Celestial Ascension (Splintered Galaxy Book 1)

by Eddie R. Hicks

  “What the fuck?” said Jazz, quickly floating toward the airlock. “Go, go, go!” he shouted to his Hashmedai friends.

  Both he and Chloe were tossed across the engine room like rag dolls.

  Chloe made sure to keep her rifle in her hand this time as she slammed into the wall along with Jazz. Jerut’s body glowed blue as he floated toward the two. Chloe’s rifle fired off multiple rounds, and every bullet ripped right through him, but every wound healed instantly. Jazz’s Radiance rifle fired, returning the same results.

  “Are you fucking serious?” she said, propelling away from him.

  White flames erupted from his chest as if it were a flamethrower.

  Jazz took a hint from Chloe and traversed behind her while continuing to fire. She said to him, “So as crazy as this might sound—”

  “We should work together as a team?” he said.

  “I know. Pretty fucked up, right?” She dodged a beam of hot plasma, which melted the wall. “I take that back—that was fucked up!”

  The duo used the propelling jets on their suits to float alongside the engine room walls, ensuring the reactor in the center was between them and Jerut. He didn’t move very fast, thus giving them an advantage. He did, however, jump-port in front of them. The two fired into his chest, riddling it with bullet holes. Jerut stopped to heal his wounds.

  The duo floated away from his line of sight. Chloe said, “Seems he can’t act when he’s healing up like that.”

  “I think that red thing is his power source,” said Jazz.

  Jazz fired three shots away from their target and toward the red glowing gem. Two shots hit it, cracking its surface. The third shot hit a protective shield. Just as the shield went up, Jerut finished healing and stared blankly at the two.

  ………

  “You've got to be kidding me...” Gavin mumbled.

  Stolanei and Gavin looked out and down from the command ships main elevator as it descended down the central tower. Several Hashmedai transport ships docked at the air lock, the very same air locks Gavin and his friends had infiltrated earlier. Word must have gotten out amongst the parked ships within the command ship that the bridge has been compromised. He thought.

  “I count about five transports,” said Stolanei. “Each one probably has a least ten Hashmedai soldiers on board...”

  “All waiting for this elevator to come down and pick them up...” Gavin concluded.

  Stolanei's reptilian eyes glared at the glass elevator door as it continued its decent down towards certain death for the two. Even with a psionic, there’s no way Gavin and Stolanei could take on up to fifty angry Hashmedai soldiers, in close quarters combat at that. “We don't have time for this,” said Stolanei as his hands rested on the glass before them.

  “What are you doing?” asked Gavin.

  Stolanei's cybernetics along his shirtless body began to emit a soft white light. Suddenly the glass on sides of the elevator and its glass elevator shaft shattered into tiny fragments. The two were instantly blown out in the vacuum airless environment of the command ships interior docking area. The rush left Gavin slightly disorientated as his body spiralled out of control. It came to a full stop as the comforting grip of Stolanei's telekinetic held him in place. Gavin frantically looked about through the narrow view of his space helmet, looking for his captured Hashmedai ship.

  After a solid fifteen seconds of scanning the environment, he found it. The airlock was still open. Hopefully nobody climbed on board to search it, Gavin thought, as he extended his index finger towards it. Stolanei nodded his head, and the two began to float their bodies towards it.

  ………

  “Stolanei has a lock on the human atomic device,” said Dargonea. “He's going start searching for the others now.”

  “Tell him to hurry, those destroyers are almost here!” Ueyei requested.

  Dargonea telepathically relayed Ueyei request to Stolanei. Seconds later she briefly removed her mind from Karklosea's link to process some personal thoughts. Hopefully this delay will provide adequate time for Xyniea and Jerut to escape... The fact that we’re under attack means he’s lost control of the situation. She partly merged her mind with Karklosea once more, assisting her in maintaining what little strength in the ships psionic over shield.

  ………

  “I got an idea,” Chloe said, grabbing hold of Jazz. She spun them both around to face Jerut and unleashed all bullets from her weapon. The force from the shots propelled the duo backward at a faster rate as two plasma beams burst forward in the general direction of their previous location.“Let’s fuck him up again,” Chloe said, reloading her rifle. “The shield around the gem will probably drop, and then we hit it.”

