by C. C. Ekeke
V’Korram tore through the blistering chaos like a panther, with scaphes drawn. The Kintarian’s cat-like face went feral while pouncing at any Retributionary he could reach, his every slash a killing stroke.
Liliana spied Tyris extend his bo staff as two Retributionaries landed before him. They instantly fired off blaster bolts from their wrist gauntlets, which Tyris calmly deflected away and twirled his staff up and down. One Korvenite swung an armored fist at him. Tyris batted the punch aside with his staff, reversed his grip to ram the other Korvenite’s stomach. As his foe doubled over, the Tanoeen swiped the staff up, knocking the first Retributionary unconscious. He whirled on the other Korvenite with a hard palm thrust to the chestplate and dug his fingers in. An instant later razor sharp icicles exploded out of the Korvenite’s armored back, each glazed in greenish blood. His every movement was quick, fluid, deadly.
They need me. Liliana forced herself into the fray. Something at the edge of her vision caught the doctor’s attention.
She turned. A Retributionary flew head-on—tackling Liliana clean off her feet. The doctor heard the air driven viciously from her lungs, followed by V’Korram’s furious roar. Then she heard nothing…
A steady buffeting of winds woke Liliana up. She found herself hurtling backward alarmingly fast, gripped around the waist by a Retributionary high up through the air. Her uniform’s low-grade forcefield had absorbed some of the tackle and redistributed the rest across her body, explaining why everything from top to bottom just hurt. She took a glance over her shoulder. A ruined, cylinder-shaped skyscraper grew closer, larger—far too quickly. Liliana panicked and began to squirm like a fish in a hook. But the armored Korvenite’s limbs were a vise.
Liliana spied her reflection growing in the building’s diament viewports, and the fear became overwhelming—for only a moment. Remember your training. Liliana snaked her arms and legs around the Retributionary and wrenched back with all her strength. The abrupt motion flipped the Retributionary over as she hoped, smashing them both right through the diament wall—.
Through a dazzling shower of debris, both Liliana and the armored Korvenite tumbled across the floor. Again the doctor’s field outfit absorbed most of the impact, but the Korvenite took the brunt. Finally skidding to a halt, Liliana lay on her back for a macrom and took a swift self-assessment. Two hands, two feet, nothing major missing, just pain all over. She sat up with considerable effort.
The Retributionary lay several feet away under the gaping hole in the wall. Liliana stood up and immediately cursed at the searing throb in her left ankle. She hobbled up to a pillar for support.
“LOOK OUT!” Liliana didn’t turn to the voice’s source, but to the Retributionary firing at her with his arm gauntlet. She dived forward, her ankle screaming in protest. The psionic blast shuddered the pillar she had just been leaning on. Liliana skidded across the floor on her back.
The injured Retributionary brought up his gauntlet for another shot. Liliana moved faster.
Clapping both hands together, her ringed sonic boom hammered the Korvenite out through the hole in the wall. He plummeted without a sound.
“Crescendo?!” Tyris’s voice wailed like sharp winds on her comms. “Cortés, respond!”
“Crescendo here,” Liliana fought to her feet, shuddering at how easy dealing out death was. “Just a bit banged up, Arcturus. Track my location using my wristcom. Crescendo out.” Shaking the dust off, Liliana went to find whoever had saved her life. The doctor winced as she limped further into this dark, wire-tangled mess of a room. “Hello?” This apartment clearly was damaged by the KIF attacks.
“Here!” The voice sounded female, a Nnaxan accent. Liliana took out a portable halolight from her utility belt. A male Nnaxan lay motionless under some debris while a female Nnaxan was attempting to pull him out with all four arms. One of her craniowhisks had a nasty gash running down its length.
“Help us,” she whimpered. “Buried him and I don’t… know if he….”
“Don’t worry.” Liliana kneeled next to both Nnaxans. She remembered Captain Nwosu’s mandate to save lives. “I’m a doctor. I can help.” Saying that was relieving. The female Nnaxan didn’t share that feeling, staring now over Liliana’s shoulder in utter terror.
Tattshĭ. The doctor spun around, her hands pointed like a pistol, ready for another assault.
