Draethus lifted his sword above his head and with all his force struck down at the device, aiming to shatter the re-enforced glass. His sword deflected as an electrical current arced away, revealing a dark, lit force-field protecting the core. Continuously both Draethus and Tremon slashed and hacked at the device, only to find they had no effect.
'There must be a better way,' Tremon said as he tried to catch his breath.
'We are out of explosives and out of options.' Draethus had never been one for giving up. As a young recruit, before he became a full-fledged soldier, he endured harsh trials in the feral jungles of Echelon. Fighting man, beast and gigantic monster, he always prevailed. When it looked as if he was going to fail, something surfaced from the depths of his being and conquered everything that stood in his way.
'Creator knows I could use some explosives right now,' roared the soldier stabbing again against the force-field.
The Paladin team was dying, the device was too well protected beyond the destructive means of their weapons and there was nothing they could do. It went beyond his gut feeling and betrayed the honor he felt in his heart, but Draethus knew what they must do.
'Fall back!' the soldier yelled as he raced down the stairs. 'We do not possess the weapons to destroy the device and to die here would serve no purpose!'
As if experiencing surprise, the Heridian creature arced up and bellowed out a screech so evil, so horrific it made the skin of the warriors crawl. Howling with laughter, it stormed towards Draethus with its long fangs covered in Paladin blood. Its mechanized joints whirred and spun, and its runes pulsed.
Draethus jumped back as darkness flashed in front of him. Smoke filled the fighting area of the corridor as visibility vanished. He activated his helmet optics and saw the female figure of Shade, helping Tremon move down the long passage followed by one other Paladin. He grabbed Varican and broke into a run and followed, dishonor filled his chest and he experienced the mental pain of failure for the first time.
'Draethus!' the creature screamed.
The Heridian leader slashed out in a crazed frenzy, looking for its nemesis, hoping to catch a lucky strike that would satisfy its bloodlust.
A guttural growl escaped the creature's jaws as its warning echoed violently down the corridor as it said, 'We will finish this battle, coward.'
*
In his lab, on the Sky-Station, Spectalin moved his instruments over the containment cell and positioned them so he could inspect the prisoner more closely. Restrained to the horizontal metal slab, the Heridian could only watch as small optical devices and surgical tools began cutting into it, learning the hidden anatomy beneath the unusual metal plating.
'I heard Captain Wrath brought back a specimen of interest,' said the Great Senechal Praefectus, walking up behind the scientist.
'Yes, my lord and a magnificent specimen at that,' Spect replied, looking up surprised. 'This is one of the commanding Rids, the soldiers that seem intelligent and covered in those glowing runes.'
'Ah yes, the runes, have you figured out what they are yet?'
'In time, my Lord, I will have more answers soon.'
'Excellent. If we can…'
The enemy strapped to the table thrashed about violently and interrupted the Senechal, howling the same word repeatedly.
'Draethus!'
*
Flashes of red and white flickered in the dark as ships from both sides tumbled and exploded. From a far, the battle would have looked like a swarm of shining insects buzzing amongst a cloud of explosive gases. The pirates had been giving a good fight against numbers far superior to their own.
The huge Heridian destroyer rolled as the trail of smoke, now shades of black mixed with greens and purples, expelled particles. Fires erupted down its side as molten metal armor plates peeled off and ejected into its trail.
The Arvernus' engines burned brightly as they tried to match the velocity of the doomed capital ship, mimicking the rolling so it could enter the gaping hole in the side. Sliding ever so elegantly into the cavernous void that was now their entry point, the Arvernus Corvette disengaged from the chaotic battle and latched onto the stricken vessel. Harpoons shot out with a ping of magnetic discharge and connected onto a bulkhead.
Talon Commander Reaper's fighter squadron had since docked their craft and joined the Arvernus' crew in their new, on the fly, exploration mission. If they could find critical information about the Heridians, their bases, flight paths and weakness' then the war could be that little step closer to finishing. Finding out what Stark was doing in there would be a bonus.
