Five Empires: An Epic Space Opera Read online

  Though her throat was parched and she really needed to relieve herself, Fusar was transfixed by the engineer’s nimble fingers. The lizard took each rocket apart, taking great care with the flash modules. With consummate skill he teased out the serpentine thermal filaments that kept the trium in a liquid state.

  The first task complete, the engineer took the empty rocket heads into an alcove where a strange machine sat. With the device he produced silicon casts of each rocket head, discarding everything but the convex interior pieces. He inserted the molds into the rocket heads.

  The next part appeared to be the most difficult. The engineer retrieved a cannister that glowed cobalt blue. With great care he lined each rocket head with the industrial grade coolant. The molds acted as crude barriers.

  At last, it was time to load the trium. Several lizards, otherwise engaged in looting the armory, stopped to watch as the critical moment arrived. With Jake’s help, the engineer gently filled the heads with the acrid orange substance, measuring each pour with amazing control for someone who’d been so horribly abused.

  At last, the work was done. The modified rocket heads were left sitting in bench vices while the trium cooled. It didn’t take long. The trium became transparent as they watched, like dirty gray ice. Jake chuckled in wonder at the miracle of chemistry.

  The engineer merely nodded in satisfaction, re-attached the rocket heads, collected his beloved tools and left with the other lizards. There was a general commotion in the tunnels that suggested the next skirmish was about to begin.

  “Is it ready to use …” Jake wondered aloud as he hefted the heavy weapon. He grinned and passed his pistol to Fusar. She immediately felt more useful with pistol in hand.

  “Only one way to find out,” Mandie said. “Let’s go help the lizards off this fuckhole.”

  Fusar couldn’t have put it any better herself. But a pit stop was needed first. Jake located Ryder’s chamber down one of the side tunnels. Here they found a discreet latrine as well as several saline tabs. Jake distributed them evenly. Fusar downed three right there, luxuriating in the wetness at the back of her throat.

  Somewhat refreshed, the quartet backtracked through the compound. The lizards had already cleared the area, presumably with a few to settling in. It was only just that the lizards be given a chance to succeed where the humans had failed.

  A series of crashes resounded overhead, followed by a furious bellow.

  “Big one, whatever it is,” Jake said. “Let’s go take a look.”

  There was only one word for the state of play on the open sand - chaos. The Jaj had launched a major operation. The sky was thick with troop ships, their bay doors sliding open in unison.

  Almost a hundred lizards were battling a huge four-legged beast with tough, armored skin and a single, enormous horn between its beady eyes. It’s preferred mode of attack was to charge, which it was currently doing to devastating effect. It was able to switch direction as it accelerated, making it an extremely unpredictable and dangerous beast.

  Not even the lizards were capable of evading its lunges. At least thirty already lay dead on the scorched sand.

  Jake scanned the sky.

  “A scout would be ideal,” he said. “Something we can outrun them in.”

  “Less room for error with the rocket,” Mandie pointed out. “Remember, we only have four, and you don’t want to destroy the ship outright.”

  “It’s a fine line,” Jake admitted. “Maybe one of these troop carriers will do. Wait a second … are they Irians?”

  The troop ships were depositing thousands of slight figures, each of them using bullet chutes, like parachutes but designed exclusively for low altitude drops. Judging from their large eyes and bony shoulders, the newcomers were definitely Irian.

  The Jaj were introducing a new faction to this sector. Fusar sighed - the lizards simply couldn’t take a trick.

  Sprinkling its Irian load like fairy dust, a troop ship cruised low over their heads. Jake prepared to fire but Fusar gripped his arm.

  “Let’s make sure of it,” she urged. It would be disastrous to falter at this point, after so much hard work. Jake nodded in agreement, tucking the launcher under his arm. Carrying a plasma rifle lifted from the humans, Verity sprinted past to take point.

  56

  Fusar scrambled after her companions, shielding her face from sand whipped up by all the frenetic activity. The troop carrier was now hovering tantalizingly over the next dune. The quartet scrambled up its elegant face, the heavy sand slowing them down considerably. Lizards from the compound had joined them on both sides, desperate to consolidate their recent victory.

