“I cannot remove it,” said Delta. “It looks like it was seared on from the heat and fire damage from whatever caused the damage on the outside hull.”
“I’ll try up here,” said Lake as he moved to the pilot’s seat.
He strapped himself inside and pressed several button and flipped switched on the suit’s command terminal, but nothing happened. No lights flashed, the computers didn’t boot up, and not even the sound of valves engaging was heard. Lake was the only one making a sound as he pressed buttons and flipped switches, hoping that something would bring the Iron Knight come back to life. He banged his fist on the terminal and sighed.
“Dammit!” He shouted before turning to Delta to see her removing a wire from the back of her neck and connecting it to a port on the android’s neck. “Delta, what are you doing?”
“I’m going to transfer a copy of my conscience into hers. She’s a pilot after all. The damage might be extensive, but since she’s already connected to the suit, it’s possible I can get it to work if I’m successful.”
Lake knew it was risky for Delta to upload a copy of her system into the android to get it back to operational order. There was always a chance she could overload her own system.
“Delta…” Lake swallowed his warning when the android looked at him with a certain determination.
“I’m doing this, Lake. It won’t take long.”
Several moments passed before Delta opened her eyes. Lake could see from the disappointing expression that etched her features that her plan didn’t work, and they were back to square one. Her sad expression shifted suddenly when the sounds of hurried footsteps approaching grabbed their attention as several in a panic, screaming at them.
“Something is happening outside,” Delta said, as she turned to Lake.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Lake exited the suit, walked swiftly over the catwalk and slid down the ladder to the floor. Delta exited the cockpit and followed closely on his heels.
Thoughts of the pirates attacking them already struck fear into Lake. They unprepared for such an attack, however, they heard no screams, blaster or cannon fire in the distance. Getting close, they ran through the corridor back into the medical bay and into the cave. He removed the Ripper from his holster, holding it up, ready for anything once he exited the cave. But, there wasn’t a sound to be heard, no fighting in the distance, screams or cries of pain. There was nothing happening as they approached the outside of the cave.
They came to a quick stop when their eyes fell upon Nadal-Ti and Blurb, who lay on the ground, unmoving. Nadal-Ti sat on her knees bound and gagged with her eyes wide. She shouted muffled warnings to Lake and Delta as they exited the cave. Taran Lo stood by their side, holding one of Nadal-Ti’s blasters in his hand, his eyes puffy and red.
“What the hell is—”
Delta’s scream interrupted Lake as he was forced to watch Bulgrim grab hold of her and hold Nadal-Ti’s other blaster to her head.
“Drop it!” Bulgrim ordered.
“Okay, okay,” said Lake. Without question, he dropped his Ripper and raised his hands high.
“Back away—now!”
Lake did as instructed as his eyes met with Bulgrim’s. A grim smirk creased the man’s thin lips.
“What are you doing Bulgrim? We saved you!”
“That’s Captain to you. Captain Voldo Blackvoid!”
Chapter Six
A Captain’s Duty
“What did you do to Blurb?” Lake asked panicked at the site of his friend.
“Nothing. He passed out right after we took them captive,” Bulgrim—or rather, Blackvoid—answered. His attention went to Delta who struggled in his grasp. “And you, quit ya squirmin’ android, it’s useless! This arm’s inhanced like the rest of me, and I’m stronger than you—move again and I’ll kill all your friends!”
Delta tried to struggle, but there was little she could do. Inhancement surgery completely replaced the bone and muscles of the recipients with mechanized metal, increasing their strength and resistance of the inhanced limb tenfold. Looking into Lake’s eyes, he nodded, and she settled still, following the pirate’s orders, her arms falling limp.
“I’m—I’m sorry!” Taran said. “He made me—”
“Shut up! Not another word outta you!” Blackvoid snarled and his attention fell on Lake, whose arms were still held high above his head. “You—kid… Lake Strider. Tell me, what d‘ya find down there?”
“Nothing, we—”
“Try again!” Blackvoid fired a blast at Lake’s feet before quickly aiming the smoking pistol back against Delta’s head. “Lie to me again and there will be android parts all over the dirt!”
