by Gentry Race
The Drækonians had them permanently fixed by a constant feed of Æther. He reached down and sliced into one of them, attaching a node. Nothing could destroy the tendrils, and now nothing could harm the thrusters he was leaving.
Vorian hopped into the ship, closed the cockpit, and thrust off the rocky surface. The ship climbed through the sulfuric air until the red atmosphere disappeared and faded to blackness. Above the planet, he could see the dark tendrils casting out to the gas giant.
“Sir, the boosters are attached?” Volup asked through comms.
“Just placed the last one. Now heading to the tendril base,” Vorian said. “Be ready.
“Roger.”
Vorian skimmed his small cruiser close to Gigantica’s atmosphere, following a thick tendril, looking to meet its knot. The unknown element in Vorian’s plan was the goo. If he hit the tendrils too close with the self-replicating nanites, there was a possibility of the grey goo reaching the tethered moon and eliminating it as well. Vorian figured he would have to hit it as low as he could, and that meant entering the yellow abyss of Gigantica.
Dark tendrils met the knot and were now twisting in what looked like frayed vines, disappearing into the mighty gaseous giant. Few had survived entering Giganitica. Its massive, turbulent storm was composed of hydrogen and helium that were so compressed they formed a liquid and behaved like a metal. Some said it was actually a dead star. Radio communication became nonexistent, extinguishing any chance to relay a need for help.
He throttled his engines to a magnetic version to keep from igniting the gas, and his ship buckled in the turbulent storm as he descended. Despite having zero visibility in the thick, viscous clouds, Vorian kept his course locked on the milky black tendril that was guiding his way. Pressure increased, barreling farther down, and his craft’s sensors lit up in an array of chaos.
“Just a little farther,” Vorian said under his breath.
The yellow atmosphere began to change to a light purple and then to a solid pink. He had reached the second layer of the atmosphere. If he was to descend any farther, the pressure could completely crush his vessel.
He whipped the front end of the craft around, pulling next to the tendril. He was so close that he could see the small nanites crawling and printing new material, endlessly fixing itself. Vorian placed his hand on the module to his side, and white filament hairs snapped in response.
The lower hull opened large bay doors, pushing out an impressive grenade cannon with a bright blue glow from within, reminiscent of Tang's creations. As it focused, it targeted the tendril, and a red interface HUD overlaid on the cockpit shield flashed in a neon color. He pushed the module button down and fired the streaking grey goo.
It seemed to materialize not from within the barrel but just outside it, shooting straight for the taut tendril. The goo hit, and Vorian watched the substance eat through the tendril like nothing he’d seen before. Finally, the possibility of stopping the Drækonians was evident. They could end the oppression at last.
Vorian pulled the craft back, rocking in the turbulence. The goo had almost completed disintegrating the tendril when it suddenly snapped. The lower half disappeared into the thick purple cloud below, pulled by gravity to the metallic core of the planet. The upper half continued to be eaten as the goo reassembled, climbing upward.
He placed his hands on the firing controls, swiveling the target to the insatiable self-replicating bots. He fired, shooting them off, goop by goop like target practice back on Acedia.
The last bit fell, and Vorian looked overhead through the cockpit window. He could see the tendril snaking out of the planet. It was just a matter of time before the rockets would fire their thrusters and push the moon back into its natural orbit.
They now had Ira, the volcanic moon, to fight alongside them.
The dining hall of the Drækonian Empire was a grand sight to see. Everywhere Nathan looked there were decorated motifs of dragonesque entities that looked like the ancient reptiles of Earth to him, and he couldn't help but wonder about the possible origins. The Drækonians had mentioned their mother, Mintaka, but could Earth’s dinosaurs have shared the same mother long ago? The thought boggled his mind.
Beightol and Fery stood next to Switch in plain dinner attire as they waited for Vix, Hastings, and Nathan to enter the large dining hall. Fery had helped Switch choose something other than a Chico State sweater to wear.
“There ya guys are. You have a nice time together?” Fery asked.
