The Relissarium Wars Omnibus

by Andrew C Broderick

  Along with the others, Theo picked up his practice gear. They headed to the conference room. Theo asked about going to the locker to change, but Cierra told him it wasn’t really necessary. Makram had only used it as an excuse to leave the field sooner. Hubard didn’t call everyone together often, so the gathering meant whatever he needed to tell them was very important.

  “I see you three were training.” Hubard looked them over as they entered the conference room. “How’d it go?”

  “Very educational.” Theo commented as he sat his training gear to one side. He was still wearing his body armor, when he sat down at the conference table. Although Makram had yet to materialize, everyone else who was part of the new Strike Force Retaliation team was there.

  “I’ve called you all together,” Hubard began, “because of what I’ve discovered about this new mineral. The one we intercepted from the Carristoux Regional Militia post.” He waved his hand, and an image of the mineral slabs—which they’d risked life and limb to obtain—materialized overhead.

  Theo gazed at the image. Everything in his life had been turned on its head, thanks to Cierra and the Carbonari. What did they have to show for their efforts? Some strange mineral that no one really understood. He had gone from his hard, but complacent, life as a farmer, to a recruit for a rebellious organization that wanted to take down the empire. Theo tried to clear his mind and focus on what Hubard was saying.

  “When our double-crossing friend Garth contacted me about this mineral, I didn’t believe him. Garth was a smuggler and, it would appear, not one we should ever have trusted.” There was a murmur of agreement from the room. Garth’s little scheme to steal the mineral before they could get to it nearly cost everyone their lives.

  “However, the Relissarium—that’s what I’ve decided to call it—has shown itself to be of great value. It has subatomic properties I still can’t believe. It took me a long time to find the perfect use for it, which I would like to demonstrate to you today.” Hubard walked over to a small cloth in the middle of the room. He pulled it off two oblong shapes.

  Beneath the cloth were two mounted sword blades. Both of which were about twenty-four inches in length. They didn’t appear to be made of any metal that Theo was familiar with. Honestly, he had never seen anything close to it before. The swords each had a semi-circular handgrip, but it was a fairly standard design for most personal weapons. Unlike infintium blades, the ones before them were black in color.

  “Behold, the Relissarium blade!” Hubard picked up one, and balanced it in his hand. “Light, versatile, and will cut through anything—as long as you use enough applied force.”

  “Anything?” Cherish sat up straighter in her seat, and leaned forward.

  “Anything.” Hubard confirmed, excitedly. He walked over to another cloth. The old engineer pulled it away to reveal a block of metal, about twelve inches in length. It had the silver appearance and slight glow of infintium. Hubard moved away, so everyone could see it.

  Murmurs spread across the table. The team gave one another interested glances. Theo had witnessed some of what the Relissarium could do back on Carristoux. Putting the mineral into the shape of a blade could change the tide of wars. Something like that could give the Carbonari the advantage they needed to overthrow the Yasta monks, and the empire.

  Hubbard continued with his demonstration, and patted the block of metal in front of him. “Yes, this is a block of infintium. Hardest substance in the known universe. Until now.” He raised the black sword blade over the silver block, and brought it down in one quick stroke. Theo didn’t know Hubard could even move that fast. He had made the same mistake with Garth back in the market. Theo made a mental note to stop underestimating people. He was slowly learning that not everything was as it appeared.

  There was a shower of sparks. The infintium block was shorn into two. Everyone jumped up in shock. There was no heat from the infintium block, or smoke of burning metal. The blow had been clean and decisive. Everyone examined the separated blocks, and expressed admiration. Makram let out an impressed whistle as he entered the room. “That was astounding. I saw it from the hallway.”

  “Glad you liked the demonstration,” Hubard told him with a smile. “I’m going to call these new swords ‘lasana blades’.” He carefully passed the swords around, so everyone could examine them.

