The Suns of Liberty (Book 3): Republic

by Michael Ivan Lowell

  Fiona swallowed, trying not to let her fear sound in her voice. “Well, you’re wrong about that last part!” she yelled, realizing she had failed in keeping the fear out of her voice. Not exactly convincing or intimidating. But her mind was still stuck on trying to figure out which of her friends had just been butchered.

  She tried to count them. But they were scattered. And some of them had not risen from the initial attack—either dead or unconscious. She saw the Connors sisters...but where was Arcadia? Not Arcadia! Her throat began to burn. What if Arcadia was dead?

  “There is only one option, Ms. Fletcher, and that is to surrender. I told you, I never wanted to fight you.”

  “Then why do you keep doing it?”

  The Photuris fired a beam of energy out of its head that she had no time to react to. It was not a killing blow, but it still smacked her out of the sky, and she slammed into the earth again, ripping a huge divot of rock and dirt away, sending it showering above her.

  “We can do this until you die, Ms. Fletcher, or you can join with us and take your rightful place beside the Council.”

  A very familiar voice cried out in response. “You’re one arrogant asshole, whoever you are!” It was Arcadia.

  Fiona sighed with relief.

  Arcadia flew in, her voi whipping the air like a propeller, and swung the energized ball at the robot’s head. As she did, Fiona realized that the Photuris had faded to a dull black. Her full-spectrum eyes detected that it was just steel now, there was nothing special about it. The voi wasn’t absorbed by the black energy; instead it sliced in. Metal shards showered in every direction. But just as the voi made contact, the black glow returned, and Fiona’s hopes fell.

  Still, some part of the voi had struck home, as the Photuris was ripped off its feet. The collision it made with the ground rumbled across the landscape, and Fiona felt it as nausea in her gut. This machine was an abomination. It was not meant to exist on the Earth, in this reality. She could feel that.

  The machine rose to fire back, aiming toward the girls. Fiona could see what was coming. The Luma was her weakness, and Von Cyprus was going to use this atrocity of a machine to exploit it.

  “Fly!” she told the girls—

  And instantly regretted it. The girls were just learning to fly with the voi. Only Arcadia had truly mastered it. Fiona fired another round of blasts at the machine while several of the girls twirled their voi like mini-helicopters—

  And off they lifted. A dozen atomic-powered Mary Poppins took to the air. Their colors were bright and brilliant. Each decked out in the silk, satin, and beaded bedlah of a belly dancer. For one quick second Fiona found herself mesmerized by it.

  But their flying was slow and erratic, and they were sure to crash. They floated more then flew—like drunken fireflies. It made them easy targets for the Photuris. Three more of her girls were picked out of the sky, burnt to oblivion.

  Fiona cried out, unable to stop it. Tears gushed down her bioluminescent cheeks. She scanned about, trying to think of a plan.

  The entire scene was one of devastation. The Palace was demolished—just a smoking, crumbled ruin. Trees, dirt, rock had been up-earthed all around them. Fiona knew they were outmatched.

  There was only one answer.

  “Hey, monster!” she yelled and streaked across the sky at near-light speed toward the Sierra Nevadas, hoping against hope that the Photuris would follow her.

  It did.

  She landed on the top of the enormous Freel Peak in the high point of the Carson Range. There was a light snowfall covering the rocky terrain. Tall pine trees in the distance, framed by more of the eroded granite peaks of the Sierra Nevada lancing into the blue western sky. Fiona had grown to love exploring the area. She found its solitude peaceful.

  There was no solitude today.

  The Photruis followed her two seconds later. It landed at the bottom of the peak and immediately shot out a beam of black energy that, to Fiona’s absolute horror, cut straight through the base of the peak and dissected it from the earth. The black energy wrapped around the massive section of mountain and with enormous strength began to lift Freel Peak into the air, with Fiona standing on top of it. The entire mound of earthen rock was shrinking, and she realized in shock that it was being disintegrated, a foot at a time, literally being eaten away by the black energy. What was the Photruris planning to do?

