The Complete Atlantis Series, Books 1 - 5: Ascendant Saga

by Ellis, Brandon

  Jaxx put his palms out. “You kill your own? Why?”

  Taz took a soft, quiet step forward like a ninja sneaking up on its prey — something unusual for an Agadon. “Your first question was how and your second question was why.” Taz contorted his gray, ashen lips into a smile, taking another step forward, closing in on Jaxx.

  Jaxx straightened his shoulders and turned, facing Taz head on.

  Taz continued, “I’ll answer your last question first, if you don’t mind?” He didn’t wait for Jaxx to answer. “The why is because Gog, the poor metal scoundrel, didn’t obey my request. I asked him to leave you to me.” He took another step onward. “He chose to trick me and was attempting to kill you with his ion cannon that was embedded in his back. You heard the click, correct? Well, I shot the tar out of his cannon, and now Gog is dead because of it, and so is that cannon.

  “And the how. You see, artificial intelligence doesn’t die. And as long as Agadons have bodies, we’ll be able to jump from body to body whenever we feel like, including when death takes a body, rendering it useless. After my body died back on Callisto, I transported myself into another willing body to do my bidding. Do you understand?” He moved another foot in Jaxx’s direction.

  Jaxx kept his mouth shut, running his Chi throughout his body.

  “What are you waiting for, Jaxx?”

  A scream filled the room next to him, the one Gog had originally come from.

  Jaxx sidestepped, opening a door that led to the office. He stepped inside, catching a long and wide window out of the corner of his eye, the battle farther in the city sending thick, black smoke against a blue horizon.

  But where did the sound come from?

  Jaxx backed up toward the window, keeping Taz in his sights and looking around for a woman, any woman.

  A large meeting room table was in the middle of the office, and desks littered with papers and computers were scattered throughout.

  He looked under it.

  No one there. “Where —”

  Taz rushed and lowered his shoulders. Jaxx brought up his knee, crunching the A/I asshole in the chin. Taz’s head wrenched upward, and he lifted off his feet, flipping onto his back.

  Jaxx bent down and grabbed him, lifted Taz high, and grunting loudly, slammed the Agadon beast on the table, cracking the table in half like it was made out of balsa wood. Metal bent and cracked, and wood splintered all across the dull, thin, cheap office carpet.

  Taz unholstered his energy weapon, crawling backward. He shot wildly, missing Jaxx, blasting the ceiling. Drywall dusted Jaxx’s head and shoulders like snow falling on a Christmas day.

  Jaxx huffed and kicked the weapon out of Taz’s hand. “Leave Earth. All of you.”

  Taz’s face twisted into a smile. He laughed, moving closer to the window, crawling like a crab. “You don’t understand, Jaxx. We like resources, and Earth happens to be the planet with the most. Plus, you’re here. Imagine our luck. We need both in order to keep the pyramid network open and completely under our control. There is a lot of money to be had with control. Do you understand, Jaxx?”

  Jaxx grabbed the gun he kicked out of Taz’s hand, aiming it at Taz, his breath coming quick and heavy. “Tell your friends to leave now, or their leader will take an ion bolt between the eyes.”

  Taz slowly shook his head. “Not a chance, Jaxx. You’re the key. We need the key to keep the pyramid network open, and since you closed the rest of the galactic pyramid network while on Callisto, we need to open that back up as well. Plus, we bought you from Kajka Okbak, the poor Kelhoon leader who was sucked into the vortex with the rest of his race when you closed that network. That means we rightfully own you.”

  “Why didn’t your race get sucked up with them?” Jaxx was stalling, doing his best to find an opening and at the same time, trying to figure out where that scream came from. It definitely came from this office.

  “We did. In fact, all over the galaxy we were thrown back to the planets we originated from, except all of those who were in the process of invading this planet. Earth’s network never closed. Why is that, Jaxx?”

  Jaxx knew but shook his head, acting like a kid who knew nothing. “I don’t know.”

  “You do.” Taz flicked his head to the side, and the gun in Jaxx’s hand went flying across the room. Taz pushed his palms toward Jaxx, sending heaps of Chi Jaxx’s way.

