Star Brigade: The Supremacy (SB3)

by C. C. Ekeke

  “Just us true children of Earth,” Kingston laughed. Those words jarred loose his frustrations regarding Terra Sollus’s current state, an affliction from housing so many inhabitants not belonging on its surface. To think that because of former Chouncilor Bogosian, a man he once admired, Korvenites were now free to assimilate with Union society. Seeing a great man flip-flop on his hardline stance after so long left Kingston so riled. Even worse, the race traitor resigned and left his Vice Chouncilor—a Voton—in charge of this Union…

  “[You have NO right to hold us!!]” The shrill scream of a parched throat, in Korcei, rang out for everyone in the complex to hear. “[We are free sentients!]”

  Kingston closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. One limeblood had been hollering for over an orv since being brought in with his two friends, riling up the other inmates. The old one that had surrendered to Kingston now suddenly found a spine. Despite being pounded into silence many times, this Korvenite would idiotically start back up a few macroms afterward.

  “Ishida, feed that fucking blekdritt to our ‘pet,’” Kingston snarled through gritted teeth.

  “[Release us now!!]” the Korvenite bleated pitiably, face pressed up against the prison forcefield.

  Ishida strode toward the cells, holding a baton-like weapon. “With pleasure.”

  The old Korvenite, seeing Ishida march forward with his shock baton, recoiled as far back into his cell as the many other already crammed co-occupants would allow. And “it” kept on screaming.

  Ishida jabbed his baton through the forcefield, pointing at the elderly Korvenite, and pressed a button on his handle. In short order, something on the Korvenite’s collar restraint began blinking furiously and involuntarily jerked his body forward, latching the limeblood’s neck to the magnetic tip of Ishida’s baton. Without any exertion, Ishida yanked the Korvenite through the forcefield from the cell like a sack of dirt and dragged the Korvenite away. All the while, the old Korvenite’s bleating became terrified shrieks. Further down the CoE complex sat a fifth prison cell smaller than the others, its insides pitch-black. The Korvenite clawed at rusted metal floors, scratching its fingers into a bloody green mess.

  The cell’s occupant was a rare find that Kingston’s superiors had acquired from beyond the borders of Union Space. After accessing the cell’s console to allow objects to pass through the forcefield, Ishida heaved the thrashing Korvenite inside. He quickly reset the forcefield before backing away with a shiver.

  Now every CoE operative near the tiny cell stared shamelessly. The terrified Korvenites, from within their cells, strained for a glimpse of what was happening to their brethren. Kingston crossed his arms and waited. Only silence now, save the elderly Korvenite begging in a small voice.

  The sudden, abnormal chill oozing from the fifth cell made anyone close by quiver. A glittering whip of light sprouted out of the darkness facing the elderly Korvie, followed by another and another, until at least seven bright whips thrashed into view from a hidden orifice.

  Abruptly, the whips snaked forth as one, impaling the Korvenite. “[Don’t—AAAHHHH!]” His earlier screams did not compare to the soul-wrenching horror of his death cry.

  The imprisoned Korvenites gaped, some yelling, “[THAULL!]” Kingston, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, guessed this was the limeblood’s name. Other operatives watched in stunned silence. Whatever that beast was, Kingston only knew its appetite required sucking the life from its victims, which had happened to seven other Korvenites that had been uncooperative. Finally, the screams faded into a rattling croak that bounced off the walls of the complex. The glowing whips were swallowed by the dark, and the Korvenite’s dead body sank to the cell floor without a sound.

  Just like that, the operatives returned to work as if nothing occurred. Most had no clue what lived in that tiny cell, and were better off not knowing. Kingston rose and ambled over to the four other cells. Terror and hatred filled the Korvenites’ pale faces at the sight of him.

  That made Kingston smile. “Shut up or join your friend ‘Thaull.’” He turned to Ishida and ordered, “We leave in one orv. Ready them for transport.”

  Not far away, Habraum and Sam crouched at the rusted mouth of a yawning hole in the Conuropolis’s shadowy sewers. Thanks to Marguliese’s scything abilities, the pair could hear Kingston’s conversation. They had also heard that poor Korvenite’s death cry.

  Rage seized Sam’s heart. Another innocent Korvenite dead. “Reign,” she quietly called to Habraum.

