Warrior Rising cos-3

by James Somers

  Grod looked at him, listening and studying the young man. His dagger was still frozen above Tiet’s chest, held by the Barudii’s mental power. Finally, after a long silence between them, Grod spoke. “And if I refuse your peace?”

  “Then I came prepared to kill you. I do not intend to fight a war on two fronts between you and the Baruk.”

  “Then kill me. I don’t care about peace with you, or the Vorn.”

  Grod stood stone-faced looking into his eyes, waiting for him to do it. Instead, Tiet pushed him away, releasing Grod from his mental grip. Grod looked surprised by his reaction.

  “I don’t want to kill you,” Tiet said. “Believe it or not, I respect you and your desire to be independent of those who enslaved the Horva. I still think it’s a shame, though. I may have to face you on a battlefield some day instead of around a peaceful table breaking bread as friends, but that’s your choice. At least I tried to talk sense to you.”

  Tiet brought his broken arm up to his torso. It throbbed terribly. He heard the room full of warriors raising their weapons again, bringing them to bear on him. Grod raised his hand quickly to halt them.

  “As you said, Barudii, we may see one another on the battlefield someday, but this is not your day to die. Take your peace and go in it.”

  Tiet gave him one last look then backed away out the way he had come by. The main gate opened up behind him, allowing him to exit as Grod walked slowly after him, watching him leave. The Horva fell in behind their leader with their weapons still at the ready just in case.

  Wynn watched from the support beams above the chamber where Tiet had fought with the General. He couldn’t believe what was happening. Tiet had said he would kill him. Grod was within his grasp and he spared him.

  Even with the broken arm, Tiet probably still could’ve made it out if he had wanted to. The young king was surprising him more with each passing event.

  Wynn’s gun was still trained on General Grod from his perch. He waited for Tiet to make it back beyond the defense field, heading back to his ship over the ridge. Wynn left his hidden position and made his way back to his own fighter. The Horva never knew he was there. His Barudii cloak had seen to that. He wasn’t sure about Tiet sparing Grod’s life, but he wouldn’t be the one to disobey the king’s decision.

  It took Wynn several hours to make his way back to Baeth Periege in his ship. He had arrived nearly at the same time that Tiet’s fighter was reported to have docked in a different part of the city, near the main medical facility.

  He was going to have to see to his broken arm. The medics would put him through the standard osteoblast enhancement. What used to be done in weeks back home was now done in two hours with Vorn medical treatments. It would be enough time for Wynn to get to Kale before Tiet was able to. Hopefully he would undergo the treatment before anyone even told him about his brother surrendering.

  Wynn sprinted out of the lift of the holding facility. He wasn’t sure why Kale would just surrender himself, but he needed to find out as much as he could before Tiet heard of his brother’s arrival. From what he knew about Tiet’s feelings concerning Kale, he would be fortunate to even get a quick death.

  Wynn placed his hand on the DNA scanner and entered the room where Kale was being kept. He was still there, sitting quietly with two armed guards watching him carefully. The cell was such that any tampering with the mechanism, even mentally, would cause another separate system to fire a charge within the cell, stunning the prisoner. Everything appeared to be in order.

  Kale stood to his feet as Wynn entered the room.

  Wynn stood before the energy field, facing him. He could sense the power of the man. He almost felt like he was in Tiet’s presence, the energy was so intense.

  “Kale Soone, my name is Wynn Gareth. I served under your father.”

  “I remember your name, but I don’t remember ever meeting you.”

  “I would like to know why you came back to this planet and why you surrendered yourself to us.”

  Kale waited a moment before answering, studying Wynn’s face and considering the question. “It doesn’t really matter. The Baruk are on their way. I’m not one of them. I didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

  “But you didn’t have to come here. You must have realized that you would be facing a death sentence. I just want to know why,” Wynn said.

  Kale’s guard seemed to soften at that point. “I’m guilty of killing my own family, Wynn. I betrayed them to the Vorn. My brother is the only one of them who escaped. If he wants to kill me then I’m sure I deserve it.”

