CHAPTER 16 - SHATTER THE SKY
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-The Hammer-
Silas had entered the glorious bridge of the Hammer. Arcoh anxiously awaited his arrival, but was surprised at his spy's condition when he stumbled through the golden sliding doors. He threw Helena in through the door, as he fell to his knees. Silas was beginning to feel the effects of the bullets grazing his spinal cord, starting to sense the severe nerve damage that had been done to him.
Mark saw this. He ran over to Helena and picked her up off of her feet. "Oh Helena, how did you get wrapped up in this?"
"I was that traitor's insurance policy. It was him all along, Commander Wyman." He pulled Helena in close, and fixated his eyes on Ivan and Arcoh, as they passed by to check on Silas.
"I know. Arcoh told me. He told me everything, Helena." Ivan picked Silas up off of his feet while Arcoh stepped up, and lightly slapped him in the face in an attempt to wake him from his stupor. Just like his sister, he was beginning to go into shock.
"Stay with me now. You've come too far to die."
"I'll make you a deal, Arcoh," Silas said as sweat poured down his blood-red face.
"Go ahead, Silas."
"I will give you this." He pulled the canister of my DNA out of his pocket and presented it to Arcoh, who was overwhelmed. After twenty-five years on the throne, he finally had everything he needed to begin his trials. However, he knew he had to keep Silas alive to obtain the information he had gained from watching me display my abilities.
"I will give you this, but in return I want you to save my life." Arcoh observed Silas's wounds and came up with a solution to his fatal situation.
"Hmm. Your body has sustained too much damage to simply be revitalized by the genome; you have waited too long. I honestly am surprised you made it here alive in your condition. Most men would not have been able to walk."
"I am not 'most men,' Your Grace."
"No, indeed you are not. You have a fire inside of you and a fierce will to live, and succeed, just like your sister. You've served under a different nation, but fought for the right flag. You will be rewarded for that."
He kicked Silas in his legs where it seemed he could not feel them when he fell. "You have sustained nerve damage to your legs, and some reconstructive surgery will have to be performed, especially if you are to be my new admiral."
Silas looked up and smiled at Arcoh. He was overcome with gratitude with the position Arcoh had just presented to him. I think that Arcoh saw something of himself in Silas, a man willing to do anything for what he believed in. And he would let nothing stand in the way of accomplishing his goals in life, even if it meant betraying the people he loved the most. "Oh thank you, thank you, Your Grace."
"Consider it a reward for all that you have done in the name of the kingdom, my son." He turned to Ivan, who looked jealous, as Arcoh now seemed to have a new favorite. "Ivan? Bring him to the infirmary immediately. Make sure he gets all the care he needs."
"Yes, sire, and what of the remaining Remoran fleet?" Arcoh smiled as he looked down at Mark. He walked by him and placed the canister on the mantle of the giant golden grandfather clock. The pendulum clock then began to tick to the seconds winding down to the Crusaders' departure. Mark looked up to him in disgust, as he knew what Arcoh was about to do next.
"Ivan, contact our captives aboard the gravity weapon. Tell them to shatter the sky. I told you what would happen, Mark. This devastation is entirely on you."
***
Back on the bridge of the Alexandria, I ceased my emotional tendencies when Virgil laid his hand on my shoulder. My father still held his hand up to my face. Virgil tore part of his black shirt and handed it to me. I gave the ripped garment to my father, and he pressed it against his liver so he would not bleed out, at least as fast as he was. I turned away in a sort of panic, when an ominous presence filled the air.
Ever get a really bad feeling where it seems like your heart has fallen through your chest? That is exactly what this was and damn it all, it was always right. Just then the Alexandria's computer addressed us. "Admiral Victoria, I have detected a large source of energy gathering in quadrant 9 ahead." Victoria pushed Virgil away, stumbled to the control module, and zoomed in on the anomaly.
"We have to get off this ship," she said with great anxiety in her voice. I roughly wiped my eyes and stared at the terminal. A giant and almost blinding rainbow-colored light was stirring just beyond the ocean of Crusader ships. It was the gravity weapon gathering power with its colossal, and almost angelic-looking, wings.
