Ascendance The Original Lands Book 1

"Scanner shows more than a dozen sh.i.p.s heading straight for us, Captain," the crewman reported.

Panic quickly set in, should I try and flee, and why are these guys even here?

The Captain turned to Folduin, "What do you want us to do?"

Folduin didn't miss a beat. "Hail them, and if they continue to accelerate on our position, then we engage."

"Understood sir," Captain Teluria said, turning around in her chair, "All hands, level two Battlestations!"

A crewman at one of the consoles repeated the Captain's orders.

"Captain Teluria to all sh.i.p.s, we will now rotate to face the incoming forces, enter into level two Battlestations. Have all Talons and Lancers ready for launch," The Captain instructed, after hitting a button on the armrest of her chair.

The fleet slowly turned to face the incoming forces, that were right now, mere specs through the front windows.

I could only imagine what the Allied fleet is thinking, another potentially hostile force appearing. This part of the world was quickly setting itself up to be a battleground.

"Captain, we're receiving a transmission from the Yurian fleet, I'll patch it through," a crewman said.

A bald-headed man appeared on screen, several cutes and scars adorned his face, his eyes were pure white, giving off a malevolent look. A smirk decorated his face like one would wear a medal.

"Attention Galian dogs, I am Giren Hould of the Yurian sixth armada, I have one demand and you will comply with it, or my fleet will wipe you off the surface of the earth." the man said, with somehow a mixture of a rough but yet smooth tone.

He paused for a moment and then spoke up, "You have with you a boy that my master would very much like to meet, hand him over and I will allow your continued existence."

I already didn't like this guy. Not because he was calling for me to be released to them, but because of his condescending tone. I don't appreciate that at all.

Folduin stood, an absolute white rage on his face, "Record me," he ordered.

"I am Lord Commander Folduin of the Galian Royal Navy, the demand that you requested is absolutely absurd, and we therefore decline. I give you one chance to leave, this will not be offered again,"

The message was sent, and minutes passed before the black specs multiplied into a larger mass.

"Captain, we have Scr.a.p.ers incoming!" the same crewman screamed.

I saw the Captain tense up, and Folduin frowned. "Captain, send a message to the Allied fleet, tell them to get as far away from here as possible, lest they want to get caught up in the fighting. Also, set the fleet to level 1 Battlestations, and deploy our Lancers and Talons."

The Captain didn't even confirm his orders before she was off ordering Battlestations to one.

Minutes later, I could see several hatches on the top of the ship slide open, and suddenly, many of the large mechs were lifted up by a platform. The mechs then jumped into the air, boosters on the back of their legs and back giving them the much-needed boost to get off the ship.

Many of the cool looking fighters flew by, the Talons if I remember right. They immediately moved to engage the enemy forces.

Most of the mechs followed the fighters, with a few positioning themselves around the ship. "Sapphire Squadron is to move with Ruby Squadron and engage the enemy. Royal squadron, you form a defensive perimeter around the Flagship. All forces, weapons free." The captain ordered.

The hatches that unleashed the mechs launched from closed.

"Captain, the enemy fleet has open fired," said a separate crewman. Seconds later, large red bullets slammed into the fleet, some bounced harmlessly off of the hulls of the sh.i.p.s. While others ran into an invisible barrier, not even making contact. My eyes grew wide as several Talons and Lancers burst into balls of fire.

Nobody told me they had shields, this was starting to sound more like Star Wars by the second, made me wonder if they had small astromech droids.

"Return fire!" Ordered the Captain.

Just like that, the air between the two fleets was filled with blue and red bullets, with explosions going off. Missiles flew past the bridge, aiming for the enemy fleet. Many of them were shot down by enemy anti-aircraft batteries.

"Captain, the Allied fleet was hit by some of the enemies bombardment. They're moving... to engage!" he exclaimed, not masking the shock in his voice, "We've received a message from them, it reads, 'We will assist you in defending the oceans, as we've already talked with your Lord Commander and formed a temporary alliance,' that is all of the message."

"Damn fools," Teluria cursed, as she ordered the crewman to tell the primitive fleet to withdraw.

