The Beginning of the End (Universe in Flames Book 4)

by Christian Kallias

  Crap!

  He called engineering.

  “Yanis, status on these power modifications of yours?”

  “You’re shitting me, right? Your last jump disabled yet another conduit. Whatever time I needed before has just tripled.”

  “Chase out.”

  Chase realized he had been terribly rude with his friend, but the fact that he didn’t even know if his friend’s sister was alive or dead made matters even worse.

  Three ceiling bulkhead panels fell down when the next set of torpedoes impacted the Hope’s shields. They almost fell on Sarah and Ryonna, but Chase stopped them with his mind and threw them to the side.

  “Thanks,” said Sarah.

  “Anytime,” added Chase.

  The next laser-fire impact went through the shields that were no longer up on the port side. Part of deck three exploded and metal and other debris was sucked out into space.

  Chase erected a force field on that deck.

  Not going to end well at all.

  Chase turned the Hope on its axis to present the starboard shields in an attempt to delay the inevitable but, while rotating, the ship moaned and the lights inside the bridge turned off.

  Not now!

  A laser pierced the bridge viewport. Chase tried to intercept it with his mind but was too late.

  When it was about to incinerate both Sarah and Ryonna, a shield rose around both of them and absorbed the blast. It also protected them from the explosive decompression that followed.

  Chase didn’t know if he should be in awe of his yet-to-be-born child’s powers or scared of them. For the time being that save had been a godsend, but he was wary of what that could mean in the future.

  The decompression sucked a lot of equipment from the bridge out into space before the automatic force fields kicked in.

  The blue-tinged field flashed multiple times. The power within the ship was too low and soon it would fail.

  “We have to abandon ship,” said Chase out loud.

  “Chase!” exclaimed Sarah pointing in front of her.

  That’s when Chase saw it. The Zarlack ship blocked the light coming from the system’s blue star and plunged the bridge into total darkness.

  The enemy’s destroyer charged its main plasma guns and opened fire.

  * * *

  When Ares arrived on the surface of Droxia with the battle droids, a city exploded in the distance. The shockwave traveled in their direction really quickly.

  “Brace yourselves!” shouted Ares to the droid army.

  The Gaia droid took a defensive stance and all the other droids took the same stance a fraction of a second later.

  The shockwave hit them full force and most of them skid a few yards back until it had passed. Ares hadn’t moved an inch, his non-corporeal form unaffected.

  “We need to act fast. There’s no way Chase can defeat both of these Furies. We need to get one of them out of commission, or at the very least wound him, before I can bring him here to finish him off. Perhaps that would give the other one pause.”

  “I’ve located the nearest Fury about fifty miles to the north of here. We’re going to intercept him right away. Perhaps you should go get Chase?”

  “I will come with you to see if I can be of assistance.”

  “As you wish,” said Gaia as she flew into the air.

  The other droids followed as she flew north. After the fifty miles they started their descent. They landed one after the other in front of General Arkoolis.

  “What do we have here?” he said with a smirk. “I don’t remember seeing these guys before. Too bad you’re just a bunch of tin cans.”

  The general extended his right hand and sent a fireball towards the droids. The targeted droid deflected the fireball with its hand as its shield lit up. The fireball flew into the sky.

  “Interesting. Finally some challenge. This might not be a boring day after all.”

  At least fifteen droids launched towards the general and delivered highly complex combos of punches, knees and kicks. The general blocked each of the attacks but had to take a few steps back in the process. He grew his aura and unleashed a war cry that sent a powerful shockwave all around him, flooring all fifteen droids. But the next wave was already on its way.

  The general blocked the incoming attacks with ease. He sent three droids to the ground and decapitated a fourth with a powerful hook kick. Sparks shot from the droid’s neck. The general was so distracted fighting another ten droids that he was surprised when the decapitated droid grabbed him from behind.

  “What the hell?” The droid immobilized Arkoolis with all four limbs. “I thought I had killed that thing already.”

  The droid electrified itself and a large jolt of electricity passed through the general.

  The other droids all unleashed plasma shots towards the general. The area around Arkoolis exploded repeatedly. The rest of the droids flew into the air to improve their angle of attack and add their own firepower to the mix. Five droids fired a blue ray of energy towards the Gaia droid and it syphoned the energy from them. It then created a huge, blue fireball between its hands. It shot it into the mix, and the already fiery battlefield exploded even more. The ground all around the point of impact split in multiple places. Stones, sand and water shot upwards through the cracks. The water extinguished the fire and generated a lot of smoke, which engulfed most of the droid army.

  When the dust settled and the smoke dissipated, the general was still standing in the center of it all. He was covered with burns and bruises, but the droid that had delivered the electrical jolt throughout his body was gone. His teeth were clenched and he looked seriously pissed.

  Without warning he shot two columns of powerful red energy in front of him that incinerated ten of the droids upon impact. Burning hot metal scrap and wiring hit the ground.

  All remaining droids but Gaia’s launched themselves at the Fury. But they all hit air. Some knocked into each other in their momentum. The Fury re-appeared high in the sky and prepared a giant fireball above his head and he threw it towards the tightly packed group of droids.