“Okay! Just—don’t do it—”
“Hurry up! Speak!”
“We found an old Iron Knight suit in an abandoned imperial military post hidden under the mountain,” Lake said through gritted teeth. “But it isn’t operational.”
“You’re lying,” said Blackvoid, as he pushed the blaster hard onto Delta’s metal skull. “You expect me to believe an Iron Knight suit—the armor of the resistance to the empire is in a cave? I warned—”
“I’m not lying!”
“He’s not—we found an Iron Knight suit. The pilot had died in a cryostasis chamber,” Delta said.
“Looks like I hit the jackpot then,” said Blackvoid with a grin that disgusted Lake. “I never was the patient type, but it looks like it paid off. Not only do I get a Pilot class android, but a suit of the traitorous Iron Knights as well. It must be my lucky day. Seeing as how I was once a soldier in the empire before the Darkness cut everything off, I think it’s only fitting that I finally get my hands on one of those bad boys! I spent weeks searching this part of the system for some good bounty and came up short until we spotted you.”
“That’s enough, I did what you asked. Now let them go!” Taran said.
“Let who go?” Blackvoid asked.
“My crew!”
“Oh, them.” Blackvoid smirked. “I already did. I let them go the minute we went into that escape pod. You may still be able to see them when we leave this rock. I’m sure they’re still floating up there somewhere!”
Blackvoid fired the blaster and shot Taran in the shoulder, causing him to drop the other twin blaster to the ground as he screamed out in pain. Blackvoid laughed as he watched in enjoyment of the man riling in pain.
“You people do not understand how long I’ve been waiting to do that,” said Blackvoid between his snickering. “The great Commander Taran Lo, Captain of the Royal Transport ship The Quinnes.” He mocked. “Breaking you over the last several months has been my personal joy.” He turned to look at the confused faces of Lake and his crew. “Let me catch you up to speed before my men arrive and destroy this crappy place. Me and my men attacked his ship and took his entire crew hostage. For the past two months, he became my personal slave. He had an arrogant sense of duty, honor and loyalty to his men. It was disgusting. So I needed to teach him a lesson in humility.”
“You’re despicable,” Lake said.
“Aren’t you a smuggler? You steal like I do, you break the law, like I do and you kill like I do. Tell me, what makes you different from me, huh?”
“I don’t kill—”
The searing pain of the plasma bolt hit Lake by surprise. He clutched his arm and cried out in pain. He fell to the ground clutching his arm before accessing the wound. It ripped through the armor of his jacket and seared pieces of it into his flesh.
“That was rhetorical! I didn’t expect you to be dumb enough to answer, but alas ya were!” Blackvoid aimed the pistol at Lake as he slowly rose to his feet. “What were you going to say, Captain Strider? That ya only kill the bad ones? The evil doers like me? Shit, I know you’re still a kid, but you can’t be that naïve, can ya? Killin’ is killin’—it don’t matter who, what or why! I can prove it right now—ya see that girl—Nadal-Ti, right? Look into her eyes—I said
look!” He ordered, causing Lake to snap a glance at Nadal-Ti as she knelt, staring daggers into Blackvoid. “You see her eyes? Those are the eyes of a cold-blooded killer, just like you and just like me. Yeah, you can say you’re killing the bad ones for all the right reasons you want, but at the end of the damn day, it’s all the same!”
Blackvoid yelled out of the blue, and it took a moment for Lake to realize why. He watched as the tip of an abuchilla’s spear broke through the mechanical components of the pirate’s enhanced arm. Blackvoid released Delta, and the android kicked him to the ground.
Lake rolled, picking up his weapon as the pirate rose0, but he was unarmed and too far away from the twin blaster that shot out of his hand when Delta attacked him.
Using his Ripper, Lake fired a single blast, but missed, as the pain from his wound affected his accuracy greatly, allowing for Blackvoid to have enough time to make a dash for the forest, avoiding a hail of spears coming from the abuchilla guards from the top of the cliff above the cave.
