Chapter Eight:

Battle in the Arctic

Ivan laughed wickedly as he stepped toward Gordon and Rio, light spreading through his entire body from the sphere in his left hand. Gordon stepped back, clutching Rio's frail body close.

"Ivan, get out of the way," Gordon said. "I'm warning you."

"I give the warnings now, Mr. Cherry," Ivan said. Light circulated in his hand, and he held it out.

Gordon looked past Ivan. He didn't have time for this. He had to get Rio back to the Sky Ace. Taking the chance, he tried to race out and around Ivan, but Ivan met him in a split second.

"I don't think so."

He pressed the orb in his hand against Gordon's chest and blasted him backwards. Gordon went flying, his arms losing their grip on Rio as they both hit the nearby wall. Rio slumped down in a heap as Gordon struggled to get to his feet.

"What's the matter, Mr. Cherry?" Ivan said. "Still can't save anyone? I see June was only the first."

Gordon scowled at Ivan. He pressed the activation key on his morpher. Bright light flooded the room as nanites spread across his body, forming bright red armor that linked up with the enhancements inside of him. In an instant, the light cleared, and the Ace of Spades stood before Ivan in his full glory.

"I've had about enough of you, Iva—"

Gordon stopped, staring past his opponent. Before Ivan could look back to see what he was looking at, a clawed talon covered in red feathers burst through his chest. Ivan gasped as he was lifted off the ground, Ikros and Bofala standing behind him.

"I see you have done the work of extraction for us," Ikros said, his mandibles clicking. "I thank you for that."

He reached around and grasped the orb in Ivan's hand, wrenching it from his grasp. All the light left Ivan's body and he slumped lifelessly. General Ikros tossed his body aside like a ragdoll, and he struck the wall hard.

"Disgusting creatures," Ikros said, shaking off the blood from his claws. He held up the orb in his other hand. "Now," he said. "Lend me your light."

The light inside the Shine started to glow brighter and brighter, spreading throughout his entire body, glowing from every crack and crevice and causing him to transform. The Vader Clan general's feathers fell out, leaving behind only glowing golden armor and bright green eyes. His neck started to get longer and his face significantly more draconic. Then he started to grow, bigger and bigger until he dwarfed his gigantic companion.

"Yes," he said. "I can feel it's power."

Gordon clenched his fists and took up a fighting stance. "Drop it!" he shouted.

The enormous golden beast looked down at him. "Oh, look at that," he said. "It wants to fight me." Ikros held out a giant talon and blasted Gordon in the chest, throwing him back. "As much as I'd love to stay and finish you off, I have a duty to perform for my queen. And she has been waiting long enough. Perhaps Bofala might oblige."

"It would be my pleasure, General," the giant warrior boomed.

"Then I'll leave you to it. Make sure none leave this room alive."

The general started to glow brighter and brighter. He rose up on his hind legs, flapped his golden wings, and disappeared in a bright flash.

The moment he was gone, Bofala stepped forward. "You wear the armor of those who slaughtered Soto," he said, every step cracking the icy floor beneath his hooves. He reached inside his armor and drew what looked like a long chain, covered in black and purple barbs. "I'm going to enjoy this."

Gordon struggled to his feet, raising his fists, when Bofala swung his first strike. The chain struck him in the arm, throwing him sideways. At the same time, Gordon's arm started to seize up and he looked down to see the red suit turning black. The suit repaired itself quickly, the discolored nanites being immediately replaced with red ones, but underneath, Gordon could feel his arm starting to burn as well.

"Presence of a neurotoxin detected," his visor warned him.

"Purify it," he said.

For just a moment, his arm burned intensely, his enhancements doing their job. Then, just as quickly as it started, it was over, his arm back to full health. "All neurotoxin eradicated," his visor told him.

"Cool," Gordon said. "So definitely don't get hit by that thing."

Bofala came at him again. Gordon quickly got to his feet and put some distance between them, drawing his bow and firing two arrows. Bofala knocked one aside, while the other stuck in a chink in his armor. Gordon detonated the second arrow, and it exploded, knocking Bofala back with a loud roar.

