Ruins of the Galaxy Box Set: Books 1-6

by Chaney, J. N.

  “Stay with the gladias,” Awen yelled at her.

  Piper spun around to see that Magnus had advanced Granther Company, creating a gap between where Piper stood and the rear of the line. Not wishing to make Awen more mad than she already was, Piper ran forward until she’d caught up with Titus’s platoon. Then she turned around again and looked for ways to help Awen and the others.

  Mr. Rohoar was doing really good. He used his super sharp teeth and big paws to slash at the Luma warriors. Saasarr was killing people too—anyone that got too close to Piper. Sootriman had ordered him to protect her. His tail was like a long whip that knocked people over or snagged them around their necks and threw them to the ground. Piper knew that Saasarr hadn’t liked the Jujari before, but now he seemed to be getting along with them really good.

  The enemy, on the other hand, seemed super scared of the Jujari and Saasarr. And that was good too because Piper didn’t want the big doggies or the lizard getting hurt. So, like she’d done with the man who tried to stab Awen, Piper made four of the bad guys disappear. But this time, she just put them in the street. Some of their heads and arms stuck out of the pavement. But they coughed and choked, which meant they’d be dead soon anyway.

  Piper’s grandmother was also doing super great, dodging enemy attacks with the grace of a dancer. She was so pretty, like an older version of Piper’s mommy. Her hair was just more grey and wild. And she had more wrinkles. And lots of bracelets, which Piper thought were really fun because of the noise they made.

  Piper was so happy to have a grandmother that she hardly knew what to say. But there hadn’t been any time for talking, so not having the right words wasn’t a problem. At least not yet. Instead, Piper’s chest had filled with so much warmth that the darkness had run away—the darkness that had been sitting in her heart since she’d talked with Nos Kil.

  Now that everyone was fighting, the darkness had returned. It felt heavy. And Piper wanted to get rid of it. But she knew the only way to do that was to speak with Mr. Lieutenant Magnus, and that scared her. Because what if he tried to shut her up? What if he tried to hurt her like he’d hurt the other girls? The thoughts sent a shiver down her spine.

  She continued to watch Awen hold off the big group of Luma elders. But the gladias with blasters were moving forward again, which was good, because it meant everyone could get to the shuttles soon.

  Just then, a giant burst of light streaked down from the sky and slammed into the ground somewhere ahead. Piper’s tummy tingled as the vibrations raced up her legs. Fire shot into the sky, and the gladias moved ahead some more. Pretty soon, she heard Mr. Lieutenant Magnus give the order to run, and the next thing Piper knew, she was chasing after them and headed toward the shuttles.

  In her second sight, Piper turned around to make sure Awen and the others were following them. But they were still fighting. Which was not good. They needed to get to the shuttles like everyone else. So Piper stopped running and focused on the space that separated Awen and her grandmother from all the other bad people. She pictured a big wall going up, and then waited.

  A woman dressed in the fancy Luma robes raised her hand to hit Awen. And Awen was ready to block it. But the bad lady’s hand bounced off the imaginary wall Piper had made with her mind.

  Piper grinned, and then decided that the wall should move some. She pushed it back, making the Luma’s feet slide along the street. It was funny to watch them leap backward. Several of them smushed into each other, getting all bunched up like kids in a lunch line.

  “Piper, go!”

  Piper blinked and then focused on Awen’s face. Her shydoh was yelling at her, pointing toward the rest of Granther Company.

  “Okay,” Piper yelled back in the Unity. “But you gotta come too!”

  Awen seemed reluctant, looking back at the Luma behind Piper’s wall several times before taking steps in the direction of the shuttles. Pleased, Piper began running again too. But she decided to leave the wall up, at least as long as she could. It was hard work, and she knew she needed to focus on not falling. Running was also hard work.

  The gladias of Granther Company turned down a side street, and Piper followed. When she looked at where they turned, she could see a large burning crater in the ground that was filled with rubble. She guessed Mr. Flow’s cannon on the Spire had done that. She also saw body parts from the Marines lying everywhere. They were dead though, so they wouldn’t miss them.

