He had a long list of accomplishments to his record. A deadly soldier, proficient in weapons combat, and above proficient in piloting.
Big deal, Akyra thought. I’m better, and one thing this guy doesn’t have at his disposal is the element of surprise.
She turned to the cybersoldiers now, their camouflaged bodies shimmering among the trees. “Let’s go, gentlemen.” She waved them forward. “Remember my orders.”
“Affirmative,” they all responded in unison.
Eighteen
Ryze put his helmet on and brought up a map and a waypoint toward the Starblazer’s direction. He led them out of the comm center.
“Let’s go. Double-time, ladies,” he said.
As soon as his boot crossed the threshold, a piercing boom erupted through the sky and an explosion of red followed.
Ryze jumped back, colliding with the queen and her guard, taking them both down with him as a shower of hot stone and dust rained above, the pieces clinking off his armor.
“Looks like we got company,” he said.
Scrambling up with the help of Wylow, Jade shouted, “You think?”
“How many?” Wylow asked. “Can you do a scan?”
It was exactly what Ryze was doing. Scans showed one sentient being. Floating around the being were two red blips. Cybersoldiers using active camouflage, no doubt. The red came from the heat of their arm cannons. As Ryze looked on, he saw the weapons charging now. “Everyone might want to find some cover!”
The door blew off its hinges, slamming into the floor with an earth-shaking thud.
The soldiers marched through the smoke in sync, no longer camouflaged. Ryze drew his handblas and raised it over the comm console. He pulled the trigger, and the beam struck the middle soldier in its chest, shattering the armor as if it were made of glass.
Thank you, illegal weapons modifications.
The soldier didn’t die, however. It kept moving forward, wires hanging out, flames alight inside its circuitry.
Ryze tossed his blasgun in Wylow’s direction and unlocked his flayzer from his back armor plate. “A little help, please.”
The queensguard nodded, aimed, and fired. The beam sent the damaged soldier sizzling into a heap of scrap metal. There was another one to worry about and, by the looks of it, a Thrathan mercenary, too.
Ryze didn’t waste any time firing again.
“Where’s my gun?” Jade shouted over the blasts.
“Leave the fighting to those who are qualified, queenie!” Ryze shouted back just as the top of the metal case sheared off, spraying shrapnel in all directions. If not for Ryze’s armor, scars would be the least of his worries. He’d probably not have a face at all.
“Shall I come to your aid, sir?” Spex asked.
“Yeah, that’d be pretty nice.”
A whine to the left, and more shots followed, drilling new holes in the comm center’s floor. Fortunately, none hit their mark.
Ryze popped up and took aim at the other (now rolling) cybersoldier. They were all but impossible to hit when in that mode—for a normal person, at least. Ryze laid on the trigger, anticipating the soldier’s next move; three shots hit, stopping the droid’s movement and sending it to the Great Scrapyard in the Sky.
Without missing a beat, he pivoted and took aim at the Thrathan warrior charging through the smoke, her sharp teeth bared, her eyes full of bloodlust. She held a gun as big as Ryze’s flayzer, and grimaced she pulled the trigger.
Ryze ducked behind the scorched comm console.
Nightmare, Ryze thought, and it was an apt description of the woman. “Haven’t I dealt with enough nightmares?”
“Sir, I can’t get off the ground. There’s a squad of Dominion soldiers scanning just above me. If I move, I risk detection and destruction of the ship,” Spex said into Ryze’s ear. He barely heard the AI, there was too much chaos.
“You better not destroy my ship, Spex!”
“I will do my best, sir.”
“Stay there, we’ll come to you. I think I have this under control…for the most part.”
Jade screamed.
Ryze peeked and located the Thrathan woman. She towered over Jade and Wylow, one gun aimed in their faces.
“Hey, Blueberry!” Ryze yelled.
The woman growled as she looked at Ryze. She was quicker than he had expected. He also didn’t expect her to get a shot off before he could.
A projectile burst from the Thrathan’s gun, and Ryze’s brain registered both the sound—a hollow thunk—and the color—a fiery orange.
