Power Games

by David Applegate

  “But-” Kaede started.

  “Yours will be padlocked to the wall, and only you, me and Toshiko will have the key. When it is full, unlock it and have a knight take it to disposal,” Sora said.

  “I will give it a go,” Kaede said.

  “Good. Akiko will return soon with one,” Sora said. “Now, all your incoming papers have been scanned into your computer. We have placed them into folders and written their project name and document number on its tab.”

  “Thanks,” Kaede said. He looked around and asked, “Where is Izanami?”

  “In the server room installing black wall on your private server,” Sora replied.

  “What is the black wall?”

  “A security program,” Mako replied.

  “Our father’s company designed it,” Miko added.

  “I have a firewall,” Kaede replied.

  “Izanami defeated it,” Mako replied.

  “The Black Wall is a new system, to detect, trace, and feed false information to intruders,” Miko replied.

  Kaede frowned. “Maybe someone else should install the program?”

  Mako smiled and said, “Father said if she can hack it without detection. he will give her a room of her own.”

  “But every time she fails, she has to wash his car,” Miko added.

  Kaede smirked and said, “Nami could be rigging it.”

  “She can try,” Mako said.

  “But the program has many self-checks,” Miko said.

  “Now sit,” Sora said to Kaede. She went over to the fridge and said, “I made you lunch,” and she removed a bento from the refrigerator.

  Mako and Miko raced to the hat rack to get and put on aprons. Then Mako removed a jug of iced tea, and Miko got a tall chilled glass from the fridge.

  “But you girls don’t have the security clearance to be below the kitchens without an escort,” Kaede said.

  Sora held out a bento to Kaede and said, “Czarina Katerina, let us in.”

  Kaede opened the black lacquered box. Inside was neatly arranged rice, fried skinless chicken pieces with hot sauce in a dipping bowl, prawns on lettuce with soy in a different dipping bowl, soft short rice in small balls and a skinless, sliced orange, pieces of mango and chopsticks wrapped in a silk napkin.

  “Thanks,” Kaede said to Sora with a smile.

  Sora smiled, and Mako rushed to pour iced tea into a cup held by Miko. Izanami came running in with a large bento and looked at Kaede as he ate from the bento. Red-faced she raced over to Sora, stomped her foot and leaned into her. “Hey! You said that was your lunch,” Izanami protested, her bottom lip quivered, her top teeth exposed.

  “I gave it to Kaede,” Sora said, turning the lid over to display a big red heart with a gold Kaede in its centre.

  “Thanks,” Kaede said.

  “How about we share?” Izanami asked.

  Kaede glanced at Sora, then replied to Izanami, “Good idea, Nami.”

  Izanami smirked at Sora and poked out her tongue as she sat beside him.

  “Now, if you’re serious about replacing your grandfather, you are going to need a proper harem,” Sora said, tapping the inbox.

  Kaede looked at the inbox. It contained a stack of folders — each had a girl’s name with a photo of her face on the cover. The top folder was Sora’s. He lifted it and saw Akiko’s file underneath.

  Izanami took the folder from Kaede and looked inside. “Hey, no fair,” she said, looking at photos of Sora in a bikini holding a big red heart over her head. The heart had ‘Kaede-kun’, written in kanji, on it.

  Izanami started looking for her file. “Where is mine?” a red-faced Izanami yelled.

  “Oh, it is in there, somewhere, near the bottom,” Sora remarked.

  “Hey,” Izanami said, her ears flopped. “No fair.”

  “It is important that Kaede has a mix of wives with beauty, experience and intellect to suit him,” Sora said.

  “Sora, I know my grandfather does not approve, but I have made it clear you are my prime,” Kaede said.

  “Mako and Miko are obviously on the approved list, along with Akiko,” Sora said as she wandered around the room, she got to Izanami and put her hands-on Izanami’s shoulders. Izanami shrugged.

  “We love you, Kaede,” Mako and Miko said together.

  Kaede turned and saw Mako and Miko were smiling at him.

  “Hey! What about me?” Izanami asked.

  “Excuse me; I think I hear Nori calling me,” Kaede said, and ran out the door.

  Sora, Mako and Miko looked at Izanami and closed in on her.

  Izanami, red-faced, backed away from them.

