Gabatrix: The Violet Wave

"Those ships....." an officer in the room asked. "Are those their ships?"

"Yes," Javier answered. "These are Emphra warships."

"They look like buildings...."

"That's because they are. The Emphra is a race of.....hmmm. Unfortunately, I do not have a way of describing it."

He zoomed in on the picture of the warship. As it got closer, they could see some sort of shiny silver color on the hulls. Lij'Lara had such a horrified look that she finally stood out of her chair and walked out of the room. Her tail didn't even swing as she left the staff behind. Javier even noted it as well.

"The Emphra would be responsible for wiping out 15% of the Itrean Empire and clans before they were exterminated in turn," Javier said.

"What were they?" an officer asked with curiosity.

"The name of Emphra is not available for me at the moment. What I do know is that they are not human or Itrean at all. They were described as one of the most terrifying races of aliens the galaxy had ever seen. We never encountered them thankfully. It is something that would bring the concept of fear to its purest form. The war with the Emphra had no formal declaration. They simply attacked without provocation. The war would last over twenty years."

"An entire galaxy of resources, and it took twenty years to wipe them out?" Anaya asked.

Javier nodded. "For every system, the Itreans lost, would only make the Emphra stronger. They were a feeding machine devoted to spreading itself throughout the galaxy. They were described as a young race and why we never encountered them. They would grab whatever resources they could that allow themselves to be transferred to the next planetary world."

"What is the silver substance?" a chief asked. "That ship has it."

"That is the Emphra."

"I know it is an Emphra ship," the chief misunderstood. "I was asking what the silver substance was."

"No, Chief. That is the Emphra themselves. As I said, the Emphra are nothing like humans or Itreans."

"You mean that the silver substance is the Emphra?"

"Yes. They can live in space and control the warships. They are liquid."

The eyes in the room widened a little bit in shock.

Gray waved his hands to the rest of the staff as he seemed pretty calm with the scene. "What does it matter?" he said. "The Emphra are dead. We have nothing to worry about a dead race. All of you are getting worried about an alien race that has been exterminated long ago."

For some reason, Javier felt a slight chill on his back, hearing that. He had been studying the history of the Itreans since the T'rintar clan joined, and from what he had learned, the Emphra were an absolutely serious matter. Even the Itreans with their mighty empire and clans could not repel the might of the Emphra. They were terrifying and outright monstrous.

"Continue, Ensign Javier," the Fleet Admiral called out.

"Anyways......" Javier said. "The Emphra would result in the destruction of 15% of the Itrean clans. Worlds would be lost and destroyed by them. We were fortunate never to encounter them. We had the Six Month Countdown initially with the Itreans when they started attacking us. That came to an end when clan T'rintar joined us, but the Emphra would have swept through human-controlled space quickly without anything to stop them. The war with the Emphra would last for almost twenty years and the unity of the clans. It was the only way that the Emphra could be stopped. Even with the united clans, it would take several years to fully wipe out their hostile alien force. The war would eventually come to an end when the Emphra homeworld was attacked and bombarded over and over again. After six months of continuous bombardment, the Itreans felt confident in flushing any last Emphra completely out. They are considered to be extinct."

"Six months of bombardment?" an officer asked with wide eyes.

"Yes,......six months. They had their fleets over the planet and began saturation bombardment. Nuclear bombs were dropped, radiation weapons, ballistic missiles, railgun fire, laser weapons, anything that could be used to wipe out the Emphra once and for all."

"Surprised, the planet wasn't ripped apart from the continuous assault."

"That was the idea. The Emphra were dangerous to assault on the ground. Eventually, the Emphra were considered to be extinct. The clans were united, but the economies were thrown into a deep recession. Rebuilding was a priority, and peace won out. 2300 would result in the creation of the United Itrean Government. It is considered to be one of the first of its kind. While it was a partial democracy, the government still operated as an Empire."

Lij'Lara walked back into the room. She seemed a little skittish at first, but she listened to Javier's words carefully before stepping back in. She seemed satisfied as she came walking back in to find her seat again.

