Damned If You Don't (Chaos of the Covenant Book 5)

by M. R. Forbes

  He didn’t notice the tendril that dropped behind them, into the center of their defenses.

  He didn’t see it pick up the Phase Blaster, carrying it up to the ceiling and passing it along and back to the reactor.

  He didn’t witness the one hundred smaller tendrils shifting the arrangement of crystals, reprogramming the teleporter, amplifying the power output, and turning the device back on.

  What he did see was the army shift back into their phase.

  What he did see was a figure step around the reactor, cloaked in black, with metallic skin that resembled Trinity.

  At first, he thought it was Trinity.

  The figure tore into the enemy, Uin flashing as it danced among them. The creatures howled in fear, looking surprised when they couldn’t disappear. They fell apart, then, drifting into chaos as the battle suddenly gained a much more even footing.

  “It’s fragging time!” Pik bellowed, diving into the masses with new, reckless abandon.

  “Is it just me, or is he totally overusing that?” Benhil said.

  “Whatever,” Bastion replied. “Let’s kick some ass.”

  The other Rejects followed him, pressing the attack. The enemy was nothing without their tricks. They weren’t even particularly good soldiers. They tried to defend themselves, and they died.

  Gant tore through the lines almost as efficiently as the newcomer, blades spinning and twirling as he flew from one target to the next, his feet never hitting the ground. He drove a knife through the neck of one, swung from the handle to the next, slashed its throat, bounced off its shoulders, and came down on a third target’s head, sinking his knife into the top of it and through a thick skull. He ripped it out with the strength of the lightsuit, flipping off and reaching out with his blade, bringing it back and landing as he came face to face with the strange figure. He looked up at them; a silvery, sexless humanoid.

  “Who the frag are you?” he asked, looking for another enemy to kill.

  “I am the Keeper,” it replied.

  “Where the hell have you been?”

  “Sleeping.”

  “Thanks for waking up.”

  “You are welcome.”

  “We came with others. A woman and a living suit of armor. We need to find them. We need to help them.”

  “I know who you speak of.”

  The Keeper turned as an enemy approached it, swiftly removing its head. It turned back, scanning behind Gant. Gant spun around. The Rejects were approaching. All of the assholes were dead.

  “This hurts so bad,” Erlan said, clutching at his side, managing to stand with Jequn’s help.

  “You will survive,” the Keeper said. It pointed at Bastion, and then at Benhil and Uriel. “You and you and you are injured. You will wait here.” It pointed at Phlenel. “You will protect them. Wait here.” It turned its attention back to Gant. “You will follow me.”

  “Where are we going?” Gant asked.

  “To see the Queen.”

  43

  Abbey looked out at the gray creatures. They hissed at her, gathering into a mass and charging.

  She put up her hand, spreading her fingers wide. Energy lanced away from her, a beam of crackling light that arced across the room, striking the front line of creatures, passing through them to the next, passing through until all of them were hit, over one hundred in all. She closed her hand into a fist, and the energy vanished.

  Every one of the creatures died.

  Abbey could feel the power of the Shard coursing through her. He was so rich in naniates it was unbelievable. He had so much ability to destroy she could barely believe it. How had he maintained his peacefulness in the face of this kind of strength? Why had he let himself die? He could have healed himself from Lucifer’s blow. She knew that now. He could have lived on, fought back, and snuffed out the Nephilim before they ever escaped the Shardship.

  And yet he hadn’t. He had refused violence, even with the power to command it. He had turned his back on war, even though it had cost billions their lives over these thousands of years. He had held onto a belief that love would triumph over hate.

  Or something like that. As far as Abbey was concerned, the Shard was an idiot, and his ideals were bullshit.

  She had seen too many innocent people die in her lifetime to ever think every problem could be solved peacefully. Maybe in his death the Shard had realized that too? Maybe that was why it had chosen her? The Light had been reluctant to cleanse someone like her. A warrior. A soldier. But in the end, it had.

