'Dishonor!' the Heridian leader roared, 'You are both dishonorable maggots!'
Three claws, a spiked tail and fangs the length of a man's arm, slashed and stabbed at the two warriors who were both now engaged in the close combat battle. Again sparks flashed as metal found metal, the two vibration swords struck and parried in a furious battle for the domination of the duel.
Johan's' claws struck down at Draethus finding only dirt as Raeson charged in from an angle. The pirate struck the mechanised body of the creature, causing more liquid to spray over the pair. The Heridian lunged forward and knocked the pirate on his back, lifted his enormous foot and slammed it down but missed thanks to Raeson's quick thinking. He shuffled across the dirt, sword still in hand, distracting the menace long enough for Draethus to strike a blow into Johan's head, beneath an armor plate.
Staggering back, whilst still slashing with its claws, blood drained from the wound before it fell onto his side. Both warriors tried to charge in but kept at a distance because of the ever whipping tail.
The enemy got to its feet, then collapsed again in a wounded grogginess. Gray dusty rock beneath the dying creature pooled with the foul bloody oil as it thrashed, screeching into the night. Draethus approached cautiously, drawing a line in the dirt with his sword, exhausted from the duel. As he neared, the third claw slashed out for one last time but fell short and then silent. The soldier could hear gurgling from the throat. Raeson joined him, jumped onto the chest and thrust the blade through the monster, pinning it to the ground.
'Not so lucky, are you?' Raeson spat out in spite.
'What are the co-ordinates to Heridia, Johan, you have lost.' Draethus felt the pain of loss for his friend despite the situation. 'Will you tell me?'
The creature groaned and between clenched teeth said in pain, 'In all the duels we had in the past, never did you ever involve another in such a dishonorable way.'
'People change old friend, look what became of you.'
There was a pause as Johan struggled to say his words. 'We all change, but sometimes devolve. I'm not ashamed of what I have become, only that you were not by my side in the end.'
A piece of armor shifted under the chest-plate revealing something inside.
'Take this crystal, it will give you access to the spacetime co-ordinates needed to find Heridia. It will also give you the information needed for both invasion waves planned for Echelon. You need to take these so the Soldiers of the Void can prepare.'
It shocked Draethus. 'So you're saying we were ready for the Rids because of the information I will bring them?'
Dark blood began flowing out of the creature's jaws, 'It was always you Arcilous Draethus, you are the messenger and the reason we were ready for the Heridian invasion. Unless of course you cannot deliver the information.'
'Well, aren't you the important one now?' Raeson said as he watched the creature struggle. 'Why would you suddenly help us?'
Johan looked at the pirate with despise, 'All Heridian that have taken on a mind also take on part of that personae. Mine is of honor, something I doubt you will ever know.'
'That explains why there wasn't a trap or interference from the Rid cruiser in orbit. Johan could have easily ordered an attack from the ship or even tried and captured the Eclipse,' Draethus stated.
Raeson shrugged and said, 'Let's decipher this crystal.'
The pirate pulled out the sword and started back for the fighter. It was thanks to his efforts, however dishonorable, that helped win the day. Draethus sat with his old friend until the power left its body; the runes flickered for a few moments before going dark.
'Good bye old friend, I wish things could have been different, but I guess thanks to your part this message will reach Echelon.'
Draethus took the black crystal shard from the Heridians chest and followed his pirate ally.
I guess the Eclipse was right; I had to put aside my morals for the greater good. If I had lost the duel, the spacetime co-ordinates, the message, would never have reached the SOV, he thought.
*
Through his dying eyes, Johan, the Heridian leader and once Soldier of the Void, remembered the feeling of loyalty once more. He looked out into the distance and saw his childhood friend walking up the dusty gray dune, towards righteousness and towards a shadow that loomed in his path.
*
The Lords of Heridia cut the feed from the cruiser in orbit around Tiberous, archived the video data from the duel between Servatus and Draethus for later study, and then deactivated the array. Although their bodies were physically part of the spire on their home-world, they could project their image to anywhere on the planet's surface.
The Forth Lord stood on the edge of a mountain peak overlooking the distant blood ocean as wind howled through the rocks. As the Lord was a virtual projection, it couldn't feel its presence. The other two lords, both the Third and Fifth, materialized behind and joined in the internal conversation. To an observer, the three lords would have appeared as a shadow or a trick of the eye.
Fourth Lord: So as predicted, Servatus failed us.
Third Lord: Servatus passed on the crystal as was clear in the video feed. The co-ordinates to the link now exists in enemy hands.
Fifth Lord: This will give us the opportunity we have been waiting for to capture the Dawn Eclipse once it opens the link.
Fourth Lord: If they decide to blockade rather than attack?
Fifth Lord: We will force them through using the fleets from the outside.
Third Lord: We need another protagonist to lead such fleets.
Fifth Lord: The one in command of the flagship is an ideal candidate.
Fourth Lord: He also failed in the ship's capture when it escaped the minefield. The idea of involving lesser life forms was in error.
Third Lord: I shall instruct this one to handle such matters in person, and upon failure, purge it.
Fifth Lord: Agreed.
