Xero Chronicle: Invasion

by Ross Buzzell

  “Does that mean we can take the powers from Konner and give them to you?”

  Xero glances up to Disa’ani and with a wicked grin agrees.

  “Exactly Disa’ani, it is low on power and I cannot jump you all the way to where the blue Boronite ring is with the charge that I have, you will end up in the middle of an ocean. There is a substation for the cities power gird not far from here, we re-charge the sphere I’ll have enough juice to get you to soften Konner up and turn these humans against him before I arrive.”

  Disa’ani nods in agreement with Xero’s plan, Xero figures it is because of the sight before him rather than actually understanding anything he had just said.

  “What about the evidence that you were here. I doubt anything on this world is powerful enough to do this!”

  Xero looks around, tucked in the corner is a box of grenades, he walks over to it, picks it up with his free hand after transferring the orb to his other and places the crate in the center of the room.

  “This will get the job done!”

  Xero pulls the pin to one of the grenades and drops it into the crate, now having a way to nearly instantly recharge the teleportation rune Xero presses it and both he and Disa’ani appear a few hundred meters away from the house as it explodes in a ball of fire and shrapnel, effectively covering any tracks at Xero’s activities. Xero had to admit, to himself if not anyone else, that there is something beautiful about an explosion, something cleansing, it makes it heart race. Xero turns from the burning building as sirens begin to erupt from the city to respond to the mass murder that had just occurred. Disa’ani follows closely behind.

  “We would have survived that explosion.”

  He calls out as he tries catches up and moves to Xero’s side.

  “That is true, but there would have been evidence left behind, at least this way my carnage will be mistaken for an accident. Keep moving!”

  Disa’ani nods and both men pick up their pace, they begin to jog through the sand, the soft ground not slowing them down in the slightest. The fire set by the explosion had begun to spread and more and more emergency responders begin to flood towards the cascading disaster. Xero and Disa’ani get to the power grid’s substation just as its police guards are called to help with the fire only leaving a few private security wandering around the facility.

  “Well that turned out unexpectedly well.”

  Disa’ani says softly as he looks at the few security guards while they make their rounds.

  “That it did. When we move in there will not be much time, I am going to charge the orb and send you to the ring. Show no quarter, give no mercy and kill anyone in your way, just leave Konner for me.”

  He growls before turning and gripping Disa’ani by the throat, catching him off guard. Xero feels the warm flesh of his subordinate give way slightly under his fingers as he squeezes Disa’ani’s throat.

  “And if you decide to take another member of the Lorian family from me, I will be forced to end you in a very slow and painful way do I make myself clear?”

  Xero’s growl nearly emulates that of Dark Seclusion’s speech as it echoes into the air with a hint of a rumble produced from it. Unable to speak Disa’ani nods feverishly. Xero releases the soldier; he drops to the ground but lands on his feet, coughing as he does. Xero crouches down and crosses the abandon road keeping to the shadows; Disa’ani follows closely behind him. The men reach a large chain link fence, something that Xero could easily slice through with his sword. Not knowing how the orb would react to the power grid, if it will draw it silently or bring a lot of attention Xero decides to leap over the fence. It takes no effort at all and both men clear the barrier, landing between the staggered formations of transformers, conductors, insulators lightning arrests and relays.

  Outstretching his hand Xero holds the orb tight, a soft hum begins to fill the air, Xero feels the sensation of static begin to amplify exponentially and rapidly in the air, if he had hair it would certainly be standing on end. A bright spark jumps from one of the transformers and into the orb, then another, and another. Eventually hundreds, if not thousands of strikes are leaping from the substation into the orb each second letting out loud crackles and pops with each electric arc. Xero feels a slight tingling in his hand, it travels through the bone and up to his elbow as the feed off from the orb empties a little electricity into his body, it almost tickles. The lights of the city begin to flicker and go out in rapid succession until the entire city is blacked out. Xero hears the yelling of the guards fill the quiet night air, the sandstorm having passed not long after the house exploded. Xero looks over at Disa’ani, drawing his sword he places the orb against the hilt of the weapon, jamming the hilt against the orb a bright yellow flash mixes with the purple light. Disa’ani draws a spear from his back.

