Finding Darkness

Chapter 32 History

"Captain, you have a progress report?" Thargoan welcomed his flag captain into his stateroom, motioning from his seat to a chair opposite him at the large table.

"Yes my Lord, I do."

"Tell me, Captain, all of it."

"My Lord, all of our research into our enemy has led us into completing this." Captain Vapade reached behind his back and drew out a small dagger. In its hilt was what looked like a pale green gem. It twinkled in the dim light of his stateroom, casting a green glow throughout the small room.

"This, my Prince, is the only one of its kind. It's an energy dampener. We were able to miniaturize it, and place it into this dagger's hilt. This weapon will cut through whatever that thing is wearing."

"And how do we know that, Captain?" The disdain in the Prince's voice was clear.

"Because that suit draws a tremendous amount of energy for any of the abilities it bestows on its wearer. This is an energy inversion unit, not unlike those we use in our torpedoes shield penetration matrix. It creates a small bubble around itself where no energy can be present, it pushes it away like a wave hitting a rock. I mean, underneath that suit, it's just a human, one deep cut almost anywhere on its body and it will bleed out in a matter of seconds."

"So, you have a way to kill it. Are we sure we want to kill it?" Thargoan interrupted.

"But sir, it's keeping us from obtaining what we need to finally end this mission. I thought you would want to kill it."

"Where are you from, Captain?" Thargoan stretched out in his chair.

"I'm from the Nelgatas providence, my Prince." Vapade answered.

"Ah yes, Nelgatas. Know a few centuries ago for producing the finest ocean going officers for my great great great grand sires naval forces, back when our race was still bound to our home planet."

"Yes, my Lord, I come from a long line of officers who looked to the water. It was only natural for me to look at the stars." Vapade wondered where the Prince was going with this conversation.

"Do you know what happened when my ancestor finally was able to attack your home providence? I mean, what truly happened, not what has been put into the history books?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. Your Filtek laid siege to our island for nearly four years before you were able to overwhelm us with sheer numbers. If the odds would have been even and we had had a method of resupply, your family would have never taken our island from us."

"Good then. You do know what actually happened. But do you know the reason it happened?"

"You had superior numbers. When the final assault was launched, the battle had already been decided."

"Yes, Captain, we both know that. But do you know why it happened?"

"I don't think I know where you're going with this, my Lord."

"That, my dear Captain, is why it happened." Vapade looked at his Prince, not knowing what he wanted from him.

"You and your ancestors are fine officers. You fight with tenacity, and always with courage and honor. But the reason my forefathers took Nelgatas, and with it broke the back of the holdouts, was because we were the first to adapt. We used the very weapons you fought us with, made to serve us. They came to help us defeat the very ones who made them. So no Captain, I don't want to kill this human, not unless killing it is the only way we can strip that suit off of him."

"I don't think that is possible, my Prince. By the information we've gathered, that suit has been integrated into the humans nervous system itself. In other words, kill the human, destroy the suit."

"Oh well, it was a thought. Imagine, an army of our warriors fitted with suits with those capabilities. The Jatac would be ground to dust in a matter of cycles."

"That might be so sir, but once this planet is operational, they will fall to us none the less. It may take a little longer, but the results will be the same."

"And that's what I like about you, Captain." Thargoan rose from his seat, walked around the table and headed for the door, motioning Vapade to follow. "You always see the bright side of things."