  She didn’t want to wait to find out. She lifted off the massive rock, floating above it. But the robot fired a second beam of energy that enveloped the peak, wrapping it up from top to bottom. The Photuris then pulled it through space away from Fiona like a giant slingshot and then heaved it back in her direction.

  All of this occurred at close to light speed. She had little time to react. All she could do was defend herself. She blasted it with palm-beams that shattered the giant rock into a million pieces—which scattered in every direction like a starburst—

  Just as the remaining Luma arrived, flying clumsily in on their spinning voi.

  “No!” Fiona cried, but it was too late.

  The shattered mountain rained down on them like shrapnel from the sky. They fell, one after the other, smashing into the forest.

  Arcadia managed to dodge the worst of it and landed behind the Photuris. After the massive show of power, its black energy ebbed, and Arcadia seized upon the chance. The robot’s dark steel frame was exposed only for a second, but the girl whipsawed her voi into the robot’s shoulder, ripping a chunk of the metal free just before the silver mirrored armor returned and repelled the voi back into the air.

  Seeing Arcadia was okay, Fiona fired at it next, but the mirrors blocked the energy into the sky.

  The Photruis turned toward Arcadia.

  It leaped in her direction. Arcadia spun the voi back toward it, hoping to block it, but Fiona knew it was a fruitless attempt. The girl was too late anyway. The monster robot moved too fast for Fiona to stop it and far too fast for Arcadia to react. It backhanded her across her chest, and Arcadia was sent hurtling into the green shade of the pine trees.

  With her full-spectrum vision Fiona could see Arcadia lay unmoving on the ground. Her body temperature told her Arcadia was still alive, but there was no way to know how badly she was hurt.

  The Photuris turned toward the remaining Luma, who were scattered on the forest floor, and phased black.

  Fiona swallowed as fear for the rest of them scurried up her spine. This was her Luma’s first test, and they were being crushed. They just weren’t ready.

  Her mind raced. She had to get this monster away from them. But where could she lure it? Had to be somewhere that gave her a fighting chance.

  A wry smile crept across her lips.

  She blasted it with everything she had. The energy just seemed to disappear into the blackness again, but maybe it would get its attention.

  The Photuris was unaffected.

  “Hey, monster!” she yelled, and the Photuris turned back toward her. She knew exactly where she would go; she only prayed that the robot would follow her again. “Catch me if you can!” she called to it.

  She lifted her head, locked on to the coordinates, and teleported.

  “Hello, asshole,” she said to the Revolution.

  CHAPTER 30

  BOSTON HQ

  REVOLUTION’S LIVING QUARTERS

  Revolution spun as a blinding flash of light filled the spacious office.

  Fiona materialized behind him.

  “Hello, asshole,” she said.

  “Fiona!” Revolution stumbled backwards, dropping the modified Luger pistol he was inspecting out of his hands, and it thudded onto the desk beside him. His heart skipped a beat. Their many attempts to contact Fiona had all met with failure. He could only assume that she was here to cause him harm.

  “Hey, Dad,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her lips. “What goes around comes around. Afraid I’ve invited a real bitch to dinner. Hope you don’t mind!”

  “What are you talking about?”
Revolution was completely confused but did not like what he was hearing. Not one bit.

  Just then, the air around them darkened. A sudden queasiness swam over Revolution. And there, in the center of the doorway, just behind both Revolution and Fiona, materialized the black glowing robot Revolution had seen attacking the Los Angeles HQ on the video screen.

  It towered over the two of them—shorter than before, but at least eight feet tall.

  Revolution felt a very unfamiliar emotion wash over him—fear. Unadulterated fear.

  Fiona spun toward the robot but snarked over her shoulder to Revolution, “I would have asked for your permission. But then I thought...screw you!”

  Lantern bounded into the room but stopped dead when he saw Fiona and the robot.

  Fiona raised her arms and fired a full-force blast at lightning speed into the black machine. “She’s called the Photuris, and let me tell you, she’s a real wench! You two were made for each other!” she shouted to Revolution.

