A gust of wind whirled around them, sparking with balls of silver light. Cogeni stared in disbelief as an apparition formed above Niya. He’d only seen Demas summoned in such a way. To witness a second deity thusly summoned left him in awe. Lord Anthies wore a similar yet more beastly set of armor, and carried a deadlier-looking glaive.
“Mighty One, please clear the way and let us pass your judgment on our defilers!” Niya asked in a heated passion.
With a mighty swipe, the apparition split the building down the middle. A brilliant light radiated from the gash. The sound of metal twisting and rock crumbling groaned from the ruins. The structure began to fold in upon itself, imploding without disturbing the weakened structures around it.
As Lord Anthies dispersed into thousands of bolts of light, the path before them lay completely unobstructed. The service elevator waited ahead.
“Thank you Mighty One,” she said reverently.
Cogeni led them forward. “I see the lift, just around that bend.”
It was far smaller than the lifts he was familiar with. This one appeared to transport only a few people, as opposed to the others that carried large shipments up and down between the city. It looked pretty rusted out as well. Hopefully that meant it had been forgotten about.
Cogeni pointed Toriko to the lift controls while the others loaded in. “This thing looks ancient. It only goes up and down, right?” she asked.
“As far as I know,” Cogeni said.
“Then why are there so many different buttons? How about just two—up and down? I swear, people need to learn more about usability before they make stuff like this.”
“Can you figure it out?” Mencari asked.
“Sure, it’s just annoying,” she said, pressing the button that closed the doors, and another that began their ascent.
* * * * * *
The lift ended in a secluded utility shed. Mencari waved Cogeni over to the windowed door. With a glance through, he looked back. Though he’d never been there before, from the looks of things he was close to where he and Niya needed to be. “Looks quiet.”
Her tone hushed through her communicator, Minea said, “It should be, from what I’m seeing. Not much activity at all up there. I do see a few patrols, pairs of soldiers, on the far side of the platform. Nowhere near you guys.”
“You guys get going,” Mencari said. “I’ll help Toriko and Allia.”
“Actually,” Cogeni said, “I think one of those units is needed in the area we’re headed toward. We’ll take that one.”
“Thanks,” Toriko said.
With a firm grip on Toriko’s device Cogeni moved with Niya out the door, and toward the wall that ran around the main platform. A two-foot ledge traveled around the wall’s exterior, creating a narrow walkway.
“I’m glad Toriko and the others aren’t coming this way.” Cogeni peered over the edge. Fierce winds whistled in the billowing smog below. He’d forgotten just how high the platforms really were. One wrong move equaled death. There wasn’t time to dwell on that now. Back to the reason they took this route.
Everything looked familiar, as if he’d never been away. His eyes traced along the inner walls. With his hand against it, gently raking across the smooth sides, his fingers found subtle markings. Only a few at first, but more with each step, all perfectly disguised, barely noticeable to the naked eye. He marveled at the skill taken to hide such obvious clues to the secret way in.
“We’re close.”
They passed a few inlets with darkened dead ends. While seeming without purpose, again Cogeni found a greater appreciation for the temple designers, making entries with so many false options to throw invaders off.
Minea spoke through the communicator. “This should be a good spot to place the device.”
“Good,” Cogeni said, setting it down.
“I’ll be able to manage this remotely now. Thank you.”
“Are we close to getting in?” Niya asked.
“This way,” he said, turning into one of the inlet passages. “When I was a child I used to sneak out here. Gave my parents fits.”
“So this escaping thing started pretty young?” she chided.
He snorted before realizing the partial truth of her statement. Maybe it was early training for what was happening today? Reaching up, his hand caressed the wall until he heard a gentle click.
“Just like I remember,” he said, pushing in and twisting the section of wall. Before them a dark panel retracted into the wall and disappeared.
“Let’s hope the rest is still how you remember it,” Niya said as they entered.
* * * * * *
“Maro, what’s your status?” Mencari said.
