The Guardian (Coranite Chronicles) (25 page)

Sorren stared.

“Oh, right,” said Kite. “Not the time for that, huh? Who are you, by the way?”

Sorren said, “Sorren. I’m from the Assassin’s Guild. Now explain to me what a Federation soldier is doing in this underwater police station.”

“Well, it’s not top secret or anything…” Kite explained to Sorren about how a Federation ship was attacked, how they went to investigate it and how their escape pod ended up on this water world.

Sorren said, “Guardians would not attack a Federation ship for no reason.”

Kite shrugged. “That’s what happened.”

Sorren appeared deep in thought.

“Didn’t you say you had taken information from the ship?”

Kite nodded. “Left it in the escape pod, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the police have it locked up in an evidence room or something.”

“I’m going to look for it.” Sorren headed for the door, but Kite stopped him.

Kite said, “First things first, my subordinate was also taken in for questioning.”

Sorren said, “We can rescue the man later. We’re not dealing with terrorists. These are police. He’ll be fine.”

“It doesn’t matter what we’re dealing with,” said Kite. “He needs help.”

“The data is more important.”

“No, common sense dictates that people are more important.”

“Really? Common sense?” Sorren sighed. “I would assume it’s more a moral issue.”

“Common sense and morality go hand in hand, at least in my book,” Kite said. “The disc with the data is password encoded. I know the password. We do things my way.”

Sounding displeased, Sorren said, “Okay, fine—”

A blaring siren sounded throughout the station. A voice came over the PA saying, “This is an emergency situation: Code 757. A suspect has escaped. Do not enter Block J5 unless authorized. I repeat, we have a Code 757 in Block J5.”

Kite looked up and saw a camera above them. “Are they talking about us?”

Sorren said, “This is Block A3. Must be someone else.”

“It’s Berik.” Kite furrowed his brow. “I just know it. I knew he’d get into trouble.”

They left the room. Kite had been unconscious when the brought him in, so he didn’t get a chance to check it out, but now he could finally see for himself that they were indeed underwater. While Sorren scouted the area, Kite gazed out the window at the end of the corridor, mesmerized by the view. A school of bright yellow fish swam across, zigzagging back and forth. Pillars of bubbles rose from below.

“Come on.” Sorren gestured toward a double door. “It’s this way.”

The three of them hurried up several flights of stairs. As they ran up the stairwell, Kite became concerned. The corridors were empty.

Kite said, “Everyone’s gone.”

“Must be related to the warning,” said Berik, his arms crossed.

Kite nodded. “The announcement did seem urgent. But Berik isn’t dangerous. He’s harmless, really. They’re making a big deal out of nothing.”

They arrived at the floor that housed Block J5. The entrance to the floor was a single door with a small window. Kite took a look through the glass. Even this hall was empty.

“Looks clear,” Kite said. “But there could still be guards.”

“Forget the guards,” said Berik. “Just go in already!”

“Well, for an assassin, you…” Kite looked over his shoulder to find Berik standing behind him. They stared at each other, their eyes narrowing.

“Assassin?” Berik raised a brow. “Oh, you’re talking about Sorren.”

“Berik!” Kite said in surprise. “When did you get here?”

“Huh?
 
I’ve been following you the whole time,” he replied.

“You were following us? Then why’d we even come here in the first place?” Kite paused and gestured toward the door. “If you’re here—who’s in there?”

Sorren said to Kite, gesturing with a thumb at Berik, “Wait a minute. This is the guy you’re looking for?”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“Out of the way!” they heard someone yell from the stairwell.

At that moment, several armed police squads came storming up the stairs. Kite and the others put their backs against the wall, watching apprehensively as the policemen rushed past them. Assault rifles in hand, the police kicked down the door and ran into the hall.

Kite said, “Still, I wonder what all the commotion’s about. Sounds serious.”

“Whatever it is,” said Sorren, turning to leave, “it’s a good diversion.”

