Metal Swarm - Kevin J. Anderson [3]
To enforce their ultimatum, the hydrogues sent diamond warglobes to stand sentinel over various Ildiran planets, ready to attack should Jora'h betray them. A cluster of hydrogue warglobes arrived at Hyrillka, the recent site of a ruinous civil war. Hyrillka was being rebuilt by the new Designate Ridek'h, a young and unprepared boy, mentored by the one-eyed veteran Tal O'nh. The threatening hydrogues, however, were unexpectedly destroyed by a force of fiery elemental beings, the faeros.
The ever-spreading war ignited a hydrogue-faeros conflict, and the faeros were systematically being attacked in their own suns. After destroying the warglobes at Hyrillka, a huge clash took place in Hyrillka's primary sun. When the star itself began to die, Designate Ridek'h and Tal O'nh knew that the planet was doomed. They launched a full-scale evacuation. But after most of the people were gone, the faeros abruptly changed their tactics and rallied from inside their star and overwhelmed the hydrogues. Faeros began to appear at a great many systems, battling hydrogues.
The Roamers - led by Cesca Peroni - launched an all-out offensive, unleashing the water elementals against the hydrogues by dropping tankloads of wental water into gas giants. Battles raged in the cloudy depths, and the wentals eradicated warglobe after warglobe. Through Robb's father Conrad Brindle, Jess Tamblyn had learned that his sister Tasia was being held captive by the hydrogues. Jess fought the hydrogues, rescued Tasia, Robb, and the other prisoners, then raced away with the warglobes and Klikiss robots in hot pursuit. When Jess finally reached the edge of the atmosphere, several enormous verdani treeships and Conrad Brindle were there to assist them. They escaped.
Forces gathered for the final face-off at Earth. Though stripped of most of his fleet by the Soldier compy uprising, General Lanyan prepared the remaining EDF forces for a last stand. Adar Zan'nh of the Ildiran Solar Navy sent hundreds of warliners to assist the Hansa, but he had secret orders (dictated by the hydrogues) to turn against the humans at a critical moment. When the astonishing fleet of enemy warglobes poured into Earth's solar system, Sirix and his treacherous black robots also joined the fight, turning the EDF's own ships against humanity. Roamers arrived in the free-for-all, dispatching ingenious new weapons against the enemy warglobes, then a group of deadly verdani treeships arrived, including the one captained by Beneto. At the last moment, Adar Zan'nh turned his Ildiran ships against the hydrogues, as well, and the tremendous battle became a rout. The hydrogues were resoundingly defeated.
King Peter and Queen Estarra used the chaos of the battle to escape from Chairman Wenceslas, and they flew away from Earth in a restored hydrogue derelict. Their loyal Teacher compy OX piloted the vessel, but in order to do so he was forced to purge most of the precious memories and historical files he had so painstakingly gathered over his existence. They had no choice, however, afterward, though he was perfectly functional, most of OX's personality was gone.
As soon as the Solar Navy turned against the hydrogues at Earth, the sentinel warglobes on Ildira followed through on their threat and began to attack the Mage-Imperator's palace. The girl Osira'h, though, who had already formed a bridge with the hydrogues, now directed that channel against them. Linked with her mother Nira, Osira'h allowed all the power of the worldforest to flood into the hydrogues, destroying them from within…
With the hydrogues finally defeated, Chairman Wenceslas felt that he could restore his iron grip and make the Hansa strong again. He was astonished to learn that the King and Queen had escaped to Theroc, where they announced the formation of a new government. All of the orphaned Hansa colonies, Roamer clans, and Theroc had joined them. Basil was livid but unable