The Four Mirrors
Sequel to 'Legacies'
By MMM/AJ
A/N: Ladies and gents, this is where the tension finally reaches the breaking point! And hoooooly cow, we've got a massive 30 pages here too! Better get a glass of your preferred beverage ready!
NOTE: We're going to do one Nolus chapter here, and then jump into Shakara's POV. You'll see why when you get there!
WARNING: This chunk contains multiple scenes of graphic violence. The squeamish should be warned.
Chapter XV – NIV
The duel had come down to the wire now; it was just Nolus versus his brother Cygnus. They were now engaged in a battle of speed, running around the yard attempting to hit each other without exposing themselves to a retaliatory blow. Nolus had 2 health points left, and Cygnus had five. They closed the distance between each other and attacked.
Cygnus's sword struck Nolus in the knee, bringing him down to one point left. Nolus jumped backwards in an attempt to draw his brother forward, and on an impulse, activated his aura vision.
Cygnus' aura seemed to swirl around him like a spinning firestorm, beautiful in its energetic twirl. Nolus could see it beginning to twirl around his left leg, indicating the direction that he was going to leap. Nolus was able to predict Cygnus' attack with this knowledge, and ducked down underneath his swing to deliver three quick successive blows to his stomach. Cygnus' health meter dropped to Zero and his sword flickered out and disappeared.
"Ha, I finally beat you Cygnus!" Nolus laughed, letting his own sword fade out and turned off his aura vision.
"Well I'll be damned! You finally got me!" Cygnus said with a smile. "It's about time one of you guys took my title from me!"
"So, another game?" Melicia asked, approaching from where she had been sitting and watching from the sidelines.
"Yeah, I always get stiff sitting and watching after you guys eliminate us. It's sort of a vicious cycle!" Satoria said, walking alongside her sister.
"Alright, I'm up for another shot!" Nolus said enthusiastically.
"Should I try calling Opulous again?" Venius asked.
"If he wouldn't come out of that research bunker 2 hours ago, what makes you think he'll come out now?" Tamista asked.
"Good point. What's dad up to?" Venius said.
"He's working in the study now I think" Cygnus said. "Working on some papers for Shakara is what he said."
"Alright, I declare game-on in ten seconds!" Cygnus shouted quickly, and ran off toward the first greenhouse.
Everyone scattered to different corners of the yard again and reset their health counters to the standard 30 points. Nolus grinned and decided to use his aura vision from the get-go this time to see how much more of an advantage it would give him. He scanned his surroundings with it really quickly, taking in the environment from the unique perspective it afforded him. The trees glowed ever so slightly in a faded green and orange, their life energy fading preparation for the coming winter sleep. His family members stood out wildly in contrast, emitting teardrop-shaped glows in their characteristic colors. He could also see a little flickering in the sky as well, as 5 human ships flew overhead in a V formation.
Nolus decided to go for the subtle approach this time around. He watched from afar as Cygnus dueled with Tamista over by the greenhouse and grinned. She lost eventually, but managed to wear his health points down and distract him enough that Venius could spring a surprise attack on him. Eventually, when he saw an opening, Nolus ran from his hiding place next to the house to attack Cygnus. He made it halfway across the yard before being thrown to the ground by a sudden blast of light.
The first thing that Nolus felt was a searing pain in the back of his head like a migraine multiplied thirtyfold. A catastrophic boom assaulted his ears, and it was followed by a loud ringing which signified hearing damage. He felt scrapes all over his arms and legs from where had fallen.
Nolus climbed to his knees to try to see what had happened, but another terrible explosion knocked him backwards like a ragdoll, back towards the house. He heard a terrible crashing of wood, stone and glass, as well as a scream from one of the sisters. Nolus didn't even get a chance to try and sit up; three more explosions rocked the earth around him, blunting his senses like blows from a hammer. The moment he had a chance, Nolus climbed to his feet and tried to run towards the general direction of the scream he had heard. His sense of balance was still screwed up from the concussive force of the explosions though, so he stumbled and fell several times. All he could see now was a thick veil of dirty black smoke choking the air all around him. His brain was too paralyzed with panic and confusion to comprehend what had just happened, all he could think of doing was to run towards whoever had screamed.
Passing through a cloud of smoke, Nolus saw a bloody scene unfold before him. His brother Cygnus was lying on the ground with a piece of metallic shrapnel jutting out of his chest. Melicia was crouched over him, frantically trying to help him but fumbling. Behind them there was a huge crater full of shattered glass and shredded plant life where the greenhouse used to be. A fire was already beginning to consume the ruined greenery.
Nolus sprinted over to his fallen brother and tried to use his recover ability on him, but that same terrible burning sensation wracked his skull again, rendering him powerless. He gripped his head in agony, trying to will the magma flow of agony to stop. He focused his thoughts on his brother and ignored the pain as it slowly faded, and tried to think of a plan of action. He remembered that the third research bunker had a med-bay in it, and that it was capable of autonomous healing procedures.
"Quick, help me lift him Mel!" Nolus shouted desperately
Nolus grabbed Cygnus by the shoulders and Melicia scrambled over to grab his legs. They lifted him together and ran through another billowing wall of smoke towards the third bunker.
They found the third bunker had managed to escape the attacks unharmed; there was a charred crater right next to it indicating a near miss. The two other bunkers however, were completely demolished from direct hits. Nolus nearly felt his heart stop when he saw Satoria and Tamista frantically digging in the rubble, uncovering Opulous' mangled body.
"Put Cygnus in one of the med-bays, I need to go help Opulous!" Nolus yelled.
Melicia grunted as Nolus heaped all of Cygnus' bodyweight into her arms. She hefted him inside the door to the bunker while Nolus sprinted over to the ruins of the second bunker.
When he arrived, all that the girls had uncovered was Opulous' right arm and torso. Nolus grabbed onto a beam that had fallen on Opulous. The girls climbed over to help him, and the three of them together managed to lift it up off of him. They shuffled a few inches to the side and let it slam to the ground with a terrible crush. Nolus nearly vomited when he saw what the crossbeam had done to his brother; its weight had crushed his tail, nearly severing it against a concrete edge. Torn muscles, shards of bone, and a large pool of blood filled Nolus' vision, clouding out his rational mind and filling it with terror. He had to turn away and take a deep breath in order to keep his composure. His mechanical, blank responses to the unfolding situation finally broke down and his emotions flooded out as if the damn had burst.
"Oh god no!" Nolus cried, kneeling to dig away more of the debris on top of Opulous.
Several pieces of the debris were still hot from the blast, and Nolus' hands suffered repeated burns from the metallic parts that he had to move.
"I'll kill them!" Venius' voice bellowed over the crackling of the fires.
Venius emerged from the smoke, his visage a perfect portrait of anguish. His face was wrinkled with purest rage, but tears ran down his face to betrayed utter sadness. He gripped his head with both hands and released a drawn out, wrathful yell towards the sky as if cursing the gods themselves. He fell to his knees, still clutching his head, and yelled again as if he were being physically tortured. He clawed at his skull like an animal and lowered his head to the ground before falling silent.
"Oh my god!" Tamista squeaked, her voice strangled by terror.
Nolus turned back and followed Tamista's gaze, seeing that they had managed to uncover Opulous' head. A large portion of the left side of Opulous' face was burned black. Flakes of char were already peeling off of the region where his left eye had been, and his teeth were visible through what little was left of his cheek.
"Venius, help us!" Satoria cried
"I'll kill them all! Murderous apes!" Venius yelled, reawakening from his collapse.
"Come on, just go!" Nolus said to Satoria, and continued lifting more burned debris.
When they lifted the last chunk of concrete off of Opulous, revealing his left arm, they saw that it too had been mangled and burned beyond recognition. No blood flowed from these wounds, the heat of the blast had cauterized everything and crisped the arm and covered it with an even coating of black. Nolus suddenly realized that his brother might be dead, so he quickly fingered his neck to check for a pulse. To his utmost relief, Opulous felt it still faintly beating under the skin, so he redoubled his efforts to help him and carried him by himself, leaving Satoria and Tamista behind to run over to the third bunker.
Inside he saw that Melicia had already put Cygnus in the med bay, and it was in the process of stabilizing him. The tube of oxygenated liquid was clouding up with blood from Cygnus' wound so it was difficult to see what was happening, but the lack of a pulse on the monitoring readout made Nolus' blood run cold. He sprinted over to stick Opulous in another of the glass tubes and slammed the activation switch.
Satisfied that Opulous was properly set in the med bay, he ran over to check on Cygnus.
"Is he still alive?" Melicia squeaked, wiping tears from her eyes.