Fourth Lord: If the enemy forces decide to attack Heridia they will face the full might of the orbital defence fleet. We must not reveal this until the ship has entered the link and cannot return.
Third Lord: Suggest using the creature ship for its capture as it will nullify the Eclipses' ability to jump away.
Fifth Lord: I'll instruct its commander.
Fourth Lord: Then we are all in agreement?
Fifth Lord: Concur.
Third Lord: Concur.
The Third Lord vanished from the conversation, and its image disappeared from the mountain peak.
Fifth Lord: Why did you choose this area for physical manifestation?
Fourth Lord: It seemed appropriate for the situation.
Fifth Lord: How so?
The Fourth Lord directed a smile towards its counterpart before leaving the conversation.
CHAPTER 19.
Theatre of Shadows.
A whirlwind of dust and dirt covered the landing area on Tiberous as the Arvernus pirate corvette detracted its landing skids and hovered above the surface. Slowly the ship descended and carefully set down on a flat area. From their fighter, Draethus and Raeson stood watching the large ship and wondered why it wasn't in orbit with the Eclipse.
'You realise we have our fighter here and can return to the ship ourselves?' Raeson said over the coms.
'We needed a closer look at the surface,' Slin replied with a crackle of the coms unit, 'as we have detected a low frequency energy source emanating from a group of ruins nearby.'
'I'm sure we could have investigated,' Draethus said.
Raeson smiled as he realised what was really going on, 'Pirates and their loot,' he laughed, 'we'll send a small team to check it out, understood?'
'Yes, Sir,' Slin replied with a hint of disappointment. As the acting commander, he had to stay with the ship.
The outer doors slid open to reveal a distraught Rel who armed with pistols and an emergency respirator, ran down the docking ramp. From behind her, Stark and Nash appeared with assault rifles and also headed over
, watching the young mechanic make tracks in the dust.
'Draethus!' Rel yelled as she fell into his arms, 'I watched the whole fight and I saw you get knocked down, I was so scared of losing you.'
The soldier held the girl and closed his eyes with a smile, 'I'm fine Rel, I've just got some cuts and bruises.'
'I'm fine as well,' Raeson said lifting an eyebrow, 'The two of you have gotten rather intimate.'
Rel looked away for a moment blushing, 'You're alright with Draethus and I, right?'
'Of course, why wouldn't I?'
Stark, with a sensor reader in hand interrupted, 'The reading is two-and-a-half kilometres north-west of here. The Heridian cruiser flew off. But that doesn't mean it won't be back with re-enforcements. I'd rather not be in the open if that happens.'
'Agreed, let's get moving,' Draethus ordered.
Ten minutes later the team reached the edge of the ruins and noticed a host of stone and twisted metal. Strange winds moved the dust about the ground, revealing a mixture of intricate patterns displaying the remains of old roadways and paths. One such path lead through fallen pillars, the direction Starks' hand-held scanner instructed the group to follow.
'Watch your step there could be anything around here,' Stark called out, 'check your footing.'
'Showing care for others, that's not like you Stark,' Raeson replied as he turned on a pocket light normally kept in the fighter.
Stark ignored the comment and continued on as point-man. He ducked under a pillar that had fallen across an entryway.
'Follow my footsteps, it's dangerous ground,' Draethus whispered to Rel, 'and I think something is shadowing us, so be ready for a fight.'
The girl gave a nod of acknowledgement and began looking around; she unclipped the buckles of her pistol holsters.
'Well, that's impressive,' Nash said as she entered what was once some kind of amphitheatre, 'this place is huge.'
The team had found themselves amongst rows upon rows of seating, circling a large area with a podium at its center. Giant slabs of stone carvings covered the walls around the theatre, depicting battles between machine and beast, the same creatures that guarded the Nebula Stream.
'What do you suppose this place is?' Rel asked.
'A stadium maybe?' replied Raeson. 'Those creatures on the walls must have existed on this planet thousands of years ago.'
'Look who they are fighting, are they Rids?' asked Nash.
'I believe they are and there must be hundreds of battles depicted here,' the soldier added.
Stark kept moving away from the group and approached the center of the stadium, 'Look at this,' he yelled.
The podium's surface held a mixture of old dials covered in eons of dust.
'I'd say that crystal of yours goes here,' Stark finished.
Draethus stepped up to the podium, took the black crystal out from his armored compartment and pushed it into an opening. The area began humming with a faint vibration as light from emitters attached to the walls joined at the center of the stadium and created a hologram. Jumbled and fractured images shimmered, then combined. The team could make out the image of a wormhole entry, spinning blue and orbiting a dense blackness, like a singularity.
'I'm guessing that is the link we are looking for,' Draethus said puzzled, 'but how do we read it?'
'I will translate,' something said from behind them.
Nash quickly raised her rifle to shoot the floating Specter at the back of the stadium, but stopped when Draethus palmed the weapon down.
'Everything is alright, this thing is on our side,' Draethus reassured the woman.
'You think?' Raeson added, 'that's comforting to hear. What is it?'
Draethus approached the levitating shadow and stood inside the hologram. 'This is a Specter,' he announced, 'they have some part to play in all this and are superb at torture.'
