AJ's Stories

Legacy of the Guardians

by AJ Marks

Part 30

A warfleet of black ships approached the target planet. The inhabitants would never know what happened, or why when they finished. They only understood their enemies were too far away to do anything about this. They would hand out punishment for failure, something they had little tolerance for.

The ships were a variety of shapes, and no apparent source of engines or power systems. Their weapons were hidden to confuse anyone who might glance a ship and mistake it for something else. Hangars for fighters and landing craft were covered until needed. Everything designed for secrecy.

The small defenses of the race had already been swept aside in a brief battle. The fear the defenders felt made it easy to overwhelm and crush them. Now nothing would stand in their way from exacting vengeance for failure. Continue reading…

Legacy of the Guardians

by AJ Marks

Part 29

Steve went over the reports again from the Skartian Empire that Jack had given him. He had spent some time reading it in Jack’s office, before he got a call from HQ on Earth and he left to continue reading. The survivors were still climbing, but it would take a long time for them to recover. Some five thousand had been found, and even now there was operations on Earth to discover the Skartian operatives to help bolster those numbers.

What disturbed Steve even more, the fact that this group seemed either afraid to take on humanity, or that there was some sort of secret agreement between some of humanity’s leaders and this group. The second option scared him more than the first.

“General, you have a call from Ambassador Cunningham,” his secretary said, interrupting this train of thought. He activated his communicator seeing Randall’s face appear. Continue reading…

Legacy of the Guardians

by AJ Marks

Part 28

The shuttles descended down towards the planet. The pilots relaying back to the fleet what they saw, craters of destruction all over the surface of the planet. Entire cities had been destroyed, leveled by a power that the only thing the pilots could imagine was a nuclear blast. Scanning for any signs of radioactivity before the air was determined to be breathable.

Three groups walked out of the shuttles, looking around at the utter devastation. Mounds of rubble now lay where buildings once stood. Smoke still lingered in the air and plumes of fire could be seen in the distance. The groups send back reports and pictures of what they saw back up to the fleet.

The group spread out looking for signs of the Skartians. So far they found no signs of life except for smaller plants, and insects, but no larger life forms. The devastation was complete and they could not help but wonder how many were killed in the bombardment. They ran across a few dead Skartians in the street, many appeared to have been shot in the back running from something. Continue reading…

Legacy of the Guardians

by AJ Marks

Part 27

Admiral Dinen sat in his office, going putting the details to a plan he developed due to the latest intelligence reports. Three other races had been invaded by the Skartians, and asked for help in a newly formed alliance. His came up with a simple plan, attack them in their own territory and force them to protect themselves. When they retreated, the remaining military forces could recapture their territory.

Several of the other races wanted to invade Skartian space, and George felt a few warships from the other races could not hurt, but he didn’t want to hinder their own military operations. The alliance appeared to be working well so far.

“Sir, you have admiral Cave on the line for you.”

“Put it though,” George said, watching Jack appear on the screen. Continue reading…

Legacy of the Guardians

by AJ Marks

Part 26

The Ilderians watched in horror at the descending craft. News reports stated that they were Skartians, invading their planet. Yet mixed in with this was a sketchy report of a human fleet and an Ilderian defense force. No one knew what the truth was, and who the enemy was.

The strange craft landed in a nearby park, and nearby troops anxiously surrounded it, waiting for the invaders to step out. A figure stepped out, quickly surrounded.

Ahmed simply raised his hands seeing the Ilderians. They were not the enemy here. “Do as they say people, the invasion has probably already started.”

He watched the commander of the Ilderian forces look at him, confused. The other people in the escape pod slowly exited in the same fashion. Continue reading…

Legacy of the Guardians

by AJ Marks

Part 25

The crew of the Moscow tensed as they closed in on the Skartian fleet which had arrived and starting their attack on the planet. Ahmed looked at the situation giving instructions to aim for the weapons systems and move on to the next target. They would fight fast and smart, using extreme range and hopefully they could draw some ships away from the planet. He hoped to stay out of the Skartians range for as long as possible.

The arrival of the human fleet did not go unnoticed by the Skartians. They turned to destroy the human fleet quickly to prevent the plan from falling apart. At extreme range the human fleet opened fire, engaging the Skartians before they could return fire. Continue reading…

Legacy of the Guardians

by AJ Marks

Part 24

“Captain,” the scanner officer yelled across the room, gaining everyone’s attention. “We’ve got a real problem here.”

Captain Lee made his way over to the scanners, checking out what the officer pointed at, and felt himself go numb. Quickly realizing the magnitude of the situation she gathered his senses. Continue reading…

Legacy of the Guardians

by AJ Marks

Part 23

Captain Ahmed drummed his fingers on the armrest of the command chair. The Moscow was on patrol in the neutral zone. The Moscow had quickly finished repairs from the last battle, which had been light. They docking bays went after the lightly damaged ships first before going to work on ships more seriously damaged. The new engine had been placed in the ship after the previous repairs, and the additional ten percent of power output had been welcomed in that last battle.

His patrol squad had only arrived on station yesterday, relieving the third patrol group. They were on duty for two weeks, and his group would be replaced by the second patrol squadron. He had read the latest reports from intelligence, and reports from the fleet. They all read the same, no known movement from the Skartians since their defeat a week ago. Continue reading…

Legacy of the Guardians

by AJ Marks

Part 22

Jack watched the number flow across the screen. From what he saw, everything looked good, the Skartians had lost more than half of the fleet they sent. The high numbers of heavies were especially impressive to Jack, and what he hoped happened in this battle. He looked up watching Steve walk into the room.

“So, what were the final numbers?” Steve asked.

“They were very good, hopefully we’ve severely crippled their fleet. They lost thirty-one heavies out of fifty-three, our losses were not as severe, six battlecruisers and three carriers,” Jack said to him. “And intelligence thinks the rest of the heavies suffered damage that will require some time to repair.”

“that is good news, our losses won’t hurt our ability to defend ourselves?’ Steve asked, always thinking about the defense of Earth. Continue reading…

Legacy of the Guardians

by AJ Marks

Part 21

Ahmed sat belted into the captain’s chair on the bridge. The Moscow ran silent, her engines off, everything shut down except life support and the scanners. Even gravity had been shut off to prevent detection by the enemy. The crew had to keep to a rigorous workout schedule to prevent problems.

The patrol group lay hidden in the asteroids in the neutral zone keeping an eye out for any Skartians ships. Ahmed had moved his ships in quickly hoping to avoid being picked up by the Skartians. So far he thought it had worked, and had been there for two weeks without any sign of the enemy. Continue reading…