The screen next to the med bay read "Subject stabilized by oxygenated fluidic medium, cell death minimal. Artificial heart implantation 40% complete"
"It says he's alive, but he needs a new heart…" Nolus stuttered.
Though the oxygenated medical fluid was getting progressively cloudier from Cygnus' blood, Nolus could still see a large hunk of flesh floating at the top of his tank, his brother's heart with the jagged piece of metal piercing it all the way through. Silvery robotic arms were moving delicately inside the hole in Cygnus' chest. Though it was too murky to see the smaller details, he knew that the artificial organ was being implanted at that very moment while he watched.
Nolus dashed back over to Opulous' tank, making sure that he was stable as well. The status screen said "Subject in critical condition. Multiple concussive impacts and third degree burns across 15-20% of body surface. 100% of left arm and 25% of tail considered irreparably damaged, proceeding with implantation of cybernetic prosthetics…"
"Make sure they're alright, I've got to go help the others!" Nolus said, and ran over to the steps to the outside.
His frantic pace caused him to miss a step on the stairs, causing him to slip and fall forwards. He managed to catch himself with his left hand, preventing a headfirst landing, but his hand twisted back and gave to his weight, popping ominously. Ligaments in his wrist stretched and tore, but the pain didn't seem to faze Nolus at first. His system was flooding with adrenaline, and it was almost like he was operating on a different level of perception. He climbed to his feet with his good and hand and topped the stairs swiftly. He raced out into the yard and scanned the area, trying to see if anyone else was injured. Venius was crouched on the ground in the same position he had been in when Nolus had gone inside the bunker, and the silhouettes of Satoria and Tamista were barely visible through a thick cloud of dark brown smoke around the area where the house once stood. Nolus sprinted over towards them, knowing that he wouldn't be able to reach Venius in his current emotional state. He knew this because a part of him was already descending into that same state, but it was still being held back by adrenaline and his steeled sense of determination to help his family.
The smoke stung Nolus' eyes and nose, and he could feel the heat of the fire that was creating it nearby. He stumbled, having caught his foot on rubble, and fell again towards Tamista. She wasn't facing him or paying attention, so there was no possibility for her to catch him as he fell, she he reached out and grabbed onto her shoulder with his good hand. She shrieked in fright and leapt out from under him, causing him to continue his tumble to the ground, albeit with less momentum. He didn't have time to catch himself again, his face smashed against a jagged edge of broken concrete causing a huge bruise on the right side of his face.
"What the hell are you doing?" Tamista yelled, turning to face him.
"I… I stumbled." Nolus mumbled. "What's that?"
Melicia bent to try to see what Nolus was looking at, but the smoke still clouded her vision. Nolus was lying on the ground below the lowest vestiges of it; it blew 4 or 5 inches above the ground in the hot wind. Nolus could see a trace of orange buried in the rubble.
"Dad? Dad!" Nolus asked, and then yelled as he crawled to his knees.
Nolus grabbed a piece of mangled steel and tried to lift it, but it was buried under hundreds of pounds of other miscellaneous wreckage. Unthinkingly he tried to call on his telekinesis to lift it for him, causing another firestorm of pain inside his skull. He moaned in pain and gripped his skull like an injured beast.
"Stop, don't try using your powers! I think there was something in those bombs like a psionic disruptor field!" Tamista said, seeing his pain.
"Ugh, I know! I just forgot ok! Now help me lift this!" Nolus snapped.
Tamista frowned at how rude he was, but didn't say anything to him. "Satoria! Over here!"
The three of them grabbed the mangled hunk of metal and lifted together, but Nolus' adrenaline high was beginning to fade and the pain in his wrist caused him to drop the debris with a sharp yowl.
"Venius, come over here and help us!" Satoria shouted.
Venius didn't respond, so Satoria stood and strode over to him swiftly. Nolus, who knew that he couldn't be of any use in the rubble, ran after her to help. He knew that they might be able to get a reaction out of Venius together. He was still clinging to the desperate hope that his father was still alive underneath all of that wreckage.
"Venius! Are you hurt or something? Venius!" Satoria shouted, grabbing him by the shoulder and shaking him.
Venius didn't respond, so Satoria stepped around to look him in the eye. "What's wrong with you, snap out of it! We need your help to dig Tanis out!"
"Don't you have eyes?" Venius suddenly yelled, "He's dead! Gone! Crushed! Do you think I'd be over here wasting time if he weren't?!"
Satoria and Nolus recoiled in terror. Disbelief coiled through Nolus' mind like a serpent, and he stepped up and grabbed Venius by the arm.
"He's not dead, now come and help me lift the rubble!" Nolus yelled angrily
"Go see for yourself why don't you?!" Venius bellowed in return, shrugging his arm violently out of Nolus' grip.
"No! I won't let you leave father under there!" Nolus shouted, and grabbed Venius by the shoulders this time
"Nolus…" Satoria said softly, trying to stop him
"Leave me alone!" Venius screamed, and punched Nolus squarely in the jaw, sending him sprawling over the grass.
Nolus, still reeling with disbelief, stumbled to his feet and gave his brother a deep scowl of hatred before sprinting back over to the ruins to try again.
"Wait Nolus, your arm!" Satoria called, running after him.
Nolus tried lifting that same steel support beam again, but this time pain erupted up and down his arm like a plume of magma. He yelled in agony and dropped it, falling to the ground and cradling his arm like a wounded child. Satoria bent over to comfort him, but he was now falling into a mental spiral of despair. He tried to reach down toward the trace of orange buried under the rubble with his good arm, whispering "No dad…no…"
A sudden whooshing sound filled the air above them, and a shadow fell over Nolus and Satoria where they sat. Nolus was too deep in despair to look up, but Satoria did and saw a small gunship descending from the west, heading straight towards them. It wasn't one of Shakara's gunships; instead it bore the symbol of the UN on its sides. It brought its laser turrets to bear, pointing directly down at Nolus and Satoria.
Satoria waved at them, hoping that they were rescuers come to help them in this disaster. She didn't notice the laser cannons beginning to glow with energy as the ship closed on their position. She was too transfixed by it to notice that Venius was sprinting up behind her as fast as he could, a look of terror on his face.
Venius leapt on top of the two of them, causing them all to tumble several feet to the side just as the gunship's lasers fired. The spot where they had been sitting was instantly incinerated, the stone blackened and the steel warped.
"What the hell? What's going on?" Satoria sobbed.
"Just run!" Venius yelled, grabbing her and forcing her to her feet.
Satoria helped Nolus to his feet and the two of them sprinted for cover, heading towards the last bunker as fast as they could. Nolus was still oblivious to it all, weeping silently in his head and mechanically running along with Satoria. They leapt down into the bunker, and Melicia ran over to them.
"What's happening out there? Where are Venius, Tanis, and Tamista?" Melicia asked frantically.
"Oh my god, the humans are attacking us!" Tamista sobbed, stumbling down the steps not too far behind them.
"Venius is still out there and Tanis….Tanis is dead." Satoria said, her voice now cracking under restrained sobs.
"Venius…Venius!" Nolus said, snapping out of his mental spiral.
Nolus broke away from Satoria's grip and climbed half of the steps to peek outside. He saw the human gunship hovering only a few body heights above the ground, in front of Venius. All four or its laser turrets pointed at Venius, glowing as they gathered charge again. Venius was simply standing there, facing the ship down like a madman with a death wish. Venius raised his arms, holding the Sol Blade in his hands, and released a primal roar of rage. In that moment the ancient blade glowed a brilliant orange and released a plume of fiery energy that rocketed up into the sky. The cloudless sky seemed to glimmer an unnatural red for a fraction of a second, and a pinpoint of glowing fire appeared in the endless blue. Within the span of a few seconds, this pinpoint of light expanded into a large meteorite, wreathed in flames, that rocketed downwards toward the gunship.
The meteorite punctured the gunship's energy fields like a sheet of Kleenex and smashed right through its hull in a glorious burst of flames. Flaming hunks of steel rained down around Venius, who still stood there holding the sword in the air like a gladiator. He finally lowered the sword as the last of the flames from the explosion cleared and all the shrapnel came to a rest in the ruins around him.
Nolus finished climbing the stairs and ran across the yard over to Venius' side. Venius walked through the rubble, careful to avoid stepping on anything sharp and jagged, until he found what he was looking for. Nolus arrived at his side and followed his gaze, seeing the charred body of the human man who had been piloting the gunship. It was impossible to tell if the man was still alive or not, his entire body was charred nearly beyond recognition. Venius didn't even bother to ascertain if he was alive or not, he began to stab the man repeatedly with the Sol Blade.
