“I do,” Leo whispered. “That was a shitshow.”
“Oh, it sure was. Over and out.”
22
Just as we entered the sixth deck, a missile from the Redeemer rammed into the room, scaring the shit out of us. It took several long seconds of thanking whatever deity stopped the missile from actually detonating before we had a nervous chuckle and proceeded toward the fifth deck.
I called on Leo to watch where he was firing, but it wasn’t Leo who fired the missile, it was one of the destroyers hunting down the Tanaree. How the hell had their missile manage to hit their on ship?
Leo had been forced to turn his vessel starboard toward the Idolian Wallbreaker. The reason was simple: most of his port side was ravaged by the massive cannons of the enemy ship. The Commonwealth Federation Star-Eater mimicked the movement so both ships could pound it out all over again.
Mitto and McGill had taken down a third frigate with the particle beam, boring a hole through the ship from bow to stern. The two destroyers, both heavily armed assault ships, plastered the Tanaree with homing missiles that were almost impossible to dodge.
“We’re almost done for, boss,” he said with a tone I didn’t like at all. “The shield is all but down and then we’ll just have to see how the hull lives up to its specs.”
“You sound rather chill, Mitto,” I replied as we waded our way through the sixth deck.
“It is what it is, boss. There’s nothing else we could have—shit! You damn bastards! That hurt!”
“Huh? What hurt?”
“Oh, sorry, boss. A missile struck our port side.”
“Mitto, I’ve got my hands full right now. Try to stay alive, all right?”
He stayed quiet for a second, then another. I was already becoming fearful for the little bastard, but he’d been busy I guessed.
“Acknowledged, boss.”
I let out a sigh as we entered the fifth deck. My focus was on staying alive and getting to the Imminy Absolute before they drowned us in waves of poorly equipped troops. And that’s exactly what they were doing. The bastards kept throwing hundreds of unequipped—you couldn’t even call them soldiers. That was a travesty toward real soldiers. Whatever they were, it didn’t matter as the bloodbath that had followed was the worst one I had caused in my pretty long life.
We had forced the soldiers meant for boarding the Redeemer back to defensive positions aboard the Idolian Wallbreaker. The Imminy had underestimated what three very capable individuals could do to a Star-Eater and its crew, no matter how strong they were.
The corridors were relatively tight, even for Federation standards which meant their overwhelming numbers meant very little. Though this was by design so it would be easier to defend against boarding, the tactic turned on its maker because a good Technomancer could do wonders in tight corners. And not just me. The two of them were equally deadly.
Each barricade was a death trap for the poor foot soldiers of the Federation. All we had to do was tear into their defensive lines by sending waves of nanites through the floors and walls and letting them erupt behind enemy lines. Before they realized what happened, Fars and Arthur would already be in their midst, cutting through dozens with ease. Or one of them would take charge and just storm the enemy like a battering ram.
Morale among the Federation troops plummeted with every new wave that we destroyed, and by the time we hit the fourth deck which led to the bridge, several positions were completely abandoned. Ten years ago, that would have been virtually impossible. I had never seen an abandoned position in the middle of a fight. Ever. Anywhere.
The realization that Federation troops were running AWOL only confirmed what Leo had told me. Fear and tyranny only got you so far, as you couldn’t terrify someone into reliability. You could try, but it would backfire sooner or later. And mostly when it was most important.
Abandoned Federation banners and scorched bodies littered the hallways. As chaotic as the space battle outside, hell had broken out within the Idolian Wallbreaker. Gunfire erupted from other decks and further down the corridor, which only meant that troops and officers were now in conflict among themselves. I couldn’t say I didn’t enjoy the fact that an Imminy’s crew was turning against itself. They came to dominate as they always had, but instead, they were falling apart.
I picked one of the Federation banners up and looked at the crest: a white spear rising on a red background that symbolized the ascendence of each race that would join the Ka in their grand plans.
“Doesn’t feel like I ever marched under this,” I muttered, throwing the banner back on the ground. I didn’t just march, no, I had died for it.
