Astralis Read online

  Astralis - The day of the gods

  A. J. Mitar

  Translated by Filippo Cefaly

  “Astralis - The day of the gods”

  Written By A. J. Mitar

  Copyright © 2014 A. J. Mitar

  All rights reserved

  Distributed by Babelcube, Inc.

  www.babelcube.com

  Translated by Filippo Cefaly

  “Babelcube Books” and “Babelcube” are trademarks of Babelcube Inc.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Astralis - The day of the gods | A.J. Mitar

  Astralis - The day of the gods

  A.J. Mitar

  They flashed through a tear in the space-time continuum; they were only five ships, but they caused our sensors to malfunction all the same. They had the power of a thousand stars, hurled against the Teyon fleet. Did the Divine Creator hear our prayers?

  The new Teyon ships, even the fastest and equipped with most advanced weaponry, proved ineffective: it was impossible to stand up to those vessels spewed from the unknown.

  That unbelievable energy pulse even vexed our technology. The last spy satellites, along with all of our trans-atmospheric detection systems, were destroyed.

  That day, I was in service at Qirit, a secret site four jaf below the surface of the Piot range; my task was to coordinate the monitoring of the movements of the Teyon fleet, which was guilty of having halted all of our routes to the mining belt. The strategy of interrupting the supplies of raw materials was bearing fruit: the shortage of metal had inflicted a fatal blow to our metallurgical industry. Our fleet had been decimated and, because we were not able to build new ships, our defeat was inevitable; it's just a matter of time before the war would be lost.

  An annoying sound was hammering intermittently on our eardrums.

  “My Lord, an enormous gravimetric distortion in sector 10.1, five million jaf from the second belt of Ghaat” Jakiat, the sensors officer, warned me.

  “But it is in the heart of the Teyon space: it's where they hold the bulk of their warships, class Huy.”

  “I confirm what I just said, my Lord: it is a distortive phenomenon of the space-time fabric, at the coordinates 10.13.00.12.” The efficient officer sent the results of his assessment to the holoscreen at my location.

  “I have never seen anything like it!” I observed incredulously, “Is it some type of Teyon technology?”

  “I don't know, my Lord, this is the first time I have collected such energy levels: they are off scale for our instruments... it is as if, all of a sudden, a black hole had materialized, exactly at those coordinates.”

  I tried to interpret that data. I was worried; in recent years the Teyons had developed several new technologies, putting to use all their intelligence.

  Those wretches must be conducting an experiment, perhaps a new weapon?

  “Kiut, what do you think?” I asked the scientific officer, “Could it be a new type of weapon?”

  Kiut didn't answer right away. He was observing all the telemetry at his disposal. He then tapped on his holoscreen a couple of times to complete the latest calculations and to be able to draw a reliable conclusion:

  “If this is a new weapon, it will be the most destructive ever observed before,” he scratched his dark shaved head, “an unknown phenomenon in our archives, but I find it hard to believe that the Teyons are responsible for it...”

  “Warning, we have five identical but separate phenomena. I discovered it by increasing the resolution of the sensors,” Jakiat yelled.

  “What's happening? I want an explanation!” I addressed the scientific team, but especially Kiut, the coordinator.

  The three members of the scientific team muttered something that I could not understand since my station was at a higher level, about five ipa-jaf away from theirs.

  “Something is coming!” was Kiut's chilling conclusion.

  “I'm aiming the trans-atmospheric telescopes to the coordinates in question. They are huge!” added Jakiat, covering her eyes. “They are vessels; the computer has calculated that they are at least 2.2 jaf long... Sending images to main holoscreen.”

  The images spoke for themselves; the holograms volumized at the centre of the control room showed us the outlines of five spaceships. I had never seen vessels so big; our orbiting shipyards were not able to build anything of that size.

  “Jakiat, I need maximum resolution, point every sensor and telescope at our disposal to those coordinates... Now!” My voice was distorted by concern.

  “Yes, my Lord!”

  “My Lord, the whole Teyon fleet is moving toward the unknown vessels, I detect at least 120 warships class Huy and at least 2000 fighters class Lian”.

  “I think the Teyons have something serious to worry about”, I commented wryly.

  Those huge warships did not belong to their fleet, even a fool would know it; the Teyons had received an unexpected visit, an invasion right in the heart of their space had caught them by surprise.

  For all the demons of Kull, who are they?—I wondered. Will they be friendly, or will they be hostile?

  Then, there was a widespread energy vacuum; it was dark for several pakt. The second auxiliary power system was damaged as well, but given the fact that this was a level one scientific site, we had three at our disposal and, luckily, the last one was still working.

  “For the damned of the underworld! Reactivate the instruments! I want to understand what the hell it's going on”, I commanded him slamming my fists on the holographic emitter on my console.

  “It's not possible, my Lord, all instruments are damaged.”

  “Kiut!” I yelled “For God's sake... tell me what happened.”

  “A moment before the vacuum, there was an incredible energy emission from the unknown vessels.”

