by James Somers
“I understand. Let’s just keep up the fight and hope we can manage to drive them back. It’s all we can do…” said Estall.
Wynn tapped the communication panel again. The scans of the city were still inconclusive. The Baruk were jamming them somehow to hide their next move.
“Sir, the units from the other cities have arrived at the staging area,” said Corbin.
“Good. We’ll need all the help we can get. It looks like this is where our future is going to be decided.”
IT had been several hours since they had come through the portal into Grod’s compound and they were still being confined to the medical lab under guard. Tiet had been relieved to see Grod’s aggression aimed at the Baruk, but what was his intent now? He wasn’t sure. Kale was pacing and examining the room discreetly, looking for a way of escape.
They had not spoken since their arrival and neither seemed to know what to say to the other. Kale had been the last one he had expected to see coming to his rescue out there against the Baruk, but he was glad to have him.
After all that he had said and after trying to kill him inside his confinement cell, Tiet was unsure what he could say at this point to even begin a dialogue with him.
“How’s your equilibrium? Your head hurting?” asked Kale suddenly.
“It’s fine. Thank you for saving my life out there.”
Kale stopped his pacing and just seemed to be listening, like the words were something he had wanted to hear but never expected to.
“Look, Kale, I’m sorry for what I said and did when you were in confinement. I just don’t know what to make of all of this. I mean, you betrayed us…our parents, our people…how am I supposed to react to that?”
“I know. Believe me, I wish I could undo all that I’ve done. I would gladly give my life now to undo it, but I can’t. You are my brother and I only want to have you forgive me. It’s all I have left.”
“I’m sorry. I just don’t know if I can give that to you right now.”
Kale looked at him now, there was great pain behind his eyes that Tiet partly wanted to see and partly wished he could relieve, but he just couldn’t find it within himself.
Then Grod came into the room flanked by several warriors. They were still outfitted for battle.
“Grod, I’m glad you changed your mind about what we talked about,” said Tiet.
“We can discuss that later,” said Grod. “Right now, gentlemen, we have more pressing matters. Follow me.”
He turned and led them out of the medical lab and down several corridors to another larger room full of data screens and all manner of technical equipment. Tiet immediately noticed a huge window on the far side of the room and walked past the General to see it.
He could see that it opened up beyond to a huge dome that looked increasingly familiar as he stared. It was the same room to which he had been brought to fight, when he was captured by Grod months ago, but now it was full of various equipment and a huge gateway of some kind that seemed to lead to nowhere; only the other side of the dome could be seen beyond.
“General, this room looks familiar,” he said accusingly.
“You’re right, it is the same battle arena where you killed my Teragore,” said Grod matter-of-factly. “A very impressive display, young Master Soone,” he continued without any note of remorse. “Come look at this information.”
He joined Kale and Grod before the main tactical view screen in the room. They were surrounded by Horva warriors who were performing data retrieval and sorting.
“Here you can see what is left of your ships still in orbit as they battle the Baruk,” said Grod as he pointed to the display. “We’ve been monitoring your progress for some time now and there are very few ships left. We noted that a number of them retreated at once while the remainder has taken to trying to attack the Baruk’s main battle cruiser.
It appears that they were able to somehow get through the Baruk shields using a random frequency generator to fire your dispersion cannons; most ingenious, by the way. But you don’t have the firepower to take out that ship, and it is essential that you do so.
We know that the Baruk are telepathically controlled by their leaders, known only as The Three. They will be aboard the flagship.”
Kale listened carefully, but he did not volunteer what he knew about the Baruk leaders. The Three were much more than just telepaths. Lucin himself was embodied in those men. It was the Wicked One who controlled the Baruk.
“Grod I don’t have any more ships to throw at them,” said Tiet. “If you have ships to aid us, then we would be happy to coordinate an attack, but otherwise…”
“I don’t have any ships like that here, but I do have something else,” said Grod as he looked to the window and the chamber beyond.
Kale and Tiet looked at each other puzzled as they followed Grod to the window.
“That apparatus down there is called a transgate.”
“Is that how you appeared in Thalidi?” asked Kale.
“Exactly,” said Grod. “We had been working on it to attack your people by surprise.”
“Great,” said Tiet with a roll of his eyes.
“But now we can use it to get a strike team into the Baruk flagship,” said Grod.
“You mean that thing will transport us inside that ship, even through their shields?”
“Yes, but we have one problem: the transgate draws a huge amount of power and we can’t send a large force without draining our power reserves past the safety point. We’re already down from the mission inside Thalidi,” said Grod.
“Well, I’m glad you did,” said Kale. “What can we do now?”
“We have enough power to send two or three people through the gate. If we can get inside then perhaps we might stand some chance of destroying their leaders and cutting off the ground army from their coordinated mental control.”
“Without their leaders, we have a real chance against the Baruk,” said Tiet. “I’m in.”
“I’ll go with him, General,” said Kale.
