Chapter 20

The Moon
Spectre Moon Base
August 14, 2019
16:48 EDT

“ ... we’ll load up all the supplies you want to take with you and put them in Abi’s dimensional storage first. After that, we’ll load the shipping containers one by one. Now, as you said earlier, Black dragons can lift their own weight using telekinesis, right? We were thinking the best way to load the shipping containers would be to have a Black dragon lift them into place.”

“How heavy do you estimate the shipping containers will be when full?” Selalea asked

“Around three point five to three point eight metric tons each. A lot of that is the shipping containers themselves, but the eggs and their individual boxes add a sizeable amount,” Gabriel replied.

“That is well within an adult Black dragon’s capabilities.”

“Perfect. Well, based on the rate at which Abi is leveling, we want to aim for a departure date of August 24 at the latest. If we miss that window, then we’ll need to wait until September 3.”

Selalea had a puzzled look on her face. “I’m not quite sure I understand. Why do we need to depart during certain windows?”

“As you know, Abi is able to grow in size,” Alexandra replied. “When she goes through these growths, there is the slight possibility that things inside can be damaged or destroyed. To negate such risks entirely, we are setting the departure date to be right after her latest growth. We need to do it this way, because mana can’t keep accumulating for very long. Sooner or later she has to initiate the next growth. Fortunately, these growths take twice as long each time they happen, giving us longer and longer windows.”

“I see. We should be able to have things loaded in time, assuming you’ll have the shipping containers soon.”

Alexandra nodded. “Jonathan’s sisters have managed to find a company willing to sell us six hundred shipping containers. We’ll be—”

[Sorry to interrupt, ] Abi said. [Kor, I am receiving a message from someone named Xigios Dryth aboard the ship Nira’s Revenge. The man is requesting to speak with you or Jonuth as soon as possible. He also seems to know that there are six hundred ships on their way to Earth right now.]

[Xigios Dryth?!] Tich exclaimed. [I know him, but why would he be trying to contact you or Jonuth?]

[I don’t know a Xigios Dryth. What can you tell us about him?]

“Has something happened?” Selalea asked.

“My apologies.” Alexandra answered. “Abi has received a message from Scyftan space. We’ll need some time to see what the person wants.”

“Is it unusual to receive messages such as this one?”

“It is when we don’t know the person. If you’ll excuse us for a few minutes.”

“Certainly,” Selalea said, sitting down and viewing the tablet in front of her.

[He had one of the best strategic minds I’ve ever encountered. He finished top of his class in the Naval Academy and quickly rose through the ranks. If I remember correctly, the fleet he was commanding was patrolling a stretch of our border with The Confederation. Beyond that, I don’t know much else about him, ] Tich explained.

[I have some more information. He was an admiral in the Scyftan fleet until the coup happened, abandoning his fleet by stealing one of their hyperspace capable shuttles. After that, he was off the grid for over four hundred years before reappearing, now leading the mercenary group ‘The Indomitables.’ They have had a very good track record, especially since he took over.]

[It appears he had a wife, Nira Dryth, ] Abi continued. [She died when a beam weapon from a ship allied with Kaldrus Dhir impacted the part of the space station she worked in. Digging further, it seems that his wife gave birth to a daughter, Esriro Dryth, but Xigios appears to not have known about the pregnancy. Esriro was adopted by family friends and joined the navy when she was of age. She graduated with high marks and rose through the ranks for two hundred years before retiring and falling off the grid as well. Nothing seems to be known about her since then.]

[Interesting, ] Kor said, sitting behind his desk. [It sounds like he may have been biding his time, just as we have. Put him through, Abi. Narrow field of view for now. I don’t want him seeing anyone else.]

[Putting him through now.]

Xigios strummed his fingers on his armrests while he waited. An AI had answered his transmission and then quickly put him on hold when he asked to speak to Kor Gidres or Jonuth Kidravia. He had only heard her voice, but she sounded a lot different than the AIs he was used to talking to. He also had a feeling he had heard that voice before, but couldn’t place it. Without notice, a headshot of a human man was projected above his desk.

“My name is Kor Gidres. I was told you wished to speak with me. Xigios Dryth, is it?”

