The Stuff of Legends (Part 3)

written by Thomas Fritzinger

Outside Nexus Space Station…

The Knights assembled on the deck of the Daedelus. Once again Knoah saw his assembled Knights and all of the ordinary men and women making up the crews of his fleet and wondered if this was the right direction. Was he truly following prophetic visions or was he deluding himself? Was one life worth the hundreds of lives before him?

The answer, of course, was yes. He knew in his heart that he had to do this. Somehow, it was part of his destiny. He also knew that there wasn’t a Knight among them that wouldn’t gladly make the sacrifice. The mission was critical in more than one way. 

As he began addressing the force assembled before him, the screens to either side of him lit up. In the center of the room a large holographic display of an ashen planet sprang to life. He carefully outlined the objectives. This was to be the first human incursion into Zingonian occupied space. This was important on several fronts, not the least of which was the fact that it would send a clear signal to the Zingonian armada to leave Earth alone. It would also send a message to Earth’s allies in the universe that the Zingonian days were numbered.

The objective was Char, a world once populated but now a barren wasteland. Once an incredibly advanced civilization, ruins of its cities indicated that it had technology far beyond that possessed by even the Zingonians. The Zingonians must have decimated is centuries before and nearly every single living creature died. Even insects have a hard time living there now due to the high levels of ambient radiation.  

Orbiting the blackened planet was a large space station. It represented the staging point from which the Zingonians had invaded Earth and the base of power for them in this arm of the Milky Way. There wasn’t another base of this magnitude for nearly 1,000 light years in any direction. Destroying it would be a major victory to the people of Earth.

There was, of course, a more personal reason. The Knights needed to find their friend. It had been 3 weeks since the battle at the Parthenon and Cassandra’s loss. There existed on Char a legend of a gateway that could transport a person across dimensions and Knoah’s visions had led him to this moment. How could he deny it? The force gathered before him would assault the station head on. The admiralty of the Knights would slip through enemy lines in the Defender, descending to the ancient ruins reputed to house the gateway. They would find the doorway, retrieve Cassandra, and return to the fleet in time to help with the battle. Whether she was dead or alive, she was coming home.

Although the American government was constructing a fleet of space cruisers, there was currently no backup. Despite the present assembled might, this assault force was no match for the main Zingonian fleet. This needed to go off smoothly and quickly.

Fortunately, the Knights were not alone. Several other groups had joined in. The Nexus authority had chosen to stay neutral in the battle, fearing repercussions for the space station should things go sour, but many of the travelers had joined the Knight’s cause. Knoah knew that most of them were merely thieves and purveyors of outlawed goods who saw an opportunity for salvage when the battle was over, but their assistance was accepted none-the-less. Even some Atlanteans had shown up and offered to aid the fight in any way needed.

If all went well, they would be gone before the main Zingonian force in the sector arrived.

If not… everyone here knew the risks.

Elsewhere and Elsewhen…

“The time is nigh my little toy...” Barthandalus sat on his throne looking over his dead kingdom. Darius’ soul danced in the air before him at his whim as if a tiny fairy. The thin whisp of Darius’ soul was the only luminescence in the room outside the ever-present red sunlight that gave no heat.

“You serve me well. In fact, I have never had a servant serve me with as much vigor.” Barthandalus stood, his towering form dwarfing the mighty Cerberus at his feet. Walking to a window, he looked across the expanse at the garden of the dead before him extending to the horizon behind his citadel. “I think I shall reward you.” 

Darius’ soul began to writhe. It groaned in pain as it shifted shape and took on the form of a man once again. Barthandalus never looked back, but stared out the window continuing his monologue. “The time is coming, my pet, when my plan will come to fruition. When that happens, your god will become mortal for a short time. You shall be my defender. Never before has a being that has not ascended been given so much responsibility. You will battle these Knights once more, but this time you will lead a true army to face them. My lieutenant, Hanzo, shall aid you.”

Darius’ glow slowly faded. His skin changed colors to have a silver sheen and power emanated from his form. Barthandalus turned to face his creation. “You are now as close to being ascended as I dare make you, lest you want to wrest power from me. You are perfect and you are mine.”

Darius opened his eyes. Power unbridled poured from them. “Now make ready, my pet. Our enemies assemble and the fools unwittingly safeguarding my front door are soon to fall.”

Over Char…

Zingonian Captain Xith looked across the bridge of his flagship. The Science officer was dead and shields to the starboard side of his vessel were offline. An explosion to the aft of the bridge killed his weapons officer and the automatic fire suppression system was now beginning to put out the flames.

He was always quick on his feet and spit a command into the intercom. Immediately, through the large window at the front of his vessel, he could see invasion barges and the remainder of his drone fighters shoot out of his hanger bay towards the human battle cruiser before him. Looking down, he could see the distinctive form of the battle station behind him. A wave of fighters was being dispatched from it to aid his meager patrol force but they would do little good.