  Jaxx swiped his hands downward, slicing the energy, dissipating it. He stepped back, feeling a fraction of Taz’s Chi smack into him. It was too little, too late.

  Jaxx jumped and spun in the air, gathering as much energy as he could. He landed, again facing Taz, and flung his arms and hands toward the Agadon.

  Taz was pushed against the window with a ferocity like none other.

  Kashish!

  The glass broke, and Taz fell over the window’s edge, disappearing from view. Jaxx rushed over and leaned forward, watching Taz bounce off the hood of a car and roll onto the concrete.

  Jaxx watched to see if he completed his job — ending the body that Taz had taken over. It didn’t matter whether Taz was dead or alive. If he’d died on the hood of the car, he would be back in another piece of shit Agadon skin sooner than later.

  Taz stirred, rubbed his back and stood. He raised his arms and stretched back to exaggerate how unhurt he was. He cracked his knuckles and glanced up at Jaxx. “Turn around, Jaxx,” he yelled, his voice carrying four stories up.

  Jaxx rolled his eyes. He wasn’t turning around for any Agadon, especially Taz. This guy was a pain in the ass and would probably send a volley of cannon fire his way if Jaxx turned his back to the blue guy. Instead, Jaxx extended his hand, giving Taz the middle finger.

  “Help,” came a woman’s voice.

  Jaxx turned in a start. At least a dozen men and women were being led into the office, each with an Agadon pointing an energy weapon at the back of their head.

  13

  Denver, Colorado

  Jaxx put his hands up, hopefully a Universal gesture of surrender and a plea to leave the people now lined up before him alone.

  The Agadon, in unison, put their hands on the prisoners’ heads and grasped their hair, forcing the men and women to their knees.

  “Let go of them,” said Jaxx, taking a step forward.

  An Agadon shook his head, pressing his gun harder against a woman’s skull. Her eyes were full of tears and her chin trembled. She was young, no more than twenty-five, and her eyes were begging Jaxx for help.

  Taz walked into the room, his arms and legs banged up, oozing blue blood, the aftermath of being thrown out a window and falling four stories down. Yet, here he was again, facing Jaxx like nothing could faze the guy. Hell, Taz was turning into a pain-in-the-ass itch that Jaxx couldn’t reach.

  Taz grinned. “You’re in a predicament, Jaxx.” Taz held a device in his hand, and a hologram shot upward. The hologram scrolled through vid after vid, all showing the same horrifying scene — from race to race, religion to religion, and all over the world, Agadon held human prisoners at gun point.

  A knot formed in Jaxx’s throat. “What do you want from me?” They could have just ended these human’s lives at any point, so why let Jaxx in on their sick display?

  “These people all have a chance to live, Jaxx,” explained Taz. “If you give yourself up to us with a promise you won’t fight us any longer, then all these people live.”

  Jaxx put his hands out, backing up toward the busted out window he launched Taz through. “Why didn’t you offer me that before?”

  Taz frowned. “We were under the illusion we could take you by force.” He sneered. “Plus, we like war. It suits us. But, keep in mind, if it wasn’t for you, Jaxx, none of these humans on Earth would have been touched. Yes, the resources here are nice, but we would never have thought twice about attacking such an un-evolved technological planet that didn’t have an intact planetary military without enough weapon power to harm us, let alone give us a fight we’d enjoy. It’s a little one sided, d
on’t you think? That’s not how we like to play.”

  Jaxx dropped his chin to his chest, his shoulder’s slumping. “You came here — to Earth — because of me and only for me?”

  “To planet Leona, Callisto, and Earth, yes. To take you as our own.”

  Wapooh!

  Blood splattered outward from a man’s forehead. The man went limp and fell face down onto the floor, his arms lax by his sides.

  A unified gasp came from the prisoners, and Jaxx lunged forward, his arms out. “No!”

  Wapooh!

  This time a woman, the same woman who looked no older than twenty-five, dropped to the floor.

  A whimper filled the room, then soft cries. They all knew they’d be dead soon.

