by C. C. Ekeke
But seeing Maelstrom made Habraum remember the images of Jennica’s vitriol, his combat team’s disgust, every Terra Sollan who had died today. Maelstrom wouldn’t get away with that.
“You’re going to pay Maelstrom. For Terra Sollus, for what you did to me.” He dashed at the Korvenite. Habraum’s own aura began to glow brighter, driven by anger.
Green blood now dribbled down Maelstrom’s mouth and nose. He snarled out in pain and made a pushing motion with both hands, directing a solid Mindshift wall at the Cerc. “They all deserved it. As will you, human,” he spat out, his spittle mixed with lime blood.
Habraum saw the telekinetic wall clearly, swelling high and wide. He jumped, easily clearing the wall before it smashed the many viewscreens behind him into a thousand shards. Once Habraum reached his foe, Maelstrom raised a hand to attack. But the Cerc was too quick.
He smashed the Korvenite across the face with a biokinetically charged fist. The personal telekinetic shield surrounding Maelstrom was only thing keeping his head intact. When Habraum brought down his left fist for a hammer blow to the shoulder, Maelstrom caught it. The Cerc came sailing in with his right. The Korvenite caught that too—and lashed out telepathically. Habraum cried out. His knees buckled, the razor-like attack slicing into his mind. Maelstrom sneered, revealing teeth wet with green blood. “The Cybernarr may have sent me on my way to Yvyria, but I will not leave until you...die…first.”
A flaming eruption belched out from the wall perpendicular to the two combatants, but neither noticed. Psionic knives plunged repeatedly through Habraum’s mind. He sagged forward, only Maelstrom’s grip on his wrists kept him upright.
“No….” Habraum whispered through the haze. This butcher would kill him and Honaa if he fell.
Biokinetic energy pulsated madly inside his frame. He steeled his mind against Maelstrom, slowly forcing the Korvenite back by sheer will alone. “No!” Habraum shouted, finding his footing. The Cerc’s whole form crackled wildly, the biokinetic energy swelling and churning within. The burning in his chest seared like a fresh blaze, spreading throughout his body. Maelstrom stared up at the Cerc, his eyes wide with fear.
“You won’t win.” Habraum shoved Maelstrom completely out of his mind. The Korvenite’s head snapped back as if hit by a physical blow. Ripping both arms free of Maelstrom’s grasp, Habraum poured a doubled-fisted flood of biokinetic force to Maelstrom’s gut.
Again, the Mindshift shield saved him. But Habraum saw it flicker like mad as the Korvenite sailed back like a rag doll, landing hard several metrids away just as a gash opened in the floor behind them. The Cerc tore across the distance and kept up the onslaught.
Maelstrom slowly got to his feet, and Habraum charged forward to meet him. He could see the aura around Maelstrom flaring up as the Korvenite prepared for an attack. Before the injured Korvenite could do so, Habraum sank a knee deep into Maelstrom’s stomach, followed by a stiff uppercut as he folded over. Maelstrom staggered back, vomiting out more green blood. The Cerc landed a flurry of hard punches to the llyriac’s chest. A savage back elbow to the temple sent Maelstrom tumbling to the ground.
Maelstrom rose unsteadily, staring at Habraum in shock, unable to believe a human was beating him. So Habraum made him a believer with a spinning backhand, shattering his nose and knocking out teeth. The Korvenite stumbled back, almost tripping over himself.
The Cerc unleashed another jackhammer-like flurry of blows, each snapping the llyriac’s head back. He sensed Maelstrom’s telekinesis weakening, but with every blow the searing in Habraum’s chest grew. Almost as if the excess biokinetic energy within was forcing its way out. Habraum gritted his teeth and fought through the pain, swinging an overhead blow down on the Korvenite’s shoulder, separating it. Maelstrom slumped forward, the telekinetic shield around the Korvenite splintering completely.
The room shook again, separating the two and sending several fissures spidering up along all the walls. Habraum kept his footing and stayed focused on Maelstrom. The Korvenite lay facedown on the distorted flooring. When he raised his head, one could see the Korvenite’s milky-white face was now broken and bleeding, his left eye completely swollen shut.