“Yes, sir. I have recently been informed that six hundred ships recently departed from the Warvyn Industries shipyards and are currently enroute to Earth. I also know that is where Jonuth Kidravia and you, yourself are currently located. I would appreciate it if those ships could halt their journey to Earth long enough to take one of my crew onboard.”

“What makes you think I am in command of those ships, or would even turn them around if I did? I don’t know you. In fact, I had never heard about you until today.”

“I got your contact information from Ercan Warvyn who all but confirmed that you commissioned those six hundred ships, and they are on their way to Earth. I also assume that someone on your end told you all about me before you answered the call. You, Jonuth Kidravia and I have a mutual interest.”

“Ercan told you, eh? I assume that ‘mutual interest’ is Kaldrus Dhir? So what. We’ve got enough ships and personnel to deal with Dhir. I have no reason to trust you, even if Ercan seems to.”

“I want that bastard to pay for what he has done!” Xigios spat. “His thirst for power got my wife and billions of our people murdered! You have no idea how hard it was for my daughter and I to stand in front of Kaldrus Dhir not two days ago and not be able to do anything about it! Sure we have the ships and manpower to roll over what little defenses are in place, but that would solve nothing. Without Jonuth Kidravia to immediately take his rightful place, the power vacuum would tear our people apart.”

“So you do know about your daughter, then. What were the two of you doing standing in front of Dhir in the palace he never leaves?”

“Two days ago he had a message put out looking for a mercenary group to accomplish a mission for him. We were nearby for some R&R, so I did some digging. I have a contact within Naval Command who claimed that a ship by the name of The Fang of Khigil had received a message containing the location of Jonuth Kidravia. Everyone knows that Dhir has been searching for the last thorn in his side forever. When I realized his intentions, The Indomitables were the first to answer. I wasn’t about to let some other mercenary group take the job, because any one of them would have actually fulfilled it.”

“You admit to taking a contract put out by Dhir. Why would I ever let you or any of your crew near Jonuth Kidravia after hearing that?”

“Because I would never harm the only hope for our people to return to what they once were, and I had something I thought he needed to take his throne back. The Indomitables are the most respected mercenary group in this quadrant. I have one thousand one hundred and twenty two ships with the men and women to crew them. I had planned to offer them to Jonuth Kidravia when we arrived there in ten months, but by the time we arrive, he’ll have been long gone.”

“You’ve given me something to think about. I need to confer with some people and will re-initiate this transmission in twenty minutes, alright?”

Xigios nodded. “I’ll be waiting. Thank you.”

Kor didn’t say anything, he just ended the transmission. Xigios ran his hands through his hair before getting up and grabbing another bottle of Scyftan ale.

“Do you think they’ll go for it?” Esriro asked.

“I don’t know,” he replied after taking a swig of ale. “He is a hard man to read.”

“I was racking my brain trying to remember where I heard the female voice from at the beginning of the transmission. It took me a few minutes, but I finally remembered. It was Abi, Derech Kidravia’s bondmate. I came across some old recordings while in the academy. Apparently she was able to read people...”

The Moon
Spectre Moon Base
August 14, 2019
17:06 EDT

[Well?] Thomas asked the room.

[He hadn’t spoken a lie in the entire transmission, Thomas. I’ve also been doing some more digging and found that since he took over The Indomitables, they haven’t once taken a contract against the Scyftan people or any of our old allies. In a lot of cases, he has stepped in and prevented other mercenary groups from striking any of the aforementioned parties. I believe we can trust him, ] Abi answered.

[Another eleven hundred ships wouldn’t hurt either, ] Tich replied. [The majority of the people manning our ships will be green recruits, while he probably has two million or so experienced crew. That could prove invaluable if any shots are fired.]

[I agree, ] Thomas said. [Abi, can you teleport Jonathan up to you and ask him to make his way here?]

[Certainly.]

[I’ll go and meet him and escort him here, ] Alexandra said, teleporting out of the room.

[You’re needed up on the Moon, Jonathan, ] Abi said.

[Okay, I’ll be right up.]

[There isn’t enough time, I’m teleporting you up now.]