Below the burns, the man still had blood, and it spattered all over Venius' arms as he repeatedly hacked and stabbed. Venius yelled incoherently as he mutilated the man's body, releasing all his rage through the blade as Nolus watched. Nolus felt horrified as he watched Venius turn the body into a gory mess, but dared not interrupt him anymore. Eventually Venius exhausted himself and slumped over, dropping the bloody sword by his side and weeping silently.
Nolus quietly laid his hand on Venius' shoulder, doing his best to provide comfort. He turned and saw the three sisters had climbed out of the bunker to watch. Their terrified eyes reflected his own.
Chapter XVI – SI
Part 1
The checkpoint was eerily silent as Shakara strode up to the entrance of the Protectorate Administration Complex in New Celadon City that afternoon. Her escorting shuttle lifted off behind her as she peeked inside, breaking the stillness with the roar of its thrusters. The hallways were still well lit, but there was no trace of anyone anywhere. Shakara felt a strange mix of foreboding and anger as she tried to divine why her staff had abandoned their posts. Was it just simple laziness, or was there something more sinister at work here? She knew that the meeting started in less than ten minutes, so there should at least be some sign of the other council members, but the place was simply empty. Shakara wringed the fabric of her coat in her hands before pushing the door all the way open and walking in.
Walking through the empty halls, Shakara felt glad that she had decided to start carrying a pistol around with her everywhere she went. Ever since that war had erupted in Europe, she didn't feel safe walking around alone without some kind of ranged weapon. A small handheld pistol was her only option, considering that energy weapons were too large still to conceal underneath a coat, and her own natural blades made a knife or sword redundant. So, despite how primitive it was, a little projectile pistol worked best when a psionic disruptor field was present. Normally she had enough authority in the Protectorate to bypass the security scanners. After all, why would she terrorize her own organization? But it still felt odd not seeing any guards there to verify her identity. She fingered the handle of the pistol as she strode around a corner and down another hallway.
Shakara's eyes began to blur as she entered the range of the building's psionic disruptors, and she muttered a few words of annoyance while fiddling around to find her glasses in her coat pocket. She grumbled a few curse words under her breath until she finally found them and slipped them over her head, allowing the world to come back into focus. If it came down to shots, she'd need to see properly to aim. If it didn't, she'd need them to read whatever proposals the council might present to her. She adjusted them compulsively as she approached the door to the council chambers.
Shakara pressed the button on the panel to open the door and watched as it slid aside to reveal that the room was totally dark. The only light source was shining in from the hallways where she stood, and it was steeply slanted and didn't reveal anything. Shakara's suspicion immediately skyrocketed, and she stepped into the room tentatively while reaching for the control panel to find the button to turn on the lights. She found the panel, but managed to mash the wrong button with her hand, causing the door to glide closed behind her, barely missing her tail. She was now totally immersed in an inky blackness, and she could smell a loathsome burnt aroma of some kind. She fumbled with the panel some more, pondering how terrible and vaguely familiar the smell seemed. When she finally hit the right button, the fluorescent lights flooded the room and illuminated a ghastly scene of charred death. Many of the members of the Protectorate council were sitting in their seats, slumped over dead. Their bodies were covered with black burn marks, indicative of laser rifle strikes. Shakara recognized the smell now; it was the odor of charred flash and burnt hair.
Shakara's heart raced with terror as she realized what had happened here. Not all the Council members were present, only those who had been her political supporters. All her enemies, those who had voted against her at every opportunity, were conveniently absent. Most of the dead here were apparently killed executioner style with one quick shot to the back of the head, while others had multiple burns all over their bodies. There was hardly anything left but a lump of carbon in the seat where Artha Tarell normally sat. There was no doubt in Shakara's mind now, somebody had committed a Stalinesque purge, and now she had fallen into their trap.
Shakara turned and tried to get the door to open, but unsurprisingly someone had locked it down. The control panel didn't even respond to her touch. Shakara reached for her pistol and considered firing a round into the panel, but logic told her that that trick only worked in the movies and she would probably need every bullet in the clip.
A soft hiss announced that the other door on the opposite side of the room was opening, so Shakara spun on her heels to look. A dark skinned woman and two guards entered the room, accompanied by trained Houndoom attack dogs. The woman seemed strangely familiar to Shakara, but once again she couldn't quite place her. The woman smiled sadistically.
"Shakara et Benca, Archcouncil of the United Protectorate." She said "It's been a long time."
"Who are you and what the hell is going on here?" Shakara demanded furiously.
"Oh, I didn't think you'd remember me, but I'd like you to try. Think back to the time when you were traveling with you friends Tanis and Ashley. The three of you stumbled upon a hidden human rebel colony and, after staying a few days there, tried to convince the local government to let you have the gunship they had captured from Ares."
"Wait, you're that dark-skinned woman who voted against my plan! You were starving the colony and making everyone's lives there miserable!" Shakara said, the realization dawning on her.
A look of anger surfaced on the woman's face for a moment before she spoke. "My name is Jandra Chelann, and if you and your idiot friends had even bothered looking deeper than even the thinnest film on top of the situation, I wouldn't have spent 15 years in prison! All you and Tanis did was have me locked away, not even bothering to see that the other council members and I were trying to feed several thousand people on enough food to feed only a few hundred! It was called rationing, and we needed to save food for an uncertain future! But you never bothered learning the nuances of hydroponics enough to know that it's extremely difficult to grow food in an underground cavern, where there is no topsoil or natural sunlight! We had been living like that for almost 20 years before your presence lead Ares to us, and the consequences of that little foul up of yours went unnoticed and unpunished!"
Shakara clenched her hand around her pistol in her pocket, but she still refused to draw it yet. She looked directly into Jandra's eyes, trying to gauge what her intentions were.
"So, I spent 15 years in prison, and when I got out, I met a group of like minded people who called themselves the Psi-slayers. They told me that their goal was to prevent another conquest like Ares' by politically undermining you and your protectorate at every opportunity."
"You call this political undermining? I call it mass murder!" Shakara bellowed.
"Well, the organization has gotten a bit more extreme since I joined. As the ranks swelled, so did the number of people who wanted to see you and the rest of your species eliminated entirely. I couldn't just leave the group, or else I'd be tracked down and killed within a week. But I must admit: their promise that I could kill you myself has factored into my decision to stay as well." Jandra said, a devilish grin crossing her face.
"Oh please, do you think you can kill me, even with these psionic disruptors in place? I'll eviscerate you and root out the rest of these so-called Psi-slayers personally." Shakara taunted, brandishing her tail blade threateningly.
Jandra laughed and gestured for the guard to her left to hand her his energy rifle. "The Psi-slayers are much more widespread than you could imagine, Shakara. Ever since those mass graves of Ares' victims were discovered 10 years ago, the group has been growing almost exponentially. Members have infiltrated the governments of every superpower, and we even had a few undercover agents inside your protectorate. Now that the time is right, we've purged the protectorate and taken the first steps to eradicating your species."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Right now, as we speak, a squadron of Corvettes is passing over your little home and preparing to drop a payload of our specialty Psi-purge bombs. They've probably dropped all the bombs by now. Your precious family could be dead already. And here in this building, there is an entire platoon of soldiers waiting for you should I somehow fail to kill you myself. But trust me, I don't intend to fail." Jandra said, and leveled the energy rifle at Shakara.
Shakara whipped her pistol out of her coat and fired three shots in quick succession. One plugged Jandra squarely in the forehead, one struck the body armor of the left guard, and one tore through the right guard's shoulder. All three of them tumbled backwards and hit the floor hard, but only Jandra had been killed. The two Houndoom split up, one diving underneath the table and the other ducking behind the chairs on the opposite side from Shakara. Their forms seemed to melt into the shadows, making them impossible to see clearly.
Shakara backed away from the table, trying to get a fix on them so she could get a clear shot lined up. She waved the gun back and forth between the two places where she had last seen them, but saw nothing. Nothing moved as she tried to assess the situation, and several moments passed in silence. Shakara knew that without her powers she would be easy pickings for the Houndoom. Their bites packed several hundred pounds per square inch of pressure, and delivered a nasty dose of dark energy that was lethal to psychic Pokemon like her. If these Houndoom were trained especially well, it wouldn't take more than three bites to put her out of commission permanently. She needed to get across the table and pick up one of the energy rifles dropped by those guards, but if she made a move the Houndoom were sure to pounce. At the same time, if she didn't act quickly the uninjured guard would get up and shoot her. Suddenly an idea struck Shakara, and she acted on it quickly.