"Are you alright Lij'Lara?" Javier asked her.

"Yes, I am," she said reluctantly. "Continue."

The screen changed over to a flag that was depicted. It featured a green, red, and purple color that mixed into the square flag. In the center was a white triangle where the colors met together. Each side of the triangle was a separate color combined with a star that flew to the center.

"The resulting end of the war with the Emphra would result in the great unity of clans. The Yutilians, the Aksren, and the Shal'rein clans all united as one. This would result in the formation of the sole clan. The United Itrean Government was simply called unity or 'T'rintar,' and would usher the thirty-year peace. During this time, all warships were built as one. The technology was shared between all clans. The Yutilians would push forward the unity and encourage Aksren and Shal'rein families to move into their space. It worked. Violence and bloodshed fell dramatically and would see the new era of a United Itrean Empire in all but name. It was the closest that Itreans would ever have to a republic. Of course, some of this was in due part due to the Emphra. Fear of surviving Emphra would haunt the people for years, and the need to remain together to handle against it remained. After thirty years and the fact that no further Emphra were ever seen again, the fear began to wane. The economies were recovering, and old hatred was slowly starting to return."

The screen changed as it depicted the flag being burned. The flag was no more as it was replaced with three flags. One was similar to the United Itrean flag. The only difference with this one was that it had a black triangle. The stars were now colored in with green, red, and purple but green replaced the overall background color.

The next flag depicted a paw print of the Itrean foot. It was a silhouette that was parked in the center. The overall flag was red in color. The last flag was purple in color. It featured the silhouette of a rifle and a shark fin placed together. Three black stars were placed below it.

"Ten years ago would result in the biggest shift in Itrean politics. The United Itrean Government would collapse. Past grudges, became outright hatred for one another. The fear of the Emphra was gone, and the economies had partially recovered enough. No longer called the Yutilian Clan, the new 'T'rintar Clan,' was made up of the Yutilians primarily and the families of Aksren and Shal'rein that lived in the Yutilian worlds. The goal of the T'rintar was to see a new United Itrean Government, hopefully, but it only remains a dream. They use the green flag. The Aksren race that split away from United Itrean Government would form the Aksren Clan. That is the red flag. The Shal'rein that split away would form the Shal'rein Clan. These three clans form the core of the Itrean race today."

"Interesting.....," Anaya replied.

"But," Javier added. "The advantage of the T'rintar is everyone's gain. History has shown time and time again, that uniting together becomes a symbol of strength and harmony. Past nations on Earth that united together achieved greater success and operated better than single solitary cultures. The exodus to Mars was a perfect example of this. The colonies of today get to enjoy this form of harmony of the past cultures as humanity begins to explore the stars. Clan T'rintar was the most likely candidate of the three clans to reach out to us because they had a history of an attempted calibration of the three clans. The Aksren and Shal'rein that serve in clan T'rintar are very loyal and serve the armies and ships of a people that once hated each other. They are willing to go as far as killing the Aksren and Shal'rein of the other clan races. They also serve as spies making the spy network of the T'rintar clan one of the best overall. The alliance of the UWA and clan T'rintar remains strong and hopeful in the survival of both as we press forward in the years to come. Thank you."

Javier ended the briefing then and there. The screen went black as the officers and chiefs applauded him. It was Lij'Lara that stood up first using her metal cane to help keep her up.

"Ambassador Ifra was pleased with your history of Gabatrix," Lij'Lara told him. "It is a shame that you didn't have more time for your briefing."

"Unfortunately," Fleet Admiral Gray told her. "Our time is rather short. I would agree with you otherwise."

"Are there any questions before we close up this meeting?" Javier asked.

"I have a question," one of the officers asked. "The T'rintar have been given planet Earth. How long before they fully restore it?"

Javier only knew so much of that answer. He did his best to reply to it. "About fifteen years. Itrea is a place that T'rintar has some interests in. Most fully believe that Earth is Itrea, but trying to convince the rest isn't easy. Religious movements are what are pushing the ships to go there to restore it. Lij'Lara, might helping me out on this one?"

