AcQuest: A Space Opera Military Technothriller (The Quest Saga Science Fiction Adventure Series Book 3) (11 page)

BOOK: AcQuest: A Space Opera Military Technothriller (The Quest Saga Science Fiction Adventure Series Book 3)
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Elizabeth was a special sort of Cadet. She was a cadet in her NOVA stage. NOVA stage cadets had much larger life energy reservoirs than regular cadets, and so they could completely master a certain Elementa and manipulate it to whatever extent they wished. Elizabeth practiced the Elementa of Earth, one of the more advanced Elementa out there.

She transferred her life energy into her fist, every drop and trickle flowing into her fingers. She punched hard into the ground. On solid ground, a punch like that would bring up a stone wall of sorts and help protect her from the barrage of ice, which was what she was hoping for.

But as it always happens, instead of a stone wall appearing, the ground beneath her collapsed. A fissure opened up where Elizabeth was standing and she fell through even before she could extend her wings.

The drop wasn’t too harsh and she landed unscathed. She picked herself up and saw that she was in an underground tunnel. She walked carefully through the darkness, her fingers brushing along the stone walls, her mind wary to any sudden attacks.

A patch of mud fell on her hair and she felt the tunnel vibrate in an unstable state. The tremors increased in intensity, causing more piles of sand to fall from the ceiling. She knew what was causing this. The Zeus Bomb. It seemed to have become much stronger as time went by. She wondered if it was close to becoming strong enough to wipe out Aliea. Right now, she had a bigger problem though.

She had to get to safety else she was going to be right in the middle of a collapsing tunnel, and that wouldn't be a pretty sight. She closed her mind and focused on the ground. A green aura emerged from her and sank into the mud. She kept going at it for a few seconds until the aura re-emerged and flowed back into her.

“I got it,” she said excitedly.

She had sent parts of her life force to explore the tunnel and use that information to construct a map of this place. It was a handy trick that she’d learned from observing Q’s Q-maps. It followed the same technique. It was just that Elizabeth’s version was much weaker, so she couldn’t scan too large an area.

She used her map and found a more stable network of tunnels towards the east. She headed towards it at top speed, making sure she put in as much distance as possible between her and the weaker tunnel system. A few minutes into her run she heard voices coming from afar. She charged in that direction without thinking twice about whether it was friend or foe. She was so excited about the prospect of meeting another person that she didn't notice the ditch of wet sand in front of her and fell straight into it.

A layer of black mud caked her but she still pushed on, the presence of other voices pushing all her worries out of her. She ended up at a cave, which was probably where the voices had come from. She walked into it, hoping to see a bunch of familiar faces. Friend or foe she didn't know.

“It’s a monster!” screeched a voice.

“Where?” Elizabeth exclaimed, spreading out her wings and going into a low battle-stance.

“Elizabeth?” said a voice. Elizabeth looked to her right to see Juliana and Carlos run towards her, their faces bright and shining.

“Thank god,” Carlos said.

“What are you people doing here?” Elizabeth said, utterly confused.

“We needed shelter from the storm,” Juliana said.

Carlos squinted, “I have to say though, the cadets seem like they’ve all been beat up. I wonder if the storm wore them down.”

“Ha, ha, ha,” Elizabeth laughed nervously, “Maybe the situation just got to them.”

She recognized those cadets’ faces. Those were the people she had dueled against for the sake of training. They were all beat up because
she
had actually beat them up, not because of the storm.

“That must be it,” Carlos said in a monotone, his mind clearly focused on other things.

“Do you know where Q is?” Elizabeth asked.

“We’ve got a lot to catch up on,” he said. He told her about Q’s departure to find the Lambda Driver in the Anti-verse and Elizabeth told him of Taylor’s escapade to go and get help from the Dark knights.

“We cannot depend on the Dark Knights for now,” Carlos said. “We’ve got to find our own way out if we have any hope of taking back Aliea.”

“So what’s our plan of action for now?” Elizabeth asked him.