Habraum found no pity for the llyriac. He saw the terrorist who tortured him and his combat team for sport. The Cerc strode forward, his eyes and fists throbbing with biokinetic energy. He kicked Maelstrom soundly in the ribs and hauled him up by the hair. The searing in his chest was getting unbearable now.
“You could’ve done things differently, gotten your message across in ways that didn’t cause all this destruction.” The Cerc rammed his fist into Maelstrom’s ribs, holding it there. One last biokinetic blast through the ribs should end this. Then he could go home…to Jeremy.
The Korvenite’s tattered lips curled back, revealing broken teeth covered in green ichor. Habraum stared at his foe, a strange dread filling him. A twinkle in Maelstrom’s remaining black eye grew larger and larger. The air filled with a whistling song of death….
Habraum went cold all over and let go of Maelstrom. He threw himself to the side and twisted in mid-air—a massive sliver of glassteel from a viewscreen hurtling overhead through the spot he’d been standing. With the last of his telekinetic strength, Maelstrom had tried impaling the Cerc through the back. Rolling away to safety, Habraum heard a squishy thunk. Now on his belly, he looked up to see Maelstrom staring down at his chest again. This time a large glass shard was sticking out of it. The Korvenite sank to his knees, shock written on his ruined face. Habraum got to his feet, numb with shock, but only for an instant. The biokinetic energy inside burned to get out, the pain blurring his vision.
“You deny me….of my…homeworld,” Maelstrom’s voice was barely a whisper. “Of my…vengeance.” Those words stole the last of his vigor. His head lolled as he strained to suck in breath.
Habraum glared at the downed llyriac, wiping off the mixture of Maelstrom’s and his own blood from his mouth. No mercy lived within his heart. “Honestly…how did you think this was gonna end?” He raised a foot and stomped on the jagged shard as hard as he could—ramming it all the way through Maelstrom’s body. The glass shard exploded through the Korvenite’s shoulder blades, dripping in syrupy green. Maelstrom stiffened and vomited out more spurts of limey blood. The black in his eyes faded, turning as milky white as his skin. His aura faded out entirely. The Korvenite slumped forward, dead.
“AAGGH!” Habraum clutched his chest. Biokinetic energy pounded madly against his insides, seeping out of his mouth, his ears, his eyes! No longer able to contain it, he raised both arms in the air and disgorged a thick biokinetic blast from each arm. One beam hit Maelstrom’s corpse, disintegrating it on impact. The energy flowed out oft Habraum like a river, warping the walls on either side of him.
When he had emptied out every erg of built-up energy, the burning finally ceased. But Habraum’s injuries flared up exponentially, instantly sapping any strength he had left. And the Cerc collapsed.
As if someone turned up the volume, Habraum abruptly noticed the destruction around him. Fissures in the walls belched out fire, debris fell in jagged chunks. The whole room thundered and rumbled. Everything in Habraum’s vision came through a haze of pain and fatigue. Before long, he felt nothing at all….
30.
The trip down to Terra Sollus’s surface had its bumps and jolts. The whole time Ari Bogosian sat and stared in utter fascination at his rescuer—a much better option than mulling over what he had just endured at Maelstrom’s hands. This statuesque woman paid him no heed, keeping her focus on piloting.
Once she had transmatted him onto this skiff vessel, they shot away from the bottom of the Amalgam as it began taking heavy damage from countless attacking warships. Whoever this cyborg was, she had saved his life. But he thought about the two Brigadiers she had left behind. “Miss—?” Bogosian began.
“Marguliese,” she answered, still not sparing him a glance.
“Marguliese,” Bogosian corrected himsel
f. “Why’d you leave your comrades?”
“I was ordered to. I will retrieve them when you are in a secure location.”
Bogosian craned a look at one of the smaller side viewscreens that displayed the scene they had just left. The Amalgam, once foreboding and impenetrable, now hemorrhaged fiery plumes into the sky from many areas on its hull. Countless AeroFleet, SkyGuard and Imperial Navy vessels surrounded the space station like a pack of vultures, hammering it with everything in their arsenals. The Amalgam offered some retaliation, yet it was evident that the station would soon fall. Bogosian should’ve been glad, but only saw years of hard work obliterated.