  Gaia’s droid intercepted the attack, extending both its open palms and syphoning every last bit of its energy.

  “Impressive,” said Arkoolis, “but ultimately futile.”

  He disappeared and reappeared right next to the Gaia droid and sent it flying miles away with a powerful knee blow to the droid’s thorax. The droid impacted the ground far from its point of departure and a sandy cloud rose on the horizon.

  “Now where were we?” Arkoolis reacquired visual contact with the droids he had tried blowing up a few moments before.

  The droids split up and flew into the air, forming a sphere around him.

  He didn’t wait for them to make their move but started attacking one droid after the other. He moved at such incredible speeds it looked as if he was teleporting between each of the vicious punches and kicks he delivered to the droid army. While their shielding protected them from the blunt-force impact of Arkoolis’ blows, they were still sent away, flying miles in every direction.

  Ares appeared next to Gaia’s droid as she was getting back up.

  “How’s it going?”

  “Not well. That Fury is toying with the droid army. I think he enjoys the fight, just like Chase enjoyed fighting against the three units at 2 Gs when we first showed him the training facility.”

  “How much more powerful do you think this Fury is compared to Chase?”

  “It’s difficult to say. He seems slightly faster than Chase—at least most of the time—but it’s possible he hasn’t yet revealed all of his potential.”

  “What do you mean ‘most of the time’?”

  “When Chase enters that mode in which he is enraged, he is considerably faster than what I’ve seen from this Fury today.”

  “That’s good to know.”

  “I’m not so sure. It took Chase the thought of losing Sarah to enter that mode. What if he cannot enter it anymore?
He didn’t reach that level of power while training, no matter how much stronger he has become.”

  “I’m sure he’ll prevail. He has to.”

  “You do realize you’re putting an entire world in the balance?”

  “Not really. If I don’t get Chase here soon this world is forfeit anyway.”

  “That’s a correct assessment, based on the data I’ve observed.”

  “That’s a very droid thing to say.”

  “Remember that I only have a partial version of my matrix in this body. Most of my emotional subroutines won’t fit this avatar’s memory banks.”

  “Right. What’s next?”

  “Either you have a way to even the odds a little, or this Fury could wipe us out the moment he gets bored of the tickling we are inflicting on him.”

  “Tickling, huh?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Alright, let’s get back in there. I’ll see what I can do to level the playing field.”

  “Whatever you want to do, I suggest you do it fast.”

  “Understood.”

  The Gaia’s droid flew back towards general Arkoolis and unleashed a flurry of plasma shots at him upon approach.

  Arkoolis deflected the first five shots and blocked the last one with his right palm, making it vanish by closing his fist.

  Then the ground around Arkoolis started glowing with a slight, golden hue. Stones and sand grains shook and vibrated.

  The general felt the gravity increase.

  “That’s a neat trick.”

  The next wave of droids unleashed a series of terrible blows towards Arkoolis, who managed to dodge and block almost every attack. But every once in a while a punch, a kick, or even a plasma shot, scored him. In these rare instances, his purple metallic armor took most of the force and deflected the plasma with no sign of serious damage.

  Ares’ tactic of artificially augmenting the gravity in a localized area around the Fury seemed to be working. The more the droids attacked the general, the more he was hit. But he fought with all his might and lowered the number of enemies with well-timed and perfectly aimed fireballs.

  The Gaia droid entered the mix and scored a full series of combo attacks that sent the general to the ground for the first time.

  He spat blood on the ground and got up. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked at his own blood.

  * * *

  The Phoenix had recharged more than half its shields when it emerged from the Maticora’s shadow and entered the fight against the Zarlack ships. The fourth destroyer which was orbiting Droxia rejoined the other three and it’s added firepower gave the Zarlacks the upper hand again as they went back onto the offensive.

  Six jump points formed near the battlefield, and for a moment Ronan and Arknon thought the Zarlacks had brought in reinforcements, but their instruments displayed a friendly signature. The ships were Obsidian.

  “This is Emperor Raxin to Earth Alliance ships. We were in the area when we intercepted a distress call sent towards Earth. Engaging the enemy now.”

  The added firepower of the Obsidian ships, though far less advanced than both Droxian and Earth Alliance destroyers, brought balance again between the opposing fleets.”

  The Phoenix concentrated her fire on the nearest Zarlack destroyer, pounding it with battery laser fire and torpedoes. But the damn destroyer’s shields were so strong it had only a limited impact. No matter how many ships fired upon those behemoth destroyers, their shields never seemed to waver. But then one of the newer design Alliance ships flew in front of the Phoenix and hit the Zarlacks with their powerful new plasma guns. It took a good portion of their target’s shields. In response the Zarlack sent a full volley of torpedoes towards their target, already maneuvering away.

  Three torpedoes that were meant for the Earth Alliance destroyer struck the port shields of the Phoenix and brought them down to fifteen percent.

  The Phoenix’s batteries stopped firing.

  “Ronan? What happened?”

  “That last salvo took out our weapons.”