Shakara bent down and fired a single shot under the table in the general area where the first Houndoom had gone under. She had hoped that the shot would flush it out where she could hit it, but instead it replied to her by shooting a massive column of flames toward her from its hiding place. Shakara leapt to the side to dodge the flames, inadvertently exposing her flank to attack from the other Houndoom, which had been creeping behind the chairs toward her. It jumped out from the shadows and sunk its fangs deep into the flesh of her left arm.
Shakara screamed in agony as the dagger-like fangs crunched up the bones in her forearm, and a massive dose of dark energy surged up her arm through the wound. It blurred her vision and dulled her reflexes for a few moments, adding to the distraction of the agony from the wound itself. Shakara put the barrel of her pistol right against the Houndoom's forehead and fired her fifth round into its brain with a slightly muffled bang and a gooey splatter of angry red blood. The Houndoom's eyes lolled into the back of its head and its jaw went slack, releasing her arm. The now exposed bite wound released several rivulets of blood, which trickled down her arm in warm little trails.
The other Houndoom emerged from underneath the table, its fangs bared in rage at the death of its sibling. But this time Shakara had enough time to intercept her attacker. She turned swiftly and swung her tail in an arcing upwards motion, catching the Houndoom in mid-leap and cutting it cleanly in half, hamburger style. She had to swiftly side-step to avoid the two halves of the corpse as they came splattering to the ground, spilling blood and organs everywhere. Some of the blood spattered her, falling like an obscene rain.
At this point the uninjured guard managed to climb to his feet and point his energy rifle at Shakara. She dove for cover before the ravening beam of light flashed overhead, burning a basketball-sized scorch mark onto the wall behind the spot where Shakara had stood. Needing a quick shield from the next blast, Shakara grabbed one of the halves of the Houndoom corpse and lifted it up in front of her as she stood. The guard fired reflexively and hit the corpse, causing it to sizzle and pop under the heat. Shakara reached her pistol around it and fired her last shot, catching the guard in the side of the head and killing him instantly.
Shakara didn't waste any time, leaping on top of the table and sprinting across to grab the rifle the guard dropped. As she neared the edge of the table she saw that the last guard was struggling upright, trying to line up a shot at her. She leapt from the table and landed on his neck with both feet, sending all of her body weight onto the vertebrae in his neck. The bones gave way with a series of sickening cracks and the man made a few weak squeaks as his windpipe collapsed. Shakara stepped back off his neck and finished the job with a quick stroke of her tail blade, severing the man's head cleanly.
Now that the immediate danger was taken care of, Shakara quickly formulated a plan. She needed to teleport up to one of her interceptor ships and fly down to stop the bombers that were closing in on her family. But this building had been laced with psionic disruptors for years now, and their fields overlapped so much that she would need to cut the building's power to escape. The breakers were in the basement, which meant that she would need to fight her way down the hall to reach the stairs. If what Jandra had said about the soldiers was true, they would probably be directly between her and the stairs too.
Shakara bent over and picked up one of the dropped energy rifles, examining its type and power output. It was relatively modern and could probably kill in one shot, which was both good and bad news. It meant that she could use it to cut through their army relatively quickly, but if they all had the same model she couldn't allow herself to take a single hit. With no defense against such a powerful weapon other than her own reflexes, she would need to fight carefully and defensively.
The door opened behind Shakara and a huge swarm of soldiers poured into the room, forcing her to dive for cover under the table before they could fire their weapons at her. She tried to fire at their feet from her hiding place, but the weapon's trigger guard was designed for human-sized fingers, so hers wouldn't fit inside. She had to use her tail blade to snap the guard off, and while she was working on that the guards managed to surround the table and begin firing under it.
Thankfully the soldiers had a hard time bending over to see her in their heavy armor, so the shots blazed past her, leaving trails of burning hot air. Shakara fired her own rifle at their feet, burning through the boots and skin and sending them toppling to the floor in heaps. She felt the rifle heat up and vibrate a little in her grip, and if she held the trigger down for long it beeped an overheat warning. She drained as much power as it would give, sweeping the beam along the floor and cooking the fallen soldiers to make sure they stayed down. After a few moments she heard thumping on the table above her and knew they had jumped on top of it to avoid her fire.
A thought struck Shakara and she rolled to the side as fast as possible, a twinge of fear in her mind. A few seconds later, several concentrated energy beams burned through the table and struck the floor where she had been. She responded by turning onto her back and kicking the underside of the table as hard as she could with both feet. Since she had rolled close to the edge, it caused the table to tilt over at a sharp angle and send the soldiers tumbling to the ground. She heard them cussing and yelling as they fell on top of each other in a huge pile on the other side, and took the opportunity to leap out and fire on them. They screamed in agony and tried to scramble over each other, but Shakara held the trigger down constantly and swept the beam over each of them long enough to put them down permanently. She didn't care about honor or fighting dirty now, it was only about survival. They had shown her friends on the council no mercy, so she wasn't going to show them any either.
Shakara's energy rifle was now dangerously overheating, so she tossed it aside and picked up a fresher one. After removing its trigger guard and turning up its output level to 100%, she opened the first doorway and crept into the hallway. There were multiple doors along the length of the hall, and more soldiers could appear out of any of them at any time, so she had to constantly swivel her head around and keep watch. Strangely, she made it halfway down the hallway before meeting any resistance.
Shakara heard a door that she had just passed swishing open behind her, so she swung her tail right towards it and struck an emerging soldier in the arm with her tail blade. She heard him scream and drop his rifle, and she swirled around and let loose with her own, hitting him and several other soldiers who were grouped behind him coming through the door. One in the back avoided her shot and returned fire, forcing her to stop firing to jump aside. She landed right in the arms of another soldier, who had emerged from another door quietly while she was firing. He looped his arm around her necks in a vicious headlock.
Shakara laughed internally at the man's poor choice of attack point and swept at his chest with her tail blade. Her first three strikes were blocked by his armor, but the fourth strike found its way to his groin, which was unshielded. The man screamed and let go, and Shakara stepped back so that she had a good view of both doors where the soldiers had emerged from. Three more appeared from the one on the right, but she fired her weapon quick enough to cook them before they could fire on her. Again her rifle beeped shrilly to indicate a dangerous overheat, but now she didn't have time to pick up another one and remove the trigger guard. Satisfied that no more guards would come from those doors, she continued sprinting down the hallway toward the stairwell.
Shakara saw another one of the doors on the left side of the hallway open several hundred feet in front of her and expected another group of soldiers to appear, but what she saw instead shocked and terrified her. It was a large combat robot, built as a crude structural imitation of Shakara, or at least one of her species. It had horns, a second neck, a tail, similar body structure, but no face to speak of. A single robotic eye and several different kinds of sensors stared down the hall at Shakara, cold and menacing. It also had several glowing stacks of coils on its back, which were undoubtedly additional psionic disruptors. Both arms had wicked looking energy weapons built in, and its tail was bladed just like hers. The two energy weapons on its arms began to glow menacingly and Shakara leapt for a door, hoping it would open fast enough.
The door had already been in the process of opening to allow more soldiers through, and Shakara crashed into them before they even knew what was happening. The whole group of them crashed to the floor inside the doorway, landing sprawled like bowling pins. A huge electric hum filled the air and Shakara saw bolts of plasma streak through the hall where she had been. Almost eight of them ripped past as well, at least three hitting the floor and bursting into smaller globs that splattered everywhere. A few of the smaller globs flew through the door and hit a few of the soldiers, who cried out in pain as it seared through their armor and skin. The wave of heat released by the plasma burned Shakara's skin just from proximity, and she immediately felt sickened by how hot it became in the room.
Shakara jumped off of the dog pile of soldiers, grabbed one off of the floor, and fired her rifle into the rest of them. The one she grabbed immediately hit her squarely on the bite wound on her arm, causing her to drop him, and kicked the rifle out of her hands. Shakara responded with a quick tail strike to his right shoulder, making a huge gash in his flesh. She kicked his legs out from under him and held her tail blade up against his throat.
"Tell me, what the hell is that thing out there?" Shakara demanded of him.
"That's the hunter-seeker drone! They told us that it was specially designed to kill you and your kind!" the soldier replied, his voice betraying sheer terror.
"How do I stop it?"
"How should I know? I'm just a private, not a techie! Just don't kill me!"
Shakara scowled at him and withdrew her tail. "Get out my sight!"
Shakara kicked the man in the side and sent him tumbling underneath another table, considering it a wonderful gift to him that she even allowed him to live. She reached down to grab another fresh energy rifle, but was interrupted when the hunter-seeker peeked around the corner and fired its plasma again. Shakara had to sprint for another door at the other end of the room, and the shots that missed her still severely burned her skin from their proximity. Her body was getting covered in increasingly severe burns and the pain from these and her bite wound was making her feel tipsy and sick on top of the obvious pain they caused.
