Shadow Corps

by Justin Sloan

  I hope this works, he thought as he closed his helmet over his face.

  With a swipe of his hand, a map of the universe appeared before him. He maneuvered through the stars and planets, various galaxies, until he came to the one he had in mind.

  The one planet in enemy territory that still had a jump point he could access. The fact that it was still untouched meant it was probably a trap, and that was partially what he was counting on.

  He would distract Karstrack, pulling his attention to this spot so that he wouldn’t see the others coming.

  Hadrian selected the planet within the jumper, then closed his eyes as the bright light flooded the room. Suddenly he was gone from the ship, landing in a kneeling position.

  Then, almost instantly, he was swept off his feet, only avoiding being thrown into space by reaching down with his energy manipulation and latching himself to the ground. Grabbing hold of the ground, he realized it was shifting. Large, metallic scales, moving beneath him.

  This was no planet. Somehow, Karstrack had managed to move a jump point to the back of one of the giant space dragons.

  In spite of the danger Hadrian was now in, his plan was working. Scurries were moving about, black spider-like creatures with mandibles strong enough to tear through metal.

  A light shone, and a moment later out stepped the little boy they had met on the other planet. The one Samantha had come to know as Ralod.

  He smiled at the sight of Hadrian, like two friends were being united after a long time. He even had the gall to say, “Welcome, brother.”

  Two forms appeared behind Ralod as he morphed into the form Hadrian remembered—Karstrack. He was lean, with long, wavy black hair tucked behind his ears. His olive skin was complemented by nearly neon green eyes, and his smile would make you forget your worries. Unless, of course, he was the source of your worries, as was the current situation.

  Over his massive frame, he wore armor of pure black. His two companions wore all black too, but Hadrian knew that if they turned, he would see a large red mark on their backs. Redbacks, they were called, and they were the personal guard to the Great Deceivers themselves, the ultimate enemy.

  “You’ve gone too far, Karstrack.” Hadrian gripped the scales, realigning his energy focus to keep his center of gravity on the dragon, and stood.

  The Redbacks were the first to move, charging forward on the back of the dragon. Hadrian realized they must’ve been latched to it with power from Karstrack. Would it hold if he countered it? He thrust his hands, energy surging forward, and then pulled up. A giant whip of energy grabbed the closest Redback and tossed him out into space.

  A shriek escaped the Redback as it floated off.

  The second Redback had flung itself to the ground and begun firing. Hadrian lifted his arm to produce a force-field shield of blue and red flowing energy. He had maxed out the shield long ago, and then embedded a bit of his own powers into it, but that didn’t stop it from faltering at a strike from Karstrack. The man had apparently used the Redback as a distraction only, because now he was there, throwing blow after blow at his old friend.

  “You never deserved her,” he shouted, a sword of red light emerging from his fist as he unleashed an attack that pierced Hadrian’s shield, tearing into his forearm.

  Armor instantly replaced itself, sealing the hole, but the wound and resetting of the shield would both take time.

  “How did you never say anything before?” Hadrian countered, pushing back and striking while drawing his sword and deflecting several blows from the Redback. “You introduced us!”

  A kick sent Karstrack tumbling back, but he grabbed hold of the dragon and re-latched himself.

  His face illuminated, the helmet letting Hadrian see his old friend. But instead of hatred and evil on his face, there was confusion, sorrow.

  “Not Noraldian, you old fool.” He stood, shaking his head. “Samantha.”

  “What?” Hadrian frowned, unsure what to make of this.

  In that moment, Karstrack flung a shot of energy forward. But it didn’t hit Hadrian at all, and wasn’t even aimed at him. Instead, the surge grabbed the Redback and flung it at Hadrian. Unsure what was happening, the Redback accepted its fate and initiated the sequence that gave its kind their name. It curled into a ball so that it was flying end over end, the red spot on its back pulsating with light. A light that would soon explode and take everything nearby with the equivalent of an eight-hundred megaton antimatter warhead. Hadrian knew this from experience, as the Redback suicide missions had been a large reason for the enemy’s success overthrowing his planet.

