Ahead Full (The Kurtherian Gambit Book 19)

by Michael Anderle

  “We will wrap him in a cocoon of safety,” Dan replied. “Black Leader, out.”

  Bethany Anne watched as her eight massive Leviathan-class Superdreadnoughts went through the gate. It had taken so damned long and so much security to hide their existence, it wasn’t fun to even think about. Now she just hoped the Leath hadn’t accomplished the same.

  “Here’s hoping massive firepower will allow us to solve this without massive firepower.”

  This time Captain Ni’ers just nodded, understanding the sentiment.

  Planet Leath, Tienemehn, the Seven’s Private Area

  Terellet propelled the body of Jerrleck through the back hallways; the secret excavations the Seven had used for centuries to move about unseen. It had allowed a mystical reputation to grow up around them from generation to generation.

  Terellet’s mind control over Jerrleck forced him to walk to the sacrificial chambers, but inside his mind Jerrleck screamed in anger and frustration. The Kurtherians were so much more powerful mentally than he had ever considered.

  At some level they truly could be gods. However, he wasn’t going to take the infiltration of his body without fighting to the end.

  No matter what he went through.

  One part of his mind fought, but the other watched where he was walking and what he was seeing. To him it was the proof that the Seven were evil, pure and simple. This wasn’t a disagreement. No, the skeletons that littered the floor he walked over told a twisted tale of terror so far removed from even his suspicious reality that he cried in the tiny part of his brain he could still call his own.

  The whole time, Terellet was giving him a guided tour through the passages of hell in that mentally crazy double and triple voice it used. “Here is our first room,” it said. “Those five skeletons represent the first sacrifices we used to move from our previous bodies. In our third decade we decided we should keep the discarded sacrifices as a way to track our own efforts.”

  “What? Why would we do that, you ask?”

  Jerrleck had certainly not asked.

  “In one way, our success in helping you Ascend is the basis for our judgment from those above as we Ascend ourselves. To provide a measure for that success, we show how we have not wasted the sacrifices of your people over the centuries. Rather we have been good shepherds of our flock.”

  Jerrleck’s mind continued to cry as he was made to walk through room after room filled with skeletons. “Sometimes we had issues with a particular passage to another sacrifice,” Terellet continued, “so unfortunately more sacrifices were required until we understood the issues.”

  The Leath religious leader cocked her / his / its head a moment. “Enough chatting. The leader of the Seven has decreed we all move to a younger body.”

  A moment later, Jerrleck heard the muttering of the crazed Kurtherian. “Shame, I transferred to your love such a short time ago.”

  G’laxix Sphaea, En Route to Military Defense Station Designated ‘Alpha’

  Peter cricked his neck back and forth and looked at Todd, who was checking his guns and magazines. “We got this, buddy,” Peter told him.

  Todd turned to look at his friend and they fist-bumped. “Yeah. We do every time, don’t we?”

  “Damn right,” Peter replied. “One more time unto the breach, dear Guardians. Tie up your leggings around your back as we change to go to war.” Peter stood up, swinging his pack over his shoulder. All eyes were on him as he pointed two fingers to his face. “Let the enemy see the yellows of our eyes as they yell in FEAR!” He pumped his fist and went on, “To lie among the dead as the roars of our throats sound the alarm that the Empress’ Guardians are near!”

  Todd stood up, flipping his pistol around and into his holster. “Stand up, you Guardian Marines!”

  “OOYAHH!” voices yelled from the hold.

  Todd shouted as loudly as he could, “Let not one hair on your Guardians be harmed by others as your guns remain holstered. Pull your triggers until the barrels run hot and the enemy’s blood runs cold!”

  Peter grinned. “Yell OUT, you Guardians, and be so bold as to rip out the throats of those who would do your Marines harm. Roar your challenge as you run down the halls, making the enemy’s blood freeze so when your Marines shoot them, it is already chilled and waiting!”

  The cacophony of yelling and shouts was in full force when the music started playing very softly in the back of the G’laxix Sphaea. Peter recognized the song and called, “Zhu, Jian, Shun!”

