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

by Christian Kallias

  “Very well. The Destiny will join the search once I’m done here.”

  “Sarah, please scan for survivors in the debris field. Let’s see if we can render assistance to the disabled ships as well.”

  “I’m on it.”

  Ryonna sat next to Chase.

  “We have to jump back to Droxia now.”

  “I understand how you feel, Ryonna. We will go soon, I promise. But please give me just a few moments to try to locate Fillio first.”

  Ryonna seemed annoyed, but she knew better than to push Chase.

  “I also suspect Ares has a way for me to reach Droxia faster than by jumping there.”

  “How is that even possible?”

  “He has clearly acquired a new set of powers since Argos killed him. Tar’Lock told me how Ares took control of his body to bring the arena’s force field down when we were fighting the Titan.”

  “He has told me that story as well.”

  “Where is he, by the way?”

  “I slipped him a sedative in his food earlier on. He was getting on my nerves.”

  Chase smiled.

  “Then we should let him sleep this one off. I doubt he could be of any use to us anyway.”

  Chase reached with his mind to try to locate a working StarFury. He was unsuccessful with the first three but the fourth one his mind probed seemed to be in flying order, even though it was heavily damaged.

  He scanned the area with the Hope’s sensors, trying to locate Fillio’s craft. It took a while but he located her fighter. It was in really bad shape. One of its wings had been torn off and it was currently drifting towards some of the larger debris from one of the Droxian destroyers. He punched the engines of his remote StarFury and vectored towards her.

  “Fillio! Can you hear me? Please respond.”

  There was no answer.

  He expanded his mind and focused his thoughts on her starfighter. Life support was erratic at best. Pushing his mind further allowed him to hear a heartbeat, but it was very faint. He needed to get to her quickly. His StarFury entered tractor beam range in the nick of time, and he successfully locked onto her before her fighter collided with the debris. He brought the ship back onboard the Hope.

  A few seconds later Chase witnessed the Destiny blowing the last Zarlack destroyer to kingdom come with its main guns.

  He opened a channel to Yanis.

  “Yanis, you should meet me in landing bay three.”

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “It’s Fillio.”

  “Is . . . Is she alright?”

  Chase could feel the fear in his friend’s voice. “I don’t know yet.”

  “On my way!”

  Chase looked at Sarah for a second and then flew out of the bridge.

  When he arrived in landing bay three, his StarFury was just arriving with whatever was left of Fillio’s fighter in tow.

  The damage to her StarFury was extensive. Smoke still escaped from the engines. Most of the armor plating on one side of the craft was gone, revealing circuitry that spewed sparks onto the deck. Her cockpit’s windshield was cracked.

  He flew above the nose of the craft and saw her. He could no longer sense her life signs. Losing no time, he tore off the canopy and threw it to one side. He carefully took her in his arms and levitated back to towards the deck, where he gently laid her on the cold metal floor.

  Yanis arrived.

  She was badly wounded, with many electrical burns and bleeding wounds. Probably some internal bleeding as well.

  Chase put his hands on her and started healing her. The surface wounds were taken care of quickly, but something was wrong. He could usually sense a positive feedback and life being injected back into the people he healed, but for some reason it didn’t work this time. Was she too far gone?

  “Is she going to be okay?” asked Yanis, barely able to breathe.

  “I . . . I don’t know.”

  “Don’t you dare let her die! You promised you would protect her.”

  Chase’s eyes burned with the beginning of tears.

  Why isn’t it working? Why isn’t she healing, dammit?

  Chase emptied his mind and tried to push his healing abilities to the maximum, but to no avail. He could not sense life flowing into her.

  That’s when he heard a voice inside his mind. It’s okay, Chase, you can let me go now.

  No! Fillio, please fight this! Let me revive you.

  I’m tired, Chase. I’ve been tired of all of this for a while now. Please, if our friendship ever meant anything to you, then you’ll let me go.

  I can’t. I promised your brother I’d protect you no matter what.

  It wasn’t your fault. I’ve always loved you, you know that. Please tell Daniel and Yanis I’m sorry. Goodbye, Chase.

  Chase removed his hands and looked down in horror, still in shock.

  What was that? Could he speak to souls now?

  “I’m so sorry, Yanis. She’s gone”

  “NO! I beg you, please save her.”

  “I did all I could, trust me.”

  “Bullshit! I’ve seen you heal people before. Why can’t you heal my sister?” Yanis’ eyes were filled with tears. “I beg you, Chase, please, try again!”

  Chase gave her mouth to mouth then opened his palm. Multiple electrical bolts ran between his fingers. He put his hand on her chest and sent an electric shock to her heart. He did it again and again, alternating it with his healing light.

  “Don’t give up,” said Yanis, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

  “Yanis,” tried Chase.

  “No, you keep doing it! No matter how long it takes.”

  Chase knew she was gone already. There was nothing more he could do. He kept trying to resuscitate her for ten more minutes, even though he knew it was in vain.

  Then, when he couldn’t take it anymore, he stopped and rose to his feet.

  “Don’t stop, Chase!” ordered Yanis.

