Chapter 10 | Landing Page | Chapter 12
–
The Kadeshi Crusade
A Homeworld Fanfiction
by Crobato
Originally posted May 15, 2001
–
Chapter 11 – The Revelation
All around her, there was darkness. The floor was hard and cold. Fear gripped G’yela’s young heart, and she prayed and bowed repeatedly with her head down. She did not know where she was, and all around her she could hear voices. Some voices were deep, other were high and shrill.
One voice said, “You brought this so called Kadeshi on board? She is so pathetic.”
Another said, “She has the blood of a Hiigaran.”
The first voice replied. “For a Hiigaran, she is a pitiful sight. Look at her cower and shake in fear. Where is the Hiigaran arrogance that is the hallmark of their imperial race? Look at this rodent. She is so scared that she will pee in her legs.”
A new voice said, “She has the blood of a Starfarer, the ancient Voyagers of the Stars. I can sense her abilities.”
Another voice in the darkness asked, “How did a Starfarer ended in the Great Nebula, living with this pathetic Kadeshi race?”
Still another voice replied, “Her ancestor was trapped in the nebula by the same device we have given to the Kadeshi forefathers long ago. He lived and died among them, his genes intermingling and surviving across the generations, manifesting itself every few generations. She is the one now.”
“Do you trust that this pathetic creature would be the one that will change the destiny of the Kadeshi?” asked a voice.
“She is the one,” replied another voice.
A deeper voice addressed G’yela. “Child, stand up, so we may all see.”
She was shaking as she stood, her eyes kept low on the ground as she heard the chorus of voices, daring not to answer them.
“We are the one of a Thousand Voices.”
“Others have called us by many names.”
“We are the ones your ancestors called the Angels from the Abyss.”
“The Council called us the Forbidden, for we dared touch the tapestry of destiny.”
“We are Tiamat.”
“We are Destruction, and we are Rebirth.”
“We are the Determination of Destiny.”
“We are the Wheel of Fate.”
“Priestess of Kadesh, we have brought before you to realize your destiny and that of the people of Kadesh. Millennia ago, we gave help to the founder of your Race, the one you call the Great Mother. Without our help, there will be no Kadesh. We helped your race begin because we saw your potential. We saw the power of your destiny.”
“But the Millennia passed. All we saw is the former great race of Hiigara, now called Kadesh, the Protectors of the Garden, living like cowardly rodents protecting their farm. They have even lost the will and the ability to navigate the distances of the stars. Your religious orders, your leaders have corrupted the Promise and the Prophecies of Kadesh.”
“We are displeased.”
“The ones who have sent you to the place you call the Gardens have been destroyed. Only pockets that survive of their main power still exist, allied to the ones called Kushans, who share your Hiigaran bloodline. They have taken the First Gardens, the ones where your Great Mother and your sacred ancestors are born, the place where your race, the sacred people of Kadesh, is destined to return to.”
“If the race of Kadesh allowed this great sacrilege to continue, you will all be condemned in the place you call the Gardens. To live like the pirate vermin you live like now, while the rest of the Galaxy, including your former enemies and rivals, all of whom you call the Unclean, will experience greater glory that was stolen from you.”
“You have the blood of a Voyager of the Stars. It was part of our great plan to inject that seed into your race. That seed will blossom, of which you are now. That blossom will bring the light to the people of Kadesh, and lead them away from an existence of humiliation. You will fulfill the prophecy and destiny that is marked with the people of Kadesh by your Great Mother.”
“As one who has the blood of the Voyager of the Stars, spaces between the stars of light will be your domain. Your sense and knowledge to navigate the vast distances will be awakened. All the knowledge that will let you navigate through the stars will be given to you and your ships. You will use them in conjunction with the Guidestone to return to Hiigara, the First Gardens, the sacred place where your Great Mother was born.”
“…and all those who oppose you will be destroyed. We have given your race the first tools for that power. You will learn to make new ones, to build a might host which the very stars will tremble from its sight. Empires will fall on the wake of this mighty host, and new ones will rise.”
“But 1…” said G’yela. “I am only a novice priestess of the Order. How do I hope to accomplish all these? I do not have the strength or the will…”
“Silence my child,” the voices said. “We will be with you. Your faith is great. You will discover your courage. In all what you do, realize that our Power will be behind you. You will have the power to change Kadesh and set its people to its rightful path.”
“This is only the will of your Great Mother,” said the voice, and a beautiful image of the Great Mother N’ua appeared before G’yela, who immediately kneeled at its presence.
“You are our Messenger, and our Prophet.”
“You are the Illumination of the Word of your Great Mother.”
“You will be the Savior of your Race, and your people will see that.”
A brilliant light enveloped G’yela. Suddenly her mind felt clearer than before, like a cloudy veil has been lifted. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she felt her very purpose of being has become so clear for her.
Suddenly she found herself once again in the bridge of the Needleship. She was covered in a radiant aura, a glowing light shining from her face, her hair streaked in brilliance.
