Belinea

by Andrew Mack

  Ocatvious turned around and looked at his soldiers. He grabbed his earpiece and said, “Cortes, get far away, into the caves. They are going to bomb the whole thing, and I cannot stop them.”

  Cortes said, “We are not leaving you!”

  Octavious said, “I will buy you as much time as possible. This is between Argo and me now.”

  Octavious looked at his soldiers again and said, “Are you ready? This goes no further.”

  The soldiers all nodded. Each of them grabbed their rings, and all in unison extended their red flaming sabers. The eight SS soldiers behind Argo, plus Leahy and the soldier next to him, all grabbed their rings and extended their silvery swords. Argo said, “What are you doing, Octavious?”

  Octavious looked at Argo and said, “It ends here, Argo…”

  Argo smiled. “What about the children?”

  Octavious, not smiling at all, only said, “That’s on your conscious, they could fly away now. As long as you are dead, that is all that matters to me.”

  Argo smiled and nodded. He looked back at the children, saw their pilot, and looking directly at Quillisar Sovinna, said, “Get them out of here!”

  As Argo turned back around, he grabbed his ring and extended it into his silvery sword. Just as he was about to engage, Leahy and the SS soldier next to him ran past him and engaged in a fight with Octavious. The Valmay soldiers followed suit and engaged with Argo and the rest of the SS.

  Cortes yelled at the Valmay officer next to her, “We gotta get out of here. They are going to bomb the whole facility.”

  The officer yelled back, “We can’t! Majavkee security is right outside the door.”

  Cortes pulled up the security screen and saw the Majavkee security outside. She pointed and said, “Someone is fighting them from the corridor.”

  Kaya told two of the miners who had rifles, “Put down a base of fire, empty your round, and then retreat down the corridor. Do not come back until the fire is gone. The rest of you take cover down the corridor now. Ready?”

  The two miners nodded. They jumped out from their position and began firing at the Majavkee security. Kaya jumped out after them but quickly jumped over them towards the security. One of the miners got shot in the head and died instantly. The other one kept firing.

  Kaya was fifteen feet in front of them now but still twenty feet from the Majavkee. She kneeled on one knee and held her blade up vertically in front of her. She made it the shape of a diamond, still with flames on it. The diamond got more prominent, even as rounds from the rifles whizzed by her. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and the blade turned into a giant diamond fireball. As she exhaled, the fire went down the corridor right at the Majavkee security. In an instant, most of them caught on fire as the flames extended to the whole area right up to the door of the Control panel. Kaya took another deep breath, and a second diamond-shaped fireball came out of her sword again, engulfing the security in flames.

  Down on the landing pad, the SS and the Valmay soldiers were in an epic battle. The shuttle with the children had taken off, but Argo’s personal transport was left behind. Octavious swung his saber, clashing with both Captain Leahy and the soldier who was next to him. Argo was battling with one of the Valmay soldiers, who was holding his own with him.

  Leahy managed to strike Octavious in the shoulder, briefly bringing him to his knees. The other soldier attempted a hard swing, but Octavious blocked it. Wasting no time, he struck the soldier in the chest. The move, however exposed him to Leahy, who extended his silvery sword to eight feet and struck at the same spot on Octavious’ shoulder.

  Argo continued to fight back and forth with the Valmay soldier, finally getting him in a bad spot. He took a good swing and ripped both of his legs off. Standing over him, he extended his sword straight through his mouth.

  Octavious swung again and ripped Leahy’s sword right out of his shoulder, causing blood to go everywhere. Octavious was fighting one-handed now. He kept trading blows until he finally saw an opening. Leahy swung and missed. Octavious rolled over onto his bad shoulder and landed on his knees. In pain, he swung and chopped both of Leahy’s legs off, just below the knees.

