When you want to avenge a loss and you feel that the hour of the decisive battle is approaching, you gather all your will into a fist, fully concentrate on achieving your goal. The path is not easy, but this is the price that the protagonist of Sergei Tarmashev's novel “Ancient. Background. Book Three. This series of books ties into the Ancient series, and readers have more and more questions. I would like to understand how the Thirteenth and Torbrand are connected. There are assumptions, but I want to know everything for sure. The writer does not forget to pay attention to the main war, the struggle of two forces, the experiences of the characters and their relationship with each other, giving only part of the information. But there is a premonition that the end of this story is already very close.

The war has been going on for four hundred and thirty years. The desire to destroy enemies. Large-scale and brutal battles. A whole divided into two parts. And only in the beginning it was something painful and scary. The farther, the more accustomed to seeing this war, less and less emotions, more and more losses. But his life is subordinated to only one goal - he wants revenge. He will punish those who are guilty of losing the most precious thing he had. He is Thorbrand, True Ace and King. And the Dark Ones are afraid of him. No one else in the galaxy has the strength he has. Thorbrand feels that the decisive battle will soon come.

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Help to the Dark Ones came to an end of the day, when not even a quarter of the payroll remained from their first fleet. The Second Fleet planned to exit hyperspace much closer to Arctida, and Thorbrand was forced to split forces. He left the strike groups to finish off the remnants of the enemy, withdrew the aircraft carriers from the battle, and with a combined impulse of the super-powerful Crystals of the three White Death-class ships, he knocked out the approaching enemy fleet from hyperspace in the far orbit of Yarna. The fresh forces of the enemy consisted entirely of the Blacks, who went to fight on their own ships, which only confirmed the previous assumptions. The Immortal diverts the Radiants' attention from some covert operation. The black fleet did not pose a serious threat, but its numbers turned out to be large, and the battle dragged on. By noon the next day, the Immortal's third fleet arrived at Yarna, and had to be met from the opposite side of the system. The Immortal himself, contrary to expectations, was not among the commanders of the third fleet, and this was even more alarming. All fleets went into hyper before the Immortals lost their avatar. If the third fleet had arrived without him, then the Lord of the Grays had been sending fleets to their deaths from the beginning.

The anthracite-black spot of the Beacon pierced a bunch of enemy squadrons forcibly falling into real space, and the Distorters struck. A dozen and a half multi-deck monsters studded with gun ports froze motionless against the background of the rest of the steel giants and slowly began to crumble into dust. The Beacon moved to the left with a high-speed jerk, occupying the center of the enemy formation, and the Distorters worked again. This time, three times as many enemy ships came under attack, and Torbrand, with afterburner acceleration, brought the Light out of the retaliatory strike zone. The mighty combat Ace carried out a combat turn and rushed into the next attack, activating the ship's Long-Range Communications Crystal. Thorbrand issued a call to the operations officer for the composite group awaiting orders in the Arcoln system, and the Twisters smashed another group target into atoms.

- Operative in touch.

- Squadron Rod Fornar - combat alert. Task: arrive in the Yarna system to destroy the enemy. – Torbrand rammed a pair of dreadnoughts to pieces in the afterburner line. – Here it is necessary to finish as quickly as possible, I will open the zero-crossing through four parts. This Immortal attack is a distraction. The rest of the grouping conduct continuous monitoring of hyperspace. Maintain contact with patrol groups at all times. If the Dark Ones are planning to strike the main blow, now is the time to do so.

