ConQuest (The Quest Saga)

by Dhayaa Anbajagane

  He handed him a piece of paper. “Spatial coordinates. Go to this planet. There’s a guy there that I know. He’ll tell you everything you need to know. Good luck.”

  “What are you going to be doing?” Q asked.

  “I’m going to manage everything around here. There have been a few... uh... problems lately.”

  “Can’t you just tell me why we need to go on this quest? You can’t just send me off like that.”

  “Remember the black holes that I told you about?”

  Q nodded his head.

  “There is one black hole, a super black hole, called Apocalypse. He stays in the centre of the universe…”

  Q got what he was saying but he didn’t get why Carlos kept referring to the black hole as ‘he’.

  “You must be confused. I’ll explain. Nothing in the universe is ‘dead’. The same way nothing is ‘alive’… So, not surprisingly, black holes are alive as in, they live and breathe.”

  “Um... okay.”

  Carlos continued, “Right now billions of black holes all across the universe are conjoining with Apocalypse.”

  “So the inter-dimensional portals are opening up?”

  “Yes. But that isn’t your main concern. If the portals open, only a small part of the universe would be destroyed. If Apocalypse grows any larger he’ll rip such a huge hole in space-time continuum that the entire universe would just dissolve. You’ve got about a week till that happens. Now I know only the problem. The solution is in the hands of the man you will meet.”

  Q nodded, more assertive now. He got what the problem was but why was he chosen? Why not Khan?

  Okay, Khan was not in a situation to fight, but weren’t there warriors more capable than him?

  “This is your mission Q; and remember you are much more than what you think. Much more than anyone will ever be.”

  “And Carlos…” Q bit his lip.

  Carlos raised an eyebrow.

  “Do you think Elizabeth should come? I have a feeling she isn’t who she says she is. She’s hiding something from us.”

  “She was able to breach the stadium wall. Even I haven’t been able to do that. You need a warrior like her.”

  “You coming or what?” Taylor asked. Q hadn't noticed that she was still standing in the doorway.

  “Yeah sure,” he said and left.

  “What did Carlos tell you?” Taylor asked him.

  He told her about Apocalypse, the black hole and apocalypse, the end of the world that could happen because of Apocalypse the black hole. Taylor thought Q was toying around with her with a tongue twister until he swore that it was the truth.

  They walked out of the tower to where Kai was waiting for them.

  Kai just pointed to the centre of the battlefield on their right. A gigantic ship stood there majestically.

  “The Orion; fully functional warship. Any Zyxian who wants to mess with us will run back crying to his mommy, if he has one.”

  “You made this!!?” Q asked in disbelief.

  “I wish! Actually we got this from moon base. Isn’t she a beauty?” Kai said.

  The others stared in awe at the ship. The whole ship was of a sleek black color. The front of the ship was like a round-edged cube. The back extended all the way into a sharp, long rod.

  Q felt as if the ship could slip through even the tightest of places.

  “So? Let’s go check it out,” Kai excitedly ran to the ship.

  All of them followed him to the ship. There were computers everywhere. It looked like the kind of ship Tony Stark would have.

  Floating screens everywhere. Hover platforms. It was a really cool-looking place. As soon as they got in, the ship lifted and shot off. Q wondered if the thing was automatic, considering that Kai was still with them and not piloting the Orion.

  Q ran to the pit. If Kai wasn’t going to pilot this baby, he might as well give it a shot. Imagine his surprise when a girl was sitting in the pilot’s seat!

  Q got so surprised that he tripped on a chair behind him and fell hard on the floor.

  “That’s Christina,” Kai said. “Carlos recommended her to be our medic.”

  “I see you’re better now,” Chris observed.

  “You two know each other?” Elizabeth asked.

  “She’s the one who took care of me after you knocked me out,” Q said.

  “Oh, yeah. Sorry about that,” Elizabeth said.

  Q realized something. “But Taylor is already a medic, so why is Chris here as well?”

