Celestial Ascension (Splintered Galaxy Book 1)

by Eddie R. Hicks

  “I wasn’t exactly sure where we should land.”

  He floated over to one of the transport ships, opening its door. “This works out well, actually, since I need equipment.”

  Fair point, but why didn’t he have his equipment to start with? Perhaps that’s why he’s third class. Noylarlie floated toward the exit, which led to the rest of the station. She glanced through the sliding glass door to see what was beyond them. The walls lining the tubular hallways were white, lights all along the tops. This place was overly bright for her liking. Parcisei exited the transport, equipped with combat armor and a magnetic rifle.

  “Lead the way,” she requested.

  Small thrusters on the back of his armor propelled him toward the door. Noylarlie nodded to him that she was ready. His finger flicked a switch on the control panel, and the door slid open as the two slipped through. They made their way down the bright, white hallway, coming to a fork, one of many, in the passageway. She kept behind him as he propelled through the maze of passages. Every hallway looked the same, some with sliding glass doors in them. The rooms the laminated hallways led to, however, were dark.

  Parcisei’s body came to a sudden stop, signaling to Noylarlie to do the same. She looked over his shoulder to see what the holdup was. Three Javnis, one Linl, and a Rabuabin floated within a large chamber. They wore the same combat armor and weapons as Parcisei—Radiance Union rangers.

  “Hope you’re as good as Jerut claims. We need to get past this area,” he said.

  “You’re in my way.” She shoved him aside.

  Her arms glowed as she took aim, and two simultaneous bursts of white fire accelerated forward. The armor of two of the three Javnis who were standing together melted instantly and then burst into flames. The face of the one in the middle was burned off by the blast the other two took. His weightless body spun and squirmed aimlessly and painfully.

  The Linl ranger twisted to see the ambushers. He launched backward as Parcisei’s rifle fired through his chest. Four massive exit wounds on his back spewed out a string of red orbs of blood and mangled tissue. At the same time, the Rabuabin’s body spun out of control as Noylarlie pushed him to the side with a telekinetic thrust. He lost his grip on his weapon, which in turn was psionically possessed by Noylarlie. Her mind commanded it to come about and erupt with projectile fire, turning the center of the Rabuabin’s head into a bloody gorge. Parcisei put the Javnis with his face burned off out of his misery—three rounds through the back of his head—as they left.

  The rest of the rangers onboard heard weapons’ fire and knew trouble was coming their way. They took up defense inside command operations, using the workstations and computer terminals as cover. The duo floated past the station’s free-floating crew, tied-up by the Radiance forces. Parcisei looked at them for a moment and then looked away. Noylarlie grinned at the sight. He wasn’t kidding about not coming here to save lives.

  The duo stopped just shy of the command operation area. An ambush was waiting for them, about two squads’ worth. Noylarlie hovered on the side of the sliding door leading to the operation area and looked at Parcisei. “Close and lock this door immediately after I enter,” she ordered. He nodded and floated his body toward the door’s control terminal.

  A psionic barrier shrouded her as she entered the command operation area to carry out her plan. The door shut and locked behind her as she requested. Without warning, rapid fire from multiple mag rifles impacted her barrier. Every bullet repelled off, blue waves of energy rippling around the areas of the barrier that had been shot. The rangers continued firing, not realizing an Archmage barrier would not weaken so easily. She raised her hands up and far apart, while her eyes closed in deep focus.

  The ceiling slowly ripped apart with her telekinetic thoughts, exposing the whole area to the vacuum of space. Everyone was blown out of the area, her telekinetic thoughts returning quickly to keep herself in place. Her attention was once again back at the top, where the ceiling once was. Her eyes closed, cybernetics glowed, and a barrier like the one that protected her from the shots formed across where the ceiling had been. The atmosphere in the room returned to normal, and she summoned Parcisei to come in. They had almost reached their objective.

