“I honestly don’t know. It almost feels like something is pulling on me.”
“It looks like it’s just us. This can’t be a coincidence. Do we follow the pull?”
“Follow it.” A small voice in the back of Flupotia’s head said. “What do we have to lose?”
The pair started to walk, the tingle in their spines pulsing faster and more frequently as they went. They were now further from their base than either had truly wanted to wander but with each step the pull grew stronger and stronger, urging them onwards. Both could feel their heartbeat speeding up, the pounding from their chest echoing in their ears. This has to be magic, Patrick thought, unable to find his voice and say it out loud. It was unlike anything he had experienced before. Even having taken the power of the DNA orb back on Earth, whatever this was, it was something familiar yet entirely different.
And then, as suddenly as it had started the pull was gone. Flupotia and Patrick looked around for the source. At the ground beneath their feet, they noticed a small crack with something red shining within. Kneeling down, they saw there was a bright-crimson-red container, entirely out of place on the meteoroid.
“Take it.” A voice in Flupotia’s head popped up and she obliged, bending over to reach with the crack. She slowly removed the box, careful to not let it swing open. Once in her hands, she tried to pry it open but found that it was sealed shut.
“Let me see it.” Patrick reached out his hands.
As soon as the box had been placed in his hands a small crack formed around the lid. It was almost as if the box had been waiting for him here. With his stomach now in his throat Patrick lifted the lid of the box and almost dropped it with surprise. There, lying on a bed of red velvet was undoubtedly another orb.
◆◆◆
IV: The Lands of Venus
While Patrick and his small army were off having their own adventures as they traveled to Venus, those on Venus were eagerly waiting for someone to come and save them. They had been unfortunate enough to see war the likes of which Earth had not yet been subjected to.
The King and his army had thought Venus was going to be an easy takeover. The planet was far behind some of the others in terms of technology. Two of the three territories relied on primitive weaponry such as swords, bow and arrows, and spears. The third territory, while superior to the other two, was still primitive in their own way.
But what King Flaca and his Generals had failed to account for was the resolve, determination, and hunger for freedom that coursed through the vein of almost every Venusian of the jungle, ocean, and desert. It was this grave mistake that would lead to countless months of madness and mayhem, leading to the death of an untold number of Venusians.
◆◆◆
“We are not, I repeat not making camp in this valley!” General Kruun reviewed a stack of papers laid out on the table before him as they hovered above Venus, moments before the first stages of invasion.
“We’re as low as twelve percent over here! Are you willing to take that risk?” He crumpled the paper up and threw it at a nearby Plutonian. It bounced off his head and rolled beneath some nearby computers.
“Let’s try a scan up on the ridge. The base of it was showing a seventy-eight percent chance of surviving the convergence. If we could get it just a little higher, I’d be willing to put money down on our survival.”
“Commencing scan!” The Plutonian who had the paper thrown at his forehead's voice went high as he turned on his heel.
Small beads of sweat were forming on his forehead even though the room was relatively cool. “Sir!” the soldier added at the last second, the wide-eyed look from one of his comrades reminding him to respect the chain of command.
A few minutes of silence ticked by as the scanners ran their analysis on the ridge before them.
“The ridge looks like an ideal candidate. Ninety-eight percent chance of surviving the convergence.”
“Now that’s more like it!” Kruun stood from his post and walked over to review the screen, clapping a firm open-faced palm on the back of his agent's shoulder. “Let’s get the drills going!”
Kruun stepped back to the command desk and picked up his radio. “Team Ejecta to Team Zenith. We’ve found a location to set up base. How are things on your end?”
“Team Zenith calling in. Things are slow going here. Convergence points popping up like crazy. It’s been a real struggle to find anything over sixty percent. I’m starting to think it isn’t worth the risk.”
“Worst case you can join over here. After we flip the switch we can spread out and figure out what to do from there. Things are always easier after convergence.”
“Fair point. We’ll report out shortly, give it another few hours and then head your way. Team Caldera called in a short while back. They found a nice spot for themselves. Ninety-two percent chance of survival on a small peak in the middle of a large valley. The way the land falls around them, it’s likely to be an island in the middle of the ocean.”
“Perfect. As long as we’ve got at least two bases we can figure out the rest later.”
“Agreed, signing off for now.”
“Check back in an hour, we’ll be happy to have you back here with us.
◆◆◆
“Team Caldera, ready for convergence!”
“Team Zenith, ready for convergence!”
“Team Ejecta, ready for convergence!”
“Team Abiation has received concurrence from all ground units. Convergence protocol initiated. Energy blast sending in thirty seconds.”
Kruun sat in his underground hideout, confident that the three teams had chosen the perfect locations for their bases. His team had dug deep into the ridge he had found, building one of the largest bases yet. They only stopped when convergence suddenly dropped to eighty percent. No use in risking a collapse or overwritten sections of the base when they could just add on safely after convergence was complete.
Team Zenith had opted not to join Team Ejecta and had instead found a small pocket with a ninety percent chance of surviving the convergence. It was an incredibly small base, surrounded on all sides by much lower levels of survival.
