I do not own Lorien Legacies or any of the characters.
Plan B
I chew my sandwich slowly. I'm actually not very hungry. The thought of what's about to happen keeps that from affecting me. Six is a little ways away, staring at the ship and Lexa is walking over to her. The rest of us are eating and passing around water bottles in silence. Something begins to nag at me, like a little voice trying to tell me something, maybe I had forgotten something. It felt important. I closed my eyes, trying to focus on the voice as I heard the ship power on.
Six! Marina! Adam! James! ANYBODY!
I was on my feet in an instant, eyes snapping open, seeing Marina about to walk over to Six.
"Ella!" I gasp.
Marina's eyes widen and Six turns toward me, also wide-eyed.
Finally! Ella shouts, sounding angry and desperate.
"Where are you?" I ask looking around. "Unless you're in the tree line, you've really stepped up your range."
What the hell are you all doing there!? Ella shrieks. I told John to warn you!
"He did warn us," Six says walking over. "We're here to help stop-"
NO! No no no! You have to run! Ella screams in our heads. RUN OR YOU DIE! ! !
Ella goes silent. We all stare at each other. Everyone else who was not included in the conversation, or at least to Ella's side of it, stared at us, confused.
"How far out?" I ask.
Seven minutes, Ella says. So you all have to get going! Now!
"No," I say. "We're not running Ella. What's he sending?"
We're all running toward our spot in the trees now, where we're going to be hidden, and where me and Marina, and now Sarah and Mark, will be fighting from. Adam branches off, running to where he had been working on a replacement conduit, where he'd left his sword. He also grabs mine from our skimmer and passes it to me when he gets to us.
"Almost forgot these," Adam says.
"Isn't there an expression about bringing knives to a gunfight?" Six asks.
"You never know when big pointy objects will come in handy," Adam says.
"Ella, headcount," I say.
A hundred troops, Ella says. He's going to be at the front. And so will I.
"You told John sunset," Six says.
He never stopped to pick up troops, Ella says. He's too...excited to get here.
"Good," I grin. "Less for us to fight and he'll definitely not be watching his step."
You won't be able to save me and take the Anubis, Ella says. You need to leave. You can't break the charm. You have to kill me.
"No," I growl. "You guys' charm only protected you until you got together, right?"
"Yeah," Marina nods. "Why?"
"What if there's a reason he's been taking her everywhere?" I ask.
The others all catch on and nod.
"Worth a shot," Marina nods.
"What do you say Adam?" Six asks. "Should we go for Ella, or stick to the plan and steal the Anubis?"
"Your call," Adam says.
"If we see an opening we'll go for Ella," Six decides. "Maybe we can separate them when we spring our traps somehow. Otherwise, we'll stick to the plan."
"You'll probably have to get right under his nose to get Ella," Sarah says. "So he could turn off your invisibility."
"I'll do it," I say. "Nothing to turn off means that I have an advantage of knowing my exact limits. Plus, while I'm drawing his attention up close, it'll leave you guys the chance to get the Anubis anyway once I get away."
Six stares at me then nods.
"No," Marina says, voice thick with worry. "You can't fight Setrákus Ra alone."
"Yes he can," Six says. "He's not in many hand-to-hand fights, but when he is, he's lethal. He was even able to give Nine a hard time."
"Yeah, I was there for that fight," Marina growls. "I had to heal him when Nine kept destroying parts of his body and beating him with one hit every time."
"This will be different," I say. "Right Ella?"
Ella's silent for several moments.
James is capable of fighting Setrákus Ra, Ella says finally.
"And living?" Marina asks.
No response, though I can feel that she's still there.
"Shit!" Adam swears. "We forgot someone."
We all look and see Phiri Dun-Ra inch-worming her way across the landing strip.
"Can you get her with your Telekinesis from here?" I ask, finger itching toward the trigger.
"I think so," Marina says as Mark raises his blaster.
"I think I can make the shot," Mark offers.
I rest my firing hand on his blaster to make sure I don't try, pushing his blaster down.
"We're not executioners," I say, though I leave out that three of the four of us want her dead.