  Akiko came in, pushing a large canvas bag on rollers. Izanami ran out past her to Czarina Katerina and hid behind her.

  ✽✽✽

  The black Banshee sat in the airlock of a massive hangar inside of a giant asteroid. Galen waited as the rock-covered hatch slid back into place behind him. Two little figures in tight black spacesuits approached in the dark and hooked a steel cable to the landing gear.

  A winch pulled the spaceship slowly inside. Galen pressed open on the missile bay and nose cannon. He pulled the remote trigger from the console beside the seat and used medical trap from the first aid kit to strap it to his arm.

  He turned on the remote and looked from side to side. A small HUD inside his faceplate showed the gun view and a bullet count.

  Galen opened the exit hatch in the floor behind his seat. As the external hatch opened out, a pole extended to the ground, and prongs automatically sprang out to form a ladder. As he climbed out, he stopped to remove a Viper-2 and Magical Quarterstaff from a storage locker between the hull and cockpit.

  Galen ejected and inspected the magazine and gun. He slid the magazine back in and chambered a bullet, then shouldered the Viper-2. “Thanks, sis,” he muttered as he grabbed the quarterstaff and climbed down.

  Galen saw a group of Ogres on the gantry at the rear of the hangar. The one in the middle was black, with red eyes and no hair.

  The Goblins, in a spacesuit with a tool belt, wheeled stairs over to the plane. Galen called out. “Touch my plane, and my cannon will cut you down,” Galen said as stepped out from under the plane, and he pointed his quarterstaff at the nose cannon.

  “Leave us,” Andre shouted.

  The Goblins retreated out of the hangar.

  Galen removed his helmet. “Andre,” Galen said, as he stepped out from under the spaceplane. He removed a small bag from his pocket. “I come bearing gifts. Fifty rare diamonds.”

  “I am sorry I doubted you,” Andre said, “but you are late.”

  “I had to take care of business,” Galen said as he approached the gantry.

  “Tell me, why is a plane that flies faster than a bullet armed with guns?” Andre asked.

  “Right now, the two rear-facing guns are armed with explosive rounds, and the rear missile bay has two high explosive missiles ready to rear fire. The nose cannon has two modes, the first an anti-missile mode, and in the second mode, the gun is linked to my helmet. What I see, I can shred, with a single explosive round. In case you rush me or kill me, the ship has four forward heavy cannons,” Galen said, he looked about and said, “If that doesn’t answer your question, I would like to point out they are railguns and can peel your asteroid open as easy as peeling an orange.”

  “I don’t recall seeing forward guns in the original design,” Andre said, taking a step forward, he held out his hand.

  Galen tossed the small felt bag to the nearest Goblin who rushed it over to Andre’s and shook as he placed it in his black hand. Andre opened the bag and emptied the diamonds onto his palm. He looked them over and selected a large diamond with a yellow centre. He handed it to Avi and said, “Put this with the others,” as he tossed the small diamonds to the Goblins below and said, “Here’s your bonus.”

  Goblins squealed and scrambled to get to the diamonds.

  “It was a last-minute change,” Galen said as he looked at a black
box on the floor beside Andre.

  Andre slowly nodded and said, “Ash, take the box to Galen.”

  Ash smelled bad. Galen held back the urge to vomit and took a step back. As he slid the box into the craft’s storage locker, Ash walked back to Andre.

  “I know you hate questions, but where is my ride?” Galen asked.

  The two Ogres started laughing but stopped when Andre raised his hand and yelled, “Silence,” then said, “Where the Imperial Fleet cannot find it.”

  “You also owe me four nuclear-tipped missiles,” Galen said as he stepped forward.

  “Show him the missiles,” Andre said.

  Goblins removed the canvas cover off four large missiles and wheeled the trolley over to Galen.

  Galen tapped on his remote, the forward bay opened, and the rotary launcher lowered. He said, “Place the first missile in the grip, if they interface with the ship, and the scan confirms these are high yield warheads, I will let you load the next one. But I will scan each one.”

  “Hurry, or I will eat you,” Andre snapped.

  The Goblins loaded each missile and waited while Galen tapped the controls on the remote. After they were inside, he pressed close.

  First, the gantry against the back wall of the hangar shook. Galen looked about. Ash and Avi raced up the metal stairs up to a door on the top left. Andre was nowhere to be seen.

