“Cute,” Lettielia concluded as Phylarlie spun around to face her. Lettielia held Phylarlie’s white highlighted hair in her fingers.
“It’s a human style,” said Phylarlie. “As primitive as they are, they know how to look good.”
Blue light flooded the interior of the ship. As it vanished, Nodevar and Whigli appeared, floating next to each other. “Hilemei is not going to walk from this,” said Nodevar, activating a holographic window that displayed images of a large human structure. “Hilemei, a scholar, and two rangers will be speaking to the human leadership at this building. They call it the ‘United Nations.’”
“They’ll most likely have personal shields active,” said Phylarlie. “Disks won’t stick to them.”
“Incineratary disks below their feet will generate enough heat to weaken their shields, provided they aren’t in combat armor,” Lettielia interjected. “From there you can take down the shields with three or four strikes with your blade.”
Phylarlie had not known that but did her best to suppress her surprise. Good to know next time I’m assigned a Radiance soldier as my target.
Nodevar’s hologram switched to an image of the Javnis and Rabuabin soldiers. “These two need to be dealt with right away. They are armed and pose the biggest threat.” Hilemei’s holographic image appeared after the previous one vanished. “Hilemei doesn’t seem to be armed, so this will be a matter of neutralizing his guards and then dealing with him.”
“What about the scholar?” asked Lettielia.
A hologram of Odelea loaded. “She’s not a psionic, unlike most Radiance scholars. Ignore her—she can’t do anything.”
Lettielia’s eyes moved up and down the image of the scholar’s small slim body. “So small and defenseless.” She smiled at Nodevar. “Can I kill her anyway?”
Nodevar rolled his eyes. “Why do you bother asking? You’re going to do it regardless.”
Lettielia gripped her dagger and glided it across the scholar’s image. This woman loves her job too much, Phylarlie thought. “So how do we pull this off?”
“Lettielia and I will deal with the soldiers,” Nodevar said. “You will keep Hilemei busy until we are finished; then it will be a matter of the three of us competing for the kill shot.”
A wave of uneasiness flooded Phylarlie’s stomach, and it wasn’t related to the zero-g environment. Toe to toe with him? The great general? “Why me on Hilemei?”
“Because you have no experience taking down personal shields.” Guess he saw my inexperience through my surprised face earlier. Damn.
The hologram vanished. Nodevar addressed Whigli. “We need you to stay aboard until we’re finished. We can’t risk anything happening to you, as you’re our only means of escape.”
Whigli nodded. “Understood. When do we leave?”
Nodevar replied, “They’ll be meeting with the humans in a few hours. This will be a historic assassination. It’s only fair we allow the human population to witness it.”
………
Ure Dalcea's feet marched discreetly along the sidewalk. He didn't have a specific destination in mind, just an urgency to put as much distance between himself and the home of Gavin and Anna Chambers. A home he just finished turning upside down. As a linl none of humans going about their day took notice of him. To them he looked like man taking a stroll in the suburban neighbourhood of this Los Angeles community.
His commutation ear implant received an auto only transmission. The Celestial Order no doubt requesting an update on the situation after he cut them off to flee. “Do you have it?” communicated Ure Sinzihea.
“Anna and her husband entered before I could finish my search. So no I don't” Dalcea whispered in reply. “I can try again later-”
“Don't bother; they're going to be much more alert now.”
“So now what?”
“I will find another way to get the gem from her. In the meantime contact Gab Delinei and regroup with the others.”
Chapter 11
Telepathy was the only known method of faster-than-light communication. Psionics powerful enough were able to send messages across the cosmos to other psionics in real time. Not all psionics had this level of power. Assassins, for example, could only receive telepathic communications, and even then, when they got a message, often it was cloudy and unclear. All Hashmedai battle groups were required to have at least one psionic strong enough for deep space telepathy. The Radiance Union had one psionic of this power on board each of their ships, and naturally psionics were much more commonplace in the Radiance Union due to their ability to create them at will. Given the long travel times between star systems, this form of communication was the only other means of knowing what was happening out there in space, since data transmissions could only travel at the speed of light.
