The overseer laughed and stood. He stood taller than the commanders Derek had seen before. "I did not take your daughter just to talk with you. Just as you do not speak to the ants beneath your feet. No, I took your daughter to bring about your demise. She will be your end." He stretched a hand to his right.
Emma opened her eyes. Dark green orbs glared at the group.
Ashley took a step back. "No," she said aloud. "No, Emma, no."
"You can fight this," Selene said. "You told me you would fight."
"She cannot hear you, any more than the dog can hear the flea," Overseer Harkesh said. "But do not worry. Soon you will be dead and have no cares. Your deaths will please the god-emperor."
"Are you this 'god-emperor,' then?" John asked. He must have been fishing for information, since Selene had said his title.
"I am but a humble servant of Rae'Shela. As is your daughter, now. Go, my pet, destroy these intruders."
Emma extended her right arm and a blade of coral-like material grew out from her gauntlet. She lifted her left and a tentacle extended from that gauntlet. She advanced in silence, green eyes glowing and teeth gritted.
A roar came from behind. Derek spun and found a swarm of over a dozen Krai'kesh skitterers being herded toward them by commanders. "Behind us!" Derek warned.
"Do not hurt Emma," Ethan said. "Leave her to me."
"I'll help too," Derek said.
"As will I," Selene said.
"Ashley and I will get this overseer guy," John said. "Everyone else, focus on the Krai'kesh."
The remainder of the Marines, as well as Kimberly, Corbin, and Isabelle, turned to face the newcomers. Two pistols materialized in Isabelle's hands and she fired coilgun shells at the oncoming horde.
Derek ran up to Ethan. What's the plan? he asked in a direct communication to Ethan and Selene.
I'm still working that out, Ethan admitted. I don't know what they did to her. I just hope she doesn't have her magic.
As if she knew what her brother had said, Emma threw a fireball at the trio.
Ethan deflected it into the floor with ease. That answers that question. Spread out and keep her distracted. I don't want her harmed!
How are you going to incapacitate her if you don't harm her? Derek thought. I think he might be too close to the situation.
Off to the side, Ashley threw a fireball at the overseer. It came close but then hit an invisible barrier and dissolved.
Damn it! Ashley said to the whole squad channel. He's got a nullification field.
Yeah, see that crystal on his belt? It's the Fields of Pelinor all over again, John said.
Except no Dawyn here to stick a sword in it.
We'll just have to improvise. Ashley drew a pistol and started firing at the overseer, but her bullets were absorbed into a singularity like with ordinary commanders.
Derek leapt back as Emma lashed out with her whip. She pursued him, tentacle flailing around. Selene tried to shoot her with a laser, set to stun, but Emma's armor absorbed it and she exhibited no signs of being inhibited. When she swung again Derek raised his rifle and the tentacle wrapped around it. He felt a moment of victory before the tentacle crushed the rifle, breaking it in two. Imagine if that were my neck, he thought. She followed up by darting forward with the blade stretching from her right gauntlet. Derek raised his arms to block and braced for impact.
Ethan blocked Emma's follow-up strike with his vibroswords right before they struck home. He stepped in front of Derek and pushed back. But the suit Emma wore gave her more strength than Derek expected a woman of her stature to have and Ethan was forced to take a step back. "Don't...do...this...Emma," he grunted.
Emma did not respond other than to growl and bring her whip swinging around toward his neck.
Derek stepped forward on instinct. He put his arm out and the whip wrapped around his arm. For a moment, nothing happened. Then pain came. Horrendous pain. He heard screaming and it took him a moment to realize it was himself screaming. He heard bone crunching, felt it shattering beneath his skin even through armor.
He vaguely noticed Selene rushing forward. She tackled Emma and sent her hurtling to the floor. Derek flopped down, pulled by the tentacle before it released his arm and coiled to strike at Selene.
Ethan swung both blades and they clanged as they met in the center, slicing the tentacle in half. It was Emma's turn to scream. Was she connected to the armor somehow? Did she feel the tentacle being severed in some way? Such thoughts faded as his vision blurred from the pain. He pleaded with the universe to bring unconsciousness but it did not come. Instead he watched as Ethan kicked Emma in the head with a boot. She fell silent.