  Octavious got up and walked over to Argo. The two began trading blows with their weapons. Octavious tried a fire blast, which Argo stopped by turning his sword into a shield. Argo tried to extend his sword ten feet to pierce Octavious, but he brushed it to the side with his flaming sword. The two resumed trading blow after blow. Octavious, with his wounded shoulder, was still struggling.

  As the flames dispersed, Kaya walked up the door. Cortes and the other Valmay officer shoved it open with their shoulders. When the door opened, Cortes yelled, “Kaya!”

  Kaya asked, “Where is Octavious?”

  Cortes, still stunned to see Kaya, pointed through the glass, and said, “He is down below, with Argo. We gotta get out of here. They are going to bomb the whole facility.”

  Kaya looked down and could see Argo and Octavious trading blows. She yelled at Cortes and said, “Come with me!”

  Argo swung and gave Octavious’ face a brand new scar, cutting it across his eye and down his cheek. Octavious swung, but missed badly. Argo went for a crushing blow, cutting Octavious’ arm instead. Octavious tried the same move again, rolling on his bad shoulder, but his arm affected his balance, and as he swung, he only got one of Argo’s legs, cutting it straight through the ankle. As Argo was falling, he struck his blade right through Octavious’s bad shoulder, sending him to the ground.

  Argo released his extension and got up on one knee from his good leg. With his other leg missing a foot and bleeding out, he pierced Octavious in the forearm just as he was rolling over, causing him to drop his fire saber. Octavious rolled around on the ground, struggling to find his saber. One of the SS soldiers found it and threw it ten meters away. Argo, with the assistance of the SS soldier, got up and limped over to Octavious. He grabbed the back of Octavious’ head.

  Kaya and Cortes came out of the tunnel and onto the landing pads. From sixty meters away, both had their fire blades ready. But Kaya stopped, so Cortes did as well. Kaya and Argo locked eyes. A shot was fired near him, causing Argo and the soldier to readjust. As they did, they looked up and noticed the revolting miners, a few thousand of them. They were on top of the facility looking down and on the landing pad, some thirty meters away, ready to rush them.

  Argo smiled, blood on his face. Argo had pierced his sword into Octavious’ shoulder, twisting it. It caused such excruciating pain, that Octavuious could not move and was helpless. Argo looked up at the crowd and saw there was no way to get out of this. With three thousand miners ready to rush him, he yelled at the top of his lungs, “This is your leader? This is your God? This worthless mortal?”

  The crowd was restless. One by one they began to chant, “Val-may, Val-may, Val-may…”

  Hesitant to rush Argo, he leaned down and spoke into Octavious’ ear. “I am going to kill each and every one of them, Octavious.”

  With blood running down his forearm from where Argo pierced it, Octavious raised his hand as high as it would go. Still on his knees, he tried to ball his hand up into a fist. The crowd sensed he was going to speak and stopped chanting. Octavious closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and yelled, “Red Ring Rise!”

  Every one of the miners pulled the diamonds or rings out that were hanging from their neck. The stones all began to glow, some blue, some red, some green, some yellow. They looked at each other in awe. Argo was utterly perplexed as well, for he had never seen anything like it as well. Kaya and Cortes, still standing on the pad, had their stones glowing a bright red. The miners began yelling, “Red Ring Rise, Red Ring Rise, Red Ring Rise…..”

  Despite the chanting, the sound of aircraft engines deafened the skies. Some twenty F-81 Sirator fighters came in from everywhere, starting their runs. They fired on the miners everywhere, as hundreds were killed i
nstantly. Octavious opened up his hand from the clenched fist position. He held his head up, and somehow, his fire saber ring moved through the air, some ten meters, right into his hand. Octavious swiftly pierced Argo right where his ankle had been cut off. It caused Argo to lose balance and let go of Octavious’ head. The SS officer next to Argo took his saber and pierced it through Octavious’ back.

  Kaya and Cortes ran toward them. Argo was helped back-up by one of the SS soldiers. He saw the other four SS soldiers firing at Kaya and Cortes, who were forced to take cover. Argo picked up Octavioius’ head from his now motionless body. Kaya peaked out with her one good eye and saw Argo turn his sword into a large dagger. In one swing, he cut through Octavious’ neck, just as he was shot in the shoulder and lost his balance.