  The asteroid vibrated, “You dare lead the Imperial Navy to me?” Andre roared. Galen looked about; he couldn’t see Andre. He felt impending doom and looked behind him.

  From the roof above Galen, Andre fired a dark bolt at him. It hit Galen but only removed layers of the invisible armour around him. Galen slid into the craft and unleashed a fury of gunfire.

  The nose cannon fired a burst at the Goblins while he stowed the gun. Just as he closed the inner hatch, he put his hand on the quarterstaff, closed his eyes, and started to mumble.

  ✽✽✽

  Aboard the Unicorn, Emi sent the hangar crew out. Outside, in the main hall, Imperial Knights stood at the door while Naru, Nadia, Hilda, Emi, and Cerise cut Hiro out of his suit.

  Naru collected pieces of his suit, his identification card and phone, and placed it all into a small cargo box and sealed it with yellow tape with ‘Inquisition’ written on it. Hilda and Nadia put Hiro into a medical pod, Cerise closed the lid and pressed start. Hilda looked inside at his face, then stepped back, for blood was filling the chamber. She looked at Cerise.

  “Lady Naru, I need you to leave,” Cerise said.

  “Yes, Lady Cerise,” Naru replied. She put the box on a trolley and pushed it out.

  “Your father is immortal. Surely you have seen this before?” Cerise asked.

  “Renewal?” Hilda asked, looking at Cerise.

  Nadia and Emi came and looked, and Cerise turned the lid from clear to white. “After we use Purge Death,” Cerise replied.

  “I never heard of Purge Death,” Emi said. “Are you going to tell us what it is?”

  “It is like a detox spell, only for the chemical process of dying,” Cerise replied, checking the flow regulator on the tank on the medical pod.

  “So, why soak him with blood?” Hilda asked.

  “For the Oxygenate spell I cast on him, I need to keep his cells alive until we can start his heart,” Cerise replied. “All right, push him to medical.”

  Hilda moved the pod with ease. Nadia and Emi followed Cerise. “How can you start his heart?” Hilda asked. “I never heard of anyone starting a heart after one hour.”

  “I am not using a revival spell. I know that in this case, it will not work. I will use the spell resurrection,” Cerise replied.

  “That will not fix his injuries,” Emi said.

  “At least he will be alive,” Cerise said.

  “We will fix as much as we can,” Cerise said. “But I need your help. So, please no more questions.”

  The other two Witches stood and looked at Cerise as they entered. “Relax, this is Hilda Feygold, daughter of General Feygold; this is Emi Hagihara, the daughter of Admiral Niemi; last is Nadia Dvorkin, she is the daughter of Czar Petrov.”

  “So?” the second Blood-Witch asked. “They are not one of us. They should not be here.”

  “But we need their blood,” Cerise said.

  “Our blood?” Emi asked.

  “No time to argue and no time to explain. Hilda, Emi, and Nadia, I need you to lie on the beds. I am going to put you to sleep, and we are going to use your blood to fix Hiro,” Cerise said.

  The witches sighed. Soon after the ladies on the medical beds were asleep, Cerise looked at the Witches. “Hiro is in a hypothermia-induced coma. I have already cast oxygenate on him, but we have no idea how long his brain has been without oxygen,” Cerise said.

  “I see,” the second Witch said.

  “We don’t have time to transport him to Blood-Tower, so shall we begin?” Cerise asked.

  “We need permission to bring back the dead,” the second Witch insisted.

  “The Emperor is coming; you can tell him what I have done. I accept full responsibility,” Cerise said.

  The two Blood-Witches looked at each other. “Should we wait?” the first one asked.

  “No,” the second replied.

  “Good, hook my friends to a drip,” Cerise ordered the second witch.

  ✽✽✽

  The Knights set off a series of cutting charges. The door held, but most of the outer layer of rock was stripped off. They went to work fast with the cutting lances. Once ignited, the long, thick welding rod burnt through the metal like it was butter. As the air rushed out of the hangar doors, they began to open.

  “Shield line!” Toshiko yelled.

  A dozen Knights with large shields formed two lines, one above and one below the doors. Toshiko and the remaining Knights got behind one of the walls of shields, some of them were only armed with wands, but most were armed with a Viper-2 Mini, a 13mm sub-machine gun.

