Warpath (Rise of the Empire Book 4) (28 page)

Sahib Adin tried to figure out how it was that he always managed to get into the most dangerous places. Just a few days ago he was fighting Sowir, and now he was on board a stealth Warpath ship, sitting in a stealth shuttle that was at least three decades old about to drop on a planet that was apparently under Sowir siege for at least a hundred years.

“So, how are we going to find your people again?” Sahib asked.

The Guxcacul moved turned his head in Sahib’s direction, the small light in the shuttle illuminating the silver armor that he wore over his plates. It was Warpath made, and Sahib had to admit that it was impressive. The Guxcacul didn’t like the restriction of full body encased in a battle armor, so the people at Warpath created a suit that was more like an exoskeleton which boosted his strength and speed, while also protecting his vital areas.

“If they are still alive, they will find us.” Riss said via the translator somewhere beneath the armored plate on his chest.

“Great, so we just wander around aimlessly?” Sahib asked.

The Guxcacul released a series of noises that the translator didn’t translate, and which Sahib was pretty sure was laughter. Then it changed and he spoke. “No, our sensors have mapped out Sowir positions on the ground, so we are going to one of the areas where they have no presence. There was a small military outpost near the surface in the area that we are going to check out. If it was already destroyed by the Sowir or abandoned we will proceed deeper underground looking for clues.”

“Even better.” Sahib grumbled. Spending time with his team underground was a sure way to get him to go insane.

Then their comms chirped and their pilot spoke. “Alright guys this is it, the Specter can’t chance getting any closer. We are going the rest of the way solo.”

Immediately after Sahib felt the shuttle move out of the Specter’s bay. The trip was uneventful, until they reached the planet’s atmosphere and the shuttle started to shake. But soon enough it leveled off, and the rest of the trip went smoothly. Once they landed the pilot waited for a few minutes making sure that they had landed undetected and then he opened the back hatch.

“Well guys, this is it. I will be waiting here for as long as I can, if the Sowir detect the shuttle… I doubt that I will be able to escape. So do try to hurry.”

Sahib and his squad exited, followed by Riss. Immediately Riss took the lead and they started moving across the rocky and sandy ground.

“So, when were you last here?” Garth asked.

“About hundred years ago, before the Sowir offensive reached this far.” Riss answered.

“And you still remember the way?” Garth asked.

“Guxcacul don’t forget.” Riss responded. The rest remained silent following Riss as he led them towards a large rock formation. It took them maybe thirty minutes to get there, and then Riss guided them to a cave opening that was hidden and unnoticeable from the distance.

The eight of them entered inside through a narrow opening only to see it widen the further they went, until it was wide enough for four humans to walk side by side in their battle suits. Riss lead them downward in the dark for what seemed like hours, navigating the twisting tunnels and leading them deeper and deeper underground. Riss apparently could see in the dark, the rest of the squad used night vision capabilities of their helmets to see.

Then eventually Riss stopped and turned to look at the wall of the tunnel. “We have arrived.” He said.

“Uh… We have?” Loca asked.

Riss ignored her and placed one of his limbs on the wall, then a few moments later the entire side of the wall moved outward and to the side, revealing a dimly illuminated hallway. He led them inside.

The hallway led to a wide and tall room, with terminals both on the walls and on the ground, with kind of staircases on the walls. Riss quickly moved to one of it and accessed.

It was encouraging that the room still had power, but they all waited for Riss to do his thing. He accessed the terminal an after a few minutes stepped back.

“They are alive.” He said ecstatically. “A patrol passed through here four months ago, they have been using this route to get to the surface unnoticed.”

“That is great. Are they scheduled to come back soon? Or are we going to have to go and look for them.” Sahib asked.

“They don’t have a schedule they just came and go as they need. And after so long of a period fighting there can’t be many of them left. And this planet is vast, our tunnels and cities spread out. We will never find them on our own. But I can use this terminal to send a message to all the other active terminals of the other outposts. Get them to come to us.” Riss said.

