Redemption, Part 2

The completion of the season opener and the final story for The Knights' Republic as the battle to save all of humanity...

written by Thomas Fritzinger

Chapter 5

Deliverance

In Athens…

 

Barthandalus looked over the domain he was establishing on Earth.  His army was pouring out of the gate very quickly now.  He would expect nothing less than utter efficiency from them.  They were already tearing down buildings surrounding the Akropolis and constructing a makeshift fortress to house his artillery until it could be utilized.  Although he only had about a hundred flying beasts in the air, they were efficiently clearing the airspace over the Parthenon.  The humans flying machines were formidable and quick.  The task was difficult.

 

The humans were more advanced than he had given them credit.  The advancing column of armored vehicles and men sported weapons that were reminiscent of those used on Char centuries before, although these were much more refined and they were much more disciplined.  He counted the flags of two nations, one a blue and white banner sported by the indigenous population and the other made of stars and bars painted in a forest green on the sides of many of the more advanced machines of war that had come off boats at the coast.  His troops’ only advantage at this point was their sheer numbers, but they were using those numbers well. 

 

Their machines of war were second to none, especially the projectiles.  A particular annoyance was a battleship sitting some 20 miles out at see that kept pelting his forces with incredibly high speed projectiles that exploded on impact.  It had already torn apart some of his machines and was making life difficult on his engineers.  The fortress was not able to withstand the blasts.

 

His own powers were diminished in this plane, bound inside this mortal coil as he was, but formidable none the less.  Even with his incredible might, he was forced to remain back near the Akropolis and defend against the projectiles that fell like rain.  Soon, very soon, enough troops would be available to truly put the threat that ship posed to rest…

 

In Orbit over Earth…

 

Destiny and Wyldecard orbited over Athens some fifteen miles up.  From this vantage, everything looked peaceful.  Both knew otherwise.  The radio chatter indicated that complete chaos was developing in Greece far below.  Destiny’s hunch that the rift would be re-opened was correct after all.  The trouble was, neither hero knew what to do next.

 

Then something odd happened.  A small silver sphere, the size of a soccer ball, bounced off the front window of the Defender.  Both heroes stared as a thin ray of light beamed out of its side and affixed the ball to the side of the ship like an anchor.  Moments later, a deep voice came out of thin air behind them.  Whirling around, ready for anything, the two stared through the semi-transparent form of a Zingonian general.  Well, they stared through the hologram of one at any rate.

 

“So, you’ve unwittingly unleashed hell on your planet.  Congratulations.  I hope whatever you were after was worth it.”

 

Destiny looked back at the sphere and spoke to the hologram.  “Can you hear us or are you just a projection?”

 

“Oh, I can hear you alright.  Don’t worry, the transmission can’t be traced.  Believe it or not, I’m here to help.”

 

Wyldecard sat back in his chair and shook his head in disbelief.  “You mean to tell me that you, a Zingonian, want to somehow help us?  What makes you think we’ll believe you?”

 

“Good question.  The reality is that you have no idea.  With my help, you can save your race.  Without it, you will all perish.  Your choice.”

 

Destiny sat down too.  She was well aware of the situation.  If it was bad enough that even the Zingonians were willing to help to ensure the chaos doesn’t spread further, it might be worth it.  Wyldecard’s contacts on Nexus hadn't come up with much, but what they did produce was chilling.  Apparently, this sector of space was nearly overrun by a powerful demi-god at one point in the past.  It took the might of the Zingonian Empire to contain him.  She was sure they had no desire to see him rise to power again.

 

“What do you have to offer us?”

 

The Zingonian seemed to smile, if that was possible.  “The beast you released is bound to this plane as long as he has two things.  The first is a physical body.  There isn’t much you can do about that.  Even weakened as he is on your world, he is more than a match for any hero you have.”

 

“That’s not very encouraging,” Wylde offered up.

 

“No, and it should scare you quite a bit.  For all intents and purposes, he is invulnerable as long as he is near the rift and the closer he gets to it, the more powerful he is.”

 

“And the second?” Destiny was weary of his answer but had to hear it.

 

“If you close the rift with him in your world after he has been exposed to it for over twenty-four hours, he begins drawing power from the mortal plane and becomes more powerful than you can imagine.”

