Earthfall: Retribution (25 page)

He’s going to ram your Mothership
, Sam said, the message forming in his mind.

Yes, I feared that was his intention
, Suran replied.

I have no way of stopping him
, Sam said.
He escaped – he’s heading for the city.

His control of the Mothership will weaken at increased range
, Suran said.
That may offer us an opportunity. You have to try to wrest control of the vessel from him.

How?
Sam asked.
I’ve always needed something or someone else to act as an interface. I can’t do it alone.

I’m sorry, Sam
, Suran replied in his head.
I don’t know. You must act quickly; my vessel has sustained too much damage. It was as I feared – I was no match for Talon in battle. I cannot hope to outrun you.

Sam glanced out of the window. The other Mothership was already noticeably closer as they both drifted out over the waters of Tokyo Bay. He ran to the control pedestal and reached down, touching the floor and probing mentally with his implant for any weakness within the control systems. It was no good: the vessel was silent to him. His father may have been right about Talon’s control diminishing, but there was still a solid wall between Sam and the vessel.

He turned round and surveyed the scene of devastation in the control room, looking at the three fallen Grendels and Mag kneeling down next to the body of one of his closest friends, brushing a stray strand of hair off her pale forehead. He looked past them at the Mothership looming ever closer through the windows beyond and he felt a moment of despair. Then, seeing his own footprints in the dirty yellow dust that covered the floor in front of the control pedestal, his heart suddenly leapt. He touched the fine powder, feeling a tiny flicker of something at the edge of his mind. He closed his eyes and reached out for the barely noticeable trace of energy that still lingered.

Mag watched Sam drop to his knees and place both hands on the ground in front of him, his eyes closed. A second or two later the yellow dust began to rise into the air, swirling around him in an ever-thickening cloud. She felt a shudder of impact run through the massive vessel’s superstructure as the leading edge of Talon’s Mothership grated over the upper surface of Suran’s ship, their hulls shredding each other as they ground together in a hideous slow-motion collision.

An instant later the cloud of dust surrounding Sam flared with a bright yellow light and a figure began to form. Mag struggled to stand, the floor beneath bucking as the two Motherships drove into each other, flaming debris tumbling away beneath them and slamming into the streets below like high-explosive bombs.

The golden figure finally coalesced in front of Sam, her eyes glowing with yellow light, and he reached out and placed his hand on the side of her head.

‘I have control,’ the Servant said calmly. The massive anti-gravity engines that powered the Mothership changed the direction of their impulses and slowly but surely the two Motherships began to separate with the terrible screeching sound of disintegrating superstructure. A minute later, they both hung over the bay, smoke pouring from the tangled wreckage that had been left behind by their collision . . . but still airborne.

‘It’s good to see you again,’ Sam said. ‘Where is Talon?’

‘I am working to subvert his control of the Mothership’s ancillary units,’ the Servant said. ‘He has full command of this vessel’s land and air units.’

‘Can you break his control?’ Sam said.

‘No,’ the Servant replied, ‘Talon must relinquish his hold on the Mothership’s systems.’

‘Or die,’ Mag said, walking towards them.

‘Indeed,’ the Servant replied, ‘his termination would also achieve the same result.’

‘Good,’ Sam said, his expression grim. ‘Can you connect me to the Illuminate called Suran who is in control of the other Mothership?’

‘Yes, one moment,’ the Servant replied. ‘Connection established.’

‘Well done, Sam,’ Suran said, his voice coming from the air around them. ‘A few more seconds and I do not believe we would have been able to remain in the air. I assume you have control of Talon’s vessel?’

‘Only partial control,’ Sam replied. ‘He’s still in command of the drop-ships and his ground forces.’

‘What can I do to help?’ Suran asked.

‘We need you to send a drop-ship,’ Sam said. ‘Now.’

