Titan Fleet: The Robur

by Jason J Black

  “So, why the posh armour, Drax?” asks Megan, running her hand over his arm and across the gemstones on his hand. “Oh, such pretty stones.”

  Drax gripped Megan’s hand as it met with his. “I am going to war, Megan. The Almak Master waits outside, and he has in his possession, the Key. I need the Key. It is our history and it belongs to us.” Megan looks shocked at Drax and standing back from him a little, she continues to question him, while noises of the enemy trying to get in ring in their ears.

  “Why risk your life for a relic, when you should be down deep with Steg?” she asks him.

  “We need the Key, so that we can insure the safety of the race of Gulmeds, and I will fight every last Almak until I have the Key in my possession. This armour is also a relic of a time past, and will be a shock to the Almak when they see it. It will install fear into their minds, the gemstones bring great power. I must do this. Now go.” Drax points down the tunnel behind him to the hanger, but Megan is feeling that she should stay and back him up in the fight. Jaro looks at Megan to see what her plans were, and they both nod in agreement without saying a word.

  Jaro closes the door and Anc powers up his shield once more. Drax looks at the others, a fine bunch of warriors. A Tarkon Commander, a human Captain and a large robot. Drax began to pity the enemy, as the first of the Almak broke through the large palace doors working with a huge blue creature as a battering ram.

  The roars from outside could be heard once again, as Anc fired his grappling chains at the Blue that was now pushing the doors and peeling them back with ease. The chains impaled the creature, smack bang in the middle of its chest, and then the creature is yanked forward onto its belly and then slides across the marble floor to Anc’s feet. Anc slammed down hard with his fist and began to splatter the creatures head all over the floor.

  The following Almak were shocked at the sight before them, and so were more cautious as they entered. They rolled across the floor to get cover behind statues and furniture, as Megan and Drax fired at them with the spear blasters. They both calmly walked towards the Almak, followed by the Tarkon Commander, who held his hammer at the ready on his shoulder and his shield high to deflect incoming fire from the Almak.

  “Leave this place or die, Almak!” shouted Drax in a bellowing voice that shook the room. “Where is your master? Send him to me to be judged!” Shouting once more, Drax impales an attacking Almak who thought he had not been seen in the shadows. He lifts the Almak up in the air and he slides slowly down his spear, making a squelching sound, until Drax fires the Almak off his spear in one movement, into another Almak who was just entering the room. The Almak falls backwards back out of the door and lands on the follow, with the dead Almak on top of him, and then wriggles backwards in fear.

  “Master, it is the Gulmed Lord, he has returned.” The Almak Master looked down on the fallen Almak, and lifting his leg, he brings it down onto the crawling Almak, and squishes his head like a fly on a car window.

  “Fear me, not them!” shouts the Almak Master, spurring on his troops to do better and pointing to the gap in the doors. The Almak swarm at the room like angry bees, and are met with resistance. Anc runs head on into three Almak, who get knocked to the ground in a barrage of fire and a tackle that would rival any sports professional. One of them flips back to his feet and fires on Anc, the laser bouncing off his shield. The other two are crushed, much like the Blue before them. Two more Almak jump onto Anc’s back and try to tear at his armour.

  Megan and Jaro are fighting side by side now, while Drax tries to fight his way outside to challenge the Master.

  “To your left,” shouts Jaro, as Megan slams an Almak to the floor and looks up to see two Blues now in the building and running in their direction. Megan stands up tall and runs at them, leaving Jaro to smash an Almak in the face, with a bone crushing blow that sends it to the floor in a bloody heap, and then Jaro turns quickly to swing his hammer at one of the Almak on Anc’s back, which leaves some skin and bone behind as he mashes his foes to the floor.

