Breeze Corinth (Book 1): Sky Shatter (68 page)

He released the magnetic locks that kept his feet firmly to the floor and was sucked out with the rest of the debris. He then activated the propulsors in the exoskeleton’s boots to escape the gravitational pull of the falling platform and navigated amidst the wreckage of patrol ships and debris to a higher orbit, where another cylindrical platform was maneuvering into position. A patrol ship escorted by a squadron of Elephim emerged from it and headed toward him.

As he waited for the patrol ship to rescue him, he turned to watch the platform plummet in a streak of fire into the atmosphere.

With a fiery arrow from the depths of space, I begin my conquest of this world.

A wicked smile appeared on his face. It was a smile that was undermined by the tint of sadness in his eyes.

Racing toward Perihelion, Breeze caught up to the red striped Elephim and gritted his teeth as he dove to strike him.

The Elephim sensed his approach and rolled hard to the right, forcing Breeze to overshoot his target. He looped around to re-engage and was met by the Elephim slamming hard into his shield. He could feel his body resonate like a bell from the impact as his shield dropped.

His vision was blurred as he fell helplessly from the sky when the Elephim grabbed him by the leg and began spinning in an arc, slowly at first, then faster and faster until the circular motion became a whirlwind.

He blacked out into what felt like a dark oblivion.

Excort reached up to his earpiece and cupped it to better understand what Xenthan, who had returned to air traffic control, was saying over the wireless. He pivoted to look up and saw a gigantic fireball falling from the sky and toward the island.

“By the gods, how is this possible? Are you telling me that a platform is descending upon us?” Excort shouted. He then switched frequencies to contact his sons who were repairing the generators, and informed them of the impending catastrophe.

Excort knew that they were doing their best to restore power so the shield could protect the island, though he had his doubts it would be strong enough to fend off something that immense.

We can be seen from above, and they are taking advantage of our lack of cloaking to strike us.
Excort grimaced as he watched the fireball plummet toward them.

Xenthan contacted him again. Sensors sown at the bottom of the bay detected a life form being followed by a large metal object, he reported.

Nina, it has to be her,
Excort thought, and let loose a brief smile.
Finally, some good news.

He called out over the wireless. “Raza, your daughter will be here shortly, with guests.”

He jumped into his rickety hover and sped off.

Achilles propelled at breakneck speed underwater with the diamond-chested Elephim in its grip.

The Elephim was twisting his body violently as he tried to break free, but the robot held him in a headlock and angled to the surface, bursting out of the water and high into the brightly lit sky.

Achilles spotted the shores of Perihelion and raced towards it while tightening its grip on the Elephim. The robot knew it needed to neutralize this black clad monster quickly so it could help Nina and the others, but if it were to destroy him now his death cry would alert his comrades to come and avenge him. The Elephim always recovered their dead.

Stay your hand Achilles, and destroy this abomination behind the fog of Perihelion to better muffle the death screams,
Raven advised.

Achilles responded.
A brilliant course of action, but there is a discrepancy in your plan that must be addressed; why is the fog not active?

Raven groaned.
I had a suspicion as to why we were able to approach the island with such ease. Security obviously has been compromised
.
Let us find a way to rid ourselves of this burdensome Elephim so we may then discover the reason why the fog has apparently dissipated.

What of Breeze and Nina?
Achilles asked.

They will have to take matters into their own hands,
Raven replied.

Achilles spotted a break in the shoreline and recognized it from memory as the channel that led into the bay. It banked hard to change course and headed for it.

As it skimmed over the ocean with the Elephim writhing in its hands, Achilles could see the glittering spires of Perihelion emerge from the horizon. The sight of them triggered the robot to swivel its head rapidly as memories long buried were dredged up from the deepest recesses of its cerebral matrix and overwhelm its processors as images from the past flashed before it.

Achilles heard Raven shouting from a distance, but could not understand what he was saying as a stream of images began playing out like a grand theater with multiple stages. On one stage was a hardened combat robot, a veteran of many campaigns that fought on behalf of a government that had fallen long ago, leading a brigade of fellow Robot Fighters towards what was certain destruction.

