“That would mean splitting up, which I don’t think is a good idea. Strange planet, unfamiliar terrain, and a crazy strong enemy. Jack or Jinx you got anything?”
Jack says, “Nope, I agree with Hanna.”
Jinx says, “I think we should just keep running like we are to the tower. If we can get there before the warrior finds us would be best.”
Just hearing that out loud made Kat realize how bad of an idea that was. They had to take the one warrior out. It might be just as bad of an idea, but if they let it chase them up to the tower the element of surprise they might have had would be just as gone as it might be taking it out now without the added benefit of drawing some out of the tower.
Kat says, “Ok new plan. Hanna you’re right, but no splitting up. We take it out here. We might get lucky and draw warriors out of the tower.”
Jack says, “So we should have just killed it.”
“Yes, we should have just killed it.”
There is a break in the trees just ahead of them. Kat waves everyone toward it, hoping that open terrain would be better than partial cover. Which could depend on if the warriors weapon was still broken.
Hanna screams and flies into a nearby tree. She slumps down at the base of the tree she crashed into. Kat turns to see the warrior had already closed the distance. Jack hold out his palm with his fingers close together and pointed at the sky. His eyes filled with hate and rage. A tiny spark flashes in his hand before igniting into a tiny flame. It leaves his hand aimed at the warrior.
The flames kiss it’s cheek. Jack had already drawn his blaster before the flames reached the warrior, firing off a few rounds. It’s shields were already back up, but that didn’t matter to Jack. Kat grabbed her assault blaster and joined in.
Jinx closes in as both Kat and Jack drop their first clips to the ground. Getting inside of the warrior’s reach. She starts to land body blows, each knocking the warriors feet off the ground.
Kat then watches Jinx contort Graven’s body with a kick to the underside of it’s helmet. The warriors head whips back as it’s feet leave the ground by a few feet. It lands back on its feet then immediately falls to it’s knees.
Jack pulls out his modified cutting torch, turning a dial at the base then squeezing the grip to activate it. A thin white molten stream roars out of the hilt. It looks like a sword made of white molten flame.
He thrusts in, leading with the tip. The warrior’s head whips toward Jack, then two things happen at the same time. It grabs Jinx by the head almost to fast for Kat to see. Then sidesteps grabbing Jack’s wrist.
It spins throwing Jack and Jinx into nearby trees. The cutting torch flies out of Jack’s hand, the flame disappearing as it does. Kat now facing the warrior really wishes that she had Whisper and Fury with her. She could be using a Flare or Gravity shell on this thing right now.
Pulling up the blaster she flips the switch for single shot and moves the dial up to full. She would only get two shots out of this clip. She steadies her aim and pulls the trigger. There is a momentary charge up after the trigger pull before it fires.
The round hits the helmet whipping it backward as it presses the shield in. Kat fires the second round before the warrior has a chance to recover. It lands in the same place, this time cracking the helmet.
Ejecting her clip, she loads the last one in. She didn’t even think to bring more. Personal shields were something people had been talking about for years, but no one could get the power requirements down enough to still have a reliable shield that could be carried around. And here she is starring one down.
As the clip clicks in, the sound of gears turning hums to life. Before Kat could bring her hand up to the grip, the warrior has his fist in her stomach. For a brief moment she stares into one of the exposed eye of the warrior. It’s eye was completely black save for the iris which was unlike she had ever seen. It looked like four red corner brackets laid out to shape a square. It’s what she would think a robots eyes would look like.
She can feel herself leave the ground before coming back down and rolling. The hum of gears is still close by as she tries to focus. There is a pain in her side that feels wet. It was probably her wound from Celeste opening back up. And why wouldn’t it after a hit like that. No wonder they ripped through Ragnarok like tissue paper.
But she did crack the things helmet, which meant they weren’t unbreakable. She can still feel the grip of her blaster in her hand and tries to find where the warrior is. A heavy footfall brings her attention to her feet. She props herself up on one elbow aiming the blaster with the other.
Before she can pull the trigger a hand covers most of her face, and another holds down her right arm with the blaster in it. The square robotic eye gazes at her. It looks her over as if inspecting her. It then does something terrifying.
It speaks.
11
It’s voice is harsh, like the sound a cat would make when trying to shave it, with sandpaper.
It says, “Not Guild. Who?”
Kat didn’t know what to say. What was left of the helmet must have scanned her and didn’t find any Guild tech in her. Or the more terrifying thought is the red eye scanned her. That thought mixed with its voice made her skin crawl, and somehow feel violated.
It says, “Fine. Die any way.” It’s voice even harsher. Which she thought sounded like shaving a cat with sandpaper while dragging the cat’s nails across a chalkboard.
The hand around her head squeezes. Kat almost prefers this to it speaking, but doesn’t like the thought of dying. She struggles beneath the lumbering warrior like a child in their parents arms.
Kat’s vision goes from the sky to the ground as the warrior loosens its grip. Her but slams into a tree as she flew horizontal. Jinx was standing where Kat was, and she couldn’t find the warrior. Falling to the ground brings sharp pains along her side. Feeling under her shirt confirms the stitches have broken open. If she lived though this the medi-gel in her kit would seal it again.
