Twilight of the Gods (Universe in Flames Book 8)

by Christian Kallias

  Chase turned to the holographic projection of the commodore standing a few feet away from him and saluted. “Goodbye, old friend.”

  The entire crew saluted at once. Chase scanned the cargo bay and could read sorrow in everyone’s eyes. But his last words had also sparked some determination in the looks of all the officers present. Chase could feel they all wanted the same: to be done with war, to live their lives in peace, like it should be.

  “I believe Emperor Altair would like to say a few words now.”

  There were murmurs in between the ranks. Chase couldn’t blame the crew for not being too keen with their feelings for the Emperor. Even though the Obsidian Empire had been a valuable ally ever since they joined the Earth Alliance, for the ex-Star Alliance crew onboard the Hope, the scars of their recent war with them were still fresh. The Emperor still represented the face of the enemy in many of the crew’s hearts. To Chase’s dismay, a few crewmen even left the cargo bay before the Emperor had stepped up to the podium. He regretted this attitude but he couldn’t blame them.

  Chase and the Emperor briefly shook hands and Chase lightly touched the Emperor’s shoulder before stepping down from the podium.

  The Emperor stood tall and looked at everyone in the cargo bay for a moment before speaking.

  “I know many of you probably hate me, and I’m not even going to pretend that you shouldn’t. A little over a year ago, both our people were still at war. And now we’re part of the same Alliance. I know it makes a lot of you uneasy. In fact, many of my people feel the same as you do. But today I ask that you put that aside just for a few moments while we remember a great man, someone I feel blessed to have made peace with and even someone I could, with no shortage of pride, call my friend.

  “Commodore Saroudis was a gentle soul driven by the highest morale compass I have ever known. He knew when to make the tough calls, and his courage shall not be forgotten. I was lucky to have been able to spend some quality time with the Commodore in his last days. Even with all the blood that stood in between our people, we’ve put an old grudge to the side in order to build a bridge between us that I hope will last for thousands of years to come. I’m weary of war, and I’m sure you are as well.

  “While my heart cries for his absence, as I’m sure yours does too, my soul burns for retribution. The Furies have set our corner of the universe ablaze. They conquer, kill and destroy without any regard for life. And in this I know we agree, they must be stopped! Let’s bring the peace that your commanding officer has always wanted for everyone in this universe. The Furies can be defeated! If anything, we’ve proven that together we can prevail.”

  A few faces in the crew nodded. Chase was worried that they might actually start heckling the Emperor, but so far it was going better than he expected.

  “There is however the question of who will lead us toward the rest of this war with the Furies—”

  Chase felt the mood of many of the crew change from solemn to agitated. He himself wondered where the Emperor’s speech was going, and why.

  “Not you!” shouted a crewman, which then sent the entire cargo bay into a cacophony of complaints and negativity.

  The Emperor raised two open palms. “Please, if I could only finish—”

  What is that snake doing? protested Argos telepathically.

  Why don’t we wait to hear what he has to say and give him the benefit of the doubt, shall we?

  Sure, but I am not taking orders from him...ever!

  Duly noted.

  “Please, if I can have your attention for just a moment—” the Emperor pleaded.

  But there was no calming the crew. So Chase intervened even though he didn’t want to. He levitated above them and transformed into his Ultra Fury form; both his eyes and aura burned a bright orange, and then he screamed: “Silence!”

  The words were so deep, and his voice so powerful, that it could be felt within each and everyone’s bodies, making their organs vibrate. The noise level quickly faded to a whisper. Chase landed back on the floor of the cargo bay, right in front of the podium, and his hair flew down his back as his eyes returned to their purple color.

  “Please, let the Emperor speak. If the Commodore trusted him, that’s good enough for me, and it should be good enough for everyone of you.”

  Chase turned toward the Emperor. “Please, continue.”

  “Thank you, Captain Athanatos.”

