Klaxons blared at full volume across the Avril Defense Platform, the sound reverberating through durasteel corridors and rattling bulkheads. Red lumen-strips strobed along the walls as armored boots pounded toward battlestations. Senior Commander CG-10044, "Valius," did not wait for ceremony. He was fastening the seals on his chest-plate as he stormed into the command centre, helmet tucked beneath one arm, jaw set like iron.
"
What the hell is going on?" he demanded.
The main holotable flickered violently. A moment ago, it had been clear, the space above New Alderaan calm and sovereign. Now it burned with crimson returns: contacts, layered in formation, warships stacked in assault vectors.
"I don't know, sir," a clone technician replied, fingers flying across the console. "
One second, the scanners were empty. The next..." He swallowed. "
An entire fleet translated in-system. No warning, no traceable hyperspace wake. Their transponders aren't registered to any known power."
Valius stepped forward, eyes narrowing at the projection. The formation was disciplined. Intentional. This was not a raid. "
Register them as hostile," he snapped. "
Deploy all squadrons. Full combat spread. Begin Avril and Hawk rotations immediately. I want platforms Three through Six in defensive alignment within five minutes. Have platform Two close ranks with us."
"
Aye, sir."
"
Clear weapons hot. Fire the instant they're in range. No warning shots." The deck vibrated faintly, distant turbolasers spooling to life, reactor output climbing toward redline.
"
Signal Alfheim," Valius continued. "
Shut the gate. Hard seal. No one in, no one out. I want the aperture collapsed and locked on my authority."
"
Confirmed, sir. Alfheim acknowledges. The Eye is closing."
Behind the station, space itself seemed to bend as the vast
Yggdrasil planetary shield surrounding New Alderaan shimmered into brilliance. The shield gate station, Alfheim, began collapsing the controlled aperture, the last sliver of open sky narrowing like a blinking eye. What had been an open artery for trade and travel would become an armored vault.
Across the surface below, the spires of the capital glowed beneath the protective dome. Civil defense sirens wailed through the city's districts. Atmospheric defense cannons rotated skyward. Civilian traffic fled toward hardened shelters as orbital platforms maneuvered into overlapping fields of fire.
"
Contact in three minutes," the sensor officer called out. "
Enemy vanguard consists of multiple heavy signatures. This is a strike formation."
Valius placed his helmet on, seals locking with a hiss. His voice came colder through the vocoder. "
Then we give them a wall."
He opened a secure channel, broadcasting to every defense platform, every fighter wing, every ship still within the shield's perimeter.
"
This is Senior Commander Valius of the Avril Defense Grid. An unidentified hostile fleet has entered the system. All forces are to Condition Aurelius. Defend the capital at all costs."
The holotable shifted as friendly squadrons launched, streaks of blue and gold racing outward to meet the encroaching red.
"
They came without warning," Valius said quietly, almost to himself.
Then, louder: "
They will not leave without consequence. For the Confederation. For the capital. Hold the line."
Above New Alderaan, the shield blazed like a newborn star, as the first enemy ships crossed into weapons range.
Mercy
|
Marlon Sularen
