“First Specialist Vays!” Waice said in surprise.
Jav started at the noise and proceeded to watch what happened through the gauze of retreating sleep, not yet sure if it was real or merely a dream.
“Waice.” Vays’s acknowledgement was calm and untroubled and was all Waice got in the way of warning. Vays casually pushed the Titan Saber through the Whirl Plate and into Waice’s lower abdomen. With a flick of his wrist, Vays set the blade to lengthening. It shot out of Waice’s back with a red spray, and the force of the driving skewer dragged him back into Gran Mid’s head, which the blade had also pierced. The double impact shook the head, knocking it slightly from its position, causing Waice to go limp and Jav to stir.
Vays retrieved his blade.
Waice slumped with the sudden lack of support. He clutched at his midsection as blood poured in a stream from behind the cracked Whirl Plate. The design upon the Plate wriggled and jumped and sent the cyclic black light rings into erratic scratch patterns. Though not strictly the cause, his blood loss appeared to desiccate him in an instant, leaving thick, ropey veins standing in relief.
Regardless of his obvious pain, Waice started to laugh, but only for a moment before the Whirl Plate exploded.
Vays raised his sword arm to block his face, leaned into the blast, and was spattered with debris that had been Spaier Waice. Jav had been rising to his feet, and was forced back, skidding in a crouch with his arms before his face.
Jav stood. “What the hell did you just do, Vays?”
“I killed a traitor. A backstabbing, cuckolding bastard.”
Jav cocked his head. “He was your subordinate. You gave him no chance to explain or defend himself.”
“I know everything I need to know.”
“You only know what your little witch let you know, which is next to nothing. And if indeed you were a cuckold, you have your little witch to thank for that, too, not Waice. This is our last match, Vays. Only one of us walks away. My apologies to you in advance for this being a fair fight. Although, if I present my back to you, please don’t hesitate to show me the same courtesy you showed Waice—I have no illusions.”
“Don’t you? Isn’t that why we’re here?”
“Nope, no more illusions. For the first time, everything is vividly clear,” Jav said.
“Defend yourself!” Jav launched forward, laying several strikes upon Vays’s chest, shoulder, face, driving a front kick into Vays’s midsection, and sending him back several meters on his heels.
Vays grunted with rage, kept himself upright, and charged back, setting the Titan Saber to dance. Jav parried the blade as fast as it came, landing another solid palm strike to the middle of Vays’s chest, driving him back exactly as before.
“What’s the matter, Vays? Would you prefer that I kept still? That I didn’t hit back?”
Vays cried out and renewed his attack, but was stymied. He could see that at least some of the blood covering Jav was his own, but despite this Jav seemed to be doing just fine, alternating between dodging the Titan Saber and parrying the flat of the blade with his palms. Jav had always been good, but Vays hadn’t seen this kind of passion in him since before Mao Pardine died. Something had changed. Well, obviously, something had changed: he’d betrayed the Viscain Empire, his peers, his friends. Vays’s anger over Waice was fading, at least for now. Jav required his full attention, and so did the Single Element Ghost Sword.
• • •
Jav was livid. Though he respected Vays’s skill, he’d never particularly liked the man himself. It had started with Vays’s superior attitude and treatment of Ren Fauer soon after they’d all won their Artifacts. Lor Kalkin had succeeded in humbling Vays, but Kalkin was dead and Vays had gone too long now without any real challenge to his will or whim—Brin Karvasti excluded. Jav couldn’t forget that Waice had reminded Brin of Ren Fauer, something Vays must have also felt, on his own or through Brin’s influence, and which helped explain the outcome of Waice’s initial sparring match with Vays. Vays probably didn’t know what was real or imagined where Brin was concerned—Ren certainly hadn’t—but murdering Waice without first acquiring facts, without preamble, without so much as a challenge, was too much. Their business was fighting, killing, laying waste. Perhaps Waice should have known better, especially in light of his recent choice to defect from the Empire, but he was young and inexperienced and had deserved, at the very least from his commander, the benefit of doubt. But that was too much to ask, Jav realized. Vays, he was quite sure, was a psychopath, or at least exhibited traits of one, and though the word, which had suddenly popped into his head, was alien to the Viscain language, he felt strangely qualified to assign it.
