by Sam Hval
“So we invaded an Oldie compound, rescued kidnapped civilians, and crashed a hover vehicle into the King’s quarters," Goldan said to break the silence. “Anything else you’d like to cross off your bucket list Cross?”
Cross chuckled. “How about winning a Civil War?”
“That,” Goldan replied. “I’m not so sure about.”
Everyone in the room laughed together. Getting stitched up and cracking jokes, Aliah thought. Just like old times.
“Hey, how about that beer Goldan?” Stelly asked.
“I never promised anything,” Goldan replied.
“Asshole.”
The King’s guards barged into the room. “Q-Squad!” one of them said. “Report on the front lines!”
Cross looked over at William lying down next to him. He patted his shoulder and said, “Good luck my friend.”
“You too.”
Cross climbed off along with the rest of the squad and headed out the door.
King Corridan stepped his way into the room. William and Angel sat up a little.
“About that mission?” William asked.
“Yes, of course," Corridan answered. “If you couldn’t tell already, the Corridian army is running low on supplies and troops.” William looked back at the memories of thousands of dead soldiers on the battlefield.
“Yeah, no kidding.”
“Luckily, Morridia is in a healthy alliance with the Novidian Fleet. Have you heard of them?”
“Yeah. Between Sector 9 and 7? I passed it a few days back.”
“Well if you’ve seen their station, you obviously know of the immense power they would bring to the battle.”
“I don’t doubt it,” William chuckled.
“I need you to fly out to the station, convince them of our current situation, and bring them back here,” Corridan explained, with his proper tone of superiority.
“So I’m sort of like your ambassador in way, huh?”
“If you say so, yes.”
“What’s the catch?”
“500 Sectorial credits, an honorary title, and you get to keep the ship you pick to take out there. Any preferred brands or types?”
William’s mind flashed back to The Whiskey burning in the desert.
“You ever heard of an R5-36, your highness?”
***
Devil’s nostrils burned in her waking breath. The smell. Smoke?
She coughed and wheezed as she tried her best to push her frail body out of the stone debris around her. What happened?
After pushing herself out, her ears gradually picked up on the noise around her. She struggled to stand up, leaning against the large chunks of walls to support herself. Screaming and yelling occurred all around her.
She tried her best to refocus not only her thoughts, but her vision as well. Soon enough, the blurriness vanished. She squinted, widened her eyes, and took a good look at what exactly was going on.
Swarms of the Oldie army were running in formations, heading in and out of the main gate. To her right, dozens of other soldiers dumped buckets of water on to the fires engulfing the debris.
She took a while to assess the debris, and eventually distinguished it as the remains of the watchtower. Luck must really be in my favor right now, she thought to herself.
Someone was calling her.
“Ma'am! M'aam!”
She looked behind her to find one of the gate guards running towards her. He was covered in black dirt and was flailing his arms around.
“We need to get you to safety! The watchtower got hit by one of the tankers!” he yelled. The man looked over at some other guards running towards the gate and stopped them. “Hey! Get over here!”
They stopped, noticed Devil, and began to run towards him. All three of them began to carry Devil towards one of the abandoned homes nearby.
I hope they know what the hell they’re doing.
***
Varik strolled his way through the dimly lit cave. To brighten the area up a bit, he flicked his index finger. A small yellow flame came out of his finger. But it wasn’t anything like fire. It was smooth , calm, and almost controlled compared to fire.
Slowly, the yellow flame engulfed his hand, turning into a fireball in his palm. He continued heading towards his destination.
Eventually, he stopped.
“Rise…” he said, with his raspy, evil tone.
The cavern rumbled all around him, sending stalactites raining down. After a few short minutes, the chaos around him stopped.
And the glowing orange eyes of a dragon appeared in the darkness.
Chapter 17
The ground shook, pictures and decorations fell from the wall, and the large, glittering chandelier above Corridan fell and crashed in front of him in a spectacular array of glass.
“What the hell is going on!’ Corridan yelled over the noise, to the men cleaning up his quarters. They shrugged and looked out the enormous hole in the window.
The ongoing war was at its peak now. Millions of red, blue, and purple lasers shot out in all directions. Explosions scattered across the air and the ground.
But a new addition made the battle even more dangerous.
A dragon.
Its massive wings extended outwards and flapped every few seconds to gain momentum. The muscles in its body were practically bursting through its dark orange scales.
A dragon. It had been ages since they existed. Corridan’s great grandfather had hunted them down to extinction.
Someone released it, and the question on Corridan’s mind was,
Who?
***
Q-Squad stood tall in the packed armory. They headed to the lockers and pulled out their specified and personalized weapons and gear.
They were now locked and loaded with a fresh supply of Corrilide charge packs and red combat armor.
“Everyone ready?” Cross asked.
“Yes sir!” they yelled in unison.
As they filed out of the door, an echoing roar shattered their ears. The ground beneath them rumbled and their vision grew blurry.
