Pursuit of the Zodiacs (51 page)

Julius explained, “Yes, they were soldiers of the Dark Graduates. I guess they can’t seem to let go of an old grudge.”

Feud added, “They were already in retreat before they set their eyes on us. They seemed to have had enough of the Trekkers from Sirius.”

Julius said, “That’s strange. Mercenaries from the Dark Graduates would forfeit their own lives before even thinking about returning to Noah after failing a mission.”

Without any further conversation, they departed, leaving the two Trekkers of Sirius to their business.

From one of the high towers of the Dark Graduate Headquarters, the operator scanned the darkness of Space for potential threats by way of a Super Telescope. Attached to the high towers were double-sided laser automatic cannons. If a hostile situation occurred, these would settle it. The operator detected an asteroid belt at a safe distance from the base. Those were common and not worth reporting, until one of the asteroids changed course in an odd manner. The dispatcher called in to the other high tower a good distance from her station to validate what she observed. Before she could get a reply, disaster struck. She looked on as the tower of her fellow colleagues collided with an asteroid.

Inside the Headquarters of the Dark Graduates, they experienced turbulence. “What the Hell was that?” Noah, Leader of the Dark Graduates asked.

One of the mercenaries rushed into his chambers and said, “It’s Vetrius, Sir. He’s attacking us with asteroids.”

“What? He dare attack us at our own headquarters? That’s preposterous! Send our fleet and make sure he gets what he came for: an interstellar death!” Noah shouted while forty of his best GI’s escorted him to another private chamber.

Ready for duty, Lucille ran to the frontline. Noah called out to her. “He’s only one man. Take your men and go through the back. Hit him with everything you’ve got from those war craft! That should complete his suicide mission.”

Lucille understood. “Yes, Sir!”

Like a thief in the night, Vetrius attacked their star base. The Dark Graduates dispatched fighter craft into the asteroid belt, but couldn’t see Vetrius.

Lucille yelled out to the other soldiers. “Which asteroid is he on? Someone find him.”

They maneuvered through the huge collection of asteroids with over a thousand war craft as the guns from the spaceship’s headquarters punished incoming asteroids.

Lucille became impatient. The longer it took to find their objective, the closer their objective came to completing his. More asteroids slipped past the lasers coming from the high towers of the main ship and pelted the outside perimeter of Headquarters. “Fuck it! Shoot ’em all down! He has to be on one of them!”

More intense laser firepower erupted, hitting everything in the Headquarters’ path. Asteroids of all sizes surrounded them. Vetrius fired upon all opposing warcraft, dispensing his asteroids at will. A thousand Dark Graduate war craft dropped down to seven hundred … six hundred and eighty nine … five hundred and fifty.

Lucile said, “Shit! We must get out of the storm!”

She spotted Vetrius in the lotus position on one of his Super Meteors. She locked onto him and fired every bit of ammunition her craft contained. A piece of spiraling asteroid struck her craft. It caused enough damage to force them to abandon ship. She, the co-pilot and two others had seconds to don their spacesuits before being pulled into space. The craft split apart. One of the soldiers hadn’t finished putting on his suit and suffered for about half a minute as the liquids in his body transformed
to vapor. His cells collapsed as his body lost heat. He convulsed for another twenty seconds until he lost consciousness. He froze solid and died.

Lucille and the others watched his gruesome death, grateful that they had been able to put their spacesuits on in time.

They scattered out into space, vulnerable to its infinite host of dangers. Lucille slammed into a moving asteroid, hoping the rocket attached to her suit functioned. Undetected, she watched as the rest of her war craft crashed into another asteroid. The explosion was quick and soundless with the gas from the explosion freezing in the tiny atmosphere on the asteroid. One of the other mercenaries was not as lucky. Vetrius detected him and sent him into a black hole where his body was instantly compressed.

Lucille saw Vetrius. “Shit, he’s still alive. I have to make it back to the base.”

A sliding door opened on the asteroid she found cover on. She uncovered the real mystery behind the sudden movements of these asteroids. By her analysis, there must be well over a thousand soldiers stationed inside most of these asteroids. She had to inform Headquarters. As the occupant investigated the loud thumping noise on his craft, Lucille surprised him with a laser blast through his chest. He tumbled down the stairs and back into his asteroid. Lucille retreated, jumping off the meteor hoping to avoid detection. The rocket on her suit worked. She set it to full blast and aimed herself at the base. At that moment, Vetrius spotted her and sent a flurry of asteroids in her direction. With the bridge in sight, she maneuvered past space debris, steering to her target landing. Her feet touched the floor and she landed hard on her stomach. She desperately got up while fighting for the air she’d just lost. She hit a release latch to free herself from the heavy rocket pack. Lucille had only seconds to run and make it to the evacuation ships inside Headquarters. She didn’t look back to see if Vetrius pursued, or if more asteroids headed her way. The vibrations of the asteroids pelting the bridge motivated her to run faster. She heard a roaring crash as the bridge gave way. Still, she didn’t look back. Her only focus was on the door ahead of her that some of her fellow mercenaries had just opened to allow her in.

