----------------------------------------
Lunara
----------------------------------------
Chapter Fifty-Eight: Musings of the Heart - Part 5
Galactic Location: Theocratic Imperium’s cluster
Ruling Government: Theocratic Imperium
Solar System: Adrius
Planet: Adrius Prime
----------------------------------------
***
Six months before the destruction of Agora city
***
I try to process what Inquisitor Victoria just said. There are three hundred of us in this room, and more than half of us… will what, just give up our future at being a Knight Commander? No, there was something in her smile that made my skin crawl.
Reality rears its ugly head when I hear a shrill scream from across the room as a girl is mercilessly cut with an Ionic sword, her hand on the ground in front of her as she pleads for her life. I recognize the boy holding the blade, it’s Gallus, the one who refused my hand earlier. He wears a grin that makes my blood run cold, he pulls the blade across the girl’s throat, blood and gore dust the air as the ions rip the matter apart. Spraying blood from the carotid arteries follows, covering him in it.
“Those who are strong—follow me!” Gallus yells, a smile parting the blood on his face as he turns to his next victim, slicing them from shoulder to stomach before they can draw their blade “Together we will cull the weak.”
I hear rustling behind me, now grabbing my sword instinctively as I whirl around, light erupting from it as I put it between me and the others who have drawn their blades already. They all look at me and pause.
“Lunara, are you with us?” Solara asks me quickly, pointing her blade towards me.
I nod to her after looking around the room and seeing everyone by themselves being hacked apart by groups of people.
“Good.” She says, then to everyone around us she barks “On me! Circle formation!”
Our group moves to the edge of the room staying away from the other groups who give us a wide birth searching for easy prey. We start rolling into a circle, tightening the gaps, all of our Ionic blades humming in the air.
“This is madness,” I say, seeing blood flying in every direction.
“Did no one tell you of the trial?” Solara asks me, but she does not look at me, she is on guard for the other groups that pass by, hunting weaker prey.
“No…”
“Are you good with the blade?” she asks, swiping hers at a group passing too closely.
“Yes,” I reply, not knowing if it’s true in this situation, I have no idea how much training everyone else has.
“Good, stay close to me then,” Solara says, looking me in the eye briefly and nodding to me.
The hologram display changes showing a new number count.
237
“One hundred and thirty-seven to go!” Claude yells to those guarding the flank who can’t see the holo.
All the people who weren’t in groups now lay dead on the floor, our group numbers seventeen. The smaller groups are starting to join with other groups forming larger ones, lest they become the prey. A group of four joins ours after Solara yells to them, having recognized one of the people. I realize now that if she hadn’t spoken to me, I would probably be dead already, after Gallus had rejected my handshake, I had planned to keep to myself. I push the thought from my mind trying to focus on the present.
I try to count Gallus’s group, but everyone is moving too fast, his is definitely the largest though, after he killed that girl many flocked to him.
176
There are six large groups now, ours numbering twenty, having lost one to another group. We keep our distance from the other groups as much as we can. Guts and blood spill out everywhere, the floor is covered in pools of it, making it slick. The two larger groups make like they are going to face off against each other. Gallus looks towards us and then puts up a fist in the air halting his group, I can’t tell if he is looking at me, or Solara who is next to me still. I look over at her, she swears under her breath. That sickly smile comes over Gallus’s face again as he yells to the other group who halt as well for a parley, their captain looking towards us now, nodding to Gallus.
My heart sinks and my hand begins to shake as I see the groups walking towards us like two sea urchins, swords pointed outwards trying to back us into the corner and press us. The two groups are dripping with blood, eyes seeking more for their collection. A desperation to survive about them.
“Oh, gods no…” Becca whimpers, her hands trembling worse than mine. Her blade barely staying in her grasp.
“Keep your composure! Move with me!” Solara yells to the group as she breaks into a dead sprint to the side, trying to avoid the pincer of the two groups. Gallus barks orders and both groups fan out to stop our movements.
It’s too late, we will all die here, our group is going to be swallowed by the wave of desperate ghouls trying to save themselves by sacrificing us. They are making sickening howling noises now, devolved by the violence, accessing that primitive part of themselves. I need to do something, but there’s nothing I can do, I understand the fear in Father’s face now… I’m going to dishonor House Raven, I’m going to fail, I’m going to die… I see Becca drop her blade, her face filled with horror as she tries to back away.
My back hits the wall, there’s nowhere left to go. As I fall into the pit of despair, I feel something primal ignite inside of me. I yell and scream in frustration at my fear, slapping myself in the face until blood comes down my cheek from a gash I made. I can feel everyone’s gaze on me now, but I don’t care. I feel the rage boiling up in me at this slagging predicament I find myself in. I refuse to die here, I refuse to let this place kill me. I am a warrior of House Raven, we do not cower in fear, waiting for the blade. I will be the next Primus of House Raven. There are trillions of lives that depend on me. I cannot fail here. I will not.
I pick up Becca’s discarded blade and say to her in an almost feral growl “Authorize me.”
“Authorize user.” She says pointing to me.
