All at once, all hell broke loose. Above us, the ships waiting in formation flew straight at each other, engaging all manner of weaponry that roared to life. Our planned triangular formation tore into their ranks at first, remaining tight as the enemy began to fly outward, slowly surrounding our forces. Nix’s ships spread out and our own were able to pick a number of them off. The sounds of vessels plummeting through the air and toward the Earth began to fill the air.
Loud and terrifying but I ignored them all.
Laser weapons hummed, and projectile weapons clashed against the metal of the flying aircrafts. I watched as an anti-matter net surrounded one of Nix’s ships, forcing it down toward the ground. I couldn’t see it as it plummeted into the Earth, but the sound of the crash and the resulting fireball left me with no doubt that it had been destroyed.
The shimmering Diphenhydramine-HCl mist had entirely dissipated, and my men burst forward, clashing with the Vakarran soldiers Nix had brought with him. More men emerged from the staircases around the arena, ground troops we had stationed not far away, but deep underground. Once the drone had been deployed, they’d received a signal and begun to move, prepared to fight beside us.
Nix glared at us.
I knew he wouldn’t let us go. If I had read him correctly, he wanted to destroy the Resistance and stamp out the rebellion for good, but more important he’d want to punish those who defied him. My sisters and I were human, meant to obey him without question, spread our legs and deliver his spawn like submissive obedient little slaves.
Only we’d refused. We’d hidden for years from him. Refused to submit to him and his rule even when we’d been captured. We’d remained strong, defiant, and utterly untamable. And very angry.
His eyes went wild, copper irises emerging for only a moment before they went inky black. He roared as he rushed toward us.
“Danika. Place the gravity plate on the center line, midfield. Kaela, force him toward it from behind,” Alaina directed us telepathically.
Then, I focused on the grass for a split second, noting the one spot where the blades looked slightly depressed. That’s where I needed to push him.
I rushed at him, faster than any human should be able to run and he stopped in his tracks. He’d underestimated me before, and I’d hardly used any of my strength, but this time, I wasn’t holding back. I swung around him, using the crook of my arm to catch him by the throat.
He gagged and fell backwards and out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Alaina stood there, boldly holding his gaze.
“I’m the only one you’ve never gotten your hands on, isn’t that right,” Alaina began, her words proving to be a hearty distraction for the evil man.
“I’ll fuck that smile off your face before the night is out. Then, I’ll slit your throat and put your head on a pike, broadcasting it to the entirety of space. No one will ever defy the Vakarrans when I’m done with the four of you,” he threatened.
A loud crash echoed in the stadium and I realized it was a massive piece of shrapnel. Looking above, my heart fell.
Our ships, outnumbered and outgunned, were beginning to suffer. Nix’s men had surrounded our triangular formation and were taking our vessels out, one by one. I cried out with dismay at my discovery, but then I felt the very air begin to vibrate. Above, something rumbled loudly, and I searched desperately for a hint as to what it was through the haze of dust and flames. And then I saw it. A slight shimmer in the clouds. I narrowed my eyes and then, the shield dropped, revealing a large spaceship, maybe a quarter the size of the ISS Starrider.
I searched the vessel with my superior eyesight and found the name of the ship inscribed into the metal.
The Vengeance.
At once, their guns began emerging, glowing and humming in preparation. Hatches opened, and more ships flew out, reinforcing our ranks with another hundred vessels. I didn’t know who piloted such a ship, but I was grateful for their help. Attacking from behind, the Vengeance itself deployed what looked to be some terrifying sets of guns, decimating the thin, spread-out ranks of Nix’s army.
Nix growled, and I swung around, curling a hard roundhouse kick straight into the back of his right knee. Crying out in pain, he bent his leg and staggered backwards, moving toward the gravity pad. Step by step, I drove him back with my fists, closer and closer until he was mere inches from it. I caught his nose with my knuckles, hard and he screeched in pain.
Above us, the ISS Starrider began to hum, an emergency alarm screaming from above.
“Warning. Emergency self-destruct plan initiated. Please enter deactivation code in t-minus thirty seconds,” it sounded, and the entire ship began flashing red.
“What the fuck?” Nix said, panicked. “I didn’t order that.”
An invisible force knocked him hard in the back of the head, and I knew Danika had joined me. Alaina, a force to be reckoned with herself, rushed at him head on.
“You’re fucking human. How are you so strong,” Nix growled, swinging out his arms, flailing to hit any one of us. He was unsteady, staggering back and forth.
“Now,” Alaina roared as she pulled out the laser gun from her belt. I fell back several feet behind him, raising my own weapons and aiming straight toward Nix. Even though I couldn’t see her, I knew Danika had done the same. Alaina fired a warning shot, an inch directly in front of Nix’s feet and he jumped back several steps, until he landed straight on top of the gravity pad. He couldn’t move. I grinned.
“Twenty-five seconds until self-destruction,” the alarm sounded.
This time, I didn’t pause. I didn’t give Nix time to activate the failsafe in his shoes to defy the technology of the gravity pod. I slammed the trigger back, at the same time as my sisters. Three brilliant violet lasers soared straight for the center of his skull, coming together at a single converging point. I watched his eyes open wide with terror once he realized what was happening, but by then, it was far too late.
Alaina aimed directly between his eyes, while Danika and I stood equidistant around him, creating a perfect circle. Our lasers united, and a bright purple ball began to form. Nix started to scream, the sound both terrifying and satisfying at the same time. He tried to run, bending his legs and attempting to jump off and escape the pod, but it held him firmly to the ground. His feet weren’t going to move even an inch from where we had captured him. We had him now. He was as good as dead.
“Twenty seconds until self-destruction.”