Unsanctioned Reprisal

by Eddie R. Hicks

  With what Miles said, plus another look out the left windows confirmed it all to Pierce. The tram the two were on was the same one Pierce and Foster rode on when she ditched her post to go sightseeing. Therefore, the platform Miles spoke of was the one they had used to board. They were nearing the gondola that overhung over the ancient city, one that was practically consumed by the hulking presence of the dome-shaped Draconian construct.

  As predicted, the tram came to a stop at the platform that led to the gondola. Miles moved to the exit first with his rifle drawn. No bullets were fired, as he pushed out first, meaning Pierce was safe to follow behind, or so he hoped.

  He grimaced at the gondola platform as they arrived at it. Miles lowered his rifle, and the two Canadians shook their head in disappointment, there wasn’t much of a platform, or gondola left. What the two saw was the blackened remains of wreckage and charred bodies scattered about. Had Pierce, Foster, Eicelea, and Vynei opted to backtrack on that faithful day, they too would have become part of the collection of bodies the two stepped over to gawk at the destruction.

  “Well, so much for that, now what?” Pierce said.

  “We’re still too high up,” Miles said, and reminded him of the winged threat that remained in the skies, oblivious they had access to two new and lost targets. “Let’s get to the lower land.”

  Pierce stopped himself from suggesting they simply hop in the tram and ride it back, having noticed it left the station, and them, behind. They were stuck until the next automated one arrived, if it arrived. Scaling down the mountains it was.

  The two stood next to a steep and uneven incline. It was their only way to safety from what they discovered after a quick search of the two platforms and the piles of debris blocking other passageways.

  Vertigo and animalistic fear paralyzed Pierce’s body. He noted the number of risks scaling down the mountain had. Miles alone had twenty different ways he could die, and that was taking into account he wore an exosuit that had protective shields. Pierce had had his uniform and wrist terminal. None of that would help break his fall should he slip. And I will slip too . . .

  Miles looked down at the incline, rubbing his armored covered hands together. “Aright, this shouldn’t be too bad.”

  Pierce’s panic-stricken face looked at the Marine, who was visually in the opposite position. “Are you insane?” Pierce asked him.

  “I climbed up and down Olympus Mons. Climbin’ down this should be easy, eh?”

  “You are insane.”

  “C’mon on, b’y.” Miles took the plunge first, lowering his body to scale down the mountain. “This is a walk in the park.”

  “Yes, a very scary one with Jason and a chainsaw waiting for us.”

  Little by little, the two brought themselves closer to the ground, and the ancient city below, using the rock face as handles like it was a giant ladder. Miles remained a meter below Pierce at all times, as Pierce’s hesitation at times made his descent move at a snail’s pace. He told himself more times than he could remember not to look down, hoping it would calm his shaking hands, something that could become a liability if he didn’t get them under control.

  Five minutes later, Pierce’s hands still rattled, his courage needed refueling. He tried to remind himself that he was flung from another set of mountains earlier and survived that fall. Those thoughts played through his head on a continuous loop, as they continued to lower themselves. It was the courage refueling he needed. It didn’t work. The logical part of his brain chimed in he could have been easily killed. He got lucky with that fall. There was no way in hell he’d luck out twice.

  “I thought you IESA folks were explorers?” Miles said, breaking their silence.

  Pierce froze to reply, fearing that using his brain to speak and climb down might be the distraction that would end him. “We are.”

  “Then why are you afraid of scaling down a mountain? Ain’t that part of the job of exploring unknown planets?”

  “I’m a science officer.”

  “All those PhDs and ain’t none of them cover rock climbing, eh?”

  “No.”

  The two continued to climb down, as Pierce’s throat contracted in ways he didn’t think possible when he heard a pebble fall. He couldn’t hear it hit the surface.

  “Didn’t climb the mountains back in British Colombia?” Miles pressed on.

  “I spent most my time in Vancouver, rarely left the city, especially after the Empire’s invasion.”

