by Reiter
“Can’t say that I’m impressed,” Vaysh thought as he set his feet in response to the charging attack of his target. “Balance, power, flexibility… even some internal energy control, but absolutely no focus at the moment. This is going to be too easy!” The sabre-sash was thrown in front of Vaysh, intending to grasp the lead arm of his opponent and throw him, breaking the arm before the body could hit the ground. But the wrap on the end of the weapon moved through the image of the body of his opponent… the opponent that Vaysh too late remembered could render himself intangible. He threw his body forward, decreasing the time their bodies would share the same space. Vaysh rolled when he hit the ground and quickly stood up, collecting his weapon.
“You should have taken the advantage I gave you, boy,” Vaysh said as he took another stance.
“Interesting,” Dungias whispered as he stood with his cloak wrapped around his body. “Kiaplyx even fitted you with a translator so that we could speak.” Dungias sighed as he turned to enter The Campus.
“This fight’s not ov–” Vaysh took one step forward and his body shuddered. His eyes and mouth gaped wide in fear of a powerful sensation, one the master warrior had never felt before but now overwhelmed his entire body! He would never come to know the display of rage had been a facade; that the young Malgovi Traveler’s senses had detected his presence before Vaysh had had an opportunity to speak... and that his magnificent body would be the recipient of the overage of power Alpha had absorbed in protecting its master from the explosion of the unraveling vessel.
“I left nothing physical inside of you, fool,” Dungias said as he continued to walk. “But I did align your local gravity field with the ground upon which you were standing. Now that you have moved, the forces that keep your molecules bound together is slowly eroding. I will be back to collect that weapon. It holds some level of interest for me.”
The effort to take in a breath to scream at the outrageous way he had been dispatched set off an immediate chain reaction. His chest inflated, but it never stopped and Vaysh dispersed.
“That had to be the most orderly execution I have ever seen,” a familiar voice remarked, and Dungias stopped walking. “Are you forgetting the laws of physical science again, Traveler?” Dungias once again made a blind reaction, once again turning his body toward the rear. On this occasion, the weeping Traveler was caught by his laughing and reformed friend. “Yes, it did hurt. You should know that was not an enjoyable experience, but that is why I pushed you ahead of me. I can reform at will; that seems to be a trick you have yet to master.”
“No,” Dungias laughed. “Not yet.” Looking at The Campus, Dungias gestured toward the grounds.
“From what chamber is the transit of The Campus controlled?”
“Follow me,” Berylon said as he started to walk down the path. “All of the Beta Forms are in their restoration pods. It was the only place we could put them where we could be assured the backlash would not destroy them.”
“Then that was nothing short of genius,” Dungias remarked.
“We Radients would have arrested the movement of The Campus, but we are not even permitted on the grounds you will need to enter to resolve this.”
“That said, I really do not know what I am doing here,” Dungias admitted. Berylon put his hand on Dungias’ back and smiled again.
“Not being able to enter and not being able to walk you through the process of restoring The Campus to the territories are two different things,” Berylon advised.
“But be warned,” Flavicia said as she landed just in front of the two. “… we will not be able to take hold within the planetoid again. That anchor has been destroyed. The Campus will be visible once more.”
“Another problem for another time,” Dungias stated. The three walked to the tower at the center of The Campus and as Dungias ascended the steps, Berylon and Flavicia flew outside the windows. Within moments, The Campus reappeared; rebooted in a way, and was thusly floating free in the Realm Astral.
“Arrjeeh,” Dungias said as he emerged from the tower, “…initiate all defenses and return The Campus to my home dimension. Use my anchor for reference, and get us as close to Quantia Prime as possible!
“Beta Forms, prepare for combat!” Dungias ordered as the Beta Forms appeared, clad in their armour and wearing their weapons. Dungias’ shoulders squared as his eyes glared with hope. “The Grenbi are en route to Quantia Prime,” he stated. “We must defend the homeworld.”
“By doing what?” Beta-Zeu Rex asked, and the mere posing of the question confused Dungias.