He dove out of the way, thinking: Propulsion rounds. Talk about illegal, as fire rained and he was launched into the air and across the room. The only thing that stopped him was the wall—the stone wall.
Dazed, Ryze shook his head, trying to get his bearings back. He could hardly see through the smoke, and his brain was too scrambled to think to switch his visor to thermal view.
The haze cleared, but his vision was still shaky—though not shaky enough to see that Wylow had been either knocked unconscious or killed. The Thrathan had Jade’s hair in her large hands, dragging her through the rubble toward Ryze. It suddenly dawned on him that he was without a weapon. His rifle was nowhere in sight, and the pistol was on the other side of the room. Even if he could get to it, it was probably out of energy.
One thing he had going for him was that propulsion rounds took a long time to reload, and Thrathans weren’t the smartest. Hopefully the mercenary wouldn’t think to switch back to regular ammunition. If she didn’t do that, it would buy some time for the women, at least.
Spex chimed in his ear like the voice of God. “Sir? Are you all right? Your vital signs aren’t looking— Oh no, they’re right outside the ship. A step away. Sir, I’m going to have to engage.”
“Yeah,” Ryze said. “Just get us out of this hellhole.” Through the commlink, the Starblazer’s engines started up. He clenched his hands into fists. No weapons, no problem, he thought. I’ve still got a few tricks up my sleeve.
“Let me go!” Jade yelled, thrashing and flailing in the mercenary’s arms. She was no match for the Thrathan’s strength. Not many in the galaxy were.
The stranger stopped about five feet from where Ryze lay in the rubble.
“Starlo,” she said, her voice laced with poison and disdain, “you’re quite famous, huh? I’ve never seen a human with such a large bounty. Claiming it will be the icing on top of this bloody cake.”
“First of all: ew. And second: good luck killing me,” Ryze said. “There’s a reason why no one’s collected that bounty yet.”
Running my mouth to the very end, he thought. Way to be true to yourself, man.
The mercenary smirked at this. “Enough talking. Unlike most, I don’t play with my food before I eat it.”
I really hope that’s not literal.
She raised the rifle in her hand as if it weighed nothing; Jade’s hair was still tangled in her left, and the queen no longer fought.
“Are you sure you don’t wanna chat a little more?” Ryze asked.
C’mon, Spex. C’mon. I really need you right now.
The Thrathan didn’t answer with words. She answered by pulling the trigger.
Nineteen
The first thing Jade noticed being this close to the Thrathan warrior was the smell. Terrible, sour and musty.
The second thing she noticed was that this was the end. She would lose the crystal, and once it was in the hands of the Dominion, her life would be forfeit.
No Wylow to save her, and now Ryze Starlo was about to get his head blown off—
Not if you do something, a voice spoke in her mind, a mixture of all those who’d mentored her in the past.
But what? What the hell could she do?
Tap into the planet. Use your gifts. Doubt yourself no longer, the voices said. Use the artifact.
It was then the crystal around her neck thrummed and burned against her flesh.
The Essence overtook her body.
It flowed whether she liked it or not. All she could do was try her best to harness the power.
“Are you sure you don’t wanna chat a little more?” Ryze asked.
This was it.
Now or never.
She had to do something, or Ryze would die and she would have failed her mission before it even started.
Jade pictured a wall, an impenetrable force field. Her eyes rolled backward. She could feel her body’s energy draining and being filled with the power from the planet’s core.
Then—
The crackle of blaster fire—
But instead of splitting Ryze’s helmet with the beam, the Thrathan screamed.
Jade’s eyes rolled forward, and she focused on the great burst of light before she shielded her face from it.
Something had blocked the blaster’s bolt.
No, Jade thought. I couldn’t have done that.
But she did, and she knew it because now she could hardly move. The act drained almost every ounce of energy she had possessed. The Thrathan let go of her and stumbled away, part of her blue flesh sizzling and burned.
