Rise of the Ultra Fury (Universe in Flames Book 5)

by Christian Kallias

  “It’s just a scratch. Don’t worry about me.”

  Ryonna took her blaster and set it in plasma-cutting-torch mode. Soon she was attempting to cut the beam holding Keera’s leg.

  Another tremor occurred and sand and small rocks fell on them.

  “How’s it going?”

  “Slowly, I’m afraid,” answered Ryonna, without attempting to hide her frustration.

  “This is taking way too much time. We have to leave now.”

  “I’m going as fast as I can, Keera.”

  “I know, but it won’t be fast enough and you know it. This entire level could collapse any second now.”

  Ryonna looked at the quadrinium-reinforced alloy beam she was trying to cut. She was barely a third of the way through. Then her gaze went to Keera’s leg, just above where the beam trapped her ankle. Then she looked at Keera’s eyes, who had seen where Ryonna had been looking. She knew what she was thinking, even if Ryonna hadn’t said a word. There was fear in Keera’s eyes, but then the look of fear was replaced with one of acceptance and determination.

  “Do it!”

  “Are you sure?”

  Keera nodded, and Ryonna didn’t hesitate. She unbuckled her belt and stuffed it into Keera’s mouth.

  “Bite on this. I’m so sorry.”

  Ryonna then proceeded to cut the lower part of Keera’s leg above where the beam trapped her. Keera screamed. Even though her voice was strongly muffled, it was hard to bear. She kept biting on Ryonna’s belt. It only took a handful of seconds for Ryonna to cut through the limb. The cut was clean. The plasma-torch mode of her blaster cauterized the wound as it went, ensuring little or no loss of blood.

  Keera lost consciousness again, but by then Ryonna had her in her arms and was running towards her old ship. Large pieces of concrete fell all around them.

  As soon as Ryonna was on board the ship, she dropped Keera in her medbay corner past the cargo hold, quickly strapped her in and ran for the cockpit.

  She brought all systems online, bypassing most pre-flight checks. There was no time. When the engines started humming another tremor happened, much stronger than the previous ones. It rocked the ship and the entire starport. Not far from the ship a power conduit exploded and what Ryonna had feared happened. With the coolant leak, the ratio between coolant and oxygen made for a deadly mix. Flames engulfed everything.

  “Dammit!”

  Ryonna couldn’t see anything. It was all blocked by flames. How the hell would they exit the starport now? She brought the ship a few feet off the landing bay’s floor, her mind racing to find a way to get out of there. When she felt more explosions and large pieces of concrete hit her ship’s armor, she decided there was only one thing to do.

  She keyed in coordinates in space above Droxia and readied herself to activate her hyperspace engine.

  “Here goes nothing!”

  Her ship disappeared from the landing bay and, shortly after, the entire starport exploded in a fiery inferno.

  C H A P T E R

  VIII

  Miseo landed his ship back at Erevos headquarters and soon he was in the throne room where his father waited.

  “Have you completed your mission, son? Where is General Arkoolis?”

  “The mission was mostly a success, but I’m afraid the general didn’t make it.”

  Supreme Commander Arakan was never a pleasant person to look at because of his scars and his imposing figure, but when he was disappointed or angered, he looked disturbingly deranged. His eyes flashed red.

  “I understand he was your friend, Father, but he got himself killed.”

  “By Laiyos?”

  “Yes. But worry not, I have avenged his death. Laiyos is no more.”

  Arakan rose from his throne. “There’s that at least. Well done, Miseo. Have you brought back his head?”

  “I’m afraid there was nothing left to bring back.”

  “I see. Where is his pathetic brother?”

  “He perished as well.”

  “How?”

  “Also at the hand of Laiyos.”

  The supreme commander looked deeply into his son’s eyes.

  “That will teach that defiant Fury. If he had killed his brother when I asked him, none of this would have happened. People should know by now that I know what is best for us.”

  There he goes again, finding a way to make any situation about himself.

  “Yes, Father.”

  “Well, he won’t be missed. After all, we’re ready to test our brand new destroyer.”

  “The Crimson Shadow is operational?”

  “Yes, it’s ready to go. We need to send this Earth Alliance a message. Was Droxia destroyed?”

  “I’d estimate that more than two thirds of their population was killed, but the planet remains.”

  “Then perhaps we need to finish the job? What do you think, son?”

  Is he seriously asking for my input? Intriguing.

  “I think we managed to do what we set out to do. The initial goal was the total destruction of planet Droxia, but our having turned their precious planet into a pile of rubble in just a few hours will put the fear of the gods into our enemies’ hearts. They won’t likely recover from this for a very long time, so we have all the time we want to focus on more important targets now . . .” Miseo paused. “But that’s just my opinion.”

  “And I value your input, son. I agree with your assessment of the situation. Which target should we set our sights on then? Earth?”

  “Earth is protected by a very powerful planetary shield, but it may be of great interest to us to test that defensive capability. Perhaps our superior firepower will prevail.”

  “Agreed. Even if we can’t penetrate this shield, we may collect vital sensor information that could allow us to develop a weapon to counteract it. Not to mention, we can still crush their current fleet in the process.”

