Xen'tarza: Book Two of the Twelve Dimensions

by Paul Centeno

  “Who the hell are these ugly bitches?”

  Shirakaya examined the unharmed being. “This is the only one that’s alive. Could it be? Is this him?”

  “That would be rather convenient,” Khal’jan replied, skeptical.

  “And here I thought I was the grotesque one,” Yarasuro said.

  “No way, Xorvaj still gets first place,” Dojin said, ignoring the ghensoth’s growl. “But yeah, Del Vayso’s one fucked-up looking scientist.”

  “That’s not him, dummy,” Myris responded. “Wyneim Del Vayso is humyn like us.”

  “It is only logical to conclude that this entity is an indigenous being,” Vokken said.

  Metallic tubes inside the capsule automatically connected to the empty sockets throughout the creature’s body. A duct opened beneath its feet, fluid emptying. Various robotic equipment became active, motioning up to its neck and injecting multiple serums into its veins. Simultaneously, an infrared-like wave of mist enveloped the native being from head to toe, unfreezing it.

  Seconds later, it breathed life. Inhaling and exhaling heavily, the mouthless creature moved its four-fingered hands. Eyes opening, it revealed ivory-blue irises. Just then, the pod’s glass unsealed. A couple of mercenaries stepped back from the capsule while the others stood their ground but remained watchful, unsure of the creature’s intentions.

  “Greetings,” the freelancer said. “I am Shirakaya of Aarda. I represent the humyn species from Copia Deiga. These are my companions.”

  The indigenous being did not respond.

  “Can you hear me?” she asked, gripping the hilt of her sheathed sword. “When we entered this facility, an artificial voice spoke to us in the Ensarian tongue. Surely you know the universal language.” She paused, not receiving a reply. “We’re looking for somebody. Humyn like me. His name is Wyneim Del Vayso. He’s a scientist. Can you help us find him?”

  Again, it remained silent.

  The renegade spat on the floor, glaring at the sentient creature. “Hey, dick face, answer the question.”

  Maintaining a neutral expression, the indigenous being lifted its four-fingered hand and drew in the air. Magical symbols formed, appearing like runes to the mercenaries who gazed at the unknown icons in awe. As they evaporated, the creature motioned a single finger, creating more images.

  “Remarkable,” the archeologist responded. “But it’s extremely complex. I’m not able to interpret these symbols.”

  Dojin sulked. “Don’t tell me this asshole can’t speak.”

  “Of course he can,” Xorvaj said, gripping his battleaxe.

  “There’s no visible mouth,” Rah’tera said, carefully examining the creature. “I’m going to assume it’s a mute by nature.”

  “Greetings,” the AI said. “I am Jai’ryndar Aij Kai-Re Teikon, one of the last surviving uganda and lead engineer of augmented reality. Are you the ones responsible for awakening me? If you can see me, this means the others must be in the same dimension too. Can you understand me?” He paused for a moment. “That is what the indigenous being has conveyed.”

  Shirakaya looked stunned. “Wh-what?” she stuttered, slack-jawed. “Yes, we understand. Tell him, Vokken.”

  “What did he mean by the others?” Khal’jan asked.

  “Yes,” the freelancer said, nodding at her brother. “Ask him to reiterate. Also answer his question: Tell him that we awakened him and need help finding a humyn scientist by the name of Wyneim Del Vayso.”

  Using the creature’s dialect, Vokken created a response via Shirakaya’s kinetic link device. At first, similar runes formed on the freelancer’s KLD screen. She saw them but couldn’t possibly begin to understand the pictograms. Clicking a button on the side of her KLD, she activated a holographic display of the icons in midair. In response, Jai’ryndar formed new symbols.

  “Before the apocalypse of our world, my team of engineers and scientists researched dimensional theory,” Vokken said, translating for the uganda. “Crossing over from the virtual world to augmented reality, we successfully tapped into another dimension. Albeit, an artificial one. But it is nevertheless real and—”

  “Get back!” the mutant intervened, stepping in front of Shirakaya.

  He swiped his sword at a shadowy figure that pounced toward her. The digital six-legged beast produced an ear-piercing, static-sounding bawl as its energized body dispersed and dissipated. Another creature manifested with digitized wings, swooping down in an attempt to strike Xorvaj who split it in half with his axe.

