“Unlike your kind, we don’t label our psionics—nor do we force them to do anything,” Karklosea retorted.
Noylarlie grinned at her and said, “I don’t hear any praying. You must be very eager to die.” Noylarlie extended her arms forward as her implants glowed orange with psionic energy.
Karklosea returned the favor by clasping her hands, conjuring a ball of plasma between them. Noylarlie struck first, unleashing two white fireballs from her hands toward Karklosea. Seconds before the flames hit her, Karklosea vanished, leaving behind a streak of blue light. She reappeared just a few meters above Noylarlie, setting free a barrage of purple psionic plasma balls. Blue ripples of light covered the top of Noylarlie’s head—her shield held up well against the plasma.
However, evasive action was needed. Noylarlie already felt her strength dipping slowly as each blast hit her. Unlike Radiance magnetic rifles, Noylarlie needed to focus more to keep her psionic shields up. Karklosea was indeed a formidable adversary, and this was just the first punch.
Noylarlie jump-ported, placing her fifteen meters away to face the Linl psionic’s left side. Karklosea faced her precise position, as if she knew Noylarlie would appear there. Karklosea opened her hands, palms facing upward, and shut her eyes to concentrate. What is she planning? Noylarlie thought. Whatever it is, I am not taking any chances. Noylarlie looked down. They were fighting directly over the ocean. Perfect.
With one of Noylarlie’s arms extended downward, the water below them began to swirl in one spot and quickly rose to form a perfect pillar. The massive water column shot up, creating a translucent barrier between the two. Karklosea’s eyes opened immediately, her concentration broken, causing the two purple orbs of energy she was conjuring in her hands to vanish.
Like a master summoning a servant, Noylarlie clapped her hands twice and the pillar of water snapped frozen to become a pillar of solid ice. Karklosea materialized behind Noylarlie via a jump-port. Just as planned, Noylarlie thought, gracefully floating her body to the opposite side of the ice pillar as Karklosea shot off another round of plasma balls. Telekinetic power from Noylarlie’s mind gripped onto the ice pillar. The result caused half of it to shatter, forming thousands of razor-sharp icicles. The remaining half broke apart into large balls of ice, which were each the size of a small room. The frozen shrapnel floated toward Noylarlie, orbiting her like rings around a large planet.
Noylarlie felt the tug of Karklosea’s mind briefly attempting to gain control over her icy minions. The grip of Noylarlie’s telekinesis was too strong. She was in complete control, as indicated by her manic laughter. Her ice field launched toward Karklosea with high velocity. The large ice chunks went first, and Karklosea countered by hurling quickly conjured balls of plasma toward them. The heat from the plasma partially melted a few but not enough to prevent her psionic shields from taking on heavy blows. And the icicles were way too small and plentiful to track and blast.
Karklosea was now behind her. Noylarlie’s icy friends merely changed direction and continued crashing against her diminishing psionic shield. Noylarlie laughed as she turned to see Karklosea simply floating as her shield strength slowly weakened from the assault. A few more hits, and Karklosea would be truly vulnerable…or at the very least unable to maintain the nearby gravity well. Noylarlie took notice of something critical—Karklosea’s eyes were closed. She wasn’t giving up; she was concentrating.
“Be gone!” Karklosea yelled as a wave of extreme heat burst out from her chest. The single pulse of heat left behind a cloud of steam as the rainwater and Noylarlie’s ice projectiles vaporized upon impact.
Karklosea’s cybernetics glowed and remained glowing, along with the strange upgrades mounted to her back. Her face shot a grin at Noylarlie, who shot back a dejected sigh. The heat wave not only removed her ice projectiles out of play but also weakened her psionic strength. Archmages were powerful but not invincible—a lesson Noylarlie was quickly learning.
More plasma shot toward Noylarlie, these much larger compared to the ones earlier, which was puzzling. Karklosea would need to focus for a few seconds at the very least to launch plasma that large and powerful. Yet here she was, with her hands extended forward, rapidly firing these blasts as if from a plasma rifle.
