07:54, January 10th, 2135
“Welcome, executors.” Kayden said as the virtual world around them resolved into something resembling a dingy bar.
“You.” A purple-skinned human-like Vrul executor said accusingly.
“Yes, me.” Kayden replied as more of the executors popped into existence around them.
He took a moment to survey the scene in front of him. Ahead was a replica of a ‘classic’ bar which could be found on most human worlds – a wooden counter with brass accents, circular metal stools with red velvet tops, and yellowish triangular lamps overhead that failed to fully illuminate the area. Behind the bar stood Ali in an attractive black cocktail dress, and towards a door leading to the back stood Mirana doing her best impersonation of a bouncer.
Glancing over at Ali, she nodded to him and gave him a thumbs up before grabbing a metal martini shaker and beginning to shake it back and forth expertly. Knowing that was the signal, he took a final moment to assess the assembled executors in front of him. The diverse group had aliens of every description – some were close enough to looking human that Kayden could convince himself they’d just had genetic treatments. Others were far less human-like – insectoid creatures, furred behemoths, and slime entities surrounded by robotic-looking suits.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why I’ve asked you to come here.” Kayden said loudly enough to get everyone’s attention.
“Your message said you’d found an avatar of Cyrius Voltrix.” A feminine sounding voice said. “Along with some additional schematics from the Vrul technocracy.”
Kayden took a moment to look at her. She looked like the executor he’d confronted on Mirana’s fleet – bipedal with grey skin, digitigrade legs, and a hairless humanoid face without a mouth. Her eyes glowed with an ethereal blue light as she stared at him.
“That’s correct.” Kayden said, nodding to Ali.
She put down the martini shaker before waving a hand, causing an image of Cyrius and Kayden standing together to appear. It was clearly from their encounter on the virtual volcanic world, with molten lava bubbling nearby and black ash-choked skies above. Floating serenely around them was a swarm of drones, their eye-lights glowing brightly. The assembled group gasped before turning to him and speaking all at once.
“Where did you find this?”
“It’s a fake!”
“How did we not know this existed?”
“Show us more!”
Kayden waved his hands back and forth as Ali made the image disappear. “It’s real. If you’d like I can prove it and provide the location of the avatar. For a price, of course.”
“What?” The purple-skinned Vrul exclaimed.
“A price.” Kayden repeated slowly. “Compensation. If you want this, I want something in return.”
“Your message never said anything about a price.” A green-skinned Vrul executor replied. “This is preposterous.”
“If I’d said I was charging you, you wouldn’t have come.” Kayden countered.
“I am leaving.” The grey-skinned Vrul announced.
“Without even hearing my price?” Kayden trailed off, hoping his bluff would hold a bit longer.
The grey-skinned Vrul narrowed her eyes before speaking again. “Name your price, trickster.”
“Your fleets.”
“What do you mean?”
“I want you to relinquish control over every Vrul crew member and ship under each of your commands.” Kayden turned to the purple-skinned Vrul who was opening his mouth to protest and cut him off. “And before you tell me it’s impossible, believe me that it’s not.”
“Even if I believed you – which I don’t – why would you want such a thing?” The grey-skinned Vrul asked, her wide-eyes staring at him.
“Because I believe that if they’re given the opportunity, the Vrul people will choose to fight against the Voidborn with the other races of the galaxy rather than shielding you cowards.”
“This again.” The green-skinned Vrul said, shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders dramatically in a surprisingly human fashion. “The Voidborn are gone. And this was a waste of time.”
“Do the rest of you feel the same way?” Kayden said, glancing across the crowd.
When the remainder of the executors murmured their approvals, Kayden shook his head and looked at Mirana. When she nodded in response he spoke to Ali over their neural link.
I was really hoping they’d want to negotiate for longer.
[“It cannot be helped. We are ready to begin, Kayden.”]
Clearing his throat he looked back at the green-skinned Vrul. “It’s too bad. I wanted to do this the peaceful way. I hope the history books say that I gave you a chance.”
