The Mercenary's Dawn

by L P Peace

  ‘Of course. Along with Vella and Dabin.’ He looked at Dairon, who nodded.

  ‘They are?’ Keral shook his head.

  ‘An Iverosh and Zenin,’ Dairon said.

  ‘Excellent. What?’ Keral said when he noticed the look on Dairon’s face.

  ‘Aren’t you going to dismiss the idea for your own?’

  Keral shook his head.

  ‘Good plan,’ he murmured in his gruff voice. ‘Get on.’

  The facility was on the dark side of the planet, which Keral insisted was a problem. With several hours still before dawn, the two ships prepared, refined the plan and responsibilities, as well as check weapons and armour. Dairon took a nap, to ensure he’d be rested. His thoughts attempted to take him to his sister, but he pushed them aside and got some sleep.

  When he awoke, Tala took Niada and Idila in exchange for Vella and Dabin. The Mvari was terrified of stepping onto the ship, until their mechanic—Kenian, another Mvari—boarded. He took her aside and they whispered for a few minutes, before she left with him, Niada at her side. She smiled weakly at Dairon and thanked him before she left.

  Once everything was ready, they all sat on the Bridge and waited.

  Minutes later, Tala erupted from the upper layers of the gas giant in a puff of cloud. It stopped for a moment, making sure everyone got a good look at her.

  ‘This is Vanoor Kadish of the Tala,’ the pilot’s voice came over the comm. ‘To all Protectorate and Amaran vessels. The Cealin have captured the ship and person of High-Protector Thanesh and brought him to the planet Teralis.’

  They waited for Deyuul’s updates, their vision obscured by the clouds.

  ‘The Cealin seem to be rather more animated than a moment ago,’ Deyuul murmured. His eyes were closed as he danced across the minds of navigators and pilots across the Cealin fleet.

  More Cealin vessels began emerging from the gas giant, each one on a trajectory for the smuggling vessel. Vanoor was broadcasting the entire way. The Tala was faster and more manoeuvrable than the Cealin vessels.

  Deyuul whispered a few words as the ship sank deeper into the layers of gasses that made up the largest planet in the system.

  ‘Trouble?’ Dairon looked at the Uunda.

  ‘Not anymore.’

  ‘Huh,’ Keral barked. ‘We could do with Uunda in the Protectorate.’

  ‘Everyone thinks they could do with Uunda,’ Deyuul whispered through strained concentration. ‘Then they come to our planet to hurt and enslave us and realise they don’t need us that much after all.’

  ‘Ha.’ Keral slapped a hand on his knee. ‘We definitely need Uunda.’

  ‘Vanoor’s gone to FTL,’ Deyuul whispered. ‘The pilots of the Cealin ship are finding it hard to concentrate on their jobs. Navigators seem to have failed to accurately copy the trajectory.’

  ‘We’re about to fly out of range,’ Dairon said. ‘Concentrate on the ships still nearby.’ Deyuul nodded.

  Dairon piloted the ship, feeling small nudges from Deyuul that he followed without question. When they emerged from the other side of the planet, he did it without disturbing the gases. When they flew away, there was no sign they had ever been there.

  ‘Well done, boy.’ Keral nodded his approval. Dairon felt a flash of pride.

  Teralis was a contrast between light, almost bright green and azure blue. From orbit, it was a beautiful world.

  As Invictus descended, he saw the enormous mountains covered with massive trees. Many of the mountains didn't peak like the mountains on Tessa. Instead, they were flat. The energy signature from the facility was atop one of them. Below the flat mountain peaks, cloud obscured the view.

  ‘Planet under the clouds is not really suitable for life,’ Keral said. ‘Everything lives above them.’

  ‘Why?’ Dairon asked, suddenly wanting to descend and explore.

  ‘Poisonous,’ Keral shrugged. ‘Couple of our brothers walked down. Got to the cloud cover and keeled over. We could not even retrieve their bodies.’

  ‘You’ve been here before?’

  Keral nodded.

  ‘This is where we began.’ Keral’s voice was strained. Emotional. ‘This is where they end.’ His voice became hard.

  They entered the planet far away from the facility and flew close to the ground to avoid detection. Deyuul kept his mind open for anyone who might see them.

