Starblazer- Through the Black Gate

by Reiter

  “Smart bomb!” Persephone yelled. “That thing is faster than me and it can make tighter turns.”

  “You making excuses already?!” Goldie yelled back as he turned to see if he could get eyes on the weapon. “Ditch this thing!”

  “Let go, kid!” Persephone said as she activated all forward thrust, pulling up on the controls. Her goggles showed a tactical of her progress and the missile gaining on her position. “Come on, Icarus, Momma’s got somewhere she’s got to be! I’m going to light up the ceiling and hope this bastard is tracking us by my heat trail.”

  “Are you any good on this thing?” Goldie asked.

  “Kid, that’s a freakin’ missile! It comes complete with all sorts of built-in advantages!”

  “That doesn’t answer my question!” Goldie yelled.

  “I’m the best you’ll ever see!” Persephone snapped.

  “You better be!” Goldie said as he released his hold of Persephone. He rolled off the back of the bike.

  “Goldie!” Persephone screamed as she started to make her turn. “You…” Goldie fell past the missile, swinging his sword into the fin of the construct. “… you glorious son of a bitch!” Persephone started left, but then jerked back to the right, making another barrel roll as she evaded the missile that was already starting to go into a flat spin. It exploded as Persephone passed under the body of the falling fool. As she was reaching for him, he took hold of her shoulder and fell into his seat, quickly wrapping his arms around her waist. She could feel his face pressing into her back and Persephone patted the young man’s forearms as she turned her bike for the coordinates she had seen before Tuitonn had made her visible.

  “You up to checking out that rendezvous point?” Persephone asked.

  “Is it on the ground?” Goldie asked.

  Persephone chuckled as she looked around. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure it is.”

  “Then let’s do it!” Lightning started discharging all around a few buildings as Persephone passed over one of the large parks. She shook her head, thinking that someone had decided to order up bad weather for the evening. The so-called rain was really more of a rinse for the levels of Black Gate. It cleaned the streets and watered the plants all at the same time, but such downpours normally came with a warning or proclamation of some sort. This evening’s weather had come unannounced. Persephone was forced to fly a little lower, but she pulled back on the engine output, telling Satithe to disengage the audio component of the on-board warning system that was advising her of the rising temperature of her engine.

  Constantia landed in the middle of the walkway, scaring a couple who were taking a little evening stroll together. She released Falco who stumbled over to a light post and leaned against it for support. The woman was also fatigued, having never carried so much weight for such a length of time. Her arms were aching, but she was recovering quickly as she controlled her breathing and rubbed her arms thoroughly from shoulder to elbow.

  “I think it is time, Lord Sylgarr,” she panted. “I can already hear the engines of her vehicle drawing close. I can try to delay her, but not at the expense of my life. Take the potion and ready yourself!”

  The woman took a deep breath and held it for a moment. As she started to breathe out slowly, she turned to walk toward the sound of the sky-bike. The woman smiled, straining her eyes to get a picture of the pirate who had outmaneuvered herself, Falco Sylgarr, and the highly intellectual benefactor they had met when they arrived at Black Gate. While she was glad for such a powerful force to be female, she was not happy that she was on the receiving end of the woman’s tactics, resources and skills.

  “She thinks herself a flyer, does she?” Constantia whispered as she closed her eyes, putting her mind to her talents. She could feel the threshold to MannA opening, and the initial rush of the power brought a genuine smile to her face. Slowly opening her eyes, the smile on Constantia’s face was ripped away as an arrow lodged into her right leg.

  “Damn!” Hennix muttered, blinking his eyes at the sight of a successful one hundred seventy-five meter called shot.

  “I see why they call you Cupid!” Bruveia added.

  “I could say the same for the way you guys pilot this little baby,” Olkin stated as he took his seat.

  “Damn!” Hennix repeated, still not believing what he had witnessed.

  “Captain, this is Cupid. We’ve cleared the deck and read the room. You’re clear for your approach!”

  “Roger that, sweet archer,” Persephone responded as she let up off the throttle. “Good work, all of you! Hennix, you guys are into breaking into ships, right?”

  “That’s the word.”

  “Think you can up your game to stealing the entire ship instead of ransacking whatever’s inside?”

  “That sounded like a challenge, Captain,” Hennix smiled. “You’re on!” He reached for the throttle controls, but his hand was intercepted. Hennix looked over at the man who had designed and built their flyer who was currently looking only at his screens. “Problems, Deolun?”

  “Yeah, but they’re not ours,” the young engineer replied.

  “Clarify, cousin,” Bruveia asserted.

  “That arrow shot!” Deolun stated. “That show’s not over! Look!”

  Constantia continued to scream, but not from the pain in her leg. She had summoned MannA and was about to cast a powerful enchantment. Before she was shot, she had been about to breathe life into small figurines and then set them against the approaching nemesis. But the pain of the wound had caused her to drop them. Without a defined target for the MannA to flow into, it was allowed to exercise its own will and flow naturally. Outside of its own realm, however, the easiest path to take was into the very InvokeR who had summoned the energy from its home. Without a specific set of instructions, the MannA entered the woman’s body, found more of the same brand of power, and brought that energy into itself. As natural and simple as the process sounded, it was excruciating because that discovered MannA was attached to Constantia’s mind and life essence; she was about to lose both! Her body started glowing just before it exploded in a brilliant blue and purple light. A flaming torso burst up from Constantia’s body, carrying her screaming voice before it faded from sight.

