Warrior Rising cos-3

by James Somers

  It was a fact. The Baruk were mobilizing their ground forces for the inevitable push toward Baeth Periege. For an hour they had seen Baruk troop carriers coming down from space into Thalidi. The defense wall was still in place and the Baruk were sitting safely behind it for now.

  Somehow they had gotten into the city without disabling it and had apparently decimated the entire team which Tiet had taken to ambush their army. It looked like Kale had failed to protect his brother. Considering the circumstances, it really wasn’t a surprise. The Baruk were mounting a formidable ground force behind that wall and Wynn wasn’t sure whether they could stop it or not.

  Frustrated, Wynn tapped the communication panel that was locked in with the Esyia. “Estall, what’s your status up there?”

  “We’re trying to hold our own, Wynn, but we still haven’t been able to get to that flagship,” Estall reported.

  “We’ve seen a lot of troop carriers landing inside Thalidi down here.”

  “I know, but we’re completely outnumbered up here,” said Estall. “We just don’t have the ability to guard the surface and try to get to that flagship!”

  “I understand. I don’t mean to accuse. I know you’re doing everything you can,” Wynn said. “I’m afraid we’ve have already lost Tiet.”

  There was a pause for a moment before Estall answered. “Are you sure?”

  “No. I can’t be certain, but it appears the whole unit was wiped out as the Baruk made their way into the city. We’ve not heard any word from them. I don’t want to believe it, but-”

  “I understand. Let’s just keep up the fight and hope we can manage to drive them back. It’s all we can do,” said Estall.

  Wynn tapped the communication panel again. The scans of the city were still inconclusive. The Baruk were jamming them somehow to hide their next move.

  “Sir, the units from the other cities have arrived at the staging area,” said Corbin.

  “Good. We’ll need all the help we can get. It looks like this is where our future is going to be decided.”

  It had been several hours since Kale and Tiet had come through the portal into Grod’s compound and they were still being confined to the medical lab under guard. Tiet had been relieved to see Grod’s aggression aimed at the Baruk, but what was his intent now? He wasn’t sure. Kale was pacing, examining the room discreetly, looking for a way of escape.

  The two brothers had not spoken since their arrival and neither seemed to know what to say to the other. Kale had been the last one Tiet had expected to see coming to his rescue out there against the Baruk, but he was glad to have him.

  After all that he had said, plus trying to kill him inside his confinement cell, Tiet was unsure what he could say at this point to even begin a dialogue with the man.

  “How’s your equilibrium? Your head hurting?” Kale asked.

  “It’s fine. Thank you for saving my life out there.”

  Kale stopped his pacing to listen.

  “Look, Kale, I’m sorry for what I said and did when you were in confinement. I just don’t know what to make of this. You betrayed us-our parents, our people-how am I supposed to react?”

  “I know. Believe me, I wish I could undo all that I’ve done. I would gladly give my life now to undo it, but I can’t. You are my brother. I only want to have you forgive me. It’s all I have left.”

  “I’m sorry. I just don’t know if I can give that to you right now.”

  Kale looked at him, but there was great pain behind his eyes that Tiet partly wanted to see and partly wished he could relieve. Still, he just couldn’t find it within himself. Then Grod came into the room flanked by several warriors. They were still outfitted for battle.

  “Grod, I’m glad you changed your mind about what we talked about,” Tiet said.

  “We can discuss that later,” said Grod. “Right now, gentlemen, we have more pressing matters. Follow me.”

  He turned and led them out of the medical lab, down several corridors to another larger room full of monitors and all manner of technical equipment. Tiet immediately noticed a huge window on the far side of the room and walked past the General to see it. He could see that it opened up beyond to a huge dome that looked increasingly familiar as he stared. It was the same room where he had been brought to fight when he was captured by Grod months ago. But now it was full of equipment and a huge gateway of some kind that seemed to lead to nowhere. Only the other side of the dome could be seen beyond.

  “This room looks familiar,” Tiet said.