  Just as Megan hits the first Blue, a blast from a glowing spear from around the door misses her by inches, but the second one hits her glowing shield and disrupts it, just as the Blue swings and tears the shield from her belt. The shield flickers back on in the corner of the room, but Megan is now shield less. The force of the two charging Blues pushes Megan to the floor, and she thrusts her spear upwards, into the neck of the first Blue and it cracks out of its head like a new born chick. The blood and slime splashes Megan and the green gas now surrounds her on the floor. It is a good job that she had a face mask in her hood to breathe, she thought, pushing the dead body of the first Blue off, only to be thumped in the chest by the second one, who was straddled over her. She felt the air pop out of her lungs and it was indeed a hefty blow to her. Megan held her spear up with two hands, while the second Blue bit down on it, trying to eat Megan’s face.

  Anc began to fire on more Blues that were now tearing in through the walls. They exploded in rainbow clouds of blood, and finally Drax killed the last Almak in the doorway and stepped through, pushing the Almak with his spear and flinging him like discarded litter onto the floor.

  “You shall pay for your deeds, thief!” shouts Drax, pointing with his spear aimed at the Master’s head. Drax could see thousands of Blues and Almaks heading his way, but he was not intimidated by them, in fact, his armour had not even been scratched yet.

  Jaro leapt to Megan’s defence, and with a body lifting blow to the Blue on top of her, it was smashed up into the ceiling, and then fell with debris to the floor and then did not move.

  “Here you go.” Jaro holds out his hand to lift Megan off the floor. Looking around, Megan could see Drax outside in the doorway shouting, while Blue hides rushed towards him, and the Almak Master stood in front of him, readying for an epic battle.

  “We must defend Drax while he fights the Master.” Pointing at the advancing Blues, Megan notices Anc fighting to the left of the room in the corridor, holding back the Blues there.

  “We are going outside to reinforce Drax. The room is yours, clear behind you,” shouts Jaro in his deep bellowing voice, as they both run to the opening in the doors, and as they pass through, they see the fight start in their hearts. They both wish for Drax to win, but to help him do that, he did not need distraction from the droves of Blues approaching fast. Megan and Jaro ran out of the palace towards the galloping Blues, their feet were slapping stone and it felt good to run, it felt free and cleared Megan’s mind.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  “You insult me and expect to live, boy!” growls the Master, as he swings his spear at Drax, who quickly moves out of the way by a swift roll, and then arrives back on his feet with a return attack, which almost hits the Master in the face. A flash of light is given off as the two spears collide, shaking the ground underneath them. Clash after clash and swing after swing the two Lords of Battle exchanged blows, until the spear of Drax became the first ever weapon to pierce the skin of the Almak Master, surprising some of the surrounding Almak, who were viewing the whole thing from the roof tops.

  “Arrrghhh! You dog! You will pay for that!” screams the Master in embarrassment and he swings wildly to quickly get a revenge hit in. Drax was a well-trained bodyguard. In fact, the best warrior ever known since the last Lord of Battle who wore the suit. Drax jabbed another blow and it lifted the Master up on to one leg slightly, piercing his chest which began to ooze blood.

  “You will answer for your crimes to my people, and suffer each of their blows to your body, before this day ends.” Drax circles the Master, who is holding his side.

  “I will kill you, little Gulmed, and wipe your existence from time itself, before you beat me,” replies a disgruntled voice. The Master leaps at Drax and as Drax deflects two blows, the third knocks him back into the wall behind him. A cheer goes up in the air from the Master’s men, who are still watching the fight like it was an historical battle. The Master begins to slash and bash, and ea
ch blow connects with Drax and begins to damage his armour. His shield had disappeared on the first blow, so at least the two Lords were even. Drax pushed himself from the wall and exchanged blows with the Master, connecting a couple of times and opening up some of his armour.

  Never had anyone fought the Master in this way and survived this long, and as the Master began to realise this, fear rushed in his mind. Was this Gulmed better than he was? Grabbing a lucky break, the Master is able to grab hold of Drax by the spear arm and stop him from jabbing him, and then thrusting his spear upwards, he impales Drax in his side, the spear sliding through his armour and body. Drax cannot believe that he is wounded and he is held up by his arm while the Master slides the spear back out and then laughing, pushes it in a second time. Drax grips hold of the Master’s spear inside him and drops his own spear to the floor. The Master lets go of the spear, and Drax falls with it to the ground in a heart tearing yell. Drax looks up at the sky. It is now early morning and the sky is a beautiful red. The giant monsters roaming the skies glide on the wind like butterflies, and Drax feels a peace come over him. The Master’s men are cheering so loudly and the Master is in his glory, once more proven to be the best.