No response came, and since the fleet showed no signs of decelerating and about facing, it was obvious as to their answer. The windows on the bridge windows shook slightly as several flights of F-15's flew by.

"Captain, I want you to arrange the fleet up so it can act as a sort of barrier between the enemy and the Allied fleet." I glanced at the Lord Commander as he gave the order, his mouth twisted into a slight frown.

By now, our forces had engaged the enemy in an all-out dogfight, several of their fighters broke through the wave of Galian forces that were currently intercepting them. One of the enemy fighters fired several missiles, a Lancer floating close to our was bridge targeted and hit, it was then knocked back slightly and blew up several moments later after failing to shoot down the or dodge the incoming threats.

I jumped up from my seat as I watched the mech implode, my heart heavy and my mind reeling with sadness at the loss of the pilot. I didn't know him, but he still technically served me.

And knowing that several more would die because they were here to collect and protect me didn't help. I tried to steel my heart, but it did very little every time a ball of fire consumed one of the Galian machines.

By now, the whole sky had turned into an all-out dogfight. The planes that the allied fleet had dispatched were almost completely wiped out, with the exception of a few ace or just plain lucky pilots who had the skill and reflexes to dodge bullets and other missiles.

Our own anti-aircraft weapons had opened up by now and had started shooting at the enemy. Several enemy aircraft were hit and they themselves erupted, lighting up the sky like an oversized firework.

A feeling of exasperation swept through me as so many lives were lost in an unnecessary struggle, and to think this wasn't even the first engagement. Seeing as how I hated seeing my people die, I think I might just have it in me to be a good leader.

Kind of funny how I refer to them as my people. Been here for a day and I classify them as mine.

The enemy fleet was rapidly gaining ground, now I could see the sh.i.p.s in high detail, as our fleets fired upon each other. So far, I hadn't heard the Captain say anything about any of the other sh.i.p.s being shot down, so I guess that's a plus. I have heard, that a few primitive navy destroyers were heavily damaged and sinking.

I just hope the political backlash for all of this wasn't too horrible for Galia.

A well placed shot from what looks like one of our own destroyers hit one of the enemy sh.i.p.s, it breached the hull and came out the other side. The enemy ship burst into flames and the debris fell forward into the ocean below us.

A quick look at one of the screens showed it was dangerously close to the navy warsh.i.p.s that were assisting us. Their fighters were now nearly all lost after heavy fighting. A tinge of regret embedded itself into my heart. If I had to compare it to anything, I'd compare it to stepping on glass. It's painful and cutting deep inside.

Our sh.i.p.s picked up their fire, several more of the enemy warsh.i.p.s were sent crashing to the ocean floor. I had asked Folduin why our sh.i.p.s were winning so hard, he simply replied that their sh.i.p.s were far weaker, only fodder sh.i.p.s. The enemy probably didn't want to commit a larger force of more important sh.i.p.s.

I didn't think the enemy knew that the Galian force would be so well equipped. But that also seemed foolish. If a fleet was going to secure a potential new leader, that the nation hasn't had in a decade, then, of course, it'd be heavily armed.

All seemed to be going well in the battle, our fleet was beginning to push theirs back. Unfortunately, that's when we also lost our first ship.

I watched the war zone from the comfort of my chair, not feeling nearly as comfortable as the seat I sat upon. I guess during the battle, I happened to sit back down without even realizing it. One of the sh.i.p.s that was acting as one of the vanguard was hit several times by enemy rounds, they managed to pierce the ship's shield and penetrated the ship's hulls.

After that, the ship combusted right in front of my eyes, and my mouth opened, I was unable to close it as I saw the ship catch fire in several sections. Anger coursed through me, and without even meaning to, I stood up once again and ordered, "Captain, finish them off at once!"

Rage was now freely flowing through me. The Captain looked back at me with shock evident on her face. Folduin next to me stared at me appraisingly. The corners of his mouth tipped up in a proud smile.

The Captain recovered from her quick moment of shock, "Yes, my lord,"

She then stood up from her chair as well, "All forces, let this be our final push. Make these fools regret crossing our path. Make them regret coming after our Emperor!" She exclaimed, her tone full of passion.

