Ghosts of Lyarra (40 page)

—
Guild World of Ryas, Temple of the Divine Light

Narig stood admiring the massive temple before him as he scouted the area before letting loose his troops hiding in the pilgrimage shuttles. It was an impressive structure; one befitting of the J’Karin Queen herself as a vacation home even if it was on the small side. It stretched upwards beyond the cloud lines, and stretched hundreds of kilometers at the base. The main steps were large and ornamental, and rose up several stories to the indented main entrance. To the J’Karin commander, the architecture didn’t fit the inhabitants; and though it was not his place or concern to discover why, it seemed the Guild had moved in while the original builders were out of
town.

A few passersby gave him dirty looks and he snarled back at them. It was common for Guild members to look down upon the former race which served them for so long, and his disdain for his people’s former masters was just as strong. It was common teachings to the J’Karin youth that the Guild had transitioned the Empire here, but planned to rebuild it on the backs of the J’Karin slaves. It was the Empress Iana who exercised her power to overrule the Council and offered not only freedom from slavery to the J’Karin, but a seat in the Grand Council as well. Without her, his people would have perished beneath the boots of the Guild by now. It made his thick, black blood boil in rage that these cowards sought to tarnish the legacy of the Goddess of
Light.

He glanced down at his timer and noted it read less than five minutes until they would attack. Normally, Narig wouldn’t take orders from an Ifierin - even if this one was dressed in strange chrome armor - but the High Commander Bryx had seconded those orders and his word was that next to the Queen’s. So he was doing as ordered and reached into his shoulder pack and produced a silver orb the size of a basketball and rolled it around his open
palm.

A grimace fell upon him as even the thought of touching Husk technology made him feel ill, but this harmless looking artifact was the exact weapon needed to bring the high technical dependant Guild to its knees. Every world that had encountered the Husk demons knew this device as it signalled the arrival of the scavengers by encircling the target planet. It was an EMP orb; part of a chain reaction device salvaged from a harvester torn asunder when it chose to attack a J’Karin colony world. To this day, only the J’Karin stood as the only race to triumph over the Husk without calling for help from the Fleet; and to this day, no one in the Empire knew exactly how much of the Husk technology was scavenged from the defeated
attackers.

Narig knew these devices well, and activated both its minute gravity drive and its timer. It had been preprogrammed to hover at five thousand feet on his side of the temple and would be joined by four others being let loose by other nonchalant J’Karin on the other four sides of the temple. In a chain they would ignite a powerful EMP that would render any piece of technology useless. There would be no light bending armor, no plasma swords, and no pinpoint blasters to worry about; the Forgotten would have to face his Elite with old fashioned metal weapons, and Narig enjoyed the thought of such a
fight.

As he let the orb fly to its position, he doubted it would draw much attention; personally he didn’t care if it did. His mission was simple; purge the Guild filth from the temple of the Prophets. There was no quarter to be given and no survivors to be left. Purge the halls in blood and fire to end the threat before it can grow any more. It was a battle he could be proud of, and one fitting of the J’Karin Elite. Even though valiant and strong J’Karin served the Empire as members of the Ifierin, they were shadowed in the ferocity and devout training of the Elite. Narig had brought just one battalion of his soldiers numbering only two hundred; but after studying the Intel on the numbers of the wretched assassins inside being close to ten thousand he wondered if he brought too
many.

He smiled again as he looked up at the device as it began to spin wildly. It would explode soon and the fun would begin, but his intention to enjoy the show of the explosion was rudely interrupted by a security detail of five Forgotten that approached him and shouted out to
him.

“You cannot just stand there tunnel digger!” the leader hollered. “Your kind are not permitted to enter the hallowed halls of the Temple of Divine Light. State your business here before we end your miserable
life.”

“My business,” Narig chuckled. “Is to spill your blood over the stones that line this ancient wonder. It is to crush your bones to add to the mortar that holds it all together; forever ending your pathetic
existence.”

The five immediately reached for their side arms and drew them to point at the lone J’Karin. In a sense of perfect timing, the orb exploded high above and triggered the other three with an EMP wave washing over the entire area. Narig laughed hard when the assassins pulled the triggers with no effect. He loved the look of concern expressed in their eyes as they shared panicked glances. Reaching behind his back, Narig slipped a pair of makkar on; brass knuckle-like devices which bore a large curved blade across its
face.

“What’s the matter, altar boys?” he barked at the security detail. “Have they not taught you how to fight the old fashioned
way?”

The explosions created a stir within the temple as dozens of Forgotten poured out from the main gates to investigate what was happening. Knowing they had reinforcements, the security detail became confident while drawing their jagged swords from their sheaths behind them. In a matter of minutes, Narig knew he would be overwhelmed by thirty or more assassins looking to spill his blood for trophy. It made him grin larger as his senses sharpened; readying for any advance from his
enemy.

“Under Imperial law, you are found guilty of treason against the Empress and your lives are forfeit!” he bellowed with his deep bass voice that carried all the way inside the now open gates. “I have been charged to deliver your punishment and end your reign of terror before it
starts!”

“We are over a hundred thousand strong and you are but one.” An assassin hissed. “I will hang your head in the great hall as a trophy before the day is
out.”

“Barra Kun Harrii!” Narig hollered and caused the advancing killers to draw
back.

Eerie silence followed his cry as the Forgotten looked about in confusion. But the silence was short lived as the pilgrimage shuttles began to shake violently. Doors were kicked away and the four ships spit forth fifty Elite each; all fully armed with makkar, battle hammers, or eight foot long swords. Their silver armor blazed in the light of Lyarra and the ground shook beneath their feet as they marched in perfect formation. To the disbelief of the assassins, what was once a rouge and seemingly mad lone J’Karin was now a force of nature waiting to be unleashed on them. Those just exiting the temple rushed to form the front lines while shouting behind them to rally more to
join.