“Delta, cut them loose,” Lake said, before taking off into the forest after him.
He pushed through the pain as he gave chase to the pirate captain who was much faster than Lake because of his enhancements. Lake struggled to keep up until he lost sight of him. He came to a full stop to figure out which direction the man went. Catching his breath, Lake saw the boot prints heading east and began a sprint in that direction only to be tackled to the ground.
Blackvoid blindsided Lake, rolling to his feet before removing a hidden blade from under the light armor he wore. Lake’s Ripper had fallen from his hand, but he stood his ground, avoiding the wide swipes Blackvoid threw his way. Lake wished to be anywhere but there in that moment, his mind spinning to think of a solution. If he stopped Blackvoid before his pirates could reach the village, he could save everyone and Lake was willing to put his life on the line to ensure that would be the result.
“Even if I don’t kill you now, my men will be here soon and will burn that village to the ground!”
“Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?”
“One guy did, and then I gutted him in front of his crew!”
Blackvoid lunged at Lake, but missed the mark when Lake grabbed hold of his arm, turned and flipped the pirate over his shoulder onto the ground. The pirate landed on his feet, countering Lake’s attempt and pulled Lake over his own shoulder, throwing him onto the ground. The impact knocked the wind out of Lake as he landed flat on his back and his vision blurred in that instant. He quickly regained his composure. Rising, he saw Blackvoid run toward his Ripper, but failed to reach it when several blaster bolts came honing in toward him. Their source was Nadal-Ti, with fury in her eyes, causing him to run into the forest once more.
Lake picked himself up and grabbed his Ripper before giving chase, but this time Nadal-Ti was by his side. The pair didn’t get far as blaster fire ripped past them and tore up the surrounding trees. They ducked for cover behind a large tree and returned fire.
Blackvoid stood with a squadron of pirates, all holding blasters of different sizes. Some were walking, and others hung off the sides of assault class hovertanks with large blaster cannons atop the massive vehicles of destruction.
“How in the hell did they get here so fast?” Lake questioned, raising his Ripper.
“I figured two hours to prepare for the attack, but they must have prepared before they arrived!” Nadal-Ti lunged behind and tree with Lake on her heels.
They were out-gunned. Getting the pirate captain would have to wait as they had to make it back to the village to warn the others of the marching pirate army that was almost upon them.
Nadal-Ti, took a peak around the tree for a few seconds before treating back behind the cover of the tree only to hear the firing of a blaster destroying part of the tree she peered from.
“I count over one-hundred of them,” said Nadal-Ti wincing in pain from tree splinters piercing her arm from the blaster shot.
“You counted that fast?” Lake questioned before noticing the anguish on her face. “Are you okay, Ti?”
“I’ve had worse,” she responded, wincing while clutching her wound. “We need to move before they—” she lifted a blaster with her undamaged arm and fired several shots, killing three pirates as they appeared to her right. “… flank us.”
The sound of the hovertanks stopping and aiming their cannons was all that could be heard and without a word, the duo dashed quickly into the forest avoiding the cannon fire as the trees exploded behind them. They could feel the impact of the artillery destroying everything behind them. Pieces of shrapnel caught Lake in the back of the shoulder, temporarily slowing him down, only to have Nadal-Ti assist him and they continued their retreat.
They had no time to talk as they ran. The sheer panic caused Lake’s heart to race as keeping everyone safe from the pirate threat was his top priority as he ignored the piercing pain in his shoulder that his jacket did little to protect him from.
When they arrived back at the village, they found the abuchillas circling their leader, Chinsapa. Delta was watching over a motionless Blurb while Taran Lo sat on the ground with his hands buried into his face. Brushing past Lake, Nadal-Ti ran up to him without a word, straddled him, and punched him ferociously in the face. It took Lake several moments to notice as he was too busy trying to catch his breath before going after her.
“Ti, no!” He ran up to her. “Get off of him!”
