by Max Jager
"Aye sir," replied a male robotic voice.
Rem could feel the chamber pressurizing and gravity shifting as the nose and body of the cruiser rose to point approximately forty-five degrees in the air.
"Launch will begin in five... four... three... two... one... Launch commencing."
Rem and Brad held on for dear life to their seats as the chamber began to rattle and the vehicle suddenly took flight, soaring hundreds of feet in a matter of seconds.
"Setting a crash course for the F.F.S. Gemini. Is that what you request?" the computer mainframe continued.
"Aye that is," the leader renegade replied.
"Very, well, adjusting speed to three point seven two aurons per hour; impact speed will be reduced to point oh-six aurons per hour."
"Sounds good, Nek."
The renegades turned toward the two boys and began nursing their wounds.
"You'll need to stay here and protect your friend. I daresay we may not make it back to escape together, in which case you just take your bud and escape through the pod in the back. It's auto-programmed to take you somewhere that will be safe, so don't feel afraid to use it if things get hairy."
Rem laughed, flashing the gap in his teeth, "Us? Escape? Like cowards? We can be fine bandits if you'll let us do-"
"No, I'm afraid that is out of the question." The bandit shot Rem a smirk. "You'll need to be around to finish what we started."
"Alright, alright," Rem mumbled, but he discreetly winked at Brad as he said this.
The surrounding chamber suddenly started to blink red.
"I have just picked up the signature of a stray seeker missile. Its code indicates that it belongs to the IFG.," Nek said, putting up a picture of the blinking orange projectile on the windshield.
"Dammit! Looks like they had counter-measures in place for ships exiting Iltenaan's atmosphere. Try to hold it off. We need to make contact with Gemini!"
"Aye sir, calculating the best possible way to throw it off."
After a few seconds, Nek spoke again, "I have sensed an asteroid travelling at a speed of point one aurons about twenty miles from here. I estimate we can use it to throw off the missile at a sixty-eight percent probability."
"Any repercussions to this tactic?"
"In the worst case, I misjudge the flight path of the asteroid and we crash right into it. At the very best, we'll be pelted by several hundred pounds of space rock if the missile strikes it."
"Damage percentage estimate?"
"About thirty-two percent to main shields. There is also a forty-six percent chance that the rubble can strike one of my thrusters."
"Right then, sounds good. Do your worst, Nek."
"Aye sir."
They approached the asteroid Nek mentioned in about thirty seconds and the cruiser proceeded to feign a course headed directly into the object.
"Hang on, this will get bumpy," a renegade warned.
Rem and Brad assumed a bracing position as they did in takeoff.
About fifty feet from the asteroid, the cruiser darted upwards and to the left, then turning back downwards and to the right to complete a full orbit around the object. The plan, for the most part, had gone as Nek intended. Rem and Brad saw a bright flash of light coming from the direction of the asteroid and braced themselves as the cruiser was showered in space rubble. The vehicle shook heavily with each successive impact, its flight deterred. The red ambient light flashed again.
"I have confirmed damage to two of our thrusters," Nek relayed.
"Fucking hell!" the lead bandit raged. "Can we still make it?"
"I will be able to make contact but only at point oh four-five aurons per hour. It's questionable whether we'll be able to breach the Gemini's hull at that speed."
The bandit turned to Rem and Brad. "Get ready to leave through that escape pod. It looks like things will really get down to the wire."
Rem and Brad nodded apprehensively and carried Jofal over to the pod.
Rem sighed, "You'll have to get out of here, Jo. You're in no condition to fight in your current state."
"Says you," Jofal scoffed but making no attempt to resist being moved.
"We have ten seconds until impact. Brace yourselves," Nek admonished.
"This is it," Rem muttered. "This is what we made the pact for."
He could make out the broad steel hull of the F.F.S. Gemini approaching quickly. The cruiser collided in a perfect crash course with a weaker lower portion of the larger ship's hull, creating a large dent within a fraction of a second and breaking through soon afterward. The collision had also devastated the ship's momentum and it could barely move forward a few feet after breaching.
"Based on our angle of impact, the relative spacial gravity fields of nearby celestial objects will cause me to break contact with the Gemini in fifteen minutes."
"Well that gives us plenty of time to end an assault on our home planet."
The bandit looked back to the boys, "You must stay here at all costs. If we're too late and you feel Nek beginning to slip, get out of here through the escape pod! Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal," Rem, Brad and Jofal chorused.
The three renegades proceeded to make their way out through the shattered front portion of the cruiser and immediately met with resistance. Rem watched in amazement as the bandits drew their guns and opened fire before the other side, already armed, had a chance to retaliate. After disposing of the opposition, they headed for the nearest entrance into the depths of the ship.
Rem turned to Brad. "They'll need all the help they can get. We can't just sit here and let them have all the fun!"