  For his part, the Dark Patriot tried not to let Fiona’s little barbs effect him, and he aimed at the machine, firing a cylinder grenade from each arm. But instead of the grand explosion he was expecting—that would likely level half his living quarters—the grenades simply slipped inside the machine—as if its black surface was some kind of portal to another universe. A walking black hole.

  The grenades were gone.

  “Why bring her here?” Revolution demanded over the noise of battle as he stepped up beside Fiona.

  “You made me the Fire Fly. Just thought I’d share some of the love!” she spat back, her light illuminating the room.

  As they spoke, Fiona’s repeated luminescent blasts shimmered over the black surface of the machine and then faded. Despite the raw power Revolution felt coursing out from Fiona’s energy, the monster barely seemed to notice.

  “Scarlett, Spectral, come to my quarters immediately, we’re under attack!” Revolution shouted into his com just as the monster robot raised its arms and fired a blast of black energy at Fiona, who took the shot directly in the chest.

  It lifted her and flung her across the room. She smashed into a row of bookshelves, demolishing them. Revolution gaped as he saw beads of chartreuse luminescence shower out of her, splattering the walls.

  My god, she’s bleeding, he thought.

  Ward came bounding into the room wearing the Spider Wasp armor, moving like a commando, firing his disabling darts in rapid-fire succession into the surface of the Photuris. Under normal circumstances, his moves would have been impressive and terminal for the machine. The Photuris merely turned its head to him as his darts disappeared inside it.

  The machine replied in kind. Ward dove across the room just in time to avoid a blast from the machine that ripped through the wall above him.

  Next, Spectral blinked in right behind the Photuris, but the robot sensed the android immediately. It swung one of its powerful arms and knocked the potent Spectral across the room—even though the android was in pure light-form. Spectral might as well have been completely materialized. His light-phasing would be no protection against this thing.

  Revolution eyed Fiona, who was rising from the floor, shaking off the blast. “Hit me!” he yelled to her, and she knew immediately what he meant. She grinned so broadly that Revolution instantly regretted the idea.

  Fiona fired a full blast at Revolution, who was ripped across the room. He smashed and skidded down the small hallway between his library and his medical quarters.

  Spectral was up again and fired a laser blast from its optical cavities into the back of the creature’s featureless head. The Photuris simply turned, a glowing pool the same reddish hue as Spectral’s laser blast filling the space where its face should have been—and fired the energy back at the android—who phased to light and let it pass harmlessly through him, exploding through the wall behind.

  And then Spectral disappeared.

  “Are you kidding me? The damn thing just turned tail and ran!” Ward shouted.

  Every warning light in his HUD was flashing red, so Revolution was slow to recognize what the robot’s next move was going to be. But then he saw. “Fiona, look out!” Revolution yelled.

  He was too late.

  The Photuris rose into the air and, at the speed of light, descended on the wounded Fire Fly.

  Fiona was still shaking off the direct hit from the machine. She never saw it coming. Its arms molded into ebony spears, and it stabbed them into Fiona’s chest at light speed.

  The powerful Fire Fly was rocked backwards. Her chartreuse glow rose and pulsed up the arms of the Photuris.

  Fiona’s body spasmed.

  The robot was literally sucking Fiona’s power from her body.

  The look of it was horrific, and as much as he feared Fiona’s power and hate for him, he feared not having that power in this fight even more. Revolution planted his feet and fired the blast of Fiona’s energy that his armor had stored. The great black machine quaked from the impact but quickly shook it off and continued draining Fiona.

  Fiona’s power pulsed again and again and again across the Photuris, and with each pulse came another violent spasm from Fiona as her own luminescence began to fade. The human girl beneath it all began to appear.

  “It’s draining her!” Ward yelled, firing more darts to no avail.

  “It’s killing her,” Revolution said.

  He charged the machine, but a blast of energy seared out of the side of the creature and knocked him backwards through the wall of his study.