  The freelancer composed herself. “What in the twisted heavens are those things?”

  After a minute of the uganda forging runic words, on his behalf, Vokken replied, “When we opened the virtual doorway and paved the way for augmented reality, a rift formed. At that moment, our dimensions collided. Entities we created for test simulations emerged. Then they multiplied...fast. Nuclear warheads proved ineffective against them. Within days, we were nearly extinct. The only way to seal them was to shut down our systems.”

  “And us fucktarts undid everything,” Dojin said.

  Myris abruptly shrieked, falling off her chair. “Eladoris!” she blurted, her head throbbing as she climbed back in her seat with the help of Yarasuro. “I sense danger. They’re surrounding her. Eladoris needs our help.”

  “That crazy bitch needs our assistance?” Dojin retorted. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

  “We need to get out of here,” Shirakaya said, uploading the map. “Vokken, inform the uganda he’s more than welcome to join us. Goddess knows how long we’ve waited for a new engineer. Besides, he still might be able to help us locate the scientist.”

  “With those augmented creatures on the loose, it’s best we remain vigilant,” Rah’tera said, plasma daggers in each hand.

  “Agreed,” the freelancer replied. “Let’s move.”

  VII

  Catastrophe

  The group made their way out of the control room. Thumping noises, which Yarasuro had previously thought were inside his head, now resounded louder than before. Weapon at the ready, he strode through a tunnel beside the freelancer. At a corner, four digitized beasts emerged and scuttled toward the crew. Shotgun charged, Dojin blasted them without hesitation. Shirakaya assisted him, using her rifle whose cryo-fused cartridge slowed them down until each one was destroyed.

  Advancing, the crew turned and reached an intersection. The freelancer promptly chose to go left but came across a pixilated entity that moved like slime from wall to wall. It leapt up onto the dim ceiling and slithered across menacingly. Shirakaya fired at it, but the cryo beams didn’t affect it.

  “Damn it,” she said, switching to incendiary.

  She fired at the creature again, but her enflamed ammunition still didn’t cause it any harm. The ghensoth snarled, charging and unleashing a plasma shockwave from his axe. Walls cracked from the energy blast, distorting the slimy entity and causing it to dissipate. Relieved, the crew progressed through the tunnel. At another junction, Shirakaya hesitated, checking her map via KLD.

  “There’s a lift nearby,” she said.

  “What about our tank?” Myris mentioned with concern. “What if the surface is flooded with those crazy things?”

  “Staying down here is just as dangerous,” Rah’tera said.

  “Right,” the freelancer affirmed. “If those things are up there too, which I have no doubt, we’ll have to improvise. Besides, I have an idea.”

  The mercenaries continued to follow their leader who continually checked her kinetic link device. Sure enough, after a few more twists and turns, they reached a platform. As soon as they boarded the elevator, Jai’ryndar activated it. As they elevated, a collection of data particles formed into a pack of flying creatures that swooped down on them.

  “We’ve got company!” Dojin yelled, aiming his gun upwards.

  Rolling aside, Yarasuro narrowly evaded a set of sharp talons. Swinging his sword in an arc, he cut through one of the pixilated beasts. Do
jin simultaneously opened fire with Shirakaya while Rah’tera hurled plasma daggers at the approaching enemies, disrupting their corporal frequency. Khal’jan assisted them with his pistol, firing cryo bullets in an attempt to decelerate them. In the meantime, Myris took cover behind Xorvaj whose energized battleaxe cut through the remaining creatures.

  “Everyone okay?” Shirakaya asked. When her crew gestured that all was well, she went on, “Our tank has a tracking sensor. I’m directing it to my KLD via ZiFi. By the time we reach the surface, it should arrive.”

  “Good because the radiation levels will kill us if we stay on foot,” Khal’jan said.

  After a couple of minutes, the elevator stopped. When the door unsealed, the mercenaries exited the bunker and stepped outside. A gargantuan beast halted them, producing an ear-piercing siren so loud that they all dropped their weapons. Dazed by the siren, only a couple of them thought to cover their ears. Though difficult to make out its features, it was evident to the crew that whatever animal it resembled was originally enormous, powerful, and extremely ferocious.

