The Last Castle

The Last Castle



Tarrick walked slowly around the command deck of the Unending Sacrifice. Its polished Tritanium hull reflected the countless years of experience that his features portrayed. But despite his apparent old-age Tarrick was an efficient and respected ship commander, and the Unending Sacrifice would no doubt add to his already impressive stature.

Around him technicians and operations staff busied themselves with endless combat simulations and weapon diagnostics that would assure the fleet of victory. He knew that engaging the enemy with overwhelming force, superior tactics and firepower had been the downfall of many commanders who had underestimated their foe. But Tarrick was determined that he would not be one of them.

Tarrick’s enemy was indeed primitive and narrow minded. With a predilection for self- annihilation and murder on a grand scale, they were more than capable of presenting a threat to any unsuspecting and overconfident invader. Their millennia of warfare had created a number of segregated societies who constantly fought with one another over scraps of seemingly worthless land and bleak featureless deserts. But despite their apparent barbarity, Tarrick was fascinated by them. His decades of schooling as a child had shown him that they had a unique grasp of tactics and strategy. And even when faced with overwhelming odds, defeat could still be avoided.
One battle in particular that had stayed with him over the years concerned a small group of soldiers armed with just swords, spears and shields. Over the course of a few days they inflicted an unbelievable amount of casualties on an enemy many times their size, with little loss of their own. In the end though they were betrayed, surrounded and killed.
It was these historic accounts that captivated Tarrick. It was their grasp of tactics and strategy, and an unwavering attitude towards warfare.

Tarrick had encountered many other enemies in the past that were gifted with technology far beyond those in his studies, but their ineptitude in battle and failure to seize any form of initiative often resulted in defeat, whereas this new enemy were intelligent in more ways than one.

As his crew readied themselves for the coming battle, Tarrick gazed at the main display screen at the forward end of the command deck. Its flowing star scene was almost seductive as millions of observable suns twisted and warped as the nearby space was altered by the ships powerful star-drive. This technology had been available to his species for over fifty millennia, but Tarrick’s enemy had only recently ventured to the several planets that made up their star-system and, even then, that was made by autonomous probes launched years before their arrival. Even this attempt at progress had puzzled him; some were intent on discovery whilst others were more concerned with death and destruction. They were almost a contradiction to their own existence. They lived in a constant cycle of creation and destruction. Where one element of their species would lay waste to towns and cities another would rebuild.
The pinnacle of their unusual balance was the use of dangerously unstable nuclear materials. One aspect was designed to destroy thousands within the blink of an eye, whilst another was to power entire cities.
They could not even coexist on their own planet, so what made them believe they could on another.

The display on the forward screen suddenly changed and Tarrick could feel a shift in the artificially created gravity field from the deck plating. They were slowing.
Before him the image viewer polarized and adapted with the shifting spectrum to exhibit the more familiar scene of stationary starlight.
Tarrick immediately ordered a fleet-wide status report, and at the same time the viewer changed to the lateral sensor array where the previous starlight was replaced by thousands of capital ships, cruisers and fast attack craft all in perfect formation.
At the leading edge of the fleet were point-defence craft. They were tasked with destroying any and all orbital installations around the target, and already they were accelerating ahead of the main fleet to carryout their duty.
The bulk of the fleet was made up from capital ships like the Unending Sacrifice. Between them they could house whole populations of cities, but they were also more than capable of reducing one to rubble in an incredibly short space of time. They would provide the majority of the fleet’s firepower in addition to the drop-ships for the ground assault.
Flanking them were the faster and more maneuverable cruisers. Despite their reduced firepower when compared to a capital ship they could attack swiftly and in large numbers. This made them the perfect accompaniment to any assault.