  Wynn could see the sincerity in Kale’s eyes as he spoke. He meant what he was saying. “Perhaps if you told Tiet then he might-”

  “He’ll never forgive me. And I really don’t blame him. Whatever I receive for my crimes against my people will never be enough,” said Kale.

  Wynn wasn’t sure what to say. He sensed genuine remorse for his past crimes. He stood there, watching the son of his former king, feeling sorry for the man. Not because he might die as a traitor, but because he was genuinely repentant and had no way to repair the damage he had done.

  The door to the room opened. Tiet charged in.

  “So it’s true!” he shouted.

  He drew his blade from its scabbard as he crossed the small room toward the cell. This was exactly what Wynn had been hoping wouldn’t happen. He noticed Tiet’s arm still tucked to his side. He hadn’t made it to get the repair yet. Tiet was already bringing his broken arm up painfully to place his hand on the DNA scanner.

  It was a moment frozen in time. The energy field went down. Tiet raised his blade to strike down his brother. Wynn knew it now. Tiet was really going to kill him. Wynn looked at Kale. He was just standing there with his eyes closed like it was going to be a relief to let Tiet kill him.

  Tiet thrust his father’s blade toward Kale. A moment later it was landing on the ground beside him. “What are you doing?” Tiet shouted.

  Wynn had caught his arm in flight and disarmed him. It was a split second decision to save Kale’s life and to save Tiet from the regret and torture of having killed his own brother.

  “Tiet, if you kill him, you’ll never forgive yourself,” said Wynn as they struggled.

  “He killed my father, my mother and Orin! Our people were slaughtered because of him!” Tiet shouted.

  “It’s all right, Wynn,” said Kale, “I deserve this. Let him go.”

  “Shut your mouth, traitor!” Tiet shouted. He attacked Kale with his mind.

  Kale was pushed backward into the wall. He slumped to the floor in pain. He wasn’t even trying to shield himself from his younger brother’s righteous fury.

  “Tiet, he is still your brother, all that you have left of your family!” Wynn pleaded.

  Tiet shook free of Wynn’s grip on his arm. “Stay out of it, Wynn,” he said, glaring at the man.

  Tiet looked back toward Kale, still groaning on the floor trying to breathe. Something snapped in his expression as he looked at his brother bent to his will, on the ground in pain. He released him from the attack and backed away with a bewildered look on his face.

  Tiet turned away to walk out, looking disturbed. He extended his good hand behind him and caught his blade as it leaped from the ground, flying across the room after him. The door closed behind him.

  Kale began to recover himself. Wynn did not help him up. Instead he stepped back outside the cell and scanned the lock to reactivate the cell’s energy field.

  “Watch him,” he said to the guards, who were stunned by the event.

  He looked back to see Kale climbing back to the small bed against the cell wall. There wasn’t time to worry about the pain either of the brothers might be feeling. The Baruk were still on their way.

  ARMADA

  Ranul rushed into the lift heading for the bridge of the Vorn cruiser, Esyia. The Baruk were headed into the sector where the Vorn cruiser was patrolling. The sensor probes, which had been stationed along the way, were bei
ng destroyed systematically as the Baruk journeyed toward Castai-Rex. With at least fifty large warships, they were flaunting their power and moving quickly.

  The level indicator increased in number as the lift carried Ranul toward the bridge where he could analyze the latest data. There were only two Vorn battle cruisers assigned to each sector from among the twenty-three that had been confiscated on Castai-Ori and left on Rex after the departure of the remaining Vorn military during the battle of Baeth Periege. The Onicule was traveling with them nearby.

  All the Vorn battle cruisers were heavily armed and highly maneuverable. But with the greater number of Baruk vessels approaching, many of the people serving aboard the cruisers were expecting to fight a losing battle. Still, morale among the crews remained strong. If they were going to lose, then they would take as many of the Baruk with them as possible.