Empress Y’lin sat on her throne. It had been eight years, from her perspective, since she last laid eyes on her beloved children, Kroshka and Akeia. Command ships going through the space bridge always took multiple years to reappear due to the total mass of the vessel and the smaller ships within it. Nevertheless an eight-year wait was considerably faster than sub–light speed. The last status update from the command ship had been transmitted to her five or six months ago, and that update had brought worry and anxiety to her heart. An unknown assailant had ambushed the recon team, and Akeia and Kroshka were missing.
This news was followed by her putting in a request to the Assassins’ Guild. She asked that an agent be sent to the human world to find and terminate all those responsible and assist the surviving recon team members in locating the royal siblings. She tried to make contact again but had little success. Contacting a mind in a region of space one had never been to was difficult, especially at Y’lin’s age. Other than being told an assassin had been sent out, she had not received an update on that matter…until now.
A transmission from a psionic onboard the command ship that had been sent to the human world entered Y’lin’s mind. She instantly paused all other telepathic messages she was receiving to focus squarely on this one, hoping for good news. It was not. “Your Majesty, I have troubling news to deliver to you.”
“Speak.” Imagery recorded by a human security device at a human military base beamed to her mind, showing Akeia’s demise. A human ended his life without mercy, with a primitive projectile weapon. Additional images flooded into her grieving mind of Akeia’s body being subjected to torture and interrogation. Y’lin fell from the throne to the floor, her hands covering her face as she let out a scream filled with agony. Her son, her firstborn, the future emperor to the Hashmedai Empire was dead. Her children should be the ones to witness her life come to an end. Not her be the one to witness the last moments of his life.
“Kroshka is missing and presumed dead as well, since Akeia was protecting her after the ambush,” the psionic relayed telepathically.
Both my children dead? With that, no heirs to the throne existed. These thoughts wreaked havoc on her mind and soul. Her screams echoed across the throne room as her fist slammed on the floor over and over, her sadness transforming into rage. There was no movement in her body for several minutes, but her orange eyes twitched as they peered down at the white floor. If Hashmedai had tear ducts, she would be crying uncontrollably.
She checked to make sure her mind was still connected to the psionic, and it was. Slowly but surely, Y’lin lifted herself back to her feet. “Pass these orders on to Himton.”
“Your Majesty, Himton is dead. Jerut is in command now.”
What is going on there? She didn’t bother to inquire about what happened to the vice admiral. Her only concern now was issuing this next order. “Then tell Jerut this.” The fingers on her left hand clenched into a fist, a trembling fist full of hate and rage. “Glass the planet. Strike them down. Make the entire human race suffer and die horribly.”
“And of the Radiance ship in orbit?”
“That ship should have been taken care of the moment you saw it! Destroy it, a
nd render the whole star system devoid of all life that is not Hashmedai.”
………
The bridge of the command ship was full of activity and energy among its crew. Jerut sent out the battle station’s command as soon as he got the update from the psionic who made contact with Empress Y’lin. A dozen holographic displays surrounded Jerut, giving him updates related to the battle-readiness of the fleet docked inside the command ship. Eighty-four percent of all ship captains had reported in, stating they were ready for action. A new window opened in front of Jerut, displaying combat readies for the command ship. Shields, check. Weapons, check. Main engines, check.
“We’re almost ready, sir,” said Jaroin to Jerut.
“Excellent. Inform the captains of the fleet that we will not be glassing the entire planet right away, only part of it.”
“Sir?”
“Slight modification to the plan—there are…valuable assets on the planet we need to acquire first.” He was sharing only part of the truth with that statement. “Full planetary glassing will commence afterward.”