  Perhaps the dragon would survive, and maybe Karstrack had prepared for this and had a plan, but there was no way Hadrian’s armor could withstand the blast.

  With a silent curse, Hadrian leaped back through his jump point.

  He landed on the hexagon in his ship, falling to his side with a thud. A wave of heat passed over him—a remnant from the explosion—before the gate closed.

  For a long moment he lay there, furious at his failure to do more damage. But taking out Karstrack hadn’t been the real goal. He had known going in to a jump to fight him would be playing on his turf. He had distracted his old friend long enough, and now it was up to Samantha and her team.

  But there was a new piece to the puzzle. Karstrack was after Samantha, and Hadrian needed to understand why.

  He had done his job. Now it was time to follow the others and see if he could be of any further assistance.

  22

  ZEUS’S MOUTH

  As the Shadow Corps emerged from yet another tunnel to find more enemy in their way, Dex made a fierce sound like a wall crumbling. Agathe was nearby, pointing and shouting, “There!”

  Samantha darted forward, approaching the edge of what she now saw was a cliff. Sure enough, below them the ground led into a massive underground crater, swirling inward to a point where it was clear why this place was called the Universe’s Butt Hole, or Zeus’s Mouth.

  A new level of shrieking sounded behind them, and Samantha turned to see a being twice the size of Dex dart forward and catch Dex by surprise. The two struggled, then pushed off and came at each other with swords clashing. The newcomer’s sword wasn’t solid, but seemed to be made of darkness itself. Each clash sent off a puff of smoke, and when the blade of darkness touched Dex’s robes, light burst forth that caused Dex to scream in pain.

  Samantha was there a moment later, driving her sword into the being’s side, but it tossed her away. All around them, the team was taking on new incoming forms of floating darkness.

  Napalm was alternating between shooting and causing explosions farther back in some of the tunnels, but it was clearly draining him. He stumbled to Samantha’s side at one point, and she had to slice through an enemy before helping him to stand and leaning him against a wall.

  “Close all tunnels but one!” she shouted to the others, then pointed to their far left. “Leave that one.”

  The others agreed, and got to work creating walls of bodies in the other tunnels. Samantha and Napalm sent explosions when there was an opening and they had the energy. Rocks fell around them, and it was clear the whole place could fall if they didn’t end this soon.

  The guides were more brawlers than warriors, and did their best to hold off any that made it through the first line of defense.

  Ferder and Olivay were faster than Samantha had realized, almost matching the Dexetilaitite in speed. They leaped up to the walls and grabbed hold, moving quickly and shooting down into the attackers.

  More attacks came, wisps of shadow swooping in and about Samantha. She was fast, and her shield would light up with electricity and shoot her attackers back when she successfully blocked a strike. But her armor was quickly becoming quite notched, and the HUD screen showed that its integrity was falling fast.

  “STOP HER!” Agathe shouted.

  Samantha spun to see Olivay leaping from her defensive spot, moving along the wall away from the fight and toward
the gate. She held a small metallic object that was blinking red.

  A bomb.

  “Olivay, no…” Ferder muttered with surprise. But then a Dexetilaitite connected with him, knocking him from the wall and putting its sword through his forearm.

  Ferder’s shout of pain filled the cavern, but Samantha was focused on Olivay. The woman hadn’t been glaring at her before out of jealousy, as Samantha had guessed, but with some other hatred. She was working for the enemy, here to blow up the gate so that they couldn’t use it to access the other side.

  There was no time to wonder why. That could come after. At the moment, she just needed to be stopped.

  Samantha considered her options in the split-second she had. Taking a deep breath, she ran and leaped, not even bothering with her grip—this was all about trajectory and momentum.

  In a flash, Samantha was on Olivay, grabbing hold and pulling her with her. The two fell toward the decline, landing next to the gate.

