As Cherish stood there, a six-inch blade shot out from her left metal arm. It locked in place right above Cherish’s hand. Before anyone could react, Cherish stabbed the Abbot in the gut and grabbed for the sphere. Her blade passed harmlessly through the Abbot. Puzzled, Cherish withdrew her blade and stared at the Abbot before her.
“Holographic image.” Cierra cursed under her breath, loud enough for Theo to hear.
There was a laugh from across the room, and Cherish turned to face the real Abbot, who stood at the edge of the room with the data sphere. He was behind another line of Yasta monks. “Did you think I would be that stupid? I thought you cyborgs didn’t fall for such trickery. Brothers, take them to the—”
The Abbot’s words never finished, as Cherish ripped off her Yasta robes, and slid behind the line of armed monks. Theo saw a second blade slide out of the top of the other arm. Before the monks in front of her could react, Cherish went to work. She sliced down from behind one monk, and cut deep into his torso. He went down in a geyser of blood, laser in hand. Before the second could react, she charged into him. Cherish gutted the monk, with a thrust to the body. He followed the first. She dispatched the third and fourth the same way. Cherish ran, skipped, and jumped, behind the line, dodging laser beams in an almost surreal feat of acrobatics.
Theo watched as four other monks pushed those with laser handguns out of the way. They charged at her with their gleaming infintium blades. Cherish, dodging another laser beam, slid back out of the path of the line, into its right flank. She struck the first monk before he could engage her, and used his body to block the second. Once she’d dispatched the second monk, she attacked numbers three and four by stacking them in line. They were unable to outmaneuver her, as she slashed one down with a cut to his femoral artery. The fourth one lunged at her, but she dodged his blade with ease. Cherish came up inside his guard, and plunge the point of her left blade through his throat.
A fifth Yasta monk tried to engage her, but she refused to let him. Cherish ran in a circle around him, which forced the monk to pursue her. The moment he hesitated, she turned and charged. It took one pass to send his lifeless form to the floor.
While Cherish took apart every Yasta monk that came at her, Makram was busy with his own engagement. The second the fight began, he decided the lasers would be of no use at this close range. Too many combatants. That turned out to be a good assessment on his part. Instead, he pulled out the infintium short sword from under his robes, and attacked the nearest Yasta monk. Sparks flew across the floor as the metal blades engaged. Theo could feel the heat and smell the burning of the metal.
By now, Theo had his lasana blade out. Cierra placed one hand on his shoulder to hold him in place. “Makram and Cherish can handle themselves. They’ll let us know if they need any help.” He looked down to see the impact gun in her right hand. Slowly, he lowered his weapon.
Theo turned back to see Makram wrap his cloak around the monk he was fighting. He pulled his sword down. With his other hand, he struck the man’s neck. The monk went down with his head almost completely severed.
Theo watched Cherish finish off a group of six monks. Watching her fight was surreal. They tried to surround her, while one aimed a laser in her direction. She jumped out of the way, and chopped the laser from man’s hand. The monk shrieked, as she dispatched him to the next world with a thrust from her other sword hand. Now with an opening, she leaped out of the circle of death to run behind the monks who’d tried to surround her. She ran rings around them on the bloody floor. Her sword hands jabbed, and slashed, at the same time. The final monk tried to dodge her, but it was futile. She struck out with her left sword hand. He, too, went down on top of the growing pile of bodies.
“Those vents!” Cierra yelled and pointed to where the faint surface light entered the room. “Cut an opening over there!”
Theo looked at Cierra for a few seconds, and then it clicked. The lasana blade would slice through any material. With Cierra covering his back with her impact gun, he ran to the low section of the room. In one quick move, he took his lasana out, and chopped at one of the ports. In a few moments, he had a diamond shaped opening to the surface. More light streamed into the room. Theo looked down, now that he could see much more easily. Even though he hadn’t killed anyone directly, his robes were stained blood red from the slain.
