PLANET BREAKER
WITCHING ON A STARSHIP BOOK 2
J. A. CIPRIANO
Copyright © 2017 by J. A. Cipriano
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
CONTENTS
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Epilogue
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1
“So, when are we going to mate, Mallory Quinn?” Morg the orc asked as he revved his chain-axe. (Yes, it’s as cool as it sounds).
“Um... like I said before, you’re not really my type,” I replied, dodging a blast from a Plutarc gamma ray as the tiny nymph soldiers continued firing on our position behind a downed mech.
We were on some planet in the middle of fucking nowhere and were trying to root out an alien plague of tiny gnat-like creatures with lasers called Plutarcs. They would land on a planet, eat all the indigenous life, and move on. Our job was simple, herd the gnats back to a central point and incinerate them.
“That's because you've never had orc before. Once you do, you won't ever go back,” my orcish partner said before patting his thigh. “You think this is my leg, don't you?” With those words, he leapt the barricade and charged the Plutarcs, chain-axe whipping around him. “Prepare for ruination!”
Blue laser fire exploded from the entrenched Plutarcs’ weapons, smashing into Morg’s glittering black armor and throwing off sparks of color. Doing little to stop the orc’s charge as his feet chewed up the scorched landscape like he was an Olympic sprinter.
With every step, his muscles bulged, and steam rose from his green skin. Reddish energy pulsed along his flesh as he reared back and swung his chain-axe in an arc in front of him, hitting a barrage of laser fire like a baseball player and sending it flashing backward into the armored battlements.
Plasma burned into the steel structure as the winged, gnat-sized Plutarcs buzzed and chortled in their chittering bird voices. The massive forty-foot battlements they’d been protecting began to glow in response. White hot energy pulsed along its surface as the rods extending from the structure crackled and popped with electricity.
I wasn’t sure what sort of damage the orc could take by way of physical punishment since, thus far, his armor had warded off the Plutarcian firepower with ease, but from the way energy sizzled in the air, I was betting that when the battlement fired, it was going to turn him into a smear.
“You idiot!” I cried, drawing upon my magic as I leapt the barricade I’d cobbled together from downed mechs. As my feet touched the ground, power surged all around me, heeding my call and crashing into my senses like a rock show turned to max volume. I grabbed hold of the power thrumming in the air all around me and redirected it inside myself to make myself faster.
As magic gushed through my veins, time slowed down all around me. I burst forward in a surge of superhuman speed, one hand outstretched toward Morg. My fingers grabbed hold of his long black ponytail right as a cannonball of crackling plasma burst from the Plutarcian battlement. The air temperature skyrocketed so quickly, it burned my flesh as I jerked the orc to the side with all the strength I could manage.
Even with all my superhuman speed, I nearly wasn’t fast enough. As we crashed to the ground, the cannonball missed us by millimeters before zooming off into the distance, leaving a trail of slagged earth beneath it. Thankfully, my magic combined with my spacesuit kept me from becoming charbroiled.
“I could have taken it,” Morg said, hopping to his feet without so much as a thank you.
“That’s what she said,” I mumbled, glad we hadn’t both just been killed. As if to emphasize my thought, the cannon ball exploded several hundred meters behind us.
The shockwave from it made my stomach do a somersault. Morg stumbled forward as the Plutarc’s battlement began to smoke. The surface of the structure looked like it’d been melted, reminding me of when I would point my magnifying glass at my army men as a kid. All the pulse rifle points that had once dotted the outside were all droopy.
Slowly, I got to my feet and called upon more magic. It crashed into me like a wicked guitar solo, filling my muscles with strength as I reared back and threw a concussive volley of force at the battlement. The amulet around my neck pulsed, throwing off green light in every direction, but I ignored it as I concentrated on my spell.
My magic crashed into the structure with a thunder crack, rocking it backward and tearing the front of it from the reddish earth before rending it open in a squeal of tortured steel. Molten metal splattered across the scorched ground as the Plutarcs screamed. Their cries hit my ears like a billion buzzing bees as they finally retreated.