If only he could talk to Orok. The Sovereign always seemed more reasonable than other Kedri, much less of a warmonger. The scene continued to shrink on the screen. The whole ship then jostled roughly—jolting Bogosian from his revelry. “Wha—oh.” They had just landed. The Chouncilor got to his feet, but paused when he saw the cyborg leaning heavily against the console, her cerulean gaze a bit unfocused.
“Are you alright?” he moved to help her. She raised a hand, stopping Bogosian in his tracks.
“I’m exerted to some extent,” she replied evenly, straightening up and regaining her austere composure. A wave of her hand and the ship’s exit slid open. Bogosian stared, curious about what company funded her creation. But that curiosity vanished after he followed the cyborg out into the open.
Part of him wanted to believe that this wasn’t his city, his planet. But beyond the dark smoke rising from Conuropolis’ broken skyline, too many familiars told the Chouncilor otherwise.
The Diktat District was completely destroyed. Its proud starscrapers, once towering and visible from space were now charred, crumbling stumps. Bodies of his citizens, either whole or mutilated, lay scattered around the sites of smoldering debris. In the distance, a Korvanes monolith crumbled to rubble and dust under a heavy pounding from three SG-A4U4 jetfighters. Several squads of PLADECO A.N.T. Troopers patrolled the ruined streets, most so caught up in rounding up the lost and injured, never noticing the Chouncilor or Marguliese. Bogosian felt tears streaming down, not caring who saw. Marguliese was a silent statue, her eyes trained on the Chouncilor.
“Marguliese!” The cyborg and Bogosian turned toward the voice. Two figures flew through the air toward them. A stunned Bogosian wondered how, until he realized they must be maximums. Seeing that one of them was a Thulican made Bogosian instinctively recoil. Following him was a human female wreathed in a halo of flames. Star Brigade, like Nwosu and that Rothorid.
“We got your signal,” the female said. Both operators landed. Bogosian didn’t recognize the Thulican, but the blonde female he’d know anywhere. Their eyes met fleetingly. “Good to see you alive, Chouncilor,” she said stiffly, showing no signs of recognition. Ari nodded, expecting such a response.
So much had changed since they’d last seen each other, back when Bogosian was an ambitious Union Delegate for Terra Sollus and she was a coldblooded young spy. But their mutually beneficial partnership, still falling under the classified cone of silence, had soured over a decade ago. Now she was a Star Brigade operator named ‘Sam D’Urso.’ The Chouncilor of the Galactic Union didn’t know any Star Brigadiers named Sam D’Urso.
Marguliese approached them, standing about half a foot taller than both sentients. “Heatstroke, Khrome,” she addressed them formally. Codenames, Ari realized.
“You rescued him?” the Thulican eyed the Chouncilor in shock. Marguliese nodded.
“By the way,” Khrome announced to the Chouncilor. “We found Sovereign Kel. He says the Trade Merger’s off and that he hates you.”
Bogosian should have been stunned, but strangely wasn’t. So much for Orok being reasonable. “Not entirely unexpected,” he offered limply.
D’Urso looked over the skiff. “Reign and Irazu?” Bogosian frowned, realizing she spoke of Captain Nwosu and his Rothorid teammate.
Marguliese met her comrades’ gazes firmly before stating, “Still aboard the Amalgam.”
Khrome’s jaw dropped. D’Urso’s rage was towering, terrifying, something Bogosian had experienced firsthand. “Christ, you left them up there?!”
“I had no intention to leaving them,” Marguliese remained composed in the face of Heatstroke’s fury. “Reign ordered me to get the Chouncilor to the surface first.”
Heatstroke tensed up, closing her eyes and exhaled loudly. “That is so like him,” she seethed.
The Cybernarr turned to leave. “Now that he is in your custody, I can secure Reign and Irazu—.”
“No.” Both the Chouncilor and Heatstroke stared at Khrome, who was glaring grimly at Marguliese. Seeing this exchange made Bogosian thankful to not be on the receiving end of either gaze.
“Khrome,” Heatstroke put her hands on her hips as she began angrily. “What are you—?”
The Thulican folded both massive arms over his chest. “You’re overexerted from disabling that shield generator and probably won’t make it up there.”
Marguliese turned fully, one eye pulsing bright blue. “Why does my wellbeing concern you?”