After a brief wait a multitude of confirmation indicators chimed the main fleet’s readiness for combat. Only two support craft had been forced to remain at the exit point, which sent a crooked smile across Tarrick’s wrinkled face. Despite the advanced technology available to them, travelling between distant points in space was always risky, and he had accounted for the possible loss of ten or more ships, at least, during transit. So the news of two intact but non-operational craft was more than welcome.
Once Tarrick was confident with the fleet’s dispersal and status he ordered the advance to the target. Before them a dull-grey moon flashed quickly by as they sped into a geosynchronous orbit with the target. As they arrived the point-defence fleet was mopping up the remaining artificial satellites in orbit, but Tarrick knew that only a handful of them were even the slightest of threats.
“Stand by to fire,” Tarrick ordered.
The bridge crew and the rest of the fleet immediately responded with the opening of plasma batteries. The dull thrum of charging weapons sounded throughout the hull of the Unending Sacrifice, as the energy of several suns were channelled into cohesive balls of superheated plasma.
“Fire!” bellowed Tarrick.
The ship shuddered violently before the inertia reduction field kicked in. The display screen changed once more to the forward view, just in time for it to be illuminated by hundreds of pulsing plasma shells, all hurtling towards their individual targets on the planet below. Tarrick was pleased by what he saw and had to restrain himself from roaring with joy, but he was experienced enough to know that victory was far from assured.
He continued to watch as the bright blue trail of falling plasma shells plunged through the oxygen rich atmosphere of the planet. Their iridescent wake, although deadly, was visually striking. Right now, Tarrick thought, the enemy must be gazing up at the sky, in awe of the spectacle occurring above them, completely unaware of the impending destruction about to befall their world.

Suddenly, there was a small chime from one of the tactical consoles on the command deck. “The enemy are launching missiles and interceptor craft,” a young officer informed.
“Dispose of them,” Tarrick ordered. “But monitor the far side of the planet for anything…unusual.”
“I do not think any such precautions will be necessary, sir.” The officer replied.
“Do not question my judgment, infant!” Tarrick roared. The tactical officer immediately dropped his head in shame, and carried on with his duties.
The command deck, which had previously been filled with noise and activity, fell into an uneasy silence before the rest of the command crew returned to their routine of study and observation.

Tarrick turned his attention to the large view screen. The trail of plasma had all but disappeared from sight, but it was quickly replaced by a second volley. He activated his personal data console and watched the first barrage as it struck the surface of the planet. Each plasma shell was programmed and guided to its individual target, ensuring a precision strike across the entire surface.
Tarrick knew that the primitive construction techniques of the enemy would offer little protection from the shower of falling stars. Even the targets that were buried deep underground would not be shielded from the attack.
“Status!” Tarrick requested.
The young officer lifted his head, but made no attempt to look Tarrick in the eye. “All vessels report a successful strike, sir. The fleet has sustained no damage either,”
“Good. Once the initial barrage is complete, send the cruisers in to destroy the remaining elements of their military, and then prepare for the assault.”
The deck shuddered again as a third volley erupted from the fleet.          

Tarrick returned to his command chair and surveyed the scene before him in relative comfort. The planet’s surface was covered in dozens of small bright specs—each one a raging fire of plasma amid towns and cities.
Tarrick imagined the chaos that was unfolding upon the unsuspecting population below would no doubt give rise to mass panic. To them, an unseen enemy was raining fire upon them with weapons they had no defence against. He wished he could be stood on the surface, watching the destruction in person.
Another alarm sounded from the tactical console. The officer, almost reluctantly, reported to Tarrick. “Sir, the cruiser Malevolent has sustained damage. Their gravity plating is offline and their stabilisers aren’t responding.”
A damaged cruiser would do little to deter or delay the assault, Tarrick thought. But he was curious as to how a primitive species had managed to retaliate in such a short space of time, and with some success.
“How?” Tarrick asked.
“Twelve, ground based, missiles were launched from the northern polar region of the planet. The intense magnetic field prevented us from detecting them.”
Tarrick was subtlety impressed. He had not expected the enemy to use their planet’s natural defences to launch a counter attack.
But then the situation changed dramatically.
The damaged cruiser, without the means to correct its trajectory, began to list to one side before careering into a nearby capital ship. The impact set off a chain of events as the capital ship and the cruiser exploded, showering the fleet with debris.

A small grin creeped across Tarrick’s face as he realised that he had finally encountered an enemy with the capability and intent to defend themselves.
But in the end, like every other world before it, the Earth would fall and every trace of humanity would die with it.