Authors: Dhayaa Anbajagane
“Anything wrong, Carlos?” Chris asked.
“It’s not a big deal really,” Carlos shrugged. “Some ship is heading towards Aliea. It’s probably trying to get through the barrier.”
Everyone stared at him in stunned silence.
“I hate to break it to you, Carlos,” Taylor said. “But that is kind of a big deal.”
“You guys have never seen Aliea’s full power in action have you?” He grinned at them.
Though everyone seemed skeptical, Q thought Carlos’ confidence was well founded. Aliea had a massive barrage of weaponry. Given that the force field could hold up for a day, even if under attack by the strongest of ships, the defense system would have enough time to blast the enemy to rubble before they broke through the dome. So there was really nothing to worry about.
“Oh look, it’s here,” Carlos said, his voice almost gleeful with excitement.
Q’s eyes widened. Everyone looked in astonishment as a monstrous ship approached the dome. It had a shell of sleek black metal with lines of glowing purple running along its surface.
Twenty streaks of smoke rose from around the dome, curling in the air towards the huge ship.
“Plasma missiles,” Carlos said. “They-”
“-release plasma that latches onto its target and burns through everything,” Kai said. ”It buries itself deep inside the ship before finally exploding like a bomb,” his eyes glowed as he looked at the weapons in complete awe.
The streaks of smoke soon disappeared, signaling that the missiles had released the plasma onto the ship. Carlos counted down with his fingers.
“Three-Two-One, and BOOM!” he threw his hands up in the air, a satisfied grin on his face. The air was still silent, the ship was still advancing, and there were no explosions at all. Nothing had happened.
“What’s wrong?” Kai asked.
Carlos became a bit fidgety, but he still seemed calm. “I don't know,” he said. “The plasma ought to have blasted through the ship by now.”
The ship inched closer and closer to the barrier, its looming figure threatening to attack Aliea. A hundred missiles launched from the ground next to the rim of the dome, a piercing whistle in the air as they headed for the ship. Q could immediately tell these missiles were different.
“The regular defense missiles have been activated,” Carlos said, and diverted his attention. “I should really get R&D to take a look at those Plasma Missiles,” he mumbled.
Q though, kept his focus on the streaks heading towards the ship. He was sure this barrage of attacks would obliterate the target and Carlos seemed to have decided that he had won already. He and Kai had already started listing reasons for the plasma missiles’ failure.
Meanwhile, a multitude of explosions detonated on the surface of the black ship, filling the air with spheres of light. Q could feel the air inside the dome vibrate from the sheer strength of the blasts. There was no way anything could survive that attack.
“The fireworks display is over, guys,” Carlos smiled at them.
Q glanced at the sky, beyond the force field. A huge dark silhouette sat inside the thick smoke, lurking like a beast that had just awoken.
“On the contrary,” Q said. “It’s just getting started.”
***
The deep, dark sky was painted in exquisite brushes of brown smoke. Q could see distinct shades of purple light dim through the thick clouds of smoke. A vague shadow lay dormant inside the cloud like a hunter in wait. The ship hadn't gone down yet.
A low, bassy tone ripped through the sky, making the air inside the dome vibrate violently.
“Get Down!” Elizabeth yelled.
A monstrous beam of purple energy burst through the smoke and hit the force field. The whole of Aliea Academy trembled in the power of the beam. The ground shook, and people stumbled to the ground, frightened and confused.
The tremors lasted for a few seconds. Nothing seemed to have been damaged though. The ground held together, and the people, though scared, seemed uninjured. The force field around Aliea was still intact and at full strength, not a scratch on it. That was expected, since a force field was very difficult to shut down.
More lights appeared through the smoke, brighter and fiercer than the others. The ship charged out of the smoke and towards the force field. Its sleek black body didn't show any signs of the powerful attacks Aliea had launched at it. There was something about the whole ordeal that didn’t make sense to Q. That purple beam hadn’t made a single scratch on the force field and yet the ship was charging right at it.
And then it hit him. His eyes widened, “Run!” he yelled.
He only managed to take a few steps forward when a loud crunch rang in his ears, a sound that felt like bones were being ground to pieces. He looked up at the sky, both afraid and curious to know what happened.
Aliea Academy used a force field; the strongest, most impenetrable defense in the Universe. And that warship had charged right through it. A large section of the force field shut off, leaving a wide gap for the ship to head through. The emergency system activated immediately. Patches of the ground opened up and clouds of gray shot into the air. Q looked a little closer and saw that the grey clouds were actually swarms of nanobots.
