A Dark Oceans Descent: (Heridian Saga, Book 1)

by Darryl J. W. Temple

  Varican felt like a mediator at some great discussion back at the Sky-Station. 'Let's get to these propulsion machines you spoke of, Shade, I'm looking forward to a rematch with these plants.'

  *

  The propulsion units were long, roughly three feet that at one end had a stubbed nozzle and the other end a propeller. A handle sat behind the nozzle and flow pipes connected the intake to the prop. The units resembled a one-handed weapon and normally used for underwater maintenance. Shade helped the members of the squad find the units and gave them all a quick brief on how it worked.

  They each wore a breathing apparatus, and a harness strapped around their waist that would clip them onto the underwater power cable. Draethus was the exception, having enclosed armor he didn't require a breathing module. The tiny vents around his jawline separated the oxygen molecules from the water.

  Making their way down metal steps, they entered the pool of water where the power cable started its journey to the island. A Paladin reached into his backpack, pulled out an explosive device and placed it at the base of the cable.

  'That's charge number five,' he said, looking around. 'We placed the other four around the compound.'

  The nine squad members clipped themselves to the cable, and each checked their breathing apparatus worked, then launched into the water. Draethus lead from the front and gave Varican a nod as he disappeared under the surface.

  *

  Algae covered the underwater cable, slimy and slippery, and made the clips almost frictionless as the squad propelled forwards. Now and then the odd piece of weed would cause the clip to stick as it cut through and continue onto its destination.

  Draethus looked down into the murky depths. The gray water made it impossible to see anything over a few meters ahead, and he was sure they were being watched. Only his vibration sword was available, as his other hand held the propulsion unit. Looking back over his shoulder, he signaled to the paladin behind him, nodding in a downward direction. One by one, the squad drew their blades and readied themselves.

  The creatures were completely silent and moved like a bolt of lightning, slipping through the water as green spears darting from all directions. A paladin was first to go, dragged into the depths right in front of Tremon, who let out a muffled roar through his breather. The squad aggressively slashed the empty water around them, hoping to catch one of the amphibious plants as they struck.

  Draethus could see a blur below him, moving rapidly upwards. He kicked down in time and contacted the plant's head. The creature floated in front of him, its large weed like limbs trailed off from its multiple pod like body. One limb held the soldier's leg as he propelled forward. He could see rows of teeth on the mouth of the head, large enough to envelope a human size limb before it slipped away.

  Not far now, he thought to himself whilst keeping his awareness fixated on the surrounding depth.

  The creatures had stopped their darting attacks and circled the group. Draethus could swear he saw a smile on Varican's face under his apparatus.

  He would make a great SOV warrior, he thought, smiling.

  The propulsion units continued pulling them forwards as the plants snapped their jaws, the circling predators striking from different sides, baiting and switching the group's attention. With his blade facing inward, Varican out stretched his arm, offering the limb as bait, only to roll the blade over his wrist and slice it through the first plant that came close. Two, three, four more fell to his blade as the squad emulated his tactic. A trail of dead vegetative carcass floated behind them, but still the rest circled.

  It came up fast, almost fast enough to catch the squad unawares. The cable passed through a large net with just enough room for the team to slip through, and the pursuing plants kept their distance, because of the net's repelling pulse. The end of cable rose out of the water and disappeared into a structure, and as the team unclipped, they kept low on the rocky shore, looking for cover.

  'We lost one,' Tremon mumbled, disappointed he couldn't save one of his Paladins.

  Draethus placed his hand on his rival's shoulder and said, 'And we could have lost more.'

  Nodding, Tremon moved forward up to Shade's position. She was scanning the island for sentries and a way to the compound.

  'If we take the ridge line,' she said, pointing at a group of rocks along the shore. 'It will get us closer to the entrance.'

  Overhearing, Draethus and Varican moved up. 'What about those sentries at the end of the ridge?' Varican said, pointing.

  Two towers stood on the ridge line occupied by Heridian forces.

  'That will be Wrath's turn,' she replied, smiling.

  'Who is this Wrath you speak of?' Draethus asked.

  *

  'Forward!' Captain Wrath screamed as the large tank group began its high-speed run down the ridge and into the city. The massive tracked monsters roared and spat black smoke from vents attached to the rear armor as they crushed their way onto the ruined streets. The high-pitched squeal of axis echoed through the fallen concrete.

  'Formation Serpent, keep your speed at high; we need to reach the waypoint within five minutes.'

  He pulled out his small data-pad and re-read over the message he received moments earlier:

  Wrath be to the menacing, for thou heart shall cease to beat within five of the hands that claw skyward.

  S.

  He knew his task, and there wasn't much time. Racing into the city lines was suicide, but necessary for the infiltration team to achieve their goal.

  'Sir,' a voice crackled over Wrath's coms unit. 'We are approaching the way point with minimal resistance.'

  'Understood,' he replied, adjusting the microphone unit on his helmet. 'When we reach the position, hold the line, shoot anything hostile and wait further orders.'

  'Copy that, Captain,' the man replied as the coms shut off.