  They entered the laboratory—a room made up of testing chambers alongside the walls and rows of computer workstations. Each chamber had a large glass window and an airlock passage leading into it. Parcisei propelled his body toward the first terminal, his fingers quickly racing across its interface. Noylarlie floated past him, gazing her sights forward to get a view of the testing chambers. Each and everyone were empty. Whatever these researchers were doing, it had been removed and cleaned up.

  She focused her psionic mind, attempting to merge it with the computers. She didn’t expect much since these were not Hashmedai computers containing information she could understand. Each computer she checked locked her out, all requiring passcodes—all except the one Parcisei was using, as the passcode was already entered. Her eyes shut, and her mind switched to that particular machine. She was in, but nothing made sense to her. All the data was written in a language she didn’t understand. Then something she understood presented itself—pictures. New data beamed to her brain. It looked like a dossier, profiles of Radiance and Hashmedai people. There was data attached to each picture, but that she could not read. A link was opened up to the computer onboard the Crimson Arrow, and she uploaded her findings.

  A circular hole along the side of the terminal ejected a small data crystal into Parcisei’s hand. “I’m good to head out,” he said.

  Noylarlie’s upload finished. She asked, “How do you plan on destroying this place?”

  He replied, “The reactor underneath should do it. One or two good shots from your ship should set off a nice chain reaction of events.”

  “Let’s get started then.” She charged up her cybernetics for a teleport.

  ………

  The Crimson Arrow broke low orbit, accelerating toward the space station’s bottom section. The Radiance cruiser was placed in high alert when word came of the three squads of rangers who were lost. It took notice of the Crimson Arrow and plotted an intercept course—too late, however. Two shots from the Crimson Arrow’s plasma cannons project forth, hitting the reactor dead-on. A small sphere-shaped explosion came out the other end of the station. The Crimson Arrow turned sharply away from the station, cruiser, and planet. Noylarlie and her partner in crime had one objective left—survival.

  Just as planned, the station’s reactor melted down and exploded, sending debris in all directions. The Radiance cruiser adjusted course and continued its chase. Scanners relayed new information to Noylarlie’s mind. The station’s destruction was enough to catch the attention of two out of seven Hashmedai destroyers in the area as they powered their engines and made their way over to investigate. The remaining five destroyers will not receive an update for a solid forty minutes or so due to their distance. Unless of course the psionics onboard the two destroyers contacted the ones onboard the five telepathically, and that was all Noylarlie needed.

  She commanded the flight computers with her mind to adjust course once again—this time toward the two destroyers. The Radiance cruiser followed suit and adjusted, either unaware it might have to deal with two Hashmedai destroyers or overly confident it could take the two on.

  Several minutes had passed, and the twin destroyers were now in range. The Crimson Arrow flew past as the destroyers’ forward plasma cannons glowed and took aim at the Radiance cruiser, which paid little attention to the new threat. A barrage of hot plasma green hurled in front of the cruiser, impacting its front shields and psionic over shields. The crew aboard the Radiance cruiser had a strong psionic onboard, possibly two, enhancing the cruiser shields. The cruiser passed by the two destroyers, leaving behind its return fire, a swarm of homing plasma missiles impacting all sides of the two destroyers. It wasn’t enough to take them out of the fight, but it was certainly enough to slow them down, as
they had to recover from the blast before changing course to pursue.

  New combat data was transmitted—the remaining Hashmedai destroyers all had their courses dead set on the cruiser as it relentlessly chased its prey. The two other Radiance cruisers adjusted their course to join the action, word of Noylarlie’s actions spreading fast. No doubt every ship in play had a psionic on board; guiding the ships into a conflict their sensors couldn’t quickly track due to the enormous distance between them.

  Neither Parcisei nor she had said a word to each other since the chase began. Parcisei merely wanted the data and the station destroyed, and now they were on the verge of a full-scale naval battle. Noylarlie grew increasingly concerned as each minute passed. Space combat tactics weren’t covered very well in her training as a psionic. She couldn’t move an enemy ship very well with telekinetics, as the mind barrier alone would disrupt that. Unless…her thoughts flashed back to six years ago and the statue of Yemis Hellfire she saw when entering the training facility. There may not be any nearby asteroids in this system to control, but there were plenty of derelict ships. An Archmage like herself should be able to move them.