He gestured her to the male officer. She turned around and looked at the man as her tail swung. "We still don't have a true answer to that. If more of our people get behind it, the planet can be restored to full habitability within fifteen to ten years. It took time for me to believe it until I saw the evidence. My faith was restored, seeing the world you called Earth. Clan T'rintar thanks you for your generosity. The pilgrims of my people request more ships to be brought to Itrea to continue the restoration. Ambassador Ifra and Ambassador Kane have been doing everything possible to make it happen."

The response to those words was oddly a lack of interest. Besides the officer that questioned it, the rest of the staff didn't really care. Earth was a forgotten world of devastation, and very few actually grew up there. Even Javier, with the exception of historical importance, never saw Earth or truly cared about it. Regardless, in the interests of peace was the actual value of the planet. If it meant having the T'rintar clan helping the UWA, then so be it. Let them have it.

"Any other questions?" Javier asked.

There was none. No one else raised their hand.

"Then that concludes this meeting. Everyone is dismissed," Fleet Admiral Gray called out.

As Gray stood up from his seat, a chief yelled out, "Attention on deck!" Everyone except Lij'Lara came to attention. The CO left the room as Anaya remained to observe the room. She used her left augmented arm to check her messages. A highlighted projected screen appeared as she used her other hand to monitor the list of messages. The rest of the officers and chiefs began to leave the room.

Lij'Lara walked up to Javier. With her being much shorter than Javier, her head tilted to the side as she looked up like him. She had a slight grin on her face as she used her metal cane to stomp the ground a little bit.

"I wanted to give you some praise for your work," Lij'Lara told him. "You did make some inaccuracies, though."

"I did?" Javier asked.

"Yes, you did. The Jagren Empire should be pronounced 'Yagren Empire.' You pronounced it with an h sound."

"My apologies, Lij'Lara. Your database is filled with redundant and, at times, conflicting sources."

"It is alright," she said as she walked around and stood beside him. She used her cane to push her frame upright as possible. "Historians are always needed for our people. The older a civilization gets, the more they lose their past. Clans cannot agree with what their history is anymore, and propaganda rules the media. 'Clanism' is a word you humans should learn. It doesn't exist in the English language, but the more your people are with us, the more you wish it did."

"We do actually. The word doesn't exist, but we have a word we use called Nationalism. It is history and philosophy that one nation is better than the other."

"I also noticed that you skipped Zilik's Disease...."

"I did. I think most of us already know that I didn't want to remind it."

"It is also why our people want to be with you. No males can be....let us say.....a terrible problem."

"I noticed that you left when I mentioned the Emphra....."

Lij'Lara shuddered and shook her head. "It is because I lived through it. I watched.....as they.....my home was attacked by them. My parents......it is....."

"I apologize, ma'am. I didn't mean to...."

"No.....it is alright," she said as she recomposed herself. "You humans need to know about them. They are.....evil."

Javier knew enough about what she said. If the stories were absolutely true, they were beyond evil. Even her words were not enough to list them.

She patted him on the side as she walked out of the room. "Take care, human named Javier. May you find peace in the dark."

"Take care, Lij'Lara."

"Excellent job, Javier," Anaya said as she closed up her projection menu on her augmented arm.

"Thank you, ma'am, for noticing," he replied back to her.

She flung her grayish-black hair back as she leaned back on her chair. "There are some things that I was curious about. Have you learned anything that hinted towards the other aliens the Itreans encountered?"

Javier shrugged. "Not much. The Fermi Paradox is an authentic situation we have. I am sure you are well aware of it."

She nodded her head. "Yes, I do. An entire galaxy that should have life in it, and we find very little. We can find simple life but nothing as sentient as humans or the Itreans."

Javier folded his arms. "On top of that, we both come from the same planet. It is like we are an anomaly of the universe or something. The Emphra is the closest to another alien race."

"A race we hope has been eradicated. We cannot repel them. If they attacked the Itreans and did that much damage.....," she shook her head. "Not to mention how they attack. Their name is perfect."

