Patrick looked to where he had stood moments ago and saw a giant black mark still smoking. He pushed himself up to his knees and nodded his thanks to the soldier.
“Detachment initiated. Fifteen seconds,” a voice rang over the intercom.
“Detachment?” The solider looked to Patrick in confusion.
Patrick looked up to the door the Plutonians had retreated into and saw that it was now closed. There were still at least fifty of them in the hangar, pounding on the door furiously.
“Five, four, three, two, one. Detachment in progress.”
As the intercom went silent several loud clicking noises rang through the hangar. Patrick looked around in confusion, still trying to clear his head and make sense of what was happening. Then, without warning, the ship beneath his feet began to move. At first, the room seemed to tip slightly but it soon sped up. Then, with a sharp snapping noise, the entire hangar swung on its axis. Patrick and all the others were tossed from their feet. It was a scene of mass panic as everything in the hangar took flight, no regard for what was in its path. Patrick slammed into a nearby wall and watched as a ship came flying through the air, directly at him.
◆◆◆
Gin-us and the others had cautiously made their way down from the ridge and were watching the battle in the skies above. They had hoped with the rolling city focused on the sky, the ground would be unoccupied. However, when they reached the base of the mountain they found that a small army had been deployed.
Hiding in those same moments was the small troop of Plutonians that had been on the ground setting up the convergence system. They had received word from the ships in the skies to investigate and attack the rolling city from the ground. They were currently taking their own notes, failing to find a weakness in the city’s defenses.
“Jalax, Dezoran,” the one in charge pointed at two of his subordinates. “I want you to sneak around this mountain. Chazor, Xyarn,” he pointed to two others, “I want you two heading in the other direction. There has to be a break somewhere we can use to sneak in.”
Those with commands dispersed, leaving their leader behind with two other soldiers. It was slow going, but eventually, everyone was in place. It was growing dark and the Plutonians were having a hard time keeping quiet as they got into position.
“Hey!” One of the Yakopiz stopped midflight and moved forward, not sure if they had seen movement out of the corner of their eye.
“What are you doing!” It was hardly a whisper as Jalax chastised Dezoran.
“I slipped. Quiet!” Dezoran snapped back.
The Yakopiz was slowly advancing on their position.
“He’s going to find us!”
“Just stay still and quiet.”
“No, we have to move now!” Jalax peered over the rocks and saw the Yakopiz was only a few yards away. “He’s almost on top of us.”
“Stop.” Dezoran placed a firm hand over Jalax’s mouth. “Just wait.”
They both sat still, straining to hear how close the Yakopiz was.
“Is someone out there!”
Jalax’s brain snapped into flight mode as he pushed Dezoran off of him. Jalax tried to catch himself as he slipped backwards but failed, rolling out from his hiding place. The Yakopiz turned his attention to Jalax.
“Don’t move.”
The Yakopiz soldier went to lift his weapon but Dezoran was too fast. He jumped up from behind the rock and shot off a ballistic. The ballistic slammed into the Yakopiz’s chest who flew backward, finger pressed against his own trigger, releasing a shower of his own bullets.
“You’ve done it now!” Dezoran grabbed Jalax and dragged him to a running position. “Hurry up!”
They both took off back to their General and the ships as the Yakopiz advanced on their position. Shots fired from the other end of the city came from Xyarn and Chazor jumping from their own hiding place to draw some of the attention their way.
Gin-us and his soldiers stayed hidden in the shadows, watching as the battle unfolded before them. “I want you to stay here.” He looked to Xavo. “Keep an eye on the city and if you get an opening, take it.”
“Where now?” Gneiss did not move from his spot.
“We need to figure out what the Plutonians are up to here. Patrick has proven he can look out for himself before. I just have to trust my gut here.
◆◆◆
Patrick gathered his wits and blasted off the wall, the propulsion unit sending him hurtling off in another direction. He bumped into one of the Yakopiz soldiers, which slowed his body down. The Yakopiz however, picked up speed and flew out the hangar door.
It was a race to the exit now, with everyone trying to get off the hangar before it picked up too much speed. Patrick cleared the hangar amidst a panicked group of Yakopiz soldiers. He watched as a small group that had left first was hit by another falling hangar. Patrick looked up and saw that three of the ships had detached their hangars, while the fourth was ablaze in several areas.
Cannons continued to blast from the three ships that had detached their hangars, blowing the Yakopiz fleet from the sky. Patrick and the remaining soldiers were dodging rapidly to try and gain any ground. Most of the Yakopiz made it back to the front lines but several weren’t as lucky. Patrick cast a glance over his shoulder and saw the bodies falling back to the planet below and his stomach lurched involuntarily.
