For an hour it waited conserving all of its strength, it had no idea how thick the ice was or how long it would take to reach the surface of this miserable planet. However far it was though, it knew it would take a tremendous amount of magic to overcome the Natuers protective wards. Although the beast knew that it would be many thousands of years before the charms that imprisoned its body would fail completely, for now it was happy enough to be able to explore with only its mind. To say it was happy was again perhaps the incorrect word, the creature understood the basic concept of happiness as it did dread. Yet it had no way itself of emoting or following what that would feel like. The only thing it perceived was the hunger, it was all it had ever known.
Since the very beginning of its life, it had desired to feast, at first upon the very energy that existed within the vast expanse of its blazoned reality. Then when it was eventually able to breach its wall and seek out this plane of existence, it had fed on the dark matter that had existed within it, in vast quantities. It was not long after that when something quite startling had occurred, this universe which he now languished in had been borne in the incandescent fires of the big bang, the beast had no understanding of the being, or even sorcery which had caused this event. Yet soon after it had discovered a new delicacy on which it could indulge. It had found life. Living beings existed in billions, perhaps even infinite forms and it had attempted to sample as many as it could find.
At first it had only been able to find simple life forms, things that grew from the ground, or swam within the seas, or flew upon the skies, these satisfied its hunger, but only for a short time. They had little energy within them; they were simple creations and lacked any of the magic that existed within the vast dominions of reality. Yet very soon, other beings immerged, wondrous animals that possessed something that the simple organisms it had feasted upon before had lacked. They held the very core magic’s of space within themselves, housed inside what they termed a soul. This is what the creature had been waiting for; these souls could quieten its yearnings for hour’s even days depending upon the species.
For countless centuries it had journeyed across the gelid cosmos, discovering more and more of these animals. They had interested the beast, never before had it come across beings, which contained the very power which made up the strands of reality within them. It knew that others from the realm it had escaped, would have also sought to feast on these life forms, which is why it had been careful, not to draw attention to itself. This vast universe, teeming with energy was to belong to it alone. These living things came in a myriad of forms, some stood upon two legs, some possessed mighty wings similar to its own, some even communicated with each other and these spirits were particularly delectable and could sustain him for months at a time.
Yet its reign of power and unchallenged devouring was soon to be challenged. As time passed, the beings it hunted developed at a rate it could not comprehend, they possessed an almost unbelievable ability to expand their own minds, to create and develop. It had never before witnessed such a thing and soon it had to share the darkness vault of space, with the material shells the animals had constructed, so they too could traverse the stars.
At first this was simply an annoyance, it did not affect its feeding and the creature had paid it little attention. Yet soon, that was to change, the Natuers arrived, they were similar to the other beings, except their souls did not reside within a frame of organic tissue, instead they existed outside as pure energy. This new enemy possessed arcane powers that even it did not fully comprehend, never before in the billions of years it had existed had it faced anything that could rival its majesty. Yet these Natuers did just that, not only could they deploy arcane conjuring, they also banded together the other lesser life forms, which amassed armadas these material vessels. Thousands of these star ships as the beings called them would follow the creature around the universe and prevent it from feeding, although the primitive weapons they fired could only distract it, the Natuers would use this distraction to launch violent magical assaults and for the first time in its life the fiend experienced what it could only describe as pain.
Eventually after thousands of years the Natuers along with the collective of lesser beings cornered the beast. This armada of vessels now numbered in the hundreds of thousands and had evolved from the small shells that had simply been able to distract it, to the immense creations that now possessed the clout to actually injure it. Of course these life forms, could not actually kill the creature, which would have been impossible, they had come close to forcing it to retreat to its own realm though.
It was during this last great conflagration that the Natuers had cast their most potent spell, it had cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of them, yet they had been able to intern it here upon this wretched planet.
All five of its brutish mouths, curled and set in sly, almost sardonic smiles. As now it was time to begin its escape.
It channelled all of its vast energies together and pushed out with its mind, within the cage its body shuddered and from let out a boorish yell. Its consciousness shot up through the roof of the frozen rock, as it tore through the ice, it concentrated its power to try and hold out the cold, more for its own ease. All it wanted was to reach the surface and nourish itself finally. To taste the crackling vigour of life, for the first time in millions of years.
After what had seemed like hours its mind burst through the ground, it soared high into the clear, cloudless sky. It reached out, it consciousness began to tear across the barren planet, seeking out anything it could devour.
Back within the cell the beast’s flesh began to sear and blister with the sheer exertion of controlling its mind this far from its body and against the force of the Natuers wards. It squawked through clenched fangs, once again emotions it had sensed before, flashed within its consciousness, pain and anger. As it continued to survey the bleak landscape, it felt these disparate sensations as a dull thud within its brain. Outside all it could see was an almost blinding vista, of white snow. Vast mountains rose up high into the firmament then fell down into deep valleys, covered with sheets of ice, under which were vast oceans, but even these contained not even the most basic organisms. The Natuers had chosen well, it had to give them that credit, they had always been clever, for lesser, life forms that was.