Even though Sorren wanted to get out of there, Kite and Berik felt an urge to stay for a moment and get a glimpse of what was going on. They stood near the threshold of the door and watched the police explore the different rooms.

Sorren shook his head. “Curiosity…and cats.”

Berik looked quizzically at Sorren. “Did you say something?”

“Nothing.”

They continued to observe. Seconds passed. It seemed rather uneventful—until the scream.

Shots were fired blindly. Some of the lights were blown off from the gunshots, leaving a weak, eerie flicker. Though the corridor was dark, the flashes of light from the steady gunfire revealed the shadows of officers running away.

Then they were finally able to see it: a massive figure in the darkness. The giant stood nearly ten feet tall, wearing a shredded white garment. The brawny man’s body was incredibly muscular. Even his finger muscles looked bigger than an average person’s arm.

The officers unleashed their bullets upon the giant. The bullets sunk into the giant’s skin, but were unable to pierce through its flesh. The hulking figure didn’t even flinch from the gunfire. With one sweep of its enormous arm, three or four policemen were sent flying across the corridor. Some police tried to hide behind riot shields, but one punch from the giant crumpled their shields like aluminum foil.

Sorren uttered, “Berserker! Why’s a berserker here?”

Awed by the terrifying sight, Berik was speechless.

Sorren shouted, “Time to go! Forget the data. We’re heading to the dock!”

Kite pulled Berik, whose jaw was still open, away from the door. “You heard him, Berik. Let’s go! Come on, come on! Get to it!”

They descended down the stairs, skipping steps. The gunshots and screaming continued for a few minutes before it all went silent. When they reached the bottom floor, Sorren opened the door for the others, while he stayed near the stairs, keeping a watchful eye upward. There was nothing coming down the stairs.

Berik tapped Sorren on the shoulder. “You’re looking the wrong way…”

Sorren turned on his heels. “What?”

Then Sorren saw it for himself. The berserker was already at the bottom floor, waiting for them. The gaping hole in the ceiling and the pile of rubble on the floor told it all: the monster had punched its way through the floors. The berserker towered over them, blocking their path to the docking bay. For a moment, the giant didn’t move. It simply smiled wickedly.

A strange thought struck Kite.

“Sorren, what’s a berserker?”

Sorren replied quickly, “A special type of immortal that’s really,
really
strong.”

“Immortal? You’re talking about those legends of people who live forever?”

“Yeah.”

Kite couldn’t believe his eyes. “Then why does his face look like Commodore Ladestorm? Do they do impersonations? Do they take over people’s bodies?”

The berserker laughed at his question. “Because I
am
Commodore Ladestorm!”

Berik grinned, looking pleased with himself. He slapped Kite on the back. “See, I knew we shouldn’t have brought him along. But no, you just had to use your authority to push me around, even when I’m right.”

“Not the time for that,” snapped Kite. “We need to get past this guy.”

Sorren said, “You guys go on ahead. I’ll distract him.”

“Can you handle it?” Kite asked.

“Better than you can.” Sorren drew his sword and took a fighting stance.

Ladestorm chortled, “Hey, there little guy! You think you can stop me? You think you can stop this?” Ladestorm flexed his biceps. His muscles looked big enough to be a large mound of dirt. “Don’t even try, little man. I wouldn’t want to be a bully.” He burst out in laughter.

Sorren charged at the berserker. Before he could get close, the berserker threw a punch forward with an amazing reach that surprised Sorren. The fist came faster than Sorren expected. Sorren attempted to duck but was too slow. POW! He flew back.

Sprawled on the floor, Sorren struggled to get back on his feet. The strength of the berserker was unfathomable; it was much stronger than Azura. Lying on his stomach, he watched as the berserker spun around to search for the others. Kite and Berik had managed to sneak by, and they were already at the far end of the hall by the time the berserker finally caught sight of them. Laughing maniacally, Ladestorm started to chase after them.