  The burst had scattered Constantia’s corporeal form from the realm, but the concussive force was enough to knock Falco down. The vial he had taken from his belt fell from his hand and rolled off the walkway to just under a young woman’s boot.

  “Talk to me, Tank,” Annsura radioed.

  “I’ve got our three party-crashers,” Mel reported. “Slightly bruised, but everything’s clean and green on this end.”

  “Murder?” Annsura said as she picked up the vial.

  “Flying high right now, Cutter. Me and Mayhem covered Z’s exit,” she declared. “We had to convince a few snipers to leave the man alone, but we won’t be needing any infirmary time. Right now we’re reading him closer to you than to us.”

  “Received. Nice work, ladies.”

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  “Nice work indeed,” Dungias thought as he jumped from the automated ferry to the cross-grid tram. He was only a few hundred meters from the rendezvous point that Kryltane had read when he hacked the Sylgarr database. “A ‘night of firsts’ indeed! I wonder what the Captain will award the Governor with for such a statement. To speak in such a way as to make the first letter of each sentence spell out the word Imperials. From that moment on it has been an utter joy to watch Persephone work.” Dungias recalled the way she rallied her troops and opened the floor for suggestion on how to best attack Sylgarr and his cronies. Kryltane had proven himself to be invaluable when he offered to work with Satithe and not only find where Sylgarr was hiding, but intrude into his computer and listen in on most of his communications.

  After that, it had only been a matter of composing the perfect counter-plan. It was a very proud moment when Persephone had turned to him and requested if he could make more units to make them invisible or
to project false faces. The reprogramming of the brace-coms had taken less than five minutes, as the necessary hardware had already been placed into the bodysuits. They had taken a numerically inferior group and turned the tides of the evening. The new Governor of Black Gate was safe, and in a position to be obligated to the Captain, and even though Dungias was not close to the rendezvous point, he held no fear of losing Persephone.

  “Perhaps it is not her you need to be concerned with then,” Cihpares warned.

  “Fear not, good guardian,” Dungias thought as he jumped from the top of the tram. Three MannA Bolts scored the area where had been kneeling. “I have been aware of a watcher since I rescued Gundryss. It did not escape me that I could not perceive who or what they were, but there was little point in responding to the presence.” Dungias landed on the street below and hopped to land on the back of an air-car. “I will contend with this as best I can and proceed with little fear.”

  “Little fear?” she pressed.

  “Fear is the instinct of life attempting to preserve itself,” Dungias thought. “… living inertia, if you would. There is nothing wrong with fear, but I will no longer be afraid!”

  “And why is that, Star Chaser?”

  “Because I walk with the Stars!” Dungias concluded, hopping to another vehicle. This one was a large package delivery device. It was slower, but taller, making his final jump to a rooftop much easier.

  “You have something I want, alien,” the voice of Professor Qeldrun O’Zhar reached him. Dungias looked around erratically, acting as if he did not recognize controlled sound when he experienced it. He recognized the voice from the courtyard of Atsildylweer College; the man was either in league with an EnervationisT, or he was one in his own right.

  “I fail to see how that means anything of worth to me,” Dungias replied.

  “What are you looking for?” Qeldrun asked. “Your courage, perhaps?”

  “Not exactly,” Dungias thought as he turned, looked up and over to the rooftop of the adjacent building, quickly drew his blaster, and fired a projectile round. The reverberating field of sound faded as the projectile tore through Qeldrun’s arm. The man yelped in pain as he fell back on the roof. Lightning struck. Dungias jumped in time to keep from being grounded. A second bolt of lightning struck Qeldrun and he was gone.

  “Teleportation?” Dungias thought. “I thought the defenses of Black Gate were set against that being performed… unless it was sanctioned!

  “Shotgun,” Dungias radioed.

  “Way ahead of you, Z!” the young man quickly replied, and Dungias could hear quickly keyed commands being entered on one of Satithe’s input boards. “We’re dealing with another hacker, make that three of them. They’re all over the Master Control grid, moving way too fast for me and Satithe to mess with. But I can tell you where that package was sent.”

  “That will have to suffice,” Dungias replied as he began to wonder if the reason why he had wanted to come to the Territories had in fact come out to Black Gate to meet him instead.

  “Three hundred, sixty-eight meters, bearing north by northwest,” Kryltane reported. “And I’m not able to get anything in that area. Zero surveillance!”

  “This was meant to be a very private encounter,” Dungias declared and jumped off the building, using his cloak to glide through the air.

  It did not take long to cover the distance and Dungias landed at the edge of a swimming pool park. It had presumably been closed due to renovations, but he could see no signs of construction from where he stood.

  “Most interesting,” Dungias muttered as lightning struck all around the park. The electricity covered the area and Dungias set his goggles to anti-glare, as scans were not going to be accurate with the abundance of current and electromagnetic signatures. Drawing Alpha from its sleeve, he walked into the park.

