“Don’t ask me to do this,” she said.
“Fyre,” Dax said and cupped her face. “If you deny me this, you force the Captain to contemplate surrender. Do you want the Vanguard consortium to win?”
“Of course not,” she said. “But until now I didn’t have to face what you describe as inevitable. Until now, I could pretend the responsibility of this rebellion was in the hands of others.”
“But you started it all,” Dax said. “You brought the seven together. And you are one of us.”
“It has come full circle.” She pulled away from Dax and stared out at the bio-luminescent blues and pinks in the gigantic cloud covering Nightwing. She turned back to them with glowing blue tears falling from her eyes. She nodded and held out her hands.
Dax came to her.
She walked around him and stood behind him. She placed the palm of each hand on either side of his head.
“Close your eyes,” she said in a whisper that seemed to him to be a thousand miles away, but also inside his own head.
“Follow my voice,” she said. “I shall guide your mind into the cloud. Take you through the vaulted corridors, under the magnificent archways... open your eyes.”
As Dax opened his eyes he realized Fyre stood in front of him. She walked away as she glanced over her shoulder and trailed one hand a few inches out of reach. He reached out and took her hand.
Suddenly, he felt engulfed by a myriad of blue hues. A mist slithered across his skin like snakes. The blues morphed into sunburst oranges and yellows and then pinks.
It’s all illusion.
And then they were upon the outside of Nightwing’s hull. Walking along the canyons of gun turrets hand in hand. Two lovers in fields of barley. His hand brushed ripe corn and wheat and made his heart ache for his family. He heard Ben’s voice behind him. His laughter. Calling him.
Dax gritted his teeth and forced himself onward.
Distance seemed like a mirage to Dax. One step would traverse him a full three miles along the hull and send him teetering off the bow. He felt Fyre’s hand tug him back into her arms.
“Why does it feel so strange?” he asked. “Am I going mad?”
“The cloud is Psycho-hallucinatory,” she said. “Fear inducing chemicals distort your perception.”
“Can power-armor adapt to filter out the chemicals?”
“It’s not simply a chemical defense,” she said. “It’s a psychic shield generated by dozens of Brethren loyal to Sol Morlok.”
“So they know we’re here?”
“Soon they shall attack.”
“I need to see more.”
The cloud erupted with fork lightning. It struck the trenches of corn and wheat. On a sudden gust, wildfire engulfed the fields and flames leapt up from the gun trenches.
Dax’s mind screamed with panic.
“It’s not real,” Fyre said. “Trust me.”
He nodded as his skin began to burn.
She led him to the perimeter of a huge glass observation dome. Below, the structure of the temple twisted like an intricately carved ebony tree. Branches supported platforms of statues. Grotesque humanoids shrouded in masks of torment.
Inside, a circle of Brethren held hands and chanted.
“This is the heart of the cloud,” she said. “Stop the Brethren, and you kill the cloud.”
“I’ve seen enough,” Dax said. “I know what I need to do. And how to do it. Take me back to Valiant.”
“You’re still here,” she said.
With a jolt he opened his eyes and realized he was standing on Valiant’s observation deck. He hadn’t moved an inch.
“Well?” Rage said impatiently.
“Ready your dark halo force, Colonel,” Dax said. “I need a small force. Your most trusted.”
“For what?”
“I need to physically enter the cloud and disable the cloud Brethren. Once that’s done, you can unleash the dark halo force, Colonel.”
“How do you plan to disable these Brethren” Rage asked.
Dax turned to Fyre. “I need you by my side, guiding me. Will you help?”
CHAPTER 111 - THE CLOUD
“Killing a priest is an unspeakable crime,” Fyre said. “Murdering dozens of Brethren is a crime for which the soul shall burn.”
“Allowing genocide is another kind of hell entirely,” Dax said.
She broke away from his intense gaze.
“So be it,” she said. “I was a fool to believe we would come out of this alive. There is only one way to defeat the Brethren. The prophecy of seven is true. You must die, Zen.”