I was walking down a hall with Mason, and then suddenly I was on Abi’s bridge.

“Alright, what’s so important?”

“We recently received a transmission from Scyftan space and you’re needed in Thomas’ office. Your mom is waiting outside of the hanger to escort you there.”

“Okay,” I said, turning and starting towards the exit of the ship. “What was the transmission about?”

“The leader of the mercenary group named ‘The Indomitables’ contacted me, looking to talk to either Thomas or you. Somehow he found out that there are six hundred ships on the way to Earth right now. It seems he wants to form an alliance, and wants to send one of his crew here.”

“How was he even able to contact you?”

“Thomas left contact information for his yacht with Ercan Warvyn. While his ship is in the hanger here, all transmissions are routed over to me.”

“I see. Why would a mercenary group want to ally with us? Aren’t mercenaries only in the mercenary business for the money?”

“In the majority of cases, yes. Some, like this one, are different. The leader is a man named Xigios Dryth. At the time of the coup, he was an admiral in the navy. He was patrolling Confederation space when he got word of the coup. His wife was working on a space station orbiting the planet of Edilan when it was struck by an errant beam weapon. She, along with hundreds of others were exposed to vacuum and died. Xigios disabled all the ships in his fleet and left on a stolen transport. He was off the grid for over four hundred years and when he reappeared, he was leading ‘The Indomitables’.”

[So he wants revenge?] I asked, switching to sending since I was about to leave the ship.

[It seems that way, yes. Your mom, Tich and Thomas will fill you in more.]

[Okay.]

I teleported over to the hangar door and pulsed my mana so it would open. I found my mom on the other side, like Abi said.

“Hey. Abi filled me in a bit. What’s going on? Why do I need to be up here?”

My mom started walking, and I followed beside her. She turned to me and began, “Xigios Dryth was on his way to Earth with a fleet of over eleven hundred ships when word got to them that six hundred state of the art ships were already on the way here. Apparently Kaldrus Dhir decided to hire a mercenary group in addition to sending the closest ship, as well as Xorin Nydror, a former Spectre. Xigios and the Indomitables took on the contract, though according to him, it was to stop one of the other mercenary groups taking it, and actually trying to complete it. Abi also claimed nothing he said in the transmission was a lie, and, to my knowledge, she has never been wrong.”

“What’s the problem, then? It sounds like he could be an ally. Why not take one of his crew on board one of the ships and bring them here? Also, why didn’t you mention a former Spectre before?”

“It’s not that simple. Pygmaean space is closer to Earth than Scyftan space is. It would take three days for the ships to meet with The Indomitables’ fleet, effectively adding six days of travel time, since we would have to send the entire fleet. We can’t afford to send those ships somewhere where they could be attacked or captured, which is a very real possibility. There are very small crews on board, just pilots and engineers. They wouldn’t be able to fight against a fleet.”

“As for the former Spectre. Xorin Nydror is the man who killed your mother and father, as well as three other Spectres.”

“The man who killed my parents is alive? Why is this the first I’m hearing about it?”

She nodded. “He was the strongest of all the Spectres, so he was charged with protecting your mother. While we were on our way to Earth, we finally found out why he betrayed us. Or Abi did, at least. Roughly a year before the coup took place, his wife and daughter were abducted by Kaldrus Dhir’s people. If he didn’t do what Dhir wanted, he would have them killed.”

“And now he’s on his way here,” I sighed. “Is it to finish the job?”

“Abi doesn’t seem to think so, for one simple reason. He knows about your sisters. Kaldrus Dhir, does not.”

“ ... strong do you think Abi is now?” Esriro asked.

“There is no way to really know. It could have been years ago, or it could have been recently. Even if it was days ago, she would still be very formidable with a strong crew. The navy didn’t know all that much about her. Everyone knew that she was bonded to the King, and she got stronger as he did.”

“She got stronger by siphoning off the excess mana generated by the King, right?”

“Mhmm,” Xigios mumbled before taking another swig of ale. “Every time she reaches a new level, the amount of mana needed doubles. Theoretically, she can grow infinitely, though there is a safeguard built in to prevent that, put in by the race that built her, and others of her species.”