  “You’re a medic?!” Kai asked, astonished.

  “I’m only a part time medic. In truth I’m actually a...” Taylor hesitated.

  They all waited for the rest of it.

  “I’m a dark knight,” she said.

  “You mean like The Batman?” Q felt stupid asking such a question.

  “No dummy, dark knights are the best in the space protection business. When you see a dark knight, the best thing for you to do would be to run away. That is if they’re attacking you,” Elizabeth told him. He could feel admiration in her voice.

  Q looked around him. Everyone was staring at Taylor.

  “Okay then, back to business, Christina is our new medic,” Kai said introducing everyone to her.

  “Chris actually,” she said.

  Kai corrected himself. “Chris is our new medic.”

  “By the way, Carlos gave me some co-ordinates,” Q told Kai.

  “Yeah, I know. Carlos had told me too. I’ve already got the ship heading to the place.”

  That was when Q realized that the ship had been moving all along. It was so smooth that he hadn't even felt it!

  Elizabeth suddenly fell to the floor. Her hands were gripping her stomach. Her eyes became watery.

  Q lifted her up. “Chris…” he called.

  Chris ran over and took a look at her.

  As soon she saw Elizabeth’s face Chris’s eyes widened.

  “What’s wrong?” Taylor asked.

  “It’s probably only fatigue. A little sleep should make her feel better,” Chris said.

  Q took her to the back and made her lie down on one of the beds. Elizabeth started breathing normally.

  Kai walked up to Q. His face looked serious.

  “Dude, we’ve got a problem...”

  “What’s up?”

  They heard a loud explosion a little away from them.

  “That,” Kai responded.

  “What was that?” Taylor asked, running up to them.

  “Space pirates are attacking us,” Kai told them.

  “Space pirates? What do they steal? People?” Q asked and a look from Taylor told him that it was the right guess.

  “Why didn’t you tell us?” Taylor shouted at Kai.

  Another explosion sounded. This time the ship swayed a little bit.

  “Guys, quit fighting. A pirate ship is attacking us,” Q reminded them.

  Kai and Taylor nodded. “Let’s put up a hell of a fight.”

  “Wait, why can’t we just use a warp drive? Doesn’t Orion have one?” Q asked.

  “We are using a warp drive. The pirate ship is also using a warp drive. There is no way we can outrun them.”

  “Battle is the only way, huh?” Q took a deep breath.

  “Relax,” Taylor told him and added “With me on your side the battle is practically ours.”

  Q wondered if she was really that self-centered or if she was that good in battle. He didn’t need to wait long to find out.

  “Q!” Kai called out to him “Carlos said he had something for you in the back of the ship. He said it was a parting gift.”

  “Thanks,” Q said and rushed to the back. Q wondered what it could be. He walked all the way to the back of the ship. At the end of the ship lay his gift.

  Q couldn’t believe it. Carlos had given him a full suit of armor!

  The armor was pitch black with streaks of red in it. The red streaks pulsated giving the suit a cool look.

  You just can’t
go wrong with black and red.

  Next to the sword were two small cylinders of metal. He picked them up. They were about as long as his palm and not very thick. His fingers could wrap around them comfortably.

  He wondered what they were.

  He heard Taylor’s voice behind. “Q?” she called out.

  “Here!” He let her know where he was.

  She exclaimed when she saw the armor.

  “How did you get these?” she asked Q.

  “Carlos left them for me here.”

  Taylor was not able to believe what she was seeing. “You lucky dog! This is even better than the gear the dark knights get!”

  “What are these things?” Q asked Taylor.

  She looked at him quizzically. She took them from Q and inspected them.

  Great! Even Taylor doesn’t know, Q thought

  Taylor threw the cylinders to the side.

  “Why did you do that?” Q asked.

  “They’re probably just junk.”

  Q looked at the suit of armor before him.

  “Could you help me put it on?” Q asked her.

  She smiled. “Just say ‘Ethosien’. The armor will take care of the rest.”