The hunter-seeker obviously had some difficulty navigating indoors, because it didn't take too long for Shakara to lose it in the winding maze of rooms and hallways. At first she just ran randomly to throw it off, but once she was satisfied that she had lost it she made her way back towards the staircase. She made sure to stop along the way to pick up one more fresh energy rifle, and for awhile the soldiers seemed to have stopped coming. Perhaps the commander who was watching from afar had decided he didn't want any of his men to get in the hunter-seeker's line of fire again. She was thankful for the reprieve, and managed to make it down the stairs and into the basement without meeting any further resistance.
Though the Protectorate Administration Complex was a fairly modern facility, it was built on the foundations of a much older building that had been built even before Ares' reign. The result was a modern building with a basement made of old, worn cement blocks. The lighting hadn't been maintained very well, and many of the ancient incandescent bulbs were either flickering or dead. The humming of electricity and a distant thrum of various unknown machines filled the air. The air was dusty and dry, like that of an old attic, and it held a distinctly metallic flavor. Shakara ran past concrete support pillars and old pipes until she saw the huge set of breaker boxes bolted to a far wall. The wall was covered with various pipes filled with wiring, which spread out along the other walls and disappeared into the ceiling and floor in a very chaotic looking pattern.
Shakara began throwing switches as soon as made it within reach of the boxes. Immediately the thrumming sounds of the basement machinery ground to a slow halt and all the incandescent lights darkened at once. They were immediately replaced by a few red emergency backup lights, and Shakara reminded herself not to turn off the emergency power until she had hit all the other switches, just so she could see where they were before being plunged into absolute darkness. The pain in Shakara's arm began to intensify as she continued pulling the switches, and she could barely pull the last one by the time she got to it. The very last switch she pulled cut the emergency power, and the basement fell into utter blackness. Shakara had turned too many corners to see the light from the stairwell, and there were no windows to provide sunlight.
Shakara immediately tried to teleport, but her mind was instead plunged into agony when another disruption field amplified and reflected the psychic energy into her brain. She screamed and collapsed to the ground in pain as all the nerve endings in her head fired their pain signals. It took several minutes before the pain faded away and Shakara could recover control.
"Shit!" Shakara yelled at the top of her lungs. "I forgot about the disruptors on the hunter-seeker!"
As if summoned by Shakara, a set of faintly glowing lights appeared in the darkness a few hundred feet away. Shakara immediately recognized them; they were the glowing barrels of the hunter-seeker's plasma cannons. She scrambled to her feet and ran headlong into the darkness, desperate to escape the reaper. She looked behind her and saw the blindingly bright globs of plasma streak past, splashing the floor and walls and melting through the cables that fed the breakers. The plasma burns melted right through the wires, causing huge showers of dazzling sparks that caused Shakara to cover her eyes and turn away to avoid being blinded.
Shakara had to blink a few times before she could see again, and she was terrified to see the glimmering sensor lights on the hunter-seeker's face bounding towards her frighteningly quickly. She noticed that it wasn't charging its plasma cannons this time however, so she leveled her energy rifle, cranked its output settings to 150% and fired a continuous beam. With a click and a whirr, the hunter-seeker's arm popped open and projected a huge blue energy shield, which harmlessly dispersed the beam from Shakara's rifle and sent little splinters of light everywhere like a shattering log. It kept on running towards Shakara while holding the shield in front of itself, and Shakara had to stop firing and turn to run before it could close to tail striking range. Thankfully its energy shield emitted enough of a glow that she could see where she was going, so she could avoid running face first into a pillar or wall. She made her way back around towards the stairwell, hoping to eventually make it outside.
The hunter-seeker eventually turned off its shield to deprive Shakara of Light, causing her to trip over a cable lying on the floor and tumble to a shattering halt. She tried to climb back to her feet, but the hunter-seeker stepped down into her right leg. It wasn't heavy enough to be painful, but the steel foot seemed to clamp around her leg as if it were prehensile. Shakara saw it raising its tail to strike at her, so she raised her own to block. The two blades struck with a deafening clang, but the hunter-seeker had the incredible strength of a machine. It pinned her tail against the floor and stepped on her other leg to prevent escape, and then pointed its plasma cannon in her face and began charging it. She grabbed a hold of its arm with her had and tried to shove the cannon away, but it was scalding hot and she shrieked in pain and pulled her hand back away from it like a child who had just touched a stove. The glow of the plasma collecting in the barrel filled her vision and she finally came to grips with the prospect of meeting oblivion. She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes as the humming of the cannon filled her ears.
Shakara heard a metallic groan and felt the feet of the hunter-seeker shake violently, but oddly enough didn't feel the quick agony of the plasma burn her face. She opened her eyes to see that the beam from an energy rifle had struck the hunter-seeker in the shoulder and melted it together like putty. The glow had faded out of its cannon and it staggered backwards, releasing Shakara's tail and left foot in the process. She couldn't yet free herself completely, but she did the next best thing, she swung her tail up and struck at the hunter-seeker's face. The point of her tail blade struck with incredible accuracy, shattering the glass lens of the hunter-seeker's eye. It still didn't release her other leg, so she tried again but didn't inflict any damage. It pointed its other working plasma cannon in the general direction of where the energy beam had come from, but didn't get a chance to fire again. Its cannon took longer to charge than a beam rifle, and apparently it only had one shield to defend itself with, and that was on its now unpowered arm. A second shot from Shakara's unknown rescuer struck the hunter-seeker directly on its cannon, causing it to explode as the different plasma components were released and mixed all at once. Shakara slid herself around in a circular motion, still trapped by one leg, to avoid the rain of spilled plasma, but the temperature from the explosion added again to the burns on her body. The hunter-seeker tottered now like a tower made of toy blocks. It finally released Shakara and took a step towards its attacker, but a third shot hit it directly in the head and sent it to the ground in a smoldering heap. The glowing, coiled psionic disruptors on its back finally dimmed and died, and Shakara sighed in relief and laid her head on the ground in exhaustion.
Lying on the ground, Shakara focused her mind on her home and made an attempt to teleport straight over to save her family. She vanished for a moment, and then reappeared in the exact same with a terrible concussed feeling in her body. She immediately knew that the humans had created either a teleport inhibitor field or psionic disruptor field around her home. There was only one way left to save them now, she had to teleport up to her fleet and take a squadron of ships down.
Footsteps approached Shakara, and a human man grabbed her good arm and helped her to her feet. She couldn't see him in the darkness, but she recognized him by his voice when he spoke.
"Come on, that thing's disruptors are off. You need to teleport now and escape before the other soldiers come flooding in!"
It was the same voice of the man whose life she had spared back when the hunter-seeker had first appeared!
"Right, but first, what's your name?" Shakara asked hoarsely
"Cardan Taman."
"…Thanks." Shakara said before teleporting out of his grasp.
Part 2
Shakara appeared on the bridge of the protectorate flagship 'Archangel' nearly unconscious, and collapsed into whatever chair was nearest. She had teleported from a location on the surface into a ship in orbit, and such an incredibly long distance teleport drains an absurd amount of psychic energy. She could barely talk telekinetically after it; much less recover any of her extensive injuries. She yelled out for help as loud as she could, but her exhaustion was so intense that it was barely louder than a squeak.
Thankfully the bridge was heavily occupied at the moment, by both human volunteers and ex-acolytes, now called 'Sentinels', from Ares' old empire that now served under her. A huge group of them ran over and swarmed around her, several of them using their recover abilities on her in unison. The pain from her scalded skin slowly faded away and her bite wound sealed itself up under their touch, and that sickening feeling of stress and adrenaline was washed away by a flash flood of relief.
"Are you alright milady?"
"We tried to contact you but the disruptors blocked us!"
"The humans have been-"
"Yes…I know!" Shakara said with a revitalized strength in her voice. She stood up and pushed through the crowd. "Gather up a wing of gunships and cruisers and set a course for my home near the Western Johto Mountain range! Max out the engines!"
"But milady, look!" one of the Sentinels exclaimed, pointing at the main view screen.
Shakara stared at the screen in disbelief, having no words to express her shock. The screen displayed a huge fleet of human military ships in the distance, holding a steady orbit over Johto. There were hundreds of them, bristling with weaponry and undoubtedly surrounded by powerful energy shields.
"How? How how how?!" Shakara yelled, her rage boiling over. "Do none of you keep an eye on the sensors? How could you not detect the construction of so many ships?! Are you all pathetically incompetent, treacherous, or just unforgivably lazy!?"