………
A last-second meeting was called among members of the UN. The general assembly building in New York City filled up as representatives from around the world took their seats to hear the message the Radiance Union had to deliver to the human race. President Steward gave a moving speech about humanity, its origins, and its possible fate if people around the world didn’t change their ways.
Odelea didn’t remember much of the speech; she was focused on what was beyond the podium—so many people, so many cameras. When Hilemei would be making his address to the leaders of humanity, she would be translating…and everyone would turn their attention to her. She had thought she had control of that trembling feeling in her hands, but it came right back, stronger than ever.
The organizers of this gathering weren’t OK with the idea of Gengei and Xyniea carrying their rifles. According to members of the UN, this meeting was supposed to be about achieving peace and nonviolent solutions so the Radiance Union could provide assistance to the coming storm. Rifles didn’t project a peaceful image in the media. In the end Radiance got their way, since being an alien visitor was a convincing reason to get the rules bent.
The game plan was for Hilemei to reveal that a challenge awaited the human race and that the only way to win was for everyone to work together to end world conflicts; to end racism, sexism, homophobia, and all other matters humans often fought over; and of course, to accept help from the Radiance Union when the time came. The bit about the Hashmedai threat was to be omitted—no need to spark mass panic around the world. The government authorities of the United States and its allies, of course, were secretly briefed about the Hashmedai.
Unknown to the rest of the attendees, three Hashmedai assassins stood in the shadows, invisible to everyone. Hilemei began his speech while the scholar translated. Phylarlie, alongside Lettielia and Nodevar, slowly made her way closer to the stage where the four Radiance members stood.
Lettielia looked at the Rabuabin and asked, using her communication implant, “So what about her—the Rabuabin.”
“I have a plan to deal with her—don’t worry,” Nodevar explained, his eyes fixed on their prey. “Just kill the Javnis.”
They continued their approach, slithering past reporters and attendees.
Gengei stood still, Hilemei to his left and Xyniea on the right. He was surprised how well the humans had acted since their arrival. He always imagined a first-contact situation like this to result in riots or their being captured for experimental studies. Perhaps the Radiance council is wrong to assume humanity is a threat, Gengei thought. There are indeed some good people in their society. Hilemei continued speaking while Odelea, as nervous as she was, translated for the humans.
An unexpected proximity alert warning transmitted from his jumpsuit to his head. His suit had been recently outfitted with advanced scanners, which had a chance of detecting the presence of Hashmedaian assassins. It wasn’t totally reliable, especially against one target—but two or more?
His eyes quickly scanned the nearby area—just humans with their attention squared on Odelea and Hilemei. His posture changed from a relaxed guard to a tense soldier ready for an ambush as his hands discreetly reached behind his back to grip his magnetic rifle.
Xyniea’s attention shifted to Gengei, and she asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Someone here is wearing a cloaking device and getting close,” he whispered to her.
Hilemei overheard what was said and paused briefly before continuing his address to the humans.
“He knows we’re here,” said Phylarlie as she got behind Hilemei.
“He must have those new scanners. Not to worry—he still has no idea exactly where we are or how many of us are here,” said Nodevar.
Lettielia made her way behind the now-alert Javnis, and Nodevar climbed up to the podium next to his target—the Rabuabin. Both his daggers were firmly held in his hands when he asked, “All in position?”
“Check,” confirmed Lettielia.
“Ready,” confirmed Phylarlie.
Gengei’s detection scanner sent more warnings to his head that an attack was imminent, but nothing was happening. The sounds of small objects falling next to his feet were heard. His heightened sense of awareness forced his eyes to fix in on what was going on below him—assassin disks. This is it. “Assassin!” he shouted as he leaped toward Hilemei, pushing him away. Their personal shields slammed into each other, creating a blue ripple between them.
The commotion got the audience concerned and speaking among themselves. A few humans stood up to see what was going on as security in the back was alerted. A plume of flames shot up into the air, ignited by the disks meant for Gengei. A second set of flames blazed forward, interacting with Xyniea’s shields, as three Hashmedaian assassins emerged from their cloaked invisible states.