  “What is your mission?”

  Disa’ani glances over Xero’s head, then looks back at him.

  “To retrieve the blue Boronite ring and bring it back.”

  Xero nods as the purple light begins to pulse and grow in brightness.

  “And what if people try and stop you?”

  A smirk fills Disa’ani’s lips as he growls with pleasurable anticipation.

  “Kill them all.”

  With that Xero presses the glyph on the blade. A blast of purple and yellow energy shoots from the orb and slams into Disa’ani’s chest, he lets out a blood curdling scream then vanishes into the ether. Xero places the orb against his side, the belt that is wrapped around his waist pulls the orb to it and holds it in place. The guards line up on the roof and walkways of the structure and scream at him in Arabic. With his bloodlust never satisfied Xero turns his attention to the guards and screams.

  “COME MY BLADE COULD USE A FEW MORE KNOTCHES!!!”

  Chapter: 4

  Disa’ani watches as Xero directs the teleportation spell into him. He is calm, he is confident; his mission is to be the hand of Xero at Dark Seclusions command. The initial blast of the energy wave sends a tingling sensation through Disa’ani’s body, almost as if his body has begun to resonate with the same frequency as the Earth itself. And unlike the Boronian teleporting it is not painless and a wormhole does not appear before him. As the spell kicks in Disa’ani feels as if his body is being ripped apart atom by atom with the inferno of a dying star, he would scream if he could but no sound leaves his mouth, reality warps around him as his body is distorted around space to send him to the blue Boronite ring.

  After a few moments of the most agonizing experience of his life Disa’ani feels his body being slammed back together violently as if each molecule were a train careening off of their rails before slamming into a mountainside. His warped vision snaps back into place and he finds himself standing in a long hallway with old stained carpet and dim yellowish lights that line the walls. Disa’ani looks down at his hands and moves them, flexing his fingers and rolling his wrists, his stomach is turned upside down from the trip, he can see why Dark Seclusion wants access to the Boronian teleportation method as without his direct influence a jump much further would have ripped Disa’ani apart and certainly would have killed a normal human. To deploy troops on a mass scale he would need to delegate that burden, which is something he cannot do without access to his planet.

  Disa’ani lets his vision move to the door before him, peering at it through the slits of the visor in his helmet. He can feel the power of the blue stone on the far side, calling to him as the corruption spell that has spread throughout his entire body twists and warps his mind. This causes a surge of adrenaline to cascade within him which makes Disa’ani instantly feel more aggression. Stepping forward he makes a fist and slams the flat side against the door three times. Reaching behind him Disa’ani grasps two of his spears and frees them from their sheaths, holding each at his side. He waits patiently, eager to engage Konner and cripple him for Xero’s arrival. His mind recalls perfectly every sparring session, every mission and every movement that Konner has made in battle that he had seen while f
ormulating a plan on how to get past his considerable defenses and even though he recalls years of training and fighting only seconds pass around him.

  The knob turns, Disa’ani’s attention moves towards it, as the door creeks ever so slightly he leans forward and with a powerful thrusts of his boot heel he slams his foot into the door causing it to explode violently open. A flash of blue light catches his attention and for a millisecond he believes it is Konner’s shield but his vision falls on someone else. A beautiful woman, far more fare than any he had seen, even on Boron slides across the ground and looks up at him with a defiant fear in her eyes. He can tell she is strong just from the look she gives him, his vision scans over her flawless form and her long red curls cascading around her shoulders while nestled between her breasts is the object he was sent to retrieve. Disa’ani instantly realizes she must have met Konner and there is no way he would not find her attractive. A sadistic smile forms on his face at the thought of taking her life and further emotionally crippling his former friend, his eyes locked on her as she begins to scoot away from him and clumsily climbs to her feet on the wooden floor of her apartment.