Abruptly it stopped; it felt something. A sensation it had not felt for a very long time, something was calling to it. Something dark, something ancient. It used the last of its energy to propel its mind up through the stratosphere, until it arrived in the dark, void of space.
There it reached out. Millions of energy signatures rushed back over it, no longer could it detect the presence of the Natuers or any of the lesser beings it had feed upon before its incarceration. No, now all it could perceive, was the presence of one lesser being of power. They called themselves humans, they were similar to the animals it had encountered before. They walked upon two legs, communicated with each other, had mastered technologies and travelled the stars within vast metallic leviathans. Yet they were also very different to the beings he had indulged upon, their souls were not all the same, some seemed to possess a Cimmerian darkness it had never before experienced.
Yes they were indeed a very interesting species, however they were not what it had felt on the planet’s surface. No what it had sensed was a power that was older even than it. It reached out.
Suddenly a deep, howling voice sang within its mind, “You wish to feast?”
“Yes,” it replied laconically, its thoughts crossing the vastness of the universe instantly. It had been a long time since it had communicated with another intelligence, which seemed to come close to its own. It didn’t like it, once again the sentiments flashed within its mind, hate, rage, and fury.
“Then soon you shall, the humans possess souls which will feed us both for as long as we wish.” The disembodied voice, whispered in reply.
“What are you?” the creature asked forcefully.
“I
am what existed before even you, before even the realms of reality were formed, I am the darkness and I wait within the shadows.” The voice, contained a supremacy and might that made even the creature, retreat slightly, other emotions, sang within it consciousness, fear and terror.
The beast eventually managed to ask, “How will you free me, from the Natuers bonds?”
A sardonic laugh resonated through its mind, when the voice came it was hollow and haunting. “I will not free you, they will. Now return to your body, soon the humans will find you and you will once again be free to roam the universe. Together we will consume all before us and bring the entire expanse of reality into bleakness.” There was a brief moment of silence and then the voice boomed. “First though you will pay tribute to me and worship at my feet.”
A visceral rage filled the creature, never before had it felt such sensations, yet never before had it been challenged like this. Even within its own realm, where it had not been the most dominant, it had been respected. “You wish me to worship you?” it spat the question, as if every syllable caused it discomfort.
“Yes,” The voice replied drawled languorously.
The creature wrestled to control these new feelings, fury, rage, anger, commingled within its mind. “How dare you!” it hollered, “I have sensed your ancient and weak power.” It cackled, “It should be you that bows down to me and worships me as your God.”
“Kraket,” the voice purred, playfully.
The creature’s mind bucked, “How could you know my true name?” it exclaimed.
“I know many things, I will see you soon and you will pay tribute to me, and worship me as your master,” the voice lowered to little more than a murmur. “Or I will destroy you, not merely force you back to that realm you came from, but kill you.”
Before Kraket could force its reply, the voice returned and said dismissively. “Enough, return to your cage, tiger!”
Without another word the beast’s mind tore back into its body. It quivered and screeched, all its six heavily muscled arms tore around the cage, as its flesh burnt and bubbled. The exertion of keeping its consciousness outside the cell had almost killed it, or at the very least caused it permanent damage. Anger, fear, terror, pain, humiliation flared within it. Never had it experienced another entity or being that could challenge its splendour and never had it met a creature, which knew its given name. It fought to control these new sensations, and feelings that had been released within its mind. For an instance it thought it was the result of this new power, yet that was unlikely. It allowed it vast torso to collapse to the ground, as it pulled its wings back, and whipped its forked tail against the invisible walls of its prison. Thoughts whirled within its mind, like molten waves amidst a sea of lava. It would gain its freedom from this accursed jail and when it did it would seek out this strange being. Yet it would not be paying tribute or worshipping at its feet, no it would destroy this monster whatever it may be.
After a few minutes the agony began to subside and its flesh ceased to smoulder. The wounds wouldn’t last long, when its energy had been recovered, it would be able to heal itself. Kraket, decided to lay back and think about all that had happened. Soon it would be free, and these humans whose souls, possessed not only so much light, but also so much gloom would be the ones to release it. It allowed sly sneers to spread across all its mouths as it thought of once again being free to forage. The thought of the human’s spirits made its appetite rise again, yet it could control it, for it knew that soon they would be his, they would all be his. Once again the universe would be its playground and it would devour them all until the very end of time. It closed its four eyes and allowed rest to come. In the murk, it dreamt of this new adversary and how it would feel to see it destroyed. It would rule this realm once again and when it was finished no life would be left.
CHAPTER SIX
PLANET FRESAL ONE
Sam stood just above the trench line, watching the preparations for war, go on all around him.
