When the spirit-horse rose out of the floor behind the rearmost soldier, Richard swung his phase rod at its head. The phase rod glanced off the heavy armor, but not before the rod’s phase energy penetrated the soldier’s skull. The subatomic explosions from the phase energy scrambled the soldier’s brain into a liquid mush. Richard’s passive scan told him the four-armed creature was neither a magic user nor a scout. No Power tried to heal the armored soldier. It fell to the floor dead.
The lead soldier began turning in Richard’s direction. Before the soldier could complete its turn, Sheeta leaped out of the wall. The big dolgar shifted his fangs out of the void long enough to grab the soldier by the throat. A split second later, both Sheeta and the struggling soldier disappeared into the opposite wall. With the soldier’s demise, the defensive shield which had been blocking the Warcats’ fire disappeared as well.
Before Richard could react, he felt his mount shift both of them back into the void. A hundred 20mm rounds along with two blasts of plasma energy from the Warcats passed through Richard’s body. Both the stallion and he were unharmed. They were in the void.
You’re lucky the Warcats weren’t using phase weapons, said Nickelo. Phase energy exists in the void as well as the physical dimension. Perhaps you should have discussed your plan with me before you attacked from the enemies’ rear.
Whatever, Nick, Richard said into his shared space. It worked. Now bring up the specs for this destroyer. We need to get to the main-gun deck before they blow the Defiant out of the sky.
Complying, said Nickelo.
Nickelo had downloaded a lot of the magic-based computer’s databanks when Richard had hacked his way into the black destroyer’s computer system. Richard now sensed some of the information being sent as a blueprint of the destroyer into his shared space. A quick scan of the blueprint showed the fastest route to part of the gun deck which was firing at the Defiant.
By this time, Terrie and Charlie had ceased their firing. Richard pictured himself dismounting from the spirit-horse. The stallion shifted back into the physical dimension. The black tendrils securing Richard to the stallion’s back retracted. After sliding off his mount, Richard began running towards the nearest door to the main-gun deck.
Maybe you should stay on the stallion, suggested Nickelo. He could take you wherever you need to go.
Negative, Richard answered. He tolerates me. He doesn’t like me. I’ll fight better on foot. Besides, some of the walls and doors in this ship appear to be embedded with flecks of creallium. We couldn’t get through them from the void.
I won’t argue, said Nickelo. You’ve made your decision. I think your stallion could have gotten past them by fully shifting into another dimension. But it’s too late now. He’s already gone.
Sure enough, as soon as Richard had slid off, the spirit-horse had taken his leave and shifted into another dimension. Richard didn’t care. The stallion had served his purpose. He was on the destroyer. Richard preferred fighting on his own anyway. However, he had to admit, he was glad to see the dots on his heads-up display representing Sheeta and Sheba. He could sense them below the metal floor in the void. They hadn’t deserted him.
Turning his head back towards the two Warcats, Richard shouted, “Follow me!”
Without waiting to see if his friends followed, Richard hurried ahead to an area of the corridor which was flickering with energy. From the frequency of the energy, Richard knew it was magic.
It’s some kind of force field, said Nickelo. I calculate it’s acting as a blast door. There’s air on the other side.
Can we get through it? Richard asked.
Give me control of an active scan, said Nickelo. And be prepared to help me when I need it.
Complying, Richard said mimicking his battle computer’s normal reply to one of his requests.
As Richard formed the active scan, he heard the sound of large, metallic feet tromping down the corridor. He’d had no doubt his two friends would follow him, but it was nice to have his confidence vindicated. The two Warcats came to a stop behind him.
“What now?” hissed Charlie over the com-link set up by Margery.
The floor of the corridor shuddered as the destroyer unleased another salvo at the Defiant.
“Now?” Richard replied over the com-link. “Now we make sure that’s the last full salvo these suckers fire at our friends.”
Switching to his shared space, Richard ordered Nickelo to set up a direct link with Margery. Except for Jonathan, his friend Stella’s battle computer, Richard knew Margery was Nickelo’s only link to other computers on the tele-network.