  Kaya ran towards them. One of the SS officers shot her in the shoulder, causing her to spin towards the ground. Argo dropped Octavious’ almost severed head as two SS Officers helped back to his personal transport. Helped by the remaining SS officers, Leahy, still bleeding and screaming profusely from his injury, sat next to Argo. As a robot medic looked at his ankle, Argo yelled, “Get us out of here and bomb this fucking facility.”

  Watching Argo’s transport fly away, Kaya got back on all fours, blood pouring out of her shoulder now. She jogged over to Octavious’ almost decapitated body, and grabbed it. With blood everywhere, she saw his head almost completely severed and began to cry. She looked up at the billowing smoke, as her blood-soaked arms wrapped around his chest.

  One of the SS officers got in the Vait transport, and followed Argo’s ship. He said on his intercom, “Give us a few seconds before you start your bombing run. We have a full load of Vait.”

  Cortes ran over to Kaya and said, “We gotta get out of here.”

  They both grabbed Octavious and dragged him to the one transport that was left. Kaya and Cortes got Octavious’ body up the ramp, where Cortes dropped him and sprinted to the cockpit.

  The AuFa pilot said, “Lord Argo and the Vait transports are clear! Start your run!”

  The bombers all lined up. Once Argo’s transport was a kilometer away, the bombers turned toward the facility. One of the bomber pilots said, “Bay doors open, bombs away.”

  Cortes hit the throttle and got the transport turned around, three meters off the ground. Talking to herself, she said, “Come on, come on, fucking move!”

  The transport went directly underneath a crossing bridge, gaining speed as it went past it. Cortes could see the explosion of the bombs coming up behind her. They were compounded by the remaining Vait as they soon engulfed her ship. Cortes lost control of the transport as it crashed to the surface.

  Belinea - Episode 8

  Taz

  Belinea 8.1

  Capital City, Belinea (Six Weeks Prior…)

  Chairman Hassara’s office

  The four chairs in front of Chairman Hassara’s desk were facing each other, forming a perfect X with a small diamond-shaped table in the middle. Chairman Hassara and Tempest sat across from each other. Malovex stood by the bar table, pouring himself a drink. Malovex said, “You told him the time for the meeting?”

  Tempest had her elbow on the arm of the chair, using it to hold her head up. She replied in annoyance, “Of Course….”

  Malovex closed the top to the liquor bottle and responded, “Any chance he has forgotten how to tell time?”

  Tempest answered, “That would imply he used to…”

  Malovex walked back to the chairs with a triple pour, neat, in his glass. He quickly continued, “Any chance a sniper took him out on the way over here?”

  Tempest replied, still in annoyance, “Only if wishing made it so…”

  The Chairman interrupted, “Punctuality is not your cousin’s strength.”

  Malovex now sat in the chair in between the Chairman and Tempest. “Even monkeys can tell time, and yet you never think to just give him a time that’s 30 minutes earlier?”

  Tempest replied, “It might need to be an hour….”

  Malovex quickly continued, “Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. I no longer blame him, I blame us.”

  The Chairman interrupted again with, “We could just start the meeting without him.”

  Tempest half-smiled and said, “Argo has important information and a proposal.”

  Malovex added, “Perhaps it is a cooking recipe?”

  The Chairman added, “We all have things we could be doing right now, Sansigar.”

  Malovex took a sip of his scotch and rolled his eyes. The Chairman quickly added, “Perhaps I should get him an officer, and assistant, that strictly kept him on-time….”

  Malovex added, “...or a monkey.”

  Argo came walking through the doors with a tablet in his hand. He quickly asked, “What is the monkey for?”

  Malovex quickly replied, “You.”

  Argo went over to the bar and poured himself a drink, asking aloud, “I need a monkey?”

