Spacer Clans Adventure 3: Naero's Fury (22 page)

“
And the third obelisk?”

“
Said to be mostly Drian and some Kexxian tek, based mostly on Order energy.”

“
Okay,” Naero said. “I think I got a handle on this. My Uncle is the Chaos Guardian. I’m the Change Guardian. And the Third Guardian–whoever that turns out to be–will be the Guardian of Order. We all represent the Three Wisdoms–and the three main Cosmic energies that comprise the Harmony. And the Lifespark of the Harmony is the polar opposite of the Darkforce. So, how does this Great Destroyer arise, and what do we all have to do to defeat him or her or it? And you also mentioned The Swordmaster, and his two Cosmic swords? That has to be Khai, the Mystic Enforcer. But he only has one sword right now.”

Their Chorus spoke again. “Yes, but the second sword must be forged before the final guardian is selected, or very shortly thereafter.”

“Why?”

“
Because, the Great Destroyer will be revealed shortly thereafter and must be defeated.”

“
And how do we know all of this?”

“
Because the wise and the Mystics throughout all of the realities and all of the possible universes have foreseen and foretold it.”

“
Oh, okay. Then I guess we’d better make sure that the second sword gets forged. I think Khai said something about it being made from a special type of metal.”

“
Ur-metal–leftover material from the last universe, prior to this one. Nearly impossible to find, almost impossible to fashion, the rarest, most powerful, and precious material known to exist.”

“
Well, the Mystics must have had some to make the first sword.”

“
They did. They used all that they possessed. There is no more at this time.”

“
Then where did they find what they had?”

“
They scraped together every amount that was known to exist, and they barely had enough. The last portion came from the first obelisk itself.”

“
The first obelisk?”

“
The obelisks were fashioned by the ancients from all the Ur-metal that was known to exist at that time. The first Guardian took away a small quantity of the Ur-metal for his own use as well, which his obelisk fashioned into two glowing green battle blades.”

Baeven’s twin disruptor blades–they were Ur-metal? No wonder they were so powerful.

“What about the Ur-metal from the second obelisk?” Naero asked.

“
Most will be needed for the forging of the second Cosmic Sword, as will that of third. But there are other sources of this rare material out there. A great quantity of the hyper-dense material must be collected. The Mystics know how much is needed.”

“
So, we are the second Guardian. Do we get some kind of weapon made of this Ur-metal?”

“
Yes. There is enough material for a short sword, or two fighting blades, like those for the first Guardian. They will be part of us, and we can absorb them into our bodies, and summon them at will. They will adjust and key to our abilities. But we will need to get used to controlling and training with them. That will take time.”

“
I’m superb with knives. I’ll take the two battle blades.”

“
We need you to picture the form of such weapons in our minds, in order for us to form them.”

Naero closed her eyes and focused, concentrating hard on picturing two perfect fight
ing blades in her hands.

She could picture them in her mind, but they would not form in her frozen hands.

“Why won’t the blades appear when I try to summon them?”

“
We are between all of the realities right now. They will not appear until you return to your own dimension, and learn to summon them there.”

“
Oh, how do we do that?”

“
Patience. Once you return to your reality, there will be an intense energy wave detonation, and then the Kahn-Dar attack will commence, seconds after that.”

“
Oh. That all sounds…fun.”

“
It is not. There is greater chance that many of us will perish in that battle. That is but one of the many reasons we try to assist each other.”

“
I don’t understand? Why do any of this? Why is it so important?”

“
Because, all of us share in the collective strengths and weaknesses of the others. If one of us perishes, we all grow weaker, overall. If one of us survives and grows wiser and stronger–then we all grow wiser and stronger. The might of all of our existences are stronger together, than each one on its own. This is a great part of the near limitless power that we can tap into inside of ourselves, and call upon in times of great need. Part of the gift, of being one of the Three Guardians.”

“
Well then, what if I don’t want to go back? What happens if I just stay here in this null region, and I don’t go back to Thanor-4 at all?”

“
You must return to your place of origin eventually–where we first merged–but if you truly delay too long, the Kahn-Dar will still attack. Without us there to help fight them, all life on that world will surely be completely wiped out, and the planet sucked dry of its energies. None of us want that.”