The Defiant is getting hammered, Rick, came Margery’s thoughts. Sergeant Ron is keeping the ship turned so the rear shields are towards the destroyer, but our shields won’t take another salvo like the last one.
They won’t have to, Richard said. Tell Sergeant Ron to go recover the kids. Charlie, Terrie, and I will take care of things here.
Complying, said Margery. What else can I do?
I’m having Nick upload data from the destroyer’s computer to you, Richard said. I want you to send the blueprints of this ship to the two Warcats.
Complying, said Margery.
I’ve successfully hacked the blast shield, said Nickelo. We can pass through.
Richard didn’t bother answering. He just stepped through the field of energy. The magic seemed to become agitated as if trying to decide whether to allow Richard to pass or not. It quickly settled down when he twisted a couple of its energy flows back on themselves. He passed through the blast door without further incident. So did the two Warcats.
Within just a few steps, the corridor opened up into a large bay. The open area was at least half the length of the destroyer, and it was the width of the ship. The ceiling towered a dozen stories overhead. Armored boxes resembling house-sized turrets lined both sides of the open area. Large tubes protruded from the turrets. Richard figured there were at least twenty turrets on each side of the ship.
Actually, there are twenty-two gun turrets on each side, said Nickelo. And I count 842 lifeforms on this gun deck.
The area in front of each gun turret was open to the vacuum of space beyond. As Richard watched, several of the guns fired. Bolts of energy shot out into space.
Force fields of some kind are keeping the ship sealed, said Nickelo. They’re magic based. The weapons’ projectiles can go out, but nothing else can enter or escape.
Richard looked closer at one of the gun turrets. A dozen of the four-armed Thargs were stationed around the turret. Only a few of them appeared to be armed. Behind the gun turret nearest Richard stood a small, male figure shackled by a chain around his throat. The other end of the chain was attached to the deck. Richard recognized the male as a gnome, or at least a relative of the gnome race he’d previously encountered on Portalus.
One of the four-armed Thargs jerked on the gnome’s chain and dragged him towards a meter-wide, round projectile. Richard sensed energy inside the metallic ball. He recognized it as the same energy frequency the Dragar priests at the temple had removed from the sacrificed dragon eggs.
Once the gnome got to the projectile, Richard saw him move his hands in intricate patterns. His lips moved as well as if saying a spell. Richard sensed Power gather in the gnome’s hands and transform into magic. The magic passed into the large projectile. Almost immediately, a metal arm from a nearby crane reached out and picked up the projectile. It was then transferred to a large opening in the gun turret. A couple of seconds later, the projectile shot out the end of the tube protruding out the end of the gun turret. Richard sensed the magic energy inside the ball increasing in intensity as it sped away from the destroyer.
Almost immediately, another large projectile popped out of an opening in the deck behind the gun turret. Another crane picked up the projectile and moved it closer to the gnome’s position.
Well, Rick, said Nickelo. Now what?
Richard’s Marine training kicked in.
; “Terrie,” Richard said over the com-link. “You take the starboard guns. Charlie, you take the portside. I’ll take care of the middle.”
“Roger that,” came Terrie’s reply.
“I get to other end first,” hissed Charlie as he took off running.
Not one to waste time, Charlie immediately released a spray of chain-gun rounds at the crew surrounding the first turret.
“And don’t hurt anyone chained up,” Richard ordered. “They’re prisoners. They’re not our enemy.”
Another burst of chain-gun fire told Richard that Terrie was on the move as well. Not to be outdone, Richard holstered his .44 AutoMag and pulled an M63 lightweight plasma assault rifle out of his dimensional pack. A glance at the weapon’s isotopic battery told Richard it contained a full load of 2,255 rounds. From the size of the crowd of milling bodies ahead of him, Richard had a feeling he was going to need every round.