“This meeting is over.” The green-skinned Vrul said before starting to fade out of existence.
Only to be suddenly jerked back into existence and dumped unceremoniously on the floor.
Kayden couldn’t help but grin to himself as he watched the executor scramble to his feet. “What’s the matter? Trying to go somewhere?”
“You…what have you done?!” The green-skin Vrul exclaimed, pushing two of his green fingers into Kayden’s chest accusingly.
“Nobody is leaving.” Kayden replied.
“Explain yourself.” The grey-skinned executor demanded.
“I’ve locked us in here.” Kayden responded. “Nobody leaves until either I’m dead or the Vrul are free.”
A dark aura appeared around the grey-skinned executor as her eyes narrowed to slits. “So what you’re saying is that you’ve got something we want and you’re trapped in here with us now.”
Kayden grinned savagely. “That’s only partially true. You think I’m trapped in here with you. The truth is that you’re trapped in here with us.”
Having heard the entire conversation, Mirana chose that moment to kick open the back door of the bar. The bang of it hitting the back wall was quickly followed by the sound of footsteps as dozens of fleetless Vrul streamed into the room, each of them holding a combination of pistols and melee weapons. Kayden used the distraction as an opportunity to vault over the bar and activate both his drones and his nanobot swarm, sliding close to Ali as she produced a shotgun from underneath the bar.
Then the world around them dissolved into chaos.
The room shimmered and fractured into pieces as the executors each tried to change their surroundings into a more advantageous battlefield for them. Bright white cracks in reality appeared all around them, with sections of the dimly lit pub turning into an array of different scenes – the vacuum of space, a lush jungle planet, the interior of a spaceship, and more. Thankfully for them, none of the executors seemed to be coordinating their efforts, meaning that all they served to do was throw themselves into disarray before Ali, Mirana, and the fleetless asserted their will over the space and brought the tavern back into reality.
The moment the fissures disappeared, Kayden took the opportunity to sow more chaos. With a mental push his drones began firing energy beams into the crowd, damaging shields and drawing the assembled executors’ attention. When they began summoning weapons and returning fire he instinctively ducked behind the bar before sprinting towards the back door, the sound of Ali’s shotgun ringing out behind him.
“Get him!” One of the executors shouted. “Forget the rest!”
“Remember – we can’t kill them! We need to buy their crews time!” Mirana shouted over the radio as he burst through the back door into a starkly empty white space.
Knowing that Mirana and the fleetless would only be able to hold the Vrul back for a few moments, Kayden quickly focused on the mental image they’d prepared. The blank void in front of him shimmered before turning into a dark stone tunnel lit only by torches on either side. It branched off in 3 directions – directly ahead, to the left and to the right.
[“Go right.”] Ali’s voice rang in his head. [“I will continue to create the maze as they chase you.”]
Are you and Mirana going to be okay?
[“We will be fine, Kayden. Go!”]
Grinning, Kayden took off down the right path. He rounded a corner in the tunnel just as he heard the door bang open behind him, followed by the combined shouts of Mirana, the fleetless, and the Vrul executors. In his mind he imagined the utter anarchy happening behind him – the confusion of being confronted by a maze while fighting the fleetless in close would be enough to throw even the most focused of trackers off his trail, at least for a short time.
[“Take the next left.”] Ali’s voice sounded in his head has he continued to sprint, his legs pumping as fast as he could.
How far behind me are they? Kayden asked as he turned and proceeded down the next hallway.
[“Fairly far. The group who broke through and went down the center path have encountered the minotaur.”]
Kayden tripped slightly at her words before catching himself and continuing to sprint. The minotaur? He asked, convinced he hadn’t heard her right.
[“Yes. I drew inspiration from ancient human myths about labyrinths.”]
