Nemesis

by Christian Kallias

  Loki would not let his world and people suffer the same consequence as Olympus. An entire civilization gone in the blink of an eye. That’s the price one paid when they tackled forces they didn’t understand. Some people would have called Loki’s stance on the subject cowardice, but he preferred to think of it as self-preservation.

  And he had history on his side. For centuries, Asgard remained neutral and made sure not to involve themselves in the larger conflicts, like the Star Alliance and Obsidian Empire feud and many others that followed the first Fury War over ten thousand years ago. Asgard had been safe, and it had flourished.

  Midgard, known as Earth to the humans, was once an Asgardian colony; however, Asgard severed ties due to the human’s unpredictability. They were waging wars between themselves and, eventually, were deemed unworthy of Asgardian membership.

  That’s why Loki felt he needed to work in the shadows; to make sure his people didn’t attract the wrath of the next war and be the next casualty to rob an old race from this plane of existence. A battle Loki was certain would come, and one that would make both Fury Wars look like child’s play.

  When the doors of his quarters split open and footsteps resonated, Loki quickly swiped the holo-terminal to the side. He could identify his father just by the sound of Odin’s royal boots echoing on the green marble floor. That, and he was usually the only one who entered his quarters without ringing first.

  “I thought we had agreed you’d make an effort in giving me some privacy,” said Loki.

  Odin stopped a few meters away from Loki, who smiled and swiveled on his intricately decorated chair.

  “Right,” said Odin. “Old habits die hard I guess.”

  “That’s what you say every time.”

  Odin smirked. “I guess I’m getting old. It’s not like you have anything to hide from your father, is there?”

  As a matter of fact…

  “No, of course not, Father, but what if I had been engaged in a romantic or physical activity with a date?”

  “I haven’t seen you engage in those kinds of activities in years.”

  “Perhaps because I fear my privacy being invaded, or maybe I’m just discreet enough that you don’t know about it.”

  Odin nodded. “Fair enough. You should reprogram your quarter’s door not to automatically let me enter.”

  Hearing this from his father was a surprise. As far as Loki was concerned, the reason why Odin didn’t announce himself was that he didn’t trust his younger son. Loki was, after all, the God of Mischief, and he made a lot of questionable decisions over the eons, some of which had put Asgard in trouble. Something he was now determined to avoid for his world.

  Odin either was growing tired of keeping an eye on his son, or he was just plain getting old and senile. Something Loki had a really hard time picturing.

  “And you’d be okay with that?” Loki asked.

  “You’ve been acting admirably for more years than I dare count. When the Furies came to Asgard, you answered the call and fought by your brother’s side, just as I hoped you would. I think it’s time to let bygones be bygones.”

  Loki forced a smile. “Thank you, Father. That means a lot to me.”

  Of course, Loki didn’t see his past actions as something that needed to be forgiven in the first place. He acted in Asgard’s best interests, or at the very least, what he thought was his world’s best interests. Occasionally, that intersected with his self-pursuits and trouble ensued. But wasn’t that the case with every lifeform? The needs of the self outweighing the needs of the many. Sometimes a person needs to feel alive, even if the resulting decisions affect more than one individual.

  “Was there anything else?” added Loki.

  “Tomorrow, your brother and I will catch an early breakfast and discuss orbital defense protocols. I thought you might be interested in joining us.”

  It had been a long time since Loki had been included in informal meetings, let alone the formal ones, but he appreciated the gesture. Maybe he would finally feel like a member of this family.

  Loki nodded. “I’ll be there.”

  Odin smiled. “Good night, Son.”

  “Night, Father.”

  As Odin left Loki’s quarters, the God of Mischief felt a strange sensation: an inner warmth he didn’t think he would feel again. Was it a son’s love for his father? Loki wondered.

  Nyx removed her arm from the now burned-to-a-crisp arachnoid chest. He had served as an excellent, if rather smelly, shield during the first portion of the fight. Arachnoid burned flesh was not pleasant to a Fury’s enhanced sense of smell.

