Armageddon Unleashed (Universe in Flames Book 7)

by Christian Kallias

  “For how long?”

  “Eight, maybe ten seconds of sustained plasma beam.”

  “That leaves the ship vulnerable during that time. Please tell me you’re nowhere near that emitter.”

  “I’m not suicidal, you know. I’m hundreds of miles away from that particular emitter.

  “I don’t suppose there’s anything I can say that will change your mind?”

  “Afraid not. Unless you can get Chase down here and unleash an equivalent amount of energy directly into the emitter.”

  “I’m afraid Chase is on board the Fury destroyer now.”

  “There’s a Fury destroyer in orbit?”

  “It’s just entered firing range, but it hasn’t engaged us yet. I’m thinking that’s ’cause Chase is there.”

  “Then that leaves the task of providing me that power boost squarely on your shoulders, I’m afraid.”

  Sarah sighed.

  “Very well, I’ll see what I can do. But if I blow your emitter into smithereens—”

  “No sweat. I won’t blame you. But Sarah?”

  “Yes?”

  “Please don’t. Good luck. Cedric out.”

  Sarah turned to her comms officer.

  “Get me a channel to Athena’s ship. I need her to cover our asses during that maneuver.”

  “Where are we with the cypher, Yanis?” asked Kvasir.

  “It’s coming. Just give me a second, will you?”

  “You’ve been saying that for the last three minutes. The sphere is accelerating. The sooner we get inside its targeting module, the sooner we can stop it from escaping the force field and taking a joyride inside our ship. I don’t think Captain Kepler would be happy if that happened.”

  “I won’t be happy either. I’m the poor sap that has to fix the damn thing when it gets damaged.”

  “Then I’d think you’d be doubly motivated to get the cypher cracked.”

  “I take back all the good things I’ve said about you. You’re an insufferable prick. There! Here’s your cypher.” Yanis lowered his voice to an inaudible whisper. “Hope you choke on it.”

  “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. Thanks for the cypher.”

  “Heard what?”

  “Asgardians have superior hearing. I can hear alveoli open and close inside your lungs from here.”

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about. Now, would you mind trying to shut this thing off? The power of the containment field is fluctuating.”

  Kvasir mumbled something in Asgardian.

  “Shut down command sent.”

  They both anxiously watched the video feed from cargo bay three, and both released a sigh of relief when the death sphere rings stopped rotating.

  “Good job, Yanis,” said Kvasir, extending him an open palm.

  Yanis shook the Asgardian’s hand. “Likewise.”

  A bleep from their console got their attention.

  “It’s Captain Kepler,” said Kvasir.

  “What’s your status? We have to fire on the surface of the planet with pin-point precision, something I’d rather not do if there’s a risk your pet project might blow up at any moment.”

  Yanis wanted to answer but Kvasir beat him to it.

  “We’ve disabled the weapon, Captain. And we’ll now work on providing you with a program to override the weapon’s targeting systems. With it the StarFury pilots will be able to send the death balls back towards their destroyers.”

  “Death balls?” said Sarah, arching an eyebrow.

  “He meant death spheres,” corrected Yanis with a long sigh.

  “Excellent. Good job, to both of you. Sarah out.”

  Yanis tried to keep a straight face when he turned towards Kvasir, even though he wanted to rip him a new one for cutting him off and answering the captain in his stead.

  “Can I help you with something, Yanis?”

  “What the hell was that?”

  “I know, right. Why would we fire on the planet?” “Yeah,” said Yanis absently. ”I wonder what’s the deal with that.”

  Cedric watched his holo-screen attentively as the Hope maneuvered into firing position. Three Olympian destroyers covered the Hope and repelled the GDF destroyers in that area.

  The nanites around the world were doing a good job at bringing more utilities stations back online.

  If they failed to eradicate Gaia 2 today, she would have no problem taking over the entire planet. In fact, the nanites would have helped her in that regard. Their minimalistic operating system had been created under the assumption that it wouldn’t need security against a potential AI threat. The whole point of their existence was to quickly jumpstart Earth’s systems after an AI had been wiped via the EMP.

