Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller

by Brandon Ellis

  Slade yelped and tumbled backward, sliding across the floor and into the pyramid’s base.

  Jaxx was more powerful down here and near this pyramid. He was like a giant himself. He glanced at his arm. It was glowing. In fact, his entire body was. He glanced at the pyramid. A haze of energy joined him and the pyramid together.

  Slade pushed himself off the floor, his hands in a ball, his body shaking in rage. He stomped and threw energy at Jaxx.

  Jaxx moved out of the way and everything changed to slow motion, everything but himself.

  A sensation came over him like a waterfall of energy draping over him. Inside, Jaxx traced his energy through his own DNA strands. His DNA was designed to open and close the pyramid network. He was the key. This he already understood; however, something was reminding him, whispering through every cell in his body, screaming that he was connected to each and every pyramid in the galaxy.

  Slade rushed at him in slow motion, running with all his might, but Jaxx was an octave speed higher than Slade due to this pyramid giving off a wave of energy to Jaxx, and to Jaxx only.

  And, as the DNA and key holder, he knew he was partnered with this pyramid.

  “Pyramid,” he said. “Wake the giants. They’ll know what to do.”

  Slade pulled out a knife, this one like none any Jaxx had ever seen. It was arrow tipped, jagged at the edges, and the hilt was made from ivory. Slade’s face screwed up in fury, his eyes like demons ready to burn some witches at the stake.

  Slade lifted his knife above his head, ready to strike down and end Jaxx’s life.

  Jaxx turned, his forearm coming up to block Slade’s action.

  Slade lurched back, his eyes like saucers, and blood squirted out of his mouth. He was lifted into the air, a spear pierced through his abdomen. He dropped his knife and looked behind him, his face more stunned than Jaxx’s.

  A giant was wide awake, his eyes determined, his body tensed with every muscle flexed. He held Slade up at the end of his spear, and the giant brought him closer to his eyes, looking the small man up and down.

  The giant faced Jaxx.

  “Let him down,” ordered Jaxx. “And take your spear out of him.”

  Slade shook his head, his face twisted in pain. “I’ll die.” His voice was raspy, and blood dripped from his lips and down his chin.

  “You’ll die either way. My way will be swift.”

  The giant put his foot on Slade’s back and pushed Slade forward while pulling his spear backward. Slade slipped off the spear and fell like Jello to the ground. He took a few breaths, doing his best to turn over, to push up, to do whatever he could to make it to his feet. Maybe to do one more terrible thing to Jaxx before he saw blackness forever.

  His muscles couldn’t bear his weight and he collapsed.

  Dead.

  The place was silent, but for Jaxx’s breathing.

  “Jaxx, are you okay?”

  Jaxx sucked in air, startled, his mouth in the shape of an “o”, and spun to his right. The President of the United States, Craig Martelle, was walking toward him, his face full of concern.

  30

  E-Quadrant, Solar System - Whitefish, Montana

  “Turn those mother shields back on,” yelled Segarra into his battlesuit’s mic. He threw his helmet on and clicked his battlesuit’s mask in place. “Take Mya and find a place she can hide and do her thing.” He unclipped two phasers, one on each hip, and aimed them at the sky. “Die, die.”

  Wapooo! Wapooo!

  Segarra sent ion blasts at the incoming craft, hitting the first one in the cockpit window. It spun, slamming into another starfighter, and both veered off behind buildings, impacting the ground. An eruption like a volcano shot above the city skyline, quickly shrinking down a few seconds later.

  “Go,” yelled Segarra. “Mya has to do her energy thing. Go, go.”

  Several men in battlesuits much like Segarra’s came rushing around a corner. They targeted the craft and whipped weapon’s fire toward the heavens.

  But what about Megan?

  Drew grabbed Mya into his arms and ran into the bar, racing through the portion where a front wall used to be. “Can you do your energy thing in here, Mya?”

  Krackowoooooosh! Krackowooooosh!

  A ball of heat nearly tripped Drew to the ground, and he stumbled forward, catching himself against the bar. Mya screamed, her eyes looking out at the violence in the street. She pushed off Drew’s chest, squirming herself free, and ran after her father. Drew spun on his heels.