She watches from her comfy spot on the ground as Jinx’s hair and eyes turn red. Her and the warrior go at it, which reminds her of the battle between Graven and Gwen. The blurs of motion, and shockwaves of force. No help from Wrath this time though.
Kat really misses Whisper and Fury, something she only became aware of when she went into that prison without Fury. The two of them were like a security blanket for her. One she is in desperate need of right now.
Jinx is now sporting orange. This must have been what she meant about Graven not know how to control her powers. The warriors suit lets out a hiss of air. Gears turn faster and the hum gets louder.
Kat feels a strong concussive wave of force as Jinx’s hair and eyes turn yellow. She’s moving Graven’s body faster than Kat can now see. The warrior’s helmet is now completely missing, revealing it’s ashen white skin and white hair. It has two round metal shields deployed one on each arm hold them in a defensive stance to take most of the blows from Jinx.
As it roars, it’s jaw unhinges from it’s skull. The decibel level was near ear shattering. Something it could probably only do once the helmet was removed. Jinx holds her ears bending at the waist. Kat had been behind the roar, and could only imagine what it would feel like having that aimed at you.
It steps only inches away from Jinx, clasping its hands together, raising them high overhead. It thrusts them downward like a flesh hammer.
Orange streaks of lightning connect with and carry the warrior off into the woods out of sight. Hanna is standing with the help of Jack. Both of her arms are outstretched palms facing where the warrior was, hands overlapping with pinky and thumbs touching. Arcs of orange lightning jump across her hands, and she shakes them away.
Jack says, “That was close.”
Kat says, “Do you think it’s dead?”
Hanna says, “I don’t think so. If I would have been able to aim for it’s head maybe, but I had to go for the body shot.”
Jinx stands shaking her head. Kat walks over and
wipes away some blood from her ear.
Jinx says in a too loud voice, “I don’t think that killed it. We need to get out of here. Its shields will be back up by the time it gets back here.”
Kat agrees, “Lets just make a run for the tower.”
“What? I can’t hear you with all of this ringing.”
Kat mimes running and points at the tower. Jinx nods. She takes a deep breath and letting it out slowly. As she exhales her hair and eye color fades back to orange then red, and back it Graven’s natural black hair and blue eyes.
Another deafening roar sounds.
Kat says, “Fight or flight?”
Jack says, “Time for a strategic regrouping.”
“Flight it is then.”
The group turns and runs in the opposite direction of the roar, toward the clearing they have yet to reach. Breaking through the trees brings them to a halt. Standing a top a steep cliff they can see where their destination is at the back of the copper tower. The small wooded area beneath the tower is where Mark said they would meet.
Kat reaches in her pocket and pulls out the small pack of medi-gel and slaps it on the open wound. Jinx gives her a look of disapproval. The same Graven would have given her if he was in control. Medi-gel was filled with coagulants, antibacterial, and a form of super glue. It would close the wound and keep it sealed as much as any quick fix would.
Kat says, “Time to slide down.”
Jinx says, “You need to let that set first. You might get dirt in there.”
Another roar, closer than the last. The warrior was clearly getting agitated with them. Which Kat thought was just what the fucker should be. They aren’t just a bunch of push overs. They are the crew of the Felicity, or will be once they get out of here and make a reputation for themselves.
Looking over the edge it looked almost too steep to try what she was thinking, but the only other way down meant going back to where they just were with the warrior and finding the downslope to get into the valley below.
Kat jumps, immediately regretting jumping instead of just going over the edge. She hits the ground too fast and her knees buckle. Tucking and rolling the rest of the way down was all she could do.
Somewhere after twenty or thirty rolls later the slant of ground evens out enough to where Kat can stop rolling. Jinx comes from behind and lifts her up. Hanna and Jack come right beside the two slowing their pace.
The warrior pears out over the cliff and down at the group. It jumps off comes barreling down. Hanna takes her stance again and aims. The warrior had no where to go, is hit and carried back over the cliff by the bolt.
Kat regains her balance and they continue to make their way to the small forest beneath the copper tower. It doesn’t take long to reach running down hill but they can already hear the warrior coming after them.
The trees there were different than what she’d seen on the way there. There was no flowers, fruit, or leaves. Each brach fanned out at the tips which gave the illusion of leaves.
On the other side of the trees, is a small opening before the base of the tower. Kat looks up at the tower, and the feeling of looking for that proverbial needle creeps up again. Near the base of the tower are a set of steps made of the same stone the coliseum was made of. A lot of the same symbols were there as well. The stairs were twenty feet across, and thirty high. The entrance was just as big.
It lead up to into what looks like a black hole with two human looking statues on either side each with head of a bird instead of a regular human head. Every other detail had been lost to time.
As Kat reaches the top of the steps Jinx and Jack are not far behind. Hanna is the last but stops halfway. A short distance away Kat can hear a hiss of air and the hum of gears. The warrior steps out of the trees and glares at the group. Kat takes a step forward but Hanna holds up her hand gesturing for her to stop.
Hanna flexes her fists as they ignite in orange sparks. She leaps into the air and streaks high into the sky with a trail of sparks behind her. In mid air she changes direction aimed right at the warrior.