Her Ionic blade erupts in my offhand.
“You want the life of a Raven!” I roar at the groups that come closer, both Ionic blades in my hand humming “Come and earn it!”
Time slows in my perception as I release my soul’s pressure, strength flowing quickly into my frame, clarity removing my doubts. My breath becomes even as I move towards the groups.
A few of them start to back up, I see their weakness and pounce, dashing towards them at a full sprint, the gravity here so weak compared to Raven Prime’s that I flow like the wind closing the gap in less than a second. Slicing at their legs, cutting off their sword hands as I move. Making them unable to fight.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Their line breaks as they trip backward on each other. I see a sword plunging towards me, everything feels slow now, I move to the side dodging it with ease, and parry with a swift cut at their arm. My Ionic sword slicing through flesh, dusting the air in its matter as I cut the arm clean off. Blood sprays on me, the look of horror on the man’s face burns itself into my memories. I can’t stop here or I will die. The next blade comes nearly taking my head clean off, I barely manage to dodge as it cuts strands of my hair off.
I chop and slash, remembering my training as I move like water flowing through a river, I am careful to not overextend, more careful than them. I push through their line, and the other group senses their weakness and takes the chance to turn on them as well. I hear a rush behind me, I twirl around seeing Solara, she is covered in blood as she slashes someone who tried to kill me from behind.
She motions behind me, I bet everything and trust her to guard my back and not stab it as I whirl around and slash blindly, my sword's edge dancing off another. Pressing forward, with my offhand I stab in quick succession into their shoulders, red bursts from their shirts flowing down their tunic staining it. There is so much blood on the floor around us I almost slip as I parry another blade. I am stronger than the man who tries to slash at me next. I push him back, his feet sliding on the bloody stone floors. I am much stronger than all of them I realize as the next come, I have been hardened by Raven Prime’s gravity and my rigorous training. With Becca's sword, I block the second attack from another person.
I exist only in the moments my Ionic sword flies, cutting into the flesh of others, all other thoughts are thrown away from me, all of my focus, all of my being is in these moments. I hear a splash in the blood to my left as I’m being charged by a man and a woman. I stab Becca’s blade into the shoulder of the man’s sword arm, he looks down in shock grasping at the blade, cutting off his own fingers on its ionic edge.
He drops his blade and falls to the ground, the woman looks at him and runs back in fear. I feel a shallow slash cut up my back peeling the flesh. White hot pain focusing me like a cruel master of my senses whipping me around, I turn and see a man who stumbles back when he looks at the rage in my face. His determination is destroyed as hope leaves his eyes. Before I can lunge for him, an Ionic Sword comes through his chest, he drops to the ground, Solara standing over him. Her face painted in blood, matching the color of her eyes and her hair.
Behind her, I see Gallus who creeps towards her, his blade moving to claim her life, my legs act first, shoving her out of the way with my hip. Gallus’s blade slides into my abdomen, more than an inch deep. Time slows to a crawl as I remember my training with Kotina, her voice echoing in my head not to move forward or pull to the side, otherwise I could be cut in two.
My hands move quickly on reflex alone, as I slice off part of his hand, and the handle of the blade stopping the ionic pulse. The blade dissipates and the handle falls towards the ground, but before it hits, I press my soul’s strength further into my body, increasing my speed, slashing him across each of his shoulders, removing his arms completely. Gallus’s eyes grow wide as he realizes what has happened, looking down at the stumps of his limbs which spray blood for a moment. His soul’s strength rising just enough to force the flow of blood from his extremities. His face is shaking with anger as he falls to the ground.
I feel the swell of artificial gravity pushing everyone else to the floor. The gravity increases again, now so strong it forces me to a knee. I feel something hit my back. A sharp pain fills my body as I am shocked by electricity bringing me onto the floor.
“I said enough!” A voice says above me as I regain focus, I hadn’t even heard them the first time “There are ninety-three of you alive. This trial is over.”
Only ninety-three alive? But I did not aim to kill anyone. Everyone here is at least past the fourth boundary, you can’t even attempt the preliminary trials without having accomplished that. They should have been able to staunch the bleeding from their missing extremities. Why are so many dead?
I hear people crying and sputtering up blood on the ground from their wounds and the gravity. I look over and see Gallus, tears parting the gore on his face as he looks back at me, rage in his eyes. I know in that moment, even after the trials are over he will not let this go. The gravity begins to lessen on everyone in the room now so as not to kill more people.
I look over and see Solara clutching a wound on her arm, she looks up at me, then to Gallus, a conflicted look in her eyes. She looks back at me and nods as she rises slowly and offers me a hand. I groan as I take it and stand, clutching my abdomen as blood slowly seeps between my fingers, the flow of my soul the only thing keeping the hole from leaking faster. It is harder to control a gut wound’s flow.
From the outer doors medical staff rush in with med carts and begin to try to save those on the brink that cannot help themselves. Medigel shoots into wounds and the medifoam expands to stop the bleeding. Another group walks around cataloging missing appendages with bio scanners putting them in cryobags to preserve them.