  “Most of our shields as well,” said Arknon.

  “I think we’d better try to take out one of the Furies on the surface. While the destruction in the northern hemisphere seems to have paused, the destruction in the south is still continuing at an alarming rate. Another five major cities have been obliterated. We need to make it stop.”

  “How do you propose we do that?”

  “Just like we’ve discussed earlier: we crash the ship right on top of that Fury. I don’t care how powerful these beings are, that has to kill them.”

  “We’ll kill whomever is in the area of the crash, that’s for sure.”

  “They’ll die anyway if we don’t do anything.”

  “Right. Let me clear it with the admiral first.”

  Arknon opened a channel to the Manticora.

  “Admiral, requesting permission to leave the fleet. We’re almost out of shields. We’ve just lost weapons as well and we believe we can do a better job trying to eradicate one of the Furies on the planet.”

  “Is that what is destroying our cities one by one? Furies?”

  “From the intel we’ve received there are two Furies down on the surface at the moment.”

  “What? Only two individuals are responsible for inflicting so much damage?”

  “I know it’s hard to believe. We’ll try to remove one from the equation until reinforcements arrive.”

  “How so? If they are so powerful I doubt our weaponry will do the trick.”

  “We’re thinking of ramming the Phoenix into one of them.”

  There was silence.

  “Any other day I would plain refuse this course of action, but today . . . today is Armageddon, and we stand on the brink of total annihilation.”

  “Does that mean we have a go?”

  “Yes, Captain. How do you intend to get off the ship yourselves?”

  “Escape pods.”

  “That’s a risky proposition at best.”

  “We know, but we must try.”

  “I agree. Good luck. May the prophets of Droxia be with you.”

  “Thank you, Admiral. May they be with you as well.”

  Arknon vectored the Phoenix towards Droxia and pushed the sub-light engines to maximum.

  “Ronan, see if you can lock onto the coordinates of the Fury in the southern hemisphere. Time to see if crashing a destroyer on its face will kill a Fury.”

  “I’ve located his position. Crap!”

  “What is it, Ronan?”

  “He’s near the city where my uncle Jonas lives.”

  “Can we try to hail him?”

  “Already opening that channel.” There were a few seconds of silence. “There’s no answer.”

  “Perhaps he fled the area. I take it there’s utter panic on Droxia at the moment.”

  “I sure hope so.”

  “It was your idea to crash the ship. If you want to reconsider . . .”

  “No, don’t worry. The admiral was right. Today we face extinction, and sacrifices have to be made. We’re about to doom anyone still alive on this ship anyway. I don’t have the right to put my uncle before any of them.”

  “Spoken like a true Droxian.”

  Not far from Arknon a female Droxian regained consciousness.

  “Are you alright, Lieutenant?”

  She held her head in her hands. “I-I think so. Where’s the captain?”

  “I’m afraid he didn’t make it. I’m in command now.”

  “Anything I can do to help?”

  “In fact there is. We’re about to crash this ship on the planet’s surface. I need you to locate survivors throughout the ship, then you and whomever you find should locate an escape pod and abandon ship.”

  Her eyes grew wide.

  “Do you need me to repeat that order, Lieutenant?”

  She straightened up and saluted. “No, Captain, as you command.”

  She took a portable scanner and
left the bridge.

  “Do you think there are many people alive on board?” asked Ronan.

  “The life-signs sensors are damaged, but I think we would have encountered more crewmen by now if there were any who had regained consciousness. None tried contacting the bridge either, so either internal communications are down or only a handful survived.”

  “Then why did you give her that assignment?”

  “To keep her occupied while we approach Droxia. Who knows, maybe she’ll save a life or two in the process.”

  * * *

  It felt as if time had slowed down to a crawl when Chase looked at the incoming plasma fire from the Zarlack destroyer. Could he stop it with his mind? He could try, but the risk of creating an anomaly was very real. Would the ship survive the impact in their currently low-powered state?

  But then something happened.

  The Destiny exited hyperspace and positioned itself to protect the Hope and take the hit instead.

  Chase exhaled deeply as time resumed a normal pace, his rapid heartbeat a reminder of how precious it was to be alive.

  “That was too close for comfort,” said Sarah.

  The Hope received a hail. “Everyone alright over there?” asked Commodore Saroudis.

  “Better than the rest of the fleet, thanks to you. We’ve lost a lot of ships”

  “Well, thanks to your insisting on getting the Destiny away from the battlegroup, you were able to spare one more.”

  “Believe me, I had no idea what would happen.”

  “And yet your instinct was right once again.”

  “I’m unsure about that. We’ve lost a lot of good people today, Commodore.”

  “Don’t second guess yourself, Chase. What’s done is done. Let’s keep fighting. We’ll have time to worry about this later.”

  Chase realized it was the first time the commodore had addressed him by his first name for a while. It felt good.

  “I guess so. Thank you, Commodore, we could really use the assist.”

  “You should retreat and effect the necessary repairs. I’ll get that last bogie out of the sky for you.”

  “Roger that. Commodore, we’ll also try to see if anybody survived the initial blast that took out most of our fleet.”