by Devin Cain
"I’ll take out the point defenses, you two take out the engines!" she said, unleashing a torrent of projectiles. Gremory was fast, scarily so, but it was a good thing for us. A brilliant explosion made me look away for a second. The loud chirping and crackling sound had turned into a series of rumbles. Only then did I notice Gabriel rushing around, slashing at anything made from metal. His face was a mask of rage, and looked intent on destroying the ship.
"Don’t destroy it!" I yelled. "We need it to repair Devil!"
But he didn’t stop slashing at the exposed hull. It seemed like he didn’t hear me, or rather, he didn’t want to hear me. If anything, he was enraged to the point of being deaf.
"I’ll stop him!" Gremory yelled and swung around the underbelly, shooting two bullets right at him. One went wide, but the second ripped a hole in his left arm. His head snapped down to see who attacked him, but unfortunately, he didn’t react as I hoped. Swinging his sword, Gabriel lunged for Gremory.
"Gabriel!" I screamed and darted in to try and stop him. Maybe he wouldn’t attack her if I managed to get myself in between them, but his sword’s trajectory didn’t change, and instead of hitting her, he slashed through my Nephilim wing. The sword bounced off and flew right up into the belly of the behemoth battleship along with a good chunk of my wing. Finally, he snapped out of the state he was in.
"Admiral! I’m sorry. Whenever I’m enraged, I can’t quite control myself."
"It’s good, I just need to repair my wing and close this rift. Do you have any idea?"
"Yes, sir!" he replied. "I still have some powers, so I can close it down. We’ll need to create a jammer that prevents anyone from warping in again. I need a moon and a lot of metal to do so, along with a lot of your power."
"Wait, what? Don’t you need electricity or something?"
He shook his head.
"No, I’m going to block the system from all incoming warps, except for those sanctioned by the same wavelength. I can explain the principle later."
"Levi, shoot that thing out of the sky so we can get this thing up!"
Using my wings, I propelled us toward the backside of the ship, just as the nose of another started peeking out. Luckily, it was one of the smaller ones. Gabriel, in turn, flew off and hurled himself at a molten slab of debris at least half a mile wide. It was one of the smaller ships we just blew up I recognized.
"Just a little further," Levi hissed. I tried to dive around the portal, but it was too big, and the ship almost stood at a standstill.
"I can’t!" I snapped. "Wait and use your chance!"
I felt a cold sweat trickle down my monstrous skin. Sure, I was a monster, but this was way out of my comfort zone. Three laser rounds struck my right wing, snapping it in two. I cursed and used my remaining wing to navigate back into place.
"There!" she yelled. "Bombs away!"
The round streaked right toward the afterburner and disappeared into the plasma. A moment later, massive explosions rocked the ship and sent it spinning. I looked back at Gabriel, who was pushing another massive chunk of debris down to Entraxila’s moon.
"Watch out!" Gremory screamed as a blanket of missiles streaked toward us.
"Where the fuck did they come from?" I cursed and turned to flee.
"Does it matter?" Levi replied.
"Use both guns to shoot at the projectiles! If they hit us, we’re dead!" I ordered and used my bony growth to support the broken Nephilim wing. It hurt like a bitch, but I managed to move thanks to our non-existent weight in space.
The gun shifted away from one shoulder for a moment, and then pressed back down against both once she split her weapon. My body started rocking with each shot. To her credit, each shot took down a missile, but she wasn’t able to shoot them down fast enough. Even under Gremory’s covering fire, there were simply too many of them.
Doing the only thing left to me, I grabbed Levi with my right hand and hurled her into Gremory’s direction. She screamed and cursed along with Gremory, but it was all over now. At least the two of them would be saved.
"No!" I could hear Gremory scream as she caught Levi. I turned to her one last time and winked as the remaining projectiles swarmed me. The bubble surrounding my body disappeared as my wing grew back almost instantly and surrounded my body like a cocoon. I didn’t have much time left to do anything, except for one last move.