  Jerut emerged from around the corner, and both Chloe and Jazz raised their rifles to fire again as their backs hit the wall. Their bullets shot forward, ripping holes throughout Jerut’s chest and head. Then their rifles flew from their grips via a telekinetic pull.

  “Shit!” both said in unison.

  Two other rifles fired from below. Chloe looked down. It was Sarah and Chris, taking shots at Jerut.

  “Sarah!” Chloe yelled, pointing to the gem. “Shoot that. Shoot it now!”

  The red floating gem was knocked around violently, pieces of it slowly chipping off with each bullet hit. That thing is fucking tough, Chloe thought. Finally it shattered, causing Jerut to scream in pain and hold his bullet-holed chest and face. This time his wounds weren’t healing.

  Jazz propelled his body toward his rifle and then back down toward a figure of a unicorn made of ice spinning aimlessly. Just like that, he was gone from sight. Chloe considered fleeing as well.

  “Please tell me you got that mind shield down,” Chloe said to her team below.

  … … …

  All alone, Jazz floated aboard the transport ship in a rush, exclaiming, “Get us the hell out of here!”

  “What’s the problem?” Onatiasha asked, engaging the transport’s systems.

  “Seriously? Didn’t you hear all that?” asked Jazz.

  “It’s an airlock. We can’t hear any sounds outside of it, when the doors are shut,” she replied.

  “Fuck it,” he said, taking a seat in the back. “Let’s just get out of here.”

  ………

  “Shields down to six-teen percent!” yelled commander Ary Zorcei as the Abyssal Explorer took another serious blow.

  Neither Ueyei nor the rest of the bridge crew of the Abyssal Explorer took notice of the flash of light Stolanei along with Chloe, Sarah, Chris and Gavin emerged from. Smoke and chaos was the only thing Stolanei saw as the brave crew maintained what computer stations were will operational.

  “That’s everyone sir!” Stolanei shouted to get Ueyei’s attention.

  Ueyei’s small body spun his chair to the side, taking in the sight he’s been waiting to see. “Helm, get us out of here,” ordered Ueyei. “Create as much distance as you can from the command ship.”

  Stolanei began to close his eyes and entered a deep concentration; his mind was merging with the computer system with the nuclear device. At the same time, the Abyssal Explorer began a series of complex evasive and escape manoeuvres, flying up and around the small Hashmedai blockade, as ships from said blockade continued their relentless plasma fire towards the fleeing Radiance ship.

  Stolanei’s eyes opened. “It’s done.” he whispered.

  A bright blinding light flashed outside the main window on the bridge. Everyone shielded their eyes until it faded. The nuke had gone off. “Excellent work everyone.” Ueyei said letting lose a smile. “Now let’s head back to the human world to drop our friends off.”

  “Not recommended sir, the remaining Hashmedai ships are in pursuit of us.” reported Zorcei examining data from his charred computer terminal. “With the current state of the shields, we won’t be able to take much more of this.”

  Ueyei folded his fingers together and grimaced. Had things been the other way around, he would most certainly
want to be dropped off back to his home world to finish the fight. Not flee with a group of refugees, especially when you didn’t exactly agree to leave. “Then we have no other choice... set a course to Lejorania Sanctum.” He looked at the four humans as they extended their hands out towards Stolanei, some kind of thankful gesture he figured. “Our human friends will have to accompany us.”

  “Right away sir.” said Grailea.

  Well looks like Odelea has a new assignment, Ueyei thought.

  To the surprise of Chloe and quite possible all the humans, there was gravity. The bridge was full of activity as well as chatter none of the four humans understood. The energy of that joy and jubilation was something Chloe vowed to never forget. Only the blackness of space and its stars could be seen through the front window as the Abyssal Explorer wasted no time maneuvering and flying away from the Hashmedai battle group behind it.

  “Um, excuse me,” said a familiar voice from behind Chloe. She turned to see Odelea standing with her hands folded together.

  “Long time no see,” said Chloe.

  “I’ve been assigned to help you out for the next few days before we all enter cryo,” Odelea said.

