“When we found the derelict and downed battle cruiser and met the AI Alleia of the battle cruiser Calleiteim we learned about Keptl Queens. People knew something was behind how those foul creatures were so smart. Alleia told us how Queens control the swarms, guiding them.
“It hit me that is how Olly’s Pride worked. The Ligers had some independence, but could be remotely taken over with a superior intellect to do things normal animals cannot, think laterally. Not go for the obvious instinctive patterns.
“So I tested my theory and asked Olly to send Psionic energy through Nova and astonishingly the link Nova placed on Olly the moment he accepted him as master allowed for energy distribution not even our eyes can detect during expression. The only thing I’ve seen do that is an Infested person under a Queen’s control using energy the victim never used before. The only downside Olly found is that the cubs aren’t bound and therefore cannot absorb his power. Olly still made not only Nova, but all his Pride to use his own power. Something I cannot do with Sparky.”
“And we have tied.” Sparky told the silent room.
“That’s why I’m currently learning how to duplicate Nova’s channeling ability to place on Sparky. It’s a lot harder than I imagined, but it is a great goal. Drakes cannot produce exterior Psionic energy. I intend to change that. Does that satisfy you, Netul?”
“Indeed. I was merely curious. Rest well.”
Renee yawned. Oliver didn’t even have to look to tell his Pride to follow. They were up and moving. They headed to another door and were too tired to look around before crawling up in bed.
Chapter 17
Using the vambrace Oliver had broken down the train of crates once used to transport sheets of steel for the Gravity Forge. The hard wooden boxes were broken down at the molecular level and transformed into engine and machine parts and storage containers for Psionic energy. Oliver didn’t like large groups and his Pride loved the outdoors too. Sadly they were rarely on Zaxit for the past three days. They spent the bulk of their time on the planet surface teaching the young. He merely kept an eye while turning the shell of the fighter into a functioning ship.
At first he applied hundreds of gravimetric strips after creating the energy containers and gave them a good charge so the fighter was no longer be exceedingly heavy. After he made sure of it he began installing the engine, thrusters and flight controls. The hardware allowed him to do something with his hands and get away from the near half million family members that had come for the birth today. It was a welcome distraction. He added contoured seats, and ran lines to foot petals and the flight stick for manual flying should the later fighter software malfunction. Quickly the large area of parts dwindled as they were put together and installed.
It took longer to put it together than for his vambrace to break down the boxes and transform their composition. Still it would be several more days to piece everything into a basic functioning ship.
Keeping up pretenses, Renee would teleport into the River Skipper for check ins so Jake and the others believed they were enroute to the rendezvous in the planned week. Creating the illusion of subspace travel was no difficult task.
He was at work and gloved hands covered in grease for about four hours when Netul teleported on the other side of the unfinished ship wearing his full resplendent armor to say “The moment has arrived, My friend.”
“About time.” He said, dropping a wrench to stand. Like always, cleaning clothes were simple and easy as the malleable armor collected all foreign debris into a ball and dropped into a recyclable waste bin Netul supplied. Grease, sweat and oil was gone in the moments it took to stand up.
Together they hurried across the bridge and into the building to pass the many descendants who had arrived. All not of Netul and Callier’s genes were elsewhere and although packed, space was made for them to hurry to the door they were not allowed in.
It was quiet inside. Patient and expectant eyes were waiting to hear the good news. It was not nearly as fast as Renee’s birthing of Isabella, but aside from labored breathing there came no noise from the other side.
But as Creelin tradition dictated for men, during the mother’s fight to birth new life, they chose a worthy warrior to do battle.
Netul and Oliver moved to the center of the room and faced each other. Hands at each of their sides they bowed in respect. From there Netul raised his arms and channeled energy to his armament and a Psi Blade of compressed energy extended from the rounded slit over the top of the right hand. The left carried the large Beyleez golden shield half his own height. Oliver drew his sparkling black cutlass and indigo round shield.