Brad replied hesitantly, "But do we really know how to fight?"
Rem sighed, "You do know how to use a pistol don't you?"
He opened a randomly selected cabinet and drooled at the sight of fully functioning semi-automatic weapons, all equipped with silencers. He took one of longer barreled weapons and lobbed a shorter one in Brad's direction.
"You simply pull back the safety and pull the trigger to fire," Rem said without question, demonstrating the actions to Brad. "Learned how to do it from a magazine I stole from pops."
Brad shuddered. "I... see."
He gingerly undid the safety on his pistol and stood up as Rem turned to Jofal.
"Sorry, but gotta leave ya here for now, Jo. I promise we'll be back."
"Dammit! Why can't I fight?" Jofal cried, the frustration evident in his voice.
"I know you'll get the chance to someday, just not today," Rem responded sagaciously.
Jofal slumped in his chair. "Good luck out there then. Remember that you need to be alive to keep a pact."
Rem laughed, clicking the barrel on his gun. "Oh, I'll be alive and then some when I'm done dealing with these bastards!"
B2 Chapter 5
V - Reform Era, Year 1021
10:35 a.m.
"So how are things progressing with the boy?"
"Very poorly sir, but as we expected. It seems that it will certainly be a while before he assimilates to our way of life."
"Has he made attempts to divulge the truth about himself in the presence of third parties who have no business hearing it?"
"He has, Sir Governor, but luckily we were able to implant a counter-measure that would prevent him from doing so."
"Namely, paralyzing him with a jolt of electricity when his neural patterns indicate that he is about to reveal himself?"
"Precisely."
"Very well, carry on with your business. It is of utmost importance that this boy blends in with our society and becomes an asset to us with that mighty good brain of his."
"I'll see to it, sir."
7:56 p.m.
Koren choked and stumbled back toward his room in the Governor's mansion. He had just returned from his second force-feeding of the day and could feel that the blended egg yolks were making him sick to the stomach. Once inside his room, he dashed toward the bathroom and puked the undigested food immediately, wiping the yellow fr
oth from his mouth.
I'll be in Ekros before I'm any damn use to them! he thought with overwhelming hatred.
In Orcish lore, Ekros represented a hell for those who had failed to contribute more to society than what they had reaped. Koren recalled myths of sloths and evildoers alike being skinned alive by the Reaper of Ekros and then having nails hammered into their bare flesh and bone-one for every grain of rice or shred of meat they consumed beyond what they produced themselves.
Koren turned to his bed and saw, to his lack of surprise, books and school supplies waiting for him. He shook his head ruefully and collected the lot near his fireplace. Using the flint, steel, kerosene, and firewood provided, he quickly got a fire going and fed the items one at a time, the third time he had gone through the process. He savored the smell of burning paper and plastic, which reminded him of bonfires he had partook in with Rem back on Iltenaan.
Rem could smell the fresh blood of the guards downed by the three renegades as he exited the cruiser. He quickly scanned the area and motioned for Brad to follow after he deemed it safe. Surreptitiously, he prodded the door into the main body of the vessel open with the barrel of his gun and peeked inside. The scene, a multi-level stairwell, was clear save for a few more executed personnel.
He quickly climbed each flight and motioned Brad to follow after affirming each area was clear. At the top of the fourth stretch stood another door. Rem placed his ear against the solid, chrome-finish metal and listened hard. His heartbeat quickened at the sound of oncoming footsteps.
"Hide your ass!" he whispered sharply to Brad.
Brad dashed toward the left corner of the wall containing the door, while Rem held his ground with his back to the wall on the same side. The door slid open and the muscular figure of a decorated soldier emerged. He held his right hand to his ear, apparently in the middle of communication.
"Yeah, those fucking bandits crashed right into Sector Q. I'm heading over to the point of impact right now; requesting backup depending on the situ-"
Rem didn't allow him to finish, hitting the soldier with a well-placed melee attack to the area right in between his shoulder blades. He stumbled forward and tumbled down one flight of stairs, losing consciousness.
Rem heard a feminine voice coming from the transceiver he dropped in the process. "Stark? Do you copy? Dammit! Send reinforcements to Sector Q pronto!"
Rem nodded in Brad's direction. "C'mon, there'll be a bunch here any minute." He scanned the next area and noticed a long hallway straight ahead and a shorter one to the left. Followed closely by Brad, he took the left fork, then turned right and sprinted down a long stretch of hallway. Their rapid footsteps seemed to attract attention, as a female medic emerged from one of the doors. She gasped and put her hand to her mouth at the sight of their guns.