  “Wait…what?” said Gavin.

  “The journey to Lejorania Sanctum will take approximately eight and a half years,” Odelea said. “We will need to stay in cryo until then.”

  “I thought they were gonna drop us off back at Earth,” said Gavin. “We still need to take the fight to the remaining Hashmedai.”

  “I’m being told by the captain the remaining Hashmedai ships have us targeted,” Odelea said. “It’s not safe for this ship to remain here.”

  “I think us coming along might be for the best,” said Chris. “God knows how many refugees are on board, heading to an alien world. Someone’s gotta watch out for them…or at least train others to do so.”

  “Debate all you want about this,” said Sarah, removing her helmet. “I’m fucking starving.”

  “I will show you to the galley, then,” Odelea offered.

  ………

  Jazz entered the infirmary onboard the Voidwrath. It was the one area he didn’t check during his search for Jason. As the process of elimination played out, Jason was right there staring at the wall—a much better sight than the doctor still floating with his head split open.

  “There you are,” Jazz said. “Been lookin’ all over for you.”

  “Damn, Jake, are they for real?” Jason asked. “Twenty fucking years?”

  “Twenty-one to be exact. But yeah, to my understanding these ships travel around half the speed of light,” Jazz said. “We’re heading to Epsilon Eridani, or as the Hashmedai call it, Cerbillon.”

  “We should have gone with you all along,” Jason said. “Alisha and Hannah could have been right here with me.”

  “It’s not your fault, man,” Jazz said. “If anything, it’s mine. I came back to pick you all up, only to see Radiance kidnap you.”

  “Jake.” Jason faced Jazz with his eyes closed. “Listen, they didn’t kidnap us. I convinced Alisha to change her mind and stick with our original plan. We asked Radiance to escort us to the hospital.”

  That explained why Jason randomly climbed aboard the last Radiance transport leaving Earth. Jazz had assumed it was because he had given up hope. Jazz’s near-death experience, Kroshka’s kidnapping, Chidorli dying from a brainjack, Alisha and Hannah gone…had Jason kept his mouth shut and not convinced Alisha to change her mind, all of that could have been prevented.

  “I need a drink,” Jazz said.

  “So do I, man.”

  “They got a small bar here,” Jazz said. “I’ll show it to you.”

  Jazz and Jason floated toward a doorway down the corridor. Burn marks and blood floated in the air—remnants from the fighting Phylarlie, Whigli, and those two assassins had taken part in.

  “After you,” Jazz said, opening the door.

  Jason floated through, but Jazz remained where he was and then interacted with the door controls. The door slid shut, and Jason realized he was looking at…space. In a panic, Jason banged on the door, demanding Jazz to open it.

  Jazz activated the intercom and spoke. “Your first mistake was thinking a ship like this has a bar. Surprise—you’re in the airlock.”

  “Jake, this isn’t funny anymore,” Jason said.

  “Your second mistake was telling Alisha not to listen to me. Your third mistake was revealing that shit to me.”Jazz pushed a button that trigged an alarm inside of the airlock. Jason, now covered in sweat from head to toe, slammed his fist on the window of the door.

  “I’m sorry!” Jason yelled. “It was a mistake. I didn’t know all this would happen!”

  Another button was pushed, unlocking the door directly behind Jason.

  “Help! Somebody, help me! Help me, help me!” screamed a terrified Jason. “Look, Alisha will never forgive you for this!”

  “You’re assuming she’s gonna find out.” The door leading to space opened, and like a vacuum cleaner sucking up dirt, Jason was blown out into the void of space in a matter of seconds, his sweat crystallized into tiny ice particles instantly. “Try not to scream. Ain’t nobody gonna hear ya.”

  He interacted with the terminal once more, shutting the door and returning the airlock to a normal state. He then said, “So how long are you gonna stay there?”

  Phylarlie appeared with a pleased look on her face. “How did you know I was here?” she asked.

  “Because you slapped my ass.”

  She laughed, playing with her floating hair. “I like how you took care of him. You know you’d make an impressive assassin.”

  “Too bad humans don’t have psionics,” he said.