“Turn them if we can, destroy them if we cannot.”
“That we can’t do, Master,” Beta-Alphexeous started as he began his approach. “Remember that little legal-eagle crap that Arrjeeh was talking about before?”
“Are you saying that the Grenbi are loyal to the throne?!”
“They most assuredly are not,” Beta-Zeu Rex replied. “But to be clear, aside from instruction or self-preservation, we cannot directly bring harm, in any way or on any level, to the loyal Malgovi or the loyal Vinthur. If you mean for us to take on the Grenbi, that’s exactly what we would be doing! We can’t even defend you against them!”
“WHAT?!” Dungias exclaimed. “That… that does… not make any–
“Can you tell me why?” Dungias asked, coming to a point of realization.
“The sharing of that information was declared harmful by the throne before the war with the BroSohnti was over,” Beta-Alphexeous replied. “No can do there, sport!”
“What is the fastest war craft you have?”
“That would be the Glaive,” Beta-Alphexeous quickly answered. “If speed is what you’re looking for. The Polaris is a two-man fighter with all the right trimmings.”
“It occurs to me that piloting that fighter would not bring us into conflict with our directives,” Beta-Chiaro advised.
“One of us driving while he’s blasting away,” Beta-Nexeous argued. “How are we not bringing harm to the Malgovi or the Vinthur?!”
“The kid would have to promise that wouldn’t happen,” Beta-Alphexeous noted. “I’ll take his word over our laws any day!” Dungias looked at each face, especially, BJ’s… but each face told him the same thing.
“Beta-Arrjeeh, begin the procedures necessary to bring The Campus back to our home dimension.” Beta-Zeu Rex took it upon himself to teleport Dungias and the Soul Fighter to the hangar.
“Make sure that glow-stick of yours is in record-mode, because I’m not allowed to teach in the classroom what I’m about to do,” Beta-Alphexeous suggested.
“Understood,” Dungias replied, still confused and trying to resolve the quandary.
The Polaris was already in launch position and the engines were warming up quickly. The canopy was open and Beta-Alphexeous demonstrated agility far greater than Dungias’ to get into the front seat in one jump. Dungias took two to take the back seat. The white sky quickly became black, and Dungias could see Quantia Prime in the distance.
“Looks like Arrjeeh found your anchor,” Beta-Alphexeous reported. “We are now one tonki after you left to come get us. We are just under eight tonki from Quantia Prime... five and three-quarters if I kick this baby just right.”
“Please use the correct boot,” Dungias urged and Beta-Alphexeous chuckled as the interior lights dimmed. The hum of the engines increased as the Polaris started to rattle.
“Main power re-routed and engines approaching red-line,” Beta-Alphexeous reported as he made a small course correction. “ETA… five and three quarter tonki before we hit the atmosphere.”
“My thanks, Alphexeous,” Dungias said softly.
“Thank me when we’re on our way back home, kid,” Beta-Alphexeous said, placing a cheroot in the corner of his mouth. He would not light it until the battle was over. For the moment, it was simply something for him to chew on so that his hands would be sure and steady. “… until then, it’s just good intentions. And we all know where that road leads.”
/>
“Actually, no we don’t,” Dungias said.
“Keep forgetting you’re not one of us, kid,” Beta-Alphexeous snorted.
“I will take that as a compliment,” Dungias returned. “So… where does that road lead?”
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions, kid. But I believe your people call it Shay-Dorra.”
“From the looks of things, it seems we are bound for that place regardless of what road we take.”
“Yeah, he’s one of us!” the Soul Fighter muttered before telling Dungias to power up the weapons and defenses. The Polaris had been built to withstand and deliver an onslaught. Moving the cheroot to the other side of his mouth, Beta-Alphexeous started thinking of all the words that were greater than ‘onslaught’.
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
Marcus Aurelius
“Projector capacitors are charging,” Dungias reported as he readied the weapons systems of the Polaris. “Release and launch controls are nominal, missile racks are full and awaiting deployment.” Dungias sighed in frustration, preparing weapons that he would not be allowed to use.
