“Hear me out, sir. You can do so…if you’re phazed right along with them, at the same time.”
“You can phaze, Nelson? I didn’t know that. Not many Spacers can. I sure can’t.”
“Yeah, I can phaze. I just can’t move very much while I’m doing it–and it’s exhausting. My whole family can do it, more or less. We used to play hide and scan, and we figured out the whole phaze and telepathy thing.”
Naero zipped over to Nelson’s position and they found some cover nearby. Naero focused and opened her third eye. Then she placed her hands on Nelson’s shoulders, studying her through a mindlink and with biomancy, all at once.
“Go ahead, Nelson. Go ahead and phaze. I want to study everything you do at every level. I’ll mindlink with you and study your flows when you phaze. I’m a quick study. Once I see a talent performed, once or twice, I can usually learn to imitate it. Now, find the enemy for us. Show me where they are.”
“If you don’t mind, sir, I’ll have to lie down. If I phaze successfully standing up, I’ll slip right out of my armor and flop down on the ground naked. The neutral flows of the ground strata will act as a stabilizer. I won’t fall into the ground while I’m phazed.”
“All right. Go ahead. I’ll stay right with you to maintain our mindlink.”
“Oh, we have to turn our stealth suits off, as well. That will also interfere with the process.”
They lay there under cover, and Nelson went still, into a psyonic focus trance. Naero matched her, keeping one arm across Nelson’s shoulder and another hand on the Marine’s other shoulder.
Then Nelson phazed.
For an instant, Naero winced as if she were on fire. Phazing was painful at first. Their link almost shattered defensively as Nelson compensated. Naero kept pace with her and phazed right along with her, the very next instant.
Nelson was already scanning and searching the nearby areas with her racing, telepathic mind. Once more, Naero caught up with her counterpart.
Nelson most likely did not know this, but being phazed was a lot like being in the actual astral plane. But instead, this felt more like a small pocket dimension that was temporary, and on a slightly different frequency or flux energy band of Cosmic existence. Only a Mystic would be able to figure out all of that.
There they were: the six members of the enemy sniper team were within range. Nelson and Naero could see and spot them, but without being telepathic, the Ejjai could not see them in turn.
The enemy team had moved once more, and quickly set up to start shooting again.
“We’ve got them, Om. No one else is dying here. Can the fixers paint them some way to light them up on the combat grid?”
We can’t paint them while they’re phazed, but we can paint the air around them and their positions so that they show up. They won’t see it. But what good will that do? Our weapons and any of our fire will simply pass right through them.
You forget, Om. My weapons and I are also phazed.
Naero spoke to Nelson. “I’m going to take them out.”
“Sir, wait. Moving while you’re phazed is incredibly taxing. You’ll quickly exhaust yourself and become vulnerable!”
“I’ve got an idea, Nelson. Back in a sec. Trust me.”
Shetanna transported right in on the enemy sniper team with her blazing red katanas appearing with her, already rammed right through their bodies. There was no time to react. Their eyes blinked in surprise and froze in death.
Then Naero noticed that she was both phazed, and naked.
She had her swords, which were a part of her, but she had teleported her phazed body right out of her stealth armor.
Not that anyone besides Nelson might notice.
If that was the trade-off for taking out the enemy sniper team, so be it. Naked never hurt anyone.
She quickly flashed back to Nelson and teknomanced into her gear.
“Did you get them, sir? How do you feel?”
Naero caught herself, and un-phazed along with Nelson.
When Naero tried to sit up, she felt lucky that she was already lying on the ground. She barely had the strength to move.
“You were right, Nelson. I’m almost completely drained. But yes–I got them. We got them, thanks to you.”
We did get them, right, Om?
Gathering the bodies and all of their gear as we speak, N. The teks are swarming over them and sending the scans and feeds back to HQ and Intel for full analysis. They’re having a field day. Fireteam 4 is securing the area and going over everything with the teks. Intel’s already got a rapid response ship on the way.
Om, I’m spent. While I’m lying here resting, let’s at least teknomance the enemy gear and try to find a weakness we can exploit right now. There are too many invader sniper teams like this one at work, all around us on this continent, as we speak.
Your attacks damaged some of the suits and their functions, and they disrupted and appeared as soon as they un-phazed and dropped. We have their advanced phazed weapons, also. Let’s take a look and see what we have, N.
Right with you, Om.
They poured and sifted through the data flows and the tek scans even as they were being made.
Oh, let our friends know that the rapid response fixers and I have already deactivated the deadfall fusion charges in each suit that would have melted them and the guns into useless slag.
Thanks, Om. You’re a wonder.
Such flattery.
Hey, take a look at this, Om.
I see. We can use that. If we can interface it with the spyfixers, we can use those tek patterns to detect both the suits and the guns while they are in use.
Not only that, Om: we could also modify an electromagnetic pulse wave from orbit to do so over a wide area, paint and light them up on the combat grid, and maybe even focus it enough to disrupt them.
Let’s send it up the chain through the Intel fixers. What are we waiting for? They can experiment with it from here.
