by Greg Dragon
“FOR MELUVIA!” she screamed as she hoisted her rifle into the air. The marines that remained picked up on the scream and echoed their own as they fought back harder. She shoved Rafian’s shoulder with a bloody grin and he nodded solemnly before turning his attention back to the chaos.
As he made to run to fall into the Geralos, his comm lit up with the face of Yuth Varience. He hadn’t heard from Yuth since they rallied the Phasers into Meluvia and he didn’t know how long ago that was. Yuth seemed surprised when he answered, and let out a little laugh, as if he was relieved that Rafian was still alive.
“Supreme Leader!” he shouted.
“Yuth!” Rafian replied. “Where are you, brother? We need your superior las-sword skills.”
“I am above you, and I can see that you don’t have time for a full report. Listen, Commander, I need you to jump all of our people out and as many civilians as you can. I can’t even explain what I am about to do, but you need to move, as fast as a Phaser.”
Rafian tried to guess at what Yuth was planning but the only thing he had time for was trust. Was he going to call in an airstrike to level Dystalis, or had he planted a bomb in the city somewhere? It didn’t matter. Yuth was an ace, so he called Marian over to tell her the plan.
“We need to drop crystals and get everyone out. Most of the soldiers know nothing of the crystals, so prepare for resistance from them and the civilians,” he said to her.
“Sounds like we’re about to level the city,” she said and turned away, motioning for the soldiers to come around for a quick meeting. The Phasers dropped crystals to open teleportation portals, which caused the civilians to react negatively. They assumed that it was a Crak-Ti weapon that was causing the Phasers to vanish, but Marian did her best to explain.
The Crak-Ti began to see the humans blinking out of the fight into nowhere. The sight of it was shocking and amazing, but as they saw them leaving they rushed at the few remaining ones, cutting into them as quickly as possible without care for their own lives. This left them open to the likes of Rafian and Marian, who had made sure they would be the last to teleport out.
They countered the Crak-Ti, moving in tandem, cutting into them as they showcased the skills of the Phaser agency. Their ploy worked and the remaining Crak-Ti rushed at them in the center of the park. As their enemies crowded in, Rafian grabbed Marian and dropped a new crystal to vanish and appear on the roof of a skyscraper overlooking the park.
The sky began to show sparks as a large portal opened up and what appeared to be a YV-900 assault ship emerged from it to hover for just a moment. Marian and Rafian turned to one another with smiles on their faces and, as they simultaneously uttered the name “Yuth,” the ship turned on its thrusters and flew down towards the ground at tremendous speed.
When the ship hit the park, the explosion was deafening. Every Crak-Ti was killed immediately, along with any civilian that had refused to use a portal. The fire and dust from the crash ripped through the streets like an all-consuming snake, hungry for the lives of any living creature it could find.
“I waited, and waited, and waited, Commander. I saw no other choice for the Phasers to make,” Yuth said as he appeared next to them on the building and looked down at his handiwork.
“As long as we make it worth it, Yuth,” Rafian said. “For the innocents that lost their life in that crash.” He walked to the edge of the building to look down on the smoke, as well. “That maneuver. I have always wondered if it was possible. I imagined dropping an entire starship on Geral. Tearing a hole into their planet, and letting the fires just burn the entire thing black. I wonder, would it lead to people celebrating the Phasers as saviors of the galaxy, or would it give us a reputation as being as ruthless as the Geralos?”
Yuth spoke. “Commander, I know that it was too much, but consid—”
“I don’t want your apology, Yuth. What you did was brilliant and necessary. What I want us to do, as leaders of this organization, is to consider what will happen once the dust starts to clear.”
“What do you mean, Raf?” Marian asked, coming up next to them to observe the destruction.