"Even the chain of command is not fully convinced about the true horror of what they could accomplish."

"I wonder if they were the cause of the eradication of other alien races or why we haven't found others?" Javier wondered.

"Possibly...."

"I did find a couple of entries on some other alien races on my reading. I will make sure to continue forwarding this to your mail."

"Thank you," she told him. "I will make sure that you get a gift, as well. You have been waiting for too long for it. I will make sure....."

There was a beep sound coming from Anaya's arm. She looked at it and tapped the projection screen back on. There was a beep sound that also came from Javier's tablet. Both almost pinged at the same time that it almost spooked Javier. He quickly pulled up the menu of his tablet. He read the message, and a chill fell upon him immediately. He read it to himself as he felt the sense of dread hit him.

"Aphadus is on planetary alert status. Itrean clan ships that are painted violet have been spotted in the system. All warships are to go to high alert. General quarters are being called out. Reach your station immediately and prepare for further orders! This is not a drill!"

The XO closed up her screen. She had a look of anger to her as she stood up. "You got the message too?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then we report to our stations. I wish you luck out there, Ensign."

"You too ma'am," Javier replied with a sense of fear.

Chapter 3: The Battle of Aphadus Part 1

"Attention, everyone!" called out the overhead speaker. "Enemy Itrean vessels have been spotted in the system. All military personnel are to report to their stations immediately! All civilian staff are to report to the designated shelters. This is not a drill!"

Alarms began to blare throughout the base. Far above orbit, the fleet of UHN vessels began to issue their own form of alerts. Flashing lights began to pulsate on the hulls. While the red dwarf star was still seemingly far, it was far closer than most stars were to their planets. All eyes were focused on the red dwarf star and what was coming.

Javier was in a mad rush from the meeting. Things seemed to go so well, but this was not the time to think about it. Adrenaline was rushing through his veins. The enemy never once showed their faces on this system, and now they were here. It was the first time encountering the enemy in over several months.

"It is probably just a scouting fleet," he said to himself, trying to calm himself down. He neared the briefing station of his assigned area. His division was waiting for him. Even if he was in charge and nervous as hell, the other staff of his division looked up to him for leadership. It was up to him to look like a leader.

Javier could see other staff running down the hallway. Some of the runnings were frantic, but some of them were orderly as well. The military personnel was distinct to look at since they were dressed in their red and blue uniforms. The civilians were easier to spot with the non-uniforms. Flashing red and yellow lights were being given off as the base was letting everyone know what was happening.

"Alright...," Javier said as he calmed himself down. He took a deep breath. "Time to check up with my division."

The door to the logistics department opened up to reveal four members of his division. All were present and accounted for. There was an additional member that was present as well. The extra person in the room was somebody he already knew well.

The logistics department was rocked with the alarms as well. It was not a big office. It was designed to handle most of the mail and storage of one section of the base. While email and digital messaging had clearly replaced the need for mail, there were some occasional occurrences where simple paper was still used. It was a way that secret information could be processed without the fear of somebody hacking into the computer networks. There were, of course, the random supplies and goods that would get shipped around the base as well. The room consisted of four alcoves with his desk tucked into the far corner. The biggest alcove was a reception area for the people waiting on any new shipments.

He had such a small division that he didn't even have a chief petty officer to take care of the enlisted. Regardless, he did what he could to take care of it. He already knew Petty Officer Emily, a woman of a pale complexion that just joined the UHN. He knew of Seaman Aaedesh and Jagan, both brothers of a darker complexion. Brothers were rarely assigned together in the UHN in the same location, but Aphadus went ahead and allowed it. Then there was Petty Officer Campbell, a man born on Oshun. His dark complexion was a clear sign that he was born from the African colony world. The last person in the room was a person he saw was Cason. He was standing calm as the rest were either sitting down or standing uneasy.

"Sir," Emily called out to him. She saluted to him and showed a little bit of tension to her face. "All present and accounted for."

"Good job, team," Javier called out to his division.

"Who is attacking us?" Jagan asked him. His light Indian accent was apparent.