The Ocoda Chronicles Book 3 Ronin

by Daniel OConnell

  Ismail smiles and says, “You are a good man Sanchez. Perhaps someday we will live long enough to see if you are right.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  REMATCH

  The weeks go by quickly, as Ronin closes ever nearer to the T-Challa homeworld. Carla has ventured out several times, gathering valuable data on all the T-Challa, their activities, and probable plans. As they continue to get even closer and closer to the T-Challa home system.

  Today, however, Carla encounters something out of the ordinary.

  A strange figure appears on the horizon of the psychic plane yelling, “Hybrid! Your time is coming to an end.”

  Carla quickly puts her shields up, and scans the area seeing just the one. She checks for psychic bombs and replies, “You’re kidding, right, just one of you?”

  The creature makes itself visible, showing it to be some sort of crossbreed, combining T-Challa and Condara, as well as many other creature’s unknown to her. Its appearance is horrific, as it armors itself up and creates a psychic blade of its own, announcing, “I am my Queens champion Hybrid. My name is Slate, and I will show you the meaning of the word fear.”

  Slate creates a darkness field, which completely encircles Carla, blocking her ability to see beyond the field.

  Carla thinks Oh boy, that’s a neat trick. I can’t see where he’s coming from.

  Ronin replies, “Mistress this Slate creature is showing very powerful psychic readings.”

  Slate suddenly strikes, hitting Carla’s armor and knocking her to the ground.

  Carla quickly strikes back, but her strike misses its mark, as she can’t target the fast moving Slate.

  Carla focuses her blades and begins her psychic spin, as she slices aimlessly through the darkness. Then from above a psychic blast strikes through her blades, once again knocks her down.

  Carla now angry and unable to see decides to end the fight. She rises back up, and puts up her shields extending them outward removing the darkness, it peels away showing Slate hovering above her.

  Carla waves her arm towards him, releasing dozens of psychic blasts, but Slate moves around the blasts as the beast latches onto Carla’s shield where he releases another psychic bolt, which pierces through her shields. Carla is shocked that the bolt pierces her shield, and she barely has time to avoid it, as it glances off her armored defense.

  Carla not angry at how easily she is being beat uses her shield enveloping Slate, trapping him within her shield, and she begins to crush him.

  Slate laughs and says, “You know nothing of power Hybrid. You used this tactic before on my god. We have been trained to escape it.”

  Slate concentrates, and Carla feels the resistance of his power pushing back against her shield. She feels the energy building up, as she concentrates, trying to crush him, but Slate keeps pushing back. Finally, he is able to slip out, and back to the ground. Exhausted Slate says, “You are powerful indeed, but you are not skilled enough to be a threat.”

  Slate quickly vanishes from the plane.

  Carla now livid and frustrated thinks. How the hell am I supposed to defeat the Queen if I can’t even fight off one of her henchmen?

  Ronin replies, “Mistress, the creature has been trained in every aspect of your power. It is aware of every part of your ability, and you were not using your full power.”

  Carla frustrated replies, “Yeah Ronnie, I know, but I should have been able to mop the floor with him. Even with just this level of power that I’m using now, but he is right. I’m powerful just unskilled.”

  Ronin says, “Well Mistress, I have analyzed over seventy percent of the data your father has left. I can apply that to you now.”

  Carla smiles and says, “Yes Ronnie, go ahead, give me everything you can.”

  Ronin downloads all the information he has analyzed and transfers it directly into Carla’s mind. The information is enormous and Carla is instantly overwhelmed, as it just as quickly becomes part of her. All the technical and physical capabilities her father knew. They’re now part of her, his tactical mind, his understanding of warfare, and strategies, all these become part of her. What would have taken years to learn becomes part of Carla in just mere moments.

  Carla, still within the psychic realm is now aware of just what to do, she reaches out across the plane, and instantly reaches the edge of the T-Challa system. She can feel the presence of billions of psychic minds approaching. Carla laughs, as she yells out across the plane, “Queen your supreme warrior has no honor, and no skill. I will destroy him, as easily as I will destroy you.”