  As she reaches her feet Disa’ani notices a shift in her behavior, she is scared he can see that but there is something within her powerful enough to overcome that fear as she stands her ground. Disa’ani takes a few steps into the apartment, using his link with the third spear on his back he makes it float out of its housing and hover over his right shoulder preparing to throw it with his mind.

  “Who are you?”

  She asks, her voice is firm and low, almost growling but has a sense of an accent that flows off of her lips like honey. He can tell she is trying to intimidate him but she is a mere human and she is no real threat to any of his kind. He takes another step forward and points the spear in his right hand at the ring around her neck.

  “I am Disa’ani of Boron and THAT belongs to my master.”

  her lips curl into a smirk, she shakes her head causing her curls to bounce, this causes Disa’ani’s brow to furl, any time a weaker species has been confronted by one far more powerful they had reacted in fear, it was well documented and it was the reason soldiers were trained specifically to be un-intimidating to local populations while on missions off world.

  “Does your master wear armor like you?”

  She asks, something tells Disa that she already knows the answer. His attention is finally broken from her beauty long enough for him to notice a familiar blue cape draped around her shoulders, the same cap that belongs to Konner. This means that he did in fact survive, and that he was strong enough to get mobile. This causes Disa’ani to begin to laugh to himself because there is every chance that by the time Konner is found he will be back at full strength.

  “I see Konner survived the battle with my master, but why pray tell would he leave such valuable items in the hands of a human?”

  His voice is wry as he steps towards her. Natalie lifts a metallic cylinder that is thin on one end with a leather looking grip, which her fingers are locked around, and it gets fatter before evening out and rounding off at the tip. The fact that she still had them though means Konner is too weak to get back to her and retrieve the items.

  “He is too injured to retrieve them… which means all I have to do is take them from you and my master will be very pleased.”

  A brief thought enters his mind, what could he achieve with such power granted to him, he could become a god himself. The corruption within him twists once more removing any thought of taking the ring and cape for himself. In this brief moment of distraction he almost doesn’t register the woman move, with the object she is holding she knocks Disa’ani’s spear off to the side, and he still holds it tight the head is now pointed at the ground. A deafening ‘CLANG’ rings through Disa’ani’s helmet as his head is jerked to one side.

  With ears slightly ringing but no actual damage to him, aside from a slight blow to his pride that a human managed to get the drop on him, he releases the spear she had hit and makes it float as well, joining the third before reaching out and grasping her weapon with his now free hand. He glares deep into her eyes as the wound to his pride forces the fire of rage to fill him. Like crumbling a piece of paper Disa’ani begins to tighten his grip on the metal weapon and with almost no effort at all it begins to groan as it crumbles under the might of his grip. With a powerful jerk he rips it out of her hands and throws it away from him having clenched it so tightly that the sections above and below where he was gripping break from the section he had held in his hand.

  “You are a brave one I will give you that, but courage will not save you from me.”

  Disa’ani growls, thrusting his free hand forward he takes her neck in his grasp, her soft skin begins to constrict under his grasp like his did under Xero’s. She starts to struggle, making a fist she slams it down on Disa’ani’s elbow but her mightiest blows hardly register. This entertains him as her face begins to turn almost as red as her hair. With no effort he lifts her small frame off the ground and like the claws of a dragon her fingernails dig into his wrist as she begins to punch his helmet and she aims her surprisingly well aimed kicks at the weak points in his armor, again nothing. Then her eyes begin to flutter as she struggles to breath, as they roll to the back of her head Disa’ani gets a quick glimpse of azure blue light as the woman jabs two fingers through Disa’ani’s visor and with a shocking amount of force jams them into his eyes.

