Story [Issue 29] The Crimson Blades - Part 2

[Kevred 1,586]

The Crimson Blades, Part 1

                  

                          

                                                                  The Crimson Blades, Part II

 

Crimson Flames

 

I try to sleep, but it’s hopeless. All I can do is think about my brother. My brother, who lied to me, betrayed me, and wants me to surrender my ship by morning or else, like he said, "We’ll be scraping bits of you out of space once we’re done with you." What on Earth is he doing with the Crimson Blades? Why is there any Crimson Blades in Sector C at all? The Terran geography classes teached me that Sector C has nothing but a few isolated galaxies and the toxic Xarvis Galaxy, which was contaminated by the explosion of a nearby Red Giant. I try to think, but my mind is foggy. Without even noticing it, I slowly drift off to the land of dreams...

 

I wake up to the sound of someone knocking on my cabin door. At first I'm scared the pirates somehow boarded the ship, then I realize that's ridiculous. Silently, I wait for the person to go away, but he doesn't. "Come in" I mumble. The knocking persists, so I repeat a bit louder, "Come in!". The doors slide open, and a shaft of light blinds me. As my eyes adjust to the luminosity, I slowly recognize Sarkas walking towards me with those strange palmed Genetarr feet, his expression impassible. "Sarkas, do you know what time it is?" I say, somewhat irritated. "No, sir, do you want me to check?" He replies very matter-of-factly. I sigh silently. Genetarr aliens might be great at reading minds, but someone ought to teach them how to read emotions. I put on my shoes and get out of bed without even thinking. Fortunately last night I slept with my uniform on, or else I would be completely naked right now. Talk about giving a captain's example. I walk towards the bathroom mirror and turn on the light. Agh. Is that ugly guy with cerns under his eyes really me?

"So, what's up, Sarkas?" I say, taking a razor.

"Nothing, sir. No one knows what is above space." He responds.

"No no no. It's a metaphor, it means... Ah, forget it. Why are you here?"

"I have a plan to defeat the Crimson Blades, sir." He blurts out.

"You do, eh? Then let's hear it" I say.

“I’ve been up all-”

“Ouch!” I let out before I can stop it. A drop of blood slowly trickles down my lips. Great. Now I have a billion and one injuries. Who knew it was so hard to handle a razor when you’re half asleep?

“Sorry. You were saying?” I ask.

“I have been up all night studying the Crimson Blade Flagship's shield and hull, and I believe we may be able to destroy their flagship with a single volley of auto-cannons." He responds.

"I'm listening..."

"I discovered that the Crimson ships have a very peculiar hull deployment. The armor platings are aligned sideways with small gaps between them. That sort of hull is designed to effectively block out the shock waves from explosions. But, if we find out the exact alignment coordinates of their hull, we can align our auto-cannons to match it..."

"And the bullets will go right through it! As if it weren't there! Brilliant Sarkas! So how do we find out their alignment coordinates?"

"Er... We'll have to break into the engineering room of their flagship, sir."

Uh Oh. Breaking into a heavily manned pirate flagship with a couple of underfed crewmen somehow sounds like a bad idea. There’s more chances that I win the lottery than the mission succeeding. Giving up on shaving, I reply in a bored voice,

"I’ll assemble an away team. Meanwhile, I want you to study their ship’s schematics."

"Of course, sir." He salutes then leaves. As the door slides shut, I try to remember how he went from a simple engineer on a starbase to second-in-command. Admiral McCollins simply told me to accept him as second-in-command on my ship. He seemed rather...distracted that day. Nevertheless, seeing no reason to refuse, I agreed. I’m betting it has something to do with Sarkas's psionic powers. Not in the way people may think, though. On his homeworld, Genetara, using telepathy on allies is strictly forbidden, and it seems he is applying the same rules on my ship.

After a few minutes, I decide to take Nergos, an Inergon, beings with strange energy powers, and Kracos, a fine Konqul soldier with, like most people of his race, amazing physical capabilities.Those two should balance things out. Nergos is capable of cracking the most secure computers in a matter of seconds. Kracos, on the other hand, can kill a person by simply punching him in the face. "Captain to away team, meet in the Telepod." I say into my comm unit as I head there myself. As I open the doors of the Telepod,  a circular room with lights buzzing 24/7, I immediately recognize the different perceptions of different races. Sarkas is holding nothing but an apple. Noemiar, the right-hand man of Sarkas, a Chunh merchant, a few gold coins and a market registry. Nergos, a pair of batteries. And Kracos… a part of a QB-V bomb, or Quantum Bio-Vaporiser, a weapon capable of wiping out every single living being on a planet.

