“Fifteen, maybe sixteen. We don’t know how many each of us took out, there were too many. None of us kept a count. Theo, they didn’t know about that lasana sword. You cut through every infintium blade they used. Theo, do you know where you are?” Cierra’s voice was full of quiet concern.
Theo tilted his head, confused by her question, but he answered her anyway. “I’m with you, Makram, and Cherish. We’re about to leave for the base. Do you need me to kill anyone else?”
“No, I don’t, Theo. Please put that blade away. It’s too easy to do serious damage with it.” Her eyes were full of fear and sadness as she looked at him. Theo slid the sword back in its scabbard. “You need to get yourself under control. I watched you finish off those final novice monks. It was a massacre out there. You won’t be so lucky in the future. This place had too many novices in it. The Brother Yasta monks they did have were too old to put up much resistance. Now they’ll know about the new blade.”
Theo let out a high, dissociated chuckle. “How are they going to find out? Who will they interview if everyone is dead?”
“They’ll do a complete analysis on this place, and figure it out. Come on, Theo, we have to go.”
Theo picked up a handful of dirt from the ground and looked at it. It wasn’t much different from what he remembered from his home world. Why hadn’t that occurred to him before? Everything seemed more connected now.
“Theo!” Cierra called to him from the gatehouse. “We have to leave! Cherish and Makram are already on the other side of the wall. I can’t leave you here with that lasana sword.”
Theo sighed and followed her. He was careful to step over the dead bodies on the ground. One or two still twitched. He considered using the lasana sword to end their agony, but Cierra wanted him to follow her right away. He continued to the gatehouse, and he walked with Cierra through the open gates to the forest.
The trip across the forest was uneventful. By now, Hojae had broken camp, and was at the orbital lift. As they walked, Makram made them hide a few times when attack ships soared over the trees. They bore the emblem of the regional militia.
Soon, they reached the orbital lift. It took a few minutes to enter the passenger compartment and buckle in for a quick take-off. They had a little time to wash the blood away, which was made harder by its having mostly dried into a hard, brown substance.
“Hubard says not to worry.” Makram reassured the others, before plasma jet boosted them into orbit. “They won’t try the same missile attack, because he sent their last one back home.”
Theo was quiet for most of the trip back to the hidden Carbonari training base. Once again, the orbital lift made a connection with a cargo hauler that allowed them to slip onboard. The cargo ship took them back to the unnamed planet where the Carbonari kept their base. It was a few hours before the lift could make planetfall, and discharge the team back onto the surface.
The next day, Theo rose from his bunk in the training barracks. He went out to the roster in front of the practice field. Theo expected Cierra would greet him. His practice sword was balanced on his shoulder. However, when Cierra met him, it wasn’t the greeting he had hoped for.
“There’s an emergency meeting. Hubard wants to make some kind of presentation. He found something on that data sphere we captured that he wants to share with everyone.” She didn’t quite look at him the same way, since the massacre. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
Theo followed her down a concrete walkway through some of the native red grass. In the distance, he watched a few flying mammals chase insect prey over a local swamp. The lecture hall entrance was under the symbol of the Carbonari, a pickaxe and shovel arched over a flame. It had something to do with the origins of the Brotherhood, but no one seemed to know, or care, where they first were used. Theo and Cierra walked into the lecture hall and took a seat in the back galleries. The hall was filled to capacity. Theo noted several of the senior brothers on the lower levels.
“Greetings, dear cousins!” Hubard addressed the assembly, using the term for members of the secret organization. “I summoned everyone to this meeting to allow you to see something of great importance. I found it on the data sphere that our team so recently recovered from the Yasta monastery on Turtiez,” Hubard reached down and touched a switch on the projector he was standing beside. The space over the assembly was filled with the image of Relisse. Theo tried to turn his face from it. “This is what Relisse looked like until two months ago. At that time, there was a runaway reaction on the surface, which turned it into an inferno. The reaction took place so quickly that very few people escaped. Our information about what happened is limited to the passengers from a cargo ship that we engaged to take some of our people from Carristoux back home. We do know there was a Yasta cruiser spotted leaving the vicinity of Relisse once the disaster began.”
I watched the damn thing flee the scene, Theo thought.
The image turned to that of the planetoid in the hellfire that it became. Theo felt his body shake, as he relived the horror of that day. He was one of the passengers of the cargo ship who’d watched the destruction of Relisse. Cierra, who’d lost her husband during the disaster, placed one hand on Theo’s shoulder. Part of him wanted to shrug her off, but another part of him couldn’t bear to.
Hubard continued his speech. “Because of an imperial edict, it’s been impossible to get close enough to Relisse to observe its current state. The emperor declared a no-fly zone around the planetoid. Any ship approaching it is fired upon. However, the data sphere recovered from the monastery on Turtiez has a survey of Relisse’s current state. Now, observe when I bring up some enhanced images of the surface.” A close-up of Relisse showed a shiny, black surface that struck Theo as a very familiar one. He couldn’t recall where he’d seen it before.
