Hybrid - Forced Vengeance (40 page)

Erik pointed his staff at another floating craft as it moved to attack. A jagged blue lance of lightning leapt from the slender cylinder and tore a massive hole through the alien hull. The ship stood still in mid air for a single heartbeat, then came crashing down onto the desert floor. Three other vessels moved in and retaliated. Fifteen emerald beams fired in sequence toward him.

Erik raised the slender cylinder and it changed into a flat disc. He raised the makeshift shield in front of the alien hostility. The beams collided with the shield and embraced both shield and warrior with their eerie green glow. Erik surmised the aliens operating the craft were likely stunned when their energy beams faded but he hadn’t been harmed.

Erik shook his head as if shrugging off a punch, then held out his massive forearm. The limb began to glow and crackle with unknown energy. He pointed his finger at the closest ship, and the energy raced toward that vessel, guided by his hybrid will.

The alien ship swiftly erected an opaque shield and the incoming energy blast slammed into the barrier. The force of the impact knocked the construct back several meters, collapsing its shield. The ship slammed into the desert sand and flailed like an upside down turtle.

As the silver warrior, he leapt into the air, covering half the distance that separated him from the fallen ship. When he landed, his powerful leg muscles contracted, sending him higher into the air. As he fell, his cylindrical staff became bulkier. One end of the weapon had an ugly sharp edge while the other end was blunt and heavy. Erik somersaulted and twisted in mid air to avoid several oncoming lethal beams, then he landed atop the fallen ship, struck a blow against the alien hull metal that echoed like a thunderclap, then using his staff he filleted the damaged craft like one would a massive trout. The enraged warrior tore through the ship’s armored plating like paper, using only his fists.

They’re drones!
The thought came to him as he tore through the hull metal and circuitry.
They’re being controlled remotely.

He grabbed two of the large tentacles with his hands, crushing the alien metal in his powerful grip. He dragged the alien hulk across the sand and twisted his upper torso. His momentum lifted the alien craft from the desert floor and he spun the vessel like it was a giant discus. On his second rotation he hurled the battered platform several hundred meters into the approaching vessels, eradicating another several war machines.

Erik wasn’t concerned about keeping his power in check at this point; he was only interested in stopping the Observers’ onslaught.

Another large craft advanced toward him, firing several energy beams. Erik ducked and dodged the alien fire then charged that enemy craft. He ran, ignoring the beams that struck near him or grazed him. He leapt the last hundred meters separating them. As he flew toward the alien craft, he put all of his strength into a single blow.

His armored fist pierced the shielding and collapsed the machine’s armored hull. The momentum of his leap and punch propelled him through the main section of the vessel and out the back of the craft. He fell on the sand, barely avoiding the battered craft as it toppled backwards, missing him by inches.

* * * *

Before he could react, two spider probes attacked him. Energy tendrils wrapped around his massive body and squeezed him tighter and tighter. He focused his strength to snap the bonds. As he felt the energy bands breaking, his senses alerted him to another danger: A tentacle was coming at him like a giant baseball bat.

Aw crap, I’m gonna feel this one
. He stopped struggling against the energy rope and let his body go limp, leaping in the direction of the blow as the massive tentacle smashed against his frame. The force of the blow launched him over a hundred feet in the air. He absorbed the massive strike and twisted his bound body in the air like a gymnast. With a burst of superhuman strength he snapped the energy strands and landed gracefully over two hundred meters from the battle. Erik rubbed his side, and as he looked down to the site of impact, he saw the discoloration of his silvery armored flesh. Then he realized that he’d let go of his staff. He closed his eyes and extended his hand, his mind calling out to his weapon.

Like a faithful hound the weapon heard its master’s call and moaned as it flew through the air toward its master. The sentient staff settled in Erik’s outstretched palm buzzing and purring contently. Erik gripped the staff with powerful silver fingers prepared to enter the battle once again.

“I’d say that makes us about even, but I intend to finish this,” he spoke in Esper hisses to his weapon.

NO ERIK, THERE IS ANOTHER WAY.
His other voice rang inside his head.