  When the other two arachnoids resumed firing upon her position, she grabbed the burnt carcass by one of his arms and spun it like a giant hammer. Nyx spun so fast that large quantities of sand scattered around her, like a twister, effectively deflecting all incoming fire.

  Eventually, she released the carcass, using it as a projectile to take out the remaining warrior. The impact was devastating, and Nyx heard the satisfying sound of multiple bones breaking as the arachnoid warrior crashed to the sandy ground. Instinctively, Nyx fired a small but powerful fireball that finished off her target.

  The remaining arachnoid lit Nyx up with plasma fire from its arm cannons. She blocked the fire by extending both her hands forward. It took an incredible deal of mental and physical energy to do so, but the result was instantaneous. The last warrior stopped firing, baffled as to why his plasma projectiles were frozen in the air. Nyx used the confusion and sent half the plasma fire back to him.

  The arachnoid jumped out of the way, and before he could get back on his feet, Nyx stood over him, an open palm aimed at his face.

  “Pity,” said the arachnoid. “I’m only following orde—”

  A column of purple energy shot from Nyx’s hand, interrupting the arachnoid’s last words and incinerating him.

  “I gave you a chance to back away, you should have taken it,” Nyx said, though the arachnoid was long dead.

  She looked around at the bodies while mentally releasing the white fireball that had served as a light beacon during the fight. It died down in the sky, and Nyx was plunged into darkness. She took a deep, calming breath when, suddenly, she heard a voice boom in her head.

  “Watch out! Behind you.”

  She turned just in time to see a large shadow collide with the ground, sending massive amounts of sand upward.

  Chase was looking down at his cheeseburger when Argos sat across from him in the pristine mess hall. The place was brand new, and they probably were the first to use it.

  “How are you doing, Chase?” Argos asked.

  “Surprisingly okay under the circumstances. I didn’t expect we’d all go together. Chris is probably the reason why I haven’t argued against it, though.”

  “He hasn’t been the most talkative kid since the end of the war, but if he feels it’s important, he’ll make himself heard.”

  “Yeah, perfect timing too, sensing that I was about to tell you all that I’d rather go to the unknown regions on my own.”

  “You’ve been alone this entire year, and on a certain level, you had already isolated yourself in the past, taking the weight of the war on your shoulders. It’s time to forgive yourself for the casualties. You can’t save everyone, Chase; nobody can. War is never easy, and as much as I understand where you’re coming from, you can’t control the outcome.”

  “Easier said than done, but I appreciate you’re saying so.”

  “Now, if you’re feeling relatively okay, why is your burger still sitting there getting cold?”

  Chase smiled.

  “I know it’s not been easy for you either, and…well, I wanted to say that I’ve missed you—all of you.”

  “Nice way of deflecting the question. We’ve missed you too. It’s really good to see you, brother.”

  Chase realized he wasn’t really paying attention; this was mostly a one-way discussion. He needed to get some things off his chest.

  “I
need to save her, Argos.”

  Argos looked straight into Chase’s eyes for a moment, probably realizing they weren’t having a real back-and-forth discussion.

  “I know. We will, one way or another. Chris won’t have it any other way, and I think he’s more stubborn than you if that’s even possible.”

  Chase chuckled. “He’s taken to you, I can tell.”

  Chase could tell this last remark had touched a chord.

  “He’s been looking for a father figure, Chase—and, well, not to take his side but…you weren’t there.”

  “I wish things had gone differently, you know?”

  “Don’t we all, brother? But that’s what makes life interesting; not knowing what’s going to happen next. At least, I think it is. Take us for example, if we had done things differently, we probably wouldn’t be on the same side. I think one of us would have killed the other a long time ago.”