Of course I can’t move now. Of course—
Jade’s mind drifted toward unconsciousness. Her eyelids weighed a thousand pounds each, and slowly, they came down. She tried to fight it, but she was no match…
And then the only thing Jade saw was blackness.
“What in the holy hell?” Ryze said aloud. The beamblast that was meant to kill him didn’t. Instead, it had hit an invisible wall.
Impossible, Ryze thought. There’s no such thing as magic, no such thing as divine intervention—
But he couldn’t explain it.
Unless…unless Jade was telling the truth…
Whatever! Get over it, Ryze, his mind shouted. You’ve been given a golden opportunity, now use it!
The Thrathan was screaming and slapping at the small flames rippling on her clothes and skin. Distracted—and she had dropped her rifle…
Ryze’s eyes fell on it.
No. He was too far away and too injured. He’d never—
His helmet comm hissed. “En route, sir,” Spex said. “Prepare for extraction. However, we’re about to have some very angry Dominion soldiers on our tail.”
Just gotta last another few seconds, he thought.
“I’m still breathing,” he told himself, the Thrathan, and Spex simultaneously.
The Thrathan’s eyes focused on his. It was as if he reminded her of what she wanted to do. Not good. Should’ve kept my mouth shut. Now in a fit of untethered rage, she rushed at Ryze.
Gotta think here, Starlo. Think—
When she got within three feet, Ryze activated his heel jets. A stream of blue flame shot out, driving him back into the rubble. Probably breaking a few ribs and making his broken armor puncture a lung or two, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was that the fire made contact with the Thrathan’s legs, and it had.
Her muscles instantly gave out on her and she dropped to the floor, where her head bounced off stone with a sound that turned Ryze’s stomach. He stood with the help of the last bit of propulsion coming from the jets. Thoughts of grabbing the Thrathan’s rifle and finishing the job crossed his mind. The soldier in him screamed for him to do this, but he pushed the idea away. Don’t worry about it, move on. The prime objective was getting the women out of the comm center and off-planet. He found his flayzer in a pile of rubble nearby. Then, near Jade, he bent down and said, “Rise and shine!”
The queen stirred, but that was it. She wasn’t getting up. She was down for the count. He lifted her despite the sharp pain rippling through his body and threw her over his shoulder.
Across the room, Ryze approached Wylow. His first thought was that she was dead—she certainly looked it—but his HUD said otherwise. The queensguard’s heart beat weakly, but it beat nonetheless. He put Wylow over his other shoulder.
“I’m too old for this,” he said, straining. In the distance, a steady boom of approaching engines grew closer, and the sound of the Starblazer’s thrusters roared like thunder.
Music to my ears.
“I am landing now, sir. We better make this quick,” Spex said. “I may have accidentally started another war.”
“Exactly what we need. I’m coming.”
The Starblazer touched down, flame scorching earth and creating a whirlwind of branches, leaves, and dirt.
Ryze pushed himself forward. It wasn’t easy, but then again, when were things ever easy?
The boarding ramp extended, and as soon as his boots made contact with metal, the Starblazer rose. He collapsed in the main corridor, the women rolling off him. The ramp retracted and shut with a hiss.
Jade’s eyes fluttered; Willow groaned.
“We are not out of this yet, sir,” Spex said over the ship’s speakers.
“If you two can hear me, you might wanna strap in. This is gonna get bumpy,” Ryze told the women.
“Your piloting prowess is much needed, sir,” Spex continued. “Five fighters are gaining on us now.”
Ryze took his helmet off, dropped it, and rushed to the cockpit.
“Shields?”
“Are you sure you would like to know, sir?”
“No. Let’s just try not to get hit and then blow these bastards to hell. Emphasis on the try not to get hit part.” Ryze fell into the pilot’s seat and gripped the flight controls, his thumbs poised over the guns’ triggers.
“For once, sir, I agree with you,” Spex replied. “Let’s do blow these bastards to hell.”
Somehow, through all the madness, Ryze Starlo smiled, and another battle began.
He pulled the stick down and steered the ship upward.
From the corridor, Jade shouted, “Ow! What the hell?”