Carlos shook his head, “We’ve got nothing,” he said. “Let me just rest for a while.”

Elizabeth noticed how terrible he looked. His eyes were red from the lack of sleep. His skin was bruised from the rough weather. His arms and legs hung limp from his body, He had definitely had a pretty rough time. She and Juliana weren’t exactly beauty queens either. They all had their share of scars the storm had inflicted on them.

The entire cave started to vibrate. A minor tremor hit them, and then slowly increased in intensity. Huge blasts sounded from above, causing even larger vibrations. The noises were coming from the surface. The tremors made the pond’s water jump high into the air. The half-asleep cadets bunched around close to each other, scared and timid.

“This way,” Juliana led them out of the cave. There was no question that the cave would start imploding. Elizabeth’s biggest worry here was finding out what had caused the tremors.

“What’s going on?” she asked Carlos.

The Commander looked grim, “The Zeus has shifted into stage two,” his voice became deathly silent. “Poseidon. The Bringer of Earthquakes. The Destroyer of Continents.”

 

***

2-3

 

Taylor looked outside the window of the castle that held her captive. The scenery had unsurprisingly not changed. Black rocks and gray ash spread for as far as the eye could see, simple and bland. She chuckled to herself. She had been given all the privileges fit for a queen, except one.

Freedom.

Just why does Andrea have to keep me here?
she wondered. A shadow fell across the floor. She looked around, but there was no one other than her. She rushed to the window and looked out, there wasn’t anything in sight.


Looking for me?
” a voice asked. A voice that Taylor found very familiar. She turned around. It was Ruby! She hugged Ruby, barely getting her arms around the griffin’s thick neck.

“Am I glad to see you,” Taylor smiled.


Have things been that bad?
” Ruby asked teasingly.

“How on Earth did you get here?”


I was on the Orion the whole time. Got here all the way from Aliea.

“Is that a griffin?” A few Knights rushed through the corridor, and assumed battle position.

“What are you doing?” Taylor asked.

“Stay away from it, Taylor, it’ll hurt you,” one of them said.

Taylor glared at them. She was really angry with this whole Dark Knights set up. First they capture her, then they imprison her, then they tell her to stay away from Ruby.

“What’s wrong with griffins?” she asked.

“What do you mean what’s wrong with them? Griffins are the enemy, they’re the White Knight’s steed!”

“Yeah so? Just because a few griffins are on the enemy’s side doesn't mean the Griffin race is our enemy.”

The Knights backed down a bit. She gave them a nasty glare and they all walked away.


Tough crowd,
” Ruby said.

“They’re all Dark Knights too but sometimes they can act so….so…”


Cruel,
” Ruby helped.

“No.”


Irritating.

“No.”


Insensitive.

“Yeah,” Taylor’s face was red with frustration and anger.

“My, my,” Razy walked up to her. “What have we here?”

She sighed.
Just what I needed,
she thought. She hated Razy to the core. His red, spiky hair was blaring and chaotic, just like he was. He was a merciless killer who didn't care about how ethical he was. He was called the ‘Red Devil’ for his habit of hacking down the enemy without any emotion.

And true to his name the Red Devil threw her a sword, a wicked grin on his face. “If you’re protecting the griffin, then do it properly,” he said.

“Fine,” she grasped the sword by its hilt.

Razy looked at her as though he had already won the battle. She positioned herself and charged, her sword pointed right at him. It was probably a hilarious sight to the spectators, a girl in a silk dress charging a guy in battle-armor.

Razy’s face froze with that condescending look of his, the one Taylor wanted to beat out of him. She picked up speed, trying to gain as much force as she could. At the very last moment Razy tried dodging to the left, but Taylor noticed it immediately. She switched her sword to her left hand and slashed at him.

Razy was ready with his sword and blocked Taylor’s strike. She twirled around and continued to strike him down one blow after another, each one fiercer than the last.

“That dress is very dazzling,” Razy said mid-strike.

Taylor blocked a strike and jabbed at his head, but his defenses were good.