  Fusar was out of breath once she reached the dune’s backbone, resting on her haunches whilst Jake surveyed the scene. The troop carrier was only three hundred yards away, seemingly content to capture close footage of the battle it had helped create.

  The only problem was the horned beast, which was now moving between the hunters and their quarry. Jake swore under his breath as the creature spotted them and clawed at the sand. Unless its attention could be diverted, they were in deep trouble. Verity peeled off a few plasma blasts but they impacted uselessly against the thing’s tough hide.

  “We either withdraw and find another troop carrier,” Jake said, “or we go through.”

  “The others are already leaving,” Mandie pointed out. Their cargoes discharged, many of the troop carriers were distant specks in the western sky, already halfway back to Grode Airbase. This troop ship wanted to witness a little bloodshed.

  “We need to give the bastards a show,” Fusar said. “Wasting that critter will be the only way of keeping them around.”

  Jake grinned and raised an eyebrow. “Critter? Exactly how big were those rats on Tranda?”

  Fusar found herself smiling back. “This is nothing compared to them.”

  “On my count,” Jake said. “If we make the play here, the lizards will follow. Dodge the first charging attack and meet me on the other side.”

  The women nodded. Quite a few lizards had massed at the top of the dune and needed inspiration. They were brave, but they weren’t stupid.

  Jake flicked a look at Verity, who knew exactly what was required. Showing no sign of her abdominal injury, she sprinted down the dune face, plasma rifle poised. Mandie followed next, striking out in a slightly different direction. It was a canny ploy - if the beast could be distracted, its charge might be delayed by crucial seconds. Mandie’s well-timed run succeeded in drawing the thing’s attention away from Verity, who was now practically under its feet.

  “Now!” Jake cried, shoving Fusar down the dune face. She tumbled once or twice but ended up on her feet. Jake was only a yard or two behind her, concealing the launcher as well as he could. The beast loomed over the pair, still focused on Mandie. Fusar had a horrible feeling her run was too straight. Her instincts weren’t wrong. The creature turned toward them and clawed at the sand.

  “There’s brave and there’s fucking ridiculous,” Jake drawled at her shoulder. She found herself smiling as she increased her pace, running straight for fifty-three tonnes of armored death. The beast surged, covering the first twenty yards in a flash. Anticipating the move, Fusar changed direction at the last instant and somersaulted down the dune face. A shadow passed over her - she’d narrowly avoided being swiped by a massive left hand. The monster was now facing the lizards pouring down the dune.

  “Keep moving,” Jake muttered, spitting out sand somewhere to her left. “Get behind it!”

  Fusar got to her feet and followed Jake across the dune floor. To her horror, the hulking beast turned to face them, tracking them with its red-rimmed eyes.

  “Jake!” Fusar shouted. He swore. He was about to launch a rocket at the thing when the lizards attacked the beast’s rear. Many of them carried weapons lifted from the human compound. Halberds, spears, plasma rifles and shock whips that crackled with energy. It was the last of these that drew Fusar’s attention - if only someone could
get close enough to stun the beast. It was preparing to charge again, intent on bringing her down.

  “You’ve been marked,” Jake said, not helping at all. Now that they were backed against the next dune face, there really wasn’t anywhere they could run. Except …

  “Follow me,” Jake said, running straight for the monster and launching one of his precious rockets.

  Fusar had no choice but to follow the crazy, stupid man. She heard the rocket explode on the thing’s face and was flattened by the heat blast. Chunks of burning flesh rained down on the pair as they hauled themselves up and kept going.

  Abandoning its charge, the beast fell back on its haunches and prepared to rake them with it’s yard-long claws. Half its jaw was missing, it’s hideous mouth leaking foul ichor. Jake had no time to line up a second shot as the thing’s right arm came thundering toward them.

  Instead he dragged Fusar along the blood-soaked sand, cutting inside the lumbering attack. They only just evaded the probing claws but were buffeted by the inside of its forearm. Fusar was knocked on her rear, stunned. She was vaguely aware of Jake lining up another shot and the weapon’s fierce heat release.

