Vanquisher: The Remnant

Chapter 12

Vartelm ran a hand through his hair as he approached the group. Everyone that still remained looked utterly devastated. Even though they had successfully pushed of the Remnant from Oanus, the loss of men and the injury of their leader lowered their morale. Vartelm knew they would need someone or something to keep them going, keep them pushing. He was that someone. The group discussed their plan of attack now that the Remnant had fled and they were down a couple more men. They turned to Vartelm, as he was their second in command, and awaited his input in the matter. He took a deep, formulating breath and then began:

"Guys, I know we've been hit pretty hard with our most recent battle, but hey, we pushed off the Remnant. We caused that entire fleet to scurry the hell out of dodge. They know who we are now, and they're afraid of us. We have the advantages here. They may seem small, but in the grand scheme of this war, they're going to make all the difference. The same thing happened back on Chrotos. Me and my men, we had the small advantages that they didn't, and we persevered over them and won the battle. We have the same thing, and if we use them to our fullest, the Remnant is done for. We just have to keep our heads held high and push through our losses to get to victory. Here's the plan. We have them on the run. Their ships are damaged and they don't have the means to fix them anymore. If we get a sizeable force up there and overwhelm them, they won't be able to hold us off. Our original plan was to get up on the Tempest and take it out from the inside, but if we absolutely have to we'll shut 'em down from a distance. Either way, victory is within our grasp, and we'll soon see the fearsome Remnant gone and peace restored to the galaxy. Who's still with me?"

There wasn't a sudden outburst of cheer, but there didn't need to be. Everyone was on board and determined to finish what they had started. Vartelm gave a curt, respectful nod to the group and stepped back. He turned away from them and strode back over to Nova. Nova looked up from his thoughtful gaze and focused on Vartelm.

"What did you just do?" Nova asked skeptically. He looked over to the group who were now more energetic and lively.

"I did my leader thing. Isn't that what you wanted me to do?" Vartelm responded. "I can change my mind if you really think I should."

"No, just..." Nova paused, thinking hard about what to say. "Just stick to what you're doing. I'm following you here. Everyone is."

"Thanks Nova. I hope I don't screw this up. The entire galaxy is counting on us," Vartelm sighed. "I'm going to go get some rest. We ship out as soon as possible."

"Whatever you say, sir," Nova said, saluting Vartelm. Vartelm returned the salute crisply and headed off to see the base commander about the bunking situation. He knew where to go even though he had never been in the base before. All Valhallan bases were laid out the same, with the commander's office being in the middle of the base under all the other amenities the base contained. He turned the corner and the base commander was coming down the hallway right at him.

"Oh, Vartelm. It's a good thing I ran into so soon. We need you in the war room now," the commander blurted hastily.

"Why, what for?"

"You'll see when we get there," he replied. Vartelm followed him as they rounded corner after corner until they finally reached the war room. Officers were conversing in hushed tones and there was an overall sense of tension in the room. On the main holo display, a live video feed of a battle commencing filled the room with flashing colors and brilliant explosions.

"What's going on here?" Vartelm commanded, his voice filling the room and silencing all the small side conversations.

"The Remnant is attacking our ships as we speak, sir. Our fleet in the Chrotos system has been overrun by an inferior fleet. Reports say they have fully repaired ships," a lieutenant replied nervously. Vartelm walked closer to the holo display, watching the battle closely. Valhallan ships wandered blindly through the graveyard of ships that sat above the planet, being fired upon by unseen foes.