Bane of the Dead (Seraphim Revival Book 1) (27 page)

Dendolet leaned over to Veketon and spoke in a whisper. “If this goes badly, we will have to abandon the planet.”

Veketon ignored her. The two sets of icons approached one another, and he permitted himself a confident grin when they meshed. A screen appeared to his right, showing a live visual feed of the battle.

The thrones were roughly the size of seraphs, but where a seraph could be considered passably humanoid, the thrones were slender and almost human in shape. A single halo-wing spun rapidly behind each of their torsos, wider than their shoulders and not physically connected to the main body. The inner and outer edges of the halo-wings and vents across their bodies burned with blue fire. Their perfectly white mnemonic skin gleamed from nearby cavern lights.

The EN seraphs fired their rail-rifles and fusion cannons, but every shot rebounded off the thrones. Without daggers, the thrones tackled the EN seraphs. They pierced through the seraphs’ barriers with clawed fingers and ripped open their armor.

One of the thrones pulled a pilot free of the cockpit and crushed her in a spray of gore.

Veketon let out a satisfied sigh. “Ah, what savage beasts we have created.”

All of the Eleven turned from their tasks. Fluids sprayed from amputated limbs and disemboweled chests. The thrones tore through the seraphs. Only two managed to light their daggers, but the thrones caught their arms and ripped them free of their sockets.

“What have we made…?” Balezuur whispered.

“And to think that this is only a fraction of their power,” Veketon said.

The thrones finished the EN seraphs, leaving nothing but dismembered corpses and scraps of twisted armor.

Dendolet turned from the scene and reviewed the solar system’s fleet status. She cleared her throat loudly. “The fleet has concluded its destruction of the Aktenai negator.”

“Then let us fold.”

A moment passed, and fortress planet Zu’Rashik vanished from Earth orbit.

***

Assistant Administrator Dominic walked to the front of the
Virtuous Executioner
’s control room. A transparent dome on its side peered into the interior of the archangel carrier, where a full four squadrons stood ready in their bays. Dominic thought the design similar to the interior of a schism, with its open center and four neat rows of archangels lined up in different quadrants of the cylindrical hull.

Officially, Dominic didn’t have to risk his life with the fleet. Except for the archangel pilots and their support crews, the carrier was entirely automated. But he had a good reason for believing the carrier was safer than the schism
Righteous Anger
.

“Dominic, pay attention for a change,” Gurgella said. He eyeballed one of the carrier technicians who passed through his hologram.

“Certainly, administrator.” Dominic walked back to a wall of glowing screens showing Grendeni and Aktenai fleet positions. “I am, of course, as surprised as anyone.”

“Naturally,” Gurgella said. “The Aktenai are fighting each other!”

“Yes, it has all the appearances of a civil war. Though, unfortunately, we have no idea what the root cause may be or if one of the factions may be inclined to assist us.”

“That, Dominic, is wishful thinking. It’s bad enough we unknowingly sided with the Bane, of all creatures. No, I think the Executives will be extremely cautious with any future outside help.”

“Administrator, as I said before, we had no way of knowing Jack Donolon’s ally was indeed the Bane until we were able to analyze her attacks at Aktenzek. In fact—”

“It doesn’t matter.” Gurgella gave him a brusque arm wave. “That man provided what he promised. We now know the Gate’s location and can move to secure it, though the Executives’ impetuous decision to attack bothers me.”

“But administrator, surely there will never be a better time to strike Imayirot,” Dominic said. “With the Aktenai fleets concentrated around the fortress planet, we will reach Imayirot first and in greater numbers. This latest development only strengthens our position.”

“You forget the defenders around Imayirot. Our Forsaken brothers and sisters have activated the planet’s defenses.”

“I have not forgotten that detail,” Dominic said. Indeed, how could anyone forget the swarm of orbital weapons surrounding Imayirot? Year after year, Aktenai and Grendeni had met at Imayirot, adding and modernizing the weapons that protected this world. The history of Imayirot was etched deeply into both cultures, and it alone could bring together the Forsaken and the Fallen.