Cierra’s hushed whisper sounded close to his ear. “It can’t be…”
“The entire surface of Relisse was converted to high-grade Relissarium. If the report is correct, this means the process was used to turn the surface of Relisse into a source of the mineral which we captured from Carristoux. We know about its ability to absorb energy. It's very effective as a blade. Consider, if you will, what the empire can accomplish with an almost unlimited supply of this substance. Furthermore, I propose this was the whole reason for the incident, to create a massive source of Relissarium.” He let the meaning of his words sink into the assembly.
“That was pretty hideous.” Theo confided in Cierra after the lecture was over. “Hard to believe the empire would do such a thing to an entire world that never did anything disloyal.”
“People can find all matter of reasons to justify their actions, if it means they’ll maintain power. I’m sure the emperor had something to do with what happened on Relisse. I’m also sure he loses no sleep over it.”
“This is disgusting. We have to stop him, no matter what the cost.”
“It gets better," Cierra whispered to him. “Hubard didn’t talk about everything he found on that sphere. There’s something else he held back. You need to know about it.”
“What might that be?” Theo stopped walking, and looked at her with intensity.
“Remember that smuggler Garth? The one who tried to two-time us?”
“Of course, how could I forget?”
“He’s really a Brother Yasta agent named Karl.” She looked at him and let the significance of the revelation sink into Theo’s mind.
“How did he find out about it? It was all on the sphere?”
“It was buried somewhere deep inside the files. Hubard found it when he unlocked the survey data.”
Theo stopped, and looked up at the yellow light of the star they orbited. He felt the deep, burning fire of a warrior rising up within him. The shape of his new life was now coalescing. He knew what he had to do.
Strike Force Retaliation
The Relissarium Wars Space Opera Series, Book 3
One
Crash! Theo awoke. What was the sound? His fogg
y mind struggled… yes, it was a wooden door slamming into a stone wall. Theo sit straight up in bed. His heart hammered in his chest. Flickering torches cast hideous shadows around his room in the Carbonari training barracks. Dark figures were moving towards him. Sleep still fogged his mind. He tried to cry out, but a hand clamped over his mouth. The salt from unfamiliar skin stung his busted lip.
Theo was hauled out of bed. The figures formed a ring around him, leaving no means of escape. Fear pumped adrenaline through him. He tried to struggle, but two different captors held his arms tightly. Theo thrashed, trying to rip himself free, but it was no use. Was the base under attack? Where was everyone else? As far as he could tell, the hallways were empty aside from his abductors and himself.
A large door, studded with infintium, loomed ahead of them. It was a door he had never seen before. Two of the figures moved forward to pry it open. The hinges moved silently. Theo was roughly rushed through the opening, into utter blackness. No torches here. He felt the hands that had gripped him so tightly release him, and he slumped to the hard floor. Theo’s fear turned to anger, and his mind quickly formed a plan of attack as his training took over. He drew back a fist, ready to punch into the dark at crotch level, hoping he’d disable at least one attacker. But a voice in the darkness stopped him.
“Theo Jaiteoux, you have come into this organization claiming that you wish to serve our purpose. Is this still true?” The voice was stern and female. Theo had a hard time locating the source, as the sound bounced from all directions.
“What’s going on?” Theo’s eyes, barely beginning to adjust to the dark, tried in vain to see anything.
One of the figures that had just released him hissed quietly in his ear. “Just answer the question!” The familiar irritation clicked in his mind: Cierra. Shit. And some relief. What had Cierra gotten him into this time? Some kind of Carbonari hazing ritual? He hesitated before answering the disembodied voice. “Yes, that’s true.”
“The Grand Council has deemed you ready to take the second order. Do you accept?”
Fear was mixed with anticipation. “I do.” Theo pushed away a momentary flashback to his wedding.
“Very well. Step forward.” The voice echoed around the room. It made Theo feel uneasy.
Suddenly, a flame blazed to life in the center of the room, blinding Theo. It seemed to be housed in a firepit. Arched above the flame was a metal sculpture of a pickaxe and a shovel. Behind the flame, he recognized the owner of the voice. Master Francesca moved forward closer to the light. Theo had seen her at a number of lectures during his short time at the base. Her presence radiated authority.
“Theo, move it!” Cierra hissed at him again. He realized that he had been staring instead of moving forward. Swallowing, he rose to his feet and stepped closer to the flame. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw all of his captors. The rest of the Strike Force Retaliation team looked back at him.
Master Francesca pulled out a small dagger, and held out her hand expectantly. Theo slowly placed his hand, palm up, in hers. The dagger bit into his skin, and few droplets of blood formed. Master Francesca flipped his hand over, causing the blood to sputter into the fire.
“Your blood is now mixed with the flame of truth. May you always be a light in the universe, even in the darkest of times. The iron in your veins is the same as the iron that forged the pickaxe and shovel. May you always fight the injustice of the empire. The pickaxe represents the smashing of all that is cruel, while the shovel stands for the building of free communities, outside their rule. Just as carbon is a building block of life, you are now one of the building blocks of our organization.” Master Francesca released his hand.
The rest of the Strike Force Retaliation team burst into applause behind him. Theo turned, and was enveloped in hugs. He couldn’t help but smile, pain be damned. This was his new family.