  This time the beast’s neck exploded in yellow gouts of disintegrated flesh. Incredibly it stayed upright, its enraged roar reduced to a disturbing wheeze. Jake and Fusar were now close enough to touch the beast’s scabby legs as it rose to its full height. A quick glance at the troop ship confirmed it was sticking around. The need for spectacular footage clearly won out over safety.

  Plasma blasts peppered the creature’s mangled face. Verity and Mandie were probably aiming for the eyes, a hundred-to-one chance. The monster’s huge right foot loomed over Jake. Fusar dragged him clear just as the warty slab came crashing down.

  The concussive impact knocked them off their feet as the beast prepared to stomp again. An electric blue snake coiled itself around the bloated ankle, dragging the foot back down. The smell of singed flesh assailed Fusar’s nostrils. A lizard had skillfully deployed its shock whip, which was now scything through the monster’s hard flesh.

  Unfortunately the wielder now had the beast’s undivided attention. It collected the lizard in its huge fist and tore it in half with the intact portion of its jaw.

  “Grab the whip!” Jake shouted, nursing the launcher like it was a child. There were only two rockets left and they needed to nail the troop ship before it withdrew. The charge whip had gone slack and Fusar made a desperate lunge for the leather handle. She managed to retrieve it, deactivating the coil before gathering it in. The pair were now standing directly under the beast. Out of sight for the moment, but in a very dangerous position.

  “You had to run straight at it, didn’t you?” Jake said only half-jokingly.

  “Best way to tackle a problem,” Fusar countered, lashing the beast’s left leg. The whip tore away at the tough skin but it would take a dozen blows in the same spot to do any meaningful damage.

  “Any ideas?” she yelled at Jake. The din of the hovering troop carrier, combined with the beast’s bloodied wheeze, made it hard to communicate. One thing was certain - if they stayed where they were much longer they’d be stomped.

  “I’m empty,” Jake admitted. “I can’t use any more rockets.”

  Two lizards bolted under the beast’s legs to join them. One carried another shock whip, whilst a second had strapped himself with a hammer and heavy steel pins.

  “Not the worst idea,” Jake said approvingly as the reptile began hammering a pin into the beast’s ankle. The idea was to split the armor and hopefully cause ruptures along the weaker planes. If there were any.

  Predictably, the monster flailed with its claws as the first pin was struck home. The blow was desperately unlucky for the lizards, who were scattered in a spray of blood. Fusar rushed to their aid but the hammer wielder was dead, a horrible wound splitting his torso. The other lizard was alive but gravely wounded. Fusar took the whip, the hammer and the pins, a plan forming like a beacon in her panic.

  “No,” Jake said, looking at her intently. “No fucking way.”

  “Yes,” she said fiercely. “When I have its attention, you get out the back and waste that parasite of a ship.”

  Jake stepped in close. “I swore to protect you,” he said angrily.

  “Then get me off Bullhead,” she said, watching the beast’s legs intently. “Don’t miss, Jake.”

  Fusar waited until the beast’s right hind leg was raised before sprinting alongside the planted leg. Jake had no choice but to follow. Fusar risked a glance at the beast, which had its back turned for the moment. There were more incredibly brave lizards working hammers into its right ankle. A couple were struck down by distant plasma fire - Irian snipers were now in play.

  Verity and Mandie were already scrambling up the next dune to engage them. More lizards joined the fray, concentrating their efforts on the beast’s right ankle. The monster raked several of them with its claws, leaving a meaty trail of destruction.

  In the end the lizards’ persistence paid off and the beast’s ankle gave way. That was the opportunity Fusar had been waiting for. The creature fell awkwardly, ending up on its side. Fusar hauled herself onto its stubby tail and sprinted along its leathery flank. It was such an audacious move she was glad she didn’t have time to think.

  She reached the beast’s powerful shoulder just as it was rising again. There was just enough time to hammer in a steel pin, which she held onto with all her strength. Thankfully the thing decided to resume its attack on all fours due to its injured ankle, which gave Fusar a relatively level surface to work with. She tied the end of the charge whip to the pin, losing her footing again as the beast reared to swipe at the lizards. This time she held onto the synthetic strip for dear life.

