Cataclysm: Rystar and the LASSOs Book Three

by Jack Archer

  Up on the bridge, the three Horoths turned to face them as the elevator doors opened and the crew exited. Kyran turned to face Na’gya and Cobalt, grasping their hands one at a time. “Good luck, my friends.”

  “Same to you,” Na’gya replied while Cobalt grunted. The two headed off to the locker room, and Rystar waved at the pair of them before they disappeared.

  The Horoths approached them, and Kyran turned, placing his hands behind his back and regarding them. “And who do we have here?”

  “This is Terrond and Ba’lief,” Makeer introduced them. Both had solid black wings and claws, their matching high foreheads speckled with silver. Their eyes glittered green and focused on each of the crew in turn before settling back on Makeer. “They will be your guards while picking up Enzo today. Terrond is a licensed Mach 4.5 pilot and will stay on the ship while Ba’lief will be the one to interface with the guards on Tahi.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Kyran said before putting a hand on his hip. “One flaw in our plan. We all ain’t going to fit in that little Ocelot.”

  Rystar thought about it for a moment before cursing under her breath. “Damn it, you’re right. I’ll go with them. You two stay here with Lupe and monitor from afar. I’m sure everything will go smoothly.”

  “Like hell you’re going by yourself,” Kyran said, all but stomping his foot. “If anyone’s going to pick up Enzo, it’s me.”

  “It’s not your ship they’re flying, Kyran,” Rystar said, her eyes wide and not liking the overprotective Kyran in front of her now. Kyran narrowed his eyes at her but shook his head, mouth set in a thin line before he pushed past them and down the stairs to the center console of the Firehawk.

  A tinge of guilt picked at Rystar, but she shoved it away, turning around to face Kyran as he pouted and stared out of the space shield. Walking down the steps, she stopped behind him and lowered her voice. “I know this is important to you. That’s why I want to do it, to show you I’m capable and trustworthy.”

  “I already know those things,” Kyran sighed, still staring into the swirling snow. “It’s those things I need to prove to you, not the other way around.”

  “You’ve proven yourself more than you think you have,” Rystar said, pushing his shoulder so he could face her. “Let me do this for you.”

  “Why?” Kyran asked, narrowing his eyes at her again.

  Rystar shrugged but knew exactly why.

  “Keep your comms open. I’ll be in touch with you,” she said, leaning up to kiss his cheek before stepping up the stairs again and grabbing Shea’s hand. “Keep an eye on him, okay?”

  “Will do,” he said with a grin, kissing her on the forehead before she flicked her head in the direction of the elevator, and she sped away, the two Horoths close behind her.

  It was a tight fit in the Cataclysm, but they managed to squeeze in with Rystar in the center.

  “I’ll use my credentials to start the Ocelot up so they believe it is truly Horoth,” Terrond said, punching in a code while Rystar started the ship up. The hangar in front of them opened and a torrent of snow rushed into the space around them. Rystar set the ship to space mode and lifted off from the ground, pushing forward through the hangar and out into the air.

  She often wondered what the difference between Air and Space mode was, settling on the fact that maybe Space mode tightened the ship's holes more to not let in the vacuum of space. Not that she knew much about the LASSOs engineering. Maybe Kyran was right. She did need to expand her knowledge more.

  As they jetted up into the atmosphere, Terrond opened the comms to a nearby border gate and began the process of using it to jump to Tahi.

  When they were first discovered, border gates were only found at the edges of habitable systems, notably Terran, Sustri, and Horoth. Still, with reverse engineering, they had been able to build them near planets and their moons for quicker travel. While the Sustri and Atrex had been building border gates for many centuries, the Terrans and Horoths had only had a hundred years to build their handful.

  Her thoughts were cut short by Terrond speaking into the comms to the border gate attendee. “Tahi Dij, tsenuh nícho 548-6329-O45.”

  “Yuyl’wo chi wo tsenuh nícho, nalb letlomd pʼolch wet’,” the attendee said and cut the comms.

  “They said we can head to the queue now,” Terrond told her.

  “Not a big line for the prison, I guess,” Rystar grumbled, and Terrond nodded his agreement.

