Chapter 63

Ryker

After making my decision, I walked out of the room,and felt the familiar pressure of Ruby’s hand holding mine through the suit. I turned and found her grasping onto me, patiently waiting for me to speak. Centering myself through my liberal use of cultivation, I closed my eyes, focused on my heart and the brilliant energy emanating from it. After finding my peace there, I ponderously opened my eyes and gave her a smile, then said, “I know you are afraid of losing me, but I can't stand by and let my people become slaves. If they knew what was in store for them, they would make the same choice, I just know it.”

Ruby clung to me desperately. I could tell she was feeling frustrated over not having a real body again. She set her irritation aside and said, “I don't claim to understand humans like you do, but from what I have observed in your histories and aboard this ship,is that humanity thrives in the face of adversity. The harder your people are pushed the stronger they become, knowing this has given me hope. I believe in you, and will follow you to hell and back.”

At first, the feelings I had for Ruby were rooted primarily in distrust and confusion, but over the years, she has proven herself to be trustworthy and a constant supportive presence, there to act as a balm to my weary spirit as I endured the countless hours of training and torture to increase my resistances. I will forever be indebted to her for that and will always love her for it as well.

I knew I messed up the instant I looked down and saw her eyes grow to the size of her head. I always forgot to guard my thoughts; now she knew. Ruby’s lower half began floating up into the air, carried there by a fluffy white cloud with a tiny naked angel holding a bow and arrow trained at the back of her head with an uncomfortable amount of intensity that did not fit the mood whatsoever.

The sound of Silvar's walking stick clunking across the floor snapped Ruby out of her antics, and the two were arrayed before me. Silvar was still being dodgy about his extended disappearances, but if he wanted me to know, he would tell me, so I let it go. I looked the old worm in the eyes and said, “How do you feel about going back to the Pyramid?”

Silvar's intense look softened for just a moment, then snapped back to its neutral evil state of being, and he gruffly said, “Bah! We Vren have no need to be sentimental over the physical; our existence transcends the flesh. All I am worried about is when will I get my chance to sink my mandibles into the side of Viltrix’s neck.”

I laughed at the visual that Silvar's question provoked, then said, “Hopefully sooner rather than later, but for now, we have a lot of work to do. Red, I have a plan. Sync up with Ruby and Jeeves and get everything underway.”

Red appeared before me, gave me a snappy salute, then the three A.I. disappeared, and the ship around us began to groan as if it was being squeezed. I made my way to the bedroom that I had rarely had the pleasure of using and quickly stripped and took a shower to clear my mind. So many moving parts and an endless number of problems that could happen. So many lives hanging in the balance.

The pressure of my situation was becoming more real by the second, and I just stood there in the 230-degree water, brooding. After clearing my head, I redressed and made my way back to the training ground to wait since the A.I. had everything well in hand. I felt the ship groan a few more times and prayed everything went to plan.

Finding Tetra in my favorite meditation spot was no big surprise. She had gotten so good with her ability to read my emotions that I thought she had received a mind-reading ability along with it. Walking up as quietly as I could, she peeked out at me through one cracked eyelid and gave me a heart stopping smile. The more time I spent with her, the more I felt myself being drawn to her strange way of thinking and quirky sense of humor. It took some getting used to, but over time, I started to feel grateful that I beat her back in the simulation room. I was proud to call her my waifu wife.

I did it again. Her toothy grin betrayed the fact that she was reading me when I approached. She definitely picked up on my feelings and knew exactly how I felt. I tried to hide my embarrassment, which just made her smile grow. She stood to her feet and closed the distance between us with an effortless grace that I could never match. She had a way about her that was so intoxicating at times that I could barely stand to be close to the woman, afraid that if I didn't throw a punch soon that I would lose control and… Shaking my head to clear the not so helpful urges from my mind, I said, “Are you ready for this?”

Tetra, standing less than a foot from me, looked me up and down, then settled on my hands. She let her smile soften, then she asked, “Am I ready for the fight ahead? Of course. Am I ready to enter the Pyramid and be separated from you? No, I am not. You may not know this, Ryker, but marriages between my people are a thing of honor and duty. We do not grow overly fond of our betrothed, but since you beat me, I have felt a connection continue to grow between us. A bond stronger than those that I am used to with my own kind. I don't know if I can bear the thought of being apart from you.”

