Warpath (Rise of the Empire Book 4) (7 page)

“I guess it’s time.” Adrian said, Sora and Akash tilted their heads and then got to their feet, together they started towards the arena.

***

Clara Bengtsdotter and Meifeng Zhao sat in the Warpath’s arena, the tournament was a bit of a surprise. The winner was actually someone who was on the tech path. It was the first time someone who wasn’t on the warrior’s path won. Now the two of them and the rest of the arena watched the five people on the rectangular platform in the middle of the arena, and even more watched via video. Clara could see the five of them bickering among themselves, laughing and teasing, they were the five people that accepted the Clan Leaders challenge.

Adrian didn’t join the tournament, instead he organized an event and he issued a challenge to anyone who wanted to accept. And the five people on the platform were those that accepted, two were former winners of the tournaments a Nel –Isurani, a human Olja Itic, three were Sentinels that Clara and Meifeng knew very well as they trained together often, Mario, and two Nel, Banei and Lei.

They were supposed to fight Adrian in one on one matched one after another, although they believed that Adrian wouldn’t get past the first match. Clara on the other hand wasn’t so sure, she and Meifeng had spent a lot of time with Adrian and they knew that he didn’t train his martial arts at all, save for a few training sessions once every few months. He was however spending time training his body, pushing his physical limits. But simple strength and speed wouldn’t help him much against the people in the arena.

And yet, Clara had seen in him yesterday complete confidence. And thinking back about all the time she spent with him, the way he moved, how he was always aware of everything and everyone around him made her doubt her initial judgment. Adrian Farkas was not a man who was overconfident, who was rash and impulsive, if anything he was calmer and more contained than anyone Clara had ever known.

But still she worried about this event, there had been rumors about Adrian, how his prowess in hand to hand combat was no longer absolute, and in any other leader it wouldn’t have mattered. A leader didn’t need to be someone who can fight, he only needed to lead. But Warpath was different, to them strength and knowledge in all its forms mattered, and most of all fighting ability. Adrian had turned this clan into a warrior society, they applied the teachings of the ancient martial arts in a modern form to all areas of their lives. They didn’t just train in them, they lived them. It mattered to the people of Warpath whether their leader was the best fighter or not.

Then suddenly, a person walked into the arena. Immediately the arena quieted and the five straightened. Adrian Farkas walked slowly onto the platform, his two wolions following and stopping just below the platform. Adrian walked onto the platform and then stopped in front of the five who had accepted his challenge. Adrian, like every other person in the Empire, wore a skintight suit based on Nel skin-suits, it fulfilled all functions that conventional clothes did during the Human history.

It was a mixture of bio materials and a nanite mesh, it kept the body at the optimal temperature, providing protection from heat and cold, while also satisfying the need for modesty. It felt like a second skin, giving the wearer full range of movement. It was also easily removed or put on, using an implant the wearer could send a signal to the nanites mesh that would release the charge and make the suit loose and separate it into parts, similar to clothing’s of the past, which could be taken off in the usual manner. The need for fashion identity was satisfied by people wearing overcoats in different shapes and colors. The skin-suits were the norm.

Adrian’s muscles were clearly visible through the suit as it offered nothing in terms of layers, except in the private areas, groin, and chest for women. Adrian was close to stocky in shape, his muscles clearly defined without being bulky, his dark hair cropped short and his face was clean of facial hair, he didn’t really make an imposing figure. He was pleasant to look at. At least according to Clara’s preference, good looking but not overly so, he was of average height just a bit over a 180 cm tall. There was nothing really special about him. And yet there was something about him, it was not apparent when one looked at him at first, but over time Clara had started to see something just beneath the surface.

Down on the platform, four of the five moved away and left one of the Sentinels – Mario, on the platform with Adrian. There was no announcement of what was about to happen no pomp and fanfare, everyone knew what was coming next. Mario bowed to Adrian shallowly, a bow of someone superior to an inferior. It was an insult, especially in Warpath where almost half of their population was Nel and where they had adopted many of Nel gestures and forms of body language. Adrian didn’t respond verbally, only acknowledging Mario with a dip of his head, a gesture of someone who was an absolute superior.

