The Fight for Creation: Book 01 - Life Warrior (19 page)

Jon said, “We agree, but we’ve seen that all of us are being called for this mission. I really can’t explain it but all of our warriors and ships are hearing it.”

The Cat said, “All of you could die in this. Nothing has survived them.”

“Then we’ll die. This is an issue that must be faced or there will never be a victory.”

“They’ll know you’re coming.”

Dern said, “No they won’t, Admiral. Psychic talents don’t work with us. We are outside their psychic abilities.”

“Our Warriors don’t know where we’re going. If they did, I suspect you might be right.” Jon paused, “However, my Warriors are hearing the music and I suspect that insulates them as well. This question will be answered when we make an appearance.”

“But no one has ever survived an attack and no one has ever arrived in time to save their victims.”

Jon slowly shook his head, “I think I know that better than most.”

Mandel slowly nodded his head, “I wish I could at least tell you what to expect, but we know nothing. You’re going in blind.”

“We do know from the calls for help that they can be killed by energy.”

“No, the sender said they were delayed. We also know they move at a speed the victims described as unbelievable.”

Jon smiled, “Then whatever happens, it should be over quickly.”

The Cat said, “I think if the Queen knew what you’re planning she would order you not to do it.”

Jon took a deep breath and blew it out, “Then you need to make sure she doesn’t know.” They stared at Jon and he said, “I’ll ask forgiveness afterwards.”

The Cat muttered, “If there is an afterwards.”

Jon smiled, “There is that.” Jon saw their reluctance and looked at the Cat, “If your mother told you to do something that we thought was foolish; what would you do?”

“This is different.”

“How?”

The Cat started rapidly pacing back and forth and he said, “Damn it Jon, I just don’t see anything about the outcome.”

Jon slowly shook his head, “You’ve been so accustomed to being able to see everything that you are weakened by the loss of that certainty.”

The Cat stopped his pacing and then sat on his haunches. The Admiral stared at him and the Cat lied down and started purring. He licked a paw and brushed it over his whiskers and said, “Touché; you’ve wounded me.”

The Admiral looked at the giant feline and said, “What?”

“Sit down and enjoy the show. When you don’t know what to do; you get out of the way and watch what happens. Every cub knows that.”

Jon laughed out loud and said, “I think I’m starting to like you.”

The Cat wet his paw again and said, “You don’t have to insult me. No one likes us; we’re too bossy.”

Mandel tried to hide his smile but couldn’t. The Cat looked at him and said, “You know it’s true.”

Mandel put his hand over his mouth to hide his grin and turned back to the display, “Good luck and please let us know what happens.”

“If you don’t hear anything, you’ll know. We’re not ready yet. We need to do some work on the weapons we’re going to use and that will take some time. Admiral, remove us from the active roster while we prepare our forces.”

Mandel nodded and ended the call.

• • •

Jon looked at Tegen, “Have you determined how we can use this old armor?”

“I have; I think.”

Jon laughed, “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“We are going to take the old armor and move the power cells inside the skin of our new armor.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“It’s really not that hard. Our new armor will fit inside the old. We’ll absorb the old armor into our new armor’s skin and it will come out just like any of our other weapons when we activate it.”

“Our armor doesn’t function like it has before.”

“It does if the old armor is absorbed.”

Dern jerked his head back, “How do you know that?”

“I’ve already done it with my armor.” Teg paused and said, “However, we are going to have to charge the old armor’s power cells before we absorb them.”

“Why?”

“Because that old armor will suck our power packs dry as soon as they activate. The old power cells can hold an unimaginable power load.”

Jon leaned back, “How do we charge them?”

“The quickest way is to teleport them out close to a star and let them absorb as much energy as they can hold.”

Jon stared at Teg and said, “Why did we quit using this technology?”

“The armor was developed before the Realm learned how to teleport. The armor was big and bulky and didn’t move as fast as our new units. However, they were, and still are, one of the most powerful weapons the Realm ever created.”