  “Not a very fun place to visit,” he agreed.

  They fell into silence as the ship in front of them blasted forward. Terrond pushed into position, waiting for the border gate’s light to die down before a large, green light appeared at the top. It was hundreds of meters wide and tall and began to glow white as Terrond powered up the engines and sped through, the jump only lasting a few seconds as they appeared on the other side.

  The ship in front of them wasn’t too far, and they followed it to the moon where a complex sprawled across many miles of rocks and craters. They swirled down and landed in a spot designated for an Ocelot. As they set down, the platform began to shake and sink, bringing them underground and sealing them in from the vacuum above.

  “Ocelot 548-6329-O45, yur Tahi Dij, nalb lehmei wo chiybeye ping ild,” a comms voice came in over the receiver, and Rystar’s heart jumped into her throat. The Horoths on either side of her remained calm, and she tried to straighten her back, getting rid of the silliness creeping up in her face.

  “Tahi Prison, this is Ba’lief Roanil, approaching our 2340 appointment to transport the prisoner Enzo Vida to the Sluirossi Headquarters,” Ba’lief said without a hitch, switching to Terran so Rystar could understand them. A moment passed when Rystar could have sworn she noticed a bead of sweat on Ba’lief’s forehead before the comms came back.

  “Welcome, Ba’lief Roanil, someone will be out to your ship shortly,” the comms said, rather pleasantly, in Rystar’s opinion. She hummed and glanced to the Horoths on either side of her, who each gave her a slight smile. Rystar beamed, considering the day a victory already.

  Presently, a knock sounded at the airlock, and Rystar hopped up from her seat, heading to the back of the ship where the open lockers were and hid. Ba’lief also rose and headed to the door, waiting until Rystar had fully hidden herself before opening the door. “Thank you, yes we will keep him safe. He will be returned as soon as the mission is fulfilled.”

  The airlock shut, and the sound of handcuffs clanging reached her ears. Rystar bounced on her toes, waiting for Enzo to come into view.

  “Oh, you trust me enough to take my cuffs off now,” Enzo huffed as he meandered into view.

  “I believe you have a visitor, Mx. Umara,” Ba’lief said, and Enzo whipped around to find her standing in the locker room, grinning from ear to ear.

  “Rystar,” he hissed, eyes going wide and launching himself forward to throw his arms around her. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Rystar hugged him back, squeezing so tightly she thought she might break a rib. They separated, and she batted a tear away before tearing towards the console. “We have to go now, come on.”

  “There’s nowhere to sit,” Enzo said, looking around. “What is this thing?”

  “Ocelot, Mach 4.5,” Rystar replied, turning around and tapping her nose at him. “Nice, ain’t it?”

  “We must hurry and depart,” Terrond said, a tinge of worry in his voice.

  “Right, go now, talk later,” Rystar said. Terrond requested lift off from the comms while Enzo buried himself in his tablet, presumably to find out everything he could about the ship he was on. The platform they sat on twisted and lifted them up into the air, and they pushed off from it, flying away from the prison and towards the border gate. “I can’t believe we did it.”

  “Don’t count your blessings until they’ve been bestowed upon you,” Terrond warned and pointed to the border gate queue and turning on the comms.

  “Tahi border gate, this is Ocelot 548-6329-O4
5 requesting permission to advance in the queue for Yimesotwa,” he said into the comms. The receiver buzzed for a moment and then lapsed into silence. They all exchanged glances before Terrond hit the receiver again. “Come in, Tahi border gate, this is Ocelot 548-6329-O45 requesting permission to advance in the queue for Yimesotwa.”

  “Ocelot 548-6329-O45 this is Tahi border gate, permission denied, the border gate is currently closed for maintenance, you will need to take the space expressway,” the voice came back, a little harried, if Rystar was honest.

  “What the hell?” she said, peering at the border gate glowing white and powering down again. “Doesn’t look closed to me.”

  “It’s only a couple hours,” Terrond shrugged, letting go of the throttle and allowing Rystar to take over and send them towards the expressway. Rystar groaned.

