Fury to the Stars (Universe in Flames Book 2)

by Christian Kallias

  “Alright, boys, see you later then.”

  “See you soon, Fillio; really glad to see you.”

  “Always a pleasure, Chasy boy!”

  “Chasy boy?” echoed Daniel, trying not to laugh too much over the comm.

  “If you repeat that, I will kill you.”

  “Whatever you say… Chasy boy.” The laughter overtook him.

  “Oh gods...”

  As the battle continued, the SAD Cronos fired another one of its main weapons and finished off the ship it had crippled earlier. Then, as soon as it entered battering range, it started raining an impressive amount of laser fire toward the smaller Zarlack ships around it.

  It was an impressive victory, but it didn’t last long. A few seconds later, all enemy ships still capable of jumping did so. They had retreated. It only took a couple of minutes to dispatch whatever enemy starfighters had been left abandoned on the battle theater.

  Soon all Alliance and Droxian fighters rejoined their respective battleships. Fragments of destroyed Zarlack and Obsidian vessels slowly orbited Droxia. Each piece looked like a tombstone, remembering the lives of soldiers lost. The allied forces watched as the floating cemetery gradually disintegrated into ash, before vanishing amongst the stars.

  C H A P T E R

  VIII

  Argos and Sarah arrived at Hellstar. Somehow, he had managed to get permission to land under some pretense that he needed to come pick up a prisoner for transfer. Sarah was again awake in her own mind. She tried with all her might to take back control of her body, but nothing budged. Not a finger. It had thrown her into a panicked tailspin.

  They got off of the ship, the same ship that had captured her what felt like ages ago, and walked a few moments before arriving near a door that opened as they approached it. A hovering, circular sentry came to greet them and ask that they follow them to the administrative section of the prison. But as soon as the flying bot turned to show the way, Argos flicked a finger and the droid crashed against the wall, collapsing to the ground in a mess of sparks and ashes.

  He and Sarah went the other way at a sprint. Every camera they encountered exploded before it could catch any images of them. She couldn’t understand how Argos was doing it, but it was clear that his powers were great. If he was Chase’s brother, Sarah wondered if maybe Chase had similar powers. But why wouldn’t he have told her about them? And why wouldn’t he have used them before when they were in trouble on that desolate planet? Sarah remembered vividly the beast that had attacked them. She could still see Ryonna slicing it in two. Surely that would have been a great time to reveal secret powers.

  “Where are we going?” she asked in her mind.

  “You’ll see soon enough.”

  “I’d like to know now.”

  “I don’t care what you’d like,” Argos replied in an almost petulant tone.

  “Boy, you are nothing like Chase.”

  “That’s a compliment as far as I’m concerned, so thank you.”

  It was her turn to ignore him. “You aren’t even half the man he is.”

  Argos didn’t answer but she could see he hadn’t liked the comparison. Perhaps there was something she could push more on the subject.

  “You do realize he is going to kill you?”

  “He is welcome to try. Though, I don’t think ten of him could even manage to wound me.”

  “You’re very confident even though we defeated you and your armada back on Earth.”

  “Don’t get too cocky,” he replied sharply. “I decided getting you was more valuable than destroying your pathetic world that day. There is a difference between defeat and patience.”

  “Losers will always find excuses.”

  “Would you like to sleep some more?”

  “Cowards too. Sure, put me to sleep if you aren’t man enough to talk with someone who you won’t even give a chance to defend herself.”

  “Humans... you are nothing more than insects.”

  “Say that to the Zarlacks that died at our hands.”

  “Don’t flatter yourself. Zarlacks are nothing more than insects either, but I’ll give you this, you fought well.”

  “We outsmarted you, plain and simple.”

  “And look where it got you. I am going to kill your friend Ryonna. And your hands will be the ones that carry it out.”

  Sarah faltered but tried to sound strong. “She won’t fall for it.”

  “Let’s wait and see, shall we?”