The Yakopiz were fighters as promised and they wasted no time mourning their dead during the heat of battle. And Patrick knew he couldn’t either. So he flew to the nearest ship, a group of Yakopiz flanking him on each side and collectively they concentrated all of their firepower on the same spot. The hull cracked and then imploded as Patrick’s flames dug deeper and deeper.
The lights in the command center flickered and then went dark. The ship slowly started to fall as the gravity of Mercury began to hungrily pull at it. Patrick surveyed the battlefield and saw that there was only one ship left. Two of the others were following the one he had just attacked, slowly falling to the planet below. The fourth and final ship had stopped firing and powered down all cannons.
“We surrender unconditionally!”
A loudspeaker boomed across the battlefield. The door at the end of the hangar opened up and several Plutonian soldiers came floating out waving white flags. They waited there, hovering just outside the door as Patrick made his way over.
“We’re ready to surrender. There’s no winning this fight for us.”
“Follow my soldiers. They’ll lead you to a safe place on the ground where you can exit. No further harm will come to those left alive.” Patrick turned to wave a group of Yakopiz over. “As long as nobody tries anything.”
“Nobody will try anything. As a show of our surrender, we have restrained our General and are willing to turn him over now.”
“Restrained your General? This is a mutiny?” Patrick almost wanted to laugh.
“Most of us didn’t want to fight.” He turned to the others behind him and nodded at the ship which a few retreated into. “Mutiny was the only option.”
The soldiers who had retreated back inside returned to the doorway moments later. They pushed one of their own out. He was strapped to a chair, his legs and arms restrained.
“This is General Vanzer.” The General grunted something beneath his gag. “As you can see, he isn’t all that happy with the current situation. We have others, already locked up as well. I do believe there is nobody left who will put up a fight.”
“Show me.” Patrick pushed past the General and entered the ship, a small group of twelve piling in with him.
The Plutonians onboard all jumped back as he landed, hands in the air.
“I’m not here to hurt you. If your surrender is true, then your lives will be spared.”
“This way.” The soldier who had been outside landed next to Patrick and motioned down the hall.
The ship was by far the largest Patrick had yet been on and it took over ten minutes of walking and climbing to reac
h the cells. Sure enough, there were three cells stuffed full with Plutonian soldiers shouting obscenities at Patrick as he passed. He didn’t linger long, requesting that his guide show him to the command center where he could supervise the descent and surrender. The command center was unlike any of the others Patrick had yet seen. There were five different stations laid across the room, four of which sat in darkness. The fifth station which sat in the center of the room was the only one bathed in light. Sitting on the ground in front of the chair was a Plutonian soldier covered in a heavy grey blanket. Patrick knelt by his side and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“This is Razal,” the one who had led Patrick onto the ship spoke.
Razal raised his head and Patrick almost fell back. Razal's skin was so pale he almost appeared human. There were dark, heavy bags beneath his eyes the skin sagging greatly. His eyes were milky white and stared off into nothing.
“What’s wrong with him?” Patrick turned to the others in the room.
“Your attacks drained his system.”
“What are you talking about?”
“This ship,” he raised his hands above his head and gestured to the room around them, “it was a prototype of sorts. Razal here had undergone intensive training to be the sole pilot of a ship normally piloted by five. This ship is literally tied into his conscious thought. Every attack on the ship was an attack on his mind. Every maneuver he executed was a mental exercise. It’s one of the reasons we stopped the fighting. He couldn’t take it anymore and our General wouldn’t listen.”
“Is he going to be alright?”
“Alright?” The Plutonian laughed. “You slaughter us out there and then come in here like his life matters to you?”
“Just because we’re in the middle of war doesn’t mean I’m a monster.”
He waved the air between them as if blowing the smoke away. “Where are we landing?”
“Just outside the city. You can follow the Yakopiz soldiers down.”
“You four, take your spots. I’ll take over for Razal. ” He bent over, pushing Patrick out of the way as he helped Razal to his feet. “You’ve done well here, it’s time for you to take a breather.”
The ship lurched forward as all five took their positions. Holding true to their word, they followed the fleet of Yakopiz in the sky to the ground. The troops on the ground were ready for them with massive tanks armed with heavy cannons. The Plutonian army filed out without fighting and let the Yakopiz lead them away. Patrick walked with Razal and the other pilots, leading them away from the rest.
“Get this one over to the med-bay,” he motioned to three Yakopiz standing nearby, “I want him looked after as if he was one of your own.”
“Yes, sir.” Two of the Yakopiz stood on either side of Razal and led him away with the third trailing behind.
“You didn’t have to do that you know.” The lead pilot gave Patrick a questioning look.
“As I said, I’m not heartless. You surrendered.”