Vays’s armor, though less bulky than Portan’s, was stronger. It would take some work to breach it. The Kaiser Claw by itself required too much time to pull off effectively, so as with Portan, Jav set about softening Vays up. He ducked below a horizontal slash, rising to strike Vays under the chin with a palm laden with AI. Vays’s neck strained, and he flew bodily skyward. Jav leapt to follow after him, but Vay’s was ready, sweeping the Titan Saber back viciously before using his Star Factory technique. Vays’s one hundred and eight perfectly parallel thrusts riddled a smoke effigy while Jav appeared above and behind Vays, employing the True Kaiser Kick to the back of his head and base of his skull.
Vays shot back down to the ground, striking face-first. Jav could hear him fuming, but the sounds of his armor shifting to vent steam drowned him out. Vays got to his feet and was now one hundred and thirty percent stronger, faster, and more durable than he had been.
“Oh, will you be joining us for this fight, Vays?” Jav taunted.
Vays Knocked the Titan Saber, preparing for the Union Blade. Jav was impressed. Vays had many techniques at his disposal, but the Union Blade required an order of focus Jav thought he was too angry to achieve just now.
Jav charged forward, leading with what appeared to be another True Kaiser Kick, but it was a ruse. The Union Blade carved through the space he’d occupied, through smoke once again. This time Jav squatted upon Vays’s shoulders, gripping his head in both hands, fingers curled under his chin, striving in a variation of Laedra Hol’s Sky Fisher Claw. Using AI, he struggled to pull Vays’s head from his neck. He stood abruptly, throwing his hands up triumphantly. Vays was able to keep his head, but the armor surrounding his neck shattered. Bits of shrapnel zipped in all directions, piercing the ground and raising small clouds of dust wherever they struck. Jav kicked at the back of Vays’s head to launch himself back and away. Vays stumbled forward, dropping clumsily to all fours.
Jav was amazed at his own efficacy. He and Vays had sparred countless times in the past, often to a standstill, sometimes with one of them or the other coming out on top, but now his every gamble paid off, every blow had the desired effect. It seemed he could not fail. Even as Vays recovered and shot his elongating blade, Jav simply stepped aside, closed the distance between them with AI, struck the flat of the blade with his palm to shatter it. But as if in answer to Jav’s unspoken hubris, Vays shifted and deployed the blade a second time while Jav was still in mid-approach. How he’d managed that with no knowledge of Approaching Infinity, Jav didn’t know, but the broken, square end of the blade tore through his right side out his back and he slid along it as if it were a morbid, biting track. The pain pierced through him, through his every nerve, and once again, he noted with dark foreboding that it was familiar, reminiscent of another, very different injury, that still somehow seemed to persist. He pushed through it, though, completing his passage to Vays, back-handing the flat of the blade near its source to break it again, while still managing to execute the Kaiser Claw.
The torque of the attack spun Vays like a pinwheel, with his head at the center, and drove him back down the length of the riverbank. He skidded in the dirt into a crumpled heap. His helmet was gone. His face was bloody. But he wasn’t done. From his place on the ground, he pointed the broken end of the Titan Saber at Jav, who’d
dropped to one knee, and traced the shaky outline of a five-pointed star over him.
The image of the Grudge Star appeared behind Jav. The encircling ring dug into the ground, blasting it apart. Then, for the second time that day, Jav was yanked back, made into an X, and crucified in the air.
“You think you can kill us all?” Vays said rising to his feet. “You think you can kill her and that I’d let you live?” He spat blood and turned the hilt of the Titan Saber over as he pulled it apart along the internal mechanism, releasing the hammer and trigger. He closed the hilt and aimed the butt at Jav. He was panting and had to blink blood from his eyes. He took an unsteady step forward and nearly succumbed to light-headedness. He caught himself with his left hand on his left knee, and straightened slowly. “Un-uh,” he said. “You lose, Holson. We finally see that I’m better than you.”