Beacon made two more attacks and exited the battle with superluminal acceleration. The admiral of the third fleet of the enemy, which had completed its exit into real space, received data on the losses already incurred and made a predictable decision - to break through to connect with the rest of the Dark Forces. Given the high numbers, he will succeed, and the combined remnants of the three fleets with the forces of one squadron will have to destroy for too long. Torbrand brought the Beacon out of deathmatch mode, and the orb flashed with a dazzling starlight, rushing towards the sun. The light reached the photosphere of the star and stopped, accelerating its own glow to an extreme value. For several moments, a single whole, consisting of a powerful warship and a mighty fighting Ace, absorbed generous flows of solar radiation, overflowing with energy. The energy circuit of the Radiant fixed the state of complete rest, and Thorbrand directed his personal flow to the Zero-transition Crystal. The most powerful equipment boiled with tight tangles of energies, the ultra-complex atomic structure vibrated, increasing resonant vibrations, and after an imperceptibly short sig of time formed a peak impact. In the point of outer space indicated by the consciousness of the combat Ace, the ripples of the dark matter turned inside out trembled, and in the middle of the icy void a vertical zero-transition mirror appeared.

A moment later, a flight of interceptors burst out of it, conducting reconnaissance of the point of arrival, and shining spheres of warships of the ancestral squadron poured after them. The Dark Ones noticed the new forces of the Shining Ones and rushed to the breach, trying to make a hyperjump before it became completely impossible. Few succeeded in what they had planned, the main number of enemy combat units did not have time to overcome the blockade of the jump, established by a single network of Guardians. After two parts, the network grew tenfold, and the enemy fleet finally lost organization. The ships of the Dark Ones scattered in all directions, trying to save themselves somehow, and their search and destruction dragged on until midnight. But for all this time, the main blow of the Dark Ones did not follow.

‘The raid teams on patrol are in constant contact,’ the Ops reported, ‘two full circles of the strike teams went on a free search six hours ago, every sixteen units we contact allies whose Lands are in our area of ​​​​responsibility. Everywhere is quiet. Fifth day everything is calm. Contact Fleet Headquarters? Maybe the Dark Ones struck away from us?

- Doesn't make sense. Merged with the Light, Thorbrand thoughtfully looked at the snow-covered surface of Arctida, whitening in the distance right on the course. “Why throw a distraction here to attack where it won’t even be seen?” If the Immortal was not going to disperse the forces of our group, then he was conducting an operation specifically in the Yarna system. Another circle of Hunters has come here to strengthen those that already exist. Have them search the system twice. Deliver all units of combat pards and griffons to Arctida by morning. At dawn, we begin the search for saboteurs on the surface of the Earth. Consolidated grouping - the end of the combat alert. Return strike groups from the search, raid groups continue patrolling according to the combat schedule.

The operator acknowledged the reception and hung up. Thorbrand listened to the overall energy flow of the solar system. The squadrons were regrouping, taking up positions in the Yarna system, and a stream of ships requiring repairs was heading towards Arctida. Several ambulances with wounded on board deorbited and began to descend, and there was high activity on the frequencies of the Healer caste. The Crystal of Communication accepted the incoming impulse, and the image of the Keeper Radomir flashed in the mind.

- For the glory of the Race! The grey-haired old man saluted briefly. “Congratulations on your victory, mighty king!” The Healer caste has already distributed the wounded to the hospitals, the Masters will begin repairing the ships as soon as the damaged equipment reaches orbit. From all over Arctida, the same question comes from the Shining Ones: “How many warriors died?” You didn't broadcast the fight.

- For glory! Thorbrand replied. - Half a circle of warriors died, in the first phase of the battle they had to take the blow of the enemy, which was significantly superior in strength. We have many wounded, more than two hundred.

– Two hundred and thirty six, – Ace the Guardian specified. - We contacted the crews of the sanitary evacuation complexes. The Healer caste of Arctida will put everyone on their feet, you can leave the wounded here if their transportation to the fleet base is not mandatory.

- Is not. The squadrons will be in the Yarna system for a while. - Thorbrand bowed his head in a short bow: - The consolidated group is grateful to the infinitely wise civilian castes of Arctida for prompt assistance. This will seriously speed up our preparations for subsequent battles.

“This is the least we could do in the name of the Motherland and the Race,” Radomir answered. “Is there anything else we can do to help the warrior caste?”