“It’s a strange world,” Arthur replied. He was closest to me and had overheard me speak.
“It sure is. An Aloi, an Eres, and a human attacking an Imminy ship. What a damn joke.”
The door to the bridge was the only thing separating us from the Imminy at that moment. The few last brave souls that tried to protect their masters lay dead beneath our feet. Aside from that horrific entrance and a couple of bruises and the occasional gun-grazed shoulder, the entire mission seemed easier than expected. No Federation soldier, spec-ops or not, had proven a worthy opponent so far.
“Leo, we’re at the bridge. Give us some cover fire if needed. You never know what one of these bastards might try to do.”
Mitto interrupted just then.
“What is it?”
“Boss, Vogron asks to join the fight. He seems lucid enough, and I can send him in with a precision shot to the bridge. He says he can survive the vacuum and that I should just let him drop in with a booster pack.”
“What? Why? I don’t need him now. Tell Vogron to sit tight.”
I turned to Arthur and Fars, wanting to explain how we were supposed to enter when Mitto spoke yet again.
“Cap’, Vogron says you’ll need all the help you can get. He says we missed some valuable info regarding the Imminy’s defense capabilities.”
“Are you two hearing this?”
“Mitto? We are,” Arthur replied. Fars just nodded.
“Then what do you think? Should we risk his ass getting splattered against the bulkhead?”
“It can’t hurt to have a Jareet here,” Arthur replied. “You never know what an Imminy will do once it’s cornered.”
“Fine, bring him in on my mark.”
I closed the INAS and ordered Fars and Arthur to wrench open the blast door as they had before. However, just as they stuck their weapons into the pekta-metal, the blast door suddenly opened, and the wide space of the Star-Eater bridge opened before us.
This was a trap if I’d ever seen one, but carried by our enthusiasm and a blind sense of power, I stepped into the bridge. The room was dark, only the blinking of the consoles and screens shed greenish light across the walls. The entire crew was gone.
“Mitto, can you scan the bridge for me?”
“No can do, boss. The jamming network is still surrounding the main compartments of the ship. You’ll have to see for yourself.”
“Not even through my sensors?”
“Sorry. You’ll have to shut their jammers down first. I’m already having issues talking to you.”
Just as Mitto finished, an incredibly fast and powerful metallic tentacle swooshed by me and tore into Fars’ shoulder, pinning him to the wall behind him. Just as the appendage had appeared, it was gone again. Fars howled in pain as blood gushed from the wound.
“What the hell was that?” I snapped as I readied my nanites to do battle.
“The Imminy,” Arthur growled as he scanned the room. The attack had seemingly come from nowhere.
“Do you see anything?” Arthur asked and then another black metallic extension flew from an entirely different angle and pierced Arthur’s calve. He dropped to a knee, but the Templar had much more self-control. He barely made a grunt.
“You’ve got to find it, Stavos!”
“No shit!” I cursed and spread a thin web of nanites ac
ross the bridge, trying to pin down the position of the Imminy Absolute that was hiding in the shadows. I knew they could change color and blend with their surroundings like a chameleon, but that trick could only work on primitive predators. Not on me.
The nanite web spread out into every corner, but I couldn’t detect a single anomaly. I didn’t know what the hell was going on as I was basically blind. Another tentacle, this one on a trajectory toward me, grazed my shoulder and ripped a chunk of my Fyre Armor right off me. I was terrified when I realized how powerful those attacks were. Not even a Nas-sword could cut a Technomancer’s Fyre Armor that easily, especially not mine.
Another tentacle flew toward my face. I jumped to the side as a layer of nanites stopped the attack for a mere second, but the thing still managed to tear off my helmet and cut me across the cheek. Another attack rammed itself into Arthur’s stomach and the giant Templar grabbed his abdomen with both hands, wincing in pain.
Panic was setting in as more tentacles sprung from seemingly random places flying toward us. I spread my Blade Shield around the three of us for protection and the attacks halted for several seconds. The Imminy knew he couldn’t easily pierce my shield. At least not without sustaining damage.