They flew to the gaps and fixed themselves as a sort of force field glue. In an instant they dissolved away leaving behind a completely functional force field. But a brand new force field didn't solve their problem just as yet. The ship was inside Aliea now, and it was rocketing toward the surface.
“Go, go, go!” Carlos pointed towards Demon Riser. All of them hurried away, occasionally turning to glance back at the ship.
The warship didn’t ‘land’. It just crashed into the surface, crushing everything below it. Skyscraper and ships alike were crushed into pellets by the monstrous entity. A shock wave from the impact shattered the glass buildings in a five mile radius. The air was filled with the sound of large explosions accompanied by the terrified screams of the cadets of Aliea.
Q stopped and turned to face the ship, everyone else looking at him quizzically. “Running away isn't going to solve anything,” he said. “We have to take the ship down before it takes us out.”
The ship had finally touched down and most of the destruction seemed to have ceased. Then a section on the ship’s side opened.
“That can't be good,” Kai said.
A swarm of white and black drones emerged from the ship. They travelled in a perfect arc, scanning all parts of the ground. Their triangular bodies had dark blue spots that seemed to act as cameras. For a moment they kept moving as a group, surveilling everything around them.
And then they opened fire. Those dark spots were not cameras. They turned to a shade of bright blue and fired purple spheres of energy at everyone and everything in the vicinity.
“Stun projectiles,” Elizabeth said.
“They’ll temporarily paralyze you for a while depending on the blast’s strength,” Taylor added.
Q clenched his fists. Just who were these people who were attacking them? Were they even people? For all he knew, there could be some rogue artificial intelligence in there controlling the entire attack.
“Stun projectiles,” he muttered and took a step forward, looking at the drones. “Let’s see how they like a taste of their own medicine.”
He focused on the drones. He felt his body hum along with every thought in his mind. He focused on his inner life energy and pushed it towards his hands. He imagined a river of energy overloading his hands, soaking them in power. His hands glowed a dull shade of gold. He grinned. He raised his hands into the air, and a bolt of lightning hit the first line of drones. The machines blew apart instantly and dropped to the surface as charred debris.
The attack couldn’t handle the overwhelming number of drones though. More and more drones flew out of the black ship, but this time they all headed towards them.
“Umm guys?” Elizabeth said. “Time to run.”
It was too late. A few hundred drones surrounded them, their laser blasters trained at their chests.
Q threw his hands up into the arm and a storm of lightning struck the drones around them.
“RUN!” he yelled and they all ran helter-skelter, each one taking a random direction.
Q ran as fast as he could, stopping only when he couldn't see the drones. He turned around to see Taylor and Elizabeth right behind. He looked further back but he couldn't see the others.
“I hate helter-skeltering,” he said. He took a deep breath and turned to face Taylor and Elizabeth. “What do we do now?” he asked.
Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve never seen an attack like that.”
“Even the Dark Knights don’t have a ship like this one,” Taylor said.
Okay, now Q was tense. One of the most powerful organizations in the world, if not
the
most powerful one, didn’t have a ship like this. That said a little too much about the people who were attacking them right now.
“We need to find a place to hide. Now,” Elizabeth said.
“Fine,” Q muttered and turned around. His eyes widened. Around twenty drones floated in the air, all their stun blasters activated and ready.
“RUN! NOW!” he yelled.
And that was when the drones opened fire.
***
Carlos opened his eyes. Darkness greeted him. He realized there was some sort of mask covering his head. He tried moving his hands, no good. They were cuffed together. His legs were cuffed as well. He tried recollecting everything that had happened. His mind recalled that he was taken down by a drone but everything after that was a blur.
“The big fish is awake,” a voice called from a distance.
Carlos shut off all his senses, focusing only on his hearing. It took all of his effort to make out what they were saying.
“He has no idea what’s coming next.”
“This is going to be so fun!”
Someone removed the bag from his head, and light flooded into eyes, making him feel like his retinas were burning. He looked around him, his eyes still stinging from the harsh light. The place seemed familiar, the walls, the furnishing, everything.
The Demon Riser
, he thought.
He clenched his teeth in disbelief that Aliea’s command center was being used as a hostage spot. A kid stood guard next to Carlos, probably around the same age as Q. He wondered why this young a child was in the enemy ranks.
“Hey you!” a voice yelled from the other end of the room. Carlos looked at several young men grouped in a semi-circle next to a wall. They were yelling at another guy, a young boy. Carlos tried to see who it was but his eyes were too dazed to make any details out.
