The Black Knight Box Set

by Christian J Gilliland

  “Yes,” Amaria nearly whispered, “Crinnan is alive and well… he has such a large and beautiful family. Here, look!” She nodded down at the newborn in her left arm, “This is Eliss, he is Crinnan’s eldest daughter’s son. He was born only this morning. And this,” She nodded down at Alma, “Well this is little Alma. She is nearly one and is Crinnan’s youngest child. She is your grandchild.”

  Lucille took a deep breath and began to fan her face with her hand. She looked down at little Alma with love in her eyes and Johnny squeezed her shoulders tight.

  “My baby boy’s little girl…” She looked back and forth between the babies and seemed to begin to quiver with joy. Johnny Jamiso beamed with delight as he pointed at the child in Daanel’s arms.

  “Who’s that little girl now?” He asked.

  “That's a boy,” Amaria smiled and let out a slight chuckle, “His name is Roc, he is… he is my son.”

  “Your son?” Johnny repeated, sounding amazed and excited as he did, “Well I’ll be. Ain’t that something? Amaria brought her own baby boy for us to see.”

  “Yes, Johnny he is my son,” Amaria confirmed. She bit her lip and tapped her foot nervously, “And he is your great grandson.”

  Johnny and Lucille looked at each other again and then back to Amaria. Lucille shook her head slightly, and Johnny scratched the top of his head. Both of the elderly Humaans were having a difficult time processing what Amaria was telling them. Finally, Lucille cocked her head and spoke.

  “You’re saying…”

  “I am saying that I married your grandson Rubaan,” Amaria informed them. She sniffled and looked around nervously. She was the elder Jamiso’s age and had known them for nearly half her life. They were among her closest friends, and the thought of upsetting them somehow was difficult for her, “My name is now Amaria Jamiso.”

  Johnny looked at his wife, and the two frowned for a moment. Johnny looked down at his boots and then up to Amaria and couldn’t seem to keep his tongue in his mouth as he licked his dry old lips. Finally, the old man burst into laughter, and he took hold of his Lucille’s hand. His body moved in a way that an eighty-year-old Humaan’s shouldn’t as he danced and jerked his wife around. The two laughed and whooped, and Amaria stood surprised and smiled widely with them.

  “Well then,” Daanel exclaimed as he turned and placed Roc into Rodrick’s hands, “I believe you and I have other matters to take care of,” He looked at Ema’as, and she nervously nodded her head. Asandra stepped up behind her and placed her hand on her back.

  “You will do fine honey,” she whispered encouragingly, “Whatever you do, be honest.” Ema’as turned, and Asandra nodded her head at her. Daanel reached out his hand, and Ema’as took hold of it as the two left the room and headed toward their meeting with the High Vampre clan.

  Chapter Twenty

  Rubaan XI

  23rd of Ramlia - 346AG

  23:00 - Base 21

  Rubaan stood next to his parents, Emerald and Vice-Commander Card in the Base 21 hangar. The Centurions, Pancho, and Kavin stood behind Card and waiting silently though not as stone-faced as a regular soldier would have. They joked and laughed quietly with one another and Kavin burned a cigarette as they did.

  The hangar was a room larger than any other in the Base. It was mostly grey as it was composed of Ancient concrete and metal and had three floors. The bottom floor stored the ground vehicles, the second was for flyers, and third was the garage and storage. Hydraulic rectangular doors that were wider than they were tall sat at the front of the hangar, and a series of ramps along the walls connected the floors.

  While the hangar was by no means full, there were enough vehicles to at least put up a fight. There were nearly fifty light recon bikes or “skeeters” and half as many “moths” or silent hoverbikes. There were thirty civilian looking armor-plated cars and about fifteen four-wheel drive single and dual cab work trucks. There were twenty light assault vehicles, “badgers,” that had light armor plating and machine gun turrets equipped on top and thirty or so ground armored personnel carriers, “donkeys.”

  Twelve “bison” or light tanks sat toward the large hydraulic metal doors at the front of the hangar. Seven “rhinos” or heavy tanks were next to them. On the second floor, above them, were about twenty HAPTs, and nearly as many light recon flyers “sparrows,” and fighters “raptors.” There was also a bicycle with two SMGs mounted to the handlebars. The soldiers referred to it as the “Harbinger of Destruction.” It was something that was frankly a waste of resources, had never been used, and should not have been created.

