Gamma Nine (Book One) (51 page)

A few monsters
had found their way into the collapsed building, and were now
watching the hurt Titan climb to safety.

There was a
moment that both Christian and the monsters below him froze, just
looking at one another. Christian saw the understanding dawn on the
beasts’ faces.

The mutants
rushed up the shaft Christian was climbing up, moving fast as they
went after the Titan. Christian sprang into action just as the
first monster started climbing, increasing his pace. The pain was
worse, but he still ignored it as much as he could, he kept his
eyes on the light above him, focusing on it instead of the things
below.

Christian
reached the top and lifted a slab of concrete away, revealing the
blue sky to his burning vision. He wasted no time, crawling out of
the hole, rolling away and getting to his feet. A sharp claw
reached for him from the hole as he rolled away, gouging a chunk of
concrete out mere inches away from Christian’s body.

Christian found
himself on a relatively flat piece of the collapsed roof. The
Maiden waited for him less than fifty feet away, hovering just on
the edge of the destroyed building.

He risked a
glance behind him and saw the creatures squeeze out of the hole he
had come out of, and to make things worse more monsters were
scurrying over the rubble towards him. There were hundreds of the
beasts, all heading for him. He was a prime target, and they were
intent on catching one of the prized Titans - not that they knew
what that meant. All they knew was that the flesh inside the Titan
armour was going to be a delicacy, and they all wanted a piece of
him.

Christian
gritted his teeth and took off, sprinting at full speed towards the
Maiden. Behind him the beasts clawed and salivated as they chased
him, closing the distance rapidly.

Nathan was
hanging from the open cargo door of the Maiden, his hand
outstretched.

Christian
noticed as he ran toward Nathan that he would have to jump to reach
his brother, the Maiden was hovering out of reach of the monsters
if they tried to jump toward it. He did not know if he would be
able to make it, but he would have to try.

“Jump
Christian! Reach for me!” Nathan yelled.

Christian took
his last few steps on New Horizon at full sprint, his body aching
almost unbearably. His left leg faltered just as he reached the
edge.

And then he
jumped.

Nathan caught
him. Mimicking the personal insignia on Christian’s battered bicep.
Two armoured hands clasped together, two brothers with endless
issues, but forever loyal.

Cheers went up
from the Wolves who saw Nathan make the catch. Bear had been close
to losing his own grip on the handholds attached to the side of the
cargo compartment while he tried to reach for his brother. Pyoter
had steadied the Lieutenant by securing his arm with his own
strong, armoured hands. Xander stood ready behind Nathan to either
jump for the rookie if Nathan missed or to hold on to him in case
he lost his balance.

They had formed
what looked like a human chain behind Nathan as the Titan screamed
for his brother to jump.

What was only a
second or two felt like a lifetime to everyone else. Christian’s
left leg had almost cost him the distance to make the jump, but he
had just enough momentum to carry him far enough and into the
waiting grasp of Nathan’s powerful grip.

Christian
finally blacked out from the pain just as Nathan wrenched his
damaged body upward and into the cargo hold of the Maiden of
Flame.

“Hit it Gunn!
We have him!” Locke ordered the annoyed pilot in the cockpit of the
Maiden.

The drop ship’s
door closed and the ship climbed instantly. Around the Maiden her
escorts formed up, all of them climbing into the blue heavens
towards the waiting Hyperion.

No-one looked
back at the beasts that had been following Christian, their fates
were already sealed within their mutated flesh.

Christian
regained consciousness after he felt something slap the side of his
helmet. Nathan was standing over him, checking his brother’s vitals
as the drop ship rocked back and forth from the ascent back into
the void above Santor. “Ouch,” he said.

“By the state
of you, ouch is the least of your problems,” Rivers said from the
side, his helmet removed, showing his concerned face to the rookie
Titan.

“Are we all
safe?” Christian asked.

“Worry about
yourself right now Corporal Quinn, but yes, all of the Wolves are
safe and the Lancers will live on.” Locke’s head turned towards
Jessica, who was trying to get next to Christian’s prone body, but
she was struggling due to the other Titans surrounding him. “It
looks likes the doctor wants to give you a once over.”

