September 24, 2152
Nephenee yawned and stretched as she slowly got out of bed and walked over to the coffee maker. While the coffee brewed, she sleepily changed into her uniform while Innes continued to sleep on the bed. After it had finished brewing, she grabbed the travel mug and crept to the infirmary. Emory was lying on the bed with tubes coming out of her arms, and Soren was passed out on a chair next to it. When Nephenee entered the room, Soren popped up and sleepily smiled before readjusting on the seat. Nephenee asked quietly, "How is she doing? Any changes?"
"Nothing yet," Soren sighed, "The medicine should reduce the time she spends comatose from thirty days to seven, and it's only the fourth day. Still, it was designed for Elandrian chemistry; who knows how long it will take for her to wake."
"All we can do is wait. As long as her vitals stay strong, there's nothing to worry about. Did Athos leave this morning as planned?" Nephenee continued.
"Yeah, with what happened, he had to help Bramimond at the front," Soren nodded, "I don't think anyone was expecting this result. After all, Athos himself was the last person to face a Laxtros in single combat and survive. I think they expected her to just defend until we showed up. If I could have gotten there a little sooner."
Nephenee scowled, "Stop. You did the best you could, and you know her. Was she more likely to defend and wait or push back and win?"
"You're right," Soren forced a smile, "Still, she cut an arm off Selena. Without allies or a second sphere, she forced Selena of all people to retreat. I don't think we all appreciate how great a feat that is."
"Normally, when you meet a Laxtros on the field, how many people do you assign to deal with it?" Innes questioned as he walked into the room.
"Between ten and twenty," Soren answered, "But the last time Selena showed up on the field, we sacrificed the outpost instead of fighting her. Some of the troops refer to her as 'Bubua' which is a monster that frightens children in our literature."
Innes grinned, "Well, in my experience, hurting monsters usually lessens their effect on others. And I imagine you won't have to worry about her for some time. What's the plan in the meantime?"
"From our perspective, we'll wait for any major offenses until she recovers," Soren stretched slowly, "After that, I think the plan for her is to help shore up the defenses we currently have then slowly drive the Apleem back. If we push too fast, they're likely to come to get rid of humanity. They're much closer to you all anyway, and without teleportation, they can only go so fast with only so many ships."
"I read the reports, but I didn't see the specs on their ships. So far we've encountered two different kinds. What can you tell us?" Innes probed.
Soren grimaced, "The two ships you've seen are both of their smaller vessels: a platoon cruiser and a recon frigate. They have two medium-sized ships as well called carriers and dreadnoughts. Carriers hold a hundred cruisers and are used as reinforcement vehicles. Due to their use as supply vessels, most carriers are surrounded by frigates, except designed for combat instead of exploration. Dreadnoughts are a little bigger and function as deployable command centers. Once a dreadnought is deployed on a planet, it's normally destroyed instead of removed. Both of these have a total capacity of thirty to fifty thousand, depending on if they're loaded with Mantoan or Uthid. But the real threats are their motherships."
"Hold on, they have ships that can transport tens of thousands of troops, and that's not the biggest threat," Innes stuttered, "How bad are the motherships?"
"I should preface this by saying they only have twenty or so motherships. However, they're massive, capable of holding a million troops. The only beneficial part is they can't land them on a planet; however, they usually carry ten to fifteen cruisers and half a dozen dreadnoughts. So far, we've only destroyed one mothership in the entire time we've been fighting them," Soren frowned.
"That's awful," Nephenee's shoulders drooped, "How can we hope to defeat any enemy that powerful?"
Innes shook his head, "If they can't staff the ships, we don't have worry about them. If we take out the troops on the ground and the smaller ships, they won't be able to resupply. It'll be a war of attrition, just like our first conflict with them."
"Right now, we're teetering on the edge between pushing forward or falling back," Soren explained, "One big move from either side will change the momentum of the war. The problem is sheer number of the Mantoan. We don't know how many there are, and right now, it seems like an infinite amount. They currently outnumber us at least a hundred to one."
"Don't worry, Emory will have a plan when she wakes up. And due to her severe magik poisoning, she'll probably come out of it stronger than before," Nephenee encouraged.
"She's right," Innes agreed, "We've got to do what we can to prepare while she's out. Nephenee, let's check on the inbound Collective ships. Please let us know right away if she wakes up." Soren nodded before Innes and Nephenee left the room. They walked in silence, but while holding hands, to the Command Center. After Emory had gone comatose, Nephenee reported the news back to Commander Shepherd who started sending troops later that day. Since it was a twelve-day journey to Temia, neither one expected any major changes. Yet, Innes didn't pull them away to really check; he just wanted to get Nephenee out of the area. Despite knowing Emory for the shortest amount of time, Nephenee seemed nearly as depressed as Soren about Emory's condition.
Once they saw the ships were still on their way, they parted ways to check on various objectives within the outpost. Nephenee went to check on the barracks construction while Innes went to see how training was going. The barracks now stood ten stories tall with each floor capable of holding a thousand beds plus two large locker rooms and a communal kitchen. Emory had originally asked for at least twenty thousand to be housed, which meant this building would need another ten floors. But ten million Collective troops would be arriving over the next few weeks and would need more shelter than just tents. With that in mind, Nephenee planned for this building to be at least a hundred stories tall and set aside space for nine other buildings just like it to be built as more troops arrived. While that wouldn't hold all of them normally, in an emergency, they could all shelter there, at least temporarily.
When Nephenee met up with Innes, he informed her the training was going well. Hopefully by the time the army started showing up, the students would be able to help train the rest of the army. At least, that was Innes's goal. Since it was almost midday, they decided to get some food. After eating, they checked in on Emory again, but she was still unconscious. So, they found a secluded space just outside the outpost and channeled magik. Without Athos, they had no way of checking their progress, yet they persisted anyway towards the third level of Arcane. Unlike Emory though, they had to take several short breaks to regain their magik and stamina.
As the star began to set over the horizon, Innes and Nephenee got dinner for themselves and Soren since it appeared that he hadn't been eating. At first, he tried to lie about being hungry; however, his stomach gurgled loudly and betrayed his words. Over dinner, they largely stayed quiet, letting the reoccurring beeps from the machine wash over them. Innes and Nephenee attempted to convince Soren to sleep in a regular bed instead of the infirmary chair, but he refused because he wanted to be there when she woke up, no matter what time it was. So, Innes left for a few minutes before returning with a cot which would be slightly better than the chair. Afterwards, Innes and Nephenee returned to Nephenee's room and practiced controlling their magik some more before drifting off to sleep. They each hoped tomorrow would be a better day.