“Arthur, can you move?”
Arthur was holding his innards from spilling out as his face grimaced in pain.
“I don’t think I’ll be—very useful here,” he wheezed through gritted teeth.
“Tell Leo to blast this whole bridge out of existence!” Fars yelled. “We’re dead anyway!”
“No point in doing that, Fars. The Imminy will be gone before any of that happens.”
“I can’t fight an enemy I can’t see!” Fars roared in frustration as blood dripped from his shoulder.
“Show yourself! Your vessel is compromised, and your troops are fighting each other. There’s no chance you’ll get through this, Imminy!” I yelled out into the dark of the bridge. We waited for several seconds, but no answer came.
Then something happened to my Blade Shield which I never encountered before. My nanites seemed to be sucked away toward a point on the right side of the bridge. It felt as if someone was trying to vacuum my shield away and before I realized what was going on, another tentacle went through the weakened shield and jabbed Fars in the leg, pulled back, and struck just below his ribs. Fars screamed in pain and dropped to the ground.
“Mitto! Send in Vogron! Now!”
For the first time in a long time, I felt helpless and hapless at the same time. The Imminy was an enemy like no other. It was faster, smarter, and more powerful than any Filadron, Templar, or any other man or beast I had fought. And much more patient.
“What did a pathetic creature like you think would happen today? You thought you’d kidnap an Imminy Absolute, didn’t you?”
The voice came from a translator box, but I couldn’t pinpoint the position. It was still trying to wrench my nanites from me, and it took quite a lot of effort to just keep the Blade Shield from disappearing.
“Where are you, Ka dog?”
Suddenly three tentacles came bursting toward me. My Blade Shield managed to deflect the first two, but the third passed through my weakened shield and grazed my hip, tearing out armor and flesh. I hissed in pain and dropped to a knee as I swung my blade, but only struck air.
I sealed the wound with a rush of nanites, but I wasn’t skilled enough in healing to fix anything. The pain was lessened by the implant Urgon sold me, but the damage would slow me down and would only prolong my torture.
“Insults are the refuge of the weak,” the Imminy said calmly. It sounded so… superior? And so sure of itself that I wanted to puke.
“Yeah? Well… Fuck you!”
I was running out of ideas and unpierced body parts. It was still putting a lot of pressure on my Blade Shield, trying to vacuum it away from me. I realized I could use its own move against it but would only have a single chance. I pumped more nanites into my Blade Shield and then released them in a cone in front of me. The nanite web, much denser than the one I used for tracking, ripped through the bridge, tearing out consoles, chairs, cables, and equipment.
I knew they wouldn’t hit the Imminy but that wasn’t the idea. I jumped to my right and pulled the nanites back in and as I did, a piece of the wall in front of me shimmered and came flying at me together with my nanites. I rolled to the side as the Imminy, carried on a wave of my little grey friends, came flying at the wall. It took little for the Imminy to regain its posture, but I was sure as hell that it hadn’t expected that.
The Imminy stopped its hiding game, and for the first time in my life, I saw a completely armored, out-of-the-water-tank Imminy before me. It was a sight to behold, standing there entirely clad in a black armor made of whizzing and shifting nanites that went up and down its many tentacles and feelers. The main body of the Imminy was covered in flexible plates that convulsed and moved with the tentacles surrounding it.
The Imminy was a terrifying sight; a mash of constantly moving, slithering, appendages ready to strike and penetrate any material known to the galaxy. How foolish had we been thinking an Imminy a weak brain-child of the Ka. No, they were the real deal.
I pulled in my Ro Sword, refreshed my Blade Shield, and lunged at it in full force. The Imminy immediately countered with several tentacles. I lashed out with nanite chains, battling its appendages. The brawl that ensued was something I never thought I’d witness, let alone take part in. Nanite chains and tentacles whipped across the bridge, smashing and tearing into the infrastructure. Pieces of the floor, walls, and ceiling came flying and crashing in all directions. For each of my attacks, the Ka translator would have a counter ready, and after only several seconds, it looked as if a bomb had gone off in there.