  “Ah, so you’re from the old-world then, eh? You know what life was like before 2018.”

  “I remember an era when the internet and cell phones didn’t exist,” Pierce said, stroking his aged hair gifted to him by his middle-age. “I even remember the old rotary dial phones; my grandparents had them when I went to visit them as a kid.”

  “You’re a bloody relic then, eh? You should be teaching history to school children, not out here risking your arse, b’y.”

  “I went from an age where exploring the cosmos was a dream, now it’s a reality.” Pierce looked upward to the yellow hazy skies serving as a curtain to the star filled void beyond. “I don’t care what it takes, I want to explore and study every star, planet, and nebula out there—”

  Pierce’s speech ended abruptly. He lost his footing and grip. Gravity, dampened gravity that was, took hold of his body and he made the plunge he feared he would. And the reason for it? He went to move while talking.

  His fall was short-lived thanks to Miles grabbing him as he fell past, holding him tight and painfully with the grip of his exosuit.

  “Might wanna master climbing mountains back on Earth beforehand, eh?” Miles snickered.

  Miles gave Pierce exactly two minutes to catch his breath once they arrived at the foot of the mountains and subsequently the streets of the ancient city, or what was left of it. Looking ahead, Pierce was greeted to a closer of view of the construct that covered half the city. A thirty-minute walk brought them closer to its darkened surface and the strange hexagonal patterns that decorated the sides of the domed structure.

  “So, you guys know nothing about this?” Pierce asked as he glided his hand across the surface of the construct.

  “These constructs were heavily guarded when we arrived,” Miles said. “There was no way to get a closer look without being detected.”

  “Seems lightly guarded now, wonder why.”

  “There’s a battle going on, that’s why. Dragons must have pulled their forces away to fight.”

  Pierce activated his wrist terminal, then loaded its EAD app, turning it into a scanner when its holo screen appeared. He took detailed scans of the construct, while moving around its outer walls, stopping at what appeared to be an oval-shaped doorway.

  “Hey, where ya goin’, b’y?” Miles said, yanking him backward by the collar.

  “We got our wish,” Pierce said. “This is our chance to see what they have done with the monolith, which should be inside.”

  “That was Foster’s wish.”

  “Okay half wish, still; let’s take a quick look inside. There’s nothing else we could do anyways, right?”

  “HNI comms are still jammed.” Miles created a holographic screen, one full of static. He winced. “In fact, it’s gotten worse.”

  “I’m willing to bet this construct has something to do with it.” This begged the question. “How come you’re still standing, Miles?”

  “Eh?”

  “I thought the Dragon Knight HNI interference incapacitated all HNI users?”

  “I haven’t the foggiest idea.”

  “If you pass out, I’ll be sure to run in the other direction.”

  “Well thanks, nice to know a fellow Canuck got me back.”

  The surface of the doorway slid open. The light from inside forced the two to look away as it slowly faded, unveiling a deep hallway seemingly made of glass from top to bottom.

  It was devoid of any activity, unlike the landscape behind them which still had the looming thre
at of wyverns that might appear in the skies without warning.

  “And just think, we’ve found our escape route if things go bad,” Pierce said.

  “Intriguing . . .” Miles said, stepping inside along with Pierce, eyeing its hallways, and ensuring his rifle was ready for action.

  The two ventured inside as the doors behind them slid shut. Minutes later, scores of Draconian soldiers marched toward the two, forcing them to dive for cover behind the towering pillars and dragon statues that adorned the wide hallways. One group of Draconians stopped suddenly and fanned out to search the area, all looking confused as if they had prey that vanished. Taking a closer look seemed like a terrible idea.

  The searching squad of soldiers was pulled back when the leader of the group shouted to them. They continued marching and moved past the pillars and statues Pierce and Miles remained idle and silent behind. The hallway that led further into the construct was clear, the halls that went in the opposite direction back to the entrance became full of patrolling Draconians. The two had no choice but to move forward.