  “Commodore Saroudis was a leader, and in these desperate times, this Alliance still needs one. And let me put all of your minds at ease right away: I have no intention to be that leader. Not only am I fully aware I don’t deserve this position, but there is someone way more suited to the task present in this room.”

  I wonder who he has in mind, thought Chase.

  “Someone you all have come to trust and respect, to whom you probably owe your lives to, many times over. But we can’t just have a captain lead an entire Alliance to victory. So it is with great honor that I propose who your new commanding officer should be. Effective immediately, and with the authority my rank bestows me, I would like to promote Captain Chase Athanatos to the rank of Admiral. I also propose he rightfully takes the reigns of the Alliance his courage and resilience has helped build in the first place. I know if the Commodore were with us today, he’d agree.”

  What the— Admiral? For the love of the gods!

  Congratulations, brother. Look at it this way, you’ve always loved sticking it to the man, now it seems you’re going to be the man.

  Shut up, Argos!

  We both know you have done exactly what you wanted from day one, at least now nobody can tell you what to do or not to do since you’re outranking everyone. The universe really can have a great sense of humor, sometimes.

  Chase exhaled a long breath as he heard Argos laugh in his mind.

  The crowd cheered and applauded.

  “Would you come back to the podium, if you so please, Admiral?” asked the Emperor.

  Chase caught a glimpse of Sarah smiling and Daniel flashing him two thumbs up as he returned to the podium and shook the Emperor’s hand. He leaned his face next to the Emperor’s ear and took advantage of the loud cheers to ask him something privately.

  “You do realize I know nothing of commanding people?”

  “Even though my time spent with Adonis was short, he spoke very highly of you. In fact, he said that he felt that his command of the fleet and rank didn’t reflect who was truly leading the Alliance. That even if you weren’t consciously aware of it, you were the one at the helm.”

  Chase reflected on the Emperor’s words as the crowd started chanting his name. Had he somehow taken control of the Alliance without even realizing? He knew that once he made up his mind about something, he would go through with it, and well, as such, he almost always removed himself from the chain of command. But rank and recognition really didn’t matter to him. The only thing that mattered was to stop the Furies, rescue his aunt Aphroditis and make sure that the least possible amount of lives was lost in the process.

  When Chase faced the crew, they stopped cheering to let him speak.

  “I don’t really know what to say, but I’m honored by the faith you all put in me. You know I’ll do everything to make sure the Furies are stopped, no matter the cost. I know that together we can prevail and remove that evil from our lives. As you all know, we’re now inside an accelerated hyperspace corridor en route to Asgard. Upon arrival, we’ll have to stop the nefarious plans the Furies have for what we all hope will become a new ally. I know Commodore Saroudis is proud of each and every one of you, and that, like me, he knows we’ll finish what we started together.”

  Chase raised a fist in the air. “For Saroudis!”

  The entire crew echoed Chase’s words in unison. “For Saroudis!”

  13

  Onboard the Fury transport ship Lathraía, the leader of the Prime Strike Force, Afthartos, walked into the ship’s cargo bay, where the rest of his team reviewed their mission details pro
jected from their armors’ embedded holo-projector. Afthartos was the tallest of them, towering at seven feet four inches. His long white hair commanded respect amongst his peers.

  “I hope you have studied your mission brief well. We can’t afford any mistakes. We either come back with Odin’s head or not at all.”

  “Do we know how powerful the head of the Asgardian will be?” inquired Tax’hitita, the only female of the group, who everyone called Tax.

  Tax had short blonde hair with pink highlights. It gave her a juvenile look that often destabilized her enemies, falsely projecting a sense of inexperienced youth that proved fatal to anyone making that rookie mistake.

  “Information on the subject is scarce. But he didn’t assume the throne of Asgard by mistake. I have no doubt that he’s a powerful and skilled fighter. But together I’m sure we can bring him down.”

  The Fury sitting next to Tax, a long-bearded Fury with a metallic prosthetic arm named Grothias made a throaty noise. “I know nobody wants to ask the question, but I’m sure it’s on everyone’s mind. What of Oryn?”