“I mean that the age of the Geralos will come to an end. We have made ourselves into the necessary weapon to cause their destruction, but in the aftermath, where do we stand for Anstactor? A weapon is sheathed, but kept around during times of peace to be at the ready when needed. When it’s peace time, we put them away in tight, secure places. We don’t want children getting to them and we don’t want them used to settle petty squabbles. A weapon is only useful for combat. Do you hear what I am saying?”
“Speak clearly, brother,” Yuth said. “I am a Louine, after all. The basic language can be confusing when used metaphorically in the way you do now. I want to be sure that you are not upset with me and that we are going to do something about Zallus.”
“Marian’s first language is not ours, either, so I fully understand, my friend,” Rafian said. “Tayden, Frank, and Camille need to hear this too, but I speak now out of concern for what we did today. The more people see us, the more they know about us, and the more they will try to analyze us. The more we jump in clear view, send ships into an atmosphere to wipe out the enemy, and display our superior fighting technique, the more people will begin to wonder, ‘should we be worried about them?’”
“I want to show you something, Yuth,” Rafian said, turning to look at his blue friend. He opened his palms to show that he held no crystals. And as Yuth made to look him over, he jumped from the edge, avoiding the Louine’s quick attempt to catch him. As Rafian plummeted to his death he vanished and appeared on the rooftop next to Yuth.
“You are able to jump without the crystals?” Yuth asked with a confused look on his face.
“I figured this out when I was away with Marian on her home planet. Come close to me and look at my eyes,” Rafian said.
Yuth walked over and examined Raf’s pupils, which looked just as strange and mysterious as Marian’s. Rafian had become something beyond human, and it caused Yuth to take out a mirror and look at his own eyes to see if he, too, was changing.
“What is happening to us, Raf?” he asked suddenly.
“The price of our immense power, Yuth. As we play around with the crystals, jumping, cloning, teleporting, they are slowly changing our physiology. I don’t know if the change is dangerous, or what it means for us in the long run, but the crystals have started to become a part of us, which is why I am able to jump short distances without their use.
“Yuth, Rhee, we need to slow down. I don’t want the Geralos war ending with our own people hating and distrusting us just because we possess this power. We are meant to be a secret, used only when necessary – just like an extremely deadly weapon. Everyone here that survived this battle has seen what we can do.”
“What are you suggesting, Rafian?” Marian asked as she took his hand and turned him to face her.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I can’t allow the citizens to return here after what they’ve seen. The rumors they will spread will make things hard for us, so I propose that they be made to live with us in Zallus. I want the marines to be made into Phasers. The Vestalian military cannot be allowed to know anything about the crystals. The survivors are to be considered dead from that explosion, dead to their contacts on the various battleships, and dead to their commanding officers.
“Once they have been given the dark education of our order, I want the books closed on all recruiting. We are at a time where we need to develop elite Phasers. We can’t afford to keep Tayden Lark on the ground, training newbies instead of running missions. We are to go back into the shadows, striking at the targets that the general military cannot reach. Look, Geral is under attack now by the concert effort of the entire galaxy of Anstractor. They don’t need us to play soldier with them; they need us to stop schtill like this from ever happening again.”
“We fully understand, Commander,” the two Phasers said to him and he opened a portal back to Zallus
.
03 | A New Threat
ARI GROATRATH held up the tiny crystal and examined it with a mixture of fear and admiration. It was the Phaser’s power, an item of mysterious properties that allowed the humans to teleport, live multiple lives, and access new technologies. But what he held in front of him looked no different than a piece of glass. He had tried everything to make it do its magic but nothing had happened.
“Siern!” he screamed across the command room to his main aide. The bent, dark-green Geralos ran over to him, pulling up at the last minute before colliding into him.
“High Minister!” Siern addressed him, but in a voice that seemed to be stuck in a whisper, and Ari regarded him through the corner of his eye while he still examined the crystal.
“Remind me, how did you come by this thing?” Ari asked the grinning man. He tried to squeeze it to see if that would produce any results.
