… … …
Iolysta levitated her body up into the sky after confirming that Xyniea was alive and well and dealing with the Hashmedai that were giving her team some problems. She looked down below at the mansion which now seemed a lot smaller, with even smaller figures running along the sides of it, streaks of green and grey shock waves skittered all over. The battle was fierce, neither side was giving any quarter. Yominv’s voice transmitted through her communication ear implant. This better be good, she thought.
“We got two problems,” he said.
Of course we do. “What is it?”
“I’ve taken command of the transport, however, Rezeki ran to search for Y’lin after discovering she isn’t aboard.” Yominv transmitted his message. “I told him she’s on another transport, but he doesn’t believe me.”
“Great, what about Akeia and Kroshka?”
“I have them,” he said.
“I have Y’lin locked in her room. Xyniea is inside now, let’s hope she’ll take care of her.” That’s one issue solved possibly, now for the next. “What is the second issue?”
“Radiance Union. Their fleets are moving in to glass this world, and I have no plans on being here when that happens.”
Iolysta sighed, as she had nothing else to offer at this time, and no backup plan if this world gets glassed with Rezeki still on it as there were no Hashmedai ships in orbit she could teleport to. Nothing is ever easy, she thought.
… … …
Rezeki’s hands frantically pushed aside furniture that blocked the main entrance to his and Y’lin’s bedroom chamber. Whoever took the time to barricade her in clearly didn’t take into account that if he could push it aside, Radiance could as well and get to her. This is not how you protect your empress, someone is going to be executed for this. Multiple thumping sounds vibrated across the door, it was Y’lin, the panic and fear that must be going through her body triggered Rezeki to push the makeshift barricade away faster. His two guards pleaded and insisted he step aside and let them handle it. Their plea went unanswered, Iolysta may have been a good fuck now and then, but Rezeki’s heart ultimately belonged to Y’lin. If she was destined to die before her time, then he would too.
At last Y’lin was free, her unsteady hands embraced Rezeki. Rezeki then heard the hissing sound of two plasma weapons priming. The two guards stepped forward down the hall with their green glowing polearms deployed. Someone was here.
Rezeki’s turned his head to see three Radiance rangers in combat armor with their rifles drawn. One of them, a Rabuabin woman, had no helmet on, while another had a plasma great sword strapped to his back. An odd sight indeed, Rezeki always thought Radiance were cowards who always relied on projectile weapons to achieve victory. They slow walked forward, as the two guards did the same.
“We’ll hold them off Your Majesty,” one of them said. “Please be safe.”
… … …
Jainuzei grinned upon seeing the two polearm wielding Hashmedai get closer. In all the years he’d been fighting the Hashmedai, he’s never seen a plasma polearm. The warriors must be a special unit. Worthy adversaries. Rezeki and Y’lin fled in the opposite direction down the hallway.
“Xyniea and Henylea, double back and see if you can reach Rezeki and Y’lin from the outside,” said Jainuzei.
“Sir?” asked Henylea.
Jainuzei dropped his rifle and unsheathed his plasma great sword, holding it in front him. “I’ll take care of them,” he said. “Get the emperor and empress, alive if you can.”
They nodded and carried out his orders, running back down the dark hallways, searching for an intersection that would result in them coming into contact with their fleeing targets. With Jainuzei alone with the two Hashmedai, he powered the great sword. The power drain on his armor’s battery caused his shield to overload and power down. But that was okay, in his eyes fighting an enemy in melee combat with an energy shield was unfair if they didn’t have one themselves. To level the playing field, Jainuzei removed his helmet. He felt the sweat in his brown hair slowly crystallize due to the freezing air that Hashmedai love to live in.
A brief stare down began, both Hashmedai slowly side stepped around Jainuzei like a pack of Talsyk wolves sizing up their prey, which was somewhat of a natural state for them. Hashmedai did evolve from a carnivore species that preyed on anything that moved. One of the Hashmedai laughed at Jainuzei, while another who now stood behind him hissed and displayed his fangs. Jainuzei simply stood still and briefly shut his eyes, controlling his breathing, controlling his emotions, placing his mind in a state few Aryile were able to do. His green reptilian eyes opened as he entered his combat trance and waited for the first strike.
