by Devin Cain
"Thought you got rid of me, no?" Lucifer’s voice awakened me. I groaned and shook myself awake. The room looked slightly different, even darker than usual. It wasn’t just the lighting, no, it was the altar on the wall opposite the piano. A large slab of pure black stone carved and hewn intricately to resemble a fallen, broken Angel.
"Is that supposed to be you?"
"Nope. That’s you, my son. That’s all you. See, I’m not like my brothers and sisters. I used to be a Seraphim, not a mere Archangel. That’s why I had the power to hold on so long in my rebellion. And now, you will have to take on that burden."
"What burden?" I asked, not quite understanding what he meant.
"First things first. You owe me a good sacrifice, and I need it right now. The queen has laid over a million eggs in the last week on Beta. Once we’re there, get what materials you need and destroy the planet. I think about five of the Doomsday shots should penetrate the core."
"No way!" I snapped. "I need it for the resources!"
"There will be no resources once you’re out of Human territory! You do realize that they will be searching for you here, right? I thought you were smarter than this, boy!"
I bared my teeth, annoyed at the prospect of being forced to massacre an entire planet.
"And what if I don’t do it?"
"You will, but first, here’s a treat for you. Meet Ellia Clarke, my new protege," he said, motioning to the podium. I turned my eyes on the woman. A beautiful brunette stood there wearing a long, skin-tight black dress adorned with sparkling gems.
"Master Cain. It’s a pleasure to meet you," she said with an Angelic voice. I shuddered at the melody that left her mouth.
"Miss Ellia," I replied, bowing slightly. The piano came to life as she started humming. I leaned back into the sofa and looked her over before her lips started moving.
Lucifer, Unfurl your wings: And make the sky a friend
A melody, on a dead man's breath
And I want you, to want to, bring the light
Into the dark night
Where Angels cry
and Demons lie: Again
...
Lucifer, Behold your heart
And breathe again
Your heart it beats, inside her chest
I want you, to want to, bring the light
Into the dark night: Where Angels cry
and Demons lie
Again...
Lucifer, Unfurl your wings
A deafening silence fell over the club. I was at a loss for words at how the song had drawn me in. True, the text wasn’t to my liking as it was a tribute to Lucifer, but one shouldn’t judge her for being infatuated with him.
"Thank you, love. I’ll send you back now that we’re done. Cain and I need to have a long chat."
She flashed me a smile and waved before she disappeared from behind the piano.
"She sure is a lovely woman," I couldn’t help but comment.
"You said it," he replied, taking a long sip from his drink. "So."
"Yeah, so. What can you tell me about our new home? Isn’t there a better option? Gabriel said it’s too close to Earth’s borders."
"And since when do I care about Gabriel? I’ve been sending the aliens to keep them occupied for when the need arose. And now there’s a need. Worst case scenario, I can scatter the planet randomly somewhere into unknown space. But you’re good for now."
"I see," I nodded, remaining silent as he stared at me, baring his teeth.
"Speak!" he snapped and waved me off. "Speak your mind. What is it? What do you have to say?"
"I want you to give Gabriel a second chance. He’s sworn to be my protector and mentor."
Lucifer’s right eye twitched as he stared at me, half transformed into his true self. Majestically long, black horns sprouted from his head. I couldn’t help but stare at the red burned, and deeply scarred face. Black smoke wafted from his mouth as if he was a fire-breathing dragon filling the room with a sulfurous stench.
"You? Want me to do something for you? Who do you think you are?" he raged slamming his fists over the piano. The pitch-black instrument shattered in a thousand pieces, peppering the room with splinters. "I’m Lucifer! Your god!"
"So am I!" I screamed, turning into the monstrosity I’d become along with my new Nephilim wings. "I owe you a lot, true, but don’t mistake that for slavery! I will repay my debt, Lucifer, you know I’m good for it, but you should be more open to requests and to the fact that someone can disagree with you!"