“The bridges from this platform to the others in Demassen were still heavily guarded. There are no Argosans that we’ve seen, mostly cargo moving between platforms. It’s been slow, but we’re nearly done.”
“We’ve had a few close calls too. We did the last placement and have returned to where we came up. Cogeni reported they’re already in position.”
“We’ll be done soon.”
Mencari took a quick look outside, then closed the door to the utility shed. “Be safe.”
“We will. Maro out.”
Behind him, Toriko reviewed projections of the lifts between Salsemed in the Smog Sea and Demassen in the sky. “I have full control now. When we’re ready I can send them down for our attack forces.”
“Will the Nukari know something’s up when the lifts move?”
“I have all the data faked I needed to. They’ll see everything just as it is now. My attack fliers are ready to come up as well. The repeaters are going to make this job a lot easier than Abunai.”
“The nanites have been planted on the last bridge,” Maro said.
“Come back here then—”
“Um, we can see Whemel,” Maro said.
“Where?”
A new orange dot appeared on Toriko’s map of Demassen. It appeared just on the other side of the bridge Maro and Ujaku were working on.
“He’s headed this way,” Maro said.
“If he crosses that bridge we might not be able to capture him,” Mencari said. Their entire plan was around the main platform, and required Whemel to be on it. They needed the Nukari Commander captured to fully take down this operation, and get updated Nukari intel. “Blow the bridge,” he said.
“What? Now?” Maro said, confused.
“Yes now—do it!” He looked to Toriko. “Get those lifts moving, we need our forces up here. The fliers too.”
“Minea, get those fliers up here,” Maro said. “Bob, control the defensive shield. I’ll take the lifts.”
“You got it!” Minea said, followed by an “Affirmativo!” from Bob.
“Cogeni,” Mencari said to the communicator. Nothing. “Cogeni, respond.” Nothing again. “They’ll figure out Whemel isn’t in the temple soon enough. All forces engage!”
* * * * * *
“Behind us!” Ujaku yelled, turning to face the mass of soldiers quickly closing. Pushing Maro aside, he pulled the maul from his belt. A golden aura engulfed him as he leaped into the air, maul lifted high. Crackles of energy snapped around the massive metal end. With a primal roar he slammed it down, causing the ground to shake. A deep tear snaked along the ground toward the enemy, releasing thundering bolts along the way.
Those caught in the blast shuddered before falling, twitching into death. Those in the periphery were thrown like rag dolls.
“Dome deploying,” Bob said through the communicator. Walls of light shot into the air, curving until they touched one another forming a dome. Only a fuzzy gap at the top was left exposed.
“Toriko, there’s a hole at the top,” he said.
“I know, I know! The emitters don’t have enough power to close it all the way,” she cried.
With the bridges eaten through, Nukari soldiers had to stay on the other platforms, attacking from a distance. The dome kept their fire away. “It’s good e
nough,” he said looking back to the platform. Whemel was hastily retreating with his armored escort. Mencari, Katen, and Decreta were pounding the enemy hard.
Again the platform shook as a familiar bellow filled the air. Ujaku saw the last moments of Naijen’s massive attack on the platform itself. A section groaned before slicing clear off. The ground shook violently as the colossal chunk twisted and fell into the smog, sending a horde of soldiers flailing to their dooms.
A large force of Nukari soldiers streamed out of the temple. Ujaku gripped the new maul and flexed his power, shooting a brilliant aura around his body. With unnatural speed he dashed forward. He loved being a deviser, creating weapons and armor. But it was exhilarating to be back in action. His warrior’s heart roared. No more holding back. Now to show them how much more he could do!
* * * * * *
“Nukari sentries!” Maro yelled. She pointed to a swarm of blue dots floating up the sides of the projected dome schematic, toward the opening.
A new alarm drew Toriko’s attention. She bit her lip as temperature warnings spammed her display. Half the shield emitters overheating! Oh Eudora! The designs were meant for short shield bursts, mostly to protect other units, not an entire dome for any duration. How long before they failed?
