What is this place? He looked around, trying to make sense of it all. Against his better judgment, Patrick began to wander deeper into the vault. It seemed to go on forever, and Patrick would have kept walking had it not been for Armish.
“Freak!” he shouted from the doorway. “Where are you?”
Oh, crap! “Yeah? I’m in here.”
“I told you to stay by the door! Follow the path back the same way you came, it’s far too easy to get lost in this place.”
Right. Thought Patrick as he turned around and was faced with a harsh reality. He had no idea how he had gotten where he was. At the first fork, he had to guess which path to take, at the second he felt fairly confident he was on the right path. By the fourth, he was totally lost. And by the sixth fork, he knew he was definitely in trouble.
“Armish?” he hollered out.
“You’re lost, aren’t you?” the voice of annoyance boomed back.
“I think so.”
“What are you near?”
“Well,” he looked around trying to pick out something unique from the landscape. “There’s a giant blue sheet of metal at the top of this pile. It’s about as long and wide as I am tall.”
“How in the…” Armish’s voice trailed off as he cursed under his breath. “Wait there, and don’t move!”
Patrick heard some shuffling noises and then the starting of an engine. He sat down and waited until he saw a bright light come down the path. Armish hit the brakes inches from Patrick and jumped from his craft as Patrick stood.
“I told you to stay put!” He shoved Patrick hard on both shoulders, the force sending him backwards into the pile of junk behind him.
Large pieces of metal fell from the disturbance, clanging to the ground with great force. Echoes chased each other across the room.
“Next time, when I give a direction you follow it!” Armish was inches from Patrick’s face, doing little to contain his anger. “I don’t care what or who you are out there. While you’re in here, you play by my rules. Got it, freak?”
“What is your problem?”
“My problem is you! Coming in here all high and mighty and getting our Chancellor to fight your war for you? Thinking you have all the power now as his right-hand man? This is your battle to fight and you went and got all of us tied up in it. Anyone who dies today during this battle, that blood is on your hands.” He jumped onto his craft and began to hover away.
“Hey, wait up!”
Armish hit the brakes, turned back and grinned. “How about you keep up?”
He hit the gas and took off. Patrick took off himself, running at speeds faster than he ever had before. He followed the trail of dust Armish left behind and soon found himself back at the entrance of the junkyard.
“Don’t ever try something like that with me again.” Patrick was now the one standing inches from Armish’s face.
Armish leaned forward until his nose was touching Patrick’s. “Or what?”
The anger boiled up inside him and Patrick snapped. He swung a fist covered in flames and hit Armish on the side of the head. He stumbled back, shocked that Patrick had actually lashed out and afraid of the fire that was burning the side of his face.
“What are you?” Armish demanded through gritted teeth as he patted the flames out.
“I’m the guy who is here to save you, regardless of what you think of me. I’m not your enemy! The Plutonians flying in the skies above are. If you have a problem with that, take it up with Chowsin. Until then, I’ll take the propulsion unit I came here for and be on my way.
“Right.” Armish had no fight left. “Here.”
Armish reached for a small container on the table and tossed it to Patrick before shoving his hands into his pockets. It was a small rusty box, no larger than the lunchbox Patrick had carried to school. Patrick opened it and tossed it back to Armish without a word. Armish didn’t bother to catch the box as it hit his chest and fell to the floor. Several small pieces of rusted metal fell from the box.”
“Still playing games with me?”
“It doesn’t look like much now, but the guts are all there. There’s a reason I’m the guy guarding the vault. It’s my specialty, keeping track of all our technology and restoring it when needed. By the time you're ready to fly out, you won’t even recognize this.”
“I better not.” Patrick took his leave then, slamming the gate shut behind him. “I’ll be in the mess hall, waiting for you.”
◆◆◆
Gin-us, Xavo, Roger, and Gneiss all sat at the top of a ridge just miles away from the rolling city. They had made their way across the planet towards the great flame they had seen in hopes of finding Patrick. They had stopped where they were as patrols were currently flying around the rolling city, all of the citizens on high alert.
“What’s the plan?” Roger asked as he looked through his scope to the city. “It looks like all of their defenses are up.”
“Right now,” Gin-us sighed, “we have to watch and wait. I haven’t been able to pick up a pattern from the patrols yet.” He looked down at his notebook and made a note as another patrol flew by. “It’s sporadic.”
“I’ll move the ships then. Get them hidden.” Xavo stood. “Do we want to watch in shifts?”
Gin-us nodded to Xavo and made another mark in his notebook. He sat there for the next few hours, trying to find a pattern in their movements. Whenever he felt that he was close to figuring it out, one of the scouts would break rank and change everything.
“Gin-us,” Xavo came crawling up to the ridge, “would you like a break?”