  I gathered that a battle must be taking place. The Teyons did not customarily attack first, as their code of ethics provided a series of contact protocols before undertaking a hostile action. They were truly a peaceful race. They would have done anything to avoid bloodshed, not due to cowardice, but because of the dogmas of their fundamentalist-religious regime and their beliefs regarding the sanctity of life.

  However, they had to fight when we vivisected them without mercy in our laboratories, only because their polypeptidic bodies aroused the curiosity of the entire scientific community. We are an extremely curious species, it's well known, but was it necessary to spill rivers of Teyon purple blood to satisfy this innate trait of ours?

  “My Lord, all the detection systems at our disposal has been destroyed, including the five geostationary telescopes and the ones in the mining belt. Even the radio-telescopes on the surface are out of order, the energy pulse was devastating.”

  It's incredible: they have reduced two advanced civilizations to impotence, with a single blow.

  Our entire technology have been squashed, we were defenceless.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, I fear that, after the Softies, it might be our turn, and we have no possibility to defend ourselves,” I said with trembling voice, while I wandered among various damaged holoconsoles. We were blind like livrodine fools; our site had lost its function as data processing centre: the intelligence team, that utilized the most advanced technology, had been made blind and deaf; at this time, we had no data coming in or even going out, we were a useless pile of cement and metal, hundreds of ipa-jaf below the surface.

  All we can do is wait!

  I was certain this powerful weapon had disabled the Teyons' technology as well, whose level was similar to ours. As of late, the war between our two civilizations was leaning in their favour, due to a tactical advantage acquired thanks to some improvements in the efficiency of A-M propulsion; fastest ships and
longer range would have been crucial in the long war. Additionally, we had to admit it, they have been more capable than us in regards to antimatter.

  “My Lord, what can we do?” Jakiat asked me, panicking.

  “The correct question is: what will they do with us...”

  The planet of the Softies was not a true planet, in a canonical definition. Instead it was the fourth moon of the gas giant Ghaat; we named it Teyon, Astaag for native people of the moon; but we didn't care, why change its name? Since ancient times, we have always called it Teyon, since we calculated its position and our first spectroscopic surveys established that it was a cold moon, isolated and orbiting a faraway gas giant.

  We would have never imagined that the thick methane and sulphuric acid layer was hiding a flourishing civilization.

  How could we?

  I still remember the conferences, crowded with conceited xenobiologists.

  “The point is not whether the basic molecule of amino acids can be different from carbon, but the fact that every living system requires an atmosphere with oxygen, if it has to breathe and, consequently, live. In conclusion, even if, hypothetically, other life forms do exist, in order to breathe, they need oxygen; therefore they need atmospheres similar to the one on our planet.”

  On Teyon, the average temperature was around -100° J, low to the point of freezing the vast oceans of ammonia that covered almost the entire surface. Only for short period of time the temperature became, so to speak, milder; but when it rose to around -40° J, sulphuric acid rains pounded incessantly on the immense silicic and sulphurous lands; it was a deadly inferno.

  The amount of oxygen in the atmosphere was irrelevant, and yet the Teyons, known as the Softies due to their low-density bodies, proliferated on that inhospitable surface; they even managed to develop a civilization so far advanced that kept us in check for almost 100 ota-pakt, the long generational war. Two of our generations had fought those legendary battles, only one for the Teyons, given their longevity. With a little luck, I could have retaliated on the Teyon who killed my grandfather, probably the bastard was still out there, alive and well, battling against us on board of one their Lians.

  These mysterious aliens, materialized from thin air with their powerful vessels, wouldn't have had any mercy; the Teyon fleet must be destroyed by now. I sneered and, for a moment, I completely forgot that, after the Teyons, it could be our turn.

  We waited for several days; we were all working to restore the full efficiency of our resources. We were preparing ourselves to face a new danger, even more fearful than the Teyons.

  We hastily gathered the Supreme Council of the United Continents. The great palace towered at the end of the grandiose Pacification Avenue and, due to the emergency, it was used as the great Government chamber.

  Who would have thought that, one day, I would have been summoned to the prestigious building of the Central Government?—I wondered while I looked around. This place is teeming with the highest political and military officials from all three continents.

  I was taken aback, for a moment, when admiral and generalissimo Flintiut, commander of the space assault force, asked my opinion on the issue at hand.

  “Director Kundat, you were able to see these ships before the great energy vacuum took place. In your opinion, do we have any chance? After all, if I am not mistaken, there were only five vessels ... and perhaps the Teyons were simply caught by surprise.”

  I gazed at him; the bright light of the immense hall was shining off the slew of crests and insignia on his full dress uniform, a flashy golden cape gave him all the lustre a man of his position was supposed to have.

  “General, in all honesty, we have none. If they decide to attack us, it will be the end of our civilization; from the data at our disposal, we have established that their technology is at least one hundred years ahead of ours. They travel via space-time cavitation, I would say, with gravitational technology; our scientists still deny that a similar technology is even only conceivable.”