  “I’m sorry. She’s gone.”

  Yanis rose and pushed Chase.

  “She’s not gone until I say so. Get back to her, NOW!”

  Chase shook his head.

  “You son of bitch! She’s my sister. You killed her with your dumb-ass bravado.”

  That stung Chase right in the heart. Fillio and he had been very close at one point, and he never imagined he would be responsible for her death. Was he responsible? Could he have anticipated the Zarlack’s destructive strategy? He could have at least made sure she had jumped with them, but in the midst of it all, the truth is he only thought of Sarah and Chris. So perhaps it was his fault.

  Yanis pounded Chase’s chest.

  “I’m so sorry, Yanis, and perhaps you’re right, it is my fault. Please forgive me.”

  Yanis took a step back and looked at him with a mixture of anger and despair in his tear-filled eyes.

  “Forgive you? No way! I don’t forgive you. I fucking hate you!”

  Then Yanis fell to his knees and let himself fall on his sister’s dead body as he sobbed uncontrollably for what felt like an eternity.

  C H A P T E R

  XII

  General Arkoolis was not used seeing his own blood, but he liked the fact that finally this mission was turning into something other than a borefest of meaningless destruction with no real challenge.

  “That was an impressive display, and the gravity shift’s a neat trick. But I haven’t used my full powers yet. You’re gonna regret spilling my blood.”

  Seven of the droids answered by launching themselves towards the general.

  “I don’t think so,” he said, sending a powerful shockwave their way.

  It stopped them in their tracks and they stayed paralyzed in midair.

  “This has gone long enough.”

  He slashed both his hands in the air and all seven droids were cut into pieces. He finished them off with a series of powerful fireballs.

  The ground shook and the gravity increased even more. The general looked down
for a brief moment.

  The rest of the droids, all of them except the red-and-silver droid, launched themselves at him and a terrible battle ensued. They were less affected by the gravity shift than he was and they landed more blows over time. The tactic seemed to work as more bruises formed and more blood was spilled.

  The droids were everywhere around the general, landing more blows, when he jumped high in the sky. He lost no time preparing a gigantic fireball and sent it back towards the ground, right into the midst of the droids. Thanks to the high gravity the fireball reached the ground in a fraction of a second, preventing Gaia from intervening and syphoning its energy as she had done before.

  The resulting explosion unearthed trees all around, and when the dust settled, there was a large crater at the point of impact. Parts of destroyed droids were disseminated over the crater’s surface.

  “Mechanical fools.”

  When the general landed back near the crater, the Gaia droid, the only remaining one, approached him.

  “Looks like I’ve missed one.”

  “I won’t be that easy to dispatch.”

  “So these things talk.”

  Gaia took an offensive posture.

  “You don’t really think you have a shadow of a chance of defeating me? No matter how strong the gravity is.”

  “We’re about to find out.”

  Gaia extended both hands with open palms and fired two extremely powerful shots of plasma.

  The general blocked the attack with both his palms but was surprised by the strength of the streams of plasma. He clenched his teeth, showing a little blood on them.

  Gaia advanced while she maintained the streams of plasma energy. Once she was only a few yards from her target she stopped firing and landed a hook kick to the Fury’s head, making him lose balance. She didn’t wait and catapulted him into the air with a powerful uppercut. She followed him upwards into the air and fired another stream of plasma energy. It hit him in the torso and sent him flying backwards at great speed towards the ground.

  “Now, Ares!”

  Ares understood what that meant and teleported away into the Alpha Prime system.

  When the general hit the ground he skidded for more than three miles, leaving a trail of flying stones, soil and grass.

  At 4 Gs, Gaia clearly had the upper hand, but now that Ares was gone, the gravity returned to its original strength.

  Fortunately, it took a while for general Arkoolis to recover from the last blow.

  Gaia checked the internal power levels of her avatar droid. Power was at sixty percent. She wouldn’t be able to use similar attacks too often or she’d run out of juice pretty quickly. The little reprieve allowed her to reprogram her attack matrix with the logs from the fight the other droids had with the Fury. It should prove helpful in devising the best attack and defensive patterns upon his return.

  General Arkoolis stood and dusted himself off. He had a few more burns and bruises, but lost no time before shooting into the air and flying back to the fight. He landed only yards from Gaia.

  “That was quite unexpected and impressive. For a tin can, anyway.”

  The Fury grew his aura and soon all his bruises and burns healed. Except for a few scorch marks on his armor he looked as good as new.

  * * *

  The Phoenix was about to enter Droxia’s atmosphere when Ronan thought of something.

  “Arknon, are we gonna survive re-entry in our current state?”

  Arknon crunched some numbers on his terminal before answering. “There’s a sixty percent chance we will. We’re about to find out. It’s too late to change course.”

  “This is going to be a rough ride.”

  “We only have a handful of seconds before we hit the upper atmosphere. Make sure the coordinates are locked.”

  Ronan double checked the targeted Fury and saw he was on the move.

  “Dammit!”

  “What is it, Ronan?”

  “He’s moving again. He’s heading towards the next city.”

  “The one where your uncle lives?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s safe to assume that’s his next target. You should probably lock these coordinates in.”

