Authors: Jr H. Lee Morgan
What felt long hours was mere minutes of
fierce war. Armor did well keeping injuries to a minimum till there
was an abnormal shift in the thick of battle. The Keptl began
falling back, almost running from the ten of them as well as
several Creelin who were fighting nearby and joined ranks behind
them. Sensing victory the unsuspecting warriors didn’t completely
avoid a sudden spike of power that blew in the thick of those
running after. It was so fast Oliver hardly threw up a barrier out
of trained instinct before the concussion threw him away. Three
quarters out of hundreds spread out over a battlefield died in that
instant. Just those lucky, fast and at his back escaped harm.
Standing small between two giant Behemoths
that looked like armored triceratops with sickle-like curved arms
and stood on four legs over eight stories tall was a comparatively
small Keptl Queen that radiated the power that had been unleashed.
Power few could contend with what had been absorbing and storing
energies from her entire brood for a very long time.
She had red glowing eyes locked solely on
Oliver. Then her vicious mouth opened to let out a haunting roar
he’ll never forget. It was primal and insatiable.
After the explosion that killed few of her
numbers after ordering the retreat earlier, she turned them around
and converged heavily on him. Even sending the mighty Behemoths.
Apparently she had considered him the greater risk to her plans of
conquest.
Nova gave the command after staring down the
wave of incoming enemies and eight split up to run through the host
swarming. Nova though tore after the biggest threats and used his
insane speed, weight and lethal armor to jump through the thick
Behemoth skull which killed it right away moments before clawing
his way back out the giant. Its enormity shook the very ground and
crushed hundreds of smaller siblings due to sheer size. The
carapace of a Behemoth was thicker and heavier than all but
Goliaths in all the swarm. It made for an effective wall to slam
down on those too close and underfoot.
Not even the second Behemoth got near Oliver
after Nova tore his way out and did it all over again.
Especially since Oliver flew over the swarm
to go after the Queen, leaving his Pride to do what they were
enjoying wholeheartedly on the ground forces.
Seeing him, the shiny black shell of a Keptl
Queen raised her clawed arms while spreading eight legs attached to
a spiderlike abdomen. Preparing a fortifying stance. Millions of
tightly packed minions did the same. Her torso seemed to ripple as
she focused her impressive power to him and to the thousands of her
assorted brood opened maws wide to hit him simultaneously with her
own blast. To leave no way for escape. The air shook as multiple,
great Kinetic Stream beams seemed to vaporize him.
What she never saw coming was Oliver had been
recharging his vambrace and teleporting alone was a simple
matter.
The moment the beam was launched he used it
as a smokescreen and reappeared directly on her back. The beam
vanished a moment later and she seemed triumphant. Before she could
register his sudden weight he removed her vicious head with a
single sword swipe and followed it up with a minor explosion that
made sure her thoughts would not continue those spare seconds it
took for the brain to die. Thick black blood shot up from the neck
like a morbid fountain from the loss of a head.
The effect of her exploding skull was instant
as the brood lost their guiding mind to fall back on their feral
nature.
Nature being cannibalism.
Keptl left and right began fighting and
killing each other. Losing intelligence the Queen supplied and went
in a mindless feeding frenzy. Going feral. Before he could lose
such a rare opportunity Oliver flew himself and the twitching Queen
carcass out of range of the ravenous horde. Letting them kill each
other made it easier to not be surrounded or overwhelmed.
Without the Queen it was all too easy to slay
the swarm for the warriors at leisure not get caught by guided and
relentless numbers.
And so he fought with his Pride, hunting and
tracking down the invaders.
How long he fought registered when dusk
arrived as thousands of Creelin foot soldier reinforcements and
aerial fighters arrived in a bright flash.
Noticing things aside from battle had Oliver
looked around as large chunks of land the size of mountain ranges
were rising off the planet surface as the chemical fires were risen
and rendered inert out in space to stop the relentless spread of
fire from consuming the rest of the planet and make it
uninhabitable for years to come.
A nearby flash had Oliver turn to find Netul
and the Archivers standing. Oliver said “I take it you stopped the
jamming the Goliaths create for teleporting.”
“
The Golden Armada’s arrival
was most fortuitous, My friend. Two additional Motherships in
addition to the one you brought made all the difference. We
vanquished forty two before the remainder left through FTL fled to
lick their wounds. Those fifteen minutes you gave us made all the
difference.
“
That was hours ago, but the
other side of our planet was hit much harder and our forces were
needed. I’m sorry it took so long. You seemed to have the area
under well enough control so I made the choice to let you continue
while I led other forces.”
Oliver looked over himself and how he was
completely covered in filth. “Then you wouldn’t have arrived with
reinforcements if the battle wasn’t under control over there. Got
it.” Seeing his abilities no longer needed he dropped six kilos of
debris and gore from his person to be clean once again. Tired,
thirsty and hungry he put his weapons away to say “I need to rest.”
As the panting Pride came walking over still covered in armor and
things better left to the imagination.
“
You went up and above what
we expected. Your Match too.”
A male
Archiver said.
“Without your and her
assistance this world would be in bad shape and many more would
have died. Your honor in the glory of battle has allowed you to be
permitted teleportation to the planet itself from this day forth.
Just merely inform someone of your arrival and you may come and go
at your leisure. Your Match too had integrated the access into her
armor.”
He shrugged. “Are there any Beasts that
survived the bombing? We all worked up an appetite.” Nova and the
eight others rumbled, seconding his words.
“
Two zones came out somewhat
unscathed. We will send someone to procure sustenance. You have
earned your rest.”
“
We’ll take you up on it. By
the way, how long till all the Keptl are found?”