Jakor!What do you have in mind
?

YOU CONTROL THE VERY FABRIC OF ALL THE ELEMENTS OF THIS WORLD. DO NOT THINK AS A SINGLE FOOTSOLDIER. THINK AS A COMMANDER; MARSHALL THE FORCES UNDER YOUR COMMAND AND LET THEM FIGHT FOR YOU.

* * * *

“Holy shit! Did you see that?” a technician asked in stunned amazement. “He just gutted that thing like a fish.”

“Damn!” another remarked. “They just whacked him the length of two football fields.”

Both Ross and Anderson watched the confrontation in silence.

Anderson stared at the colonel with an ominous look. “The second father has come for his child.”

Keeping his attention on the remote cameras’ feeds, Ross responded, “It would appear that all the pieces are now on the playing board. All we can do is sit tight and see which force walks away the winner.” Ross observed the remote cameras, showing the hybrid landing gracefully and snapping the energy bonds that held him.

“Let’s hope that Knight is the victor. If not, we’re in a pile of dog shit,” Anderson reminded the colonel.

“
We’re
in a pile of dung either way, Bill,” Ross pointed out with a ‘we’re-in-this-together’ look.

Anderson sighed heavily and nodded. “Yeah, but I’d still rather deal with Knight than an unknown species that we’ve unduly provoked. The hybrid is our pony in this race.”

* * * *

Gray paced silently.

“Gray, what’s the matter?” Phelps asked, concerned.

“My father’s forces have decimated this facility. Many innocent lives have been lost because of our aggressive acts.”

“It’s not your fault, or your father’s. Ross is responsible for all of this, and rest assured, he’ll be held accountable if he survives.”

Gray paused and his black eyes bulged in surprise. “One of our probes has reported that a silver warrior is attacking the drone ships. Four drones have been disabled.”

“Erik!” Shanda shouted out, elated.

“I do not wish my father and your mate to be enemies, Shanda Knight,” Gray said, sadly.

“Nor do I,” Shanda agreed. “Let’s just pray that things can somehow work themselves out.”

Shanda placed a hand on Gray’s shoulder. “We need to have faith, Gray. Both of the good guys are here. Our dear colonel must be shaking in his boots right about now; at least we can take some comfort in that.”

* * * *

More alien craft had dropped from the sky to replace those that had been destroyed.

Erik counted fifty vessels moving about the surface of Groom Lake. The drones scanned the ground, looking for isolated pockets of resistance. The military was either unwilling or unable to launch any further aggression against them. He could take out several of them, but he was simply outmatched by the fifty to one odds. Eventually, they would get the better of him, no matter how powerful he was.

While he was busy tearing into two or three of them, the rest could shoot at him or attempt to cocoon him again. Jakor was right; he could make his own lethal army and command it remotely just as the alien invaders were doing.

Erik retreated deeper into the desert; he needed more space to create his soldiers.

He focused his energy upon the desert winds first. They would serve as his primary attack soldiers, the backbone of his force. He created a swirling wind that formed behind him and grew as he fed the natural forces into a deadly twister. The dust devil was now over one hundred meters wide and nearly half a mile high. The wailing of the vortex became deafening. Satisfied with his first soldier, Erik created another to match it.

With arms outstretched, he summoned the electrical energies that inhabited the higher altitudes. The atmosphere for hundreds of miles around altered its molecular composition as free flowing electrons were diverted and enhanced by his will. High overhead the sky blackened as a massive thunderhead formed over a desert that hadn’t seen rain or cloud for generations.

Within the expanding monolithic darkness angry jagged arcs of electricity sparked. The massive storm expanded until it blacked out the entire sky for miles in every direction. Hailstones the size of grapefruit rained down upon the desert, and as the storm blocked out the sun, the temperature dropped sixty degrees in a matter of minutes.

* * * *

“Colonel Ross, we have extreme pressure gradients building up around the base. There’s a massive electrical storm front forming over Groom Lake. Wind sensors have detected two class-four dust devils less than one kilometer away from our position,” a technician reported. “You’ve gotta see this, sir. I see it but it can’t be true.”