"Khepri, use Energy blast once they’re almost up our ass."
"Oh? That’s interesting. You want to cause a chain reaction?"
"Now that you know, get to it."
"Hah! He’s about to die, and still can’t get himself to say please," Devil snarled. "Whatever, if we survive, you’ll owe her a big one."
"Now, now, how about you two shut up so I can concentrate?" Doing so was much harder than I could imagine as dozens of missiles headed my way. The trail of plasma left in their wake was both beautiful and awe-inspiring at the same time, in a strange, deathly way.
"Ten, nine—" Devil started counting down as my chest started burning before a bolt of energy shot out into the missiles.
Chapter Fifty-Four
"Stop pretending you’re asleep. We got matters to discuss," Lucifer said, followed by a glass-shattering against my shoulder. I snapped my head around and growled at him, fully transformed. But so was he. To my surprise, the room looked even more different this time around. The bar and piano were still there, but most of the tables and chairs were missing and were replaced by a metallic cage, white as the purest snow.
"The fuck do you want with me? I told you to stop bothering me!"
"Oh, no! Not before you repay your debt! I want those sacrifices! I need millions more to scream my name as they die!"
His right fist came flying and sent me staggering against the cage. It burned my back and hands so badly that the skin and flesh beneath melted right off. I kicked out and hurled myself at him, but he wouldn’t go down. Instead, he lifted me, then slammed my body against the ground headfirst.
"Fuck! That hurt," I yelled, then kicked out at him. He dropped on his back but pushed himself back up as if it was nothing.
"I! Am! Your! God!" he yelled, hitting me with his fist each time. "You belong to me! Even that useless bitch Gremory does! See? She will be the death of you, idiot! Would you have gone out to fight if she hadn’t done so first? But you had to be the man and follow her lead instead of telling her to sit her ass down!"
I looked away, annoyed by his words. The beating hurt much less than reality did, and he spoke the truth. He was my god, and by definition, much stronger than me. No. That wasn’t true! I’d become something similar to him as well — not a god of his caliber, but a god nonetheless.
"Yes, you finally understand what you’ve become," a dark, brooding voice whispered in my mind. "Are you ready to become what you were always destined to be?"
A hard boot slammed home against my ribs. I was sent flying against the cage once more. My skin sizzled and was burned off the bone, along with the flesh off my wings. I tried to pull away, but I couldn’t. I was stuck as the searing hot flames kept eating me alive.
"Are you ready to transcend?" the same voice asked again, this time booming in my mind.
"Yes! Give me the power to destroy everything and everyone! Give me the power to destroy all life that opposes me!"
Lucifer stopped for a moment and even stepped away from me.
"What did you just say?" He whispered. "Who are you talking to?"
I didn’t tell him. No, I never would. All I did was grin at him through the gut-wrenching pain, which seemed to piss him off even more.
He cursed and came flying in, stomped against my skull and cracked it open. I could feel my life flowing out of the wound. But it didn’t care. I wouldn’t die. Not now that I was given the one thing I needed: power over life and death. I wouldn’t die, never!
"Thank you, Lucifer, for bringing me to the verge of dying. You just gave me everything I needed to reach the next stage," I snickered. He stepped b
ack, gasping.
"No, it can’t be!" Lucifer growled. "You decided to leave and never come back again! Why are you interfering with the state of this universe?"
"There needs to be a balance, Lucifer. Chaos is the natural opposite of order, little rebel. I have given you both order and chaos. One has prevailed over the other, but now that I’ve found someone—worthy of my power, the long-lost equilibrium will be established once more."
"I see. And does father know?"
"He does, Lucifer, after all, it’s quite hard not to feel the shift of power in this universe."
"You idiot!" Lucifer growled again. "You have no idea what you’re dealing with! There was a reason father waged war on the God of Chaos and threw him out!"