"Noemiar, are you planning on opening a shop on the pirate starship? And Kracos, we’re not going on a mass-extermination mission, we’re going on a stealth mission!" I tell them in an exasperated voice.

Kracos looks at me with a quizzical look, "But don’t I need a mean of self-defence, sir?". I toss him a railgun. I almost feel bad for him when I see the sad look on his face as he puts down the Bio-Vaporiser. Poor Konquls. Having to put up with plain old boring railguns and rocket launchers when on their homeworld they let toddlers play with long-range tactical

missiles. During the Terran/Dysonian War, or The Great War, as most people call it, the Konqul Military sided with the Dysonian Fleet. After the Terrans prevailed, they were required to put half of their soldiers to the service of the Terran Forces. Most of them are still not used to human weapons.

"Initiate Telepoding." I tell Cerin, the AI of the ship.

"Initiating." She responds in an even voice.

I watch Sarkas as we slowly fade away.

We reappear in a square room with rusty metal walls and two exits on both sides. I charge up my pistol.

"Where are we, Sarkas?" I whisper.

"Deck 5, backup control room, sir. The engineering room is two decks above us. Follow me, I have a map of the road to the elevator." He responds.

We cautiously make our way to the elevator shaft . Even with Noemiar humming some kind of Chunh melody, we don’t encounter anyone. That’s odd, but what's the alernative? As we reach the elevator, I realize the silence. I turn around and watch Noemiar, clutching his bloody stomach, crumbles down, his eyes wide open. Behind him are three Blade pirates. The one that shot Noemiar fires again.

 

"GET DOWN!" I shout as I hit the ground so hard my head throbs. Make that a billion and two injuries. Lasers beams whiz past me, and find another target. I hear the heavy thump of a body hitting the ground right next to me. I don’t know, don’t want to know who it is. I aim my pistol at the first pirate, and fire. As usual, I don't miss. I was always the best at the shooting range, back at the Terran War Academy. Andros, he was the smart one, the loyal one. Regularly denouncing those who didn't do as they were told. That made quite a few dirty looks shoot our way. Thinking about Andros brings on a fresh wave of pain, so I decide to focus on the gunfight instead. The two other pirates, seeing their dead comrade, wisely decide it’s safer to take cover. They hide behind metal panels, only to be electrocuted by Nergos, as he absorbs the power of the batteries and releases them from his fingers into the metal. Unable to detach themselves from the panels, the pirates start emitting smoke, then dissolve into pure energy. With the danger gone, I get up and see that Noemiar and Kracos both received mortal wounds. I refuse to let my emotions overcome me. Pretending to not notice the tears dripping down Sarkas's face, I order "Nergos, open these doors.".  Nergos emits another beam of electricity from his fingers, and the elevator doors slide wide open. 

The doors open again on Deck 7, and apparently, it seems the pirates have a welcome committee prepared for us. I dive behind some crates as at least a dozen lasers fire simultaneously. It's impossible to find Nergos in all the chaos. Looks like we won't be roasting any pirates. Or shooting any either, as my weapon is nowhere to be found. That’s when  I see the slightly worn-off words on the side of the crates:

Warning

Highly Explosive

 

Please store in safe, non-humid place

 

Copyright 2502 Rogue Science League 

The Rogue Science League is not responsible

for any war that may be a result

of the use of the merchandise

 

Obviously, that gives me the idea everyone will expect me to have. It's risky, but it's the only way to not be turned into a grease spot by those pirate lasers. Putting all my weight on the crates, I push as hard as I can. The crates slowly but steadily start sliding, eventually tipping over one another. A few dozen Infernus Cannon shells roll out from the biggest crate. Perfect. Hiding behind a pillar, I wait until the shells roll far enough from us and close enough to the Blade Pirates. Fortunately, the battle is still raging all around me, and the pirates don’t seem the notice the shells. “Nergos!” I shout, trying to cover the ruckus.

"What?" He yells back. I locate where the shout came from. He's standing three meters to my right, concealed behind another pillar, occasionally poking out to sent arcs of electricity towards the enemy.

"Target the Infernus shells!" I cry.