  The three moved up, smiling and taking their places. “Hit it!” Peter commanded.

  The three men started dancing, quoting the now heavily-modified lyrics to a famous song from Earth so many years ago…

  “Ohhhh, Sexy Lady!” Shun sang. More of those in the crew set up with them and started dancing along.

  “Oopa BA STYLE!” he shouted as everyone started twirling their hands.

  “She be fly during the day, but watch out for us come the night.

  When you’re thinking you know her type,

  She will knock you silly with just one bite.

  Oopa BA STYLE!

  Kicking ass is her predilection,

  Solving problems with some misdirection.

  Not that we give a shit about your excuses.

  We are here to solve some abuses.

  Oopa BA Style!

  We be telling you leave us alone,

  That none of us want your homes.

  But you piss off our Empress and then it’s over

  The Guardians planting our size elevens up your…

  Oopa BA STYLE!”

  “WOOT!” Everyone raised their fists in the air. The music slowed and stopped as a few fists pumped before walking back to their gear.

  “This is Captain Kael-ven T’chmon, and I’ll have you know that video is going to go viral. When awesome happens on my ship I share.”

  There was chuckling in the hold as the captain continued.

  “We are cloaked and heading for our destination. Expected ass-kicking to begin in ten minutes.”

  Peter twirled his finger in the air and everyone went back into their groups, locking and loading one last time.

  They hoped.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Military Defense Station Designated ‘Alpha’

  Before the G’laxix Sphaea sidled up to the Military Defense station, well over two hundred Yollin Insertion Pods had slammed into the sides of the station and hundreds of small battles had occurred, and the objective had been met.

  There was a place for the G’laxix Sphaea to dock, and another sixty hardened warriors rushed off the ship, breaking into two groups to track one of their two objectives.

  Either the bridge and command consoles, or the communications center buried deep inside the huge space station.

  Peter wasted no time changing into a Pricolici when he got off the ship, his challenging roar announcing his presence.

  He turned left and started jogging down the outer ring of hallways counter-clockwise. Todd and his other Marine, Maria, ran with him. Peter reached into his backpack, grabbing a twelve-inch-long metal piece shaped like an extruded triangle. It wasn’t but another fifteen seconds when the guns behind him opened up, and he flipped a switch and tossed it on the ground.

  A forcefield popped up, allowing him and his team to duck behind it. The beauty of these devices were the opposite effects the devices had on projectiles. No lasers could make it through the screen, and any projectiles fired at them were slowed so much that it felt like someone had just thrown a rock.

  However, it sped their projectiles up, allowing their weapons an almost clear shot down the hall.

  It was a gamechanger, for sure. Soon enough Peter reached down to turn it off, grabbing the device as they started running again for their destination.

  The Empress needed access to the planet, but until they could absolutely confirm the defenses would not come back online, they wouldn’t allow her to land.

  Peter smiled,
thinking how impatient she must be at the moment. He turned a corner and was suddenly slammed backward twenty feet, half his jaw missing, and his arm shredded. He rolled over twice, trying to get out of the way of the fire coming in his direction, and then he heard the activation of a shield and groaned.

  Todd was on the ball. He and Maria were laying down vicious cover fire while Peter rolled onto his stomach, the pain in his chest immense as he heard the bones cracking and popping, trying to heal from the chest hit by gods-only-knew-what.

  He could feel his face trying to heal as well.

  “Man down!” Todd yelled over the comm. “We are stopped for a short while. Other teams need to press on!”

  Peter wanted to tell Todd to screw “Man down.” He was a damned Were, he didn’t go down. He perhaps took a nap at inappropriate times, but he always got up again.

  Except this time. This time he had been badly mangled, and his body was having a bitch of a time pulling itself together. Todd and Maria were firing through the shield, which reached about halfway up to the ceiling. The challenge, Peter noted, was that the Leath had deployed a smoke screen and his people couldn’t tell what or who they were shooting at.

