"Until 1700 hours then." Thorn ended the comms link. He turned to his men.
"Looks like we have a little extra company."
"We'll need a few more droids then," Roman said. "I'd better start prepping them now." With that he jumped up and left.
A grin spread across Ifor's face.
"I thought they were making it too easy for us. Now at least there's a bit of a challenge."
"Well we'd better revise our plan of attack a little bit to account for the extra guards. We'll meet on the Obs deck in, say, thirty minutes. That should give Roman enough time."
An hour later and the five men began their own personal preparations. With the revised plans made, departure time was in less than an hour. Each mission afforded its own preparation time. Some longer than others, but always enough time to go through each man's rituals. Some just going through a walk-through in their minds of what was going to happen, others saying a small prayer or kissing the photo of their long departed families. Whichever one it was, it was done in their own personal space, away from the others.
Chapter 6
At 1400 hours the sun shone down in a clear blue sky. The heat had opened the Prearus flower, a native of Prearus 6 in the Delta Sector which had been brought to Earth as a seed by an unsuspecting craft. The sweet aroma hung heavy in the air and attracted the local insects in its quest to spread its seed and begin its domination of yet another planet.
The Magno-Bikes silently left the landing site leaving the Savage Mind and transporter behind. Dar-Fur and his crew waited back in their ship for the signal that the captives were ready to be picked up. The Bikes travelled in single file, droids ahead and behind masking their approach from the light tracking systems that were installed three miles from the complex.
The route planned through the bushes and trees was taken at a steady pace. A route that was marked the day before by one of the droids. When they reached to within a mile of the complex they split up. Each taking four droids until they had the complex surrounded. They stopped in their positions and got off the Bikes.
From this point the tracking systems were a lot more sophisticated. Holo-Pressure pads, infra-red sensing fields, magno-sensing equipment that detected magnetic displacements from the ground to two hundred feet in the air above the tree line.
'Everyone settled?' sent Thorn as he sat on a tree stump. Four confirmations were sent simultaneously.
'OK. Do what you can with the droids. The less guards conscious the easier it will be later on. We have thirty minutes. And remember, the extra guards should be coming on patrol now ready for the system shut-down.'
The Psychic Knights sent their droids off towards the complex, keeping one back as a guard. Each of the men could see through all four of them simultaneously while they were under their control. This gave their initial approach invisibility. The special alloy that Roman had built them from could only be found on Creeshan; a planet that sat at the very edge of the galaxy. This alloy was virtually undetectable by known technology.
Ifor's three droids came across the first guard about five hundred meters from the complex. They hovered fifteen metres above the ground in the cover of the trees canopy as silent as a light summer breeze. Ifor zoomed in on the guard to see what he was doing. He screwed his face up as he saw the guard urinate against a tree.
"Not something I want to be seeing," he muttered to himself.
As soon as the guard had finished and turned to go, he fell to the ground from a burst of sonic energy from a droid that left him unconscious. A second droid quickly activated a light displacement field around the guard making him invisible.
"One down," Ifor said.
Roman's droids were coming up to their first guards. Three of them stood around talking in a small clearing. One of the guards was lighting three Marijuana roll ups. Not your average Marijuana roll ups. The plants that were grown were genetically altered which had side effects when inhaled of enhanced aggression and stamina as well as a high tolerance of pain.
The guard handed round the lighted sticks and each man inhaled as though it was a cool drink on a hot day. One of them began to speak. On his third word he dropped to his knees and then slumped forward. Simultaneously the other two did the same as the three droids sonic energy bursts reached their bodies. The three men ended up as a pile in the thick vegetation covering the floor.
"Damn! Almost got them leaning against each other," Roman said. The droids covered the men with the LDF and continued on cautiously.
Five minutes before the defences came down and the fifteen droids were making good progress. Twenty five men had been neutralised and they were within one hundred metres of the complex perimeter. No physical barrier to the complex existed. No concrete, steel or polymer plastic walls. The buildings inside could be clearly seen. A sparse looking place. Just a large dome building in the centre with five various sized living modules surrounding it. To the south of the site was the landing area for the transport craft.
What did protect these buildings was a deadly, invisible laser field that, as far as the droids could determine on their previous scouting mission, stretched to a height of three hundred metres and domed over the complex. Every fifty metres around the perimeter a laser cannon perched on its platform controlled by the central computer, a synthetic brain. One of a network of organs across Earth feeding information back to the C.O.C at the heart of the TechPsychers Empire.
A door sized hole opened in the laser field, activated by the chip lasered into the first guard's wrist and eight guards went through. Their grey body suits, made from a synthetic material that kept them cool and gave them some laser fire protection, shimmered in the weakening sunlight. Across their heads a metal band sat secured to neural connectors surgically implanted in their temples. This was what gave the TechPsychers their powers.