Cross tried his best to squint through the blasterfire in the sky, and saw the menacing behemoth. The dragon flew around the dark sky, the blasterfire and arrows bouncing off of it.
It started to get closer now.
“No,” Cross said. “No no no no no…”
The beast flew directly overhead.
“Run!” he screamed.
Q-Squad sprinted and ducked their way through the canopies surrounding the outside medical areas.
The dragon erupted yellow flames out of his mouth and nostrils. The smoldering heat blasted the canopies above them, fortunately blocking Q-Squad from the flames.
They continued to run towards the vehicle division. After many more minutes of evading the incoming attacks of the dragon, they finally made it to a large warehouse.
While stopping to take a rest, Aliah said, “What do we do now?!”
“I don’t know!” Cross yelled back.
Stelly took a quick glance at the stealth vehicles lined up along the wall in front of them.
“I got an idea,”
***
Varik went back to the overlook. He stood defiantly with his hands behind his back. He watched joyfully at the chaos ahead of him.
He grinned and said, “Good.”
***
One of the King’s men spoke up. “We’re going to need someone incredibly skilled to stop that beast.”
"But who?!” Corridan yelled in frustration. “All of the hunting squads were pulled off years ago!”
“I suggest we wait for that man and the girl to come back with the fleet.”
Of course! Corridan had almost forgotten about them.
Corridan turned his back toward him and said, “Let’s hope they hurry,"
Chapter 18
William gave a light whistle as he stared in anticipation at the red and black patterned R5-37 cargo ship. “That’s a 37!”
“
Sure is,” The docking bay manager said, as he lowered the ship down by crane. The ship looked strikingly slimmer than ‘The Whiskey’. Every edge on the R5-36 had now been filleted and curved to beautiful smoothness.
The hull, wings, and cargo holding area were painted a glossy black, and the cockpit a shiny red.
“You know what?” William muttered under his breath.
“What?” Angel said, equally as in awe as William.
“This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”
William and Angel laughed together as the ship was plopped down from the hook of the crane.
“She’s all yours,” The manager told them. “Take good care of her.” He patted William on the shoulder, whose eyes were still glued to ship, and walked off.
“What are you gonna name it?” Angel asked playfully.
“Gee, I dunno,” William replied, practically speechless.
“How about…” Angel began to think. “The Whiskey 2.0!”
William gave Angel a reluctant look. “Really?”
“Why not? It is just The Whiskey, but cooler.”
“You make a good point, but it just sounds too silly to me.”
“Well, do you have any other ideas?” she countered.
William stuttered and mumbled before giving in.
“Alright, Whiskey 2.0 it is.”
***
Devil took a deep breath and relaxed her aching muscles. One of the guards that had rescued her from the wreckage came into the small, dusty, bedroom she was resting in.
“How are you feeling?” he asked her.
“A little sore, but nothing serious,” She answered. “Are the fires put out?”
“Yes m’am. And the debris had been cleared for more room. We are constantly sending out more knights.”
“Good," She said, contempt. “Where is Pillinger?”
“He did not make it out of the the attack alive.”
Devil closed her eyes and exhaled. Pillinger was probably the closest she had ever gotten to a friend, but she would not let his death affect her duties.
“Would you let the remaining sentinels know of my current health?”
“Of course," The man said.
After a few seconds, Devil opened her eyes and saw that he was gone.
***
Stelly slowly jogged his way over to one of the stealth vehicles. They were all identical to the one he had snagged earlier for the scouting job.
They all hovered about two feet off of the ground, and had large, circular stepping pads on each side. The front of the vehicles extended outwards triangularly. Most of them appeared to be painted a smooth gray.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Cross asked Goldan.
Goldan replied with a slight frown. “Unfortunately, yes.”
Stelly put one foot on the step pad and climbed into the driving side.
“Hop in,” he commanded.
“Now what exactly do you think we’re gonna do when we get up in the air,” Aliah pressed him.
Stelly was about to answer before he stopped and looked down in thought. He hadn’t really figured that part out yet. Eventually he came to a conclusion.
“Did any of you remember seeing any C’Nades?” he suggested.
“You mean the sticky kind?” Aliah said.
“Yeah, and the ones you can detonate manually.”
“There was a whole bin in the armory full of them,” Cross added.
“One of you needs to head over there fast and grab the whole bin.”
“What? That kind of weight would pull the hover vehicle down,” Goldan reminded him.
“We’ll find a way. It’s worth the risk.”
Cross looked at him in his big, hazel eyes and noticed a new sense of sincerity he had never seen in Stelly. It was enough to convince him that they really did have no other option, and that the Corridian army was about to face their fate.
The roars of not only the dragon burning the battlefield, but the laser cannons blasting it, echoed throughout the warehouse. The equally loud Oldie cannons gave a menacing puff every few seconds.
