Beyond Apocalypse

by Bruce S Larson

  Anguhr had plotted his ship’s transit back to Hell’s system long ago to surprise an enemy bold enough to counterattack the Dark Urge at her burning lair. Now it served to conceal his presence from eyes looking out from Hell. The layered atmosphere of Old Jove roiled from the violation of nature’s laws and more as Anguhr’s ship stabbed deep into its interior. It seemed the natural gasses could not roll away fast enough from the General’s red colossus. The warship’s decks lay at angles where gravity had no reign. However, his bridge was always at a right angle with the port and starboard main batteries. He sat on his throne at ship’s center near the hull’s surface. Anguhr could look out unaided and direct fire if necessary, and if he had no surface to attack with his axe. He was ever careful not to use his main guns too soon in ship battles. They cut away enemies faster than his axe blades.

  The warship’s pincer stern held only a dark ball. A heavy sheath of liquid black enwrapped the main drive to contain the ship’s speed within the Old Jove. It also reduced the burning of atmosphere that would reveal the ship. For now, manipulating the fiery aura gave thrust and maneuvering. Proxis controlled their course inside the gas giant. Anguhr glared through the gaps in the beams and murky darkness at the first mystery he encountered outside his ship. Deep within Old Jove they should only find denser layers of compressed gas and a solid core. Instead they found a massive machine. He mused it would not be the last, odd discovery.

  “Although far smaller, in structure it is nearly identical to the Iron Work.” Uruk related as he studied data and images on the bridge projections.

  Anguhr sneered.

  “The interior rings defy physics and detection.” Proxis said as he focused on maintaining control. “But its strong gravity well—”

  “Means we cannot remain here for long without using detectable power.” Anguhr growled.

  “Indeed, Lord.” Proxis agreed. “It is another of the Dark Urge’s wonders.”

  “Indeed.” Anguhr replied with audible scorn.

  Proxis and Uruk exchanged quick glances over the mocking tone of their General. Proxis refocused on his course. Uruk repressed a smile. Anguhr found it odd that another accomplishment, however grand or minor, would not be the long list of veneration for the dark mother of ego. And what of the mysterious moon they also detected that orbited Old Jove? Its gravitational presence could not be masked at close range, though some arcane wonder allowed it to slip detection from virtually all scans. Close proximity betrayed its existence, just as close proximity revealed the machine inside Old Jove. The data that described this planet as a natural gas giant was another lie.

  “The Dark Urge must also have created the hidden world.” Proxis offered.

  “But if it is Eden, then why have us destroy it?” Uruk asked. He then attempted to absolve his confusion and growing doubt by chanting “all praise to the Dark Urge.”

  Anguhr said nothing. The possible reality of Eden galled him. It should have been annihilated long ago. The machine similar to a small Iron Work in Old Jove was strange, but no imminent threat. It was one more mystery added to the growing list. He still wondered if another General had a hand, claw, or other fetid appendage in his strange orders. Stranger were these discoveries close to Hell. He could hear the hissing voice of the Great Widow chide him that such confusion was his fault for not obeying the Dark Urge without question. He quickly shut out thoughts of the spider.

  “Lord Anguhr, there is a weak ethereal vector from the hidden moon. Or rather, it reflects one—from the inner machine.” Uruk said as his serpentine eyes watched lines arc across projections. “The link is stretched as the two objects move in real space, but I think it must have been a pilot wave.”

  “For communications, or is it a gate?” Anguhr stood and leaned to the projected data with keen interest.

  “My Lord, I do not believe we could detect the residual energy if it were merely a communications link.” Proxis answered. He focused on the screens Uruk watched. “I am certain the energy source of this structure inside Old Jove could easily power a transit gate.”

  Anguhr smiled like a hungry predator in sight of his meal. “If it still radiates ethereal waves, then calculate the destination.”

  “The residual lunar waves flow towards the inner system.” Uruk pointed at wave lines on a projection. They flared out from an image of the gas giant and then reflected off a blank disc representing the hidden moon. “I will narrow the—”

  “It is the Iron Work.” Anguhr said. “It would not be Hell. And nothing else has any strategic value.”

  “What is of value on the massive machine, Lord?” Uruk asked as he turned to his leader.

  “I don’t know. Yet.” Anguhr answered. “Someone does. And so I will learn it as well. Plot the Iron Work as the end point of the transit, and give me as accurate a target site as possible.”