"It was you who forced me, Lucifer, along with your father and your brethren and sisters. It was you who shaped me into what I’ve become. See, I told all of you to let us be, to let us have our peace, but no, it wasn’t meant to be."
Lucifer only bared his teeth, growled and snapped his fingers. For a moment, there was only darkness, nothing but pure darkness. But then, a light appeared opposing the darkness illuminating one side while the other stayed hidden.
A red dot appeared at the center and started moving in a circle, but each time it shifted a fraction of an inch off course, resulting in a random and chaotic pattern. Was this what it meant? A state where one knew what was going to happen, but only to a certain degree, and that depending on how we pushed, the result could change?
"Do you understand now?" the voice asked, shattering the image of tranquility into a million pieces.
"Do I understand what?"
"Your role in all of this. Do you know which side you belong to?"
"I’m-- the red, the chaos."
"Exactly."
"So, what do you want from me?"
The voice went silent for a while as if contemplating. But in the end, it replied exactly what I didn’t want to hear.
"I want you to suffer and shed all humanity left in you. You need to become Chaos, the Nephilim weaving the symphony of destruction with your every thought and move. Grow, and destroy everything in your path: even The Host, or Lucifer or your God. There is one thing you must never do, and that is to create, remember that well. Every creation will be one that brings destruction and madness."
"And what if I’ve had enough of destruction and death?"
"I’ve chosen you for a reason, Cain, don’t disappoint me. When you wake up, have a good long talk with yourself. Carefully plan on how you want the universe to look like and then start carving it out of stone. The more Chaos you cause, the stronger you’ll become. After all, without death and destruction, you will never be able to protect those closest to you."
"No! Whoever you are, I’m sick of this shit! Everyone keeps telling me what to do, well no more I tell you! Either give me the power and let me do as I please, or be done with me!"
The voice disappeared from my mind for what seemed like an eternity before it crashed down again.
"Very well. I’ll give you free rein as long as you continue down the path of chaos, last of the Nephilim. Show me what you’re capable of. Show me how far you’re willing to go."
"I agree!" I snapped angrily at everyone and everything. But yes, power was what I needed right now to fight this multi-pronged war. Lost in my thoughts, I failed to notice the change around me. The darkness turned to light, and then to a different sort of darkness, one I was familiar with. I found myself floating in space, but where? Was I still near Entarxila?
A strange, magnetic sensation struck me as red light washed over me. A drone appeared above me, the design familiar since I had familiarized myself with it before agreeing on its production. Or rather, Devil’s agreement. I was just along for the show.
The drone started moving and pulled me along as it did. I forced myself to look around, but there was nothing. At least not above me, but when the drone started moving down on a strange angle, I twisted my head just far enough to see Devil floating a good distance below me.
Devil was much sleeker and bristled with new weaponry, shield generators, and things I had no idea what they might be. The sharp edges gave it a look that went together with the name. He’d become a real Devil now.
An uneasy feeling crept up from the innermost dark corner of my being. What the hell was I going to tell them? That I’d become some sort of enemy to all living creatures? How the hell do you even break such news?
It didn’t take long for the drone to take me into a wide-open loading bay, forcing all thoughts away for the moment. A group of mutated soldiers stood at attention along with Khavvrin, Samson, and Levi. Gremory, Kris and the Doc stood at the center of the group. Doc and Kris were sobbing while Gremory looked like she’d cried earlier, her red eyes gave it away too easily.
"How long has it been?" I asked as she embraced me.
"Is that really the first thing you should be asking?"
I shrugged.
"Yes, it is. You have no idea what is going on."
She shook her head and then wrapped her arms tight around me.
"Three weeks. We’ve been fighting non-stop against the enemy alien race we encountered upon arrival. The Entraxilans have remained neutral not wanting to join the fight until a new leader was elected, but we held off for now. We all agreed on a month of mourning time."