The first strike came and Jainuzei’s feet moved him out from harm’s way and into the heat of battle. A series of lunges came at him from both front and behind but he deflected the hits. The two Hashmedai showed signs of shock on their faces, no doubt surprised that an Aryile in full combat armor was able to move so fast and had mastered using one of their weapons. Their seemingly endless waltz continued, thrust after thrust, slash after slash, plasma weapons hit each other, but none of those weapons came close to hitting those that wielded them.
A well-timed wall jump by Jainuzei turned the tide of their dance of death, putting him directly behind one of his adversaries, then his blade through their chest, burning away a section of his armor. The heat from Jainuzei’s weapon sent a small plume of smoke into the air that smelt like charred flesh and melted metal and wires. Jainuzei blade was once again being held in front of him as his last reaming opponent stood, with hatred burning in his soulless demonic body.
The Hashmedai charged at him, this time his thrusts were quicker. Jainuzei was forced to perform another wall jump, which turned into a wall run. He needed to put some distance between them, needed more time to think about his next moves. Jainuzei’s feet hit the ground then without delay he about-faced and waved one of his hands in a come-over-here motion toward the Hashmedai.
Come over was exactly what the Hashmedai did.
Another dazzling display of melee combat ensued, a fanatical game of fight to the death that neither fighter wanted to lose. A rapid succession of four strikes dispatched toward Jainuzei missed except for the last one which slashed the side of his shoulder. A fountain of sparks shot forward, some of them burning the sides of his face. The electronics in that section of his armor was damaged, and quite possibly the flesh below it. The unexpected hit distracted Jainuzei long enough for him to be hit by another slash across his face. He felt the warmth and thickness of his own blood ooze down across his eye. His thoughts were still intact as the wound wasn’t deep enough to be fatal. Come on focus! He said to himself.
A leg sweep via the end of the Hashmedai’s weapon sent Jainuzei to the ground back first. Distractions, a warrior’s worst enemy. And more often than not, an enemy that was extremely deadly. The Hashmedai raised his arm into air and brought it down heading straight for Jainuzei’s heart. Jainuzei spun his downed body to the side, narrowly avoiding the thrust, which resulted in the pole arm piercing the floor. Jumping to his feet Jainuzei took advantage, and delivered the bottom of his boot to the Hashmedai’s face, sending him backwards in the same manner he fell. Back first into the ground. Jainuzei then charged over and grabbed the pole arm out from the floor and placed the tip of its blade just above the face of the now downed Hashmedai. Jainuzei’s foot rested on the Hashmedai’s neck, with his other on his chest.
The Hashmedai hissed in pain while gasping for air as Jainuzei said. “You are a worthy adversary.” He pushed the pole arm through the Hashmedai’s face, penetrating his skull, while the plasma burned the center of his brain. “Thank you for giving me the honor of slaying you.” A small pool of blood formed under the Hashmedai’s head while black smoke filled the air.
… … …
After making half a dozen turns and gunning down unsuspecting Hashmedai warriors and fleeing Hashmedai servants, Xyniea and H
enylea left a hallway that put them in front of Rezeki and Y’lin. The couple stopped, shocked at the sight of the two Radiance rangers with their rifles pointed at them. Rezeki pushed Y’lin back but she fell to the ground so he stood in front of her, ready to shield her body with his. Noble, but I need you alive, Xyniea thought then she went to address Henylea. “Hold on a sec—”
Before Xyniea could finish, Henylea’s rifle started to scream. Rezeki fell backwards, his blood spattering across Y’lin’s face and white gown and platinum hair.
Oh, my fucking gods, Xyniea thought.