“
I guess we don’t. Well then, now that we put it that way, I’d better get back, if we have a fight to win. So, I’ll be able to fight with all the strength, speed, and power of all of my other selves? This should be easy, then. Bring on those Cosmic dragons!”

“
Hold,” their Chorus said. “You do not understand. We have just merged, and there will be many trials and complications when you return that you must first overcome. It will still take many long years of difficult training and sacrifice before you can call upon the full range and extent of all of your powers and abilities.”

“
Great. So, I’m going back to this big battle, and I won’t be able to just zap everything to blazes?”

“
Hardly. Our powers in your dimension will only be slightly greater now than before the merge–which were still quite formidable on their own, mind you. And you might even be able to summon your Ur-blades…if you have time to focus enough to do so, in the heat of battle.”

“
Might? I might be able to do so? Is there anything else about this that can actually help me in this battle that I’m walking into?”

“
No, not really. Oh, yes–the other complications–you will start suffering the wasting Cosmic sickness from the feedback of the merge, also. The first Guardian went through much the same thing, but without this knowledge. You will need to find a cure for it on your own pretty fast, before it dissolves your physical body, or causes you to explode if you channel too much Cosmic energy all at once. That may take some time, as well. But don’t take too long. The Cosmic disease brought on by the merge progresses at different rates for all of us, depending on our situation.”

“
Wait…I’ve also been given a Cosmic disease that’s going to kill me, if I don’t find a cure on my own? Wahoo, this deal keeps sounding better and better. None of us thought to explain this part of the deal before we made the choice?”

“
We should take heart. Each one of us that accepts the merge and survives, makes all of us both smarter and stronger…eventually. And you joined in the knowledge of all of this willingly, so it should go much easier for you in the long run, than it did for our uncle. You know what to expect now, so you won’t be trying to fight it or resist it, and you also know what you can expect and do to help yourself.”

“
Great. If I survive all of this crap, everything’s going to be all orgasms and rainbows.”

“
That’s the spirit…although we didn’t use those words, exactly.”

“
I was being sarcastic. All right, get me back. I’m so pissed off now, I can’t wait to fight something. Those damn dragons better watch out!”

“
Huzzah, we all say to us. Fortune favors the bold!”

“
Is there any way to shut ourselves up? Haisha! I can’t take this much more of us. Get me the hell out of this crazy-ass place!”

25

After the flash of her return from the
Cosmic Nexus, Naero stood in the black glass crater back on the planet. The artifact statue was gone, and at the exact center of the crater, the only thing that remained of it was a small, round puddle of flat, gray Ur-metal. So odd and dull that it made lead somehow look shiny.

The air seemed to pop or implode all around her. Waves of Cosmic force rippled out from her and seemed to sweep over the planet at impossible speeds, flattening trees and any structures at random, flip
ping entire starships nearby over on top of each other.

Next thing she knew, Naero lay flat on her back with an aching head, staring up at a swirling, cloudy
, Thanoran sky.

She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, and sensed the first rumors of her
own Cosmic sickness, the backlash of her merging with all of her possible selves, scattered throughout all the known possibilities and universes.

Yet, as
imperceptible as it almost was, she did in fact feel slightly stronger, slightly smarter, slightly better and more secure than her former self had been, all on her own. And she had been right. Now she knew many things, and had answers to questions that she hadn’t known or understood before.

She flipped Om back on like hitting a switch. She never knew
that she could do that before, or how. Now she did it without hesitation.

I was
n’t inert, Naero. I experienced everything you did in the Null regions. Our communication link was simply interrupted. You couldn’t hear me.

She’d definitely need to remember that trick.

Naero shot to her feet, looking around urgently. A large swath of thunderstorms was about to cut loose. “Om, contact the spyfixer network and tell our people to get ready for a fight.”

Done.

She closed her eyes and pictured her new Ur-blades.

It took a few moments, but at last, she felt the blades form in her hands. The metal was strange an
d unearthly, unnatural to the touch, flat gray. Even light did not seem to fall upon them properly. Very weird. But they were also a part of her and her abilities now.

She did not dispel them, under the circumstances, in order to test her theory, but she felt certain that she could summon them at will, just like her Chaos energy katanas.

Just thinking about her Chaos swords brought them blazing to life in her hands like torches in the gloom, forming over and channeling energy right through her Ur-blades.

