“Yes,” says Palos. “Even we at the Foundation are not entirely certain what they are looking for, but we believe they are close to finding it. They likely have a similar site on Xeeo, though where it may be, I know not.”
“I know what we should do,” I say. “We should go to Xeeo, where I can reconnect with the Database and share all that you told me with my fellow J bots. Then we can work with the Knights of Se-Dela to come here and put a stop to Reunification's genocidal plans.”
To me, it seems like an imminently logical plan, but Palos laughs like it is the silliest thing she has ever heard.
“What?” I say. “I did not tell a joke this time. What do you find so amusing about my plan?”
“'Tis no joke I hear in your words,” says Palos, a dark chuckle coming from her mouth. “I simply believe that your plan has as much chance of working as a Diamusk vehicle without wheels. Nay, it would not work and may even spell doom for both worlds if put into action.”
“Explain.”
“Firstly, you are a still a wanted criminal on Dela,” says Palos. “Or did ye forget that? The Knights of Se-Dela would likely demand that the Xeeonites hand ye over to them to be tried for your crimes against the Order. That by itself would delay your plan considerably, even if they discover that ye did not kill those Knights ye worked with.”
“Ah, yes,” I say. “I almost forgot about that.”
“Furthermore,” says Palos, who seems to be on a roll now, “it will take us many days to find the nearest Portal to Xeeo, even with my teleportation powers, and many more days to convince the Knights of Se-Dela that Reunification even exists. By the time we do so, Reunification could be so far ahead in their plans as to make our efforts to stop them utterly meaningless.”
“That is true,” I say. “We do not have all of the time in the world to do all of that. What do you suggest we do, then?”
“Go back to Reunification's pit and put an end to their evil and wicked plans once and for all,” says Palos. She brushes her bangs out of her eyes. “We are the only two who are in any position to save our worlds from the destruction and tragedy that Reunification wishes to bring upon them.”
I stand up to my full height and consider Palos's idea. I still do not trust the Foundation or Reunification very much, but I do trust Palos more than any of the Foundation agents I've met. And if what she says is true, then I must help her stop Reunification before they succeed in their plans.
On the other hand, Palos might very well be lying. I cannot confirm or deny this, but considering how secretive the Foundation has acted ever since I have known them, it seems unlikely to me that Palos is telling the truth. Her story about Xeeo and Dela having once been one world is also hard, if not impossible, for me to believe.
Even if her story is false, however, that does not excuse all of the wrong things that Reunification has done recently. They murdered those Knights I worked with, framed me for their murders, and murdered many Foundation agents. Not to mention they are most likely operating without a permit or license from the Deligian government out here, which is another strike against them.
As a law enforcer, it is my job to capture and bring criminals to justice. Perhaps I can even clear my name by arresting someone from Reunification and making them confess to framing me. Considering I have no other real choice in this matter, I think it is worth doing.
So I nod and say, “All right, Palos. I'll work with you to end Reunification's operations here. But first, let's take a few minutes to come up with a plan of action before we do anything else.”
***
Chapter 10
After Palos and I come up with a plan to defeat Reunification, we set out from her cave to the pit immediately. We decide to teleport, because we do not know how close Reunification is to finding what they are looking for; therefore, we have no time to waste.
We teleport on the other side of the pit, opposite the side I was on when I first sneaked into their camp. We end up behind another pile of dirt, much larger than the one I hid behind. It is slightly covered in snow, but thankfully we are not in any danger of being spotted back here.
I peer around the side of the mound and see a large metal mine cart full of the disabled drones from before. I do not see any of the workers pushing the mine cart along, which means that it is likely simply placed here until they can take the drones to wherever they dump their garbage. Or maybe they are planning to repair them later, although considering how many of them were smoking when I short-circuited them earlier, I doubt they are in any position to be repaired by even the most skilled drone repair technicians.
But I do see some of the workers. Though they do not look like workers anymore; instead, they resemble guards, as I notice they have swords and laser guns strapped to their belts now. I am certain they did not have these weapons before, when I first came here; maybe Kalcan ordered them to carry weapons in case someone else attempts to interfere with their 'Mission,' as they call it.
Not to mention that their security does indeed appear to be upped. I see far more dwarves standing along the rim of the pit than there were before, their eyes searching the whole area as keenly as hawks, while a few dwarves stand on top of buildings and construction equipment in an attempt to give them a bird's eye view of the whole area. None of them are looking in this direction, which is good, because that makes it easier for us to do what we plan to do.
Then I take note of the crane, easily the largest machine in the area. It is currently inactive, but I imagine it can still cause a lot of damage if you push it down in the right direction. There do not appear to be any dwarves in the operator's cab, which hopefully means that there will be few deaths when we put our plan into action.
I pull my head back behind the mound and turn to look at Palos. She is rubbing the rings on her fingers, looking nervous, but I can tell she is ready to do what we need to do.
Still, I ask her, “You remember what you're supposed to do?”
Palos looks at me in annoyance. “Of course I do. Do ye think me a dumb woman, incapable of remembering what we discussed not more than five minutes ago, if even that?”