  They arrived at the end of a corridor, a huge, reinforced door blocking their path. Two more sentries were waiting there and entered into combat mode the moment they saw the pair arriving. They issued a single warning.

  “Surrender immediately or be killed.”

  Before Sarah could even blink, they collided with one another as if by magic and exploded into a million pieces on the ground.

  “Great tactic. Now who is going to open these doors for you?” she taunted.

  “I don’t recall saying I needed anyone’s help.”

  Argos took a fighting stance and pushed Sarah’s body out of the way. His teeth ground together and he made a growling sound as two bright red fireballs engulfed both of his fists. He released a huge shout and thrust both his fists towards the door. The fireballs merged into one and a ray of red energy melted through the metal as if it was nothing.

  “Wow,” Sarah uttered against her will.

  “And you think I’m afraid of Chase?”

  She had no response to that. His power was even greater than she had feared. They stepped through what was left of the doors, the melted edges still burning red as countless convicts came running towards the entrance, clearly intrigued by what had just happened.

  The first few ones were a few feet away when Argos raised a single finger towards them. At first, it looked like nothing was happening. Then, he shot out three thin lasers, like stings.

  The first convict, a human-looking female got her heart pierced; the second one, a race Sarah didn’t recognize, with green-spotted skin, got his brain pierced; while the third went towards the neck of an insectoid looking convict, effectively decapitating him. Every single other convict around immediately froze, while the ones farther away just turned tail and started running. Argos grabbed one with his mind and sent him flying in the air for a few seconds. Sarah knew very well what was coming next, but before she could mentally prepare herself for the spectacle, the convict’s arms, legs, and head disconnected themselves and blood spilled all around.

  When Argos took a step forward, the looks of everyone present were nothing short of terrified. They didn’t know what to do, too scared to move a single muscle.

  “Alright, now that I have your attention, ladies and gentlemen, I am looking for a Droxian woman by the name of Ryonna. Anybody seen her?”

  A convict stepped forward and pointed towards a set of corridors nearby.

  “Speak,” ordered Argos.

  “They... they went that way, sir. Please don’t kill me.”

  “You’re all free to get out this place, but if any of you try to approach my ship parked in docking bay five, well, I don’t have to tell you what will happen.”

  When the convicts didn’t move a muscle, Argos made a growling noise that froze everyone’s blood instantly.

  “I don’t think I made myself clear. I need the diversion. So you either start running through there”—he gestured to the hole he made a few moments earlier—“and make a commotion, or I don’t have any use for you. If you catch my drift?”

  That latest speech had the effect Argos hoped for. All of the convicts started running towards the hole as fast as their legs could carry them.

  That should keep the sentries occupied while we locate Ryonna, thought Argos, smiling to himself as he watched them run.

  C H A P T E R

  IX

  Ryonna could hear every single beat of her heart. It was hammering so hard that her body almost moved into a fighter’s stance by instinct. After a few moment
s, she finally closed the distance between herself and the body and turned the Droxian towards her.

  The boy was dead, but it wasn’t Ronan. The weight of her joy rolled her to a sitting position. Not Ronan. Not Ronan. Not Ronan, she kept repeating to herself. She exhaled deeply in relief, but she felt sorry for the boy nonetheless. She had still lost one of her own.

  The Gorgar came to her side and didn’t say a word, but he looked worried.

  “It’s not Ronan.”

  “I am very glad to hear that.”

  “We still need to find my son.”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Any ideas?”

  The insectoid nodded. “I have an idea. Stay here.”

  Just like that, Ryonna found herself alone with the dead Droxian boy. Not Ronan, she repeated to herself. But someone’s son. Her body felt ravaged by emotion. She had truly thought this was her son. She had felt that loss, and it had hit her like a fatal blow. She allowed herself to feel every emotion she had been trying to hold back as she looked at this boy who had been someone’s Ronan. They were even the same age; maybe this one was a year or two older.