The warrior grabs her wrists with blurred movement as its gears squeal and the ground divots from Hanna’s impact with it. The warrior takes Hanna and slams her into a wall, still holding on to her. Kat can see the indicator on the back of the warrior’s suit which was blinking purple.
Hanna grabs ahold of the warrior as it hold her against the wall. Kat rushes back out of the grand opening, but Hanna shakes her head.
She yells, “Just go!”
A blindingly huge bolt of orange lighting crashes out of the sky and into the back of the warrior. The gears on it’s suit spin faster and faster.
She yells again, “GO!”
12
A crash of thunder can be heard right outside of the entrance. Kat wants to go back, and knows Jack is fighting back an urge to run to his wife. She can see it in the way he moves his head and the look in his eyes. If it was her she'd be running back and damn whatever Graven would say, if one of them was in trouble they both were. She could empathize with Jack's position, if Graven came back for her after she told him to run, she would be pissed.
One time a few months back, she had told him to leave her behind, but he came back to give her support. Sure it might have been a strip club, and it might have been a given the bouncer guys were three times her size, but she was already done with them by he time he showed up. Whisper, Fury, and her took care of it. He should have known that she could deal with it and didn’t need the help of a man. That was a memory of what seemed like a life time ago. It was the last job Bob gave them before the shipment run to Starz. Both of which went sideways. Something she would have to bring up with that slimy bastard if she got off this planet alive.
Another crash of thunder in the background illuminates the inside walls. Which was oddly comforting. She normally hates thunder, but right now it's tell her that Hanna is still alive and kicking. She gives Hanna her faith that she can deal with that warrior, and come out alive. With each flash she could see the inside of the chamber. Which was different than Kat had pictured in her head. It was very plain and very open. The ground still had some of the markings like at the coliseum but they were barely visible. It gave her the feeling that the resurrection was a rarer ritual than what ever the Deviso ritual was.
Kat's eyes adjusted to the lower light and noticed a large stone statue in the back. The figure was as least ten feet tall and still in pristine condition. There was still what looked like polish left on it, which would be impressive if she were to believe that no other Eydulan was left on the planet. That was something that Kat found hard to believe. There had to be one or two at the least. The planet is big enough to hide a few.
That aside, Kat looked over the statue and noticed it was in the shape of an angel. The wings were slightly off, shaped like thin ovals rather than full bird wings. Its head, if you would call it that, was an upside down tear drop shape. There were no arms and no legs but the halo that sat above the head was there, in gold.
She runs to the statue, it being the only thing in the large open chamber, hoping to find something there. Mark had told her there was a tunnel he worked on that connects to the copper tower. Kat wonders just what happened to Mark for him to get captured. Wrong place, wrong time, or is he important. Since they are about to meet, she can ask him.
Kat walks around the statue and sees the tunnel that Mark had been creating. It looked like a standard corridor, with metal walls and floors. Which was strange, very strange. Jack is right beside her, but Jinx isn’t. Looking back around the statue, Jinx is standing in front of the statue palms pressed together and head bowed. She looked like she was praying.
Kat says, “Jinx, come on.”
“Just paying my respects to the Creator, and praying for a safe return.”
“That sounds like something Knox would say about God.”
Which was true. Knox always did have a great amount of faith that God was guiding him in life. It was one of the reason
s he took her in all those years ago. She had picked up on some of his faith, but never fully believed. There was too much hurt in her past, and believes she got lucky finding Knox.
Jinx says, “The Creator is one in the same with who you call God. She created us just like She created everything.”
“Eydulans are Christians?”
“No and yes. We knew our Creator as we were the first to be made. Humans came much later, and her involvement with your race was different based on millions of years worth of trial and error before that.”
Jack says, “Hey you two, this theological talk is great and all, but we need to keep moving. Hanna didn’t stay behind to deal with that Foremid so we can talk about God.”
Jinx says, “You’re right Jack. I know you’ve never believed anyway.”
“I believe in a lot of things. I believe that this gun in my hands can kill, that our ship will get us out of here, my wife will be ok, and that we need to hurry the fuck up.”
Kat says, “You two need to cool it. Now.”
Jack grumbles and Jinx stands up straight brushing herself off. A gesture Kat hadn’t seen before. Jinx might have been inside of Graven’s head since he was surgically implanted with her, but she is most definitely her own personality. He would have never said something like that to Jack.
Kat just pushes past the two, which were still glaring at each other. Another weird thing for her to witness. It was like watching her husband slowly morph into a woman.
The metal corridor was seemingly well constructed. Kat didn’t have any real knowledge of what it really takes to build a tunnel and then turn it into a corridor like this, but she knew about the maintenance on Felicity. The floors were sturdy, and the walls didn’t jiggle as she touched them. There was little to no light in the tunnel. The thunder and flashes of lightning had stopped. Which could be a good thing.
Kat found herself wishing that Whisper was there. She had the ability to change the settings on her replacement eye to different settings, like night vision. It was now something she was going to have to ask Whisper how to do on her own, if she could, so this wouldn’t happen again.
Starship Magic 3: Abducted Page 6