He shifted control of the bridge to his command chair and aimed every gun he had at the nearest human battle cruiser, the Valiant. He unleashed a rain of turbo laser fire which tore through the hull of the primitive human vessel. Three “super heroes” were flying through space towards his ship, followed by dozens of robotic drone fighters. As they came, they began deflecting many of his laser blasts, creating a living shield for the cruiser behind them. These homo sapiens might be inferior, but he had to admire their battle prowess.

He gave the evacuation order and set his ship to auto-destruct. There was no point in losing his life out here in the a*s-end of the universe. The reinforcement fleet let by Commander Zixl would be here momentarily and would surely clean up this rabble.

Turning to leave, he was met at the airlock by Zildoran. “Hey there ugly! I’m here to bring you a message!”

Xith went for his hand blaster but was too slow. Zildoran’s punch sent the captain through the hardened window at the front of the bridge into deep space…

On the planet’s surface…

Eron stepped out of the Defender onto the blackened, dead soil of Char. The ground itself emitted a low level radiation, the fallout of the planet wide nuclear bombardment imposed upon it by its new masters no doubt. D was right behind him.

He looked at the hull of the Defender. It was covered with blackened scars, trophies of the plasma bolts that managed to penetrate its shields on the way down to the planet’s surface. It had held up well in its first combat run since being refitted.

The Zingonian’s outnumbered them 10 to 1, and they only managed to shoot one of them down. As they approached their destination, however, the Zingonians withdrew as if they were afraid to come any closer. The team was confused by their erratic behavior, but thankful none the less.

On the surface, Knoah led the ship, piloted by SoulSearcher, towards a mountainous region that abutted what once was a major city on the planet. The devastation was hard to view and it simply reinforced the need to rid the universe of the Zingonian threat once and for all before this happened to Earth. Today was only the first step of many to come.

The team of admirals followed Knoah inside the ancient ruins, very reminiscent of the Parthenon on Earth only much better preserved. Inside they found a large dais on the floor, a massive circle 20’ in diameter made out of mosaic tiles of all colors. Each tile was mere inches wide and they didn’t seem to create a pattern of any kind. Knoah tentatively stepped on a set of tiles. They lit up a bright orange color. He stepped on more tiles with his other foot and they lit up the same color.

One at a time, he directed team members to step on tiles in a very specific pattern. The last was Captain Atom, who he directed to fly to the middle and set his foot on a specific tile while touching none of the ones around it. As soon as Cap did, the entire dais began to emit a brilliant orange light and a rift silently opened in the center of the ceiling. It swirled in a clockwise pattern for just a moment before clearing, showing a stone chamber lit by torchlight above it.

“Our way is clear men. We have very little time before the rift closes. We need to move now.” Knoah led the team up through the rift.

Through the rift…

The ancient Romans had a ritual designed to quell discontent and deter lawlessness that was also observed in many cultures around the world in one form or another. It was barbaric and often done in a public place to amplify the effect. It involved a good bit of humiliation and disregard for a person’s religious beliefs. Involving torture, mutilation, and certain death for the men (and women) that underwent its process, it’s meaning was clearly understood by everyone witnessing it. It was crucifixion and it was terrible.

The most infamous crucifixion of all time, of course, occurred over two thousand years ago when Jesus Christ was scourged and staked to a crossbeam. As he was hoisted up in unspeakable agony, two thieves were placed beside him. It occurred on the hill of Golgotha, just outside the Jewish holy city of Jerusalem right before the Passover. The point of the exercise, from a Roman point of view, was to discourage other dissidents and was put at a major trading hub to get the message out to all travelers in the area as well.

In more contemporary times, this process has repeated itself over and over in less civilized surroundings. In the American Old West, as recent as 80 years ago, hangings were a common form of execution. Today, certain tribes in Africa still post the heads of enemies on stakes. All of this notwithstanding, nothing could possibly prepare the assembled admiralty for the sight that assaulted them as they stepped through the archway and into the light outside the cave in which they appeared when they entered the rift. It was horrific beyond words.

Stretching as far as the eye could see across the dead, barren landscape of Tarterus, was a garden of crucified souls. This god of war had no desire to have unwanted visitors. Creatures of all kinds had been posted at the entrance to his domain as an eternal warning to those who might try in this garden of death that extended as far as the eye could see. Entire vanquished armies were on display here.

While the vast majority of the warriors hanging before the team were long dead, some were yet alive and struggling to maintain what little life they had. Devilish imps roamed the field, congregating around these short lived survivors and making their last moments unpleasant as they hurled insults, sticks and stones.

The team carefully descended down the short hill to the foot of the field, passing one cross after then next and moving in the direction they hoped would lead them to the citadel and their friend. What they didn’t expect was to find her here among the dead.