“Behind you!” Cierra yelled just in time for him to spin around, and see a Yasta fire a laser at him. The beam hit his lasana blade. It was absorbed into the metal. Before the monk could fire again, Makram came up behind him, and ran him clean through. The laser gun fell one way, and the Yasta another. Theo watched Makram retract his blade.
“We need a bigger opening!” Cierra yelled at Theo to get his attention.
He jumped, and resumed cutting at the diamond shape in the ceiling. The blade didn’t have any issue with peeling off sections of rock and concrete, but it still took a little effort to get it done. Chunks of masonry fell down to the floor, as Theo smelled burning mortar from the joints between the stone. At least twice, he had to step out of the way, as blocks fell out of the opening.
Cierra heard a sound to her right, and whirled around to face two more Yasta monks as they charged at her. She dropped to one knee, and shot the first one in the face. The second had his infintium blade out. He tried to leap out of the path of her next series of bullets, but wasn’t quick enough. He went down with his chest pelleted with gunfire. Once more, the room was filled with the echoes of the impact gun’s retorts. The smell of gun powder from the shells mixed with the coppery smell of blood.
The room was quiet now. Theo was finished with his work on the roof above him. There was enough of an opening to allow them to leave. As he looked back, he saw only carnage, and his teammates standing triumphant. A few Yasta still moved on the floor, but they would bleed out in minutes. Cherish began searching through the bodies. Theo couldn’t figure out what she wanted, until he noticed her pick two infintium blades off the ground.
“These might come in handy later.” She walked over to him. Her hand blades retracting back into her arms, Cherish carried each sword by the hilt in either hand.
“Found it!” Makram held up the data sphere they’d come to get. It was under a pile of bodies, around the lifeless form of the Abbot. Makram walked over to Cherish and showed her the sphere. “Is this the right serial number?”
Cherish stared at it for a few seconds. “That’s the one. It has the seal on it too. You can’t fake those.”
Makram surveyed the scene. “I guess they didn’t have their best men down here.”
Cherish walked over to one body, and kicked away its robes. Her bloody boot exposed an armor plate over the former Yasta monk’s chest. “Body armor. Appears it held up to your infintium blades, too, Makram. Check out those nicks in his armor. I’d have thought that infintium sword would go through it. I’d like to take this plate along to find out what it’s made of, but we’re running out of time. It would be strange if the Yasta were using some kind of Relissarium alloy on their troops.”
Though Theo burned with hatred for the Yasta, even he was repulsed by the visceral scene of carnage all around him, the air was thick. He was finding it hard to breathe. “Not a single one of them used a blaster. I thought the Yasta were skilled with those things.”
Cherish shook her head. “Not in this room. Too close quarters. It would’ve burnt everyone in the room to ash.”
Makram quickly took control of the mission again. “Let’s get out of here and make for the lift. Cherish, you don’t need a rope, so go first.”
Cherish walked below the opening Theo had made. She squatted down, and launched herself upward. She soared through the opening with ease. A second later, they heard her voice. “Someone, grab my hand. I can pull you up.”
“You’re first.” Makram pointed at Theo.
Theo walked over to Cherish, and clasped her hand. She hauled him onto the surface in one, clean movement. He stood up after she drop
ped him on the ground. In another minute, she had both Makram and Cierra on the topside, too. They were in a large field, that was surrounded on all sides by the high wall that protected the grounds. The ziggurat was behind them.
“Any idea where we are?” Cierra looked around, blinking in the blinding light.
Cherish looked up, and concentrated. “Give me a second. Now that we’re above ground, we don’t have to worry about the interference. We’re on the southern tip of the monastery grounds. That building fifty yards away is the inner gatehouse. On the other side of it is the outer gate. Take it, and we’ll be on the other side of the walls, and out of here. Should be a short hike through the forest to the lift.”
“What’s the status on Hubard and the others?” The splattered blood on Makram’s robes was drying and turning brown.
“I can reach him. Just a second.” Cherish closed her eyes. They popped open a few seconds later. “He says that they’re ready to leave the moment we arrive. They’ve noticed a lot of activity on the transmission channels to and from the monastery. It started a few minutes ago. Right when we walked into the trap downstairs. He’s glad we’re alive. They were about to take off without us.”