"What is it, Victoria?" I asked.
"That bastard Arcoh is energizing the gravity weapon. Just like he used it to destroy Minerva, he will use it to harvest the energy of the cosmic radiation from the sun and turn it against my fleet." She bowed her head and collapsed to her knees. Virgil ran over to pick her up off her feet.
"What can we do?" I asked.
"Besides waiting to die? Nothing."
"I have a crazy idea!" Jonathan shouted to us, as he coughed up blood all over himself.
"What are you thinking, dad?"
"What if we were to . . . improvise? Unstoppable force meets," he punched his hands together, "immovable object."
Victoria looked up and smiled at this suggestion.
"You are talking about unleashing the might of the fleet into the beam of the gravity cannon."
"Could it work?" Virgil asked.
"It would only buy us time until we ran out of ammunition. One of us would have to stay behind to give the commands to ALI."
"Why do you think I suggested it, baby doll?" Victoria looked at Jonathan amusedly as I rushed over to him, shocked by his request.
"Dad? But we can still save you. There has to be some more genome supplements in the infirmary." He laughed and coughed as he slumped down in his seat. Clenching his teeth as he held the blood-stained cloth tightly against his abdomen. "Son, I am done here. Plus there is no time. Victoria? What would I have to do?"
We both looked over to her; she took a moment to respond as she was still very woozy from being revitalized. She looked up to Jonathan through the gaps in her long red hair. "Well. I would have to switch the control of ALI over to you. As long as there is a commander sitting in that chair," she pointed to the chair Jonathan sat in, "then ALI will abide, controlling the entire fleet under his command. Are you sure about this, Jonathan?"
We all gazed at him; as much as I wanted to save him, I knew his fate had been decided. He looked up at me with his scorching blue eyes, and I felt a strange sense of satisfaction in my soul when he spoke to me.
"Please, Collin. I want this. I want it."
I nodded to him, and I felt at peace with his decision. Victoria leaned down to stare out the windshield of the Alexandria, where the Crusader ships were repositioning themselves above the Remoran fleet. "What are they doing? Victoria, why are they moving their ships?" I asked.
"Must you always ask stupid-ass questions? I already told you: we have to get out of here. ALI?" Victoria leaned down and pressed the intercom button.
"How may I be of assistance, Admiral?" ALI asked her.
"You can be of assistance to Jonathan King, for he has just inherited my responsibilities and authority."
"Affirmative, Admiral."
"All right, John. You need to stay in the chair and fire on quadrant 9 once you see the blinding light fill the air. That signifies that the gravity weapon has reached its power limit. That will buy us the most time."
"You got it, boss lady."
Virgil slung his arm under Victoria's shoulders, and carried her over to where Jonathan sat.
"Johnny, my friend!" Virgil said.
"We've had some good times, huh, buddy?"
"Hell ya, we have," Virgil said as a tear streamed down his smiling face. "I guess I'll see you in another life, Virg."
"Later on. Partner."
Virgil leaned in and gave my father a long, compassionate hug; even Victoria outstretched
her hand to him. "I guess I should thank you."
"The pleasure was entirely mine, sweetheart." Jonathan grabbed Victoria's hand and pulled her in close. He wrapped his hands around her head and gave her a long, wet kiss. She surprisingly did not hesitate this time. I shook my head at them as Victoria backed up and smiled.
"Whoa."
"Well, that was . . ."
"A dying man's wish come true. That's what that was. I know, the best kiss of your life, huh, baby?" She laughed slightly as she wiped her lips clean and responded to Jonathan for the first time ever with kindness; after all, she was just as grateful to him as the rest of us were.
"Goodbye, John, and thank you."
"Don't take too long, kid. That cannon is going to fire at any minute," Virgil said to me as he began to help Victoria over to the bridge exit. I nodded and looked to my father, who slumped back up into his chair and pulled out a box of matches.