“Alright let’s do that.” Sahib said.

“I will need to send a message to all active stations. And if I do that everyone watching will know where we are. If Sowir have control of any intact post they will know too.” Riss said.

Sahib weighed his options, then decided. “We have no choice, send the message.”

***

Three hours later they still hadn’t received any word back. Riss had sent a message in Guxcacul, saying who they were but also providing personal information about himself that could be verified in the Guxcacul databases. He even included a video of himself and Sahib’s team in the message. But if anyone had received the message didn’t see fit to respond.

Sahib was inside the small outpost with Riss, Red, and Bella, while the rest of his team kept watch outside in the tunnels.

“Are you sure that you sent it?” Bella asked.

“Yes, I am sure.” Riss answered, and Red grunted. Bella started pacing back and forth across the room.

Another few minutes passed and then someone spoke over the comms.

“PL, we got incoming over here.” Loca said.

All four of them inside jumped at that. “Guxcacul?” Sahib asked.

“I don’t think so PL. You better get here, I think that our Sowir buddies are crashing the party.”

Sahib ran towards the exit, with the rest following close behind him. By the time he reached the exit, the others were already firing their weapons into the wave of incoming Sowir agents. Laser fire from the mass was scorching the ground, but the return fire from the Empire soldiers was cutting them down at an amazing rate. Soon enough the rest joined the fight. Using rocks around the tunnel as cover they kept firing at the enemy.

Riss was standing behind one of the bigger rocks and fired his custom made weapons. He had a rifle attached to each of his two top arms and was firing the powerful plasma blasts at the enemy, killing them by scores.

But no matter how many they killed more kept coming, and soon the few from the swarm entered close range. Garth and Red moved to engage them in the melee with their mono-blades, while the others tried to keep the rest of the hostiles at bay.

By the way that the enemy was fighting, Sahib knew that there was no Sowir guiding them, which was a blessing. But it was also just a small comfort, as the numbers of the agents were overwhelming. Then more and more entered the melee range, making difficulties to the two soldiers.

Sahib could see the tide turning in the enemy’s favor, soon the line will falter and he and his people will die. Then a shudder went through the ground and a top of the tunnel wall collapsed on the enemy’s head. From the ceiling shapes came down firing weapons and smashing the enemy with their limbs. Within seconds the pressure on Sahib and his people lessened, and they started pushing the enemy back as more and more shapes came down from the ceiling. Within minutes the enemy was dead, and two dozen shapes stood in front of Sahib and his squad.

One of the shapes moved towards them, and Sahib could see that it was shaped like a Guxcacul. Only it appeared that this Guxcacul was dressed in a full body armor. Sahib glanced at Riss who was studying the newcomers.

“I thought that you Guxcacul didn’t like full body armor?” Sahib asked.

“Things have obviously changed.” Riss answered.

The figure stopped in front of Riss and spoke in a series of chirps and clicks. Riss responded in kind, after a quick exchanged turned to Sahib.

“He said – Welcome, friends.”

Chapter Twenty Eight

March; Year 32 – Sanctuary

Tomas sat in an almost empty meeting room, the only people inside were him and the Hand. The agent of the Hand looked like any other, except that Tomas could tell that this one was female. It didn’t really matter, every agent spoke for the whole. The agent was here at Tomas’s request. Tomas had done some drastic things in the last year, and he wanted to ask the Hand’s input on a few things.

“Why have you called on us?” A highly modulated voice said.

“I have a few things that I want to talk to you about. The first is about your stance on the direction that I took the Empire in this last year.” Tomas said.

“We have no problem with your foreign policies and actions. We have been created as a check upon your power, to protect the citizens of the Empire. You have not abused your followers, and your actions concerning the Sowir, Furvor, and the Trivax, have all been in the interest of protecting your people and the innocent.” The agent said.