  The large creature thumped forward. It was about to crush them when their ZX-9000 tank intervened, ramming the entity off course. Producing a pained bawl, it fell sideways. Meanwhile, the vehicle stopped several meters away from the crew, its exterior force field generating and enveloping Shirakaya and her squad.

  “Move! On the double!” she commanded.

  They broke into a run, reaching the dented tank in a matter of seconds. Disengaging autopilot, Shirakaya took control of it and drove opposite where the beast lay. Accelerating through the wilderness, she observed the radar and spotted myriad lifeforms. Though cursing under her breath, she nevertheless remained focused on the road so as not to crash into any of the hundreds of augmented beasts that were roaming around.

  Their zooming vehicle attracted a great deal of attention as multiple creatures scuttled along, pursuing them intently. Noticing the entities, Xorvaj took command of the tank’s weaponry, firing gamma rays from dual cannons. Feeling restless, Dojin climbed a ladder and elbowed the hatch open. He rose up and ported a bazooka. Aiming at the tank’s rear view, he noticed a pack of advancing beasts and targeted them.

  “Fuck off!” he yelled, launching a fusion missile.

  “No offense, Dojin,” the freelancer began while decelerating, “but I need you to get inside right now.”

  Out of curiosity, Dojin turned and realized they were approaching a cliff. Gripping the hatch, he sealed it and slid down the ladder. At that moment, their tank flew off an escarpment. The freelancer activated substructure thrusters, allowing the vehicle to glide onto a floating rock that fractured upon impact.

  “Hang on tight!” she blurted.

  Shirakaya drove across the cracked rock until approaching another piece of granite suspended in the air, at which point she used anti-gravity thrusters to launch the tank skyward. Ascending onto the rock above, the freelancer accelerated and zoomed off its precipice. She then aimed for the other half of the split mainland. Upon touchdown, the tank shook violently but didn’t suffer any damage due to its advanced suspension efficiently absorbing the shock. Still, the hover-thrusters overheated.

  “I think we can breathe now.” Clicking her kinetic link device, Shirakaya contacted the Marauder. “Vokken, where is she?”

  “On another continent. Standby for pickup.”

  The bumpy terrain caused the tank to shake incessantly. Despite this, the crew remained seated and composed. Xorvaj continued blasting nearby entities. The renegade wanted to help but decided to keep the hatch sealed, his eyes fixed on the radar. At times, the creatures came too close for comfort. The ghensoth, however, never failed to decimate them.

  Out of nowhere, the ground ahead cracked and ruptured. From the depths of the valley’s abyss, a fiend emerged. The crew could only describe it as a titan; its elongated, legless body rose sky-high as it produced a thunderous roar that pushed the tank off course through sheer volume. Ramming into a cluster of boulders, Shirakaya and her crew gasped in pain from the sudden collision.

  Reversing fast, the freelancer managed to avoid the titan’s descent. It collapsed heavily onto the terrain, causing a devastating tremor that split a part of the ground in two. Shirakaya drove over the developing pit before the separation became too severe. As she accelerated, the pixilated mammoth of a beast slithered after them.

  “Vokken!” she yelled out. “We need you now!”

  Xorvaj reloaded the tank’s cannons with energy-disruptor ammo, unleashing a devastating salvo. Yet the augmented being appeared unharmed, slithering even faster in response. As the ghensoth continued firing, Dojin rose up the ladder once again, opened the hatch, and launched several more missiles. As the creature gained on them, it extended its mouth. It was on the verge of swallowing them when a bombardment of gamma rays from above blasted it off course.

  Between a mixture of clouds and floating granite, Marauder emerged. Descending fast, Vokken kept shooting at the slithering beast. Zooming down, he activated a tractor beam that caught the ZX-9000 and lifted the tank into Marauder’s cargo bay. Knowing his fellow Shadow Mercs were safe, he ascended back into the polluted sky.

  “Um…guys,” the oracle began while pointing down, “it’s still tailing us.”

