Cutlass Sharpened

by H. Lee Morgan, Jr

  Her words were cut off as a blue spark flashed off her heart. Her mask resumed position and she saw one blaster aiming for Netul next. She raised her arm and blocked it. Next she sees is Oliver’s sword cleaving the wall mounted weapon with ease. She said dryly “Looks like it’s too late to use stealth. Netul, stay behind me. Oliver, get us out of here.”

  Up in the warden’s monitoring room seethed Wrangler who saw nothing but red after just witnessing the elder Hunter running around the walls like the extreme gravity was playground. Never had he witnessed such an act of physical prowess. Wrangler just happened to be passing by the screens and ready to retire for the evening as the attempt was made. He also couldn’t believe not only was the elder wearing armor, so too was his newest pet. To top it off they somehow freed his Creelin plaything. After shock wore off he activated the motion sensor kinetic rifles to yell in a rage as the armor Renee wore was immune to the lesser shots. He increased output of the blasters to akin to a class eight kinetic blast, but aside from a minor twinge, she was unharmed.

  He hit the floor shockers at full output which would instantly cook a person from the inside out. And still his quarry moved on.

  Wrangler struggled with useless machines and grew increasingly worried as the one known as Elder Void made inhuman leaps to destroy the rifles. He loathed Hunters, getting everything for nothing, but never had he feared and hated someone at the same time. When they continued running up the stairs he hit the prison’s lockdown system.

  At first he relaxed as Oliver paused as a massive door slammed between himself and the other two but didn’t seem concerned to be separated. Wrangler found out why and it terrified him. Oliver made three wide cuts in a triangular pattern and kicked the center out. “IMPOSSIBLE! He cut through a tungsten and titanium composite with that dull blade like nothing was there.”

  Due to the size of the hole, nanite repair was too slow to seal the breach as Renee and the Creelin stepped through as if they didn’t have a doubt they’d escape.

  As a last resort he initiated emergency gravity in that area. He gloated as Renee’s body buckled and it vanished as neither the alien nor the elder showed signs of being adversely affected. The Creelin though threw Renee over his shoulders after waving the elder ahead. Her body blocked all downward aiming firing from hitting him while she got carried at ten gees that would kill any human after no more than a minute.

  The last straw had been taken as Renee spotted a crystal camera and struggled to give him the universal finger boldly saying ‘FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!’

  “Attention. All guards fall back. I’m going to take care of the prisoners personally. If they get by me, let them go free.” Wrangler knew his men would know that there was no need. If they got past the warden, they were no match. Plus, no one interfered when he sounded that livid.

  Wrangler returned the facility’s gravity to one gee as he went to a shrine made for a blonde and beautiful woman to pick up a picture and hide it in the breast pocket over his heart. He knew he had to kill them. If any one of them escaped and lived to tell what was really happening under his command, dying would be the least merciful thing to result. Wrangler left with full intent to kill or be killed.

  As he left he hit a button to at least tire the prisoners out.

  “So the boss will get his hands dirty now eh?” Renee snorted. “At least the defenses were shut off. What do you two think?”

  Netul signed for her to listen ‘Do not underestimate him. He and the guards have full use of their abilities whereas we do not. He likely won’t come to us. He will wait where he has the greatest advantage.’

  “Then let’s not keep him waiting.” Oliver said as the wall withdrew to allow them access higher up. They passed Level Three with him slicing through any doors that blocked the path up.

  For five minutes they walked in the only logical way out. But as they reached Level Two, largest of the four floors, Oliver sniffed to catch a flavor in the air he knew wasn’t good at the moment and threw out an arm. “There are Beasts here.”

  “What!” Renee near shrieked, eyes flying wide the moment she heard his words proven.