Henylea stepped over toward Rezeki’s dying body and aimed her rife between his eyes to finish the job, then spoke. “I have seen three worlds glassed at the hands of you demons. One of them was home to all my brothers and sisters. I will never see them again thanks to your kind.” Henylea’s fingers hovered above the trigger. Xyniea on the other hand commanded the nano machines within her rifle to form a large harpoon then stepped next to Henylea as she continued to speak. “If the gods decide to have mercy upon your soul, may you find peace within their embrace.”
The harpoon Xyniea conjured launched through the side of Henylea’s head at point blank, shattering her already weakened shields in the process. Henylea spiraled to the floor, falling next to Rezeki. “Speak for yourself,” Xyniea said. This operation was supposed to see Y’lin on the floor drawing her last breath, not Rezeki. Iolysta is going to be furious, she thought as she aimed her rifle toward Y’lin’s trembling body and debated if she should finish the job. Xyniea lowered her rifle and said in the Hashmedai language, “Not your time today.” She then sent a broadcast to all the Radiance forces in the area, “Mission objectives completed, let’s get out of here.”
… … …
The outside of the mansion was littered with maimed bodies of Hashmedai and Radiance forces alike. Jainuzei stepped outside trying his best not to let the cold air cause any more discomfort in his injured body. He held the plasma pole arm in one hand while his great sword was secured on his back. Fiesei and four other surviving rangers leapt into Hashmedai recon bikes and shot forward down the hill. Word had gotten out about the impending planetary glassing that was minutes away. An evac point was set up closer to the foot of the mountain where Karklosea and a small detachment from the Abyssal Justice teleported down.
Jainuzei approached a vacant recon bike as Xyniea emerged from around the corner, calling his name, and requesting for him to wait. Multiple bolts of green balls plasma hurled over her head, surviving Hashmedai were chasing her. Jainuzei climbed onto the hovering vehicle as Xyniea rode on the back seat.
“Get us out of here!” Xyniea shouted.
“Where’s Henylea?” asked Jainuzei as he ducked his head from incoming plasma.
“She’s with the gods now.” It was all Jainuzei needed to power the engines and drive forward in a desperate race to keep up with his comrades who had a head start to the evac zone.
Six recon bikes accelerated down the snow-covered mountain side, dodging trees, rocks and other objects that appeared in their path of escape. Later plasma balls made their way to that list of things to dodge, four Hashmedai on bikes of their own were in pursuit. The worst of it was, Jainuzei and Xyniea were the closest to the Hashmedai as they were the last to leave.
“Xyniea!”
“I’m on it sir!” Her rifle exploded with fire toward those pursuing Hashmedai. “Left, left, left!” she shouted. Jainuzei made a hard turn left, and five balls of plasma shot forward in the general direction of their previous location.
Their bike zigzagged about avoiding everything that was tossed at them. Hitting a tree would have been an explosive and messy result as one Radiance controlled bike discovered the hard way. Five left, that number turned to four after two minutes. The Hashmedai bikes weren’t faring well either. One bike turned too fast and lost control, the body of the operator tumbling aimlessly hitting every rock and tree until his head exploded on the final one. Another Hashmedai took a bullet square in the neck from Xyniea.
Xyniea laughed at her marksmanship then stopped suddenly as their bike launched off a sudden steep drop, they were airborne, the remaining two Hashmedai following suit seconds later. Jainuzei felt as if time was slowing down as his senses entered an extremely heightened sense of awareness and self-preservation. He saw every snow flake, every ball of plasma, and every piece of snow that shot up through the air via their bike and of course their slow fall to the ground below. He pushed the nose of the bike lower, causing it to nose dive at a forty-five-degree angle altering its deceleration rate as a result. One Hashmedai bike launched above them, Xyniea must have been going through the exact feeling Jainuzei was as she quickly aimed the sights of her rifle up, and ripped a hole though the bottom of the Hashmedai bike above. Her bullets probably hit a critical system since the bike exploded while still in midair killing everyone on it.
