D'mok Revival 4: New Eden

by Michael Zummo

  What was she doing? He knew she could redirect attacks, and absorb them. But this? It looked like she was literally atomizing the power being sent at them. What kind of training was she doing back on New Eden? Or maybe this was something she picked up working with Naijen and Speru in the mines?

  “I’m sorry,” she said with a pained expression. Hands raising, she opened her eyes revealing silvery pupils exuding power. Her head rolled gently to the side as a growing moan escaped her. The spiral of energy around her exploded outward, the pressure shaking the fortress walls. A chorus of shrieks and roars was instantly silenced as plumes of dust billowed.

  Mencari held his ground, maintaining the protective field, despite the sudden lack of attacks. The plumes gradually settled, revealing an eerie sight. Not a creature was left standing. In fact, only a dusting of colored shards covered the ground. Larger chunks speckled the walls.

  “Look!” Allia yelled, pointing again.

  “Not more!” Speru cried.

  “No, see? Hair!”

  Mencari looked up and saw one of the troll-like gemmites peering down from the third-floor terrace. Their tall wafts of red, flame-like hair still looked as comical as ever. Though, this one wasn’t looking down with the same friendly curiosity. No, this one looked scared. It hopped down from the ledge, disappearing beyond the guardrail. They watched the mop of red hair bounce up and down as the creature ran to the left. Moments before it would have disappeared, it tossed something over the edge.

  “What’s that?” Speru asked, all eyes watching the object drop toward them.

  * * * * * *

  “Scatter!” Kiyanna bellowed.

  Allia could see the light gleaming off the object’s smooth sides. “It’s a crystal,” she said as something ignited inside it. “And it’s glowing!” She dove behind a crystal pillar. Ichini transformed into an ape-like beast, covering her exposed backside.

  Moments passed and nothing happened. She peered around Ichini and saw the crystal suspended in the air. Light pulsed gently from it and a pleasant ringing filled the air.

  “I don’t like this,” Mencari said.

  A sudden beam of energy shot toward the crystal, breaking on an invisible barrier around it. She followed the trail back to Naijen who huffed in displeasure.

  The ringing grew louder. She felt a static charge resonate in the air around her. Movement along the ground drew Naijen’s gaze. The crystal shards vibrated, as if a gentle breeze blew across them. “Anyone else see the shards moving?” she called out.

  The floating crystal pulsed, and toned once more. An echo resonated from the countless shards lying about. Like a tuned chorus, a melodic chord rang in the great chamber. Drawn like metal filaments to a magnet, the shards flew up, bonding to the floating crystal.

  “This can’t be good,” Speru said.

  Colors clustered and fused, like to like, into a new, solid mass. With a grunt, Naijen tried in vain to blast the crystal. Again the beam broke against an unseen force. Allia watched as a creature of crystal formed before her eyes that looked like a big rock golem with limbs of colored crystal. Speru is right, this doesn’t look good. But she couldn’t think of anything to do about it but watch and wait.

  A golden light radiated around Mencari. His face crumpled in anger as he stepped from his hiding spot. “Yeah … no you don’t …” With hands gripped, his aura flared red.

  “Rhysus?” she yelled, concerned.

  He yelled over his shoulder, “I got this.”

  Reaching out, a distortion stretched from him toward the building creature. A barrier around the beast—the one that had blocked Naijen’s attacks—lit up as the distortion enveloped it. In an instant, the protective barrier shattered. The creature opened its eyes of yellow light and howled, ready to attack.

  The distortion between the beast and Mencari became an arc of energy. It didn’t look like an attack, but rather as if Mencari was pulling the power directly out of the beast, absorbing it into himself. Mencari’s red aura exploded, sending licks of flickering energy off his body like solar flares from the sun.

  Her eyes grew wide, recalling Maro’s account of how Mencari thwarted the Nukari trap where they used his wife. This was that draining ability? It looked amazing, but horrifying too. The creature shrieked in pain as the color bled from the crystals.