  Her words were followed by a door being loudly torn apart by large, jagged brown scythes. They watched as a green and brown patterned Praying Mantis as tall and twice as heavy as Oliver scurried out on thin legs when the sealed door was no longer able to hold it back. Oliver reacted first as the overgrown insect was already tantalized and distracted by caged humans who were mostly oblivious due to their cage doors being solid and completely dark. Relying on an underhanded swipe Vanishing Claw showed from the flowing movements he had been practicing, the gruesome head vanished, but would not die for hours to come. His vambrace extracted the brain and he ate the morsel in two bites. It was delicious. A dozen more insect type Beasts charged out the tunnel to meet the same fate. They were all lesser rank, but each became a delicacy. His blade twirled, sliced and stabbed vital areas with precision as they came one at a time. He would have been in trouble if there was another door opening and got surrounded. Luckily there was none but this one.

  Renee went to yell he could eat later, unable to stop staring at the growing mound, but Netul had her understand that if he didn’t draw all the Beasts out, they would come for the helpless prisoners. She clamped her lips shut and followed him away where not to be in danger.

  It turned out to be true as more than a hundred Beasts able to be safely restrained came over the next hour were felled by Oliver finding a rhythm and free meals. Netul and Renee hid just out of sight as they had no viable weapon capable of killing the creatures and break through tough hides conventional weapons couldn’t deal with. If the suppression field were down, no problem. Renee though watched as Oliver waited between frenzied attackers, he consumed kilos of brain matter. Then switched to offense to deal with the approaching threat. But her gaze never left him and during the onslaught she began to notice his suit’s shape gradually changing. The angles and edges becoming more defined gradually, but noticeably to her. The more he fought, the easier he slew and her worry was lowering as he gained more and more experience. Flying Beasts were de-winged swiftly as he bounced off walls like his legs were springs. She still worried, but was mesmerized she had such a man all to herself.

  When no more came out of the wrecked hallway Renee looked at the mounds of twitching corpses and gore painting the entire nearby area and walls. The smell of guts was not kind either, but still she struggled with a watering mouth and hunger. She said rationally after much thought in the hour “Oliver, we need to make absolutely sure no more Beasts are around. We need to investigate why they are in a secure prison to begin with.” And what they were fed with. She thought privately and imagined it was people innocent like she was for a crime she didn’t commit.

  “Right.” He wiped his lips and the helmet closed around his mouth after. He flipped his sword and cleaned much of the dripping gore from its edge. “Better safe than sorry.” He kept his sword at the ready and went first down the hole the Beasts crawled out of. Step by step was completely silent and Netul was right behind Oliver, his clawed fingers ready to be used to at least hold off any Beasts that may pass Oliver. Their steps were soundless and though Renee tried, she could not stalk without her boots making rubbery squeaks from the blood she could not avoid.

  The hall was thirty meters long and Oliver heard the buzzing and beeping of technology, but no movement. They kept going and his muscles were knotted, ready to lash out when movement dared to come his way.

  The floor was gouged by foot and claw as if the metal were putty, but as Oliver reached the end, he threw his back against the wall and peered around the corner. Ahead opened into a rather spacious room where now stood three hundred now open and empty cages stacked in a cube fashion. Cages lined one wall of the room and he thought I killed a hundred and seventeen. I hope the rest of the cages were empty. Better search and see if any dug their way out.

  Before starting the search he looked to the back wall and w
hat he witnessed made his stomach lurch. Large, clear tanks held people with major deformities suspended in a bluish solution. He quickly counted sixty occupied tanks with power and fluid exchanging cords attached to the bottom. On the right was a row of holographic measuring consoles having to do with the sixty specimens.

  He said “Let me clear the area.” The two nodded and waited ten minutes as every possible space was checked. “All clear. None dug through and are in the walls.”

  Renee grimaced as she and Netul entered. She went straight for the nearest tank and cursed “Damn, my chip still is deactivated.” She spun around and went to the closest holo-screen and began pressing away. What she read made her more angry than everything that happened today combined. “Olly, please tell me I’m reading this wrong. Please… tell me I’m wrong.”

  Sword still out and ready, he stepped away from the individual in a clear submersion tank that made one think of an oversized test tube. “What is it?”