  Carla retreats to the edge of the T-Challa range, as Slate reappears again. He yells, “You question my honor Hybrid! I will slay you now!”

  Carla smiles, as she says, “Come and get me big boy.”

  Slate enraged charges at Carla. He once again tries to shroud her darkness, but Carla smiles, as she waves her arm and quickly casts his darkness attack away.

  Slate infuriated, strikes out with a massive psychic bolt.

  Carla doesn’t even flinch. She lets the psychic bolt reach her and then stops it right in front of her body. She puts her hand up, grabs his bolt from the air, and brings it to her lips where she aims it back at Slate and simply blows it back as a kiss. The bolt flies across the plane and back to Slate. The bolt is so fast, that Slate is barely able to avoid it.

  Carla now feels the presence of hundreds of these creatures appearing on the edge of the battlefield.

  Carla laughs and says, “If that’s all you have Slate, you and your people are doomed. Tell your false god I’ll be coming, and this time I will finish the job.”

  Slate now enraged strikes out sending dozens of psychic bolts, but just as before Carla freezes them all in place, and sends them back hurtling ever faster towards Slate.

  Slate does his best to avoid them, but he is wounded, as two of his own blasts strike him.

  Carla laughs and says, “Gantu’am”

  Slate is now completely enraged, he yells out in frustration, as Carla says to his audience, “I will be coming to slay your false god, and none of you can stop me.”

  Carla retreats to Ronin, where she awakes to see Sanchez, Mohammed, Abe, and Ismail, all waiting for her. She asks, “Hi guys something going on?”

  Sanchez asks, “Were you fighting in the psychic plane Miss Ocoda?”

  Abe annoyed, states, “Cut the polite crap, you all know she was. It’s the only way the ship does what it did.”

  Carla, suddenly realizing says, “Oh, sorry, I forgot when I’m not one hundred percent merged, the power systems can go a little crazy.”

  Abe now very annoyed, yells, “Crazy, crazy! You blew out hundreds of secondary relays all over the ship. You increased the ship's drive system so much so, that we only have a few days till we are in range of the T-Challa system.”

  Carla smiles and shrugs her shoulders, saying, “Oops”

  Mohammed smiles, and laughs, saying, “Little Flower, you much like your father, you have a very colorful way of understatement.”

  Ismail sighs and says, “We’ll be in range of the T-Challa defense station in just a few days, and we have less time to prepare, so ‘Oops’ well, that doesn’t really cut it.”

  Carla smirks, announcing, “Well, if it helps, I have finally been able to get most of my father’s teaching down, and I tested them out, and it worked.”

  Mohammed steps back, saying, “Little Flower, your father’s style of fighting was to make the enemy so angry that they would make mistakes.”

  Carla, smiling says, “I know, and that Gantu’am word really ticks em’ off.” Carla gets up, and heads back to her room as Ismail asks Abe, “Is your device ready?”

  Abe replies, “Mostly it is, but I have been working on a secondary idea I came up with, and that’s taking a lot of my time.”

  Ismail annoyed, says, “Abe I need that psychic super bomb working as soon as possible. We have just a few days left.”

  Abe shrugs his shoulders, saying, “Yea
h, fine, I’ll get it finished.”

  The next two days pass without incident until Ronin tells Carla telepathically, “Mistress, we are being scanned by telepaths. Our psychic shield is currently deflecting them, but as we get closer they will be more difficult to repel.”

  Carla takes a deep breath and replies, “Ok Ronnie, I guess that means it’s time for us to take our place in this fight.”

  Carla calls out to Ismail, “Ismail we have entered the sphere of the Queens influence, I will need to enter the psychic plane as soon as possible.”

  Ismail takes a few moments, then responds, “Be careful Carla, and when we tell you to retreat, you must retreat, is that understood?”

  Carla smirks and says, “Yeah, I understand, you don’t want to kill me with your secret weapon.”

  Carla doesn’t wait for Ismail’s response, she merges with Ronin, and both share in each other’s power. Carla quickly armors up, and expands her shields, protecting the crew from the psychic scans. Carla senses, hundreds of powerful minds on the outskirts of the plane, as they prepare to encircle her.

