Emergence by Chris Harris (best feel good books .txt) 📕

“I'm sorry, but calling wasn' my firs' though'; trying to stay alive was.” Strom said in a soothing voice, trying to keep Ilisa calm.

“Well...” she struggled for words. “You had me worried, Strom. I was keeping a lookout and, well the North's been devastated. I thought you'd...” She trailed off.

“Well, I'm mostly fine.” Strom said. This was mostly true; the pain in his ribs was wearing off now, so obviously they weren't broken, just bruised. “Now, come here.” She walked over to him, and he held her close to him. Ilisa rested her head on Strom's should, and he kissed her on the top of her head. “I love you, y'know?”

“I know.” Her voice was strained as she cried into Strom's shoulder.

“You three!” Yelled an unfamiliar voice. “Ge' to your Stingers, we're moving ex'!”

Strom let Ilisa go. “See you on the other side.” he said with a smile.

“You better.” she said back.

“And I'll hope to see you both.” Olaf said. “Or have you forgotten me?” He chuckled after saying this, before clambering up a ladder to get into the Stinger's cockpit.

Strom left Ilisa at her's, while he looked up at his Stinger. A thrill stirred up inside of him; it was time to fly.

Cinradahs's office had three screens, linked up to one computer, to make for easier multitasking. Cinradahs himself sat in a Hauti-Skin chair which was on a rail that ran along the edge of the desk that filled half of his office. Unlike usual rail-desks, this one was motorised, requiring less effort on Cinradahs's part. There was a cuboid structure next to the desk, with various holo-cards and memory-chambers stored in it; a filing cabinet.

One of the screens flickered into life. “New Orbus, come in New Orbus.” The image was of static, but Cinradahs could see a vaguely human shape behind it. He adjusted a setting on the computer, and Admiral Fairns came into view.

“New Orbus here. Minister Cinradahs, of Defence, here. State your business,” Cinradahs noticed the star on Fairns's armour, “Admiral.”

“We are under attack sir,” Fairns said hurriedly. “We have beaten them off for now, but we fear they'll be back.”

“Who?” Cinradahs asked, “Who is attacking you? Is it another Northern riot?”

“No,” Fairns shook his head, as if it was obvious, “It's the Xaosians, sir. We're at war!”

“The Xaosians?” asked Cinradahs, “Are you certain? Not just a terrorist group?”

“No!” Fairns yelled. “The Dominion is in orbit!”

Cinradahs touched the screen and slid his finger along it, transferring Fairns to the one on the left. On the central screen, he opened the ship-log; a software tool for tracking ship serial codes. He typed in The Dominion, before selecting the correct code; the top one. The results came up on screen. “The Dominion is indeed above Raan.” Cinradahs observed. “I need to speak to Xaos.” The ruler of the planet Xaos was always named after the planet during their reign.

“Why?” Fairns asked. “I've told you what's happening here! He's destroying my city!”

“Where is Yuki?” Cinradahs asked about Raan's ruler.

“She's on New Orbus at the moment; she has a meeting with Lord Tahkshi later.”

“Good, she's safe here.” Cinradahs said, nodding. “And I need to speak with Xaos now.”

Cutting off Admiral Fairns, Cinradahs sent a broadcast signal out to The Dominion. A silver face came up on the screen: Xaos.

“Minister Cinradahs, of Defence.” Cinradahs announced himself. “I am talking to Xaos, ruler of Xaos?”

“Yes,” Xaos hissed as the camera pulled back, revealing his surrounding. The room was a dull grey, but what Xaos sat upon was a throne carved in gold, with the twin parabola )( engraved into it. “But not just ruler of Xaos. Soon, Raan too will be mine.”

“So you are at war Raan?” Cinradahs asked.

“No.” Xaos replied, another Xaosian taking his place beside his throne. Behind both of them was a white figure that Cinradahs couldn't quite place the species of. “Not Raan. The rest of The Twelve will be ours.”

“Why?” Cinradahs asked.

“Because we can!” roared Xaos. “We have the greatest military might of the Empire. We have Raan in our hands. We could take their military-base easily now that we know their tactics. Or, we could use the Earth-Scorcher on the Sea of Oil, shattering at least a quarter of the planet.” Raan had only one continent which separated two masses of liquid; one of water and one of oil. The Sea of Oil was a huge danger for the planet itself, especially if bombarded with a laser from orbit.

“You wouldn't dare. The interplanetary backlash would destroy you like it did the Adjeti.” Cinradahs threatened.

“I don't know,” Xaos said, “Fear can be one hell of a weapon. They may surrender when they see me decimate Raan.”

“You won't decimate Raan.” growled Cinradahs.

Xaos laughed. “You threaten me.” He grinned. “But I won't decimate Raan if they surrender. You tell Yuki that.” Xaos cut the connection and a black screen stared back at Cinradahs.