I looked down at her hands and felt myself wanting to reach out and scoop the stubborn woman up into a hug and tell her it would be okay, but then I would be lying. I don't know what is going to happen or where I will end up. The moment we touch the Pyramid's surface, we will be teleported to one of eight locations at random. I trailed my eyes from her hands up to her face, admittedly taking a few detours along the way, then made eye contact with her and said, “It goes without saying, you know how strongly I feel about you. I just wish I could have beaten you one more time, so we could bridge the distance between us wholly. But alas, it was not meant to be, yet!”

Her eyes narrowed at the challenge, and a familiar competitive heat grew in me, but I quickly tamped it down. I had been chasing that carrot for years. It could wait a little longer. I was preparing to go over some of the details with Tetra when I was interrupted by the sight of a fluffy cloud slowly rising behind Tetra's back. Atop the cloud stood Red and Ruby looking over the shoulder of a way too serious-looking naked angel pointing his bow and arrow at the back of Tetra's head.

I waved my hand for them to cut it out, and when Tetra turned to look at what I was gesturing towards, she found the mother-daughter duo walking hand in hand towards us, leaving Tetra none the wiser. When they made it to us, Red spoke up and said, “So far, the plan is moving along perfectly. We found a way to give us a boost of speed that will ultimately destroy the engines, but we should be long gone before that happens. All the humans have been shuffled around, and we should be approaching the Pyramid in less than an hour.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I blinked and felt sweat begin to saturate my suit. I bent over and grabbed my knees, suddenly feeling not so great. I took a few deep breaths then said, “What happened? Why are we in such a rush?”

Jeeves appeared in his tidy butler outfit, and with one hand behind his back, he leaned forward and presented me with a silver platter that had a screen hovering above it. On the screen was the image of Viltrix’s furious face undulating as he bared his teeth and said, “Tetra, I have known for years that you were up to something. I would have never guessed you would be so foolish to think this plan would actually work. If you think you can escape me by fleeing to the Pyramid, you're dead wrong. I’ll kill everyone and everything in that fleet to get to you. Goodbye, Tetra the protector!”

Holding back my rage, I looked to Tetra and found a similar anger brewing in her. I turned back to Red and said, “Ok, so he knows where we are going. Can he stop us? You said the defenses around the Pyramid were light, and they shouldn’t be enough to stop most of the fleet from making it.”

She nodded at the question, then said, “That is still true. I scanned the sector and found what I expected to find with one addition. Viltrix has his armada's flagship docked at his capital planet, which is in geosynchronous orbit around the Pyramid. If he is able to get the dreadnaught in the fight, we could lose the entire fleet.”

Now feeling the desperation that led to the decision to push us there faster, I asked, “How close is it going to be?”

Ruby stroked my cheek then said, “The dreadnaught will clear its hanger before we make it there. We will have to sacrifice a portion of the fleet, but you leave that to us. Jeeves knows the plan and will execute it perfectly.”

Fully understanding the situation I now was in, I slapped both sides of my face a few times then told Jeeves, “Open a video stream to every human in the fleet.”

Jeeves nodded mechanically then said, “You are live in 5, 4 3 2 1…”

I straightened my back, balled my fists, and stood to my full height then said, “Hello, my name is Ryker and I know that you are confused, scared, and if you're anything like me, angry. These bastards came to our planet, killed our people, then destroyed our homeworld and thought they could scoop us up like some kind of sick door prize to take home to daddy. Today we stand up to those that think they are greater than us. Today we take back our freedom and make the choice to fight for the survival of our species. Today we go to the Pyramid, all of us…”

I paused for a full minute to allow my words to set in before continuing, “I know you have a million questions, but unfortunately we don't have time for that now. In a few short minutes, we will come under heavy enemy fire, and we will lose some of the fleet that carried us here. Do not be disheartened. Every one of you still alive today is a walking talking miracle. After we get through the blockade, we will be home free. Once you are teleported into the Pyramid, you will be placed in one of eight locations inside. Work together, protect one another, and fight as hard as you can to survive. Humanity will have the day. Good luck… you're going to need it.”