  “Are you certain you are prepared for this?” Commander Crinnan asked Rubaan with a hint of concern in his voice, “The Centurions could make the trip without you, no problem.”

  “Dad, I am ready,” Rubaan replied confidently, “I just have to get there, it’s no problem. Do not worry about me.” Crinnan nodded and gave his son an unsure smile. He patted him on the shoulder and stepped aside, and Ladia took her husband’s place.

  “Be safe, boy,” She placed her hand on the side of his head and gave him a warm, yet concerned smile, “Remember, if things get too hard. Run.” She leaned in, and he wrapped his arms around her.

  “Okay mom, I will.” He let her go, and she stepped back.

  “You needn’t worry Lady Jamiso,” Kavin, the older Centurion and one of Bran’s Sergeants scratched his mustache and smiled, “The kid won’t need to run while we are around. I guarantee it.”

  “See to it, Preast,” she sternly ordered, “Keep my boy alive. If you do, there’s a beer or two in it for you.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Kavin snickered and punched Pancho in the shoulder, “We’re Centurions, remember, we don’t fucking die.”

  “Take three moths,” Card ordered as he stepped up and faced Kavin, “You know the route, it should take you at least half a day. Do not stop, do not rest. Get there and bring back help. Are we all clear?” He turned his head and looked at Rubaan who nodded in response. Pancho gave him a thumbs up, and Kavin smiled.

  “No worries, Sir,” Kavin confidently replied, “We will get there, we will get our reinforcements. All will be well.”

  “Good to hear,” Card said, “Make certain you contact Century when you are outside of Govia’s jamming radius. Rendezvous with them in Empyr when you return, as soon as Milinka’s forces attack from the west, we will prepare our assault from the north. You need to make certain that Century disrupts their supply line, blow the tracks, shoot down their HAPTs. Kill all Govians in Empyr, do you understand?”

  “Of course,” Kavin nodded, “You can count on us.” Card stepped away, and the three Black Knights walked up to their moths.

  “Pancho,” Emerald shouted as he mounted his bike. He looked back at her, and she walked up to him.

  “Be safe; do not do anything stupid, do you understand?”

  “I can’t promise that Em,” He smiled, showing off his pointed Lycaani teeth, “But trust me, I’ll get the job done.” He flipped the ignition switch on the console of the moth, and it silently rose off the ground. Pancho gave Emerald a wink and the others started their moths as well.

  The doors groaned open, revealing a dark tunnel that would eventually lead them outside. They flipped on their lights and attached their short-range communicators to their heads. As the others stood back and watched, Rubaan turned to his family and gave them a thumbs up. He knew he wasn’t needed, that the two Centurions were probably making fun of him behind his back, but he didn’t care. He would not stand around and wait, and since Eon could jump into his body at any time, he knew that everyone was safest with him gone.

  Kavin reached his gloved hand up and pointed toward the doors as he accelerated. Pancho followed closely behind and Rubaan, after giving his family one last look, moved forward to keep up.

  As they passed the hangar doors, their headlights illuminated the otherwise black tunnel. The tunnel was very old; it had been dug by the facilities’ previous owners possibly
a thousand or more years prior. It was composed mostly of dirt and stone; the Black Knight workers had cleaned and leveled out the floor over the years to make for easier transport of the vehicles.

  “The tunnel is about a mile long,” Rubaan heard Kavin’s voice over his communicator, “Stay at thirty miles per hour, aim for the light.” Rubaan accelerated to match the others speed and heard the slightest of whines come from his engine as he did so. The moths were silent, used primarily for surveillance or in battle they were paired with lances or SMGs for flanking. Rubaan had driven one before, though it had been years.

  Ahead he could see sunslight as a pair of doors at the end of the tunnel opened for them. They rode silently for a minute and a half, and as the opening was upon them, Kavin spoke.

  “We will travel twenty miles north to the beach,” he instructed, “then we will follow the coast for eight hundred miles until we reach the border of Canrom and Kamlot. Once we pass the river, we will have about four hundred miles until we reach Base 11.”

