It took us twenty minutes to reach the large circular room where Kara assumed the scaly alien was. To my surprise, he was actually there. Or appeared to be. I wouldn't be able to confirm it until we broke through the last barrier. Kralish sat on a normal chair in the center of the completely bare room and he had ten Order members around him. They were fully prepared for battle and would attack us as soon as the barrier dropped.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Kralish said and shook his head. “Coming all this way and failing so spectacularly. What a shame.”
Hailey. I thought to her.
I've tried the codes twice already and I've even linked to Hela to generate new ones. None of them are working. Hailey thought back to me.
“Having troubles?” Kralish asked. “Are you surprised the frequency codes you stole aren't working?” He chuckled and it sounded like a lizard hissing. “I wouldn't trust putting my own personal codes into a computer system that can be so easily broken into.”
How many combinations... I started to ask.
Millions. Hailey responded. I'm trying them so quickly that I've already burned out an emitter.
“Oh, and your little digging around the barrier trick won't work, either. This barrier is completely enclosed within this room.”
“If that was true, then your feet wouldn't be touching the floor.” I said.
The scaly alien looked down at the floor and his boots were touching the bare metal. “You couldn't possibly...”
A one foot space around his foot folded up and formed metal jaws like a bear trap and clomped onto his foot.
“ARGH!” Kralish yelled and jerked his leg away, only to find that half of his boot... and his foot... remained inside the trap. The blood stopped immediately and the wound closed over. “YOU DARE!”
“Hunter, stop playing with him.” Hailey said and she covered the entire floor under them with Presence, then tried to manipulate all of the metal to attack and grab the people inside the barrier. All she managed to do was make them all levitate away from the threat and use their Light swords to cut away at the metal, even Kralish, who had taken his chair with him.
“I wasn't playing.” I said. “I knew if I did too much like you just did, they would react. I took the shot I could get away with.”
“You took my foot!” Kralish exclaimed. “Do you know how long it's going to take to grow it back?”
“No.” I said and Hailey stopped trying to manipulate what was left of the floor. There wasn't enough of it left attached to the outside for us to do much with it now, anyway.
The Order members used Presence to push the jagged pieces down to flatten them out and then used their Light swords to cut away the floor next to the barrier so we couldn't do that again. Kralish landed back in the center and glared at me.
“I was going to save this for when you were really desperate to get to me.” Kralish said and took out a datapad. “You damaged my display, so you will just have to suffer with hearing what's going on.” He hit a button on his wrist communicator. “Go ahead and pipe it through.”
Speakers hidden in the walls came to life and we heard what sounded like a bridge crew making a final approach to something.
“Coming up on target.” Someone said.
“Are those two ships launching?” An authoritative male voice asked. He must have been the captain.
“No, sir. They don't even have their main reactors online.”
“Coordinate with the other ships. I want that habitat completely surrounded.”
“Sir, the local traffic...”
“Order them out of the way or we will move them out of the way.” The captain said. “We've been ordered to take the people there into custody. If anyone resists, we will send our regrets to their families.”
“When did this happen?” I asked.
“A small force of six assault ships and a troop transport arrived in the Dizahl System this morning.” Kralish smiled. “This was sent to us three hours ago.”
“It's not live?” Hailey asked, surprised.
“How could it be live?” Kralish asked, confused.
I lifted my wrist com and hit the button. “Hela, connect me with Opina.”
“Done. Opina, Hunter is on the line for you.”
“Grandpa!” Opina said. “You're not going to guess what happened!”
“Is everyone okay?” I asked.
“Sure!” Opina said. “They only sent six attack ships. When they ordered me to lower my shields so they wouldn't have to shoot them down, I told them they had thirty seconds to surrender.”
“Did they surrender?” I asked.
“Grandpa, they're The Order. They started firing right away.” Opina said.
“Are you okay?” I asked, real concern in my voice.
Opina laughed. “They didn't even scratch my hull.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“It was quick and brutal, especially when Mom got angry at them for shooting at her daughter.” Opina said. “Those little assault ships didn't stand a chance.”
“What about the troop transport?” I asked.
“They tried to open up and launch their cargo, so I took your advice and put a spread of missiles into the opening shuttle bay doors.” Opina said. “I didn't think an explosion that big would look so pretty in space.”
