by Jacob Holo
The collision released a short snap-flash of chaos energy. Painful heat rippled down Seth’s arms.
The strength of these swords! he thought.
Seth pushed up and threw the archangel off balance. He followed that with a quick swing, slicing cleanly through the archangel’s torso. Another foe slain.
The last two came in, their swords more than capable of cutting Seth down in a single stroke. But Quennin was at his side now, her single dagger active, her kite-crystal shunts burning with emerald fire. She dodged the archangel’s stroke, pulled behind it, and thrust deeply into the small of its back.
Her blade penetrated through the archangel’s barrier and burst out the center of its chest. Energized fluid wept from the wound. The impaled archangel writhed about, its limbs spasming erratically. Quennin drew the blade down, slicing through the enemy’s cockpit.
The spasms stopped. Leaking fluid turned stagnant and black.
Seth rushed the last archangel, bashed its sword aside with one dagger and stabbed through its cockpit with the other. He kicked the dead archangel contemptuously off his dagger and turned to the greater battle erupting around them.
Horrifically vast numbers of archangels and Grendeni warships continued to fold in. Escape was their only option.
Too far away to help, Seth watched a wave of thirty archangels swoop down onto the EN seraphs in epsilon squadron. Many of the archangels died from the barrage of fusion beams, rail-rifle bolts, and tactical seekers the Earth Nation pilots threw out.
From this first wave, only fifteen archangels broke through and engaged in close combat. Though the EN pilots were just as capable as their Aktenai brethren, their training focused heavily on ranged weaponry. Only three seraphs ignited their daggers before the two formations crashed together.
Archangels brutally hewed two seraphs in the first exchange. Their swords carved through barrier and armor with terrible ease, but the EN seraphs quickly recovered. With rail-rifles slung and daggers ignited, the remaining seraphs fell in on their assailants, vengefully cutting them down.
Eight EN seraphs remained functional in the end, with the ninth bleeding fluid from a deep torso cut. The survivors fell into formation. Half retrieved their rifles while the rest stood ready with daggers active.
Another archangel wave folded in and dove at the EN seraphs. Seth spotted Jared Daykin’s seraph with its command bars leading the defense, his blood red dagger burning brightly. He slashed through the first archangel to reach him.
Seth linked with the Aktenai ships and ordered everything poured into the Grendeni negator. As long as that ship existed, there was no escape. The Aktenai warships, now receiving fire from their Grendeni counterparts, lumbered about with their new orders.
“We need to join up with epsilon,” Seth said.
“I’m with you,” Quennin said.
Seth could hear the faith in her voice. Even as their plans fell to ruins and their comrades died around them, his beloved’s support did not waver.
A wing of four archangels stood between Seth and the EN seraphs. They turned about, apparently deciding that two isolated seraphs were easier prey than nine.
How wrong you are, Seth thought.
He and Quennin fired twin fusion beams into the archangel formation. Both hit their marks, but only one of the archangels blew apart. The other spun in space, the yellow aura of its barrier crackling wildly before it righted itself and flew on.
Seth met the three archangels head on. The first attacker swung wide with its blade, but Seth darted above it and fired his fusion cannon. The beam penetrated the torso of the archangel, shattered the chest, and flung its limbs and wings into space.
The last two archangels were now on either side of him, hoping to pincer him between their swords.
They didn’t even see Quennin coming.
The two pilots were so familiar with each other that their target selection was almost subconscious. Seth immediately knew which archangel to strike and which to ignore. His trust in Quennin was absolute.
And she did not let him down. Her dagger cut through the left archangel’s torso just as Seth disarmed the archangel to his right. With its sword arm lazily spinning away, he thrust in for the kill.
Seth and Quennin rejoined epsilon squadron, which had been pushed away from the schism and the northern space dock. That area ran thick with archangels trying to bottle up and overwhelm the Aktenai seraphs inside.
Seth accessed alpha squadron’s status. A pearl of thought gleamed in his mind, displaying the vitals of the seraphs trapped within the schism. Alpha squadron had suffered two casualties, but the rest held out within the factory zone.