  “Where did you come up with that name?” Cherish gently cradled one of the blades in her metal hands. She was all too aware of how easily she could damage her hardware with such a weapon. If it could slice through infintium, it would make short work of her.

  The older man tilted his head to the side, thoughtfully. “I can’t remember. It does have a nice sound to it though, you have to admit.”

  It was a few days later, when they learned about the mission. Theo and Cierra were out on the practice field with Cherish supervising, once again. Cierra showed him some basic grappling moves, to take down an unarmed combatant. They were about to face off for another round, when Cherish stopped them.

  “Stop! Practice is paused, until I finish receiving his message.” Cherish held out her hand to hush them.

  Theo let out a short breath. They were just getting to the good part of the combat sequence that Cierra was showing him. Theo hated it when Cherish received internal messages. It made him feel as if he were being intentionally left out of a conversation. He was also curious about why Cherish even bothered with an external communication device if she could receive messages and transmissions without using one.

  Cherish blinked her eyes rapidly as the message she was listening to ended. “The Grand Council wants us to hit a Yasta monastery. They want some intelligence that the Yasta seem to have gotten their hands on, and we were selected for the job. We leave tomorrow. All of us are to go, including Theo.”

  An involuntary smile spread across his lips, but he quickly wiped it off of his face when Cierra glared at him. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Cherish. “Tomorrow? Why so soon? What’s the hurry?”

  “It’s some kind of religious holiday for them. The monks will be busy elsewhere. The Grand Council thinks it will be the best time to strike.”

  “What’s the objective?” Theo piped up in the conversation. He figured that since he was a member of the team now, he had a right to know. Besides, if he was going into harm’s way, he wanted to know what he was risking his life for.

  “We are supposed to infiltrate the inner chambers of the monastery.” Cherish cocked her head to one side as she spoke. Theo had the impression that Cherish was listening to the transmission again while she spoke. “Oh, some more good news. We’ll have one of those new lasana swords that Hubard showed us the other day. Cierra, you get it. Hojae and Makram are allowed infintium blades, as well as the others on the mission, except for me. Since I have internal weapons, the Grand Council thought it was unnecessary for me to carry any additional ones.” Theo could only speculate what kind of internal weapons Cherish was equipped with. Whatever they were, he doubted that he would ever want to be on receiving end of them. After all, he had seen her shooting skills in the last mission they were on. Her marksmanship was impeccable.

  “Was that all they said? That’s not much to go on.” Cierra worried her bottom lip with her teeth.

  “The rest of the plan is coming in code, so give me a second or two to translate. Then I’ll tell you. It’s a good thing I can retain this, since I’ll have to let the others know about it later, too.” Cherish turned her head to the sky to concentrate. Her lips moved silently, for a few moments, as she decoded the transmission. “Hojae will go in first as a pilgrim of some kind. He’ll pretend he’s there to visit the monastery for the festival. There are several Yasta monasteries on his home world, so he should be able to easily come up with a reason for the visit. He’ll arrive in advance of us. You two get to go in with Makram and myself, to infiltrate the place. Hojae will wait on the outside to create a diversion, in case we need one. Our final goal is a small data sphe
re that the monastery keeps inside the inner chambers. It will be marked, so we’ll know what it is when we find it. Do either of you have any questions?”

  “I’m sure we’ll have them later.” Cierra sighed. Judging by her body language, Theo had the impression that training was over for the day. “We might as well go in and tell the others. Everyone needs time to prepare.”

  An hour later, everyone on the Strike Force Retaliation team was gathered in the conference room. Makram leaned back in his chair, at the head of the conference table, and crossed his arms over his chest. He brooded over the task before them. “Infiltrate? I’d rather just go in and shoot the place up. We’re supposed to take out an entire monastery full of soldier monks on our own? How do they expect us to do that? I don’t like it. It has to be a suicide mission.”