Just over one hundred and fifty years ago a mining company acquired alien technology that gave the wearer the ability to control things with their mind. Not like the natural psychers. This was more powerful. Not only could they control things, but they could control people and move objects the size of humans. This gave the mining company, particularly a man called Conrad Preest, the owner, immense power. Within the space of just twenty years an army of TechPsychers, controlled by Preest, had emerged and taken control of Earth and then within another thirty years all sixteen sectors of the galaxy had at least some partial influence from the TechPsychers.
The natural psychers were immune to the mind control and so became hunted, incarcerated and taken to unknown locations off world. The fight for freedom had begun ten years into the TechPsychers domination of Earth. A fight that had led the Psychic Knights to this point in their lives.
A whining noise could be heard from where the men were sitting. The defences were down.
‘Let's go!'
The five men jumped on their Magno-Bikes and sped off through the trees. With autopilot engaged in stealth mode the Psychic Knights were free to control their droids.
Chapter 7
The guards were now fully deployed in ten groups of eight around the complex sweeping their way outwards from the perimeter. Each group couldn't see the others, but kept in contact psychically.
'Another exciting day out here in the middle of nowhere, Jezza. I'm looking forward to getting back to that pleasure world. The sooner we get rid of these naturals the better.'
Jezza was the team leader of Gamma team and sat on a tree stump while his men carried out their checks up ahead.
'Are you sure you wanna be going back to that place. They didn't take too kindly to your last visit.'
Drake cast his mind back six months. Their last break from duty. In one of the clubs he was accosted by a dancing girl, though she swore blind that he tripped her in such a way that her naked breasts smothered his face as she fell forward.
'I'm sure they won't remember me. Anyway there are plenty of other places to go.'
There was a silence from both parties as Ifor's and Thorn's
droids took them out simultaneously.
'Impeccable timing as always, Ifor.'
'Likewise, Thorn.'
Both men afforded themselves a smile as their bikes silently carried them towards their goal.
Yilnar was making slower progress due to the heavy vegetation, but was none the less dispatching the guards with deadly accuracy. His droids had rendered four more guards unconscious while he was still three quarters of a mile away. A distance just on the limits of his control.
Roman was having even better success. Fifteen men down and still not spotted. His range of control was greater than the others. He felt this was due to the amount of time he spent fine tuning each droid. Getting to know their souls, for that's what he believed they had. Every droid, every machine had its own personality. Something that, if you spent enough time on, could be tapped into. The others couldn't see this. They just used the droids when they needed them. They couldn't see how bonding with them could be beneficial.
The sound of a laser shot fizzed through the trees.
'Delta leader, report!'
'I thought I saw something in the trees. I'm going closer to have a look.'
The Alpha team leader turned to his second in command.
"I bet it's just another bird he's seen. That man is jumpier than a frog on acid."
The second in command gave a chuckle with a knowing look.
Ifor watched the Delta leader through his droid. The man cautiously crept forward making use of the available cover. From behind him the droid slowly descended to within three metres and dropped the leader where he crouched.
'We may have to move a little quicker, boys. They think they've seen something, but they don't know what yet,' Ifor warned.
'Right! Let's pick up the pace. I want all of the guards neutralised ASAP,' Thorn replied.
Twenty two guards and four minutes remained before the defences came back online. The fifteen droids went about their tasks with speed, accuracy and as much stealth as time would allow. The bikes were now just fifty metres from the perimeter, except Yilnar who was still a hundred metres behind.
The signal finally came that the last guard was taken care of and the five men started making their way to their positions inside the complex.
Thorn reached his cover just as his three droids joined him. He scanned the area. In his sight was the building with the extra guards and the transporter landing area. Something wasn't right. A group of guards came out of the building heading for the main domed building.
'Everybody in?'
The four men confirmed their presence. A crackle and a fizz told them the defences were back on.
'I don't like this. It's all been too easy. Did anyone notice anything about those guards that came out of the building?'
'They're just as ugly as the rest of them,' quipped Ifor.
'They don't have their neural bands on. When was the last time any of you saw the TechPsychers without neural bands?'
'Never. They even keep them on when they have a haircut,' Yilnar said.
'So what's so different about today?' Akarn queried. Before anyone could formulate an answer a blinding flash engulfed them. At the time Thorn thought that it wasn't so much a visible flash, but one that was observed only by the mind and an instant after that, excruciating pain filled the inner most part of his very soul until...
Chapter 8
Now
This time Thorn forced his mind awake. He refused to slip back into unconsciousness. He opened his eyes. That same white nothingness greeted him once more. The same aroma of lavender tickled his nose. He could hear noises to his right. Shuffling feet on a hard surface. A soft noise could be heard just above and behind his head. Then the shuffling feet came towards him.
"Thorn...you are awake again."
Thorn turned towards the voice. Memories of the alien form before him came back, but caused him to wince with pain.
"You may feel some discomfort for a while. Your mind has been through a very traumatic experience."
Torst looked up to some instrumentation that glowed in mid-air behind Thorn's head.