  The waypoint rested on the maximum range the tanks could land their shells. To Wrath's right, positioned a formation of smaller artillery tanks, used for sorties with no line-of-sight. Unlike the massive armored Arbalests, the artillery tanks were lightly armored and housed an enormous cylindrical cannon. Slowly the artillery weapon atop each tank adjusted its angle towards the heavens.

  'Fire!' commanded Wrath, before smite unleashed onto the enemy in the distance. Twelve artillery tanks launched a barrage of shell after shell, a blanket of devastation that created streaking smoke trails over the remnants of buildings and ending in an apocalyptic mushroom cloud.

  'Here they come!' yelled one of the crew.

  The Arbalest tanks supporting the artillery opened fire. Automated guns roared projectiles at the red menace, and shell casings littered the ground as they cut down the infantry that were charging their position. Pieces of Heridian soldiers sprawled to the ground as their dark blood exploded, splattering the ground with bio-metal.

  The Heridian armor support was not far behind, striding through the carnage on six legs, the giant insect like machines unleashed red lasers over the Paladin's tanks. One of the enemy machines stumbled as an Arbalest tank blasted a shell into one of its legs. The shock wave was enough to knock it to the ground before it clumsily regained its footing and returned fire. The tank's armor glowed red as the other Heridian walkers focused fire causing the ammo to explode and rip the tank apart. Losing the crew was enough for Wrath to call a retreat, as he only needed to create a distraction. He would mourn the loss later.

  'Reverse and continue fire,' Wrath ordered. 'Lieutenants, call your targets and focus fire.'

  *

  Hearing the battle raging in the city, the Heridian soldiers took their gaze off the rocky coastline just long enough for Draethus and the Paladins to slip past unnoticed.

  The complex was vast, comprising many small structures roughly four meters in height, that hummed and pulsated with energy.

  The team snaked their way towards the island's middle and planted charges on random structures as they went. Ahead was the center complex, a small white t
ower protruding from an octagonal building at its base. Large white metals doors seemed the only access, and looked heavily secured, even without the squad of six Heridians standing guard. Normally an infiltration squad would follow the tactics that got them this far, however the area around the complex was open ground with no cover.

  Keeping crouched behind one of the pulsing generator structures, Draethus surveyed the entrance; the enhanced optics in his helmet provided a close look and gave him more information on the situation.

  'It looks different,' he said in a hushed voice.

  'What does?' Tremon asked as he slid into cover being careful that his armor didn't touch the structure and alert any guards nearby.

  'When I stormed this place, back where I came from, this complex wasn't here. It was more of an abstract statue surrounded by four pillars. The area around here is unfamiliar, even the lake is new to me,' said Draethus as he backed further into cover. 'There were seventy-five of us who stumbled upon the device.'

  'So how did you not succeed in its capture, if these seventy-five warriors were the same as you?' Tremon asked. 'Did you not say during your interrogation that you were elite?' Tremon felt he was pushing his luck, however he needed to fill in the gap of information.

  'The Rids unearthed the device moments before we discovered them,' Draethus replied, knowing Tremon was looking for a violent response. He ignored the remark and continued. 'They outnumbered us severely, but we stormed the structure, which enabled some of us access to the complex. Every soldier died.'

  Shade snuck up from behind. 'I have a plan,' she said, catching her breath.

  'Of course you do, assassin,' Draethus added.

  As the three joined the rest of the squad, Tremon grabbed Draethus by the shoulder and asked, 'How did only you survive?'

  The Soldier of the Void brushed away the man's hand and said, 'We shall continue this later.'

  CHAPTER 08.

  With Loss of Conflict.

  The bullet blew the neck out of the Heridian guard at the front of the metal doors. It tried to turn towards the shots direction before falling to the ground in a heap of metal and blood stained viscera.

  The alarm claxons sounded and the towers surrounding the complex changed to an alert status. Another Heridian fell to the ground, but this time the shot didn't penetrate the armored head of the menace and it stumbled to gain its footing.

  Enemy guards stalked in the shooter's direction, trying to pin down a visual target to relay to the above towers. Shade performed her role perfectly; the Paladin squad was already halfway across the open area before any Heridians realized something had distracted them. Draethus reached the doors first, unsheathed his vibration sword, and began hacking at the remaining Heridian soldiers with all the fury he could muster. The rest of the paladins drew their blades and followed his example.

  Within minutes the guards were dead and the soldiers manning the towers lay unseen thanks to Shade's almost unnatural sniping ability.

  Draethus Inspected his long-bladed weapon, it impressed him how something that weighed so little could cut through armor like paper. The blue and silver shine and the faint vibrations it created caused the enemy blood to splash away, giving the weapon a pristine appearance. He thought back to his old weaponry, a laser rifle, a mid-sized blade and his electro enhanced sword. He had lost all during the charge for the complex, forced to lighten his equipment in order to run the gauntlet of enemy gunfire.

  'Stand back,' a Paladin said as he attached two mechanisms to each door. He flicked a few switches and a burning hot laser joined the two. It created a flare so bright the men had to look away. When the laser finished, the door's locks disabled and one door pushed forward. The two mechanisms fell away and smouldered on the ground. With weapons drawn, the warriors walked inside and into a long hallway.