Instead she got nine Kedri warriors; scaly in skin, overarched in brow and menacing in their armor entering through a rickety door. Liliana’s eyes nearly popped out. She recognized that severe red and black armor. Sulrur Hrakma. As if the scene couldn’t get more terrifying, Sovereign Orok Kel himself of the Kedri Imperium pushed through his personal cadre of Imperial Guard. Why was he still on Terra Sollus? Liliana had seen them transmat away right as the attacks started. Unless that forcefield around the planet blocked their departure, she surmised. Despite her mind screaming ‘RUN’, she didn’t move. Maybe it was the paralyzing fear. Or that these merciless reptilian soldiers would probably kill her if she ran.
One of Orok’s warriors, a lean muscled, female Kedri with a dark grey complexion, whispered in the Sovereign’s ear. Whatever she said made Orok Kel turn his imperious gaze on Liliana. The doctor gulped. The Nnaxan female had already fainted by this point.
“You’re under Habraum Nwosu’s command, yes?” the Sovereign spoke in a rumbling, accented voice. His grim bearing brightened as he spoke the name.
Liliana stared at him for a long moment and then burst out laughing.
“Whoa, whoa! What did you mean about Terra Sollus’s citizens being dead?” Tharydane stared back at Masra as if they had never met before. “What are you talking about?”
“[Sweet Korvan, stop using that accursed Standard Tongue, Tharyn. It scratches at my ears!]”
Tharydane got in Masra’s face. “I won’t do anything until you explain yourself!” Selfselfselfself… Her voice echoed up to the top of the room’s ceiling.
Masra raised her hands in truce. “[Okay! Korvan’s bones you’re pushy. Look at the hologlobe over here.]” She pointed back at the hologram of Terra Sollus.
“That’s not an explanation—.”
“[Want me to tell you or not?]” Masra snapped. Tharydane said nothing, so Masra continued. “[Now, on the hologlobe. All those dots I mentioned are actually machines shielding the planet.]”
Tharydane drew in a breath. How these humans here could shield an entire planet was unthinkable. “[Is it kinda like how the slave quarters in Ymedes were shielded, so you and the others couldn’t escape?]”
Masra’s face turned sour. “[Something like that. Now with the help of that thing,]” she pointed at the largest dot on the hologlobe. “[Which is a space station, we’ll cover the planet in the next few macroms.]”
Tharydane was still confused. “Where do you come in?”
“[The area this Commerce Station hovers over is not properly shielded.]” Masra said proudly. “[So I activate my part of the shielding. Before long, Sollus will be cleansed. And Korvan will reward me.]”
Tharydane ignored that last stretch of Korvan rubbish. “You said the inhabitants of Terra Sollus—.”
“[Sollus, Tharyn. Terra was added by the humans.]”
“Whatever,” Tharydane snapped. “You said they’d be dead? You’re joking, right?”
Masra looked at Tharydane with a far-off gaze. “[Oh Tharyn, if only you’d been enlightened. Like me! Korvan has helped me find my way. It is my task to help purge Sollus of its unclean populace. You’ve seen them out there.]” Masra’s voice grew thick with hate. “[They are so unclean. You and I are part of the race Korvan has chosen to walk Sollus’ hallowed grounds.]”
Tharydane gasped. Who was this hateful being and what had she done with Masra? “[There must be billions living down there!]” She shook her friend by the shoulders. “[ You can’t!]”
The other female stared at her blankly. “[What do you think would happen if you stood among them as you are now—a Korvenite?]” Masr
a let out a caustic laugh. “[ I am following the path that Korvan laid out for me. If you do not appreciate it, move aside.]” Masra shook Tharydane’s hands off.
“No.” Tharydane stood firmly in her path. Masra opened her mouth to respond, until they both heard a flutter of Mindspeak. Another unseen Korvenite, impatiently ordering Masra to hurry up.
“[Sorry Tharyn,]” Masra shrugged. “[But I’m done talking.]” Her eyes turned pitch-black.
Tharydane frowned. “What are you talking about—AAH!” Suddenly she was yanked sideways and telekinetically slammed into one of the gunmetal walls. A shock of pain exploded up her spine as she hit the ground hard. The world around her quickly swam out of focus.
“You’ll thank me when you wake up,” she heard Masra say in Standard. “We’ll be stepping into a completely new world.” And then Tharydane’s world faded to black.
25.