***
Van Cleef pulled on his helmet as he enabled his power-armor and entered the airlock with Dax and Fyre. A team of five marines followed Van Cleef into the airlock.
“This Captain Cornell and her demolition team,” Rage said.
A young woman in a green power-suit saluted Dax. “My team, Ermes, Vilem, Yazhu and Santtu,” she said.
The four men saluted Dax. But their eyes seemed transfixed by the vast cloud surrounding Nightwing.
He returned the salute.
“Captain,” Dax said, “are you and your team prepared to experience strange phenomena out on the hull of Nightwing?”
“Define ‘strange’, Commander.”
“Hallucinations,” Fyre said. “Real enough to make you believe you are dying.”
Cornell took a sharp breath. “What defense do we have?”
“It’s our job to shield you from the enemy’s psychic bombardment,” Dax said. “At least, that’s the plan. It’s untested.”
Rage closed the airlock and sealed them in.
Cornell shrugged. “Too late to back out now, Commander.”
Rage activated the airlock’s comm unit.
“I deployed Halo force onto Valiant’s hull,” he said. “We’ll be waiting on the dark side of Valiant for your signal. Remember we’re vulnerable out there, Dax.”
“I’ll be as fast as I can,” Dax said and opened the outer door.
He turned to Van Cleef. “Remember, what you see is not real.”
Van Cleef swallowed hard. “Weird is the new normal for a space marine. And I’ve seen weird times ten since I met you, Commander.”
Dax took a deep breath. He clipped a tow rope to Fyre’s power-suit. She in turn, clipped a tow rope to Van Cleef’s power-suit.
“On three,” Dax said.
The others nodded.
“One...”
Already he felt nauseated to the point of vomiting in his helmet felt like the least of his problems.
“Two...”
Staring out into space he felt his head somersault and turn inside out.
“One...”
Fyre grabbed his hand and caught his gaze. Forcing him into a state of calmness.
“Go!”
Dax sprinted out of the airlock and dived across the void between Valiant and Nightwing’s cloud. Fyre and Van Cleef followed.
After a minute of gut churning panic like wildfire under his skin, Dax dropped into the cloud. He felt the familiar sensation of blue luminescent snakes slithering across his face.
Van Cleef flailed his arms around. His rapid breathing fogged his visor.
“It’s not real, Van Cleef,” Dax said.
Van Cleef nodded. “This is for Nick,” he repeated over and over and brought his breathing under control.
Cornell and her team landed on the hull next to Dax.
“So far so good, Commander,” she said and marveled at the fields of wheat, corn and barley.
“If this is as bad as it gets, Commander,” she said, “I’ll have your charges set in no time.”
The fields erupted into flames. The flames rapidly moved toward them. “I see what you mean,” Cornell said.
“Set your mag-boots to light contact sprint and follow me,” Dax said. “Remember it’s not real.”
“If you say so, Commander.”
They ran through the burning fields.
“Ermes, quieten down,” Cornell hissed.
Ermes fell to his knees and frantically slapped his hands at his arms. He hammered on his helmet visor.
“It’s burning through my suit,” he cried. He released the safety catches on his helmet.
“No, man,” Cornell shouted.
Two marines, Vilem and Yazhu, leapt on Ermes. But too late. Ice instantly devoured his exposed face.
In a fit of panic, Ermes gasped for non-existent air in the freezing vacuum. He tossed away his helmet and pushed at the two marines. He fell backwards. His mag-boots lost contact with Nightwing’s hull. He violently spun backwards and away from them.
“Get a tow line on Ermes,” Cornell ordered.
Yazhu pulled a line from his utility belt and then threw up his arms over his visor. “Run,” he cried.
Dax turned to see what Yazhu seemed terrified of.
A dozen canine creatures, the size of small horses, bounded through the burning fields. With jet black fur and eyes of burning suns, their claws seemed like flaming daggers.
The leader of the pack leapt at Yazhu and brandished slavering jaws of huge razor sharp teeth.