  “You’re too late. I’ve—” Olivay started, but Samantha wasn’t about to let her stall. One well-placed sweep of the legs and then a jumping push kick sent Olivay straight into the gateway, bomb and all.

  A moment passed, and Samantha stood there, head pounding and catching her breath. Then a sudden clash of swords brought her back to the moment.

  Her friends needed her.

  She ran back to the edge and pulled herself up, just in time to send a shot at a Dexetilaitite that had its sword raised to slice through Napalm’s neck. Maybe the armor would’ve deflected the blade, maybe not. Either way, a nod of thanks later, Napalm was alive and moving on to the next attacker.

  A rustling of cloaks sounded as many of the Dexetilaitite shifted out of the way. Clearly, something bad was coming.

  With a howl, it appeared—the biggest, baddest Dexetilaitite yet. It was at least twice the size of the others, with a massive sword. The sword’s handle split off into spikes, each decorated with red jewels, and red, glowing patterns covered its robe as well.

  It cut through, pushing past Kwan, and plowed its blade into Voira. But it seemed completely fixated on Dex as it charged ahead.

  To Dex’s credit, the being held its own. The two were spinning around each other, blurs of darkness, swords clanging. At one moment the large one had Dex against a wall, then the two were moving again. They flew toward each other and, with a mighty clash, their swords connected in a shower of sparks. Like a small explosion, their swords went flying in opposite directions, skittering across the ground.

  That didn’t stop the assault. The large one slammed into Dex and lifted their teammate into the air, flying high over their heads.

  Samantha froze in shock at the sight of the large being drilling Dex into the ceiling of the cavern. The black robes were acting like a jet’s flames, allowing it to slam Dex’s head into the rocks like a jackhammer. Its other hand moved back, sword materializing.

  If she didn’t act fast, it was over.

  None of the others could reach them, and any explosions from Napalm would hit them both.

  She’d done some amazing upgrading to her grip recently, and she eyed the wall that led to the ceiling. Carma must have guessed her intent, because a moment later she was beside Samantha, her gloves retracting.

  “You’ll need a boost of power,” Carma said, reaching out. “Don’t tell the others.”

  In a quick motion, she retracted Samantha’s helmet and placed her hands on Samantha’s cheeks. A surge of energy and power flowed through Samantha’s body, and she felt stronger and surer than she ever had. Triggering her helmet back on, Samantha turned to take on her opponent.

  Planning her best route, she fired a shot at an oncoming enemy, then ran to the wall and jumped.

  The run was straight up and then almost upside down, but she was doing it. Holy shit, she thought. She was doing it!

  Her grip started to fade as she reached the horizontal part, and she leaped. Jumping while upside down was a strange feeling, but she managed to pull her sword up and drive it directly into the overly large Dexetilaitite. The being tore from her teammate and plunged with her sword to the spiraling earth below, the sliding decline that led to the gateway—Zeus’s Mouth.

  They came to a halt three paces from the gateway, and she didn’t hesitate. In an instant she was up and had her sword back, then brought it down with a roar. Armor cracked, but the next strike brought with it an explosion of electricity, making her glad she had chosen that skill tree. The third strike hit with a sickening crunch, and the Dexetilaitite’s head rolled out of the hood and disappeared into the gateway.

  A moment later, Dex was at her side and she was motioning to the others. “Come on, now!”

  But more of the enemy was streaming in, and she saw they would be overwhelmed even before Napalm said it.

  With a blast of his guns, he turned and said, “We’ll hold them off, then follow when we can. Go on, finish this!”

  Dex turned to her and nodded, and as much as she hated it, she knew Napalm was right. They started to run, but Dex turned back, removed the robes from the large Dexetilaitite she had killed, and then followed closely behind her.

  When Dex caught up, they leaped into the gateway. In a flash of light, they had left the battle behind.

  Her eyes adjusted to show they were in a brightly lit room. She turned to see Dex at her side and then stood.