"Grab that cigar out of my front pocket, would you, son?" I reached into the front pocket of his torso; it was the only area of his white-collared shirt that was not stained by his blood. He coughed profusely as I clipped the end, and placed the cigar in his mouth. "I've been saving this cigar as a celebration to myself. I was going to smoke it with you when I finally fulfilled my promise." I grabbed the cigar from him, and took two long puffs before passing it back. I licked my lips and hummed after those sweet few moments.
"This cigar, it is from Mother Earth?"
"Yeah, sport. It's a clone of the original Cuban."
"Wow, damn good cigar, damn good, dad."
"You shouldn't be smoking, sport. Like I said, it's a nasty habit. Damn, she tasted good, boy. You stay away from my woman now, ya hear?" We laughed as we enjoyed the last cigar that my father would ever smoke. Although I learned he was my mother's brother, I will always refer to him as my father. He raised me as an infant; maybe that's why I was crying so much. I never sobbed, but at that moment it felt like a waterfall of tears was streaming down my cheeks.
"Wipe those tears from your eyes, little buddy. You gotta be strong now. You got a lot of people depending on you."
"I'm gonna miss you, dad."
"I'll be around, son, an angel on your shoulder. I'll always watch over you." He raised his hand to me as I finally began to stand on my own two feet. He painfully took the cigar out of his mouth and gave his final farewell. Victoria had just entered the bridge code, and they impatiently called out to me.
"Let's go, damn it! We'll die if we wait any longer!" Just then the red alert began flashing on the bridge.
"We are being locked by the gravity cannon," ALI said as the klaxon sounded.
"Fire everything we have, ALI."
"Affirmative." My father gave the command, and then came the flood. A tidal wave of Remoran firepower clashed with the rainbow-colored beam, holding back the power of the sun, the firestorm summoned by the gravity weapon. Rivers of missiles, and constant salvos of gunfire, from tens of kilometers around, collided synchronously with the beam. It was a spectacular display of power. The might of the entire Remoran arsenal had successfully contained the blast from the gravity cannon, at least for the moment.
I looked on in complete awe. The light from the spectacle practically blinded us on the bridge. I was unable to divert my eyes. It was like a fireworks show after the PGL season began, but amplified a billion times over.
"Collin! Let's go now or we all die!"
"Go. Remember: only you can stop him now, my son."
"Goodbye. Dad."
"Goodbye, my son." I nodded to my father as it was still hard to divert my stare from the incredible spectacle happening before us. I looked back the entire time to him as I ran out of the room. He released the cloth that had been holding back the blood, and for once, he could finally relax. My father slowly turned back, and continued to smoke a cigar he had been saving for years. One final celebration as he had finally fulfilled his promise. He would enjoy that cigar to a death so quick, and painless, most people in Eden could only dream of it.
We made our way down the hall; the red flashes and sounds of impending destruction practically deafened us. The sounds of the fleet's arsenal impacting with the beam echoed across the system, and it created a light so bright, it even outshined the suns for a few seconds. To this day, it is known as the single most devastating display of artificial power that humanity has ever witnessed.
Virgil had slung Victoria over his shoulder, and we practically sprinted to the tractor beam room, only to find that the room was unusable in our situation. "Command interface open!" The door to the room let out a long, dismissive beep. "Damn! It's locked!"
"Don't you have the code? This is your ship, is it not!"
"Yes, smartass! But it won't open when the ship is engaged in combat; it's a safety procedure in case the enemy tries to use the tractor beam against us!"
"Well, what the hell are we supposed to do! All of the escape pods have been deployed!" We stood there against the wall, when Virgil began to rush down the hall, slinging Victoria back over his shoulder.
"Where are we going?" I asked as we made our sprint.
"To the primary bay, kid! We gotta get my ship!"
"It's too far! The ammunition will be depleted by then!" Victoria shouted to him.
"Well I ain't waiting here to die, darling, and in any case, I would rather go down with my ship!"
"Well let's go! GO! GO! GO!"
He nodded to me as we sprinted down the red-flashing hallway.
***
On the surface of Rayden, the Remoran soldiers had all finally evacuated their vessels and had made their way to the mountain range. It was there, in the new capital of the Raydenites, that President Wright stared up at the sky along with every inhabitant of the planet. Even the elderly, and the children had climbed out of their caves to witness the incredible spectacle. A child stood next to Wright, and tugged on his combat uniform as they stared up into the sky.