“I really don’t think there is any pattern here. It’s all random!” He smacked his notebook on the ground. “We can’t wait any longer. The Rojozic warned us about these guys. Patrick is in the middle of this city and we have to save him.”
◆◆◆
Flupotia sat somewhere between the rolling city and the convergence machine. She was sitting in the command center of her ship surrounded by everybody left. Nobody knew what they should do next. They had tried reaching out to Patrick and Gin-us but nobody was answering their radios. They had seen the missiles come flying across the sky only to be consumed by a barrier of fire as they approached the rolling city. This left them with two theories: either Patrick was working with those in the rolling city, or they had defenses in place that none of them dared cross. Either way, they were still unsure of what to do next.
“Look!” Flupotia pointed to the radar where several dots were racing across the ground from the convergence machine to the rolling city. “I wonder what they’re up to.”
◆◆◆
Patrick was sitting with the others in the mess hall when Armish found him an hour later.
“Here.” He tossed a box on the table in front of Patrick and ran off.
Patrick watched him leave and felt almost bad. He knew, despite the reassurances from Chowsin, that this could not have been an easy decision for the Yakopiz to make. The box in front of Patrick took his mind off these thoughts as he admired the detail of it.
The box was entirely different than the one he had been presented with before. Where it had once been orange with rust the silver shined. Where the latch on the front had barely been hanging on, it was now securely fastened. Opening it, he was amazed to find four silver cuffs each as clean as the box. The wrist cuffs both had green gems implanted, kuat power system, Patrick nodded in approval. The leather inside the bands also appeared to be brand new, a deep brown color. He clipped the four pieces on, amazed at how perfectly they fit. He stood to see if Armish was still around, wanting to properly thank him and apologize.
While Armish was already long gone, Patrick did see Chowsin enter the room. He waved Patrick o.
“Are you happy with the equipment?”
“It’s beautiful and fits perfectly. Do you know where Armish is? I’d like to thank him.”
“He’s probably back in his cage. He isn’t much for social gatherings, prefers his machines to p
ersonal interactions.”
“Perhaps after this is over we could pay him a visit?”
“I’m sure he would appreciate that. Now, it is time to rally the soldiers!” He climbed atop a table and held his hands above the crowd.
“Gather round men!” he shouted above everyone and silence fell immediately. “What I am about to tell you has been kept a secret from many of you for generations. While many of you are surprised to see Patrick here and reluctant to follow him into battle, I must tell you this has always been our destiny.” Whispers filled the room.
“Today,” Chowsin paused as he waited for the whispers to die out. “Today some of us may die, myself included. While I am ready to give my life to this cause, I know many of you here may not be. But what none of you here know,” he paused for a moment doubting if he should continue. “The enemy Patrick faces today is the same enemy that drove us from our original home on Jupiter and abandoned us here on Mercury.”
The crowd rose up in a fury.
“Please, please!” He raised both arms above the crowd. “Give me the chance to explain!” The Yakopiz slowly grew quiet.
“Our ancestors fled to Mercury many generations ago to escape an unjust system that sought to oppress our beliefs and progress. Those who landed here swore an oath of secrecy so that their descendants would not have to live in fear of making further scientific progress. Our people were a peaceful one for tens of thousands of sestos. We lived in euphoria at the pinnacle of technological advancement. That is until one from another land came and forced us from our homes. Our forces were strong and our numbers great. But still, we fell. We were forced to flee from our homes when they used technology against us the likes of which we had never seen. Some claimed it was magic, but as we all know,” the Yakopiz in the room joined him as he said, “magic is just science we don’t yet understand.” The room grew silent again.
“It is because of this that we must fight beside Patrick. It is because of this that we must help dethrone the current tyrant King of Pluto. It is because of this that we must rise to the occasion and clear the skies!”
He paused with his hands held high, waiting for applause. The crowd, however, was silent, the shock of this news not sitting well with anyone. Chowsin jumped back into his speech quickly.
“When we arrived on Mercury, we lived peacefully for many sestos. But our enemy wasn’t done with us. We have all seen, heard, or dreamt of the red sea. They just showed up one day, flooding into our cities. We were forced to pack up and leave our home yet again. Our people are not safe on this planet. Our people cannot stop running so long as we live here. We cannot stop fearing for our children’s future until this war has ended and we return to our rightful home on Jupiter as free people!”
With his speech coming to an abrupt end a loud cheer erupted from the Yakopiz. One that rang across the mess hall and down every alleyway of the village. Plates were abandoned as the Yakopiz rushed for the hangar, now eager to defend their planet from an ancient enemy they hadn’t even known about just seconds ago. A firm grip on Patrick’s shoulder held him back from joining the others.
“Patrick,” it was Chowsin. “Now that our secret is out, you know we truly are fighting the same battle as each other. I am sorry this was kept from you, but I had to be sure before I said anything.”