  In the end, she was going to try to do what he couldn’t.

  King appeared at the back of the room, his hand up. She felt something tickling at her, the Asura General’s Gift trying to affect her. It couldn’t now, just like it couldn’t touch the Focus. In essence, she had become the Focus.

  She started walking toward him. Soldiers appeared beside her, blades vectoring toward her in a coordinated attack. Her fingers extended into claws, and she moved with unmatched speed, slicing through them, killing two before they vanished.

  She breathed in, the Gift of the Shard resonating across her entire body. The world changed around her, bringing her somewhere that was the Shardship and at the same time wasn’t the Shardship.

  A place outside of their galaxy.

  A place slightly off-center.

  A place slightly askew.

  This had to be the Veil.

  The Asura soldiers drew back at the sight of her. They hesitated in their assault, unsure of how she had joined them. Abbey wasn’t completely sure, either. The naniates had known what to do. Clearly, they had encountered this race before.

  She continued her attack, ripping through the soldiers like a tempest, cutting and slashing, breaking through their lines. They scrambled to get away from her, acting only in fear, turning back toward King only to have him push them to rejoin the fight.

  They turned back toward her. She pushed with her hands, throwing them aside. They tried to return to the Shardship, and she returned with them, tracking them across phase.

  “No,” King shouted, the laughter gone, the joyful triumph erased.

  He raised his hands, and a burst of fiery missiles poured from his fingertips, arcing toward her from every angle. She wrapped herself in the Gift, drawing it in and then thrusting it out in matching bursts of light that intercepted the attack, canceling it out.

  Soldiers charged her, and she wreathed herself in a white flame that flared around her, bathing them in energy and reducing them to ash. They phased back to the Veil, the Asura General attacking again, doubling his efforts to reach her. Fire and lightning exploded from him, but she phased away, bouncing toward him from within the Shardship.

  She phased back, finding him only a few meters away. His eyes were intense, and he turned his hands, pulling at the walls, tearing away jagged strips of metal and directing them toward her. She struggled to keep it away, her Gift meeting his. He was stronger, and her body burned as she fought to hold the maelstrom at bay, the naniate’s needs overwhelming to her human form. She cried out in pain, phasing back to the Shardship, the Asura General phasing with her.

  She continued to struggle, trying to push the daggers back. All the power of the Focus and she couldn’t defeat this thing? How the frag would she ever beat Thraven?

  She noticed motion out of the corner of her eye. Trinity was there, her arms and legs gone, her body still trying to move. She was badly damaged, but somehow still alive. She wasn’t giving up. She had no way to fight, but she was trying to distract the enemy.

  Abbey watched her for a few seconds, tracking her as though her own battle barely mattered. A new sensation wormed its way into her. Admiration. Love. Loyalty. Trinity was an enemy who the Light helped turn to an ally. One that would give her dying breath to save their galaxy from the Nephilim and the Asura.

  How could she ever consider not doing the same?

  She looked back at King. He had sensed his victory, and his expression had changed according
ly.

  “Not today, asshole,” Abbey said.

  She let the emotions spread across her, into the Gift that surrounded her and out toward the slivers of metal threatening to tear her into ribbons. The world changed again, phasing in and out, shifting back and forth fast enough to make her dizzy. She didn’t have time for dizzy. She gathered the Gift against the pressure, holding it there while King opened his mouth to claim victory.

  With one last exhale, she pushed, shattering his Gift, breaking it to nothing. The slivers changed direction, launching back at him and spearing him one after another after another, twirling and spinning through space, lifting him and throwing him back.

  It was over in an instant. Abbey released the Gift, slumping to her knees. King was on the ground a dozen meters away, his body unrecognizable from the damage she had done. She looked at him and smiled.

  “That’ll teach you to frag with the Rejects.”

  44

  Abbey rested for a moment before rising and returning to Trinity.