She waved her hands, updating the display with temperature trends over time. She could lower the shield output, but that could compromise the shield altogether. According to the graphs, they had ten minutes tops before unit failure. She really needed to tidy up the resource consumption algorithms, like she had on the fliers. The fliers? Yes, the fliers! They had coolant.
“Bob, I need coolant transferred from a few fliers to the shield emitters!”
“Right-o!” he said with a whirring.
She watched a number of yellow flier indicators break off their attacks and fly toward the five emitters. In moments they were sharing coolant. Her head bobbed, pleased, as the temperatures began to drop. Yes! Though, with those fliers offline, they might need more air support now.
“Rhysus, we need more air support to keep the sentries from coming in the hole at the top.”
* * * * * *
“Understood,” Katen said. “Go, my pet. Blow them from the sky!”
Decreta bowed in obedience and crouched to gather his power. His muddy-blue aura washed over him in waves. He pushed off the ground and, in a concentrated burst, he streaked into the sky. The sonic boom created sent nearby soldiers flailing backward.
The flier attacks were all too predictable. The fixed cannons fired volleys in straight trajectories from their barrels. Had there been rotatable turrets it might have been more of a challenge.
His heart fluttered in excitement as he spread his wings. It was time to try the approach Naijen taught him. Channeling power around his wings, he dove at a cluster of fliers. As his wings hit, they sliced through the metal like a hot knife through butter. A tingle shot through his body with each exploding enemy. He turned and hovered in the air, pleased with the falling debris.
Another wave approached. Naijen’s technique worked well, but so did his own. An intense buzzing sensation filled him, starting in his belly and moving into his throat. The fliers were nearly the perfect distance away. He opened his mouth and howled, sweeping a blazing beam of energy across the group. He paused on each, waiting for it to explode in a fireball, before moving to the next.
* * * * * *
“Holy Demas!” Cogeni cried as they reached the balcony of the temple, overlooking the battered platform. It was so different from what he remembered. Where there was once the purest white and most brilliant of colors was now a dingy gray. Even the crystal decorations embedded in walls looked dusty and marred, grown ugly. The shifting electric-blue dome was the only thing of beauty.
His eyes fell upon the sparks and hellfire of Ujaku and Naijen’s attacks. Allia rode Ichini, slashing through soldiers, projecting beams at fixed cannons mounted on the temple. His heart skipped a beat as he noticed a whole section of the platform had been cleaved off. Explosions in the sky drew his attention to a flying combatant swatting Nukari fliers from the air.
“Look!” Niya said, pointing.
Mencari and Katen were coming under attack by a wave of soldiers from the lower temple, among them Nukari Beast Warriors. Cogeni’s fist gripped as he recognized a key enemy.
“Whemel,” he said bitterly.
“We’ll do this together,” Niya said as a disk of energy formed under her feet. The pair lifted over the balcony, speeding toward their enemy.
Below, a massive attack splashed off Mencari’s powerful shield. They saw Katen’s thorny vines sprout in an attempt to thwart the attackers, but a sudden ice storm stunted and killed the briars. A group of Nukari Beast Warriors appeared from around the corner and began to pound Mencari’s defenses.
A deep calm came over Cogeni. It felt like his Demas’s warm embrace, consoling, empowering, and loving. With his hand outstretched he wielded the power of Demas. A ribbon of light streamed forth, dividing his friends from foes. The attacks were absorbed into the ribbon, dissipating into a harmless shower of light where it hit.
“Mighty Lord, smite your enemies, defilers most foul,” Niya bellowed. A cloud of light formed into Lord Anthies’s deadly glaive. With a gesture, the mighty spiritual blade collided with the incoming blast from the Nukari beasts. The energy of the attack split into a flurry of will-o-wisps that blinked and faded away. The beasts tried to scatter, but were not fast enough. One was speared through its abdomen. As the glaive hit the ground it shattered into tendrils of light, which snagged the others and compacted them into the body of the speared beast. The tendrils folded in on themselves and the beast, crushing it down into a single point of light that blinked and disappeared.