Selene stepped back. "What happened to not harming her?" she asked aloud.
"There's a line between not harming someone and letting them harm others." He pointed at Derek.
Derek groaned in response. He felt his adrenaline fading and darkness took him.
***
Kimberly turned from where her old friend lay unconscious on the floor and aimed at a skitterer which was harassing two Marines. She couldn't get a clear shot. Get the hell out of the way, she thought. She didn't want to shoot an ally in the back. They were short enough on allies as it was. Her opportunity came when one of the Marines fell backward, shoved by a Krai'kesh claw. Not looking to see if the Marine was injured, Kimberly fired at the skitterer's center mass. It paused in its follow-up strike and looked at her. Well, that made it mad, she thought. She fired again, buying time for the fallen Marine to scuttle backward out of reach of their attacker's claws and pincers.
The creature didn't care about the Marine any longer, however, for it skittered toward Kimberly now. She continued to fire and was joined by the Marine she'd saved and Corbin. "Why do ye always make yer enemies mad?" he asked.
Kimberly shrugged. "It's a gift, I guess." A curse is more like it.
"Well tis a good thing oi'm here den, eh?"
"If you save me, you'll be my hero," Kimberly said. "But right now," she grunted as she fired faster, depressing and releasing the trigger as fast as she could, "that's in question."
"Bah! Take dis ye bastard!" He withdrew a grenade, removed the pin, held it for two seconds and tossed it toward the oncoming assailant. It exploded, sending the skitterer flying backward. It did not get up. "Do oi get a kiss from da damsel in distress?" he asked, puckering up.
Kimberly raised one eyebrow. "There are at least a dozen more left before I give you a kiss. Get to it."
Corbin bowed. "Right away, yer highness."
She rolled her eyes. "Before it was m'lady, now it's your highness. What next, 'your majesty?'"
"Ye'll always be the queen of me heart," Corbin said.
"Here come some more dragons, knight in shining armor." She pointed to where two commanders were shoving aside skitterers to get to the front.
"'Tis all worth it fer a kiss," Corbin said, turning and firing at a nearby enemy.
Buffs of shadowy mist marked Isabelle's movements as she moved from enemy to enemy, using blade and bullet or laser to strike at the Krai'kesh. She appeared behind one of the newcomer commanders and stabbed at their back. They grunted in pain and swept their bladed staff out behind them but struck only dark mist and air. She appeared above her target and fired two bullets toward their helmet before disappearing again.
That must become tiring, Kimberly thought. But she's faced worse. She remembered when Isabelle had fought a massive mutant during the viral outbreak on Galatia IV. She had been hiding behind a console, clutching her father's datapad to her chest, while she created a veritable ring of shadow around the monster. It was that day, despite everything else that had happened, that she decided she wanted to be an FIA agent.
She took aim at another skitterer.
***
Selene knelt at Derek's side. His helmet had deactivated and she felt for a pulse. He was breathing, but it was shallow. We have to get out of here, she said over the squad channel. Derek is hurt and Emma is
unconscious.
Ethan knelt beside Emma, though he did not check for a pulse. Her chest was rising and falling. Instead he ran his hands over the armor she wore. Perhaps looking for a seam.
John and Ashley faced the overseer and seemed to have met their match. Every flame Ashley threw at the towering enemy absorbed into his armor. He swept his staff from side-to-side, forcing John and Ashley back. John fought back with his sword and kept it at bay.
"You are no match for me, pitiful humans," the overseer taunted. "You, Lord of Light, where is your precious sunlight now?"
"I don't need sunlight to kick your ass," John replied.
Something his father said affected Ethan, for he rose and spoke in the squadron channel. All forces, turn and fire your laser weapons at my father on my mark. Get ready, Dad.
Toss some flash-bangs in there while you're at it, son, John said.
Fire on John? But why? She thought. Yet she trained her weapon on him.