“I was simply trying to make sure that we both understand what we need to do,” I say. “Now that we both know what we need to do, what do you say about starting the plan right away?”
“Are we in danger of being found out before we can complete it?” asks Palos.
“I do not think so,” I say. “Most of the dwarves are watching everywhere except the crane. As long as we do not draw attention to ourselves, I think we should be able to pull off the plan without issue.”
“I pray that ye are correct,” says Palos. “Because if ye are not, then … well, ye know what will happen to us.”
I nod. “All right. Get ready to start on my signal.”
Palos nods in return and begins examining her rings and adjusting them. I do not know why she does that, as her rings appear to fit well on her fingers, but maybe she is doing this as a last minute action to make sure that her rings do not fall off or move into a position that would be awkward for her hands.
As for me, I quickly review the plan in my mind. It is simple: By destroying the crane's foundation, we hope to knock it over onto the office building, which would destroy it. And by destroying Reunification's office building, we will not only take out Kalcan and any other high-ranking Reunification members in there, but also disrupt Reunification's plan to reunite Dela and Xeeo. At least it will be disrupted long enough for us to return to civilization and get both the J bots and Knights of Se-Dela out here to finish the job.
Because the truth is, the two of us by ourselves are not enough to stop this entire operation by ourselves. The best we can do for now is disrupt it long enough for us to gather the allies we need to actually end it. I wish we could end it on our own, but logic dictates that one witch and one robot are not enough to end an operation as extensive as this all by ourselves.
“J997?” says Palos, snapping me out of my tho
ughts. “I am ready. Are you?”
I nod. “Of course. Get into position.”
Palos gives me the thumbs up to show she understood and then vanishes before my optics. I look around the mound again, toward the crane, and see her reappear in the crane's shadow without a sound. She then crouches low at the crane's base and nods in my direction.
Now it is time for me to put my part of the plan into action. I am supposed to fly into the air and create a distraction that will allow Palos to use her rings to knock over the crane. How long will it take for Palos to do that? I do not know, but she assured me earlier that she will pour every ounce of her skyras energy into this action, so I doubt it will take much longer than ten minutes at most.
The biggest problem, of course, is Kalcan. I do not see him anywhere, but he poses the largest threat to our plan. I do not think that any of the dwarves can hope to catch me while I fly, unless they happen to have abilities I am unaware of, but Kalcan can. Kalcan's exact strength is a mystery to me, but he looks like a bodybuilder, which, in addition to his natural arctic vampire strength and flight, means he can take me down easily if he wants.
I also do a quick scan of my energy level. Right now, it is at 65%. That is enough to allow me to fly around and cause a distraction, even use my finger lightning bolts if necessary, but I doubt it is enough to allow me to dodge Kalcan for very long if he decides to come after me.
Still, Palos needs a distraction in order to destroy the crane without anyone noticing and stopping her. And it is up to me to be that distraction, as per the plan.
Putting aside all of my reservations, I activate the boosters in my feet and go soaring into the sky above the pit. Just to be certain that they will see me, I fire a finger lightning bolt at one of the dwarfish workers, striking the ground near his feet but not actually hurting him, although he jumps back and falls over onto his behind in surprise anyway.
That works well. As I fly through the sky, I see the dwarfish workers everywhere looking up and pointing at me. Some of them are unlimbering their energy rifles and taking aim, but I can tell by the way they wield those guns that they are not used to shooting them. Even if they try to shoot them, they will not hit me, because I am moving too fast to be hit.
One of the dwarves does indeed shoot at me, but his aim is off and his energy bolt goes flying well to my left. I fire back at him anyway, however, because I want to keep all eyes on me. A quick glance in the direction of the crane shows me that Palos is already using her fire to weaken the metal foundation of the crane.
Dodging another laser, I look down into the pit I am flying above. It is quite deep and dark, making it impossible for me to see what is down there, aside from the lifts and walkways built along the walls. Sensors indicate that there is an immense amount of skyras energy radiating from within, although that is hardly unusual considering all of the skyras energy that can be found beneath the surface of the earth on this world.
The dwarves continue to aim and fire at me, but it seems to me that they are even worse as a group, because not a single one of those dwarves comes close to even grazing me. They are clearly shooting to kill, but with their poor aim, I am surprised they have not shot each other accidentally.
As I soar to the side to avoid a lucky shot, I wonder where Kalcan is. I expect him to show up any minute now, but it appears to me that he either must not know I am here or he does not care enough to come and fight me himself. Maybe he is afraid of getting hit by his dwarves who are almost literally incapable of hitting me with their lasers. Or maybe he thinks they are competent enough to take me down on their own; if so, he must not understand the competence levels of his men very well.
Then my sensors indicate something large and dangerous is coming at me from above. I look up, but do not see anything, which makes me wonder if my sensors are malfunctioning or were set off by some large bird flying nearby when something large and heavy slams into my back.
The impact almost knocks me out of the air entirely, but I manage to stay afloat even with the thing holding tightly onto my back. I fly unsteadily through the air, trying to maintain my balance, although the weight of the thing that landed on my back makes that almost impossible.