“I don't need your compliments,” she muttered.

Razy slashed at her legs, throwing all his weight into it. Taylor back-flipped and landed on her feet. She charged at him fiercely. He didn't stay put this time and charged at her too, shuffling around to put off her concentration. They locked swords and the sound of metal on metal rang through the air. She unleashed a flurry of moves but Razy countered all of them.

“You seem to be weaker than I expected,” Razy smirked.

“That’s because I’m just getting started,” Taylor smiled.

She focused on her life force and imagined it seeping into her body, powering her from within. Her strikes became faster and stronger with every movement.

She could see Razy’s face strain with the effort of keeping up with her. She threw her sword high into the air, and in one swift movement, threw him to the floor. She snatched her sword from the air and stabbed it into the floor right next to Razy’s head.

“Too bad you are not a White Knight,” she said and turned around.

“You,” Razy got up, grabbing both swords and going into an offensive position.

Ruby got between him and Taylor, and screeched out, sending powerful waves through the air.

“I’ll get you back, Taylor,” he stepped back. “You won’t get away with this,” he ran away.

Ruby turned around, “
So how about we get you out of here?

“How are you going to do that?”


We’ll fly out.

“And after that? How am I supposed to survive in space?” Taylor asked. “I don’t have my suit with me.”


Whatever shall I do with this,
” Ruby held out a black bracelet in her paw.

Taylor gasped, “You!”


Yup, stole it back,
” the griffin tossed the bracelet to her.

Taylor wore the bracelet around her wrist. “
Ethosien
,” she said, and the suit activated. The familiar aura of black appeared around her.


We should leave soon,
” Ruby said. “
I can hear a lot of Dark Knights coming.

“Razy must have alerted them,” she said and looked out the window. “Time to go.”

Ruby shot out the window, spreading her wings and gliding through the air. Taylor crouched low and burst forward. She dived out the window and latched onto Ruby mid-air. The griffin screeched one last time as they soared through the sky.


Well, that trip was a waste of time.

“It’s fine. Now I know that we’re the only ones who can save Aliea.”


Yeah…

“We can do this,” Taylor said.

They raced away from the dull planet of black and gray.

“We can do this,” she said again.


For the last time, I know we can do this. You’re the one who’s having insecurity issues.

“We can do this.”


This is going to be a long flight.

 

***

 

Q stared at the huge castle in front of him.

He and Burke stood on the cold, hard ice, their energy suits keeping them warm and toasty.

They had swum into a deep abyss, taken out a few oversized frogs and resurfaced at a beautiful castle in an underwater cavern. It was a pure white castle made from pearly-smooth bricks. Two pillars rose from the front corners. Their ends were sharp and pointy, making the castle look like it had come straight out of a fairytale.

Q headed to the huge wooden door at the front.

“A wooden door,” Burke said condescendingly, “You’d think they’d learn from the medieval ages. We’ll blast the thing down like it was paper.”


Let me assist you then,
” bellowed a voice.

Q froze. He had heard that voice before. If he was right about the owner, then they were in quite a lot of trouble. “Nigel,” he yelled out.

A burly, muscular man-giant landed onto the floor before Q, a circle of small ice shards flying away from him.

“Why hello, young man,” Burke walked up to Nigel. Q pulled him back instantly.

“Hey,” Burke complained, “what’s the big idea?”

Nigel started to grow right in front of Burke. In a few seconds he was the full scale monster Q knew and loved.

“I’m BIG, and I have an IDEA,” Nigel yelled out.

Burke chuckled at the silly joke. Q glared at him.

“What? It was clever,” he said.

Nigel used that fraction of a second to whack Q with his club. Q flew a few meters and fell hard into the snow. He had never really understood where the club magically appeared from. Nigel probably stored it in an alternate dimension or something.

Q got up and charged at the giant. He didn’t have his sword, so he knew he would have to improvise.

“Swordless,” Nigel noticed. “Quite daring I must say,” and he charged as well.