  Carla looks ahead, and sees Slate floating directly in front of her. Just within range.

  Carla smiles and says, “Gantu’am, I hope your friends are going to make this more challenging, because you’re a useless joke.”

  Slate infuriated charges Carla in a full frontal assault. Ronin alerts Carla, “Slate is carrying a psychic bomb Mistress, and it would appear that he is preparing for a suicide attack on you.”

  Carla quickly activates her strongest shield, erecting it around herself, as she focuses on the psychic plane itself, taking control of the landscape, and causing the land to become one with her. She rips into the landscape, exploding the ground from beneath Slate, causing him to stumble.

  Carla grabs him up, using her control of the psychic plane to create a giant hand and holds him in place.

  Slate yells in agony, “I give my life for the honor of my god.” Slate explodes the psychic bomb. Carla is more than prepared for the blast as the waves of energy bounce off her shield, as the once powerful Slate is no more.

  Carla yells out, “Ok Queenie, let’s dance, or do you want to hide your Gantu’am ass behind more of these useless wastes of genetic mistakes.”

  Then hundreds of psychic warrior’s charge towards Carla, as Carla simply uses her connection to the plane to repel them away.

  Finally, a roar is heard on the edge of the psychic plane. It is the Queen and she says, “This time child, it will be I who kills you.”

  Carla smirks as she says, “I don’t think so.” Carla creates a mountain beneath her feet, as she elevates herself far above the plane so she can see all things around her.

  The Queen snarls, as she sends in her psychic assassins. Hundreds of similar creatures to Slate quickly charge up the newly created mountain from all directions. Carla smiles, saying, “Bring it.”

  Back in the real world, Ismail asks, “Is Frasier and his fighters ready Commander?”

  Sanchez checks his screens and says, “Yes sir, he is in position for the first four defense stations. However, at our current speed he will have very little time to do anything more than a single attack, shifting back to the ship to re-arm.”

  Ismail focused on the mission says, “Then tell him to fire his entire torpedo load at maximum yield. We still have eight other defense stations to pass by.”

  Mohammed asks, “Any sign of Gabriel?”

  Sanchez looks and says, “No sir, but with all the jamming we are currently under it’s amazing we can see anything at all.”

  Frasier appears on the holoscreen, saying, “Ok Commander. We are in position to fire on the first four defense platforms.”

  Ismail looks to Sanchez, asking, “How much time do we have Commander?”

  Sanchez quickly replies, “Four minutes.”

  Ismail says, “Captain Frasier, start your attack run now.”

  Frasier and all his fighters shift into close range of the first four of twelve defense platforms, which Ronin must pass. Frasier has strategically set his fighters to attack the same area of the defense platforms. A plan he devised from data Abe gained from the Super Dreadnought. Abe discovered the defense platforms have most all their vital system well protected deep within the platforms, but one system, perhaps an oversight on the T-Challa part is exposed on the outer hull. The gravitational and inertial damper control center, and by destroying this area, it renders the defense platform useless as Frasier is relying on being able to disable all four of these defense stations with that information.

  Frasier calls out on the com, “Ok, let’s do this, all-out attack! Hold nothing back. Fire everything and shift back to Ronin.”

  The fighters shift in and in a mass attack. They all fire over a thousand high yield torpedoes directly into the defense platforms weak spot. Then just as quickly the fighters shift back out, as the massive volley of torpedoes find their mark, destroying the targeted gravitational control centers.

  The defense platforms are unable to launch an attack. As Ronin quickly accelerates passing by the first four at top speed.

  Sanchez, smiling says, “We have succeeded sir, but we still have several more to pass by, and I’m sure a lot more surprises still to come.”

  Ismail worried, asks, “Ronin, what is the status of our Little Flower?”

  Ronin replies, “We are fully engaged with the Queen, as well as all her warriors, and we are holding our own.”