The thing is trying to push me down toward the pit, so I flip around without any warning or hesitation. The abrupt flip causes the invisible thing to let go, followed by a startled shout that sounds like Kalcan.
“I hear you, Kalcan,” I call out as I turn around and look in the direction I think that the arctic vampire fell in. “Your invisibility does not fool me.”
There is no answer, although I hear the sound of large wings flapping around, though they sound slightly metallic for some reason. Based on the sounds of the flapping wings, I guess that Kalcan is flying away from me. He has a little skyras energy as well; barely enough to sense, but enough for me to track his movements accurately.
I aim my fingertips and fire two electric bolts. The bolts strike the invisible Kalcan in the back, causing him to let out an oddly metallic roar in pain. He still does not appear, however, which means I will have to find a way to force him to show himself.
So I fly after him, following my scanners' skyras energy sensors. While Kalcan is a fast flier, my boosters allow me to fly even faster than he, and soon I am above the invisible vampire.
I try to punch him, but Kalcan spins out of the way and then body slams me. The blow—which feels like getting slammed by a falling boulder—sends me tumbling backwards through the air, although I manage to regain my control and balance quickly.
Shaking my head, I hear Kalcan's wings swooping through the air toward me. I aim my fingertips in his direction, but he is so fast that he is upon me before I can fire. He punches me with his fist, a blow that causes me to lose my balance and send me plummeting to the pit below us.
But I recover before I fall into the pit itself and go flying again, though I fly away from the invisible Kalcan in order to give myself a moment to think and plan. Sensors indicate that Kalcan is coming at me once more, although this time I am not going to let him hit me again.
When my sensors indicate that Kalcan is only a few dozen yards from me, I fly up abruptly. Kalcan, who is going too fast to stop, ends up flying underneath me, but just as he does, I cut off my boosters and land on his back, quickly grabbing his shoulders to keep from falling off.
Strangely, my sensors indicate that Kalcan's skin is metallic, not organic, although he might be wearing some kind of armor to protect himself. In any case, that does not change what I am about to do.
With my feet on Kalcan's back, I activate my boosters, but not enough to send me flying. Instead, I make them powerful enough to cause the flames shooting out to burn my enemy.
Yet rather than hear the boiling or burning of skin under my feet, I hear the scorching of metal, followed by that strange metallic scream again. Kalcan's invisibility flickers; no, not Kalcan's, but some strange robot I have never seen before.
It is visible only for a moment, but in that moment, I see that it looks like a robotic vampire, with large metal wings and metallic skin. It most definitely does not look like armor.
Then it becomes invisible again and jerks to a stop. This sends me flying over its head, but I send more power to my boosters, allowing me to boost away safely from the robotic vampire as far from its reach as possible.
As I boost away from it, I wonder where this thing comes from and where the real Kalcan is. Why did Kalcan send this machine to fight me? Why not fight me himself?
Righting in midair, I prepare to resume my fight in the sky with the robotic vampire when the answers to those two questions occur to me immediately.
I look in the direction of the crane, where Palos is. I see Palos still melting away the foundation of the massive crane with her fire ring, which she seems to be having some progress with, as I can see she has already melted a great chunk of the foundation.
But then, from out of the shadows behind her, Kalcan emerges, his teeth bared and his
claws at the ready. Palos does not appear to notice or hear Kalcan approaching behind her.
“Palos!” I shout, not caring that this might attract the attention of the workers to her position. “Kalcan is behind you!”
Palos starts when she hears me shout, but at the same time Kalcan grabs her by the shoulders from behind and throws her to the ground. Palos tries to get up almost immediately—which suggests a resilience I have not noticed in her before—but Kalcan is upon her again, only this time he grabs her hands and squeezes them inside his own.
Palos screams in pain, and then Kalcan lets go. Even from my position in the sky, I can see that Palos's fingers have been broken and bent out of shape. Most of her skyras rings have been shattered, with their remaining bits cutting into her fingers, causing them to bleed.
“Palos!” I shout again. “No!”
Kalcan stands above Palos again, flexing his powerful claws, and he picks her up. Palos kicks him in the abdomen, but Kalcan barely notices. He flashes his fangs, as if he is already imagining how Palos's blood will taste in his mouth.
I turn and zoom toward them, but then my sensors pick up the robotic vampire's skyras aura to my side. It slams into me abruptly, sending me spiraling through the sky uncontrollably. I manage to regain my balance, but as soon as I do, I hear Palos scream.
Once more, I look down toward the base of the crane. Kalcan is digging his teeth into Palos's neck, a look of pure bliss on his features, while Palos screams and kicks at him harder than ever.
I fire my eye lasers at Kalcan, despite knowing that I am nowhere near close enough to hit him. My lasers, however, are intercepted by the robotic vampire, which briefly becomes visible again when my lasers hit it.
When the robotic vampire returns to invisibility, I can see Palos and Kalcan again. Kalcan tosses Palos to the ground. She does not move. Her neck is bloody and has two holes in it. While she is too far away for my scanners to detect, I can already tell that she is dead.
My scanners pick up the robotic vampire coming at me again. It is coming at me too fast to dodge, but I do not need to. I will end this fight now.
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