  She followed the gladias between buildings that looked like houses. Most of them had lights on. As Piper ran by, she noticed a few small faces peering out into the night. They were kids, like her. In her second sight, she could see their pajamas. Some of them had stuffed animals clutched in their arms. She waved at them, but then realized they couldn’t see her in the natural realm because her suit was using the chameleon mode that made it blend in with her surroundings.

  Piper slowed, deactivated the cloak, and then waved again at two kids who looked at her through a ground floor window. The little boy waved back, smiling wide. But the little girl seemed scared and hunkered down behind her stuffed hippalotaderm. Then Piper saw the children’s parents yell at them and yank them away from the window. That was probably a good thing too. She didn’t want the kids getting hurt. Piper felt happy that the kids had such a good mom and dad that would try and keep their family safe and sound. War was scary, and the last thing Piper wanted was for other kids to get hurt.

  “Piper, move!” Miss Awen had caught up to her now. Piper waved goodbye to the kids even though they weren’t by the window anymore, and then reactivated her suit to blend in with the street. She felt Awen push her forward, and Piper began to run.

  They turned left at the end of the street and continued to follow Granther Company toward the shuttles. Despite how she felt about Mr. Lieutenant Magnus, she had to admit that he was doing a super good job protecting everyone while they ran.

  Another bright streak of light came down from Azelon’s starship and shook the city. More fire and smoke billowed into the sky. The stars were getting less bright, and the sun seemed to want to crawl out of its bed. Piper thought she was ready for the opposite—once she got back to the Spire, she wanted to sleep. Well, maybe eat first and then sleep.

  On and on Piper ran until she thought her legs might turn into noodles. She thought about sending herself to the shuttles, then she wouldn’t have to run anymore and could just wait for everyone else to get there. But then Awen would get mad, and if Awen was mad, her mother would be mad too. That wouldn’t be good.

  When the docking bays finally came into view, Piper looked at the buildings and read the numbers. They’d parked the Spire’s shuttles a little further down than where they were right now. But it wasn’t much farther.

  The old man that Mr. Lieutenant Magnus had convinced to join Granther Company spoke over the comms. “Reinforcements will be arriving from the south. I’m guessing an ETA of three minutes.”

  Mr. Lieutenant Magnus did not seem happy about that. But three minutes seemed like more than enough time to get everyone on board the shuttles. Piper could see the proper docking bays just up the street. In another few seconds, the front of the line turned through the big opening into the first bay. Piper followed them in and saw the tall tail fins of the four shuttles rising into the air. The ramps were down, and the gladias were arranging themselves to protect everyone as they neared the little ships.

  Someone pointed at Piper and ordered her up first. But she had to wait for her grandmother and her shydoh, for Rohoar and the funny lizard. Piper turned and waited for everyone to come around the corner. But someone shouted her name. She knew the voice—all too well.

  “Piper Penelope-Anne Stone, you get your tiny little butt over here and up this ramp this instant!”

  Piper winced.

  “Yes, momma.” But just before Piper turned toward her mother, she saw blaster fire appear behind Awen and the others who were racing toward her. One of the good Luma that had been with her grandmother wa
s hit and fell down. Piper screamed. Then another blaster bolt struck an old man in the side of the head and he toppled over. A third good Luma was hit twice in the side and then again in the shoulder. They spun sideways like a top before slamming against the ground.

  No, no, no, this is not supposed to happen, Piper thought. She could feel her heartbeat thumping in her ears.

  Her mother screamed for her, but Piper had to do something. Then she saw Awen waving at her and pointing toward the shuttle. But if Piper didn’t do something, more of her grandmother’s good Luma might die.

  Suddenly, a whole bunch of Marines appeared around the mouth of the docking bay and flooded the huge door. Blaster bolts streaked across at the first shuttle as the gladia with the big NOV1 rifles returned fire.

