CHAPTER XVIII: THE OMINOUS CLOUD APPROACHES

Months went by and soon the warmth of the Elysian summer turned to a cooler, gentle breeze of the Fall. Jeranu’s golden sky was filled with scarlet colors now and the days grew shorter.

But for Boman Braggs they weren’t getting short enough. He was to be married to Lady Kaliah in the Crystalline Cathedral by the end of the week and the capital was filled with banners, ribbons, and flowers everywhere in anticipation of the glorious event which the Whills held very sacred. Seers rarely married, their minds becoming pre-occupied with their mates, but Lady Kaliah deserved to be happy.

Boman Braggs had completed his military training and was now a decorated Amber Commando who carried his own custom light saber. Even Queen Serapha was proud of him and for an added wedding gift had his laser grafted criminal band removed, although Boman found it disgusting to wear a slimy Gussam bio form on his arm for three days! He was ready to return to the High Hills where his love awaited. Now, where WAS that transport?

At the Royal Estate on the High Hills Lady Kaliah was trying on her wedding dress when an urgent dispatch came through her personal channet. It was Imperator Bevins trying to reach the Queen but was experiencing extreme technical malfunctions. Even as he spoke his voice was breaking up and then all communication was lost.

Long range sensors had detected a large cloud cluster approaching Elysia from just outside the Inner Rim but could not determine if it was a natural phenomenon or something hostile. Imperator Bevins could not raise the alarms until the object could be determined as a threat.

The Sith would come in force out in the open and their starships would be identified for such an attack on Elysia. Perhaps this is an anomaly of some sort, some stellar disturbance that is temporarily interfering with our com net. Fragmentary reports are coming in  from all the Inner Rim planets. I shall contact the Queen at once…

But the ominous cloud was composed of gaseous Dark Matter- a massive disruptive expansion shield concealing the entire Sith Battle Fleet of 1,093 ships of all kinds. Leading the Fleet were the three destroyers Fallen Star, Night Strike, and Black Dawn. Each carried 100 Black Ravens and 30 GR-25N attack probes. Following were 700 bulk carriers each loaded with 1,000 troops, 5 GC-7 Ground Crawlers, 2 KO-1 Scouts, 2 TR-8 Troop Carriers, 1 Military Airlyter, 10 Hursas, and 2 Deathounds each. Syrenia would follow later from Horath with her new D.A.S. Enforcer and  a special Military Airlyter with Dark Commandos for the assault on the Whill Sacred Temple Complex.

Total forces amassed: 3 Destroyers, 300 Black Ravens, 90 GR-25s, 700,000 troops of all types, 3,500 Ground Crawlers, 1,400 Scouts, 1,400 Tactical Rollers, 700 Military Airlyters, 7,000 Hursas, and 1,400 Death hounds. The 100 Tyrengas had been left behind because their military handlers could not guarantee that the big cats could discern between friendly or enemy forces once unleashed.

The Sith Death Fleet was preceded by 500 concealed Dark Matter Shadow Generators which resembled a giant ball cluster, easily confused for a giant gas cloud or other spatial anomaly from the Whill side of view. By the time the Whills discover the truth it will be too late for them. May they all perish in agony.

Back in the Jeranu Red and Gold Army Headquarters, military analysts and the new stocky R2-A2 intelligence droids could not identify the strange cloud. It was moving at sub-light speed and from every space monitor station above the planet no known Sith starships could be identified or associated with this object.  No Sith technology was detected by any scanner, nor could any scanner penetrate the cloud.

Still, at Fleet headquarters Imperator Davon ordered the immediate activation of the Rainbow Warning System to alert all Whill starships and fighters.  A wise decision on his part.

The Queen was sitting on her balcony at her Royal Estate when the system activated and the sky was aglow with multicolored warning beams reaching up into the heavens. She dropped her cup of Rindi tea and rushed to the nearest outdoor exit for immediate speedmaster transport back to the capital, leaving her daughter behind even as Lady Kaliah climbed the stairs leading to the balcony, channet in hand.

Already inside the Sacred Temple the Twelve were all linked to the Sacred Holochron, whose glow had vanished without warning. All the Seers could see was an impenetrable darkness. So could Lady Kaliah as she returned to her private quarters and grabbing her Halo-chron, reached out to the approaching mass. Darkness filled her mind and a shiver went up her spine because it was the same darkness she had encountered on Tirahnna. The Siths were coming. Invasion!

Imperator Bevins was on his way to the Palace of Light when the Rainbow System was activated. His duty was to the Queen but there was no way to communicate with her. All communications were being distorted by that gaseous cloud. I must return to Headquarters at once and sound the alarms.