Christian
sighed with relief as he listened to Locke speak. Everyone was
safe, even Jay by the sound of it. His body relaxed more when
Jessica finally crouched next to him, laying her hands on his
cracked visor.

Jessica looked
at the Titans around Christian. “Help me get this off,” she said,
her tired hands fiddling for the release button hidden underneath
Christian’s chin.

Nathan helped
the doctor, removing his brother’s helmet slowly, revealing
Christian’s bloody and beaten face.

Xander, who was
looking down at the rookie, chuckled slightly. “Well, at least I am
the pretty one again,” he said.

“Nonsense, we
all know Rivers is the handsome one,” Christian replied.

Everyone except
Tristan and Jessica laughed at the joke; they were more concerned
with his wellbeing than the attempt to lighten the mood inside the
Maiden’s cargo hold.

Jessica checked
Christian’s vision, her hair draping over his face as she listened
to his ragged breathing. Her eyes were filled with tears as she
spoke. “Once we get to where we are going, you are not leaving my
site until you are better. Is that clear?” she said.

Christian knew
better than to argue, so instead he just smiled and reached with
his right hand for his neck. He searched for something, clumsily
clasping at a chain hidden underneath his suit. He pulled it free
and let it fall to his chest in front of Jessica.

Her face
changed almost instantly from concern to pure happiness. She knew
the necklace, it was hers. She started crying, tears of joy rolling
down her face as she leaned forward and kissed Christian on his
bleeding lips.

“Oh Shit,”
Xander said, “don’t look now, the rookie is getting lucky.”

“No time for
that rookie,” Locke added. “We are nearing the Hyperion.”

Just as Locke
finished speaking Gray’s voice broke over the radio. “Good to see
all of you again, even if there are fewer of my fighters than there
were before. This will be a scoop and scoot Gabriel. We are leaving
as soon as you are on-board. Do your best not to get shot down so
close to being rescued.” Gray waited for a response, leaving the
channel open.

Locke could
hear the Hyperion taking fire in the background. “We will do our
best,” he replied.

“Good, because
we aren’t leaving without any of you,” Gray said before cutting the
link.

“Hang on to
your nuts Wolves. Things might get a little bumpy,” Locke said to
his squad.

All of them
braced themselves, on the Maiden and on the other drop ships
flanking her. They were almost home, just a few more minutes and
then...well no-one knew exactly what would happen after they
reached the Hyperion, but whatever it was it would probably be
worse than the fight on New Horizon.

“Are you
close?” Gray asked.

“Less than a
minute away,” Gunn replied.

The relentless
attacks from the traitors on the Hyperion were letting up slightly
as the Stygian Council moved ever closer. Gray had no doubt in his
mind that the Stygian Council and that bastard Vincent wanted to
personally destroy the Hyperion. He was calling off his slaves to
deal the death blow - not that Gray would give him the opportunity
to kill his ship.

Guns belonging
to the last two remaining vessels that had formed the blockade had
finally fallen silent. One had been silenced by a barrage of
magnetic cannons from an enemy vessel, breaking it apart as its
crew suffocated and froze in the open void. The last blockade
vessel perished when its entire command crew was annihilated by a
well-aimed torpedo from a squadron of heavy bombers. It had kept
firing even though its captain had been exterminated, but the
traitors had cut out its heart, and slowly it was picked apart by
the enemy’s plethora of weaponry. Its name was the Behemoth’s
Heart, and its death was an honourable one. It had fought on
without leadership, its crew were all heroes in Gray’s eyes, and if
he ever got the chance he would tell others the tale of the great
vessel and its gallantry.

There was
nothing between the Hyperion and the enemy now. All allied vessels
had either been destroyed or had run with whatever they had rescued
from the surface of New Horizon.

It was just the
Hyperion that had stayed behind, waiting for its lost friends to
come home. Gray would not leave anyone behind that could be
rescued. Even if the planet was being overrun by the Beast, and the
traitors were killing innocent civilians on New Horizon’s surface,
Gray still had hope that more would come to the planet’s aid well
after the current battle was over.