“Admiral!” Cinradahs yelled, turning the Admiral's screen back on.

“What?” asked Fairns quickly.

“You need to surrender. Stop your attack now!” Cinradahs said, the tendons on his neck standing out.

“Why?” Fairns asked desperately.

“He will use The Dominion's laser to ignite the Sea of Oil.”

“But...that would shatter Raan,” Fairns exclaimed, “at least a quarter of it would be annihilated, and the rest of Raan may follow.”

“I'm sorry then,” Cinradahs spoke mournfully, “but you must surrender.”

“Not my decision.” Fairns said. “Yuki's the only one who can call the order.”

“I override her. Do it now.” Cinradahs growled, before turning the screen off.

After Cinradahs pushed a button on his desk, a drawer in the front of the desk slid open. Inside was a black cuboid, with a dozen bright red buttons. He pressed two of the buttons and said, “Saiun, find Yuki for me. Now!” before putting the com on the desk and closing the drawer.

He sat still for a moment, before looking down at his hand; it was shaking. He wasn't used to this and he didn't want this; the closest things he'd ever got to this were riots. No interplanetary conflict; the idea that there could be was an alien idea to him.

A voice came back from the com: Saiun. “She's in Presidential Suite 8, sir. Shall I send for her?”

“Yes.” Cinradahs said, as if it was obvious.

Saiun was Cinradahs's deputy-in-training; in case anything happened to Cinradahs, he would be able to take over. Cinradahs saw him as a bright lad, but he was too nervous or shy to make his own decisions. Cinradahs would have to sort that out, especially with war on the way, and the possibility of New Orbus getting attacked.

New Orbus itself was the political centre of the Empire of Twelve, and the capital planet. The Empire, founded by the now-dead Adjeti race hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago, it reverted to human control after the Adjeti's war crimes. Using the World-Burner, the Adjeti destroyed everything on the surface of Orbus, including the entire Orban race. A war against the Adjeti followed, ending with the human Ardican using the World-Burner to destroy the Adjeti homeworld of Oblivion. The floating continent that was New Orbus was established on Orbus, now a barren rock, as a constant memorial to the lost Orban race.

And now Xaos wanted to rule it, using similar tactics to the Adjeti. Except the Adjeti established the Empire, giving all eleven planets the technology of space travel, while ruling from Oblivion. It seemed bliss, until the Orbans questioned their authority and suffered for it.

A knock on the door interrupted Cinradahs's thoughts. “Enter.” he called.

The door opened and a woman, dressed in a red and gold robe, entered: Yuki, the Raanian President. “What do you want to see me about? Your servant said it was urgent.”

Cinradahs felt a pang of annoyance at the description of Saiun a a `servant`. But he put that aside and spoke softly, “You are at war.”

The look of fear and shock on her face expressed his emotions exactly.

The Hive was unsettled, Devilclash noted. As a Pyrkagias, she was essentially just a Hive-Stone; an insect that controls a hive mind. The Hive made up the rest of her body, controlled by the Hive-Stone. But today, the Hive seemed restless, and the individual bugs would not stay in one place.”Stop it!” she broadcast telepathically from the Hive-Stone; the bugs that formed her mouth were down by her left hand. She had not lost her eyes, though; she could look through any of the bugs that made up her body, or even all at once. But even without them, the Hive-Stone had a sonar-like detection sense. “Stop!” she broadcast again. This time, the bugs actually listened and formed a humanoid shape again. “Thank you.” she said to herself, testing her mouth again. Her voice was more hoarse than usual, but she felt satisfied that all was working as it should.

But the sudden restlessness worried her; the Hive only felt like that in dire times. She remembered the last time she felt like this; on the onset of the Adjeti War. She was young then, centuries ago and, by Pyrkagias standards, still young now. She barely remembered the war itself, but the feeling of your body tearing itself apart and the confusion as you saw out of a hundred pairs of eyes, all moving in the opposite direction, was something she'd never forget.

She closed her eyes and opened the Hive-Stone to the Swarm.

The Swarm was the hive-mind of the entire Pyrkagia race, and all the emotions, knowledge and memories of every Pyrkagias that ever lived resided in it. She searched through it until she found a blazing surge of fear and anger. She honed in it and delved into it.

Fires, flames, fear gripped the building before it toppled. Things flew overhead, spewing fire down upon the land. Raan was doomed.

She closed her mind and was filled with dread: there was a Pyrkagias on Raan, and it was at war. It took all of her resilience to hold her body together as the bugs' instinct was to flee from the danger perceived by the Hive-Stone.

She turned and walked out of her room.

The walls of the corridor she stepped into were pure white, with windows traversing one side of it. Out of the window, Devilclash could see the New Orbus skyline below. Pillars of steel tried to touch the sky, but ultimately failed, while further away from the building she was in, Devilclash could see small dark-red squares, obviously roofs of houses. These had a road cutting through the centre, but the