Gabatrix: Veleshar

Chapter 12: The Ring of Destiny Part 2

"What is a battle? It is the first question that any warrior must ask prior to any engagement with the enemy. Some will say that it is chaos. Some will say that it is an unnecessary tragedy. Others will say that it is the moment of violence between two opponents, where one will be the underlying victor. In reality, each individual has a convenient answer for it. However, any soldier of any Itrean clan is fully aware that a battle is the culmination of preparedness. Soldiers are trained to handle the rigors of violence. Equipment and guns are well maintained. The captains and leaders know what is at stake and endorse their troops. The environment is set. A battle is the final product, and the only method of stopping the opposing clan is to commit to the destruction of the other. Often, a battle can be the simplest form of event for the most important factors, and its outcome is already decided before it is to ever take place," Gular'shel, 2303 AD.

The outline of space stood in front of the Gular'shel. The planet of Bog'Ko'Lif sat in the vast distance. Its location was in the outer reaches of Itrean space, the furthest Yutilian kingdom of them all. It served as the primary capital of the Shish, and all for good reason.

It had been a little over a day. Scott sat in the familiar seat on the bridge, strapped in along with Yui'to and Veleshar, who were not far from him. A gentle dark purple light slowly flashed and went out. The man was doing his best to look through the familiar periscope he had gained experience using.

The star of Bog'Ko'Lif was a small red dwarf. The seemingly lonely burning ball of gas kept several planets in its grasp. However, the only habitable world barely had much of an atmosphere. The lit surface consisted of red sand and melted blue ocean water. Instead of living in the direct line of continuous sunlight, the population had chosen to live in the dark side of the tidally locked world. Only a few lights from the wandering freighters and surface cities gave any hint of activity. Unlike Gu'ii'lo'trelda, Bog'Ko'Lif had much less space traffic, even for one of the five main capital worlds of the T'rintar clan.

It was all on purpose. Scott looked around with the periscope, trying to mark the place. The history of the Shish had all revolved around the concept of anonymity. It was almost a common troupe, some taken more seriously than other Itrean species. The population found a home and refuge, but with the Shish, their goal was to ensure that no one would find them. To be found would warrant death and destruction upon them. It became their philosophy and, ultimately, their religion. Even now, Scott would look around and see nothing but stars and the distant dark world. However, what he couldn't see were the supposed one thousand cloaked battleships, kept hidden from his own sensor display.

"I can't see any of them....," Scott said. He kept his grip on the periscope as he looked around.

"They're there," Veleshar replied as she looked at the screen ahead of her.

"Any enemy fleet would think that there was nothing here."

"That's the idea," Yui'to added.

"We're not going to crash into one of them by accident, right?"

"No. Most are in small groups of one hundred either in close orbit or far from our sensors in ever trying to pick up. We're in the common travel route, which they will avoid us unless we intend to head to their planet."

The ship began to alter its heading, and Scott could feel his body be tugged to the right. The large, cloaked, heavy battleship remained invisible in space but still fired its vectoring thrusters to its starboard side.

It was here that Scott could see a small circular gate ring far from the planet. It consisted of two spinning centripetal rings connected to an active halo-like device. When the man turned his periscope, he could see a gray cylindrical ship.