Eron was the first to see her. A large group of imps off to his right caught his attention and he took a look to make sure they wouldn’t impede the team’s progress. The imps were hurling insults and the occasional rock at a bloodied form on the crucifix above. Looking more closely, he realized the team had already found Cassandra.

The admirals descended upon the imps like the wrath of God himself. There were no survivors, save one lone imp who teleported away. Cassandra was gingerly lowered from the cross and wrapped carefully in Caledonia’s cape. Eron picked her up and the team turned to leave. No sooner had they done this when the imp teleported back in front of the team.

Knoah readied an attack to wipe it out and hesitated just a second. The imp was laughing and making no attempt to move. Knoah, sensing something amiss, ignored the little devil and motioned for the team to spread out.

Without warning, the ground around the team exploded upwards on all sides. The forms of warriors long dead rose from the earth in a ghastly display wielding horrific weapons of all kinds. Although most were corporeal, some were in spirit form and floated silently in the air above the team.

The admirals instantly went into action. Zombies began dying a second time as the team unleashed a rain of destruction down upon them. Zombies kept forcing their way up through the earth, descending from the crucifixes, and flying in from God-knows where to assault the team. There must have been 10,000 of them.

The team moved towards the gate, blasting zombies as fast as they materialized. As this was happening, a cloud swiftly approached from the South. Riding on the wind was a chariot being led by nightmares and black horses with flames and eyes of fire. A massive figure drove the chariot. With a crack of his whip, a fireball raced across the heavens to hit the ground near the team. The shockwave vaporized many of the zombies and knocked everyone to the ground.

The deity was moving very quickly. Within seconds he had moved several miles and was nearly on top of them.

Knoah shot to his feet and called for the admirals to run for it. Another blast hit the hillside and tore a crater in it the size of a freight train. The team charged into the opening of the cave as the third fireball hit the cave entrance. The entire hillside collapsed with the team inside…

In orbit over Char…

Quan looked down at the planet, past the drifting ruins of the Zingonian outpost. The hail of missiles and blaster fire was intense, but no match for the combined might of the entire Knights’ Republic. The orbiting fortress had fallen in a matter of minutes. A few Zingonian fighters were hanging on in sporadic dogfights with the Knights, but Vexator was successfully leading the charge to clean them up.

Looking down, past the debris, he saw the Defender. It was ascending upwards through the grey cloud cover. The radio crackled to life and he could hear Knoah. “Spool up the hyperdrive folks, we’re going home!”

A chorus of cheers erupted from the intercom as the collected Knights threw up a loud HAZZAH!

Epilogue…

Eron was standing attentively at Cassandra’s side. Wrathius was by the door talking to Quan. Her heartbeat was amazingly strong and the physician onboard said he’d never seen anything like it.

Knoah entered the room and looked at her. “It was worth it, wouldn’t you say?”

“I’ve never done anything more worth it.”

“We’re not done yet, the sector forces of the Zingonians are bearing down on our position. We need to get out of here. We’re still no match for a full army of them.”

The two admirals left for the bridge to prep for the return to Nexus and then home.

Actually caught up in a spirited debate about the World Series, Wrathius and Quan didn’t notice Cassandra’s heart rate shoot through the roof, or the soft glow her body began to emit.

The two began walking away down the hallway as her body began lifting off the table. Her bloodshot eyes shot open and her mouth opened to scream but no sound came out.

On the bridge, SoulSearcher sounded an alarm. There was a massive energy spike on the ship and he couldn’t locate it. The Knights present began pouring over instruments in an effort to identify the source. Eron and Knoah arrived on the lift to hear the news and shared a glance before instantly turning to head back to the infirmary.

The room was bathed in light when Wrathius and Quan realized that something was wrong. They turned just in time to see a glowing form step from Cassandra’s body. Her limp form fell to the floor.

It turned to them and smiled. “Thank you. I couldn’t cross over until I had a host, an immortal host. You provided that to me as I foresaw and now I’m free!!!!”

Barthandalus raised his arm and the bulkhead of the ship near him crumbled as if it was made of aluminum foil. An electrical surge went through the system and those lights that didn’t erupt in a shower of sparks began flickering.  In the distance, the Wrathius could hear the main fusion reactor alarms going off.  Emergency lights kicked on as a massive rush of air began sucking everything out the new hole in the hull. Emergency doors slammed shut in an effort to stop depressurization of the remainder of the vessel.

Unaffected by the loss of pressure, and oblivious to the rush of air, Barthandalus glanced back to look at the heroes one last time. “Look at Char carefully. Within a week your precious Earth will look much, much worse than what I did to this pathetic rock.” With that, he shot out into space towards Earth, leaving the Daedelus crippled and drifting.

Quan put up a quick force field over the hole, stopping the release of air from the infirmary. Looking out the hole, Wrathius pushed the wall intercom.

“Boss, we got trouble.”

The massive Zingonian sector fleet dropped out of lightspeed and opened fire…

To be continued...