I allowed my fury to make itself shown on my face, my normal optimistic smile replaced with a grim determined expression.

They both seemed pretty surprised, though whether it was pleasantly or not, I don't know. They, however, saw a new side of me, a side I didn't even know I possessed. A few days full of stress and surprises released itself with the loss of all of those men.

I continued watching out the front windows, that's when I noticed for the first time a few black specs hanging further in the back. One of them was easily distinguished as a larger vessel than the ones currently attacking us.

I ignored one of the enemy fighters as it flew past one of our mechs, the mech exploded shortly after.

I paid no attention as one of our own fighters avenged his mecha comrade soon after. The large guns on the warsh.i.p.s firing round after round.

The smaller anti-aircraft weapons firing a never-ending barrage of bullets.

I ignored all of those.

"Teluria, what are those sh.i.p.s in the back?" I asked as I peered at the enemy ship.

She pressed a few buttons and pulled up the ship on her the large screen. "That, my lord, I believe is an enemy carrier and the flagship of the enemy commander. The sh.i.p.s with her are the escorts."

I let a predator grin show itself on my face.

"Any chance we can cboard that ship?" I asked, I wasn't sure if we could board enemy sh.i.p.s or not, but it was worth a shot.

The Captain turned towards me with a fierce grin on her face. Somehow, I knew her answer already.

***

Our ship evaded through the large scale battle currently going on above the pacific. Several Allied navy sh.i.p.s were already sunk, caught unprepared by the enemy's advanced fighters. Our forces did what they could to minimize loses. The fact remains, however, that no matter how hard we tried to minimize loses, there was still plenty to go around.

The enemy fleet was all but lost, with a few stragglers losing to the superiority of the Galian aerial navy.

Thankfully we hadn't lost any other capital ship, but there were several in critical condition. I vaguely recall Captain Teluria ordering a crew to be ready to abandon ship on one of them.

The enemy ship must've seen us coming because suddenly, mechs like ours were currently launching from it. These mechs were a little more creepy than their Galian counterparts. Their heads a mere triangle, with a single eye. Their arms covered in spikes aside from their hands which held weapons.

I'm pretty sure the arms alone could have counted for a weapon.

"Royal, move to intercept incoming cyclops!" Captain Teluria snapped quickly on seeing the incoming onslaught.

"Acknowledged!" Came a unified reply on coms. Several of the mechs that escorted our flagship rushed forward. The enemy mechs rushed towards ours, and they met in a storm of fire.

Many of the mechs clashed against each other, sword on sword. Others fired rifles that quickly decimated each other out of the sky if hit.

Our ship with several escorts entered firing range of the enemy sh.i.p.s. Within seconds, both sides began firing upon each other.

Several rounds popped into one of the smaller escort sh.i.p.s, the only confirmation was several explosions along the hull. Lancers maintained perimeters around the ship, and Talons danced throughout the large open space in between anti-aircraft barrages.

I watched as one Talon heavily damaged came flying back towards our ship, one of the hanger bays opened to allow for the landing. As the ship was touching down, fire engulfed it as it was hit by a passing enemy Talon equivalent.

I closed my eyes, looking away.

"Don't look away, my lord. This is what your future holds." Folduin told me. I opened my eyes and turned back to the ongoing battle.

"Landing Bay Four has suffered damage, Captain!" exclaimed a crewman.

"Boarding teams are ready for boarding, Captain," another crewman calmly reported.

The Captain said nothing, simply nodding in acknowledgment.

Suddenly, the enemy Flagship fired a line, it connected with our ship. Several more were shot afterwards, landing in different areas of the ship. The shots went straight through whatever shields that guarded us and shook the ship as a whole.

"Captain, they're attempting to board!" someone confirmed.

"I have eyes, crewman," she said, turning her head to stare at the man who spoke. Then she pressed a button on her chair and spoke, "If we're going to be boarded, go ahead and set our forces up at entry points. Rush forward once they're clear, and take over the entrance points."

The Captain turned to me, "Ready to go for a stroll, my lord?"

I let my grin answer. Today, I'll capture the asshole who killed my mother and turned my world upside down.