Parcisei scratched the scales on the back of his neck. He watched in shock the two ladies flying about and trying to kill each other with their psionic sorcery, all the while feeling completely useless. There must be something I can do to help turn the tide of this fight. He repositioned himself at the front of the cockpit, giving the controls of the ship a blank stare. Knobs, dials, buttons, flashing lights, small holograms—none of it made sense to him. Why do the Hashmedai have to make things so complex? “If I was a ‘fire’ button, where would I be?” he mumbled.
A yellow rectangular button caught his attention, and he tapped it with his finger, resulting in a small holographic display forming just above it. Upon closer examination, the display showed the view just outside the Crimson Arrow, with a targeting crosshair in the middle. This is it.
Two bolts of green plasma released from the main guns of the Crimson Arrow. Noylarlie quickly turned toward it. Parcisei sat upfront, visible through the rain-drenched cockpit window. He waved to her as they made eye contact. He wants to make himself useful—good.
Noylarlie floated to a spot in front of the Crimson Arrow, narrowly avoiding Karklosea’s plasma balls. She spun around to face Karklosea, releasing one short charged ball of white fire from her hand. As she predicted, Karklosea vanished to leave behind blue light, reappearing to Noylarlie’s far right. Noylarlie repeated the attack, resulting in Karklosea yet again vanishing. This time she left behind a ball of plasma hurling toward Noylarlie, who didn’t move as it impacted her weakened shields to create a splash of blue and purple ripples.
Karklosea was now behind her, repeating the maneuver again with the same results. To the left, to the right, below her—Noylarlie’s shields weren’t going to take much more. She desperately needed Karklosea to jump-port between her and the Crimson Arrow. Seconds later she did just that. Got you! Noylarlie thought with jubilation.
Noylarlie’s eye closed as she focused…and baited her challenger. Karklosea noticed Noylarlie’s trance and initiated one of her own to conjure a massive ball of plasma. It materialized in front of her as the large size she’d been using but quickly grew in size as every second passed.
A barrage of hot green plasma from the Crimson Arrow shot forth; each hit impacted on the back of Karklosea’s psionic shield with explosive results. Karklosea’s concentration broke, and she now had a choice to make—release the gravity well so her reaming psionic power could strengthen her shields or continue to split what little psionic strength she had left to risk being vaporized. Noylarlie floated, waiting for her decision and taking pleasure at the sight of Karklosea’s face as she processed the bad news.
The gravity well melted away, and the Crimson Arrow was free. Karklosea had chosen survival. Noylarlie’s survival instincts kicked in as well and she vanished into a flash of blue light to reappear inside the Crimson Arrow as it sped off into space at sub–light speeds.
Noylarlie’s weightless body sat in the cockpit of the Crimson Arrow, with her mind connected to the ship’s systems—probably not best idea since her psionic strength needed to recover. However, the duo needed to make their escape as quickly and error-free as possible, and this was the only way.
“So remember that time I said not to repeat Morutrin? Yeah, were repeating it,” said Parcisei.
“Shut up.”
“Every union ship in the system has been alerted…so, yeah.”
A map of the Lejorania system transmitted to Noylarlie’s weakened mind. Only one ship was near the Crimson Arrow, and the rest were located toward the edge of the system. However, those ships all showed signs of changing course to intercept the Crimson Arrow. The ship in orbit around Lejorania Sanctum remained stationary.
“The Abyssal Explorer—that’
s the one in orbit around Sanctum, right?” she asked.
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
“We should be fine. It’s not coming after us.”
“It’s more of a science and exploration cruiser than a battleship—they won’t strike if they have others coming after us.” He floated to his seat behind her, buckling his seat belt. “And I take it they are coming after us?”
“Far end of the system—we have a major head start,” she reassured.
Her mind commanded the ship’s computer to beam to her a map of the nearby star systems. Three red dots in close proximity to each other represented Lejorania and Dark Lejorania, which were controlled by the Radiance Union. Another white dot nearby it was an unknown system—the human star system no doubt. Another dot was seen about twelve light-years away, representing the Cerbillon system. This one was blue. A new course was plotted via her mind’s link to the Cerbillon navigation system.