Mario grimaced and his face visibly darkened, he brought his hands up in a ready position and started walking slowly towards Adrian, who was standing there with his hands behind his back, relaxed. Quickly Mario closed the distance and executed a few testing jabs. Adrian used foot work to step just barely out of range. Mario kept attacking faster, and Adrian kept moving out of range, towards the platform’s edge. Clara could clearly see the frustration on Mario’s face, he wanted to fight Adrian truly, and Adrian wasn’t letting him, he never engaged.

The faster Mario went the more impressive Adrian’s movements became. He made it look so effortless, he moved out of every attack’s range by a hairs breath, his movements smooth and flowing. It looked as if Adrian knew when and where Mario was going to attack before he did. And Mario was becoming increasingly more irritated. In a moment Clara understood and saw the skill that Mario possessed.

Even without being able to touch him, Mario was guiding Adrian towards the edge of the platform, which in turn narrowed the space that Adrian had to maneuver. Clara saw the moment, Mario moved a step back, making a half second pause in his attacks. Then she saw him leap forward with a direct shot to Adrian’s head. His attack will force Adrian to either block or move to the side, where he would be in range of Mario’s other hand.

Mario had put all his body’s weight and power in the strike, and in the split second it was flying towards Adrian’s head Clara knew that there wasn’t enough time for anyone to block that strike, Adrian would need to dodge into the Mario’s attack zone. And then something happened. As Mario’s attack almost reached its target, Adrian blurred. The next thing Clara could see was Mario hitting the floor, unconscious, Adrian standing in almost the same spot he was before the attack, only his body was twisted to the side and his elbow was up, as if he just attacked.

Everyone in the arena was deadly silent, the only sound came from the soft buzzing of the drones that recorded and transmitted to the rest of Warpath.

“Holy shit.” Clara heard Meifeng whisper. Clara simply couldn’t comprehend what had happened. Mario was a Sentinel, one of top Warpath’s warriors, skilled in hand to hand combat, Adrian shouldn’t have been able to do what he did. Especially when Clara knew that he almost never trained his hand to hand, and she and Meifeng had been with him for the past ten years. Clara saw Adrian motion to the medical team to gather and treat Mario, although it was unlikely that he incurred any kind of permanent injury. Everyone had medical nanites nowadays, which could quickly and effectively treat any injury, even a broken neck could be treated if it didn’t cause immediate death. Then Adrian turned to the rest of those who had accepted his challenge.

“So. Who’s next?”

***

“I can’t believe that just happened.” Meifeng said, as she and Clara walked to their joint quarters. The rest of the fights went about the same as the first one did. A challenger would step in, Adrian would dance around them until they fully committed to an attack and would then take them down with a single lightning fast strike. The only one that came close to even being called a fight was Isurani who managed to make Adrian actually use his hand to block an attack, but the end result was the same, with Isurani on the floor.

“Did you see how he was moving?” Meifeng started again when Clara didn’t comment to her previous remark. “He was like a ghost, there one moment and then gone the next.”

“Yeah…” Clara said finally, the whole experience had shaken her. She had always respected her Clan Leader, she knew that he was indisputably the best fleet commander that the Empire had. And she always believed that he was a competent fighter, a master for sure, but she believed that he wasn’t really on the same level as the Sentinels and others who had made combat their priority. What she saw today told her that Adrian was much more proficient in the combat arts than he let on. Far beyond what the markings on his hands indicated. “Did you manage to see how he took down Mario? All I saw was a blur.” Clara asked.

“No, but I looked at the recording on my imp, wait a sec you need to see this.” Meifeng said as her eyes lost focus for a moment. Clara then got a request on her own imp that appeared over her vision in her HUD. She accepted and was taken to the net, then a vid screen opened and a recording of the final few seconds of Adrian’s first match started playing. Clara watched as Mario’s fist drew closer to Adrian in slow motion, and then just at the moment that she knew it was too late for anyone to respond Adrian moved. In a burst of speed he moved his leg to the side and turned his body sideways so fast that even in slow motion it looked like he was moving almost as fast as normal. His elbow came up and Adrian used his body’s rotation to deliver a devastating strike to Mario’s temple, dropping him.