  “Guess they didn’t pull everyone out,” Miles drily said while they carefully slithered away from their hiding spot. “Is this what the ancient city looked like?”

  “No . . . They’ve completely changed it,” Pierce said while eying the results of his wrist terminal’s scans.

  “Why?”

  “You’re asking the wrong person.”

  “You’re the smart one with PhDs,” Miles whispered. “Pretty sure I’m askin’ the right person.”

  The two heard movement, forcing them to stop yet again as they pushed deeper across the immaculately polished, crystal-tiled hallway. Unlike the last time they had to stop, there were no pillars or statues to hide behind. Miles drew his rifle, Pierce hid behind him.

  A Draconian soldier ran at them, it was engulfed in raging flames, the light that the flames created reflected up from the tiles it ran on. The burning Draconian continued to run at them, screaming with pain, flailing its arms about in a futile attempt to pat them out. The act proved to be its final one before it tumbled to the floor and ceased all movement, with flickering flames and rising smoke coming from its melting armor.

  Miles lowered his weapon while four other Draconians ran past them in the halls. They were all doused in flames from head to toe and came crashing down one by one around two confused men creating almost a circle of bonfires.

  “What the fuck?” Miles said, kicking a smoking Draconian body. “Pierce, what happened?”

  Pierce kneeled next to one of the burning bodies, waving his wrist terminal around it with its holographic EAD screen. His free hand covered his irritated nostrils when the smoke smeared his face. “They appear to be burning.”

  “No shit, eh?” Miles heckled. “Why?”

  The footsteps of another Draconian caused the two to stand fast, this one wasn’t on fire. Miles’ rifle took aim, he didn’t pull the trigger. Pierce could see the hesitation in his face and the reason for it. The Draconian was unarmed, and its helmet removed unveiling its humanoid dragon face that looked behind constantly with fear.

  It stopped in front of the two, took one last look back then faced them panicking, speaking to them in its language. The tone of its voice was fueled by fear, shock, and horror. Whatever set its friends on fire was down the hall where they came from. If Pierce didn’t know any better, he suspected the Draconian was ready to switch sides and warn them of the threat that neared them—

  A soft splitting noise discharged, and the Draconian’s head split in half from the top to its mouth. Its head folded open like a blossoming flower for the two to see exactly what its brains, skin and muscle tissue from the inside out looked like. Its body joined its burning comrades on the floor, gushing out half a liter of boiling hot blood. Pierce made sure to take a step or two back; it felt like someone opened a small hot oven in front of him.

  A single figure strode past the burning bodies, calmly with elegant steps. Miles grinned at the figure, Pierce looked at them puzzled. It was a woman with thick brown hair, in formfitting armor with wires and mechanical parts plugged into it. The mechanical joints shimmered blue, unlike the holographic bracelets that twirled around her wrists, which were red.

  She was a human psionic. Pierce was intrigued to finally see one face-to-face.

  “Oh great, here comes EDF,” Miles said to the woman.

  “The Extrasolar Defense Force,” Pierce said, looking at the woman that grinned at Miles. “I remember them boarding the Carl Sagan.”

  “Probably a different team, EDF-1 here usually gets all the fun assignments,” Miles said, then faced the woman. “Ain’t that right, LeBoeuf?”

  LeBoeuf rolled her eyes and called out toward the end of the hallway where she had entered from. “Sergeant, we got friendlies inside.”

  “Didn’t know EDF was deployed out here as well,” Miles said to her.

  “EDF, Marines, the navy.” LeBoeuf gave Pierce a stare, his uniform to be exact. She shook her head. “And evidently, IESA . . .”

  She led them to where she came from, stepping past the flaming bodies that still held the attention of Miles and Pierce, especially the one that was panicking. “Why was that lone soldier all spooked out?” Pierce asked. “I was under the impression these things were emotionless killing machines.”

  LeBoeuf tapped her shoulder pads, which had the words ‘Witch Queen’ written across them. “They probably never saw psionic sorcery on my level.”