“We’re en route to the nearest Hashmedai system with a space bridge. Those ships will end their chase when they realize where we’re headed and that we have a head start.” Noylarlie unbuckled her seat belt, and her body floated in the comfort of zero gravity.
“Where are you going?” asked Parcisei when she floated past him toward the rear of the ship.
She stopped and said, “This trip almost take twenty-eight years, and I’m exhausted. I’m going for a cryo nap.”
………
Karklosea’s feet landed at the space port, from where the Hashmedai Archmage and heretic ranger had escaped. Rain continued to fall from the sky.
“We can still track them,” said a familiar voice behind her. Her rain-soaked head turned to see it was Commander Gengei.
“Forget it—sending ships will only put this system at risk,” she said. “She’s a psionic, too, so there’s nothing stopping her from telepathically telling the empire of our small numbers.”
“I will send word to command to have a larger fleet stationed in this system,” said Gengei.
“What of Xyniea?” she asked.
“We still do not have solid proof—just because she was with the heretic does not mean she is one of them. Perhaps she was fooled like the rest of us into believing he was loyal,” he said. “My contact feeding me this information has gone silent.”
“Yet the two people she came here with escaped, leaving behind dead rangers.”
“Xyniea will be placed in cryo, even after we arrive at the human world. I will have her pod flagged as emergency revival only.” He stood next to Karklosea, raising his four eyes to the sky to drench his face in rainwater. “It is unlikely we will have any issues there. As such, she can remain in cryo until our return here. We can question her more in-depth then.”
“And if you do run into problems?” she asked.
“I will personally keep her close, to watch her every move until I am satisfied.”
Chapter 16
“Command, this is Sword One-One. We have a visual on hostile forces,” said Gavin as his F-15C closed in on the Hashmedaian strato frigate.
Multiple squadrons of fighter jets from the United States Air Force cruised in formation high above the Pacific Ocean. Sunny skies were above them, a white blanket of clouds below them, and alien invaders directly in front. This was the country’s second retaliation strike. The first resulted in the loss of three carriers off the coast of California. It’s a shame more intel wasn’t provided by Radiance, Gavin thought, gazing at the frigate through his fighter’s windshield. Humanity’s new nemesis—the Hashmedai Empire.
“Copy that, Sword One-One. Be advised we are receiving multiple reports of hostiles generating shields to protect themselves. Focus fire is recommended,” echoed a voice over his radio.
Dozens of fighters surrounded the frigate from twelve to eleven o’clock positions. Gavin and company came in from three o’clock.
“Command, this is Sword One-One, requesting permission to engage,” Gavin radioed in.
Command replied, “Confirmed, Sword. You are a go—good hunting.”
“Sword One-Two, One-Three, and One-Four, form up on my wing,” Gavin ordered.
“Copy that, Sword One-One,” said Hendrix.
The frigate now enveloped most of his sight, much larger than he thought. And to think the ships in orbit are a great deal bigger. Jesus, help us, he thought. Massive sliding doors on the front side of the frigate swung open, releasing five triangular ships. Must be their fighters.
“Multiple enemy tangos spotted—going in,” said Gavin.
Hashmedai protecting their ships with shields was no secret at this point. The real secret was, what did it take to kill one of those targets? Better yet, could one be shot down?
Gavin set his eyes on the lead Hashmedaian fighter as multiple machine-gunfire from other squadrons impacted their shields, forcing some to break off. Others simply were knocked off course due to the hit. The frigate went out of his view—replacing it was the cloud cover below and a solo fighter flying right above it.
“He’s breaking off. Keep on him,” Gavin said.
Hendrix, Nelson, and James—Sword One-Two, -Three, and -Four, respectively—flew in formation with Gavin taking point. Four F-15Cs versus one solo Hashmedai interceptor—what could possibly go wrong? The four pushed the nose of their fighters downward to the interceptor below.
Gavin’s Heads up Display (HUD) confirmed promising information. “Got a lock. Fox three!”