Chuckling as he shook his head, Kayden picked up the pace. That’s my girl.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
He felt her blush over their neural link as the sounds of battle receded behind him. The corridors around him began to blur as he focused on putting one foot in front of the other, buying the Vrul fleets as much time as he could to free themselves. As the minutes passed the knot of anxiety in his chest began to loosen somewhat and he dared to hope their audacious plan might actually work.
As if to counter his hopes, Mirana’s voice called out over the radio. “Kayden, we have a problem.”
“What is it?”
“The executors entered the maze in disarray, but they’re starting to run into each other and organize. They aren’t working together enough to destabilize the maze entirely, but they’re creating shortcuts through walls and getting closer to you.”
“So I’m about to have company?” Kayden asked, slowing down for a moment.
“Yes.”
As she said it, a trio of Vrul executors materialized in front of him. Closest to him was the grey-skinned Vrul with her arms spread to either side. Extending from bracers on her hands were meter-long blades, each of which were crackling with blue lightning. As she looked at him a thick set of ornate golden armour flashed into existence around her, covering her entire body except for her face.
To her left was the purple-skinned Vrul. He was hairless, with eyes that were entirely black. A grey cloak swirled around his back as he turned, and his entire body was covered by a skintight black suit. In his 3-fingered hands he held what looked like a scythe with a wickedly curved blade on one end and the barrel of a rifle on the other.
The third Vrul of the trio was the green-skinned one. He already had a set of golden armour on, but unlike his allies he had what looked like an enormous railgun mounted to one of his arms. It enveloped his entire arm, preventing him from bending at the elbow while he hefted it towards Kayden.
“Can I kill them yet?” Kayden asked over the radio.
“No.” Mirana replied. “We need more time.”
“Shit.” He replied as the trio charged towards him.
Reading his intent, Ali immediately deployed Kayden’s adrenaline rush. The world around him slowed to a crawl just as he darted to the left towards the purple-skinned Vrul, reaching him before he could react. Kayden watched his eyes slowly widen as he grabbed the Vrul’s weapon before kicking him in the chest, sending him flying backwards into his green-skinned companion.
Focusing on the other member of the trio, Kayden spun the bladed end of the scythe in a tight circle towards the grey-skinned executor’s leg, cutting a wide gash in her armour. In slow motion she brought her twin blades towards his chest but he continued his spinning movement, pulling out of her reach as he swiped towards her head with the rifle-barrel end of the scythe. He knocked her to the ground with a grunt before glancing towards a glimmer of light to his left.
Just as suddenly as the first group, a quartet more of Vrul executors materialized. Kayden raced towards them before they could get their bearings, swinging his stolen scythe as he did. He connected with the first executor’s midsection and tossed him clear across the room, his golden armour glittering as he collided with the stone wall behind them. A sharp crack told Kayden that his weapon broke from the force of the blow, causing him to toss it to the side before focusing on the remaining 3 standing Vrul.
Knowing that he wouldn’t have long remaining on his adrenaline rush, Kayden lashed out with his prosthetic metal arm, cracking the exoskeleton of an insectoid Vrul creature and sending it stumbling backwards. Not waiting to see if it would recover he grabbed another executor with both hands – this one with red skin eerily similar to Mirana’s – and tossed her at the last executor, causing them both to fall over in a heap of limbs.
“Now can I kill them?” Kayden asked as the world around him returned to normal speed.
“No, not yet!” Mirana replied.
Grunting in frustration, Kayden deployed both his nanobots and his drones around him. They swirled in a protective cocoon around him, but even through the swarm he caught glances of the executors – each of them injured, but still very much alive. As the ones with golden armour started moving towards him he began to back up, trying to buy a few precious extra seconds.
Whatever that armour is made of is no joke. He ‘said’ to Ali. I was hoping they’d be out of commission for at least a few minutes.
[“I will make a note to examine it later.”] She replied.
Furrowing his brow as he peered through the swarm, Kayden did a quick mental count of the executors. There were the three in golden armour, one of whom was steadily advancing with his railgun levelled. Behind them was the red-skinned one and the one he’d thrown her into, as well as the insectoid one – all of whom were now brandishing what looked like pistols.