 

“Then why doesn’t he close it himself?  Why does he even need an army?”  Wylde was losing patience.

 

“Simple.  He doesn’t know.”

 

“Then how do you know?”  Destiny stood up and walked over to the window beyond which floated the silver orb.

 

“Our archives go back thousands of years.  He has been vanquished twice before.  The most recent was also the most costly.  A demi-god he may be, but he’s not the most intelligent being in the universe.  He’s fully unaware of his own limitations and thinks that the only way he can sustain his power is to keep the rift open.”  The Zingonian looked away for a moment.  “The survival of both our races often resides in his ignorance.”

 

Destiny telekinetically grabbed the ball floating outside the ship, “So how did you defeat him?”

 

“Our records don’t tell us how that happened. The only ones who knew died doing it.  I’ve told you all I know.”

 

Destiny crushed the device and allowed it to float away towards the Earth.  The hologram went out.  She didn’t need to hear any more.  She knew what had to be done.

 

Chapter 6

 

On Tartarous…

 

Knoah and Eron looked over the small hill at the base of the mountain on the top of which sat the demi-god’s citadel.  Looking down, they saw the frightening sight of hundreds of thousands of warriors clad in blood red armor and machines of war moving through the rift.  The ground trembled with their motion and the air was thick with dust.  There were only a few of the flying beasts left on this side of the gate and most of them were on the ground.  The army itself disappeared around the back side of the mountain and initial reports from D’s team indicated that it extended off to the horizon in uncountable numbers.

 

To be on the safe side, Caldeonia was using the breeze to bring dust and smoke over to cover the TKR force to avoid detection.  So far, it was working. 

 

The boost the team had gotten from Captain Atom that resulted from the defeat of Darius wore off somewhat as the team traveled to this point, but everyone could feel a rush of power as they got closer to the gate.  A blast of cold air was coming from the gate itself and the banners of the army moving through it whipped around wildly as they entered. 

 

Darkness and Wrathius appeared behind the admirals.  They had spent some time scouting the citadel above looking for an advantage.  Darkness spoke, “It’s empty.  Apparently everyone is at the party below.” 

 

Wrath chimed in, “We did find something odd, though.  There’s a scrying pool up there that seems to be the focal point of the energy drain we experienced before.  I collected a sample to examine later.”

 

Eron patted his friend’s shoulder, “Let’s worry about getting through the gate first.”  The combined admirals watched the gate for some time before Eron spoke again.  “Team, we are Knights.  This is no different than any other battle we’ve fought.  We’ll force our way through.  Once back, we’ll deal with Barthandalus.  If that pool was somehow connected to his power here, it’s unlikely he has the same connection on Earth.  He’ll be weaker and we’ll crush him.”

 

Every admiral’s expression lit up.  D’s eyes began glowing and he looked down at the army with a grin on his face.  Captain Atom raised an eyebrow, “Let me take this one.  I have a plan…”  The admirals huddled around the career military man for a good ten minutes before dispersing to their teams.

 

The army at the gate never knew what hit them.

 

Back on Earth…

 

The shelling had finally stopped.  Barthandalus smiled.  Loki, his loyal thrall, must have neutralized the ship out at sea.  He was turning out to be a valuable asset.

 

The humans were fighting back in earnest now with their aerial forces and they were indeed powerful.  Barthandalus was controlling the flying beasts as they engaged in dogfights with the flying metal machines and enjoying it greatly.  These humans were well coordinated and highly aggressive.  This race would make excellent slaves.

 

His ground forces had established battle lines in front of the armored tanks and infantry attempting to fight their way into the city.  What the humans faced would terrify them had they truly understood their enemy.  Barthandalus’ army wasn’t flesh and blood, but rather an extension of himself.  Each contained a small amount of his life force and most of his troops were insubstantial under their armor.  You can’t shoot things without bodies.  

Although the bullets were ineffective against his troops for the most part, the explosive shells were doing some damage and making it hard to advance, but over 200,000 troops had come through the portal thus far and he was slowly encircling the humans, cutting off their retreat and supply lines to the beach.   It would take years for his entire force to arrive.  Twenty billion troops move slowly after all.