Master Francesca raised one, arched eyebrow. “I hate to break up your celebration, but now that Theo has taken his second order, it is time for you to focus on the task at hand. Hubard is waiting for you all in the main lecture hall to update you.”
“We’ll head there now.” Makram immediately snapped back into his business mode. He took his role as commander very seriously. Turning on his heel, he led the team towards the lecture room.
“Here.” Cierra passed Theo a small strip of cloth. “Tie it around your hand. It’ll help keep the cut clean.”
“Thanks. Is it always like that?”
“Makram may have suggested a bit more theatricality. I think he’s still a little sore about you knocking him in the helm on the training field.” A small smile played on her lips.
“Great.” Theo rolled his eyes. That’s all he needed.
The team filed into the lecture room, where Hubard was already hard at work setting up. “There you are! Congratulations, Theo!”
“Thanks.”
Makram cleared his throat and took a seat. “What’s the situation, Hubard? You’re going to tell us about our next mission, right?”
“Right, we’ll just get started then,” he said, appearing to have completely missed Makram’s remark. Hubard straightened up, and touched a button off to the side of the podium. A holographic sphere materialized over them. The rest of the team admired it, but few realized what it represented. “You’re looking at an image of the planet Sirsette.”
Master Francesca stepped into the room from a hidden entrance, and took the podium. “There is a Yasta establishment on this planet from which we need information. This won’t be as bloody as the last infiltration, but we need someone to reach a Yasta monastery on the planet and retrieve a few things. As your group distinguished itself the last time out, you get the job. You’ll leave tomorrow at first light, and arrive the same way you did the last time, by hitching a ride on a star freighter. So far, we’ve found that this is the best way to move people around the galaxy. There is always the possibility that the empire knows about our methods, so always be on the watch for any possible entanglements.” She made Hubard spin the globe around to find a small continent in the northern sea. “You’ll notice that little island in the middle. This is where we’ll be dropping everyone. You won’t go down in a single lift, but you will ride back in a single one after the successful completion of the mission. All of you will go down in a one-way pod, as Hojae did the last time. Once you’re down, the pod will self-destruct, so make sure you have everything out of it before you start the destruction sequence. Once the process begins, it cannot be reversed.”
Makram leaned forward in his seat. His eyes studied the hologram intensely. “What are we supposed to find? Will it be small, like that data sphere we brought back last time?”
“You’ll have that information when you arrive on the surface. We can’t afford to hand it out now. There seem to be turncoats everywhere.”
“So, you are saying there’s a security leak in this base?” Theo tugged the cloth tightly around the cut on his hand. The master was silent. That would explain how they knew we were on the way last time. He didn’t say anything out loud, but it was an idea that had been gnawing at the back of his mind.
Hojae prayed no one noticed his own unease. He tried to resist shifting his posture. The last thing he wanted was to draw attention to himself. At least the money from his Yasta connection was in the right account. After the massacre on the last planet, he worried they wouldn’t be able to pay him for the information he’d provided. It wasn’t his fault they failed to act effectively.
Master Francesca quickly changed the subject back to the mission at hand. “Your main objective is to link up with the Shelter Number Fifty-Six on Sirsette. We inserted the shelter master into this location six months ago. She knows the place better than most of our people. She has a group in formation. They’ll help you. Listen to them. They understand the particularities of this planet. Some of them are natives, and they have a good feel for the place.”
“Are we going in with much ordnance?” Cherish’s metal arms gleamed un
der the sheer top she wore. In the lighting, she looked like a partially metallic goddess.
“Only what you’ll have in the pods. It’s too dangerous to drop you down there with more than you can carry. The shelter has a cache of weapons, so they’ll be able to help you if you need any more.”
Cierra chewed on her lips, thoughtfully. “How is the atmosphere? Is it the same sort we’d encounter in the other planets of the empire?”
“There is a slightly higher carbon dioxide content. You’ll see it reflected in the plant life. Overall, though, it’s not a whole lot different down there than what you’ll find on most other inhabited worlds. You’ll be able to breathe freely.”
“Any news of that traitor Karl? I have a funny feeling he’ll end up in the middle of whatever we drop into.” Cherish’s face revealed a discomfort that she couldn’t hide.
Cierra leaned in closer to Theo, and whispered in his ear. “When Cherish gets a feeling, it’s usually a good idea to listen.”
“We haven’t been able to locate him since the last mission,” Master Francesca replied. “I wouldn’t worry much about him. Not only are we trying to find him, but it turns out he has warrants sworn out on him in five systems. There are a lot of people who’d like to get their hands on Karl.” A sadistic gleam lit up Francesca’s eyes. She wanted nothing more than to get her hands on the brute. “Rest assured, we intend on getting you out fast as we can. We can’t risk stashing a lift on the surface. The planet is mostly forest, so the undergrowth is dense, and ships to the surface are not a common sight there. The people on Sirsette are mostly self-sufficient, and have little need for outside goods. Your ride in will have to return here, after your team is dispatched. We’ll send another one back for you when it’s time to pull your group out.”
The Relissarium Wars Omnibus Page 14