I try to take a step and almost fall over, Solara grabs my arm with her good one and puts it around her shoulder, I look down and see slashes on my legs I hadn’t even felt before. I am lucky they were not deeper.
We make our way to the edge towards where the self-service station is, meant for those without life-threatening injuries. I help her put medigel on her wounded arm. She helps me apply it to my abdomen, my back, and my legs.
“Thank you, Lunara” She says when we finish. Her eyes are on Gallus, my eyes follow.
He is looking towards us, this time I am sure his eyes are on me. An uneasy feeling sneaks up on me as I see his lip curl into a smile. Perhaps I should have listened to Kotina’s advice, never leave an enemy half dead with eyes that seek revenge.
“Call me Luna.” I say to Solara. She turns to me, a small smile on her face as she nods.
I cannot help wondering, as I stare out among the carnage, if this was only the first preliminary trial, what will the real ones be like...
----------------------------------------
Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant
Ruling Government: Republic of Hekat
Solar System: D-447
Planet: Ora
----------------------------------------
***
Six months later - Present Time
***
There are thousands upon thousands of shuttles streaming into the sky, trying to escape the dying city, we are now among them. The city of Agora still plummets towards the surface of the planet, billowing a trail of smoke that can be seen for miles. Flagship Thorn has managed to regain some altitude, turning their nose towards those in the sky. My heart drops as I see their forward doors opening and firing upon the civilian shuttles. Slag. Their hanger doors slide open and smaller crafts begin driving through the air towards the fleeing refugees.
My hand swipes through the controls quickly, waiting for the system override to be accepted, I tie my hair up quickly in a knot, taking it out of my eyes.
“Manual override accepted, limiters released—Warning…” the system begins, but I swipe my hand through it.
Plasma rips through the sky, missing its mark on most of the first wave of civilian crafts. Their targeting systems must be down. At least there’s that. I roll the ship as a few stray shots glide by us. The slumped bodies of those in the cabin of the shuttle slap against the top and then back down to the floor.
“Kada…” Arrum says, trying to stand.
My teeth clench, slagging hells, I don’t need this right now.
“What the frack happened?” Fennec says, clutching his head, the rest of the group begins to wake now.
Fennec climbs through the tangled group of people towards the pilot chair.
“Oh—slagging hells,” Fennec says, pointing a shaking hand up above, just outside of orbit.
My eyes widen as I see shots coming from a Dreadnaught class battleship. To my surprise, none of them hit the civilian ships. Using the holo display I pull up a rear view of the craft and see they were aiming for Flagship Thorn. Finding their mark in a series of explosions across the bow of the ship. Destroying their frontal weapons, smashing into the bridge deck with the next volley. Thorn begins to fall rapidly as the next three volleys target their propulsion systems and strike at their Etherium reactor. Escape pods ejecting from its side rapidly.
As we break the atmosphere, I see the side of the dreadnaught, my eyes squint as I pull up a holo which zooms in. The ship bears the crest of the Gallec Empire. Space distorts as six more ships warp into the space around it. All of them bearing the crest of the Republic of Hekat.
On the comms, a wide unencrypted channel opens, the voice I recognize as the Republic Space Command’s senior officer for the system, Commander Merrik.
“Attention unauthorized vessel of the Gallec Empire, this is Republic Space Command actual, you are in violation of the peace treaty…” he stops mid-sentence as though receiving another comms.
There is tension in Fennec’s face. The group is beginning to chatter loudly behind us.
“Kale… where is Kale?” Arrum asks loudly over the group.
Slagging hells. Before I can even try to think of an answer, my eyes grow wide as ten Gallec Empire cruisers jump in, taking a flaking position around the RSC ships which now do a hard burn to change positions. A new voice comes over the wideband communications, also unencrypted, the display says it is from the Dreadnaught class warship. The same one that shot down Flagship Thorn.
“Attention Republic of Hekat, this is Knight Commander Draken, Primus of House Draconis, hailing from the Gallec Empire. You will stand down or be fired upon. We are here in response to a distress beacon from a Gallec Empire frigate.”
Commander Merrik’s voice comes on now.
“We have received reports from Flagship Thorn that you fired upon the Civilian City of Agora, and them as they attempted to save it."
"We did no such thing." Draken says, there is annoyance in his tone as he asks "Where is our frigate?"
"We saw you firing upon Thorn.” Commander Merrik says over the comms.
Fennec’s face goes askew as he looks at me shaking his head, sweat beading on his brow.
“Where is Kale!” Arrum yells, stumbling forward towards us with weapon in hand.
“Sekat…” Fennec says, looking out the viewport as one of the Republic’s cruisers explodes.
I could not see where the first shot came from, or who did it, how it was destroyed now a moot point as the aftershock rattles our shuttle. The other ships begin to turn and fire. Steady streams of close-range fighter ships storm out of the hangerbays on the ships as shields ripple over the main structures. The darkness of space is awash in the torrents of man's folly as the first blows are struck in a conflict that could throw the entire galaxy into turmoil.