All the Marines had turned. Only Isabelle had not, for she was too busy darting around to create a screen while they were pre-occupied.
Fire! Ethan ordered. He tossed four flash-bangs toward John's feet and then suited action to words and fired at his father.
The lasers converged on John's back, but instead of burning him they hit an invisible barrier. The barrier began to glow white. He lifted his sword and the light flowed into him, up his arms, and into his sword. It glowed yellow.
Keep firing! Ethan said.
I can't hold them much longer, Isabelle said. Hurry up.
The sword changed from yellow to red as more laser energy slammed into his shield. The flash-bangs exploded. Red became orange and transformed into white. I'm ready, John said.
The Marines and FIA operatives turned their attention back to the Krai'kesh, but Selene's eyes were riveted on the glowing sword that burned bright like the sun. The light seared her eyes, causing her implant to dim her visor.
John stepped forward, his footsteps leaving burn marks in the organic floor. He lowered the sword and pointed it at the overseer.
Overseer Harkesh took a step back. "Impossible," he said.
"Send your god-emperor our regards when you get to hell," John said. "And tell him he's next."
"You may kill me, but I will go on to glory at the right hand of Rae."
"Just keep telling yourself that," John said. He hefted the sword again and brought the hilt up next to his head. He roared and charged the overseer.
The overseer tried to block the blade, but the point where staff met blade melted and the staff broke in two.
The blade continued its path. John roared. "For Emma!" and sliced the overseer in half diagonally.
A shocked expression appeared on the overseer's face before the two halves of him fell to the floor. A small amount of blood pooled on the floor beneath him, though the blade had cauterized the wound.
John turned. Everyone down! he shouted through the link. Get on the ground!
Everyone, except Isabelle, dropped to their stomachs. Selene positioned herself so she could see John.
Isabelle continued fighting a commander in melee combat. Just do it, she said through the link.
John nodded and leveled his sword at the remaining Krai'kesh.
Two skitterers attempted to take advantage of the perceived weakness of their opponents and charged forward.
A beam of light burst out from the sword, flowing straight toward the charging skitterers. They evaporated like water hitting a hot stove, turning to ash in a second. The beam expanded to the left and right. It burnt through every enemy it touched, commanders and skitterers alike. Move, Isabelle, John said.
Isabelle disappeared into the shadow realm a moment before the beam passed through where she had been, overwhelmed the shield of the overseer and burnt them to a crisp.
Selene let out a deep sigh. They'd done it!
"Let's get out of here," John said. "Can two Marines carry Derek?"
Ethan bent down and picked his sister up.
The group made their way out of the audience chamber, two other Marine corpses being carried and one Marine limping from a wound in his leg, back down the hall they'd come down and to the Dauntless. It appeared unmolested. The ramp lowered and John limped aboard first.
John and Ashley went up to the cockpit while Ethan carried Selene to med bay and two other Marines followed with Derek. Selene decided to follow John and Ashley. She couldn't bear to see Derek in that state.
"...Independence, this is the Dauntless. I say again, we have rescued Emma and killed the overseer. We are returning."
"Acknowledged...Dauntless...interfer...void..."
"Something is causing interference," John pointed out. "But what?" He flew the Dauntless out of the belly of the Krai'kesh ship. "Oh, shit," he said.
There, emerging from a massive void portal, was the gravity ship the fleet had encountered before.
"We're all gonna die," he said.
"Can oi get that kiss now?" Selene heard Corbin ask. "Before we get destroyed?"
"No," Kimberly said.
Selene couldn't help but smile, though it disappeared as she thought of Derek lying unconscious in the back.
Chapter 18 - Black Hole
"Sir, the gravity ship has emerged."
"I see it," Martin said, studying the sensor display. It had emerged behind the enemy lines. For a moment it did not move. What was it waiting for? "Continue firing on the rest of the Krai'kesh and rogue Federation fleet. Our weapons can't hurt that ship, we already saw that. Might as well focus on what we can kill. And hope for a miracle, he thought.
"The Dauntless is returning to us. Their communication was garbled but it appears they killed an overseer of some sort."
