SODIUM:6 Defiance (13 page)

When the left cat had settled back down I again flicked its ear. This time the Ogle guard stepped over to the other and hissed directly in its face. I took the opportunity to throw a punch while the two were close together. My fist grazed the top right portion of the left cat's skull, pushing in a section of bone that was almost the size of my fist. I continued the punch striking the second cat square between the eyes. A soft crunching sound told the story.

I broke open another case of blaster rifles and once again began to plant them around the ship. The timers were all set to the same time. I then returned to the storage room I had found that was located just above the docking bay. Ten minutes passed before the rifles exploded. Once again I brought chaos to the Ogle's normal order.

After hiding out for several hours, to allow things to settle down, I again ventured out to create mayhem. While on my way back to the armory I felt the great ship shudder as it dropped from light speed. We had reached our destination, I was eager to find out just where that might be.

I moved back out onto the bridge where I could watch the holo-monitors of those in charge. My stomach jumped into my throat when I saw the partial shield and the blue planet on the screen before me. We had come to rest at the Gidden home world of Meyer. The Gidden fleet quickly engaged followed soon after by the Nickarians.

The fighting was fierce as the home fleets deployed new static field shields. The shields were powerful and deflected the Ogle particle beams with energy to spare. I watched the battle unfold as 21 Ogle ships engaged the thousands of ships in the AMPs newest fleet. It looked as though the Gidden would once again hold their ground in battle with the Ogle.

An Ogle ship was the first to be destroyed as nearly a million mini-fighters were unleashed upon it, riding in with the protection of the Starburst modules. I then resisted the urge to cheer as a second Ogle ship came under duress. The initial stage of the battle was going to the Gidden defenders.

But as I had seen with war so many times before, the initial appearances did not always define the outcome. More than 300 of the black Ogle ships dropped into view accompanied by a fleet of Meche ships that numbered in the tens of thousands. The tides of war quickly turned against the AMP members. The Ogle ships combined into pods of a dozen ships and a new pulsating particle beam cut quickly through the Gidden static shields.

Five Gidden battleships exploded in blue flame as the particle beams cut cleanly through them. The Meche ships quickly targeted the next set of Starburst modules, riding in behind them and destroying the mini-fighters before they could be launched. The battle around Meyer raged for nearly an Earth day before the Ogle deployed the CME cylinders. Every attempt at their destruction was thwarted by the mass of Meche ships.

When the CME cylinders entered the Gidden sun I knew it was only a matter of time before the planet would be burned beyond recognition by the million degree plasma. The Ogle then turned the particle beams on Meyer before heading towards their next target. Millions of Gidden civilians died instantly as there was nowhere to run or hide. Again the Ogle were merciless.

As the Ogle ships began their assault of the second Gidden world I decided it was time to continue my personal war. Again the armory was struck with a half dozen Ogle meeting death before another case of blaster rifles were set to overload. Hundreds of the evil cats died as blaster weapons overloaded in their sleeping chambers. The second shift on the bridge would struggle to staff all the positions needed as it was that sleeping crew that had been killed or badly injured.

I continued my war as the second and the third Gidden suns were ignited. Two more fully populated planets would soon fry from the Ogle's ultimate weapon. On a trip to the bridge I took note of the fact that the ship I was on docked with 11 others in a pod. It was time for me to move on to a new target.

I hurried through room after room until I passed through the outer skin of the ship. I was adrift in space for a half kilometer before reaching the next Ogle battleship. Once inside I made my way immediately to the armory and began a new round of chaos. Killing cats was my mission and I was becoming very skilled at it.

The war continued for nine days before the last of the Nickarian worlds was targeted. Every civilian ship that had attempted to flee had been caught by the thousands of Meche ships that accompanied the Ogle before they could jump to light speed. The attackers were complete in their destruction.

After jumping to the fourth ship in a pod to continue my fight the pods began to break up. The last Nickarian world was now waiting for death, the cylinders within its sun preparing to blow. After placing two cases of soon-to-be-overloaded blaster rifles I made my way to the ship's docking bay. As I entered I was confronted with a sight I had not expected. The Ogle had captured a ship and taken prisoners.