And now, even that has been betrayed by the Aktenai. To think that the Gate would be there. To think that we were duped into defending what we sought to possess.

And now those silent leviathans had come alive and would open fire on anything near Imayirot, destroying Grendeni and Aktenai with equal prejudice. Dominic supposed it had been a necessary design compromise when constructing the defenders. Both factions could activate the swarm, which would stay functional for years before returning to standby.

“It is really academic for us to argue the point,” Gurgella said. “The Executives have already made their decision to proceed with the attack.”

“Of course, administrator.”

Dominic studied the long range exodrone images from Imayirot. The planet itself stood out against space as a small black sphere, completely devoid of light or life. A vast shade eclipsed the sun, preventing light and heat from despoiling the dead world now preserved at the moment of death.

The shade, a disc thirty thousand kilometers in diameter, held its position between the sun and Imayirot, anchored deeply into both gravity wells. Along the circumference of the disc were thousands of heavy beam cannons: the merest fraction of Imayirot’s military power. Around the shade and Imayirot floated thick clouds of orbital weapon platforms, many surpassing dreadnoughts in size, power, and resilience.

Those robotic defenses now stood at high alert, firing on any vessel that approached the dead world. Already, the first wave of observational drones had been mercilessly gunned down in an attempt to reach Imayirot’s surface and begin searching for the Gate.

Dominic zoomed in on a single dreadnought attempting to run the swarm’s orbital blockade.

Black spherical defenders spun in space, bringing their weapons to bear on this new target. Lances of white light shot out and savaged the dreadnought’s hull from every angle. Somehow, the dreadnought survived this first volley, its outer hull an ugly patchwork of white glowing lines.

The second volley came from the shade itself, more than one hundred fusion cannons firing in unison, focusing on the lone target as if through a lens. Not even a dreadnought could withstand that sort of punishment, and it blew apart into a cloud of glowing gas and debris.

“We did perhaps too good a job building the shade, I think,” Gurgella said.

“What of Jack and his companion?” Dominic asked.

“We’ve requested they land on the
Righteous Anger
so that we can coordinate the assault on Imayirot. So far, they seem to be cooperating.”

“Administrator, I strongly suggest you do not allow them to land.”

“What? And pass up an opportunity to capture their seraphs? Come on, Dominic. They’re dangerous in their seraphs, but once we get them outside, they’re just regular people. We’ll kill the Bane and capture two more seraphs as a tidy bonus.”

Dominic grimaced. “Perhaps, just to be safe, you should evacuate the schism.”

“Are you joking?” Gurgella scoffed. “There’s no call for that.”

“Administrator, I feel very strongly you should not allow those two to approach the schism.”

“What are you getting at?” Gurgella asked. “This will be one of the greatest victories in all of Grendeni history, and I get to be at the forefront. Don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

“That’s ridiculous, administrator, I… Gurgella, would you please listen to me for once. Do
not
let them land.”

“We need to double check our preparations. Thank you for your opinion, Dominic. I’ll be in contact soon.”

The hologram vanished.

No,
Dominic thought.
You’re already dead.

Chapter 18

Their Unbreakable Will

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

With Imayirot’s defenders activated and the Aktenai fleet on its way, why not coordinate one last time with the Grendeni?

Jack and Vierj took a tram from the archangel bays and entered an isolated corridor within the
Righteous Anger
’s factory zone. It was then that the floor split open.

“Oh crap!”

Jack slipped towards the widening gap and the star-speckled darkness below. A powerful air current roared out and made his ears pop. The chamber was decompressing!

“Vierj!”

The howl of the air drowned out his scream. He lost his grip on the floor and plummeted away.

“VIERJ!”

The roar stopped. He dangled over a black chasm that no longer had stars. Vierj had sealed it with her talent.

Jack looked up and saw Vierj floating over him, his hand in hers. Six great wings of black energy flexed out from her back. She drew him up so that he could wrap his arms around her waist.

“Thanks, Vierj.”

“It seems these peasants no longer consider us allies.”

“Yeah, I think we’ve overstayed our welcome. Let’s get back to our seraphs.”

“No,” she said firmly.

“Vierj?”

