“Alpha Leader, this is Bravo Three,” a rushed, gruff Oterian voice called over the radio. “The Terrans have launched another wave of ships from the southern pole. They destroyed the Cair Bailun before we even knew they were there!”
“Get back into formation and eliminate the Terran fighters before they get to any of the other Cair ships,” Iana ordered. “We still have…”
“The Cair Noumlik has been hit!” a worried, effeminate voice interrupted. “They’re targeting the Cairs.”
Iana scowled. She should have guessed that it would only be a matter of time before the Terrans figured out the Alliance strategy. They’d now be targeting all the Cair ships, both still in space and on the planet.
“Alpha Three, this is Alpha Leader. The Terrans are doing a search and destroy on the Cairs. Is the Cair Thewlis still alright?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Alpha Three called back, his voice clearer as he passed through the upper atmosphere. “It’s still in one piece in the middle of…”
The radio suddenly went dead. Iana cocked her head to the side as she awaited the rest of the sentence that just wasn’t coming. “Alpha Three, say again.”
Again, silence stretched over the radio.
“Alpha Three, respond!” she ordered.
“Twelve o’clock low,” Alpha Two called out. “Terran fighters!”
Iana tilted the nose of her ship so that she was facing Earth’s surface. Far below her, skimming the surface of the atmosphere, three small Terran fighters were silhouetted against the vibrant blues and greens of the planet. Scanning in front of the fast craft, Iana could see the rapidly cooling blue and purple vapors, a signal that plasma missiles had exploded nearby. A knot grew in Iana’s stomach at the sight. She had to assume that the plasma bursts were what remained of both Alpha Three and Four. If that were the case, then the Terran fighters had nothing standing between them and the Cair Thewlis. Yen and his entire team could be in grave danger.
Without giving orders, Alpha Two fell into position beside Iana as she dove toward the Terran ships. She pressed heavily on the accelerator, speeding forward until the growing pressure on her chest threatened to break her ribs. Her hands and feet grew cold as her heart struggled to pump blood to her extremities. Even under the intense pressure of the dive, however, she still knew that she would never catch the Terran fighters before they reached Yen and his men. In her ambivalence, she had very possibly caused the tide of battle to turn against the Alliance Fleet.
Her eyes watering from the gravitational forces, she saw a faint red glow from the corner of her eye. Glancing over, her heart skipped a beat, both in excitement and fear. She did have a solution, if she was brave enough to try. Yen was counting on her to do the right thing, even if it meant endangering her own life. Realizing how much hung in the balance, Iana quickly realized that she didn’t truly have a choice in the matter. Sliding her hand over to the button, she took a deep breath.
“I’m really going to regret this,” she muttered just before activating the warp generator.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Yen leaned back heavily against the rubble behind which he had taken cover. Heat from still burning fires radiated against his yellowed skin, a stark contrast to the cool rain that still poured from above. Rivulets of water cascaded down the debris strewn across the road and followed the course between the larger pieces of concrete like newly formed urban rivers.
Reaching up, Yen brushed his dark hair out of his face before refocusing on the weapons check he was performing on his pistol. Satisfied that his pistol would still function in the heavy rain, he proceeded to check the belt of grenades strung around his waist. Though the grenades seemed like a coarse approach, especially for Yen’s preferred psychic subtlety, they were effective against entrenched Terran forces.
To Yen’s left and right, he could see the rest of his team spreading out, finding cover behind the other debris that littered the road as well as moving quietly into the husks of demolished buildings nearby. The passing Duun fighters had done considerable damage to this part of the city, reducing many of the buildings to little more than heaps of rubble, charred black from the persistent plasma fires.
