"DOCTOR... Dr Rif'g Daniels... And who might you be, my dear?"
"I am Shaun Artis."
"Oh! Just Shaun Artis is it? So, Just Shaun Artis... Do you know me? As in know me from before?"
"Oh yes... I just may have seen you from A-Central..."
"NEWS… yes, A-Central News... you know the Hexkon Thrust then I suppose?"
"I may have heard about it.”
"Do you know what a C-level thrust of magnitude 4800 can do?"
"I may be acquainted.”
"You... MAY...be... huh? Then… I MAY tell you that such a thrust, when directed towards heavy radioactive matter, MAY divide it into sub ions which MAY further convert it into Perli’s photons which MAY be emitted which MAY convert matter into energy. Result... I MAY destroy this whole shit of a palace and tonnes of it more and not even wink through it. Conclusions... You MAY call your master... or you MAY not know what MAY happen to you and this whole planet on your WAY home."
He was taken aback and stood to gaze like a lobotomized monkey.
"What Are you looking at? Never mess with science... now... You MAY go.”
This piece of stunt worked very well for me and the chairman to the Hexagon came in. Well, this was not a meeting regarding Krikos. I was there to meet the chairman to fix an appointment with the 6th senator who'd further fix one with the Second Speaker of the Eutopium, to whom I was supposed to present my proposal.
It all went very well with both the big political tycoons. They fixed an appointment of mine with the Second Speaker Firdigo Lunarte. Meanwhile, I had been doing work on the Krikos. Unfortunately, much of the time was spent on translating Flex's notes to proper legibility. Even after a week of constant insomniac preparation for the big meet, when the big day arrived, I felt like I was in a null void with no heading towards the goal which had been resonating in my mind up till then. I knew everything, yet I was not even partially sure about what, how and when to speak about it. It was a harsh 9-hour journey to the Royal Country in the state of Eutopia. I spent the night at the Astrophysics Society’s Club. Then the morning came with its usual regret and nervousness.
I was given a warm welcome at the Eutopium residency. I met the receptionist. She seemed pretty gullible but her gullibility was to be tested to its core with whatever the hell I was going to tell her. Like a tall wall with the crescendo higher than the clouds… actually not visible. The wall stood in front of me. The wall that barked out loud “What the Hell are you talking about?” Nobody had asked me that. I had been asking myself that question since the very inception of the idea of ‘Krikos’. And they didn’t ask that question because seemingly they didn’t want to offend an apparently ultra-crazy scientist and engineer. The nervousness… The inability to think. Then I asked myself “WHY?” Why does an A Grade Genius Royal Scientist need to be nervous? Being a Genius… I answered that question myself. Firstly, I thought, they'd laugh at the beginning of the very first sentence. Secondly, I didn't actually know my very first sentence. And thirdly the 'quotation of the day' hoarding along the reception had a quotation prescribed as 'Think before you act.’. It was funny and ironical. Funny because Flex once had said to me, “If time is greater than money and material ... then we should not waste precious time by thinking. We should rather act first-hand and keep on acting till we are tired. Then we decide whether to breathe or think as to which is more important.”, and ironical because I was the messenger between these two exactly inversely proportional parties.
"You are Mr .... ", she asked in a formal tone.
"Doctor...errr... Doctor Rif'g".
"Daniels ... yes, Doctor Rif'g Daniels. You are kind of the chief guest today."
"Am I?”
"Oh yes! Hexkon Thrust... and these rumours I hear about this new big project of yours. You are like the Kurt Frost of Science."
*Forgot to tell you. Kurt Frost was the famous Aircraft Racer of our times. He was the most famous guy on Earth (amongst girls mostly… Well if you’re famous amongst girls then envy makes you famous amongst guys too. Thus, most famous on earth).
"Oh, I did nothing. I am just trying to help out. I didn't get your name."
"Lina Sadow."
"Sooooo... to where now Lina Sadow ... you see mmm ... Science is not so much for fame than ... well... can say mankind... So off to work I shall go. Just lead me there."