"Die, damn bitch!" Rem cried, killing her with several shots to the face and neck, many of which missed and ricocheted off the walls. This activated an internal alarm system, causing the lights to go red and a deafening siren to sound. Several bewildered people emerged from the rooms in the hall as Rem and Brad dashed toward its end. Rem yanked the door open, but fell backward at the force of it already opening toward him. Several guardsmen wielding medium barrel assault rifles emerged and pointed their weapons at the two half-orcs.
"Drop your weapons!" one of them ordered.
Rem's grip on his weapon tightened. Those bastards will pay for what they did to Iltenaan!
In one focused seizure of initiative, he tumbled to his left and stood up in the process. Adrenaline now pumping to feed his heightened state, he unleashed the last remaining rounds of his weapon on the guards, allowing none the chance to retaliate. He could now feel his heart racing and blood rushing at breakneck speed toward his head as they fell to the ground spewing massive amounts of blood and causing the others in the area to scream in panic. With one extended and menacing war-cry he charged through the open door wielding an assault rifle dropped by one of the guards and firing it on any unsuspecting passerby that had the misfortune of crossing paths with him. When he had run out of ammunition, he continued his blood-thirsty frenzy by melee-attacking anything that got in range of the gun's barrel. A dumbfounded Brad followed him, unable to offer any words of encouragement or restraint.
Rem ended his frenzy by running into a wall that seemed a dead-end and bashing it with all his fury until he realized his actions were futile. Upon closer inspection, the wall appeared to be a threshold for an elevator, although Rem didn't understand this.
"What the hell now?" he cried. "We have to kill the bastards in the cockpit!"
He banged the gun barrel so hard on the closed elevator doors that it finally broke. He cast the broken weapon aside. A green colored arrow at the top of the threshold suddenly lit up with a ding, and Rem fell back in alarm. The doors opened and, to Rem's alarm, the three renegades emerged.
They had a similar look of alarm on their faces. After a few moments of awkward silence, the leader shook his head. "Why in the hell can't you follow orders? There are about a million damn ways you can get yourself killed here!"
"Yeah, but I didn't get killed," Rem replied defiantly.
"Oh, but you will be very soon," came a sudden icy voice from Rem's rear. With a sudden ram to the back of his head, Rem went out cold.
8:00 p.m.
The thick fumes given off by the burning stationery appeared to set off a startlingly loud noise in Koren's room. Koren heard footsteps rushing toward the door amidst the din of the siren. The door burst open and two men proceeded right away to douse the fireplace with fire-extinguishers. Another person, a woman, pinned Koren to the ground by his chest, placed an oxygen mask over his mouth, and checked his breathing with her stethoscope.
"He's fine," she said finally.
"Get off me! Of course I'm fine!" Koren shouted, pushing the nurse off him. He looked toward the fireplace and saw the men sweeping the charred remains of the school supplies into a dustpan. He could hear one of them muttering.
"Freakin' waste this kid is. He'll never be any good to society."
The comment failed to sway him, and he continued to watch them as they finished cleaning up. Before leaving the room, the same man who made the comment addressed him. "No burning stuff, okay kid? We're trying to be nice to you here. It could be a lot worse for you."
"Shut up," Koren spat.
The man shook his head and left with his fellow workers.
6:57 a.m.
Koren, as always, needed to be dragged out of bed to get to school on time. This wasn't due to his sleepiness but rather his strong desire not to affiliate with humans in any way possible. He was brushed, dressed and fed by attendants, who had a hard time accomplishing their tasks during his struggles. His bodyguards then forced him into a private vehicle that would drive him to Royale Academy. During the ride to school, he realized something he could do to dull the anger within him.
"If you expect me not to cause chaos at school again, I have a demand," he proclaimed.
"What?" a bodyguard asked, sighing.
"I want to see the asshole responsible for destroying the bulk of my kind and ask why the hell he did it."
"That doesn't concern you, kid."
"Fine, I'll get into the worst possible disciplinary status so that they can't possibly allow me to attend class again."
"Remember that we can shock you before you cause too much commotion, kid. There are certain things you can blurt out that others have no business hearing."
Koren hadn't considered this and felt the uncontrollable anger welling up inside of him again. They had countermeasures to prevent him from openly communicating his true story. Without that, he couldn't function as anything more than a hostage of the IFG. He slouched and allowed himself to be escorted into the academy, carrying yet another bag of school supplies over his shoulder as he headed for Mrs. Vienna's fifth-year class. His hand reached for the doorknob of the classroom when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked back and saw what he p
resumed to be an official of the school, a female dressed in a black dress suit and red-orange hair done in a ponytail.
"Your name would be Koren, correct?"
Koren instantly warmed up to the use of his proper name.
"Yes," he replied. "Did you want something?"
"I have been told that you excel in math and the sciences, far beyond that which a normal student of your age is capable of."
He felt some amount of pride build up within him but sought to quickly extinguish it. "I'm nothing special."
"I wouldn't be making you this offer if you weren't special," the official assured him.