  Chapter Fifty

  Megan turns to look, at the second that Drax yelled out. She saw him fall to the floor, helpless behind the monsters she is fighting. Losing concentration for that moment, she is hit by the claws of a Blue, which leaves jagged lines in her robes and across her chest, her blood spilling out down the clean white robes and dripping on the floor. She had forgotten that she had no shield, but managed to block the second blow with her arm shield. As she looked to her right, she could see four Blues tearing at Jaro, who was doing a good job of holding them off, but he could not use the hammers thunder blow through fear of killing Megan.

  Jaro pommels a Blue into a wall, leaving its body sliding down it afterwards, but then was also taken off guard by a Blue dropping down onto him from the roof tops. The Blues mass on him like a rugby scrummage, and Megan cannot see him anymore, under the blue ball of hatred.

  Megan, clutching at her stomach and in pain, surrounded by thousands of Blues and an evil Master, begins to get very angry. All she wanted was to get off the planet and live a happy life with Pace up in space, doing salvage work. It was Eve Thorn that had got them all into this mess in the first place. She had used Megan for her skills, but they were all just part of a game. The more and more that Megan began to think, the more she began to feel a blood pumping and a rage building. She deflected a second Blue with her shield, and then just turned off the shield and dropped her spear. She had better knowledge now of how she felt when she was going to have an episode, as she liked to think of it in her mind, and then looking up and around her, she could see death staring at her through thousands of eyes wanting her for food.

  Her beautiful red hair began to thicken and grow out from her head like billions of sharp barbed wire tentacles floating around her, waiting for first contact. The simplest touch and they would attack. Megan’s eyes glowed with an intense blistering heat, which like the sun, could melt your eyes should you look at them too long.

  The first Blue that got too close was the Blue that had cut her belly, and coming into contact with her hair, it is simply lifted off the floor and totally shredded like paper, and all that is left is a fine mist in the air. Her hair stretches out of her body in an uncontrolled rage. It tangled and twisted, like a mess of spikey brambles, hunting for victims. It attacked anything near it, and as she walks amongst the Blues, it tore at them and threw them to the ground. She walked near the mass of Blues attacking Jaro, and they soon all feel the deadly darts of Megan’s hair. Jaro, who is led on his back with his shield over his body, is torn up badly and only able to look out through his helmet to see this creature walking around him, killing Blues with one touch. He recognises Megan and raises his hand to signal to her that he is ok. Megan is not in full control and a tendril of hair grabs Jaro by the hand and hoists him up, before throwing him several hundred feet back, through the doors of the palace. Jaro rolls across the marble floor and destroys part of the wall on the way through the doorway. He falls unconscious, curled up in the foetal position.

  Megan continues on walking and devouring everything in her path. Nothing could stop her. Blues began to run from her in fear at what she could do and now she was clearing the city, eradicating a species like a pest control expert. The mass of hair was now floating around her like a dark thunder cloud of wire wool.

  Drax looks at the back of Megan as blood and guts flick up into the sky and paint the city new colours of red and purple. He grips the spear, the old Key to his people, and slowly pulls it out of his body without a shriek or a cry. He did not want to alert the Master while he danced around showboating to his men. He touched the end of the spear and the whole spear shortened down to two feet long, and his tattooed hand connected to the Key in a way only a Gulmed Lord could connect with it. The Key’s power began to race through Drax like lighting finding earth. The Key began to vibrate in his hand as he brought it close to his wound. Sparks jumped from the Key to his wound and quickly it began to heal beyond any healing he had ever mastered or even witnessed.