  Suddenly the whole ship reeled. Ranul was tossed into the ceiling of the lift then down to the floor hard. The lights flickered then faded as low intensity emergency lighting came on. It felt like an impact to the ship’s hull, but he couldn’t tell. The lift continued its climb and soon arrived at the bridge.

  When the doors opened up, Ranul could see the bridge crew locked into their chairs prepared for battle. On the display, they were tracking several objects heading in their direction. Estall was barking out orders to the crew from the command chair.

  “Estall, what’s happening?”

  “The Baruk have launched some sort of projectiles from outside the sector. The shields are having difficulty with them. They’re not strong enough to repel these things. Some sort of super dense alloy.”

  “The shields would have to deconstruct and disperse the matter-very difficult with objects of the density you’re talking about.” Ranul jumped to a science station and began to look over the data. An alarm sounded on the bridge.

  “Incoming!”

  “It’s another one of those projectiles,” said Estall. “Ranul, what do you have!?”

  “It’s some kind of tritarium variant-super density. In a normal molecular arrangement it would be one thousand times the current size.”

  “Evasive!” Estall ordered.

  “It’s tracking with us!” said one of the science officers.

  “I’m having trouble with the helm, sir. It’s like we’re being pulled into it.”

  “It’s exerting a localized gravitational pull on the ship-gets stronger as it approaches!” Ranul shouted from his station. “Wait, wait! It’s tracking on the Onicule now!”

  “She’s going to take a hit!”

  The projectile shifted the flight path of the Onicule as it approached, pulling the Vorn cruiser into its path at the last moment. The shields on the ship activated as the object passed into field, trying to vaporize it. The field sheered away half of the object’s mass, but the remainder passed through the shield, crashing into the hull of the Onicule.

  “She’s hit!” Estall shouted.

  “Analyzing,” said one of the science officers. “The Onicule took a hit just behind mid-ship, several decks destroyed, they’re sealing them off. It’s not a fatal blow.”

  Ranul continued to monitor the ship. “Wait! Something is happening! That thing is like a gravity bomb,” he mumbled as he turned to Estall.

  On the main view screen the Onicule was beginning to implode.

  “Ranul, what’s happening to them?”

  “The localized gravitational field around the object is pulling the ships structure inward upon it.”

  They all watched helplessly as the Onicule caved in upon the gravity bomb. Gases escaped in flame.

  “Sir, we’re being hailed by the other fleet ships,” said the communications officer. “They’re all on a rendezvous course to this sector.”

  “Estall, the Baruk formation of ships is entering the sector now,” Ranul said. “They’re splitting up, spreading out against us. Another gravity bomb is locked on approach!”

  “Evasive maneuvers!” Estall demanded.

  “I’m trying to recalibrate our shields to repel the object rather than vaporize it,” said Ranul.

  “Twenty seconds to impact!” shouted another science officer.

  “Hurry, Ranul,” Estall said as he watched the incoming object on the view screen.

  “I think I’ve got it.”

  The gravity bomb slammed into the shields of the Esyia and sent the ship reeling off of its flight path. The bridge crew would have been tossed about the chamber had they not been strapped into their flight chairs.

  “How bad are we?” Estall asked over the groaning of the engines.

  “The object did not penetrate!” shouted Ranul. “It pushed us away though. The impact still damaged our hull by causing a reverberation in the shield.”

  “How bad are we?”

  “The hull is intact.”

  “Are the Baruk within range yet?”

  “Just now,” said the weapons officer.

  “Lock and fire the molecular dispersion cannon on the nearest ship.”

  The large weapon swiveled upon its mount located on the topside of the Esyia, aiming off into the black of space toward the Baruk, still out of visual range. The weapons officer locked onto the nearest Baruk warship and fired. The beam from the Castillian and Vorn engineered weapon flashed out into the darkness.