  Peter’s eye caught a bit of movement at the ceiling and he tried to grunt a warning. A grenade had been tossed over the shield.

  Peter tried to start crabbing for where it was going to land when Todd noticed it as well.

  “SHIT!” he yelled and turned toward the grenade, catching Peter’s eyes.

  “Nooo!” Peter struggled to yell to his friend, but he saw the determination in Todd’s eyes and there was fuck-all Peter could do to change his mind.

  Even if he’d had the strength to do it.

  Todd dove on the grenade, yelling as he looked into Peter’s eyes, “Told you I always had…”

  Peter’s head flinched away when the grenade went off, tearing his best friend for longer than he had been in space into chunks of meat that went flying all over the hallway.

  “YOU GOTT VERDAMMT MOTTHERRRRFUCKKERRRS!” Peter yelled, pushing himself up to get his knees underneath him.

  Pulling his pistol, he flipped it to eleven and started limping toward the shield, his eyes determined. “MOOOOVE!” he yelled at Maria, who glanced at the shield and then back at the bloody Pricolici. His yellow eyes were mad with grief and anger, but each step got stronger as he pulled … demanded … energy from the Etheric to heal.

  Peter rushed the shield and jumped, pulling himself into as small a ball as he could.

  He remembered, right before he hit the shield, asking William what would happen if a human went through it. William had told him, “They will wish to die, at a minimum.”

  He already wished he could have died just moments before instead of his friend.

  It was hands-down the worst pain he had ever felt in his long, long life. If Peter lived through this battle, he would have to tell William he was right.

  Moments later, the twelve Leath who had set up a barricade fifty paces down the hallway received the shock of their lives when a huge pissed-off Pricolici slammed into them.

  Death had arrived, and he was angry beyond any reason.

  Their shrieks of pain and fear mixed with Peter’s roars reached back to Maria, who had remained behind the shield. “Fuck this!” She reached forward and turned off the shield, slipping it into her own bag as she rushed through the smoke herself.

  After coming out the other side, she slammed her rifle butt to her shoulder and started picking off any targets where the Pricolici wasn’t. When she got to Peter, she slapped him on the arm as he casually ripped a Leath soldier’s head from his shoulders.

  “Get a grip, Peter!” she yelled, pointing down the hall. “Grieve later, operation now!”

  Peter growled in anger, dropped the body, and ran down the hall, passing his Guardian Marine as he sprinted toward the goal.

  There would be time later to sing the songs for his best friend Todd, who had covered his ass one final time. Then later, in the privacy of his own room, to drown his sorrow in the most expensive bottles of booze he could afford and allow the tears to silently fall.

  Some thirty minutes from the initial insertion, the call was sent to the main battle group.

  The Leath Space Defenses were officially down, and would not be coming back up.

  It was time for Baba Yaga to arrive.

  Planet Leath, Primary City

  For those Leath willing to look out, it was both a beautiful and a deadly sight. Four of the hated Etheric Empire’s superdreadnoughts were coming down from space, their forcefields blazing in anger as the super-heated atmosphere streamed from them.

  These were the four chariots of the Witch of Death, both announcing her arrival and making sure none were stupid enough to try and stop her.

  Her superdreadnoughts were surrounded by additional G’laxix Sphaea-class ships, and they all headed straight for the Seven’s holy part of the city. The massive vessels looked close enough to touch for those who were watching from the rooftops.

  They had seen the videos and the proof from Jerrleck, as well as the extra information provided by the Empress of the Empire. But the final video had sealed the deal.

  Jerrleck had put up video cameras in the little room he had been waiting in, expecting to be able to speak live to those on planet. He’d never thought they might catch the moment the Seventh of the Seven pulled down her hood to reveal it was wearing the body of his love.

  At this point, if the Empire didn’t destroy the Seven, then the anger of the Leath might do it for them.

  However, Baba Yaga wouldn’t be denied.