  Tempest inserted, “You need a lot of things….”

  The Chairman said, “You are late, and we have been waiting…”

  Argo put the bottle down and asked, “I do not see how a monkey would have solved that.”

  Tempest added, “Perhaps a wristwatch?”

  Malovex gently nodded and quickly added, “A monkey with a wristwatch…”

  Argo was walking back to the chairs with the neat drink in his hand. He asked, “You can teach a monkey to tell time?”

  Malovex quickly responded, “And somehow you cannot…”

  Tempest added, “The whores, they work by the hour. Perhaps I could get them to teach you.”

  Argo sat down, with the drink and the tablet, and said, “My whores work all day sis….”

  The Chairman raised his voice and said, “Enough. Let’s get started. Argo, you have some vital information for us?”

  Argo replied, “Remember about a month ago I told you one of my spies said the Earth Security Group, the DAG, was poking their heads around Avola and inquiring about purchasing Vait?”

  The Chairman responded, “And I told you not to do anything about it. We do not have direct evidence, but we do have an excellent relationship with one of the Earth Ambassadors.”

  Argo replied, “Which one?”

  Tempest replied, “Ambassador Yi.”

  Argo continued, “Alright, not that one, but another Earth Ambassador is running his mouth about independence, and do we need the BRG. Here, look….”

  Argo put the tablet on the table in the middle of all of them. He hit a button, and a 3-D hologram of Ambassador Bird popped up, giving a speech.

  “Yes, we share the same vision as the Belieneans, we must let these terrorists know....that there is no place for them to hide. We must work together on that mission, but we shall also not forget our primary vision of a better Earth. We cannot tolerate becoming prisoners to a plan that will lead us into an economic abyss. We cannot allow the Council to place us in financial shackles of dependency. Earth must, AND WILL, do what is best for EARTH. Earth will choose our own direction. And most important, Earth will fight for the right to protect its own citizens...(applause).”

  Malovex quickly responded, “He’s got balls…”

  Chairman Hassara quickly asked, “Who is this, weasel?”

  Tempest answered, “That is the new Earth Ambassador Bird.”

  The Chairman continued, “A new Ambassador saying that? Is he an idiot? Another pandemic might change his tune.”

  Argo continued to speak. “He has been making a bunch of these speeches. Combined with my spy telling me they are trying to get Vait, and I think these people from Earth are going to try and start their own military.”

  Tempest concluded, “Your vital information for this meeting is speeches that have you concerned Earth is trying
to create its own army? That is a stretch, Argo.”

  Malovex added, “Yes, and if they were, why have I not heard anything from my spy?”

  Argo replied, “Because my spy is far more connected than your spy.”

  Malovex sat up and said, “Tell me your spy, and I will tell you mine.”

  Argo replied, “Sansigar, you know I am not going to do that.”

  Malovex smiled and said, “Do not be embarrassed by the fact your spy is sucking some officer’s cock. That is your kind of crowd, Argo.”

  Argo smiled back, “Not going to admit you might be wrong on this?”

  Malovex answered, “I never said you were, just that I have heard nothing from my spy.”

  Argo replied, “And it’s not true until you do?”

  Malovex answered, “It makes it reliable.”

  Argo answered, “Why is your spy more trustworthy than mine?”

  Malovex answered, “For starters, mine can tell time….”

  The Chairman interjected again, “Stop. Let’s work on the problem. If they are building some independent military, which I do not think they are, what do we do?”

  Tempest replied instantly, “We absolutely send them a message letting them know we will not tolerate such an act.”

  Malovex answered, “Certainly, nothing drastic?”

  The Chairman pondered for a second. “No, through back channels. We have too much invested in Earth, with our shipbuilding facilities and cheap labor to jeopardize the production in that way.”

  Malovex added, “I am not even sure letting them know we know is the best thing.”

  The Chairman responded, “Agreed. Perhaps do nothing until we have factual verification?”