  ‘I have made contact with someone called Korren?’ Deyuul looked at Keral, who looked back, stunned.

  ‘Korren?’

  Deyuul nodded. ‘He has latent abilities which the Cealin are enhancing. We’re negotiating sharing senses so that I can coordinate both inside and outside the facility.’ He looked at Keral. ‘But he wants to hear you say you trust me.’ Deyuul frowned. ‘I’m not entirely sure he does,’ he said. It took Dairon a moment to realise he was talking to the Protectorate somewhere inside the facility.

  ‘Trust you?’

  Deyuul nodded. ‘He wants to ensure this isn’t a trap.’

  Keral nodded his understanding. He only hesitated for a moment. ‘In this Korren, trust him.’

  Deyuul tilted his head in a bow. ‘I have limited senses into the facility,’ Deyuul whispered.

  Dairon landed the Invictus in a small clearing, but they were still madiths away from where Alethia was. Dairon froze. It was the first time he’d allowed himself to think about his sister since this all began. Not that he had forgotten her, but rather, he was afraid to think of her. He was afraid for her, of what the Cealin might be doing to her.

  He was eight when he lost his parents within a day of each other. Cancer took their mother first. When she passed, Adanith climbed onto the bed with her and refused to move or allow her to be moved. His body stopped just over a day later.

  Teyrin buried them together, leaving the hole open so that he could join them. Then he went to bed and held his children until he passed a few hours after that. At first, he talked to them, told them all the things they needed to know. Then he had time alone with each. Neither Alethia nor Dairon had ever shared what he said to them.

  As the end grew closer, he withdrew. Became silent. Eventually, even the calming touches had stopped until his chest went still.

  It was hard for Alethia and Dairon to drag him to the grave. Dairon was a brat, crying every fenth of the way up the hill that looked out over the small home where they lived. When the act was done and a mound was all they had left of their parents, Alethia lifted Dairon into her arms and held him. He was big. He must have been so heavy to her small human frame. She was his parent from then on. She did her best, taking care of him and protecting him despite being such a tiny little human.

  It was hard, knowing she would live a life so much shorter than him, that one day his whole family would be dead and he would be alone. But the thought of something happening to her now…

  He wasn’t ready. He was far and away from being ready.

  Deyuul’s warm hand gripped his shoulder. ‘She’s alive, Dairon,’ he said quietly. ‘I can feel her.’

  Relief rocked through him and left him shaking. He looked into Deyuul’s black eyes. Somehow, he managed to convey concern.

  ‘Thank you,’ he whispered. ‘I needed to hear that.’

  ‘Right. Time to go,’ Keral barked, ‘We have people to rescue.’

  Dairon looked over their little crew as he passed through the hold. There were five of them. Five of them to go up against the Cealin forces. Dairon was nervous. In his nineteen years, he’d never done anything like this. But when he looked at Deyuul, he knew they had a better than average chance.

  ‘Don’t forget the Protectorate. He’s older than he looks and has quite the strategic mind.’

  Dairon turned his attention to the final two members of their party.

  Vella was the Ivoresh. She was over eight fenth tall. Her body was covered in teal scales, though the top of her chest, her neck and face a pale jade. Muscles rippled under her skin whenever she moved around, which she did on digitigra
de feet, her muscular tail sweeping back and forth behind her. Two small horns growing from her hairline, made her appear taller and her eyes were unusually large, even as her face seemed almost human. Two slitted nostrils flared and closed with each breath, allowing Vella to protect her airways while swimming. Her species were semi-aquatic.

  The Zenin at her side was around the same height as Dairon. His off-white grey body was smooth. As soon as he detected a threat, his skin would harden and large plate scales would appear, covering every inith of skin and protecting him from most weapons. Dabin was the ship’s medic, but he was fair with a weapon, not afraid to hurt people, and would be handy in protecting Alethia when they found her. It wouldn’t be the first time either. Dabin was very fond of Alethia, something that couldn’t be said about many people. She had bought him several years before, and they had formed a bond. He would go out of his way for her. Dairon couldn’t say he would ever do the same for any of the rest of them.

  The ships platform descended, revealing the rainforest beyond. The fresh air of the ship thickened, becoming hot and humid.