  'Close it,' ordered Varican.

  The hallway was wide enough for an Arbalest tank to fit and twice as tall. Along the sides, pillars and pipes stretched from floor to ceiling, lights glowed and pulsated, showing electrical activity that fed into the circuit like pattern above. At the end of the hallway, some two hundred meters back, an impressive device stood atop a platform suspended by some kind of anti-gravity. Arcane stairs joined the floating platform to the ground whilst statues of reptilian creatures stood on either side at the base.

  So this is what it look's like, Draethus thought.

  Originally Draethus had only seen the control mechanism which now stood at the top of the stairs. The device itself was only now visible to him, encased in a cylindrical force field with large metal clawed arms at each end. Within the field two dark objects rotated erratically, blue and green runes illuminated across the surface of the dark and oily metal.

  The team advanced down the corridor and planted explosive charges along the walls, whilst keeping a lookout for enemies nearby.

  'An obvious trap, my friend,' Varican said to Draethus as they lead from the front.

  'You're right, it seems too unguarded,' Draethus replied.

  They reached the stairs with no sign of the Heridians. The team was at the edge of their nerves and knew the complex should have been far more protected. Then, as expected, the ambush occurred. Heridian forces had left a guardian to protect the displacement device. The massive creature fell from the ceiling and landed at the top of the stairs, causing the group to lose footing and fall back to the ground. The monster towered over the recovering soldiers and measured nine feet in height, large glowing red runes covered its armored insect like body.

  Draethus noted its massive armor plates on its left side to be an after addition to a normal Heridian leader that he'd seen on the field of battle. But this was different. Attached to its hands were giant serrated claws, a third claw protruded from a left upper arm, the serrated tail was long and its jaws elongated.

  It took a few steps towards the soldier with its reverse jointed legs, breaking part of the stone stairs as it did so.

  'Draethus,' it said in a deep echoing voice, full of hatred and bloodlust.

  'How do you know who I am, filthy menace?'

  Draethus, blade drawn, knew the mechanical beast he faced was more than his match. He had been lucky during the first battle to secure the device, and the feeling of his conclusion whispered in the back of his mind. Something stirred in that point of darkness within him, and he wondered why he wasn't afraid. Was he ready to die and accepted his last moments? Even if he failed here, the charges in the complex were enough to destroy the building and bury the machine. Guilt surfaced, for he knew the Paladins shared his fate.

  'I have already won this battle,' he said under his breath.

  Gazing down the hall, the creature laughed at the sight of the small devices on its walls. It raised a claw and in a show of sparks and small fires they sizzled and fried, falling to the floor.

  'Do you really think our preparation so lax, soldier?' it cackled, looking down at the human.

  'You still have not answered my question, beast,' Draethus said, his hand tightening on his blade. The Paladins behind him readied themselves for the fight.

  Howling in laughter, the beast's jaws were wide, displaying rows of murderous teeth before it said, 'This is not the first time we have fought.' It stalked forward and glared at the proud warrior encased in his dark gray armor. 'They sent me to bury you, soldier Draethus.'

  Draethus struck first, launching forward with sword in hand he slashed upward aiming for the creature's throat only to have it parried by the enormous claws. The menace struck down with full force as the soldier leapt to the side, slicing again with his blade at the base of the claw. The sound of grinding metal echoed through the long open corridor as Varican gave the command to open fire. Red and blue lasers lit up the Heridian creature, who only laughed as it continued its duel with the soldier. Dodging and parrying, Draethus was no match for the utter mass of the beast. His vibrating sword made only light gashes in its armor.

  A Soldier of the Void trained to be fast and
resilient. Even attired in a lightweight graphine composite, encased in a thin layer of laser reflecting coating, he was weak compared to the creature. Its right arm came from nowhere and backhanded Draethus, sending him sprawling down the stairs to the floor below. Both Tremon and Varican raced over to give him cover as they continued their non-effective firing. They tried to pull him back to the group's position but struggled to drag Draethus as the creature launched itself into the air, landing in the center of the Paladins. Two of the warriors died instantly, their armor crushed below its feet as their bodies exploded into multiple pieces. A third was screaming with his lower body pinned down.

  The Heridian slowly reached down, savouring the moment, and with his claw, ripped the top half of the human away. It held the upper torso in the air, letting its blood flood over its face as it howled in laughter before throwing it at Draethus. The torso skimmed past the three warriors, who froze with the horror that lay before them. Draethus regained consciousness and got to his feet, picked up his sword and through throbbing pain assessed the situation; a situation which looked bleaker by the moment.

  The Paladins circled the monster, choosing their vibrating blades over their ineffective laser weapons. Slashing and stabbing, they were a small swarm trying to take down a much larger prey, with the odd Paladin becoming the focus of attacks and succumbing to death. Blood painted the corridor as one by one the team grew smaller.

  'We have to destroy the device!' yelled Draethus as he turned and ran towards the stairs.

  'I'll stay and fight,' Varican replied. 'My Paladins are my blood.'

  'Tremon with me,' Draethus yelled, hoping the man would set aside his anger for the greater good, at least for the battle.