  That was a mistake.

  Dex pulled her down as darts flew past, stabbing into the far wall. A glance around showed motion sensors and more traps. Of course, Karstrack would have set up the place. He knew how to come through this jump point, so it was possible someone else would, too. And if he was able to, that meant there was a way of making it out alive.

  Hesitantly, Dex held out something. The cloak from the one she had killed.

  “What’s this?” she asked. “I know I didn’t kill more than you.”

  Dex hesitated, then pulled back its hood. “Yes, but you saved my life. You killed it, so have earned the robes. When you put it on, you will be able to communicate with me, and move as I do. There’s more, but that should be enough for now.”

  Samantha knew what it meant for Dex to reveal itself, so she bowed her head. “Thank you.”

  “Stay low while I perform the binding.”

  Dex reached out and wrapped the hood around her head, tearing a layer away and fastening it to her waist. It wasn’t as they wore theirs, but Dex hadn’t completely stripped the corpse. So maybe her power would be partial? She tried not to think about any blood from the previous occupant, and figured she could clean her armor later.

  Now that the robes were attached, Dex ran large, dark fingers along the seams, muttering something. It was like the being was speaking with the robes—they were responding, moving at Dex’s command. For a moment they went rigid, as if fighting. Then, they relaxed, pulling into Samantha’s armor, and she felt a warmth from where they connected.

  “They are part of you now,” Dex said. “Keep the hood up during combat, or anytime you wish to speak with me and don’t wish others to overhear.”

  “Part of me?” she asked, voice shaking.

  “As the armor is biotech-based, so are these robes, but much more so. They need a host to survive, so if you die, they die. Therefore, they have a vested interest in keeping you alive.”

  “So, like, they are feeding on me?” Intrigued and a little grossed out, she stood to look at her robe, forgetting about the traps. A click sounded and she flinched backwards, knowing it was too late. In a flurry, the robes moved like a wave of shadow, catching the darts and casting them aside.

  “It’s not as bad as all that,” Dex replied, and she noticed a smile before the hood came up, creating darkness again.

  She had to admit, what had just happened was cool.

  “Follow me,” Dex’s voice said in her head, though not in her ears.

  “Holy shit, this is awesome,” she shot back with her thoughts, wondering if Dex would hear it.

  �
��Don’t swear in my head,” Dex replied. She could sense the smile even in their mental communication. “Count of three…”

  “Three,” she replied, and willed herself out of there. In a flash, the cloth tied around her waist had encircled her, and she was moving like a wisp of shadow, darting up and down. Spikes and fire traps exploded as she whizzed by, bouncing off of them, and she was aware of Dex shooting straight out of the room.

  Finally she gained control of her flight and followed, leaving behind the flaming room and destroyed traps.

  She landed outside, next to Dex, and the robe released her.

  “It’s always like that?” she asked.

  “Until you learn to control it. By the way, nice work on setting off all those traps so that the others would be safe if they make it through. Smart thinking.”

  “Oh, uh, yeah, right.”

  They took a moment to assess their new surroundings, and what they saw put their nerves on edge. They spotted Olivay’s body nearby, torn to pieces from traps in the room. A large crater was in the ground not far off—likely where she had tossed the bomb as she tried to get it away from herself.

  “Well, that answers that,” Samantha said, turning at a gasp from Dex.

  Samantha glanced up to see where Dex was looking, and whistled. The sky was dark, with blue and green wavy lights floating over ruins in the distance. Walls and buildings crumbling. She saw destroyed spaceships, all in pieces, torn apart. And then… the bodies.

  It was a graveyard.

  Through the darkness they could just make out a river of red with steam rising from it. Strange lights glowed from groups of rocks, and an eerie looking house or fortress stood nearby. The pure black building and surrounding rocks shot up at an angle, reminding Samantha of sharp crystals, and she imagined a madman playing with magic to forge this place. As they drew closer, it became clear that the fortress was made from bits of the ruined spaceships.