  ‘I know little of rainforests,’ Dairon said. The purple and red forests of his home were temperate. ‘But from what I do know, I’m sure they don’t usually sit on the top of mountains.’

  Dabin, the Zenin from Makios’s ship, grunted in agreement.

  ‘The way this planet works means those clouds.’ Keral pointed at the edge of the mesa, ‘act in place of oceans. We are on a mountain, but we are also at sea level for this planet.’ They walked to the edge of the forest. Below them, more than a hundred fenth down the side of the mountain clouds whispered and billowed around the ground. There was a brown tide mark beyond a certain level where the green gave way to brown earth and grey rock. Beyond that level, nothing grew. The bodies of several animals lay rotting close to the edge, touched by sun and wisps of gas.

  ‘The clouds are cold,’ Dairon said. He could feel the temperature radiating through the heat of the day.

  ‘Hmm.’ Keral nodded. ‘The heat keeps the clouds low. When the sun goes down, the gases expand and cover the mountains.’

  ‘How come everything isn’t dead?’ Dairon looked into the pale blue eyes of the Protectorate.

  Keral shrugged. ‘Adaptation.’

  ‘There’s a patrol nearby,’ Deyuul said quietly. His voice echoed in each of their heads.

  Keral jumped at the intrusion. Dairon was used to it. Like Dabin and Vella, he took the Uunda’s mental presence in his stride.

  Dairon followed the mental nudges Deyuul gave him as he and the rest of them melted into the forest and flanked the Cealin. They were sitting around eating rations. Dairon felt terrible; the way they were ambushing them felt wrong.

  ‘If we leave them behind us, they’ll be a threat. If we openly attack, they may get the time to send a message to the facility.’

  ‘I know,’ Dairon whispered. ‘It doesn’t feel right.’

  ‘To me, either. For Alethia.’

  ‘For Alethia,’ Dairon repeated.

  Dairon kept on walking. Careful of each step lest he break one of the dried twigs on the forest floor as he had often done as a child when his father was teaching him to track and stealth. He’d never been any good at it, at least not until Alethia took him back through the paces when he was twelve. When he was able to stalk her without her knowing, that’s when he knew he’d done Teyrin proud.

  He stepped on a dried twig, which snapped.

  ‘Everyone fire, now!’

  ‘Fuck,’ Dairon hissed, then shouldered his rifle and, taking a nudge from Deyuul, fired into the clearing. With a few well-placed shots, the first patrol was down and they were moving on.

  Cursing himself, Dairon joined the others in the clearing.

  ‘Deyuul, I’m—’

  ‘Think nothing of it. You have much on your mind.’

  A short time later, they came across another patrol. This time, Dairon forced himself to focus and the Cealin went down without a hitch.

  ‘How far are we from the facility?’ Dairon asked Deyuul.

  ‘Less than a madith,’ the Uunda replied.

  They continued on into the trees, and for the first time, Dairon got a good look at the rainforest. The tree trunks were midnight blues, greens and a mix of greys depending on the tree. The ones that were midnight blue had brighter streaks of turquoises and what his mother called baby blue running up the thick trunks. Most of each trunk was covered in a thick blanket of a bright green moss-like plant.

  ‘Adaptation,’ Keral picked at some of the moss. ‘It filters the gasses at night, providing the tree with oxygen. The leaves stop respirating at night.’

  ‘How do you know all this?’

  Keral’s face tensed. His lips became a thin line. ‘Know your enemy. Thanesh never wanted to see this place again. But he sent me back with a team to collect data in case we ever needed it. That was a long time ago.’

  ‘There’s another patrol ahead. It’s the last one.’ Deyuul interrupted them.

  Dairon exchanged looks with the rest of them. Each face looked back at him, determined.

  Splitting while they were still a distance away from the patrol, Dairon moved through the forest, resolute he’d not make another mistake. As the previous two attacks, he followed the nudges in his mind from Deyuul and found a good place to attack from. He settled in and waited for Deyuul’s order as he coordinated their attacks.

  Dry wood snapped. Dairon looked down, expecting to see a snapped twig, but nothing was underfoot. The sound of footsteps thundered behind him. He turned and saw a massive form charging towards him from the jungle.