The Sentinels and humans all cringed under her vocal onslaught. "The sensors never detected them up until now, we swear upon it! They must have developed some new kind of cloaking system that can fool even psychic detection!"
"But, what about…what about…oh god." Shakara said, hiding her face in her hand for a moment. There was a short pause "Alright. How many are there?"
"52 Battleships, 87 carriers, 146 cruisers and 147 frigates for a total of 432 capital class ships."
"Unbelievable!" Shakara fumed, "To have a fleet like that, they would have had to have been building for years!"
"Look at this too." One of the human technicians said.
The view screen zoomed in closer on the fleet of human ships so that Shakara could see the allegiance logos on their hulls. She saw the flags of the Unites States, France, England, Germany, Japan, Russia, and many others. All were also adorned with the symbol of the United Nations.
"This…this is disgusting." Shakara muttered. For a moment, nobody on the bridge dared to verbally agree.
"Milady, we've already readied the ships for battle." One of the Sentinels said timidly. "Shields and weapons are charged and ready."
"Alright everyone, listen up!" Shakara said, breaking out of her emotional lockdown and telepathically projecting her words to everyone in her fleet. "We're going to charge the UN armada that's holding position over Johto. I want mixed cube formations of battleships and anti-fighter frigates in front, and carriers two lines behind. Don't scramble the fighters until we've entered effective attack range, and make sure they have constant fire support from corvette squadrons. Our primary objective is to punch a big enough hole in their formation to allow a squadron of interceptors through unharmed."
A flood of telepathic acknowledgements filled Shakara's mind, drowning out her thoughts for a few seconds. She walked over to the circular display in the center of the bridge and activated the holographic projector. After she selected a set of viewing parameters and sensor input, the air above the table shimmered to life with a huge tactical layout map. The human fleet was highlighted in red and her fleet was highlighted in green. Her ships were milling about like a cloud of insects, arranging themselves in the formations that she had ordered. The human ships were biding their time, holding position quietly and watching them prepare. A soft, low-pitched electric hum, accompanied by a few seconds of slight vibration in the floor underfoot, signaled that the Archangel had begun to move as well. A part of Shakara grinned inside, eager to see what kind of punishment it could inflict. Her darker side stirred as she watched her ships start to move in, eager for vengeance against the traitorous humans.
The Protectorate ships easily outnumbered the human armada ten to one. Their swept, silvery grey hulls shone reflectively in the sunlight and their engines pulsed a soothing azure as they closed on the human fleet. Ares had built thousands of them before his fall, and they remained relatively unchanged except for their visual overhaul. Wicked spines had been ground off, red painted over with Shakara's grey, and the symbols replaced. The newer human ships were boxier in shape, having modular design with olive drab paint. The Earth below them seemed luminescent compared to the stark blackness of space, almost like a treasure guarded by a horde of insipid goblins. As Shakara's fleet got closer and closer, their weapons arrays began charging and glowing brilliant blue. From Shakara's view on the bridge of the Archangel, they looked like sparkling blue Christmas lights in the distance, deadly yet beautiful. A few of the humans on her bridge fidgeted nervously at the sight of them.
"Calm down everyone, we're still several miles out of range." Shakara said.
Almost like they had heard Shakara's words, the lead human ships fired, unleashing a withering torrent of plasma. The huge glowing blobs traveled three times faster than should have been possible, and splashed all over the shields of the leading formations. Huge flashes of light filled the view screen as the shields tried to reflect the huge quantities of energy released, and the screen automatically dimmed itself for the duration of the blasts to prevent damaging the vision of Shakara and her bridge crew.
Panicked reports flowed into Shakara's mind immediately as the plasma faded. Her Sentinels, who had been used to guaranteed victories under Ares' rules, were terrified when they saw that just one round of plasma could drain one of their battleship's shields more than 30%. Obviously the humans had been doing more than just building ships; they were honing their weapon technology considerably. Shakara felt all of their fear at once; it nearly overwhelmed her mind and drowned out her thoughts. She mentally blocked out incoming thoughts for a moment in order to transmit a new set of orders.
"All ships must immediately shut down non-essential systems and reroute all remaining power to shields and engines until reaching minimum attack range. Maintain formation shape, but spread out to standard safe distance immediately!"
Grim looks crossed the faces of the crew on Shakara's bridge; they knew what standard safe distance meant. It was the distance required between capital ships so that if one detonates, the others are far enough away to avoid being significantly damaged by the blast. They knew that Shakara was predicting losses, and that these losses would not be small.
The engines on numerous human ships blazed to life and they all lined up like shooters at a firing range. They charged their weapons again, this time staggering the order of fire so that they could setup a constant barrage. They began firing after a few more seconds and created a line of glowing blue plasma that looked like a luminescent river of sorts.
Ships of frigate size or smaller had a chance to swerve out of the way of the incoming stream of plasma bolts, but had to constantly weave in and out of formation to do so. Larger ships soaked up the volleys with their shields, but they couldn't last long. After a minute or two under constant fire, most of the lead line of battleships erupted in terrible plumes of nuclear fire. Huge showers of molten metal and deadly radiation bounced off of the shields of the ships in the next line. The debris spread like a huge obstacle course in the shape of a 3D spider web. Battleships in the next line fired their beam cannons to blast the largest hunks apart and clear the way. Smaller ships had to scatter and weave in between, leaving the once intricate formations a scrambled mess.
Thankfully, the huge pieces of debris also served as shields against the barrage of plasma from the human ships. It confused their target locking systems and blocked their shots, buying the next line of ships valuable time to close to their own effective firing range. Slowly, they surrounded the human ships in a huge spherical net and drew near enough to fire. With a sadistic tinge to her voice, Shakara gave the order.
The Protectorate ships coordinated their attacks psychically, concentrating their fire upon the biggest human ships on the outside of their formation. Hundreds, and then thousands of glowing lances of light burned the space between the two fleets all at once, striking with the precision of a surgeon's scalpel. Incredibly, the shields around these ships held, glowing a blinding blue under the intense heat. Only a handful of these ships finally gave way and exploded under fire, releasing their own clouds of flames, debris and radiation. Shakara felt a lump form in her throat; it was suddenly looking less and less likely that she could win this battle.
Both sides cut loose with simultaneous beam and plasma barrages, and the blackness of space was wholly drowned out by the glow of the energy released by the battle. The beams from Shakara's fleet sliced through the shields of the human ships after several repeated rounds and burned and melted huge holes in their hulls. Vital systems fizzled out and nuclear reactors overheated and exploded in dazzling flashes of fusion. But for all the damage Shakara's ships dealt, it was returned to them tenfold in intensity. The plasma bolts that the human ships fired liquefied plate armor nearly instantly, and multiple hits could boil a battleship inside-out and overheat the reactor to critical much easier than her beam based weapons could. The space above Johto was quickly becoming a scene of intense carnage.
Shakara had never directly commanded a fleet in combat until now, and she was horrified at the terrible screams of her Sentinels as their ships boiled with them inside. She desperately doled out orders to them psychically, trying to block out the cries from ships that were about to explode. It quickly drowned out whatever bloodlust that had been building in her mind and replaced it with an urgency to end the battle as quickly as possible to stop the death.
At that point sheer chaos broke loose as both fleets entered fighter attack range. Carriers on both sides opened up and spewed thousands of one man fighters and bombers. Anti-fighter frigates, which had been concentrating on dodging fire, now sped into the fray and began peppering the field with lasers. The fighters themselves began dog fighting viciously, each side trying to escort their own wings of bombers close enough for attack runs. Those who got in the way from plasma bursts or beams from capital ships were simply vaporized, leaving barely a trace behind as evidence of their existence. Point defense lasers mounted on the hulls of capital ships burst to life and flashed incessantly, trying to track the agile fighter craft.
Shakara watched the action silently, standing at her tactical map and grimacing at the sight of so many of her ships bursting under fire. She was trying to find a suitable target for the Archangel's fusion cannon, but was having little luck. The humans didn't have one large flagship for her to target, and their formation was spread wide enough to prevent her from striking more than two of their capital ships at once at this angle. She knew that its power was vital to punching a hole in their fleet, and if she wasted it, it could mean that she wouldn't be able to get down in time to save her family. She still refused to give up on them yet, so she ordered her ships to apply more pressure on the outer edges of the human formation, hoping to manipulate them into clustering together more tightly so she could hit them with the fusion cannon.
