Shadow Worlds: A Space Opera Fantasy (Shadow Corps Book 2)

by Justin Sloan

  His sword flashed, tearing lines of light into the sky that burst through enemy shields and metallic bodies, leaving little in his wake.

  But Samantha didn’t have time to watch and worry—she had Saraleigh to deal with. The serpent woman had made it halfway across the ceiling and almost to the dome, where Samantha imagined she and her followers would move in on the Arzanian teams from behind while the pirates attacked from within.

  That couldn’t be allowed to happen.

  Samantha ran to the edge of the wall, glad that she was fully charged up and hadn’t been using any energy before this fight. It meant she could do her worst. A leap brought her up, and her feet hit the wall with the familiar gravitational pull she had come to appreciate, She ran straight for Saraleigh and her horde. The faster she ran, the faster the suit reacted, pushing her beyond what she would normally be capable of.

  Scrapulent tried reaching out to her mind, and she felt them like raindrops on the skin. Impulses to give up, to turn around, to piss herself in terror. But they had no effect on her. She was going to tear them all to shreds.

  At the last minute, Saraleigh pulled back and commanded her forces forward, but Samantha wasn’t fazed. She leaped, cloak billowing behind her and helping her stay afloat in a confusing, not quite upside down position as she hurtled herself over the heads of the Scrapulent and right into Saraleigh.

  A flash of metal and the snake tail was coming for her, but Samantha was ready for it this time. With a thrust of her sword and spark of electricity, she pierced the metal and had the hold she wanted.

  Now she let gravity work its magic, and pulled Saraleigh with her. The two went toppling down to land on the ground below with a thud. Instantly Samantha was up, pulling her sword out and spinning to attempt a blow that would separate woman from metallic snake. Instead, the blow hit one of several falling Scrapulent spider-men who were throwing themselves in their goddess’s way, keeping her from harm.

  Saraleigh was up and slithering around to try and attack Samantha from the back, but then Dex appeared, a line of his blue and purple light tearing a gap in the snake. With a piercing shriek, the goddess pulled back and flew the other way, apparently putting out a horrible mental image, as the others above stopped shooting long enough to scream.

  Keep on her, Dex commanded. I’ll deal with these ones. As long as you have her distracted, her magic is weakened.

  On it, Samantha replied. She thrust herself through the oncoming Scrapulent, darting between them and cutting limbs, not lingering long enough to see what damage she had done, but relentlessly pursuing her prey.

  The goddess saw what was happening and cursed, slithering away and using her Scrapulent as a wall of reaching pincers, mandibles, and sharp spider legs. Screeching sounded as metal scraped against Samantha’s armor, but she pushed on, slashing her way through. With a thrust of her shield, she sent a shockwave through the enemy, temporarily stunning them, and used that moment to hack through, creating a gap.

  She was vaguely aware of Dex spinning and slashing behind her, and the blasters had started again from the rest of her team. There wasn’t time to allow even a moment’s distraction, however, so Samantha ran through the line, cutting herself off from her team against all of her instincts.

  If Saraleigh got away, it wouldn’t matter.

  The snake tail stabbed at her face, and she narrowly dodged to her left as the tip thrust. It would have likely shot right through her faceplate, but instead the attack left the goddess open.

  With a grunt of exertion, Samantha spun and swiped up with her sword, cleaving off the end of the snake tail. Purple liquid flew from the exposed end and a blood-curdling scream filled the room as Saraleigh pulled back with a spasm.

  The Scrapulent surged on Samantha, but like one, Samantha’s team was suddenly at their best. The mental link must have been broken, because now they were shooting straight and on point, Dex cutting through the enemy without mercy.

  And that meant Samantha could stay focused on her objective.

  She lifted her sword and slammed it down onto the ground in the direction of Saraleigh, sending a beam of electricity at her opponent. The goddess lit up and then hissed as she fell to the floor, arms barely holding her up. It was quite the sight, a hideous creature that once might have been a beautiful woman but had been turned into a monster by biotech experimentations. The purple veins glowed brighter than ever, the fragments of broken gems in her eyes sparking as if attempting to create energy.

