My patrons voted for it, so here’s a new chapter of The Serpent’s Garden. The sleeping hive hasn’t just awoken; it’s coming, clawing its way to the surface meter by meter and the only thing that stands between it and the unleashing of the Meer-Ulson upon the galaxy is fifty-odd starships. Luckily, they’re all equipped to eliminate threats far larger than themselves, and the technology of the Meer-Ulson is a known quantity. They’re ready to stop this monstrosity in its tracks.
Unless something has changed.
Below is an excerpt showcasing the opening moments of the new battle for Meer Colhara. For the full story, check out the link above and enjoy!
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In less than four seconds, the unknown variables that Iljta-Risan had been trying to uncover became shockingly clear.
Iljta’s mouth dropped open like a gawking pup as he watched a ragged orange beam burst up through hundreds of meters of ocean, pierce Meer Colhara’s sky and strike Overwatch Anchorage square on. The keep’s shields flared around the point of impact, blazing like the glare of a star. For a moment, it seemed like they would be able to weather the assault, but their endurance failed before the beam did. Overwatch Anchorage died in the same instant that its shields died, transformed into a spray of molecular vapour in less time than it took to blink.
That was no standard energy mount and it matched nothing that the Meer-Ulson had used in the past, but Iljta didn’t need any sensor readings to tell him what he’d just seen. Core release cannon, he thought. That was a core release cannon!The Meer-Ulson had developed conversion core technology and weaponized it.
“All units,” Iljta ordered, his thoughts quickly re-ordering themselves. There was no time to dwell on shock, dismay or grief. “Full evasion, pattern Recluse-Eight!” That would break the fleet up to avoid massed targets while still keeping them in range to support one another. “Stand by for follow-up strikes. Hierarch-” he only paused for the barest moment, then pointed towards the scarred wreck of a world below Radiant Endeaviour. “-destroy that vessel!”
Even caught by surprise, the Hegemony hierarchs reacted with discipline. The fleet’s shift from ordered blockade to dispersed ranks was not marred by panic as vessels and squadrons hewed about on whichever course seemed best in the instant, getting in each other’s way and risking collision, but splitting apart like a shoal of birds around a predator, each on predetermined vectors to open the distance between them while still allowing the fleet to function as a whole. Recluse evasion patterns allowed the larger vessels to withdraw, while the smaller units would close on the enemy position.
As Radiant Endeavour slewed hard out of its original course and its sublights spun up, Omaw took charge. “Acknowledged, overseer. Helm, keep opening the distance between us and Meer Colhara. Direct Tactics, is the core ready?”
“Running hot and ready for release, administrant!”
“Then target the hive vessel,” he ordered. “Coordinate our fire plan with Prestigious Enterprise for time on target. I want a sustained burst from both ships. We’ll take no chances now.”
“Hierarch Aile-Losos confirms, administrant. Prestigious Enterprise’s primary core also fully ignited, awaiting our word.”
Iljta left his intendant hierarch to his task, trusting his experience in the void as he managed the fleet’s needs. The Hegemony had known the Meer-Ulson were generations behind them in almost all fields of study. Their energy production had been one of them. At the most generous estimates, analysis of Meer-Ulson interstellar unit reactors had suggested that they’d been at least two centuries from developing conversion cores, let alone being able to use them as weapons. He didn’t know how they’d done this; even if they’d salvaged Calnian wrecks, they shouldn’t have had the technical know-how to replicate the technology, but the hows no longer mattered.
Every other other plan and contingency they’d come with during their planning sessions was likewise obsolete in this moment. The existence of that weapon had thrown all their calculations on their head. A hive vessel with a conversion core had been the stuff of nightmares for IOP strategists during the closing months of the war, and now those nightmares had been made manifest.
“Let’s not keep him waiting. Tactical – have you gotten a shooting solution?”
“Yes, hierarch. Datalinked to Enterprise.”
“Then initiate core release. Fi-”
“Another energy surge!” Sensors called out, cutting Omaw off. “It’s firing again!”
~
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