D'mok Revival: The Nukari Invasion Anthology

by Michael Zummo

  “We have to get out of here,” Seigie yelled, safe behind her own golden field.

  Mencari recalled the wounded survivors in the tram station. If they retreated down their only option, they’d lead the Nukari there. Countless innocents could be hurt further, or killed.

  “Regroup,” Mencari barked through the communicator. “Una, be ready for pickup.”

  The ground shook again. It didn’t feel like another mech. The very walls groaned.

  “Quake!” Mencari yelled, as new cracks ran across the walls.

  “Fall back, now!” Osuto yelled.

  “We can’t!” Mencari said. “We’ll lead the soldiers right to the shelter.”

  A rumble above drew his attention to a section of ceiling breaking loose.

  “If that comes down, they’ll get cut off,” Mencari yelled. “Naijen, Daleron, get back here!”

  A radiant light poured from Seigie’s hands. She loaded a handful of shining brown gems into a launcher on her wrist, then sent them flying. They shattered upon impact, exploding into a sprawl of spreading rock, which began to patch the cracks. To her horror, the area around her patch began to fracture faster.

  “It’s not enough,” she cried.

  “Let me help,” Speru said, extending his white aura over Seigie. Another set of gems in her hands began to glow.

  “How?” she said confused, as her patch began to fracture.

  “Just throw them!” Mencari yelled.

  The agate gems radiated like small suns when they streaked from her launcher. A gust of wind blew through the corridor as they broke across the ceiling. Before his eyes a new layer of rock solidified, closing the breach and stopping the collapse.

  She looked on, amazed. Speru’s boosting really did work with everyone. Despite the rumbling, the new ceiling patch held.

  Naijen’s bellow echoed through the cavern followed by a massive explosion.

  “The mechs are still closing on us!” Toriko yelled, as the clanking of heavy metal grew louder. Mencari could see hellish red lights fixed to the machines, cutting through the dusty air.

  “Give up now!” Jencho yelled through speakers.

  “Not today!” Allia cried, with Katen, Nikko, and a transformed Ichini close behind.

  Her companion crawled on all fours, covered in large green scales breached only by long bony protrusions. As Ichini’s mouth opened, it poured with light moments before breathing a storm of lightning down the corridor. The bolts splashed against the mechs. The closest one flailed madly before its panels blew off in a shower of sparks.

  They could hear Jencho yelling, “Shields!”

  The remaining mechs radiated an angry red aura that appeared to absorb Ichini’s power. Mencari froze in disbelief. Were the Nukari creations actually stifling a D’mok energy attack?

  A mech took aim with a chain gun and pocketed the creature’s body. The explosive rounds exploded inside, tearing open massive holes and tossing the creature about. Ichini looked like a lump of clay being ripped apart. White chunks of its body hung loosely attached. It didn’t bleed, or whimper.

  “Ichini!” Allia screamed, as she seemingly grabbed energy from the air and blasted the attacking force with an impressively powerful beam. Jencho shrieked as he sailed through the air, thrown from his exploding mech. He smacked the far wall hard, and slid down.

  Shock turned to rage. With fists clenched, Mencari’s body washed with a golden light that instantly shifted to blood red. He pictured a ball of energy streaking from his hands, exploding feet before the Nukari war machines. With that thought a blast rippled down the corridor, along with shrapnel from destroyed mechs.

  It happened again! Just like during the attack with the Nukari creatures with D’mok abilities. He simply had to envision an action, and it actually happened.

  The metallic stomping mechs echoed from farther down the corridor. A green glow drew his attention to Allia, whose glowing hands were over Ichini’s wounds. Her momentary look of panic receded into a peaceful gaze as she looked into the eyes of her companion.

  “I have you,” she said.

  Before his eyes, Ichini’s mangled body collapsed inward, its tiger form restored. The creature was a marvel. Is this how it survived the battle against Mencari? He relived his own battle with the creature in the underground caves of Allia’s world. He’d sworn his attack finished the beast, yet it returned later fully healed.