  Another course of adjustment was made, this time to the closest piece of space hulk. The remains of an old Hashmedai fighter carrier had lain motionless for centuries, and three-quarters of it was completely destroyed, leaving the last remaining aft section floating in a sea of debris. Noylarlie positioned the Crimson Arrow so the carrier’s hulk was directly under it and ultimately the cruiser, which as predicted changed its course to follow.

  The hulk jolted slightly as she performed a test. She was capable of moving it—not with ease, but it could be done. It was going to take every bit of psionic focus to move it. The ship would need to be on autopilot. There was no way she could manage merging her mind with the computer and moving a massive object like that at the same time. The Crimson Arrow darted past the space hulk, and directly behind them was the cruiser, flying the same path. It was nearing the hulk below, so Noylarlie focused on the task at hand. No turning back now.

  She shut her glowing eyes to focus, entering a trance in which the image of the hulk appeared before her. Her mind gripped onto it firmly. The process was draining, causing her heartbeat and breathing to accelerate. It felt like lifting a heavy object above her head and then tossing it far, but instead of intense physical strain, she felt intense mental strain. The hulk quickly shot up toward the underside of the cruiser. She couldn’t hold onto it very long, since such a task was just too energetically draining. But that was OK—it just needed to be in motion at a fast speed to crash into the cruiser. And that’s exactly what happened.

  The cruiser reacted by firing a salvo of missiles at the hulk, the only weapons on the ship they were able to hit from that position. The plasma cannons were on the front and only able to hit targets before it. The missiles impacted and exploded along the hulk, but it was too little too late. The hulk crashed into the cruiser, taking down its shields and dealing critical damage to the ship’s underside. The glow from its engines vanished, as the ship was no long in pursuit—half of it engulfed in flames. The remaining Radiance cruisers ended their chase, promptly returning back to their patrols. Noylarlie’s mind once again merged with the computer systems and adjusted course one last time…to the space bridge.

  ………

  Noylarlie and Parcisei sat motionless and silent in the Crimson Arrow’s cockpit. An hour after their escape, dialogue resumed. “So I never did tell you where we have to go with this data next, did I?” Parcisei started.

  Noylarlie sighed. That means the mission isn’t over. “Your communication skills are almost on par with Jerut’s,” she said.

  “Right, so Lejorania Sanctum. Drop me off there, and you’re done with this assignment.”

  “Never heard of it.”

  “Linl-turned-Radiance-Union world—orbits a binary star system,” he explained.

  She was puzzled. “That’s suicide. Doesn’t Radiance have massive fleets sitting in all their systems?”

  “They do. That’s why, when we go through the bridge, we’ll have to land outside of the system.”

  Noylarlie reviewed the estimated time of arrival to the space bridge—eleven days. She released her seat belt buckle and floated toward the main section of the ship. “Space bridge is eleven days away. We need to take a cryo nap.”

  Parcisei followed and added, “And quite possibly another one as we arrive.”

  Chapter 10

  A fountain of blood spewed across the walls, adding to the gruesome carnage in the autopsy room of the Nevada groom lake black site faculty. Another lifeless victim hit the floor, his head nearly severed from his body as it hung on by a piece of flesh at the back of his neck. One lab worker remained, her body trembling with fear after being forced to watch all her coworkers getting stabbed or sliced to death by an unseen adversary. She had to escape and call for help, but any chance of that lay just behind the room’s entrance, which was a mere three to four meters from the cabinet that currently kept her location concealed.

  Just run, open the door, scream for help, and hope for the best. It seemed simple enough, despite the nearly paralyzing grip of fear all over her body. Everything looked clear, so she put her plan in motion, sprinting to the door, taking care not to trip over the corpse of a colleague who’d tried a similar tactic when the blood bath began. Her hand extended forward to open it as she got close, and then she felt a sharp burning sensation across her wrist. Her hand fell to the ground. The assailant had been waiting for her move this whole time.