Everyone in the room went quiet.
“Sheph has already filed grievances with the local Order chapter for sending an attack force against a space habitat that's owned by a legitimate shipping business for no reason. Once they discovered the habitat was full of civilians and not criminals or enemies of The Order, the entire assault force was declared rogues.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“NO!” Kralish yelled.
“You wouldn't believe the bounty they gave us for cleaning up such a big mess!” Opina said.
“Where's everyone now?” I asked, my worries gone.
“Having a party up in the media room.” Opina said. “Simone said something about living life to the fullest while you can.”
“Let them know I called.” I said.
“They know. I've been letting them listen.”
“Hiiii!” Over a dozen voices said as one.
“Hurry back!” A lone voice said that I recognized as Noma's.
“I'll try.” I said. “See you soon.”
“Bye!” Several voices said and then I ended the call.
“You knew I would come for them.” Kralish said, almost angrily.
“Actually, I've been preparing for The Order to come after them.” I said.
Kara, the two Order members, and the guards around us were shocked to hear that.
“Since it was only a small force from you, the defenses were more than adequate for the task.”
“You think you're so smart, don't you?” Kralish said. “You've always thought that, even when you were a child.” He almost spat. “Speaking up against The Order, questioning our practises, defying those in authority.” He tried to stand up, then remembered he didn't have a foot and sat back down. “You will learn humility, Aaron.” He said and activated a control on the datapad.
I felt nauseated as the Presence warned me to move, which had never happened before, and I grabbed Hailey's arm and used Presence Run on us to jump backwards.
I was almost in time.
Another barrier appeared right where we were standing and would have bisected us if we hadn't moved. Unfortunately, It didn't quite miss us. We smashed into Kara and the others and fell into a heap. I ignored the pain from having some of my Presence cut off, then saw that my right arm just below the elbow was gone, as were both of my feet. I used Presence to close off my wounds and looked at Hailey to see how she was, and I discovered that I was the lucky one.
Because I had a hold of her right arm and had dragged her behind me, her right leg was missing from mid-thigh down after being severed, her left arm was gone from the shoulder down, and the barrier had taken part of her left hip and the entirety of her left leg.
“B-beloved.” I whispered and used Presence to stop the massive blood loss from her missing parts.
“Beloved.” Hailey said. “I... I'm sorry.”
“No, don't say that.” I said and took off her blast shield and then mine. “I can fix you right up.”
“No... time.” Hailey said.
“I can have eternity with you!” I nearly yelled and pushed everyone away from us, then I kissed her and used her failing connection to the Presence to initiate the same effect as on our wedding night. Time slowed down to a crawl inside our own little bubble and our armor and clothes dissolved away.
Hailey gave me a sad smile. “My beloved, I can't maintain this state with this much damage.”
“I only need ten minutes.” I said and took out a wooden plaque... that dissolved like our clothing had. “NO!” I exclaimed when the bags of holdings we had dissolved as well.
“Marcus.” Hailey said as tears came to my eyes. “Only you and I can exist here. No material things will last more than a second.”
“No, I... you have my regeneration. You can't... this isn't...”
“You know as well as I do that it can only handle so much.”
“I'll put you in stasis.” I said, grasping at straws. “I'll heal you in time! I know I can!”
“Aaron.” Hailey said and her remaining hand touched my bare chest. “Nearly all of my blood is on the floor. If it had been a Light sword, the wounds would have cauterized and there would have been time. Since the barrier only removed the parts...”
“No!” I cried. “Hailey, please!” I pleaded and my tears flowed like rivers. “Don't... don't leave me.”
“Kralish was wrong, you know.” Hailey said and floated to me. I became hard instantly and she settled down onto me. “This won't teach you humility.”
“No. It will teach me that I've been too soft. Too lax in my methods.” I said and my tears dissolved as I made love to my wife one last time.
“Hunter, make them pay for taking me from you centuries too early.” Hailey said and kissed me. “Make them all pay. Good and Bad. There are no such things in The Order.”
I felt the centuries of life I had given her start to fade and I reached for them. I reclaimed them as my own and she nodded.
“Yes, take me, my beloved. Take me back. Give your anger the life you have been denying it all these years.” Hailey said and kissed me again as she poured the last of her Presence core into mine. I finished inside of her at the last second, then Hailey broke the kiss and gave me a smile as she let out a single breath. Her last breath.