“I suppose we should be grateful they didn’t abandon us.” Makram muttered, and looked at his robes in disgust. He was about to say something else, when a row of Yasta monks filed out from doors on the sides of the monastery. They formed a line between them and the gatehouse, attached to the wall.
“I count thirty.” Cherish whispered to Makram. “You agree?” She stood off to one side, and eyed the left flank of the hostiles.
“Seems right to me. You want that flank? I’ll take the other one.” Makram readied his blade again.
Theo observed the monks move into formation with their swords held high. He couldn’t understand why they didn’t use any kind of range weapon. They weren’t in a confined area this time. Any one of the monks could have wiped them all out with an automatic impact gun, or high-powered laser. Even one blaster would do the job. Yet, the monks were moving slowly towards them with short swords. They carried small, round shields. After seeing what had happened below, all Theo could see was a slow-moving suicide squad. They wouldn’t have a chance.
“It’s the final stand. Guess they know what happened down below. Also explains why no guns.” Cierra slid her infintium blade out. She brought it into a low guard.
“What are you talking about?” Theo tried hard to concentrate on the wall of robes in front of him. They moved slowly and deliberately. It was at this point that Theo noted the monks had moved the center of their line back a few paces.
Cherish noticed what was happening, too. “They’ve got the novices in the middle. Why don’t you move a bit more over to your side?” Makram slid a bit to the left.
“What about us?” Cierra shifted her weight from foot to foot.
“You stay in the center, and keep Theo alive. We’re about to get real busy.” Makram twirled his blade, and held it ready.
Cierra moved closer to Theo. “These are all the monks that remain. Guess they don’t have a lot of them in this place. They’re fielding everyone against us. They won’t yield. It’s to the death.”
“What’s the plan?” Theo asked her, as the faces of the Yasta became visible to him. The monks in the center were younger than he was.
Cierra quickly spouted off some advice. “They’ll try to outflank us. We’ll have to move a lot if we want to stay alive. The important thing is to not be surrounded. Good thing is, we have your lasana sword to fall behind. I’ll keep them off as best I can. I’ll guide you into the best engagements.” Cierra looked in the distance. She saw Cherish bolt to one side, and bound around one end of the line. “It’s about to begin. Just listen to me.”
The line broke apart in front of him, as both sections of it turned. The monks ran to the sides. For a brief few seconds, Theo thought the two sections would join again in the middle to smash them like a surging wave. In his peripheral vision, he noticed Makram run around the tip of one line. He chopped into the neck of the monk on the far end. Theo couldn’t understand why he’d done this until it hit him: this monk was one of the ones who barked orders a minute ago. Makram wanted to take out the commander first.
“Run back and to the right!” Cierra shouted at him, drawing him back to the present. Theo ran backwards in the direction of her voice. He followed the sound of it, as Cierra ran.
Seconds later, two of the novice monks broke rank. They ran at them. Both came in at full speed, with their swords high over their heads. Cierra let them approach within a range of three paces, and then ran past the one in front of Theo. She struck out with her infintium blade, and eviscerated her target. Guts spilled and splattered on the ground like wet sausages.
The other one hesitated long enough for Theo to strike with his lasana blade. The sword sliced through him effortlessly, from top to bottom. Theo jumped back, as the novice peeled apart, and slid down to the soil. He was frozen for a moment, looking at the damage he had done.
“Damn! I wondered what that thing would do to a human target.” Cierra murmured in awe, but they were in battle, and it was not the time to appreciate such things. “Come on. Let’s get over to the right. Cherish needs our help.”
Cherish tried to avoid being surrounded by ten Yasta monks. She’d already sliced up another eight or more, but the Yasta monks still had one seasoned commander left. He knew her weakness was in a complete encirclement. She jumped back, almost struck down by a blade from behind. Cherish launched herself forward, but the rest of the monks had formed the circle. She faced a noose of infintium blades that continued to tighten around her. She lifted her chin high. If she had to go out by a Yasta blade, she would do it with dignity.