“We didn't broadcast because this attack was led by an Immortal. - The light reached the orbit of Arctida and slowly ran around the snow-covered Earth. “We suspected a conspiracy on his part. The attack is repulsed, the enemy is destroyed, but the plan of the Immortal is not revealed. In the morning we start searching for saboteurs on Arctida, units of combat animals are already on their way. Let the Council of Castes warn the populace of this.

– Did the Dark Ones land saboteurs on Arctida? - The gray-haired Ace frowned anxiously. – None of the Life-Screamers felt the appearance of low-energy Essences. So the Dark Ones sent robots. The Creator caste will help organize the search.

Sergey Tarmashev

Ancient. Background. Book Three

"There is enough light for those who want to see, and enough darkness for those who don't."

Chapter one

957600 years ago, four-dimensional layer of the Universe, high-energy space, frontier spiral arm of the Borderline galaxy, Yarn star system, 12 hours 70 parts of the time system of the Shining civilization

The first echelon of the enemy fleet fired a volley, and the consciousness dispersed by the Tracking Crystal automatically made a calculation. Four million homing torpedoes. Weak for such a fleet, it means that the Dark Ones have something else in store. Torbrand, hovering in the glow of the Luminary’s combat post, got in touch with a single circuit of the Guardians:

- Look for hidden enemy forces. I feel the presence of more low energy Beings than we see. "Daaria" and "Ariste" do not leave the invisibility mode. Destroy a torpedo salvo to battleships. Strike groups prepare for the attack. Reserve to wait for my command.

The unified command circuit was colored with short pulses of commanders, confirming the receipt of the order, and the squadron of battleships, spread out in the cosmic night like a gigantic shining necklace, fired a return volley. The torpedo ocean rushing at near-light speed was crushed by an area of ​​transcendental gravity that suddenly appeared on the way, and the approaching shaft of bursting snake-like silhouettes was replaced by a giant flash of many explosions that merged together. Thorbrand sent out a brief pulse on the fleet command frequency, and the strike teams launched their attack, instantly breaking away at thirty times the photon's current speed. The first echelon of the enemy did not have the technological capabilities to prevent rapprochement and a moment later found itself in the clinch zone. The Radiant's strike cruisers used their superior speed to rapidly blend into the enemy battle formations, and a hot glow of explosions erupted in the midst of the icy vacuum. Streams of antimatter overwhelmed the enemy fleets, turning the multi-deck monsters studded with guns into blinding photon flashes, and the number of the first echelon of the enemy fleet began to gradually decrease. The second and third echelons of the Dark Ones began to retreat at full speed, demonstrating their intent to find the edge of the region of space within which the Radiants had blocked the possibility of a hyperjump. On the surface, this seemed reasonable. The fleet of the Dark Ones outnumbered the Shining Ones by twenty times, which effectively meant the complete victory of the Shining Ones, and the enemy admiral saw no reason to waste his forces in vain. The first echelon of the Dark Ones, as usual, consisted of representatives of the Black race, the rest of the enemy units belonged to the Grays, so the admiral's decision to sacrifice Aliens to save his own at first glance looked quite expected.

“The dark ones planned to lure us into a trap,” Torbrand's energy flow did not carry emotions. - Let's play them. Reserve to start a detour. The task is to bypass the battle, start the chase and forge the second echelon of the enemy in battle. Do not go into a region of space that allows the launch of a quark reaction. Fight!

Reserve strike groups instantly picked up speed and sped off after the retreating enemy. The network of Fleet Guardians merged together as a result of both attacks spread far beyond the sector, and reports followed almost immediately:

- I see the radiation of a quark charge! One charge of low power is installed on the flagship battleship of the second tier!

- I confirm! The spectral response is distinct. Imitation is excluded.

– Another quark charge on the flagship of the third echelon! This is a dreadnought of the Grays, I give a backlight.

– I confirm compliance of radiations. On the flagship dreadnought, a high-capacity charge.