“Hellhounds,” Cornell shouted and drew her Xiphos from her sheath.
Yazhu drew his Xiphos and ignited the blade. The Hellhound knocked him into his back and clamped its jaws around the marine’s throat.
Yazhu slashed at the beast and sliced up his own suit.
Vilem and Santtu drew their Xiphos and slashed at the Hellhound as two more dogs leapt upon them.
As Dax witnessed the marines torn to pieces, he kept telling himself it was not real. Vilem brought his plasma rifle around and aimed at the Hellhound mauling him. He squeezed the trigger.
Like shooting a ghost, the plasma bullet passed through the Hellhound. It hit Yazhu and shattered his visor. Yazhu’s head snapped back and spun away into open space.
Dead.
“Cease fire,” Dax yelled. He pointed at the huge glass dome. “Run.”
He led the way.
The Hellhounds gave chase through the burning fields.
Dax felt a blood curdling scream cut through him. He glanced over his shoulder. A pair of Hellhounds dragged Vilem and Santtu by their ankles. The Two marines frantically fired their plasma rifles at the beasts and hit each other.
“No,” Cornell yelled. “We’ve got to help them, Commander.”
“Their own weak minds killed them,” Fyre said. “Our only chance is to confront the Brethren at the dome.”
They ran along the outside of the hull until they came to rest at the foot of the vast glass dome.
“Set charges along the perimeter to detonate five seconds apart,” Dax said to Cornell. “I’ll keep the Brethren busy.”
She nodded and began setting charges as a dozen Hellhounds surrounded them.
“Are you ready, Zen?” Fyre asked and grabbed his hand. “Focus your mind.”
The Hellhounds slowly stalked Dax as if sensing his danger to them.
“See them for what they truly are, Zen,” Fyre said. “Only by seeing them, can you defeat them.”
The leader of the pack leapt at Dax. It knocked him flat on his back. It bit into his foot and dragged him out onto the glass dome.
As its jaws clamped around his throat, he stared up into its blood red eyes. Dax hurled his mind lie a missile into the beast’s eyes. The Hellhound cried out, snapped back its head and somersaulted.
It landed on all-fours and dispersed like an evaporating cloud. In its place it resolved into the form of a man in a robed hood.
“A Brethren?” Dax said and ran at the hooded figure. The Brethren turned with fear in his eyes and leapt at the glass dome. He passed through the dome like a ghost and vanished.
Two Hellhounds surrounded Dax and simultaneously leapt at him. He reached out and grabbed these two by their throats. He swung them around and slammed them into each other. He then stared into their eyes and forced them to reveal themselves as Brethren.
Two hooded figures materialized and slipped from his grasp. They turned and leapt into the dome.
Dax turned to the remaining Hellhounds. He felt blood pour from his nose and spray the inside of his visor.
A Hellhound leapt at Fyre. She grabbed it by the throat and stared into its eyes. It resolved to the figure of a Brethren.
Another Hellhound leapt at Dax. It slammed him against the dome. He stared into its eyes. But this time, it seemed able to resist him.
The blood flow quicker from his nostrils.
I’m getting weaker.
“How long, Cornell?” Dax shouted.
***
Sol Morlok swept along the arched corridors. He pushed through the sentries and hurled aside the doors to Nightwing’s temple. The Brethren continued their chant.
“Why have I been summoned?” Sol demanded.
The chanting stopped and echoed around the temple. The hundred Brethren pointed up to the glass dome.
Sol squinted into the cloud as two tornadoes of fire spun around the perimeter of the dome, chasing one another. The glass shattered into a millions shards and plummeted onto the Brethren.
Sol threw up his cloak and shielded his body against the glass spears. He watched in horror as the glass skewered and shredded the Brethren.
Silence engulfed him. The cloud evaporated. Sol drew his Makhaira and ignited the flame.
“Battle stations,” Sol shouted to the sentries as four figures in power-suits dropped down into the temple.