  “You’re done here,” Samantha said, sword out.

  “I’ll live forever, you little tw—”

  Samantha didn’t let her finish the word, instead slicing with a pounce. Her sword slid easily through skin and bone, severing the goddess’s jaw from her face. Blood spewed and a tongue flapped as Saraleigh’s eyes widened in horror.

  As if by instinct, her snake body took over and she slithered at ungodly speeds back into the dome behind her. Samantha pounced again, but the snake tail flailed and knocked her sideways so that she flew and hit a nearby wall. Scrapulent surged on her, overpowering her.

  They were everywhere, leaping on her, long claws digging into the seams of her armor in their attempt to pull it from her body and then end her life. Clanging and explosions sounded in all directions, and more and more seemed to keep coming.

  But there was no way Samantha was about to let Saraleigh get away. Not after what she had done to Ferder’s eyes.

  Instead of fighting to get free, she realized her only hope was to stop the live ones from getting to her. That meant she needed more dead ones nearby. She had been saving her skill points for assassin upgrades like the one Dex had recently shown her, with the light that tore through armor, but at this moment that seemed less important.

  Right now, she needed a skill that could deal with multiple opponents at once, and she had seen one recently that was perfect. Lucky for her, it was only two down in one of the skill tree branches she had pursued in electricity.

  Pulling up her HUD, she scrolled through the list, trying to focus while the attack kept on. She did her best to keep the Scrapulent at bay, hitting some with blasts from her shield, but knowing it wasn’t enough.

  First she upgraded the skill right before the one she needed. It was called Energy Cage, and seemed to be used for holding an enemy in place. That could actually come in useful, she realized. The next one, though, was what she needed here, and she hoped she had enough energy to pull it off. Electric Surge.

  She selected it and then smiled, letting the faceplate clear in hopes that they could see the smile, even without their eyes.

  Oh well, kicking their butts with this was going to be more rewarding anyway. As the image had shown, she thrust both fists together to trigger the skill, and then watched in amazement as blue energy burst forth from her hands, hitting the closest Scrapulents. It sent a shock through their bodies and used their energy to hit the next set of enemies, absorbing their energy and growing stronger and stronger until it hit the fifth wave and caused the last group to explode.

  While the enemy was still recuperating, some trying to figure out how their comrades had exploded, Samantha leaped for her freedom, heading for the dome. But she hadn’t counted on how much that skill would drain her.

  The first step took her toward her destination, the second led her to collapse right on her face. She spotted her sword where it had fallen and reached for it, only to find one of the remaining Scrapulent desperately grab hold of her.

  She kicked the creature back and lunged again, this time grasping her sword. When the Scrapulent got her a second time, he lost an arm.

  She used the sword as a walking stick to pick herself off the ground and then hobble over to the dome.

  Don’t rely on your legs only, Dex told her.

  Her mind was spinning, and what he said didn’t make sense. Then she remembered how the cloak had, more than once, acted as a support when she was falling or jumping. She needed support in walking now, so maybe it was
possible?

  Focusing on her mind and meditating on the cloak, she took another step. This time the long pieces of cloak ties about her waist sprang out in different directions, flowing gently all around her. She took another step. This one made her feel like she was in water, and when she started running, it wasn’t like she was running at all, but moving with the wind.

  It was exhilarating, going from completely drained to feeling like a leaf blown from one side of the room to the other. And then she was past the new surge of Scrapulent that had abandoned their attacks on her friends in favor of an attack on her. Passing into the dome, she paused just long enough to confirm that her friends were holding their own, then progressed onward, into the darkness.

  19

  Outer Drok Caves

  Somewhere in here, the Arzanian teams were fighting the pirate Captain Praks, and now Saraleigh was maimed and hiding in the darkness. The clash of battle sounded behind her while more distant sounds came from ahead.