By now the Whill Ring Ship RS Majesta and her two sisters RS Light Burst and RS Victorya were moving out towards the cloud with an escort of  one hundred Blue Diamond Mk.I fighters. The other one hundred on the ground were powering up, ready for immediate take off. No one knew what was happening but the warning lights were activated and all communications were down globally. The Whills expected the worse and braced for the expected war on an unexpected day.

On the ground, the Red and Gold Armies started to assemble and moved heavy equipment to staging areas around the capital. Huge Ball Rovers and lines of Mechquin formed up with the huge Volley Fire Guns strategically placed at all corners of the city. Massive city Aerial Turbo-Pulsers scanned the skies. Everyone remained calm but tensions ran high. Combined, the Armies had 200,000 troops, 3,000 Ball Rovers, 2,000 Mechquin, and 1,500 Volley Fire Guns. One thousand Amber Commandos were kept in reserve to protect the Queen, Her Royal Estate, the Sacred Temple and Seers, plus various government buildings and sensitive military installations.

It took twenty minutes but the Queen  finally made it back to the city under heavy guard and assembled her military advisors by coded light transmissions and short range probe com carriers launched  from the underground war facility located directly underneath the Royal Palace. Powerful Linked Strategic Scanners were located there and a complete geographical Tactical Holomorphic Display Grid quickly revealed the location of all the Queen’s forces. Right now, they were scattered about in disarray. No one had even bothered to sound the general alarm which the Queen did herself from the War Room.

The Warning Sirens blared with an intensity all over Elysia. Imperitor Bevins, almost out of breath, arrived almost at the same time as Imperator Davon. Both were followed by a contingent of Amber Commandos.

Imperator Davon immediately ordered all remaining Blue Diamond Mk.Is into space to rendezvous with the Ring Ships. This put two hundred fighters and three giant Ring Ships in front of the cloud.

Imperator Bevins first ordered one hundred Amber Commandos deployed to the Sacred Temple, four hundred to their assigned strategic military and government installations, and most of the other five hundred to the forward staging area at Garvin Heights on the northern approach to the city. 100,000 Red Army troops were ordered to secure the capital while the other 100,000 Gold Army Troops were to assemble at the mouth of the Jez’aral Valley.

Bevins suspected that any Sith assault would have to assemble and pass through the Valley to move southwards toward Jeranu. He was therefore deploying one Army to cover the approach and the other Army to protect the capital. Most of the heavy equipment needed to be moved to the Valley as street fighting would be best for ground troops and Commandos.

Bevins ordered all 1,500 Volley Fire Guns to the Valley along with 1,500 Mechquin, and 2,500 Ball Rovers. “Isn’t that dangerous, Imperator?” the Queen inquired professionally.

Bevins responded militarily, “No My Queen. If we cannot stop the Sith heavies in the Valley then they will bombard the capital and our Army will not be enough to stop them. Either we send all our forces into the Valley and risk defeat or we split them up wisely. I have chosen to deploy most of our heavies at a choke point flanked by mountains. We can safely hit them with the VFGs from a distance and wait for the survivors to approach. Hopefully, we will stop them in the Valley. Any huge force they would bring cannot land in the capital. The nearest and most logical place would be the Valley. It will give them time to assemble and time for us as well”, reported Bevins dutifully. Standard Sith military tactics, by the book.

“But the Sith are bent on destroying this capital, they will surely try to land troops here” retorted the Queen. Bevins hesitated and looking towards Imperator Davon he responded, “Fellow Imperator, can the Sith land troops directly into the capital with all their heavy gear?” “Of course not,” responded Davon .“There simply is not room enough  in this crowded city of three million . Your 100,000 troops should be satisfactory to repulse any light-to-medium assaults that manage to make it past the Valley. And that’s only if the Sith make it through my Fleet”, boasted Davon with overconfidence.

“What about the Seers? Should we bring them here?” Bevins asked the Queen. “No, they will guard the Holy Book and Holochron with their lives while trying to determine the outcome of the battle” the Queen stated with  certainty. “And what of your daughter Lady Kaliah?”. This question had never really occurred to the Queen until now. “Send Boman Braggs and divert 50 Amber Commandos over to my estate- she is ordered to remain there and NOT attempt to enter the city. I decree it”, the Queen spoke with absolute authority.

Bevins agreed and sent a coded dispatch to Vonderberg via probe com carrier. But Boman would never receive the order as he was already mounted on a Titan-Class Vulkan Mechquus heading for the Sacred Temple in anticipation of re-uniting with Kali. Surely, she will be there with the Seers.

He had assumed wrongly, just as Imperators Davon and Bevins had. The Sith had something else in mind.