“I will also go. I may not be a Barudii, but I can still fight the Baruk. If you’re ready to go, then we don’t have any time to spare.”
“We’re ready. Just lead the way,” said Tiet.
“I know my way around that ship,” said Kale. “I should probably lead the way once we get on board.”
Tiet looked at Grod who nodded his own approval.
“Then let’s go.”
The three men made their way quickly down to the domed chamber. They each noted their own weaponry on hand as one of the Horva prepped the portal for power up. Grod was wearing one of the plasma glove weapons they had seen the Horva using during the rescue in Thalidi.
“What is that thing anyway?” asked Tiet.
“The glove channels plasma energy from this pack on my back and targets by way of this targeting laser located in my data-scope lens,” said Grod. “They’re good; we’ve worked hard on these weapons.”
“Oh, we noticed,” said Kale. “Your men fried those Hurutai with no problem.”
“The weapon is similar to throwing a bolt of lightening,” said Grod.
“I’m glad you’ve decided to be on our side,” said Tiet. “It sounds like you’ve been monitoring our every move lately.”
“Well, it helps to stay informed, doesn’t it?” said Grod jokingly.
The tech signaled a lock on the Baruk flagship when they were ready. “Sir, we can’t get an exact scan on what you’ll face up there,” said one of the men operating the control panel at the gateway.
“We don’t have time to waste, we’ll just have to deal with whatever we find,” said Grod. “Activate the transgate.”
The gateway came alive with energy before them. An image began to coalesce as the transgate brought the chamber at Nagon-Toth into direct contact with a location somewhere on the Baruk flagship.
“Gentlemen, it’s time.”
WYNN was watching the last of the pulse cannon fire emanating from Thali
di’s defensive batteries. Tiet had been wise to set the front for this defense at ten miles out from Thalidi’s perimeter.
The Baruk had been trying for nearly twenty minutes to use the city’s cannons against them but the range was not great enough to reach. It appeared they were giving up on that tactic now and Wynn wondered if they might emerge soon for a face to face fight with his forces. He didn’t have long to wait.
The sixth gate began to open on the defense wall as Wynn watched through his data-scope lens, which magnified the image. They were coming; on a fast march toward their position. From his grounded angle it was impossible to tell how many, but it looked like thousands. With all of their new recruits, Wynn still only had five thousand warriors to face the Baruk. It wouldn’t be enough. The Baruk were strong runners and within an hour they would be locked in combat.
THERE were no warriors anywhere in sight when the trio stepped out of Nagon-Toth’s domed chamber into the Baruk Flagship. Kale studied the location for a moment and recognized where they were.
“Tiet, we’re near the core of the ship. That means we could easily access the power stream for the gravity bomb containment chamber.”
“What in the world is that?”
“Gravity bombs are large super dense alloy spheres that produce a gravitational field powerful enough to crush a ship’s hull like an egg. If we can disable the special containment field that prevents them from destroying this ship, then—”
“Then this ship will implode around them,” said Grod quickly.
“What do we have to do, Kale?”
“The coolant system would be the easiest to disable from where we are. If you and Grod could make your way down this corridor, you will come to an overlook for the containment chamber. You’ll be able to see a series of yellow colored conduits running from above the chamber; these are the coolant conduits. I’m not sure how many there are, but if you can blow out at least two of them then the coolant pressure will rapidly fall to zero; after that it will take about ten minutes to lose the containment field altogether.”
“What about you?” asked Tiet.
“I’m going after the Three. They’ll need to be distracted or killed while you two attack the coolant conduits. That area is heavily guarded, but they can pull many more warriors to stop us if someone doesn’t distract them.”
Grod and Tiet eyed one another. “I think it’s a good plan,” said Grod. “Anyway, what else do we have? But if we are not back through the transgate before the ship implodes, the gravity could threaten Nagon-Toth—and of course, we won’t survive either.”
“Then we’ll meet back here at the transgate,” said Tiet.
Kale watched his brother and General Grod as they headed down the long corridor. He would have liked to agree on meeting back at the transgate, but he did not plan on leaving the ship.
Given the power of Lucin, he would have to remain to prevent him from escaping when the containment failure alert sounded all over the ship. If they survived, then this effort would be wasted and the war itself would likely carry on to the inevitable end with the Baruk dominating the entire planet. Kale was determined to give his brother the chance to be the king he could never have been himself.
XIV
HE knew the ship well and made his way quickly and quietly toward the chamber of the Three; Lucin’s mortal puppets. Kale encountered a number of warriors as he went, but evaded their notice. Soon he arrived at the chamber.
He guessed that Tiet and Grod would probably be close to the containment area by now and he had little time to distract the Lucin before intruder alarms would sound and they would lose the slight advantage surprise gave them.
Kale removed two spicors from his uniform and stepped back enough to throw them into the chamber door. They flashed violently, leaving a large hole through the alloy that comprised the door. Kale was through the door as soon as the energy dissipated.