  Chase reflected on his brother’s words for a moment. Argos joining him had been an unexpected blessing. And while Chase would give anything to have Sarah in his arms right now, deep down he knew that he had done everything he could to protect his family. He gave everything to the Fury War, his heart, his soul, and at the end of the day, the war swallowed his sanity and spat out a shell of a man.

  “I miss my old life, well…sometimes I do, when all I had to worry about was flying a Manticore fighter and blasting Obsidians out of the sky. Things were easy back then. I just had to show up; do my work, wash, rinse, and repeat.”

  “And you were good at it, too.”

  Chase flinched. “What do you mean? How would you know that?”

  “I was observing you from your time at the academy. I may have wanted to kill you back then, but there was always a need for me to know where you were and what you were doing.”

  “Were you now? That’s not something I would have expected.”

  Chase had no idea that Argos had taken an interest in his life back then. But then again, Argos had erased Chase’s memories in the first place and turned him into an adult without a past.

  “Yes. I don’t think it was a conscious thing, really. Back then I hated you more than life itself, I wanted you to suffer. It’s something I—I’m quite ashamed of... I hope you know that.”

  “There’s a reason the humans say the past should stay buried, but you know, in the middle of the sleepless nights this past year, I’ve asked myself many questions, including why you and I had that fallout that resulted in me losing my memories.”

  Argos squared himself in his chair. “And?”

  “One day we need to have that talk.”

  “I suppose we do, but it’s probably best we put a pin in it for now. Keep our respective focus on our mission.”

  Argos was dead right, now wasn’t the time to bring dark and potentially painful revelations to light. Chase had enough trouble dealing with his current fears as is, the last thing he needed was to add more fuel to the fire.

  “Couldn’t agree more.”

  “What do you think we’ll find in the unknown regions?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine.”

  “Perhaps we’ll find more information about the Atlantians. I miss my soul ship.”

  “As I do mine. But the soul ships’ purpose was to defeat the Furies, so I doubt we’ll find more.”

  “I’m sure the Atlantians must have left some cool gadget behind one way or another.”

  “Wouldn’t that be something? And who knows, perhaps we’ll find something even better...”

  Chase let the words hang, and his face changed.

  “What is it?” asked Argos.

  “I’ve had this strange feeling lately.”

  “Uh-oh.”

  “What? I haven’t said what the feeling is about…yet.”

  “When you get those sorts of feelings, things tend to get complicated, ugly, dangerous, or all of the above at once.”

  “Fair enough. I’d better not say then.”

  “Too late now, brother, spit it out.”

  “It’s not easy to put into words, but I feel a darkness rising.”

  “The Spectres?”

  “I don’t know. But if I had to guess…yeah. We’ve killed one of them, and that felt like a titanic task. Tanak’Vor himself said his kind would seek revenge. So, whatever we find in the unknown regions, my gut tells me we should also be on the lookout for more allies. The Earth Alliance has come a long way since we created it to defeat—” Chase paused. “Well…technically, you at the beginning of all of this.”

  “I thought we’d agreed not to focus on the past right now,” said Argos playfully.

  Chase smiled, but it faded away quickly. “It’s still a new and fragile coalition. One I’m not sure is ready to face an enemy as powerful as the Spectres.”

  “I can tell you that Emperor Altair spent a massive amount of resources making sure we get a heads-up if the Spectres ever returned. When they come back, we’ll be the first to know.”

  “That’s the problem, Argos. Knowing they’re coming doesn’t mean we’ll be ready for them. Truth be told, I’d rather that day never came. I don’t think we’ll ever be ready to fight a race as powerful as the Spectres.”

  “And yet you’ve got a feeling—” Argos grabbed Chase’s barely touched burger and took a bite.

  “Hey,” Chase protested.

  “We both know you weren’t going to eat it. Now I better understand why. So, in the spirit of not wasting food, I’ll eat it before your gloomy but hopefully not prophetic mood cuts my appetite as well.”

  “Fine. Fair enough. Enjoy.”

  Orange light engulfed Argos’ hand, warming the burger before he took a huge bite.