– I see the radiation of the Immortal! The avatar is located on the dreadnought of the third echelon, along with a quark bomb. Goes at full speed to the region of free triggering of the quark reaction.

“Do not pursue the immortal,” Torbrand merged with the general energy flow of the solar system and listened to the radiation emanating from the avatar. - Before a special command, do not pay attention to the third echelon of the enemy. Guardians, is there any new data on the hidden powers of the Dark Ones?

“Not yet,” the Guardian from the Daaria, who heads the general network, answered for everyone. - Are looking for.

Reserve strike groups overtook the second echelon of the Dark Ones, and a second battlefield broke out in deep space. There, the overall balance of power was equal, and the Grays fought fiercely, probably counting on the help of the third echelon. But the third echelon was in no hurry to help and continued to retreat, maintaining a tight battle formation.

“I feel the radio communications of the Dark Ones!” “The general network of Guardians has sent a report from one of the reserve's strike cruisers. - Admirals of the first and second echelons do not ask for support from their naval commander. I don't see any panic among the Dark Ones.

- I confirm. - In the general network of the Guardians, an impulse has arisen from a cruiser that is fighting with the first echelon of the enemy. – Strong emotional imprints come from Blacks. They are waiting for some event and hope to win.

'Strike groups continue fighting in their original positions,' ordered Thorbrand. - Let's wait.

There was no doubt from the very beginning that the Immortal had planned a trap. The fleet of the Dark Ones, moving in hyperspace towards the Yarna system, was spotted at the moment it crossed the imaginary front line. Suspecting a diversion, Thorbrand took with him only a couple of aircraft carriers and an Arctida cover squadron, leaving the combined force in Arcoln's far orbit in full combat readiness. The enemy was knocked out of hyper in the far orbit of Yarna, and Thorbrand instantly felt the radiation of the Immortal, whom he had been seeking for so long. Over the past centuries, this Ruler of the Grays came across to him only twice, and both times he could not reach the enemy. The Immortal blew up the avatar as soon as Torbrand's Lantern threw itself into attack speed, and was no longer interested in the fate of his troops. Now the sworn enemy was caught by him for the third time, and the mighty will of the Shining One suppressed a fit of transcendent rage. It's easy to scare off the Gray. It is more important to unravel his plan and destroy the enemy operation.

Only this time, the enemy was up to something different from the usual attempts to break through the defenses of the Shining Ones. The forces in the Immortal fleet for such a strike from the very beginning are not enough. Two more fleets are moving here through hyperspace, but even with them, the Dark Ones will not break through to Arctida. As soon as they land large forces here, the entire consolidated group will arrive here, and no one will allow them to approach the living Earth anyway. Judging by the habits of the Dark Ones, this is an ordinary distraction strike, and the main attack should be expected in the other direction, where the enemy sent super-large forces in the maximum covert hyperjump mode. No wonder the Immortal, having studied the quantitative composition of the squadron of the Shining Ones, began to retreat. And that was what gave Thorbrand the confidence that the Immortal was up to something else. For the sake of such a primitive operation, he would not have landed in the Yarna system personally, he would have sent one of his admirals. However, the Ruler of the Grays arrived here in person. Moreover, he staged a whole performance: his fleet fell out into real space in an almost chaotic bunch, but before starting the retreat, the Immortal was not too lazy to line it up in battle formations. He managed to hide part of his forces right at the moment the fleet left hyperspace, so he expected something like this in advance and prepared for it. So the Immortal is not going to just run away, he really wants to be noticed. Noticed and distracted from something important, as it already happened once.

- King Thorbrand! - The Link Crystal formed a separate image of the Guardian from the Daaria. – Civil Ace asks for connection. This is Guardian Radomir from the Arctida Council of Castes. Miss signal?

- Skip. “The powerful Daariya Suppression Crystals unlocked the possibility of long-range communication for the signal that came from the living Earth, and the image of a two-thousand-year-old old man, gray-haired like a harrier, flashed in Thorbrand’s mind. - Affectionate Sun to you, wise Radomir.