'Breathers on, watch the corners and stay together,' ordered Xain to his squad.
Raeson was no stranger to boarding actions. During the war he had captured and boarded many ships, from your average trader running goods to other pirate factions and even local military. The outcome was always the same; he took what he wanted for the survival of his brethren. If the original owner of the vessel was co-operative, they normally lived. To ensure the cycle of goods and supplies was frequent, however, the aggressors handed back vessels to their original owners for the opportunity of capture again.
The outer lasers finished cutting through the destroyer's bulkhead, joining the Arvernus' airlock to the capital ship, and with a loud blast and hiss of explosive dust the bulkhead blew inward. The boarding team rushed forward and set up near the entrance. Raeson, Tek and Nash, all with assault rifles in hand, hurried down the destroyer's corridor in the bow's direction. The airlock closed behind and locked, guarded by two crew members on the inside.
'We head to the bridge,' Raeson commanded as he scouted round a corridor junction and waved his team through.
'You know Commander, I'm not really cut out for this soldier dirt,' Tek said as he slapped his own rifle on the way past. 'Don't mind the guns though.' Dirt was a negative term used by space dwellers to describe those that live on a planet. Boring, unadventurous and stable.
'I'm picking up movement!' Nash yelled.
Heridian drones zoomed in from the dark corridor ahead and began firing small lasers at Raeson's' team. Like daemonic wasps they kept their distance, wings unmoving, fangs clicking and red glowing runes pulsated down their bodies. The three pirates dove in opposite directions and took cover behind scrap metal that had peeled off the walls. Nash fired a burst from her rifle. Half the face of a drone melted as it plunged headfirst into the grated floor below. It exploded like a firework into small chunks of metal and sinew.
'Shot girly,' Tek yelled across, met only with a look of disgust from the woman.
Two more drones exploded as Raeson destroyed the others. Leaping over the scrap he swiftly secured the dead by kicking the biomass across the floor creating blood spatters, like an artist with an abstract painting.
'Nice work boss,' Nash said, walking up behind. 'Where are you, old man?'
Stumbling forward, Tek used his rifle like a crutch. Blood trickled down the side of his face as he said, 'One of those bastards got lucky.'
'Move out of the way faster next time,' Raeson said. 'Let's get going, this vessel won't be whole for much longer.'
Raeson never knew if his words had reached the old man. The grinding of steel drowned out his voice and a quaking death erupted beneath their feet. When he refocussed his eyes, a fresh fear gripped Raeson. A bottomless pit of darkness replaced the corridor, still within the confines of the destroyer but far from sight.
Tek had fallen.
Nash stood staring. Shock crept up her spine as the reality of what happened dawned on her.
'He's gone,' she whispered.
'There's nothing we can do for him, he's dead,' Raeson said as he grabbed her shoulder and forced her to come along.
'I hate the man, so why am I upset?' she said under her breath. 'Harden the fuck up.'
Raeson looked over his shoulder but said nothing.
*
Stark stared in amazement at the behemoth of pillars that stood before him. Never had he seen suc
h a sight, let alone a monument within a space faring vessel. On the destroyer, in the hall from which he stood, metallic sculptures depicting battles of the Heridian forces fought creatures Stark didn't recognize. As he moved forward, the shadows danced on the walls, making the sculptures almost come alive in frightful motion. The statue at the end of the hall was the most terrifying of all, a monster of a Heridian, standing at attention like a military soldier.
'That's at least fifty meters tall,' he said under his breath.
A giant spear like weapon in one hand and the skeleton of an unknown creature slung over its shoulder, it stood staring downward.
'That thing better not move…'
The doors at the monster's base slid open as Stark approached cautiously, flicking his gaze between the statue and what was ahead. Weapon drawn, he proceeded towards his objective.
*
'This damn Rid, piece of crap ship!!' Raeson swore. 'Who would build such a maze?'
Time was against the pair, and the corridors were leading them around in circles.
