Kael-ven inclined his head. “You are both most welcome.” He stepped away when the techs hopped onto the retracting ramp. “I look forward to receiving the SSE fleet logs as you promised, Mellor.”
Mellor raised a hand but did not look up from the pallet controller as the cargo door hissed closed. “I already sent them, Captain. Check your messages.”
Kael-ven had a slight spring in his step as he left the hangar bay. He took his time making his way back to the bridge, daydreaming about a release of the tension that had built in them all since the discovery that others had been present in the system.
Kael-ven got into the elevator, intending to persuade Kiel that a couple of nights on Devon were just what the two of them needed after such a high-stakes situation. The thought of seeking out some female company crossed his mind for a split second but was just as quickly banished by the memory of his ex-wife.
Unscheduled free time was rare enough that on this occasion it was no hardship to Kael-ven to pass up the idea in favor of something equally dangerous but infinitely less complicated than navigating the female psyche. It also crossed his mind briefly that a Yollin of his age should be past looking for fights, but he dismissed that, too.
He jolted out of his reverie when the ship went onto red alert.
The lights dropped, and ArchAngel’s face appeared on the screen beside the elevator door. When the door opened, the corridor beyond was also dim. ArchAngel’s war face looked out from every screen along the corridor leading to the bridge.
Kael-ven chuckled. He waved his hand to encompass her floating hair and the expanding web of crimson spreading outward from her eyes. “Really, ArchAngel? This is a little bit dramatic since only Kiel and I are aboard at present.”
ArchAngel tilted her chin and rolled her eyes. “Really, Captain. The gravity of the situation called for it. We have company. An unknown ship has just Gated into the system and opened fire on Atalanta’s position.”
Kael-ven picked up his pace. “Did Mellor and Robinson make it over before it started?”
ArchAngel tilted her head while she checked. “Unfortunately not, Captain. The shuttle is adrift just over halfway between Atalanta and us. They are not responding to my hails.”
Kael-ven hissed and broke into a full-on run. “Turn the ship around. We need to get them out of there before they get blown to shit.”
ArchAngel raised an eyebrow. “What about the Atalanta and her support fleet? They could use our help.”
“We’ll get to them after we rescue the tech team.” Kael-ven growled in frustration as he burst onto the bridge, almost scaring Kiel out of his seat.
Kiel got himself up on his two legs and shook himself. “Kael-ven, thank the universe you’re here!” He swept an arm at the screen where the battle between the two gigantic ships was getting underway while the fight between the smaller ships raged on around them. “They just Gated in from nowhere and started blowing the crap out of our ships.”
The Atalanta fired continuously upon the enemy ships, laying down cover for the smaller support ships to get to safety.
Kael-ven crossed the bridge and took his chair. “ArchAngel, get me whoever can talk right now on the Atalanta.”
“It will have to wait a moment,” ArchAngel told him. “You have an incoming communication from the transport Pod. It’s audio only.”
Kael-ven banged the arm of his chair with his hand. “Put it through the speakers, then.”
The voice from the speaker was unexpected. “Oh, fucking finally!”
Kael-ven shared a mystified look with Kiel. “Loralei?”
“Ten points to the Yollin with the brain in his head. I’m in serious shit. We were hit. Tim and Tessa… They’re dead.” There was a pause. “And I’m pretty sure I’m going to have visitors if I hang around here.”
A series of massive explosions lit the plane of battle.
They whited out the screen for a few seconds. When the flash faded, Kael-ven’s attention was completely taken up by the deep gouges along the flank of the enemy ship—and the missing tail fin on the Atalanta. “They’re in deep trouble.”
The audio crackled as Loralei sighed dramatically. “Then quit talking to me. Go save the day, already. I just sent ArchAngel my backup, and embedded within that is all the information I got from the ship that attacked me. Make sure it gets to Bethany Anne, no matter what happens.”
Kael-ven was torn. He wanted to recover Mellor and Robinson’s bodies and to prevent the EI from being forced to terminate herself a second time.