"Filthy human," he growled angrily. He charged at Gordon again.

Against the wall nearby, Rio lay motionless, his eyes watching the fight. He had to do something, but no matter how hard he tried, his body wouldn't respond.

Come on, he thought. He strained with everything he had, concentrating on moving even a little bit. Inch by inch, his arm started to raise.

Yes.

He forced himself to roll over, flopping like a fish on the cold stone. Nearby, he could see Doctor Kuchar, his yellow novelty coat ruined by a large round burn mark on his chest. Above him, a number of alien tools and weaponry lay on some form of table. With tremendous effort, he army-crawled to the doctor and shook him.

"D-Doc-tor," he managed to get out, along with a little drool.

Doctor Kuchar stirred, looking down at him. Rio pointed weakly at the table. "Th-those," he said. He shifted his finger to the battle. "Them."

Doctor Kuchar stared at him for a moment before realizing what he was trying to say. He sat up and studied the various weapons and instruments. "That one," he said, pointing at a large cylindrical object that looked like a cannon. "The Black Cross had one. They must have based it on that."

He got to his feet, helping Rio up and supporting him, walking him over to the cannon and laying him down against it before studying its controls. As he lay there, Rio's body shook and he did everything he could to keep himself conscious.

As the battle raged, Bofala swung his chain at Gordon again. Gordon met it with a burst from his hands, blasting it into pieces. The chain's wielder bellowed and charged at him, striking him in the side with a humongous fist.

"We've got to hit him dead on if we want to make this shot count," Doctor Kuchar said. "We need to alert Gordon to get him into position without letting the alien catch on."

Rio glanced back at the doctor, searching his mind for ideas. Before he could come up with anything, he heard a voice shout "Hey, ugly!"

Commander Roberts rose from behind a table on the opposite side of the room, hefting a Vader Clan weapon of his own. He fired and Bofala turned to meet the blast, knocking it away with his armored fist while turning his back perfectly toward Rio and Doctor Kuchar. The commander's eyes met theirs for just a moment, and he nodded.

"You'll have to do better than that, human."

Commander Roberts smirked. "Oh, I did," he said.

Doctor Kuchar fired up the weapon. Rio felt it heating up beneath him as energy built and built before letting loose a blast of atomic energy that struck Bofala square in the back, blowing a hole right through him. As the energy shot straight for the commander, Gordon jumped in the way, putting his hands out and absorbing the energy and radiation into himself. Rio clung to the cannon as it vibrated under him, growing hotter and hotter by the second.

Finally, the cannon shut off, leaving a hole right through Bofala's torso. The giant alien staggered, staring down at himself in shock. "Y-you—"

Here and there, his body started to spark from the inside out. Gordon's visor showed him that a lot of energy was building up inside him.

"Everyone, get down!"

Doctor Kuchar grabbed Rio's body and covered him with his own, while Commander Roberts dove behind his own table. Bofala collapsed to the floor, his body detonating in a massive explosion on impact, filling the room with light and fire.

When it was over, Doctor Kuchar raised his head. "They really do internally combust upon death," he said with fascination. "I thought the Fuhrer might have been an outlier, and that the bombs the rangers used had more to do with it."

He got to his feet as Gordon hurried over to them, scooping Rio up in his arms. "How is he, Doc?"

Doctor Kuchar took Rio's vitals again. Rio blinked up at him, feeling more tired than he'd ever been in his life. The doctor's face looked grim. "We've lost precious time. We've got to get him onto the ship now."

"Understood," Gordon said. He hurried to the door when he noticed Commander Roberts standing over Ivan's body, a bloody gaping hole in the man's chest.

"He's dead," the commander said. "I checked."

The others let out a collective sad breath. Doctor Kuchar glared at his old lab partner's body, his mustache furrowing.

"Good riddance," he said before turning away. "Come on."

The team left him where he lie and headed back up the passageway.