But the result was almost like a scene right out of one of the world wars of the old days. The humans managed to hold their lines and Shakara's ships poured into a meat grinder, being outgunned and destroyed continuously like a herd of cattle. For every one human ship they destroyed, nearly ten of theirs fell. Eventually, it got so bad that Shakara had to implement one of the back-up plans that she had never intended to use before. She quickly verified that there were no psionic disruptors active by checking in telepathically with the outermost ships of her formation, and then relayed the orders.
"I want strike squadrons of individual Sentinels to make psychic air bubbles and fly out to attack the human ships directly. You will present much smaller targets to enemy fire than fighters would, and should be able to land on and infiltrate enemy ships that have weak or no shields. Concentrate your attacks on the ships near the edge of their fleet, which have been taking the most damage."
Immediately the closest carriers and battleships opened up and released hundreds of squadrons of sentinels. Their psychic air bubbles twinkled even smaller than the engines of the fighters that swarmed around them, and they traced their way through the insanity towards the human ships with energy swords in hand. They left little contrails of psychic energy glowing behind them that traced thin lines through space, and many of the human fighters dodged and swerved around them, thinking them to be some sort of trap. Some were caught in the beams and plasma fired by capital ships and vanished out of existence instantly, while others were tracked down and plugged full of holes by the braver enemy fighters, but most managed to make their way to the human ships.
The sentinels moved with lethal speed, converging on ships that had lost their shields. They stabbed their energy swords through the plate armor and flew parallel to the hull, creating massive gashes that released huge quantities of oxygen into space. Those that suffered the most damage this way fell completely silent and lifeless as their crews suffocated to death. The ships themselves still remained brightly lit and mostly intact, but nobody was left alive inside to direct them.
The reaction from the human ships was swift and severe. Each ship of cruiser class or larger activated their own psionic disruption fields of incredible strength. Instantly all those Sentinels within range lost their air bubbles and died quick decompression deaths out there in the vacuum. Shakara felt her psychic communications slam shut as the disruptor fields reached the Archangel, forcing her to use the tactical map to issue orders from then onward. Though the Archangel's shields kept the disruptors from affecting her directly, it effectively sealed her telekinesis inside the ship. She drew courses through the 3D map with her hands to issue orders, touching ships to select them.
Shakara felt desperate now, the human fleet had barely lost half of its ships, and she was nearing the three quarter mark. Soon she wouldn't have any battleships left and they would begin attacking her carriers. She decided that it was time to use the Archangel's fusion cannon now, or else defeat was assured.
"Move us to the nearest edge of their formation and orient the fusion cannon to fire directly into their fleet at a parallel instead of perpendicular."
"But milady, if we strike them like that, the beam would only be powerful enough to penetrate the shields of the first three or four ships. We wouldn't be able to create a clear enough hole for your interceptors to penetrate!" The officer at tactical control protested.
"Listen, I plan to use the fusion cannon as a distraction. Hopefully the destruction it causes will distract them long enough for me to get through. Now get the cannon's priming sequence started, we need to fire as soon as possible!"
All the lights inside the Archangel dimmed simultaneously as its main reactors diverted their energy to the fusion cannon. Huge quantities of tritium and deuterium were released into the cannon's main reaction chamber and the containment field hummed to life with an ominous deep thrumming noise. The Sentinels gathered outside the reaction chamber and focused their psychic power into it, heating and compressing the fusion ingredients as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the Archangel maneuvered to the front of the Protectorate fleet in order to line up a shot. The barrel of the fusion cannon slid open, and light from the still growing reaction spilled out like a gigantic headlight.
This light acted like a beacon at night attracting various insects, the human ships immediately changed strategies and concentrated their fire at the front end of the Archangel. Hundreds of small one-man bombers unleashed their payloads at once, simultaneously striking the shields right in front of the fusion cannon's barrel. Dozens of bursts of plasma streaked over and smashed into the same spot, causing brilliant flashes of blinding blue and white light. Electricity crackled and boomed around the front of the ship as the shields struggled to withstand the barrage.
At that moment a group of small protectorate frigates charged into the line of fire, putting themselves right in the middle of the stream of plasma to protect the Archangel. Their shields held for a few vicious hits before buckling, and the whole group detonated after a few more hits melted right through their hulls. The molten debris leftover afterwards absorbed several more strikes harmlessly, buying the fusion cannon precious time to finish its charging sequence.
A column of orange-yellow light shone out of the barrel of the cannon as the reaction reached a level of heat and intensity close to that of the sun. The light shone across the human fleet, blinding their occupants and glowing brilliantly off of their hulls. A few seconds later, the Sentinels released their grasp on the reaction and a massive column of fiery energy burst forth from the front of the Archangel. It washed over the shields of the first human ships and collapsed them like layers of tissue paper, and went on to liquefy the hull underneath. The beam quickly lost its coherence as it smashed through numerous shields, and it spread out into a massive cloud of fusion plasma that swarmed around at list thirty of the ships on the outermost edge of their formation. The detonations of the reactors in these ships fed the flare of plasma and caused it to grow considerably, and it spread out and melted the shields off of the next line of human ships in a similar fashion. This time the view screen on the bridge of the Archangel blanked out entirely, the light emitted by the reaction was so intense that it would have destroyed the eyes of all who had witnessed it. It would be easily visible to anyone on the surface of the Earth as well, almost like there was a brand new star being born in the sky above them.
A massive rumbling shook the insides of the Archangel, and the roar of the fusion reaction being released reverberated throughout the halls. Lacking a visual confirmation, Shakara looked at the tactical map to see what the cannon had done. The sensors were still overwhelmed by the amount of energy released by the cannon, and most of her 3D map was filled with a big blind patch of glowing white. She could see that a huge segment of the human fleet had been engulfed by that patch, and she hoped that most had been at the very least disabled by the blast.
Suddenly, the sensor readout changed. The blob began to move backwards, towards the Archangel. The innermost ships in the humans' formation had gathered together and pooled their shields together. They were reflecting the fusion plasma right back t the archangel! Warning beeps filled the air of the bridge around her as the ship's temperature rose to dangerous levels, and the shields plummeted precipitously as the plasma washed over them.
"What's going on? How did they match the frequency well enough to reflect the plasma?!" Shakara demanded. Sweat began to drip down her face as the bridge became increasingly hotter.
"I don't know, our sensors are still recovering from the original blast! But shields are dropping below critical and temperature stabilizers are beginning to overload!"
"Shut down our reactors immediately before the overheat affects them!" Shakara ordered desperately.
"It's too late for that; three of them are already reaching critical levels! Shields are giving out; the hull is coming in contact with the plasma!"
Shakara hesitated for a moment, and the next breath she took felt painful on the inside of her throat because of how hot it was becoming. "Begin emergency evacuation teleports! Get everyone aboard whatever smaller ships that we haven't yet launched!"
The sentinels on the bridge nodded solemnly and teleported down to the fighter bays and escape pods, taking the human crews with them. Shakara stayed behind a little longer, hoping to catch a glimpse of what had become of the human ships. The tactical map fizzled out and the other control stations began to flicker and die as the reactors went critical, so she reluctantly followed.
Shakara reappeared in one of the fighter bays and immediately covered her eyes when the blinding light of the fusion plasma met them. Someone had already opened the doors, and a force field was the only thing between them and the raging energy storm outside. Pain streaked through her skull as the burn from the light set into her eyes, and she could hear hundreds of screams of agony around her as more of her sentinels arrived and were blinded in a similar fashion. Ominous electric crackling signaled that the force field was about to collapse, so Shakara quickly teleported again, aiming for the other fighter bay on the opposite side of the ship.
Shakara simultaneously healed her eyes as she arrived in the second fighter bay. She held her eyes shut for a moment, waiting for the light this time. It didn't even penetrate her eyelids now, so she knew it was safe to open them and proceed. She looked around desperately for a high-speed interceptor to pilot, but none remained. She was forced to board a Cougar class gunship, and was followed inside by a huge group of panicked Sentinels. They crammed into the cockpit around her as she shoved her way to the pilot's chair and flipped through the startup protocols.
Shakara saw through the gunship's window that the space outside was mostly clear; most of the plasma had clustered around the other side of the Archangel. Dozens of other gunships, fighters and life pods were streaming out of the bay around them, heading straight for the Earth's atmosphere. The light from the fusion plasma on the other side of the Archangel shone off of the hulls of other Protectorate and human ships in the distance, causing each to glow bright yellow-orange and sparkle. It would have been beautiful if it weren't for the orgy of violence that churned around them.
The gunship launched with an unnerving jolt and Shakara gripped the control sticks with white-knuckled nervousness. "We're going straight for Johto!" Shakara said with urgency in her voice. "Anyone not interested can find the airlock in the back!"