  “At once, Destroyer!” Both the Ship and Field Masters answered in unison.

  Anguhr stared through his ship’s red aura. He imagined seeing through the layers Old Jove’s dense atmosphere and beyond the orbit of Hell. Finally he envisioned the destination. Anguhr suppressed vocal laughter, yet it thundered deep within his mind. The unknown travelers had not dared to go to Hell, but did journey to another forbidding place. They must possess great audacity. So did General Anguhr.

  There was motion away from the work site. The demon sentry squinted and clutched its rifle. Something rolled near on this black, disgustingly peaceful surface. The demon snatched up the amber ball spinning towards its feet. It looked back to its cohorts. A bark rose in the demon’s throat. It halted its warning, and peered back at the ball. The demon’s eyes widened looking at two eyes peering back from within the glassy sphere. They were not a reflection. The demon open its mouth. An arrow punched through its thorny skin and severed its throat. The distraction bought precious seconds for Zaria and her forces to advance.

  “Gulos!” Zaria ordered her attack.

  The four-legged flashes of silver shot from behind the light warping shields that concealed them. Yet the demons were already reacting to the death of the sentry, and swarmed towards the attack. Xuxuhr’s personal guard were built for close quarter combat. A second set of wings snapped from around their backs like a beetle’s shell to serve as living shields. It gave them a few seconds before the teeth of the gulos tore at their barbed flesh. The demons fought back with savagery to match their grotesque shape. Short swords slashed through lupine steel. Gulos’ teeth and demon jaws locked in battle.

  Xuxuhr’s bizarre cuttlefish eyes turned to the attack. They and the eyes on his armored shoulders began to glow. His chaos of teeth bent into a slight smile. He barked commands. More demons appeared to rise from the Iron Work’s surface as they left the access canyon where his engineer’s toiled. Teams took wing. Fusillade of arrows dropped them into the locked ranks of gulos and demons. Each arrow that flew split into four shafts. The separated shafts split into finer arrows until shafts as narrows as wire struck each target and coiled in a helical path through the demons’ bodies. More demons emerged to swarm the gulos. Rifle bearing snipers among them returned fire at the assumed location of the hidden archers.

  The giants stood. Demon bullets bounced from their stony hides. They joined the charge. Ricocheted fire riddled both attacking demons and gulos. Bron and Caliburn smashed through masses of demons swarming them with guns and swords. The dual row of archers advanced towards and through the screaming horde of demons. The first line of archers fired as their sisters held the shields to block blades and bullets. Then the shield bearers swiftly aimed and fired as their sisters traded position. The rotation of arrows and shields was so swift that luckless demons witnessed only a whirling barrier firing their doom.

  Gin transformed into his male form behind the line of archers. If he could not alter he could restore, and so became Eden’s field medic. Gulos not torn asunder snapped back to life under his swift care. They immediately rejoined the savage combat.

  Demons used the
ir dead as added protection and slammed against the archers’ shields. Zaria cleaved through breaks pushed through the line with her sword. The acrid solvent in demon veins splashed her skin and armor. Demons fought on with weapons or without and with whatever limb that survived. Even with all the open space surrounding them, the demons threatened to mire Zaria’s forces in a sea of rifle fire, swords, snapping jaws, and snatching claws.

  “Bron! Back!” The giant waded back towards Zaria, and smashed a forming demon column.

  “Gin! The charges!”

  Gin reached into Zaria’s pouch as she slashed ahead. He retrieved three solid tear drops as she swung her blade into more demons.

  “Bron, take them!” Zaria yelled. “Through them forward!”

  The giant obeyed and reached down as demons furiously but uselessly hacked at him. Gin dropped the charges into his massive palm. Bron then hurled the charges. All three pierced several demons before bouncing across the surface among their massing lines. Three explosions sundered their ranks. Wings, limbs, and shattered weapons rained across the battlefield. Zaria and her troops smashed and cut through those before them.

  Xuxuhr became annoyed. With a great roar the General unfurled his chain from his left arms and waded into the fray. His Field Master, Akhad saw this and left his position at the canyon edge overlooking the work within it. More white flashes lit the background as the demon engineers continued their work undeterred.

