Authors: Barlow,M
Alissara ended the message, threw her body on the nearest chair, and closed her eyes. She’d commanded the force and annihilated the Manakaris. She’d avenged her people and saved Earth.
“You know we still have to deal with the force that warped behind us, don’t you?”
Alissara opened her eyes to see Dara standing before her. Alissara’s eyes narrowed and dimmed. Between commanding the battle and worrying about her soldiers’ lives, she’d forgotten the second part of the Manakaris army.
“We’ll charge and hunt them down before they reach Earth.”
Emily’s worried face appeared on the hologram. “Congrats, Mara. I’m afraid I have bad news. The second invasion force teleported again.”
“Impossible!”
“I know,” Emily said, “but somehow they recharged in a few hours. I don’t know how because it’s faster than our drives. If they keep up this pace, you’ll never intercept them.”
Alissara leaned forward in her chair and buried her head in her hands. She thought she could finish this battle and catch up with the small force, but she underestimated the Manakaris. Her mother and her sisters were on Earth—undermanned and outgunned.
“Cheer up, kid,” Dara said and patted her shoulder. “We won this battle. We’ll win the next one. Have faith in your sisters.”
The old advisor’s words didn't comfort her. The Manakaris traveled to Earth, and the only army that could defeat them wouldn’t arrive in time.
“Change of plans. Put on the commanders, Dara.”
*****
Days to Earth destruction: 1
Mara found desert nights in Nevada fascinating. The occasional snow and the chilling winds of clean air that hadn’t been polluted like air in the cities. Most nights were calm and uneventful—except for sands blowing in her face, tiny scorpions running around, rattle snakes, weird-looking sheep, and one black bear.
She hovered higher, trying to see into the distance. Not much was going on tonight. One thought occupied her mind. The elite Manakari force—over a thousand battleships led by the Imperial Ship. The small army arrived to the Milky Way and was hours away from Earth. That was their fallback in case Alissara defeated their main force. Now, her small force on the base had to stop them and defend the planet.
“Are you looking for the bear?” Shara’s voice came from behind her, followed by a loud laugh.
Mara landed on the cool sand and ambled toward her sister. “I’m telling you. I saw it the other night.”
“You need to take a break the first chance you get,” Shara said. “Besides, the bear you described lives in the western part of the state near Lake Tahoe, and we’re in the middle of the desert.”
Mara smiled. “That’s why she looked tired.”
Shara sat down on the sand, stretched her legs, and leaned back. She planted her hands in the sand behind her to support her upper body weight.
“That feels good,” Shara said, and closed her eyes. “Can we go to the hot springs again after the battle?”
“Yes,” Mara said and sat down next to her younger sister. “If the Manakaris don’t eat us for lunch tomorrow.”
Shara smiled and stared at the moon. “I can’t remember the last time we sat down like this on Korr.”
“Our last visit to the forest with mother.”
Shara’s bright eyes dimmed. She sat straight, bent her knees, and pulled them against her chest. “When do you think she’ll recover?”
Mara shrugged and glanced at the base in the distance. “I don’t know, but we can give her the time she needs. We need to make sure this planet survives tomorrow. But just in case, she is on her ship now. The pilots will take her away if we can’t stop the Manakaris.”
Shara nodded. “I have good news on that front. The army sent their bombs. We should have enough energy for the battle.”
Mara’s eyes glowed. “Is it weird that I’m looking forward to fighting? Because I’m ready to get up close and personal.”
“Yes, it’s weird. You’re weird. I wish they’d go away and leave us alone.”
“You know why I love to fight?”
Shara giggled. “You’re sadistic?”
“I do enjoy it,” Mara said, “but I fight every chance I get because it’s the only time I can be myself. Awful, but true. There’s been no one but us and nowhere but Korr. We had to behave, and we never had conflicts. Before our final battle we only fought when we competed in the army and against each other.”
“How come Alissara and I are different?” Shara asked.
“Mother told me something the last time we visited Earth. She told me the longer we stayed on this planet, the more we became like humans.”
“You believe it?”