From showing respect they bet in battle. Psi Blade met cutlass and they crackled off each other as shields were thrust to knock each other away while they mentally tried crippling the other and adding kinetic energy to hurt the other. It brought back memories of when Netul and Callier were training him back on the Beast planet. Even though he had fought many times, Oliver was still impressed by the man.
Behind, the watching family erected multiple barriers to strengthen each other so a stray explosion didn’t vaporize the building and everyone inside as two of some of the most powerful users engaged.
Oliver ducked a swipe and received a kick that sent him into the wall of the ring, flipped and returned the favor by cutting a small chunk of flesh from Netul’s pointed chin and lifted his shield with a boot to throw his against the Creelin’s breastplate and released a shield created wall that sent him to the other end of the barrier-wall instead. Oliver never blinked as he watched Netul’s body and especially the eyes after what Vanishing Claw taught. It came in handy as he brought his shield back and behind his head to block a minor kinetic blast, without turning. He in turn swiped his sword to loose a slicing wave with his sword that was canceled by a near perfect wave from Netul’s own Psi Blade.
They closed the distance again, sword and shield meeting the opposition’s in a loud and flourishing display of talent earned through practice, practice and even more practice.
Even veteran Zeelin were mentally speechless watching the two giants blur around each other, but even then it was clear Oliver’s talents for battle, multiple complex thinking and muscle memory was a combination that made him the superior warrior.
The exchange came to an end as the bedroom door opened. Swords mere centimeters from each other’s neck before being put away. They bowed again, breathing hard before turning. Netul’s eyes changing from crimson to power blue.
Callier came out first covered in a new white robe, holding a newborn Creelin child that was mere minutes old and covered in a pasty lotion excreted from her breasts. Behind followed the firstborn daughter and two others before Renee was last to leave. Mother again lifted the child to say “My son Pathilim has arrived.”
It was then that clapping came from everyone along with gentle sensations of joy that radiated throughout the area. Some who saw the child, slightly larger than a large human baby, mentally shared their minds so all could see him through those close enough.
When the clapping died Callier proudly said “And with his birth he has been tested that his future strength will be among the top two percent of our people, like many of you who are born directly of me.” This time the cheering claps were near deafening. More than a thousand brothers and sisters embraced each other. Beyond Oliver’s sight he expected all others who came were doing likewise.
“You have done splendidly.” Netul told his beloved and was the first to approach her.
During the crossing of the room there burst a piercing sound nearly immediately followed by a calm and self assured voice speaking within all minds.
“Alert! All Zeelin are to fly to defenses. Inbound are fifty six Goliath Keptl. They have projected an anti-teleportation field around the entire system. The Golden Armada is on its way and will arrive in thirty two hours and three minutes to rid them from our home. Civilians, please evacuate to the shelters till the threat is neutralized. Our defenders are slowing
them, but the Keptl will reach our orbit in thirty minutes. Fight and die with honor.”
Netul had yet hold his own son as it sounded.
Strangely every Creelin calmly began to move. Oliver expected pandemonium chaos as what frightened humans would do. These people merely retained composure. The warriors though moved a slight faster to don their armor. Outside the window hundreds of thousands of warriors were flying through the air among hundreds of Creelin heavily armed ships outpacing telekinetic flight.
Seeing this had Oliver reach out to Nova who roared mightily to the others to take off and head back to the city with all haste.
“Can your people possibly hold off fifty six Goliaths?” Renee asked with a hint of concern. Her fear was dampened by the calmness the others were exhibiting. The babies, Creelin and Solarian cried from the siren’s near painful noise.
Netul said in all honesty “Not that many. Less than ten? Most assuredly. More than twenty? It will be hard. Fifty six? We will be pressed to survive thirty minutes. If the Goliaths are full, this lush world will lose many.”