“How can he be that fast?” Clara asked.

“I don’t know, and I for one don’t care. At least now those idiots will shut up.” Meifeng said.

Clara didn’t add anything, and they walked the rest of the way in silence. It looked like there was more to their leader than was apparent.

Chapter Six

July; Year 30 – Unexplored space

The ship was falling apart under the onslaught of hundreds of greenish-white bundles of energy. They were eating at her ship, swallowing her ship’s hull. All around, her people were dying, their bodies disintegrating before her eyes. She screamed at them, to not give up, to keep fighting, but there was no one there. She was alone, sitting in her command chair. The holo in the room’s center showed that her fleet was gone, destroyed, only her and the enemy ship were left.

The enemy’s ship was smaller than hers, and yet it had destroyed her fleet, and was about to do the same to her ship. She watched as it charged its weapons knowing what was coming next, it felt as if she had seen this moment a thousand times before. The enemy ship fired its bolts of energy. A few seconds later the enemy fire reached her ship, and she knew that she was doomed. Alarms sounded, and the entire ship was shaking until it finally couldn’t take any more. Fire broke through the hatch leading into the control room, it spread towards her, threatening to swallow her whole. She closed her eyes and released a terrifying scream.

Johanna sat up in her bed still screaming, her hands in front of her face to ward off the heat of the flames. Then suddenly she felt light shine through her closed eyelids, her eyes opened almost unwillingly, and she saw that she wasn’t in her old ship’s command center, but in her bed, on board her new flagship. As she started to calm down, she realized that she could hear someone calling her name.

“… alright Fleet Commander?” A voice that seemed to come from everywhere said.

Johanna calmed and slumped back onto the sheets that were drenched in her sweat.

“Yes Turiel, I’m fine. It was just another nightmare.” Johanna said.

“They have been occurring more often in the last few months, Fleet Commander.” Turiel, her ship’s Ai said.

“They come and go.” Johanna said, she had trouble with nightmares ever since her return from Earth, thirty years ago.

“Maybe you should talk with-”

“No.” Johanna interrupted the Ai. “I’m fine, it will pass. It always does.”

“As you say Fleet Commander.”

With a groan Johanna got up from the bed, her sleeping attire, a simple old fashioned shirt was completely wet with her sweat, as was the bed and the covers. She sighed and gathered the linens up in a bundle and put them across the room in the washing bin where the cleaning crew would take them to be washed. With a thought she activated her HUD and glanced at the clock in the corner of her vision, noticing that it was close to the time when she usually got up for her shift. Then she went into her bathroom to take a long shower.

Alone with the sound of running water over her body, she reflected back on the nightmare. It was the same one she always had, a nightmare about the Ra’a’zani ship. She knew intellectually that losing most of her fleet wasn’t her fault, that they simply didn’t know the capabilities of the Ra’a’zani, but even now after all this time it weighed her down. It wasn’t only about her fleet, it was the fact that the actions of her fleet indirectly caused the destruction of Earth, and death of billions of people.

She couldn’t have known that Ra’a’zani possessed a weapon capable of rendering an entire planet uninhabitable, nor that they would be prepared to use it, but in the end it happened on her watch. When she returned to Sanctuary, the fact that the Emperor and her peers didn’t hold her accountable only served to make her feel worse. But eventually she came to terms with what had happened, even though there were still some marks left over.

Her superiors wanted her to stay in command of the Second Fleet, but she refused. At the time she didn’t feel comfortable commanding a war fleet. It wasn’t until five years ago that she stepped back on the ship. Now Johanna was in command of the Empire’s First Exploration Fleet. And she loved the job, she still commanded warships, the Empire had learned its lesson, the galaxy was a dangerous place and the exploration fleet needed protection. But their purpose was mostly exploration.