“So our armor will become a hybrid of the two?”

Teg tilted his head, “Something like that.”

“What has you worried, Teg?”

“What if the power cells force field doesn’t kill them but only slows them down?”

Jon sighed, “I guess that’s something we’ll have to find out.”

Teg said, “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

• • •

Molly stood in front of her platoon and said, “I know you can hear one of these old suits of armor calling out to you. Activate your armor and go find the one that’s yours. Once you find it, take it and put it one the sled behind me. Once it’s charged, it will be teleported to your quarters. Step into it with your armor activated and absorb it into your armor’s skin. Do you have any questions?”

Belwen said, “Why does my armor no longer respond properly?”

“It will perform normally as soon as you absorb the suit you select. Now make your selection so we can get back to business as usual.”

Johanson said, “What’s the purpose of this old armor?”

Molly smiled and said, “You’re going to need it to survive our next mission. Now get moving.”

Molly watched her platoon move into the long rows of armor and they were back in less than two minutes. “That didn’t take long.” She watched as they placed their selections on the sled and she nodded to the technician. Belwen said, “How long is it going to take the armor to charge?”

Molly smiled, “It’s being teleported close to the star in this system. It should be charged in three days.”

Belwen did a double take, “How much of a charge does it hold?”

“It would take twenty power packs to fully charge one, private.”

The platoon looked at each other and Belwen muttered, “It must be some mission we’re going on.”

Molly thought, “You have no idea.”

• • •

“Jon, all of the Warriors have their armor back.”

“Assemble your units and make sure they can make the transition quickly.”

Teg said, “You don’t have to worry about that. Their regular armor is back to performing at the normal standards.”

“I don’t care. What happens if the music is blocked by the Dremor? I don’t want to take any chances. We don’t know what we’re going to face when they come at us.”

“I’ll let Dern know and we’ll start practicing.”

“Plan to move out within the week.”

“Do you know something?”

“My sword is starting to have a small vibration. I think that means something serious.”

“I’ve wondered about that. We need to hurry. What about the ships?”

“They will have to take care of themselves. I sense they’re about as ready as possible. I’ll keep you updated on anything that happens.”

Thanks, Jon.”

Jon went to his office and pulled up a star map and pulled his sword from his shoulder. The violet light filled the room and a star in the middle of the map increased in illumination. It was slightly brighter than the day before. Jon put the sword away and thought, “Not much longer.” He entered the star’s coordinates into his wrist unit and sat back in his chair. He couldn’t think of anything else he could do. He thought about Juliette and wondered what she was doing.

• • •

Juliette read six more messages from William Dodd and erased them from her mother’s mail. Something was going to have to be done. She knew that Dodd was not going to allow this to go on much longer. She thought about what she should do and wondered where Jon was. She wished she could talk with him. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.

J
on saw Teg and Dern appear in his office and Dern said, “Our Warriors know the plan. They’ve made formation in less than ten seconds on arrival.” Jon nodded and motioned them around his desk. They walked around and saw a star map on Jon’s display. Teg said, “What’s that?”

“That’s where the Dremor are going to attack.”

“How do you know?”

“My sword picked that planet. It’s been slowly flickering on my display for the last month.”

Dern shook his head, “Well, it’s not flickering slowly now.”

Jon nodded, “No it’s not and when it turns solid, the Dremor will be there.” Jon looked at his two brothers and said, “We have one day, possibly two, before they arrive. I want all our Warriors moved onboard their ships now. The battalions will be on action standby and remain ready to go on a moment’s notice.”

Teg looked troubled and Jon said, “Link with me now.” The three brothers closed their eyes and, after a minute, Teg opened his eyes and smiled, “I understand. We’ll be ready, Jon.”

Teg and Dern teleported out to their units and Jon looked back at the display. He took a deep breath, blew it out slowly, and knew it wouldn’t be long before he was going to face off with his parents’ killers.

