by Charles Nall
Elijah Shepherd’s Peregrine exploded.
Arnold didn’t believe what his sensors said. “No... Elijah...”
Elijah Shepherd had sacrificed himself to save Arnold.
“He should have let me die! Damn him!” Tears began to well up. “Damn him...”
The heavily damaged Amaterasu unleashed a heavy salvo of weaponry into Sagitta. The vampire destroyer began to unravel into pieces from the heavy damage.
“Leviathan’s beam is fully charged!” Sharon yelled.
Jacob held onto one of the consoles.“Brace for impact!”
Empyrean shook violently. Explosions echoed down the corridors as a beam cut into the warship. Suddenly, the ground near the holographic projector burst upward from an explosion. Debris flew everywhere in Empyrean’s bridge. Sirens blared. Smoke filled the room.
Jacob shielded his eyes from the smoke. “Damage report!”
“All main systems are functioning.” Sharon coughed. “We lost our viewscreen.” She coughed again. “I’m venting the smoke. Major structural damage on the deck below us. Hull breaches... everywhere. The bridge hasn’t been compromised yet.”
“Hasn’t been compromised?” Alexander yelled. “There’s a rip going through our bridge!”
“Everybody okay?” Jacob coughed.
Trevor slowly rose to his feet. It took all of his might to stand. “Is it warm in here?” Trevor coughed. “Are the environmental systems screwing up?”
Sharon shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.”
“That fall really... that fall really hurt my back,” Trevor said. “I might need to sit down.”
“Are you okay?” Jacob walked up to Trevor.
“Yeah, yeah. Holy shit, I feel like Arnold is sitting on my back.” Trevor hesitantly laughed.
A puddle of blood was forming under Trevor.
“Shit, man...” Jacob called out a marine nearby, “Corporal! Get the XO to sickbay! Now!”
Trevor shook his head. “No, no, I’m okay. I... my back. God damn. Is it flooding in here? Why is everything so damn wet...”
Jacob put his arm around Trevor. “Don’t do this to me, Trevor! Don’t do this to me!”
Another explosion rocked the warship.
Trevor coughed. “Ryn? Ryn... are you there? Don’t—don’t do it... Ryn....” Trevor’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed onto Jacob.
Sharon’s eyes went wide.
Jacob kneeled down with Trevor onto the floor. Jacob gently placed him on the steel. He checked Trevor’s pulse on his wrist. Jacob let out a guttural yell.
A chunk of shrapnel had burst out of the floor and tore straight through Trevor’s back and out his chest.
Marines grabbed Trevor’s body and started taking it away.
“Marines...” Jacob took a deep sigh. “Don’t take him to sickbay...”
“Sir?” one of the marines asked.
“Check his pulse. He’s gone. Just get him off this bridge, please.”
“What do you mean he’s gone?!” Sharon yelled.
One marine checked and looked back to Jacob with eyes of despair.
“He’s gone, Sharon.”
The realization slowly crept into Sharon’s face. “He’s... gone?”
Jacob nodded.
Sharon’s chin began to quiver.
Another explosion rocked the ship.
Hydrus sighed. “I was just told our wing leader went down. The Ghost is down. He didn’t eject.”
Sharon shook her head. “No... Not him too.” Tears began their journey down her cheeks.
“Sir, we can’t continue like this,” Alexander said.
“I know.” Jacob said. “Link with every ship. We’re surrendering.”
“Surrendering?!” Stewart yelled. “You can’t!”
“I can and we are. I can’t take any more of this. We’re losing the fight.”
“We can’t stop now!” Sharon screeched.
“Time for plan B...” Jacob said. “Link me with Suzuki and Mabus.”
The voice of Mabus was heard over the speakers. “Are you surrendering?”
“Yes,” Jacob growled.
“A wise move,” Mabus calmly said.
“You killed them!” Jacob yelled. “You killed my friends!”
Mabus laughed. “You killed them. It’s all your fault, you know. You attacked the ISF. Regardless, I accept your surrender.”
“How could you do this? How could you be so different? Do you know who I am?!”