  “Ethosien,” Q said.

  “I would have done it with a little more drama, but yeah,” she said.

  Q’s armor cracked in the middle and smoke came out. It opened up and attached itself to Q. A few seconds later Q was armored up and ready to fight.

  “Cool!” Q said.

  “Well, lookie here,” said Kai as he walked in. “Carlos helped you after all. Big time!”

  “Wait. Didn’t Carlos give you a sword or anything?” Taylor asked.

  “Nope.”

  Taylor rolled her eyes and walked to the hangar wall. About ten swords were fixed to the wall. Taylor detached a sword and threw it at Q.

  Just as Q was about to grasp the sword’s hilt, something knocked it away from him.

  Q looked at the sword lying on the ground. It had cracked in half!

  Taylor exclaimed and pointed to the ceiling.

  Q looked up. There were two hollow discs with rims of pure light floating above him.

  Suddenly, the light disappeared and two familiar metal cylinders fell into Q’s hands.

  “So that’s what they were,” Kai said.

  “What are they again?” Q asked.

  “It’s a Durendal,” Taylor said. “Two discs of terrifying energy. A legendary weapon used in the war with the Megethos. It’s actually said to be a weapon created by the Megethos. They apparently used a secret procedure to create the weapon. No one knows what it was. This weapon was by far one of the strongest in this universe.”

  Q’s hands started to tremble. Was he worthy of a weapon like this?

  They heard an explosion and felt the ship rocking. That had been the third blast. Could the Orion take any more?

  “Guys, fight now, talk later,” Taylor urged.

  “Ethosien,” they both said.

  Taylor drifted up into the air. She literally floated!

  Her watch slowly expanded till it became a fully functional armor.

  Her armor was black just like Q’s but there was something different about it. It almost looked as if there was some sort of power radiating from it.

  She looked distorted as well. Q realized that there was a black fog that seeped out of her armor.

  Cool special effect, he thought.

  Kai didn’t have any dramatic changes. His armor started unfolding from his feet. It was a sleek metallic grey; one that made him look exactly like a medieval knight.

  Q realized that Taylor’s sword too emitted the black fog. He wondered if it hindered her opponents somehow. It probably scared them as well!

  In that outfit, she looked like the goddess of death. He’d only finished saying that when he saw a black fog around him.

  His first impression was that it was something that Taylor was doing but her face clearly said that she had no idea what was going on.

  “Dude...” Kai said “That is so cool!!” his face lit up.

  “What? What?” Q asked.

  “Your armor just turned into the same thing as Taylor’s.”

  Q looked at himself. It was true. His armor had become exactly like the one Taylor had!

  How did his suit change form? He’d thought how Taylor looked like a goddess of death and his suit changed.

  Maybe that was it! He had thought how cool her suit was. Maybe all he needed was an image.

  He thought about his armor growing. He imaged himself becoming bigger and bigger.

  He opened his eyes. Kai’s face was somewhere near his hip! It worked! Q’s suit was twice its normal size.

  Q had cracked the armor open; figuratively speaking of course.

  Taylor interrupted him. “I’m sorry Q, but this fashion show’s got to wait. Why don’t we beat the pirates first and then watch episode 2?”

  “Game on,” Kai said.

  They went up to the pit. They passed by the bunker where Elizabeth was sleeping. Her face looked so peaceful that Q didn’t have the heart to wake her up.

  It was only when they reached the pit could they actually see the pirates’ ship. They wished they hadn't. Those guys were on a different level of technology.

  You think the Orion was huge? It looked like an ant next to the pirates’ ship. Kai’s jaw dropped. He had been bragging about his ship so far but he just had those rights wrapped up and minced back to him.

  The pirates’ ship came closer to the Orion. Taylor could see two long mechanical arms coming out of a hole that had just opened up. The arms latched onto the Orion and reeled it in.