Firing as he ran, Richard headed for the largest group of Thargs in the center aisle. Many of the four-armed Thargs were already running for cover. The fire from the Warcats had turned the well-organized group on the gun deck into an unorganized mob fleeing from the unexpected assault.
Under normal circumstances, Richard would’ve let them escape; but not this time. They had been trying to destroy the Defiant and the kids just a few seconds prior. If they were allowed to survive, Richard had no doubt they’d come back and try again. Richard shoved thoughts of kindness and mercy to the side. He became the deadly killing machine the Empire had created.
As Richard fired, he did his best to avoid hitting the prisoners. Not all of the prisoners were chained to the deck, but each of them appeared to be wearing a collar which radiated magic.
I calculate a sixty-seven percent probability their collars are designed to prevent the prisoners from using their magic against their captors, said Nickelo.
Ignoring his battle computer’s observation, Richard kept firing. Streaks of energy began passing around him as a handful of Dragars and some of the four-armed Thargs began returning fire. Richard noticed the Thargs were using weapons similar to rifles and handguns. He sensed their weapons firing small projectiles composed of magic instead of bullets. The Dragars on the other hand appeared to be magic users of some type. When they weren’t casting spells on their own, they were using wands to do it for them.
The initial fire from the Warcats and Richard had caught the destroyer’s crew by surprise. However, Richard could see signs of military discipline taking hold as various leaders tried to bring order to the confusion. Hoping to keep the chaos going, Richard concentrated his fire on anyone who appeared to be in charge whenever he got the chance.
The good news is the primary gun turrets have stopped firing, said Nickelo. That’s taken the pressure off of the Defiant. Sergeant Ron is on his way now to pick up Tia and Matthew.
Richard was thankful for the small blessing, but his hands were too full at the moment to think of a suitable reply. A squad of Thargs had set up some type of crew-served weapon. The Thargs were lobbing blue balls of energy at Charlie’s Warcat. Although the Warcat’s force field was still holding, Richard sensed it weakening in several places.
Temporarily ignoring the enemy to his front, Richard ran in the direction of the crew-served weapon. He fired as he ran. Unfortunately, the M63’s plasma rounds hit an invisible barrier and ricocheted upwards. The soldiers manning the crew-served weapon switched their target from Charlie to Richard.
Well, if you were trying to draw their fire, you succeeded, said Nickelo.
I wasn’t, Richard said.
Since his light-plasma rounds weren’t having any effect against the crew-served weapon’s shield, Richard decided to switch tactics. On a hunch, he reached out with his mind and probed the neck collar on the prisoner who was closest to the crew-served weapon. The flow of magic energy moving through the collar and the attached chain were unfamiliar to him. However, Richard instinctively saw the part of the flow of magic which served as the keystone for the spell.
Without waiting to discuss it with his battle computer, Richard twisted the flow of magic back on itself. The magic short-circuited and disappeared. Wrapping part of the collar with Power, Richard twisted with his telekinesis. The collar was relatively weak; it wasn’t even made out of metal. The collar snapped easily and fell to the deck. The prisoner was free.
I calculate the Dragars were relying on their magic to keep the collar secured, said Nickelo. I can’t be sure, but I believe the collar is made out of dragon skin. It’s tough, but apparently not tough enough to resist your telekinesis.
Ya think? Richard said as he dove to one side in order to avoid an inbound blue ball from the crew-served weapon. The blue ball missed by over a meter, but even protected by his battle suit, Richard felt his skin trying to crack. His self-healing Power immediately brought his skin back to baseline.
Some type of disintegration spell, I’d say, said Nickelo. My advice would be not to let one of the blue balls hit you directly.
Richard noticed the gunner of the crew-served weapon lining up on him for another shot. He prepared to dodge or throw up a shield as needed. As it turned out, he didn’t need to dodge or waste energy throwing up a defensive shield.
The prisoner who Richard had freed was a male elf with gray hair. He had completely different facial features from the few elves he’d previously encountered on Portalus. This elf’s face was more rounded, and he had a high forehead. However, his telltale pointed ears left little doubt as to his species. He was definitely an elf. Once freed, the elf immediately began waving his hands and mouthing an incantation.
