Purge of Prometheus (60 page)

In front of the ship, the bunker came into view, rising out of the sands like a half-buried giant.
 
The once white stone walls had been weathered and coated with the red sand, making the structure nearly invisible from the sky.
 
At the front of the building, a small overhang jutted from the stone walls.
 
Recessed under the overhang, a large pair of double doors hissed as they slid open and a dozen armed Terrans rushed out.

Following the directions of an internal communications array, Yen’s ship set down in the red sand in front of the bunker, kicking up clouds of concealing red dust.
 
Yen moved to the middle of his team as the door slid open on the back of the ship.
 
In his uniform, the heat was oppressive and, even at sunrise, the light was blinding.
 
Terran soldiers outside the rear of the craft motioned for Yen’s team to exit the craft.
 
His soldiers filed off and took up positions on each side of the gangplank leading to the red ground.
 
As Yen exited the craft, they all snapped to the position of attention.
 
Terran soldiers, unsure of how to respond, hesitated as they observed the formalities.

One of the Terrans approached Yen, his head slightly lowered in a sign of respect for the General’s rank.
 
Yen read his epaulettes before addressing the Terran.

“Lieutenant,” Yen barked at the lower ranking officer, “I have been traveling a long time to get here.
 
Alliance soldiers overran my entire position.
 
The Premier needs to be appraised of the intelligence I carry immediately!”

“Yes, sir,” the Lieutenant responded nervously, “but I will need to scan your identification before we can proceed.”

Yen gave him a look that he hoped showed his obvious displeasure and disdain.
 
Angrily, Yen unclipped the identification badge that Maxlar had prepared for him and shoved it into the Lieutenant’s hand.
 
Pulling out a small scanner, the Lieutenant swiped the badge.
 
Lines of code flickered over the screen.

Yen felt sweat roll down his back.
 
He didn’t entirely believe that it was from the heat.
 
Though he was confident in his ability to kill the dozen guards outside, a premature attack might allow the Premier and his staff time to evacuate the building.
 
He couldn’t allow them to escape and, potentially, drag this war on for years to come.

To his relief, the Lieutenant handed the badge back to Yen before snapping to attention.
 
The other Terran guards followed suit.
 
“A thousand apologies, General.
 
We had to verify your identify before proceeding.
 
I’m sure you understand our precautions.”

“Of course,” Yen said with condescension.
 
He found that maintaining a guise of open hostility toward Terrans was easier than he would have guessed.

The Lieutenant led the General and his entourage into the cool shade of the building.
 
Inside, the halls felt cluttered with collections of Terran equipment salvaged from a number of quickly evacuated worlds.
 
A number of Terran guards, some bandaged from previous war wounds, sat within the small rooms that jutted from the main hall.
 
A couple members of Yen’s guard force dropped back as they moved toward the central conference hall.
 
Yen’s soldiers mingled with the Terrans, asking them questions and, simultaneously, positioning themselves to take out the guards closest to the main door to the building.
 
Smiling, Yen continued to follow the Lieutenant.

When they reached a second set of heavy double doors, the Lieutenant entered an access code and scanned his thumbprint before the light above the door turned from red to green.
 
Like breaking open a long-forgotten vault, the air hissed as the door slid open.
 
The room beyond seemed dark after being exposed to the intense sunlight outdoors.
 
Guards and technicians lined the walls, working on maps and tactical displays that seemed to track most of the known universe.
 
A large circular table dominated the center of the room.
 
Nearly a dozen Generals sat around the table, many in different stages of standing at the surprising intrusion.
 
Across from Yen stood the Premier, who had already climbed to his feet.

The Premier was unmistakable to Yen, who had grown up watching propaganda films about the atrocities committed by the Terrans in that man’s name.
 
Though he was still clothed in full military uniform, overburdened with superfluous medals and decorations, and bedecked with a flowing violet cape, the man before Yen looked significantly older than the one that had appeared in the videos.
 
His cheeks seemed fuller, but his skin sagged from the bone.
 
The once dark, wavy hair had become intermixed with grey and looked wild as thought it had not been brushed in quite some time.
 
The Premier, from what Yen could tell, had aged terribly since the start of the war.

The Lieutenant rushed into the room ahead of Yen in order to announce his presence.
 
“His Royal Premier, may I present to you General Vance, commanding General of Ravalos.”

The Premier eyed Yen warily.
 
“I don’t have a General Vance in my cabinet,” he said, his voice still strong.

“No,” Yen said, “you don’t.”

Yen’s first bullet slammed into the side of the Lieutenant’s head, spraying blood and gore over the General sitting beyond him.
 
Dropping his pistol, Yen felt a rush of energy.
 
As Yen raised his hands, the world around him was encompassed in violent psychic winds as the large table flipped upward.
 
It came crashing down on the left side of the room, crushing three of the Generals who were unfortunate enough to sit on that side.
 
Weapons appeared in the hands of Yen’s soldiers, who opened fire with immaculate accuracy.
 
Terran guards and technicians collapsed in bloody heaps around the room as they tried to run for cover.
 
As Yen advanced confidently into the room, he heard roaring gunfire from the hallway as his soldiers cut down the complacent guards near the bunker’s entrance.

A few of the remaining Terrans returned quick bursts of gunfire, as they dove for cover.
 
One Yen’s men collapsed as a round caught him in the chest.
 