  How big could this place possibly be?

  Judging by what she had seen outside from above, pretty damn huge.

  She kept the sword in one hand in case something lunged at her, but unslung her rifle and held it in the other hand. With the support of the armor, she could fire it one handed if needed, though her aim wasn’t likely to be the best.

  Walking through the near darkness, with the sounds of fighting and death in front and behind her, she couldn’t help but find her memories taking her back to Earth. When the Syndicate had first arrived, she had been terrified, but stepped up regardless. For her, it hadn’t been a question of fighting, but simply finding her limits. She hadn’t been stupid. She had known she was only a young pre-teen at the time, but she had also read Allie Strom, or the older classics like that one about the young girl named Arya… Strike or something like that. Arya Strike? It didn’t sound right, but the name didn’t matter. The point was that she had been raised on a series of stories that dealt with young women kicking insane amounts of butts to save themselves and their families.

  Thanks to her neighbor and his awesome library of old movies and video games, she had been essentially brainwashed from an early age. That, and the fact that her mom was one of the most amazing Marines to ever exist, as far as she knew.

  Lucky for her, that self-confidence and bravery hadn’t gotten her killed.

  Sometimes, she had wondered if there had always been something different about her, something that didn’t allow her to die all those times. Now she had more of the puzzle, because she had become fairly certain her dad was an alien. She was also quite sure Hadrian held some sort of key to this mystery, but right now they had an enemy to take out. Questions could follow.

  She stumbled, and then glanced down to see what had hit her foot—a Scrapulent. As she kept on, other bodies lined the floor or leaned against the walls in various states of destruction. Some wore straight up space armor, suits of gold and blue with various skull-shaped patterns and insignia. Space pirates, she assumed. Captain Praks’s followers.

  Up to this point, at least, she hadn’t seen any of the Arzanian dead. That had to be a good sign.

  More sounds of shooting came from ahead.

  A movement, and then a flash of steel. But Samantha was faster. With a quick darting motion, she was close enough to see the armor and be sure it wasn’t her side, so she lifted her rifle and shot. Another motion came from her right, and she thrust out with her sword, ending the second would-be attacker.

  After a quick check to see that there weren’t any more, Samantha stepped forward to continue her advance. But then she paused as she noticed something was off.

  Silence.

  That meant the fighting had likely stopped. Had one side already won? She picked up the pace, eager to check on the situation.

  The dark passage let out into a massive underground base. It wasn’t just a series of caverns as it might have once been. This place was being built right under the Arzanian’s noses! It had a series of containment chambers where Arzanians were being held captive, some with gem stations to drain their energy, others where Shadow men were conducting tests on them.

  She should have known. The Shadows were in on it!

  As she searched for the best way to make her move, she paused at the sight of a hand, pressing a finger to a mouth. In the darkness, she saw it was one of the Arzanian men, a few more past him. He nodded when he saw that she had spotted him, then gestured below to a large, green, cylindrical object. Just past it, the female team was hiding out.

  Now Samantha saw why the fighting had come to a halt. A line of blood led to the rear of the chamber, where she could barely make out two shapes in the shadows. The blood led to the unmistakable snake form of Saraleigh. In front of her stood a tall man in intricate clothing. While he wore body armor, it resembled the uniform of the other Arzanians, with its arched helmet and chestplate with carved muscles, decorated with fine patterns of triangles and harsh lines. His left shoulder guard rose up in a way that resembled old gladiators, and on it was the symbol of a warrior with arms raised.

  No, not just any warrior. Orion, she realized as she moved closer and could see the three stars glowing at the figure’s belt.

  There was no doubt in her mind that this was Captain Praks.

  “You disgust me!” Praks shouted, kicking Saraleigh away from himself. “You’ve failed. Why should I keep you around?”

  A mumbling started, more of a moaning sound, as she tried to respond without half of her jaw. She must have been communicating mentally, because he scoffed.