  “I’m not one to be cautious, but will one ship really do? Shouldn’t we take part of the Zarlack fleet with us?”

  “Since you’ll be in command of this mission, I’ll let you decide how many ships to take with you.”

  “Thank you, Father. You won’t regret putting your trust in me.”

  “I know. On your way to Earth stop by where the black hole was created by Laiyos. The Crimson Shadow is equipped with the necessary weapon to close this tear in space and time. If we allow it to grow it will eventually destroy Erevos.”

  “We can’t have that.”

  “No we can’t. Simply fire the red-matter cannon into the center of the black hole, but be sure to keep your distance. As soon you have fired the weapon, enter hyperspace or the ship could be destroyed by the resulting explosion.”

  “Understood.”

  Supreme Commander Arakan made a dismissive gesture with his hand. “If that will be all, I need to rest now. Give them hell, son.”

  * * *

  Miseo left the throne room and Arakan returned to his throne and let himself fall into it, pensive.

  I sense deception in Miseo. What is he planning?

  “You know very well what he plans,” said a voice.

  “You need to stop interrupting my thoughts. I don’t need your council,” answered Arakan out loud.

  A shadow walked from behind the supreme commander’s throne. It was blacker than night itself. The dark silhouette seemed to be made of nothing, like a void. Wherever it walked light was extinguished and colors faded.

  “All evidence to the contrary. Your son just lied to your face and you didn’t do anything about it.”

  “I don’t know why I keep talking with you. You’re not real. You’re just in my head!”

  “Keep telling yourself that, but the fact of the matter is—”

  Arakan jumped from his throne. “SILENCE!” He launched a powerful fireball at the shadow figure. It went through and destroyed Arakan’s beautifully crafted dining table.

  The shadow, who was just as imposing as Arakan himself, shook his head from side to
side. “When will you learn?”

  “Leave me alone. I’m not in the mood right now.”

  “Very well, but we’ll have to revisit the matter of your treacherous son one day or another.”

  * * *

  Sarah arrived at medbay two with Chris in her arms. He was laughing at everything he looked at.

  Doctor Michalis left his console to greet her.

  “Hello, Captain, what’s going on? Is that . . .?”

  “Yes, that’s my baby.”

  “Why didn’t you call me for the delivery? It’s not safe to have a baby on your own, you know?”

  “I didn’t really have much choice in the matter.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Look, Doc, it’s been a really weird day and I would love to stay and chat with you, but I need you to run tests on Chris. As you can see, he’s growing too fast.”

  “When did you have him?”

  “About two hours ago.”

  The doc’s eyes widened.

  “That’s peculiar. He seems way older.”

  “That’s not all . . .”

  “Granted he’s a little big for a newborn, but perhaps that’s just due to his Fury heritage.”

  “I don’t think you understand, Doctor.”

  Sarah lay Chris down on his back on the floor. He immediately rolled over and crawled on the floor of the medbay.

  “This is not possible.”

  “Now we agree on something, Doc. My son tells me he tempered with his genetic makeup while he was in my womb, so he would grow at an accelerated pace. I need to know what he did to himself and how to reverse it.”

  The doc’s face changed color. “How can he tell you anything?”

  “Right . . . He has been able to communicate with me telepathically for a while now. I’m sorry, Doc, but I don’t have the patience to play catch-up with you. Can you please help me or should I look for another doctor?”

  “I apologize, Captain, I usually have good adjustment skills, but I may need a minute or two to process all of this.”

  Sarah realized how crazy she must have sounded. She couldn’t blame the doc for being overwhelmed with what he was seeing and hearing.

  “I’m the one who’s sorry, Doc. It’s been a very peculiar pregnancy, and I wasn’t even awake for the birth, so I’m very stressed out at the moment. Take a minute, but we need to run tests on him soon. If we don’t find a way to reverse what’s happening to him, he’ll keep growing too fast and his lifespan will be short.”

  Then a high-pitched alarm wailed inside the medbay.

  “What’s happening, Doc?”

  The doc ran back to his console. “It’s Lieutenant Athanatos. His vitals are crashing!”

  “What? I thought the cryostasis would preserve him until we found a cure.”

  “It should have. I don’t understand why it didn’t. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

  “What do we do, Doc? How can we help him?”

  “I don’t know. If we take him out of stasis he’s sure to die in the next few seconds, but if I’m reading this right, he only has a few minutes to live inside the pod as well.”

  Sarah’s heart started beating hard.

  Chris, who had been crawling around them for a while, caught a glimpse of the cryostasis pod where his father rested. He got to his feet.

  “That’s new,” said Sarah.

  “Don’t tell me he can walk,” said Doctor Michalis completely bewildered.

  “We’re about to find out. I think he knows his dad is in trouble.”

  Chris took his first steps and little by little approached the cryostasis pod. Sarah swore she saw him grow almost half an inch in the time it took him to reach Chase’s pod.

  “Doc? Please tell me you saw that?” said Sarah, pointing towards Chris.

  When he didn’t answer she turned around just in time to see the doc collapse to the ground.

  “That’s just great!”