Marina and Six pull Phiri Dun-Ra to us with their Telekinesis. Then, they shove her into the hollowed out log we're all hiding behind. For the moment she's stuck, though she can probably worm her way out. However, she's noisy. She keeps screaming into her gag.
"That's going to be annoying," I grumble. "Pull her out a second."
Six complies and I slam the butt of my rifle into the side of her head. She drops and Six shoves her back into the log.
"Much better," I smile, setting my rifle on the log so that I don't have to support it with my other arm.
Suddenly, everything goes silent. No wind, no birds, even the bugs have gone silent. Instantly, we all grab onto some part of Six's arms and she turns us all invisible. Less than a second later, the Anubis glides into view. It's shaped like a scarab, its entire hull being overlapping metal plates, giving it a scaled appearance. There are God knows how many cannons on all sides of the hull, but the single ridiculously excessively massive one on the front is most prominent.
"Oh my God," Sarah breathes.
"Holy shit!" Mark says louder.
"You've got to be kidding me," I breathe as the entire sanctuary, the landing strip, and the jungle around us fall into the ship's shadow. "I think we may have miscalculated the size of the ship."
"Just a little," Six whispers.
"What are they waiting for?" Sarah asks.
"Ella?" Six whispers. "What's he doing? Are you there?"
For a moment, there's nothing but silence. Then, a whisper.
You should have run.
A hum suddenly sounds from the ship. The ship itself is silent, so the hum is noticeable despite being so quiet I could whisper over it. My eyes search the underbelly of the ship, then the sides. Nothing. The hum is getting louder. My teeth are starting to vibrate. Then, I see it. A light. In the main cannon. Barely noticeable but getting brighter slowly.
"What is that?" Six asks.
"It's powering up," Adam breathes, sounding to be somewhere between awe and terror.
"What is?" Six asks.
"The cannon," Adam and I both say.
The hollow of the cannon is glowing now, and quickly becoming blinding.
"This is bad," Adam says, terror now dripping from his words. "Really bad. We need to leave. Now."
"How powerful is that thing?" Six asks.
"Back!" I snarl, gripping Marina around the waist with my free arm as we all back away, as quickly as we can without letting go.
The hum is earsplitting now, the light from the cannon blinding.
"We said we wouldn't run!" Marina shouts over the hum.
The cannon discharges, a blast of energy the size of thousands of lightning bolts streaking from the cannon into the temple, carving through it like a raindrop through fog. The walls of the temple glow red hot around the blast. I yank backward, toppling everyone less than a second before there's a blinding white flash and the explosion's concussion blasts into us. We barely manage to keep from getting thrown. Then, Adam and I yank everyone up and we're suddenly sprinting through the trees. Chunks of temple come raining down around us. I swear, realizing that we were so, very much too close to the temple. The blast wasn't too bad for us, but the debris was big enough that it would crush us. Probably. Most of the big debris miraculously misses us. However, Marina suddenly sprints back toward the temple. Mark grabs her almost instantly, reflexes that I'm actually jealous of kicking in, and tackles her to the ground. She shoves him, an icy hand print on his chest. Just as Marina's on her feet again, there's an explosion. One of the skimmers. The bomb must have been triggered by a direct hit. Debris shoots past us. In that moment, I'm pretty sure my heart stopped. The first chunk of debris to get as far as me scratches my cheek, narrowly missing splitting my head in two. The second is even worse. It shoots between my legs in a grey streak. I hear Mark suck in a breath and look. A piece of glass has impaled him through the chest dead center of the frozen handprint Marina had left. I suck in a breath of my own, looking up. Two baseball sized chunks of debris are falling. I quickly glance where they should land. Six.
I take off at a sprint. She stops the first with her telekinesis. I jump, shoving debris misses her head by a millimeter, then slams into my right shoulder. I make a full revolution before I even begin to fall, two by the time I hit the ground. The debris is on the ground and coated in blood. My shoulder is screaming in pain. Thankfully, my arm is attached. The debris just punched through my shoulder blade and brachial artery. That's good. I'd hate to only have a left arm for the rest of my life. I turn my head, seeing Marina sprinting over, finished with Mark. Six sits up, holding her head where she seems to have split it open on a rock. Better than the injury she would have had.