  “But why are you so certain? You are not an expert on military tactics; you are only a scientist, the scientific director of an espionage project!” he told me contemptuously and irritated by my peremptory opinion, that left no way out.

  “Do you realize that we must reassure the population? You have already condemned all to death!”

  “General, I respect your position... but let me remind you that we were losing the war against the Teyons, how could we win against an enemy who is a thousand times more powerful? It took only five ships to annihilate the great Teyon fleet, what would it happen if they arrived en mass?”

  The general gritted his teeth and turned away from me in a sign of disapproval. Soon after, I saw him trying to seek assurances from the governor of the continent of Kiirt.

  The president of the United Continents announced the order of the day that was focused on the strategies and protocols adopted in the event of an invasion by extra-terrestrial forces. All of the highest military officials, the political representatives and the highest exponents of the scientific community have been invited; not even during the Great War council against the Teyons the great government chamber was so crowded.

  “Gentlemen... we have all convened here, in great haste, to discuss the situation of great crisis that grips our planet in the last few days...” president Stibit said, with an austere look, meanwhile an annoying buzz started in the crowd that accompanied those first words.

  “You are all aware of the danger upon us, it seems that an unknown alien power has destroyed our historic enemies, the Teyons... and it is now very likely that it will turn toward our planet.”

  “This hypothesis is confirmed by the fact that, during their first attack, they have eliminated our satellite network with some unknown weapon. Therefore, for the time being, it is not possible to trace the movements of the five vessels in question” he said, as he looked toward me.

  “We reactivated only the short-range radar systems and deployed all the defence forces at our disposal to protect our beloved planet... all we can do is wait for the enemy's move. There is an urgent need for planning a strategy for action as quickly as possible...”

  However, while he spoke those distressing words, the deafening siren that announced an air strike resounded throughout the hall.

  A low vibration shook the floor. Following instincts, everyone run toward the large glass walls, eyes toward the outside to understand what event was taking place. Then, sussultatory waves put our ability to balance to the test. Finally, the panic: everyone tried to escape through the octagonal room exits.

  I stayed by the west glass wall. Peering at the sky, I was looking for the source of the vibration; I was afraid I was witnessing the invasion of my planet.

  I didn't have to wait too long, the gargantuan bow of a ship slashed through the clouds that loomed over the Piot range.

  A triumphal entry, right near the Government Palace... a daring move, but this time we are not only going to watch.

  The immense bulk of the vessel influenced the weather conditions all around for several jaf; the strong friction with the troposphere ignited the air, reddish and greenish fires developed; the polarized hull sparked huge beams of electrical discharges that dissipated against the ship itself. Finally, a sound wave broke the sound barrier and came crushing against the palace. The huge perimeter glass walls couldn't withstand the impact and exploded one after the other, inundating several members of the Council with glass shards. I threw myself on the floor, protecting myself as best as I could, I was lucky, I received only a few scratches, nothing serious.

  The shadow projected by the large vessel obscured the entire historical Pacification Avenue. The spaceship was motionless, hovering at about two jaf above the bridge of Kyria. A surreal, sinister atmosphere, a vicious wind raged on, there was zero visibility due to a dust storm.

  Despite the gale and the awful weather, I needed to go outside to better observe the phenomenon.

  The wind was dra
gging me away; it was very difficult to move forward.

  Suddenly, a light pulse with wavy concentric edges spread from the stern of the ship; after a few moments any meteorological manifestation was gone without a trace. In its place, there was clear sky, inconsistent to this season, an unexpected, never seen before weather change.

  Mmh, interesting... they must have used some form of ionized gas to control the weather conditions. But why did they do it? The atmospheric disturbances would have slowed down our reaction!—I was suspicious.

  In a blink, all defence forces, stationed in thousands of jaf radius, filled the skies toward the spaceship; the airspace of the government palace was restricted, it was unacceptable to be taken by surprise. The large ship had not been intercepted by the long-range sensors due to the failure of the satellite network; four squadrons of interceptor drones took to shooting distance of their long-range rockets, hundreds of ground-air missiles stations came up from beneath the surface and were aiming at the ship.

  At the same time, a team of soldiers, with broad gestures, sought to funnel all the personalities toward the underground bunker. It could be accessed by going under the large arches in the palace foyer; I also followed the churning flow to the very depths of the underground. There, we would have found comfortable locations to watch the battle from.

  As soon as everyone was safe, the order to attack was given. The mysterious vessel was yet to show any sign of hostility, but the protocol called for the destruction of anyone who violated our space without authorization.

  Who knows if that ship is able to withstand our entire arsenal,—I wondered a few moments before another energy pulse hit mercilessly our forces.

  The EM shields and the super armour plates, made of ultra-resistant alloys, couldn't stop such energy spike. The artificial intelligence systems that the drones were equipped with didn't even have the time to attempt evasive manoeuvres; that pulse was launched instantly to millions of jaf of distance. All drones plunged from the sky one by one; their basic electronics have been burned.