"Goldan," Cross ordered, still staring into Stelly's trusting face. "Go with Aliah and carry the bin here as fast as you can."
Goldan answered with a half grin. "No problem, Commander."
***
Varik watched as the heavy, black balls blasted out of the thick tubes scattered across the Ullicar boundary wall. Their weight forced themselves against the thick air. They exploded in a fiery mess upon impact of the dragon's thick skin.
Varik knew it would catch them by surprise. Dragons had supposedly been extinct for generations. And now, all of the sudden, they reappear? It was almost too perfect for Varik, but it worked fine enough. The battlefield was scorching in flames now, and hundreds of thousands were meeting their fate.
He didn't know what to think when he first witnessed the beast hiding in the cave. Varik thought he would be all alone, at last. But a rumble shook the overlook one starry night, and the behemoth awoke. Varik was terrified, but soon enough, the beast learned that Varik would not harm it.
They formed an unlikely bond, and the dragon slept until that final command, Rise. It waited years for its return. Now, it finally had the chance to cause the complete and total destruction it was meant for.
Varik often wondered himself, why he had picked this specific location to hide out. Perhaps it was the view? Or maybe the claustrophobic nature of it?
No, it wasn't both of those things. It took many years of waiting and thinking for him to realize that his power was too dangerous for him to abuse. They were too dangerous to expose.
Only he and his late wife had the yellow blood, the power that came from the rock beneath.
His time was running out. He could sense it. But when?
Chapter 19
William was about to open the ramp of his new ship, when a sudden pain surged through his head. The pain continued to strike him forcefully all the way down his body. He screamed in his aching pain, and fell to the ground. The hard concrete floor slammed against his shoulder.
"Will?" Angel called out, worried, as she ran over to him and knelt down. "What's going on? Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he answered. "Maybe I should of rested a little while longer back at the medbay."
He felt guilty. He knew something was wrong with him, this wasn't the first time he had felt this kind of pain. But he wouldn't let it affect his current duties. He needed to get to the Novidian Fleet, and fast.
"Maybe you should rest for a bit," Angel suggested.
"No. We gotta get to the fleet," William countered. He looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Trust me, I'm fine." Another sting of guilt went through him.
Angel stood up, grabbed his outstretched hand, and pulled him to his feet. William slammed the large, orange, square button on the top of the ship door.
The door made a quiet buzzing sound, as it quickly transformed into a steep ramp. "Hey, it's quieter too!" William said, his excitement kicking back in after the sudden pain. William and Angel scurried up the ramp into the expansive cargo holding area.
It was similar in shape to the R5-36's, but much larger and with a new coat of paint. From there, the two partners ran to the elevator and pushed the button with the up arrow.
"Well, If you ask me-" William tried to say, but the elevator had already reached the top. "Woah. That was fast."
They walked out the sliding door and went into the resting area. Everything was positioned similarly, but the furniture was a nice, crisp, red leather. And the beds were big and spaced out from each other.
"Okay," Angel said. "This is freaking sweet." She happily jumped on to the bed in the same manner as before. Except this time, William didn't stop her. He watched her have fun, and wished that he could have had the young life she did.
"Alright kiddo, that's enough," He told her after a few minutes. "We gotta go check out the cockpit."
She hopped off and followed hi
m in to the rounded metal door to the cockpit. The upgrade of curviness and slimness on the outside had also made its way inside as well. Everything had a pleasant vibe to it, unlike the rough, used feeling of the original Whiskey.
The control board was really the only thing about The Whiskey 2.0 that was exactly the same. All of the same button and switches, same colors, and same shapes. He hoped it would be the same. He was so used to the layout of the original Whiskey, that anything new would not help him in getting to the Novidian Fleet quickly. Learning new things wasn't William's specialty.
He sat down into the comfortable, red leather seats, and invited Angel to do the same.
"Will you ever properly teach me how to fly this thing?" Angel asked as she plopped down in her seat.
"I did," William replied.
"No you didn't. You just showed me how to move the big stick around. That was it."
"We don't need to worry about it right now," William tried to remind her.
"Well, this Angel would love to fly."
"Not all Angels can fly," William said as he started up the ship. "Especially you."
"Who ever said Angels can't learn to fly?"
"Me," William said.
Angel gave him a contemptuous look, and leaned back in her seat with her arms folded across her chest. William held on to his seat, expecting the ship to shake around and rumble. Instead, it had an easy bump, jolt, and then vibration. No loud noise, no shake, nothing.
"I really hope we can get them to help us," William told Angel, as he started to hover the ship up.
Angel gave a small laugh. "That's probably the first time you've ever showed compassion, Will."
"I'm not," He rebutted. "I just wanna keep the ship."
***
Corridan stood in the same manner as he usually did by the tall window in his throne room: Tall, proud, and a little bit worried. Just a couple of days ago, there was a beautiful, bustling city full of people. Now, there was an abandoned, dirty shell of a city.