"So you want to say that you should be doing my job instead?"
"Now that you mention it, how about you show me the contract once more?"
Lucifer’s lips curled upward, showing off his sharp teeth. With a snap of his fingers, the contracts appeared before me. They unfurled and floated up to within inches from my face. My eyes roamed the half-burnt parchments, fists curling up in balls.
"This isn’t what I signed!" I hissed. "How the hell did you change the contract?"
He shrugged and snapped again. The parchment disappeared, leaving a waft of burnt paper behind.
"I would beg to differ. After all, I can always recall Devil to where I want him to go. What would you do then?" he smirked.
"So, you’ve finally shown your true colors, Lucifer."
"Not yet, but I will soon. Anyway, on the way to Entraxila, you’ll make a couple of detours and destroy a total of three planets of which two are Human. If you don’t, I’m taking my fleet back."
I clenched my fists and looked away. I’ve gone and done it this time, messing up beyond reason.
"How many do you want me to kill?"
"A total of three hundred million."
I froze, caught off guard. Something inside me snapped, something good, something I knew I’d miss. A dull ache crawled up my skin, accompanied by a strange tingling sensation. Then it disappeared as I felt myself come to a decision. What were a mere three hundred million useless people compared to my group and me?
"Can you send me back?"
"He’s been like this for hours," Gremory’s voice stirred me awake. I squeezed my eyes shut against the bright light and turned my head to the side, covering it with my arm.
"Shut the light off," I ordered. Everything around me got plunged into pitch-black darkness.
"Not that much!" Gremory snapped. "Turn it on but dim it, so his eyes don’t hurt."
"How are you feeling?" a second voice asked. It was Kris. I could recognize her voice as well as Gremory’s, especially the perfume she liked to wear. Her hand landed on mine, squeezing it gently. I pulled it away and sat upright.
"Same. How else?" I asked and pushed myself into the sofa I sat on. We were still in my room, which wasn’t a real surprise. I looked down and found myself wearing boxer shorts. It wasn’t like they hadn’t seen me naked before, I thought. Gremory wore a black lace bra along with matching panties. She was half-covered in a velvet red silken robe while all Kris had on were a black tank top and panties.
"Why are the two of you half-naked?" I asked.
"We just finished taking a shower. First, we cleaned you up, and then ourselves. Thought you’d appreciate it when you woke up."
"Yeah, thanks," I replied with a sigh. "Gremory, what happened with us? You still hungry?" She shook her head and stretched.
"Not anymore. Now you tell me something, Admiral," she replied. "What the hell did he want from you? My link to him broke suddenly, and there is now a dull ache in my chest."
I looked away, embarrassed to even think about her question. So instead, I opted for a half-truth.
"He wants a debt settled."
"Out here?" Kris asked, curiosity written all over her face. "Who the hell can we sacrifice for him here?"
"Three planets," I whispered.
"What?" they both exclaimed and struck my arms and legs and chest over and over again. Kris cried out after she hurt herself, so Gremory stopped to help her.
"What the hell did he promise you th
is time?" Kris asked.
"He wanted to take away Devil from me, so I agreed one last time. We need to get to that spaceship Vlad told us about, that way he won’t be able to order us around anyway."
"It’s in the Hydra system, which used to belong to the Quazzarians. They’re a race who’s technologically very advanced compared to us, and their only weakness is their small number. We haven’t learned much about them yet, but this is how they look like," Kris explained and pulled up an image of a creature not too different from us Humans. At least when it came to the number of limbs. Their heads looked like deflated melons, oval and large, with two round eyes of which each was the size of my fist. Their pink-ish-grey skin looked almost comical in comparison with ours. Thin arms and legs ended in webbed feet and hands with seven digits.
"And yes, they’re very similar to us, though I doubt anyone had sex with them yet," Gremory commented coldly.
"Really? You’re taking jabs at me right now in this state?"
Gremory shrugged.
"Why not?"