  Barely conscious, Revolution lifted his head to see Ward meet a similar fate, flung through the wall out into the now visible outer hallway. Revolution watched as his living quarters were slowly being torn apart.

  Then the unthinkable happened.

  Fiona’s power faded entirely. It danced on the outer skin of the Photuris for several seconds and was then sucked into a whirlpool of the monster’s black energy. Leftover luminescent matter sparked across the robot’s ebony surface. Somehow the damn thing had stored Fiona’s power inside itself.

  And then, in the span of what couldn’t have been more than five seconds, Revolution saw the skin of the robot fade to a gun-metal black. No energy, just exposed metal. As if the act of draining Fiona of her power had been too much for the machine. Was it rebooting or something?

  Or possibly holding her power was too much for it, in which case...

  Revolution’s mind raced.

  Maybe the robot had the same kind of absorption technology as his own armor, and if so it would need to release it.

  Fiona, the human Fiona, hung limp from the two black spears stabbed grotesquely into her chest. Fast as light, the Photuris withdrew the deadly spears only to stab them back into the now completely mortal girl with a sickening slosh. Blood splattered the walls behind her as Fiona awoke just long enough to scream—her eyes wide in terror and pain—and then fall limp again.

  “No!” Revolution shouted and tried to rise. He willed the machine that was biologically interfaced with the rest of his body to take over. To lift him when his own muscles could not.

  Shakily, he stood.

  In his HUD a message flashed across his screen, and he smiled. On his half-demolished desk he saw his salvation. The modified Luger pistol he’d been holding when Fiona had arrived.

  The great black machine towered over Fiona’s fallen body, examining it—probably for signs of life. With the Photuris distracted, Revolution was able to stagger to the desk and snatch up the pistol.

  He pointed it at the Photuris. “See this?”

  The Photuris turned to him. Its head tilting sideways like a dog. It seemed to be inspecting, weighing the danger of the weapon before it.

  “This is a Majoranas Particle gun. One of our newest toys. I fire this and it will rip a hole right through you!” Revolution’s voice was ragged, hoarse. But the threat was clear and palpable.

  Revolution figured it would know the terminology for a particle that was part matter,
part antimatter.

  “No, you will not,” the robot said in a digitally distorted voice that was distinctly female. “That technology does not yet exist.”

  Busted.

  It lifted its arms at lightning speed and blasted Revolution with the full power of the Fire Fly. The energy pulsed off of it in waves and consumed the Revolution. The Luger spun across the floor.

  Ward fell back against a smoldering wall, his mouth hanging open. The amount of power that the machine was unleashing on the Revolution was indescribable. As if it was releasing all of Fiona’s power at once. It was a nightmare he wanted to wake up from.

  Fiona was dead or dying, and Revolution was going to be killed right in front of him! Scarlett Rage was nowhere to be found, and Spectral had actually fled. It would only be minutes before he was dead meat as well.

  But Revolution. He was being assaulted with the full force of Fiona’s energy, and yet, remarkably, he was standing his ground. Wave after wave of the luminescent power swam over him, undoubtedly burning into his flesh, overpowering his armor. There was no way he could be surviving the assault.

  Ward had to shade his eyes. The light had grown too intense for him to look at directly.

  And then Revolution finally relented as he was lifted off his feet. flying backwards. But that was not the most striking thing Ward saw. The android Spectral also went flying in the other direction. Where the hell had he come from? The two spun across the room just as the light from the energy dissipated. The Photuris had unloaded the totality of Fiona’s power onto the Revolution.

  Revolution lay motionless, just like Fiona. The android once again vanished.

  “Damn it!” Ward yelled, seeing the android flee again—causing the Photuris to spin and face him. “Damn it,” he whimpered to himself.

  But the machine’s color had faded. It was still black, but it no longer glowed. In fact, it was devoid of any energy at all. What was standing before Ward now was simply a black steel figure. And if Ward didn’t know better he would have sworn the damn thing was actually starting to…swoon.