Pain flares through my body but I don't make a sound. I'm too used to it by now. After a moment, Marina finishes with my shoulder and turns, healing Six's head.
"We survived," I say sitting up, shaking my head to clear the clouds caused by blood loss. "Good."
"Your pants are ripped," Mark says.
I look down and pale. The seam running front to back on my pants is ripped open. I swallow hard then sigh. That was much closer than I thought, and much closer than I like.
"You lucky son of a bitch," Six grins. "Less than a millimeter away."
I nod and stand, picking up my rifle, amazed it's not damaged, same for my sword.
"You okay?" I ask Mark.
"I'm good," Mark nods. "Thanks to her. Really don't want to make a habit of it though."
Six, Marina, and I have to cover our mouths to keep from laughing.
"What?" Mark asks.
"I made that habit a long time ago," I laugh. "Wish I could break it."
"So do I," Marina agrees. "I hate washing your blood off my hands."
"Then don't wash it off," I shrug, sighting in on the crater left by the ship through my scope.
"I don't like it being there at all," Marina growls, kneeling beside me. "What's going on?"
"Well," I say. "There's good news and bad news. Which you want first?"
"Good," Marina says.
"The well is fine," I say. "The only thing destroyed was the ruin."
"Now the bad," Six says kneeling beside her.
"Our bombs and pitfall are gone," I say. "The blasters should be good still, but the skimmers are scattered and the pit is completely gone. There's just a crater now."
"They're coming down," Adam hisses.
"Why would they blow the temple away?" Sarah asks. "Do you think they were trying to blow up the well?"
"Maybe," Six says.
"What if he needed the temple out of the way to get at the well?" Sarah asks suddenly.
I lower my rifle then raise it again, looking at the ship.
"What?" Marina asks.
"There's a gigantic door directly over the well," I say. "I think Sarah's right. We have to stop Setrákus now."
Two wide metal gangways have extended from the sides of the Anubis, sliding doors open at the tops. Ranks of Mogadorian troops are exiting them, quickly securing the area. I actually recognize the maneuver and can't help but wonder if the Mogadorians ever taught their basic tactics to the US military.
"We have to attack now," Mark says.
"Any guns still up?" Six asks.
Marina closes her eyes, concentrating while I scan the trees.
"Some," Marina nods.
"I count twenty," I say. "Out of fifty that's not bad."
Marina nods in agreement as Six slides closer to Adam.
"There they are," Adam hisses. "Both of them."
I sight in again. Sure enough, Setrákus Ra is striding down one of the gangways. Beside him is Ella. Though, she looks pale, and thin. No. Not thin. She doesn't look sickly at all, actually. She looks Mogadorian. I look at Setrákus in is obsidian allow armor with spiked shoulders, pointed fingers, and a fur-lined leather cape. Every bit the vain dictator. And loving every second of it. He stops halfway, looking around for us.
"I know you're here!" He shouts. "I'm glad! I want you to see what happens next! Lower it!"
The door I had noticed earlier slides open and something begins to lower from it like a giant collapsible telescope. The thing is a huge pipe with scaffolding built around it and supports to hold it up. There are glyphs on the sides that are glowing slightly. Loralite. There are complicated circuits and gages along the pipe and it definitely looks like it has to go.
"Oh, that thing is so getting blasted," I growl.
"Yup," Marina nods.
"It's gone," Six agrees.
"I don't like this at all," Adam growls.
"Alright, so we destroy his toy, rescue Ella, then either take the Anubis or hightail it back to Lexa," Six says.
"You make it sound easy," I snort.
And Setrákus goes right on talking.
"For centuries now, I've worked to harness the power of Lorien, to utilize it in ways more efficient than nature intended. Now, finally..."
I look to the others an exaggerated bored look on my face. "Mark, would you mind?"