"Wake me up when we arrive at the derelict ship," I said and turned over on the bed. I knew she was mad as hell for me not to rise to her provocation, but I didn’t care. I finally had the chance to get some much-needed sleep, and no one was going to prevent me from doing so.
Chapter Forty-Three
The blaring of claxons shook me awake from my much-earned sleep. It felt like I’d just closed my eyes, and already had to wake up again. Whatever, first things first.
"Light on," I snapped and sat upright. Thank his dark soul, Devil hadn’t turned them up all the way, only just enough for me to see clearly. Then, I noticed Gremory on my left and Kris next to her. They looked exactly how I felt as they opened their eyes, rubbing them with their fists.
"What’s going on?" Gremory asked, even more ready than I was.
"I don’t know. Devil?"
"We’ve encountered the vessel in question, but it’s not derelict, it’s powered up and working. What do we do?"
"I’ll be on the bridge in a minute, try to hail them in the meanwhile," I ordered and hurriedly put on my new smart suit. Gremory and Kris followed quickly after me as we stormed down the corridors and up onto the bridge.
"Admiral on deck!"
"At ease," I said hurriedly and walked up to the center console. "Anything yet?"
"No, Admiral," the Comms officer Helena replied. "I’ve been trying to hail the ship, but it seems like the query isn’t even going through. Or someone has set up an automatic decline system for some stupid reason."
"Keep trying. Sensors, what can you tell me about the ship?"
"Sir, the ship is roughly two times the size of Devil and has fourteen massive gunports. I read a dozen missile tubes to each side as well as another ten missile installations atop the ship. There’s a very heavy beam cannon sticking out from its belly, and that’s about it what I can tell you about their weapon systems."
"Very well. What else do you have for me?"
"It seems that their drives have taken damage, and there’s a big hole on their stern. Everything else seems in good order. I can pick up readings for oxygen leaking in one spot, but that’s about it for gasses. The ship’s giving off—no, it’s not life-readings, but it sure comes very close. I have no idea what to tell you, Admiral. Something is on that ship, but it isn’t quite—organic?"
"Thanks. What’s your name?"
"It’s Esma, sir!"
"Good. Pardon me for not asking sooner, but I’m not that good with names, so I tend to remember them when I connect a certain situation to whomever I’m trying to remember."
"No problem, sir!"
"Good. Now, what the hell are we supposed to do with that ship?"
"I have no idea, Admiral," Kris replied before anyone else could say something, "But why did Dimitriy give us a password for entry when there’s a hole big enough to enter?"
"Sir?" Esma interrupted. "I have a reading on a large amount of Debris floating nearby. The readings tell me it could have been from one of those holding rings that keep a derelict ship in position."
"Right. It seems we got our answer, Secretary. Weapons, how hard is it to destroy such a ring? Could we do it with our current firepower?"
"It would be possible given enough time, and assuming we wouldn’t be using Doomsday."
"Right. So the enemy is at least as strong as us, if not stronger. Esma, scan the system for enemy ships."
"On it, Admiral."
The bridge went silent for a long two minutes, during which I felt cold beads of sweat slide down my neck and forehead. Gremory squeezed my hand in support and put her arm around me.
"Don’t make any hasty decisions. Remember, whatever you do will affect our future," she whispered.
"Sir! We’ve detected a capital ship along with a carrier and three battleships. There’s no way we can fight them off just by ourselves!"
"Who do they belong to? Earth?"
"Yes, but. Wait, this isn’t right. They’re responding with the Steel Legion authentication codes."
"Put me through to whoever it is!" I ordered. Were these remnants of the old legion, or was someone playing games on us?
"Are you going back on your word, Admiral Cafka?" the woman said as her face lit up the screen. A large scar ran just to the left of her eye down to her neck. Purple eyes roamed the screen, as an expression of shock showed me she hadn’t expected to see anyone else but Cafka on Devil’s bridge. "What—who are you?"