“Eternally shining stars, mighty Thorbrand!” - Ace Guardian felt the flow of the ongoing battle and immediately got down to business: - Do you need the help of warriors? Raise militia? I feel bad. Arctida in danger?

- Let's do it. Thorbrand listened to the currents of energy flowing through space. “Moreover, it is necessary to ensure that there is not the slightest alarm on Arctida. This is an unusual attack, and we need the enemy to be sure of complete serenity in the orbit and surface of Arctida. Arctida is not in danger in this fight. But your premonitions are not in vain. After the battle, I would like to speak with the Council.

"There is enough light for those who want to see, and enough darkness for those who don't."

Chapter one

957600 years ago, four-dimensional layer of the Universe, high-energy space, frontier spiral arm of the Borderline galaxy, Yarn star system, 12 hours 70 parts of the time system of the Shining civilization

The first echelon of the enemy fleet fired a volley, and the consciousness dispersed by the Tracking Crystal automatically made a calculation. Four million homing torpedoes. Weak for such a fleet, it means that the Dark Ones have something else in store. Torbrand, hovering in the glow of the Luminary’s combat post, got in touch with a single circuit of the Guardians:

- Look for hidden enemy forces. I feel the presence of more low energy Beings than we see. "Daaria" and "Ariste" do not leave the invisibility mode. Destroy a torpedo salvo to battleships. Strike groups prepare for the attack. Reserve to wait for my command.

The unified command circuit was colored with short pulses of commanders, confirming the receipt of the order, and the squadron of battleships, spread out in the cosmic night like a gigantic shining necklace, fired a return volley. The torpedo ocean rushing at near-light speed was crushed by an area of ​​transcendental gravity that suddenly appeared on the way, and the approaching shaft of bursting snake-like silhouettes was replaced by a giant flash of many explosions that merged together. Thorbrand sent out a brief pulse on the fleet command frequency, and the strike teams launched their attack, instantly breaking away at thirty times the photon's current speed. The first echelon of the enemy did not have the technological capabilities to prevent rapprochement and a moment later found itself in the clinch zone. The Radiant's strike cruisers used their superior speed to rapidly blend into the enemy battle formations, and a hot glow of explosions erupted in the midst of the icy vacuum. Streams of antimatter overwhelmed the enemy fleets, turning the multi-deck monsters studded with guns into blinding photon flashes, and the number of the first echelon of the enemy fleet began to gradually decrease. The second and third echelons of the Dark Ones began to retreat at full speed, demonstrating their intent to find the edge of the region of space within which the Radiants had blocked the possibility of a hyperjump. On the surface, this seemed reasonable. The fleet of the Dark Ones outnumbered the Shining Ones by twenty times, which effectively meant the complete victory of the Shining Ones, and the enemy admiral saw no reason to waste his forces in vain. The first echelon of the Dark Ones, as usual, consisted of representatives of the Black race, the rest of the enemy units belonged to the Grays, so the admiral's decision to sacrifice Aliens to save his own at first glance looked quite expected.

“The dark ones planned to lure us into a trap,” Torbrand's energy flow did not carry emotions. - Let's play them. Reserve to start a detour. The task is to bypass the battle, start the chase and forge the second echelon of the enemy in battle. Do not go into a region of space that allows the launch of a quark reaction. Fight!

Reserve strike groups instantly picked up speed and sped off after the retreating enemy. The network of Fleet Guardians merged together as a result of both attacks spread far beyond the sector, and reports followed almost immediately:

- I see the radiation of a quark charge! One charge of low power is installed on the flagship battleship of the second tier!

- I confirm! The spectral response is distinct. Imitation is excluded.

– Another quark charge on the flagship of the third echelon! This is a dreadnought of the Grays, I give a backlight.

– I confirm compliance of radiations. On the flagship dreadnought, a high-capacity charge.

– I see the radiation of the Immortal! The avatar is located on the dreadnought of the third echelon, along with a quark bomb. Goes at full speed to the region of free triggering of the quark reaction.