Four advanced medium-range Air-to-Air missiles, typically referred to as AIM-120 AMRAAM. Propelled off the bottoms of their jets, leaving behind straight lines of exhaust from the tail ends of the warheads. All four impacted the top of the interceptor one after another, creating fiery explosions with each hit and blue ripples on its shields.
“Negative damage. Sword One-Seven, One-Five, form up—we need your support,” Gavin ordered.
“Copy that, One-One,” Simons and Devon said in unison.
Gavin, Hendrix, Nelson, and James’s fighters ended their descents, leveling with the interceptor on its six. Simons and Devon came in on approach from five o’clock. In an unexpected turn of events, the interceptor made a full 180-degree turn, placing Gavin and company in direct line of fire as it let out a barrage of hot green plasma. Gavin and James’s jets made a hard bank to the left, while everyone else banked to the right to avoid the streaking bolts of green. The interceptor’s engines powered up, propelling it in the opposite direction of its human pursuers.
“Damn, he’s fast,” said James over the radio.
The now six pursuing jets, led by Gavin, formed up again to take another shot at the lone interceptor. It was trying to group back up with the existing four interceptors, which were all engaging and shooting down fighter jets. The frigate came back into Gavin’s view as they flew upward, trailing behind the lone interceptor. Streaks of black smoke crossed the sky in random directions. The Hashmedai were winning.
Weapon range was reestablished as Gavin’s HUD informed him of a positive lock. “Taking it to him—fox three!”
Six AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles slammed into the back of the lone interceptor, all producing the same results as before, impacting on its shields…with the exception the final one. Gavin’s eyes quickly assessed the status of the interceptor as sparks erupted from its tail end. That last barrage took down the shields—they were killable, just not very easily.
“Shield is down but minimal damage,” Gavin reported, a little bit of joy in his voice. That joy quickly turned to frustration when two interceptors descended behind the group.
“Bogeys on my six,” radioed Devon.
All six jets banked their aircraft to the right, avoiding plasma fire from the two interceptors. One jet wasn’t quite fast enough and exploded as hot plasma melted through its hull and ignited the jet fuel.
“Sword One-Seven is down,” radioed Simons, but those proved to be his last words. The interceptors chose him as their next target, vaporizing the tail end of his jet with a nonstop volley of g
reen orbs.
Gavin's eyes scanned the aerial battlefield as more black smoke from burning jets populated the area around the frigate. This isn’t worth it. “Command, this is Sword One-One. We are taking heavy casualties, and progress is minimal,” he said.
“Copy that. All squadron leaders return to base—aborting mission.”
………
Chloe was walking alone in the streets of Fallujah, Iraq, wearing her US Marine combat uniform. Something didn’t sit well with her. There were no people, no fellow marines…just a lone child, standing there. Hannah, she said her name was? Chloe couldn’t quite remember why or how she knew that. She slowly stepped closer to the girl, keeping her M16 pointed to the ground. Don’t want to risk an accident now.
She stood behind Hannah, debating on how to greet her. Turned out that wasn’t necessary at all. Hannah spun around to greet Chloe, and in her hands was a newborn infant with light skin.
“Hi, Chloe!” said Hannah, smiling at the infant in her arms.
Chloe knelt down to Hannah’s level to get a better view of the infant. The baby yawned, revealing two fangs growing in. The sight of it made her jerk back a bit. She didn’t expect that…or the color of its eyes as they opened. They were glowing a dark red in the shade of the building next to them.
Hannah stared past Chloe and spoke to someone in an unfamiliar language. Chloe turned around to see a strange woman behind here. She had blue skin, red eyes, and long black hair, wearing a skimpy outfit with wired mechanical devices sticking out of her arms and upper body.
Hannah joyfully approached the woman, handing the infant off to her. The woman and Hannah exchanged words, but Chloe didn’t understand any of it.
Hannah returned to Chloe’s side and said, “She’s a nice lady. I told her to visit Earth one day when that baby is all grown up!”
A black man wearing a Canadian Armed Forces uniform and armed with a C8 rifle exited the building and stood behind Hannah. Chloe took note of the name on his uniform—Johnson.
Celestial Ascension (Splintered Galaxy Book 1) Page 26