Mabus chuckled. “Of course I know you are. I had my suspicions. My father mentioned you. He mentioned how you wanted to take my throne. That will never happen.”
“I am the heir.”
Sharon, as well as the rest of the crew in the bridge, were confused about the current conversation.
“It looks like you are on the losing side of a battle. And it looks like I’m still the king of this whole damned galaxy. As it should be! Grovel before me.”
Jacob took a deep breath. “Captain Suzuki, are you listening in on this link?”
“Yes, sir,” Suzuki replied.
“Does the flagship of Epsilon also surrender?”
“...Yes.”
“Mabus,” Jacob said. “The Resistance surrenders. The entire Resistance will throw down their arms. You won. We surrender. We have a Confederate ambassador on board. I know that the Confederate States of Orion will also unconditionally surrender.”
Mabus scoffed, “Do you truly expect me to believe that?”
“We knew this was a very real possibility,” Jacob replied. “This was our only hope of beating you. We didn’t, so we surrender. All of us. Please, board this ship. We will meet on the bridge and go over your terms for our unconditional surrender. We will disable our weaponry. You did mention that you didn’t want to destroy this pretty ship...”
“You are trying to trick me. It’s laughable.”
“Bring as many security forces as you want. There’s nothing we can do to defeat your might. You are truly...” Jacob grit his teeth. “Truly the true king of the galaxy.”
August 10, 0271 AC – 14:00
Bridge, Madcat-2
Orbit of Euphrates, Commonwealth of Perseus Space
Kill her. Knave struggled with the creature inside of his head. Don’t let them destroy the great ship. Occasionally a drop of blood would trickle from his nose. Kill. He tried his best to wipe it away without letting the crew know. Murder them all. He tried to fight it, but it was extremely difficult. Bathe in their blood. Knave felt the handgun he had on his hip. It must be done. He didn’t think anybody else knew he even had the handgun. Kill them.
Russell analyzed his console that was displaying information hacked from the jumpgate. “The freighter will arrive at the hyper-coordinates in about a minute. Once it hits the position, I’ll hit this button and blast it out of the sky. Then that Apocalypse warship will be destroyed.”
Knave fidgeted with his handgun on his hip.
Teresa turned to Knave. “We’re going to do it! We’re going...” Teresa noticed the handgun. “... Knave?”
Time to go.
Knave groaned. Blood began to pour out of his mouth and nose. The pain was intense. He pulled his weapon and stood up.
“Whoa, big guy! Calm down! What the hell?!” shouted Rylan.
Teresa knew what it meant. “Knave... how long? Did...”
Knave was shaking. He aimed the gun at Teresa. “Everyone sit the eff down. I’m not messing around! Take your hand off that button, Russell, or I’ll blow Teresa’s brains out.”
“Knave...” Teresa said.
“Shut up, bitch! Do you think I loved you? Do you think I cared about any of you?! I’m going to stop you from destroying the ship. It’s the key to our ultimate victory. You will not get away with this!”
Russell glanced at his console. “Teresa... forty seconds... before it...”
Knave fired a shot near the console. “Get the eff back! Don’t touch that consol
e or I’ll kill every single one of you. It’s funny. It’s funny... You—you all accepted me. I was a bastard and you accepted me.” A tear ran down Knave’s cheek. “It was such a dumb move on your part. I can’t believe you made such a ridiculous decision.”
“Knave. You can fight it,” Teresa said. “I know you can.”
“I can’t, I’m sorry. I can’t.” Blood poured from Knave’s nose. “You will all die now. I’m sorry. I have to. I have to. I can’t stop this.”
Teresa cried. “Knave. I love you. Please...”
“You don’t effing love me! Nobody could love a piece of shit like me! Don’t lie to me!”
“Thirty seconds...” Russell said.
“Shut the eff up, Russell,” Knave said.
“Knave...” Edwin said.
Knave looked over at the terrified Edwin. “Listen, boy, you better shut up. Don’t you start too.”
“I know you, man, you are better than this. I don’t know what’s going on, but you are better than this,” Edwin said.