  “You’ve ruined everything if you’ve let them in, do you understand!”

  Another moan, but Samantha had seen enough. If this was Praks, he needed to be stopped. With a nod to the Arzanian men, she glanced around to see where the guards were, then stood to prepare her assault.

  But as she did, the whole place rumbled as if in a small earthquake…

  She knelt back down and glanced around. The Arzanians seemed as confused as her. Praks, however, had turned to the large doors behind him and smiled.

  “My king awaits,” he said, and then disappeared into the wide opening, Saraleigh slithering behind like a beaten dog.

  All of the guards and the rest of Praks’s team were moving too, filing out through different doors one level up. No one seemed to care that there was a fight going on just outside of this dome. No one stopped to look back and see if there were attackers there, watching them.

  “This can’t be good,” Samantha said, turning to see Kwan and Ferder enter. “Where are the others?”

  “Still holding off the rest of the Scrapulent,” Kwan said. “They just keep coming, but we figured you might need help.”

  Samantha nodded. With a glance back and a pang of worry for her teammates, she waved the others on. Instead of leading an assault as she had planned, they all moved up to the doorways and simply walked in, as if they belonged.

  The workers and guards had their backs to them, and then Samantha saw why. They all stood in an even bigger area, like an underground missile silo. Only, there was no missile in the center of the room. Instead there was a massive opening in the ground. It was growing larger as earth and stone crumbled away, falling into what appeared to be a black hole.

  Together they all watched it grow, enemies and allies alike, until a shape started to emerge. One Samantha recognized all too well—one of the three, massive space dragons! This Guardian was much like the one they had killed on Entono Fos, only where the other had only two eyes, this one had four. And while the other dragon had a mass of front horns that shot energy blasts, this one reminded her much more of a traditional, mythological dragon. Something between that and a giant sandworm from old movies.

  Praks wasn’t just here to harvest the Arzan gems and power; he was using it as a point to unleash one of the dragons. If it was unleashed, it would tear through this world, helping him to enslave the entire population and their ability to enhance powers, making the Great Decei
vers even stronger!

  Naturally, Samantha couldn’t allow that. Eyes darting across the room, she finally spotted Praks and the weakened form of Saraleigh. They stood at a metal ledge by the hole, watching in awe as the dragon’s face emerged. It opened its mouth and let out a wild scream, and that’s when Samantha acted.

  She ran and leaped down, cloak billowing behind her. At the last second, Praks turned from his precious dragon and sidestepped the swing from Samantha’s sword, then backhanded her across the ledge.

  “You led her to us,” Praks practically spat, glaring at Saraleigh. “Finish her.”

  Saraleigh hesitated, but then lunged. Without time to recover, Samantha took two shots to the back of her armor from the guards. Saraleigh was on her a moment later, long nails growing from her hands and scraping gashes into Samantha’s armored thighs. They hadn’t gone all the way through, but one more attack like that likely would.

  More shots came from above, then bodies fell over and bounced off the wall before being consumed by the dragon, whose head was now almost fully out of the portal. The shots had come from Kwan, Samantha realized, as Ferder leaped down to her side, blaster rifle ready.

  “This is for my eyes,” he said, searing through Saraleigh with shot after shot. Even as she tried to dodge, the barrage was inescapable. In a desperate move, the snake-woman leaped for them. With a spinning swipe of her sword, Samantha finished the job, separating the rest of the head from the body.

  With a yelp, Ferder took off his glasses. But it wasn’t a yelp of pain or fright, but of joy.

  “My vision,” he declared, “it’s back!”

  “I’ll want my glasses when this is over,” Kwan shouted, earning laughter.

  The others wanted to celebrate the moment, but Praks was still there, leering at them and prepared to attack. With a flick of his wrist, he had created a shield of orange energy. Shots from Ferder and Kwan sizzled away when they hit the shield, so instead the two dealt with the others while Samantha darted in to take him in hand-to-hand combat.