“Virulia, Minister. There was an explosion and we were sent in to investigate what caused it. General Krylat Par wanted to know if the Alliance had destroyed one of our satellites, but what we found were the ruins of some sort of structure.”
“What kind of structure?”
“An old temple, built up to worship something that we couldn’t figure out. The area was clear of any other buildings, and it looked as if the temple sat alone, deep in the valley of the Virulian wilderness. The planet is unfriendly to the humans and Meluvians, so we assumed that it was not an Alliance setup.”
“You assumed wrong,” Ari said flatly. He stood up quickly while tucking the crystal away in one of his pockets. “What you describe is very similar to the target that we’ve found on Vestalia. Tucked away, recessed in the wilderness. Remote from the prying eyes of any of their own people and almost invisible to the likes of us. Were it not for the genius of Maes Van Senthyn, their base would still be invisible to us, Siern. How long was that temple on Virulia? Long enough to let us know that we need to be taking this seriously.”
Siern backed away from the minister and seemed to think. Then his face lit up and he clapped his hands. “Minister. The temple. I brought you back a number of items. That piece of glass and the wall of markings. Were we able to get anything from my find?”
Ari Groatrath looked over at him and nodded his head. “I want to see these ruins myself. The wall was gibberish. Human writing about gods and chosen ones. The same dogmatic religion that primitive races look to in order to make their miserable lives seem reasonable. It looked as if that piece had been one of many that decorated this temple. The humans went there to conduct their worship of their deity, and considering the locale and the lack of civilization, I would think it was regarded as an extremely holy place.”
“That doesn’t explain the connection with our target on Vestalia,” Siern said, puzzled.
“Oh yes it does. See, the humans that call themselves Phasers are the practitioners of this strange religion. If I was to wager a guess, I would say that their methods are shunned by their society. They probably employ rituals that would make our stomachs turn. Regardless, this religion has given them powers, unscientific powers that defy all logic, and I want to study the old ruins in order to see if I can learn more about their practice.”
“I can get a detail together to get you to Virulia as soon as possible, Minister,” Siern said, inching closer in hopes of gaining the Minister’s gratitude.
“You’re a good soldier,” Ari said finally, resting his palm on the man’s head. Siern shivered with appreciation and turned to get started on his mission.
“Should I alert high command, minister?” he stopped to ask.
“No. In fact, prepare a skiff with FTL capabilities. I want this to remain between the two of us, and I want to travel to Virulia alone.”
* * *
The area in front of the Phasers’ barracks began to shimmer as if an invisible thruster was emitting fuel into the air. The shimmering grew violent and became a vertical seam which tore a frightening void into reality.
From out of this portal fell a number of Meluvians, all survivors from the fallen city of Dystalis. Over one hundred people emerged from the light and most stood looking around, confused. Finally the marines and Phasers were coming through, and as soon as the last one was through the portal, the shimmering stopped and it was as if the portal had been a figment of their imagination.
As soon as the crowd began to panic over the “jump,” another shimmering occurred above them and three Phasers fell, landing easily as if they had done it a hundred times.
Rafian, Marian, and Yuth Varience now faced the former citizens of Dystalis. As the noise from their questions threatened to drown everything out, Rafian raised his hand to silence them all before stepping forward.
“Questions later; you all need to get to the bunkers. What’s coming will make the Crak-Ti invasion seem like a friendly dance competition. This is the planet Vestalia that you’re standing on, and this is Zallus, the first Phaser city. Now, I apologize for throwing all of this at you so soon after the hell you just survived, but I promise you that we will get rid of these invaders and allow you to set up a home here.”
Some of the Meluvians made to question him then, but Yuth Varience took charge and began to lead them away to the nearest bunker. When they were gone, Rafian turned to Marian. “Where are my Phasers? I thought that Tayden would have them here, ready to fight,” he said.
Marian touched his shoulder and pointed to the sky where a fleet of red ships were lifting skyward from a hangar. “Tayden’s a pilot before anything else. If she’s going to strike at the Geralos, she’s going to do it from the skies,” she said.