Haisha! She could feel the energies pulsing through her entire body. Channeling her abilities through her new Ur-blades increased their effectiveness by several orders of magnitude from the sensation of it. And when she startapped even slightly, she could barely hold onto them.

The skies split and the first of the Kahn-Dar penetrated the dimensional veil. A blue dragon-like creature, seventy meters in length, and wreathed in azure lightning and energy came forth.

Naero guessed that she was going to need all the extra might and help that she could muster
, in the fight coming her way.

Then she gasped, noticing something else, strange.

The Cosmic power levels of Thanor-4 were way down, almost completely reduced. Now, the planet was just like any other.

When the artifact statue vanished, apparently, so had all the planet’s hyped up Cosmic energy levels.

In some ways that might be good. At least her enemies would not be able to feed on either one and grow stronger. The Kahn-Dar were energy-absorbers. Let them try their tricks now.

Three more
dragons gated through the dimensional rent in the sky. A larger green, a shorter but thicker red, and another blue. Then four more of various colors. Then a dozen.

For their size, the Kahn-Dar zipped through the sky at incredible speeds. All of them turned and focused their blazing eyes on Naero, and dove down for the kill.

“Oh, shit!” Naero yelled. The enemy ate Cosmic energy, and she was filled with it.

Numerous Cosmic attacks rained down from the shattered sky, and fell ruinous upon the land
all about her position. The black glass crater erupted and dissolved in a whirlwind of glass shards and fire, lightning, and destructive energies of every color and hue.

Naero transported up into the air,
using her gravwing, and slashed with her energy swords at the throat of the first blue.

Cutting into the Kahn-Dar was like slashing through metal, or the armored hull of a starship. Even with all of her enhanced strength, it was that tough.

The creature shrieked in pain, its voice piercing and painful like a psyonic or sonic attack. The cry rattled Naero’s skull. Blood trickled from her ears and nose.

At first she thought blood streamed from the creature’s wounds–then some kind of aether, or energized ichor. But
finally Naero realized. The Kahn-Dar were at the very least, partial Cosmic energy beings, with not exactly physical bodies.

When injured, Kahn-Dar leaked or bled
pure Cosmic power.

The monster
whipped around so fast and attacked. Naero barely had time to transport out of the path of its blinding blue lightning assault, shooting out from its jaws.

She transfixed the creature on scores of thick spears of Chaos energy. Then she exploded them.

The detonation triggered an even larger, secondary Cosmic explosion.

Naero instinctively curled up and shielded herself in overlapping spheres of dense, defensive force.

The blast tore through them like they were paper, and Naero plummeted out of the sky, scorched and smoking like a burning stone.

She blinked and gasped, struggling to breathe. She had even blacked out for a few seconds. Now she fell with the charred, burning pieces of the Kahn-Dar that she had
just slain.

The head of the creature seemed to be at least partially alive, and still spat lightning. The dismembered thing slowly dissolved.

Other Kahn-Dar–those not stunned or flung back by the massive explosion–dove straight for them at top speed.

Naero was forced to transport again to another part of the sky.

The Kahn-Dar devoured and absorbed the pieces of the dying one, cannibalizing it right before her eyes. She recalled that it was normally very natural for these creatures to kill and devour each other.

More of the Kahn
-Dar continued to pour through the rent in the dimensional veil.

How could they fight so many of the things? There were dozens of them already, and more slipping through each second.

Torrents of heavy artillery from the Marine batteries and warships ripped up into the invaders.

Cosmic fire from the latter slashed into the warships, disrupting shields and doing heavy damage. Other attacks cut through the unit shielding and blasted glowing gouts through the Marine positions.

The fight was going to quickly turn into a blood bath.

Om,
I’ve seen glimpses of this battle. We need to plug that hole. That’s the only way we can win; otherwise, they’ll pour through and overwhelm us. I’m going to close that dimensional gate.

How? From the energy levels, it will take a gigablast to disrupt it. That could
possibly wipe out everything within sixty to a hundred kilometers!

Not if I pinpoint the center of the blast in the upper atmosphere, so that the blast range envelopes
only the dimensional rent. Damage on the ground will be greatly reduced. We ignited such a blast once before, Om. Back on Janosha.

Yes, and we destroyed a third of a continent. And how do you know the Kahn-Dar ca
n’t just open it again, or another one in a another place?

We do
n’t, Om. But I have a strategy in mind.”

Now I’m really scared. Incoming!