“I think we should remain in armor while on this planet,” Hastings advised.
“What's wrong, sugar? They’ve clearly shown us hospitality,” Fery said, altering her dress a bit further to accentuate the slit running up her leg. Nathan knew she did this only to provoke Hastings.
Long tables were spread out from each other, allowing enough leeway for the Drækonians’ tails to swing about. It was like a mess hall for the zoo. A smaller reptile-like fellow with a long neck and lighter green stripes approached them, his head bobbing like a small bird. He stood gallantly, displaying a blue sash that hung from his neck.
“Hello, my friends. My name is Compy. We have arranged for your ssseats at the head of this table,” Compy said.
Nathan and the rest of the ‘nauts seated themselves where Compy had indicated. In front of them, a large Invidian bug was sprawled out on a platter, its insides cooked to a tender medium well. Nathan felt sick looking at the creature he’d been hunting for two years—the creature that had taken his friend.
“You eat these?” Fery asked, poking it.
One of the Drækonians who was also sitting at their table reached past Vix, grabbing a leg and ripping a piece of flesh from the bone. “The Invidian shells are an efficient source of protein, fat, and carbohydrates.”
“How about an efficient source of invasion?” Nathan snarked.
“Yes, I heard about the Acedian’s attempt,” Compy said, stuffing a small bite of the bug into his serrated-toothed mouth. “Luckily, Earth has great soldiers such as yourself to help defend it.”
Beightol and Fery found what looked like the wishbone and broke it together just before digging in and chewing the white, flaky flesh. Nathan couldn't help but notice Fery’s plucky presence after she’d disappeared to chase after Tang.
Nathan perked up and looked into her crazy stare. “Fery, it's nice that you’re enjoying yourself, but where’s Tang?”
“Beats me, honey.”
His eyes narrowed a bit. “I saw you go after him when he stormed off," Nathan said.
"Listen, sweetie, Tang is a big boy," she said, snuggling up to Beightol. "He can take care of his own self."
Nathan had started to become annoyed by her response when they were all caught off guard by a loud, billowing trumpet sound from across the room. They turned toward what looked like a stage just beyond the tables. The structure had been draped in the same red skin cloth from earlier, and seven chairs had been placed in a line, with a single large throne in the center. Extending from the seat of the plush throne was a lip that spiraled down into a small point. Nathan immediately thought of a child’s slide, but as it turned out, it was a structure meant to hold the High Priest's long tail.
The trumpeting had stopped, dampening the table clamor, and the High Priest emerged from behind the skin sheaths. As he slithered in on his tiny legs, which hardly seemed to help, he pulled on a long skin veil that looked older than the curtains above, hued a dark purple. His polished, golden scales contrasted perfectly, like colors found in old paintings. Nathan saw his nubs moving under the veil in excitement as he entered the hall.
"My fellow Drækonians, I come not as your leader, but as a servant. It was not more than a century ago that I fought with you in The Great Uprising. Since then, our species has been plagued by the thievery and blasphemy of the outer moon scavengers like the Acedians,” the High Priest said, slithering to his throne and coiling his tail down its spiral step. "But, alas, Mintaka has blessed us."
; The hall erupted in applause and hisses that made Nathan’s nerves curl.
The High Priest continued. "The Starcadians, creators of the Æther, have been kind to us, and we now have warriors—humans—here on Drækonia for the first time. With their forethought and innovation, I believe this to be our time of reckoning.”
As Nathan watched a Drækonian gnaw at the bone of the bug he despised, he felt the struggle they faced, despite their anatomical differences. He reached over and joined them by eating a plentiful share. Hastings shot him a look.
“We don't need to eat this. We have our supplement feeds.”
Nathan continued eating, and Switch joined him.
“Eating food with another culture, joining in their ways, can be a rite of passage. We’re showing them we’re one of them,” Switch said.
The accommodations of the Drækonian guest villas were overreaching at best. Held high in the sky, a series of dome-shaped huts were strung together around the main castle like knots on a tree.