“Do not pursue the immortal,” Torbrand merged with the general energy flow of the solar system and listened to the radiation emanating from the avatar. - Before a special command, do not pay attention to the third echelon of the enemy. Guardians, is there any new data on the hidden powers of the Dark Ones?

“Not yet,” the Guardian from the Daaria, who heads the general network, answered for everyone. - Are looking for.

Reserve strike groups overtook the second echelon of the Dark Ones, and a second battlefield broke out in deep space. There, the overall balance of power was equal, and the Grays fought fiercely, probably counting on the help of the third echelon. But the third echelon was in no hurry to help and continued to retreat, maintaining a tight battle formation.

“I feel the radio communications of the Dark Ones!” “The general network of Guardians has sent a report from one of the reserve's strike cruisers. - Admirals of the first and second echelons do not ask for support from their naval commander. I don't see any panic among the Dark Ones.

- I confirm. - In the general network of the Guardians, an impulse has arisen from a cruiser that is fighting with the first echelon of the enemy. – Strong emotional imprints come from Blacks. They are waiting for some event and hope to win.

Sergey Tarmashev

Ancient. Background. Book Three

"There is enough light for those who want to see, and enough darkness for those who don't."

Pascal

Chapter one

957600 years ago, four-dimensional layer of the Universe, high-energy space, frontier spiral arm of the Borderline galaxy, Yarn star system, 12 hours 70 parts of the time system of the Shining civilization

The first echelon of the enemy fleet fired a volley, and the consciousness dispersed by the Tracking Crystal automatically made a calculation. Four million homing torpedoes. Weak for such a fleet, it means that the Dark Ones have something else in store. Torbrand, hovering in the glow of the Luminary’s combat post, got in touch with a single circuit of the Guardians:

- Look for hidden enemy forces. I feel the presence of more low energy Beings than we see. "Daaria" and "Ariste" do not leave the invisibility mode. Destroy a torpedo salvo to battleships. Strike groups prepare for the attack. Reserve to wait for my command.

The unified command circuit was colored with short pulses of commanders, confirming the receipt of the order, and the squadron of battleships, spread out in the cosmic night like a gigantic shining necklace, fired a return volley. The torpedo ocean rushing at near-light speed was crushed by an area of ​​transcendental gravity that suddenly appeared on the way, and the approaching shaft of bursting snake-like silhouettes was replaced by a giant flash of many explosions that merged together. Thorbrand sent out a brief pulse on the fleet command frequency, and the strike teams launched their attack, instantly breaking away at thirty times the photon's current speed. The first echelon of the enemy did not have the technological capabilities to prevent rapprochement and a moment later found itself in the clinch zone. The Radiant's strike cruisers used their superior speed to rapidly blend into the enemy battle formations, and a hot glow of explosions erupted in the midst of the icy vacuum. Streams of antimatter overwhelmed the enemy fleets, turning the multi-deck monsters studded with guns into blinding photon flashes, and the number of the first echelon of the enemy fleet began to gradually decrease. The second and third echelons of the Dark Ones began to retreat at full speed, demonstrating their intent to find the edge of the region of space within which the Radiants had blocked the possibility of a hyperjump. On the surface, this seemed reasonable. The fleet of the Dark Ones outnumbered the Shining Ones by twenty times, which effectively meant the complete victory of the Shining Ones, and the enemy admiral saw no reason to waste his forces in vain. The first echelon of the Dark Ones, as usual, consisted of representatives of the Black race, the rest of the enemy units belonged to the Grays, so the admiral's decision to sacrifice Aliens to save his own at first glance looked quite expected.

“The dark ones planned to lure us into a trap,” Torbrand's energy flow did not carry emotions. - Let's play them. Reserve to start a detour. The task is to bypass the battle, start the chase and forge the second echelon of the enemy in battle. Do not go into a region of space that allows the launch of a quark reaction. Fight!