12

Talon stepped on to the street. The battle was raging at the far end. Grendels lit in blue and yellow tore into each other, slamming into shopfronts and office buildings, fighting with the savagery of wild beasts. Above them Hunters were swooping between the lamp posts and electrical cables, their energy cannons blazing. The trail of destruction that led to the ongoing battle was clear evidence of the progress that Talon’s forces had made against Suran’s defenders. He could still feel his connection to the network that was allowing him to control his troops, and the longer he spent in command of them the more they began to feel like an extension of his own will. Suran was no warrior and Talon had fought more battles than he cared to remember. It would not be long until the Voidborn control node fell to them.

He reached into one of the pouches that hung round the waist of his armour and pulled out a small transparent bag filled with blue gel. Tearing open the bag, he daubed the gel over the vicious neck wound that the Vore hybrid had given him. The gel hardened almost instantly, sealing the wound, but he had already lost a considerable amount of blood. The only way to heal himself properly was to reverse the form-lock under which the boy had placed him – until then he was trapped in his current form, and vulnerable. The reversal could only happen if another member of the Illuminate was to remove the lock, not something that either the boy or Suran would ever willingly do.

He winced as the chemicals within the gel accelerated his healing process. It had been a long time since anything or anyone had actually hurt him. It hardly mattered now, he thought to himself as he looked up at the giant tower looming over them. Soon his forces would have control of the primary node and his mortality would be irrelevant. He flinched slightly as a drop-ship shot past overhead, its energy cannons laying down a devastating field of fire that scattered the last few units defending the entrance to the Skytree.

Talon reached into another pouch at his waist and pulled out a small disc, only ten centimetres in diameter, that glowed with a soft blue light. He smiled to himself. This seemingly innocuous object was the key to his final victory. An instant later there was the sound of a drop-ship from somewhere behind him and Talon ducked involuntarily as it screamed past just a few metres overhead, its hull dancing with yellow light. The drop-ship opened fire on the other aircraft, its energy cannons flaring and sending crackling bolts tearing through its black, crystalline hull.

Talon’s aircraft spun out of control, slamming into the ground and sliding into the advancing Grendels, knocking them flying before it pin-wheeled into an office building. It exploded with a bright blue flare of energy, scattering the tower’s attackers and forcing Talon to duck for cover. With a low rumble, the twenty-storey building collapsed in on itself, sending chunks of concrete scattering across the road and filling the air with billowing clouds of dust.

After a few seconds Talon climbed back to his feet and strained to see through the grey cloud that now filled the street ahead of him. He brought the forces around him closer, a pair of Grendels flanking him as he picked his way through the rubble that lay across the road, heading for the entrance to the tower. As the dust slowly cleared, he saw the drop-ship that had just attacked his forces sitting on the road in front of the entrance to the Skytree. Standing beside it were Suran, the boy and the Vore hybrid.

‘You’re not going any further,’ Sam said when Talon walked towards them, his glowing sword in his hand.

‘You are proving harder to kill than I had imagined,’ Talon said as Grendels took up positions on either side of him. He reached for the Mothership with his mind and immediately realised that for whatever reason he could no longer access the vessel’s control systems. ‘What have you done? Why can I no longer access the Voidborn vessel?’

‘It is not too late. Lay down your weapons and accept the consequences of your actions,’ Suran said, stepping towards Talon.

‘You always were an idealistic fool,’ Talon replied, sneering at Suran. He looked up at the Grendel standing to his left. ‘Kill them all.’

The Grendel took a step towards them and roared. Suran stretched out his arm and it extended, slowly forming into a sword identical to the one Talon was holding.

‘You are no warrior, Suran,’ Talon said. ‘You cannot win.’

‘Maybe,’ Suran replied, ‘but I shall die fighting.’