  The inside of the pirates’ ship was dark but Kai had a feeling it was better that way. There was no guarantee that he’d like what he would see. Actually there was a guarantee he wouldn’t like what he would see.

  They heard banging from the outside.

  “I think that’s our door,” Kai said.

  He was hyperventilating. Q wondered if the guy had ever been in a fight before.

  “Just relax. It’ll all be fine.” Taylor put her arm on his shoulder.

  “We’ve got to surprise them,” Q suggested.

  “I say we let them wear themselves down banging on the door,” Taylor said.

  “We have no idea how many of them there are, they could keep banging on the door all day long.”

  “But if they get into the ship we’re dead meat,” Kai caught on to Q’s idea quickly.

  Taylor saw it as well. “Open the door and launch an attack. On three. One, two, THREE,” she yelled.

  She charged at the door……

  ………and hit it smack in the face.

  Q looked at Kai. “Oh! Was I supposed to open it?” he asked.

  Taylor got up. “Don’t tell me that you didn’t know that,” she said between clenched teeth.

  Q opened the door before Taylor got any angrier.

  On the other side were about thirty really surprised pirates. They were regular looking humans but Q had to remind himself that everything in the universe looked somewhat like humans. The women looked even more ferocious than the men. The way they brandished their blades sent shivers up Q’s spine.

  He still restrained himself. His conscience wasn’t letting him fight. These pirates came from the same galactic family as Q did. Could he kill them just like that?

  One of the pirates fired a laser at Kai. Kai flew back a few meters and into the Orion. He was dazed but still alive.

  Q turned his gaze towards the pirates.

  “They are not human. They are savages who’ll do anything to kill us. Is that what you want?” he asked himself.

  He yelled out a battle cry and charged at the pirates.

  Taylor fought the few pirates who were unfortunate enough to try to kill her.

  Slash, slash and slash. Three pirates fell to the ground.

  “Who else wants a piece of me?” she bellowed.

  Meanwhile Q
in his giant armor was slowly shrinking. Taylor wondered if something was wrong. Then she realized that it was a stupid question. Why? Read on.

  Q’s armor shrunk back to its normal size but there was something different about it.

  It had reversed colors. It was now a red suit with pulsating streaks of black.

  Q raised his hands. A burning black flame covered his whole suit. The Durendal appeared in his hands. Two circles of black energy. A photograph of the scene would’ve probably sold for a million dollars. That’s how cool it was.

  Oh! yeah. Back to the fight.

  Q just slashed and slashed and didn’t stop. Taylor didn’t have to do anything but that wasn’t going to stop her from getting a piece of the action.

  Kai was the odd one out; sitting at the entrance to the Orion, a spectator to Q and Taylor’s carnage.

  “Time to get serious” Taylor grinned at the pirates.

  She twirled around twice and sank into the floor. After that everything was chaos. She would rise randomly from a spot and maul everything around her and then sink back in, again and again.

  A few minutes later nothing remained of the pirates. With danger out of the way, Q’s armor kept folding up till it disappeared.

  “Hey! Where did it go?” He turned to Taylor. She put her sword back in and helped Kai up.

  Q was relieved to see Kai safe and sound. He’d assumed the worst when he saw him fly into the ship.

  “Your armor hid itself. All you have to do is say ‘Ethosien’ whenever you want to arm yourself and your armor will come out into battle.”

  They walked into the ship. Kai and Taylor went to the pit to start the ship. The first thing that came to Q’s mind was to check how Elizabeth was doing. He was walking towards the bunks when he heard a blood curdling scream.

  He ran towards the noise. He rushed to the bunks and found the door locked. He backed up and rammed on it. It broke down easily.

  On the other side was a scared Elizabeth.

  A blue haired female pirate stood next to her. Her sword poised; going for the kill.

  Answers

  Q didn’t have any time to react. He had only taken a few steps forward when the Zyxian brought its sword down on Elizabeth.

  Q closed his eyes. He didn’t want to see his friend get butchered. There was silence for a long time.