"Well, you better keep the mourning for our enemies. I’m alive and kicking," I said and kissed her forehead. She tasted of iron and sulfur, of smoke and soot. Just moments ago I was ready to burn and destroy, yet whenever she was near, it was as if something held me back, so I didn’t lose control. "And three weeks, huh? You must have been worried to death."
"Where were you? I lost control with Luci--"
"Shh," I whispered, putting my finger to her lips. "Never utter that name again. He’s dead to us. Everyone and everything is from now on, except for what we create here."
She nodded weakly and turned to the wide doors.
"Open up. We’re coming in."
Kris approached wearily as the doors slid open wide. I put an arm around her, kissing her forehead before exiting the bay area.
"Say, how long has it been since you’ve slept?" I asked as the door closed behind us.
"I woke up a couple of hours ago, but never changed out of my battle suit. It’s too dangerous. Devil is barely keeping up with constant repairs."
"I see. And how responsive has he been?"
"The usual, why?"
"I’ll tell you in a bit. Just one more question. Did any of our friends die in the meantime?"
She shrugged and looked up as if searching for the answer.
"I don’t think so. The bridge was roughed up pretty badly, but everyone survived."
"Good, good." I turned back to my entourage and gave them a broad smile. "Enough lazying around, ladies and gentlemen, all to the bridge."
It wouldn’t do to show weakness right now. The group followed me like lovesick puppies finding their mother after a hurricane, and that’s what I was to them. Their mother and their father, or at least that’s what I hoped. I wanted for them to look up to me, to see a savior and not a tyrant or someone they had to follow out of fear.
"Admiral on deck!"
"Thank you, officer," I said and shook his hand before walking up to the center console. "Freya, no, you all did a good job while I was gone. I’ll keep this short, so please reply in the same manner."
"Yes, sir!" most of them replied in unison. It almost made me feel good inside, but I knew it was a lie. Only one thing could make me feel good, no, two things.
"State of our ships."
Friedrich stood at attention and started speaking.
"Sir, all three ships are currently under heavy repairs. The last attack from yesterday wore us down badly. We’re at about a third of ordnance left, even with the help from our allies. We have lost approximately three hundred people to the attacks, and one of the haulers got badly damaged, but the goods are mainl
y intact. The dreadnought is mostly operational, though the five other ships are positioned far behind. They’ve battered us to no end."
"Good. Good job. You did much better than one could expect you to. What’s the state of our allies? Give me a composition." I had no idea what each type of ship was called or under which category they went, so might as well ask directly under the guise of gathering information.
"They have one capital ship, Admiral. It’s a dreadnought, but slightly larger than our own," Freya replied. "Then there’s the Leviathan and seven battleships which are smaller and weaker by a third in comparison to the gigantic ship. Ten heavy cruisers, nine missile frigates and an interesting concept they came up with. Three ships that basically draw all enemy fire with their gigantic shields. They are weaponless but have Leviathan’s shields, three of them.
"Ohh, that’s interesting," I said and stepped closer to her. "What are they called?"
"Umm, they’re called tanks as far as we could translate anyway. They’re highly effective letting our fire through and blocking incoming enemy fire. They arrived about six days ago during the fourth battle."
"I’ll need more on that later, but first tell me the situation of our soldiers," I said, turning to Khavvrin.
"Sir," he snapped a salute and replied. "We have over three hundred ‘changelings’ as we’re calling them now. About a hundred on each ship. Gene and Brown are making sure there are no riots or problems on the other ships, and everyone has been very obedient."
"Good, good. Three hundred, huh?" I asked thoughtfully. I hoped it would have been going much faster, but whatever. We would make time once we were down on the surface. "Next up, Fefnal. Can you put me through to him?"
"Sir, he’s indisposed at the moment. We tried contacting him when the drone found you, but they told us he was in a meeting with his admiral."
"Keep trying, Helena. It’s very urgent. They might get funny ideas."
"Yes, sir."
"Now, someone please tell me where Gabriel is. We need to get that jammer up and running."