  Hubard shook his head. Makram had always been a shoot-first-ask-questions-later kind of guy. Still, Hubard had his suspicions that Makram’s lack of reservation when it came to spilling blood was part of the reason the council had selected him as the new commander. “The council doesn’t want any bodies left behind. A blood trail can be traced to the Brotherhood. It would give the emperor all the excuse he needs to launch a genocidal war against us. You go in, get the data sphere, and leave as few footprints as possible. With luck, the Yasta will never be able to pin the break-in on us.”

  “Fine, but if we engage the enemy I’m killing as many Yasta as I can. They’ll pay for what they did to Relisse.” Makram knew how to pump up a room. Everyone applauded, with Theo clapping the loudest. Other differences aside, at least he and Makram shared an intense hatred for the Yasta. It was amazing how having a common enemy brought people together.

  Cierra spoke up hesitantly. “There is one thing I wanted to bring up. I think Theo should carry the lasana blade.”

  “What? Why should we give him our most powerful weapon?” Makram scoffed at the idea. “He can barely handle an infintium blade, why give him the only lasana blade?”

  “That’s exactly why he should have it. I’ve tried those lasana blades. With enough force, they’ll cut through any material we put it up against. If Theo has one, he’ll be more likely to survive.” Her eyes flicked over to Theo, who was staring at her in disbelief.

  Makram chewed it over in his mind. “Fine. He can take it.” He turned to Theo, and jabbed his pointer finger at the new recruit. “Just understand that the blade is worth more than you are. You take a hit, we save the blade, and leave you there.” Theo smiled and nodded in response. A nervous lump bobbed in his throat, but he did his best to hide it.

  “Now that you have that sorted,” Hubard interrupted, “I need to acquaint you with the basic Yasta monastery layout. Pay attention, because only Cherish has the ability to download a copy of the map. We can’t risk sending you in with a physical copy in case you’re searched or captured. The only diagram the rest of you will be able to take into the monastery is what you manage to memorize before you go.” Hubard made a gesture, and a new image appeared in the air over them.

  It was a picture of a walled monastery with five sides, the way the Yasta liked to build them. The monastery was situated behind rolling hills. Theo assumed it was a general schematic instead of the exact monastery they would encounter. In the middle of it, a large stone structure rose to the sky, with steps that led to a platform on the top.

  Hubard adjusted his spectacles, surveying the diagram he was showing them. “That’s the ziggurat in the middle. Don’t let the surface level fool you. It can be deceiving. Most of the actual monastery is underground. We know that the offices, vaults, and living quarters of the monks are subterranean. That design allows the surface to appear harmless and serve for religious functions. However, I guarantee you, the moment they sense trouble, those warrior monks will swarm out to the surface. For instance…” Hubard showed a brief video of a quiet monastery at an undisclosed location. Suddenly, it was under attack by a brigade of men in red clothes. In one blink, the ramparts of the monastery were filled with monks, who fired back. They mercilessly chopped up any assailants that made it over the walls.

  “Woah.” Theo leaned forward. The swarm of monks reminded him of insects devouring an animal to the bones.

  “This footage was from the Bethel Incident two years ago. A group of fanatics decided the local Yasta had treasure inside their monastery. They launched a frontal assault. I don’t think a single one of the invaders survived. The Yasta don’t like to take prisoners.” Hubard let the final words sink in.

  After a momentary pause, he continued with his presentation. The image overhead changed again to show a blue sphere, about six inches in diameter. A series of numbers and letters were printed on it. “Now, this is what you need to find.”

  “I’ve never seen a data sphere like that before.” Cherish tilted her head to the side.

  Hubard’s face was grim. “Well, make sure you only take this one. There may be more, but, if there are extras, they are likely to be booby trapped. If you grab the wrong one, it will most likely detonate the moment you get it on the orbital lift.”

  Cierra squinted at the sequence on the sphere. “That is a lot of numbers and letters. Are we supposed to memorize all of them?”

  “That’s not necessary. I’ve already done it.” Cherish turned her head to one side and repeated the exact number letter sequence from the picture. The rest of the team stared at her in awe. Cherish smiled proudly. “It’s a new upgrade.”