  Bron charged to meet Xuxuhr. The General swung his chain. Its shorter length was made for reconnaissance and close-quarter combat. Its span of bladed links was a blur of steel. Bron evaded each slash and slammed into Xuxuhr. The titans grappled. Xuxuhr was stunned to fight a physical equal for the first time. He was glad he had developed his already infernal strength by hurling heavy chains on a regular basis.

  Akhad swooped down. With a burst of demon courage he struck at the near General-sized warrior with radiant green armor. His sword collided with Zaria’s sword. Although skilled and savage, Akhad could feel Zaria’s superior strength with each strike of her sword. Akhad stopped the exchange of blows and thrust his sword point at Zaria’s body in a circling airborne attack. His blade was caught and thrust back each time, no matter if he faced her or struck from behind. A piercing bark by Akhad brought five demons to fly before him. They perished in a slash of Zaria’s black blade as he swooped away.

  Xuxuhr strained to pry away Bron’s arms crushing his torso. He succeeded and threw the giant back. Bron roared and charged again. Xuxuhr dropped into a momentary crouch, and then launched into Bron. Xuxuhr wrapped his horned arms around Bron’s middle gut and thrust him aloft. Bron’s fists thundered against Xuxuhr’s shoulders. Xuxuhr tightened his grip. Though harder than the steel of a demon’s blade, cracks appeared in Bron’s’ stony hide.

  Bron’s twin continued fighting. Caliburn grabbed the demon firing point-blank into his knee. The infernal creature became a missile that struck Akhad from the sky. More demons swarmed and shot at Caliburn who tried to wade towards his twin. The archers kept the demons from swarming over Zaria’s lines by making the sky a lethal place. However, their own numbers began to suffer losses as the bullets of demon snipers found thin gaps among of the archer’s shields.

  A cascade of arrows pelted Xuxuhr as he crushed Bron. Xuxuhr hurled the gasping giant against the surface. The General grasped and swung his chain to cut down a pack of gulos leaping towards him. The chain continued its arc and did the same to the rising Bron, slashing into his back. The giant collapsed, motionless. Dark red oozed from the deep rip left by the chain and rolled onto the Iron Work.

  Akhad recovered his sword. He slashed the blade at the gulos ripping his wings into bloody shreds. He barked for the demons to fall back and regroup.

  “No!” Xuxuhr bellowed. “Demons! Continue the charge! Lest you think we need the ship’s main guns to aid us as well!”

  “No, Lord!” Akhad yelled as blood spewed from his wings and he slashed away at more gulos. “We will annihilate them for your glory!”

  A unit of demons came to relieve Akhad. Together they charged Zaria’s advancing line. The stabbing point of her sword halted Akhad. He swung his own to deflect the blow and assaulted Zaria’s ears with a blast of hypersonic indignities. Their blades locked. Zaria’s fist slammed down into Akhad’s face. The next blow of her sword broke Akhad’s blade in two pieces. The following strike split his torso.

  Xuxuhr roared and charged through the assault of arrows and gulos’ teeth. He whipped his chain in fury.

  Zaria heard Xuxuhr’s war cry. She saw her fallen giant near him.

  “Caliburn, take my position! Support the line!” Zaria commanded, and then leapt over the archers. She charged Xuxuhr to avenge Bron.

  The demons found that Caliburn provided an equally good high point to shoot at the archers without being shot out of the sky. Caliburn swatted at the demons that climbed over their own kind as living chains. The demons clung for life against his massive form and limbs. Their linked bodies locked into a cage with gnashing walls several demons thick. Caliburn became so constricted he could not even grasp a single, screaming demon. Finally, the living mountain slammed himself into the surface and rolled like a boulder to liberate his giant limbs. Caliburn’s act forced Zaria’s line to part and quickly reform away from the giant. Several archers fell to demon rifles and swords. Once free, Caliburn resumed his campaign to smash every moving thing with black wings.

  Zaria and Xuxuhr traded swings of sword and chain. A blow from Xuxuhr’s horned knee knocked Zaria’s helmet into the fighting horde. His chain followed right behind. Zaria barely dodged the chain and the following strike of the Generals’ massive fist. Zaria leapt and thrust her blade at Xuxuhr. The General pitched his torso back to evade the thrust, but kept his chain in motion. It knocked Zaria’s sword free as she landed. Xuxuhr smiled.