'Torture?' Rel stuttered.
Draethus laughed, 'It's a long story which I'll tell you someday however right now we need an explanation.'
The soldier turned to the Specter, 'What does this read, shadow?'
The ethereal being drifted towards the group, its face covered by a worn white mask that neither muffled nor added to the volume of its whisper. The long ragged dark robes concealed any physical body underneath, and it flickered in and out of reality.
'What you see is the link you have been searching for,' it said in a loud whisper, 'I will decipher the ancient language you need for its location.' The entity waved a jagged claw towards the podium, and the strange writing on the hologram changed. 'This is the location co-ordinates you need, the writing underneath is the two instances this link will naturally open,' the ghostly creature announced.
'What about the Heridians' strength of force, how many ships are waiting on the other side?' Raeson asked only to realise the creature had vanished.
'They do that,' Draethus said with a grin.
Nash handed a small cylindrical device to Draethus who looked at it with curiosity and asked, 'What's this, pirate?'
'A recording device to capture the images on the hologram. It's specifically designed to filter out the light transparency of holograms, unless you can remember all those numbers?' the women said sarcastically.
Draethus smiled and tapped the hilt of his blade. 'If you were in my squad back home, I would shoot you for talking to me like that, but thank you.'
Nash only waved her hand with a laugh as she began walking back with the rest of the group. Rel stayed by Draethus' side and looked up in wonder as the hologram slowly rotated with the link, or entrance at its center.
'You're really going to go through there, aren't you Draethus?' she asked sadly.
Draethus stepped to a different angle, finished capturing the images of the co-ordinates then safely put away the small device.
'We have to defeat the Heridians, Rel, no one is not expendable, not even I,' he replied.
'I wish you didn't, just send the pirate fleet through and let them battle it out,' she looked down. 'We could run off together, I bet there is so much to see and explore.'
'After this is over, provided of course I live, I will need to go back to Echelon and leave these co-ordinates for the SOV hierarchy to find. I'd like you to come with me, see where I grew up and we can go anywhere from there.'
'Provided you live,' Rel replied with a tear. 'I will go anywhere with you, but please consider what I've asked.'
She gave him a hug and began walking back to the ship.
Half an hour later, after the long walk back to the ships with Rel, Draethus approached the two-seater fighter to find Raeson leaning up against the cockpit. Draethus gave Rel a kiss on the forehead before they each went their own way.
'The two of you are officially a couple now I guess?' the pirate Commander asked.
'Seems that way, she's an amazing woman,' Draethus replied.
'Have you had your first argument yet?' he laughed, 'just wait until you see the fiery side of her.'
'I'm sure that will come soon enough,' Draethus mused, 'you have something to say?'
Raeson shifted his weight to his other foot; he had been waiting for the soldier to arrive. 'Tell me about this Specter, can we trust it?'
'Mostly, I believe so. I still don't know everything about them, but I think they have our best interest in mind. My crew, Tremon and Spect, had a leader that made use of the Specters as interrogators and was quite effective.'
'I see, but what exactly are they? Because I think I glimpsed one on the Arvernus once, like a ghost.'
Draethus began climbing into the fighter using the hand holes on its side, 'There is much I don't know but I believe they watch events and interfere when needed. I see them as guides, but I won't follow them blindly.'
'Good, trust is something that needs to earning,' Raeson replied.
'And you have earned mine today Raeson, thank you for backing me up in the duel. I'd like to say I didn't need it, but there is more at stake here than just my pride.'
/> Raeson nodded in acknowledgement, finished climbing in, and lowered the cockpit canopy. Dust from the Arvernus blanketed the area in a visual blur as it lifted into the air followed closely by the pirate fighter. The two ships accelerated out of the atmosphere and disappeared into the distance.
*
It had been three days since both vessels, the Eclipse and the Arvernus, had re-joined with the main pirate fleet and moored inside the massive flagship, the Wing of Vidar.
On the garden deck, the off duty crews were busy exploring new alien species, introduced from a recently discovered world, as xeno-botanists added more to the small forest. Scientists gathered around the latest carnivorous plant, made sure its muzzle was secure, then pierced its leathery skin with syringes to extract its poison. Draethus and Rel watched the drama unfold as the large multi-colored head of the huge plant sent a scientist sprawling to the ground.
'This wasn't the uneventful and peaceful walk I was expecting,' Draethus said as Rel squeezed his hand in delight.
'It is fun though watching grown men losing against something as simple as a plant, it's comical,' the girl giggled, 'maybe you should join in?'
'I've had my fair share of killer plants, thank you,' he laughed remembering the underwater terrors he faced on Echelon.
The pair watched for a while longer, then carried on through the man-made enclosure, heading towards the flower section, Rel's favourite.
'I help here sometimes you know,' she said with a smile, 'that's why they allow me to take things home.'
'Hence the purple flower,' the soldier replied. 'I was thinking of bringing you the decapitated head of the Heridian leader, as a sign of how much I love you of course.'
'Oh, please don't,' she laughed heartedly, 'that's disgusting, I'd rather… wait did you say you love me?'
A Dark Oceans Descent: (Heridian Saga, Book 1) Page 25