“Incoming hail
sir,” Remy said at Gray’s side. She was already strapped into her
chair, ready to depart and leave the horrors of the last few days
behind them. “It’s from the Stygian Council...” her words trailed
off, her disbelief obvious at the idea of Lord Vincent stopping to
gloat, or make matters worse with his terrible presence.

“This should be
interesting. That son of a bitch can’t let anyone else have the
last say,” Gray said before he half nodded to Remy to make the
connection and put it up on his display.

Once again the
screen in front of Gray crackled and fizzed, slowly focusing on
Lord Vincent’s throne and his determined, but gaunt face.

“Captain Gray.
Well done,” Lord Vincent said before Gray could say anything.

“I don’t have
time for your shit, Victor. What do you want? Haven’t you done
enough already? Or do you just want to boast about your treacherous
actions?” Gray said. He was showing his anger without noticing it.
Gray prided himself on being able to remain stone-faced in dire
times, but Lord Vincent’s arrogance was just too much for him to
ignore.

“I want you all
to witness something before you skulk away like the vermin that you
are,” Vincent replied calmly. The Lord of the North showed no
emotion, remaining dead still as he spoke, his gloved hands resting
on the armrests of his throne.

Gray’s mind was
racing. Vincent’s words were heavy with meaning. What did he want
them to witness. “You will not get your claws into my ship and my
crew. Do your worst!” Gray said, his anger bubbling over for the
first time in many years.

Vincent smiled
at Gray’s reaction. His lips parted, exposing his pristine teeth,
grinning like a mad man at Gray. “You old fool,” he said. “You and
your crew are nothing but insects to me. You are nothing but the
shit I scrape from my boot after I have crushed you with my heel.
Do not flatter yourself. I want you to witness something far
grander than the destruction of your precious vessel.”

Remy suddenly
stirred, the display on her lap was blurting sirens. “Captain!
Sensors are reporting a massive energy spike from his ship!”

“Let me show
you that my words are not just idle threats. Look upon my power and
witness what I am capable of!” Lord Vincent was visibly excited,
grinning even wider.

Gray rose from
his seat slowly, his eyes fixed on the viewports at the head of the
Hyperion’s bridge.

“No...” Gray
breathed.

“Yes!” Vincent
said excitedly. “I want you to remember this day forever. Whenever
you close your eyes, these images will haunt you for the rest of
your miserable, insignificant life!”

“It can’t be”
Remy said at Gray’s side.

“I am afraid it
is my dear. Fire!” Vincent ordered enthusiastically.

Bright light
built up inside the dormant fusion cannon built into the belly of
the Stygian Council. The dormant weapon believed by many to be
incapable of ever firing again, was preparing to fire and rise from
its metallic coffin. The weapon’s heat sinks extended from the
cannon’s sides, glowing lava red against the darkness of the void.
Rings of steam formed by the heat sinks venting heat into the cold
void, freezing as the nothingness transformed water vapour into
solid ice.

“There is
nowhere you can hide from me Captain Gray. Run as fast as you can.
My reckoning will catch up to you sooner or later.” Vincent waved
his hand dismissively, cutting the link between the two
vessels.

Gray watched in
stunned silence as the Stygian Council’s fusion cannon fired. Lord
Vincent’s vessel was thousands of miles away from New Horizon, but
it took the planet-killing shell only a few moments to reach the
infested planet’s surface. It hit ground in the northern hemisphere
of New Horizon, far to the west of Santor. The fusion cannon’s
shell was the size of a small cargo vessel, filled to the brim with
deadly life-consuming fire. When it hit, it carved a crater into
New Horizon’s surface before exploding, its thick casing protecting
its terrible contents until detonation.

The first sign
of the planet-killing weapon’s blast was the clouds above its
landfall pushed aside as if an ancient god had reached down with
his hand and parted the skies. The inextinguishable fire followed
soon after, erupting from the impact site.

“Everyone is
on-board sir!” a communications officer announced.

Gray did not
hear. His eyes were fixated on what was unfolding before his eyes.
He could not believe what he was seeing.