• • •

The First Spirit looked at the planet below his fleet and felt his satisfaction. There were billions of life forms on it and he could see the glow from fifty thousand miles away. His ships were more difficult to see. They were light grey and almost transparent. The Dremor were the only life form in Creation that seemed to be made of a spiritual mass. They existed just on the edge of the physical universe. They barely made contact with the universe around them but that contact was deadly. Any life form they touched died horribly.

They evolved on a planet that circled a weak red star. The high concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere blocked most of the sun’s light but was heated such that the planet’s surface temperature averaged a hundred and ten degrees. It was in the perpetual darkness of the clouds covering the planet that the first Dremor came into existence. Two thousand years later, all life on the planet except for the Dremor was gone. They lived in perpetual hunger for centuries until they discovered they could create the forms that moved them off the planet to feed on other worlds. Their growth began rising and now they numbered in the billions. They called no planet home but existed in the insubstantial ships that moved them from one meal to another.

The First Spirit was commanding a fleet that was charged with the care of millions of Dremor children and adolescents. In order for them to develop, they had to be fed. This planet was a perfect meal. The First Spirit focused and allowed his mind to empty. He waited for a moment and didn’t feel any threat to his ships. He turned around and said, “Release the children.” Millions of grey shapes moved out of the grey ships toward the planet below.

“Three ships have just appeared, First Spirit.”

The First Spirit looked off to the right of his fleet and saw three star ships moving in toward the planet. He looked closer and said, “It appears they have four thousand life forms going to the planet.”

“Should we remove them?”

The First thought about it and said, “The children need more nourishment. When they go to the planet, remove the ships.” The First listened to his senses and didn’t sense any danger. He wondered how those ships had arrived at the start of the feeding but assumed that since they were no danger, it didn’t matter. He saw the life forms disappear from the three ships and nodded. Three hundred huge grey forms moved toward the three white ships.

• • •

The three battalions of Life Warriors teleported in to a large desert in the center of the southern continent. The Dremor had arrived directly above that continent and a giant grey mass began moving toward the planet below. The Life Warriors landed and moved into formation with three hundred yards spacing between them. The formation looked like a giant peg board with empty spacing between the pegs. Dern said, “I hope this new-old armor works.”

Teg laughed, “Now is a great time to bring that up.”

“I know.”

Jon smiled, “Listen to the music and you’ll know.”

“I can hear it; it just worries me.”

Jon looked up and saw large grey clouds moving in overhead, “I think this is them.”

“What do you mean you think?”

“Do you know what they look like, Dern?”

“No, but clouds?” They didn’t have time to say anything else as the clouds rushed in and their armor sprouted the power cells as the high energy force fields activated. Jon shouted over the general frequency, “Use your blasters first. Jon ejected a hand blaster into each hand and saw the sky start turning dark from the massive clouds that were forming miles overhead.

• • •

Millions died in the major cities on the southern continent as the Dremor rushed in and killed every living being. Once the cities were killed, the huge cloud of grey creatures searched for the closest life forms and saw the four thousand Life Warriors in the center of the land mass. They turned and rushed forward. The view from space looked like a giant weather system being sucked toward a tiny whirlpool. The Dremor were acting like a flock of sea gulls rushing over each other to be the first one to arrive at a meal. The Life Warriors waited and were amazed at the velocity the cloud was moving.

• • •

Jon’s armor looked like one giant beam as he stood and fired. Thirty minutes had passed and he was surrounded by fifty exhausted hand blasters that were dropped from his armor to the ground when another replaced them. The grey cloud continued to rush toward him but was being held back by the constant firing of the blasters. Every Life Warrior had a huge grey mist surrounding them and the cloud was continuing to grow. The Dremor were screaming in at a velocity faster than the speed of sound. Jon didn’t look at his command display. There was no time to think about anything but stopping the creatures rushing in to kill him. And still they came in numbers too large to count. The grey mist extended over the horizon and still the Dremor rushed in.