  “These fuckers have not only violated, but shattered more laws than I can imagine. They kidnapped Netul, destroyed public records… but this is just abhorrent. They’ve been experimenting with cloning and were splicing human and Beast DNA atop of adding Keptl spores to infest these… these… things.” Renee couldn’t find a better word. They’ve been taking samples from highly compatible psionic people to clone and used the caged Beasts to recombine human makeup and used Keptl spores as a catalyst to bridge the barrier. And judging by this list, Wrangler was going to clone me first, but then use my body to see if his research needed a true individual should my clone reject his experiment.”

  ‘Sacrilege!’ Netul’s eyes were murderously scarlet. Literally glowing dark red. ‘We must destroy these abominations and end their suffering.’

  “Give me a minute. I need to download this for evidence. This terminal is separate from the prison’s network. They would have wiped it remotely if possible.” Renee announced as she tapped the vertical screen quickly and though she couldn’t consciously activate her chip, it would always run and therefore could fully download every aspect of these unlawful trials. A line of percentage slid across the screen till she got confirmation the downloaded copy was transferred directly into her chip. “Alright. Now I’ll purge and fry the whole system. You two need to back to the hall. This place is lined with disassembling nanite charges, which when released will destroy all traces of what is going on in here down to the cellular level.” They left quickly and she initiated a one minute timer to bolt as fast as her legs would carry her. “GO!” she yelled when they stopped to wait on her. They left the Beasts behind and got far away.

  Inside the room a series of brown puffs, like thick smoke, filled the air and crystal nanites destroyed all traces of any wrongdoing.

  No more words were spoken as they were much more cautious leaving Level Two and One behind.

  They reached the uppermost door that read ‘Prisoner Intake’ and when it didn’t open, Oliver used the cutlass master key. With a kick the door fell in.

  “Welcome to your last moments of life.” Came the evil gravelly voice of Warden Wrangler standing alone on the cage elevator. The overgrown and grotesque man stood in an armored flight suit colored completely black and it made Oliver wonder who had the stomach to measure the custom made the suit. He also wondered if the elevator would send them straight back to the bottom.

  “You aren’t going to get away with all you’ve done. You are supposed to uphold the law, not break it.” Renee shook in rage as seeing him made everything come flooding back with a vengeance.

  Oliver said through his helmet “Netul, take Renee outside while I deal with this. I can’t have you two be caught in the crossfire.”

  She didn’t protest, retaining enough rational thought to see the wisdom in it.

  Oliver crouched, his sword hung back and was still as a statue. Even Wrangler could understand that such stillness held no anger or fear. Such stillness reflected calm assurance that one of them would not be leaving the cage.

  “Let’s see who’s the better man, Boy.” Wrangler’s eyes grew doubly brighter as he held out both hands which instantly unleashed a lightning strike straight ahead.

  Oliver rolled away as the lightning left a white hot scar in the wall which near instantly melted and flowed like water. He made it to his feet and sprang to the roof, missing the second blast of pinpoint energy. He rotated like a cat landing on his feet as the roof became a floor for a moment. Wrangler’s anger ignited as a third and much larger beam left his palm. But Oliver was already moving too fast for Wrangler’s mind to process as a gaping hole was left in the ceiling. Oliver absently was reminded of the Fire Wyrm as he dodged strike after strike. He learned to never stand still from that painful battle. Wrangler though believed solely in brute force and could not move as Oliver’s plan to disorientate the warden worked perfectly.

  He leapt off the wall long before another beam of blue-white electricity hit where he vacated and before the behemoth of a man could respond he found himself unable to raise his overlarge arms. His curious gaze fell to the ground as from just above the elbow joint they gushed a fountain of crimson from being cleanly cut off. “No!!!” Wrangler roared with nubs as he turned, gathering energy in his mouth and unleashing constant stream at Oliver.

  So distracted with losing his limbs and trying to kill the bouncing pest he never saw Netul running up from behind, his misting eyes ready to unleash over six decades of gathered rage. He kicked out Wrangler’s knees from behind, grabbed his massive head of black hair and slammed it into the floor with all the strength in his body. And he didn’t stop. ‘Wham!’ ‘Wham!’ skull met steel floor. Netul used both hands in the hair and hammered his enemy’s face like a child with a ball learning to dribble just as fast as they can. He unleashed his anger at long last and was returning the favors that would never be enough compensation.