  “I know, Heatstroke,” Habraum replied sympathetically, adjusting the comband on his wrist. “Just making sure everyone’s in place.” On the field, they only identified each other by codename. The only exceptions were Khrome, whose codename was also his nickname, and Marguliese, whose real Cybernarr name was too absurdly long and unpronounceable.

  CT-1 had left the UComm cruiser, Ishliba, to attack the CoE complex from multiple access points. Marguliese stayed on Ishliba to ensure the complex’s communications were jammed. Sam didn’t care for how much CT-1 had come to rely on the Cybernarr, and wasn’t alone in that belief.

  The pitch-black hole below looked sinister and bottomless, as if leading straight to hell. Somewhere along this pit’s sidewall was the entryway Habraum and Sam planned to breach.

  “Arcturus,” Habraum said quietly. “Is your group in position?”

  “Khrome, Crescendo, and I are at the southwest access point,” answered Tyris, his voice resembling the sharp whisper of a frosty wind.

  “Copy that,” Habraum said, then switched focus to V’Korram. “Jakadda?”

  “In position at their vehicle lot,” came the Kintarian’s snarling reply. “Incognito joined me and planted small explosives under the hostiles’ vehicles.”

  “Brilliant. Marguliese? Are the CoE’s communications nice and properly jammed?”

  “Affirmative,” Marguliese stated concisely. “All of Children of Earth’s communications with external parties are scrambled. Visuals of our multi-pronged approach have been substituted with fabricated footage depicting harmless surroundings minus CT-1.” The Cybernarr’s words came out inflectionless and mechanical. She finished without pausing, “Reign, two destromechs guard the entrance you aspire to breach. I have confounded their sensors so they will not detect your presence until you are within half a metrid. Furthermore, all auxiliary entries bear only simple surveillance I have already compromised.”

  “Brilliant. Join Jakadda and Incognito at the vehicle lot,” Habraum said, then addressed all of CT-1. “After breaching the complex, disable or kill. Do not harm our main targets. See you inside. Reign out.”

  Once he finished, Sam failed to suppress an eye roll. “Christ, does Marguliese do tongue pull-ups?”

  Habraum frowned. Sam shrugged innocently. While never claiming to like the Cybernarr, she had promised to be less brazen about it. Clearly, she failed at that, too.

  Habraum glowered, hazel-gold eyes hardening. “Heatstroke,” he began with familiar irritation in his tone. “Khrome of all beings can tolerate Marguliese—”

  Not for much longer, Sam mused. Instead, she raised her hands in surrender. “Fine, shutting up.”

  “Do a firebird dive while you’re shutting it,” ordered Habraum.

  Sam threw him a caustic look before standing up. She glanced nonchalantly down the gaping hole and jumped, performing a faultless swan dive like a seasoned spelunker.

  Sam fell fast, blonde mane blowing back with the tunnel’s shaft winds. Not a single worry reached the Brigadier. Her eyes fixated on a large, circular doorway off to the right side—guarded by two hulking bronze destromechs on a protruded platform.

  “Here’s my stop,” she quipped, and promptly halted her dive in front of the side entrance. Sam posed as if standing on invisible flooring. In truth, she was superheating the air around herself to hover in midair. A lopsided grin played across Sam’s lips as the destromechs finally reacted to her presence. Optical arrays flashing bright green with a
larm, both destromechs pointed their glowing arm cannons at her.

  “Didn’t your makers teach you that it’s rude to point?” Sam inquired mockingly, just before her whole body ignited in a bright, fiery eruption. With a thought, the flames enveloping Sam billowed out to devour both destromechs. Before long, a tight cyclone of radiant fire lit up the once pitch-black tunnel from top to bottom. The inferno roared hungrily past the tunnel mouth with unfaltering resolve, never coming close to Habraum.

  When she finally killed the flames, the heat of her attack still hung heavily in the air. Now, white curls of smoke oozed slowly off the blistered tunnel walls, obscuring everything above and below.

  “That oughta get the Children of Earth’s attention,” the Cerc muttered in her comms, unharmed.

  Sam scoffed. “Right?”

  “Now I’m craving turkey-neck stew and rice. With sliced bananas,” Habraum declared. “Odd, yea?”