On another stage it drifted helplessly above a planet with blood-red skies as it watched starships enveloped in flames battling with dreadnoughts from rebel colonies.

The stages then merged into one, and Achilles saw itself hiding behind a pillar to spy upon Bram, who stood amidst a crowd of admiring women while staring wistfully at Oslo and Raza as they danced in the courtyard under the moonlight.

Achilles turned away from the stream of images when it heard a pleading for help. It was coming from deep below the Science and Engineering Building. It was a familiar voice from long ago.

Achilles swiveled its head violently as a sense of dread began to fill it. It had never experienced an emotion before.

Forgive me Achilles,
Raven said as he stepped into view and dismissed the stream of images with a wave of a hand
.
These surges of memories are of my doing, and I have caused you to become distracted.

Achilles tried to respond when it slammed into the beach creating a plume of sand and debris that rose high into the air. The impact allowed the Elephim to break free and kick the robot hard in the chest which sent it hurtling into the palm forest. The palms bent and gave way as it careened through the forest, but came to an abrupt halt when the palms wrapped their fronds around the robot and arrested it, and then lowered it to the forest floor.

Achilles staggered to its feet and attempted to recalibrate its sensors, when it whirled around at the sound of tree trunks snapping and was slammed into ground by the diamond Elephim. He pinned the robot with one foot to its chest, then grabbed its head with both hands and pulled with all his might.

Deep within the cerebral matrix, Raven and Achilles looked at one another in panic.

Raven spoke first.
The situation is grim. This Elephim must not be allowed to destroy us
.
We have drained ourselves of energy over the years as we have tried to remain separate entities. Now, more than ever, we must come together to survive
.

Achilles agreed
. There is not sufficient power in the fuel cell to keep the memory banks alive if the head is removed
.
We cannot afford to lose the knowledge we have accumulated over time
.
We must merge and become one.

They reached out and shook hands.

Nina saw the ridges of coral spread across the seafloor below and knew she was fast approaching the shoreline. She hurled herself with the ship in tow to the surface in a high arc, then slammed onto the beach where the bubble collapsed, sending the battered scout ship skidding with sand flying into the air until it rammed against a seawall.

Nina lay on the beach exhausted and drained. She closed her eyes and thought of Breeze when an image of him being stalked by an Elephim appeared in her mind. She knew he would need her help.

Her eyes fluttered open upon hearing the whine of a turbine as a hover arrived.

Raza leapt out of it and swept her daughter into her arms with a cry of joy as Excort rushed to the ship and surveyed it. It was hissing loudly from severed pneumatic lines while hydraulic fluid and water gushed from the belly of the craft and mixed, forming an oil slick around the ship.

The battered rear cargo door began to lower, and then stopped midway. Ray climbed out from the narrow opening and dropped to the sand. Excort ran over and helped him to his feet.

“Are you okay?” the dwarf asked.

Ray nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. The others are right behind me.”

Sally and Oslo appeared. Excort and Ray forced the cargo door down to the sand, and then helped them out of the ship.

Raza ran over and came to a halt upon seeing Oslo.

He stared at her with weary eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but couldn’t.

Raza put her hands to her face and trembled.

Oslo then stepped toward her and she rushed to collapse in his arms. He held her tightly as she sobbed. Nina rushed to join them and they gladly swept her into their arms. They were reunited at last, a family once more.

Excort stood and watched them with a lump in his throat. He didn’t notice Ray and Sally were standing at a respectful distance from the reunion.

Oslo stepped over to Excort, with Raza and Nina at either side to keep him steady. He surveyed his surroundings, then looked down at the dwarf and smiled. “I see you still haven’t finished sprucing up the campus.”

Excort stood rock still for a moment, then bear hugged him as Raza smiled and Nina giggled.