  Mencari looked back in time to see Naijen raise the Skar, ready to plunge it into an unconscious Jencho. “No! We can use him alive!”

  “Awe, can’t I impale an arm or somethin’?” the warrior huffed.

  “Bring him here!”

  “We have another wave incoming!” Toriko yelled.

  The corridor began to clog with smoke from burning wreckage. A familiar piercing whine echoed. Tracking the sound, Mencari saw hundreds of glowing red eyes through the thick smoke.

  “Robots like on Aeun!” he yelled, as flashbacks filled his mind. He first encountered the Nukari back on Seigie’s world in the form of deadly robots, spider-like, with bulky midsections supported by half a dozen legs, three arm-like tentacles evenly spaced around it. A neck guard fastened a silvery cap that resembled a head where the red sensor eyes were embedded. If these are the same models, that means they could also …

  The thought was cut short by a flail of energy that snapped through the air at him. He dove, grunting as he threw himself against boulders along the ground. He was showered by rocky fragments as the wall next to him was shredded by the attack. “Seigie—diamond dust!”

  He scampered to his feet and retreated by the others while Seigie reached into her pouch and scattered a fog of diamond dust into the air. From watching the technique used on Aeun, it would break the beams against it.

  “I think we can hack them!” Mini-T yelled.

  While Toriko, Mini-T, and Bob worked to hack the robots, Mencari’s mind spun. “We can’t retreat, and we can’t go down either corridor,” he shouted to Osuto over the firefight.

  “Remember what D’abar did on the moon, before we left my homeworld?” Speru asked.

  “Oh, Eudora, more mechs too!” Toriko yelled.

  Mencari thought a moment. He drilled through the ceiling, up to the surface of the moon. “I don’t think I have that type of power—even with your help.”

  The clanking of more mechs grew louder.

  “Then let me help,” Cerna said.

  “Yata!” Toriko cried, as the metal hitting the ground echoed.

  “But that didn’t stop the mechs!” Mini-T cried.

  “Daleron, Maro, Palo, Allia, Ichini, buy us time,” Mencari said. “The rest of you, focus your power on Cerna. Cerna—direct it straight up. Make an opening for us.”

  The corridor glowed with silver and yellow light as the team powered up. Mencari held it as long as he could, then released a blast of energy. The white beam struck Cerna, who had braced for the hit. She grunted as her body absorbed his power, and that of the others. Her skin glowed, then fractured, revealing cracks of light. Her body shattered away, leaving a being of pure energy. Radiant eyes looked up. With raised hands, a swirl of energy collected then blasted upward. The ceiling, then rock dissolved like sugar against a jet of water.

  “It’s working!” Allia yelled.

  The surrounding rock rumbled and fractured.

  “This whole thing could come down!” Osuto said, his face contorted and strained.

  The old man was pushing too hard again. Mencari could see it. Sunlight poured through the hole, drawing his attention skyward.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Mencari said. “Naijen, bring Jencho.”

  Ceasing the infusion into Cerna, Mencari saw Osuto stumble. The old man struggled stubbornly then braced against the wall.

  “Let’s fly!” Mencari said, grabbing onto Osuto, aura radiating, heading up the tunnel.

  “Rhysus, there’s movement on the surface,” Una warned through the communicator.

  “What�
��s going on?” he said.

  “A mass of Nukari are headed along the ground toward your location.”

  “Can you get us?”

  “It’s going to be tight. I need a distraction.”

  As he emerged through the hole, he saw an army of black-clad soldiers moving toward their position, accompanied by mechs and other ground vehicles.

  “A distraction, huh?” Toriko said with a grin. “Mini-T, Bob, work with me!”

  Reaching the surface, Toriko gestured and created a holographic cube in her hands. She tossed it into the air, exploding it into a virtual workspace. The three began to work feverishly, filling the screen with code.

  “What are you doing?” Osuto asked, weakly.

  “This!” Toriko said.

  Sonic booms followed flashes of light from the sky. Thunderous bolts of energy pounded the hills near them. Chunks of ground launched into the air, scattering the Nukari like dust and throwing the approaching enemy into chaos.