  Three new figures emerged from the shadows having finished examining the body of a dead Draconian with piping hot steam escaping from the six bullet holes in its chest. The presence of the three made Pierce lower his scanning wrist terminal and face them. One was a psionic male with armor similar to LeBoeuf’s. The other two were wearing similar body armor that hugged their forms but lacked the psionic add-ons. Of the three rifle-wielding figures that now faced Pierce, one of them looked familiar.

  “Chevallier?” Pierce called out to her.

  Mathilda Chevallier frowned upon hearing the sound of his voice. “Pierce . . .”

  9 Avearan

  König psionic academy

  Titan, Sol system

  October 13, 2118, 14:17 SST (Sol Standard Time)

  Avearan had been a student at the König psionic academy for the past year, part of the UNE’s cross-species psionic training program. As per UNE law, those with psionic powers had to undergo training to master and control their gifts and become a registered psionic user with the government.

  Unlike the Empire, however, psionics in the UNE were never forced to dedicate their entire lives as living tools, or forced to serve in the military, though the military did run a separate training facility that was attached to the academy. Periodically, recruiters from the UNE’s military would meander in the halls of the academy or stand and watch at the doorway to live exercise training classrooms. When those classes ended, one or two psionics were handpicked and offered a package containing lucrative gifts if they promised to enlist.

  It was a huge difference from the psionic programs the Empire employed, where being a psionic was borderline slavery. Avearan had too many not-so-fond memories of that dark period of her life.

  The size of the multistory academy was immense, so immense that few people ever had the chance to visit all its floors and wings. In some way it was like a miniature city, complete with residences and restaurants, and green grass on the outskirts, all protected by a transparent dome keeping that nasty cold of Titan’s air out. The size of the academy was understandable when one took in Titan’s population demographics. Titan was home to the UNE’s largest psionic community.

  Sixty percent of all people living on Titan had spent time in the academy at one point in their lives. While the academy wasn’t the only place in the UNE to train psionics, it was the first one built and often considered to be the best. Parents of psionic gifted children spent huge sums of credits to have their sons and daughters sent here when they were of
age. Meanwhile in the Empire, parents were known to lose their heads because they got caught keeping the knowledge they had children with said gifts a secret.

  Avearan had spent the bulk of her day going from classroom to classroom. She slipped into its maze of hallways way too bright for her light-sensitive eyes. A pair of shades pulled from her bag helped remedy that and caused her eyes to glow red slightly as she made her way to her final class for the day.

  The demographic of the psionic students in the halls was a good way to tell which wing you were in. If you saw lots of humans, chances were, you were in the wing that trained gifted people that were there because the law required them to be. Tough and older personnel? Military psionic training, not that she had the clearance to enter that wing.

  The halls of the wing she strode through, saw two Aryile students talking, while a group of Hashmedai students debated as to who was their favorite Archmage from Imperial history books. This was the cross-species wing, and at the far end of it, were classrooms designated for those developing their powers for medical use. Xenobiology was Avearan’s program.

  The concept of humans and aliens sharing a world together wasn’t new. In the aftermath of the Empire’s failed invasion of Earth, many Hashmedai were left behind on its surface, and forced to live amongst humans. Meanwhile, Radiance came to help rebuild Earth, which ultimately resulted in many of its people having to spend time living on Earth. What better way to usher in the idea of galactic peace, by allowing nonhumans to become UNE citizens? It saw more technology enter the hands of the UNE as well as created a second option for those that wished to leave the strict religious laws of the Union, or the totalitarian rule of the Empire, without having to resort to living in the lawless Morutrin system and its chaos.

  Avearan spent the next hour of her day studying psionic medicine, at a half-full lecture hall. How she remained awake during the lecture after such a long day and sleepless night was a mystery. Doctor Ella Lynn-Chambers, one of the instructors and directors of the academy, stood at a podium explaining how she created the concept of psionic medicine.