“What about Olly and I shooting a stream? We can take…”
“They will be resistant. Aside from tough exoskeletons, they can call upon those they carry for power to run a barrier current. Only the full might of a Golden Armada fleet can fell this many. We will instead be limited to air and ground forces when the Goliaths drop the scourge within them. The Goliaths will try bombarding the cities to shatter our defenses. Our people in shelters will help supply the city shields as all the cities converge to boost each other. They have stripped us from teleporting so that advantage is gone.”
Trying it out Oliver willed himself across the room to grin as he stood now on another side. “Except ours still work.”
Netul blinked before the shift of his mind made it seem he was ginning too. “Then we may just have a chance! Oliver, I need you to picture this image and take me there immediately.”
In the mind came an image of spacious room Oliver had never seen before. Strangely it felt like a second home, but only because Netul had been there thousands of times and knew it like the back of his four fingered hand. It had several raised seats that were gilded and situated much like a courtroom except with more style that made all who came feel welcomed and not intimidated. There were trees and places to read and talk openly. The ceiling was domed and he realized it was actually the top of the Archiver’s citadel in the very center of the city of Zaxit. “Got it.”
“What about me? Where can I add my power? Next to Olly, I’m the strongest in this whole system.”
“You will come with me. We will detonate Kinetic Blasts to all drop-pods in this invasion. We will kill many of the most clustered before they reach the planet’s surface.” Callier said calmly.
“But…”
Callier crinkled the corners of her eyes. “Peace, Renee Void. Our young will not leave our side. We will be furthest among our warriors from the front of battle. Between us among the long distant Zeelin, we will be protected as the city converges on our nearest neighbor, Elith. Trust my Match.”
“Fine. Olly, don’t be late. I don’t want to be the one having all the fun on this vacation.” The genuine smile and eagerness to kick ass got him rock hard. His hellcat was ready to fight after getting assurance their daughter would be safe and sound.
“Alright. Netul, hold on to me.” He did and using the image as if he had been there before they vanished from the room…
And entered the court of the Archivers. Their sudden arrival hadn’t gone unnoticed. Not by a long shot. Especially since they appeared midair in event someone was passing through in the exit. The grand and lavish space moved as they landed surrounded by fifteen Zeelin with dual Psi Blades aimed at them. There were five current Archivers standing around a holographic display that put what humans had made to shame. It was clear they just entered a closed session.
Netul thought lifted his shield and suddenly all the warriors withdrew their luminous blades and crossed their wrists over their lower abdomen. A waiting stance. He then thought “I apologize for this Archivers, but Oliver Void’s system of teleporting remains fully functional.”
A tall and slender robed female glided over and dismissed the Zeelin back to their stations with a wave. “Greetings, Beyleez Netul, I will merely ask what you have planned.”
“Judging by the amount colored on Oliver Void’s device I believe he can bring a full Mothership to bare against our enemy which will force all the Goliaths to turn its attention to it so our forces can engage the swarm being dropped at us as we speak.” Whatever this ‘Mothership’ was it clearly had all of the Archivers relaxing slightly. “Our cities may get time to converge and it will merely take fifteen minutes to go around. It will cut hours off the time for the armada to reach us and bolster the Mothership.”
“Greeting’s Oliver Void. I am Archiver Xindrill. My I judge the stored with our power sensors. It is imperative we waste…”
“Just shut up and give me the specs of a Mothership.” Netul gave him a warning look, but the Archiver merely nodded and quickly pointed to where they all were standing before. Under the hologram.
Oliver was there in two bounds and interfaced with a device another held out and he saw the Mothership. His eyes unfocused as images spun quickly. A visible blur to anyone else. The Mothership was the most fearsome weapon made by the Creelin. It could safely house over sixty million people and still face off against any enemy. It could hold the equivalent power of three stars and unleash it to engage any situation. It was also more than fifty thousand square kilometers wide. His own mind began calculating what his vambrace contained and how he could bring the whole thing back to this system and said “I can do it, but I’ll need to tap eleven percent of the Mothership’s total energy and channel it through my Valek to make a bubble wide enough to encompass its entire mass. What I have stored will carry most, but will drain dry long before the hyperspace jump is complete.”