For every step Q covered, Nigel covered ten. To Burke, who was watching from the sidelines, it probably looked like an eighteen-wheeler was charging at a minivan.

Q dropped his arm to the side like he had an imaginary sword in his grasp, “C’mon, just this once,” he wished. A bright glow radiated from his hand and morphed into a sword made of light. Q wasted no time and dug his sword into Nigel, pushing it in up to the hilt before losing his grip and sliding away.

The big giant roared out in pain and knelt to the ground. He pulled out the sword and threw it to the ground. Its glowing blade though, kept his attention, and he finally understood what had attacked him.

“The Elementa of Light,” his eyes widened and he turned to Q. “You’re a light user.”

“You bit off more than you can chew, buddy boy.”

The giant’s wound seemed to mend itself, and in seconds there was not even a scar left of Q’s mauling attack.

“Great, he can heal himself as well,” Q muttered. “How come I never get any of that?” he yelled out, looking above him. He didn’t know who he was asking though.

“Well you do have your own fair share of power you know,” Burke said.

“Not helping, Burke,” Q yelled out.

“If you guys are finished talking, I’d like to kill you now,” Nigel said. “They’re serving pizza at the cafeteria today and I really need to get ahead in line.”

Q was hurtling onto him before he finished his sentence. He was swordless again, but this time he had a better idea. He imagined a small knife and instantly light collected around him, morphing into a knife in his hand. He carefully aimed at Nigel and threw it straight at his thigh. The knife cut into the giant’s skin but he didn't seem to be fazed in the least. He pulled out the knife, just like he had done to the sword, and threw it away.

“That isn’t going to work, boy,” he laughed out loud.

Q momentum made him slide across the ground before coming to a stop. His hands were shivering from the cold. His energy suit was flickering. He needed more energy, but he had none to spare. The Elementa of Light was a power-hungry form of sorcery. He couldn’t use it more than a handful of times.

Even though he was exhausted, he forced himself to hang on. He could feel his heart burning from fatigue. His head started spinning and his arms were as heavy as lead but he somehow managed to maintain consciousness and face Nigel.

Nigel walked over to Q triumphantly, “It’s sad that it has to end like this, Q,” he said, and raised his club over Q’s head.

Q smirked, “It’s sad indeed.”

Nigel’s body trembled and his club dropped to the floor. His hand just hung limp by his side like it had gone numb. His other hand became limp as well, and his skin turned from human-pink to fireboy-red.

“W-what’s going on?” he stuttered.

“Your body’s going haywire,” Q said.

“H-h-haywire?” he trembled. His voice weakened.

“The Elementa of Light isn’t my only Elementa you know,” Q’s fingers sizzled with electricity. “That knife had a powerful charge infused in it. I’ve paralyzed your brain for a bit. You’ll regain your senses in a while, don’t worry.”

“I’ll kill you,” Nigel managed to say before he fell to the ground as still as a statue.

“Nice meeting you too.”

“So how do you two know each other?” Burke asked him.

“He’s tries to assassinate me every once in a while,” Q said.

With the gatekeeper now taken out, they walked over to the castle door, a wooden door a hundred feet high.

“What do you think we should do?” Q asked.

“Open Sesame!” Burke chuckled. The huge door slowly creaked open.

“How?” Q stared at Burke.

“Don't look at me, I don't know either,” Burke laughed. “That has got to be the most clichéd passcode ever.”

“Isn’t that horrible security?” Q asked.

“Yeah, it kind of is,” Burke said. “We should just head inside. We can worry about security later.”

“After you,” Q said.

Burke stood with his arms crossed and his foot tapping the floor.

“Fine,” Q couldn't help laughing. He entered the door, with Burke following him at close quarters. The inside of the palace was amazing. It was made of a white marble with red tapering across the walls and similar colored carpeting streaking along the floors. Q heard a few dull voices come from inside. He hid behind one of the marble pillars and tried to listen into the conversation.

BOOK: AcQuest: A Space Opera Military Technothriller (The Quest Saga Science Fiction Adventure Series Book 3)
6.35Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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