  “I’m sorry,” Trinity said, as though she had done something wrong.

  “Don’t be. We won.”

  “I’m glad.”

  “Don’t say goodbye, either. You aren’t dead yet.”

  “I’ve lost too much blood.”

  Abbey smiled. “I’m almost a Shard. Watch this.”

  She raised her hands. The Gift swirled around her and then spread away, seeking out Trinity’s armor. It gathered it, carrying it to her and then lifting Trinity into the air, bringing the pieces back and reassembling them.

  “It worked for the Faust,” Abbey said. “There’s no reason it shouldn’t work for you.”

  The naniates did their work, piecing her back together and then gently setting her down on her feet.

  “I’ve still lost too much blood,” Trinity said.

  “Follow me,” Abbey said.

  They walked to the Focus together. Trinity leaned over it, looking in at the Shard.

  “He reminds me of Ursan,” she said.

  Abbey didn’t see it, but that was okay.

  “How is this going to help?” Trinity asked. “The Focus is empty.”

  Abbey put her hand over the dry fountain. She was still burning, a raging fire that she wasn’t able to contain. This was more power than her body was ever meant to hold. She extended one finger on her opposite hand into a claw and then used it to cut her wrist.

  Blood dripped from it, thick and milky white, dense with the Gift. She cut herself again, opening the wound further, increasing the flow. It poured out of her and into the fountain, from the fountain and into the tubes to the dead Shard. Within seconds, his chest began to rise and fall again, the Focus gaining power once more. Abbey could feel her Gift diminishing, but she was fine with that. It would kill her otherwise. She let it run out until the burning sensation was gone and it began dripping red.

  “Take it,” Abbey said, withdrawing from the fountain. “As much as you need. It will sustain you.”

  Trinity’s head tilted toward the Blood of the Focus. “I don’t deserve this,” she said.

  “Yes, you do,” Abbey replied.

  “I’m not a good person.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  Trinity’s head tilted toward Abbey. “Thank you, Queenie.”

  “No,” Abbey said. “Thank you.”

  “Ahem,” someone said behind them.

  Abbey turned around. She smiled when she saw Gant there, along with Pik and Jequn and a new figure she had never seen before.

  “You’re late,” she said.

  Gant chittered in laughter. “You’re a hard woman to rescue, Queenie.” He looked around. “I assume you have everything under control?”

  “Just about. Where are the others?” She held her breath, afraid to find out who hadn’t made it.

  “Safe,” the newcomer said. “They will survive.”

  “Yeah, they’re a little beat up, but no casualties,” Gant said.

  “Thanks to this guy over here,” Pik said. “Wait. Are you a guy or a girl?”

  “Neither.”

  “Of course,” Gant said. “We seem to be collecting gender neutrals.”

  “Pudding identifies as a girl,” Pik said. “That isn’t gender neutral. So does Trinity.”

  “Yeah, but they don’t have parts, male or female,” Gant argued. “Well, Pudding can make them, but that’s a technicality. A bit of a gray area.”

  “It’s not the plumbing that matters,” Pik said. “Do you identify as male or female?”

  “Neither,” the newcomer replied.

  “Oh,” Pik said.

  “I hate to interrupt this scintillating conversation,” Abbey said. “But can we get synced on current events? Maybe introduce your new friend?”

  “Right,” Gant said. “This is-”

  “I am the Keeper,” the figure said.

  Abbey nodded. “That’s what I thought. You’re the individual I’m here to see.”

  “And you are the individual I have been waiting for.”

  “You knew I was coming?”

  “Not you, specifically. I knew someone would come one day. The Chosen of the Shard.” The Keeper looked around the room, at all of the Asura corpses there. “I am satisfied it was not too late, and that you were able to defeat the Asura. You are more… capable, than I was expecting.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment. If you knew I was coming, then you know what I’m looking for.”