 

He was surveying the scene before him with overwhelming satisfaction when something caught his attention.  Three was an explosion at his rift that vaporized many of his troops.  Turning around with a slight hint of annoyance on his face, his eyes shot open in surprise as D, Captain Atom and Eron blasted their way through the gate.  Followed by a long line of humans and superheroes.  The Knights’ Republic was returning to Earth!

 

In Low Orbit…

 

“…bzzt… watch out!... (gunfire)… (scream)… oh, God almighty save us!...”

 

Wrathius was descending through the atmosphere so fast that the reflective shielding on the Defender was red hot.  Any observer would have thought the ship was nothing more than a meteor entering the atmosphere.  Of course, it wasn’t burning up, but the temperature in the cabin was nearly unbearable for Destiny and himself. 

 

“… open the boom tube… get us out of here now!  Aaaarggh… (static)…”

 

They had the radio tuned to the Knights’ frequency and were picking up sporadic snippets of harried commands and updates from the Knights below.  It was obvious that they had made it through the gate and were engaging Barthandalus.  The human companions that had manned the ships orbiting Char were apparently being teleported to the moon base far above as they came through the rift.  Some of them anyway…

 

“…zzz… drop the pillar on him… zzz…”  “… he tore it in half…”

 

“…bzzzttt… Raizo, watch out for that bla… zzz... Cap, do you read me, I say again, D is down…”

 

Below them, in Athens, they saw a brilliant white light.  It took the form of a blast of energy that shot across the sky into space emanating from the center of the city.  The blast was much too powerful to have been generated by any of the Knights.

 

Destiny exchanged a horrified look with Wylde.  “Get me close enough to use the teleporter on the ship.  Hurry!  He’ll crush them all if we don’t get there in time!”

 

The Defender continued it’s perilous descent, Wylde intent on getting there in time.

 

Chapter 7 

Endgame

 

On Earth

 

The humans poured through the portal in single file.  As they did, the boom tube on the moon base blazed to life, teleporting them to safety one by one, but they had to be protected in that split second in which they stepped back into Greece.  The Knights were not diligent in this and the evil demi-god vaporized the first half dozen very quickly.

 

The Knights knew what had to be done.

 

Captain Atom led the assault and hit Barthandalus with another Relic Storm.  It distracted the demi-god, but didn’t stop him.  He immediately raised his hand and returned the favor with a blast ten times as strong.  Cap shot across the sky in a blazing ball of fire and landed in the city about a mile away.  The energy blast continued on for miles in a straight line up into the sky.

 

While Barthandalus was busy, Vexator and Wrathius charged him and delivered a withering assault of fists and claws that would have left a lesser foe without life in his body.  It merely forced Barthandalus to take half a step back to regain his balance.  He tore Wrathius’ arm completely off and used it as a club to send Vexator into a marble pillar.  Vex slumped to the ground while Wrath writhed in pain on the ground at the demi-god’s feet.

 

Knoah and Eron were next.  They each took a side and focused all of their energy into a Neptune Assault.  Gravity around Barthandalus increased exponentially and he was forced to one knee.  Raizo charged up behind him and sunk his katana deep into Barthandalus’ back.  It came out through his chest covered with blood.  Barthandalus’ eyes blazed read and the sword began glowing.  He lifted up his arms and the gravity well crushing him reversed, forcing Eron and Khouh onto their hands and knees.  Eron quickly collapsed onto his stomach. 

 

Turning, the demi-god hit Raizo in the chest with the palm of his hand, sending him back into a pillar.  As the hero gained his footing, the sword ripped free of it’s fleshy sheath and floated in the air over Barthandalus’ head.  Moving with incredible speed, it shot forth, pierced Raizo’s shoulder, and planted itself deep in the marble pillar behind him.  Crying out in pain, he grabbed the hilt, but it was planted too deep and he couldn’t budge it.  The pain was intense and he lost consciousness.

 

Caledonia attempted a psionic assault, using her formidable mental powers to pierce his mind and cause him to black out.  The attack backfired, however, and he used the mental connection to suck the life-force out of her.  She collapsed on the ground, barely breathing and as white as a ghost.  Her pulse was faint and thready, but she was still alive. 

 

His power was incredible.

 

Many more Knights began their assaults, all failing one at a time.