  They had no choice though. It was a winner-takes-all proposition, and worrying about such things could only prevent them from doing what needed to be done.

  Cedric held his breath as the Hope fired its main Damocles canon towards the coordinates he had provided. The next few seconds felt like hours. When the power levels started to rise, Cedric knew that the Hope had hit her target. It sustained its firing for almost ten seconds before it had to disengage and return fire towards an enemy destroyer that had micro-jumped through the Olympian barrage.

  Cedric sighed with relief. The power boost had been successful and he had nearly ninety-five percent of the minimum required to power the shield. In a few minutes, once the nanites brought more systems back online, they would have the shield back up.

  The ground shook and dust fell from the ceiling of the bunker. Something had exploded nearby. A quick check on his instruments showed that one of the GDF destroyers had started firing around his position.

  Crap, maybe I did attract some attention, after all.

  Cedric opened a channel to the Hope.

  “Someone’s firing at me from orbit. Any help would be appreciated. I still need a few minutes before I can raise the shields.”

  A deafening noise followed by more trembling shook Cedric off his chair.

  “We know, Cedric,” said Sarah. “We’re engaging the destroyer but three more are repositioning themselves to join it. The sooner you raise the shield the better.”

  “Easier said than done, I’m afraid.”

  Cedric thought hard for a way to speed up the process, then another idea came to him in a flash. It would shave off precious minutes, but it wasn’t something he could just flip a switch on.

  “How long do you need, Cedric? I’ll task the Droxian reinforcements to engage these ships, but we’re also in a race against time up here. We need to hold out for another twenty minutes until the Destiny battlegroup arrives to tip the balance. Hopefully, once and for all. I want nothing more than this day to end.”

  “I thought most of the Destiny battlegroup had been destroyed?”

  “Most, yes. But the Obsidian emperor has been very generous in providing us with new ships while the Alliance builds new ones based on both Earth Alliance and Obsidian design.”

  “I thought the Obsidian could barely be trusted.”

  “Yeah, I know how you feel but, as it happens, they’ve been a serious ally since they joined the fight; and now that the emperor is openly providing us with ships and manpower, they’re probably our strongest ally.”

  “Good to know,” said Cedric, before another nearby hit made everything around him shake. “Just keep these damn ships off of me for a few minutes, Sarah, and I’ll get the planetary shield back up.”

  “Roger that. We’ll do everything we can.”

  Cedric didn’t wait a second. He located an ideally positioned group of nanites and had them merge to construct something for him. Again his augmented brain functions were paying off. In less than ninety seconds he had written a program that would have the nanites merge together and create an advanced magnifying glass system atop the same emitter that received the power up.

  It was composed of multiple focusing elements, positioned at different angles and levels, each focusing light to the n
ext magnifying glass. The power of the sun could be harnessed to deliver an intense energy beam directly into the emitter, shaving off minutes from the time needed to reach the minimum power levels, and hopefully keep increasing the charge long after the shield came back on.

  A message appeared on Cedric’s holo-console.

  “I’ve found you, you little cockroach, and like any bug I’m going to crush you.”

  Gaia 2 was certainly resourceful. Being attacked from all sides, from Chase’s trip to her matrix, then the fleet in orbit, as well as their combined hacking pushes, and still she was pushing back, even though her processing power had been severely compromised.

  But survival was a strong motivator that wasn’t unique to flesh-and-bone beings.

  Cedric knew better than to reply to Gaia 2’s message. Her bombing of the general area was a clear sign she didn’t know exactly where he was, just that he was in the area. He wasn’t about to give her a clear signal and paint a target on himself.

  The power levels were rising faster now that his nanites had finished constructing the sunbeam-focusing device. In less than two minutes he would be ready. Cedric made a mental note to discuss this tech with the other engineers once the crisis was over. It had serious potential, perhaps even for a sun-powered canon.