“I am so very sorry.” A raspy heavenly voice said and the bright light Hailey and I produced gained a cloud of darkness, which grew and expanded out, to reveal Black Laura.
“Laura.” I said and all the memories of her that had been blocked came rushing back. “No.” I said and hugged Hailey's lifeless body. “Don't take her.”
“Beloved.” Black Laura said and touched Hailey's still form. It became like a ghost and slipped through my arms. “You gave her a chance to live. A chance to love. A chance for happiness.”
“I know.” I said and my tears came rushing back. “She gave that to me, too.”
Black Laura nodded and slowly pulled Hailey's ghost form away from me and I felt my heart try to go with her. She put a hand inside Hailey and grabbed something, then moved towards me with it.
“You will need this, Beloved.” Black Laura said and pushed it into my chest through the 'H' scar over my heart.
I felt a pulse of Hailey's power and her connection to me as it joined with mine once more. My tears dissolved away again and I nodded. “Beloved.” I said and Hailey's ghost form's eyes flicked to me. “I'll see you soon.”
Hailey beamed a smile at me and then her form faded away.
“Not too soon.” Black Laura said. “You still have work to do.”
“I know.” I said and reached out and grabbed some of the smoky cloud around her. To her surprise, I tore a small handful out and brought it to my chest. When the smoke sunk in and then flowed around me to make a fully black body suit, she nodded.
“Make them pay.” Black Laura said in an echo of Hailey's words as the smoke enveloped her. It shrunk away and she disappeared.
I was still inside the event that Hailey and I created and I knew that once it ended, I wasn't going to be able to recreate it again. It was a symbol of our love, a love we had forged together, and when it was gone, Hailey's love for me would be gone as well.
I stood there for half of an eternity as my feet and hand regrew and basked in Hailey's memories that she had given me when she died. I relived all the times we had spent together from her point of view. Our first visit. Her healing. Her rescue. Years of friendship. Cooking lessons. Our favorite show. One date. A long separation. Our marriage. Our child. Our lost child.
With that final thought, I let the effect fade and time snapped back into place.
The metal walls had reflected the bright light Hailey and I had produced and it had blinded everyone until they adjusted to it. No one was really hurt and the healing effect didn't do anything, except for the scaly alien. He stared down at his completely regrown foot as if he had never seen it before.
“Do you realize what you've done?” I asked, my voice enhanced with Presence, and everyone winced at the scathing feelings they felt from it.
“I... humbled you, of course.” Kralish said and looked up from his foot. “How did you do this?”
I used Presence and tore a huge section of metal from the wall and threw it at the barrier, and it dissolved. I did it three more times and there was nothing left in the room to throw.
“Is baby throwing a tantrum?” Kralish asked and laughed as he wiggled his bare toes.
“No. I'm testing the capacity of the barrier, you idiot.” I said. “You must have an energy sump to channel it somewhere. Probably into a reactor housing that's only partially filled.”
I 'looked' around with Detect Presence and grabbed a guard's assault laser rifle and shot at regular intervals to see if the energy was going anywhere. I made sure to aim at The Order members with each shot, too. I caught a trail of energy and followed it to the source. It was a class five spaceship reactor with barely anything in it.
“Well, that'll take way too long to overload with adding energy.” I said and used Presence Blades to sever the reactor's connectors, then used Presence Hands to try and manually set it to overload. It didn't work, since there was almost nothing inside to make a nice explosion. I shot at the barrier a few more times and nothing happened.
“It powers itself and the excess goes to the reactor, if there's any.” Kralish said. “Good luck figuring it out.”
“I don't have to.” I said and opened up the assault laser rifle and adjusted the settings. I fired again and changed the settings again. I repeated this over and over and Kralish started laughing.
“You're an idiot.” Kralish said. “I was so worried about you that I ran when I heard you were coming to The Order's home planet. I apparently shouldn't have.”
Laser blasts kept hitting the barrier and disappearing.
“We've tested every setting on every gun we have.” Kralish said. “You can play with it for as long as you want, and you'll never...”
One of The Order members died as his head exploded and no one had seen the shot.
“There we go.” I said and used Presence to adjust the other guards' weapons and used them all as I filled the barrier with invisible laser shots.