Nathan had an amazing view of the gardens and the small city just beyond, including the strategically placed kernel feed towers that served as Æther access. This allowed the Drækonians to manifest anything they desired, as long as it was in the catalog.
Drækonia was unique from the other moons, not being caught in a geosynchronous orbit, which allowed a night cycle. But even in the darkness, the signature yellow light from Gigantica shone faintly, illuminating the fog like mustard gas. This was enough light for the Drækonians to see in; however, they were oblivious to the fact that the human eye was not as sensitive. Nathan voxelized two shoulder lights, dimming the beams to a low setting.
He adjusted to his room, getting familiar with all the features. Even though he was in an alien world, certain truths were constant for many organisms—like sleep and using the bathroom. He looked in the small connecting room to find a toilet larger than himself.
Well, if I go missing, they’ll know where I went, he thought.
BAHAW!
A deep horn bellowed from above his room, shaking the small trinkets off the table onto the floor. The sound repeated in a series, and Nathan vaulted to the window. Outside, he saw a commotion below where different types of Drækonians were gathering. They were pointing to something in the sky, but Nathan couldn’t make out what the small black orb was. Then the realization hit him, and Nathan saw that it was growing bigger—coming closer.
It was a moon!
The horn bellowed again, and golden shingles fell into his view. Like a demon of the night, a huge creature straight out of a mythological tale flapped its wings in large, swooping motions outside his window. The beast was crimson red, and its eyes glowed blue as ice. As it turned its back to him, he saw a Drækonian warrior in full rock-tech, hexagonal armor.
“Nathan, gather your Marinesss. Vorian has come to fight,” the Drækonian guard said from the back of the great beast. “They have the moon of Ira.”
“What the hell is Ira?” Nathan yelled, but the guard had already flown off, joining the hordes of dragon riders in the sky.
Hastings burst through his door. “What’s happening?”
Nathan voxelized two sets of rocket thrusters on his back, small cannons around his shoulders, and two blasters on his forearms. “The Acedians have come to fight. They have access to a moon Æon called Ira.”
Hastings stepped back, voxelizing the fiery ports on both forearms. “Then let’s fight.”
“No. We need to finish the mission," Nathan said. "Can't we just use the grey goo on them?"
Hastings was silent.
"We need his goo,” Nathan said, looking deep into her eyes. Even as he realized how ridiculous that sounded, he knew she was the only one who could bring Tang back.
“Fine, but I want you…” Hastings tried to say.
“Listen, I know you want me, but can we please keep the focus on the mission?” Nathan said with a smirk. “Now, you and Switch go get Tang, and I’ll lead Fery, Beightol, and Vix to fight.”
Hastings pushed him so that he had to take a step back. “No, stupid, we go at this as a team or not at all.”
Nathan smiled and thrust the boosters onto his back, then moved to hang out the window. “Wouldn’t dream of anything else. Now, get me my team."
The atmosphere was thin—thinner than what Nathan was used to on Earth. This made for easier maneuvering and sharp banks, as well as the ability to turn on a dime. The HUD on his helmet had a lock on the horde of dragons flying ahead of him. Three bogies signaled behind him in blue. It was Vix, Beightol, and Fery. They each pulled up alongside him in an orderly formation.
“Alright, ’nauts, I’m the airman here, and I want a clean attack formation,” Nathan ordered.
“Yes, sir,” they all responded.
“None of that Leeroy Jenkins bullshit,” Nathan said.
They quickly gained on the horde, but it seemed to Nathan that it was a little too fast. Then he realized the horde had stopped. A few thousand feet away, the purple forest was on fire. Countless strange animals fled from the flames in an incongruous group. Just past the fire barrier were several hundred Acedians.
Nathan recognized the rocky armor of the Starcadian ship, but instead of a large rocky demon above each Acedian, there was a fiery, six-armed, horned devil with flaming wisps of hair that burned above it. One of the six hands held a ball and chain while another grasped a flaming ball of energy. Nathan was taken aback by how similar it looked to pictures of Satan from Earth-based religions.