  Its upper lip was pulled back to reveal massive teeth and gums that stretched half-way up its long snout. The upward stroke of each footstep revealed talons as long as Dairon’s arm. Two massive incisors, as long as his legs fell past the lower lip and rested on the creatures chin. Its green body, decorated with black rosettes, appeared humped. Dairon realised it had a massive set of quills on its back.

  ‘Deyuul,’ Dairon whispered in panic.

  ‘I…’ a pause.

  ‘Deyuul?’

  ‘I… it’s… it’s resisting. Run.’

  Dairon had nowhere to go but into the camp. Firing his weapon, he erupted from the trees into a clearing of stunned Cealin.

  More shots followed from the jungle and two Cealin, who had been pulling out their own weapons, fell to the ground with smoking holes in their chests.

  A Cealin stood, getting out a weapon and then his communicator.

  Dairon fired, missing the guard twice but somehow hitting the comm.

  He ran farther out into the clearing, then dived right, nudged by Deyuul, out of the way of the beast as it bounded past him, making short work of the distance. The creature grabbed the Cealin in its huge jaws; his strangled cry was cut off a moment later.

  The last two Cealin were firing on the creature, who, on all fours, stood several feet higher than them. Their energy weapons seemed to do little damage against its thick skin.

  ‘Do you think you can get a shot through the roof of its mouth?’ Deyuul’s voice cut through the din.

  ‘If I’m in its mouth,’ Dairon called out, immediately regretting the image his words conjured in his head.

  ‘How about if I can get it to drop the Cealin?’

  A loud, wet crunch punctuated his question.

  Dairon considered several answers before taking one knee, shouldering his rifle and calling out.

  ‘Do it.’

  ‘I’m going to make him toss up and catch. When he opens his mouth to catch—’

  ‘I fire,’ Dairon finished.

  ‘Ready?’

  Dairon nodded, knowing Deyuul would sense it.

  The creature’s pupils expanded, a sure sign the Uunda was in its mind. It tossed its neck back, releasing the body and opening its mouth wide.

  Dairon let out three shots, blasting a hole through the roof. Something unsightly plopped out onto the creature�
�s tongue and slipped out the side of its mouth to the forest floor below. Its eyes rolled in its head, and it followed brain matter to the ground, dead.

  The Cealin’s body landed a moment later.

  A shot seared his side.

  ‘Vrok!’ Dairon threw himself out of the way of the second blast. Keral ran into the jungle and tackled Dairon’s attacker to the ground. The two males rolled, each trying to get the upper hand on the other.

  The final Cealin rounded on Dairon and raised his weapon to fire.

  Deyuul appeared from the trees, rising from his hiding spot. He hit his full height and continued rising and rising.

  One, long, insectoid leg emerged from the undergrowth and Deyuul stepped more than halfway across the clearing. He speared his clawed appendage into the horrified Cealin before he could fire his raised weapon.

  Another leg appeared next to Dairon. Deyuul swung across the distance until he was standing almost directly in front of Dairon. His final two extra limbs joined him a moment later, Deyuul hanging between them like a puppet.

  Deyuul reached down and grabbed the Cealin on top of Keral, hauling him up into the air, his enlarged muscles rippling and straining with each move.

  The Cealin’s eyes rounded in fear as he looked around him, trying to make sense of his unexpected change in orientation.

  ‘What the vrokking hell is this?’ Keral called out.

  ‘Uunda,’ Dairon said, gesturing to his friend.

  ‘We definitely need Uunda in our ranks.’ Keral shook his head. ‘That is my new mission.’ He looked at Dairon, who laughed.

  ‘I’m scanning him for intelligence,’ Deyuul said, his voice oddly toneless.

  ‘They have none, vrokking Cealin.’ Keral pushed himself off the ground.

  The emergency exit, the back door, stood in a hill a few hundred fenth from the ravine where the front entrance could be found. It was surrounded by the same dark blue and green trees Dairon noticed earlier, still covered with the same bright green moss. Deyuul keyed in the code he’d gotten from the Cealin and the door opened to reveal a clear hallway beyond. Ice blue corridors greeted them, the ceiling was white and the floor black with tracks of dried mud leading back and forth.