A male assassin unleashed a fury of slashes from his charged plasma dagger, all hits impacting on Xyniea’s shields. The last hit saw her shield fail, and she was exposed. That was the least of his worries. A female assassin stood glaring directly at Gengei, no doubt upset that he had evaded her ambush. There was a third assassin as well, right next to him, but he didn’t get a look at her as she vanished and left behind a trail of blue light.
Three shots traveling at half the speed of light exited his rifle and darted toward the female assassin directly in front of him. Two shots missed, while the third hit her in the chest—not that it mattered, since heavy assassin armor was capable of easily absorbing weapons’ fire provided the batteries were fully charged…and they were.
The impact of the shot sent the female assassin flying backward as if a speeding vehicle had hit her. Seconds before she hit the ground, blue light enveloped her. Gengei spun around and fell backward the instant he laid eyes on the light. He knew damn well where she was jump-porting to—behind him. Sure enough she appeared, but instead of seeing his back, she saw his face as he fell backward and fired a barrage of unfocused rounds in her general direction. She initiated another jump-port, vanishing from sight this time to an unknown location.
Gengei looked up to see Xyniea facedown on the ground. His jumpsuit relayed her vital signs to his head—alive. She must have eaten a stun disk…or five. Hilemei had a male assassin and another female thrusting and slashing away at his shields. Off in the distance, sounds of humans screaming and running away were heard, followed by the sounds of blood and body parts splashing on the ground. The female assassin jump-ported away to deal with the human security personnel, and one by one, their mutilated bodies fell to the ground after she jump-ported behind them. There was nothing Gengei could do. She was just too fast. All he could see was blue light repeatedly teleporting her from one helpless victim to the next.
Hilemei was about to become one of those helpless victims once his shields failed, as he was clearly the primary target of this assault. Gengei rose to his feet and took aim at the female assassin
attacking Hilemei. She wore light armor—an easy target. Two shots into her exposed belly should do the trick. He pulled trigger.
The female assassin from earlier appeared directly in front of him, jamming both her daggers toward the left and right sides of his head, causing his shot to miss. If not for his shields, those daggers would have made a bloody mess of his head. Every second she applied pressure to her attack drained his shield strength by 5 to 10 percent. He lunged backward to the ground to escape her death grip and then got back to his feet with a back flip followed by a nonstop barrage of shots bursting from his rifle.
The female jump-ported away. With all the jumps she’d been making, her battery was most likely low enough that a direct hit could be dangerous. She was not taking chances. The male assassin still had enough juice in him to take some hits, and it clearly showed as two of Gengei’s shots hit him straight in the back. The male assassin spun around and tumbled to the ground.
The final visible assassin, the one with light armor, still stood her ground, attacking Hilemei with lightning-fast slashes, each grazing the sides of Hilemei as he ducked and evaded every lunge. His shields were down. This needs to end, Gengei thought as the assassin placed a stun disk on Hilemei, bringing him to his knees.
She aggressively grabbed a fistful of Hilemei’s hair, pulling it up and exposing his neck. Gengei quickly aimed his rifle at the side of her head. Her hand guided the dagger forward toward Hilemei’s exposed neck as his finger moved forward to pull the trigger. It stopped halfway there. The elusive female assassin once again jump-ported before him, but something was different this time.
She held Odelea, placing one of her daggers just below her neck, the index finger on her other hand waving side to side at Gengei.
The assassin’s dagger was close enough that the heat from the plasma energy was starting to sear away the flesh on Odelea’s neck. Gods, she’s still young. Her trembling hands reached out toward Gengei in agony. Just then the sound of flesh being slashed and burned away was heard, and Hilemei’s body fell to the ground, blood gushing out of his neck. His blood-soaked hands covered the massive wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
Celestial Ascension (Splintered Galaxy Book 1) Page 20