Naero cloaked and transported. Several Kahn-Dar crashed into each other over her former position.

She discovered that cloaking did
n’t keep them from eventually locating her, but it did confuse and slow them down.

Here we go, Om. Tell our people to button up and keep their heads down. Retreat or flee, any way they can.

Naero, the High Masters are demanding that you to stand down. They want you to turn yourself over to them…immediately.

I ca
n’t, Om. Not in the middle of a battle of this magnitude. Ignore that order like we never heard it. Now let’s fight!

I’m with you, Naero. I’ll help you direct the blast away from the ground, but our forces are still going to take a pounding.

Can’t be helped at this point. Roughed up is better than dead.

She selected the safest vantage point she could find. Air-Zero, directly behind the dimensional rent, with dragons still pouring through it on the other side.

Naero startapped until she transformed, then she bloated herself, until she nearly blacked out, and her Dark Beast threatened to break free.

Naero formed a cloud of hundreds of floating Cosmic energy bubbles around the rent, each the size of a bowling ball.

Then she transfixed the three Kahn-Dar slipping through, exploding them at the same time she set off the bubble cloud.

Om transported them thirty kilometers away.

Still not far enough.

The blast wave hit them
seconds later, and drilled them into some forested hills. Naero barely buttoned up.

She
quickly startapped, ignoring their pain, and transported them back to the High Masters.

Up in the sky, the dimensional rent was gone–completely disrupted.
The remaining Kahn-Dar were still alive, but stunned and floating in the sky. Dead Kahn-Dar couldn’t remain airborne and would dissolve, unable to sustain their Cosmic energy forms. Or their fellow dragons would feast upon their energies.

On the ground, things were
n’t much better for the defenders.

Order a full retreat, Om. On my direct authority. Abandon equipment and weapons. The enemy has no use for them. Get everyone out, on anything that can fly.

On it. It won’t take much. Most of our forces have already withdrawn, and are already reeling in full retreat.

Naero found the High Masters, battered and bloody, being healed and tended to by their prime adepts.

“You are under arrest,” High Master Tree said.

Naero nodded. “I am. When all are safe after this battle, I will confine myself to my quarters on my flagship and await your investigation and
judgment. But not until then.”

“
Destroy her!” Vane shouted, his face and head bandaged and bloody, where he lay on a medbed. “She’s even more than a threat to us all, now, than ever before!”

Naero shouted to the other adepts. “Get everyone out.
Transport the High Masters to the safety of their ships in orbit. The invaders can’t fight us if there’s no one on the planet to fight.”

“
Naero,” Master Jo muttered, half his body still badly scorched. “What are you doing?”

“
The artifact is gone. So are the planetary energy levels. If the Mystics leave this world, there is no reason for the remaining Kahn-Dar to be here. Nothing left for them to fight, no Cosmic energy for them to devour or absorb. They came here expecting an easy feast. I’m guessing they were lied to.”

Master Jo grinned. “Brilliant.
I agree. Get the others out. Get everyone out. I support your denial strategy, but you are still in serious trouble.”

“
When am I not? Everyone hear that?” Naero shouted. “Master Jo agrees with me. Let’s move.”

“
What do we hear from the east coast and Thanarra?”

The Mystic Enforcer is helping the east coast base hold their own. He has slain thirty to forty of the Kahn-Dar–

Naero spluttered, choking on her own breath in startled awe. He’s killed thirty or forty of those things, Om? By himself?

It appears so. He closed off the dimensional gate as well…in a similar fashion to our own. He is currently leading our forces in a fighting retreat out of the atmosphere.

Admiral Klyne suddenly cut in over the spyfixer link. “All units, all units, continue retreat from the planet surface behind the defensive grids set up around the planet. If the invaders attack us up in the black, we stand more than ready for them, this time.

Dozens of Spacer and Alliance naval fleets surrounded the planet in interlocking firing profiles from many heavy warships.

Naero smiled and transported up to her own private quarters. She’d check on Jan and Aunt Sleek in a minute. The cavalry arrived quickly. Even the Kahn-Dar would be fools to attack straight into the teeth of such massed firepower.

You were correct, Naero. With nothing left to fight or absorb, the Kahn-Dar are gating out, leaving this world and dimension completely. They can sense the forces arrayed against them
out in space. Their surprise attack has collapsed, and failed completely.