Everyone fell to their knees at the sight of her. The screens were flashing, the computers temporarily overloaded by the data of revelation that flooded their banks in an instant.
“I have returned from the Angels of the Abyss. They have given me the Word from the Great Mother. I, and only I will speak in behalf of the Great Mother from now on. I will be Her sole Messenger and Prophet. I am the Deliverer,” G’yela announced.
They all chanted the name of the Great Mother and that of G’yela.
It seemed both long ago, and yet as recent as the last second.
G’yela’s thoughts drifted back to the present. They were celebrating a great victory against the unclean Kushan. So many of their ships, weapons and technology have been captured. They will be harnessed for the greater glory of the Mother.
The Comet Star of Kadesh burns brightly even now, and its Righteous Sword will be unstoppable. ***
Seejuk watched the news from the subspace links, transfixed at the events. They were in the mess hall of the Mule, with Zha and the crew.
“Hiigaran forces have suffered a major defeat, the first of such since the war with the Beast. The Daiamid and all the Kiith-sa have now pledged their unity against the common enemy,” Seejuk said. “All Kushan have a blood oath to defend.”
Seejuk watched in the monitor as a scene from the battle was transmitted. In the scene, Pod Bombs—Kadeshi Fuel Pods loaded with explosives—rushed against Gravwell lines and massed Corvette Walls. As they exploded, they take the Gravwells and Heavy Corvettes with them. He watch Grapplers—more frigate class Fuel Pods modified as Salvagers—defy the Gravwell fields that would immobilize most Salvagers, to immobilize and capture capital ships and Gravwell generators themselves. Seejuk shook his head.
“In Kharak, there exists in the wild lands a creature called the Luun-Kar. It is a social insect that lives in mounds. All its workers and soldiers are incapable of reproduction, and the whole nest is sustained by a single Queen, which after it subdues its rivals, becomes the egg factory for the entire nest.
“After the rainy seasons, the Luun-Kar will leave their nest. They have collected food in their nest to build a mighty host, and when they leave, they will consume everything in their path. The more they consume, the greater they become, to a point the whole army becomes unstoppable. Even the greatest predators in the lands of Kharak will fall to them, their flesh consumed right from their bones.”
“Only with death of their Queen can this army be stopped,” Seejuk said.
“I see the Kadeshi like the Luun-Kar. Every step they made, they harvest resources, acquire technology, develop new ships, build a fleet that becomes larger and larger, until there is no one that can stop them,” Seejuk said.
“Both us Kushans and the Taiidans have made a fatal flaw in their campaign. Since defeating the Beast, we have thought that technology is the solution for everything. If we are beaten, we build better fighters, bigger ships, more powerful weapons. It is not the Swarmer technology, neither the Multibeam technology, nor the Hyperspace inhibitors that is making the Kadeshi unstoppable. It is the Kadeshi themselves. They are inspired to fight like people possessed. They fight like it is not their option to lose. Their courage and determination are incredible.”
“During the Homeworld Wars, the Kushan people in the Mothership had that spirit, knowing their entire destiny is trust upon them. If we fail, it would be the end of our race. On the other side, the Taiidani were suffering from the lack of morale and great dissent from the atrocity of their Emperor. The Taiidani had numbers and they had the superior technology first until they were copied. Yet we Kushans beat them. We beat them because the single spirit in one Kushan fighter let them fight the equal of two or three Taiidan opponents. “
“But since the Hiigaran Planetfall, the Kiithid once again fell back to their old disunited habits. They politicized trivial issues against each other. Old rivalries emerged, dissent appeared, cracks formed. The Beast did nothing to change that. For a while we were united. The Beast was formidable, but only because of its technology. It did not have the indomitable spirit. We beat the Beast with technology, our technology, Somtaaw technology, Bentusi Technology.”
“But while the indomitable spirit would rise in occasion, as with the Somtaaw, the lesson remained largely forgotten. After the Beast, once again, we’re back to old habits. “
“This time, the tables are reversed. It is the Kadeshi with the indomitable spirit, while we Kushans are like the Taiidani before. They are the ones with the purpose, the sword of destiny trust in their hands, and we are the ones without.”
“If we are to win over the Kadeshi, we need to find what is driving them, and to take that away from them,” Seejuk said. The recent battles have narrowed the possible routes which the Kadeshi will take next. Seejuk made his calculations and estimations, and have passed them both the navigational computers and the ensign on the helm.
“How do you expect to do that?” Zha asked.
“I will see you in the Bridge, Captain Zha,” Seejuk said.
From the bridge, Zha gave her order to hyperspace according the new coordinates.
The Mule came out from hyperspace. This time they hit the jackpot. The sensors lit up with the detection of large numbers of ship signatures. The signatures were Kadeshi.
“Go into cloak mode,” Zha ordered. The cloak generators went on, hiding the Mule, her resourcers and her captured Multibeamers. Beyond the main cloak generator fields, the Ion Array Frigates triggered their own cloak generators. It will be the time of decision.
–