Lake’s command fell on deaf ears as the sound of Nadal-Ti’s fists smashing into Taran’s face overshadowed his voice. She was lost in a fury, the likes of which Lake hadn’t seen before. He pulled her off of the defenseless man as Taran provided no resistance to her assault. The sheer brutality of her onslaught worried Lake as with a quick glance at Taran’s face told the story. It had become bloodied and swollen and he spat blood onto the ground.
“I’m going to kill him! He did this!”
“Killing him will not solve this, Ti! Calm down!” Lake said as he restrained her, holding her tightly to him as she flailed trying to escape his grasp.
“You think I wanted to do this to you people?” Taran asked. “I had no choice! My—”
“There’s always a choice, you bastard!” Nadal-Ti’s voice trembled in a anger. She struggled in Lake’s grasp. “Let me go, Lake!”
Lake held his grip on her. “Think about it, Ti, there’s an army of pirates coming to kill us all, him included! We don’t have time for this right now!”
“Army?” Delta asked.
Before Lake answered, he loosened his grip on Nadal-Ti. “You said it yourself Ti, there’s always a choice. I need you to decide right now. If I let you go, will you kill Taran? Or are you with me, Ti? I need to know that before I let you go.”
Nadal-Ti’s struggles ceased after hearing Lake’s words. After several moments of anger-induced thought, she seemed calmer, though her body was still tense. “I’m with you, Captain,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Okay… I’m going to let you go now. Just please—”
“I won’t!”
Lake released her and exhaled as she stormed away to the tree line, her fists on her hips as she calmed herself down.
“Lake, what army? Is that where the explosions came from?” Delta asked again.
“Sorry, Delta, and yes, there’s an army of pirates headed this way. The explosions you heard came from assault class hovertanks. We need to evacuate this entire village into the cave now. Please tell Chinsapa, there’s no time to spare. We have about thirty minutes, tops.”
“Right away,” Delta nodded.
She left Lake’s side as his attention quickly fell to Taran, who stood wiping the blood from his eyes and spitting more blood to the ground. Lake could hear Delta telling the abuchillas of the incoming threat. At Chinsapa’s orders, the abuchillas poured into the cave, with Delta helping to guide them inside.
“Taran, give me the reason why I just saved your life,” said L
ake with a firm demanding voice. “And it better be damn good.”
Taran cast a glance at Lake, who could see the flurry of emotions from Taran’s steel grey eyes. There was sorrow, anger, pain, a torrent of emotions that could break a normal man down and reduce him to a heap of uselessness and despair. But Taran stood tall, held his head high, the mark of a true leader and a man with no regrets.
“Lake, I wanted no part in this, but I had no choice—the lives of my men depended on it!”
“Okay Taran, start from the beginning, I want to know everything.”
“It happened over three months ago. I wasn’t lying when I told you that I was Captain of the Quinnes transport vessel delivering wincy to the trade port on Solaris Prime. Our vessel picked up a lone escape pod with two men on it, who said they were attacked and escaped from pirates—”
“I see. He ran the same con on us that he did to you,” Lake said. “He plays on the morals of others to get aboard their ship.”
“And the result was always the same. He gets aboard your ship, takes one of your men captive then calls for his men to board and take over your ship,” Taran said, looking weary. “There was little we could do to put up any form of resistance and only a small unit of royal soldiers was on board to defend against the attack and they tried, but failed. There were forty-nine of us when he took us captive and then set the Quinnes off on autopilot to the farther part of the system so no one would know what happened.”
“So the story you told us when we found you was a lie?” Nadal-Ti asked, still looking into the forest.
“Not all of it. The bodies you saw floating in space, were some of my crew he floated when he initially attacked us, when they didn’t join him. Because I was captain, he chose me to become his personal slave. To make sure my crew knew who was in charge and to get them to convert. I resisted for as long as I could until he showed me that he’d floated some of my men and I didn’t even know it. Every time I disobeyed an order he’d give me or fought back his men when they disrespected me or my men, he floated one. That’s when I stopped resisting and I did what I did in order to ensure my crew stayed alive in hopes that one day they could return to their families.”
Remnants of Hope Page 5