  An arm caught Piper in the stomach and knocked the wind out of her. It was Awen. She’d picked Piper up and was hauling her toward the shuttles as blaster fire skipped off the ground, sending up motes of molten metal.

  Piper tried to protest, tried to kick and punch and scream to be let go, but Awen’s grip was too strong. She looked up and saw her mother standing beside Mr. Lieutenant Magnus, both of them firing back at the Marines who were flooding the docking bay. They stood just below the ramp, yelling something at Awen. Piper was sure her mother was going to be cross with her for not getting on the ship sooner.

  Awen was almost to the ramp when Piper saw Magnus push her mother to the side and directly into a stream of blaster bolts. In the first instant, sparks danced off her helmet and chest, disrupting chameleon mode. But in the next, the bolts went through her mother’s visor and out the rear of her helmet. Her body flipped backward and struck the ground as if all the strength had left her.

  Piper screamed.

  But no noise came out.

  Instead, she saw red. Everything went red. And hot. She was going to burst from the pain.

  31

  Awen watched in muted horror as she saw Magnus push Valerie away from the incoming rocket. While Magnus took the brunt of the hit—blown back in a violent explosion—Valerie was even less fortunate, her body riddled with blaster rounds. She went flailing to the ground just as flames engulfed everything.

  Suddenly, a low vibration gut-punched Awen so hard she lost her breath. She felt herself go weightless, tossed away from the explosion upside down. Or was she right side up? Her vision blurred. Then her consciousness started to fade as something tugged at the sides of her grip on reality.

  The only thing that kept Awen from slipping into the darkness was pain. Pain everywhere. Pain so bad she screamed. But not even screaming alleviated it. Instead, she hung there in suspended animation, screaming, feeling, fighting.

  She’d lost her grip on Piper.

  Awen tried to move, tried to feel beyond the terror that consumed her. But all of it was worthless. It was as though she was caught in a long fall through forever, twisting about in a constant state of agony.

  Just when she was sure that her spirit had been violently stripped from the stalk of her body, Awen felt a pulse in her neck. The sensation went down into her chest as well as up into her ears. Her head throbbed, her limbs on fire. But she’d stopped moving. And she was pretty sure she was lying on her back.

  No, definitely on her back.

  Then she tried opening her eyes. The effort drew a knife-like sensation inside her skull. But she needed to see. Must see. Her second sight was white while her natural sight was black.

  Something… something horrible had happened.

  Eyes opened, Awen blinked them into submission. Shapes formed from the blurry blotches, and lines formed from the shapes, until she could make out the familiar glow of her helmet’s HUD. Her eyes darted to her suit’s status bar and noted that her personal shield was at 9%. Which seemed strange. The explosion could have done that—and more. But she was sure she’d been thrown far enough and high enough to rip her power suit clean off her body. Instead, it remained intact.

  She sensed feeling in her arms and legs, and used them to sit up. The headache was easily the worst she’d ever had, threatening to make her throw up. But she managed to keep the nausea under control and looked about her.

  To her shock, Awen was not more than ten or eleven meters from where she’d stood when the rocket hit Magnus. But that’s impossible. It felt as though the blast had carried her halfway back to the Grand Arielina.

  Then a new thought struck her.

  Piper.

  Awen looked toward the shuttle, which seemed in near-perfect condition, and noticed a small figure standing with its back toward Awen. It took only a moment more for Awen to realize it was Piper. And the body she stood over…

  Awen blinked.

  It was Valerie’s.

  The blaster fire was gone. In fact, the entire docking bay was still, save for small movements touching Awen’s peripheral vision. She looked around and saw that everyone—everyone who’d been standing in the docking bay just seconds ago—was on the ground. People were sitting up slowly, like she’d done.

  Awen pulled her helmet off, wincing from the pain. “Piper?” she called, unable to recognize the sound of her own voice. “Piper, are you alright?”

  But the little girl remained motionless.