  What was he doing here? she wondered. She understood now why her enemies had sent her boy here. And she was expecting them to show up any day to claim them both. They would probably execute her in the process. But maybe Chase’s battle with the Obsidian Empire had taken priority over her personal issues with them. She could only hope. One way or another, she had no intention of sticking around to find out.

  She heard light steps running towards the alcove, and instinctively she got up and hid behind the entrance. A person stopped in front of the opening but she couldn’t see who it was.

  “Deriak... No!” cried a familiar voice.

  Before she could register who the voice belonged to, Ronan ran towards the body, fell over it, and started crying.

  Ryonna took a step forward with tears of her own. She hated to see her son’s heart aching, but she was overcome with relief and joy that at least his heart was still beating. Her son was here, in front of her.

  “Ronan,” she said, sobbing.

  Ronan whirled around in surprise, his eyes widening fast. At first, he looked as though he was in shock, then he stood up and ran, launching himself into her arms.

  “Mom!”

  “My son...”

  They both cried for what seemed like ages. Soon after they finished, the Gorgar entered the alcove and said, “Ryonna, I think I know... Oh... Ronan, I presume?”

  “Yes. Ronan, this is... I don’t think I know your name.”

  “Tar’Lock; my name is Tar’Lock.”

  Ronan released his grip on his mother and looked at the Gorgar. “Mom, these creatures can’t be trusted.”

  “I don’t trust anyone, son, but Tar’Lock has been very helpful in locating you. I owe him.”

  “Well, technically you found your son on your own, Ryonna, so I don’t think our...”—he hesitated to choose his next word—“arrangement applies anymore.”

  “Actually it does,” she disagreed. “If we didn’t follow this poor boy here, we wouldn’t have found Ronan so quickly.”

  “That’s fair and very honorable of you.”

  “I will do whatever I can to help you escape with us, but I can’t guarantee we’ll survive the attempt.”

  “Nobody can guarantee anything in this world.”

  Of course Ryonna knew Tar’Lock wasn’t going to become a casualty right away. When she met him she saw, like she always did, the moment of his death, and it did not seem to be happening on Hellstar. But since insectoids didn’t really show signs of age, she had no idea if he would be dead soon or in many years to come.

  “Mom, how do you plan to get us out? Nobody escapes Hellstar.”

  “Well, let’s hope you are wrong, son. I have a plan to get us out. We should get going towards the entrance of the prison. We have a gate to blow.”

  “With what exactly?” said Tar’Lock

  Ryonna bent over at the waist with her hands on her knees. Her face contorted strangely and she began making weird, gurgling sounds. It looked like she was about to get sick. Both men took a step back. It took a few retching movements and strange noises but she eventually spat something out into her hands. It looked like a small, roundish, metallic box.

  “With that,” she offered.

  “What the hell is this?” Ronan asked.

  “It’s a micro quadrinium bomb.”

  “How did you smuggle a bomb in here?” Tar’Lock asked in astonishment.

  “I didn’t.”

  “You’re not making sense! Care explaining how you just spat one out?”

  “It’s a long story; I managed to acquire just enough quadrinium entering the prison.”

  “And you spat out a bomb? Still not making sense, I’m afraid.”

  “Mom, I don’t understand either.”

  She sighed. “I underwent a surgical procedure to install a nanite factory inside my stomach. It transformed the raw quadrinium into a crude yet effective explosive.”

  “Ouch. That must not have been a fun procedure.” Tar’Lock grimaced.

  “Is that safe, Mom?”

  “I should be fine as long as we reverse the procedure within a few days.”

  “Let’s go then. We don’t have time to lose,” Tar’Lock said enthusiastically.

  * * *

  Chase was looking over the Omega starfighter in the docking bays of the Iron Fire. They were nearly at the end of their hyperspace jump to Hellstar and his stomach was in knots. He was worried about Sarah; he kept seeing her ashen skin and blackened eyes from his vision.