From his red neon prison, Jav shook his head. “That was an impressive second shot you made with that long blade of yours, but you can’t keep me here Vays.”
“Oh? You seem to be pretty well stuck to me.” But as Vays watched, Jav appeared to grow smaller and smaller, farther and farther away, and as he receded, he flared with light, like a distant star going nova. Vays pulled the trigger as fast as he could.
Jav calculated AI, retreating from the spectral bonds of the Grudge Star. He immediately found that, while Approaching Infinity provided him some freedom of movement, he couldn’t free himself altogether from Vays’s attack, not directly, anyway. He ignited the Fire Circuit and initiated the Charge, streaking for Vays like a meteor from the depths of manipulated space. He led with the bottom of a right hammer fist held sideways as a battering ram, supporting it with his outstretched left arm. The Grudge Star detonations followed him, mixing with and adding to his fiery trail. He struck Vays square in the chest, transferring all of his momentum in an instant. The force of impact crumbled the armor there spectacularly and sent Vays sprawling, being chased and engulfed by the fire that persisted after Jav had stopped. The rush of flames seeped into other cracks and breaks in the Titan Star’s protection, further fracturing it and scattering bits in all directions.
Vays crashed to the ground, smoldering. Though the Titan Star still covered his legs, everything above his waist was exposed, charred black. His left arm, what was left of it, appeared to be fused to his torso. He wasn’t dead, but he wouldn’t be fighting anytime soon, either. Jav watched him crawl towards something. Peering through the mist, he was able to discern the jump ship.
“You go, Vays. You get on that ship and you tell the Emperor I’m coming.”
He turned away and walked back towards Gran Mid’s head, to where Waice had been killed. Vays was no longer a threat and besides the Emperor, only Scanlan remained. It would be foolish to underestimate him, though. He was by far the most versatile of the Shades, able to produce, in mechanized form, just about anything he could imagine. The 1st Perimeter fortifications had been completed long ago and it wouldn’t do to assume that Scanlan wouldn’t take further precautions against his coming, even if he was a lone assailant. Everyone that had been sent against him was dead or as good as. He hadn’t completely healed from the Dharma Clock and felt confident that, since Scanlan’s duty was to hold the 1st Perimeter, no one would be coming for him now.
He stepped between deposits of Waice’s trace remains, and resumed his position, sitting against Gran Mid’s head. He knew it probably wasn’t entirely rational, but he missed Gran Mid. He sighed and was suddenly overcome with a species of ballooning regret. He missed Raus. He hated to have had to kill him, hated to have had to kill Ban. He didn’t feel as badly about Icsain or Brin or Vays, but when he thought about Waice and then about all of the Loss Queen’s dead soldiers, those he’d killed or helped to kill, he could no longer maintain his grip on his emotions and he began to weep.
“You are doing the right thing, Jav Holson,” the Voice said.
“I know.”
“Though everyone you encounter dies, you are not alone. Speak to her. Contact will keep you from the precipice of despair. Also, you may not have another chance.”
He reached into the Bones comprising his belt and produced the small egg-like device the Loss Queen had given him. He held it in the palm of his left hand and squeezed the two ends together with his right thumb and index finger. A holographic screen unfolded above his hand to reveal Champagne.
He mastered himself before speaking her name.
“Are you all right?” she said, her face, though not solid, was so big, so close, so very nearly real, that he couldn’t help trying to touch her with his left hand, though he only succeeded in temporarily disrupting the image.
“Yes,” he managed to say. “In spite of it all. I’m close to the end now.”
“I’m. . . glad,” she said, bowing her head, not sounding glad at all. “I’m sorry to have asked this of you.”
Jav shook his head. “No. I’m only grateful for the opportunity. But even if I succeed, it’s not enough.”
“Don’t say that.” She raised her head, and he saw that her eyes were wet with tears.
“I. . . I wish we’d had more time.”
She nodded and sniffed. “Me, too. And we will. Promise me.”
Jav stared at her image, becoming lost in her eyes.