The Grendel charged at Suran, and he ducked its wildly swinging claws, slashing at the creature’s shoulder, his blade leaving a long glowing scar in its armour. The Grendel turned, its jaws snapping at empty air as Suran dodged beneath its attack, ducking under its arm and driving his sword into the creature’s elbow joint. Black blood gushed on to the dusty road below. Suran spun round, his sword arcing towards the Grendel’s back. At the precise instant his sword buried itself into the Grendel’s spine, the monstrous creature’s tail flashed through the air, its daggerlike tip burying itself in Suran’s chest. It hoisted him off the ground before flinging him away across the street like a rag doll.

Sam ran over to his fallen father as the Grendel dropped to its knees, all control of its legs now lost. It tried to drag itself across the road for a few metres before it finally collapsed to the ground and lay still.

Sam crouched down next to Suran. His father looked up at him with a pained expression. Tiny wisps of dust writhed around the gaping hole in the front of his armour, proof of his body’s doomed attempts to repair itself, despite the Voidborn nanites that were now swarming within the wound.

‘He cannot be allowed to destroy the tower,’ Suran said, his voice strained.

‘How do I stop him?’ Sam asked, glancing over at Talon, who was watching them with a vicious smile on his face.

‘You can’t,’ Suran said, ‘but we can. Goodbye, my son. I love you.’

Suran reached up and placed his hand gently on the side of Sam’s head. Sam felt a moment of searing pain and was suddenly blinded by a flash of white light. He staggered backwards, and Suran’s body began to disintegrate into a pile of white dust. Sam’s hands went to his head as he felt pressure building inside his skull. He dropped to his knees, feeling as if his head would burst. Slowly the pain subsided as he knelt panting in the street, his vision gradually returning to normal. He looked up just in time to see Mag charging at Talon, her fangs bared and claws outstretched.

‘Mag, no!’ Sam yelled.

Talon closed his eyes for an instant and the Grendel standing next to him stepped forward, a black tentacle shooting from its wrist and wrapping round one of Mag’s ankles, sending her tumbling to the floor. The tentacle retracted, dragging Mag towards the Grendel as she thrashed wildly, slashing at the slimy tendril with her claws. The Grendel took three quick steps towards her and scooped her up off the ground, its massive claws closing round her neck as she struggled uselessly against its overwhelming strength. She dangled from the Grendel’s outstretched hand, pulling at the black claws that tightened round her neck.

‘Let her go!’ Sam screamed, fighting the rising tide of despair he felt in his chest.

‘On one condition,’ Talon said calmly. ‘Reverse the form-lock. Free me from the confines of this shape and I will spare her. Otherwise . . .’

Mag gave a strangled gasp of pain when the Grendel’s claws tightened by just a tiny amount.

Sam looked at Mag and saw the mix of defiance and fear in her eyes. He had no choice. He walked towards Talon and placed his hand on the side of his head. A broad smile spread across Talon’s face as he felt the restraints on his shape-shifting abilities fall away. The scratches and dents in his armour disappeared and the long claw-shaped gashes in his neck faded away, the hardened layer of medical gel falling to the ground.

‘Thank you,’ Talon said. ‘That’s so much better.’

Sam looked at the fallen defenders of the tower that lay scattered on the street around them and then up at the dozens of Talon’s drop-ships circling above before letting his head drop, knowing in that moment that they had lost. Nothing could stop Talon now.

‘I was going to grant you a swift death,’ Talon said, ‘but now I think I might actually let you live. So much worse to be one of the final witnesses to the death of your world.’

‘Just get on with it,’ Sam said, his voice filled with resignation. ‘Destroy the tower.’

‘Oh, I’m not going to destroy it,’ Talon said with a smile. ‘If I’d wanted to do that, I would simply have flown the Mothership into it. No, I have something quite different in mind.’

He grabbed Sam by the scruff of his neck and dragged him towards the entrance to the tower. The Grendel carrying Mag followed. A massive black sphere was nestled at the base of the tower within a spider’s web of cables, all throbbing with red light. At the bottom of the sphere was a glowing red portal, its crimson light spilling out across the square. Talon dragged Sam towards the sphere and threw him to the ground just a couple of metres from the glowing hole in its base.