  “I’m locking it three miles outside of town on his approach vector.”

  “Why? I understand your feelings, but will it really make any difference?”

  “I’m not thinking of trying to give my uncle a chance. He’s either gone from there or he’s dead anyway. But this particular Fury never entered any of the cities he has destroyed today. He always stood two to three miles away while he launched his destructive attacks.”

  “Dishonorable bastard. Then shoot for two and a half miles. Law of average kind of thing?”

  “Right. Coordinates locked.”

  “Entering the atmosphere now. I’m boosting the engines to their maximum. We’re gonna lose control of the ship soon.”

  The ship rocked heavily and Ronan and Arknon had to hold their consoles so as not be thrown out of their respective seats. The lights on the bridge flickered, and the previously damaged bulkheads and dislocated hardware were thrown around, creating a very unsafe environment.

  “Why don’t these seats have belts?”

  “That’s a good question, but perhaps we should think of going to the escape pods soon. Less than a minute until impact.”

  “Right,” said Ronan. “We should go n—”

  A power conduit next to Ronan blew and engulfed him with blue flames. He was badly burned and thrown to the side. He skidded until his head hit a nearby console.

  “Ronan!” Arknon tried to reach his friend but the vibrations and movement cause by re-entry made it difficult for him to walk straight without stumbling.

  “Are you alright?”

  Ronan had lost consciousness, and had serious burns to half his face.

  Realizing there was no more time, he reached his unconscious friend and that’s when he saw them.

  “Gravity boots.”

  He quickly removed his own boots and took Ronan’s. He activated the gravity lock and grabbed Ronan by the collar as he started running.

  There were explosions the whole way to the nearest escape pods, those meant for the bridge’s crew. Several times debris and loose plating hit the duo of Droxians, but Arknon, dragging Ronan in tow, arrived at their destination. They only had a few seconds before impact. He threw Ronan inside the first pod, closed it and pressed the manual release. There was no time to strap him down, meaning much less chance of survival. Ronan’s pod flew away from the ship.

  He ran to the next pod and punched it, but was rewarded with shooting sparks that burned his face. All instruments within the pod flashed red.

  Time had almost run out, but he quickly jumped into the next pod.

  Last chance!

  He tried to punch the launch control but the ship rocked so heavily he was catapulted out of the pod and thrown against the nearest bulkhead. He heard and felt most of the ribs on his right side shatter. The pain was unbearable.

  Then he felt the heat and looked to his side. Approaching rapidly was a series of fireballs, each bigger than the last.

  The ship was few milliseconds away from being obliterated, and him with it. He pushed with his legs with as much strength as he could muster and launched himself back inside the pod, striking his shoulder on the way. He punched the controls for ejection. The doors closed and he was pushed forward by the acceleration, hitting his skull on the pod’s windshield.

  The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was flames everywhere.

  * * *

  Miseo had arrived at the next big city, and as with every other city before he was greeted by whatever pathetic ground and flying military forces the Droxians had. They were in much greater numbers this time. This city did look like one of the biggest, perhaps even the capital. Not that it mattered. In minutes it would be leveled.

  Three waves of in-atmosphere fighters approached and opened fire upon Mis
eo.

  When will these miserable insects understand that their weapons are useless against us?

  But Miseo was in a playful mood. He enjoyed ripping the planes to shreds one by one, using telekinesis or fireballs, or sometimes just passing through them with his own body. Soon the sky was filled with explosions from the carnage he inflicted on the incoming squadrons.

  Tanks on the ground started firing their energy blasts towards him. He purposefully vectored towards them, deflecting the few lucky shots that managed to come his way with the palm of his hand. When he landed, the full force of his current velocity created a large crater, and the resulting shockwave pushed half the tanks onto their side.

  Miseo’s eyes flashed red and he fired thin laser beams, destroying one tank after another.

  A giant hand made of metal hit him in the face. One of the mechs had landed a lucky shot while he was distracted by the tanks.

  Miseo’s response was as lethal as it was fast. He waved his hand forward at such speed that the mech exploded from the impact of his kinetic attack.

  Pieces of burning metal, wiring and screws landed all around him.

  He smiled, but the ground started shaking and he looked behind him. A full platoon of these mechs was running towards him like a herd of wild animals. They all opened fire simultaneously.

  He put both his hands in front of him and created a powerful shield that absorbed every shot.

  This is rather fun. Futile, but fun.

  When the first salvo had ended and the mechs all switched to either giant, metallic knives or light-blades, he sent a volley of fireballs into their midst and destroyed most of them. The cascading explosions knocked the others off their feet and into the dust.

  He felt a strange sensation around his waist. The same sensation repeated around his shoulders, and then his arms. Pretty soon he couldn’t move.

  He looked at his body and saw blue energy bands restricting his movements. The more he moved the stronger the counteracting force was.

  Interesting weapon.

  A platoon of foot soldiers had fired at him and temporarily paralyzed him.

  With a single thought he blew most of the soldiers up from the inside out. Blood and guts splashed the other Droxians. Their eyes filled with terror.