He follows my finger and sees what I want him to see. Fires a jolt of lightning across the corridor. The pirates heard me too, but it’s too late. Just as one of them tries to warn the others, the shells explode, knocking me to the ground. I cover my ear as one shell explodes after another, sending tremors throughout the ship, creating a huge blazing fire in the process. Swiftly, I get up, not wanting to waste any more time after we just relayed our location to every single living soul on the ship. Nergos, on the other hand, is slumped in the corner of the hallway. And Sarkas is… No. My heart beating at a thousand miles per hour,  I rush towards Sarkas, who is lying in a huge pool of blood. Judging from his position, slumped against a control panel, and from the System Cracker he's holding in his hand, I'm guessing that he attempted to hack the Crimson Blade Auxiliary Computer. Why? Nergos can do it much more quickly and the hull alignment data we need is not located here. Kneeling besides him, I immediately know that he can not be healed. Sarkas looks me in the eyes, and whispers, "Thanks you for accepting me on your ship, sir."

I grip his hands tightly, as if his life might slip away if I let go.

"It was my honor, Sarkas" I whisper back. The pain I see in his eyes is breaking my heart.

"Sir, I...have to tell you...", he coughs up some blood, "I was...put on your ship...for a mission."

I give a weak laugh. "Of course, we all have a mission. To protect the Terran Empire."

"No, sir. A secret...mission. The council...must destroy..." Then he suddenly shudders, and grapples my arm, looking at me with desperate eyes.

“Don't let them! Don't let them get...They...kill you! The Titancore! The Titancore!” But before I can ask him anything, he stops moving, and I know that something deep inside him is gone, and will never come back. I just stay there, clutching my best friend’s lifeless hand. I stay like that for...how long? A day? A week? I can’t tell. I stay there, remembering all the happy times we spent together, until Nergos comes, taps on my shoulders, and leads me towards the engineering room.

 

We get to the engineering room in a flash. The whole process was like a dream. I simply giddily followed Nergos through a maze of halls and elevators. Trying to not think about Sarkas and only thinking about him. A secret mission. The Titancore. What did he try to say? What I do know, is that not a single Crimson Blade will survive my revenge. they can starve us, they can harass us, they can blockade us, but they cannot destroy us. We, I, will fight back, until we succeed or we die. That's a promise. Sarkas's death will not go unavenged. Deep in my thoughts, I don't notice the irregular absence of enemies. 

 

Then I hear the footsteps, as if a whole legion of people were running towards us, which may be exactly what's happening.

"Nergos, get down." I say in a hushed voice. We both crouch down and hide behind a crate. What's with all the crates and boxes on this ship? A group of seven Crimson pirates stumble into the room and comes to a halt. A bulky pirate, a commander judging from his headband and his badge, speaks up, " Where are you? We know you're here ! Come out, and I promise your death will be quick!". Yeah right. I have better things to do than dying. Slowly, I make my way towards them, using the shadows to conceal me. Here goes nothing, I think. I yell at Nergos to start hacking as I charge the pirates.

 

Possibly because of the incredible foolishness of my plan, the pirates are too stunned to pull out their weapons. My military training kicks in, and I shoot three of them before they realize what's happening. From the corner of my eye, I see Nergos nervously fiddling with a computer. I need to distract the pirates as long as I can. Unsheathing my knife, I stab another enemy in the back. A pirate with an eye patch fires his gun, but misses me by a good meter. I yank my blood-stained knife out of the corpse, and throw it at his head. The dagger finds his mark. The last Crimson pirate sensibly decides it's better to run. He drops his gun as a sign of submission and turns around to flee. Unfortunately for him, I won't give him that chance. No, not after they killed Sarkas. Aiming his head, I fire my pistol. He slumps down. It seems there are no more enemies. Combine training with adrenaline, and you've got yourself a super-killing machine.

"Nergos, how's the cracking coming?" I say.

"Almost there! These Crimson security codes are harder than I thought!" He replies.

Huh. Ruthless pirates that have super-secure passwords but that can't hit a target standing two meters in front of them. Go figure. I pick up my dagger and a laser pistol from one of the dead pirates. Using a piece of cloth, I wipe the blood off the dagger. I'm forgetting something, but I can't figure out what. Then the answer finds me. A huge mass jumps on me, pinning me to the ground. A massive force flips me over, and I'm staring into the blood-red eyes of the pirate commander. He opens his mouth, and a wave of stink flows out of it. Beurgh. My lunch is making a reappearance.This guy really needs to go easy on the garlic.

"Hello, my dear friend. So, you want to die the painful way, eh?" He croaks.

"Um, no, I would prefer to keep my soul, thank you. Would you like a breath-freshening candy?" I reply in a mocking voice. 

"Shut up! I'll crack your limbs off one-by-one!" 