“Remember what I said about people being beneath our notice.”

“Yeah? As long as they don’t try to stop you.”

“That line has been crossed.”

Vierj flew to the far end of the floorless corridor and caressed the airlock with her fingertips. It shattered and blew open.

Jack placed one foot on the ledge and staggered in.

“Look, I can have my seraph here in less than a minute.”

Vierj landed next to him. Her wings vanished into a mist of black specks.

“This way, Jack Donolon. I can see a great many eyes watching us, and their sources all converge in a nearby tower. We will go there.”

“Why bother? We should just leave and head for Imayirot.”

“Not until I have a word with whoever tried to kill us.”

Jack followed Vierj deeper into the schism, dread filling his stomach. He couldn’t see any way this would end well.

The corridor led them straight ahead. A dozen heavy mnemonic doors slammed in their way, but Vierj turned each of them to frozen ash.

“I doubt the decompression was the only trick they have,” Jack said. “We should really turn back.”

“This will not take long.”

“Look, they can still kill me.”

“I will ensure no harm comes to you.”

Vierj cast the last door aside and caught sight of an empty elevator shaft. She stuck her head in and looked up.

“Maybe you should hit the call button,” Jack said.

A rhythmic hum echoed down the shaft.

“Uhh, is something coming down?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“That can’t be good.”

Vierj backed away from the shaft. The elevator car arrived and opened, revealing a fat cylindrical device that filled the car from end to end.

“That’s a nuke!” Jack shouted.

Vierj put her hands on her hips and let out a slow, frustrated sigh.

The Grendeni fusion warhead exploded. For the briefest of moments, it flooded the entire corridor with blinding light. Then, as quickly as it started, the light was gone. Where the elevator car had been, a black cube stood in its place. Vierj let the cube fizzle into a rain of soot.

“Damn, they set off a nuke inside the schism,” Jack said.

“That weapon was controlled by the people above us.”

“Crazy bastards. Maybe the top of this tower is fortified.”

“Whatever defenses they have will not stop me. Come, Jack Donolon. Let us ascend.”

Jack wrapped his arm around her waist. Vierj unfurled her black wings and flew up the elevator shaft at breakneck speed. Near the halfway point, the shaft’s exterior became clear, providing a view of the schism’s northern factory.

A Grendeni dreadnought entered the factory zone from the space dock and turned its main guns towards them.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Jack shouted.

“Close your eyes,” Vierj said calmly.

Jack scrunched his eyelids shut and buried his face in Vierj’s shoulder.

The dreadnought fired. A lance of plasma obliterated the elevator shaft and a wide stretch of factories behind it. Except for a brief moment of seeing the red of his own eyelids, Jack felt nothing. When he opened his eyes, he found a black circular shield between them and the dreadnought.

Vierj sent the disc flying outwards. It engulfed the dreadnought and reduced it to cold, floating scrap.

“Jack Donolon?”

“Yeah?”

“I have decided how I will punish these peasants.”

“What are you going to do?”

Vierj grinned at him. It was not a cheerful expression.

“You will see.”

The top of the tower looked like it could serve as some sort of oval-shaped transport craft. It disengaged from the upper remains of the elevator shaft, letting the clear, half-melted frame fall away. The transport lit a pair of drive blades at its base and began moving away.

Vierj snapped her fingers. The oval transport halted, its drive blades gone.

“Let us greet our would-be executioners.” Vierj lifted them to the transport and cut a triangular hole in the side. Its mnemonic hull was over five meters thick.

Jack stepped in. “No wonder they weren’t afraid of setting off that nuke so close.”

“They should be more afraid of me.” Vierj landed next to him and took the lead.

Jack followed her into a round chamber, its walls taken up by screens showing their seraphs, the decompression corridor, the elevator shaft remains, and the dreadnought’s debris.

Eight technicians formed a rough line with railguns leveled at Vierj. The stubby weapons shook in their hands. A short, bald man cowered behind them, his green jacket emblazoned with golden administrator sigils.

“Gurgella, you idiot,” Jack spat.

One of the technicians fired. The bolt ricocheted off Jack’s hand when it should have blown it off.