She yelled as she removed her helmet, desperately trying to catch her breath. “The base is lost. Vetrius has destroyed most of our war fleet. Those asteroids are not what you think! The majority of them are enemy craft cleverly disguised as
asteroids. There must be over tens of thousands of Super Soldiers within them. We must evacuate at once!”

Noah refused. “No! I will not lose this fucking base! How would it look? The Children of Sirius will not prevail! I’ve already given word to the other Representatives. Millions of craft have been dispatched!”

Lucille said, “This place will be in ruins before they make it here. You know that, Noah!”

Meanwhile Vetrius landed his meteors on the surface of the Star Base. As Lucille warned, thousands of Super Soldiers from Sirius exited the meteors through automatic sliding doors.

Noah’s Dark Graduates, consisting of Reptilians, Super Humans and other Alien Classes exchanged laser fire with Vetrius’s fleet.

Noah yelled out, “They’ve landed! The asteroids are no longer a threat to us. It’s time to show them how much of a bad fucking idea this was!”

Lucille, being half Reptilian and half Super Human, disagreed with Noah’s orders. She believed that Noah’s ego clouded his judgment and put everyone at risk. Due to her allegiance to the Dark Graduates, survival had to be top priority, and she took it upon herself to yell out her own command in contest to Noah’s. “We are being overrun! Aid from the other Representatives will not be here in time. They will kill us all! We must evacuate everyone!”

Noah objected, “You dare defy my orders in front of my GIs?” He ordered his soldiers to seize and execute her in the ship’s punishment hall.

The command shocked Lucille. “What the fuck! Noah, you bastard!”

Two reptilians approached. She drew her Super Ray Sword and cut them in half. Her path clear, she ran into the hall. Noah ordered more of his soldiers after her. “Don’t let her escape! Make sure she is executed. She’s a traitor to the Dark Graduates!”

Marked for death from both sides, she focused on escaping her own colleagues … colleagues to whom she had sworn allegiance, and also from the vengeance of Vetrius and the Children of Sirius.

Chapter 27

ENVY OF DEATH

“One’s envy can be a terrible thing.”

– D
YNAMO

“P
lace his head nice and high for all to see.”

Following orders, Lucifer’s disciples placed Pharisees head high on a spear as a warning to all travelers of this Dimension. Also as ordered, every ligament came with a note pinned to it saying,
“
Death To All Pursuers
.”
They placed his limbs and many other body parts before every Dimension they could find until no more large bits of Pharisees remained.

“Hmm, I must admit his roasted corpse smells delicious,” said one of the Devils while pinning one of the notes to Pharisees’ forehead.

Another Devil said, “Don’t be a fool. We’ve been given strict orders not to sample. But I must admit, you are right, Lucifer did a number on this one. I guess no one would notice if we had just a little taste.”

They feasted on Pharisees’ burnt arm. After taking in all he could bear, Abdeen initiated the attack. Timius, Simeon, Irisan and Cancer chased two colossal-sized Demons into the swamps of the Dimension, where they were slaughtered and drowned. Everyone else took his or her fair share of Lucifer’s subordinates. More Devils appeared to aid their fallen comrades, but when they saw the forces arrayed against them, they wisely fled.

They gave Pharisees a decent burial and placed the heads of the Devils they’d just slain onto spears. The Pursuers continued their travel through the Underworlds to Rome.

“Their numbers were great. I wonder where they were heading before our confrontation,” Adam asked.

Natenal said, “You’re right. I feel something has happened.”

“Here! Got him!” Ozias caught one of the Devils watching them through a hedgerow of bushes.

Natenal ordered, “Keep him alive. I believe he’ll answer all of our inquiries.”

First, though, they beat and tortured the Devil into submission, persuading it to tell them everything. The news they received raised more questions than answers.

Abdeel held the Demon by its throat. “Lucifer and Bishop have formed an alliance? This cannot be true, Devil. It is all lies!”

The Demon stated the exact location where the meeting would take place. The Devil added, “You’ll all die. Join us, and maybe we’ll spare your lives. We need someone to prepare our meals, clean out the slop and latrines.” The bruised Demon struggled to laugh.

Natenal had had enough. “Abdeen and Abdeel, take this Demon further out and execute it out of my sight.”

Abdeen and Abdeel dragged him from the meeting while Natenal and the other Pursuers went over strategies.

Levi said, “We’re within range of enemy satellites. We cannot radio this critical news in. One of us must forward the Demon’s words to our Father. It’s vitally important he know what our enemy is planning.”

Zodeen added, “Sabrina has already gone, but she lacks the crucial information the Demon has just told us.”

“Aargghh!” They heard the Demon’s death cry as Abdeen and Abdeel carried out their duty.

Natenal said, “The final war is upon us. Which of you will deliver this message to our Father? This will indeed be one of the most important assignments yet. It must be your sole obligation even if it means certain death. I need two volunteers.”