The Amalgam’s gargantuan countenance grew closer and closer. Habraum stared back, focusing on evading stray blasts from either the station or UComm ships. The sky above the clouds lit up with flashes brighter than daylight; UComm ships of all sizes fired upon this massive vessel. But the majority of their attacks bounced off the Amalgam’s shielding. The retaliating strikes from the Amalgam were far more numerous and brutal. Most warships were able to dodge; others sustained heavy damage despite their shielding. And quite a few were incinerated in one blast. Habraum felt chills down his back. Had he made different choices in his career, he’d be out there now in a fighter jet.
It didn’t matter now, as he successfully maneuvered the skiff transport right under the Amalgam’s shielding. Marguliese and Khrome had put together some transmission that made their ship seem like harmless flotsam. Amazing what those two can accomplish together. Soon, the ship was at the coordinates Marguliese specified. Habraum turned to his two subordinates. “Ready?”
“Of course,” Marguliese replied coolly. Honaa nodded, stolid in the face, but his tail twitches betrayed anxiety. Habraum almost wished he’d chosen another Brigadier, but it was far too late to start mulling over regrets. “Lay it on us Maggie. How are we penetrating these shields?”
“Our location is ideal, below a storage compartment.” The Cybernarr turned to Honaa. “That is where you come in, Irazu.”
Habraum raised an eyebrow. This was news to him. “How?”
“Your presence eliminates the need to devise a shield breach solution,” Marguliese answered like a parent to a child. “You have phased small shuttlecrafts before, correct?”
Honaa and Habraum exchanged a tense look. “I have,” he replied confidently.
Marguliese nodded in satisfaction. “We require your abilities to phase through the Amalgam’s shielding. It should take 4.5792 macroms.”
Habraum ground his teeth in silence. Honaa would have rebuffed Marguliese’s addendum if he wasn’t up for it. Unless the Rothorid’s pride had answered for him.
Honaa stood up in the ship’s center, stretching both arms out to touch the ceiling. He hissed something in his native dialect and closed his eyes. All of a sudden Habraum noticed Honaa began glowing all over. The radiance spread from the Rothorid all over the transport’s interior, washing over both Habraum and Marguliese, a tingly sensation.
“Has he covered everything?” Habraum asked Marguliese. She nodded tersely. With that, the Cerc wasted no time pulling the transport right through the Amalgam’s shielding.
Whatever weird sensation he felt from Honaa’s power moments ago paled in comparison to passing through this station’s shield. Habraum felt queasy, barely able to focus on piloting. Thankfully it ended soon and they were floating right under the Amalgam’s shadow.
“I’ll park us here.” The ship halted, and Honaa lowered his hands from the ceiling. The Rothorid was out of breath, either tired or his condition was flaring up. The Amalgam’s sweeping underbelly above them stretched far beyond the skiff’s viewscreens. Below them deflected UComm attacks lit up the station’s shielding.
Shortly after prepping for field combat, the trio went over their mission one last time. “Maggie, you’ll disable the Amalgam’s shield generator. Irazu and I will rescue Chouncilor Bogosian,” It all sounded so simple. But the Cerc was experienced enough to know better. “You and Khrome created something to make our infiltration easier?”
“Attach this to your utility belts.” Marguliese handed out two objects resembling belt buckles. Habraum and Honaa each took one as she explained their use. “These will transmat you to the location of the Chouncilor and mask you from the Amalgam’s sensors.
“When the Chouncilor was abducted, his bare hand pressed on the floor, so I extracted the skin cells that rubbed off and imprinted these devices with Bogosian’s DNA. No matter where we are in the Amalgam, this device will take you to his location. But not instantaneously.”
Habraum frowned. “Then what will happen?”
“Each time The Amalgam energizes to fire briefly blinds internal sensors, due to the imperfect Kedri design,” Marguliese continued. “Once inside, transmat three times. The transmat devices will take you to three preprogrammed areas before you find Bogosian, for safety reasons. Wait until the power surges of the Amalgam each time before transmatting. To return to this vessel, repeat the activity, though one of you needs to hold onto Bogosian during the transmat process.”
“Ssoundss sssimple.” Honaa snarked.
“Always does,” Habraum grumbled. “What if we get Bogosian before you finish?”