“Drækonians, spread out!” called their commander from up front.
Nathan shook his head at this strategy, firing his rockets on full thrust to catch up to the unknowledged leader. “Sir, if we stay in a column, it’ll throw their senses off on how many of us there are as we barrel through them with fire. And we can leapfrog as we advance through those trees. My team will back you, and I’ll keep to the sky as a spotter. Then, you can have your air support drop on them.”
The commander thought a moment and gave a nod, his elongated reptilian pupils widening ever so slightly at Nathan’s battle savvy. “Drækonians, column formation. Follow my lead.”
“ORAK! ORAK!” the Drækonians yelled, and hordes of red dragons swooped down to the tall purple trees while others pulled back, awaiting their time to fight. Beightol and Fery landed on the ground in front of the attacking line. Fery cartwheeled up and onto Beightol’s shoulders, linking to his suit and voxelizing into what looked like a tank.
Vix swooped up to Nathan, voxelizing a large katana blade from her forearm. She looked over at him and gave a nod.
Nathan nodded back, looking ahead to see Acedians coming with their own dragon riders, green in hue. “Vix, you think you can laser-wave in mid-air?” he said, gesturing to make sure she understood.
Nathan could barely make out her expression through the slightly mirrored tint, but he knew she was smiling, despite being in that confining suit.
“Let’s rack ’em up!” he ordered.
BOOM!
A large sound echoed off the ground and reached Nathan and Vix, throwing their flight path slightly off. Nathan looked down to see Beightol and Fery in their tank formation, their large cannon smoking. Not far away, trees were being plowed over from their blast, exposing the advancing ground forces of the Acedians. The Drækonians took fire one after another, leapfrogging their advance.
Up ahead, the Acedian dragon riders were pulling back and moving high into the air, only to nosedive into the Drækonians. Nathan was about to order Vix forward, but she was already in pursuit. He watched her zip through air, executing move after move, leaving her kinetic energy field behind for an unknowing enemy pursuer.
BAM!
Down went an Acedian, stunned by the forceful blow. Vix formed another energy field in the air and the rider following her also went down. Nathan navigated up and down, firing his blasters. His shoulder cannons picked up a moving rider, showing in his HUD.
BOOM!
Anot
her fell to the ground. Nathan went on to throttle another rider, this time voxelizing a long staff into the chest. He’d seen death before, but not like this. Killing another sentient race of intelligent beings felt wrong, but they’d started it.
Vix was being tailed on one side by two riders so Nathan pulled up to help her, but she cut through their flesh like butter, spinning her katanas around. He barely missed the two corpses that flew past him as he smiled at her success.
He saw the enemy riders’ numbers waning and pulled back to get a lay of the land, thinking he should’ve had Switch stay to help.
The Drækonians on the ground had been successful as well. Their suppression leapfrogging technique was working perfectly. He considered his options and thought it was best to help the ground forces, but then he noticed something strange. Some of the Drækonians were laying eggs off to the side. Nathan hoped that whatever they were doing would help them in battle.
“Vix, they’ve got it taken care of up here. Let’s flank them from behind on the ground,” Nathan said.
Vix nodded, pulling her blade from the chest of an Acedian rider.
WHACK!
Nathan was hit on the head from behind, shattering the glass in his helmet. Instinctively turning his body as he fell, he glimpsed the dangling mace of Ira that a rider had Voxelit. Nathan fell farther. He knew the suit would repair itself, but it was taking too long. He raised his arm and punched the blinking indicators that were flailing wildly in red. He slammed his right hand into his left forearm. “Come on, damn it!”
“Initializing re-voxelization,” the suit said through his comms.
His jets repaired, and the glass of his helmet was voxelized over his face. His HUD showed the Ira beast above him, and he watched as Vix sprayed a shower of sparks at the creature using her katanas. He thrust his jets to join her, but it was too late. She spun, delivering a roundhouse, laser-wave kick just as the mace was violently thrown her way. When the mace hit her kinetic light, the Ira form vanished into the port of the user, but the user had already been cleaved in two.