Mara lowered her gaze and stroked the sand with her first finger. “Remember what I told you about the Egyptian King?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it’s true. I admired him, but not for his looks. Well, not just for his looks,” Mara said and gazed into the distance, her eyes dim. “He sat me down next to the Pyramids one night, held my little hand, and told me his story. He said his favorite part was when he would venture into the North in disguise to buy weapons or spy on the enemy. No longer a king. Just an adventurer.”
Mara got to her feet, hovered in the air, and her eyes lit up with sheer excitement. “Here he was. A man with little knowledge, miniature lifespan, and no technology, yet he’d lived far more than any of us had. He won, lost, helped, fought, loved, hated, rebelled, grieved. He lit a fire in me I never quite put off. I wanted to grow up, board a ship, and travel through the universe. If he achieved so much in decades, imagine what I could do in millennia.”
She landed on her feet and turned around to Shara. “Then we returned to Korr, and I lived the life of an heir. A life without adventure or excitement. Mother always said ‘you have a responsibility to your people’. When I fight, for a moment, I feel like I’m living the life I desired.”
“It’s not too late,” Shara said. “This world can give you that. We’ll only be responsible for ourselves, and humans are anything but dull.”
“True, but we have to end the Manakaris tomorrow. They’d never leave this planet alone as long as they live.”
Loud explosions sounded in the distance, and sand erupted into the air to touch the clouds in the sky. They were less than a minute apart to let the first explosion fade.
“I see Americans are unloading their weapons,” Mara said. “Do we need to be there?”
“No, I oversaw the preparations. The chargers are placed to absorb every last pulse of energy from the bombs.”
Mara nodded and watched as the explosions continued to rock the desert. People in Reno would feel the explosions, but losing sleep was far better than losing their lives tomorrow.
“How long do we have?” Mara asked.
“Emily thought they would jump in eight hours. Knowing the Manakaris, I would say five hours.”
“Okay, let the soldiers rest for two hours.”
“You think they can sleep through this?”
“We trained for ten hours today. Trust me, they’re half dead,” Mara said, and swung around to face Shara. “You don’t have to do this. You can stay by mother’s side until the battle is over or get her off this planet if we lose. The system is automated, and I’m sure General Michael and Noah can manage it.”
“No, I’ll stay. You need everyone.”
“If it’d been up to me,” Mara said, “I would’ve recruited every capable soldier in this world for this cause, and they can go back to living normal lives after the battle.”
“Ironic, they spent more to revive their ailing economies than what they spent to defend their lives. And now we have to fight a thousand battleships with a small human force and a thousand Korran.”
“True, but Korran warriors. I am certain when the time comes they’ll charge into Manakaris battleships and tear them apart.”
*****
Emperor Porje looked up at the General Commander of the Armies. Their battleships were ready to jump.
But was Porje?
The journey of a thousand years was coming to an end. His milky eyes, that have become more white than blue over the years, told him so. His erratic mind, that was beginning to forget the old memories, told him so. His tired body, a body that that looked forward to a cold grave
,
told him so. But more importantly, his heart told him.
Maybe he was nothing but an old fool. Maybe he was destined to die a failure just as he lived as one. Maybe his fate was sealed, and he was the only one who didn’t realize it. Maybe he was always meant to die at the hands of the wretched Carilia and her miserable daughters, the way his grandfather did.
Porje had never met him, but from his large picture in their underground hideout, Porje knew what his grandfather looked like. His father had told him all he needed to know about his grandfather as a child, and more.
His father spoke of a visionary who took Krath to new heights of power and progress reserved for the Immortals of Korr. A dreamer who saw a future where the Manakaris set out to explore the universe for other inhabitable planets. A hard worker who made it a reality.
His father had told him of an epic battle. One his grandfather knew he couldn’t win. Still, he fought along with his soldiers and the citizens of Krath. All slaughtered. His father told him of great cities and showed him miserable ruins. They watched at night, afraid to be detected by the ever-watching eyes of Korr. He told him of cities, battleship factories, gardens, libraries, schools, and temples of Rhaman. All demolished. He told him of the survivors Carilia hunted down and killed in cold blood.
When the dust settled, Krath was nothing but intermittent ruins. An eyesore. A reminder of those they’d lost, and what they’d lost. A testimony of what blind power and unrivaled military domination with no beating heart could do.