  “The planetary defenses have activated!” Una screamed through the communicator.

  “I know, I know!” Toriko said. “I’m targeting the Nukari you’ve been tracking.”

  “Can you still reach us?” Mencari asked.

  “As long as it’s not locked on me,” Una said. “I’m coming in. Be ready!”

  CHAPTER 6:

  Moonbase Alpha

  “What do we do about Jencho?” Toriko asked. She appeared distracted, gazing anxiously out the window at her and Ujaku’s ships, which trailed behind them. Mencari wondered if her angst came from Spark’s piloting of her craft. Maybe it was separation anxiety from her robotic companion, or perhaps her ship?

  “He’s in my care,” Katen said with a cunning grin. “He won’t wake up.”

  Mencari wasn’t sure what was more merciful, letting Naijen take care of the Nukari commander, or allowing Katen to mentally incapacitate him.

  “His body does not contain any tracer technologies,” Bob said from his holographic form next to Jencho.

  “Let Eyani know we have a Nukari captive with us,” Mencari said.

  “Affirmative!”

  “Did anyone else see the mech blocking Ichini’s attack?” Mencari asked.

  “I saw it, right before they shot him,” Allia said.

  “It had to be a fluke,” Seigie said.

  “Maybe they developed some type of field technology like ships have, but we’ve never seen anything that can block our direct attacks,” Toriko said. “I’m just glad we got out of there in one piece.”

  “I think we have our newest member to thank for that. You did well,” Mencari said to Speru. “Wouldn’t have happened like that without you.”

  The boy smiled shyly. Mencari noted the confused expressions on his teammates, and realized they knew little about the boy. “His name is Speru. He came from a hidden world of D’mar.”

  “Another world?” Toriko blurted. “Like Luon?”

  “Were they also survivors from the exodus?” Seigie asked.

  Luon was the gathering place for escape vessels fleeing the original Nukari invasion, which destroyed the ancient D’mar homeworld. When they reached Luon, only a small group of D’mar was still there.

  “No, they were an original colony, Seigie,” Mencari said. “There’s certainly more to tell, but he’s all we’re going to get for help. But he has a unique talent—he boosts everyone else’s.”

  “Welcome to the team, my boy,” Osuto said, still weary from the battle.

  “For not lookin’ like much, you have your uses,” Naijen added, dubious eyes inspecting the boy.

  Mencari motioned to Seigie whose lips were already forming a retort.

  As the others introduced themselves to Speru, Una flagged Mencari over.

  “Eyani needs everyone back at Moonbase Alpha,” Una said.

  Mencari waded through the others toward Una at the helm. The ship was overpacked. While they technically had three ships, she left the other two in orbit, retrieving them only after the entire team was onboard hers.

  “With everyone safe, I need to get to the Coalition and find out what’s happening there,” Mencari protested.

  Una shook her head. “No one is safe. She needs you now.”

  “What’s going on?” Osuto said, reaching the front as well.

  “Nukari beasts are on the attack,” Una started.

  A hologram of the bug-bot, Bob, appeared in a flash next to Mencari. “An analysis of locations and movements imply a search pattern.” A projection of a half man-half dragon appeared. On a snouted face were unexpectedly Human eyes. Tortured eyes, even gentle. Though the horns and barbed black wings diminished the effect.

  “They are, quite possibly, searching for the beast captured in the last great battle your Coalition soldier, Anrik, was rescued in.”

  Anrik. He was Human, just modified. The Coalition had used Mencari’s own genetics to infuse other soldiers with his abilities. They then created an entire team of super humans with his specific skills.

  Though Mencari didn’t have all the details, he knew Anrik was captured, tortured, and interrogated by the Nukari. Even after assisting the rescue, Coalition forces swept Anrik away without sharing what he knew of the Nukari, or what the Nukari now knew about them. It was also that mission when one of the genetically modified Nukari beast warriors had been captured.

  “Eyani will have to provide specifics. But the creature is awake and very agitated.”

  “Has it tried to escape yet?” Katen asked.