  “The Covenant. Yes.”

  “Where is it?”

  “Of course, my Queen,” the Keeper said. “You are standing in it.”

  “Whoa,” Pik said. “The Shardship is the Covenant? Mind. Blown.”

  Abbey smiled. She knew there was more to it than that. A lot more. But it was a start.

  “The Focus is recharged,” Gant said. “The Shardship is back in business. I assume that means we’re ready to go kick Thraven’s ass and save the Republic?”

  “No,” Abbey replied. “The Focus is cleansed. It can’t be used the way it was before.” She looked at the Keeper. “I don’t want the Seedships using it at all. The Seraphim fragged everything up once already; they’re not doing it again.”

  “As you command,” the Keeper replied. “So it will be done.”

  “Wait,” Pik said. “If we can’t use the Focus against Thraven, what are we supposed to do with it?”

  “Raise an army of our own,” Abbey said.

  “How? From where?”

  “The Extant,” Abbey replied.

  “Thraven’s backyard?” Gant said.

  “The Nephilim have been holding slaves for years. He wants an uprising? I’ll give him a fragging uprising. It’ll be our version of the Great Return.”

  “Right up his ass,” Pik said. “I like it.”

  “Me too, Queenie,” Gant said.

  “Keeper,” Abbey said. “Do it.”

  “As you command, so it will be done.”

  Chaos of the Covenant Book Six, Good Intentions, is coming soon. Want to know when it’s out? mrforbes.com/goodintentions

  Author’s Note

  Thank you so much for reading! I’m incredibly grateful you’ve made it this far, and I hope you’ll be back for the next one.

  I don’t have anything extra to say after this installment beyond thank you, because your enjoyment of my words is really what makes all of this worthwhile. Whatever your life situation, for whatever reason you pick up one of my books to escape for a while, I’m honored to provide the entertainment, relief, and/or release you’re looking for.

  One other thing before you go:

  Now that you’ve read the book, please review it. The only better support you can give me than reviewing my work is buying and reading it in the first place, and if you liked the book and you drop a star rating and a few words you can go to sleep tonight knowing that you made at least one person on the planet happy. What do you say? mrforbes.com/damnedifyoudontreview (funny how that reads, but I’m ju
st following the naming convention from the previous books)

  Thank you again.

  Cheers,

  Michael.

  Other Books By M.R Forbes

  M.R. Forbes on Amazon

  mrforbes.com/books

  Starship Eternal (War Eternal, Book One)

  mrforbes.com/starshipeternal

  A lost starship...

  A dire warning from futures past...

  A desperate search for salvation…

  Captain Mitchell “Ares” Williams is a Space Marine and the hero of the Battle for Liberty, whose Shot Heard ‘Round the Universe saved the planet from a nearly unstoppable war machine. He’s handsome, charismatic, and the perfect poster boy to help the military drive enlistment. Pulled from the war and thrown into the spotlight, he’s as efficient at charming the media and bedding beautiful celebrities as he was at shooting down enemy starfighters.

  After an assassination attempt leaves Mitchell critically wounded, he begins to suffer from strange hallucinations that carry a chilling and oddly familiar warning:

  They are coming. Find the Goliath or humankind will be destroyed.

  Convinced that the visions are a side-effect of his injuries, he tries to ignore them, only to learn that he may not be as crazy as he thinks. The enemy is real and closer than he imagined, and they’ll do whatever it takes to prevent him from rediscovering the centuries lost starship.

  Narrowly escaping capture, out of time and out of air, Mitchell lands at the mercy of the Riggers - a ragtag crew of former commandos who patrol the lawless outer reaches of the galaxy. Guided by a captain with a reputation for cold-blooded murder, they’re dangerous, immoral, and possibly insane.

  They may also be humanity’s last hope for survival in a war that has raged beyond eternity.

  (War Eternal is also available in a box set of the first three books here: mrforbes.com/wareternalbox)