  “She’s an unknown element,” replied Afthartos. “Perhaps she’s already en route to join us in the mission.”

  The farthest seated Fury, Kolpas, got up and twisted his neck, making a popping sound. “And perhaps she’s no longer one of us.”

  “We don’t know that,” answered the fifth Fury, Exipnos, passing his fingers through his red hair. “Never assume anything. She might just have been delayed in her mission to assassinate the traitor.”

  “Which one?” snorted Grothias as he made a fist with his mechanized hand.

  Afthartos moved to stand in the center of the group.

  “Argos and Laiyos, or Chase as he’s been mentioned in your mission briefs, are both powerful Furies and traitors to our people. They are however not to be underestimated. Timoros learned that the hard way. As for Oryn, it doesn’t matter right now. In her absence, I have been given command of this Strike Force. If she comes back and is onboard with the parameters of the mission, then she can relieve me and lead us like we’re all used to. But until that moment comes, we’ll proceed with the assumption that she is either dead or lost to us.”

  “I sure would like to know who can defeat Oryn?” said Tax with a nervous chuckle.

  “There’s always someone more powerful,” said Exipnos, his eyes fixed on the floor, looking at a bug. “Let’s not forget that this Chase traitor killed Timoros with a single attack. I’ll let that sink into everyone’s brains, as it should.”

  “Exipnos is correct,” said Afthartos. “But our primary mission objective is to bring back Odin’s head. If we have to engage Chase and his friends to get that job done, then that’s what we’ll do. But I want no bravado, people. Each of us has been selected to be a part of this Strike Force for a reason; we all have unique assets to contribute in this fight. There is strength in numbers, and together we can prevail. I don’t want anyone trying to go solo; do I make myself clear?”

  “Clear,” answered the rest of the warriors in unison.

  RYONNA AND TAR’LOCK arrived near the cargo bay where Argos had his lab and stopped in front of the door.

  “What are we waiting for?”

  Ryonna still couldn’t get over the fact that she hated Argos and wanted to see him die. Sure he had helped save her world today, but the entire thing, the whole reason for this second attack was Argos’ fault in the first place. Why wouldn’t Chase and the others see that? It was simple causality. Chase had allowed that animal to live, and even if he eventually became a pet of sorts, he was still a killing machine once upon a time.

  “I hate Argos. I just wish we didn’t need his help,” spat Ryonna.

  “If you’d rather we go to my home world without his tech, we can do that. Might be more difficult, but I’m sure we can make it work.”

  Ryonna thought about it. Tar’Lock rarely argued with her and she knew why. Even though she wasn’t ready to ever trust another man like she trusted her husband, and have that kind of bond, she liked the little guy. He was inherently good, unlike Argos. Still, Chase trusted Argos now, at least on some level, so perhaps she should put aside her own feelings on the matter.

  “No, Tar’Lock. Argos’ tech will make our mission simpler. I just—”

  Tar’Lock put his hand on her forearm and smiled at her. “I know.”

  Ryonna nodded as they entered Argos’ lab. The first thing she saw made her eyes widen. A naked Spiros was floating inside one of Argos’ contraptions.

  “What the hell is this?”

  Argos was walking and typing into a holographic data pad as he approached the pair. Without taking his eyes off of his data, he answered.

  “That would be Spiros’ next body. He’s almost ready, in fact.”

  “I thought Spiros was dead,” said Tar’Lock.

  Argos lifted his head and looked into the insectoid’s eyes. “Oh, but he is.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “We have other things to look over and I’m on a short schedule here, so let me give you the condensed version of this story. Gaia saved Spiros’ consciousness, Cedric stored that into the ancient device you,” said Argos pointing toward Ryonna, “brought back a while ago, Chase asked Hades to keep Spiros’ soul on ice— so to speak, and I’m cloning him a body so that he can be brought back to life. Did I forget anything? No— I think that about sums it up.”

  Tar’Lock turned to Ryonna, and she could clearly see in his baffled look that he had trouble following Argos’ explanation of the situation.