Mark grins, everyone laying flat. Then, Mark flips the switches. The explosions are deafening and so hot we can feel the heat instantly. Watching over the log, I see about thirty Mogadorians engulfed in the flames of the explosions. The shrapnel and debris takes out even more. The remaining Mogadorians panic, firing at the destroyed ships since they don't actually know what's going on. Friendly Fire catches a few Mogadorians. Then, Six and Marina are firing the blasters spread around the landing strip. Mogadorians explode into ash rapidly. Suddenly a wheel strut crashes down on the gangway immediately in front of Ella and Setrákus Ra after altering its own course a half second before crushing them both. Good. He doesn't actually want to see her hurt either.
Setrákus looks somewhere between furious and shocked that we interrupted his speech with a counter attack. He begins dragging Ella down the rest of the ramp.
"Find them!" Setrákus shouts. "Kill them!"
He starts down the incline toward the well and Six and Adam take off into the jungle, invisible, while Marina keeps up the blaster fire. Suddenly, Adam dives into view, turning visible as he does and blasts a Mogadorian that had had the dumb luck to be firing in his and Six's direction.
"There!" another Mogadorian shouts, but is dropped by one of my bullets before anyone can see which way he was pointing.
Not that it matters, it buys Adam maybe another ten seconds before they realize he's the only one with both hair and non-armor clothing. Bernie Kosar charges to help Adam instantly, flying over a group of Mogadorians first as a toucan, then as a lion dropping in the middle of them, tearing them apart. He's more ferocious, more angry, than I expect, but I remember that he was nearly killed in Chicago. Any time a Mogadorian draws a bead on Bernie Kosar, he shifts into a smaller form, either a bird or a bug, making himself an impossible target, then shifts back when he's in a better position to kill. It's so fluid and smooth it's like art. Of course, he's not the only one who's gotten good at killing Mogadorians. I start to snipe from my position, Mark and Sarah doing the same from the ends of the excessively long log we're behind. Mogadorians begin to burst into cloud of ash all around the battlefield. Marina moves to charge into the battle but I rest a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.
"Not yet," I whisper.
A group off to the left starts to regroup so Sarah, Mark, and I rain fire on them until they start running around like headless chickens. I drop my empty magazine and put in a new one and nod to Marina. She charges out of the trees, sprinting to Adam's side, the three of us keeping her path clear. She makes it to Adam and they take off running at another group of Mogadorians that's starting to reform. A lot turn and flee from them but a lot square up to shoot. I drop the one keeping them under control and Adam begins to send out seismic shocks with every step. the Mogadorians go toppling into each other, their fire going everywhere but straight. A particularly strong shockwave rips the ground apart, a half dozen Mogadorians falling into the crevasse. I grin. Adam got his pitfall after all. I crouch down, crawling over to Sarah.
"I'm moving!" I shout over the gunfire.
Marina's stopped the blaster fire from around the landing strip now, so I need to get ready to go grab Ella. Six is ready to get the Anubis, even if she has to do it alone, which leaves me to get Ella while Adam and Marina keep the ground troops from pinning Sarah and Mark down. Sarah nods and I start sprinting through the trees. After a ways, I skid to a stop and look out into the landing strip. Then, I'm sprinting out of the trees, rifle slung, sword drawn. Marina's not focussing on the ground troops. Not at all. She's freezing her way straight to the crater.
"So much for the plan," I growl as I reach the Mogadorians.
I slash two, my sword cutting through their armor with only a little difficulty. I instinctively duck as blaster fire sails over me in both directions; one from a pair of Mogadorians, and the other to kill those same Mogadorians. I stand, slashing through a group that had wandered into my way as they looked around to figure out where to shoot. I leap over a falling body as a Mogadorian aims at me from in front of me.
"Oh for the love of-" I begin but I'm cut off by a blaster shot.
One from either Sarah or Mark hits the Mogadorian in the head and his hand clenches as he falls, sending a blaster bolt at me, grazing my shoulder. I hiss in pain, landing in a roll and putting my sword away, grabbing his blaster.
"Enough of that," I growl.