“It doesn’t,” Khrome returned flatly, the callousness for his teammate surprising the Chouncilor. “But it affects your rescuing Irazu and our fearless leader.”
Bogosian, feeling oddly unimportant in this situation, spoke up. “She did look a little tired.” Marguliese’s icy glare sent the Chouncilor’s heart leaping into his throat.
Heatstroke took matters into her own hands. “Then I’ll go.” She marched past Bogosian toward the skiff. “Watch the Chouncilor like your lives depend on it.” She slid open the door and hopped inside.
Marguliese walked forward to protest. “Heatstroke, the ship has taken damage due to shrapnel—.”
“I’ll manage,” Heatstroke waved a dismissive hand to cut off Marguliese. And from what Bogosian saw, the cyborg woman did not look thrilled at that. The skiff’s systems sprang to life within moments.
“Watch the Chouncilor,” she jabbed a finger in his direction. “That’s an order.” Without another word, she slammed the skiff’s access hatch shut. Bogosian walked backward as the ship lifted off the ground. Ash and dust blew in his face as the sleek skiff vessel rocketed off into the air, getting smaller in the Chouncilor’s view until it disappeared into the smog layer.
“C’mon chief,” Khrome took Bogosian gently by the arm. “Let’s get you to safety.”
“That is no longer our concern.” The Cybernarr replied coolly, standing stock-still. The Thulican gave her a questioning look, as did Bogosian. And then he heard it, the sound of multiple transmat signatures. Khrome stood in front of Bogosian, ready to defend him. “Stand down Khrome.” Bogosian stepped around the surprised Thulican, as a dozen figures fully materialized in front of them.
“Chouncilor, are you all right?” one of the Honor Guardsmen cried out. Before he could respond, the 12 members of his personal security broke from their transmat positions and swarmed around the Chouncilor just like they were trained. The Honor Guard was capable of tracking the Chouncilor on any part of any planet. Suddenly, everything felt more normal again. As the Honor Guard pooled their personal shields around themselves and him, Bogosian saw both the cyborg and the Thulican standing off to the side, watching in silence. He looked up at the orange scars streaking the crimson sky. The Amalgam belched out more explosions, raining down more smoldering debris. Soon it would be over.
“Thank you for your service,” Bogosian managed to get out. The Thulican nodded in response. Instants later, the Honor Guard initiated a mass transmat. With the Honor Guard surrounding him, Bogosian saw the ruined city shimmer before his eyes and then disappear into a white nothingness.
31.
“Habraum? Habraum.” The sound of his name echoed from afar, throbbing and shaking. It took Habraum a moment to realize that someone was shaking him and the throbbing was his own injuries.
“Habraum,” the voice rasped louder before the Cerc opened his eyes. Honaa cr
ouched beside the Cerc, his uniform torn and his maroon scales sporting many cuts. Other than that, he looked better than Habraum felt. The room’s rumblings continued, more cracks spidering along the walls. The Rothorid propped Habraum’s head up under his hands. “Are you ssseriously hurt?”
“Define…seriously hurt?” Habraum tried sitting up, grimaced and slumped back down in pain.
Honaa nodded. “I’ll take that as a yessss.” Then he started and looked around the gradually collapsing room. “Chouncilor Bogosssian!”
“Safe and out of harm’s way with Marguliese,” Habraum replied, sounding so weak.
“Maelssstrom!” Honaa called out in alarm.
Habraum made what should have been a pointing gesture over Honaa’s shoulders, but he could only lift and drop his bad arm without so much as a point of his finger. “Got blown away,” he faintly smirked.
Honaa craned his neck around, spying the pool of green blood where Maelstrom had been impaled, then the hole that Habraum had blasted the llyriac through behind it. He shook his head gravely. “Never pursssue a career in comedy.”
The Cerc tried to laugh, but his broken ribs among other injuries, reminded him not to. Honaa hauled Habraum up by the waist, then his eyes widened at something else he’d forgotten. “Timbore!”
Habraum could barely think straight let alone move. “Who?”
“The Thulican I fought?” the Rothorid quickly scanned the room again.
“Probably escaped when I was…fighting Maelstrom. ARRH!” Honaa had hoisted Habraum over his shoulders. Despite the Rothorid’s gentle touch, the act of moving sent forks of pain through Habraum.