However, there were thousands of lives at stake. Neither side was coming out of the conflict victorious. Intervention from the G’laxix Sphaea could be the difference between their side simply losing or losing badly. “Then the decision is made. ArchAngel, we are at battle stations. As soon as you have the information from Loralei, get us over to Atalanta’s position so we can do whatever it takes to make sure our people get out of this.”
ArchAngel’s face on the screen was solemn. “I have received the data. Thank you for your sacrifice, Loralei. I know that Mother would say the same if she were here. Give whoever tries to take you hell.”
Loralei laughed. “Don’t any of you worry about that. Without a cradle to suppress the explosion, my self-destruct will take out the Pod and anything that comes aboard looking for goodies.”
Immersive Recreation and Training Scenario: Fantasy Wars
Bethany Anne walked back to the riverbank with the children. The plain had somehow cleared while she was on her back recovering and the two armies were now seated in tiered boxes on opposite sides of a large roped-off area where the tents had been before, creating a wide dueling ground for Bethany Anne and the Dark Lord.
Bethany Anne released Alexis and Gabriel’s hands when they reached the ropes, then took a knee and held out her pinkie fingers. “Remember our plan, okay? Don’t step in until you see the signal.”
The twins wrapped their pinkies around Bethany Anne’s and nodded.
Gabriel held on an extra moment. “What’s the signal, Mommy?”
Bethany Anne winked. “You’ll know when it happens.” She turned and ducked under the rope to enter the dueling ground, where the Dark Lord waited for her in silence as thick as smog.
The Dark Lord raised an arm to point his sword at her. “I have already beaten you, for I am the Lord of Death. All who oppose me leave this life screaming for mercy. Leave now, foolish challenger.”
Bethany Anne smirked. “I’m about to show you what beaten looks like.” She made a face at the corny exchange, feeling a touch foolish for talking smack with a video game character. Alexis and Gabriel found it hilarious. She heard them giggling from their place on the sidelines.
The Dark Lord kept spouting his promises of a painful death for all while Bethany Anne strode across the grass to meet him.
She stopped a few feet away and narrowed her eyes at him, her katanas at the ready for a fast strike. “Hey, Tall, Dark, and Talks Too Much, was your script written by a serial monologist? Is this why your enemies fear you? Because you keep them waiting for you to get on with it so long that they die of old age?”
The Dark Lord glared at Bethany Anne with an arrogant tilt to his chin. “Foolish warrior. If you are that eager to leave this coil, then so be it. Prepare to die!” He raised his sword in a two-handed grip and charged her.
Bethany Anne blocked his downward swing with one katana, feinting with the other to give herself some space to work. “You’re not doing this whole dictatorship thing very well. I can’t see this working out for you.” She twisted to avoid his blade and used the momentum to lash out with a spinning back kick.
The Dark Lord lurched back, his gravelly chuckle cut off when her boot met his stomach and drove the air from his body. The crowd bayed from the stands, evenly split between cheers and insults aimed at both combatants.
Bethany Anne blocked it out and continued to hack at the Dark Lord’s defenses, sapping his energy a little more with each a
ttack.
She blocked his next strike and slammed the butt of her sword into the chainmail covering his throat as she brought her other sword around to bite into his thigh. The jab to the throat was effective, but all she received for her efforts to remove the Dark Lord’s leg was a stinging pain in her wrist when her sword glanced off his armor.
The Dark Lord choked. Bethany Anne sheathed her swords and took advantage of his vulnerability to grab his helmeted head in both her hands and introduce it to the studs on her armor’s knee plate.
The Dark Lord’s head snapped back on impact and he twisted out of Bethany Anne’s grip, leaving his helmet in her hands.
She threw the helmet at him and darted forward. “Dammit! Stand still so I can defeat you already!”
The Dark Lord skipped back and brought up a hand between them. “I think not.” He gestured, and his hand suddenly dripped flames.