  “Sounds good,” Pancho replied, “We should be there in time for breakfast.”

  “Hopefully,” Kavin laughed.

  The three burst through the opening and out the rear of the mountain. The Black Knights found themselves on flat grassy ground, and Kavin increased his speed to seventy miles per hour. Pancho and Rubaan followed suit and aimed their vehicles north.

  The warm summer air felt nice as it passed over Rubaan’s skin and short hair. He had a pair of goggles around his neck, and with one hand still holding the handlebar, he raised them to his eyes and strapped them to his head.

  The beach was twenty miles down a very slight grade, but from his position, he could see the water. The ocean stretched from east to west and as far north as he could see. Rubaan thought that apart from Pancho’s tail in front of him, he was at least going to have a nice view most of his journey.

  “Any sign of Govia?” Kavin asked. Rubaan looked to his right and left, and then up in the sky. He saw no sign of the Empire and relayed that back. Pancho also acknowledged that he saw nothing.

  For what seemed like an hour at least, the three Black Knights flew without stopping. Pancho and Kavin would occasionally say a few joking words to one another, but Rubaan remained silent. He thought of his life, of his family and Eon and his brother. He wrestled with the idea that the man he had known as his father his whole life, was not. He stressed over the thought that he was only a clone of his true self and thought warmly about seeing Crinnan alive again. He lamented over the stress and confusion he was causing Amaria and felt glad that Roc was too young to understand any of it. Strangely, he also wondered how the "other" him was doing...

  "Keep your eyes, sharp fellas," Kavin's voiced announced, "we're coming up on pirate territory. Be wary for the next twenty miles."

  "Pirates?" Rubaan repeated. He had heard of them stalking the coasts of North Canrom before, but had never actually seen them. He had never traveled by land to Base 11; in fact, he had only been there once before, "Are they a threat to us?"

  "To Kavin and me, probably not," Pancho replied, "But you need to be extra careful, I've heard stories about them. They'll skin you alive and use your hide for their sails, and then they'll throw your guts to their dogs."

  "They keep dogs on their boats?" Rubaan asked, surprised by the idea, "Do dogs do well at sea?"

  "As good as anything else I imagine," Pancho replied in a tone that suggested he wasn't interested in conversation, "Just stay alert."

  The hoverbikes flew over the sand, kicking up trails behind them. Rubaan watched his mirrors and looked in all directions, hoping he wouldn't notice any unwanted company. He began to notice that the scenery was changing. He saw the stripped chassis of vehicles peppering the landscape, trucks and motorcycles and an occasional crashed flyer. None of them looked recent, but at the same time, none of them looked ancient either.

  "Pick up the speed fellas," Kavin calmly ordered, "We need to get out of here as quickly as we can."

  Kavin and Pancho accelerated forward, Rubaan looked down at his speedometer and noticed his hoverbike was traveling at a rate of 120 miles per hour. He hit the throttle and matched the other's speeds of 150.

  "Watch the wreckage," Kavin's voice returned to the communicator, "if you hit anything, there won't be much left of you to take home."

  Rubaan's attention was all over the place. He fought between maintaining his speed, avoiding the vehicle ruins and keeping his eye out for pirates. He felt his heart rate increase as he became more and more anxious. As he started to get the hang of things, he heard a noise and experienced a sudden wave of panic.

  The sound of gunfire echoed his skull, and he cried out as he accelerated his hoverbike. "They're here!" He screamed into his communicator, "They're shooting at us!"

  "Calm down Jamiso!" Kavin's calm voice replied, "Don't freak out. Keep going!"

  Rubaan hit the accelerator and found himself side by side with Pancho. Pancho waved his hand at him, telling him to keep his distance, but Rubaan shook his head and went faster. His speedometer read 175, probably about the same as his heart rate.

  "He's freaking out," Pancho told Kavin.

  More gunfire erupted as Rubaan approached Kavin's bike. Kavin looked back and shook his head, he increased his speed, and Rubaan heard him speak.

  "Soldier, you need to calm down!" Kavin's voice wasn't quite as calm, but still controlled, "Keep your distance, maintain a speed of 175, we will get through this!"