To prove his point, he kicks me in the stomach. I don't feel the pain, but the taste of blood fills my mouth. Difficultly, I reply,"Die, pirate scum". On that, I make up a ball of blood and saliva (and vomit) and spit it on his face. Cursing, he rolls off me. I take the occasion, quickly getting up, then knee him in the most painful place you can imagine. Yep, that's the spot.  "Gaaah! I'll twist your neck with my own hands!" He shouts. Unfortunately for me, pain doesn't seem to discourage him. At a surprising speed for such a bulky build, he swipes his legs under me. Off-balance, I'm unable to prevent myself from falling on the ground. The commander approaches, his lips curved into a wicked smile. Before I can get up, he pins me down with his legs. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Your leaders promised lots of credits for your death!" He cackles. What? What did he say? He must have noticed the stunned look on my face, because he continues, "Yes. Didn't expect that, did you? Your own bosses payed me to destroy you! Admiral M- " He's interrupted by a blood-stained laser shaft that is now protruding from his stomach. With his last breath, he mumbles, "What the-" Then crumbles to the ground. Nergos is behind him, holding a laser blade in one hand and a cracked datapad in the other.

"Good job, Nergos. Let's get out of here." I say.

 

Once we’re back in the Telepod, I run up to my ship’s bridge, and tell the on-duty helmsman,

“Align our auto-cannons to these specific degrees.”, as I give him the datapad.

“Aligned, sir.” He responds after clicking some buttons on his console.

Suddenly the main screen flicks on, and there's my brother, looking at me with sad eyes.

“Think about what you're doing, Arshton. Please, I can explain everything.“ He affirms in a pained voice.

“Helmsman, charge up auto-cannons.“ I order in a voice I'm struggling to keep even.

“Please! Remember who I am! I am your brother, Arshton! The same one you loved when we we're young!“ His face is overcome with desperation. My brother might have been the most intelligent, but I was the bravest. He was so scared of death.

 

I stare into those deep blue eyes, and think about all the fun times we shared. All the times when we played poker under the bed when we were supposed to be sleeping. All the times he helped me assemble my gun, gave me a smile, then returned to his seat. I want to believe him. But then I see Sarkas, lying in a pool of blood, clutching my hand in desperation. Dead possibly because of Andros. So I say,

“FIRE!“

 

-End of Part II-

 

 

Edited July 30, 2017 by Hexed

[hogree 4,179]

Damn good read. Well played, Kev. Gripping story, up there with the best.

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

Yes, from today I bestow Kev with the title 'King of Sci-Fi'

 

 

 

 

 

Here's your futuristic crown

Edited December 3, 2014 by Kevred
Added spoilers, hope you dont mind :)

[Kevred 1,586]

Yes, from today I bestow Kev with the title 'King of Sci-Fi'

 

 

 

 

 

Here's your futuristic crown

Ouch...that doesnt look very comfortable :P

Edited December 3, 2014 by Kevred

[Kevred 1,586]

Wait...isn't that a watch? *suspicious look*

[kitratsu 3]

Nice one kerved

 

I do like other staff because they does't show respect

But you are greater then every staff :)

[Kevred 1,586]

Nice one kerved

 

I do like other staff because they does't show respect

But you are greater then every staff :)

You mean us, as in "Reporters" right? ;)  Reporters FTW!

Edited December 5, 2014 by Kevred

[blackopspaul 753]

Great and gripping read, Once you start you don't want to start. 

 

You mean us, as in "Reporters" right? ;)  Reporters FTW!

Reporters entertain us, while other moderator positions help us in different ways!

[Kevred 1,586]

Great and gripping read, Once you start you don't want to start.

You mean once you start you're happy you started xD

[retinazer 0]

I like your style of writing!

[Kevred 1,586]

You mean the fact that the dialogue isn't in italics or my style in general? :P

[WarMonkey51Austin 68]

Keep it up, this is awesome!

[rich678 1]

Too good of a story... Can't wait till the next issue..

Like most stories I think I figured it out without the ending... But You're never sure!

Edited December 28, 2014 by rich678

[Kevred 1,586]

Too good of a story... Can't wait till the next issue..

Like most stories I think I figured it out without the ending... But You're never sure!

Go ahead and guess  :D You're never gonna figure it out. If you do, I officially admit you're smarter than me :P

[liverpoolaum 811]

can't to read the next issue

[Firenze_PRO 80]

You really oughta publish these! they're really good!

You could get a good amount of money of of these, and the people who read it dont have to know about tanki

[jazz20 1,181]

Nice work Kev :)