"Your signs are looking stronger than they did two days ago."
"How...long...have I been here?"
"Three days. We weren't sure you were going to make it, but against all of the odds you did. Something our Warrior caste would be very interested in if they had the opportunity."
Thorn turned his head back. His mind was trying to drag him back under, but he was a lot stronger now and resisted quite easily.
"What happened? Where am I? Where are my men?"
"All in good time. You need more rest. You are safe here. Can you sit up?"
Thorn could feel the use of his limbs had returned and slowly he managed to move them, but was unable to rise from his lying position.
"No matter. We'll arrange for some physio on your limbs. That's the downside to having organic arms and legs. They cease to work when not used for a long period or if they get damaged."
Torst walked back to the wall at the other side of the room. He stood there for a short while as if he was staring at something on it. Thorn could feel something in his mind as though a static charge was being released on his brain. He screwed up his face in pain. It lasted a few seconds and then receded. Two more alien figures materialised next to Torst.
‘So he will need physical rehabilitation as you predicted,’ one of them sent.
‘Yes, but it shouldn't take long. He has some movement in his limbs,’ replied Torst.
‘And his mind? Any damage sustained?’ sent the other.
‘There's been no damage, but there has been a change. As to what this means at this time is hard to predict.’
A long moan of discomfort rumbled from Thorn’s lips.
Chark, one of the new aliens, looked almost identical to his colleagues apart from subtle differences in his facial features and the shading on his artificial body. He walked over to Thorn and stood by him.
"Has Torst explained what happened to you yet?"
Thorn turned slightly to look into Chark's eyes. The experience unnerved him for a short while. They were dark and cold and a sadness seemed to have made home there.
"No."
"We picked you up on your home world. Barely conscious. It seems some sort of neural bomb had been detonated in the area. It would have overloaded your mind. From the measurements we detected when it was detonated, you are lucky to be alive let alone be speaking to us. Your brain is, well as you humans would say, a miracle. We have not seen anything like it in any of the species we have studied in the six galaxies we have travelled."
Thorn’s heart sank.
"You mean no-one else survived?"
"We were only there for a short time, but we detected no other life signs from your group. I'm sorry."
Thorn was experiencing something he had only felt once before. Most of his life he had protected himself from emotional pain by trusting only a few people after the brutal murder of his parents by the TechPsychers. His men, his friends, were the closest he had to a family. A bond built up over a long period. And now they had been wrenched from his life.
Torst came over to him. He could see the hurt on his face.
"This will not all be in vein. I believe something will come out of this that will help free your people for good."
Chark caught hold of Torst's arm and turned to him. Thorn felt the static in his mind again, this time a little stronger. Again it receded after a few seconds. He turned his head slowly towards the aliens.
Something caught his eye. Something he hadn't noticed before. On their heads a metallic band stretched from one temple to the other and seemed to be fixed in place. His eyes widened.
"You! You're TechPsychers!" Thorn's instinct was to jump up, but his limbs wouldn't allow it yet. His heart was racing and his mind felt pain once more.
Torst put his hands on Thorn's head and he calmed him down psychically.
'He needs more rest. His mind can't take in wh
at has happened yet. I'll bring him round in two cycles. Come back later. He should be OK by then.'
Chark felt a twinge of disappointment.
'I hope so. The council will be meeting again in three cycles. You should feel privileged to even be considered for this project. It is very rare that so much time would be spent on a species. Are you sure that this human can help us achieve our goal? Especially as the other members of the team are dead.'
'I am sure he can help. Just look at the evidence. It doesn't lie. You said yourself it was a miracle that his mind survived the neural bomb.'
'All the evidence says is that it can repair itself very quickly. That will not help us. Besides he would be of no use to us if he is against us and from what I've seen it would take another miracle to get him on our side.'
'Come back in two cycles. He will have come round by then and I will explain everything to him. I'm sure he will understand the situation.'
Chark walked over to the third alien in the room.
'No-one is as hopeful about this human as I am, but we can't be wasting our time and resources on mere hope. We need evidence and I dearly hope that when I return you will have some.' The two alien's bodies shimmered and then disappeared.
Chapter 9
The stars glistened over the alien planet. It had been in darkness for the last five months and would continue in darkness for the next two. No human had ever reached this galaxy. Until now.
Beneath the tallest mountain a chamber had been created. Nestled in the chamber a module measuring fifty metres long, twenty five metres wide and three metres high had its existence hidden from the outside worlds. Inside Thorn was perched on his bed. He had been awake for five minutes and found he was able to move his limbs again. When he sat up his mind swam for a short while until it cleared and he could see his surroundings properly for the first time.
A pure white enclosure with minimal, what looked like instrumentation, along the wall opposite. The bed on which he sat was in the middle of the room and at its head a panel with some alien writing on it that was suspended in mid-air. From his observations there was one thing missing. A door!
Reformation - Part 1:Psychic Knights Page 3