She led me to the inner large corridor. The silence compelled me to say “Quite Quiet”. From there she led me to the private elevator.
"Don't press any button, don’t make faces to the camera and don’t turn around while the elevator is moving. Mr Lunarte likes to read the psychology of his guests."
“Consider it done ma'am".
The elevator moved and I turned considering the general immature magnetism of the word ‘DON’T’. There was just a glass mirror behind me. Just glass thin as foil. And it was so high a building that I couldn't even see the ground in the fog. The elevator stopped. The door opened and I read the floor number followed by the notice - "Floor 592. The Eutopium Palace. "
I moved slowly and carefully. There was just one door fifty meters ahead of me. I kept walking and reached it. I could have opened the notch. I could have entered but a great impulse came from within my body and I immediately turned around. And just as I did, I saw a face hanging in front of me with curious eyes and a wide stretched temple. Somehow it seemed familiar. Then suddenly it started talking exuberantly.
"What are you looking at? ..... Oh, don't say you forgot me already... ahh ... that Flex Syndrome caught you too. Poor Daniels. Come on. Muta the Merlyn? Muta Hoko…”
Into The Dimension:
Episode 16-
Stillness Triumphs.
“A
ffirmative Sir. 6 hours since the last contact. Seems as if the frequency jammers have been activated IN BETWEEN the space” Raymor said to Krawn.
“Then what are we waiting for? Ready the fall-on shields. Engage Alpha Battle formation... Let us move towards Annaeax mates.” Krawn commanded.
♦♦♦
A village. The same one where Krawn and his fellow crewmates had taken refuge. Inside a huge tent in exactly the middle of the village lay the young Kridious surrounded by differently sized Yumsonians. His honour battered graver than his body, the young fighter was currently fighting a great battle. Though in his sleep, he was still fighting to gain back the will to fight. The will he had lost when he fled.
♦♦♦
A space station in the periphery of the Annaeax system. In a corner of a small corridor were Rush and Prabarus, slowly drifting from one floor to the other in the search for a clear hangar. They couldn’t have risked risk opening up their beacons inside the internal jammer radius, for it would have immediately marked them on the enemy scanners. Hangars were the best locations inside a station to find places without jammers, for they always had to be interconnected with the main server.
♦♦♦
“They were still not here… Scanners detected a Hexkon Thrust in less than a parsec radius from here. That too a heavy one. It must be some large Advector to the least. How the hell do you not see it yet?” yelled an old man with seemingly the highest rank currently present in the Control room of the central Stillite station near Annaeax.
“Sir… they have not appeared on any of the scanners… maybe they escaped to somewhere else. If they don’t show up on the scanners it means they haven’t shown up yet.” A technical worker sitting in front of the radar and Intel computer replied.
“It just can’t be... Those bastards from the Krikos. They can just do anything, can’t they? And they brag about it like it’s for the good of it. Those anthropocentric bastards.” The old man said furiously. A bright flash was seen from the direction of one of the mini-stations guarding the space around the southern pole of the planet. The control room became filled with an environment of ambiguity, oddity, and desperation. The area around the southern pole became cloaked and the out
looks were blinded due to the temporarily shadowed planet. The control room lost contact with the mini-stations.
“What’s happening down there?” The old guy barked again.
“Sir… no offence… but there is no down in space.” One of the control room officers sitting against the master computer whispered sarcastically.
“What the hell did you say? You see me a fool……………wait… WHAT!! This can’t be. Get the radars perpendicularly below us. Exactly perpendicular. All of them.” The old guy said.
“Yes, sir……. Done…. Nothing except for asteroids and rubble. Not to mention the planet in between and the many electrical devices on it.”
“Rubble... Wait…. Not even the C3 Station. What the hell happened? Anything else!!! Where the hell are they attacking from…? They sure are attacking as such.” The old guy said.
“Sir…. This is strange… Some of the rubble just disappeared.”
“What do you mean disappeared?” The old guy asked.
“Like… one second it was there... But now... Wait sir…. It has reappeared on the Kyuron Spectrometer…. Wait a second... Enlarge… and …. Sir… It almost seems like a blanket of darkness covering all of them.”