  The Baruk warship, Kosinok, veered away from the formation of cruisers toward its designated heading. A beam of energy flashed ahead then hit the ship, strafing across its hull surface, vaporizing everything it touched.

  “Direct hit!” shouted the weapons officer.

  “They’re raising their shields!” said Ranul from his station.

  “Fire again,” Estall commanded.

  Once again, the weapon adjusted slightly to reacquire the same target on its trajectory. Once locked, it fired again into the blackness of space. The beam hit the Kosinok square on, but its shields responded in kind.

  “Their shields are drained significantly, but it didn’t go through,” said Ranul.

  “The rest of the fleet is heading for the Baruk formation,” said the other science officer.

  “Take us in with them, shields at full power, all weapons systems at the ready. Garret, fire at will as we come into range,” Estall said.

  Tiet sat uneasily on the exam table in the med-lab. His arm was throbbing terribly now, but his conscience hurt more. He had wanted so badly to drive the blade through Kale and avenge his family, but it wasn’t what he had expected. Seeing his brother standing there in the cell just waiting to receive his fury had been very unsettling.

  Tiet had expected a fight-he had wanted a fight. After attacking Kale mentally and seeing him writhe in pain-he had felt pity for him for a moment.

  Wynn had stopped him from killing his own brother. At the time he would have struck his mentor for interfering, had he been able, but now he knew he would have regretted that as well. Wynn was no fool and he had no reason to protect Kale. There had to be a good reason for him to step between them to save his life.

  The med-lab door opened, allowing Mirah K’ore to enter. “So, the King has returned.”

  “Hello, Mirah.”

  “That’s Dr. K’ore to you.” She grinned. “Father said you were going to accept the Council’s nomination to the throne…I haven’t seen you lately.”

  “I’m sorry. I’ve had a lot on my mind.”

  “I understand. But don’t think that gives you an excuse in the future.” She feigned a stern look then smiled. “Now let’s see that arm.”

  Tiet raised the arm for her inspection. The sleeve was already cut away up to his shoulder. The med-tech had managed to get that far before the message had come through on Tiet’s com-link that Kale was a prisoner. His arm was severely bruised and swollen, but there was no bone penetration through the skin.

  Mirah picked up a hand held scanner and passed it over his arm. “Well, it looks like a clean break, ulna and radius. I won’t ask how you managed this.”


  “How long to put me back in action, Mirah?”

  “About two hours of osteoblast therapy and another half hour to bring down the edema.”

  “Let’s do it then.”

  “Our ships are really taking a pounding up there commander,” said Lieutenant Davers. “They’re outnumbered two to one. They’ve been using the new dispersion cannons, but the Baruk shields are too strong.”

  “What’s the current shield status for our ships?” Wynn asked.

  “Ten ships below seventy percent shield power, eight below fifty percent power, two are under twenty percent power and three have already been destroyed.”

  “What about the Esyia?”

  “She’s approaching thirty percent power and still taking a pounding, sir.”

  Wynn continued to sort through the incoming images on the war room displays. The armada was really getting beaten to death up there. They were tough ships, but the odds were against them. If they failed to stop the Baruk in space then the fight would hit the ground.

  “Sir, another of our ships has been destroyed, the Kyrysk,” said Davers.

  The other four soldiers manning the war room monitors paused briefly to look up at Wynn then continued with their work.

  “What about the Baruk fleet?” Wynn asked. “What kind of damage are they taking?”

  “They’re going blow for blow, but our ships are grossly outnumbered,” said Davers.

  “By the time our ships do any significant damage, their shields will be down and it will be over very quickly. Have we notified Tiet yet?”

  “He’s in the med-lab-the alarms don’t sound in there.”

  “Put me through.”

  “Online, sir.”

  “Dr. K’ore. May I help you?”

  “Mirah, Wynn Gareth here. I need to speak with Tiet immediately.”

  “My patient is still receiving treatment under sedation,” Mirah said.

  “I need you to wake him up. We’ve got a situation-he’s needed.”