Where is the one in the black-
He didn’t even get to finish the thought before pain erupted from his side. Jumping away blindly, he sent a powerful pulse of electricity through the nanobots surrounding him, electrifying the air in a wide radius. His eyes went wide as a cry of pain rang out from the empty space beside him before the air shimmered and flashed, revealing the final executor. The Vrul convulsed and dropped his blood-coated serrated blade before falling to the ground, clearly shocked into submission.
Active camouflage. Kayden noted numbly as he sank to his knees, the edges of his vision going blank. That’s a neat trick.
[“Kayden you are in danger!”] Ali shouted in his mind, forcing him to focus.
In his moment of distraction he’d unthinkingly recalled his swarm of nanobots to his arm, dropping the majority of his defenses. His semi-sentient drones still buzzed about angrily, holding most of the executors at bay. The grey-skinned one braved their fire though, and raced over to Kayden with her twin blades raised high.
“Trickster! Tell me your secrets or I will kill you!”
Even though the haze of pain Kayden managed to croak out a response. “How about you fuck right off instead?”
The executor stiffened slightly as if to strike him, but to his immense surprise the final blow never came. Instead, she suddenly disappeared in the blink of an eye as if she never existed. Thinking it must be some sort of trick he rolled to his uninjured side, but as he staggered to his knees he glanced around frantically and saw no trace of her.
“What did you do?!” The purple-skinned executor exclaimed, his eyes wide.
“Ali? Mirana?” Kayden called out over the radio as he stood slowly. “What just happened?”
“It’s working!” Mirana shouted in response, showing more joy than he’d ever heard her express. “We’re getting messages from the fleets – they’re free!”
A grin spread across Kayden’s face as he deployed his nanobots defensively around him once more. The grin widened as he slowly advanced towards the remaining Vrul executors – all of whom were now backing up. He reached the moaning black-clad executor on the ground first and kicked his blade to the side before kneeling next to him.
“Impossible.” He managed to groan before vanishing.
That was enough to send the remainder of the Vrul executors into full retreat.
They sprinted back the way they came, desperate to get away from Kayden as if it would somehow prevent them from disappearing. He followed them slowly, the savage sense of satisfaction increasing as he saw yet another of them disappear before they rounded a corner. Pain lanced up and down his side from where he’d been stabbed, but even that wasn’t enough to wipe the smile from his face.
Rounding a corner, he saw the assembled fleetless Vrul standing in front of the door to the bar. Next to them were Mirana and Ali, the latter of whom flashed him a satisfied smirk as she hefted her shotgun across her shoulder with one arm. Kayden retracted his helmet and furrowed his brow in confusion at her before glancing backwards.
“I seem to remember the trip out there being a lot longer than this little walk back.”
“I have full control over this virtual space now.” Ali replied. “The 7-make that 6-Vrul executors remaining are not focused on trying to wrest control from me. They are otherwise occupied.”
“So we won then?” Kayden asked. “The Vrul are free?”
“Effectively, yes.” Ali responded. “Some smaller fleets may be slower to respond or lack the tools to synthesize the spray, but I estimate that 93% of the Vrul population should be free in the next 15 minutes.”
“Good. Send word to Sanctuary to expect a lot of visitors, and tell them to do what they can to help them refuel, rearm, and resupply. Then send a message to the Vrul fleets telling them about the Voidborn threat, and offer them asylum on Sanctuary. We’ll need-”
“Wait, what?” Mirana interrupted.
“They’ll need somewhere to land and rally.” Kayden explained. “I know we don’t have much in the way of resources, but you said it yourself – this process is probably jarring. More than anything, they might just want to see some friendly faces.”
“I…don’t know how to thank you.” Mirana replied. “Kayden, I-”
He shook his head and cut her off. “It’s the right thing to do. Now if you don’t mind, my side hurts like a bitch – think you can conjure up some pain medication and stitches?”