I spin, holding the trigger down. Round and round I go, blaster spray dropping Mogadorians all around me, not all of the hits fatal. I stop, taking a second to steady myself before charging at the crater, spraying any Mogadorian even notionally between me and the crater. The blaster stops firing and I drop it, pulling my rifle around and begin to do the same. The mag goes dry and I drop it, grabbing another and slamming it in, sending the bolt home then ducking under a dagger swipe. I press the barrel to the Mogadorian's head, firing and catching the dagger then spinning, hurling it into another Mogadorian's head. A blaster shot flashes past, barely missing me, and I hear a sizzling sound. I look down and shout in surprise, grabbing the two magazines that were grazed and now glowing red hot. I hurl them away and dive for cover behind a pair of living Mogadorians. There's a deafening boom and suddenly I'm covered in dust and my other shoulder feels like its on fire. I look down to see a second graze, this time from one of my own bullets. I shake my head, sprinting toward the crater again, firing at a line of Mogadorians at the top. My gun runs dry just before I can kill the last one but I'm too close to get my sword out. I sprint forward, smashing the butt of my gun into the bottom of his blaster's barrel, knocking the gun upward just as he fires. Then, I drop to one knee, bringing the butt of my rifle straight down onto his knee cap, shattering it. As he's falling, I grab the dagger from his belt and slit his throat then drop the dagger, slinging my rifle yet again and drawing my sword.
Just as I get there, there's a sudden scream of high-pressured air and Loric energy begins to explode out of the ground into the massive pipe. Pain shoots through my head. I groan, staggering back a step, ash coating my back. I glance at Marina but she seems fine. So does Adam. Great, maybe I do have a legacy. I get to feel the Entity's pain as Setrákus sucks it up. I grab a blaster and fire up at the pipe but a force field deflects it. I drop the blaster just as spikes balls of ice began to crash into the force field. Marina. She's not after Setrákus. She's after the machine. She charges at the machine, obviously deciding to take it apart by hand, but Setrákus moves faster than I can track, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her into the air. She scratches at his fingers. She's suffocating. Like hell that's happening.
Sorry Ella, I hope you don't mind having one hand, cause that mother fucker's is coming off!
I sprint forward, growling in rage as Marina's struggles begin to slow and weaken. I'm not going to make it. Suddenly, a wave of rocks and dirt crashes into the backs of Setrákus Ra's legs, dropping him to his hands and knees, allowing Marina to get free. I glance at Ella, seeing her on her hands and knees as though her legs had been hit. So it's true then. Anything we do to him, happens to her.
Setrákus Ra's legs are trapped under the rockslide now, and Adam is sliding down the side of the crater on one side. Judging by the cloud of ash at the top of the opposite side, Six is coming in from there to help Marina as well. Who needs plans anyway.
I stop beside Marina, grabbing her and backing away from Setrákus quickly. Suddenly, Six is visible beside Ella, and I doubt it's by choice. I deposit Marina a safe distance away and then start forward again.
"Don't let any Mogadorians down here," I growl. "Six! Get her out of here!"
Six is shaking Ella by the shoulders but Ella is unresponsive, staring at the Loric Energy flowing out of the earth and into the ship. Still my head feels as though it's splitting apart, and still that deafening scream is echoing from the energy, but I have to deal with Setrákus to deal with the machine. So I have to delay until Ella is away.
I look up at the dials. I wonder if changing those would stop the machine. Worth a shot, I suppose. Though, if the ship were to explode right now, I'm almost afraid to see what would happen with so much raw Loric Energy inside it. I step up beside Setrákus, laying the edge of my blade on the back of his head.
"What, you going to execute me?" Setrákus laughs. "Really James? Do you think your dear sweet Marina would appreciate that?"
I'm taken aback. I actually didn't expect him to know who I was. Or care what i thought about specific Garde members. Setrákus stands, gripping the blade with his hand and squeezing, a gash forming on Ella's hand making her gasp in pain, staggering toward the Loric Energy, her blood dripping into the sand.
"You know that it will kill her as well," Setrákus sneers. "Tell me, can you really do that?"