The soldier’s wrist slammed into the ground as he fell, shattering the casing of his bracelet.
 
In a whirlwind of melting flesh, his body shifted back into that of an Uligart.

One of the Generals saw the transformation and yelled orders to his men.
 
“They’re not Terrans!
 
Kill them all!
 
Kill them…”

Tired of hearing his yelling, Yen slashed through the air.
 
Blue light coalesced into a blade at his fingertips, cutting cleanly through the General’s neck.
 
The stunned look still on his face, the Terran’s head bounced across the floor.

Tossing aside Generals as though they were bothersome insects, Yen continued his advance toward the Premier.
 
Though his Generals cowered behind any cover they could find, the Premier stood defiantly in front of his chair, staring at Yen as he walked casually through the room.
 
Stepping over the body of one of the officers, Yen stopped only a few feet away from the Terran ruler.

“I can’t believe it’s really you,” Yen said as the din of combat slowly faded in the room.
 
Most of the Terrans lay dead, matched by a handful of Yen’s soldiers sprawled near the doorway.

The Premier smiled.
 
“Congratulations.
 
You have caught me.
 
So what now?
 
Do I got and stand trial?
 
Do you make a public spectacle of my capture?”

Yen returned his smile.
 
“You completely misunderstand, Premier.
 
You’re never going to leave this room.”

The Premier’s face dropped as his voice took on a hard edge.
 
“Kill me if you wish, but realize that killing me won’t put an end to this war.
 
There will always be another Terran willing to lead our people to freedom.
 
The Terran Empire will never bow down to the will of the Alliance.”

“There’s no one left,” Yen said, shaking his head.
 
“Earth is destroyed.
 
Your Fleet has been defeated.
 
The rest of the Terrans will be led like animals to the slaughter.
 
There is no more Empire left to defend.
 
With your death, so dies the Empire.”

“Then do your worst,” the Premier spat.

“Oh, I intend to.”

Yen lifted the Premier off his feet, dragging him higher until he hovered nearly twenty feet off the floor.
 
The Premier squirmed against Yen’s psychic grasp, but was helpless as he was turned in the air until his body floated parallel to the ground.
 
Yen ensured the Premier faced downward so that he could watch Yen’s preparations.
 
Reaching over, his hand sheathed in blue energy, Yen broke free one of the massive table legs, leaving one end a jagged metal spear.
 
Turning the leg so that its point jutted upward, Yen positioned it directly below the Premier’s floating form.

“So dies the Empire,” Yen said again before releasing the Premier.
 
The Terran, to Yen’s amazement, didn’t utter a word as he fell.
 
His body slammed into the metal table leg.
 
The spear point tore through his ribs, shredding the organs underneath, until finally severing his spine as it exited through his back.
 
With a gurgle, the Premier’s head dropped forward as blood spilled from his lips.
 
Yen crouched down beside the Terran, savoring the look in the dead man’s eyes.

A gunshot broke Yen from his revelry.
 
Burning pain shot up his back, searing from his right hip.
 
Reaching back, Yen was stunned to see dark blood on his fingers.
 
Someone had shot him!
 

“We have a runner!” one of the guards yelled.
 
Yen turned to see one of the Generals bolting from behind cover and running down the hallway.

Yen cursed as his hip screamed in protest when he tried to stand.
 
Blue light filled the hole in his lower back, as his energy deadened the pain.
 
Turning, enraged, Yen sprinted into the hall in pursuit in spite of the ache that still cut sharply through his attempts to heal the wound.
 
The guards in the hall were caught by surprise as the Terran General rushed by.
 
They barely had time to raise their weapons before Yen rushed past them as well.
 
Yen lashed out angrily with unrestrained psychic energy, but the elusive General dodged behind the clutter in the halls.
 
Boxes exploded from Yen’s attack, but the Terran still continued his escape.

The General rushed past the outer doors and into the intense sunlight.
 
Furiously wanting only revenge, Yen chased after him.
 
As Yen broke out of the shadows of the overhang, blood sprayed across his face.
 
He staggered backward, staring at the gaping hole in the General’s chest.
 
The Terran stumbled a couple more steps before collapsing into the red sand.
 
Looking down at the blood that now smeared his uniform, Yen noticed his soft pink hands.
 
He was still in disguise as a Terran General.
 
Not wanting to be shot by mistake, he pushed the red button on his bracelet.
 
Though the button was pushed, Yen didn’t change back to his regular self.
 
The pink hands remained!
 
He slammed his fist repeatedly into the bracelet, but to no avail.
 
He remained Terran.
 
Slowly, he raised his head and looked toward the distant sniper.

Yen stared into the distance in stunned disbelief moments before a round slammed into his skull.
 
Yen’s vision exploded into a thousand pinpoints of light as consciousness began to ebb away.
 
Slowly, he collapsed to the ground next to the Terran.

He didn’t know how long he remained unconscious.
 
Vision came and went.
 
Faces of his soldiers appeared above his face one moment, only to be replaced by different faces the next.
 
Eventually, as consciousness began to return, a new face appeared above him.
 
Silver hair framed her face, which glowed under the triple suns.
 
The light filtered through her soft hair, accentuating the red and purple tattoos that ran across her skin.

Keryn crouched down by Yen’s side and whispered softly to him.
 
“You’re a remarkable man, Yen Xiao.
 
Even now you fight against the inevitable, using your psychic powers to keep yourself from dying.”