"What is wrong with the sky, Mr. Wright?" Zachary stared up at the firestorm. The Remoran fleet could barely be seen through the vast layer of clouds. The constant streams of missiles and gunfire lit up the sky, and added a variation of colors to the sunset. The fragments of Minerva that had not fallen to the surface began to spread out across the sky. Though a vast majority of the sky had been covered by dust from the destruction of Minerva, the force of the gravity weapon's impact above the planet's atmosphere was blowing away the debris, like a solar fan, and the sky was once again clearly visible.
But it was once again about to be shattered. Wright knew this as he responded to the child's question. "Child, today will live on in memory as the day the sky fell to the earth."
The pilot of the Alexandria stepped up and bowed his head at the spectacle of fire that clashed with the clouds. He was also joined by the squad leader that had earlier tried to force us onto an escape pod. "My god, this is the end."
"At least he saved as many as he could."
***
We had reached the door to the bay, and Virgil leaned down so Victoria could enter the code to unlock the main hangar door. We ran inside and stopped at the equipment room to our right. Virgil grabbed three re-breathers, and we bolted back out to the hangar. Virgil and Victoria began to attach theirs to their faces, and I heard Virgil yell out to me as we sprinted down the slanted catwalk of the hangar.
"Victoria, get those hangar bay doors open! Collin, put that thing on!"
Victoria shouted a command into her holoband and the giant hangar bay doors beneath us began to slide open. The force field beneath the hangar bay doors kept the air sealed inside of the hangar, so I shouted to Virgil in confusion.
"But the air is sealed in here!"
"Yeah! When the ship is cut in half it won't be anymore!"
"Huh, good point."
"There's six hours of oxygen left in these but hopefully we won't need it—oh damn! There she is! My baby!"
As we ran towards Virgil's gunship, I took one final glance around t
he incredibly massive hangar of the Alexandria. This ship was so large that it housed not only gunships, dropships, and high-speed interceptors, but also all ranges of full-sized warships, even a couple of cruisers. This ship contained technology that mankind had never seen before, and it was about to be destroyed in a matter of seconds as if it never stood a chance.
The thought was truly sickening. Nuclear and EMP weapons may have been banned, but the gravity weapon has already been proven to be far more deadly than any measly nuke could ever be. Humanity never fails to imagine more creative ways to cause absolute destruction.
We arrived at Virgil's ship and we quickly released the lock to the door, but Virgil had to have a moment with his precious ship. To this day I still have no idea why Virgil cared so much for his ship. I bet, if he could, he would have sex with it—what a freak. Virgil hugged the exterior of his small gunship, and began kissing the cold carbon fiber hull of it, while I helped Victoria into her seat beside the pilot's chair.
"Oh, my sweet baby! I thought that I was never going to see you again there for a second. Oh shh, shh, it's okay, Maggie. I swear I'll never leave you again."
"Maggie? Really?"
"Shut up, kid! Is Vicky locked in nice and tight?"
"Yeah, she's good."
Victoria looked to me as I stepped out of the gunship to grab Virgil. "I'm sorry. I didn't expect to be so useless."
"Don't be. You just rest, and let Virgil focus on getting us out of here. Well, that is if he stops making out with his damn ship! Come on, Virgil! What the hell is wrong with you, you crazy decrepit old bastard!"
"You just don't get it, do you, kid?"
Just as I stepped out of the cabin of the gunship to yell at the crazy old bastard, the worst indeed came to worst. Unlike witnessing the destruction of Minerva, the first we heard was not a noise at all—it was silence. It reminded me of when the hull of Rayden One was punctured. Space is silence, followed by cold death and anguish.
We collapsed to our feet when the hull of the Alexandria split in half. Then the gravity suppression system on the Alexandria broke, and we began to float. Behind me I could see the light beam of the weapon slicing through the top hull of the ship, like fire through tissue paper. It was really quite impressive. Despite all the destruction, I could not hear a thing, not a damn thing.
A New Divide (Science Fiction) Page 22