I watched as they took off in a massive swarm, heading back toward the main hive some thirty clicks away. Like the other teams, we’d been sent here to drive the Plutarcian menace back to the main hive. Once they were all there, we’d drop a planet buster bomb on it, eliminating the planet’s entire i
nfestation. Thankfully, this group was the last one.
This same plan had worked on the last three planets, and as I watched the Plutarcs rise into the sky like a cloud of black mosquitoes, I had no reason to think it wouldn’t work once again.
“Mallory Quinn, if you could crack it open like that, why did you not do it sooner?” Morg said, eyeing me. “You should always go forth with maximum power, maximum thrust.” He thrust his hips for emphasis.
“I didn’t want you to be bored,” I said even though my heart was hammering in my chest. Part of me couldn’t believe what I’d just done. Worse, I could still feel magic in the air all around me. Like it’d been doing for the last few months, forbidden magic called to me, begged me to unleash it in an overwhelming surge.
It’d been happening ever since I’d gone to Space Planet Maverick to stop Lord Zug from using the Gideon Cube to destroy all of creation. I’d tried to deny it, but as I stared at the smoking crater in front of me, I knew I wasn’t making things up. I felt different. No… not different. I felt powerful in a way I couldn’t explain, like there was a little extra chutzpah to my spells that hadn’t been there before.
That normally wouldn’t be a problem. I mean, more power, right? There was just one tiny little niggle. I hadn’t quite learned to control it as well as I’d have liked, and the last time I’d tried to do something simple, like light a campfire, I’d blown a smoking crater into the ground.
That was part of the reason why I’d agreed to help wipe out the Plutarcian infestation even though I didn’t need the money. This mission was simple point and click, and if I pointed and clicked at a bad guy and blew him away with excessive force, I wouldn’t shed any tears over it. After blowing up so many hives, I was finally able to control it in a way I’d liked.
Besides, I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit I’d sort of missed the crew of the Endeavor. Especially since I was only one mission away from getting my silver sandals, and with those would come the ability to go to any Federation bar and get half-priced drinks and snacks. It might have sounded dumb, but I really wanted that privilege.
“I can smell your lie,” Morg said, his piggish nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air. “But I do not know why.” He glanced upward as the orc battleship moved into position just above the central hive. Its massive battle-cannon began to rev, causing crimson sparks to arc from its surface. As the last of the Plutarcs descended on the hive, I knew it wouldn’t be long before the orcish ship fired the Planet Buster Bomb.
“Why would I lie?” I asked as the orc battleship exploded, throwing me backward across the ground. I hit the dirt hard, stars flashing across my vision as I stared heavenward in disbelief. Instead of delivering the deathblow to the Plutarcs, the main cannon had exploded, taking the orcish ship with it. “What the fuck?”
Already the Endeavor was rerouting, moving toward the new position as bits of flaming battleship rained down around us. Only as it did, it vanished in a flash of sapphire light, leaving no trace it’d ever been there at all.
2
“What the hell is going on?” I cried, getting to my feet as chunks of orcish dropship rained down onto the Plutarcs’ main base.
Morg stood a few steps in front of me, eyes staring into the reddish atmosphere like he could somehow will the ship to come back. Then, very slowly, he turned to look at me. Something dark and angry swam through his crimson eyes.
“My brother was on that ship.” He gestured toward the rain of debris. “He did not receive a noble death.” He spat onto the dusty earth. “That is unacceptable.”
“Um… I’m sorry,” I said, trying to ignore the worry rising inside of me. What if my friends were dead too?
“You should be sorry.” Morg stamped his feet as he turned his angry eyes back on me. “Now the colors of battle will not cascade through the horizon over his death. The bards will not sing tales of his victory. No, they will sing of how he and his ship were lost.” He gestured around us. “On this pimple of a planet.”
I shut my eyes and reached out with my magic toward the Endeavor. Only I couldn’t find it. Either it was too far away for me to locate with my metaphysical prowess, or it didn’t exist anymore. A pang of panic exploded in my chest as I tried harder, pouring more power into the spell.