  The team continued to work out a plan for the infiltration over the rest of the afternoon. Hubard pulled up various diagrams to assist them when necessary. All of the information was a bit overwhelming for Theo, but he did his best to keep up with what was being said. By the end of the session, they felt they had established a decent plan.

  Two

  Three days later, a drop pod containing Hojae plummeted towards the surface of the planet Turtiez. The Josti waited a good hour before he emerged. Although he wasn’t worried about what the locals thought, Hojae made certain to wear a robe that masked his lower arms. There was no reason to let the Imperial Magistrate know there was someone around who didn’t fit the profile of a native.

  Hojae hefted his mission bag on his shoulder. He closed the hatch behind him, and looked over the pod he had landed in. It had been specially designed by the Carbonari for his mission. The hull was a deep green that matched the local forest cover. The transportation used by the rest of the team would be different. They had to reach orbit after the mission was complete. His was a one-way affair, and was made for a single use. It was only big enough for him, and his bag of supplies.

  Hojae walked around the landing zone, and listened. Intelligence was certain the clearing was a remote enough location a falling star at night wouldn’t have been noticed at night. It was now early morning. Hojae watched as the Turtiez’ sun rose over the horizon. It sent rays of warmth across the undergrowth. Everything seemed peaceful. He didn’t sense anyone lurking in the shadows, nor did he hear anything unusual in the distance. In the early dawn, only the sweet sound of the local birds filled the air.

  Satisfied after scouting the area, Hojae walked back up to the pod and found the destruct switch. It required a complicated series of challenges and answers, to ensure no one used it while he was still inside. When the system was activated, Hojae stepped back ten feet to make sure the operation continued to completion. He didn’t want to be discovered because of a faulty pod.

  The pod, no more than ten feet in height, began to morph into something that resembled a time lapse movie of a rotting pumpkin. He watched as it shrank and emitted a small amount of smoke. The smoke was visible up close, but it wasn’t enough to attract attention above the tree line. The chemical reaction smelled strongly of butyric acid, the stench of decay. Luckily, the smell wouldn’t be out of place in a forest where fallen trees were constantly rotting in the underbrush. The pod began to collapse on itself until it turned a dull brown. It seeped into the ground, leaving only a wet spot behind. There wa
s barely a sign that Hojae was ever there.

  Satisfied, he turned and walked in the direction of the monastery. Hojae trudged through the thickening forest. He was on a trajectory to intercept a column of religious pilgrims. They were headed to the small clearing outside of the Yasta monastery that the rest of his team would be targeting. Hojae managed to slip himself seamlessly into the throng of travelers. The more he blended in, the better.

  Later in the day, a stranger presented himself at the gate of the Hilarion Monastery. The figure was wrapped in a set of dark robes. He didn’t appear to be from any of the local villages. The novice monk on guard duty didn’t find his appearance odd. The monastery was a key stop on the path to enlightenment, which meant it saw plenty of people from all across the empire that time of year.

  The novice leaned against the gate, trying to see under the stranger’s hood. “If you’re here for a blessing, you’ll have to wait. The Elders are in a meeting.”

  The stranger handed the novice an envelope. “This needs to be seen by the Abbot. It concerns a matter of great importance. Only the Abbot must see what is inside it.”

  The novice stared at the face hidden inside the robes. It was that of a non-human, but they received all manner of sentient beings this time of the year. The novice clutched the envelope in his outstretched hand. “Who shall I say wants him to read the contents?”

  “Tell him Brother Perdurabo brought it.” The stranger kept his cold eyes locked on the novice’s.

  The blood drained from the guard’s face. “Just a minute. I’ll be back quickly.” He rushed off into the interior of the monastery.

  The Abbot was in a conference with a few of the Brother Superior monks. The novice entered the room, face down in a show of respect. He held the envelope out in his hands as if it were an offering. The elders watched him approach, with judgmental eyes.