  “The dead should stay dead,” said Ryonna coldly.

  “Well, it wasn’t my idea, and since Chase has a soft side for Gaia—” Argos threw his hands to the side, “here we are. But that’s not why you’re here.”

  Argos went to a nearby table and grabbed a small device. It had a red pulsating line in its center. “That, in fact, is what you came for,” said Argos before handing the device to Ryonna.

  “How does it work?” she asked.

  “It’s actually pretty simple. Stick the device to your temple, and it will project a holographic HUD with the relevant commands. There are different modes you can use.”

  “Such as?”

  “Well, you can do a suggestion, reverse a mind control order that was assigned to the Gorgars, or simply implant one of your own. I’ve added a new feature. Once you’ve removed the current programming, or installed one of your own, you can now encrypt the last command so it can’t be changed by anyone else but the device holder.”

  “We don’t want my people to become slaves to a new master,” protested Tar’Lock with a series of nervous clicks.

  Argos turned toward him. “Be that as it may, my little insectoid friend, your brains are easily hacked, so unless you protect it with this device, the Furies or any other malevolent species, could re-program your people to do their bidding at any time.”

  Tar’Lock clicked faster. “Little insectoid friend?”

  “Too much?”

  “Never mind. How fast will this act?”

  “As you know, when you are on your planet, your consciousness exists in two forms: your own thoughts and memories, and the hive mind. The hive mind is that part of your brain that allows the mind suggestion or even control of your species. Once you implant a new directive, it will almost instantly affect all of your people who, right now, are working day and night, relentlessly, to deliver precious resources the Furies need.”

  “And I guess the Furies have you to thank for the Gorgar being a slave race,” snorted Ryonna.

  “Look, I don’t expect you to ever like me or trust me. I wouldn’t if I were in your place. But yes, the Furies tasked me with a mission, and I executed it. If I could take it back I would, and in providing you the tech to reverse my doing, I’m doing exactly that.”

  Ryonna shook her head. “Whatever helps you sleep at night. What about the Gorgars’ memories? You had mentioned the ability to expand their limited memory capac
ities as well.”

  Argos grabbed another device on the table and showed it to Tar’Lock.

  “This is a prototype. And I’ve included the schematics in the main device. If you find a Gorgar willing to test it, and in case it works, then you can duplicate it.”

  Argos dropped the pill-looking device in Tar’Lock’s open palm.

  “It looks like medicine.”

  “And it could be considered like it, too. It’s a swallowable pill containing millions of nanites ready to position themselves into the subject’s brain, create a second neuronal network and bridge it with his or her current memory pathways. It should be able to multiply your species’ memory capacity significantly.”

  “Care to be a little more precise?”

  “Like I said, it’s a prototype. In simulations it resulted in a thirty-five to fifty increase.”

  “Fifty percent of a small memory seems like a small upgrade,” commented Ryonna.

  “Who said anything about percents?” corrected Argos. “It will multiply a Gorgar’s memory capacity up to fifty times.”

  Tar’Lock’s smile lit up his entire face. “Is there any risk in trying this prototype?”

  “I’d rather you didn’t use it on yourself. Chase is quite fond of you, for some reason.”

  Tar’Lock clicked at Argos’ snarky remark.

  “What are the chances it could do irreparable damage?”

  “I don’t know, probably less than one percent but—”

  Argos was unable to finish his sentence as Tar’Lock gobbled the pill. Before he could swallow it, Argos slapped the back of the Gorgar’s neck as gently as he could muster and Tar’Lock spat out the pill.

  Argos caught the pill and looked slightly bothered by its new coat of spit.

  “Hey!” he protested.

  “I said try it on another one of your kind. You either agree to my terms or I crush that only prototype and won’t make another one. Are we clear?”

  “Argos!” warned Ryonna.

  “This is not a negotiation. You guys will be on the Gorgar home world in the next few hours, and you can take that opportunity to test it then. Do we have a deal?”