  “I say again, you have something that I want!” Qeldrun spoke, again augmenting sound to carry his voice. “And I think you can see by now how desperate I am to have that property!”

  “The wind may be desperate to blow, but that does not mean it will extinguish the candle’s flame,” Dungias said softly as he continued to walk. Through the statues and scattered foliage, he could make out two bodies moving with him, one at either flank. “It seems you have managed to maintain your group of mercenaries. And this time they are not using their suits!

  “Of course, that only means they are more prepared for this lightning storm,” he thought. “Which means it too is part of this trap!

  “I can only say I am impressed with what a credit can purchase,” he remarked.

  “You think yourself a master gamesman!” Qeldrun barked.

  “I think of myself as a Malgovi man,” Dungias replied as he closed his eyes. Light shone through the seams of Alpha in response to his thoughts. “… a Traveler, a friend to many, but especially to one.

  “This is… unexpected… I am trapped,” he thought as lightning struck nearby and the entire area flashed with a faint blue light. Dungias could feel his limbs growing heavy and he was unable to move.

  “You know what you must do, Star Chaser,” Cihpares projected softly.

  “My choice was made long ago,” Dungias thought. “I commit my life to this trek! Go to her, Alpha!”

  “By your command, Master!” Alpha projected before flying from Dungias’ hand. It knew its creator would have preferred to give some aid in the endeavor, perhaps with a toss or at least a nudge. But Z’Gunok Tel Dungias was not able to move; he was becoming stone! Alpha moved from his hand, collected the brace-com, cloak, weapons belt and bodysuit and fell to the ground, bouncing on the stone. It arched high into the sky, just out of the reach of two jumping men who had rushed to take hold of it, and into the grasp of a man who was flying by way of a rocket pack. Alpha absorbed the energy of that flying device as well as most of the electricity it found in the man’s body. Falling to the ground once more, it absorbed the kinetic energy of the fall and flew off into the night sky.

  ** b *** t *** o *** r **

  “What have you got there, Cutter?” Persephone asked as she and Goldie dismounted Icarus. Lighting struck in the distance, but Persephone was not about to look away from what she hoped was the last Sylgarr she would have to face.

  “Something that Mr. Sickly over there was about to uncork and drink,” Annsura answered. “Supposedly it was something that was going to make him able to face you.”

  “How long have you been here?!” Persephone asked and Annsura smiled.

  “Audio was courtesy of Shotgun,” she explained.

  “That’s right, he’s on the city grid now… listening in on everybody,” Persephone said, glaring at a coughing Falco Sylgarr. He was indeed very sickly; one step from the door of the Grey Realm, but she took her cane off her hip just the same. “If you can hear me, Shotgun, could you dim the lights here?” The streetlights in a twenty-five hundred square meter area dimmed to just above candlelight illumination. “Hey, that’s sexy. Just the sort of thing you need for a last date! Give him the vial, Cutter.” Annsura looked up at her Captain who met her eyes. “It’s time to finish this!”

  “Permission to remain,” Annsura requested.

  “You think I might need the help?”

  “The woman with the pop-up wings told him to drink it,” Annsura returned.

  “Point made. Permission granted. But keep your distance. Same goes for you, Goldie.”

  “Aye, Captain,” the young man replied as he slowly drew his swords.

  Annsura uncorked the vial while walking toward Falco. She lowered herself to her knee and gently lifted his head from the ground.

  “If you give me that elixir, I will kill her and all who dare to stand with her,” Falco warned. “Your kindness will mean nothing to me.”

  “You already mean nothing to me,” Annsura replied. “And this isn’t a kindness. Anything that’ll help her erase the cosmic mistake your parents chose to call Falco is a plus for me!” She shoved the vial into his mout
h and emptied the contents, secretly hoping she was giving him too much of the potion. She corked the vial and pocketed it, quickly backing away from the man as he coughed and rolled over on his side.

  The pale, grayish tone to his skin was replaced with a slight tan. His cough lessened in frequency and harshness, and there was an unmistakable deepening to his voice. He put his hands to the tile and steadied himself as light started to shine from his eyes.

  “Gods of the worlds!” Goldie whispered as Falco’s body started to glow. Images of armed and armoured men and women, engaged in combat, appeared around him, spinning and slashing about before twisting into vapor and entering Falco’s body. More images appeared but these were still, performing all sorts of feats through the application of ThoughtWill.

  “Goggles up!” Persephone commanded. “They will only protect you against telepathic probes and suggestion, but it beats a blank! And remember, keep your distance!”

  Falco laughed as he stood up, reveling in the power and skill coursing through him. “Now that is what I call MajiK!” He stretched his back, chest, and shoulders before turning to face the woman he had come to kill. “They told me it wouldn’t be permanent, but that it would last long enough for me to kill you. Afterwards, I too will die, but I will have removed a stain from my family’s name.”

  “You could have done that by dying a long time ago,” Persephone countered. “I’m thinking somewhere around Zhok-Tarr, actually. You could have thanked your Gallant for being a stand-up sidekick and hurled yourself into the closest star. At least you would’ve gone out with more style.”