  Chase lowered himself to the floor and gazed at Miseo, who was smirking from ear to ear. He was clearly enjoying himself. A newfound madness oozed from his Fury foe.

  “You look somewhat shocked, Laiyos,” said Miseo.

  Chase didn’t even flinch at the mention of his birth name. Whatever had been unlocked in his brain made his birth name sound natural.

  “Let’s just say I’m surprised. Last we fought you were infinitely less powerful.”

  “That was a lifetime ago. I’m going to enjoy ripping out your heart and bringing your head to my father.”

  “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to decline that wish. You may be more powerful than before, but that doesn’t mean you’ve won. This fight is just starting.”

  Miseo fired a small, yet highly concentrated red fireball towards Chase, who blocked it but had to skid on the floor many yards until he had contained and dispelled its energy.

  By then, Miseo was upon him. He slashed a kick at head level. Chase dodged at the last second, grabbed his enemy’s limb and threw Miseo back where he came from.

  Chase immediately flew in pursuit and was taken by surprise when Miseo flipped in the air and smashed Chase’s face with a powerful punch. Chase crashed to the ground and rebounded into the air, his head pounding with pain.

  Chase recovered in midair and unleashed three icy-blue fireballs towards Miseo, who didn’t even try to dodge the attacks. All three fireballs detonated and engulfed Miseo’s upper body.

  When it dissipated, it revealed the Fury’s face, unscathed and smiling widely.

  “You’re going to have to do way better than this,” said Miseo.

  Chase wondered what had changed so drastically that Miseo seemed unaffected by Chase’s attacks. He had thought Oryn would be the one to watch out for, but Miseo might actually turn out to be the real threat. He seemed to have put his largely superior sister out of commission, which was a bad sign.

  It was time to take things up a notch and he transformed into an Ultra Fury. His aura burned bright orange, as did his eyes, while his long hair floated atop his head. Bright-yellow lightning bolts sizzled all around him.

  “About time,” said Miseo. “But even in this form you’re no match for me today.”

  “You talk too much,” said Chase as he teleported behind Miseo and planted an elbow in his back.

  Miseo didn’t flinch while pain spread throughout Chase’s arm, as if he had punched a titanium wall and not a Fury’s spine.

  Chase teleported away to stand in front of his enemy. Miseo sized him up from head to toe.

  “It’s disappointing really. I was expecting a real challenge,” said Miseo.

  Chase regretted not having finished Miseo off during their last fight. He had nearly killed Chris, and he obviously was too dangerous to be kept alive.

  Oh, I’m going to give you a challenge, and then the violent death you deserve.

  Daniel’s trio of wings had departed the Hope with the modification made to their targeting systems. Upon detecting death spheres launched towards them, the add-on would reprogram the projectile to be sent back towards the GDF destroyer from which it came.

  That was the theory, at least. And now that theory needed to be tested on the battlefield. Daniel opened a channel to all pilots under his command.

  “Listen, everyone, we need to test this countermeasure, but let’s be smart about it. I’ll do the first run and test the tech. I’ll disable its targeting. If it works, you are to concentrate your fire towards the nearest ship, engage the countermeasure and let Gaia 2’s own weaponry take care of her own destroyer. We don’t know yet if this weapon will make a serious dent in her shields and armor, so once we’ve confirmed the countermeasure’s efficiency, let’s give her hell. The more suckers she throws at us in one go, the more chances we have to take down another of her destroyers.”

  “Alpha-eight to Wing Commander, what if it doesn’t work?”

  “Then you’re to get that bogie off my back.”

  “Wouldn’t it be wiser if you weren’t the one to test this?”

  “I can’t ask any of you to be bait. I’m doing the test run.”

  “Roger that, Wing Commander. Good luck.”

  Daniel pushed his engines to the maximum and detached himself from the rest of his wing. He sprayed laser fire towards the GDF destroyer and added a couple of torpedoes for good measure.