Netul said
“Without the Goliaths jamming our sensors further,
they are all accounted for and will be dealt with in approximately
four to five days. We are currently engaging another Queen who is
burrowing deep, but we will end her like all the dishonorable
filth. All Keptl will be purged from our system… as I see you too
eliminated a Queen.”
“
It was tricky. I’m glad my
gamble paid off. You mind teleporting all of us back to our ships?
I don’t want to use any more if I don’t have to. Renee has been
itching to dissect the Queen for awhile. Humans have yet to see one
and know how they tick.”
“
An simple allowance. Close
your eyes, Oliver.”
Another Archiver said.
He and also his Ligers closed their lids.
The barest pinch was all the sensation there
was as they appeared between the Flare and River Skipper. The
Archivers though didn’t follow, having other pressing affairs to
settle.
Waiting was Renee, Isabella, Callier, the
newborn son, Rose, Sparky and the remaining three Ligers and all
their cubs.
It was so good to see his woman and child
Oliver moved right over and embraced them. Relief swept through him
and she was also calmed. But she eventually pushed him back. “Sex
later. I’m still excited from the turkey shoot, but I need to
dissect that Queen before she degrades further. Here, drink. I know
you are thirsty.” She pushed a water bottle in his hand and stepped
around after also passing Isabella into her father’s care too.
“
What about the rest?” he
asked.
Callier answered.
“I will draw water in my bathing tub for the
Pride. Have them follow.”
The Ligers
followed her retreating form.
Oliver moved to sit on the yellow wing of the
Flare, holding his adorable slumbering daughter in a hand and
rehydrated with the other. As he did he watched Renee hold out a
hand to lift the black corpse like a puppeteer. The puppet being
well over a ton in weight. She moved to the River Skipper and
pulled out a hose from the inside and washed all the black blood
and filth off quickly. Glancing to the side had him look at Netul
who was touching a holographic screen displayed from the armament
of his left arm and moments later came a dozen or so small flying
robots that cleaned the dirty deck as well as the carcass, which
Renee gave him a great smile. Netul nodded as he removed the gold
Cultio to let his waist length thick hair down.
Cleaned, Renee put the hose back and lifted
her left hand to activate built in scanners for deep penetration
though the carapace of the eight legged, two armed and headless
Queen. Without the more accurate orb of her med bay scanner, she
scanned much longer to make sure it was all documented before
letting it fall back to the ground. Renee then disappeared into her
shuttle again to come out minutes later with hundreds of vials and
specimen dishes.
She had her armor covering her whole body so
the blood didn’t infest her before she lifted a finger and made the
tip look similar to a cutting torch and she opened up the Queen’s
hard outer shell to take all the organ samples and biopsies she
could get hold of. All the while she talked about her new
discoveries that would in the future become common knowledge
throughout the human Empire.
“
Netul,” the Creelin turned
and walked over. “how in the stars can a Goliath negate your
technology to teleport?”
The man sat beside him on
the win too.
“They evolved the ability in
roughly ten years.”
“
Ten years? How?”
“
Keptl are not stupid. Their
ability to evolve and adapt is second to none. What take hundreds
of millennia to evolve merely takes them decades at most. While we
excel in advanced technology. They evolved to be deadlier of body.
They select traits that let them be more successful hunters. It has
worked for them for hundreds of millions of years. Somehow they can
feel the vibrations our form of teleportation takes. They in turn
evolved the Goliaths, whom have the largest”
As Netul spoke a great shadow passed overhead and the
silhouette was of a huge chunk of a Goliath pincer and a quarter of
still attached torso.
“extra sensory
perception to grow a sack no larger than a tall person like us that
counters the vibration key to entering hyperspace. And the sac
covers a wide range of frequencies as well as distance. So
modifying the exact frequency is not a solution we can employ. Our
Golden Armada teleported to the edge of the Goliath’s great range
and were flying at sublight moments after the Keptl signatures were
detected in our space.”
“
Then why did my technology
not get effected?”
“
You are a carbon based life
form.”
Netul touched his
breastplate.
“We are silicone. Our anatomy
and technology cannot do the same things.”
“
That makes no sense.”
Oliver admitted honestly. “I brought you along and even teleported
an entire Mothership.”
“
You did. There is no
denying that fact. The issue you do not understand is my people,
with all our superior technology, cannot duplicate Solarian due to
our silicone anatomy. Being a carbon life form allows for greater
flexibility. This can”
he tapped Oliver’s
forearm with a fingernail shaped into a black claw.
“only bring a limited amount of inorganic matter
through hyperspace. It is why our Mothership could come. Had ours
been made of living matter like Jake Dorgen’s Dorgenox, you would
find it much simpler to jump… if it was the same size as our
greatest mobile defensive weapon. It cannot be changed. And as it
is, we cannot recreate your armament for our own
purposes.”
“
Not yet. Who knows what the
future holds.”
“
Indeed. That is a true
statement. I do know many of our scientists are trying again. And
since you brought up this point, may I inquire
something?”
“
Go ahead.” He said after
brushing the cheek of his daughter who whimpered in her clothed
wrappings that looked more like a white cocoon.
“
My people know how I was
imprisoned and experimented on, to be rescued by you and Renee.
Many old friends and acquaintances of mine soon learned of you and
how you and she use functioning Valek to full function. I have been
requested from many scientists to see if you would be amiable to
observation on your use of them. Our people cannot equip
these.”
Netul again touched the black
vambrace.
“Humans are a close enough match
to your people that two had finances and fortitude to bind them. We
haven’t been able to study one in twenty five
millennia.”
“
Someday maybe. I cannot
promise anything more than a maybe. Right now raising my daughter
and uncovering what happened to me and my people are more of a
priority.”