Oslo was stunned by the outburst of emotion from his otherwise stoic friend as he patted him on the back. “All right, old boy. All right.”

Excort stepped away and regained his composure. “You don’t understand Oslo, this may be the last time we see Perihelion. Look above you.”

Oslo feebly leaned back and looked up at the glowing fireball descending from high above. He shook his head and muttered. “Why Bram? Why do you do this to us? How did I fail you?”

Excort’s eyes widened. “Bram? What does he have to do with all of this?”

Oslo briefly summarized their encounter with Bram on the platform.

Excort stood dumfounded. “He’s the one behind this? He told you to re-open Perihelion, then captured you and held you hostage? For what purpose?” He shook his head slowly. “This whole time we thought his soul was lost to the stars while his body remained here on the island, and now you’re telling me he found a way back without our help?”

Oslo nodded solemnly. “He has...turned. His soul is blackened. Whatever he encountered in the depths of space has twisted his heart and mind. He says he has returned to search for his wife. And son.” He sighed. “No matter, let us seek shelter. Deep below Perihelion are networks of tunnels that can harbor us if the shield should fail.”

Sally and Ray had kept their distance as they watched and listened to Oslo and Excort formulate a plan. Ray tried holding her hand but she was oblivious to his attempts as she stepped away from him and toward Raza.

“Sally! Goodness, are you all right?” Raza pulled her close and planted a kiss on her forehead.

Sally nodded. She was beginning to realize how much she missed her family.

The reunion was broken up by the hiss of static as Achilles, entangled in a struggle with an Elephim, burst out of the palm forest and hurtled toward them.

Raza threw her hands up and suspended them in mid-air. Both robot and Elephim floated in an energy field that distorted the light around it.

Achilles managed to wrench itself free from the Elephim’s grip and kicked him hard in the chest, propelling them both out of the suspension field. As Achilles crashed into the sand, its head tumbled from its shoulders upon impact.

Ray saw the damage to Achilles as it scrambled to recover its head by pulling on the mechanical spinal cord attached to it. The sight of it all made him flash with rage as he faced the Elephim who was staggering to his feet.

The Elephim stared at Ray with pinpoints of light flashing across his face, and then lunged to grab him.

Ray roared with a battle cry as he blasted the charging Elephim and drove him into the ground with a barrage of energy. The Elephim twisted and thrashed about as he tried to escape, only to sink deeper into the pit that Ray’s energy blast was carving out.

Ray ceased his assault and breathed heavily while the Elephim lay sprawled out at the bottom of the smoldering pit and groaning in pain. The sides and bottom of the pit were smooth as glass and reflected distorted images of the Elephim like a funhouse mirror.

Ray stood along the edge and stared sullenly at the limp body of the Elephim when close to the pit, Achilles sat up. It was a tangled mess of wires and dented armor as it held its head with one hand, while attempting to feed the spine back into its neck cavity.

Excort ran over to help. He grabbed the head and tried fitting it into place. “We’ll put you back together,” he assured it.

“Of this, I possess not a doubt. I do believe there are quite a number of my brethren on Perihelion that could provide the spare parts if they were inclined to do so,” Achilles chuckled as it eyes glowed. “I was always aware I would lose my mind eventually. Not in this manner of course.”

Nina ran up to Excort. She patted his shoulder urgently and pointed up at the sky. The fireball was rapidly approaching.

Excort nodded as he received another comm from Xenthan confirming his worst fears. The platform was on a direct collision course for Perihelion, and the generators were still offline.

“Gods,” he murmured, “we won’t survive this.”

Nina ran away and dove into the water.

Raza cried out to her, but it was of no use. She was gone.

The red striped Elephim held Breeze by his foot as they spun in a whirlwind. From a distance, they appeared as a pinwheel shooting off streaks of light in every direction. The centrifugal force was intense and Breeze had long blacked out from its effects.

In his comatose state, he could sense his soul separate from his body, making him feel light as a feather, as if his flesh and bones were nothing more than lead weight that had burdened him his whole life.