"They must have rescued Emma or they would not be returning," Martin surmised. He pushed the Eternal family out of his mind for a moment. "What is the status of our defenses?"
"Several gun batteries have been destroyed, our fighters are down to a dozen and our shield capacity is at forty percent. There are fires on decks seven, sixteen, and twenty-two. Crews are working to contain them."
Martin sighed. "Is the rest of the fleet faring so well?"
"All ships loyal to us are taking heavy damage, sir. Admiral Bellanca's ships and the reinforcing fleets included. Several dozen ships have been destroyed. Would you like me to list them?"
Martin waved. "No. We don't have time for that and it doesn't matter at this point." There would be time to mourn the dead and remember them later. Right now they were fighting for their lives. "To fight or retreat," he whispered.
"Pardon me, sir?"
"I'm trying to decide whether to continue fighting or retreat." If they retreated, Pompero IV would be lost. Millions of civilians still on the planet would be killed as surely as the sun in the east each morning on Tar Ebon. But if they didn't retreat they would be destroyed and Pompero IV and countless other worlds would fall. He thought of the oath he had taken upon enlisting and re-affirmed upon being granted command of the Independence. To carry out the duties of the Federation faithfully until death or until his service was fulfilled. There were many who had broken that oath, rogue elements, but there were many more who had died, today and in the days and weeks prior. He could not dishonor their sacrifice again. "We fight," he said. "We fight until our last breath and then we keep on fighting." The more enemy ships they destroyed the less the rest of the Federation fleets would need to fight later on.
The gravity ship started moving. It passed through the enemy lines and made its way toward the Independence. It moved fast for such a huge ship. Perhaps the gravity wells it generated helped propel it? Martin didn't know for sure. He wasn't a scientist by any stretch. All he knew was the end was staring him in the proverbial face. He thought of his wife and children. He considered bringing them up on the bridge and giving them one final embrace. Or sending them into an escape pod, kicking and screaming if necessary, and shooting it toward Pompero IV. No. His wife would never for
give him for that.
"How long before the gravity ship is in range?" Martin asked.
"Three minutes, sir. Shall we direct fire at it?"
"No." He resigned himself to their fate and sat down in his chair. "Continue firing on the other ships."
"As you say, sir."
Time seemed to slow as the gravity ship closed the distance. Martin could not take his eyes away from the sensor display. He stood again and walked to the viewport. He could see, out the side of the viewport. The great destroyer. The Independence shook as the gravity ship exerted its power on them. Damage alarms blared, pipes burst, and glass at several consoles shattered. Martin steadied himself on a support beam.
He knew it was futile, but at least his crew might have a chance. They could hide on the planet or escape on a transport. Maybe. "Zigana, order evac..."
"Sir," Zigana interrupted. "I'm detecting a new void signature in front of us."
Another signature. "Isabelle is with the Dauntless. That means it must be Bridgette. Why would she bring them out of shadow space right in front of the gravity ship? Do they have a death wish?" He didn't think even the power of their shifting magic was enough to stop the gravity waves emitted by the enemy vessel.
"Its identifier lists it as the Renegade, sir. It's a smaller vessel. They're right in the path of the gravity beam."
What they hell are they doing?
***
Rachel turned and looked at her aunt. She had not opened the side airlock yet.
"Good luck," Bridgette said. "The galaxy is depending on you. But no pressure.” She disappeared into shadow space.
"Don't let her get to you, ma'am," Reynaldo said. "You got this."
"If you don't, we'll all be dead," Maggie said.
"Thank you for pointing out the obvious," Rachel said. "How did I end up with such a loyal crew?"
"You were the winning side," Maggie said, smirking. "Don't disappoint us."
Rachel gave her a mock salute. "I'll do my best." I don't want to die...again...either. She closed the blast door separating the atmosphere of the Renegade from the depth of space and hit the lever to lower the ramp. Red warning lights blared and seconds later the ramp lowered. Air whooshed past her, pulling her along with it like rip tides pulling a swimmer out to sea. She oriented herself and anchored herself with gravity so she floated motionless in the depth of space.
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