“Alpha squadron, report.”
“We’re holed up on the southern edge of the factory zone, near the northcity,” Tevyr said. “We’re not getting out the way we came in.”
“Try looking for alternate routes out. In the meantime, I’ll move epsilon squadron in to clear the space dock.”
“Understood.”
Seth broke the link. He was about to contact Jared when two new seraphs folded in.
The first seraph unmistakably belonged to Jack Donolon. The tremendous power output could be produced by no other pilot. The second seraph was a featureless black presence. No light reflected off it; no seams appeared on it. It was the black of a shadow or silhouette without form or feature. Seth couldn’t detect the slightest trickle of chaos influx.
Wonderment and hopefulness quickly turned to despair. Seth watched the two new seraphs fall into formation with ten archangels. The entire formation ducked into the schism’s northern space dock.
“We have been betrayed,” Quennin said, her voice dark and cold.
Seth linked to Tevyr. “Do not attempt to break through the northern space dock. Overwhelming enemy forces present.”
“Understood. I think we’ve found another way out. Looks like there are archangel launch catapults built into the outer hull of the schism. We’re going to make a break for one. Relaying coordinates now.”
Seth received the location and laid it on top of the Grendeni schism’s image. The catapult was nearby, but several groups of archangels congregated around it.
“Epsilon squadron, we need to occupy this position!” Seth transmitted coordinates. “Our trapped seraphs are going to break out of the schism at this point!”
“Confirmed, sir,” Jared said. “Epsilon, new target!”
The entire formation moved as one, flying down to meet the waiting archangels.
Seth, Quennin, Jared, and three other EN pilots slammed into the archangel swarm. Behind them, five EN seraphs drove salvo after salvo into the skeletal machines. Together, they pushed through the Grendeni archangels, cutting and blasting and killing in a desperate bid to save their comrades.
Just before they reached the catapult, the exterior hatch reddened and bulged outward. A moment later, the hatch blew into space. Seven Aktenai seraphs shot through the breach with archangels close behind.
“Where are the rest?”
Seth quickly retrieved the squadron status. Seven seraphs outside the schism, two confirmed dead, three still inside. His son and Yonu were among the pilots trapped with the schism.
“Tevyr, report!”
“Ah! Little busy right now!” Tevyr shouted. “Curse it! I can’t get to the catapult! We’re cut off!”
Tevyr’s and Yonu’s indicators showed all green. The third pilot, a young woman named V’Zen, was critically injured but still alive.
“Pilot Daykin, take command of both squadrons and secure this catapult,” Seth said. “Quennin, follow me!” He flew over the catapult and looked down its warped, blasted length.
“Sir, the interior is swarming with archangels!” Jared said.
“And our comrades are trapped with them.” Quennin joined Seth at the catapult. Without hesitation, they flew into the schism.
Chapter 8
Destroyer
Tevyr perched atop a manufacturing tower along the
southern edge of the factory zone. The axial tube in this zone, or what was left of it, had shattered during the battle and crashed into the factories below.
Archangels continued to pour through the space dock. Over thirty were already positioned between him and the catapult on the far end of the zone.
Tevyr glanced at Yonu. Her lithe blue seraph landed on the next tower.
“We need to rescue V’Zen,” Tevyr said.
“It’s not going to be easy,” Yonu said.
Bleeding wreckage from V’Zen’s seraph had impacted near the center of the factory zone. Archangels had lopped off almost her entire upper torso, but thankfully had missed her cockpit.
“V’Zen, what’s your status?” Tevyr asked.
“The burns…” she wheezed. “Curses, they hurt…”
“Give yourself another painkiller hit,” Tevyr said. “We’re coming to get you.”
“I’m not going anywhere…”
“It’s a miracle she can even talk,” Yonu said privately. “Her i-suit is the only thing keeping her alive.”
Tevyr nodded. The influx feedback from those swords was tremendous, more than enough to cause actual physical injury to a pilot that mirrored the seraph’s damage. And with V’Zen suffering a cut to the upper torso…
He didn’t want think about it.