Rafian watched the ships and felt a pang of jealousy. It was he who had cleared this country of the Geralos and it was he who had marked the area where their city now stood—from the cockpit of his ship. Shouldn’t he be up in the air helping Tayden and Camille instead of playing rescue dog to the refugees of Meluvia?
Marian saw him brooding and jabbed his arm, and he broke his trance to regard her. “Sorry,” he remarked and she nodded at him—
The sound of feet brought them both around as Dott Toga and Frank OTA approached them wearing full battle armor. A Phaser's armor was a 3B suit, a skintight bodysuit made from alien material, reinforced by a personal shield and armored bracers.
“Commander, good to see you again,” Dott said, and then grinned at Marian with admiration. “Marian VCA, in the flesh,” she said, and stepped forward to hug the tall woman tightly.
Frank and Rafian hugged in their own way, and then Dott turned and embraced her Supreme Leader. This hug between Rafian and the younger Phaser was longer and seemed so intimate that it gave Marian pause. When the two separated she shot him a glance, but Rafian shook his head slightly to let her know that her assumptions were wrong.
Dott saw the exchange and felt a wave of embarrassment. “I’m sorry for the extra-long hug on the Supreme Leader, ma’am, it’s just that he is—” Her tanned brown face went pale with horror as she tried to find the words to replace what she meant to say. “My hero,” she surrendered, just letting it out. “I still find it strange that I am able to touch him, let alone have the honor of being a Phaser.”
Marian felt stupid and embarrassed for her jealousy. She looked over at Rafian, her eyes begging him to say something, anything to break the awkward air.
“Dott, you honor me, you really do,” he said, “but don’t sell yourself short like that. You are one of our finest aces. Everything you have, you have more than earned. So what’s the situation? Can you bring us up to speed? Those ships haven’t moved since the last time I was down here.”
“Commander, Tayden left us to wait for the arrival of the other Phasers. She and Camille have taken to the sky with Erlaine, Rentrout, and Lieutenant Klemise. They aim to provoke the Geralos into a firefight so that we can get more time down here to prepare.”
“Well, that’s probably the worst idea I’ve heard in a while,” Rafian said, and stepped away from them to pu
ll up his comm. “Dott, the recruits went with Yuth to the barracks. One of you should go and collect them now. We need every Phaser ready for this attack.”
Frank volunteered and jogged away while Marian and Dott continued to watch him.
“I’m going up there to join Tayden. When Yuth returns we’re going to need him to be inside of a ship, as well. Where are my other aces, Marika and Laern?” he asked.
Dott replied, “Laern is still in a healing tank and I think Marika has been making up for lost time with Val.”
“They can thype later; this isn’t the time,” Rafian whispered under his breath. “We need her here to lead some of these troops. Marika’s never this irresponsible, I refuse to believe it. She’s more than likely on one of those Geralos ships, cutting them to ribbons from the inside. Anyway, enough orders, I’ll use my comm. You two are the line if they make it to the ground. We’re going to put so much fire on them that they will have to make a hard decision.”
He touched them both on their shoulders and bowed slightly, then pulled Marian in and kissed her lips. “Protect our cloners; they will get heavy use today,” he said and the Lucan beauty nodded silently. He then turned and jogged towards the hangar, where his Phantom stood waiting like a dragon awoken.
“Tayden Lark,” he announced into his comm as he picked up speed with his run.
“Thank the Maker you made it!” Tayden exclaimed, and he could hear several other voices echo the sentiment. “Did we win? Is Dystalis liberated?” she asked, and Rafian paused to consider his answer.
“The people are safe, Tay. We have them here, but I need you to stand down until Yuth and I are up there to help.”
“Fine by me, Commander. It’s pretty bad up here — a ton of drones and remotely operated fighters, just sitting and waiting for some lizard’s command.”