'We passed this turn already,' Nash said, frustrated. It wasn't the endless sections of wall which bothered her, but the people hurt so far in the conflict. 'This isn't how I imagined my life to be, you know, Boss,' she said as she ran her hand along one of the smooth metal walls of the corridor.
'Is that right, and what exactly did you think Pirates did?' Raeson was beyond caring.
'If you lived on some backwater planet, you would want excitement too. I mean sure my father used to tell me stories of people trying to attack him during his trade runs but I wanted to see for myself.' Nash was daydreaming as she remembered. 'He always painted himself as the gallant space trader dodging pirates and making his fortune.'
'So why did you become a pirate then, isn't that what your father hated?' Raeson asked.
Nash's' expression darkened. 'You know damn well why.'
'Look out!' Raeson dived at her, throwing them both to the ground. Lasers burnt and ricochet off the walls around them as they scrambled in the opposite direction. The sound of footsteps grew closer; the Heridian sentinels left to guard the ship had found them.
'Faster!' he yelled as they kept low, sprinting blindly down the hallway. 'Stick together'.
The sentinels were closing in and looking back, Raeson could see their silhouette. Unlike other Heridians, they were extremely tall, thin, yet agile. Each carried a weapon attached to their arms that spun as it fired its laser.
Light ahead of them reflected off the sentinel armor, displaying the dark red tinge Raeson recognised. As they scrambled, they found themselves in a massive open chamber covered in statues of battles, long since passed.
'This way,' yelled Nash as she headed to the large doors at the base of the large Heridian statue at the other end of the great hall. Weapon's fire bounced and lit up the air around them as they dodged, choosing to flee and not retaliate. As powerful as the assault rifles were, they could not penetrate the sentinel's armor. The doors automatically slid open as the pair ran through, the last of the laser fire falling short and out of range. The sentinels slowed as the massive doors closed. Their efforts to protect the ship and purge the biological virus had failed.
Walking cautiously, Raeson and Nash, weapons at the ready, crept silently over the narrow suspended walkway that connected the entrance to what looked to be a control center. Holograms floated and rotated around computer consoles covered in strange symbols as a blue glow lit the railing.
'Check your corners,' ordered Raeson as they secured the room.
'Something's missing from the center of this machine,' Nash said, prodding the floating glyphs. Her finger reacted to the haptic feedback as if she'd received an electric shock. At the machine's center sat a claw, larger than a man's head, reaching vertically to the ceiling with illuminated wires hanging ripped from its fingers.
'Central core maybe?' she asked.
'Not our problem right now,' Raeson replied. 'Grab whatever information you can. This ship is far too big to find one person.'
Shock crossed Nash's face as she said, 'We're giving up? Tek lost his life so we could get here and you want to bail out?'
'That was not a suggestion soldier. Put your damn memory adapter into that console and don't make me repeat myself.' Raeson was angry. One man down, another with his own agenda stuck on an enemy ship, and it was a long way back to the Arvernus.
'Hell fell from the sky and I never wished for our extinction more,' Nash whispered.
'I told you…' Raeson said and stopped when he saw Nash's' reaction.
Frantically waving him over, Nash's focus transfixed on writing, repeating itself on a display screen. Raeson could see the sentence, in their own language, as if placed there specifically for them.
'This ship creeps me out,' were her last words before the room faded into darkness. Her limbs felt the pull of intense gravity as her body slumped to the floor. The last thing she saw was Raeson lying next to her, covered in a strange thin steel filament.
*
'Wake up,' droned a deep monstrous voice, the sound of nightmare and terror.
Raeson and Nash shot to consciousness. Struggling and thrashing, they tried to fight off whatever ailment was keeping them bound. Suspended from the ceiling of a hexagonal room by fine steel filament, wires covered them like flies in a web. Towering over the pirates sat the embodiment of fear itself. Dark crimson gears and cogs spun under jagged armor plates as the Heridian moved and studied its captured prey. Twice the size of a soldier Heridian, giant claws at arm's end and a mammoth jaw laced with fangs filled Xain's view. He could see movement in between its external ribs that acted as an armored chest plate.
