“That’s a good point. Is there anything else you’d like me to do regarding these attacks?”
“Just make sure we get as much sensor data as we can. If you remember, we had to fight a spider ship at one point, and we have no way of knowing how many of those are out there. The more telemetry we get on these short engagements, the better.”
“Understood. None of the data showed an energy signature similar to what you encountered earlier. It could very well be a single ship that you incapacitated in your last fight. I think if Spectre Arakan had a bunch of ships, he would send them in these hit and runs since that spider ship can fire while cloaked.”
“Arakan had us all fooled in the past, and we were caught off guard because of it. I would like us to avoid ever being put in a similar position. That’s why I think knowledge is key.”
“Very well, Sarah. I’ll keep you posted on the latest frontline developments.”
“Thank you, Altair.”
Menelas dodged Athena’s energy-based attack and counter-attacked with a fireball of his own. It struck the Olympian on the shoulder, sending her skidding on the floor, but she managed to keep her balance.
When Menelas rushed to deliver the next part of his attack, Athena was ready for him. He jumped in the air and unleashed four fireballs at her. She raised a golden shield that repelled them and sent the attacks back to him. Unprepared, he only managed to dodge the first one as the other three sent him spinning in the air with each impact and resulting explosions.
When he hit the ground, Athena was already on the move. Her long hair majestically floating as she effortlessly moved long distances in very little time.
Menelas had to roll out of the way to avoid being crushed by Athena’s foot and managed to swipe it in the process, bringing Athena down for the first time in their current training session.
Before he could land a follow-up blow, she flipped back up and got back into a defensive stance.
“Impressive,” said Menelas.
“Don’t forget I had nearly ten thousand years more than you to develop my skills.”
“Did you use most of that time for honing your skills?”
“No, if I or any Olympian had, we probably could have dealt with the Furies on our own. Instead, we grew complacent and even lazy. Although I did work on my skills a little during the cleanup period after we thought the majority of Furies were gone. In fact, every time a Fury sighting was reported, I would lead the mission to find and bring it down.”
“Hoping to see me again?”
“And also making sure that if it was you, you weren’t being executed.”
“How many such rogue Furies did you deal with?”
“I lost count. Eventually, I resigned myself to the fact that you wouldn’t be coming home and probably perished in the last attack on Erevos.”
Menelas looked down.
“I’m sorry you had to go through all of that.”
“Well, you weren’t exactly enjoying a vacation either.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, there were times I wanted to give up and die. But holding you in my arms again, as well as seeing our son get married the other day, that was worth enduring it all.”
“I just wished we could have had the ceremony on Olympus.”
“I’m sure Zeus would have liked that as well. I doubt he would approve of you training and risking your life against the monster that took his other daughter’s life, though.”
“Well, Zeus is dead, and while I was willing to back him out of respect when he was alive, I won’t be doing that anymore. It’s time I made my own decisions, and I can’t just stay on the sidelines; Arakan literally destroyed my entire race.”
“But Arakan is dead; the Spectre is just using his body.”
“Where are you going with your current line of thinking?”
“I’m just proposing that perhaps you should not fight by our side when the time comes.”
“You’re not serious?”
“Look, you are one of the best strategists there is, perhaps you should command the fleet. I don’t see why you’re training in the time chamber. Plus, you said it yourself, Arakan almost all but destroyed your people. I would think since there are so few of the Olympians left you should try and survive and rebuild your civilization.”
“I can see where my son gets his doubts and fears from. I never understood why he questions himself so much. I think it makes more sense now.”
“That’s a low blow.”
“I don’t think it is. You can’t expect me to hide from this. Every life in the universe depends on us bringing down the Furies and that damn Spectre who’s masquerading as Arakan.”
“I know that. All I’m asking is that you at the very least consider letting me do the fighting with our sons, while you cover our butts from space.”
Athena was annoyed at the suggestion, but Menelas had made some good points, especially about Olympians and the future survival of their race being at stake.
“Alright, because you asked me nicely, I’ll consider it.”
“That’s all I ask, thank you.”
Athena unleashed a powerful shockwave and sent Menelas falling to the floor.
“In the meantime, try and keep up, will ya?” taunted Athena with a smirk.
Thor sent Mjölnir crashing into Poseidon’s chest, stopping him dead in his tracks and sending the Olympian skidding backward all the way to the limits of the time chamber. Upon impact with the force field, blue lights shone around Poseidon.
The Asgardian weapon’s pressure held Poseidon trapped against the wall for several seconds, which was more than enough time for Thor to run to his training partner and jump high as he recalled his trusted hammer. With Mjölnir back in his possession, he spun it multiple times before grabbing it with both hands and attempting to smash the hammer into Poseidon’s skull.
Poseidon blocked the attack with the staff portion of his trident. Green lightning sizzled on the trident’s surface as Poseidon’s eyes glowed blue. Thor tried engulfing Poseidon in flames with a large fireball, but the Olympian saw it coming and countered with a water-based dancing aura to cancel out the fire.