  She looked down at her own body, and manifested her golden aura. At least she felt fine. Clearly he wasn’t doing anything to their abilities. So did that mean everything was going to be okay?

  The final spark of light extinguished within the beast, and the beast fused into one solid, lifeless, gray mass. It fell two stories and cratered the ground as it hit. Mencari stood there, body shaking. A manic laugh escaped him as he looked at his hands radiating with an evil light.

  In a sinister tone he said, “That tickled.”

  “Rhysus?” she asked, disturbed by his ominous tone.

  A gasp escaped her as he gazed her way. His eyes were blood-red, as if multiple vessels had burst. From above, a dark shadow blocked the light passing through the crystal skylight.

  “A ship!” Cerna said.

  “Only the Nukari would have something that big here,” Mencari said, and cursed.

  She saw the jagged, mask-like symbol on the bottom of the hull. He was right. “There! The Nukari emblem!”

  Mencari raised his arms, energy arcing back and forth between his hands. Immense power seemed to be at his command. A gust of wind followed a beam of unbelievable ferocity, which blasted skyward. The crystal roof shattered. The struck section of the Nukari ship cleaved off and broke up in the air.

  Her mouth gaped in awe when chunks of wreckage and roofing crashed down from above. The red aura appeared weaker but still formidable. He’d raised his arms for a second strike when something jumped out of the ship above them, something that looked like a person in a silvery cloak, tossing tiny pink stones at them. What are they doing? she wondered.

  Another gust of wind accompanied the second attack from Mencari. A golden light radiated from the jumper and arced across the tiny pink stones, which were still in freefall. The arcs fused into defensive disks of power. As Mencari’s blast passed through each successive layer, the power of his blast diminished.

  Around the jumper a cloud of white billowed. As the weakened blast hit, the beam dispersed in glints of light against the protective fog.

  Diamond dust? That looks like Seigie’s diamond dust defense.

  “Seigie?” Allia screamed.

  Moments before hitting the ground, the jumper’s golden aura flashed, stopping her momentum. Purple boots touched down on the ground. Removing her silver hood, a youthful woman screamed at Mencari, “What are you doing?”

  The aura around Mencari had faded and returned to a dull gold. His face held a look of reverence. “Lady Weun,” he said, the mania from before extinguished.

  “Rhysus, why are you here? What have you done!”

  “We heard your distress call and we came to help,” he explained.

  “I never sent a distress call!” she shouted back.

  “He’s right, we received a message,” Speru said.

  “But it was broken up,” Allia added.

  “It mentioned the Nukari, the mercenaries, and this fortress,” Mencari said.

  “We don’t need help,” she said, still bitter. “I mentioned the fortress because of the research Seigie left behind—research that I’ve been able to continue. At least I had until now. And the Nukari have been working with us to make Aeun better! Menla even forced the mercenaries off our world.”

  “She’s working with you?” Mencari said, confused. “Can you trust her?”

  “She didn’t have a choice,” Lady Weun said. “She told me they were cut off from the other Nukari forces. They were stuck here, so they patriated.”

  “Be wary of Nukari assistance!” Mencari said, more worried than before.

  “They’ve done a lot for our world already. Have you seen the new cities,
or the gem-harvesting infrastructure, or the communications systems? You should have seen them boot the mercenaries off our world. Menla even placed satellites in orbit, to monitor our space and warn of us of threats.” Harsh eyes looked Mencari over. “You sure you know who your enemies are?”

  Her body trembled with rage.

  “I know them all too well. Maybe Menla is different, but that doesn’t give a pass to the rest of them. I’ve fought the Nukari all across our region of space, and I’ve seen what they’ve done.”

  “Rhysus is right,” Speru said, defending him.

  A bangle on her wrist glowed, then chimed. She touched it, and a gritty alto voice blared, “Are you okay? I’ve been told your ship was attacked!”

  Smug, Lady Weun held her gaze with him then said, barely masking her anger, “I’m okay, Menla. Some old allies came thinking I was in trouble. There was some confusion, but we’ve cleared it up now.”