Team Caldera had built upon their island. While the surface level had read ninety-two percent chance of survival, as soon as they dug down ten feet the survival rate dropped to sixty. With that in mind, they built upwards instead, building a skyscraper which was largely out of place in the middle of nowhere.
“Ten seconds to convergence. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.”
Each of the Team leaders froze as they waited for the convergence to reach them. No matter what the scanners said, there was always a moment of minor panic as they waited to see if they had been correct. One false calculation by the system could end terribly for everyone involved.
Kruun felt the ground shake before a wave of darkness reached him. It washed over with little fanfare, passing through the room and his body without harm. A second pulse flashed across the room moments later, this time however the rich black was entwined with a bright white light. As it flashed across the room it was followed by a loud screeching noise from outside. That’s normal, he tried to reassure himself, just the planet coming to life. A third and final wave of pure white light rushed over Kruun. After it had passed, his radio crackled to life.
“Convergence complete. Teams, report status.”
Kruun surveyed his screen quickly. “Team Ejecta reporting no major or minor convergence points. It looks like we’re in the clear.”
“Team Caldera reporting no major convergence points. Minor flooding on the lower levels, but we already have a team dispatched, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Team Zenith reporting…” The radio crackled, “…major convergence.” More crackling. “…explosion…” The radio continued to cut in and out. “…surrounded by… support needed.”
As the radio went dead, the first voice chimed back in. “Two out of three successful convergences. Team Ejecta send
required reinforcement to Team Zenith immediately. Remember, secrecy is our first priority. Do what you need to keep our presence her quiet.”
Kruun jumped from his chair, blood rushing back into his whitened knuckles as he ran for the hanger. Things never go according to plan with these things.
◆◆◆
It was a short battle once Kruun arrived with his fleet to aide Team Zenith. He couldn’t help but laugh when he arrived. Somehow, Team Zenith had managed to build their base directly in the middle of a military compound. The base was surrounded fully on three sides by barracks and other buildings that had appeared during the convergence. The fourth side of the base had been demolished. Where the convergence numbers had dropped drastically and the Plutonians had halted construction of their base was an underground pool of magma. In the second after convergence had been completed, the magma was no longer underground. It now resided inside their armory. There was a tremendous explosion, grabbing the attention of all the Venusians at the base. Given Team Zenith’s limited viewpoint, the only thing they could see was hundreds of Venusians standing around a hole blasted in the side of their base.
The military compound fell quickly to Kruun and his fleet. While there were well over a hundred thousand Venusian soldiers at the base they were ill-prepared for an attack the scale of which Kruun brought down upon them. Nearly half of the base was destroyed in a single flyover. He had expected the rest of the soldiers to raise a white flag in surrender as he landed outside their gates. Instead, a large flaming rock had been hurtled over the walls. Their aim was terrible and it landed dozens of yards to the left of his ship. Regardless, Kruun wasted no time in ordering his troops to storm the compound. Within two hours they had wiped out the entire base, the last of the Venusians fighting to the bitter end.
Kruun called in support from Team Caldera, asking for a massive delivery of ocean water to cool the flowing lava. As this was being done, his soldiers began digging a mass grave for the Venusians. Once enough water had been delivered to solidify the magma, Team Zenith’s General emerged from his ship, embarrassed and ashamed of how things had played out.
“Well, General Prozal.” Kruun didn’t bother making eye contact. “The good news is the base is now empty for you to occupy.”
“Right. Shouldn’t we expect some kind of retaliation?” Prozal looked out at the piles of yellow corpses and clamped his hand quickly over his mouth, struggling to hold down his last meal. “There’s no way this goes unnoticed.”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing.” Kruun paused, his eyes closed and his face strained. “There it is!”
He opened his eyes and his skin began to change. The dark fuchsia of his skin began to crack, an irradiated yellow bursting to the surface to match the color of the Venusians they had just slain. His black hair grew longer, flowing down his back to stop at his waist. The shoulder pads of his uniform ripped as sharp spikes of deep brown sprouted from his skin. Similar formations protruded from his elbows, kneecaps, and knuckles. With eyes glowing bright like the sun, Kruun looked to his hands and clenched his fists so the spikes were pointed straight out. That’s a neat trick.
“Lucky for you,” Kruun turned to Prozal who was standing there just watching, “it appears we already have their DNA. I’d suggest nobody goes outside in their natural form. In the meantime.” Kruun’s eyes flashed in anger as he pulled his right fist back and swung it as hard as he could.
He held nothing back as he felt the spikes of his fist dig into the flesh of Prozal’s face. Kruun followed through with the punch, shredding through skin and muscle. Prozal fell to the ground and held back his screams of pain with all he had. Kruun flexed his fist a few more times and let the transformation fade.
“As I was saying,” he wiped the blood from his hand on the front of his torn up shirt, “in the meantime I suggest you send out patrols. Find out what other bases are out there. You have a lot of lands to cover, so I’d get to it.”
Without another word, Kruun began walking towards his ship motioning for his soldiers to follow. Silence settled over the camp as Team Ejecta filed out from the Venusian camp and left for their own new home.