“Eff you. Eff all of you.”
“You can fight this!” Teresa yelled.
“Shut up!” The gun shook in Knave’s hand. He tried not to look into Teresa’s eyes.
“Fifteen seconds,” reported Russell.
“I told you to shut up!” Knave yelled. He trained his handgun back on Teresa.
“Ten seconds.”
“Knave, you can fight it,” Rylan said.
“You don’t know how this feels!” Knave yelled.
“Knave,” Teresa said. “I love you...”
“Five seconds,” said Russell.
Knave struggled to move the handgun. Knave groaned in pain and then placed the weapon to his head.
“Four.”
“I’m sorry,” Knave said. The gun shook in his hand.
“Three.”
“I’m so sorry. I... I...” Knave pressed the gun hard against his skull.
What are you doing? How?
“Two.”
“No! Knave! You can’t!” Teresa stood up and began to run to Knave. “No!”
This is impossible!
“One!” Russell shouted.
Knave snarled, “Hit the effing button, Russell! Teresa...”
“Zero!”
“I love you, Reese.” Knave smiled.
Knave pulled the trigger.
Russell slammed his fist on the button.
The weapon fired. Gore splattered across Knave’s console as he collapsed onto the steel floor. Teresa fell on top of the body and wailed in distress.
Knave Gunner, as well as the twisted creature inside of him, died.
Space warped and twisted around the center of the Apocalypse warship. Blue ripples pulsed across the hull. The freighter emerged out of the center of the warship. A sudden explosion shattered the freighter and split the Apocalypse into two broken pieces. Explosions continued to flare across what was left of the planet killer. The support structures from the shipyard broke apart and several explosions erupted from the shipyard itself.
“We did it...” Edwin said. He glanced back to the dead body of Knave. Edwin fought back tears.
Russell leaned back in his chair and couldn’t make himself look at the body.
Rylan managed to get Teresa off the body of Knave. Rylan held Teresa tight.
“Yes, Edwin, we did it,” Rylan said.
“What happened?” Edwin asked.
“We found that Knave’s... Knave’s true character...” Russell could barely speak.
Teresa nodded. “His true character... He was the bravest man I have ever known. Knave... I love you, too.”
As blood poured from the bridge down the access ladder, the broken remains of the planet killer drifted over Euphrates.
August 10, 0271 AC – 16:23
USS Empyrean
Near Urbania, Galactic Union Space
“Your ship is quite the mess,” Drake Mabus said. Mabus and a squad of ten vampire marines entered into the room. “The bridge has some damage as well. Unfortunate,” Mabus said.
Jacob sighed. “Admiring your handiwork?”
Mabus smirked. “Only a little. I am glad to have this vessel back under the control of the ISF, where she belongs.”
A Confederate ambassador was standing next to Jacob. Sharon, Suzuki, Kelly, and many Resistance marines were also present. They slowly backed away from the vampires. They didn’t want to be exposed to the disease. Hydrus was still working on his communications station.
“What is that man doing on that console?” Mabus asked.
“Broadcasting our surrender to the entire galaxy,” Jacob replied.
Mabus smiled. “Good. Ah, victory is so sweet. It’s a pity we both can’t share that feeling.”
“Right,” Jacob said sarcastically.
“I admire the fact you had the foresight to have an ambassador from the Confederation with you. You should have just surrendered earlier.” Mabus glanced over to Sharon. “It would have saved some bloodshed.”
“You killed my father didn’t you?” Sharon screamed. “You killed Jerry Turner... and Trevor and Elijah!”
Mabus shrugged. “Yes, I suppose, in a way. When Exodus exploded, the bridge was not immediately destroyed. The news report cut off during this time but I was able to continue listening. It brought me joy to hear Turner’s screams... Eventually they stopped.”
Sharon fumed in anger.
“Well, I suppose we should get started.” Mabus smiled.
“I suppose,” Jacob remarked.
“Uh, sir?” Hydrus said.
“Yes?” Jacob replied.
“Oh, what now?” Mabus said.
