The Ashes of Worlds - Kevin J. Anderson [3]
Though the Ildiran Empire believed him dead, Rusa’h — who had become a faeros incarnate — continued his work. In their war with the hydrogues, the faeros had suffered many terrible losses, millions of their fireballs eradicated, whole suns extinguished. But Rusa’h showed them new ways of fighting, and the faeros swiftly began to inflict great damage upon the hydrogues, weakening them before their battle with the allied forces around Earth.
Gathering power, Rusa’h led the faeros first to the splinter colony of Dobro, where he confronted former Designate Udru’h, who had betrayed him. The ravenous faeros, needing to increase their numbers, burned Udru’h and stole his soulfire to create more newborn fiery entities. Jora’h’s eldest noble-born son, Daro’h, who was destined to become the new Prime Designate, faced faeros incarnate Rusa’h, who delivered a warning for the Mage-Imperator. Before departing, Rusa’h declared that the whole Ildiran Empire would burn if necessary, until he removed the “false” Mage-Imperator. Daro’h raced back to Ildira to warn his father of the threat.
Meanwhile, as the hydrogue-faeros battles had raged in Hyrillka’s sun, the young and inexperienced Designate Ridek’h had overseen the evacuation of Hyrillka, and all the refugees were taken to Ildira. Ridek’h had never expected to become a Designate responsible for an entire planet, but his mentor Tal O’nh, an old one-eyed veteran commander of the Solar Navy, tried to teach him to become a strong leader. Under orders from the Mage-Imperator, Ridek’h and Tal O’nh went to all the ravaged systems in the Horizon Cluster to reassure those who had suffered during the revolt.
Rusa’h had also traveled across the Horizon Cluster, his faeros burning population after population. On his journey, he encountered Designate Ridek’h and Tal O’nh. Though they tried to escape, the faeros chased them down, surrounded their warliners, and incinerated their crews. Rusa’h burned Tal O’nh, blinding him, but he refused to kill young Ridek’h, claiming he would face the boy again. He left the scorched and empty warliners drifting in space, while he and the faeros headed off to Ildira.
Basil Wenceslas, seeing his Hansa crumbling, grasped at straws. Because his captive green priest, Nahton, flatly refused to send or report any messages, he felt cut off. Basil called upon General Lanyan and Admiral Willis to recapture the worlds that were defecting. He dispatched Lanyan with military ships to secure the fledgling colonies recently established on abandoned Klikiss planets. Since they had small populations and no defenses, they were thought to be easy targets. For her part, Admiral Willis received orders to take an EDF battle group directly to Theroc, crush King Peter’s outlaw government, and take him into custody. Though she was reluctant to do this, Willis prepared to follow orders.
Sarein, Captain McCammon, and Deputy Cain came up with a plan to warn King Peter about the impending invasion. They secretly freed Nahton, so that he could run to a treeling locked in a greenhouse and send a telink message to other green priests. While their involvement remained secret, Nahton was caught just after transmitting his message. The damage was done. Nahton tried to surrender, but the Hansa guards gunned him down. Basil Wenceslas seemed very smug about the results.
Warned about the impending EDF assault, however, the Confederation members scrambled to find a way to defend themselves. Tasia Tamblyn and Robb Brindle had joined the Confederation to rebuild their military (much to the dismay of Robb’s father, Conrad Brindle, who insisted on remaining loyal to the Hansa). Under their guidance, and with the help of Kotto Okiah, new military-grade ships were being built, but that small fleet would not be enough to deflect an EDF battle group. Estarra and her sister Celli recalled the gigantic verdani battleships, led by their brother Beneto, who had fused himself into one of the giant trees.