I glance at Six. She's just standing there. Ella's staggering toward the Loric Energy, seeming possessed. A thought occurs to me. What would happen if the flow were interrupted. Perhaps by a body being thrown in the way. I definitely wasn't throwing Setrákus into the flow, and I wouldn't be jumping, unless Setrákus was dead first.
Is that your plan? I ask Ella.
She doesn't respond, but I can feel her in my mind as clear as day. She heard me, and she's choosing not to answer. I grit my teeth. I don't like it. In fact, I hate it. I don't want anyone except the Mogadorians and Setrákus Ra to die. But if killing Ella is what it takes to end this...
"Yes," I growl. "I can."
I wrench the blade out of Setrákus Ra's hand, Marina's hand splitting open further, making her stumble into the well, catching herself. I swing at Setrákus's head and he snaps his left arm up, blocking my sword with his gauntlet, though the sword cuts partially through, a gash opening on Ella's forearm.
"Stop it!" Marina cries out. "You're hurting Ella! ELLA! ! !"
We all spin toward the girl, my hatred for the monster in front of me momentarily forgotten as I see Ella standing on the rim of the well.
"Get down from there!" Setrákus Ra bellows. "What are you-"
Ella turns toward us, her eyes suddenly focused, not spaced out as they had been before. Her skin ripples like she's in a wind tunnel, and her hair is blowing up around her but she's ignoring it.
"You don't get to win, Grandfather," Ella says, voice somehow amplified by the torrent of energy behind her. "Goodbye."
With that, she falls backward into the energy flow. Instantly she begins to contort and be whipped round and round in the flow, arching painfully in every direction. Then, suddenly, there's a blinding flash as energy flows out of the Anubis's pipe and into Ella. Then, suddenly, Ella's transparent. Like every particle in her body separated at once. Like when Eight was disintegrating. Then, she was ejected from the stream which instantly ended, the energy retreating back underground. Ella sails through the air, smoking, and crashes into the side of the crater. Setrákus stares at his pipe just as it breaks and collapses, tons upon tons of broken and deformed metal burying the Loralite well.
I stare at Ella, waiting to see if she moves. She doesn't. Suddenly, Adam shouts in rage, his sword swishing through the air. I spin, seeing Setrákus dodge sideways out of the way of the blade but it scratches a gash into his cheek. He roars in rage, stepping forward, his large, armored fist crashing into Adam's face and launching him backward, Adam's skull cracking, maybe collapsing partially, and sending him flying into Marina. Marina manages to cushion the impact with Telekinesis and instantly begins to drag him out of the pit. However, I'm distracted. Setrákus has picked up Adam's sword and turned to face me.
"So, you think you can fight me, Human?" Setrákus snarls. "Fine. I'll let you try."
He slashes at me and I block it only to stagger backward from the force. He's strong. Much, much stronger than I expected. I duck under the next swipe, slashing at his side. He stabs Adam's sword down into the ground, blocking my sword, the impact jarring my arm and making my entire arm ache. I jump back, expecting a counter. Instead, Setrákus drops, smashing his mouth off the butt of Adam's sword on the way down. I blink in surprise, looking to the others. Marina and Six are both out cold too. I grin. I don't know why they're out, but this is my chance. I step forward, raising the sword to stab Setrákus through the head when a light catches my eye. Ella. She's glowing. Light is pouring out of her eyes, mouth ears, wounds, just like when Eight was reanimated. Then, a bolt of energy shoots out of one of her fingers, hitting me in the forehead, making me stagger back and drop to my knees, driving my sword into the ground to hold myself up.
"W...what..." I trail off, barely able to fight off the sleep starting to come over me.
Bolts of energy by the hundreds are flying off of Ella, shooting out of the crater to God knows where.
It's alright James, Ella's voice says. It'll only take a second.
Then give me another second so I can end your Grandfather first, I reply, trying to stand only for my legs to give out.
Sorry, but you have to come now, you're the last one, Ella says. I promise I'll make it up to you somehow.
Then, the pull strengthens and I'm out like a light, hopefully a bit more gracefully than Setrákus went.
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