Jainuzei and Xyniea’s bike slammed into the snow below them. The impact shattered both of their shields, and probably did some major damage to the bike. Not that they cared, it still worked and carried them forward to freedom. The evac zone was in sight. Karklosea hovered in the air and created a large barrier around her and three rangers from the Abyssal Justice. After dodging a clearing of trees, Jainuzei saw a crashed bike up head and the last remaining Hashmedai bike parked next to it. Upon closer inspection as they got closer, Jainuzei saw a pair of smoldering legs and ashes in the snow, the ranger of that bike was vaporized by a plasma rifle. He must have lost control after that jump, living long enough to get shot, Jainuzei thought then adjusted their course to intercept.
The Hashmedai took cover behind his parked bike and fired a steady burst of plasma toward Jainuzei and Xyniea. Jainuzei’s reflexes guided them away from each shot, then as he got close he removed his hands from the handle bars of the bike, grabbed onto his pole arm, and extended it to his side. The plasma within the pole arm wasn’t activated since it wasn’t linked to his battery pack, but that was okay, the speeds that were traveling plus the natural sharpness of the weapon should be enough to take the Hashmedai’s head off on impact.
And it was.
In the distance, Jainuzei saw two bikes left, they both entered Karklosea’s protective grace via an irised section of her psionic barrier. Jainuzei and Xyniea’s bike minutes later arrived and came to a stop, Karklosea lowered her body, and shut her eyes to focus as her cybernetics began to glow. The blue light flashed and surviving Radiance team vanished.
… … …
►► Abyssal Justice, New Paryo orbit
► Uylanni system
Jainuzei’s body floated in the weightless environment of the Abyssal Justice infirmary. The blood from the top of his head started to turn into beads of red orbiting above him. Fiesei floated toward him and his armor covered hand patted Jainuzei.
“Excellent work,” Fiesei said to Jainuzei. “You all did an outstanding job. Riches and promotions will be given to you all,” he said to the rest of the group, and floated out of sight.
Xyniea floated over to Jainuzei then used all her strength to grab his head and pulled it toward her. She gave him a long erotic kiss, he pushed away. “I have a wife!”
“I used to have one,” she said with a smirk. “They’re annoying if you’re always on the frontlines.”
The Abyssal Justice, along with a small fleet of Radiance cruisers surrounded the snow draped planet of New Paryo, and launched an orbital bombardment of large orbs of plasma from their forward plasma cannons. The white glow of the planet’s surface slowly turned into a red glowing and blackened waste land, grey smoke eventually blocked out all sunlight to the planet’s surface. What remained of the Hashmedai ships in the system came to drive out the Radiance forces, but it was too late. A fiery battle ensued for two hours, resulting in Radiance officially controlling the system.
… … …
►► Hashmedai transport, leaving New Paryo orbit
► Uylanni system
During the
battle, a lone transport ship made its exit, neither side saw it as they were busy with combat operations. Neither side noticed that it docked with a Hashmedai corvette outside of the system.
Iolysta and Yominv floated in the cockpit of the transport. Y’lin was with her two children, consoling them as they grieved for the loss of their father and emperor. Iolysta reminded silent as the transport began to latch into the airlock of the corvette. Had she known things would have ended up the way they did, she would have taken more of an active role. The only reason she held back was to make herself look good in the eyes of everyone else. Nobody was to know she and Yominv were working with the Celestial Order.
“I know how much this plan meant to you,” Yominv whispered to her. “You were really passionate about becoming Rezeki’s new Empress, as with the order.”
“We will find another way,” she whispered back. “Hannah will be born in a few years. Humanity must be brought onto the galaxy stage soon.”
CHAPTER 15
►► Kasidey’s transport, Interstellar space
► Outside of Proxima Centauri system
Kasidey’s transport came to a full stop and idled several kilometers outside of wide debris field. Fragments of compartments that were once part of an impressive interstellar ship covered their whole line of sight. Some of the ships in the debris field were still partly intact, though many of them were straight up split in half, with darkened burn marks along its battle scared hull.
Equilibrium of Terror: Part 1 (Splintered Galaxy Book 3) Page 24