One of the teks absently suggested something like that on the fly.
It was fairly easy to lead them along the same path of discovery, and pweak some of the data to get them on board.
The flows were already hitting HQ and Intel.
“Intel, this is MCL Maeris with Company 36. We need a full spread of EM pulse bursts over this targeted area. Alert Bravo Command that our pests should be popping up on the combat grid very shortly. Attention all Bravo anti-sniper teams–be advised–prepare to modify your gear and get ready to hunt down the hunters.”
Naero sighed, still on her back, her Cosmic energies rapidly returning as she and Om focused all of their efforts on regenerating. She inhaled a foodbar and some lix to help matters along.
There are still some things that only flesh and blood can do–not machines, Om.
Machines still helped a great deal, N.
I know that; don’t get touchy, Om.
Nelson was still exhausted from her efforts as well.
Once Naero was feeling better, she used biomancy to bolster Nelson back up. “Thanks, Veronica. We couldn’t have solved the problem, or done any of this without you and your ideas, and your help. And you’ve shared and given me something extremely valuable–part of your own gift and talent, which I learned from you. Now, with your permission, let me give you something back in return.”
“What are you going to do, sir?” Nelson drew back slightly and looked a bit worried.
“Relax. Most don’t know this, but one of my Mystic abilities is that I can quicken or increase psyonic abilities in others. Would you like your talents to be stronger? I can make both your telepathy and your phazing much stronger, now that I’ve linked with you and I fully understand them. How about it?”
“Sure. What Spacer could say no to that? Then I can help my squad and the unit even more.”
Naero linked with her again. “Very well. Just hold still.”
It took Naero only a few minutes.
“There…now your telepathy will be much stron
ger and tax you less. The same with your phazing. I see how it works now. Both of us will now be able to both phaze, and move, and even shoot and attack. I want you on counter-sniper team ops from now on. Get out there with me and help us take the enemy down when they try this crap!”
Nelson rose to her feet. “Copy that, sir. I feel like a zillion creds. Let’s hunt those bitches down.”
They split off and rejoined 36, who were in the process of taking out first one, and then another enemy sniper team trying to escape the area.
Within the span of two hours, most of the enemy sniper teams had been located and gunned down.
And the cloaked insertion ship or ships most likely fled. Unfortunately, none of them were ever located or shot down.
Then the defenders realized something chilling from the Intel scans of the sniper teams.
The primary enemy sniper was always an Ejjai male. A clone of the same exact male, shunted with the same elite training and ability. The other five members of the enemy sniper teams were always the same five females.
Like the shock troops, the enemy was mass-producing these sniper teams and turning them loose in droves.
By the next day, Bravo Command finally had the planet under control, and the invaders on the run.
Veronica Nelson was quickly promoted from corporal to sergeant and then to second leftenant, helping train the new anti-sniper program working with the Mystics, to locate, eliminate, and defeat enemy phaze snipers.
By the end of that week, they were able to stand down and rest after days of constant hunting and fighting. This was Sixthday, the old Friday, and that meant Binge Night.
Chime Fox and a few others read a bunch of new books that just came in. Marines gorged themselves on junk food and delicacies like gluttons. Some still got drunk or gambled the whole time. Others slept as much as they could. Couples took their leaves together and vanished for a day or two of romance. Entire groups jacked into vidgames and played them competitively 24/7. It was a time for relatively harmless excess. A time for everyone to loosen up, and do whatever they wanted.
Within certain Spacer limits, it was all fun.
7
Suvanna-6 was a winter world with most of the continents in the northern and southern hemispheres locked in glacial ice ages. Only a small temperate band existed around the equator that was even remotely inhabitable.
Yet because of active vulcanism and rich mining deposits, half of Suvanna-6’s population of two billion were Miner Consortium miners, living in dome cities around their mining interests–a mix of several sentient races.
The original native population were Zotchans–near humans who were physically mute, without vocal cords. As a species, they had telekinetic, shining hair tendrils, similar to those of jellyfish in many ways.
The Ejjai invaders hated Zotchans, because without vocal chords, they couldn’t be made to scream. Torturing them wasn’t any fun for the invaders…almost.
At first, everything went well. Up close, the Marines had very little trouble taking out the Ejjai invaders.
Then Company 36 went missing in their dropship.
All of them.
Minutes later, Naero received a mysterious, telepathic signal from an unknown entity. It was not an Ejjai mind–but something unique, and very different.
Yet it was still working for the enemy.
Curiouser still, this being had Mystic-like powers. No. Correction. Cosmic psyonic powers. It could cloak itself from detection, even from her and Om both. And from what she could sense, it was extremely dangerous.
All of these things had Naero incredibly intrigued.
This entity challenged Naero to a formal duel. Just the two of them. Naero wasn’t particularly interested into being lured into such an obvious trap. Their enemies had tried such tactics before–many times.
Then the entity revealed that she had Company 36. All of them, in their dropship, frozen in stasis. If Naero did not agree to the duel, the entity would be forced to hand her Marine brothers and sisters over to the Ejjai.