“Blanket…. No… how foolish of me? That is a Faltering Octagonal Shield.” The old guy said and as soon as he did… utter chaos was sparked in the room.
“The one they use on the Krikos…. It is the end for us... The Star Eater is here.”
“Shut Up You Lowlifes... Wasn’t it what we have been desperately awaiting…? Krikos… And now when it is finally here… you dare escape your fate like scums and cowards… But loosen those grins for as such... Krikos…. When it comes… we’d know. Since this small blanket is not even close to the evil majesty of the Krikos. It is more like a Salvator….
“Now what should we do sir? Even if it is merely a Salvator… The last one almost destroyed the planetary eastern blockade.”
“Don’t do anything…. Especially not anything stupid… like engaging them. If my estimation is right, then the last one and this one are the same. Call in the S13 ballistic squadron. They’d know what to do.” The old man commanded.
“But sir… the slates… here…. We don’t”.
“We do need that much power? You think you are dealing with ordinary soldiers. They are the Sentinels. Only the Slate can deal with them. And where is the king?”
“Sir… he said he was going after intruders which his search nanobots had detected. Should I beep him?”
“Yes… do it now… what are slates without their leader? And initiate the immediate migration of Master Douskle….” The old guy said.
♦♦♦
Small droplets of hot and curious perspiration dripped down the cheeks of Rush as he stood face to face with the man who had defeated Kridious. But Rush was not overwhelmed. WHY? Because Rush always thought himself above Kridious. In rank, he definitely was. In age too. But in skills? They both had a different set of skills. Kridious was the strongest and fastest man known to mankind. But he was yet an amateur… one yet to master his own capabilities. But Rush… He was the one who had complete mastery over what he had sought to master. His skills were the most important in war. In battle… his skills were more worth to the side he was on than the Xanethius himself. For he had the skills of weaponry. He could take anything and use it as a weapon fit and ideal for its specifications. But could he defeat such a powerful opponent? They both clashed for some time. Prabarus witnesses the clash from a dark corner. Though a claimant of duel integrity, Ruto couldn’t have been trusted, and Prabarus, who was more of a planner than a fighter, stood with his life collaterally endangered. Suddenly, a beacon was heard from Ruto’s chest. He halted in the duel to take the urgent summoning call. The strange voice on the beacon said: “Stop whatever you are doing and reach the S-8 now.”
Ruto said “Just when I started warming up. Until next time… you live” and pressed on his chest and then vanished into air particles.
“Where... The…. Hell… did … he escape… that cowardly bastard.” Rush said breathlessly.
♦♦♦
“Successful infiltration sir. It seems we are yet to be detected.” Tref said.
“However fortunate it may seem… can’t put a finger away from the idealistic situation we are in. Life is not that ideal... Ready the 360 flare guns. We are going to flare the enemy out wherever it is hiding.” Krawn gave his command.
Small bright flare bullets were launched in every direction from the Krydon for about ten continuous minutes. Then the hits were recorded.
“Sir… no hidden hits... Yet…. Wait sir…. 8 flares got deactivated… around … here” Raymor said as he pointed towards the computer screen which showed the map of 250000 km radius around the Krydon.
“Sir … the Radar detects several launches from the central station. But they are not headed here… they move towards the planet.” Tref said.
“Ignore that… those are seemingly rescues. Let us pay heed to this UE we have here. Thrust towards it. Steadily.” Krawn commanded again.
The Krydon drifted progressively towards the dark mass apparently another fall-on-shielded spacecraft. The two dark equivalent masses neared each other at rapid speeds. Then suddenly a proton laser was felt in the Hangar of the Krydon.
“An attack Captain…,” Lina said in the beacon from the Hangar.
“Fire at maximum power” Krawn instructed as the two masses started exchanging fire at a heavy rate.