  A few minutes into the ride, Enzo tapped Rystar on the shoulder and shoved his tablet in her face. “Look.”

  “I don’t understand any of this—” she began, but he cut her off.

  “Our transmission was intercepted,” he blurted out, “does this thing have guns?”

  “Sure, why?” Rystar asked, shaking her head at his insistence. “What the hell is going on?”

  “That wasn’t the border gate,” he said, pressing a button on the center console to bring up a radar. Sure enough, a large vessel approached them from behind, its light blinking in wait.

  Chapter Ten

  Cobalt Torlick: Chure Bubble, Yimesotwa

  Having spoken three words to Na’gya since his arrival on the Firehawk, Cobalt was having trouble formulating any now. They walked side by side with Kyran trailing the rear to the shuttles that would lead them to Chure. Most of the forces had already arrived in Chure over the past several days. Cobalt, Na’gya, and Kyran were supposed to meet Ji’lan at the station for further orders.

  “Na’gya! Cobalt! Kyran!”

  A high voice made them turn, and they saw Makeer rushing towards them, arm raised. They stopped and waited for her to catch up with them.

  “What’s going on?” Na’gya asked, eyeing her.

  “I wanted to join you since I could not go with Terrond and Ba’lief,” she said, catching her breath and motioning for them to continue walking. “Please, let’s hurry. I don’t want us to be seen together too much. I just came from the Underground.”

  “Why did you go there?” Na’gya asked.

  “That doesn’t matter now. It is burning,” she said, keeping her eyes forward. Cobalt sucked in a breath of air as he side-eyed Makeer’s presence.

  “Burning?” Na’gya spat, stumbling in his tracks and fixing Makeer with a heated glare. “What the hell happened? Who did it?”

  Makeer shook her head and quickened her pace, making the men do the same. “It must have been someone from the Underground, or someone from the Bedanah is not a Bedanah at all. They are working for the Horoth government. They must have told them where the Underground is. It is very lucky you all chose today to vacate.”

  “Or the leak knew we were vacating today,” Na’gya said darkly. Makeer raised an eyebrow and nodded.

  “Ji’lan’s there,” Cobalt said, pointing to a queue line and watching the bright, white wings swish around to face them.

  They hurried up to him, and his eyes went wide as they fell on Makeer. Cobalt, Na’gya, and Kyran didn’t exist as he approached her, hands balled into fists. “What are you doing here?”

  “I thought you said you didn’t know a Makeer,” Na’gya said, moving to the side. Makeer tilted her head, her beautiful golden wings folding to embrace her and Ji’lan, who stepped back instinctively.

  “Ji’lan, ti’kulb,” she breathed, holding her arms out, tears filling her eyes.

  “Your son?” Na’gya burst out.

  “What are you doing here?” Ji’lan repeated, voice shaking.

  “I have come to tell you there is a traitor in your midst,” she said, letting her arms fall to her sides and raising her chin.

  “Who, you?” Ji’lan said with a sneer. She didn’t flinch, but a shadow flickered across her face. “The one who left my father to parade around with the Horoth government?”

  “I have been, and will always be, Bedanah, kulb,” she said, thrusting her chest out and taking in a deep breath. “It was my greatest regret to leave you both and go undercover, but necessary to the cause.”

  “So you cared more about the cause than your husband and child,” Ji’lan countered, folding his arms across his chest.

  “I’m so sorry, you two, but can we get to the point here?” Na’gya cut in, and Cobalt nodded, scratching the back of his head and twisting his head around to see if they were being followed. They were out in the open here.

  “Yes, my apologies,” Makeer said, bowing her head. “Your Underground base has been exposed, by who, I do not know. But you cannot go back there.”

  “What do you mean, exposed?” Ji’lan burst out, letting his arms fall to his sides.

  “I mean, it burns as we speak,” Makeer clarified.

  “Who?” Ji’lan brayed. “Who did this? And why should I believe you?”

  “Because I assisted in saving your friends from Tahi,” she said a little more firmly. “Because for the past thirty-four years, I have been plagued with watching the Horoths bomb innocent people and take over their planets. Because it was a stroke of luck that I found you, and I do not want to hide anymore.”