I made a hand gesture to cut the feed, and Jeeves obliged. I turned to my companions and asked, “How was that?”

Everyone gave me their own version of a thumbs up then Jeeves interjected, “We are approaching the blockade; I suggest the biologically impaired among us buckle up.”

I found a jump seat along the wall next to Tetra, sat down, and strapped in. I looked at Red and said, “Can you get us a feed? I want to see what’s happening.”

Red, Ruby, and Jeeves all three nodded in concert, and a series of screens appeared all around us. On the screens, I could see the entire fleet we resided in flying through space in a strange-looking configuration. All of the ships were traveling in lines side by side and stacked atop one another. We looked like a giant wall of ships. The view slowly began to shift, and I saw a string of what looked like asteroids floating around an unbelievable sight: a giant black Pyramid. I had heard them reference the place, but to see it was to believe it. The structure was beyond comprehension.

As I gawked at the behemoth, I felt a shudder then the sensation of jerking forward. I could see the asteroids begin to glow then their cannons opened fire. All the engines in the fleet ignited, and the formation morphed in on itself. Some of the blasts of energy were avoidable, but the ones that were not were intercepted by the undulating mass of ships. One at a time, they were sacrificed, exploding into a billion pieces and being deflected off the hulls of their surrounding ships.

My heart was raw from the massive loss of life, then Ruby was there. She rubbed my shoulders and whispered, “Don’t lose hope yet. All of those ships were full of your captors and void of human life.”

I snapped my head in her direction and gave her a disbelieving look, then said, “What are you talking about? There are supposed to be humans on all of the ships.”

Ruby grinned evilly then said, “Well, there were humans on all the ships, but we A.I. decided unilaterally that we could not stomach needless loss of human casualties but were okay with losing some imperial staffers. So when you noted those vibrations and strange noises earlier, that wasn’t us evenly distributing the humans; that was us concentrating the population as much as possible. Half of the fleet contains imperial citizens and resources. We plan on sacrificing as many of them as we can to ensure humanity makes it to the Pyramid!”

My love for the A.I. grew ever more in that moment. I was bursting at the schemes, but had to hold back my enthusiasm because I knew there was plenty of time for things to go wrong. The bombardment persisted, and the ships continued to jump in the line of fire to save the vessels holding the last of humankind. The firing intensified as we approached the line of asteroids, then three large vessels broke off from our formation and rushed ahead. The first soaked up most of the enemy fire and was quickly destroyed, but the second and third finished the job by colliding with the asteroid, destroying it completely. I couldn’t help but let out a yell of excitement as our fleet passed through the blockade, and every ship we had left accelerated as fast as they could.

We were in a sprint to the finish, but before we could close the final stretch of space, a ship bigger than I thought was possible began to circle around the Pyramid and pointed in our direction. I saw the A.I. give one another looks of resolve, then they blinked out one at a time. Jeeves paused briefly, bowed respectfully, then said, “It has been an honor to serve you, Mr. Ryker.” Then he was gone.

As the Dreadnaught fully came into view, 75% of our fleet broke off and headed directly towards the beast. An unbelievable salvo of projectiles and energy weapons was fired from its cannons and I was unable to see the ship through the wave of destruction headed our way. I knew then that we were in trouble. Just as the munitions reached the halfway point, all of the ships sent in that direction stopped accelerating, and each one ejected its own glowing projectiles streaming through the sky. An ID tag appeared over one of the missiles, identifying it as a tachyon reactor. As soon as they reached the opening salvo, a blinding light robbed the screens of their ability to observe the fight. Moments later, I saw a scene of absolute carnage. Hundreds of ships were destroyed in an instant. The overloaded reactors set off a chain reaction that cleared the battlefield of all combatants… except one.

The dreadnaught survived but did not come out of the exchange unscathed. The front of the monstrosity was mangled and missing 10% of its bulk. It stayed there motionless for a few blissful seconds, then its engines roared back to life and it continued towards us. Unfortunately for Viltrix, he was too late. Just as I saw the barrels fire on us again, the remainder of our fleet collided with the side of the Pyramid.