Sixteen Gidden troopers were on their knees as a diplomat and his aid stood behind them. As I moved in closer I was shocked to see that it was my old friend Kurg. His diplomatic flyer had been captured during an attempted escape. It was an unusual move for the Ogle to take prisoners, but I was infinitely happy that they had.

As I moved in quietly the Ogle commander on the scene ordered the execution of the Gidden troopers. They were summarily shot in the head as they knelt. The Ogle commander then stepped in close to Kurg's aid. With one slice from its right forepaw the Gidden aid fell backwards before the remaining Ogle soldiers pounced. In a flurry of screeches and howls the aid was torn from limb to limb, his remains then bandied about as if part of some sick game.

When the melee had ended I could not help but look upon the slain soldiers. It was then that I noticed the power packs that adorned their belts, now mixed with all the blood and guts of the fallen heroes. Two worker cats then arrived to clean up the mess. I watched intently as the remains were gathered only to be denied to me. A static box was formed around the mess and then compressed down to the size of a small package. The box was then quickly sent hurdling out into space through the open port of the bay.

I wanted badly to rescue my friend but the dozen Ogle soldiers who surrounded him left me with few options. A cat then took up position on either side and began to escort the ambassador away from the bay. I took the opportunity to search the Gidden vessel for power packs, none were found.

I spent many hours moving from room to room before I found Kurg sitting in a holding cell, his face buried in his hands as the tears flowed. Everyone he knew and everything he had ever known had come to a fiery end. When he took a moment to raise his head I saw the same look I had seen in Hershen's eyes when Toledus and Mabia had been destroyed. It was a look of dismay and defeat.

Two Ogle guards stood in the room with him while another stood outside the door. I scouted the area for an escape route, but none was found that would ensure that my friend would continue to live. I then stepped up to the guard standing outside the door and smashed him in the face. As the other guards stepped out of the room they each met with the same fate, a crushed skull from a fist of fury.

Kurg gazed towards the door with a curious look; three Ogle guards lay dead on the floor before him. He then jumped as a voice whispered into his ear. I told him briefly of my journey and questioned if there were any more power packs on his ship. His first response was to my question and the answer was "no." There had been no time to stock supplies and the spare units that would have been there had been passed on before their departure to others who were in need.

He was happy to hear that I was still alive and that I was able to fight. I urged him to follow me out of the room to which he said he would no longer run. He reasoned that his time had come and then he grabbed my arm. With his free hand he then removed the power pack from his belt and then shoved it into my hand.

He stated that I was to use it to continue my fight, his fight was over and his people were gone, but Earth still had a chance. I pushed the power pack back towards him, but he insisted that it be mine. He then said that if I denied his request he would die in shame, if I took it... he would die with the knowledge that he had given all he could.

After a moment’s hesitation I withdrew my hand, the power pack now fully in my grasp. I then reached for my belt to give him my own with the few days of power that remained. Again he pushed back my hand in denial. He was no longer in need of the life sustaining fusion pack as the Ogle would soon see to his death. Again I hesitated before withdrawing my hand.

Kurg then stood, stretched out his arms and placed his long spindly fingers on my shoulders. He offered his thanks for my years of friendship and for my giving him one last jab at our enemies. He then gestured towards the door as the screeches of approaching cats could be heard.

I blinked out and quickly left the room just as the two cats let out the alarm that the guards had been slain. As I looked back I could see the smirk on Kurg's face as the two cats entered the room. I then hurried off on my next mission.

Ten minutes had passed before I returned to the holding cell. A bloodied but still alive Kurg sat on a bench against the wall as an Ogle commander screeched and howled at him. Kurg continued to smile. The three soldiers standing behind the commander quickly fell silent as I bashed them in the heads with the butt of a blaster rifle. As the commander turned I blinked in just long enough for him to see my face before I let loose with a bolt of energy from the blaster. The headless body of the commander slumped to the floor.

I then handed the rifle to Kurg and encouraged him to enjoy his last few minutes of life as I would do what I could to slow the enemy, to keep him alive as long as possible. The tears once again ran down his face, this time tears of thanks. He would indeed die at the hand of the Ogle, but he would inflict his ounce of pain before going.