  The destroyer, whose laser batteries were currently engaging a nearby Olympian destroyer, fired a death sphere at Daniel’s StarFury.

  The moment of truth.

  Daniel activated his countermeasure in disable mode. The death sphere kept advancing, but its series of rings stopped turning, and it just drifted in a straight line, well after Daniel had veered to starboard.

  “It works, people; unleash hell on that destroyer, but delay the moment you activate your countermeasure until after the destroyer has deployed as many death spheres as it can.”

  Daniel rejoined Alpha wing for the run, and the three squadrons of StarFuries unleashed all their lasers and a flurry of torpedoes towards the port side of the GDF destroyer.

  As before, the destroyer fired multiple death spheres towards the starfighters. At first five, then ten more, and another twenty.

  Many of the StarFury pilots had to do some fancy evasive flying to avoid being hit by the deadly weapons.

  “Now!” said Daniel to his team.

  Then the magic began. The death spheres all took wide, arching trajectories, due to their limited maneuverability, and locked back on the destroyer that had fired them less than a minute earlier.

  The destroyer changed its laser-targeting priorities from the Olympian destroyer to the boomeranging death spheres that had now locked onto it. But that took precious seconds the destroyer didn’t have. The wall of laser fire unleashed towards the incoming death spheres managed to destroy a third of them, but the rest soared through the destroyer’s shields and pierced holes in its armor.

  The grinding metal spheres left orange trails of molten metal as they traveled through the destroyer. After half of the death spheres had traveled inside the ship’s belly, multiple explosions appeared on the destroyer’s surface. The other half of the spheres finished the job, and three successive bright blasts took the destroyer apart.

  “We have a kill!”

  Daniel heard the cheer of his wingmates over the radio as a call came in.

  “Great job, Daniel,” said Sarah. “That’s one less destroyer to deal with.”

  “Thanks, Captain, but I somehow doubt that this tactic can be replicated.”

  “I agree. Gaia 2 won’t fall for it a second time. But at least we can use your wings to help us bring her destroyers’
shields down now.”

  “Indeed. In fact, let’s give them hell right now.”

  As expected, on their next attack run, the GDF destroyers didn’t fire any more death spheres at the StarFuries but instead redirected a portion of their laser turrets to engage them the old-fashioned way.

  21

  Chase dodged and parried Miseo’s powerful combo, but each block was accompanied by bruises and more pain. At times it felt as though Miseo’s body was made entirely of metal.

  It reminded Chase of his first training session with Gaia’s battle droid, against which he would, at times, hurt his limbs.

  But he was not training now. He was fighting for his life with an enemy he couldn’t recognize anymore. The more time passed, the more the fire inside Miseo’s eyes burned.

  Chase teleported away at the end of one of Miseo’s hammer punches, re-appeared above the Fury with both hands locked together, and hammered Miseo’s face with all the energy he could muster.

  For the first time, Miseo stumbled backwards and showed signs of pain. Miseo had to use his hand to stop himself from falling. But pretty soon he was standing back up straight. He shook his head as if to dispel the pain, and charged back towards Chase.

  Chase also charged forward and micro-teleported on his way, to shave just enough time off his attack to surprise his enemy. The trick worked and he planted his knee in Miseo’s face, sending him crashing into the wall.

  Chase took that opportunity to heal his own multiple wounds, bruises, fractures, and a couple of broken bones.

  I need to find a way to hurt him more than that, and quick.

  Chase had to push himself mentally to come with new techniques. His usual ones didn’t seem to have much effect on the crazed Fury. He could amp up his fireballs, but he risked blowing up the Fury destroyer along the way, something he couldn’t afford to do until he got to Oryn.

  Chase wondered if he should teleport her away, but she would surely wreak havoc upon waking. This didn’t seem like a smart thing to do.

  Miseo straightened himself and cracked his neck bones several times. With his thumb, he wiped a small drop of blood that was running from the left side of his mouth. He looked at it for a moment.