Reserve strike groups instantly picked up speed and sped off after the retreating enemy. The network of Fleet Guardians merged together as a result of both attacks spread far beyond the sector, and reports followed almost immediately:

- I see the radiation of a quark charge! One charge of low power is installed on the flagship battleship of the second tier!

- I confirm! The spectral response is distinct. Imitation is excluded.

– Another quark charge on the flagship of the third echelon! This is a dreadnought of the Grays, I give a backlight.

– I confirm compliance of radiations. On the flagship dreadnought, a high-capacity charge.

– I see the radiation of the Immortal! The avatar is located on the dreadnought of the third echelon, along with a quark bomb. Goes at full speed to the region of free triggering of the quark reaction.

“Do not pursue the immortal,” Torbrand merged with the general energy flow of the solar system and listened to the radiation emanating from the avatar. - Before a special command, do not pay attention to the third echelon of the enemy. Guardians, is there any new data on the hidden powers of the Dark Ones?

“Not yet,” the Guardian from the Daaria, who heads the general network, answered for everyone. - Are looking for.

Reserve strike groups overtook the second echelon of the Dark Ones, and a second battlefield broke out in deep space. There, the overall balance of power was equal, and the Grays fought fiercely, probably counting on the help of the third echelon. But the third echelon was in no hurry to help and continued to retreat, maintaining a tight battle formation.

“I feel the radio communications of the Dark Ones!” “The general network of Guardians has sent a report from one of the reserve's strike cruisers. - Admirals of the first and second echelons do not ask for support from their naval commander. I don't see any panic among the Dark Ones.

- I confirm. - In the general network of the Guardians, an impulse has arisen from a cruiser that is fighting with the first echelon of the enemy. – Strong emotional imprints come from Blacks. They are waiting for some event and hope to win.

'Strike groups continue fighting in their original positions,' ordered Thorbrand. - Let's wait.

There was no doubt from the very beginning that the Immortal had planned a trap. The fleet of the Dark Ones, moving in hyperspace towards the Yarna system, was spotted at the moment it crossed the imaginary front line. Suspecting a diversion, Thorbrand took with him only a couple of aircraft carriers and an Arctida cover squadron, leaving the combined force in Arcoln's far orbit in full combat readiness. The enemy was knocked out of hyper in the far orbit of Yarna, and Thorbrand instantly felt the radiation of the Immortal, whom he had been seeking for so long. Over the past centuries, this Ruler of the Grays came across to him only twice, and both times he could not reach the enemy. The Immortal blew up the avatar as soon as Torbrand's Lantern threw itself into attack speed, and was no longer interested in the fate of his troops. Now the sworn enemy was caught by him for the third time, and the mighty will of the Shining One suppressed a fit of transcendent rage. It's easy to scare off the Gray. It is more important to unravel his plan and destroy the enemy operation.

Only this time, the enemy was up to something different from the usual attempts to break through the defenses of the Shining Ones. The forces in the Immortal fleet for such a strike from the very beginning are not enough. Two more fleets are moving here through hyperspace, but even with them, the Dark Ones will not break through to Arctida. As soon as they land large forces here, the entire consolidated group will arrive here, and no one will allow them to approach the living Earth anyway. Judging by the habits of the Dark Ones, this is an ordinary distraction strike, and the main attack should be expected in the other direction, where the enemy sent super-large forces in the maximum covert hyperjump mode. No wonder the Immortal, having studied the quantitative composition of the squadron of the Shining Ones, began to retreat. And that was what gave Thorbrand the confidence that the Immortal was up to something else. For the sake of such a primitive operation, he would not have landed in the Yarna system personally, he would have sent one of his admirals. However, the Ruler of the Grays arrived here in person. Moreover, he staged a whole performance: his fleet fell out into real space in an almost chaotic bunch, but before starting the retreat, the Immortal was not too lazy to line it up in battle formations. He managed to hide part of his forces right at the moment the fleet left hyperspace, so he expected something like this in advance and prepared for it. So the Immortal is not going to just run away, he really wants to be noticed. Noticed and distracted from something important, as it already happened once.