As the screeches fast approached I knew I would miss my old friend. He took his last breath as a bolt from his rifle found its mark just as another entered his chest. Kurg had gone down fighting, taking 16 Ogle soldiers with him. His final sacrifice of the power pack had allowed me to continue my fight. I would forever be grateful for his sacrifice as I placed the spare pack into the zippered pouch on my pants leg and drifted away.

The Kurtz, the Gidden, the Nickarians... the Borten, the Waffen and many others... all removed from existence by two foul species. The Frekkin and the Ogle had killed entire worlds. Never again would the species they destroyed roam the stars. Never again would they contribute to the galaxy of life that surrounded us. And most frightening of all, Earth now stood alone.

A week passed before the Ogle ship arrived back at its home world. Patrols roamed the ship, constantly on the lookout for the stowaway. I continuously changed my tactics in an effort to remain hidden while inflicting as much damage as I could. I had somehow managed to stay one step ahead of my enemy.

When the ship docked I transferred to the space station in an attempt to find new targets. The station was teaming with Ogle, working repairs and resupply. With the ongoing activity I was sure they had another mission of destruction planned. A mission to a pale blue planet called Earth.

My first order of business was to slip aboard a small freighter in the space dock. The crew was away, leaving me to plan my sabotage. I used the language translator in my helmet computer to study the ships controls. For several hours I read through the ships online manuals until I came to the sections I was looking for.

The freighter could be given a flight plan and the safety protocols could be overridden. The engines would power on in test mode to simulate a maintenance action. The safety would then be bypassed and the engine throttle set to full. At the same time the docking clamps would be released allowing the freighter to lunge forward crashing into the first bulkhead it found.

With luck, the docking bay and the rooms of the station beyond the bulkhead would be teaming with activity and the ship would drive through several levels of the station before coming to a stop. With the thrusters on full any Ogle unlucky enough to be in the docking bay would be cooked... cooked like they had done to so many others.

I moved through the station at a perpendicular angle to the freighter's intended direction. When I came upon a storage warehouse full of blaster weapons I grinned at the thought of how many Ogle I could kill. I then stopped to contemplate the affect that being at war had on one's morals. Many of those on the station could be innocents, innocents caught in a war that was not of their making.

But the Ogle had shown none of the traits of compassion, kindness or empathy. They were brutal killers and were deserving of my wrath. My thoughts were quickly turned into action as the station vibrated and shook from the freighter gone wild. It had traveled through one third of the station before coming to a stop, its engines, still on full, torched everything behind it. Explosion after explosion began to rock the walls of the warehouse.

I dropped the case of blaster weapons I was attempting to open and hurriedly made my way back towards the Ogle ship that I had come aboard on. When I arrived at the docking bay the ship was backing out into space. My ride was gone and the surrounding bay was scorched black from the freighters thrusters.

The explosions continued as I moved from dock to dock. I managed to slip aboard another small supply ship just as it lifted off from the deck. Once in space I could see the devastation the freighter had caused. The station was in flames and beginning to break apart. In a few short hours large sections of debris would de-orbit and drop through the atmosphere onto the Ogle home world. A grin once again covered my face as I had achieved maximum damage.

The supply ship I was now on had a crew of a dozen Ogle. As the cats looked on at the devastation I silently came up behind them one by one. Seven had fallen prey to my fist before the eighth let out a howl. The 20 seconds of mayhem I unleashed on the remaining five was brutal and merciless. I gazed upon my new ship as I withdrew my fist from the ship's captain, his lifeless body sliding to the floor.

The next station was 1,500 kilometers away. I turned the small ship towards it and pushed the throttle to full. Again a quick tour through the overrides and I was assured of the ships destination. It would soon be crashing into the next station.

Shortly after the acceleration had begun I set the active skin of my BGS to full and drifted out into space. I was hurdling towards the next station, but at a speed that I was confident I could stop. It would be hours before my arrival so I turned towards the disintegrating station to watch the show. The explosions from within continued as debris filled the space surrounding it.