I will avenge the Brethren with blood.
CHAPTER 112 - FULL DARK, NO HALO
As the cloud evaporated and revealed Nightwing’s vast hull, Colonel Rage gave the command.
He engaged an encrypted short distance broadcast channel for his captains.
“That’s our signal,” he said. Damn shame Valkyrie’s not here to see this.
Valiant moved into position above Nightwing and in parallel to the Vanguard warship.
Rage scanned the void between Valiant and Nightwing.
No incoming…
He scanned the surface of the ship. If they were heading into an ambush, the enemy were well hidden and patient.
What other kind is there?
He glanced across the lines of marines that extended far back across Valiant’s hull. Each of them had their reasons for following him. He set an encrypted broadcast field for the entire battalion to hear and increased the dampening field so no noise would leak and be detected by Nightwing’s scanners. Or so he hoped.
He considered the virtues of a full dark halo against the whispers of fear, agitation and doubt crippling morale. There’s only one way to do this and God forgive me. No dark. Full light.
“Listen up, marines. This is Colonel Rage. By now you’ve all most likely heard rumors of the Vanguard betrayal of mankind. I owe you the truth. No longer are we considered Vanguard puppets. But now they want us to be their lab rats too.
“So we gather here today for justice and vengeance. Now is the day of reckoning for our fallen marines, comrades, friends and family. This is the day we step out of the shadow of fear.
“We shall carry our burning sword of justice to shine as a new dawn of mankind. So light up your swords of justice, fight by my side and cut down the enemy. Now light ‘em up!”
Rage ignited his Xiphos.
“We are Valiant!” he cried and hurled himself into the void.
Five thousand voices cried out in unison: “Valiant until death!”
The flickering shadows of five thousand igniting Xiphos blades shimmered across Valiant’s hull. They sent a shiver of pride, excitement and fear coursing down Rage’s spine. He led the halo jump.
He glided down through space toward Nightwing. He glanced over his shoulder at the multiple lines of marines. They seemed like a waterfall of fire cascading down from Valiant and pooling out onto Nightwing’s hull.
And that’s when he saw it.
Like a swarm of moths to the five thousand flames. Gliding shapes like metallic curved pincers. Or fangs. Spitting out blue plasma bolts of venom.
“Raiders,” Rage shouted.
A squadron of Vanguard two-man fighters rose up from the void between Valiant and Nightwing. Bolts of plasma cut through the lines of marines. The screams of his men and women cut though Rage’s comms system.
He dialed down their cries knowing there was nothing he could say to aid their plight.
Actions speak louder than words.
He felt the absence of light approaching. Sunlight betrayed its presence, creating an empty silhouette around its metallic fangs. He knew he had one chance.
He scrolled down his helmet’s visor through a selection of close quarters space combat maneuver patterns. He felt the power-armor’s mobility rockets turn him. He raised his Xiphos blade, stared into the raider cockpit and slashed a steep arc through the heart of darkness.
He felt his power-armor engage evasive tactics. His stomach backflipped as he blasted into a forward somersault over the Vanguard raider. His flaming blade sliced through the canopy of the raider’s cockpit. It tore through the Vanguard pilot.
As Rage righted himself, the raider spiraled down into Nightwing. It plummeted down through the shattered glass observation dome. A fireball erupted out of it.
He heard a volley of cheers on his comms channel. His power-armor engaged more jets and propelled him back on his original course.
A minute later he came in for a fast landing.
Too fast.
He hit Nightwing’s hull and rolled. He felt himself tumble over the precipice of a gun battery. He fell.
Steep walls of a gun battery trench leapt up at him. His mag-grav boots engaged and rooted him to the spot.
He ran along the gully, keeping an eye on the ridge above. All seemed quiet. More marines ended steep and rapid halo dives and rolled next to him.
“We’re in their blind spot, Colonel,” a marine whispered.
“It’s too quiet,” Rage said. “Move. Now.”
Valiant (Jurassic War Universe Book 1) Page 45