Bethany Anne’s mouth started to form the words, “Don’t you dare!” and then the Dark Lord flicked the glob of flame at her. Bethany Anne felt intense heat drive into her chest, and she was flying through the air again. She landed near the children, cutting a deep groove in the turf as she slid the last few feet on her ass.
Gabriel tilted his head toward his sister. Was that the signal?
Alexis shook her head. No, keep waiting.
The children held hands as their mother got to her feet and rolled her shoulders. She turned to where they stood by the ropes and held up a finger. Just give Mommy a minute, I’m wearing him down now.
Alexis gave Bethany Anne a thumbs-up. You’re doing great!
We never got this far before, Gabriel told her excitedly.
Bethany Anne grinned. Your turn will come very soon. Remember, you two are the secret weapons.
I’m still not sure what the signal is, Gabriel told Alexis.
Alexis rolled her eyes. Just wait, you’ll know when it’s time.
That’s what Mommy said. You’re no help, Alexis.
Bethany Anne blurred across the grass, dropping into a slide that took the Dark Lord out at the ankles. She rolled to her feet and jumped onto the Dark Lord’s chest as he fell.
They landed with Bethany Anne straddling the Dark Lord’s chest. She pinned his arms to his sides with her knees and began tearing his armor off one plate at a time.
Alexis and Gabriel strained to see, but their view was blocked by Bethany Anne’s back. All they saw was their mother tossing away pieces of the Dark Lord’s armor while he bucked to get her off.
Bethany Anne was winning.
Until she wasn’t.
She was alternating between ripping pieces of the Dark Lord’s armor off and punching him in the face to subdue him enough to complete the first task when he began to glow all over.
Bethany Anne tried to scramble back, but there was no time to escape the pulse of dark magic the Dark Lord sent out.
Alexis dropped her brother’s hand when Bethany Anne was blown back by the magical shockwave. She grabbed it again and pulled him toward the rope. Come on, Gabriel. That was the signal.
Bethany Anne had to repress the curses that fought to escape when she was thrown back yet again. However, she’d stripped the Dark Lord of his fighting ability. All that remained was to defeat his magic, and they would win the scenario.
A quick glance assured Bethany Anne that Alexis and Gabriel had picked up her cue. She dragged herself up once more and drew her katanas, then charged at the Dark Lord to keep his attention on her and away from the twins.
Alexis was just leading Gabriel underneath the stands to Bethany Anne’s left when the Dark Lord made his next move.
Unnamed System, SD Atalanta, Core Chamber
Peter waited patiently in the core chamber for the enemy to arrive. He had been a couple of decks away on his way to meet the SSE techs when the first wave of drones attacked.
Atalanta had directed him to the core chamber, along with Jian, Shun, and Zhu. They had picked up a couple more Guardian Marine teams on their way to the chamber, and now the group of twenty or so was all that stood between the core and Atalanta’s destruction.
The reverberating shudders from the impacts on the ship shook the upper gantry where Peter had stationed the Guardian Marines to get a three-sixty view on the chamber below.
Whirrs and clangs all around them were accompanied by Atalanta’s voice issuing constant instructions on the captain’s behalf over the ship’s speaker system.
She announced a breach on the deck above.
“Weapons ready,” Peter commanded. “When these fuckers break through they’ll be fast, and there will be a hell of a lot of them.”
One of the men spoke up without taking his eye from the scope of the rifle he had trained on the source of the clanging. “Are they really half-organic and half-machine?”
Peter looked the nervous Marine up and down. “Did you review the video from the Queen’s encounter with these soldiers?”
The young human shook his head. “No, Commander. I got back from a deployment and heard this was going down. My cousin is on the SSE team; she’s on the G’laxix Sphaea.”
Peter made a face. “Then prepare yourself, Robinson. We’ve come across these drones before. They look a bit like larvae with metal limbs. We think they’re mind-controlled, and we know that they only have one directive —to kill whatever isn’t them.”