  Chris turned around when he heard the doc hit the ground. He looked at his mother and laughed before turning his attention back to the pod. He put his small hands on the glass and a golden aura engulfed him. Some of it traveled through the glass and entered Chase’s body. The alarm stopped almost immediately.

  Sarah let herself fall to the ground and sighed. “I think I’m with you on this one, Doc,” said Sarah to herself, since Doctor Michalis was still unconscious. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

  * * *

  Chase launched himself at Hades and struck him with a series of powerful blows. Hades didn’t seem to be able to block or deflect any of the attacks. Chase sent Hades flying upwards with a powerful kick and immediately released three dozen fireballs towards him. They all found their target and the darkness of the underworld was briefly illuminated by the multiple explosions.

  When the smoke dissipated, Hades was standing in the air, unscathed. He flew back to the ground.

  “Focus on how you feel now.”

  Chase’s anger was still running through his veins, and he cared not what Hades was trying to tell him. He launched himself forward once more for the next round of attacks.

  He delivered more blows, fired more fireballs and kept hacking at Hades with everything he had. Hades was sent left and right, up and down, but none of the attacks really caused significant damage.

  After what seemed like an eternity, Hades blocked Chase’s next set of attacks by sending powerful red lightning his way. The lightning paralyzed him in place. He tried to get free of its grasp but the force exerted was simply too strong.

  “You need to listen now!” shouted Hades.

  “Why? All I need to do is destroy you!”

  “I understand now why you hate using this power. It seems you lose part, if not most, of your mind when you do. That’s a cross you have to bear, though. There’s no other choice. Only if you can bring this power to the surface without letting anger take over will you be able to defeat your enemies.”

  Chase grinded his teeth, still trying to break free of his lightning shackles.

  “Listen to me, Chase. We both know the Sarah I killed was just an illusion, but it was necessary so you unleashed this Fury power of yours.”

  Whatever was left of Chase’s logic in this moment of pure hatred knew that Hades was right somehow, but when overwhelmed with such heightend emotion it was difficult for him to concentrate.

  “At least try it, Chase. Focus on the source of energy flowing through you now. Try to feel where it comes from and ground this feeling deep into your psyche.”

  “Why do you care?”

  “Does it matter? Just do as I say.”

  “Will you let me go if I do?”

  “If you do, you should be able to focus your energy better. Hence you may be able to defeat me and therefore take your leave.”

  That seemed to do the trick and Chase closed his eyes. He focused on his pool of energy. It was chaotic. It fluctuated like a pool of molten lava just before a volcano’s eruption. When he usually focused on his energy, it was a quiet and calm resource. When not enraged, his internal pool of energy was blue, but now it was the color of fire. But what did that mean?

  “Forget about the details, Chase,” added Hades. “Just focus on your power and try to ground it deep inside you, so you can call upon it later by just thinking of it.”

  Chase didn’t understand how to do it, but he tried anyway. He concentrated as much as he could on the energy itself and tried to ground himself in the moment. It wasn’t dissimilar to when Ares had first taught him to take control of his energy.

  When Chase opened his eyes again, he looked straight at Hades. “Now what?”

  “Now you break free.”

  “I’ve tried that before.”

  “Try again.”

  Chase tried to move but the more he exerted any kind of force in any direction, an opposite force acted against him.

  “Try concentrating only on one of the lightning bolts. Don’t try to
break yourself free. Try to break the lightning instead with your mind.”

  All of sudden it clicked inside Chase’s mind.

  He focused on the lightning restraints and his own golden lightning, which until now was sizzling and dancing all around him randomly. He managed to make it act according to his will. It merged with the red lightning and counteracted its force. He flexed every one of his muscles at once and the red lightning bolts disintegrated.

  “Very good.”

  “Am I free to go now?”

  “You’re not ready yet.”

  “I feel ready.”

  “Very well, then attack me.”

  Chase didn’t wait. He sent a flurry of powerful fireballs towards Hades, who deflected them with ease.

  “You’re still wasting your powers. You’re not focusing on hitting me.”

  Chase tried to calm the turmoil inside his enraged mind.

  “Yes, Chase, envision your next blow in your mind, see it land the way you want it to, then just do it.”

  Chase wasn’t sure what Hades meant but that didn’t deter him. To his surprise, before he could realize what was happening, he had teleported in front of Hades and thrust his elbow deep into Hades’ stomach. Hades took three steps back and dark, red blood spilled from his mouth.

  “That’s better,” said Hades through the pain. “Now we can actually start to fight seriously.”

  * * *

  Ryonna was relieved when the view from her ship’s viewport morphed from the inferno to the more familiar view of stars in space.

  She lost no time looking at the stars, though. She keyed in the last known coordinates of her brother-in-law Jonas and activated the jump engines once more.

  Then she ran back to her medbay corner to check on Keera. She was still unconscious. She brought her medical AI online and entered a few commands on the terminal. A bio-matter generator mounted on a robotic arm directed itself to where Ryonna had cut her limb. The bio-matter generator started reconstructing the limb, starting with the bones. It continued with blood vessels, nerve endings, tendons, muscles and ended with the skin layer. The entire procedure took less than three minutes.