  Awen climbed to her feet but reached for the ground several times to keep from falling over. Other people around her were attempting to do the same but with worse results. Her equilibrium was completely off center. “Piper,” she said again, not knowing if she could manage more words before throwing up.

  And she did throw up, falling to her knees and covering her own hands in vomit. Still, the little girl remained frozen with her back toward Awen.

  “Doma, speak to me. I…” Awen wiped her mouth on her suit’s sleeve. “I need to know that you’re okay.”

  “I am not okay,” Piper said in a small voice.

  “What… what happened?” Awen was on her feet now, moving slowly toward Piper. The girl held her helmet in her hand, head locked on her mother’s charred suit of armor. As Awen got closer, she could see Valerie’s helmet was blown apart. Gore spilled from the opening. Inside was a broken face and one eye falling from its socket. The beautiful woman Awen had once known was reduced to a gruesome corpse ravaged by war.

  Awen put a hand to her mouth and looked away. But she needed to get Piper away from this. She swallowed the taste of bile and said, “Piper, come. We need to leave.”

  “No.” Piper dropped her helmet. “I’m not going.”

  “Piper please—” Awen placed her hand on Piper’s shoulder but a charge of electricity zapped it away. Awen winced and looked at her blackened fingertips. “Piper, you need—”

  “Stop talking to me,” Piper said sternly.

  “But I must talk to you. Your mother is—”

  “Don’t.” The little girl started shaking her head. Awen caught sight of the tears glistening the girl’s cheeks. The voice that came out next was not of a little girl, but of a tormented soul. “Don’t you talk about my momma. Don’t you dare.”

  Awen went to reach for Piper again, but this time it wasn’t the threat of being shocked that stayed her hand. It was the harshness of the girl’s tone. Something was broken. And it scared Awen.

  “Then I won’t.” Awen looked around the docking bay. Everyone in the Novia armor was coming to, each climbing to their feet in the same daze that Awen had fended off. But the Marines…

  The Marines were stone cold still.

  “Can I ask what you did here?”

  “I made it stop,” Piper replied without hesitation. “I made it all stop.”

  “So, you did this,” Awen said, just trying to be certain of what she’d heard.

  “I made everyone stop fighting.”

  Mystics, this is… Awen was having trouble collecting her thoughts. This is too much. Too terrible. Again, she surveyed the scene and didn’t see a single Marine reaching for their blaster or even trying to sit up.

  Then Awen realized she had to know… had to know
if they were still alive. She swallowed more of the bile taste in the back of her throat, took a deep breath, and then slipped into the Unity.

  * * *

  The first thing Magnus heard through the ringing in his ears was Awen shrieking. He forced his eyes open and tried to sit up, but instantly regretted both as his muscles spasmed and his nerve endings jolted him. The pain took his breath away. Even the tears that squeezed from the corners of his eyes seemed to burn the sides of his face as they ran toward his ears. They pooled inside his earlobes and made Awen’s weeping sound muddled.

  But he had to get to her. Pain or not. He had to.

  Magnus groaned as he willed his body to sit up. The agony was excruciating. No sooner had he sat upright than his stomach heaved. He turned aside and vomited, suddenly aware that his helmet’s visor was gone. The contents of his stomach splattered on the ground as a new wave of pain forced his muscles into convulsions.

  More pain—unlike any he’d ever felt—threatened to steal him from consciousness, but the ferrous odor of burning flesh helped keep him awake. He squinted again. Suddenly, the HUD of his bioteknia eyes—which had been mostly dormant given his helmet’s dominant properties—came into focus. They identified several things for him, the first being Piper’s diminutive form standing thirteen meters away. She was looking down at the ground, unmoving. But sensors said she was alive and stable.

  The next thing Magnus noticed was Awen, who was on her knees, sobbing. She was looking between Piper and the rest of the docking bay which was…

  Full of people struggling to get off the ground. His people. The gladias of Granther Company and Willowood’s Luma. But many more still lay on the ground. Marines. Too many Marines to count.