  “Do you need anything? I’m going to send a new ship. Your pilot reported he needed to head back for repairs.”

  “The fortress has sustained a great deal of damage. Maybe send an assessor to see what can be fixed.”

  Allia looked around and cringed. Blast holes pocked the walls, pillars of stone were fractured, railings across the exposed levels were blown off. Chunks of the Nukari ship were lodged and still smoldering in sprinkled piles all around. And a great hole in the ceiling was all that remained of the incredible crystal skylight. The fortress looked like a warzone.

  “Understood,” the caller said. “If anything changes, contact me right away. This doesn’t feel right. Old allies don’t come in weapons blazing. Until you’re back here and safe, I’ll be on standby for you.”

  Lady Weun smiled. “Thank you, Menla. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I’ll keep you posted.”

  “Okay, Menla out.”

  Indignant, Lady Weun looked to Mencari. She held his gaze. “The Nukari under Menla are different. And we’re fine, except for having to clean up your mess now.”

  Mencari offered, “We could help undo—”

  “Why don’t you just go. You’ve helped enough.”

  Why is she so angry? Allia wondered. It was just a mistake Naijen made that got the attack started. Though given everything they’d been through, anyone could have made it.

  “I … we just wanted to help,” Mencari said. “But … okay … we’ll go.”

  CHAPTER 28

  Jask's Wrath

  “Everyone makes mistakes, Rhysus. We didn’t know,” Allia said, watching Aeun shrink through he ship’s portside window.

  Speru added, “We’ve never seen Nukari defecting like Menla did on Aeun. Much less an entire battle group.”

  “I’m glad they didn’t on my world. Wanted to clean Abunai with my own hands,” Naijen snarled. “At least those crystal beasts were fun for a while.”

  Mencari sat quiet, staring out the window. Lady Weun had actually asked him to leave. He’d never had anyone tell him that before. All he wanted to do was help. Still, how many times had Osuto and Kiyanna warned him about jumping into situations? This whole thing was mortifying—a mistake he didn’t mean to make and one he could never repeat again. As for finding redemption in taking back Aeun, he couldn’t think of a more epic failure.

  A memory of his wife and son pushed to the forefront of his mind. It was just before Rhyiel’s third birthday party. Seven three-year-olds were coming over along with their parents. Somehow they all fit into their tiny quarters on the Coalition’s Plutaran Station. He smiled. They truly were happy there. Sometimes it felt good to get lost in memories of the past. It kept him away from a present he didn’t want to deal with anymore. For an instant he got to forget about the Nukari, the mercenaries, New Eden and all its responsibilities, and the pressure to protect so many with so little thanks, and such scant forgiveness.

  The moment was fleeting as an image of the medical bay replaced the happy memory. He didn’t have them back. No. Instead, the woman he loved lay ravaged in a bed. And the son he’d longed for thought he was a Nukari Beast Warrior called Jask, on a mission to kill him. The very people he called his new family made sure Jask was kept mentally and chemically unconscious due to fear of what he could do if awakened.

  This was all … too much. He felt exhausted all the time. His nightmares might be gone, but his waking moments were a worse hell. For the first time, he wanted to leave it behind. Maybe take his wife and son somewhere far away. Get them the help they needed to become whole again—to be a family again. A family. Would it ever be possible? With Osuto fading, he might not last much longer. Mencari’s leadership would be more important that ever. This was just one more burden to carry.

  But he knew in his heart he didn’t want it anymore. Not that he didn’t care about his extended family, he just couldn’t be the one to carry it forward anymore. He needed reprieve. He needed Anaka and their son.

  “Um,” Minea said. “Guys, something just happened.”

  He closed his eyes, and sighed. “Now what?”

  “I just lost my connection to my instance back on the asteroid base.”

  “Is that bad?” Speru asked.

  “Sometimes it happens, but not usually like this. The connection is totally gone, and I can’t raise anyone there either. I don’t think the signals are even getting through.”

  A projection of Bob appeared next to Minea’s. “Alert: signals from the asteroid base abruptly terminated. All redundancies have failed.”

