Chapter
One (continued)
Hamza
and his guards transported to the war room and walked into controlled chaos. All
branches connected to planetary security—space and ground, plus their subunits—were
housed here, along with the Space Academy.
Harried
males read reports from Castron, Lowbrett, and Kiton.
Others dealt with status updates on the deployed fighter’s or news on starships
en route. Each relayed the information to their commanding officers.
Hamza
prowled into the middle of the chaos. “The Onfre are sending help, so be ready
to assist when their warbirds arrive. Now, give me a report on the situation
with—”
“Prince
Hamza! Readings show a new wormhole opening! It’s not the Onfre. Three more Ne
Reynian battleships are coming through. I repeat, three more Ne Reynian
battleships have come through and are entering the atmosphere.”
Hamza
snarled. The buzzing and eerie glow from the red alert annoyed his already
frayed nerves. “Get a read on them. I need to know their targets.”
“Battleships
descending unbelievably fast.” A male shouted from a computer. “It looks like….
Prince Hamza, according to long-range scans, one is aiming for us, and the
other is targeting the palace. The last ship seems to be acting as a guard for
the other two. ETA is five unit minutes for them reaching their targets.”
“Activate
the red alert for Darkkit palace. Send a message through King Duran’s comm that
they’re about to be under attack!”
“Yes
prince!”
“On
viewing screen. I want to see what we’re dealing with.” The last of the three
battleships acting as a guard appeared. It was huge, ugly, and loaded with
weaponry. Gods. Hurry, dabba. “We need starships engaging the enemy now.
Update?” Hamza snarled at one of the commanders.
“The
starship Archon’s ETA for the palace defense is fifteen unit minutes. Two
more starships are due to disengage from space dock within five unit minutes.
Add another twenty unit minutes to that before they can engage.”
“Too
long,” Hamza whispered. “Palace on screen, please.”
There
simply wasn’t enough coverage. The palace was located in the heart of Darkkit,
so the palatial city was in jeopardy too. All those people, helpless. Running
for their lives. Neo’s at the Darkkit Hospital too. His heart pounded. No.
Can’t think of that. If something happened to Neo, to any of his
loved one….
“Fighters
are engaging enemy ships, Prince Hamza.”
Powerless,
he watched as a battleship targeted Darkkit palace. There was nothing he could
do but pray. Please, please let them be okay. Please.
“Photon
torpedo in-coming. Target is Darkkit palace,” someone yelled.
The
flashed of light lit up the viewing screen as the palace sustained a direct hit.
Hamza clenched his fists. Rage built as long unit minutes passed as the battleship
relentlessly fired.
“Palace
shields are holding but they can’t take many more hits like that, my prince.”
“Understood,”
Hamza said. Please let them be okay.
“Sensors
show the Ne Reynain battleship targeting us
is powering weapons.”
“Shields
are up too, my prince!”
Hamza
swore softly. The very first thing he was going to do once this was over was
have weapons installed here at the Tah’Narian Planetary Defense. They were
helpless.
“Prince
Hamza, a spread pattern of photon torpedoes has been fired at the palace. Detonation
in three, two….
More
flashes of light. Hamza wanted to scream in frustration. He checked his comm.
There was no transmission from his dabba. Had they gotten Dayo and Szin
moved in time? What about the patients in Medical? More unit minute passed as
the assault continued. Now they seemed to be targeting certain areas. How much
longer could the shields withstand such an attack? He squinted at the viewing
screen. Was that smoke?
“We
have confirmation of a breach in the shield! They’re hit, my prince, and shields
are down.”
Hamza
swore. “Where?”
“The
sector that houses Medical.
Where
the Royal Physician offices are located. “Damage report?”
“I
can’t tell if that area took a direct hit but—” The console blared a warning. “Readings
show unknown life signs in the vicinity of Medical.” The male typed fiercely. “Ah…
Highness, they’re Ne Reynain.”
“What?”
No. That couldn’t be right. Why would those females beam down and to that
specific location? If the shields were down, why go there? “Report!”
“Scans
are being disrupted due to the attack. I can’t get a fix on where the life
signs are actually at in that sector, but they are definitely Ne Reynain and
there are several of them.”
“Highness!
Reports say our fighters are taking heavy loses too. They’re inflicting damage to
the battleships, but—”
“In-coming!
We have in-coming photon torpedoes at our position.”
Hamza
braced himself. The building shook as the torpedoes were deflection by their
shields, and the lights blinked. Males rushed around Hamza, calling out status
updates.
“The
starship Archon has arrived and is engaging the Ne Reynain battleship
targeting the palace.”
“Thank
all the gods.” Hamza watched as the battleship broke off its attack to defend
itself. “Get me information on the palace. Now.”
“My
prince, the Unity has its full crew complement and is leaving the space dock.
ETA twenty unit minutes.”
“We
have a worm hole opening!”
Sweat
beaded at Hamza’s temple. Gods help them if it was another Ne Reynian battleship.
“It’s
the Onfre! Five warbirds have dropped out of warp and are in-bound!”
Weak
in the knees, Hamza grabbed the console next to him.
“The
Ne Reynian battleships are pulling back. They’re retreating. I repeat, they are
retreating!”
“Did
they beam up those who invaded the palace?” Hamza barked.
“Unsure.
I can’t raise the palace and can’t get a reading now.”
Cheering
echoed around Hamza. He hardly noticed the slaps on the back. Why were they retreating?
Were the Ne Reynian that afraid of the Onfre? He didn’t believe that,
considering most Onfre officers were male, and they all knew how the Ne Reynians
felt about males in positions of power.
He
needed to get to the palace and find out what was happening. Hamza caught a
flash of white from the corner of his eye. Relieved, he turned to face his dabba.
The smile on his faced died when he saw Keyno standing there. A soot covered,
clothes torn, Keyno.
Hamza’s
heart beat faster.
“Hamza?
I need you to come with me. Now.”