  Oliver cleaned his blade and suit before sheathing and going to Renee who showed no remorse for Wrangler’s overdue lesson.

  Netul knew he couldn’t enjoy it, Wrangler’s severed arms were rapidly hemorrhaging and death by blood loss was too good a way to go. He kicked the man on his back and tore the suit down to expose his chest. Wrangler’s nose and all his front teeth were missing, but even through the pain Netul saw he was still watching. Stiffening his three clawed fingers, Netul drove them in Wrangler’s softer middle and ruthlessly shoved his entire arm up into the chest cavity and took hold of the rapidly beating heart, griped it and ripped it straight out as the man screamed like a dying bull. He dropped the ripped out meat to the ground and signed away.

  “He hopes you get lost in the thereafter as your energy leaves your body.” Oliver translated as the warden was given absolute justice.

  Renee said “We need to still be careful. We might not be so easily be allowed to leave.”

  Netul turned to Oliver again. ‘Help me with one more thing…’

  Oliver didn’t need more than that. “Show me.”

  Netul’s gaze went back to azure and pointed to a door behind the elevator bars and those were easily bypassed. Several guards dropped their weapons as the three of them boldly walked along. Seeing a massive man in silver and black armor carrying a sword, a Creelin covered in human blood and a rather pissed off redhead had them not resisting. Netul though stopped at a door reading ‘Storage’ which opened and he took a direct path to the back of the organized room. He stopped at a rather large sealed silver box and pointed. Oliver cut the locks.

  Inside were large, multiple pieces of robust gold. He first undid the hay rope holding the man’s sensitive hair back and lifted a ring that was more like a large armlet. A warrior’s Cultio. He gathered the long, waist length black strands and fit the ring around the base. As soon as it was on it began to grow and cover all the way up to the base of his skull. It looked like a golden spike, or a helmet made specifically for his antennae. Netul then grabbed a pair of gold, plated armor leggings and slid them on. Torso armor had excessively wide shoul
ders and was artfully designed, as if he wore an undershirt beneath sleek framework. He grabbed two golden vambraces of his own, but they were solid and smooth. A wide slit over the top suddenly released a meter and a half long psionic blue blade so dense it had substance. Netul seemed beyond relieved to have melee weapons again as they disappeared back. Last inside was a large oval shield he lifted with one hand.

  It was half his own size and the moment Renee recognized the symbol etched into the polished gold she said in little more than a whisper “Netul, you’re a Zeelin Beyleez?” the Creelin nodded as he now stood immensely more profound than in nothing other than a loincloth.

  “A what?” Oliver asked her.

  “Zeelin Beyleez…” Her eyes were round. “His people let us know their society rank and the Zeelin are like our Marines. Soldiers. Beyleez to us humans is the rank of a six star general in theirs, the highest there is… and that means he’s not only seen over ten thousand years, but his Psionic prowess can literally tear entire continents apart if their Archiver leaders grant permission to use such force… and given a week… he can destroy an entire world.

  “Nice.” Oliver laughed and the two gave him a peculiar look. He didn’t explain and rather said “Let’s get you back home, Netul.”

  Now fully armed, Netul took the lead and they returned to the gravity cage elevator and it was Netul’s right arm blade which cut then clean through the scanner door this time, out the changing room and off into the wide processing room. Guards paused and didn’t move a muscle seeing Netul now ready and able to defend himself. Add to it Oliver’s and Renee’s deadly appearance and none thought about going for their blasters.

  They moved out an airlock and as the outer doors opened Oliver and Renee both heard a man’s rather soft voice speak and found it was Netul in their minds. “At long last I’m free of that wretched psionic suppression field.” The open door showed it was completely night outside. A strong, cool breeze hit their bodies and not a single shuttle was anywhere on the landing deck. “Now that I may at last speak I want to say it was an honor to have met you… You’ve given me my freedom as well as renewed hope for the future. We are now bonded in battle, a bond more binding than siblings. Before I leave I need to ask your intentions regarding this damned facility?”