“Eleven percent to teleport is a sacrifice we can afford.” Archiver Xindrill said and was approved by the others who all nodded. “Beyleez Netul, I give you full authorization to commandeer use of a Mothership from Bezlin Chanak and return to us immediately.”
“Good, but I need a star chart to begin calculations… Damn, my Ligers are engaging the first wave. Three females are rushing the cubs to the city, but they are barely keeping pace with the city. Slow the city down while the others keep the Dragoons from killing them.”
“We will. Hurry.”
Renee flew with Callier and hundreds of other powerful Creelin warriors on a side of the city high above those calmly moving to shelters. Sparky excitedly flew her around close to the raised barrier of the city, wanting to go out and kill the swarm appearing out of the cloudless sky. Sadly he was held back. With her eyes zoomed in she spotted Dragoons, winged serpents engaged to hold off many close ranged warrior. Drop-pods were falling like rain during a meteor shower. Each drop-pod cocooned hundreds of Keptl creatures safely down as each pod was tougher than five meters thick of armored plated titanium. Those engaging the enemy fought close, but Goliaths dropped billions more pods all over the globe.
Those on the roof with Renee were directed by Callier and split into four directions who was in turn supplied information. The thickest clusters were hers. Keeping a distance from the Zeelin engaged with flyers like the Dragoons, their targets were of wide open skies.
Renee had to move from most others merely due to the size of her Kinetic Blasts. She was unequaled in size as she fired at the densest grouping of drop-pods. Each explosion was like a nuclear explosion without the fallout. She fired more than any other, quickly needing to rely on her bracelet’s stores.
The invaders lost millions to her alone, but for each lost was a dozen more raining down after each explosion.
Then began the dropping of Goliath spines when the battle cruisers out in deep space were destroyed. The first nearby explosion had Renee look up as a cone from the arm o
f the Goliath contacted the city shield. It packed enough chemical energy it was almost on par with one of her equivalent blasts.
That was the thing with Keptl, they not only had Psionic abilities, their evolution allowed for natural chemical mixing to combine volatile liquids for explosive napalm as hot as thermite. A detonation and being coated in liquid fire is what truly drained the city’s shield. It was effective. To combat it were lesser fighters throwing barriers all over the dome to drop it and set fire to the ground. Keptl loved scorched planets and the city’s aren’t designed for deep space. Leaving Jaffalibn wasn’t optional without teleporting.
Sparky’s influence to battle had Renee yell “EAT THIS FUCKERS!” and let lose two gigantic Kinetic Blasts on a scale she hadn’t used before, taking some of the liquid off the shield that got near her area as an added bonus.
Callier, a distance away warned with patience “Pace yourself, Renee. This battle won’t be won on this side of the planet. We may have need elsewhere.”
“Lighten up, Callier. Don’t spoil all my fun.” She mentally retorted, launching another kilometer wide sphere of explosive plasma as another silent spine struck the city’s shield again. Followed by another and another. Goliaths were uncannily accurate.
Nova didn’t stand still after the three reached the city safely with all the cubs. Rather than fight in the air, he and the rest of the Pride were on the fiery ground. Using their armor that had gone reflective silver all across their spiked bodies they ferociously attacked places where Drop-pods reached the planet surface. Their speed was unmatched and coupled with the sharpness of their armor they literally ran through trees, fire and Keptl alike like guided missiles. Nova was by far the most ruthless, aiming specifically for Keptl that would transform into hives for their Queens to lay eggs and breed. He would shred through their hearts, leaving none alive. He also channeled his master’s energy through the eight who fought with him, blocking against Kinetic Blasts from fast Trackers and Dragoons that tried keeping up, but couldn’t in the melee.
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