  Back in the psychic plane, Carla is barraged by the countless mutated psychic warriors. She stands atop her mountain and fights hundreds of these warriors, each with great skill, as they synchronize their attacks on her. They try their best to wear her down, as the Queen stands back, watching as her pawns go in to soften Carla up.

  Carla asks telepathically to Ronin, “Ronnie are you ready for my plan?”

  Ronin conservatively replies, “Yes Mistress, but I do feel that this is a very risky maneuver.”

  Carla smiles as she replies, “Being what we are is a risk Ronnie.”

  Carla creates an exact duplicate of herself, which Ronin controls. She shields her psychic image from the Queens warriors, and stealthfully makes her way to the Queen. However, the Queen’s power easily rival’s Carla in close range, and the Queen sensing Carla quickly attacks her, sending out a deadly psychic blast.

  Carla easily deflects it as the Queen yells, “Did you really think you could fool me child?”

  Carla grins as she launches an attack of massive psychic energy against the Queens shields, pushing her to the ground.

  Carla says as she jumps atop the Queens body, “This time when I kill you bitch! It will be over.”

  The Queen quickly grabs Carla laughing, she says, “You have made a major mistake child. I have you now, and I will absorb you and your power.” The Queen swallows Carla in a single gulp. Carla, now deep inside the Queen is barraged by the full extent of the Queens power, but this was Carla’s plan all along. She is now able to see her true goal within the Queen. She finds the psychic memories of the true Queen. It is locked deep within the tortured mind of the true T-Challa Queen. Imprisoned, and under the complete control of the Meli. The T-Challa Queens have all been born under the control and manipulation of the Meli, for thousands of years, but they are still individuals. However, they are heavily influenced by the Meli to be evil. When the Meli finishes with one Queen’s body, it is transferred from the old body to the new body, trapping the mind of that Queen in a psychic cocoon, encasing it in a psychic prison, which it suffers all alone for its entire life.

  Carla sees her target, the Queens true persona, and quickly locks onto it. Carla feels the Meli, as it tries to absorb Carla’s power. Carla quickly focuses all her remaining power into a precision strike. Directly onto the true Queens prison. The psychic energy is one of Carla’s most powerful assaults, as it travels to its target, releasing the true Queen.

  The true Queen shrieks out in pain, as it is finally freed. The Meli is comple
tely stunned at such an attack. It has no time to react, as the true T-Challa Queen attacks the Meli along with Carla, in a joint assault.

  The true Queen has been a prisoner for over a decade. Her rage knows no bounds, as she seeks out her revenge against the Meli. She says to Carla, “Help me Hybrid, and I will end this war.”

  Carla no longer under the effects of the Meli dampening her power swiftly fires a powerful and deadly beam of energy into the Meli, containing it for a brief moment. The true Queen adds her power into the attack.

  Ronin telepathically tells Carla, “Mistress, this beast you have freed was created by the Meli. She is as evil as her creator is. Mistress, you cannot believe it will honor any agreement with you.”

  Carla smiles and says to Ronin, “I know Ronnie. Tell Abe to prepare the bomb.”

  Ronin alarmed replies, “Mistress you are trapped within the body of the Queen. It will be almost impossible for you to escape in time.”

  Carla, realizing her options replies, “Ronnie, just do it.”

  Back on Ronin Sanchez announces, “We have incoming ships from starboard side, Dreadnoughts, Cruisers, both Heavy and Mediums. It appears they’re attempting to force us in closer to the defense platforms.”

  Ismail, fixated on getting through says, “Take us through them Mister Sanchez, full power to weapons.”

  Ronin reports, “Commander Shi Reis, Carla is asking for you to detonate the bomb now.”

  Abe interrupts, saying, “She has to be out of the plane before we detonate.”

  Sanchez, focused on the battle, and not Ronin announces, “We are in range, and firing on four Dreadnoughts.”

  Sanchez locks onto the first of four Dreadnoughts with a massive barrage of plasma and torpedoes, as they rip through it. Without missing a beat, Sanchez repeats the maneuver two more times, destroying two more Dreadnoughts. Until the fourth, one finally closes the distance, and unleashes all its weapons on Ronin’s forward shields.