Tergoza War Excerpt: Dunis Excursion

“Tergoza Command Ship Advent, you are clear for landing at Pad B-23 when you arrive. Welcome to Dunis.”

Zeema Jetrel stood behind the pilots in the cramped cockpit of her ship, the Advent, as it hit the atmosphere of the planet Dunis in the Toru system. Due to the Advent’s vaguely dragon-shaped outer hull design, it cut through the world’s thick atmosphere with little heat on the vital systems that kept the ship active.

“Shields are at one-hundred percent,” the Advent's pilot, Relki, said to Zeema, who stood with a determined look on her face. “It will be a bit before we reach Outpost Zeta.”

Zeema looked out the front windscreen and noticed they were flying low to the ground across an expansive desert. “Why not just fly down into it from outer space and get there twice as fast?” Zeema asked, “Or, maybe even use a tele-portal?”

“Well the ship’s designed to cut through atmospheres and not be burned by the entry,” Relki said, “but at the same time that design makes it weak against things like lightning. Weather reports indicate that a storm is firing over the outpost right now, so we have to wait for it to clear. That will give us an opportunity to scout the area and make sure the EOE isn’t breathing down Outpost Zeta’s neck.”

Zeema shrugged, “That’s all well and good, but what about the tele-portal?”

“Well the ship isn’t tested with them. Flying through a portal could tear the Advent into pieces.”

“I understand. Just get us there when you can, Relki. When you get us back safe, I’ll look into your transfer request. You’ll be piloting transport ships through non-combat areas before you can say ‘thank you ma’am’.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Relki said while keeping his eyes on the windscreen, “darn, I thought I’d be on transport ships at this moment.”

Zeema chuckled, “just get us to Outpost Zeta.” With those words, she turned around and walked out of the cockpit into the large central area of the craft. “Time for some sleep-“

“Commander Jetrel?” Relki's voice came in from the cockpit, “High Commander Xerec wants to brief you on our mission. I’m sending his signal to the comm room.”

“Oh great, Xerec. Tell him I’m coming, I guess.”

Zeema sighed as she walked through the halls of the Advent, taking one final deep breath before opening the door of the comm room. She thought back to how Xerec was there originally when she had wanted to join the military, and how he treated her with with disrespect to the point the actual Emperor of the entire cluster, Izoril Sorokanos, had to get involved in the antagonism on Zeema's behalf. Apparently Sorokanos wanted to demote Xerec, but the war had just broken out and the military needed as many people as it had.

“Commander Jetrel, I am pleased that you were able to meet with me.”

Zeema walked into the aft communications room of the ship, spotting a holographic projection of Tergoza High Commander Rothis Xerec near the back wall. His appearance was standard for the rest of the high commanders, his classic long coat meticulously planted on his shoulders and the spines that made up his hair slicked back, not one out of place. To anyone else, he would look like a high-class member of the Tergoza’s militaristic society. To Zeema, however, he looked the same way as always: Like the tail-end of an ancient dragon way past its prime.

“High Commander Xerec, you’re looking especially bureaucratic today, new coat? Though I must congratulate you if you got a new personality, getting one was way past overdue. You’ve needed one for quite some time.”

“No. And do not speak to your High Commander again like that, or I’ll have you grounded for the next five years. Understand, Commander?”

Zeema scoffed and walked over to the projection, staring it down. She thought to herself that if Xerec was really standing in front of her, he’d be on the floor in a second, higher rank or not. “Emperor Sorokanos would override your order just like he'd done in the past, or did you forget what he told you about showing me respect? Now where are you sending me this time? Another senseless mission where I rescue baby dragons from an EOE bulldozer? Or maybe you’re sending me to the surface of the sun in the Meta system? A little input on my mission would go a long way.”

“Actually the destination for your mission is in the Meta system, but unfortunately not for that. The reason you were sent to Outpost Zeta in the first place was to collect the son of Emperor Sorokanos, Cordon. He was on Dunis to investigate possible Shadowmaster activity, but his investigation turned up cold so he’s returning home to Rilazon. Your job is to get him there safely.”

“Why didn’t he take his own ship? You’d think Cordon Sorokanos could afford a ship equipped with an Outerlight Drive, or is this war hitting us all where it hurts?”

Xerec shrugged. “Actually it’s hard to say why he decided to go alone. The son of the Emperor is a bit above my order rank. Just find him at Outpost Zeta and return him home. Maybe if you do that, I can overlook your little transgression earlier, and maybe others will decide you are fit to wear the rank you have. Commander.”