Looking at his sensor read-out, Beta-Alphexeous bit his bottom lip and started to shake his head. He kept from the action, remembering he had a proverbial sponge seated in the Gunner’s Chair. After a moment’s consideration, the Beta Form decided to take a different approach to the incident unfolding before him. “You got a plan here?” he asked.
“I did,” Dungias replied. “… but in order to have you bring me here, I had to promise not to fire.”
“Two things,” Beta-Alphexeous said, taking the Polaris into an approach dive toward the planet. “One, I don’t remember you making that promise. Two, if you really know who’s driving this crate, there’s gotta be a question burning in the fry pan you call a brain.”
“Indeed there is,” Dungias thought. “The legend regarding the Soul Fighter is not far from the truth. The only thing I would suggest as an edit is that he is even more homicidal than the annals suggest. So why would a fighter bring me to a place where I could not fight?!”
“And it looks like you’ve got yourself another development,” Beta-Alphexeous stated as he looked down. “You’ve got more than eight bridges! Just seems that eight are coming from off planet!” As the surface of Quantia Prime ship came into view, Dungias could see a black cloud moving against the jet stream. He did not need to look at his scanners to know it was not a cloud, but a wave of Grenbi already in the atmosphere.
“They sure do travel in light numbers, don’t they?” Beta-Alphexeous said as he leveled off.
“You are quite correct, there are so many of them and I still don’t see any sign of the Royal Fleet,” Dungias replied.
“Just like you waited for Nugar when you decided to take Saru to your bed, right?”
“Your point has been made,” Dungias said, realizing more why the family grouping known as the Founders worked the way it did. Each member had their own style, their own means of expression. It was clear to the young Traveler that Beta-Alphexeous would express himself in the same manner as his weaponry; quick and sure, applied with little regret and even less consideration for the recipient. “I think we need to focus on the stream of Grenbi that poses the greatest threat to the Royal Palace,” Dungias answered. He had to grab the arms of his chair as the spacecraft was put into an immediate dive. The sound of the engines increased, making it impossible for Dungias to give Beta-Alphexeous any orders to change course. The Polaris started to shimmer; they were entering the atmosphere of Quantia Prime. Dungias quickly activated the heat shields and watched as the batteries received energy.
Eventually the ship settled and the sound of the engines subsided. Dungias unlocked his seat and directed it to swing around the right side of the U-track to come up beside Beta-Alphexeous. He was about to inquire why the Soul Fighter had taken the spacecraft into such a dive, but they were coming out of the clouds and the site before him caused Dungias’ mouth to simply hang open. From the Void the grouping had not seemed so great in size. Now it blotted out the star.
“If you ask me, the one that poses the greatest threat is the one that is coming from the far side of the planet,” Beta-Alphexeous stated. “Let me know if you don’t agree.” Dungias said nothing as his seat returned to its normal position at the base of the U-track. The young Traveler split the display on his monitor. He would work from the lower half, but the upper half would always mimic whatever Beta-Alphexeous was doing with his console. He heard his pilot chuckle when the computer acknowledged the display changes Dungias had keyed into the system.
“And there’s your first sign of the Royal Fleet,” Beta-Alphexeous said as a battle cruiser flew over the castle toward the descending cloud of Grenbi. “All these damn years and they still don’t know what the hell they’re doing!” Beta-Alphexeous muttered.
Dungias heard the commentary and decided to err on the side of the Founders; though he did not know why, he would assume the Soul Fighter was right and the most decorated members of the militia were wrong. He called up a sensor sweep of the Palace grounds only to be horrified by what he uncovered.
“Why am I reading so many life-signs in the throne room?!” Dungias nearly shouted.
“Um, because there’s a lot of people there?!” Beta-Alphexeous replied.
“Clearly you are not a Humor Fighter,” Dungias retorted. “We would both be served if you remained in your own area.”