Naero followed the instructions to the letter. She piloted a starfighter to the south pole to meet the challenge. She asked the entity to release her friends. Naero had held up her end of the bargain.
The entity replied that she would do so, only if Naero won the duel and defeated her.
Of course, this duel was going to be to the death.
Om, I’m certain that this is all still a trap, planned just to take me down. We have to be ready for anything. 36 is merely the bait. I hate to think this, but they’re probably already dead. Yet something does feel very different about this one. This entity appears to operate with some autonomy. She isn’t the usual mindless, grunt slave of our unseen foes.
She doesn’t know about me, N. I’ll be ready to back you up, no matter what. And my fixers will be searching for 36 the entire time, and trying to find a way to secure and free them. I’m your wild blade.
Thanks, Om. I’m really going to need you on this one, I think.
As soon as Naero transported near the given coordinates, she felt as if she were being hunted.
She quickly located and eliminated the units of Ejjai in polar armor.
A fierce Antarctic storm whipped up, obscuring all visibility and taxing shields, armor, and even psyonics.
Naero had just started to wonder what was next when a familiar telepathic signal went out to her, trying to contact her.
If she linked with and answered it, the entity could pinpoint her location and possibly attack her.
Om, help me. I can’t get a fix on it.
Sorry, N. I can’t either. This opponent is both powerful and tricky. Be careful. There’s still so much we don’t know about this one.
They waited for the telepathic message to be repeated, or for another to go out.
Nothing.
If this strange new entity was, in fact, holding 36 hostage in stasis, that was a lot of mental and lifeforce energy to mask.
N, this entity is extremely powerful. She’s even shielding them from us. That’s a very bad sign.
I’m worried about that as well, Om. This entity rivals the High Mystics in raw, psyonic power. Although to my senses, she appears to be primarily a telepath. I’ve yet to sense any kind of direct Cosmic powers and abilities beyond telepathy. And the energy levels are so strange. Not raw Chaos, but Chaos mixed with several other types of energies that I cannot sort out.
Naero had yet to complete her Mystic training. There were still gaps in her knowledge that one could pilot a battleship through, and that could always be dangerous.
Something else, N.
What’s that, Om?
We already know that this isn’t an Ejjai mind signature. Whatever it is–it’s a sentient from a race we’ve never encountered before.
I agree, Om. And the funny thing is, I keep sensing this deep regret. I might even call it resistance. We’ve never encountered any servant of the enemy that emanated regret. They’re always fanatical. We’re walking into the unknown. Our foes went to a great deal of trouble to bring this new threat against us. They must be pretty sure that it is stronger than us. They expect us to fall before its might. We can’t afford to underestimate this one.
Finally, they drew close enough that Om detected the cloaked, heavy stasis fields through the enemy shielding.
They’d found 36 at last.
Naero transported in, struggling to mask her presence psyonically. Om and the fixers checked. 36 was alive and well, but helpless, at least for now. Luckily, the Marines and their entire dropship were entombed in a massive stasis field in an underground ice cave.
They did not appear to be under a direct guard, but there were security sensors on the ship, and massive explosive charges set to destroy the craft.
Om, you and the fixers neutralize those fusion charges and devices without alerting our hosts.
On it, N. You’ll need to buy them some time. A distraction or diversion wouldn’t hurt. This is a big job.
/> The right remote signal, or the wrong attempt to free the Marines, and this entire ice cave would go up in flames.
I’ve got the perfect distraction, Om.
What’s that?
I’m going to knock on the front door. And spring their little trap. Keep those fixers working down here. Get our people out if you can, when the time comes. Don’t let them use 36 against me.
Will do, N. I’ll signal you when the task is done, as soon as I hear from our fixers.
Great, Om. Let’s start this party. We want the enemy completely focused on me.
Surprisingly, the entity sent out another summons a few seconds later.
“Shetanna, the time has come for us to meet, and test our skills against on another. The moment of our duel is at hand. Answer me, or I regret to say that the lives of your companions are all forfeit.”
Naero transported directly out of the underground ice cave, and half a klick in front of the large dome of the pop-up complex’s main entrance. The storm outside had only increased in violence.
“Shetanna. I know that you are out there near the dome. I can sense your presence now. You are close. You’re flitting about in that storm, trying to find a way in. I feel you resisting me. You’re keeping me from locating your exact position. Very clever. Your friends are still here with me. The only way to free them, the only way to save them, is to face me in single combat.
“Where I will take your life, or you will take mine.”
Naero continued stalling for time, for as long as she could. Either way, this couldn’t get over with too quickly. She needed to draw it out to give Om and the fixers a chance to free 36.
“I know you can hear me on this channel, Shetanna. There’s no other way to do this. Defeat me and take my life, and they go free. Or, I defeat you and they die. Or, you attempt to free them, and they die, and we still fight each other anyway.”
Om, I’m kind of running out of time here. Have we stalled enough?
I think so. Go ahead, N. Start the show.
“Shetanna, I challenge you to face me!”
Naero zipped in right up to the front of the dome itself.
Naero's War: The Citation Series 2: The High Crusade Page 9