Porje, as a child, vowed to never give in to fate and destiny. To never sleep defeated. Not in his head. Not in his heart. He vowed death for Carilia, for her precious daughters, and for her people. He vowed to conquer her cities, scorch her forests, and set her vast ocean alight.
Korr would be green no more. He would leave it a sea of ashes under a cloud of dust. Or worse.
And he’d done it. Like grandfather, like son.
“We’re ready, father.”
No one forced Porje into this path. He chose it—even reveled in it. His long, long wait was over. Only the tyrant and her daughters remained.
So what if death was a permanent guest in his quarters for when it needed to harvest his tired soul? He was closer to reaching his target than death was to his soul, and that’s all that mattered.
His son awaited his order.
Porje stepped down from his throne, grabbed his son’s head between his hands. Stared him in the eye. Kissed him.
“My heir, I have hated Carilia and her people more than I loved you and your brothers. And for that, I’m truly sorry. Whatever happens today, you won’t have to wear black anymore.” Porje let go his son and climbed his throne. “You know what to do if we lose, son?”
“Yes, father,” His son said.
“Good. Let’s finish what we started.”
*****
Hours to Earth destruction: 1
Mara stood next to Shara, Noah, and Alex. Multiple holograms in the large command center in Area 51 showed the preparations for the final battle.
“Shara, you’re in charge. Michael and Noah will help you. Alex, you manage our ground force.”
Emily appeared on a hologram. “Mara, they warped past Mars, I sent everything to your computers.”
Mara looked at the holograms that displayed Korran infiltration teams on the base, rushing to their chambers. “Alex, get the first wave ready.”
Alex left the command center while Mara headed to her assigned teleportation chamber. A team of ten soldiers waited for her in the metal chamber. They dressed in gray armor like hers. A small, silver guardian hovered in front of each of them.
A hologram on the wall showed an American tracker in the command center. He was busy, looking at something before he turned his attention to them. “Target acquired, large battleship. Take off in five.”
The countdown replaced his picture on the hologram. Four… three… two… one. The chamber shined with a blinding green light. Nothingness. With her team, Mara was in a Manakaris’ battleship.
Mara looked around the battleship. One commander in black armor, ten officers in gold armor, and over a hundred soldiers in silver armor.
She had ten soldiers, and a core that burned with the power of a thousand suns.
Mara hovered in the air. Her eyes lit up the battleship. She pulled her gun out and shot giant waves of indiscriminate green energy that crushed the Manakaris, the metal walls, and the equipment in its path.
The silver guardian aided her. Her team attacked the pilots. They took out the navigation and brought the ship to a halt. They focused fire on the soldiers in the command area. Once cleared, a Korran soldier carried a metal box that contained a bomb into the middle of the area before she hovered back.
Another soldier glided forward and put a small spherical device on the floor, removed the cover, activated it, and retreated. The sphere unfolded to form a disk—large enough to accommodate the entire team. In a synchronized motion, Mara and her team gathered on the metal disk.
Another flash of blinding light. Nothingness. And they were back in their chamber on Earth. Her detonation expert rushed outside to grab another bomb, and when she returned, Shara was on the hologram.
“The first wave is a success,” Shara said. “Ninety-seven percent landing rate, ninety-five percent return rate. Detonating now.”
Her picture disappeared, and the tracker appeared, confirming he acquired a second target. He sent them back to space inside another battleship. Mara led her team to another victory, and another…
Five waves, and every time, they teleported back to the chamber. Mara waited for Shara to declare the fifth wave success, that they destroyed most of the Manakaris’ army, but she never did.
“I’ll be right back,” Mara said.
She hovered into the command center in a hurry to find Shara consumed with something on the holograms while Noah coordinated the attacks.
“What is it?” Mara asked.
“Ghost ships,” Shara said. “Hundreds of them warped inside the atmosphere, and they’re heading toward major cities.”
Mara’s eyes narrowed. “We can’t infiltrate them?”
“No, with their size and speed, we’ll need line of sight.”
“How many of their forces remain?”