  Once the thing had completed its swing she was able to clamber back to the hollow between its shoulder blades. She drove a second hammer into the other shoulder, eliciting a particularly bloody wheeze. The monster began bucking violently, finally recognizing the threat on its back.

  Fusar thought her arms would be wrenched free as she swung wildly from the pin. She used her sideways momentum to loop the other end of the whip around the pin, ensuring it held.

  The last phase of her plan would either be a glorious success or an horrendous failure. The beast rose to its feet for another ground attack. Fusar had mere seconds to make things work. She took the whip, which was now anchored to the monster’s shoulders, and took a running leap off the top of the thing’s head.

  There was no avoiding a strong whiff of its weeping jaw on the way down. Her fall was slowed by the elasticity of the whip around the beast’s neck. Fusar activated the weapon and let herself fall the final few yards. The whip was now a tight noose that sliced into the thing’s exposed jaw on the rebound.

  Crouching breathlessly on the sand, Fusar watched as the monster spasmed in asphyxiation. In slow motion it came tumbling toward her and she was pulled backwards by strong, sinewy arms. Everyone within a radius of forty yards was splattered with gore as the horned monstrosity finally came to rest.

  57

  In the shocked silence that followed a lone, graceful rocket soared through the air toward the hovering troop ship. The vessel rolled expertly to one side, neatly avoiding the missile, which didn’t have the fuel or the intelligence to double back. Fusar’s shoulders slumped. One rocket left.

  After a slight pause Jake fired it.

  Their last hope rose into the azure sky, sparking and listing as if its stabilizers were broken. As a result it spiraled and veered like crazy, impossible to track. Fusar grinned - Jake had purposely damaged the rocket. It was a brilliant, risky ploy.

  The troop ship made the fatal error of slowing and rolling like it had the first time. Fusar could barely watch as the rocket closed in and swerved straight into the vessel’s evasive maneuver. The impact torched the carrier’s right wing and sent it plummeting into a dune ridge. It was sliding helplessly on the sand when Fusar lost sight of it.


  Even though she was bone tired from her encounter with the horned beast, she sprinted up the next ridge with a number of lizards. The troop carrier had come to a halt in the bottom of the next sand valley. Jake was already bolting to the vessel.

  A plasma blast scorched the sand at Fusar’s feet, forcing her back over the lip of the ridge. There were several Irians on top of the next dune, each of them armed with long-barreled serpentine rifles. The weapons were extremely accurate at long range and Fusar was lucky her corpse wasn’t rolling back down the dune.

  The lizards scattered to find cover and those that carried guns returned fire. A pitched battle across the dune valley erupted, with Jake caught in the crossfire. Thankfully he’d reached the damaged ship, using the thick black smoke as cover against the Irian snipers.

  Fusar had her pistol drawn but her targets were well out of range. Instead she watched Jake, yelling at him when a burly Jaj pilot emerged from the cockpit. Several rifle pops echoed across the valley and the pilot fell backwards, dead. Fusar chalked that one to Mandie, no more than twenty yards to her left. Verity was clearly waiting for a chance to make a run for the damaged ship, which had successfully kindled its propulsion bulb. Fusar looped around the back of the firefight to join her.

  “We need to get down there,” she said urgently. “There must be a second pilot.”

  Verity nodded, scanning the enemy snipers through her nocs. After a flurry of incoming fire she sprung to her feet and disappeared over the ridge line.

  Fusar took that as a cue to follow. The women hared down the dune face. Fusar pumped her legs so fast she thought she’d topple head over heels and provide a simple target for the Irians. But they made it to the vessel and made good use of the smoke plume.

  At first Jake was nowhere to be seen, but Verity spotted him under the vessel, through the haze and heat of the thrumming prop bulb.

  “Jake!” Fusar yelled, half-expecting him to be turned to cinder at any moment, particularly if the shield was restored. But Jake was working furiously at a manual access pane. Whatever he did caused the cockpit to hiss open. Verity didn’t waste the opportunity, climbing the starboard service ladder and disappearing into the smoke.