“Sorry!” Ryze shouted back. “I said you both might want to strap yourselves in!”
“Thanks for the warning!”
“Hold on!” Ryze yelled. The ship rolled to the right, and on the viewscreen, five Dominion fighters faced him head on. With a squeeze of the trigger and a thrum that ran up his arms, the laser turrets sprayed bolts that streaked through the sky. Two of the ships didn’t move fast enough. The bolts clipped one’s wing, sending it into the towering trees below, smoke trailing behind. The other ship took the beam right on its nose, and it was completely obliterated.
“Two down, three more to go,” Ryze said.
“Superb shooting, sir,” Spex complimented.
Ryze dropped the ship’s altitude. The fighters zipped past and above, not expecting this move. He took the Starblazer back up and was now behind them, and he smelled blood.
The turrets ripped. Flashes of light flared in the viewscreen. Ryze’s shots were true; he had hit all three of them. Two turned to exploding balls of fire, and the third spun around, its engine blown out and useless.
“More coming, sir,” Spex said. The radar showed a dozen red dots approaching. These weren’t invader drones, either. These were manned ships with a lot of firepower.
“We gotta get out of here—” Ryze began, but a jolt of energy rocked the ship. The viewscreen momentarily went fuzzy, and Ryze lurched out of his seat and almost fell to the floor.
“We’ve been hit, sir,” Spex confirmed.
“You don’t say.” The usual warning alarms were blaring from the main console. “Shields?”
“Five percent, sir.”
“Damn. They’ve certainly upgraded their weapons since the First War. That was a long ass shot.” He was more impressed than he was worried.
“Shall I divert power to the shields, sir? One of the turrets will theoretically raise that number to twenty.”
“No,” Ryze answered. “Prepare for a QJ.”
“QJ?” a voice said from behind him. Jade. “Are you insane?”
“Sometimes you gotta be insane to succeed.”
“She’s right, sir,” Spex said. “Jumping while in a planet’s atmosphere increases the chances of death by—”
&nbs
p; “Shut up, Spex and prepare for a QJ.”
“Don’t do it, Spex!” Jade said.
Ryze looked at her unbelievingly. “Hey now, don’t boss my AI around. He’s my AI.”
“You’re unbelievable,” Jade replied.
“But he’s damn good at what he does, Jade,” Wylow said from cockpit access corridor. “Trust him.”
“Glad to see you’re up and about,” Ryze told the queensguard. “I was worried you were dead there for a moment.”
“Would be if not for you, Mr. Starlo.”
“Ryze is fine. Mr. Starlo was my father,” Ryze said, turning back to the console and maneuvering away from more oncoming shots. Actually, not true. Starlo was from his mother’s side. Ol’ Daddy wasn’t around much while Ryze was growing up. “Are you gonna plot a course, Spex, or do I have to? I’d rather focus on us not getting shot out of the sky.”
“Plotting, sir.”
“This is crazy, we’re gonna die!” Jade said.
“We’re gonna die if we don’t get off this planet!” Ryze argued. Sensors were picking up two fighters, one closing in on each side of the Starblazer. He flipped the switch, activating the flares, aimed them backwards, and let them rip. “Won’t destroy ‘em, but it’ll slow ‘em down. Spex, how are we on that course?”
“Eighty-two percent and counting, sir. It’s a fragile process. If I am off by the smallest fraction, we’ll—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Ryze interrupted, “we’ll burn up in a great ball of fire. But hey, look on the bright side: we probably won’t feel a thing. Quick and painless. Better strap in, I don’t have much in the way of first aid. You break a bone or bust your head open, you’re gonna have a long and painful journey to Zed.”
Jade and Wylow exchanged an uneasy look, but they decided it best to listen to Ryze. Each dropped into seats and clicked their safety harnesses home.
“Ninety-three percent, sir,” Spex announced.
The fighters were back, and they'd brought company. Ryze pushed the reserve acceleration button, and the ship’s thrusters burned an electric blue. “Any day now, Spex.”
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