  Ji’lan stayed silent for a moment, exchanging glances with both Na’gya and Cobalt, who nodded to him in turn before taking a deep breath and sighing. “I cannot forgive you for leaving. But you may have a chance to prove yourself today.”

  “I look forward to it, ti’kulb,” Makeer said and bowed deeply, tears filling her eyes again. Cobalt looked away towards the shuttle coming in, unable to fathom what it would be like to reunite with a parent.

  They all headed towards the shuttle and entered, joined by more Ya’ados and Sustri soldiers.

  “How were you able to organize this?” Na’gya asked as the shuttle pulled away from the bubble and into the storm outside.

  “Sustri run most of the shuttle routes here,” Ji’lan explained, holding onto an overhead line and staring out of the window. Makeer stayed close behind, sharing his stare. “With their newfound alliance, we were able to have them turn a blind eye to this shuttle for the past few days while we organized at Chure.”

  “Do we have a base at Chure?” Na’gya asked.

  “A very small one,” Ji’lan responded. “Small bands of fighters have been positioning themselves around Chure and upon my arrival will strike. This is the moment we have been waiting for, for two years.”

  “We need to be careful how thin we spread ourselves today,” Cobalt said, scratching his nose and looking up at Ji’lan. Ji’lan let out a short chuckle and patted Cobalt on the shoulder.

  “You do not say much, ti’chalch, but when you do, it’s to the point,” he laughed and let his arm hang down again. “Yes, Chure is large, and our numbers are by no means at the amount I would like them to be at. But we are strong and smart. We will take over Chure this day.”

  Cobalt let out a huff and nodded, staring at the ground and willing the ride to be over so he could get off and fight.

  Not that fighting was his favorite thing, though he excelled at it. Cobalt had always been good at fighting since his youth when he had joined the Sustri Forces at 90. War after war, he found himself jumping through them with ease, filling up the medal case in his cramped apartment in Inebus.

  Until Kyran found him, broken and drunk, at a bar somewhere on Braluria’s moon, Clandia.

  “What have they done for you in the past 600 years, anyway?” Kyran said, downing a drink and casting a glance around the dingy space. A place like this wasn’t usually packed in the afternoon hours, and at the moment, only housed a few lonely Sustri, sinking to the bottom of their bottles. Cobalt was one of them.

  “Why do you care?” Cobalt grunted, holding his empty glass up
to the bartender. He shrugged his shoulders and adjusted his fur-lined coat, settling down in his chair a little further.

  Kyran tilted his head and swiveled in his chair, and Cobalt hadn’t ever met another Sustri like him. He was different and foreign, almost as if he wasn’t a Sustri at all, but Cobalt could tell from the fangs and the way his eyes glowed like embers in the dark. “Because I hate seeing what the system does to us. We put so much of our lives in their hands and get next to nothing in return.”

  “How long did you serve?” Cobalt asked, turning his head to face Kyran for the first time since their meeting.

  “With the Sustri Forces?” Kyran said, raising an eyebrow. “None. With the Terran military, far too long.”

  This caught Cobalt’s attention, and he sat back in his chair, nodding his thanks to the bartender. “That makes no sense.”

  “Not very much about my life makes sense,” Kyran scoffed, pushing his empty drink to the edge of the bar. “But I’m determined to make something of myself now. And I’d like a loyal crew to do it with.”

  There wasn’t much Cobalt wanted to do these days, much less jettison himself off into space with some weirdo Sustri he just met. But he took a drink and sized Kyran up, frowning when he couldn’t do so. “What kind of ship you got?”

  “One I acquired from Aurum,” Kyran said, smiling so wide his fangs came out below his bottom lip. Cobalt let out a bark of a laugh and took his drink in one go, slapping his hand on the bar top.

  “This I have to see.”

  Cobalt smiled at the memory as the shuttle shot into the Chure bubble and began to slow as it reached its stop. Already, he could see the smoke wafting up from distant factories and the barricades created in the streets running alongside them. The shuttle slowed to a halt. Cobalt and Kyran caught their balance before exiting, Makeer and Ji’lan close behind them.