  She floated away toward the bridge through the darkened corridor, and Jazz stood back to watch her leave.

  “Stop staring at my ass,” she said.

  “Stop presenting it so nicely then.”

  She flashed a sultry smile at him along with her captivating glowing red-orange eyes.

  ………

  “So now what?” asked Jazz as he and his Hashmedai friends floated within the Voidwrath’s cockpit.

  “Jerut, his secret order, Akeia’s assassination, human experiments—the list goes on,” said Onatiasha.

  “We say nothing,” said Kroshka. “There is a human saying—all the world is a stage, and the men and women are actors. Well, the galaxy is not any different. We have our roles to play in this. Let us play the part of people who do not truly know what happened.”

  “They do have the Assassins’ Guild on their side,” Phylarlie said.

  “If we speak the truth, there is a good chance assassin blades will find their ways into our backs,” Kroshka added. “For now, let us keep silent while seeking out those who are reasonable.”

  “A smart move,” said the strange female voice to Jazz. He looked at the rest of his Hashmedai friends, none of them showed signs they heard a voice. “You are an interesting one, we will keep in touch.”

  I must be trippin' Jazz thought.

  ………

  Chloe’s face formed a small grin as the doctors tending to the plasma burns on her back floated away. Whatever the hell they did with their devices, it worked. The stinging and burning sensation across her back faded. They were the same doctors that removed the device from her head earlier and she was possibly floating in the very same infirmary aboard the Abyssal Explorer. Gengei rested upon a flat operation table of some sort as a group of doctors swam around him to treat his wounds. Chloe had hoped that they would have been done with Gengei by now; she had a few questions that needed to be answered.

  Xyniea may be dead, but her running off with Kroshka without saying anything was cause for concern. Never mind the fact that Xyniea offered no warning that Chloe was about to be shot from behind. Then had what seemed to be a friendly conversation with a Hashmedai commander. A Hashmedai who later took a multiple bullets through the face, came back as some kind of fucked up self healing
psionic zombie, with a link to a red glowing gem.

  A gem that looked a lot like the one Kroshka had around her neck.

  A gem that looked a lot like the one Gavin’s dead wife Anna, gave to Chloe.

  The very same gem she passed onto Gavin, as per Anna’s final request in life.

  Stolanei was wrong about Amanda being the last of these Radiance heretics. Very wrong, Chloe thought. And it was this thought that made her feel extremely troubled. More so than the Hashmedai threat. Hashmedai don’t pretend to be your allies.

  ………

  Odelea entered her lab onboard the Abyssal Explorer. Her work all remained exactly how she had left it prior to leaving to…her arms crossed as she struggled to remember why she had left this area before being summoned by the captain and general.

  A data pad—one Telinei had given her just before that human Jake arrived—beeped to indicate an incoming message. Her finger interacted with the screen. “Speak,” she said.

  “Telinei? We’ve been trying to get a hold of you,” a voice communicated to her.

  “Telinei is dead,” said Odelea.

  “Unfortunate…with whom am I speaking?”

  She paused briefly before revealing, “His replacement.”

  Epilogue

  The remaining Hashmedai forces became splintered following the destruction of the command ship. Some ships fled, following behind the Voidwrath as it traveled to the nearest Hashmedai space bridge. Some chose to keep fighting, while the rest surrendered. The humans who were left behind on Earth slowly began the painful process of rebuilding, reorganizing, and combating the Hashmedai who stayed behind. The Hashmedai who had now surrendered were forced to live underground, as angry humans would have executed them. Human Justice 101: blood for blood.

  Eight years following the attack on Earth, the Radiance fleet from Lejorania, better known to humans as Alpha Centauri, arrived to defeat the remaining Hashmedaian forces and provide assistance in the rebuilding of Earth and human society. The United Nations of Earth was formed a year later—one global government with an elected president. The countries that used to make up the world became states, each with an elected minister to oversee matters. The human race at last achieved world peace, and all it took was an alien invasion. It was a golden age for technology as well. Not only did humanity reverse-engineer Hashmedai tech, but the Radiance Union brought their own to share with the people of Earth, along with scientists and engineers to help spread knowledge.