----------------------------------------------------------- - The Ta’ainvel - – By Khan – ----------------------------------------------------------- 18. ”A return not quite so glorious as I imagined it,” Jante commented to Ayshala who had heard every part of the conversation through the communication device. He and Charlotte ascended into the bridge and prepared the ship to leave the atmosphere. ”Indeed. Well, we might as well find another planet in this system to terraform for a few years and settle down there,” she replied. ”No, I have a better idea. This empire is too murderous for my taste. We will intercept the fleet on course to Continn and make them return to Arathur. Then we will see.” He brought the Handrillian upward out of the atmosphere while telling the other commanders of his idea. They agreed with grim determination that it was a good thing to do, with the knowledge that they had travelled fifty light- years to possibly die for the sake of people they didn’t know. Charlotte made a long-range radar sweep of the space between them and the other planet and sure enough found five ships close to Continn. The ships were much smaller than the battleships that the Handrillian had faced in their last minutes on earth and had almost no weaponry and definitely no shields. Jante knew they would win the first fight. What about after that? Would the High Imperial Commander simply return to Arathur to put better weapons on his ships and then come back to destroy Continn again? In his mind Jante saw the possibility of having to destroy the fleet so that Arathur, or its leader, would never again threaten Continn. For the starships the trip to Continn took only a few minutes and they reached it in time to see the battleships begin to attain orbit. They were small and looked very clumsy, using normal thermodynamic thrusters to manoeuvre and propel themselves. ”This is Commander Jante e’Darin of the starhip Handrillian. You will stop this attack at once and return to Arathur, or face the consequences.” ”You dare oppose the High Imperial Commander and the Empire? Fools, your rebellion will die with your home,” a voice, slightly too shrill, yelled in the communication devices. ”I repeat, cease or we will attack.” ”Hah! You cannot attack the Empire, you will never win!” There was, however, doubt in the High Imperial Commander’s voice. The battleships did what Jante wanted, left orbit to fly against the starships, leaving unprotected Continn unharmed. Though outnumbered, the starships were at least ten times the size of one battleship and Jante knew that the twelve massive gun batteries that was currently aimed at the opposing fleet would destroy them in one hit. ”You have one last chance to stop and return to Arathur, then we will open fire,” he said. Silence met him and the battleships kept coming, two large turrets on each aiming towards the starships. The empire ships fired all their guns and ten small shafts of green light hit the Handrillian, most forward of the three starships. ”They didn’t even breach the energyshield,” Charlotte said looking at a monitor. ”It’s at ninety-four percent.” ”All batteries open fire on the front ship,” Jante said silently into the communication device. Forty shafts of blue light struck the battleship and it exploded in a ball of fire that quickly died leaving debris floating in-between the other four ships. The Galontha and Jainar shot two batteries on each remaining battleship, destroying them utterly and leaving a field of debris falling back towards the planet and burning up in the atmosphere. The battle, if it could be called that, had been short and Jante knew no more ships would attack Continn for centuries to come. The crafts they had met were small and primitive with no shields and weapons posing no threat to the starships. It had taken five years to build these, and it would take five years to build more of the utterly harmless battleships. The research needed to develop weapons that would penetrate the shields of the starships would take at least fifty years with all the war that would erupt in an empire with no emperor and many who wanted to be leader. Jante let Ayshala take the ship down to the surface of the planet and set it down by the largest of the cities. Knowing that this could be a home for the forty thousand Ta’ainvel that had come from the Sol system, Jante decided to try to settle down. He approached the Elders of the planet who had clearly seen the destruction of their oppressor. They had feared that the three starships were just another invader intent on killing them all and taking the planet in possession. When Jante and the eight other pilots appeared the Elders greeted them like heroes and offered them anything they wanted. Jante kindly refused any material goods, only a place for him, his fellow pilots and their crews to live on Continn. A week later forty thousand space-tired Ta’ainvel poured out of the three landed starships to prepare the part of the green planet that they had been given. Within a month a proper city had been built with low houses and open parks on every block. Agricultural fields had been ploughed up around the city, with space left for groves and small copses of trees in-between. A monumental park had also been placed at the centre of the city, to honour those onboard the Duinell who had given their lives for the six hundred and seventy who survived. The Humans had already settled into the Ta’ainvel society and found no difficulty in merging with the other Ta’ainvel. Charlotte and Jante had another child, the first of many on Continn, and Freddie and his Mate had their first, a girl. Over the years they all came to peace on the small moon and the three starships were flown out into the middle of the largest ocean and parked on the ocean-floor, and were soon forgotten. All in all it was a wonderful home and Jante loved every part of it.