  Sam choked back laughter. “From you, flyboy, not so much,” she teased playfully, stifling the flames around her body in preparation for his plunge. “Ready and waiting.”

  “Up,” she heard his grunt as he leaped off the tunnel’s edge. Then nothing. A few heartbeats later, she spied a large silhouette above plunging swiftly through the smoky billows. On the surface, Sam remained calm, collected, and ready to catch her field commander. Internally, Sam flashed on almost six months ago when Habraum fell from the sky to certain death, and her fears of not catching him in time.

  Shaking off that sentiment, she plummeted to match the Cerc’s descent speed…caught him mid-fall. Relief seized Sam after her arms wrapped around his well-built torso from behind. Slowing their descent, Sam now hovered amid the thinning smoke. She held Habraum close and whispered, “Gotcha.”

  Habraum grinned over his shoulder. “Never doubted you.” That sent a warm tickle through her brain having nothing to do with her abilities. Habraum gestured through the smoke to the charred entryway before them. “Shall we?”

  “We shall.” Sam drifted ahead to drop Habraum on the entrance’s platform. He stepped over two puddles of smoking slag where the destromechs had stood, tapping his comband. “CT-1, on my mark.”

  Sam, floating a short distance behind, put on her best game face before engulfing herself again in a blistering aura of orange flames. Her hands burned brightest, both aiming at the door. Habraum started his countdown, one fist cocked and glowing with biokinetic energy, ready to fire. “5…4...3…2…”

  “Anyone hear that?” The question, posed by petite operative Naomi Estes, wasn’t directed at anyone in particular as she stared nervously at the massive entrance near her workstation. Kingston was now reviewing options with another operative on distributing the Korvies to the correct CoE labs, so he would have generally ignored such an inane question. However, she asked that question right after a distant roaring sound shuddered through the entire headquarters, drawing quite a few uneasy glances all around.

  Before he could properly process what just happened, Kingston heard Naomi squeal in both pain and surprise. He wheeled around to see her clutching her left hand. “The door!” she gasped. “It’s white-hot!”

  Kingston furrowed his brow in alarm. White smoke started curling off the door’s center. He eyed his tech team handling the complex’s security. “Do a diagnostic on the northeast entrance,” he commanded.

  For the next macrom, everyone waited in taut silence as the techs worked, during which Kingston could feel tangible heat roiling off the round door. Was it an attacker or just a heat upsurge? Kingston did not have a clue. The occasional whimpers from the caged Korvenites broke the quiet, to which Ishida systematically retorted, “Shut it.” Always aware of his priorities, that Ishida was.

  Finally, unable to take the tension, someone blurted out, “Well?”

  The lead tech, a stout West African named Chidi Okafur, looked over his shoulder while clacking away at a wall console. “Every sensor in that tunnel is dead,” he reported, reviewing the holoscreen projecting from his console wide enough for everyone to see. “Same with all the holovids.”

  Worry rippled throughout the cell. Kingston remained composed. “The destromechs?”

  Okafur shook his head. “No response. Those were our only ones. Told ya we should’ve—”

  “…gotten more, I know!” snapped Kingston. Definitely an attack. “Check our other surveillance—”

  “Already did.” Okafur brought up multiple holoscreens before turning to face Kingston. “All report no activity. If we were under attack, one of those channels would have caught it.”

  “All right,” Kingston replied briskly. Only one viable option left at this point. He turned to Ishida. “Get your team and gun down anyone who tries to enter. Once we’ve evacuated, cover our exit. Chidi…” He wheeled back around as Ishida began assembling his assault team. “Transmit sensitive data to our vehicles. Wipe the rest.” Okafur spun around to carry out his orders. Kingston then raised his voice to address the whole group, “Everyone, evac protocol. Move the Korvies and clean this place out.”

  The alarmed looks and murmurs were to be expected, but once Kingston gave their orders, his diligent team began deconstructing their headquarters of the past month, thanks to all equipment being made of collapsible tech. In the lowlights of the sewer, Kingston smiled. Humans united can do anything.

  Meanwhile, Ishida had positioned his team in front of the compromised entrance. Ten operatives stood at the ready, including Ishida, all military trained and wearing light helmeted CoE armor. Five men in front crouched while five others stood upright behind them—all ten aiming sleek, black pulse rifles at the doorway. Kingston’s proud smile soon gave way to an arrogant smirk. Try getting past that.