  “Prepare for combat,” Toshiko yelled into her microphone.

  The Knights with wands cast spells on themselves. The first spell cast was Quickness, a spell that enabled them to react faster. Then they cast Haste, a spell to make them move quicker. Next was the Armour Spell, which coated their spacesuits in an energy barrier that protected them from light damage.

  Each of the four shuttles shone lights from their sensor pods into the hangar. They saw a couple of lines of Goblins in spacesuits with guns, and a couple had heavy belt-fed machine guns on wheels, others raced to wheel out a rocket launcher.

  The shuttles fired a mixture of smoke, and explosives into the horde of Goblins then pulled up and out of the line of fire. The Goblins fired heavy machine guns from nests around the cavern. Many Goblins were killed and smoked filled the hanger.

  Toshiko barked orders. The knights with the shields knelt, the knights at the rear clipped ropes to those with wands. In a group, those with wands took a few steps back, and jumped off the asteroids and swung over the open doors, to them, the chaos inside was all in slow motion. Each Witch hurled a bolt of energy at whoever had a gun. The rope held by two knights, and a pin into the rock, went taut, they swung the cast back around and pulled her in.

  Toshiko took a peek into the cavern and cast Power Ball at a group. The glowing ball of energy expanded, killing many of the Goblins inside of it before it disappeared.

  As the doors slowly closed, the shuttles fired a mix of smoke and explosives into the hanger while the Knights took cover. As soon as the firing stopped, they raced in. One stopped to cut the power to the doors but was then killed by heavy fire. Toshiko pulled the body out of the way and pointed her wand at the hinge and buckled it. The doors stopped.

  Toshiko turned her attention to the retreating Goblins. She noticed the heavy machine gunner trying to reload and fired a bolt of energy at his head. It shattered the faceplate. The Goblin gasped like a fish out of water as his face swelled. She fired another bolt, and his body popped like a balloon.

&nbs
p; The Knights advanced in a row of four, securing the outer hangar. The first of four black shuttles landed. Knights rushed to withdraw those wounded. Although their suits’ weave helped protect them from depressurisation, many were unable to patch their leaking suits. They were placed inside of rescue bubbles and inflated before loading them into the shuttle’s cargo bay along with the few dead.

  A team of engineers raced to put poles up around the outside of the doors and assembled a sizeable clear airlock made of plastic sheeting.

  Eight Knights with shields knelt and watched the inner doors, eight-armed with rifles stood at the ready, behind them.

  As the inner doors opened, and the Goblins charged the Knights. Toshiko cast blast at the Goblins as they surged through the door, the cone of energy sending them flying backwards. Some Goblins carried grenades, which exploded, turning them and those around them into a blood-soaked pile of corpses.

  With no place to retreat, and with many of them wounded, the Goblins surrendered. Many of the injured Goblins were unable to seal the holes in their suits and froze before the Elves could seal them in rescue bubbles, a large plastic ball with a large air tank. The ball had a pair of medical gloves and a small airlock which enabled a medic to work on the patient inside without needing to unseal the ball.

  With the fight over, the Knights raced from Goblin to Goblin, sorting the wounded from those able to walk, gathering weapons and putting patches over holes in spacesuits.

  As the wounded Elves and Goblins were evacuated by shuttle, more craft arrived to collect the prisoners. The wounded and dead Knights were taken to the Night Owl Two, while the Navy took those Goblins who could walk to an Imperial Navy cruiser, which headed to Luna One, the moon of Alcyone Three, where the Goblins were processed at Pirate Bay, the largest prison in the Empire. Wounded Goblins were loaded onto a medical ship for treatment.

  ✽✽✽

  Galené scoured the hanger for Galen. She only found crates of weapons, food, and drugs. There were no shuttles in any of the six bays.

  “Where’s the plane?” she wondered as she looked about. She noticed the door on the right side of the gantry close. Stairs to the gantry were buckled, so she cast the spell, jump, and leapt up to the gantry. She noticed the Goblins had a heavy machine gun at the base of the stairs, but no Goblins on them or the gantry. Galené raced over to the door at the end of the gantry. With her wand at the ready, she slowly opened it and raced inside.