Before Thor could react, the watery aura around Poseidon turned into a hundred hydras and repelled Thor. Each impact a strong attack that, with so many coming at him at the same time, he had no hope of dodging or blocking. Thor was hit multiple times and his trusty Asgardian armor only partially blocked the damage from the devastating assault. As he hit the floor, blood shot from his mouth.
Poseidon ran to his side.
“Are you alright?”
“Well played,” said Thor with more blood dripping from his mouth.
“Should I call a Fury to heal you?”
“No, I’ll just use the regen tank; if you’re okay training by yourself?”
Poseidon nodded.
“I’m sorry; maybe I shouldn’t have unleashed the full force of my attack.”
Thor struggled to get back on his feet, and Poseidon offered a helping arm. Thor grabbed it to get back up.
“Don’t apologize, my friend. Spectre Arakan won’t withhold any of his powers, and neither should we, to make these training years efficient enough so we’re prepared to face him in battle.”
“Aren’t you worried that even with years of training we won’t manage to be powerful enough to take him down?”
“One on one I doubt we stand a chance, even with that much training, but as a group, I think we can do it.”
“I sure hope you’re right.”
18
Sarah deflected the attacks from both Chase and Chris, and even though it had only been a few weeks since they started training, she was getting more accustomed to holding her own against the Ultra Furies.
Chris was upon her first. She dodged all but the last blow of his super-fast combo and managed to grab her son’s arm and slam him against an incoming Chase, sending them both down.
Chris and Chase got back on their feet and looked at ea
ch other.
“Is it just me?” asked Chase, “or is she—”
But Chris didn’t let him finish. “No, you’re not imagining it; she’s progressing way faster than we are, even at a lower gravitational setting.”
“Well, good for her.”
A fireball grazed both their faces.
“Don’t you talk about me as if I’m not here!” she protested with a smile.
They returned to fighting for hours on end, alternating among themselves the two against one scenarios.
Sarah started to feel dizzy and dropped out of the fight as Chris kept coming at his father alone. Sarah fell on her knees as she felt a strong stomach cramp. Chase and Chris stopped fighting, and they both ran toward her.
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know; I feel this sharp pain in my stomach all of a sudden, and I’m having difficulty breathing, everything is spinning, too.”
Chase put his hands on her and flooded her body with healing power.
“Does that help?”
“A little, but I still feel dizzy. It’s like my body doesn’t like this place. I felt it before, but it was like an afterthought, like a voice in the back of my head. I just ignored it, but today I feel the urge to get the hell out of here and never return.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” commented Chris.
Chase put a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Let’s give your mom some time to rest outside of the chamber; she can always come back later and try again.” Chase looked into Sarah’s eyes. “How does that sound?”
She nodded. “Yeah, let’s do that.”
“I’ll take you to our quarters. Chris, I’ll send Argos to take my place until I return.”
“Okay. Be well, Mom.”
“Thank you, Son,” said Sarah with a weak voice.
Chase took Sarah in his arms, and they exited the chamber.
By the time Chase laid Sarah on the bed, she felt much better.
“That’s the weirdest thing, Chase. I feel perfectly fine now.”
“You should still have the doc check you out.”
“Okay, but right now I think I’d rather sleep. It’s the strangest of feelings though, as soon as you got me out, the unexplainable inner fear disappeared, and I was filled with an emotion of gratitude. I know that doesn’t make sense, but that’s the best way I can describe it.”
“Well, see how you feel in the morning, the time chamber will still be there.”
“That’s the thing, Chase, just thinking about it brings me anxiety. I know that sounds stupid.”
Chase didn’t understand how all of a sudden Sarah was feeling scared of the room or of training itself. Especially with how fast she progressed. It may have had to do with the fact that she was getting a grasp on her Fury powers. Chase had also mastered his powers way faster when he embraced them and trained with the Gaia bots for three months. But, eventually, the limits of the gravitational field had capped his progress until he trained again in the Underworld and attained Ultra Fury form.
“That’s not stupid. Just try and not worry about it for now, and get some rest. Do you want me to get you to a regen tank instead?”
“No, I just think I need a good night’s sleep. You should go back and train with your brother and Chris. The more time you spend here, the less time you have inside the chamber.”
“That’s alright; I can wait until you sleep.”
“That’s very sweet of you, but there’s no need.”
“Are you sure?”
Sarah smiled and nodded.
Chase kissed her, tucked her in, and left their room.
As she was about to fall asleep, she heard a female voice in her head.
Thank you.
She jumped out of bed.
“Lights on!” she exclaimed as she looked around her.
But there was no one in the room with her. She turned the lights off and laid her head back on her pillow.
I hope I’m not losing my mind, she thought just before falling asleep.
“Report!” ordered Tanak’Vor.