Shara manipulated the hologram with her hands for a while. “Two hundred plus the Imperial Ship.”
“General Michael?”
“He’s contacting other countries to defend themselves.”
“Noah, arrange for the pilots to send me the golden guardians.”
He nodded and left.
Mara swung around to Shara. “Take the guardians and hunt down the ghost ships before they reach the cities.”
Shara shook her head. “You need my help to take out the Imperial Ship.”
“We don’t have a choice. The ghost ships will wreak havoc on the planet if we don’t destroy them.”
Noah strode back. “They’ll be here any minute now.”
“Good,” Mara said, “You’re the commander now, Noah. Send the teams to take out the rest of their ships. And I want ten teams on the Imperial Ship. We can’t let it get to the atmosphere.”
Mara paced to her chamber where her team waited. Their shoulders slumped and their eyes dimmed. The teleportation took a toll on them.
“Follow me one last time. When we land on the ship, ignore me. Kill the soldiers, destroy the ship, and teleport back, am I clear?”
They nodded.
Noah’s face appeared on the small hologram. “We acquired the Imperial Ship, get ready.” The countdown started, finished, and nothing happened. Noah’s face appeared again. “Mara, look above the base.”
“Wait here,” Mara said and exited the chamber. The Imperial Ship hovered a hundred meters above her. It cast a large shadow that covered the base.
Shara had left with the guardians which left her and ten infiltration teams, facing the most powerful ship in the universe. But they didn’t have to do it alone.
The ship was close now. She could teleport humans inside it, but they weren’t ready. She had to buy them time. Mara rushed to the command center. Noah was inside, his face pale and his hair grayer than she remembered.
“Noah, the ship is close. Send Alex and the emergency force to the vacant chambers. And send our teams when they return.”
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Noah asked.
“Yes, that’s what Violet and her teams did in space.”
“I’ll get on it.”
She switched on the communication device to broadcast a message to the Imperial Ship. “Emperor Porje, I’m Mara, daughter of Carilia. I’m no longer a Princess of Korr, but I now have my vengeance. If you’re wondering what happened to your battleships, we’ve infiltrated them and destroyed them. You stand with what’s left of your people. Now you know how I felt when you took away mine.”
Mara waited, but he didn’t answer. She needed to turn up the heat. “A year ago on Earth, I killed a commander. I’m certain he was one of your sons. Do you want to know how I killed him? I crushed his suit, his armor, and his body in a fair challenge. You’d think a seven-foot, royal commander would put up a better fight, but he folded like—”
The Emperor of the Manakari interrupted her. “Like mother, like daughter…”
Mara didn’t listen to the rest of his rant. She switched off the speaker when Noah gave her thumbs up. “Teleport the teams inside the ship,” she said and traveled to her teleportation chamber.
The countdown started, finished, and this time, Mara stood in front of the throne. One team after another arrived. Ten teams of Korr and tens of Earth flooded the enormous battleship.
She spotted Alex. She motioned him to forge forward. “Clear the ship.”
Alex nodded and led the teams around the ship while she stared down Porje on his throne, unguarded. He was her mission.
The Emperor of the Manakari stood up. He was a seven-foot giant. His back was hunched. He wore a dark suit of armor that covered his entire body. His exoskeletal was no doubt developed and tougher than anything she’d ever faced.
With a quick move, she unbuckled her belt and removed her wrist weapons, leaving only her suit of armor.
“You knew we infiltrated your ships from the inside, didn’t you?”
Porje’s eyes following her, but he didn’t answer her question.
“Why make it easy for us?”
“I neither care for life, nor for this planet. I’m after your mother, you, and your sisters.”
Mara gritted her teeth and took a defensive stance. “Then you’ll be disappointed. But there is a silver lining. You’ll get to see your son.”
Porje smiled, and his hands tightened on his throne. “You’ve never faced anyone like me, Princess. Your mother taught you to fight behind walls and shields to protect your boring, sheltered lives. Forgive me, hate fills my heart. Otherwise, I’d feel sorry for you. I was told you were a rebel, but I see you are of Korr. You tell me you killed my son in combat, and you think this upsets me? He died with honor which is more than I can say about you or your people.”