The elf’s Power reserve was large, and it was nearly full. Richard sensed a large flow of Power move down the link from the elf’s Power reserve. The Power formed into a ball of magic between the elf’s outstretched hands. The resulting spell shot out towards the Thargs manning the crew-served weapon.
Richard smiled. The Thargs had only set up a defensive shield to their front. The elf’s spell was coming from their rear. The spell made contact with the gunner and erupted into a bright ball of orange flame ten meters across. Stored rounds near the weapon ignited sending blue balls of energy in all directions.
Richard didn’t wait to see what the elf did next. As far as he was concerned, the elf was on his own now. Richard continued running down the space between the two lines of gun turrets. He noticed Terrie was even with the fourth turret while Charlie was just finishing clearing out the area around the third turret on his side of the ship.
This is taking too long, said Nickelo. The defenders are going to be organizing a counterattack soon.
Understood, Richard said.
He sent out the emotions he used for Sheeta and Sheba. Then he sent an image of the turrets at the far end of the gun deck. Next he sent the emotion the dolgars used to tell their pups to kill. He hurriedly followed the emotion up with an image of shackled humanoids wearing collars and chains. Richard sent the emotion he used to denote the crew of the Defiant as friends.
I only calculate a forty-two percent probability the dolgars will spare the prisoners, said Nickelo. You know they’re not that fond of flesh creatures.
It’s the best I can do, Richard said. I tried. We’ve got problems of our own.
Six blips of energy on his passive scan caught Richard’s attention. Using the zoom feature of his visor, Richard made out a half-dozen humanoid-looking figures who were reflecting the overhead lights above the gun deck. Each figure was about half again as large as a Warcat.
By the way, I think your counterattack just showed up, Richard told his battle computer.
Hmm, said Nickelo. They’re made out of energized titanium. Their energy frequency appears similar to the giant cat golem you fought on the dolgar’s home world a couple of years ago.
While continuing to fire his M63, Richard reached out with an active scan and touched one of the metal monsters. Sure enough, it reminded him of the large cat golem he’d destroyed in order to get t
he blue gems it had used as an energy source. The golems now charging down the center of the gun bay even had two blue gems for eyes.
As Richard watched, a yellow line of energy reached out from the lead golem and struck the shield around Terrie’s Warcat. The shield lasted long enough to prevent major damage to the Warcat, but the Warcat was knocked off its feet and onto its back. Richard saw two of the other golems lifting their arms in Terrie’s direction.
The hell with this, Richard thought.
Reaching out with his mind, Richard wrapped the arm of one of the golems with Power.
No! shouted Nickelo in their shared space. They’re too heavy. It’ll take too much Power.
Richard ignored his battle computer. He knew the Power requirements, but he wasn’t going to let his friend die.
Using his telekinesis, Richard pushed on the golem’s arm hard enough to make it spin. The fact the golem was in the middle of a step helped, but even so, it required every drop of Power in his reserve to spin the golem a quarter turn just as it fired.
A yellow line of energy shot out of the golem’s raised arm and struck its companion. While the second golem had a shield to its front, it was not protected from the fire of its own companion. The second golem exploded in a blast of yellow energy. Pieces of titanium shot outward along with random flows of magical energy.
The golem which Richard had spun was caught in the explosion. It exploded as well. A nearby blue projectile which had been in the process of being loaded into a turret was overwhelmed by the explosion.
It was too much for the projectile. It erupted in a ball of blue energy which swept over the four remaining golems. They in turn disappeared in a massive explosion of yellow energy. A series of explosions occurred as other blue projectiles erupted. An entire gun turret was tossed all the way to the ceiling where it knocked out a cluster of lights before falling back to the floor of the gun deck in a shower of sparks.
Wizard Omega (Intergalactic Wizard Scout Chronicles Book 4) Page 47