In the distance, gunfire filled the gloomy air. Buren’s force had encountered significantly heavier resistance than had Yen’s team. Then again, Yen realized, he wasn’t sending his own men headlong into danger. Preferring a slower but more tactical approach, Yen’s team had been methodically moving forward, finding cover wherever possible. At the same time, he had dispatched scouts to examine the enemy line and report back any weaknesses. Even entrenched as they were, the Terrans had to be pulled thin with the Alliance striking so many targets on Earth simultaneously. Once Yen found the opening he was looking for, he would exploit it and find a way into the park beyond.
A scurrying sound alerted Yen to the return of one of his scouts. The Lithid slipped around the corner of the rubble behind which Yen was sitting and crouched beside the commander.
“I don’t know who this scientist is,” the Lithid began, his gravelly voice hissing the words, “but the Terrans are doing all they can to protect him. They have a pretty solid perimeter established all around the park.”
“I know what the good Doctor Solomon is capable of,” Yen replied. “And believe me when I tell you that the Terrans didn’t bring enough soldiers to keep me out.”
“I was hoping that would be your answer,” the scout’s voice called from behind the featureless mask. Pointing a clawed hand to the north and west, the Lithid continued. “There is a point approximately two blocks from here where the Terrans have established a roadblock. It’s well defended, but their position leaves them cut off from immediate reinforcements. It would be a difficult fight, but if we can attack quickly and decisively, the Terrans will be demolished before additional soldiers can arrive.”
Yen nodded thoughtfully. Behind his dark eyes, a seething hatred burned. Destroying the Terran defenses would only be the first step in a more significant act of retribution against the Terran doctor. “If we break through their lines, can the rest of the team then hold that position against the Terran reinforcements?”
“We can hold that position for as long as you need us to,” came the Lithid’s flat reply.
Smiling wickedly, Yen stood and flashed a series of hand and arm signals. His group leaders stood and began directing their men forward, toward the weakness in the Terran lines.
Yen had no illusions that breaking through the Terran line would be easy, but he also knew the rage that grew inside of him. Only a few city blocks beyond the roadblock, the Terran scientist responsible for the destruction of nearly all his friends and former teammates sat in his laboratory, working on twisted experiments and new weapons. There wasn’t a force in the universe strong enough to keep Yen from his goal.
Moving quietly forward, Yen led his men to a corner where a side street intersected the one they had been following. According to his scout, this road led directly to the park, in front of which sat a roadblock that gave the Terrans plenty of cover from which to engage Yen’s approaching team. Sliding slightly forward, Yen peered around the corner. Halfway down the street, a series of vehicles were piled on top of one another. The ten foot high wall blocked the street from one end to the other. From the gaps between the compressed vehicles, however, gun barrels jutted forward, all trained toward the end of the street where Yen stood. The quantity of firepower, coupled with the cover the Terrans had, left little doubt in Yen’s mind that a frontal assault would be suicidal.
“What are you thinking, sir?” one of Yen’s group leaders whispered from behind him.
“If we’re going this way, we’re going to have to do something about that wall,” Yen muttered. “They’ve got vehicles piled up on top of one another, making it nearly impossible to get any clean shots on the Terran guards behind it. And judging from the looks of them, those vehicles can take quite a beating.”
Yen paused as his last words rattled around
his mind. Taking another quick look around the corner, Yen marked the strewn debris littering the road, leading up to the wall. Though some of the buildings on the road had collapsed during the Duun assault, the debris was minimal, consisting of little more than fist sized rocks and small slabs no more than a couple feet across.
Moving quickly, Yen’s team hurried back the way they had come until they were able to locate a vehicle that had hardly been damaged during the assault. Though blackened by soot, the body of the vehicle seemed in solid condition. Without starting the engine, Yen reached inside and threw the transmission into neutral, as he released the parking break. Joining the rest of his team behind the vehicle, they pushed it forward, at first rolling it slowly over the rocks that littered the road until finally, picking up momentum, they were able to move it near the corner around which the barricade had been erected.
“Search your packs for any explosives,” Yen ordered in a hushed tone. “Pile everything you have in the backseat.” Turning toward his demolitions expert, he continued. “Rig everything we have to a single detonator. Give me the trigger when you’re finished.”