Hydrus tapped on his console. “Kappa Velorum... I thought we lost those forces?”
“We did.” Jacob examined the display on the console. “Mabus, you will want to look at this.”
“Your forces were destroyed at Kappa Velorum. They didn’t put up much of a fight, you realize.” Mabus walked over to the console.
Hydrus stood up and walked away from Mabus.
Mabus chuckled. His tone changed quickly when he inspected the console. “How does your... Resistance... have this many ships? What is going on? Is this some sort of trickery?”
“Does it look like trickery?” Hydrus asked.
“Impossible.” Mabus pulled a communications device out of his pocket. “Reek, come in. Reek?” Mabus groaned. “This is the last time I put Reek in charge. I’m not getting a link with my ship.”
“Look!” Jacob pointed at the display on the console.
Two Resistance cruisers jumped in and unloaded weaponry onto the vampire cruisers that were positioned only a few hundred meters away from Empyrean. The vampire ships exploded. The shockwave of the explosion rattled Empyrean. The room shook.
Mabus was thoroughly confused. “What... what is this?”
“Do you know how Galactic Union consoles work? I welcome you to look at the console yourself,” Jacob said.
“There is something not right here.”
The vampire security team raised their weapons. The Resistance marines quickly followed suit. No weapons were fired. Eyes darted about. They wondered who would make the first move. There was silence.
Mabus broke the silence. “So...” Mabus smirked. “Do you think you’ll beat me with smoke and mirrors?”
“Drake Mabus, you are under arrest for crimes against humanity. We are sending you to the brig,” Jacob said.
“You cannot,” Mabus said.
“You better do what he says.” Captain John Devereaux entered into the room. “He’s in charge, here.”
Ashara Cinderflake was behind Devereaux with a gun to his back.
“Why aren’t you in command?” Mabus snarled.
“Coup d’état,” Devereaux said. “He’s telling the truth about everything, sir. I saw the explosion for myself. We can’t win like this.”
“You wouldn’t lie to me,” Mabus said. “You... can’t lie to me.”
“That’s correct, sir. Just go to the brig. This isn’t the end. We will crush them all under our heels.”
“Yes. Yes we will. Fine. Fine,” Mabus growled. “Marines... Bah. Lower your weapons. We surrender. Are you happy now?”
Jacob smiled. “Yes, of course. I honestly didn’t think this would work.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing.”
Mabus shook his head. “This isn’t the end, you realize. I will kill each and every—”
A gunshot rang out.
Blood began to pour from Mabus’ neck. He put his hand over his wound and fruitlessly tried to stop the gushing blood. He gurgled something and then fell to the floor.
Sharon stood behind him with her sidearm. The barrel of the sidearm was still smoking.
Jacob stood there, staring at Sharon while the brawl between the marine forces erupted. Gunshots echoed in the chaos. Several bullets nearly hit Sharon. She didn’t seem to care if any did. Sharon’s emerald eyes locked with Jacob’s blue eyes. They both stood there amidst the carnage.
Jacob shook his head. “I’m sorry. That... that wasn’t the plan.”
Sharon shrugged. “I don’t care.”
The vampire forces eventually were subdued by the Resistance marines. The chaotic fight ended as quickly as it started. Two Resistance and three vampire marines lie dead on the floor. Several more were injured.
Sharon spat on Mabus.
“Take her to the brig,” Jacob ordered.
A marine grabbed Sharon’s arm.
She ripped her arm out of the marine’s hands. “I can walk on my own! Jacob...”
Jacob shook his head and looked down on his brother’s lifeless body.
“Oh, I see.” Sharon sighed. “Okay, I know my way to brig. Let’s go. I’d like a different cell than those guys,” she said to the marine as she pointed at the vampires.
Jacob called out to the marines in the room, “We have to be careful now. More vampire forces are boarded on our ship. Hopefully they go to the brig peacefully.”
Devereaux and Cinderflake walked up to Jacob, tiptoeing over some fallen debris from the earlier battle.
“I heard about Elijah and Trevor, I’m so sorry,” Cinderflake said.