He dived through and rolled to his feet, drawing his blade as he stood. The dispersion field ignited and lit the dark room around him, but the Three were not immediately seen. He closed his eyes and relied upon his mind, and then he found them. “You can come out, I see you,” said Kale.
Kale immediately formed a kinetic bubble within the hole he had made and blew out the door mechanism with a thought.
“Did you think we would run from you Kale?” asked one of the Three.
“Or are you ready to end your life by trapping yourself with us?” asked another.
“You’ll try to run before I’m through with you Lucin,” said Kale.
They laughed in unison. “Pride goeth before a fal,l mortal. Do you really expect to defeat an angel?”
“You were an angel Lucin; now you’re an abomination.”
They approached him from three sides, coming into the yellowish glow of his blade. Kale protected himself mentally as he felt them apply their own great mental faculties against him.
Lucin was putting tremendous pressure upon him as he searched for a weakness in Kale’s defense, but he could find none.
Kale could feel the pressure continuing to build as Lucin sought to attack him mentally. He knew very well that he would have been easily overcome by the angel if he was not forced to split his attention and power in coordinating his warriors on the ground and with the ships still fighting the Vorn cruisers around the flagship.
Kale decided that he would have to try a counterattack soon or Lucin might break through his mental defense. Suddenly Kale lunged at one of them to strike with his blade. The symbyte swept out of the way fast toward one of the others like a hand being pulled back to its body.
A large piece of equipment flew at Kale from its place in the shadows as he attempted to correct his maneuver to hit his target. He struck the large metal object, cutting it in two pieces.
The Three came close to one another now and Baruk warriors could be heard outside the one door to the chamber, but they could not get through Kales kinetic bubble or open the doorway to help their masters.
“Have you already summoned help for yourself, Lucin?” he asked sarcastically.
Lucin did not answer him. The Three came together, touching, their forms beginning to change before Kale’s eyes. The human forms melded with one another, increasing their size to roughly three times their individual size. They congealed into a monstrous form.
“If it is a physical battle you desire, you shall have it, Barudii,” scolded Lucin.
GROD and Tiet were able to see the massive containment chamber from their perch. They had climbed beyond the walkway toward the mechanism to avoid any Baruk warriors that might be happening by during the course of their duties. They climbed quietly along the structure toward the conduits above the chamber. The pipes were huge. It would take a throw of multiple spicor discs to get through those conduits without being instantly covered in the coolant flowing within. There appeared to be a minimum of personnel in the area at the moment. There was no time to waste.
Tiet removed three spicor discs from his vest. He and Grod moved to a catwalk that would give them an easier escape route. Tiet stood for the throw and targeted three separate conduit pipes to prevent any rerouting of coolant to the containment system, as Kale had suggested.
With deadly accuracy he sent the discs away to their targets. The discs exploded as they impacted the pipes, leaving huge holes in each one, and bluish colored coolant vapor spewing forth from them.
An alarm immediately sounded throughout the ship, as they began to make their way down the structure again to escape through the transgate. Baruk began to clamor into the containment system area. Then they spotted the pair. “Saboteurs!!”
The Baruk began to fire upon them as they ran down the catwalk. Projectiles clattered around them like rain as Tiet tried to block them with a kinetic field. More warriors began to approach them from the other end of the catwalk.
Tiet drew his kemsticks as Grod targeted the group with his data-scope lens. Suddenly a strike of plasma energy burst over the
kinetic shield, arcing into the approaching Baruk. The warriors tumbled over the side of the catwalk as the energy hit them full fury.
More warriors were mobilizing already, but they didn’t have time to draw out the fight; according to the wailing security alarms, this ship would be imploding in seven minutes.
KALE deflected several tentacles flying at him from the Lucin’s symbyte form. The creature screeched as his blade vaporized some of its morphing tissue. Lucin couldn’t get past Kale’s defense. Then the ship’s warning system went off.
“Evacuate ship, seven minutes to containment meltdown, evacuate ship,” sounded the alarm.
The symbyte creature reeled back from the fight as Lucin realized the imminent destruction of the ship. He turned his attention to opening the door and breaching Kale’s kinetic force field. Kale moved in to strike again, trying to keep it occupied and imprisoned until the containment field collapsed completely.
The creature spun on Kale and sent him flying backward with a burst of mental energy. Kale wondered if Lucin had now stopped expending his power coordinating his troops to concentrate on saving himself. Kale regained his stance and flung his blade at the creature. The blade struck and rebounded under mental control to his hand.
Lucin howled at him and held Kale in a mental grip that instantly fixed him frozen to the floor.
He knew that he would not get through the force field until Kale removed it. Lucin’s monstrous form came at Kale and smashed a hardened appendage across his body that sent him into the ground and his blade spinning out of his hand across the floor.
Kale could hear the warning system stating that only four minutes remained before containment meltdown as the creature stood over him and began to pound away at his body. He could feel his bones shattering as Lucin desperately tried to remove Kale’s mental focus on the shield that prevented his escape from the room and the doomed ship.