  Rubaan looked down and saw that he was going 180. He let off the accelerator and just as he heard another barrage of gunfire, he felt a sudden pain in his right thigh. His bike slowed, and he hit the throttle, but the vehicle wouldn't respond.

  "I'm hit!" Rubaan shouted, "My bike has been hit! I'm going to crash!"

  "Coast it, boy!" Kavin calmly but sternly ordered, "Get to the grass, keep your head low, we will swing around for you!"

  The humming of Rubaan's bike stopped, and he watched his speed plummet. As he hit 85 miles per hour, the bike dropped to the ground, and he began to slide through the sand. He was not going to make it to the grass; he had no control over the braking system. The rusty ruins of an old truck were ahead of him and as his bike skidded toward them, he no choice but to bail.

  Rubaan leaped and crashed into the sand only moments before his bike collided with the ruins of the truck. Metal pieces flew everywhere, a shard of something stuck into his calf muscle. He cried out and quickly sat up to see three motorcycles heading his way. With a whimper of terror, he promptly pulled his pistol and began firing.

  The motorcycles weaved in and out of Rubaan's gunfire, not a single bullet made contact. He spent his magazine and tried to push himself up off the ground to run, but the bullet lodged in his femur sent a shock of pain through his leg as he put weight on it and he tumbled back down on the ground. The pirates, by then were nearly on him.

  "Help me!" Rubaan cried out, only to realize his communicator had fallen off his head when he had jumped from his bike. He felt like he was alone and about to meet his end, worried that the Centurions continued the mission without him. He scrambled to crawl away, to make for the ruins of the truck and his bike but saw that the pirates had stopped. They dismounted their motorcycles and drew their swords. Rubaan's body locked up with fear, and he watched as the pirates drew closer.

  A sudden rapid burst of gunfire shook Rubaan back to his senses. He quickly looked behind him to see Kavin and Pancho rapidly approaching on their bikes. Kavin held a machine pistol ahead of him and fired on the pirates, littering two of their bodies with bullets. As they fell, Pancho zoomed past Rubaan with a collapsible spear in hand and quickly lanced the remaining pirate. Kavin stopped his bike next to Pancho and quickly hopped off.

  "I told you that you would be fine," he said as he hooked his arm under Rubaan's armpit and lifted him off the ground, "Come on, get on!"

  Rubaan eased himself up onto the bike, and when he found his balance, Kavin hopped on in the front
. He quickly switched out his empty magazine for a fresh one, and Rubaan did the same with his pistol.

  "Don't shoot Pancho or me," he spun the bike around and just as Pancho flew past them, Rubaan heard the sound of more motorcycles heading toward them. Kavin hit the accelerator, and they took off.

  "Okay buddy, remember, aim for the middle of their chests," Kavin shouted back, "We have some dead ahead, heading our way. If Pancho doesn't cut them down, you shoot them. And by the Brothers, don't throw your gun when you're out of ammo like your brother does!"

  Rubaan peeked around Kavin and saw four motorcycles heading their way. He watched Pancho joust one the pirates off the seat of his bike, the pirate crashed to the ground and didn't get up. The other three continued heading toward them.

  "We're gonna pass them soon!" Kavin shouted, "better start shooting!"

  Kavin lifted his gun and sent a burst at one of the pirates. The bullets made contact, and the bike fell over on its side, the driver tumbled and rolled through the sand.

  Rubaan lifted his gun and rapidly fired at another bike. None of his bullets hit their target and Rubaan could feel Kavin sigh with disappointment. Kavin took out another motorcycle, leaving one remaining.

  "Better fucking kill him!" Kavin rattled back, "He's shooting at us!"

  Rubaan could hear the bullets whizzing past them and fired his remaining rounds at the oncoming motorcycle. One of his shots struck the tire, puncturing it and the bike did a front flip, sending the pirate flying toward them. Kavin jerked out of the way, and Rubaan looked back and saw the pirate's body crash face first into the ground. He smiled and slapped Kavin on the shoulder.

  "I got him!" Rubaan shouted victoriously, laughing as he did, "I killed the fucker!"

  "Good job," Kavin grunted as they accelerated even faster. Rubaan felt something warm on his hand and looked at it. It was blood, Kavin had been shot.

  "Shit!" Rubaan cried out, "Are you okay?"