  Two large puncture holes were in the street and crumbled asphalt lay everywhere. Segarra and several of his men were on their backs. The asphalt covered them and smoke rose from their battlesuits. Mya grabbed her dad’s armored leg and began pulling, getting nowhere. Drew dashed to Mya’s side as a rumble crackled across the sky, and booms rocked the city. More explosions lit the main streets, and a few small buildings went up in flames, others crumbling to the ground.

  Drew gripped Segarra’s other leg and pulled, dragging him across the road and into the bar.

  “Daddy,” cried Mya. Tears filled her eyes, and for a fleeting moment, Drew could see that Mya understood the pains of war, what death really was, and that her mother had indeed been killed. He didn’t know how he knew this, but he did. And she didn’t want the same thing to happen to her dad.

  Segarra’s arm moved to his facemask and he flipped his visor up. Sweat dripped down the sides of his temples and he puffed out his cheeks, patting his chest armor plate. “And the congress frowned on spending trillions of dollars on black ops projects.” He put up a thumb. “They wouldn’t be frowning if they wore one of these black ops battlesuits while being bombed by aliens.”

  Mya jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Let’s just hide, Daddy. Please.” Her tears came faster, her sobs deeper.

  He pushed himself into a seated position, wiping her tears with his robotic suit hands, leaving black streak marks on her face.

  Krackowooooosh!

  Everyone ducked as another loud blast shook the building. This one was farther away, but nonetheless, another street or building had most likely been torn to shreds.

  “Stop playing dead,” Segarra ordered into his mic. The Marines outside and laying on the ground, stirred and rose to their feet. “Fan out to the east. My visor HUD readings show that Echo company is in bad shape.” Segarra made the sign of a cross in the air as his men rushed down an alleyway, moving east. “Playing dead actually works with the Agadon. Our battlesuits hide all body heat and circulatory functions from the outside world. We act dead, and the Agadons move on. Don’t try that outside these suits, though.” He put his hand up for Drew to grasp it. “Help me up.”

  Drew interlocked his hand with Segarra’s. He leaned back, helping the Master Sergeant to a standing position.

  A faint cough echoed in the room. “Megan,” said Drew, hurrying to her side. She was growing stronger, but still unconscious. “We have to get Megan out of here.”

  “She’ll be a drain on resources. She’ll slow us down too much. Put that girl in the basement and we’ll come to get her if we live through this mess,” replied Segarra.

  Mya touched her dad’s fingertips with her own. “She and Drew are important. They will rule.”

  Segarra gave her a pinched expression, clearly frustrated. “Mya, stop saying such nonsense.” It was obvious Mya had told him this before.

  Mya stomped her foot. “Don’t be stubborn, Daddy.”

  Segarra went to say something, then covered his mouth. He swallowed, holding back a tear. “Your mother used to say that, Mya.” He bent down on one knee, then flinched and closed his eyes tight when another blast rocketed against the ground somewhere in the vicinity. “Okay, but we have to hurry. You have my permission to do your thing on her.”

  Mya nodded slowly and made her way over to Megan. Her shoulders lifted and her body tensed as another concussion somewhere in the distance shook the bar. Mya made a squeaking sound in surpri
se, glancing over her shoulder and up at the ceiling. The hanging lights swung back and forth.

  “It’s okay, Mya. Do your energy thing.” Segarra gave a sideways grin. “That’s what we in the military call her stuff.” He used his fingers to show quote marks in the air.

  Mya put her hands on Megan’s knees, just like she did when she helped that Chinese soldier with his broken nose back in Anderle’s old, underground hideout in Tennessee.

  Megan began to stir, her eyes blinking. This was the second time in twenty minutes that Mya had worked on her. Maybe it would do the trick.

  Megan yawned. “What’s going on?” A boom sounded from several streets away. Megan dropped her head and a picture fell from the wall, shattering on the floor. “Oh, yeah. The alien invasion shit.”

  “Now, Mya,” said her dad in a strict tone. “Do your other energy thing.”

  Mya shook her head like a beaten dog.

