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Date: 29 JAN 3008
Time: 0711hrs
Location: IFN Headquarters, Celeste Harbour
I exist as Sal’diresh, last remaining Knight of the world Arkadia. Hopeless is our chance of survival. Those that remain exist here at Artalia, both final bastion for hope and final despair for the people of Arkadia. Any beings to hear, we ask please. Help us.
From starting, the beings whose name they gave as Oratan, came to this world. Sought not they to trade or learn. They did seek only to steal and kill. We met with them above the skies. We met with them on the land. Unlimited numbers had they. But led by the Knights, with technology of Arkadia superior, the people did hope.
Then did we learn to target the Olatar, to exterminate them. With the Oratan leaders gone, likely was victory to at last happen after many solar cycles. The hope of the people did seem real.
Then is tragedy at Leoi. Many people and even Knights stopped existing. Not beaten in total were we, but the end was signalled and recovery never arrived. We became prisoners in our own cities. Those left to exist did take Arkadia’s greatest treasure and secure it at Lo’dela. If all must end, let that be saved. If I cannot save my people, let me save only that.
Please. Any who hear. Help us.
Toán Harvir sat in his office in the IFN Headquarters building, considering the full translation of the message that had been hidden in The Signal. Milton Lee had sent it through to him a couple of days ago, having finally completed the decryption. Harvir had been starting to reconsider his opinion of Lee. The man was certainly a genius, even if he could be infuriating at times, and he was beginning to show some signs of common sense. But then he had once again disappeared from Celeste Harbour without authorisation, ruining the illusion that he was willing to follow regulations. The fact that he had managed to decipher the rest of The Signal was proof of the man’s ability, but it was not enough to redeem his irresponsible actions in Harvir’s eyes.
It was early morning and Harvir had only just arrived at the Headquarters a short time earlier. Ever since he’d received the decrypted Signal it had dominated his thoughts. After reviewing the overnight reports, he’d soon returned to contemplating the message, trying to understand the meaning behind the words. The only thing that was certain was that the Arkadians had not survived, which meant the aggressive species attacking his troops were definitely descended from the Oratan invaders. But hostile engagements had been steadily declining over the last couple of weeks and he’d been allowing himself to hope that the Oratan had finally realised that their attacks on his troops were futile.
His thoughts were interrupted by a transmission from the Operations Room.
‘Sir, Captain Chiharo wants me to inform you we’ve had multiple reports from Valiant and Defiant Firebases. Both are experiencing heavy pressure from the Oratan,’ the Operations Room Commander said, a hint of strain in his voice.
‘What? There haven’t been any sightings in those areas for days. Tell the Captain I’m on my way. Prepare all reports and visuals from both Firebases; I want a complete status update when I get there.’
He made his way to the Operations Room to find out what was happening, mentally reviewing the deployment of his troops. The doors opened and revealed a scene that was nothing like what he had been expecting. The sound of static dominated the room, broken by dozens of staff as they yelled into their transmitters. Fragments of different conversations reached his ears but he couldn’t make sense of any of them. Captain Chiharo caught sight of him and quickly broke off her conversation to approach him.
‘Sir, both Firebases first reported sightings of the enemy during their dawn clearing patrols,’ said Chiharo quietly, filling Harvir in without distracting the Operations staff. ‘There were intermittent sightings of small groups of hostile forces. We received a Contact Report at 0653 hours when Defiant came under attack by a substantial enemy force. Valiant was assaulted minutes later. At first, it seemed we would easily hold off the attack, but more Oratan have been appearing since then and both bases are becoming hard pressed.’
‘Get that link to Valiant back,’ Harvir said, his voice cutting across the noise of the room.
‘We’ve been trying, Sir, but Valiant and Defiant are no longer answering any communications. They’ve completely dropped off all channels; we’re not even receiving anything from their equipment. Both bases seem to have gone completely offline,’ a Watchkeeper answered.
Harvir paused, thinking rapidly. Were he to attack one of his own Firebases using all of his current forces, he wouldn’t be able to disable it so quickly. There should have been enough warning to allow reinforcements to be deployed through the teleporters if a Firebase was in trouble. Something must have changed, but what?
‘Captain, put all forces on full alert. And remind the civilians that this status means they need to be prepared for immediate evacuation,’ Harvir said.
Chiharo looked surprised. ‘Sir, it may be a communications problem, or they may have lost power to their teleporter, or―’
‘Captain, we have a signal, which has been broadcast for millennia, warning us about these Oratan. Scramble all available drop ships to aid those Firebases as they can. Get in contact with Cutlass and have them focus their scans on those same areas. We need to find out where all those Oratan came from. And keep trying to get the connections to the Firebases back. I want constant updates.’