"My name is Admiral Cain of the old Steel Legion, the one you ran from it seems."
"How dare—"
"Shouldn’t you introduce yourself in turn?"
"Yes, Admiral. The name is Captain Scarlet," the woman saluted but held my gaze. She didn’t seem so sure of how to proceed, which was a good thing.
"What is your purpose with this ship, Captain?"
"Sir? Do you mean the Derelict Quazzarian ship? We’ve been—guarding it for a while now. That’s all I can say for now."
"I see. In that case, your duty has ended, as we’re here to pick it up. But the problem is what to do with you? Care to give me your story? From the way you snapped at Cafka, you don’t seem on very good terms with that rodent."
"R-rodent, sir?"
"Yeah, he fled the ship when shit hit the fan. I took over along with Lady Death."
"She’s still alive?"
"Sure am, Scar," Gremory chimed in as she stood next to me. "Long time no see. In all honesty, I thought you were dead."
"Hah! I’m not so easy to kill, though they did whittle us down to—well, this is all that remains of the third that was sent to the Hydra system."
"How about you come over so we can have a proper chat," Gremory offered. "I promise, the Admiral won’t do anything to you or the ships, but the Quazzarian derelict belongs to us."
The Captain narrowed her eyes on Gremory’s, studying her for any possible untruths.
"First off, how about you tell me what the hell happened with that bastard? Once you’ve told me the story, I might take you up on your offer."
"I killed both of his sons," I stated as coldly as I could.
"You what?" she snapped. "And you’re still alive?"
"Unless this is a recording or a hologram, yes, I’m very much alive, Captain."
"Very well. I’ll join you in one hour along with the other captains. Is that alright?"
"Sure is, Captain. Looking forward to meeting and having a chat with you. Especially if you’re an old friend of Lady Death," I replied and put up a smile that was as fake as it felt. Something about this situation didn’t feel right, though Gremory recognized the woman. Whatever, we’d cross that bridge when we came to it.
"Cut off the stream," Gremory whispered and made a cutting motion behind my back. A second later, the screen went dark.
"What is it?" I asked. "Everything alright?"
"I don’t know. She looks like the Captain I used to know, but something’s off."
"Yeah, I’
ve got the same feeling," I replied and turned to the Sensors officer. "Esma, the moment they make way for Devil, scan them, both their ships as well as the transporter they’ll be using."
"Yes, Admiral. I’ll let you know once we’ve got the first readings."
"Good. Gremory, you’re with me. Kris, take over the bridge," I said as I strolled toward the double doors. "Wait, how about you take over as the acting Captain. I can’t afford for Gremory to be stuck on the bridge when I need her out there," I said, pointing toward the derelict ship. "Is that alright with you?"
Gremory shrugged.
"Sure, if you put me in charge of the new ship."
"Hah! How about you ask me if I’m fine with it?" Kris mock-laughed.
"Are you?"
"Yeah, but—"
"Let us know if anything happens, Captain," I cut her off with a wink.
"You know, changing Captains so often and giving out ranks isn’t very smart," Gremory whispered as we exit the bridge.
"Well, they’ll have to put up with it. It’s how it is, and situations change. I’m not gonna ground the strongest person beside me and risk dying out there without proper back-up."
"True, true. It was time you appreciated my power. Anyway, what did you need me for?"
"To talk about the legion’s past. Who is that woman, and why weren’t they with Devil when we left Earth?"
"Well, that’s an easy one, but if anyone had found out, they might have hunted the task-force," she replied and looked around as if someone might have overheard us.
"You do know it doesn’t matter if anyone knows anymore, right?"
"Yeah, yeah. Just a force of habit. Anyway, the thing is that Scar did the impossible and survived a raid on enemy territory, but the first son you killed was with her, so she traded her and the survivor’s freedom for his son. It was a very smart move on her behalf, but from what I remember, that force was at least five times larger. I wonder what happened to them."