An ugly swarm of archangels buzzed around the launch catapult. Six broke off and headed for Tevyr.
“Okay, let’s go!” he said.
“Right behind you.”
Tevyr levitated off the tower, his great wings flaring out. Angular runes in the form of the Litany ignited with green fire. His wing edges blurred brightly, almost white with sudden power.
Tevyr rocketed forward, skimming deftly across the cluttered factory-scape between him and V’Zen’s downed seraph. Six archangels dove at him.
Yeah, right! Tevyr thought. He pulled up, twin chaos daggers bursting out of his forearms.
Yonu fired. Her fusion beam snapped across the factory zone like a solid shaft of lightning. She struck one archangel and flash-vaporized a wing and an arm. The archangel rolled out of control, its altitude dropping. It slammed into the ground, then bounced and careened through the factories.
The lead archangel swung its oversized sword sluggishly at Tevyr. The differences in speed, agility, and performance between Tevyr and this Grendeni imitation were vast.
Before the archangel completed its attack, Tevyr pulled in to the side, sheared off the sword arm, spun rapidly, and cut through its torso. Pressurized fluid burst from every wound, darkening as the imbued chaos energy dissipated. The archangel’s yellow shunts died with its pilot. Severed parts of the lifeless machine rained down on the factories below.
Tevyr reoriented himself on the other four archangels. Yonu hit the archangel directly in front of Tevyr with another beam. Ribbons of energy splashed off the impact point, but its barrier held.
“Watch it!” she said. “Some of these things are stronger than others!”
Despite surviving the beam attack, the archangel’s shunts flickered and the edge of its sword fizzled completely. Tevyr flew in and cut across the archangel. Two severed halves plummeted away.
Another archangel rushed in, its sword forming a killing arc of light. Tevyr blocked quickly. The archangel’s sword and his dagger met in a violent flash of green and yellow light.
Tevyr angled his dagger and dodged to the left. The archangel overshot him, swinging through empty space. Tevyr cut deep into its undefended side.
One archangel remained, and despite the hopelessness of this contest, it charged them with suicidal fervor. A normal pilot, indeed any sane pilot, would have fallen back and regrouped, especially with so many allies nearby. But not these things. Not once had Tevyr seen them break from losses and retreat.
The archangel pulled its sword above its head and swung down.
Tevyr blocked with both daggers. The impact sent a wave of scorching pain down his arms.
“Argh! Curse it!”
Tevyr sliced the archangel’s arm off at the wrist, then hewed through its torso with a quick horizontal stroke. He spotted another group on approach.
“Keep moving!” he shouted. “Get V’Zen out of there!”
Yonu landed amongst the toppled buildings where V’Zen had fallen. Gently, she slipped her arms underneath the seraph’s headless body and lifted away from the crash site.
“Okay, I’ve got her! Where to?”
“We need to…”
Tevyr trailed off. His wings shuddered with fear.
A white seraph flew through the axial gateway and surveyed the battle-wracked factories before it. A black seraph followed, cloaked by impenetrable shadow. Even though Tevyr was physically cut off from his allies, hypercast signals kept his tactical data current. He knew exactly who piloted the white seraph and which side he fought on.
“We need to get out of here,” Yonu said. “Now!”
“I know, but…”
The northern space dock or the archangel catapult were their only means of escape, unless…
Tevyr turned around and faced the southern cap of the factory zone. The cap reminded Tevyr of geode crystalline deposites, except instead of crystals these were buildings, all rising up and meshing as they approached the central axial tube.
But there was a gap near the axial tube for traffic and commerce, a gap large enough for seraphs.
“There.” Tevyr transmitted the coordinates to Yonu. “We’ll retreat through that point.”
“That takes us even further into the schism!”
“We’ll make a break for the southern space dock. If we need to punch through, we’ve got the fleet and both squadrons outside ready to help us.”
Parts of two squadrons, Tevyr thought grimly.
