Galaxy of Heroes

Spade gasped. Oxygen flooded into his lungs and bloodstream. He was lying on his back in the mech armor. His faceplate was up.

Professor Mahlis looked down at him.

“You transmitted an encrypted file,” Professor Mahlis said. “What were the contents of the file?”

Spade was unsure of how long he had been under. He tried to collect his thoughts.

“What was the nature of your transmission!” Professor Mahlis screeched.

“It was a video file,” Spade said.

“A video file?” the professor asked. “A video file of what?”

“I recorded your explanation of the plot to lure the Craaldans into battle at Roga, while Noctish advisers foment rebellions and construct alliances to attack them in their rear,” Spade said. “I was able to transmit the file out of this tin can to what remains of the Craaldan fleet for relay to Craaldan headquarters on Goff.”

“Oh, dear,” Professor Mahlis said.

Mahlis stood on Spade’s chest, looking down into his face. The professor’s whiskers twitched and his pink eyes shifted left and right. “You should not have done that, Captain Spade.”

“If I know the Craaldans,” Spade said, “they don’t take betrayal lightly.”

“Oh, dear,” Professor Mahlis said.

The little professor tugged at the whiskers on his chin. “The Craaldan will exact revenge on the Noctish.”

Mahlis scratched his ear spasmodically.

“You have doomed the Noctish advisers to the Craaldan Empire! Do you know how many Noctish you have doomed?”

Spade attempted to lift his arm inside the inert mech armor, but the armor was too heavy.

“Do you know how many Noctish you have doomed!” Professor Mahlis screamed. The little professor bared his pointy teeth and scratched at Spade’s one eye. “You have doomed millions of Noctish, you dirty animal!”

Spade bit the professor’s tiny hand and held it in his teeth. The professor squealed loudly and scratched at Spade’s face as he struggled to free his hand. His little fingernails drew blood on Spade’s cheek.

With all his strength and exertion, Spade lifted the heavy armor that encased his arm and brought it down onto the professor’s back with a thud.

The professor was pressed against Spade’s helmet. He flailed at Spade’s face with his free arm. Spade swung his other arm and caught the professor on the back of the shoulder, forcing the professor’s little forearm onto the edge of the helmet, near Spade’s face. With his nose, Spade pressed a button on the control panel strapped to the professor’s forearm.

Spade’s mech armed powered up.

Spade rose to his feet. He clamped his faceplate shut, still holding the squirming professor by the neck.

Spade popped the three-foot Craaldan bayonet from his armored fist and punched the blade into the professor’s belly.

The professor’s eyes went wide, and then he squealed loudly. The blade protruded through Professor Mahlis’s gut and out his back.

Spade lowered the blade and let the little professor slide off its full length and drop to the floor. Professor Mahlis landed on his feet and scurried away a few feet before collapsing. The professor’s face went white as he bled out on the floor.

“Checkmate, dirtbag,” Spade said.

Professor Fahlis was backed up against the display screens, staring wide-eyed at Spade. The screens behind him depicted the raging battle between Craaldan and Diocon underway out on the plain. Several mushroom clouds expanded over Craaldan positions to the north and south.

Professor Fahlis scrambled quickly to a storage bin and opened it. He pulled a small assault rifle from the bin and aimed it at Spade.

In two strides, Spade reached Professor Fahlis and slapped the weapon to the floor. Spade punched his bayonet through Fahlis’s chest, and quickly pulled it back out.

Professor Fahlis threw up his hands and moaned, and then collapsed face first to the floor in a heap. Blood pooled around his tiny form.

Spade looked down for a moment at the two dead Noctish on the floor. He turned his gaze to the display screens on the wall.

A ferocious close-in battle was raging on the plain as the remaining Craaldans fought for their survival.

Diocon forces had crossed the Naos Rift and had overrun several Craaldan battalions. The Diocons had reached the Bleak Range and knocked out the Craaldan missile shield. Nuke strikes had taken out the main bodies of the Craaldan brigades. However, the remaining Craaldan infantry had moved in to engage the Diocon attackers close up. Swarms of drones circled above the plain, zooming downward in tight formations and strafing Craaldan positions.

Spade scanned through the visual feeds until he located the area where he had landed his ship. The Craaldan reserve tank force was gone, but the Red Wrath was still there. It sat alone in the darkness on the black lunar surface. He could see no motion around the ship or through any of its portholes.

Spade checked his timer. He had 30 minutes to make it back to the ship before five hours had elapsed since he had departed.

He lifted his CX-649 and walked toward the door. He turned around and aimed his weapon at the banks of computers that filled much of the command and control vehicle. He unloaded the weapon into the computer stacks, chewing them to pieces in fiery bursts of molten metal. He then fired into the display screens, shooting them to bits in a shower of sparks and flame.

Flames engulfed the interior of the command and control vehicle. Spade kicked through the doors and jumped outside.

He turned again and pumped several grenades into the vehicle. It exploded from the inside, bursting open into several big chunks of burning metal.

Drones overhead redirected their flight and zeroed in on him. A squad of Diocons emerged from the ruins of the Zander City and ran up the foothills toward his position.

Spade fired off a burst and downed a drone. He fired several grenades at the oncoming squad and sent them scattering for cover.

Drones raked the area with fire, throwing up plumes of flames and rock. Spade sprinted up the foothills for the cover of the Craggy Mountains.

The Diocon squad was closing in, firing grenades at his position. The explosions smashed against his armor, throwing him to ground.

Spade scrambled up a cliff face as Diocon rounds exploded around him.

He found an entrance to the mines and pulled himself down into the dark tunnels.