  “I don’t have those details. Eyani would. She did say she was concerned Cogeni wouldn’t be able to contain the beast if it got desperate.”

  Mencari recalled the ferocity of that last battle. The Nukari beasts dealt attacks equally as powerful to his team. They fought in a far more organized fashion too. If Katen had not disrupted the beasts with a psionic attack, the D’mok Warriors could have lost. Badly.

  Mencari said, “I understand her concern. I’ll try the Coalition one more time, and head there later if necessary.”

  In the meantime, he wanted details on Ruul. Maro and Toriko were talking in a side alcove. Making his way through the others, a hushed conversation abruptly stopped when the sisters saw him approach.

  “So what went on down there?” he asked. “We know things as far as the main tram station.”

  Toriko hesitated. Why was she hesitating?

  “I’m sorry, again,” she said. “We didn’t know where you were, and I had to save them.”

  “It’s really my fault. Palo and I got captured to begin with,” Maro said.

  “The Nukari are more cunning than we want to think. They planned this all out. And, Toriko, you did what you thought you had to. That was brave. I’m sure the professor would be proud of your leadership.”

  Toriko’s gaze drew distant.

  He wasn’t sure if he should have mentioned Professor FX. Her mentor had been captured, then murdered by the Nukari. The statement was honest. Had the professor seen the woman Toriko had become, he would be proud.

  She smiled slightly. “I think so.”

  Her eyes regained clarity as they met Mencari’s. “We got off the tram and met Jencho at the rendezvous coordinates given. At first we weren’t sure he was going to go for Naijen’s impersonation of you, but he did. We were escorted into an underground facility. It looked like a massive salvage operation.”

  “Kind of an odd place for a prisoner exchange,” Maro said.

  “There were hundreds of robot workers sifting through assembly lines packed with debris. As we thought, they took Naijen to a separate area, and the rest of us were put in with Palo and Maro. They electrified the bars, and kept weapons pointed at us the whole time. So, we waited for the guards to relax. Cerna used her telepathy, which she had practiced with Katen, to contact Naijen.”

  “And everything exploded?” Mencari said in anticipation.

  “Not right away. We found out later they interrogated him—or tried to. Once he got the signal f
rom Cerna, he busted out of his restraints and attacked.”

  The heavy footfalls of their muscle-bound warrior pounded behind him. “You ain’t telling my story are you? Rather tell Rylee myself,” Naijen said with a sneer.

  Mencari motioned, not expecting the warrior to care if he was welcome to share his version.

  “They thought they had me. Well, they didn’t. That Jencho screamed like a little girl when I broke free. He and the others ran. Tried to put up barriers and things as they fled. Ended up chasing ’em through their moving trash lines, down into this room filled with bigger junk. Guess they thought turning a little light on me would do somethin’. It tickled. You shoulda heard them yell when I got all fired up. Biggest glow on me yet! I let my blast go, and it blew their toy up. Pieces went flying, hit other big junk, which also blew up. Now I’m all for big booms, but I knew something wasn’t right when it kept going. This purple crystal on the wall began to flash, and then that exploded. Saw more of that crystal along the walls, leading deep down some hole. The blast just kept going, and I knew it was time ta go.”

  “So you did cause the big explosion,” Mencari said, oddly not surprised.

  “Hey, they attacked me, remember?”

  “Cerna guided Naijen to us,” Toriko said. “When the big rumble came, the air felt like it was sucked from the room, and it got so hot. We combined our D’mok shields, kept Palo and Maro near.”

  “This huge explosion ripped through the installation,” Maro said. “I thought we were dead, but their shields protected us.”

  “We saw some gaping holes, like natural tunnels, that were exposed after the blast, so we ran. Eventually they pursued us. Then I detected Mini-T, and the rest you know. From Naijen’s descriptions, the Nukari must have found quite a few things on that world. Maybe they were storing them instead of moving them offworld?”

  “I’m sure they’re all destroyed now. But, I bet he’ll have some interesting information for us,” Mencari said, looking down at the still unconscious Jencho.

  “We’ll be at the moonbase in ten minutes,” Una called back.