The low-rank Fury bowed. “Yes, Master. We’ve continued the attack patterns as requested, staying only long enough to destroy most of the opposition on the targeted worlds. As per your wishes, we’ve left probes to see if the Earth Alliance would try and follow, but they usually just send a partial fleet to help the worlds we have hit, stay a few hours in orbit, and then leave.”
They’re not taking the bait.
This was not going as Tanak’Vor planned. He hoped by provoking smaller worlds, the Earth Alliance would mount an all-out attack on Erevos. He was ready for them; he had prepared the perfect trap and would remove both the Alliance and the Ultra Furies in a single battle. But for his plan to succeed, he would need them to come to him.
The weapon that would counter their precious soul ships required too much power to be mounted on a super-destroyer. In fact, the only thing that could power it was the molten core of Erevos.
“Then we need to go to phase 2. Start attacking jump gates in the order I have selected, and do not deviate from my plan.” said Tanak’Vor.
“Yes, Master Arakan.”
“Now, get away from my throne room. I need to be alone.”
The Fury bowed and left without saying another word.
This is not the news I was hoping for, but they’ll eventually come back. I wonder why they haven’t already, though; it’s not characteristic of the Ultra Fury Chase to stay on the sidelines while I set fire to his precious universe.
Tanak’Vor was a patient being, especially compared to that fool, Arakan. He would not let his thirst for conquest and victory blind his judgment. If it took weeks or even months to bring his enemies down, then he would wait until the time was right. But he could feel it inside him already. They were coming for him, and soon.
And once I report that I have killed the Ultra Furies and obliterated the Earth Alliance in one fell swoop, then my family will finally be safe.
The next morning, Sarah got out of bed feeling fully rested and like a million bucks. She took a nice, hot shower and then dressed. She was starving and synthesized a substantial breakfast. Once she had downed three eggs, over easy, two ham and cheese muffins, and a couple of chocolate croissants, she headed out to the time chamber.
With every step she took toward the cargo bay, she felt her heartbeat accelerate, her palms get moist, and fear invade her body.
“What the hell is happening to me?” she said.
Why am I scared of going back to training? That doesn’t make any sense; I’m making so much progress. I already feel my pool of energy has tripled in the last few days. I should be ecstatic to go back; instead, I feel like if I do, I may literally die.
She leaned against the wall of the corridors for a while, breathing heavily and trying to calm herself. Eventually, she resumed on her way and arrived in front of the chamber, waiting for the airlock to turn green.
She felt panic take over her entire being, and she started trembling.
What the hell is wrong with me? Get a fucking grip, Sarah!
The light turned green, and the doors split open, and she was nearly blinded for a second as her eyes adjusted to the bright white light. She was terrorized. She wanted to get in, but her legs refused to obey her.
“Chase!” she shouted.
Chase came to the door.
“What’s going on?” he asked, unable to hide his worry. “Are you not feeling any better?”
“I thought I was, but I’m paralyzed with fear. I need you to get me inside.”
Chase frowned. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, please.”
Chase nodded and took her in his arms and carried her inside.
Chris and Argos came toward them.
“Is everything okay?” asked Argos.
“What’s wrong, Mom?” added Chris.
But Sarah was too frightened even to answer. She started feeling dizzy again and felt like she would be sick. And,
sure enough, she started vomiting.
Chase ran with Sarah out of the time chamber and started healing her while the airlock cycled. Soon they were out of the airlock, and he could feel her heartbeat stabilize and her breathing return to normal.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
She blinked multiple times and wiped her mouth. “Much better, thank you. Sorry for the mess.”
“Don’t worry about that, but what is going on?”
“I wish I knew. I felt like if I stayed in the room, I would die.”
“It did seem like you had an allergic reaction.”
“Much stronger than that, Chase. I’m afraid I can’t continue training with you. Perhaps I should have listened to you. Maybe on a subconscious level, you felt that I couldn’t take it.”
“No, I refuse to believe that. My fears of losing you were my main motive, but it was a selfish one.”
“And, yet, here we are.”
Chase had to admit that he didn’t mind Sarah not training, even though he knew he couldn’t ask her not to participate in the final assault, whenever it may come. Fortunately, he was much more confident about Sarah being able to hold her own, especially if their lives depended on it. He felt that she had better survival instincts than any of them and that her powers increased exponentially when her life was in danger. That could prove an invaluable asset.
“I’m sorry you feel you can’t train anymore in the time chamber. But you can always ask Kvasir to provide you with a gravitational room to train in real time. You’ve made incredible progress in the past few weeks. Even if you don’t spend as much time training, I’m sure you can still further develop your energy pool that way.”
“That’s sweet of you to say. And that’s what’s so weird with how I feel. I really started getting very confident about myself, you know?”
“And so you should, and there’s no reason for this setback to cancel any of that. It might be simply that your specific genes don’t allow you to use the chamber safely.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
Into the Fire Part II: To End All Wars (Universe in Flames Book 10) Page 18