“All right,” he said. “No point wasting time here. Let’s go!”
Yonu shot towards the gap with V’Zen’s broken seraph in her arms. Tevyr trailed behind, escorting the other two pilots. He spun around and sighted another fifteen archangels approaching.
Tevyr reached the axial gap shortly after Yonu. He landed just inside the lip, aimed his arm cannon at the closest archangel, and fired. The fusion beam burned through the archangel. It fell away and crashed, headless and wingless.
The other archangels came in.
Tevyr crash-launched his remaining inventory of tactical seekers: all forty-two warheads. The seekers deployed from weapon pods along his legs, spread out in front of him, and ignited their powerful drives.
Individually, the warheads didn’t stand a chance against even an archangel’s barrier. Against a seraph, the best the warheads could do was unbalance an opponent. However, Tevyr’s neural targeting commands singled out three archangels.
They made no attempts at evasion. Barriers collapsed beneath the glare of short-lived blue-white suns. There was no debris.
“I’m through,” Yonu said. “Interior is clear.”
The white and black seraphs rushed towards them.
Tevyr turned away and sped into the schism’s habitat cylinder. The undamaged axial tube illuminated a serene landscape of lakes, grassy hills, and small towns. He flew through the northcity, its towering structures of metal and glass receding towards the ground the further he traveled.
The southcity was at the far end, along with a gap leading to the southern factories.
They had a way out!
“Make a break for it!” Tevyr shouted. “Move!”
Hostiles flooded into the northcity before Tevyr and Yonu were halfway across. Several archangels slowed, taking up positions in the northcity. They couldn’t catch up, but those slow machines weren’t what concerned him.
A flash of white blurred past Tevyr and Yonu. It stopped, spun in space and dropped down directly in front of them. The white seraph leisurely ignited a single massive energy blade from its left arm.
The shadowy seraph approached from behind. They were cut off.
Tevyr and Yonu halted their advance
above a mountain range that bisected the habitat cylinder’s interior. Tevyr floated between Yonu and the white seraph, his twin chaos daggers buzzing to life.
Yonu fired her fusion cannon, the beam bright even against the lit axial tube. The thin strand of superheated plasma struck the white seraph’s barrier and splashed off harmlessly.
“What do we do now?” she asked.
“Head for the southcity. I’ll distract him.”
“You can’t take him on alone!”
“We don’t have any options!”
Jack Donolon dashed in.
Tevyr’s senses and reflexes were infinitely enhanced by the chaos energy surging through him. Even so, he barely responded in time. The traitor’s giant luminescent blade slashed down. Their blades met with a violent flash, and Tevyr was thrown back by the force of the blow. He recovered, wings flaring, shunts burning, and he charged at Jack.
The two danced and dodged and attacked around the sun-bright axial tube. Tevyr found he could not meet that blade head on. Instead he tried to deflect it and get within the traitor’s defenses.
It almost worked. Tevyr blocked the next attack with an angled dagger. The massive energy blade crackled across his dagger and continued past. For a mere fraction of a second, Tevyr was inside Jack’s defenses. He pulled his off-hand dagger up for a killing blow.
But Jack dodged back before Tevyr struck, turned quickly, and rushed Yonu and V’Zen.
“No!”
Tevyr had been too intent on distracting this foe. Too late, he realized Jack had led him away, and Yonu was now alone and vulnerable.
“YONU, BEHIND YOU!”
Jack slashed down with terrible force, sheering through Yonu’s arm and cutting clean through V’Zen’s torso. The wounded pilot died instantly, and Yonu screamed from the feedback.
Tevyr rushed to her aid. He thrust with a dagger, but Jack juked upward with maddening agility. Tevyr found himself dangerously overextended with Jack directly above. Jack dove at him.
At the last moment, Tevyr raised and crossed his daggers. Their blades clashed. Hot chaos energies crackled, competed, and finally exploded. Tevyr flew back from the explosion and crashed into the schism’s mountain range. Rock and dirt blew out from the impact crater.