“COMS!” he shouted.
“Sir,” His communications officer Kate “Rusty” O’Shea replied as she raced over. She was a tall and gangly girl who seemed to lack even the most basic coordination skills, which was one of her many charms. It was as if each of her limbs was acting independently of her body, this gave her every movement a slightly comic undertone, yet she was a good trooper, and a better com’s specialist. She was a master with computers and could hack most systems that had been invented. He had watched her crack into satellites and orbital relays, millions of light years away in order to get a clear com’s channel. It was her fiery ginger hair though, that was now hidden beneath her helmet, from which her nickname had naturally been derived.
“Rusty, get me a fire mission,” Sam said calmly, as he picked up an assault rifle that lay on the bone-dry soil before him. It was covered in coagulated, maroon liquescence from its previous owner, which he simply wiped off, so desensitized was he now to such things. He brought it up and pulled it in tightly against his shoulder. Instinctively his gloved fingers moved delicately over the trigger.
He closed his left eye and with his right peered through the magnified view finder. The built in computerised chip scanned his pupil and adjusted the sight accordingly. When the view cleared, he panned the weapon across the vista until he found the enemy. He was now able to make out the Separatist armour more clearly, they were definitely highly modified, mark four “Hunters”, probably stolen when the enemy had conquered the core world of Tedasat Prime, six months ago, and had over-run the marine armoury before it could be evacuated.
The immense tracked vehicles had been stripped down of most of the heavy plating and protective shell, which would make them easier to destroy. The flip side of that though, was that they would be able to tear across the battlefield a lot more rapidly. That was one of the enemies’ major strengths, its speed, the blood charge, as it was jokingly referred to. Yet no one that witnessed it first-hand ever jested about it again, when you actually came face to face with a sea of crazed, scarified warriors, and armour travelling faster that you could imagine, it made you think, possibly piss your pants and possibly even both.
As he studied the tanks more meticulously he could see why the fiends had stripped away the protective cladding, it was to make way for two more powerful laser cannons, along with a plethora of heavy machine guns, and flame units all manned by suicide troops; mostly women, and some boys who were chained to the various weapon systems. He felt an upsurge of sadness crash over him as he surveyed these, petrified people, they were most likely civilians, who had been unable to escape some Separatist onslaught and now found themselves here, shackled to some machine they didn’t understand, until they either starved to death, or were killed by their own people. That was no way for any person to die. He barred his eyes as he attempted to control his own feelings, he couldn’t do anything now for these poor souls, what he could do, was to make sure none of the civilians still languishing upon this Planet succumbed to a similar fate.
When he began his silent vigil again, he felt his stomach churn as he panned the viewfinder over the bodies that littered the exterior of the tracked vehicles, like some kind of obscene trophy collection. Some still squirmed, writhing against their bonds, for some reason he pictured freshly caught fish and struggling for air. Most of them were though in various phases of decomposition, it was clear that they had been hoisted onto the front of the tanks as some kind of perverse symbol. The whole thing resembled something out of some lurid dreamscape, a part of him kept imagining he would eventually awaken from this hell and find himself a child again, the small robotic tiger at his side. This was not a dream though, sadly it was the real world, and here it was better to just accept the horror.
Sam forced his mind to focus, there would be plenty of time after the battle was done, to think about how dark and pointless life could be. For now he had a mission to complete and the lives of troops and civilians alike were within his hands. The view itself, alte
red and adjusted, the image itself becoming even clearer. He could see large squads of infantry skirting behind the armour using it as cover, while in front of the tanks, smaller and faster hover vehicles flew majestically a few feet above the dirt. They were mostly lightly armed and most appeared to be filled with high explosives and piloted by more naked suicide troops. He made a mental note that he would have to watch them, as they could do some serious damage to the fixed positions he had set up.
The enemies’ strategy was clear to him now and in fact seemed far more sophisticated, and better organised than he had ever known the Separatists to operate before. They would use the hover vehicles to blow holes in the trenches and defensive fortifications the marines had constructed. This would be followed closely by the heavy armour which could then punch a beach head through his lines and then the horde itself would be unleashed, they would over-run his foxholes, and overwhelm him. For the briefest of moments he felt a twinge in his intestines as dread began to latch there, its icy tentacles stretching up towards his heart.
“The clever bastards,” he whispered.
Abruptly Kate’s soft, gentle voice, brought him back to reality. “Sir I’m on with orbital command, they are saying that they need approval from a gold level commander in order to release there ordinance.”
Sam turned to look at her, a slight smile, lit up a pale face that was a mass of freckles and plain features. It was her emerald eyes that his gaze was drawn to though, as they seemed to shimmer with a humanity that was so often lost in this Universe. He hesitated for just a minute, then when he spoke his voice, was solid, “I think I better have a word with them Rusty.”
The Last Foxhole (The Forgotten War Saga Book 1) Page 6