Zeema made a gesture with her hand that she had learned from spying on a human camp, and shut the transmitter off. The image of Xerec vanished instantly, and she sat down on a chair in the room, slamming her head onto the table in anger.

Zeema opened her eyes and heard the low hum of the ship’s engine as it flew. She focused her hearing and could hear the pitter-patter of raindrops as they hit the hull of the ship and resonated through the interior. When she walked into the comm room, the sky was clear, but now after opening the back window of the room the entire area had transformed into a rainy day, with cold air forcing the outside of the window to frost over. She went to close the window again when she noticed something in the corner of the glass, it was a glowing smudge. She wiped her jacket’s sleeve on the smudge and realized it was getting larger, and then saw a red object. Seconds later an EOE missile tore through the aft of the ship, tearing apart the engines and knocking Zeema off her feet. With the propulsion destroyed, the rest of the flaming vessel angled downwards and began to crash into the surface of the planet. Zeema stood up and walked to the window, and saw another missile heading towards the comm room. When the missile hit, the massive sound of an explosion shattered her eardrums and she felt herself flying through the air and slamming against the cold metal floor.

Zeema quickly opened her eyes to see that she was on the floor of the comm room. She realized that she must have passed out after her conversation with Xerec, and subsequently had fallen to the ground while sleeping. Zeema didn’t hear the engine anymore, and looked around to see if the ship was destroyed, breathing a sigh of relief when it wasn’t. Not taking any chances, Zeema stood up, stretching her neck and back, and activated the back window again. She saw a gray and green metal wall on the other side of the glass, standard for the interior of a hangar bay. When that was done, she lifted her right wrist, pressed a holographic button on her Command Interface Device, and spoke into it, her voice strained from the daze and sleep deprivation.

“Relki, where are we?”

“Outpost Zeta, Commander,” Relki’s voice came in clear through the communication device. “Good thing too, we arrived just as another storm was heading in. Should I contact High Command to let them know we made it?”

“No, I’d probably end up talking to Xerec again and I don’t want to take that risk. How long have we been here?”

“About half an hour. Lt. Commander Zalikor is already on the ground.”

Okay, thanks. Let me get some things ready and I’ll meet him in the base. Tell him to rendezvous at the Central Plaza. All of these Outposts have those.”

“Aye, Commander.”

Zeema shut off the CID and walked across the ship towards her Command Quarters, walking past fellow Tergoza soldiers on the way. She still had the image of the ship on fire and crashing from her dream bored into her brain, and grew worried for the people under her watch. When she finally reached her room, she walked in and shut the door, leaning her back against it before sliding to the ground and closing her eyes. That wasn’t the first time she had a dream like that, and it wasn’t going to be the last, she was sure of it. Zeema stayed where she was for a while, sitting on the floor of her room while leaning against the door. Without opening her eyes, she spoke silently.

“Activate local news feed. Audio only.”

A small chirping noise rang out through the quarters, and a female voice echoed from a speaker on the far wall above the bed.

“Earlier today, the Tergoza Military struck a blow against the EOE by destroying one of their heavy tank factories established on the planet Mercaza months ago. Captain Rotlo went on the record to state that they have been eyeing the factory for three weeks before sending an armada to take it down.”

Zeema stood up and walked into the shower room of her quarters and stared at herself in the mirror. She thought herself looking respectable enough: muscular yet lean, with purple eyes. Her translucent purple hair-spines were growing a bit longer than she had wanted, part of them draping over her shoulders down in the front to the top her chest, and to her shoulder blades in the back. Her face was different compared to the rest of the Tergoza on the ship with her snout not as long, and far more slender.

“Refugees of the planet Liros, having escaped their world before the EOE took control, filed a unanimous petition in Tila City today requesting assistance from the Tergoza Military and the Ometa Guardians to return to the planet with a large strike force and reclaim their home. Emperor Izoril Sorokanos stated publicly that he is currently looking over the petition, and will make a decision tomorrow.”

Zeema felt that she commanded a sense of respect, but thought that her height was the least respectable thing about her, in her worldview at least. She was nearly a head shorter than the rest of the Tergoza on her ship, even the other females. Due to her unique height, Zeema’s military armor had to be custom-built for her specifically so she could maneuver comfortably, with enough room to accentuate her features, but not enough to feel like she was walking around in an environmental suit.

“In related news, Captain Zorel Karzak has disappeared following a hearing questioning his order for the soldiers fighting in Liros a month ago to remain on the planet rather than retreat. Karzak, who was evacuating the planet himself when he gave the order, was viciously scrutinized by the public for his apparent cowardice and ill-given order which indirectly resulted in the deaths of thousands of Tergoza soldiers.”