- King Thorbrand! - The Link Crystal formed a separate image of the Guardian from the Daaria. – Civil Ace asks for connection. This is Guardian Radomir from the Arctida Council of Castes. Miss signal?

- Skip. “The powerful Daariya Suppression Crystals unlocked the possibility of long-range communication for the signal that came from the living Earth, and the image of a two-thousand-year-old old man, gray-haired like a harrier, flashed in Thorbrand’s mind. - Affectionate Sun to you, wise Radomir.

“Eternally shining stars, mighty Thorbrand!” - Ace Guardian felt the flow of the ongoing battle and immediately got down to business: - Do you need the help of warriors? Raise militia? I feel bad. Arctida in danger?

- Let's do it. Thorbrand listened to the currents of energy flowing through space. “Moreover, it is necessary to ensure that there is not the slightest alarm on Arctida. This is an unusual attack, and we need the enemy to be sure of complete serenity in the orbit and surface of Arctida. Arctida is not in danger in this fight. But your premonitions are not in vain. After the battle, I would like to speak with the Council.

“We will fulfill your request, valiant king,” the old man’s face, furrowed with deep wrinkles, darkened. “I feel the coming of a great disaster… The Council of Castes will be waiting for you at the central homestead of the Life of Rivers of the Blue Sky Clan.” I'll send you the coordinates.

Ace Guardian switched off, and at that moment the third echelon of enemy forces changed the direction of movement. The enemy squadrons undertook maximum acceleration towards the second center of battle, and in their place only the flagship dreadnought of the Immortal, surrounded by a dozen guard cruisers, remained. The overall balance of energies at the point of its location corresponded to a region of space in which nothing prevented the occurrence of a quark reaction. Thorbrand listened to the distant rough imprint of technogenic energy and again suppressed a flash of rage. Not now. The immortal knows that he will again go unpunished, and therefore boldly provokes an attack. His third echelon would soon join his second, and their combined strength would increase. The Radiant Reserve will begin to suffer losses, and this, according to the Immortal's plan, should piss off the commander of the Radiant Ones. And then the Shining One will send the Beacon of close combat to destroy the flagship of the Immortal in order to deprive his troops of control. And the battleships of fire support will remain without protection. This means that the hidden forces of the Dark Ones must already be somewhere nearby. They will launch a surprise attack on the battleships, and if you're lucky, the Beacon will be destroyed by a quark explosion. But it's all just a cover. The ruler of the Grays conceived another meanness.

Lying in the opposite part of the central compartment, Eirik felt the impulse of rage emanating from the owner and jumped to his paws. The mighty griffin listened to the Crystal of Search, but did not find an enemy nearby and lay down in place. Thorbrand lit the glow of the Pet Crystal for the pet and said softly:

- Prepare to accelerate.

Hearing a familiar command, Eirik climbed into the weave of energies and habitually curled up into a ball. Fighting animals are unable to blend into the ship's outline and prefer to sleep inside the landing glow. But Eirik had an increased attachment to the host's energy flow and often sensed the course of the cosmic battle. In order not to excite the beast, I had to put it to sleep myself. Torbrand poured a small stream of energy into the pet's energy circuit, putting the griffin to sleep, and again listened to the flow of cosmic energies. Thoughts of the Immortal cannot be tapped, his avatar is controlled by the technologies of the higher Dark worlds, but the shadow from their energies can be seen and you can go through it to his planetoid of Immortality. But in order to detect the shadow, one must have time to get close to the Immortal, and the Rulers of the Grays know about it. Therefore, they destroy their avatar at the slightest sign of threat. Until now, it has not been possible to catch them by surprise, there are still too few Ases in the military caste.

– I feel the work of the Dark refraction fields! - The general network of Guardians brought a report from one of the battleships. “At least seven hundred prints. ...