  “Your right. It is the same battle arena where you killed my teragore,” Grod said. “A very impressive display, Barudii. Come. Look at this information.”

  He joined Kale and Grod before the main tactical monitor in the room. They were surrounded by Horva warriors who were performing data retrieval and sorting.

  “Here you can see what is left of your ships still in orbit as they battle the Baruk,” said Grod as he pointed to the display. “We’ve been monitoring your progress for some time now. There are very few ships left. We noted that a number of them retreated at once while the remainder attempt to attack the Baruk’s main battle cruiser.

  It appears they were able to somehow get through the Baruk shields using a random frequency generator, most ingenious, by the way. But you don’t have the firepower to take out that ship, and it is essential that you do so.

  “We know that the Baruk are telepathically controlled by their leader. He will be aboard the flagship.”

  Kale listened carefully, but he did not volunteer what he knew about the Baruk leader. The leader of the Baruk was much more than just some telepath.

  “Grod, I don’t have any more ships to throw at them,” said Tiet. “If you have ships to aid us, we would be happy to coordinate an attack, but otherwise…”

  “I don’t have any ships like that here, but I do have something else,” Grod said as he looked to the window and the chamber beyond.

  Kale and Tiet followed Grod to the window.

  “That apparatus down there is called a transgate.”

  “Is that how you appeared in Thalidi?” Kale asked.

  “Precisely,” Grod said. “We developed it for a surprise attack on you, Master Soone.”

  “Great,” Tiet said. “That’s certainly comforting.”

  “But now we can use it to get a strike team onto the Baruk flagship,” Grod said.

  “You mean that thing will transport us inside that ship, even through their shields?”

  “Yes, but we have one problem,” Grod said. “The transgate draws a huge amount of power and we can’t send a large force without draining our power reserves past the safety point. We have enough power to send two or three people through the gate. If we can get inside, then perhaps we might stand some chance of destroying their leader and cutting off the ground army from his coordinating mental control.”

  “Without their leader, we have a real chance against the Baruk,” Tiet said. “I’m in.”

  “I’ll go with him, General,” said Kale.

  “I will also go,” Grod replied. “I may not be Barudii, but I can still fight the Baruk. If you’re ready to go, then we don’t have another moment to spare.”

  “We’re ready. Lead on,” Tiet said.

  “I know my way around that ship,” Kale offered. “I should probably lead, once we get onboard.”

  Tiet looked at Grod, who nodded his own approval.

  “Then let’s go.”

  The three men made their way quickly down to the domed chamber. Tiet and Kale found their weapons lying on a table inside as a Horva soldier prepped the portal for the jump. Grod wore one of the plasma weapons they had seen during the rescue in Thalidi.

  “What is that thing?” asked Tiet.

  “The glove channels plasma energy from this pack on my back, releasing the energy stream against whatever this targeting laser is set to,” said Grod. “They’re very effective. We’ve worked hard on these weapons.”

  “Let me g
uess,” Tiet said. “So you could use them to attack us?”

  Grod nodded then continued to explain the weapon’s workings, “The weapon is similar to throwing a bolt of lightening.”

  “I’m glad you’ve decided to be on our side,” Tiet said. “It sounds like you’ve been monitoring our every move lately.”

  “Well, it helps to stay informed, doesn’t it?” Grod said.

  A technician signaled a lock on the Baruk flagship when they were ready. “Sir, we can’t get an exact scan on what you’ll face up there,” said one of the men operating the control panel at the gateway.

  “We don’t have time to waste. We’ll just have to deal with whatever we find,” said Grod. “Activate the transgate.”

  The gateway snapped into being before them. An image coalesced as the transgate brought the chamber at Nagon-toth into direct contact with a location somewhere on the Baruk flagship.

  Grod grinned at the Barudii. “Gentlemen, it’s time.”

  Wynn watched the last of the pulse fire emanating from Thalidi’s defensive batteries. Tiet had been wise to set the front for this defense at ten miles out from Thalidi’s perimeter.