“I hold no grudge against you. You revealed the secret when the time was right. Your people clearly trust you, and you just gave them exactly what they needed to go fight this battle. I can’t say that I understand it all, but that doesn’t matter right now.”
“Had you not shown up when you did,” Chowsin hung his head, “I fear things would not have turned out so well for us. We would never have been prepared on time. The missile attack alone would have destroyed over half the city.”
“We’re as ready now as we ever will be. The battle is yet to be won, but I have every confidence in your people to see that it is. We will keep this city free from tyranny!”
“I appreciate that more than mere words would ever be able to express.” He firmly grasped Patrick's hand in his. “Now, we fly to battle and show these invaders just who they’re messing with. May science protect us in battle, and may we meet again on the ground once it is all over.”
He dropped Patrick’s hand and ran towards his own fleet of ships. Patrick knew now was the time for the biggest battle he had yet to face. Despite everything he had overcome, he still couldn’t quiet the fear bubbling inside of him. He was to face this battle alone, without his closest and most trusted by his side. He knew however what must be done and without another thought jumped from a nearby window, firing up his propulsion unit as he fell.
◆◆◆
XV: The Fight for Mercury
Patrick was hurtling upwards, a small spec amongst the thousands that flew with him. Yakopiz ships surrounded him, ready to fight and ensure the freedom of their planet. Looking around Patrick couldn’t help but feel unstoppable. Flying as a part of the Yakopiz army he had no doubt the Plutonians would quickly fall.
However, as their ships came into view he realized it may not be that easy. The four Plutonian ships only appeared larger the closer they became. Patrick had hoped for another surprise attack, but their enemy was now on high alert. He knew that things were only going to get harder from this point forward.
The first round of fire came from the ship second in on the left. There were several short bursts of red light that hurtled at the Yakopiz army at an alarming speed. No, no, no! Patrick panicked as he saw the Yakopiz army scramble to avoid the incoming blasts.
Despite their last-minute maneuver, the blasts still made contact with several of the Yakopiz ship. They were instantaneously vaporized. The Yakopiz regrouped and Patrick heard commands come barking over his radio.
“Team Fermat, head for the middle. I want you drawing their fire while Teams Dirac and Galen circle around the sides!”
Patrick was a part of Team Galen-One, designated to flank on the right side. He watched as the majority of the Yakopiz ships, all unmanned from Team Fermat, flew into the middle of the war zone while their pilots hung back. Blasts erupted from all angles as the battle truly began.
The tactic didn’t hold the Plutonian’s attention long enough, and they soon had scattered their own small craft to meet Patrick and his team.
“Let’s take these boys down!” The voice rang through the radio, followed by the screams of the Yakopiz as they flew forward.
Patrick flew to the nearest ship, dodging blast after blast. His propulsion unit was faster than the others and he made quick progress. He was one of the first to break through their defense line. He cast a cursory glance over his shoulder and was momentarily blinded. It was as if he were in the middle of a firework show.
“Front line, advance to the ship!”
Patrick rubbed his eyes and joined the small troop of Yakopiz who was now boarding the ship. The scene in the hangar was chaotic. The Plutonians had barely managed to get half of their fleet out the bay before the Yakopiz had boarded. This left the rest of the ships manned but not yet ready for flight.
Blasts were sent from every direction as the Yakopiz added to the chaos. Ships fired up their engines and began to hover slightly. As the Plutonians kept Patrick and the Yakopiz army busy, the front row of ships slowly began to turn away from the hangar bay and towards the chaos inside.
The first round of fire from the enemy ships shocked everyone. Patrick watched in horror as a Yakopiz standing two feet to the left of him was catapulted backward. His body slammed into a post with a sickening crunch and he continued to spiral lifelessly out of the hangar doors.
“The ships! Aim for the ships!” Patrick hollered to anyone who would listen.
He turned his own attention on the ships, leaving the Yakopiz soldiers to deal with the others. He threw fireball after fireball at the Plutonian fleet, consuming their ships in mere seconds. Pilots jumped from the cockpits and rolled on the ground, swatting furiously as flames danced across t
heir bodies.
“Retreat!” one of the Plutonians hollered from the back of the hangar, wildly waving his hands. “Fall back now!”
Patrick surveyed the ships quickly and saw that none were left hovering. “To the door!” he hollered his own command at the few Yakopiz surrounding him.
Before he had even taken a step, he felt something slam into his left side. His right elbow hit the ground followed by the side of his head. The room was now spinning slowly around him as he reached up to his head and felt something warm. Blood. He pulled his hands down and observed the sticky red liquid.
“Sorry.” One of the Yakopiz was lying next to him on the ground. “You didn’t see the blast coming.”
Aliens from Arapholanx: The Burn of Magic Page 21