“My head on the wall?” Narig bore down on the one who had uttered the threat. “I highly doubt that.” He looked up at the others behind him and shouted. “I have been ordered to impart an offer of mercy on any of you that extends to a quick death if you surrender now! I personally hope that none of you take it; it would spoil our
enjoyment.”

The only response to the offer was the clatter of footsteps on the stone stairs as more and more Forgotten lined up to join in. Narig could see there was easily a thousand or more assassins in the courtyard with more clamoring down to join every second. Without looking back at his Elite, he simply extended his right paw to the side and partially backwards and was thrown a giant war hammer which he caught effortlessly. He loved the feel of the weapon - a ten foot metal rod with a four and a half foot, double headed titanium hammer with a blade pendulum at the other end for better balance - felt perfect in his grasp. In all his life, the weapon had never felt this way to him, but now it felt like an extension to his
body.

Like a mighty bear he roared and swung the hammer hard; it struck the initial five Forgotten with horrific results. The first to be struck didn’t feel a thing; his body just exploded from the massive pressure and force and offered little resistance as it struck the next. Like a brutal bludgeon, it cut the second assassin in half and then folded the third and fourth ones in a broken mess. The fifth one was sent flying by the mess and struck a wall twenty feet away and splattered green blood where he hit. A thunderous roar of approval came from the J’Karin Elite for this opening salvo and rushed to join the
fray.

For a brief moment, the pride of the Guild showed hesitation and fear. In one swipe this monster had obliterated five Forgotten; in one swipe he spread the seeds of doubt through their ranks. The shot had sent a ripple that was felt all the way up to the peak of the temple roof amongst the clouds; the J’Karin were here for a war and they were possibly in over their heads. With a nervous cry, the assassins leapt into the fight. The battle for Ryas had begun, and even the Gods could not promise victory to either side at this
point.

—
Havyiin Orbit, Lyarran Flagship Lyarra’s Fire

“It has begun.” Bryx said, staring at the clock which had read zeros for the last little
bit.

Ops Con had been all but deserted during the countdown as the Queen of Heaven prepared for her return from the dead and Lyxia readied herself to mingle with the treacherous elite of the new Empire. Bryx however, only had to change armor to a more ceremonial set, and it took mere minutes for him to adorn himself of the shiny silver armored suit. So as the women fussed about their outfits; or he assumed they were doing such; he waited back at the helm of the Lyarra’s Fire which was closing in on orbit of Havyiin with his eyes transfixed on the clock. He only thought he had muttered to himself, but a shuffle of feet on the floor behind him let him know that was not
so.

“And how fares our brave warriors?” Lyxia inquired in response to his announcement of
sorts.

“I am afraid we have reached the limits of our dear AI’s limits.” Bryx replied woefully. “Between commanding the Dark Light, shutting down the comms network and infiltrating the entire Imperial database, I am afraid any inquiries of mine have been
unanswered.”

“So we won’t know if we won until we make our move?” she
asked.

“Quite possibly. We are waging a war with shadows, and to do so we must wade in to their dark waters. If it means we get separated, then we do our jobs and win our fight.” He began. “Our focus cannot be on that which we cannot be a part of, only that we have faith and trust our allies will do what is entrusted with them and we will meet again victorious in
celebration.”

“Not an easy task.” She muttered; her copper armor glowing wildly in the lights of the control room as she moved
inside.

“But a necessary one.” The J’Karin added. “And one we will do because it has been asked of us. You are about to step into the nest of the enemy, and you are charged with disarming their security net so we can land our shuttle without being properly scanned. If you fail, then Myril will be crowned and once she has that mantle nothing we do will
matter.”

“And you want to know if I am up to this?” she growled at
him.

“I do.” He grumbled. “For the past five years you have doted on the loss of Aen; a fledgling relationship crumbled your heart and made you barely able to do your sworn duty. Had your ship not been so heavily damaged and been docked for years, Fleet Command would have asked you to be replaced despite Iana hiding your emotional trauma as best she could. You became a liability; and I am concerned you may become one, once
again.”

“Doubting me is one thing.” She hissed. “But insult me by calling me a liability again, and I will test those vaunted fighting skills of yours
myself.”

“Ah, there is that fire I am so used to seeing.” Bryx cooed. “Take all the pain, all the frustration and channel it for what needs to be done. If we don’t fight with everything we have, then we risk losing everything we
cherish.”

“Save your sermons for your Elite; I don’t need any more
motivation.”

Bryx smiled; and a J’Karin smiling was only slightly more frightening than one snarling. His two tusks on his lower jaw glistened in the lights of the control room, and his jagged shark-like teeth in between reminded her of how truly dangerous these giants were. Even seated, he loomed taller than her and was just as menacing as
ever.

“What do the long range scanners tell us?” Lyxia asked; desperate to break the temporary
silence.

“They too are down; the construct is very thorough.” He grumbled. “But even though we are blind to what is happening around us, we can have faith that we are in control of the situations; unlike our enemies who will be completely caught off
guard.”

“But it wouldn’t hurt knowing what is happening.” Lyxia
added.

“Our legions have been let loose on Thsin,” a familiar voice answered triumphantly behind them both. “And have begun the long and treacherous march to Fleet Command. The Elite have struck first and hard on Ryas, and are joyous at the blood they get to spill at long last. Both battles have begun well, but hang on the edge of a blade; able to teeter either way in the winds of
chance.”