  Scalding head and a concussive wave leaves her sharp fingernails and ravage Disa’ani’s vision, his eyes begin to burn and ache as if they had just been gouged. Instantly he drops her as a pain overtakes him unlike anything he had felt before. Staggering back he cries out in pain, his concentration broken he hears the metallic clanging of the two floating spears fall to the ground. Disa’ani hears the woman’s footsteps as she charges to what could only be the door, still blinded he throws his hand out, grasping one of the spears with his mind he throws it at the door to bar her path. Dropping his hands, his eyes still burning, the vision begins to slowly return, blurry at first but then falling into focus.

  Disa’ani turns to see the woman slide to a stop; he throws his hand back fully intending to run her through and relishing the image to come. As the spear is about to make contact with his target a blue light flairs and an aura reverberates around the woman. The spear glances off of the shield but the force causes her to slide backwards some. Confused as to how she was able to generate a shield and with his eyes still burning and watering he can still see the woman glancing over at him. He jerks his hand once more and the spear lunges at her again but she moves swiftly and dives out of the way and rolls at him. She is fast but nowhere near as fast as others he had fought before. Typically he would be able counter her movements but with his eyes still having trouble focusing and burning he is unable to accurately track her and before he realizes it Disa’ani feels her cold grip around his wrist, a powerful blow that feels like an elbow on the inside of his and with the torque and momentum to her advantage.

  Disa’ani’s arm is violently forced behind his back and pinned against his lower spine. His head jerks forward as he feels his body being driven forward. She lets out a roar that would make the warriors of Boron proud. Still stunned from the eye gouge he tries to fight her but momentum is on her side and with one final push she slams him headlong into a wall of reddish stone so hard that his head causes the structure to give way leaving a hole in it. The impact loosens his helmet, something only Konner had been able to do in his training for the Cryptea. Disa’ani feels his arm wrenched upwards which sends him tumbling to the ground and his helmet falling from his head. The embarrassment of being overpowered, disarmed and having part of his armor removed by a mere human causes Disa’ani’s blood pressure to rise. He feels his face flush as he punches into the ground and begins to push himself back to his feet, stopping when he is on his hands and knees. The once head-strong woman takes a step back at his darker demeanor as he growls in a low and angry voice.


  “I haven’t been hit like that since I faced him. That was a mistake!”

  With a flick of his wrist one of his spears shoots off the ground and at the woman as the other moves in behind her. She ducks, dodging the first spear just as the second slams into her back accompanied with a blue flash of light which sends her tumbling forward and falling to the ground.

  Disa’ani approaches the woman and places the counterbalance to his weapon against the wooden floor; the small spike impales the ground as if it were soft dirt. Disa’ani pushes against his spear and uses the leverage to get himself on his feet. He glares at the woman, who stands several inches shorter than he does and tilts his head to one side, he feels his spine ripple as a loud series of crackles and pops fill the air before tilting it to the other side and doing the same. He notices small goosebumps form all over her skin at this sight and smirks before jamming the spear in his left hand at her gut. The shield flairs once again, protecting her from the fatal blow but forcing her to stagger backwards only for Disa’ani to pull the spear behind her in and slam into what would be her upper back only for the shield to save her once again but she stumbles forwards.

  Disa’ani puts two and two together and realizes the ring must be fueling the cape to produce the shield. He is not to bothered by this as, like all shields, given enough damage it will fail, and it gives Disa’ani an chance to torment his victim. As she stumbles forward Disa’ani grabs her wrist, not being a fatal blow the shield is not triggered. He twists her arm backwards and pushes it up in a way the anatomy of a humanoid is not meant to bend. He can feel the joint of her shoulder slowly being forced from its socket and the muscles surrounding it pulling in ways that they are not meant to. She begins to scream from the pain as Disa’ani throws her at the brick wall he had been slammed into, the shield activating to absorb the hard landing. Disa’ani lifts his hand and throws it at her causing two of his spears to fly headlong into the shield that is protecting her, while he jabs the third at her in concert. The spears cause the shield to spark and Disa’ani notices tiny cracks begin to form, he smiles down at her.