  The Baruk had been trying for nearly twenty minutes to use the city’s cannons against them, but the range was not great enough to reach. It appeared they were giving up on that tactic now and Wynn wondered if they might emerge soon for a face to face fight with his forces. He didn’t have long to wait.

  The sixth gate began to open on the defense wall as Wynn watched through his ocular lens which magnified the image. They were coming on a fast march toward their position. From his grounded angle it was impossible to tell how many, but it looked like thousands. With all of their new recruits, Wynn still only had five thousand warriors to face the Baruk. It wouldn’t be enough. The Baruk were strong runners and within two hours they would be locked in combat.

  There were no warriors anywhere in sight when Tiet, Kale and General Grod stepped out of Nagon-Toth’s domed chamber onto the Baruk Flagship. Kale studied the location for a moment and recognized where they were.

  “Tiet, we’re near the core of the ship. That means we could easily access the power stream for the gravity bomb containment chamber.”

  “What in the world is that?”

  “Gravity bombs are large super dense alloy spheres that produce a gravitational field powerful enough to crush a ship’s hull like an egg. If we can disable the special containment field that prevents them from destroying this ship then-”

  “Then this ship will implode around them,” Grod said.

  “What do we have to do, Kale?”

  “The coolant system would be the easiest to disable from where we are. If you and Grod can make your way down this corridor, you will come to an overlook for the containment chamber. You’ll be able to see a series of yellow-colored conduits running from above the chamber-these are the coolant conduits. I’m not sure how many there are, but if you can blow out at least two of them the coolant pressure will rapidly fall to zero. After that, it will take about ten minutes to lose the containment field altogether.”

  “What about you?” asked Tiet.

  “I’m going after their leader. He’ll need to be distracted or killed while you two attack the coolant conduits. That area is heavily guarded, but he can pull many more warriors to stop us if someone doesn’t distract him.”

  Grod and Tiet eyed one another. “I think it’s a good plan,” said Grod. “Anyway, what else do we have? But if we are not back through the transgate before the ship implodes, the gravity could threaten Nagon-Toth-and of course, we wouldn’t survive either.”

  “Then we’ll meet back here at the transgate,” said Tiet.

  Kale watched his brother and General Grod as they headed down the long corridor. He would have liked to agree on meeting back at the transgate, but he did not plan on leaving the ship. Given the power of Lucin, he would have to remain to prevent him from escaping when the containment failure alert sounded all over the ship. If Lucin survived then this effort would be wasted and the war itself would likely carry on to the inevitable end with the Baruk dominating the entire planet. Kale was determined to give his brother the chance to be the king he could never have been himself.

  LUCIN

  Kale knew the ship well and made his way quickly and quietly toward the throne room of the Lucin. Kale encountered a number of warriors as he went, but evaded their notice. Soon, he arrived at the chamber.

  He guessed that Tiet and Grod would probably be close to the containment area by now and he had little time to distract Lucin before intruder alarms would sound and they would lose the slight advantage surprise gave them. Kale removed two spicors from his uniform and stepped back enough to throw them into the chamber door. They flashed violently, leaving a large hole through the alloy that comprised the door. Kale was through the door as soon as the energy dissipated.

  He dived through and rolled to his feet drawing his blade as he stood. The room was sparsely lit. Lucin was not immediately seen. He closed his eyes and relied upon his mind. Then he found them. “You can come out. I see you,” said Kale.

  Kale immediately formed a mental bubble within the hole he had made and blew out the door mechanism with a thought.

  “Do you think I will run from you, Kale?” asked Lucin.

  “You’ll try to run before I’m through with you,” he threatened.

  Lucin laughed. “Pride goes before a fall, mortal. Do you really expect to defeat me, one of the Mithri?”

  Lucin approached him, coming into view beyond Kale’s blade. Kale protected himself mentally as he felt the mithrial being apply his own great mental faculties against him.

  Lucin was putting tremendous pressure upon him as he searched for a weakness in Kale’s defense, but he could find none. Kale felt the pressure continuing to build as Lucin furthered his attack. He knew very well that he would have been easily overcome by Lucin if he had not been forced to split his attention and power coordinating his warriors on the ground and with the ships still fighting the Vorn cruisers around the flagship.