Explosions sounded everywhere. Mara struggled to hear him over the deafening sounds.
“We won, didn’t we?”
“If by winning you mean achieving your goals, then so did I, Princess.”
“You dreamed of getting your people killed and your ships destroyed?”
“No, I dreamed of burning Korr to the ground. I dreamed of killing your people for what they did to my grandfather and to Krath. And I did.”
“But you haven’t killed us. I live, so does my mother, the source of your rage, and my sisters.”
He lowered his gaze to his feet and grinned. “You’re short-sided, Princess. Thousands of years of comfortable living dampened your gifts and made you blind to danger around you. You can’t see it, but you will.”
“You sound like your pilot before I killed him.”
“And you look like your world. Strong, proud, and ancient before I crushed it.”
Mara glared at him. “We did destroy yours.”
“Yes, I suppose you did, but that was hardly news. My people have gotten used to death, thanks to your mother. One day she deemed our lives worthless and slaughtered my people, but that’s history. Today, I’m here. And you? You’re living your last moments.”
“Let’s see what you’re made of, Porje.”
He rushed toward her to crush her, the old-fashioned way. He was agile, strong, malicious. She moved out of the way. Not quick enough. His shoulder clipped her. Knocked her to the ground.
Mara felt the sharp pain in her shoulder. She ignored it and rolled her body on the floor of the ship to face him. She retaliated with a large power wave.
He avoided her attack, grabbed her leg, and tossed her against the metal wall.
Mara shot to her feet. Her eyes lit up, and her fists glowed. She pushed large power waves. One of them caught him and slammed his body against the ship.
Before he landed on the ground, Mara picked up his body in the air.
And he picked hers. His hands grabbed her shoulders and pushed her up with enough force she hit the ceiling. By the time, her body fell, Porje was on his feet. He pounded her falling body to the ground. He picked her up and hurled her body against a far wall.
“I heard you’re a fighter, Princess, but I don’t see it. I guess everyone looks tough behind the shield of a giant Royal Battleship.”
Every part of her body hurt. Her head was full of noise she couldn’t silence. But one part of her was only getting started. A green core that exploded with the power of a thousand ancient volcanoes. She felt it in her limbs and in her head, and her skin glowed like it never had before. Her eyes burned in her sockets.
Mara hovered forward. The metal of the ship melted under her feet. She glided toward Porje until she stood meters away from him.
“Porje, I’m sorry for what my mother did to your people, but I won’t let you destroy this world. Leave this planet and never come back.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Porje said.
Mara raised her right hand, her fingers stiff. Porje’s body lifted in the air. He struggled to get out of her grip, but her power overwhelmed him.
She punched forward in the air with her left hand. Drops of blue liquid ran down his nose. She punched his chest. A loud cracking sound filled the air, followed by an agonizing scream. She pulled her left hand back, then punched forward in the air.
His body flew like a bullet toward the ship wall. He left an imprint on the metal wall before he dropped to the floor.
Mara glided closer and watched as he tried to get up to his feet.
“You have nowhere to go.”
“I’m not running,” he said and ran toward her.
She evaded his attack. She curled her hands into a ball and released an orb of pure green energy. The orb collided with his chest, ripped apart his suit, and cracked his exoskeletal armor. His body dropped, motionless on the floor.
Mara hovered to where his body landed and leaned over to examine him. He was alive. Porje tried to punch her, but she leaned sideways to avoid his fists.
“You lose,” he whispered through the pain.
She stretched her hand before his face and send a final power wave that crushed his skull and killed him at once.
*****
Alex sprinted forward into a large area in the Imperial ship. Tens of Manakari soldiers surrounded him.
They fired their tubular guns. Blue beams of energy whizzed around him and blasted the metal walls.
His defensive shield was up, and his Space Random Jumping device was active. Alex was ready. He aimed his hand and grabbed one a soldier with the power of his mind and tossed him against a few to the right.
He tightened his mental grip on a small metal wall, pulled it toward him, and used it to squash the soldiers left and right. The rest of his team caught up with him and delivered devastating telekinesis waves. Their guardians targeted the enemy soldiers and killed them, another hall cleared.