'What are you supposed to be?' spat Raeson, the venomous tone of his voice hid no hatred for his captor.
'Such a bite from a tiny insect. You are a virus on my ship and the only reason you are breathing is I want to know what you did with my core.' The Heridian leaned in and Raeson could feel the fiery breath between its fangs. 'How about I pull your female friend here apart until you tell me?' The monster grinned and then added, 'I am Skylord Theradin, ancient among our race and Captain of this vessel.'
It leaned back into its enormous chair like a king settling in his throne. Illuminated wires connected the chair to the wall behind it and disappeared behind a strange extruded symbol. Raeson assumed it was Theradin's own personal mark.
*
The battle outside the doomed tumbling destroyer raged on as the Heridian forces overwhelmed the attacking pirate fleet. There was a large flash of light and another capital Heridian ship appeared, opened up its front armored claw like doors and infested the battlefield with more waves of fighters. Squadrons of pirate craft banked around on an intercept course, knowing their chances of success were low, if not zero, and clashed in a storm of confusing aerial manoeuvres. Rolling, diving, jinking and strafing, they fought for survival and most of all, revenge. Every pilot had lost someone, family, friends, lovers, associates and hatred had consumed most into a selfless rage quenched only by Heridian blood. A fighter burned, its pilot on the brink of death only to crash himself into a Heridian craft, ricocheting off and colliding with another, taking two enemies down with him. From high above Stark watched, his fighter a safe distance from the battle, powered down and silent.
Helpless or safe, I wonder? He thought, sitting quietly in the dark like a fly on the wall, watching his comrades perish in a battle that he could have been a part of.
'No matter, I need to get moving.'
Powering on only the minimalist of systems, he fired his manoeuvring thrusters towards the Vidar flagship. Slowly but patiently, he edged forward.
*
'What have you done with my core!?!' the Skylord roared as he thrust his claw out, pausing in front of Nash's face, and watched her flinch. He grinned; rows of razor-sharp teeth caught the glow of the surrounding wires, turning its mouth red as if it recently consuming the blood of a human. It leaned back again and laughed, moti
oning with a single claw. The binding filament wrapped itself around her neck and squeezed. Nash let out a gurgling cry of pain as it pulled her in opposite directions.
'We saw no core.' Raeson's voice was loud but couldn't hide his panic. How had he become so attached? He'd been the subject of so much hate and resentment growing up because of his father betraying the fleet, so he had to reciprocate. Friends, although he had few, were scarce, and it wasn't like him to care for a member of his team.
'Unlikely, Elismorus. As grand as you believe your race to be, I would never trust the word of a pirate,' the Skylord replied. 'What proof would you have of this?'
'A race and ship as sophisticated as yours would have some kind of security footage correct?' Raeson's binding became tighter, almost cutting off the circulation to his arms that secured behind his back.
'Destroyed… By your attack on my ship.' Theradin shifted in his giant throne.
The bindings around Nash's neck loosened as she gasped for air.
'Not us,' she whispered.
The dark, terrifying creature in front of her grinned as he began moving his claws as if scratching an invisible animal in his palm. The filament released further, only to snake its way around her forehead. One length of filament rose into the air and struck down into the back of her neck at the base of the skull, Nash screamed as it forced its way into her brain.
'No more!' Raeson cried out to the enjoyment of the Skylord.
'Let me show you something, girl. Let me show you what will become of all your worlds.'
She felt so sick, nauseated as the filament tendril squirmed inside her, looking for the correct part of her brain. A small buzz of electricity pulsed through the filament and the surrounding room faded. As if by magic the walls flew away into the distance, the metal floor melted into dark grays of stone, and a strange substance covered the land. Storm clouds bellowed in, bringing lightning and loud crashes of thunder. A heavy rain fell from above and lightly singed her skin as she realised it wasn't just acidic but red. She tried desperately to shake the vision.
A Dark Oceans Descent: (Heridian Saga, Book 1) Page 11