“Put your feed on the main display,” Ross ordered. The technician obliged.

Ross, Anderson, the officer of the watch and the remaining seven technicians watched in stunned silence as the surveillance cameras displayed the hybrid summoning his army. The silver warrior stood in front of the two raging whirlwinds, gesturing toward the sky, and the sky seemed to respond!

“Sweet Jesus, Bill, he’s creating twisters.” Ross’s disbelief was matched by that of all in the control center. “How in hell can he make a storm?”

“I don’t know,” Anderson replied, eyes glued to the screen. “The more important question is, what’s he going to do with them?”

* * * *

Erik activated his staff. The weapon crackled with its own bioelectric energy.

Lightning from the storm flashed down and struck the staff. The energy bathed his silver-warrior form in an aqua blue nimbus. Erik’s side wound healed and his burning blue eyes lit up the darkness caused by the steel wool-colored clouds above.

Erik approached the alien invaders. Lances of lightning as thick as tree trunks rained down upon the hapless machines as the cold desert winds pummeled the craft with fine sand and ice chunks.

From the wailing of their machines, fine particles of sand seemed to have found their way into the alien vessels’ exposed moving parts, grinding sensitive components and clogging intake and exhaust ports. The remaining alien ships re-formed into a protective mass behind their opaque deflector shields but ten more alien ships outside the shielded area fell victim to the fury of his electrical attack.

Alien vessels fired their emerald beams into the thunderhead in a desperate attempt to disrupt the composition of the storm. Every time the storm seemed to weaken from their attack, Erik’s will regenerated the thunderheads and the attack continued with even more ferocity.

Erik stood by until all of the ships were engaging the massive electrical front. Then he unleashed his two desert foot soldiers. He yelled out over his shoulder in a series of snarls and hisses and the twin desert tornadoes responded by tearing across the desert floor, leaving a wide gulley to mark their passing.

The alien craft were sucked up in the twisters’ mighty vortexes before they could respond or attempt to flee.

Chunks of alien machinery spiraled helplessly up the dark funnels. Moments later the machines were spit out of the funnel tops, in pieces, over two thousand feet in the sky.

Erik looked on with satisfaction as, for miles, debris rained down upon the desert floor. The twisters continued to spin; lightning struck the barren earth churning up chunks of desert rock and scraps of metal with each impact.

Erik sensed the massive ship in orbit. He looked back at his soldiers as they continued to pummel the ground with hail, wind and lightening. He raised his hand and whispered commands, while making intricate gestures with his fingertips. The thunderhead dispersed and the titanic dust devils that had appeared from his will, dissipated. Two minutes later, the desert sun once again claimed its dominance over the arid landscape. The temperature climbed and the accumulation of hailstones  on the ground melted into the sand.

Erik exhaled a breath of satisfaction. He had won –  for now. The next move would be up to the Observers. They were aware of their losses and most likely watched him decimate their forces. Would they regroup and attack again or would they leave? The next few minutes would reveal their decision.

Erik yearned to become human again, but kept his warrior form in case he needed another forceful response.

In the years since he’d acquired his powers he’d never taken his capabilities to this level. Erik still felt battle lust and adrenaline course through his system. His darker, warrior half still needed to exact vengeance. The Esper warrior coding within his body was only programmed for one thing: Combat. The orbiting craft were still a threat, a threat that he refused to leave unscathed. He’d let the alien force realize it was not beyond his reach, that he could decimate their forces just as easily as he dispatched their drone army. He sat lotus style on the desert sand and reached out with his mind as far as his power would allow. Having never taken his elemental powers to these extremes, he didn’t know if any real limit existed. He felt his influence extend to one quarter of the planet’s surface. He could extend his reach further, but what he’d gathered so far would more than suit his purpose.

He imposed his will and with a single thought, the electrical activity high in the atmosphere increased. Free flowing electrons crackled and danced as more raw energy traveled across the planet’s surface to gather in a dense circle that covered most of the southwestern United States. He then channeled the energy along the resonate lines of magnetic force that ran along the planet’s poles, using that force to amplify the current’s power and store it.