  The Seven’s personal guards fought, and fought hard. Even Stephen, who was with Jennifer, was caught in a crossfire, and bullets riddled his body. His armor stopped most, but the fusillade of anti-aircraft guns slamming rounds into him was more than even his Jean Dukes armor could withstand.

  The emplacement was destroyed moments later, but for Stephen it was almost too little, too late.

  “Get off him!” a rough voice commanded Jennifer, who was crying on Stephen’s chest. Her eyes turned yellow and she swiped a hand behind her in her anger. It was caught and she was violently yanked from her love, only to fly through the air and be caught by another, who held her tightly.

  “LET ME GO!” she screamed, the tears flowing down her face as her anger fueled her struggles.

  “Settle down or I’ll knock you the fuck out,” John Grimes told her. “She’s got him. You can’t help at the moment.”

  Jennifer twisted her head and saw Baba Yaga kneeling beside Stephen, cussing him out and commanding him to drink.

  “Oh my God!” she whispered. “Please bring him back to me.”

  —

  “You cocked-up shriveled little geriatric vampire who doesn’t have a dick big enough to plug a light socket better do what I command you and drink!” Baba Yaga had thrown down her glove after hurling Jennifer in the general direction of John.

  He would know what to do with the distraught woman.

  She rolled back her armor enough to expose her veins, and her fangs grew as her eyes blazed red. She bent down and slid her teeth across her wrist, slicing it open, and turned it to his mouth, pushing it past his lips. She put her left hand into her mouth and grabbed her glove with her teeth to pull it off.

  She pressed her gloveless left hand to his forehead and opened herself to the Etheric, her hair floating as she pulled in energy and willed it into her friend’s body.

  Then she shocked the shit out of him, and his body convulsed. His chest arched above the pavement.

  “LIVE, YOU FUCKING SONOFABITCH!” she screamed, tears flowing down her cheeks. “I WILL NOT PERMIT YOU TO DIE!”

  She shocked his body again, then heard the faint sound of his heart beating and bones shifting as they healed.

  She looked over her shoulder. “Help me get him out of this armor!”

  A moment later Eric was helping her unlatch the armor and Jennifer soon joine
d them in pulling it off him.

  Jennifer glanced up at the other woman. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t fucking worry about it,” Baba Yaga hissed. “I’ll kick your ass later, when he is okay and we aren’t on this planet.”

  Jennifer gave the other woman a half-smile, not sure if she was serious about the ass-kicking or not. Either way, she would gladly accept the reprimand from the Witch if Stephen survived.

  Stephen opened his eyes, staring up into the red eyes of Baba Yaga. “So,” he coughed out, “it’s hell then?”

  “You ass,” Baba Yaga grunted, and looked at Jennifer. “Keep him safe.” She stood, calling the Shinigami closer. “And teach him some fucking manners,” Baba Yaga told Jennifer as she and the others left.

  Jennifer lifted Stephen off the ground, holding him in her arms as two others grabbed his armor, and the four of them retraced their steps to the ships.

  One of those holding the armor smirked when Stephen coughed and said, “But honey, ‘twas but a scratch…”

  —

  Bethany Anne and the Bitches headed further into the Citadel of the Seven. As they passed they destroyed those who attacked them, but left others behind if they offered no harm.

  Some of the Leath were left in convulsions by orbs of energy as Baba Yaga walked past. Neither she nor the Bitches were willing to risk that those they found in the Citadel wouldn’t try to stab them in the back.

  “I want those sonsabitches so bad I can taste it, John,” she hissed. She stopped and the four stopped around her, keeping watch as she turned in a circle, eyes closed. “Down.” She pointed. “Their energies are below us.”

  Eric reached into a bag on his hip and flipped it open, grabbing a handful of silver orbs and releasing them. “Give me a moment.”

  Bethany Anne didn’t want to wait a moment, but given the many options, she couldn’t be sure which way to go.

  Five long minutes and two small gun battles later they headed in a direction she felt was right.

  They ended up in a large chamber that contained a table having eight points in the center, lights going up the sides, and what looked like the news playing on the video screens. Unfortunately, it was empty.