Cogeni watched in awe. The decisive and vengeful power of Lord Anthies appeared absolute. In a way, it was diametrically opposed to the peace and protection of Demas. Together, Demas and Lord Anthies were a formidable force.
The pair touched down beside Mencari and Katen, and a sniveling Whemel. From the glow of their vestments emerged the apparitions of Demas and Lord Anthies. A crescent of light appeared, and a woman dressed in the matriarchal robes of Demas emerged.
In disbelief, Cogeni recognized his mother. Niya took his hand and squeezed gently. De’Genico gracefully approached the now cowering Whemel. She spoke with a voice that filled the very air around them.
“Betrayer! I came to you in peace, to find my son and Demas’s rightful patriarch. Instead you brought death and misery to our people, pillaged our planet, defiled our temples.”
Lord Anthies and Demas joined hands, and Toriko’s protective dome of energy shattered into a million balls of light. A torrent of wind swirled into a vortex around the platform, capturing Nukari soldiers, robotic sentries, and the balls of light from the dome.
“Our people have suffered long enough,” De’Genico said.
The clouds above them began to lurch, and the brilliant energy of the nebula storm shifted.
“You and your kind will fail.”
In a cry of terror, Whemel turned and dove off the edge of the platform, into the smog layer below. The winds bellowed, causing Niya and Cogeni to crouch defensively. The very metal of the platform groaned as a wall of light emanated from the deities, piercing the sky. The clouds burned away and the space platform above erupted into a small sun that exploded in the atmosphere.
The vortex expanded in an ever-widening circle out from the platform. Before his eyes, the thick smog was sucked up and jettisoned into space. Structures and land long hidden were revealed, covered in dirt and silt. “I beseech the pantheon of Argosy to heal your world and your children,” De’Genico cried out. “Long have they suffered, and many lessons have they learned. Grant your divine mercy.”
A ring of colored light rippled out from Lord Anthies and Demas. Where the light touched, the grime disappeared, and former glory was restored.
De’Genico turned and gazed tenderly at her so
n. She nodded in the affirming way she always had, then looked back at Lord Anthies and Demas. The three apparitions turned to glowing bodies before floating upward, phasing into the crystal blue sky.
In bittersweet triumph, Cogeni whispered, “It’s done.”
* * * * * *
“So everything ended well,” Osuto said, but was stopped from saying more by a spastic cough. His holographic presence hitched.
Mencari wondered if he needed to tap on the side of the ancient projector. Everything in the temple seemed equally as old.
“Some Nukari soldiers tried to flee,” Mencari said. “But without the Smog Sea, or their ships trapped in the star dock, it wasn’t long before we captured them. There’s still some repair work to do here. But we’ll leave that to the Argosans.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Better. Still tired, but I feel my abilities a bit more today.”
“Say, I wanted to let you know … things have grown more complicated between Nikko and Cogeni. He won’t be returning with us.”
“Oh? I’m sure we could find a way to—”
“It’s mostly about his new duties as patriarch, though I’m sure Nikko factors in to his decision. She ended their relationship just before the beginning of the attack.”
The already deep lines of Osuto’s face darkened. “Just before?”
“I know. The timing couldn’t have been worse. But Cogi held it together.” His head shook in frustration. With a sigh, he added, “Given everything, I don’t think we’ll ever get him back.”
CHAPTER 15
The Prison Planet
Kiyanna looked about the meeting room. A curious excitement filled the air. The long search for Tal led to this moment. There were times it seemed finding him would never happen. But here they were, about to finalize plans to rescue him.
Eyani approached. “Ready?”
“All set,” Kiyanna said.
D'mok Revival 4: New Eden Page 15