Taking her appearance into consideration, Zeema walked over to her locker and opened it up, revealing her armor. She hastily removed her clothes and equipped herself starting with the chainmail under-suit. When the rest of the armor was assembled, she then pulled her black trench coat on over it. As Zeema closed the locker door, a sharp pain hit her, and she looked around to see if there were any hidden EOE soldiers in the room. However, she looked at the source of the pain and saw that the end of her tail was caught in the locker’s door frame. She cursed out-loud, then pulled open the door again to slam it shut when her tail was free.

“Reports indicate that approximately twenty-seven thousand, six-hundred and fifty-eight members of the Tergoza Military have died in the result of this war. Far more have been injured. The number of civilian casualties, injuries, and disappearances is well in the hundred-thousand range.”

Now fully armored, she holstered her side-arm, wrapped an ammo belt around her waist, and put on her Visual Enhancement Visor while linking it up to the CID on her right wrist. Fully prepared for the mission, she walked outside her room and shut the door after shutting off the news feed. It wasn’t too long before she found herself at the docking bay outside of her ship, where a variety of different aliens from the one-eyed Zengulans to the twelve-armed Alirar were waiting outside, chatting with the Tergoza soldiers stationed aboard the Advent.

Zeema walked through the dock of the outpost, and caught a look at the place through a window. All Tergoza outposts were large, but Zeta was massive compared to the rest. It had a variety of skyscrapers, ships docked across the outside, a command base, and a huge, four mile-wide central plaza with all sorts of shops and apartment complexes. Zeema had heard that Outpost Zeta was the first extra-planetary facility built by the Tergoza, with Zeta being the last name of the family who had built it originally. Over time, it became a hub of activity as the different species from all over the Selora Star Cluster joined with the peaceful Empire that had spanned across the sector. The main facility’s large central area glowed white in the sun, glistening from the rain that had left not too long before, as on the western side Zeema could see people dipping into a natural beach that apparently was there when the facility was first constructed.

Zeema had wanted to come to Outpost Zeta when she was younger, and was quite excited to be here now, but there was a nagging feeling looming over her head. Ever since Liros, everyone knew that the EOE had massive weapons that could level entire areas. If they were able to use this weapon at Zeta, the resulting explosion could kill everything inside and outside the outpost. Luckily, she heard that the Tergoza Military was taking action to shield important areas, and apparently Zeta was high on that list due to its importance and Dunis’ proximity to planet Rilazon. She just hoped it was quick enough, or that the war would end before the EOE could use another one of those devastating bombs.

Zeema kept that hope in her mind as she walked past more windows, watching ships fly in and out of the outpost. Closer than the rest, three Z-35 Spikeship fighter craft flew low across the top of the base, heading towards a mountain on the near horizon. Seeing fighters moving in squadrons was a common sight since the war began, as well as destroyed areas where houses used to be and crater-covered wastelands taking the place of nice fields and forests. As she kept walking, she passed by three fellow Tergoza sitting at a desk watching a holographic image of a crashed ship on the back wall nearby. The ship looked similar to the Advent, but larger and more bulky in certain areas. A female Rilazonian was standing in front of it, speaking into a type of microphone on her own Command Interface Device.

“-and we’re just getting word that half the crew on board were killed on impact. If you’re just joining us, the Tergoza Military Vessel Zoshal has crashed in the wilderness of Dunis after sustaining two missile hits from an EOE remote drone. The Tergoza military is currently searching for survivors, as well as weeding out any other drones in the area. It is easy to pinpoint where the missiles hit, one in the stern near the engines, and one in the communications room. The ship went down two hours ago while it was flying across the rainy desert. Again, the Tergoza vessel Zoshal has crashed in Dunis, and the military is swarming the area looking for survivors. This is Thorna Ketric for Selora NewsNet. Now I’ll send you back to the studio in Outpost Zeta for more developments.”

Zeema shook her head. The news of another ship being shot down didn’t faze her much, as it was yet another common sight in the Tergoza War. As she turned to walk away, however, the revelation hit her hard in the chest and she froze solid of exactly where the ship was shot down. The very idea that she saw the Zoshal being shot down in her dream shook her core and made her continue to walk in a daze, unable to process these thoughts.

Somehow, Zeema found herself in Outpost Zeta’s central plaza. She looked around and noticed a large holographic projector in the middle of the area. While walking, she noticed her comrade, Roken Zalikor, standing near the projector with his arms behind his back and legs in parade stance, looking at the projector and what it was displaying. She walked over to him and stood at his side while they watched the image composed entirely of light hovering in front of them. The image was that of a planet which Zeema had recognized as Liros, the site of the EOE’s most ruthless invasion a month before. A series of green dots on the surface of the planet indicated areas where Tergoza soldiers lost their lives in battle with the EOE. As they viewed the western half of the planet, the dots were spread out sparingly, indicative of smaller conflicts in which a few soldiers hadn’t been able to reach extraction points from their respective battles. That, or they had sacrificed themselves to ensure the safety of others.