“Ouch. I just got told off… by a gray-blue geek!” Beta-Alphexeous stated as he looked at the battle cruiser. “Beta-Zeu, are you receiving these images?!”
“I am, Al,” Beta-Zeu Rex answered quickly. “And I know where you’re going with calling me at a time like this. Do I need to recall you, Soul Fighter?” Beta-Alphexeous closed his eyes at the reality of his situation. He did not like it, but he certainly was not the sort to abstain from leveling destruction in the name of preservation. “Certainly you can understand when the chickens come home to roost!”
“Received and understood,” Beta-Alphexeous quickly replied. “I will remain in play. The kid needs a chauffeur!”
“And he’s got one of the best. Campus, out.”
“Should I even waste the time?” Dungias asked, wanting to know what they were talking about but believing they would never divulge such things.
“Not your style, kid. And believe me you’ve got bigger fish to fry!”
“The cruiser is firing,” Dungias announced. Beta-Alphexeous’ grip on the controls tightened, but he did not say a word as the gigantic cannons flashed and fired their iro-form yield. For a moment, the blue sky turned orange as the beam of energy shot through the sky and into the front of the descending cloud of Grenbi. The explosion flared with white light and when it subsided, Dungias smiled at the sight of the Grenbi bodies falling toward the ocean.
““Impressive!” he considered. “They should be able to hold off the waves of Grenbi until I can–” the upper half of Dungias’ display changed, following Beta-Alphexeous’ monitor as he sent out a scanning wave, though it was unlike any Dungias had ever seen. It was a map of both systems as points of light flashed simultaneously in what seemed to be random locations throughout the systems.
“What exactly are you scanning, Beta-Alphexeous?”
“We each built our fighters to augment our specific abilities,” the Soul Fighter explained. “Well, the Light Priest works in Coherent Light and KaA. KaA is faith juice, kid; tied to the living. What you’re seeing on that screen… is death! And now’s not the time to stop being a serious brain!” Dungias could tell from the tone that the number of answers coming from the Alphexeous doppelganger had already been exceeded, and he did not want to risk being without the Soul Fighter as his pilot. While he was fairly certain the powers of the Soul Fighter were greater in the original Alphexeous, the Beta Form had the physical skills of its Master Form when the man had been called one of the Founders an
d considered to be a demigod. That such skill sat at the controls of this fighter gave Dungias one less thing to think about.
“The energy signatures were simultaneous… spanning the K’Dalkian and Deku Systems… but some of the signals were not planet-side,” Dungias said as he started receiving coordinates from the computer. Of the eleven non-planetary signals, the first two were empty space, but the third set of coordinates brought to mind a place Dungias immediately recognized.
“Gavis Station!” he whispered as his mind erected images of a student and his teacher running along the outside of the station. But he could not hold to the happiness of the moment as he sent an emergency request to the Operations Deck. The message was on its way when the battle cruiser fired again. The yield of the cannons had been increased, and while the first burst removed all of the Grenbi that had come down from the clouds, the second filled the sky with burning carcasses and other forms of ash. The clouds were pushed back as well, and Dungias could see there were still more Grenbi approaching. They were flying too slowly to be of much concern, especially with the cruiser only engaging one of its four decks of cannons.
“By the Stars!” Dungias exclaimed as he received another reading of signals. Again they spanned the systems, but there were more incidents on this occasion. “As if something increased the yield from the first occurrence!” Dungias whispered. As much as he did not want to believe it, the facts did not coincide with his wishes, and he opened a channel to the cruiser using a signal code he had gained from Salvigaron. Much to his surprise, the signal went directly to the Bridge of the cruiser.
“Boniface?” the ship’s commander asked as his image came up on Dungias’ screen.
“I am his emissary, Commander, and I have instructions for you,” Dungias said, bowing toward the camera.
“I am ready to receive,” the commander replied.
“You must alter the matrix of the iro-form you are currently firing,” Dungias stated. “His excellency has instructed me to direct you to power up one of your three remaining gun decks and fire stunning iro-forms.”