  Segarra’s posture stiffened. Clearly, he didn’t like being told no. “Now, Mya, we’ve talked about this. You’re the only one who can defeat these evil-doers out there.”

  Mya shook her head a second time. “No more killing. I don’t like it.” She rubbed her heart. “It hurts me here. Every time. And it hurts them too. They are learning just like us, but a little slower. Our learning is accelerating.”

  Segarra’s eyes didn’t hide his confusion. “Accelerating? Who is accelerating?”

  “Humans. Me, you, and all people on Earth. We are learning so much, Daddy. So much.”

  “Mya,” said her father with a warning tone. “Do as you’re told.”

  “We can close the doors and not let the mean people come through with their spaceships anymore, Daddy. There are more around this city that are like me and we’ll be meeting with Jaxx soon. We’ll connect like polka-dots and win.” She threw her hands up in excitement, then died down a moment later, seeing her dad didn’t respond in a like manner.

  “Again, Mya, those are fantasies. You are the only one,” continued Segarra. “Now do as you’re told, young lady.”

  Mya’s chin quivered. “I’m hurting people.”

  “They are not people,” continued her father. “They are evil-doers, like in a game you play on television. You remember those games? Those weren’t really people, more like cartoons.”

  Mya lowered her eyes. “I’m supposed to help people, not kill them, Papa.”

  Segarra bent down and lifted her chin. “Listen, I know what you have said and I’ve heard your arguments before.” Phaser fire zipped outside and Segarra turned in its direction, then brought his eyes back to Mya’s. “We have a whole lot of people to protect, and you’re going to protect them now, do you understand?”

  Mya nodded.

  “You’re bullying her,” said Megan, her legs wobbly as she leaned on Drew.

  Segarra shot her an angry look. “No, I’m being a protecting servant for the United States of America and this city. My daughter, believe it or not, can manipulate energy in a way to kill these bastards.” He brought his eyes back to his daughter. “It’s our obligation to help these people, even if it means hurting the bad guys. Do you understand, Baby Doll?”

  Mya nodded again, her lips curling downward.

  Drew cleared his throat. “Let me get her to a safe place.” A safe place was looking more or less like getting her away from her father.

  Segarra dipped his head. He kissed his daughter’s cheek. “I love you, Mya.” He closed his visor and rushed off toward the battle.

  Drew picked Mya up and turned to Megan. “Where to, Beautiful?” He caught his breath. That slipped out.

  Megan put her hands on her hips. She didn’t like being called beautiful, or probably any other name other than her own by a guy she barely knew. “My name’s Megan. And that’s all the name you need to call me.” She pointed across the street. “We high tail our assess away from here and to the train station. There is an old underground bunker there that I bet people have occupied by now.”

  “Let’s go,” said Drew, running out of the bar, covering his head with one hand and holding Mya with the other.

  Megan quickly took the lead, and they moved down an alleyway between two old-time bars. Phaser fire and machine gun sounds riddled the city, almost taking over the thunderous starfighters flying overhead.

  Megan peeked around a corner and put her hand up. “More fighting.” A dozen Marines in battlesuits retreated behind a two-story, brick building. Megan’s eyes went wide. “Back up, back up.”

  She practically pushed Drew over as she backtracked, heading the way they came. A handful of Agadon warriors, their cannons in hand, chased the Marines.

  “Okay, we’ll go to the train station another way, and—”

  “No,” said Mya, interrupting Megan. “It feels icky over there.”

  Megan cocked her head at Mya as they made it around the corner. They were on the same road they were on a minute ago. Megan’s bar was no more than a hundred feet away. “I promise, we will be safe. We’ll just go another way.”

  Mya grabbed Drew tighter. “Okay.” There wasn’t any confidence in her reply.

  Megan raced down the sidewalk, and Drew followed. They passed broken buildings, stepped around shattered glass, and side-stepped fallen brick and cement.

  A loud roar rumbled across the heavens and Drew looked up. Giant ships the size of cities were coming through the clouds. He stopped. “That doesn’t look promising.”

  Megan glanced up as well. “It looks absolutely horrifying.”