His team worked quickly and efficiently, loading the backseat with a surprisingly large amount of explosives. Demolitions were never Yen’s specialty and he struggled to fathom the amount of damage that quantity of explosives could do. In the end, Yen realized that he just didn’t care. His men would make a hole through that wall, even if he had to level half the city to do it. With that in mind, he motioned for his men to hurry and load the rest of the bombs.
With the explosives loaded, Yen closed his eyes and focused on the vehicle. Without a driver, Yen used his power to ignite the spark plugs and start the engine, which roared loudly to life. Reaching out his hand, Yen assumed the position of a driver. Pressing down on the ground with his right food, the engine revved as the car sped around the corner, the tires screeching loudly as it first turned and then accelerated down the street toward the roadblock. Gunfire erupted from behind the wall as the Terrans opened fire on the advancing vehicle. Between the bullets shredding the body of the car and the jostling of driving over the debris in the road, the vehicle shook violently as it surged forward.
Yen watched detached as the vehicle sped toward its target. The amount of fire left little doubt that any real driver would have been long dead behind the wheel. Having no driver, however, Yen looked out of the front windshield like a specter, driving the vehicle unwaveringly toward the wall. The mobile bomb slammed into the wall head on, crushing the front of the engine block and sending rods tearing through the dashboard and into the front seats. The impact fused the front of the vehicle to the wall, interlocking twisted pieces of metal. Releasing control of the car, whose tired still spun from the jammed accelerator, Yen pressed the button on the detonator and lunged for cover.
The shockwave rocked the ground, throwing asphalt up to meet Yen as he fell to the ground. Flames leapt a hundred feet into the air, scorching the buildings as far as half a block down the street. The buildings closest to the wall cracked and shattered from the explosion and the heat, sending further debris cascading onto the road.
The roadblock itself melted from the assault. Shredded metal, glowing a vibrant red from the heat, were launched into the horrified Terrans who had been hiding behind the wall. Shards of metal bit into flesh and ripped through body armor only moments before a sheet of flames rolled over the injured soldiers. Bleeding and burning alive, the Terrans cried out in pain and terror as they lay writhing on the street.
Yen clung to the ground, amazed at his excessive use of explosives. Expecting to just destroy the wall, he never expected so much collateral damage. When the buckling of the asphalt finally subsided, he climbed to his feet and yelled for his men to follow.
Leading the charge, Yen hurried around the corner and rushed toward the decimated blockade. Nearing the roadblock, he noticed movement from the corner of his eye. Drawing his pistol, he dropped into a defensive crouch and turned. From within the rubble of a recently collapsed building, a Terran staggered out into the street. Torn and bloodied, the Terran walked unsteadily toward the Alliance soldiers. Above his right elbow, the Terran’s arm had been torn away, leaving only a ragged stump from which blood poured onto the street. Long gashes lined the man’s face and his attempts to speak were thwarted as he coughed up a fine mist of blood.
Yen saw the pleading look in his eyes, but felt no sympathy in his heart. Reaching out, a small rock lifted off the ground a few feet away. Feeling his power reaching out and caressing the rock, Yen tilted his head to the side as he examined the Terran. Having lost significant amounts of blood, the Terran didn’t even recognize the danger until it was too late. With a flick of his wrist, Yen sent the rock hurtling toward the injured Terran. Spinning like a drill, the rock tore through the man’s chest, shattering ribs and grinding the organs beneath to a pulp. Ripping free of the man’s back, the rock flew into the collapsed building, trailing behind it a gushing river of blood. A look of surprise spread across the Terran’s face moments before he crumpled into the street.
Attuned now to the sounds of survivors, Yen could hear other movement throughout the area. Focusing, the air whipping wildly around him, dozens of rocks began to lift from the ground. Swirling around him, the rocks moved with him as he paced forward. The largest, a stone slab nearly three feet long, hovered in front of him like a shield, protecting Yen from any enemy fire.