The Krydon appeared and so did the other ship. Both were similar Salvators. The Krydon with marking SHK-2987 while the other marked S-8. The two ships started a constant exchange of laser and proton ions and their shields suffered massive damage. Then three aircrafts were seen coming out of the S-8’s hangar. Krawn ordered Lina and Hex to leave the hangar in the Fighters to engage the enemy offence. Krawn ordered Kurt to escape in the Bion Fighter to destroy enemy thrusts from outside. Indeed, a duel equating the mythical duel of the Knights of Pallium against the destroyer of Kronos… one demanding the eyes of Gods to spectate. Or not… since it seemed a duel of the Gods themselves.
The Krydon’s Infiltration alarms went off.
“Sir… three hogs… lower deck.” Raymor said.
“Ramalus, Anaton, Fusa…. Go intercept them… and yes… Tref… follow them. I am taking over” Krawn said.
The four, making the counter squadron, moved to the lower deck to find three enemies- two males and one female. The six indulged in outright battle while Tref hid and gave feedback to the control room.
♦♦♦
An hour of continuous battle had passed. The battlefront One- Krydon versus S-8… still going. Battlefront two, Lina and Hex stood victorious while Kurt was still trying to find his way across the ship’s rear defences. Battlefront 3- Fusa and mates had almost defeated the three intruders. Until now, the Sentinels had stood tall in the furious battle. But the tides turned drastically when two other intruders entered the battlefront 3. One familiar to the three who had intruded the central station.
In a bright flash, the lower deck was almost destroyed.
“What was that? Tref…. You there?” Krawn asked.
“Some kind of Beam sir…. It was similar to your white flash…. But this one… it was dark. I am clear of it… though the outer panels have been destroyed… and I still can’t see the three of them” Tref shouted in his beacon.
“Get out of there Tre….” Krawn said as suddenly Ramalus appeared with Fusa, in his Jumper suit. Both injured severely.
“I couldn’t save Anaton… he was directly in the line of attack... Ruthless… killing their own comrades like anything. There were two of them. One of them stood at the back while the other took out his sword and rotated it in some devilish way and released a wave followed by a dark bea
m that absorbed everything in its path. He said so also… and it almost felt like it too… A black Hole” Ramalus said as he fell down with Fusa.
“Another of my Comrades martyred in Battle,” Krawn said as he clutched his fingers tightly, falling down on his knees.
“Sir… our Primary, as well as secondary thrusts, have been disabled… more like destroyed. Their Ballistics did it.” Raymor said.
“Raymor, Colo, and Firdigo… take control… Nahcas, Rambler, and Mrew… come along with me.” Krawn said.
Krawn and the other three disappeared in three Jumpsuits and reached a lower deck. They awaited the intruders to come in. Krawn told Nahcas to Trace the techno-aura and read possible equivalent in the Lattice and display it through Mrew. He asked Rambler to handle Nahcas while he did so. He himself got ready for battle. The door blasted in and two shadowed and evil faced Stillites came in.
“Who might you be who seeks the touch of the White Gladius? Tell me… why are you hunting my comrades? Why are you after your own species? Is it because of a mere religion?” Krawn asked the shorter of the two Intruders.
“I am King Ruto Gravanc. The leader of the hand of Galacta…the hand of Kronos…. the slate. And about you and your sentinel friends… the hand of Krydon… Galacta has no plans for you in her abode… you preach change and shall get it… through your end… Etiamnum Triumphos Finem Mutatio…. Stillness Shall Triumph for the End is the Change” Ruto said.
“Okay then,” Krawn said as he drew out the bright-as-the-sun sword from his scabbard.
“You stay out of this Mordore. I can take five of him.” Ruto said as he drew out his Dark Sword. Dark as if a blind man had covered his eyes in a lightless corner of space. Darker Still.
The battle of decision took place. The strongest Xanethius ever fighting an apparently undisputed opponent. They fought for twenty straight minutes. Then Krawn dashed his sword desperately and severely injured Ruto who was thrown back. The odds seemed clearly in favour of Krawn when suddenly Mordore appeared from the right and kicked Krawn who was thrown across a long distance.
Krikos: The Vertical Horizon Page 19