“It’s too bad someone like you didn’t stand up to our King sooner. Things could have turned out so different.” He began walking away to fall in line with his fellow soldiers.
“Wait a second!” Patrick ran after him. “I never caught your name.”
“Call me Taz.”
Patrick held out a hand to shake. “It’s nice to officially meet you Taz. We should talk again soon.”
Taz nodded, shook Patrick’s hand, and then continued on his way. As the prisoners were led away, the majority of the Yakopiz had gathered in the hangar where a victory celebration had kicked off. Despite the losses they had sustained, this was still a win for them and Patrick couldn’t help but feel the excitement. With this win, he now had Venus and Mercury on his side. Things were looking up for the rebellion. There were however two things on Patrick’s mind that continued to worry him. He still didn’t know where his friends were and although the ships in the sky had been destroyed, the Yakopiz had not yet retrieved their remains. That meant there were still three ships out there somewhere with potential survivors recouping to fight again.
“My followers!” Chowsin’s voice rang above the crowd. “While there is plenty for us to celebrate today there are still many things that need doing. The wounded need tending to, we need assistance in distributing the kuat to those most impacted and we need to get out there and make sure we’ve rounded up all of the invaders!”
Cheers and applause filled the room as Chowsin stepped down. He waved a few times to those still staring at the stage, patted a few on the shoulder as he passed, and then left the room.
◆◆◆
“That can’t be good.” Dezoran looked up to the sky where the ships were hurtling towards the ground. “That was our ride out of here.”
The Plutonians all stood in silence as they watched the ships fall.
“We should head to the crash site. There may be survivors.”
“Forget survivors!” Jalax jumped in. “They have a long-range radio. We need to get a distress call sent out.”
“For once, we agree on something. “Dezoran gave Jalax a hard stare. “Let’s get over there.”
“We’re not done packing up the machine?”
“Forget the machine!” Chazor stood and smacked a box out of Xyarn’s hand. “This is the last planet anyways, what use could the King have for it now?” He stared at everyone coldly. “Pack up your essentials, and let’s get going.”
As they scurried around the camp, Gin-us, Gneiss, and Roger all crept forward slowly from the outskirts. They had followed them back keeping themselves hidden as they flew across the open land. They watched for a while as they went about their business. But now, as the Plutonian ships were falling from space they knew it was time to act.
“No retreat!” Gneiss stood and ran from their hiding place, charging into battle before Gin-us even had been able to plan.
“Fool.” Gin-us jumped up and followed.
Roger followed close behind. The Plutonians had been momentarily surprised to see Gneiss come charging at them. This didn’t stop them from reacting though. They had Gneiss on the ground with a whip tied around his ankles before Gin-us could do anything. Roger and Gin-us were now outnumbered three to one. With Gin-us unwilling to use his fire power, it was a fight they could not realistically win. Gin-us cursed silently under his breath and he tossed his weapon to the ground. Willingly, he let them put both Roger and himself into restraints.
◆◆◆
Flupotia and the rest had watched the blips race back across the radar map. It was clear to them that they were on the run as two other craft followed behind that had not been there before. Flupotia sent a scout to follow who had yet to report back. But now, as they watched the fireworks show above Flupotia knew it was time to do something.
“I want the ships ready to fly asap!” she was shouting at anyone who would listen. “We’re going to head for the crash sights.”
“Why are we going there? Patrick and Gin-us aren’t on those ships?” Tect looked at her confused.
“Patrick and Gin-us can take care of themselves. We don’t know who is on those ships. You know how the rebels have hidden away in plain sight. Should we not go and see who we can save of our own people?”
Tect said nothing and went back to the task at hand.
“Ma’am.” The radio on the table crackled. “I found Gin-us and the others.”
“Where?” Flupotia felt a smile crack. “Are they okay?”
“They were. They’ve been taken as prisoners though. I believe they’re heading for the crash site.”
“How far out are you?”
“If I push it I can be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Then push it.”
Flupotia hung up the radio as they waited for Reizod to return. As soon as she was on board the engines were fired up and they headed towards the Plutonian ships that had crash-landed.
◆◆◆
“Chowsin, are you in here?” Patrick pushed the door open a few i
nches and stuck his head in.
“Yes, yes!” Chowsin stood from his chair and rushed to the door. “Come in, please!”
As Patrick stepped into the room Chowsin wrapped him a big hug. As he let go and stepped back, Patrick saw a pained look on his face he had not noticed before. There was a dried spot of blood on his left side and as he walked back to his seat Patrick noticed a heavy limp.
“You’re injured?”
“I’ll be fine after some kuat. Just a few broken bones and some bruises. Nothing to be worried about. You seem to have escaped the worst of it?”
Aliens from Arapholanx: The Burn of Magic Page 22