 

While this happened, Zildoran pulled Wrathius to a safer position behind some fallen slabs of marble.  He looked over the stone barrier at the demi-god, “We’re not doing anything.  He’s taking us out one at a time.  This is bad.”  Wrathius was still in shock and couldn’t respond.  Zil turned back to a blinding flash of light as Destiny appeared out of nowhere.  Bending over, she cradled Wrathius’ head in her hands and looked up at Zil. 

 

“There might be a chance.  He’s invincible on this plane, and he’s stronger the closer he gets to his home, but if we can match him, we can trap him.”

 

Zil had always been quick on the uptake.  He looked back through the portal and saw Quan limping through, a large black arrow sticking out of his chest.  The scene was all too familiar to him. He looked back at Deastiny.  “I get it, but how do we match him?  We don’t posses that kind of power!”

 

Wrath’s weak voice rose from the floor, “Yes, we do.”  Using his remaining hand, he pulled a vial from his coat.  He pushed it at Zil.  “We found the source of his power… “, Wrath paused to cough, “he drinks it…” 

 

Taking a deep breath, he tried one last time, “Zil…” 

 

Zil leaned over to him. 

 

“Zil, save them…”

 

Wrath took his last raspy breath and closed his eyes.  They would never open again.  Zil looked at Destiny and popped the cork out of the flask in his hand.

 

On Tartarous

 

On the other side of the rift, Cassandra and Quantum Elemental were busy holding the countless troops Barthandalus had assembled at bay, ceasing the flow through the rift in time and space.  Although the heroes combined might was substantial, the assembled forces before them were without number and pressed forward despite the numerous attempts to hold them back.

 

Cerberus, Barthandalus’ pet, charged the two heroes.  This time, they were ready.  Cassandra summoned mighty chains to rise from the ground and bind the beast and Quan called on every last bit of energy he could muster and hit it point blank with an Atomic Catalyst.  Blowing one of the beast’s heads clean off, it slumped to the ground, lifeless.  The two heroes exchanged a victorious glance. 

 

Then tragedy struck.

 

Quan took an arrow to the chest. 

 

He slumped over, still shooting bolts of energy from his outstretched hand at the oncoming forces.  Cassandra, seeing the end drawing near, told him to begin falling back.  They could hold the army off on the other side.  Heeding her advice, he rose and limped through the portal behind them.

 

She summoned a thick wall of ice to block their retreat and began through the portal one last time.  As she did, she heard a voice in her head.  She recognized it as Destiny.  It took her only a moment to understand the message.  She stepped into the portal, intent on ending the conflict once and for all.

 

Chapter 8 

Letting Go

 

The Reverent Knights were the only Knights left standing.  The remainder down around them and the team attacked as one unit, intent on taking this demi-god down. 

 

StrongArm ripped a pillar out of it’s moorings and hurled it as a javelin at Barthandalus.  It hit him, but he stopped it dead in its flight with the palm of his hand, deflecting it to the side.  While it distracted him, The Fil Jumper and X’ion the Heretic caused the ground under his feet to erupt in a blast of magma while Dark Heart and Mr. F’in Fantastic hit him from above with blizzards and fire storms.  PKPKay and Kirianna charged up and planted Atomic Grasps on his chest and back. 

 

The combined assault would have taken out nearly any living thing.  Few beings in the entire universe could have withstood it.  Barthandalus screamed in pain and fury.  He shot an electrical charge from his hands at Kirianna in front of him.  She took the blast in her mid-section and went flying out of the arena.  He threw his arms back and screamed up at the sky.  A wave of pure energy rushed from his core outwards, hitting the Reverent Knights in all directions.  He reversed the flow of energy and it once again coursed over each of the heroes, but this time back into Barthandalus.  As it passed over the Knights a second time, it drew their life forces with it.  Each hero fell to the ground, their life-forces nearly completely absorbed into the demi-god.

 

Knoah and Eron, still trapped in the massive gravity wells, were powerless to stop it all.  They watched in horror as the last of their Knights fell.  Barthandalus walked over to them and reached down to pick up Knoah by the throat.  Looking into his eyes as he held the man before him, his deep voice cut to Knoah’s very soul, "Any last words, little man?”

 

“Put him down, a*****e.”  Barthandalus turned to see where the voice came from.  Zildoran floated in the air behind him.  Barthandalus recognized the aura surrounding him.  It was an aura of power.  It was the aura of a god.