The Marines hung on Peter’s every word. “Mind-controlled?” Robinson asked.
“Yeah, or at least the last ones were,” Peter told him. He grinned and clapped the ashen Marine on the shoulder. “Don’t sweat it. Those things are from nightmares, but they’re easy enough to kill. Expect to see a metric shit-ton of them, though.”
Jian looked over from where he was using the gantry railing to stretch. “We want them to get inside the ship. That eventuality is the other reason we are here besides defending the core—to capture them.”
Peter pointed at Jian. “Exactly. Otherwise, the guys with the buttons get all the fun, and we sit here with our thumbs up our asses until it’s time to go home.”
He paced the steel-mesh floor while the sounds of the enemy approaching grew louder around them. “Let the sonsabitches come. They might know something about whoever is controlling them, and we can always use information on an unknown enemy.”
The ship shook around them as the enemy ship scored another hit, and the ceiling panel above them was suddenly dented from behind. The ship shook again and Atalanta announced another hull breach, this time near the stern.
Across the Atalanta, the crew and auxiliary forces drafted for the mission closed in to prepare for the inevitable invasion. The defense forces moved quickly and decisively to protect the vulnerable areas of the ship, while the repair crews readied themselves to work on the fly and the medical teams prepared to be inundated by people with battle wounds.
In the core chamber, Peter looked up as another dent appeared in the ceiling. “Looks like we’re on.” He willed his body to make the change and in the next moment he flexed his Pricolici claws, ready for the invasion from above to begin.
Jian and the other Guardians paced in their four-footed forms, eager for the fight to begin.
The dent in the ceiling panel became a tear, which became a hole that a pair of spindly legs poked through and pulled back with the hooked appendages they had in place of hands or feet.
Peter held up a hand when the less experienced among them prepared to fire. “Waiiit,” he called softly. “Don’t make it easierrr by doing it forrr them.”
Then more hooks protruded and tore back the panel, revealing the multi-limbed drones packed into every inch of the space above.
The mind-controlled enemy dropped from the ceiling and Peter dropped his hand. “Firrre!”
The Marines loosed their weapons on the rain of drones. They killed scores before they landed, but it made as much difference as scooping a bucket of water from the ocean.
The ones who survived the hail of kinetic, laser, and disruptor
fire uncurled as they fell and landed imperfectly on their mechanical legs before swarming down to the much wider permacrete platform below the gantry which contained the chamber’s exits.
Peter growled and hopped the railing. He called back as he landed, “Protect the corrre. We’ve got the exits!” He was followed by Jian and the other seven Guardians, who fanned out around the doors to prevent the drones from escaping into the ship.
The Marines had the advantage of the high ground. They worked in pairs to keep the space around the core clear, and the Guardians fought as if possessed on the platform below.
The drones died in their hundreds all around the core chamber. The corpses piled up around the doors, forming a barrier that gave the Guardians some leeway.
The Marines switched focus as the Weres advanced their loose circle.
Robinson paused to change out his magazine. “How the hell do we win against numbers like that?” he mumbled to nobody in particular, then shouldered his rifle and took aim again as his partner stepped back to swap out her empty magazine.
“This is a battle of numbers versus intellect.” Shun chuckled and fired without pausing a beat. His shot took out three of the aliens and incapacitated a fourth. “We have a tried and tested method for dealing with this type of engagement.”
Zhu called from farther along the gantry, “I might feel bad for these things if they had any mind of their own. It could actually be considered unfair,” he paused to clear three drones from Jian’s flank, “to drop an angry Pricolici into such a target-rich environment.”
As if to prove Zhu’s point, there was a frustrated roar from below and a shower of mechanical body parts flew up past their heads. They looked over the railing and saw Peter tearing through the enemy a handful at a time and flinging the remains away.
He tossed away the two halves of the drone that he’d just parted from its legs and knocked a half-dozen more flying with a swipe of his furry forearm. “This is taking toooo looong!”
The Kurtherian Endgame Boxed Set Page 53