  Anc plunged his fist through a stomach of putrid bile and tore out part of the creature’s spine, and then forced it into the face of a leaping Almak, who fancied his chances of getting even for his friends. He swiftly fell, spluttering blood at the walls and then Anc crushed its head, kicking it as he passed, fighting onward down the corridor now full of growling predators craving flesh, only to meet metal in their mouths for their trouble. Bodies lay everywhere. Bones broken and protruding through skin, brains and guts splattered everywhere. The smell was bad before the war, but now it would have been a horror to any nose.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  The wound was now healed on Drax. He felt on top of the world, and with this new found power coursing through his veins, he could fight the universe, he thought as he slowly got up from the floor, and standing silent behind the Master, the fear in the eyes of his enemy was seen once more. The Almak on the roof tops stopped cheering and laughing, the grey faces looking white. The Master turns slowly around to see an even stronger Gulmed Lord standing before him, with a spear in one hand and what looked like a glowing sceptre in the other hand.

  “So, you stand back up, only to fall again, fool!” The Master reaches around the back of his belt and pulls into view a large club with skulls all over it. They have been set in metal and hair hangs down from the pommel, like a horse’s tail. Drax stands silent, waiting for the attack. He was not afraid, he was not angry, he was at peace. The Master lifts the club above his head and brings it down onto the shoulder of Drax with an unbelievable force, only for the blow to deflect off, shuddering the Master in his own boots. Drax did not feel a thing, and several blows later the Master is tiring at his efforts. This thing could not be hurt, he thought as he began to walk backwards, as Drax approached him not uttering a single word.

  Drax, now having cornered the Master, and with Almak firing down on him from the roof tops, lifts the Key into the air and begins to chant an old Gulmed song. It was an ancient story of past lords and queens. With the Master going mad and flailing at Drax, and with all the blaster shots upon him, Drax is sure the song will work, as he generates a large pulsating blue ball of light above him. The ball of light grows and spins. It is like looking into the universe. The enemy stop and gaze at it in awe, until it explodes, instantly killing almost everything between Drax and the city walls, the force is so great that most of the city’s buildings begin to explode, even the palace is crumbling in the quake. Dust, stone and bodies shower the sky before Drax. He could see the power of the Key, and all this time is was with the Master. It was a good job he had not figured out how to use it.

  All Drax can see is a sandstorm now, he cannot even see two feet in front of him, he can only hear the howling wind in his ears and so he stands still and waits for the air to clear around him, and
for the dust and debris to settle, which is several minutes. He can see Megan striding towards him, her hair dancing in the air around her, still looking for enemies. She heads straight for Drax, who this time is prepared for her. Drax looks down at the bones of the Master at his feet, and then quickly surveys the area. Not even a defence tower stands, everything is flattened in this now dessert. No fine statues. No comfortable buildings. His eyes pick out the only things left and they were the giant wall and part of the palace, even though most of it was rubble now.

  He turns back, just as Megan grips him with her hazy hair of death. She still has no idea of what she is doing and attacks Drax, encasing him in a ball of hair and biting teeth of barbed spears that attempt to tear Drax apart. Drax stands firmly in his suit of armour, the hair not hurting or damaging him at all. His suit begins to glow with a warm summer’s heat. It was a soothing feeling emitted outwards, like watching the sun set or drinking hot cocoa on a cold winters night. The warmth grew and the feeling of happiness began to wither Megan’s hair back from its careless dance into a peaceful slumber, relaxing down onto her shoulders like autumn leaves falling on the ground, her eyes turning blue like the ocean once more, and her skin turning back from white to pink. Megan is now shattered, this unnatural force helping her to fall asleep into Drax arms. Drax catches Megan and carries her into the ruins of the palace. He can see Anc pulling Jaro along the floor towards the hanger entrance, which is now visible on the surface. The full force of the building must have fell on Anc, damaging him slightly, as he sparked from one of his shoulders.

  “We need to get you to your ship.” Drax taps Anc, as he runs past him down the tunnel onto the vessel that is lit up like a Christmas tree, ready to lift off with Titch at the helm. Anc trudges onto the ship finally, and lays Jaro onto the medbay bed next to a sleeping Megan.