  Her fear turned to total shock, having witnessed her hand being severed without warning. Blood poured out to provide circulation to a body part that was now gone. Her screams came out as muffled sounds as the assailant covered her mouth with one hand and ended her life with the other—a burning stab through the back, piercing her heart with precision, burning away at the flesh and blood around it. The last body hit the floor, and with that, the assailant could now reveal herself.

  Phylarlie stared at her handiwork with a devious grin as the woman with the severed hand fell to the floor. She approached the operation table where the lab workers had been focused beforehand. Akeia’s lifeless body lay on it, chasms cut into him. It’s bad enough the humans had to take his life, but now they defile his body by dissecting it? Everyone in this facility was marked for death—the Assassins’ Guild demanded it.

  The door opened, and another lab worker entered before coming to a sudden stop after laying eyes on the carnage before him. “Oh, fuck!” he screamed, his last words.

  Phylarlie vanished into blue light, only to reappear behind him. Her plasma daggers sent his head to the floor with his blood squirting all over her face and chest. Two human soldiers nearby witnessed what happened and sent forth a barrage of bullets from their projectile weapons. She reentered the lab with a jump-port, followed by her reactivating her cloak so that all the soldiers saw was blue light and then nothing.

  The two humans took cover just outside the lab’s entrance, their heads moving from side to side, trying to see what had become of Phylarlie. Lucky for her, the blood splattered on her before jump-porting and cloaking. Had it been the other way around, they would have taken notice of blood dripping off an invisible body. Their attention turned down toward the mutilated, bloody bodies on the floor. One used his communication device to call for help. Bring all your comrades—makes my job easier, Phylarlie thought as she placed stun disks in her hands and walked toward the two who now stepped into the room.

  She positioned herself behind them. Neither was aware of the stun disk placed on his back, as they both continued to move forward with their rifles pointed out. Both soldiers suddenly collapsed to the ground, shaking, after she psionically activated the two disks. With a plasma dagger in each hand, Phylarlie returned to visibility. She gracefully knelt down, simultaneously plunging her left dagger into the back of one soldier’s neck and the right one into the other’s. She remained st
ill for a moment, waiting for the intense heat of her weapons to burn away at the insides of their necks. Small plumes of smoke arose, and she smiled while coming back up to her feet and vanished once again.

  ………

  Chris took up a defensive position near the autopsy room where Akeia’s body was, alongside Glover, Keys, and Roberts. Frustration followed—he and his team had been on their way out to take on another assignment when the intruder call came in. This would make it the second time this base had been compromised, and the last time, he had seen some strange results.

  He still had no idea how Akeia ended up dead by his hands, as the only brief memory he had of that incident was of the two confronting each other. Then he blacked out for reasons unknown. The scientists here had wanted a reason to cut Akeia open for study, and a bullet to the head gave them just that.

  Victor and Cortez took point, slowly moving down the hall and taking note of the mutilated bodies scattered about. All the bodies were from the first wave of soldiers called in for assistance. The two gave the all-clear, and then a voiced whispered into Chris’s ear. “Saving you for last…” It was a woman’s voice, with a Russian-like accent.

  His reflexes bolted him around to see who it was, but no one was there. “What the fuck?” said Chris.

  Victor and Cortez screamed in pain as their backs burst into flames. Chris, Glover, Keys, and Roberts reacted to assist them, but all four collapsed to the ground seconds after moving. A woman with black hair and pale-blue skin appeared out of nowhere. She held a glowing dagger in each hand, slowly walking toward the four. The burning on Victor and Cortez intensified, to the point that they fell to the ground, both completely engulfed in flames.

  Despite his best efforts, Chris was unable to get up from the ground. It was just like before when Akeia got shot, but this time he could somewhat see what was unfolding before him, even though it was blurry. What materialized as he lay on his side was worse than a nightmare. Phylarlie approached Roberts, rolling him onto his back with the heels of her boots, and knelt down and slit his throat. Glover received the same fate as she gazed into Chris’s eyes with a grin.