However, when the facsimile of the planet rotated, Zeema could easily see a massive green area, one that covered a good portion of the northern hemisphere. She reached out and interacted with the hologram, stopping the planet from rotating as she focused on the area. Zeema had heard about the destruction, but didn’t have any friends or colleagues involved in the conflict on Liros directly.

Roken bowed his head and looked at the ground, speaking softly. “Before Liros, our military forces hadn’t suffered a major, planetary loss. The closest thing we had to one was when the EOE invaded Tergoze without detection. Even then, we had kicked them offworld before the five month mark. But Liros, all that devastation…”

Zeema continued to look at the image. “I heard about it. I’ve made a point of staying away from vid footage, though. Look, I need you to focus right now. You know how literally no one told us why we’re here on Dunis? It is a top-secret assignment. We’re supposed to search Outpost Zeta for Cordon Sorokanos and bring him home. Now look around and tell me if you see any Rilazonians.”

Zeema and Roken looked around the plaza where they were, and both of them quickly came to the conclusion that there were more people than they predicted. Among the Tergoza stationed there, they could see hundreds of people from other species such as Alirar, Zengulans, and a few Rilazonians. From what the two Tergoza had seen through videos and images, Cordon Sorokanos was a very specific-looking Rilazonian, with blue hair-spines, olive-green skin, and blue eyes to match the hair. What made him stand out from the rest were four scars on his face, which looked like someone with claws mauled his eyes from above.

Zeema and Roken continued to watch for Cordon, the latter keeping more of an eye on the area. While Zeema was looking, she was also focused on one or two people around them. Standing nearby was a Tergoza female speaking into a headset on her civilian VEV, looking distressed as she did so.

“Yes, my name’s Verna Zerel, I’m calling to ask about my boyfriend, he was supposed to meet me at Outpost Zeta today. … Yes, his name’s To’ev Cerek, Identification Number 9302-3233. … Yes, he was stationed on Rilor, his ship was supposed to dock at Zeta today. … I’ll hold.”

Zeema then heard small footsteps nearby and turned her attention to a Rilazonian child walking next to a couple of older females. The girl was no more than ten or eleven years old, and she was trying to get the attention of one of the ladies.

“Aunt Fera, Aunt Fera, when are mommy and daddy coming back?”

“Soon, hon. Go play with your friends, but stay where I can see you.” The little girl ran down the Plaza and met up with a group of other children. When she was gone, her Aunt turned to the other lady. “Her parents were on Z’roel when the EOE invaded. I can’t find a way to tell her.”

Zeema closed her eyes, and could hear Verna, from a few minutes before, as she continued to talk on the headset. “Yes? … Yes, he was- … I see.” Verna’s voice became higher pitched as she continued to talk, “Yes, I’ll… I’ll tell his family. Thank you for the information.” Zeema opened her eyes again and watched as Verna clasped her eyes with her hands and started to breathe heavily. Verna then turned and walked away as she took the VEV off, dropping it on the floor while not even looking.

Zeema turned her body towards Roken, but kept her gaze on the grieving Tergoza walking through the plaza, past the orphaned child who innocently played a game with her friends.

“I hate this war.”

Moments later, the entire plaza area shook violently. Out the windows, Zeema and Roken could see smoke rising from a mountainside overlooking the outpost, and Zeema noticed the same Z-35 fighters that she saw earlier now flying overhead. Everyone stood in the plaza silently as the fighters swarmed the smoke, firing pulse lasers into the source to create more smoke and explosions. A Tergoza transport vessel flew into view and landed near the source of the smoke for a moment, before taking off and heading back to the outpost.

“Looks a bit like they caught some EOE trying to sneak in,” Roken said while the crowd around them went back to their day, “must be a routine thing. I wonder if they captured anyone.”

Zeema glared as she watched the transport land on a hangar platform nearby. Using the Zoom function of her Visual Enhancement Visor, she could see a group of Tergoza directing a clearly-injured EOE soldier across the platform into the building. “Come on, Roken. Cordon Sorokanos can wait.” They walked away from the holographic projector, and moments later someone wearing a blue cape and hood hiding in the shadows watched them leave, his eyes focused on the two. When there was a large enough distance, the mysterious person started walking after them, looking from side-to-side as he did so.