◆◆◆
While Team Ejecta returned to begin plans for the takeover of the jungle and Team Zenith worked on fixing their mistakes in the desert, Team Caldera was facing their own struggle in the oceans. The King there had made early contact with them, their base standing out like a sore thumb against the ocean backdrop that spread across the horizon as far as any could see.
The first meeting had been civil, the King of the Ocean showing up at their base with a large fleet of ships behind him, all carrying a white flag at the bowsprit. Their ships appeared to be made of dark woods and had sails of varying shades of blue which seemed to dance in the wind. While the ships were made for travel across the ocean, they never actually touched the water. These ships instead hovered just inches above it as engines propelled them forward at incredible speed.
The Venusians of the ocean were a beautiful sight and many of the Plutonians found themselves smitten in their presence. Their skin was a dull teal color with eyes of bright, fluorescent colors. They had soft features and bright smiles. Their fingers and toes were webbed, but nobody seemed bothered by this in the slightest.
Their King was different than the rest of his subjects, standing out like a rock dropped into a bag of precious gems. Where the eyes of his subjects glowed with mysticism, his appeared as black as night. He wore heavier armor than the rest, mostly as a show of strength and power. His chest was covered in thick hide while his back was covered by a giant shell. On his shoulders were two halves of the same beak, strapped down with tightly braided strands of seaweed. He walked with a limp that would have gone largely unnoticed if it wasn’t for the bone-white cane he used to support himself. Rumor claimed each of these items were remnants of a fight long ago with a great beast of the sea.
The Plutonians thought they were clever and planted a few of their own on his ships after they left the parlay. But what they had failed to account for was how close these Venusians were. The newcomers were quickly found out and forced to walk the planks over the abysmal vortex.
After that, the King returned to the Plutonian base as a foe. They tried to reason with him and to get him on their side. He was promised the land of the jungles and the deserts, but he would have none of it. A brief battle broke out that ended in a stalemate. The Plutonians were forced to hide away in their tower while the Venusians kept a wide berth and made sure nobody left. They would stay this way until Patrick finally came to their lands.
◆◆◆
In the jungle and desert, things for Team Ejecta and Zenith fell together, apart, and then back together again. It all started with Kruun sending out scouts to start mapping the land and learning of its inhabitants. On the first trek over half the unit was killed after a run-in with some local beasts. After that Kruun made sure his scouts were well equipped and had extra support and personnel.
With their new firepower, the units plowed across the jungle, infiltrating small villages as they went. Within a month they had found the main city of Selva where the real invasion started. Kruun had his second in command, Jackosen, assume the form of the Queen’s wife. This position gave Jackosen an insight they wouldn’t have had otherwise. They were now able to learn the movements and lifestyle of the Jungle Venusians.
But just like those in the ocean, the Plutonians had failed to realize just how smart the Queen was. She began noticing small oddities about her wife and quickly began feeding her false information. She used this to trick a small group of them into attacking an abandoned village that was now home to a family of jungle cats. Watching from afar, the Queen saw these strange pink creatures get slaughtered and in her mind, she instantly blamed the King of the desert.
The King of the desert, however, was unaware of any of these actions. He too was undergoing an invasion in his own lands. Team Zenith had begun spreading out from the large base they had
taken. It was slow going, but they were making steady progress. That was until the Venusians sent a guard change to their main base of operations.
Several thousand Venusians showed up without warning one afternoon. They were there to relieve the current troops and allow them to go home, rest, and visit with their families. With no real choice, the Plutonians played along. They followed their guide on a long trek back to the main city. When they arrived, none knew where to go. There was mass confusion as those waiting for their sons, girlfriends, husbands, fathers, daughters, and wives could not find who they were looking for. The Plutonians quickly came up with a cover story, claiming their memories had been wiped by a mysterious being at the base and they were the only survivors.
At this point, the Plutonians had integrated and infiltrated at all levels of the Venusian society in both the desert and the jungle. The Desert Kingdom and Jungle Queendom were both within their grasp. Thus they started the grueling task of collecting species to be held until the DNA orb from Earth was brought to Venus. During this time, creatures from other planets were brought down to Venus and left to wander. The Plutonians observed these creatures carefully, seeing how they adapted and survived in the new environments.
Things were going as they were expected to go. The Generals were pleased with their work as was the Council of the Freed and their King. Then everything fell apart around them rapidly. The Queen was sitting in her home with her wife when she fell to the ground screaming in pain, purple fog rushing from her mouth. This was just one case of thousands happening across Venus. King Flaca’s followers everywhere were having their power ripped from them as the magic that had been powering them was stolen.
War broke out, the Plutonians no longer able to hide from the Venusians. Villages were burnt to the ground and hundreds were killed. With no alternative plan, they retreated to the safety of their bases. The Queen of the jungle and the King of the desert were both convinced the other was to blame, neither able to fathom that these new creatures could be from another planet. The Plutonians took their time and formed a new plan. As the jungle and desert waged war against one another, the true invaders bid their time. When they finally did storm the Queendom and Kingdom, it was a fight the Venusians could not win.
Aliens from Arapholanx: The Burn of Magic Page 5