  “Thanks,” Argos said with his mouth full.

  9

  Nyx heard the sound of a ship flying overhead and soon a spotlight illuminated the surrounding area, revealing what had impacted in the sand moments earlier. A part of her wished she didn’t see the beast. A half humanoid, half spider cyborg, the monster was at least three times her size, perhaps more. The reflection of its red eyes off its metallic helmet glowed stronger as the beast advanced toward her.

  They really don’t want me to escape.

  She wondered why, but right now, she didn’t have the luxury of pondering Zarna’s reasons. The cybernetic creature quickly closed in on her, and she needed to deal with this threat.

  Nyx let her inner energy flow through her body; her purple aura shone around her, casting shadows in the uneven sand. Grains of sand lifted from the ground and swirled everywhere.

  The beast stopped about ten meters from her position and unleashed a horrific growl. It triggered Nyx’s fight-or-flight response and, as she always did, she chose to fight. But there was no denying the fear that crawled at the back of her mind. She had never seen such a creature and had no idea how to defeat it.

  She decided to let her instincts take over, and she quickly launched a fireball at one of the monster’s legs. Upon impact, it was deflected into the sand, splashing more sand into the air.

  Uh-oh.

  Before she knew it, she was dodging gigantic metallic legs as the creature charged her. She jumped away, barely managing to escape being trampled. She continued to unleash fireballs at both its legs and its humanoid parts, but the creature was so fast it managed to use its artificial limbs to deflect all of her attacks.

  She jumped high, hoping a greater vantage point would give her the upper hand. To her surprise, the creature jumped higher than she ever expected it to be able to. Once in the air, it used built-in thrusters in its mechanical legs to soar higher. No matter what course correction she tried, the creature quickly matched her, and she was unable to lose it.

  Eventually, the beast grew tired of the cat and mouse game and started discharging thick sputum that expanded into energy webs similar to the one Zarna had used against her. The frequency at which the creature shot the expanding nets from its mouth was worrisome, and it took Nyx’s entire focus to dodge
them.

  Going back to the lab and being probed like a rat was not an option Nyx was willing to consider. She would fight for her freedom, and without realizing it, her rage fueled her energy, and her aura turned orange. She flew at impressive speeds and arched around the creature, landing her feet into the back of the cybernetic spider.

  It fell and crashed onto the ground, skidding, leaving a large sand trail as it did. Nyx felt intoxicated by the amount of power coursing inside of her and didn’t hesitate to pursue the downed creature for the kill. It was getting back up when the Fury landed from above, using an energy-infused hand as a blade and cut through one of the beast’s legs. Electric sparks flew, and thick black oil sprayed from its cut mechanical limb. It stumbled to keep its balance on its remaining three legs, and Nyx pushed her advantage by jumping toward the beast and landing her knee into the creature’s face. The blow was so powerful it sent the monster crashing into a nearby boulder.

  Time to end this fight!

  Nyx opened fire on the cybernetic soldier with a flurry of fireballs. They exploded one after another, engulfing the creature in an orange inferno. After three-dozen attacks, Nyx stopped and the last of her fireballs detonated with such power that it illuminated the barren area for kilometers on end.

  As the resulting smoke, dust, and sand cloud settled, Nyx looked at the hovering ship nearby and caught Zarna gazing at her from the ship’s ramp. She was smiling, casting that air of confidence and arrogance that Nyx hated so much about the arachnoid. Zarna’s arm had been fitted with a cybernetic implant on which arachnoid biomass was growing.

  Nyx’s aversion for the arachnoid woman sent her near the brink of losing control, and before the Fury even realized it, she had opened fire on the transport ship with a couple of fireballs. The first one impacted with its shield, and the transport pilot dodged the second one, forcing Zarna to climb up the ramp and close it.

  Forget the ship! said a male voice in her head.

  “Who is this?” shouted Nyx. “Show yourself!”

  Behind you. Quick.