Tomas relaxed, he maybe better than anyone knew the pits that power could one into. He needed the Hand to stand as a reminder to him that he was never to use his power for self-interest or in a way that would harm his people.

“Trivax… I wanted to speak with you about that too. I have already spoken with the other Clan Leaders. But I wanted your opinion as well. They have asked to join the Empire, I was wondering what your thoughts on that are?” Tomas said.

The agent didn’t respond for a while, apparently thinking about the answer. “That decision is for the people and you to make. If you do decide to allow them to join, it must be done slowly and handled carefully. The Trivaxian’s have not been in the space for long, and they had only two contacts with other races, one of which lead to the deaths of many of their people. It will be difficult for them to put the resentment aside. And you already know that their ways cannot survive if they are to join us.”

Tomas nodded slowly, he knew the history of Earth countries and kingdoms all too well. When one force conquered another or when two different factions joined together, the unions never lasted long. Difference of beliefs and the ways of thinking always bred ill will and resentment. In the end rebellions or uprisings happened. And Tomas had done a lot to prevent that happening to his Empire. He knew that if the Empire was to grow, he would need to allow other races to join. But he also knew that those that joined needed to completely become a part of the Empire.

That is why he had already decided to be very picky about who he let in the Empire.

“Thank you. That is all that I wanted to speak about.”

The agent nodded her head, stood up and left the room. Leaving Tomas alone with his thoughts and decisions.

***

Seo-yun and Laura sat in a room at the Research and Development’s main building, on one of the walls a large screen showed a direct feed to the cell occupied with one of the Sowir prisoners.

She – and they were positive that it was a she, although there was no physical difference – was just in the process of waking up. Seo-yun’s people had placed a Sowir translating device inside the cell, hoping to establish some kind of communication with them. As the Sowir slowly woke she became aware of the device. She looked at it for a while and then stepped up to it and placed its body inside, then attached some kind of a band on her head. A few moments later a voice speaking in Nel started coming out of the device.

“
You wish to communicate?
” She said.

Seo-yun looked at Laura. “I guess that it works.”

Laura approached turned the on the comm that will transfer her voice to the cell and translate it into Nel.

“Yes.” Laura said.

“
Then speak your mind.
” The Sowir said.

Laura steeled herself and spoke. “Why are you doing this? Why are you attacking other races? How can you justify killing other intelligent life?”

“
There is no need for justification, we are not killing intelligent life.
”

Confused Laura exchanged looks with Seo-yun. “What do you mean? We are an intelligent race.”

“
That is false, you are blind/deaf/senseless – you cannot be intelligent.
” The Sowir said.

Seo-yun leaned forward and spoke. “What do you mean blind?”

“
You cannot see/hear/sense the Spirit of the Universe. You cannot communicate other than by primitive, animalistic ways.
”

Seo-yun turned to Laura muted the comm and whispered, “Does she mean telepathy?”

“Maybe… But why would that be a reason for them to kill other races?” Laura asked.

“It could be their belief is that the only beings that are truly intelligent are telepathic.” Seo-yun suggested.

Laura unmuted the comm. “You believe that we are not intelligent because we do not have your ability to speak mind to mind?”

“
That question only proves your unworthiness and ignorance. Communication between minds is only one of the things that makes us superior/intelligent. You cannot hear/see/sense the Universe around you, you are ignorant of its true form and that makes you no better than the animals that live their lives in ignorance of higher understanding.
” The Sowir said.

“But we have technologies that are far ahead of yours, how does that make us primitive and ignorant?” Seo-yun asked.

“
Again, your ignorance shows, there is a difference between intelligence and
intelligence.
”

Laura and Seo-yun frowned, and muted the comm again.

“I don’t think that these translations are perfect, there must be something lost in translation.” Seo-yun said.

“I agree. But still could the reason they are wiping out other races truly be because they don’t have telepathy?” Laura asked.

“Humans went to war for far stupider things.” Seo-yun added. Laura nodded and turned the comm back on.