The staff were full of urgency as they carried out his orders. He quickly opened a private transmission to the Duty Watchkeeper at 8 Coins, requesting an immediate Situation Report from their commander. He needed to make sure the facility was still safe. Even though there had been no reports of sightings in the area, he wanted to check in personally. The mining facility contained the largest concentration of people outside of Celeste Harbour and it was vital to help develop a human colony on Arkadia. Or a sustained war effort should it come to that. It was well-guarded and located in an inhospitable area, but Harvir realised if the Firebases could be silenced so suddenly, then there was no guarantee that the other communities would be able to fend off similar attacks.
Harvir accessed the reports they had received from the Firebases before their communications had ceased, listening to everything that went on in the Operations Room at the same time. He absorbed all the information that was thrown around the room. The tension in the room eased as he confidently took control. This was what he had been born to do.
The live feed from Cutlass came online, focussed on Defiant Firebase. A single glance was enough for Harvir to appreciate why communications had failed. The base resembled an island in the midst of a sea of Oratan. It was incredible that the troops had kept them out for so long.
Captain Chiharo’s voice rang through the room. ‘Get the reserve platoons to that Firebase on the double!’
‘Cancel that, Captain!’ Harvir ordered. ‘Withdraw the garrison through the teleporter to Relentless. Cover their retreat, but I’m not losing those troops trying to hold against impossible odds.’ He looked again at the image from Cutlass in orbit, imagining what it would be like at that Firebase for his troops. Comprehension dawned and he realised what it must have been like millennia ago for the Arkadians. We became prisoners in our own cities.
His thoughts moved from The Signal, to the still missing Lee. He had received a video recording from Lee several hours ago, which had been marked as highest priority. He hadn’t thought much of it, since Lee’s idea of what a priority entailed was vastly different from his own, and he had left it to review later. But now his instincts told him it was important.
With a glance around the room to ensure there was nothing new that required his attention, he opened the file on a side display. Immediately he knew that it had been a mistake to ignore it.
The message wasn’t a request. It was a recording that detailed the most selfless act that Lee had ever performed. Harvir stared at it in disbelief.
The image was blurred and unfocussed. The sound of heavy breathing couldn’t cover the screams and howls in the background. Lee was running from something, jolting the recording device with each step. He paused and turned back for a brief second and those watching the display in the Operations Room were given a glimpse of what lay behind the frantic professor. Harvir wished that he could forget the sight. It was like a scene out of a nightmare. Distorted and frightening shapes wielding wicked instruments swarmed amongst their human prey. A blood covered Oratan casually hacked an arm from a crippled trooper. Another of the merciless creatures gripped the broken figure of Lieutenant Richards by the neck, lifting him off the ground and tearing out his throat in a fountain of blood.
Then Lee turned away from that scene, a desperate sob escaping him as he forced himself to continue running. He attempted to talk as he ran, spitting out words with desperate determination in between gasps of air.
‘Oratan… thousands… out of nowhere… scouts used the teleporter! All dead… can’t escape… Commodore! P—’ Lee suddenly cried out and the image pitched forward, crashing into the ground. The recording device lay where it had fallen, but Harvir could make out the figure of Lee as he got back to his feet and starting running once again, a blood soaked hand gripping his side. An Oratan chased after him, not far behind. Lee hadn’t gone much further before he stopped and turned back, narrowly ducking under a swipe from the Oratan’s weapon. He returned to pick up the recording device. With a terrified glance back in the direction of his attacker, he started talking once again to the recorder.
‘My files,’ he said, wheezing with pain, ‘have their genetic structure. You must reprogram the teleporters… Repro—’
He was cut off by the blur of an Oratan weapon and the image was instantly sprayed with blood. Lee collapsed slowly, falling out of view as the recording device once again dropped to the ground. Harvir could just make out the sound of Lee’s quiet whimpering. The armoured boots of an Oratan passed in front of the recorder. Lee’s soft cries turned into chilling screams of agony that seemed to last an age before being abruptly cut off. All that could be heard was the Oratan grunting with effort as it walked back past the recorder, dragging the headless corpse of Lee behind it.
The Operations Room had fallen silent, every eye on the Commodore’s face.
Milton Lee was dead.
A moment of silence passed after the recording finally cut off. Harvir opened his mouth to issue further orders, but was cut off as the piercing shriek of an alarm undulated throughout the building and across the entire city.
Celeste Harbour was under attack.
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