  Jaxx jerked back, his hands up in the air, his voice shaking. “Stop. No more. You have me. Let them go.”

  “Not until we have you secured and on my ship,” said Taz. “Remember, you’ve caused all of this death, all of this pain. You are the reason for human’s struggles against us.” Taz nodded at another soldier.

  Wapooh!

  An older man’s head whipped forward, blood littering the office floor. The man crumpled to the side, lifeless.

  Jaxx took another step back. “I said no more.”

  Taz put his hand up, a sign for the rest of his team to stand down. They all dropped their guns by their sides and continued to stand behind each individual, dead and alive.

  Jaxx’s heart beat faster. His adrenaline went through the roof, and panic set in. “No more killing, please. No more. I will go with you if you let them all go, now.”

  Taz waived his hand, and the Agadon lifted each prisoner and guided them out the door.

  Jaxx’s heart ached. Was he truly the reason for everyone’s death? His friends? His allies? Random men and women who wanted nothing more than to have a peaceful life, but now dead because he was the key to this entire network?

  “Show me on that holoimage the rest of the people you have at gunpoint leaving safely, and I will go with you.”

  Taz closed his eyes and opened them a moment later. “Transmission sent.” He held up his device. The hologram went from slide to slide, and on every vid the Agadon dropped their weapons and walked away from their prisoners.

  “Is that real? You aren’t tricking me?”

  Taz shook his head. “We don’t lie, Jaxx. That is real.”

  “How am I to trust you?” asked Jaxx. These blue men were killers, murderers, and demons in the flesh.

  “We Agadon do as we say, Jaxx. That’s how you can trust me.”

  “Then I have one more proposal,” suggested Jaxx. “We leave Earth immediately, and you take every ship and Agadon with you.”

  Taz dipped his head, the hologram in front of him disintegrating into nothingness. He closed his fingers over his device and put his fists together. “Done.”

  14

  Denver, Colorado

  The gun clicked, and Drew dropped it on the floor. The magazine was empty.

  A voice called out, “Never again, Drew. Never again.” It came from somewhere deep within him. His mom, perhaps. Himself, more likely.

  Megan took her hand away from her mouth. “Drew?”

  “This pain…” he whispered. “It’s too much…and I’m holding you all back.”

  “That doesn’t give you any right to end your life.” Megan pushed him forward, then stopped at the base of the stairs.

  Drew leaned over, his stomach tightening, his words coming out forced, “You see. I’m…in the way.”

  He was. A thought of suicide had never entered his mind before, but excruciating pain could do that to a person — this was something Drew knew from his journalist work. Pain, many times, was a mood changer and a killer.

  Mya and Damion were already atop the staircase. Mya put her hands on her knees, looking at Drew fifteen or so steps down. “Can someone help bring him up?”

  The building shuddered, and Drew cringed in agony. “End me now.” He glanced up at the ceiling, acting like it was God’s face, hoping the big, beautiful Being in the sky would heed Drew’s call.

  Most likely not.

  A man rushed down the stairs and grabbed the bars above the wheelchair’s footrest. “I gotcha.” He lifted Drew’s chair. Megan held onto the back push handles, holding up Drew with all of her might.

  Bratatatatat ratatatatat!

  Whapoom!

  The library quivered and books fell from the shelves, but they kept pulling Drew up the steps.

  “Just a few more steps,” said Megan.

  They set him down at the top of the staircase, and the guy who helped Drew up the stairs patted Drew’s legs. “I have to get going, buddy. But hang in there.” He brandished his gun and rushed around a corner.

  “Let’s go,” yelled Damion. They raced to the front door, Megan pushing Drew’s chair as fast as she could without tipping him over. They hurried through the front doorway and to the outside.

  Zzzchoo! Zzzchoo!

  Several Agadon hover tanks came into range on a nearby street, and Drew’s eyes bugged out. “Guys?”

  The tank’s turrets lowered, aiming for the building. Drew may have wanted to die, but he didn’t want the children and Megan to have a similar fate. “Go, go. The tanks, the tanks.” He pointed frantically, ignoring the gut wrenching pain enveloping his stomach.