Shakara maxed out the gunship's engines and milked the bulky monster for every drop of maneuverability it could give. She weaved into the no-man's-space between what was left of the two fleets, trying to edge as close as possible toward Johto's airspace without attracting the humans' attention. The Cougar class gunship was heavier than the model she was used to piloting; it was weighted down with thicker armor and a much heftier arsenal of weapons. It was designed for coordinated assaults against frigates and handled much more sluggishly than Ares' original Glide-wing model. Fighters of both allegiances swarmed around them, and occasional potshots crashed against their shields and caused the indicator bar to drop a bit.
Shakara practically tore the control sticks out of the console as she strained to weave in between the whirling masses of fighter craft and the firing patterns of the larger ships. Whenever an enemy ship got in her way, she fired on them with every single weapon she had, totaling six medium laser cannons. Fighters didn't even stand a chance; they popped nearly instantly upon contact. Shakara felt like she could almost make it through, and hope soared in her mind as she cleared the firing path of the last few capital ships and a clear view of the Earth below swam up in her vision.
Abruptly, seven large human frigates zoomed in front of Shakara's ship, their weapons all targeting her and glowing, ready to fire. Shakara felt her heart leap into her throat.
"Leaving so soon are we, Archcouncil?" A voice crackled over the radio.
Shakara reached toward the panel to squelch the signal impulsively, but her instincts made her hesitate. She growled a reply to them instead, "Let me through! I have to save my family!"
"Don't you realize how late you are for that? The bombs were dropped at least 10 minutes ago! If you don't believe me, see for yourself!"
A picture appeared on the right side of Shakara's view screen. It was a zoomed in satellite view of her home, or at least what was left of it. Smoking craters covered the landscape, and the house had collapsed into a huge pile of twisted rubble which was burning a little in the corner. What Shakara didn't know was that the photo had been altered. It displayed complete and total destruction, despite the fact that one of the small bunkers had managed to escape intact. Someone had cleverly manipulated the photo with a digital editing program and added more craters, and even fake bodies of all the family members amongst the rubble. Shakara couldn't tell though, and she quivered with rage and despair in silence. Tears streamed down her face as she examined the picture, seeing her daughters burned alive and her cousins crushed to death.
"Your fleet is crumbling as we speak. If you'll surrender quietly right now we'll make sure that the experimenting we do on you will be as quick and painless as possible."
This time Shakara didn't resist the urge to squelch the signal. She thumbed to a different channel and tried to contact one of her own ships, but the signals were so garbled and panicked now that it was difficult to get a word in edgewise. She flew away from the frigates to escape the reach of their weapons, and tried to circumvent them while listening to the cacophony of human and sentinel voices babbling in the radio speakers.
"The enemy is firing a new weapon of some kind…sensors indicate they're fusion based explosives!"
"The Fusion charges are tearing apart line 12!"
"Their formation is moving towards the escape pods that the Archangel launched!"
"Try advancing at points 32 and 16 to intercept! Archcouncil Shakara is in one of those ships!"
"Our last ships at 32 and 16 have been flanked at their low lines and are taking major damage, it's no good!"
Shakara yelled into the microphone, trying to be heard: "I'm in the Cougar blocked by the seven frigates near point 33! I need fire support!"
The gunship suddenly shook violently as a shockwave passed over it. Shakara didn't need to turn the view screen and look to know that the Archangel had finally given up its struggle and exploded. She hoped that her commanders had been sensible enough to move to safe distance in time.
"All remaining ships fall back to the fifth marker and protect the escaping life pods and small ships at all costs!" The radio continued
"We only have 3 cruisers left anywhere near that area after that blast, and they're being targeted right now!"
"Then fall back to the Blue River! Lure them within range of the fixed defensive guns mounted on the stations we control! Spread out the remaining ships so that they can't all be wiped out with one fusion charge!"
The signal was suddenly interrupted by a terrible screeching noise and then fell silent. It was replaced by the cool, devious voice of the human man who had delivered the ultimatum to Shakara earlier.
"Attention all Protectorate ships, this is Admiral Angelo Dupree of the United Nations Coalition fleet. I am giving you all one chance to cease hostilities and surrender unconditionally. All human Protectorate members will be given new positions in their respective home countries and repatriated peacefully should they choose to surrender. Immediately shut down your engines, weapons and shields and prepare for boarding parties."
Shakara changed the channel, trying to bypass the Admiral's announcements, and was interrupted when another large group of human frigates cut her off and blocked her escape route.
"We're not going to let you escape." Another human voice sounded over the radio. "Either surrender now and live a little bit longer in our labs, or flee into the coldness of space!"
Shakara clenched the control sticks so tight that the rubber bent and threatened to snap. "Fine! If there's nothing left for me to live for here anymore, I'll take as many of you down with me as I can!"
Shakara jammed the control sticks forward and opened fire on the closest frigate, but its shields absorbed the blows with only a shudder. It replied by locking onto the Cougar with its tractor beam and towing them in whilst pounding away at its shields with single laser blasts.
"No, they can't capture us! I don't want to be experimented on!" One of the sentinels said from the back, panic in his voice.
"Goddamn it! Why don't they just fire all their guns at once and put an end to this!?" Shakara yelled, near her breaking point.
Shakara pressed the firing triggers furiously as she finally lost her emotional control. The lasers were still cooling down from the last volley though, so the only thing she accomplished was to make the control panel beep in an irritated fashion. She slammed the controls forward and the Cougar lunged, about to ram into the frigate that was tractoring it.
At that point the Sentinel in the seat next to Shakara decided to take action. He caught Shakara off guard and psychically paralyzed her with a quick twitch of his wrist. He telekinetically lifted her out of the pilot's seat and scooted over to sit in it himself.
"What do you think you're doing?! You paralyzed the Archcouncil!" One of the other sentinels protested, obviously terrified. "That's treason!"
"I'm sure she will be lenient when she realizes that I'm doing this to save her life! Make sure the paralysis holds and send some of your energy to reinforce the shields! If they fail then the disruptors will hit us and we'll be powerless!"
The nameless Sentinel twisted the controls around and gunned the engines straight away. He simultaneously locked the Cougar's lasers to point into the tractor beam and input a new frequency setting for the shields. All seven lasers fired just as the shield's frequency reset, and the combination of these two factors broke the tractor beams' hold on the gunship. They zoomed away briskly, out-speeding the frigates by a considerable factor. For a moment, it was silent in the Cougar's cockpit.
"What now? The fleet is shattered and we have no other home to retreat to!" A third Sentinel inquired suddenly.
"I'm taking us to the Blue River! We're going to ride the river and hide on another world until everything calms down!" The first Sentinel replied.
"And how long will that take? Months? Years? Who can predict the kind of planet we'll be stuck on?"
"I can, because I plan on landing us on Hypalia!"
There was a short silence as the other Sentinels digested what he had said. Large expanses of empty space still stood between them and the Blue River. A few retreating Protectorate ships were visible in the distance, speeding away as fast as their engines could allow.
"But…what about the non-interference accord? The Archcouncil would have us stripped of all rank and dishonored for violating such an important law, especially one she helped create herself!"
"I know enough about the humans to know that it was one of the very few laws that they agreed upon unanimously, so they may just honor it if we manage to reach the planet without them knowing! We'll hide in some remote corner of the planet where none of the natives could reach too."
"I served on Hypalia before, under Lord Ares before the Archcouncil took the empire from him. I know of a place where we could hide!" One of the other Sentinels piped up. "It's a place in Dantun called the Dead Lands. It is a huge expanse of desert, so large and barren that nobody has dared venture deep into it since the war with Dantun before Lord Ares' fall."
"What about food and water?"
"We can put ourselves in stasis pods when we get there. Set them to wake us up after a few years."
The Sentinel at the controls nodded. "That's where we'll go then!"
He looked down at Shakara, who was now lying on the floor, curled up in the fetal position as was normal of a victim of psychic paralysis. She couldn't sob anymore because of the grip it had on her, but her tear glands still worked perfectly. They poured tears down her face as she lay there broken, wishing that she could have at least had the chance to hug her daughters one last time.
A/N: The death of Tanis and Shakara's ultimate defeat and exile here marks a major turning point in the story. Right now we're at the 121 page mark for Book I the Four Mirrors, which is a little bit bigger than the standard book size for CotP or Legacies. But there is still quite a lot more to be told here before we move on to Book 2, at least another good 30 pages. So stick around readers, this defeat is far from the end of the story. The next few chunks will be make-or-break for the 4 brothers, and we'll actually get to see where this story gets its name from!