As the small ship closed on the next station a bright blue particle beam shot out from a nearby cruiser. The supply vessel turned into a shimmer of light as the beam caused every molecule within it to rupture as it was turned into pure energy.

For three hours I was adrift before moving into the station. I cycled the active skin from minimal to moderate with each new room I encountered. I was one quarter of the way into the station before my momentum ceased. When I came to a stop the Ogle who surrounded me moved about as if it was just another day.

Again I made my way to the docking bay. I would attempt to commandeer another Ogle freighter and to send it on a course of destruction, just as the first. But the Ogle had grown wise in the short time I had been adrift. The docking bay had several of the fleshy creatures pushed into a blob in the center of the deck. As I floated into the bay their snouts all turned towards me at once. Blaster fire quickly erupted.

I turned and took two giant steps before setting the active skin to full. One blast, then another and another, struck me in the back as I fled. The suits shields rose to near 70% with each hit. Simultaneous strikes would be my end.

I passed through the docking bay bulkhead and into a vast storage room. Again the fleshy creatures sat alert in the room’s center and again my position was compromised. The blaster fire was relentless in my direction as I continued to flee.

I changed direction and dropped two levels before returning to the space underneath the docking bay. Another of the large Ogle ships lay at rest and I thought it best to return to the spaces I knew. I could hide away in the cubbyholes I had found on the Ogle warships, on the station my survival would be at risk.

After two failed attempts at boarding I was forced to make a decision. The Ogle ship was beginning to leave the dock as I looked out through a porthole window from a room on the deck below. I stepped back, ran and dove through the wall out into the space beyond.

The ship’s bow swung around in a turn sweeping me inside just as it began to accelerate. I blinked in and began to slowly make my way to the rear of the ship, to the rooms that I knew. I would rest there until my confidence returned. I had a war to wage and I was in need of a clear head.

After a long rest I once again ventured out into the Ogle ship, keeping a wary eye out for the fleshy creatures that could give me away. I moved slowly as I discovered the creatures had been positioned at key points around the ship. The Ogle seemed content with the locations they had chosen. It was not long before I had clear pathways mapped out where I could once again move freely about.

I eventually made my way to the bridge with the hope of getting an idea of where we were headed. When I arrived, the space station on the screens of several Ogle crewmen told me what I wanted to know. We were headed for Bolin Station. I believed the Remmik, the Freq and the other minor species of the station were no match for a pod of Ogle battleships. I wanted desperately to warn them, but I had no means.

Nine days had passed when the ships vibration told me that we had arrived. The five Ogle battleships wasted no time in beginning their attack. Three mining freighters were quickly dissected by the Ogle particle beams, their unfortunate crews dead before knowing what had hit them.

The warships of Bolin Station were surprisingly fast into action. I grimaced as the first out of the space dock pulled in front of the first of the Ogle ships. The blue feeds lit up as the Ogle fired a particle beam at the defender. But the Remmik ship absorbed the energy and then reflected an equally powerful beam back at the Ogle battleship.

The attackers were caught by surprise as the beam ripped through their shields and deep into an aft section of the ship. A second beam was fired and again the powerful Ogle ship took major damage. Hundreds of smaller warships soon joined the fray, but their shields were no match for the Ogle's beam. The white Remmik ships had no weapon other than the reflector and the Ogle were soon just passing them by.

The smaller ships of the defenders began to use the Remmik ships as shields as they attempted to adapt to the situation. The Ogle countered by attacking Bolin Station. A grin began to appear on my face as the first of the Ogle beams was reflected back towards them. A second Ogle ship took heavy damage as the beam sliced through the feeds on the bow. Bolin Station was holding its own.

The attacks and counter attacks by the smaller ships lasted for hours before the Ogle made their next bold move. A single ship moved close to the blue giant sun and released several CME cylinders. As the thrusters on the cylinders came to life a Remmik ship sacrificed itself by accelerating and crashing into them. The damaged Remmik ship then quickly retreated from battle.

Twice more the Ogle ship deployed the CME cylinders and twice more a Remmik ship was sacrificed for the cause. The minor species of Bolin Station had been the first to deny the Ogle a victory by CME. The battle continued for most of the day before the Ogle suddenly withdrew.