 

“I said put him down!”  Zil raised one hand.  All across the city, Barthandalus’ warriors looked back at the Parthanon, feeling the summons of their master.  Zil closed his fist and the life energy from the army began flowing towards him.  All around him, suits of armor collapsed as the energy binding them together began to flow into the senior Knight.  The machines of war grinded to a halt as Zil drew their life forces to himself.  He felt power course through his system and it burned.

 

Barthandalus screamed, “NO!  You have no idea what you are doing!”

 

“Yes, I do.  I’m ending this.”  As he absorbed the last of the life energy in the army surrounding him, he raised his other hand and pointed it at Barthandalus.  A blast of raw power shot forth and slammed into the demi-god.  Although he stood his ground for a moment, he had to put his arms over his head to protect his face.  The power continued to course over him, bathing him in a brilliant white light. 

 

Zil could feel the power tearing his body apart.  The pain was unbearable.  Screaming in anger and hatred, he poured everything he had into the blast at the evil before him.  Barthandalus could not withstand the assault and was blasted back to land on his back mere feet away from the gate. 

 

He was on his feet in the span of a heartbeat but Zil was on top of him having the same god-like reflexes.  The two demi-gods grabbed each other’s shoulders and Zil pushed as hard as he could, forcing the evil monstrosity back into the rift.  As they entered the rift, reality shifted.  The air around them began to take on a life of it’s own, coursing with power and energy and light as the controlled rift in space and time acted as a energy converter to allow two opposing realities to exist side by side.

 

It was then that Barthandalus stopped Zil in his tracks.  Drawing from the power of Tartarous, and sucking the life forces out of the army on the other side, he used the power coursing through his system to pin the Knight and force him to his knees.  

The evil demi-god looked down at Zil, a wild eyed expression on his face.  His white hair whipped wildly in the wind.  He almost seemed to be enjoying the challenge.  “Foolish mortal!  Do you really think you could best me?  The closer you get me to my home plane, the more powerful I become!  Do you honestly believe you could force me back there?   Do you honestly believe you could win against the god of WAR!?”

 

Barthandalus squeezed and Zil could feel his collar bone snap.  Zil, straining under the power he faced, looked up.  Sweat was streaming down his brow and he could feel the evil demi-god beginning to suck his own life force out of him.  This was it.  It was the reason they was here.  It was all clear now.  He remembered the dreams.  He remembered the choice.  He had to let go.  He had to let go of everything for everyone’s sake.

 

He returned the smile. 

 

Barthandalus took pause.

 

“No.  I don’t intend to send you home…”  Barthandalus looked down.  

Below him, behind Zil, with one foot on each side of the rift was Cassandra.  One hand outstretched in each reality, she was using her power to latch onto the rift itself.  “Payback’s a b***h, isn’t it?”  With that, Cassandra pulled with all her might, forcing the rift to tear itself apart.

 

Barthandalus, wide eyed in terror, turned to re-enter Tartarous before it was too late.  Zil crumpled to the ground and grabbed both of his legs.  “Not this time.  This is where it ends!”

 

The rift buckled and shifted and with a flash of brilliant white light, all three, two heroes and a demi-god, were gone.

 

Epilogue

 

Funeral services for Wrath, Zil, Cassandra, and all of the other Knights who gave their lives to defeat Barthandalus were held in the days after the great battle.  The eyes of the world were on the bruised and battered Knights as they laid their fallen friends to rest.  Sponsored by the States of Greece and the United States, full honors befitting of the heroes they had been were given to the fallen.  The President of the United States honored them with post-humus Medals of Valor for their service to the people of Earth. 

 

Although the surviving Knights remained with their respective leagues, the once great Knights Republic was dissolved. Consumed with regret, Knoah left the Knights.  He understood that events could not have played out any other way, but felt he could not continue to lead the Republic.  Unable to give up on his mission to protect Earth, he formed a new league and began the long process of starting over.

 

Eron took charge of what remained of the Republic and entered into talks the GODS leadership, hoping for a fresh start for the remaining Knights.  News of the chance for a new beginning was welcomed by Knights Republic rank and file.  Eventually, the admiralty voted unanimously to approve the merger and even Knoah joined the move.

Thus began the new path of GODS Knights.