Slowly, wounded Terrans began crawling out from beneath sheets of metal and slabs of concrete. One by one, Yen sent his deadly projectiles launching toward them, cutting through flesh and finishing off those unfortunate enough to have survived the car bomb. Passing through the decimated wall, Yen strode forward like a conquering general, oblivious to the sea of death that surrounded him.
Before him, Yen could see the crisp, green trees that wavered in the gentle rain. A soft scent of nature filled his nostrils, replacing the smell of death that had permeated the rest of the city. The park beyond seemed unscathed, as though it remained blissfully unaware of the destruction that waited like a predator on its outskirts. Through the shifting trees, Yen could make out the rain infused surface of a pond and, towering above the trees, the tall, square monument that filled the center of the park. Beyond the monument, Yen knew, was the laboratory of Doctor Solomon.
“Please…” a soft voice called out from Yen’s side. “Please… help me…”
Yen turned slowly until he could see the Terran soldier. His leg obviously broken and blood caking his shoulder and face, the Terran sat awkwardly on his knees. Reaching out with empty hands, the Terran pleaded for sympathy and compassion. Yen smiled, but it was not a warm smile. The Terran had come to a man searching for sympathy and compassion, two of the things Yen found lacking in his heart. With an absent gesture, the large stone shield spun toward the Terran. Striking him in the chin, the stone obliterated the Terran’s head, decapitating the man. Blood poured like a geyser from the man’s torn neck before the body collapsed to the street.
Closing his eyes, Yen reveled in the power. The psychic energy filled him with a sadistic bliss and Yen felt both alive and invincible. Revenge was at his fingertips, regardless of the High Council’s orders to bring Doctor Solomon back alive. He couldn’t wait to close his fingers around the Terran scientist’s neck.
Motioning toward the Lithid scout, Yen gave the man his orders. “Hold this ground, no matter what. I won’t need long to do what I need to do.”
Gesturing to a team of four, Yen set out with his small group and entered the park. Though he could still hear the distant gunfire, it seemed surreally detached from his walk through greenery. Even the rain, which had lessened to a minor drizzle, seemed somehow comforting as he walked through the lush grass.
Ducking low, Yen passed below the hanging branches of the trees and entered the open mall of the park, dominated by the rectangular lake. Though obviously shallow, the lake was an impressive manmade structure. Stretching far to his right and en
ding at the foot of the square tower, the surface of the water was broken only by the fine misting of rain. Motioning to his men, they spread out and began moving around the lake, toward the far side.
As Yen stepped onto the slabs of stone that formed the edge of the pond, his soldiers were lifted from their feet by an unseen explosion and tossed violently into the far trees. Yen could hear the crashing branches and the cries of pain as his men disappeared from view. Turning back toward the stretching lake and the monument beyond, Yen drew his pistol.
Pain lanced up his arm as the pistol was wrenched from his grasp and tossed harmlessly aside. Looking left and right, Yen felt panic build in his chest. He was being assaulted by someone he couldn’t see. As he turned, he felt a force clench around his waist and lift him from his feet. With incredible power, he was hurtled backward toward the trees beyond. Though surprised, Yen was able to create a psychic shield around him seconds before his spine struck the tree. His body shattered through the thick trunk of the tree and he collapsed onto the soft ground. Though his shield absorbed much of the impact, he still groaned loudly as pain lanced up his back.
From beyond the ruined tree, Yen watched in amazement as a Terran stepped out from the far side of the pond. Walking across the water, Yen noted that the man hovered inches above the lake, never touching the surface. Waves of psychic energy emanated from the Terran and rolled around his form.
The dark haired Terran drifted downward until he stepped lightly onto the ground on the far side of the lake. Smiling maliciously, he looked to the prone form of Yen.
“Come out, Yen Xiao. I have waited for this day for a long, long time!”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Fall of Icarus Page 32