Our travels lasted for half a day before the ship once again shuddered and came to a halt. The Ogle were stopping to make repairs. I took the opportunity to start a new round of mischief. There were Ogle to be killed and I was in the mood to kill as many as I could.

This time, three blaster weapons were set to overload and were then laid out in an Ogle den were thousands of cats were sleeping. When the weapons detonated I could hear the screeches of horror as a super-heated steam pipe snapped during a blast. Hundreds of Ogle had their hides peel off from direct contact with the high pressure super-heated steam.

In my further adventures I managed to locate the weapons bays where the massive CME cylinders were kept. An hour later I had 14 blaster rifles timed and ready to deploy. But a last minute move by the Ogle brought my efforts to a stop. One of the fleshy creatures had been brought into the weapons bay. I would not be able to move about without giving myself away.

I struggled with the thought of killing the little blob of a creature. I was at war with the Ogle and the innocent creature intended no harm, but this was war and I convinced myself that sometimes in war the innocent are victims of those who would use them. With a single shot from a blaster weapon the Ogle guard standing next to the creature fell backwards as his head was cut in half and the open wound cauterized.

I walked up to the fleshy creature with the blaster in hand. At first it trembled and reached out to me with its long snout. I don't know why but I blinked in fully so the creature could see who I was. After several seconds of looking into my eyes it lowered and turned its snout away. The creature then became calm and a bold look appeared on its face. It was willing to die for the cause... my cause.

I raised the weapon and nodded. Before pulling the trigger and sending a bolt of energy through its brain, I decided to risk allowing it to live. It would no longer point in my direction should I enter a room; I again nodded as I lowered my weapon and slipped away. I then began my work at setting the timers on the 14 blasters in my care.

As I left the room two new guards were arriving. Two quick punches saw to their end as I silently walked past their position. Ninety seconds later I was rewarded by the sound of explosions. The Ogle ship on which I did battle would no longer have the ability to destroy a planet by CME. I retired to my cubbyhole for some needed rest.

Once repairs of the other ships were complete the Ogle armada returned to Bolin Station to continue their fight. They began by attacking the mining colonies that kept the station supplied. The mines were critical to the ongoing survival of the station. In a matter of months their stockpiles of materials would begin to run low. The Ogle were brutal in their nature and that brutality came with an abundance of patience.

The Meche ships soon arrived around the mining colonies. They could wait out the species of Bolin Station by harassing their shipping while assuring that no new raw materials were gathered. But the Ogle adopted a new strategy that required no waiting. Any number of their smaller ships were emptied of crew, sent above light speed and then directed to come to a stop at the exact location of Bolin station.

The Ogle ships would drop from light speed and come to a halt inside the walls of the great station. It was a tactic that the Remmik, Freg and others had no defense against. Bolin station was being ripped to shreds from the inside out. With the inner structure of the station in shambles, the outer defenses soon began to fail. The large Ogle ships were quick to pounce on the opportunity and Bolin Station was soon cut to pieces.

The same tactic was then used on the Remmik ships with smaller transports and even diplomatic vessels dropping from light speed into the same space. With the Remmik defenders gone the remains of the station were now vulnerable to the Ogle's CME weapon. As the giant waves of super-heated plasma rolled outward towards the station the Ogle ships turned and headed back to their home world. The Meche would finish the cleanup making the Ogle mission complete.

I continued my relentless assaults, only now being more selective with my targets. Even though thousands of Ogle had died by my hand the remaining hordes seemed unaffected when it came to morale. They just did not seem to care beyond the moment of an attack.

When we arrived back at the Ogle world I again made my way aboard a station. For three days I harassed the local cats before deployment of the fleshy creatures cut off all of my avenues. I soon found myself pinned in an area that became ever smaller as the fleshy creatures were moved around it in number. As a last route of escape I drifted outside of the Ogle station and back aboard another battleship. I took refuge in one of the cubbyhole storage rooms and began to await my fate. My BGS suit was once again down to ten days of power. My time was running out.