  The creature rose, its head mingling with the clouds. Just when it was about to bite the battleship and force it down to the ground, it accidently bashed its cranium against a piece of granite, stunning itself. Marauder zoomed away, leaving the beast behind. The crew cheered, beyond relieved to have escaped.

  “Excellent timing, Vokken,” the freelancer said.

  “Indeed,” the mutant said, wiping beads of perspiration off his pale forehead. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”

  Dojin slid down the ladder. “Where to now?”

  “I’m taking you overseas to another ruined metropolis,” Vokken answered. “Only this one is surrounded by a desert and infested by those augmented, artificial entities.”

  “I can’t sense Eladoris,” Myris said, her eyes downcast. “I hope she’s okay.”

  “The necromancer can handle herself,” the ghensoth responded.

  Shirakaya didn’t feel worried yet, but she wasn’t convinced by his words either. “I need Jai’ryndar to give us more information about the situation. Vokken, ask the uganda if he knows about the continent we’re heading to and if he happened to have met a scientist by the name of Wyneim Del Vayso.”

  The arcane intelligence complied, using her KLD to form runes. Shirakaya then displayed the symbols via its holographic feature. Once the uganda saw her runes appear, he formed his own in response. It took longer than usual for him to articulate his response, but he finished after creating an entire paragraph.

  “I never had the privilege of meeting the humyn you speak of. However, I can provide detailed information about my planet…at least how it used to be before its destruction. To begin, the eastern region that your AI informed me of is known as Daskand. It used to be a tropical paradise. After the bombings, it was reduced to a wasteland. Your missing compatriot that the arcane intelligence spoke of seems to be in the ruins of our capital city. If we can save her, we can search for the missing scientist there.”

  “Why? How come?” Shirakaya asked.

  Upon an exchange of symbols, Vokken translated and replied, “Daskand was where our research began. If we can locate another bunker and enter its underground network, we’ll surely find the primary facility. Perhaps the scientist’s research led him there?”

  “It’s worth a look,” she said. “Thank you, Jai’ryndar.”

  “There’s hope after all,” Yarasuro said, patting her shoulder. “These days we need all the hope we can get. Right?”

  “Right,” she replied, beaming at him.

  Her brother revealed a faint smile, happy to know his sister’s bodyguard remained loyal and dedicated even after her excommunication. He tried not to gawk at the indigenous being; though, considering how fascinated he wa
s with the planet and its species, he couldn’t help but stare.

  “Those apparatuses throughout his body,” Khal’jan began in a pensive tone, “I bet they’re implants. Vokken, do you think a mechanical larynx could be adapted into an implant so he can speak like us?”

  “Anything is possible,” the arcane intelligence said. “Like all things, it would just take time to manufacture.”

  “Fascinating,” the archeologist said.

  Dojin sighed. “How much longer?”

  “I was wondering that myself,” Xorvaj said in a grumbling tone.

  “Using the planetary engine, our ETA is thirty-five minutes, eleven seconds, and twenty-six nanoseconds.”

  Myris chuckled. “Nanoseconds? Really?”

  “You can’t expect normal responses from a cybernetic stiff ass,” Dojin said, shrugging at her.

  “That’s rich coming from you,” Myris replied.

  “Me?”

  “Yeah,” she said, giving him a long look with another chuckle. “You’re a genuine, certified asshole.”

  “Thank you.”

  A couple of the others laughed at their squabbling.

  Silence fell shortly after, broken only by the muffled sounds of heavy artillery as Vokken attacked incoming augmented beasts of flight. With the exception of the Psychomania brutes who sat restlessly, the crew managed to settle down and keep to themselves, hoping Marauder would reach its destination in one piece.

  Using the planetary engine, Vokken flew the battleship across a radioactive ocean. In time, he reached a coast where a dilapidated, half-sunken harbor drifted. The waterfront lay in ruins with no signs of life in the environs. Passing the desolate zone, the Marauder reached a seemingly endless desert.

  Dune hills littered the entire region. Remnants of collapsed buildings were barely visible, covered in reddish sand. Dust devils roamed the barren expanse. Powerful gales struck the vessel, pushing it off course. Vokken, however, promptly used thrusters along the battleship’s wings as immediate countermeasures.