“Then depart without me,” she replied flatly. “I will find alternate means of escape.”
Habraum glowered. “Not an option.”
“You have no choice,” Marguliese glared back. “The first power surge is now commencing. You will be able to hear the other surges inside the Amalgam.” Habraum turned to the viewscreen and saw a gaping crater in the center of the station’s belly at least a mile across. It housed the pulse weapon that was battering Conuropolis. The swirling glow within revealed its intention to fire again.
“Let’s go!” Habraum activated his belt transmatter, as did Honaa, and the skiff’s interior gleamed away around them. The next thing he knew, Habraum stood inside a dimly lit area.
A distant hum sang through the room, coupled with the curt vibration of the Amalgam’s main cannon firing again on poor Conuropolis. He was onboard the Amalgam, much to his disbelief. Habraum could feel the crackling, brutal influence of the Kedri everywhere he looked. The structure’s walls and columns showcased intricate designs, using the countless Kedri dialects along with harsh and gory images depicting some of the Imperium’s most legendary victories. A meager amount of Galactic Union symbols and pictures were displayed here and there, but not as prominently as the Kedri décor. High-reaching pinnacles above Habraum looked like they went up and on forever. The platform he stood on stretched over what looked to be a cargo bay packed with various Imperium ships. By their stripped-off hulls and exposed innards, some were clearly not completed. Other than Habraum and his two operatives, the cargo bay was vacant.
“Guessss we got on,” Honaa whispered, crouching right beside the Cerc.
Habraum looked to his side, then all around. “Where’s Mag—?” Then it occurred to him that she must have gone straight for the Amalgam’s shield generators.
Another distant hum sounded. A glance at Habraum’s scancorder readings confirmed it. The Amalgam primed to fire again, making the Cerc cringe. Each power surge meant the Amalgam firing again on Conuropolis. Grasping that only strengthened Habraum’s resolve to stop Maelstrom.
“Here we go again,” Honaa whispered.
“Get ready,” he said, adjusting his belt transmatter. The hum rose into a surge, building more and more. “Now!” Both Brigadiers pressed their transmatters simultaneously. Again, everything around Habraum shimmered into blankness. Moments later, he was someplace else.
The foul tang of exhaust blew in his face from a ventilation shaft. He felt a sharp rise in temperature. His field outfit adjus
ted accordingly. Honaa, crouched beside him, wrinkled his nostrils at the stink.
The wide, tunnel-like pipe went straight in either direction for a couple metrids, curving down on his left and turning upward on his right. Dull whirs from the exhaust blowers on both sides clogged most sound. Potent lights from the pipe’s apertures drew Habraum’s eye toward what lay beyond.
“Irazu—,”what he saw rattled him to the core. Honaa followed his gaze and shuddered.
Below them were Korvenites, at least four rows of them with 12 in each, attached to a lofty wall of white light running parallel to the pipe. Because of the glaring light, Habraum couldn’t fully discern the whole scene. But he noted that all the Korvenites on the wall appeared to be asleep, perfect in postures and both arms at their sides. The power oozing from them was plain as daylight. Because of his enhanced senses, Habraum felt the psionic effervescence subtly soaking the air and realized what this assembly was.
“A Korvenite Unilink,” the Rothorid rasped scornfully, jabbing a clawed finger at the formation. “Or at least the main body of it. I sssaw one similar to thisss yearss ago. That wall isss rigged with technology that amplifies their abilitiesss.” Honaa’s tail flip-flopped in a shrug. “That isss how they are controlling those Korvanes statues on Terra Sollusss and coordinating the Retributionaries’ attacksss.”
Habraum knew exactly what Honaa was considering. Destroy the Unilink. “No,” his eyes never left the Rothorid’s.
“Why not?” Honaa hissed impatiently. “It would cripple the Korvenite ground forcesss—.”
“And compromise our mission,” Habraum countered quietly. “Even with our psi-blockers, every other Korvenite on this station would know the Unilink is destroyed before Marguliese disables Amalgam’s shielding, or we exfiltrate the Chouncilor. They might kill Bogosian before we can get to him, if they haven’t already.”
“Trussst me, Maelstrom hassssn’t.” Honaa shook his head vigorously. “Not until he’sss executed whatever hisss grand scheme isss. Alright, we’ll ssstick to the plan.”