“Run, tiny mice!” he bellowed. “RUN! I’m gonna getcha!”

Sorren tried again to get up, but fell flat on his face. He grimaced. His body was far too hurt to move freely. His only option was to stall the berserker from afar.

Groaning, Sorren lifted his hand. “Hold it right there.”

A black mass began forming in his palm. The black spot fell onto the ground, becoming like a shadow, and hastily crept over to the berserker’s feet. The darkness formed into the likeness of human hands and held onto the giant’s ankles.

Wondering why he was suddenly moving so sluggishly, Ladestorm looked down at his feet and saw the solid shadows anchoring his feet to the floor. He looked back and saw Sorren on the ground with his hand raised.

The berserker grunted, “Anti-law…” He thrust his fist against the shadows, dispersing them in a single blow. Then the giant went back towards Sorren, with an angry gleam in his eyes.

The berserker stood before Sorren, silently staring. He slowly raised his massive fist, poised to strike.

Sorren reached out with both hands, grasping onto Ladestorm’s bare feet. At that moment, a shroud of darkness coiled around Ladestorm’s body, forming a black cocoon.

Panicking, Ladestorm blindly thrashed about. All he saw was the inescapable darkness; all he heard was the sound of his own breath. It was as though all of his senses were stripped from him. He screamed, “W-what did you do to me? What is this?”

Sorren mustered all his remaining strength and got back up. He knew he had to act fast because the cocoon wouldn’t last longer than a few seconds. Knees wobbling, he picked up his sword from the rubble. With a desperate jump, Sorren struck the berserker’s head with all his might.

Clang!

Sorren furrowed his brow. His blade had been shattered. The berserker’s head was so hard that the sword broke.

“There goes another one. All these swords are useless…”

Bitterly clenching his teeth, he tossed aside the useless hilt. The berserker swung wildly enough to catch Sorren with a smashing blow. Feeling the full force of the punch, Sorren landed in a heap of rubble. He tried to get up once more, but couldn’t stand.

Just then, Sorren heard some strange sounds from the left wall.

Boom!
There was a loud impact. Something had crashed into the wall, causing a short burst of water to flow in. The front of a space shuttle was stuck halfway through the wall of the police station. The spaceship door opened. Sorren pushed aside broken pieces of concrete and looked at the spaceship. Berik waved at Sorren from the doorway.

Berik shouted, “Get in! Get inside the shuttle!”

Unable to even lift his leg, Sorren groaned, “You make it sound easy…”

Seeing Sorren in trouble, Berik jumped out of the ship and went to help Sorren up. Ladestorm finally managed to break free from the darkness. Something caught his eye. Sorren and Berik were on their way to the shuttle. The berserker roared and charged at them, refusing to let them escape.

Dragging Sorren across the floor, Berik glanced back to see Ladestorm right behind them. “It’s catching up!”

“Get down!” Sorren stuck out his leg and tripped Berik so that they both fell. When that happened, Rose, who was sitting at the pilot’s seat of the spaceship, locked onto the giant with the shuttle’s lasers.

Rose fired several shots at the berserker’s chest, knocking him back and charring him black. The berserker didn’t fall. Rose kept on firing and firing until the berserker was pushed back all the way to the wall. Once Rose stopped shooting, Berik hauled Sorren into the shuttle and shut the door.

The shuttle pulled out of the police station. A huge surge of water rushed into the building through the hole. The ceiling came crumbling down and the waters rose up.

The berserker screamed.

“I’LL GET YOU! JUST YOU WAIT, I’LL GET—”

CHAPTER 20

Propaganda

There they were, loafing about in Rose’s shuttle. The middle of the shuttle was furnished with a round table and a sofa that coiled halfway around it. The floor was upholstered with red carpet, the walls with beige curtains. There was a small bar on the side for drinks and snacks; a small refrigerator stood by its side. With all it provided, it was a warm and inviting living space.