  Kale lunged at him with his blade. Lucin swept out of the way fast. A large piece of equipment flew at Kale from its place in the shadows. He struck the object, cutting it in two.

  Baruk warriors could be heard outside the one door to the chamber, but they could not get through Kales kinetic bubble or open the doorway to help their master.

  “Have you already summoned help for yourself, Lucin?” he asked sarcastically.

  Lucin did not answer him. His form began to change before Kale’s eyes. The human form increased in stature to roughly three times his original human form. He erupted into a monstrous form.

  “If it is a physical battle you desire, you shall have it, Barudii,” scolded Lucin.

  Grod and Tiet were able to see the massive containment chamber from their perch. They had climbed beyond the walkway toward the mechanism in order to avoid any Baruk warriors that might happen by during the course of their duties. Grod and Tiet climbed quietly along the structure toward the conduits above the chamber. The pipes were huge. It would take a throw of multiple spicor discs to get through those conduits without being instantly covered in the coolant flowing within. There appeared to be minimal personnel in the area at the moment. There was no time to waste.

  Tiet removed three spicor discs from his vest. He and Grod moved to a catwalk that would give them an easier escape route. Tiet stood for the throw and aimed at three separate conduit pipes to prevent any rerouting of coolant to the containment system. With deadly accuracy, he threw the discs away toward their targets. The discs exploded as they impacted with the pipes, leaving huge holes in each one and bluish colored coolant vapor spewing forth.

  An alarm immediately sounded throughout the ship. Grod and Tiet ran down the walkway toward the transgate. Baruk warriors ran into the containment system area. Then they spotted the pair. “Saboteurs!”

  The Baruk fired upon them as they ran down the c
atwalk. Tiet drew his kemsticks as Grod aimed his plasma weapon. A burst of lightning arced over Tiet and into the approaching Baruk. The warriors tumbled over the sides of the catwalk as the energy hit them full force.

  More Baruk warriors were mobilizing, but Tiet and Grod didn’t have time to draw out the fight-according to the wailing security alarms, this ship would implode in seven minutes.

  Kale deflected several tentacles flying at him from Lucin’s symbyte form. The mithrial monstrosity screeched as his blade vaporized some of Lucin’s morphing tissue. He couldn’t get past Kale’s defense. Then the ship’s warning system went off.

  “Evacuate ship-seven minutes to containment meltdown, evacuate ship,” sounded the alarm.

  The symbyte creature reeled back from the fight as Lucin realized the imminent destruction of his flagship. He turned his attention to opening the door and breaching Kale’s kinetic force field. Kale moved in to strike again, trying to keep Lucin occupied and imprisoned until the containment field collapsed completely and destroyed them both.

  The creature spun on Kale and sent him flying backward with a burst of mental energy. Had Lucin now stopped expending his power coordinating his troops in order to concentrate on saving himself? Kale recovered and flung his blade at the creature. The blade struck and rebounded under mental control to his hand. Lucin howled at him and held Kale in a mental grip that instantly fixed him frozen to the floor.

  He knew that he would not get through the force field until Kale removed it. Lucin’s monstrous symbyte form came at Kale and smashed a hardened appendage across his body that sent him to the ground and his blade spinning out of his hand across the floor. Kale heard the warning system stating only four minutes remaining before containment meltdown as the creature stood over him and began to pound away at his body. He felt his bones shattering as Lucin desperately tried to remove Kale’s mental power on the forcefield preventing his escape from the room and the doomed ship.

  Kale was in terrible pain, but he blocked it out as much as possible as he continued to focus on keeping the field up across the chamber door until the last possible moment. Blow after blow pounded across his battered and bleeding body. Kale could barely hear over the ringing in his ears. The warning system sounded a muffled cry of three minutes. Kale felt his life slipping away. His body was numb, yet he continued to focus all of his mental energies on the forcefield.