Blood rushed through my veins as I reached into the void where the starship had been with my mind. The taste of blood filled my mouth, and I could feel it dripping from my nose, but I ignored it. Instead, I sucked in an angry, ragged breath as the amulet around my neck burned against my chest. It had been made from the pulsar crystals aboard the ship and served as a focus to help me extend the range of my powers. Unfortunately, even with it boosting my abilities, I couldn’t find any trace of the Endeavor.
Part of me wanted to keep trying to find the starship anyway, but the logical part of me knew I wouldn’t be able to find them. At least, not from here.
Sadness swept me up as a sudden hole opened inside me. What if they were gone?
No. I couldn’t think that way. They were out there, and I would find them. No matter what.
“I don’t feel anything out there,” I said as my eyes snapped open.
“I am not surprised.” Morg nodded to me. “Something else must have happened to the Endeavor. If whoever took out the orcish ship wanted the crew on the Endeavor dead, the starship would be raining down around us too. It is not. So something else must have happened to them.”
I stared at the orc for a long time as I ran the back of one hand across my nose. It came away crimson. Morg was probably right though. My friends probably weren’t dead. I wasn’t sure if they’d been taken or sent to another dimension, but one thing was certain. This would not stand.
“We’ll get them for this,” I said, taking a step forward and putting my hand on Morg’s shoulder. “But first, let’s find a way off this rock, okay?”
Morg looked at me quizzically which was a little weird because he had the face of a boar. “Can’t you just teleport us?”
“No,” I said, waving my hand at the sky. “I can’t teleport across this much space without the pulsar crystals on the Endeavor to boost my powers.”
“So you have no purpose,” Morg grumbled, turning away from me and moving toward the Plutarcian stronghold. “Good to know.”
“What the fuck do you mean by that?” I snapped, following after him. It was hard because he was eight feet tall and his legs were way longer than mine. I wasn’t particularly short or anything at five foot six, but his strides were just way larger than mine.
“I am sorry. It is not your fault you are useless. I’m just annoyed that instead of being able to get us home with your magic, we are going to have to try to find a way to fit ourselves in a ship designed for ants.” He gestured at the Plutarcs swarming around the main hive. “Or have you not seen our enemies? I take shits larger than their whole colony.”
As much as his words angered me, he had a point. I’d come to the same realization as I’d stared at the Endeavor, but I’d been hoping we’d find something we could use to get off this planet. If not, we’d have to wait until the fleet sent a ship to check on us when we didn’t check in. That could take weeks, and call me crazy, but I didn’t relish the idea of spending a week on a planet where most of the indigenous life was the size of a flea.
“That’s a fair point, but maybe they have some kind of transport array I can tap into?” I asked, digging out my holocube. The Plutarcian stronghold was a fair bit away, and since they had nowhere else to go, I wasn’t worried about them leaving just yet to come kill us.
No, they’d hunker down and wait for us to show up before trying to kill us. At least, that’s what they’d seemed to do thus far. They’d defend a stronghold until it was no longer feasible before retreating to the next.
“Even if that’s true, there’s pretty much no way you will be able to activate it. The controls will be practically microscopic.” He turned and looked at me. “That’s not even the problem, though.”
“What’s the problem?” I asked, glancing away from my still deactivated holo and staring at the big orc. “Because that sounds like a major one.”
“The problem is that at night the Plutarcs become ravenous. They will fly across this landscape in an all-consuming cloud of death that will strip our flesh from our bones in seconds. Then, they will eat those too. In short, if they’re not eradicated before the sun dips below the horizon, we’re going to die.” He turned back toward the stronghold, one hand in a white-knuckled grip on his axe. “That will not be a noble death either.”
“Well… that does put a wrinkle in things,” I mumbled, shaking my head as I hit the keys on the holocube to bring up the mission docket. As I did, a six-inch holographic image of my captain, Nolan Brand, appeared above the tiny machine.
Planet Breaker: A Supernatural Space Opera (Witching on a Starship Book 2) Page 1