The Imminy jumped away as he slammed me into the wall. Before I knew what was happening, a bright red beam came shooting from the creature with such force that the air around it seemed to burn away. The beam melted the wall behind me, nearly missing my head and hitting the wall on the deck outside.
I erupted several spikes beneath the oversized squid to no avail. It moved too quickly, too elegantly for something so brutish like nanite spikes to catch it. Suddenly, a massive explosion at the far end of the bridge shook both me and my assailant to the ground. White light burned through several decks of the ship, opening two decks beneath us and several above us. It was the Tanaree.
A massive, grey being dropped onto the bridge with a thud right then. It gathered itself, pulled out two massive guns, two swords, and then readied itself for battle. Vogron scanned the surroundings and found me bloody and tired trying to kill one of the leaders of the Federation. He then looked to Arthur and Fars, then back at me.
“Doesn’t look good, Bloodmancer.”
“Watch out!” I yelled as the Imminy appeared right next to the Jareet general.
I threw an accelerated disk of nanites toward the Imminy to distract it, but the armored octopus deflected the attack with relative ease.
It towered above even Vogron and I knew there was little the Jareet could do right then. His heroic entrance would be the best part of his short-lived attack and yet the Imminy never attacked. On the contrary, Vogron just stood there next to him with his guns pointed at me and his face a dead-serious stare. I got the message very quickly, though most of my mind tried to suppress the reality of it.
“So that’s how it is, huh, Vogron?”
“That’s how it is, Bloodmancer.”
I spat a wad of blood to the ground and felt my body shuddering from all the wounds and stress I was putting it through. Fighting both Vogron and the Imminy was wishful thinking at this point.
“You jammed the comms before leaving the Tanaree, didn’t you?”
“Of course I did. You won’t be able to contact your ship for hours, but you won’t need to anyway. This is where it ends, betrayer.”
“How the fuck did I betray you, Vogron?”
“See? This is why I began to resent you. You
’re so blind to everyone but your own path of righteousness. How did you betray me? I told you I didn’t want the Aloi in the Partak Sector. I told you I wanted to side with the Federation, but you! The moment that fucking fanatic showed up with his ship of zealots, you threw all our agreements to the Kersa worms!”
“But you heard it yourself! You know what the Federation will do to your people! How can you side with these monsters after everything you’ve learned?”
“What I have learned? I have learned that the Bloodmancer is out for power and that nothing will stand in his way. I can respect that as a Jareet, but after the humiliation you’ve put me through, do you really think I would follow you and your shifting agenda? I’m a Jareet general! I bow to no creature!”
Both Arthur and Fars were out for good, and by the time Leo could send in any help, I’d be dead a dozen times over. If only there was a way to prove to Vogron what would await his people. It was too late, though. He was blinded by rage and revenge and my only way out of the mess was to go through both of them. Perhaps I did overdo it with humiliating Vogron, I thought. I had read up on Jareet and learned that they respected strength, intelligence, and terror. That’s exactly what I projected back in the first months of our pirate adventures.
“I see you’ve made up your mind, Vogron, but let me tell you something in case I never leave this place. This is the first and only time you will stand next to an Imminy. From now on you better stretch those knees because you and your people will spend the rest of your days leaning on them.”
“Kill it and let’s get this over with!” the Imminy snapped and Vogron unleashed a hailstorm of bullets toward me.
I rolled backward, keeping my shield up to reflect as much as I could. I grabbed Arthur with one chain and Fars with the other and threw them back through the blast door and into the corridor from where we had come. Vogron holstered his guns and came after me running.
He swung one of his swords in a horizontal arch, but I immediately blocked it with my Ro Sword. Sparks flew through the air as the weapons collided.
Redeemer: A Military Space Opera Series (War Undying Book 2) Page 25