  Mya closed her eyes, concentrating. “They are trying to find me again. And they will find me, and they want to have me forever. If they get me, then you two can’t rule.”

  “What are we ruling, Mya,” responded Megan, her eyes still up at the sky, more starfighters inbound. She backed up, bumping into Drew.

  Mya put her hand out, touching Megan. “Everyone here and farther away. A new, pretty time is coming for us if we close the doors that lets the mean people in.”

  Krackowoooooosh-chk-chk!

  A building a few blocks down took a massive hit. The roof caved in and wood and cement was thrown everywhere. A burst of cloudy debris rose from the center.

  “Crafts are heading right for us,” said Drew. “We have to go.”

  A cluster of starfighters, picking up incredible speed, flew closer and closer. The ships’ noses pointed down, and any minute they’d be on top of Drew’s position.

  Vvvvvvvvzzzzzzzzzz!

  The city shield turned on, a massive transparent-white dome covered the whole of the town, shining brilliantly like the greatest beacon of hope Drew could have ever imagined.

  The starfighters pulled back.

  Krackowoooooosh!

  A starfighter sped into the shield, electricity shot outward and spread around the shield like veins popping from someone’s forehead, and the craft buckled in two. Flames streaked up from the impact and shot outward. The ship grew into a ball of fire, then the next ship hit the shield, and the next.

  Balls of flames and starfighter remains burst into the sky as the shield took more crafts, burning more Agadon pilots to dust, in a blink of an eye.

  “Holy shit,” yelled Drew, his eyes reflecting the fire show above.

  “Follow me,” said Megan, almost out of breath from what she was watching.

  They hurried down the sidewalk, passing vacant shops and restaurants, and ran across a huge lawn that led to a building that looked like a small, square White House. “Keep going,” screamed Megan.

  Brat-tat-tat-tat-tat! Wapooo! Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

  More machine gun fire and phaser blasts filled the city. The ships couldn’t bomb them at the moment or fly into the metropolis and strafe the streets, buildings, or people thanks to the shield, but Agadon soldiers were still inside the dome. The shield didn’t have the ability to push them out, but the Marines sure as hell were trying.

  “Up ahead,” Megan pointed out. A gorgeous, German-style built lodge, massively wide and three
story’s tall, was a hundred yards away. A mountain range topped with white peaks stood far behind it. “That’s the train station.”

  Drew carried Mya, his arms burning from the weight. Even though she wasn’t heavy, Drew wasn’t terribly strong either.

  Mya shook her head. “No, stop. We can’t go in there.”

  Drew halted, though Megan continued toward the station.

  More shots rang out.

  “Let’s go, Drew.” Megan was panicked, her eyes wild.

  Drew held his ground. “It’s best we take Mya’s advice on this. Let’s trust her.” He lowered his chin, whispering in Mya’s ear. “Where to, Mya?”

  “It’s too late.” Mya wiggled out of his arms and dropped to the ground. “They were waiting for me.”

  Drew looked around, his hands out. “Who?”

  Megan jumped up and down, throwing her arms out toward the station. “No time. Let’s find cover in the bunker underneath the station.”

  Metallic laughter came from a building next to them. The door popped off its hinges and flung out onto the sidewalk, cracking in half. Drew jumped. An Agadon stepped out of the building and into view, a large gun its his hand.

  A second laugh. Drew turned around. Several Agadon were exiting buildings and coming forward, all holding larger-than-life guns.

  More laughter filled the street, and more than twenty Agadon assholes piled out of the train station. Again, holding weapons.

  Mya, Drew, and Megan were surrounded.

  “That’s the one that leads them all,” said Mya, pointing to the largest of the Agadon.

  “How do you know?” asked Drew, his heart racing, his mind doing its best to calm himself down. One way or another, he was probably a goner, and Megan with him.

  Mya shrugged, her lower lip protruding, her eyes sad. “He was in my dream last night. He told me to come to him.” She looked down. “I’m going to go to him.” She ran toward the Agadon.

  Megan lunged forward, reaching for Mya and missing. “What is she doing?”

  Drew, hands shaking, feet sweating, did everything in his power not to rush after Mya. There was a sense in him that told him that Mya knew what she was doing.