  “What does that mean?” Speru said.

  Panicked, Minea said, “It means we can’t tell if it’s even there anymore.”

  “Una!” Mencari started.

  Without another word from her, a beam shot ahead of the vessel, ripping a tunnel open in space. Mencari sank in his seat as gravity shifted inside. The roar of their thrusters echoed while the craft shot into the spinning tunnel of light.

  What could have happened? Minea’s words haunted him. What did she mean, they couldn’t tell if it was there? Could the Nukari have found the base? Maybe they could track Jask? If anything happened to him or Anaka he’d never forgive himself.

  “I still can’t raise anyone,” Minea said, still plodding away at her holographic console.

  A burning filled his chest. “How much longer?”

  “Thirty seconds,” Una called back.

  I shouldn’t have left them. I should’ve stayed. Why did I insist on coming?

  He wasn’t even needed on Aeun! Was this just another cosmic joke at his expense?

  The craft jostled slightly as it passed through the rift back into normal space. A projection of the asteroid base and surrounding boulders appeared before Minea and Mencari.

  “It’s there!” Allia cried out.

  Floating debris appeared in a tumbling red projection crawling away from the base. “Look!” Minea said.

  With a click then a whir, Bob said, “Affirmative! That would be the communications array.”

  “The whole communications array is gone!” Minea gasped. “I’m not detecting any Nukari or mercenary ion trials, or any disturbances in space outside of the one we just made. Nothing folded or tunneled into the area. The only anomaly is a nearby asteroid that seems to be rotating unusually fast.”

  That left only a few alternatives. Mencari blurted, “Anything on the long-range scans? Are there beast warriors around?”

  A moment passed, then Minea said, “No. Nothing.”

  “Maybe something happened inside?” Allia said.

  Toriko’s systems wouldn’t have caused a malfunction to destroy the entire communications array. No, this was deliberate. Something inside had to have happened. Mencari’s heart jittered a few beats.

  God, don’t let it be.

  A name escaped his mouth, “Jask?”

  “I’m seeing an energy surge inside the asteroid base,” Minea yelled. “I think it’s from the reactor!”

  “Can you stop it?”

  “I can’t even get at the inter
nal scanners from here. I literally cannot attach in. Something’s seriously really wrong there.”

  “Affirmative!” Bob said with a double click. “Key infrastructure is offline.”

  “Do we have time to do something?” he said.

  “I think so? Not much …”

  “Una—get us in there!” he barked.

  “Strap in!” she said as the ship lurched forward. There wasn’t time for the automatic systems to dock the ship. It would be all manual.

  “We’ll assist!” Minea said, projecting holographic control panels before her and Bob.

  The horizontal entrance to the docking bay rotated clockwise as they approached. The ship spun to match the rate of rotation. “Nearly there!” Minea yelled.

  “Alert: compensating for station drift,” Bob said.

  “As soon as we’re in, make for the reactor room!” Mencari called back.

  The station grew rapidly in the viewer before them. Would they be able to stop in time?

  He heard Cogeni chanting a prayer behind him. “… by your hand, guide us to safe harbor, and save us from peril.” A white light formed along the hull.

  “What’s going on? I can’t compensate,” Minea said as the ship warped forward and stopped just beside its docking pad.

  Confused silence filled the cabin. Mencari looked back at Cogeni who said, “We should go.”

  In an instant, Mencari undid his safety harness and dashed out the airlock. Emergency lights pulsed in odd patterns all around the bay. Minea flew beside Mencari as he ran.

  “I still can’t attach,” she said while they hurried along. “The internal circuitry seems fried. At least communication and scanning systems. I still can’t get any readings directly off the reactor. The ship’s scanners are still picking up the energy surging.”

  Something more serious bothered him. “Where is everyone else? Why didn’t they stop this?”

  The emergency lights pulsed brighter by the moment. Corridor panels exploded off in a shower of sparks as they neared the reactor room. “Nearly there,” Minea yelled as the clanging of smashing metal assaulted his ears.