“Promise me!” she said, desperation stealing into her voice.
“If there’s a way and you’ll have me, I am and forever will be yours.”
Laughing through fresh tears, she wiped her nose with her hand, and leaned forward, filling the screen with her kissing lips
The image began to flicker and Jav knew that the projecting egg was about to expire. “I should go,” he said.
She nodded. “I know you’ll succeed. This time and the next. Always remember that I love you.”
The little egg disappeared in wisp of rising smoke and the screen went with it. Jav felt much better, but was left puzzling over what she’d said: This time and the next. It was odd, but not enough to stave off the exhaustion he’d accumulated.
“Sleep now,” he heard the Voice say, “and let us help you finish this.”
Jav thought this was a very good idea. He closed his eyes and fell immediately asleep.
10,923.026.0800
Planet 1612 (Loss)
2nd Perimeter (Yago River)
With only his right arm remaining, the left half of his split head still attached, both legs having been broken into several pieces each, and the gaping hole in his chest catching at stones every couple of meters, Icsain pulled himself up the north bank of the Yago River. Despite the terrible physical damage sustained along with the loss of the Relic Cords, Icsain’s mind still functioned unimpaired, so he had no difficulty ascertaining exactly where down the flow of the river to halt his progress, climb the bank, and begin his one-handed crawl back to his bunker. It took him an hour to reach it, but once there, he was able to program the jump deck for a return to the Palace. He exited the kiosk as the deck bay door rose. He dragged himself the short distance over the ground, then up the steps to the deck.
When the programmed time came and went, he thought there must have been a malfunction. No matter his state, he certainly couldn’t have made a mistake. After a moment he became aware of a presence hovering above, just out of his limited sight line. He shifted, pulled himself around and looked up to see the image of the Emperor.
“Emperor Samhain,” he said. “There appears to be something wrong with the jump deck.”
“Something is definitely wrong, but it isn’t with the jump deck,” the Emperor’s voice came, a dry, bassy hiss. “Where is your Artifact, your badge of office? The Relic Cords, which were once grievously wounded and nursed back to health?”
“I’m afraid they were destroyed by Jav Holson, Lord Emperor. But I survived the encounter. I am forever your servant. I cannot die.”
“Everything dies, Icsain. In one way or another. You seek to return though you have failed? Though you allowed your Artifact—my Artifact—to
be destroyed? Though you were beaten by a human, over whom you repeatedly proclaimed your superiority?”
“Uh. . . yes, Lord Emperor?”
“It is true that humans are physically and mentally frail, but they have shown themselves time and again to be resourceful creatures, routinely capable of evolving beyond their simple blueprint. Were it not for humans, this Viscain Empire would have dried out and burned away under the sun that birthed it. Were it not for humans, you would still be trying to outrun the sun that birthed you. It is not your fault that your development was curtailed as it was, that your own evolution was cut short, but I can no longer tolerate the results of that travesty. It is unfortunate, since we are, in our way, kin, but you are too limited in crucial ways to be allowed to continue to serve. Perhaps you will find enlightenment in oblivion.”
“Lord Emperor?”
“You are a problem in need of solving, but not the one that troubles me. I have your solution. Let me show you how to die.”
Samhain’s jagged mouth opened to sinister proportions. The image bobbed, caught Icsain’s arm in its carved “teeth”, flipped the broken wooden man up in the air, then gulped him on his way back down, chewing him as a child does hard candy until there was nothing left.
13
THE MACHINE GENERAL
10,923.026.0830
The Ghost Planet
Though Wil Parish’s body, if indeed he could be said to still possess one, was spread out over billions of light years of space, the majority, which housed his higher functions, was busy, focused on finding material fitting very specific criteria for Geiss Sinzer. He’d found three hundred and eighty-seven kilograms already, drifting variously across a wide breadth of local space, but had been assured that there should be approximately forty-eight more. He’d had every intention of collecting Sinzer’s quota, but had just been subjected to an emotional shock that he couldn’t ignore.
The Loss Queen (Approaching Infinity Book 5) Page 21
