Starship Vengeance

Chapter 6

***A/N***
I have to apologize for this chapter taking so long. To me, it felt like the story was getting bogged down in the evacuation, so I finally changed my plans and condensed it down. The picture attached to this chapter is I diagram of the evacuation plan. I had it all worked out, so I posted it just to prove that what I had proposed was indeed possible. Hopefully things get more interesting from here.
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The following two weeks could be described in two words: organized chaos. Two additional ships arrived from Narrisal's shipyards and ten more were built locally. Tens of millions were evacuated every day, and sent to our new home. I had only seen pictures from the Tuleeriri's databases, and I was anxious to experience it for myself. We received a report from one of the returning arks that the people there had given the planet a name. They decided to call it Hope. I was pleased with the name, for that is what the planet represented, hope.

We battled against the Zrynt two more times in an attempt to slow them down. The first battle didn't last long. We managed to evade the initial attack that had taken us out at the beginning of the last fight. Eventually we convinced them to slow and fight. They were quickly adapting to our strategies, so it wasn't long before we had to pull back. The second battle couldn't really be called a battle. The Zrynt were less than a week from Earth and they seemed content to ignore us as we emptied our munitions stores. We couldn't penetrate their shields in their weakened state, let alone when they had full power to them.

Today was the apocalypse, the end of humanity's time on Earth. At least, the end until we could gain advantage over the Zrynt. Earth was virtually uninhabited. There were many who refused to abandon their homes. Many had been persuaded, but there were still several thousand who refused. We provided what supplies and shelter we could for those who would accept it. Many agreed to group together and allowed us to build a subterranean bunker for them. Those who refused our help knew that they were going to die and were content with that knowledge. The last of the Arks had departed yesterday. My fleet and the Tuleeririan fleet would be leaving today. I had just finished sending out a message with a final offer of passage on the Unity. Unfortunately my pleas landed on deaf ears.

I had two projects that I was closely monitoring. The first project required the use of most of our resources. We were scouring the planet collecting what resources were available and transporting them to the Unity. Our main focus was collecting biological matter. We could fabricate most things with ease, but the complexity of organic materials made them tedious to make. The nanites were on the surface breaking down what remained of animal and plant life and preparing them for transport. I made sure we gave those who chose to stay behind a wide berth. As futile as it was, I hoped that some would remain among the living after the Zrynt had exacted their revenge.

"Admiral, the Teludan has been extracted and is en route to the Unity" Lt. Sanchez said. The Teludan was the ancient ship that had given birth to humanity, although only a handful of people knew that little nugget of truth. The Teludan was most famous for giving humanity the Unity. I never realized the ship had a name until I gave the order to retrieve the ship.

"Tell them to make sure it is stowed securely. I would hate to see that ship destroyed after surviving for so long." The excavating of the Teludan had been the second project that had my interest. We couldn't leave it behind for the Zrynt to find, and I couldn't bring myself to destroy it. "Lt. Young, how long until the Zrynt arrives?"

Lt. Young pulled up a display and said, "Looks like they enter the solar system in just under six hours."

"Spread the word that I want everything packed up in four hours. The next two hours will be spent organizing defenses." The Zrynt ship was near enough that we could monitor its progression from the Unity. The red and blue dots moved towards each other too quickly for my liking. We worked at a feverous pace to make sure we had done all we could.  Finally, the appointed hour arrived.