“Hey!” Cierra shouted at the nearest monk, who turned around in time to see her blade swipe downward. It connected with his neck. She attacked the one to his left, and then went to work opening up the encirclement.
Now, Theo knew what he needed to do. He struck down a monk to the right, and caught him off guard. The lasana blade seared right through him in one stroke. The next one raised his blade. He tried to engage Theo, but his lasana broke the man’s sword in half. The power from Theo’s swing continued on to cleave through the monk’s skull. A third monk charged, his sword raised in the air. Theo split this blade in half, too, with a swing to the left. Deftly changing direction, he did the same to the man who had wielded it. Both halves of the enemy hit the dirt with a sound like a dropped sack of potatoes.
Theo felt himself beyond the constraints of humanity. He tore apart one monk after another, each with one sweep of the sword. Blood flew as they fell around him, as trees did back on his home world during harvest time. Theo’s entire person was becoming coated with the red fluid that had, seconds earlier, pumped life through the veins of others, but he was oblivious. “This is for Mari! And for my children! And this is for Relisse! Die, scumbags! Die!” He continued to wield the sword in a haze of blind rage.
Suddenly, there were no more monks to kill. Theo stopped and turned around. In the distance, stood the figures of Cherish, Cierra and Makram. None of them said a word. Theo lowered the dripping blade, and stared back at the trio.
Theo suddenly saw himself from the outside, as a devil incarnate, covered in blood and gore. His jaw was still set as he burned within. His chest heaved with every thundering pulse of his heart.
“You can stop now, Theo,” Cierra told him, quietly. She never took her eyes off him. “They’re all dead.”
Theo placed the sword on the ground, and sat down on the cool soil. He looked up at the sky, as the setting star turned it red. Blood red.
Gradually, Theo’s rage subsided. A new peace began to dawn within him. It was something that he had never felt before. Not since Mari and the rest of his family had perished on Relisse. Theo wondered if he was, in fact, a new species of human. There were legends from before humanity moved to the stars about a race of immortal beings who ga
ve life to humanity from clay with blood. He’d encountered those tales years ago, but they didn’t have much to do with his previous life as a farmer. Now, it all had a meaning, that stirred within him.
“I don’t think he’ll move until we get back.” Cherish’s voice was distant. “Give me a few minutes to check the main compound for any survivors. From the way they launched that final attack, I think they threw all they had at us.” Theo heard her move away, but he was too drained to look.
Makram whispered an order to Cierra. “I’ll check the gatehouse and ramparts. You take a walk around the fields and inner building. Yell if you see anything. We should meet back here in five minutes.”
Later, still sitting on the battlefield, Theo felt the presence of someone else near him. His first thought was to grab the lasana sword, until he heard Cierra’s breathing. Theo, who sat cross-legged on the ground, returned to his deep meditative state. He didn’t move. All he wanted to do was stare at the pattern of dried blood on the ground. It was amazing how the blood changed color so quickly. The same thing happened to slaughtered cattle. Perhaps humans and cattle weren’t that different after all...
“Theo,” he heard Cierra speak to him. “There are no more monks in this monastery. We’ve checked everywhere. We have to leave, and return to the base. Hubard was in touch with us. He had a quick look through a special link to the data sphere. He’s excited about what’s inside it. We have to leave in three minutes. All hell’s broken loose on the local military channels. There are several militia units on their way in our direction. Theo, we have to leave. Do you understand me?”
Theo blinked his eyes, and looked up at Cierra. She was very beautiful. Why hadn’t he ever noticed her before? Of course, once he committed to Mari, other women didn’t even enter to his mind. Not really. Plus, she was his brother’s wife. Except for the fact that he didn’t have a brother anymore. “I’m fine, Cierra.” Theo stood, and picked up his sword. He tossed off the Yasta robes. “How many of them did I kill?”
The Relissarium Wars Omnibus Page 13