  That couldn’t be a good omen, he thought. But he tried to focus on the positive.

  The Omega fighter was really a beauty to look at. Thanks to Captain Saroudis, Admiral Thassos had agreed to lend them this one for the purpose of Chase’s mission. It was a more advanced, more streamlined version of the Manticore starfighter, looking meaner, sleeker, and more robust. It packed impressive firepower as well, but the one thing that really set it apart was its cloaking ability. Chase wasn’t even aware the Alliance had been working on cloaking for a starfighter. Of course, in hindsight it sounded logical. Cloaking a fighter was a tremendous strategic advantage, one that Chase would need in order to enter Hellstar undetected. Prior to leaving the Destiny, he had requested that his chief engineer friend Yanis take a look and find a way for the cloak to remain active when the fighter was landed. He had to apply a quick fix as time was of the essence, but he would get about half an hour of standby cloaking. Hopefully, it would be enough time for him to complete his mission.

  Daniel entered the docking bays and approached Chase, his arms laden down with weapons, rifles, grenades, and side arms.

  “Preparing for a war?” Chase asked.

  “It’s Hellstar, after all. We’d better have the capability to defend ourselves.”

  “I’m hoping for a stealth mission here, but it definitely won’t hurt to have these.”

  “I don’t think a stealth entry is even a choice, Chase. While the number of living guards is low, they have artificial intelligence sentries, and those you can’t really negotiate with.”

  “Yeah, I guess not.”

  Daniel sighed. “Are we going? The Iron Fire should exit hyperspace any minute now.”

  “Yeah… let’s go.”

  The Iron Fire dropped out of hyperspace a few moments after Chase and Daniel had boarded the Omega starfighter. They engaged the cloak and left the docking bay. After a couple of minutes, they approached the landing port.

  As instructed, the Iron Fire returned to hyperspace as soon as they had left the ship. They would stay within quick jump distance and return upon Chase’s signal.

  It didn’t appear that they had been detected, so they proceeded to enter the bay. It wasn’t shielded, but was protected with very powerful ion cannons. The kind that could take on ships even bigger than the Iron Fire. But it was none of these cannons that made Chase
pause; it was what he saw already docked on the platform.

  It was the dark ship. The one that had taken Sarah in the battle.

  “Is that…” Daniel began.

  Chase gulped. “It is. I—I hope we’re not too late.”

  “At least there’s a chance you’ll find Sarah here.” His friend tried to comfort him.

  “Yeah, it’s just in what state that worries me at the moment…” Chase blocked the image from his mind.

  “Stay focused. We’re here to get her and your friend Ryonna back. Should we shoot the black fighter now that it’s landed?”

  “What if Sarah is onboard in a cell?”

  Daniel paled. “Right. That would be a terrible idea then.”

  “We can’t do anything to compromise our presence here anyway. We’ll have to enter the prison and see what we can do from there.”

  “Do you have a plan on how to enter the general population? I mean, this is one of the most deadly places in the universe. I doubt they’ll just let us knock on the doors.”

  “I know that. And… no. I have no plan. I just know we need to be here.”

  Daniel grinned weakly. “Why don’t I like the sound of that?”

  Chase landed the ship next to the black, heavy fighter. They locked and loaded themselves with as many weapons as they could carry as well as full body armor and exited the fighter. Chase hoped the cameras in this place wouldn’t pick them up exiting an invisible ship. But even before they stepped out, they heard the ongoing wailing of a siren.

  As they ran towards the nearest gate, they could hear laser fire and a great commotion behind it. They took automatic cover and cast each other frantic looks.

  “Something is happening here,” Chase muttered quietly.

  Then the gates opened. A couple of convicts sprinted past them but were shot in the back by orange laser fire.

  “Yeah, looks like there is a prison break in progress. So much for stealth,” Daniel offered with a grimace.

  “Alright, Daniel, be careful. We need to eliminate the sentries in that corridor before we can proceed any further.”