ready to render whatever humanitarian aid we can.”

Lassoarth raised her head, and the look in her golden eyes was mournful. “We thank you for your words of kindness, Ambassador,” she struggled to get out, “but I fear we must ask more of you.”

Alarm bells started sounding in her head. “I don’t know what other aid we can give,” she said. “We will make our ships available to you for supplies and evacuation, and we can send medical personnel and food, but other than that I am unsure what it is you ask of me.”

Qomzoixaa jumped to his feet. “You must stop them!” he screeched, “Fight the invaders!” His normal speech patterns had become truncated and jumbled, his terror and anger coming out in staccato bursts.

Leandra drew a deep breath. “Fight them with what, Minister?” she asked. “We have no armies, no warships, no weapons. This very body demanded our disarmament, as you may recall. Even if we were so inclined, we have nothing to fight them with.”

“You are an inventive species,” Σ 121 Sub Δ said, “and your history is filled with examples of Humans fighting with nothing more than farm implements. You can use your ships to ram the invader’s vessels to destroy them. You have done so in the past, and can do so again.”

The human ambassador froze in place, as the shock of the Minister’s words congealed into cold fury. “We are not your attack dogs,” she said, “and we are not kamikazes!” Her body trembled as anger coursed through her veins. “How dare you ask that of us!”

“You have petitioned this body many times for full membership,” Lassoarth told her, her gentle voice becoming firmer. “If you do this, we will give your petition renewed consideration.”

“Consideration?” Leandra all but snarled. “You won’t even promise that to us? And if we fight your war, what then? When…if...the threat is gone, you decide once more we’re too violent?” Her hands clenched into fists as she glared at them. “There was an Earth ship at Jituttaz, and they were allowed to escape unmolested. So, it seems they don’t have a problem with us...only with you.”

She drew herself up to her full height. “We’re not your mercenaries, and we’ll be damned before we hurl ourselves at your enemy without the means to fight. I wish you luck, Ministers...because you’re sure as hell going to need it.”

Leandra turned on her heel and stormed out of the Center once more...this time vowing never to return.

Governor-General Granville watched the images from Jituttaz with a growing sense of dread. Humanity had come so far in the last century, but the Universe had other plans in store for them. He picked up and scanned Ambassador Singh’s blistering report yet again, before taking a deep breath.

There was an option left to them...one he had hoped would never be necessary.

He pressed a button on his console, connecting with a high-ranking member of his government...one whose duties were more than they appeared.

“Activate Vegetius,” he ordered.

.