  Chain strikes and whirring slashes pursued Zaria as she repeatedly ducked and rolled. Two balls of light glowed in her fists and became daggers. Zaria vaulted back towards Xuxuhr. In the instant between his rapid slashes, the dagger blades burst through the bands of steel around Xuxuhr’s knees and dove deep into the enormous joints. Xuxuhr roared in pain. The back of his left hand finally found Zaria and knocked her back. The horrific sound of his cry caused greater pain than the blow and her collision against the Iron Work’s hot surface. Zaria bolted. Xuxuhr’s chain ricocheted off the surface behind her. Zaria hurled more daggers at the General’s cuttlefish eyes. He deflected them with a swing of his chain and rocked his legs to advance on her despite the pain.

  Demons flew in and tugged to remove the impaling daggers. The blades came free as Caliburn threw Zaria her sword. A group of archers turned to fire on Xuxuhr. He stood and grasped his chain in both hands. The blood flowing from his knee wounds glowed like hot slag. All four of his eyes glowed bright yellow. Xuxuhr’s body followed and radiated in a nimbus of heat and light. Arrows flashed into ashes as they struck his aura. Arcs of energy like bows of plasma on a sun’s surface or his ship’s scythe rose and rippled across his body.

  Zaria heard Gin’s thought enter her head: ‘It appears the Generals have been imbued with new tricks since Azuhr ravaged the stars.’

  “Or they have learned to use their infernal power in new ways of their own.” Zaria replied aloud.

  The glowing General swung his chain anew. An arc of energy rolled from his body and down the hurtling length of the bladed links. Zaria leapt to dodge the fireball projected from the crack of the chain. It exploded against the black surface. The explosion left the Iron Work unscathed but knocked down both demons and archers.

  Zaria knew the battle needed to end. Quickly. She threw her a volley of teardrop charges. They exploded against Xuxuhr’s fiery aura but caused him to stumble back. A band of energy flew towards her as Xuxuhr swung his chain. Now she didn’t need to be within the chain’s length for Xuxuhr to strike her. Zaria sprung high. The energy rolled as a wave of fire into the distance. Zaria landed and rolled
toward the flank of her warriors still locked in combat with the demons. She snatched up a shield generator from a fallen archer. Zaria raised the shield as the General swung again. His energized chain collided with the shield. A shockwave blasted outward from it and hit Xuxuhr. Zaria slammed hard against the black surface from the explosion. Demons and Eden’s forces rolled from the blast.

  Zaria recovered as Xuxuhr toppled backwards. His knees had not yet fully healed. Zaria knew she would have the advantage in close. Zaria threw the shield. Xuxuhr dodged the missile and arced his energized chain away from it. In the same instant, Zaria whirled her blade at an angle over her head and ran at Xuxuhr. She thrust her sword hard at the slowed titan. The arcane steel bands of his armor deflected the strike with a loud crack from the impact and spark of energy. Zaria spun from the slashing, crackling chain and cleaved Xuxuhr’s grasping hand. Her sword cut through his aura and flesh. The chain shot out of Xuxuhr’s grip and exploded through the crush of demons like a flaming saw blade.

  Zaria blocked a swift assault of massive fists with her sword. Now both of his fists spewed acrid blood. One finally struck Zaria. The impact sent her backward against the surface. She rolled from a second cascade of rage as the General hurled a wave plasma and flame at her. The wave’s edge struck Zaria and stunned her. His glowing right fist struck her head. Her brilliant blonde hair flew up from the impact. Fragments of Xuxuhr’s congealed blood flew from his hand wounds. Zaria skidded along the black surface atop her sword. Zaria’s armor dimmed. She strained to remain conscious.

  Xuxuhr recovered his chain and shook it to free the bodies of demons it impaled. His forces would keep fighting to the last demon. He would burn all these alien combatants to vent his rage at being fought so well. He looked at the emerald warrior still reeling on the Iron Work to the side of the battle. He advanced again. Dead demons pelted his face with the force of plasma cannons. They knocked him sideways. Caliburn grabbed more demons and hurled them again. Xuxuhr roared in rage at having to duck from an attack. The giant’s hurled assault ended as another began. Zaria had recovered. Xuxuhr swung his chain to block the slashes of Zaria’s sword. Zaria ducked close and slashed the General’s thighs. Xuxuhr stumbled backwards.