  Mute tension riffled through Ishida’s elite team in waves. The CoE operatives stood gallantly before Kingston with erected blue, translucent energy shields at their front that they could fire through. Tepid lights cast a cold aura over what was formerly a bustling Children of Earth headquarters.

  While the assault team waited, Kingston glanced at the operatives busily cleaning out the complex still. Computer consoles were now collapsed and packed up, and several subordinates used repulsorlift platforms to move the four cell boxes with their Korvenite prisoners to transport vehicles. Kingston would only board a transport when all evidence of their stay had disappeared.

  Two operatives began fitting a repulsorlift under the smaller fifth cell. Kingston eyed the cargo warily. The last thing anyone needed was that thing inside getting loose...

  “Hear that?” Ishida barked. Kingston snapped back to his immediate surroundings as the assault team repositioned their guns for better aim. Kingston frowned, hearing nothing.

  Then the ringing caught his ear, steadily increasing. Skreeeeeeeeeeeeee—

  Kingston motioned everyone else to speed up their cleaning-up efforts. “We’re out of time!” he hissed. Whatever this noise was drove the Korvenites crazy; they began grunting and squealing in varied degrees of agony. The ringing grew louder, now afflicting all complex inhabitants. Kingston, in his discomfort, realized the sound was not coming from the circular entrance at all.

  —eeeeeeeeeeeSHAKKK!!

  The eruption unleashed pure sound and fury, hurling metal and ferroment chunks all over. All of Kingston’s bones rattled as shockwaves sent him sprawling, the wind knocked out of him.

  Dazed, he rolled around onto his stomach. A gaping hole in the southwest wall now flooded the complex with smoke. Despite his blurred vision, Kingston saw a few operatives previously cleaning up now motionless under tons of debris. Others scattered and ran like a disrupted ant formation. Out of the breach emerged three figures: a tall, crystalline being wielding some type of quarterstaff, followed by a slender human female and a stocky metal figure soaring through the air.

  Kingston gaped. No way just three could pull this off. He tried getting up, and got shoved back down. “Stay down, sir!” Ishida ordered, his assault team regaining footing to retaliate. “Get t
o the vehicle lot!” Kingston began crawling as ten plasma rifles barked, red bolts searing at their targets.

  Just as quickly, the stocky metal creature, resembling one of those android-like Thulicans, lifted off and soared forth to shield its two cohorts. Every blast bounced harmlessly off the thing’s body.

  The human female, clearly a race traitor, dropped to one knee, hands clasped and pointed like a gun at Ishida’s team. Right then, that ringing started again. Skreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee—

  White rings of energy issued forth from her hands, cutting a vicious swath through Ishida’s team. Kingston scrambled for cover, and still got lifted off the ground. “That woman’s a maximum,” he hissed, one of those abominations parading around as a human. The crystalline creature whipped about his staff, laying out several operatives with brutal strikes. He had heard of some UComm spec ops unit comprised of maximums, the Star Brigade or something, picking off CoE cells for the past month.

  A number of Sons operatives kept carting off the Korvenite prison cells while others whipped out pulse pistols to return fire. The maximum dove behind a mound jutting from the ground, narrowly avoiding the hail of sizzling blasts. The crystal-like thing startlingly deflected several shots with his staff before following his teammate’s example to seek shelter. The Thulican continued soaring through the air as red pulse blasts bounced off its metal body. It let out an atrocious, motorized parody of mirth.

  Kingston wondered why the Thulican laughed, and quickly saw the answer. A massive fiery blast was ripping through the outlet to the CoE’s vehicles. A cacophony of sound thundered, blinding flames burning away the shadows. Once more, Kingston’s team was tossed all over, some catching fire. The discharge threw every Korvenite cell off its repulsorlifts, all hitting the ground with several dull thuds.

  Again, Kingston found himself on the ground, gaping in horror as his exit strategy went up in flames.

  “Sir!” screamed Okafur on his wristcom, voice ragged with pain. “Vehicles destroyed. No way out. Now a frigging Kintarian and a…Ciphereen are tearing through our ranks… NO! AAARRRGGH!”