One of the men picked up a pitcher from a nearby table and poured it over the boy. Water fell down in a stream, but instead of the falling all the way, it sizzled and evaporated into steam. The boy got up and thrust his hand out. The hot stream of evaporated water shot towards the men, scalding their skin. They yelled in pain, and dropped to the floor, unable to bear the agony.
Carlos was stunned. He had never seen this sort of an attack before.
“One move and it’s over,” a voice said from behind him.
Carlos heard the familiar high-pitched sound of a laser blaster being activated. The boy put his hands in the air and walked slowly to Carlos.
He wondered why the boy was listening to them. Was he feeling threatened by a simple laser blaster? The boy flicked his wrist. A flash of lightning shot from the air above them and Carlos heard the man behind him fall to the floor.
“It’s all a big waste, boy,” a man walked in between him and the boy, his face covered in a ski-mask, “Your brother is poisoned with radiation. If you don’t give up, you’re never going to get the antidote. And don’t think about making the antidote yourself. It’s a hopeless cause.”
Carlos’ eyes widened,
Brother
, he thought.
Q walked out of the shadows, his face rugged, his hair messy. He looked like a guy who had fought a war by himself.
“What do you want?” Q asked.
The man turned to Carlos, “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Commander,” he removed his mask and grinned at Carlos.
Q was the first to react. His eyes widened instantly. He curled his fingers into a fist, and his arms tensed. Carlos could almost feel Q’s anger raring to burst out of his body.
“Hello, Jake,” he said, his voice as cold as ice.
“Why hello, Q. I was worried you wouldn’t recognize me.”
“Wait, Jake?” Carlos asked. “You’re the Academy’s student president.”
“A very convenient job I must say,” Jake said. “Much easier to infiltrate Aliea when you’re on the inside isn’t it?”
“Just what do you want?” Q muttered.
A shadow slithered across Jake’s face, making him look like a possessed man. “Have you heard of the Lambda Driver?”
***
The Lambda Driver
, Q thought. Kai used to talk about it all the time. All Q could recall though was that it was this really advanced transportation system.
“I need you to retrieve it,” Jake said.
“Why can’t you do it yourself?”
“Well.... there are certain complications.”
“Oh yeah, like what?”
“It’s in the Anti-Universe,” he grinned.
Q’s heart stopped, his palms perspired and his mind went crazy. He could feel his whole body revolt to what had just been said.
The Anti-Universe. The worst enemy to all of matter. The Anti-Universe, better known as the Anti-verse, was an exact copy of the Universe, only instead of matter it had antimatter. If any matter came in contact with antimatter it would cause devastating explosions much more powerful than any nuclear detonation. Touching anything in the Anti-verse could and would rip anyone apart.
“No one can survive in the Anti-verse,” Q said.
“Which is specifically why I came to you,” Jake said.
“Didn’t you listen to me?
No one
can survive there.”
“The ones who possess an ‘energy suit’ can.”
Q stood there, completely stunned.
How in the world does he know about my energy suit?
he thought.
An energy suit was something he had created when he developed his latest Elementa, the Elementa of Light. It was a thin layer of pure energy that acted like a natural space suit. He could fly around with it, and protect himself from almost every attack. That meant any piece of antimatter that tried to blow him up would just get reflected by the suit, or it would be converted into pure energy and get absorbed by the suit.
“So will you do it?” Jake asked.
Q paused for a second.
“Oh wait. You don’t have a choice,” he chuckled.
“What do you want the Lambda Driver for?”
“You don’t get to ask the questions,” Jake grinned. “All you do need to know is that your brother goes ‘bye bye’ if you don't retrieve it. Radiation poisoning is such a terrible thing, isn’t it?”
Q took a deep breath, and calmed himself down. “All right, I’ll do it,” he said. “How am I supposed to find this Lambda Driver?”
Jake took out a small pen-like device and hit a small button on its side. A transparent blue hologram opened up with a few numbers written on it.
Spatial coordinates
, Q realized.
“In case you need a little help,” he threw the pen to Q.
“How gracious of you,” Q said. “But I have to ask again, how am I supposed to find this place? My energy suit can only help me travel through space. I still need a spacecraft if I want to locate this place.”
“I’m sure you’ll manage,” he grinned.
“Are you crazy?” he yelled. He had seen villains in movies who were laid back but this was just downright stupid.
“Energy suits and ‘Q maps’ are pretty cool aren’t they?” Jake smiled.
Q felt like he had been stabbed in his heart. This guy knew a little too much about him. ‘Q maps’ was a method that Q had perfected over time for guiding him through space. He could concentrate on the matter around him and get a clear map of the Universe, including all the coordinates. It was really cool, and it was also a big secret. Only his friends knew about it. How in the world did this guy find out as well?