  Megan pushed faster, descending down a ramp. “I see them.”

  A tank’s cannon muzzle fizzed blue energy and sucked back, then pushed forward, expelling a blue ball of hell. And another tank did the same, and another.

  Thwippwoom! Thwippwoom! Thwippwoom!

  Direct hits and the ground quaked like it was readying to crack open. The library’s cement and brick shifted inward and burst in every which direction, sending debris into the air and onto the terrain around the structure.

  A missile rack on top of the library sputtered and turned. Yellow flames shot from behind it, hurtling projectiles at thousands of miles an hour.

  The tanks backed away, doing their best to avoid what was sure to be a shit-show of damage coming their way. Several missiles rained down on the first tank, lighting it up like a blow torch, twisting its armor into a mess of zig-zagging, melted parts.

  Another missile volley shot toward the other tank’s position. But Drew couldn’t see the ending results as Megan pushed him in front of a building, blocking his view.

  A booming cloud rose from behind and above the blocky structure, telling Drew at least a few of the missiles hit their target, or a car.

  Who knew.

  Mya took Damion’s hand, pulling him down a side street with Megan on their tail, pushing Drew to safety, or wherever the heck they were going.

  Helicopters flew overhead, and machine gun fire riddled the street below.

  “Where are we going?” asked Drew.

  Megan leaned down, breathing heavily. “What?”

  Mya looked over her shoulder. “We are going to a house. It’s a few blocks away.”

  How did Mya hear him? It didn’t matter. She was like superwoman, only younger — and without the ability to fly. But if she spread her arms and took off toward the upper atmosphere, it wouldn’t surprise Drew in the least.

  A humvee zipped by with soldiers in battle suits standing on running boards and hanging on the roll bars, obviously heading into combat.

  They all stopped for a moment, watching the scene drive by.

  “One more block,” hollered Mya.

  They hurried on and down another road and into a neighborhood full of Victorian-style homes, each with bright colors and decorative trim, both whimsical and sophisticated. A porch wrapped around the one they approached, and a little girl with sandy-blonde hair, maybe seven years old, was swinging on the porch swing.

  She craned her head at the oncoming visitors. “You’ve come.” A bright smile filled her small, quaint face.

  “You’re the third we’ve chosen,” Damion said, coming up to a fence that bordered the prop
erty, his steely eyes staring at her.

  Mya waived her over. “Come here, Lily.”

  Lily’s eyebrows raised. “You know my name?” She skipped toward Damion and Mya.

  But where was her mother and father? And if she had parents, then why were they just letting her sit there and swing while WWIII was raging several blocks down the road?

  Lily reached the kids, her hands extended. Mya and Damion interlaced their fingers with Lily’s.

  They all gasped, their eyes squeezing tightly, and their body’s shivered as if electricity was running through their veins.

  Mya opened her eyes first. She turned, dropping her hands by her sides. “Jaxx has given up.”

  Drew gulped. That couldn’t be correct. Jaxx was like Mya, a damn superhero. Nothing was impossible with that guy, at least with what he had witnessed thus far.

  “What do you mean that Jaxx has given up, Mya?” asked Megan, stopping the wheelchair in front of a curb.

  “He gave himself up to the Agadon. He’s making a grave mistake — the gravest of all.”

  15

  Denver, Colorado

  Jaxx was in an Agadon hover vehicle with Taz by his side. The vehicle was dark inside, and the view of the driver was hampered by an armored wall dividing the front seat from the back seat. A single slit down the middle brought in much needed light as there weren’t windows on the back and side doors.

  Jaxx didn’t have energy cuffs on or a gun to his head, just the sourness in his stomach for perchance being the main reason for millions, and maybe billions, of human deaths across the United States and beyond.

  And if he could stop it with a quick and simple agreement to give himself up in exchange for humanity’s survival, then he would. Yet, in doing so, all Beings through the galaxy were in permanent danger.

  In truth, he wouldn’t give himself up for long.

  “Will you be leaving the planet soon?” Jaxx asked Taz.